Settled Forever

Think God's Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 15:55:00 +0000

I awoke feeling weighed down by the cares of this world...seemingly impossible situations with no apparent way out. Gripped with fear, I began to pray in the Spirit and heard “My thoughts are not your thoughts…those are not My thoughts!”

I immediately went to Isaiah 55!

‘Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
“For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.” [Isaiah 55:6-13]

If my thoughts do not agree with His thoughts, His Word, I need to FORSAKE THEM! Renew my mind and put on the new self, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth!

‘…that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.’ [Ephesians 4:22-24]

God instructs the wicked to forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts…wait a minute! I’m not the unrighteous, I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ! [2 Corinthians 5:21]

But if I’m not thinking His thoughts, I am thinking like unrighteous, wicked and unregenerate man!

Paul said when we are fleshly, we walk as mere men! [1 Corinthians 3:3]

We are NOT mere men but ‘…born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of God. [1 Peter 1:23]

Strengthened with ALL MIRACLE WORKING POWER [Colossians 1:11].

When we think thoughts that are not HIs thoughts, we come down to the level of mere, unrighteous men. Not someone who is One Spirit with the Lord, not The Word multiplied!

That’s when we need to take every though captive to the obedience of Christ! [2 Corinthians 10:5] His obedience paid every debt, healed every disease, cleansed us from ALL unrighteousness and made us the righteousness of God in Him! We were crucified with Him, buried with Him in baptism, raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places! [Colossians 2, Ephesians 2].

‘But by HIS DOING you are IN Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,’ [1 Corinthians 1:30]
This was God’s doing…and Christ’s obedience made it so. His obedience redeemed us from the curse of the Law and made every promise of God YES to us! We died and Christ now lives in us…one Spirit with the Lord! If our thoughts don’t agree with the finished work of Jesus Christ, they are not God’s thoughts!
‘…knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.’ [Romans 6:6]
‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on A tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.’ [Galatians 3:13,14]
’…as He is, so also are we in this world.’ [1 John 4:17]
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.’ [1 Corinthians 3:16]

So what we to do?
Mediate on HIs precious and magnificent promises.

‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.’ [2 Peter 1:2-4]
‘’And do not be conformed to this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT.’ [Romans 12:2]
‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
'Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. [Philippians 4:4-8]
‘“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate [hagah—moan, growl, utter, speak, muse] on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”’ [Joshua 1:8]
‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.’
[Proverbs 3:5,6]

Renew your mind to think God’s thoughts. Understand what the will of God is for every one of His sons and daughters…

‘Beloved, I pray that in ALL RESPECTS you may PROSPER and BE IN GOOD HEALTH, JUST AS YOUR SOUL PROSPERS.’ [3 John 2]

Our mind, our thoughts, are in our soul. Forsake your thoughts and renew them with God’s thoughts and prosper in your soul!

One of HIs thoughts is that every promise of His is YES in Him …one of our thoughts is ’sometimes the answer is no…’

‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20-22]
‘...but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
[1 Corinthians 15:57]

Forsake your thoughts and think God’s thoughts. He has given you the Mind of Christ!

Bless Yourself
Be like Jabez…

‘Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” AND GOD GRANTED HIM WHAT HE REQUESTED.’ [1 Chronicles 4:10]
‘So [it shall be] that he who INVOKES A BLESSING ON HIMSELF IN THE LAND SHALL DO BY SAYING, MAY THE GOD OF TRUTH AND FIDELITY [THE AMEN] BLESS ME; and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth and faithfulness to His promises [the Amen], because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes.’ [Isaiah 65:16 AMPC]

Why would He do any of that? ‘…because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from My eyes.’

Psalm 103:12 says He has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. Because He sees only Jesus in us, not our old crucified, dead and buried selves!

He IS the God of truth and faithfulness to His promises…THE AMEN. And Revelation 3:14 tells us that JESUS is THE AMEN!

One of God’s thoughts is that we are One Spirit with the Lord…heirs of God and fellow or joint heirs with Christ. Another is that He has filled us with His very own Spirit, and that with Him all things are possible.

A couple of our thoughts are that God is watching from a distance and that He might not deliver us this time...

So train yourself to catch those unrighteous, negative thoughts as soon as you notice them…here’s a hint: if you feel fear, dread, anxiety, worry or depression, you are NOT thinking God’s thoughts. Go immediately to His Word and meditate on His wonderful promises. If you can’t think of any, go to Psalm 3, 20-23, 25, 27 34-37 or 91. Or 103 or 107.

And don’t get too hung up on who the promise was given to initially and whether or not you qualify…

‘“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” [Luke 7:28]

That means Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon…NO ONE greater than John the Baptist except for the lowliest born-again child of God. Even me—that’s one of His thoughts.

‘‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN to the glory of God through us.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]

His Ways
AND GET THIS…this is right off the wire! Not only are these His thoughts, but He also SAID THEM. Just like He SAID ‘Light be’ and light was, in Genesis 1! Just like HIs promise that a Child would be given, a Savior born. AND JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD, and we are The Word multiplied.

‘“So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will NOT return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”’ [Isaiah 55:11]

That IS His way...Jesus demonstrates it throughout His ministry and then told us to do it, too! Speak to mountains and trees and money and sick bodies! That is THE way the world works...all things were made by and for Him, and He IS The WORD!

Our way is to call things that are what they are, in the natural, without any hope of being able to change anything. NOT God’s way.

‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.’
[Proverbs 18:21]

So think His thoughts—be transformed by the renewing of your mind—and do things His way. Bless yourself in the earth by His already-answered-yes promises!

‘“Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
“Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
“The beasts of the field will glorify Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My chosen people.
“The people whom I formed for Myself
Will declare My praise.”’ [Isaiah 43:18-21]

Hallelujah!

Related posts: Think Like God, Think Like God 2, Think Like Jesus

Was Jesus Rich or Poor?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 15:41:00 +0000

I’ve heard many things regarding the financial status of Jesus when He walked in the earth.

Those who thought He was rich point to the guards gambling for His clothes—who would gamble for rags? Or the fact that He had a treasurer—would a poor man need someone to watch the money? Or the fact that many rich women supported His ministry, or that He and Joseph had a successful carpentry business before He began His ministry.

Those who say He was poor say He had nowhere to lay His head—their literal translation of that phrase has Him sleeping on a park bench somewhere, covered in newspaper. Or those who say Mary’s offering for Him as a baby was a poor person’s offering—turtledoves instead of a lamb.

But the reason I know He was rich was that a curse without cause cannot alight. [Proverbs 26:2] Wealth accompanies righteousness.

Because as many as are the promises of God, IN HIM they are yes [2 Corinthians 1:20] and there is no time limit, either back or forward, in that verse.

Because in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [Colossians 2:3]—read the book of Proverbs to see what those might be. Hint: they’re not poverty or lack… He was without sin—so the curse, or penalty of sin as described in Deuteronomy 28 or anywhere else in the Old Covenant could not alight on Him…and that curse includes not only sickness but poverty, lack and debt as well. [Deuteronomy 28:15-68]

We don’t read anywhere in the New Covenant that He was ever sick. Why would we assume that He was poor? And while Mary and Joseph may have been poor to start with—the Bible doesn’t really say—the Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, enough for them to make the trip to Egypt and live there for 2 years without becoming slaves or worse.

Poor people would not have been able to make that trip, whether their provision and protection came from the wealth the Magi brought or from the supernatural provision of God…either way, they were not poor.

You see, the riches HAD to come, because the Word states that there is great wealth in the house of the righteous…wealth and riches are in his HOUSE! [Psalm 112:3, Proverbs 15:6]

In fact, that’s why the wise men brought riches to Him—the Word had to be fulfilled in His life, and they were one of the conduits of the fulfillment of those promises! We know that the Word does not describe every detail of Jesus’ life—John said if all the things He did were written, the world itself would not contain the books that would be written. [John 21:25]

He wasn't on the earth very long before people were bringing him wealth. And the three wise guys with little boxes theory has pretty much been debunked...it was evidently a caravan or wealth-laden camels. No where in the Word does it say three.

So we can assume that we don’t know everything about His life, either. Jesus WAS the Word made flesh, and that included every blessing and none of the curse, because He was the righteousness of God and without sin. So if God’s word was going to be true for anyone, it would’ve been true for Him.

He WAS every blessing, the SEED of Abraham. And we know that Abraham wasn’t poor by any standard. If God blessed Abraham, who lied about his wife twice and let her go to a king’s harem to save his own skin, how much more would He bless the Son of His love? AND we are One Spirit with the Lord!

What about 2 Corinthians 8:9?

‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.’

Most people explain that as a factor of His laying aside His heavenly glory to come to earth as a mere man, and I think that it does mean that. But nowhere in that passage does it say that it means only that! If you’ve spent any time in the Bible, you know that each word has layer upon layer of meaning.

The same sacrifice that bought our salvation and healing also made us rich. The Blessing of Abraham has come upon us in Christ Jesus.

Another point of view

Let’s look at it another way…what’s wrong with Jesus being rich?

Wealth and riches are obviously a blessing of God—read the Old Covenant, and Jesus perfectly fulfilled it!

No, we’ve been brainwashed—hoodwinked by a lie! And why do you suppose that is? Because if we believe that Jesus was poor, we’d have to accept poverty as part of the Christian life. If we believe that He was rich, we’d have to come to grips with the fact that once born again, the same reasons for His wealth would apply to us as well.

We’ve been deceived that righteous wealth is bad…that rich people are inherently bad and poor people inherently good. If you think poverty is so wonderful, take a look at 12-year-old girls selling themselves to feed their families in third world nations. Or mothers who can’t produce enough milk to keep their babies alive. Or children with the distended bellies of starvation.

Do you really think that’s what God planned for Jesus? For us?

Why would Jesus have to die to redeem us from the penalty of sin if that penalty or curse was part of His will for us? How is it that we have fallen for such heinous heresies? Let’s face it…poor, sick Christians can’t do much in the earth for the Kingdom. And if we really examine ourselves, deep down, we don’t want to be poor or sick.

Why?

Because we know better. Because we’re one Spirit with the Lord, and as He is, so also are we in this world. [1 Corinthians 6:17, 1 John 4:17]

Because we have an anointing from Him which teaches us all things [1 John 2:20, 27] and Jesus became to us wisdom from God [1 Corinthians 1:30]

We have the mind of Christ [1 Corinthians 2:16]. We know inherently that poverty and disease and every other evil is not part of our salvation [Gr. soteria—look it up] and we know that His will is for us to reign in life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness! [Romans 5:17]

Because we are one Spirit with the Lord and we just know. That’s why we spend so much time trying to better ourselves—we know instinctively what is good and what is not.

Wrapping it up…

Okay, okay, enough ranting. I know that Jesus wasn’t poor because God cannot lie, period. And I also know that it is not His will for us to be poor, either, no matter how many sermons are preached to the contrary.

Because as He is, so also are we in this world. Because we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Him [2 Corinthians 5:21] and a curse without cause cannot alight.

Hallelujah!

Thoughts on the New Birth [repost]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 16:27:00 +0000

There’s so much good content from earlier years, I thought I’d start re-posting it. Got lots of good new stuff, too, coming soon!

It seems to me that most of the teaching we as Christians get is God-outside oriented…He’s out there or up there, somewhere, and we need a touch from Him. ‘Oh please pass by, oh please touch us, we need you so…’ etc. etc.

But can we ever do the works that Jesus did, or greater works because He went to the Father until we really grasp the New Birth? That we, the unworthy ones, were actually crucified with Him, buried with Him in baptism, raised up together with Him and seated In Him in heavenly places?

How can we possibly be filled up to all the fullness of God if we don’t understand that there’s only One Spirit in these earthen vessels, and that is the Spirit of the Living God? The Word teaches that we are One Spirit with Him—not two spirits cohabiting the same temple, not the old us with some sort of Divine hitchhiker…as He is so are we in the world! Not as He was—not a prophet functioning under the Old Covenant, but as He is, now, seated at the right hand of God…Hebrews 13 says we’re already there! And the books of Ephesians and Colossians agree!

Anointed

I heard a full gospel preacher say, in the pulpit, that he was not anointed of God. But the Word says we all have an anointing from the Holy One and this anointing teaches us all things so that we have no need of a teacher! That we know all things! Not only is every preacher anointed but every Christian is! [I wanted to yell ‘Then please sit down!'…but didn’t]

So what is the problem? Our minds must be renewed so that we can be transformed—renewed to what? To the reality of the New Birth…that our old, unworthy, needy, ‘Oh Jesus please help me’ spirit is DEAD! And we’ve been made alive…a new race of God-inside creatures, capable of walking in ALL the fullness of God!

Yet we are so fixated on the Old Covenant. Yes, it was given for examples to us, and yes, the prophecies, promises and wisdom are for us, but we are not those people! They were spiritually dead, and the blessings of God had to be poured out on them through covenants…blessings of strict obedience, anointings of prophet, priest, king [usually not on the same person].

But we all have the trifold anointings…prophet, priest, king—just like Jesus, our elder brother, our joint-heir had…and we are absolutely called to reign and rule upon the earth. But we cannot do that in any measure until we know that that is our true and holy calling…that we are, in fact, the BODY of Christ in the earth. In the New Covenant, the blessings are to come from the inside, through our Spirit out into the world.

Made Complete

Yet we continually ask our Father to rain down the blessings from without, from some place out there where He sits, separate from us, administering good to some and ill to others, to teach us or to make us humble. But how can withhold from Himself? How can he punish Himself? Hasn’t that already been done, at the cross, for all who will receive it? Hasn’t the payment been made once for all?

The truth is we are all already healed, already rich, already delivered. We just don’t know it yet, and certainly very few ministers are telling us. We’ve already passed from judgment into life—yes, we will give an account of everything done in the Body, but most Christians are dreading Judgment Day because they have no idea that they have been made complete already in Him.

Renew Your Mind

Renewing of the mind is key—no wonder satan has deceived us for so long. Great congregations, filled with younger brothers and sister of Jesus, filled with the Trinity [Jesus said He and the Father would come to live inside us, and They do so by the Holy Spirit], seated in real time in heavenly places in Christ at the right hand of God. Why?

To administer His kingdom on the earth! To bind and loose [or more accurately, forbid and permit], to hold back Satan so that we may evangelize the world—until we are taken up! To evangelize—not by hitting people over the head with the Four Spiritual Laws, but by proving what the good and acceptable will of God is. Not by being as sick and broke as they are, not by letting ourselves and our families be run over by every sickness and accident as they are, but by walking in all the fullness of God. Love, joy, peace—by enjoying our authority over all the power of the devil, by walking in the protection of the Blood and of the angels who are sent to serve us. By walking right through the murderous mob as Jesus did—He knew they had no authority over Him, and they have no authority over us, either.

Only until the heretical teachings of two millennia are exposed for what they are can we truly be one with Him—can we truly reign upon the earth, which is our calling, until it is the appointed time to leave. We are a glorified Church, without spot or wrinkle, in the Spirit—we just don’t know it, and no one is telling.

Blessed, but...

And when we do talk about blessings, it is with great restriction…only the lucky ones can really be rich, and that is with many restrictions and rules—only the lucky ones [we piously call it ‘blessed’] can be healed or delivered, and you’ll probably have to wait for that. Fast and pray and God just may squirt it on you…but of course, He may choose not to. Sometimes the answer is no…

What spiritual rubbish! The word says He always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus! The word says in Him all the promises of God are yes and amen! The only reason Christian people are poor and sick and in bondage is because they don’t know any better! Old Covenant people were stewards—slaves that owned nothing—but we are sons and daughters, heirs that own everything! All things belong to us, and we belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. God is not sick, nor is He broke, nor is He under the enemy’s dominion! And since He’s the only one in these reborn earthen vessels, we shouldn’t be, either. All things have already been given to us, richly to enjoy…

Yes, in the OT all the cattle on a thousand hills belonged to Him…but NOW they belong to us. We can say or sing that we own nothing, but it is not true. It just weakens us, crippling us from doing the work we're called to do.

Why? Because God is in us! Our spiritual DNA is His! We are born of God! But until our minds are renewed to ‘Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according the power that works within us, to Him be the Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever’ we cannot fulfill either our individual or corporate callings!

Glory
In my Bible, the heading before John 17:22 says ‘Their Future Glory.’ Sounds great, but it is not what Jesus said. To quote,

“The glory which You have given Me I HAVE given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and you in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

The glory is ours now, so that we can do our jobs—and even that idea falls short—the glory is ours because of who we are—the temple of God, which is always filled with His glory! And without the glory, the world will never see that God sent Jesus because He loves them as much as He loves Jesus. They will never see that, as He is, now, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, so are we in this world.

As long as we look like the world, as long as we, like them, believe that He is, to quote a terribly heretical song, ‘at a distance,’ killing children with cancer and accident, we will never do greater works than He did. As long as we continue to beg and plead and tell ourselves that we have no anointing, that we are separated from Him and believe that He is some whimsical yet sometimes benevolent despot, blessing some but not all, we will remain useless in the world.

Who are we, really?

The Word says for us to trim our lamps—to be ready. But so few are truly ready, because they’ve never been taught who they really are nor trained to use their spiritual authority or weapons. Yes, we’ve been told that we’re blessed, but with so many clauses and codicils that it’s hard to figure out exactly what we’ve been blessed with. We’re told to jettison some Old Covenant customs but to keep others…we are saddled with Old Covenant thinking in New Covenant bodies! Yes, David and Abraham and Solomon taught us many wonderful things, but they were dead! Yes, they had specific anointings to rule or prophesy but we are not them! We are the glorious church! We are God-filled vessels, walking about in the earth, expected to do our jobs!

I was in a church service a few weeks ago where a woman started shaking and screaming ‘Help me Jesus, help me’ over and over. She totally disrupted the service and was obviously under great duress…this is a woman who has no idea who she really is! And a group of elders came over and patted her hand and said ‘There, there’ until she calmed down. And she left still not knowing that she’d been made the righteousness of God in Christ! That she was One Spirit with the Lord, that she was clothed with Him in baptism.

She has the mind of Christ, but like all things spiritual, it is in the Spirit—and she has no earthly idea how to access it. She has no idea that she’s come to Mt. Zion, that she’s already seated in Him in heavenly places, that the phrase ‘what would Jesus do’ has vast implications for the Body of Christ and is not just a cheap plastic bracelet.

Unfortunately, whatever was bothering that poor woman is probably bothering her still. She may have had some momentary relief from the attention of the elders and her husband, but did she learn to rise up in authority and take dominion over the problem(s) facing her? She didn’t learn it that morning, and I fear that she has not learned it yet. So she suffers, under the delusion that she has yet to be delivered, and neither she nor anyone she comes into contact with will learn any different.

When we really start to mediate on who we are in Christ, what we have in Him, what our anointing and calling is in the earth, we will have to throw out about 90% of all sermons and praise songs. But it will be worth it, to raise up a people of authority in the earth, people who realize that God will allow what we allow, and will forbid what we forbid. People who learn how to walk in the Spirit, in love, in power, to really be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Who Do You Seek?

As Jesus said to Mary at the empty tomb, “Who do you seek?” Who do we seek? If we are One Spirit with Him, temples of the Living God, Kingdom of Heaven dwellers, seated together with Him, who exactly are we crying out to? Yes, the repentant will cry out to Him, but only once—once salvation is complete there is no more need to wail before Him . If we sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Period. Then we move on. This is a largely ignored truth these days—yet that is key to staying in fellowship with Him. We are One with Him but often not in fellowship with Him because we have no idea who we are, or for that matter, who He is.

I John 1 says ‘This is the message we have heard from Him, and announce to you, that God is Light, and In Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.’

It seems clear. If He is light, so are we. Jesus said at the beginning of His ministry that He was the Light of the world. Towards the end, He tells us that we are the light of the world. Sin is a function of the unrenewed mind and unregenerate flesh. Yet the word says the same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will make alive these mortal bodies…I know of very few Christians who are standing on that verse on a daily basis.

The key to it all is, I believe, Romans 8:1. ‘There is therefore NOW no condemnation for those who are IN Christ Jesus.’ There it is—short, very sweet and to the point. But we labor under false teaching s and heresies that tell us everything but. Poor us, we’re just sinners, saved by grace.

No. I WAS a sinner and I was SAVED by grace. The end. Now I’m a joint-heir with Jesus, filled with the Spirit of the God, called to reign upon the earth. A son called to do the work of My Father, fully equipped and authorized. We must lose the idea of separateness from Him if we are to truly understand these mysteries.

Ambassador

I am, in fact, an ambassador in a foreign land. My home country is the heavenly Mt. Zion, and it is from there I draw my provision and direction. And I notice that earthly embassies are the finest houses available—to demonstrate to the host nation the power and glory standing behind the ambassador. Even the poorest nations have fine embassies, lest the host nations think less of them. They are not subject to the laws of the host nation, but their allegiance and power come from their home.

So it is with us. We are ambassadors for Christ—in the natural, we are in this world, but in the Spirit we are seated in heavenly places. There is no time or place in the Spirit, and God has rested from His works. Revelations is going on around us, now, in the spiritual realm. Jesus is waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool…that is our job in the earth! But it is an impossible task for those who are not properly equipped.

Wake Up!

It is time to rise up…awake sleeper!

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
“For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.
“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” [Isaiah 60:1-3]

This is speaking of Jesus…not only Jesus as He walked in His earthly ministry, but Jesus as He is walking today in His earthly ministry. We ARE the Body of Christ in the earth! The Name of Jesus isn’t some cute little incantation we stick on the end of prayers in the hope that it will make them come to pass…it is who we are! We pray in the Name and we use the Name because it IS our Name! It is a legal reality, not an empty spell.

We are a beautiful sanctuary, a glorious resting place. Yet we walk as those without hope, because we have not been taught the reality of the New Birth. Yes, we know that we are saved from hell…unfortunately that is not enough to rule upon the earth, most especially at the end of the age. We are One with Him…we are One with Him, we are One with Him. Once we learn to interpret scripture in the light of that truth, heresies will begin to fall away…

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

To do this, we must behold the glory of the Lord…that is HOW we move from glory to glory. Not with sermon series on ‘How To Live’…but with meditation on the reality of who we are in Christ…and to do that, on Who He really is. We must come to know beyond any doubt that we have died and our lives are hidden with Him. We are One with Him—One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit—we have been made COMPLETE in Him, now and forever. Only then can we arise and be the glorious church in the earth.

I may look, on the outside, like someone you may know. But that is just my house. The spirit that used to live there was crucified in the 4th grade, sitting in the Junior Choir at Central Presbyterian, many years ago. The Spirit that lives there now is the Holy Spirit—the triune God, and the name that I wear now is JESUS. And I’ve been given His name, not as some superstition to tack onto the end of a prayer to ‘make’ it come true, but because I’m in Him and He’s in Me…the Father, too.

I realize, dear reader, that you are probably recoiling in shock. But read on…

It's Not What You Think...

Renew your mind. Clear away all heresies and error, all popular deceptions, all doctrinal rubbish that tells you that you are anything BUT the righteousness of God in Christ. Any idea that raises its head against the truth that He is in us, in fullness. That He could possibly withhold anything from Himself, and therefore from us. We must learn, now, to live in heavenly places, to draw from the kingdom, to walk in the Spirit.

We don’t need Jesus…we have Him—we are ONE SPIRIT with Him.

‘By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS HE IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.’ [1 John 4:17]

We don’t need a blessing, we are blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places IN CHRIST.

If IN CHRIST is where we are blessed, then we need to stay IN CHRIST. We need to live and work and walk IN CHRIST.

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, prayed this [and I believe that the Holy Spirit’s prayers have already been answered]:

“…that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with ALL POWER, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” [Colossians 1:9-11]

Doesn’t anybody READ this stuff? Really…doesn’t ANYBODY read this stuff? The aim of most traditional teachings is to tell us why it might not be for us, we must be careful, it doesn’t really mean what it says, it really means something else, we need to be humble, we shouldn’t want too much, blah, blah, blah…

It is time to grow up, to take our place, to bind satan and save the world. But this will not be done by poor, sick, weak Christians who have no idea whatsoever who they really are.

The good news is that it will be done, somehow…at some point we must rise up, because the Word says we will. So let it be now. Let it be now. Let us honor the sacrifice and all that it paid for. Let us be Jesus in the earth. Let us walk in power and authority as He walked. Let us be whole, spirit, soul and body—and let us lay aside excuses for our failures. Teach the truth—it pleased the Father to give us the kingdom, but we don’t always take it. We don’t always conquer our fear and doubt, we don’t always question the cultural heresies that ‘everything happens for a reason.’ That is in fact, true…but the reason is to kill us, to steal from us, or to destroy us, and it is NOT from God!

Authority

We’ve been given authority over all the power of the enemy, not as Jesus gave the disciples—that was a temporary anointing conferred upon them, as unregenerate men, to demonstrate His will for us and to give a taste of what was to come.. We have authority over all his power because of who we are and where we are seated…far above powers and principalities. We must learn to think as God thinks—we have the Mind of Christ, but we must train ourselves to access it.

Abraham was called the friend of God. We have songs that say we are the friends of God, but it isn’t true.

We are One with God—sons and daughters, a living entity filled up to His fullness. We just don’t know it.

While it sounds spiritual to say ‘I am a friend of God,’ it is a heresy wrapped in piety. As a friend of God we are powerless…as God in the Body of Christ we are all powerful. There’s a difference—it is time to stop settling for Old Covenant limitations and move on to the New Covenant realities.

Granted, it is hard to do, especially at first. The old ‘it can’t be, I’m unworthy, I must be humble’ beliefs will rear their ugly heads. We were unworthy, but now we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Christ. HE did it…it is HIS will that we be filled up to all the fullness of Himself…that we be rooted and grounded in love because HE is love…

This is HIS WILL, not something we’re trying to force on Him! This is actually the whole point of the Gospel! Jesus was the Word, but Acts says the Word multiplied daily! We are the Word in the earth…unfortunately, we don’t know it, so we don’t look like or act like the Word. Jesus was the Word—the fulfillment of the Word spoken through the ages…and so are we! If we can stop the clamoring in our heads that cries out ‘It can’t be so!’ we can truly humble ourselves under His Mighty Hand. To be humble is to accept His word and His will for our lives, and that is glory, pure and simple! He dreamed this up, and satan hates it and has worked for 2000 years to keep it shut under lock and key. But it is time now, to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

It is Time

It is time. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, that we be renewed in the spirits of our minds, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Lay aside falsehood, speak truth with each another, for we are members of one another.

It is through the renewing of our minds that we put on the new self…it is within our power to lay aside the old self—the old beliefs and corrupted thinking—and put on the new self. This is the express will of God.

The Church is so riddled by heresy and unbelief, however, that this can only be done through anointed teaching and massive re-education. Leaders who will accept the mantle of responsibility to teach what the Word really says instead of what they’ve been told it says, in spite of the stricter judgment they will incur. Leaders who will endure ridicule and venom… but who, like Jesus, will turn and walk through the crowd, knowing that they cannot be touched unless they allow it.

Awake sleeper. Arise, shine, for your light has come. Hallelujah!

Lambano

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 14:19:00 +0000

In many of the prayer passages in the Gospel, we are told to ask and we will receive.

Receive is a passive word, implying that we must passively sit by and wait until the answer comes.

But Thayer’s definition of the Greek word lámbanō used in these scriptures is much different. He defines it as an active participation—to take, lay hold of, take possession of, take what is one’s own!

Lambánō

to take
to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it
to take up a thing to be carried
to take upon one's self
to take in order to carry away, without the notion of violence, i.e. to remove, take away
to take what is one's own, to take to one's self, to make one's own
to claim, procure, for one's self
to associate with one's self as companion, attendant of that which when taken is not let go, to seize, to lay hold of, apprehend
to take by craft (our catch, used of hunters, fisherman, etc.), to circumvent one by fraud
to take to one's self, lay hold upon, take possession of, i.e. to appropriate to one's self
catch at, reach after, strive to obtain
to take a thing due, to collect, gather (tribute)
to take
to admit, receive
to receive what is offered, not to refuse or reject
to receive a person, give him access to one's self
to regard any one's power, rank, external circumstances, and on that account to do some injustice or neglect something
to take, to choose, select
to take beginning, to prove anything, to make a trial of, to experience
to receive (what is given), to gain, get, obtain, to get back

Now we know that all things belong to us, that we’re joint-heirs with Jesus and heirs of Abraham’s. [Romans 8:17, Galatians 3:29] And we also know that the Father has given us all things richly to enjoy—that He has freely given us the kingdom. [1 Timothy 6:17, Luke 12:32]

And we further know that all things belong to us [1 Corinthians 3:21-23] and that He loves us as much as He loves Jesus. [John 17:22,23]

Prayer
So what is prayer, then? To passively wait to receive what is already ours?

How would that work, exactly? You can sit in a bank, waiting to receive, and wait until you’re thrown out at closing time, still broke, even though you may have had many accounts full of money.

Or, you can walk into the bank and TAKE what is already yours! Take your legal authority over those who are presently keeping the money and take it to yourself!

I was thinking about the much maligned Faith preachers who talked about claiming things in the earth, and I asked the Father where that came from.

And He led me right to Mark 11:22-24.

‘And Jesus *answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly [AMEN] I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have RECEIVED them, and they will be granted you.”’

So I looked up the Greek word for RECEIVED and there it was, hidden in the fine print…lambánō! To CLAIM, procure for oneself! To TAKE!

Son of a gun! Now, I have always had the utmost respect for many of these so-called Faith ministers—all ministers should preach faith instead of lying about how God is going to take [kill] your children—the Word says death is God’s ENEMY! Sorry for the brief side rant…

And I believe the Word when it says all things belong to me, that I am an heir of God and a fellow heir—a co-inheritor—with Christ [Romans 8:17]

And I really believe that ‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN—so be it—to the GLORY of God THROUGH US. [2 Corinthians 1:20] If you’ve read more than two articles on this blog, you know that’s right and I have now officially written myself right into happy!

But to be honest, waiting around to receive what’s already mine hasn’t always worked for me. I’m careful to base my prayers on the forever-settled Word of God, and I pray in the Name of Jesus—I am one Spirit with the Lord, and as His Body in the earth, that Name belongs to me!

And I try to see, on purpose, the promises as being already true in my life…I take time to close my eyes and look at the as yet unseen manifested promise.

But now I understand that I must TAKE what is mine, carry it away, take possession of it WHEN I PRAY! At a specific point in time…

Leap for Joy
I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating. A few years ago, my MacBook Pro was 44 days from the end of the 3-year warranty period and I was having problems. I took it in to be looked at, and as it was the 3rd time the logic board had to be replaced, they gave me a BRAND NEW laptop! And as mine was top of the line when purchased, this replacement was also top of the line. They asked me to come back to pick it up in a couple of hours because they needed to set it up, and as I walked out of the Apple Store, I could barely stop myself from leaping into the air! I had to force myself to walk calmly and not jump for joy, literally! I finally understood the Scripture references about skipping…

And I heard, very clearly, “This is how you should feel when you pray.”

Wow, did I get it. Every promise of God is YES and AMEN [2 Corinthians 1:20] and we have been clearly instructed to believe we receive when we pray, not when the answer shows up. So our response to believing we receive [take] when we pray should be joy! When we finish praying, we should so believe that our prayers have been answered that we should be leaping for joy!

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” [John 14:13,14]

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you…These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” [John 15:7,11]

“In that day, you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly*, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” [John 16:23,24]

*Greek—AMEN AMEN!! OMG…

I’m not saying I’m there yet. It takes a purposeful approach to prayer to believe you receive when you pray…that the answer is yours at that moment, and actually from before the foundation of the world! [Hebrews 4:3]

And in my example, I did not return to the store every 15 minutes, asking them about the new laptop. They said it was mine, and I believed them. And they were just plain old human beings!

Let’s look at Isaiah 54:1…

‘Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed…’

God is clearly telling the one whose prayers have not yet manifested in the earth to SHOUT FOR JOY! Why? Because the prayers have already been answered…shout for joy after taking (receiving) the answer in prayer but before the answer manifests in the earth!

Then there’s Psalm 27:13…

‘I would have despaired** unless I had BELIEVED that I would SEE [perceive, appear, become visible] the goodness of the Lord in the LAND OF THE LIVING.’
**The literal translation is ‘Surely I believed…’

Believe you will see what you TAKE—lámbanō—in prayer! See every promise of God as YES for you…give the AMEN to the glory of God manifesting though us!

Try praying from this mindset…you are one Spirit with the Lord [1 Corinthians 6:17], all things already belong to you [1 Corinthians 3:21-23] and as He is, so are you in this world! [1 John 4:17]
Ask in His Name because you are His body, one with Him, much like a women takes her husband’s name in marriage, or use to, anyway…

An aside here…I just saw this. A woman takes her husband’s name. She lays hold of everything he has or ever will have and takes it as hers. She uses his name legally—they are one person, as far as the law goes. The name gives her the right to take whatever she wants that is his [and vice versa]. She takes his name in covenant, just like we take the Name of Jesus in covenant!

Don’t use His Name like a spiritual rabbit’s foot…come to prayer understanding who you are in Christ and what His will is for you. Pray according to His will [His Word] and TAKE the answer right there, when you pray.

And leap for joy!

Hallelujah!

Decree

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 May 2017 15:02:00 +0000

‘You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways.’ [Job 22:28]

A decree is an order, edict, or command by someone in authority.

For comfort, strength and power, decree these over your situation, and remember…if you are in Christ, you’ve been made the righteousness of God in Him, and there is NOW no condemnation for you! [2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:1]
His Word IS His will, and every one of His promises is YES in Christ [2 Corinthians 1:20]…

"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." [Joshua 1:5]

“The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you." [Deuteronomy 28:7,8]

'"In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.' [Isaiah 54:14,15,17]

'For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.' [Psalm 5:12; ref 2 Corinthians 5:21]

'For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will REIGN IN LIFE through the One, Christ Jesus.' [Romans 5:17]

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.' [2 Corinthians 1:20]

'How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca (weeping) they make it a spring (place of springs); the early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion. [Psalm 84:4-7]

'For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory: no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!' [Psalm 84:11,12]

'Lord, You will establish peace for us, since You have also performed for us all our works.' [Isaiah 26:12]

'"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."' [John 14:27]

‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’ [1 John 5:4,5]

‘This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.’ [1 John 5:14,15]

‘And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.’ [Mark 11:22-24]

God is FOR Us!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 19:11:00 +0000

This article has been updated from the original…

Try to remember that GOD IS FOR US!

The next time your hear a fear-based word in your ear [or screamed from a pulpit] that tells you why He may not help you this time, why it may not be His will to heal/deliver/bless, why sometimes the answer is NO, try to remember what the Word says.

‘Therefore there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.’

‘What then shall we say to these things? If GOD IS FOR US, who is against us?

‘He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?

‘Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."

‘But in all these things we OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER through Him who LOVED us.’ [Romans 8:1,2, 31-37]

Please note: God did not cause the tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword…He made us conquerors over these things!
He just knows that the enemy will bring them against us to try to destroy us and then get us to blame Him. This is a warning, people! But we are the victors.

God loves us! Did you know that Jesus said the Father loves us, even as He loved Jesus? And gave us HIS glory! [John 17:22,23]

Victory
I’ve got news for you…that’s why He sent Jesus. The plan of salvation and deliverance is His idea!

‘But by HIS DOING you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."’ [1 Corinthians 1:30,21]

‘But thanks be to God, who ALWAYS leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.’ [2 Corinthians 2:24]

‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]

‘Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond ALL that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.’ [Ephesians 3: 20,21]

‘For WHATEVER is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’ [1 John 5:4,5]

Need More Proof?
For those who have been brainwashed to believe that God is bringing calamity upon us to teach us, think about these things:

He gave us His Name [Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17; John 14:13,14'; John 15:16; John 16:23-26; John 17:11; Acts 3:16; Acts 4:30]
He gave us the right to become children of God, joint heirs with Jesus [John 1:12; Romans 8:17]
He gave us triumph, ALWAYS [2 Corinthians 2:14]
He gave us His armor [Ephesians 6:10-17]
He strengthened us with all miracle-working power [Gr: dunamis]in our inner man [Colossians 1:11; Ephesians 3:16]
He gave us His mind, His wisdom [1 Corinthians 2:12,16; 1 Corinthians 1:30]
He made Jesus become to us righteousness, sanctification, redemption…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus [1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 8:1]
He set us free from the law of sin and death…we are redeemed from the curse of the Law [Romans 8:2; Galatians 3:13]
He gave us healing [Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24,25; Psalm 107:20; 3 John 2]
He blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ [Ephesians 1:3]
He seated us in heavenly places, in Christ…ALREADY! [Ephesians 2:6]
He gave us wealth, all things richly to enjoy [2 Corinthians 8:9; 3 John 2; Psalm 57:2; 1 Corinthians 3:21,22; Ephesians 5:20; 1 Timothy 6:17; Proverbs 10:22; Proverbs 8:21]
He has decreed that all things are possible, nothing is impossible, for us [Matthew 19:26; Mark 9:23; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27; Matthew 17:20; Luke 1:37; Philippians 4:13]
He gave us angels to protect and serve us [Psalm 91; Hebrews 1:14; Psalm 103:20; Psalm 24:7]
He gave us His glory [John 17:20; Hebrews 2:10]
He gave us His Word…we are the Word multiplied! [John 1; Acts 12:24; Acts 6:7; Acts 13:49; Acts 19:20]
He gave us His Spirit…in fact, He dwells in each believer, Father, Son and Holy Spirit—we are one Spirit with the Lord [John 14:16-26; 1 Corinthians 6:17; 1 John 4:15]
He made us more than conquerors [Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 15;57; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 1 John 5:4,5]
He gave us His favor [Psalm 5:12; Psalm 30:5; Proverbs 8:35]
He answers our prayers [John 14-17; 1 John 5:14,15; 2 Corinthians 1:20]
He blessed with the blessings of Abraham [Galatians 3]
He has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness through His promises [2 Peter 1:3,4]

And that’s just a few of the blessings bestowed on us in Christ…it is by no means an exhaustive list! Every promise IN HIM is YES!! And our AMEN to His Glory through us!! [2 Corinthians 1:20]

The world and religion have lied to us! Maybe unwittingly, but lied nonetheless.

John 10:10 [Again!]
Let me ask you this…if we are one Spirit with the Lord, why would He try to destroy us? If He considers death to be the last enemy, to be put under Jesus’ feet, why would he kill [read ’take’] our children?

If He promised to SATISFY us with long life, why would He ‘take’ us at 30 with cancer or accident? [1 Corinthians 15:25,26; 2 Timothy 1:10; Revelations 20:14, 21:4; Psalm 91:16]

We’ve been lied to, people…

Why would He want us sick, to ‘teach’ us, if Jesus bore a horrific scourging and death for our healing? Psalm 107:20 says

‘He sent His WORD and healed them, and DELIVERED them from their destructions.’

Jesus IS The Word.
Learn to judge everything against John 10:10…

‘"The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly [or have abundance].”’

These words are in red, my friend. It was as if Jesus knew we’d be lied to and deceived, so He summed it up for us, His not-so-bright brothers and sisters, in one verse…

Good God, bad devil.

Try to remember.

Hallelujah!!

The Father Within [revised]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 16:54:00 +0000

Wait a minute...I might have just seen something amazing here!

'"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."' [John 14:10]

'Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.' [John 14:23]

'Now to Him Who is able to do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.' [Ephesians 3:20,21]

Yes, it's true. The Father is within, and He works through us, just like He did through Jesus. We are One Spirit with the Lord! [1 Corinthians 6:17]

And what are those works? Words…the Father within works by words!
Put that together with these verses, and you'll see something wonderful!

'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes...' [Deuteronomy 1:30]

'...for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:4]

'Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will extol Him. THE LORD IS A WARRIOR; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.' [Exodus 15:1-4]

'The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.' [Isaiah 42:13]

'The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.' [Zephaniah 3:17]

The Lord is within us, and He is a victorious warrior! He IS the power that works within—He IS mighty and He will fight for us!

Read Exodus 14:13-31—Moses spoke the word, and the Lord performed it!

Daily Life
What about daily life…what does this truth mean for us everyday?

‘Lord, You will establish peace for us, since You have also performed for us all our works.’ [Isaiah 26:5]

‘He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for they are many who strive with me.’ [Psalm 55:18]

‘I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.’ [Psalm 57:2]

‘The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting…’ [Psalm 138:8]

‘For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

‘Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. [Ephesians 3:16-21]

Note: there are just too many things in Ephesians 3 to meditate on in one little article. I heartily advise you to spend much time there to comprehend what is available to us…
Colossians 1:11 says we’re ‘…strengthened with ALL POWER, according to HIS GLORIOUS MIGHT…’

And Don't Be Afraid…

'When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

"When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted.

'Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:1-4]

Finally, remember these things:

‘But thanks be to God, who ALWAYS LEADS US IN TRIUMPH IN CHRIST, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.’ [2 Corinthians 2:4]

‘But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.’ [Romans 8:37]

‘…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ [1 Corinthians 15:57]

‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.’ [1 John 5:4]

The Father within, a victorious warrior, quiet lover, performer of all our works.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For related scriptures, read Victory!

Resurrected!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:24:00 +0000

I know I’ve re-posted this a couple of years in a row, but I read it over and just can’t improve on it!

It is Easter, and our thoughts turn toward Calvary once more.

As you meditate on the wonder of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus, consider this: the Word clearly teaches that we were crucified with Him!

What!?!
Paul states in Galatians 2:20 that "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Romans 6:6 confirms this: "...knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin."

These are wonderful quantum verses. 2000 years ago, we were crucified with Christ! And not just crucified...buried with Him in baptism [Colossians 2:12] and raised up with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus! [Ephesians 2:6]

Ephesians 2:9-14 tells the story.

'For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead.

'When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.'

Yes, it's true. We were crucified with Him, buried and raised up together with and seated with Him in heavenly places!

He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and I think that means us, too! Romans 8:29 says 'For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren." God knew us...that we would choose Him, and be born as the brethren of Jesus...before the foundation of the world!

'Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.' [Ephesians 1:4]

It is spiritual reality: as we are positionally in two places—here on the earth and seated with Him in heavenly places—we were born 2000 years after an event that we participated in! The crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!

Talk about Quantum Physics!

Think about this...were we also in Him during the period between His death and resurrection, when He was disarming rulers and authorities? [Colossians 2"15] He did give us authority over all the power of the enemy...[Luke 10:19] Wow! Just the possibility is mind-bending!

Resurrection Power

'But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.' [Romans 8:11]

If you read up a few verses in that chapter, you'll see that '...those who are in the flesh cannot please God.'

Now, this verse is usually used to condemn and admonish...if you're not holy enough, you aren't going to please God, period. Christians have spent their lives worrying whether they're holy enough.Thousands of sermons have been preached, beating us over the head and telling us that we are not pleasing to God because of [fill in the sin of the week].

But read on! Verse 9 says 'However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.' Being 'in the Spirit' is not some temporary state of ecstatic prayer [although I think it can mean that, as well] but the permanent state of the reborn man or woman! And the Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you!

Saint or Sinner? Habitation of God?
Remember the definition of the Greek word for saint, hagios. It is translated in the New Testament as holy—Holy of Holies, holy one, holy place, most holy, sanctuary!

We are His most holy ones, His holy place, His sanctuary. In fact, God no longer dwells in the Holy of Holies made by human hands, but in us...we are His Holy of Holies! And it has nothing to do with our behavior; rather it is who we become when we are reborn...we have this treasure in earthen vessels! [2 Corinthians 4:7]

Psalm 26:8 says that His habitation is the place where His glory dwells!

'How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of Hosts!' [Psalm 84:1] Not only holy, but full of glory...and lovely, too!

'...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.' [1 Peter 1:8]

We are new creatures, new creations. [2 Corinthians 5:17] The race of the sons and daughters of God! And not some new age, nebulous family of man, either. Real, true sons and daughters of the God Who was and is and is to come!

'"And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," says the Lord Almighty.' [2 Corinthians 6:18]

1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 confirm that we are indeed the temple of God...the Holy of Holies!

Righteous
2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that 'He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.'

Ephesians 4:24 confirms '...and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.' We're created in His likeness, in righteousness and holiness!

So, most holy ones, remember during this Easter season that you were crucified with Him, buried and raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly place. You're seated with Him now in heavenly places, and you got there 2000 years ago. You may have even been there before the foundation of the world...

As He IS, so also are we IN THIS WORLD. [1 John 4:17]

How is He, right now? He is the resurrected Jesus, seated at the right hand of God the Father. And we are seated with Him, there, and as He is here in this world.

In Conclusion
Romans 6:4 states it succinctly:

'Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.'

You are His most holy one: beloved, beautiful, the habitation of the Most High God. You are seated with Him in heavenly places, having been crucified, buried and raised up together with Him 2000 years ago…or was it before the foundation of the world?

Ponder that and rejoice!

Related posts: Exact Representation of His Nature, One Spirit with the Lord, What Exactly is a Saint, Anyway?, Thoughts on the New Birth.

The Door of Your Lips

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 18:45:00 +0000

Your lips—your mouth, your tongue, your words—are a door!

'Set a guard, O Lord, over my MOUTH; keep watch over the DOOR OF MY LIPS.' [Psalm 141:3]

A door? A door to what? A door, or gate, to your life!

'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' [Proverbs 18:21]

Oh, my. How about this?

'But you will CALL your walls salvation, and your GATES PRAISE.' [Isaiah 60:18]

Which door do you want to open? Door #1, door #2 or door #3?
It's up to you. Study the books of Psalms and Proverbs—note every scripture that mentions the mouth, the tongue, lips.
Note where there are actual quotes and what the result of those spoken words are. For example:

'The Lord gives the command [word]; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host [army]: [and this is what they say] "Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home will divide the spoil!" [Psalm 68:11,12]

The women say what God says...they're the army behind the army, fighting with their words! And they will participate in the victory!
How about this one?

'He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will SAY to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"' [Psalm 91:1,2]

And then the rest of Psalm 91—all of the protection and deliverance—are the result of his declaration of that protection and deliverance!
Destiny

‘Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord SAY so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary' [Psalm 107:1,2]

Why? What's the point?
Because your words are the vehicle of your salvation!

'But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart"—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your MOUTH Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the MOUTH he confesses, resulting in salvation.' [Romans 10:8-10]

And always remember these important Bible facts:

‘By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.’ [1 John 4:17]
‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN to the glory of God through us.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]
‘But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ONE SPIRIT WITH HIM.’ [1 Corinthians 6:17]

Finally, remember Joel 3:10...

'Let the weak say, "I am a mighty man."'

Talk about calling things that be not as though they were! That's why God changed Abram's name to Abraham! He had him CALL himself 'Father of a multitude of nations' BEFORE he had a son!
He was old, his wife was old and barren. Please note: God did NOT have him call himself 'Old guy with no kids'!
His lips were the door to his destiny.
Think about it.
Hallelujah!

Keys of the Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 15:16:00 +0000

Originally written in 2009 and re-posted several times, now expanded and revised…

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." [Matthew 16:19]

I always wondered about the tenses in this verse. The phrase 'shall have been' is a future perfect tense in Greek and stumped me, until I understood the implications from a Quantum Physics point of view.

Reality?
Einstein is often quoted as saying 'Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.' We know that there is much discussion about the past, present and future residing in parallel, and that there is no time or space in the Spirit.

I think Jesus was confirming this. What we bind [or forbid] on earth shall have been bound [already] in heaven...what we loose [or allow] on earth shall have been bound [already] in heaven. These are definitely quantum ideas.

What does it mean? Well, consider this: we're already seated with Him in heavenly places [Ephesians 2:6]; we've already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ [Ephesians 1:3]; and His divine power has already granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. [2 Peter 1:3]

Next, remember that 1) His Word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89]; 2) His Word does not return to him without accomplishing what He sent it for [Isaiah 55:11]; and 3) His works were finished from the foundation of the world [Hebrews 4:3].

Talk about quantum realities!

We Control the Flow
I think that Jesus is revealing the truth about our authority in the earth. We are called to reign in life through the One Christ Jesus

‘For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.’ [Romans 5:17]

Psalm 110:1,2 says

'The LORD says to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet. The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies."'

He is to rule through us, His actual Body in the earth! That's why we've been given authority over all the power of the enemy! That's why we've been given the keys of the Kingdom—to forbid and allow, according to the will and word of God!

Consider this:

‘In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.’ [Ephesians 1:8-10]

And administration suitable to the fullness of the times…

‘And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’ [Revelations 5:10]

The Greek word for shall reign in this verse is basileúō—to be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign…and in this particular verse, the verb is present active indicative! So while it is translated as future tense, it is actually a present tense verb! Instead of putting it off to the Millennium, it is in reality a here and now declaration!

How is that possible? Because 1 John 4:17 tells us that ‘…as He is, so also ARE we IN THIS WORLD.’ And we are already seated with Him in heavenly places. [Ephesians 2:6]
Luke 10:19 says that we have authority over ALL the power of the enemy…

“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

Colossians 1:9 says that we are ‘…strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might…’ and that power is dumamis—miraculous power, might, strength!

And what we allow or forbid has already been done in heaven!

Oh, and one more little Bible fact…we are ONE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD!! [1 Corinthians 6:17]
Meditate on that and see what happens!

Reign Is A Verb
And how do kings reign? By royal decree…

‘You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways.’ [Job 22:28]

‘Death and life are in the power [hand] of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ [Proverbs 18:21]

‘And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly [Amen] I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.

'Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.’ [Mark 11:22-24]

Time to get busy! Time to open the gates of blessing on the earth and bind the enemy's operation! We control the flow, because God has already done everything He's going to do, which is everything!

Hebrews 4:3 tells us that His works were FINISHED from the foundation of the world!

Hallelujah!

Far More Abundantly

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 15:51:00 +0000

‘Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.’ [Ephesians 3:20,21]

God is ABLE to do exceeding abundantly beyond all WE CAN ASK OR THINK!!!!

I always thought that meant He is able but He may not be willing.

The point is not whether He will or not but that He is ABLE, or MIGHTY, to do what WE ask or think—WE are the point, not His willingness! He makes His willingness known in preceding verses!

‘...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.’ [Ephesians 3:16-19]

Now that’s willing!

And how about these?

‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” [John 14:13,14]

Sounds like a blank check to me…please note how answered prayer glorifies God. That should settle for once and all the question of His will!

Call the End From the Beginning
Standing in the kitchen one morning, I heard “Call the end from the beginning. That’s how I work, and the power in you in Ephesians 3 is ME.”

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” [Isaiah 41:10,11]

Jesus plainly taught us to do this in the Gospels—He spoke to trees, donkeys, fish, bread, and sick and dead bodies. Then He told us to do the same thing!

He is ABLE—Gr. dunamai—to be able, to have power, might, from which we get dunamis—miraculous power, might, strength, ability, wealth!

Not that He is able to do but might not…He IS powerful to do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK…how?

According to the POWER that works within us—referencing the verse above, that would be the fullness of God in us! The glory of God through us!

No Wand Necessary
How did Jesus use His power? Did He use a wand? No—He SPOKE healing, deliverance, resurrection, provision! As He is, so also ARE WE IN THIS WORLD!

[Actually, He used the ROD—staff or scepter—or SWORD in His Mouth—see Psalm 2:9, Isaiah 11:4, Psalm 149:6, Isaiah 49:2, Revelation 1:16]

We release the power within, the FAR-MORE-ABUNDANTLY-BEYOND-ALL-THAT-WE-ASK-OR-THINK power, by our spoken word!

All power is resident in the Christian because we are One Spirit with Him. Whatever we ask according to the Word [which we are, multiplied in the earth] and in His Name [which is our name, too, because we are One Spirit with Him] will be done for us.

In Colossians 1:11, the Holy Spirit—God Himself—prays that we be strengthened with ALL POWER, according to HIS glorious might!

What are we to do with this marvelous power? Ephesians 3 says to ASK or THINK…

The word think in this verse is the Greek word noeo—to perceive, think, consider, SEE, understand.

The story of the colt Jesus used for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem is instructive.

‘When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, SAYING, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’”
‘So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord has need of it.”’ [Luke 19:29-34]

It was obvious that He saw the colt in the Spirit before He instructed His disciples what to do and say. The Spirit is eternal—front and back and up and down—and exists outside of the confines of the natural time created by the Earth’s spinning. This is the place of Divine provision and eternal reality—Hagar’s well, Isaac’s ram, Jacob’s ladder, the Transfiguration, etc.

The Power of Life and Death
Did you ever wonder how Jesus eluded those who tried kill Him before the time appointed for Him to lay down His life? He SAW and SAID…and then He just turned and walked away from a raging mob!

“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” [John 17,18]

Compare that to the Word given to Joshua as He began his leadership of Israel:

“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”[Joshua 1:5]

He obviously believed that—saw it and spoke it—because He was a success in the task God gave Him to do!
How about this one?

‘With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; he will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ [Proverbs 18:20,21]

Maybe Jesus said that—wait a minute, He WAS the Word in the earth…what word? Death and life are in the power of MY tongue…I have authority over MY life and no one takes it from Me!

And this will really strain your brain…His works were FINISHED before the foundation of the world! [Hebrews 4:3] He said it before He came, before He made the world!

HALLELUJAH!! Why? Because AS HE IS SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD!! THE ONE WHO JOINS HIMSELF TO THE LORD IS ONE SPIRIT WITH HIM!! WE ARE FILLED UP TO ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD!!

sorry to shout, I just can’t help it….

And finally, He is powerful to do far more abundantly beyond ALL that we ask or think, according to the POWER that works within us, to manifest His glory!

Everyone wins.

Hallelujah.

Let's Pretend

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:18:00 +0000

I know I’ve posted this a few times before, but it’s such a great exercise in faith that I’m putting it up here again. Enjoy!

Ok, let's play a game.

Let's pretend that everything in the Bible is true. Close your eyes...we're going to pretend that we are filled up to all the fulness of God, and that everything we say comes to pass. [Ephesians 3, Mark 11]

The Hebrew word dabar means both word and thing...so let's pretend that everything that comes out of our mouths are actual little whole things that float out like bubbles and go 'pop' and land fully grown on the earth! The Bible calls the Word of God seed…

Let's pretend that Satan has been stripped of his weapons and that we have authority over all his power...that all he can do is deceive us, and we don't fall for it, ever. No matter how things look, we have the power to see the invisible provision that is all around us. See how he runs away from us! See how the Blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony overcomes him? [In a court of law, testimony is a statement of what has already happened…]

Let's pretend that we can talk to physical, natural things and they obey us. That we can talk to trees and mountains and money and fish and donkeys and rooms and storms and bodies…and they obey us. Oh my!

This is fun!

More...
Now let's pretend that we're capable of being in two places at once. That we can walk on earth in these wonderful 'earth suits' but we're also seated at the right hand of God in Christ in Heaven!

Let's pretend that nothing is impossible to us—we're Super People, a new race in the earth! That the Creator of all things is our Father, and that the Glorious King Jesus is our big brother! And that our job is to reign upon the earth! Let's have beautiful robes and crowns and scepters!

And don't forget to pretend that we're always surrounded by enormous warrior angels that guard us in all our ways! That their job is to minister to us because we're heirs of God.

Let’s pretend that we’re surrounded by shouts of deliverance!

Let's pretend that everything belongs to us. That there are great and wonderful tables set before us, that our every heart's desire is granted, that our Father has given us all things richly to enjoy.

You Get The Idea...
Ok, doesn't that feel great? Every one of those 'pretends' was from one or more scriptures! Now do it several times a day and see what happens. Close your eyes and see the unseen. Re-train yourself—believe the Word and refuse to be moved.

Close your eyes and see your desires fulfilled, according to Psalm 37:4—see the Word as true in your life, and be the person you long to be. This is true Christian meditation. Then speak it out…testify to the earth and the spiritual realm that the Word of God is true in your life, now.

‘He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says,

“At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.”

‘Behold, NOW is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”’
[2 Corinthians 5:21-6:1,2—emphasis mine]

Have faith in God. Hallelujah!

[ref Visual Prayer, See the Unseen, Pull Back the Curtain, What Are The Giants Saying To You, Trash Talk, The Purpose of Fear 3]

Living in The Answer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:25:00 +0000

I closed my eyes to ask/declare/confess one more time the things that I was ‘believing’ for and I heard/felt/saw “You’re not living in the answer, the Yes. I promised to answer your prayers.”

“You pray—ask or confess—My Word, but then immediately begin to worry, resulting in needless repetition, which only leads to a downward spiral of doubt and fear. I said to trust Me.”

“To live in the answer is to enter My rest.”

OMG.

What did He say at the tomb of Lazarus, when all looked lost? “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me…” and then He raised him from the dead!

His attitude was one of peace and faith in the finished work of His answered prayer, even though his disciples and the sisters were doubting Him. He stood fast, believing that the answer was already Yes! Read the complete account in John 11.

How could He do that? Because 1) He knew His Father, and knew that His Father considered death an enemy; 2) He WAS The WORD made flesh, and that WORD said “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive:” and 3) He knew that every promise of God was YES—and one of those promises was ‘With long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation!’ [1 Corinthians 15:26; John 1:1,14; Matthew 21:22; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Psalm 91:16]

How Do You Do It?
So of course my next question was, ‘Great…how exactly do I do that?’

And I knew the answer—simple faith. Seeing the finished work based on the YES promises of God—what it would look like if it had already come to pass—and choosing with my mouth to believe YES and AMEN to the glory of His works manifested through me by answered prayer.

I BELIEVE I RECEIVE THIS DAY, for today is the day of salvation, and every promise is YES and the AMEN to the glory of God through me!

And then give thanks for the finished work.

Let’s watch Abraham do it…

‘In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO shall your descendants be.”
‘Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.’ [Romans 4:18-21]

I REFUSE TO WAVER IN UNBELIEF BUT GROW STRONG IN FAITH, GIVING GLORY TO GOD…I AM FULLY ASSURED THAT WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED HE IS ABLE—STRONG, MIGHTY, POWERFUL—TO PERFORM!

And lest you say ‘Yes, but that was Abraham…’ remember—we ARE the descendants of Abraham, blessed with him, in Christ! [Galatians 3:9,29]

An Aside…
I think the translation of the word able [Gr. dunatos] can be a little misleading, because today in our common usage, the word able does not always mean willing. This results in an uneasiness about God’s will—we know that He is able but is He willing?

Dunatos comes from dunamai—to be able, to have power. Another word derived from dunamai is dunamis—miraculous power, might, strength.

According to Stong’s dictionary, dunatos actually means strong, mighty, powerful. In this passage the word able is referring to His power and ability, not His will.

Another place where this occurs is in the great promise of Ephesians 3:20,21…

‘Now to Him who is able [dunamai—to be able, to have power] to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power [dunamis—miraculous power, might, strength] that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.’

Because in common vernacular today we separate ability from willingness, this particular use of dunamai causes doubt in His willingness to use His mighty power for us.

Which, when you think about it, is kinda dumb, because why else would He promise it?

Live in the Answer
Anyway, getting back to the topic, live in the answer, the finished work, when you pray. Live in the Yes and Amen—truly, so be it—to His glory being seen through us by His precious and magnificent promises!

Hallelujah!

The I AM Principle

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 15:56:00 +0000

Originally published on June 26, 2009 as The Great I AM and later re-published in 2011 and 2012 as The I Am Principle. This is once again updated and improved, and even longer than before!

I AM
God is all the things He says He is, and He is them for all eternity, past, present and future. He is them to us, individually and collectively as the church, and His Word is settled forever. [Psalm 119:89] Eternity is not linear and not uni-directional!

In fact, the instant the words 'I AM...' [fill in the blank] came out of His mouth, He was that very thing! He cannot lie, because the second He speaks, His words become reality!

His names were not only a description of Who He was, but in declaring them, He became the substance of each name! Here are just a few:

Jehovah Jireh—The Lord will Provide
Jehovah Shalom—The Lord is Peace
Jehovah Tsidkenu—The Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah—The Lord my Banner [military reference]
Jehovah Ro'i—The Lord my Shepherd

And because our new self is created in the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness of the truth [Ephesians 4:24], we are also the things He says we are now! He is the great I AM...we are I am's, too. In Ephesians 5:1 we are told to be imitators of God, as beloved children; therefore, we are to be like Him. I John 4:17 says '...as He is, so also are we in this world.'

Be like Him
We are one Spirit with Him—He is in us, and we are in Him. [see Stop Begging—It's Inside!] In fact, Peter writes '...for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.' [1 Peter 1:23] We are born of the same seed planted in the womb of a young virgin, 2000 years ago!! He is the Word, and we are the Word multiplied!

In fact, The Father Himself told us how to change our lives...'Let the weak say, "I am a mighty man."' [Joel 3:10] The books of Psalms and Proverbs are filled with references to the power of our speech—and Jesus told us to talk to mountains and trees.

One great example is Gideon...God's angel called him 'valiant warrior' when he was anything but. [Judges 6:12] And a valiant warrior is exactly what he became. But remember, there is no time in eternity, and eternity is forward and back, up and down. So he was really a valiant warrior, even before the angel gave him the Word of the Lord. His works were finished from the foundation of the world!

God changed Abram's name to Abraham...the Father of a multitude when he had no children. [Genesis 17:5] Ditto the above—he was made a Father of a multitude BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!

[sorry for shouting, but it's really just too much to think about sometimes]

And then there's Peter...Jesus called him 'Rock' when he was the most volatile of His disciples! Unstable and impulsive, Jesus called him what he was created to be, or more exactly, was FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!

Think about the prophecies in the Old Testament...each one calling Jesus what He would be, even though He was yet to come. And so it is with us...God has called us many wonderful things in the Word that

Can you see it? God, the Great I AM is telling us to proclaim who we are…”I AM a mighty man!” “By His stripes, I AM healed.” “I AM the righteousness of God in Christ!” He told us to see the unseen—the already accomplished promises of God—and speak them into existence! We are told to '...put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.' [Ephesians 4:24]

Always remember…1) His works were finished from the foundation of the world [Hebrews 4:3] and 2) ALL the promises of God are YES in Him! We are the I AM of His Word because we are one Spirit with His Word! [John 1:1, Revelation 19:13; 1 Corinthians 6:17]

Hallelujah!

Just Be
Just be. Be what the Word says, just because it says so, because it is forever settled, finished from the foundation of the world.

Just be. Don't try to be, or have. Just be. Be healed, be rich, be love. Be One Spirit with the Lord. Be seated in heavenly places in Him...

God doesn't have love, He IS love. He doesn't have power, He IS power. Jesus doesn't have the Word, He IS the Word...and we are the Word multiplied, His Body in the earth.

And He has decreed exactly what we are, just as He decreed "Light, be!" in the beginning.

Be the Word.

Paradigm Shift
What we need is a paradigm shift in our thinking. Instead of thinking the same old way we did before the New Birth, it’s time to put on the Mind of Christ. Put it on, on purpose, because according to 1 Corinthians 2:16, it is is a present possession.

How do we put it on? The same way everything is accomplished in the Spirit…see the unseen—believe—and speak. Also known as FAITH! See it as real today in the unseen realm of the Spirit and speak it out. Faith is the assurance, of things hoped for or expected…the conviction or evidence of THINGS NOT SEEN. [Hebrews 11:1, author’s notes]

Did you know that ‘By His [the Father’s] doing you ARE IN Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption…’

It was God’s doing, and became is past tense. Which means we qualify for every promise related to those traits because we ARE those things now.

Jesus said it clearly in Matthew 5:48…”Therefore, you are to BE perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul re-phrased it a little: ‘…in Him you have been made—past tense—complete…’ [Colossians 2:10]

Furthermore, words are spirit, spoken forth into the natural, or physical, realm.

We know this because Jesus said that His words were spirit [John 6:63] and we know that unclean spirits come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet as well. [Revelations 16:13]

It’s not just Jesus’ words that are spirit…ALL words are spirit. And they have a creative effect in the natural, physical world. But His words are LIFE as well…zoe, the absolute fulness of life, belonging to God, real and genuine [from NAS Greek Lexicon].

Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power [Hebrew yad, or hand] of the tongue!

Out of the heart we bring forth things, both good and evil, through the mouth. [Matthew 12:34,35; Luke 6:45]

This is what we must come to understand to put the I AM principle into action. [see Think Like Jesus]

Glory?
It is imperative that we develop a consciousness of who and what we are now. Eternity is not a time-oriented existence.

Colossians 1:13 says the we have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son. These things have already taken place, and we are eternal beings, recreated in our Father's image! We are everything that He says we are now, and satan is forever defeated in our lives now!

2 Corinthians 3:17,18 says: 'Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.' What this means is this: as we behold His glory, we are transformed into the same image by the power of the Holy Spirit. Same image! Hallelujah!

In fact, just before His death, Jesus prayed for us. "The glory which You have given Me, I have given to them, that they may be on, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world my know that You sent Me, and love them, even as You have loved Me.”

Yes, in the Old Covenant, God said that He would not give His glory to another [Isaiah 48:11], and we here that preached on a regular basis. But we are not another! We are one with Him and He has already given His glory to us!!

The whole idea of salvation was to bring many sons [Gr. huios, meaning offspring of man] to Glory! Jesus was the last Adam, and the Firstborn of Many Brethren!

The Great I AM spoke the Word—the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us. Then the Word multiplied and grew daily.

Now
Therefore, realizing that we are now members of the kingdom of God, we are to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is sight...it is seeing into the kingdom of God and walking by what God says instead of walking by natural sight, which is fixed on a dying and decaying fallen world.

It is the eternal view, from God's viewpoint. He sees our needs met now, and so should we. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, and Romans 10:17 says it comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. This is spiritual hearing, hearing what Jesus says to you—rhema, or the spoken word of God, which comes out of logos [the written word of God].

It is His will that we awaken from our sleep and become strong sons and daughters, administering His Kingdom on the earth [Ephesians 1:10]. He desires that we come to the place where we see everything that He has said is true now, and has called us to reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus. [Romans 5:17]

Hallelujah!

Read Be the Ball, Think Like God, Think Like God 2, Keys of The Kingdom, Decreed, Meditations & Confessions, Substance, Partakers of the Divine Nature, One [more]

The Purpose of Discouragement

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 16:42:00 +0000

We've been brainwashed to believe that discouragement is a fact of life...you win some, you lose some, sigh. Things don’t always work out, it might not work for you, blah blah blah, sigh.

Cry.

But what does the Word say?

‘For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them.’ [Numbers 32:9]
‘Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building…’ [Ezra 4:4]
"’For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, "They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done."’ [Nehemiah 6:9]
‘Then the officials said to the king, "Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm." [Jeremiah 38:4]

It is clear from these passages that the purpose of discouragement is to stop us from possessing the promises of God or succeeding in His will for us. Which, actually, are the same thing…if it wasn’t His will for us to enjoy His promises, He wouldn’t have made them! But that’s another topic for another time…

We know that all of the promises of God are YES in Him [1 Corinthians 6:17] and that His works were finished from the foundation of the world [Hebrews 4:3] We know that His Word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and that He watches over His Word to perform it [Jeremiah 1:12]. In fact, He said:

‘So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth ; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.’ [Isaiah 55:11]

So when you’re feeling discouraged, remember…it’s one and only purpose is to stop you in your tracks! It is NOT for your well-being but for your harm.

To stop His Word from succeeding in the matter for which He sent it.

So What To Do?
Do the Word…

‘Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’ [Deuteronomy 1:20]

Watch the Word…

‘…while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’ [2 Corinthians 4:18]
‘For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.’ [Colossians 1:13-16]
By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.’ [Hebrews 11:27]

Cry out…

“To You they cried out and were delivered; in You they trusted and were not disappointed.” [Psalm 50:5]

Praise the Lord…

‘When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.’ [2 Chronicles 20:22]

Live in His peace…

‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ [John 14:27]

Hallelujah!

He Rejoices Over You, O Beloved!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 13:24:00 +0000

If you’re a parent, you will remember the exultant joy you felt when you first held that baby. It’s a feeling that is quite indescribable to those who haven’t experienced it. It’s pure, unadulterated joy…

Do you know that God the Father feels that way about you?

Let’s look at this a step at a time [because I can hear the mob forming outside my door…]

First, He declared Jesus to be His Beloved Son…

‘After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “ This is My BELOVED Son*, in whom I am well-pleased.”’ [Matthew 3:16,17; also Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35]
*Or My Son, the BELOVED…
‘But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:“Behold, MY Servant whom I have chosen; MY BELOVED in whom MY soul is well-pleased…”’ [Matthew 12:18]
‘While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My BELOVED Son, with whom I am well- pleased; listen to Him!”’ [Matthew 17:5]
‘For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My BELOVED Son with whom I am well- pleased”’ [2 Peter 1:17]

Now guess what? You are His BELOVED, as well!

‘…to all who are BELOVED of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’ [Romans 1:7]
‘He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us IN the BELOVED.’ [Ephesians 1:5,6]
‘Therefore be imitators of God, as BELOVED children…’ [Ephesians 5:1]
‘So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and BELOVED, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…’ [Galatians 3:12]
‘…knowing, brethren BELOVED by God, His choice of you…’ [1 Thessalonians 1:4]
‘But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren BELOVED by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.’ [2 Thessalonians 2:13]
“I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, AND LOVED ME, EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.” [John 17:23]

We are IN Him, by God’s doing! [1 Corinthians 1:30]

‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN to the glory of God through us.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]

I know that, if you’ve been in the Church for any amount of time, you’ve heard that God loves you.

But do you really thing of yourself as Beloved? Probably not. We’ve been beaten over the head with so many heresies about how God sees us or doesn’t see us. But the Biblical truth is that we are His BELOVED! Doesn’t that just warm your heart?

He looks at us IN His Son, Jesus—we have BEEN MADE the righteousness of God IN HIM—complete, IN HIM, The BELOVED. Just as you instantly loved that newborn infant placed into your arms, even more He loves us—really loves us, as His BELOVED—not as some Christian catch phrase.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?” [Matthew 7:11]

Notice Jesus, when talking to the crowd, called His Father “Your Father…” Hallelujah, we’re His BELOVED children!!

And remember Zephaniah 3:17…

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

Hallelujah!!

Do Not Let Your Heart Be Troubled

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 May 2015 14:39:00 +0000

After Judas left the Passover table to betray Him, Jesus instructed His disciples about the days and years to come.

In John 14-17, we see Him telling them all the things they they will need to know during this intense time, and in doing so, He has encapsulated the most important things for us as well. He tells us about the indwelling Trinity—He, the Father and the Comforter would come and live within us. He tells us that anything we ask will be granted by the Father.

He gives us His glory, and explains the importance of abiding in Him. He reiterates the assurance of answered prayer, as if He knew that one would be the hardest for us to really believe.

Never Let...
He starts off by telling them "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God believe also in Me."

Later in the same chapter, He reiterates ‘do not let your heart be troubled’ and adds ‘nor let it be fearful.’ He is, in a way, clarifying what it means to have a troubled heart—fear.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it—your heart—be fearful.” [John 14:27]

The Greek word me is translated here as 'do not let' or, in the KJV 'Let not' is translated 33 times in the NT as 'never.' If we read the verse that way, it is "Never [let] your heart be troubled..." or better yet, "Never your heart be troubled..."

Never is one of those absolute words. No gray shades about it, never means never, not ever, no chance, period. What is He saying? In the words of David Crosby, don't give in an inch to fear. Don't let it start, don't let it grow, don't let it hang around.

A Spirit of Fear
We've seen in earlier posts that fear is a spirit. Job describes it perfectly...

"Now a word was brought to me stealthily, and my ear received a whisper of it. Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, and made all my bones shake.
"Then a spirit passed by my face; the hair of my flesh bristled up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice..." [Job 4:12-16]

Of course, then, the spirit of fear goes on to tempt Job with lies about God.

It's interesting to notice that this spirit is not coming from within but from without. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us 'For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.' The KJV translates the Greek word dielia as fear...the NT Greek Lexicon translates it as timidity, fearfulness, cowardice.

Romans 8:15 calls it a spirit of slavery...

The Spirit given to us is the very Spirit of God...we are one Spirit with the Lord! [2 Corinthians 6:17] And we see that it is a Spirit of 1) power, 2) love and 3) discipline. Colossians 1:11 says that we are strengthened with all power...ALL POWER! Not just a little power, not just natural power, but ALL POWER!

If we experience any kind of fear—timidity, fearfulness, cowardice, any kind of anxiety or worry—we know that 1) it's not from God our Father and 2) it's not coming from within us but is the result of an external spirit of fear.

Don't Leave Yet...
Okay, I can hear the wacko alarms going off out there, but bear with me. Everything I've written so far is directly from the Word. And evil spirits are a Bible fact.

But there's good news! In Luke 10:19 Jesus told His disciples "Behold [look], I have given [past tense] you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you."

Authority over ALL the POWER of the ENEMY! And they weren't even reborn yet...we've got God inside and have been strengthened with ALL POWER!

In John 17:20, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all who would believe in Him through their word...He didn't give them one thing and us another! We have the authority in His Name—not as a talisman, or lucky coin, or rabbit's foot—we are ONE with Him, and wear His Name as His Body in the earth! We have authority because He has authority, and we wear and use His Name as a wife wears and uses the name of her husband...well, used to, in the olden days.

Control Yourself...
Jesus knew that the Holy Spirit was a Spirit of power, love and discipline. He knew what the fruits of the Spirit were, '...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...'

And then there's 2 Timothy 1:7...

'For God has not given us a spirit of timidity [fearfulness, cowardice], but of POWER and LOVE and DISCIPLINE [self-control].'

So when He tell us to NEVER let our hearts be troubled, He knew that we would be capable of doing it. The disciples really didn't get it—when the soldiers took Jesus, they ran off and hid. Peter was the only one with enough nerve to go after Him...but he succumbed to fear, too. After Jesus died, some of the disciples went back to fishing! In the couple of days He was buried!

They didn't get it, just like we don't get it. Modern psychology has us so twisted in our thinking that we don't think we can control our emotions...we're not supposed to suppress them, that would be denial!

Live in Denial
I'm here to tell you, go ahead...live in denial! Deny the spirit of fear any place in your life. Deny it's every attempt to dominate you. Deny, or forbid, it to come near you.

Jesus has give us the keys of the kingdom. Whatever we bind, or forbid, on earth shall have been bound, or forbidden, in Heaven! And whatever we loose, or allow, shall have been allowed in Heaven. That's past tense spiritually—in Heaven, and present tense naturally—on earth...a quantum verse!

Forbid fear to exist in your life. Live in full blown denial...the denial of fear's right to exist anywhere near you. Don't allow it to start, don't allow it to grow, don't allow it to stay.

But How...
I asked the Lord, "That's great, but how exactly do I do that?"

Immediately James 3 came to mind...the NT treatise on the tongue. [The Old Testament treatise is, of course, the Book of Proverbs—read it through and write down all the verses pertaining to the mouth]

James 3:2 says '...If anyone does not stumble in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.' And he compares the tongue to the bit in a horse's mouth and the rudder of a great ship. The word 'perfect' is the Greek word teleios, meaning brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness, that which is perfect. Kinda reminds you of shalom, doesn't it?

It doesn't really mean perfect, as we think of it...without blemish or error. It really means soteria—the Greek word for salvation—complete wholeness, redemption from all earthly ills.

I saw what He was saying...you deny fear just like you got saved. Believe in your heart and say it with your mouth. '...for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.' [Romans 10:10] Believing in the heart results in a spiritual state—righteousness, or right-standing with God; and confessing with the mouth brings it to pass in our lives—soteria!

So the 'how' is the same 'how' we access all spiritual blessing with...faith. Believe it and speak it, just as Jesus instructed in Mark 11:22,23.

'And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him."'

Oh yeah...right. Faith. The way things really work in the universe...I get it...[cut to Jesus with His hand on His forehead, shaking His head, saying 'how many times do I have to tell these morons the same thing?' [My personal interpretation of Matthew 17:17]

Renew your mind so you can be transformed...changed! Changed to prove or demonstrate the will of God in your life—that which is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT! [Romans 12:1,2]

Take up the sword in your mouth. Deny fear it's right to dominate you. Do what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 10:8 and Mark 16:17,...cast it out!

Then believe that what you said happened and praise the Lord!

Hallelujah!!

_____________

The Word of His Power [re-visited]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 17:00:00 +0000

Consider this:

'And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the WORD OF HIS POWER.' [Hebrews 1:3]

He upholds ALL THINGS by the WORD of His power.

What is the word of His power? "POWER."

Note that it is not the power of His word, but the very word of His power.

The Greek word for power in this verse is rhema, translated as say, saying, statement, things, words. In other words, a spoken, active word.

So we could say ‘He upholds all things by the SAYING of His power—Gr. dunamis, or power, might, miraculous powers, strength, wealth.

In the interlinear Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1:3 says ‘God said "Light” and there was light.’ instead of the more familiar "Let there be light."

In Genesis 1, the word of light was "Light." Or, the being of the thing light was created by the saying in miraculous power of the word LIGHT.

[in my mind I just heard a very 70’s WOW!]

An aside: why is it that God cannot lie? Not will not, or would not, but CANNOT! [Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2]

Because if there wasn’t a tree when He started to say 'tree' there would be one there by the time the word was out of His mouth! He cannot lie because everything He says comes to pass! That IS the word of His power!

Hallelujah!

Why Is This Important To Me?
Why? For several reasons, actually.

First, because we are one Spirit with the Lord, with the very Alpha and Omega. He is the Head, we are His body. And He said that we would do greater works than He did! [John 14:12]

So it’s important to know how He works.

Consider these scriptures and their description of the saints—His holy ones! [That’s us, by the way—Gr. hagios, translated Holy, Holy of Holies, most holy, sanctuary, saints].

‘But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.’ [1 Corinthians 6:17]
‘By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.’ [1 John 4:17]
‘For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
‘Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.’ [Ephesians 3:15-21]
‘For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete…’ [Colossians 2:9,10]

Second, because He IS the WORD...

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.' [John 1:1-3]

And according to the book of Acts, we are the Word multiplied!

‘The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.’ [Acts 6:7]
‘But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.’ [Acts 12:24]
‘So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.’ [Acts 19:20]

Third, because He told us to speak to trees and mountains in several places in the Gospels, and He Himself demonstrated the Word of His power in the earth—healing the sick, raising the dead, arranging for Passover venues, donkeys and fish with coins in their mouths!

Because Psalms and Proverbs are full of instructions regarding the power of words. Because the POWER [Heb. yad, or hand] of life and death is IN THE TONGUE. [Proverbs 18:21]

Jesus knew this because He IS the Word—He IS every Psalm and Proverb—and He knows how the system works.

In fact, 1 Peter 1:23 explains that we are born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring WORD of God! HALLELUJAH!!

And how are we born again?

‘But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”’ [Romans 8:8-11]

And He wants us, His Body in the earth, to know how the system works, too.

Speak His Word into the earth.

'The Lord gives the command [word]; The women who PROCLAIM the good tidings are a GREAT HOST: "Kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who remains at home will divide the spoil!" [Psalm 68:11,12]

They SAID it, and reaped the rewards of victory!

How did David defeat Goliath?

‘Then David SAID to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”’ [1 Samuel 17:45-47]

Now, think of all the wonderful things He has said about and for us. His Word will come to pass...

'He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.' [Psalm 147:15]
‘So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. [Isaiah 55:11]

Think about it. Uphold His Word in your life by your words of power…

Hallelujah!

Already Blessed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 16:10:00 +0000

What's your inner image? Are you struggling to find the magic key that unlocks God's blessings? Trying to make the mark, to be good enough to actually receive the promises of God now, in the earth? Feeling frustrated, blocked on every side?

What you've got is an inner image problem. One nurtured by erroneous teachings and pervasive cultural thinking, to be sure, but a problem nonetheless.

Let's get back to biblical basics. If you've been born again, you're already forgiven, already delivered, already an overcomer...already blessed.

Made Righteous...Already
We've been made the righteousness of God in Christ [2 Corinthians 5:20]. By HIS doing we are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption...[1 Corinthians 1:30,31]. Crucified with Him, buried, raised up together with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places [Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:5,6; Colossians 2:12-14].

Do you see yourself as more than a conqueror, called to reign in life, doing the works of Jesus? [Romans 8:37; 5:17; John 14:12]

Picture Him at the tomb of Lazarus...before calling him out of the grave, Jesus said "Father, I thank you that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me...[John 11:41, 42]. 1 John 4:17 says '...as He is, so are we in this world.'

This spiritual state of being one Spirit with the Lord [1 Corinthians 6:17] is an accomplished fact. We are already seated with and in Him in heavenly places. We are already forgiven, for sins past, present and future. Our confession of them cleanses our bodies and minds, but the spirit within is Jesus—always righteous, always perfect, full of grace and glory.

New Covenant
As the Church of God, the Body of Christ in the earth, we need to stop thinking like Old Covenant people. Yes, all of the promises of the Old Covenant are fulfilled for us in Christ, all are 'yes' in Him [2 Corinthians 1:20] and we have been grafted into Israel [Romans 11:17,18], but we don't have to earn them anymore. We are redeemed from the curse of the law—Jesus became that curse for us so that we could receive the blessings of Abraham [Galatians 3:13,14]. The curse of the law was, in essence, what happened to you if you failed to obey the law. The blessings were what you got if you obeyed.

Jesus took the curse for us—we get the blessings because we're in Him, the very seed of Abraham! To the Father, we look like Jesus—we've already perfectly fulfilled all the law, and are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ [Ephesians 1:3].

One of the blessings of Abraham was great wealth—in some churches [the ones that aren’t preaching poverty] we're told that it's okay to be comfortable, but God forbid that we aspire to great wealth!

I've got news for you...it's already ours! It's our birthright! Romans 8:32 says 'He Who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?'

‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.’ [2 Corinthians 8:9]

The Greek words in the verse are all referring to physical wealth and destitution—not some vague spiritual blessing! Look it up for yourselves!

Another one of Abraham's blessings was that his descendants [us] would possess the gates of their enemies [Genesis 22:17]. Jesus told his disciples, when they were not even born again, that they had authority over all the works of the devil! But in many cases, we, the very body of Christ in the earth, live defeated lives, always struggling against unseen foes that we assume are far more powerful than we!

How about healing? The Word makes it very clear that we are healed, already, by the scourging [wounds, stripes] of Jesus!

‘But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well- being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.’ [Isaiah 53:5]
‘and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.’ [1 Peter 2:24]

Yet we know many Christians bound by sickness and disease.

Image Correction
Start to imagine yourself like the Bible says you are. You're just like Jesus—in fact, you are Jesus in the earth! Your old, nasty self was crucified with Him, and you've been reborn, one Spirit with the Lord! You are, individually and collectively, the Body of Christ. Called to reign in life! Correct that old inner image and refuse to listen to anything contrary to the Word of God, no matter who or what it is! You are not under the Old Covenant—you are a new creature in Christ! Old things have passed away! [2 Corinthians 5:17]

Instead of wondering 'Can He, will He [fill in the blank] for me?' thank Him for what He's already done! His word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and He has decreed you blessed! He has already said 'Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...' [Romans 8:1] He has already declared you accepted in the Beloved! [Ephesians 1:6] Strengthened with all power in your inner man! [Colossians 1:11]

And let’s not forget 1 John 4:17:

‘By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS HE IS, so also are we in this world.’

Remember…His works were finished from the foundation of the world! [Hebrews 4:3]

Jesus said that He and the Father would come and make their abode—their dwelling—in the ones that love Him. Resident in us, in all miracle-working power.

Consider this Holy Spirit written prayer…

‘For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Now THAT’S blessed!

Hallelujah!

——————————————

Read Agree With Him, Let’s Pretend, Stop Begging—It’s Inside, Finished, That Which Has Been Will Be

Actually, there’s so much written about this topic on this blog—use the Search box at the right to find more!

Already an Overcomer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 15:27:00 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt like Revelations 3:21 was sort of a veiled threat…either preached as such, or when I read it on my own.

“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Sort of ‘Oh my gosh, I hope I can do enough to overcome, I hope I can make it…’ accompanied with a vague feeling of ‘I may not be good enough, or I don’t know if I can do what it takes…’

But then I started thinking…wait a minute, here. Aren’t we already seated in Him in heavenly places? Are we not already born of the imperishable seed—the living and enduring Word of God, One Spirit with the Lord? We know He is the Word, but when people were born again in the book of Acts, doesn’t it say that the Word multiplied, or grew daily? [Ephesians 2:6; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Acts 6:7, 12:24, 19:20]

And then there are scriptures that say we are already overcomers…

‘You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world.’ [1 John 4:4]
‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’ [1 John 5:4,5]
‘And they overcame him [the accuser of the brethren—v10] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.’ [Revelations 12:11]

Romans 8:37 says in all things we OVERWHELMINGLY conquer through Him Who loved us. Sounds like an overcomer to me.

Then I looked up at the preceding verse.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” [Revelations 3:20]

Oh. If we let Him in, He considers that overcoming. When we died with Him, we also arose with Him. He overcame the world [John 16:33] so we, in Him, have overcome the world.

‘Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.’ [1 John 4:15-17]

In the Spirit, the book of Revelations is eternal—both ongoing and finished, forward and back, without time. Hebrews 4:3 says His [God’s] works were finished from the foundation of the world!

Folks, if you have been born again, you have already overcome! You are already seated in Christ Jesus in heavenly places! Where is that? On His throne!

Hallelujah!

Related Posts: Already Blessed, God Inside, Abide

Agree With Him

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 03:28:00 +0000

You really only have two choices.

Agree with God and His Word, or agree with your natural circumstances, or that fear-filled voice in your ear, or those negative images roaring around your head.

And you must agree in two places: in your heart—your imagination—and in your mouth. Because that’s how you agree with anything…you see it, then you say it.

So when circumstances threaten you—speak to you and tell you that things are hopelessly impossible—agree with what God has already said! On purpose, see His word as true for you now, and speak it out.

Agree with Him! Be the AMEN to His glory operating through us—see His every promise as YES in Jesus. [2 Corinthians 1:20]

If He says you’re delivered [and He already has], agree with Him, regardless of what it looks like.

If He says you’re healed, or protected, or rich…agree with Him and give thanks for His faithfulness to His Word.

Hallelujah!

Resurrected!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 17:17:00 +0000

It is Easter, and our thoughts turn toward Calvary once more.

As you meditate on the wonder of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus, consider this: the Word clearly teaches that we were crucified with Him!

What!?!
Paul states in Galatians 2:20 that "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Romans 6:6 confirms this: "...knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin."

These are wonderful quantum verses. 2000 years ago, we were crucified with Christ! And not just crucified...buried with Him in baptism [Colossians 2:12] and raised up with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus! [Ephesians 2:6]

Ephesians 2:9-14 tells the story.

'For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead.
'When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.'

Yes, it's true. We were crucified with Him, buried and raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly places!

He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and I think that means us, too! Romans 8:29 says 'For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren." God knew us...that we would choose Him, and be born as the brethren of Jesus...before the foundation of the world!

'Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.' [Ephesians 1:4]

Talk about Quantum Physics!

Think about this...were we also in Him during the period between His death and resurrection, when He was disarming rulers and authorities? [Colossians 2"15] He did give us authority over all the power of the enemy...[Luke 10:19] Wow! Just the possibility is mind-bending!

Resurrection Power

'But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.' [Romans 8:11]

If you read up a few verses in that chapter, you'll see that '...those who are in the flesh cannot please God.'

Now, this verse is usually used to condemn and admonish...if you're not holy enough, you aren't going to please God, period. Christians have spent their lives worrying whether they're holy enough.Thousands of sermons have been preached, beating us over the head and telling us that we are not pleasing to God because of [fill in the sin of the week].

But read on! Verse 9 says 'However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.' Being 'in the Spirit' is not some temporary state of ecstatic prayer [although I think it can mean that, as well] but the permanent state of the reborn man or woman! And the Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you!

Saint or Sinner? Habitation of God?
Remember the definition of the Greek word for saint, hagios. It is translated in the New Testament as holy—Holy of Holies, holy one, holy place, most holy, sanctuary!

We are His most holy ones, His holy place, His sanctuary. In fact, God no longer dwells in the Holy of Holies made by human hands, but in us...we are His Holy of Holies! And it has nothing to do with our behavior; rather it is who we become when we are reborn...we have this treasure in earthen vessels! [2 Corinthians 4:7]

Psalm 26:8 says that His habitation is the place where His glory dwells!

'How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of Hosts!' [Psalm 84:1] Not only holy, but full of glory...and lovely, too!

'...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.' [1 Peter 1:8]

'"And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," says the Lord Almighty.' [2 Corinthians 6:18]

1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 confirm that we are indeed the temple of God...the Holy of Holies!

Righteous
2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that 'He made Him Who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.'

Ephesians 4:24 confirms '...and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.' We're created in His likeness, in righteousness and holiness!

So, most holy ones, remember during this Easter season that you were crucified with Him, buried and raised up together with Him and seated with Him in heavenly place. You're seated with Him now in heavenly places, and you got there 2000 years ago. You may have even been there before the foundation of the world...

As He IS, so also are we IN THIS WORLD. [1 John 4:17]

How is He, right now? He is the resurrected Jesus, seated at the right hand of God the Father. And we are seated with Him, there, and as He is here in this world.

In Conclusion
Romans 6:4 states it succinctly:

'Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.'

Ponder that and rejoice!

Liar, Liar, Pants DEFINITELY on Fire! [re-post]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:29:00 +0000

Updated and improved!

Satan has one objective in mind...to keep us from understanding that we are one Spirit with the Lord, filled up to all the fulness of God. [2 Corinthians 1:20, Ephesians 3:19] He does not want us to know that we are called to reign in life and that the Father has gladly given us the kingdom. [Romans 5:17, Luke 12:32]

He wants us to feel afraid—helpless and alone. To feel separate from God, separate from Jesus. And he really loves to make us feel guilty and unworthy—to keep us beating ourselves up over and over again over some sin. He does not want us to know that we've been forgiven, once for all time, past, present and future, and that God doesn't even remember our sin! [Jeremiah 31:34]

And he really doesn't want us to know we've been strengthened with ALL POWER in our inner man! [Colossians 1:11, Ephesians 3:16]

He will throw everything at us—any circumstance, any weapon—to keep us from finding out who we really are in Christ. His worst nightmare is that we just might find out that Jesus is the Word and we're the Word multiplied! [Acts 12:24] That by believing, we're freed from all things, from which we could not be freed through the Law of Moses! [Acts 13:39]

He knows that He [the Father] Who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS. [Romans 8:32]

He also knows that we have the power to overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. He was watching, I'm sure, when Jesus explained that the physical, natural world obeys us! He will do anything to keep us from finding out the truth!

He'll keep preachers preaching all sorts of error and keep us singing songs like 'He gives and takes away'...he'll keep us in Old Covenant thinking as much as possible, where we are 'down here' and God is 'up there.'

Because he knows the truth. He knows exactly who we are in Christ, how powerful we really are and that we are joint heirs with the Heir of all things. [Hebrews 1:2, Romans 8:17]

He knows that we are from God, an that greater is He Who is in us than he [Satan] who is in the world. [1 John 4:4]

He just can't afford for us to find out.

How It’s Supposed to Work
I think this is how it's really supposed to work.

Let's say we are standing in faith for protection from harm [no harm befalls the righteous—Proverbs 12:21 and all of Psalm 91]. But if the destroyer managed to get through, say with sickness or accident aimed at a loved one, we would simply lay hands on them and they would be healed. If he still managed to break through and kill them, we would simply raise them up. Failing that, we would understand that we are already seated with them in heavenly places in Christ anyway. [Ephesians 2:6]

Now that's walking in absolute power and victory! 2 Corinthians says 'But thanks be to God, Who ALWAYS LEADS US IN TRIUMPH IN CHRIST, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.' Satan is a spirit—he sees and knows exactly who we are in the Spirit.

And I do mean all believers walking in this kind of power and victory, not just a few famous preachers on TV! Proving what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God! [Romans 12:2]

Why Did Jesus Come?
Did you know that Jesus already had authority over all the power of the enemy? He came to give that authority back to us...the authority usurped in the Garden of Eden!

In Luke 10, He gave that authority to His disciples—unregenerate men! How much more do we who are one Spirit with the Lord have such authority?

1 John 3:8 tell us plainly that 'The Son of God appeared for this purpose, TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL.' And John 14:12 says that we are to do greater works than He did...how? Because instead of one Son of God, working in one place at one time, now there are many sons and daughters, filled with His power, in many places and in many times!

So what's a devil to do? Stop it any way he can! Kill, steal, destroy, deceive...lie, lie, lie. Keep us so confused by sermons like 'sometimes the answer is no...' and funeral messages like 'we don't know why God took this 12 year old...' that we spend all our time in doubt and despair. Attack our bodies, steal our wealth and blame it all on God. What good is a tissue paper helmet of salvation anyway? If we don't think our salvation is anything more than fire insurance, it's not going to protect us from anything!

Ephesians 6 teaches that we struggle with powerful spiritual enemies. Now, if God says that He always leads us in triumph and we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us [Romans 8:37] than our armor and weapons are designed to work! If it is His will for us to win (and it is), we must be able to!

1 Corinthians 15:57 says

'...but thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Or 2 Corinthians 2:14…

‘But thanks be to God, Who ALWAYS leads us in TRIUMPH in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

How about 1 John 5:4?

'For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.'

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is John 10:10. "The thief comes ONLY to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY. I [Jesus] came that they may have LIFE, and have it abundantly." [John 10:10]

This is Jesus speaking, giving us a cheat sheet to who's doing what to whom. An interesting aside—this verse can also be translated '...and have abundance.'

If you can keep this always in mind, it will help when the deceiver strikes, whispering that [fill in the problem] is really from God.

Especially when it involves death, either of a loved one, or death in any area of life. God has PLAINLY stated that death is the last ENEMY [1 Corinthian 15:26] and that His will is that His [Jesus] enemies be made a FOOTSTOOL for His feet. [Psalm 110:1, Luke 20:43, Acts 2:35, Hebrews 1:13, Hebrews 10:13]

And this will blow your mind…He’s WAITING for death to be made a footstool! God says in Psalms 110:

“Sit at My [The Father] right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The Lord will stretch forth Your [Jesus] STRONG SCEPTER from ZION [we’ve already come to Mt. Zion, seated in Him in heavenly places] SAYING “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” YOUR people will volunteer freely in the day of YOUR POWER, in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to you as the dew.” [Psalm 110:5-7]

HALLELUJAH! Ephesians and Colossians tell us in several place that we are filled with DUNAMIS [gr]—miracle-working power—and we are to release that power to allow God to make His enemies His footstool now by SAYING. It’s all about Him working more than we can ask or think according the POWER that works WITHIN—in, by, with—us! We don’t do it, He does it through us.

That’s why we’re supposed to be reigning in life—Romans 5:17 and healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, casting out demons [Matthew 10:7, 8]

So NEVER let anyone, especially a preacher, tell you that God has taken—Christian speak for killed—your loved one because it’s just not true. He considers death an enemy [1 Corinthians 15:26] and so should you!

Job may have said ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away’ but it does NOT apply to us. We are ONE Spirit with the Lord, His Body in the earth. When we FINALLY realize the we died at Calvary with Jesus [Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20] and it is He alone that lives in us through the Holy Spirit, we will start to walk in the power, love and dominion that is our birthright. We are heirs of God and fellow or joint heirs with Christ! [Romans 8:17]

One more thing…

‘For in Him ALL THE FULLNESS OF DEITY dwells in bodily form, and IN HIM YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE…’ [Colossians 2:9,10]

And…

‘…that He would grant YOU, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power [DUNAMIS] through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that YOU may be filled up to ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.
‘Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power [DUNAMIS] that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen—SO BE IT.’ [Ephesians 3:16-21]

Finally…

‘By this, love is PERFECTED in us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS HE IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.’ [John 4:17]

Yes, that’s the Holy Spirit praying for you, and me, and all the saints…no one left out. Hallelujah!

Okay, I’m back…

It’s A Fact
It's a fact. We've been lied to and those lies have rendered us powerless and defeated.

But now is the time to shake off defeat and rise up in triumph! Think about words like triumph, victory, conquer...these are strong words of successful warfare, and God—GOD—spoke them over us. The same God Who spoke the world into existence has spoken words like triumph, victory and conquer ABOUT US!

But How…
Someone online has called them the 'cursed hows.' I love that! Because if we continually focus on the natural 'hows' we can never fully walk in the triumphs of faith.

What does 1 John 5:4 says is the VICTORY that has OVERCOME the world? OUR FAITH! The real how—how God prepared the worlds [Hebrews 11:3]—is faith!

Faith is the assurance—the SUBSTANCE [existence, foundation, substructure]—of THINGS hoped for, the conviction [proof or evidence] of THINGS not seen. The Greek word for things in this scripture is pragma—that which has been done, a deed, and ACCOMPLISHED FACT; what is being done or accomplished, THAT WHICH IS OR EXISTS, a thing.

Do these things stay unseen? This is a popular argument against using faith to manipulate the natural world—that our blessings and the promises of God are only on the spiritual plane. Are the worlds still unseen? Or were they just unseen in the physical realm before God spoke them into existence by His faith? Did He see them first, before speaking them into natural form or did He create without any idea of what He was creating? Did He see first and then speak? Are the worlds spinning in order or is the universe just some orderless chaos?

We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:18 to look at the unseen—that which is eternal—because that which is seen is temporary. Didn't Jesus demonstrate this by speaking to all kinds of temporary, physical things and telling them what to do? Telling fig trees to die and fish to scoop up coins, and bodies to heal and dead people to rise up? Telling pots of water to turn into wine or storms to cease?

And didn't He then tell us to do the same?

It is our job—our calling and our privilege—to bring the natural world into alignment with the will of God! Jesus told us to pray "...Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven..." God Himself said "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" [Habakkuk 2:14] and "...as I lie, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord." [Numbers 14:21]

Plus, don’t forget [and watch out for villagers with torches]…

“The glory which You have given Me I HAVE given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one…” [John 10]

As the temple of old was filled with His glory, so are we. Jesus said it—it’s in RED— so don’t yell at me.

Now you know why I disabled comments on this site…

Ephesians 1:9,10 says:

'He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an ADMINISTRATION SUITABLE TO THE FULLNESS OF TIMES, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.'

We are to administer His kingdom on the earth! To bring His will into physical reality...His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

What is the will of God in Heaven? All of His already finished works! [Hebrews 4:3] Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places! [Ephesians 1:3] Everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and excellence—His precious and magnificent promises, by which we become partakers of the diving nature! [2 Peter 1:3,4]

And we are the agents who are to cover the earth with His glory…the very Body of Christ, one Spirit with the Lord, with the Mind of Christ!

Surrounded
Did you know that the Seraphim—majestic beings in Heaven—are continuously calling to each other "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." [Isaiah 6:3]

Did you also know that we are surrounded by songs or shouts of deliverance? [Psalm 32:7] Surrounded by His favor like a shield? [Psalm 5:12]

Actually, the Bible says we're surrounded by a lot of things, both good and evil! There's a lot of activity going on around us, and we're meant to know and understand it—see the unseen—and reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus!

Live in the seen, work in the unseen. Dominate the enemy and his works by faith, prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and EVERY TONGUE that accuses you in judgment you will condemn." [Isaiah 54:17]

Who is the accuser of the brethren? Satan is and he's been thrown down! [Revelations 12:10] His weapons against us are words, just like our weapon against him is the Word—the Sword of the Spirit! [Ephesians 6:17]

2 Corinthians 10:4 says that '...the weapons of our warfare are NOT of the flesh, but DIVINELY POWERFUL for the destruction of fortresses.'

Yes, divinely powerful, for the express purpose of WINNING! In spite of the many, many sermons which have explained over the years that God is glorified in our defeat, we are built to win! To cover the earth with the glory of God! This is His true plan, and Satan knows it.

So Now What?
WAKE UP!! 'Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.' [Isaiah 60:1]

Don't listen to lies...resist the devil, and he will flee! The Greek word for flee is pheugo...to flee away, seek safety by flight, to flee something abhorrent, to escape safely out of danger! He knows that when we finally turn our power toward him, he will have to flee to seek safety from that danger!

He knows we're dangerous...time for us to know it, too.

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Read Lies, Lies, Lies; Fear—The Deadly Enemy, Fear, What Are the Giants Saying to You, Wow! [That's all I could think of...], Camping in the Desert, Bound, God Isn't Holding Back 2

Shield

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 18:47:00 +0000

Here are some excellent Scriptures to pray and say over yourself and your family…remember, you’ve been made the righteousness of God in Christ [2 Corinthians 5:21] and have been grafted into Israel! [Romans 4:17]

You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait [hope, expect] for Your Word. [Psalm 119:114]

For it is You Who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield. [Psalm 5:12]

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One Who lifts my head. [Psalm 3:3]

The Lord is my strength [might, stronghold] and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him. [Psalm 28:7]

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. [Psalm 84:11]

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” [Genesis 15:1]

“Blessed are you, O Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, Who is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread upon their high places.” [Deuteronomy 33:29]

“As for God, His way is blameless; the word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him." [2 Samuel 22:31]

“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your help makes me great. [2 Samuel 22:36]

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. [Psalm 18:2,3]

As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him…You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great. [Psalm 18:30, 35]

Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. [Psalm 33:20]

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of buckler and shield and rise up for my help. Draw also the spear and the battle- axe to meet those who pursue me; say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” [Psalm 35:1-3]

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; my lovingkindness and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. [Psalm 144:1,2]

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. [Proverbs 30:5]

He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. [Psalm 91:4]

Meditations & Confessions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 15:37:00 +0000

Meditate and confess one or more of these out loud as many times as you need to calm your spirit and boost your faith...they are all directly from the Word.

I am One Spirit with the Lord, filled with His Spirit...the Father and Son dwell in this earthen vessel by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am the temple of God, filled with His glory.

I am the righteousness of God in Christ—I have been MADE the righteousness of God in Christ, and my righteousness is of HIM. I am established in righteousness and I DO NOT FEAR.

I have received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and I reign IN LIFE through the One, Christ Jesus. I am filled with the Glory of God.

God my Father accomplishes what concerns me and removes every obstacle from my way. He is my Deliverer and the lifter of my head. He is the God of hope Who fills me with ALL joy and peace in believing so that I abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My way is built up and every obstacle is removed from my path. The Lord goes before me and Himself fights on my behalf; He is my rear guard and angels protect me in all my ways. The evil one DOES NOT TOUCH ME.

Death and life, blessing and cursing, are all in the power [hand] of my tongue, for me to choose. Therefore I choose life and blessing and prosperity! I walk in the blessings of Abraham and of Deuteronomy 28 daily, and I am redeemed from the curse of the Law. I am the head and NOT the tail, blessed coming in and going out.

Jesus has become to me Wisdom—I have the mind of Christ. I have an anointing from the Holy One and I know—understand—all things.

I am surrounded by favor as a shield…everything I touch prospers, and ALL things work together for my good. Every promise of God is YES for me, and I believe that what I say happens.

As He is, so am I in the earth. I am born of God and have overcome evil spirits. Greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world. I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loved me.

I am a descendant of the righteous—all who see me says “Surely that one is blessed of the Lord.” I am mighty in the earth—I am taught of the Lord and my SHALOM well-being is great.

God Himself continually grants me peace—shalom—in every circumstance! He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that I ask or think according to the power that works in me.

The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does He withhold from me because in Jesus, I am upright before Him. He Who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give me all things?

God is my refuge and fortress...I trust in Him. Angels have been given charge over me and guard me in all my ways. No evil shall befall me, no plague shall come near my dwelling. I tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent I trample down. Because I have loved Him, He has delivered me; He has set me securely on high, because I have known His name. I call upon Him and He answers me; He is with me in trouble; He rescues me and honor me. With a long life He satisfies me and lets me see His salvation.

I have been strengthened with all miracle-working power in my inner man...I am rooted and grounded in love and I know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. I am filled up to all the fullness of God.

I am blessed with Abraham the Believer. The promises were spoken to him and to his seed...I belong to Christ and I am Abraham's descendant, an heir according to promise. His blessings of favor, strength, and wealth are mine every day.

If God is for me, who can be against me? No man can stand before me any of the days of my life...just as He was with Moses and Joshua; He is with and in me.

No weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that accuses in judgment I will condemn. No harm befalls me because I've been made the righteousness of God in Christ. He strengthens me and protects me from ALL evil.

HALLELUJAH!!