^“15 This wisdom descend not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

¹⁶ For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”  James 3:15-17

Sound wisdom comes from God.  In fact, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7  However, the religious teachers who lead people away from the Word of God and appeal to their emotions is NOT from above.  This “wisdom” is earthly, sensual and devilish.  These extra biblical revelations centered on intellectualism and emotions are, pardon my bluntness, straight from the pit of hell.

The Lord said “…if I (JESUS) be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32.  Methods of man from their vain imaginations will not draw men unto Jesus. Intellectualism is not faith.  The Holy Spirit will bear witness with our spirit, that we are the Children of God if we will LOOK to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

“²⁸ Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁹ Take My Yoke upon you, and learn of ME; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.

³⁰ For My Yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Are you being led away from Scripture and pulled toward an earthly and sensual gospel that appeals to your emotions?  Are you heavy laden? Does your wary soul need rest?

Take HIS Yoke upon you and learn of HIM…Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe.  Our faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ gives the Holy Spirit latitude to do that which He is commissioned to do in the life of the Believer – free us from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

His Yoke is easy.

-Donna Clark Warren

“¹³ But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light: for whatsoever does make manifest is light.

¹⁴ Wherefore He said (Isaiah 60:1), Awake thou who sleeps, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you Light.

¹⁵ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

¹⁶ Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

¹⁷ Wherefore be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:13-17.

The best way to reveal a crooked stick is to lay a straight stick next to the crooked stick.  God is raising up a people who will declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe BACK to the church.  This Gospel, THE Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified lays waste the methods of man from the vanities of their mind to overthrow the sin that so easily besets them.  Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross is the ONLY answer to sin…and make no mistake, sin is the problem in the world today – no matter how religious one may be.

AWAKE you who sleep and arise from the dead!  Christ WILL give you Light and make manifest that which is besetting you.  Emotions are not the litmus test of  our relationship with God.  Satan himself has access to our emotions and will cause us to walk as fools in the eyes of God.

Redeem the time friends.  God sends His messengers to warn His Children of their wrong way but few listen.  Be not unwise.  Understand what the Will of the Lord is.  “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Matthew 6:33.

-Donna Clark Warren

^“18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

¹⁹ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

²⁰ Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹ I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

²² For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

²⁴ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

²⁵ I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:18-25

I remember a few years back I was under a terrible bondage.  Daily I would have that “wretched man” moment the Apostle Paul speaks of in Romans 7:24.  For to will was present with me.  My will was to perform that which was good but did not know how to perform that which was good…I found it not. This bondage dominated me and caused me to do that which I would not do.  Truly, I delighted in the Law of God after the inward man but the law in my members, that which I declared and decreed I WOULD NOT do, brought me into captivity…daily.  O’ wretched man that I was!!  I wanted to stop smoking. With my mind, I served the Law of God but my flesh served the law of sin.  Who shall deliver me?

Then there came a day.  This day started just like everyday before.  I struggled with trying to quit, wanting to quit, after this cigarette I’ll quit and repeat again.  However, this particular day I had to choose.  Although at the time I did not realize what I was choosing.  Keep reading and I will try to explain.

I was just beginning to understand what many of us refer to as the “Message of the Cross”, which is in fact faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified for Salvation AND dominion over our sin nature in our daily living.   That day I was seeking the Lord for deliverance of cigarettes and I remember coming to a point of decision.  Only now do I have a better understanding of this decision.  In other words, exactly what I was deciding between.

You see, again – I was doing that which I willed not to do but could not overthrow nicotine’s dominion.  The law in my members was warring against the law of my mind which delighted in the law of God….O’ wretched man!  I realize now the fear/anxiety I felt at this point of decision that day in prayer, was not unbelief in IF God would deliver me from nicotine…I KNEW He would, but the realization of WHEN He delivered me from nicotine, I would no longer have my cigarettes.  Oh my goodness…the reality of not having a cigarette ever again terrified this flesh of mine!!  My fear was not if God would deliver me but the fact that He would deliver.  Was I truly ready to give up my cigarettes?

Praise be to God, that day in my living room I allowed God to take my cigarettes from me. It is not God’s Will that His Children be bound by anything – nicotine, alcohol, pornography, religion, etc..  Because of our faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary’s Cross for Salvation and dominion over our sin nature (Sanctification), the Holy Spirit is commissioned and ready to take that bondage from us (Romans 8:2)…but we have to allow Him.

“²¹ If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the Truth is in Jesus:

²² That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

²⁴ And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:21-24.

Put off the old man.  The new man is created after God in righteousness and holiness.  If your faith is in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross, God will take that bondage if you will allow Him.  Will you say yes to God?  Are you willing to allow Him to take it…whatever “it” may be?

-Donna Clark Warren

“If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Regrettably, even though the Lord sends those to warn His Children they are going in the wrong direction, the hearts of many will be hardened instead of humbled.  The Word of God says the Bereans “…received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11).

The Lord is speaking to untold millions of Believers, yet hearing they do not hear and seeing they see not, neither do they understand (Matthew 13:13).  We must always recognize how we receive the rightly divided Word of God when It contradicts our doctrines.  Are we humbled or hardened?  Did we receive the Word with all readiness of mind?  Did we search the Scriptures to see whether those things were so…or did we willfully reject what the Spirit of the Lord is trying to say to us?

There is victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.  Our part in this victory consists of faith in the One Who has already won this fight…Jesus Christ.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein you have done foolishly: therefore from henceforth you shall have wars.”  2 Chronicles 16:9.

If the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified hardens your heart, seeing you see not. Humbly consider.  Search the Scriptures.

-Donna Clark Warren

“(As it is written, I have made you [Abraham] a father of many nations,) before Him Whom he believed, even God, Who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17

It was and is GOD Who calls those things which be not as though they were.  If the Lord has said it to us personally we can call it, otherwise we are just presuming.

“Who is he that says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord commanded it not?”  Lamentations 3:37.

If it’s not in God’s Will, it doesn’t matter how many Believers agree or how many angels are “released” (we don’t have authority over angels by the way) or how much we bind and loose, we simply cannot override the Will of God…even in Jesus Name.

“You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.”  James 4:2-3

When we begin calling those things which be not as though they were and God has not personally spoken His Will to our heart, we are in fact trying to BE God and not God’s people.  We receive not because we ask amiss.  Our prayer is presumptuous, not humble. The Word of God says:

“If My people, which are called by My Name, shall HUMBLE themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; THEN will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 (emphasis added).

The Lord didn’t say fake it until you make it.  The word of faith, prosperity gospel has people going around blabbing and grabbing those things that are not in the Will of God for His people.  They lie to themselves and others about their present circumstances in the name of Jesus and bring reproach God. This is another gospel and it is accursed (Galatians 1:8).

“³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.

³³ But seek you first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”  Matthew 6:31-34.

Listen to me friend, this word of faith heresy is nothing more than witchcraft in the church house.  You have not because you ask amiss.  Instead of lying to ourselves about our present circumstance, we need to humble ourselves and ask God to show us why we are in our present circumstance. What is the Lord trying to show us while in the wilderness?  He does not leave us in the wilderness to perish.  When we begin looking to Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ – He will lead us out of this pilgrim land.  The Lord is not trying to show us how to BE Him in the wilderness…He’s trying to show us how to DEPEND on Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  Proverbs 3:5-6.

We either believe the Word of God to be true or we believe it to be a lie.  Are you leaning unto your own understanding?

“And He (Jesus) said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow ME.”  Luke 9:23

Prayerfully consider.

-Donna Clark Warren

“And He gave SOME, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” Ephesians 4:11 (emphasis added) 

God has given the Body of Christ the 5 fold ministry but not all are called to the 5 fold ministry.  

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-14.

God has warned His Children of false apostles and deceitful workers who transform themselves into the apostles of Christ. He has given us His Word and the Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth. It is up to us to study the Scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truths.  

Sadly, many are forever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth (2 Timothy 3:7) because they follow an experience centered gospel instead of a Jesus centered gospel and they are accursed (Galatians 1:8).  
“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

Allow me to be clear, if we do not want the Truth according to the Word of God, God will see to it that we are sent a strong delusion. We, each and every Believer (myself included), must decide today, while it is today, in Whom we are going to believe. There is a lost and dying world out there who need to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He did on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe. STOP waisting precious time with the gold dust and angel feathers (angels don’t have feathers anyway) and start declaring the the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost. 
-Donna Clark Warren

“For by Grace are you Saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:8-10.

For BY GRACE through faith are we Saved,  not of works.  The Grace of God which Saves whosoever will believe is the same power of God which creates us unto good works in Christ Jesus.  These good works are the result of Salvation and never the cause.  God has ordained these good works unto each and every person through Christ Jesus.  Whether we accept them or not is up to us.  Questionnaires to determine our place in the Body of Christ will not reveal the good works God has ordained for us.  God is perfectly capable of revealing to us our particular good work and He will mold us into the new creature He has ordained us to be in Christ Jesus.  He will even use a donkey if necessary (Numbers 22:28-31).

It is only by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ, Who He is what He has done on Calvary’s Cross to free mankind from the power of sin and death, that we find what God has ordained for us that we should walk in them.  We are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.  Proper faith will always produce proper works.  Fight the good fight of faith…faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Walk in His Grace according to His Will…not man’s will.

-Donna Clark Warren

“⁶ Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

⁷ For he that is dead is freed from sin.

⁸ Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

⁹ Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him.

¹⁰ For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He lives, He lives unto God.

¹¹ Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:6-11

As a born again Believer, we now know and understand the reality of the depth of our lost state before we came to Christ.  We know that we know that we are now alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Our old man is indeed crucified with Him and freed from sin.

However, it is here that the rubber meets the road.  Even though we now understand the reality of how lost we once were, in the present tense we fail to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.  We fail to understand just how saved we are through our belief in Jesus Christ and what He did on Calvary’s Cross.  Throughout most of our lives, we have grown to understand just how faithful the devil is to kill, steal and destroy but do we now know and understand just how faithful our Lord Jesus is to bring us life and life more abundantly?

Too often when trials and tribulations come,  we attempt to resist the devil instead of first submitting to God and then resisting the devil.  If we could just “resist the devil”, the Cross of Christ was in vain.  Allow me to be clear, the devil will not flee unless we are submitted to God through Jesus Christ.

If we do not reckon ourselves to be dead to sin through the finished work of Christ Jesus on Calvary’s Cross, the only alternative is to fight the battle to overthrow our sin nature ourselves which simply cannot be done…period.  This is a reality not an opinion or presumption.  It took the Cross of Christ to give us dominion over our sin nature (Romans 6:14).  Whether we believe (reckon) this to be true in our own hearts and on our own accord, determines whether or not we are free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).  40 days of purpose, 21 days of fasting, feasts, festivals, ceremonies, traditions or psychology cannot give us dominion over our sin nature; if they could the Cross of Christ was in vain.  God forbid, no.

“And He (Jesus) said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

Fight the good fight of faith daily.  Reckon your old man to be dead with Christ and live unto God through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Follow Him into Heavenly places. Faithful is He Who has called you to this glorious Salvation.  Stand still and you will see.

-Donna Clark Warren

“And you has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

² Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:

³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,

⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by Grace you are saved;)

⁶ And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

⁷ That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His Grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:1-7.

Before we are born again, we are not alive unto God through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross but dead, spiritually dead, in trespasses and sins.  We walked according to the course of this world…according to the devil himself.  Sin was our teacher.  Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind are the goals of the unbeliever. Make no mistake, the desires of the flesh and mind do not always appear as evil.  However, they are indeed evil because they remain according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air.

Humanistic psychology is the course of this world to overcome sin.  We cannot mix the course of the world with the statutes of God and expect victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.  God will not share His glory with the world.  He does not need the world’s help to deliver His Children from bondage.  What He does need is His Children to believe His prescribed order of victory is the ONLY Way, the ONLY Truth and the ONLY Life.  Any other way is spiritual adultery.

What is God’s prescribed order of victory for the Believer?  Faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who takes away the sin of the world.  There is nothing else or no one else who can add to Jesus’ finished work for dominion over sin.  Jesus is the Source and Calvary’s Cross is the means by which the Child of God was and is delivered from the penalty of sin (death) and the dominion of sin.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the Law, but under Grace.”  Romans 6:14.

Sadly, there are many who are being swept to and fro by every wind of doctrine in an attempt to gain victory.  They are fighting a fight that has already been won.  This should not be so!

The Lord is raising up a people who will bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified BACK to the church.  People are hungry for a move of God but they are committing spiritual adultery with the world to overthrow the sin which so easily besets us.  The leaders look to the numbers  and the numbers look to the leaders.  All the while, Jesus Christ stands at the door knocking.

“For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”  Romans 8:2

What I want you to know is the Holy Spirit is not commissioned to free the Child of God from the law of sin and death when they are looking to the course of this world to maintain victory.  This victory, which is freely given to whosoever will believe in the atoning work of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, did not stop working the day we were born again.  This victory works daily in the hearts and lives of the Believer to give them dominion over their sin nature when their faith remains placed solely and exclusively in the Cross of Christ.  There is simply no other way for the Spirit of God to free us from the law of sin and death unless we are looking to the One and the Way in which we are free…NOT the ways of the world for victory.

By faith through Grace we are raised up together to sit in heavenly places IN Christ Jesus. God wants to show His Children the exceeding riches of His Grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  Let me say that again, “in His kindness toward us THROUGH Christ Jesus.”   The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus makes us free from sin’s dominion through our faith in Christ Jesus…not psychology.

“Jesus said unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me.”  John 14:6

-Donna Clark Warren

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

Simple question; who is the author of your faith?  Have you ever considered who is actually authoring your faith?  Often we will find “we” are the author of our faith through our zealous self efforts.  We are fighting a fight that has already been won by Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross.  Instead of becoming a new creature in Christ through faith, we continue to try and improve the old creature through humanistic psychology wrapped in a religious package.

Run with patience the race that is set before you.  Fight the good fight of faith…faith in Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe.  Look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith.

-Donna Clark Warren