Spiritcode

Grace is a flow

Grace is a flow that we cannot generate because the source is God. We can access grace by faith, which we can generate, and cultivate.

The Jabez prayer – from a man who thought of himself as ‘bad news’. His name meant ‘causes pain’ and he knew that causing pain was bad news. So he prayed that he might cause blessing instead of being bad news to everyone including himself.
1Chronicles 4:10 Lord bless me…enlarge me… I want your hand on my life…Save me from evil…Let me not cause pain – let me bless.
We can be occupied with bad news or good news. They both exist together. Bad news can shrink your soul through anxiety or expand your heart through faith.

Numbers 6:22 The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his countenance shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father in secret and your Father who sees the hidden things will reward you openly. From the hidden place to the open space.
Psalm 31:7 You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a broad place. This is the enlarged space

Isa 49:1 Isaiah 49:2 … in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. (sure place)
We are seated with him. We have a place at the table

Psalm 18:2…. The Lord is my fortress where I can enter and be safe; no one can follow me in and slay me. He is a rugged mountain where I hide; he is my Savior, a rock where none can reach me, and a tower of safety. (base of operations)

We can only expend so much energy and we can only expend it from either one source or another, just as a fountain will flow from one source or another.
James 3:11 Does a fountain send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?
We are now prepared by grace and for grace with the freedom and empowerment to bless and save.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grace - The activity of God's Spirit

Grace is the divine energy of God’s creative and saving acts. Creation was God’s first activity of grace. It was upon the dark deep emptiness of the abyss that the activity of The Holy Spirit moved and a Universe was created. The Father desired a universe for his children and Jesus spoke light into this desire while Holy Spirit energized it into existence. God then began his ongoing creative and saving mission for humanity. The mission was grace.

God gave grace to Noah (Genesis 6:8) as the great saving act of God for humanity to escape the destruction of the great flood. God gave grace to Moses (Exodus 33:13 – his presence) for the salvation of his People Israel. His grace was in the crossing of the Red Sea and his creative grace was his provision for them in the wilderness and the saving acts of forgiveness of sins through the sacrifices, and the inspired words of the prophets, among many many other acts of grace..

When Jesus was born from above a new dimension of grace began to flow from The Father, through Jesus Christ, and the activity of The Holy Spirit. When Jesus died and rose again, his grace was activated within us by The Holy Spirit, to accessed by faith in what Jesus had done for us, and now to operate through us, in partnership with God. John 1:17… grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

2Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

We are cautioned by Paul not to ignore or dismiss this gift of life that lives out the partnership of the life of Jesus and Holy Spirit within us.
Paul said I do not neutralize the grace of God; for if living in harmony with God comes through our own performance, then Christ died without a cause (Galatians 2:20).
2Corinthians 5:17 …behold, all things have become new. … All things are of God
All things are to be seen in the light of how God’s saving grace reorders them. How we see God’s activity of creative and saving grace is how we will manage life!

Why did God create and save through Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit?
When we understand the mission of the love of the Father and the grace of his Son Jesus Christ, and the communion of The Holy Spirit in making us one with them, we can dwell in another kind of knowing and growing (Not as robots).
The Holy Spirit lifts us up out of ourselves as it were, and into God, allowing us to know and love and enjoy God in a personal way, because we are known and loved by him in a personal way.
Everything that happens to us becomes the instrument of opportunity to act in partnership with God’s acts of creating and saving grace. Where you are the saving grace of God can happen - so be present and aware and accept the interaction of the moment. The force field is there and we activate and release it wherever we are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Qualified to stand

Romans 5:1-2 ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’

I awoke last Monday with this extraordinary truth from Romans 5 going around and around in my mind—‘We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.’ The emphasis was ‘in which we stand.’ It was a word in season—and, being who I am, I felt like preaching it! Well, what do you know?

Now, when we see a ‘therefore’ in scripture we must ask, “what is the ‘therefore’ there for?” Here, Paul has just concluding a long argument about Abraham being put in right standing with God, not by Law, but because he believed what God told him. His concluding word before this ‘therefore’, is about Jesus, ‘…who was delivered up for our offences and was raised for our justification’ (Rom. 4:25. Our justification took place when the Father showed his acceptance of Jesus’ death by raising him up). So Paul writes, ‘THEREFORE, having been justified.’ What Paul is leading to is our qualifications in Jesus. In him, you qualify for Peace: you qualify to be established and you qualify to hold your head high—even to boast! I want to unpack these.

My question is: Are you standing in all the benefit for which he has already qualified you? Advancing in this temporal world’s terms is usually about qualifications. Do you have the HSC? Have you a University degree or Diploma? Do you have a Master’s or a PhD? Where did you do your training? How much experience have you had? What qualifies you for this job? All of these qualifications require effort on your part. They are qualifications based on your works. But what about the satisfaction of a qualification that comes, not by your work but by that of someone else? It would be counted ridiculous if someone applied for a job requiring an MBA and the applicant said, “Look, I don’t have one, but my older brother said I could use his.” That’s how it is for us! Just as earthly, earned qualifications open doors, so do these ‘graced’ qualifications.

An earned qualification carries certain rights and benefits—not to mention authority to carry out its requirements within a discipline or task. The employer puts at the disposal of the qualified person, all that is necessary to perform the brief, and certain privileges also apply. In our case, we have been qualified by grace, and some, not understanding that, continue to act as though unworthy and so try to earn what they’ve been given! This passage could read like this, “having been already honoured with your qualification of right standing with God, you are free to go ahead by faith and enjoy his peace of integration (as distinct from disintegration) and to access your entitlements to stand erect and be established in all that accrues as a result of your new position, including head-held-high confidence in it!” (This is the meaning of the Greek words used by Paul). The verb ‘justified’ is Aorist, Passive, meaning it happened at a moment in time—and you weren’t active in its occurrence, it happened to you. You were passive! Because it happened at the Resurrection 2000 years ago! I was put into right standing with God 2000 years ago with (and in) the resurrection of Jesus! I was there! You were there! In him! I’m suggesting that (without forcing scripture), the text of Romans 5:1 be read this way with the comma after ‘justified’ thus— “…having been justified,…. by faith (let us) have peace with God…” Note this: the weight of manuscript evidence actually says, ‘let us have peace with God.’ (Young’s Literal Translation allows this).

YOU’VE BEEN QUALIFIED FOR PEACE: Listen again ‘… by faith we have peace with God…” Peace here is eirene, the Greek NT equivalent of Hebrew shalom—satisfaction, completion, fullness. I’ve shared before that biblically, ‘peace’ means fullness or satisfaction in the sense of completing something (shalom=completeness, wholeness, as in the satisfaction of a debt—bringing it to peace). The completion, by effort, of a course of study or training, brings satisfaction and ‘peace’ and people say, “well done… having completed your degree, you now qualify for this job, or this pay level, or this responsibility.” But in our case, we’ve been made qualified by Another! Peace with God has been secured. It is now ours to enjoy….by faith! Let me ask this: are you there today…now? Or is there a foment of anxiety and stress and thoughts of ‘what if this’ or ‘what if that’? or ‘why not that?’ He is saying today— “By faith we have peace”: “by faith we have peace”: “by faith we have peace”. We’ve been qualified for it. He has already secured it for us and we must enter it—or throw back at him all that he did on the cross and in the resurrection (See John 14:1 and 27 etc).

YOU’VE BEEN QUALIFIED TO STAND—ERECT: (Rom. 5:2) ‘Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.’ Stand here is HISTEMI, to take a stand, to be established! Listen—we once were fallen, but now we stand! Now we are, by faith, being established…in Grace! (Remember Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones that were, at the word of the Lord, given flesh and sinews and breath—and stood as a great army!?) We are very different people with vastly different personalities, natures, thought processes, cultures (macro and micro) as well as widely differing gifts and callings. However, the thing we share in common as believers, is that we have been qualified to STAND, by faith in our full personhood in him. That’s why I can be me and you can be you—in Christ. We need not ever say, ‘why can’t I be like her?’—unless in a matter of sanctification or likeness to Jesus. He did not make you to be like her or him: he made you to be the sanctified, fully-operative ‘you’! Unique…and that’s the journey of this life, the journey he has you taking, into the fullness of you in Him. (His desire is ‘to present you, faultless’! Jude 1:24). My task today is to encourage you in that journey into ‘you-hood’ in Christ! The YOU, you may have been waiting to meet. The ever-emerging You, being transformed day-to-day by the activity of Christ in you (the hope of glory). Accessing by faith the grace in which you have been qualified to stand!

YOU’VE BEEN QUALIFIED TO HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH & EXULT: Yes, that’s right! “…we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand AND confidently exult in hope of the glory of God.’ Unashamedly rejoice. This is also by faith—Paul is just continuing the sentence! This is another ‘by faith’ blessing for which we’ve been qualified! Some translations have ‘boast’; some have ‘exult.’ The Greek verb (kauchaomai) means to have our ‘head held high’ and even ‘to boast’, to live with God-given confidence! Remember how Paul said, ‘most gladly will I boast in my infirmities.’ That’s the same word.

Not only have we been qualified to stand, but to do so with head held high, unabashed confidence (not diffidence or apology), glorifying Jesus—unashamedly rejoicing in him. Jesus, 2000 years ago qualified you to have PEACE; to BE ESTABLSHED; TO HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH, UNABASHED! BY FAITH!

Ian Heard, 13/01/19 www.until-we-see.com

Jabez - A Father's blessing

1Chronicles 4:9 Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him all that he requested.

There is no record of the unnamed father of Jabez in Scripture and Jabez was named by his mother. His name means ‘causes pain’. He was more honourable than his brothers. He called upon God, the ‘Father to the fatherless’ (Psalm 68:5) and asked for a blessing. God granted him all that he asked for in his prayer. The answer to his prayer includes the last final sign of complete transformation, that he would not cause pain.

He was an honourable man who asked for blessing, received blessing, and became a blessing and did not cause pain or harm to others. He is a sign to all of us who look to God as our Father and seek his blessing. Many of these blessings are seen in The Lord’s Prayer.

Peter told God he was mistaken in wanting him to preach the Father’s love to non-Jewish people. He had a wrong idea about God being everyone’s Father even after Jesus taught them to pray ‘Our Father’.

There are no perfect fathers because there are no perfect people.

In this Scripture good fathering means;

To bless – life is grace and favour – encouragement and mercy over discouragement and punishment.

To enlarge – to be given freedom to become a bigger and better person, allowing for mistakes, filled with God (Ephesians 3:19)

Hand upon our life – to be nurtured, directed, corrected, respected.

To keep us from evil – to be taught wisdom, shielded from what is harmful and deceptive.

To not cause pain – to be healed from shame, loss, failure.

A father may have been unable for one reason or another to provide a child with much of the above, as a secure foundation and a guiding hand, and being given the resources and encouragement necessary to become a prosperous person who was valued and who could prosper others also.

So how would he feel if he truly wanted all of that for his child but fell short? But what if he were given a second chance? He would most likely say ‘Let me make that up to you!’ So then how would a child feel if they had not felt valued by an earthly father, and were now promised that affirmation by a loving Father God?

Their faith can tell them that as his children they can ask him in his Son’s name, to receive the fathering from him that He gave to Jesus.

All things new

Hebrews 8:13 When He says, “A new (kainos, not neos) covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and ageing is ready to vanish away.

The New Covenant should really be translated as a Covenant of newness. It is not just the ‘next’ Covenant after the one before it, it is everlasting and always new and never ageing.
2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, anyone in Christ is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new(ness).

We do not become combative with the ‘passing away’ things that try to crowd out our lives, but we allow them to become transformed and touched by the Spirit of life within us. Those things hit us, then stop, then get turned around by a Spiritual power within us (wood hay and stubble get burned up and gold appears). That is what changes our world. We live from the wellspring of a ‘newness’ life that flows from within us. That is what overcomes in us.

To tap into that life that does the overcoming we have to call upon grace. That is the goal of our faith. The grace is for us first and then it is bestowed upon others. Grace shines the light of awareness that allows a person to know what to choose, and it also warms the disposition of the heart to move towards God in faithful response. The outcome or result is shaped by God.

Romans 12:11 Live like you care about life, serving God by letting your spirit glow; joyfully expect God’s goodness, but be patient through the hard times, remaining faithful in prayer; give to your brothers and sisters as you are able, and make them feel welcome.
Bless those who make life difficult for you; and do not give them a hard time in return. laugh with those who laugh, and weep with those who weep. See yourself in other peoples’ shoes when you think of their situations. Don’t think your own opinion is always right.
Think about how you can make the moment better when in the presence of others. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with everyone. Don’t get angry and feel you have to pay back on people; for God says “Leave all that to me, I know how to level things out.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas contradiction

Luke 2:33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many… a figure misunderstood and contradicted. But the contradiction will force truth, as God reveals to people who they really are (the thoughts [dialogismos – self-talk] of many will be revealed). The pain of a sword will piece your heart.

The Contradiction

We will fail and/or recover according to how we trust Jesus as God within us to reorder our minds to think in line with who he has created us to be. The self-talk is based on fear and the God-talk is based on faith. There’s only ONE of you and you are God’s design. We ourselves are a contradiction – the good that we want to do we don’t do, and the things we don’t want to do is what we do.

We are gifted with a life designed by God that is meant to work in harmony with His life within us. This gift of his ‘God with us life’ can make our lives a gift to one another, through faith and love. ‘Failure’ can occur when people try to design another life for themselves, based upon the self-talk that helps them control whatever threatens their idea of what this world should give us. But the world remains indifferent to our needs, tempting us to trust in the self-talk and not to hear the God-talk that tells us the truth about our real self.

This ‘failure’ brings us under too much pressure.

2 Cor 2:8-9 8. We want you to know what kind of pressure we came under when we were in Asia…we didn’t think we would ever survive. But this death sentence that was over us was only to teach us that we were not expected to trust in our own strength but to trust in God, who is able to raise the dead back to life.

The ’recovery’ from this contradiction is God’s grace and our faith and hearing the God-talk. We REST in that faith with hopeful expectation of God with us. Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them:.. in proportion to our faith; Giving, serving, encouraging motivating, showing justice and mercy, organizing.

How do these gifts ‘fail’ and recover? - Our failure is a personal fear in the area of our gifting (Each gift has its own fearful self-talk).

Note the story of Gideon. Self-talk sabotages the Gift. Judges 6:12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about. And he went on to say, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

Moses ran away from his gift of leadership and authority. (Exodus 4:1)

Givers can fail by being anxious about God’s provision. Self-talk says how can I give if I don’t have. God is the source – the world is the means not the source.

Servers (helpers) can get overwhelmed by helplessness - self talk says I should be able to do this better, just not good enough. ‘help of the helpless, abide with me’

Organizers can fail when they get overwhelmed by the disorder around them. The result is irrational fears – self-talk says it’s all going to go wrong and that disorganizes my mind. A discouraged encourager’s self-talk says – why do they hold back. They dread poor results – but it should be about being an influence, not being influenced – the results will come. Jeremiah 15:18

World upside down

Luke 1:29 But when she saw the Angel Gabriel, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. 38 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth
42 Then Elizabeth spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb for behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; From henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, putting them in mind of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months…

One person of Faith can turn the world upside down (change the current order – or restore God’s order Acts 17:6) (It is always God appointed - time, place, opportunity and voice – 1Timothy 2:1)
Changing the current order is often referred to as Activism (social, political, religious/spiritual). This is mostly self appointed (but God permitted) where a person or group defines themselves as THE ones who can bring about change, without regard to the activity of thousands of non-activists.
It can be delusional and disruptive but can also be temporarily effective. It can involve Totalitarianism, Despotism (Pharaoh, Herod) and Passivism (Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.).

A.W. TOZER – The root of the Righteous)
A real Christian is an odd number, anyway.
He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen;
talks familiarly every day to that someone he cannot see;
He expects to go to heaven on the virtue of another; empties himself in order to be full;
admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down in order to get up;
is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest; happiest when he feels the worst.
He dies so that he can live; forsakes in order to have; gives away so he can keep;
sees the invisible; hears the inaudible; and knows that which passes knowledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From John to Jesus the New Order

The Christmas story of the miracle birth of Jesus really starts with the story of the miracle birth of John the Baptist. John’s father, Zacharias, was a priest of the line of Aaron, so John was of the priestly line being the firstborn son of a priest (and prophet). The miracle birth of Jesus was ordained to follow the miracle birth of John after three months, and Mary travelled the 200K to be with Elizabeth in Hebron until the birth of John.

THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS
Luke 1:66 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. So the child (John) grew and became strong in the Spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
(when he met Jesus (John1:29) and baptized him in the Jordan river).

THE PRIESTLY MINISTRY IN ISRAEL
The ministry of the priest in Israel was an absolutely essential ministry as it allowed him to stand between God and the people of God to offer sacrifice for their sins, and to symbolically and also ceremoniously cleanse the people from their impurities. The ministry of a prophet was to stand between God and the people of God and proclaim God’s living and active word to them. The highest and most important duty of the high priest was to pronounce the cleansing of the entire Nation of Israel once every year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In Jesus Christ there was to arrive a new order of priesthood and a new order of the prophetic ministry. However, at the time of the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan, the high priestly ministry (shared between Caiaphas and Annas) had been corrupted, and they despised both John and Jesus and were in time part of the conspiracy to have them put to death. So how was the new order of priest and prophet to pass from the old order to the new Eternal order?

Who was the man, in the priestly line of Aaron that was already, as prophesied that he would, preaching the repentance and the remission of sins, and cleansing the people from their sins in the Jordan? Who was prophetically proclaiming that the promised Messiah had indeed come to be amongst them, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the entire world?
John was the most significant link between the Old and the new Covenants in this respect. The torch could not be passed on by Caiaphas or Annas who shared the high priesthood, the ones who would plan the death of Jesus. So John was the only priest of the line of Aaron worthy to pass a high priestly order on to Jesus, as well as the prophetic mantle, in the waters of Jordan when he baptized Jesus.

THE NEW ETERNAL PRIESTLY MINISTRY OF JESUS
Hebrews 7:15 Jesus who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning a line of bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is testified of him,: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (the Eternal priesthood)
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
25 And because he continues forever he has an unchangeable priesthood, consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost (fully achieves every goal and purpose) those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

 

 

 

The empty cup

1Corinthians 10:16 This cup of blessing which we bless…the communion of the blood of Christ
The good thing about an empty cup is that it can be filled. We can have three cups and pour water over all of them. One is filled and the others are not. Why? One is turned upside down and one is filled up with so much matter that it cannot receive water. It is about being willing to receive, being emptied of what doesn’t matter, and always willing, always receiving. The supply does not stop, just our receiving, or being filled up with other matters.

Ephesians 5:18 … be (being) filled with the Spirit…
Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Luke 11:13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
There are many doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit (The baptism, anointing, intercession). We do not need more doctrines of the Holy Spirit, we just need more of the Holy Spirit.

God wants us to receive the Spiritual blessings and they have already been given.
Ephesians 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

Compare the blessings to Jacob and Esau. They represent to two sides of us, our Jacob self and our Esau self. They each wanted different types of blessings. Jacob felt empty until he reached out hungrily for the heavenly blessing. Esau reached out hungrily also, but for a worldly blessing. Jacob was filled and ended up walking with a limp, to remind him of his struggle to go through anything and to wrestle with everything, even God, to receive the blessing. (Isaac/Ishmael, David/Saul, Jesus/Adam.
People cannot relieve the stress of the emptiness of their lives by focusing on emptiness and seeking to fill it with things to have, or things to do, or things to know, but only by having the emptiness filled up with God Himself in the fullness of His Spirit.
How do we deal with evil in the world around us - can we eradicate it? No, we simply do not focus on the evil but we fill our world with the presence of God and his goodness. 
In a similar way, the experience of salvation is not the absence of sin in us but the presence of God. Light removes darkness.
In the same way problems and difficult circumstances exist and are always with us. But they do not dominate our inner being. He does not always take our problems away but gives us the Emmanuel answer. 

How does this make the problems lose their power over us? They simply have to move over because we are not focussing upon them but upon a reality, the greatest reality – the Emmanuel reality. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. We cannot have our focussed attention on the two arenas of activity at the one time. It is from the place of realized Emmanuel presence that we receive wisdom to address the problems with faith and not with fear or unbridled imagination.

Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The empty cup

Hearts of flesh

 

Matthew 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax
cold.  
A heart that's warm soft and loving becoming cold and hard....There's
a bit of an obvious warning for us there...Heb_3:8  Harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
I love the verse in Ezekiel 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  

So there is a warning for us not to let the wonderful soft heart of
love....Be hardened through the bad things we experience in this fallen
world...It is quite a warning in the book of Hebrews Heb_3:8  Heb_3:15
Heb_4:7 
When we see evil around us....don't let our hearts be hardened...When
something bad happens to us - don't let our hearts be hardened...If we even
hear the voice of God....and we don't like what He is saying.....Don't
harden our hearts toward Him
1Peter 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy...

Both the Hebrew word qodesh and the Greek word hagios refer to Separation from what is temporal or impure...This aspect of Holiness is what I want to highlight re
God's people....When God says to His people.....'Be Holy'....It has with it
the concept of being separate....When God makes someone or something Holy it
is in effect set apart....from that which is not holy...The Hebrew people
themselves were holy...They were set apart as a Holy nation....
Deuteronomy 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God
hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth.
We are called to be Holy....The way we live should reveal that Jesus has
made a difference...Because our hearts set us apart... God Himself has come to live and abide in us...
Colossians 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

That is what sets us apart...That is what makes us Holy...That is what
removes a heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh...which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory:...What a blessing!!!
It's hard to believe with such a blessing in our heart that it is possible
to harden our hearts
What is it really that can cause us to harden our hearts
As in the Provocation....what is this provocation?....Well it takes us right
back to Meribah and the water from the rock incident...'........  And he
called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah" (Exodus 17:6-7)....Massah
= testing.....Meribah = quarrelling...For the Israelites this was a time of
quarrelling and testing...Even though they had tasted the goodness and the
Love and Grace of God...They still lacked faith in God's provision...
Just like the Israelites...We too go through life circumstances that
challenge our faith

We go through times of testing if we really believe God...We go through
trials, that even though we know God has been there for us in the
past....Will He be there for us NOW?!  Is He there for us NOW?!
Do you know there is one thing the Lord has not given us when we go through
our trials and tribulations of life...2Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; 

We don't have to fear...Whatever life circumstances we find ourselves
in...We do not have to fear...Fear will kill your faith....if you choose to
fear...faith will diminish...If you choose fear...In your head and
heart...faith will struggle...That's what fear does....it's the opposite of
faith...In your moments of Provocations...Fear will try and harden your
heart...Fear will try and make your love wax cold...Fear might even make you
feel like threatening others (Moses)
2Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
What spirit has God given us? ....continuing verse 2Tim 1:7.....but of power, and of love, and
of a sound mind. 
1John 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

We are not to return to our heart of stone....we have our new heart of
love....we are to maintain that heart...we are to protect it...nurture
it..Love God with it...Love our neighbour with it...Even love our enemies
with it...If there is one thing that should set Christians apart...It's the
love of God in us...It's our love for God, one another and our neighbour
I know none of us want a Heart that waxes cold...Or a heart that wants to
harden itself towards God...We have been given a heart of flesh...A heart of
love..It has to be fed...how do we feed it....
Revelation 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes.
It's all about Jesus.....we are His flock...for all time past, present and
future..he tends his flock...Heb_12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God.
Whatever is set before us...Don't let it make our heart go cold...Don't let
it harden our heart...Don't let our heart fear...Whatever is set before
us....allow it to do one thing and one thing only...Allow it to cause us to
look unto Jesus...allow the temptation, struggle, pain etc to lead us to
Christ not away from Him...Allow it to take us to Jesus in faith... To be
fed by Him.
....He will feed us with the bread of life.....and if you are thirsty...he
will even provide living water...He will nurture and maintain our Hearts of
Flesh...if we let Him...because he says...
Matthew 28:20 ............and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of
the world. Amen.