Love

"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7)

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Thank...you...JESUS!!

The Glory of t

hese verses were washing over my mind with such soothing ebb and flows, but a sadness pierced in.

What has so subtly, yet ruthlessly intercepted this glorious gospel we have in Christ, when the revelation of an INESCAPABLE LOVE encountered by David and Paul centuries ago, has been replaced by a striving for devine affection and acceptance?

We have layers of filth that has illegally caught a free ride on a naturally too-good-to-be-true gospel for hundreds of years (and I certainly don't profess to recognize all of it. But with discernment, grace, and scripture in context, I have pealed a few off already).

Abundant life is not prescribed by just singing songs like David sang, nor is it encountered by quoting statements that Paul made.

The glory of "unconditional" is that it's unconditional.
Wherever you go...you are absolutely loved;
Whatever you do...you are absolutely loved;
Whoever you are; you are absolutely loved;
Whether you like it or not,
Whether you believe it or not;
You are absolutely loved!

Friends, purpose begins to unravel itself as we become "paralysed" by His love for us. Not by verses or songs about it, but by the revelation of a jealous God ("His name is Jealous, and He is a jealous God"...He LOVES you! He loves you, loves you, LOVES YOU! And you cannot escape this Love).

This wasn't "scripture" to David or Paul, it was a personal revelation of truth, and I believe that all that they were and did in Christ was compelled by this very truth.

This "process of paralysis" does not refer to "another christian thing we need to do". In fact, it's the very opposite. It refers to the undoing of this very mindset, and it does not come without its critics in the religious world, unfortunately.
Look at Jesus, who was aggressively accused of "neglecting scripture", all-the-while declaring to be the very source of life (He knew that He and the Father were one in spirit).
Or Martha, who was jealously accused of being lazy, while in fact mesmerised by the 'abnormal' love of Christ.

Peter, who, although a pillar in the early church, struggled in his earlier days, since his gaze was on "noble self-sacrifice" instead of RECEIVING a sacrifice made. This lack of revelation in Peter's early days was made evident in his response to Jesus wanting to wash his feet.

To try and stop doing things in our own strength, however, is a contradiction in terms...think about it.
We don't simply just sit still on a couch to be rendered physically paralysed (although you could fool many that way). No! The source of your mobility needs to be cut off (and Christ did this by fulfilling the law).

Declaring that "we don't need to", isn't an indication that we have "caught grace", it's understanding WHY we don't need to, that empowers us - it's that He already has, because He LOVES US! His love WILL compel; it DOES compel.

We become "paralysed" by His love when we discover that His love is the beginning and the end, and all the chewy bits in the middle. It immobilizes us from our own efforts, fills us with rest, and compels us to trust - in His unfailing love.

The effervescent joy and trust that begins to bubble up from this supernatural revelation is ABUNDANT LIFE, which distinguishes the Spirit-lead person (compelled by love), from the religious busy bodies scratching the ground for their crumbs of blessings, oblivious to the fattened calf freely available to them.

You are personally loved by God...regardless!
Have a lovely day just knowing that :-)

Faith and Grace - "BELIEVING that you HAVE"

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24) GRACE is God's free provision of abundant life - FREE; FOR US; and WITHOUT OUR HELP! Grace ALONE will not ensure us the pleasure-filled abundant life on a daily basis that salvation has to offer to it's maximum (although every person tastes of His grace daily without even realising it), it is grace receive through faith that takes us consciously deeper into His fullness...your fullness. 

However, it's important to understand what faith is, otherwise abundant life remains a shallow-hidden treasure within easy grasp - not hidden FROM us, nor even hidden FOR us, but rather, and ironically, hidden BY us ourselves. Faith is NOT something we do to move God. It's not something we do to get God to do or release something otherwise held back by Him. Faith is not something we learn to do in order to get God to perform for us.

 If we have this concept that faith is something we do to make God move, that's what the bible calls "dead works", and this "work of faith" becomes the obstacle to physically manifesting what God has already provided for us in Christ. So what is faith, then? FAITH is our PERSONAL, INDIVIDUAL response, birthed out of a personal revelation of what God has ALREADY provided - to personally TRUST in a finished work.

 If our faith is not a personal, revelatory response to what God has ALREADY DONE by grace, then it's not faith. If our perception of faith is something we are trying to do to make God respond to us, then it's not faith. Faith doesn't move God, because God has already moved unto completion in Christ, who is now seated beside him.

 An adequate measure of faith has already been FREELY GIVEN to each of us as a GIFT (without effort or prayer etc at all). From then onwards in life faith becomes stirred and grown by a consistent, personal revelation to what God has ALREADY done - for, in and through us even before we were created and needed it.

If we are getting bored with the gospel, then it's no longer the gospel we're hearing. 

It's when our free, mustard-seed measure of faith begins to realize this good news, that even greater faith begins to grow.

Testimonies of a fruitful and obedient lifestyle are very encouraging and motivating, for sure. But if that testimony leaves people wanting to strive and change their behaviour in order to get breakthrough, then we aren't giving them the gospel.

Am I saying that it's wrong to change behaviour when we realize its potential harm? Hahaha, not at all! That would be...stupid.

My emphasis here, is living this life while tasting and imparting the maximum benifits of the Kingdom. Applying 'Kingdom principles' will not give us the satisfaction that we have inherited in Christ, it'sknowing the King personally when those flood gates will begin to break open - that's my heart.

To build someones faith by trying to motivated them with it's [faith's] rewards alone, may motivate some...for a while, but abundant life is not fully accessible to the ambitious, but rather by grace to those who will simply trust that ultimately the good they desire, already is in Christ.