How to Walk After the Flesh in 20 Easy Lessons

Author : Paul Ellis
Website: Escape To Reality 
Post Title: How to Walk After the Flesh in 20 Easy Lessons
Written On: 11 August 2011


If you’ve ever taken young children to the zoo, you will know that the big animals are initially more popular than the small ones. Elephants, rhinos, and tigers get more attention than otters, turtles, and geckos. And so it is with works of the flesh.

Ask any Christian to list the works of the flesh and they will likely respond with the list found in Galatians 5:19-21: adultery, hatred, idolatry, murder, etc. Paul calls these the “manifest” or “obvious” works of the flesh. They are the biggies, the elephantine examples of what it means to live apart from God. But the Bible also provides dozens of lesser examples of fleshly living that you may not be so familiar with. I’ve listed some of these lesser works of the flesh below.

Walking after the flesh is when you attempt to get your needs met independently of God. It’s trusting in yourself (your abilities, your understanding) and living solely from the basis of your earthly experience (what you see, hear, touch, etc.). Now here’s the important bit: You can walk after the flesh in the pursuit of both good things and bad things. Paul’s manifest works of the flesh – the biggies – are all clearly associated with bad deeds, but some of the lesser works in the list below are not bad at all. This is a critical point. We are not comparing good deeds with bad but flesh with spirit. And as we saw in the last post, when you’re walking after the flesh even good things can be bad for you.

A classic example of something that is good yet bad for you is God’s law. It is not sin, it is good! But try to live by it and you will find yourself walking after the flesh. Paul said his ability to keep the righteous requirements of the law was ineffective because he tried to do so in the puny strength of his flesh (Romans 8:3). Living under self-imposed law is one of the primary ways we walk after the flesh – hence its position at the top of my list.

Just a reminder: The wrong way to read this list is the carnal way – identifying things you should or should not do. Christianity is a bit like marriage – it’s a love-relationship. You will kill it if you try to reduce it to a set of rules. We are less interested in the what than we are in the how. So how do we walk after the flesh? 

Here are 20 ways:

1. Try to keep God’s law (Romans 7:9-25): Think that you have to do stuff to be blessed (Ephesians 1:3), that you have to perform to stay saved (Galatians 2:21). The old covenant is the fleshly covenant; the new covenant is the spirit covenant.

2. Set your mind on earthly things (Philippians 3:19, Jn 3:12): Keep your eyes on the here and now. “What you see is all there is” (Colossians 3:2). Entangle yourself in the affairs of life (2 Timothy 2:4).

3. Think about how to gratify the lusts of the flesh (Romans 13:14): If it feels good, do it (Romans  14:17).

4. Pursue your goal through self-denial (Colossians 2:21-3): Don’t look. Don’t drink. Don’t touch. Fast twice a week. Practice perfectionism (Galatians  3:3, KJV).

5. Make sacrifices to impress God (Hebrews 10:1,8): Be conscious of your debt to Jesus and consider it your duty to serve. Put your ministry or business before your marriage.

6. Load others with heavy burdens (Luke 11:46): Expect your Christian staff to work harder for less pay. Send the message that the work is more important than their families or their health. Shackle them to your vision. Use emotional manipulation or, worse, scripture, to pressure people to support you.

7. Take pride in your independence (Jeremiah 17:6): Respect no one (1 Peter 2:17). Scorn authority (2 Peter 2:10). Flaunt your freedom (1 Corinthians 8:9). “Who needs fathers? I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12).

8. Worry about your life (Matthews 6:25, Luke 8:14, Philippians 4:6): “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?” Entertain fear and doubt. “I can’t do it” (Philippians 4:13).

9. Cultivate self-belief (2 Corinthians 12:10): “I can do it!” Boast in your accomplishments (2 Corinthians 11:30). Boast in your wisdom, strength and riches (Jeremiah 9:23).

10. See yourself as a victim (Romans 8:37): “Woe is me. I’m not worthy. My sinful nature made me do it.” Blame God (James 1:13). Blame the devil (1 John 4:4). Blame your circumstances (Deuteronomy 28:13).

11. Be a man-pleaser (Galatians 1:10): Wonder, what will my boss think? How will the board react? How will this affect the tithers? Say only what they want you to say.

12. Make plans in a worldly manner (2 Corinthians 5:7, Jeremiah 17:5): Do a SWOT analysis; list the pros and cons; make decisions based on money. Manage the risks and stay in control.

13. Try to grow a ministry (Psalms 127:1, 1 Corinthians 3:6). Work hard to make things happen.

14. Define success by human standards (John 8:15, 1 Corinthians 1:26): It’s all about the numbers. “How many soldiers do we have? How many attend the prayer meeting? Are donations increasing? Are we doing better than last year? Am I doing better than my predecessor?”

15. Nurture your reputation (Philippians 3:8): Put on a good show and make a good impression (Luke 16:15; Galatians 6:12). Be face conscious. Make a name for yourself (Genesis 11:4) and blame the wife when things go wrong (Genesis 3:12).

16. Pray long prayers, especially if others are listening (Matthew 6:5-8).

17. Regard people from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16): Engage in office politics. View new-comers as potential recruits or leaders for your programs. Cultivate task-based friendships. Choose the best-looking man for the job (1 Samuel 16:7). Show favor to the one with money (James 2:3).

18. Sacrifice people on the altar of your principles (1 Corinthians 3:1-4): “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Judge the weak (Romans 15:1). Distance yourselves from those who aren’t as doctrinally pure as you (1 Corinthians 9:22).

19. Combat worldly problems with worldly weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4): Put your faith in politics. Start fights (Zechariah 4:6). Picket the abortion clinic. Protest the gay parade (Isaiah 42:2).

20. Pretend to be Jesus (Matthew 24:24): Draw people to your ministry and build toward yourself (1 Thessalonians 3:8). Teach others to depend on you. Stand in the gap. Try to crucify yourself (Colossians  2:20).

This is a yukky list and frankly, I didn’t enjoy writing it. Just about everything on this list, I’ve done. God help me, some of the things on this list I’m still doing! Don’t let this list condemn you. A better response is to get mad because we’ve been conned! The prince of this world has deceived us into thinking that this is how things are done, that the fleshly way of life is normal. But this is not normal life for one born of the spirit. We act this way out of habit and ignorance. We walk after the flesh because when we were in the flesh this was how we lived:

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. (Colossians 3:7)

I have to say this again: Some of the activities on this list are good! Please don’t think I am against the law or fruitful ministries or planning or praying without ceasing. I am not. But understand that the carnal mind longs to be told what to do when God is much more interested in how we are doing it. Are we trusting in the power of our might or are we resting confidently in His? Are we walking as “mere men” (1 Corinthians 3:3) or are we being revealed as mature sons and daughters of our Father? Flesh cannot give birth to spirit. Neither can walking after the flesh empower you to live the life God has called you to live.

I encourage you to review the list again and ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify those areas that He wants to deal with today. “But Paul, that’s pretty much everything on that list!” Don’t panic! Your heavenly Father knows you are a work-in-progress. Some of these issues can be dealt with now; others can wait. He loves you regardless, without any reference to your performance. He knows everything that you’ve done and everything that you’re ever going to do. It’s impossible to disappoint Him.

In this post I’ve given you 20 generic examples of walking after the flesh. In my next post I’m going to provide some classic examples of walking after the flesh found in the Bible. Then, in the post after that, I will give you a simple “flesh test” that you can take on your own. This test consists of two easy questions that will help you determine whether you are walking after the flesh or the spirit in any given situation. In other words, it will reveal those areas in your life where freedom and joy and peace are about to come bursting through!

The Glory Of Kings

I have been wondering lately why there are so much differences between those believers who based their faith in their own performance and those who based their faith in Jesus' finished work.  I observed that towards the end of their discussions be it in Facebook or in forum..., they usually end up "killing" each other with "the sword" in their hand. This wondering has prompted me to ask the Lord for answers...

The Lord is always faithful. He is never too early or too late in what He wanted to deliver. As I was reading Proverbs chapter 25 this morning, I got my questions asked at the 2nd verse of this chapter. 

Proverbs 25:2 ~ It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. 

God had conceal the mystery of the Gospel and it takes a king to search out this matter. When God preached the Gospel story to Abraham, he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. The mystery is in the Gospel. The key word is believing the Gospel. This believing system led this righteous Abraham to be a king. 

On the other hand, Moses wrote about the righteousness that is by the law saying: "Whoever does these things will live by them." Therefore, in Moses point of view, performance is the key word and consequently, this leads to a life of a servant.

What the Lord had done at the cross had set us free for the Spirit we received does not make us slaves, so that we live in fear again; rather, the Spirit we received brought about our adoption to sonship and by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." To reign like a king in our life, we must continue to receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of His righteousness.

No wonder there are so much differences between those who are righteous by faith and those who are righteous by work. According to the Word of God, only those who are righteous by faith are addressed as kings like father Abraham. Those who are righteous by work are addressed as servants like Moses. No wonder kings see things differently from servants. No wonder kings speaks differently from servants. No wonder there are so much disagreements because they all see things from a different platforms... i.e. the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

So, if you see like a king and talk like a king, do not be "downhearted" by the reactions shown by servants because they just cannot comprehend what a king like you, see and talk! God has concealed the mystery of the Gospel for kings and only kings not servants, are given the wisdom to search out this matter.

‎Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness (Jesus' righteousness or righteous by fauth, not righteous by work)  like the stars forever and ever. (Danial 12:3 NASB)

I did not notice that today is 25th of February. .. meaning 25:2 or Proverbs 25:2... until just now, before I decided to note down this revelation as a post in this blog...

Wow... What a wonderful revelation from the Lord from the right chapter @ the right time... It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

Jailbreak

Jailbreaking is a process that allows iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users to run any code on their devices, as opposed to only that code authorized by Apple. Once jailbroken, iPhone users are able to download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia, as well as illegally pirated apps. A jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch is still able to use and update apps downloaded and purchased from Apple's official App Store. So ever since I own an Iphone three months ago, this "term" keeps knocking at my mind… 

So let look at the real jailbreak….

For without the righteousness of God, nobody can live right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. We all taken the wrong turn and wandered down blind alleys. No one is living right; you can't find a single one. Our throats are gaping graves, our tongues slick as mudslides. Every word we speak is tinged with poison. We open our mouths and pollute the air. We race for the honour of “sinner-of-the-year”, litter the land with heartbreak and ruin. We don't know the first thing about living with others. We never give God the time of day. This makes it clear, doesn't it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin.

Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another Person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, He got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one Man said yes to God and put many in the right.

Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man's sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's gift poured through one Man, Jesus Christ, will do! There's no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man's wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness, that the one Man Jesus Christ provides?

Our firm decision is to work from this focused centre: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in His life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

Because of this decision we do not evaluate people by what they have or how they look. The Jewish people looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong. We certainly don't look at Him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, a new creation. The old life is gone; a new life began! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and Him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with Himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what He is doing. We are Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ Himself now: Become friends with God; He's already a friend with you.

So go and tell people about this jailbreak instead…

A compilation from the Message Bible

Fruits

Religious people are more concerned on bearing fruits than the condition of the root. Their religious minds have been blocked from seeing that the law demands bearing of fruits while grace graces the condition of the root. The famous passage from John 15 is therefore causing a lot of concern among the religious Christians and therefore had been frequently used to demand fruits from their followers.

John 15:5 ~ "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:6 ~ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

My friends, plants do not strain and struggle to produce fruit. Instead, by planting them on good soil, with adequate exposure to sunlight and water, fruits are produced effortlessly. Same thing happen to us as a born again Christian, with adequate exposure to the SON of Righteousness, with the constant irrigation of the living water from the word of Christ and planting ourselves in the soil of grace (good soil) instead on the law (soil mixes with stone), good fruits are produced naturally in our life without any effort. 

Jesus is grace personified. He is the mediator of the New Covenant and He is the vine. If bearing fruits is our concern and our duty, then this branch of us is definitely not abide to the vine and is withering. We, as New Covenant believers are spiritual being and should never try to justify ourselves by law… or else we are alienating ourselves from Jesus and we have fallen from grace. Jesus is then becoming of no effect to us because we are  now what John 15 verse 6 says, and no more in the vine….

Galatians 5: 4 ~ You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

My friends, Galatians 5:4 does not say when we sin we are alienated from Christ but when we try to obey the commandments. Abide in Jesus give us victory over every situation. So is His grace because He had conquered everything for us. Our victories in every situation are fruits, our success in every area of our life is fruits, our well being is fruits, our health is fruits, and family harmony is fruit…

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace and if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned...

Nemo Knows, Do you...?

Have you ever thought of those fishes in the ocean? Even though the water in the ocean is salty, the bodies of these ocean fishes are not affected by the sea water. Their fleshes are fresh and not salty. When we cook them for our meals, we still need to put salt to make them tasty. Hmmm… interesting right?

For all I can understand is that, these fishes are alive! They just live out their life as fishes in the ocean! Nobody ever taught them on how to be fishes in the ocean. They just have the ability to pursue life in the ocean because they are not rebellious. They obey the instinct given by the Creator!

Christians are the same. We are righteous because of Jesus’ Finished Work. This mighty divine exchange had already happened at the cross. If we are believers, we are new creations. As new creations, we just need to live out our righteous life, the abundant life given by our Lord.

We do not need to perform to deserve our righteousness anymore! To be radical, we don’t even need to be taught on how to live a righteous life; because the Holy Spirit is already in us convicting us of righteousness! If we are those Christians who still choose to perform to deserve our righteousness, we just promote among ourselves another form of religion. We are worst then those fishes in the ocean, as we are rebellious to our Savior. It is sad to see that majority of the body of Christ today still try to live like a Christian (be righteous) instead of living out their Christian life (righteous life)!

If those fishes are trying to perform to be fishes in the ocean, life will be tough and they will end up dying in the ocean. Look at those dead fishes. In order to prevent them from decaying, they are preserved through seasoning with salt. This kind of fishes is called preserved salted fish! We can try our best to preserve them, but they are dead, being seasoned with salt, laid under the sun to be dried and end up hanging in the grocery shop for sales. Salted fish do not have the life to choose for themselves what they want and where they want to be. They are just helpless and being manipulated.

If we are Christians and still trying to be a Christian, we are as good as those salted fish. Religious people will try to preserve us through their religious teachings, demanding our performance to be righteous. We are being seasoned by their legalistic salt, laid to dry on the stones and bound by our religiosity from choosing what we want and where to go. We are also helpless and live a manipulated life in a religious kingdom…

Our Lord loves to use natural things of this world such as fish, bird, bread, stone, serpent, fig tree, lilies in the field to teach the mystery of His truth. His grace is ever present and fully lavished in our midst. Out of His outrageous grace, He lavishes His Spirit to convict us of righteousness. We need to come to our senses and respond to His conviction that we are righteous by faith not by work. Only through our establishment in His righteousness then we can start to appreciate His grace!

Romans 5:21b ~ so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace can only reign in a believer who is Christ conscious and righteousness conscious. If we are still full of sin consciousness, we have fallen back into law and we end up trying to justify ourselves through our law keeping and self effort.

Galatians 2:16 ~ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Once we can understand that it is all about His grace, we will start receiving His abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness and we will reign in life through this one Man, Jesus Christ.

I do not want to be a salted fish. I do not want to be a Christian being preserved and manipulated by religion. I want to be those fishes in the ocean knowing that they are fishes belong to the ocean and just following the instinct given by the Creator. I want to be a Christian knowing that I am forever righteous and live out the righteous life that my Savior had given me! He had come to give me His abundant life and He had told me that His sheep knows His voice! I just want to click on to His frequency of Grace and receive the abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness.

Even Nemo knows that he belongs to the ocean not aquarium… As for me, I know I belong to Jesus not religion. Hmmm... what about you? Nemo knows, do you...?

See The World Through His Heart

When I was young in the Lord, I used to “stand” together with the disciples and the crowds when I was reading the Books of Gospel. I ended up finding myself trying hard to obey lots of rule and regulation or trying to understand what the Lord wanted me to do. By standing among the disciples or the crowds, I also found the Lord hard to understand as I heard His people asked Him “this”, and He would answer them “that”. It's kind of funny though...

As the Holy Spirit started to tighten up the "loose" truth inside of me, I began to release that since I am a new creation, and I am in Christ seated at the right hand of the Father in heavenly place, I have to change my position by sitting with Christ whenever I read the Books of Gospel i.e. seeing things through His heart. This changed of position help me to hear His heart beat and His heart beat revolutionaries the way I read the Bible.

In Luke 12:54~59 on the interpreting of the Times, this passage suddenly came to my senses that the Lord wanted to tell His people at that time to expect the arrival of the grace dispensation and only by His grace not their self effort that every penny would be paid for them to get out of their spiritual prison. The Lord continued on to rebuke the self righteous attitude of His people from their reaction through the tragedy of the Tower of Siloam in Galilee.

The Father says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” If we are to stand with the Jewish people looking towards God, we will end up making ourselves very busy in offering sacrifices. If we stand beside Him and see the world through His heart, we will be melted by His amazing love when we release that He is so merciful that he chose to ordain the sacrificial of innocent Lamb for our sins so that we can come back to Him freely and safely. He wants us to focus on His mercy not the sacrifice. By His mercy and grace and His great love for us, He even went to the extent of finding fault with the ordinance of animals sacrificial and once and for all, He offered up His beloved Darling Son as sacrifice for our sins.… is this not His grace?

Luke 12:54-56 ~ Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

I used to see the remark "You of little faith" as a condemnation from the Lord. I used to feel the Lord is condemning me for not having a big faith., but now I understand that my faith towards Him is always too little whenever I try to depend on myself. Now, the warm tender voice of "You of little faith" always draws me back to depending on Him with undescribable "shalom" peace in my heart...

Oh Lord, What is man that You are mindful of him...?

Psalm 8

8:1 To the Chief Musician. On the Instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
8:3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
8:4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
8:5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
8:6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
8:7 All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field,
8:8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.
8:9 O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

The revelation knowledge of His grace will draw us nearer to Him while our arrogance and ignorance in producing our own righteousness through law keeping alienate us from Him... Oh you of little faith, how is it that you do not discern this time?

See the world through His heart....and you will have revelation knowledge of His grace.

Seek Ye First...

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

What is the Kingdom of God?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The Kingdom of God is not natural but supernatural.

Isaiah 55:8~9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts".

God’s ways are higher than our ways. Men use Law to administrate their kingdoms, while God administrates His Kingdom through the riches of His Grace. His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Grace. The riches of His Kingdom was manifested through the Person of Jesus in the midst of a law abiding society. Jesus' disciples were told that if they knew Him, they would know the Father as well. The manifestation of the Father's riches was demonstrated to the fullness at the Cross where the Fountain of Life was lavished as a Gift to this hopeless world.

Yet this rescuing Gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If Adam’s sin put many at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's Gift poured through one Man, Jesus Christ, will do! For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

Matthew 6:33 and Romans 5:17 are having the same truth and promises. The only difference is, Matthew 6:33 (seek ye first) is before the Cross while Romans 5:17 (receive the abundant provision) is after the Cross. Before the Cross, you seek. After the Cross you receive! Do you know how this provision was make possible? It was Jesus' Finished Work on the Cross that enable us to benefit from this divine provision. Is this not grace?

Our law keeping bring us no way in the Kingdom of God. There is nothing we can do to earn anything from Him because everything had already been given. If you are still seeking, SEEK first His Kingdom (Grace) and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. For those who are very much into grace, RECEIVE His abundant provision of Grace and the gift of righteousness and you shall reign in life...

Fasting

I was quickened by the Spirit to realize that I have been fasting for the past five years ever since the Lord has enlightened me with His teaching on grace. This revelation shocked me a bit but I was immediately comforted by a fresh insight on fasting.

Please bear with me for awhile and if you feel this is misleading, you are welcome to throw stone at me at the end of this sharing. So be cool…

With this fresh insight for a rather controversial topic in the body of Christ, I went around asking for answers from the average believers with charismatic background, the purpose for fasting. The answers I gathered are as followed:-

1) To restrain and weaken our flesh so that our spirit can grow stronger.
2) Spiritual discipline.
3) To be closer to God and hear His voice.
4) To obtain spiritual power.

Hmm… what is your answer?

I don't think fasting is what we used to think as restraining ourselves from eating our meals for certain period of time and achieve the purpose of weakening our flesh to gain spiritual power or to make God obligated to move in the area of our needs. If this is so, any other religion that practices fasting would also achieve the same purposes. In fact, they claimed to have the same result too!

The only thing that sets Christianity apart from the rest of the religions is God's grace. Grace is not natural but supernatural. We need the Holy Spirit to understand grace and most of all, Christianity was born by the grace of the Father through the death of the His beloved Darling Son. If only we can have the revelation knowledge of this truth, we will be led by the Spirit to understand more including the meaning of fasting.

Those of us, who are so much into grace, are very familiar that our flesh is edified by legalistic and performance oriented doctrine which is self centered and based on law abiding. It is this self righteousness doctrine that give strength to our flesh! The preaching of law is the food to our flesh!!! The moment we embark ourselves on Christ centered, grace based doctrine, that is the moment we start our FASTING!!! Because we have restrained ourselves from exposing to legalistic and performance oriented teaching, we have stopped supplying “FOOD” to our flesh. I think this is a more biblical way to define fasting in the light of the New Covenant.

Can you find evidence in the bible to support your claim? (You may ask…)

Let’s go on…

Matthew 4:1~4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.' "

So, after being baptized at the River Jordan and before Jesus started His earthly ministry, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry…!

Jesus was born under the law and was brought up in a legalistic, law abiding Jewish society. This was the darkest era in the history of Jewish culture. After the baptism, He was immediately led to the wilderness to stay away from the law abiding, legalistic environment. He restrained for forty days and forty nights. John the Baptist was growing up in the wilderness and was isolated from Jewish legalistic society. Paul, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentiles, was led to Arabia to be away from Jerusalem which was their religious center and Judaism's stronghold.

The number 40 here is the representative number for one generation. It was not what we literally think as our forty days and forty nights. The Israelite were wandering in the wilderness for forty years while Moses was up in Mt. Sinai for forty days and forty nights.

The devil was quick to draw Jesus’ attention back to the “stone” again right after Jesus' fasting by saying, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus said, “It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.”

Do you think this kind of dialogues are dialogues of our human nature? I don’t think so… A spiritual being was talking to a SPIRITUAL BEING; I think these dialogues are spiritual!

The devil was quick to point Jesus in turning the Ten Commandments (Two tablets of stone) into His food. The devil was asking Jesus to feed on Law... How did Jesus reply him? Jesus said man does not live on bread only (the bodily man), but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (the spirit-man). As far as the devil is concerned, if our flesh is strong, our spirit will be weak. As such, Jesus expounded the existence of spirit-man in man that the spirit-man lives on every word that comes from the mouth of God. He was in the wilderness, being far away from the legalistic environment, He was there to receive words direct from the Father.

What kind of word did the Father minister to Jesus? At Mt. Sinai, God was showing Moses the beautiful story of the Tabernacle which is a typology of Jesus. The Father was ministering grace to Jesus in the wilderness just like Jesus Himself ministered grace to Apostle Paul in Arabia.

However, as I continue with this passage, the phrase “He was hungry” caused a bit of doubt in my mind… What about you? Hey, the Bible says He was hungry you know...? Well, I was "asked" to put this phrase aside and continue with the reading... So, let’s go on.

Let us look at what Jesus talked about fasting in replying to the Scribes and Pharisee...

Luke 5: 33~38 Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?" And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days." Then He spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' "

In this passage, Jesus interchanged in referring the man with flesh and spirit-man. Jesus was saying as He (the Bridegroom) was with them in flesh, it was time for celebration. How could the Bridegroom make them fast in the time of celebration? When the time had come for Him to be glorified at the Cross, they (their flesh) would have to fast because grace dispensation only came into effect when the Holy Spirit was poured out at the Feast of Pentecost. Under the grace dispensation, His disciples were already made righteous by His blood and were justified by His resurrection. They were to live by faith not by law. So by then, they were to fast from partook the Law and to live by the Spirit.

It is funny that Jesus did not continue to expound on fasting but changed the subject from fasting to the famous parables of new and old garment, new wine and old wineskin. Eh..., very interesting!

We all know that the parables of old and new garment together with new wine and old wineskin are talking about the doctrine on grace and law dispensation and is telling us that grace cannot be mixed with law. Jesus is not interested in how we abstain ourselves from eating our meals as a way of fasting. He is interested in the feeding and the health of our spirit-man. Babylonian teaching (confuse by mixing grace with law) mixes up our flesh and spirit-man which causes confusion in our Christian walk. While legalistic and law abiding doctrine edify and strengthen our flesh.

Christ centered, grace based doctrine is LIVING and ACTIVE (because of the witness of the Holy Spirit). The message of grace is sharper than any double-edged sword, can penetrate even to dividing our souls and spirits, joints and marrow and judge our thoughts and the attitude of our hearts. Grace divides our souls and spirits so that we can be sharp when Holy Spirit prompts our spirit. Grace divides the joints and marrow so that the life supply to our flesh is cut off. Grace judges our ungodly thoughts and the religious attitude of our hearts!

If the purpose of fasting is to stop feeding our flesh and build up our spirit-man, I think it is wise for us to sit under a Christ centered Ministry. In order to stop feeding our flesh, we are to restrain ourselves from sitting under a Ministry that emphasizes legalism with law abiding preaching and Babylonian teaching that causes confusion in our midst. As born again believers, we are Spirit filled and we need the Gospel of Grace expounded in the light of the New Covenant Spirit, as food for our spirit-man... Amen!

Oh ya... now back to my doubtful phrase: "He was hungry"…

The Lord told me, “You have been sitting under a Christ centered Ministry for so long, do you still feel hungry…?” Ha...ha...ha... If you know what He means…

So, how long have you been fasting? As for me and my household, we are not going to fool around but to steadfast with our FASTING for the rest of the "generation" and continue to sit under an anointed Ministry that preaches Christ centered message and glorifies the Finished Work of Christ.

Who say those who are under grace are not fasting?

Climbing Down the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil

The Book of Romans has 16 Chapters and Chapter 16 is greetings from Paul. If we take the 15 Chapters and divide them by 2, half of this book has 7.5 chapters each. The first 7.5 Chapters has a revelation of Apostle Paul’s journey in climbing down the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the next 7.5 Chapters of the Book of Romans is Apostle Paul’s journey in climbing up the Tree of Life.

Law is good and Evil is sin.

Law is Good
Romans 7:7 ~ What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!...
Romans 7:12 ~ For the law is holy, and the commandments is holy, righteous and good.

Evil is sin
Romans 7:8 ~ But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.

Therefore, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil means the Tree of the Knowledge of Law and Sin.

What kind of preaching will cause us to hang around the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

- The preaching that is not Christ centered but self centered.

- The preaching that is not righteousness consciousness but sin consciousness.

- The preaching that is not emphasizing on resting in the Lord because of His Finished Work on the Cross, but emphasizing on working for the Lord as if Jesus had not died on the Cross.

- The preaching that is not pointing the believers to Jesus, who is all able, all powerful, and full of grace and mercy, but pointing the believers to themselves who are unable, powerless, and full of hatred and unforgiveness.

- The preaching that is not hot but lukewarm. The preaching is not of the Tree of Life but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

On the other hand, when grace revolutionizes our hearts, grace shall awake and edify our spirit. The preaching of His grace glorified Jesus and exalted Christ’s Finished Work on the Cross. It is food to our spirit and gives life to our being. This is the Good News that Apostle Paul was not ashamed of, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Romans 1:17 ~ for in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.

The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came from Jesus Christ. When we know the truth and the truth will set us free. Paul, the Apostle of Grace to the gentiles, received God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of His righteousness reign in life through Jesus Christ.

Apostle Paul realized the Tree of Life after his struggles in Romans 7 when he cried out “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” This reminded me of what our Lord says in respect of the tree and its fruits in Matthew 7:15~20, and in Proverbs 18:21. The word we say is the fruit of our belief. The fruit of Righteousness finally came out of Paul’s mouth with his utterance of “WHO” instead of “HOW”, “WHAT” or “WHERE” and worse of all “WHY”.

He had finally come to the end of his law keeping, self consciousness, self righteousness and self effort by not seeking HOW he is going to do with his struggles; and WHAT he is going to do with his struggles; or WHERE he is going to find help for his struggles or even WHY he needs to deal with his struggles. He cried out “WHO can rescue him?” The revelation of Righteousness, Peace, Joy, Wisdom, Prosperity, Healing, Abundant, Freedom… by His grace becomes alive as the Person of Jesus to Apostle Paul.

The revelatory knowledge of "WHO" is our answer will end all our religiosity. Therefore, renew our mind! In due time, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is no more our dwelling place and His grace will carry us down the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil unconsciously and effortlessly...

Fruits From The Most Ancient Trees

Everyone in this world is being taught to do good and not to do evil from their young age. Even in most of the churches around the world, Christians are being taught to do good and not to do evil for the sake of God’s glory.

Adam, the first man in this planet earth, was formed from the dust of the ground and was made a living being when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. As a created being, he was to live his life depending on God’s glory, the righteous glory of God. Before the fall of Adam, he was having the God type of life, the Zoe life, which is the highest form of life. He was filled with the glorious radiant of God's righteousness. He was the righteousness of God in the midst of this glorious radiant. As the righteousness of God, he knew what is good and what is evil. To know good and evil is a matter while to do good and avoid doing bad is another matter. As a created being, though surrounded by the glorious radiant, Adam could not execute this act by himself. He need to depend on the righteous life of His Creator to execute the act.

In defining the meaning of good and evil, our human definition is different from God’s definition. Our definition of good and evil is always based on the performance i.e. our act, while God definition of good and evil is emphasized on what we believe. In short, to live our life depending on Christ’s righteousness is good in God’s eye while living our life depending on our own righteousness derived from our law keeping is evil.

In typology, the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the type symbolizing the righteousness that we produced from our law keeping through our knowledge of good and evil. The fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the righteousness that we produced through our law keeping. The law and commandment is the standard that defines what is good and what is evil. On the other hand, the fruit from the Tree of Life is the type that symbolizing God’s righteousness.

If we are trusting in our law keeping to achieve our righteousness, we are actually eating the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. On the other hand, when we are living our life believing, trusting and depending on Christ’s righteousness as our righteousness, we are eating the fruit of the Tree of Life.

Philippians 3:9 ~ ... not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Adam being a created being cannot be independence from God’s glorious righteousness. A created being does not have the ability to produce righteousness through the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was as righteous as God and everything he did was righteous.

Genesis 2:17 ~ but you must not eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

A created being is not the Creator. A created being cannot be made independence from the Creator. Now, we are called the New Creation with born again spirit, we are no difference from Adam. We need to depend on our Redeemer's righteousness.

It is not about what we can do, it is about what Christ had done. It is not about our own righteousness, it is about Christ's righteousness. It is not about us working out our righteousness, it is about us believing that we are righteous because of what our Lord Jesus Christ had work out on the Cross.

We are a created "being" not created "doing" and we are created as human "being", not human "doing"...!

Spiritual Tour

I was touched by the Lord when He asked me to put my name in the first verse of Galatians Chapter 3 verse 1... i.e. You crazy Alan! instead of You crazy Galatians!

As I put my name there, the impact of this passage is directly on me instead of the Galatians. I could recall I used to read this passage and think that this passage is only meant for the Galatians. The Lord used this same passage to deal with my religiosity and set me free from the legalistic environment that I was in. This time around, as the Lord asked me to put my name in there again, my spirit is quickened and encouraged. My spirit-man gave praises to the Lord for He had called me out of that religious sheep pan ...!

Try to fill your name in the blank below and have a quick spiritual tour through this passage together with the Holy Spirit. Let Him reveals to you the status of your Christian life, so that you will know whether you are walking in faith or by the observance of the Law. You will also know whether you are depending on His grace or your own effort...

Galatians Chapter 3 ~ The Message

1 You crazy ________! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

2-4 Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!

5-6 Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.

7-8 Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed in you."

9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law."

Faith is what we trust, not what we do...

I Believe

When we first believe in Jesus, we were running superbly! Due to our leak of knowledge, we were deflected from the true course in “the blind leads the blind” situation. We were zealous for God, but our zeal was not based on knowledge. Since then, we did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish our own righteousness through rule keeping system, we did not submit to God's righteousness. The truth is: Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Do we really believe in Jesus?

Christ had set us free to live a free life through His death on the Cross. If we say we believe in Jesus, take our stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on us through their religious teaching. Our Lord Jesus Himself is emphatic about this because when we abide in rule keeping system, we do actually believe in ourselves, not our Lord. The moment any one of us submits to any other rule keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard won gift of freedom is squandered. That is why we are repeatedly warned by Apostle Paul that: the person who submit to rule keeping system trades all the advantages of our Father and sons relationship in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. When we attempt to live by our own religious plans and projects, we are cut off from Christ, we fall out of Grace.

As born again, Spirit filled believers, we are to depend fully on His Grace and expectantly with faith that He is faithful, wait for a satisfying relationship through resting ourselves in the Spirit and abide ourselves in the new covenant truth, and for the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. In Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion means anything. What really matters is something far more interior: our faith in Christ expressing through love. Again this love is not our own love but His love manifesting through us when we appreciate His Grace. We love because He first loves us.

Do not be deflected from the true course of obedience by rule keeping system. This true course of obedience is "obedience by FAITH" not "obedience to MAN". This detour doesn't come from Jesus who called you into the race in the first place. And please don't toss this off as insignificant. It only takes a small amount of yeast to permeate an entire loaf of bread.

Be sensitive to the struggles of your spirit-man. If you say you believe in Jesus, stop all your rule keeping activities that come from religious teachings. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. This is the evidence of His grace. His grace will melt your religious being (flesh) and strengthen your spirit-man. If your Christian life is full of religious activities, you are believing in the Pharisee not Jesus. The evidence of your belief in Jesus is that, knowing that you are the weak and the helpless one, appreciating His grace lavishing upon you.

I have seen His grace and I believe, what about you?

How God Managed His Anger?

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53 (NKJV)

Do not take pride in our law keeping. Our law keeping prove nothing at all. This religious act will not prove that we believe in Jesus. When we keep the law, we are actually believe in ourselves., our evil self! Our evil self think we can keep the law. We believe that by our law keeping and good conduct, we can earn the blessing from God and if we are perseverance, we can make it to heaven. For 1,500 years, none of the Israelites could keep the law including the best of them, King David!

Do not be bound by religious spirit and fear that God will punish you. God's anger is well managed for He had poured out all His wrath on His Begotten Son two thousand years ago. He chose to pour out His anger on His own Son. He is now absolutely at peace with you. Bohold the Cross, come and accept His GRACE. Believe in His Son Jesus and what Jesus had accomplished for you on the Cross. Jesus said, "It's Finished!" Let's believe it is finished and rest...!

Lord, Can I Help You?

Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking pass the hospital’s swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there… Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out.


When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act, she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered Edna to be mentally stable.


When she went to tell Edna the news, she said,
“Edna, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is you're being discharged; since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and save the life of another patient, I have concluded that your act displayed sound mindedness… and the bad news is … Jim hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry… he’s dead.”


Edna replied,
“He didn't hang himself; I put him there to dry....”
“Can I go home now…?'

This is not a real story; but a secular joke circulating through e mail. Well… have you heard of this joke before? If you had, never mind, my focus is not on the joke but on your reaction after you have heard of it.

Man… I laughed, I had a good laugh... I even shared with my friends and we laughed together… but the Lord intervened by putting a thought in my mind in the midst of our laughter, i.e.…

“The accuser of the Brethren” has his influence over legalistic and religious teaching. As such, a legalistic and religious mind is as good as a mind that is “mentally challenged”. Under that sort of legalistic and religious influence, we ourselves tend to put people to dry without the understanding of the knowledge of God and still we thought we are helping God... and Lord, can I help You, is always our cry...!

It is sad to see that there are many Christians today still labouring to please God through their effort. These are sincere people but they just trying to reach God through their own approach… earning their righteousness through their good deeds and law keeping… without the knowledge of God.

And our Father God by His grace and mercy does not look at us the same way we looked at Edna. Despite of our “insanity”, He is still faithful and patient to show us His love, guides us and leads us out of our" insanity". I think this is grace…the unearned, undeserved and unmerited favor from God.

I was a victim like Jim in this story, but I was “put to dry” by legalism and religion. I was put to dried out completely… Praise God for His dew of grace that moisturized me and His dew refreshed me... and I see His Grace!

Grace ~ The Aroma of Our Lord

"The Story" is the gospel and is also called good news. News is about an event that had already happened. The good news is not a good prophecy. A prophecy is about thing that is yet to happen.

The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 1:6~7 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.”

I am wondering how many of us on this earth were saved by hearing the Ten Commandments. The Story is not about the Ten Commandments, it is about the good news of what Christ had done! We heard of "this" gospel on Christ’s suffering and what He had done for us on the cross. We believed in "this" gospel and accepted Him as our Savior. We were saved by His grace through faith and even that little faith in us was giv en by Him through grace. As a born again Christian, we are supposed to grow in the Lord by f aith.

Unfortunately, after I was saved, I was turned to a different gospel. The "gospel" of law abiding, self modification, and I had to work hard to maintain my salvation through law keeping (work out my salvation), self effort (for faith without work is dead), so that by doing all these, I could be justified in front of man to please leaders and of c ourse, God. But this, according to the Apostle Paul, is no gospel at all.

I was more and more confused as times went by and everything seemed dry and lifeless because I was seeking my own kingdom and my own righteousness instead of His kingdom and His righteousness. When I failed from my good behavior, some good "intention" brothers would come to me and say the grace of God is sufficient for me and I turned to His grace again. When I started to depend on His grace, I was strengthened. After I have been strengthened, I started to seek my own righteousness again. I stepped in and out of the old and new covenant without knowing that this is called “spiritual adultery”. Spiritual adultery means married to Jesus (Mr. Grace) and still have relationship with Mr. Law.

Whatever results I could achieve were sustained by my own effort. In time, I could see myself more and more “cold” in the Lord, the church termed this is as “back-sliding”, “lost of the first love” and even the bible verse like Matthew 19:30 “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” was used to condemn those who were crowned with the label of “back-sliding” or “lost that first love”. I knew something was wrong and I fasted, prayed and sought God’s face but to no avail. I never knew that everything had been taken care of by Christ on the cross until I was enlightened by grace.

In John 19:30, Jesus cried out,“It’s finished!” Ha, ha... man could use Matthews 19:30 to condemn me, but my wonderful Lord used John 19:30 to set me free! Praise God for His mercy and love, that He enlightened me with His grace at His own timing and set me free from that legalistic environment and all those religiosity which the Apostle Paul said is not gospel at all!

Jesus used this anointed message tape by Pastor Joseph Prince of New Creation Church to set me free from my legalistic background. This tape was given to me by a lovely brother who bought me to Christ in the year 1999. This message tape was recorded in a Sunday Worship Service on 18th of July 1999.

Message by Joseph Prince on 18th July 1999

He gave me a "NIV" positive bible on the 21st of September, 1999 and this message tape on the day I came to Christ, and that was 1st of October 1999.

This is the best gift I could ever have in my life

However, I leave this tape on my shelf for three years before I listened to it. The reason for not listening to it was because I could not afford to waste any precious time but to work for Jesus. I was to "not be distracted", I did not want to look to the left and look to the right, because I was told that to work for God is part of the reason why Jesus saved me and died for me on the cross! I was told not to listen to other preachers as they are not my spiritual father. And I was supposed to eat what I was fed in my own spiritual house. I could only say that I was very very obedient then...

It was until I was totally down and out in my spirit; by then, the Lord by His grace, prompted me to listen to this tape which has been leave behind on the shelf for three years. Man, I tell you, faith come by hearing, hearing by the words of CHRIST! The grace of God just melted me and the rest is History. Here I am, first running after the Aroma of our Lord and now, running in the Aroma of Christ!

Come to think of it, I was actually being set free when I started to be disobedient. I mean to disobey man... Hmmm... He who has ears to hear, let him hear !

I suppose this is called Gospel Revolution! How many of us were from that sort of environment, stepping in and out of the old and new covenant, living in Babylon (in Hebrews means confused by mixing)? We should be living our life honoring and glorifying the good news, which is after the cross and in the dispensation of grace under new covenant, instead of living our life honoring and glorifying the good prophecy, which is before the cross and in the dispensation of law under old covenant. We lived a confused life as if Jesus had not yet died for us on the cross.

Because of all these confusions, many of us are still ignorant trying to help Jesus to accomplish His finished work.

Do you know how finished is His finished work? Look for Grace, Grace can tell you...

Visit www.joyfultoons.com for more joyful cartoon

Expired Dietary

This pack of milk has an expiry date labeled on it. After the expiry date, it is not advisable to consume simply for our health reason. We are conscious of this for our physical body; but what about our born again spirit...? Is our spirit consuming the expired dietary?

The law of the old covenant had expired at the cross because Jesus had fulfilled all the requirements of the law and nailed them at the cross.

If anyone is still teaching you on law abiding, pointing you to the Saints of the old covenant like, Moses, Joseph, Elijah, David, Solomon and so on, and teaching you to learn from the good of these Saints and to avoid doing the bad of these Saints without filtering their doctrine through the cross or the finished work of Christ, they are actually feeding you with an expired dietary. And you, being a born again believer, have been robbed of the prestigious standing that Jesus died to give you.

If these Saints who, being the best at their times, can saved themselves by their law keeping and good behavior, Jesus would not have to come and died for us on the cross. The law condemned the best of man like David and grace saves the worse of us like me and you.

What is the dietary for the New Covenant Christian then? Well, obviously Jesus did not come to teach us how to do good and how not to do bad. He came to give us life and life more abundantly. He is the Tree of Life! Every religions teach us to do good and not to do bad and man after all these year, still fails, one after another! Try to recall from your biblical knowledge... Who is the fellow who suggested to Jesus on turning the stones into bread? ... and who is that fellow encourage you to feed on the stones?

The Bible said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 ~ “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Jesus had make us a new creation by giving us a new birth (born again in the Spirit). If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! If we, for a moment, just being simple hearted and believe in what this verse means, we would have saved ourselves from a lot of struggles or even troubles.

The dietary for the new creation is to feed on Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus that is after the glorious cross and not before the cold and ragged cross.

Titus 2:11~12 ~ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all man. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

The position and standing of a new creation is in Christ. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. A new creation has nothing bad to be changed from. Just feed on the revelation of what Jesus had done on the cross. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ! We, as a new creation, are to find out how finished is His finished work and how forgiven we are in Christ. Our only labour is to labour ourselves to enter into His rest and receive the abundance of His grace and the gift of His righteousness.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. This verse was spoken by Jesus before the cross. After the cross, the resurrected Jesus instructs us to receive the abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness and we will reign in life through Him. By filtering the word of God through the cross, we will avoid eating the expired dietary...