Monday, November 28, 2011

Finished [re-post]

Waiting for something to [maybe] happen is a lot different from knowing that it has already happened.
When we're waiting for something, there's a chance that it won't actually happen. Like Schrodinger's Cat, we can't really see the future.
Or can we? What if the future is already the past? Isn't that what Solomon was saying in Ecclesiastes?
'That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. 
Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new?" Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.' [Ecclesiastes 1:9-11] 
'That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.' [Ecclesiastes 3:15] 
'Whatever exists has already been named...' [Ecclesiastes 6:10]
Solomon had great wisdom—I think he saw glimpses of eternity but could not really grasp what he was seeing. I think, and this is just my opinion, that he was seeing the truth that God's works were finished from the foundation of the world and that God has already rested from those works. [Hebrews 4:3,10]
In fact, I think he was probably the first quantum physicist! Followed, of course, by Jesus, Who manipulated time and space and physical reality as easily as He breathed.
But Solomon did not understand the New Birth fact that we are full of God and that we dwell in two places—on the earth and seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I think he saw something but didn’t know exactly what it was.
What?
Psalm 119:89 says that God's Word is settled forever...Isaiah 40:8 says it stands forever. And 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all the promises of God are YES in Him!
God declared that His Word will not return to Him without 1) accomplishing what He desires and 2) succeeding in the matter for which He sent it [Isaiah 55:11]. Jeremiah 1:12 says He watches over His Word to perform it.
But Hebrews says He's done! Here we have a quantum conundrum...things are already finished but still happening.
That's because, in the Spirit, there is no time...it is already finished. But here, in the physical plane, we are prisoners of linear time, set in motion by the rotation of the earth. Day and night come and go, and come and go again...the body ages, children grow, we live and die.
His Word was sent to accomplish His desire in the earth...although in Heaven, it is already finished. Jesus taught us to pray "Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven..." [Matthew 6, Luke 11]
Great News
While this may be a bit of a brain scrambler, it's really very good news for those who believe.
If every promise is YES in Him and we are redeemed from the curse of the law [Galatians 3:13], and if His Word is not only settled forever but already finished, for and about us, then WOW! We're no longer waiting for things to [maybe] happen, they're already finished! When we look at the unseen, the forever-settled-already-accomplished Word of God, we can move to a place of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Why? Because joy is a result of answered prayer, and our prayers are already answered! [John 15:11]
Hallelujah!!
Believe You Receive
This is how we can believe we receive when we pray, how we can make our requests known with thanksgiving. Philippians 4 puts it this way:
'Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.' [Philippians 4:4-9]
Hebrews 4 says that God has rested from His finished works, but entreats us to be diligent to enter His rest.
What does that mean, exactly?
God's works are indeed finished from the foundation of the world, but ours are not...not until we accept His works as done in our lives through faith.
Hebrews 3, 4 tells why Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years—no, it was NOT God's will that they have a wilderness experience!
It was because of unbelief.
'And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?
'So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.' [Hebrews 3:17-19]
For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
'For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.' [Hebrews 4:2,3]
We enter into His finished works, His rest, by uniting the Word with faith!
For example, God has said "By His scourging you are healed" [Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24]. That was a work, finished not only at Calvary but when the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world [Revelation 13:8]. It was finished in the natural at Calvary, but in the Spirit it was done before the foundation of the world!
So our healing is already finished, already accomplished. But unless we unite that word with faith, we will not enter the rest of the finished work of healing.
In other words, God has already done His part.
'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.' [Ephesians 1:3,4]
ExamplesThe Old Covenant has a lot to teach on this subject. When Israel and Judah believed God's word—united it with faith—they had rest and peace. When they did not, they had war and captivity.
God had already blessed them in His covenant with Abraham, but when they did not unite the blessing with faith as a nation, they fell out of His rest, so to speak, even though their rest was settled forever!
Okay, Now What?
So, God's works are already finished FOR YOU. He is at rest.
How do you enter into that rest? If Hebrews 4 tells us to be diligent to enter His rest, we must be able to do so.
Unite the forever-settled Word with your faith. Believe that every promise is for you in Christ [2 Corinthians 1:20] and that they are finished, accomplished facts. Then unite it with faith—see it, believe it, say it. See the unseen, believe God's word over temporary circumstances.
Enter His rest.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

The Father Within [re-post]

Wait a minute...I might have just seen something amazing here...

'"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."' [John 14:10]

'Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.' [John 14:23]

'Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.' [Ephesians 3:20,21]

Yes, it's true. The Father is within, and He works through us, just like He did through Jesus.

Put that together with these verses, and you'll see something wonderful!

'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes...' [Deuteronomy 1:30]

'...for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:4]

'Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will extol Him. THE LORD IS A WARRIOR; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.' [Exodus 15:1-4]

'The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.' [Isaiah 42:13]

'The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.' [Zephaniah 3:17]

The Lord is within us, and He is a victorious warrior! He IS the power that works within—He IS mighty and He will fight for us!

And don't be afraid…

'When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

"When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted.

'Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:1-4]

Finally, remember these things:

‘But thanks be to God, who ALWAYS LEADS US IN TRIUMPH IN CHRIST, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.’ [2 Corinthians 2:4]

‘But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.’ [Romans 8:37]

‘…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ [1 Corinthians 15:57]

‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.’ [1 John 5:4]

The Father within, a victorious warrior.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For related scriptures, read Victory!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Eternal You [re-post]

We have such a limited view of spiritual reality...a sort of spiritual tunnel vision, if you will. Yes, man was separated from God by his own doing, but Jesus came that we might be reunited with Him. That's the story of the Gospel!

'For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.' [Romans 8:28,30]

He foreknew us! Ephesians 1:4 says '...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.'

Chosen before the foundation of the world! Foreknown! That's more then seeing us through the ages and predicting that we would come to Him...He knew us, before the foundation of the world! We existed then, we exist now, we exist forever on Mt. Zion. [Hebrews 12:22-24]

These are amazing, quantum thoughts, straight from the heart of God! 2 Timothy 1:9 says that His purpose and grace was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity...not for all eternity, but from all eternity! 1 Peter 1:1,2 puts it this way '...who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father...'

He knew us from old; therefore, we existed from old. In Christ, from before the foundation of the world. We are with Him in Revelations and from before the foundation of the world....we are eternal beings, living for a time in these earthen vessels.

In fact, the Greek word for 'eternal' is aionios—without beginning and end, THAT WHICH ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE, never to cease, everlasting. Not just forward, as we tend to think, but backward, too.

Who Knew?
If these things are true, and since they are straight from the Word, they must be, why do we have such limited knowledge? It seems as if we are awake to only a small portion of our lives, eternity, the reality of God and who we are in Christ.

I think this must be what the Holy Spirit was saying in Ephesians 5:13, 14...'But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

When we allow the light of God's Word to shine into our thinking, the realities of the Kingdom are revealed. We can lay aside all preconceived notions and limitations and finally step into our calling—to reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus.

It's Time
It's time to lay aside our darkened thinking, to renew our minds to the realities of God's will for us. Time to step into His glorious light and realize that we live in two realms of existence...ambassadors in the earth, citizens of Heaven. Living here while seated in heavenly places in Christ. Foreknown from the foundation of the earth, with Him at the final trumpet of Revelations. Eternal, one with Him, full of HIs glory.

Hallelujah!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Think Like God 2

We’ve all heard this scripture, particularly from those who preach that faith is in our heart and in our mouth and changes things in the earth.

‘…even God, Who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.’ [Romans 4:17 NASB]

‘…even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.’[Romans 4:17 KJV]

And we’ve all heard preachers who don’t believe in the ‘faith message’ say that this scripture is about God and not for us…I even heard one guy say “Nowhere in the Bible does is says that we should call things that are not as though they were.”

Don’t even get me started…how does he think he received salvation? When he started to confess Jesus as Lord, he was a sinner. When he finished the sentence, he was the righteousness of God in Christ! Talk about the power of words!

But I digress…

The Mind of Christ
What I saw this morning was the we have the mind of Christ. [1 Corinthians 2:16] We are one Spirit with the Lord [1 Corinthians 6:17] and Jesus said that He and the Father were One. [John 10:30]

So we have the ability to think like Jesus, to think like God!

And how does He think? Does He think sick? Broke? Is He worried or afraid? Does He see no way out of difficult situations?

Or does He believe that His Word will accomplish that for which He sends it? [Isaiah 55:11] Does He believe that what He says happens?

Oh, wait a minute…that’s what Jesus told us to do in Mark 11:23!

In fact, He told us to speak to mountains and move them!

‘And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. TRULY I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but BELIEVES THAT WHAT HE SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, it will be granted him.

"Therefore I say to you, ALL THINGS FOR WHICH YOU PRAY AND ASK, BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THEM, and they will be granted you.”’ [Mark 11:22-24]

This is how Jesus and His Father think! This is how the world was created!

Think like Jesus does…you have His mind. Declare the end from the beginning, like your Father does…imitate Him as dear children! [Isaiah 46:10, Ephesians 5:1]

Think about it…

Read Think Like Jesus, Think Like God, Decreed.