Category Archives: Abiding IN Christ

An Intimate Relationship in the Light of God

by Michael

Adulterous & Christ

And, behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat to eat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. (Luke 7:37-38 KJ2000)

 

What a moving story about love we read about here in the Gospel of Luke! Have you ever thought of the Bible not as a text book on God and His Kingdom or a rule book or bylaws for the church to follow, but rather a group of love letters bound in a book from Jesus to us? Man once knew true intimacy with God. Adam and Eve walked in the garden with God in the cool of the day and they were totally naked and knew no shame or separation from God. They were one. Adam named the animals with Him and He saw that Adam could not find an appropriate counterpart among them so He put Adam to sleep and created Eve out of one of his ribs. These two were one flesh by God’s design. She was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. It was not until they tried to take the fast track and become like God, knowing both good and evil that knew shame and hid from Him and covered themselves with fig leaves. They hid from God and they hid from themselves out of shame. When God came looking for them He knew where they were… He is the all-knowing God, but He said, “Where are you, Adam?” He wanted Adam to know where he was and from where he had fallen and the fellowship he had lost by this simple act of trying to be like God without God. I think that God was heart-broken. “Where are you, Adam? Why have you left me?” Paul wrote many millennia later that Christ was crucified from the foundations of the world. He was way ahead of the wiles of the wicked one and we who are His were crucified with Him and all our sins were nailed with Him on that cross.

Adam and Eve lost their deep spiritual intimacy that fateful day. Christians seem to be paranoid of it. If a person speaks of an intimate relationship with Jesus as the one who loves them and speaks to them, many people will call them a “mystic”: and go running the other way! The words “intimacy” and “mystic” are not found in the Bible, but this experience is spoken of in many ways. God desires intimacy with His creation and always has. After the fall we read about Enoch who walked with God and God took him. We read about Noah who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Abraham being a friend of God. God spoke with Moses as a man, face to face and Samuel was so close to God that all his words were God’s words with none of his words falling to the ground. David, even though he sinned grossly, was still a man after God’s own heart who also knew how to repent. All these relationships speak of intimacy with God.

We also read in many places where God speaks of Israel as His wife or bride and of their infidelity to Him down through the years after they left Egypt as His chosen people. Stephen was so bold as to say to the leaders of the Jews,

 

And they [the Hebrews] made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O you house of Israel, have you offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, figures which you made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. (Acts 7:41-43 KJ2000)

They were unfaithful to His love right from the beginning! And it was this unfaithfulness to His love that made them go on to kill the One whom the Father sent to them to redeem them from their sin, Jesus Christ. Stephen went on to say,

 

But Solomon built him [God] a house. Yet the most High dwells not in temples made with hands; as says the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will you build me? says the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Has not my hand made all these things? You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers: (Acts 7:47-52 KJ2000)

All those years they had the tabernacle of meeting which was located by His order outside the camp because of their sin. They would stand in the doors of their tents and watch Moses walk by every day outside the camp to meet with the Lord and none of them joined him! God was just a curiosity to them, yet they would meet at the tabernacle of Moloch and worship Rephan! How cruel they were to His loving heart all those years.

So, Jesus, God’s own Son, was sent to earth to show us what an intimate relationship with His Father looks like. He spoke of God as “our Father.” And God spoke of Jesus as His Son. Then we read in Paul’s letters that it was God’s plan all along that he might have many loving and obedient sons and daughters unto His glory and that Jesus Christ was only the First Born of many brethren. Luke quotes Jesus saying that we will be like the angels of God in heaven, not marrying but I believe that we will all be equally bonded to Christ and one another in one great fellowship of love. Heaven is a place of great intimacy, not a place where Bible scholars endlessly speculate on the things of God by the power of their intellects like the Sadducees, the scribes and the Pharisees did 2000 years ago while they ignored the One who loved them. Yes, the Bible is a love letter showing us the heart of God toward us not a text book.

Let There Be Light!

John the apostle had much to say about light regarding God. He spoke of Jesus in these words, “In him [Christ] was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… [He is] the true light, which enlightens everyone…” (John 1:4-9 ESV). Jesus is the Light that illuminates everyone. We are without excuse if we go on seeking to cover up our sin and live in darkness.

John later would write, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7 KJ2000).

Jesus Christ is God’s Light, piercing and purifying light. When He, Christ, comes again He will destroy the devil and his word with His pure light. Christ sheds His light upon us we have a choice to make, to run from the Light out of fear of being exposed, or to run to the Light and be cleansed and made pure and free from sin that has controlled us, destroying the works of the devil. To be a follower of Christ is to walk in the light as He is in the light of the Father. Again we see God’s great call for intimacy and fellowship with His creation.

Light by its very nature generates intimacy… there is nothing left to hide. If you hold your hand up to a bright light you can see your bones inside of them! How much more intense is the Light who’s Father is the Father of Lights? Those who walk in the light as He is in the light are God’s lights in this dark world. Through the work of Christ in our lives we can be restored to what was lost before the fall of man, walking with God in an intimate, spiritual nakedness before Him and we can also become one with one another in this same Light of Life. In this passage is where Christ’s Light and Life come together. His light purifies us so that we can walk in the light with one another without reaching for our religious fig leaves of doctrines and our coverings of self-righteousness.

Notice that John says that in the Light of Christ we DO the truth, not just study and give mental assent and lip service to it. It is walking in this truth and light with one another that we have opportunity for such rich fellowship and honesty with one another IN HIM and in His great love. Regarding true fellowship, Paul wrote something that is becoming richer to me by the day,

 

“Therefore from now on know we no man [or woman] after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet from now on know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17 KJ2000)

How quick we seek to know one another “after the flesh.” How many of us have asked God to help us see our brothers and sisters after the Spirit? The disciples had known Jesus after the flesh… in His earthly body, but Paul had seen Him in His spiritual body and was converted from a hater of Christ and His body on earth to one transformed by His blinding light and changed forever into a lover of Christ and those who are His. None of the apostles saw the meaning of the Old Testament with New Covenant eyes like Paul.

It is dangerous in our old Adamic way of thinking to be exposed to God’s light and to be truly open with one another in His truth, so most Christians live a life of pretense with one another out of fear. The challenge is to pray that God puts us into fellowship with those who have embraced the Light of Christ so that we can walk with them in all honesty without pretense. This makes us vulnerable to them and they to us… this is what real love relationships are all about; openness, faith, love, hope, forgiving one another quickly when we blow it… knowing that in this great fellowship with Jesus, His blood is there to cleanse us from all sin that we might be restored to Him perfectly and to one another as we seek His love for one another (see 1 John 1:7).

Intimacy, Faith and Light Go Together

The Father’s desire for us has never changed from the very beginning! Here we see that for us to have intimacy with Him requires that we draw near unto Him and walk with Him in His marvelous light, in so much of HIS light that it rids us of any darkness that is still in us. It is here that we start to walk in the truth as God sees it… no darkness, walking in the light as HE is in the light as sons and daughters of God. Jesus told the woman at the well that those who would worship the Father must do it in Spirit and in Truth, not by going to some holy building or shrine on a mountain. The light of the Spirit of Christ is needed so that we will BE truth, not just talk about it for He is the Spirit of Truth. What a purging this requires of us! It requires us to take up the cross of Christ that pursues any darkness in us and puts it to death. Then we see in this passage one more thing… if WE (two or three who gather in His name) are walking in the light as HE is in the light we have fellowship not only with the Father and the Son, but with one another as members of that Light. Yet,

I as a child always longed for an intimate relationship with another. My own father was distant to all of us in the family and I remember my mom complaining to me as a young teen about feeling used, but never loved. My own experience was the same. I remember how treacherous my peers were. They would fain love or friendship to get me to reveal something intimate about myself and then run out and reveal it to others and make a mockery of me. After becoming a Christian and finding Christ’s love for the first time I only assumed that His people would be different and that at least I would be part of an intimate functional family. Well, that hope got dashed as well. Living with Christians was like tip-toeing through a mine field. I was never sure what would set the next one off. So here I am writing an intimate letter about God’s love and light, hoping that you will relate and be able to respond in kind.

There are some important things in the above passage from First John that seem to escape most Christians. The message, the very Gospel of Christ, bids us to come into His light and let all our darkness be expelled and this requires trust (a.k.a., faith)! Can we trust ourselves over to Him? In the book by C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe there is a dialogue about Aslan (a Christ figure) that is very telling, “Is Aslan safe?” “No, He’s not safe! He is a Lion, but He is good!” Once we take the plunge of faith in Christ we find out that God really is good, but after a while we find out that He also requires us to trust Him to an ever greater extent if we are to keep following Him into greater light. As our Great Physician we must yield once again to Him in this role in our lives while He cuts out of us all that is cancerous to our eternity and intimacy with Him. It is here that most Christians seek safety rather than total healing, abandoning themselves totally to Him. The world is full of Christians, but there are few Kingdom of God saints that have totally thrown their trust on Him and allowed Him to do some painful things in and to us which require an even greater faith than “the slipping up on one little finger with every eye closed and every head bowed.” We must follow Him into the Valley of the Shadow of Death in total trust and most will not go there out of fear. Many start out following Christ, but like the ancient Hebrews, they fail to enter into God’s rest by the same example of fear and unbelief which kept them from receiving all that was promised them. They fail to go in and posses the good land, Zion which is above, where Christ dwells with the Father in a unity and intimacy that is begging to be ours as well.

It is here, I believe, that the rubber starts to hit the road in HIS kingdom. In Christ’s kingdom where HE is King there is light and everyone’s secrets are revealed, in short, Intimacy is required. No more fig leaf garments. No more listening to the Serpent who constantly is telling us that we or “so and so” is naked, tempting us to know one another after the flesh. It is here that we can dare to walk in His light and we are covered by HIS righteousness and not our own. It is here that we can know one another after His Spirit in us.

We can spend our whole life as a nominal church Christian and never have to be honest with one another as we dance “the dance of the seven veils,” but never remove them all. We can get away with this lukewarm approach “in church” for we only have to fake it for one hour a week! THAT is not true fellowship. THAT is a form of prostitution where we use God and one another to do our weekly spiritual “duty” without entering into the vulnerability of His love! Christians as well as the people of this world tend to be like two porcupines trying to stay warm on a cold winter night. We are constantly coming together for warmth, being poked by the other and then fleeing apart once again seeking safety instead of warmth. Each time this happens it takes longer for us to enter into a close relationship where we might find His love again. Fear has caused many of us to stay at a distance from one another all these years and keep Christ at a distance as well.  John wrote, “If you don’t love your brother whom you can see, how can you say you love God whom you can’t see.”

Yet, we love movies and books where the couple portrayed finds intimacy and love (“The Lake House” is one of my favorites), but this is done safely at a distance in the privacy of our minds. We live out our longings and lives in a vicarious way and as a result we are never satisfied. Women choose romance novels and men choose pornography and they can never get enough. This is exactly what religion is… a holy man up front doing all the relationship stuff with God for us vicariously while we remain safe in our padded pews at a distance, just like the Hebrew children did when God invited them to sup with Him on the holy mountain… “You go up, Moses! He is not safe!” Love and intimacy are not safe, but they are good! When I find another dear saint that longs for intimacy with Christ and His body the way I do, it can be a dangerous situation. I am never sure whether we will start down that road together and then turn on one another out of fear as the light of Christ gets ever brighter. This kind of tension is shear torment. Fear has torment. Further on John wrote,

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (1 John 4:16-21 KJV – emphasis added)

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Notice the order of things here. First we have to walk in the light, intimacy, and have intimate fellowship with Jesus and with one another. It is here that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Sin is a fact of life’s interactions, but God has made provision for that so we can keep going and learn to walk in greater holiness as we are conformed into the image of Christ. I think that we have a too narrow definition of sin. Sin in the old English means to “fall short.” God’s idea of us falling short is when we settle for a Christian life that has not come into the fullness of His Son within us. Is intimacy safe? No! Some will slip back into sin because of the openness with one another that it requires. BUT the blood of Jesus Christ is there to cleanse us from all sin so we can continue to press into His Life and Light reality, the Kingdom of God in our midst. Intimacy with God first leads us to walk in God’s light as Jesus is in the light, THEN we who are secure in that fellowship with the Father and the Son can have true intimate fellowship and walk in the light of truth with one another. What a travesty that the sons and daughters of God are so fearful and distant with one another when we could truly be ONE even as Jesus and the Father are ONE, just like Jesus prayed before He went to the cross,

 

 “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:15-26 ESV)

 

 

Uncommon Peace in Troubled Times

by Michael

jesus-calms-the-stormA dear brother in Christ who lives in Louisiana named Ken Burgess, posted the following on his Facebook:

“Mariners and oceanographers have known for a long time that no matter how rough the seas or how high the waves get the water just 10 feet below the surface of the trough is completely calm. We spend the majority of our time at the top of the waves during the rough seas of life. That is where the struggle is. It is also where the, ‘seaworthiness,’ and/or weaknesses of a vessel are discovered. The weaknesses can sometimes have disastrous results. We are to remain in HIM at all times. Just 10 feet below the surface of the raging storms of life where it is perfectly calm. A submarine spends the majority of its time below the surface of the oceans of the world and the sailors are unaware of surface conditions even during the worst storms with the highest waves unless the captain surfaces. A wise captain will not risk his boat or his crew in those type of conditions. Jesus is our wise captain. HE did one of three things during stormy weather that was kicking up the waves. HE slept. HE rebuked the storm and spoke peace to the wind and waves. And HE walked on the water. It is our choice to make.”

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let now your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” JESUS: John 14:27

 

I, Michael, after spending years at sea, myself, know first hand about wave action. One time I was on an aircraft carrier in the edge of a typhoon and waves were coming over the flight deck  which was normally 90 feet above sea level! It was a wild time, but the submarines that were escorting our group were safe under the surface.

True peace and faith go hand in hand. And God allows situations to come into our lives so our faith can be tried as it was with the disciples on the sea of Galilee on that stormy night. Peter wrote,

 

[The elect] are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In which you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold trials: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 1:5-7 KJ2000)

I felt led to  look up each Greek word in this verse from John fourteen which Ken shared and it is interesting that the word translated “troubled” in the Greek means “roiled up” as in troubled waters on the sea. Jesus gives His peace and specifies that it is superior to the peace that the world gives. If the world (kosmos– or world system) gives “peace” it is totally conditional and is often armed neutrality at best and is a war that is just waiting for the right conditions to break out again. We are seeing this kind of “peace” all over the world where ethnic violence is only suppressed by militaristic dictators and more recent they are getting involved in “ethnic cleansing” themselves! Jeremiah saw this day when He said,

 

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest everyone deals falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:13-14 KJ2000)


But the peace that Christ sends us forth with (the meaning of His words “my peace I give unto you”) is deep and not subject to the superficial roiling of the world around us. His peace settled deep into our spirits out of reach of all things temporal. I often think of Paul and Barnabas in that dark Philippian dungeon with their backs split open from a flogging, and their feet bound in stocks awaiting further sentencing and what were they doing? Singing praises unto the Lord! (How many Christians in America do you know that would be doing THAT under such circumstances?) Paul and Barnabas  went forth with Christ’s peace in their hearts, peace that surpasses all reasonable understanding, and they were more than overcomers as they abode IN Him. And, as we know from the story, Jesus came down and inhabited their praises and the will of the kosmos gave way to the will of its Creator (see Acts Acts ch. 16).

In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever: for in the LORD GOD is everlasting strength: For he brings down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he lays it low; he lays it low, even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust.  (Isaiah 26:1-5 KJ2000 – emphasis added)

Transfigured into His Likeness

by Michael

 

stoning of Stephen

“And after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart, And was transfigured [Grk. metamorphoo] before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his clothing was white as the light.” (Matthew 17:1-2 KJ2000)

What a wonderful sight that must have been for these disciples to behold Jesus in such perfection and glory. Have you ever met a dear saint who had been so changed by the living Christ abiding in them that their face shone with His glory? Is it even possible for a mere human to be so transformed by the indwelling Christ that they shine forth with His love and grace? I think that this is what Stephen’s religious persecutors saw that day as is recorded in Acts chapter seven and they broke out into a frenzied rage and gnashed on him with their teeth!

Paul wrote,

 

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed [Grk. metamorphoo – tranfigured] into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2 RSVA)

Stephen, that day 2000 years ago, had an unveiled face… his face shown like that of an angel.  It was the face of Jesus who abode within him. And for those who were followers of Moses with their veiled faces it was too much. His face was a witness before them that what he told them was the truth… that they had slain the Lord of Glory, their Messiah, and that their temple worship was used by them to “always resist God’s Holy Spirit.”

Have you ever noticed in a church service that any time the Spirit starts to rise and the presence of the Lord is starting to become manifest, someone in control feels compelled to rise up and put an end to it? I have seen this happen over and over. The program must go on! And the Spirit wind does not abide in the walls and the programs of men. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom and the purveyors of religious bondage will not allow freedom to take hold and get out of their control so the Spirit wind moves on.

So we who have the Spirit of Christ must move on with Him. We seek HIS glory and abide in HIS life changing truth. We cannot settle for mere words that come forth from those who quench the Spirit and handle the word of God with cunning and much tampering. We would rather read the Bible for ourselves and listen for our Shepherd’s voice speaking to us in a personal way. We would rather behold HIS face than the faces of those who would presume to take His place as they stand before us on their elevated platforms.

In the above passage Paul says we who behold Jesus’ face have a ministry. We have the ministry of Life IN Christ Jesus. We are being changed, transfigured, into the likeness of the One whom we behold. We go from one degree of glory to another because this comes from the Spirit of the Lord who abides in us! As much as we are being transformed into the image of Christ is what proves that our service “ministry” is true, not some man-made title, degree or stance behind a pulpit and in this we do not lose heart for Christ is our sufficiency in all things as we abide IN Him. Behold Him, dear saints, and shine forth with what you behold.

“The Word Was Made Flesh and Dwelt Among Us”

by Michael

Jesus-washing-feetBehold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58:4-7 KJ2000 – emphasis added)

 

In 1979 I was all about ministry “out there.” I was a “prophet” on the make and the kingdom of heaven was all about me and “my ministry.” During this time many elderly saints came to me with the same message, “Go home! Tend to your wife and children. They need you,” Then one day God got my attention with the above passage. These words of Isaiah are a rebuke to religious people who think that they can get God’s favor by fasting, all the while hiding their sins under a cloak of religiousness and “ministry.” God showed me that by my thinking that “ministry” was out there– always something to be done outside my home to be seen of men– that I was “hiding myself from my own flesh,” my own flesh and blood. My household was out of order and I had no business trying to “minister to” the saints of God until I took care of the first things first.

There seems to be two extremes that Christians fall into. One is that of thinking all service to the Kingdom of God is done outside our homes and that our kids and spouses will just have to be satisfied with the crumbs that fall from our table, thus neglecting our first God-given responsibility (see 1 Tim. 3:4-5). And the second extreme is becoming so taken up with Bible study and introspection (spiritual navel staring) that we never get out and mingle with people that really need help and a touch from the Lord through us. In a way, this also is “hiding from our own flesh”… those who are members of the body of Christ and people in general who need a personal touch from Jesus in us. Selfishness takes on many forms.

In the first chapter of John we read…

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men… That was the true Light, that lights every man that comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name: Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14 KJ2000- emphasis added)

Here we read about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who dwelt with God and was used of God to make all creation. Christ could have continued to live at the right hand of the Father, but God had a plan to send His Son into a world that had gone bad from trying to live their lives without Him. Though Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God, He came down to earth and took on the form of an infant, born in a stable to a poverty stricken couple. Not only that, but He took on the form of a servant to all mankind, not a high and mighty king or even a temple high priest. Jesus did not cloister Himself away from humanity, but dwelt among them as a lowly servant. He was not a holy hermit out of touch with the sufferings and rejections of fallen man, but rather, “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Not only that, but the Word of God was among us full of grace and truth! In Hebrews we read,

For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses; but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16 KJ2000)

Jesus was full of grace and truth while He abode among mankind here on earth. How did that grace manifest itself? He fed the hungry, clothed the naked, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, cast out demons, and forgave sinners. Today He continues to be our fountain of grace at the right hand of the Father where He ever lives to make intersession for us. Jesus was not only Living Truth before all who saw Him here on earth, but He is still God’s word of truth. He speaks through His Spirit and continues to lead us into all truth just has He promised. The Word became flesh in human form and dwelt among us 2000 years ago and He still lives among us in Spirit form today if we will receive Him. He continues to serve those who are in need and He, the Word of God, continues to speak and lead us into all truth if we have ears to hear.

In Hebrews chapter two we read,

For verily he [Christ] took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the nature of Abraham. Therefore in all things he had to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help them that are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:16-18 KJ2000)

As we find ourselves becoming over-comers as we abide in His grace and help, we should also be available as instruments so that His grace can flow through us to others who are in need. We who are Christ’s are members of His body here on earth.  He wants to reach out through us to those who need His touch. This takes sensitivity to the prompting of His Spirit in us. On the one hand, He may be telling us to “go home” and not hide ourselves from the needs of our own flesh and blood, our spouses and our children. And on the other hand He might be telling us to mingle with the saints of God and be there for our neighbors and fellow workers on the job. We need to be aware of His divine opportunities that He gives us in our daily lives.

There is no such thing as a “holy hermit.” The love of God has always compelled Him to be in touch with His creation. The love of the Father in Christ has always compelled Him to be there for everyone in need. Yes, Jesus would go aside into the wilderness for a few days, but it was only so that He could be with His Father, pray, and hear His will as to what He wanted Him do. Jesus was above all a Servant and we as members of His body are called to be servants as well. He told the disciples, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and lay down His life for many.” Our lives IN Christ are not all about us, but rather about Him and His will for His creation.

Jesus was such a Servant that finally He offered up His own body and blood that we might be saved saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me… This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20 RSVA). Like the woman with the alabaster box of precious ointment, He was broken and poured out for us and the fragrance of His sacrifice is meant to fill His whole household with sacrificial love… YOU “do this in remembrance of Me!” His love compels us to be broken and poured out for the needs of others, whether they are members of our own families or those who He puts us in touch with as we go out into all the world with His Good News.

“Love it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way [does not seek its own]; it is not irritable or resentful [does not resent being pushed in on by the needs of others]; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends… but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away… the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:5-13 RSVA – emphasis added)

Father, put your heart of love within us and let us be poured out just as your Son was poured out for others as He lived and finally died on that cross. Let your resurrection Life dwell in us and let that Life be the light of men. Amen.

Just Who Is Really “Forsaking the Assembling of Ourselves”?

by Michael

FamilyGatheringI wish someone would show me in the New Testament where it says we are supposed to “go to church on Sunday.” My Bible says we who are Christ’s ARE the church. How can I go to something I am already part of because I am attached to Christ who is my Head, not to Paul, or to Apollos, or Peter or Pastor Wonderful? The best thing that ever happened to me was finding my sufficiency in Christ instead of in educated men.

I am sure that someone will try to answer the above “going to church” question with the trite answer, “Brother, we are not to forsake the gathering…” I agree, but since when is sitting in rows, staring at the backs of hundreds of heads while being lectured by one man being gathered together into the fellowship of the Father and the Son?  THAT IS the context of this verse:

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh. (Hebrews 10:19-25 ASV)

As you can see, we are to gather together by passing through the Veil–the torn flesh of Jesus Christ–and boldly enter into the presence of our Father, where Jesus stands forever making intercession for us as our ONLY High Priest. It is in this kind of intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son that we are called to assemble ourselves to as members of HIS body. It is in this realization of our high callings IN Christ that we can truly exhort one another as a kingdom of priests and not just fill a common building one day a week, listening to a paid Christian lecture.

The next question that might be asked is, “If you don’t go to church on Sunday, then where DO YOU fellowship?” Do we come together with other saints on a regular basis? Absolutely! We spend more hours per week by far, fellowshipping around Christ with the local fellow saints, than those who go to meetings under the control of a single man and sit there as passive listeners! Is it always on Sunday in a steeple house that we gather? No. But Jesus said that “wherever two or three of you come together IN my name, I am there in your midst”… and it doesn’t get better than that! He directs our hearts as to when and where to come together and the only overhead that we have to deal with is restaurant meals and tips or contributing to a great home-made meal we share together as we speak often together IN His name.

Am I bitter against the organized religious systems of men? Not at all. God delivered me out of that systematized religious order. In fact He about had to drag me out of it. My wife, Dorothy, and I had gone to at least twelve different churches in the years following my birth into God’s kingdom. I was constantly “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” who walked in humility as Jesus did, but all these “church leaders” absolutely loved to have preeminence over the relationships that these saints had with one another and their Lord. They cast their own shadow over everything that happened in their churches. These religious leaders could be counted on to quench the Spirit if He tried to get a word in edgewise or in any way disrupt their pre-planned agendas.

God finally said to me one Sunday as I sat in a “service,” “Why do you keep seeking the Living among the dead?” Well, THAT got my attention! He showed me that unless Jesus is the functional Head over a body of believers and its members individually, and they are led by His Spirit in their daily lives, that “fellowship” is dead because those body members are disconnected from their Head. I had to come out of that system so I could learn to hear His voice as my Shepherd instead of constantly listening to the voices of men taking His place. For me it was like being “dried out” from an addiction. Now that I know His voice it is easy for me to discern when something preached or taught is askew. John put it this way:

“These things have I written unto you concerning them that deceive you. But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him.” (1 John 2:26-27 KJ2000)

Is going to a Sunday church bad? No, unless you settle for a relationship with a church leader instead of submitting to Jesus as your Spiritual Head. Paul wrote:

“For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 KJ2000)

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 KJ2000)

Being divided along party lines (called a “party spirit” in the New Testament) is not natural to the kingdom of God, but it is expected and accepted among the kingdoms of men. The Spirit of Christ is the supply we drink from if we are truly His. We who drink from that ONE Spirit are ALL members one of another and rest in the unity of the Spirit of Christ and the Father before the throne of grace and fellowship around their love. We are truly ONE in the Spirit from which we drink.

Called to be Servants, Not Masters

by Michael

pardonwoman

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; (Matthew 23:8-11 RSVA)

I have never seen myself as a shepherd or one who mentors others, at least since I went through so much stripping at the hand of God in the ’80’s and ’90’s. I am just “a beggar who shows other beggars where I found some bread.” Jesus IS that Bread. Christ is our sufficiency in all things pertaining to life and godliness. What our Father is looking for and working toward in us is many sons unto HIS glory, not their own.  Jesus is the first born of many sons (and daughters) of God and as such HE is our Pattern Son. He came to the earth and did not take on the form of God or even an archangel, but rather took on the form of a man, a lowly man, a servant to all men, not a chief priest or a king. This is as our Pattern who said of Himself, “The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

As the above picture indicates, what a contrast Jesus was to the religious leaders of the Jews! They were men who loved titles and to be seen as set apart from mere men with their “holier than thou” mindsets. But Jesus was down in the trenches with sinful mankind and they loved Him for it! When Jesus said, “Those who come before me are thieves and robbers,”  the translators wrongly translated it to say, “Those who ever came before me are thieves and robbers.” There is a BIG difference! All those spoken of in the Old Covenant from Enoch to John the Baptist who walked by faith in the Father were NOT thieves and robbers as some dare to teach! No, those who get between Jesus and HIS sheep (before – positionally) are the thieves and robbers; false shepherds, false prophets, false apostles, false teachers, etc. What makes them false? They are “ravenous wolves not sparing His flock and teachers teaching perverse things to draw away DISCIPLES AFTER THEMSELVES” (see Acts 20: 29-31), and like Diotrephes in the third epistle of John, these are those who love the preeminence, instead of allowing Christ to have all preeminence in the lives of His saints.

Being Used

As for being “used” by the Lord, I think that there is way too much emphasis among Christians on “being used.” Satan possess and uses people. Jesus loves and leads them as THE Good Shepherd. Many years ago in the beginning of my walk God when I was “busy for God,” He started talking to me about entering into His rest and in Hebrews chapter four we read, “they who have entered into His rest have ceased from their own labors.” Being too anxious about being used has led to many a dead work in the eyes of the Lord. It is noteworthy to notice that God’s works were finished from the foundation of the world. So as we rest IN HIM we also rest in His FINISHED works. Jesus hung on the cross and said, “It is finished!” just before He died. He also said that HE would build His called out ones (ecclesia – translated “church”). Yet, churches are all about “doing great things for God” and oh, how they love to build. Only as we rest in HIS finished works as we rest IN HIM, can He work the works of His righteousness in and through us. This is why Paul was so emphatic that we walk by faith and NOT by works.

“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created IN Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJ2000 – emphasis added)

It is only as we rest IN Christ and His righteousness by faith that we will find ourselves doing the finished works of the Father. Like Jesus said to the disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 RSVA – emphasis added). I have found that those who rest in this fact drive the practitioners of religion crazy. These builders of churches and church organizations are the same builders who reject Christ as the Chief Cornerstone, Cap Stone and Master Builder of the temple which is the Father’s design for His temple is made of living stones (see Matt. 21:42-43 and 1 Peter 2:5-9) not wood, bricks and mortar.

So we find ourselves going through all these painful experiences as we struggle to be free of this world and its worldly churches with their mindsets and be bound to Christ as our ALL in all. This is so true to form in the way HE teaches. Paul wrote, “… but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; And patience, experience…” God puts a high value on experiential learning and trials (tribulations) are a step in the process of our training, like it or not. Paul goes on to say, “And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us” (Romans 5:4-5 KJ2000). Again, we are back to being conformed into the image of His Son who learned obedience through the things which He suffered and His suffering was a result of His obedience to the Father. Should we not expect the same?

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire [in Christ], lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 KJ2000)

Until Only the Unshakeable Remains

by Michael

The cathedral from which Christchurch, N.Z. gets it name in the center of the city was severely damaged in an earthquake almost three years ago. They say it is beyond repair. They have shored what was left of it up, but it is too dangerous to work on.  Could God be sending us a message?

ChristChurch cathedral during a media tour“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain.
(Hebrews 12:26-27 RSVA)

“Because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 RSVA)

Jesus came to earth and while He lived here in human form he was subjected to everything the enemy could throw at Him, yet He did now cave. He only did the works that the Father gave Him to do. He did not act out of His own free will as the Son of God to do anything for His own benefit, not even to save His own life. He died a cruel death on the cross and rose again in victory and led the captives of the wicked one in a victory march out of their prisons. He is still releasing men and women who turn to Him from their prisons today. In short Lucifer tried to shake Christ and he failed. The Unshakeable remained unshakeable to the end.

So, will God allow the Church to be severely shake as Christ was? The biggest test and failure of what is called “the church” today in in seeing if we will move by the power of our own wills, or will we wait upon the Lord for HIM to move? Is what happened to the cathedral at Christchurch happening in “the church” today? Yes, and it has only just begun. For hundreds of years organized religion has presumptuously been planting, building, marrying and giving in marriage without a single thought to what God wants done in their midst. They invent a program and then ask Him to bless it! How backwards this is.

Jesus told the disciples (the first “church planters”) that apart from Him they could do nothing. Organized religion in its haste to “do something” has ceased to look to God for the power to do their works and has turned to the power of the flesh, money and coercion to get it done. Jesus said you cannot serve both God and Mammon and the churches of men have been trying to prove Him a liar for hundreds of years. Mammon has one.

So, can the visible church be shaken completely down to its foundations? YES and it is happening right before our eyes, because it has become fixated on “the things which are seen” instead of on the “things that are not seen.” All the things that can be seen in Christendom and even in our own lives WILL be shaken and all that will remain is that which abides IN Christ Himself, the Unshakeable. Paul warned,

 

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw– each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
(1 Corinthians 3:9-16 RSVA)

First we need to be sure of what foundation we have been building on. Are you founded on the teachings of a denominational or church “founder”? Are you founded on “apostles” and “prophets” in your church? Are you founded on your understanding of the Bible? Sorry, these near misses won’t stand up to the shaking that is coming upon the earth. If we are to survive and are to stand before God and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” we must be founded on THE Foundation, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Every plant that my Father has not planted will be rooted up.” In the days ahead each believer’s work that they have been building upon their foundations, even the One True Foundation, will be tested by fire and only the gold, silver and precious stones of the works of the Father will survive. Many of us who have gone out to “do great things for God” will suffer great loss. God’s works were finished from the foundation of the world that we should walk in them alone.

For we are his workmanship, created IN CHRIST Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 RSVA – emphasis added)

 

 

Have We Believed INTO Christ?

by Michael

I read something the other day by T. Austin Sparks that in few words nailed what the Lord has been stirring up in me over the last year…

“This whole Bible is about bringing man back to God, bringing him into God, and restoring him to his environment. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’ is the fundamental truth of the spiritual life… Have you got that? You look again at any seemingly ‘little’ thing that the Lord says, and if you could see you would find that you have a universe of meaning in it.”

What seems a “little thing” to the natural man is a BIG thing to God and how I have overlooked it all these years. Take the little words into and in mentioned above. Sparks nails it… the whole Bible is about bringing man INTO God. So that it may be said of us, “IN Him we live and move and have our being”!

Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves as living NOW in the kingdom of God? What environment are we really of? Could the reason be that many Christians live dual lives?  They see themselves as having their worldly lives and their Christian lives which mostly, sad to say, consists of attending church meetings. Yet, is this the “life” that Jesus died and rose again for us to walk in, lives that are neither spiritually hot nor cold, but a lukewarm mixture? Is this the powerful Spirit led ekklesia that turned the world upside down in the first century? Why is it so hard for us to believe that by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross the veil of separation between one another and between us and our Father has been torn down? Why do we live our lives as though we are separate from our Father down here on earth and from being truly “members one of another in Christ” as His living organism? Why do we compartmentalize our lives and think nothing of it?

I believe I have been shown part of the reason and it is because of many poorly translated scriptures by the not always so Spirit led translators that were ignorant of the power of God to translate His saints out of this world system and its controls into the presence of the Father and the Son and make us full citizens of their kingdom. Intellectualism blinded many of these translators to the fact that true faith places us INTO a deep and personal relationship where we abide from that point on IN the Father and the Son and where we are given the mind of Christ concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

Did you know that most verses in the Bible that have to do with our initial step of believing (salvation verses) are translated wrong? Take the Greek word εἰς, eis. Where this word is used regarding the initial act of believing, it is almost never properly translated into its rich, true meaning, the word “into,” yet that is exactly what happens when saving faith has been worked into us by the Father. We are transported out of the Old Adam who abides in the kingdoms of this world, controlled by the prince of this world, and made part of “one new man IN Christ” by being placed into Him and into the kingdom of God. It is a lack of fully realizing our new place IN Christ that keeps most of Christen-dom just that — dumb! We remain ignorant of the fact that “we NOW dwell in heavenly places IN Christ Jesus” and continue to live our lives as if they are just that, OUR LIVES (see Galatians 2:20)!

Typically when a modern Christian “comes to Christ” they “say a sinner’s prayer” and go on living like they are mere humans left here on earth to live by the power of their own energies and thoughts, yet doing them from that point on, “for God.” NOT! I remember how miserably I failed to “be a witness for Christ” when I was a baby Christian. I was told by my pastor that now that I was saved I had to witness to people about Jesus and bring them to church. So I went to the local Christian bookstore and bought a handful of tracts and started giving them to my co-workers. Their reaction was not one of acceptance. In fact we almost came to blows over it. Why? Because the arm of the flesh can not do the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The one guy that I got to come to church with us was really there so he could get a date with the good looking daughter of the pastor. After he got his date he never came back.

Didn’t Jesus say, “Apart from me you can do nothing”? I am afraid that most of the “good works” that I did back then were just that in the eyes of God – NOTHING! Why? Because they did not come out from Him, but rather were born from a well meaning religious mind that was not yielded to the Spirit of God. Yet, I was only following the example of my church leaders. Go figure! I believe that part of the reason we have overlooked our high callings IN Christ Jesus (see Philippians 3:14 and 1 John 3:1) is due to improperly translated scriptures that fail to convey the message of true faith’s transforming work “taking us out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Here are some examples where this little word “into” was mistranslated into prepositions that get us to, unto, upon, etc. Christ, but never get us to that place where we believe that salvation actually puts us INTO Jesus Christ and the Father and they IN us (see Jesus prayer in John chapter 17).

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in (Grk. εἰς eis – into) the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18 KJ2000)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) condemnation; but is passed from death unto (Grk. εἰς eis – into) life. (John 5:24 KJ2000)

Labor not for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures unto (Grk. εἰς eis – into) everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for on him has God the Father set his seal. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him whom he has sent. (John 6:27-29 KJ2000)

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me, and drink. He that believes on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit, whom they that believe on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39 KJ2000)

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in (Grk. εἰς eis – into) Christ. (Acts 24:24 KJV)

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 KJ2000)

Once I saw that believing faith actually took me out of the world system (Grk. ek ho kosmos) and placed me IN Christ (Grk. en Christos), then all these other passages about abiding IN Him took on greater depth. Here are just a few verses that speak of our actual position IN Christ…

[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in (Grk. ἐν en – in) Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in (Grk. ἐν en – in) Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 KJV)

So then they that are in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the flesh, but in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also bring to life your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you. (Romans 8:8-11 KJ2000)

Every branch in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and I in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) the vine; no more can you, except you abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and I in (Grk. ἐν en – in) him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If a man abides not in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and my words abide in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:2-7 KJ2000)

I have manifested your name unto the men that you gave me out of the world (Grk. ek kosmos – out from the world system not out from the earth) yours they were, and you gave them to me; and they have kept your word. (John 17:6 KJ2000)

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on (Grk. εἰς eis – into) me through their word; That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in (Grk. ἐν en – in) me, and I in (Grk. ἐν en – in) you, that they also may be one in (Grk. ἐν en – in) us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21 KJ2000)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into (Grk. εἰς eis – into) His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10 HCSB)

For as many of you as have been baptized into (Grk. baptizo  eis – immersed into) Christ have put on (Grk. enduo – sunk into) Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in (en) Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28 KJ2000).

Seeing myself totally immersed into the Father and the Son, sunk into and become ONE in them, has made all the difference. Oh, what a great salvation we have as we abide IN the Son of God and the Father by the Spirit which has been given us! All things are ours IN Christ. “I have strength for all things IN CHRIST the One strengthening me.” (Philippians 4:13 LITV – emphasis added).

Here is a list of some of the things that are ours as we abide IN Christ.

* We believe and obey by the faith of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16 and Philippians 3:9)

* Our life is His life within us (John 6:53-57 and Galatians 2:20)

* Our light is His light within (John 8:12)

* His Spirit is our spirit within and is our Teacher (John 14:26, 1 John 2:26-27)

* Ours is the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5, 1 John 2:6 and 1 Peter 4:1)

* His inheritance in the Father is ours as well (Romans 8:17)

* His sufferings are our sufferings (Romans 8:17, Matthew 20:23, 2 Corinthians 1:5)

* His death is our death (Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 2:20, 1 Timothy 2:11)

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given… to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages IN GOD who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:8-10 RSVA- emphasis added)

What Is Salvation?

by Michael

SavedThe thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 KJ2000)

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in [Grk. eis – into] me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25 KJ2000)

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 KJ2000)

Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that deceive you. But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (1John 2:24-28 KJ2000)

What is Salvation? It is being translated from one temporal kingdom into the one which is eternal. It would be good if we take the time to think on this issue call “life.” On the earth there is much life. But because of the fall of Adam spiritual life, which is often not as tangible as animal and plant life, is much more rare and it is this life with which we are concerned in this writing.

Notice in the above verses that there is a progression from spiritual death into spiritual life. A person starts out in this world spiritually dead. The things of God are a mystery to him and he has no spiritual eyes or ears with which to perceive Him. God has to do a miracle in a person’s life for this to happen and that miracle is often called “salvation.” Salvation is not just a method of belief being saved from hell, but it is so much more. Like Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:3-6 KJ2000). In the eyes of God we are born dead. We are so many walking automatons, zombies if you will.

So what must be done? God has sent His Son into the world so that we might become living spiritual beings. And how is that done? We must believe into Him. True God given faith allows us to leave this realm of death and pass into the very Son of God and acquire HIS spirit life as ours! It is then that we also become sons and daughters of God. What an all encompassing gift. We receive LIFE to its fullest extent possible. This is what Jesus was and is all about.

So now let’s read further in chapter three of John in the way it was originally written by the apostle…

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believes into him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes into him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into [here eis is properly translated] the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes into him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed into the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:14-18 KJ2000)

The initial act of believing is a result of the Light of God being shown into our hearts. Jesus goes on to say, “…light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are worked in God” (John 3:19-21 KJ2000). John went on to explain this further in his letter saying, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jo 1:7 KJ2000). Our deeds might be evil, but the nature of light is that it purifies. Men use ultra-violet light to kill death causing bacteria. So what must we do to be saved? We must expose our darkness to the light of God that it might abolish sin caused death that dwells in us and come into His marvelous light, the Light of Life in Jesus Christ. The Light of God in Christ and His blood cleanses and free us from sin and death.

Once we have come to the Light that is in Christ and abide in the Light we now are made new creatures not after the first Adam, but after the Last Adam, the Son of God. “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a life-giving spirit.” (1Cor 15:45 KJ2000). We become a new creation in the hands of God. Paul wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10 KJ2000). We first believe into Christ and then we are re-created in Him as His workmanship. It is only after this happens that we can do any works that are pleasing to God for the works HE has for us to do have been foreordained by Him for us to walk in them. They are not something that we can generate from our own creativity and intellect. Those kinds of works are called “dead works.” All we can do as we abide in Christ’s rest and let Him re-create us and then wait for the Father to do His works in and through us. Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

So once we have received the life of Christ all we have to do is abide in Him for we have already believed into Him. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without [Grk. choris– separated from] me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 KJ2000 – emphasis added). Jesus is now our Life source. We can not survive any longer apart from Him. As a branch gets its life form the grapevine so it is with us in Christ. As a branch produces fruit by abiding in the life giving sap of the vine, so will we as we abide and rest in Him.

We who are His branches also have His words abiding in us. John wrote, “Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.” The very words of the Word of God abide in us. He still speaks and we can hear His voice as we abide in the Father’s Spirit life. Yes, the Bible contains the recorded words of God, but how did we get them? They came through men who had the Word abiding in them and who spoke and wrote down what they heard. This was not a special class of people compared to those who abide in the Son. To the world, yes, but not to the sons and daughters of God for John went on to write, “But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him.” All our Light and Life are wrapped up in our abiding in Christ. He is our sufficiency in all things pertaining to Spirit life.

Other verses to contemplate in the light of all we have written so far…

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4 KJ2000)

For as the Father raises up the dead, and gives them life; even so the Son gives life to whom he will. (John 5:21 KJ2000)

And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life. (1John 5:11-12 KJ2000)

Empowered by Love

by Michael

pardonwomanJesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34 KJ2000). In Hebrews chapter seven we read that Jesus is our great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, not Levi. It also say that where there is a new priesthood there must be a NEW law. The old law was filled with commandments like, “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not..” But we have something all together NEW in the New Covenant. In Hebrews the writer continues,

“For finding fault with them [the Hebrews under the Old Covenant], he says, ‘Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” (Heb 8:8-10 KJ2000).

God knew that sinful man could not keep His commandments so He sent His Son to not only be our propitiation for sin, but to empower us by removing from us our hearts of stone and putting in us a new heart with His New commandment written in them. In Ezekiel we read,

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Eze 36:26-27 KJ2000)

God sent forth His Son to do it all for us and in us. All we need to do is yield to His wonderful grace by faith and be empowered anew from above. Walking in His love fulfills the whole law of both the Old and New Covenants (see Gal. 5:23 and 1 Tim. 1:13-14). First Jesus did this among the worst of sinners and then He empowered us to do the same. It is no longer an outward straight jacket of law keeping, but an inward motivation from a new God given heart that enables us to walk out His love in this dying, love starved world just as He did. We are so blessed.