The Depths of Christ’s Love

Ephesians 3:18-19 (AMP)

¹⁸ That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

¹⁹ [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

To experience the fullness of God one must experience the all-encompassing Love of God. Love is fullness. I love His love. It breaks shame. It breaks hopelessness. I utterly destroys fear. It fills the heights of Glory to the depths of the grave. It shatters hate. It extends to lengths of life and breadth of our experiences. It is true that he who has been forgiven much loves much… I’m going to get a little transparent here.

I’ve experienced a lot of brokenness brought on by my own actions and the actions of others…and I have wounded others. I hate when I wound others. I hate it. I hate when my issues transfer to others. Sometime I wish my weapons were carnal because I feel like I would have a better chance at winning(I’m a big dude).  I try to beat my body into subjection (1 Corinthians 9:27) but fail. Dirty rags becoming even dirtier. Filthy rags. I can’t wipe a dirty mirror with a dirty rag can I? I feel broken waiting for mending…like a piece of cloth in a basket for God to get around to mending me. My soul hurts when exposed and faced with itself. I love in light yet hurt in darkness (Eze. 8:12). Hurt people hurt people.

I recently just completed my Elijah House 202 Prayer Ministry training. I’m very happy to have been able to go through that training…because I need it. I need inner healing and deliverance. Sometimes daily. I hate looking in the mirror and seeing who I am in Christ yet walking away and forgetting who I am. It’s like walking around Two-Faced(Batman reference) and I don’t have control over the coin flip. I just thought of that coin and what it looks like. It’s two-sided and the good side is clean and the other side…marred, wounded, damaged.

I love God with everything I have. Some says you either give God 100% or 0%. I disagree. God honors whatever percentage we give Him. Despite my pain, hurt, sin, and damage I’ve caused others I hope in God. This scripture has one of the most beautiful pictures that touch the depth of me…it’s Zechariah 3:1-7 and it says

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. ² The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” ³ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. ⁴ He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” ⁵ Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here.

God cloths him with clean clothes. God told those who were there to remove the filth and replace it. I see so much hope and the depth of love in this passage. Often times I see myself as Joshua and asking God to remove the filthy garments. I love what Graham Cooke says, “In the moment of your greatest failure, God kisses you.” To be kissed by God! To be clothed in light and wrapped in a cocoon of love. It’s amazing how tears of despair can alter into tears of love’s depth. Even though a person is being sifted God has interceded for them. God has interceded for me. He corrects me like a son by kissing me like His beloved. Truly the goodness of God leads to repentance. He RUNS to me. Embracing all that I am and all that I am not. John 6:37 says

All whom My Father gives (entrusts) to Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, no never, reject one of them who comes to Me]. (AMP)

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit I come to You. I…come…to You and find You already there. I come to my senses while Your gaze saw me senseless. I saw my dirt and you saw Your light. I saw myself and You saw Yourself in me. You ran while I walked. You were slain before I ever fell. I only have the ability to love based on Your love for me. I love You with all that I can give and I plan on giving more and more until I come to the full experience and expression of Your love. Give me clean clothes and a clean mirror so I can see You. I admit full responsibility for my actions. Help me to walk like who I really am. Help me to fully express myself to you so I can be fully known and fully loved.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Past anointings and mantles?

So it appears that there was some issue with the idea of having or walking in someone else’s anointing or mantle. This is what tend to believe about that…

I was watching a YouTube and the person shared Hebrews 11:39-40 which says

³⁹ And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. (NASB)

The above picture show Elijah passing his mantle to Elisha. 1 Kings 19:19 says.

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.

Mantle in hebrew is ‘addereth which means glory or cloak. 2 Kings 2:9-14 says

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” ¹¹ As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

So Elisha picked up Elijah’s glory. He picked up where Elijah left off. It’s a beautiful picture of the Scripture in Hebrews above. I also love the picture of Elisha taking that mantle and trying it out. He struck the waters and beseeched the Throne of God and asked where God was…and God showed up and the waters parted!

Even in Jesus’ time John the Baptist came with that same mantle. Luke 1:17 says

It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

There is yet and I believe now is, a generation with the anointing, mantle, spirit, and power of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ’s second coming. I know Elijah was a man just like us (James 5:17). Jesus was a Man too. He is also the Son of God as Adam was also (Luke 3:38). The anointing is the same but different. We have an anointing from the Holy One. We receive it from Him because He decides what type of anointing. Remember what Elijah said to Elisha when Elisha asked for the double portion? Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” The ball was in God’s court in regards to that double portion. Now is there a difference between the mantle or the double portion. The mantle was passed on but the double portion was subject to Elisha prophetic experience.

John the Baptist came is spirit in power of Elijah and Elijah has come to restore all things (Mark 9:12) and, in one of my previous blogs, heaven has received Jesus until the restoration of all things. There is still work to do. I think we get wrapped up in vocabulary(I do) and forget the spirit behind things. We have an anointing whether we call it healing, prophetic, this person or that person, etc. Christ is the Anointed One and He is the one that smears us with it! So when I said I felt like God say I have a Lincoln anointing it means there is a spirit and unction that Lincoln walked in and was not yet perfected and needs someone else to walk in it to fulfill it so he can become perfected for apart from us that wouldn’t come to completion. Don’t get me wrong I’m not running for President LOL. I have this picture of a relay race where there are many racers in one race. As one person runs there heart and finishes their race they pass on the baton to the next person to complete it. I also sense Malachi 4:5-6 is speaking about Hebrews 11:39-40 and it says

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ⁶ He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Hearts of the fathers to the sons could also speak of past and current/new generations coming to together and, if I may borrow the term Dutch Sheets used, the synergy of the ages. Standing in agreement with previous prayers and adding on so that bowl of incense may be poured upon earth for perfection.

I went on a little bit of a rabbit trail but I think I clarified. I know some will still disagree but it’s all good! I love you guys who read and comment and like my blogs! We are in this together, Amen!? We need unity amongst diversity for there are many gifts but One Spirit!

I’ll end again with Hebrews 11:39-40

³⁹ And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. (NASB)

 

 

Thanksgiving

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, which was only 5 days ago BTW, I must say I am thankful for our Father’s Voice. For without it, I would still be in my Stockholm Syndrome.

A Place to Lay His Head

Ephesians 4:12-13 (AMP)

¹² His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),

¹³ [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

 

Matthew 8:20 (NASB)

²⁰ Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Fullness (plērōma) – the state of being filled to capacity or that which is (has been) filled or the body of believers, as that which is filled with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ

Knowledge (epignōsis) – to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly and precise and correct knowledge

Mature (teleios) – wanting nothing necessary to completeness or brought to its end, finished

What I believe is happening and needs to happen is that the Church (https://1john417.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/what-does-the-term-church-mean/) needs to create a place for Christ’s Head to rest. Far too long…centuries upon centuries the Church has been disjointed and far removed from His Head. We hear message upon message of the same things. Milk (1 Cor.3:2). We need meat. We need to consume His Flesh and drink His Blood. We must focus and behold Him in order to go from glory to glory (https://1john417.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/mirror-mirror/). If we keep focusing on our current glory we will never grow and never transfigure into something greater and fuller is measure. There is hidden wisdom reserved for us to walk in…there are book waiting to be opened for us to read (1 Cor. 2:7, Dan. 12:4) We must focus where we are seated in order to influence where we stand. To say it literally, the world depends on it and us to walk as He is in this world (Rom. 8:19, 1 Jon. 4:17)

Hebrews 6:1-3 (AMP)

6 Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God,

² With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment. [These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware long, long ago.]

³ If indeed God permits, we will [now] proceed [to advanced teaching].

Jesus is our Savior, not death. If we are waiting for death to be free from sin and imperfection than death is your savior and not Christ. We must stop living body, to soul, to spirit and start living, as we were originally created, spirit, to soul, to body. I am of the believe that our spirits are not subject to the limitations and parameters of our body (see Acts 5:15, Acts 19:12, Col. 2:5). Our soul, on the other hand, must be more and more subject to Him and sanctified and prosperous (3 John 1:2). We truly are seated in Heavenly dimensions or places.

Christ needs shoulders and a body not defined by denominations or labels but by His placement. Knit together in unity of the Spirit. His rule comes through man’s agreement with His purposes. A true co-labor and co-work and co-creating with Him (https://1john417.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/what-on-earth-do-we-do-2/).  Seek His face and thus become His face on earth. Creation groans together by our unveiling which brings His headship back to original intent. (https://1john417.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/mirror-mirror/)

We need to hold fast to the Head as Colossians 2:18-22 says

¹⁸ Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit,

¹⁹ And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰ If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? [Why do you submit to rules and regulations?—such as]

²¹ Do not handle [this], Do not taste [that], Do not even touch [them],

²² Referring to things all of which perish with being used. To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines.

Father, we need You! Father us in this new thing and time and season. Father us to completion. Reveal Yourself to us so we may be revealed to ourselves. Creation is waiting Father. May we succumb to your relentless love and transfiguration process in which metamorphosis (metamorphoō) happens and we change into fullness and a mature man able to support and bring down your authority in order to make your enemy your footstool and things are restored for Your coming.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

 

What does the term “Church” mean?

According to Strong’s ekklésia (church) means an assembly, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers. Now from what I recently learned this is the most basic definition. In other words the church or ekklésia means a group of people together. But what else does it mean? I will attempt to explain what I recently heard from two different minsters on two different occasion unrelated to each other.

According to ancient Greece the ekklésia was the senate of the government. It legislated what was allowed or forbidden or may I say bound or loosed (Matt. 16:19).

The ekklesia‘s powers were almost unlimited. It elected and dismissed magistrates and directed the policy of the city. It declared war, and it made peace. It negotiated and approved treaties and arranged alliances. It chose generals, assigned troops to different campaigns, raised the necessary money, and dispatched those troops from city to city. It was an assembly in which all members had equal right and duty. As the Roman Empire rose and supplanted the Greeks, the Romans adopted the term into Latin.

The concept that distinguishes biblical usage from classical Greek usage is the emphasis that it is God’s assembly. Ekklesia, therefore, means God’s people, called together by God to listen to or act for God. The emphasis is on the action of God, which has the force of a summons (as from a judge). The biblical ekklesia, the church, is a body of people, not so much assembling because they chose to come together, but assembling because God called them to Himself—not assembling to share their own thoughts and opinions, but to listen to the voice of God.  –  John W. Ritenbaugh

This should totally change your view of what Church means. Ritenbaugh also says about where the term “church” comes from:

Perhaps the best place to begin answering these questions is by tracing the etymology of the word “church” itself, and then looking at the way it is used in context. Many have assumed that it derives from the Greek ekklesia, but this is not true. The English word “church” descends from an Old English word cirice, akin to an Old High German word, kirihha. Both words derive from a Late Greek word, kuriakon, which comes from the Greek kuriakos, the possessive form of the word kurios, the term for “lord.” Kuriakos thus simply means “lord’s,” showing possession, or “belonging to the lord” (Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1985, p. 240). It can denote anything that belongs to the Lord.  –  John W. Ritenbaugh

When I think of ekklesia I also am directed to 2 Cor. 5:20 when it speaks of being ambassadors of Christ. We bring the current rule and reign of Jesus to this earth as His representatives. We legislate Heaven’s directives upon earth. Far too long the enemy has ruled and run this world but with Christ’s FINISHED work we bring what He brought. Didn’t He pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven? Let us create the footstool for our Lord and bring the restoration of all things so we can hasten His coming (Heb. 10:13, Acts 3:21, 2 Pet. 3:12)

We need His directives and wisdom to establish His kingdom. He is coming back for a BEAUTIFUL Bride and not a disjointed church. He is still looking for a place to lay His head…

I do not believe in the escapism that is preached by pre-trib eschatologists. I do believe there is a light that is and will shine brighter and brighter upon His Bride as she continues to make Herself ready. Isaiah 60:1 needs to happen and I believe it will be a literal shining according to Matt. 17:2 and 2 Cor. 3:18. If Moses received a lesser covenant with a glory so strong he had to cover his face then how much more will the greater shine forth on and through us! I’ll end with this scripture:

Romans 8:30Amplified Bible (AMP)

³⁰ And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being].

We are the Throne of God on earth!

Graham Cooke Notes

Graham Cooke’s Maintaining Your Inner Compass Part 1 notes from:

Unfortunately the whole sermon is not on YouTube. These notes are directly from Graham Cooke’s Part 1 teaching. I took these notes for a meeting I was a part of. It was very enriching to intentionally listen and take notes. I could have written out 6 or more pages but this totaled 2 1/2 pages. Be blessed! As He Is So Are We!

Graham starts with Psalm 121: I WILL LIFT up my eyes to the mountain from whence shall my help come. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper the lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will smite you by day not the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going and coming in. From this time forth and forever.

David had a brilliant devotional life because he connected with God no matter where he was not matter what he was going through. He knew how to connect with God devotionally.  :23-24 the steps of mans are established by the Lord. And He delights in his way. When he falls he will not be held headlong because the Lord is the one who holds his hand.

The great thing about journeying with the lord is that He knows how to keep us. Day after day in every kind of situation. He can turn every circumstance and situation around for our good and prosper us. In all the ups and downs in life God is the one remaining constant. Holy Spirit is teaching us to be constant and faithful because according to 1 John 4:17, as He is, so are we in this world. Because God keeps us we can learn to be as constant and consistent as God is.

What God wants from you He first gives to you. Because God delights in us we can delight in Him. Whatever we are facing it’s important to face with a real enjoyment of who God is for us. Our journey may take us to the vineyards of fruitfulness or the desert where there is no growth. But God will be the same to you in both places. Sometime God is a blazing sun but other times a candle in your hand. You get to walk with God and know him in both extremes. In warfare you get to know the God who laughs at His enemies. God can surround who you are and who you are not. We discover who God wants to be for us in every circumstance. Sometime we need stand long enough in His presence to see the Glory that is there because we are being changed from one degree of glory into another.

Graham Cooke talked about wanting a relationship with God more than just ministry. Devotions should be designed for relationship and not ministry. In personal devotions and relational times we stand before God as a much-loved son. Sometimes we come to God and say Father and other times Daddy and other times Help!

We accept the fact that we will have human and demonic opposition and stress involved with walking with God. But we can find out who God is for me when these things happen. Who is God to me right now? That is the joy set before us. We need not be worried about anything. We are not frustrated because that is a construct that is not birthed in the kingdom. Truth is we get to walk in grace and mercy and peace and love and goodness and rest and gentleness and delight and abundance and power and majesty. We get to walk in those things.

We are being changed from one degree of glory to another. We need to consider the possibility of something glorious happening at least this week if not today. We need to take all our responses from heaven and not from earth. The bible says we can be blessed under persecution. You have to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. The basis of this is moving in the opposite spirit as a preservation thing and as warfare. We get to spank the enemy. Out journey is into an experience in the Spirit so profound that we become as Jesus is because as He is so are we in this life and world. We live from the inside to the outside. All of life in the Spirit is internal. We learn to step back into our spirit and live out of that place. We learn to live in the spirit as opposed to the soul.

We are learning to maintain our inner compass. Our direction comes from inside, our inner man. Guidance is relation and not functional. Guidance is a byproduct of relationship. Too many decisions are made by external evidence rather than internal proof. In order to grow into this we have to develop and maintain our inner compass so when we stop spinning we know where God is because He is our True North. There are three questions we should ask ourselves in all new situation or circumstance. Who am I? What am I? and Where am I?

When life explodes and interferes we must ask Who am I in this? I believe all our journeys begin in the heartbeat of God and that’s where you rest right now. I can have an understanding and experience with the nature of God. I can know what he is really, really, really like. I don’t want to be intimidated by the enemy but be fascinated by Jesus. We try to get faith outside of the heartbeat of God. God lives in you and he has no problems believing. Faith comes from your focus. When focusing on God faith is there. God is faithful that means we can be full of faith.

All revelation of God must be specific to His nature and explicit to your identity. When He shows you something about himself his reason for this is because he wants you to become that next. Your identity gets an upgrade. God is not messing around and nothing casual. Everything about Him is utmost intention so we need to pay attention.

We get to wage war with peace and inflict our rest upon the enemy. Rest is a weapon. We are partners in His nature. David was a man after God’s own heart because he was always discovering his own identity in the face of God who was totally for him all the time. We are learning in the context of that on how to practice opening our heart to revelation and saying yes to God’s love.

Who is God for you right now? What specific part of His nature are you meant to fully experience at this time? When you know you learn to direct yourself toward God in that. We don’t define by our circumstance but by the nature of God being released and revealed to us. God loves us to ask questions but don’t allow your lack of answer to disrupt your internal communion with Him. Sometimes he doesn’t give us answer right away. He wants to teach you to live in the question with Him. What’s more important God or the answer? We don’t need an answer what we need you God. God likes the dialogue. Sometimes there are better questions for us to ask Him. Living in the question makes our life happy in the process. There are times where God allows our life to come into a place of uncertainty. Why? God wants to be your certainty. God is jealous and he is not apologizing. He wants to be your all in all. He wants to have that number one place in your life.

Don’t stop believing until you get an experience. When you get it you longer have to believe. Faith is a temporary thing, not permanent. Faith becomes knowledge. Faith is present to give you an experience. You no longer have faith that Jesus is Lord, you know Jesus is Lord.

Knowing opens you up to the reality of the truth. That you may know what is the hope of His calling. That we may know the things freely given to us by God. You begin to declare things from Heaven instead of praying for them. It’s your inheritance. Faith is the introduction to Hope. It leads you to confident assurance.

What do you need to be confidant in regarding who God is for you right now? The particular circumstances in your life should be leading you to an experience into a particular aspect of God’s nature? What was your last real experience of God? Did you become established in that as a behavior, did you learn how to abide in that? What is your current uncertainty? What do you have permission to ask God for?

In your current situation ask the Holy Spirit this: What is it that God wants to be for me now and who am I in a response to that?

Excuse Me, But Do I Know You?

2 Corinthians 5:16

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.

Interesting scripture I must say. From now on we recognize no one according to the flesh. I’m sure we all of read that and maybe thought about it but quickly finished our bible reading for the day. Forgive my sarcasm :). I’ve read it plenty times but I love when God highlights the scripture. Holy Spirit Sharpie Highlighter! Anywhoo… So what does Paul mean by this? I immediately think of 1 Cor. 6:11 which states: “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.“ Paul was recognizing them for who they are and not what they were doing. How many of us are trying to crucify the flesh or die to self? And no matter how much we do, we aren’t reflecting that truth. Ever hear of Phantom Pain or Phantom Limb Syndrome? Get this: people are operating out of something that isn’t there. Something that has been cut off. Something that is no longer a part of them. I researched(if you could call it that) phantom pain/limb syndrome and there are reports of people still feeling the limb and even gesticulating with the phantom limb while talking. I mean in no way to offend amputees btw so please don’t think I’m making light of actual people experiencing this. I say this because the thought occurred to me that if humans can walk and operate like they still have a limb that isn’t there that Christians still operate in something that isn’t there. This is what I like to call Phantom Flesh Syndrome. Now I’m getting off track…which happens when I blog. More on Phantom Flesh Syndrome on a later post.

Back to what I was saying before. The Kingdom is an inner man, spiritually discerned, God breathed life and outlook. We cannot recognize others based on what is dead. We need to call to life or call to a realization of what is already alive. Kingdom looks beyond the veil of flesh into the inner man created in God’s image(read previous Mirror Mirror post). I do not mean we do not acknowledge falling short of our brothers and sisters but we do not recognize as that action because it is no longer the core of who they are. There may be some root issues to deal with but at the core it is not who they are. Paul was pointing out these issues but countered it by saying, “such were(past/dead) some of you but you were washed/sanctified/justified.” You are no longer what you were.

I like how Paul thinks. Grace upon grace. He didn’t recognize them according to the flesh but spoke on their identity. That is why New Testament prophecy is about one who prophesies for edification and exhortation and consolation. That is directed at the same church! How many of us prophesy our words of knowledge? Did you know there is a difference? That is also for another post. Where is the light in an individual? The Divine spark present? Are you mirroring back the negative dead stuff or the alive Kingdom stuff? Are you calling people higher or just exposing what the blood has covered/washed away? No matter the person Christian or Pre-Christian they are created in God’s Image. Are we muddying up the mirror or washing it for people to properly see the image of Him who create them? How do you recognize people? By their sin or by their Redeemer? These are all question we need to ask ourselves when relating to people. Most importantly how did Jesus see those the religious deemed Image-less?

 

 

Dream Long

I was in a meeting a couple weeks ago and the speaker was a Pastor’s son from India. As usual, he spoke on what the ministry in India is doing and wants to do etc. The usual missionary type sharing from a pulpit. But something really jumped out at me. His father, during a sermon, was speaking on dreaming. He said, “Many can dream big, but few dream long.” Few dream long.

I need to dream long.

Based on previous blogs I spoke on Presence and Promise and how Presence is key to open Promise. Dreaming long is the same thing. I know for me to dream big is emotional suicide but to dream long is sustained expectancy. I can dream the biggest dreams and despite my doubt or unbelief I continue to dream big…but now I know I need to dream long.

Who knows when a big dream will manifest? Where it will? How it will?

Living in the journey with God is so important. Dreaming big but dreaming long. I’m learning to trust Him for the outcome. I’m learning that living in expectancy is better then living with expectations. Expectancy is choosing to live in the moment with faith in a secure future. Expectancy is dreaming long while enjoying the journey.

How many of us stop to smell the roses, if I may use that term we’ve all heard? Dreaming long and living in expectancy forces us to walk with God and not run ahead of Him. Great quote about dreaming from one of the Wright brothers.

I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all – while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly. – Orville Wright

They dreamed big and learned to dream long. Dreams are but the desires of your heart. “Everything that you will ask in prayer and believe, you will receive.” – Matthew 21:22

I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years. . . . Ever since, I have distrusted myself and avoided all predictions. –  Wilbur Wright

It is not really necessary to look too far into the future; we see enough already to be certain it will be magnificent. Only let us hurry and open the roads. – Wilbur Wright

Dream big, saints and dream long! Live in the expectancy of today! Believe you will receive! May God grant to us the desires of our hearts!

The Secret Place

Psalm 139:15Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

Psalm 91:1New King James Version (NKJV)

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

The secret place. Hebrew word: cether meaning: covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy. The Hebrew word is the same in both scriptures. He formed us and protects us in the secret place. The place of protection is the place we were made.

Another interesting scripture is Colossians 3:10 and it talks about our inner man or spirit being renewed in the image of He Who created it. This is out there but when 2 Corinthians 5:17 talks about a new creation. Not necessarily a recuperated inner man. Why does Ezekiel 36:26 speak of a new heart and a new spirit. Revelation 21:5 says He makes all things new. New in Greek is kainos meaning: recently made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn, of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. The same word for new creations. The first Adam was a living soul and the Last Adam a life giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Two different Adam and two different creations. We are of the latter.

Colossians 3:3New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Our zoe life is hidden with Christ in God. The secret place. Our inner man escaping notice being formed in the belly of the Father. You see Presence fashions us for Promise. When we live where we are seated we live from a place of Presence, rest, and hiddenness. We walk in authority and dominion from a Presence standpoint hidden in the Secret Place where we are continually formed by Him Who made us. And when we live out of the Presence we are like clumps of clay seeking identity outside of the Potter’s Hands. Anyone who has worked with clay and a potter’s wheel you know that, at first it’s formless and needs air bubbles etc. removed. Then by applying water it softens to be able to be molded into the vessel it was designed for in the Potter’s mind and heart. The water of the Rhema Word comes to bring the forming…and how gentle He does it. In the forming process it takes delicate hands and patience. How we feel like we are spinning in the process. We seem confused when our world system constructs get removed and we enter the Spirit and His forming process.

We need to behold Him! To observe Him! How did Jesus walk? With Him. He did only what he saw or observed what the Father was doing…including dying on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:19). 1 John 3:2 Aramaic Bible in Plain English:  Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not been revealed until now what we are going to be, but we know that when he has been revealed, we shall be in his likeness, and we shall see him just as what he is. I believe the Bride will be transfigured by observance of Who He is in them. Observance not of principles or laws are scriptures reading but literal observance…the same way the Apostle Paul received his revelation. No I don’t believe in “new” revelation as in new scripture but there are new things God is revealing which are in line with what scripture declares.

The Apostle John receive The Revelation of Jesus Christ because he was positioned on His chest. He laid there and made that place his home. Revelation came from that Secret Place. That is my desire. To be so close to His Heart that mine becomes His and His becomes mine and I adhere and stay glued to Him by the Spirit. There are secrets He wants to share but they are found in the Secret Place. Secrets are always from the heart.

Even so, come Lord Jesus and be revealed in us.

Amen!

When Needs Overcome Wants

I don’t know about you but I tend to get frustrated with life at times. How many of us can relate to our needs overcoming our wants? Needs come and come and must be met and met. Wants seldom show up and when they do we rarely get to fulfill them. Now I know what scripture says about needs and wants. Psalm 23 etc. But how many of our wants or desires come to pass…or come to…pass and not stay. I was thinking about how many things I want to do in life and how I don’t see much possibility of them happening. I know with God all thing are possible but how? I want the Promise so bad. So bad I can taste it…the taste of milk and honey.

I have so many wants: traveling, speaking, counseling, inner healing and deliverance sessions along with Sozo sessions. I desire to set people set free and walking in who they are. Not head knowledge but heart knowing.

Then I listened to a Graham Cooke teaching…

He spoke on living with God in the question. Walking with God in the midst of waiting. I think of the difference between Promise and Presence. God promised Israel a land flowing with milk and honey but His Presence was there in the journey. An arduous journey to boot. Moses had the proper perspective. Even with the Promise near he wouldn’t go with Presence.

My needs need to transfigure into glorious stepping stones. My wants need to be there without the gravitational pull of disappointment. For I do have an appointment but until Presence cuts the veil I remain living with God in the present with His Presence with an expectancy of future Promise.

I think that is where I am getting it wrong. Why I’m frustrated. Why I feel like Promise is the carrot on the end of the stick. Interesting scripture in Psalm 103:7 is says God made know His acts to Israel but His ways to Moses. Moses had a backstage pass to what was going on. Sure Moses clearly didn’t get it all right but God trusted Him. I want and need my own Tent of Meetings. A place where perspective is birthed and clarified. A place where I can see God mouth to mouth. A place where Presence sustains while the Promise waits for my arrival. God has given me a name. That name is Possessor. I plan to possess first Presence and then Promise.

Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of them all?

How many of us do this every day? We continually seek our identity and validation on other people and things. We look at the Photoshopped world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest and judge our lives and worth based on other people. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone’s post or picture get several comments or likes, while I post the same exact thing and get nothing. How many times have I judged my worth on someone’s recognition or lack of recognition. I started my blog several months ago and someone else I know just started theirs…and theirs has blown up(in a good way). They get all these likes and comments and promotion but I hear or see crickets on mine. I had to check my heart…and my reflection. What part of me am I seeing when I react out of my soul instead of responding out of my spirit. I see myself blocking the post so I don’t have to see it or unfollowing them so my hurt and unresolved rejection isn’t confronted. To be honest I did unfollow. I was envious and jealous. The room of rejection yelled, “SEE NO ONE LIKES YOU!” And I accepted it… Until I dropped back into my spirit and responded with thankfulness that someone is being recognized for their gifts and attributes. There two cents are being heeded and honored and I love it!

I’m going to share something that Jesus showed me a couple weeks ago in a vision(mind’s eye). I was at a Waterboyz for Jesus Boot Camp (based of John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart Boot Camp) and there was a mandatory code of silence to reflect on life and to ask Father God to father me. So I had this picture, vision whatever you want to call it, I was standing in the entrance to my High School’s Cafeteria on my lunch period and surveying the cafe…but first the backdrop. I was never a popular person in High School. I didn’t have a good solid friend or group of friends but I had several acquaintances. I feared every new lunch period because I was never invited to sit with anyone. Never. It was a room screaming rejection and “you don’t fit in.” Frozen with rejection and aimless. So I either sat at the “nerd” table, where one of my acquaintances sat, or some other obscure area. It was awkward. So back to the vision. I saw myself at the entrance to this same cafeteria with rejection screaming “you’re not invited.” Then I saw Jesus…waving me over to his table. He said, “You will always have a seat at my table.” It broke me in the best possible healing way. I have turned to a greater mirror! A mirror that displays goodness and acceptance and redemption and kindness. I love Jesus and how He speaks to our wounded and applies his healing balm. It soothes and replenishes. He is my mirror! He is my reflection! A river that never runs dry and a fragrance that never dissipates. In fact I’m his odor to a rejected and lost world. 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

I’m going to share several scriptures that speak to mirrors or mirroring and the effect. I’m not going to quote them all but for your reference.

• 2 Corinthians 3:13-15,18
• James 1:23-24
• 1 Corinthians 13:12
• 1 John 3:2
• 1 John 2:6
• Roman 8:18
• 1 John 4:17
• 1 Corinthians 6:17
• John 17:22
• Acts 3:21
• 2 Peter 3:12
• Philippians 2:5-8
  
• Ephesians 1:22-23

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18

Unveiled faces. We are not like Moses who HAD to cover his face with a veil. Noticed when I talked in the Ten of Meeting he took the veil off. Now with Christ and Him renting the veil in two from top to bottom He, not only gave man access to God, but He gave God access to man! We are image bearers. We carry the image of God on this earth. We are the image of God.

Beholding as in a mirror. What do mirrors do but reflect what is put before them. They don’t make up their own image. We don’t make up our own image. Where do we receive our reflection from? Who do we receive our reflection from? 1 John 4:17 says as He is(currently. not past but now) so are we in this world. The glory given to Jesus by God is transferred to us.

We are being transformed into the same image… What? The same image? “Same” in Greek is autos meaning: the same, himself, in itself it signifies nothing more than again, applied to what has either been previously mentioned or, when the whole discourse is looked at, must necessarily be supplied. “Image” in Greek is eikōn which means: the image of one. Also this verse says we are transformed into the same image. Transformed in Greek is, get this: metamorphoō to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure. To transfigure! The same exact word used to describe Jesus when he metamorphoō on the mount with Elijah and Moses.

1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not been revealed until now what we are going to be, but we know that when he has been revealed, we shall be in his likeness, and we shall see him just as what he is.” Seeing God, like Moses, has a uncovering of glory that is already within us, locked up in our blood since before Adam fell. Originally we were covered with glory and the radiance of God. Man sinned and that glory was shut up in the body and dwindled to embers…until Jesus breathed upon the disciples thus provided the Oxygen of God upon the ember to ignite and begin the transfiguration process. The more He is revealed the more we will be revealed. Creation is groaning for us Church! We will be like Him because we will see Him. FYI this is pre Second Coming in my opinion according to Acts 3:21. The Beauty of the Bride is in the union with her Husband and Head! We can, by our communion with the Father and submitting to the glorification of us by our seeing Him. We are one spirit with Him – 1 Corinthians 6:17. Co-Heirs. Brothers of Christ. Kings and lords under the King of kings and Lord of lords! Seated together with Christ!

For too long the image I saw was the image I walked out. When I interpret the image incorrectly it will only result of living incorrectly. By the water of word and the Holy Spirit, He can clean our mirror so we can see, unveiled, the Glory of the Lord so we can begin to walk in original design and our original selves.

Prayer:

Father, in Jesus’ name, I ask You to clean our mirrors and remove our veils so we may fully see you and then fully see ourselves. We repent for dismissing our glory, the glory you gave us. We cast our crowns only to have them returned to us purified to then cast them again on your feet. Let us remain in worship at your feet while also communing at your chest in which the revelation of Jesus Christ comes through us so we may truly walk, as Your body, the fullness of You who fills all things in every way. Let us walk as the fullness of You on earth and re-present you to this world. All with the spirit of agape love and true humility, a partner, associate, comrade, and companion of the Divine Nature. Let our mind be the same that was in You, Jesus, according to Philippians 2:5-8. And Lord we know you are the Author and Finisher of our faith and You are the Substance and Hope by which we seek you with all that we are. Thank you for reversing the body, soul, and spirit to spirit, soul, and body. In Jesus name we give you the glory and receive the glory you have given us. We worship and honor You, Almighty God, our Friend. Amen!

Why A Father?

Have you ever wondered why God chose to reveal Himself as a Father? Have you? I never thought of this until listening to Wm. Paul Young (author of The Shack, Cross Roads) speak about it and after reading and listening to John Eldredge from Ransomed Heart speak and write about it.

Here are several links to why:

Elephant Lessons: Real Men Leading Boys to Manhood

Stats

Statistics

We need fathers! Physical and Spiritual! Paul wrote about it as well..1 Corinthians 4:15. Everyone wants to teach but no one wants to take the time to father. A father is involved and doesn’t just spit out knowledge and leave you to figure it out. He is THERE for  you. A father leads and guides…shows you the Way in which you should go (Prov. 22:6) But if you look at the Church there are many teachers… I need a father. My earthly father did what he could with what he had and his father as well.

The wound of a father cuts the deepest. For me I can recognize, these days, the story that is behind my father. I know him and forgive him but I have been wounded. I craved validation and approval. I didn’t always get it. Especially a little over a year ago.

I was engaged to my now beautiful wife and there was some miscommunication/gossip/triangulation (see my blog He Said She Said) and it caused speculation and the appearance of a wounding. But the case wasn’t so. You know the whole Telephone/Grapevine game. The original message gets distorted usually by the next person. Soooo I said all that to say this…he didn’t want me to get married. He said he wanted to make sure I was sure but it got out hand. He invalidated my choice and because it was one of the most important decisions in my life he was invalidating me. It was rough…and still is some days. I literally have a sinking feeling in my gut for a couple weeks. I needed his validation but didn’t get it.

I also have tried to connect with older men and nothing…absolutely nothing. Empty promises and fakeness. What does a young man who needs a father/mentor do when no one wants to do it? I know many others in the same shoes as I. And it doesn’t matter your age. Fatherlessness is way to prevalent in society hence the statistics above. But God!

God came as Father. THE FATHER! A Father who wants to be with you. A Father you not only loves you but likes you. A Father who is here to validate you as a man. A Father that WILL be a Father to you. He knew the void and He filled/fills/will fill it. You can walk as a son fully loved and validated and accepted and…approved of. Don’t you just want to hear God say over you, right now, “Behold my son in who I am well pleased.” Do you realize God the Father spoke that over Jesus…and he didn’t do one thing yet. He was pleasing because of who He is and not what He did. And guess what…you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. The Father’s pleasure is on you right now regardless if you just slipped and viewed porn or yelled at your kids or smoked a joint or whatever issue you may be recovering from. His view of you has and will never changed.

One of the things God the Father has shown me, in the middle of sin, is that He loves me so much. One day while driving home I was grieving over my sin and shame and told/asked God, “You must be tired of me.” Immediately my Father spoke into me, “I neither slumber nor sleep!” It was like a boom in me. An explosion of connectedness. He isn’t tired of me. He isn’t fed up with me. He is not ashamed of me (Heb. 2:11). He is love…He doesn’t have love He is the stuff.

God has not abandoned you! I say it again..God your Father has not and will not abandon you. Your sonship and His fathership is attacked and the enemy doesn’t want it…but God has and will break through. Can’t you hear Him right now speaking validation and honor or you? I know you want to be honored and He is honoring you right now. I see new robes He is placing on you right now (Zech. 3:3-5) He is not fed up with you. He is not tired of you. You do not drive Him up a wall. You do not get on His last nerve. You do not press His buttons. Come back to His heart…it’s where you belong and where you find yourself. He has a ring and a new robe and is throwing a party for you! You are the center of His attention and He is fathering you right now. Will you let Him be that Father? Your future depends on it. Let Him come into that invalidation and validate. Let Him enter the disapproval and heal it. Let Him heal your wounded heart with His love and satisfaction in you as a man and son of His love.

Let your initiation in manhood begin…!!!

Please watch this video…it’s amazing! Be blessed men of God! You are God’s son and He loves you with everything He is!

What On Earth Do We “Do?”

My last post I talked about our new identity in Christ as a New Creation, which, by the way, was definitely not all of what I could say about it. It would take many, many blogs to fully describe and understand our New Creation selves.

I will now talk a little bit about what we now “do” with this new creation truth about ourselves. I say “do” because it’s not about something we do or a performance we now must act out. In reality is a “being” that we now walk out in our day to day lives. Human beings, not human doings!

One of several scriptures that come to mind is 2 Corinthians 5:20, “so we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We, as Christ’s personal representatives, beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.” (emphasis mine)

Represent Christ

We are ambassadors and are meant to re-present Christ to the world. “Greater works than these you will do,” says Jesus in John 14:12. As He is (currently) so are we in this world!  (1 John 4:17)

As New Creations we are now totally and utterly one with Christ, just as Christ is One with our Father. (John 17:21) If this doesn’t blow you away then Romans 8:17 must!

…and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (NASB) (emphasis mine)

Heirs of God and co or fellow heirs with Christ! This is God’s love and heart for His children and the people of the world. The word heir in Greek is klēronomos, which means one who receives his allotted possession by right of sonship. The word fellow heir is sygklēronomos, which means one who obtains something assigned to himself with others, a joint participant. And these line up with 1 Corinthians 3:9, which says, we are co-laborers, co-workers, fellow workers with God. The word for co-workers in Greek is, synergos, which is where we get our English word synergy from. And what is synergy? Synergy is the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc. This speaks directly to John 16:7 where Jesus said, “It is better that I go away so that Another may come and be inside you and we operate in synergy as co-laborers.” (my own paraphrase) I am obviously combining scriptures here but it’s exactly what happens. Now, one can do many things without God, for God and God can do many thing without man but ultimately God want to empower believers to create a synergy between the two to accomplish much more. What else do we “do” on earth?

We are meant to bring the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and multi-colorful wisdom of God and display it to the principalities, powers, and wicked rulers in the second heaven.

Ephesians 3:10

¹⁰ [The purpose is] that through the church the ^[a]complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere. (AMP)

Let our lights so shine before men that they may see the sons of God’s good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. (Paraphrased Matt. 5:16)

Live loved

Ultimately what we “do” on earth is live as much-loved sons of God. Live as we are accepted in the Beloved. The word accepted, in the Greek, means to pursue with grace and compass with favor! We are to “be” much loved sons of God who are pursued by grace and encompassed with favor!

 

Kainos Ktisis – New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! (AMP) (emphasis mine)

Here we see what God has done for us. This is our new identity. This is where our being is solidified in Christ. This is our mold where we are conformed. We are new creations in Christ Jesus! Our old nature, that sinful, fleshly, Adamic nature has been crucified with Jesus on the cross. The word crucified here means to crucify along with.

 

Romans 6:6

⁶ We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. (AMP)

We have been methistēmi, transferred, or transposed and removed from one place to another. (Col 1:13) Jesus has paid for our transfer. (1 Cor. 7:23) We are no longer bound to sin. Once our identity is solidified with this truth we can no longer be conformed to this world and will no longer be under its influence. We are dead to sin and must reckon ourselves so. (Rom. 6:11) The word “reckon” in Greek is logizomai. This means to reckon, count, compute, and calculate. It’s a mathematical term. Two plus two “reckoned” is four. Our old nature plus crucified along with Christ “reckoned” is dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Oh the glorious destruction of sin and our sin nature!

We are no longer bound and inhibited by this first heaven life! We are seated together with Christ in heavenly places. Together is Greek is sygkathizō which means – to cause to sit down together, place together. Co-heirs!

Ephesians 2:6

  And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us ^[a]joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One). (AMP)

When I think of our identity and placement in Christ, I can’t help but think of Esther 5:3. Esther found favor with King Ahasuerus and he offered her up to half the kingdom. Not saying God gives us up to half of His kingdom but He does give us His Kingdom and we are seated together with Him. I think of Matt. 5:3,10 and Matt 11:11, Luke 7:28. Among those born of woman there has not been one greater than John the Baptist. In other words John the Baptist was the man, he was the one who prepared the way for Jesus…and  Matt 11:11 and Luke 7:28 both so the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. We are greater than Adam, Enoch, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Daniel, King David, Solomon, Jeremiah, Joseph, etc. Those least in the kingdom are greater than all these Old Testament Godly men.

This is our identity! This is the new creation, the Kainos Ktisis. We are a new breed, species, creature, and creation that has never existed on earth before Christ’s resurrection.

Identity comes from what God says about you regardless of profession, gender, calling, background, and upbringing. He calls you blessed! He calls you sons and not slaves. Your heart is good and no longer evil and stone. You have a new spirit, bound to the goodness of God.

All of our identity is in Christ, the firstborn of many sons. We are included in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s relationship and even partakers of His Divine Nature. And with this truth our identity is solidified being conformed (having the same form) to the image of Christ so that the world’s mold will never be able to conform us again.

2 Peter 1:4

⁴ By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature. (AMP) (Emphasis mine)

We are sons (huios) of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:26)

We are saints and no longer sinners!