Our True Idenity

 What I am talking about above is this: Our true identity is in Christ, and so too our true life. But as long as we try to hold on to our false identity, our false self, and all the things we think are necessary for it, we are not yet living the life we have in Christ. So, we have to die to all that is false, so we are free to walk in our true identity and our true life.

We are never truly without help, because our help is in God. But we so often live as if he is not, so we have developed all kinds of strategies of manipulation and coping, in the vain attempt to have our own life and identity apart from God.

We hold on to the remnant echoes of our false identity, our false self, and do not realize that we are utterly helpless apart from God — and so we do not look to God as our only help.

We may come face-to-face with our helplessness in a thousand ways. The illusion is that, while there may be some things we cannot handle, there are some things we can. The truth is that we need God for everything, even our breath. And one day, when we come to our very last breath, all the illusion falls away completely, and it is then that God creates us.

The psalm writer said, "You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth" (Psalm 104:29-30).

Our breath gone, we are dead — you can't get more helpless than that. But it is then, when we have come to our final helplessness, that God sends forth his Spirit, and we are finally created. So, it is in dying to our corrupt self, our false self, that we come to the moment of our creation, where we are created in Christ.

Baptism shows this to us. We are baptized into Christ's death, and buried with him, so that we may be raised to walk in the newness of his life.

Jeff Doles

TO BE RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST

A. The Gospel is the good news about salvation or receiving God’s righteousness. Through having received the gift of righteousness, we are in a new position to stand in the Father’s presence with confidence. Our new position is based on a historical event in which a legal transaction or exchange occurred in God’s court. Jesus offered His blood for us as our legal substitute. Jesus paid the debt of our sin that was required to legally satisfy the claims of justice in God’s court. Grace = Gods Righteousness At Christ’s Expense.

For He (the Father) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we (our spirit man) might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21)

B. Righteous = innocent and holy. Or you can say: being justified. Justification = “Just-as-if-we never sinned”. God sees us as if we had never sinned. The old record of sin is removed (Rom. 6:2, Ps. 103:12). We are accepted, without any guilt against us. He sees us as if we have always perfectly obeyed Him. God sees us as 100% innocent and holy. To be holy means: we are clean and pure, sacred. We don’t look like it, feel like it, think like it all the time, but we simply are because God says so. This is who we are in the spirit before Him.

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.

Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin. (Rom 4:7-8, NLT)

For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. (Eph. 1:4)

(Roger comments:  Two of the most liberating paragraphs I've ever read)

Self-Consciousness Robs you of Rest

 Oswald Chamber’s devotional books have been on most everybody’s kitchen table at one time or another (depending on age, of course!). His thoughts are often relevant to a lot of us—personally and decisively relevant more often than not!

These thoughts from My Utmost for His Highest, August 19th and 20th, cut right to the quick for me—in other words, they were personally and decisively relevant! He said: "Self-consciousness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of the life in God and self-consciousness continually produces wrestling."

Now I need to remember that self-consciousness isn’t always thinking I’m a winner and that I am thankful that I have "me" in my life! Other people make so many mistakes. They just need to be more like me! No. It is also thinking very little of me and wishing I were out of the picture. It is thoughts about "self"—self-pity, self-loathing, self-aggrandizement, self-reliance, false humility, pride, or any of those disgusting, self-centered things. It can be self-exaltation or self-degradation. Self-consciousness is simply setting my mind on me and mine, negatively or positively.

So do I hear him saying that if I center in on myself that my relationship with the Lord can be damaged and that I’ll experience wrestling? What is that? Well, one definition would be grabbing things out of His hands and taking over the circumstances in my life myself—"I can do it! Anabel can handle this! I know exactly what needs to be done! I don’t need to seek His thoughts on this issue." It is the absence of God’s rest, of contentment, of peace. It is feeling uneasy, worry, fear, constantly evaluating my circumstances, the people in my world, rejection, resentment, pride, hurt feelings, ad infinitum. These things come about through self-consciousness and when they do, my walk with the Lord suffers. I have certainly and painfully found this to be true. Self-consciousness robs me of rest.

Chambers says anything that disturbs my rest in Him must be taken care of immediately; that I must never allow anything to remain that is causing a separation between Christ and myself. A separation? Ignoring Him and taking control instead of trusting: Doing things my way instead of His way. This thought-battle is going on in my mind. It may at times be a minor skirmish, maybe a subdued but persistent struggle, or at times a fierce, raging battle.

So, what is my strategy? Bring "will" into the fray! Choose to stop those thoughts! Choose to change what I am thinking about.1 Get control of my thought-life! Ignore self and all of self’s problems! Wave the white flag and let God take control. How do I do that? Talk to Christ continually. Have lengthy conversations with Him. Tell Him what’s happening. He knows everything anyway so don’t try to defend myself. Ask Him to give me Christ-consciousness and don’t let Satan interrupt my conversation with his off-color half-truths.

That sounds too easy, doesn’t it? Don’t I have to DO SOMETHING? Confront? Let off steam? How do I get rid of the emotions that are trying to claw their way out of me? I change what I am thinking about. I quit analyzing what happened, quit blaming myself, quit focusing on myself, what has happened in my life, laying plans for retaliation, etc.

All of those things are filed under self-consciousness and Chambers has just told us that thinking about yourself and your circumstances will inevitably result in being separated from the Lord and I don’t want that!

Remember, I am not generating those pesky defeating thoughts! I’m receiving them as the Power of Sin sends them into my conscious awareness.2 So I can say "NO!" to that enemy and refuse them. Then, I "Fix my thoughts on what is true, and good, and right, I think about those things that are pure and lovely, and I dwell on the fine good things in others. I think about all I can praise God for and be glad about" (Phil. 4:8 TLB).

Lord, thinking on those things will make me God-conscious and I desperately need that. Oh, I am so cognizant of when I am separated from You and have no rest—and those times are not pleasant to live through or to remember. Please make me very God conscious. It’s not about me. It’s about you, dear One.

Have you heard only 1/3 of the Gospel?

 The gospel states that through the finished work of Jesus we can be forgiven, transformed, experience intimate fellowship with God and the body, bring honor to Christ on earth by our godly obedience and reign with Him forever. The word to emphasize here is finished. No man (certainly not this one) understands the complete gospel of Christ, but some seem to have "heard’ more clearly than others. Is it possible that you are among those who have missed it?

Paul makes this statement about the gospel: I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it by men, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12).

Note: it was not a revelation from Jesus, but of Jesus. Every need you can experience is met in a true revelation of Jesus. Gal. 1:8 says that if anyone teaches a gospel which deviates from the one Jesus revealed to Paul "let him be accursed." Wow, that’s strong! And that’s not Paul’s opinion, gang, its God’s. He said it twice; he’s mega-serious about it. We’d all best be certain it’s the gospel Jesus gave to Paul that we’re embracing. Ever notice that the Holy Spirit did not lead Paul to do what we’d expect after he got saved…go to the eleven apostles and ask them to teach him the gospel according to Jesus? No, Jesus discipled Paul just as He had the other eleven apostles, but the difference is that He revealed the entire gospel to Paul which He did not reveal to the eleven because the gospel had yet to be completed…Jesus had yet to be crucified and resurrected. He did not teach them the glorious affect this has upon all who are crucified and regenerated in Christ. The eleven experienced this at Pentecost; up until then they all had "darkened minds." This explains why they had such difficulty understanding the things Jesus taught. Once when Peter did understand truth, Jesus said, "Peter, you didn’t figure that out, the Father revealed it to you" (Matt. 16:17). Such is the case with all revelation.

So, it is mainly in Paul’s writings that we are to discover the complete gospel according to Jesus. Though the total Word of God is unalterably true, majoring on Matthew, Mark, Luke and John while minoring on Paul’s epistles will reveal but a partial resulting in bondage.

Many Christians have only appropriated (heard) 1/3 of the gospel Jesus revealed to Paul. Although saved, it’s small wonder such a person lives in defeat. Their approach is like using a chainsaw without starting the engine. They slug it out in Monday’s trenches, striving to do what God wants them to do calling on Him for help when the going gets too tough. That tragic misunderstanding of the gospel is merely stacking up fuel for the great wiener roast in the sky, gang. Saved, yes–free in Christ, no.

What is this partial gospel that some have believed is the normal Christian life? Are you ready for this? They know only about Christ’s blood which was shed for our forgiveness. Thus they see themselves as forgiven sinners on the way to heaven. This is not the revelation of Jesus that Paul received. It is only partially true. Their deficiency causes them to face life in much the same way that the faithful Jew did in the Old Testament. He believed God for forgiveness for his sins, too, but he had no victory over the power of sin. Is this your experience as well? Do you experience consistent victory over "the sin which so easily entangles us?" You can…but you must appropriate more of the gospel than your blessed forgiveness. Forgiveness constitutes but 1/3 of the gospel according to Jesus.

The second 1/3 of the gospel is know to every born-again Believer, "Christ in you." Although all Christians know this, Christ may as well be living on Mars for all the benefit they experience from His presence. Do you fellowship with Him in there? Trust Him as your teacher? Marvel together at the birds He made? Laugh together at the antics of your silly dog that He created and gave to you? Cry on His shoulder when you’re hurting? Receive the wild flower He planted in the crack in the parking lot just for you? Let him put His arm around your shoulder and listen when you’ve been misunderstood?

Someone asked, "Why was John the only one who go to lay his head upon Jesus’ breast?" to whom the answer was given, "Because he was the only one who tried it." The Holy Spirit (the "Spirit of Christ") came into you to have intimate fellowship with you, but many Christians do not experience this.

But there is a second reason why Christ indwells you and it is to express life through you. Do you trust Him to face each day on earth through you by using the same faith you use to trust Him to take you to heaven? Are you trusting Him for your life as well as for your death? I suppose you can do the latter and ignore the former, but it’s far short of God’s grace to you. I mean this kindly; is this not an affront to Christ’s grace? Is it not acting as if you do not need all of His purpose for dying; that you are strong enough to face much of life in your own strength as if this were a virtue when in fact it is a constant sin (Rom. 14:23b)? More fuel for the fire.

Now we come to the last 1/3 of the gospel according to Jesus. Although the faithful O.T. Jews were forgiven, had they attempted to enter into God’s holy presence in the Temple, they would have died instantly. Not so with you! You are not only permanently forgiven via Jesus’ blood and permanently equipped with Jesus’ life by His Spirit, you are so permanently holy that you are permanently in the Father’s immaculate presence (Eph. 2:6)! It was through Christ’s beloved body that He accomplished this for you, dear one, not His precious blood.

Have you ever discovered the role of Jesus’ physical body in the gospel according to Jesus? We don’t hear much about His body, do we? Let no one believe I am minimizing Jesus’ precious blood; what I am saying is that many are unknowingly minimizing His precious body. They take the bread at the Lord’s Table and think of their forgiveness. That’s not the whole plan; thanks for forgiveness should accompany the taking of the wine. In Jesus’ body you were crucified as a sinner-man and reborn as a holy, pure, righteous, spirit-son of God who is now in the loving arms of the Father! Just as Jesus’ blood is necessary for the forgiveness of sin, His body was necessary to transform you from a rejected sinner into an accepted saint. This is the only way we can find rest in the presence of the Father and that constitutes the last 1/3 of the gospel. Do you have this marvelous truth locked in your heart? Do you experience its benefit? Do you walk in its truth? Do you live with the complete security of your unconditional acceptance in the presence of Jesus moment by moment even when you’ve blown it badly? Embrace this as your true identity? How unbelievable is the gospel Jesus revealed to Paul! It’s so incredible only God would dream it up! Man in his wildest dreams would never fabricate such a plan!

Summing up:

You are forgiven for all of your sins past, present and future.

You are fully equipped by the Holy Spirit within for intimate fellowship with Christ and to experience the victory of His life through you.

You are a holy, glorified saint, righteous and acceptable, already in God’s holy presence in heaven. Wow… What an identity you have! What a gracious God you serve. Worthy is the lamb to rule the universe!

Look at the testimony of just one of the many who write telling us how the revelation of Jesus to Paul has changed their lives. Those of you who are in prayer or financial partners in Lifetime Guarantee share equally with us in ministering to this dear person. Pretty exciting! Of course the glory goes to our blessed Jesus, not to you and me. "What do you have that you did not receive? Why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7).

"How blessed I am to have heard Lifetime Guarantee’s teaching. How God has used you to set me free from a lifetime of insecurities, fears, low self-esteem, and feelings of worthlessness. Oh, Satan continues to try to get me to tune into his lies but I am learning to continually remind him that I am dead to all of that. I have been a Christian for nineteen years and have been so bound by Performance Based Acceptance. What an incredibly liberating truth to know I’m accepted in the Beloved. I just want to stand on the rooftops and shout out what God has shown me through His Word. It has all left me with a humbly grateful heart. I can’t stop thanking Him that all of this is really true. Of course, there are a lot of things still in my life that don’t look like Jesus, but finally there are changes–real changes–not the ones I’ve tried to generate out of years of self-effort (and failed miserably, I might add). I was introduced to your book, Lifetime Guarantee, last summer, and this has truly been the most exciting few months of my Christian life. I look forward to all that Jesus will do in and through me as I learn more and more what Gal. 2:20 really means. Lawrenceville, GA

This person has appropriated the revelations of Jesus to Paul–the gospel.

Dear one, Jesus said you have to take up your cross–you die to live. Our sister in Christ has appropriated this. Jesus, not self, is the Faith Peg she hangs her hat on now. Have you chosen the only pathway that He said leads to peace? To see it is not sufficient; you must commit to it. You must choose by faith the way of the cross that severs the ties which bind you to the system the Bible calls death (Rom. 8:6), but which the world calls "life." That can be scary. Many Christians back away from it; they aren’t exactly lining up to die. They love their lives. But, in Christ you have already died as a citizen of the kingdom of this world and have been reborn into the Kingdom of the Father. You must appropriate it to experience it. Have you made the decision to "die" that you might experience life in this kingdom? Have you had the revelation of Jesus which He gave to Paul?

 Grace...

The Vine, giving life to its branches . . .

  Growing and producing

    Healthy, Delicious fruit . . .

  WITHOUT making the branch feel

Responsible for fruit production.

Law met Grace

 

They that know God

 

Extraordinary

 

Unconditional Love

 

Can you no longer apply the Bible

 We live in a time where many believers don’t stand on the Word in full assurance, but doubt the words of God and compromise with the world and adjust the words of God to the world and the time we live in. Because you have to move with the times and can’t apply an ancient Book in this day and age. That might have worked in the old days, but not anymore. But is that true? Can you no longer apply the Bible in this day and age? Has the world changed and must the Bible move with the times or not? Regeneration and the discernment of spirits A Christian, who says to believe, but is not born again in Christ, is unspiritual and doesn’t discern the spirits. Many occultists move in the spiritual realm and may look spiritual and are considered spiritual, but in reality, they are not spiritual, but carnal and are influenced and led by demonic powers, because you can only become spiritual if your spirit is raised from the dead by the power of God.

The Worlds View of Love