Thursday, June 18, 2009

Stop Begging—It's Inside!

I can tell you right from the start, this is going to fly in the face of everything you've been taught. But keep an open mind—you have an anointing from the Holy One that teaches you all things [1 John 2:20,27]. In your reborn spirit, you have the Mind of Christ [1 Corinthians 2:16] and Jesus has become to you wisdom from God [1 Corinthians 1:30]. So you can do it...turn off the little voice that tells you 'it doesn't really mean that' and imagine the possibilites...
In Him
The Word clearly teaches that we are in Him...there are 100+ scriptures that say 'in Him' or 'through Him' or 'of Him.' I Corinthians 1:30 tells us that it is by His [God's] doing that we are in Christ Jesus...this was His plan, all along...to bring many sons [Gr. huios, offspring of man] to glory! [Hebrews 2:10]
The paradox is, of course, that He's also in us! Jesus said that He and the Father would come and abide in us with the Holy Spirit [John 14]. "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."
Now, those of us raised in church have heard this all our lives...Jesus comes to live in our hearts. But no one explained what that really means, exactly, except for that picture of the throne of your heart where we could put 'self' or 'Jesus.' [For those of you too young to remember flannelgraphs in Sunday School, never mind]
We were never really told that we had been crucified and buried with Him, raised up together with Him and seated in Him in the heavenly places! [Ephesians 2, Colossians 2]. These are quantum ideas...a juxtaposition of place and time that, if you think about it long enough, will bring your brain to a screeching halt!
So before we go any further, let's agree that we are in Him, and He is in us, in reality...that we are one Spirit with Him [1 Corinthians 6:17] and seated with Him in heavenly places, right now.
Heirs
Romans 8:17 says that we are '...heirs of God and fellow [KJV: joint] heirs with Christ...' James 2:5 says that we are '...heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.'
Continuing, Paul wrote 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? [Romans 8:32]
Hebrews 1:2 states '...in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.'
Romans 11:36 corroborates this: 'For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.'
And of course, one of my favorites: '...all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.' [1 Corinthians 3:22,23]
So let's further agree that 'all things' is a God principle—all things belong to us in Him.
From the Inside
In the Old Covenant, blessings came from the outside, upon natural men through covenants with God. In the New Covenant, blessings come up from within our reborn spirit—from within the indwelling God.
Jesus explained that '...the Kingdom of God is within you.' The Greek word for within is entos, and means within, inside, within your soul. This reality is confirmed in Psalm 84:5-7...'How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Baca [weeping] they make it a spring; the early rain also cover it with blessings. The go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.'
This psalm prophesies that the portal to heavenly Zion was in our hearts, even before it was so! And because of that, we would have the capability of passing through valleys of weeping and turn them into springs! Hallelujah!
Succinct?
I realize that I'm sort of circling the topic, but I'm having a hard time describing what I see inside. I will try to be succinct [good luck]...
The heart of the matter is this: everything we will ever need or want is in us already.
[I hear villagers with torches approaching]
To summarize, we know that 1) God's works were finished from the foundation of the world [Hebrews 4:3]; 2) we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world [Ephesians 1:4]; and 3) we are in Him and He is in us, and we're already seated in heavenly places in Him.
Add to that Colossians 2:3 '...in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.' Proverbs 3 and 8 describe just exactly what those treasures are, and they are everything!
Therefore, if we do the math, all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are residing in your born again spirit! Every answer to every prayer, every need, every desire, is inside you now! Because He said it was...because we are one Spirit with Him, with grace bestowed upon us in the Beloved. [Ephesians 1:6]
Ephesians 3:20,21 sums it up: 'Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.'
That's an Amen alright! I can hardly stop myself from jumping up and down!
Now...
The all things that belong to us are inside us, complete, NOW!!!
'For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete [full]...' [Colossians 2:9,10]
That's why Paul could write what he did in Ephesians 3 '...that you be filled up to all the fullness of God.' Read the whole chapter—if you take off your doctrinal glasses, it's one of the most amazing passages in Scripture!
Romans 12:2 tells us to renew our minds—think new thoughts, the thoughts of God, the Mind of Christ—to '...prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable [well-pleasing] and perfect.'
Shine
We are to shine in the world [Isaiah 60:1-3] as darkness covers the earth. While He was in the earth, Jesus was the Light of the World [John 9:5]...now we are that light [Matthew 5:14, Isaiah 60:1-3]. He instructed us to "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify our Father Who is in heaven."
One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 2:14 'But thanks be to God, Who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.' When we live in the fullness of the completed work—salvation, wisdom, light, love, glory, blessings, riches, health—we manifest the will of the Father in Jesus.
It's all in you right now. Enjoy!