This is a total re edit of this post from October 2007 and revisited here last month.

Back in October, 2007 I was thinking and praying about how to write the story of my transition to a Spirit- led man.  I thought it must be written and published before I could really move on with building the website the Holy Spirit of Jesus was prompting me to build, which has now progressed to www.jerusalemhill.org  here on Xanga.  I was wrong.  The Lord has moved me along in His Own Good Time.  I now realize my transition began way back when I was a boy.  And it's certainly not a completed work in me even now.  But "He Who has begun a good work in me is faithful to complete it!"

I think now that I was trying to write about just one chapter of my life which began in 1990 when I finally recognized the sovereignty of God and my foolishness in resisting it.  At that time I completely submitted myself to Him, My Lord and Master, as Paul "beseeches" us to do in Romans 12, verse 1; or at least I thought I had done that.  But the next ten years was a difficult time in my life, seemingly filled with many failures, a time of falling short of my intentions and of hurting and disappointing people I love -- especially one person who was my wife during those years. I can still feel those failures within me and still have to deal with them.  I've heard many opinions about my failures expressed by others.  But I'm still not sure which if any were failures from God's point of view.  I believe He knew and accepted the necessity for me to fail, including the many consequences, as part of my transition to complete dependance upon Him and to the spiritual empowerment which comes with it! 

I cling to one certainty, one absolutely irrefutable truth:  During that whole time, my heart was set upon obeying the voice of God within me.  The Lord was so often during that time showing me in the New Testament where the present- day church community had "missed it" and was following "mere traditions of men."  And the voice of God within me was coaxing and encouraging me to love others as Jesus loved us, sacrificially, and contrary to the accepted rules of the religious culture, straight into confrontation with the "conventional wisdom."   The harder I tried and failed, the more frustrated, irritable and angry I became inside.  I said things -- no, I screamed things -- to my wife which I now wish I could take back.  And I continued to do the things which raised suspicions about my motives, all the more because my well-intentioned actions did not always bear good fruit.  

These cause me to wonder about the destruction and suffering caused by Saul of Tarsus before he met the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus.  The few details we have about this time of his life are chilling.  And the manner in which God humbled Saul are dramatic.  But, for me, the greatest lesson from the life of Saul of Tarsus comes from his receipt of the Holy Spirit, Whom I also have received.  As with Saul of Tarsus, I had to be knocked down and face my blindness; my life had to be completely changed, turned upside down.  Now in 2013 my frustrations, irritability and anger are -- for the most part -- long gone, replaced by that "peace which surpasses understanding."  I've experienced spiritual successes and seen good fruit in and around my life.  

I see now there is no good reason to write my former wife into this story.  The Lord is still at work in her as He is in me.  She is entitled to her privacy.  It is sufficient to say I failed to obey My Lord's command to me to "Just love her" because I was simply still carnal and still far from being a spiritual man during our time together.  I regret that.  But I'm confident God was using my failure in her life just as he used false allegations and prison time in mine.  I pray for her, with love in my heart for her, still, even though we no longer communicate at all.

Beyond that, the story of my transition to a Spirit - led man is still being written; and that's why I post blogs and make comments on others'.  And that is why I begin all my prayers in this way:  "Oh! Sweet Jesus,  God of second chances and new beginnings, it's me again..."

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...As described by the Apostle Paul:  Romans 12:1-3, Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Apostle Paul prayed these blessings for seekers of God like you and me.

Now I pray them for myself, having changed Paul's word "you all" to the word me, etc.

"I pray continuously that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened; that I may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,  and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power  which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  that He would grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in our inner man,  that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. "

This prayer was and is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.  See Ephesians 1:16-20 & 3:14-19.  Many Christians have prayed in this way and grew spiritually; and I learned it from Brother Kenneth Hagin Sr.

Do you think that, perhaps, praying sincerely in this way will make your life more spiritually profitable?

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Because of many visitors to this lately, I am re posting my summary of Jesus' prayer in John 17 with added commentary so that my readers may better understand What is Ours in Christ Jesus:

Jesus said to His Father in Heaven, "Just as You have granted Me power and authority over all humankind, now glorify Me even as We have planned it, so that I may give eternal life to all whom You have given Me.  And eternal life means they shall  know (perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand)You, Father, the only true and real God, and likewise know Me, Jesus the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."

Now God Himself keeps and preserves us in the knowledge and worship of Himself so that we may be one with God even as Jesus is One with His Father, and that we may experience God’s delight in us.

We who are in Christ Jesus stand in God’s protection from “the evil one,” satan, who is still trying to rule the world of men, desperately, knowing his time remaining is short. 

We are being sanctified (purified, consecrated, set apart for God, made holy) by the Truth which is God’s Word, (Jesus Himself as the Holy Spirit guides us to understand the scriptures.)

Jesus intended these blessings not only for His disciples alive with Him before His crucifiction but also for us today!  For He said: "…but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching, That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world of men even over the many centuries may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me."

Jesus Christ said He has given us the very same glory (spiritual clout) and honor which His Father gave to Him!

God the Father loves us, His adopted children through Jesus the Christ, even as much as He loved and still loves His “only – begotten” (unique) Son, Jesus!

Jesus told His Father He wants us to be where He is so that we may see and operate in His glory (spiritual clout)!    It is revealed in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians.  And, if you are a believer you are seated there with Jesus in the seat of spiritual authority!

God intends to use us according to His love within us!  He said "I have made Your Name known to my first disciples and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make You known to and through those latter disciples whom I am also sending into the world, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them."

Believers, are you not astonished again and again to realize the truth of all that is ours in Christ Jesus?  Truth Seekers, can you believe it?

…

Ah! Truly a breath of fresh, clean Spiritual air!

In December 2012 I purchased Greg Albrecht's book, A Taste of Grace, Christianity Without the Religion for my Kindle Fire from Amazon.com.  Now I've read it cover to cover three times while checking the author's points of view on the several of Jesus' parables against the opinions of many other Bible teachers.

When I started this, I posted about it on Xanga; and many of you readers of mine asked me to announce my conclusions.

And here they are in one sentence:  If you truly desire to understand the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus, and how it compares with the performance- based religion represented by the 21st century Apostate Church,  you really must read this book!

Jerry

http://jerusalemhill.revelife.com/755620600/finetuning-the-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit/

I am the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. To say He has led me down paths traveled by few of my fellow servants is quite an understatement. So it is inevitable that He has shown me things many of my fellow servants have not seen and may never see. While I do try to remain focused upon the task at hand, to be totally a Spirit- led man, so long as I remain bound within this body of flesh my carnal side will impress itself upon my thoughts and sometimes even in my words. And it is from this carnal side I find my mind wandering into judging my fellow servants, even as I demand my fellow servants refrain from judging me. So I’m not surprised, nor do I at all resent it when My Lord corrects me using passages of scripture. Today it was this one, from Romans 14:

4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;[a] and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose[b] and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Thank You for correcting me once again, Lord Jesus!

"There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking."

Roger Williams                                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priesthood_of_all_believers

Notice how many Protestant Christians are constantly asking God to send "revival?"   Most of these are seeking a refreshing of the Holy Spirit among believers and not a continuation of the Reformation.  But I believe God is now already working among us to bring a fresh, reformed understanding of the Christian lifestyle, a more individual and personal immersion into the Christ's ongoing life on the earth through His Holy Spirit.  And the remaining accepted structures of leadership in the church are actually hindering Him!

"About every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at that time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur.  When that mighty upheaval happens, history shows us,there are always at least three consistent results or corollary events:

First, a new, more vital form of Christianity does indeed emerge. 

Second, the organized expression of Christianity which up until then had been the dominant one is reconstituted into a more pure and less ossified expression of its former self... 

The third result is of equal,if not greater significance, though.  That is, every time the incrustations of an overly established Christianity have been broken open, the faith has spread -- and been spread -- dramatically into new geographic and demographic areas..."

Today in America there are many, many Christian believers who adamantly proclaim their faith when asked but who no longer attend church regularly, much less actively participate in a particular, local church.  The reasons offered for this by "the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity" are growing quite stale and unacceptable.

I believe the major reason for this trend is that too many local churches indoctrinate and enforce old traditions of New Testament religion instead of introducing and encouraging believers into ever-deeper, personal -- I mean One-on-one as an individual -- personal relationships with the living, now-at-all-times-and places, very-present Spirit of Jesus.

In my own home church, there is at least some emphasis on entering fellowship with the Holy Spirit as a group, but when and only when we are gathered together for corporate worship.

What do you find in your own local church?  Or, is this issue the one which hinders you from attending church at all?

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The following was copied from Plain Truth Ministries Weekly E-mail Update.  

October 8, 2007.        http://www.ptm.org/Sunni/resources/resources05.htm

(Disclaimer: I wholeheartedly agree with PTM regarding the problems of legalism and misapplications of Scripture.  Therefore, I agree with most of the views expressed below and wish to share them here.

However, I also wish to point out that I do disagree with PTM regarding Biblical eschatology. --  Jerry)

Can someone who commits adultery remarry?

Q. I have a Christian friend who committed adultery and divorced her husband. She then realized, through God's changing of her heart, what she had done and tried to reconcile with her husband. She sought this reconciliation whole-heartedly and her love for her husband was renewed despite their ongoing problems problems. After counseling and trying for over a year, her husband gave up on their marriage. He said he didn't want to work on things anymore. She was completely broken. She wanted to reconcile her marriage so badly.

Since then she has met someone. They are not serious, but could be someday. The pastor of our church said that she is never free to remarry because she was the unfaithful one. He said that her only biblical options are to remain single or reconcile with her ex-husband. He also says that because her husband did not have the affair, he is free to remarry.

It seems to me that they both had roles in their current situation. The only difference between the two is the affair. Is she required to remain single if her husband is not willing to reconcile? If she does get remarried eventually, is she/her new husband sinning against the Lord? Is she forever marked by this despite God's forgiveness and grace?

A. Here, in brief, is what I (Greg Albrecht of Plain Truth Ministries) understand the Bible to say about this issue. Let's discuss this in terms of what the Bible reveals about the relationship Christians enjoy with God.

God hates divorce. He hates any sin -- lying, gluttony, envy, lust, malicious behavior of any kind, spiteful and backstabbing gossip, racism, pride, arrogance, adultery, disrespect of parents, stealing, murder -- the list is endless, isn't it? God is not in favor of any of these.

Our relationship with God is therefore estranged -- we are alienated. The only way we can be reconciled is through our Advocate, our Intermediary, our Savior -- who has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We are not capable of a) either adequately paying for our past sins, or b) guaranteeing, through some super-human efforts, that we will never sin again.

Because of the cross of Christ, God takes our debt and cancels it -- he forgives it. It's like a financial, or a legal action. He absolves us. This forgiveness is dynamic -- it is ongoing. We are not merely forgiven of every sin we have ever committed up until the specific point in time that we seek forgiveness, but we enter into a new way of relating to God. We enter into a relationship based on grace -- and this relationship includes the fact that God accepts us as we are, knowing full well that we are mortal and that we will sin again and again and again as long as we are in this flesh. In full knowledge of our imperfections and flaws, he pronounces us righteous. The New Testament calls us saints. This "title" is given to us because of Jesus -- not because of some performance that we have achieved, or will achieve in the future, on the strength of our own merits. Thus God forgives us of every sin we will ever commit -- for he knows we will continue to sin.

As Christians, our relationship with God is solely based in and on his grace -- we are in him and he is in us. We live in a perpetual state of forgiveness. God forgives us of sin, no matter what. This does not mean that God miraculously removes physical penalties we may pay -- penalties that natural law enforces or upon which human civil law may insist. A Christian may do hard time in a prison, paying his or her debt to society, but they have already been forgiven by God. At this point, many "religious" people blanch, because they cannot comprehend a forgiveness or a state of grace that powerful -- surely there must be a catch. Or, for that matter, they reason, if God offers such a ongoing forgiveness, why would we not take advantage of his grace?

At the same time, because we live a new life, we are not the same person we were. Jesus now lives his risen life in us (Galatians 2:20). We are, through the work of the Holy Spirit, growing in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). We are becoming his workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). He is molding, shaping and transforming us into the kind of person he wants us to be (2 Corinthians 4:16). And what kind of person is that? A wild, permissive, immoral individual who takes advantage of the unconditional love God offers? No, by very definition, Christians are becoming men and women who say "no to ungodliness and worldly passions" (Titus 2:12) and who are "eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:14).

Therefore, Christians live in this world as both saints and sinners, at the same time. God chooses to see us and respond to us as his very own children, his special saints, righteous and holy in his sight, not because of the works we are doing, but because of Jesus and his work on the cross. At the same time God is not blind. He realizes that we sin -- for such is the nature of this flesh. No one in this life, as a physical human being, will ever be beyond sin (1 John 1:8). When we sin, and it is always a matter of "when" not "if" -- God forgives. All sin. Not just some sin. Not just lying and speeding tickets and gossip and eating too much and being jealous and being nasty -- but big stuff too. All of it. That includes divorce. He forgives divorce.

Since God forgives divorce, how can any human being, in his name, deny remarriage? Well, some might say, if we as a church, or as a spiritual leader of some kind, say that remarriage is ok, then everyone will just get divorced and remarry. Really? What exactly is happening right now? All surveys and studies show that there is just as much divorce within those who call themselves Christians as there is outside of the faith. Man-made punitive measures "have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence" (Colossians 2:23).

The role of the body of Christ is to proclaim the sanctity of the home and marriage. The body of Christ should strive to uphold the family and each individual family unit. But the body of Christ has not been given the right to determine specific sanctions for specific sexual sins, or to parse the specific responsibility as to which partner caused a divorce and which did not (which one was unfaithful and which was faithful). This role belongs to the state, not the church. The role of determining who is lawfully divorced, and able to remarry, is a civil decision. The body of Christ may counsel, proclaim and preach a high view of marriage (and it should) -- but the body of Christ cannot play God and make determinations about who is "eligible" to remarry and who is not. That decision is God's -- and God always forgives.

Should a person be "playing games" and pretending to be a Christian, marrying and remarrying time after time, claiming God's forgiveness when God is not at all involved in his or her life, then that deception will be brought to light by God. God does not deputize Christians as witch hunting lynch mobs, bringing offenders to biblical justice, burning them at the stake (as has been done in the name of God). Such is not our role. If a person wishes to marry and remarry time after time, they don't need to pretend to be a Christian in order to do so. If they wish to do so and pretend to be a Christian, then we are not policemen and policewomen, charged with stopping such behavior.

If the body of Christ, in whatever unit or group it may assemble or be organized or disorganized, believes that some are mocking Christianity while living blatantly immoral lives, we may "withdraw" from such individuals (Romans 16:17; Matthew 18:15-17). If a congregation or small group believes an individual is bringing shame to the name of Christ, as Christians we are free, and indeed we are responsible, to be our brother's keeper -- to counsel, advise, lovingly share our concerns. We may privately advise someone we believe is about to make a big mistake -- in terms of a first, second, or third (or more) marriage. But we are not free to play God, telling those who are divorced that they are not free "in God's sight" (which usually means our own sight) to remarry. The ability and legal right to remarry is a decision made by civil courts, and their freedom in Christ is a decision that a Christian who wishes to remarry makes as they live their life in Christ, and he in them.

Having said all of that -- a brief disclaimer and proviso. Statistics demonstrate that the best chance for a happy marriage is a first marriage -- and that every marriage beyond a first marriage must deal with a variety of baggage and difficulties -- and thus is at a progressively higher and higher risk. Simply because someone is free to remarry does not mean they should. Counseling is extremely important. People contemplating "holy deadlock" after previous failures (whether or not they see themselves as being the primary at-fault party in the previous failed marriage) are wise to carefully seek counsel and advice. Patience and caution are the watchwords -- not haste.

In Christ,
Greg Albrecht

Now from Jerry: This is a good place to proclaim a truth which has been revealed to me through the Holy Spirit.  Much of the Apostle Paul's written advice to the churches he planted in the First Century is NOT God's final word regarding our contemporary circumstances.  Victorious Christian living depends primarily upon our personal conversations with the Living Christ. He is the One Who leads us into all truth, NOT the echoes of truth revealed to earlier generations and written down for our edification, not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New!

The situation highlighted in the Greg Albrecht article above demonstrates the vast disconnect between those walking in the Spirit and those still walking in the flesh, and especially those still in the flesh despite many degrees from "Bible colleges!"   And, God help me, I myself am still too much in the latter category!  Walking in the Spirit of God and avoiding walking in the flesh and/or legalism requires constant re-dedication.