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Showing posts with label following Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label following Jesus. Show all posts

Thursday, December 10, 2015

So How Do We Root Ourselves in Superabundance?

Knowing is not enough.

The Devil knows who God is and still stands opposed to him though he knows his time is short.   Crazy eh?   James 2:19

Mountains are ascended by faith in Christ

 Disciples are called to:

Take Hold of the Truth.   
Simply hearing the Word does us no good.

We have to take hold of it and put it into practice.   
James 1:6 
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  James 1:22

 

 So how do we root ourselves in Superabundance?  


1) Get rooted and established in LOVE.  

God is love.  You and I need to experience that love.  Know it by experience and encounter
not by books and learning or theory. 
The love of Jesus is experience-able!  
Your love and devotion to Jesus is directly connected to your knowledge of his love!   
Col 2:6  
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
 How have you received him? 
That is the depths of your knowledge of him and his love.  
Are you hungry for more of him? 
23Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.  John 14:23
 
The ultimate motivation of a Disciple is love. I John 3:16/ John 3:16 /I Cor 14:1
Because that is the Father's ultimate motivation.  
Demonstrated in Jesus and empowered in us through the Spirit.
Paul's prayer for us is that we would experience the love of Jesus and be rooted and established in it.  

That our knowledge of God would be established in Christ Jesus and in the knowledge, tangible experience and encounter, of his overcoming, victorious love.   Ephesians 3:17-19   Take hold of a life of LOVE.  Find it in the habitation of his presence in the face of Jesus.  Heb 1:1   



2) Learn the intentional, active way of REST and WAITING. 

Do a quick survey of these things. 


Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly - Col 3:16  / Eph 2:22
Habitation - Dwell / Richly.  
We all know what these simple words mean.  So how much intention fills your day to bring the Word of Christ into the dwelling place of your life?  
People wear Fitbots to see what is happening in their physical lives. 
What is your Word Dwelling richly Fitbot?   
Get intentional with the Word of Christ and how it dwells in you today. 
This is the way into Resting and Waiting. 

Be filled with the Holy Spirit - Ephesians 5:18
Go fitbot again.  Slow down and have a look.  How much overflowing and filling of the Spirit are you carrying today?   
We are called to a life of continuous filling.  
Streams and rivers flow.  They don't stop in a lake.  
Be filled and give it away.  
This is the pathway to resting and waiting.  
Rest and wait on the Holy Spirit.  
What is he saying today?
What is He directing you into today in the Word?
How is he calling you to love in this season of your life? 

You are a temple.  Make sure there is an offering on the alter.   Rom 12:1-2
INTENTION - the second thing to do is be intentional with the leading and your walking with the Spirit.  


3)  Steward the grace, life, Word, and Voice. 

God speaks.  Yea, he's not all cramped up inside a little book. 

He is alive and living.  Disciple, tap into that!  
Isaiah 9:6-7  Look he is bringing a kingdom and government with no end. 
Understand he handed out grace from the foundations of the world in his work on the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension that is now imparted to you.  
Jesus died and rose from the grave just to let us know he is alive.  He ascended to the heavenly temple and is guiding and directing his Kingdom people Co-laboring with us in bringing his rule and reign; until he returns to rule in the earth.  Eph 1:9-10

Following Jesus is a NOW proposition.  Yes. Right Now.  
Put Following first into your life day to day.  Matthew 6:33
So, if he speaks... (John 10) he directs and leads.  
What is he leading you in?
What is he calling you uniquely to express about his glory, love and grace?

So, if he speaks he imparts grace to each of us to steward and bring in fullness to the world. Ephesians 4:7 
And he has given the Fivefold to be a people full of grace as a gift.  Ephesians 4:11-13
Here are the four disciple descriptors I love to walk in for superabundant ongoing, rivers of living water life.
Follow
Walk 
Go
Disciple
Look these up in the New Testament.  
Carry them into your prayer and devotional life.  They will keep you focused as you walk boldly into the world each day with the power of the Spirit and the Grace imparted to you. Grace given to express his Kingdom.  
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst."

 

Talk about adventure.
Talk about Mystery
Talk about His power
Talk about eternal life.  

 Psalms 1:2

  But his delight
is in the law of the Lord, 
and on his law 
he meditates
DAY
and
NIGHT


Thanks for Reading!   

I love your comments. Ideas and thoughts.  
Please share em.
Re-shares are great. thank U.

 Here are some other blogs posts that may interest you. 

1.http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-things-enemy-devil-doesnt-want-you-to.html
 


Thanks for reading. 
The dialogue is awesome.  Thank you. Testimonies?  Share em with me.   Re-Shares lov em.  Thank you!
With much love in Jesus

You can do this thing!  He's got you. 



Jeff Reynolds   ---

Brother Jeff

www.jeffreynoldsministies.com 
 
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Monday, October 12, 2015

Losing heart is a real possibility along the roadways of following Christ.

Leave your "little Pharisee" on the roadside.

I've found mine teaching me to lose heart at the doorways of the Kingdom. 


Christ in the House of Simon the Pharisee, c.1656

Philippe de Champaigne


 As I was exalting and lifting up the ancients for their exploits, admiring and praising them and comparing myself; I was also marveling at those who "turn back" or don't appreciate the amazing wonders of Jesus.

 Shocked that "others" could not go the distance, my little Pharisee patted me on the back with words of praise and assurance that "you are not like them". I believed him.

My inner Pharisee always thinks I can do it better.
Better than Peter?  Absolutely.  No problem. 

Then I reach a spot in the road, in ministry, on my journey that I just want to sit down and say "this is good enough".

A "far enough or good enough" spot is typically warm and sunny and lacking the challenges of the sufferings of our Lord.  A green pasture zone that I want to cling to and hold over in; letting go of following Jesus as first love. 


My little pharisee wants me to settle down into that kind of spot.  Leave off following and walking and standing in the Spirit and call it "being a disciple".  While Jesus moves on down the road and I loose sight of him.   

Learn to recognize when the energy and zeal goes out of your walk with Jesus. 

My little pharisee wants me to admire "me" for all my accomplishments.  Which by the way are really Jesus' accomplishments.  

"Lord, you establish peace for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done for us."  Isaiah 26:8


Then he would have me chill in a "righteous passivity".   I understand this place.  I can understand it.  A place I can rest, catch up, gather myself.
He tells me I deserve it.  Tells me I earned it.  "Common", he says, "you've worked hard enough, given enough."
It is all PASSIVITY for me.  Agreeing with my inner Pharisee that the road is to heavy.  And he is good at making it look like devotion;  to settle me into passivity.

Self satisfied in my accomplishment of some religious standing, I want to pull up along side the road and let others do the lifting.

 In doing so, I typically leave off 
The sufferings of Christ
The Kingdom first
His righteousness first
They appear to costly for me to go on.
My flesh has the reigns at this point.


I lost Heart.

And then religion, my little Pharisee, condemnation and shame show up knocking at my door.  The Door Jesus knocks on. Rev 3:20

We live in such amazing promise through Jesus Christ
First, I lose heart.  Then I chose places along the road to stop.  Go passive.  Places to draw back into my own strength, understanding and initiative.

 Then my little Pharisee starts jabbering away.  Never a promise or a faith venture is spoken by him.  Then my zeal starts fading.  Then my initiative seems to be choked out.  One thing builds on another and I find myself predicting the worst and seeking survival over HOPE, Faith and LOVE.






Losing heart is a real possibility along the roadways of following Christ. 

The Apostles mention it because it is a real threat to the power filled devotion and zeal we naturally carry when clearer pictures and abundant abiding with Christ fill up our hearts and minds. 



Through these pathways the greats we admire went with bold and courageous faith in Christ our Lord.  So also did everyone who gained eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.


There are some ordinary things we can cling to...

Jesus, Abiding and first things.  John 15
Go back to running through the fields of first love. 
Remember what you did at first.  Restore it to your life. 
Pathways in the ways of God are simply places to walk and regularly find grace, hope, faith and love.   We would be wise to build our walk in such things.
1. First Love -  Revelation 2  Ephesian Church
2. Kingdom and Righteousness first   Matthew 6:33
3. Abiding presence and prayer -  I Tim 2:1-2

Remembering that....


 1. Grace is always sufficient- When the enemy, our hearts, the sheer weight of life's pressures and troubles weigh into us, a promise rings out over the noise.  "My grace is sufficient".   I Cor 12:8-9   Sufficient is an interesting word.  Could be said to mean "always just enough".  Look back over your journey with the Lord.  Has there always been enough?  We have enough with Jesus to walk where he leads.  His grace fills us up with a measure for the moment.

 "Don't let your heart be troubled, you trust in God, trust also in me." John 14:1
2. No temptation has seized us but what is common.  I Corinthians 10:13
The most common grace is sufficient to lead us onward to glory, blessing and eternal life. Our Father is the perfect gardener.  He knows our limitations and true boundaries.  He always provides a way of escape in any temptation and he will not let us go into something beyond our ability.
Anyone with little kids knows what this is like.  Parents lead children into growing opportunities but not into ways that would destroy them.  If we know how to do this certainly God the Father knows how to do this with us.  It is good to settle this issue early on in following Jesus.  So many more doorways and opportunities for power open us to us when we know that we are "IN THE FATHERS LOVE."

 3. Eternal life starts now.  So does the power of every promise in Christ.
We forget what we are living for, an eternal Kingdom and eternal life in Jesus. That life starts eternally as soon as we come into the Kingdom through faith in Christ. We are living eternal life now.  It is not some far off "going to heaven when you die" faith that we are living.  It is a NOW FAITH.  A faith actively participating in the coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  A faith actively Going, Disciple-ing and Teaching the Kingdom in Christ through the Gospel.  We are carrying this Kingdom everywhere we go.  As soon as the Kingdom calling of Jesus is moved off the pinnacle of our lives we move out of the narrow way.

 4. Settling for the "good enough" along the way is to leave the WAY.
There is perpetual motion in the Kingdom of God.  It is marked by following Jesus. Walking in the Spirit and Teaching all who welcome us to obey the commands of Christ is the air of the Kingdom.
Go - Disciple - teaching to obey  Matthew 28:18-20
The words that describe our journey in the Lord are action focused.
Go -  Walk -  Follow 
We forget that being a disciple is follow a living Jesus.   He is in motion in the earth today through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We are called to "walk".  We are called to have motion in our discipleship.

Jesus is never passive.  

Jesus is not seeking a resting place.  He rests in the Father.
We are called into the same rest in the work of Jesus.
Hebrews 4 - there is a rest.  Our salvation work is complete in Christ.
We are becoming what he has made us for.

 Go for what you were made for....

 We must add Psalm 144 to our list of activities.
Comments? Re-shares / thank u

Other posts that may interest you:

 1.http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-things-enemy-devil-doesnt-want-you-to.html
 





Thanks for reading. 
The dialogue is awesome.  Thank you. Testimonies?  Share em with me.   Re-Shares lov em.  Thank you!
With much love in Jesus
You can do this thing!  He's got you. 



Jeff Reynolds   ---
Brother Jeff




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