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Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds

If we choose to follow Jesus we will be tested by God the entire journey on the narrow road that leads to eternal life.  Contrary to the traditions of men and the doctrines of Babylon, salvation is not easy.  The Israelites expected a cakewalk once they left Egypt and became disgruntled whiners and complainers because they were being denied fleshly things.  God explained what was going on.

Deuteronomy 13:3-4 The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.

God does not change.  Never has and never will.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forevermore!  God calls Himself a jealous God and He wants or actually demands that we love Him with 100% of our heart.  The love of God is also defined as keeping His commandments.  The temptations of the world and the trials of life are the tests of God to see if He has all of our heart.  This is the foremost commandment on which all others hang.  We must pass this heart test to prove ourselves worthy and enter the kingdom of God.

God tested Adam and Eve and every human being that has ever lived.  Nobody is exempt from God’s tests  — not even His own son, Jesus Christ was exempted.  Jesus was tested in the wilderness but many do not realize that Jesus was tested the whole time He walked this earth as a man.

    Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season

This concept of having to pass tests and overcome sin and the enemy just doesn’t fit with the one verse doctrine built upon a perversion of the grace of God from Ephesians 2:8, neither does it jive with those that hear the words “free gift” and don’t read the rest of their Bible.   It is truly disheartening to hear pastors twist the words of Paul just as Peter predicted in his second epistle.  We have the blind leading the blind straight into the pit.  Flesh likes to pick and choose a few choice passages and call that the gospel.  Striving on a difficult road seems inconsistent with the plucked out passage that the yoke of Jesus is easy and His burden is light.  Yet the truth all fits together and the true saints shall overcome all of these things.

Any walk and all knowledge of God starts with the fear of God as its foundation.  Fearing God is very good as it is a control mechanism that helps us with self-control and choosing not to sin.  God continually tests us, so we can never become complacent. By fearing God and His righteous judgments for sin and defilement of His temple;  obeying God will be on our minds and on our hearts.  Moses explained this to the rebellious Israelites.

    Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.”

We are indeed saved by grace that comes through faith.  But in order for the grace of God to work in us, our faith must prove genuine.  A false lip based faith may fool men but it does not fool God.   All the great men of God have a testimony of passing God’s test of faith.  Sure some failed at times but ultimately they got back up and walked with God and came thru the furnace of fire that sanctified and purified them as is the Father’s will.  Consider Abraham, perhaps given the toughest test of faith anyone could ever imagine.  Yet Abraham believed God and walked up that mountain with Isaac ready to kill his own son in obedience to God.    Abraham passed this test.

    Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. What many fail to see is that we all must become a holy and living sacrifice unto the Lord.  The new man who is born again (ie ISAAC) must be sacrificed to Jesus.  This is what losing your life to gain your life is all about.

The devil does not tell us to go sacrifice ourselves.  No, the devil says we don’t have to do this, we don’t need to obey God, that we can stand where we are in the comfort of our flesh and not have to trust God and walk into the fire.  But this is a lie.

All who wish to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted — that is a promise from God.   Man’s religion has taught the opposite, at least here in the western world.  All the people in Babylon that claim to know Jesus are deceived.  They have flunked God’s tests and because of their rebellion, God has made them blind,  drunk with wine so that they stumble in spiritual darkness.  If a Christian does not endure great trials and suffering,  it is hard to believe they are living in the will of God.  Instead of pouring water on the gospel and making the road to life easy and broad,  we should be teaching believers the truth about the tests and their need to come through the furnace of affliction.  There is no way around this furnace.  But that message doesn’t exactly tickle ears or fill the pews and offering baskets as well, so man has figured out a different way to build God’s church.  If only the words of our beloved Apostle Peter were remembered and taught in all sincerity.

    1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus


Powers of Darkness Give the Tests

In my opinion,  the misunderstanding of Satan and the powers of darkness ranks right there with the deception on who the Israel of God is in terms of the cumulative effects on man’s religious deception.  Most Christians think Satan is operating outside of God’s control and we therefore need to fear the devil and his many demons.  Satan works for God,  he and his demons are servants of the Holy One of Israel and are in fact the testers of faith and the instruments of judgment for all sin.  Please watch the video OUR ENEMY on the blog header or read the posts God’s Mighty Army if you do not see this truth that God is revealing to many in these last days.  I continue to harp on this revelation because this is a huge truth that will set you free once you see it.  Speaking to the enemy God said….

    Jeremiah 6:27 I have made you a tester of metals and my people the ore, that you may observe and test their ways.

One of the best places to see the responsibilities of Satan as directed by God is in the book of JOB.  Let’s take a very quick look at JOB,  a righteous man who walked with God.  All of us would be doing very well to be walking as JOB walked, he was a true man of God.

    Job 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Then we see Satan in the presence of God (His boss) and a conversation occurs where ultimately Satan is told to go test JOB to see how genuine was his faith.

    Job 1:8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.  Satan responded….

    Job 1:11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

    Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”  So Satan had his marching orders from God and went forth to test the faith of JOB.      But when Satan brought forth the tests, JOB did not take the bait.

     Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing

The test continue and escalate and the dialog between God and Satan gives us a powerful lesson we need to keep close to our heart.  Satan brings temptations to us as instructed by God in order to test our hearts and prove ourselves worthy of the LORD. 

    Job 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

Do you see the words in red?  Many times when we are attacked and in duress, it is not for any reason whatsoever, except that the Lord is letting Satan test our hearts.  Jealous, a name God called Himself is simply making sure we love Him with all of our hearts.  Do you?

Next time you are being attacked and cannot find peace in the moment,  consider that you may be in the middle of a test.   The enemy is going to tempt you into some kind of sin or rebellion to God.  Just say no and stand in the furnace.  When you resist the devil for a little while,  he will flee from you.  If you give in to sin,  then the devil just hangs around and his role now shifts to one of judgment and discipline for the sin.  True sons of God respond to this discipline, confess their sin and repent.  When we do not respond to God’s discipline,  we stay in our sins, the demons have rights to stay and we will perish if not subsequently brought back to repentance.

Many are ignorant of the testers and go ahead and sin then blame the devil for attacking them.  Yet the blame is theirs to bear alone as they did not trust in the WORD of God.  I too have forgotten this at times and I simply have no excuse because I have been shown the truth on this matter.

Before we exit the lessons of JOB, let’s consider some of the laments from JOB who God called a holy and righteous man.  This book was an example to all of us on how to live a godly live for Christ despite the fiery trials going on all around us. 

    Job 6:4 The arrows (Satan) of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.

    Interesting the metaphor of the arrows and the wine (religious lies) show up even here in JOB.  Job even speaks out to the enemy asking why he is the target of their attack.  If we keep practicing sin,  your spirit drinks more of the poison and this brings on the GOD SENT delusion.  Christians cannot love sin more than they love God, otherwise they are liars and are not His.

    Job 7:20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,  O watcher of men?  Why have you made me your target? 

Satan works for God and is the administrator of God’s tests of faith.  The whirlwinds that Ezekiel saw and the beasts John saw in Revelation had eyes all around.  These powers are known as the enemy but they are the same ones that watch men and carry out God’s righteous judgments upon all of the earth.

There is a very powerful lesson on Jacob’s wrestling match with the “man” or the “angel”.  When Jacob  overcame this TEST,  his name was changed to Israel.  Are you in spiritual Israel or are you in Babylon, the church that does not overcome?

    Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

Jesus came to show us the way to eternal life.  He came to destroy the works of the devil, not to take the enemy away from the world.  Jesus is how we destroy the works of the devil (SIN);  it is by grace, the power and strength of God working inside of us that we are saved.

After entering the land of milk and honey,  the Israelites did not heed the WORD of God.  Because of their renewed rebellion, we are told that God would no longer drive out the enemy from our midst.  The reason was that God would need to test the hearts of men. 

    Judges 2 – I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,  22in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it as their fathers did, or not.”

We either overcome these test and these testers or we ourselves will be overcome by them and the sin that will result.  Thanks be to God that Jesus came to die for us, to cleanse us from our past sins and give us the grace to overcome sin and the world going forward.

    Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death

If the people of God would correctly understand the enemy and be taught of the fiery trials,  they would be prepared to stand on faith and persevere.  But sadly many believers are getting chopped down by the powers of darkness because they simply do not understand and have been taught that salvation is easy and they are ill-equipped with the knowledge of the truth.

    1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Ignorance is not bliss,  the truth about the test and testers must be told.


Separation of Wheat From Chaff
God says that in the end, He will use the test results to separate the wheat and gather it into His barn.

Luke 3:17 “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Winnowing means to use WIND to separate.  The chaff is blown away and destroyed yet the true grain of the harvest, the wheat remains.  I hope you realize by now that this wind is the enemy, the instruments of judgment sent by God to test our faith and discipline the sons of God.  They are the winnower.

    Jeremiah 15:7-8 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land.  I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,  for they have not changed their ways.  I will make their widows more numerous  than the sand of the sea.  At midday I will bring a destroyer

    The invading armies have already come upon Babylon.  It already is a dwelling place of demons. This self exalted city (church) thinks she has arrived but is simply drunk as a skunk with a false gospel.

    Jeremiah 51:2 I will send foreigners to Babylon  to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.

This is the great falling away from the truth.  When the testing came, those in Babylon have failed and will continue to fail until and unless they flee from the midst of this fallen system of church.  The parable of the sower tells of the harvest of the end times.  Few there be shall find the narrow door.  Most will fall away when they fail God’s tests.

    Luke 8:13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

Many will want to argue the free gift concept but we agree on this statement.  Salvation is a free gift,  none of us deserve or merit the love God has poured out to us and the promise of eternal life with Him.  Our righteousness is as filthy rags when measured to God’s holiness.  But the fact God offers this gift, only in human wisdom and carnality can the gift not then have ANY conditions attached.  The giver of the gift can set what ever conditions He chooses without compromising the immutable fact that it is offered without merit.  It was offered to us before we did anything because while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!  Yet the bar of being a disciple of Jesus was established very high.  Salvation is not a cake walk  — we must carry a cross and walk up that hill and sacrifice the new man who has been born from within.

    Matthew 10:38-39 “ Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.


We Must Persevere to the End    
The constant testing of faith by God is part of His plan for our sanctification.  Without such tests we could not move on to maturity.  It is like anything in life.  We learn from our mistakes and that is how we get better at our jobs or role as parents and the like.  But we must learn the lessons of life and these lessons come in the forms of challenges, issues, tests, dilemmas, etc.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Romans 5:3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5and hope does not disappoint

Coming to faith begins our walk with God, but we must still run the race and finish.  We must move beyond being a baby and craving milk and move on to Christian maturity.  If we don’t move on to maturity we will flunk God’s subsequent tests and then be overcome by the lusts of the world, the lusts of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.  Immature Christians that do not move past milk never stop practicing sin, they do not know the way of righteousness.

    Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

If we pass the tests for a while and then rest on our laurels and let down our guard against the testers and do not mature in Christ –look out below.  As has been shown in other posts, we can indeed fall from faith and from grace, both of which are necessary to overcome sin and the powers of darkness.  When we choose to let our hearts drift back into the world,  we will be overcome and if not corrected, we will be end up like LOTS wife.  She turned her heart back into the world and was destroyed even though she had escaped the corruption of Sodom.

    2 Peter 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

Yet God is faithful and His promises to Spiritual Israel are true.  If we stay with Him and follow Him,  He will give us power and strength to overcome all of the enemy and pass the tests in perpetuity and nothing by any means shall harm us.  We are in His hands under His hedge when we walk with Jesus.

    1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world

Sometimes it may seem like God has abandoned us.  I am in a season like that right now that has weighed heavily on my heart.  I need wisdom and God was testing me to see if I would seek wisdom in the world or if I would wait on Him to answer.  I now see where God uses this technique as a way to test us.  Will we remain faithful to Him if He leaves us alone for a time? 

    2 Chron 32:31 Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him (King Hezekiah) alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart

    Of course,  God did not leave us or forsake us unless we left Him first.  But He will test us to see if we will wander away from the truth.


Coming Thru The Fire
    Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction

Spiritual earthquakes are already going on in the hearts of many.  God is winnowing His people.  We had better be on the ROCK as the God sent flood, wind and fire is going to bring increasing trials and tribulations upon the earth.  There will be no pretribulation rapture, the only way to the narrow gate is through the fire.  We must stand with Jesus in this furnace just like Shadrak did.

    Hebrews 12:25 – “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Those who pass God’s tests of faith are brought through the furnace of fire into the spiritual gathering on Mt. Zion.  I am in the fire right now and while Satan is telling me to come out of the fire and drop my cross, I will not listen to him.  We have got to trust in the LORD to see us through to the other side.  The escaped remnant are the relatively few that will gather on Mt. Zion and await the return of the Lord.  The Prophet spoke of “that day” which is almost upon us.

    Zechariah 13:8-9 It will come about in all the land,”  Declares the LORD, ”That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;  But the third will be left in it (the remnant).  9“And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.  They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

God’s faithful witnesses will be brought through the trials.  They can do all things through Christ.  God does not rapture them away to avoid the trials and tribulations.  The grace of God sees them past the fiery ordeal that consumes the adversaries of the truth.  We “keep” God’s commandments and walk with Him and He keeps us from getting burned by the furnace.  That is covenant.

    Revelation 3:9-10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  11‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

We cannot put pleasing men above pleasing God.  The truth must be told whether or not it tickles the ears of the hearer.

    1 Thess 2:4-5 We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else


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REWARDS AWAITS YOU IN HEAVEN.

KEEP ON.