JOY IN THE JORDAN

[John Caleb Robert]

Naaman in the river Jordan:

An overview:-

Core verse :2 kings 5:14"Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” -KJV

We read the story of Naaman in the bible. A rare story in a sense...because in the old testament times not many were healed like Naaman...in those days JESUS kinda miracles happened rarely...And that too for an ‘infidel’ -a non Jewish man- was one among one thousand things..Was GOD stingy those days? No! Man was! When the whole garden of Eden was given for consumption he singled out a fruit from the forbidden tree and to be frank man started to be stingy in believing the real, one, true GOD and mankind fell short of the glory of GOD…man was responsible for GOD to look stingy (yet HE is not) even though we tried to restrict GOD, HE wasn’t willing to be. So HE sent HIS only begotten son to save us...Because of LOVE...And LOVE!! What else was the reason? I just see LOVE and nothing else...ever since the fall of Adam GOD was so desperate to reach out to him like before or even better. And CHRIST on the CROSS made it to perfection...HE stood between man and GOD and made the fellowship between GOD AND ALL MEN a REALITY!!

... Naaman was a man of mighty valor! He won battles for Syria...he made Syria look like today’s Brazil in soccer and he remained unbeaten in wars like roger federer in today’s tennis...YET the bible executes a sudden brake in the description of Naaman...Naaman was a leper- states the bible

Man generally may be going great guns but the bible serves as a mirror in signaling the lacks in us only to blend it to perfection for the Glory of GOD...it’s not to accuse us but to empower us with the knowledge of JESUS and the cross where we become complete before GOD in JESUS..

And Naaman was now made to reach Israel but to the wrong person...the king...that’s where we lose the focus we seek the remedy from a wrong person...GOD is the remedy...JESUS is not A remedy, HE IS THE REMEDY AND RESTORATION TO THE FULL EXTENT...

Now, Naaman is angry because the prophet conveyed a message that was not in terms with Naamans’...So the servants begin to plead with him...

Naaman expected a cure but GOD was willing for a restoration.

What is your choice? A cure or a restoration??

IF you want a cure, you are proving that you are stingy and not GOD!!

The bible states that GOD restored Naaman completely so that HIS SKIN BECAME LIKE THE SKIN OF A CHILD! GOD just didn’t cured the spot of leprosy but HE RESTORED HIM COMPLETELY...

That’s what happened in the cross!! JESUS just didn’t gave a cure for mankind, but a restoration...a new life! A new beginning!

MANKIND BECAME SONS OF GOD AGAIN!!KINGS AGAIN!!PRIESTS AGAIN!!

THERE IS A COMPLETE RESTORATION OF STATUS THAT MADE JESUS TO CRY OUT TO GOD ON THE CROSS AS “MY GOD’ INSTEAD OF THE TERM ‘FATHER’ WHICH HE USED GENERALLY..

THERE IS A CHANGE OF STATUS...HE DIED IN MY PLACE(PASTE YOUR NAME HERE) ON THE CROSS SO HE CRIED AS ‘MY GOD’ AND MY SINS AND EVERY SHORT COMINGS WERE PLACED ON HIM FOR DEATH…AND HIS BOUNTY WAS GIVEN TO YOU AND I!!

HE BECAME POOR ON THE CROSS TO MAKE US RICH

NOW, WHAT DO YOU WANT? THERE IS NO CURE...THERE IS ONLY RESTORATION!! WHICH MEANS DOUBLE AMOUNT OF BLESSINGS...OVERFLOWING! ABUNDANT! WHATEVER YOU CALL!! THAT’S RESTORATION...SPIRITUALLY AND MATERIALLY...

THIS IS WHAT IS CALLED AS GRACE.

EXCHANGE OF STATUS... IF I WANT ALL THE WEALTH OF BILL GATES, one signature of gates WILL DO...JESUS IS THE SIGNATURE OF GOD FOR MAN TO TAP INTO GOD’S ABUNDANCE FOR GOD’S GLORY…LIKE A JOINT ACCOUNT…WE ARE CO HEIRS! THAT’S GRACE...INHERITHING JESUS IN US…AND OFCOURSE EVERYTHING THAT JESUS HAD ON THIS EARTH…AND BECAUSE OF THE SIGN IT’S OFFICIALLY OURS NOW.

WE ARE RESTORED COMPLETELY AND THAT’S CALLED SALVATION...THRU BELIEVING IN JESUS AS THE PERFECT LAMB OF GOD THE UNIQUE SACRIFICE FOR RESTORATION...

WE DID THAT THRU BAPTISM IN THE WATER...THIS IS WHERE BAPTISM IS IMPORTANT...ITS THE ACT OF OUR FAITH...WITHOUT BAPTISM WE CANT SAY I HAVE FAITH...BECAUSE FAITH SHOULD HAVE ACTION...OHTER WISE ITS DEAD...SO BAPTISM IS THE INITIATION OF OUR FAITH BECOMING ACTION...

WE CAN DERIVE A PRINCIPLE OF BAPTISM FROM NAAMAN DIPPING HIS BODY IN THE RIVER JORDAN… THAT’S THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING…

GLORY AND EFFECIENCY of GRACE:-

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”— Ephesians 2:8

We are saved by grace through faith...

We knowingly or unknowingly try to separate grace and faith...But they are like electricity

(grace) and wire (faith)...The material in which the wire is made of is LOVE.....

The moment we believed in JESUS we are connected with HIM forever...And we- The object- are made to perform by the wire (faith, love) with the electricity (grace)

The bible moreover says that salvation is the gift of GOD, And NOT of works!

So whenever we apply our work for salvation and sanctification, we reject GRACE!! Its either work or grace...BOTH ARE OPPOSITE POLES...WORK ISOUR EFFORT AND GRACE IS HIS EFFORT’S POWER

Paul states if its grace then it’s no more OUR works involved in the composition of grace, we cannot do anything to increase or decrease grace that’s upon us.

So whenever we bring in work in the first place before grace, we can’t posses faith..because as I said already faith and grace are inter woven in itself.. Its like wire (faith) and electricity (grace)...

When you say you need to pray to get grace, we bring work (prayer) first and grace next...Listen closely...Which means, we are ignoring GOD’S GIFT in the first place and we are replacing our effort (prayer or doing anything for GOD) in that spot instead…in a way we ignore GOD’S supplement for us to work (GRACE) in the first place..And try to bring in our own supplement (effort or self strength) to work out things for GOD

SUPPORTING AND SAVING GRACE:-

The bible states that “let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” -HEBREWS 12:28 (KJV)

You need grace to serve NOT serve to have GRACE…IT’S IN YOU already because of JESUS,who is in you and you need to acknowledge..

“And the Word(JESUS) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” -john 1:14 (kjv)

JESUS HIMSELF IS THE GRACE WHICH IS IN YOU!!

So Grace is free and NO WORK OF YOU IS NEEDED THERE...you need to understand GRACE IN THE FIRST PLACE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING…

HERE comes the important point...only when you acknowledge GRACE, it becomes effective. I mean grace comes into effect...otherwise it’s just our own strength which is at work and not GOD’S STRENGTH …we see the example of Paul...He says GOD said to him “my GRACE is sufficient for you .my strength will be made perfect in weakness”... I ask you...was the grace of GOD poured out ALL NEW on Paul when he asked?? NO! If that’s the case GOD should have said ‘I will give you grace’ instead GOD says ITS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU...WHICH means what you have already is more than enough for you!!BUT PAUL ACKNOWLEDGED GRACE AT THAT POINT IN HIS MOST NEEDED AREA!!

GOD says in other words, you are stopping my grace to flow through in your weakness WITH YOUR WORK OCCUPYING THE FIRST PLACE!! You are trying to STOP MY GRACE TO FLOW THRU YOU BY YOUR WORKS (prayer bible reading .doing ministry, etc...); AND importantly in the FIRST PLACE…

I AM NOT AGAINST WORKS!!PLEASE UNDERSTAND…I am just saying you can’t carry out the work without acknowledging GRACE in the first place…ONLY THAT MAKES YOU TAP INTO GOD’S PROVISION

HERE NAAMAN AFTER BEING ADVISED BY THE SERVANTS UNDERSTANDS GRACE...How can you say that? That’s because he agrees in a way that, the healing (paste your needs here) is free and without any costs and that makes his EFFORT or WORK easy…

Without the works (dipping in the Jordan) he is not going to inherit the unmerited favor. But the GRACE (GIFT OF FREE HEALING) which he understands from within the Word of GOD given to him, makes him believe in what he is going to do, and hence it makes it easier for him to do the work for his healing... GRACE becomes the motivation for Naaman to believe the word stronger than never before (FAITH) and this FAITH SUDDENLY MATURES TO BE THE WORK NEEDED TO BE DONE…

FAITH ALWAYS RESULT IN RESULTS.

HIS SERVANTS SAY “if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”"

We too want to do things first...But hold on! You need to believe first and then do...read continually carefully...You may miss the point!!This is what I am stressing again and again…

Wherever works comes first it’s no more called grace….only the one who comes first in the race will be called as first...Armstrong landed in the moon first..likewise if GRACE COMES BEFORE WORKS, i.e., if you acknowledge the grace that’s already in you, before doing any of your deeds, then that GRACE WILL MAKE YOU WORK (praying, reading the bible, serving the lord, renewal of your mind, anything that you DO for the glory of GOD)…this will in fact add more interest to what you are doing…it will be a booster dose!

Simply put on, trusting GOD’s GRACE instead of our determination, planning, etc comes first...and works that comes out of TRUSTING THE GRACE OF GOD has more longevity than the works that are influenced by self might.

IF you are doing things without relying on the grace of GOD by missing an ongoing revelation of the depth and width of the grace bestowed on you, then it’s you who are doing and not JESUS..

It’s like Naaman getting the word from GOD and doing it differently

It’s like knowing what to do but doing it in our own way!!..

Washing in the Syrian rivers which are beautiful in our sight but not at all in the sight of GOD...

So first understanding and acknowledging the grace should happen, which should become our belief and FAITH and FAITH becoming WORK

Grace was upon Paul and every saints mentioned in the bible!!As the bible says,” the grace of GOD is upon those who fear him for generation to generation”... the bible says the grace of GOD is like how the heavens are higher than the earth...it’s so high!!

GRACE IS A BUNDLE...IT has love, faith, etc...IT contains the blessings that you need and EVERYTHING THAT GOD EXPECTS FROM YOU IS CONTAINED IN GRACE...So that, without JESUS WE can’t do anything...When we acknowledge GRACE we automatically believe in WHAT JESUS HAD DONE FOR US SPECIFICALLY and then GRACE GROWS TO BE faith, then -->FAITH BECOMES WORK.

Without faith you cannot please GOD...The chart is like this...

‘ACKNOWLEDGING the GRACE ALREADY ON YOU because of JESUS--> FAITH--> WORKS (whatever you do for GOD; praying to be renewed in your mind, reading the bible, ministering in your church or whatever)

So it’s, GRACE-->FAITH-->WORK and NOT

WORK (pray, read the bible) for your GRACE--> FAITH... This will lead to boasting on your own works so that we would say or think that, because I prayed GOD did this...well, that’s true you prayed for a powerful outpouring of the spirit and you prayed for living holy and so on.. YET,

LETS NOT FORGET THE TRUTH THAT THE ORDER IS GRACE-->FAITH-->WORKS...

WE CAN’T SEE THE GLORY OF GOD MANIFESTED IN ANYTHING WE DO ON OUR OWN...

OUR own WORK CANNOT HAVE FAITH AS ITS SOURCE...

Whatever JESUS Starts will end in works that glorify the FATHER

FAITH IS ENTIRELY A PROPERTY OF GOD...BIBLE SAYS JESUS STARTS IT AND HE FINISHES IT...

My elder brother DANY used to say, when we get to heaven; we don’t need faith because we will be seeing GOD face to face!!And you can’t say to GOD , I believe in you when you see him directly!!

Now, WE CANNOT MAKE FAITH to come OUT OF OUR WORK..ITS A COMPONENT IN GRACE THAT’S GIVEN WITHOUT ANY OF YOUR INTERFERENCE AND HELP.

NAAMAN BELIEVED FIRST THAT THE HEALING IS A GIFT and cannot be bought! THAT’S WHAT WE SHOULD DO...WHATEVER WE DO FOR CHRIST IS A GIFT FROM GOD…THEN Naaman BELIEVED AND HIS FAITH MADE THE ACTION POSSIBLE, and he gave the GLORY TO GOD...

Manifestation of your faith is the right work. AND THE MANIFESTATION OF YOUR FAITH starts WITH THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF GRACE [The Holy spirit reveals you the LOVE OF GOD which is poured in you... (Romans5:5)]...

YOU MAY SAY “WELL I CAN PRAY ON MY OWN”...OR “I DONT NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE GRACE” and YOU MAY SAY “I AM WELL WITH MY PRAYER LIFE ALREADY”... YOU MAY SAY “I AM JUST DOING IT AS A DUTY”

WELL, I AGREE!!

THE POINT HERE IS, YOU ARE BEING SHOWN A BETTER WAY TO TAP INTO THE POWER OF GOD AND LOVE OF GOD AND MAKE THE GLORY OF GOD TO MANIFEST….. WHICH IS THRU THE ABOVE SAID ORDER..THAT’S ACKNOWLEDGING THE GRACE THAT’S UPON YOU UNCONDITIONALLY

THIS ORDER WILL NOT JUST MAKE THINGS EASIER BUT THIS WILL TAKE YOU TO THE APOSTOLIC DAYS OF POWER EXPLOSION AND MANIFESTATION OF GREATER MIRACLES..

NOT ONLY THAT-THIS WILL FIRST GIVE YOU A VICTORIOUS LIFE...

THE SECRET FOR A VICTORIOUS PERSONAL LIFE IS FIRST ACKNOWLEDGING THE GRACE... (YOUR VICTORY, BLESSINGS, JOY, EVERYTHING COMES FROM THIS GRACE…WITHOUT GRACE WE ARE CONDEMNED ALREADY)

UNDERSTANDING GRACE IN ALL ITS TRUTH:

MORE WE GET A REVELATION OF THIS GRACE THE MORE WE WILL BE ABLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE GRACE AS GRACE...THE MORE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE GRACE THE MORE WE WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE THE WORKS...PRAYING, AND DOING ANYTHING FOR GOD WILL BECOME SPONTANEOUS LIKE THE RIVERS OF WATER FROM THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE JESUS..

IT’S A PROCESS...NOT AN ACT TO BE done in a day...

Salvation is because of THE act done by our Lord JESUS on the cross; acknowledging the GRACE AND LOVE because of salvation is a PROCESS...The more you get the Holy ghost’s revelation about the love of GOD, the more you will understand and acknowledge GRACE!

The more you acknowledge GRACE, faith would be overflowing and WORKS will follow spontaneously...

The best way to check if we are doing things in the right order or not is to check that whether we are doing things spontaneously…If we are not doing things for JESUS spontaneously ,it means that we are following a wrong order ,in which our works is just present and not FAITH..

We cannot earn the GRACE of God...it’s given freely as in the case of Naaman. WITHOUT any cost...Without any labor...

Naaman got his healing by obeying the word of GOD from the prophet…obeying something or submitting to something needs faith and love…and we see that faith and love are contained in GRACE…so understanding GRACE in all its truth will make the labor to follow easily…

And In fact labor follows..Labor follows faith and not vice versa and faith is contained in GRACE...NO SEPERATION...

One cannot say I have faith and not GRACE…If there is a proper understanding of GRACE thru the revelation of the HOLYGHOST, and then there is proper faith and the works of the HOLY GHOST... which results in fulfilling what GOD is expecting from us…THIS WILL MAKE GOD’S PLAN CONCERNING US TO BECOME A REALITY…

THAT’S WHY IN ALMOST ALL LETTERS BY THE SAINTS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, IT STARTS AS GRACE AND PEACE BE MULTIPLIED TO YOU…

GRACE IS THE FUEL TO GO ANY FURTHER FOR GOD’S GLORY…WHETHER IT’S LIVING OUR LIVES IN THE WAY GOD WANTS and /or MAKING OTHERS LIVE IN THE WAY GOD WANTS…

YOU AND I UNDERSTANDING GRACE MAKES IT EASIER FOR GOD TO WORK THROUGH US MORE THAN IN ANY OTHER WAYJ

IF IT’S NOT GRACE THEN THERE CANT BE ANY OTHER THING… NOT FEAR CERTAINLY…THIS HOLDS GOOD FOR ANYBODY WHO IS WILLING TO BE LIKE JESUS AND DO LIKE JESUS!!AMEN

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