Hello everyone, thank you so much for joining me on the Hope for Today broadcast. I’m your host Doran Wengerd – Founder of Wengerd Ministries – where we are Delivering Hope to Every Heart.
I’m continuing the series today called “Hope in the Spirit”, which is all about the foundation that our Faith is built on.
The message the Lord gave me for today is called FULL ACCEPTANCE.
My prayer is that each one of you is walking in all that God has for you every day. Hope in the Spirit is so much more than just going to Heaven. I started out talking about the cornerstone of Righteousness by faith.
I then talked about NO CONDEMNATION and how we can live free from all forms of it. Today I want to talk about HOW we begin the process of ACCEPTING what Jesus did for us.
The global church and body of Jesus is moving into a new era of awareness and connectedness that has not been seen on the Earth yet. Jesus brought The Kingdom of God to Earth, but much of the reality of that has not yet been seen.
There have been revivals in concentrated areas where millions have come to know Jesus as their savior and healer, and I love hearing of what God did in those times. It feels different though now than any stories I’ve heard of throughout history. There is a sense of connection that goes deeper than just digital communication or technology.
Many of the people I’m connected with have been having dreams and visions of people in other countries. The wonderful thing about this is that they are real people in real areas who have record of being visited by a brother or sister from somewhere else on the globe.
One of the ladies in our Sunday night Bible study told us of an experience that she thought was only a dream at first, but then realized something far different had happened.
While she was sleeping during the night, she found herself ministering to some people in another country. She wasn’t sure where exactly, but while she was telling us the story, one of the brothers here at our Bible study said he just heard the word “INDIA”.
We haven’t yet received confirmation, but for now we will take that word as truth and say there’s a possibility that she was ministering in India. She had led the people to salvation in Jesus, but almost immediately afterword some other people came running toward them and they looked very angry.
She began running along some train tracks where a train was just leaving the station. As it began to increase in speed, she just managed to grab the rusty iron bar with her left hand at the back of the train. She couldn’t manage to get her right hand to the bar, but a man came onto the platform and reached down with his right hand.
He said, “Take my hand”, and as she was being pulled up onto the train car she sat up in her bed! She was completely out of breath and soaked in sweat. Completely stunned by how real the dream had seemed, and still trying to catch her breath, she lay back down wondering what had just happened!
In the morning when she woke up to get ready for the day, she walked in the bathroom. When she turned on the lights, something completely startled her and stopped her in her tracks. Her left hand was very visibly stained by rust from where she had grabbed the bar on the train!
“What REALLY happened last night?” she began asking the Lord. How is it possible that her dream experience was showing on her physical body? She was not able to wash off the rust stains, and all day at work people kept asking her what was on her left hand!
Here is a picture of her hand that morning when she woke up.
This type of supernatural experience seems so exciting, and everyone in our Bible study group was on the edge of their seats while she was telling this story. I watched their reactions, and I couldn’t help but wonder how many people in the body of Christ would be ready to accept such an experience.
So many of our expectations come from places other than the Word of God, and people have allowed themselves to believe only what seems logical or physically possible. I have many dreams, and now I don’t just dismiss them as something inside my own head.
I’ve chosen to believe that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE to them that believe.
In Mark 9:23 Jesus said this very thing.
He said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Now, we could get caught up in the story where that is found, but I simply want to deal with this statement. What is it that Jesus is wanting us to BELIEVE?
At first, it could seem like He is only talking about this specific situation, but He said similar words so many times that we should take note of it. One of the key ingredients to the Kingdom of God is BELIEF.
In fact, how did you receive forgiveness from sins in the first place? It was by believing. How do you receive healing? It is by believing. How do you receive finances? It is by believing.
I want to show you some verses now that talk about believing. Look at Romans 10:1-11
Rom 10:1
Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
Rom 10:2
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Rom 10:5
For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”
Rom 10:6
But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
Rom 10:7
or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
Rom 10:8
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
Rom 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom 10:10
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
AMEN!!
These verses are saying so much more than I ever realized when I first read them. Why is it that so many people try to believe with their brain, but still remain powerless in the Kingdom of God?
The Primary Truth that we need to believe is about RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Righteousness by Faith is truly the key to understanding how we are redeemed in every area of Spirit, Soul, and Body. It isn’t accomplished by any effort of our own. We are given the invitation to believe something that has been impossible for us up to that moment.
The other day, the Lord gave me the idea of a timeline to help understand the restoration that Jesus paid for. At the very beginning of time, Adam and Eve were created with a perfect connection between their Spirit, Soul, and Body.
Their connection to God and awareness of His presence was as tangible and real as any physical experience we can imagine today. They didn’t need to try to be perfect. They simply existed as perfect creations because that is the way God made them to be.
When they chose to doubt God’s goodness and desired instead to have a knowledge of Good and Evil, their unbelief drove a wedge between their spirit and their soul and body. From then on, they were not able to sense anything in the spirit realm.
When Jesus died on the cross, He once again asked us to believe that what He said is true. When we accept His payment for our sins, we are re-created (or born-again) with His righteousness in our new DNA. The word “Righteousness” means: Having a right and perfect standing in every way.
However, we can’t see this righteousness, and many choose to argue with it because their focus is on the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That’s what happens with religious spirits when people gossip and slander each other over their performance.
I’d like you to look with me at 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
2Co 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2Co 5:18
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
2Co 5:19
that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
We have been called to a ministry of reconciliation, not of judgment! When we see ourselves as having “become” the righteousness of God in Christ, we are once again asked to BELIEVE as Adam and Eve were asked to believe. This allows us the freedom to see others through eyes of reconciliation.
This truth is what is so AMAZING about GRACE!
If we are truly going to experience the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, we absolutely MUST get over our focus on the knowledge of Good and Evil. Of course God doesn’t want that person to keep living in sin or in direct opposition to the Word of God, but that doesn’t mean He has given us the ministry of judgment.
When we finally believe that God is able to change our brothers or sisters, we become completely free to love them exactly as they are. This is actually what draws people to God instead of pushing them away from Him.
The number one standard I am employing is ACCEPTANCE. When I see myself as FULLY accepted, standing before the throne of God, where none of my accomplishments or failures matter. I can then turn and welcome anyone into my presence, where also none of their accomplishments or failures matter.
In this state of PURE GRACE, I can remain: Confidential, Innocent, Positive, Connected, Focused, Engaged, Giving, and Receiving. I will remain in FULL ACCEPTANCE before the throne of grace, where the golden scepter is forever extended!
God is more than capable of handling the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why then do we feel so compelled at times to correct others, and to show them our own amazing knowledge of Good and Evil? I’m convinced it is because we are unwilling to BELIEVE that what God says about us in His Word is true.
Our own insecurity controls how we interact with other people. The problem is that we have not truly believed that God accepts us just as we are. Are you forgiven or not? Are you righteous or not?
Are you healed or not? Are you prosperous or not?
We may not be able to see the physical reality of any of these things at the moment, but that does NOT mean God’s Word is false. We either believe it or we don’t.
We are constantly presented with the same opportunity as Adam and Eve: BELIEVE and be free, or focus on Good or Evil and be bound with chains. Everything in our life points back to the cross. This means that if we are willing to BELIEVE, full healing and provision are accounted to each one of us.
When we can simply receive the payment of Jesus, we are free to pray for other people’s healing even if their life isn’t measuring up to the perfection of Jesus.
The TRUTH I just said, is what will usher in the true global connectedness of the Kingdom of God.
Be FREE to see your spirit just as Jesus does.
“Now may the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in BELIEVING, that you may ABOUND in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”
