Easy Does It

I wrote this several years ago...still good today!

One thing the world and the church agree on…life is hard, and it’s supposed to be hard.

Our first clue that something may be amiss is that the world agrees with us—that in and of itself should throw up all sorts of warning signals. Any assumptions commonly held by unregenerate man are usually wrong, and this is no different.

Jeremiah 32:27 says “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” This is the same statement God made to Abraham regarding Sarah’s ability to conceive and bear a child at her advanced age [Genesis 18:14].

Similar statements in the New Testament confirm this:

"All things are possible to him who believes…" [Mark 9:23]

"...for all things are possible with God." [Mark 9:23]

"...nothing will impossible to you" [Matthew 17:20]

"For nothing will be impossible with God." [Luke 1:37]

Believes what? That all things are possible—nothing is impossible! All things, nothing—these are absolute words, promises without restriction. And they belong to us…they are the easy way!
What we need is a paradigm shift...to start seeing things the way God sees them and not through these natural eyes!

Yes, the fig tree, again...
When Jesus cursed the fig tree [Mark 11:12-26] and was later questioned about it by His disciples, He explained in the now familiar passage:

“Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” [Mark 11:22-24]

The obvious key to this passage is the phrase ‘…but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him…’

It was not readily apparent, however, what the initial ‘Have faith in God’ had to do with it until you realize that it is God Who provides the power to bring our words to pass! So our faith is actually in His power to perform not only His words but ours!

God told Job " You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you…” [Job 22:28]

Isaiah 65:16 [AMP] says “So [it shall be] that he who invokes a blessing on himself in the land shall do so by saying, ‘May the God of truth and fidelity [the Amen] bless me…’”

And we see in the Proverbs many verses that speak of the words of our mouths bringing forth either blessings or cursing in our lives.

If we are one Spirit with the Lord [I Corinthians 6:17] and nothing is too difficult for Him, and if the Father lives in us with Jesus through the Holy Spirit [John 14:23] …you do the math! It’s true—nothing is too hard, or impossible, for us!

God’s Will
Before venturing any farther, we must, of course, face the inevitable ‘But what about God’s will?’

I’m glad you asked that. Let’s track it through the Bible.

First, God placed Adam in the Garden, where every pleasant thing was, to rule. He gave him a beautiful companion and even brought the animals to him to name. [Please note: Adam did not have to chase the animals and wrangle them to the ground—God Himself brought them to him!]

But once Adam severed his relationship with the Father, it was “…in toil you will eat of it [the ground] all the days of your life…by the sweat of your face you will eat bread…” [Genesis 3:17-19]

Now, this is my opinion, but I'm not so sure it was a curse as much as a statement of fact...God knew that man's way apart from His wisdom and power was going to be hard.

Yes, life became hard, but it was not God’s will that it be so! It was Adam who chose the hard way.

From that point on, God still wanted to bless man—so He entered into covenants with willing men. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, and so on down to Jesus. His aim was always to bless, not curse. He even gave a clue in Deuteronomy 30:19...

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. SO CHOOSE LIFE in order that you may live, you and your descendants…”

Of course, that choice is reiterated throughout the Scriptures—it is always man’s choice, to be blessed [the easy way] or not [the hard way

God’s will was to deliver the Israelites and plant them in the Promised Land—the land flowing with milk and honey. [Exodus 3:8,17; 13:5; 33:5]

Or, as He described in Deuteronomy 6,

‘…great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied…’[Deuteronomy 6:10,11]

The Wilderness Experience
It wasn’t His will that they be tested in the wilderness, another common heresy that cripples the church.

‘Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea…’ [Exodus 3:17,18]

He was for them—they just didn’t believe it! It was in His plan to bless them by protecting them from a strong, warring people, something He knew newly freed slaves would find impossible to deal with. He was leading them away from certain destruction!

What is amazing is that their unbelief was right on the heels of their deliverance, not only from Egypt but from Pharaoh’s army by way of the Red Sea! Even there, He protected them by the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night—when they came to the Red Sea, He moved the pillar between them and the Egyptian army! [Exodus 14:19,20]

He told Moses,

“Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.” [Exodus 14:15-18]

An interesting note…Moses had a part—to stretch his hand over the sea and divide it, so the Israelites could cross over. God had a part, too—to harden the hearts of the Egyptians. And, although it’s not stated, it appears obvious that His part was also to back Moses’ action and words with the actual sea-splitting power!

Ephesians 3:20 says:

‘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…’

Here’s the point…Moses did not have to go down and dig a way through the Red Sea! That would’ve been hard! Stretching his staff out, that was easy!

Looking back over Israel’s history in the Old Testament, we see that God was, in fact, doing everything He could to make their way easy.

Isaiah 57:4 says ‘And it will be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”’ We need to settle, for once and all time, the question of God’s will.

Be transformed
Romans 12:2 tells us to ‘…be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable [ or well-pleasing] and perfect.’

James 1:17 says ‘Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.’

His will to bless us and make our way smooth is finally evidenced in Jesus—Who is ‘…the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature…’ [Hebrews 1:3]

And we see in Luke 4 that He said He was the fulfillment of Isaiah 61—a chapter describing wonderful blessings!

He bore our griefs—our sickness—and carried our sorrows—our pains. He was pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities—the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed. [Isaiah 53:4,5]

God's plan
God’s plan was to restore the full measure of blessings upon man through Jesus—to make our way easy again. Jesus suffered for us and defeated Satan—that was hard. Then He gave us the victory—that’s easy! We were meant to live in union with God, with Him providing the power to reign upon the earth.

Romans 5:17 puts it this way…

‘For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

2 Peter says this:

‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His diving power has grated to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and excellence. For 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 1:2-4]

Rewarder
It was always God’s will to bless mankind—to make his way easy—and when we change our beliefs about Him and His will, we will be able to do things the easy way.

Determine in your heart to believe the best about God, not the worst. Believe what the Word says: ‘And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must a) believe that His is and b) that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.’ [Hebrews 11:6

Get that? A rewarder—not a tyrant or punisher or tester—a Rescuer, Way-Maker, Deliverer, Obstacle-Remover, Lover, Sun and Shield.

Stick with the Book—it’s way better than the lies of the enemy.

Favor
Another key theme throughout the Scriptures is that of God’s favor. Psalm 5: 12 says ‘For it is You Who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.’ And we know that we have become the righteousness of God in Him [2 Corinthians 5:21]…so this favor is for us!

His favor not only implies access but protection, as a shield. Psalm 84:11 says “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: The Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly .’ The sun provides, the shield protects…what a glorious depiction of the good God Who blesses…who desires to make our way easy!

Jesus was said to have had favor with God and men [Luke 2:52] and He is in us and we are in Him—we are His Body in the earth. Hallelujah!

Psalms 5:12 says 'For it is You Who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.'

Burdens
We were not built to carry burdens. Medical science tells us that stress is a killer—the cause of many fatal diseases. We were created to reign in life by faith and by the blessings and favor of God.

Remember... 'But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” [Proverbs 4:18] That is God's will for us!

When the you-know-what hits the fan, however, most of us will try to handle it ourselves, and I don't mean by exercising our faith! We strive and worry and work the situation until we find ourselves in a state of fear and anxiety.

But it's not God's way. Proverbs 55:22 tells us to 'Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will NEVER allow the righteous to be shaken.' The Holy Spirit repeated this promise in the New Covenant in 1 Peter 5:7, '...casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.'

Finally, we're told in Philippians 4 exactly what to do:

'Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

''Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.' [Philippians 4:6-8]

In other words, trust God and His good will for you.

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen [so be it] to the glory of God through us.' [2 Corinthians 1:20]

He's gladly given us the kingdom! [Luke 12:32]

Who's Going To Do It?

'…then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He  must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.' [1 Corinthians 15:24-26]

The common misconception in the church is that Jesus Himself, in some kind of physical form, is going to do the abolishing of all rule and authority and power. That He himself is mysteriously going to reign and put His enemies under His feet, and then the end will come.

That is true, in a manner of speaking, because we are one Spirit with the Lord. [1 Corinthians 6:17] But, like Israel at the time of His earthly walk, we are expecting some kind of natural kingdom takeover.

We are His Body in the earth, just as we are seated with Him in heavenly places! We are the ones that are to dominate Satan in the earth so He can hand the kingdom over to the Father!

We are part of Him and He is part of us! And He has already given us authority over all his power. [Luke 10:19]

'And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.' [Ephesians 1:22,23]

'For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority…' [Colossians 2:9,10]

The Greek word for complete in this verse is pleroo—to make full, to fill to the full, full measure, perfect. Ephesians 3:19 uses the same word: '…that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.'

We are the ones who are to do the putting under His feet! And I can prove it!

'The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." [Psalm 110:2]

'Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power…' [Psalm 110:3]

'These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.' [Ephesians 1:19-23]

'But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…' [Ephesians 2:4-6]

'He made know to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.' [Ephesians 1:9,10]

'You shall break the with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.' [Psalm 2:9]

We are to reign in life, through the One, Christ Jesus. [Romans 5:17] Every last one of us, from great to small, is One Spirit with the Lord and called to dominate.

The Last Enemy
And the last enemy to be abolished is death.

Jesus said plainly that we would do greater works than He did [John 14:12], and He routinely healed the sick and raised the dead. He dominated Satan in people's lives and cast him out.

This is how we take back the kingdom…we are redeemed from the curse, and we are to manifest the goodness of God in the earth. His kingdom come, His will be done, ON EARTH as it is in heaven. We are to renew our minds to these truths so that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT. [Romans 12:2]

Not babies dying or cancer or churches burning down.

No more poverty, disease, war or death. Just joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.

Hallelujah!

And how are we to do this? By His precious and magnificent promises…His Word!

'For 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]

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN to the glory of God through us. [2 Corinthians 1:20]

'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.' [Ephesians 3:20,21] 

‘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 THE WORLD.’ [1 John4:17]

Make no mistake about it. It's you and me, baby. We are His Body, in the earth, and we are called to administer the kingdom. We need to stop laying around, waiting for Him to do it. We ARE Him, in the earth, and we'd better get busy.

It's our job.

No Knock-off

I have said in earlier posts that to the Father, we look just like Jesus.

That is not exactly right.

We’re not some cheap knock-off, some comic impersonator in a goofy wig…we ARE Jesus, in the earth! We are His Body and we have this treasure in earthen vessels! The Word multiplied…

We are already seated with Him, in Him, in heavenly places! [Ephesians 2:6]

One Spirit with the Lord! [1 Corinthians 6:117]

ONE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD!

And Jesus and The Father are One… [John 10:30]

‘”The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are One; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, EVEN AS YOU HAVE LOVED ME.”’ [John 17:22,23]

That’s why all things belong to us. Because we’re One with the Word Who created all things—all things are for and by Him.

‘So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.’ [1 Corinthians 3:21-23]

‘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]

‘…yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. [1 Corinthians 8:6]

‘For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.’ [Romans 11:36]

‘And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.’ [Ephesians 1:22,23]

‘For in Him ALL THE FULLNES OF DEITY dwells in bodily form, and IN HIM you have been made COMPLETE…’ [Colossians 2:9,10]

And [this will really blow your mind]…He is the RADIANCE OF HIS GLORY and the EXACT REPRESENTATION OF HIS NATURE!!! [Hebrews 1:3]

‘For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’ [Colossians 3:3]

So what does that make us?

Think about it…

Sorry for so many exclamation points…I just couldn’t help it.

Who Says So?

When you’re in a tough situation and all hope seems lost…when all you can think about is how much trouble you’re in, what are you going to do, there’s no way out…who says so?

Psalm 3 tell us exactly who says so…our adversaries! And we know that one of Satan’s names is The Adversary—in fact, that’s the literal meaning of his name!

'O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me.

'Many are saying of [or to ] my soul, "There is no deliverance for him in God." Selah.' [Psalm 3:1,2]

And that’s just what those voices in your head say—there is no deliverance for you in God. You haven’t been good enough, maybe He wants to teach you something, maybe He doesn’t want to help you, you don’t deserve it, you don’t need deliverance, you will have to go through it for [fill in the reason], it’ll never happen for you, He might help others but He probably won’t help you this time, blah blah blah.

But we know three things: 1) we are the redeemed, the most holy ones whom God loves; and 2) we know that all of the promises of God are ‘yes’ in Christ, and 3) and we’re in Him, by God’s doing!

So never forget…anything other than God’s good and perfect will for you is a lie. Hopelessness, fear, despair, depression…lies, lies, lies. Impossible situations and circumstances…lies, lies, lies.

The Thief
Jesus clearly delineated what was NOT from His Father when he said "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [John 10:10] There’s really no room for misinterpretation there.

Imagine a blackboard with a line down the middle—one side is entitled ‘GOD’ and the other ‘Satan.’ Under God we have all of the promised blessings: Jesus, salvation, the Holy Spirit, health, wealth, wisdom, love, hope, peace, the well-being of our children, angelic protection, joy [and all of the other fruits of the Spirit], etc.

Under the Satan side we have: anything that steals, anything that kills and anything that destroys. That pretty well sums it up.

Let’s read on in Psalm 3 and see what David’s response is…

'But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. [Hallelujah!]

'I was crying to the LORD with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.

'I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me.

'I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about.

'Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.

'Salvation belongs to the LORD; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah. [Psalm 3:3-8]

Hallelujah! He is our shield and the One who lifts our head! He helps us based on Who He is and who we are—accepted in the Beloved. [Ephesians 1:6]

Do Not Fear

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” [Isaiah 41:10]

‘He will surely help us; He will surely uphold us with His righteous right hand. He has given His angels charge concerning us and they guard us in all our ways.’ [Psalm 91:11].

By the 103rd Psalm, David had it right…he instructed his soul—his mind, will and emotions—to bless the Lord continually and forget not His benefits. He then goes on to list those benefits and remind himself that He does not deal with us according to our sins nor reward us according to our iniquities! Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on us!

David understood that whatever contradicts the word of God is from the adversaries—that they prey on the soul with lies to discourage us.

But our hope is in God—He will surely help us!

So should we, when discouraged and hopeless, come to our spiritual senses and realize that these are lies from our adversaries—those who are arrayed against us in the spiritual realm. Despair is a lie, and we have authority over the liars! Trust in God!

Words of Comfort
Here are some words to help. Notice how often the psalmists put trust in their mouths…

'O my God, in You I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me.' [Psalm 25:2]

'But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, "You are my God."' [Psalm 31:14]

'He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.' [Psalm 40:3]

'But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.' [Psalm 55:23]

'In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can {mere} man do to me?' [Psalm 56:4]

'In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?' [Psalm 56:11]

'Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.' [Psalm 62:8]

'I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"' [Psalm 91:2]

Speaking Trust
When we speak our trust, it does a couple of things. First, Jesus said we have what we say [ref Mark 11, the whole book of Proverbs]. The Hebrew word debar is translated both word and thing, so when we declare our trust in God, our words appropriate the angelic protection that God declared in His forever settled Word [Psalm 119:89].

Second, it tells our soul what to believe—in essence, we’re replacing the lies of the adversaries that tell us that there is no deliverance for us from God. We, like David in Psalm 103, are instruction our soul what to believe and what to do! Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget none of His benefits…Hallelujah!

Jesus told us to pray “Your will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven…” He knew that God’s word was settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and that God spoke it with intent or purpose that it accomplish the thing for which He sent it [Isaiah 55:11; 46:10]. He also knew that the way to bring forth things in the earth is by faith—believing it in the heart and speaking it with the mouth. [Romans 10:9-11; Mark 11:22-24].

Put your trust in your heart and in your mouth. Speak the name of Jesus and tell the adversaries who are lying to you to shut up and get out. Then speak words of trust—have faith in God. He who believes in Him will not be disappointed. [Psalm 22:5; Romans 10:11; 2 Peter 2:6]

Thoughts On The New Birth

It seems to me that most of the teaching we as Christians get is God-outside oriented…He’s out there or up there, somewhere, and we need a touch from Him. ‘Oh please pass by, oh please touch us, we need you so…’ etc. etc.

But can we ever do the works that Jesus did, or greater works because He went to the Father until we really grasp the New Birth? That we, the unworthy ones, were actually crucified with Him, buried with Him in baptism, raised up together with Him and seated In Him in heavenly places?

How can we possibly be filled up to all the fullness of God if we don’t understand that there’s only One Spirit in these earthen vessels, and that is the Spirit of the Living God? The Word teaches that we are One Spirit with Him—not two spirits cohabiting the same temple, not the old us with some sort of Divine hitchhiker…as He is so are we in the world! Not as He was—not a prophet functioning under the Old Covenant, but as He is, now, seated at the right hand of God…Hebrews 13 says we’re already there! And the books of Ephesians and Colossians agree!

Anointed
I heard a full gospel preacher say, in the pulpit, that he was not anointed of God. But the Word says we all have an anointing from the Holy One and this anointing teaches us all things so that we have no need of a teacher! That we know all things! Not only is every preacher anointed but every Christian is!

So what is the problem? Our minds must be renewed so that we can be transformed—renewed to what? To the reality of the New Birth…that our old, unworthy, needy, ‘Oh Jesus please help me’ spirit is DEAD! And we’ve been made alive…a new race of God-inside creatures, capable of walking in ALL the fullness of God!

Yet we are so fixated on the Old Covenant. Yes, it was given for examples to us, and yes, the prophecies, promises and wisdom are for us, but we are not those people! They were spiritually dead, and the blessings of God had to be poured out on them through covenants…blessings of strict obedience, anointings of prophet, priest, king [usually not on the same person].

But we all have the trifold anointings…prophet, priest, king—just like Jesus, our elder brother, our joint-heir had…and we are absolutely called to reign and rule upon the earth. But we cannot do that in any measure until we know that that is our true and holy calling…that we are, in fact, the BODY of Christ in the earth. In the New Covenant, the blessings are to come from the inside, through our Spirit out into the world.

Made Complete
Yet we continually ask our Father to rain down the blessings from without, from some place out there where He sits, separate from us, administering good to some and ill to others, to teach us or to make us humble. But how can withhold from Himself? How can he punish Himself? Hasn’t that already been done, at the cross, for all who will receive it? Hasn’t the payment been made once for all?

The truth is we are all already healed, already rich, already delivered. We just don’t know it yet, and certainly very few ministers are telling us. We’ve already passed from judgment into life—yes, we will give an account of everything done in the Body, but most Christians are dreading Judgment Day because they have no idea that they have been made complete already in Him.

Renew Your Mind
Renewing of the mind is key—no wonder satan has deceived us for so long. Great congregations, filled with younger brothers and sister of Jesus, filled with the Trinity [Jesus said He and the Father would come to live inside us, and They do so by the Holy Spirit], seated in real time in the heavenlies in Christ at the right hand of God. Why?

To administer His kingdom on the earth! To bind and loose [or more accurately, forbid and permit], to hold back Satan so that we may evangelize the world—until we are taken up! To evangelize—not by hitting people over the head with the Four Spiritual Laws, but by proving what the good and acceptable will of God is. Not by being as sick and broke as they are, not by letting ourselves and our families be run over by every sickness and accident as they are, but by walking in all the fullness of God. Love, joy, peace—by enjoying our authority over all the power of the devil, by walking in the protection of the Blood and of the angels who are sent to serve us. By walking right through the murderous mob as Jesus did—He knew they had no authority over Him, and they have no authority over us, either.

Only until the heretical teachings of two millennia are exposed for what they are can we truly be one with Him—can we truly reign upon the earth, which is our calling, until it is the appointed time to leave. We are a glorified Church, without spot or wrinkle, in the Spirit—we just don’t know it, and no one is telling.

Blessed, but...
And when we do talk about blessings, it is with great restriction…only the lucky ones can really be rich, and that is with many restrictions and rules—only the lucky ones [we piously call it ‘blessed’] can be healed or delivered, and you’ll probably have to wait for that. Fast and pray and God just may squirt it on you…but of course, He may choose not to. Sometimes the answer is no…

What spiritual rubbish! The word says He always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus! The word says in Him all the promises of God are yes and amen! The only reason Christian people are poor and sick and in bondage is because they don’t know any better! Old Covenant people were stewards—slaves that owned nothing—but we are sons and daughters, heirs that own everything! All things belong to us, and we belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. God is not sick, nor is He broke, nor is He under the enemy’s dominion! And since He’s the only one in these reborn earthen vessels, we shouldn’t be, either. All things have already been given to us, richly to enjoy…

Yes, in the OT all the cattle on a thousand hills belonged to Him…but NOW they belong to us. We can say or sing that we own nothing, but it is not true. It just weakens us, crippling us from doing the work we're called to do.

Why? Because God is in us! Our spiritual DNA is His! We are born of God! But until our minds are renewed to ‘Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according the power that works within us, to Him be the Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever’ we cannot fulfill either our individual or corporate callings!

Glory
In my Bible, the heading before John 17:22 says ‘Their Future Glory.’ Sounds great, but it is not what Jesus said. To quote, “The glory which You have given Me I HAVE given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and you in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

The glory is ours now, so that we can do our jobs—and even that idea falls short—the glory is ours because of who we are—the temple of God, which is always filled with His glory! And without the glory, the world will never see that God sent Jesus because He loves them as much as He loves Jesus. They will never see that, as He is, now, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, so are we in this world.

As long as we look like the world, as long as we, like them, believe that He is, to quote a terribly heretical song, ‘at a distance,’ killing children with cancer and accident, we will never do greater works than He did. As long as we continue to beg and plead and tell ourselves that we have no anointing, that we are separated from Him and believe that He is some whimsical yet sometimes benevolent despot, blessing some but not all, we will remain useless in the world.

Who are we, really?
The Word says for us to trim our lamps—to be ready. But so few are truly ready, because they’ve never been taught who they really are nor trained to use their spiritual authority or weapons. Yes, we’ve been told that we’re blessed, but with so many clauses and codicils that it’s hard to figure out exactly what we’ve been blessed with. We’re told to jettison some Old Covenant customs but to keep others…we are saddled with Old Covenant thinking in New Covenant bodies! Yes, David and Abraham and Solomon taught us many wonderful things, but they were dead! Yes, they had specific anointings to rule or prophesy but we are not them! We are the glorious church! We are God-filled vessels, walking about in the earth, expected to do our jobs!

I was in a church service a few weeks ago where a woman started shaking and screaming ‘Help me Jesus, help me’ over and over. She totally disrupted the service and was obviously under great duress…this is a woman who has no idea who she really is! And a group of elders came over and patted her hand and said ‘There, there’ until she calmed down. And she left still not knowing that she’d been made the righteousness of God in Christ! That she was One Spirit with the Lord, that she was clothed with Him in Baptism.

She has the mind of Christ, but like all things spiritual, it is in the Spirit—and she has no earthly idea how to access it. She has no idea that she’s come to Mt. Zion, that she’s already seated in Him in heavenly places, that the phrase ‘what would Jesus do’ has vast implications for the Body of Christ and is not just a cheap plastic bracelet.

Unfortunately, whatever was bothering that poor woman is probably bothering her still. She may have had some momentary relief from the attention of the elders and her husband, but did she learn to rise up in authority and take dominion over the problem(s) facing her? She didn’t learn it that morning, and I fear that she has not learned it yet. So she suffers, under the delusion that she has yet to be delivered, and neither she nor anyone she comes into contact with will learn any different.

When we really start to mediate on who we are in Christ, what we have in Him, what our anointing and calling is in the earth, we will have to throw out about 90% of all sermons and praise songs. But it will be worth it, to raise up a people of authority in the earth, people who realize that God will allow what we allow, and will forbid what we forbid. People who learn how to walk in the Spirit, in love, in power, to really be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Who Do You Seek?
As Jesus said to Mary at the empty tomb, “Who do you seek?” Who do we seek? If we are One Spirit with Him, temples of the Living God, Kingdom of Heaven dwellers, seated together with Him, who exactly are we crying out to? Yes, the repentant will cry out to Him, but only once—once salvation is complete there is no more need to wail before Him . If we sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Period. Then we move on. This is a largely ignored truth these days—yet that is key to staying in fellowship with Him. We are One with Him but often not in fellowship with Him because we have no idea who we are, or for that matter, who He is.

I John 1 says ‘This is the message we have heard from Him, and announce to you, that God is Light, and In Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.’

It seems clear. If He is light, so are we. Jesus said at the beginning of His ministry that He was the Light of the world. Towards the end, He tells us that we are the light of the world. Sin is a function of the unrenewed mind and unregenerate flesh. Yet the word says the same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will make alive these mortal bodies…I know of very few Christians who are standing on that verse on a daily basis.

The key to it all is, I believe, Romans 8:1. ‘There is therefore NOW no condemnation for those who are IN Christ Jesus.’ There it is—short, very sweet and to the point. But we labor under false teaching s and heresies that tell us everything but. Poor us, we’re just sinners, saved by grace.

No. I WAS a sinner and I was SAVED by grace. The end. Now I’m a joint-heir with Jesus, filled with the Spirit of the God, called to reign upon the earth. A son called to do the work of My Father, fully equipped and authorized. We must lose the idea of separateness from Him if we are to truly understand these mysteries.

Ambassador
I am, in fact, an ambassador in a foreign land. My home country is the heavenly Mt. Zion, and it is from there I draw my provision and direction. And I notice that earthly embassies are the finest houses available—to demonstrate to the host nation the power and glory standing behind the ambassador. Even the poorest nations have fine embassies, lest the host nations think less of them. They are not subject to the laws of the host nation, but their allegiance and power come from their home.

So it is with us. We are ambassadors for Christ—in the natural, we are in this world, but in the Spirit we are seated in heavenly places. There is no time or place in the Spirit, and God has rested from His works. Revelations is going on around us, now, in the spiritual realm. Jesus is waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool…that is our job in the earth! But it is an impossible task for those who are not properly equipped.

Wake Up!
It is time to rise up…awake sleeper!

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

“For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.

“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

This is speaking of Jesus…not only Jesus as He walked in His earthly ministry, but Jesus as He is walking today in His earthly ministry. We ARE the Body of Christ in the earth! The Name of Jesus isn’t some cute little incantation we stick on the end of prayers in the hope that it will make them come to pass…it is who we are! We pray in the Name and we use the Name because it IS our Name! It is a legal reality, not an empty spell.

We are a beautiful sanctuary, a glorious resting place. Yet we walk as those without hope, because we have not been taught the reality of the New Birth. Yes, we know that we are saved from hell…unfortunately that is not enough to rule upon the earth, most especially at the end of the age. We are One with Him…we are One with Him, we are One with Him. Once we learn to interpret scripture in the light of that truth, heresies will begin to fall away…

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

To do this, we must behold the glory of the Lord…that is HOW we move from glory to glory. Not with sermon series on ‘How To Live’…but with meditation on the reality of who we are in Christ…and to do that, on Who He really is. We must come to know beyond any doubt that we have died and our lives are hidden with Him. We are One with Him—One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit—we have been made COMPLETE in Him, now and forever. Only then can we arise and be the glorious church in the earth.

I may look, on the outside, like someone you may know. But that is just my house. The spirit that used to live there was crucified in the 4th grade, sitting in the Junior Choir at Central Presbyterian, many years ago. The Spirit that lives there now is the Holy Spirit—the triune God, and the name that I wear now is JESUS. And I’ve been given His name, not as some superstition to tack onto the end of a prayer to ‘make’ it come true, but because I’m in Him and He’s in Me…the Father, too.

I realize, dear reader, that you are probably recoiling in shock. But read on…

It's Not What You Think...
Renew your mind. Clear away all heresies and error, all popular deceptions, all doctrinal rubbish that tells you that you are anything BUT the righteousness of God in Christ. Any idea that raises its head against the truth that He is in us, in fullness. That He could possibly withhold anything from Himself, and therefore from us. We must learn, now, to live in the heavenlies, to draw from the kingdom, to walk in the Spirit. We don’t need Jesus…we have Him. We don’t need a blessing, we are blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places IN CHRIST. If IN CHRIST is where we are blessed, then we need to stay IN CHRIST. We need to live and work and walk IN CHRIST.

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, prayed this [and I believe that the Holy Spirit’s prayers have already been answered]

“…that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with ALL POWER, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”

Doesn’t anybody READ this stuff? Really…doesn’t ANYBODY read this stuff? The aim of most traditional teachings is to tell us why it might not be for us, we must be careful, it doesn’t really mean what it says, it really means something else, we need to be humble, we shouldn’t want too much, blah, blah, blah…

It is time to grow up, to take our place, to bind satan and save the world. But this will not be done by poor, sick, weak Christians who have no idea whatsoever who they really are.

The good news is that it will be done, somehow…at some point we must rise up, because the Word says we will. So let it be now. Let it be now. Let us honor the sacrifice and all that it paid for. Let us be Jesus in the earth. Let us walk in power and authority as He walked. Let us be whole, spirit, soul and body—and let us lay aside excuses for our failures. Teach the truth--it pleased the Father to give us the kingdom, but we don’t always take it. We don’t always conquer our fear and doubt, we don’t always question the cultural heresies that ‘everything happens for a reason.’ That is in fact, true…but the reason is to kill us, to steal from us, or to destroy us, and it is NOT from God!

Authority
We’ve been given authority over all the power of the enemy, not as Jesus gave the disciples—that was a temporary anointing conferred upon them, as unregenerate men, to demonstrate His will for us and to give a taste of what was to come.. We have authority over all his power because of who we are and where we are seated…far above powers and principalities. We must learn to think as God thinks—we have the Mind of Christ, but we must train ourselves to access it.

Abraham was called the friend of God. We have songs that say we are the friends of God, but it isn’t true. We are One with God—sons and daughters, a living entity filled up to His fullness. We just don’t know it. While it sounds spiritual to say ‘I am a friend of God,’ it is a heresy wrapped in piety. As a friend of God we are powerless…as God in the Body of Christ we are all powerful. There’s a difference—it is time to stop settling for Old Covenant limitations and move on to the New Covenant realities.

Granted, it is hard to do, especially at first. The old ‘it can’t be, I’m unworthy, I must be humble’ beliefs will rear their ugly heads. We were unworthy, but now we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Christ. HE did it…it is HIS will that we be filled up to all the fullness of Himself…that we be rooted and grounded in love because HE is love…

This is HIS WILL, not something we’re trying to force on Him! This is actually the whole point of the Gospel! Jesus was the Word, but Acts says the Word multiplied daily! We are the Word in the earth…unfortunately, we don’t know it, so we don’t look like or act like the Word. Jesus was the Word—the fulfillment of the Word spoken through the ages…and so are we! If we can stop the clamoring in our heads that cries out ‘It can’t be so!’ we can truly humble ourselves under His Mighty Hand. To be humble is to accept His word and His will for our lives, and that is glory, pure and simple! He dreamed this up, and satan hates it and has worked for 2000 years to keep it shut under lock and key. But it is time now, to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

It is Time
It is time. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, that we be renewed in the spirits of our minds, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Lay aside falsehood, speak truth with each another, for we are members of one another.

It is through the renewing of our minds that we put on the new self…it is within our power to lay aside the old self--the old beliefs and corrupted thinking—and put on the new self. This is the express will of God.

The Church is so riddled by heresy and unbelief, however, that this can only be done through anointed teaching and massive re-education. Leaders who will accept the mantle of responsibility to teach what the Word really says instead of what they’ve been told it says, in spite of the stricter judgment they will incur. Leaders who will endure ridicule and venom… but who, like Jesus, will turn and walk through the crowd, knowing that they cannot be touched unless they allow it.

Awake sleeper. Arise, shine, for your light has come.

Decreed

'Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away. [Psalm 148:4-6]

"So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding (in the matter) for which I sent it." [Isaiah 55:11]

When God decrees something, that decree is settled forever. [Psalm 119:89] The Hebrew word for 'settled' is natsab, which means to fix, establish. One interesting alternate meaning is to be stationed or appointed...His word is stationed as a guard, appointed to accomplish what He sent it for.

‘The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.’ [Isaiah 40:8]

Psalm 32:7 says He surrounds us with songs, or shouts, of deliverance!

Keeping those things in mind, look at 2 Corinthians 1:20: 'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes...' Every promises of God is fulfilled in Jesus, and we are His joint heirs! He is the Spirit within us--Paul says we have died, and Christ lives in us! [Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20]

Filled with God
In Ephesians 3:19, the Holy Spirit, through Paul, prayed that we might be filled up to all the fullness of God! In Colossians 1:11, He prayed that we be strengthened with all power in our inner man! We have this treasure in earthen vessels—how is this possible?

Because God said so—He decreed it! Jesus was God in the earth—the Word [Gr. logos—word, decree]. John 1:1 says 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' God is His word, and the totality of all His words is Jesus.

Guess what? It's you, too! Acts 12:24 says 'And the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.' I like the HNV: 'But the word of God grew and multiplied.' We are the Word multiplied! God has filled us with Himself—we are the embodiment of His decrees. We are His temple on the earth, filled with His glory. We are how the whole earth is filled with His glory [Isaiah 6:3]

Stationed
The decrees of the Father about us are established forever—they are stationed around us. They are stationed within us, within our reborn spirits. They are already true and already accomplished, because He decreed it. He decreed that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. By His doing, we are in Christ Jesus, Who became [past tense] to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption...[1 Corinthians 1:30]

Let's look at an example. God declared David to be king of Israel while he was just a boy. It took a while for David to realize that this was, in fact, true...'And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.' [2 Samuel 5:12]

That wasn't when it became true...it became true the moment God said it. And if you read the whole chapter, David didn't realize [Heb. yada—to know or perceive] that he was really king until after he was anointed by the elders and took the throne! I think it must have been an aha! moment, sort of like 'Oh, right, this is real! I get it now...'

So What?
What does this mean for us? It means everything God has said about Jesus and those who are united with Him in the Spirit—His Body—is already true! God decreed many things about us, and they are established forever, stationed around us, standing firm in the spiritual realm.

So how do we bring it to pass in the natural? We, like Jesus, are full of God. Jesus said that we should do greater works than He did [John 14:12]—He decreed it—so it is established forever, destined to come to pass.

Evidence, however, is a little hard to come by. Christians look just as sick, broke, depressed as everyone else—their kids are dying by the numbers, just like the world's. Even during the plagues in Egypt, the Word says 'Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.' [Exodus 9:26]

Their livestock didn’t die, either, and when thick darkness descended over the land, there was light in the dwellings of Israel! [Exodus 9, 10]

Hallelujah.

So where is the disconnect? What is blocking the decreed word of God from coming to pass? David said we are surrounded by songs of deliverance [Psalm 32:7]...encamped around by the Angel of the Lord and rescued. [Psalm 34:7]

Paul said that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. [2 Corinthians 4:7]

I see it as a bottle full of God with the stopper still in it. How do we take the stopper out?

By faith! Everything is done by faith! Faith—believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth—takes hold of that forever settled word and brings it into the natural realm. Doubt, fear, unbelief, rationality—thinking like the world, not understanding how things really work—these keep the stopper firmly in place.

Hebrews 3:19 says of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness 'So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.' Enter what? Enter into the promise of God—the Promised Land.

Faith—Seeing the Unseen
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. [Romans 10:17] The decreed Word of God is the forever settled and established unseen. Immerse yourself in the unseen, seeing who you really are in Christ. Mediate on being one Spirit with the Lord, strengthened with all power in your inner man, doing greater works than Jesus did. See yourself walking in love and power, decreeing in the earth what God has already decreed about you. You are the healed, the rich, protected by angels. The well-being of your children is great and they are taught of the Lord. God is love—you are filled with love! And love never fails...

The Holy Spirit said, through Paul, '...for we walk by faith, not by sight...' [2 Corinthians 5:7] and told us to look at the things which are not seen rather than those that are seen [I Corinthians 4:18]. By faith, Moses left Egypt, 'seeing Him Who is unseen.' [Hebrews 11:27]

In Galatians 3:5, we read ' So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?' Faith is how you move mountains [Mark 11:22-24]. Faith is how you take the stopper out and let God move in the earth.

Jesus prayed "Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven." We should pray that, too...that the unseen, already established will of God be done in our lives in the earth. When we begin to meditate on these things, sin, doubt and fear will fall away and we will reign in life.

Walk by faith. It is decreed.

Enter His Rest Today

Read Hebrews 3, 4

Hebrews 3 and 4 have a lot to say about the rest of God. We know that He has rested from His works [4:10] and that those works were finished from the foundation of the world [4:3]

We were given the example of the Israelites, who were unable to enter the Promised Land—His covenant promise to them, His rest for them—because of disobedience [3:18]. And we see that disobedience stems from unbelief [3:19].

Paul further explains in verse 4:2 that '...the WORD they heard did NOT profit them, because it was not UNITED BY FAITH in those who heard.'

In other words, they had the promise of God, but did not accept it by faith. He had a specific rest for His natural people...a land flowing with milk and honey, a place of abundance and peace. But they just didn't believe His Word, and faith united with His Word is what brings spiritual blessings into manifestation in the earth.

Faith Is…
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the assurance—the substance, that which has actual existence—of things hoped for, the conviction, or proof, of things not seen.

In the case of Hebrews 4:2, God's Word is the unseen reality that Israel did not unite with their faith. They couldn't see it so they didn't believe it, and did not enter God's finished work prepared specifically for them!

We know from Psalm 119:89 that His Word is settled forever...Isaiah 40:8 says the Word of our God stands forever. What we see in Hebrews 4 is that His Word is in reality a finished work! A finished work that He has rested from, finished from the foundation of the world!

AND a finished work that He desires us to enter into by faith! This is the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world [Matthew 25:34], the place prepared for us by Jesus Himself [John 14:2].

In other words, His Word is a completed work, a rest for us to enter into...and Jesus IS the Word! In Jesus, all the promise of God are yes [2 Corinthians 2:20]

All Things
Consider these:

'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]

'Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.' [Luke 12:32]

"...with God all things are possible." [Matthew 19:26

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." [Matthew 21:22]

"All things are possible to him who believes." [Mark 9:23]

"All things are possible with God." [Mark 10:27]

"Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." [Mark 11:24]

'...and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be greed through the Law of Moses.' [Acts 13:39]

'But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us." [Romans 8:37]

'...all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.' [1 Corinthians 3:22,23]

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN [so be it] to the glory of God through us.' [2 Corinthians 1:20]

'I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me.' [Philippians 4:13]

'...God, Who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.' [1 Timothy 6:17]

So it would seem that our rest, the covenant promise prepared beforehand for us, is all things.

The Kingdom
Colossians 1 puts it this way:

'For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

'He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation.

'For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

'He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.' [Colossians 1:13-17]

And we are in Him, and He is in us.

Jesus, the fulfillment of every promise, is our rest. He is the completed work...it is finished. Everything we need, all that we desire, every blessing is in Him and is finished for us.

Rest Now
So Hebrews 4:11,12 advises us:

'For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.'

When we are diligent to enter the rest of God's already fulfilled promises for us, we rest from our works. We access our Promised Land by uniting His Word with our faith...and that faith is the faith of God Himself! We were crucified with Him—He was reborn in us! We are one Spirit with the Lord, and Jesus said that He and the Father would abide in us by the power of the Holy Spirit! [John 14]

So the faith that resides in our reborn spirit is that of the indwelling Trinity! We can't lose!

Choose life. Choose faith. Choose to believe His Word and enter His rest. Enter into the works finished for you from the foundation of the world.

The Quantum Table 2

[ref The Quantum Table, Stop Begging—It’s Inside!, Quantum Possibilities, An Eternal Perspective…God’s POV, Angels…Quantum Travelers, You Can’t Get What You Don’t See]

What is this quantum table for the believer?

It is the fulfilled Word of God.

Just as His supernatural provision for Hagar was based on His covenant of promise, so is it for us. His works WERE finished from the foundation of the world! [Hebrews 4:3]

Why? Because according to Ecclesiastes, that which has been will be…

‘That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.’ [Ecclesiastes 1:9]

‘That which is has been already and that which will be has already been...’ [Ecclesiastes 3:15]

‘Whatever exists has already been named…’ [Ecclesiastes 6:10]

Solomon, in his great wisdom, glimpsed into the eternal. He knew there was no time in eternity, that it was both forward and back, up and down.

The Table Revealed
The quantum table is the already settled Word of God. [Psalm 119:89]

'And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you."' [Mark 11:22-24]

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." [John 14:13,14]

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." [John 15:7]

"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." [John 16:23,24]

'In Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' [Colossians 2;3]

'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]

'...heirs of God and fellow [joint] heirs with Christ...’ [Romans 8:17]

'...heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.' [James 2:5]

'...all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.' [1 Corinthians 3:22,23]

'For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.' [1 Corinthians 1:20]

'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]

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for its is written "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.' [Galatians 3:13,14]

'...through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.' [Acts 13:39]

'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.' [2 Corinthians 2:14]

'...God, Who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.' [1 Timothy 6:17]

'Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah] is born of God...For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. [1 John 5:1,4]

'Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.' [3 John 2]

Just the Highlights
These are just the highlights—a fraction of the blessings that belong to us in Christ, for every blessing in the Old Covenant is ours as well, and none of the curse! Hallelujah! [1 Corinthians 1:20; Galatians 3:13]

See it, believe it, speak it. It belongs to you, and it’s already there.

The Quantum Table

Psalm 23:5 states 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies...'

Where exactly is this table?

It is a quantum table...prepared for us in the Spirit.

In the Presence of My Enemies...
David describes this table—an obvious metaphor for abundant provision—as being laid in the presence of his enemies.

The table is where the enemies are, which can't be in heaven. We don't have to wait until we die to sit and partake of the table. Our enemies are those arrayed against us, and they are here, where we are. We cannot see them, but they are here. And the bountiful table is here, as well.

It's a lot like Hagar's well, or Isaac's ram, or the coin in the fish's mouth. We know that our every need is already met by His riches in glory [Philippians 4:19]...it's the table laid before us, in the presence of our enemies!

Don't Make Him Mad...
Psalm 78:19 says 'Then they [Israel] spoke against God; they said "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?" They were questioning His ability and willingness to provide for them in a hostile environment. Verse 21 and 22 explain His reaction...

'Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath; and a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also mounted against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation.'

Deuteronomy 28:45-47 reinforces this idea. 

"So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things..."

So don't make Him mad. He has already provided everything for us in Jesus.

How? By His Word.

'For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.' [2 Corinthians 1:20]

'So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.' [1 Corinthians 3:21-23]

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.' [Luke 12:32]

Believe in His ability and His willingness to provide in a hostile environment—believe that His table is here, now, in the presence of your enemies. And partake!

Read Pull Back the Curtain.

Finished [re-post]

Waiting for something to [maybe] happen is a lot different from knowing that it has already happened.

When we're waiting for something, there's a chance that it won't actually happen. Like Schrodinger's Cat, we can't really see the future.

Or can we? What if the future is already the past? Isn't that what Solomon was saying in Ecclesiastes?

'That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. 

Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new?" Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.' [Ecclesiastes 1:9-11] 

'That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.' [Ecclesiastes 3:15] 

'Whatever exists has already been named...' [Ecclesiastes 6:10]

Solomon had great wisdom—I think he saw glimpses of eternity but could not really grasp what he was seeing. I think, and this is just my opinion, that he was seeing the truth that God's works were finished from the foundation of the world and that God has already rested from those works. [Hebrews 4:3,10]

In fact, I think he was probably the first quantum physicist! Followed, of course, by Jesus, Who manipulated time and space and physical reality as easily as He breathed.

But Solomon did not understand the New Birth fact that we are full of God and that we dwell in two places—on the earth and seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I think he saw something but didn’t know exactly what it was.

What?
Psalm 119:89 says that God's Word is settled forever...Isaiah 40:8 says it stands forever. And 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all the promises of God are YES in Him!

God declared that His Word will not return to Him without 1) accomplishing what He desires and 2) succeeding in the matter for which He sent it [Isaiah 55:11]. Jeremiah 1:12 says He watches over His Word to perform it.

But Hebrews says He's done! Here we have a quantum conundrum...things are already finished but still happening.

That's because, in the Spirit, there is no time...it is already finished. But here, in the physical plane, we are prisoners of linear time, set in motion by the rotation of the earth. Day and night come and go, and come and go again...the body ages, children grow, we live and die.

His Word was sent to accomplish His desire in the earth...although in Heaven, it is already finished. Jesus taught us to pray "Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven..." [Matthew 6, Luke 11]

Great News
While this may be a bit of a brain scrambler, it's really very good news for those who believe.

If every promise is YES in Him and we are redeemed from the curse of the law [Galatians 3:13], and if His Word is not only settled forever but already finished, for and about us, then WOW! We're no longer waiting for things to [maybe] happen, they're already finished! When we look at the unseen, the forever-settled-already-accomplished Word of God, we can move to a place of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because joy is a result of answered prayer, and our prayers are already answered! [John 15:11]

Hallelujah!!

Believe You Receive
This is how we can believe we receive when we pray, how we can make our requests known with thanksgiving. Philippians 4 puts it this way:

'Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.' [Philippians 4:4-9]

Hebrews 4 says that God has rested from His finished works, but entreats us to be diligent to enter His rest.

What does that mean, exactly?

God's works are indeed finished from the foundation of the world, but ours are not...not until we accept His works as done in our lives through faith.

Hebrews 3, 4 tells why Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years—no, it was NOT God's will that they have a wilderness experience!

It was because of unbelief.

'And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

'So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.' [Hebrews 3:17-19]

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

'For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.' [Hebrews 4:2,3]

We enter into His finished works, His rest, by uniting the Word with faith!

For example, God has said "By His scourging you are healed" [Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24]. That was a work, finished not only at Calvary but when the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world [Revelation 13:8]. It was finished in the natural at Calvary, but in the Spirit it was done before the foundation of the world!

So our healing is already finished, already accomplished. But unless we unite that word with faith, we will not enter the rest of the finished work of healing.

In other words, God has already done His part.

'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.' [Ephesians 1:3,4]

ExamplesThe Old Covenant has a lot to teach on this subject. When Israel and Judah believed God's word—united it with faith—they had rest and peace. When they did not, they had war and captivity.

God had already blessed them in His covenant with Abraham, but when they did not unite the blessing with faith as a nation, they fell out of His rest, so to speak, even though their rest was settled forever!

Okay, Now What?
So, God's works are already finished FOR YOU. He is at rest.

How do you enter into that rest? If Hebrews 4 tells us to be diligent to enter His rest, we must be able to do so.

Unite the forever-settled Word with your faith. Believe that every promise is for you in Christ [2 Corinthians 1:20] and that they are finished, accomplished facts. Then unite it with faith—see it, believe it, say it. See the unseen, believe God's word over temporary circumstances.

Enter His rest.

Related posts: That Which Has Been Will Be, Already Blessed, God Inside, Stop Begging—It's Inside, Camping in the Desert, Enter His Rest Today, Waiting for God...in fact, all of them!

The Father Within [re-post]

Wait a minute...I might have just seen something amazing here...

'"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."' [John 14:10]

'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]

'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.' [Ephesians 3:20,21]

Yes, it's true. The Father is within, and He works through us, just like He did through Jesus.

Put that together with these verses, and you'll see something wonderful!

'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes...' [Deuteronomy 1:30]

'...for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:4]

'Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will extol Him. THE LORD IS A WARRIOR; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.' [Exodus 15:1-4]

'The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.' [Isaiah 42:13]

'The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.' [Zephaniah 3:17]

The Lord is within us, and He is a victorious warrior! He IS the power that works within—He IS mighty and He will fight for us!

And don't be afraid…

'When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

"When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted.

'Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' [Deuteronomy 20:1-4]

Finally, remember these things:

‘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.’ [2 Corinthians 2:4]

‘But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.’ [Romans 8:37]

‘…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ [1 Corinthians 15:57]

‘For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.’ [1 John 5:4]

The Father within, a victorious warrior.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For related scriptures, read Victory!

Eternal You [re-post]

We have such a limited view of spiritual reality...a sort of spiritual tunnel vision, if you will. Yes, man was separated from God by his own doing, but Jesus came that we might be reunited with Him. That's the story of the Gospel!

'For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.' [Romans 8:28,30]

He foreknew us! Ephesians 1:4 says '...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.'

Chosen before the foundation of the world! Foreknown! That's more then seeing us through the ages and predicting that we would come to Him...He knew us, before the foundation of the world! We existed then, we exist now, we exist forever on Mt. Zion. [Hebrews 12:22-24]

These are amazing, quantum thoughts, straight from the heart of God! 2 Timothy 1:9 says that His purpose and grace was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity...not for all eternity, but from all eternity! 1 Peter 1:1,2 puts it this way '...who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father...'

He knew us from old; therefore, we existed from old. In Christ, from before the foundation of the world. We are with Him in Revelations and from before the foundation of the world....we are eternal beings, living for a time in these earthen vessels.

In fact, the Greek word for 'eternal' is aionios—without beginning and end, THAT WHICH ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE, never to cease, everlasting. Not just forward, as we tend to think, but backward, too.

Who Knew?
If these things are true, and since they are straight from the Word, they must be, why do we have such limited knowledge? It seems as if we are awake to only a small portion of our lives, eternity, the reality of God and who we are in Christ.

I think this must be what the Holy Spirit was saying in Ephesians 5:13, 14...'But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

When we allow the light of God's Word to shine into our thinking, the realities of the Kingdom are revealed. We can lay aside all preconceived notions and limitations and finally step into our calling—to reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus.

It's Time
It's time to lay aside our darkened thinking, to renew our minds to the realities of God's will for us. Time to step into His glorious light and realize that we live in two realms of existence...ambassadors in the earth, citizens of Heaven. Living here while seated in heavenly places in Christ. Foreknown from the foundation of the earth, with Him at the final trumpet of Revelations. Eternal, one with Him, full of HIs glory.

Hallelujah!