Be Real with God
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Be Real with God
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God’s original design for your life was to be in a living relationship with Him. The purpose of this book is to help you find that relationship and walk in it. It is not to add to the layers of roles that we play in life, especially religious roles and religious play-acting. I pray that this book will encourage you to become transparent with God, your Creator, and through that transparency to experience God’s wonderful love and grace which will mold you into His original design for your life.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - “Hello there, my Name is Jesus"
Chapter 2 - Bad News, Good News
Chapter 3 - What Happened To Me?
Chapter 4 - Who is This God Who You Have Met?
Chapter 5 - Who Am I?
Chapter 6 - Death is Annulled
Chapter 7 - Jesus As Lord?
Chapter 8 - Moving On With Prayer
Chapter 9 - Moving On In The Word
Chapter 10 - Moving On With Being Changed
Chapter 11 - Water Baptism
Chapter 12 - A New Way of Life: New Habits
Chapter 13 - The Holy Spirit
Chapter 14 - We Need To Be Set Free
Chapter 15 - Moving On With The Church
Chapter 16 - Spiritual War
Chapter 17 - Suffering &Tribulation
Chapter 18 - Jesus Is Returning
by Larry Chkoreff
ISBN - 0-9676731-1-9
First printing - 2000
Second Printing 2007
Third Printing 2008
Copyright © 1999 by Larry Chkoreff
Published by International School of the Bible, Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A.
All rights reserved. This book is the sole property of the author. It may not be reproduced, altered, or transmitted in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author. Any unauthorized reproduction, alteration, transmission, or printing of this book, or any material contained in this book, is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce, alter, transmit, print or reprint this book, or any materials contained in this book, may be requested at the above email address. Any reference to the materials, ideas, or direct quotations taken from this book must be cited appropriately to this published edition.
For information on reproducing this book contact ISOB at:
Email address – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The ISOB web site is www.isob-bible.org.
The author, Larry Chkoreff, along with his wife Carol, are the founders of the International School of the Bible (ISOB) in Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A. ISOB provides materials and training necessary to develop disciples, and assists in church planting.
ISOB has established discipleship locations in many African and Asian countries.
It is our hope that this book will help seekers find a relationship with God, the Creator, as they bare themselves before Him in honesty and reality, and that it will help believers to become free to walk with God with joy and victory.
There are millions of people around the world who are coming to know Jesus Christ every week. The curve of growth is exponential. These people need simple, concise teaching and grounding in the basics of developing their relationship with God. Our hope is that this book will help many of them shorten their path of discipleship and become leaders for the Kingdom of God. It is our prayer that as you read this book you will experience the magnificent presence of God, and will acquire a driving passion to continue to pursue His presence.
This book is dedicated to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of my faith.
Other books by ISOB:
Grow or Die Seminar Series – Discipleship - featuring the blood covenant, bearing fruit, and intimacy with God.
Grow or Die Full Course - This consists of discipleship materials that includes over 100 lessons. This course is available for free downloading at the web site www.isob-bible.org, or on CD-ROM for reproduction on a personal computer.
Junk to Jewels – How to turn your afflictions into blessings
Job's Journeys – From Religion to Glory
Psalms One Business Owner – A Christian guide to micro-business
The Blood of The Everlasting Covenant
Email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Be Real with God - Chapter 18
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Jesus Is Returning There is a judgment
People are naturally more accountable for what is inspected than what is expected.
When you send a child to go do a task, is it wise to ask him to return and show you how he finished it? Or do you think it would be wise to ask this young child to go do the task and tell him that you will never check to see how he has done?
God is a judge.
He will call every person, every deed and every word into accountability, and He will grant reward or lack thereof based upon the facts.
“Far be it from You to act in this manner, to kill the righteous with the wicked. And far be it from You, that the righteous should be as the wicked. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).
“Lift up Yourself, Judge of the earth; give a just repayment to the proud” (Psalms 94:2).
“…before the LORD; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth (Psalms 96:13).
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24).
Here in this verse of Hebrews 12:22-24, God is shown as Judge. However if that is all that He is we have much to fear. The Word shows us that God the Judge is also Jesus the Mediator. He is the only One who can come between a righteous and holy God and lost sinful men. Notice also in this passage of Hebrews that there is a revelation of the blood of Jesus being both the means and the price by which reconciliation has been achieved.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).
“The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Judgment has been transferred from the Father to the Son.
“For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son, so that all should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:22-23).
The subject of judgment can be very lengthy and we will only attempt to cover what many consider to be the two main judgments here. In respect to these judgments we will only attempt to cover them in outline and not in detail.
Reference is made to “Throne of (Christ’s) glory." We will not cover this judgment in this book. (Matthew 25:31, Matthew 19:28).
1. Judgment of believers. In the first judgment, the seat upon which the Judge will be seated is the Judgment Seat of Christ. Those to be judged here will be Christ’s own followers and servants. We will cover the future and the present applications of this judgment.
2. Judgment of un-believers. The second judgment seat is called the “Great White Throne”. Believers in Christ will escape this judgment because their names are written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”
We recommend the book The Spirit Filled Believers Handbook, Author Derek Prince, chapters 48-52 for a more complete study on the subject of judgment. [1]
1A. Judgment of believers. The Judgment Seat of Christ (future).
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Notice this does not say anything but good or bad, there is no in-between.
This judgment is not for condemnation, but for reward. I believe that if we knew more about this judgment, we would live our lives differently. Have you ever watched an Olympic event and seen the “judgment” at the end? The fastest runner was judged first, and given a Gold Medal; second place was judged Silver, etc.
I don’t think any of us know everything there is to know about Heaven, eternity, and the afterlife. As for me, I don’t want to waste this life and forfeit something that will go on for eternity!
We are told that there will be a test of fire. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 says, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christf any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to lightt will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work what he has built survives, he will receive his rewardf it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
It seems like most of the time the rewards are defined as obtaining more authority and becoming closer to Jesus.
1B. The Judgment Seat of Christ (present).
There is also a present day judgment for believers.
I believe that we are all in a continuing process as follows:
a. Jesus sows the seed of the Word of God in our life for a need that He wants to meet.
b. Satan tries to steal the seed, and/or make the growth of it unfruitful. Mark chapter 4.
c. We go through the trying of our faith during a period of time.
d. Jesus comes back to deliver us and bring our “judgment”.
When He comes to bring us what was promised, will He find us faithful and standing in faith? If so, we win; if not, we loose.
Our faith will be tested by fire. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Are you standing for a healing, for a financial situation, a family situation, as an intercessor for someone, for more Godly character, or whatever? Jesus returns for “judgment,” for reward, now, while you are still living on this earth. Psalms 96:13 says, “before the LORD; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.”
Jesus tells His disciples about a judgment that will take place here and now on this earth. Matthew 16:26-28 says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
I submit that one could take many of the judgment Scriptures having to do with believers in the New Testament, and apply them both to the judgment we will receive when we get to Heaven and to these present day circumstances. If you don’t agree with me, that’s okay. That is just my opinion, and in fact, has been my experience. But I do not wish to step on your theological toes in this matter.
2. Judgment of un-believers.
Beginning of a quote from The Spirit Filled Believers Handbook, Author Derek Prince, pages 513-515. [2]
(Revelation 20:11-15) Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the ultimate end of all sin and rebellion against the authority and holiness of almighty God; to be cast forever into the lake of everlasting fire. Only those whose names are written in the Book of Life will escape this final judgment. The names recorded in this book are those who during their life on earth availed themselves, through faith, of God’s mercy and grace. These fall into various categories.
All those who put their faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice on behalf of mankind will already have been resurrected at the commencement of the millennium. They will have passed through their own appropriate judgment before the judgment seat of Christ, not for condemnation, but to assess their reward.
It seems certain that the majority of those who appear before the great white throne will not have fulfilled the conditions for receiving God’s mercy and will therefore be condemned to the lake of fire. Nevertheless, as was pointed out in chapter 46, there will definitely be at least two categories of people before the great white throne who will escape condemnation and enter into eternal life.
The first category will consist of people such as the queen of the South and the men of
The second category will consist of all those who died in faith during the millennium.
Can we anticipate that there will be others to whom God will extend mercy from His great white throne? The answer to this is locked up within the omniscience of God. For us, with our limited knowledge and narrow perspective, it is foolish to speculate.
Let us rather adapt the attitude expressed by Abraham.
(Genesis 18:25) Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Those who have tasted God’s measureless mercy are assured that He will never withhold His mercy from any who qualify for it.
(Romans 11:33) Let us beware, however, of assuming that we can every fully comprehend all that is included in the outworking of God’s judgments. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
There is one final thing to remember about judgment of unbelievers. The wrath of God was put on Jesus as the final judgment of sin. The choice is really yours to accept or reject God’s free gift of salvation. The only safe place to be is to be sure that you have been born-again. That is when your name is listed in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”
One final thing to remember about the judgment of believers is that God is seeking ways of rewarding you, not of condemning you. Purpose to live your life on earth in obedience to the Lord’s voice and in total abandonment to Him so that you will receive all the possible rewards for eternity.
The Second Coming
Another aspect of judgment is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to this earth. We will not give a complete teaching on the subject here, but the Bible is very clear. He is coming again. The Lord purposely does not give us very much detail about when He is coming again. Notice in Acts 1:7, Jesus in effect tells His disciples just before He ascends back into Heaven, “None of your business when I am coming back, you concentrate on being My witnesses” [Author’s paraphrase].
He came the first time as our suffering Saviour, our substitute, our Lamb to take away our sin. The second time He comes, He is coming as King, to set up His Kingdom.
The Old and New Testaments are filled with Scriptures on the Second Coming of Jesus to this earth. Here are just a few.
“But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you be not grieved, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28).
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”(1 John 3 2).
“…who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’”(Acts 1:11).
“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).
“knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3:3-14).
However or whenever He comes back, or if you meet Him when your body dies, makes little difference. Your theology on end times really does not matter, expect for one thing. He is coming! You will meet Him eye to eye; you will meet Him as judge. You need to be ready!
We need to keep Jesus’ perspective in mind.
He is anxiously waiting to receive His Bride, the Church. In Jewish tradition the son prepared the wedding house on his father’s property, working on it constantly in anticipation of the wedding day. The father would continually inspect the house to see when it was ready. Also, in the Jewish tradition there was no wedding date set. The bride had to be ready all the time. Matthew 25:10 says, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And they who were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.’ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.’ And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:12-17).
Our story starts with a curse due to man’s disobedience. “…Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17b).
Our story ends with the Lamb taking our curse so we could be blessed. “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.” (Revelation 22:3). Amen!
Be real with God.
Now listen for His voice.
“Hello there, my Name is Jesus. I love you.”
Dear Reader:
Many people who have read this book as you have just done have experienced changed lives. This book was placed in your hands with the prayer and belief that the same blessing of a changed life will come to you. If this prayer has been answered in your life, we thank God.
It is our intent and practice to offer these books free of charge to the extent possible. If you have received your book in this way, we want to extend an invitation to you to participate in our mission and invest in this work of our Lord through a gift to cover the cost of printing your book plus another book for one other person. As God is blessing and moving in a mighty way through these books, we believe that He will also surely bless you for all the support you can give.
You may donate to ISOB online:
http://www.isob-bible.org/ (look for donate link)
Your gift book will be placed in the hands of someone like you seeking to know the truth.
God bless you,
Larry Chkoreff and Team
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[1] Spirit Filled Believer’s Handbook, Derek Prince, Creation House - Strang Communications Company,
[2] Spirit Filled Believer’s Handbook, Derek Prince, Creation House - Strang Communications Company,
Be Real with God Intro
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Be Real
God’s original design for your life was to be in a living relationship with Him. The purpose of this book is to help you find that relationship and walk in it. It is not to add to the layers of roles that we play in life, especially religious roles and religious play-acting. I pray that this book will encourage you to become transparent with God, your Creator, and through that transparency to experience God’s wonderful love and grace which will mold you into His original design for your life.
Galatians 1:15,16 says, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might [________________________Paul’s purpose in life was inserted here in this blank].” This is a quote from Paul who wrote the letter to the first century Galatian church. He had been a role player, and a murderer, killing first century Christians and thinking that his life was fulfilling God’s purpose for himself and for God. Notice those great statements, “But when God,” and “by His grace.” This is something that God did! He revealed to Paul his purpose in life. We all want to know why we are here and we want to know our purpose.
We each have a blank_______________________for our purpose in life, and it is different for each and every human. You cannot fill in the blank; only God can. Paul could not fill in the blank until he experienced the awesome presence of God and after walking with God for many years. But Paul finally did fill in his blank. God wants to reveal your purpose to you.
Every one of us starts out as who we really are.
Then we develop different attitudes of who we want to be. The "want to be's" become roles that we play. Quite often these decisions are made subconsciously. All of these roles build up like layers of an onion in our lives. It is God's purpose to take us back to who we really are, to the real "you." That is the “you” that God really loves and it is the only “you” that God can really work with to make you whole and fulfilled in life.
We fear the discovery of who we really are. Over the years we have constructed layers of self-deceit upon ourselves similar to layers of an onion. We have so many ways of hiding behind roles that others or ourselves have constructed. These roles are self-deceiving and we have become so lost behind them that we are incapable of rescuing ourselves. Before we know it we are hiding behind so many layers that we are totally self-deceived and fit into what Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
However, only God is capable of peeling back the layers. I can remember God speaking to me just a few months after I had met Jesus back in late 1979. It was not an audible voice, but rather it came through a cassette tape that had been previously recorded in a service 2,400 miles away. It was not something high and mighty or religious at all, it was very practical. However, when I heard it, I knew in my “knower” (deep inside) that it was God speaking directly to me. It went like this:
“I see the original design for your life. It is like a parchment scroll that unrolls. As it unrolls the script of your life is written on it. However, the edges of the scroll have been burnt and the ashes have been scattered so that no person, not even you, can any longer read the scroll. No human could possibly find all of the ashes, fit them together in the proper places and reconstruct the scroll.
However, I have not forgotten it. I am God Almighty, and I am capable of finding the ashes, resurrecting them back into parchment and putting them exactly where they belong so that you and others may see who you really are, and so that your life may return to its original design. This will be done slowly and progressively, and will only be an act of my grace. You need only to walk close to Me and give Me your heart, which also means being gut level honest with Me at all times.”
I can testify that what God told me in 1980 has been my experience and is still my experience. God cannot lie!
True contentment in life is knowing that the real you is acceptable. It is knowing that you can be real with God. It is knowing that you don’t know how to be completely real in one big event, but that as you go through life, God will cause the layers to be taken off little by little as you can tolerate it and accept it. You discover that God accepts you just the way you are, however He wants to peel back the layers to get to the real you. You will find out that God is gentle throughout this process. You will discover that quite often even the gentleness can be painful.
There can be hidden compartments in your life that you do not want anybody, especially God, to uncover and expose. You know it would be too painful. But God would say to you, “Go ahead and trust me to touch that hurt just one time. I may cause more pain in your life by touching it, but after that, healing will come. Is it worth it?” It is like the surgeon asking, “Is it worth it to bear the pain of my knife if it means cutting out the disease?”
God is the only one who can bring light to your “dark places.” “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12).
That is why this book is titled “Be Real With God.” Certainly it is my desire for you to come to know Jesus if you do not know Him. In this book you will find areas of doctrine that God desires you to know. You will find points of recommended obedience that are crucial if you are to mature in Christ. However, your relationship with God and your obedience to Him must be based upon your being real with yourself and with Him. If you play act with God you will be miserable and miss the only opportunity to really be free and whole.
We can cooperate with God.
The one thing that God can work with is your honesty. One of His names is truth. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life…’” (John 14:6a). When Jesus was on trial for His life, He had a discussion with the Roman ruler, Pilate, in which they spoke about the definition of truth. “Pilate then said to Him, ‘Are you a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say it that I am a king. To this end I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice’” (John 18:37).
There is a law on planet Earth that always works: it is called sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7-8). One will ultimately reap whatsoever he sows. This law applies to truth also. If you sow the truth you will reap the truth. If you sow deception and dishonesty, you will reap darkness, and the truth will not shine in your life. “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37 b).
King David made the following statement in Psalm 32:2-3 after trying to hide his terrible sins from God. David could no longer live with himself, but he discovered that God honors the truth and that the truth will make one free.
“Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (Psalms 32:2-3). I suggest that you read the entire Psalm 32.
There is usually a price for being truly honest. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.” One price you need to be prepared to pay is humility.
I believe that evil came to pass in our world and continues to exist by man’s dishonesty. The cartoon below illustrates this. To the degree that you are not real, is the degree of potential evil or darkness that exists in your life. The wider the gap, the greater the potential is for evil.
This principle applies to all people.
You may be Jewish and have been raised in a God-fearing home with a culture that has taught you to never “convert” and to not listen to “those Christians.” I understand you heeding that advice. Too many Christians have been hard hearted towards your faith and culture.
You may be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, New Age, or agnostic. You may be worshiping beings in the spirit world or idols. You may be an atheist or a self-sufficient person who has never felt a need for God. You may be reading this book as a new believer and have a desire to grow into maturity. You may have had tremendous faith at some point in your life, but now you doubt God. I respect where you are.
If you are spiritual God is not asking you to become secular.
If you are secular or scientific, He is not asking you to trust in spirits who are untrustworthy. He is not asking you to change your culture or to become like other Christians whom you may have met. He is not asking you to conform to some church or denomination. He is not asking you to become “religious.”
What He is asking you to do is to be honest with your needs in life. We all have “felt needs.” The three main categories are love, security and significance. We need unconditional love. We need to be loved by someone who knows all about us and still accepts us. We need security for material and emotional needs and for eternal destiny. We need significance, or we need to know that we matter and are worth something. God has a deep desire to be the supplier of those needs, as we will see in future chapters.
You are turning to someone or something for these needs already. It may be that you have been relying on your own soul power, which includes your intellect, education, and talents. I am not degrading these, but they must be put into proper perspective. These can appear to work to a degree. It may be that you have been relying on some spiritual religion that puts you into contact with real spirit beings. I understand that this is real and it can appear to work to an extent. In the end however, these “other gods” are unreliable. They are hard taskmasters. They always keep you in fear and demand your worship. They promise an easy way for the supply of your felt needs. However it like using a credit card; eventually the bill will come and you will have to pay.
God, the Creator, is reliable. His name is Truth. His Word is Truth. When He reveals Himself to you it will be in accordance with His Word so that you will not need to wonder if you have made contact with the real God or some “other god.”
One thing I have found about God is that He rarely argues. He usually just reveals Himself and all of the arguments stop. He has a deeper desire to reach you with the truth than you have to receive it. He created you to have a close personal relationship with Him. He did not create you to have to rely on some religion or spirit. He did not leave your eternal destiny in the hands of other men who try to convince you that they have the truth.
To all of you seekers, God is able to reveal His name to you. You do not need to rely on men’s arguments.
To all of you who are moving on toward maturity, He is the teacher. He wants to lead you into all truth and relate to you personally.
Now, I encourage you to exercise honesty with God. There is no correct way to pray. Just talk to Him as you would if He were your best friend sitting next to you. Tell Him what you believe and do not believe. Tell Him how you really feel, give Him your doubts, fears and bitterness. Tell Him your needs and how you have been attempting to satisfy them.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Just be real with God!
Be real with God.
Now listen for His voice.
“Hello there, my Name is Jesus. I love you.”
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Be Real with God - Chapter 17
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Suffering &Tribulation.
The door into the invisible world.
We need to realize that we live on a planet that has fallen into sin, or to put it another way, man has rebelled against all the laws of God. That, coupled with the evil activity of Satan to kill, steal, and destroy, is enough to cause suffering for everybody.
Life is rough, it is not fair, and it deals out suffering to everybody in some form. People attempt to hide the pain of life through the pursuit of money, which can purchase temporal comforts. They also cover up life’s pain with drugs, entertainment, success and many other things. We need to know and realize that we are living in a war, and there is tension between the
God is not the author of suffering or of the unfair things in life. However, God intends for the tough things in life to bring us to the end of our own resources. He desires that we will turn to Him. When we do, He performs miracles and turns our troubles into eternal triumphs.
So many believers have difficulty learning God’s prospective on suffering, trials and tribulation.
There are two major opposing doctrines. One says that we are not supposed to suffer as believers. The other side says that we are just old sinners, so God teaches us by making us suffer. The latter view grossly distorts God’s character! God does not put sickness and disease on us. He does not even have any to put on us. The story of Job confirms this. Both views are very far from the truth. Both views have some element of truth, but their doctrines will not work when they are in “the fire.”
I am going to share with you what God has taught me about this subject.
I learned this through experience and through revelation in Scripture. It is fine if you disagree with me. I know that I do not know all there is about suffering. I have never (yet) been called to undergo physical torture or spent time in jail for the sake of the Gospel.
There is no way I can take space in this book to do a complete teaching on suffering. I am not even qualified to do so, but I have been under severe trials and tests. This is the way I have made it through many difficult circumstances, some of which were life threatening.
Are we supposed to suffer? What kind of suffering?
First, I want to differentiate between “stupid suffering” and redemptive suffering. “Stupid suffering” is when we are reaping the results of bad choices, morally, spiritually, and physically. We need to come before God and receive forgiveness and get back on track with Him. You will find Him with open arms of mercy, ready to turn your mistakes into triumphs.
There is also a difference between the Christian who has totally yielded himself to Jesus and the average person (Christian or not) who is living his life for himself. “If anyone does not love the Lord--a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!” (1 Corinthians 16:22).
Author Gene Edwards is quoted as saying,
When a Christian decides to give up his life utterly and totally to Jesus Christ without reservation, abandoning the world, giving up security, turning to simplicity and heading for the deep things of God, that is, the things nearest and dearest to the Lord; you can be sure that soon thereafter he is going to touch some portion of pain. When he does, he has commenced his inevitable journey down the road of suffering. That pilgrimage will carry him from glory to glory to glory, until one day, by the sovereign hand of the Lord, he is made into something not altogether unlike Him. Conformed to His image, mostly by suffering.[1]
Most of our suffering is mental.
We are tempted by Satan and distracted by our flesh to believe lies. God wants us to believe His Word no matter how bad things look. God wants us to confess His Word over our situations working as the change agent in the realm of the
What about martyrs?
God has called some to become physical martyrs unto torture and death. Revelation 12:11 says that we are not to love our lives even to death. The early church calculated that for every martyr three hundred people would get saved. I do not know for sure, but from reading the account of Stephen in Acts chapter 7 and the accounts of other historic situations, it seems as though God gives a special grace when a person is being tortured for the Gospel. The Scripture says that Jesus tasted death for every person.
Martyrdom is not something that passed away centuries ago; it is still going on all over the world in large numbers. For those of you who may be called to this ministry, I want to honor you. I am certainly not qualified for this subject. I want to believe that if God ever called me to be a martyr it would be something I would be honored to go through. The grace for such a thing does not come in advance.
The Bible talks about sharing in the fellowship of his sufferings as indicated in Philippians 3:10, Colossians 1:24 and 2 Corinthians 4:12.
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24). “So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you” (2 Corinthians 4:1). Paul was talking of a kind of redemptive suffering. As he met suffering in his life, he knew that he was breaking spiritual strongholds as an intercessor for others.
Our share is something less than his share.
Only Jesus is qualified for the redemptive suffering that saves man. He bore our curse totally and completely at the Cross. We cannot add to that, nor should we compromise that truth. That does not mean those curses will not come on us. It does mean that when they do, we are to stand on the truth of the Cross and turn that curse into a blessing. Exactly how that takes shape in our lives is up to God. He has the plan for our lives. If you stay close to Him and if you do not compromise the truth of the Cross, He will walk you through the hard times with purpose.
Paul knew that God would rescue him in his sufferings.
“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them” (2 Timothy 3:10,11).
What is the purpose of suffering?
I am going to offer a three-part answer to this question. The three parts are (1) vicarious intercession, (2) entering the
1. Our suffering quite often acts as intercession and warfare for the church and the lost, and for the defeat of our spiritual enemies. This is called vicarious intercession.
Vicarious means to take the place of another.
Jesus defeated Satan at the Cross, but now it is up to us to administer that defeat and finalize it. “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 3:10).
Our suffering has to do with finalizing that defeat on Satan. “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24).
Our share of His suffering is not the same as His share, but ours is nevertheless redemptive. There is still something lacking in His suffering regarding men and women who are still in bondage. Jesus has done His part; He was the only one qualified to suffer for our salvation. However, there is still something lacking in His suffering regarding men and women who are still in bondage. There is a human part to be done, and it consists of more than just saying prayers.
Our suffering is not the real thing; it is only the shadow of the real thing when compared with Jesus'. Psalm 23 calls it the valley of the shadow of death. Shadows can’t hurt, but they can cause fear. Psalm 23 goes on to say that we need not fear for He is with us, and that this path is the path of righteousness chosen by God and not by Satan. It says further that our table is spread in the presence of our enemy, we are anointed of God and our cup runs over for the blessing of others.
Why is our suffering not the real thing?
Look at Revelation Chapters 4 and 5. At the throne, John saw the Lamb who was the only one worthy to take the Scroll, which Zechariah describes as the curse (Zechariah 5:3). Then the Scroll unrolls and explosions take place (the catastrophes in the Book of Revelation). We feel the shadow of our curses, the explosions, and they feel like the real thing. But the Lamb is holding the Scroll and the explosions hit Him. When we shine the light into the shadow, we see the Lamb bleeding for our curse and saying to us, “Will you accept the shadow of this as the key to unlock the prisons for those who are bound? I promise it will not hurt you. Will you do this for Me?”
Jesus became poor so we could be rich. Yet look at the poor people in your realm of influence. Someone has to accept the shadow of being poor as the final key to unlock his or her prison.
Suffering gives us authority for ministry.
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). “Crowns” stand for authority. “Life” is what we are dispensing to the lost world. We gain the authority to bring the lost to God.
Perhaps we could name this teaching “Saved by a Shadow.”
When I experience this type of suffering, I am truly content and at peace (most of the time) because His presence is heavier during this time than ever before. There is something about going through this and then hearing His heart of love toward people that comforts me and makes me know not to be afraid no matter what happens. After all, we only have a few more years to be poor, but those people who do not get saved, well…
2. Our tough situations are doorways into the
When we were born again we were legally transferred out of the kingdom of the “world” and transferred into the
“For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).
However, like most spiritual truths, we realize the benefits of that truth through a process. That is why the Scriptures tell us we realize more of the
“…‘We must go through many hardships to enter the
We are in an age where two kingdoms, or two worlds, exist (See the diagram on the next page). One is the visible Kingdom called the “world.” The other is invisible to our eyes and it is the
Satan is the prince of this world system. Jesus is King of the
“…Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the
We have the opportunity and the privilege to operate in the
We do not have room here in this chapter, or even in this entire book, to do an entire teaching on the
We need to know that whatever pressures or difficulty we are going through will be a new door for us to go deeper into the
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). The word for “poor” is ptocheuo. Strongs Concordance defines it as “beggar, no way out, perplexed, without resources, realizes his inferior position, indigent.” When the world's kingdom fails you, then you capable of finding the
God’s Kingdom is still coming on me as I am confronted with new ways of being “poor” all the time. Do I enjoy it? No! Am I glad for it? Yes! It brings me deeper into the Kingdom, it brings me more into the presence of God through the fellowship of His sufferings, and it does some serious business for the church.
Each time we overcome bad situations, we gain more spiritual authority. How do we reach that goal? Only by traveling the pathway from pressure to enlargement, from poverty to enrichment. In the Book of Daniel, the three Hebrew children were in the pressure of the fiery furnace. Rather than finding a door out of the furnace, the Fourth Man found His way in. But the result was that the influence of God was expanded. God allowed trial upon trial to press upon Job, but his trials only pressed him to God’s goal. To John, the Isle of Patmos seemed like pressure that no one would want; yet it was the vehicle for the Revelation of who Jesus really is.
Revelation 21:21 tells us that the “gates” of heavenly
The Christian life is a process of deliverance out of one world into another, and death, as has been truly said, 'is the only way out of any world in which we are"’[1]
The Christian life is not like the world.
The world works on improvement and upward mobility. The
“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God” (Romans 6:9,10).
So far I have given you a lot of theory and Scripture. Now I want to make this practical and something that you can use for your everyday life.
Our lives with God seem to go through cycles or a process that looks like the following.
a. Need. We encounter a desperate situation and realize that it is beyond our ability to resolve it.
b. Promise. We go to God through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit and we receive His promise as the Word-seed planted in our heart. Mark 4:11 says that this process is the mystery of the
c. Tribulation. As in Mark chapter 4, Satan comes to steal the Word of promise that has been planted in our heart. We feel temptations from our flesh, from the cares of the world and from all kinds of lies that are thrown at us through circumstances and “thought bombs.” During this time, standing on the Word causes great pressure. During this tribulation our old “self,” the generational nature that we inherited from Adam, passes away and the new nature of Christ takes over in us.
d. We come to the end of our own strength. We try to remain patient, but we feel like we just can’t make it. We feel like giving up. This is suffering. Our solution is to rest in the Word of God. A more complete teaching on this is in our series, “Grow or Die.” [2]
Quite often, there is even a sense of disappointment with God because He does not resolve the situation in the way we thought He would. We feel abandoned. If we are going through our own crucifixion, then we need to know two things. First, we do not have enough hands to nail ourselves to the cross, and second, feeling forsaken by God is a part of the process.
e. God takes you up. It seems like we go through a sort of “rapture” when God takes us up to sit with Him in heavenly places. We experience a new and fresh measure of His presence. We receive revelation that we are on track with God, and that everything will be all right. This really helps our emotions. We receive His peace which passes understanding.
f. Separation from world. There is an involuntary separation from the things and resources of the world system. We are no longer looking to man or institutions to deliver us. We know that we cannot deliver ourselves. We know it is God and God alone in His timing and in His way that will deliver us. We become helpless like children waiting on their daddy to provide.
g. Awareness of the Kingdom. Each time we go through this cycle, we become more aware of the spiritual world, the
h. Deliverance. God comes through in His timing and in His way. We see His Hand working. It is not the way we expected. It accomplishes much more than we anticipated. We see that we have taken up our cross and that we are different.
3. Proving.
First we talked about spiritual warfare and then we talked about entering the
The word “prove” is a word used in the refining of gold and silver. To prove means to put gold in the fire so that the dross and impurities are burned off. The result is that the gold is more valuable and becomes pure. When we are proven, our old fleshly and worldly ways are burned off and God has proven that we are useful in His service. As we mentioned before, there is always a war, some suffering, and some spiritual tension when you decide that God will be your provider. It is like a “tearing” away from one god to the Living God (Acts 14:22). Jesus said in John 17:18 that He is sending us into the world in the same way He was sent, through spiritual warfare and difficulties.
This refining can also be described as the “breaking of our flesh,” which is our old nature and soul power. Sometimes our self-sufficiency can only be diminished through this proving process. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). The outer shell of the grain must be broken in order for the seed to bear fruit. Our outer shell is the self-sufficient soul, our soul power.
Bitter waters.
When the Israelites came out of
The tree is symbolic of the Cross of Jesus Christ, which when cast into our bitter situations, makes them sweet. The story also encourages us to seek the Lord to find out exactly which “tree” to throw into our bitter situations. Moses could have chosen any tree in the woods, and it would not have had the effect of the one God told him to choose. In other words, when we find bitterness in our lives, we need to get close to God so that we can hear Him tell us exactly which step to take next; which doctor to pursue, which medicine to take, which job to take, etc.
Exodus 15:26 contains the first part of your promise with a big “IF”.
It says, “He said, ‘If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you’” (Exodus 15:26).
Exodus 15:27 contains your deliverance, and it says, “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water” (Exodus 15:27).
The
There was a door, an open door that led to Elim. It was called Marah, the pool of bitter waters. When the tree, the Cross, was applied to the bitter circumstances, the result was strength in Kingdom work.
The story infers that there will be suffering before the goal is reached. We are encouraged to hang on and to be an overcomer. It infers that the open door of bitterness will lead to things of the
Finally.
Jesus made two statements to conclude His Sermon on the Mount. When He warned that storms would hit all of us, He was letting us know that the only thing that would keep us safe would be to build our house on the rock. Building on the rock, if you examine the Scriptures below, are simply "knowing" Jesus.
Knowing Him.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
On the rock!
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Even in your sufferings:
Be real with God.
Now listen for His voice.
“Hello there, my Name is Jesus. I love you.”
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[1] Unknown author: The Refiner’s Fire, Volume II, World Challenge, Lindale, TX., page 106.
[2]