Yeshua gave all He had in pursuit of God’s will.  This includes in His conversation with the woman at the well and as He traveled around Israel, healing, delivering, teaching, prophecying, confronting a few, being rejected by many, loving completely in every circumstance.  He kept nothing for Himself and abandoned completely every aspect of His human ego, but He had it and it cried out when the crowds wanted to make Him king and whenever He was reminded of His central purpose at that time, to be the sacrificial lamb.

I was thinking about some acquaintances I have and wondering what they thought of me, considering their behavior toward me.  What would they say about me, if they could honestly and completely say it?   Considering my own deprivation, pride and selfishness, how would I respond were I able to see it fully, character flaws, bad habits, arrogance, indulgence, vindictiveness, judgmentalism and things that I would never admit to, but are there still.  This may well happen at the judgment seat of Messiah, where every deed of every person is opened on that final day of reckoning.

I can not fix myself, and I’m sure to have used it as an excuse, but I have hope that God is working in me to do all things according to His good purposes.  Scripture tells us, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry… But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” (Colossians 3: 5, 8, 9).  Walking in the Spirit is like the operation of the gifts of the Spirit – totally accomplished by faith.  Speaking in Tongues we express unknown words of praise that the Spirit gives; prophetic utterance is speaking a message we receive from the Spirit; gifted teaching is explaining truth as revealed by the Spirit; discerning spirits is expressing the truth the Spirit gives regarding spirits; so it is with all the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, interpretation and quite evidently, the gifts of miracles and healing.

Most of these gifts can be faked through the intellect and manipulations of man.  All sorts of expression can be done by men without any spiritual guidance, particularly, teaching and preaching, which is so popular in church.  Most other gifts can readily be proved false if they are not inspired and authored by the Spirit.  Similarly, we need Spirit inspiration regarding the things of our earthly nature, they must be crucified, even though many are obvious as enumerated in Scripture.  Scripture tells us that in breaking one aspect of the law, we break them all.  Not so, says the self-righteous natural man, I may tell a small white lie, but I’m still good, because I have never robbed a bank or killed anyone.  By the law no one will be made righteous, but by the Spirit believers are conformed into the image of Yeshua.  Open your heart and seek the Spirit’s leading, ask for courage, lay your life down, and resist the enemy.  Your destiny and history is the everlasting arms.