HIS PRESENCE NEVER LEAVES YOU!

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¹⁶ You should know that you yourselves are God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. – 1 Corinthians 3:16 ERV

As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God. God’s Spirit is in you, yes you! Believe it and live like it; the Fruit of the Spirit will develop and flourish in your life as you maintain fellowship with the Holy Spirit in you and live from the inside out following His leading.

God’s presence is with you and in you, God’s presence is wherever you are child of God. Don’t fall into the enemy’s trap of wasting time calling, praying, cringing, fasting and groveling for God’s presence to come. There is a better way – believe His Word over and above all else. Hasn’t He promised to be with you always? Hasn’t He already promised to never leave you nor forsake you? His Word is trustworthy, our feelings, emotions and senses fluctuate all over the place but God’s Word is forever settled in Heaven.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5c NKJV

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age – Matthew 28:20b ESV

You see beloved, as a child of God you have become His dwelling place, so for you to be asking God for His presence is actually an expression of unbelief on your part. You have elevated your feelings, your emotions, your human reasoning above God’s very Word. Please stop that right this minute! He is with you and in you, you are one with Him in spirit. Spend time with Him in prayer and in the Word; just hangout with Him already! Be conscious of His presence at all times, especially when you don’t “feel” or “sense” it.

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. – Psalms 16:11 NIV

You can have joy in your life for the Word of God declares that in the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy, not to mention guidance, direction and yes, unending, eternal pleasures. The pleasures of sin are but for a short while and pale terribly when compared to the eternal pleasures the Father has for you to enjoy.

And as if that’s not enough, the Lord Himself rejoices over us and does so with singing. Picture that for a minute, your Heavenly Father, the Almighty Himself, the Creator of all things, enjoys you so much to the point of singing over you! Oh, how He loves us. If we only got a glimpse of the revelation of His love for us, we’d never again give in to the enemy’s accusations or allow ourselves to wallow in self pity. God is your Daddy and He loves you eternally and unconditionally.

¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

It gets even better, as your Father sings and rejoices over you, you are being energized, strengthened and refreshed for His joy is our strength. This has all been made possible by Jesus' perfect sacrifice of Himself for us on the cross; by His death and resurrection, He has reconciled us to the Father. The Father loves us so much that He sent His own begotten Son to reconcile us to Himself and make us His very own habitation.

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Now that we are reconciled to Him by faith in Christ, the Father has every reason to be eternally joyful over us and that to us means we have an endless supply of strength available to us forever. We have every reason to rejoice in Him, our circumstances notwithstanding. We know that He works everything out according to His will and purpose; He’s now at work in us, through us and for us. So we can keep on rejoicing in Him even in the face of adversity, knowing this: God by His Spirit is in us and with us at all times and His purposes are being accomplished in us for His glory.

His presence is in you and with you today and always – believe it!

RELAX…THE LAW OF MOSES ISN’T FOR YOU TO KEEP!

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Many times we promise people eternal life, freedom, rest and refreshing when they believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord. But the moment they do, we quickly saddle them down with a list of “do’s and don’ts” right out of the OT Law. Then they fail - as they should - and are plagued with guilt, shame, fear and condemnation. They struggle thinking God is sorely displeased with them, is counting their sins against them and can't wait to pounce on them. They end up feeling even more bound and frustrated than they were before they believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Their view of God becomes skewed, their confidence in approaching Him is shaken and they wither away, spiritually speaking...What has gone wrong? May I humbly submit to you that we have burdened them with the Law of Moses when we should have been teaching them to live from their new natures, free from sin consciousness.

Whatever happened to the rest, light burden and easy yoke Jesus promises in Matthew 11:28-30? Have we forgotten that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to anyone who believes? Have we forgotten that when one is born of God, they have the Spirit of God in them? Have we forgotten that salvation is not behavior modification but a new nature? If anyone is in Christ they are a new species of being...

You see, the Law of Moses was absolutely holy and perfect, no doubt… but it couldn't make anybody righteous. You see, God never intended for the OT Law to perfect anybody, but rather to show us how woefully inadequate we were and our desperate need for a savior. No one could keep it perfectly except Jesus who fulfilled it and nailed it to the cross. So it’s over….

Besides, the OT Law was given to the Jews only, no other nation or people group was given this Law, let alone required to observe it. Why was that? I believe all this was part of God's master plan in orchestrating the salvation of the entire human race using the Jewish nation to that end. Didn't He promise Abraham that through his Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed?

God's wisdom is unfathomable, really! Think about it, when Satan was championing the crucifixion of Christ, little did he know that was his own undoing....as the Good Book says, "had he(Satan) known, he wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory". And just when he thought he had the upper hand…BAM…He was thoroughly vanquished and humiliated by Christ!

I digress...let me get back to this "Law" thing pronto...

After the church, made up of predominantly Jewish believers, was dispersed from Jerusalem by way of persecution, the Gospel spread to the nearby regions and eventually to the non-Jews aka gentiles who heard and believed the Gospel. Following a Divine directive, Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius and his household who were Romans and they believed and were filled with the Holy Spirit. As time went by many gentiles continued to believe in Jesus and the Kingdom of God continued to expand.

Now, some Jewish believers were determined to get gentile believers to observe the OT Law of Moses, from circumcision to the whole nine yards, and after much disagreement or as the NKJV puts it... "Therefore...Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them" - Acts 15:2… they finally decided to send the matter to the apostles and elders of the church in Jerusalem. To call their response eye opening is an understatement. Here is part of what the apostles, elders and brethren had to say (the full account can be found here: Acts 15: 1-29):

²⁸ For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:²⁹ that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. – Acts 15:28-29 NKJV) 

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Notice, it was the Holy Spirit who guided and endorsed the decision that was made by that council. So if you were still wondering if you should keep the OT Law, that fact alone should settle it for you. You have the Spirit of Jesus in you to guide you into all truth, His New Commandment, according to John 13:34 has been written on your heart. In Christ we have been set free from the OT Law!

So enjoy the freedom that is yours in Christ today!

REST IN THE LORD OR BE RESTLESS IN THE WORLD!

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Your Heavenly Father who loves you with an everlasting love has promised to give you rest. He is calling you back to your position of rest in Him. If you are going through challenging times, trust Him to see you through victoriously! Trust Him with your future, He is there already!

We have this invitation from Jesus Christ our Lord, by faith let’s take Him up on it:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28 ESV

Moses had many challenges leading the Israelites but God promised him rest and that enabled him to do what he was assigned to do.

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” – Exodus 33:14 ESV

Today we are not waiting for His presence to come and give us rest, we have His presence in us, we are united with Him, we are one spirit with the Lord (1Cor 6:17), He is in us and we are in Him and we rest in Him, our rock and our refuge.

Speaking of rest, isn’t it interesting that Adam and Eve started their lives together by resting the very first day after being created? It was the seventh day and they hadn’t even begun their assigned job of tending the garden yet. They started by resting with God first!

That’s how God wants you to approach life, from a position of rest. You are in the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, rest in Him and receive divine strength, wisdom and strategies to face and overcome all challenges that the world, the enemy and the flesh might be throwing at you.

Rest in the Lord and be empowered to effectively and efficiently do what He has called you to do. Rest in Him by actively believing, meditating and reminding yourself of His promises to you. Let your confidence be in your Father, the Creator of all things.

Entertaining fear and unbelief will result in us forfeiting the rest that is ours in Christ; may the Holy Spirit continually remind us of the truth that we are eternally and perfectly loved by the Father and His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Let us choose to believe His Word and by doing so deny fear a foothold in our minds.

May this eternal truth be settled in our hearts, God loves us, He loved us even when we were steeped in sin, He loves every single person perfectly and eternally, and that is why He wants everyone to come to the saving knowledge of the truth, that is to know and believe in Jesus and what He has done for them and to confess Him as Lord.

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We can confidently come before the Father only because of what Christ has done, He paid the price for all of our sin – past, present and future. He died and rose again on the third day so that through faith in Him we are counted as righteous before God and He does not keep a record of our sins; knowing and believing that will drive away any fear that tries to rob you of the confidence that is yours as a child of God. Remember, it is not about you, it is about Jesus and through His perfect sacrifice you have been made righteous. In Him you are a saint, not a sinner!

Return to your position of rest in Christ today, instead of trusting in your own good deeds, put your trust in Him and His promises to you! Rest your way from victory to victory in Jesus today!

CONTINUE IN HIS WORD…

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³¹ Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” – John 8:31-32 NRSV

Many times we read or quote these verses in passing as we share some specific truth from the Scriptures, be it on salvation, healing, restoration, deliverance, provision and what-have-you. The implication is, whatever Scriptural truth we are sharing, if received and believed will set the recipient free and while this is true, there is yet another layer of revelation if you will,  that can be gleaned from these oft quoted verses.

You see beloved, here Jesus was talking to Jews who were versed in all the Jewish Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi as well as in other non-canonical Jewish writings. They were no strangers to the Law and Prophets.

Notice, Jesus didn't say to them “If you continue in the Scriptures…” He said “if you continue in My word”.  

In John 6:63 Jesus reveals to us that His words are both spirit and life. He is now in us by His Spirit, therefore we have His life within us, we'll do well to acquaint ourselves with His Spirit within us. We are His temple, His dwelling place, His habitation.

Let us do ourselves a huge favor and pay attention to what Jesus is saying to us for our very lives depend on His specific word to us. To enjoy the freedom that is ours in Christ we must continue, abide and remain in His word and how can we do that unless we first hear what He is saying to us.

When He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus said:

⁴ Jesus answered, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.’”– Matthew 4:4 GW

Beloved, the quality of our lives depends on what we do with EVERY WORD that God speaks to us. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). We hear what Christ is saying before faith can spring up in our hearts, and that ability to hear Christ doesn't come through just some random Scripture – no it comes through a specific WORD from CHRIST.  Faith for what He says to you comes with HIS WORD, never apart from it. And we can hear His voice for we are His sheep (John 10:27), we are also reminded to let the word of Christ with all its wisdom and richness live in us (Colossians 316)

Walking in freedom starts with knowledge of the truth and knowledge of the truth comes from abiding in the Word of Jesus. The level of freedom we walk in is directly proportional to the truth we know and live by, the more truth we know and continue in, the more liberty we enjoy. 

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The Lord has specific plans and purposes for our lives, now for us to know them and to walk in them we will have to hear His Word, obey it and continue in it. Whatever He tells us will not contradict His written Word. The written Word is the standard against which every revelation, prophecy or Word from the Lord is to be measured before being accepted or rejected.

The Lord didn't stop talking after the Bible was written, so expect to hear Him speak to you; hold on to His specific Word to you and experience the liberating truth that is yours in Christ today!

WHERE IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

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²⁰ Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display,

²¹ Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]. -  Luke 17:20 – 21 AMP

The Kingdom of God aka the Kingdom of Heaven is not limited to the afterlife in Heaven as some think, the Kingdom of God is in you and around you right now. As a disciple of Jesus, the King of Kings you are His subject, so everywhere you go the Kingdom goes; wherever you are, the Kingdom of God is there. You are an ambassador of this Kingdom, not only that but you have also been fully commissioned to represent the King of Kings wherever you find yourself today, be it at your work, school or business it makes no difference, you are Christ’s representative - act like it!  

In one of His parables, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed that grows into a large tree (Mark 4:31). The Kingdom of God is ever increasing, it is ever expanding and not only that, it is also everlasting! I believe the rock that Daniel saw that crushed the statue and grew into a huge mountain filling up the whole earth (Daniel 2) is a picture of this endless Kingdom that we are in today. 

May our prayer and desire over our areas of influence always be “your Kingdom come, your will be done here (where you are right now) on earth as it is in heaven”  and watch opportunities for His will to be done unfold right before you. He desires to save those around you, He desires to heal them, He desires to bless them and set them free…and He desires to do that through you, His ambassador!

As a child of God, do not think for a moment that you don’t or can’t be used by God to reach others because of what you've done or not done, it is the blood of Jesus that qualifies you, the sacrifice of Jesus has put away ALL your sins forever and because of that His righteousness has been imputed to your account. In His sight you are righteous even if you don’t feel like it, believe His Word, not your feelings.

So yes, you can boldly say with the Apostle Paul “we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of ourselves”  - 2 Corinthians 4:7…for it is indeed God who works in us to will and to do for His good pleasure.

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When we believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord, we are born again by the Holy Spirit into the family of God. We become part of God’s own Royal Priesthood, we’re made kings and priests unto Him. His Spirit comes and lives in us, we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit and He is God, just think about it, God lives in you…wow! Yes, it’s the same Holy Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the very same Spirit that empowered the early church to accomplish great feats for the King of Kings lives in you!

Let us submit to and cooperate with the Holy Spirit who is within us as we start this brand new year and see the Kingdom of God impact lives around us!