I am writing to the ones who seek to connect with God's Spirit. 

Hear me.

When you listen to the Spirit of God for the sake of knowing Christ, you will tell others what you have seen in heaven.

Where is heaven?

God's presence.

In you.
By Faith.
In Christ.

What does this mean?
It means that God gave you the ability to manifest his glory. 
He is where you are. 
In your body. 
Amen.

A conversation between The Trinity

The Father and the Spirit watch the Son as John baptizes Him.

"What are you feeling?"
"I am a Love Dove, Winged Peace, wanting to light upon the shoulder of Your Son."
"I feel You feeling Me."
"Father God, what are You feeling?"
"The creature baptizes his Creator.  I am in awe.  I love my Son.  I am pleased with Him."
"You want to tell Him."
"Very much."
"I will go with You as You do."
"And I will speak to Jesus with You."

As Jesus comes out of the water, He sees the Spirit of His Father in the form of a radiant transparent Dove, and hears His Father's voice:

"You are my Beloved Son.  I am very pleased with You."
"Thank you Father.  This is all I want in life; this is My life."
"Hello Immanuel.  From now on, as I gave You life, I will guide and empower Your Life."
"Hello My Dearest Friend and Companion.  Permeate Me, empower Me, lead me, control Me.  I give Myself to You freely."
"And We give ourselves to You completely."

How to be a spiritual person (Part 1)

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  The Lord Jesus

You can't be spiritual without The Spirit.  You can't flow with the wind without The Wind.  
God's Breath in you is your spirit.  This is the key to the beginning of being a spiritual person.  
Let's begin being a spiritual person.  If you agree, flow with me.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

You heard it and felt it: your breath, your spirit, your life, your essence.
Your breath came from God's Breath--His Spirit, His Life, His Essence.

Before you think, speak, or act, breathe.
If you agree, flow with me.
Do it now.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

When Moses asked God His name, God replied:  I am who I am.
When you breathe in and breathe out, you are like God:  You are who you are--God's creature.
Make no mistake.  You are not the Creator, nor the same as the Creator.  
You are a creature, made in the image and likeness and glory of our Creator.
When you breathe in and breathe out, you are who you are.

This is how to be a spiritual person: 

Breathe in, breathe out; be who you are where you are wherever you are.

Accept your Creator and yourself as His creature; accept that your breath is His Breath.
Click here for part 2.

How to be a spiritual person (Part 2)

"Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." Paul, and ambassador of Jesus

You can't be spiritual without a Spirit focused mind.  
The Spirit's desires must be your own.  
Your mindset must be a Spirit led mindset.  

This is my favorite definition of mindset: 

A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations.

Apply this to a spiritual mindset, or a Spirit led mindset: 

Spiritual mindset is a fixed mental disposition that predetermines 

a spiritual interpretation and response to situations.  

It means when you have an encounter in any situation, you allow the Spirit to interpret the situation, and in that situation, you respond in obedience to the Spirit.

This is how to be a spiritual person:  Have a spiritual mindset.

Have a fixed mental focus that predetermines 

(before any situation) a spiritual interpretation and response to that situation.  

Here is an illustration.
I have a friend named Yusef who is discouraged.  I want to encourage him but I don't know how.  So, having a fixed spiritual focus, I ask the Spirit to interpret Yusef's discouragement, and to tell me how to respond to his discouragement. The Spirit tells me to take Yusef on a drive at night, in a neighborhood with big beautiful houses. while listening to jazz music.  I hesitate because I don't think Yusef will like doing this.  I have a choice:  Follow the Spirit, or follow my reasoning.  I choose to follow the Spirit, and I take Yusef on the drive as the Spirit led me to do.  Yusef asks, "Why are you doing this?"  Afraid, I say, "No reason."  Yusef says, "I used to do this all the time by myself:  I used to go driving at night in neighborhoods with big houses listening to jazz.  But I never thought anyone would want to do this with me."  I told Yusef that the Spirit led me to do this.

You can experience the Spirit's leading in your life just like I did.  You can be a spiritual person.

Practice having a spiritual mindset for an hour, and let me know how it went in the comments.

Using the Power of Order in Your Life

Whenever you encounter disorder you encounter the devil.  Satan is always behind disorder wherever it is, directly or indirectly.  But God is always the source of order.  God's children promote His order; Satan's children promote disorder.  As it is written,

"Blessed are the peace makers,

for they will be called the children of God."

As a child of God, you should establish and maintain order, wherever you go, and whatever you do, in specific contexts of authority:

• If you're a husband, your focus is submission to the will of the Spirit of Christ.
• If you're a wife, your focus is submission to your husband in submission to the Lord.
• If you're a parent, your mission is submission to the will of your heavenly Father.
• If you're an employer, your mission is submission to the will of your heavenly Employer. 
• If you're a teacher, your mission is submission to Jesus, your heavenly Teacher. 
• If you're a child, your mission is submission to the will of your father and mother. 
• If you're an employee, you mission is submission to the will of your employer. 
• If you're a student, your mission is submission to the lesson given by your teacher.

You're the difference in these situations between the presence of God and Satan.  As it is written, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 

Chaos and disorder destroy freedom. 

We are only free when there is order. 

God is not the author of disorder but of peace. 

You are a child of God.  

Wherever you are, there should be order.

 

How am I Supposed to Feel? (Part 3)

John sees Jane hugging a man very tightly.  His fists clench and his face turns dark red.  John quickly walks up to Jane and the man and yells, "Get your hands off of my wife!" 

"John, he's my brother. I haven't seen him in 10 years."

***

Jane sees John writing at his desk; he never takes his eyes off of his pen and paper.  She feels tears well up in her eyes; the same tears she felt when her boss yelled at her.  Jane walks over to John's desk and says, "I feel like you don't even know or care that I'm home."  

"Oh hey Sweetheart.  I'm sorry.  I was writing you a love note because I know you've had such a hard day."

***



If John knew Jane was hugging her brother, and if Jane knew John was writing her a love letter, both would've felt differently.  In other words, if they knew the truth, it would have set their feelings free.

***

John sees Jane hugging a man very tightly.  He pauses and breathes because he feels blood coming to his face.  "God please help me to find out what's going on with Jane so I can respond the right way."  After feeling the blood leave his face, John walks up to Jane. 

"John, I want you to meet my brother.  I haven't seen him in ten years." 
John smiles and shakes his brother-in-law's hand, glad to finally meet him.

***

Jane sees John writing; he doesn't look up at all.  She pauses and breathes in, not allowing herself to cry just yet.  (She's had a very hard day.)  She prays that God will help her to find out what John is doing without coming to wrong conclusions.  She touches John on the shoulder and he takes her hand. 

"Hey sweetheart. I was just writing you a love letter, hoping your day got better." 

Jane let herself cry, but now with tears of love.

***

 



How are we supposed to feel?  We are supposed to feel whatever the truth dictates at the moment.  But the truth is the key.  We have to know what is actually going on before we speak and act.  This brief time period to find out the truth is the whole point.  As the apostle James said, we have to "be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to (express) anger."  I added "express" because that is the feel of what James is saying.  Paul said to be angry, but not to sin, or DO something wrong, excusing our wrong doing because of our anger.  We are supposed to feel whatever we feel in the moment, but we are not supposed to act on that feeling until we know the truth. 

How am I Supposed to Feel? (Part 2)

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."~The Lord Jesus

Remember how I said I wanted to be as free to feel as God is?  Remember I also said that sometimes God does things He doesn't like or want to do?  Now I'm thinking two things. 

1.  God always knows the truth about everything, so His feelings are always perfectly accurate and based on the facts.  That's why He can feel freely.  He sees clearly.  When God does something He doesn't want to do,  it's really Him doing something less preferable, or something that has to be done at the time that the facts dictate, even though He would want the situation to be different.  It's like parents who have to put their child out of the house.  They don't want to do it, but the facts show that it's necessary.  So they aren't really forcing themselves to act against their wills.  They are doing something they wish they didn't have to do. That was my first thought.

2.  The parents put their child out of the house because they know the truth.  They know that unless they put their child out, more harm will come to him or her than if they let the child stay. The parents' choice is based on these facts.

I believe this is the path to emotional freedom; this is how I am supposed to feel.

The reason I need to breathe or pause before speaking and acting is not because I want to repress the emotion.  I don't want to lose control and explode in a rage, nor do I want to be a cold robotic man.  I want to feel, yet be in control. 

How do I do that?  By knowing the truth.  The truth is the key to choosing and feeling.  I choose to focus on the truth so that my feelings can be true and intense. By knowing, speaking, and acting upon the truth, I can express all of my feelings. 

Click HERE for part 3.

How am I Supposed to Feel? (Part 1)

Have you ever asked yourself, "How am I supposed to feel?"  What was your answer? 

I know that I want to know how to feel in every situation.  I want the freedom to feel without regret.  I want to say and do what I feel, but at the same time be in control of my feelings.  I don't want to feel like I lost some emotional battle when someone tells me to "calm down" in an emotionally calm and condescending way.  I hate when that happens because I feel embarrassed to feel what I'm feeling in front of someone who is so "in control."  So how do I do it?  How do we do it?  How are we supposed to feel?

I want to be as free to feel as God is, and for my feelings to be as perfect as His.  Imagine that.  I can just "be angry but not sin" as the apostle Paul says...just like God.  Now God can pour out his wrath and let his anger out.  But He is also patient, slow to anger; He is perfectly just in His expression of anger.  How can I be like that?  Genuinely like that? 

One thing that helps me is realizing that God basically does the same thing we do when we get angry.  It's not as easy for Him to be sinlessly angry as I thought, which used to bother me. I thought it was unfair for God to want me to do something that was hard for me but easy for Him.  But there is a scripture that says, "God does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men."  So if God doesn't willingly afflict or grieve people, then that means He does it unwillingly.  In other words, God is doing something that He doesn't want to do.  The prophet Ezekiel also says, "God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked or of anyone."  But God is the one in control of life and death.  So when the wicked or anyone else dies, God is responsible as the Creator and Sustainer of life; yet He is doing something, or allowing something, that doesn't feel good to Him.  Just like I have to do sometimes, or just like you do. 

So our will seems to be the answer.  Not forcing ourselves any more than God forces Himself to do anything.  But being in control of our choices...not in the bad sense of control, but in the sense of being genuinely free to choose what we say and do.  We take a breath, or pause, or whatever we have to do to get a handle on our wills, our thoughts, and our feelings.  We  don't do this to suppress our feelings, but instead to fully express them in words and actions that we choose for the situation.

Emotions fuel action, and actions assume a goal, a goal we should understand with our minds.

(Click HERE for part 2.)

Why Raymond refuses to go to church.

This is what Raymond is thinking as he sits outside of the church.  "I want to be perfect, but I keep being told this is impossible by the church.  I can't stand this.  I can't stand that I must be sinful but that at the same time I can't commit adultery.  I want to commit adultery, but I can't, yet I can't keep from committing adultery because I can't be sinless.  I see how this is a contradiction and it makes me sick.  Why are we so stupid in the church?  Why can't we see that we have to be sinless or we are going to die or commit adultery or worse.  Jesus was perfect but I can't be; at least that's what I'm told.  So I might as well commit adultery.  Why not?  I'm going to heaven anyway and I can't be perfect.  But if I commit adultery my wife will leave me and the church will back her up.  Hypocrites.  They want me to be a perfectly faithful husband, to not sin, to not commit adultery, but they tell me that this is impossible because we are gong to sin everyday in word and thought.  Hypocrites.  This is why I don't go to church."

God...G-D...GOD

God is good.

God knows.

God...knows what...is good.

God Does.

Loves.

Hates.

God gives.

takes.

makes.

God is

was

will

GOD

God

God

God is 

who 

God is

God does not ask.

God tells.

Commands.

God does not need.

God fulfills

Creation. 

God is

was

will

God.

God.

God.

God is

who?

God is. 

God lives

wants

writes. 

God speaks

sings

recites.

God is

was

will

God.

Who is?

God 

HE IS

"I AM"

YOU ARE

Father Thank You (A song to God)

God my Father, Provider, Protector,

You are my reality.

Always with me, Counselor, Listener, 

Through Your Eyes alone I see.

God my Father, Teacher, Companion,

You are my energy.

Always in me, my deepest Connection,

You're always in me and with me. 

Father,

Thank you.

My Father,

Thank you.

Dear Father,

Thank you.

Thank you,

For being there for me. 

 

Father,

Thank you.

My Father,

Thank you.

Dear Father,

Thank you.

Thank you.

I love you eternally.

 

 

Your truth

Jesus said to Pilate, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. All who are of the truth hear my voice." "What is truth?" Pilate responds.

It's popular these days to hear the words "your truth." 

"That's 'your truth.'"
"Speak 'your truth'."
"Live 'your truth'."

But as Pilate asked Jesus, what is truth, yours or anyone else's?  And is "your truth" the truth Jesus was born to bear witness to?  Not from his words to Pilate.  Jesus said he came to bear witness to the truth, not your truth, not my truth.

Again, as Pilate asked, "What is truth?"

Pilate's question is his answer and ours.  To ask a question assumes meaning.  It assume a hearer and a speaker, and a common understanding between the two.  That common understanding, that common assumption, is the truth.  The reality.  Speech betrays us.  We can't hide behind our words.  When we open our mouths, we expose what we all know:  The truth.

What your church should be like

Where two or more are gathered in my name, I am in their midst.~The Lord Jesus
As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.~The Apostle Paul

The minister bowed his head and prayed.  "God, please lead me by your Spirit in Jesus name.  What do you want us to focus on today when we meet?"  The Spirit responded, "I have given Sean a song to sing that will comfort all of you because of your hard week.  Tamara has an encouraging message to share from her Bible studies this week. Let your wife close in prayer; her intercession will strengthen all of you and touch you all where you feel deep need.  When you open up the meeting, invite Sean, Tamara, and your wife to share whatever I've given them.  They will share in order everything I'm revealing to you."  Darren thanked God for guiding him.  As he got up from prayer, the doorbell rang.  It was Sean and Tamara, a young couple who lived in the neighborhood.  Amanda, Darren's wife, came from the bedroom to join the meeting.

After everyone greeted and hugged each other, Darren spoke.  "Please share whatever the Spirit is leading you to share."

Sean spoke first.  "I have a song the Lord is giving me to share with everyone."  Darren nodded.  So did everyone else.  After Darren's song there was a holy hush.  Everyone wiped tears from their eyes, thanking God for easing their pain from the week.  "That song fits perfectly with what I've been studying in scripture this week."  Tamara shared with everyone what God showed her all week long from the Psalms.  Darren and Amanda smiled at each other.  They had just talked at breakfast about the very same scriptures Tamara shared.  "Can I pray for everyone?  I feel deeply burdened to pray for each of you."  Everyone agreed.  Amanda prayed with conviction.  After she finished, they all felt God's presence, filling them individually and collectively.  They felt the Lord Jesus in the room

The Spiritual Realm (Part 2)

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
~Paul, the Apostle

You are either natural, carnal, or spiritual.  You.  The one reading.  Right now.  How can you know what you are?  First, you have to know the difference between the three categories of humanity.

THE NATURAL PERSON
Those who are natural live according to the physical and temporal.  They judge all things by and through the five senses, according to their own individual souls--their minds, emotions, and wills.  They perceive all things and everything and everyone independent of God.  They neither acknowledge God, nor serve Him.  They are their own gods, but are subject to the false gods, knowingly or unknowingly.  They do not have God's Spirit in them.  There are some who have but do not follow the Spirit within.  These are the carnal men and women.

THE CARNAL PERSON
Some have the Spirit of God in them through faith in Jesus Christ, but they don't acknowledge or follow the Spirit.  They, like the natural person, judge all things and everything by their physical and soulical faculties.  These are miserable, because the Spirit in them convicts them of their self-centered perspective. They have more in common with the natural person than with the spiritual person.

The natural and carnal person cannot understand spiritual things, the thoughts of the Spirit.  How can they?  To you, the one who is reading, who can know your thoughts unless you reveal them?  In the same way, the natural and carnal person live a life of separation from the Spirit.  They reject His mind, exalting their own minds above the mind of God.  They will not receive His thoughts.  But the spiritual man and woman can.  They alone are truly spiritual. They alone know the mind of God.

(Click here for part 3.)

The Spiritual Realm (Part 1)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
~Paul, the Apostle

What is the spiritual realm?

First, we have to understand what it truly means to be "spiritual."  It means one thing:  to follow the Spirit of God from within.  Only those who accept Jesus as Lord have the Spirit in them.  Only they can know and follow Him.  Only they are truly spiritual.

The falsely spiritual follow evil spirits.  Their spirits yield in passivity to demonic spirits.  They are, in a sense, "spiritual," but not in the truest and ultimate sense.  They live in a spiritual realm, a realm of darkness, a realm without God.  But the truly spiritual live in union with the Spirit.  These two realms are at war:  the realm of God's Spirit vs the realm of Satan's spirits.

But what is the spiritual realm, for those who follow God's Spirit or Satan's spirit?

The spiritual realm is the state of existence in which we perceive with our intuitions 

the presence and power of God, or the presence and power of Satan.  

It is the state where we know intuitively the thoughts of God or the thoughts of Satan.   

As it is written, "Those who live in accordance with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  Those who live in accordance with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh." 

This is how you distinguish the natural person and carnal person from the Spiritual person:  listen to their words.  As Jesus said, "From the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." As it is written in the book of Hebrews, the heart is composed of our thoughts and intentions.  And what is in our hearts, or on our minds, inevitably comes out of our mouths.

• The natural person's mindset is physical, and thus he or she focuses on and talks about physical things.
• The carnal person's mindset should be spiritual, but it is instead natural, and like the natural person.
• The spiritual person's mindset is on the Spirit, focused on spiritual things, or the thoughts of the Spirit.

Which are you?  Natural, carnal, or spiritual?
What is your mindset, your habitual focus?
What are you thinking and talking about most of the time?
(Click here for part 2)

The Spiritual Realm (Part 3)

The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for,“Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.~Paul the Apostle

THE SPIRITUAL PERSON

If you trust and obey the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God is in you, leading you.  You are a spiritual person, existing in the spiritual realm.  Your spirit, in union with the Holy Spirit, perceives intuitively the spiritual atmosphere, wherever you go.  You sense God's leading, and you sense Satan opposing God's leading. You perceive what is going on with the natural and carnal person, but you are not subject to the judgment of those who are natural and carnal.  As God Himself cannot be known by them, neither can you, as Jesus said,

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

You are Spirit born, beyond the comprehension of natural men and women.

Understand this.  Understand that you can only deeply connect to others in the Spirit.  This is your cross.  You must take it up daily.  If you follow the Spirit of Christ, you will be rejected by the natural and carnal person, just as Christ was rejected by natural and carnal people.  Listen to what Jesus said in a situation that took place in His life while on earth:

 
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Matthew 12:46-50 NIV

Jesus knew that only those who had the same allegiance to God the Father as He did were truly connected and related to Him.  This is true for you, if you are a spiritual person.

If you are not, you can become spiritual right now.  This is how.

• Turn from following yourself to following the Spirit.
• Realize that only those who follow the Spirit are your true friends and companions.

You follow the Spirit by following your renewed conscience.  When you were born again, you received a new spirit, who testifies with God's Spirit that you are a child of God, as Paul said.  Your conscience resides in your spirit.  Before you were born again, your conscience had only one trustworthy function:  conviction.  The Spirit's conviction led you to salvation.  Now that you are saved, your conscience is connected to the Spirit;  the law of God is in you, in agreement with the scriptures.  Paul said these words about the conscience:

I have hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense towards God and man.  Acts 24:15-16 

As you grow in maintaining a clear conscience, you will receive greater and deeper revelations in your intuition.  Your conscience only gives you a "red light/green light" kind of experience with God.  In the earlier stages of being spiritual, you present situations to God in prayer, and you either feel peace or you don't feel peace about whatever you are asking Him to do.  You learn to follow the peace of God, and thus grow in maturity.  What will begin to happen in your intuition is that God's Spirit will initiate revelation.  It won't be simply you bringing things to God for His approval or disapproval.  God's Spirit will lead you to do something very clear and specific.  If you choose to follow Him, you will experience Him leading you, and the revelations will grow.  You will go from revelation to conversation, from intuition to communion.

So the three stages of the spiritual realm for the spiritual person are:

1.Conscience

2. Intuition

3. Communion

If you are a spiritual person, the Spirit longs to lead you.  Follow Him.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Until then,

May you follow the Spirit of Christ in all things.

 

Here I am, writing...to you.  I don't have anything specific on my mind.  But I want to write.  I want to express myself as I am right now...to you.  Maybe we'll connect if I do this.  I hope so.

So, I'm alone, writing, in silence.  I like the silence.  Love it.  It's rare to have stillness and quietness.  I can hear myself think, feel myself feel.  Sometimes being alone is good.  But I'm with God and you, so am I really alone?  In my house, right now, I am.  No other physical presence, human presence, is with me.  I'm breathing deeply and feeling peace and quiet and good.  And in a way you're here with me, but not really, so I'm not completely alone, as I've said. 

What's the point of what I'm writing?  Does there need to be a point?  If you've read this far, then some how we're connecting, even though I don't have a subject or topic.  I do like just being sometimes...with you...with God...with me.  Quietness surrounds us...or me and God...and you...

How to Experience God's Peace

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

What does the peace of God feel like?  I used to think it was overwhelming tranquility, like being high on marijuana or the buzz of alcohol, but supernatural.  Now I know what the peace of God feels like.  

Earlier this week I felt anxious about a situation on my job.  I remembered what Paul said about praying when we feel anxious, so I did, expecting the transcendent peace of God.  After praying, I did experience God's peace.  It was subtle, yet real and powerful.  I realized that anxiety was more than just a feeling; it is a mindset that brings about a feeling. It's when I can't stop thinking about something that concerns me, something in the future.  What I felt after praying was that I no longer felt compelled to think about the situation, even though the situation hadn't changed, nor had my concerns about the future changed.  This is the peace of god, and it really does transcend understanding.  There was no logical reason for me to not worry, or think about the future.  It was simply an answer to prayer.  God did this for me and He will do it for you.

If you agree, pray with me:

Our Father in heaven,
You know what I'm worried about right now, the even in my future that I have no control over.  Please take care of this event for me, and until you do, give me your perfect incomprehensible peace.  In Jesus name.
Amen.

The Answer to Your Most Urgent Prayer (Part 1)

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.  King Solomon.

What do you need, and when do you need it?  This will determine the answer to your most urgent prayer.  I know.  I've experienced this over and over again.

Once I needed money urgently to pay my rent, urgently.  But when I sought help from government agencies, they consistently said the same thing:  To receive their aid, I had to be in "crisis."  They defined "crisis" as being on the verge of eviction, with eviction notice in hand.  This seemed backwards to me.  I didn't want to wait until  my landlord gave me an eviction notice to get aid.  Even if I got the rent money from the agency, what precedent would be set in this situation...even if I got a good paying job after the crisis?  Perhaps my landlord would be merciful if this was a one time event.  At any rate, the government would not help me until I needed the help, right then and there.  This somewhat encouraged me, even before I learned God's lesson of seasons.

I felt encouraged by the implication that I wasn't really in crisis at that moment.  I was trying to get my rent money before the rent was due, which would be in about three days.  I didn't foresee that my situation would be any different three days from the time I sought government assistance.  But they did.  Somehow, they thought that a money miracle could happen in those three days.  Somehow they thought that right up until I got an eviction notice, there was hope.  Perhaps they weren't thinking this way at all.  But it was implied.  And with this implication I saw God teach me a lesson.

In fact I did get the money before I even came close to eviction.  In fact, every time I've been in this situation, the same thing happens:

Right when I need something, God always provides it...not before, but also not after.

(Click here for part 2.)

The Answer to Your Most Urgent Prayer (Part 2)

When I say your most urgent prayer,  I don't mean you have to be desperate, or in a state of crisis, or in an emergency.  By your most urgent prayer, I simply mean a real and present tense need.  I've seen that God answers every need when we need it...not before, but definitely not after.  Whether the need is financial or relational, this is a divine principle.

For example, a young man asked me for advice about getting engaged.  He thought about whether he was ready emotionally and financially.  I told him what I'm telling you:  God will not meet his emotional or financial need to get engaged until he was in fact engaged.  I told him that he had God's "boyfriend provisions," and would not have God's  "fiancee provisions" until he was in fact a fiancee.  Put this another way.  I couldn't get help from God as a father until I in fact became a father.  What I found was that with each child I had, I would receive financial provision for that child by the time the child was born. 

God meets the need we have right now, even if that need is a peaceful assurance of future provision.

What do you need right now?  If you really need it right now, then thank God in advance, because today, before midnight, you'll have what you need. But if you don't get it before midnight, then like the government agency told me, you are not yet "in crisis."  In fact, just the fact that you have time to stop and read this blog proves it.  Those in crisis, believe me, aren't reading blogs right now.  But God sees them, and is providing for them, right now.

He'll do the same for you.
He is doing the same for you.

If you don't need something right now, but you definitely feel you will need it in the future, there is one thing that God will always give you right now:  His perfect incomprehensible peace.  The way to receive this peace is to pray instead of worry, as it is written,

"Do not worry about anything, but in all things, by supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in union with Christ Jesus."

If you agree, pray with me:

Dear God, 
You know each and every need I have right now, and in the near future.  Thank you that I can come to you instead of worrying.  Please provide every need I have, and until you do, please give me perfect incomprehensible peace.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Who's watching Anonda?

Anonda felt something.  It was like being watched, but no one was home.  "Who's there?" she thought to herself, almost expecting an answer.  That's what "it" felt like.  An audition or the beginning of an interview.  "Who's inspecting me?"  Anonda tried to put the feeling out of her mind and continue reading.  She liked letting the setting sun light illuminate her page.  But before she could get back into her novel, she felt it again.  Usually she would turn in the direction of the inspection.  Instead she searched her mind, as if the inspector was there.  "How is that possible?  How can I feel someone in me is observing me?" She decided to assume it was true...that someone was in her, watching her.

"Alright.  'It' had to come in while I was distracted, while I was engrossed in my reading.  But that's no good, because I wouldn't have noticed, so I can't tell when that would've been exactly...."

"What if I was here before you started reading?"

Anonda slammed the book shut.  "It" was talking to her. She refused to answer.

For five minutes, "it" said nothing.  She tried to blank her mind, breathing heavily. 

"If you were here already, why didn't you say anything?"  Anonda held her breath; she didn't mean to ask that...she actually wasn't asking "it," she was thinking to herself...trying to figure this out...which she thought was her first mistake, even entertaining this craziness....

"You ignore me mostly."

"Who are you?"

"I am The One who Guides your conscience.  You can barely hear me because you ignore me."

"It" was right.  She'd actually decided to ignore her conscience, and in doing so, evidently, she ignored "It" as well.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Should I be?"

"I hope not.  I'm sorry for ignoring my conscience, for ignoring you.  Can we start over?"
"Yes, we can always start over.  My voice will get louder, and clearer, from now on, if you want it to."
"I do."

"Then talk to me about the story, about what you're reading."

Anonda thought about the novel and how angry she felt with the main character, who reminded her of herself...the main character had been ignoring the one who loved her most....

Miriam (Part 1)

Miriam adored Jose, and Jose wouldn't breathe without Miriam.  From her earliest memory, it was so.  Jose had always known her deepest thoughts, emotions, and dreams, even as children.  They were best friends, each others only true friends; through each other they loved everyone and were intimidated by no one.  Then the day came, the best day of her life.

"Miriam, my one and only, my intimacy, my blissful ecstasy, I want one thing:  to be one with you.  I've saved myself for you, and you for me.  Will you marry me?  Become my wife, the mother of my children."

As she listened to Jose, time stopped and she saw a vision.  In this vision she saw three Miriams, giving three responses to three Joses.

Miriam 1
"No.  Too long I've lived this dream that is you and me.  Too long it has been 'we' instead of ME.  Now that I am of age, I must be who I am without you.  I reject your love, and even my love. I evolve. I am."

"Miriam, what is coming over you?  Why are you saying these things?"

"I evolve.  I am.  Be gone."

Jose, devastated, leaves.

Miriam 2
"Yes, but with this condition.  I must learn to love myself before I learn married love.  I will therefore marry myself as if I am marrying you.  I will do for myself what you seek to do for me."

"Miriam, what are you talking about?  You can't be your own husband, or the father of your own children."

"I must.  In saying yes to you, I have to do my part.  With all my might I have to earn the right to be a wife and mother."

"But that's impossible. Do you hear what you're saying?"

"I do.  How can I be a strong wife if I don't do this myself.  Give me time."

Jose, confused, leaves.

Click here for Miriam Part 2.

Miriam (Part 2)

Miriam 3
"Jose, I am yours, you are mine, and we will be one.  I will be your wife.  Take me and make me the mother of your children."

"Miriam, you honor me with your spirit, soul, and body.  I give you the same honor.

***

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Luke 1:38

We are in the same position as Miriam and Mary.  The life of Jesus can be manifest to us and through us by His Spirit, but we have three choices:

1. We reject Christ completely, rejecting His Spirit.
2. We attempt to strain and struggle in our own strength to experience the Spirit of Christ.
3. We actively yield; as Francis Schaeffer says it, we are "actively passive."

We yield, as Mary yielded when the angel Gabriel announced that Mary would become the mother of the Son of God.  As Francis Schaeffer said, Mary could've responded in three ways:

• She could've said no to Gabriel, and to God, refusing to jeopardize her marriage to Joseph by this scandal.  This would've been understandable.
• She could say "yes," and then strain and struggle in spiritual ritual trying to give birth to a son without a man.  Of course we see the impossibility of this.
• She could do what she did, knowingly and willingly give her body to God to do what He had planned.  This was not a passive thoughtless act, nor did Mary attempt to accomplish the impossible by her own strength.  Like a wife yielding her body to her husband for impregnation, Mary yielded her body to the Lord.

We must do the same.
If we want the Spirit of Christ to fill us, we give our bodies to Him actively.
He will do the rest.  He will fill us and manifest His life to us and through us.

What makes you attractive?

Think of a time in your life, or a specific situation, in which you were chosen.  Why were you chosen then?  I'm sure it's because you had  something that someone wanted or needed at that moment.  What was it?  If some one asked your advice, then you had wisdom, which made you attractive.  If someone was sad, and you cheered him up, you had laughter. You were desirable to the one who was sad.  Whatever you had that someone needed or wanted, you still have, and you still are.  That's what makes you attractive.

What if you can't think of a time when you were needed or wanted?  I can.  Right now.  I want you to read what I'm writing (and to comment.)  And you wanted to know what made you attractive, which attracted you to me, or at least to what I'm writing.  We are mutually attracted to each other, reader and writer.  Our mutual attention is an attraction.  Am I the only one today to give you attention?  I doubt it. When you received attention, undivided attention, you were an object of attraction.  Why did you receive this attention?  Whatever the reason you received undivided attention is what makes you attractive.

I'm drawn to you.  But I'm not the only one. 

How have you experienced being attractive today? 
Tell me in the comments box.

How to change your life (Part 2)

The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news. 
Jesus, The Son of God, The Chosen King

In order to change your life, you had to realize two things, then do two things.
We discussed the two thing to realize.
Now we'll discuss the two things you must do.

DO TWO THINGS
1. Repent.
To repent means to change your mind, and thus your actions.

What mindset needs to change?
What do you need to do differently?

Stop waiting for a new age, or a democratic revolution.  It has already happened.  

Change the way you think about America and about our world.

Many of us as American Christians think our nation brings the world salvation.  Repent.  Change the way you think about this.  Change how you approach your life as a result of this false assumption.  Jesus alone brings salvation, to this nation and every nation.  This brings us to the next thing you must do.

2.  Believe the good news.
Accept the King and His Kingdom, the rule of His Spirit in those who trust in Him, and through those who trust in Him.  The Spirit of God is on earth, right here and right now.  His rule on earth is heaven on earth.  His will being on done on earth as it is in heaven is the only way to liberty and reality.

Submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee, bringing the end of slavery and tyranny.

Does this sound too simple?
If you believe Jesus is Lord, this should simply remind you of your one purpose in life:  Submit to the Lord.
If it sounds too simple then you don't believe the good news.
You won't believe it.  You won't change your mind and thus your life.

The biggest change in your life is accept that your life belongs to God.
How do you change your life?  Give it back to The One from whom it came.
The fact that you can do this is the good news. Believe the good news, and change your life.

How to change your life (Part 1)

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.  Lao Tzu

John the Baptizer told us how to change.
Jesus told us how to change.
One word.

Repent.
How?
Why?

This is what Jesus said:
The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news.

This is how (and why) you change your life:
1. Realize two things.
2. Do two things.

REALIZE TWO THINGS
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.  We are the one's we've been waiting for.  We are the change we seek.  President Barak Obama

The first thing you must realize is this:  The time has come.  There is nothing else to wait for and no one else to wait for.  What you've been waiting for, and who you've been waiting for, has already happened; He has already come.  The world continues to seek The One with all the answers and power, The Savior of this sin sick world.  He came, and He is still here.  First, realize this.

Next, realize that because He came, the world we are waiting on is not in some far off future.  It is now.  We all want a Utopian heaven on earth, where there is true liberty and beauty and power and glory:  The Kingdom of God.  But there can be no kingdom without a king, The King.  He came, and He is here; thus His kingdom is already here, not far...but near.

Realize these two things.
After this, two things remain for you to do.

Click here for part 2. 

The day I was born, and the day I died (Part 2)

I was born 42 years ago today; 17 years after that, I died. On the night I died, I rose again. 
This is how it happened.

With my confession, with my faith in Christ's crucifixion, I experienced union. 
I died when Jesus died.
I rose when Jesus rose.

I became a son of God, no longer merely a son of Edward.
With this new identity I entered into reality.
I came to know that this world is ruled by God's enemy, now my enemy.
The world is held in slavery, but Jesus came to set every one free, both you and me.

Now that I'm free, I live for God my Creator, your Creator.
Every creature with whom I come in contact meets God in me.
God's Spirit now lives in me, filling me, leading me, empowering me.
Every creature can be set free if he or she wants to be.
But to do so, they must accept reality: 
God is reality.  This world is held captive by God's enemy.
But the Son of God defeated the enemy and now rules with all authority.
Yet the enemy still holds many in captivity, though they have been set free.
It's only by faith in God's Son that we all become God's children.

As one of His children, after 42 years of life in this dark world, I renew my commitment to my Creator, Savior, and Master.

In this world I am rejected, I am slain, I am resurrected, with Jesus Christ.
You may be too, if you choose to.  It's up to you. 

The day I was born, and the day I died (Part 1)

I was born 42 years ago today; 17 years after that, I died.  This is how it happened.

I sat alone in my dark room feeling guilty, a guilt I couldn't shake or take.  What had I done?  Sin.  Most horrible.  I worshiped her instead of Him.  I felt dead; I felt like dying.  What I wanted to happen would soon, but not in the way I thought.  Beyond thought or reason, based in intuition, based in what I'd heard in church but didn't know I remembered, I said these words out loud:

"I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He died for my sins."

Peace covered me like a blanket.
I no longer wanted to die.
But I did die.  I just didn't know it yet.

The me that sat in that dark room guilty of sin died with my confession.  My spirit was placed at the scene of an execution, The Execution:  Christ's Crucifixion.

When He died, I died.

I died to this world, this existence.
My old life.
My old self.

I was unplugged from the Matrix.
My life would never be the same, because it was no longer my life.

Click here for part 2.

What is God's purpose in existing?

"I am that I am."  God's words to Moses at the burning bush.

Our purpose is to know and be like God.  We exist to be intimately connected to God. But why does God Himself exist?  What is God's purpose?

The creature finds it's purpose in the Creator, living for Him to serve Him as He made it to do. But the Creator is infinitely and eternally pleased with Himself, to be Himself, to exist in relation to Himself forever.  The Father is eternally satisfied with the Son, and the Son with the Father.  The Father is eternally enamored with His Spirit, and the Spirit with the Father.  The Son infinitely Loves God's Spirit, and The Spirit forever returns this love.  

Think of three perfectly attractive, powerful, intelligent, and creative personalities eternally connected to each other.  Imagine perfect passion, fun, music, art, industry, technology, intimacy and ecstasy.  We can't imagine such an existence because we are not God.  Yet God has eternal satisfaction in Himself.

And He has created us to join in His satisfaction.  Being made in His image, according to His likeness, we can share in His eternal goodness, loving Him supremely, loving each other impartially.

Glory to God.

Amen.

What to do until Jesus returns

The Spirit of God is in you, if you believe in Jesus.  He, Himself, is in you.  Everyone you encounter meets God in you.  Wherever God is, there is heaven on earth--the kingdom of God.  The sick can be healed; the demon possessed can be set free.  Those who don't know can receive a revelation, and those with a revelation can live by that revelation.  And what is the revelation, the good news, the life changing truth that you possess?

The time has come; the kingdom of God is near.

That is the good news.

That's what you proclaim and personify.

THE TIME HAS COME.
It isn't in the past nor something we wait for in the future.  Now, the Spirit of God is on earth--in you.  You are the temple of God, the holy dwelling place of God's Spirit.  No one has to wait for Jesus to return because in a very real sense, He's already here, by His Spirit, in you.  Wherever you are, God's kingdom is.  You are the temple of God.  Those who are near you are near God's kingdom.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR
Not far.  Not far away in a distant land or future.  Here and now, right now, the Spirit of God rules wherever believers are.

This is why we are here.
This is what we are to do until Jesus returns:

Let the Spirit of God fill us, filling our lives, filling the atmosphere wherever we are.

The root of all your problems (part 3)

In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Ephesians 6:16  HCSB

The root of all of your problems is a lie; the source of all of your problems is a liar.  

Who do you always believe?

God or Satan?

Creator or creation?

God or yourself?

Satan, the master of deception, masks his deceptions in the first person, as if they are your own perceptions or emotions, as if they are your own thoughts.  His goal is to have you believe in him by believing in yourself, a mere creature, instead of believing in the Creator.  All lies, every lie from the father of lies, come to this:

Who do you always believe, no matter what?

Your unwavering faith in God is an invincible shield, 

and you wield an invincible sword, the word of God:  the truth.  

Hear and believe only the truth.

Ignore and disbelieve every contradiction of the truth.

What problem do you have right now?
At the root of that problem is a lie, and the source of that lie is the liar, the devil.

Find the lie by the Spirit of truth, and exchange the lie for the truth instead of the truth for the lie.

If you agree, pray with me,

Father, in the name of Jesus, by the Spirit of truth, guide me into all truth, revealing every lie that I believe, so that I may exchange lies with the truth.  Amen.

The root of all your problems (part 2)

He (the devil) has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44B NLT, parentheses mine.

Tammy knew Ben needed her as much as she needed him.  He'd told her this in their last conversation, and she believed him.  "Why did I doubt him? Why did I believe a lie?"

Before her lunch break, Tammy remembered anticipating and expecting Ben's call.  When he didn't call, her first thought was, "Something must've happened." But then another feeling came, a feeling of fear mixed with anger.  Again, at first, she remembered wondering why she felt fear and anger.  She believed Ben fully intended to call her, but must've been kept from doing it somehow.  Then it dawned on her.  She made a choice.  She exchanged the truth, what Ben promised, for the lie, her feelings that contradicted Ben's promise.  With this realization she had a revelation: a lie implies a liar.  Tammy now remembered the voice of the liar.

She remembered this thought that accompanied the feeling of fear and anger:  "I know he doesn't care about me; he just thinks I'm needy."  She now remembered the tone of the thought:  the tone was furious and and afraid, a fury and fear that seemed much more than she would've usually felt when she was genuinely angry or fearful.  In other words, it wasn't her thought.  Though the words were in first person, imitating her own mental voice, it wasn't a thought that originated with her own actual feelings.  She truly believed Ben probably had a good reason for not calling, but she also had the bad feelings that she remembered allowing to over take her.  She remembered the moment she let the feelings flow over her like a shower.  Before that moment, she felt like she was at two roads:  one leading to believing Ben, the other to disbelieving him.  "Why did I choose do doubt him?" Tammy asked herself.  The answer came solidly, with an almost tangible certainty.  

It was easier to trust in herself than to trust in Ben.  
This was the essence of the temptation and deception.  
(Click here for part 3)

The root of all your problems (part 1)

"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen."  Romans 1:25 NIV

"I know he doesn't care about me; he just thinks I'm needy," thought Tammy about her husband as she drove home from work.  She clenched the steering wheel, forcefully inhaling and exhaling.  "He said he'd call me at my lunch break.  How hard is that?  I know what he's doing.  He's probably too busy with his new book to even care about our agreement.  I know what he's thinking: 'Why can't she get through one day without us talking in the middle of the day?'  Well I don't need him that much.  I'll let him know just  that as soon as I see him!'

Tammy notices how fast she's going and slows down.  She's only five minutes away from her house.  The thought of Ben's car in the driveway, sitting there all day, confirms his thoughtlessness in her mind.  But after five minutes, she pulls into her driveway, and Ben's car isn't there.  "Where on earth is he?"

Before Tammy unlocks her door she sees an envelope taped by the knob.  It's his handwriting:  "To my beautiful wife Tammy, my best friend."  She opens the envelope before going in:

"Tammy, I've been thinking about you all day.  I actually tried to call you five minutes before your lunch break to make sure I could reach you.  Our electricity went out, and I our WI-fi connection was lost, so I couldn't call you on our cell phone or send you a message.  Tammy, I want you to know something:  if you're needy, so am I.  I don't just want to talk to you at lunch, I need to.  I need to hear your voice in the middle of the day.  Our connection is my life on earth.  I love you baby, and I'll see you soon, if you get this before I get home.  (I went to see about our WI-fi.)  Ben."

She noticed Ben's name blurred by her tears, and realized this:

The root of all of her problems was a lie.  (Click here for part 2)

How to be exactly like Jesus

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.  The Apostle Paul

If you follow Jesus, you are born of the Spirit of God, just as Jesus Himself was born of the Spirit of God. You are a son or daughter of God, just as Jesus is The Son of God.  God is your Father, and the Lord Jesus is your Brother.  Imitate Jesus.  Be led by the Spirit of Jesus.

John the Baptizer knew Jesus as The One upon whom the Spirit came and remained, as The One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  John knew Jesus by the Spirit.  You too should be known by the Spirit. 

This is how to be exactly like Jesus.

As Paul the Apostle said, the Spirit testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God.
You are reborn, Spirit indwelt, so be Spirit led. 

This is how to be Spirit led:
The first step is to maintain a clear conscience, a constant state of God's perfect incomprehensible peace.  Pray before you act, and seek God's peace which transcends understanding.  It will be like a red light or green light in your heart.  You will sense God's peace when you are going in the right direction, and a lack of God's peace when you are not going in the right direction.  As you grow in the consciousness of God's peace, you will grow in your ability to receive guidance from him.  This leads to the second step.

Follow the Spirit's promptings in your intuition.  In the first step of being led by the Spirit, you would receive only "yes or no" kind of guidance that you would initiate in prayer for God's will.  Now the Spirit Himself initiates revelation and direction.  You sense an inexplicable certainty that you should go in specific direction or say a specific thing.  You don't know why with your logical mind, but you are absolutely certain and clear that the Spirit is steering you internally, though not forcefully. You still have freewill.  As you grow in listening to your intuition, guided by God's Spirit, for the witness of the Lord Jesus, you will receive more and more revelation, direct communion with God Himself.

God will start to speak to you in more depth and detail.  You will know the voice of the Spirit, conversing with you daily, through out the day intimately.  He will enhance your understanding of scripture as you study and show you how to apply scriptures wisely.  You will also discern Satan and demons seeking to destroy your connection to Christ.  The Spirit will empower you to resist them.  Continue to follow Him.  Be led by the Spirit.

This is how to be exactly like Jesus.

If you agree, please pray with me:

"God, in the name of Jesus, fill me and lead me by Your Spirit so I may be exactly like Jesus in whatever situation I'm in. In Jesus' name Amen."

Share with me in the comments box your experiences of following the Spirit.

How YOU reveal God's glory

The glory of the LORD shall be seen by all mankind together.  The LORD has spoken.  It shall be.
Isaiah the prophet (Paraphrased in song.)

Man is the image and glory of God; woman is the glory of man.  Paul the apostle.

If you are a man, you are the glory of God; if you are a woman, you are the glory of God's glory. 
This is reality.  Masculinity and femininity reveal God's glory and the glory of God's glory. 

In this day and age, your manhood and womanhood are divine callings. You reveal Christ and His eternal bride.  You reveal a glimpse of the union between God the Father and God the Son. 

Embrace your masculinity and femininity for God's glory.  Refuse to allow a redefinition of your masculine and feminine natures.  Be a man.  Be a woman.  Be like Christ.  Be like His bride.

Your bodies reveal God's glory and the glory of God's glory.  Treat them as temples of God, and each part of your bodies as instruments and weapons of righteousness, as Paul the apostle said.  If you are a man, do what only a man can--let your facial hair grow; if you are a woman, let your softness show.  Give your sexuality to your wife or your husband only.  If you are unmarried, be faithful sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.  Whatever state you are in as men and women, you know how you are masculine and feminine outside and in.  Be this and only this.  And the glory of the LORD shall be seen by all mankind together.  The LORD has spoken.  It shall be.  

Two things God will always give you (Part 1)

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15 NIV

What if you could always get exactly what you prayed for?  You can.  In fact, you can always receive these two things from God:  His will and His peace.

YOU CAN ALWAYS RECEIVE GOD'S WILL.
It's impossible for you to completely escape God's will for you.  God allows nothing to happen to you, good or evil, true or false, that stops His will in your life.  Therefore, if you want God's will for your life, you can assume two things:

1. God will instantly change your situation if it goes against His will.
2. God won't instantly change your situation, which means for the time, you are in fact, in His will.

For example, say you feel you're not living where you can best honor God.  You want to move.  So you seek God's will for your relocation, asking Him to give you an opportunity to move.  If God doesn't show you a way to move within the hour or day of your prayer, then for the time, you should stay where you are.  You should also know that, for now, you're where He wants you to be.  If you know that God will always give you whatever you ask in agreement with His will, then you can know that you have it as soon as you ask it.  But how can you know if the situation doesn't immediately change?  You can know by perfect incomprehensible peace. (Click here for part 2)

Two things God will always give you (Part 2)

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!" Isaiah 26:3 NLT

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Phil. 4:6-7 NIV

YOU CAN ALWAYS RECEIVE GOD'S PEACE
The two things you can always receive from God are his will and his peace.  These two things are really one thing, because it's only in God's will that you can have perfect and incomprehensible peace.  Using the example of moving from part 1, let's say you want to move but you can't right now.  As we said, if you can't move right now, then you must assume that for now you are exactly where God wants you to be.  And even if you aren't, until he gives you a way to leave, he will give you peace that has two very distinct characteristics: perfection and incomprehensibility.

1. Perfect Peace
Nothing and no one can you give complete peace except God.  No drug or drink or person can make you feel complete tranquility in spite of circumstances you wish you could change, like if you wanted to move but you couldn't.  God's peace is perfect.  You don't want or need anything else when He gives you peace.  This is supernatural because it's incomprehensible.

2. Incomprehensible Peace
God's peace doesn't seem to make sense, given the circumstances at the time.  You are definitely not happy if you want to move but can't, yet you feel content, tranquil, satisfied.  Why?  It's definitely not your environment because you in fact want to leave your environment but can't.  God either makes your environment tolerable, or he gives you peace even though it's intolerable.  Either way, his peace is incomprehensible, and you feel his peace when you are in fact in his will.

Ask for God's will, or ask for His peace.  In asking one or the other, you are asking for the same thing.  When you ask for His will, be absolutely certain that you have it, right then and there and now.  With this certainty God will give you His perfect incomprehensible peace.

If you agree, pray with me:

God, we acknowledge You as our Creator and Lord.  We exchange our wills for Yours, because Your will is good, acceptable, and perfect.  Please give us Your will for our lives, and with Your will, Your perfect, incomprehensible peace.  In Jesus' name, amen. 

Will you resist the Antichrist (Part 4)

Who do you admire the most?  What do you like doing more than anything?

When you think of the one you admire, or of what you like doing more than anything, at some point, you have encountered a Christian and an Anti-christian, a glimpse of Christ and the Antichrist.  I know because I've experienced both.

As a musician, I have encountered heavenly and hellish music, and thus heavenly and hellish musicians.  Both were wonderfully creative and opened new worlds of composition to me.  Both pointed me to the Creator of Music, and the other claimed I could be The Creator of Music.  One showed me how to create musical worlds that were like God's home world, the other wanted me to create my own world, where I am my own musical god.  You may not be a musician, but in your field, you've met the Christian and the Anti-christian as well.

You've met someone that you admired in your field, someone who had an unexplainable quality.  He or she seemed to grasp the concepts and principles of your field with extraordinary clarity.  When you asked how he came to have such understanding, he told you about God.  And you believed him.  But you felt uneasy, because someone else seemed to have a similar clarity.  But she didn't make you feel like you had to give up who you are to be enlightened.  Quite the opposite.  She told you that the light was in you, not in some distant God "out there."  She wanted you to look deep inside of yourself and find your own light, like she did.  You were attracted to her, but also cautious of her.  Something in her voice told you she couldn't fully be trusted.  You know intuitively that she also wanted you to lay down your life for her power source, though she didn't tell you what that source was.

So whom did you choose?
Whom do you choose?

The choice you are making, the choices you have made, only lead to the final choice you will make before this world ends.  One day, in the final days, Christ and Antichrist will want what they've always wanted:  your soul.  You've already been giving it to one or the other.  If you haven't been choosing Christ, choose him now.  Right now.  Not the Christ of your imagination, or the enlightened ones who focus you on yourself.  Choose the God you can't imagine, the one beyond your imagination, the real God, the Only True God.

Choose Him now:

God, I have known you through creation and conscience, through revelations and persons who reflect you.  But I have ignored you to be my own god.  Please forgive me.  I reject all false gods, and I submit to you alone, the Only True God.

Now pursue absolute reality, no matter what it costs you or your family or anybody.  Refuse to live in the imaginary, or to allow anyone to tempt you to create your own reality.  Jesus said these words for you to take to heart:

For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world:  to bear witness to the truth.
All who are of the truth hear my voice.

If you want to hear the voice of Jesus, commit yourself to absolute truth, to absolute reality.

Will you resist the Antichrist (Part 3)

In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself.  Unless you know God as that--and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison--you do not know God at all.  As long as you are proud you cannot know God.  A proud man is always looking down on things and people:  and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.  That raises a terrible question.  How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious?  I am afraid it means they are worshiping an imaginary God.  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity--The Great Sin.

What comes to your mind when you imagine Jesus?  Some see him as a democrat or liberal, others as a republican or conservative.  Some see a radical revolutionary.  Others see a black man, or a gay man.  Some introverts find passages that prove Jesus was, in fact, an introvert, praying in solitary places and having intimate one on one conversations.  The extroverted Christians find passages of Jesus before crowds and at parties, turning water to wine, living it up in spite of the uptight religious leaders of the day--a bold extravert.  Catholics see him one way, protestants another.  But what should come to mind when we think about or imagine Jesus?


Nothing.

To try to imagine him, even using "holy imagination" as some say, is idolatry.  It is an imaginary graven image, but an image of our making nonetheless.  Our imaginary Christs are really Antichrists, other Christs, even if nice.  Jesus just so happens to see things exactly as we see them.  In your mind, you have met him.

(Click here for part 4.)

Will you resist the AntiChrist? (Part 2)

"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 
Luke 10:22 NIV

Are you a false prophet?  Do you presume to speak for God as if you have a perfect knowledge of who He is?  This is dangerous.  We dare not misrepresent God, acting as if He is made in our image instead of us being made in His.  

It is written,
"When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you." Psalms 50:21 NIV

Moses misrepresented God when he struck a rock in anger instead of speaking to it as God commanded him to.  Before, when Israel was thirsty, God told Moses to strike a particular rock.  Moses obeyed, and water came from this rock.  There was a time later in Israel's journey through the desert when Israel complained of thirst.  God told Moses to speak to the rock this time, but instead, in anger, Moses struck the rock.  Water came out, but God had been misrepresented.  Moses was to represent God to Israel, but instead Moses made it seem as if God were angry, when God wasn't.  For this, Moses was punished by God; he wasn't allowed to enter the promised land.  Why was God so stern?

God will never allow Himself to be misrepresented by those who represent him.  This includes you and me as Christians. We don't have to be Christian leaders to misrepresent Christ; any misrepresentation of Christ is an accurate representation of the Antichrist.  Therefore, you and I have met him, the Antichrist, already.  When a Christian acts unchristian, or when you and I act unchristian, we meet the Antichrist, or people meet him when they meet you and me.

Click here for part 3.

Will you resist the antichrist? (Part 1)

"...every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." 1 John 4:3 NIV

You've already met him.  You already know him.  Either you've accepted or rejected him, but one thing is certain.  One day your decision, your acceptance or rejection, will be final.  This is what he was like, what he is like, and what he will be like when you meet him again, perhaps for the last time.

There is something you really want, something that defines your life.  You've been striving for this something since your first conscious thought about what makes you really happy.  You've met someone who seems like he has exactly what you're striving for, possessing the happiness you've wanted all your life.  But there is a problem.  When you ask him what makes him so happy, or you watch him to find out his secret, you don't like the answer:

His happiness is God.  He lives for God alone, and will accept no other happiness except God.

Now you know the secret of his happiness, but you want to forget...until you meet someone else. 

You meet someone who also seems to be what you want to be, someone who also seems happy, almost happier than the man of God, but not quite as happy.  This puzzles you, until ask him how he became so happy (yet not so happy.)  You find out from this man that he lives to evolve into his ultimate self, that he himself is his ultimate happiness.  He is in touch with his inner god, his Christ-self.  His happiness seems as intense as cocaine, and as calm as marijuana.  The buzz of alcohol seems normal to him.  You like him better.  He didn't have to surrender himself to a Lord; he is his own lord, and he promises to show you how to be your own lord as well...

Click here for part 2.

How to finally be happy

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven,whose sin is put out of sight!  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty.  Psalms 32:1-2 NLT

I know how you feel sometimes.  I do.  I've been there with you.  I understand you.  You're not alone.

Sometimes you've wished you could change something you said or did.  You wish you could go back in time, right to the moment where you knew you could choose or refuse to do something you would later regret.  You wish you weren't like you are, that it came easier to choose right and refuse wrong.

I know how you feel sometimes.  I've been there with you.  I understand you.  You're not alone.  But you and I have the hope of finally being happy.  This is how.

Admit it, or remember that you've already admitted it. 
What are we admitting, and to whom are we admitting it?

We are admitting to God that we have sinned, confessing our sin without any excuses.
That's all we have to do, or all we have to remember doing if we've already done it.

God forgives you when you confess your sins.
Jesus paid the penalty you and I deserve, which is death and hell.
The Spirit sets us free from our past and gives us hope for a beautiful future.

When God forgives, He forgets forever, as if it never happened, as if you are a totally new person, because in fact, you are.  When you believed in Jesus, the old you with all those regrets died with Jesus, and a new you, the new you, the true you, was reborn as a son or daughter of God.

Forget with God what you were and what you've said and done.  The old you died with Jesus 2000 years ago.  You're now free.  Free to love God and be loved by God.  Free to follow His Spirit from now on.

If you don't feel free, say this prayer with me:

God, I've said and done things I can't take back, that I regret.  These are the things I've done:
______________________
Please forgive me for all that I've said and done that displeased you or hurt others.  I trust that Jesus died in my place for all that I've ever done wrong, and I accept that You punished Him instead of me.  I accept Your Spirit inside of me to now lead me.  Thank You for forgiving and forgetting my sins.  Let Satan and every demon's accusations be silenced.  Amen.

God loves you, and so do I.