Wholehearted devotion to Jesus

I am yet an infant in learning how to fix and focus my eyes on Jesus, learning to walk and listen to the Holy Spirit. It’s amazing how the Accuser and Deceiver works in such subtle yet destructive ways. Here is the most recent:

Not wanting to fall into legalism but desiring to be free and open to follow the Spirit, I have steered clear of anything with the semblance of rigidity. This spilled over into my prayer life, fearful to set aside specific times of day to enter into the presence of the Almighty who sustains my very being at the risk of being legalistic. The Spirit has recently shown me this errant way of thinking and has changed my fear of legalism (which I didn’t even realize was present) into a wholehearted desire and passion to pursue the Living God who has given me life and continues to do so each and every moment.

The word He’s been speaking to me lately is wholehearted devotion to God, ridding my life of all idols. Wasting my life for Him who gave His life for me.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength.”

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

An interesting concept has been presented me by two people I highly respect. The idea is this: If you see any walls in your experiencing whom God is or in a relationship with Him, run toward those walls for there are actually none with God. God is love. God is limitless and eternal. If these are true about Him then His love is also limitless and eternal! The questions posed to me through this are:

• How far can I go with this?
• How deep can I go into Him?
• How much can I sacrifice to be of a single-minded devotion to Him?
• How intimate can I be with Him?

Father, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You may strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.**

**A prayer adapted from Ephesians 3:16-21

The Work of God

What if I were to tell you that the work of God is not what you think it is? It isn’t striving, straining, laboring, or forcing. It isn’t something that can even be done out of our own strength or merit. In fact, it isn’t even something we “do”. It was never intended to be.

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” -John 6:26-29

Most people don’t think of believing as an active, intentional action. Look at the way it’s used, though. It’s a verb in the infinitive form.

God is not asking us, “What are you going to do?” as most would presume. Rather, as a result of Jesus Christ fulfilling the Law in Himself, He is asking, “Who are you going to be?” To view Jesus’ words as external things promoting an inward change is neglecting the very strength and nature by which Jesus Himself worked!

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. -John 5:17-20

What I’m not saying is that there is no action to faith. What I am saying is there is no action that WE can do. The action comes from Jesus. He has given us the Holy Spirit to show us what we are to do and to empower us to do it. That we work not from our own strength, but out of His. That we work not for ourselves, but for Jesus. That we do not receive the glory, but all glory goes to Jesus! These are Jesus’ words:

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” -John 16:12-15

We are not left alone and without help. We are given all we need to live the life Jesus calls us to. All of it comes from Him and we simply live it out following Him, walking in the Spirit, letting Him lead us, and giving Him reign, control, rule over our life. When Jesus is given control of our lives and we see Him as Lord over us, the Spirit is freed to do what it needs to do in us.

This brings us into more and more freedom from bondage. It frees us from having to try and do it all ourselves. Is there work for us to do? Yes! Though it may look differently thank you thought. The Father will lead us into what He wishes for us each day to make us more and more like Jesus, give us abundant life, and to share that life with those around us. There is always more to do. There is an abundance of work that the Father calls us into but apart from His leading, there is no power and no sustainability that goes with it.

May we set our eyes and our hearts and our thoughts on Jesus for His guidance and direction for our daily life actions, decisions, and living!

You don’t get deeper than Love

It seems that it has been about 2 months since I’ve last written anything. Oh what a two months they have been. Movements of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of people around me and seeing them come to know Jesus more fully were regular. The death and decay of flesh to work true Life in those around was all too common. Life was being had on an amazing and abundant level within the community of believers through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Guess what? This hasn’t changed in the last two months. The believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and desiring nothing but to please and love their merciful Redeemer are still, by His grace, seeking His face. Even though there has been a major scattering and fellowship seems few and far between, life is still found amongst the Body because of the foundation of Jesus Christ. He is the most stable and firm foundation anyone could have. We are all still united in the Body of the One who has made us righteous by HIS own work and nothing that we have done. More than this, through His scattering He has connected us to the Body in a greater sense. He is sending us forth to encourage the Body in other locations. Light has been had at greater intensities and love has been experienced at greater depths. This isn’t to say that times are without suffering because anybody who has experienced love knows that along with love come times of suffering. It is simply the nature of love and sacrifice. The two go hand in hand.

This being said, you don’t get any deeper than love and the deepest love that we have ever seen and will ever see is the Cross of Jesus. He was one who was without sin yet was made to be sin in order that all who come to Him might be seen as righteous in the sight of the Father (2. Cor. 5:21). He is the perfect Lamb who was blemished for the sake of those who are to be found in Him. He is the One of whom the song is written:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”

And also this song:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

(Rev. 5)

If we ever get off onto anything other than the love of Jesus for His people, the love of the Shepherd for His sheep, then we had better take caution for it is easy to be distracted from the simplicity of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Trust me. I’ve been there. You cannot get any deeper than the cross. You cannot get any deeper than the love of the cross. That was the most profound, meaningful, almighty, sacrificial act of love that has ever been and ever will be all so that we might join into the Bride of Christ and the Family of the Father.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” -Phil. 3:7-14

Our weakness is His might

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:3-10

———————-
Weakness plays a vital role in depth of a relationship with the Lord. The Lord prefers to work in our weaknesses in order that HIS strength might be shown. Our culture would tell us that we need to be strong. “Suck it up and be a man” some would say. Others might say, “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Pick yourself up off the ground.” Still others might say, “Just hold it in. You don’t need to go expressing yourself to people.” These are bold face lies by the Enemy to prevent us from seeing our true selves and our true weaknesses in order that we might turn to the LORD our God and rely on Him.

It is clear that Paul had to have this realization in order that he might not thing higher of himself than he ought.

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” -2 Cor. 11:30

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2 Cor. 12:7-10

All throughout Scripture, it is seen how the Lord uses weak people to show the power of His might and the splendor of His majesty. His heart is after the weak, meek, and underdogs. When we realize the depth of our weaknesses to the point that we no longer have any strength or energy to even try to deal with things, this is when the Lord can work. Only when we realize that by no efforts of our own that we are brought out of our struggles but rather through His grace and strength and renewal, then we are finally put into a willing position.

Jesus asked His disciples to keep watch with Him. What He says to them after finding them asleep is, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Our flesh/body will always be weak in the matter of the spiritual realms. We have no strength or energy to do anything by our own efforts. Only when we allow ourselves to be willing to be used by God and to finally step aside and let Jesus do what He needs to in us, only then will the Spirit work like it needs.

I am continually being reminded and shown more of my weaknesses, realizing that I can’t do anything by on my own and even that I need a support system to aid me and help me in these things. One of my biggest weaknesses is when it comes to money. I have never had much of it so whenever I see an opportunity to get a lot of it, my flesh wants to jump at the chance. There are also many times when I know that I spend my money out of flipancy and don’t really pray or discern where my money should be sent. The Lord has been refining me in this but it is still something that I need the Lord and the Body to help keep me accountable for.

This is only one of my many weaknesses. Our God will allow us to run ourselves down in our own strength, wait until we are no longer going to put forth effort, and then He will raise us and renew us and release us from the oppression of the bondage we have been under. Just as Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead four days, the same happens for us in our bondages and oppression.

Jesus said this himself quoting Isaiah 60:1-2 (see Luke 4:18-19):

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

I was poor in spirit but I now know the good news of Jesus Christ. I was once a prisoner but Jesus set me free. I was once blind but my eyes have now been opened and I see with new eyes. I was oppressed but I have been released from oppression.

All of these are true about what Jesus still wants to do for us. Not just in the physical but mainly in the spiritual. I was poor in spirit but He filled me with the Holy Spirit to lead me in all truth and into a more intimate relationship with Jesus. I was a prisoner to the world and to the law of sin and death but I have been set free by grace and risen to newness in Christ Jesus. I was unable to see spiritual things but now I can. He has set me free from the oppression and lies of the Enemy day be day.

Read Isaiah 61 prayerfully to see Isaiah’s revelation of the Year of the Lord’s Favor.

Jesus has set me free. I now live because of Jesus. I am an heir of salvation grafted into the promise to the Israelites. Let us now proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Praise be to God that He desires my heart and desires my participation in His eternal plan in accordance with the Body; the Bride of Christ and the Dwelling Place of the Lord.

———————-

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 “For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

The Resurrection

The resurrection can only be summed up in one word: Jesus. His life is truly different because He was brought back from the dead never again to die. Many miracles have been seen in which people are raised from the dead but nobody has been raised from the dead to persist in life and never feel the bitterness of death again. Further than this, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and everything was placed under His feet (See Eph. 1:18-23). Most importantly Jesus said that He, Himself, was the resurrection and the Life (See John 11:25). This is important because it has more implications on our life than simply the reflection of an event.

The cross and resurrection cannot be separated. The two are intermingled with each other. Without the cross, the resurrection would never have taken place but without the resurrection, the cross of Christ never would have had purpose. While these both can simply be events to reflect upon, there is a more profound depth to be found in them that bears upon our lives the most drastic of implications.

Before we can look at the implications of the cross and resurrection, however, we must first understand that it is only in righteousness from God that we can approach God. Paul expands upon this very well in the book of Romans.

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” -Romans 3:22-26

We must understand that our righteousness comes from God’s grace through faith in Jesus and not by any amount of our own works or achievements or “goodness”, for surely if we have all sinned and fallen short then it is as Jesus says and, “No one is good-except God alone” (See Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19). It is the righteousness from God that allows us to step into His midst and approach His throne with confidence because this righteousness comes from the grace of God by Jesus’ blood which covers us in all of our sins and unrighteousness (Eph. 3:12 and Heb. 4:16).

Since we know the foundation of our righteousness is from the grace of God on account of Jesus’ blood, we can look at the implications of the cross and resurrection.

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” -Romans 6:4-12

We must daily find ourselves on the cross in order that Jesus may carry His work out in us and through us. We must be willing to give up everything that we cherish and hold dear in our lives be it physical items, selfishness, personal dreams and ambitions, our own intellect, or even our plans for serving God in order that Jesus might live. When we put these things to death on the cross of Christ, we find ourselves having died on the cross of Christ and Jesus lives in us and is shown in our lives. We become the fragrance of Christ. Service then happens through Jesus and for Jesus and to Jesus. Then Jesus will be shown as living and alive.

Just as Paul could not separate the cross of Christ and His resurrection, neither should we. Jesus died on the cross in order that He could defeat death and sin and be raised into life and be seated at the right hand of the Father. This same law is at work in us when we are found in Jesus. We who are in Christ were crucified with Him in order that sin may no longer hold power over us. It is in our death on the cross of Christ that we are freed from the power of sin. When we are freed from this power, we are raised into the life of Christ and He lives in us through the Spirit (see Eph. 2:4-10, Rom. 8:1-2).

Knowing this, then, it is safe to say that Jesus’ resurrection, carried out and exerted by the power of God, is the same resurrection that allows us to walk in newness of life and live in the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory (see Col. 1:27). We are brought out of death and raised into a new life. This life is a life of freedom. As we have stated, this freedom is a freedom from the power of sin. This life also has nothing to do with guilt or condemnation because Jesus did not come for these things but rather to save us from these things and set us free from them (see John 3:17, Gal. 5:1). This life is not our own nor is it of our own effort but it is life in the Spirit. No longer are we living by our own natural efforts and understandings but we are walking in the Spirit of Christ to do the work that the Father has for us (see Eph. 2:10, Gal. 5:24-26)

“Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” -John 12:23-26

Jesus is the kernel. We are the many seeds. Jesus died so that He might live in us. May we find ourselves dead that Jesus’ resurrected life may be shown through us to the world. May we embrace the cross of Christ in order that we are raised to newness in life to be led by His Spirit. May we realize and embrace the cross and resurrection daily in order that we might not live for this world or anything in it but rather that He might shine His light into the darkness.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”-John 11:25-26

Our weakness; His strength

It seems lately as though many of those, including myself, who are hungering and thirsting for the Living Bread and Living Water have been increasingly attacked by Satan and his ploys to keep our eyes off of Jesus. Satan’s means for this task is anything. Some forms of his attacks have been with busyness, physical illness, oppressiveness, fatigue, confusion, anger, pursuit of relationships, etc. One thing is for certain, Satan is using our weaknesses against us in order to attempt to drive us away from Jesus. If that is accomplished, he is satisfied. We need to seek the Lord in these times in order that He might reveal to us our weaknesses. When He shows us our weakness and gives us realizations of them, we need to call them for what they are, admit that they are our weaknesses, and turn to Jesus to be our support and strength to move us on in those situations. May He expose the motives of our heart that we might be cleansed of our selfish ways and live for God, of whom mercy, grace, and love flow abundently.

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

I am not my own.

Last night as I was laying in bed I saw that something flash in my vision. Whether it was a dream or not, I have no idea. What I do know is what it was. It was Romans 6:6-11 written and on fire. Almost immediately I knew the significance of it. The Lord was trying to show me that there is a baptism of fire to come. Something that will refine and trim and mold and purify me for His good and perfect will.

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” -Romans 6:15-18

Today, I’ve been reading through a chapter in “The Normal Christian Life” called ‘Presenting Yourselves to God’. This chapter has hit me hard and had much impact and I will have read it a second time for digestion. The thing that stands before me is this: that I am no longer my own but God’s. That I must present myself to the Lord in order to be used for His glory and purposes. This isn’t to say that He isn’t already using me for such, it’s simply that I am no longer mine.

“We cannot expect a tailor to make us a coat if we do not give him any cloth, nor a builder to build us a house if we let him have no building material; and in just the same way, we cannot expect the Lord to live out His life in us if we do not give Him our lives in which to live. Without reservations, without controversy [synonyms: contention, strife, or argument], we must give ourselves to Him to do as He pleases with us. “Present yourselves unto God” or “Offer yourselves to God” (Romans 6:13).” -pg. 96

This is not passive. It is something we must actively participate and take part in. We are to daily give ourselves to the Lord.

“By right of redemption I am God’s property, but if I would be His slave I must willingly give myself to Him, for He will never compel me.” -pg.97

“My giving of myself to the Lord must be an initial fundamental act. Then day by day I must go on giving to Him, not finding fault with His use of me but accepting with praise even what the flesh revolts against.” -pg.98

It is not to say that I haven’t done these things, but it is hitting me harder than ever that this is something to be always mindful of. I am not perfect nor will I ever be. Praise the Lord that I am not alone in this fleshly body but, instead, I have the Christ inside and have the Holy Spirit which leads me in all truth (Col. 1:27, John 16:13)! My desire is to daily make myself a slave to the Lord. This means that not only am I not my own and belong to my Lord, but I also serve Him. So often we have focused on being a servant and while this is true, it’s only partially true. The other part of that is that we are not our own but we are His to be used for his “good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

This truth is something I’ve known but my eyes haven’t been open to the depth of it until now. Praise the Lord for opening my eyes to my blindness and the reality that I am not my own!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:1-2

Everything about me is not my own but the Lord’s. My hands are not my own. My feet are not my own. My heart is not my own. My eyes are not my own. They are, rather, in the possession of my King. They shall only be used as He directs me to use them. As I am instructed, so must I obey. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10

Trees of the Garden

The Spirit has given me some pretty interesting revelation of the Trees of the Garden. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life are polar opposites. One cannot eat from both trees. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil gives us the basis for morality. It shows us the difference between good and evil. The best that we can get from this is good. The Tree of Life on the other hand shows us the difference between light and dark. We can only get life from this tree. From these simple truths comes a simple statement which has been given by revelation of the Spirit.

Life is not found in good, but good can be found in Life.

It doesn’t end here though. So often people think of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as a past thing or a future thing (as the only references to the two are in Genesis and Revelation). While this is true, it isn’t the complete picture. We are faced with the decision of which tree to eat from on a daily basis. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the world and the Tree of Life is Jesus. We can eat from one tree but not the other. We have to choose daily which tree we will eat from.

This also provides us with a truth from the Lord that He had given to the man.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”" -Genesis 2:16-17

Though God did command this to the man, He did not stop the man when the man didn’t listen. It was the love of the Father to His child that beckoned this plea of the man. God does not want to see us dead but we do choose our own path. It almost seems that Galatians echos this in Paul’s words:

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” -Galatians 5:13

When we choose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or the world, over the Tree of Life, or Jesus, we will be spiritually dead. However, when we choose the Tree of Life and abandon with submission the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we are made alive in, through, and because of Jesus.

Praise the Lord from whom this revelation has come!

Where the Lord has me – 2/26/10

So lately I have been seeking the Lord about His vision for me. Today He reminded me that He had already set it before me and I had simply been distracted of it.

Where I am: Ezekiel 2-3

1. The nation (Israel/America):
   • is a rebellious nation revolted against the Lord. (2:3, 2:6, 2:7, 2:8)
   • are obstinate and stubborn. (2:4, 3:7)
   • are briers and thorns and scorpions all around. (2:5)
   • are not willing to listen to the Lord. (2:5, 3:7, 3:11)
2. The Lord’s prophet (Ezekiel/I) is:
   • sent and commissioned by the Lord. (2:3, 3:5)
   • to speak to the nation the words of the Lord. (2:4, 2:7, 3:4, 3:11)
   • not to be concerned about whether the nation listens or not. (2:5, 2:7)
   • not to be afraid of the nation. (2:6 [three times], 3:9)
   • to listen. (2:8)
   • not to rebel like the nation. (2:8)
   • as unyielding and hardened as the nations because of the Lord (3:8, 3:9)

What I’m being prepared for: Isaiah 55:12.

Balance

The world’s way of trying to tell us to keep one foot in the spiritual realms and one foot in the physical realms is by telling us we need balance. God can work through anything. I don’t deny that. In fact, I firmly believe it. One thing we have to realize though is how warped our Western, American worldview is and how it has caused us to be an individualistic, compartmentalized people.

In Jesus’ day, what they spoke to was the Jesus and the spiritual. What most people fail to acknowledge is the culture of the time. Everything was affected and influenced by the spiritual. It was the center of their lives. So when one person is changed into Christ, it affects the rest of their happenings. It affects the way they work, live, interact with family, deal with money, etc. Everything in life was integrated with everything else.

For Americans today, this isn’t so. We want to have our spiritual life in this box, family life in that box, work in another box, and whatever else there is in yet another box. Our boxes are so neatly lined up and displayed that they don’t even necessarily touch each other. If they do, they can only touch the ones that are closest to them but do not have an overall impact on ALL the boxes.

We, as followers of Christ, are called to have everything answer to Jesus. Everything in our lives are to be subjected to the Lordship of Christ. Taxes and money, relationships and sex, family and friends, business and pleasure. Everything is to be affected by Jesus Christ as our King and Lord.

We are to be in the world but not of the world. God can work however He wants and He uses people in many different ways but I caution you, brothers and sisters, to be very weary about the way you interact with the world. The world would have us live for itself. Live for money, drugs, sex, houses, possessions, money, pleasure, happiness, etc. All of these things are not intrinsically wrong, mind you. As a matter of fact God wants us to be blessed and joyful and live in HIS prosperity and blessings (see Ephesians 1:3-14). It is when these things take a place in our hearts and minds and lives above Jesus Christ that we NEED to take a step back and consider where our eyes are. Are they on Jesus or the world? Brothers and sisters those are your only two options. Jesus or the world. It’s not both/and but instead it’s either/or. If everything that we have and are about are not subjected to and submitted to the Lord Jesus, we are not using them as the Lord intends.

He intends for some of His servants to be good stewards of money that they may aid those brothers and sisters who are in need of HIS provisions. He may intend for some to have houses that will accommodate many in order that they may house brothers and sisters in NEED. When all of these are subjected to the Lordship of Jesus, they become instruments that are used for HIS glory and NOT our own. That is the difficulty with riches. That is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. (Matthew 19:16-30) It is so easy for us to get caught up in what we HAVE that we forget who we are to be in JESUS.

The world will take your eyes off of Jesus and it will do it using any means necessary. Everything we have is to be used for HIS glory and not our own. It is to be used for HIS name and not our own. Reread the story of Babel and see why God confused language and caused them to be dispersed.

Verse 4 states, “Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”"

Notice that it doesn’t say anything about God but it says everything about what they are doing for themselves.

Brothers and sisters, if we “balance” ourselves, we are not living the lives Jesus has called us to. Yes, in the world but NOT of the world. Yes, all things to all men but only so that we may meet people where they are, not so that we can immerse ourselves in the world. When in doubt, it always comes back to Jesus. How did Jesus live? How did the apostles live for Jesus? Jesus lived for people. He lived to meet those who were in need and for those who were hungering and thirsting for Jesus. Fact of the matter is entertainment caters to the rich and the majority of the time, the rich do not want to hear what Jesus has to say. They are comfortable with life and do not want to lose everything they’ve worked so hard for in order that they might follow Jesus. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t want to save rich people. He wants them to come to him just as desperately as those who are poor. God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and the rain to fall on the righteous and unrighteous (see Matthew 5:45). We are called to love everybody. Rich and poor, good and evil, righteous and unrighteous. We are to love everybody. Jesus came to find the lost sheep and bring them back to the Father through Himself. There are many people who will not want to follow all that Jesus is calling them to do (again see Matthew 19:22). The rich man did not want to give up all he had to follow Jesus. Jesus didn’t deny him or put him out or withhold His love from him but the man simply wasn’t willing to give up what was dearest to him in order to follow Jesus.

It’s the same today. Insert anything that draws our attention away from Jesus instead of riches and it’s still the same. Those who can’t give up whatever is most dear to them be it riches, family, entertainment, relationships, etc, cannot follow Him. We are called to love with ALL (that’s all inclusive; everything; in totality) our hearts, mind, soul, and strength and anything that gets in the way of this gets in the way of us and Jesus.

Seek first the kingdom of God and the rest shall be added unto you. Again, God calls us all to follow Him in different ways. Seek Him first and He will lead you in the way you are to go. Just be willing to do whatever it takes to follow Him. It’s is costly but it is very worth it. It is LIFE!

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” -Revelation 3:19

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” -Hebrews 12:11

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” -1 John 2:15-17