#ThatGoodStuff

Greg Henry’s Message – Salvation From Unbelief

My notes from the message:

Matt. 17: 14-21 – Jesus sending out apostles to heal the sick. Couldn’t heal the boy.

Jesus isn’t saying the way the demon will be cast out is through prayer and fasting. He’s speaking about the unbelief. The unbelief comes out through prayer and fasting.

The disciples said why couldn’t we cast the demon out. The emphasis was on themselves. The reason the demons were subject to them was bc of Jesus…not bc of their sufficiency. They lost sight of Jesus being their sufficiency .

Could flip the title of this message around and say what causes great faith. It’s not defined by the size but the substance. Like the mustard seed. It’s not that you need more faith but to cast out the unbelief.

Jesus is not talking about fasting from food. The Pharisees fasted from food more than anyone. They were all the time observing the carnal fasts but they were the poster children for unbelief.

The term prayer and fasting was an idiom. Like slang we use, i.e. – when we say that’s sick…not talking about a disease but something that is awesome.

Wickedness in the Bible speaks of someone who is full of labors (i.e. – the definition of the word evil, poneros – full of labors).

Prayer and fasting would have been a time for afflicting your soul. Trying to demonstrate to God that you are so sorrowful for your sin. So God could see they were serious about their repentance. Bascially means to seek God.

** Jesus is trying to say that this type of unbelief only comes out if you turn to God. To turn away from the works of your own hands. Turn from looking to your own sufficiency.

Unbelief – to stagger at the promise of God. To struggle to believe something that God has promised. That it can or will happen.

God has promised that He will conquer death. He will bring forth his peace, joy, kindness, etc. in you.

The way unbelief comes about is by looking to human ability as your sufficiency. Looking to the strenghth of the flesh to be able to do, to get, to have the fruit of the spririt.

Human ability is not just your physical strength – i.e. lifting weights. It speaks to looking to what we see manifesting in our lives in order to determine whether we believe the promise of God will come to pass. Full of labors and toils.

If you hear God call you his son or daughter and that he has never been ashamed of you…if you look to yourself and your ability to do the fruit of the spirit…you will struggle to believe that you have always been the apple of God’s eye…that He got down on one knee and spoke well of you (definition of blessed, i.e. barack in the Hebrew in Genesis 1).

** Unbelief is the result of looking to human ability for sufficiency.

** Romans 4 – Abe was not in unbelief. The reason he wasn’t is bc he didn’t consider the deadness he saw in himself or Sarah’s womb.

** God told the children of Israel to go and take the promised land. They didn’t enter in for 40 years. Why? Because of unbelief. What was the unbelief and how did it come? They looked at the giants in the land and saw their strength and ability and compared it to theirs. They were considering their human ability. Their unbelief was born from looking to themselves and the world around them. Had they considered God’s ability and how it looks compared to the giants, they wouldn’t have had any problem believing…it would have been like there is nothing that can stop them and that they were invincible.

** What about the prayer and fasting? Good to talk about bc everybody is busy with the Daniel fast now. How would God define fasting. The fast God has chosen. This is not about disparaging those churches that do the Daniel fast but disparaging the wisdom that is destroying the church. Greg is for the church. He has a church.

Daniel was fasting from making human ability his food for life bc God is his food for flesh. I’m not going to trust in the strength of my flesh. God was making a mockery of man’s attempt to have life through their own ability.

Jesus said my flesh is meat indeed. I have meat that you know not of.

Is. 58 – read through the whole chapter.

If you’re still laboring and toiling you are still trusting in the strength of the flesh (evil – paneros)

God’s fast will put you to rest from your works, not laboring and toiling.

Participating in the real Daniel fast is not about abstaining from food, that would eactually be contrary to the fast God has chosen.

Verse 5 tells us what the fast he has chosen – a day for a man to afflict their souls. Is it your doing? Afflict your soul isn’t talking about a painful hanneus thing…it’s coming to Jesus for life.

Don’t let the law man define these terms in the Bible. You are acceptable to God apart from anything you do.

** Leviticus 16:29 – you shall afflict your souls and do no work. // what it says about afflicting your soul – nothing about abstaining from food. To rest from your works.

To humble yourself means to submit your opinion to God’s opinion…it sounds real bad though if we define it carnally. For example, God has come and told you he thinks you are beautiful. Humbling yourself would be to submit your view to us…painful huh?

To humble yourself would be to think little of your ability to bring forth life and much of God and His ability.

Verse 6 – God continues to describe it.

As you look to God and His life, unbelief departs.

Two belief systems in the world. One is from the world and one from God.

Fasting is not something you do, it’s something that happens to you. Just like faith is not something you do it’s something that happens to you.

We do not seek God through abstaining from food. We seek God through Jesus! John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The fast God has chosen is Jesus. It is not about abstaining from food. It is about feeding on Jesus as the bread that gives life.The goodness of God leads to repentance.

It is not fasting from food that causes unbelief to depart from the heart. It is fasting from making human ability the food that can give you life that causes unbelief to depart from the heart.

Unbelief happens to you. There is only one thing that is needful though. That means nothing else is needful. Martha is getting it. She is taking in God’s love.

The only true I am statement is Jesus. If you get an I am statement with a blank, fill it with Jesus.

Greg Henry’s Blog Post

Greg also wrote a blog post this week entitled “The Restoration of All Things” that you can read here http://gospelrevolutionchurch.com/the-restoration-of-all-things/.

Bertie Brits Message – The Throne of Grace

#PutThisInYourPipe

Some grace quotes from the week:

“Any verse in the Bible – even in the New Testament written by Paul, that does not reveal GRACE (effortless life) is simply misunderstood.
Any scripture that is seen as something that we need to do to contribute to HIS work is MISUNDERSTOOD.
Don’t be blinded by a scripture that seems to contradict the simple Gospel of HIS LIFE IN YOU AND THROUGH YOU FREELY.
If it is not effortless it is flesh.” ~Bertie Brits via Dawn Warner’s Facebook Page

“In the presence of God you will find rest from your shame and hear His declaration over you persuading you of your innocence.” ~ Jen Bantner

“In the New Covenant, there is no praying “for” things, there is only believing “in” someone – His name is Jesus.” ~ Bob Woods

“From God’s perspective: No sin remains except the sin of unbelief in His Word. He sees and interacts with all of mankind as perfect and complete.

From man’s perspective: every man falls short in the sin area. Others are held to a standard that makes them inadequate and incomplete.

The question is: which perspective will you buy in to? It will change how you interact with your fellow man.” ~ Bob Woods