A faith builder...........

Enter His Rest..........

Hebrews 4

 1THEREFORE, WHILE the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.

    2For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).

    3For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest, in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world.

    4For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.

    5And [they forfeited their part in it, for] in this [passage] He said, They shall not enter My rest.

    6Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience,

    7Again He sets a definite day, [a new] Today, [and gives another opportunity of securing that rest] saying through David after so long a time in the words already quoted, Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts.

    8[This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day.

    9So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;

    10For he who has once entered [God's] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own.

    11Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell].

    12For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

    13And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.

    14Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].

    15For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

    16Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

   

Destined to Reign......

Recently I picked up a copy of Joseph Prince's book, Destined to Reign, at my local library. I have daily looked forward to a time when I could slip away and read it. I am finally finished and am here to tell you, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK! No, I am not getting any profits for my enthusiastic support of this excellent resource. I just think it is so worth reading! I have been encouraged greatly and blessed by Joseph's passion for preaching grace radically and for unveiling Jesus throughout the Word. The amount of revelation this guy has is amazing!  He shares confidently and boldly, that as believers we are destined to reign. He is passionate about bringing the Word in Spirit and in truth to further our faith and revelation in Jesus Christ and his finished work.  The secret to effortless success, wholeness, and victorious living lies in the truth of the Gospel and our living in God's free grace and believing Him at His Word. This book truly is a breath of fresh air!! 

If you have never heard of Joseph Prince or his ministry, you can check out his website here, and I highly recommended checking out some of the snippets of his sermons here. Enjoy, I really believe you will be blessed!! Much grace to all!!!

Have your faith in God.......

On my way home today from a playdate at the park, with a wonderful group of ladies and their children, I had a bit of an accident. As I was turning into an unfamiliar parking lot, I turned too soon and hit the curb and quickly realized that was not a good thing. So, I parked the car got out only to wince at what I saw. A totally flat tire and bent rim!! Bummer!! Four tired kids in the car to boot. What now! So I made some calls, fumbled a bit as to what to do and eventually got the kids sent home with my kind mother who came to get them. My poor dear husband showed up at the scene, having just been operated on the day before for a hernia, not really able to do anything and me not letting him, (just what we need him busting open his hernia again)! We had a hect of a time figuring out how to get out the spare tire and then it was time to loosen the lug nuts on the tire...ha! I tried, I really did....are you kidding me, who can do that, guess I need to work out more. Anyway, Keith kept saying you just need to find someone to help and I was a bit frustrated and said, " Do you see any available brawny men walking around with a moment to spare!!"

Next thing you know a guy comes walking by and Keith runs over to solicit his help. He was in work clothes, dirty and brawny to boot! He proceeded to take over and initially it seemed he was only going to loosen the lug nuts, but then I think he really took pity on us and went ahead and did the whole job. ( I had never taken TireChanging 101) When it was all said and done, we thanked him sincerely and as he shook my hand, he said quickly and somewhat quietly, "Have your faith in God, that is my repayment." And walked off before I could respond, I wanted to shout out, "We love Jesus!!", but he was already far off and I chickened out.......!

Anyway, all this is to say......Wow, God always provides....I didn't mentioned earlier the quarrel Keith and I had about how to handle this situation, I had called a tow truck and he didn't want to spend the money, so we struggled to figure it all out, it took us awhile to find the spare and so on, I will spare you the details (no pun intended).....the point is, deep down I wanted to understand Keith and honor him, even though I wanted the easiest option out and he wanted the cheapest one......I knew this situation would be a frustrating one for him as these days our finances are dwindling and it seems like we keep getting deeper...so I hung in there thinking "Are you kidding me, how am I going to change this tire.....but I will try!" ....And I think God in His awesome provision and kindness just took care of us. I am all about looking for God in every situation, looking for His touch, His love and His mercy on our behalf. It's such a great way to walk through life!! Keeps joy and peace coming, ya know!!! And so in that end of this story, it really is all about what the kind man who changed our tire said...."Have your faith in God!!"

healing and truth.....

....you lay hands on the sick they get healed, but unless they understand truth they will get sick again..... if you know the truth the truth will set you free.....

F.W. Bosworth says most Christians are so weak b/c they eat three physical meals a day, but only one cold spiritual meal a week.. he says if you fed your body only one small meal a week think how weak your physical body would be....no wonder many Christians are so weak, b/c they are not feeding themselves with messages and tapes and cds of grace teaching every day....because faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

Quoted from a recent Rob Rufus message.......

healing and truth.....

....you lay hands on the sick they get healed, but unless they understand truth they will get sick again..... if you know the truth the truth will set you free.....

F.W. Bosworth says most Christians are so weak b/c they eat three physical meals a day, but only one cold spiritual meal a week.. he says if you fed your body only one small meal a week think how weak your physical body would be....no wonder many Christians are so weak, b/c they are not feeding themselves with messages and tapes and cds of grace teaching every day....because faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

Quoted from a recent Rob Rufus message.......

Health, Healing and Miracles.....

So for the past 6 months or so, Keith and I have been experiencing a lot of sickness, and general unhealthiness. We each have had our health issues over the years, nothing major, but enough to be a complete drag.(asthma, allergies, chronic sinusitus, hernias, back pain, sciatica, migraines, excema, rosacea.)  Anyway...... Since  we have come to the revelation and  understanding  about who God is, truly, and His Awesome grace, we are questioning things like the miraculous and healing. I honestly believe we experienced a huge miracle in the restoration and healing of our marriage, and this has built my faith immensely. But what about healing of sickness? We have wrestled with this one, amongst ourselves and with God. We have prayed and prayed, for ourselves for each other and have had others pray for us. NO breakthrough yet. I do not plan to give up until I see the Lord heal us! 

That said, I want to bring up our latest enjoyment of Bill Johnson's ministry. A friend of ours many months ago told us about Bill Johnson, so I looked him up and checked out his website and an interview he did on TV.  I was really eager to learn more and read some of his books. So recently we have been listening to the podcasts from Bethel, Bill's home church in California, and are enjoying them very much. Bill has quite a healing ministry and people flock to his church to be healed. Every week he shares testimonies of healings and in the service they usually always pray for healing and for salvation, and people are getting saved and healed like crazy! This is so amazing, inspiring and faith building to me! This is what normal church should be like according to the Bible! ......

This past week I began reading Bill's first book, "When Heaven Invades Earth," although I haven't finished it yet, I must highly recommend it here. 

One of the things I am learning about healing is that is should be something every Christian walks in, either receiving or taking part in praying for others and seeing them healed. Jesus healed all who came to Him in faith. And the first church, in the book of Acts, healed and saw multitudes being saved and added to their numbers daily.  Healing and health is something that Christ death on the cross has purchased for us, not just cleansing from our sins, but cleansing from sickness and disease. By His stripes we are healed.

So, why don't we see more healing? Good question. One of the reasons is many Christians, myself included, live in unbelief, and accept sickness as normal. We say things like, well God is using this illness or whatever in my life to build my character. Bill Johnson says this, "When I have misconceptions of who God is and what He is like, my faith is restricted by those misconceptions. For example, if I believe that God allows sickness in order to build character, I'll not have confidence in praying in most situations where healing is needed. But, if I believe that sickness is to the body what sin is to the soul, then no disease will intimidate me. Faith is much more free to develop when we truly see the heart of God as good." 

Then he adds a little story, "The same misconceptions of God affect those who need to have faith for their own miracle. A woman who needed a miracle once told me that she felt God had allowed her sickness for a purpose. I told her that if I treated my children that way I'd be arrested for child abuse. She agreed and eventually allowed me to pray for her. After truth came into her heart, her healing came minutes later."

Wow, never thought of it like that! He goes on to say, "Unbelief is anchored in what is visible or reasonable apart from God. It honors the natural realm as superior to the invisible. The apostle Paul states that what you see is temporal, and what you can't see is eternal. Unbelief is faith in the inferior." 

Just because you or I may have never experienced a genuine healing or miracle does not mean we should settle or have a lack of faith that this is not possible. With God all things are possible, and if we are already living in His Kingdom, shouldn't we be living free from sickness, and from disease? 

I just want to finish with this verse, 2 Corinthians 4:18..."as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 

Health, Healing and Miracles.....

So for the past 6 months or so, Keith and I have been experiencing a lot of sickness, and general unhealthiness. We each have had our health issues over the years, nothing major, but enough to be a complete drag.(asthma, allergies, chronic sinusitus, hernias, back pain, sciatica, migraines, excema, rosacea.)  Anyway...... Since  we have come to the revelation and  understanding  about who God is, truly, and His Awesome grace, we are questioning things like the miraculous and healing. I honestly believe we experienced a huge miracle in the restoration and healing of our marriage, and this has built my faith immensely. But what about healing of sickness? We have wrestled with this one, amongst ourselves and with God. We have prayed and prayed, for ourselves for each other and have had others pray for us. NO breakthrough yet. I do not plan to give up until I see the Lord heal us! 

That said, I want to bring up our latest enjoyment of Bill Johnson's ministry. A friend of ours many months ago told us about Bill Johnson, so I looked him up and checked out his website and an interview he did on TV.  I was really eager to learn more and read some of his books. So recently we have been listening to the podcasts from Bethel, Bill's home church in California, and are enjoying them very much. Bill has quite a healing ministry and people flock to his church to be healed. Every week he shares testimonies of healings and in the service they usually always pray for healing and for salvation, and people are getting saved and healed like crazy! This is so amazing, inspiring and faith building to me! This is what normal church should be like according to the Bible! ......

This past week I began reading Bill's first book, "When Heaven Invades Earth," although I haven't finished it yet, I must highly recommend it here. 

One of the things I am learning about healing is that is should be something every Christian walks in, either receiving or taking part in praying for others and seeing them healed. Jesus healed all who came to Him in faith. And the first church, in the book of Acts, healed and saw multitudes being saved and added to their numbers daily.  Healing and health is something that Christ death on the cross has purchased for us, not just cleansing from our sins, but cleansing from sickness and disease. By His stripes we are healed.

So, why don't we see more healing? Good question. One of the reasons is many Christians, myself included, live in unbelief, and accept sickness as normal. We say things like, well God is using this illness or whatever in my life to build my character. Bill Johnson says this, "When I have misconceptions of who God is and what He is like, my faith is restricted by those misconceptions. For example, if I believe that God allows sickness in order to build character, I'll not have confidence in praying in most situations where healing is needed. But, if I believe that sickness is to the body what sin is to the soul, then no disease will intimidate me. Faith is much more free to develop when we truly see the heart of God as good." 

Then he adds a little story, "The same misconceptions of God affect those who need to have faith for their own miracle. A woman who needed a miracle once told me that she felt God had allowed her sickness for a purpose. I told her that if I treated my children that way I'd be arrested for child abuse. She agreed and eventually allowed me to pray for her. After truth came into her heart, her healing came minutes later."

Wow, never thought of it like that! He goes on to say, "Unbelief is anchored in what is visible or reasonable apart from God. It honors the natural realm as superior to the invisible. The apostle Paul states that what you see is temporal, and what you can't see is eternal. Unbelief is faith in the inferior." 

Just because you or I may have never experienced a genuine healing or miracle does not mean we should settle or have a lack of faith that this is not possible. With God all things are possible, and if we are already living in His Kingdom, shouldn't we be living free from sickness, and from disease? 

I just want to finish with this verse, 2 Corinthians 4:18..."as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 

~tidbits & morsels ~

......"when a preacher puts God's people under pressure to performance to earn the blessing, you can call it whatever you want, but it is the Law. You may not call it the 10 commandments, but you can say it in a way that people think, you gotta earn the blessing by efforts, drivenness, and performance. This is deadly and you are bringing a curse on God's people. If you think you can balance grace and performance, you make grace invalid if you mix it with law. You can't balance grace by preaching balance. If you preach one part you must preach all parts, the law was meant to be kept as a whole. YOU CANNOT BALANCE GRACE WITH LAW." (Rob Rufus)

...." any change grace makes is without effort, but by the power of the Spirit of the LIVING GOD."(Rob Rufus)

......"JESUS + anything = nothing

        JESUS + nothing = all the blessing" (Rob Rufus)

......"Give up trying to be more HOLY

         Give up trying to be more adequate

           Give up trying to have more faith

             Give up and let the HOLY SPIRIT....."(Rob Rufus)

..."It's Christ in you, for the benefit of others........I couldn't make my life work without God, I failed at making it on my own....This is the key to successful Christianity.......You couldn't live without God, but you can't live for God either and the Awesome thing is....You don't have to, it's all been done.....I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that lives, but Christ in me......God cannot, will not partner with self - sufficiency or self - righteousness......." (Paul Andersen Walsh) 

" Jesus primary ministry was to heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds...God's heart is to bind up broken hearts - he wants our wholeness, the only way is to abide in Him. If your heart feels condemnation you will not enter into His Presence." (Ryan Rufus)

"Our thoughts form our beliefs - Our beliefs form our convictions- our convictions form our attitudes - 

our attitudes form our perceptions, our perceptions form our behaviour"(Rob Rufus, from "How Wonderful is the Gospel")  

then he said, "if I was the devil I would put thoughts in your head - arguments, pretensions, mis-information.... 

~tidbits & morsels ~

......"when a preacher puts God's people under pressure to performance to earn the blessing, you can call it whatever you want, but it is the Law. You may not call it the 10 commandments, but you can say it in a way that people think, you gotta earn the blessing by efforts, drivenness, and performance. This is deadly and you are bringing a curse on God's people. If you think you can balance grace and performance, you make grace invalid if you mix it with law. You can't balance grace by preaching balance. If you preach one part you must preach all parts, the law was meant to be kept as a whole. YOU CANNOT BALANCE GRACE WITH LAW." (Rob Rufus)

...." any change grace makes is without effort, but by the power of the Spirit of the LIVING GOD."(Rob Rufus)

......"JESUS + anything = nothing

        JESUS + nothing = all the blessing" (Rob Rufus)

......"Give up trying to be more HOLY

         Give up trying to be more adequate

           Give up trying to have more faith

             Give up and let the HOLY SPIRIT....."(Rob Rufus)

..."It's Christ in you, for the benefit of others........I couldn't make my life work without God, I failed at making it on my own....This is the key to successful Christianity.......You couldn't live without God, but you can't live for God either and the Awesome thing is....You don't have to, it's all been done.....I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that lives, but Christ in me......God cannot, will not partner with self - sufficiency or self - righteousness......." (Paul Andersen Walsh) 

" Jesus primary ministry was to heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds...God's heart is to bind up broken hearts - he wants our wholeness, the only way is to abide in Him. If your heart feels condemnation you will not enter into His Presence." (Ryan Rufus)

"Our thoughts form our beliefs - Our beliefs form our convictions- our convictions form our attitudes - 

our attitudes form our perceptions, our perceptions form our behaviour"(Rob Rufus, from "How Wonderful is the Gospel")  

then he said, "if I was the devil I would put thoughts in your head - arguments, pretensions, mis-information.... 

.....It's all Good!!!

I have come to a new understanding and appreciation for the verses "God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him, according to his good purpose." Romans 8:28 

There have been times when I questioned "why is God allowing me this great pain I am going through, I don't understand, or at times in the past when I had misconceptions about God, I was tempted to think he was punishing me, but that just wasn't true. At times he may discipline me, because he loves me, but I am learning His discipline is so kind..really, I mean that, because I know He loves me, not always easy though....but what about the times when my life seemed like pure hell.....I know God can't be authoring these moments, days, weeks, months, years even....and why would he allow me to live in it soo long....anyway, I have come to take great comfort in the simple fact that though God may not be causing my painful circumstances, he allows them and turns them into His good.....really He does, I get this now and love it! 

Like the story of Joseph, boy did he go through it! But I love in the end when he faced his brothers in Egypt and said to them "What you intended for harm, the Lord intended for good!" 

I love that, his faith and confidence in God, despite the years of agony he went through, God restored the years, gave him power, wealth and influence, isn't that amazing!! 

I have had some rocky times, haven't we all?!  But you know what is so cool, God is going to use those times for a very good purpose one day and it will bless us as well as others and bring glory to God!!! Because He is the author and finisher and perfector of our Faith, He will do it!! 

.....It's all Good!!!

I have come to a new understanding and appreciation for the verses "God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him, according to his good purpose." Romans 8:28 

There have been times when I questioned "why is God allowing me this great pain I am going through, I don't understand, or at times in the past when I had misconceptions about God, I was tempted to think he was punishing me, but that just wasn't true. At times he may discipline me, because he loves me, but I am learning His discipline is so kind..really, I mean that, because I know He loves me, not always easy though....but what about the times when my life seemed like pure hell.....I know God can't be authoring these moments, days, weeks, months, years even....and why would he allow me to live in it soo long....anyway, I have come to take great comfort in the simple fact that though God may not be causing my painful circumstances, he allows them and turns them into His good.....really He does, I get this now and love it! 

Like the story of Joseph, boy did he go through it! But I love in the end when he faced his brothers in Egypt and said to them "What you intended for harm, the Lord intended for good!" 

I love that, his faith and confidence in God, despite the years of agony he went through, God restored the years, gave him power, wealth and influence, isn't that amazing!! 

I have had some rocky times, haven't we all?!  But you know what is so cool, God is going to use those times for a very good purpose one day and it will bless us as well as others and bring glory to God!!! Because He is the author and finisher and perfector of our Faith, He will do it!! 

Flowing streams of living water......

I recently had a dream that I keep picturing just a portion of over and over. I honestly don't remember what the dream was about, or how I got to the part that is stuck in my mind, but I really think it's the Lord! So what I remember is this, I am sitting on a lush grassy area, in front of a beautiful rush of water with rocks jutting out here and there, the water that is flowing is full ....not a waterfall exactly, but a curve and drop in the flow of a large stream or small river....and I just keep picturing the water full and free flowing with lots of vigor.....white water crests, beautiful to behold on a gloriously sunny day, and I would say the flow was more than bubbling but not quite roaring, and I am just peacefully sitting and watching it, never tiring of it. It is so refreshing to me!
And as I was writing yesterday's post I was reminded of Never thirsting in my spirit, because I have eternal springs of water flowing from me because of Christ living in me, and His Spirit pours out of me streams of living water.....and I sit peacefully and watch as this happens, not striving, not weary to "live" the Christian life....and I just thought how cool is that. A reminder from the written Word of God, and a picture in my dreams, as I was still in my sleep, of this awesome truth!
I have really been paying close attention to my dreams of late, and just asking the Spirit to show me, reveal to me the things he is bringing to me in my dreams......


(I'm adding to the orginal post, God just brought another layer of my dream to my heart, 1/12)
I keep picturing the flowing water in that dream, I only saw myself sitting beside it the one time in my dream, but now every time I see the water, I just see the water, full and flowing and refreshing, I don't see myself anymore...and I believe God showed me, because He lives in Me, He will cause His rivers of flowing water to flow out of me, through me, to others, not because of what I do, but because I am resting in Him, by faith, I rest in what He has done, He has become one with my spirit and the life I live, I live by faith in Him....oh His yoke is so easy and His burden is so light........

Flowing streams of living water......

I recently had a dream that I keep picturing just a portion of over and over. I honestly don't remember what the dream was about, or how I got to the part that is stuck in my mind, but I really think it's the Lord! So what I remember is this, I am sitting on a lush grassy area, in front of a beautiful rush of water with rocks jutting out here and there, the water that is flowing is full ....not a waterfall exactly, but a curve and drop in the flow of a large stream or small river....and I just keep picturing the water full and free flowing with lots of vigor.....white water crests, beautiful to behold on a gloriously sunny day, and I would say the flow was more than bubbling but not quite roaring, and I am just peacefully sitting and watching it, never tiring of it. It is so refreshing to me!
And as I was writing yesterday's post I was reminded of Never thirsting in my spirit, because I have eternal springs of water flowing from me because of Christ living in me, and His Spirit pours out of me streams of living water.....and I sit peacefully and watch as this happens, not striving, not weary to "live" the Christian life....and I just thought how cool is that. A reminder from the written Word of God, and a picture in my dreams, as I was still in my sleep, of this awesome truth!
I have really been paying close attention to my dreams of late, and just asking the Spirit to show me, reveal to me the things he is bringing to me in my dreams......


(I'm adding to the orginal post, God just brought another layer of my dream to my heart, 1/12)
I keep picturing the flowing water in that dream, I only saw myself sitting beside it the one time in my dream, but now every time I see the water, I just see the water, full and flowing and refreshing, I don't see myself anymore...and I believe God showed me, because He lives in Me, He will cause His rivers of flowing water to flow out of me, through me, to others, not because of what I do, but because I am resting in Him, by faith, I rest in what He has done, He has become one with my spirit and the life I live, I live by faith in Him....oh His yoke is so easy and His burden is so light........

"Living for God" Is it possible......?

I do not have it all together, never have...sometimes I like to think I do, ha ha....but then I fall flat on my face and thankfully am reminded I can't do anything in my own strength....I can do all things through HIM! I don't have my act "together", I don't honestly know how to "live for God".....but what I do have is an indwelling Christ, a gift of righteousness and the Holy Spirit!! That is amazing...that I don't have to have it together....if I think I do, and act as though I do.....I am not allowing Christ's life to flow through me .....which is the only way to "live for God" -allowing Christ to live through me, as me is what it's all about!!
Jesus is all we need to "live the life", it isn't Jesus plus something, like Jesus plus quiet times, Jesus plus good works, Jesus plus how well your marriage works, or Jesus plus the sum of anything YOU can do.......because you or I will never PRODUCE a life that pleases Him, HE is the only life that pleases Him!!!! Although many Christians can look good to us, and look like they have it together from what we see and we think is "holiness", but to God he sees the heart and he will not unite with us until we realize we are living a lie......
Often when I find myself facing a situation that seems too difficult for me, I stop and say Lord you have to do this, cause I can't, but I know You can.....this is when His yoke is easy and His burden is light....when I let go of control and allow Him to flow through me.....
Even Jesus when he was on this earth said, "I only do what I see the Father doing......I don't do anything of myself......I only speak what I hear from the Father.....The works that I do, they're not my works; they're the Father's works who dwells in ME."

- "When Jesus said, "Learn from Me, " He meant to learn from Him how He lived. And how did HE live? He lived out of the Father. He didn't have any other secret. As author Gene Edwards has said, Jesus Christ never tried to live the Christian life. He didn't have a Bible at home to read; He didn't have a prayer group to go to. He let the Father live the life through Him. He learned how to live out of the resources of the Father, which are not of this seen and temporal realm, but of the unseen and eternal realm." -
(quote from "The Rest of the Gospel.....)

So if Jesus lives in us, which HE does if we are truly born again, we don't have to TRY to live for God...HE in us...lives the LIFE......."IT's CHRIST IN YOU, the HOPE of GLORY......" No amount of trying, striving or effort will release Christ's life through you it will only frustrate you to no end....it is your trusting by FAITH....take it by faith and say "Lord, your Holy Spirit is showing me this truth, that Christ lives in me, my old nature has died, I am alive in Christ..(.after all you embrace by faith that he died on the cross for your sins, you embraced by faith that Jesus is the Son of God...so you can embrace that Jesus lives in you, as you)....please captivate my heart with this awesome truth so that I can lay claim to it, and stop trying to live the life myself and allow Christ to flow in me, out of me, living His life as me......help me to know by revelation that you have joined your spirit with my Spirit and that there is Deity inside me.....I am a vessel, or ambassador, or container of God's Life.....Wow, Lord we contain your Life....that is amazing....Thank You, thank you...this is freedom, this is REST ....I truly can be still and rest and trust in You to do all things through me.....AMEN!!!"

"Living for God" Is it possible......?

I do not have it all together, never have...sometimes I like to think I do, ha ha....but then I fall flat on my face and thankfully am reminded I can't do anything in my own strength....I can do all things through HIM! I don't have my act "together", I don't honestly know how to "live for God".....but what I do have is an indwelling Christ, a gift of righteousness and the Holy Spirit!! That is amazing...that I don't have to have it together....if I think I do, and act as though I do.....I am not allowing Christ's life to flow through me .....which is the only way to "live for God" -allowing Christ to live through me, as me is what it's all about!!
Jesus is all we need to "live the life", it isn't Jesus plus something, like Jesus plus quiet times, Jesus plus good works, Jesus plus how well your marriage works, or Jesus plus the sum of anything YOU can do.......because you or I will never PRODUCE a life that pleases Him, HE is the only life that pleases Him!!!! Although many Christians can look good to us, and look like they have it together from what we see and we think is "holiness", but to God he sees the heart and he will not unite with us until we realize we are living a lie......
Often when I find myself facing a situation that seems too difficult for me, I stop and say Lord you have to do this, cause I can't, but I know You can.....this is when His yoke is easy and His burden is light....when I let go of control and allow Him to flow through me.....
Even Jesus when he was on this earth said, "I only do what I see the Father doing......I don't do anything of myself......I only speak what I hear from the Father.....The works that I do, they're not my works; they're the Father's works who dwells in ME."

- "When Jesus said, "Learn from Me, " He meant to learn from Him how He lived. And how did HE live? He lived out of the Father. He didn't have any other secret. As author Gene Edwards has said, Jesus Christ never tried to live the Christian life. He didn't have a Bible at home to read; He didn't have a prayer group to go to. He let the Father live the life through Him. He learned how to live out of the resources of the Father, which are not of this seen and temporal realm, but of the unseen and eternal realm." -
(quote from "The Rest of the Gospel.....)

So if Jesus lives in us, which HE does if we are truly born again, we don't have to TRY to live for God...HE in us...lives the LIFE......."IT's CHRIST IN YOU, the HOPE of GLORY......" No amount of trying, striving or effort will release Christ's life through you it will only frustrate you to no end....it is your trusting by FAITH....take it by faith and say "Lord, your Holy Spirit is showing me this truth, that Christ lives in me, my old nature has died, I am alive in Christ..(.after all you embrace by faith that he died on the cross for your sins, you embraced by faith that Jesus is the Son of God...so you can embrace that Jesus lives in you, as you)....please captivate my heart with this awesome truth so that I can lay claim to it, and stop trying to live the life myself and allow Christ to flow in me, out of me, living His life as me......help me to know by revelation that you have joined your spirit with my Spirit and that there is Deity inside me.....I am a vessel, or ambassador, or container of God's Life.....Wow, Lord we contain your Life....that is amazing....Thank You, thank you...this is freedom, this is REST ....I truly can be still and rest and trust in You to do all things through me.....AMEN!!!"

There is so much more to the Gospel, than just the Cross!!

For most of my Christian life I lived believing that the Gospel was about believing that Jesus died on the cross to satisfy God's wrath for sin, so that I could have a way to be in a relationship with God. God being a just God, a holy God, had to have sin punished - so He sent His only son Jesus to live and to die for me, so that I could come to God and be cleared of my sin and have a relationship with Him and one day go to heaven. So to me salvation meant I was saved from my sin so I could now be free from God's wrath and one day I would get to go to heaven. Essentially, that is what I believed and what I thought summed up the Gospel. However, this version of the gospel left me in a confused state as to what do I do in the meantime. I mean it's great that Jesus saved me from going to hell, which was what I thought God's wrath represented, and that I would be with him in heaven for all eternity, but what about now...now what do I do, what does life me for me now??? Well, as you know I have shared what my life was like for many years, trials, confusion, struggles, striving, condemnation.....but no Victory, no peace, you know that deep inner peace that I was supposed to have. Well, thankfully, there is more to the gospel than what I had understood. SOO much more...I won't even be able to really scratch the surface in this post, but I will try. What I didn't understand, in my heart, although I had heard it here and there, was that God's wrath that was satisfied, didn't just mean I was rescued from hell. It means that God poured out all his wrath for all sin on Jesus and it was fully satisfied...allowing Him to forget my sin, and see it no more..it is gone, as far as the east is from the west...and God made a promise, through the prophet Isaiah (see Is. 54) to never be angry with me again! Wow!!! I do not have to fear that I am not in right standing with God anymore! Also, I learned that when Jesus died He became sin for us, so we could become the perfect righteousness of Christ....this is a supernatural exchange....and by Faith I believe it, not that I look like the perfect righteousness to anyone else, but that is how God sees me, and this is true because I, in the spiritual sense died, my spirit that is, with Christ and rose again and now I am a new creation in Christ, I now have the very life of Christ in me.....wow....So I died to sin, myself...and one more thing....the Law...I am not under the curse of the Law, the tutorship of the law in my life is now over....I know have it written on my heart, and I have the gift of righteousness along with the Holy Spirit, my helper and I have and indwelling Christ......I also want to say, the cross is important, but Jesus rose again...ascended to Heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father, He is alive and we can serve a risen Lord.....these are amazing truths that unfortunately get glossed over because as Christians we don't get it....we don't feel righteous, we don't necessarily look righteous so we think we still have a sin problem...yes, we will sin a bit......but if we lay claim to these truths and take them by FAITH and trust that God isn't lying to us, because this is all in His Word...we can then begin to see victory and we can have a peace deep in the very core of our being..because that's where Christ lives and we begin to KNOW it, really KNOW it, not Know about it...but sense it ....I suppose I could go on there is so much more to speak of.....I just want to say also, our feelings aren't the greatest thing to rely on when it comes to believing this, and other people's opinions and wary words do not change the fact that this is true....after all it is clear in the Scripture!!!!

There is so much more to the Gospel, than just the Cross!!

For most of my Christian life I lived believing that the Gospel was about believing that Jesus died on the cross to satisfy God's wrath for sin, so that I could have a way to be in a relationship with God. God being a just God, a holy God, had to have sin punished - so He sent His only son Jesus to live and to die for me, so that I could come to God and be cleared of my sin and have a relationship with Him and one day go to heaven. So to me salvation meant I was saved from my sin so I could now be free from God's wrath and one day I would get to go to heaven. Essentially, that is what I believed and what I thought summed up the Gospel. However, this version of the gospel left me in a confused state as to what do I do in the meantime. I mean it's great that Jesus saved me from going to hell, which was what I thought God's wrath represented, and that I would be with him in heaven for all eternity, but what about now...now what do I do, what does life me for me now??? Well, as you know I have shared what my life was like for many years, trials, confusion, struggles, striving, condemnation.....but no Victory, no peace, you know that deep inner peace that I was supposed to have. Well, thankfully, there is more to the gospel than what I had understood. SOO much more...I won't even be able to really scratch the surface in this post, but I will try. What I didn't understand, in my heart, although I had heard it here and there, was that God's wrath that was satisfied, didn't just mean I was rescued from hell. It means that God poured out all his wrath for all sin on Jesus and it was fully satisfied...allowing Him to forget my sin, and see it no more..it is gone, as far as the east is from the west...and God made a promise, through the prophet Isaiah (see Is. 54) to never be angry with me again! Wow!!! I do not have to fear that I am not in right standing with God anymore! Also, I learned that when Jesus died He became sin for us, so we could become the perfect righteousness of Christ....this is a supernatural exchange....and by Faith I believe it, not that I look like the perfect righteousness to anyone else, but that is how God sees me, and this is true because I, in the spiritual sense died, my spirit that is, with Christ and rose again and now I am a new creation in Christ, I now have the very life of Christ in me.....wow....So I died to sin, myself...and one more thing....the Law...I am not under the curse of the Law, the tutorship of the law in my life is now over....I know have it written on my heart, and I have the gift of righteousness along with the Holy Spirit, my helper and I have and indwelling Christ......I also want to say, the cross is important, but Jesus rose again...ascended to Heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father, He is alive and we can serve a risen Lord.....these are amazing truths that unfortunately get glossed over because as Christians we don't get it....we don't feel righteous, we don't necessarily look righteous so we think we still have a sin problem...yes, we will sin a bit......but if we lay claim to these truths and take them by FAITH and trust that God isn't lying to us, because this is all in His Word...we can then begin to see victory and we can have a peace deep in the very core of our being..because that's where Christ lives and we begin to KNOW it, really KNOW it, not Know about it...but sense it ....I suppose I could go on there is so much more to speak of.....I just want to say also, our feelings aren't the greatest thing to rely on when it comes to believing this, and other people's opinions and wary words do not change the fact that this is true....after all it is clear in the Scripture!!!!

How wonderful is the Gospel!

Romans 1:16 & 17

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is God's power working unto salvation to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and a firm reliance, to the Jew first and to the Greek, for in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith(disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith). As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."

Our part - Faith!

I have heard so many people, when I have "tried" to share the message of grace, say, "yeah but what about our obedience", or "you have to be careful that it doesn't lead you to license to sin".......when I lived a life of performance and was so focused on obedience(essentially in legalism) it only led to more sin and condemanation and guilt if I couldn't perfectly obedient or if I failed in my Christian "duties"!  Now, all I "do" is believe this message of grace with all my heart and have faith that what God's Word says is true, and this is leading to eager zealous time spent studying the word and an all consuming desire to know my God and Father intimately! You see God's not as concerned with our obedience as he would be desirous of our hearts being full of faith, leading to love and a desire to allow Him to live in us, through us -relinquishing all our own control and self-sufficiency. In the New Covenant Life there is blessing by believing, the Old Covenant way, blessing came by obedience. So it seems to me, if you are asking the question what about obedience you are under the Old Covenant. Jesus made a New Covenant with us all we have to do is believe by faith! Obedience is important, but it doesn't get you the blessing!(Read Romans 4). Romans 1:5 "It is through Him that we have received grace and apostleship to PROMOTE obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name's sake among all the nations..."
Our righteousness is not by efforts! You cannot have unmerited favor that you have to earn you cannot be fully justified by God and condemned by God at the same time.

"For it is by grace you have been saved -through FAITH, this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God, so that no one may boast."

Gospel, a righteousness from God that produces salvation, it is a gift, not by keeping the law, but by faith, from first to last empowering you and me (in Christ) to inherit the world. Wow!

Much of this post came from hearing Rob Rufus' message titled "How wonderful is the Gospel"