You have…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Potential, Responsibility

                                                   … the mind of Christ!

Under the Old Covenant, God said this through the prophet Isaiah

      For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
      Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
      For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
      So are My ways higher than your ways,
      And My thoughts than your thoughts.
      Isaiah 55 8-9

What a blessing to know that Jesus came
… and that He changed all of that,

      For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’
      But we have the mind of Christ.
      1 Corinthians 2 16

We have the mind of Christ, which means that
… we can think God’s way,
and His thoughts can be our thoughts.

      Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
      Philippians 2 5

Therefore when we are under pressure,
… when we don’t know what to do,
we simply need to do what Scripture tells us to do,

      casting down arguments and every high thing
      that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
      bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
      2 Corinthians 10 5

In other words,
      bring those thoughts and pressures to Jesus,
      … let Him guide your thoughts and actions,
      … let Him tell you what to do.
 

Great …

Posted on jan2 CommentsPosted in Potential, Trust

                                                     … in the Kingdom!

Being great in God’s kingdom
… is not that you have,
… or what you have,
but that you give!

Being great in God’s kingdom
… is not what you give,
but that you give!

      Maybe you want to give,
      … but the need seems so big.
      Maybe you want to give
      … but what you have seems so little.

The Philippians did not have much,
… but gave according to what they had,
and knowing their hearts,
… and their situation,
the apostle Paul wrote this to them…

      And my God shall supply all your need
      according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
      Philippians 4 19

Because it is not about what you have,
… but it’s all about – that you give!

      Give, and it will be given to you: good measure,
      pressed down, shaken together,
      and running over will be put into your bosom.
      For with the same measure that you use,
      it will be measured back to you
      Luke 6 38
 

Authority & Substance

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Character, Faith

                                                       … of faith!

The authority of faith…
… is the (logos) Word of God.

Faith in the authority we have in Jesus’ name
… to speak to that mountain (Mark 11 23)
Not because of who we are,
… but because of who He is,
… and who we are in Him!

      Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions,
      and over all the power of the enemy,
      and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
      Luke 10 19

*******
The substance of faith… (rhema)
… Abiding in Him and His words (rhema) abiding in you.

Faith in God and in God’s Word
… and all that He has done and prepared for
whoever comes to Him.

      But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
      for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
      and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
      Hebrews 11 6

As Jesus said …
      I am the vine, you are the branches.
      He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
      for without Me you can do nothing.
      …
      If you abide in Me, and My words (rhema) abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
      John 15 5,7
 

Open to Him

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Life, Responsibility

                                             … to all that He is!

God opened Himself,
… all that He is
… all that He does
up to us through the Lord Jesus Christ,
making it possible for us to live in the fullness of life.
… As Jesus said,

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

There is but one simple condition
… for all of that to become a reality in our lives.

      Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
      James 4 8

God is saying to us…

      Come to Me and open yourself up to Me,
      … not your problems or needs,
      BUT you, yourself, your life
      … open that up to Me
      that I may come into your life.

      For only then will I be able to provide
      … all that you need,
      and all that I have planned for you
      … in your life!

Therefore …

      Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
      and He will lift you up.
      James 4 10
 

Living …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Life, Love

                                                             … LOVE!

God showed us His love for us
… through the life of love Jesus lived on earth for us!

      By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
      And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
      1 John 3 16

How can we live that kind of love?
God’s first words to man were,

      Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful…’
      Genesis 1 28

      and being fruitful simply means
      … that we live our lives for others.
      It is all about doing what you do, for others.

That is living LOVE,
… living the image of God that is in us,
that image that Jesus lived in His life.
His actions of doing for us what we could not do,
so that we could have all that the Father planned for us to have!

As Jesus said …

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

Live that abundant life by …

      Living LOVE,
      … with LOVE,
      … … in LOVE!
 

Individual …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Life, Potential

                                                          … or just different?

God did not make us all different,
but He made us all individual.

      God created us in His image,
      … which means that before Him we are all the same,
      … with equal abilities to live in the fullness of life!
      But God created us all individual,
      … each with our own freewill,
      with the ability to decide our own future.
      Individual with the right to be different.

However, it is God’s image in us,
… and His image of us,
that He wants us to live, to be!

      We have known and believed
      the love that God has for us.
      God is love,
      and he who abides in love
      abides in God, and God in him.
      1 John 4 16

God is love and it is that image of love
… that God wants us to live
in our own individual way.

      Choosing who He created us to be
      … is what will make us individual, different.
      Choosing His way, His principles,
      … is what will make His image in us manifest,
      is what will make us that individual HE created us to be.
 

A Gift …

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Life, Potential

                                     … filled with potential!

The gift of life … is not about a gift,
… but the potential of that gift.

The value of a gift, any gift
… is not in the cost, the size or how it looks
but in the potential that is in that gift.
As Jesus said …

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

Jesus came so we could have life,
… but what are YOU doing with that gift?

      Are you waiting for God to do things in your life?
      … or waiting on Him for instructions on what you need to do?
      Are you expecting your circumstances to be taken care of?
      … or expecting to know what to do to counter those circumstances?
      Are you expecting God to be there regardless of what you do?
      … or are you looking for direction on the way ahead?

God wants to bless us and take care of us,
… and even told us how that will happen,

      And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
      … because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.
      Deut. 28 2
      The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses,
      … and in all to which you set your hand,
      Deut. 28 8

Are you listening to and obeying HIS instructions in your life?
And are you setting your hand to do what He wants you to do?

      It is YOUR life, a gift from God,
      … and if YOU respond to the potential God put in you,
      YOUR life WILL be
      … full, blessed, prosperous and be all that God said it should be!
      Life in abundance!
 

God’s faith…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Faith, Trust

                                                                … in YOU!

The faith that God has in what He has created,
… and the faith that God has in YOU,
is the faith that YOU need to have in Him!

As God Himself said to us…

      Now the just shall live by faith;
      But if anyone draws back,
      My soul has no pleasure in him.
      Hebrews 10 38

Faith is what enables us to live what God has provided
… through His love for us,
… through what Jesus did for us!

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

Jesus lived by faith,
… and by faith in God He went to the cross for us.
What about you?
Are you willing to live by faith in God?

      But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
      for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
      and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
      Hebrews 11 6

That is the faith God wants us to live by,
… because that is the faith that He responds to!
 

Work out …

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Life, Responsibility

                                     … your own salvation!

The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus is our Saviour,
yet, Paul writes to the Philippians saying …

      work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
      Philippians 2 12

Is salvation really our responsibility?
… or are we missing something?

      What is certain is that we cannot save ourselves.
      Paul is therefore not talking about us working out our own restoration,
      … neither is he talking about us working out our own forgiveness.
      But Paul is making an extremely important statement, by asking us,
      … what are you doing with what Jesus has done for you!

So what is working out our own salvation all about?

      It is like someone having put money in the Bank for us!
      That money is ours, it belongs to us,
      … irrespective of whether we deserve the money or not
      … it’s a gift to us, it’s our money!
      And yes, it is extremely valuable,
      … and all its benefits are also ours,
      … not just to have, but for us to use!
      However,
      … before that money becomes of value to us,
      … before its benefit becomes real in our lives,
      we need to draw it from the bank,
      … and start using it,
      and working with it so that we benefit from it.

We need to live out the benefits of that free gift,
… that gift of salvation, restoration and forgiveness,
which will become a REAL benefit in our lives,
as we live that abundant life Jesus paid the price for us to have!
 

In a relationship …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Faith, Relationship

                                                             … with Him!

      It is not our relationship with Jesus
      … as our Healer,
      … as our Saviour,

      but it is our relationship with Jesus as our Lord
      … that manifests His presence in our lives,
      … that manifests His salvation in our lives,
      … that dispels our needs and manifests His answers!

Yes Jesus died for us.
He has already acted on our behalf,
… and therefore healing and salvation belong to us!

      who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
      that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness
      – by whose stripes you were healed.
      1 Peter 2 24 / Isa 53 5

But how do I walk in His fullness?
Not just by receiving Him as Saviour,
… but by also developing a personal relationship with Him!

      A relationship with Him because of who He is
      … the One we want to be with,
      regardless of our state or our need!

It is that relationship with Him
… that takes us into His presence,
… where we receive all that He has done!
That is our part, what we need to do
… as the apostle James said,

      Thus also faith by itself,
      if it does not have works, is dead.
      James 2 17