For only Jesus is able to “render to God the things that are God’s.” Only he can give what is required in exchange for our lives. Thus, as he offers himself, he offers himself as a substitute for us, in our place. The paradox of Jesus’ response here is that we owe everything to God but we cannot give it, so God himself will give what he demands. This will be God’s great gift to the world: himself.
Kelly M. Kapic - “God So Loved, He Gave” (via dayveedkim)
my house will be called a house of prayer.
How VICTORIOUS The Church would be if only they put prayer as a priority, and not as a last resort! If only The Church knew that prayer isn’t a chore, but a lifestyle..
where are the intercessors? ARISE!
mourn for the return of the Bridegroom.
the integrity of His Peace.
throne room thoughts - 8/24/12:
true peace isn’t measured by a lack of chaos.. rather, true peace is measured by the dominion one has over chaotic circumstances.
Such a simple, yet absolutely profound truth. Having this paradigm changes everything.
Greek philosophy had a presupposition that since this world was evil, the only way to truly obtain peace was outside of this world. peace wasn’t something that could be found intrinsically… but something that was esoteric, and something only the gods had. which was why plato stated that his body was a tomb, and that when he died, his soul would be set free. also, in greek mythology, because this world was so corrupt, the gods had to stay as far away as possible from this world inorder to maintain their peace and joy.
However, this kind of peace is very cheap and is of no worth. this kind of peace contradicts the very essence of true peace. and Christ demonstrated the integrity of His peace absolutely gloriously.
“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” (Rom 8:3)
This is the beauty of the Gospel! The incarnation. God becoming man. and not just any man, but a man in the LIKENESS of sinful flesh. check this-
satan and his demons threw everything they had at him. all the previous deceptions they had used on Adam, and the human race to enslave them, (temptations, desires of the flesh, false glory, riches that would fade, etc.) they threw at the Son of man, hoping he would cave. Yet they failed. Because Christ Jesus had something that the demons could never have: Peace. That was how Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet was without sin.
and even more so, through it all, He held on to His peace. not caving into the deceptions of the world.. and in doing so, demonstrated the worth and glory of His peace. a peace like His, so very rich in value, could not be found in the world, because it was not from the world.
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (Jn 14:27)
we as humans, have this propensity to run away from times of hardship, conflict, chaos, and all the like..
but brothers & sisters, I implore you to renew your minds that Christ has given us His VERY OWN peace. And His peace (a fruit of the Holy Spirit), is the very thing that equips and empowers us to destroy the works of satan, and bring the kingdom to this world!
our victories are measured by the temptations we overcome.
we are no longer slaves of the flesh, as we have been reconciled to God through Christ, because as He is, so also are we in this world! (1 Jn 4:17)
haaaa-! Amen.
francis chan: NO WAY!!!!!!!
Many of you have heard the story of what happened a year ago when we decided to do a conference here in San Francisco… In short, we were going to have hundreds of people show up in the inner city to pass out thousands of meals to the poor and homeless. A few days before the conference, the…
No friggin way…haaaaaa!!! Amen Jesus!!!!
congrats lebron! the first of many. the floodgates have been opened.
happy meal revelations.
throne room revelations - 6/14/12:
nothing tastes as glorious as fresh out the oven chicken mcnuggets at mcdonalds. at midnight. ab.sol.ute.ly divine.
infact, so divine that as i began chewing on those lil crunchy glorious nuggets, i began to have revelations about Jesus. hahaha.
——
as i began to think about how absolutely boring and repugnant religion is, the HS began to give me downloads.
religion kills. it kills the spirit. it sucks out the very being of man, and fills him with toxins.
and then it hit me.
religion came to an end in Jesus. before Christ, there was only religion. law. man’s effort to try and be made right with God. which was why when Christ came, he came not to abolish, but fulfill the law (matt 5:17). however, in doing so, he actually abolished it.
oh the glorious irony. “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has take it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14)
this is the glory of the Gospel.
Christ Jesus, the representative of man, obeyed the law perfectly (new man), so that it may come to an end in Him.
Christ Jesus, the representative of God, put to death religion (old man) in His body, so that the ministry of condemnation may come to an end, and the ministry of reconciliation may come into fruition! (2 Cor 3:7-10)
too many believers (myself included), are still living under the old covenant mindset. still trying to obey the law, which is impossible! (Romans 5:20a). sin is the only thing that will result in trying to obey the law. the purpose of the law was one thing! to expose sins! so that by having our sins exposed, we would admit that we were in need of a savior. which was the very purpose why Jesus Christ, the perfect Adam, raised the standard, and fulfilled it. accredited to himself righteousness, so that to those who may believe, may have His righteousness imputed unto them.
this is the ministry of reconciliation. this is the good news. this is this gospel! glory—
Noblesse oblige.
Throne room thoughts - 5/30/12:
A King should always be the greatest servant of all. (John 13:5,14 Matt 20:26-28) Christ is the King of all kings, & servant of all servants. This only demonstrates the integrity of His kingship! Wow. Worthy is He.
I’m slowly beginning to understand the secret of wearing Christ’s humility and soaking in His intimate presence. Ahh Glory!!
AD(vancing).
our relationships with God should always be advancing. increasing in fullness. getting deeper into a place of intimacy. and this is no different within the corporate body of Christ, friendships, marriage, etc! by being connected to the Head, everything else will flow as intended.
if a relationship isnt advancing and getting deeper in intimacy, then it is only retreating. or even worse, plateauing. plateauing is the greatest enemy of progress. too often we become content with mediocrity. content with “just” good.
then how do we advance in intimacy? by being made aware of our already established union with the Vine! intimacy isn’t established by trying harder. rather it is established from enjoying the presence & company of the other party. getting to know the little details. not trying to please the other person more. it’s all about resting in his presence, that leads to bearing divine fruits. too much glory!
we must learn to cultivate an environment of hosting his sweet presence that leads to divine bliss. intimacy flows from innocence. one must have childlike faith (innocence, purity) inorder to experience the Kingdom and eat from the tree of Life.
sheol.
sometimes I feel like the biggest hypocrite. then, I am reminded by His grace that my identity isn’t determined by my struggles..what i do or don’t do.. but rather my identity is shaped by who He says I am. something that i do not deserve. humbling. it is with this very assurance that I am able to continue pressing on from victory.
O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit. (psalms 30:3 NASB)
sweetness.
(Source: observando)
Identity. What do you believe you are?
I’ma just go right into it and keep it real, and start from the beginning about ‘our foundation’: our identity.
I’ll never understand when believers proclaim over themselves that they are fallen sinners. Because the truth is, you are not a sinner! You are a saint! You have the right to sonship (Rom 8:15)! You are no longer an orphan, living in fear, guilt and condemnation. This is the dang good good news. As long as you believe that you are sinner, you will always manifest sin. Matta fact, 1 john 3:9 says: ‘No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.’ You can’t be a new creation, and a sinner at the same time. That is an oxymoron.
Who says that you are a sinner? I can assure you that it is NOT God. But satan. Who is the accuser of the brethren. The condemner. 2 Cor 5:21 says ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ Let this sink in. Dwell on it..
If understood correctly, this can be the most liberating truth ever. I’m sick of seeing my brothas and sistas being under the dominion of sin. Jesus died for you and for me, to set us free from sin. So that we would be reconciled back to the Father. Woven into the Trinity. Joined into God’s family. It does not make any sense whatsoever, when we say, ‘Oh yeah I’m a new creation, but I’m still a sinner…’ Including that latin phrase “simul lustus et peccator.” (simultaneously justified and a sinner)
Saying that, only justifies us when we continue to sin. Because we believe that we have no power over sin. And what ends up happening is we begin to sin by faith -_-. “O yeah i sinned, but I’ma just ask God for forgiveness, etc.” This belief that we will still sin, since we are a merely fallen sinners saved by grace, is one of the achilles heel of modern day christianity. This belief has been enslaving so many believers in ever having the hope that they can be set free from sin.
Were we saved by grace, so that we can still be sinners? NO. We were saved by grace so that we may live a new life in Christ. We were sinners. But now we have been made the righteousness of God.
The difference between the belief that “I am a sinner” or “I am a saint”, is that a sinner has no dominion over sin. Rather, sin has dominion over them. So when they are tempted, because they believe they are a sinner, they will succumb to their temptations and end up sinning.
“For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”(Rom 6:14)
A saint on the other hand, has dominion over sin. Because they believe that they died to their sinful nature (Gal 2:20). That on the cross, Jesus was putting to death everyone’s sinful nature in his body, so that the sinful nature would be done away with forever. And when He rose again, we also were resurrected with him, as new creations. C’mon baby.
Once a criminal has been set free, he doesn’t go around saying “Yeah, I’m a freed criminal.” No. He goes around embracing his freedom and identity as a free man.
Romans 6:2 “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
The only way to overcome sin, and how I overcame sin, was this very core belief that I was no longer a sinner, but a saint. Before I believed this, whenever I was tempted, I would always cave in. No matter how hard I fought against it my temptations. I understood my brotha paul in romans 7. But the good news is that paul doesn’t just stop in romans 7. He continues onto romans 8, saying “Therefore, there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
In the life of a believer, Freedom is key. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. This is how we begin to manifest heaven. We can not and will not be able to manifest heaven as sinners. ‘Cause we will always be under the dominion of sin and the only thing we will be able to manifest is sin.
You are beloved by God. Stop dwelling in your guilt & condemnation. That isn’t from God. Declare over yourselves over and over again, that you have DIED to sin and are alive in Christ. Receive baby!
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
im in!
ive entered the matrix. awesome. haha my tumblr is so naked and plain. shalom.
