Beauty of God

 

Table of the Lord

 

Led by Love

 

Two Trees - Part 4

 The Lord's first act of creation was to bring forth light. The very next thing He did was separate the light from darkness. There can be no cohabitation between light and darkness. When the Lord re-creates a man and he is born again, He immediately begins to separate the light from the darkness in his life. Almost inevitably, in our zeal for Him, we try to take over this work and perform it by the only way we have ever known—through the knowledge of good and evil. This struggle between law and grace —flesh and Spirit—is the source of the inner discord afflicting most Christians. It is also the single greatest point of conflict between the truth that sets men free and the lies of the enemy that are meant to oppress and subdue them. 

On the third day of creation the Lord established a physical and spiritual law that was of critical importance. He ordered that trees would only bear fruit after their own kind and produce seed after their own kind (Genesis 1:11-12). The fruit of these two trees is to forever be separate and distinct, as the Lord Jesus also testified.

For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its fruit (Luke 6:43-44). The Apostle Paul further testified: "whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). We cannot bring forth fruit that is life while we are partaking of the Tree of Knowledge. Likewise, if we are partaking of the Tree of Life we will not bring forth the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge—death. A tree can only produce fruit after its own kind. Scriptural references to trees are sometimes symbolic of family lineages. In order for Christ to come forth in man, His seed had to be sown in man. Likewise, in order for the "man of sin" to come forth in man, that seed also had to be sown in man. The fruit of a seed cannot be reaped unless it is first planted.

When Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge, they were destined to perpetuate the fruit of that tree; consequently death spread throughout their descendants. But God, in His grace and mercy determined that He would redeem their mistake. He planted in man the seed that would again bring forth the Tree of Life in man—Jesus. Through Him true life would be restored to man. His seed is a spiritual seed, sown by the Holy Spirit through prophecy. No flesh could beget Him but all flesh could receive Him. The Lord  promised transgressing woman that a seed would come forth from her that would crush the head of the serpent that had deceived her (Genesis 3:15). In the first two sons born to the woman, we discern the seeds of each tree.

Two Trees - Part 3

The Lord said that He was going to send His Spirit to lead us into all truth. All truth is in Jesus, of whom the Spirit was sent to testify (Ephesians 4:21). The Bible is a most precious and wonderful gift from the Lord to His people. But the Bible was not meant to take place of the Lord Himself, nor the Spirit whom He sent. The Bible is a means, not an end. Knowing the book of the Lord is not our goal; our goal is to know the Lord of the book.

The many errors and divisions within the body of Christ are not due to fault in the Bible, but our misuse of it. Some of the laws and principles we have wrested from the New Testament rival anything that the Pharisees did to the Old Testament! This has caused us to try to measure our spirituality by how well we conform to the letter. Our spirituality is not found in adapting to a form, but by the forming of Jesus within us.

It was for a good reason that the Lord instructed us to judge men by their fruit. A parrot can be taught to say and do the right things. Satan often comes as "an angel of light," proclaiming Scriptures; and his work will often conform to the letter. But only Jesus can bring forth the fruit that is LIFE. "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (II Corinthians 3:6). If we read the Scriptures by the Spirit they will testify of Jesus and will come to life. The Scriptures are meant to be a testimony of Him. "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me" (John 5:39). The Spirit was sent to lead us to Him in the Scriptures and in all aspects of our lives. Reading the Scriptures without the Spirit brings only the knowledge of good and evil, which actually brings death. Satan can counterfeit form but he can never counterfeit the fruit of the Spirit—which is Jesus, the Tree of Life. Man is able, to a certain degree for various self-centered and deceptive reasons, to change his outward behavior. Only the Spirit can change a man's heart. Therefore, the Lord looks upon the hearts of men, and in them He is looking for the heart of His Son. 

The Two Trees - Part 2

 The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a powerful Biblical model of the Law. As the Apostle Paul declared: "The power of sin is the law" (I Corinthians 15:56). This is because it is through the Law that we that derive our knowledge of good and evil. We may wonder how this knowledge brings death until we see the fruit. The knowledge of good and evil kills us by distracting us from the One who is the source of life: the Tree of Life—Jesus. The Tree of Knowledge causes us to focus our attention upon ourselves. Sin is empowered by the law; not just because the evil is revealed but the good as well. It drives us either to corruption or self-righteousness, both of which lead to death.

It is significant that the Tree of Knowledge is found in the center of the garden (see Genesis 3:3). Self-centeredness is the chief malady with which it afflicts us. After Adam and Eve ate its fruit, their first response was self-inspection. Before eating they had not even noticed their nakedness; their attention was on the Lord and the purposes for which He had created them. After eating, the good and evil which they now understood forced them to measure themselves by it. There is no easier way to keep us from the Tree of Life than to have us focus our attention upon ourselves. This is what the Law accomplishes. Because of this Paul called it "the ministry of death" and the "ministry of condemnation" (II Corinthians 3:7,9).

When we define the Tree of Knowledge as the Law, we are not referring only to the Law of Moses. We often think of the Old Testament as the Law and the New Testament as Grace, but this is not necessarily true. The Old Covenant is the Letter; the New Covenant is the Spirit. If we read the New Testament with an Old Covenant heart it will just be law to us. We'll have dead religion with righteousness that is based on compliance with written commandments instead of a living relationship with our God.

The Two Trees - Part 1

There were two trees in the Garden of Eden that challenged the course of the entire human race—the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. These same two "trees" continue to challenge us. When we become Christians these challenges do not end—they may well increase. Many times we will have to choose between the fruit of these trees. Between them lies the focal point of the dichotomy between the Kingdom of God and the present evil age. 

The Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life are symbolic of two spiritual lineages or "family trees." The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is a history of two lineages. Understanding these lineages can help us to understand the most common errors besetting the entire human race, including those that have continually misled the Church. 

Satan did not tempt Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge just because of the Lord's prohibition. He tempted her with it because the source of his power was rooted in that tree. Furthermore, the Lord did not implement this  restriction just to test Adam and Eve; He prohibited the eating of its fruit because He knew it was poison. When He instructed Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, He did not say "If you eat from that tree I'm going to kill you" but "On the day that you eat from it you will die." It was not just man's disobedience that brought death to the world; it was the fruit from this tree.

Truly Human

 

Plant a Seed

 

The Kingdom of God

 

Be Strong

 

Ways God Loves You

 1. IN GENESIS  He fashions you with His hands.

2. IN EXODUS  He delivers you from slavery.

3. IN LEVITICUS  He gives you access to Himself.

4. IN NUMBERS  He shelters you in cities of refuge.

5. IN DEUTERONOMY  He guides you with His hand.

6. IN JOSHUA  He gives you divine purpose.

7. IN JUDGES  He shows mercy in spite of repeated failures.

8. IN RUTH  He grafts you into His family.

9-10. IN SAMUEL  He makes the insignificant significant.

11-12. IN KINGS  He esteems you by His faithfulness.

13-14. IN CHRONICLES  He makes your prayer powerful.

15-16. IN EZRA & NEHEMIAH  He restores you & equips you.

17. IN ESTHER  He makes you royalty.

18. IN JOB  He sustains you in suffering.

19. IN PSALM  He draws you close & listens for your voice.

20. IN PROVERBS  He reveals His wisdom to you.

21. IN ECCLESIASTES  He gives meaning.

22. IN SONG OF SOLOMON  He draws you to chase Him.

23. IN ISAIAH  He reveals the Saviour to you.

24-25. IN JEREMIAH & LAMENTATIONS  He gives you hope.

26-27. IN EZEKIEL & DANIEL  the Lord joins you in the fire.

28. IN HOSEA  God pursues you to buy you back.

29. IN JOEL  He blesses you when you repent.

30. IN AMOS  He bears your burdens.

31. IN OBADIAH  He keeps His covenant to you.

32. IN JONAH  He uses an imperfect man for His perfect plan.

33. IN MICAH  He invites you to walk humbly with Him.

34. IN NAHUM  He comforts you.

35. IN HABAKKUK  He places your lowliness in high places.

36. IN ZEPHANIAH  He sings over you with great joy.

37. IN HAGGAI  God makes His dwelling among you.

38. IN ZECHARIAH  He assures you of His coming.

39. IN MALACHI  God pours out His blessing on you.

40-43. IN THE GOSPELS  God puts on human flesh to save you.

44. IN ACTS  He gives you His Spirit.

45. IN ROMANS  He works all things together for your good.

46-47. IN CORINTHIANS  He corrects, teaches, & loves you.

48. IN GALATIANS  He sets you free.

49. IN EPHESIANS  He calls you His workmanship.

50. IN PHILIPPIANS  He gives you joy.

51. IN COLOSSIANS  He completes you.

52-53. IN THESSALONIANS  He presents you with future hope.

54-55. IN TIMOTHY  He offers you counsel & encouragement.

56. IN TITUS  He equips you for good works.

57. IN PHILEMON  He turns your slavery into brotherhood.

58. IN HEBREWS  He invites you to come before His throne.

59. IN JAMES  He teaches you practical religion.

60-61. IN PETER  He gives you victory over suffering.

62-64. IN THE THREE EPISTLES OF JOHN  He assures you of

eternity & invites you to walk in His light, life & love.

65. IN JUDE  your God tenderly keeps you from falling &

presents you faultless before His throne.

66. IN REVELATION  He bestows the ultimate honour upon you,

as He receives you as His beloved & treasured bride

God or Satan

 

God's Speaks

 

I'm Tired

 

Cross-shaped

 

Remember

 

Beloved

 

Faith is NOT!

 

Shallow

 

It is time for you to live deeply. It is time to “disappear” from surface living and reappear in the depths of God.

The only way you will ever satisfy your being, is to satisfy it with more, deeper, better, higher and more beautiful BEING. Whoever thought we could satisfy our being with more “stuff” and more “things” had no idea about the nature of Reality.

The world is suffering from a lack of depth. We have lots of “stuff”, but no depth. We are really good at creating lots and lots of “stuff”, but we really suck at exploring depth. When I speak about depth, I am talking about ontological depth. By definition, DEEP means, “far down below the surface”. Most people live exclusively on the surface of their personality or persona.

They spend their life on the surface of thoughts, feelings, desires, beliefs, etc., never getting down into the sources and headwaters of these inner energies. They can name every player on their favorite sports team, but don’t have a clue about where their own thoughts come from or what makes up their own being.

Being “deep” isn’t a philosophical statement; it’s a REMEDY for our times. We need help to go deep. The truth is that we are “broken” in our ability to go deep. That is what sin is. It is a holding pattern in shallowness. It has caused a broken capacity in us to be deep. It leaves us trying to take a bath in a millimeter deep puddle! That is where Christ comes in. His Spirit can take us into the depths. He can baptize us into the ocean deep of God’s Being and allow us to, not only clean up there, but to live there.

“For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” I Corinthians 2:10 NKJV Another translation says, “God's Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God.” ~1 Corinthians 2:10 CEV

Depth of being can only be found in God's Being, because He is the only original, infinitely perfect and eternally complete Being. It takes God’s Being to satisfy and consummate our being. Christ's life was a testimony of this message. His life embodied this depth: “I can do nothing on my own authority; I judge only as God tells me, so my judgment is right, because I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.” ~John 5:30 GNT This is the depth we need. A new realm of life and authority. Not living from a little isolated “me”, but living out of God Himself.

Through the Son, you and I are offered a new depth of being to live in. God’s depth brings us into our proper human depth, allowing us to live below the surface of the world and deep within the Spirit of God.

The only way out of this insane world is by going deeper into your heart where God’s Life unfolds. The way out, is in. So much of human life has been narrowed by selfishness, suppressed by religion and scripted by shallow secular values, that it is hard to comprehend that the largest dimension of our life has never even been seen, let alone explored, enjoyed and lived.

Going deep is a lonely place. It’s resplendent pastures, revitalizing streams and glorious peaks of Revelation are not on any tourist maps. The masses avoid it like a plague. Few people will follow, befriend or even like you when you choose to take your life into the deep things of God and live there. It is unsettling to surface dwellers. It exposes the vanity of living in the insanity of the shallows. Going deep into your life means abandoning the surface world of the ego where most people have take up permanent residence.

Shallow is the only language of surface dwellers. Vanity is their motto. Ego drama is their only storyline.

People will think you have abandoned them when you “turn in your citizenship” to the ego and take out a new identity in the depths. People think you don’t like them when you don’t play in the shallow puddles with them. Little do they know that your life is both a trumpet call to wake them up and a caring hand to lift them out.

Yes, when you make a commitment to the depths, you will be maligned and misunderstood. It is an unavoidable truth for world changers... “They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.” ~John 16:2 CSB “Everyone will hate you because of me.” ~Luke 21:17 GNT

What your haters don’t know is that your depth is providing a way out of the shallows. You are being a real leader, taking the way of escape where all must eventually follow. The truth is that it is only in the deep places of the spirit that anyone can actually love and embrace every living thing truthfully and compassionately at its Source.

We have to move from outer shallow attraction to deeper inner attention. And the “heretics” who do that now are actually the hero’s of tomorrow. They are the ones whose paths – though considered crazy and unpractical now – will be eagerly sought for when the frail surface world begins to shatter. Beloved, don’t be lost in the glitter and appeal of “surface world”. It’s “humpty dumpy” is about to have a great fall and none of the kings of the earth will be able to put it back together again. Something new is being birthed in the depths. And you are invited there.

God alone can baptize you into the satisfying depths of Being where you belong. You will never truly discover yourself in shallow world, because your true self doesn’t live there. 95% of what you are lives in another realm with Christ. Isn’t it about time you find yourself there. Turn in your citizenship to shallow world. Come live in the depths of God, which just happens to be your own.

Are You Lonely?

 

Jesus' Cross offers Hope

 

Expression of Love

 

No Record of Wrongs

 

Too Often we Underestimate

 

Ephesians 6:17

And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

(a) Salvation. The original word for salvation means deliverance or rescue. Jesus is the great Deliverer who rescues us from our enemies (Luke 1:71). 

(b) The word of God is the revealed will of God. When you know what God’s will is, you are able to stand your ground and defeat the lies and accusations of the enemy. But if you are uncertain, you will be double-minded and unstable.

Ephesians 6:14

 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

The breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate protects your heart and your very life.

When we make mistakes or hear that we are not doing enough for God, the temptation is to slip into dead works of self-righteousness. We resist this temptation and guard our hearts from the enemy’s accusations by standing secure in the righteous affirmation of our Father’s love and acceptance. When the accuser says you are a sinner, reply, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Personal Revelation

 

God Alone

 

Heart Attitude

 

God Focused

 

What is Worship?

 

Anyone can be ordinary

 

Do you have a stand?

 “Let me ask you a question: Do you have a standard by which you govern yourself and keep your circumstances from dictating your actions? Your answer depends on your morals and character, does it not? If you lack morals or character, your ethics may, and often will, change to suit your circumstances. But if you have morals, ethics and character combined, you will stand up and say, "I do this because I choose to, because I made a commitment to do it, since it is the right thing to do. It does not matter whether anyone else is doing it. Regardless, here is where I stand." This is integrity talking. 

A man of integrity takes integrity personally. He is his own person. He does not do something simply because he sees other people doing it. He follows the guide that is within him—not the crowd. He lets this guide, not his circumstances, lead him in developing his ethics. And he has such character, such intestinal fortitude and self discipline, that he will consistently do what he knows is morally right despite the consequences. This is what it means to be a person of integrity—and it takes morals, character and ethics, which is why these are inherent in the very meaning of integrity. 

Now you should be able to see why people like Daniel endure and rise above the consequences, while those who roll right through stop signs typically fall victim to their circumstances. Integrity makes all the difference in the world.”

Dr. Frederick K.C. Price Sr. 

Integrity

 The Voice of Integrity

“The voice of integrity says, "I don't know what you're going to do, but I know what I have to do. This is right, and this is wrong." When people try to say, "Yeah, but everyone's doing it." Integrity still says, "So? Here's where I stand." Even if others claim, "Yeah, but popular opinion is..." integrity does not change its mind. People may try to coerce you by saying, "You're going to be standing out there by yourself," but integrity points out, “Regardless, here's where I stand.”

Dr. Frederick K.C. Price Sr. 

What you say....

 Everything you say yes to over and over again gains power over you and enslaves you, anything you say no to over and over again loses power over you. Disagree with the enslaving power of sin in your life and appropriate the grace of God through giving your life to Christ and seeking power through His grace to live above the sin traps of the enemy. Grace is unmerited favor from God not giving us what we truly deserve. That is a beautiful aspect of grace but the part of grace that you don't hear of in pulpits much is that it is also divine empowerment to do what truth demands and live above sin. Grace is not given as a license to sin but as enablement to shake off wrong actions and sins and obey God. God loves you! You got this!

-Jacque

Doctrine of Christ

Jesus Christ is the eternal, beloved Son of the Father, who shares all things with Him in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Athanasius, in his treatise Against the Arians, quotes the Presbyter Arius’ book Thalia saying that “God was not always Father. He was God alone and solitary, before He was the Father, and afterwards He became a Father.”

 The implications of such a conception are staggering and multi-dimensional. In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea was convened to address this question directly, and concluded that the relationship of the Father and the Son is not created but divine and eternal. Jesus Christ is not a creature, but “Light from Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, of the same being as the Father” (homoousios to Patri). This critical phrase is enshrined in the heart of the Nicene Creed. For Athanasius there was never a time  hen the Father was without His Son and Spirit, existing alone as an abstract, nonrelational, single-person deity, simply god and not Father. As he stated bluntly: “The Holy Trinity is no created being.”

 And as Hilary of Poitiers declared:   

I call to mind that the very centre of a saving faith is the belief not merely in God, but in God as Father; not merely in Christ, but in Christ as the Son of God; in Him, not as a creature, but as God the Creator, born of God.

Here we stand before the beautiful mystery of the very being of God. Three divine persons completely dwelling in one another in indivisible oneness without loss of distinct personhood—perichoresis. There is no dimension of divine being deeper than or beyond or before the communion of the blessed Three, who live forever in indivisible oneness and love. This relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit is not new, not a mere form that the hidden and unknowable God assumed during the incarnation; it did not begin on Christmas morning. This is who God is and always has been and always will be. And this divine  relationship forms the womb of creation.

- Baxter Kruger

Jesus Christ: The Mediator of Creation

 When most of us hear the name of Jesus we think of an individual man who lived, died on a cross, and rose again. According to our tradition Jesus was and is a real man. He did live and die and rise again and ascend to the Father. What I call our great blind spot in the West is not so much here, but in the fact that we do not see any real connection or relationship between Jesus and ourselves, and between what happened to him in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, and us. Although we readily assume that the whole race of humanity fell in Adam, we see Jesus’ death only as an act of God for us, but not as an act that involved us—all of us, and all of creation. His death and resurrection were things that happened to him, not to us. To be sure, they were intended for our benefit, but humanity was a spectator to these events and is in no sense connected or related to him in his death and resurrection—until we do something to bring Jesus into our lives today.

This assumption of separation between Jesus and us is, in my opinion, one of the fundamental failures of Western Christianity. The blind spot of separation begets and perpetuates a multitude of ‘us-them’ divisions, including and especially religious divisions, that are destroying our lives and the planet. Moreover, this assumption necessarily makes our faith a work we do that relates us to an absent Jesus, rather than a mind-boggling, liberating, hope-begetting discovery of the reality of his union with us and with all creation.

Such a Jesus may make perfect sense to us in our individualistic mindset, but I contend that it betrays the Jesus of the apostles and of the early church. The apostolic Jesus is the Father’s eternal Son, and the One anointed in the Spirit, and he is the One in and through and by whom all things were created and are constantly sustained. These three fundamental truths about Jesus Christ have rarely been held together with the incarnation. And failure here has fueled the oppressive racial, relational, sexual, ecological, environmental, religious, and political and social hell we find ourselves in today.

Baxter Kruger

Cross or Throne

 Seated with Christ

First Corinthians 6:17 says, “but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” We are one with Christ. We are as Christ. We are seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. All things have been put under our feet.

The trouble with us is that we’ve preached a “cross” religion, and we need to preach a “throne” religion. By that I mean that people have thought they were supposed to remain at the cross. Some have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, have backed up to the cross, and have stayed there ever since

We’ve sung, “near the cross, near the cross.” Yes, we need to come by the cross for salvation, but we don’t need to remain there; let’s go on to Pentecost, the Ascension, and the Throne!

The cross is actually a place of defeat, whereas the resurrection is a place of triumph. When you preach the cross, your preaching death, and you leave people in death. We died all right, but were raised with Christ. We're seated with Him. Positionally, that’s where we are right now: we're seated with Christ in the place of authority in heavenly places.

Kenneth E. Hagin

Redemption

 People are thinking, feeling, willing beings. That is to say, our basic nature consists of cognition (mind), affections (emotions) and volition (well). Together these constitute a living soul. Human beings also have a body, relating us to the external world, and we have a spirit, through which we can relate to the spiritual realm and to God. We are thus tripartite beings - spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5; 23).

God is concerned with the whole person. It would be difficult to over emphasize this point. Many of our problems come from the mistaken idea that in salvation God rescues one part of us - our spirit - from general ruin, and abandons the rest. Nothing is further from the truth. God has always dealt with the whole person. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength. Sin as radically affected not only our spirit, but our mind, our will, and our emotions. But the wonderful news is that redemption reaches and recovers all those areas that sin has ruined.

Tom Marshall

Substitute

 The Substitute – Curry Blake

Jesus gave us His Name (the authorization to use His total authority over ALL manner of sickness and ALL manner of disease) so that we could substitute for Him while He is gone. Jesus came to remedy the sin situation (and everything connected to it), He came to show us the Father’s will and to show us how to walk so as to fulfill His will. Then, He commissioned us as His representatives to continue His ministry and mission until He returns. Then, He returned to HQ (Heaven) to wait until we finish our job. Healing is victorious warfare against our enemy, the devil, which happens to also be God’s enemy. Healing is not an added benefit, it is part of the salvation Jesus purchased for us. In the area of theatre, the main star always has an understudy. The understudy has to learn the same part, the same lines as the main star so that they can fill in if the main star isn’t available to play their part. Everyone knows it’s not the exact same person, but it is the same role. This is the position Jesus put us in. This is still His ministry, its just Act 2 of the same play (literally Acts 2). 

Years ago, there was a movie in which a Country Music star quit performing, and since there were concerts still contracted to perform, they had to find a “stand-in” to imitate the star. This person literally had to impersonate the original star. Again, this is similar to the position Christians are in today. I know my analogies aren’t perfect, but remember, I’m just the stand-in. Jesus was the master at parables. In 1981, I had a poster board tacked to the inside of our house front door, it read: “You may be the only ‘Jesus’ some people ever see.” It was a reminder as I left my house of how I was supposed to behave and speak. 

Too often, Christians remain captured by the traditions of men in the area of our relationship with God. Instead of being true “New Creations” with the Heavenly Father, they simply live as “old covenant” proselytes with a God. Usually, the God they serve is more like Zeus than Jehovah. This kind of Christian differs very little from the the religious Jews that were always trying to “not make God mad” rather than living in the freedom of a Son. As “New Creations,” we get to live our lives with the same power and joy and freedom as Jesus did. We get to do the same works Jesus did. We get to do even greater works than Jesus did. This is not some burdensome yoke put on us by some cruel taskmaster. This is the freedom to enjoy living life without fear or worry. Living life like this is having so much life in abundance that we are able to go about doing good and healing ALL that are oppressed of the devil, FOR GOD IS WITH US! Imagine if your mind was so renewed to God’s Word that when you saw a need, you simply reached out to help without wondering “What if it doesn’t work?” 

The apostles in the Book of Acts went about doing good and healing, setting captives free, and preaching the Good News, just like their Mentor, Jesus, did. They were just substituting for Him. They knew they weren’t “Him,” but they believed Him. They believed what He said strong enough that they obeyed Him and did what they had seen Him do. You never see them wondering if it was God’s will to heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. You never see them talking to God about healing someone. They just did it. Then, they told people that Jesus was the One that supplied the power to do it. Why did they have such conviction? Because they believed what He had said to them. 

I remember back from years ago, when everyone was saying “What Would Jesus Do? That’s all the apostles did. They went around doing what Jesus would do if He were there physically. Guess what? He is here physically, in you. You are His Body. If you don’t lay hands on people, they aren’t going to have hands laid on them and they probably won’t get healed. Be His substitute. Some might say, “But you don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve done. To which I say…“You don’t know what Jesus did!!!” Whatever He did outdid whatever you did. Get over yourself. Get you off your mind. Do what He said to do. Become obedient. Jesus didn’t say, sit around and remember all the stupid bad things you’ve done. The Scripture says, “Think on these things…” (Phil. 4:8). The Scripture says, “Looking to Jesus…” (Heb. 12:2). The Scripture says, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus…” (Phil. 2:5). He gave YOU His Word, His power, His Spirit. He, Himself, has supplied you with everything you need to get the job done that He has given YOU to do. Be His substitute… at least until He gets here. 

Note these FACTS

1. Discover that God created you to be like Him. Gen. 1:27

2. Discover that when sin entered the human family through Adam and Eve, Gen. 3 God did not want you to die for your sins, 2 Pet. 3:9 though His law prescribed that the wages of sin is death. Rom. 6:23

3. Discover that He loved you too much to let you die. Jn. 3:16 He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to assume all of the legal punishment, judgment and condemnation for every sin you ever committed. 2 Cor. 5:21 

4. Discover that since Jesus suffered all the punishment for your sins and paid all of your debt when He died in your place on the cross, you were freed from all guilt and judgment, Rom. 8:32-33 because no crime can be judged twice and no debt can be paid twice.

5. Discover that God paid that supreme price for you to prove how much He values you and how much He wants to share His life with you. Eph. 2:13-16; Isa. 53

6. Discover that since your sins are punished and your debt is paid in full by the life and blood of Jesus Christ, Rev. 1:5 you are free, and no longer guilty —if you only believe that Christ died in your place. Col. 1:20-22; Rom. 3:22; Psa. 34:22

7. Discover that since your sins are remitted forever Ac. 10:43; Mat. 26:28 and since there is nothing to separate you from God, Isa. 59:12; Rom. 8:38-39 now when you confess and receive Jesus Christ, Rom. 10:9-10 you are allowing God to come home to you—you and He are able to walk together again Eph. 2:13 like Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden of Eden before they sinned against Him. Gen. 3:8

8. Discover that through what Christ suffered on your account, there is nothing left for you to suffer; no judgment, no guilt, no condemnation. Tit. 3:5-7; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9 You are justified before God. Rom.5:1 A child said: “I am just-as-if-I’d never sinned!”

9. Discover that now, the moment you accept these facts in your heart and believe them and confess Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, you are saved, converted, redeemed, restored, made whole, uplifted, blessed, accepted, renewed, regenerated, reborn to the same kind of God life for which you were originally created. Ac. 2:21; 4:12 All of that is what the Bible calls salvation. 1 Th. 5:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; Heb. 5:9

Converted

 Once we have been converted:

We become sons and daughters of God. Jn. 1:12

We belong to His family.

We are recreated in His image.

We are born again.

We are hooked up with deity.

Discover

 DISCOVER THE VALUE God places upon you.

Stop condemning yourself, then you can stop condemning

others.

Start believing in what God has created you to be, then you

can start believing in God’s love plan for others.

You are of Value

 I AM CREATED in God’s likeness.

I am important in God’s eyes.

He believes in me and He trusts me.

He loves me and He needs me as much as

He loves or needs anyone else on earth.

He paid as much for me as He paid for any other

human person who ever lived

We Need Mercy

 

It is Finished

 

Walk in the Dark

 

Living in the World

 

A Prayer from 2015 - 01

 Let's pray together,  Heavenly Father, indeed how great Thou art, how great You are in so many ways. 

 Creation declares Your variety, Your creativity, Your beauty.  Creation speaks to us.  Just as the heavens declare the glory of God, everything about Your creation, about the universe, speaks to us so much about Yourself and all about Your power.  

And then of course the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us about Your person, that You are a God of grace, that You are a God of mercy, that You are a God of love.  That You are a God who heals, who wants to restore. 

Your a God that is so patient and understanding. Your one who wants to enter into our lives and be part of our lives, and wants to be the source of our lives.  How great Thou art.  That's the God that we worship.  

Not a God whose word is in stone, but a God who is person.  A God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  A God who understands community, understands love poured forth. Love that gives to another, love that wants the best for the other.  How great Thou art. And when You saw that we had gone astray, when You saw us falling short, when You saw that we had been separated from You relationally, 

You didn't leave it there, You came Yourself, in the person of Jesus, and You removed every obstacle that stood between us and Yourself.  What a wonderful God, how great Thou art.  And then You never left as is orphans, You came by the power of Your spirit,  to dwell within us.  

And You enable us and empower us, to do that which we can't do, to live a life that is pleasing, to have victory in every area of our lives, not be defeated by depression, not defeated by bad temper, criticism, groaning, moaning, and complaint.  No You came to enable us to have a life that is full of the fruit of the spirit, of love joy and peace.  

What a wonderful God, how great Thou art.  Mighty God this morning we love You, this morning because of of all that You've done, and all Your doing in each of us.  So thank You heavenly Father.  We praise You this morning and may You enjoy and rejoice, and may Your heart be blessed as You see Your people here this morning.   In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.

Good News ·Restoration

God has provided for our restoration to Him.

We can regain the personal relationship with Him that was abrogated when Adam and Eve disobeyed His Word. 

The price has been paid for the restoration of our own human dignity. 

It is all summed up in the word righteousness.

The message of the gospel is that God has charged our sins to Christ’s account, and has now credited His righteousness to our account.  2Cor.5:21 

Consequently, we can stand in God’s presence with all the legal rights of a Royal Family Member—a child of God.   Jn. 1:12

The Living Bible says: God showed His great love by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners…and now He has declared us not guilty…

Since, when we were His enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of His Son, what blessings He must have for us now that we are His friends and He is living within us! Now we rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in dying for our sins—making us friends of God.Rom.   5:8-11 LB

Peter wrote: Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.   1st Pet.2:24

Free Again

FREE AGAIN THE BIBLE SAYS: 

The Lord [is] our righteousness. Jer.23:6 

It teaches that our sins have been transferred to the account of Jesus, and that His righteousness has now been credited to our account.   2Cor.5:21 

The Living Bible says: For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us.  2Cor.5:21LB

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forth to be a propitiation [effecting reconciliation] through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of our sins.   Rom.3:24-25 

New Covenant Confession

 New Covenant Confession

Lord Jesus, You open the way for me to know God personally,

You came back from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in me,

Now the ministry that You began is continuing through me,

Religion distorted God’s image, but You revealed what He is like,

He created me to be like Him, I am His offspring, 

You are my model, I choose to emulate You,

The life that You live is the life that I now live,

The Spirit that anointed You now functions in me,

Understanding that unlocks Your miracle life in me,

God did His work in You, now it continues in me,

You came to do God’s will, now His will continues through my life,

Religion is a ritual, Your miracle life is alive in me,

My mission is to share Your life and love with others.

Jesus, You began to do and teach a new way to God

You showed me His life and love in action, 

Thank You!

Your miracle life is unlocked in me.

Hallelujah!

Example

 

At Rest - Poem at my Mother's funeral

 One at Rest

Think of me as one at rest for me you should not weep . I have no pain, no troubled thoughts for I am just asleep. 

The living thinking me that was is now forever still . And life goes on without me as time forever will. 

If your heart is heavy now because I’ve gone away . Dwell not long upon it, friend for none of us can stay. Those of you who liked me I sincerely thank you all .  

And those of you who loved me I thank you most of all. 

The answer to life’s riddle in life I never knew .  I go with hope that now I will and even so will you. 

Oh, foolish, foolish me that was I who was so small . To have wondered, even worried at the mystery of it all. 

And in my fleeting lifespan as time went rushing by .  I found some time to hesitate to laugh, to love, to cry. 

Matters it now if time began if time will ever cease? .  I was here, I used it all and now I am at peace.

The Optimist Creed

 I found this in my mother's bible:

I promise myself to be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet.

To make all my friends feel like there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living person I meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of myself that I ave no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, and too strong for fear, and to happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Others May - You Cannot

 Others Can – You Cannot

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life

of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience,

that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, 

and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, 

may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans.

but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure

and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successors,

of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing,

and if you begin it, He will lead you into a deep mortification

that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, 

or may have a legacy left to them,

but it is likely God will keep you modest and humble,

because He wants you to have something far better than gold,

namely, a helpless dependence upon him,

that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day 

out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honoured and put forward, 

but keep you hidden in obscurity,

because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory,

which can only be produced in the shade.

He may let others be great, but keep you small.

He may let others to do a work for him and get the credit for it,

but He will request that you work and toil on without knowing 

how much you are doing;

and then to make your work still more precious 

He may then let others get credit

for the work which you have done, and thus make

your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love,

and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time,

which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind

that God is an infinitely Sovereign Being, and has a right to do as He

pleasers with his own. He may not explain to you a thousand things 

which puzzle your reason in his dealings with you, 

but if you absolutely sell yourself to be his love slave,

He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you

many blessings which come only to those who are truly his elect and chosen ones.

Settle it for ever, then that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit,

and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue,

or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes,

in ways that He does not seem to use with others.

Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are,

in the secret place of your heart,

pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, 

jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life,

then you will have found the divine pathway towards heaven.

Word of Praise

 

Histories Greatest Event

 No event in history is more significant than the resurrection. It is not just His resurrection, it is also yours.

Christ not only died for you, He died AS YOU. When He died you died. Paul taught that we were crucified with Christ, buried with Christ and risen with Christ.

“I am crucified with Christ.” When He rose you rose! And that is why we are told we are invited to seek those things that are above where we are seated with Him in heavenly places. “If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God.”

As I write these words I am reminded that I have such a shallow revelation and appreciation of all that is implied in the substitutionary death, burial and resurrection of Christ. There are layers here that we seldom fathom.

For instance, what we’re Jesus first words when He was seen on the third day? “I go to My Father and YOUR FATHER, to My God and YOUR GOD.” In a way that was totally unique, even different than before the resurrection, we now have a relationship with God as our heavenly FATHER. Just like Jesus had during His earthly ministry. Being “in Christ” puts you into a new level of relationship with the Godhead. The new birth makes you a “partaker of the divine nature.” You have the DNA of God in your born again spirit. You are now a child of God not merely a fallen creation of God.

That’s why this is GOOD NEWS for you and me and all who are IN HIM who came out of that tomb on the third day. The resurrected Christ lives inside you.

That’s why you know you’ll be resurrected. Paul said that “Christ IN YOU” is “the hope of glory.” What hope? What glory? The hope of a glorified body just like His. Did you know that you have a supernatural SEAL on your spirit? When Jesus died, the Romans put a seal on the tomb of Christ to make it secure as government property. Likewise God put a seal on you as His Government property. “You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14

What is “the earnest”? Earnest money is what you put down as a deposit on a property you purchase. The Holy Spirit in you, Christ in you, is the seal and deposit that guarantees your salvation and the full purchased redemption of your body.

What was the payment made for you as His property? The blood of Jesus. The blood purchased you, the water washes you clean and the Spirit fills you. These three bear witness of what I’m saying: “the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.” 1 John 5:8

~ Lance Wallnau

Growing Old

 

Working for God?

Are you busy "working for God" at your church, in your community, or with a ministry? If so, be careful not to let the work define you or become the source of your self-esteem. I've met many Believers who "work for God" and get their need for acceptance and self-acceptance met through their work. In fact, they need the work. Take the work away from them and they'll become depressed. You see, Jesus wasn't the source from whom they were generating esteem; it was the work.

Paul's work was removed from him the last few years of his life. His goal for evangelizing Spain disappeared. He was a goal-oriented, hard worker, but he didn't get depressed over the lost goal. He wrote his most encouraging letters from prison, a place of "no achievement." He was able to do this because he wasn't satisfying his need for self-esteem through achieving tangible goals. His overriding, major goal was "that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). He drew even closer to this goal while experiencing the inactivity of prison life.

Again, I challenge you, Christian. What is the source of your acceptance of yourself -- your self-esteem? How are you getting your needs satisfied on earth? What or who is the source of your purpose in life? How much can the Lord remove from you and you'll continue to praise Him and rest in the passionate acceptance that is yours in Christ?

Why are you here? Some say it's to "work for God." Consider what my friend Tom Grady asks,

"Is that the reason you and your spouse had kids? So they could shoulder part of the work around the house? I imagine you planned for children so you could experience the joy of loving them and receiving love from them in return. To delight in them and in their victories, and to comfort them in their defeats. In short, to develop an intimate relationship with them."

That's the kind of relationship God wants with you!

The notion that God recreated you in Christ to get more work out of you is such a low view of our Father. God wants you to adopt Paul's life verse: "that I may know Him [Christ]" (Philippians 3:10). As you pursue that goal, spiritual fruit will begin to drop off of you to the glory of Christ. Men asked Jesus, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:28,29).

Telos of all Creation

 

On this Day (Good Friday)

 Good Friday and what God was doing in Christ: On this day, God demonstrated his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

On this day, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us.

On this day, God reconciled to himself all things in heaven and on earth through Christ by the blood of the cross.

On this day, Christ, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

On this day, Christ the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.

On this day, Christ the Mercy Seat took away the sins of the world.

On this day, Christ died for our sins, fulfilling the Scriptures.

On this day, Christ made cleansing for our sins.

On this day, Christ freed us from our sins.

On this day, Christ ransomed us from all bondage.

On this day, Christ cancelled out the “handwriting of requirements” that was against us, nailing it to the cross.

On this day, Christ disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

On this day, Christ judged the world, driving out the “prince of this world,” and now draws all people everywhere to himself.

On this day, Christ destroyed the works of the devil, breaking their power.

On this day, Christ broke the power of him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil.

On this day, the righteous act of Christ resulted in justification and life for all.

On this day, we were crucified with Christ, to make us alive to God with him.

By the Incarnation

 From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (2 Corinthians 5:16)

The gospel changes how we view every human being. The cross certainly does, for Christ died for all of us. And referring to the cross, Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” That being so, we can no longer look at each other through the lens of “us” and “them.” That lens is a “worldly” point of view, how the world determines things. But it is a failed way of seeing each other, and the cross of Christ puts the lie to it. There is no “us” and “them,” but only those for whom Christ died, which is everyone.

Along with the cross, we must also consider the Incarnation, through which the death of Christ could be effective for any of us and, by the same reason, was effective for all of us. For it is through the Incarnation that God joined himself with all humankind; in Jesus Christ, divinity and humanity became one. All the fullness of divinity dwells in Christ in bodily form, in whom also all the fullness of humanity dwells, so that, in Christ, we are made complete and become partakers of the divine nature.

In the Incarnation, Christ did not just become one of us, or even just one like us, but he became one with us. This union does not depend upon anything we have done or ever could do; it does not even depend upon our faith. Rather, it depends upon Christ and his faithfulness, who is completely faithful. It is this union that made the cross of Christ effective for every one of us, so that Paul could say, “one died for all, and therefore all died.”

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Christ died, therefore all died. This could only have been possible because of the Incarnation. Indeed, the Incarnation made the cross inevitable, because the one who has joined himself to us is Life and would therefore confront the human mortality to which we are all subject. And in confronting death, he overcame it, even as light overcomes darkness. The death of Christ is our death and his victory, our victory, so that his life has now become our life. This is true of every one of us because of the inclusive nature of the Incarnation.

This is why Paul could say, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” Paul had once considered Christ from a death-bound point of view, but then having met the living Christ on the way to Damascus, he could no longer see him that way. Christ, who died for all, had been raised from the dead for all, and the death-bound perspective of the world no longer made any sense.

“Therefore,” Paul says, “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Elsewhere, Paul calls Christ the “firstborn over all creation” and the “firstborn from among the dead” (Colossians 1:15,18). Christ, by whom, for whom and through whom all things were created, and in whom all things consist, became part of his creation, joining himself to us through the Incarnation. When Christ died, all creation died; when Christ was raised from the dead, all creation was raised to new life with him. The new creation has come!

When Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ,” he is not suggesting that there are two groups: those who are in Christ (“us”), and those who are not (“them”). That is the old, worldly point of view that has been done away by the gospel. Rather, all are in Christ, for when Christ died, all died. Paul could not have asserted that all died when Christ died unless all were in Christ. But the “if” in Paul’s statement makes a logical connection and shows what it means that we are in Christ, that we have new life and are part of the new creation.

We see this same dynamic at work elsewhere in Paul’s letters. In Romans 5:18, for example, he says, “Just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.” The one trespass was Adam’s, and it resulted in condemnation for all, because all were in Adam. The one righteous act was Christ’s and resulted in justification and life for all people, because all are in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul says, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Paul sees everyone as being in Christ, as having died with Christ, as having been raised to new life with Christ, and even as having been seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:4-6).

So, for those who are in Christ, which is all of us, the new creation has come, and we are part of it. This is why we can no longer view each other through the old way of the world.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

In Christ, the whole world has been reconciled to God, and God has not counted our sins against any of us. All are forgiven, and this has been demonstrated at the cross. The good news of the gospel is the announcement of that reconciliation and forgiveness — our at-one-ment, as the word “atonement” literally means.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

This reconciliation is objectively true, but clearly, not all have known it or experienced it. Our subjective response to it is a matter of faith, but our faith does not make it true, nor does our lack of faith undo the truth of it. It is objectively true of us that we are in Christ and reconciled to God whether or not we have any subjective sense of it or response to it. The work of evangelism, of bringing that message of reconciliation, is so that others may begin to know and experience what has been done for us in Christ and live in the truth of our fellowship with God.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God was in Christ, and Christ became sin for us. This happened in the Incarnation. In Christ, God became a human being (though no less God), joining himself with all humankind, even at our very worst, taking all our darkness, all our brokenness, all our shame into himself. For whatever in us he did not join himself to, he could not deliver us from.

Why did God do this? So that in Christ we would become the righteousness of God. In Christ, we have, and are, God’s own righteousness. Not by imputation, nor by impartation, but by Incarnation. That is, this righteousness is not a legal fiction, or something that is merely reckoned to our account (imputation). Nor is it merely something imparted to us, as if it were some discrete substance delivered to us from the outside. But we have it by the Incarnation, in which we participate in Christ and Christ participates in us. By that participation, then, we participate in God’s righteousness. We share in it because we share in Christ and Christ shares in us.

Because we are in Christ, chosen in him from before the creation of world (Ephesians 1:3), and have been reconciled in him, have died with him, have been raised with him and seated with him in the heavenlies, and share with him in the righteousness of God, we can no longer see each other through the old eyes of the world. The gospel changes that, giving us new eyes to see.

Christ our True Nature

We are already in Christ as much as we are ever going to be, and Christ is already in us as much as he is ever going to be — which is 100%! It is irrevocably so because to undo it would require undoing the Incarnation, in which Christ has united with all humankind. Indeed, it would require the dissolution of creation itself, for all things are created in Christ and hold together in him.

Our salvation in Christ is settled from the beginning. For Christ is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, and we are chosen in him from the beginning (Ephesians 1:4).

But there is a sense in which our salvation is progressive as we continue to be transformed, by the life of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us, in our experience of salvation and the redeemed nature we have in Christ.

And there is a sense in which our salvation is future, for we have yet to experience the transformation of our mortal, corruptible bodies into immortal, incorruptible bodies, like that of Christ in his resurrection.

Yet our identity in Christ remains the same throughout. We neither increase nor decrease in him, and he neither increases nor decreases in us. What increases is our awareness and experience of him and our awakening response to him. Our true nature in Christ remains constant, created in the image of God and to be like God, to participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

There is only one human nature, of which we all partake, and it is redeemed in Christ, by his participation in this nature with us. And though we do agree with God about sin, the things that do not belong in us and in our life (this is called confession), we do not agree with any false idea that we are of a sinful nature. For Christ is now our life (Galatians 2:20) and through the Incarnation, he shares with us in the only human nature there is and has healed it, so that Christ is our true nature. So instead of agreeing with the false idea that we have a sinful nature, we agree with the gospel, and with the Incarnation, which is foundational to the gospel.

Jeff Dole

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.