God Placed Heaven In Your Heart
We are living in volatile and uncertain times. There are all sorts of voices and influences fighting for our attention. In some cases, we’re not even sure what to believe.
Regarding COVID-19, I read that it isn’t mutating, then I read another article that says it is. Some say once isolated to test for vaccines, the virus dies quicker than they can test it, others say it lasts longer than usual. Our own health care officials say the church is dangerous but it’s unclear if the virus is spreading due to protests. One thing we know for sure is that God’s promises are sure, let’s stand on those.
But since we can’t really trust the majority of news sources, we must listen to another source. I’m not pushing a conspiracy theory as much as I’m addressing the 24-hour news cycle. News outlets are forced to squeeze every drop out of a story. Often times they release stories before they know all the facts. This is a problem.
That leaves us with one option that will not give us fake news, the spirit of God. If I could teach you to do one thing and one thing only, it would be to hear and follow God. But how do you do that?
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#6 from Nurture Spiritual Desires
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart...”
We are living in volatile and uncertain times. There are all sorts of voices and influences fighting for our attention. In some cases, we're not even sure what to believe.
Regarding COVID-19, I read that it isn't mutating, then I read another article that says it is. Some say once isolated to test for vaccines, the virus dies quicker than they can test it. Others say it lasts longer than usual. Some say masks will save people, others say they’re unhealthy. Our own health care officials say going to church is dangerous, but then say it's unclear if the virus is spreading due to protests. One thing we know for sure is that God's promises are sure. Let's stand on those.
Since we can't really trust the majority of news sources, we must listen to another source. I'm not pushing a conspiracy theory as much as I'm addressing the 24-hour news cycle. News outlets are forced to squeeze every drop out of a story. Often they release stories before they know all the facts. This is a problem.
That leaves us with only one option that will not give us fake news, the spirit of God. If I could teach you to do one thing, it would be to hear and follow God. Because if you consistently follow God, your life would continually point people to Jesus, glorify God and be a blessing to the families of the earth, including yours.
So how do you hear and follow God? It’s all about the heart.
Your Hear God From The Heart
This is what most people think about the human heart.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. NKJV
But you have to know this as well.
Ezekiel 36:25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
God puts His spirit in you and gives you a new heart so you can hear His spirit. You received a new heart here.
Colossians 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. 12 And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
God removed the old heart in a spiritual circumcision. He cut away the old, dead inner man and put in a new one, along with His spirit.
This new heart is directly connected to God's spirit, which not only lives in and through you but has joined it/Himself to you. God's spirit is alive in you and pours that life, light, and love into your new heart. You follow God from this new heart.
Nurture Spiritual Desires
I don't suggest you follow your heart, I suggest you follow God, but you do that from the heart. So you want to make sure your heart is receptive to His leading.
You do this by learning to live from your spiritual senses and desires. You see with the eyes of your heart. You receive revelation with the eyes of your heart. You can taste and see that what the Lord is giving you is good for you. You can hear His voice in your inner man/heart. You already know you can feel his presence. I think, at times, I have even smelled a sweet aroma related to His manifested presence.
We're talking about spiritual vs. carnal thinking. Spiritual thinking turns the eyes of the heart to God in any given situation to consult His Word and hear from His spirit. At any point, regarding any issue, we can turn to God's written Word and allow it to become the Living Word in our hearts.
This is how grace works. God's spirit/Word/life empowers, teaches, and sustains us. It's a real thing that happens. We really can receive joy in sadness. We really can receive the power of righteousness in the face of temptation. We really can allow His spirit to flow through us to heal people. We really can yield our mouth to His spirit and pray with our spirit in unknown languages.
His spirit is alive and active in your life!!
The message above says so much more on this topic. I hope you watch the full sermon, I really believe I said clearly what God placed on my heart for this season. Watch it and let me know what the Lord inspires in you. Take action! Don't let the volatile political season discourage you. The world needs hope, and it lives in you!!
The Body of Christ is God's Promise to the World
Christ is the seed. He is the fulfillment of the promise that through Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Christ offers deliverance from sin and death as well as eternal life for all who trust in his finished work.
It’s pretty simple to understand that Christ is the seed that blesses all nations, but you are actually included in part of that fulfillment as well. The Body of Christ in the earth, blessing all nations is the residual effect of Christ being planted in the earth.
Christ continues to bless the nations of the world through his spirit AND his body. YOU!!!
Not only do you enjoy the blessings -
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#5 from Nurture Spiritual Desires
“Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
God made a promise to Abraham. The promise is found in Genesis 12.
1 Now the LORD said to Abram,“Go forth from your country, And from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; 2 and I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
The blessings and cursings are found in Deuteronomy 27 and 28, read through those when you have time.
Who Is Abraham’s Seed?
Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
Christ is the seed. He is the fulfillment of the promise that through Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Christ offers deliverance from sin and death as well as eternal life for all who trust in his finished work.
It’s pretty simple to understand that Christ is the seed that blesses all nations, but you are actually included in part of that fulfillment as well. The Body of Christ in the earth, blessing all nations, is the residual effect of Christ being planted in the earth.
Christ continues to bless the nations of the world through his spirit AND his body. YOU!!!
Not only do you enjoy the blessings -
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
But you also are part of the fulfillment to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.
Join-Heirs with Christ
How are you part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham? Christ received the promise of the New Covenant, and you are in Him. You are in Christ. Indeed, you are a joint-heir with Christ.
ROMANS 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Side Note: The suffering Paul refers to is not walking away from the faith under any persecution you may face. The only kind of tribulation and suffering God endorses is persecution fo proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus. He’s not referring to everyday troubles in the world.
You inherited God. Specifically, you inherited God’s spirit, and He gave you the right to be His child. He gave you His spirit once you decided to come to Him through Christ. From then on, you have the same spirit in you that raised Jesus from the dead.
His spirit has a plan and a purpose for the world. That plan is to spread the news of the Kingdom of God and advance the Kingdom of God. We participate in that plan as we spread the good news of His kingdom.
How Can I Bless All the Families of the Earth?
How can you spread that good news? How can you let people know that God loves them? How can you be the hands and feet of Jesus and participate in the advancement of His kingdom? In general, you can walk in love with people and take advantage of opportunities to tell people about Jesus. But I want to challenge you to dig a bit deeper.
I recently heard about Sean Feucht. Sean is a worship leader out of California. He is holding public worship gatherings in places like Portland, Seattle, and parts of California where worship gatherings have been shutdown.
I love what he said. What caught my attention is that he wants to change the narrative. It’s simple yet profound. People scroll their news feeds, read their news apps, and watch tv, only to see the same stories of protest, unrest, and division. He wanted to inject something else into people’s news feeds, something hopeful.
What he chose to do is hold worship gatherings that have experiences the most unrest in our nation. And it’s working. I am personally inspired, I talk about in the sermon above. Watch this clip of Sean.
Well done, Sean!! I will act on this inspiration and do something to change the narrative in my community. I pray you will as well. No matter how large or small, if every believer stood up like the protestors, we’d make a loud noise for Jesus that people couldn’t deny. That’s where true racial reconciliation will come from. That’s how we’ll plant healthy seeds of economic reform. That’s how we’ll affect legislators. The Body of Christ can stand up to release hope and healing. What will you do?
Your Thoughts AND Your Words Have The Power of Life and Death
Your thoughts about yourself and inner self-talk have the power to produce life or death. Think about it. What happens when you’re feeling sorry for yourself or you spend time beating yourself up in your mind? How does it feel? How do those kinds of thoughts influence your inner state and your choices? Same question about your words. You are nurturing yourself or killing yourself. You are planting seeds of life or death.
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#4 from Nurturing Spiritual Desires.
Check out these two powerful truths. 1) To be spiritually minded is life and peace, but to be carnally minded is death. 2) Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
What you think and what you speak are planting seeds of life or death. The direction of your thoughts in any given area will determine the outcome of that issue. The content of your words in any given area will determine if you’ll reap life or death.
Think life and speak life.
Self-Talk
Your thoughts about yourself and inner self-talk have the power to produce life or death.
Think about it. What happens when you’re feeling sorry for yourself or you spend time beating yourself up in your mind? How does it feel? How do those kinds of thoughts influence your inner state and your choices? Same question about your words.
You are nurturing yourself or killing yourself. You are planting seeds of life or death. (I speak about this in more detail in the sermons above.)
Nurture Life
Try this. Identify an area you’re struggling. Identify the emotions associated with that area. In the days to come, notice how you think, speak and feel about yourself in those areas. Whether it be health, finances, relationships of your profession
Once you get an understanding of what you think and feel about yourself, take it to the Word of God. Do a search in the Bible for the kinds of thoughts you have; depression, anxiety, lack of focus, fear, over-confidence, etc…
Adopt what the Bible says as your new self-talk and thought life. I recently posted a 30 minute video in the Facebook group for our church, it may be helpful.
A Secret Weapon
It’s a good idea to guide your mind to Biblical truth and speak healthy things, but what should you do when you can’t seem to pull yourself out of the funk? Fortunately, God gave you a secret weapon to bypass your thoughts and self-talk.
“The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself”
Tongues means language. Praying in unknown tongues is praying in a language unknown to you. But something IS happening. Your spirit is praying. And, God is praying for you, through you. Praying with your spirit bypasses your thoughts and words and gives God’s spirit the reigns of your life. Who doesn’t want that? When you use this gift, everything will work out for your good—more on that in the sermon above.
All Believers Have the Spirit
If you’re born again, God’s spirit lives in you. You don’t have to wait for a second blessing, an infilling, or anything else. What does need to happen is for you to yield to His spirit and allow Him to come upon you. The Holy Spirit is in you to come upon you. He used to come out of Heaven to rest on people, then go back into Heaven. But now Heaven is in you. So He still comes out of Heaven to rest upon you and empower you, the good news is He never leaves.
It’s up to you to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in any gift, whether it be praying in the spirit, healing, receiving provision, or casting out devils. Praying in the spirit is not when God takes control of your mouth and makes you speak. Praying in the spirit happens when you make a conscious decision to make unknown sounds, as an act of faith, and trust that God is using the power of life and death in your tongue for His purposes.
Remember, life and death are in the power of the tongue. Allow God to merge His power with the authority you have as a human in this world, and pray His purposes for you and the world around you, through you.
How to Think Spiritually and Have Life and Peace
Spiritual thinking isn't necessarily when you're hearing God tell you mysteries, or you hear angels singing and secrets about other people, spiritual thought is merely coming into agreement with how God thinks.
God gave us lots of instruction on how to think and what to think about. In fact, in Romans 8, we learn that the focus of our thoughts ultimately determines whether we'll experience life or death.
If we think as God instructed us to think, we will have life. If we use only our five natural senses to inform our thoughts, it will produce flesh-based thinking that will always lead to death. It's death because we're trusting in our own effort, and we can not bring ourselves into spiritual life.
Here are a few passages on how to think and what to think about. If you not only know them but also apply them, you can radically change your life and experience what God has given you in spiritual form.
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Message #3 from my series Nurturing Spiritual Desires.
“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace”
Have You Ever Wondered How To Think Spiritually?
Spiritual thinking isn't necessarily when you're hearing God tell you mysteries, or you hear angels singing and secrets about other people, spiritual thought is merely coming into agreement with how God thinks.
God gave us lots of instruction on how to think and what to think about. In fact, in Romans 8, we learn that the focus of our thoughts ultimately determines whether we'll experience life or death.
If we think as God instructed us to think, we will have life. If we use only our five natural senses to inform our thoughts, it will produce flesh-based thinking that will always lead to death. It's death because we're trusting in our own effort, and we can not bring ourselves into spiritual life.
Here are a few passages on how to think and what to think about. If you not only know them but also apply them, you can radically change your life and experience what God has given you in spiritual form.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Your life is a reflection of what you think about, good or bad. When you allow God's spiritual seeds of truth and wisdom to take root in your heart and mind, you will experience radical transformation.
Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law (instruction) always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Meditating in God's divine prescriptions (Law) is not a flesh-based effort to do everything perfectly. It's planting God's instruction and wisdom in your heart to the point that they bear fruit in your life. The harvest is success and prosperity.
Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true... and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
This is a life application exercise in and of itself. No matter what you are facing, you can ask yourself what the truth is in this situation? What is God's truth? What is the honorable thing to do? What is the good report in this circumstance? And so on…
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Christ isn't necessarily located at God's right hand, "right hand" is a position of authority. The instruction is to set your mind on the supremacy and authority of Christ. And when you do, remember that you are a co-heir with him, he gave you the keys to his kingdom. You share in Christ's inheritance. Maybe you can find a few other passages that speak of your authority in Christ.
Ephesians 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
The attitude of your mind. That's another facet of thinking. Not only does he instruct you on how to think and what to think about, but also how you feel about what you're thinking about.
You must own your identity in Christ. As you do, you experience the harvest of his spirit in your life. Jesus explains the mystery of the kingdom in Mark 4. The bottom line is this, the receptiveness of your heart to his word will determine the degree of the kingdom you will experience in this life. So how do you make that happen? He explains that too. It's like a farmer that plants a seed, he sleeps and wakes up, and the seed produces after its own kind.
Thinking according to these instructions is like planting seeds. They WILL bear fruit after their own kind. It's THE mystery of the kingdom.
How to Think Spiritually and Have Life and Peace
To overcome the deceitful desires of flesh-based thinking, you have to walk in the spirit. To walk in the spirit you must first have to think spiritually. Being spiritually minded simply means to be mindful of spirit. A life-view that places the kingdom of God as your true reality is the kind of view that lends itself to spiritual thinking.
You don't have to figure out how to get into a different dimension, instead become mindful that God placed a different dimension in you. As you nurture spiritual desires and turn away from improperly fulfilling natural desires, God's nature takes over more and more of your being.
In spirit, you are complete in him, but as you are mindful of spirit and apply these instructions regarding thought, your spiritual identity will grow its way into the rest of your being.
Watch the sermon above. I walk you through a group exercise of how to turn away from a deceptive desire and nurture a spiritual desire by holding God's word in your heart and mind.
Nurturing Spiritual Desires
Every situation in life is an opportunity to have faith and trust God. In the world, we will have trouble, but Jesus has overcome the world. That doesn’t mean you’ll never have a problem in your life; it just means that he promises to be with you and provide a way out by following his spirit.
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Message #2 from my series Nurturing Spiritual Desires.
You have desires, God-given physical, emotional and spiritual desires. All of those desires can be fulfilled in healthy ways. But as you are fully aware, you can fulfill emotional and physical desires in unhealthy, sinful ways.
James tells us in his letter that temptation in our lives comes from our natural/carnal desires.
James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Some translations say “evil desires,” and some say “lust.” A more accurate translation might be “carnal” desires or physical desires. Physical desires are not evil, but when you seek to fulfill them in ways others than what God prescribes, it can turn into sin, which leads to death. I’m not really talking about “sex, drugs and rock n roll” type behavior, I’m talking about the inner desires and attitudes that drive behavior.
Let me paraphrase, “you are tempted when you are drawn away by your carnal desires.”
Side note, remember, the temptation and subsequent trial of your faith are to be welcomed as an opportunity to develop patience and wisdom, but DON’T SAY IT’S FROM GOD. James 1 has been used to teach that God sends the trials, but verse 12 on make it clear that the trial is not from God, it’s from how you seek to fulfill a desire. Read last week’s article “Overcoming Temptation and Unbelief,” for more on that topic. click to read
Nurturing Spiritual Desires
In the sermon, I teach through the first half of Romans 8 and discuss the secret to life or death; it’s the way you think. For the sake of this article, I’ll skip to the practical part.
Our goal is to desire what God desires for us. I’m sure that you agree that sin is terrible and to be avoided at all costs. But what about fear, worry, and doubt? Those are thoughts, emotions, and attitudes that are perversions of spiritual desires as well.
When you have the opportunity to enjoy the fruit of patience, you get in a hurry and make a wrong decision. When you have the opportunity to apply God’s wisdom but worry yourself into a “logical” conclusion, you are nurturing carnal desires. When you have a need and know what God’s word says but still wonder if he does anything about it, you are improperly acting on a desire that could turn your heart toward him.
Every situation in life is an opportunity to have faith and trust God. In the world, we will have trouble, but Jesus has overcome the world. That doesn’t mean you’ll never have a problem in your life; it just means that he promises to be with you and provide a way out by following his spirit.
Every time you feel yourself nurturing anxiety, fear, doubt, or worry, remember that it’s a God-given desire that you are just using improperly. You can shift your focus and change your inner state by asking God for wisdom. When you feel like you can’t “hear God,” you can always turn to his written word. He saw ahead and made provision for us, in every situation, even global pandemics.
Overcoming Temptation and Unbelief
James is saying, count it all joy when you’re tempted and your faith is tested because it’s an opportunity to trust God and develop patience. BUT!! Don’t say it’s from God. Pretty clear, God doesn’t tempt you or create trials for you.
But doesn’t God test us? Yes, but not like you think.
Here’s how God tests you.
This is a bottom-line kind of article. I explain the subject in much more detail in the video. I cover the highlights in this article. Read this passage from James chapter 1 closely.
James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 1 5Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
James is saying, count it all joy when you're tempted and your faith is tested because it's an opportunity to trust God and develop patience. BUT!! Don't say it's from God. Pretty clear, God doesn't tempt you or create trials for you.
But doesn't God test us? Yes, but not like you think.
Here's how God tests you.
John 6:5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
He tests you to see if you're in faith toward him, not to see if you'll pass an external test.
What about trials that cause suffering? The only kind of suffering God endorses is persecution for preaching the Gospel. God encourages you to remain steady and faithful when you suffer persecution for your faith because it compels you to trust him. As you welcome the persecution of your faith in hostile territories, you have an opportunity to share in Christ's sufferings. If you stay open to the holy spirit, you can experience a deep level of holiness in those moments. The suffering doesn't make you holy; only the blood of Jesus can do that. But when suffering persecution, the holiness you have been given rises from your heart.
External temptation, trials, and tribulation are also an opportunity to trust God and experience the precious holiness you were given, but DON'T SAY IT'S FROM GOD.
1 Corinthians 10:13 adds a bit more clarity.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
This sounds like God is sending the temptation and the way of escape. But remember, James 1:13 says DON'T SAY IT'S FROM GOD. The Word of God doesn't contradict itself.
1 Corinthians 10:13 is actually a promise. When you are going through difficulty, whether it be temptation or an external trial, God will help you. He will give you strength. He will not leave you on your own.
Contrary to popular belief, this passage does not say, "God won't put more on you than you can bear." I'm sure you have heard that, or maybe even believe that. But that is not what he is saying, as evidenced by James 1:13 - DON'T SAY IT'S FROM GOD.
Overcoming Temptation
Now that we've established that God is not bi-polar, he is not giving you the temptation/trial and the way of escape, let's talk about how to stay strong when your faith is tested.
God will always give you the solution for trials/temptation. Here's the process outlined in James 1.
Patience (strength to endure) - James 1:3
Wisdom (what to do) - James 1:5
His spirit is available (where patience and wisdom come from) - James 1:5
Confidence (not double-mindedness) - James 1:6
PATIENCE + WISDOM = OVERCOMING THE TRYING OF YOUR FAITH
When you're tempted or under a trial, turn to God's spirit within you and allow patience to bear fruit. Patience will eliminate most of your temptations. If you can just want a few minutes, or however long you need to clear your emotions and desires from the forefront, you can make a decision based on wisdom rather than emotion and desire.
Once you've allowed patience to bear fruit in the face of temptation, your heart and mind will be more clear to apply God's instruction, which is wisdom. And God will always respond and lead you into truth.
But there's a warning, don't doubt God's wisdom, be willing to put it into practice to overcome the temptation and trial of your faith. If you allow doubt to take root, don't expect to hear God clearly.
Most people teach that if you have doubt, then God won't give you what you need, but James clarifies, if you have doubt, you won't be able to receive from him because of where you are in your heart toward God.
You don't have to ask God to "give" you anything. All he is and everything he has is in Christ. If Christ is in you, God has already given you everything he has. All the answers to your prayers are in "seed form" through Christ in you. Belief and trust in the character of God are all it takes to see his provision in your life, in any area.
His spirit in you wants to grow into your life and become the things you need, but your heart must entirely rely on him. Don't be double-minded, trusting in the temporary provision. God is unlimited in how he can manifest provision in your life. Believe and trust. Spend time persuading your heart of his character and promises.
Dig deep and allow patience to bear fruit. Ask God for wisdom. And DO IT!
Jesus Will Not Give Up On You
Peter lied to Jesus and denied knowing him. What did Jesus do to Peter? Jesus died for him, conquered the grave and rose from the dead, then came looking for him. You’d think Jesus would mention Peter’s denial of him, but he didn’t. He met him where he was and affirmed his calling. Jesus will do the same for you.
If you feel like you’ve grown distant from God in your heart, I can assure you, God has not grown distant toward you. God’s affection for you is not affected by yours for him.
Peter lied to Jesus and denied knowing him. What did Jesus do to Peter? Jesus died for him, conquered the grave and rose from the dead, then came looking for him. You’d think Jesus would mention Peter’s denial of him, but he didn’t. He met him where he was and affirmed his calling. Jesus will do the same for you.
If you feel like you’ve grown distant from God in your heart, I can assure you, God has not grown distant toward you. God’s affection for you is not affected by yours for him.
A Lesson from Peter
John 21:15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
You don’t catch it in the English translation, but Jesus and Peter are using two different words for love. Jesus is using agape, which is a self-sacrificial love. But Peter is using phileo, which is a brotherly kind of love. Jesus is asking Peter if he is willing to lay down his life for him, and Peter pretty much says they’re good friends.
Peter is probably feeling ashamed since he denied Jesus. He’s probably thinking he isn’t worthy to follow Jesus since he made such a huge mistake. But Jesus sees it differently. Jesus doesn’t changes his mind toward Peter and what he wants him to do for him.
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever failed Jesus and felt ashamed? Maybe even to the point of thinking you aren’t worthy to do something for God? I’m here to tell you, Jesus hasn’t given up on you. Watch this sermon to hear this idea unpacked fully. I believe it will encourage you.
The Most Underrated Passage In Scripture - Colossians 2
I pray you have a fruitful and fulfilling walk with the Lord. You are called to follow Jesus as his disciple. It’s pretty simple, a disciple is someone who follows a teacher and applies their teachings. Jesus said following his teachings (yoke) is easy, and his burden is light. Yoke and burden are euphemisms for his teachings and the requirements of those teachings. He said it this way…
I pray you have a fruitful and fulfilling walk with the Lord. You are called to follow Jesus as his disciple. It’s pretty simple, a disciple is someone who follows a teacher and applies their teachings. Jesus said following his teachings (yoke) is easy, and his burden is light. Yoke and burden are euphemisms for his teachings and the requirements of those teachings. He said it this way.
““Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
Jesus isn’t speaking of physical burdens, he was correcting the heavy burden of the system of works that the Pharisees laid on the backs of people. Jesus later rebukes the Pharisees for putting heavy burdens on the shoulders of the people in Matthew 23:4.
The “yoke of the Pharisees” is the burdensome yoke of self-righteousness and legalistic law-keeping. The yoke of Jesus is to love God and love people. The way to walk under that yoke is to renew your mind and put on the new man. As you renew your mind, you allow God’s grace to strengthen and transform you. Easy and light.
BUT you MUST renew your mind. You can not follow Jesus in the power of his spirit, walking in true love, without a renewed mind.
Knowing the written word is one of the best resources to use to renew your mind to how God thinks and what he says about you. But just reading the Bible isn’t powerful, engaging it at a heart level is required for real transformation. In these two sermons, I walk you through the process of reading His word until it becomes alive.
You can’t just read it, you have to sit in it and let it sit in you until your heart grasps something and that spark of life happens. Call it a revelation, call it an experience, call it manifestation, it really doesn’t matter, but without it, the Bible is not much more than history, poetry and doctrine.
Watch part one (How to Receive Revelation) if you haven’t already watched, and then come back to prat two. I walk through Colossians 1 and 2 in these two sermons as an example of how to read the Bible in such a way that it becomes a living word for you.
Download the series
You Can Know God’s Ways
MESSAGE TITLES
How to Receive Revelation from God - Colossians 1
The Most Underrated Passage in the Bible - Colossians 2
You Can Know God's Ways
God's Love Delivers Grace to Your Heart
Listen to a free meditation
Discover the benefits of relaxation and focused meditation in God’s Word.
Your Self-Portrait In Your Heart Should Look Like Jesus
Whether you realize it or not, you have spent a lifetime working on your self-portrait. This is not an external painting, it’s an image of yourself in your heart. You have constructed a detailed picture of who you believe you are that drives every belief, thought, emotion, and choice you will ever make.
Every time you have a decision to make, you look at your self-portrait. That internal image reminds you of who you are. This is not a conscious process. This is a subconscious process that happens in your heart without thinking about it. What you see in your self-portrait may or may not reflect the truth.
Ultimately that self-portrait in your heart should look like Jesus, but you painted over that image with pain, fear, failure, and sin. The good news is, the original image remains!
Whether you realize it or not, you have spent a lifetime working on your self-portrait. This is not an external painting, it’s an image of yourself in your heart. You have constructed a detailed picture of who you believe you are that drives every belief, thought, emotion, and choice you will ever make.
Every time you have a decision to make, you look at your self-portrait. That internal image reminds you of who you are. This is not a conscious process. This is a subconscious process that happens in your heart without thinking about it. What you see in your self-portrait may or may not reflect the truth.
Ultimately that self-portrait in your heart should look like Jesus, but you painted over that image with pain, fear, failure, and sin. The good news is, the original image remains!
Jesus Painted A Masterpiece In Your Heart
Jesus painted an image of you as well. His portrait of you looks just like him. He used the spirit of God and his own blood to paint a new you. As he painted, he didn’t just paint over the old you, he thoroughly washed away the former you and started fresh. He is not still working on that painting, it’s finished. He completed that new image of you. That new image looks exactly like him. He painted you as holy and righteous. His painting will last forever, and it will never fade.
At any time, you can look inward and see his image in your heart. That’s the secret to the Christian life, looking inwardly to remember that Jesus has created a new you. When you are not living up to the standards of the new you, you simply need to remember to look at Christ’s image in you.
You simply renew your mind, remember what he did in you, and his power comes alive inside you.
The Magic Painting Of Jesus
Well, it’s not really magic, but it makes for a fun headline. It’s more like a graceful, but his grace works wonders. His grace is better than magic.
The image that Jesus painted of himself in you has powers. When you look at it, it can give you strength, joy, and peace. Can you imagine that? Looking at the image of Christ within can cause you to receive power that you don’t have on your own. Gazing upon Jesus in your heart causes his spirit to flow through your heart into your mind, body, and out into your life.
His spirit in you works like a seed. His spirit spreads its roots out through your entire being and begins to bear fruit after its own kind. The powerful painting of Jesus within can live its life through you in such a way that you simply enjoy the journey.
Any time you face temptation or difficulty in this life, you can turn your attention to the image of Christ within, and it will give you power.
You Get To Help Others Remember Who They Are
We have the honor of reminding our family members in Christ that the image of Jesus is in them as well. When you see a fellow believer struggling or falling for the traps of division in this world, you have the honor of describing the beautiful painting Jesus completed in their own hearts.
When others can’t see the image of Christ within, you get to hold up a picture of Christ and remind them how beautiful he is, how beautiful he is within them, and how beautiful they are.
We all forget what we look like. We all spray graffiti over the image of Christ in our new hearts at times. When we fail to see the image of Christ within, we need each other to remind us.
Right now, it seems like our world is on fire. It looks like the enemy has successfully deployed a strategy of division. I would never want to minimize legitimate issues our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are facing, but we must pull together in our greater reality.
We are the family of God. There is no division in the body of Christ. The body of Christ is a work in progress, but each member is a completed masterpiece in our spirits. When we live from our spirits and see each other with our spiritual eyes, we will be indestructible to the enemy.
Remember who you are. Gaze upon the beautiful image of Christ within. See that same image in your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Remind them of who they are. Remind yourself of who you are. Together we can join hearts and allow God to fulfill his intents and purposes through us collectively.
I pray for unity in faith in the body of Christ. I pray we realize we have the same dad. I pray we treat each other with equal dignity and worth Jesus crowned us with. I pray we remember to put love first. I pray as you read this, you feel the power of the image of Christ in your heart.
Meditation
Spend a little time seeing Christ in you. Allow his spirit to shape how you see yourself. If you’re struggling in an area, see Christ living successfully through you in that area. Yield to his grace to empower you and allow his love for you to make you whole.
God Crowns You with Dignity, Honor, Worth, Value and Respect
God has the utmost respect for you. He has a high sense of value for you. You are worth his own life. You are worthy of being treated with dignity and respect because of the kind of being you are (crowned with glory and honor).
Being made in God’s image doesn’t mean you look like him; it means you are a being that’s worthy to be in his class. You are not a worm. You are a valuable creature, born of God’s image, carrying his presence everywhere you go.
What if you believed that about yourself?
What if you believed that about others?
“What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler of the works of Your hands...”
God has the utmost respect for you. He has a high sense of value for you. You are worth his own life. You are worthy of being treated with dignity and respect because of the kind of being you are (crowned with glory and honor).
Being made in God’s image doesn’t mean you look like him; it means you are a being that’s worthy to be in his class. You are not a worm. You are a valuable creature, born of God’s image, carrying his presence everywhere you go.
What if you believed that about yourself?
What if you believed that about others?
In Psalm 8, David is pondering the existence of humankind. He asks a question, then prophesies God’s answer to himself. The word “angels” is the word Elohim, which is the plural word for God. Man is a little lower than God, not the angels.
He has crowned us with GLORY and HONOR. The word “glory” in this context means dignity, honor, worth, value and respect. You are a dignified being with great worth and value to God.
I’m convinced that if we had the same worth for ourselves, we would live much cleaner and God-honoring lives. I’m confident that if we had the same respect and value for each other, we would create a much more loving and supportive society.
That’s the point of Christ’s commandment - LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
WE CAN REACH THE WORLD BY UNITING IN OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER
Loving one another is a multi-layered concept; let’s break it down a bit.
God loves us (while we were dead in our sin)
We respond by loving him (we love him because he first loved us)
We’re commanded to love one another
Our love for one another is a testimony that we follow Jesus
Our unity convinces the world the God sent Jesus for them too
How do we develop love for one another to the degree that it convinces the world to believe that God sent Jesus to save them?
The answer is in Jesus’ prayer from John 17. (full chapter link)
JOHN 17:20 I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— 23 I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me. (BSB)
Let me highlight again what I want to focus on for this article.
I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.
I HAVE GIVEN THEM MY GLORY SO THEY WILL BE ONE!!
How does possessing his glory make us one? Jesus is saying we have the same dignity, honor, value, and worth that he does. If we recognize that each member of his body shares equal dignity, honor, value, and worth, we will treat each other respectfully, holding to those values for each other.
Imagine if the unbelieving world saw the church treat each other with honor and respect!!
The world is craving identity. They want to belong to something. They want their lives to have worth and meaning. For believers, simply being in Christ adds meaning and value to our lives. Our task is to honor that glory in each other.
The world is raging. People are dividing into groups they identify with because it gives them some sense of worth. If they could see believers treating each other with value and respect, because we have the same father, they would want our father as well.
It’s simple to understand but challenging to put in to practice. It’s hard to lay aside our carnal differences and see each other through God’s eyes. But if we do, we might just have a shot at actually reaching the world with the good news of Christ’s saving grace.
God is love. I pray that his church is known as the same.
