God Is Faithful

I awoke a few weeks ago hearing "I am faithful." 

So, of course, I had to check it out in the Word. 

'No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.' [1 Corinthians 10:13] 

'If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.' [2 Timothy 2:13]
'Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful...' [Hebrews 10:23] 

His faithfulness does NOT depend on us! It is not conditional upon our performance in any way! He is faithful because that's Who He is. 

Revelation 19:11 says that one of the names of Jesus is Faithful and True! 

His word is settled forever [Psalm 119:89] and He cannot lie. [Titus 1:2] 

Have you ever wondered why He can't lie? Because by the time the lie came out of His mouth, it would be true! If He started to say 'dog' where there was no dog, by the time He finished there would be a dog there! It's not so much that He won't lie out of some moral character, although I believe that, too...it's more that He can't lie, because everything He says COMES TO PASS! 

So His Word—His precious and magnificent promises by which we become partakers of THE DIVINE NATURE—is true. Why? Because HE SAID SO! 

Eternity
We already know some other things about God...He is eternal, the Alpha and Omega. His Word is settled forever and it will accomplish what He sent it for in the earth. 

I love Isaiah 46:9-11. 

"Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, DECLARING the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, SAYING, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure;' CALLNG a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. 

"Truly I have SPOKEN; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it." 

An important note...eternity is not just forward—it's backward, too! The Hebrew word for 'forever' in Psalm 119:89 is owlam—continuous existence, unending—without beginning or ending! His Word is without beginning or end! Now that is faithful! 

Hagar’s Well
Let's read about Hagar again. If you remember, she was Sarah's maid, who she gave to Abraham to have a child with. But when her child Isaac was born, she became jealous of Ishmael and asked Abraham to send them away. 

'"And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant. 

'So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. 

'When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, "Do not let me see the boy die." And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept. 

'God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 

"Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him." 

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink.' [Genesis 21:13-19] 

Why is this story so important? 

Because it demonstrates His faithfulness. 

His promise to Abraham was really for the child of promise—Isaac, through Sarah—but because Ishmael was also a descendant of Abraham's, He honored His word. 

Plus, it's a great look at eternity. That well was already there...the angel just revealed it to her. Since His works were finished from the foundation of the world [Hebrews 4:3] technically it was there before He ever made a promise to Abraham! 

"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments..." [Deuteronomy 7:9] 

Remember...even if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. [2 Timothy 2:13]And as we've seen, faithfulness, like eternity, is both forward and back, without beginning or end. 

Just like God.

The Father Within

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 warrior! He IS the power that works within—He IS mighty and He will fight for us!

The Lord told Moses to stretch forth his hand—his yad*—so that the the waters would come back over the Egyptians. Moses spoke the word…[Exodus 14:26]

And then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea! [Exodus 14:27]

Moses spoke it, and the Lord performed it!

Now we know that the Hebrew word for peace is shalom—completeness, soundness, welfare, peace…

‘Lord, You will establish peace for us, since You have also performed for us all our works.’ [Isaiah 26:12]

How about these?

‘I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.’ [Psalm 57:2

‘The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.’ [Psalm 138:8]

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]

The Father within, He does the works! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

* Search this blog for articles on yad—the Hebrew word for hand. They will blow your mind!

The Father Within

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 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]

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

As You Think

Proverbs 23:7 says:

‘For as he thinks within himself, so he is.’ [Proverbs 23:7]

So if you think there’s no way out, guess what? There will be no way out for you. If you think the way will be hard, guess what? It’ll be hard. If you believe the Word is true for you, it will be true for you.

Jesus confirmed this spiritual law in several places:

“All things are POSSIBLE to him who believes.’ [Mark 9:23]

“…for truly I say to you, if you have FAITH the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO YOU.” [Matthew 17:20]

“Truly I say to you, if you have FAITH and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.” [Matthew 21:21]

“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]

“If you had FAITH like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea;' and it would obey you.” [Luke 17:6]

Of course, most of these verses also tie in the spoken word with believing, but right now we’re just looking at the believing part, because out of the treasure of the heart the mouth speaks.

The Greek word for ‘faith’ in these passages is pistis….the conviction of the truth of anything, BELIEF.

A side note…the mustard seed is tiny. So it seems that we don’t need a lot of faith to move mountains and trees!

And 1 Corinthians 13:13 says faith abides—lives within us! Why? Because all the fullness of Deity [Godhead] dwells in Him, and IN HIM we have been made complete. [Colossians 2:9,10]

According To Your Faith
Jesus told almost everyone He delivered that it was because of their faith, not His. And when in His hometown, He could not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. [Matthew 13:58]

Unbelief, or not believing, was the reason Israel didn’t go right into the Promised Land [Hebrews 3:19]

‘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.

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.’
[Hebrews 3:18,19; 4:2]

What’s interesting about this passage is that God considered their unbelief disobedience…[Hebrews 4:6]

Transformed
Finally, Romans 12:tells us to BE TRANSFORMED—Greek metamorphoo, to be changed into another form, to transform or transfigure—by the RENEWING of your MIND.

Change your mind, your beliefs, because as you think you will be.

3 John 2 says this:

‘Beloved, I PRAY that in ALL RESPECTS you may PROSPER and be in GOOD HEALTH, just as your SOUL PROSPERS!’

You will only prosper and be in good health to the degree that you first prosper in your soul!

Change your mind!

Read Renew Your Mind, Amen to the Glory of God, How Big is Your God,

According To Your Faith, Your Beliefs Your Reality, Think Like God.

God Wants You Free

Consider this...

God wants and needs for you to be delivered as much if not more than you do!

We're taught, wrongfully, that we need to beg for His help, and sometimes the answer is 'No.' Maybe He wants to teach us something, or maybe we just don't deserve His help.

These things are not true. I don't care where you heard them.

'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]

'"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the FATHER MAY BE GLORIFIED in the Son. If you ask Me ANYTHING in My name, I will do it."' [John 14:13,14]

'"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]

'...and 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]

Already
Technically, we are already delivered from everything we need to be delivered from, because His works were finished from the foundation of the world. [Hebrews 4:3]

We are one Spirit with Him, His Body in the earth...as He is, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD! [1 Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 1:23; 1 John 4:17]

'For in Him ALL THE FULLNESS of Deity—GODHEAD—dwells in bodily form, and in Him YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE...' [Colossians 2:9,10]

Did you know that the Greek word for 'salvation' is soteria, meaning deliverance, preservation and safety? Deliverance from the molestation of enemies!! Hallelujah!

In fact, He tells us how to appropriate His will.

'And do not be conformed to this world, but 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 and PERFECT.' [Romans 12:2]

In other words, we are transformed when we know we are!

Transformed into the manifestation of His Word! Healed, delivered, rich, protected...

Why? So that we can PROVE what His good and acceptable and perfect will is!

Don't Look Up 3

[Read Don't Look Up, Don't Look Up 2]

When we come to the Throne of Grace, we are not coming based on our performance or on our own righteousness. How much or how little we've done, what mistakes we may or may not have made...

We are coming in the Name of Jesus because we are one Spirit with Him.

Seated in Heavenly Places
We've seen that we're already seated in Him in heavenly places, right now, while walking around on the earth. Yes, it's a paradigm...we are, from a quantum point of view, in two places at once.

We are joined to Him—we have died, and He abides in us, with The Father and The Holy Spirit. [ref Christ in You]

When we come to the Throne of Grace, we are coming IN HIM. God sees Him and the Blood Covenant. Yes, Jesus ministers in the office of High Priest of our confession [Hebrews 3:1; 4:14], but He is also One with the one praying!

If I have died and Christ lives in me, who is praying? Who is coming boldly to the Throne of Grace?

Why is every promise of God YES in Him? [2 Corinthians 1:20] Why are we promised that if we ask ANYTHING in His Name He will do it? [John 14:14]

Because He lives in these earthen vessels! Because we are His Body and we are filled with His fulness!

When we pray, we pray IN HIS NAME! Why? Because it's our name, too...HE'S THE ONLY ONE IN THERE!!!

Yes, we must renew our minds to these precious and magnificent promises so that we can partake of the Divine nature! [2 Peter 1:4], and yes, we must crucify the flesh—take authority over it and not let it run our lives.

But we ARE one with Him now, in these earthen vessels and seated in Him in heavenly places.

So when you start to pray, come in the full knowledge and assurance that it is the One within you praying.

The Mouth is Connected To The Heart...Always!

We know from the Word that from the heart the mouth speaks.

"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." [Matthew 12:34]

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart BRINGS FORTH what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure BRINGS FORTH what is evil; for his MOUTH SPEAKS from that which fills his HEART." [Luke 6:45]

Interesting, there are no disclaimers attached to these verses. They do NOT say, '...only when you are consciously making faith confessions...' or '...only when you mean to...' or '...only when you're not joking around...'

Speaking Spirit
Genesis 2:7 says 'Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.'

The Targum Onkelos, an ancient Aramaic translation says '...and man became ANOTHER speaking spirit.'

God breathed HIMSELF into the lump of clay, and man, both male and female, became ANOTHER speaking spirit! [Read Lumps of Clay]

The Hip Bone Connected to the Thigh Bone...
Yes, your mouth is ALWAYS connected to your heart!

This is a spiritual, and natural, fact.

The POWER [yad = hand] of life and death is IN THE TONGUE!! [Proverbs 18:21] This is not some made-up saying propagated by faith preachers...IT IS THE VERY WORD OF GOD!

Why did God create us as 'speaking spirits?' Because we are created in HIS IMAGE, and He is THE Speaking Spirit, Who does everything by the words of His mouth! He created us to reign on the earth with the power and authority of the spoken word.

Reign
It is our very nature to reign in the natural with our mouths. They are connected to the treasure in our hearts, whether good or bad, and they WILL bring that treasure forth.

Forth where? Forth, into the earth. In fact, this is exactly what happened to the prophets of old. They SPOKE Jesus into the earth, and the WORD became flesh. [John 1:14]

From where?

'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 covers it with BLESSINGS. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.' [Psalm 84:4-7]

'But you have come to MOUNT ZION and to the city of the living God, the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.' [Hebrews 12:22-24]

'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, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.' [Ephesians 2:4-7]

Yikes.

This is why Jesus cautioned us about being too cavalier with the words of our mouths.

"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." [Matthew 12:36]

He knew the power of the spoken word, and He knew that this law works all the time, for good or ill.

And, for you faith critics, It's the very process by which we are born again!

'But what does it say? "The Word is near you, in your MOUTH and in your HEART"—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you CONFESS with your MOUTH Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

'...for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the MOUTH he confesses, resulting in salvation.' [Romans 10:8-10]

What's The Problem
What, then, is the problem? Why is it that, when we need our words to work, they don't seem to?

I think the answer may be found in Mark 11.

'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]

We just don't believe that our words works. If we did, we wouldn't be so careless with them.

Even when we see the truth in the Word and begin to practice it, that nagging doubt stops them dead in the air. James 1:6-8 says a double-minded man shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord.

We must believe that what we say will happen, period.

Tower of Babel...Again
I've written a lot about the Tower of Babel [read about it in Genesis 11, do a search on this blog for articles]. But it is just so instructive—words work, whether you are born again or not!

Think about the cautionary tale of Jacob and Rachel, found in Genesis 31. They had fled from Laban, her father, and she had stolen some of his household gods. He pursued and accused Jacob. Jacob swore to him that whoever had taken the gods would not live, not knowing that his beloved wife was the culprit. And, according to his words, she died in childbirth a short time later.

The Tower of Babel was not God's will. In fact, He knew that if He didn't intervene, nothing could stop them.

How did He intervene? He confused their language, so that they could no longer agree IN THEIR WORDS!

What About Us?
If it is true that unregenerate man's words work in the earth, how much more is it true for those filled with the Spirit of God?

Jesus knew that we would be reborn and He knew that we would be one Spirit with Him. He knew that He and the Father would come to dwell in our earthen vessels by the Holy Spirit. [John 14; 1 Corinthians 4:7]

That's why He told us to talk to mountains and trees. To sick and dead bodies. Everywhere He went, He demonstrated what He knew was coming:

'"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father."' [John 14:12]

'...as He is, so also are we IN THIS WORLD.' [1 John 4:17]

As Christians, the power of our words should be magnified by the indwelling God!

Faith—believing and speaking—works through love. God is Love, and the love of God has been poured into our hearts. [1 John 4:8,16; Galatians 5:6; Romans 5:5]

But to use that magnified power, we must be walking in love...practicing the love of God which is within us!

Think about this...while explaining how the fig tree withered, Jesus preface His teaching with the words "Have faith in God."

Since God is love, He could've said "Have faith in love."

God's love for us, His love working through us, magnifying our power to reign upon the earth by our mouths.

Think about it.

What Are The Giants Saying To You [re-post]

This is really long, but worth the read, I think. Since I wrote this originally, I wrote a follow-up article entitled What Are You Saying to the Giants, which you may want to read as well.

You know the story...Moses sent 12 spies in to reconnoiter the Promised Land [read Numbers 13:1-14:38]. They came back with samples of the fruit of the land, and reported that, yes, the land did indeed flow with milk and honey. God's word was true!

But 10 of the spies explained that while it was everything God said it would be, there were powerful, strong people there, living in large, fortified cities. These were the sons of Anak, part of the Nephilim, which is the Hebrew word for giants.

We know that the other 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, held out for God. Their report was "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." [Numbers 13:30]

Read the response from the 10 negative spies:

"We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us...The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." [Numbers 13:31-33]

Wisdom

'The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew.' [Proverbs 3:19,20]

How did God found the earth? By His Word! Read Genesis 1: 'Then God said...then God said...then God said...then God said...'

When He spoke, it was immediately created. According to Proverbs, this is Wisdom.

In Proverbs 8, Wisdom describes herself as a master workman, working beside God as He created the earth!

Now consider this:

'"Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.

"By me KINGS REIGN, and RULERS DECREE JUSTICE.

"By me PRINCES RULE, and NOBLES, all who judge rightly.

"I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me.

"Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choicest silver.

"I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries."' [Proverbs 8:14-21]

Wisdom is how God created all things...but in this passage we read that wisdom is how kings reign and how treasuries are filled with wealth.

Christ In You

'For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him...' [Romans 6:5-8]

'I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.' [Galatians 2:20]

'...the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.' [Colossians 1:26,27]

'But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one Spirit with Him.' [1 Corinthians 6:17]

Hallelujah! I died and Christ was formed in me, in ALL of His fulness...not just some sort of spiritual hitchhiker, but wall to wall God!