World Changers

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September 2015 World Changer Letter

My dear friends, the only words that come to me as I sit down to write you are these: “Let not your heart be troubled!” This simple instruction is one of the most important commands Jesus gave us as a means to remain stable and victorious until His return. When Jesus was preparing to leave and return to the Father there seemed to be two key things He really wanted the disciples to know. First, He wanted them to know He was going to return for them; He was not abandoning them as orphans (John 14:18).
Jesus used the metaphor of the bridegroom who was going away to prepare a permanent dwelling for his bride.

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My
Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you
may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 14:1-4)

The disciples understood His reference because they knew the customs of the day. The bridegroom would make a covenant with the bride and her father. They would seal it with a glass of wine and he would leave precious gifts for her so she would be confident in his love and his return. Then he would return to his father’s house and, under the supervision of the father, he would prepare a place suitable for his bride. When the father felt the task was done he would send his son to fetch his bride.

In John 14:1 Jesus says, “You believe in the Father believe also in me.” This is one of those statements that is chock-full of insight, especially when you read it in the context of this teaching (John 14-15). Since it is the father who sends the groom after his bride, Jesus was implying that if they (disciples) were unsure about Him they could trust the Father to send Him back when all things were ready.

With this statement, and throughout the rest of this chapter, Jesus reaffirms that He and the Father are one: if you have seen me you have seen the Father. He draws essential parallels around this truth. In verse seven He says, “If you had known me you would have known the Father.” In other words, He did not come to bring a different message or a different set of commandments; He came to show us exactly what God would look like if He were here Himself. Hebrews 1:3 says of Jesus, he was…the exact representation of God! In verse 19 He reminds us that the only words He spoke were the Father’s words. In other words, any idea that what Jesus taught or did was different from God and His intentions from the beginning is erroneous logic.

In the same verse He points out that the works He did were done by the Father working in Him; it wasn’t His own inherent power. If it was His will to heal someone, it was the Father’s will. Everything He said and did clarified the motive and intention of the Father. Then in verse 12 He reminds us that if we really believe what He taught and embrace the same motive and intention as the Father, we can do those same works. This reaffirms the many promises of the Holy Spirit anointing us just as He anointed Jesus!

The second thing He wanted them/us to know was that He was going to send the Holy Spirit to be with us and in us (John 14:17). He would be our Comforter, Teacher and Guide. He would also be our guarantee of the return of Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians
1:14). The indwelling Holy Spirit and His gifts would be the guarantee of our inheritance and our returning King! But possibly most important was this: He didn’t just refer to Him as the Holy Spirit; He referred to Him as the Spirit of Truth. He knows the only way we can stay at peace, live as overcomers and accomplish His goals in Planet Earth is if we are enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of Grace and Truth!

In verses 15 and 23 this begins to be evident in what I believe to be some of the most significant truth for our times, “If you love me keep my commandments.” And finally, in verse 24 He says, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” These words confuse millions of believers but they are simple and essential!

These are some of Jesus’ most crucial teachings about how to avoid the great deception which is coming on most of the earth! Since the words Jesus taught were the exact same words God had taught, we needed to know that believing on Him was not a rejection of God’s commands. When we reject God’s commands we have rejected Jesus’ commands. Herein lies what is possibly the greatest paradox of all time: Jesus delivered us from legalism but not from the commandments.

Legalism obeyed the commandments to earn something from God. It was never God’s plan; it was the plan of religious man. The commandments show us how to treat one another according to God’s love. Jesus taught us to love one another; therefore, He taught us the commandments. Here’s the caveat: When love isn’t our motive for applying God’s commandments we slip right back into legalism, even if we’re doing the right thing.
Verses 15 through 17 tell us that if we love Him and intend to keep His commandments we can receive (take hold of and bring unto ourselves) the Spirit of Truth. Remember, truth is more than what is true. Truth is what is true and all it implies. In other words, it is only truth when it is applied with God’s motive and intention… and His motive and intention is always love! So, the Spirit of Truth is here to guide and empower us to receive and apply God’s Word as it was intended: the only true means of expressing love for God, our fellow man and ourselves!

Jesus then gives an important warning: the Spirit of truth… the world cannot receive… Let’s break this down. The world is more than just the planet or its inhabitants. It is a system of thinking, a logic and philosophy that is diametrically opposed to the Kingdom of God. The word “cannot” means to be absolutely incapable. Those who love the world’s way of doing things, the humanistic philosophies of man, have absolutely no capacity to receive, i.e. take hold of the truth about God’s commandments. They will always twist them into some legalistic system of religious works. Some twist God’s commands to legalistic performance while others reject them and enter into lawlessness.

What was all of this about? How was this supposed to comfort and prepare them/us for the time He would be away? Jesus knew the greatest enemy was deception. The Luciferian lies about God had filled the earth and permeated the teachings of His Word; they were the basis of all false religion, occults and cults and were even the deceptive doctrines of governments who were being seduced by the Great Harlot!

He said the world would know we were His disciples when we had love for one another (John 13:35). But the love He spoke of was love based on God’s commands, not the humanistic, iniquitous, false love of the world. In order to keep our hearts safe from deception we must, from our hearts, love one another: love the brethren and love the lost! Because we can only receive what we are willing to give away, walking in love keeps us fully capable of receiving and experiencing God’s love. His love alive in our hearts will keep us ever-ready for His return!

One final aspect of the marriage metaphor is the return of the groom for the bride. When the father saw that all things were ready he would send his son to get his bride. The groomsmen went ahead of him. When they reached her village they would sound the shofar (a type of trumpet of the Lord). The bride would take her belongings and run out to meet her groom. Because she kept his love in her heart, she was always ready at any hour. The son would then take her away to his father’s house. Trust me; they knew what he was referring to when he used this metaphoric language.
In John 14:25-29 Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”

Jesus will return for us. The Holy Spirit is in us to help us and guide us into truth. It is absolutely essential that we cling to Him and His truth… the same truth that God has always stood for. As John said, “Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.” (1 John 2:7)

As I understand it, the best way to spot counterfeit money is not by studying the counterfeit but by studying the genuine article! I want to equip you to know the truth and to recognize Jesus. In my new book, Apocalypse: A Spiritual Guide to the Second Coming I won’t put all your focus on the counterfeit. I will show you the counterfeit, but I will also show you the divine original: Jesus. I will show you what Jesus said you need to know to equip yourself to meet Him in the air when the trumpet of the Lord sounds! Remember, if you purchase the book you will be able to participate in the new IISOM Eschatology course.

Serving Together