Comments on: Four Spiritual Interventions (Intro)

By: Jeanine

Jeanine — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:07:05 +0000

Perhaps it would be clearer to say that God refrains from imposing His Will on us because He wants us to chose Him. Scripture makes it clear that God is all powerful. “All things are possible with God.” His hands are never ‘tied’ against His Will, but He can decide to allow us to make a choice for or against Him. He’s looking for people who will love Him and be obedient to Him, and that means he allows us to have the free will to decide whether or not to love and obey Him. If a person decides not to obey God, he doesn’t defeat God, but he does show God that he is not a person God wants to be with Him for eternity.

Thank you for your teaching, Chip, and for giving us an opportunity to make comments.

By: Peg

Peg — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:50:33 +0000

While praying last night the Lord tied up “my” hands.

By: Daniela W.

Daniela W. — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:02:35 +0000

As I said, God has many ways in which He reveals Himself to people. In Paul’s case, it was not God that he didn’t believe in (we know he was a very zealous Pharisee), but Jesus. On the Damascus road, it was Jesus who revealed Himself to him. Paul was chosen by God as a vessel of honor, to fulfill His purpose.

In Christ, God chose us all, for Christ died for each and everyone, but this is not the same as being saved by faith. It is our response to what He did for us that brings us into a relationship with God. It is possible for God to choose someone as a vessel of honor (and cause them to do good for His purposes) but that is not the same as becoming a vessel of mercy. Vessels of mercy are only those ones that accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. And we are told that only those who receive Christ have the right to become children of God.

In Acts 26:12-19, we read the story of what happened to Saul on the road to Damascus, as he tells it. And we read what Jesus said He chose Saul for ( Acts 26:16): But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you (NKJV). So we see that Jesus chose Saul for ministry, not for salvation. Acts 9:22 says: But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. Paul’s ministry to the Jews was to make known the fact that Jesus was the Christ.

When it comes to ministry, it is GOD WHO CALLS US AND CHOOSE (FOR) US. But this is not to be confused with His call to salvation, and with OUR CHOICE to respond to it and accept it (and God gives us the grace to do that)… This was Jesus’ message all along…

Paul did choose Christ (as Lord), and Christ chose Paul as a vessel of honor. God finds us, but we still need to respond to His calling by faith and receive Jesus as our Lord and God, just as Paul did.

By: Clare

Clare — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:02:37 +0000

Dear Brother Chip,
Thank you again for such a wonderful teaching.
Quote, “this Living Word says, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book” (Heb. 10:7, ESV).” You say, and so does the Word of God that the Scriptures are the very WILL of God. I believe they are His thoughts and reveal His very Heart.
There are some teachers today, wolves in sheeps’ clothing, who are teaching that if the voice of the “holy spirit” that you hear contradicts the Word, then you must obey the voice of god which has just spoken to you..IE, if “god” tells you to travel at 120mph on the road in breach of the traffic rules, then you must obey god! But GOD tells us in His Word that we must obey the laws of the land and those in authority over us! These people are leading God’s people into error! We are truly to beware of heresies, and obey the Word of God.

God bless you, brother. I look forward to the next installment.

By: Tara D

Tara D — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:23:41 +0000

God’s hands are never tied when it comes to someones salvation and their choice. Paul would have never chosen Christ, Christ chose Paul, we don’t find Him, He found us…..

By: Rose M

Rose M — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:44:28 +0000

Oh Chip! I so appreciate how you deliver the Word; as one having authority. I came across this free will vs. God’s will before but because it was delivered in such harshness, I sat on it for a while, though my spirit inwardly identified with what was shared.

Recently the Lord told me He has me in His bible school. He is a wonderful teacher and He is feeding me in the green pasture of The School of Christ. Thanks professor, for teaching God’s truth in love, not arrogance and yelling. Feasting at this table is like fine dining – it’s all in the presentation. Really looking forward to the next meal the Lord is preparing.

Christ is our life!

By: Fiona

Fiona — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:30:44 +0000

Thank you for this illuminating article. I had always (wrongly) believed that man’s free will could potentially prevent God’s will, if the person concerned was rebelling against God. Praise God – we are never out of His Will, – He is always in control. Seems so obvious, but sadly God’s word is many times twisted by man, thus ‘ the word of God is nullified for the sake of the traditions of men.’ (Matt 15:6) This gives me great hope in knowing when I pray for loved ones that even though they are rebelling against God, – they can never escape His will,- Praise God!
Thanks again, & I eagerly look forward to the future articles.
“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” 1 Cor 3:7

By: Jean

Jean — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:43:56 +0000

Thank you for setting me straight. I had allowed the understanding and beliefs of others concerning the power and strength of man’s will to dull my convictions about God’s will because it seemed that what God said would be done by and through others did not occur. I thus had to concur, so I thought, that even though I heard a Word from the Lord in my spirit and it had been confirmed several times in myriad places that because others were involved, their will was also involved and therefore had much to do with the fulfillment of the Word. I’m in such a situation now where I have wrestled for two years as to whether now I heard from the Lord at all concerning a certain thing regarding my career and ministry, for the other person the Lord named is totally “out of the picture” of my life now and is on a road of rebellion. So I accepted the philosophy you describe in this message that “his will” God respects even above the Word God spoke. Even from his own mouth he spoke that God wouldn’t go against his will to do or not do a thing. Thank you for flushing my eyes out with soap. I needed this life-straightening word for I’ve told many people, if I cannot trust the Word of God, then what and who can I trust, and why am I believing in and serving Him. Thank you. Peace.

By: Daniela W.

Daniela W. — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:21:47 +0000

Man’s free will and and the omnipotence of God… It reminds me of the Scriptures in Romans 9:21-24. Vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor; vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. This is my understanding of it:

Vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy have to do with man choosing God (and salvation through Jesus Christ). To be given free will, to me, is to not be forced into something I don’t want/choose to do, right? While God will pursue man, revealing Himself to them, He will not force them into choosing Him. God pursues man in many ways, not giving up easily, but the decision is left for man to make, although God can make me (His omnipotence), no problem, become His. So I still have my free will, and He still is omnipotent 

Vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor have to do with God’s plan for mankind. What I mean by this is that God, as the Creator (the potter) has the right to choose whomever He wants for whatever purposes He has, to carry out His plans. He chose Pharaoh as a vessel of dishonor, and He chose Paul (of Tarsus) as a vessel of honor, but I believe that even with these choices, He still took into consideration each of these individuals’ personal choices (see Pharaoh who hardened his heart again and again, not wanting to obey the God of Moses, and then God hardened his heart).

In short, God’s hands are ‘tied’ so to speak when it comes to someone accepting by faith the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. And this is not so because man’s free will but because of the way He decided to have things happen. In this particular aspect, man’s free will is absolute and God will not overrule it (again, not because He can’t, but because He set it that way). But when comes to His plan for mankind, the free will of man is limited, and can also be overruled by God. He is the potter and we are the clay.

Man’s free will is not a simplistic subject to talk about, and I wanted to try to keep things concise. I will add this though: If we say that we can delay or hasten (apparently) His purposes by our choices, this is true only from an earthly perspective, when time and space are part of the equation. If we take those out, seeing from eternity’s perspective, God’s plan has already taken into consideration the choices of man. God is still omnipotent and omniscient and His plan will unfold according to His good and perfect will.

I am looking forward to hearing about the ‘four spiritual interventions’. Thanks for taking the time to share with us from what the Lord has given you. God bless you.

By: Louise Bogle

Louise Bogle — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:58:19 +0000

Hallelujah,
IT IS ABOUT TIME SOMEONE DECLARED THESE TRUTHS !
THE LORD DEALT WITH MY SPIRIT FROM THE BEGINNING OF MY WALK IN HIM,…THAT I SHOULD “ALWAYS” LOOK FOR HIM IN ALL THAT COMES MY WAY,AND YOUR MESSAGE EXPLAINS WHY. IT HAS BEEN 32 YEARS,…AND I HAVE NEVER FAILED TO FIND HIM !
TRULY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE REST OF THIS MESSAGE. THANK YOU, Bro. Chip