Servias Ministries Blog

A credential is an attestation of qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so.

The Apostle Paul warns us against trusting in and relying on human credentials:

Philippians 3:3  For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,

Men spend their lives in pursuit of knowledge with the expectation that at some point they will be satisfied with their achievements.  I say to you that knowledge without wisdom and understanding is of little importance and satisfaction in the long term.  Men issue other men diplomas as though the issuers are the final authority to determine the qualifications of the individual.  The current system is set up to encourage us to believe in the “experts”.  The truth is that the evidence proves them wrong.  The war on cancer is over 50 years old and they still are losing the battles every day.  Why?  Because they are not being led by the Spirit!

Paul continues:

:4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

In Paul’s time, “a Hebrew of the Hebrews” was the epitome of accolades one could attain.  Paul’s credentials were one of the elite résumés you would find during this period.  Paul’s comment on his past accomplishments:

:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

It is imperative that we walk in the Spirit and not trust in the flesh.  Men’s credentials are not issued because they have heard from Our Heavenly Father and responded.  They have simply met the requirements put forth by other men as an endorsement.  We must obtain our endorsement or witness from The Spirit.  Our Feast of Pentecost where we acknowledge and honor the giving of the Law and Spirit is to be held on June 8th in a live broadcast.  To my knowledge, this will be the first worldwide celebration of the Feast of Pentecost.  Our Passover Conference had a total of 9 countries participate.  Hopefully we will grow until the whole earth is represented.

The Holy Spirit is the One who endorses the Truth of any matter.  The Law is the standard which all men are judged by.  In combination, the Truth is fully exposed and understood.  Let us honor the day both were imparted by HIS Divine Love.

We were all once foolish and blind to the ways of Our Heavenly Father.  We could not hear HIS Voice.  In those times we thought we had our act together only to find that we had no clue.  If there is anything I have learned over the past four decades of my walk with HIM, it is that I have more to learn and understand about the Kingdom and trust HIM to appropriately reveal the greater mysteries as I am able to receive them.  It requires me to mature in areas that were previously weak.  I must assess my own fruit to see what aspects of my life are unfruitful and let the pruning come forth in those areas.  In Titus, we are called to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and watch our words:

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you

3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Are you zealous for good works or are you complaining about HIS apparent delay in making something happen in your life?  We are to produce good fruit to be fed to all mankind.  We should be a testimony, a standard, by which men are drawn toward Our Lord and Savior.  If we are busy stuffing doctrine down other people’s throats, how can HIS Love be expressed?  As we are led by HIS Most Holy Spirit, HIS grace and mercy abounds toward those we come in contact with.  Yes, there are many in authority that are pursuing life as vessels of dishonor and they will receive their reward.  We must not speak evil toward them.  We must trust Our Heavenly Father will protect us from their devices and plans just as HE has protected HIS Remnant throughout history.  Let us promote peace by word and deed.

Enjoy the unity of Love in song!

Our end result is to bear fruit unto Our Heavenly Father:

Romans 7:4   Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.  NKJV

In order to bear fruit unto HIM, we must die to the flesh and walk in THE SPIRIT.  Otherwise we bear fruit unto death:

:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

Thus in the final analysis, we are going to bear some type of fruit for inspection before the Throne of Our Heavenly Father; either good fruit or bad fruit.  The Law is in effect to oversee its enforcement of inspection.  The Law of Equal Weights and Measures is still in effect and executing judgment over diverse situations today.  Our Heavenly Father’s judgment is based on HIS Divine Intent and HIS Divine Intent arises out of HIS Love for us.  It is HIS plan for us to be delivered from death which the Law demands:

:6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Our old man was judged against the righteous standard of the Law given at Mount Sinai.  That standard was raised up on the first Day of Pentecost.  We should honor that Day with great reverence.  On that day Our Heavenly Father spoke forth HIS Divine Intent of Love to the people.  HIS Standard of life and death was expressed so that all men would know where they stood.  Without setting an expectation of performance and maturity, how could we really bear righteous fruit in the end?  What good is a race if there is no established finish line?

In the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus, He was tempted by the devil.  The first temptation was to compromise the complete Word of GOD:

Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Jesus established that we must honor and focus on the entirety of the Word, not just portions of it.  The devil’s first attempt to dilute Jesus’ ministry was by tempting Him to compromise the Word (The Law).  The pattern Son established the important of the Law given at Pentecost in His response.  He quoted Deuteronomy 8:

:3  “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Our carnal man would have us compromise the full Word of GOD by reasoning that the Law is no longer in effect.  It is clear that Jesus disagreed with that view.  He came to fulfill the Law, not do away with it:

Matthew 5:17  “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

“Fulfilling” does not mean ending something.  It means to bring to a fullness.  How?  By providing us a full picture of what has been spoken and prophesied by the Law and the Prophets.  The carnal mind would have you believe that Jesus finalized or completed the use of the Law.  Jesus specifically said that He did not come to destroy, abolish, or do away with the Law.  If the Law is not abolished, it is still in effect.  That standard which was raised on the first Day of Pentecost remains the standard by which all men are judged.  Their carnal nature is judged to die according to that standard.

The Feast of Pentecost is known by two major events: the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai and the “giving” of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.  In Romans 7:14, Paul clearly states that the Law is spiritual:

:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

The Pentecostal Age depicts the process of growing into full maturity as a Son.  It is the bridge between Passover (justification) and the 8th Day of Tabernacles where the mature Sons are presented as firstfruits to Our Heavenly Father.  The Age of Pentecost is the age of growing and maturing.  We are to rise up (leaven) into mature sons during this Age.  Our maturing process does not occur during the Age of Tabernacles, it occurs during the current Age of Pentecost.  Ruling and reigning occurs after we have been presented and accepted on the 8th day.

A mature Son will honor the process required to achieve the end result as being good fruit unto Our Heavenly Father.  This process is celebrated at the 2nd Feast designated by Our Heavenly Father:  The Feast of Pentecost.  These feasts are HIS feasts and we should reverently honor all three of them, that is if we truly live by every Word that proceeds out of HIS Mouth.

The old man would like to bypass the process of Pentecost and move directly to the glory and honor of glorification.  That will not happen for the old man must die during the process of maturity that Pentecost represents.  The initial giving of the Law sentenced the old man to death whereas the giving of the Spirit provided us the solution to death: walking in and serving in the newness of the Spirit.

We will honor and celebrate this Feast of Pentecost on June 8th.  It will no longer be viewed as a lesser feast day than the others.  We must embrace the feast that requires us to mature in stature and prepares us for presentation on the 8th Day of Tabernacles.  As we near full maturity, we begin to appreciate the process that was required to mature us.  Let us honor Our Heavenly Father by honoring HIS Feast: The Feast of Pentecost.

Yesterday, my daughter, son-in-law, and I ran the half-marathon run (13.1 miles) at the 14th Annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.  There were roughly 25,000 people who participated in the event.  All shapes and sizes were there.  My grandson participated in the kid’s marathon.  In an event of this nature, everyone was in unity.  We all paid our fees to run (or walk) the event.  There were no individual agendas, no divisions among the runners, and everyone was accepted for who they are.  Each runner had a focus.  Some ran to remember a person who died in the OKC bombing, 168 perished on that day.   It is a shame that it took such a dastardly event to bring a level of unity among the people.  How much more should the Remnant of Our Heavenly  Father be in unity!

Our unity should supersede the unity of any group around the world.  Our unity is one designated by the Creator of Heaven and earth.  As we become mature, we will accept the fullness of our calling to be “one” in the Spirit.  How much more should our Love for others be than the 25,000 who ran the race yesterday.   We have a common goal that is much greater than an annual event commemorating those who died in the bombing.

Ultimately people want to be connected to others.  This is what fellowship is all about.  This is what communion is all about.  We want to be fully associated with Our Lord Jesus Christ.  As we mature and become an expression of HIS nature, people will be drawn to us more so than any running event.

Yes, the three of us crossed the finish line together, in unity.  That was our goal.