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Posts Tagged ‘Divine Nature’

The Spirit Indeed Is Willing – Part 2

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , , , , , on October 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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By Mavis M. duCille

Scripture reading: Zachariah 4:6

Taking a look at the Old Testament, there appears much evidence of the weakness of the flesh, like…

DAVID – chosen of God, courageous, a champion, a good soldier, but was led by passion to violate the law; (to) yield to gross sin. When the Spirit of the Lord anointed him, he did mightily; outside of that, he was an ordinary man subject to the weaknesses of the flesh.

MOSES – leader and law-giver of Israel; was as God to the people; spoke with God’s personality; moved mightily under the anointing, but manifested as an ordinary man when provoked.

SAMSON – Showed such supernatural power and might, yet there was the expression of the carnal appetites; weak in resisting temptations.

The plotting, planning, cunning, scheming JACOB (could have been a familiar spirit; mother deceived Isaac, Laban her brother deceived Jacob) had a bout with the angel all night, but thank God he had the tenacity to hang on for the blessing or measure of deliverance which he received towards morning. The Jacob nature must be dealt with by the Spirit before any possession of the Land. No one is going to conquer those giants in the land, but the one who owns the land. The Land is OURSELVES. Each individual is well acquainted with the giants that rise up in his or her own soul to challenge the Spirit. Some have been there so long, that they appear to be part of the person. The individual may even be afraid to lose that spirit which might well be a controlling spirit. Anything that cannot be identified with the gift of the Holy Spirit and righteousness (Christ’s nature) is of the carnal, evil spirit, and must be driven out of the land.

There are so many examples in the Old Testament proving the weakness of man, that it is virtually impossible to deny the fact that “in man dwells no good thing.” Without the Spirit there is bound to be failure.

Take Peter as an example. In the New Testament, Peter had been with Jesus for three and a half years, and seen and shared in all that Jesus manifested; yet, in his humanness, he denied Him before the people, and returned to fishing after Jesus left. No wonder Jesus said to him, “Peter, lovest thou me?” – asking the same question three times and receiving the same answer from Peter, even with a little disgust at the last. Then Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” At one time, Jesus told Peter, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee.”

Peter, as well as all of us, have to be fortified by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, or there is no overcoming of the flesh (the world, the flesh, and the devil). Peter’s impulsiveness and all other weaknesses of the flesh, as well as all of us, have to come under the effectual working of the Spirit if we are to be transformed to HIS IMAGE.

It is not because these characters mentioned in the Bible were bad or evil that they fell short of the expressed image of God, but because in the Old Testament, (or in other words under the old covenant), the Spirit of God was not yet come to indwell the believer (John 7:39), and in (the) three and a half years that Jesus was on the earth with His disciples, the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Therefore, Peter was without strength. Jesus said, “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” When the Spirit fell at Pentecost, Peter rose up in the midst and proclaimed the wonders of salvation.

The willingness to the Spirit anointing was not enough for the Old Testament believers. Some did mightily in spite of their limitations, yet they were judged.

God expects greater overcoming from those to whom He has given not an overshadowing of the Spirit only, but an indwelling portion to all who will receive.

To this FORTY-SECOND GENERATION, therefore, He says, “Thou art inexcusable, O man,” (Romans 2:1), in that God has, through Jesus, laid the way wide open to redeem man from the bondage of corruption (bondage of human nature), and raised us through the Spirit to overcome the weaknesses of the flesh.

“…Not by might, nor by power (in the natural), but by my SPIRIT, saith the Lord of hosts,” Zechariah 4:6.

There is no sin or weakness that the blood of Jesus, the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit cannot overcome.

Walking in the Spirit destroys or retards the weaknesses of the flesh, (and) builds spiritual character, thus the true nature of Christ is formed in the believer.

The Holy Ghost is given and is always willing and ready to purge the dross, that the gold (which is the nature of God) may come forth; that the world may see Christ Jesus living in His temple. As the temple of God, we should allow the Spirit to deal with the weaknesses of the flesh, so that the Divine Nature might destroy the evil nature, and take full control of the man for Christ’s sake. Amen.

(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, 1997, pages 71-74)

Thought for today: There is no sin or weakness that the blood of Jesus, the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit cannot overcome.

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We Must Be Overshadowed

Posted in Time of the End, tagged , , , on July 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Psalm 57:1

In order to be filled with the “divine nature,” we must be overshadowed by the divine. The effigy of the two cherubim on the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle of Moses is a type of the divine overshadowing. The Song of Solomon speaks of the love between Christ and the church, and the final act of planting the seed of life within the soul, the womb of the church. This is God’s divine order of bringing forth life.

Isaiah 51:16, “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.”

Since the heavens are of old, and the earth is already founded, we can only conclude from this scripture that it speaks of the heaven, or abiding place of God within the soul of man, and the earth, to mean the physical man which as the scripture says, will be made immortal. The covering here is one of protection, an overshadowing that does not only change man’s nature, but protects him while the change is being made. This idea is carried out by the scripture as shown below.

“And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by.” Exodus 33:22.

It is absolutely amazing that God had to cover Moses to protect him from Himself. In simple terms, the power of radiation of God was too much for Moses’ eyes, so God simply hid him in a rock. The overshadowing always brings protection along with the main purpose for which God gives it.

“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee; yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” Psalm 57:1.

“For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” Isaiah 25:4.

Here again, we see the double purpose of overshadowing. Not only is it a place of hiding, but in this scripture, it created strength to the poor.

“And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” Genesis 28:15.

In 1st Corinthians 10:1-2, Paul writes in the Holy Ghost,

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

With every age, there is an overshadowing, and this must come forth within those overshadowed by the will of God for their time. We, therefore, in this time have an overshadowing, and this is the greatest of all the overshadowings of the past. They were only a type of that which God is bringing forth within us for our time and for all mankind.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, 2nd edition, 1995, pg. 150-151)

Thought for today: We, therefore, in this time have an overshadowing, and this is the greatest of all the overshadowings of the past.

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The Insemination of the Bride

Posted in The Seed of Christ, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Luke 1:38

The second and great work of the Holy Ghost is to plant the seed of life into the womb of the church, which is the soul of the believer. It is far more important to God to change the NATURE of the believer, than to endow him with power. No matter how much power the individual has, if he or she is not changed from within, God has not yet brought forth a SON. God wants to multiply, just as we want to multiply. It is within HIS DIVINE nature to bring forth children. This nature of God is expressed in everything He makes. The grass, the flowers, the trees, the birds, the animals, and all things bring forth abundantly.

God’s order of bringing forth is the same everywhere. The scripture declares that everything brings forth after its own kind. Therefore, if we desire corn, we plant corn. If we must bring forth Christ in the earth, then we must plant Christ. What the ministry has been doing for hundreds of years is planting themselves in people and expecting to bring forth Christ.

God’s divine order is revealed in Luke 1:28, 30-33. God first sent the angel Gabriel to Mary with a message.

“Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. Fear not, Mary, for thou has found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great and be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

This message of the angel was absolutely positive. He skipped 2,000 years in one sentence to bring all the good news concerning Jesus. Not a negative note – nothing was mentioned of the death and suffering. The intention was clear to bring faith in Mary to receive the Holy Ghost and the work He should do within her. Mary cried, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” Luke 1:38. The angel left. His work was done.

The minister of the gospel is the angel; the messenger who carries the word of the Lord to the maiden, the church. The church is not the wife of the minister. The minister is not the husband of the church, he is the husbandman, not planting his own seed, but the seed of the word to invoke faith in the maiden. When the faith is invoked in her, then she receives the Holy Ghost. He it is that plants the seed of the Christ within the soul, which is the womb of the church. The overshadowing of the Holy Ghost is the overshadowing which is necessary to bring forth the change of the human nature to that of the divine nature.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, 2nd Edition, 1995, pg. 119-121)

Thought for today: No matter how much power the individual has, if he or she is not changed from within, God has not yet brought forth a SON.

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Error in the Body

Posted in Body of Christ, tagged , , , , on June 25, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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Scripture reading: Matthew 24:23

Before we attain the perfection, which entails changing the human nature to the DIVINE NATURE (2nd Peter 1:4), we must abide in the perfection of the Spirit. At present, we do partake of the divine nature in a limited way, but then we shall in its fullness. No man will rise to the perfect image of God before the death and the resurrection of the FIRSTFRUITS COMPANY, and this event shall jolt all creation. No man is correct in going around saying he is Christ. He cannot be Christ until the firstfruits come forth, and we shall all know about this when it happens, because perfection will come to a body of people and not to an individual. Thus it is the body that will be called Christ, and not the parts. This is the meaning of the scripture in Matthew 24:23, “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.”

If Christ was going to come in this fashion, then in obedience to the scripture, we would not believe Him when He comes. This scripture, more than any other, clearly says that Christ will not come and say unto any man, “I am Christ.” Thus, any person who says this is doing so in the spirit of the antichrist. The people of God who are now being taught that because Christ is coming forth in His church in the individual members, that we are Christ, are being “artfully and cunningly” prepared by the devil to accept the antichrist. My instruction to you is that you must repent now and cease from this heresy, if so be that you thought it was all right to worship the Christ in your brother. Worship the head, not the body. The body is not yet perfect. We must only worship God.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, 2nd Edition, 1995, pg. 118-119)

Thought for today: Worship the head, not the body. The body is not yet perfect. We must only worship God.

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Grace

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , on May 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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By Mavis duCille

Scripture reading: Hebrews 4:15-16

(February 1986)

Grace is undeserved favor – God to man.

Enoch found grace with God – he walked with God, and God took him as He desired.

Moses found grace with God – he talked to God face to face and lived; he received the ten commandments written by the finger of God; he led a miraculous life from Egypt to Canaan; died and was taken away by angels, and did not see corruption.

Elijah, the prophet, found grace with God – he lived a life of power and spiritual authority; was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.

Jesus Christ, our great benefactor, the very author of grace, with all the faculties of God fully developed in Him, showed us what it meant for man to live by the grace of God. He was the embodiment of grace, peace and love. In Him, we beheld the glory of God. He is the grace of God.

God dealt with the patriarchs individually according to His promises. He dealt with Israel, His choice as a nation, under the law, according to His promises. The prophets stressed repentance in their prophetic writings, and encouraged Israel to take advantage of the GRACE which God always makes available to man. They stressed repentance as an inward work which renews the heart, as a gift of God’s Grace.

God’s Grace envelops mercy, lovingkindness, goodness and forgiveness. His AMAZING GRACE includes the Divine Power to equip man to live above his fallen state, thus fulfilling the mission of Jesus Christ. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

God, therefore, exonerates Himself from blame, because GRACE is His free gift to everyone. Accept it and you have life; reject it and you are lost. Grace is from the beginning to the end of our salvation. Justification is through grace. When one comes to Jesus in repentance, God in His grace treats him, the guilty one, as if he had never sinned. Here FAITH, which is also a gift of God, is exercised to accept this forgiveness “not of yourselves,” Ephesians 2:8, but the will of God. Ephesians 1:13 speaks of Consecration and Baptism as the next step in grace – a provision for the conquest of sin in the believer’s life. It is, therefore, necessary that one must be at an AGE and STAGE to recognize sin.

NO GRACE, NO GOSPEL: Every step in the Christian life is due to GRACE. Romans 8:28-30 shows there is a calling, a justification, and a glorification, with a responsibility in between; obedience being the moral attitude.

Hebrews 4:15-16, “For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the THRONE OF GRACE, that we may obtain MERCY, and find GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.”

So many times, we Christians fail so miserably with our loved ones and the world in general, forgetting that the whole creation groans and travails, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. Before the world can have that witness, we, the people of God, must overcome the nature within us that is contrary to HIS DIVINE NATURE.

There is a work to be done in the soul – the mind, the emotions, the will and the desires (this is man) – by daily exercise, which necessitates getting to the throne of grace – i.e. forgive, that you might be FORGIVEN.

The trouble with many Christians is that sin does not appear EXCEEDINGLY SINFUL. The Holy Spirit has not been allowed to permeate the soul to do the purifying work to which the heart and conscience bears witness. They always seem to be either excusing themselves or accusing one another; therefore manifesting anger, malice, strife, wantonness, love of pleasure, divisiveness, cunningness, impatience, bitterness, selfishness, ego (which exalts self almost or altogether above God), fear, contention, pride, etc. – fruits of the flesh in general. All these are enmity against God, having one’s personality organized in the wrong direction.

Because the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, God makes provision for man in mercy and grace – that we might find the grace needed for the situations of each day.

It matters not how much one prophesies, preaches, imparts healing, teaches or is involved in any church activity; one needs to find GRACE to help when accused, robbed, beaten, reviled, cursed or caused pain or grief. The believer does not draw from the abundance of words in one’s own vocabulary or from one’s own strength, but rather from the abundance of GRACE from the THRONE OF GRACE. This will glorify God and produce much overcoming strength.

Matthew 5:21-28 shows that under grace, anger is equated with murder, and a wrong look is equated with adultery.

To stand on one’s pride and depend on and use one’s strength is frustrating the GRACE OF GOD, whereby we are S-A-V-E-D – saved from having been born in sin and shaped in iniquity – being saved from our own self nature – being saved from corruption to incorruption, and from mortal to immortal.

(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, pg. 107-109)

Thought for today: It matters not how much one prophesies, preaches, imparts healing, teaches or is involved in any church activity; one needs to find GRACE to help when accused, robbed, beaten, reviled, cursed or caused pain or grief.

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