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An Overdraft of Grace Still Outstanding
(What is the True Measure of a Man?)
This is what the Sovereign Lord says,
“Who’s fooling who? Do not be deceived, you do indeed reap what you sow. The one who sows to please the Holy Spirit will
indeed reap eternal life. But many are reaping a harvest that has come from pleasing their sinful nature, which leads to
destruction. They despise being fools for Christ, but willingly embrace being fools in the eyes of the world. They have
become bewitched like the Galatians of old, who like them, started with the Spirit and later turned their backs on Him,
to put their faith in human effort.
“What is the true measure of a man? How do you measure him? By the size of his ministry, his gifts? Jesus warned that not
everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father in Heaven.
Man can and does boast of their deeds of casting out demons, performing miracles and prophesying in My name, only later to
be told they are evildoers, that I never knew. The true measure of a man must be measured by the fruit of My Spirit in him.
The more fruit he has, the more he is being transformed into the image of Jesus, and will love the Lord his God with all his
heart, soul, strength and mind. The measure with which he hates sin is the true measure of His love for Me and My will.
“Ministry can break a man, but it never makes the man something he is not. What truly makes a man, and sets him apart from
sin and the world is his relationship with God the Father, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit. Listen,
when a man is born again, he opens an account and receives the Holy Spirit as a deposit, who begins to clean out the old vault
to make room for something more valuable. The old sinful self-will must be removed and replaced by the greatest treasure a
man can receive; God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.
“When a man and a woman truly love each other, they get married and enter into a true covenant agreement. They become one,
each bringing into the marriage all that they have into a joint account, one in heart and mind, neither claiming any of their
possessions as their own, just like the early Church (Acts 4). The Church (the Bride) is covenanted in marriage with Jesus
Christ as the Head and the Groom, a joint account made in Heaven. Yet today, many have rejected this and insist on having
their own account, their own way, both selfish and independent so they can do as they please, not being accountable to another.
They are blind wretched fools, with an overdraft of grace still outstanding, overdrawn and bankrupt of Spirit and truth.
“I have given the Church all it needs in Me to stand in victory against its enemy, but it must use it as the Holy Spirit
leads and directs. If an army marches on its stomach, then it follows that before going into war the troops must be trained
in warfare, know its enemy and be well fed. This being the case, the true Christian soldier will have on the full armour of
God and will feed on the Word of God. So why is it that so few teach the true message of the gospel – the cross, the blood,
holiness, sacrifice, Heaven and Hell? What kind of gospel is it that never mentions the work of the Holy Spirit, angels, Satan,
evil and unclean spirits? Why the silence on discipleship, Bible study, prayer and intercession?
“Joshua meditated on the Word of the Lord day and night and was instructed to do everything written in it to succeed before
going into battle in the Promised Land. Jesus’ last words to His disciples was, ‘Go and make disciples, teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you.’ You claim to be My disciples yet you have not given up everything (Luke 14:33), and
what have you done with your gifts, talents and tithes? Have you invested them or have you built bigger barns to store them
in?
“If all you have in your account is the deposit I gave you, you surely will be called to give an account. You cannot bank on
what you believe, but only on that which is written in My Word. I have an interest in how you invest all that I have given you.
Is it for self or for My Kingdom? While you act like a goat, I have sheep who are starving for bread and a Bible. It is
written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.’ You claim to be a child of
God, but do little or nothing to help the brothers and sisters in Christ who are malnourished. The only person you are fooling
is yourself; as water reflects your face, so your heart reflects who you really are. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Woe to the stubborn and self-willed, those who continue in their plans in a
coalition, but not with My Spirit, heaping sin upon sin to their everlasting shame.”
Michael Backholer, 12 March 2013 – www.ProphecyNow.co.uk
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