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Monday, June 8, 2015

Centered, Resting and Abiding in Grace - The Peace of Jesus

 Centered...

Jesus said,  
"Peace I leave with you; 
Jesus is the door that leads to many doors


My peace I give to you; 
not as the world gives do I give to you. 
Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."  John 14:27

  
Rest is...
the inheritance of the Saints in the Lord Jesus. 
Rest is centered in the Trinity God through the works of Jesus.
Rest is both a fruit of abiding and the very air we breathe as we abide.

 "You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you."  
    Isaiah 26:3 

 Rest and peace are a result of being centered and abiding in the perfect work of Jesus.
In his complete and finished work (Cross, Resurrection, Ascension) we can....



Rest by faith

Abide in confidence

Walk in peace



Resting......


Jesus said, 
 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in Goda ; believe also in me."  John 14:1

transfigured by his presence and fire Mark 9:49



Paul said, 
"My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  Col 2:2-3 




To find the rest and peace that is ours in Jesus,
we need to center our focus into the Lord Jesus.  





The Gospel is peace in Jesus
"Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;"  Eph 6:15 



The message of the Kingdom is peace. 

Ultimate rest - eternal life - abiding forever in the presence of the Trinity God. 
Peace of mind.  Peace of the soul.  Peace in the spirit. 
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus brings with it peace.  It comes with eternity and the Father of heavens open heart. 

In the Gospel we find rest.  


Abiding in Grace.....

"By grace we are saved, and that is not from ourselves." Eph 2:8-9  





The way into peace and rest is by grace. 
Faith and trust in the Master Jesus and what he teaches us paves the way for grace. 
Grace paves the way for peace.
Grace is the bedrock. 
Grace is the oil of his love seeping into every crack of our lives.
Grace by faith roots us and establishes us in the Love of Jesus. 
Grace gives us confidence before the throne when our hearts condemn us.
Grace quiets the spirit when all around is turmoil and strife. 
Grace is everything we need to abide in the presence of Jesus in fullness. 
Grace through Christ perfects us in a manifold fulness of Jesus as the new man and woman, the new creation.  


How to move forward.


1. Richly abide in the water of the word.    Col 3:16 
Recently in Bali I stood underneath a waterfall that cascaded down about a 100 ft.  Wow.  So cool.  The Scripture is water and rich abiding grace.  Drink and drink and drink again.  As much as you can take in drink in the scripture.   It carries abundant grace for the day and replenishes the weary soul.  It keeps you abiding and focused into the presence of the Lord Jesus.   Do not neglect abundance in the Scriptures. 

2. Pray without ceasing.  
Learn that you already have the abiding presence and then explore how to rest, abide and see what Jesus is doing in his Kingdom.   Talk with God like any other best friend.  Share everything.  Never stop.  Open up the very depths of your heart to him.  Tell him the good, the bad and the ugly.  He already knows it all.   Praying without ceasing is learning to abide in the presence and recognizing the Kingdom of God all around you and in you.  

"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." Mark 10:15  

 3. Build clear Jesus focused apostolic foundations. 
The apostles taught about Jesus, his life and the implications of all the work he accomplished in the Father's will.  Jesus said disciples obey his teaching.
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
Build into your life rock solid teaching focused on Jesus Christ.  Build into your life clear understanding of the Kingdom of God and the rule and reign of Jesus.  Build into your life a clear understanding of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus.  Know what each means for your salvation.  Focus on walking and following the Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.  
 
4. Give and it shall be given.
Give away everything good and lovely that Christ has given to you!   Freely give as you have been freely given to.   "Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."  Luke 6:38    So keep the streams of living water flowing from abiding to gospeling - sharing the good news of peace with the world.  Jesus love the world.  Abiding with him will produce a love for his work and ways and a desire to do what he does.   Give away the grace you have received and you will receive more in abundance. 



 
Hope this helps you stick a bit closer to Jesus and activate the life that is yours in him.  

Comments?  Ideas? Testimonies?  
Send those to me.  
Thanks for +1's and re-shares. 




Other posts that may interest you:

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




3) http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/07/never-be-lacking-in-zeal-need-some.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



jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com
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Friday, June 5, 2015

Is Jesus is Smartest Person that Ever Lived?

How do you feel about this statement:

Hubble picture

Jesus is the smartest person in all the disciplines of life....physics, love, family, hope, community, faith, economy, etc.... 


Translation: Jesus knows everything about everything in this life, this world, this universe.

There is no division of world knowledge, spiritual and non-spiritual, religious and non-religious.  

Jesus, and the Kingdom he is bringing, is all inclusive and will one day be fully expressed in the reality of the earth and humanity.   Jesus is coming back and when he does all things will be finished and unified in his glory.

In early 90's I had the privileged of being part of a small gathering of pastors and leaders in Southern California.  One of the participants was Dallas Willard.  
At the gathering we were exploring discipleship and the postmodern world. 

D. Willard continued to bring us back to this fundamental reality:  Jesus created everything and is the smartest person in the realms of humanity and the world.  He knows about all subjects, all disciplines, all relationships.  He is not locked into some religious zone.   He is all knowing.  Walking after Jesus should be tangible and expressed in love and power in the Holy Spirit.  Discipleship or following Jesus must take this comprehensive view.  

My son Luke put it this way.  "Everything about my life is about Jesus."  
One day, everything about reality and the known world will be about Jesus.  


Paul the Apostle also pointed to it in this statement
Colossians 1:15f says... 

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 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. 

The modern world is fascinated with questions of origin and how we got here.  The inquisitive minds of science and any other field of learning and knowledge ask some wonderful and amazing questions.  
Yet it is astounding that Jesus overcame the most ironclad reality of life, death, and little is done in the way of thinking in and through this truth.  
In conquering death Jesus showed his mastery of all things.  
His supremacy. 

Jesus is the way to a new life.  

He overcame the most significant and 

disturbing realities of living.

DEATH - SIN - The DEVIL


He is the WAY.  
He is the Door.
He is eternal life.























Comments?  Ideas? Testimonies?  
Send those to me.  
Thanks for +1's and re-shares. 



Other posts that may interest you:







3) http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/07/never-be-lacking-in-zeal-need-some.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



jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com

 
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Monday, June 1, 2015

The Way, the Truth, the Life: How to Follow Jesus Today

First, Jesus is alive.  
He is not dead. 
He rose from the grave and ascended to sit down at the Father's right hand. 


 So, not being dead means.... we can actively follow him today.  
  • Not as a concept or good set of principles. 
  • Not as a book.  Not as a dead God who said everything already. 
  • Not like an idol in which we fill in all the blanks.
  • Not like and idol which is not capable of interactive relationship



As Jesus Christ, Lord of Heaven and Earth, who is building and growing his Kingdom every moment until all things come under his feet.  Ephesians 1:10  Isaiah 9:7

Jesus made this point to the Pharisees. 
God of the living not the dead....Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

http://drpaulose.com/spirituality/he-is-risen-indeed-he-is-risen

"But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB '? He is not the God of the dead but of the living." 33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

 Following Jesus in the way is astonishing.  

The Pharisees struggled on this point. 



1. They studied the Scripture but missed the Word (logos) who was standing in front of them. 
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.…


2. They piled precept on precept and missed the core reality that God is living and the God of the living.  He is full of mercy and grace and by loving kindness he wins the hearts of the lost.
1"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."   Matthew 23

 


With these things in mind here is a simple pathway to understanding how to follow Jesus today.  

https://incaelo.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/eighth-station-jesus-meets-the-women-of-jerusalem-who-weep-for-him/aption

 Jesus is the Way  - Jesus is the literal path or way to follow.  

 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" 6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.…
A literal way, Jesus.   The Father sent him.  Jesus fulfilled all righteousness.  Jesus sent the Spirit who points us into Christ and shows us how to walk today.  The trinity God is magnificent in love, service, honor and grace.  John 16:12-14

The Apostle John says,   "Walk the way he walked"  I John 1:
Jesus walked in the will of the Father.  
We are called to walk with the Spirit's lead in everything.  Especially the core roads of our lives.
Our lives are an offering.  (Rom 12:1-2)
So walk as an offering.   Eyes open, heart full of love, encouragement and hope streaming from your life and follow Jesus into the life he calls you to.  
Pick up his mission of love for the world 
Pick up his worship of the Father
Move out into the life of prayer and worship and intercession.
Proclaim his saving NAME in every tribe, language and nation - then the end comes!

 John 1:1  
The logos or word was in the beginning.  Colossians says he created everything.  
Ephesians says it was all made by him and for him. 

Everything begins and ends in Jesus Christ.   He is the Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end.   He is the voice the Father is speaking through.   Hebrews 1
Find your life hidden in him.  Col 3:1-3
Then build your life each day in the way he shows you.  

KEY - Activate walking after Jesus today.
Is the core focus of your life rooted and established in Jesus?
Is your career, work, or main use of time founded in what you understand to be the will of Jesus for you? 
Are you living in the place he has called you to live? 
Is the core activity of your life abiding in the presence of Jesus 24/7?  
John 15 Study this chapter for deeper insights in abiding on the Way and in The Way.


2. Jesus is the Truth - the Promise in the Face of Death

The truth speaks life through promise.  Jesus speaks life to us in promise.  Promise of new life in the resurrection power of new creation.   His words are truth.  They penetrate the darkness.  They renew the mind and our mindsets. 

The key avenue to activate truth is through the promises of God.  
Peter points us in this direction. 
"...seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust".   2 Peter 1;4 

  • The Promises of life in Jesus directly contradict the Death and the world that is fading away.  (John 14:6)
  • The promise of sins forgiven in the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1)
  • The promise of new life (2 Tim 1:1)
  • The promise of the Holy Spirit coming upon us.  (Acts 1:8)
  • The promise of access to the Father's heart   (Rom 8:15)
  • The promise of love that we will never be separated from  (Rom 8:31-39)
  • On and on the list goes.  

Truth is living and active.  It causes movement in the Spirit.  Truth is not a concept or a principle to try and activate yourself.  The power of the Kingdom of God is resident in the work of Jesus.  Activate the truth of the work of Jesus in you.  That is the way to victory and progress in divine character.  All the Truth we are "walking in" is in the Lord Jesus and the work he accomplished in the Father's will through the Spirit's power.  

Key - Activate the promises of God in your life today. 
Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom to find and focus on the key promises required to bring you through the season you are in in love, faith, hope and power of the Holy Spirit.  


3. Jesus is the Life  

Zoe.  Life.  Real living and active power through the Holy Spirit.  
Jesus is the testimony that is prophecy.  That is he is living and active truth and life for everyone on the planet.  
"Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev 19:10

 In Jesus.....
"...which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col 2:2-3

Speaking about Jesus, testifying of his work and glory, worshiping Jesus, proclaiming the gospel of salvation in Jesus is the living word that changes everything. 

 The message of the Apostles of Jesus was Jesus and everything about his life and mission translated to the living and active way in walking after him and following him. 

 He is the firstborn and the cornerstone of the Church. 
He is the subject of all prophecy - it must be rooted and established in him and call us into deeper life in him. 
Telling of his works and the power he brings to change us is the spirit of prophecy today. 
  • Jesus is the mystery revealed.  
  • Jesus is prophecy.
  • Jesus is life.  Living and active logos.  
  • In Jesus our inheritance is hidden.  

Key - Activate your inheritance in Jesus Christ. 
I Tim 1:18  Remember the encouragements from your Spiritual Fathers and leaders who laid hands on you and blessed you and sent out into harvest fields.   Wage war with them.  Fight the good fight in these encouragements.  Encounter Jesus, the Word today.  Pursue him and his presence.  Agree with your heart and "seek his face" Ps 27:8  Abide in such a way that you know that your life for the day is found in him and his presence.  Then go deeper.  Start pulling down with prayers and petitions and intercession the inheritance that is yours hidden in Christ Jesus. 



Comments?  Ideas? Testimonies?  
Send those to me.  
Thanks for +1's and re-shares. 


Other posts that may interest you:







3) http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/07/never-be-lacking-in-zeal-need-some.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



jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com

  
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, May 28, 2015

7 Things to Remember About the LOVE of God in YOU, for You.

 Why Did Jesus take hold of you?
United, invited to dwell forever in his loving kindness, perfect salvation and eternal favor. 
Only you can love him like you do. 
There is always an open door

Finger prints, one of a kind.  Soul, body, spirit, mind one of a kind.  Heart after God, one of a kind.  There is no one else like you on earth.  So no one can love him like you do.  Ps 139
Your voice in worship is like no other on earth or in heaven.  He is jealous for you.  He is so close he knows your words before they leave your mouth.  He knows every hair on your head.   He knows your life inside and out.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made for a relationship with God.  

"Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows." Luke 12:7

You have a unique ability to witness to the saving grace of his Kingdom. 
As you are one of kind so you are a living reality of the triumph of Jesus in the world through salvation.  Your struggles overcome by the grace of God witness to the powers and principalities that Jesus is Lord and Savior of all.  Every struggle overcome in him becomes a living testimony that will last forever.  We will wear them as worship and testimony forever in eternal dwellings.  Fight the good fight with zeal.  Galatians 1:11-16
 

Your life speaks a unique word of love among a trillion other people in the world. 
The Father in heaven is an artist.  He creates people one of a kind.  He brings to the world, through them, a fragrance perfectly unique and mysterious.  While he fashions us individually his love calls us into deep relationship and family with those who love him.   The deepest fellowship on earth is in his kingdom family.  As much as the world rejects Jesus it rejects us.  Yet, there is a troupe of called out ones that see the love of God filling up our lives and they gain strength, encouragement, hope, and more love seeing it in us.    John 17:6-11


You are being made ready as a bride. Uniquely your life shines with the deepest relationship possible in God through Christ Jesus. 


The Father is preparing a Bride for the Lord Jesus.  His Church.  Made ready for the wedding day.  The greatest feast ever thrown will be thrown by the Father, for the Son, in the Spirit.  Jesus is waiting to drink from the one cup once more in heaven with us.  At the Wedding Feast of the Lamb we will be united forever with the Lord.  United, invited to dwell forever in his loving kindness, perfect salvation and eternal favor. 

 
Lotus flower

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”a for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’b or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1-5




For God so loved....Jesus took hold of you because of love. 
Jesus is building a family of people around the world who are devoted to his will in the world.  It is difficult for the fleshly mind to grasp the true nature of the love of God.  It is equally difficult for the flesh to let go and give in to trust, love, hope and walk by faith not by sight.  Yet it is the simplest of all graces for the new man or new woman, the new creation, to walk in the Spirit.  It is the natural state, heavens ways, for the new creation.  Sow to the Spirit and the flesh has no place to dwell.  We stumble our way through guilt, performance, shame and condemnation and find scraps of his love.  But when we surrender and let the mind of Christ inform us, heaven itself fills us up with deep understanding of his love and his ways.  The oxygen of heaven is pure breathable life for the new creation.  Only heavens air can satisfy and sustain the mind of Christ and Christ in you the hope of glory.  Col 1:27


You are the focus of his loving kindness and favor. 
God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden.  He loves walking with us.  Talking about everything.  Knowing everything we are willing to share.  He knows us completely but waits for us to offer ourselves and what we want him to know.  There is a circle of love and revealing that opens up and flows freely when we share the secrets of our hearts with God.  He wants us to be in perfect unity with the Trinity.  John 17:23  



In Christ you will live forever in the fullness of his love





The doors are wide open to the fulness of the love of God in Jesus Christ.  We have a lifetime to explore his loving kindness.  We have our lives to learn the ways of God and let the Spirit fill up our lives in the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.  Truly our lives are hidden in him in the heavens.  We have to search for it.  We are called to be the world's greatest treasure hunters.  Seekers.  Hunters.  Going after the fullness of life hidden in Jesus.  The measure with which we acquire heaven on earth is the measure which will be revealed when we appear before him.  (Colossians 3:1-3)  And....God always does more than we ask or imagine.  So I imagine we receive much more, a multiplied abundance, for the stewarding of our talents in his name. 

Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You." 29Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, 30but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.…  Mark 10:29 




That is a reward worth all the temporary struggles and suffering. 
Paul called them "light and momentary struggles" out weighed by the grace of glory.  And so they are.  An eternal perspective lifts our eyes out of the moment and into the reality of heaven.  We are called to worry only about today. To trust for today's provision.  To eat the manna of the day.  This is actually freedom.  As we fall into the loving arms of the Father of Heaven and trust we find a joyous freedom to bask in his love and enjoy all the graces of his boundless kingdom.  When we carry the weight of this world on us we get crushed under the heavy stones.  Many believers do not see enough of heaven to grasp the temporary nature of their struggles.  This is what we need....


For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.


www.pinterest.com

How do we get into this love?  
Ask, Seek, Knock.  You will find him.  
 Are you hungry?  
Do you thirst and hunger for his love?  Prov 27:7
Go after the treasure of wisdom and knowledge.....Jesus Christ.  Col 2:2-3


Pathways to his grace....
Surrender
Scripture in abundance
Prayer and quiet
Worship
Deep abiding in the Spirit
Fellowship in deep revelation of Jesus
Gospeling the Kingdom to the world
Isaiah 49:11  Get up on the mountain tops




Comments?  Ideas? Testimonies?  



Send those to me.  


Thanks for +1's and re-shares. 



Other posts that may interest you:







3) http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2014/07/never-be-lacking-in-zeal-need-some.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



jeff@jeffreynoldsministries.com


















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