Truth: Knowing the Devil’s Place

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

-Ephesians 6: 10

I recently published a blog coming from Ephesians 6,  talking about what it means to “stand strong in the Lord”.   I stated that we naturally think that being strong in the Lord is something we call upon when our strength has run out. But being strong in the Lord means to let go of any strength you have of yourself and rest in the Truth and Reality of where you now dwell in Christ!

In order for us to do that, God gives us armor to cover our flesh, because flesh is the only place the enemy has access and freedom to exercise his dominion and influence over our souls. The Armor of God is not some factious armor that we simulate putting on every morning, but it is to be fully clothed with Christ in all things pertaining to Life and Salvation!

The Armor of God is the fullness of the Resurrected Life of Christ revealed in your soul as TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, FAITH, SALVATION and THE LIVING WORD!

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Ephesians 6: 11; 13

It should be noted that the Armor of God is not used to fight or engage the enemy, but rather to stand strong against the enemy. Spiritual Warfare has nothing to do with fighting demons and battling fallen angels. Spiritual Warfare is the reality of standing firm in where you now dwell in Christ as a member of His Resurrected Body. As we resist the enemy and stand firm in and on the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, the enemy will flee!

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth…  Ephesians 6: 14a

Well, the first thing that Paul mentions is TRUTH… Well, what is Truth?

Truth is not a Bible verse or a good sermon; TRUTH is a PERSON revealed in the human soul by the Holy Spirit! Truth is the Awareness, Understanding and Perspective of the Person of Jesus Christ revealed in your soul as all things pertaining to Life and Salvation!

Now, as members of the Lord’s Resurrected Body, God expects us to relate to one another out from  the Reality of Truth and no longer out from the deception of the Lie.  God reveals Truth in us so that we can now relate to one another in accordance to that Truth; worship Him in accordance to that Truth; and express the Reality of that Truth in the earth!  And it is only as Truth is revealed in our souls, do we begin to see and understand the “devil’s place”.

²⁷ Neither give place to the devil.  Ephesians 4: 27

What does it mean to “give place” to the devil? How do we give him or not give him a place in our lives?

Prior to Truth being revealed in our souls, we only see the devil’s place as operating in some type of sin or wrong behavior in the earth. But sin is much deeper than bad actions. Sin is who we are APART from the indwelling Life of Jesus Christ filling our souls. Darkness is what we are when we are simply living according to our own understanding and out from our own view and perspective of reality and life!

We give the devil PLACE, when we live our lives according to our own view and perspective of Life and Salvation! The devil’s PLACE is the darkened mind of the Adamic man, and the Unrenewed Mind of the Born Again Believer!

Satan is the “god of this world” not because he rules over buildings, weapons and countries in the earth; but because his kingdom reigns in the fallen Adamic Mind of all of humanity!

And this brings us back to Ephesians 6: 14…

To have our loins girded about with TRUTH is to have our INNER MAN fully girded and fully clothed in the Person of Truth- Jesus Christ- because He has become our LIFE, and not the savior of my own life. It is to have my soul resting in and on the reality of my death with Him on the Cross, and the confident Joy that He has become my resurrection and my life!

My question to all of us is, are we giving the devil place? Lord knows that I do at times! There are times that I do not rest in Truth, but I find myself “flirting with the Lie” which always results in frustration, disappointment and heartbreak.

I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave me a comment or question below.

Until the next time…

John

Be Strong in the Lord

We hear so many people saying “to be strong” but, if you’re like me, what does that really mean?  Just think about it for a minute, does being strong mean to just grind it out and deal with all the pain and suffering going on in your life or around you? Or does it mean to adopt the “fake it, ’til you make it” mindset and act like you’re strong when internally, you’re falling apart like a cheap suit?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt and the sweater and I’m here to tell you that none of those things work, nor are any of those things, what it means to be strong!

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Ephesians 6: 10

Now, let me encourage you to go back and read the first five chapters of Ephesians before jumping into this verse. Paul lays down some very important realities concerning our Salvation. He speaks on what it means to live out from the reality of where we now dwell, in Christ, as members of His Resurrected Body!

In Ephesians 1, Paul prays that the Lord gives us a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, without this Spirit-given understanding, we will think that Ephesians 6 are instructions and revelation given to us on how to wage warfare on or with the devil! And that is NOT what Paul is saying!

In Ephesians 2, Paul tells us that we have been delivered from the power of the enemy and we are now seated IN Christ, in the heavens, FAR ABOVE all principalities, powers, dominions, demons and fallen angels!  Once more, without this understanding, I will come down from my elevated position in Christ, because of thinking that I have to wage warfare with a defeated enemy!

“As a matter of fact, TRUE Spiritual Warfare BEGINS with an understanding of WHO Christ is; WHAT Christ has done; and WHERE you now dwell in Christ!”

As Believers, we must come to understand that when Paul speaks about the “Kingdom of Darkness” it is NOT a place or a location on the inside of the earth.  It is the realm and reality where the Light of Christ DOES NOT dwell!  The Kingdom of Darkness is the realm of the natural, carnal mind of the unsaved man, as well as, the unrenewed mind of the Believer!  Again, Paul isn’t talking about a place where demons live; but rather it is the place where SELF still attempts to live in the place of Christ, who is our life!

I cannot stress enough that we must have these spiritual truths established in our hearts prior to reading Ephesians 6, or else it will become a blue-print for the carnal mind to attempt to wage warfare with hell, the devil and people we just don’t like!

Now with that said, we naturally assume that to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might means that “when MY strength, power and might all fail or become weak; that’s the time to be strong and stand in the Lord’s Strength and Power”!  In other words, we think that the Lord’s Strength, Power and Might is something that He will ADD to my own whenever mine fail me or become weak!

But here is a major news flash:  THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE INDWELLING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE IN NO WAY THERE TO ASSIST, AID OR HELP US LIVE OUR LIVES BEFORE GOD!

The Cross actually crucifies your life in the Body of Jesus Christ so that He can be made the Resurrection and Life in you!  Therefore, being strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might; is NOT something we call on when we need help or a boost; but it is SOMEONE we live in as our Life causing us to stand in HIS Power, HIS Strength and HIS Might!

“Standing strong in the Lord and in the power of His might has to do with LETTING GO of every type of strength, power or might of self we have always stood in before and stand strong in the Reality and Truth of WHERE WE NOW DWELL IN CHRIST!”

Let me leave you with a question: Are you still relying on your power and might to get you through life, and only run to the Lord for a “pick me up” when you feel yours is running on empty? Or have you come to truly see and know that His Strength, His Power and His Might are all you have because your life has been crucified with Christ?

As always, feel free to leave me a comment or question, I would love to hear from you guys. Until the next time, may Grace and Peace continually abound towards you!

John

The Soul’s Encounter with Jesus Christ

^“3 For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁴ When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in [the splendor of His] glory.” -Colossians 3: 3 – 4 (AMP)

What is genuine true change?

Everyone wants it and everyone desires it in their life.  Whether it’s as simple as losing weight; or as big as starting a whole new career or getting married.  The truth of the matter is, in some form or fashion, we all desire change to take place in our lives.

But I must ask you, what is true change?

True change IS NEVER the exchanging of the bad side of the tree of knowledge for the good side of the tree!

True change is NOT the exchanging of habits, the stopping of a particular behavior; or the learning of new information!

True change is always the death of YOUR life with Christ and the Revelation of your new “Real Life” now hidden with Christ in God! (Colossians 3: 3-4)  True change is the counting of all that has defined you and has given you purpose, AS DUNG, for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Him who is now your Life! (Philippians 3: 4-8)

Whenever Christ is Revealed in your Soul, it will completely DESTROY everything you thought and imagined about Life, purpose, and success; even what you thought and believed about yourself! Furthermore, let me say this to clarify… the purpose is never to destroy these things because they are bad or perverted, or because God wants you to be some kind of robot with no personality or individuality.

These things are being destroyed because they were never founded on TRUTH; but on the LIE!

The things that are being destroyed were never “real” in the first place and they were never found out from the Reality of my present “New Real Life” that is hidden in Christ.  Instead, these are the imaginations, thoughts, opinions and ideas that we all have formed about life out from the “Adamic-man” that has been put away in the Death and Burial of Jesus Christ!

See, as long as I seek to hold on to MY view; MY understanding, MY opinions, MY perspectives, MY ideas (you get the point lol) IN PLACE OF THE TRUTH, that can only be seen and known in the revealing of Christ in my soul; I will never experience genuine transformation that leads to true authentic change!

⁵³ Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. -John 6:53

The Human Soul, apart from the MIND of Christ, simply does not know life or even comprehend what “Real Life” truly is.  The Human Soul, apart from the LIFE of Christ, can only imagine and dream about what Life is.  It can only make up what “Life” is according to its own liking or, better yet, push the experience of “True Life” off into the distant sweet by and by.

But “Real Life” can be known and experienced in the “nasty now and now” because Christ did not come to give us a better idea about Life, He came to be “Life” living and abiding in our soul causing us to experience and manifest it here in the earth!

¹⁰ The thief cometh not, but for 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

The Life that Jesus gives us abundantly is His Resurrected Body, that we have all been made members of by Faith.   Therefore, we must accept that Life can ONLY come from the Source of Life itself, who is Jesus Christ!  And Life is not something that God gives to you; it is Christ Himself living and abiding in you causing your soul to be transformed into an expression of His Glory!

Let me leave you with this to meditate on and consider:  What we have come to call life and experience as life, apart from Christ being revealed in our souls, is nothing more than the unrenewed mind of man creating its own personal reality, based on its own view, perspective, opinions, ideas and understanding!

Feel free to drop me a comment or question below, I would love to hear from you! Until next time, may Grace and Peace continually abound towards you!

John

Grace, Grace and More Grace – Part 2

This is part 2 of a blog that I’m calling “Grace, Grace and More Grace”. I would encourage you to read Part 1 before reading this one, just to make sure that we are on the same page concerning the understanding of Grace.

Hebrews 2: 9 – 11
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.  For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”

The Grace of God is the reality of Christ tasting death for every man so that those who would accept this Grace can now be found in His Resurrected Life!

God’s Grace is ALWAYS working two opposing realities in you:
1. Your Death WITH Christ at the Cross
2. Your Life IN Christ in His Resurrection

In one reality you have the Death of Christ separating and removing you out of Adam; and in the other reality you have the Resurrection of Christ placing you in the Body of Jesus Christ. This is the Judgment of Grace that must be allowed to work in your soul, bringing you into the reality of Salvation!

Let’s talk a little bit about the Judgment of Grace- Most people, when they think of Grace, hardly ever think about the word judgment. In fact, the majority of people believe Grace actually has NO judgment whatsoever, because it is God’s Unmerited Favor given to you WITHOUT judgment.  Now this may be appealing to your ears, but it is the exact OPPOSITE of what Grace truly is!

First and foremost, the word judgment does not mean punishment or God doing or allowing bad things to happen to you because you have done something wrong. In a nutshell, a judgment is a decision or a division between two opposing or opposite verdicts.  Think about it this way, we go to court to receive a judgment, but we go to prison to receive the punishment. When a person makes a judgment they are making a division between something that is good or bad; right or wrong; beneficial or harmful.

John 9: 39
“And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind”

The Cross is the place of Division for the whole world! It is the place where God DIVIDES those that are dead in Adam in trespasses and sin; from among those that are found in the Resurrected Life of His Son!

The Grace of God is the Judgment of God working in your soul through the Death, Burial and Resurrection of His Son! It is God separating you from Adam, and placing you in the Resurrected Body of His Son. This is the Judgment that Grace works in your soul by the work of the Holy Spirit.

But again, the problem is that we tend to believe that the Grace of God has no Judgment at all. The end result is that we live life as if there is no division and separation between ALL that is man from all that is Christ!  We live with the belief that God has somehow “favored” our flesh when the Cross is the death of all flesh in the eyesight of God! When we live without the Judgment of Grace working in our souls, we will continuously offer up to God the rejected works of a crucified man!

When there is no Judgment of Grace working in our souls; we will always attempt to live OUR lives, along side HIS Life which only frustrates the Grace of God!

My question to you is, have you allowed the Spirit of God to bring you to the Judgment of Grace?  Did you even know that Grace IS the Judgment of God being poured out on you IN the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ? Or, are you one of those who foolishly believe that Grace is God’s Favor poured out on your life that, in His Eyes, has been put away at the Cross?

Feel free to leave your comments, questions and thoughts below…I look forward to hearing from you guys!

John

Grace, Grace and More Grace – Part 1

I will never forget when I first heard the message of Grace. I immediately thought that what I was hearing was just giving man a license to sin, but I quickly realized that mankind was already sinning pretty good without a license so that didn’t make any sense.

Like many of you, I was excited and confused all at the same time because for so long I truly believed that Christianity was forgiveness through the Blood of Christ, and then me trying to live a life that would be pleasing to God, so that, I could make it into Heaven one day.

The problem was, like so many people who have discovered the Power of God’s Grace, I brought in to it my own definitions and my own understanding; while never asking God to reveal in me His Definition and His Understanding about HIS Grace!

Now, “God’s Grace” is one of my favorite topics to talk about and it has been the Revelation of God’s Grace that has transformed my life and completely redefined my ministry!

Well, what exactly is Grace?

I would suspect that if you were like me, you have defined Grace is one of two ways:

1. God’s Unmerited Favor towards you (Divine Favor)
2. God giving you something you don’t deserve (Blessings)

Let me say this before you exit out of the blog…ALL THESE understandings are true concerning Grace but they DO NOT characterize the Nature and Character of Grace itself.  We never want to “dumb” God’s Grace down to you and I receiving favor in the earth or receiving an extra $20 on a paycheck that wasn’t expected.  All these things are great to receive but they really don’t define Grace at all.

Grace means MUCH MORE than God causing nice things to happen for you in the natural, physical world.  In fact this may even shock you, but Grace really doesn’t have anything to do with how God relates to you and I in the world.

Grace is something specific concerning how God relates to mankind according to the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, so that, we might receive Salvation and Rest in His Son.

Grace is what defines and characterizes our Relationship with God IN Christ.

Romans 5: 1 – 2 says—

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Grace is a position that you and I stand in before God because of the Finished Work of Jesus Christ.

Grace is not God seeking to place favor on MY life; or God seeking to bless MY life.

Grace is God allowing my life to be crucified with Christ; so that I can find life in Him who is the Beloved of God.  Grace is a Relationship with God where He allows Christ, Himself, to be made ALL THINGS to you.  

Christ being made ALL THINGS to you first begins with you and I being made in the likeness of His Death.

Grace is not Christ dying in our place so that we can go free and live our best life now; Grace is God allowing you and I to DIE with Christ, so that we can now find new life in His Resurrected Life.

Let me close with the BEST scripture that I believe truly defines God’s Grace:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.  For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”  Hebrews 2: 9 – 11

We will continue from here in part 2…

John

Faith vs. Belief – Part 3

In part 1 we talked about the difference between Faith and Beliefs.

Beliefs are what we THINK is real and true but Faith is what the Mind of the Lord KNOWS to be real and true.

In part 2 we got a little technical and broke down the Greek word for Faith and how it was translated into our English language to “believe or believing because our language has no verb form of the word “Faith.”

The Bible doesn’t talk about you believing in anything, but it does talk about you and I coming into “FAITH” of all things because we have been made members of His Resurrected Body.

Let me close this mini series with what I think is the greatest example of the tremendous gulf between our beliefs and His Faith: Mark 4: 35-40–

“And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”

The very first thing that jumps out to me about the story in the Gospels is that nothing of this world ever moved Jesus because nothing of this world defined Jesus

Of course Jesus lived in the limitations and confines of the natural world like all of us, but the world never motivated His Purpose and it never dictated His responses.  Jesus never reacted to what the world threw at Him and He never allowed natural problems to get Him off focus of what He knew to be real and true out from the Mind of His Father.

In these scriptures we see Jesus ASLEEP in the midst of the storm and in another instance we see Jesus coming to the disciples WALKING ON WATER in the midst of a storm.

Therefore, we can clearly see that the storm is never the focus of the Mind of Christ. In other words, Faith never has the “storms of life” as its focus! Faith just lives in what is real and true and rests in the Reality of God!

But let’s look at the disciple’s beliefs…

It was the disciples’ beliefs that DEMANDED deliverance from what they thought was going to kill, not only themselves, but Jesus also.  Now this is ridiculous…do you think that God sent Jesus to the world as His sacrifice only to die in a storm at sea? God, in His infinite wisdom and supreme knowledge, completely forgot about the weather patterns of the Sea of Galilee, right?…God Forbid!!

Jesus wasn’t going to die in the storm and neither were the disciples, but it was the disciple’s BELIEFS that did not allow them to rest in the Faith of Christ.

Our beliefs will always demand deliverance, aid, help, strength and defense of the things that we cherish most in the natural realm because our beliefs always have SELF as its focus and not what is true and real in Christ!

But here’s the thing about that entire story that blew me away.

Most people think that Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith because He wanted them to “exercise” their own faith and rebuke the storm and calm the winds themselves. But I don’t believe that is what Jesus was saying at all.

Think about it for a minute, Jesus wasn’t worried about the storm, He was asleep in the back of the boat! He had no intention of calming the storm because the storm had no bearing on what was real and true as only seen and known out from the Mind of the Lord. 

I truly believe He rebuked them because they didn’t grab a pillow and curl up next to Him and rest in HIS Faith instead of laboring to save themselves according to their own beliefs!

Pray this prayer with me:

“Father, thank you for giving me life in your Son. Thank you for delivering me out of the kingdom of darkness and placing me in the kingdom of your Dear Son. Now Father, reveal in me the reality of Faith and help me to see and know life out from Your View and Your Perspective so that I may live in Your Reality, and no longer my own. In Jesus Name…Amen”

John

**Question of the Day: How has your life been built on your own personal beliefs?  Or is your life rooted and grounded in Faith? Please feel free to share your comments below.**

Faith vs. Belief – Part 2

In part 1 we talked about the difference between Faith and Beliefs. We stated that Faith and Beliefs are not the same thing because Faith is the Mind of the Lord working in the soul of the redeemed; and Belief is a product of the natural mind of man choosing to believe or not believe something based on personal experiences, observations and information that has been received.

Beliefs are what we THINK is real and true but Faith is what the Mind of the Lord KNOWS to be real and true.  So let’s pick it up from here…

Hebrews 11: 1 says:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

We have all probably had this verse broken down to us a thousand different ways but here is what the Lord showed me about this verse: Faith IS substance and it IS evidence!

This really grabbed my attention because beliefs normally have NO substance or evidence to back them up. Think about it, we typically “believe” something to be true in the ABSENCE of tangible substance or physical evidence.  The Greek word for “substance” means tangible, real or reality and the Greek word for “evidence” means proof, confirmation or demonstration.  This means that Faith is something that is real; it is something that is tangible; it is something that speaks to reality.

There is NO such thing as “Blind Faith” but there is such thing as “Blind Beliefs“.  This is because Faith is the actual Mind of Christ given to you in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ because you have been made members of His Resurrected Body in the earth. Faith IS His Mind working in your soul causing His Body in the earth to see and know reality as He sees and knows reality to be!

Surprisingly, the Bible doesn’t even talk about “believing” in God at all!

Now let me explain before you go rebuking me (LOL).

In the English language, the Greek word for Faith (pistis) was translated both “Faith” and “believe/believing”.  Whenever “pistis” (Faith) appeared as a noun, the translators translated the word as Faith in our English language; but whenever the same Greek word appeared as a verb, they would translate it into “to believe/believing.”

Before you fall asleep on me, let me explain why this is important. In our English language there is no verb form for the word “Faith.”  We don’t say “I ‘faithed’ in the gospel” or “many people are ‘faithing’ in Jesus across the world.” But this is EXACTLY what the scripture says. It doesn’t talk about you believing in anything, but it does talk about you and I coming into “FAITH” of all things because we have been made members of His Resurrected Body.

Does not every “body” have its own mind?

And if we are the Body of Christ, should we not also have the Mind of Christ governing His Body? Should we not, who have been raised up in Christ, come to live by His View and His Perspective of all things? Well, this is what Faith is! It is His Mind operating within His Body in the earth!

Hebrews 4; 2-3 says–

“For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Again, the Word does not need to be mixed with your personal beliefs, but it does have to be mixed with His Mind and His Understanding of the word.

Remember, your beliefs have no effect on the Faith of God and who God is; but they do have a major effect on who you believe God to be to you and how you see the world around you.

If you believe you have to work to earn salvation, then you will create a relationship with God in order to satisfy your beliefs, even though from God’s Perspective salvation is something He gives to you in Christ by Grace through Faith.

If you believe that you have to battle demons, rebuke devils and wage warfare on the kingdom of hell; then you will create that kind of relationship with God based on your personal beliefs about God; even though Christ has already made an open show of devil at the Cross, triumphing over him in it!

Your beliefs will be the reality you live in even though it will not be the reality that God knows to be real and true.

I will continue in Part 3…

The Goal of God

Remember when you first got saved? It was such a wonderful feeling! All we knew was that we weren’t “going to hell” and knowing that was just enough to excite our soul and move us to tears. We were so overjoyed with the idea of Jesus dying on the Cross for our sins and we were just as excited to know that we had been forgiven of every wrong thing we had ever done.  But if you were anything like me, soon the excitement wore off, religion set in, and thus began the standard “Christian walk” of trying to please God in my flesh, rather than allowing the Spirit to reveal in me the reality of my salvation.

An Unforgettable Message

I will never forget when I heard a sermon that said “Christ didn’t just come to give me fire insurance, but He came to give me eternal life.”  Of course I thought naturally that “eternal life” was to live forever in heaven, but the minister went on to read John 17: 3 which says–

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” 

Think about it for a moment, we are saved not just from hell (thank God) but we are saved so that through Salvation, we can come to KNOW God and Jesus Christ.  In other words, what I began to realize was that there was an actual GOAL of my salvation, and it wasn’t just to use God to fulfill my dream and bring my purposes to pass!

It reminds me of God delivering Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Do you realize that God had a purpose and goal for delivering them out of slavery? He wasn’t just delivering them so that a bunch of freed slaves could live their lives free from oppression and bondage. He delivered them so that He could bring them into the fulfillment and reality of the Promised Land. The problem was that Israel never allowed God to bring them into His Purpose for their salvation, but elected to wander in the wilderness of their own view of their salvation.

So many Believers live their lives never coming to the Goal of God for their salvation.

They live their entire life in the wilderness of what they believe salvation is and what they think the Lord wants them to do. To be honest with you, we would much rather live in the “Provision of God” versus the “Purpose of God”.  This is because the “Provision of God” satisfies our flesh and pleases our natural minds; while the “Purpose of God” seems abstract, boring and for the so-called “deep” Christians.

Here are the questions that every born-again Believer must come to answer for themselves: What is the Goal of God for my salvation? Why am I saved? What is the Purpose of my salvation in the earth?  This is extremely important because how you answer this question will determine what you give your focus and attention to in the earth!  The reason why is because it’s very easy for the natural mind to create its own purpose for salvation and then steer us towards our own desires.

First things first, the Goal of God is NOT earthly and it’s NOT natural!

Meaning that God’s Goal for our salvation is not bigger buildings, earthly success and money money money! God’s Goal for our salvation isn’t also better behavior or our best imitation of the Life of Jesus we can live.

Here is the Goal of God for our salvation:

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Eph. 4:13

Sorry for the long scripture, but I really feel that these verses are the absolute BEST description of the Goal of God for our salvation. We could sum up what Paul said in this one statement– the Goal of God is that we grow up into Him in all things, unto a mature man, unto the full measure of Christ.

See, the Goal of God isn’t temporal, therefore, it can never be earthly or natural.  The Goal of God is you and I coming into the FULLNESS of Christ as our life! It is you and I coming to live and abide in the reality that we are now a member of the Body of the Resurrected Jesus Christ and no longer our own! It is you and I coming to live by the Faith OF the Son of God, and not our beliefs IN the Son of God.

It is the Goal of God that brings our salvation into completion; just like Israel coming to live in the reality of the Promised Land was the fulfillment of their initial deliverance from Egypt.

My prayer is that we not be like Israel where we choose to reject God’s Purpose and choose to live by our own purposes and desires because we so desperately desire salvation to be what we want it to be.  All the while rejecting, the reality and purpose for our salvation as seen and known out from the mind of Christ.

Pray this prayer with me:

“Lord, show me the reality of my salvation. Father, reveal in me your purpose for why you have delivered me out of the kingdom of darkness, and brought into the kingdom of your dear Son. Father, open the eyes of my understanding so that I may know salvation as you know it to be. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

John

** Question of the Day: How do you think you have rejected God’s purpose for your salvation? Please share your thoughts below

Knowing Christ and Him Crucified

As I was sitting here watching my daughter complete her 4th grade school weather project, I was thinking what my first blog should be about.  In other words, what would be the very first thing that I would want to share with someone if they asked me “How do I get to know the Lord?”  Well, the typical Christian answer would be: spend time praying, read the Bible, or go to church every Sunday; but I think there are many born-again Believers doing these things right now, yet they still do not know the Lord. Now that may surprise you, but allow me to explain why I believe this is the case…

In 2 Corinthians 5: 16, Paul says–

“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”

Most people do not realize that there are two ways that we can seek to know Christ.  One way is according to the Nazarene who walked the streets of Israel over 2000 years ago; while the other way is according to the Son of God that rose from the dead in all power and great glory.

Paul is saying that we are to seek to know the Lord in His Death, Burial and Resurrection.  This is what it means to know the Lord according to the Spirit and not the flesh.  Think about it, why would Jesus not want Mary to touch Him after His Resurrection? Was it because she could have contaminated Him, or caused Him to be defiled if she touched Him? Come on now, that doesn’t make any sense! I believe Christ did not want Mary to cling to what she knew about Him in His earthy bodily form.  In fact, the Greek word for the English word “touch” means to handle or know carnally.  Jesus knew that if Mary was to know Him after the Resurrection, it would be as the Spirit reveals Him to her in her soul!

There is a list of reasons why we would rather know Christ according to the flesh.

One of the main reasons is that it is much easier for us to understand the man that walked the dusty roads of Galilee than to know Him in His Death, Burial and Resurrection.  It’s much easier for us to fall in love with the Jesus of the Four Gospels; while rejecting to know Him according to His Resurrection, because we easily understand the man who healed people, raised the dead and fed the hungry. But here is the thing, we can only truly know Christ AFTER the Cross because the Resurrected Son of God is who He was from the very beginning before the foundation of the world!  Remember, it is the Son that had glory in the Father, from the beginning, and it was the Son that said–

“Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me”  Heb. 10:5.  

Therefore, to truly know the Lord, is to know Him in His Resurrection, and not according to the man that lived and preached throughout Israel.

The next question would obviously be, “How do I know Christ in His Resurrection?”

The Gospels speak of Jesus, the man, but the Revelation of Christ given to the Apostle Paul speaks of Christ Jesus the Lord! This is why Paul said that his desire was–

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”Philippians 3:10.  

It is Christ, in His Resurrection, that the Holy Spirit is revealing in your soul, NOT Jesus of Nazareth!

There is no need for the Spirit to reveal Jesus of Nazareth to your soul because we can just go read about that Man in the four Gospels and the history books; but Christ, the Resurrected Son of God, cannot be read about.  He must be revealed in your soul as the Holy Spirit makes Him known.

Jesus of Nazareth was given to the world, as the end of the Old Covenant in His Death, so that He might establish the New Covenant in His Resurrection!  Imagine, if you will, if Jesus had lived for a 100 years; healing the sick, raising the dead, performing amazing miracles and preaching to thousands, but had never gone to the Cross…What would His Life have meant to you and I today?  Absolutely nothing!! Why? Because without the Cross, sin would not have been taken away; and without His Resurrection, salvation would have only been a dream!

Jesus of Nazareth lived for 33 1/2 years to fulfill and accomplish ONE GLORIOUS DAY at Calvary!

If Jesus never healed anyone and never brought one person back to life; God still would have been perfectly satisfied with His Son, in His Death on the Cross.  It was His Death that was a sweet smelling savor unto the Father, not His earthly ministry!

Let me leave you with this, in Matthew 16 Jesus asked His disciples the famous question “whom do men say that I am?”  As I was looking at these verses, it was the disciples answers that caught my attention.  I noticed that they all gave different answers to the SAME question. Did you ever notice that?  It was at that point I began to realize that when we only know Jesus according to the flesh, He then becomes whomever we believe and have imagined Him to be and not who He actually IS!  Notice that it was only Peter that had Jesus’ true identity REVEALED to him by the Spirit of God.

Please don’t think that I am separating Jesus and Christ because, yes, they are one in the same; but remember we are saved, not by the LIFE of Jesus the Nazarene; but by the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Christ Jesus the Lord!

Have A Blessed Day!

John

**Question of the Day: In what ways are you beginning to see why we as believers can only know the Lord after His Death, Burial and Resurrection?  What are your thoughts on what has been shared? Please comment below.