The Apostles Corner

Lust is defined as a passionate desire for something.Lust of the sole eventually becomes lust of the heart. Provisioning the heart for a deeper evil, or a greater righteousness. And even empowering it to dictate over the soul.I John 2:16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.We have a natural yearning, and even a lust to understand the things of God. But because we have not conquered our feelings we are easily guided into the direction of everything that looks like God, because it makes us feel good.The purpose of religion is to point you away from the truth while at the same time making you believe that you found it. and once we’ve fallen into the trap, we embrace the lie with everything that we have, because the truth is now too uncomfortable to fathom. Now we will only accept something that makes us feel as good as the lie does.

From the moment that we exit the womb we’re on a journey…a journey to discover who we were configured to be. Or who we will choose to become. A journey that is first motivated by the aspirations of the sole; having only two perspectives. Happy and sad; content and discontent.In the beginning these are all we know. The self serving ways of our emotions. What we like and what we dislike. And the elevation of darkness or light are rapidly put into the motion of motivating the heart as to which path it will embrace.And once elevated, the heart will dictate over every aspiration of the sole, because that’s where it gained its empowerment.The heart of stone spoken of in Ezekiel 36:26 is now bornAlways embracing the endeavors of self, it is able to disavow and disregard any and all levels of truth that contradicts its own insight. This is the natural path of man.This is why Psalms 51:5 told us 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. But the indwelling of His Holy Spirit empowers us to rise above the works of the flesh. Provided that we choose the pathway out of the endeavors of the self serving heart. Jeremiah 17:9-10 saysThe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

BLESSED BY DIVISIONIN ALL HONESTY, the unity in the spirit of God that we profess within the fellowships just isn’t there. But notice that I said the unity of the spirit. We do in fact have a unity, but too often it is a unity in things contrary to the will of God. Mathew 10:34-36 says34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own householdThe reality of a walk with God often requires that we accept the need to disavow any allegiance with people who are of a contrary spirit in the presence of God. Even though this is a clear message, it can be much harder to do than we think, but if we allow ourselves to be attentive to the verse of Psalms 1:1-3 we will surely obtain the ability to overcome the bondages of a heart of wayward endeavors

The scriptures say what dealing does light have with darkness. We have a standard perspective to our spiritual and moral values. But yet we will deal with people who clearly have spiritual and moral values that do not add up to who we are. So the question is, how do you relate to them, Do you truly relate to them to where you connect to their values? Or are their values feeding off of whats with you. Except that we stop and make an assessment of our relationship values, we will never know.

Some of the most basic things in life can be more complicated than we understand. Failed relationships can seem to be the root element behind everything from divorce, to the war conflicts that we now see in Ukraine and Israel. Yet, the failed relationship is not the reasoning; but the absence of the dynamics by which relationships become effectual. Take a walk with me as we seek to understand exactly what is missing in the endeavor or relationship. Understanding what is missing, could change the entire structure of our Social, workplace, family, and even spiritual relationships. I truly hope that this first segment of Relationship Dynamics encourages you to be on the lookout for next week's edition.

It's only normal that we would believe that the word of God is sufficient for us when it comes to understanding his heart. But the nation of Israel had the word of God directly from the mouth of God, and still, they could not seem to understand the things of the heart of God. It was for this reason that God sent his son. Many people's perception of the coming of Christ ends with the concept of him dying so that we might have victory over the law of sin and death. But there's so much more to his coming. The greater purpose was that he rose so that the heart of man might be empowered with the ability to see, hear, feel, seek, and obey the things of the heart of God even as Christ did. This is a message that could be somewhat irritating for some. But the reality of it is if you face the truth of where you are you have a better power of arriving where you need to go.

Many earnestly believe that they are steadfast in the things of God, unfortunately, they are earnestly wrong. We always talk about how pleasing God is to us, but we never really consider what we must do to be pleasing to him. This life isn't all about us, but about the many that we can effect through a life of focused commitment. What have you been missing that could be vital to others that are watching?

Morals are defined as being of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior or simply put, ethical standards.There was a time when we did have principal standards of right and wrong. But in today's world, the truth has come to be whatever we perceive in our own minds. We have come to a place in time where we no longer even consider the explanation of clarity that’s right in front of our faces. Because the only thing that matters this our own opinion.We have come to a place where the moral compass of seemingly good people is easily swayed in the presence of their mental concepts. And the already misled compass of evil men has empowered them to commit even darker works than before. As of today, our nation has had 130 mass shootings this year alone. And with each one, we continue to ask the same question, what is going on here? Our nation's legislature is constantly making every attempt to find a solution to issues where they have not addressed the root element.I remember going through a period in my life where I was dealing with some kind of problem in my left leg. Before going to a doctor, I did everything that I could to address the discomforts. But little did I know there was no problem with my leg at all. The problem was an issue with my left shoe.The point that I'm making here is that too often we try to solve problems from a superficial perspective. But when you fix something from the top, it's going to rise back up from the bottom.If we trust scripture, we know that God said that things would be the way that they are, but it's still important that we be able to understand the root elements by which these conditions have come to be.Getting to the root cause of any problem is not hard at all, the issue comes with getting past our intellectual perspective of what's going on. We don't even have to get into a major explanation of spiritual things. All we have to do is rationalize the reality of what is truth and what is deception.This place of confusion begins within us. Let’s consider the age-old image of a man with a devil on one shoulder and an Angel on the other, a depiction of how we battle within ourselves over the competition between darkness and light.You know I truly believe that the heart of man does desire what is good. And the evidence of that is God said he made man in his own image. So why do we end up in such a conflict over foundational principles and morals?

Faith is much more that a verbal proclamation, and many never reach the fulfillment of its true meaning. Here's a clip from the podcast entitled A Misconception of Faith

Proverbs 14:12-16 saysThere is a way which seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; And the end of that mirth is heaviness. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.Death in itself is defined as separation from God. Many of us walk about in this life not even knowing that we are spiritually dead...Believing that we know God , but in reality we only know of Him. And in retrospect to that truth, many of us who profess faith, walk about afflicted with spirits of depression, despair, and disease. Missing out on the fullness of his promises because of our inability to walk in the power of faithfulness that was once delivered unto all. Let's consider the things that may be holding us back from being in that space where God promised to bless us. That space where he declared that we would even be evidence of his glory among men. That place where it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us.

Throughout the history of man many a war was presumably initiated in part because of religion, or should I say because of Man believing that the righteousness of God gave him power to declare war. Jeremiah 17:99 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?It is my belief that no war was ever because of religion, They have always been because of the wickedness of men’s hearts that were grasping for whatever they could find to fulfill their own endeavors. When I think about the transitions that our nation went through during the Donald Trump administration and the era of COVID, It troubles me to think how drastically the thought patterns of many were altered. This is where we have come to be in our search to truly find God. It has become filled with the white noise of adverse endeavors of the heart, blockades of personal opinion, lust for reward, and inability to accept simply being in a place of misunderstanding. If you are venturing into the pages of this book, let me begin by saying that unless you’re willing to reconsider much of what you have come to trust, the chapters that follow this introduction will offer you no growth whatsoever. I know that this applies to many of you because the falling away from the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God is greater in this day than ever before. In a portion of the letter that Paul wrote to the Hebrews he confronted the repercussions of drifting away and the ongoing affect that it would have. But at the same time he showed what would be the evidence of those who stood fast to the course of Christ and did not drift away. Hebrews 5:11-1311 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.13 For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

When I look at the condition that our nation has to to be. Sometimes all I can do is shake my head. But the time has come for men to start shaking their head at the way that our women have rejected our leadership; and then accepting that its our own fault. They were designed to obey God in us. And we've been giving that everything that is us, and literally nothing that is solely God.

Two very important warnings found in the word of God Are. You cannot have two masters you will love one and hate the other. And the hour will come when they will worship the creature more than the creator. In today’s world both of these warnings have been disregarded to the point of full manifestation. But where are you today, can you say that you have risen above both of these defects.

When it comes down to the concept of intellect, what God’s word said about it, and how it challenges the validity of our walk, there are only two scriptures needed to bring clarityProverbs 3:5-6 says5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Mathew 22:3737. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. On paper that might seem to be a very simple process. But unless you have a clear understanding of the hindering factors that exist between the heart and the mind, you will have no ability to fulfill either of these directives. The foundation of our relationship with God begins when we acknowledge His love with-in the depths of our heart. And once we have accepted him within our heart, that relationship even accesses our eternal soul, if we accept him in our whole heart. Allowing the smallest of anti-Christ authority to remain in hidden areas of the heart can lead to detrimental failure. It’s almost like building a house on a bad foundation, even though the erected product looks good, its destined to develop cracks. The element that will challenge the validity of your heart is the mind. This is where we perceive and intellectualize according to our own viewpoint. This is where we develop a ability to disregard what we know to be right in our heart. So exactly how does the intellect of the mind supersede what you know to be right in your heart? Looking back at the verse in Mathew, we see that Jesus said to love the lord thy God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and ALL your mind. Many fail to truly fulfill the requirement of ALL. A failure of ALL in steps 1 causes inability of the entire process. By the time that we come to the mind, its easily able to manipulate the heart because the heart has not been fully surrendered to God. Jeremiah 17:9 says: 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Throughout the word of God we can find a multitude of circumstances where people who clearly loved God, failed to maintain the desire of His heart in many ways. Abraham trusted the word God had given Him, and he rested on it. But when a period of time had passed, Sarah expressed her own thoughts about God’s plan, and she even gave her take on how to help God. And as for Abraham, rather than bringing his own thoughts into captivity to the directive of God’s intent, he intellectualized his wife’s opinion. His intellectual perception offered a clear excuse as to why it wasn’t necessary to wait on God. So he acted out her directive, and had a baby with her hand maiden Hagar. (Genesis 16) Now when God’s plan was eventually initiated through Sarah, here she comes again with an opinion on how to undo the previous act of intellectual perception. Now an innocent woman and her child (Hagar and Ishmael) to the heart-ship of Abraham, are cast into the wilderness alone. (Genesis 21). Abraham’s decisions were based on the desire of his heart to please his wife. He never even considered that he would not be pleasing God. He wanted her happiness more than God’s.

Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, but KNOWING beyond the shadow of a doubt, comes only by the spirit. When you turn up a bottle of cold soda, do you need faith to assure you of the satisfaction to come? If you’ve been driving an old car that always gives you trouble starting, you tend to pray with faith that it will start; but when you buy a brand new car, do you still have faith that it will start, or do you rest in the assuredness of what you know? If you truly hope for something, and have no tangible element to encourage that hope, then faith IS that element; substance of that which as of yet, is not. The time card hanging next to the clock is the evidence of deliverance to come, but what if there is no job? The way to be made is evident through the revelations of the spirit. But faith has 2 ends, the foundation thereof, and the transition thereof.Romans 12:3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man THE measure of faith.It’s funny how often we read God’s word, receive knowledge of the truth, but never come to the revelation of it. I need to make something VERY CLEAR. In order to transcend to new levels there must be two present elements; truth & revelation. We so often get the truth of a thing, but too often, never reach the point of revelation. You say to a small child,” Don’t touch that, it’s hot!” The knowledge of the truth has been brought forth. Now that child eagerly reveals that fact by pointing and telling everyone that enters the room,” hot”. But not long after, that child bearing the knowledge of the truth overlooks all that he has learned and moves too close to the source of the heat. Now the physical perception of the heat has given him a greater ability to understand through revelation of the fact. Through knowledge we obtain the measure of faith, but that faith grows through revelation of all things true.

The scriptures enlighten us on many occasions of how wayward the people of God would become. The sad part to it is that most of us who are in a wayward state can't even see it. In most cases its because we cant discern the root elements of our walk of indecision. So we end up on the fence. Unable to fully partake of the worlds was, because that's not who you are. And also unable to please God, because you haven't fully committed to Him. In this Podcast Johnson Unabunwa is going to confront 5 of the main reasons that a Christian that desires to be committed to God, might find themselves on the fence. And knowing is half the battle.

The story of Jonah is a depiction of how easy it can be for us to refuse to do what God needs for us to do. I'm more than happy to give my personal experience with that dilemma in my own life. But how about you? Have you ever considered what you may never be willing to do for God? Or what He may be desiring of you right now, that you're just not willing to do. Refusing to walk with God can put us in an environment that has no covering from adverse circumstances both physical and spiritual. Lets look at Jonah's situation and just how similar ours might be.

There are things in the word of God that we’ve heard over and over, yet never came to a revelation of exactly what it meant. I was awakened at 3 AM on January the 27th of 2022 With the following revelation from the Holy Spirit. A portion of the things that the Lord has directed us to pray to the father are lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever, Amen (Mathew 6:13). The Lord God would never direct the Holy Spirit to lead us into temptation, so why would Jesus direct us to pray such a thing? In order to make this revelation clear, I first need to refer to some other scriptures.1 Corinthians 10:1313 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.Jeremiah 17:99 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?While dealing with the subject of temptation I would like to first confront the matters of a fleshly heart. As I look back over the last two years this nation has proven that the heart is in fact desperately wicked. Within the body of Christ there is but one truth, and that truth is whatever God is saying in the moment. But in the last two years I have seen the nation reeling back and forth in the endeavors of self. From personal opinions about political constituents, to the perspectives of COVID, everybody has had an opinion and have been ready to literally fight to force it on others. But because the fleshly heart is only concerned with self, them who have been embellished in the exaltation of flesh have cared about nothing except what they feel. And a very select few have been asking God what he’s saying in the matters of this dispensation.So when we look at the concept of temptation we first have to consider the endeavors of a man’s heart. Temptation comes from the wayward lust of the heart. But how could temptation come from God. In order to make this clear we first have to ask what is the greatest level of temptation that man will endure? When considering this question most people would think of the elements of life that would tempt a man. The lusts of the eye, the lusts of the hand, and the desire for things. But none of these were the temptations that Jesus was telling us to pray about.The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who could know it. Because of this one fact, the temptations that Jesus spoke of lives within us. And that temptation is to be in rebellion against the word and the will of God. Why, because that’s what flesh does. It fights for self, it preserves self, and it believes self. Yes, the Lord’s word does say agree to disagree, but not with Him. Still there many things that He cannot reveal to you in this day. Because you will be tempted to question the validity of what He has said. Just as Jesus said in John 16:12-14,I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.Even so has He directed you to pray for that state of inability to receive what is contrary to the heart. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things who could know it. The only one who knows the heart of man is God. God in his mercy and omnipotence understands what you are ready to receive and not ready to receive. There is a vast amount of wisdom that he desires to give us but he cannot. Simply because he knows the matters of the heart that will cause you to stand in a moment of indecision of his directive. I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot as of yet receive it. Plain and simple, God said I will never put more on you than you can handle. And too often what we fail to recognize, is that what we can’t handle is the truth.

The scariest things in life are the things that you venture into with no knowledge of what is to come. For many the biggest of those scary ventures is the concept of coming to the completion of this physical realm. What do you say as one who trust God? In all honesty, are you in some sense still afraid of death?

The adversities of life do not arrive to a welcoming perception, unless we have conditioned ourselves to understand the reasoning to those adverse occurrences. That can only come if we understand the meaning behind Faith being the evidence of things hoped for and the substance of things unseen. The question is, what is the core of all you hope for in life? This is a message of monumental proportion, just don't cut out early and miss the blessing that snowballs to the conclusion