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You’re at the grocery store again. The same thing you do every week. Pick up the ingredients for the upcoming week’s meals. It’s a bit mundane, as shopping usually is. You pass children with their mothers down the aisles; some are polite, while others beg for candy. You see the man with the American flag muscle shirt, the teenagers grouped together like giggling hyenas. There’s the middle aged woman examining an avocado, and the 20-something college kid pulling a frozen pizza out of the freezer.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary; regular people following their regular routines. As you pick up your last item and place it in your basket, you turn to head toward the register. You see someone run past the isle in a hurry. “Weird,” you think “I wonder what their rush is?” You hear a popping noise to your left, from the other side of the store. Maybe someone dropped something. You continue to head toward the front of the store, and as you turn out of the isle, you see people running, and hear screams of panic. There’s a woman lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Suddenly, everything goes in slow motion. Blood rushes to your head, as the perimeter of your vision goes white. You see a masked man and flashes of light before you. He’s pointed to your left, and as you begin to turn to run, he looks at you, yelling something, and aims his weapon at you.

This is it. Time seems to stand perfectly still, and in this eternal moment of accepting your unfortunate fate, you see a dark shadow move in front of you. A muzzle blast leaves a corona of light around this object in front of you. Time somehow seems to stop entirely. There is no sound, there is no movement; a perfect darkened picture of nothingness, with just your thoughts to keep you company. “Am I dead?” you think to yourself.

As reality slowly fades back, you can hear screaming and wailing coming at you like a freight train. People come back into view, and the ensuing chaos with them. The gunman has fled, leaving a bloody mess strewn about the linoleum floor. You gasp, and then look down to check your body for bullet holes, but find none. Breathing a sigh of relief, you look down to see a man laid out in front of you, gasping and wheezing. You run to give him aid, then realize this was the shadow that passed in front of you. His airways filled with blood, he tries his best to whisper to you “are you okay?” You tell him softly that you are fine. Trying to put pressure on his chest wound with your hands, he pushes them away gently. “It’s okay.” He says slowly, “I did what I needed to do. You are safe, and I took this bullet for you. Please tell my children that I love them, and do not waste your life.” The last word sputters out of his mouth, now filled with blood. He takes his final breath and dies in your arms; a complete stranger who chose to trade his life for yours.

As I wrote this short story in my head on my way home from work today, I remembered that someone has already died for me. Taken the bullet with my name on it, and given me a second chance to live a life worth living. That my value has nothing to do with what I drive, who I marry, or what gadgets I own. My life was worth someone else’s. They made that choice before I had a say in it.

How do I talk to myself? What kinds of things do I believe about myself that spit in the face of that man’s sacrifice? If heaven chose to bankrupt itself so that I can live, what does that say about my true value? How should I actually speak to myself, and how should I treat others? Is my life today worthy of someone else’s death? Would they be proud of what choices I am making with the second chance that they gave me?

The man that died for me also died for you. He gave up his right to a fair trial, embraced a brutal beating that marred him beyond human recognition. Suffocated, bled, cried in panic and pain for several grueling hours, with one simple thought that made it all worth it for Him: He gets to have a relationship with you. You were the joy set before him; like a treasure buried, he bought the whole plot of land, just so that He could get to know you. It didn’t matter it cost Him a life savings to buy the land, He simply wanted you.

What would you say to someone dying in front of you, gasping for their last breath from the bullet they took from you?

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The Mind of Christ.

For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?  Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (1 2:16 NLT)

Matthew 17:1-13
The Transfiguration

1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves;2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and do not be afraid.8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?11 Jesus answered and said to them, Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

Romans 12:2
 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Ephesians 2:4-7
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The requirement for transformation is faith (trust)

We already have the mind of Christ.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 3:8 NKJV)

Your Identity in Christ.

Where the devil attacks you, realize that is their tactic. Usually, it is something that they get the most foothold on you, keeping you from growing in that area.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 NKJV)

We were created to subdue satan, the third of angels, and the demonic host outside the garden.

To subdue is to violently overtake and put something under our dominion.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 3:8 NKJV)

Jesus came with the authority that we forfeited in the garden; only, he walked in it, not giving up that authority. Therefore, he disarmed all powers and principalities and made a spectacle of them. He reset us into the identity that we had to begin with. The sin nature was not a part of us at creation. It came from outside the garden.

We have been reset to Genesis 1 status through what Jesus did on the cross.

We were created to walk in close intimate relationship with God and to subdue the enemy.

We are designed to constantly take ground by putting more love into people, therefore disarming the enemy.
We are not meant to dwell in one place, geographically, and physically.

Genesis 11:1-9
The Tower of Babel

1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.3 Then they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.4 And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.6 And the Lord said, Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one anothers speech.8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21 NKJV)

As God sent Jesus to do, now we can do. We are in Christ. Our identity is in Christ. The position the Father has reserved for Jesus is the same exact permission He has for us.

We are only built to be offensive players. We are supposed to make the devil anxious, fearful, worried, etc. Everything he tries to put onto us, we are meant to put onto him.

With a lack of identity, we accept what he gives us. In our identity, we have full authority to tell him to shut up, go away, and subdue him.

We set people free by showing them the love of God. We can express patience, and be fighting the enemy.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV)

The more fruits of the spirit that we live in, the more we remind the devil what he lost. We use these as the weapons of warfare to destroy the devil’s kingdom.

Angels do the work of God. We get to exercise God’s will. We get to be like God.

As we walk in peace, for example, we help others to walk in God’s peace, taking ground. Another person gets to express and give away the kingdom of God. We destroy the devil’s kingdom by living in the fruits of the spirit in our identity.

Put to use what Jesus died to give us. We don’t have to try to “do”. We just have to look at who we ALREADY ARE!!!!!!!

Remind the devil of his place. Subdue him by walking in the realization of who you are!!

As we gain ground with victories in parts of our lives, show others how to punk the devil as well. It takes his kingdom away part by part.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 NKJV)

Faith

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)

So faith comes from hearing,that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. (Romans 10:17 NLT)

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1, 3-5 NLT)

Jesus is the word of God
Faith comes by hearing the word of God

As you read the word, it is Christ being unlocked.

Replace the word “faith” with Jesus.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NLT)

Bearing Each Other’s burdens

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct. (Galatians 6:1-5 NLT)


The burden is the process of our minds being renewed in who we already are in Christ: righteous, holy, seated in heavenly places. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do this.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink.8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.10 Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.11 The woman said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?13 Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.15 The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.
(John 4:7-15 NLT)

Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit.

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, `Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.) (John 7:37-39 NLT)

What Jesus prophesied was fulfilled, which means we should never be thirsty. We have become the fountain of water.

Why do we thirst spiritually?

When we go through the “wilderness” season, we have the living water we can drink from. We can fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The key is believing, and living by faith, not by sight.

It is our job to remind others that they have water to drink from. This is what it is to bear each other’s burdens.

It is important to God to bear each other’s burdens, and we get built up in doing so.

Anointing

Also Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was  in it, and consecrated them. (Leviticus 8:10 NKJV)

Anointing sets apart and allows it to be in the Holy Place.

The anointing is the Holy Spirit.

The deception is that we are not like God. On the contrary, we are like God because of what Jesus did. Therefore, the Holy Spirit indwells in us.

The temple (tabernacle/Holy of Holieys) transformed from a building to a person. Us. The process was the anointing. Being set apart as holy unto the Lord.

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.6 But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast.7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.8 For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting covenant.9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.11 For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
(Isaiah 61:1-11 NKJV)

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 NKJV)

And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ  be  with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20 NKJV)

If you can live in the anointing of peace, you will be reminded that satan is under your feet, and will see this in the correct perspective.

Our Lot in Life as a Believer

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:6 ESV)

What is my lot in life as a believer?

How special am I really?

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)

For us to be joyful, we have to have joy available. There is joy available for us to be “joyful always!”

Walk around acknowledging God’s presence wherever you go. If God is with me, everything is feasible

To be thankful, we need something to be thankful for. We should always have the right perspective.

We are created and built to meet these requirements. God set this up that way, to live abundantly. Because we are in Christ, we always have access to joy, be grateful, and the awareness of God’s presence.

This is out standard (baseline) of living.

This is why Jesus was sleeping during the storm:

23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. (Luke 8:23-24)

He was in the midst of the circumstance, had joy, spoke against the storm, and was aware of the Father’s presence.

We are meant to strengthen ourselves in the Lord always. There is no separation between us and God.

We need to upgrade our thoughts about ourselves, how we are viewed by God, who we are in and through Christ.

Our standard of faith and expectation needs to be viewed in that perspective.

We need to be continually filled by the Spirit to the point of overflowing day in and day out.

Our life as a believer is not correctly viewed as it is shown in the Old Testament. We live in the new covenant, and being new creatures in Christ, we carry the promises, blessings, and power of God through our resurrection in Christ.

Our circumstance does not define us. We can, and should, speak to it to change it.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

We are a completely NEW creation. Something that did not exist before. Realizing this important truth is how we live in freedom and our identity in Christ, and how we receive joy and a new perspective.

We should pray in communion with God instead of separation from God, ie: pray receiving X from God instead of asking for it. We already have all that we need through our oneness in Christ! We have the ability to change our circumstances by speaking to them to change them.

That is our lot in life.

Do not own thoughts or actions that are contrary to who we are in Christ. We grow in our knowledge of who we are already in Christ by not identifying ourselves as (frustrated, angry, lustful, etc.) something that is not of the fruit of the Spirit.

Praying without ceasing is done by acknowledging God’s presence as we live our life daily.

Not knowing an outcome:

We may not know the answer, but we know the person who is the answer. When our focus shifts to God, our perspective of the circumstance changes, as we are filled with joy, peace, strength, etc. all day long. Never ending.

If God is with me, this circumstance is doable.

Being a son of God

For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! (Romans 8:15 AMP)

I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.] (John 15:15 AMP)

What does our sonship in Christ encompass?

We have to have a perspective that we already have everything we need. All of our needs are met.  What we might need might not be manifested yet.

As a son of God, we have full access to God. We get to explore different aspects of God.

We have the gift of sonship from God, and we get to explore each aspect/side of the gift.

We should approach not from need, but from desire to experience God.

Our talents and gifts are not the purpose of life. If we live thinking that they are, we can get frustrated, etc.

Our purpose is to explore our sonship in God. The circumstances we encounter should not affect our relationship with God.

Take time to develop, pray, spend time with God. Investing in our relationship with God gets more done than the way the world views “doing things.”, and this is the way the Kingdom of God works.

What is God’s view on us?

For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice], So that the righteous  and  just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live  and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]. (Romans 8:3, 4 AMP)

Do not think that I have come to do away with or  undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with  or  undo but to complete  and fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away  and  perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished. (Matthew 5:17, 18 AMP)

All of the law is fulfilled over our life because of Christ. God sees you, and you have met every requirement in God’s eyes.

Every blessing and favor God has had in fulfillment of the law is upon our lives.

Most of us have been trained to approach our relationship from the standpoint of a slave from the church.

Everything God has called us to do is provided completely through God’s grace and power.

The law is fulfilled in my life. How can I be more complete?

As a complete person, how do I see/interact with other people?

They cannot add or take away from my completeness by what they say or do to us.

We only get offended if we believe we are something that we are not. Recognizing who we are, there is a sign of maturity when we embrace the growth without becoming offended.

We no longer need to do things to get acceptance, completion, or need, as we already are accepted, complete, and have all we need.

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. (Matthew 6:33 AMP)

We seek the kingdom and righteousness by dwelling on our sonship.

 We are already right with God.

Continue reading]]> “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

–1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18

I used to be a very negative person. I absolutely hated my job. I could find 1,000 things I disliked about it. It got so bad that my wife told me at one point that she no longer wanted to hear how my day went after I came home from work. That was a wake up call for me…

Let’s go back a way. I had been let go of my previous job and was unemployed for over 4 months back in 2009. I had a newborn daughter and my wonderful wife to support. I applied to all sorts of places but to no avail it seemed. In an off-chance, I applied with an international tech company on their website, but did not expect to hear back from them.

They called me out of the blue one day offering me an interview in Phoenix. Almost two hours away. I planned to wear my normal west-coast best to the interview (collared shirt, slacks, and nice shoes). I was advised that I needed to wear a suit to the interview as the company was very well-known throughout the global community. I had a problem. I did not own a suit. Also, I did not have much money to even buy one.

So off to JC Penny we went. I tried on several suits, and I had one that fit me perfectly. I liked the style, and it was on sale at a very low price. Last one on the rack too. In fact, everything happened to be on an extremely discounted sale at the moment I needed it to be. So I bought the suit, a few ties, and a couple very nice shirts for around $200. Normally, it would have been four times that price.

On to the interview:  I showed up slightly early and met the guy who was holding my fate of employment. He asked about 3 initial questions, and decided to just skip through the rest of them as I already fit the mold of what they were looking for. That took about 3-4 minutes, but we ended up interviewing for about an hour and a half. The rest of the time was spent fellowshipping with another believer whose testimony closely matched my own. It was a total God moment. Needless to say I got the job. It was so evident at that time how much Papa blessed me with it. Even for a couple of years later, I would recollect the memories of how God came through for my family and me.

Fast-forward several years. I had become bitter with my employer and all the circumstances they would continually inundate us with. It seemed to be like trying not to drown while 10 people would hold me under the water with no escape. All I could focus on was how unfair and stressful this employment was. It affected my personal life too. I would snap at my family, and hated my life in several areas.

When my wife told me she no longer wanted to hear about my day, it was a shock to my soul. I knew something needed to change…

I prayed about it, and quickly got an answer from God. He told me I needed to find something to thank Him about. He said I could start small. Maybe one to three things.  I was able to easily think about how He gave me the job in the first place. I thanked Him for that. Then I thought of other ways this job has been such a blessing to my family and me. I kept continuing to thank Him each day for a few things at a time. My list of gratitude continued to exponentially grow each day. Three things became five things, five became ten, etc. I found that my attitude started to change. I no longer hated my job. I was still frustrated at times of course, but even that began to diminish over time. This poured out over other areas of my life as well. Family, friends, hobbies, etc. I started to become a positive person. I was smiling more. Things that used to bother and control me now paled in comparison to God’s goodness and blessings! I eventually got to the place I am now where I no longer have bad days. I have times that are stressful, sure. I found that while I was thanking God for all His goodness in my life, I was worshiping Him. He in turn began to have an avenue to pour into my life and heart as well. Being free of anger and bitterness freed up room for Him to pour joy and peace into me.

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” –Proverbs 18:21

I was now able to become the positive optimist He designed me to be. Wherever I go, I am able to smile at people. I have been given opportunities to bless and encourage them with this message. I can literally change the atmosphere wherever I go simply being who God says I am and walking that out. It is so freeing.

Sharing this with people at work has been such a blessing. I have been given the ability to help people change their inward person to bring out life and light. One woman I talked with explained that this was such a timely message. She had been on the verge of quitting her job due to stressful and negative circumstances. She was excited to hear how she could change her attitude by being thankful to God, but was also afraid it would not last as those who worked closely worked with her constantly spewed out negativity. I shared the verse above with her and explained how our words create worlds. One person can say something negative, but if we are at total peace with God within our hearts, our joy and hope will flow out through our words. We can counter negativity with something positive instead. Often times those around us will have an “aha!” moment. They will have a new angle to look at the problem instead of ushering in darkness out of frustration and bitterness. We can bring life into a situation by our words, or bring death.

If you are struggling to see how good God is to you, start by thanking Him for a few things. He will reveal more to you as you continue to be grateful. Your life will never be the same once you discover the power of a thankful heart.

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Many I have talked with recently have had the same feeling in their spirits that something has shifted. There is an excitement stirring in the spirit realm. I asked God about it recently as I was talking with a friend. He had asked me if I felt it and knew what it was. What amazed me was the answer He gave me as I sought clarity.

1. Love

Sometime around the mid 70’s to early 80’s God created a catalyst. An explosion in the spirit with enough raw power to create a momentum. The purpose at the time was not revealed, but what it started off with was a renewal of discovering God’s perfect love for his most prized creation. People. We started getting more revelation of His love for us in complete relationship with Him. As we discovered how much He loves us, we began to see how much He loves others in our discovery of our value and worth to Him.

“One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The lord our God is the one and only lord. And you must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31 NLT)

As you can see, we can only love others at the measure we love ourselves. As we discover how much God loves us, our value and love for ourselves increases in capacity to then love others at this new greater measure.

2. Power

The second movement that has come out of this catalyst has been an increase in His bride walking in His power regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. “ (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

As you can see, 9 categories of spiritual gifts were given. These include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Similar lists appear in Ephesians 4:7-13 and Romans 12:3-8. The gifts of the Spirit are simply God enabling believers to do what He has called us to do. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” The gifts of the Holy Spirit are part of the “everything we need” to fulfill His purposes for our lives. Jesus did miracles and walked in power not only to help people, but to demonstrate who He is.

These gifts have increased in power and become more common-place than before as His bride has increased in her knowledge of her identity in Him as you will see below.

3. Identity

God’s church has started more recently to slowly realize who she is and who’s she is. Once a believer begins to realize that they are called to walk in the authority of Christ, and their mindset begins to be renewed into that of Christ (Ephesians 4:23), we start to realize that we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and are called to do not only the things Jesus did, but to do greater things (John 14:12)! We are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are slowly beginning to believe the truth that we are under the authority of God, but also are to walk in authority as we are His heirs though His bloodline. As a prince becomes a king, so are we to walk in confidence as His sons and daughters under His calling on our lives.

4. The Great Awakening

So, as we have seen, Papa saw it fit to break off the old chains of religion, law, and bondage to slowly awaken His bride from her slumber. The lies the devil has told us have come into the light. We are now starting to walk under Love, Power, and Identity to show the world who Christ truly is. As we walk in Love, we demonstrate God’s love for people. As we walk in Power, we demonstrate Jesus is who He said He is. As we walk in identity, we show the world who He has called us to be in confidence, to display His majesty and righteousness to bring people into relationship with Him. This three-fold-cord is meant to continue to gain power and momentum to awaken His bride from her slumber, and to bring an exponential amount of people into a deeper relationship with Him. No longer are we boring, dull, or irrelevant as the world has slowly come to see us over the centuries, but they too will have their eyes opened to a God who loves them more than they ever thought possible.

Continue reading]]> John. The disciple who Jesus loved. His identity came from knowing Jesus loved him. He did not give himself the title out of arrogance, but out of identity.

The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. (John 13:23 NLT)

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home. (John 20:2-10 NLT)

Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” (John 21:20 NLT)

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. (John 21:7 NLT)

Peter. The disciple who loved Jesus. His identity came from his limited ability to love Jesus. He boasted of his love for Jesus and it proved to fail.

Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?” And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.” “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.” Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” (John 13:31-38 NLT)

Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself. Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.” But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed. (John 18:15-18, 25-27 NLT)

When we are in worship, what is our focus? What we can bring to God in our worship, or what God has done for us, and how much He continues to lavish His love upon us? If the latter, are we aware that God continues to love us and pour Himself into us constantly?

When we worship Him, what is the percentage of our pouring into God vs. allowing God to pour into us? If it is greater than 50%, then we are missing the point. We are to focus that God has done everything for us, and in doing so we respond in our love for Him as well as humanity.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.  Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters. (1 John 4:7-21 NLT)

As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 10:17 NLT)

God’s plan for man came far before creation. God has always been fully satisfied within the trinity, but He put great thought in something better. Why do I believe He found greater pleasure than just in Himself? Because He did it. He knew full well the end result. He foreknew the fall of man, and His plan to become one. He satisfied His own wrath to redeem man to fully restore us into a perfect relationship with Him.

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than ourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1-11 NLT)

He cognitively decided to become a Man on a permanent basis, and designed our bodies to be able to live inside one. We are actually designed to be able to host the Holy Spirit within us. Jesus still has a man’s body. Fully restored beyond death, but we can still see His scars.

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:5 NLT)

As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! (John 20:20 NLT)

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” (John 20:27 NLT)

If you had to become something else for all of eternity, you would put a lot of thought into it. You wouldn’t immediately decide “That chair will do.”

So God chose to become one of us, and designed our bodies to live within. He designed us to receive Himself, his fullness of love, and do things through us. How much value to you think He has for you? Do you think He did everything for us to figure out life on our own, or to continually interact with us and lead us into a relationship with Him? What does that relationship look like?

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:10-11 NLT)

So, we can conclude from the passage above that we are “friends of God”.

I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.] (John 15:15 AMP)

And we are “sons of God”.

For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! (Romans 8:15 AMP)

So, our identity is that we are friends and sons of God through God’s love for us, and Jesus’ victory over death.

I believe John saw how much Jesus loved him and rested in that identity. He was not being arrogant when he called himself “The disciple who Jesus loved,” rather he was showing us his ability to live out who God called him to be. Every person is loved by Jesus. Even before we acknowledge His sacrifice for us we are already loved.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT)

So, I conclude that we are all loved by God, and after we become disciples through belief in Jesus’ sacrifice in our place, we become “disciples who Jesus loves”.

Continue reading]]> “even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” (2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT)

God showed me the reason I have such an emotional, mental, and physical torment in the memory of my darkest hour of my former self, and the sin that was so evident (and the cause of those days), was not to be shared (as has been evident based on my internal response each time I am forced to relive those memories) , but a brutally honest reminder of how much He has truly released me from, and how much he loves me. The great debt has been overpaid, my life so radically and wonderfully transformed, and the realization of God’s true love not only for myself, but for all others is clearly written upon my heart and mind, even evoking a physical response of trembling at the mere realization of it all. God is so gracious, loving, and pursues me violently without regard for human understanding or permission. His ways are so wonderfully and radically polar opposite of our ability to rationalize or comprehend. He truly is LOVE. Yes, love is an actual person. I am forever indebted to Him. My life is not enough for payment, and I gladly embrace my servitude to Him. I lovingly and passionately am proud to serve such a great Master, Teacher, Friend, King, and Father. His love knows no limits, and reaches far beyond time and space, piercing through bone, flesh, spirit, mind, and soul. My heart is saturated with the fingerprints of His love, and over pours because of the limits of which I cannot hold it. Thank you King Jesus for paying my debt. I am so truly grateful, and proudly bear this thorn of remembrance in honor of all that you have done for me. No one could ever love me as completely as you do. All praise, honor, glory, and love go to you. You alone deserve it. I love you my Lord and Saviour.

Continue reading]]>  “If you love me, obey my commandments.” (John 14:15)

God has continued giving me the revelation of His love for His people this week. The question can be asked from this verse “What are Jesus’s commandments?”

There is only one example of His commandments listed in Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Basically speaking, we are called to first, love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind, and second, love our neighbor as ourselves. The message I have been given for the church is to love people. I think the greatest fault in the western church is that we have lost the ability to love others as much as we love ourselves. The mindset of entitlement has warped our view. Instead of laying our lives down for others, we expect to have others lay down their lives for us (John 15:13 “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”). It’s not just to say this in a literal sense, even though it may become the case for some. What I mean by this is that we are to sacrifice ourselves for others. Humble ourselves. For instance, how many times have we seen a homeless person on the street corner and not even make eye contact with them? How many times have we asked ourselves how they feel as a human being who is loved and cherished by our Father? Can we even dare to view them as a valued person in the Kingdom of God? Are they not one of His children, as you and I are?

Sacrifice can even mean something as simple as taking time out of our day to go park somewhere nearby and *gasp* approach this person. Maybe spend some time hearing their life story. Listening to their struggles and triumphs. You may or may not be called to give them money, but why not? Tithing can be above just giving your church some cash. Honestly speaking, I have found myself saying “It might be wasted on drugs or alcohol…” Well, who am I to say God can’t use that money to help someone in need? It doesn’t matter what I think they may use it on. God knows their heart. They may actually waste it, or they might not. It’s not for me to decide. I can tell you that if you even spend some time with them, to fully hear them out, and demonstrate that they have even have enough value to someone by paying some attention to them, that it speaks volumes to their hearts.

What I have found that a universal need for human beings is that we all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted. We all want to be valued. We all want to feel significant. Christians in the western church, and even elsewhere in the world definitely do not portray to people that they are loved. It’s quite the opposite. People freely think that we are the most judgmental hypocrites that have ever walked the Earth. Go ahead, ask some of your friends, or a complete stranger. The universal agreement is that we do not love people. We judge them. We display hate, or even worse, love with an agenda. We cannot simply display acts of kindness without attaching religion to it.

Something a friend of mine has told me over and over is that if we were to go out and randomly help people without attaching any sort of requirement to be helped, it would speak volumes to people. For instance, going out to a parking area on a normal basis and randomly putting coins in the meters that were expired. Sure, if someone asked, we can tell them what we were up to and why. Just tell them that we love them, and where we are from.

Another example is a church setting aside a bit of cash to pay people’s delinquent water or electric bill without an agenda. Just send the message that we love them and want to bless them.

People respond to pure love and kindness. It doesn’t have to be recruiting people into a congregation. We just need to demonstrate love.

1John 4:19 says “We love each other because he loved us first.”, and 1 John 4:8-11 says “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”

I know it seems hard to love others. Loving people cannot be done through our own strength. Love comes as an overflow. First, as Jesus pointed out in His commandments, is to love God. Loving God comes as a response. As I pointed out in 1 John 4:19, we see that we love God because He first loved us. We allow Him to love us, and we love Him in return. What we can do is just meditate, or think of how much He loves us. How does God see you? There is a lot I can speak on just this alone. For example, John 4:20-21 says “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

Jesus and you (as a believer) are one. God does not see you as a separate being. Just realizing that you are accepted as God’s son or daughter as He accepts Jesus has to give you a mind blowing vision of your value. God loves you as an individual absolutely. Completely. Without end. Romans8:38 says “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”

So how much value do you think God has for you?

Ok, so we see how much God loves us, and we naturally respond in love to Him. The thing is, when we respond to Him with the love He already gave us, we cannot keep it to ourselves. We begin to see others through the love He demonstrates for us. God loves every single person, and values them as much as He does us. So when we see how much He loves them, and how He views them, our perspective changes as a response. We can love people because the love that is in us begins to boil over. Our limited bodies cannot fully hold the love of God. The Spirit of God that lives within us longs to come out. His love spills over like a fountain. John 7:37-39 says “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)”

What God is calling His people to do is simply love. Love is a universal need every single person has. We are born with this desire. We die without it. Simply put, God is love (1 John 4:16). We are to demonstrate to every person how much God loves them, and it begins with allowing God to love us.

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God has been continuing this revelation of love in me. A verse that keeps being spoken to me is 1 John 4:18 “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” (NLT).

The question remains, what is this love?

What I have found is love is not an emotion. Love is not a thing. Love is a person, Jesus Christ.

This is spoken about in two verses up: 1 John 4:16 “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”

People are hurting all over the world. A lot of them are so full of fear that it cripples them, sometimes physically, but a lot of times mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Many turn to drugs, alcohol, or sex to ease the fear and hurt. 1 Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” Fear does not come from the Lord, but is an old and commonly used tactic by the enemy to keep people in bondage. Just doing a quick search on Amazon.com for the word “fear” in the “Religion & Spirituality” section of books brings up 2,258 hits alone. People are constantly in such bondage from fear, that it keeps them from living out their true identity. There is freedom available for those who turn to the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” What a lot of Christians fail to realize is the Holy Spirit is already present and within us at all times! A common prayer I heard, and prayed myself, as I grew up in the church was “I need your presence God”. Something God showed me besides His presence always being already available is that all of Him is available to us as His sons and daughters. What Jesus did on the cross gave us more than just fire insurance. God made available all of His riches and blessings, the full banquet of His power. If we look at Mark 3:16, it says “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” Notice that the Bible never says that the heavens were ever closed. All of this is to say that we have full power and authority through Christ. He lives in us and through us, and when we realize this, we can experience freedom. When we allow Him to love us, we are given freedom from fear. When He loves on us, we have the revelation of who we are in Christ. We are loved and cherished. Our lives have meaning, and are significant. We find that we have a purpose. We are valued. We can realize the truth: we are God’s children. He made us royalty. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Realizing our true identity in Christ gives us the freedom to love others. Being freed from the bondage of fear gives us the ability to see other people for who they truly are as well. Realizing you are loved enables your eyes to see how much God loves everyone, individually and personally. We need to realize that there is no separation between us and Christ. We have the full ability to live freely through the knowledge of our identity. So go out and love someone today! God’s love for them will free them as much as it has done for you!

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Philippians 1:15-18 (NASB)

“15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel;17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice”

Something I learned today came from these verses above: Often times, I have found myself trying to separate myself from certain “denominations” of the church. It is usually because I differ from certain beliefs they may have, or certain traditions, or even their past. Something I cannot escape is the fact that I am in Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:12-14), and we are all connected in, and through, Christ.

I think the main thing I got out of these verses is the fact that even if there are different reasons, beliefs, traditions, or others, as long as Christ is preached, there is only glory for God, something that we can rejoice in. God can use very different and interesting methods or reaching people (Numbers 22:21-35), and we may not be able to see the whole picture.

The main thing God has been teaching me lately is to just love people. Doing a quick search on the word “love” in the NASB translation of the Bible on youversion, it comes up with 654 separate verses. I am sure there are much more, but the point is, God has a lot to say about love. Romans 13:9 says: “For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to the lawyer in Matthew 22:35-40: “35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”37 And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’38 This is the great and foremost commandment.39 The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Basically speaking, if we love God (with all of our heart, soul, and mind), we will be able to love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving God, and others, is something that has been made easy for all believers. 1 John 4:19 says” We love Him, because He first loved us.”, and continues in verse 20-21 explaining the command of God to love our brothers in Christ, and that we can love them because we have seen God, and if we do not love them, we have not seen God, and if we love God, we will naturally love our brothers in Christ. So, if we love God first, then we can love others, and are capable to do this all because of what Christ did on the cross, enabling us to do so, because God is love. 1 John 4:8-10 says: ” 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Because God is in us, and God is love, we are able to manifest love that we do not have without Christ in us.

All this to say that we need to love each other, not just because God commands us to, but because He has shown us how to love others by demonstration, and He has empowered us to do so. We, as the body of Christ, need to stop trying to divide ourselves (in Christ, and the body of Christ), and see that the gospel (God’s love story to us) is preached. When the world sees that we are in complete unison, they can see the completeness of God. They can see the love of God. They can see God. God’s love for His people is stronger, and we need to see past petty differences in ourselves and others. The question we need to ask is if they are preaching the gospel, and is it the gospel as spelled out in scripture. The gospel is very simple in itself, and all of us know what the basics of it are: Christ loves us, and took our place for the payment of our sins, so that we can have a relationship with Him. He provided a way to escape judgment, and it is something that can only be received, not earned, since the payment has already been made for all of mankind. Anything contrary to Christ loving people to the point of providing salvation for free (as He already overpaid the amount for us) is a lie. No need to get caught up in semantics. Just God’s love for people and us loving others as God loves them. We already have the mind of Christ: 1 Corinthians 2:16: “For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”, and have full access to His knowledge. I heard a story of a 6-year-old at Bethel Church that told the following (paraphrased): She heard a voice call her name in the night. She said “If this is the devil, stop talking, and if this is God, please continue.” The voice stopped.

My point is that 1) we have full access to the knowledge of God, and 2) that if God wants us to correct us on something, He will, as long as we listen, and test the spirits behind it (1 John 4:1-3: “1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God;”), and 3) that we do not need to argue amongst each other outside of God’s love, and instead we need to focus on empowering each other to preach the gospel. Finally 4) We need to stop seeing the body of Christ as separate. We all have different functions, but we are one.