Statements of Faith - Accepted in The Beloved

 

EPHESIANS 1:6

To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in The Beloved.  

THE BELOVED

Psalm 2:7 

I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by The LORD: "You are My Son; today I have become Your Father."

Isaiah 42:1

"Here is My Servant, Whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in Whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations."

Matthew 17:5

While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!"

John 1:32

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw The Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him."

Song of Solomon 6:3

“I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies.”

WE ARE ACCEPTED IN HIM

Ephesians 1:7 

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 2:6-9

(6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  (7) in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not by works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

John 1:12 

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

 

    Believing on The Name of The LORD JESUS CHRIST for our salvation makes us acceptable in Him. It is the generous grace of God which has made this possible. Nothing we could ever do or say would help us to land this position in Christ. 

Ephesians 1:3 says we are "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms IN CHRIST".  

    In Christ we are made perfect though our perfection cannot yet be seen with earthly eyes. We are not 'holier than thou' people of God: we are repentant sinners, who know and acknowledge that we need a Savior to save us from the penalties of our sins. And In Christ we are forgiven: our sins have been washed away by the blood which He shed on the cross that day on Golgotha. 

    In Christ we are loved by God, for God sees His children when He looks on us, because we have Christ in us. When we come to Jesus for the salvation freely offered, God covers us with the blood of His precious Lamb and makes our souls clean. 

    In Christ we are being built up into living stones - 1 Peter 2:5 - to be God's house, His dwellingplace. Our Foundation is Christ and each believer is a living stone built upon The Living Word of God, The Rock of Our Salvation. 

    If you are not In Christ, you are not in The Word, and you will not be finding yourselves in a very happy place; in fact, it is dark in hell, it smells in hell, it is hot in hell -- with no cool water for relief --and the sounds will tear through you: not just the screams and cursings from other people in hell, but from the fallen angels who will join you on their judgment day. 

    God is to be feared and revered. His holiness demands it. No sin can be in His presence. Remember Christ on the cross and the skies got very dark (Matthew 28:45, 46), Jesus Christ out to His Father, for now He was alone upon the cross. When the soldier thrust his spear into Jesus' side, where His heart was, water and blood came out (John 19:34). for our Savior's heart was broken. Sin had been laid upon Him and He became sin for us. In light of this knowledge we remember that sinfulness cannot be in the same vicinity as God, and therefore, neither could Jesus Christ at that time. 

    Through His obedience even to the point of death, Christ surrendered Himself to His Father. And though He knew that day was coming, He also knew that He would remain on the cross and in the grave until His work was done. 

    We who are In Christ have Christ in us through our faith in God's Word, God's Son, God's Beloved. We who are In Christ are saved by grace, filled with The Spirit of God and rest in God's peace. We beg you who are not, Come to Jesus and be healed, forgiven, loved and accepted.

JESUS PAID IT ALL - Fernando Ortega 

NEAR THE CROSS 

 

The Lord Is A Mighty Warrior

 

Exodus 15:3

The LORD is a Warrior, the LORD is His Name. 

Revelation 19:11

Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.

Exodus 14:14

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Psalm 50:3

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.

YOU DELIVER ME - Selah

    In Exodus 15:3 Miriam is singing to The Lord because she has seen firsthand how God delivers His people. Are we singing to The Lord with such abandonment and joy? Perhaps we have forgotten who we are in Christ and Who CHRIST IS in us. 

    Who am I in Christ? I can say, speaking only in reference to myself, that I am His songwriter and His singer. I am His student and His friend. I am His adopted sister and His bride. I am a voice in the wilderness crying out, as John the Baptist did, "Prepare you the way of The Lord!" No matter what or who I am in Christ, the point is: I AM IN CHRIST AND I AM HIS.

    Christ in me is: Redeemer, Savior, King, Friend, Deliverer, Anchor, Hope, Peace, Strength and so much, much more. 

    I tell you now, as the voice in the wilderness, and beg you in all earnestness, today just might be your day of salvation. From one moment to the next we are sure of nothing other than: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS. And He died on the cross for you and I, taking the punishment each of us should have had. But He didn't stay in the grave. He rose from the dead and walked out of the grave...changed, changed to a new life which is what He promises each person who believes Him and receives Him into their hearts and their lives. We call this salvation and the next person who gets saved could be you.

    The next time Christ arrives on this planet Earth will be when God sends Him to fetch His bride and bring her to the place He has prepared for her. 

    Then, after a period of time, Christ will return to set up His thousand-year reign, more commonly referred to as the millennial kingdom. 

    Not until after those thousand years have passed will Christ return as The Rider on the White Horse. Then, the people who are left who still refuse to believe that Jesus Christ is LORD will perish in their foolishness and wickedness. For it is wicked to not believe God and God's Faithful and True Word. 

REDEEMER SAVIOR FRIEND 

A Crucified Life - - Is Its Own Defense

 

2 Corinthians 5:12

We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you and occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 874

Occasion: opportunity

From the Greek word 'aphormé' (pronounced af-or-may'): pretext. 

    In other words, we are neither bragging, nor boasting about what we do and who we are. We are giving you an opportunity to boast about the work which the Lord has done in us and through us. You will be come against on our behalf; but this will be your opportunity to stand up for the Lord's work. 

    The majority of the time this word 'occasion' is used is in a negative way, but here in 2 Corinthians 5:12 it is a positive reinforcement reminder. We can say now, 'Look What The Lord Has Done'. 

    When there is division in the body of Christ, it's as if a disease has infiltrated the body, causing destruction and death as it goes. Pride enters, followed closely by greed and self-righteousness. These need to be excised from the body and rebuked in Jesus' Name with the Authority which He has extended to us. 

    We do not all look the same. We do not all speak the same earthly language. We do not all dress the same. We are not the same at any point in time but we are one in Name. We are one in The One, in Christ. Therefore, we are not to come against one who is truly our brother or sister in Christ, for then we would be attacking ourselves and Christ. Not good.

    Lord, give me discernment in the body, that the Spirit would direct me to know who is Yours and who is not. Give me words to speak in love that we may love the body of Christ, the body of believers, in You. Lord, fill Your people, Your body, with Your Holy Spirit, that we would rise up in Your strength and Your power to live the lives You have called us to live. 

    In Jesus' Name,

Amen.

DEFENSE    

In Jesus' Name - Katy Nichole

Create In Me A Clean Heart - Eric & Tanja Lagerström

Soul On Fire - Third Day

Nothing But The Blood - Matt Redman

Thank You Jesus For The Blood - Charity Gayle

Spirit Of The Sovereign Lord - Lindell Cooley

We Will Stand - Russ Taff

They Will Know We Are Christians - Justin Unger

Heart & Soul - - Newness of Life

 

Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1320

Flesh: body

From the Hebrew word 'basar' (pronounced baw-sawr'). In this verse the contrast between a heart of stone and a heart of flesh is made apparent. 

1 Corinthians 5:17

    Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 

    The only way to be in Christ is to have Christ in us. There are no alternatives. We must be born again, as Jesus told Nicodemus when the elder leader spoke privately with Him (John 3:1-21). 

    Born of water (be baptised into Christ {Romans 6:4]) and of the Spirit (new nature, new disciplines (principles/ethics), new affections (loves), new goals). To be baptised into Christ is to accept/believe that He is the only begotten Son of God, that He died on the cross to wash away each person's sins; that He took the punishment intended for the sinner, having the sins of the whole world (from the first person who sinned to the last sinner who repents before Christ's return) laid upon Himself, He became sin and so must be punished by God for the sins on His shoulders (Isaiah 53:6).

WHY JESUS DIED

    Hebrews 2:9

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 

    Reconciled by His death, Saved by His life

    Romans 5:10

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

HOW JESUS DIED

    Isaiah 53:5

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

    Psalm 22:1-31; Matthew 27:26-44; Mark 15:15-32; John 19 

WHO JESUS DIED FOR

    Romans 5:6, 8

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

    John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

    Romans 4:25

Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

    Hebrews 9:27, 28

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

  John 5:26

For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He gave to the Son to have life in Himself.

    John 11:25, 26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; the one believing in Me, even if he should die, he will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

    John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

    2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

    This new life in Christ is only available through the blood of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. So, we ask now, as Christ asked Martha, "Do you believe?" 

 <>   A heart of stone rejects God, rejects Christ and will not receive the power of the Holy Spirit, no matter how many lies it tells itself. 

  <>  A heart of flesh only comes about when God replaces the stony heart with a heart of flesh, a moldable transformable heart. 

 <>   A heart of stone denies Christ on every level: His divinity, His Sonship, His part in the Godhead/the trinity; His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection.

  <>  A heart of flesh believes Christ on every level: His divinity, His Sonship, His place in the Godhead/the trinity; His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection.

   <> A heart of stone lives for itself. It is selfish and self-centered, concerned only with its own comforts and desires.

 <>   A heart of flesh lives for God in Christ through the power of The Holy Spirit. Its desires will align with God's heart and desires. A heart of flesh will be easily broken for the things of God. A heart of flesh will daily transform into what God wants it to be. 

  <>  A heart of stone will die in its sins unless it repents and becomes a heart of flesh. 

 <>   A heart of flesh dies daily. It crucifies the desires of the flesh and brings the body into submission to the Father's will through the power of His Holy Spirit. 

<>    A heart of stone hardens even more so over time, refusing to acknowledge not only is there a God, but that there is only One God, The Almighty God. By refusing to recognize God as God, the heart of stone will be blind to what is sin and continue to admire the variety of sins that are upon them, which they cannot clearly see because of the darkness that is around them and in them.

  <>  A heart of flesh grows fleshier, fat with the marrow of God's Word, stronger with the Love of God flowing through it and sweeter with the Peace of God pouring out of it. A heart of flesh recognizes its need for a Savior and that its only salvation is from God through Christ. 

    And so the people of God who dwell in the Light of Christ call out to the people living in darkness, "Come and see Jesus! Come and hear what He wants to say to you. Come to the well. Come to the cross. Come to the garden. Come and live Christ Jesus evermore. We'll have so much fun for our Joy is in Him. Not only is He preparing a place for us all to live, but there's a supper being set up and there will be a seat for everyone who receives the invitation to believe." All

are invited but not everyone will take hold of their invitation and hold onto it. 

    Do you believe?

        

NEWNESS OF LIFE

Waymaker

Graves Into Gardens

Just As I Am

Abide In Me

I Surrender All

Come As You Are

Welcome Table

     

    

Signs & Wonders of Christ's Arrival - - The Righteousness of God In Christ

 

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1343

Righteousness: divine judicial approval, justice

From the Greek word 'dikaiosuné' (pronounced dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay), refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination).

BECOMING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

And just how do we obtain this divine judicial approval from God? 

While it may not seem like part of the Christmas message, it is in fact the definition of Christmas. This is the reason Jesus Christ was born: to save mankind from the punishment of their sins and to bring them into the fulness of God: to become the righteousness of God through Himself. 

John 17:31

Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

This can only be accomplished through the power of God and the faith He births within us when we believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord. Lord of All. Lord of Creation: nature, the stars and the heavens,  people. Lord of one's own self. The Lord My Righteousness: 1 Corinthians 1:30 "It is because of Him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption." 

BECOMING ONE IN CHRIST

John 17:20-21 is when Jesus prayed for us, for the believers who would believe after His disciples spread the gospel throughout the world. 

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.

THE WAY IN

Jeremiah 32:39 

I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 

In Isaiah 35:8 there is a road, "The Way of Holiness". This, too, is Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us, "I am the Way". 

    There is no other way to atone for our own sins. God says our righteousness in and of our ownselves is "filthy rags" and will not be accepted by Him when we stand before Him in judgment (Isaiah 64:6). Self-righteousness is not God-righteousness. Pride is not righteousness. Greed is not righteousness. Self-awareness is not righteousness. Self-involvement is not righteousness. Self-promotion in anything is a filthy rag and will be burned to ash in the fires of God's altar. 

    While kindness and generosity help people be nice to each other on the surface of life, these things will not gain a person entry into the eternal presence of God. They will not atone for the sins of one's own heart. These things are merely dry, dusty bones: a skeletal framework of what could be but is not without a heart for God to direct it.

    Now is the time to give your heart to God. Today is the day to receive God's love and mercy and righteousness into your hearts and lives. We all live in Now Time. Tomorrow is Hope Time, time that is not promised. Today is not even promised. Some will not make it through today for one reason and another. Every breath we breathe, we breathe because God gives it to us. 

     Now Time is the time to become one in Christ as He is one in God His Father. Now Time is the time to answer God's call on your life to embrace His Word, His Love, His Grace. Now Time is right now, right this minute, this second, this (inhale) breath (exhale). Did you feel that? That was mercy, God giving us another breath. 

Don't wait too long to take hold of the faith God wants to birth within you. 

I pray those walls break down which you have built up within yourselves. I pray that your heart would be moldable by God in the potter's house. That you would receive Him into your hearts and glorify Him with your lives. 

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen.

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS by Wayne Watson 

DAYS OF ELIJAH by Robin Mark

COME ALIVE (DRY BONES) by Lauren Daigle

IN CHRIST ALONE by Michael English

 

In Christ We Are: Complete

Part 8-

Colossians 2:9-12 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power: In Whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead."

We are complete in Christ; we lack nothing. Psalm 23:1 "The LORD Is my Shepherd, I shall not want." The word 'want' in this verse means 'lack'. I shall not lack anything that The Shepherd knows I need, for He provides it for me. We are the body of Christ, and He is the head of the church. Where the head goes, the body must follow; it cannot be contrary, but must, indeed, submit to the direction in which the head moves.

Complete: to make whole, lacking nothing, made perfect, having all parts, undivided. The thesaurus gives us quite a few words and/or phrases that could mean the same. While most of these do not apply in this study, a couple do: unbroken and faultless. In Christ we are complete: "we are unbroken and faultless".

We are unbroken because we are made perfect in Him. We are faultless because the blood of Jesus Christ has washed away our sins; His righteousness covers us.

In Christ We Are: Free

Part 7-

Free to Abide with God:
1 Corinthians 7:21-24 "Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in The LORD, being a servant, is The LORD'S freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God."

 Wherever we are living when we turn our backs on sin and become God's servant, we are free from the cunning voice of sin that had kept us bound for so long. The voice of sin tells us to disobey our parents, steal from the company, cheat in relationships, kill one another; hate and/or fear each other. The voice of sin lies to us. It tells us the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. It tell us that more of anything will make us happy, so we go into debt and cannot dig our way out of the hole we have dug ourselves into. The voice of sin is loud.The voice of sin seeks our destruction, our annihilation, whether at our own hand or another's.
But the voice of obedience to God calls us to love one another, to love God above all, and to love each other the way God loves us. Unconditionally, without strings attached. The voice of God is soft and whispers to us. He is not pushy, but waits for us to open the doors of our hearts to let Him in (Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man (or woman or boy or girl) hear My Voice,and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.")


Free Through The Son:
John 8:32-36 "Jesus answered them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but The Son abideth ever. If The Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

Living in sin is serving sin, whether that sin is speaking sin, doing sin. A servant of sin cannot serve God. But once the servant of sin believes on The LORD Jesus Christ, that person no longer is a servant of sin; no longer wants to be a sinful person. We can determine in our hearts that we will not sin, but without the power of The Holy Spirit on us, we cannot overcome sin's temptations.

Having lived in sin for so long, the things we did when  we were children of disobedience, call out to us to come and play, come and drink, come back to the darkness of sin's dwelling-place. And many times we will return to what we were doing before we believed. But having the knowledge of saving grace now in us, we know where we need to be and it isn't in the taverns, it isn't in the crack house or on the street corners, and it isn't anywhere God is not. We turn our backs on the sin that calls us to turn our backs on God and say, 'No, I want more of Jesus. I want to be free from a life of sin; I want to be holy so God will be please. Because that's what I want now: I want to please God; I want to do what makes God happy. I want to be the apple of God's eye.'

Free From Sin:
Romans 6:18;22 "Being then, made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity (one act of sin after another); even so now yield your members (our eyes our hands, our feet) servants to righteousness unto holiness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

1 Peter 2:16 "As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God."

The infirmity of the flesh is to give into the voice of temptation and return to what we were doing before we believed. We need God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and upon us, to guide us in the way in which we should be going; and that way is forward, not backward.
Not everyone will hear the same voice of temptation. Some hear the voice of gambling. Some hear the voice of sexual misconduct. Some hear the voice of inebriation. Some hear the voice of greed, of pride, of gluttony. But when we hear the voice of God calling us to Himself, we yearn to be there with Him, and so we turn our backs to sin, and give our ears to God, that we might hear Him clearly, surrendering our bodies to His service and not to sin.

Free By Faith in Christ:
Galatians 3:22; 27-29  "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." ---For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."

Galatians 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

Standing Fast in liberty through Christ is to remain steadfast in The Word on which we have believed by believing in Jesus Christ for our salvation. We need to read our Bibles everyday. And we need to pray to God that He will send His Holy Spirit to reveal what His Word is speaking to our hearts. Just believing the surface of The Word is like wading our feet on the shallow parts of the beach, where the waves lap our toes. We need to go deeper into The Word of God, closer and closer to His heart.  We are free in the liberty of our faith to cling fast and hold onto with everything within us to The Word of God and never let go. 

In Christ We Are: A New Creation

Ephesians 4:22-24 “Put off the old man (the old nature, the way we used to be before we accepted Christ as Lord), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind (cf/Philippians 4:8); And that you put on the new man, (newness of life; born again by the Spirit) which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

John 3:3 (when Jesus and Nicodemus were conversing) “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily (of a truth, truly) I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 “...except a man be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit (godly birth), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” We need to stop trying so hard to be like everyone else and start being who God wants us to be. Our focus must be on becoming and being the people God has called us to be.

We are covered in His righteousness. Romans 13:14 “But put ye on The Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof.” How will the world around us know we are Christians, if our actions do not match our words? What is in our hearts is revealed in the way we speak, the activities we put our hands to, the places we allow ourselves to be in. If Jesus Christ truly lives in us and we in Him, our lives will reflect Him outwardly.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We are in Christ; Christ is in us. We are new creatures. Our very nature is swallowed up in the presence of Jesus Christ.

In Christ We Are: A Body Ministry

Romans 12:4-5 “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another.”

I Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

While these passages describe differing aspects of Christian ministry as compared with human anatomy, we need to remember that The Word is speaking to us, as well, not just the Christians in Rome and Corinth. We are not to think of ourselves as special or privileged just because we are called to do different ministries within the realm of God’s kingdom.

It has been said that “A good leader is a good servant”. One who follows Christ must be willing to go where Christ leads; whether we are led to the pulpit with Bible in hand, or the bathroom with toilet brush in hand. Whether Christ leads us to a foreign land to share our witness and testify of our Savior, or keeps on home ground to share Jesus here.

With us being a body ministry, where the missionaries go, we all go. We go by tithing into their ministry, which not only helps them serve in the country to which they have been called, but feeds and clothes them, as well. We go with them in prayer: we pray for their faithfulness and we pray that the hearts of those to whom they minister are opened and ready to receive Jesus.

Whatever we are called to do, we are to do in love, in the love of God. Where ever we are called to serve, we are to remember that not everyone serves God in the same way. We are not to revere our pastor above our janitor. In many instances, the pastor is the janitor.

Am I a good leader? A good servant? Am I following Christ the way He wants me to follow Him? Am I leading people to Christ the way He wants me to lead? Questions we must ask ourselves and answer honestly. Without honesty, we lack integrity. Without integrity, we must repent and seek God’s forgiveness for our wicked ways. It is the integrity of our faith that keeps us near the cross and near our Savior.

We must remember that it is for God’s glory that we are called to serve where He has placed us, not our own. The heart of the body is Jesus Christ. The Love of God flows through our veins via The Holy Spirit. This love flows into each part of the body of Christ, whatever that part does in the body of Christ. We are a body ministry and we are to serve, to encourage, to love each other according to The Word of God.

In Christ We Are: Light

Matthew 5:14-16  “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on  a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance tells us that the word “light” as used here means: the manifestation of God’s self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life through Christ.

How can we work in the fields we have been sent to if we cannot see where we are going? We need The Holy Spirit of God, the divine illumination, upon us to guide our steps and light our pathway. Who tends fields in the dark? If you cannot see your  hand in front of your face, how can we lead those who stand in the dark around us out of the fields we have been sent to?

We walk in The Light of The Word of God, for Jesus Christ is our Light. So, how do we let our Light shine that the world may see Jesus? We actively pursue and obtain a godly lifestyle through the indwelling power of The Holy Spirit. A born-again believer is one who believes wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, that He died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, that He was buried in the tomb for three days and rose from the dead on the third day, that He walked out of the grave and was actively seen by hundreds of people before He ascended into heaven to be with His Father again.

As born again believers, whether of Hebrew lineage or Gentile, we are now followers of Christ, Christians. This world that we live in we do not live of: we are, according to Peter, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; people who praise God continually for calling us out of darkness into His marvellous light”. (1 Peter 2:9)

His marvellous Light. We are in God’s marvellous Light. And it is that Light which should shine through us into the world around us. And where is the world around us? In our homes. The light of God’s Love, Jesus Christ, needs to shine in our homes, our families; that darkness would have no place to enter into.

Beyond, and sometimes within, our homes is our extended families, the families we have married into, the broken families we have left behind, the blended families we have chosen to be a part of. Beyond our familial ties are our workplace bonds: our coworkers and those connected with our workplaces with whom we have contact. That’s where our Light needs to shine.

Our neighbors and our neighborhoods need to see Jesus in our actions and hear His Love in our words. We can preach the gospel of salvation without being preachy. There is no need to be judgmental towards one another when we interact; judgment is God’s job. Our job is to shine the Light of God’s Love into the darkness around us, that others may be drawn to Christ, and become the next generation of believers.

John 3:17 “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

In Christ We Are: Salt

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the foot of men.” 

Salt seasons, preserves and fertilizes. In this passage of Scripture Christ refers to those who are listening that they (we) are ‘the salt of the earth’.  

Seasoned Christians are mature Christians. We know The Word of God well, but are constantly seeking Him more. The Word of God is preserved in us through our dedication and commitment to serve Him better; the way He desires us to. The Word of God grows in us according to how often we seek Him out, communicate with God in prayer and commune with Jesus via The Holy Spirit.

Spiritual maturity is not based on chronological age, but on the depth of how far we have grown in Jesus Christ. While we each grow at differing rates of speed, and in different specifics of growth, we all have in common one thing: belief on  The LORD Jesus Christ as our Savior.

And, as we grow, our actions should show to those around us that we are different because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We show that we are not perfect, allowing others to not only see our mistakes, but revealing that there is Someone who forgives our errors, our sins, when we do. We forgive because He forgives us.

It is not a salty nature we have, but a salted tongue. We speak in love, because Love lives in us. We walk in love, because Love walks with us. We quote The Word of God when asked to give an opinion on issues because we value The Word of God above ourselves.

When we share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, we speak in love. We cannot draw others to our God when our words are words of hate, unkindness and loathing. Being in Christ, and He in us, we are compelled to share The Word via any means given to us. Whether we speak from a pulpit, a keyboard, a street corner, or face to face and one on one.

It is only when we take our eyes off The Word of God, Jesus Christ, and focus on what we want and desire, that we lose the saltiness which we had attained through our relationship with Him. When that happens, we really are ‘good for nothing’. We are unsalted, tasteless, useless and tossed out onto the ground.  

In Christ We Are: Redeemed

Psalm 107:1-2 "O give thanks to The LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of The LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary."

In Christ we are Redeemed. Our souls have been bought back at great cost: the precious Blood of The Lamb of God. Who held us captive that such great a ransom should be paid for us? Satan. His lying tongue tempted us many times; but now we belong to Jesus. 

Titus 2:14 "He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." (Berean Study Bible)

In Christ We Are: One

When He prayed for us in the garden, just before His arrest, part of His prayer was that we would become one in Him, as He is in His Father. You and I, believers in The LORD Jesus Christ, are living in Christ, He lives in us and through Him we have access to The Father, His Father: The Almighty God. We are one. 
We must live and breathe and move as one. We must let go of petty differences and man-made rules that have taken first place in the church. We are not created to live by our own laws, but by God's laws.  As such, we must set God first in all areas of our lives. 
Becoming one in Christ takes time. We should not use the knowledge of that as an excuse for our delay in becoming the Church which The Holy Spirit is aiding us to be. We need to stop working against The Spirit of God and begin to work with Him. For only then will we truly become who Christ wants us to be according to His prayer. 
So, who are we? We need to search the Scriptures, reading and re-reading our Bibles; asking God to reveal Himself to us in it, showing us who we are in His Word. 

"Oh, LORD God, help us not to be slow in seeking You out. For Your Word is Faithful and True, ready to be sought out and found by we who desire to know who we are in You, as Your Word has declared to us. Lead us through Your Word, that we might be made presentable to You. Keep us near You at all times, even in our sleep, where dreams and nightmares threaten to take us out. You have said that Your Word shall not return void. It cannot. Gently and patiently You have led us to You Father. You show us who You are in Your Word. Show us now who we are in Your Word, that we might rise up and become one in You, that You might be glorified in us." Amen.