You are righteous and nothing is impossible for you

A dear friend of mine wrote this note. I was so blessed by it that i couldnt possibly NOT put it online:

"As truly born again Christians we posses a new nature inside of us. This nature is at the very core of who we are and already predestines us to absolute greatness in God.

Many underestimate all that happened at the point of salvation but here are some key things that happened to you when you were born again:
- At salvation our Spirit is made alive unto God.
- At salvation we are co-buried with Christ and our sinful nature is circumcised from us.
- At salvation we are made alive with Christ and given a totally new nature and a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.
- At salvation we are given identity and purpose.
Now, that’s not all that happens at salvation but for what I want to speak about it’ll do.

Full freedom, deliverance, prosperity, health and every manifestation of heaven exists in your spirit. You have been given fullness in Christ, WITHOUT MEASURE. Your spirit manifests PERFECT righteousness and PERFECT obedience. Don’t get me wrong though, our bodies and minds are wonderful creations made and loved by God himself and God totally relates to our ENTIRE being through the gift of righteousness. When God looks at you he sees you through Jesus and In the Holy Spirit.

Now, I’m sure there are things in your life that may be holding you down or bondages that you really want to be free of but you just seem to fall into the same trap, over and over. I’ve been there and in some areas I am there but I’ve heard God’s voice about this and I’d love to share.

The only thing in this entire universe that’ll cause you to conquer sin is the Grace of God. What I mean by that is this: Knowing that God is not holding sins against you and knowing that even your worst mistake won’t separate you from God is the very thing that will cause you to conquer those things!

I want to say this with love, but also with authority: discipline, obedience and even Repentance won’t bring holiness, ONLY Grace, unadulterated Grace will. When I say holiness I mean so much more than just not sinning! Touching Grace is touching Jesus and is touching Jesus is touching Holiness. Friendship with God is HOLINESS.

Let me give you an example from my own life, a testimony… I’ve battled with things in my life and when I mess up I often think something along the lines of, “I hope that by the end of these holidays or this month I’ll conquer this thing.. and I’ll be soooo disappointed with myself if I don’t!” This happened to me and in that state of severe condemnation I decided to run straight into His presence, because I KNEW that the manifestation of Grace will be what brings me out of that place.

As I was standing there, soaking and enjoying myself I heard His voice so clearly inside of me saying, “Son, even if you don’t conquer this thing by the end of these holidays, I WILL NOT be disappointed by you at all.” From that very moment I have felt a ridiculous strength in the face of temptation and new freedom. Not only that but more importantly I’ve been so much more able to laugh in the face of the enemy when he tries to bring condemnation on me.

Here are two scriptures that back up all that I have been saying, because its good to be biblical :-)
1 Corinthians 15:56 : “The sting of sin is death, but the power of sin is the law”
Romans 6:14 : “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”

You may be wondering, “this is good stuff, but what does it look like? How do I do it?” Let’s get practical then. The most valuable thing you can do when you feel the worst about yourself is to run into His presence. Sometimes it feels impossible but that is when it is vitally important to remember the words he has said to you and the AMAZING truths in the word that tell you God is NOT holding your sins against you and that you are THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Christ.

Don’t seek to get right with God. Seek to understand that you ARE RIGHT WITH GOD!! Don’t get into that endless attitude of sorrowful repentance of sin (which isn’t biblically accurate anyways) but instead get into His presence and find THE FULLNESS OF JOY! Don’t accept those lies of the enemy telling you you’re dirty! NO! You are clean!! Because HE made you clean. He made you GOOD ENOUGH. He made you able. You can soar on wings like eagles!!

You know what the most beautiful thing of approaching God boldly in this manner and under NO circumstance considering yourself a sinner, never accepting condemnation is? It is the GREATEST faith you can have. IT PLEASES GOD DEEPLY.

I honestly, from deep within my being, can feel God smiling at us when we don’t make a big issue of sin and when we agree with the simplicity of the gospel: He became your sin so that you may become His righteousness. SIMPLE! Don’t get confused about faith – it’s not a mystery as the word says that the mystery of Christ is revealed to us. And that is exactly where our faith is.

What God spoke to me about faith is simply agreeing with Him about Himself, about Yourself and about your world. Faith is not irrational or difficult. It is extremely easy with the right teaching, so soak yourself in Grace teaching :-) and so encounter His transforming presence.

What I’m truly trying to get at here (and I hope the point has now been overly labored and been soaked into you, lol) is that it is the GOSPEL that is the power of salvation (which is also the word for deliverance!) and in that gospel a Righteousness FROM GOD is revealed that is by FAITH from first to last. (Romans 1:16-17).

NO born again Christian wants to stay sinning, they have a new heart and over time that’ll manifest. Don’t go beat yourself up now because your life isn’t manifesting holiness, obedience and discipline yet. (Look at Abraham, he believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness but soon after that He lied to a king, telling him his wife was his sister! If he were to have gone under the law and striving at that stage he would NEVER have manifested those good things).

Instead, STAY in FAITH and FAR away from works. Don’t force obedience onto yourself. Hebrews 11:6 says it is impossible to please God apart from faith. So if you don’t have the faith to be obedient or even to stop a bad habit in your life but you try in your own strength and flesh anyways, you’re sinning in doing that!! You’re in UNBELIEF. That’s radical I know but what I’m trying to say here is that your victory won’t be found in striving, but in rest.

The Kingdom isn’t a matter of food or drink but of RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY in the HOLY SPIRIT. I much prefer having rest in the spirit and laughing my way into utter, irreversible victory than worrying and striving in my fleshy works, only ending in disappointment and often a greater depth of sin.

Your victory is in the Holy Spirit, not in your obedience, sacrifice, repentance or anything in or of yourself. Begin to learn how to rest; begin to enjoy God and take pleasure in Him based on His goodness and just as Sarah (who was barren) was able to conceive, you will also begin to bear good fruit unto God.

This is good news, I hope you enjoyed it..

Grace and Peace,

Luke"

I pray that it blessed you as much as it did me

When "Jesus Loves You" is the last thing on your mind

In my previous blog I mentioned that JESUS LOVES US AS WE ARE. There is no need to feel “distant” from God or to fear His Wrath. Jesus has reconciled us to God and taken the wrath we so rightly deserved upon Himself.

Someone wrote back to me via email and said: “I am going through a hard time at present and want to know where I can find the spiritual power to overcome the obstacles I am facing”.

That may be a question you are asking to. Jesus loves us, SO WHAT? Does he see what I am going through? Does he see my pain? I do not need to hear about the LOVE of God. What I need is spiritual empowerment!

Well guess what? GODS LOVE IS SPIRITUAL EMPOWERMENT

Jeremiah was a young man who loved the LORD. But He was very sad when he wrote the book of Lamentations writing: “He shot his arrows deep within me. My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs” (Lam. 3:13-14)

“I am filled with bitterness. He has given me a cup of sorrow to drink. He has made me grind my teeth on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust. ALL OF MY PEACE IS LOST” (Lam. 3:15-17)

“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is beyond words. I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss YET…” (Lam. 3:19-21)

Have you possibly lost your peace? Maybe things aren’t going well for you at this time. Jeremiah knew what it was like to go through the hardest of times…he speaks about his awful sorrow and his lack of peace but then he says “YET”. This is a word which means “even though”.

“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is beyond words. I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss YET I STILL DARE TO HOPE…”

He is declaring that EVEN THOUGH everything is going wrong HE STILL DARES TO HOPE. I love that! He is DARING to hope. This is not some pretty little poofy hope. It took bravery for him to have hope in the midst of his trials. He decides to go against the messages the world was sending his way and DARE to hope.

Within my previous blog I mentioned that God loves us UNCONDITIONALLY. Which is: no strings attached FREE love. It does not matter what is happening in our lives-God is with us. He is still pleased with us. He sings over us. He dances over us. He smiles whenever He thinks of us. We are still His Joy.

The Joy of the LORD is our Strength and so when He is JOYFUL over us, we are empowered and strengthened in Him. This is because of Faith and not because of our obedience to certain rules and regulations. We have this privilege not because we are good- but because GOD IS GOOD.

Knowing how much He delights in us gives us supernatural strength to overcome even the toughest of trials.

“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is beyond words. I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss YET I STILL DARE TO HOPE WHEN I THINK OF THIS: THE LOVE OF THE LORD WHICH NEVER FAILS ME WILL NEVER END!” (Lam. 19-22)

Can you see this?

When we have a revelation of how much GOD LOVES US we will be supernaturally empowered in the midst of the most trying of times to be OVERCOMERS. The Root word for the word “GRACE” is “CHARIS”. It means the following:

“Unconditional love and acceptance that fills the heart with thankfulness and empowerment”

GRACE, Gods unconditional acceptance of us, is EMPOWERING!

This is why Paul says that GRACE is the POWER of the gospel (Rom. 1 16-17)

If you are going through a hard time, ask God for a revelation of HIS LOVE. His love is a Love that never fails. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Jesus said, “Remember this, I will be with you ALWAYS even until the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)

He did NOT say, “I will be with you for the next ten minutes, but then I have to go somewhere.”

Neither did He say, “I will be with you UNTIL YOU SIN.”

NO way. He said I am with you ALWAYS!

When you fail-He is with you

When you sin-He is with you

When things are going badly-He is with you

When life doesn’t make sense-He is with you.

AND HERE IS ANOTHER MYSTERY FOR YOU: He is not only with you, but HE IS WITHIN YOU

.

He is in you. How much closer could God be? He is not far, far away. HE IS IN YOU. He sees even the deepest pain deep down in your heart, because He is deep down in your heart. He is within you ready to empower you and lift you higher. He loved you so much that He gave His everything to reconcile you to himself.

Be deeply encouraged guys, even in the midst of the most troubling of times. GOD LOVES YOU AND IS WITH YOU

Peace

Brogan

Faith in Times of Affliction

Holding onto your faith can be a tremendous struggle at times. Sometimes it seems as though God has forgotten about you, your struggles or your pain.

I felt like this recently. I have struggled with something the Church views at utterly sinful for as long as I can remember. I have been ridiculed and insulted from pulpits. I have been misunderstood and hated by Christians. I have been thrown out of Church’s. I have been embarrassed at times to even be called a “Christian”.

The Church, that should be a place of love and tolerance, is sometimes, and more often than not, the breading ground for intolerance and hatred.

Sinners often leave the Church condemned rather than free, angered rather than at peace and burned-out rather than refreshed.

I have been angry with the Church, with God and with His Word. Having struggled with Same-sex attractions as a Bisexual male has not been easy in a culture that out-rightly and unapologetically, not to mention hypocritically, denies you the right to full membership and constantly misunderstands you.

But instead of getting upset, I smile. I am not ashamed to say that I am tempted in this way any longer because behind the social-masks and the proud displays of religion some Christians wear, I know that deep within us all is brokenness. We have all failed God. We have all failed each other. No one can say that he or she has acted perfectly at all times.

My sin may be different to yours, but sin is sin. As James puts it: “For whoever keeps the whole law, but stumbles on just one point, has broken the entire law” (Jas. 2: 10)

Maybe you are having sex prematurely, or maybe you are addicted to pornography. Perhaps you are angry with God or His Church. Some may be gluttons or smokers. There are many different sins and whether we like it or not, we have all committed a few in our lives. That’s Okay. It doesn’t shock God. He is the beginning and the end. He is all-knowing. He knows your end from your beginning. He knows what you did yesterday, but greater still; He knows what you will do tomorrow, or the next day or even in three years time. When you failed and sinned, He was not surprised. He knew it was coming. He was not disillusioned because He never had any illusions in the first place.

AND HERE IS A HUGE MYSTERY: Jesus died for ALL of your sins before you were even born. Imagine that! Our God must know every sin we will ever commit because HE DIED FOR THEM 2009 YEARS AGO AND HAS ALREADY FORGIVEN US FOR THEM ON THE CROSS. Jesus does not need to die each time we sin. HE DIED ONCE and His sacrifice was perfect.

In the Old Testament we see pictures of Christ in The Sin Offering. A lamb (without blemish or spot) was brought before the High Priest to be sacrificed for the forgiveness of Israel’s sin once a year. The High priest would examine (inspect) the sacrifice and make sure that it was perfect. If the Lamb was perfect, then it would be acceptable to God as a sin-offering and Israel’s sin would be forgiven. The High Priest knew that if the sacrifice was perfect, then God would forgive Israel of all of her failures.

Jesus is our Sacrificial Lamb. He is our sin offering. HE IS PERFECT, without blemish or spot. We may fail, but we have a perfect Sin Offering. Remember, the High Priest inspected the Offering to make sure it was Holy, not Israel. Likewise, when God wants to see whether we are holy or not. HE LOOKS AT THE SACRIFICE (Jesus) God does not look at us. Based on our thoughts, actions, behaviours and past we will fall short of Gods glorious standards. We are all sinners. No one is perfect, not even one. God knew this, and so when He declares us Holy it is not because we did something right-But because Jesus has washed us clean of every impurity.

I love the way Paul saw Jesus. He was in Love with God in everyway. Jesus was his romance, his Joy and his delight and when he describes Him he says: “Jesus is our High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedech.”(Heb.5:6)

I love that! A High Priest is the representative of a nation before God (Heb 5:1). This word “representative” literally means “to imitate, personify or act in place of someone else”.

Representatives personify whoever they represent. If I sent you as my representative to President Zuma, he would view every word you spoke as my words, your every action as my actions, and your every thought as my thoughts. You would be imitating, personifying and acting in place of me!

When the High Priest went before God he was representing and personifying Israel. If he was Holy then God would view Israel as Holy. But if he was evil, God would view Israel as such.

Jesus is our High Priest Forever! He represents us before God always! He imitates us, personifies us and acts on our behalf in Gods presence! OH YES!

Just like Old Covenant High Priests, Jesus represents us before God. If He is Holy, God sees us as Holy. And you know what? JESUS IS HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE. Therefore, because we have this great High Priest we can rejoice. God sees us as Holy and Acceptable.

But Brogan, what if I sin? Will I still be holy and acceptable then?

God will view us as Holy and Acceptable for as long as our High Priest is holy and Acceptable. Ask yourself: Is He? YES HE IS. And here is the magic word: “FOREVER.”

“Jesus is our High Priest FOREVER in the order of Melchizedech”

Jesus represents us before God always. Therefore we are ALWAYS holy and acceptable! Even when you fail and mess up, because, as I have already shared, Jesus forgave you of all of your sin before you were even born by being your Sacrificial Lamb.

But, I am so sinful? Surely God see’s that?

Moses had a word from God that said the Israelites were to kill a lamb and place the blood of the lamb on the doors of their houses. God warned that the Angel of Death would pass-over Egypt at night and kill all the firstborn sons of each family. However, if the Angel of Death saw the blood of a lamb on the doors of a house, he would pass over them and no harm would be done.

The Angel of Death did not inspect the family. He did not ask them their names or ID numbers. He did not check to see if they were black or white, pink or yellow. He did not look in the window to see what they were doing. He did not look for sin.

He looked for one thing only: BLOOD. If he saw blood, then the family would be saved, irrespective of their history, financial statements or sinfulness.

Likewise, when God looks at us he is looking for one thing: BLOOD.

It is no coincidence that Jesus died on the Day of Pentecost. He is our Passover Lamb and His blood has been poured all over us. When God looks at us, when He sees Jesus’ Blood, He is pleased and His wrath and anger pass over us. He knows you are a sinner, but He see’s blood and His wrath is quenched.

But I was taught God was Just. Surely a Just God must punish sin?

God is Just and He takes sin very seriously. He does not make light of our sin. He hates sin. In fact, He takes sin so seriously that He sent His One and Only Son to die on the Cross to suffer the punishment of your sin.

God hates sin BUT HE HAS ALREADY PUNISHED SIN ON JESUS. The Bible tells us that Jesus took all of Gods Wrath and Anger upon himself at the Cross. God’s anger and Wrath are fully satisfied. Jesus took it ALL. There is nothing left for you. You do not have to fear wrath or judgement because Jesus, as your representative, High Priest and Sacrificial Lamb, quenched all of Gods Wrath and Anger on the Cross. All God has left is Love.

The Book of Isaiah teaches that God says “Just as I promised in the time of Noah to never let a flood cover the whole earth again, so now I promise that I will never be angry (disappointed or disillusioned) with you ever again.” (Isaiah 54: 9)

God has promise to never be angry or disappointed or disillusioned with us EVER AGAIN.

If you fail-no anger

If you sin-no disappointment

If you get angry and upset with God-there is still no anger, frustration or disillusionment.

YOUR SIN IS FORGIVEN. GODS WRATH IS QUENCHED. He will NEVER EVER be angry with us again.

Does this mean that God will bless me even when I sin?

OF COURSE As Paul said, Jesus is our High Priest forever in the Order of Melchizedech. Unlike the AARONIC PRIESTHOOD that had the power to Bless and to Curse, the Melchizedech Priesthood ONLY BLESSES! Oh yeah! Jesus will never send a curse your way because HE TOOK EVERY CURSE UPON HIMSELF AT THE CROSS. Now, He only sends blessings our way! We have complete peace with God and can rest assured in our Salvation.

Melchizedech was the King of Salem. “Salem” means “Peace”. He was the King of Peace, Just like Jesus. So many Christians are living under condemnation, falsely believing that God is angry or upset with them or that He is disappointed with their performance. They are not at Peace.

But Jesus is Peace and we can have peace between ourselves and God through Christ.

I do not know which sins you struggle with. I do not know the hurt and pain the Church has put you through. I do not know where you are or what you are doing. But one thing I know for sure is that JESUS DOES ACTUALLY LOVE YOU. And that God is not angry or disappointed with you. You do not have to be ashamed, or avoid Him. If any one has any right to hate God it is me…but I trust Him because He is not His Church. They may fail me, but He never has.

So does this mean that I may sin whenever I want to?

Sin is still sin, even if we all deal with it and even if Jesus did die on our behalf. It is impossible not to sin, but the Grace of God was given and it “teaches us to say no to unrighteousness and to live soberly in this present age” (Titus 2:12). The Revelation of HOW GOOD GOD IS will catapult you into a life lived in LOVE FOR GOD. Sin will become boring to you. As the Scriptures testify: Those who are forgiven much; Love much. When we learn just how much gunk Jesus has freed us from and forgiven us of, WE WILL LOVE HIM MUCH. We will live for Him naturally.

But how exactly?

If you have received Christ you are a new creation. Your Sinful Nature has been removed and replaced with a Righteous Nature. Innately, you are Righteous. Live out of this Righteousness by Grace.

That however is for a whole new blog, right now all I want you to know is HOW MUCH JESUS ACCEPTS YOU AND LOVES YOU.

Grace and Love Always

Brogan