get it yet?

Get it  yet?
"Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]" John 14:27
We are overcomer's we need to walk in the confidence of who we are in Him and through Him.....  That is all

let's go and make disciples

"For I am yearning to see you, that I may impart and share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen and establish you; That is, that we may be mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine." Romans 1:11-12
The theme of discipling seems to be coming up again lately. For me personally it is something I am passionate about, it can be very fulfilling but involves investment. One thing that I have found in my discipleship experience, as Paul mentions in Romans above, is that as I take what I have learned and been given and share that with others in that sharing and teaching that it builds both of us up and increases our faith. I came across this quote from George Fox's journal this morning (thanks Derek Brown), it shows how important it is to do the Father's will, but in order to do that we need to know how to hear His voice, to recognize it for ourselves. As a discipler it is my responsibility to not only hear and be obedient to what Abba is telling me, setting the example, but to teach others  how to hear themselves, for themselves. When we understand our identities in Christ and can discern His voice in our lives then we truly can fulfill our destiny. It also makes us the people that when we get up in the morning the enemy says "oh no here they come again."
So let's go make disciples, don't limit your view of who to disciple to those that stumble through a church door or Bible study. Let's start building these relationships at our work places, our favorite coffee shops, wherever it is that Abba leads us and to whoever He leads us.
"Jesus never said you could be saved if you say the sinners' prayer, or be baptized with water, or eat bread and drink grape juice; this is just heathenish ritual, the wide and broad way that leads to destruction. The deficit sects of Christendom have totally lost the narrow, true way that few will find; there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12,16:25,21:2.
 Jesus clearly tells us the only way: only he who does the will of the Father shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Mat 7:21. To do the Father's will is to stop making decisions for yourself, your will; and only do what the Father tells you to do, his will. This is exactly what Jesus told us that he did, and he only did; many, many times":~Quote from George Fox's Journal
Matthew 28:18-20 "Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age.  Amen (so let it be)."

honor and glory

"If we are being put on trial [here] today and examined concerning a good deed done to benefit a feeble (helpless) cripple, by what means this man has been restored to health, Let it be known and understood by all of you, and by the whole house of Israel, that in the name and through the power and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, [but] Whom God raised from the dead, in Him and by means of Him this man is standing here before you well and sound in body." Acts 4:19-20
We have been enabled by the Holy Spirit to go and do what Jesus told us to. You know the whole go make disciples, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, have compassion on and love others. The Bible says that signs and wonders will follow His disciples. There is a key factor here that we need to always keep in the forefront of our minds and that is the Source of our abilities.  Abba's intent was not for us to be able to act supernaturally for our own gaining of position and respect, but that through these acts that others would recognize Him working through and in us so that others would come to know, love and honor Him. Sometimes in doing this we walk a fine line because we are supposed to have a confidence and boldness and we also need to remember that when we minister that we are partnering with Him, so we too have responsibility in the things we do. When we move in confidence in our God given identity then we are ultimately bringing Him glory, because in that we will naturally praise, and honor Him with our actions and with our voices.
Thank You Jesus that you made us with intent to have relationship with You and that You have made us worthy to  partner with You to love on Your people, especially the ones that don't know they are yours yet!
Psalm 105:1-5 "O GIVE thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His doings among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvelous deeds and devoutly praise them. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who  seek and require the Lord [as their indispensable necessity]. Seek, inquire of and for the Lord, and crave Him and His strength (His might and inflexibility to temptation); seek and require His face and His presence [continually] evermore. [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds that He has done, His miracles and wonders, the judgments and sentences which He pronounced [upon His enemies, as in Egypt]."

it's a matter of trust

"But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I AM!  Stop being afraid! And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus." Matthew 14:27-29
Do you ever get discouraged and frustrated with the stuff that happens as part of life? What do you do with discouragement?  I would say that the majority of us at some point or another will have a little woe is me pity party. Jesus knew it would be hard. He told us that it would be hard for us, just as it was for Him. He asks us to stick with Him, to keep our focus on Him. Scripture after Scripture encourages us to trust in the Lord. Making a difference in the lives of others doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a daily commitment, a lifestyle. Do you let your discouragement separate you from God? Or do you trust Him to be there with you as you work through it?
There is something about this verse in Psalm 27 especially where it says "let your heart be stout and enduring" that makes something inside say I can get through anything that life throws at me because I am a victorious overcomer and I was created to stand strong because the Creator of the universe is for me.  (I can almost hear my cousin Harry giving a big oorah)
Psalm 27:14 "Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord."

transformers more than meets the eye

Jesus came to shine light into darkness to breath life into our hopeless darkness.  His light brings change because the things that thrived in the darkness cannot stand the light. When Jesus calls you He isn't going to let you stay where you were. The call to follow Jesus is a call to transformation. He does not leave us as He finds us. He leaves no area of our lives untouched: family relationships, friendships, our perspective on life, work, leadership and the world in which we live, all are fair game. Sometimes that means that He will prune some of our relationships, sometimes even with family members that aren't healthy for you to be involved with. I think even when that happens He wants us to get a place where reconciliation can happen when He makes you strong and complete so those others can no longer have that negative effect on you.  Jesus doesn’t come to justify our current lives, He comes to call us to real life. The key to us fully becoming disciples of Jesus is that we need to be like the early disciples, we need to be quickly obedient. When He said come follow me the dropped what they were doing, left their businesses and families and followed Him. When we fully give ourselves over to Him we then truly gain freedom that goes beyond anything we understand. One of the biggest lies that the enemy wants people to believe is that entering into a relationship with Christ will bind you and limit you, well we know he is a liar and will use religion to keep people from relationship.
We need to remember a relationship with Jesus is about a deep unfathomable love, it's about freedom and positive transformation that brings healthy life. If there is divisiveness and condemnation that is not from God and we need to run from it to the truth.
Matthew 4:16-20 "The people who sat (dwelt enveloped) in darkness have seen a great Light, and for those who sat in the land and shadow of death Light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, crying out, Repent  (change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. As He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, throwing a dragnet into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, Come after Me [as disciples--letting Me be your Guide], follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men! At once they left their nets and became His disciples [sided with His party and followed Him]."

who ya gonna trust?

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” ~ C. Swindoll

Last night at home group one of the things that was talked about was choosing  your attitude for the day when you get out of bed in the morning. Are you going to let your circumstances rule your choice or are you going to trust Abba who knows what you need better than you do? In making that choice alone you are potentially choosing between a day of depression and worry instead of a day filled with hope and joy.
Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life? And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these. [I Kings 10:4-7.] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry and be anxious,  saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble."

reflect vs emanate

I have to admit that there are times when I read the Bible and get a little jealous of the disciples because they actually were able to physically touch sit next to and hang out with Jesus.  But the Bible says that if we believe who has not seen has a greater faith, but I still think it would've been cool.  That usually leads me into thinking about how they had Him available physically but we have Him indwelling us, which is a greater advantage in my opinion.  You see when Jesus was here in the flesh there was a limitation on how many people could see Him at one time. Now via the Holy Spirit, Jesus can be seen multiple places at once, through us.  Some people will say that we should be reflections of Christ, I don't agree with that. Reflections can be easily distorted ever look in a poor quality mirror or a piece of polished metal? You can see yourself but it doesn't look quite right, the reason is that the quality of the reflection is dependent on the quality of the surface reflecting it so it places the responsibility to reflect Him properly on us and if left to us alone it will become skewed. There are other things that can effect reflections look at the Moses, he would spend time with Abba and come away reflecting His glory, but the light would fade. The moon is another example it reflects the sun but has no light source of its own and only fully reflects the sun for short periods of time. But for us we have the ability to be more than just a reflection we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have the source of light that can emanate from us in fact it is part of our responsibility as Christians we may be the only people that can truly show others the heart of Jesus, love on them as Jesus would, bring healing to them, have compassion on them. You see when we choose to be obedient to what Abba is telling us and live our lives so His light shines from within us, it isn't dependent on the quality of our surface or what we have done to polish it and make it shiny. It's. About the transformation He has done in us so He can shine out of us.
You can choose to try and be a reflection if you want, I'm gonna choose to let the shine instead.
To reflect: To throw or bend back (light, for example) from a surface. To give back or show an image of (an object); mirror.
To emanate: to issue or proceed from or as from a source, to send forth; emit
1 John 1:1-4 (AMP) "[WE ARE writing] about the Word of Life [in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands. And the Life [an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers]. What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete]."