Unspeakable gifts!

   Oh, the gifts God has given!  Words cannot describe them all but how about a few
1. The gift of His Son.  God so loved the world that He gave!
2. The gift of the Holy Ghost.  Jesus died on the cross so we could have this gift.
3..Gift of a new spirit within.
4.  Gift of reconciliation. Enmity turned to friendship.
5.  Gift of righteous ness.  Rightstanding with God
6. Gift of propitiation.  Mercy turned to anger
7. Gift of Abrahams blessing. Divine favor everywhere we go.
8.  Gift of no condemnation.
9. Gift of Holy Ghost gifts, one and all.
10. Gift of companionship with the Spirit
11. Gift of heaven.
12. Gift of peace, joy and righteousness. The Kingdom.
13.  Gift of faith.
14. Gift of power.
15. Gift of freedom.
16.  Gift of mercy, patience and long-suffering.

Oh, my....words fail me.  It is too much.  Thank you God for your great goodness and glory.

Got my inheritance? Do you?

  

    When will the church, God's people take their inheritance?  Most are waiting for heaven. But, my friend, heaven, as wonderful as it is, is only a place.  God is our portion.  God is our salvation and like a gospel song of some years ago said, "Jesus will be what makes it heaven for me".  The heart of our salvation is God. He is my well of living water.  He is life eternal.  He is my joy, my song, my Father, my Friend.  If you are waiting for heaven to get your inheritance, shame on you.  We have the "earnest" right before us. The Holy Ghost is the earnest of our salvation otherwise known as God.  

     Gonna wait until you get to the place?  Don't do it....get your inheritance now.  Your inheritance is already more than you can handle.  When you get it, it overflows out of you like rivers of living water.  When you get it, you can taste the powers of the world to come. When you get it, you can experience the joy of heaven, the very place you are going, right now.  When you draw on your inheritance, the glory of the Lord comes down on you like a weighty blanket. When you get it, you then will know what the Apostle Paul was praying about when he prayed "that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection".  My friend, the power of His resurrection was the earnest of your inheritance, the awesome Holy Ghost.  When you get it, every now and then, it will quicken you with a tiny flicker of resurrection power and you will want to start running, jumping, shouting, laughing, crying, singing, dancing and otherwise expressing radical joy for who it is you know and what it is you have been given.

This ain't heaven - but the Kingdom is here

    

    How near is the Kingdom?  So many are looking for the Kingdom, only they are thinking organization, structure, thrones, rulership, etc..  Others are waiting for the Kingdom, watching the signs surrounding Israel, having relinquished any idea of the Kingdom's existence apart from the second coming.  The truth is, the Kingdom is here now, ruled over by King Jesus, only you have to know where, at the moment, to find it and be willing to accept what it is when you find it. Unfortunately, that eliminates a lot of Kingdom seekers. I know there is a coming Kingdom but there is a Kingdom now, if only we will enter in.  

   The Bible (Ro. 14:17),  says the "Kingdom", for right now, available to all, is "righteousness, peace and joy".  That is what it is, clearly identified so you will know the boundaries.  And, it is "in the Holy Ghost".  That is where it is. This is one reason why the Bible also says that no man can call Jesus Lord, except by the Holy Ghost.  That is where His rulership is found and expressed.   Want to be led, ruled over, by the Lord, the King?  Be continuously filled and led of the Spirit and you got it!  Many are those who will miss the Kingdom, in the here and now, because they won't look where it is found.  The incredible, insidious, fierce and long standing resistance to the Holy Ghost is resistance to the Lord Jesus and somehow, someway, Satan has managed to disguise the resistance for a long, long time.  Where do you look to "seek first" the Kingdom?   Be filled with the Spirit, again and again and you have done your  seeking! 

    What is the Kingdom?  "Righteousness"  You get the gift of Righteousness, something religion will do all it can to keep you from even knowing about.  You have right standing with God and it is a free gift.  Until you accept it, the Kingdom will escape you.  When you accept it, you become as bold as a lion and grace is released at unprecedented levels. Grace works through this gift (Ro. 5:21).   "Peace"  There is a wonderful peace found only in the Kingdom. You are at one with God, floating in the River, loving life, people, and the Holy Ghost. In days of trouble, the Comfort of God will rise up like an ocean tide. You, minding the things of the Spirit, know there is now no "enmity" between you and God (Ro.8:6-7).  "Joy"   Now you can do what you are most often commanded to do. Rejoice evermore and always...which is all the time.  Now you begin to enjoy God, like never before.  Now you begin to approach God like a happy kid.  

    

    Every element of the now Kingdom is experiential, not mere knowledge.  It is one thing to say "Oh, I know all that".  But, have you experienced it?   I have and I might just say "it is wonderful".  It took me a while to get it all worked out. I had to learn and mostly unlearn a lot of things. But, oh when the Spirit presses the Kingdom upon you....it is awesome!  The joy, which so many depressed religious folks just can't seem to help themselves from hating, is awesome, awesome, awesome.  It is intoxicating!   And, the sweet peace gives a sense of intimacy I don't have words to express. The gift of righteousness first brings great relief from the burden of religion, then great boldness, then greater faith, then greater grace. 

   If you understand this, you will whisper with me "Thy Kingdom come".  You will set your life in order, seeking "first" the Kingdom.  And, you will learn to love the Holy Ghost, knowing He is where this is all found.  In Him, you find the Lord.  In Him, you find the King and the Kingdom.  In Him, that "another" Comforter, you find the original Comforter - Jesus Christ the Lord.  Oh, today my friend...Be Filled!  Today, cry out of a thirsty heart, for another drink of Living Water, the indispensable Holy Ghost.

  

Normalcy Bias

   I heard a television / radio personality use the term "normalcy bias" the other day and it stuck in my head and spirit.  He used the illustration of the burning towers of the World Trade Centers, people coming down the stairs sudden struck with the normalcy bias, turning around, going back up to turn off the office lights or computer and never making it out of the building.  Message? What is normal has to be examined closely, for if you stick with what you think is normal, and it isn't, it could be disastrous.

   The moment I heard this, my spirit woke up and I realized, that is the problem with the church.  We are hanging on to the wrong idea of what is normal. And, it is killing us. What to do?  For me, I am going to use the Bible, and from the New Covenant, seek to know what God did, intended and produced.  Why?  Because He is perfect and being perfect, cannot and will not err.  Normal?  By His definition, a normal Christian was born again (new spirit within).  He was baptized with the Holy Ghost, spoke in tongues, was full of God's praise, saw and expected to see the demonstrations of the Spirit and the power of God.  He based his faith on those things.  His relationship with the Holy Ghost made it possible for him to know that Jesus was the resurrected Lord and that then made it possible for him to know his resurrection was assured.  He knew that to "mind" the things of the Spirit would bring him life but to "mind" the things of the flesh (natural thinking) would become enmity between him and God.

   The above description would quite accurately describe a New Testament believer as seen in the Bible.  What is normal to you?   What is your defining document?  What do you go by?  Are you hanging in there with a concept of normal that is minus of the manifestations of the power of God?  Of the gifts of the Spirit?  Minus Holy Ghost baptism? A heart filled with praise?  A language to speak spirit to Spirit unto God?  No joy?   No power?   Is all you have a church membership and a book with some promises within?  

   For me, I am committed to God's view of normal.  You can hang on to yours, if you like, but when things crash around you, and our normalcy bias takes over, best of luck to you. 

   

Creepy Creeps!

     Jude urges believers to "contend" for the faith that was delivered to delivered to them, to the saints, the early Christians.  What was that faith?   In the book of Jude, the Holy Ghost, through the writer, scolds and warns of departure from that "faith".  He warned that men would creep in on us.  Believe me creepy leaders abound.  He said these creepy characters would be "sensual" (natural thinkers) who did not have the "Spirit", (no relationship with the Holy Spirit).  Then he said "but ye".  No matter how important the words or the length of the paragraph, the word "but", in any writing, any paragraph, once inserted becomes the most important word in the writing.  Jude described those creepy leaders and then he described those who contended for the faith "but ye, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost".  There you go!  Contending, praying in the Holy Ghost, hanging on to that Holy Ghost baptism, Holy Ghost filling, Holy Ghost gifts, Holy Ghost empowerment, Holy Ghost revelations of Jesus.  That is what we are to contend for!

  It is through this expression of faith that we do the rest of the instructions in Jude, such as , "keep yourself in the love of God".  His love is your great safety place.  His love is the place of miracles.  His love is the place of divine supply.  Pray in the Holy Ghost and keep yourself grounded in His love.  Don't be fooled by those creepy men who are sensual and do not have the Spirit, but pretend they do.  Jude says they turn the 'grace" of God into "lasciviousness".  That means they put on a religious magic show of illusions intended to convince you the grace of God is present when it isn't.  Lasciviousness is pretending to do something, be something in order to create an impression.  In the world, it is a way of life we have become accustomed to.  In the church, it is a sickening thing which I will never be accustomed to.  Don't give me impressions of God.  I want Him.  Don't give me the impression of His presence. I want His presence.  Don't give me the impression of His gifts, give me the gifts.  Don't give me the impressions of His River.  I want the River.  Don't give me a show. I want the real deal and I am not easily fooled.

    No Bible book that I know of more appropriately addresses us than the book of Jude. We have been overrun with creepy preachers creating impressions.  They are, as Jude says, "clouds without water".   Full of swelling words spoken to gain the admiration of man, hoping for some gain for themselves.  Disgusting.

Stick demons?

    Years ago, I heard a famous evangelist, I think a little bit tongue-in-cheek, say, "You people in America don't know demons..your demons are little two foot high stick demons with an IQ of 2. We have real demons where I come from".  It was funny, but I thought then, "wait til you hang around here a while".   Maybe I am wrong, but I bet he doesn't tell that joke after living in America for a while.   Not if he understands the  battle.  The stick demons, with low IQ are on foreign fields.  The dumber the demons, the easier it is to see the flow of God's power in every way possible.  However, our demons in America our sophisticated, educated, and religious. They wear suits, carry big Bibles and thick checkbooks.  Like the Pharisees who Jesus said would come to steal, kill and destroy the abundant life He came to give us, they put on the Pharisee suit, look holy, sound holy, speak holy all the while resisting the manifestations of God on earth.  It was not the devil that Jesus called a "thief" that comes to kill, steal and destroy.  It was religious leaders.  I hate to say it but often,  it is not what you don't know that hinders the flow of God...it is what you do know.  When your head is full of educated reasons why God doesn't, can't, and won't do miracles, it is hard to get past those reasons.  When people hear the good news and have no reason not to believe it, the river flows.

   In America, we base our faith on almost anything and everything but what the Bible says our faith should stand upon....the manifestations of the Spirit and the power of God. (1st Cor. 24-5).   Just as surely as those Pharisees dressed to impress, so do religious people.  Did you know that those disciples that followed Jesus, that were our first leaders, were just ordinary people with no desire to impress anybody with their looks, clothes, money, size of ministry or extensive knowledge?  They didn't even have a Bible to carry around ...they just had  a powerful relationship with the Holy Ghost.  They just wanted to minister the Spirit and power, knowing that to be  the only way to provide a foundation for faith.  Remember singing "Standing on the promises"?  How many stand on the promises while ignoring what the promises demand we stand on?  Even those who teach faith often miss the point. Slowly but surely they slide over the slope into depending on education rather than relationship.  They end up worshiping the Word instead of the Author.

To Be A Literalist

   Years ago the Lord made it clear to me that I was to stop reading what men said the Bible said, and start reading what it actually says. I became a literalist.  A literalist is one who starts with the assumption that God, in the Word, said what He wanted and meant what He said.  A literalist is one who believes God is perfect and does what He does perfect.  A literalist looks for the clear meaning first.  This requires knowing we have a new and better covenant in which God speaks clearly and plainly.  Jesus did not deal in types and shadows, did not use allegories and when He did, made it plain that He was.  When He used an illustration, He made it clear it was an illustration. 

    Sounds simple?  It is simple but it is powerful, it is liberating.  It is simple, but you will find yourself constantly being challenged to believe what God says, or what men say God says.  The warning I would give is that it may well give you a feeling of isolation and strangeness that you will have to fight. One of the things you will discover, and keep discovering, is that much of what we call Christianity, or church, is not based on the Bible. In fact, much of it has no relationship to the Bible at all.   That will give you a pause.  These groups may be good, do good works, and even make heaven (I am not a judge) but they are not Bible based.  They are based on their understandings of whatever Bible verse or theme that has attracted them, but there ends the relationship.

    Here is where you will see the problem facing the American church.  We don't want to take God literally. We don't want to take His word literally.  We don't want to use the Bible as a defining document, which of course is a way to become unraveled.  It is the same reason the constitution is so important to America.  It is a defining document, without which a society, such as ours, will come unraveled. (and we are).  Men are working very hard to remake America into whatever they dream it to be.  It is the same with the church.  Men working hard to remodel the church to fit their understanding, their dream.   How do men excuse this?  Listen carefully with your ears and eyes.  This is their excuse: the church is evolving.  When you accept that theory, the Bible is more or less useless.   If we are evolved, what are we evolved to?  What are the guidelines?  Whose versions of the evolved church are we to trust in?  When you here them say "this is our vision", you better look carefully.  

     Here is the facts: A perfect God sent a perfect Son. A perfect God wrote a perfect book.  A perfect God sent the perfect Holy Ghost.  A perfect God birthed a perfect church, just as seen in the book of Acts.   Out of that cloud of glory stepped a perfect church, a perfect body of Christ.  My friend, there is no need of evolution but there is a great need of restoration.  The church was birthed with the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost that empowered every disciple. and confirmed to every disciple the ascension and Lordship of Jesus.  The new testament reveals a church who enjoyed the companionship, the power, the leadership of the Holy Ghost, just as the first disciples did with Jesus.  The evolving church runs from the Holy Ghost like a rabbit before the hound.  That martyr Stephen, in his dying breath uttered these words  "Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit", perhaps the most accurate prophetical warning given to us.  The early church was birthed in the perfection ability of God.  He did not birth something and then say "oops".  He did not create a man and then say "oops".  We are fearfully and wonderfully made,  just as the psalmist said.  If we are evolving, as man, we are going backwards not forwards.  We are becoming more like a monkey, not less.  The church, the body of Christ on earth was birthed perfect.  It came into being with a sound from heaven.  It came into being with every member so filled with the Holy Ghost they were as though drunken.  It came into being with cowards like Peter turned to bold preachers.  It came into being with out a care about what religious people thought about it.

   The center of being for the early church was the Holy Ghost. Oh, they loved Jesus, but they did it through His representative, the Holy Ghost.  They worshiped the Lord, but they did it through the Holy Ghost, knowing that no man could call Him Lord, except by the Spirit.  They testified of the resurrected Jesus but they did it with what the Bible calls the testimony of Christ, the gifts of the Spirit.  They went out preaching the gospel and every step they took, the Holy Ghost went with them, confirming their word and their message with signs, wonders and demonstrations.  Their faith, according to the word was based on the manifestations of Spirit, not the words of men. They wanted to know the Lord but they knew the Spirit of God had come with a mission to tell them of the Lord, to speak for Him and about Him, to show His glory, to shed abroad His love on each of us.

    Do you believe all that?  If you do, you are going to be uncomfortable with the evolved church.