There is a difference between human and adamic nature. We are human and were created human but we received the adamic nature when Adam sinned. As humans, we have the right to accept the covenants God has made for us. These covenants are the means to overcoming the adamic nature. Colossians 1:21-23 (NASB) 21And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--23if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
This passage shows the covenant work of God and what is expected by God of us as a covenant response. This also leads me to a very important truth regarding us as humans.
Last night I was awake for several hours as I prayed and meditated on His Word. I felt to repent of something that has bothered me somewhat. As much as I love the Word of God, I get rather bored in some Bible studies. I was convinced this was my fault and I was confessing this to the Lord when the Spirit spoke very clearly to me that the problem lay in not discerning the essence of the Scriptures. As I knocked on this word, this amazing revelation was in my spirit. We as humans do not perceive the limitation God has put on all created things. The essence of the Scriptures is not a historical recording of events but an unveiling of human limitation and the very real truth God is not limited but is limitless and dwells in eternity and, therefore, is not limited by time. Time was created for man who dwells in this limitation. Astronauts take their calenders and watches with them into space as they are still limited by time.
There are physical limitations, limitations of spirit, limitations on celestial beings, limitations on every created thing for all will know the end of all "things" as God establishes a new order. This limitation existed in the Garden of Eden but was a blessed time of being taught by God. Adam knew he was limited in knowledge and knew God as the Awesome One Who fellowshipped with him and led him into understanding and knowledge. The temptation to Eve was taking control over the attaining of knowledge. When Adam sinned, the knowledge of that limitation disappeared and he began to trust in the knowledge he attained through experience and his own opinions. This dangerous reliance on our own opinion for knowledge is the basis of following false gods. While Satan is the author of religion, man's imagination cements him to the concept of false worship. We begin to think of ourselves in wrong ways because we do not have a true understanding of the limitation placed on us as human beings. We judge ourselves wrongly. We condemn ourselves wrongly. We judge others and we judge God because we do not understand the limitation on us.
Men have a limitation on them as well as women. Both have human limitation but there is another limitation that we need to understand when judging the opposite sex. Man is not complete without a wife and the wife must understand she is as the church that must rely wholly on the Lord as the Head of the Church, with respect and reverance to Him. When we realize we are limited with a purpose, we begin to rely on God for guidance. We begin to lean on Him and not on our own resources.
Jesus said that IF we abide in Him and His Word abides in us, we may ask..... What does that mean to you? Without knowing how limited you are, you cannot know how vital it is to abide in Him. It no longer is a nice saying but an absolute necessity. His word in you becomes a flow of His unlimited Life flowing in you and you abiding in Him so His strength surrounds you. Why do we need to know our limitation? When we know our need and turn to the Lord, He is able to teach us His ways and manifest Himself to us and work within us. Paul came to this realization when he saw his own weakness. II Corinthians 12:9-10 (NASB)9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Colossians 1:11-10 (NLT) 9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is the reason all created things have limitation. In covenant, God is able to work in those who respond to Him and create His image in them. Only as you release your weakness to God is He free to work His strength in you. Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." We will be set free of limitation when we receive our resurrected body, fashioned after His glorious Body. Jesus shed His limited time in this realm through the death on the cross, but before He did, He declared it is finished. The finished work means a finish of limitation. Man in God's image will know no limitation to do God's will. Even now, if we move through covenant as Jesus did, filled with the Holy Spirit, there is no limitation to do His will.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Created Things
Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT) 15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
It is difficult to consider angels, prinicipalities and dominions created "things". It is also difficult to consider angels and Satan as created things. When you can consider yourself a created thing, you begin to get the picture. Realizing eternity without any created thing is extremely challenging, but God had no beginning and all created things were created by God. We are seeing these created things in the early stages of the shaking. Watching the faces of people on TV, you see the gamut of human reaction to this shaking. Remember, this is only the beginning.
To receive the Kingdom that cannot be shaken is still our perogative now. Soon we will get past that point for the shaking will demand a reaction from us and that action will move you closer to the Kingdom and root you into it or shake you out of your mental acceptance that you are in the Kingdom. Many have been following the broad and easy way that leads to destruction. Mental acceptance that relies on feelings is not going to protect you. "Feelings" have too long been the barometer of our spiritual condition. When you are "up", you "feel" confident, but when you are "down", you feel discouraged. When you are pleased, you are happy, but when you are thwarted, you are angry. These feelings are of the soul and are only going to be overcome when you allow God's Word to cut between the soul and spirit and you walk in the Spirit and do not rely on feelings to dictate your reactions.
We just covered some thoughts on the verse in Second Timothy where Paul was exhorting young Timothy that fear was not from God, but a part of his Adamic nature and not a reaction for him to follow. But are we not constantly fighting that reaction to everything we see and hear? When do we overcome it? Only when the soul no longer determines our reaction but our spirit is strong to trust in God! Letting the Word convict you and quick repentance with faith in the Blood to cleanse is the fastest way to embracing that cutting action of the Sword of the Word. Making the choice now to follow the Lamb, no matter the cost, is a strong blow to the soul life. Embracing what you fear to commit it to God is a nail in the coffin of that Adamic nature. Right now, the judgment of the shaking is causing our nature much to fear. Either we give way to that fear or we nail it to the cross.
God, Who created all things, is able to keep you in His hand. Fear of loss makes the Adamic nature unable to reason or commit to sacrifice. But when that fear is committed to God, His Word is a guiding light. Follow the Lamb. You may see some of the greatest miracles since the beginning of time in this last period of time before His Kingdom is established in this realm. He is in control and we are the sheep of His pasture.
It is difficult to consider angels, prinicipalities and dominions created "things". It is also difficult to consider angels and Satan as created things. When you can consider yourself a created thing, you begin to get the picture. Realizing eternity without any created thing is extremely challenging, but God had no beginning and all created things were created by God. We are seeing these created things in the early stages of the shaking. Watching the faces of people on TV, you see the gamut of human reaction to this shaking. Remember, this is only the beginning.
To receive the Kingdom that cannot be shaken is still our perogative now. Soon we will get past that point for the shaking will demand a reaction from us and that action will move you closer to the Kingdom and root you into it or shake you out of your mental acceptance that you are in the Kingdom. Many have been following the broad and easy way that leads to destruction. Mental acceptance that relies on feelings is not going to protect you. "Feelings" have too long been the barometer of our spiritual condition. When you are "up", you "feel" confident, but when you are "down", you feel discouraged. When you are pleased, you are happy, but when you are thwarted, you are angry. These feelings are of the soul and are only going to be overcome when you allow God's Word to cut between the soul and spirit and you walk in the Spirit and do not rely on feelings to dictate your reactions.
We just covered some thoughts on the verse in Second Timothy where Paul was exhorting young Timothy that fear was not from God, but a part of his Adamic nature and not a reaction for him to follow. But are we not constantly fighting that reaction to everything we see and hear? When do we overcome it? Only when the soul no longer determines our reaction but our spirit is strong to trust in God! Letting the Word convict you and quick repentance with faith in the Blood to cleanse is the fastest way to embracing that cutting action of the Sword of the Word. Making the choice now to follow the Lamb, no matter the cost, is a strong blow to the soul life. Embracing what you fear to commit it to God is a nail in the coffin of that Adamic nature. Right now, the judgment of the shaking is causing our nature much to fear. Either we give way to that fear or we nail it to the cross.
God, Who created all things, is able to keep you in His hand. Fear of loss makes the Adamic nature unable to reason or commit to sacrifice. But when that fear is committed to God, His Word is a guiding light. Follow the Lamb. You may see some of the greatest miracles since the beginning of time in this last period of time before His Kingdom is established in this realm. He is in control and we are the sheep of His pasture.
Monday, February 21, 2011
What Cost Love?
If we are to consider the cost of love, we have only one example for comparison and that is Jesus. I have always felt that, no matter how much His human sacrifice cost, the sacrifice He made to come into our realm as a man was the greatest sacrifice of all. He will forever, through the rest of eternity, be the creation as well as the Creator. He is indeed the firstfruits, not only of the resurrection, but of God's purpose. It cost Him everything.
If we are to have the same love, what will it cost us? Everything. Jesus gave up His pre-time eternal existance to take on the likeness of man in flesh to live in this realm as we do. If we are to live with Him in post-time eternity, we must give up our dependence on our human nature to live in Him and walk in the spirit. This is truly difficult for the pull of this realm and the cares of life are a constant distraction. How do we overcome this to live and abide in Him when we are living in this realm? Look at the Children of Israel in the wilderness. They were so distracted by the "dust" at their feet they could not rejoice in the Cloud above them. No matter how many times God delivered them nor how great the miracle of that deliverance, the everyday problems were bigger than the Promise. What did they need to do to enter into His Rest? Just trust Him and step out in obedience. If you enter His Rest, that is what it will cost you. Stepping out without this realm's assurance that you will make it.
We see the beginning of the "shaking" that was prophesied in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 12:26-29 (NLT)26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. 28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.
The shaking that is starting is on so many levels: financial, governments of nations, education, and general morality and respect for life. It began slowly but in the past few years has gained momentum and is now speeding toward a total change in our world. Many are saying the way of life we have known is fast disappearing. What does this mean? The choices you have had time to think about are about to be made for you. You will either be in the kingdom of God or be shaken with all the rest of created things. So often Jesus spoke to His disciples concerning the choice set before them, saying, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2 NIV) Following Jesus was not to mean walking from city to city with Him. This choice to follow would involve losing their control and walking in intimate relationship with Him and embracing their cross. It would mean to follow Him in His relationship with the Father and His willingness to do the Father's will. It would mean paying the price to follow in obedience to every word the Spirit would reveal. Saying with meaning, "Not my will, but Yours be done."
The question Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me more than these?" must be answered by each of us in every situation. Where is our focus? Where is our treasure? Are you willing to lay down your life for Him as He did for you? It may be a choice in the near future.
If we are to have the same love, what will it cost us? Everything. Jesus gave up His pre-time eternal existance to take on the likeness of man in flesh to live in this realm as we do. If we are to live with Him in post-time eternity, we must give up our dependence on our human nature to live in Him and walk in the spirit. This is truly difficult for the pull of this realm and the cares of life are a constant distraction. How do we overcome this to live and abide in Him when we are living in this realm? Look at the Children of Israel in the wilderness. They were so distracted by the "dust" at their feet they could not rejoice in the Cloud above them. No matter how many times God delivered them nor how great the miracle of that deliverance, the everyday problems were bigger than the Promise. What did they need to do to enter into His Rest? Just trust Him and step out in obedience. If you enter His Rest, that is what it will cost you. Stepping out without this realm's assurance that you will make it.
We see the beginning of the "shaking" that was prophesied in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 12:26-29 (NLT)26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. 28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire.
The shaking that is starting is on so many levels: financial, governments of nations, education, and general morality and respect for life. It began slowly but in the past few years has gained momentum and is now speeding toward a total change in our world. Many are saying the way of life we have known is fast disappearing. What does this mean? The choices you have had time to think about are about to be made for you. You will either be in the kingdom of God or be shaken with all the rest of created things. So often Jesus spoke to His disciples concerning the choice set before them, saying, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2 NIV) Following Jesus was not to mean walking from city to city with Him. This choice to follow would involve losing their control and walking in intimate relationship with Him and embracing their cross. It would mean to follow Him in His relationship with the Father and His willingness to do the Father's will. It would mean paying the price to follow in obedience to every word the Spirit would reveal. Saying with meaning, "Not my will, but Yours be done."
The question Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me more than these?" must be answered by each of us in every situation. Where is our focus? Where is our treasure? Are you willing to lay down your life for Him as He did for you? It may be a choice in the near future.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
God Gives
II Timothy1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
Philippians 2:13 (NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Fear is of this realm and a part of the Adamic nature. It is fed by feeding on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus spoke the Word of God in a covenant relationship with the Father with total response. His will and control were totally given over to the Father. Disobedience is all about control. You lose your trust to the degree you keep your control. God gave us the freedom of choice. If you choose to go your way and make your decisions based on your own knowledge or source thereof, you move yourself out of the blessing of covenant because you are no longer giving to God the response He desires.
Jesus prayed for us in John 17:14-19 (KJV) 14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Notice the strong connection with the words, WORD, WORLD, TRUTH, and SANCTIFY. How did Jesus sanctify Himself? By total obedience and submission to the Father. Because He did this, He enables us to be sanctified through Him, the Truth. The Word separates, as a sword, between the soul and spirit. It is the soul that is linked most closely to this realm and the evil schemes of Satan exhibited in this realm. Our turning to the Word to give our control over to God and live in Him is the response that allows Jesus to bring us to the same sanctification. This allows us to receive the discipline over self that Jesus walked out before His disciples. It is part of the "It is finished!" that Jesus declared from the cross. It only needs your response to possess all that God has provided! It is part of the covenant Jesus has cut for us.
Philippians 2:13 (NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Fear is of this realm and a part of the Adamic nature. It is fed by feeding on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus spoke the Word of God in a covenant relationship with the Father with total response. His will and control were totally given over to the Father. Disobedience is all about control. You lose your trust to the degree you keep your control. God gave us the freedom of choice. If you choose to go your way and make your decisions based on your own knowledge or source thereof, you move yourself out of the blessing of covenant because you are no longer giving to God the response He desires.
Jesus prayed for us in John 17:14-19 (KJV) 14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Notice the strong connection with the words, WORD, WORLD, TRUTH, and SANCTIFY. How did Jesus sanctify Himself? By total obedience and submission to the Father. Because He did this, He enables us to be sanctified through Him, the Truth. The Word separates, as a sword, between the soul and spirit. It is the soul that is linked most closely to this realm and the evil schemes of Satan exhibited in this realm. Our turning to the Word to give our control over to God and live in Him is the response that allows Jesus to bring us to the same sanctification. This allows us to receive the discipline over self that Jesus walked out before His disciples. It is part of the "It is finished!" that Jesus declared from the cross. It only needs your response to possess all that God has provided! It is part of the covenant Jesus has cut for us.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
What Measure Love?
I John 4:9 (NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. When God stated the purpose for all covenant making, He made the way to infuse Himself into us in direct response to our response. As I have said so many times, covenant is all about response. The wheel turns and the flow starts with your response. Jesus showed us by continually moving in response to the Father. We get a "flat tire" and the flow stops when we stop giving response to God. Your life takes on new meaning when you give God the response of loving God with all of your heart, all of your soul and strength. The more total the response, the more total the flow of God into you.
We say the words, God is love. But what do we know of love? People fall in love and they fall out of love. People say, I love you, and then you hear some of the backbiting they say behind your back. Letters end with the word love and cards say "I love you", but we are a people who use words without meaning.
Jeaus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He is the meaning. He came as the exact representation of the Father in the likeness of man. He is the pattern. He did not speak out of this realm but only what He heard the Father say. I often imagine this realm as the door posts that I push against in isometric exercise. It stengthens my spiritual muscles! Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist the pull of this realm and it will lose its hold on you. If you want to know the meaning of the words you read when you read the Scripture, read with the Spirit guiding you and revealing Jesus to you.
What does "love" mean? God has revealed His love for you in Jesus. God has made great sacrifice to make you in the image of God. Jesus has made great sacrifice to reveal that love. Now the Word requires you to love as Jesus has loved you. Husbands, the love you have for your wife must be as the love Jesus has revealed. Wives, the reverance you have for your husband and the response you give him is to be as the walk Jesus revealed to His church. The Church Jesus died to create is to follow in Jesus' footsteps. This is how a wife is to respond to her marriage covenant. In doing so, the flow of God into your marriage is unbelievable in the eyes of those who follow only this realm. Love becomes unshakeable and eternal. It bypasses personal opinion and becomes a word with meaning. Love never fails and becomes trust. It hopes and becomes faith.
I was meditating on the love Jesus revealed on the cross and suddenly His words, "It is finished!" took on new meaning. This is why the apostles said, "Be healed in Jesus' Name!" and they were healed. This is why Jesus simply said to blind eyes and deaf ears, "Be opened!" They believed in the finished work. All those who gave covenant response in the Old Testament and saw miracles were looking forward to the finished work. Somehow Christians have lost sight of the finished work and still pray for God to save and to heal.
What measure love? It is the breadth and length, depth and height of God Who fills all space. It is eternal. Love is the essence God gives you.
I John 4:16-19 (NASB)16We 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. 17By 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. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us.
Believe you are chosen to be in His image and He is able to complete His work in you!
We say the words, God is love. But what do we know of love? People fall in love and they fall out of love. People say, I love you, and then you hear some of the backbiting they say behind your back. Letters end with the word love and cards say "I love you", but we are a people who use words without meaning.
Jeaus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He is the meaning. He came as the exact representation of the Father in the likeness of man. He is the pattern. He did not speak out of this realm but only what He heard the Father say. I often imagine this realm as the door posts that I push against in isometric exercise. It stengthens my spiritual muscles! Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist the pull of this realm and it will lose its hold on you. If you want to know the meaning of the words you read when you read the Scripture, read with the Spirit guiding you and revealing Jesus to you.
What does "love" mean? God has revealed His love for you in Jesus. God has made great sacrifice to make you in the image of God. Jesus has made great sacrifice to reveal that love. Now the Word requires you to love as Jesus has loved you. Husbands, the love you have for your wife must be as the love Jesus has revealed. Wives, the reverance you have for your husband and the response you give him is to be as the walk Jesus revealed to His church. The Church Jesus died to create is to follow in Jesus' footsteps. This is how a wife is to respond to her marriage covenant. In doing so, the flow of God into your marriage is unbelievable in the eyes of those who follow only this realm. Love becomes unshakeable and eternal. It bypasses personal opinion and becomes a word with meaning. Love never fails and becomes trust. It hopes and becomes faith.
I was meditating on the love Jesus revealed on the cross and suddenly His words, "It is finished!" took on new meaning. This is why the apostles said, "Be healed in Jesus' Name!" and they were healed. This is why Jesus simply said to blind eyes and deaf ears, "Be opened!" They believed in the finished work. All those who gave covenant response in the Old Testament and saw miracles were looking forward to the finished work. Somehow Christians have lost sight of the finished work and still pray for God to save and to heal.
What measure love? It is the breadth and length, depth and height of God Who fills all space. It is eternal. Love is the essence God gives you.
I John 4:16-19 (NASB)16We 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. 17By 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. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us.
Believe you are chosen to be in His image and He is able to complete His work in you!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Love
I John 4:15-16 NTL 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
This is the essence of the New Covenant in Jesus' Blood. His commandment for this covenant is "Love one another". John 13:34-35 (NLT)34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John had grown in love, not only for His Lord, but for the children of God. He knew the necessity as well as the cost. His own opinion of how to follow Jesus and his opinion of how others were doing so could not influence or hinder the flow of God's Love through him to those for whom Jesus died. I am humbled by the depth of appreciation the apostles showed in their respect for the calling Jesus had given them. John's love for His Lord overflowed to the people to whom John ministered. The calling is the same for each of us: "Follow Me." What He asks of us as we follow is just a part of the following. Jesus never takes us where He does not go before.
The purpose of God to make us in the image of God is realized as we follow Jesus. He sent his disciples out into the field to do the works they had seen Him doing. He commanded them to love as He loved. Following Jesus is to answer the question, "What would Jesus do?" and then do it. He is the Way, so walk in it. As you follow, you come to know Him. Letting the Word of God abide in you, feeding your thoughts and emotions, guiding your feet and motivating your actions, until you find yourself abiding in Him. Jesus must never be an abstract truth to us. He must be alive in you. You are called to be witnesses of His Resurrection, not only with the words, but with His life shining through you! Love with His love.
I John 4:19 (NLT)19 We love each other because he loved us first.
This is the essence of the New Covenant in Jesus' Blood. His commandment for this covenant is "Love one another". John 13:34-35 (NLT)34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John had grown in love, not only for His Lord, but for the children of God. He knew the necessity as well as the cost. His own opinion of how to follow Jesus and his opinion of how others were doing so could not influence or hinder the flow of God's Love through him to those for whom Jesus died. I am humbled by the depth of appreciation the apostles showed in their respect for the calling Jesus had given them. John's love for His Lord overflowed to the people to whom John ministered. The calling is the same for each of us: "Follow Me." What He asks of us as we follow is just a part of the following. Jesus never takes us where He does not go before.
The purpose of God to make us in the image of God is realized as we follow Jesus. He sent his disciples out into the field to do the works they had seen Him doing. He commanded them to love as He loved. Following Jesus is to answer the question, "What would Jesus do?" and then do it. He is the Way, so walk in it. As you follow, you come to know Him. Letting the Word of God abide in you, feeding your thoughts and emotions, guiding your feet and motivating your actions, until you find yourself abiding in Him. Jesus must never be an abstract truth to us. He must be alive in you. You are called to be witnesses of His Resurrection, not only with the words, but with His life shining through you! Love with His love.
I John 4:19 (NLT)19 We love each other because he loved us first.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Power
Acts 1:8 ...You wll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; ... It is God's purpose to infuse Himself into us. So He gives power to us. This power is for more than working miracles. It is God's response to our Covenant response of an unconditional YES to His expressed purpose. John 1:14 KJV ... he has given us the power to become children of God... Jesus not only came revealing God to us and what a son in His image is, but He IS the Way! We overcome by His Blood and by the word of our testimony--our identification with His Word and our covenant response to it. The power loosed in this changes us.
Looking steadfastly into the mirror of His Word and seeing His face looses the power to change us.
Walking in His footsteps in every challenge to our nature, looses the power to change us.
Living in thanksgiving in ALL things and worshipping His Name and reveling in His Presence and Glory looses the power to dwell in us, changing us into His image.
We do not take on His likeness because of our efforts for we are His workmanship. He infuses us with Himself as we respond to Him. Every turning of our face toward Him is effective in allowing Him to work within us. Just ask Him, seek Him, and knock on this wall that must exist until our obedience is complete. Every little obedience opens the door a little more. But our complete obedience will result in this old nature bowing in complete submission to His nature taking control. It is His power that is at work within us. Don't give way to fear.
Looking steadfastly into the mirror of His Word and seeing His face looses the power to change us.
Walking in His footsteps in every challenge to our nature, looses the power to change us.
Living in thanksgiving in ALL things and worshipping His Name and reveling in His Presence and Glory looses the power to dwell in us, changing us into His image.
We do not take on His likeness because of our efforts for we are His workmanship. He infuses us with Himself as we respond to Him. Every turning of our face toward Him is effective in allowing Him to work within us. Just ask Him, seek Him, and knock on this wall that must exist until our obedience is complete. Every little obedience opens the door a little more. But our complete obedience will result in this old nature bowing in complete submission to His nature taking control. It is His power that is at work within us. Don't give way to fear.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
II Timothy 1:7
II Timothy 1:7 But God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a disciplined mind. These intended gifts are of the essence of God. The declared purpose of God is to make man in Their image. God imparts His attributes into us as we are prepared to receive them. This is not blasphemous presumption on our part. God seeks this fruit in us and failure on our part to develop the characteristics of His nature and demonstrate the result of close following of Jesus to do as He bids us, will result in our being rejected. When Jesus cursed the fig tree He was looking for the promise of figs that would naturally appear in the season of figs. Something had caused the tree to fail to produce this promise. It had been created to fulfill the promise.
What has caused the church in general to fail to produce the promise of sonship in the likeness of Jesus? It is God's purpose, and His power to produce this in us is not in question. What has happened that we have become a tree without promise to produce what God expects in the proper season?
Fear has become the common mode of operation in our realm. It is how we are governed from childhood through the rest of our lives. Fear of failure, of poverty, hunger, illness, danger and death keep us in a mold of our own making. Fear of being fanatical, or "being out of order" keep many from stepping out to respond to God's expectation. The scheme of Satan to produce a religion that satisfies but does not produce what God expects is easier to follow than to follow Jesus all the way into God's expectation. I want to explore this first gift of power and see what it will produce in us. We have seen the result of living in fear but what will be the result of living with the awareness of the power that God longs to give us.
First let us look at the power of God. Our earliest "experience" of this power is the creation. There have been many theories concerning creation when mankind has chosen to disregard God's Word. But the proof is lacking and to accept man's theory takes more faith than trusting God. To believe in God Who balances universes and galaxies and makes a man out of dust with every organ and nerve working throughout a lifetime with a spirit and soul that will live on into eternity, is actually easier than believing it all just happened.
But the power exerted in creation was to prepare a place for man to develop and choose to allow God to exert the power to bring that dust creature into the likeness of God and stand with Jesus as a finished project. The desire to be like Him looses that power into your life. Many want power for power's sake but are not desiring it to accomplish God's desire. I think of the example of Samson. God put that power in Samson's life and made it available to him through the anointing. But Samson did not focus on God's purpose in giving him this power, but let his own desires become the guide of his steps. It was only when he lost everything that he came to the realization of what was truly important. Then he sought God to use that power to do God's will. Jesus gave power to his 12 disciples and they marveled at the miracles they were able to do and that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus showed them their focus needed to be on what God had provided for them rather than on what they could do.
God gives us the power but we give Him the covenant response of being an instrument in His hand to do His will and fulfill His desire. The power of God in the hand of a totally yielded vessel intent on becoming like Jesus, is what God can use in this time of the shaking of all things that can be shaken.
What has caused the church in general to fail to produce the promise of sonship in the likeness of Jesus? It is God's purpose, and His power to produce this in us is not in question. What has happened that we have become a tree without promise to produce what God expects in the proper season?
Fear has become the common mode of operation in our realm. It is how we are governed from childhood through the rest of our lives. Fear of failure, of poverty, hunger, illness, danger and death keep us in a mold of our own making. Fear of being fanatical, or "being out of order" keep many from stepping out to respond to God's expectation. The scheme of Satan to produce a religion that satisfies but does not produce what God expects is easier to follow than to follow Jesus all the way into God's expectation. I want to explore this first gift of power and see what it will produce in us. We have seen the result of living in fear but what will be the result of living with the awareness of the power that God longs to give us.
First let us look at the power of God. Our earliest "experience" of this power is the creation. There have been many theories concerning creation when mankind has chosen to disregard God's Word. But the proof is lacking and to accept man's theory takes more faith than trusting God. To believe in God Who balances universes and galaxies and makes a man out of dust with every organ and nerve working throughout a lifetime with a spirit and soul that will live on into eternity, is actually easier than believing it all just happened.
But the power exerted in creation was to prepare a place for man to develop and choose to allow God to exert the power to bring that dust creature into the likeness of God and stand with Jesus as a finished project. The desire to be like Him looses that power into your life. Many want power for power's sake but are not desiring it to accomplish God's desire. I think of the example of Samson. God put that power in Samson's life and made it available to him through the anointing. But Samson did not focus on God's purpose in giving him this power, but let his own desires become the guide of his steps. It was only when he lost everything that he came to the realization of what was truly important. Then he sought God to use that power to do God's will. Jesus gave power to his 12 disciples and they marveled at the miracles they were able to do and that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus showed them their focus needed to be on what God had provided for them rather than on what they could do.
God gives us the power but we give Him the covenant response of being an instrument in His hand to do His will and fulfill His desire. The power of God in the hand of a totally yielded vessel intent on becoming like Jesus, is what God can use in this time of the shaking of all things that can be shaken.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Who is Jesus?
Jesus asked the question, "Who do men say that I am?" He asked this at the time of the greatest upheavel His disciples had ever faced. We are facing a similar time. It is the time prophesied when all things that can be shaken will be shaken. We need to answer this question now for we need to know, as did Peter, who Jesus is to us.
As I realized the Spirit was giving me a Word for this blog, the word "limitation" came to me. Every answer the disciples gave in response to Jesus' question was a limitation until Peter had a revelation from God. To see Jesus as our Savior is a revelation that brought New Birth. To see Jesus as our Healer is a revelation that brings healing. To see Him as our Priest is a revelation that brings us the peace that we have an intercessor who understands our limitation. Each of these viewpoints can be challenged by our human understanding and our faith shaken by human experience that reasons against a revelation and causes us to limit Jesus again in our thinking. Through all the years of Church history, man has struggled with the identity of Jesus and so found peace in the doctrine of the Trinity.
There is a key in the verse we know so well. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son... We have to go back to the beginning to understandd this. Back to eternity before there was any creation. The scientific world goes back to the Big Bang. We go farther to LOVE. God did not create us because He needed us. Remember well this one truth about God. God has no need. He is totally complete. He has no begiining. He fills all space and God is LOVE. Because He is so complete, God does not need process. Out of His love, God proclaimed to make man in His image. The eighth chapter of Proverbs goes back to this period. The wisdom to govern the workmanship of making man in the image of God was set aside out of God and the govern by covenant came into being. Everything in all creation is under covenant with God. In Genesis 1 we see that God rested from all His work of creation. That is such a significant statement that He made the Sabbath a covenant expectation, or demand, in His covenant with Israel. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and through Him we enter into His rest. But what does it mean for us that God rested? Another very significant scripture is Genesis 1:28. He gave man authority over his created habitation. We have to request God to move on our behalf and so we pray. We pray for wisdom, for help and guidance in all our ways. We give our authority back to God to move as He wills. (Not my will but Yours be done!) Prayer is our surrender of control back to Him. Many do not realize this and so dictate to God how to answer.
God knew that man would fail to respond to His covenant with man in obedience and relationship. Back in that eternity moment when God said, "Let US..." the plural ministry to create man was born. The protype of man in God's image was there. Colossians reveals Jesus in His ministry to creation. Only the Spirit of God can reveal to you the ultimate power of God to move without process. It is significant that Jesus is the ministry of Creation. It is the beginning of process. Instead of instant creation because of a thought of God, there is now the process of covenant. That was the revelation God gave me to see the setting aside of Wisdom for the control of making man in God's image became the beginning of covenant. All creation is protected by covenant. God will not destroy His creation outside of covenant. But covenant will be the avenue for its destruction. The lack of covenant response is permission for judgment. The timing in covenant becomes the protection of God's purpose. Until God has what was first proclaimed, man in His image, covenant will protect the process.
The awesome recognition of God's Love and Power comes from the revelation of Jesus that removes all limitation of man's reasoning concerning Him. We see a man moving thrugh a limited ministry, speaking and doing only what He sees the Father speaking and doing, and ending in death and resurrection. We form our own opinion of this based on our measure of faith. Paul called it seeing through a glass "darkly". Our "water realm" distorts our vision. Use the Spirit's glasses and see it through Love. Let the Spirit overwhelm your soul and spirit with His Love. God allowed the great power of creation to be loosed by The Word and energized by The Spirit and then sealed it into covenant by His signature of approval. Why? Because of His great love for us. Jesus is in the heart of this power source. What happened on that cross at Calvary? Jesus was in the heart of that power source. A likeness of man, under unimaginable distress of blood loss and suffering, can speak with a loud voice that is still ringing through time? We cannot imagine the suffering, the cost and the magnitude of that sacrifice for us, but can we even begin to imagine or understand the power source that was loosed in our behalf?
As I realized the Spirit was giving me a Word for this blog, the word "limitation" came to me. Every answer the disciples gave in response to Jesus' question was a limitation until Peter had a revelation from God. To see Jesus as our Savior is a revelation that brought New Birth. To see Jesus as our Healer is a revelation that brings healing. To see Him as our Priest is a revelation that brings us the peace that we have an intercessor who understands our limitation. Each of these viewpoints can be challenged by our human understanding and our faith shaken by human experience that reasons against a revelation and causes us to limit Jesus again in our thinking. Through all the years of Church history, man has struggled with the identity of Jesus and so found peace in the doctrine of the Trinity.
There is a key in the verse we know so well. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son... We have to go back to the beginning to understandd this. Back to eternity before there was any creation. The scientific world goes back to the Big Bang. We go farther to LOVE. God did not create us because He needed us. Remember well this one truth about God. God has no need. He is totally complete. He has no begiining. He fills all space and God is LOVE. Because He is so complete, God does not need process. Out of His love, God proclaimed to make man in His image. The eighth chapter of Proverbs goes back to this period. The wisdom to govern the workmanship of making man in the image of God was set aside out of God and the govern by covenant came into being. Everything in all creation is under covenant with God. In Genesis 1 we see that God rested from all His work of creation. That is such a significant statement that He made the Sabbath a covenant expectation, or demand, in His covenant with Israel. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and through Him we enter into His rest. But what does it mean for us that God rested? Another very significant scripture is Genesis 1:28. He gave man authority over his created habitation. We have to request God to move on our behalf and so we pray. We pray for wisdom, for help and guidance in all our ways. We give our authority back to God to move as He wills. (Not my will but Yours be done!) Prayer is our surrender of control back to Him. Many do not realize this and so dictate to God how to answer.
God knew that man would fail to respond to His covenant with man in obedience and relationship. Back in that eternity moment when God said, "Let US..." the plural ministry to create man was born. The protype of man in God's image was there. Colossians reveals Jesus in His ministry to creation. Only the Spirit of God can reveal to you the ultimate power of God to move without process. It is significant that Jesus is the ministry of Creation. It is the beginning of process. Instead of instant creation because of a thought of God, there is now the process of covenant. That was the revelation God gave me to see the setting aside of Wisdom for the control of making man in God's image became the beginning of covenant. All creation is protected by covenant. God will not destroy His creation outside of covenant. But covenant will be the avenue for its destruction. The lack of covenant response is permission for judgment. The timing in covenant becomes the protection of God's purpose. Until God has what was first proclaimed, man in His image, covenant will protect the process.
The awesome recognition of God's Love and Power comes from the revelation of Jesus that removes all limitation of man's reasoning concerning Him. We see a man moving thrugh a limited ministry, speaking and doing only what He sees the Father speaking and doing, and ending in death and resurrection. We form our own opinion of this based on our measure of faith. Paul called it seeing through a glass "darkly". Our "water realm" distorts our vision. Use the Spirit's glasses and see it through Love. Let the Spirit overwhelm your soul and spirit with His Love. God allowed the great power of creation to be loosed by The Word and energized by The Spirit and then sealed it into covenant by His signature of approval. Why? Because of His great love for us. Jesus is in the heart of this power source. What happened on that cross at Calvary? Jesus was in the heart of that power source. A likeness of man, under unimaginable distress of blood loss and suffering, can speak with a loud voice that is still ringing through time? We cannot imagine the suffering, the cost and the magnitude of that sacrifice for us, but can we even begin to imagine or understand the power source that was loosed in our behalf?
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