ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: UNDERSTANDING OUR RIGHTS, Part 2

Another Coffee Break:

Understanding Our Rights, Part 2

Greetings, felicitations and blessings to all of you!

I really want to get right to our discussion today, so let's dive in!

We shared this in the previous Coffee Break, but let's go back and re-read the passage from Genesis 15 which contains such a stupendous revelation of this covenant the Lord was making with Abraham.

"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Because of the impossibility of Abraham being able to keep this covenant in the natural, God had to perform both His part of the covenant AND Abraham's! That meant that He had to put Abraham to sleep -- and in fact a very deep sleep. The Hebrew text here uses the word, tardeòmaòh, to describe a trance or a vision. What was taking place was supernatural, and Abraham had to be experiencing this in a vision in order to understand and perceive what God was accomplishing.

Notice the following:And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. Abraham saw the Lord fulfilling both parts of the covenant -- God's part and his part -- in the form of the smoking furnace and a burning lamp. Here's the part I've been getting to. The Lord was walking up and down -- or back and forth -- in the blood that had been shed. The furnace represented the consuming of the sacrifice, meaning that the sacrifice and the shed blood had been accepted and the covenant ratified.

Abraham wasn't going to get to see the fulfillment of this covenant in his lifetime, but he had an inviolable guarantee that his descendants would, and that they would inherit a land which -- in his lifetime -- was filled with a people whose entire existence opposed everything that represented the Lord. The land was filled with a people who were covenant and truce-breakers. God was not only promising Abraham and his descendants all those lands, He was promising him that his seed would have victory over those enemies of the Lord.

In order to accomplish this, of course, Abraham's youth had to be restored so that he could once again procreate. Sarah would have to be restored to her youthful body and reproductive capability. We know that this indeed took place because even while Sarah was pregnant with Isaac, the Philistine king, Abimelech, saw her beauty and thought to take her unto himself as his wife.

So, what am I getting at, and what does all this have to do with understanding our rights? Just this!

We have an even better covenant than Abraham! Abraham was in a very real spiritual sense the father of our faith. He believed God. He believed that the Lord would accomplish the impossible with him and began to confess it from that day forward.

Abraham became the recipient of restored youth and restored health because of the covenant God made AND KEPT with him! Abraham became one of the wealthiest men on the planet. He ceased to be a Chaldean. His residency became the land of promise. His home became the Kingdom of God.

The apostle Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:9-12: "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable."

The covenant we have with Father God through Jesus Christ provides all of this and more. It remains for us to receive it all utilizing that same faith that Abraham exercised.

Faith is not complicated. Faith comes by hearing the Word of the Lord. So how do we hear the Word of the Lord? We simply open up our spirits to receive from Holy Spirit. It isn't difficult, really! We have to get the clogs out of the way, however -- the noise and the thoughts and the imaginations that bombard our minds with such repetitiousness and rapidity that we find ourselves in a mental fog. Faith comes easily to minds that are stayed on the things of God.

I know I've shared this before, but when you are immersed in negative thoughts, thoughts about your family, thoughts about your work, thoughts about your responsibilities, thoughts about your financial situation, thoughts about business -- and how about thoughts about some stupid movie or TV program you are either watching, or have watched -- thoughts about your physical condition, the aches and pains and/or diseases and infirmities you are fighting, you can't simply screw up your will power screw and try to change your thoughts. It doesn't work that way.

Thoughts don't chase away thoughts. Words chase away thoughts! You don't try to think your way out of a hole, you speak to it!

And.....you can't just get angry and say, "Get lost!" The Word of God gives us everything we need to deal with any situation! Are you in need of healing? Are you fighting with some kind of physical infirmity? Then why not speak the Word of God over it! There are a host of Scriptures which make it abundantly clear that our healing and our physical health have already been paid for by the Blood of Jesus Christ. How about I Peter 2:24? How about III John, vs. 2? How about Isaiah 53:5?

There is nothing we have need of that Jesus didn't already pay for by his suffering, death and resurrection! Got it? It doesn't matter what your situation is, Jesus already paid for the answer, the healing, the deliverance, the provision IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE!!! And, folks, He deserves to get what He paid for!

Let me take a bit of a side-trip here for just a minute.

Ask yourself the question. WHY did Jesus pay for all of this? Why did He pay for our healing? Why did He pay for our deliverance from every affliction of the flesh and every affliction of the spirit? Why did the apostle Paul write the following?

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."

And, NO, the phraseology in the Greek text CAN'T be translated "spiritually rich." That's not what Paul was talking about! The word is "plouteo" and it means exactly what it says: rich, increased in goods, materially prosperous, "loaded" (colloq.)

Let's take it another step. Why does Matthew record the following?

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

All right. One more. Why does Mark record the following?

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

To recap, why does Paul record what he recorded (and I've only touched on a microscopic drop in a ten-gallon bucket); why does Matthew record what Jesus said; why does Mark record what Jesus said to His followers?

Folks, the answer is obvious, and the answer is simple! Pay attention, now!

BECAUSE IT IS OUR LEGAL RIGHT!

OK. for everyone who raised their eyebrows, let me take it the next step. Why is this our legal right? Ready?

BECAUSE IT IS JESUS' LEGAL RIGHT FOR US TO LIVE AND FUNCTION LIKE THAT!

Hello. Ever stop to think about the fact that salvation is not about getting to Heaven? Salvation, deliverance, health, healing, long life, safety, peace of mind, provision for every need -- all these were a part of the way we were first created! We were created for fellowship with the Lord God in the first place. He created us for His pleasure! That's first and foremost! The fact that we get pleasure out of that place of relationship is a natural byproduct of being created in His image and likeness! Heaven is only a byproduct of our loving relationship with the Lord.

The fact that we are entitled to all these things is a natural part of the Law of Reciprocity. OK, don't grimace like that. Let me explain. The Law of Reciprocity means that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Clear? Then let me put it another way. There are consequences for good or for bad for every action we take or reaction to God's Word!

Go back to the Garden. What was it that God said to Adam? "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Adam and Eve were entitled to eat of the Tree of Life as a natural part of their existence in the Garden. With the fruit of that Tree came healing, health, long life, provision for every need, painless and sorrow-less labor and a work-ethic filled with joy and peace. There was a consequence that followed the eating of that tree, and that consequence is quickly expressed in the Law of Reciprocity.

The same was true if they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were never designed to acquire knowledge of good or of evil by their own mental prowess, experiences or academic study. Knowledge (and wisdom) was a natural byproduct of their walk with -- and fellowship with -- the Lord God. They were warned, therefore, that if they deviated from their created design and existence and fellowship with God that a very destructive consequence would follow.

That consequence was a reciprocal action: the removal of their access to eternity, the decay and ultimate destruction of the genetic makeup they were given at creation resulting in eventual death, along with disease, sickness, painful and sorrowful labor just to survive, and the loss of peace in their lives.

Consider, then, the redemptive work that Jesus did on our behalf. His objective was to (as Luke so carefully put it) "seek and to save (sozo -- to restore, to make whole, to deliver, etc.) that which was lost." While the word, "save," has become the byword of so many preachers, and so many sermons throughout hundreds of years, the true focus of "salvation" has often been overlooked or missed completely. Salvation has been over-generalized as being "saved from sin" while the real concept of sin has gotten lost in the fog.

What Adam and Eve did epitomized "sin." While sin has been categorized as lying, stealing, bearing false witness against someone, cheating, committing fornication or adultery, committing murder, etc., all those things are really nothing more than the symptoms of sin. Lying, cheating, stealing, etc., all take place almost automatically when a person decides that he/she is as smart (or smarter) than God and fully capable of making his or her own decisions -- never mind what God is saying, or has said, concerning the act or acts he or she wants to take.

When an individual takes matters into their own hands irrespective of what the Word of God is, they've just done the very same thing and thought -- whether consciously or subconsciously -- in exactly the same manner that Lucifer did when he arrogantly rose up against God, considering himself to be God's equal or superior and deciding to thrust God out of His place as Supreme Ruler of the universe. (See Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28)

Lucifer was not the Creator, he was a created being. The end of his pomposity and arrogance Isaiah prophesied as Hell. He was removed from his place as an Archangel in Heaven and thrown out, along with all those who took his side. He became the epitome of sin. He was/is the architect of all lies and arrogance against God.

OK, sort of got a bit off-track there, but I wanted to get to the root of what Jesus came to save us from. Jesus' objective was to not only restore us to the place of fellowship and intimacy with

Father, with Himself and with Holy Spirit, it was to once again make possible, make accessible, and put into practical living the naturally supernatural life we were originally created for.

Let's get this discussion down to some brass tacks. If we attend church, warm a pew, put our checks in the offering basket and/or teach a Sunday School class, none of these things will make the rights of citizenship in the Kingdom of God accessible. We can pray for the sick, preach wonderful sermons, visit the widows and orphans and minister to the needy and still not have access to our rights as sons of the Kingdom. Notice the phrase, "sons of the Kingdom."

It is possible to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons and still die and make it to Heaven as diapered babies in need of pabulum and milk bottles. Consider the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. Or, let's take it another step. Consider something that Jesus said in His "Sermon on the Mount." (See Matthew 7:22-23)

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

When Jesus says, "I never knew you," the Greek word ginoskoappears here. What He is saying is, "You and I have never had a real relationship. I've never known your love and affection, your faithfulness to Me or to My Word."

It becomes even clearer in the very next statement when He says, "Depart from me, you that work anomia -- illegally, lawlessly." What is Jesus saying? I think the best illustration of this comes from Acts 19:13-16 where the seven sons of Sceva, a Chief Priest, thought to use the name of Jesus, and the name of Paul in casting out demons. They were attempting to use the name of Jesus as a formula. They were not casting out demons IN the name -- the onoma: the character, the essence, the makeup -- of Jesus! They were working anomia-- illegally, lawlessly!

There are many professing Christians doing the same today. They don't have a personal relationship with the Lord. They are not operating IN Him, and He is not IN them.

This is the crux of all of our rights in Christ Jesus. And this is what we need to understand. If we will dwell IN Him and have our beings as a place He wants to dwell in, there is absolutely NOTHING withheld from us. Whenever we ask something of Him, we will be asking it IN His onoma. He will hear us. We will KNOW that He hears us. And we will have whatever -- whatsoever-- we ask, and He will give it liberally!

Here's the catch. Whatever we ask for of Father, whatever we demand of Satan, whatever we require, we do according to and IN the will of God! One doesn't have to second-guess or wonder if we are "in the will of God." Let me describe the relationship like this.

Della and I have a place of relationship in love and trust that she doesn't need to ask me if doing something is OK with me. She may do it anyway, but by virtue of the Spirit of God we have become One being! She knows my thoughts. She knows how I will think or how I will choose in virtually any and every circumstance. By the same token, I know how she will choose, how she will think in a given situation or circumstance, and what she will decide. We still ask or discuss things with each other out of common courtesy and love, but our choices and desires are no surprise to each other. She knows my will, and I know her will! It just goes with the territory!

That's how it is supposed to be between us and the Lord. The more we press into Him, the more we focus our minds, our thoughts and the words that come out of our mouths on Him, the greater the sense of intimacy between us. It is a rare instance that I have to ask the Lord what His will is concerning a decision or needed action. The ongoing communication between us in the realm of the Spirit functions 24 hours a day.

This is the place we must live in order to understand and to access all of our rights as sons of the Kingdom, as sons and daughters of The Most High! It isn't hard to live here, but it takes diligence and commitment on our part. And I'll share one more thing with you before I quit.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit receive the greatest of pleasure in us when we live our lives focused on His pleasure, on His receiving His inheritance, and on His right to that inheritance. That, my friends, is when we have full and complete access to all of our rights in Christ Jesus! These are covenant rights-- the same covenant rights He restored with His suffering, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection from the dead.

Sorry, but I still haven't completely arrived, folks!! (Grin!) I'm still learning. And I'm having the time of my life in the process! Wouldn't trade this for anything! As I more and more have access and see these things manifested in my life, it only whets my appetite for more!

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

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ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: UNDERSTANDING OUR RIGHTS

Another Coffee Break:

Understanding Our Rights

G’Mornin’, Y’all!

Have a blessed weekend, did you?  Ready to fire things up for another week?  Well, OK, for the rest of the week?

It’s hot water and lemon for me today.  Maybe for the next couple of days, actually.  Time to do a flush of toxins out of my system.  Hey, don’t look at me like that!  There’s nothing like drinking hot water and putting in a slice of lemon.  Tastes good, and works well.

I used to get strange looks at the restaurants in the south when I would ask for a cup of hot water and lemon.  The waiters or waitresses looked at me like I fell out of a spaceship.  I can’t tell you how many times they brought me a glass of hot water and put some lemon slices on a dish.  When you try to explain that the glass is too hot (and sometimes they actually bring you warm water – not hot) and you need a cup, they still didn’t get it.

When Della and I have traveled in Alaska, Canada and the northwest, we tend to order hot water and lemon.  Unless the restaurant happens to serve gourmet coffee, we just don’t order coffee in the restaurants because what they serve is either instant coffee (yucckkkk!) or canned, pre-ground coffee that tastes like last week’s leftover, and has all the acid to go with it.  For whatever reason, ordering hot water and lemon is pretty common in the northern tier states.  Oddly enough, when Della and I were in Washington , DC and asked for hot water and lemon in the restaurants, no one blinked an eye.

Anyway, 'nuff of that!  Hot water and lemon not only refreshes, it has a real health benefit.  The citric acid in the lemon does wonders when used with the hot water.  Drink that for three days or so, and you’ll be surprised at what it does for you.

Several years ago, I did a series of Coffee Breaks dealing with our Covenant position in Jesus Christ, and the rights we have in Christ as a result of that relationship.  I'd like to revisit a small portion of that discussion and perhaps amplify that which Holy Spirit has been emphasizing in my spirit of late. This might take some doing so let me begin by laying a few foundations so you understand where I'm taking this discussion.

I've mentioned this before, but there is an aspect of covenant I don't think I've ever heard discussed in any church or fellowship in my 50+ years of active ministry.  It is based in a Hebrew word that really has no direct translation into English.  That word is ãñç kheseed  with the "k" sound almost silent.  Strong's Concordance is literally all over the map with the word, and without explaining why, gives totally divergent meanings.

Gesenius, in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon explains the word like this in its primary applications: to love with intense desire; to show oneself gracious; zeal (towards anyone); ardor; kindness; benevolence; the grace, favor and mercy of God; tender mercies; lovingkindness.

Depending on context, this word does have some opposite uses, but these uses are limited in Scripture and always occur with appropriate diacritical (breathing) marks.  Because those uses are peripheral to our study, I won't try to get into them other than to say that they always occur with antiphrasis -- that is, set within the context of communicating a negative article.

This word, ãñç kheseed,  is -- in my personal opinion -- one of the closest Hebrew words to the Greek agape in usage and meaning.  Appearing most frequently -- actually, almost entirely -- within the context of covenant, it gives us a picture of the kind of relationship the Lord had with Abraham, and the extravagant nature of what the Lord was establishing.

ãñç kheseed  draws a picture of an almost intense rivalry in which covenant partners seek to meet each other's needs, go out of their way to defend, uphold and care for, and to display a sense of mercy and lovingkindness that knows no bounds even in the face of dispute or disagreement.

In one of my Coffee Breaks dealing with the concept of covenant, we talked about the fact that one of the first events to occur during the covenant ceremony was the exchange of cloaks or outer coverings.  It symbolized the giving of all that a person was, making all that he had available to his covenant partner: his wealth, the resources of his household, the intervention of his family in time of need or distress, and his personal guarantee or oath upon which the covenant hung.

Consider how the Lord showed His cloak during the covenant ceremony.  Abraham is put into a deep sleep as the Lord shows up to pass between the halved animals and stand in the blood.  The KJV puts it that "when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces."

That's somewhat obscure in the way it gets translated, but the word translated "smoking" is the same word that gets used in some instances for cloud or vapor.  Remember the cloud or pillar of smoke that stood guard for Israel when the armies of Pharaoh came after them?  Now do you have the picture?  It is metaphoric of the covering, the defense of the Lord on behalf of His covenant people.

We'll come back to this illustration in a few minutes.

ãñç kheseed  is the core of covenant.  It describes what we could call an "alter ego."  Let me explain.

I've shared this before, but it's worth sharing again.  When a person is in a covenant relationship, their covenant partner virtually becomes their alter ego, their "other self."  I can probably liken it to a description that folks used to use in referring to Dwain McKenzie and me during our Long Beach Christian Center days.  We were so linked to each other in relationship and companionship that even when folks only saw one of us, they saw the other.  We were frequently referred to as "the Bobbsey twins" (a reference to two nearly identical twins in the famous series of children's books).

The situation developed to the place where when we were in Barrow (we ministered together in the church I [in my teen years] had helped my Dad build years before we were at Long Beach Christian Center), people would see me walking down the street and wave at me with a shout of "Hi, Dwain."  He experienced the virtually identical thing when folks would say to him, "Hi, Regner, Hi, Betty June."  (Betty June -- since gone to be with the Lord -- was his wife at that time).

You've got to know how strong this identity thing was when my father returned from a boat trip along the arctic coast where he had been ministering in some villages and summer campsites and saw Dwain coming to meet him on the beach.  His first and immediate reaction was, "Well, Regner, what are you doing here?"  Funny thing.  I was in Nome at the time, and that's a long ways from Barrow.

Anyway, you get the idea.

[Here's a side-note for you.  Dwain and I developed the closest of friendships and have had a bond in the realm of the Spirit for more than 55 years.  We've had our moments of disagreement, to be sure, (they were so long ago, I've all but forgotten what they were) but throughout the years there has been a nonstop bond of love and fellowship between us closer than any ordinary blood relationships.]

Here's a good way for me to describe this.  Within the framework of covenant, kheseed describes a condition in which each other's blood flows in each other's veins: so deep is the sense of caring and covering for each other.

Now maybe you can begin to understand how the whole concept of covenant has been so diluted and watered down throughout the centuries that we've lost the true sense of it!  Now maybe you can begin to get a grasp on the New Testament (Covenant) and the use of the word, agape, as the descriptor by which the Lord commands relationship.

Covenant relationships defined the character and nature of those in covenant with each other.  So deep was the sense of responsibility and concern for each other that they would gladly die for one another if the situation so demanded.  It transferred over to the family members within that covenant so that each party to the covenant, their wives, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren -- and even aunts, uncles and cousins -- all became identified with each other.

The entire Old Testament -- the word "testament" all by itself scarcely conveys the whole picture -- is a picture of God's covenant, His first covenant with Abraham and his descendants.  Everything framed in the Old Testament is described within the structure of covenant relationship.

So what am I getting at?  Why am I talking about covenant relationships?

While every covenant brings a level of responsibility between the covenant partners, it also brings covenant blessings and covenant rights.  I could probably really get off track here by talking about this concept of blessings and covenant rights if I began describing it within the framework of human covenants, but the covenant we have with the Lord Jesus Christ far transcends anything human imagination can perceive.  In order to explain it properly let me share something that I think a lot of believers have missed.

Let's go back to the time when God first made His covenant with Abraham.  (See Genesis 15)

The Lord proceeds to tell him, " I am the [same] Lord God that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it."

Abraham by this time, of course, was well aware of the significance of covenant.  To inherit is to have heirs.  At his age, having children is rare, if not impossible, so he says to the Lord -- within the framework of covenant-thought, " Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it."

Now we're going to see the enactment of covenant -- and this is no ordinary covenant; this covenant is about as one-sided as you can get!

The Lord instructs Abraham to bring Him "an heifer of three years old, a she-goat of three years old, a ram of three years old, and a turtledove and a young pigeon."

The animals are slaughtered, their carcasses divided in two parts and laid out with each half facing the other.  One bird was placed on one side, and the other bird the other side.  (I don't have time -- and while important, it isn't specifically relevant to this discussion -- to get into the significance of each of these animals or birds, and their spiritual implications.  We'll save that for some later discussion.)  Suffice it to say that the halved carcasses were placed far enough apart that Abraham could stand between them and the Lord could pass between them.

The significance of this IS relevant since the parties to this covenant would be standing and/or walking in blood as the covenant was struck.  Why?

The Lord spoke to Moses and said (Leviticus 17:11), "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

Understand?  Like every other member of the human race, Abraham had been born under and grown up under the same curse that came after Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  That curse was death!  That curse was poverty!  That curse was the requirement to work and toil for one's living instead of working so that one could have the wherewithal to give.  That curse brought about a break in fellowship and communion between man and God.

Because the first part of the curse was death itself -- and the degenerative and decaying process had entered the blood of every human being, as well as their genetic structure -- God designed and established the physics AND the spiritual order of things so that blood had to be shed as a redemptive measure in order to reverse that death process.  The Lord had first done this with Adam and Eve by the shedding of the blood of lambs or sheep in order to provide them with skin coverings.  Abel had that revelation when he brought to the Lord (Genesis 4:4) the first and best of the lambs from his flock.

Once again, let's go back and re-read the passage from Genesis 15 which contains such a stupendous revelation of this covenant the Lord was making with Abraham.

"And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. 

I thought I was going to get to finish this discussion with one single Coffee Break, but it is obvious to me that's not going to happen.  Let's pick up this discussion in a few days and we'll finish it with Part Two.

Sadly, there are many Christians who are cheated out of their inheritance and their rights as citizens of the Kingdom of God; and they are cheated because they neither know what they have a right to, nor do they understand that everything they have a right to has been either withheld until they exercise the same faith that Abraham exercised, or they fail to recognize that Satan has stolen what rightly belongs to them.

My objective in sharing is to help God's people receive what they are entitled to -- and even more than that, in so doing see that Jesus Christ receives His inheritance in a people who boldly and unashamedly walk in their inheritance in Him, displaying God's glory in the process!

Make sense?  Good!  See you again in a few days. 

[Back in the early 1980's I served for roughly three years as an advisor to the area board of Aglow in Fairbanks.  Seven years later I served in the same capacity in Anchorage.  The following prophetic Word comes from Jane Hansen-Hoyt who is President & CEO of Aglow International.  This Word was shared November 7th.]

Last evening a President was elected to another term of office in the United States. It was a measured victory with half of the nation voting for the other candidate. Such a divided vote speaks to the reality that we are a nation divided on many issues, serious issues, that continue to profoundly change America. We have seen historically what occurs when a nation continually turns from the principles of God's Word to walk in its own ways.

As you might imagine, there are many voters who are concerned with the outcome of this election. While I am certain that we, as Believers, must continue to make our prayers heard in the gates of our respective nations, I also want to remind us of our true purpose.

When Pilate questioned Jesus about being "King of the Jews," Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not of this world!" Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" (see John 18:33-37).

Jesus knew who He was. His identity was secure. His purpose was focused. He could not be turned aside by people's opinion of Him or the questions they asked. He never once wavered in the purpose for which He had come, which was to demonstrate the realities of another Kingdom. That Kingdom was vastly different from the world around Him. He had come to establish a new mindset, a new culture, and a new way. We, as the followers of Jesus, have been sent into the world to continue what Jesus began.

Think of Pilate's response to Jesus: "Do You not know that I have power to crucify You?" (see John 19:10). In essence, Pilate was saying that he had the power to destroy Jesus and all that He had come to do in the earth! The bold answer of Jesus captured the totality of the situation, even as it does ours, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above" (verse 11).

Jesus knew that there was a greater purpose He had been sent to accomplish. While things around Him swirled in opposition to that purpose, He walked in total confidence that God, His Father, was in control and would not allow any deviation from the plan.

Nothing has changed! We, too, walk in the knowledge that God's plan is marching on. We are the people of another Kingdom. We have joined ourselves to Him in that purpose, as we move on with Him. The hour is more critical than we know and our prayers and worship more vital than we perhaps see. It is the time of our arising. We have stepped into a new place in our identity and purpose. Do not be moved by what you see and hear. Keep your eye single and you will be filled with the light of His revelation as we walk forward together, male and female, taking dominion.

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

709 South 7^th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 515-0133

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact.  Older Coffee Break archives are temporarily available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com.  Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.

CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.

PICTURES OF TRIBULATION & WRATH, Part 6

Another Coffee Break:

Pictures of Tribulation & Wrath, Part 6

Greetings to you, Oh Great, Wise, and Illustrious Ones!

When's the last time you had a Good Morning greeting like that!

Coffee’s poured.  Mmmmmm….. Love that aroma!  Double Roast French Roast from Winco Foods, thanks to Rich!  Come and join me!

Before we with our previous discussion on tribulation vs. wrath, I didn't want to do a full Coffee Break on the outcome of our election, but I would like to make a few observations that are relevant to our discussion on the wrath of God and raise a few questions for everyone to think about.

At the same time, it is critically necessary for me to state emphatically (for the sake of those who will quickly jump to conclusions) before we get into this commentary that (1) while this post may be regarded by some readers as political, that is not my purpose; (2) my objective is to address some genuine spiritual issues facing us as Christians, AND as Americans; and (3) I am NOT an Obama hater.  I simply cannot and will not align myself with the agenda he has been pursuing.

According to the latest exit poll statistics taken on November 6th, there were 42% of Protestant and Evangelical Christians (with 25% who specifically identified themselves as Evangelical or Pentecostal) who voted for Obama in this election.  Although that's down from 57% four years ago, it still begs the question.  How in the world do folks who classify themselves as Bible-believing Christians vote for someone whose agenda incorporates support and funding for the murder of unborn children?  How can people who claim to have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives support a leader whose agenda includes tearing down the definition of family and marriage -- a tradition which has stood for not less than 6,000 years?

It gets worse, folks!  Despite a call from a very large number of black Christian leaders to vote otherwise, blacks who call themselves "Christian" voted 70% to support Obama and his agenda.

Even more, in spite of strong condemnation from American Catholic bishops of the current administration's support for homosexual marriage and ongoing promotion of abortion, as well as a warning to Catholics of spiritual consequences, a solid 50% of Catholics voted for another four years of the same policies that are dragging this nation into the gutter, and towards the judgment of God!

Although the numbers are still pathetic, at least 32% of the Jewish vote went to Romney.  That's a historic high for Republican support -- and a ten percent improvement over 4 years ago.  That improvement can be attributed in large part to the administration's overt hatred of Israel and kow-towing to Islamic leaders, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's active campaigning for Romney.

A friend of mine made the following observation to a group of evangelical Christians whose paranoia of Romney's Mormonism was quite obvious.  "We're not voting for a national pastor (or Shepherd for the body of Christ)," he said.  "We're voting on the President of the United States."  Put another way we could say, We're not electing a Pastor-in-Chief, we're electing a Commander-in-Chief.

While for a variety of reasons (the least of which was his Mormon roots) Mitt Romney may not have been my first choice to lead this nation, that didn't make him unqualified.  Considering this nation's current financial and economic dilemma, and the moral morass into which we are sliding, we could not have had an easier choice as Christians.

Honestly, the choices that face America are far less related to a political party and much more related to an increasingly intense spiritual crisis.  My comments and questions are not specifically directed at the Democratic Party despite the fact that the DNC is rapidly leaving traditional Democrats in the dust.   By the same token, I'm no great fan of the RNC because of political compromise within the party leadership which more and more creates RINO's (Republicans In Name Only) who fundamentally reject some of the party's most basic constitutional roots.

My concern is with America as a whole.  My concern is with Christians who are spiritually asleep, Christians who somehow have shut off their "discerner" gift from Holy Spirit and justify their choices because of personal pocket-book fears.  Let's make it even plainer.  They like being on the dole from the Federal Government.  They like federal handouts and ignore the long-term consequences of those handouts.

This is a byproduct of a poverty mentality that has permeated the body of Christ, reinforced by the Fear of Death and an absolute lack of trust in God's faithfulness to keep His Word.  I actually spoke with a woman yesterday who openly acknowledged that she voted for Obama because she was afraid Romney would take away her food stamps.

These "Christians" ignore the spiritual consequences of electing leaders who are driving forward an agenda which perverts the Word of God, and they think it doesn't matter because "this is just politics, and we have to have a separation of church and state!"  They close their eyes to the fact that they become guilty of moral and sexual perversion by virtue of their passiveness towards it, and their active support of those who promote it.

NO, THIS IS NOT JUST POLITICS!!!  Political choice results in spiritual consequence -- either for good or for evil.  If we choose for evil, the judgment and the wrath of God are what we head for.

Let's get something straight.  I said it before and I'll say it again!  I am not an Obama-hater!  But I hate the sin, the wickedness, the evil that he has aligned himself with.  I grieve for Barack Obama because I know what will befall him if he continues to push this agenda.  He has no idea what lies ahead for him if he continues to promote such an anti-Israel stance, his words of support notwithstanding.

By the same token, people who consider themselves to be Bible-believing Christians are plunging headlong into the wrath of God who think they can continue to ignore the Enemy's unfolding schema.  That's where we are going with today's discussion on the wrath of God.

Let me conclude this commentary by quoting from the 139th Psalm where David writes, "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?  I hate them with perfect hatred.  I count them mine enemies."  (Psalm 139:21-22)

David isn't talking about people as his enemies; he's talking about wicked spirits, idols, idolatrous purposes.  Consider what he says next.

"Search me, O GOD, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

You need to see this in the Hebrew text.  Where the KJV translates the text to read, "and see if there be any wicked way in me," the Hebrew text uses the word, 'otseb, for wicked, and dehrek for way.  The word, 'otseb, is more accurately translated idol (as in something which is fashioned, either by hand or by thought), whereas the word, dehrek, means: a course of life, or a mode of action.

Thus those that hate the Lord, those who are His enemies, are the idolatrous spirits that rise up within men and women.  When men and women align themselves with those wicked spirits and come into agreement with them, whether passively or actively, they subject themselves to the same wrath and judgment that awaits Satan and all who fellowship with him -- whether passively or actively!

We've been talking about the wrath of God as compared to tribulation, and we finished up last time talking about how His wrath is targeted against anything and anyone who deliberately and unrepentantly seeks to pervert His creation and perfect order.

To restate what has already been said, Creation was set in motion for the express purpose of creating a species of being who would be like God, created in His image and likeness, set in an environment where this species of being would have the opportunity and responsibility of duplicating here what already exists in Heaven.  The primary objective for the creation and existence of this species was so that the Lord would have for Himself a family of beings with whom He could fellowship and share who and all that He is at His level of existence.

Sin perverted that.  Eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil contaminated and began to pervert both the existence and the DNA of this species -- US!  None of this caught God off guard.  He was not taken by surprise when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  A redemptive plan had already been initiated by and through Jesus Christ, of whom John writes as having been "slain from the foundation of the world."  (see Revelation 13:8)

The purpose of God's redemptive Plan through Jesus Christ was to recapture and restore to relationship with Him those who had been the "servants (more accurately, the slaves) of sin."  It was an opportunity with consequence.  Choose the redemptive and restorative Plan made available by and through Jesus Christ, or choose to continue to live as you please in and under sin.

Choose redemption and in so doing enjoy the benefits, the privileges, the Covenant of life -- both now and in eternity -- along with deliverance from sickness, poverty, disease and the curse!  Have access to what the world inaccurately refers to as "the realm of the miraculous."  Live in the midst of God's grace, His mercy and His Love!  Have power over all disease, all sickness, all weaknesses of any kind; access to the Blessing of God with wealth and riches -- mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial -- beyond natural understanding.  Have authority over all the power and works of Satan.

On the other hand, choose to live as you please, ignore the redemptive price that Jesus paid, and you live under the curse.  With that curse comes sickness, disease, poverty, weakness, mental and emotional diseases, the affliction(s) that come as a byproduct of the dominion of evil spirits, and -- when all is said and done -- if one does not repent, they will experience the wrath of God in a dimension they don't even want to think about.

Before we get too far along here, I need to point out something regarding the wrath of God.  Except for the wrath of God being exercised against Satan, his hosts and all who rebelliously align themselves with him, (and that wrath is determined for eternity!) the anger of the Lord is not long-lasting.

I've already noted that -- for the most part -- God's wrath is redemptive.  His objective is to bring His people back into fellowship with Him.  That said, let's take a quick look at some things Isaiah was commanded to prophesy.

"In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.  For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.  For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee."

Notice the context of what Isaiah is saying.  This Word is targeted towards God's people, Israel, during a time when they were chasing after idols and other gods.  The Lord is making clear the fact that, even in the midst of His anger towards them for their adultery towards Him, He will still keep His everlasting Covenant by showing mercy.  They would still feel His wrath, they would still endure captivity, they would still suffer at the hands of their enemies, but it would only be for a time, after which God would once again extend favor and mercy.

Without getting into the entire prophecy (you can read it in Isaiah 10) or quoting the entire passage here, let me extract one piece for the sake of illustration.  In this instance you have the wrath of God again being executed against Israel for their whoredoms and their hypocritical representation of Him in the earth.  This time He takes advantage of the neighboring enemies of Israel whose hatred of the Israelites is not simply a case of political jealousy, but rather an intense hatred of God Himself.  Because the nations of the earth knew that Israel was God's chosen people, they took out their hatred of God on His people.

Here we have God's people in rebellion themselves, behaving contrary and antagonistically towards His Word to them.  So God permits the surrounding enemies who hate Him to exercise their military might against Israel as a means of pouring out His wrath, and then turns around and exercises that same judgment against the enemies of His people.  Watch how the Lord does this!  (see verse 12)

"Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks."   Now look at verses 20-23 [NASB]!

"Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.   A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.   For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.  For a complete destruction, one that is decreed [against Assyria], the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land."

See the picture?

Folks who've been programmed with the religious slop that says "A loving God would never allow wrath and judgment and tribulation to come upon His people" unfortunately do not see the larger redemptive picture.  They don't know the heart of the Lord.  What a lot of folks seem to miss is that God is far less concerned with the comfort of His people, and far more concerned with the development of His character in them.  For lots of people, it is no small thing for them to get rid of the contamination and perversion of their hearts, their minds, and their souls.  The more they resist the dealings of God, the greater the pressure that comes to bear in their lives.

There's one more aspect to this picture that we need to cover before we quit for today.

When people ignore the redemptive plan of God made available to them through Jesus Christ, they open themselves wide to demonic activity in their lives.  Often folks blame God for the things that have befallen them, and they fail to understand that the things happening in their lives are a direct result of Satan's anger and wrath directed towards God.

Consider the prophecy against Lucifer the Lord ordered through Isaiah: "That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!  The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.  He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.........Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;  That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?"

That's only a tiny part of the entire decree against Satan from Isaiah 14.  Ezekiel was commanded to also prophesy against him, and he expands (in Ezekiel 28) on the picture of Satan's pride, his arrogance, the unbelievable conceit he had to think he -- as a created being -- was equal to or superior to God.

John, in Revelation 12, is taken back into eternity before time began to see the war that occurred in Heaven when Satan, in his arrogance and pride, rose up against God.  John sees the devil defeated, not by God Himself, but by Michael and his angels acting at God's direction.  Satan is cast out into the earth where he gets locked into time.  From this point forward, every bit of fear, hatred and anger in the core of his being is targeted against God and against His creation -- including mankind.  The fact that God gave possession of the earth to mankind (Psalm 115:16) and relegated his existence to a time-space dimension only increased his hatred.

Hence, Satan's wrath.  Hence, the chaos that follows him.  Hence, his desire to take control of the human race in order to get back at God and destroy any chance of the Lord having a family.  Hence, his desire to usurp the place of the Bride of Christ.

This is where we will leave this discussion.  Now you can understand the wrath of God, and where that wrath is focused.  And -- finally -- now you can see the difference between the wrath of God and tribulation.

I'll be back soon.

Our Founding Fathers were just as afraid of the tyranny of the masses as they were the tyranny of the king. They had witnessed in the French Revolution what happened when the masses ruled, and they established in our Constitution firewalls against the tyranny on both sides. Both of these firewalls have been breached or torn down altogether now, and as the Founders warned, the Republic cannot now long survive.

Thomas Jefferson warned that the Republic could not last if the people learned that they could vote for themselves the resources of the national treasury.  That was breached a long time ago, and we are now at the point where the entitlement mentality it has created in the masses is about to destroy us.  We were led down this road by both the Democrats and the Republicans. This is not sustainable, but one is not likely to get elected to office if they even talk about trying to correct this.  We are now very close to collapsing the whole system.  Then elections will no longer be held at all and we will face a terrible tyranny. We will first face the tyranny of the mob, and then we will face the tyranny of the tyrant.

Even the former Labor Party British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is now warning everywhere he goes that the entitlement mentality that has been created will destroy Western civilization if we do not stop it now.

Could Obama become one of our greatest Presidents?  Interestingly, President Obama, who many think is purposely trying to weaken America and Western civilization, may be the only one who can now turn this around and pull us back from the precipice.  Obama does not have to run again, and he can do what is right regardless of the political consequences.  He has the potential to be one of our greatest Presidents if he is given the illumination, and then has the courage and the support to follow it.  That is how I will be praying.  He is in the best position of all to save us from the pending economic doom, but if he doesn’t change course, he will go down as the worst President of all time, because the meltdown will begin on his watch.

President Clinton, along with the Republican Congress, started to turn us around on this road to collapse.  They made brilliant choices and remarkable progress.  As Christians, we are commanded to pray for our leaders, not just those we wanted, but those we have.  I for one will be praying that President Obama be given the wisdom and understanding to save us instead of destroying us. He could do either.  If he does the right thing, we will all be winners.  If he does not, we will all be losers.

(excerpted from a prophetic word this week by Rick Joyner)

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

709 South 7^th Street
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
(509) 515-0133

All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted – provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact.  Older Coffee Break archives are temporarily available at http://regnersrangers.multiply.com/journal/ and are being slowly added at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com.  Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.

If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.

CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.