ONE BODY , STILL,

Not only is the Word of God living; it is also operative. "Living" points to its nature, while "operative" applies to its ability to fulfill the work on man. God's Word cannot return void ; it will prevail and accomplish its purpose. It is not mere word, but word that will so operate as to produce results.

What then does God's Word do for us? It penetrates and divides. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Its sharpness is demonstrated in the "penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow." Note the analogy here : the two-edged sword against joints and marrow, and the Word of God against soul and spirit. Joints and marrow are embedded deeply in the human body. To separate the joints is to cut across the bones; to divide the marrow is to crack the bones. The two-edged sword is able to work thus in our mystical body.

 Only two things are harder to be divided than the joints and marrow ; the soul and spirit. No sword, however sharp, can divide them. Even so we are wholly unable to distinguish between what is soul and what is spirit. Yet the Scripture tells us how the Living Word can do the job, for it is sharper than any two-edged sword. God's Word is living, operative, and able to penetrate and divide. It is the soul and spirit of man which are thus penetrated and divided.

 A life separated into Christ  awareness and in expectation of the continuous manifest of God in his temple the people foo God are one sir, despite what you see it will eon day mature to one Paul warned the infant  foo to divide it's been 2,000 years we're still in need to mature,  into one body praise God. , praying for those lost in the deep cults or those lost in world of drug addiction  freedom in JESUS .

God is spirit,  (read the scriptures) I  use the kj3 I like it free form some of the Anglo Saxon hierarchal terms  which are  not in the  Greek  enjoy. Thanking the greens  for doing so, long over due.
nw  (spirit and truth)

SAVED OUT OF ETERNAL DARKNESS

 Narrowway? A faith dedicated to knowing God as we were designed to know him by. Through Christ

  Behemoth   suggests  much of Christianity  is a contradiction?  Praying for them, for sure,  to know Christ. Sorry humans make mistakes,  we all do despite why we have new bodies on the way, old habits will be gone for ever.

 The temporary pleasures may be racked  by cancer or age,  take the step to Christ, his good news, one day death will open  it's gat the question is the to an awful place without hope , they'll be no joy, or pay offs,   or love , no hope,  as any real connection to  real life as lived will remain non existent, as the temporary world we live will be useless in that hour.Pleasure and self perish in the grave, consequences will be carried in the spirit form  on way or another. 

  Darkness is the emptiness by which real life has ended, and eternal emptiness be comes the grip for ever.

  JESUS CAN SAVE  from  eternal darkness, the money or fame and hate can not buy one way's out...nor in, no nightmare images will follow you in Christ,  you'll be  set free. The children will be glad you did  to all those alone without hope trapped  in itself and darkness. Social gospel can not save only Christ can. Time for change? is only by spirit not by flesh, Grace is given by Christ alone. John 3, Romans 1-10 revelation all of it kj3 prayers for the lost.

NW

LED TO LEAD?

 Dear one it's deeply  simple,  the problem is getting our selves untangled form human expectation and  take his grace,,, Escape  the world of assumption and taking time to get aquatinted in this wonderful new  dynamic  I call it a relationship.

Simple something I do going alone with  God where I desire most to be, after all it's a for ever deal one way or the other ne nice to be sure.  I try not write like a religion,  but rather through the life I been given in this living relationship. As you can see the massive demise of the personaliness,  of our time is alarming and reckless... .. I love Francis Schafer warned the west of the road to come playing the games we do,    of our time will only lead to much more crime at the end of it.   Just for you love and real piece, the things the manifest has shown me is wordless ,  a world of in credible certainty and warmth.


Here is what it's  like to me and place I live and desire wildly  to be as much as possible,, enjoy a ride in another direction where life come to more than life.

Worship in Spirit & Truth

by Terrance Brownlow-Dindy, Sr
Jesus' compound statement concerning worship, in John 4:23, is sufficient to communicate the manner in which man is obliged to worship God, "...true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." Nevertheless, Christ goes on to employ use of the language's strongest imperative in reaffirming the way we're to worship, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (vs. 24). Man has no alternatives when it comes to worshipping God, despite popular belief. Let us consider the simple meaning of the phrase, "in spirit and truth." The New Analytical Greek Lexicon defines pneuma (new-ma), the Greek word translated "spirit" in our English Bibles: "the seat of thought; the in material, invisible part of man." The Lord, in His prayer to the Father recorded in John 17, gives a precise definition of truth: "...Thy word is truth" (vs. 17). Thus, the Divine sanction regarding worship is: man must worship God thoughtfully, internally, and according to His word. No mere externals! No humanly devised innovations!

 Dear one man has added miles of things to do,  grace is free of it, he did it,  believe  faith is wealth to make the new life tick by,  and now we become his body the new temple , no external mediums are needed any longer. Simple always God is not interested in playing hide and seek, in the open in us and we got see him, got to go the route his way. Romans 4  No gadgets of thought needed just him. love you for ever..

 1 Corinthians  1-4 chapters  kj3, young's' literal, etc,

narrowway

More than A mere service!

Do you not discern and understand that YOU are God's temple and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16. \

 

The word church was implement and conjured a form, would add an additional medium  which in all due respect has become tradition ,  with it’s man made offices,  which was simply a body of people where every one contributed, a power house of spirit led people, who  referred to God as rushing wind characterizing him by his Spirit in stead of philosophy which sliced and diced his function into .  Elders served the younger, so they would grow. 

 

The ecclesia is free thanks to watchman.

There are many verses like this one that I had grown up hearing and yet did not comprehend. Like all truth, it requires God to open our eyes to see and to open our ears to hear. Christ symbolically destroyed the old temple and the old system through His death; it DIED, it was finished! He said "Destroy the temple and I will rebuild it in three days" but He was not speaking of reforming or rebuilding an earthly religious system or building; He was referring to Himself, His Body which was resurrected as the new House of God and of which WE are each a part! "Now you are Christ's Body and you are members of it, each part distinct (each with his own place and function)" 1 Cor 12:27. "IN HIM the whole structure is joined and welded together harmoniously, and it continues to rise and grow into a holy temple IN THE LORD. IN HIM you yourselves also are being built up into this structure with the rest, to form a fixed abode or dwelling place of God IN, BY, THROUGH the Spirit" Eph 2:21,22.

God did not resurrect a dead building, or resurrect the old system of priests, rituals and sacrifices in the temple - Christ was resurrected as a living, breathing Body! Instead of God's presence being in the holy of holies in a physical temple, by His Spirit (Breath) He now lives in each person's holy of holies (spirits). Jesus said: "Something greater and more majestic than the temple is here!" Matt 12:6. People no longer needed to GO to a temple or attend the synagogue to meet God; THEY themselves were the temples and vessels containing the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19, 2 Cor 6:16)!

 

God was dwelling in THEM and was with them constantly. They were now a house of prayer in the true meaning of the word; true, daily communion with God, any where at any time. Instead of needing priests in a physical building, we are all made into priests to serve our God in His House (Christ) day and night (Rev 1:6, 5:10). Pretty amazing, and yet total heresy and very threatening to the priests in their temples built by man, right down to this very day. it’s been 1600 years ! you think?

We usually get spiritual things around the wrong way, we think that the physical will bring about the spiritual, that outward things will have an inward effect. But the outward will result naturally only if/when the inward has already happened (eg been brought about by God)!  IF it were the other way around, then WE would be in control.  WE could make things happen by ourselves, WE would be as God, WE would have a method! 

 

This way there is NO method, NO relying on ourselves or other people, only relying on God to supply our needs.  One way relies on ourselves and others; the other relies solely on God. Doing something physically in order to try to cause something spiritual to happen, is the very essence of being earthly rather than heavenly.

The Old versus the New

There was a major change between the old covenant and the new covenant which was why the religious people were so upset with Jesus and killed Him. Under the old covenant the temple (or place of worship) had been built for God to inhabit and for His people to meet Him in, and it was called the house of God. An intermediary (pastor or priest) would speak to the people on behalf of God. However with the arrival of the Messiah and the new covenant, all of this changed!

In speaking of the physical temple building and its rituals here on earth, the writer to the Hebrews said that it was "by this the Holy Spirit points out that the way into the true Holy of Holies is not yet thrown open as long as the former tabernacle remains a recognized institution and is still standing, seeing that that first tabernacle was a PARABLE, a visible symbol or picture of the present age..." (Hebrews 9:8-9 AMP). The prophets of the Old Testament knew and wrote of this:

Thus says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place? Isaiah 66:1.

But will God actually dwell with men on earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house (temple) which I (Solomon) have built! 2 Chron 6:18.

He (the Messiah) shall grow up in His place and He shall build the true temple of the Lord. Yes, you are building a temple of the Lord, but it is HE Who shall build the true temple of the Lord... Zech 6:12,13.

The old covenant was external; the new covenant is internal. The old covenant had an external tabernacle, priests, rituals, sacrifices and had the laws of God engraved on tablets of stone within the ark; the new covenant is internal, each one is a living sacrifice with the laws of God engraved on their hearts and each one is a priest to God and hears and knows God for themselves (Jeremiah 31:33-34 & Hebrews 8:8-12).

When Christ was crucified He fulfilled the requirements of the Law of sin and death and ushered in the Law of Life and liberty; when He cried "It is finished" the veil in the Holy of Holies was ripped in two because the Way to the throne of God was now open and unveiled: "Destroy (undo) this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. Then the Jews replied, It took forty six years to build this temple (sanctuary) and will You raise it up in three days? But He had spoken of the temple which was HIS BODY" John 2:19-21.

Christ's Law of Life

We can unwittingly allow ourselves to remain under the old covenant; the laws and traditions and religions and works of men which say you must do many things in order to please God. Jesus declared that He is Lord of the Sabbath. He broke the rules of the religious Jews and they wanted to kill Him for it. He became a stumbling block to them as was prophesied (Isaiah 8:14,15 & Romans 9:33). He was illustrating the difference between the old covenant and the new. Under the new covenant it is not important that we DO religious things but that we ARE a holy and sanctified thing because we are in Him and He is in us! If we ARE a holy thing then what we do will be holy also.

Christ is truly our Sabbath rest because He has done all the work for us; He has completely fulfilled the law's requirements. We can no longer please Him by trying to do what is right; we please Him by recognising, accepting and resting in Him and what He has already accomplished for us through His death and resurrection!

"What can we attain without effort? How can we ever get anywhere if we do not move? But Christianity is a queer business! If at the outset we try to do anything, we get nothing; if we seek to attain something, we miss everything. For Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE." 1

This is the Law of Life which brings freedom rather than the law of sin and death which brings bondage. I am not saying that we do nothing at all, but that the source of all our doing must be from who and what we ARE in Him, rather than from our own works or efforts. Our flesh delights in doing things and we waste much time in fleshly activity just as Martha did; but God delights in seeing us waste ourselves at His feet as Mary did.

We need to differentiate clearly between life and actions. Life is bound to express itself in actions, but actions are no substitute for life. Many Christians put forth a tremendous amount of effort in their desire to be Christ-like; but the Life of Christ is always spontaneous. Even natural life functions spontaneously... Excessive effort indicates sickness. The movements of a healthy body are spontaneous and often unconscious. 2

First and foremost of the unwritten laws of the church is that you must attend a building (or meetings!) every Sunday - this seems to be a difficult mindset to break through because our security is often in IT instead of in God. The Body of Christ in Acts initially met not only at the temple (as was their custom and culture), but daily in each other's homes, sharing meals and the Bread of Life together. They understood that something had changed: THEY were now the temple of God! Initially some went to the temple to evangelise the Jews and tell them of this radical new Way, but they got kicked out of the synagogues or put in prison for their trouble. By the time the book of Hebrews was written things had changed significantly:

Although we can watch the steady advance of divine purpose through the book of Acts, yet even at its close we find that the Christian concept has not completely clarified. However, when we read the letter to the Hebrews, we see that the Christian has emerged from a transition stage and his personality has become thoroughly integrated. In the Acts he is both Jew and Christian. He meets for fellowship with other Christians outside the temple; nevertheless, he still visits the temple. But when we come to the book of Hebrews we find that he is no longer both Jew and Christian; he is simply Christian. And he no longer meets with his fellow Christians at times inside the temple, at times outside the temple. What he could do when the Spirit was newly poured out in Jerusalem, he cannot do now that the tide of the Spirit is sweeping onward to the ends of the earth. In Hebrews we find that he has forsaken the temple for "the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man", and he has forsaken the many sacrifices for the "one offering" by which the believer is "perfected forever".... Therefore the writer to the Hebrews explains that the realization of God's purpose in establishing the New Covenant involved the complete abolition of the old order to which the Jewish believers clung so tenaciously. 3

Religion Brings Death

One of the reasons why Stephen was stoned to death by the religious people was because he understood this truth and the religious leaders did not like it or want to hear it. He said to them: "It was Solomon who built a house for Him. However, the Most High DOES NOT DWELL in houses and temples (buildings) made with hands; as the prophet says" (Isaiah 66:1,2). "Heaven is My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What kind of house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest? Was it not My hand that made all these things?" Acts 7:47-50.

The believers grew and thrived as a living Body rather than a religion for the first couple of centuries. Eventually the Emperor Constantine decreed that Christianity was a valid religion and that buildings and regular meetings were necessary. This meant it became like pagan religions with their temples, priests, pulpits and holy days and so the church as we know it was birthed. Effectively the people were being put back under the law from which Christ had paid such a dear price to set them free. "Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose; I do not set aside and invalidate the grace of God. For if justification comes through observing the ritual of the Law, then Christ died groundlessly and to no purpose, His death was then wholly superfluous. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works or was it by hearing the Gospel and believing it? Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a message of faith?" Galatians 2:21, 3:2.

Many people worldwide are now hearing God call them out of the doing and busyness of religion and church and are instead finding Christ Himself as their Sabbath Rest and Life. "Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices (religious activity) as in OBEYING the voice of the Lord?" We must each have (and give each other!) the freedom to hear, listen and obey God for ourselves. We are each responsible for our own decisions and actions. If He has not told us to leave the church, we need not feel condemned for staying. Conversely we must not condemn those who HAVE heard Him call them out and who have obeyed Him, often at great personal cost to them and their families.

Every age has its own characteristics.  Right now we are in an age of religious complexity.  The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us.  In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart.  The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the the peace of God scarcely at all. If we would find God amid all the religious externals we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity.... When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself.  The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation.  In the "and" lies our great woe.  If we omit the "and" we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.  4

Ah, but what about not forsaking assembling together, I hear someone cry! We are a Family and families do not usually have to organise a meeting in order to relate to one another, we get together whenever we can in a more real and natural environment than within a religious building once a week. We love to have fellowship (which means the intimacy and joint participation of our shared Life in Christ) with brothers and sisters wherever and whenever we meet up with each other! As we share one another's lives we find that we are sharing His Life within each of us and we have communion with Him and one another. The focus is again on real relationships rather than religious rituals. Looking at this verse in its context we see that this is what "assembling together" is supposed to be about, because you cannot watch over one another or admonish one another if there is not a friendship and close relationship there to begin with: "Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up to love and helpful deeds, not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together as is the habit of some people, but admonishing, warning, urging and encouraging one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching" Hebrews 10:24,25.

What Jesus is Building

This worldwide City, the New Jerusalem that Jesus is building, has only one Architect and Builder, it has only one High Priest. These children of God have only one Father, these sheep have only one Shepherd and they hear and know His voice and follow only Him. And this Body has only one Head which directs, governs and controls it: "If we are one with the Head, we are one with the Body, even if we are not gathered together. But, if we are not one with the Head, we are not one with the Body, even if we are gathered together." (Chip Brogden - http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/churchianity-today.html)

We simply ARE the temple of the Holy Spirit no matter where we are or who we are with. We are a part of the Body regardless of where our Head takes us! We are the children of God, born from above, members of God's Family - we are heavenly rather than earthly. Our life source is not from religion and ritual on this earth, but from vital relationship with the One who IS Life! "Do you not know that your body is the temple, the very sanctuary of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price, purchased, paid for, and made His own. What agreement can there be between a temple of God and idols? For we ARE the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (1 Cor 6:19,20 & 2 Cor 6:16).

The Greek word "ekklesia" is the word translated incorrectly as 'church' in English (see the article Leaving Church for more on this). Ekklesia means those called to an assembly or gathering, and did not ever mean a religious building! It is a composite of two Greek words, "ek" (out of or away from) and "kaleo" (called). So what are we called out of and away from? We are called away from the world and called out of its system which includes man's religions and man's attempts to reach God; especially through organised religion. Religion has always attempted to reach God and please God by what WE DO. It is fleshly, it is relying on ourselves and our programs instead of on God - it is in the place of Christ, it is idolatry, the way of Babylon. "I then heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out from her (Babylon), my people, so that you may not participate in her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).

WE are now the living stones being built into the Temple of the Living God; Jesus said that HE would build and assemble His called out ones together, this is something spiritual which cannot be built by man. Men like conformity, we like to build with bricks instead of stones because we can make bricks be all the same shape and size so they are easy to fit together. We may make our own bricks of mud from this earth (by insisting on conformity or man-made "unity") and build with those bricks, but we may also end up building a religious tower of Babel to try to reach God ourselves. HE will build and add to His City, not man. Living stones cannot be incorporated into a building of bricks; it won't work! His Temple, which He alone is building, is alive and well and victorious so that He, and He alone receives all the glory and honour for the work of His Spirit in us!

We have an altar from which those who serve and worship in the tabernacle have no right to eat. Let us then go forth, from all that would prevent us, to Him outside the camp, bearing the contempt and abuse and shame with Him. For here we have no permanent city, but we are looking for the one which is to come. Hebrews 13:10,13,14

1 page 11 "Sit, Walk, Stand" by Watchman Nee

 

 

 I thank the ecclesia I met and am blessed in your actions of faith ,,NW

Ecclesia has not exchanged the power for the gnosis!

By Rodney W. Francis
.

The following is an honest attempt to help us to see the need of the “dunamis” power of God to be restored in greater measure in our lives and in the Christian Church in general. For too long this power has been neglected, the power that the Church and the world desperately needs to see in action. My prayer is that we will approach the subject with a very prayerful attitude of heart and mind, and genuinely seek God as to why more “dunamis” is not working in our lives.

“But you shall receive power (“dunamis”) - ability, efficiency and might - when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends - the very bounds - of the earth” (Acts 1:8 , AMP.).

 

“Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or conceive, by the power (“dunamis”) which is at work among us . . .” (Ephesians 3:20 , NEB).

The “dunamis” has already been given, but it is only beneficial when it is working - in US!!

“Dunamis” is a Greek word and means:

 “act of power” (Young’s); “miraculous power, ability” (Strong’s); “natural capability, inherent power; capability of anything, ability to perform any-thing; then, absolutely, not merely power capable of action, but, power in action” (Bullinger’s). 

 

 I think  as Paul says  he has little use for the philosophies of man, it is the power of God , we avoid teaching it away or exchanging philosophy for his power, agree thanks Rodney. Thanking kjos for their prayer support and contact always.

 

There's little watering it down to  platonic philosophy which has dominated  western religion up to this time.

 

 

FS

Freedom in grace breaking the crust of political religion.

Strengthen the executive, and you weaken the law"-Tiberius of Rome. Think we get it yet? how long ago was that said? Political power has it's own  destructive reek.

Anglo Saxon  hierarchal structures used both as a state and organized religions as it's power base,  please review the Anglo Saxon hierarchal history.

Spirit led did not borrow the pagan forms, please read Paul  words in the Jamison faucett and brown commentary, the apostle Paul had no use for their structures or forms 1 Corinth 1-4. 

Quenching the spirit at Sardis produced and originated  out of the same practice's long before any of the  pre-post reformation state religions existed .

The Rosicrucian forms were one of the major influences at one point,  and well embedded in the time of king James and the  influenced bacon had on scripture for years be fore it was published and  using Tyndale's works they managed to insert their political  esoteric mechanisms, please read  history all there. Bacons mystical idea in his book the New Atlantis.

The original form was not compromised for power or wealth but in servitude and unity and bond to Christ alone. Narrowway is moved  into a real minus all the additives back to what Paul was talking about, living out side  the magician mystics,  were trying to reconstruct. We selected the once spirit led body as real live faith.


 Please read the commentary use the Greek it really clears up the idea of the all the philosophy  washed  out the Holy Spirit  or reduced him into a human religion, with Ot covenant form brought back in. And it's man made systems. Paul had no use for the wisdom of this world please read the kj3  1 corinthians1 .

I added this because it's  serious blow to the  spirit led body, The actual body was mobile and on the move all the time, it was conscious of what was going on around it spiritually, and acted into lives it touched by being an ensample of the living gospel, rather than state political system which over time had become deeply distorted and run by money and power, greed does many funny things to people. Thanks



Getting free to know grace and liberty
Melchizedek School of Ministry  

Breaking Christian witchcraft

Breaking Christian witchcraft
 
We all have some sense of what witchcraft is. Some equate witchcraft with Halloween, Jack-o’-lanterns, caped women atop broom sticks, or Wicca. The best-selling books and movies chronicling the adventures of Harry Potter continue to sanction witchcraft in our society through casting spells and mixing potions, while presenting a great saga between good and evil witches. And, of course, who could forget the ever so popular video game Dungeons and Dragons, the fantasy role playing game where players engage dark forces with their magical powers.


Even though witchcraft is often portrayed as innocent, it is strictly forbidden in the Word of God (Deuteronomy 18:9-14, Leviticus 19:31, 20:6; Isaiah 8:19).
Regardless of what some think, witchcraft opens the door to demonic forces. Package them in the latest fashion or present them on Hollywood’s silver screen, but there are no such things as good demonic powers. Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). It would be best for all to take heed to His Word.


Witchcraft is a bonafide demonic power released through various activities such as words, spells, amulets, charms, occult powers, chants, magic, drugs, potions, or directive prophecies. It’s far more than meeting in a forest to worship Mother Earth and hugging pine trees. Witchcraft is a power that influences people, gives a place to demon activity, battles against the minds of men, challenges the Church of Jesus Christ, buffets the maturity of believers, hinders church growth, comes against families, marriages and relationships, and frustrates the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Witchcraft, however, is more common that one would think.

 I want to break away from the traditional look at witchcraft and explore some other manifestations of this evil force. I know a true born again believer would never cast a spell or drink a potion, but could there be other forms of witchcraft mentioned in the Bible? Let’s take a look at witchcraft operations from a different perspective, through the old fallen nature–the flesh.


BEWITCHED, SPIRIT AND FLESH
Witchcraft can be released through the rebellious and the stubborn, both actions described in the Word of God as workings of the flesh. Scripture says,
“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3).

Notice the words bewitched, spirit and flesh. The word bewitched, Greek baskaino, means to be charmed, seduced, or to be placed under a spell. In the Old English language bewitched comes from the word biwiccian, meaning the working or the result of Wicca sorcery. The writer of Galatians ties witchcraft to the manifesting or workings of the flesh.

The meaning of flesh in this scripture is the Greek word sarx, meaning the carnal mind, or better described as the earthly nature of man apart from the Spirit of God. A person, therefore, who is “governed” by the actions of the flesh (sarx), can release witchcraft upon himself or others. No, he or she doesn’t become a Wiccan recruit, but, nevertheless, like the Galatians, enters into a foolish and illusory area of life.

Identifying witchcraft
Have you ever been around a person whose negative body language, tone of voice, stubbornness, or contentious attitude made you feel like you were walking on eggshells around them? Or his or her actions made you feel like he or she would lash out at you at any moment? Did you get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach? Could that feeling be the result of a subtle form of witchcraft emanating from the flesh? Even though nothing much was said, did you still feel some sort of force emanating from the person? Did you understand the nonverbal message? That subtle force from the flesh is a form of witchcraft. The writer who corrected the foolish Galatians, the Apostle Paul didn’t stop there to make this plain to us.

He said,
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness (unbridled lust), idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance (contention), emulations (jealous rivalry), wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings (evil carousing), and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).


Here Paul directly connects the works of the flesh with witchcraft, concluding that those who do (intentionally practice) such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The works of the flesh, temper tantrums, bad attitudes, negative body language, stubbornness, and negative words and confessions are all workings of witchcraft. I told you this would be a different viewpoint on witchcraft. Now you can see why there is so much written in the Word of God about the tongue (Proverbs 18:21, James 3:6).


RELIGIOUS WITCHCRAFT
When religious activity is not spiritually motivated but carnally motivated it releases a form of witchcraft, too. Motivation is everything because its source is the heart of man.
Religion also releases witchcraft when it intentionally avoids the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says, “Having a form of godliness but denying the power (dunamis) thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).
This is a powerful instruction to Timothy from the Apostle Paul. The word form, Greek morphosis, means to have merely a shape or to look like the real thing. This religious counterfeit can be identified because it looks like the Church, yet is carnally motivated and disregards the necessity of the dunamis power of God. That dunamis power is the ministry of the Holy Spirit Himself. Paul’s final instruction is to turn away from such.


There are many religious people in the world who say they are born again yet attack the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They challenge the baptism of the Holy Spirit, miracles, and healing today, speaking in other tongues, prophecy, deliverance, fervent prayer, the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, and much more. Rather than have Holy Spirit administered lives, ministries, and churches, they hold fast to man-made programs, vain traditions, and secular social activities.

Religion releases witchcraft when it is governed by the flesh, rather than the Spirit of God. It was religious people, supposedly born again, that persistently stirred up trouble for the Apostle Paul.
They couldn’t accept his teaching that it was possible to be born again without circumcision (Acts 15).
The elements of religion are a lack of spiritual sensitivity, legalism and debate, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and a form of godliness that denies the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Just get around a person who has that nasty, contentious religious spirit and you will experience the working of witchcraft from religion.


Witchcraft, emanating from our flesh, is an enemy of the gospel. The good news is that we can, through our love for Jesus Christ, crucify that old carnal nature. Scripture instructs us to take off our old corrupted manner of living and put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness in God’s likeness (Ephesians 4:22-24). So the next time you experience the powers of witchcraft it may not be coming from some occult mystic, but from the flesh


 Romans 4 KJ3

Tozar

We now demand glamour and fast-flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals...The tragic results of this spirit all all about us: shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies...the glorification of men, trust is religious externalities....salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit. These and such of these are the symptoms of an evil disease.”
― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God 

 “Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.”  

      “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God,”

 
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