Category: Mind of Christ

“I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will life). He will come in and he will go out [freely] and will find pasture. The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.

John 10:9 – 11 (AMP)

Is your understanding of being a Christian limited to only getting into heaven after you die? Yet this is the only benefit that so many, many, many Christians are aware of. Bible scholars will tell us that there are over eight thousand covenant promises in the Bible. Sadly, just as many confessed Christians are equally unaware of what a covenant is a sacred, binding relationship initiated by God. More on this in a future blog post.

With this blog post, I want to fuel your hope and to give your faith a target to aim for. There is so, so much available to us as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17)

I first want to point out that Jesus calls Himself “the Good Shephard.”  When we look at this word “Good” in the Greek, its meanings include, genuine, approved, precious, admirable, beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, hence praiseworthy. And the meanings go on and on. What I love here is that His heart for us, as His sheep is that He wants the best for us to the point where He is even willing to die for us to get it. WOW!!!! 

Next, I want to point out where He says, “…anyone who enters in through Me will be saved….”  When we look at this word in the Greek it is “sozo,” which mean to be whole. This is very telling because we need to understand that without an active living relationship with God through Jesus we ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCONNECTED from our very Source of Life. Please get what I am saying that there is an entire additional aspect of life and existing beyond that of our physical bodies.

“God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness and let them have complete authority…. So, God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion ….” 

Genesis 1:26a, 27, 28a (AMP)   

God told Adam that if he ate of the tree of Knowledge, that he would die. And the death that God spoke of was that of a spiritual death, a disconnection from God, from Life Himself. So, with our confession of Jesus as Savior we are “born again.”  We become whole, we return to spiritual life and the covenant benefits found in having a relationship with God.

The last sentence of John 10:9 is, “He will come in and he will go out [freely] and will find pasture.”  The word “pasture” in the Greek, “nome,” reaches well beyond our thinking that sheep have a place to go and eat. It means figuratively that we will NEVER have any needs, that you will have growth, increase and that you will be very well supplied to have a fulfilled life. That the abundant life that He is talking about is found in our relationship with as our Shepherd.

“Therefore, let the whole house of Israel recognize beyond all doubt and acknowledge assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (the Messiah) – this Jesus Whom you Crucified.”  Acts 2:36 (AMP)

Please notice the word “both” and the word “and.”  Jesus functions in the role of Christ, Savior, our Messiah!!!  His death, His surrendering to the cross for us, His sheep, and (more importantly) His resurrection served to reconnect us with God, our Source of Life. We become saved, sozo, whole. Yet, He still serves in His role as Shepherd, He is Lord!!!  He still serves as The One Who leads us to the pasture where we can gain access to His promise of an abundant life. WOW!!!  WOW!!!  WOW!!!  Sadly, for way too many Christians, their relationship with Jesus is limited to only acknowledging Him as Savior.

I want to be very clear, in His role as Savior, Jesus is our door to a relationship with God and our entry way into heaven. And it is in our obedience to His as Lord, to Jesus as our Shepherd that we gain access to the abundant life promised in John 10:10.

One of the most quoted verses in the world is John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (KJV)

God love for us is unconditional, it is a free gift. Nevertheless, He still created a place called hell. Why? Because we have the power of choice. If we want the benefits attached to God’s love and that of a relationship with His we are REQUIRED to confess and  believe in our hearts that Jesus in His role as Savior surrendered to the cross for us and was resurrected, that He over came death by way of God’s Holy Spirit and IS STILL FULFILLING HIS ROLE AS LORD, His role as our Shepherd!!!  In other words, we have a part to do, God requires action on our part for us to take part in the things that He has already provided. Yes, he provided freely, but we still must take action to receive what He gives us out of His love for us. Let us look at what Jesus says in Luke 6:46 – 49,

“Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord and do not [practice] what I tell you? For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words [in order to heed their teaching] and does them, I will show you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on a rock.  But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed and fell, and the breaking and ruin of that house was great.  (AMP)

In this passage from Luke, Jesus, Himself tells us the importance of serving, or being obedient to Him as Lord and the impact that serving Him as Lord (Shepherd) has on our lives.

He ties our being obedient to being the foundation of our lives!!!  Remember that a building’s foundation determines not only the quality of the structure, but also how high the building can be. Also notice that Jesus says, “WHEN a flood arose…,” not if a flood comes. THERE WILL BE STORMS IN EVERY LIFE!!!   And its in serving Jesus as Lord, being obedient, obeying His Words, that we survive that horrors and death that goes hand in hand with sin.

I will go into deeper detail with part 2 of Unlocking the Abundant Life, but for now let me key in on a few things.

·       Jesus in BOTH Savior and Lord.

·       Jesus as our Savior returns us to wholeness, to an active and living relationship with God, with Life Himself.

·       Jesus, as our Lord and Shepherd desires to lead us to green pastures, to a life that reaches beyond anything that we will do without Him.

·       Being obedient aligns us with God’s heart and His desires for us.

·       True freedom, safety, and joy are found in obedience.

·       Our obedience is an active expression of our love and appreciation of God.

The last takeaway is where we will pick up in part 2. Until then May God bless you in ways that are beyond your understanding.

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” 

Jeremiah 1:5 [KJV]

Even thou God made this statement to Jeremiah, we know that He is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), meaning that God treats all of His believers the same, what He has promised for one is true for all.

Let us look at this verse a little closer, only with ourselves in mind, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…”  The Hebrew word of “knew” is yada(ידע); it means to have an intimate knowledge of someone or something.  Throughout the Old Testament, this is the term used for physical intercourse.  It speaks of the highest level of intimacy possible.

THINK ABOUT THIS, before God even said, “Let there be light.” He had a personal INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF YOU.  No matter what the circumstances around your birth,

YOU WERE/ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT!!!

Before we move on, IT IS VITAL THAT YOU GET THIS, not only did you beat unimaginable odds just in being born but also realize that

GOD KNOWS EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE AND HE STILL CHOOSES YOU!!!  HE KNOWS ABOUT EVERY SINGLE SIN, MISTAKE, MISS STEP AND ANY OTHER WORD THAT YOU WANT TO USE,  AND HE STILL SELECTED YOU TO FULFILL A PART IN HIS PLAN FOR HUMANKIND!!!

The word intimacy carries with it the aspects of a relationship with someone where we are required to be vulnerable, loving, trusting, giving, etc.

And there is the problem,

Life is already whipping my butt and this God Guy is asking me

to turn this wound, this hurt, this circumstance,

THIS PAIN OVER TO HIM

SOMEONE WHO I CAN’T EVEN SEE, FEEL OR TOUCH.

“We are [children] of God.  Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him listens to us]…” 

1 John 4:6 a [AMP]

There is an inherent value at our core that cries out to be reconnected with

OUR SPIRITUAL FATHER, OUR ABBA FATHER.

This is the part of us that is exactly like our Creator, which is longing to be nurtured, to grow and to express itself, to be born again.  (Romans 8:16)

It’s in the nurturing and developing of this core nature that allows you to know and experience the joy and juice of life.

OUT OF YOUR CORE,

THE PLACE THAT GOD SANCTIFIED AND ORDAINED,

STEM THE TOOLS

THAT ALLOWS YOU TO ENJOY LIFE TO ITS FULLEST.

The personal fruit, the individual benefits that these tools provide are joy, kindness, courage, authenticity, that sense of freedom, belonging and security that only LOVE HIMSELF can supply. This is that spot in you where the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit take root.

THIS IS WHERE YOU TAP INTO THE ABILITY TO ENJOY LIFE TO ITS FULLEST.

THE FOUNDATIONAL BENEFIT FOR HAVING A REVERENTIAL FEAR OF GOD, for engaging in an active, living relationship with Him  is that you are not only reattached to LIFE HIMSELF, but

YOU ALSO GET TO DISCOVER WHY YOU WERE BORN!!!

The Amplified Version of Jeremiah 1:5 says that God”…knew and approved of you as His chosen instrument…”

He said that not only did/does He know you personally, but He also “sanctified” you, “ordained” you.

He sanctified you;

He set you apart for a specific purpose.

In other words, He has a job, a function that fits into His plan for humankind that

YOU AND ONLY YOU CAN DO.

He then goes on to say that, He has ALREADY ordained you to fulfill this role.  The Hebrew word for ordained is “nathan”, it means to give, to bestow or to grant.  In other words,

He also gave you the tools that you will need in order to fulfill your Godly assignment.

The problem is that most of the tools are inside of us in an undeveloped state, in some type of seed form.  Now we come to an important function of most of life’s battles,

“The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.  And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.  [But what of that?]  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!”  

Romans 8:16 – 18 [AMP]

A veiled benefit of engaging in life’s battles is that it is in the course of battle we develop the tools, those gifts and talents that were ordained and purposely placed in us by God Himself.

Life’s suffering; the struggles and circumstances of life and living are the gateways for God’s glory.  In this verse glory speaks of, “the state of blessedness into which believers are to enter through being brought into the likeness of Christ” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

Notice HOW God chooses to reveal, to express this glory:

a)     To us = Giving us the wisdom and revelation to make the best/Godly choice

b)     In us = Tangible transformation takes place

c)      For us = Fruit is evident for us to enjoy and for others to see

d)     Conferred on us = We become God’s ambassadors, where we impact the lives of others 

Hold on to this truth –

YOU ARE LIKE A GREAT DIAMOND, BRILLIANT AND PRICELESS.

THE ONLY THING THAT SEPARATES

A PRICELESS DIAMOND AND A WORTHLESS LUMP OF COAL

IS PRESSURE.

True Godly character is only developed under pressure; this is the tangible process of transformation. We actually need the stress, the pressures of life in order to develop our character in order to become Godly stewards over the things that we want and that God wants to give us. (See my blog “Breaking through the Pain”)

Remember:

In order to reach into the greatest joy possible you must

• Physically spend private time with God
• Learn to listen to and for His voice
• Be totally truthful with Him
• You were born for great things, to do the impossible
• THIS IS NOT ABOUT PRETENDING THAT THE PULLS OF THE FLESH ARE NOT REAL, BUT REMOVING THEM FROM THE POSITION OF LORDSHIP OVER YOUR LIFE.
• RECOGNIZE THAT ONE OF THE GREATEST VALUES OF LIFE’S BATTLES IS TO PROVE TO YOU THAT YOU ARE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK.
• YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO TRUST, TO HAVE FAITH IN, A GOD THAT YOU CAN’T SEE TO CONQUER SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN SEE, FEEL AND TOUCH.

Well, I didn’t even get to scratch the surface so, I hope that you will come back for part 3 of “Doing the Impossible”

Doing the Impossible – Part 3

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days
of your life.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you.  Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper
wherever you go.”  

Joshua 1:5 – 7 [AMP]

In this passage, God is speaking to Joshua about entering into a promise land, a land of milk and honey, a land that He had given to them 40 years before.  Yet of the 3 million or so people, that God granted this gift to, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones (who were over twenty) that received the benefits of this promise.

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.  As  I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.  Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you.  Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.”  

Joshua 1:5 – 7 [AMP]

WHY?

“Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.  But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are. So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants.  And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.  There we saw Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”  

Numbers 13:30 – 33 [AMP]

FEAR OF THE GIANTS WAS MORE SIGNIFICANT TO THEM THAN THE 

GOD WHO GAVE THE PROMISE AND THE BENEFITS FOUND IN THAT PROMISE.

WHERE DO YOU FIND THE  STRENGTH, THE POWER, THE COURAGE TO FACE THE VERY THING THAT YOU FEAR? 

I think that the answer to this question starts with understanding what courage actually is, Macmillian’s dictionary defines courage as, “the ability to do something that you know is right or good, even though it is dangerous, frightening, or very difficult.”

In other words,

TO DO WHAT YOU NEED or WANT TO DO EVEN IF YOU ARE AFRAID.

Here’s the problem, for many, if not most, of us,

We spend more time trying to get past the things that we fear instead of moving toward the goal that we have set.

The unspoken dilemma of intellectualizing fear is in trying to wrap your mind around something that taps into a part of you that reaches beyond your ability to think.

 The “know how” or “what to do” is found in our thinking but the energy and/or desire to do it comes from our emotions, our attitude, and our mental state of mind.

One reason that it’s not always a good thing to know what the battle will bring or the obstacles that one might face in a conflict or even in trying to reach a goal is that this knowledge, real or imagined, gives the spirit of fear a potential handle to manipulate you.

Many times with too much “thinking” comes a shift, a change of focus.

The focus is taken off what we want and subtly placed on a pain or difficulty found in the struggle to reach our goal or objective.  The gain or benefit of future goal loses out to present moment safety and comfort.  We put a greater significance on losing what we have versus what we will gain from moving forward.   I want to be very clear here, I am not saying that you should not be prepared for what you may have to face.

I’m saying that a key foundational deception of Satan is in tricking us into making safety and comfort more important than growth.

We make the struggle more vital than the benefits to be gained.

I believe that the promises and benefits that God extended to the Israelites are still available to us in our present time.  While theirs was a promise of a “physical land”, our land of promise is the dream(s) that is in our heart.  And that dream being FROM GOD,

IS FOR BOTH OUR ENJOYMENT AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF GOD’S KINGDOM AND THAT OF HIS WILL.

It is only by stepping out in faith that you discover that there has always been a power and strength ready to serve you as you fulfill your God given destiny.  It is only by tapping into the dream that God placed in your heart that you realize and discover that no man can stand against, because of the GREATER ONE, Who is in you, is more dominant, stronger than any opponent or hindrance or seemingly impossible obstacle that you might face.  (1 John 4:4)

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOUR DREAM IS FROM GOD?

Well, this is where the significance of a personal relationship with God comes in,

“Receive my instruction in preference to [striving for] silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, For Skillful and godly Wisdom is better than rubies or pearls, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.  I, Wisdom [from God], find out knowledge and discretion.  The reverent fear and worshipful awe of the LORD [includes] the hatred of evil; pride, arrogance, and evil way, and perverted and twisted speech I hate.  I have counsel and sound knowledge, I have understanding, I have might and power.”  

Proverbs 8:10 – 14 [AMPC]

DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE, TO START LIVING THAT DREAM THAT LINES UP WITH GOD’S WILL

AND HIS DESIRE FOR YOUR LIFE

STARTS WITH SPENDING QUALITY TIME IN HIS PRESENCE

Remember:

• We are not meant to be led by our emotions, but to use the information that they provide.  Your emotions – energy in motion – have valuable information for you to use. (more on this in a future blog)
• Satan’s desire is to “shift” your focus, to where comfort becomes more important than growth or any change for the better.
• That every promise from God IS AVAILABLE TO YOU RIGHT NOW.
• That the benefits of doing the impossible outweigh the comfort found in wandering in a wilderness of your own making.

In part 2 of “Doing the Impossible,” we will touch on why and how the benefits of fearing God prevail over fearing your situation no matter how dark it may seem.  And how to take practical steps that tap into the strength, the power, and the courage needed to do the thing(s) that you fear.