Do Not Be Ashamed of the Gospel

2 Timothy 1: 7 - 12, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. NKJV

The Holy Spirit has been dealing with my heart about the bondage that Christians are living in pertaining to fear. We must understand and realize that Satan is the author of fear, and he uses it to hold Christians (and all people) in bondage. The Lord has also revealed some powerful truths that will help His people overcome the spirit of bondage to fear that so we can step out in faith and please Him. One of these truths is found in today's scripture. 

Paul is encouraging Timothy, a young minister, to exercise his faith instead of allowing the spirit of fear to cause him to be ashamed of preaching the gospel. Paul reminds Timothy of the faith that was in his grandmother as well as in the heart of his mother, and he was certain that it was in Timothy. Paul was striving to divert young Timothy's focus off the negative works of Satan; therefore, he asked him to remember the legacy of faith that resided in his family's rich history. As Christians, we, too, must take our focus off of the "what if's" of this world and the rejection of people toward our message of Christ, and, instead, concentrate on our faith walk. 

Satan loves to get our attention off of Christ being in us and working through us, so that he can draw our attention to ourselves. When we look at ourselves instead of Christ, it will cause us to fall prey to either intimidation or self-exaltation. Being the elder minister, Paul understood this. He went on to tell Timothy that, although he had suffered much as a minister, he wasn't ashamed to preach the gospel of Christ, whether it was in a church or in prison. Not only did Paul use the strong examples of Timothy's family to direct his attention, he also used his own personal testimony of suffering to show Timothy that he needed to trust God with the circumstances and just preach the Word of God. 

The Apostle John tells us in his epistle that it is our faith in Christ that gives us the victory over this world. Therefore, as believers in Christ, if we're struggling with being ashamed of the gospel of Christ and sharing our faith with others, then we must make an important decision. We must choose to obey God's will and to suffer for Christ's sake so that the power of Christ will rest upon us. We've been called out of darkness to be salt and light to this world. As such, we are commanded to go into the entire world and declare the Good News of the kingdom.

It's time for us as Christians to begin to set our heart's attention on Christ and on fulfilling the Father's will, instead of allowing fear to intimidate us so that we don't speak God's truth in love to this world. Will you join with me in prayer and ask God to grant to the body of Christ the courage that we need to proclaim His truth to this generation? In addition, pray that the Lord would give us a heart that is committed more to Christ than to ourselves or self-preservation. It's time for us to reach the world for Christ. 

In His Service,
Pastor Asa Dockery

You Don't Have to Fear the Truth

John 8: 31 - 32, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." NKJV

Since the fall of man, he has been afraid of God. Whenever God's presence descended upon Mount Sinai, there was thundering and lightning, the ground quaked, and the people trembled. The sight of God was so overwhelming that the Jews refused to hear God's voice. Let me interject something here. If the presence of God was so terrible and frightening, why was Moses not afraid to enter the thick darkness and speak with God? 

The answer to this puzzling question is very simple. The children of Israel allowed unbelief to rule their hearts; and, consequently, they rejected God. Moses, on the other hand, entered God's presence with faith and, therefore, understood what was really going on that day. In Exodus 20, Moses told the people not to be afraid of God. God was only revealing His power to them so that they might possess a reverential fear of the Lord that would keep them from sin.

Jesus gives us even more clarity as to why people, and many Christians, are either afraid of God, or they are fearful of "facing" the truth. John 3: 19 - 21, And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." NKJV

It's not that we're afraid of the truth, itself; it is that we understand that the truth of God will force us to face our fears. The Jews in their unbelief didn't want to have to face the realization that they had unconfessed sin in their hearts. God wanted them to come into His presence in faith so that He might use their faith to overcome the fear that held them in bondage to the power of sin.

Are you on-the-run? Is there something from your past or hidden in your heart that you don't want anyone to know about? Does the fear of being put to shame cause you to run instead of trusting God to defend you? When God appeared to Moses at Horeb, he had been on-the-run for murdering an Egyptian. Therefore, when God revealed to Moses the plan to send him back to Egypt to free the Jews from Pharaoh's power, Moses was afraid to return. God explained to Moses that the Pharaoh who pursued him was dead. 

When Moses turned his life over to serve the Lord, it caused him to have to go back and face his past. Even so, because Moses was obeying God, he returned to Egypt with power and liberty. Like Moses, God has a far better plan for your life than to see you run from your past or from a failure. If you turn your life and the outcome of the situations that have made you afraid over to God, then He can set you free from the fear that is caused by unbelief. Remember this: God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

Walking in God's Love,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Faith Comes By Hearing God

Romans 10: 1 - 4, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. NKJV

God called Moses to lead the children of Israel to the wilderness so they could worship Him. The Lord God has always had a plan to reconnect His people with Himself through holy fellowship. When God instructed Moses to lead the people to Mount Sinai, His purpose was for them to get to know Him. When the presence of God descended on the mountain, His power caused lightning, thunder, smoke, and the mountain to tremble. This encounter with the living God caused Israel to draw back in great fear. Moses told them not to be AFRAID... however, he further added that the fear of the Lord would keep them from sinning against the Lord. 

Out of fear and anxiousness at the awesomeness of God's power and presence on the mountain that day, the children of Israel told Moses to go and speak with God. However, they, themselves, rejected listening to God's voice on earth (the very avenue by which they could walk by faith). Instead, they wanted Moses to speak with God and tell them what God wanted of them. They also vowed to do all that God would command of them... through the mouth of Moses. 

Here's where the story takes a turn. As God was descending upon Mount Sinai to speak with His people, He was also preparing to hand down His Law. The Law of God would spiritually govern the actions of this holy nation. When people have the Law of God, but refuse to listen to the voice of God, it opens the door for man to establish his own form of righteousness. As a result of Israel choosing to ignore the voice of God and, instead, listening to the voice of man, it left them to interpret what God meant to say according to the dictates of their own hearts.

In the New Testament, God has fulfilled the Law through the obedience of Christ, and we don't have to keep the Law. Instead, new covenant believers have been given the Holy Spirit, who represents the voice of God in the earth. As we listen to the Holy Spirit and obey the truth, our faith makes us righteous apart from the Law. Being made righteous through faith means that we measure up to God's standard. Righteousness is not based on our works, but on our faith in Christ and on our obedience to His leading. If you struggle with inadequacy and have the Holy Spirit living within your spirit, then you must focus on being obedient to the voice of God. Only through faith are we made complete. If we should ignore the voice of God like Israel did, then we, too, will fall from grace and go back under the works of the Law. There is freedom from works for those who place their faith in Christ and obey Him.

The Just Shall Live by Faith,

Pastor Asa Dockery 

Doing the Right Thing Requires Grace

Genesis 22: 1 - 3, Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning... NKJV

On occasion, God may call on you to give up something or do something that will require His grace in order for you to be able to obey Him. We can see this in today's scripture when God requires Abraham to offer his only son upon an altar of sacrifice. We read in this story about how quickly Abraham responded favorably to God's request. However, we need to dig deeper and glean some truths from his obedience that will help us to submit to God when it's hard to do so. 

We must realize that Abraham and Sarah endured pain and disappointment for twenty-five years while waiting on their promised son. When it's been hard, or you've waited a long time for God to supply a desire or need, and you finally acquire it, it becomes even more special to you because of the process that you had to undergo. Nevertheless, Abraham arose early in the morning and set out to fulfill God's will for his life.

How did this man muster up the strength that he needed to offer up his only son in order to be obedient to God's command? It's very obvious that Abraham had acquired great faith in God over the previous twenty-five years. It was his faith in God's character that empowered him with the grace that he needed to sacrifice his son.

We're living in a time when sacrifice isn't a popular subject. It's seems doing the "right thing" or fulfilling the purpose of God is difficult to find. Instead of paying the price to stand up for Godly principles that cause a change throughout the world, too many are succumbing to fleshly pressures and comprising their values and personal convictions. 

Even though these are things that Christians have to confront and to overcome in this generation, we don't read where Abraham backed off from doing the right thing in God's sight in his day. You see; Abraham loved God more than Isaac or anything else, and he proved his love for God by offering Isaac up on Mt. Moriah. 

As Christians, we are inundated by secular humanism and the exaltation of self, but if we truly desire to please the Lord through our faith, then we must choose to love God more than ourselves. I have found in my own walk with God that when He requires something that stretches my faith and challenges me to the core of my being, it is because the Lord wants to bless me even greater. It's in those moments of great tests that I have to decide to either please God in faith or please myself through unbelief. 

Do you have the power to do the right thing in your walk with God? If not, then today God is giving you the truth from Abraham's story that will empower you to defeat the enemy and to step out in faith. You can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you. Nevertheless, you have to also be willing to sacrifice (obey) first. 

Living the Blessed Life, 

Pastor Asa Dockery

Access Granted

John 7:37-39, On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. NKJV 

Paul teaches us in his writings that we are ambassadors of God's Kingdom on the earth. Jesus also told His disciples (and us) that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. You may ask, "How is it possible that I be a Christian, who lives in the world and yet not be a part of the world?" It is because you have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, you're a citizen of the heavenly kingdom of God, and you are to fulfill your heavenly assignment. Everything to do with God and His Kingdom must be understood, accepted, and inherited by faith in His Word. We live in the reality of a fallen world, but as Christians, we are not to live in bondage or under the power of the sin that is in the world. We have been made free through our faith in Jesus Christ and have been called to serve Him in the earth.

Jesus gave us an example of how the principle of faith operates in the heart of a believer. He asked those present at the feast that day if they were thirsty, and told them that if they were, they could come to Him and drink. If you read His invitation with a carnal mind, you would draw the conclusion that He must have had a container of water and was offering some refreshment to the guests. If that were the case, then the next statement that He made about "living water" wouldn't make much sense. When we make the transition over to faith, it opens us up to a whole new world where God supplies all of our needs, not man.

When we are first introduced to operating as spirit beings in the realm of the Holy Spirit, it seems strange to us. However, as we grow in our faith as children of God and become comfortable with the understanding and speech of the Kingdom, the ways of this world become foreign to us. When His ways start to become your ways, you will know that your faith in God's Word is changing your heart and causing you to become spiritually minded and no longer carnally minded.

The key to walking in the understanding of the Spirit and accessing the promises and provision of God while in this world is to walk by faith in God's Word. As they believed on Jesus, He gave them the power to become children of God and to have the living water begin to flow out of their innermost being. By faith, we can tap into the realm of heaven where God dwells and bring into this realm all that is needed to protect and sustain us in this life. Once we establish in our hearts that we're going to live always by faith in Christ and His Word, we will grow in confidence that He is a very present Help in times of trouble. We will have the certainty that He is with us at all times and in all situations. At this point, we will then understand what God's grace has done for us. Through our faith in Jesus, we can be transformed and live in the world as pilgrims or sojourners waiting for the day of Christ's return. Faith takes our attention away from how we began in the garden and changes us to look forward to the future when we shall be reunited with Christ.  

Changed by Faith in Jesus,

Pastor Asa Dockery

Salvation Is Free

Ephesians 2: 4 - 9, But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. NKJV

If we are made complete in Christ, and we are according to scripture, why do believers struggle with such feelings as rejection, unworthiness, isolation, etc., after accepting Christ? Paul teaches us about salvation in a way that helps us to overcome the feelings in our hearts. If we have accepted the gift of God, salvation into our hearts, then we have also received the Spirit of Truth as well. The Spirit of Truth will begin to reveal to us the inadequacies of our flesh nature- the old man. This is the point at which many Christians begin to struggle in their faith walk and might make a premature decision to give up and believe their feelings. This struggle stems from being carnal beings who lived according to feelings and desires our entire lives until salvation set us free. Now we are required to walk by faith. Even though we are learning to walk by faith and not be driven by our feelings or desires, there will be times of weakness where our old mindset will try to pull us back into walking according to the flesh through guilt and shame of having those earlier feelings. However, we can overcome the feelings of our hearts by continuing to walk by faith.

Let's use an example to help you grasp what the Lord is saying to us today. A person isn't feeling well, and they go to their doctor. Once the doctor has listened to the person's description of the symptoms, he begins to examine the patient to determine what is causing their discomfort. After the examination, the doctor determines that his patient is suffering from a health condition that is treatable through proper diet and exercise. This would be the equivalent of someone who is beginning to walk by faith according to the truth hearing the Holy Spirit reveal to them the weaknesses that have held them back from obedience in the past. Like the patient who receives directions from their doctor, we should be willing to hear instructions from the Holy Spirit as He reveals the weaknesses in our walk. 

Instead of listening to the Lord for instruction, we tend to get hung up on the fact that we have a weakness or desire that must be corrected. Instead of moving forward by obeying the Holy Spirit, there is a tendency to want to give up because we have learned the root cause of our issues. If we draw back into unbelief instead of walking with the Lord in faith, it can cause us to either begin to take ownership of the feelings of rejection, unworthiness, etc. as a part of our new identity or to try doing works in the strength of our flesh nature to earn what is only freely given to us.

If this word describes what you have been fighting in your spirit, and you know that it is truth, then submit to what the Holy Spirit is saying and follow His instructions. Just like the doctor gives a diagnosis and a prescribed cure, so does the Holy Spirit... but in a spiritual context. This means we have to accept it and obey His direction by faith. As we learn to walk by faith and listen to the leading of the Spirit of God, we are learning to walk in our new identity by God's grace. Sometimes, even though you follow doctor's orders and are on the way to recovery, you will have flare-ups from the condition; it can also be that way in our spiritual walk of faith to recovery...sometimes, we have a flare-up and lean on the understanding of our flesh nature. There will be those times when the flesh nature will hinder your development because we're all humans. However, we must also remember that this battle with our flesh nature and its weaknesses is fought and won by faith so that it might be by God's grace. Salvation is the gift of God, and no one can earn it through the works of their flesh. Obey and walk by faith, and you will see victory in your life.

Learning to Accept the Free Gift of God,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Drawing Closer to God

Proverbs 3: 5 - 7, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. NKJV

Throughout biblical history, the Lord has called and drawn His people to Himself. Today, I feel deeply compelled to share a few insights with you as to the reason God desires our fellowship. First of all, He loves us more than our spiritual hearts or our human minds have the ability to comprehend. God has shown us His vast love through the cross of His Son, Jesus; there He demonstrated to us just how much He values His fellowship with His children. God didn't allow sin and our initial rejection of His love to stop Him from loving us even greater. It was one thing for God to make a garden and offer mankind dominion, but when man rejected His love for the pleasures of sin, God gave His only-begotten Son as ransom for our sin debt.

When we're first drawn to Christ as a sinner to receive forgiveness for our sins, God is also inviting us to get to know Him on a personal and intimate basis. This is where the battle begins for a new convert. It's easy to fall into a spiritual "rut" once you become born again. There is a tendency to believe that getting saved is all there is to spiritually acquire. However, can I say that salvation is only the beginning of an awesome relationship with your Creator and Father?

As you begin to pursue a deeper walk of faith and a greater understanding of who God is and who you are in Christ, Satan will begin to stir up either your flesh or the flesh of others to try and dissuade you from pursing intimacy with the Lord. Now, let's see how today's scripture can encourage us to trust in the Lord and lean not to our own understanding. If we continue to walk according to our fleshly desire, and the carnal knowledge that we trusted in as a sinner, even though we're born again, it will prevent us from getting to know our God. If we don't get to know God beyond salvation, then how will we come to trust Him to lead us?  

Therefore, all who have received Christ must come to the same place that John the Baptist came to in his own ministry. After the initial experience of salvation, we must listen to the Holy Spirit and begin the process of being transformed through the renewing of our minds so that we might become like Christ. When Jesus arrived on the scene and was baptized by John, John said that he must decrease and Christ must increase. After we are baptized into Christ, we, too, must begin the humbling process of decreasing in the carnal knowledge of our past and begin listening to the leading of God's Spirit to bring into conformity to God's will for us as His children.

We must train ourselves to develop a taste for the things of God so that we will begin to seek God and value the times of refreshing that comes from being in His presence. If we should ignore or lose interest in the development of spiritual senses and appetite, then our spirit man will remain immature and weak against the strategies of Satan. Satan preys upon the spiritual ignorance of Christians, especially when we don't invest the time that is needful for us to become one with God.  

Paul teaches us throughout his writings that we should have our mind and/or the spirit of our mind renewed in order that we might put off the old man who grows corrupt. As we grow in the knowledge of the Lord and walk by faith, we will be renewed and begin to put on the new man or take on our new identity which is created in true righteousness and holiness. Salvation is more than a onetime experience. It is the beginning of becoming Christ-like as we walk by faith and seek to become one with Him through obedient faith.  

Walking With God Each Day,

Pastor Asa Dockery