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Authors: Steven Brooks
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shortcomings.
I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself;
but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died
(Romans 14:14-15).
Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat
. Remember, all foods are acceptable,
but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble
(Romans 14:20 NLT).
The fourteenth chapter of Romans is my favorite chapter in the Bible. Paul received personal revelation from the Lord that there is no food that is unclean. We know Paul is speaking about food because he references his statement of
nothing unclean to food
(see Rom. 14:14). You can eat non-kosher food because God gave the “green light” on all food as being edible. Of course, some foods are definitely healthier than others. It’s a big world that we live in. Some cultures enjoy eating snakes, spiders, and bugs. Personally, I try to eat healthy and exerciseoften. There is some value to the dietary laws found in the Book of Leviticus as far as certain foods being more sanitary and healthy than others (see Lev. 11). We should all acquire a good understanding of how to eat healthy so that we are able to take good care of our bodies.
But again, the bigger picture is that of walking in love. As I said before, there are those who do not know about New Testament teaching along this line. If I ate a shrimp in front of them it would upset them. So, because I love them, I will keep my faith to myself and be careful never to put a stumbling block in front of them. This not only concerns food and drink but anything that would be a hindrance. The focus under the New Covenant is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in love. The inward focus will produce the correct outward results.
In much the same way, the mantles spoken of in the Old Testament were only an
outward
representation of a specific anointing in which the Holy Spirit would manifest Himself upon a person. As I mentioned earlier, the mantle which Elijah the prophet wore had no supernatural power in and of itself. Under the Old Covenant, the mantle was only an outward representation of what was really a degree of anointing given by the Holy Spirit. There are many examples throughout the Old Testament of how God would anoint certain physical things to be used as an outward demonstration of God’s power and glory. We see this in the story concerning the bones of the prophet Elisha.
Then Elisha died and was buried. Groups of Moabite raiders used to invade the land each spring. Once, when some Israelites
were burying a man, they spied a band of these raiders. So they hastily threw the corpse into the tomb of Elisha and fled. But as soon as the body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man revived and jumped to his feet!
(2 Kings 13:20-21 NLT)
What caused the dead man to come back to life when he touched the bones of Elisha? Were the bones of Elisha any different physically from the bones that you and I have? No, his bones were just like ours. The dead man was brought back to life because of the residual anointing of the Holy Spirit within the bones of Elisha. You could say that while he was alive he was
saturated
with the power and Presence of God.
In like fashion, if you go into a room that is full of people who are smoking cigarettes, you will come out smelling like cigarette smoke even if you do not smoke yourself. If you spend a lot of time with God in fellowship and prayer, then you will become saturated with His Holy Presence and He will get all over you. So it was not the bones (the outward evidence) that raised a man from the dead, but the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Follow along with me and grasp the truth that it is not a cloth or an animal skin (mantle) draped around someone’s shoulders that enables him or her to do miracles. It is the Holy Spirit who
I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself;
but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died
(Romans 14:14-15).
Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat
. Remember, all foods are acceptable,
but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble
(Romans 14:20 NLT).
The fourteenth chapter of Romans is my favorite chapter in the Bible. Paul received personal revelation from the Lord that there is no food that is unclean. We know Paul is speaking about food because he references his statement of
nothing unclean to food
(see Rom. 14:14). You can eat non-kosher food because God gave the “green light” on all food as being edible. Of course, some foods are definitely healthier than others. It’s a big world that we live in. Some cultures enjoy eating snakes, spiders, and bugs. Personally, I try to eat healthy and exerciseoften. There is some value to the dietary laws found in the Book of Leviticus as far as certain foods being more sanitary and healthy than others (see Lev. 11). We should all acquire a good understanding of how to eat healthy so that we are able to take good care of our bodies.
But again, the bigger picture is that of walking in love. As I said before, there are those who do not know about New Testament teaching along this line. If I ate a shrimp in front of them it would upset them. So, because I love them, I will keep my faith to myself and be careful never to put a stumbling block in front of them. This not only concerns food and drink but anything that would be a hindrance. The focus under the New Covenant is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in love. The inward focus will produce the correct outward results.
In much the same way, the mantles spoken of in the Old Testament were only an
outward
representation of a specific anointing in which the Holy Spirit would manifest Himself upon a person. As I mentioned earlier, the mantle which Elijah the prophet wore had no supernatural power in and of itself. Under the Old Covenant, the mantle was only an outward representation of what was really a degree of anointing given by the Holy Spirit. There are many examples throughout the Old Testament of how God would anoint certain physical things to be used as an outward demonstration of God’s power and glory. We see this in the story concerning the bones of the prophet Elisha.
Then Elisha died and was buried. Groups of Moabite raiders used to invade the land each spring. Once, when some Israelites
were burying a man, they spied a band of these raiders. So they hastily threw the corpse into the tomb of Elisha and fled. But as soon as the body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man revived and jumped to his feet!
(2 Kings 13:20-21 NLT)
What caused the dead man to come back to life when he touched the bones of Elisha? Were the bones of Elisha any different physically from the bones that you and I have? No, his bones were just like ours. The dead man was brought back to life because of the residual anointing of the Holy Spirit within the bones of Elisha. You could say that while he was alive he was
saturated
with the power and Presence of God.
In like fashion, if you go into a room that is full of people who are smoking cigarettes, you will come out smelling like cigarette smoke even if you do not smoke yourself. If you spend a lot of time with God in fellowship and prayer, then you will become saturated with His Holy Presence and He will get all over you. So it was not the bones (the outward evidence) that raised a man from the dead, but the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Follow along with me and grasp the truth that it is not a cloth or an animal skin (mantle) draped around someone’s shoulders that enables him or her to do miracles. It is the Holy Spirit who
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