No Condemnation. . . None (Part 1)

    This is one of my longest blogs, but I think that it contains very important revelation. God has been teaching me a lot about His grace and its power.  I have tried to compile these things into a cohesive message using mainly scripture passages.  I pray that this helps you gain a new perspective on what Jesus accomplished on the cross, and that the Holy Spirit renews our minds as we carry out the ministry of reconciliation.  Grace is so wonderful!

    God does not condemn you or anybody else for sin. Does that sound strange to you, it did to me at first. The law condemns sin in sinful man, but it is only because they do not believe in Jesus. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were veil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:17-21)."

     Those who are against God are 'enemies in their minds' only.  They are believing a lie.  "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Colossians 1:19-20)." He has reconciled all things to Himself!! All things!! But that doesn't mean we believe it. Paul explains this crazy reconciliation further, "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in min, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:21-22)."  The issue that the world faces isn't the power of sin, its the lie that sin still has power, and that it is still necessary to do something in order to reconcile ourselves to God.  The truth is that we are already reconciled we just aren't agreeing with what Jesus paid for 2000 yrs ago!

     It is common to not want to step into the light because of fear of condemnation.  We feel bad for doing bad and not doing good, and so we are afraid to bring things to God because we are believing a lie about how he views us.  Look at the woman who was caught committing adultery.

"But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?' They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.  But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.  But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you, either.  Go. From now on sin no more (John 8:1-11)."

     Do you see the lie? The lie is that if we expose our deeds we will reap condemnation, but the truth is we will reap forgiveness and the power over sin, to 'sin no more'.  "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8-12)." Now that is good news!

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who are according tot he flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those whoa re according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself tot he law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:1-8)."

Realizing Holiness not Sinfulness

God has recreated you! 'Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, the new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17)." We are commanded in two places, Romans 6 and Colossians 3, to consider ourselves dead to sin.  Why should we reckon ourselves dead to sin? Because we actually are! You are now righteous and Holy because the full righteous requirement of the Law has been met in you (Romans 8:4). Your actions no longer affect this reality, and agreeing with the truth actually sets you free so you no longer have to sin (John 8:32).  The only thing that will set you free from sin is knowing the truth, what is the truth? That you have already been set free!

Now I am writing this blog to correct a misconception.  Many believers, as they begin to learn more about the Lord and increase in knowledge, begin to perceive more and more sinful habits or thoughts that they didn't notice before.  Many times we understand that as revealing how sinful we actually are, that our sinfulness comes in layers, deeper and deeper.  This is a deception! You have been made new, you have been born again.  Your awareness of more sin is not a reflection of your depravity but of your holiness.  Do not give power to the devil by believing he still has a hold on your life.  Your increased awareness and disgust of sin is a revelation of how Holy you have actually been made.  You are realizing how righteous God has made you! Hallelujah!!!

Break away from the lie and enter into the truth.  Be encouraged, not discouraged. In this way repentance is a joyous occasion, because it reveals the finished work of Jesus inside of us not the incomplete work.  Do not own your sin, as soon as you own it you fall into unbelief.  Yes you did it, but even your repentance shows that the action wasn't you! So repent freely, without guilt.  "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)."

It is finished: 2 Misconceptions

The finished work of the cross is the most important thing to understand . . . period.  There are a number of things that are included in the finished work of Christ.  1).  That Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sin but that he actually defeated the power of sin itself.  Because of that we can live outside of sin's control and power; in other words it is possible to not sin. 2). That in Jesus we have actually been made into new creations, holy and righteous.  This is not a righteousness from ourselves from works, but by faith in the finished work of Jesus. I am righteous because Jesus paid for me and made me righteous.  This holy standing with God is not affected by my actions, good or bad, and it is in believing this truth that I can actually begin to manifest a holy lifestyle. 3).  That Jesus sacrifice has given us access into living the way that he lived.  Not only in holiness but also in the supernatural.  His sacrifice purified us so that we could receive the Holy Spirit, and just like Him we are commissioned to destroy the works of the devil. That means that we have been given access into healing, prophecy, and all the other spiritual gifts through His authority that is in us.  We also have access into the fullness of joy, peace, and character that he himself possesses.

The finished work of the cross is rarely taught however, and many believers are beguiled into thinking that they still have some part to play in saving themselves, climbing up into the glory, or making themselves pure.
There are two major ways that the church has fallen into deception in regards to what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  I do not mean to categorize every church or believer but to give a rough outline that may help you better understand where you are at in terms of the fullness of Christ's sacrifice.  The first deception comes in thinking that Jesus didn't actually 'finish' the job and that we will always struggle with sin and never walk as Jesus did until we go to heaven. The other misconception is that Jesus made a holy divine life available, but that we still play a part laying hold of it.  This group believes that one must fast, pray, strain, or make some sort of effort to grasp hold of the inheritance that is actually given to them freely.

The first deception occurs within many of the evangelical churches that are spread across the country.  Within these these communities, their theology limits the work of the cross, believing that the fullness of the kingdom is reserved for heaven alone.  Much of their theology formed based on their own experience.  Because they never experienced freedom from sin, theology was created to make room for continual struggle.  Likewise since they never experienced the miraculous, they never expected that it should be a normal thing, or even possible for that matter.  In this way many people have built their theology around unbelief rather than faith. The nature of faith is that it believes beyond experience and beyond circumstance.  It literally pulls the reality of heaven into a collision with the reality of the world. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)."  These communities always tend to, unintentionally, give more power to the devil than to God.  They will justify sickness, death, and tragedy to the will of God.  They believe that they will never understand the will of God, choosing to live in the Old Covenant reality rather than the new (Isaiah 55:9, Colossians 1:26)." This mind-set always leads to uselessness, ineffectiveness, and feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, and insecurity (2 Peter 1:8).

In some cases these churches have theology that seems to include the fullness of Christ but they still do not expect it experientially.  They will say that it is through Christ's sacrifice that we have a relationship with God, but they never actually experience that relationship because they think it is primarily cognitive in nature. Even though they honor Him with their lips, their hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8).  If someone actually begins to experience more intimacy or breakthrough in certain areas, and then goes to encourage others that there is 'more' to a relationship with God then they have experienced, conflict, bitterness, and envy will arise because they 'intellectually' believe they have experienced everything there is.

The second misconception is often times found in more 'charismatic' circles. In these cases they believe that God has made available every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  They believe in all of the spiritual gifts, manifestations, and the tangible fruits of the spirit.  Their mistake comes in thinking they still need to do something to enter into this reality.  They fast, pray, strain, and altogether make a big effort to become more passionate and radical for God; in so doing they expect that after their effort they will be blessed with more breakthrough in areas of purity, healing, joy, or other such spiritual realities.  Although these groups often do see miracles and experience more of the fullness, they are deceived into thinking it resulted from their own effort. This group has a tendency to be prideful because they think it was by their effort that they now have authority over demons, or peace that passes understanding. In reality, their efforts have only led to accepting a reality that needed no effort on there part in the first place.  God came to pursue man because we could not pursue God.

This is the truth, that Jesus paid it all.  He has given us access into the fullness of the divine life (Ephesians 1,  2 Peter 1).  His sacrifice has allowed us to live as he lived and to do the things that he has done (John 20:21, John 14:12).  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one may boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10)."  If you are not experiencing part of the fullness of Christ's sacrifice, the answer is not to try harder.  For you are a citizen of heaven seated in heavenly places.  What you need is a renewal of your mind to help you agree with the reality that already fully exists.  This is a work of the spirit that inspires us to live in faith that manifests the kingdom of heaven in our lives.  The only process we are promised is to move from glory to glory into every increasing glory (2 Cor. 3).  This process is only unpacking the incredible reality that we already fully exist within.  We come to know the truth and the truth sets us free (John 8:32). 

Faith comes by hearing, hearing what? The good news. What is the good news? That Jesus has cleaned you up, placed you in heavenly places, and put you right at the center of the presence of His father. Now you can effortlessly sink into your identity in Christ, and begin to see the fruits of heaven produced in your life!!

"To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:1-11)."

"In Jesus Name"

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13)."
"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst (Matthew 18:20)."

   We have a funny way of viewing this passage sometimes.  In our prayer life, whether we are asking for something or declaring something we say 'In Jesus Name' at the end.  There is nothing essentially wrong with that but we often times do it as if stamping that statement on the end of our prayer validates and give authority to what we said. This is a sad representation of what the scriptures are saying.

   When Jesus talks about asking in 'my name' he literally means to, 'ask as me'.  Because of Jesus we can relate with God and the world with the same authority that He had.  When our identity is rooted in what Jesus accomplished on the cross we have accepted our right standing with God.  We have confidence in the presence of God because of where we have been established in and through Christ. "Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming form ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:4-6)."

   Saying "in Jesus name" and having confidence that this statement gives validity to our prayer is silly and is not based in faith.  Faith and authority come from being established in the grace of God, knowing His will, and understanding our purpose.  There is no formula for proclaiming the kingdom of heaven or talking to God.  We have confidence because we are His children, He is our Father, and Christ is our Redeemer.

   So be assured today of your standing with God.  If you are unsure go read about God's promises about who you are! You belong to the heavenly family and that is why your prayers carry validity and are heard.  Walk in authority, proclaim the kingdom, and rejoice that your names are written in heaven!!

Knowing the Will of God

      I have noticed a tendency in many Christian circles, where we approach God as if his will is unknowable; or that our will is always opposing His. We say things and approach situations as if God's will is a mystery, and at best we need to pray for long extended periods of time before we can begin to fathom what God's will is in a situation.  This is a silly, non-biblical way to relate with God, and we need a renewing of our minds to see what Christ really accomplished on the cross in this area.

     "Greater love has no one this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:13-15)."

     So Jesus has revealed 'everything' from the Father.  Jesus is famous for doing 'only what he sees the Father doing (John 5:19); and then he sent us as he was sent.  "He gave you the Counselor, the Holy Spirit who will teach you all things and will remind you of everything he has said to you (John 14:26)."  This is a promise, that means that sometimes our thoughts our his thoughts; because we have been abiding in Him and He in us!  "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:15)."  If we are spending time with God, chances are that he has been shaping your thoughts, intentions, and desires the whole way through.  When we continuously come into places of indecision and doubt, it is a reflection of our lack of faith in the Holy Spirits work inside of us.

      It is important to say that our will can be against God's will, whereby correction would be necessary; but if we are spending time with Him we do not need to question our motives or doubt our initiatives as long as they don't fall outside of the boundaries of scripture.

      I also have found that we expect God to have specific plans for every situation in our lives, and we get caught up in many decisions because we are unsure about what God's will is.  God can have specific intentions for a given situation, but for the most part his will is simple and general. We are sent as Jesus was sent, so it is important to see what God's intended purpose was for Him. "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)."  What does that entail? We can find that in Luke 5:18-19, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives.,  and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Furthermore Jesus gives this commission to his disciples and to us, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons (Matthew 10:8)."

   Here are some examples; if you are in a conundrum about which college to go to, or even if you want to go to college at all, ask yourself which one you want. Pick that one, and then go preach the good news, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.  Are you wondering if you should get married or not? Do you want to? If you do, get married.  Then preach the good news, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.  God wants you to destroy the works of the devil, but he wants you to partner with Him in that! So what are your desires? What are your plans? How do you get excited about doing it? Chances are God agrees with you, after all he picked you to be with Him.  He wants you, all of you.

    So lets move from inaction and indecision into purposeful action that fulfills the will of God!  We know what His will is, He revealed it to us in the person of Jesus and reminds us of it through the Holy Spirit. Don't allow doubt to make you ineffective because that reveals that you still consider yourself to be an enemy of God rather than a friend.  Stop questioning and just seek the Lord.  "Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your path straight (Proverbs 3:5)."

Heavenly Thinking (2): Sinful Nature

           The renewing of our minds!! What a wonderful thing.  God is adapting us to a new environment; he is aligning us with a completely different reality.  It looks illogical, seems irrational, and only makes sense once He has transformed our minds.  There is one truth that is at the very center of the saving work of Jesus Christ, and is central for us to experience the fullness of God.  This mind-shift has to do with our sinful nature that previously separated us from God, but that because of the death of Jesus, we too now share in newness of life.  Understanding ourselves to be dead to sin but alive in Christ Jesus is the foundation for heavenly thinking. 

                “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirt.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows whether it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:3, 5-8).”

                So what does this mean? How is one born again? What does that look/feel like? Jesus answers this in the following verses, which is the most well known passage in the bible.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).”  In another passage Jesus says, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).”   Jesus paved the way for us to be with God, which we were previously unable to access. 

                The thing that separates man from God is sin, or more importantly the nature of sin itself.  God’s requirement for relationship is complete holiness; or another way to look at it is to say that God is so holy that he cannot coexist with unholiness.  That means that even the ‘smallest’ most ‘minimal’ sin is in complete contradiction to the nature of God.  “We have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”  God expresses to people what it takes to be in relationship with him through the ten commandments.  Be perfect, and enter into the kingdom.  The sinful nature that all humanity is born into means that our tendency or natural inclination is towards sin.  Even if we want to do what is right we can't because our nature is opposed to it. Romans 7 speaks of the futility of trying to obey the entire law and how it is impossible to please God because of our sinful nature.  

            We then need a savior because we are unable to achieve the standard, even with the greatest and most heartfelt intentions.  Thankfully Jesus came and did what we could not.  “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4). 

                At the beginning of Romans 7, Paul gives an analogy of marriage to to explain the transition of the old covenant to new.  Just like a woman’s husband needed to die for her to be able to marry again, so we were made to die so we could enter into a new covenant as well.  “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (Romans 7:4-6).”

                It said that we were made to die! This comes into accordance with what Jesus said  to His disciples.  “And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.  He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:38-39).”  This same thing is found in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself , and take up his cross and follow Me."  In Luke's account Jesus says that we must pick up our cross 'daily'.  This makes sense due to the sinful nature, for with it we are unable to please God.  But here is the kicker, not everything Jesus said was new covenant, rather he was transitioning from the old covenant to the new.  Those passages don't apply to those who are in Christ Jesus.It is just like when Jesus preached law to show how impossible it was to achieve righteousness on our own! He is saying that the requirement to follow him is to die daily, but this is just as impossible as obeying the law. 

         If I have to have a cross and die then who's cross did Jesus die on? His own? No, He was sinless.  So who's cross did he die on?  Mine!  "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)." Jesus died with my sin on the cross, he broke my covenant with the law and brought me into the new covenant.  I don't need to die daily anymore because Jesus died for me.  Jesus took what I deserved so that I could have what he deserved.  I can do nothing to add to His completed work, we do not add to the cross, it is finished.  

          "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised form the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin (Galatians 6:1-7)."  Likewise Galatians 5:24 says, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

         Did you catch that? Our sinful nature was put to death on the cross with Jesus!  Jesus died on the cross bearing our sin.  Just like the beginning of Romans 7 shows, only death could break the old covenant.  In that analogy the husband died, in our reality we died in Christ's death! This is the promise that is given through salvation, this is what it means to believe in Jesus!! To believe that it is finished, that we cannot add to or take away from Christs work on the cross, that he saved us 100%, and that we have been given full access into his glorious riches and presence.  God changed our very nature, we are no longer sinners but saints! 

        This is a hard reality to swallow because it is completely based on the promise of God through his mercy and grace.  It completely has to do with a renewed mind; faith. It won't match our experience right away and it definitely seems unfair and even irrational.  But it is this reason that God needs to renew our minds, to transform the way we view Him and ourselves.  "Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though e have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 6:16-17)." 

        So if this is true, That, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it  is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20)."  Then what do we do with it? God asks us to simply agree! "Even so consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11)."  "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (Colossians 3:5)."  When we align our minds with His, and correctly identify ourselves with the way he sees us we start to manifest that reality.  When God says I am righteous and I believe I am righteous then I will manifest righteousness.  If I believe I am a sinner then I will manifest that very thing.  That doesn't mean we cannot sin or that we can't be tempted, it just means we don't have to anymore; it is no longer natural for us to sin (1 John 2:1-2)."  "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32)."  What is the truth? That we are dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus, that the old is gone and the new has come, that we have crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires!!!

         Many Christians don't agree with the assertion that our sinful nature has been put to death.  They address it minimally but will not fully accept it. Peter sheds light on the consequences of not receiving the fullness of Christ's mercy and grace. 

 "To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.  Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge self control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness brother kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  For if these qualities are your and are increasing, they render you neither USELESS NOR UNFRUITFUL in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who LACKS these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having FORGOTTEN HIS PURIFICATION FROM HIS FORMER SINS.  Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, YOU WILL NEVER STUMBLE; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you (2 Peter 1:1-11)."

          So lets agree with God and consider ourselves dead to sin, knowing that we cannot add to our salvation.  Jesus finished the work, he broke the old covenant.  He imputed His righteousness into us and removed the root of sin from our lives.  Now we get to confidently step into God's presence; no shame, guilt, condemnation, or fear.  Heavenly thinking revolves around this revelation, the saving work of Christ that killed our sinful nature and gave us access into the Kingdom.  "For the Kingdom of God is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). " 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places with Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be HOLY AND BLAMELESS before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He FREELY bestowed on us in the beloved. In Him we have REDEMPTION through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In ALL WISDOM AND INSIGHT He made known to us the MYSTERY of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of ALL THINGS in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth (Eph. 1:1-10)."  

Heavenly Thinking (1)

         There are many verses in scripture that talk about the way we think and the way God wants to shape those thoughts.   God is in the business of renewing our minds; "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2)."  The word 'mind' in Greek means thought processes or reasoning; that means that God wants to change the way that we reason.  


         One story in Numbers illustrates this truth very well.  "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel (Numbers 13:1)."  It is important to notice that God promises the Israelites the promise land.  They send 1 leader of each of the 12 tribes as per God's instructions.  All of these leaders knew that God had promised to give them victory. . . lets read further! After visiting the promise land the 12 men return to give their report. "But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it (30)."  Two of the spies, including Caleb showed no hesitation in stepping forth into what was promised them.  But as we see, they were outnumbered and were not given heed.  The other men responded to Caleb saying, "'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.' So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. . . . . . and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them (31-33).'"


        We see here two kinds of people, or in other words two kinds of reasoning.  Ten of the spies were using human reasoning.  They saw that the people of Canaan were bigger and that the Israelite's would not be able to overthrow them.  Caleb on the other hand was certain that they could conquer them.  what is the difference? Caleb remembered and had faith in the promise of God, whereas the other men were relying solely on their own strength.  Caleb reasoned based on God's promise rather than on their worldly circumstance.  We can see this in many other stories including Gideon and his 300 warriors (Judges 7) and David when he defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17).  Paul recognizes this reality and tries to teach it to the church at Corinth; "And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:9-10).  Paul is not saying he boasts in his sin, but he is saying that God is so much bigger than anything that he would not be able to overcome himself.


    "Set your mind on things above not on the things that are on Earth (Colossians 3:2)." "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:6-8)." Having a renewed mind means to have faith!  "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)." Paul says to the Romans that someone who has a mindset on the flesh cannot please God! In Hebrews 11:6 it says that those who do not have faith cannot please him!  Why? Because if we do not have faith then we will view the world through a lens of hopelessness and despair.  We will only do the things we are confident in ourselves to do; and just like the ten spies who came out of Canaan with unbelief int heir hearts, we too will not enter into the promises God has for us.  Having faith implies having faith that God can do the impossible and impractical!  "You know your mind has been renewed when the impossible looks logical." -Bill Johnson


        "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2)."  We prove God's will when we have a renewed mind! How? We have faith in God's promises which pushes us into situations that move God to supernaturally intervene.  If God's will is not being proven, then people are not seeing Him, and that means people are not getting to know Him!  "To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through TRUE KNOWLEDGE of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and very magnificent PROMISES, sot that by them you may become partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:1-4)."


        It is imperative that we take on the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), that we think from heavens perspective (2 Cor. 5:16).  The Old Covenant reality about God's thoughts being above our thoughts is over (Isaiah 55:9), now we live in the new covenant reality where God is aligning our minds with His! "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but int hose taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (1 Cor. 2:12-13)."   Ask God to renew your mind! Ask him to give you His thoughts, His wisdom, and His heart! Heavenly breakthrough comes when  we step out with a renewed, faith filled, mind.  God's power is shown when we have faith in his promises and step out to prove them!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21)!!