Fruit

Even when we have met someone and perhaps listened to their stories, we are still looking at a trailer. And the stories are always exciting, but that is still the glossy jacket. We really don't know them until we see the fruit of their lives. We know the real person by the fruit He produces. ~ DickEvans.org

Qualifications

We complicate the simple Truths. For hundreds of years mankind has created all kinds of qualifications for following Jesus. Yet it is only through a relationship with Him that we can find the Truth. It is only by His revealing it to us in our quiet time with Him. Then we can truly see how simple it is. ~ DickEvans.org

Sin

Thank God the last Adam came to take away the seed of sin that had entered mankind. Jesus took that original sin and forgave us of all the sin that we had added on our own forevermore, all of the ways in which we have not obeyed the Father and washed it in His blood.

A Day in the Life of Jesus

John 14:12 NKJV
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Jesus told us we would do what He did and even greater things. Let's take a look at one such day in His life while on earth.

Mark 6:42-56 NKJV
So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men. 

Immediately [Jesus] made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 

And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 

Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. 

Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled. 

But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. 

And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened. 

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. 

Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.

Each of us are Jesus' arms and feet and mouth today. He is alive in us. As we practice His presence and allow Him to work through us it is not us but Him that reaches the lost and heals the sick.

He lives in each and every born again believer. Don't keep Him locked up inside while you follow the leading of the world. Practice His presence daily. Pray without ceasing. Let Holy Spirit lead as you allow Jesus to flow through you to the world around you.

Greater works are all around us to step into. Remember Jesus' words, "For you will do greater things because of He who is in you."

Performance

God does not look for our performance as a prerequisite to relationship. As He did with Abraham (Romans 4:16), He looks for our faith. All we had to do was exercise little faith and He saved us. He forgave all of our sins (past, present and future) and opened His arms to us. ~ DickEvans.org

Potential

It is time to stop judging others for who they were and start looking at them as Jesus looks at them. He sees their potential not their past. That person that you have judged may be the one that will bring thousands into the Kingdom of God. Take the time to step out and talk to them today. ~ DickEvans.org

Obey

When we were of the world we ignored our conscious and pushed further in to satisfy our flesh. Then we became a believer and He sent the comforter to guide us in all truth. I believe at birth God gave us knowledge of His law and a conscious to nudge us. Now we have Holy Spirit but we still must choose. We must listen and obey what He tells us. ~ DickEvans.org

Good News

Deep down in each and everyone is knowledge of God. And with that knowledge is a seed of faith. When we reach others with the Good News about Jesus Christ that knowledge is remembered and when coupled with that seed of faith, the person is saved. ~ DickEvans.org

Mistakes

We can bury our mistakes so others can't see them. We can blame others for the errors we make. This fools them and it may even fool us. But it never fools God. He knows everything about us and is always ready like a loving Father to pick us up and dust us off so we can start again. ~ DickEvans.org

A Journey in the Invisible

Colossians 2:6-7 
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

We follow Jesus as he leads us by His spirit each day. We are on a journey leading to life everlasting in our new home in heaven.

Are we on a journey of our own making or are we on the journey with He who is in us? He is always with us. Are we looking to Him or to our own journey?Are we too busy to allow Him in?

Out inheritance is right there waiting for us to take it. But we are like a person with a million dollars in an account but not taking advantage of it.

Step into the inheritance Christ has for you. He went to the cross for you and removed your sin debt so you could have your inheritance. Dip into that inheritance and allow Holy Spirit to use you.

Invest your inheritance in others. Share the good news and disciple those who receive Jesus. He will no longer be invisible as you practice His presence in your life daily.

He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. Our journey is seeing He who is invisible in our daily walk and in others. Allow Him to take us through the circumstances of life.

We do not see him but we see Him. He abides in us. You abide in Him. You know that you know that you know He does. Live it.

Freedom

Galatians 5:1
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in the law. (NLT)

How many laws do we have in our religions that keep us from the freedom He has for us? He tells us to listen to Holy Spirit and do what He tells us to do. Listen for His lead and follow it. He points the way and we are to go. Go and tell the good news. Tell the story of Jesus to everyone, save the lost and they will lay hands on the sick and see them recover. We must choose to walk forth in that freedom today. ~ DickEvans.org

All the Time

Rules and laws, Old Testament and New Testament. It can be very confusing. But God does not want us just one or two times a week; on Sunday and a mid-week service. He wants us all the time. He wants all of us all of the time. Isn't it time that we each turned it all over to Him? ~ DickEvans.org

Worldy Ways

Isn't it time to leave our worldly ways and listen? As we listen to Holy Spirit we grow into the perfection He has for us as we walk out our transformation walk. ~ DickEvans.org

Choices

In order to walk the walk He has laid out for us, we have to choose to do so. Without our choices God is powerless to move through us. He will never take away the free will that He gave to each and every one of us for He is a "man" of His word. ~ DickEvans.org

Change Occurred

When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we stepped out in faith, not thought. We asked because we knew that we knew that if we asked He would come. And He did. How do we know He did? Change occurred in our lives. We became a new creature in Christ when we took that step of faith and asked Him to be our Lord. ~ DickEvans.org

You Got it All

2 Corinthians 1:22 NIV 
[He] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

When you said yes to Jesus you got it all. Holy Spirit is your guarantee You did not just unlock a door. You were born again into a new life. A life with the almighty god. A life lived in a new reality. A life eternal.

With others in the body of Christ, other believers, you walk in the spirit bringing heaven down to earth for others to see and grab onto.

The enemy uses others and our own minds to try to trip us up. To tempt us back into death. Back into those things we were into before we found truth.

Listen to the voice of truth. The comfort of the past is not the way to the path of righteousness. Not the way of truth and life eternal.

No longer are we led by what feels good in the flesh. No longer are we driven to put on a mask of happiness. To be what pleases others.

Instead we are led by Love. Led by the Holy Spirit. Led by the simple knowledge of who we are in Christ. For He abides in us and we abide in Him. We are His temple, the house of God.

The enemy wants us to believe we have to be trained to do what God wants us to do. Who He wants us to become. He uses the church to believe these lies. They set rules about what you have to be in order to pray for others. To teach. To lead others to Jesus.

This may be true for those who are not believers but are just church goers. Carnal Christians. Going to a church does not make us followers of Jesus. Just doing what we think Jesus would do does not make us born again. Rather it is a way to give a false sense of security. A way to make walking in the flesh appear to be walking with God. It does not bring heaven down to earth.

Signs and wonders follow those walking in the spirit not those faithfully following church doctrine. To walk in the the spirit requires His spirit in us. When we practice His presence in us and He leads our every thought and action we are truly walking in the spirit.

Father God, thank you that when I asked Jesus into my heart that I got it all. Show me each day the path you have for me to take. The way of truth. Help me to remain in my new reality driven by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray.

Evidence

What evidence is there in our lives that Jesus is alive? What fruits are there in our life? Can others tell by what we are like who lives in us? As we listen to the Holy Spirit within us and obey His voice the evidence will unfold. ~ DickEvans.org

Miracles Today

Signs and wonders and miracles do occur today. He moves through each of us as mightily as God did through Paul. But it is not you. It is Him. We can be a picture of perfect health and He will use us. But even if we are not, even if we are uneducated, blind, in a wheelchair... He will still use us. He is waiting for you. It is your choice to allow him to work through you in spite of your imperfection. ~ DickEvans.org

Focus

We must continue to focus on what God has for us to do and not be distracted by that "subtle serpent satan". Satan would love to have us focus on the situations, the problems of society. Jesus did not tell us to go forth and solve society's issues of the day. He told us to go out and tell the story. Tell the world what Jesus is doing in our life. ~ DickEvans.org

God's Plan

We need to know God"s plan for us. That is first and foremost. Then we need to stay within the boundaries He has for us within that plan. He will never open doors for us that are beyond our ability to walk through. ~ DickEvans.org

Word of Mouth

Jesus commissioned us to go into the world and tell the good news. Word of mouth is how it happens. If you want more members in your church, then get out and plant the seeds. It is is the people to people contact that really works. Let’s get out in the day to day world and tell the story. ~ DickEvans.org

Turn it Around

We need to turn it around. No matter what we are feeling sorrow about, with Christ, we can turn it around. There may not be an apparent reason for the situation we are in, but there is always a next step. We have the victory over any situation if we only reach out for it. ~ DickEvans.org

The Covenant Confusion

By Dick Evans, www.dickevans.org

There seems to be some confusion among believers as to the old and new covenants. Old Testament is not the same as old covenant. New Testament is not the same as new covenant

The Old Testament is filled with books that take mankind from creation and the first Adam's birth through the period just before Jesus' birth, the second Adam.

The Old Covenant was between the Israelites and Father God. He made it with Moses and chiseled Ten Commandments into stone tablets. It was only between the Israelites and God. It was not a covenant with the rest of mankind.

This was the beginning of the age of law. A time when the law exposed sin to the Jews. The law was their teacher. (Galatians 3:24-26) If they broke a law they knew they had sinned.

Jesus came to fulfill the law and He brought a new covenant to replace the old. And this new covenant was for all mankind not just the Jews.

Luke 22:20 NKJV 
Likewise [Jesus] also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." 

Jesus spoke to his disciples about a new covenant in his blood. He was declaring his last will and testament, a new covenant that would come into effect when he died.

Hebrews 9:15 NKJV 
And for this reason [Jesus] is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 

All but the last couple of chapters in the four gospels were set under the old covenant. Jesus walked the earth in the age of law. It was after Jesus' death, burial, and resection that the new covenant replaced the old.

From that point forward we have walked in the age of grace. Each believer is given the Holy Spirit at the time of their belief in Jesus. Their spirit is born again in heaven. They become a citizen of heaven. They are an alien to this evil world. Who they once were Is dead and they are alive in Christ. (Romans 8:10)

Although Jesus tells us the only work is to believe in Him (John 6:28-29), our commission is clear.

Mark 16:15-18 
And [Jesus] said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 

The Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ is in us. Jesus resides us. (1 John 4:19) We have all his authority and all his power and all his anointing. As we allow him to use us, he comes upon us and performs signs and wonders and we see miraculous events transpire in front of our eyes. Even though our words and our hands.

Know who you are in Christ. Practice His presence and watch Him move in mighty ways through you. Just Believe.

Go Tell

We are let others be drawn in so we can be a positive force to them but not to partner with them. We are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to go and tell our story, tell the story of Jesus and what He has done in our lives. ~ DickEvans.org

Change

The true evidence of being a believer, a Christian, is change. When we accept Jesus into our hearts and ask Him to be our Lord and Savior, we become a new person, alien to this old body of ours. We are not the same anymore and others notice the subtle changes in us. Sometimes the change is dramatic. ~ DickEvans.org

Solution

We can't talk people out of what they are in the middle of. No, we have to lead them to Jesus and He will guide them to all truth. So it is time to stop preaching to the problem. It is time to preach the ultimate solution, the only true solution, the message of Jesus. ~ DickEvans.org

The Veil

When unbelievers are ready to hear the message, they hear it. Wise words cannot convince them. It is when the veil is lifting, perhaps a corner exposed, that they can smell the perfume of the Lord when they are in our presence. And when they say those words asking Jesus into their heart, the veil is ripped off and their new life begins. Who did you ask today? ~ DickEvans.org