God Is...LIFE

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. -1 John 4:4–6 (NKJV)

John makes it abundantly clear in this passage of Scripture that there are two types of spirits at work on Earth, a spirit of truth and a spirit of error. In this short epistle, 1 John, he also reveals some essential things that God is...

Over the next three weeks are going to discuss three of John’s revelations of God. The first, God is life. John loved to talk about life, eternal life, life in and through Jesus. So he recorded for us in his Gospel, Jesus’ famous quote, “The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus comes to give life and life more abundantly (Ref. John 10:10).

John also teaches us three things about the reality that God is LIFE:

1. The LIFE was Manifested. (1 John 1:2)

Jesus, the Son of God, was manifested, made present on Earth as the life of God.

2. The LIFE is to be Experienced. (1 John 1:2)

We have the opportunity to experience Him, and it is a life that is above and beyond anything you could ever expect or imagine.

3. The LIFE should be Shared. (1 John 1:3)

We are to be in fellowship with others and with God.

God is life, and he manifested this life through the work of His Son, Jesus. As an original disciple of Jesus, John experienced His Master in the physical, and we are invited to experience the life of Jesus in the spiritual. Then, share it with others! We are called to fellowship, experiencing worship and word in community. God did not design us to do life alone!

In the context of 1 John, John brings about such encouragements as God is Life because he recognizes something is happening with new Christians. When he is writing his letter, he observes the arrival of second and third generations of Christians within the Church. Noticing the young Christians are compromising their faith and falling prey to the ideology of the world, he is extremely troubled. After all, John had been with Jesus personally. He was a member of Jesus’s inner circle. He had seen Jesus in ways no one else could testify to, and he had faced significant persecution for his life’s mission to spread the Good News of Jesus.

A question lies underneath everything John seems to have to save within these five chapters:

Are you a Child of God or a Counterfeit Christian?

On one occasion, the statement is direct:

In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest…-1 John 3:10 NKJV

1 John 4:4–6 told us there's a spirit of truth, and there’s a spirit of error. People of the spirit of truth are children of God, but people of the spirit of error are the devil’s children. Children of the devil may pose as children of God, but they are not. They are not truly saved, and therefore they are counterfeit Christians. This truth is one of the reasons that Jesus called Pharisees by this term, “children of the devil” in John 8:44.

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. - John 8:44

It didn’t matter that the Pharisees prayed eloquent prayers, dressed in their Sunday-best, or were regarded as highly religious authorities… Jesus said they were counterfeit. You can go through a form of godliness and deny the power thereof. You can pose as something on Sunday but be exposed on Monday for who you really are. Jesus and John both pointed out in their ministries that God is not a fan of hypocrisy. He is looking for His true children.

How do you know if you are a true child of God?

John addressed this question as well; in the Gospel of John, he says, “Marvel not that you must be born again.” We must all have a born-again experience. Call on the name of Jesus by and through accessibility He has made available through the outpouring of His blood. Then go public with the reality of your birth through water baptism by letting everyone know that you are made new, that you have been born again! You are a Jesus-follower! (If you have recently dedicated your life to service of Jesus and would like to take your next steps in God, contact us: info@3trees.com)

Speaking of being Born Again, John lists some marks for a Child of God with a born-again experience. John states that you will experience these attributes in your life:

1. You believe Jesus is ‘The One’ -1 John 5:1

2. You love each other -1 John 4:7

3. You do what’s right -1 John 2:29

4. You avoid sinful habits -1 John 3:9

5. You might be hated by the world -1 John 3:13

6. You overcome the world -1 John 5:4

What an incredible promise, we will overcome the world! This news is excellent because John also informed us:

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. -1 John 5:19-20 (NKJV)

The reason:

…And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world. -1 John 4:3 NKJV

As a result, John warned:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits, whether they are of God... -1 John 4:1

We must heed one of the main reasons that John wrote this book:

13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. -1 John 5:13, 12 (NKJV)

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God -1 John 4:15 KJV

Confess His name!

Sometimes all you need to do is say the name, Jesus.

Jesus… every knee shall bow.

Jesus...every tongue shall confess.

Jesus...every demon must flee.

Jesus...the code word for The Way, The Truth, and THE LIFE!

Speak his name...Jesus!

Sometimes you don’t know how or what to pray. You can’t figure out what the next step should be. But when you start to confess the name of Jesus over your life the gates of Hell will not prevail against you!

You are of God…and have overcome them because He who is in you is GREATER than he who is in the world. - 1 John 4:4

May we each choose to be children of the spirit of truth so that we may be children of God, not counterfeit Christians. May we live THE LIFE God intended us to live as we overflow with the attributes of born-again Christians!

I invite you to view this message, God Is...LIFE, in its entirety at this link: https://youtu.be/pTHSoFD_D40

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Don't Mess With Us

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Luke 11:24–26 (NKJV)

A mentoring voice in my life has taught me some essential facts to remain aware of:

• God CREATES, the enemy COUNTERFEITS.

• God BUILDS, the enemy BREAKS.

• God works through VISION; the enemy works through DIVISION.
  

• God makes things BETTER & BETTER; the enemy makes things WORSE & WORSE.

In this vein, the teaching ministry of Jesus, as recorded in Luke 11:24-26, reveals that when it comes to the enemy, Satan intends to practice this measure of attack towards us:

What doesn’t kill you the first time will mutate and try again.

Jesus taught, anytime the enemy is cast out, our assailant will eventually come back seven times stronger for Round 2. This onslaught happens because the enemy has one thing on his mind, destruction. And, according to Jesus, our foe wants our end to be worse than the beginning! So, to prevent his plot from prevailing, we must walk in the awareness that the enemy preys on a clean but empty house. Meaning you can not settle for deliverance from the enemy. You must also fill your house with the presence of God so that you are ready when your spiritual nemesis and his more wicked friends come back.

In Luke 11, I think Jesus was relaying to us, we must invite God to be something more than a helicopter parent. Here’s what I mean, Genesis 1:1–2 shows us what it looks like when we allow God to just hover over our life:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2

If your relationship with God resembles the initial stages of Creation -- hovering over the Earth but not in the Earth -- then your life may mirror that of the Creation’s original state: without form, empty, and dark in the deep places.

• Are there places in your life without form or order?

• Are there places in your life where you are empty?

• Are there places in your life where you have become dark in the deep places?

If you answered “Yes,” to any of those questions, you must allow God’s Word to work in you. Because...

When you allow God’s Word to go to work, He can MAKE something of your life!

It was only after God’s Word had gone to work in the Earth that He chose to put His hands on the Earth and make something out of it. Something He would call, “Very good.” And, that ‘something’ was a ‘someone’; the first man.

"Let US make man in our image..." (Genesis 1:26)

All of Heaven was about to show up and MAKE something in the Earth. And, if there is one thing you learn in Scripture, it is you don't mess with US...

There is life-transforming revelation available in the Book Genesis. I would love to share more of it with you! So dive into this message with me, Don’t Mess With Us.

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Stay Awhile

I believe God speaks to us through dreams and visions. The Bible actually promises this blessing in Joel chapter 2. This is excellent news because Proverbs 29:18 tells us how bad we need it, “where there is no vision the people perish.” We must have a vision for our lives, or else we will wander aimlessly until death with no direction or purpose. Thankfully, God gives us direction because He has a plan for each one of us. He has a blueprint for our lives!

As a pastor during this present season, I believe an appropriate vision strategy for our church is to refine the remnant, who will recover the wounded, and then reach the lost. God has a remnant that He would like to refine, shaping and molding us so that we can be used to go out and recover the wounded and ultimately reach the lost.

The word remnant is used in the Bible over 300 times and means a small remaining quantity of something. This significant usage of the word in Scripture reminds me of Jesus’ words:

Remain in me, and I in you. -John 15:4 (CSB)

Jesus wants to have a relationship with you. He wants you to dwell in Him. But Jesus also lets people walk away. Two places in Scripture lay this out, Luke Chapter 9 and Luke Chapter 18. This approach by Jesus may seem shocking, but it’s true, God allows people to walk away because He desires us to go all-in with Him. God gave His only Son so that He can have a relationship with you. But you can still decide to say “I’m not going to follow Jesus.”

In Luke 15, we see the following unfold. First, if, like the lost lamb, you are wounded, hurt, or broken down, Jesus will come after you, just like He did the one lamb out of 99. Second, like the lost coin, if you are in the house of the Lord, but never received salvation, Jesus will take the lamp of His Word and place a preacher in the pulpit to seek you out. But, through the parable of the lost son, Jesus also shows us that if you are going to be rebellious towards the ways of the Father, then you may have to “come to your senses” before there can be complete reconciliation and restoration. Jesus does NOT come after the rebellious.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. -John 15:7 (CSB)

Think about the depth of this promise. You can ask whatever you want in alignment with God's Word, and it will be done as long as you remain in proper standing with God. He rewards those who stay. Yet many people lack the commitment to stay or remain in anything these days; jobs, marriages, friendship, the list goes on. Everyone wants what they want and they want it right now. As one great preacher said, “We live in a microwave generation but serve a crockpot God.” So, rarely do we remain in anything that makes us uncomfortable or that becomes too challenging. We claim failure, but truthfully we just quit before God’s timing is evident.

Some heartbreaking statistics are coming out of last year, 2020. For example, one in three people walked away from practicing their Faith in Jesus Christ, and most churches in the United States of America have lost 30% - 40% of their attendance. Some of America’s largest churches have lost 50% or more. People are choosing not to remain. They are deciding not to follow Jesus, and He is letting them go.

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. - Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

I want you to feel encouraged by this truth: when you remain, God will renew your strength! Don’t quit. Wait. God will break every yoke the enemy tries to place on you when you remain. A remnant is that which remains. Choose to be a part of what God has left. God is looking for those who stayed, who still love Jesus with all their hearts, minds, and souls. God is examining who He has left to use.

What we are experiencing in the world of the church today is the ideology of man colliding with the theology of God. Too often, in modern Christianity, we only touch the surface of Scripture, wanting a motivational sermon with a sprinkle of God on top. Because the Word of God isn't being taught thoroughly, there isn't a proper understanding of the Word. Lacking a firm foundation and only having very shallow roots, yoked with confusion, difficulty, and attacks from the enemy, many people decided to quit their faith. They didn’t remain in Jesus. The Word of God gives you the strength to stay! NOW is the time to become firmly planted in the house of the Lord and deeply rooted in the Word of God. If you do, Psalms says you will flourish!

We are living in a world that has lost its mind. We call good evil and evil good and sin without blushing. It’s becoming increasingly evident who remains in God and who doesn’t. We’ve fallen into “I”-dolatry, making it about me, myself, and I all the time. Instead, it needs to be about God all the time! We need clean hands and pure hearts. If we're not careful, we can consume all the inappropriate content fed to us by a culture gone wild and never develop and strengthen our staying power to remain in God.

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in the holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol… He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Lift up your heads, O you gates!... And the King of glory shall come in. Psalm 24:3-7 (NKJV)

Psalm 24 is all about what God has left -- the remnant -- a group of people that claim they will not do anything that puts their staying power at risk. A group of people that says I’m not going to yield to anything that draws me away from remaining in God. I will wait upon the Lord with my eyes up and hands clean. I will be available to God for such a time as this!

We learn from Psalm 24, the best way to remain in the Lord is to exalt Him. Ascend into His presence. Keep putting Him first! In your family, your workplace, and your community. Lift Him up and magnify Him above everything else. When you live this out, you will remain. Your prayers will be powerful, and whatever you ask for will be given to you. Your strength will be renewed; you will not grow weary! Every yoke that binds you will be broken, and you will be a part of the remnant that impacts The Kingdom of Heaven by restoring the wounded and reaching the lost!

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We invite you to watch this weeks message, Stay Awhile, from Pastor Eric Gilbert, because we believe that you are a part of the remnant that will impact the The Kingdom of Heaven!

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