LOCKED IN TIME?

Are you locked in time? God isn’t. He established time when sin came into the world. It is part of His plan to redeem the world that was originally created and Adam gave over to God’s enemy.

The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal Life.” Jesus is quoted as saying, “I am eternal Life.” He also said, “Whoever comes to Me I will in no way cast him away form My presence.”

            In the “fullness of time” Jesus came, completed the Law of Moses and paid the price required by the Father to redeem all that was lost through Adam’s disobedience. The Bible says, “He sent His Word and healed all our disease.”

            When you were born again from the highest place you became a new creature and born into a new creation. The King of that new creation is Jesus and we are the joint-heirs of His Kingdom. He has seated us with Him in the Heavenlies far above all rule and all power in Heaven and Earth. Has seated is past tense. Is there a future past?

            I believe it does mean that if you were born again you are no longer subjects of this world but of a new world that is far above time. But being born again does not endue one with power to overcome the old world. That is why the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost, to endue with power from on high.

            Jesus said to the disciples after the resurrection as He breathed on them, “Receive holy spirit.” Most translations erroneously put the article “the” in front of holy spirit thereby making the reader believe that Jesus imparted the person of the Holy Spirit. The original language says, “Receive spirit holy.”

If it was the case that it was “the Holy Spirit”, then there was no need for them to wait another ten days in the upper room after Jesus’ ascension for the Holy Spirit that the Father had promised.

Jesus also said, “He who wants to gain his life (Gr. psuche = soul) in this (lost) world will surely lose it (utterly destroy it), but he who loses his life (Gr. psuche = soul) for My names sake will surely find it and find it to life eternal.”

The psuche or soul is composed of the mind, will and emotions. An expression applied far too often makes the point, “He/she has lost his/her mind.” It should be obvious that when observing such a person we should pray for them, Christian or not.

Since Jesus is not coming back until the restoration of all things foretold by the prophets (Acts 3:19-22) who is it that is going to do the restoring? I believe it is the manifested sons of God spoken of by Paul in Romans chapter 8 who will bring the glory of God. When God presents Himself everything in His presence must conform and come in order. God in His wisdom and grace does not show up where He will not be received.

First things first – “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness (Jesus).”

It is therefore incumbent upon us to come to the fullness that is Christ in order to “redeem the time because the days are evil” and “call those things that be not as though they were”, by bringing light into every vestige of darkness and speaking truth with one another.

CHANGED

Has Jesus kissed you today?
Has He touched you in some meaningful way?
If not,then maybe it's time to pray
Until you get self out of the way.

For He is waiting for you;
Waiting with power to endue.
The All in All is waiting for you;
To bring you into and fill you through.

I have found when I have nothing to say
He will bring me to the closet to pray
Until I am so filled up that for the rest of the day
I can do only this one thing, give Him away.

Caught up even while in despair
I can leave all of my daily care
And be conformed by Him there
Caught up into Him in the air.

Having found the secret place
Led there by His amazing grace
To plead to Him my case
And see Him face to face

I am changed in a meaningful way
All because I redeemed the time to pray
Thereby getting self out of the way,
Yes, Jesus kissed me today!

ONCE AND FOR ALL

   Yesterday before the service we were in the "payer room" when the Pastor was relating an incident of that morning. As is his custom he was up very early and "was caught up in the air with the Lord" for several hours. Later as he was driving on the freeway to church someone cut him off and for a moment he "lost it".
Quickly he caught himself and asked of the Lord, "How does that happen?", meaning how does it happen that after being with the Lord you can suddenly "lose it".
   By the Spirit I immediately and emphatically responded, "Because you hate sin! God hates sin!"
   I too and too often do the same and have been inquiring of the Lord as to why and how can I flip to the fleshly thinking.
   The answer is simply that when we've been in the presence of the Lord where everything is in order and everything is beautiful anything contrary to that is greatly disturbing and we out of the "old man of the world" react with old dead habits and mannerisms and upon recognizing what we have done we are saddened at our response and often even feel defiled and not able to go back to where we had been in the Lord.
   Oh Lord, help us to once and for all put off the old man that is trapped in time and all that is of the world and to once and for all put on the new man who is not subject to time and has been created out of the veritable manifested essence of truth, holy and blameless in Christ.
   Endue us, oh Lord, with speech that is holy and divine and completed in truth and grace so that we may call to order that which is not and walk from glory to glory becoming light to the world.

THE BURNING

About 3 1/2 weeks ago on a Wednesday while eating lunch I experienced an alarming intense burning in my stomach, could not swallow because of the burning pain and had a tremendous amount of mucus that kept forming in my mouth so I went outside and repeatedly kept spitting it out. Kathy was warring in tongues but was insisting I go to the emergency room because she was thinking it was an allergic reaction to something I was eating. It was fish with spices used in blackened fish which I do not like anyway. (I was thinking this is not the fire I had been praying for). I agreed to go to the hospital.

We were with a friend from work who was driving, Kathy was texting and calling friends to pray and I was hanging on to Life but trying to let go of the pain. It took us about 15-20 minutes from the time of the attack until we reached the hospital and as I was walking toward the emergency entrance the pain was lessening and there was only a tinge of the pain left by the time we reached the door. When the doctor came in to see me the pain had gone. Hallelujah!

The folks at the hospital were nice enough but I did not want any of their testing (expensive guessing) and meds (toxins). I did let them do an EKG, the results of which proved to be better than normal and really left them scratching their collective heads. No peaks in either direction up or down.

Kathy and I believe it was an attack and prayed and took dominion accordingly. I’ve since that day not had any similar encounters. Hallelujah again!

The following Friday morning, as I was driving to work, I was thanking the Lord and proclaiming, declaring and decreeing my deliverance and freedom from any and all attackers because of what Jesus did and what I believe He is doing.

It occurred to me as I was repeating the phrase, “I live, and move and have my very being in Him,” that since He is my all in all that I do live and move in wisdom, knowledge and understanding. My number one statement to the Lord for years has been, “I do not understand” for any a number of things but  for the first time that I can recall I said aloud, before I even thought of what I was saying, “I have understanding”.

I realized that I have, since I was born out of God and baptized in His Spirit, through Him understanding and then remembered February of 1981 when He appeared to me and said to me, “I’ve been here all along”. 

He is my understanding. So I began verbalizing, "In Him I walk in understanding, I move in understanding and I live and have my very being in understanding". It is the same for every attribute of God that I have been seeking for myself (and others) which includes, but certainly in no way is limited to agape love, true knowledge, true wisdom, true power and might, true faith, truth itself.

The word declares that He "…became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor.  1: 30). In verse 24 is said, “…but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

I again say, "Hallelujah and thanks be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who delivered me from the attackers and destroyed the works and plans of the enemy!!".

LOVE CONVICTS

While praying in the shower last November with my eyes shut and seeking the face (presence) of Christ, it seemed as though I did see his face and the thought came to look into His eyes. What I saw in a nano-second glimpse along with some understanding in my mind was that it is the Love of Jesus that convicts of sin. When we have a glimpse of Jesus we want to be more like Him, we are moved to be like Him, we want to repent, we want to accept the right standing He freely gives so that we can be closer to Him. Truly, when we see Him as He is we are changed(1 Jn 3:2).

                His Love draws us to Him. There is no fear. Perfect Love casts out all fear (1 Jn 4:18). He wants His absolute best for us. That is why He comes to us by the Holy Spirit to ever remind us of our righteousness in Him and to reveal to us that He has already given us His best.

                My desire is to walk with Him. That desire is put there by Him because He wants me to walk with Him. Therefore with that desire comes the ever increasing desire to repent of anything and all things that would keep me from his side. Like Eve came from the side of Adam so out of His side we came (Jn 19:34) and to His side we belong, seated with Him in the Heavenlies (Eph 2:6), established in earth with His authority (Mt 28:18-20) to take back all that was stolen by satan.

                This Love is different. He comes not this time with respect to sin (Heb 9:28) but unto deliverance out of the realm of darkness and into His Kingdom, His rule and reign, His dominion of Love. Here we learn that we must grow into that Love and we can know that we are growing if by any measure we are increasing in the knowledge of that Love, because nothing, absolutely nothing can keep us from His love (Rms 8:39).

                Some guideposts, markers, measures along the way to our growing up in him are if we are: increasing in patience, kindness, gentleness, never seeking our own will in a matter, loving others and laying our soulish desires aside for others needs. Freely we’ve been given therefore we must also give. Being dead to self and alive to God we can hear His voice and do the works of God that have been prepared for us to do.

                What then are the works we are to do? To know Him and the Son He sent and make them known. There it is. Simple as it seems there are plenty of trials, tribulations and enemies of God that stand in the way. Fear not! We’ve been given all authority in Christ to be who He purposed to be.

                  Can you too now say, "I am that I am in Christ?"

HEAVEN BENT

I know I’ve been given this life to live. But how do I make it a life that will count?

Where is the race that is appointed me? Where is the steed on which I’m to mount?

Where are the words when I’m anxious to speak? Where is that mountain I’m destined to climb?

Why when confronted do my knees grow weak? Why have I found no good in me?

We have all asked similar questions to no avail.

The answer is simple, just hidden behind a veil.

But now the veil has been rent; my soul's free and Heaven bent.

Because to go on and on to only pretend I know what’s best, in the end

I’ll only come once again full circle to where I began.

So I’ll press on, press on and in, to that place prepared deep within,

Where I’ll find eternal peace, where I’ll find my soul’s ease,

Where I can give up every heavy thing, where I’ll find an awaiting King.

Leaving behind once and for all everything that caused me to fall,

Casting off now with all finality every trace of remaining sensuality,

Giving up all things corrupted  in lies so I may see Truth with my eyes.

Yes, the veil has been rent in two; Jesus’ blood was shed for me and you.  

FIRE POTS

  Surrounded by chaos I shut my eyes to pray. Immediately I saw a vision of the Statue of Liberty with an actual flame burning and heard, "Yes there is a Statue of Liberty and this nation has sent its sons and daughters around the globe to take and defend liberty for others and yes, this nation has sent its sons and daughers around the globe to proclaim the liberty found in the Gospel. But I have My sons and daughters of liberty and I am filling them with the well springs of life and soon they will burst through the darkness, coalesce with the Light and fall back to the earth."
  Then I saw a map of the United States and fire pots falling as rain from heaven, first in northern Nevada, then in Kansas and Nebraska, then in Mississippi, then Florida and then the whole continental USA.
  There is more, infinitely more of God to be revealed to His Chosen in the Now of God. As the saying goes, "Get ready!"