We’ve received salvation but have we truly received the abundant life?
The question now is, “Where is TRUE life?”
If God is an extraordinary God, then shouldn’t my life be extraordinary? Living by the Spirit is an extraordinary experience.
Stop and ask yourself, do I feel like I am living in abundance?
Do I have life, and satisfaction, peace and joy? Or do I walk around always feeling in lack?
Or maybe I feel full in some areas of my life, and lack in other.
A reality of life:
Matthew 7:13- “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
What is this life Christ is talking about? What are the ways that the word describes life in Christ?
-Abundant, freeing, fulfilling, wonderful-
Jesus makes a remarkable statement about the abundant life- few find it!
Multiple gates that we try to find life in:
*external- trying to find life in things and people around us
*internal- finding life in the One who lives within us,
Before we come to Christ our entire lives are based on externals. We perceive life based on things and people. We wrap our identity up in our dress (or looks), our conduct, or our activities. Even when we are saved, many of these areas still have pull on us because we have not moved beyond the forgiveness of our sins, into the abundance of intimacy and revelation of identity.
Many times our understanding of our acceptance of Christ is centered on the reality that 1. ) we now have salvation (we are saved)
2.) our sins are forgiven
Having our sins forgiven, doesn’t tell one thing about hot to live the life. The only thing it says is after you commit a sin you are forgiven. You don’t know anything yet about true life. God’s life.
So life to you is still external: How do I get it?
Move from outer to inner. From seeking life from externals and drawing life from the internal One. At first it seems doable, and exciting, but after a while of performing, it loses it’s glamour and we become exhausted.
*Share. Feeling the pressure that I had to be the one to seek God, yet it has truely been HIm who has always sought me.
We definitely understand this part about God, and it’s a amazing and wonderful, salvation, ...but it gets even better. Most of us haven’t discovered how to live the life.
Good news! We can’t! You cannot figure out and live the abundant life- it’s impossible.
This is the first thing you have to learn. He CAN! HE WIll! He will live His life in us, as us.
The desire of God is to bring us into a place of where you no longer allow your externals to tell you anything about yourself. Your identity and life comes from God.
We all have different gates:
-profession
-children
-addiction
-possessions
-a finely cultivated image
-Charisma
-worship leader
*Anything external that’s telling you something about yourself, God has to take it to the alter and kill it, so that He can be your all in all.
It’s God, who changes us.
We have to be grateful to God because He drives us to Himself.
But he does it with love. He says to us, “You want that, you can have it. You want that external, go get it. I know you’re going to lay it down. I’m not going to keep you from picking it up, touching it, examining it, playing with it a while, and finally putting it down.
Then you’ll pick up and put down the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing.
One day you’re going to get to the final gate. You’re going to walk into that holy place, and you’re going to meet Me.
Not that you haven’t met Me before, but you’re going to meet Me and Me only, and you’ll have the answer.
After we receive Christ we are aware that there is a little more going on internally but there is still some external.
We all have different gates in our lives.
Christ is the life- we know that in our heads, but how many of us live with the reality that
Christ is in you and He will have the Life. Galatians 2:20
Not that He will help you live the life, He will live the life. That is amazing news!
God wants us to know that we are already made rightwous in Christ. (2 cor, 5:21)
I am truly righteous
We are holy (colossians 3:12)
He has made me complete (col 2:10)
I am blameless in His sight (colossians 1:22)
I am loved
I am acceptable
When I was crucified on the cross with Christ as Galtains 2:20 has told us for so long, I died to myself as my point of reference. He living in me is now our point of reference. He will live his life through me. This is the great news that God wants to reveal to you!
We cannot figure out how to live life. He can. He will and He will live His life in us, as us!
There is only one precious possession in life, and that is HIm. He in you, you in Him. You have arrived at the pearl of great proce. There isn’t any other place to go.
Mercy vs. grace
Kris Vallotin example: There is often a misunderstanding of mercy and grace.
Mercy= If you are speeding on the highway, let’s say you are going 15 over the speed limit. You are definitely speeding, and you get pulled over and the cop lets you go with a ticket. You just experience mercy.
Grace= If you are speeding on the highway, 15 over, and you get pulled over. Not only does the cop let you go without a ticket but he also gives you a check for 1,000. You don’t deserve the money at all, in fact you should be the one paying the officer. Yet he not only forgives you, but also blesses you.
We believe that we have been given mercy but many of us are holding onto the check convincing ourselves that we don’t deserve it, or that we have to do something first before we are able to spend the money.
It’s time we spend the money! It’s time we live the abundant life!
But now here is the question many of us walking around asking ourselves, where is the abundant life?
If we are living in our external world, and not the internal reality of Christ we will find ourselves running around asking the question: Where is the abundant life?
And after running around and around...whether it is from church -event -to-church event, conference-to-conference, person-to-person, prayer ministry -to prayer ministry, bible-study to bible-study, we find ourselves exhausted, discouraged and even more lost.
“It is as if the day we received Him by faith, Jesus says, “Now you’re saved, Good luck, i’ll see you when you die and it will be wonderful. But in the here and now it’s up to you. Get out there and try as hard as you can.”
Man what a struggle. We become so used to performing, that at first it doesn’t seem bad and it seems pretty great, but after a while we realize how unsatisfied we are internally.
Eternal vs. temporal next week, and Christ’s sacrifice
Monday, February 20, 2012
Living Heaven while on Earth
These are some notes from my growing in intimacy with the Lord class: Check em out!
Prophetic word: The Lord is releasing a new understanding of what it means to have a prosperous soul. We are beyond just surviving, barely surviving, or just making it by. Salvation brought redemption and restoration to all things. It brought life and life abundant.The Lord wants to draw you more into His reality, and when you do that, you cannot not prosper. He’s undoing certain beliefs to bring us into the truth. To worship with a prosperous soul- not a broken one. To love with prosperous soul, overflowing with love to give one another- not love starved, searching for any bit of love to find, and to operate in the government of heaven in all areas of our lives. Our internal world prospering, and bringing shift to our the world around us because of the internal wealth that we walk in. Jesus has given us this. It is time to agree with nothing else for ourselves, and to allow the truth of God’s love to settle upon us. There truly is not guilt or shame in Christ. There is nothing that you have done or can do that will disqualify you from walking in the prosperity of who He is. Agreeing with consequences and residue of sin has to go. If you are suffering in some way because of the choices that you have made in the past, it is time to believe and agree with the glorious grace that has been LAVISHED upon you. You have a prosperous soul. You have a beautiful soul, that the Lord takes delight in. Your heart is a garden that the Lord delights in and dwells in. Ask the Lord to reveal the areas where you have not believed that you can have prosperity, bring the truth of Heaven into that area (repentance) and rejoice for the truth of God’s heart and plan for you. If we were to understand the full extent of our destiny, and our created value, and lived just 10% of that we would be amazed, at how valuable and important or lives are to God. And we would be shocked by the reality of abundance we would experience.
2 corinthians 4:18- ESV
18 (A)as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 realities:
1. Unseen- eternal reality (God, Heaven, Spirit realm)
2. Seen- temporal reality (Physical world, my life situations, circumstances, “Natural”)
Both coexist at the same time
Draw example on dry erase
We live in a temporal reality but we must do what Paul says and acknowledge the eternal realm. Why? Because the eternal realm is the greater reality! There are three main reasons
1. Jesus lived this way! Lived in the temporal but operated in faith.
Faith is looking through the seen and temporal and seeing the eternal
Jesus saw:
whole hand when we saw one withered
feast, when he saw 5 loaves and 2 fish
life, when he saw Lazarus’ body lying dead
crucifiction, eternal life
Jesus lived on earth, with all the elements of earth but in another Kingdom. He saw what the Father was doing by drawing life from the eternal realm, and not focusing on the temporal
2,) As believers our failures, sins, and shortcomings- all seen realities constantly confront us.
it is vital that we believe our identity lies in eternity- set and secure because of the blood, or else we will habitually draw our identity from below, based on our performance whether good or bad. Our focus is no longer on the great commission, but actually on trying to clean up our act and look good enough for Christ to accept.
Because this is impossible- if we live this way, trying to clean ourselves up, we will walk around feeling
1. inlack, unsatisfied
2. like a failure
3. distant from God
4. exhausted and discouraged
Third, the distinction between the two realms is important because we are created to only find fulfillment in the unseen realm0 God’s realm.
The seen and temporal realm offers many pleasures that God has provided, but none of them ultimately satisfy. That is why Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger; and He who believes in me will never thirst.- John 6:35
There isn’t anything below the line, no matter how beautiful, no matter how touching, no matter how true, that equals like. We can only find trye life aove the line, in God, He is life!
God created us with a thirst that only He can quench. St. Augustine said, “Our souls are restless until the find their rest in thee.” Man is perpetually seeking. To whatever degree we don’t know the unseen, and eternal realm, we seek answers in the seen and temporal. We look for eternal answers among temporal things.
The super sad reality of this is that we are programmed for failure if we’re looking for ultimate answers in a non-ultimate realm, a realm that’s partial, fragmented, and incomplete. We end up worshipping the creation rather then the creator. And we do this as believers.
A life of faith, or identity, and our fullfillment in life are all based in the unseen and eternal realm. Our problem is that we can’t see that realm or learn of it through empirical investigation. God’s unseen kingdom is within us, but we can only understand the things of that realm is God reveals them to us.
“A Natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised... But to us God revealed, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” (1 corinthians 2:14, 10, 12)
This is Holy Spirit, this is the gift given to us by God. This is why Jesus said that is is better for Him to leave because He knew our minds could not perceive what he did for us, and understand the depths of His love without the Holy Spirit!
We are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. To whatever degree the Holy Spirit has revealed to us unseen and eternal realm we live in it. To whatever degree we don’t understand by revelation the unseen and eternal realm of God’s kingdom, we’re locked into living in the seen and temproal realm. Then I will start thinking things about God’s kingdom that are not true.
God makes known to us eternal, unseen, and spirit realities by REVELATION! This is why we pray for the spirit of wisdom and REVELATION! WE must have REVELATION in our hearts. Well what is this revelation?
In revelation God breaks through our consciousness and reveals eternal truths not discernable in the realm of appearances. And we respond, “Oh I see!” this is the eyes our hearts being enlightened. To see the greater depths of love.
How does this happen? Revelation- understanding of the unseen realm, meets faith on our part, and produces an inner knowing. This happens progressively
1st revelation- Jesus is son of God and Saviour of the world
2nd- Sins are forgiven. Most believers live in this revelation, and do not go beyond this reality
We can choose to live below the line, but we aren’t below the line people. We are of God’s kingdom. But we live in a realm of temporal appearances that differ from what God sees in the eternal. Spiritual growth is a process of replacing temporal appearances with eternal reality and living out of it.
The inner life, the life of the Spirit, you can’t help but live out of it. We’re always living out of what we believe
Romans 6- sins are forgiven, but if we don’t believe it then sin will still have power of us
This is because we’re caught in the trap of trying to become something that we already are: free from sin
We will never know abundant life, until the unseen and eternal realm is home to us un our everyday experience. Until then we will be living according to appearances, and appearances will never lead us deeper in the life of God. God wants to bring us to the point where we say, :I live by what God says about the things in my life, situations, people and myself.” Then we see as He sees, We discern situations are but as they appear to be, but that God’s absolutes are operating in the realm of appearances. We are at rest in the unseen, eternal realm, and we experience His fullness within us.
In our daily lives, the most important thing we can know from the unseen and eternal realm is that we and God are one, or in union. That sounds heretical, but it is exactly what the Bible says, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one in spirit with Him.”- 1 corinthians 6:17
Why is this so huge?
NO MORE ETERNAL SEPARATION! God up there and and us down here.
God has permanently joined himself to your spirit. He says so! The two operate as one unit. And when we begin to know and live out of that truth, all the promises of the New testament suddenly start becoming daily realities. Joy hope peace, love
We cease striving to get closer to God. We stop asking, “how do I reach him? Give me the programs, give me plans, and ways,: Instead we live out of what is already true.
We live in union
God and you are one.
In the seen and temporal, He operates as you. You rest in Him.
He does it all- Christ in you; hope of Glory. No longer I who live- but Christ who lives in me.
Colossians 2:10- Everyone of us who believed into Christ is complete in Christ
Col 3:12- We are already holy
Hebrews 10:14- We are already perfect
2 Corinthians 5:21- We are His righteousness
There is nothing else to be done. As we see that, and God will make what is already true in the unseen and eternal a seen and temporal experience.
Prophetic word: The Lord is releasing a new understanding of what it means to have a prosperous soul. We are beyond just surviving, barely surviving, or just making it by. Salvation brought redemption and restoration to all things. It brought life and life abundant.The Lord wants to draw you more into His reality, and when you do that, you cannot not prosper. He’s undoing certain beliefs to bring us into the truth. To worship with a prosperous soul- not a broken one. To love with prosperous soul, overflowing with love to give one another- not love starved, searching for any bit of love to find, and to operate in the government of heaven in all areas of our lives. Our internal world prospering, and bringing shift to our the world around us because of the internal wealth that we walk in. Jesus has given us this. It is time to agree with nothing else for ourselves, and to allow the truth of God’s love to settle upon us. There truly is not guilt or shame in Christ. There is nothing that you have done or can do that will disqualify you from walking in the prosperity of who He is. Agreeing with consequences and residue of sin has to go. If you are suffering in some way because of the choices that you have made in the past, it is time to believe and agree with the glorious grace that has been LAVISHED upon you. You have a prosperous soul. You have a beautiful soul, that the Lord takes delight in. Your heart is a garden that the Lord delights in and dwells in. Ask the Lord to reveal the areas where you have not believed that you can have prosperity, bring the truth of Heaven into that area (repentance) and rejoice for the truth of God’s heart and plan for you. If we were to understand the full extent of our destiny, and our created value, and lived just 10% of that we would be amazed, at how valuable and important or lives are to God. And we would be shocked by the reality of abundance we would experience.
2 corinthians 4:18- ESV
18 (A)as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 realities:
1. Unseen- eternal reality (God, Heaven, Spirit realm)
2. Seen- temporal reality (Physical world, my life situations, circumstances, “Natural”)
Both coexist at the same time
Draw example on dry erase
We live in a temporal reality but we must do what Paul says and acknowledge the eternal realm. Why? Because the eternal realm is the greater reality! There are three main reasons
1. Jesus lived this way! Lived in the temporal but operated in faith.
Faith is looking through the seen and temporal and seeing the eternal
Jesus saw:
whole hand when we saw one withered
feast, when he saw 5 loaves and 2 fish
life, when he saw Lazarus’ body lying dead
crucifiction, eternal life
Jesus lived on earth, with all the elements of earth but in another Kingdom. He saw what the Father was doing by drawing life from the eternal realm, and not focusing on the temporal
2,) As believers our failures, sins, and shortcomings- all seen realities constantly confront us.
it is vital that we believe our identity lies in eternity- set and secure because of the blood, or else we will habitually draw our identity from below, based on our performance whether good or bad. Our focus is no longer on the great commission, but actually on trying to clean up our act and look good enough for Christ to accept.
Because this is impossible- if we live this way, trying to clean ourselves up, we will walk around feeling
1. inlack, unsatisfied
2. like a failure
3. distant from God
4. exhausted and discouraged
Third, the distinction between the two realms is important because we are created to only find fulfillment in the unseen realm0 God’s realm.
The seen and temporal realm offers many pleasures that God has provided, but none of them ultimately satisfy. That is why Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger; and He who believes in me will never thirst.- John 6:35
There isn’t anything below the line, no matter how beautiful, no matter how touching, no matter how true, that equals like. We can only find trye life aove the line, in God, He is life!
God created us with a thirst that only He can quench. St. Augustine said, “Our souls are restless until the find their rest in thee.” Man is perpetually seeking. To whatever degree we don’t know the unseen, and eternal realm, we seek answers in the seen and temporal. We look for eternal answers among temporal things.
The super sad reality of this is that we are programmed for failure if we’re looking for ultimate answers in a non-ultimate realm, a realm that’s partial, fragmented, and incomplete. We end up worshipping the creation rather then the creator. And we do this as believers.
A life of faith, or identity, and our fullfillment in life are all based in the unseen and eternal realm. Our problem is that we can’t see that realm or learn of it through empirical investigation. God’s unseen kingdom is within us, but we can only understand the things of that realm is God reveals them to us.
“A Natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised... But to us God revealed, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” (1 corinthians 2:14, 10, 12)
This is Holy Spirit, this is the gift given to us by God. This is why Jesus said that is is better for Him to leave because He knew our minds could not perceive what he did for us, and understand the depths of His love without the Holy Spirit!
We are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. To whatever degree the Holy Spirit has revealed to us unseen and eternal realm we live in it. To whatever degree we don’t understand by revelation the unseen and eternal realm of God’s kingdom, we’re locked into living in the seen and temproal realm. Then I will start thinking things about God’s kingdom that are not true.
God makes known to us eternal, unseen, and spirit realities by REVELATION! This is why we pray for the spirit of wisdom and REVELATION! WE must have REVELATION in our hearts. Well what is this revelation?
In revelation God breaks through our consciousness and reveals eternal truths not discernable in the realm of appearances. And we respond, “Oh I see!” this is the eyes our hearts being enlightened. To see the greater depths of love.
How does this happen? Revelation- understanding of the unseen realm, meets faith on our part, and produces an inner knowing. This happens progressively
1st revelation- Jesus is son of God and Saviour of the world
2nd- Sins are forgiven. Most believers live in this revelation, and do not go beyond this reality
We can choose to live below the line, but we aren’t below the line people. We are of God’s kingdom. But we live in a realm of temporal appearances that differ from what God sees in the eternal. Spiritual growth is a process of replacing temporal appearances with eternal reality and living out of it.
The inner life, the life of the Spirit, you can’t help but live out of it. We’re always living out of what we believe
Romans 6- sins are forgiven, but if we don’t believe it then sin will still have power of us
This is because we’re caught in the trap of trying to become something that we already are: free from sin
We will never know abundant life, until the unseen and eternal realm is home to us un our everyday experience. Until then we will be living according to appearances, and appearances will never lead us deeper in the life of God. God wants to bring us to the point where we say, :I live by what God says about the things in my life, situations, people and myself.” Then we see as He sees, We discern situations are but as they appear to be, but that God’s absolutes are operating in the realm of appearances. We are at rest in the unseen, eternal realm, and we experience His fullness within us.
In our daily lives, the most important thing we can know from the unseen and eternal realm is that we and God are one, or in union. That sounds heretical, but it is exactly what the Bible says, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one in spirit with Him.”- 1 corinthians 6:17
Why is this so huge?
NO MORE ETERNAL SEPARATION! God up there and and us down here.
God has permanently joined himself to your spirit. He says so! The two operate as one unit. And when we begin to know and live out of that truth, all the promises of the New testament suddenly start becoming daily realities. Joy hope peace, love
We cease striving to get closer to God. We stop asking, “how do I reach him? Give me the programs, give me plans, and ways,: Instead we live out of what is already true.
We live in union
God and you are one.
In the seen and temporal, He operates as you. You rest in Him.
He does it all- Christ in you; hope of Glory. No longer I who live- but Christ who lives in me.
Colossians 2:10- Everyone of us who believed into Christ is complete in Christ
Col 3:12- We are already holy
Hebrews 10:14- We are already perfect
2 Corinthians 5:21- We are His righteousness
There is nothing else to be done. As we see that, and God will make what is already true in the unseen and eternal a seen and temporal experience.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Love is our identity
Love is what we were born for!
A life not in love with God is a life that is not truly alive. If we take on the identity of our sin, then we are taking on the identity of something that only produces death, and there is no life in it. When we put love on as our identity, and we recognize that God is seeing us through this love, and not as our sin, then we are alive and full of life. That was Jesus' whole mission, to come so that we may have life and life more abundant!
My good friend Peter wrote a song with the lyrics, "I am not my sin." The significance and power of this reality is massive. Often times when we begin to identify with our struggles and less with the love of God, we allow ourselves to enter into the yolks of bondage, that we are in fact completely set free from. I am not my sin. I am not condemned. In fact, I am perfectly loved by God. This must be the foundation of our understanding about ourselves. If we choose to hold ourselves in condemnation then we will never be able to walk in freedom and peace.
The reality that Jesus fully dwells in us and has fully reconciled himself to us is the amazing truth of the gospel. Rejoice for you are alive. The desire to be accepted, loved and known is all true when you know Jesus. He has chosen and forgiven you. Now we are empowered and enabled to live a life of love.
The world desperately needs people whose sole mission is to love others. What usually prevents us from love? Unbelief that produces selfishness. If we do not believe this truth about our identity, and we believe that we are our sin, then we will spend our effort and time trying to fix ourselves and less time loving others. Fixing ourselves is useless. He is the fixer, restorer, rebuilder. And He has already done the fixing.....the cross produced everything necessary for you to walk in freedom and live a life of love.
Let this be our prayer- Lord help my unbelief! May I live in the truth of my salvation, in the wonderful reality that I am completely loved and walking in union with Jesus. Thank you Lord for your goodness
A life not in love with God is a life that is not truly alive. If we take on the identity of our sin, then we are taking on the identity of something that only produces death, and there is no life in it. When we put love on as our identity, and we recognize that God is seeing us through this love, and not as our sin, then we are alive and full of life. That was Jesus' whole mission, to come so that we may have life and life more abundant!
My good friend Peter wrote a song with the lyrics, "I am not my sin." The significance and power of this reality is massive. Often times when we begin to identify with our struggles and less with the love of God, we allow ourselves to enter into the yolks of bondage, that we are in fact completely set free from. I am not my sin. I am not condemned. In fact, I am perfectly loved by God. This must be the foundation of our understanding about ourselves. If we choose to hold ourselves in condemnation then we will never be able to walk in freedom and peace.
The reality that Jesus fully dwells in us and has fully reconciled himself to us is the amazing truth of the gospel. Rejoice for you are alive. The desire to be accepted, loved and known is all true when you know Jesus. He has chosen and forgiven you. Now we are empowered and enabled to live a life of love.
The world desperately needs people whose sole mission is to love others. What usually prevents us from love? Unbelief that produces selfishness. If we do not believe this truth about our identity, and we believe that we are our sin, then we will spend our effort and time trying to fix ourselves and less time loving others. Fixing ourselves is useless. He is the fixer, restorer, rebuilder. And He has already done the fixing.....the cross produced everything necessary for you to walk in freedom and live a life of love.
Let this be our prayer- Lord help my unbelief! May I live in the truth of my salvation, in the wonderful reality that I am completely loved and walking in union with Jesus. Thank you Lord for your goodness
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
It amazing to see how the Lord truly is in all and is all! Col. 3:1 I read the verse recently that talks about how we are created for Christ. This is the answer to the question pondered by every human heart....what is my purpose, why am I created? It is for Christ....to love and be loved! The more I open my eyes to the truth that every single element is orchestrated and in the hands of the Almighty, the more I am aware that He is always doing, and moving and redeeming, and loving....in the midst of the hardest, bleakest of situations. To know and understand this principle is to truly know peace. If we know Christ, and know that he loves us and forgave us, and redeemed us from a place of brokeness to a place of wholeness, then we can have peace in our souls. Jesus is titled as the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords. To know that the most powerful source of love is stronger and greater then any element I will ever face in this life is the only way to truly know peace. May you have Peace in your soul. May you know know Christ
Sunday, January 23, 2011
All things that pertain to life and godliness....
This week I have been mulling over 2 Peter chapter 2. The context of this book was written to highlight the importance of living in holiness and godliness. This letter shows how holiness and godliness will come naturally to us simply from believing in the salvation that came from Christ.
Chapter 1:3 of 2 Peter even says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
Knowledge and understanding are connected to belief. You can know the truth but to believe in it, you must receive it for your life. Jesus’ “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” Selah. All believers have been granted EVERYTHING that pertains to life and godliness. Not only am I given the gift of salvation but also access to everything that pertains to life and godliness. What is life: peace, joy, hope, love, health, freedom. Godliness- being like God- Holy, righteous, pure, powerful, free, whole, satisfied. Therefore if “Christ (lives) in me, my hope of glory,” I now have His divine nature in my very being, anything that does not align with life and godliness is not coming from the Lord. To know and understand this in my life, I have to believe that this is true. Some examples of areas that do not agree with life and godliness are: depression, anxiety, fear, worry, bondage, anger, unforgiveness etc... Shouldn’t we look at the body of Christ (His church) and see only life and godliness then; free of the above elements? I believe ultimately this is the desire and heart of the Father, otherwise He would not have made the way for us to do so.
So how do I begin even to receive the things “pertain(ing) to life and godliness”? I can know that Jesus died for the sins of the world, but I have to believe that His death pertains to me, and therefore I really am set free because of his sacrifice. This verse provides us a great evaluation tool to use in our lives, and to see if we really are walking in the freedom that comes from Jesus’ divine power, (which overcame death and enabled us to live no longer according to our flesh but by the Spirit.) Are our lives full of life and godliness? If not, what knowledge are we lacking or not believing about Jesus that is keeping us from experiencing his glory and excellence? For example, if I feel really insecure all of the time, what am I not believing about Jesus? Maybe I am agreeing with the lie that I was not created with value and purpose. This reminds me of Jesus words in Mark 9:23, “If you can! All things are possible for those who believe!”
And also in John 16:7- “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not BELIEVE in ME.”
Our BELIEF in Jesus sets us free from the guilt of sin. Our knowledge of truth and belief in Him who is true creates access to freedom. “I am the way, the truth and the life- he who believes in me will not perish but have eternal life,”- a quote from JESUS regarding himself.” The Helper, the Holy Spirit, enables us to believe the truth about Jesus and overcome the guilt we would face because of our unbelief. We will be convicted of sin because we do not believe in Jesus. If we believe that Jesus made a way and cancelled the debt of our sin (because all sin costs something, there is a penalty for every sin), life is restored and we have connection again with the Lord. In the same way that Adam and Eve knew God in the garden; talking to Him, communing, loving, laughing, enjoying Him... so are we able to know and live with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Jesus’ death of the cross was so incredibly powerful that it destroyed all of the power that sin, people, hurt, Satan, could ever have over your life. All of that junk that once had power over our souls is rendered powerless by the blood of the Lamb. The way it remains powerless is through our belief in the blood’s power. When I agree with something that isn’t full of “life and godliness,” like previously mentioned in 2 Peter, I am not really believing that Jesus blood, the blood shed on the cross, was enough to bring me freedom and abundant life.
I cannot read the word and accept anything less for my life, the full satisfaction and abundant living. Does this mean that the world around me is going to experience these things...no. The world is full of sin and corruption. My heart however is made new when I believe. The kingdom Has come, and the King- Jesus sits enthroned in my heart. The Kingdom lives inside of you. Believe this truth today my friend and live a life of victory and freedom!
Chapter 1:3 of 2 Peter even says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
Knowledge and understanding are connected to belief. You can know the truth but to believe in it, you must receive it for your life. Jesus’ “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” Selah. All believers have been granted EVERYTHING that pertains to life and godliness. Not only am I given the gift of salvation but also access to everything that pertains to life and godliness. What is life: peace, joy, hope, love, health, freedom. Godliness- being like God- Holy, righteous, pure, powerful, free, whole, satisfied. Therefore if “Christ (lives) in me, my hope of glory,” I now have His divine nature in my very being, anything that does not align with life and godliness is not coming from the Lord. To know and understand this in my life, I have to believe that this is true. Some examples of areas that do not agree with life and godliness are: depression, anxiety, fear, worry, bondage, anger, unforgiveness etc... Shouldn’t we look at the body of Christ (His church) and see only life and godliness then; free of the above elements? I believe ultimately this is the desire and heart of the Father, otherwise He would not have made the way for us to do so.
So how do I begin even to receive the things “pertain(ing) to life and godliness”? I can know that Jesus died for the sins of the world, but I have to believe that His death pertains to me, and therefore I really am set free because of his sacrifice. This verse provides us a great evaluation tool to use in our lives, and to see if we really are walking in the freedom that comes from Jesus’ divine power, (which overcame death and enabled us to live no longer according to our flesh but by the Spirit.) Are our lives full of life and godliness? If not, what knowledge are we lacking or not believing about Jesus that is keeping us from experiencing his glory and excellence? For example, if I feel really insecure all of the time, what am I not believing about Jesus? Maybe I am agreeing with the lie that I was not created with value and purpose. This reminds me of Jesus words in Mark 9:23, “If you can! All things are possible for those who believe!”
And also in John 16:7- “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not BELIEVE in ME.”
Our BELIEF in Jesus sets us free from the guilt of sin. Our knowledge of truth and belief in Him who is true creates access to freedom. “I am the way, the truth and the life- he who believes in me will not perish but have eternal life,”- a quote from JESUS regarding himself.” The Helper, the Holy Spirit, enables us to believe the truth about Jesus and overcome the guilt we would face because of our unbelief. We will be convicted of sin because we do not believe in Jesus. If we believe that Jesus made a way and cancelled the debt of our sin (because all sin costs something, there is a penalty for every sin), life is restored and we have connection again with the Lord. In the same way that Adam and Eve knew God in the garden; talking to Him, communing, loving, laughing, enjoying Him... so are we able to know and live with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Jesus’ death of the cross was so incredibly powerful that it destroyed all of the power that sin, people, hurt, Satan, could ever have over your life. All of that junk that once had power over our souls is rendered powerless by the blood of the Lamb. The way it remains powerless is through our belief in the blood’s power. When I agree with something that isn’t full of “life and godliness,” like previously mentioned in 2 Peter, I am not really believing that Jesus blood, the blood shed on the cross, was enough to bring me freedom and abundant life.
I cannot read the word and accept anything less for my life, the full satisfaction and abundant living. Does this mean that the world around me is going to experience these things...no. The world is full of sin and corruption. My heart however is made new when I believe. The kingdom Has come, and the King- Jesus sits enthroned in my heart. The Kingdom lives inside of you. Believe this truth today my friend and live a life of victory and freedom!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Snow!
I have been a terrible blogger this year. Actually I don't think I can recieve that title as a "blogger" because to be a "blogger" you actually have to blog : )
I have been loving my life as a new teacher at the Joshua Academy and learning how to best structure my classroom. I have a unique situation where I am teaching three grade levels and all subjects (very one-room-school-house-esque). What a joy and blessing it is to have students who hunger and desire to know God. They are all incredible; so talented, smart and creative. I am continually asking the Lord to show me how I can become a better teacher and take the greatest advantage of the resources given to me. The possibilities are endless....
Today is a snow day however; which almost seems like an oxymoron for Wilmington....so no school! There are a couple of inches outside, and the world is so quiet and peaceful right now.
Snow is extremely dear to me because it reminds me of my childhood in Colorado. Living in Aurora though was interesting because it would snow in the morning and we would get so excited about snow, but by time school was out it would all be melted and 70 degrees. Here, school is cancelled at the even mention of the possibility of snow. Bizarre.
As I am thinking about my childhood a flood of memories are rushing into my mind.
Snow makes me think about several interesting occasions:
1. The time Shane and I were sledding down the slide on our swingset and he fell off and broke his arm!
2. Falling into a river because I was looking at the ice (on New Years Eve) and walking about a mile home in soaking wet clothes!
3. Getting a concussion snowboarding : ( not fun
4. Having to walk to the grocery store with a wagon because we were snowed in with 3 feet of snow!
5. Building igloos and snowcaves in the front yard
6. Sledding in the mountains and going sooo fast on a saucer that I flew over the embankment, fell about 6 feet into a parking lot! Haha and I almost had a heartattack
7. Walking to school in the snow
8. Camping in the snow (brrrrrr) and snowshoeing!
9. Epic snowball fights
10. Selling slushies to neighbors that were made out of snow and hershey's syrup (when I was 5)
Thank you Lord for allowing the snow to bring me back to my childhood. These are just a few of the plethora of crazy memories I have involving snow. It's been such a fun life
I have been loving my life as a new teacher at the Joshua Academy and learning how to best structure my classroom. I have a unique situation where I am teaching three grade levels and all subjects (very one-room-school-house-esque). What a joy and blessing it is to have students who hunger and desire to know God. They are all incredible; so talented, smart and creative. I am continually asking the Lord to show me how I can become a better teacher and take the greatest advantage of the resources given to me. The possibilities are endless....
Today is a snow day however; which almost seems like an oxymoron for Wilmington....so no school! There are a couple of inches outside, and the world is so quiet and peaceful right now.
Snow is extremely dear to me because it reminds me of my childhood in Colorado. Living in Aurora though was interesting because it would snow in the morning and we would get so excited about snow, but by time school was out it would all be melted and 70 degrees. Here, school is cancelled at the even mention of the possibility of snow. Bizarre.
As I am thinking about my childhood a flood of memories are rushing into my mind.
Snow makes me think about several interesting occasions:
1. The time Shane and I were sledding down the slide on our swingset and he fell off and broke his arm!
2. Falling into a river because I was looking at the ice (on New Years Eve) and walking about a mile home in soaking wet clothes!
3. Getting a concussion snowboarding : ( not fun
4. Having to walk to the grocery store with a wagon because we were snowed in with 3 feet of snow!
5. Building igloos and snowcaves in the front yard
6. Sledding in the mountains and going sooo fast on a saucer that I flew over the embankment, fell about 6 feet into a parking lot! Haha and I almost had a heartattack
7. Walking to school in the snow
8. Camping in the snow (brrrrrr) and snowshoeing!
9. Epic snowball fights
10. Selling slushies to neighbors that were made out of snow and hershey's syrup (when I was 5)
Thank you Lord for allowing the snow to bring me back to my childhood. These are just a few of the plethora of crazy memories I have involving snow. It's been such a fun life
Finding Peace and Rest in Our Hearts
I hear people often asking, how do I renew the joy of my salvation?
Do you feel like you just want more of the Lord or want to experience more of His joy and peace but don’t know how to enter into that place of rest?
Paul writes about this very subject when he is addressing the Hebrews. He first begins declaring the reality of Jesus- “He is the RADIANCE of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of hid power.” This is amazing! Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, and He lives in me and died for me! God is so pleased with his son Jesus that he has anointed him with the “oil of gladness” (Heb. 1:9) What does this mean for me? Am I too a partaker in this oil of gladness?
What is causing me to “neglect such a great salvation?.” Paul writes that if we do not believe the reality of Christ’s death and the true life and salvation that has been given to us, then our hearts will turn away from God because of our unbelief. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Unbelief is what causes us to sin, and is the root of our evil desires. If we want communion with the Lord, we have to believe that Jesus made a way and we already have it! He fully lives in me already, and I do not have to strive or do anything to earn his affection or favor. Believing anything else, that God is disappointed, angry, frustrated with me will only harden my heart toward recieving His love because I am not recognizing and believing the truth about salvation.
“TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness.” (Hebrews 3:7)
Do not choose to come to God when YOU feel like YOU’VE gotten things back in order in your life. When YOU have cleaned up the messes and feel clean to come before the Lord. This is self-righteousness. This is deception- RUN to the throne of GRACE today. Hold fast to your confession of faith, no matter how your flesh feels, no matter how much you feel unworthy to receive love....”and with confidence draw near the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find help in the time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
Once you have received salvation it is impossible to receive it again (Heb. 6:4)...you have it...it is finished...your dead self is dead, crucified and buried. Now you are new, alive in Christ, whole, perfect, the beloved of God- renew your mind with this truth.
Renew your mind today and you will change your life and walk in the peace and jo of your salvation....in the midst of any circumstances. If you are basing your joy and peace off of your circumstances then you are really trusting God, and the joy and peace you may think you feel is pale in comparison to the true peace that is only found in Jesus who is the Prince of Peace.
If you claim that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, believe that you are loved and accepted. Believe that sin no longer has power over your life because the Holy Spirit now dwells in you. Believe that Christ is all and is in all, that He is for you and not against you, that he has made a way for you, he will never leave you nor forsake you, you are the righteousness of God. YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL! Faith in Christ will transform your life and make you well and whole.
Recognize the areas of your life today that are not rooted in the truth of Jesus and break agreement with them. Choose to believe the truth about yourself and your circumstances. When we don’t choose this we are ultimately empowering the enemy and agreeing with Him in our lives. Why would we ever want to agree with anyone who hates us and wants to destroy our lives? Why do we want to re-empower someone who has already been defeated and no longer has power over our lives?
Lord reveal the areas of our lives that do not agree with your truth! Thank you thank you thank you Jesus that we can have peace with you in our hearts because of what you have done jesus. You fully payed the price for all of my sins, all of my mistakes, every wicked way, and you disarmed the power of sin over my life! May I only please you more and more with my life Lord. Come have your way with me and may my heart and mind be consumed with the reality of my salvation and your great love for me Jesus. I break agreement with all lies, and any area of my life that does line up with you Lord.
Do you feel like you just want more of the Lord or want to experience more of His joy and peace but don’t know how to enter into that place of rest?
Paul writes about this very subject when he is addressing the Hebrews. He first begins declaring the reality of Jesus- “He is the RADIANCE of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of hid power.” This is amazing! Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, and He lives in me and died for me! God is so pleased with his son Jesus that he has anointed him with the “oil of gladness” (Heb. 1:9) What does this mean for me? Am I too a partaker in this oil of gladness?
What is causing me to “neglect such a great salvation?.” Paul writes that if we do not believe the reality of Christ’s death and the true life and salvation that has been given to us, then our hearts will turn away from God because of our unbelief. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Unbelief is what causes us to sin, and is the root of our evil desires. If we want communion with the Lord, we have to believe that Jesus made a way and we already have it! He fully lives in me already, and I do not have to strive or do anything to earn his affection or favor. Believing anything else, that God is disappointed, angry, frustrated with me will only harden my heart toward recieving His love because I am not recognizing and believing the truth about salvation.
“TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness.” (Hebrews 3:7)
Do not choose to come to God when YOU feel like YOU’VE gotten things back in order in your life. When YOU have cleaned up the messes and feel clean to come before the Lord. This is self-righteousness. This is deception- RUN to the throne of GRACE today. Hold fast to your confession of faith, no matter how your flesh feels, no matter how much you feel unworthy to receive love....”and with confidence draw near the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find help in the time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
Once you have received salvation it is impossible to receive it again (Heb. 6:4)...you have it...it is finished...your dead self is dead, crucified and buried. Now you are new, alive in Christ, whole, perfect, the beloved of God- renew your mind with this truth.
Renew your mind today and you will change your life and walk in the peace and jo of your salvation....in the midst of any circumstances. If you are basing your joy and peace off of your circumstances then you are really trusting God, and the joy and peace you may think you feel is pale in comparison to the true peace that is only found in Jesus who is the Prince of Peace.
If you claim that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, believe that you are loved and accepted. Believe that sin no longer has power over your life because the Holy Spirit now dwells in you. Believe that Christ is all and is in all, that He is for you and not against you, that he has made a way for you, he will never leave you nor forsake you, you are the righteousness of God. YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL! Faith in Christ will transform your life and make you well and whole.
Recognize the areas of your life today that are not rooted in the truth of Jesus and break agreement with them. Choose to believe the truth about yourself and your circumstances. When we don’t choose this we are ultimately empowering the enemy and agreeing with Him in our lives. Why would we ever want to agree with anyone who hates us and wants to destroy our lives? Why do we want to re-empower someone who has already been defeated and no longer has power over our lives?
Lord reveal the areas of our lives that do not agree with your truth! Thank you thank you thank you Jesus that we can have peace with you in our hearts because of what you have done jesus. You fully payed the price for all of my sins, all of my mistakes, every wicked way, and you disarmed the power of sin over my life! May I only please you more and more with my life Lord. Come have your way with me and may my heart and mind be consumed with the reality of my salvation and your great love for me Jesus. I break agreement with all lies, and any area of my life that does line up with you Lord.
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