Edition 203. April 16^th 2014

Living diamonds in the sky:

Living diamonds in the sky:

Introduction:

Zechariah 9:16-17 “The Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of His people. For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over the land.”

Flying through the sky with the greatest of ease is a powerful vision! Everything relating to our eternal future is wonderful, magnificent and glorious, but few people realise that there is a price to pay and even fewer are prepared to pay the price now.

In this edition we will look at some interesting facts about life, diamonds and the sky. Before you think you know it all, please read the edition! Most people have no idea about these things!

Life

We are all alive (hopefully), but few people know what life is and how God divides it up. It’s absolutely vital to understand this.

God divides our lives into three areas. These are spiritual life, physical bodily life and soulish, or mental life. The Bible reveals big differences that we dare not mix up. The way to real victory is to divide and apply these just the way God does.

Spiritual life: Original word = Zoe. This is the essence of who we are after the new birth. This is our wall to wall God-created new life.

Physical life: Original word = Bios. This is our biological, physical life that we are born with. It is the area of life here and now, and gets old, smelly, creaky and will die if the Lord doesn’t come first. Our ‘bios’ will be instantly changed in a twinkling of an eye into an eternal, incorruptible, perfect, ageless, supernatural state at the rapture.

Soul life: Original word = Psuche. This is our psychological, mental life. It is the dwelling of our memory, consciousness, character and personality, and all such things. We must work to renew this area of life according to God’s word. This area also lives forever, but will be renewed and become incorruptible at the resurrection of our bodies.

We mustn’t mix up the verses that apply to each area as many do.

Now, we must add to these definitions the difference between positional and temporal truth.

Positional truth relates to our position in Messiah. All the “in Him” verses relate to our position in Him. For example; “We are more than conquerors in Him” Positional truth has all been done for us supernaturally as a free gift and is works-free.

Temporal truth relates to our situation here on earth and relates to the body and soul. This is what we must do! These appear to contradict the verses of positional truth. They don’t, they just apply to a different area of life.

You can’t mix these up. Both temporal and positional are needed, rightly divided for a balanced Christian life.

Have a look at the table below. The verses in the first column are positional truth, while the verses in the second column are temporal truth. Do you see the big difference?

There are thousands more. I’ve just selected a few to give you the general idea. Now that you know the difference you will be able to apply scripture to the right areas of life more accurately.

If you get these all mixed up, your Christian life will be all mixed up. This is why there is such an overbalance with many of the prosperity teachers.

If you take all the positional truth verses and try to apply them to your financial prosperity, you will get it all wrong. Besides, those that do just that ignore the temporal truth verses and end up as un-crucified people trying to get rich quickly because they think the Bible tells them so.

So, as we see the differences in the Bible relating to the different areas of our lives, we will be much more successful in applying scripture in the right areas.

Quite simply, one area of our lives needs to be denied, go to the cross, and die daily, while the other area is gloriously triumphant, full of majesty and the life of Messiah now.

Do you want a powerful Christian life now and forever? Do it His way.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

Philippians 3:10 “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

Note in these two powerful verses above that His power comes as we apply the cross to our lives. We need and use His power to apply the temporal truth verses successfully.

Diamonds

The word “diamond” comes from the ancient Greek and means “unalterable, unbreakable.”

My grandfather worked for the world’s biggest diamond company – De Beers. The company also produced the world’s most successful advertising slogan – “Diamonds are forever.”

Diamonds are ugly. They are dirty, messy stones. They have all been formed under great pressure and great heat in the darkness of the earth for billions of years. Diamonds are formed 140 to 190 kilometres underground and are forced to the surface in volcanic activity over the ages. The composition of a diamond is carbon mixed with certain minerals. The diamond actually grows under pressure and heat.

These ugly stones formed in fiery heat and pressure over much time, only reveal their value and beauty after being cut and polished. Every single facet must be cut and polished with no gaps.

For true believers, the diamond is full of typology. Some is painful, but the result is always glorious. We as children of the living God are exposed to much darkness, pressure and hostility created by the devil in our lives and around about us in the world system.

 The fires of the devil’s wrath against us are always present, but so is the purifying fire of God’s word through His Spirit. We use both to bring us to perfection.

As believers we accept the finished work of the cross of Messiah and all His pain, suffering, pressure and heartache. At salvation we are new, but ugly diamonds in the rough!

As we apply the cross to our own lives, this deep pressure, heat and pain transforms us like a diamond being cut. But the huge potential is still not fully seen. One final cutting and polishing and the astounding eternal beauty is revealed for all to see forever.

My friends you have the choice to become a diamond of great price and eternal value, or to remain ugly,uncut and dirty, looking like all the other stones on the ground.

Malachi 3:16-17 “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. They shall be Mine says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them jewels of My own possession  and I spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

Diamonds are indestructible. After the work of the cross and the master craftsman of the universe in our lives, our eternal state is indestructible, incorruptible and forever pure, flawless and holy. Our eternal reward-state is forever set as a jewel in the eternal, universal crown of God’s glory.

Just read that verse above again. God has a special “book of remembrance”. This is not the Lamb’s book of life. It is a special book for His special treasure – the ones who chose the “fear of the Lord” and worked hard on their salvation. These are the ones who “work their salvation out” from the inside to the outside under the leading of our Lord. This is not those who try to be good and follow external laws and rules in their own strength.

The sky

My school teachers often used to accuse me of living with my head in the clouds. They were right. I’ve always been a dreamer, never content with the ordinary. I’ve always had an insatiable interest in what’s on the other side of the horizon. In my youth I spent much time in the mountains, flying planes, skydiving and other things that expanded my horizons.

My friends, God is about to expand all of our horizons! I can’t wait!

The sky is full of mystery because it is so big and full of so much and so many unknown things. But as we enter eternity, we will “know all things” and we will be changed into supernatural beings that will be able to transcend time and space.

God does not create junk. He does not create anything without a purpose or function. The entirety of space and time will be our future domain. It will all be full of our Lord’s presence, purpose and plan.

Far from being nothing, the sky will be full of God’s love. It will be warm, pure, holy and true. It will contain indestructible, incorruptible vessels of glory. The sky will be full of the presence of God, His angels, incredible, unimaginable creatures and His family.

Before we get to the sky, our eternal state will be decided by what we did right here on this earth.

Calling and judgement

You are born for your call. Calling is linked to purpose. Those who have stolen their lives for themselves are without purpose. We are called for God’s own purpose and we must judge and analyse ourselves to see if we are in that faith.

God will judge you and me according to His word and His calling. We will be judged according to what He called us for and what we did with that call. His eye sees everything. Nothing escapes His gaze.

Ezekiel 8:18 “I will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” The previous verses deal with abominations in the temple which the children of Israel had brought in.

Most people believe that if there is a future judgement, the judge is some gentle Lamb called Jesus, meek and mild waiting to pour out rewards with many pats on the back. They have this Santa Clause, sickly sweet, Jesus-my-sponsor sort of idea and attitude. They think that because they were more good than bad in their lives that they will be fine and get lots of toys.

As believers we have the incredible privilege of judging ourselves now, “so that we will be not judged.” But the love of the Lion will still judge us to see if we judged ourselves rightly. He will assess our works done in response to His call.

The love of the Lion will judge true believers for reward. The severity of the same Lion will judge unbelievers to hell. It really is a case of the love of the Lion or the wrath of the Lion! You will encounter one or the other.

The sway, power and influence of the devil in the world system, working through the media is very powerful, but doomed. It’s all about to come to a terrible end. Unfortunately half the world has unwittingly sold their soul to the ways of modern man, and they think they’re okay.

The politically correct morons of the media will bow their knee to the one whose name they continually blaspheme. They rejected our Lord, but he will not reject them. He will supernaturally bring them before Himself, against their will, violating their human rights and judge them to hell.

The truth of the matter is that the judge is now the Lion of the tribe of Judah and He will judge according to His word and not yours or mine.

I’ve said many times and will continue to say that we will not be rewarded for being general nice people, or for what we thought was right or wrong. We will be rewarded only for our response to God’s word, call and the things we did for His eternal kingdom.

We will not be rewarded for a glass of cold water given. We will be rewarded for “a glass of cold water given in His name!” Big difference!

We will be rewarded for how radical and drastic we were in judging ourselves. Did you take God’s word and let it burn into the very core of who you are?

Isaiah 61:3 “The Lord gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planning of the Lord that He might be glorified.”

The Bible reveals in numerous prophecies as we approach the end days, that many believers will grow cold. Many will become lukewarm. The faith of many will be rocked and they will fall away. Many will face end time pressures and be swept away by them. They will not stand in the storms.

The same pressures and storms will hit others and they will be refined, made pure, grow stronger in faith and stand securely. Which will you be?

What you must do:

●Don‘t turn from God’s ways in the coming storms.

●Rightly divide and apply the correct Bible verses to the correct areas of your life and do it well.

●If you are going the right way, there will be an inner joy and rest in your life. The Spirit in you will bear witness that you are on the right track.

●You will not hear this sort of message in the great majority of churches today. It is not their style. They want you to be rich and happy in the world so that you can fill their pews and give the leaders money so that they can live lives of excess and disgusting luxury at your expense.

●Don‘t be concerned or worried that you don’t fit in with the mega-majority!

●Watch always for the coming of our great King and Saviour!

Finally:

Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not My word like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.”

Jeremiah 5:14 “Behold I will make My words fire in your mouth.”

Psalm 104:4 “He makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.”

Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.”

I took this picture high in the Drakensberg from a chopper. You can see another one of our choppers on the mountain top to the right. That gives some perspective! I love the mountains, because they’re always there, giving an idea of security and eternity.

Psalm 95:4 “In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also.”

Shalom and grow in grace!