FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace,
from Elohim our Father, and from the Master Yahushua Messiah
Last week’s post ended with this comment:
Remember, strongholds are based upon thoughts which combine
to form
a belief or a conviction which results in a preprogrammed
behavioral response,
a response that has no regard for the will of IAUE. If we are militant about
casting down any imagination or thought that is contrary to
the will of IAUE
(remember, this is a war, so a militant mindset is
appropriate), our strongholds
cannot be triggered; and over time, the thoughts upon which
those strongholds
were erected will be discovered. Once they are discovered, we repent of
them.
That is when the stronghold is destroyed.
The Master Yahushua Messiah offered His
life as a sacrifice to provide for the possibility of a people whose hearts would
be turned toward his Father, IAUE Elohim, in sincere love and obedience. He had no view to a people who would merely
accept a free gift and continue on their self-absorbed way. The Scripture
tells us that it was for the joy that was set before Him that Yahushua endured
the shame and the torture of the cross. The hope of you and I becoming a
people whose hearts are wholly given to His Father is what drove our Master to
the stake. How can we not, then, dedicate our lives unto the praise and
glory of His grace?
A continuously recurring theme in the
New Testament Scriptures is that of the grace of Elohim. It is impossible
to have a kingdom heart if we are resisting the grace of Elohim. Elohim
resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Thus, we know what
disposition of heart must possess the disciple of Yahushua Messiah: humility.
In each of Paul's thirteen epistles, he
opened and closed by speaking a blessing of grace upon his reader(s). Paul
was preoccupied with the disciples' need for grace. He could hardly speak
without verbalizing man's need for grace as well as the abundance of Elohim's
supply of grace available to the humble. It appears to be the single most
important thing that Paul wanted to communicate to every person who had become
a disciple of Messiah. All of his
instruction followed on the heels of his prayer and/or blessing to them to
receive the grace of IAUE.
Grace is the power that Elohim gives to do His will. Without grace, it
is impossible to do the will of Elohim.
Man cannot do the will of Elohim by an exercise of his own strength and
will. Such works are works of the flesh, and serve only to strengthen the
enemy of Elohim's kingdom.
We have heard it said far too often that grace is “unmerited
favor.” Well, yes, it is unmerited; and
it surely demonstrates IAUE’s favor; but that is only an attribute of
grace. It is not the definition of
grace. For example, if you enlist into
the armed forces:
- You would be given a
rifle. You could say the rifle is
unmerited protection; and though that would be true, it would not tell you
what the rifle actually is.
- You would be given
clothing and meals. You could say
your clothing and meals were unmerited provisions, and that would be true;
but that would not tell you what your clothing and your meals actually
are.
- You would be given
specific training for your job in the military. You could say that was unmerited
education, and that would be true; but that would not tell you what your
training actually was.
Yes, grace is unmerited and it does
demonstrate IAUE’s favor; but that is not what it is. Grace is the POWER of IAUE given to man to
enable him to perform the will of IAUE.
We can see from a basic understanding of
what grace is that the disciple of Yahushua Messiah is dependent upon it.
It is like air to a man, water to a fish, and space to the stars. It is
the atmosphere that sustains existence. You know from a study of any war
that it is always a primary objective in war to cut off the lines of supply to
the enemy forces. If the supply lines could be interrupted or destroyed,
the army that failed to be resupplied became "at risk" due to an
inability to sustain ongoing operations. If they did not have food or
water, they would die. If they did not
receive fuel, their vehicles could not move.
If they did not receive ammunition, they could no longer defend against
an attack or initiate an attack. Such is
the disciple who fails to receive the grace of Elohim; and such is the reason
why interrupting the supply of grace is the cardinal objective of the enemy of
our souls and of our own corrupt flesh.
We have recently discussed "the
works of the flesh" and "the fruit of the spirit" as evidence of
which "army" within us is winning the battle for our souls. The
works of the flesh are immediate manifestations of the flesh at work; whereas
the fruit of the spirit is produced over time...time spent in our soul's
cooperation with the spirit, receiving and responding to the grace of Elohim.
These works and fruit will let us know which side is being reinforced, and
which side has its supply lines interrupted.
Now we can better understand why Paul
begins and ends every letter with a cry for grace to be supplied. Paul
was like a courier in battle, bringing the necessary resupply of fuel and
armaments to the front so the battle could continue to be waged and victory
could be achieved.
Ephesians 1:2 Grace
be to you, and peace, from Elohim our Father, and from the Master Yahushua
Messiah
More than once in this blog, I have
discussed “The Lists.” I have asked that
we identify and list 1) anything that is in our life that we know displeases
Elohim, 2) anything in our life we would resist giving up or giving away if He
required it of us; and 3) anything not currently in our life that if He
required adding it to our life, we would resist. The most important of these
three lists is the one that identifies our current disobediences; because every
single item on this list is evidence of how we resist the grace of
Elohim. These are willful acts of rebellion against the Kingdom of our
Master Yahushua Messiah that we permit our heart freely to entertain. These are
our self-destructive acts which sabotage our own resupply lines. It is
important that we write down every single sin in our life (and by sin, that
does not mean “bad things,” it means everything that is disobedient to the will
of IAUE), read them to ourselves many times, and become impressed with the gall
that possesses our heart that we would resist and oppose our King.
Understanding our desperate need for the
grace of Elohim, this list should embarrass and shame us as we note the
contrast between us and the purity of the lamb of Elohim who resisted
disobedience even to the shedding of His blood for us. Every item on this
list is our evidence of how little we honor the Master, and how little we care
to have the army of our spirit resupplied with Elohim's grace.
The man or woman who truly is a disciple
of Yahushua Messiah will consider his/her list until the conviction of the
Spirit lays the axe to the root of pride behind each sin, and then will weep
before Elohim in repentance for His tender mercy to forgive, cleanse and
release from sin. This does not make us experientially perfect. It brings an awakened sense of our need for
Elohim's grace at all times, and sensitivity to how easily we interfere with
its supply.
Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from Elohim our
Father, and from the Master Yahushua Messiah.
Let me encourage you, today, to ask the
Holy Spirit to bring to your mind the names of at least three people; then pray
for these people that they might receive the grace of IAUE?
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance
of the will of IAUE.
