Are you comfortable in heaven? You may say, "Wait a minute. I live on earth. Come back to us".
Actually we are called to go deeply into heaven.
We are seated in heaven with Christ Eph 2:5-6
"even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
We are called to set our minds on heaven Col 3:2
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.…
We have Christ in us and the Mind of Christ. Col 1:27
to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
So who has the courage to run so far into heaven that the earth will see it's true identity?
Our Lord Did.
Jesus went the farthest into the Father's will and Abba Daddy's heart.
Jesus perfectly worshiped in obedience. Walking in all the paths of Israel, he fulfilled the will of the Father with a living sacrifice of Love and worship. Jesus redeemed every way of the children of Israel and in so doing opened the way for the Gentiles to come into the House.
Jesus laid down his life for us and so we too are called to a life of being laid down for the world. (I John 3:16)
Real worship envelopes our lives in flames of righteousness and the deepest love known to humanity.
We are worship. Everything in the Kingdom of God flows from deep and true recognition of the NAME. Holding on to the NAME and embracing heaven opens pathways to the deepest joy and abiding.
Jesus paid for the absolute best. He secured for us the pathway to the truest and highest expressions of the human self. We are found in the Way, Truth and LIFE. The highest aspirations of humanity are hidden in Jesus.
So how far are you willing to go?
Can you reach past the limitations of your own comfort? James 1:2-4
Past the limitations of your own present understanding? Proverbs 3:5
You can if you pour yourself into Christ Jesus as a fragrant offering. Rom 12:1-2
You can if you let go of you and quit trying to make your old man live. Matt 10:39
You can if you surrender to the Living Lord Jesus Christ and the new life of resurrection power. Col 3:1-4
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| Metolius River comes right out of the ground |
What are you willing to loose?
Jesus said that the act of acquiring this Kingdom is to loose your life. Then we find the real life we were made for. A life hidden in the love of God.
The harder you and I hold on the farther away from us the power of the Kingdom and the joy of our salvation flies.
We died. So Why do we spend so much equity and energy trying to gain and keep treasure here? Treasures that will rot and fade.
Jesus was clear. Go after the treasure that cannot be stolen from you.
Treasures of heaven.
Jesus is the Treasure of Heaven!
So how far are you willing to go to tap into heaven?
Are you willing to forgive, throw yourself on God and generously grant to others what God has granted to you?
We add up prayer time as if it is some kind of thermometer for heaven breaking into our lives.
The real thermometer is that we bring transforming love and grace into the world around us. That we bring overcoming love and the power of the Kingdom of God to all. That is hard to do when we don't know how to overcome the world in our day to day and personal lives.
We may love the world more than we care to think.
Love not the world or the things in the world.... I John 2:15
Is most of our teaching and striving to bring order to this broken world which will never stay fixed? It is fading away every day. It will not be lasting. It will crumble beneath us at any given moment.
So does that mean we give up and live only in spiritual things?
No. We have a Kingdom that is coming in love, hope and grace. By faith we are bringing that reality into what is fading every day. We are called to burn with Christ. Living fires of sacrifice. What emerges when we live this way?
"Everyone will be salted with fire" Mark 9:49
Salt. Eternal things. Stuff that passes through the fire and is not burnt or lost or destroyed.
It takes fire to reveal the power of the eternal. It takes a new perspective on and relationship to the world to begin to overcome the world. To go the deep in Christ and hold salt in your life as a witness of eternal things takes faith and perseverance.
What relationship did Jesus have with the world? There is grace, power and his presence in learning to walk in that relationship.
So, are you willing to go as deep into Christ as your calling and election prescribe?
The world always needs a fire ball of devotion and love to look at, to watch burn. Few are willing to...
Look foolish to the world
Look foolish to the Church
to be the friend of God
Seems that today looking cool is a premium. That it has some kind of Kingdom power? That we can build the Kingdom of God on the good will of popular entertainers and football parties.
So, stop lauding the prophets and great men and women of old whose devotion we identify with if you are not willing to be foolish in the site of the world or the Church.
They all were. They were scorned and thrown out. So was Jesus.
Jesus was not welcomed in the synagogues so he went open air.
Paul was kicked out of the synagogues and went open air and house to house.
John Westley was not welcomed in the synagogues/churches so he went open air.
We are well acquainted with the middle. The ground that the masses agree with, identify with and can clearly "understand". Some have even called out the "radical middle" as if such a think was noteworthy. That is not up there on Jesus list of high achievements, blending in. Doing the will of the Father leads where he desires. That may make you look foolish. It may make you look smart as well. The important part is the will of the Father and abiding in Jesus.
Problem. There is a witness that is required that calls for total and utter surrender and without that witness we start loosing awe, wonder and the fear of the Lord.
Some people get to be the Lord's fools. To speak a better word to the masses.
Contrasts make for understanding. Front runners can take a beating from all fronts ----except from the Lord Jesus.
Could this possibly be the current state of things?
We are pretty comfortable with our understanding of "walking".
Yet in truth it bears no powerful marks of the way of Jesus.
It does not look like him so we see no real impact.
In America a battle is being waged over voice and the Church is loosing credibility power.
Its common knowledge that Christians reflect the culture more than the Kingdom.
The transforming power of the Gospel appears to be inert.
Alternatives are few and all forms of deep devotion come under fire from the masses.
We strain a Nat and swallow a camel as Jesus said.
Is Jesus our brother or are we Saul's holding the cloaks while Stephen gets stoned?
We are so used to the taste of condemnation. it is the salt of our speech, understanding of God and relationships with the Church.
This should be a witness to us that we need to turn our eyes toward God and ask for a new understanding.
Our God is too small. So small he fits right into our lives. As if this life was the goal, the ultimate expression of his will and work.
The God who formed the oceans and the Mountains high does not fit into our life box.
That is not the God who sets the Thunder loose or flashed the lightning that lights forests a flame.
The God who poured the oceans full and whose love could not be contained if it filled all of the earth is the one who poured his blood over the sins of the entire world, past, present and future.
Those who know the NAME can stand up in the worst circumstances and abide in Christ and the reality of his grace and love. Their worship is not silenced. The Kingdom keeps moving forward in them. They offer life where there is none. And like their Father speak to what is not as though it was.
The Kingdom of God is the compelling vision of the rule and reign of the Lord Jesus in everything. This is what we carry with us everywhere. It is active. It is directed from heaven to bring heaven to earth. It is powerful and capable of changing all things.
Jesus made all things new. Usher in the promise!
Those who run deeply into the secret place of Christ's heart know that his power overcomes the world. It does not shrink back. It has gone to the deepest hell hole possible and won the victory. Thank you Jesus. We would be lost without you.
So, how far are you willing to go?
There is a place of rest and trust that frees us from the cares of the world and opens us wide into the reality of the Coming Kingdom and the rule and reign of Jesus.
It is not a removed spirituality. It is engaged in overcoming the world; of bringing light and love to darkness. It is infused with the inheritance power and vision of the perfect work of Jesus Christ.
So how far are you willing to go?
Decide to let this perfect love lose on the world in which you live. The lives you can touch. The hearts you can deliver hope and power into today.
Comments? Love the dialogue. Thank you for comments and Google +1's. The feedback and encouragement are great.
With love and grace in Jesus
He is all we need for life and peace.
In the Lord,
Brother Jeff
Jeff Reynolds Sr. leader
Capstone Christian Fellowship
www.mycapstone.org
jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
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