Servias Ministries Blog

The Love of Christ compels me!

What is your motivation throughout each day?  Where is your focus?  If you were to keep a daily diary of your thoughts, actions, and words, what would be your conclusion about your priorities?

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians 5:

12  For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

14 For the Love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;

15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

18 Now all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

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.

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.

In other words, it was through the Anointed One that God was shepherding the world, not even keeping records of their transgressions, and He has entrusted to us the ministry of opening the door of reconciliation to God.

You and I are entrusted with being personal representatives of Our Heavenly Father by presenting The Door of reconciliation to those who do not know Christ. 

Jesus affirmed Himself as “The Door” in John chapter 10:

7  Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am The Door of the sheep.

8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

9 I am The Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have Life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

You and I are to represent Christ not only by our words, but our actions as well.  This ministry is all about planting good seed on behalf of The Kingdom.  The recipients of our assistance see our testimonies in action, and it encourages them as they see the Love of Christ expressed through you and me.

Paul was compelled by the Love of Christ to do whatever was necessary to spread The Gospel.  Let the Love of Christ compel us in like manner!

Very few people live in the spirit realm!

There are three distinct realms people can live in: spiritual, soulish, and fleshly.  As believers, we are meant to live in the spiritual realm as did Jesus.

The tabernacle was a shadow of the true tabernacle found in Heaven.  There was the outer court, the Holy place, and the Holy of Holies.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 8:

7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-

9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

FATHER is the One Who puts HIS Laws both in our minds and on our hearts.  We are sealed by The Holy Spirit.

Paul also wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2^nd Corinthians chapter 1:

21  Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,

22 Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

This is our assurance of our eternal relationship with FATHER.  Your sins will not break this seal.  The only thing that can break this seal is an outright rejection of The Holy Spirit after you have been sealed.  FATHER’S commitment to us is unconditional as is HIS Love for us.  Jesus’ sacrifice was required only once for all, not continual temporary sacrifices as required by the Old Covenant.

Continuing in Hebrews chapter 8:

11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.“

13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Jesus made the Old Covenant totally obsolete by fulfilling the New Covenant.  Why should we try to adhere to Old Covenant thinking by subjecting ourselves to performance-based religion.  Jesus eliminated the conditional “if, then” orientation which has been preached by many.  We are righteous by The Blood of Jesus, not by our performance.

With this in mind, Paul began the chapter with:

1  Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, Who is seated at the Right Hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens,

2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

5 who serve the copy and shadow of the Heavenly things, as Moses was Divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Moses was shown the Tabernacle in Heaven and was instructed to pattern the earthly tabernacle after what he saw.  Do you want to cling to the shadow or the real thing?  In what realm do you wish to reside?

Our Beloved Lord Jesus Christ died “once for all”!

It is vital that we understand and embrace the Truth of what “once for all” means.

In the Old Testament, atonement for all the people’s sins was made once a year.  This was a temporary solution to the sin nature of man.

Moses recorded by THE SPIRIT in Leviticus chapter 16:

34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

There were many more blood sacrifices made throughout the year, but this was the major sacrifice required for the high priest to enter into the Holy of Holies.  This required strict adherence to the preparations made for entrance into the Presence of The Lord.  Any deviations meant death to whoever entered in.  Sin was and is not tolerated in The Presence of The Lord.

FATHER brought forth a better plan so that we could be in constant fellowship with HIM.  He desired a Love relationship with us on a daily basis.  Intimacy could not occur by one man coming into His Presence once each year.

Jesus expressed FATHER’S plan in John chapter 10:

7  Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the Door of the sheep.

8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

9 I am the Door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have Life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus is the Door into FATHER’S Presence which previously was restricted by a veil.  What happened when Jesus fulfilled His earthly mission?

Matthew wrote by The Holy Spirit in Matthew chapter 27:

50  And Jesus cried out again with a loud Voice, and yielded up His Spirit.

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

The restriction of entering into the Presence of The Lord was removed “once for all”, never to be reinstated.  This eliminated the performance requirements of men to atone for their sins.  The conditional relationship was replaced by a permanent, eternal relationship for those who willingly received salvation through Jesus Christ.  He is the only Door!

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Galatians chapter 2:

20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who Loved me and gave Himself for me.

Our redemption is solely based on Love.  As Sons and Daughters of GOD, our walk should be an expression of HIS Love.  HIS Directives are all motivated by Love.

Paul also wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Timothy chapter 2:

4  Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.

5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

6 Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

And in Titus chapter  2:

11  God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone.

12 This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, Godly lives in this present age.

13 For we continue to wait for the fulfillment of our hope in the dawning splendor of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus, the Anointed One.

14 He sacrificed Himself for us that he might purchase our freedom from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself a people who are His very own, passionate to do what is beautiful in His Eyes.

As the ultimate act of Love, Jesus gave Himself for us, “once for all”.

Paul emphasizes this Truth in Romans chapter 6:

9  knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the Life that He lives, He lives to God.

And in Hebrews chapter 9:

11  But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His Own Blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained Eternal redemption.

Our past, present, and future sins have been forgiven “once for all”.  Our relationship with FATHER is not conditional based on our performance.  Be at peace and do not let the father of lies try to bring up past sins to impede your spiritual growth toward full maturity in Christ!

We must purify our conscience lest it hinder our progress toward maturity!

We cannot totally rely on our conscience which is within our soul.  The conscience is defined as: co-perception, i.e., moral consciousness.  People often refer to their conscience as their moral compass.  It is the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending the one, condemning the other.

Who decides what is morally good or morally bad?  In the unbeliever, it is according to their upbringing and exposure to society.  In a believer, it should be based on The Word of GOD and confirmed by The Holy Spirit.  When I get a check in my spirit, I know there is an issue to be dealt with.

Paul addresses the conscience as he wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Corinthians chapter 8:

1   Now let me address the issue of food offered in sacrifice to idols. It seems that everyone believes his own opinion is right on this matter. How easily we get puffed up over our opinions! But Love builds up the structure of our new life.

2 If anyone thinks of himself as a know-it-all, he still has a lot to learn.

3 But if a person passionately Loves God, he will possess the knowledge of God.

Your opinions are closely tied to your conscience.  I have grown to dispossess opinions which have no Scriptural basis.  Our “opinions” should be based on The Word, not someone else’s logical and convincing conclusion about a matter.

4  Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

Those who were idolaters and considered idols as real and living, were being misguided by their conscience at the time.  Yes, your conscience can misguide you when it lacks purity from The Word.

7  However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?

11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

In other Words, if a believer with a weak conscience sees you, who have a greater understanding, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t this be a temptation to him to violate his own conscience and eat food offered to idols?  So, in effect, by exercising your understanding of freedom, you have ruined this weak believer, a brother for whom Christ has died!  And when you offend weaker believers by wounding their consciences in this way, you also offend the Anointed One!

Can our conscience be corrected and freed from past defilements?  Absolutely!  Paul is a perfect example.  He had officiated over the persecution of believers yet in Acts chapter 23, he states:

1 Paul fixed his eyes on the members of the council and said, “My brothers, up to this day I have lived my life before God with a perfectly clear conscience.”

How could he make such a statement?

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2^nd Corinthians chapter 5:

17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

18 Now all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

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.

Paul’s statement to the council was true because he fully accepted the reality that he was a new creation and his conscience had been purified and corrected by The Living Word.  Now, The Holy Spirit bears witness to the conscience whereas before, the conscience was unreliable.

We have a better covenant which is everlasting!

We are not to mix the two covenants together.  By necessity, the Old Covenant became null and void when it was replaced by the New Covenant.  Most believers do not understand the specific benefits of the New Covenant since most teaching in the past did include performance-based aspects of the Old Covenant.  This kept our mindsets from changing with the expectation of walking in all the benefits of the New Covenant.  Who better to differentiate the Old versus the New than Paul who was an expert in the Mosaic Law.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 7:

11  Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?

If the Levitical priesthood had been sufficient, Jesus would not have had an earthly ministry.  His ministry was to usher in the New Covenant with better, everlasting promises.  FATHER is not willing that any should perish so HE changed the priesthood!

12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.

13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.

14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest

16 Who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.

The temporary priesthood was replaced by the permanent priesthood!  The Old Testament was a type and shadow of the New Testament thus we need to read and reference it in light of the New.

17 For He testifies: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,

19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

Notice that we are to draw near to GOD rather than expecting HIM to draw near to us.  We are to walk through the door, we are to ask, seek, and knock.  It is up to each of us to be active rather than passive.  We are not to be beggars, but we are to embrace and fully expect what has already been given to us for our individual use.  Our mindsets must change!

20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath

21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The LORD has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek'”),

22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.

24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, Who is Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the Word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

For our mindsets to change and conform totally to the benefits of the New Covenant, we must exalt our High Priest, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who singularly gave us access to The Throne of Grace.

Paul also wrote in chapter Hebrews 4:

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Once your mindset has truly changed, you will without hesitation, come BOLDLY to the Throne of Grace.  There will be no reluctance or fretfulness, but full assurance of your standing with FATHER!

Don’t let sin consciousness separate us from GOD!

Our consciousness is centered in the mind, not our spirit man.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 10:

1  The old system of living under the law presented us with only a faint shadow, a crude outline of the reality of the wonderful blessings to come. Even with its steady stream of sacrifices offered year after year, there still was nothing that could make our hearts perfect before God.

2-3 For if animal sacrifices could once and for all eliminate sin, they would have ceased to be offered and the worshipers would have clean consciences. Instead, once was not enough so by the repetitive sacrifices year after year, the worshipers were continually reminded of their sins, with their hearts still impure.

One of the greatest hindrances to obtaining full maturity as an overcomer is to walk in the revelation of God-consciousness rather than sin-consciousness.  Many of us were taught that our value and acceptance were based on our performance rather than Christ’s performance at the cross.

The Law constantly reminded us of our sins and impurities of our hearts.

Paul continues:

4  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

The Old Testament Law could only provide temporary relief for the sin nature in man but FATHER had a better plan for us.

5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.

7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come- In the volume of the Book it is written of Me- To do Your will, O God.'”

8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law),

9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.

10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

“Once for all” is the key phrase for us to discard the past, present, and future sins.  Until then, the adversary will attempt to flood our consciousness with past sins.  Any time he does this, I simply say, “I cast down those vain imaginations!”

11  Yet every day priests still serve, ritually offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sin’s guilt.

12 But when Our Priest (Jesus Christ) had offered the one supreme sacrifice for sin for all time He sat down on a throne at the Right Hand of God,

13 waiting until all His whispering enemies are subdued and turn into His footstool.

14 And by his one perfect sacrifice He made us perfectly Holy and complete for all time!

I cannot overemphasize the need to dwell and meditate on this chapter in order to walk in God-consciousness!

15  But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,“

17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

If FATHER is no longer remembering our lawless deeds then why should we allow them to impede our spiritual progress?  Let us no longer accept the consciousness of the old man for it has passed away.