CHRIST: Front And Center, ALWAYS!

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Whenever the perfect sacrifice of Christ is eclipsed by some grandiose testimony, whenever the complete and perfect redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ is supplemented or discounted by some super human will and ingenuity, whenever the cross of Christ is sidestepped or ignored, however well meaning the minister, rest assured, they are not inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul, with all the revelations and supernatural encounters he had, not once did he elevate his experiences above or at the expense of t

he cross of Christ, not once. He knew everything he ever got to experience came about as a result of Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on that rugged cross. No wonder he kept the cross of Christ front and center in his life and epistles. He knew it was all by God’s grace.

¹⁴ But I will never brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ... – Galatians 6:14 CEV  

Anytime you hear lofty sounding, often "christianese"-laced, teachings on curses, prosperity, success or whatever the trending fad of the day is, with Christ and His Cross being but a footnote, be very very aware! Do not submit to any teaching that purports to give you some extra spiritual insight into stuff that isn't Christ centered, to do so is to open yourself up to deception and heartache. Everything you need is in Christ and Christ is in you by His Spirit, remember you are His temple and He has promised to be with you always, even when you don’t feel like it. Do not fall for the enemy’s lies that you are inadequate, that you are not complete in Christ.

The spirit of religion will always want to make you feel like you lack something, like your are not complete without a certain “anointing” and then the same spirit of religion will cause you to look to the “man of God” as the one with the answer to your need, after all he’s anointed, right? Right he may be anointed but…wrong, you are to look to Christ in you, the hope of glory, not to the man of God of the hour! If you've succumbed to such a notion, you've just joined the ranks of idol worshipers – you've just made the minister your very own special idol – anyone or anything that takes the place of God in your life becomes your idol, it’s that simple, really.

Now, don’t get me wrong, God anoints people for ministry but He doesn't want you to look to man for anything, look to Him alone. Yes God will use others to minister to you and built you up in your faith, He has ordained different ministries for that but they are not to be your spiritual crutch or ATM. Any minister who encourages such unhealthy co-dependency is either insecure or immature or both and has no business ministering, seriously. Ministers worth their weight in gold should be constantly teaching and reminding the saints of who they are and what they have IN CHRIST. They should constantly be pointing saints to the cross of Christ and His finished work reminding them that that is the reason they too have full access into God’s presence as His beloved children.

Yes, God uses others to call out what’s already on the inside of us, and that’s mostly for confirmational purposes. You have the Spirit of God in you with all His gifts already, what the laying on of hands and prophecy does, is to call forth and activate the specific gifts and graces that are already in you that are required for your specific situation and after that it is your responsibility to stir them up as you fulfill your destiny in Christ.      

One very basic thing to remember is this: When you got born again, you became a new creation in Christ. That means you became a brand new

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species, spiritually speaking. Born of the Spirit of God Himself, your Spirit is made alive again towards Him and joined as one to His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17). God is no longer just your God, He is now your Father – you share His very own Spiritual DNA as it were, you have become one with Deity. You now have in you everything you will ever need for life and godliness in this world (2 Peter 1:3). Now you begin an exciting journey of discovering what you already have in and because of Christ.  Christ now becomes the starting point, the finish point and every point in between – He has truly become your very life. We will then be able to echo the Apostle Paul: “for me to live is Christ…” (Philippians 1:21).

He who has an ear to hear…