A Ready Remnant Part 3

Committed to Covenant

Continuing in this series "A Ready Remnant”. I came in from the hospital last night, it was about 10:30 or 11:00 pm, and I sat down in the bedroom at the desk and opened the scripture and the Lord took me to John Chapter 6.

It's where Jesus says, starting with John, Chapter 6, verse 48, “I am the bread of life.” I started digging in this passage.

In this line of study, it took me right back to the root word of a different message that I had prepared for today. It was quite interesting. I told Pastor Angie, look at this. It doesn't matter what happens, what God wants to do in our lives, God will do what He wants to speak into our lives. He will speak His word truly is alive. It's alive. It's alive. And that means it's working its way. It's acting in your life whether you know it, whether you receive it, whether you accept it, whether you acknowledge it or not. Whether you live by it or not doesn't matter. God’s word is still working. So, we often think what's happening in our day-to-day life is by chance or happenstance. Some people call it fate. Some people call it the Nirvana and all kinds of weird stuff. The truth is, what's driving everything is the Word of God. It's alive. It's at the essence of all things. These trees out here, the birds in the air, are alive because of the Word of God. he birds in the air, which they're all staying.

That's what the Word says. It says the Word of God holds all things together and all that exist is because of the Word of God that holds all things together.

John Chapter 6, starting with verse 48, Jesus says. “I am the bread of life.” This is where we find one of the “I AMs” of Jesus. He says, your father's ate manna in the wilderness but they died. Now notice He says they ate heavenly bread. And you know what he's talking about here? It is when Israel had left Egypt, God delivered them from their slavery. They wandered in the wilderness. And they had nothing to eat. And God caused water to come out of a rock. God causes this bread to fall from heaven. And they would go out and collect this and what's they called “manna”. And then when they got tired of eating it they said, “We want some meat.” So, God caused ravens to fall out of the sky and He fed them.

And so, Jesus is saying they ate heavenly bread. I'm not talking about Wonder bread. I'm not talking about that enriched light bread that turns to sugar. I've talking about bread that literally came from the throne of God and yet they died. Do you know why they died? Because they ate bread that only fed their flesh, even though it came from heaven. It only sustained their flesh. You must have a bread that sustains your spirit, not just your flesh.

When you worship it is just a song, it's just singing, it's fleshly bread if it is not directed from your spirit through the Holy Spirit. If it is not intimate communion then it is just edifying your flesh, your outward man. To a certain degree, it’s spiritual but it’s fleshly bread. The only way that worship becomes spiritual life-giving bread is through the Holy Spirit.

When it's worship coming from deep within, not just words out of your mouth, not just lyrics on a sheet of paper. Worship comes from within you. Your spirit connected with the Holy Spirit. There is where it doesn't turn to fleshly sugar just making you spiritually fat.

The worship that is in Spirit and in Truth is worship that has to come from your spirit and has to connect with the Spirit of the Living God. Now that is life-giving bread.

It is the same as when you pray. Your prayer can just be like light bread. You can make your bread wheat bread if you would like. You can make it like a cinnamon roll and put some sugar on it. It doesn’t matter, but it doesn't turn to life.

Well, for your soul, unless you make that intimate connection to commune with God through the spirit, it’s just fleshly worship or fleshly prayer. That's when your prayers are just me, me, me, me, me. It's not life giving. The life-giving way is when that prayer, that worship goes You, You, You, You, God, You, God. I need You God. You are my hope. You are my life. You are my peace. You sustain me, You keep me, You alone God.

Now, it's becoming life.

So, I'm giving you the practical. I could give you a bunch of Hebrew this morning. I might give you one or two Hebrew words or concepts. But what I am also giving you is practical and applicable. Because as Prophet Kevin Leal states, “If it is not practical, it's really not spiritual.” It’s not Biblical spiritual unless it is transformational. There's a lot of things we do and we call spiritual, but they have no practicality to your deepening relationship with God. If it doesn't enrich your relationship with God, if there's no Holy Spirit in it, it's dead works.

I have had people tell me, “Well Pastor, I pray three hours a day every morning starting at 4:00 AM. And I am like, “Wow, you are so spiritual.” And they ask the competitive question, “What about when and how long do you pray per day Pastor?”

I reply, “Really? I pray most often. And I tell you what else. I don't gossip like you do. I don't speak ugly about my brother or sister like you do. Do you hear what I'm saying? It is not practical if the Holy Spirit is not in it. And if the Holy Spirit is not in it, it's just dead works. There's no life in it.

So, they ate good. Their bread came from heaven, but it only sustained their flesh. It didn't change their hearts. It didn't change their perception, their dependence on God. They just treated it like a handout. That's all it was. God was just like a government subsidy.

He would meet their needs and they just complained when the flesh was no longer satisfies. If they were not complaining about the supernatural water from a rock, they were complaining about the supernatural bread of the supernatural meat. Because there they complained about the meat.

They wanted Life-Water brand, you know, like you get down there at the convenient store. The kind with some Raspberry flavoring in it. Israel was just never happy, never happy.

See, that's why you can be very religious. You can be very spiritual. You can go through all the motions and still find yourself never happy. Why? Because there's no life in your dead works. I'm just being real with you. They ate heavenly bread, but it only filled their flesh.

Jesus says, this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. Here's what he said. I am the bread. I've come from heaven. But when you partake of my bread you never die.

Why? What's he saying? My bread doesn't just sustain the flesh. It is the essence of what keeps it alive. It is the essence of your spirit. It is Spirit. It feeds your spirit.

So many times, we just want things to kind of just touch and prop up our soul. But This is why he says, when Jesus told the woman at the well, the day is coming when you will no longer argue over where we should worship on this mountain or that. But those who worship Me must worship him in flesh? No. How about worship with your mind and your mouth. What did He really say? You must worship Me with your spirit man. You must Shama, in obedience worship from your innermost being. You must connect with God through the Spirit of God.

That's why He said. I'll give you water and from it you will never thirst.

He says anyone who eats this bread, He will live forever and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Notice that is kind of turning around with the bread I'm giving.

For the life of the world is my flesh. What's he saying? He's saying this. I'm giving you an opportunity for exchange. You can exchange. I'm offering you an exchange. To give up your worldly life and take on a Godly life.

You are living in this world by flesh. But I'm giving you a different bread if you receive it, you can exchange the bread of this world, this fleshly living and stop trying to sustain this fleshly existence. I'm going to tell you most Christians in the church today live a fleshly existence. The sing songs of all their spirituality. But true spirituality is character not ordinance. Their life’s song is a fleshly existence.

What Jesus is saying is, “I'm giving you an opportunity to exchange that fleshly existence, because I got to show you how to crucify the flesh. So, Jesus didn't just come to rid you of the stain of sin that you may be excused. He bought you and your deliverance from sin at a great price. There's been a misconception of a doctrine regarding his Lordship. It’s been taught that Jesus only came to die so you could justify your flesh.

No. He came to show you how to die to this fleshly existence and live true life. To allow you to partake of the Bread of Life, the Living Water and His life become yours.

Look at what He goes on to say in John 6:53 to the mass of proclaimed disciples some of who are Jewish leaders. Then there's arguing among themselves saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” That's not what he did. They did not get it. So, Jesus said to them, he's going to stir the pot.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink My blood.” Jesus was an instigator. He didn't give them just an explanation. He stirred the pot a little bit. He stirred that religious pot.

They said, “How can this man talk about us eating his flesh?” He said, “How about drink my blood?” You said to them, “You are like Israel in the wilderness. I gave them bread and they weren't satisfied. I gave them drink and they weren't satisfied. I gave them meat and they weren't satisfied because all they knew was how to exist in the flesh and didn't know how to live a spiritual life.

That's why you can get all the religious training; you can put your Kepa on; you can put your fish hat on. You can perform all the religious things and you're just like Israel. If there's no intimate connection and you're not living by the Spirit of the Living God, it’s dead works.

Just dead works. You can be good. Let deal with this goodness and why I'm a good person. Good is not the standard. Righteousness is. You can be a good goat. You can be a real good goat, but that won't make you a sheep. And you can’t be both. You are sheep or a goat. Both go baaaaah. Both leave droppings.

It doesn’t matter. He said eat His bread and drink his blood. You have to listen what He says every day. “Eat this and drink this.”

What's he talking about? He was talking about his blood being poured out as a poor offering. We was talking about His body was going to be crucified and His blood is going to be poured out like a poor offering.

But they were so offended, like goats, that they couldn't hear. They did not have ears to hear because they were so offended because he was not complying to their religious model.

How many times in the church have we hear that church hymn that says, “Come just as you are without one plea?”

And so, the alcoholic, the drug addict or the homosexual comes down and they want to give their life to Christ and they want to be changed. And then the church says about two weeks later, “Now, brother, you need to get you a suit. Get your tie. Get you some wing tip shoes.” Do you know why? Because the rest of the verse is, “Just as I am without one plea. But you’ve got about two weeks to look like me.”

Why? Because we start trying to change people from the outside in instead of from the inside out. Yeah, it's what's inside. That's what Jesus says.

You see, let me just tell you this about verse 53. Life without God, even if it's religious, does not compare to a life with the Spirit of God versus whatever you feed your flesh having no eternal life.

John 6:53-56, So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

You know what that tells me? Flesh is not the bread He is speaking of. Flesh is nothing, and there is nothing, no living, no real life in flesh. Flesh ends. The flesh is nothing and has nothing.

What's he talking about? You must live by My mind and My Spirit. The flesh must be subject unto death of this flesh.

You know, Jesus was the nefesh or the flesh of God, God in the flesh. John tells us in in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He goes on God to say in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

What happened in the garden? Fleshly man sinned against God. My Dad used to teach this. It’s just an illustration. But I believe before he sinned Adam was 90 percent spirit and 10 percent flesh. But after he sinned, he was 90 percent flesh and ten percent spirit.

It's kind of like Doctor Doug Wheeler puts it. If you hold up a grape, that has a seed in it, up to a light, you can see that seed because it has a thin outer skin. Because the light shines through it and you can see what is on the inside. But not so with a pecan nut. It has a hard outer shell and if you hold it up to the light, what do you get? You see nothing. All you see is the hard outer shell. The only way you can get to the nut inside is to crack it.

Jesus goes on to say, and I love this, He says, in John 6:55, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

One of the words for “true” in Hebrew is yatstiyv יַצִּיב. It means absolute; certain; sure; un-doubtable.

So, He said, My flesh is absolute. It means it's for certain. It's a sure thing. It's un-doubtable. What is He comparing it to? He's compared it earlier to the dead bread in the wilderness. What would happen after they collected what each needed for their family? If they tried to collect more than they needed it went bad. Why? Because when they gathered more than God provided, it meant they didn't trust that God will provide the next day and the next day and the next day. So, they hold on to it for themselves and their kids. Just in case tomorrow God chose not to sustain them.

See, but Jesus is saying you can't think that way with this bread. This bread, it never fades, it never rots. There's no death in it. There's only life. And if you eat it, it is certain to sustain you.

The word for “food” is the root word akal אכל meaning that which is consumed. You’ve go to eat it. That's what He's saying. You have to be consumed with Me. He is also talking to his disciples. You must eat this. You must be concerned by Jesus.

You have to consume of His words and who He is. It must become an all-consuming relationship with Jesus Christ.

Living by the Spirit of God must be an all-life consuming lifestyle.

When He goes on, He says, “My bread is true food.” Then He goes on and says, “And my blood is true drink.” What is interesting here is there is a whole list of various words used in the Hebrew for the word “drink”.

Each word is based on its type of drink, its intent, or event. In other words, if you look up the word for “drink” and it has to do with the pour offering, it's one thing. If it has to do with an event like a wedding banquet, it might be wine or something else.

It’s like with David, when he and his men were hiding in the caves and Saul was pursuing them to kill them, David said, “Oh, what I would do for a drink of that water down there in the valley.” So, his men snuck into the camp of Saul's army in the night. They risked their lives to get their leader a drink of that water.

And when they brought it to him and said, “Here you go. We love you this much that we risked our lives to get you a drink of this water.” And you know what he did with that water? He poured it out. And they were like, “Oh no you didn’t!” “Man, we are going to smack you for that!” Do you know what it cost us to get that for you and you just poured it out.”

No, that's not what they said. They understood, that he considered this water too valuable for him to consume. Instead, David says, “I will give it back to God.” And so, it wasn't just poured out like I poured out the last little bit of my coffee that turned cold. This was an offering unto God, and that's what Jesus was for us.

That's the kind of drink He is talking about here. And so, the other meanings for the word “drink” include that which sustains or that which is a pour offering, or that which refreshes or is intoxicating.

That's why the Scripture says in Psalm 42:1, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”

That's the kind of drink He is talking about. Or like wine at a banquet. The relational love of Christ is intoxicating.

How do you know the Spirit of God? We have to get to the point we love it so much that we are intoxicated with Jesus.

Then Jesus goes on and says, (John 6:57) “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

In verse 60 it says, “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Even His closest disciples were struggling to hear this and comprehend.

And so it is hard to understand Jesus. (John 6:61) “But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this?’”

Anybody here ever been offended? Have you ever been offended at God because he didn't do what you wanted? He didn't do it when you wanted? He did not meet your expectation?

He says this, “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”

You remember back when Jacob had a dream in Genesis 28? The heavens opened up and he saw the angels ascending and descending up and down.

It says at the top of that ladder was Adonai (יהוה). Genesis 28:13, “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.”

God is revealing His delivering, saving, eternal Word. He is revealing Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus the Christ. Not only is the promise to Abraham and to Jacob being revealed, God was giving him a vision of the Savior, the deliver for all mankind.

And He says verse 63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

Who gives life? His bread. For the flesh, there is no help at all in the flesh.

I remember when I was a young cadet. And I was an art major. And the Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) had these big plate-glass windows in front of the building. They found out I was an artist so the Colonel asked me to paint some stuff on the windows.

So, I'm up there in between classes painting. But every time I was working on it the Sergeant Major would come out there and stand behind me and give me instructions on what to do. It drove me bonkers. Finally, turned around and asked if he had ever painted signs before. I asked what his experience level and knowledge of the task at hand was. I mean, I was respectful. But I was like, “You’re no help at all.”

Have you ever been trying to fix something, or trying to do something, and something goes wrong and you have someone standing right there, not saying a word until something goes wrong and they say, “I could have told you that was going to happen.” And you are like, “Well then why didn’t you say anything?’ No help at all.

That's the flesh. It is no help at all. But the Spirit is the life.

My poor sister-in-law while at the hospital. It was a really hard evening. And she watched all these machines keeping her husband alive. And the hospital was pressuring her to make a decision. They were saying he's brain dead. I mean, they were nice. They were basically wanting to go home because their shift was over. I am not saying that was their motive. They were very good staff. But that's what it feels like when it's you in that situation in that moment. There you are with your loved one and it's a tough situation.

So, I just told her and his two sons, “Do not feel pressured. These people aren't trying to pressure you, though it may feel like it. It may seem like it but they're not. They deal with this every day. Okay. You have just you got to understand that.”

I went on to say, “But Honey at the end of the day, whatever decision whenever, if you decide to sustain and hold out hope, if you decide to just stop right now and let God. We have got to trust in the salvation of the Savior that he put his life in.”

I said, “At the end of the day, sweetie, the decision, whatever decision you make, your decision doesn't decide his future. So, the pressures off of you. You're just left to contend with the administrative decisions of this fleshly loss. You have no control of what real life is, because real life is the spirit that is within them. The rest of this is flash. And so, for whatever comfort that may bring, you do not have to live with what ifs. What if I told them to do this too soon? What if I waited? What if? What if? What if? You don't have to live with those ‘What if’s’. You can live with what you know about God at the end of the day.” This is most useful.

You see, the Holy Spirit life and is the only life. In fact, this fleshly life we live is not life at all. If it doesn't have the Spirit in it.

And look what Jesus says, “It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all, and the words that I have spoken to you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

At this point, everyone left Him except the Twelve.

It says, but even among the Twelve there are some of you who do not believe. You hear me, but you're not hearing me. You're hearing the sound in my vocal cords, and you're hearing the formulation of sentences but you're not hearing.

What's inside of you? There are so many people who sit in church every day and they hear what they want to hear.

The word He said to them apply to some of you. Sermon after sermon you hear but you do not believe because if you believed it would transform you.

The word “believe” is the Hebrew word ‘ot אוֹת meaning sign; a wonder; miracles; standard; a pledge of covenant. There is another which is aman אָמַן meaning trustworthy or confirmed.

When we got word of my brother-in-law we started believing. At the hospital we were believing for a miracle. We were believing for our wonder that only God can bring. Because the physician told my poor nephew there was no hope. His son asked the doctor, “What's his chances?” And the doctor said, “I'm going to be honest. They are zero.”

How many of you know that is no help at all. And I said, “But Sir, we have more than a zero.” I have more than 0. What are his chances that he's in the presence of Jesus? They're pretty high.

So, it means the sign of the one who is the author of miracles. It means a standard that is above ours in this fleshly world. What does it mean to believe? And what, in context, does Jesus say? He said My words are spirit and they are life and there are some of you here, even my Twelve disciples, who do not believe.

Remember the last meaning for this word to “believe”? It is a pledge of covenant. Jesus is saying, with all this talk about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, “I AM talking about Covenant Relationship with God.”

How do you know where your relationship with God and Truth stand? It can't be built on your parent’s relationship with God. It can't be built on your church's relationship with God. It can't be built on your pastor’s relationship with God. It can't be built on the ministry or the past. Things that you've done for God. It can't be built on any of that. It has to be built on this covenant of surrender. This this surrender to this covenant means a pledge of covenant.

Jesus tells them, “You've been with Me, you've cast out demons. You've heard what is sin and righteousness. You've watched Me raise the dead. You were there when I said Lazarus, “Come forth”, and you saw him come out of that grave. You were there, but you still don't believe because you are unwilling to make the pledge of covenant. You live by flesh and have not the Spirit.”

Are you hearing me? And the pledge of Covenant is more than just lip service to God. This is what He goes on to say.

That Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray him?

And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted by or granted me by the father” (John 6:65).

The word “granted” is the Hebrew nasa נשא meaning forgiven. Listen what Jesus is saying. This scripture has been so twisted. This whole mess of devilish doctrine that God's decided who is going to heaven or hell. No matter what you do, or how you live, or what your heart is like, God has already decided you are going to live inn His presence eternally. So, if God then decided you're going to be safe, you can live like the devil and he's okay with it because you've already been given your heavenly lottery ticket.

Folks, this precious Salvation is not a lottery ticket.

Here's what Jesus is saying, you have to accept this forgiveness and live it. It means being forgiven and forgiving. Read it this way: And He said this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless he is forgiven by the father. This explains why Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). What's he saying? It is only My blood covenant that washes away your sin. It is I who redeems you and restores you and makes you pure.

This is the only covenant way to the father is through My bread My drink.

It makes more sense when the Sons of Zebedee, James and John, their mother said, “Lord, when you bring your Kingdom will my sons have a place of authority and position where they have a title in your Kingdom?” And Jesus said, “Can they drink My drink? Can they drink from My cup? Can they pledge My pledge? This covenant pledge that I'm making requires death of the flesh and life in the spirit.”

That question still holds true for us today. That's what Jesus meant in John 14:6. “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 6:66 says, “And after this, many His disciples turned back never to walk with Him again.”. Now, they're all getting up except the Twelve, and walking away for the Savior of the World. It’s like when I preach a message that the Holy Spirit has given to help people grow stronger in their faith and answers to their life issues. And one by one, they go into the bathroom and never return.

It says many of the disciples turned and no longer walked with Him. The word walk is halak הָלַךְ means how you live your life; your lifestyle. So, they refused to walk the walk of the Christ. They chose not to change the way of trying to live the way of fleshly bread. And now they've decided to go back to trying to reach God through the religious ways.

Whatever way of living they were living, that they returned to. How many know that it is much easier to live religious than to live by the spirit of Christ.

So, Jesus said, to the Twelve, “do you want to go away as well? And Simon Peter answered him and said Lord, to whom shall we go? What other Rabbi has the words of life? There is no Rabbi like you. To who now shall we go for you have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know to be intimate with you, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Listen, to this well-articulated answer, you would think Jesus at that point would say, “Oh wow! That's a good answer, Peter. I knew you were a good leader. I knew you were a very spiritual man.”

But instead, this is what Jesus says, ““Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil” (John 6:70).

I can hear Peter’s thoughts, “Jesus, after the profound and motivating words I just said to encourage you, that we're not leaving as all those other left, you call one of us a devil?” You have got to understand Simon. Simon is always trying to look good.

Simon is trying to point out to Jesus, “I watched those other people leave. And I stayed. I am a true disciple. Give me a cookie.”

Jesus said, “I chose you Twelve, and yet one of you is a devil.” It might help to know what a devil is? It's not your ex-husband or your ex-wife. That's not the devil.

What is he doing? First of all, He says, “did I not choose you Twelve?”

The word for “choose” is bachar בחר. It means that I have selected and preferred you. But it also means I have tested you. Jesus is saying, “Have I not tested your hearts?”

When it says Jesus already knew who those who betray Him, it wasn't just that he was prophetic, but that He had been testing their hearts the whole time. He was testing their attitudes. He was testing their responses. He was testing their character. He was testing their nature. And if you truly will be on the side of Christ when you come and sit with us trying to make you look like Jesus from the inside outside, then we want test your heart. We want to dig up the roots of the old person and that old lifestyle; that old flesh nature and pull him out so the good crops of the Fruit of the Spirit of Christ can grow in your life. That's discipleship. That's love. Love does not let you come in. Come up to the altar to except Jesus. Say some words, shake your hand. It doesn’t end there. Then we want put you with others that can help you get to where God wants you to grow.

But to keep letting you live the same kind of life, that's not love at all. That's not the discipleship of Jesus. That's not salvation. That's not good. That's dead works.

Listen to what Jesus said, “One of you is a devil.” The word “devil” in the Old Testament is saiyr שָׂעִיר meaning hairy and referring to a goat. There is also the word “demon”. As well, there is the word eloah אֱלוֹהַּ which may be used as a reference to God. But it also means “whose power is his god.”

When Jesus says one of you is a devil. He wasn’t talking about some poltergeist thing. Jesus is talking about a heart issue; an attitude; a way of thinking. He is asking, “Whose power is your god.” Whose power is truly god in your life?

Judas’ problem was that he thought his power to manipulate and control situations, his power to get things done his way and the way he thought they ought to be done was his god.

See, his whole thing was tied to his interpretation of Messianic prophecy. He was trying to force Jesus's hand to overthrow Rome and bring his power like he thought it should have been brought.

It's the same thing when Jesus speaks of His crucifixion and Simon says, “Never will I let them take you.” And Jesus said, “Get thee behind Me Ha Satan. Your attitude, your motivation comes from your power, your authority, which you have placed as your god, not the power and authority of God Most High.

Let’s put it this way, Jesus basically says, “Did I not choose or prefer or test you Twelve and yet one of you has put your power above the power of God in your life. Your attitude is above the will of God. That's a dangerous place to be. This is why we must understand what it means to live by the Spirit. Because Judas lived by a different spirit. He was a fleshly follower.

Jesus didn't want fleshly followers. He wanted Spirit followers.

So, every day you need to assess, “Where am I God? Am I a fleshly follower or Spirit follower? This is why, as I said earlier, even after all the water damage in the sanctuary and fighting the mold, the bacteria, the odors, all that and then dealing with what my family is dealing with today, a death of a dear loved one. We must trust and rush to the presence of God. This isn't the time to cancel that which provides that spiritual connection with God. No, this isn't the time to cancel those things. These are the times to feed on all those things because they are bread and they have life in them through Christ Jesus when we connect through the Holy Spirit.

And then with that food, now my soul and my flesh must be subject to the Spirit of God within me. That's what it means to live the spiritual life. I know people that speak in tingues one minute and then the gossip next.

Some people can act like they have the Holy Ghost one day and then drop an “F” bomb the next day. Where's the Spirit of God in that?

Because there are Christians who do not speak in tongues, who do not speak Hebrew, who do not have a title but who live a deeper, spirit filled life than many of us.

Where are we? Whose power is God in our life? What bread are you eating every day? Is it manna from heaven, or is it the bread of Jesus? Is it the water from the rock, though that may be miraculous? The water from the rock was supernatural, yet it only sustained their flesh. But the blood of Jesus has true life.

Every day I'm learning it's really easy to get caught up when you're dealing with flood damage, churchy stuff and everything else, and just start living freshly ministry. I don't want to live fleshly ministry. I want Spirit filled ministry service to Jesus.

Lord, let the things that we thought were life fall subject to that which pleases God. Test our hearts that we may found truly believing. I don't want to be a spiritual devil.

I to learn what it means to truly live by the Spirit of Christ Jesus. I don't want to be found before You with dead works or an empty hand with no fruits of righteousness. But I want to be found with crowns to lay at your feet. I want to hear you say, “You figured it out so well done. I don't want to be told to go to the left with the goats. I want to be found on the right with the sheep Lord. So, Father, we just ask you, Holy Spirit, to search us today. And Lord, purge and test our hearts and help us separate, by the word of God, that which separates the flesh from the spirit. And shows us what is flesh and what is spirit that we might live by the Spirit and crucify the flesh.