God Designed the World to Find Him. There is Always a Way Home

Christmas reminded me of something.There is always a way home.  

God designed the world to find him.   (John 3:16) 

Yes. The world is full of opportunity for distraction. (I John 2:15-17)
Our hearts have trouble getting free.  Getting free, free enough to see a glimpse of the beauty and power of the Kingdom of God, seems daunting.  We are surrounded by oceans of opportunity, real and now opportunity, to drown our pain and sorrows.   Wandering is an easy road; wide and open with the invitation to drift on the current.  
Eyes are easily clouded by the raw and blinding emotions of disappointment, anger, frustration, hate, etc....  
No need to run the list.

by Julie Fruth. pinterest.com

It appears daunting but it is not.  
Why?  
It isn't our work; not our task.  
It is the Trinity's awesome signature on the life we all share. It's the Father's goal. He creates ways home all around us.  The Father is working in the world.  Right now seeking to save the lost.   

The three in one wrote this plainly on the world.  There is always a way home.  


God is amazing and creative and has a love for us so vast we cannot comprehend it's breadth and width (Isaiah 40:28).   He is all the time, every moment, leaving doors open around us.  

He is always leaving doors open for us to come home.  

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable." Isa 40:28

The world, created in Christ Jesus, is perfectly suited to help every person find the way to the riches and glory in Jesus Christ.  It serves him.  Even in brokenness it cannot buck the design of love.  All its foundations were crafted in, for and through love.  Jesus reminds us of this in his words....

"Ask and it will be given;  seek and you will find;  knock and the door will be opened.  

Jesus explains this key written on the world.   

There is always a way home. 

by Karen McGillivray from Pinterest

"For everyone who asks receives; He who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

Promise is at the heart of God's relationship with us in this world.  

He promises, proclaims and says things we want to find ourselves in.  We ask, seek and knock believing he will uphold his word in the NAME of Jesus.   And he does. 

Promise is one of the doors always left open. Sometimes lost, the reality is, we are we pursued by God.  He is relentless in his loving kindness.  In Christ the grace of God seeks after hearts willing to express even a mustard seed of faith in Christ.  

It is vital we run through the doors of promise and into the heart of God. 

Promise

1. He has promised to supply every need we have. The Bible says: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". That's Philippians 4:19.
2. God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. (II Corinthians 12:9).
3. God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. Instead, He assures us that a way of escape will be provided. This promise is recorded in I Corinthians 10:13. Jude wrote: "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present your faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude v 24).
4. God has promised us victory over death. He first resurrected Jesus by way of assuring our resurrection. Peter said: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32). Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3,4). Later on he adds: "but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57).
5. God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28). It may be difficult for us to see and understand how this is accomplished at times, but God has promised it, and He will deliver.
6. God has promised that those who believe in Jesus and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins will be saved. (Read Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38).
7. God has promised His people eternal life (John 10:27,28). In closing, let me appeal to you to live so that the promises of God will be yours.   ("The Seven Promises from God to Man", Dec 2014,  http://www.bible.ca/d-7promises-god.htm) 

Yes.  In our fallen nature, we fight against God and resist his kingdom.  

This hides many doors from our sight.   Enmity was crucified on the cross.  Embrace your cross and see hundreds of doors open around you.   Doors of promise.  Doors of Hope.  Doors of Love.  Doors of life, things we cannot see as we wander with eyes seeing through the broken and fallen nature into which we were born.  

Many things stumble us and cause our eyes to loose sight, but God designed the world so that we would find him.  

Celtic door by Nicole Lee 

We are not left as orphans.  Jesus sent the Spirit to lead and guide us. (John 16:12-14)  It's all about what we are after.   What do we really want?   

If we want God we will find him.  Trusting his promise is the doorway to his heart.  

Thank you for reading.  Comments?  Questions?  Ideas?  
Thank you for +1's and re-shares.   I really appreciate it.   
Do this spark some other ideas or resources.  Let me know your thoughts.  


In the Love of Jesus,


Jeff Reynolds.  AKA Brother Jeff
Sr. Leader Capstone Christian Fellowship
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com
www.mycapstone.org

Is God too Small and the Problem too Big?

Everyone screams no way.  We get adamant about this.  
Yes. That is good.  
So why have we given up on some of the problems affronting our faith?  

A couple daunting problems that need "nothing is impossible" faith and resolute courage in the face of slow progress....  You can think of more I'm sure.  

1. We treat each other like competitors instead of family. A powerful witness of the love of God, the deep and true unity we share in Jesus, among the family and churches of a given city or even among leaders of different ministries is weak or non-existent.   Lines and boarders may be our testimony instead of a generous, vibrant, overwhelming love and encouragement.    High Praises to those warriors of Christ who are daily believing and working for love and the fragrance of Jesus among the diverse witnesses for Christ Jesus in their city.  

"The Core" - Sonya J. Day

 

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.…Eph 4:5

Sonya J. Day - friend from Redding CA.  

Beautiful art - find her here - support her vision

http://www.sonyajday.com/hearts/o6szc9a20omkqv4kr9s9dhifl1xc1w

 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

 John 13:35

 Are you one of the change makers?

• Nothing is impossible
• The Father lavishes love on us in Jesus - lavish some on your divine family - Give and it shall be Given.
• All things are possible for those who believe

 In the end LOVE WINS. Sow the future now. Live in the hope of the consummation-all things one in Christ. By this all men will know we are HIS. Sow love first.  Be love first and last.   This is doable!  Jesus provided all we need to walk in love in the face of the worst darkness. 


God too small?  Problem to Big? 


2. We have limited impact with those who need the blessing and grace of the gospel.  Turning cities upside down with the witness of the Gospel of the Kingdom.   Possibly the problem is we want intellectual check offs, ideas and statements, more than we want surrender, following and evidence of new birth in Jesus.  Meeting the Lord of glory is so much more than checking off some "yes, I believe that" statements.   Religion makes people worse.  Jesus said 10x's worse.  Meeting and encountering Jesus sets them free forever.   

God to small?  Problem to Big? 

Believers today seem to have an identity crisis.  Many live in silence and fear at the thought of stepping out into the community to witness to the reality and glory of the Gospel of Jesus.  Sin, Death and the Devil are defeated through the work of Jesus.  We have a message that sets people free both now and eternally.   Every sin - Forgiven.  Every sickness - healed.  Every fear - crushed in love.  Every power - stripped.   The new creation born in his resurrection.  Everything sealed into the heavenly tabernacle when Jesus sat down at the Father's right hand.   

Sometimes the simplest things are the most difficult.  Love is easy.  Love your neighbor as yourself.


3. Problem Perspective: My personal problems are insurmountable.  As I work with faith communities I see apathy, depression, disappointment, anger and offense at God, leaders, church family, anyone who rises up to be a change agent.    Confronting hell with the power of the cross is desperately needed in and among those who claim to bear his name.   The cross is testimony of defeat for the powers of sin, death and the Devil.   Jesus was clear on this.  If we don't pick up our cross and follow him daily we are not worthy of him.   

"And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.…"

 Luke 9:23

The seed falls to the ground and dies first.  There is a great need for laying down our personal kingdoms for the eternal one in Christ.  It is so important that the everyday believer knows the power of the Kingdom to confront sin, death and the Devil in their own lives.  

Deliverance and discernment are the heartbeat of wisdom and love in action.   Love cannot bear to see the lost left without a shepherd and wisdom discerns the pathways of freedom and deliverance. Together there is resolute focus on freedom and overcoming the world.  

Many believers today seem to think that they inherited a salvation that brings them into a utopia dream of no problem existence where everyone is happy all the time. 

Reality - we are in a conflict with the powers of the age.  Sin, Death and the Devil.   The Father has given us the keys to the Kingdom.  We wage war in the love and power of Jesus for the salvation of the world.     Love wins.   Here are three characteristics of Kingdom love in action.

1) Love believes all things - Nothing is impossible with God

2) Love hopes all things - we carry his presence everywhere we go -  the reality of new life

3) Love never fails - As the Bethel Music song says "his love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me."


God to small?  Problem to big?   
How big is the God you believe in?  
How present is he in your life today? 
How is his Kingdom coming daily in your life?  
He is an ever flowing stream of grace, mercy and love for you every day.  

 
The answer for the world is up to us.  How we live.  Hope.  Trust and walk in Him. 
Receive and welcome his Kingdom and Power in your life today.  
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts!   I Cor 14:1

By this we know that we are in Him: 6the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

I John 2:6

Comments?  Ideas or discussion on this topic?

I appreciate everyone's comments and ideas.  We are in this together!

Thank you for reading.   

Keep hope alive!

In the Love of Jesus,

Jeff Reynolds aka - brother Jeff

www.mycapstone.org

www.jeffreynoldsminnistries.com

jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com

10 Keys to Sustaining a life in the Supernatural

The Kingdom of God is such an amazing and beautiful thing to see in action.  When God moves it inspires awe and wonder.  

So how do we sustain a move or dwelling place of God?  

Butterfly transformations require strength

"By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world."  (I John 4:1)


Here are 10 keys that I have found to spur me on and keep the doors of heaven open.   What do you think?  Do you have others to add?    Hope they are encouraging.




1. Pray without ceasing.  We know this but we don't know this.  Learn to abide in the presence of the Lord at all times.  This keeps us in promise.  It can be done.  It's not about talking all the time.   "If you abide in me, I will abide in you."  John 15   He says he never leaves us or forsakes us.   There are vast open fields of knowledge in Christ that will open up as we pursue the knowledge of his presence.  This call is the doorway.  The way of understanding his presence for every moment is out in front of us.   Lets Run in!  


2. Obedience is better than sacrifice.   Religion cannot sustain a move of God.  Rules.  Boundaries.  Calculations.  Obedience can.  For freedom he set us free.  We are free to obey him in worship and love.  Be diligent in honoring what the Lord asks of you.   Complete the tasks you know he wants you to finish.   Often it requires faith and some risk.  Dive in knowing that his NAME and character support you.   This is heart and soul of pleasing God....faith in action. (Heb 11:1 and 6)   Trust in motion.  Obedience in the face of every hindrance.  Obedience comes with promise.  If we love Jesus we will obey his commands.....and the Father will make his home with us.  Awesome promise.  John 14:23


3. Throw off the weight of sustaining what God holds up.  Receive him and Abide in love.  Embrace the gift of the Cross.  Dwell in the resurrection power and keep your eyes focused on the ascended Jesus seated above. That is where your life is hidden in Christ. (Col 3:1-3)   We cannot sustain a move of God upon the "arm of the flesh".  It is too weighty, to heavy.   Jesus said his "yoke is easy and his burden is light."  Look for the light and easy yoke and move in faith.   Discern what the Lord is carrying and what he wants you to carry by the weight of the yoke.  He says his yoke is easy, light, not a heavy burden.  Why do we say doing what God wants is hard.   That sounds like a different gospel?  Trust the prophetic words you have received and fight the good fight of faith with them.  (I Tim 1:18-19)  They will keep you walking in faith and protect a good conscience.  


4. Let rest be your hiding place.  Life can come at us fast and we can still be in perfect peace. (Isaiah 26:3)   In repentance and rest is our salvation. (Isaiah 30:15) Learning to rest in all that Jesus has done for us while we are highly active in the world, this is the engine of sustaining presence.  We carry the presence and life changing power everywhere we go. (Hebrews 4)   Jesus is with us.  Always.   What is he looking to do where we are?  Look around with his eyes on.  See the world through his rest.


5. Expect miracles, supernatural happenings and keep your eyes open for opportunities.   Moving in the supernatural requires seeing the Kingdom in motion and good communication with the Holy Spirit.   The Father is moving in all circumstances and Jesus is bringing his Kingdom today.   Keep your eyes open for divine encounters and opportunities in the Spirit.  He prepares the lives of people for miracles. "but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him."  (John 9:3)  Step out and offer to pray.   There are works waiting all around you.  (Eph 2:10)  Don't forget the night can be a key time to watch with open eyes for his coming.   

"I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. Hear my voice according to Your loving kindness; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your ordinances".   (Ps 119:148)



6. Work hard at aligning your life to all the "Firsts" of the Kingdom.   The Kingdom and his righteousness first. (Matt 6:33)   First above all things thanksgiving and prayer. (I Tim 2:1)  Most important, first love for Jesus. (Rev 2:7f)   Get everything flowing out of heaven that your are doing in your life on earth.   Start with Jesus and end with worship and obedience.  Let his glory live in you as you walk in Him.  Let heaven fill up your life and all the earth around you.    We do not create the Kingdom, make it go, provide it's directions.  We simply welcome and receive it.  (Matt 10:40)


7. Let the Spirit search you often.   (Ps 139)   Search me and know me.   Ask the Spirit to lead and guide you as you move through your day.  Welcome his presence and the life he has for you in the morning.   Be honest about who you are and what the Spirit wants to free you from.  Let him lead you and guide you in that process.   When the Spirit goes after something to bring righteousness to us it is a complete transformation.  It is well worth the effort of saying "yes".

lay down in some fire

8. Never let fear guide you.  Make key decisions in the presence of God.  Make decissions with his heart for the world and the inheritance of the Lord Jesus clearly in front of you.   Identify fear and let the Spirit reveal why it is there.   Take it captive unto Christ and act in the Kingdom.   Put down every fear and let the Holy Spirit fill each one with love.  His perfect love can drive them all away.   


9. Elevate the way of Faith by following Jesus closely.   Identify the role faith is playing in your walk after Jesus.  Often we step up into obedience and new things and see incredible breakthrough and then we level off and simply sustain those things rather than press forward into new avenues of faith.   Make it your goal to be within reach of Jesus.  If you follow him you will stay on the sharp edge of faith.   


10.  The real sustaining power is in the GO!  The Father loves mission.  The Father is at work right now in your town, city, neighborhood, family and friends.  This gospel of the Kingdom breaks forth as we are among the people.  The deeper out into darkness we go the brighter the light that will shine of God's Kingdom    Often we do not go out into the community, over to the neighbors, over to our friends who don't know Jesus.  Go and serve them in love.   Go serve them in his name.   Jesus breaks down every barrier and there are no gates that can prevail against him.  IT is just a matter of time before they fall.  Go out and preach his message to the world.   You will see wonders.  


Can we sustain this alone?  I don't believe we can.  But why would you want to anyway?  We were made to be part of a family;  To have deep and life giving relationships that are rich in the Kingdom of God and the Rule and Reign of Jesus.   Get connected to a Body of Believers that is living intentionally in these kind of things.  You will see a new measure of growth and fruit as you walk with them while following the Lord.  The Word and Spirit combined are empowering new families in powerful Kingdom expressions of his love everyday.    Be part of one. 


Comments?  Ideas?  What have you found to sustain a move of the Spirit? 
Thank you for the re-shares.   Let me know about other blogs or sites that are calling out a sustained move of God.   



With love and grace in Jesus,


Jeff Reynolds
Capstone Christian Fellowship
www.mycapstone.org
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com

The Enemy loves to push our Buttons - There are Buttons he can never push again. The Ascension of Jesus Part IV.

The Devil has no ability to alter, touch, change or rearrange anything Jesus established forever when he sat down next to the Father in heaven.   

It feels good to say that.  Say it out loud.    

Do you hear things shake? 

Do you feel the words reverberate through creation?

small fires in your heart make a difference

Paul says, we are seated with Christ in heavenlies.     

(Eph 2:5-7)

Everything was set forever in the goodness of God.  It occurred when Jesus ascended.   His feet, touching the earth on a mountain in Israel, lifted off the earth and ascended into heaven.    He took his seat at the right hand of the Father and his place as the High Priest of the Heavenly tabernacle.  

Paul says, 

Heb 1:3

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The Devil has no ability to alter, touch, change or rearrange anything Jesus established forever when he sat down.   

You and I sit down with him into everything he accomplished when we believe in him.  

Sitting down.  Work is done.  It is finished.   What does that work mean in ascension?

 

1) Jesus sat down in perfect worship.   A central piece of what Jesus did was set perfect, holy, and righteous worship into the fabric of heaven and earth.  

Jesus personified and is everything he accomplished in the Father’s will.   We will be the same as we walk after the Spirit and obediently follow the Lord Jesus.     He did not just accomplish things.  HE was and is and is to come.  He is everything he ever said, did or called forth in the human heart. 

2) Jesus sat down in perfect relationship.   Perfect relationship with everything seen, unseen, known, ever to be known, Jesus holds all things together.  Jesus created all things and all things will unify and find their fulfillment in Jesus.    He brought righteousness into all things and when all is unified in him a perfect relationship will exist with everything in the created world.     Beautiful.   

3) Jesus sat down in perfect revelation.   As the Scripture reveals and sets a righteous and true witness into the world of divine revelation, Jesus himself connected the Ways of God, the Truth and Life into a perfect revelation of his rule and reign.   The Kingdom, Jesus’ rule and reign, came with him and in him and through him.  It does the same in us as we renew our minds in his ways, truth and life.   The amazing beauty of what Jesus accomplished is resident in him and radiates from him in love and generosity.  

4) Jesus sat down in perfect inheritance.  Jesus won humanity an inheritance as vast as the heavens, rooted in the Father’s heart and richly inclusive of everyone who believes in HIM.    Paul tells us that who we are is hidden in him.   We are treasure hunters in the face of Jesus.   Inheritance is discovered.  It unfolds as we travel with him.   As we seek his face and purpose to know Jesus above all things in this life.   He meets us at the point of our desire for him.   Tremendous promise.  

5) Jesus sat down in heavens temple.   Jesus sat down in a heavenly temple that is now completely connected to the earth’s dynamic and unfolding story.   He passed through all things and descended to the darkest places.  He fills all things in every way.   Then he ascended higher than anyone possibly could.   Jesus is beyond the touch of earthly rulers and authorities, heavenly rulers and authorities any and all powers.    This is eternal.  Set forever.  Jesus is the eternal reality that all things are moving toward.  The earth is passing away.  It is fading in the truth, righteousness and glory of Jesus.  And the Kingdom is coming everyday in the glory, beauty and power of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

The Devil has nothing to do with ascended eternal realities.  

His is the game of deception.   Entanglement.   Lies.  

Jesus said he was the father of lies.  

He never tells the truth. 

Speaks in half-truths.  Sounds right on the front.  Devastates on the back side.

HE cannot tell the truth…. ever.   Remember this.  

The Spirit does tell the truth.  Always.  Ask him for guidance. 

The Devil is created. 

HE is one angel.

There are not enough fallen angels to handle all of us!  Graham Cooke says. 

I think he is right. 

Satan is in one place at a time.  He is seated somewhere also.  

He is seated in what is fallen and fading away.

We don’t all fight him personally.  

He has limited resources; a certain number of angels to move about the earth. 

 We have thousands upon thousands of witnesses who have walked in the way and shine with the glory of a race well run.  Seated in heaven.   Seeing Jesus. 

We have thousands upon thousands of righteous, holy, servants of fire who minister at the Lord’s word and support the cause of the righteous every moment. 

We have Jesus in us.  Christ in us the hope and power and truth.  (Col 1:27)  We have glory in us. 

Do you see the complete emptiness of the Devil’s position? 

Do you see the utter glory, power, eternal kingdom we are part of?

Do you see Jesus? 

That is what we need. To see with the eyes of our hearts the Lord of Glory. 

Nothing can change our life, our family, and our insides like a fresh revelation of the Love of God in Jesus Christ.   (Eph 3:14-22)

Ask the Spirit for a love encounter with Jesus.  

Our lives in Christ are hidden in this place. 

Hidden in Jesus heart.

Linked with the Father’s heart in everything Jesus accomplished and finished both in heaven and on earth. 

We belong to HIM. 

Nothing can tear you away from him. 

Trust.  Believe.  Know and live in his power. 

 Isaiah 26:3  Perfect Peace!

With much love and faith that he will accomplish everything he set out to do in YOU!

Comments?  Ideas?  Feedback? 

Thank you so much for your +1’s, reposts, sharing, mentioning. 

It is awesome to dialogue with you and hear what is in your heart.  

Brother Jeff.  Sojourning the same paths as you.  Come Lord Jesus!

 Jeff Reynolds.  apostolic voice 

Capstone Christian Fellowship

www.mycapstone.org

www.jeffreynoldsministries.com 

jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com 

jreynolds@mycapstone.org

The Enemy Loves to Push our Buttons - The Resurrection Life Trumps ALL his CARDs Part III

The story of Christ's Victory does not end at the Cross.  The Enemy seeks to keep the "gates" he possesses.  Through enslaving men and women and tying them up in sins, culture and ways that build strongholds of enslavement.  But he has been stripped.  

  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.  Col 2:15

 Buried with Jesus in baptism and rising out of the water to new life,  we carry the reality of his rule and reign everywhere we go.    Blazing fires,  living sacrifices, our worship is bearing witness to the inferno of God's love for the world and everyone in it.  (Rom 12:1-2)


Resurrection life is powerful in us.  It is evidence of a Kingdom that is coming every day to this fading world.   It grows and expands every day while the world is passing away even as we speak.   Our offerings speak the testimony of Jesus  each day to authorities and rulers in heavenly places.   (Eph 3:10) And each day The Father is working to bringing all things into the unity of Jesus Christ and under his rule.   (Phil 2:9-11; Eph 1:10)

The resurrection is the mind bending reality of what Jesus is doing in the world today!     The enemies strength could not hold Christ in the Grave.  He cannot hold you there either. 

"Bloom where you are planted".   You've heard that saying.   It was right at the door of a home I was staying at in Reno Nevada.   For a short season while my family transitioned there, I passed it each morning going out and coming in.   A famous sayaying because it carries some simple wisdom, trust God.   He's able to keep you in all circumstances.   You can rise up and overcome and fill your surroundings with love and grace and the fragrance of Jesus.
We can bloom where we are planted because we have life witnin us that flows from resurrection power.  A never ending stream of grace and glory from the throne of God. We carry his presence.  He is with us everywhere we go in this world.   So....that means.....


The more we sow to the Spirit the less we walk in unrighteousness. 
 It is somewhat a simple equation.   Sow to the Spirit and the flesh has no life.  


1) We are walking with resurrection life -  start each day with this reality.  How does the world look from the vantage point of the resurrection?   Yea.  Completely different.  new mercies are given every morning.   Take hold of the life that is yours.   Miracles are right in front of you!

2)  New life means new understanding.  Start seeing the world through the eyes of a resurrected new creation!   The paths of new life come with renewing our thinking in the power, love and grace of Jesus.   (Rom 12:1-2)

3) You can abide with ease.  The resurrected new creation is perfectly comfortable in heaven.   You are seated there with Christ.   Make abiding the air you breath and the life you live start to finish.   Have nothing else.   You will actually gain the whole world and inherit the earth!   As you live, walk and abide in the Spirit you will find greater strength and power and continuous joy in his presence.  It keeps growing each and every day.

4) Everything we need is already ours in his great and precious promises.   Learn to live by promise.   By every word that comes from the mouth of God.   Fill up your life with WORD.  Meditate on it.  Memorize it.   Listen to it.  Pray in it.  Believe every word of it.   Resurrection life is a life founded in "every word that comes from God".   

5) Live for the Kingdom in which you are a citizen.  Citizens have certain favor and blessings.  You have those as well as a citizen of heaven.  Start putting these resurrection realities to life in your day to day.   Amazing things happen.  

He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
(I Cor 1:8)

This is where you want to place your trust.  IN JESUS.  He will keep you.  Provide for you.  Encourage you.  Uphold you.  Strengthen you.  Fill you with his Spirit and joy and give you his peace.   Right now he will do these things.  Ask him.  


 

Don't look into heaven through your past

The enemy says the exact opposite.  "Don't trust God.  He does not have your best interest in mind.  He will not come through for you." LIAR

The enemy can just talk.  He can only say things that are untrue.  His time is short and limited.   He speaks to the flesh.   His only real power is what he can get humanity to do in the mindset of his lies.     Start speaking to him in resurrection power.   Speak to his lies as a new creation.   How do you do that? 

1) Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any lies you are believing that hinder your worship and progress in abiding? 

2) Write down the things you hear yourself saying that don't seem to be the Lord.  Try and put them in the form of a statement.   An example would be.....

 "Things will never go right for me."   


3) Ask the Holy Spirit if these statements are true?   Ask him what he says about you?  
Have the Scripture handy when you are engaging the Lord this way and he will remind you of Scriptures to speak truth and resurrection life to you.  


The enemies strength could not hold Christ in the Grave.  He cannot hold you there either.  



The Cross is Victory.  Embracing our own cross is the way to new life. 
The Resurrection is that life.  Powerful.  Alive in the fullness of Jesus Christ.
Heart pounding grace and love flows every day into our new man and woman and we walk in the Victory of Jesus' Victory.     

You can do this.  Go all the way.  Surrender everything to the Lord Jesus.  
Live in resurrection power.  It trumps every card the enemy can play.  



Thank you for reading. Comments.  Encouragements.  Testimonies?  
I love and appreciate your comments and dialogue.  
Thank you for re shares and +1's.   

This is the third blog in the series - Part I and Part II can be linked to below.  

How the Enemy Loves to Push our Buttons -- and send us reeling.   Spirit Clean House. Part I

http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-enemy-loves-to-push-our-buttons-and.html

The Enemy loves to Push our Buttons -Time to Push Back!  
Remind him of the Cross. Part II

http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-enemy-loves-to-push-our-buttons.html



Brother Jeff 
Jeff Reynolds apostolic voice
Capstone Christian Fellowship
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com 
www.mycapstone.org 
jreynolds@mycapstone.org

The Enemy loves to Push our Buttons – Time to Push Back! Remind him of the Cross. Part II

The reality is if we follow the Spirit we will achieve exceptional victory, inner transformation,  deeper agreement with righteousness and experience  the love of Jesus powerfully. 

The Lord has set up the enemy to lose.  We are set up to win.  The Devil is the stupid one in all the struggle scenarios we face.   We are actually set up to receive more and breakthrough.   Time to Push BACK!

When you encounter him ---as you walk in the Spirit and your divine assignment in power – crush him with the message of the cross lived out in your very life!  

The Cross = Total victory and defeat of dark forces
Satan gleefully agreed to degrade, punish and unleash every furry on Jesus and then shame him before the world in the cross.  He used his weapon, the fallen governments of both Israel and Rome to tumble mighty stones down upon Jesus.  Heavy weights of judgement, shame and condemnation were rolled on him but to no eternal effect.  He was sinless and a perfect Lamb sacrifice.   Satan foolishly unleashed the worst torture and degrading personal unraveling of flesh known to humanity.   He thought he had the set up for winning over the Father’s plans.  He is a stupid criminal.   In fact with his participation and that of the fallen governments which were to work for good (   ) Satan put everything he had on the line……and LOST.   Total defeat.  

Col 2:15

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

The enemy is so easily drawn in by hate, greed, power and deceit that he cannot see past those things to the immanent victory Jesus has planned in the conflicts and struggles we face.

 

The Cross speaks a perfect word to the principalities and authorities of the cosmos.  Total defeat.  

So how does that play out for us as we walk in the Spirit?   

Today many spend a great deal of time focused on the enemy, his plans, how he works, what he is doing.   The apostolic community had no regard for this.   Neither did Jesus.  Jesus focused on his relationship with the Father and the Father's will.  He was led by the Spirit to plunder the gates of hell.  We are led by the Spirit to do the same.  The disciples went and did what the Spirit compelled them to do.  They were led by the Spirit to go here and go there and preach the power of the Kingdom of the Lord.  They did not calculate the outcomes.  They obeyed the leading of the Spirit.   They added to the world through believing things like this.

1)      All things are possible in fact Nothing is Impossible with God.  And they saw miracle after miracle as people were set free in the power of the Kingdom.

2)     They Carried the Presence of God with them and the rule and reign of Jesus – his Kingdom manifest – everywhere they went.  They were atmosphere changers. They changed the situation with compelling love and power.  They did not bow down and worship when the music played and Nebuchadnezzar said bow!  They brought the Kingdom into the world by receiving it and preaching it.

3)     They established a Culture of Love in the family of the Lord.  They let the fruit of the Spirit grow.  They focused on love and all that it called out in them for one another.   They witnessed to the ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, and ONE BAPTISM in their relationships with other believers and churches.  They wanted the rule and reign of Jesus to shine.  LOVE was the way.  

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  I John 3:15-16

At times this produced, for some,  a level of conflict much like the Lord’s with governments and powers and authorities.  But even in death they achieved victory.  How?  Through worship and obedience they confronted the powers with the truth of the love of God and their own eminent and coming end.   They demonstrated in this world what was true all along.  They were dead to it.  Alive as new creations of a new Kingdom.  They were new creatures alive in Christ and raised up to new life.  They were now discovering their eternal life hidden in Christ Jesus.   This world was not their home.  They were citizens of a new country whose author and perfector was Christ himself. 

Our Father set all humanity free through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus in the cross.  

Col 2:14

having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Jesus made a perfect sacrifice for all eternity vrs a few hours of the world's judgment.  He defeated the powers, healed mankind by making a new creation made a way for ever abiding presence and eternal life for all who would believe on HIM.   

The Cross is a finished work.  So what is finished? 

Sin is finished. WE have access to Abba Father	“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  Col 1:20
1Co 1:18	For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

New Life in Resurrection power is in us.

Gal 6:14

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

We were crucified with him and are FREE!   Live as free people.

We have to enter into the journey with Jesus.  Pick up your cross.   Run free. 

Mat 16:24	Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Mat 10:38	Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

 

Satan is nothing.  Focus on Christ Jesus.
He has no ability to alter what is finished by Jesus.   He has no ability to alter what God desires in your life.  He lacks power.   Turn on the power of Christ in you and you will give no place to the Enemy.   Sow to the Spirit and defeat the flesh.   Fill up your life with the presence of God and run in freedom. 

He can only resist the progress of the glory of God in this world.  And that is a futile resistance.  The very world he is seeking to “show up as amazing” is “passing away” as we speak.  

“and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.”  I Cor 7:31

Push Back – How? 

1)      By receiving the Kingdom of God in the fullness of power and love (Matt 10:40)

2)      By picking up your cross.  You are already dead.  (Col 3:1-4)

3)      By Following Jesus  (Mark 4)

4)      By walking after the Spirit  (Eph 5-6)

5)      By making a bonfire of sacrifice out of your life.  (Rom 12:1-2)

6)      By carrying his presence everywhere and demonstrating the rule and reign of Jesus in your life. Matt 28:20

7)      By believing nothing is Impossible. (Matt 19:26)

8)      By making your life a culture of Love (Gal 5:22)

9)      By Preaching the freedom, power and love of the Kingdom of God to this fallen and fading world. (Matt 28:19)

Push back by advancing the Kingdom through receiving it.

Push Back by Loving your neighbor.

Push Back by laying down your life.

Push Back by caring for the poor.

Push Back by speaking words that encourage, buildup and honor

Push Back by loving what Jesus loves

Don’t push back by focusing on Satan.  He is a distraction that is defeated.  

When you encounter him ---as you walk in the Spirit and your divine assignment in power – crush him with the message of the cross lived out in your very life! 

Thanks for all the comments and =1's.  

I love the dialogue.  You are adding to the beauty of his name.  

Brother Jeff

Jeff Reynolds  apostolic servant

Capstone Christian Fellowship 

www.mycapstone.org 

www.jeffreynoldsministries.com