Manifesting the life of Jesus...today!

Taking the time to realize that Jesus sent us out to bring the kingdom of God to our sphere of influence is key to finding meaning in life. In John 20:21 Jesus said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. Wow! Then if you look at what John wrote in John 1:16, "and of His fullness we have all received, and Grace for Grace....You and I have the kingdom of God residing on the inside of us! In your own strength and power you are limited to the earthly realm. But we are all children of God by the blood shed on Calvary's cross. Manifesting the life of Jesus is a matter of believing what Jesus said we could do. Let's begin to simply believe and watch what He can do!

The One Who Matters Most-Cares the Most!

There are ways the world can offer solutions to help you be peaceful, calm, and not worry. Some can help, some are techniques and programs that lead into deeper stress issues. The one thing that always satisfies and brings lasting results is a focus on Gods' love for us and His desire to be our everything.
When you focus and expectantly gaze upon the One who knew you at your worst and still shed His blood on the cross for you, nothing can steal your peace. If you take a moment to realize (asking the Spirit of God to help you perceive) the level of love the father has always had for you and continually feed on that revelation, your life will radically change. In the book of Romans chapter 8:31-39 is showing you the measure of Father Gods' love for you-Jesus. If He did not withhold heavens best from us (knowing all the choices we would make for all time), how will He not freely help us in our time of need?
 Receiving the truth about how God sees you will be one of the greatest breakthroughs to your peace and joy in this life you will ever have. Knowing you are part of a heavenly kingdom where you are an adopted son or daughter with "Full" access to the King of Kings and The Lord of Lords begins to melt away your cares and worries. If you take 5 minutes right now or some time today to read and meditate on that section of Romans, I believe The Lord will speak to you in a way you may not have ever experienced before!
In 1 Peter 5:7 one of the keys to peace is revealed. Cast ALL your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. What a wonderful opportunity we have to release our stress, anxiety, worry, fear, and doubts. The creator of the heavens and the earth has called us sons, friends, co heirs and partners in the kingdom of God. There is no reason for us to let the lies of the enemy or the circumstances we are currently in to steal our peace, joy, and love! Cast those cares upon Him...He Cares For You!
If we allow God to father us in every area of our lives-He will. Are we humble enough to let Him help?
Blessings

"Where Real Life Is"

It never surprises me to take a look at daily news feeds and see the main underlying theme. Mankind is on a constant search for a "Real" connection with someone or something that satisfies the deep cry within. As much as the news/system of this world has a level of interest and appeal to our sense of right, wrong, and entertainment/excitement/flesh stimulation, it will never be as exciting as discovering your "Real" life. In my own life, I have started to change my focus over the years towards my "Real life" and found the results to be much more exciting than the alternative. In Colossians 3:2-4 gives you one example where this life is located. Let's quick see what it says: "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." So, the focus and receiving mode of making it our determined purpose to know the One who holds all things together (Colossians 1:17) will cause us to find our "Real life".
As eternal spirit beings, we are always going to exist. Our relationship with our creator does not have to wait for intimacy until we get to heaven someday. See, if you really want to influence the world to receive the free gift of salvation we may want to experience the reality of it as well. Your heavenly Daddy wants to pour out His love and favor on you now-today! He longs for you to find that motivation, propelling you to spent time learning about the nature, attributes, and infinite love He has to share with you now....not wait till this world passes away. Jesus prayed in John chapter 17 that we may know the Father and that is what eternal life really is (John 17: 3).
There is no end to the affection that He has for you. When you were at your worst, God saw it and sent His Son anyway to give you the opportunity to fellowship with Him immediately. He's not mad at you...your real life is hidden in the riches of Christ Jesus...find out all you can about this life birthed in the loving heart of God before eternity past. Blessings :-)

"Leave Your Waterpot Behind"

I am very intrigued by the significance of the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob in John chapter 4. He is purposeful and intentionally going out of his way to have an encounter with someone culturally, spiritually, and morally shunned.


 In verse 4 of chapter 4 it says, "It was necessary (needful) for Him to go through Samaria." Well, the need was to set a person free who was bound. She was in the search for significance in the world and in this case, through relationships with men. See, she came to draw water at a time when you would not want to be walking with a heavy water pot on your head: the middle of the day in the desert. She was tired of the dirty looks, gossip, and self condemnation I'm sure as she had been married 5 times and now living with another man. Jesus spoke with her about many things without condemning her and pronouncing judgement upon her for her many sins. He gave her words of love and life that pointed to the solution to her every need. See, weather you are reading this as an unbeliever or a Christian, the solution to your daily needs and provisions are still Jesus and only Jesus. Not a prescribed formula that involves focus on self effort rather than a rest in His effort.
In verse 28 of the 4th chapter of John the Samaritan woman leaves her water pot behind and runs back to town. She begins verbally proclaiming the answer to her and everyone else's issues of daily emptiness that only an encounter with the living Jesus can cure. See, that encounter with the giver of life caused her to repent (to change the way she was thinking) of "self consciousness" to becoming " Jesus conscious". The result was that she left her "water pot" of her shame, guilt, condemnation, fear of man, and her old understanding of who God was behind. She moved forward and declared her past-her past! She turned from self focus to a new life and daily focus on the giver of living water.
If you take just 15 minutes and read John chapter 4:1-42, I promise God will reveal to you something you have been longing for all your life- daily intimacy and connection with your loving Savior. There is so much packed into these verses, we could talk for hours on it-LOL- but just for fun, take a gander at it this week and see what else He shows you.......


Jesus is interested in making an individual, personal connection with you every day no matter what you are going through or dealing with. Will you leave your "Water pot" behind?


Blessings :-) Feedback and comments welcome!

You are needed!

One of the ways the enemy tries to get us distracted from our purpose and destiny is to convince us that we are not valuable and uniquely needed. There is such an incredible need for what God has placed inside of you that the body of Christ is not complete without what you bring to the table. John 1:12-13 says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but Of God!" Listen to how the mirror translation puts it: "Everyone who realizes their association in Him, convinced that He is their original life and that His name defines them, in them He endorses the fact that they are indeed His offspring, begotten of Him; He sanctions the legitimacy of their son-ship. These who discover their genesis in God beyond their natural conception! Man began in God. We are not the invention of our parents!"
We are an intended, planned, thought out, and extremely valuable piece of a beautiful mosaic of the Fathers' love. If we are not intentional about connecting with the loving Father who has made a foolproof way to have intimacy with Him, our life on earth will be substandard at best. Jesus did not come and suffer on the cross and go through hell for you just to one day slip into heaven. No, He purposefully intended to put heaven back into you by what Jesus accomplished so you could fulfill your heavenly mandate here on earth. You ARE needed in the economy of the kingdom of God.
Ask the Lord this week to show you in the bible and through a revelation/understanding in your heart that He unconditionally loves you, accepts you (Ephesians 1:6) and has great purposes and plans for you. These are ( 2 Peter 1:2-4) waiting to be fulfilled by you simply believing His word and receiving His Grace and Mercy in your heart! Will you receive it starting today?

Its ALL about what He did, not what you do.

From time to time we all need a reminder that the issues we seem to be facing over and over again are a result of the wrong focus. There are times at our workplace or in family-personal relationships that we get in a rut of unfruitfulness as a direct result of our focus on problems and not solutions. We can apply this same line of thinking to our frustration with where we seem to be in relationship with the Lord.
In Romans 4:13, Paul is teaching about the principle of faith righteousness vs. works righteousness using Abraham as his example. It states, "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed (us today) through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."
What we focus on and "Behold" will increase! You and me putting focus on our problems and issues and allowing our minds to be filled with doubt, fear and unbelief will only cause issues to be amplified and multiplied. We are put in right standing with the Father by putting our faith in and believing that the blood of Jesus has given us a position of sonship and not slavery (which is what an old testament, law based focus produces). In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul is encouraging the Corinthian church to behold the beauty and finished work of what Jesus did on the cross to produce transformation in their lives, not to behold and keep looking at their "ugly behavior". It states, "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of The Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of The Lord.
Focus on the "Person" of Jesus and keep looking to experience the reality of who you are because of what HE did and you will begin to see true breakthrough in your life. Yoke up with Him, he already broke through for you 2000 years ago. Agree with what He says about you in the word and by His precious promises and truths He will speak to your heart and change in circumstances and outward manifestations will follow!

The "Old Man" is Dead-Don't Resurrect him!


In the NIV translation of the bible, the sinful nature is used to describe the Greek word, "sarx". In actuality the literal translation of that word is the word "flesh". Flesh is described as human nature apart from Gods' influence and direction. So this idea that we still have a sin nature once we are a new creation is a man made idea. The phrase, "We need to die to self" is found nowhere in the bible from Genesis to revelation yet this line of thinking and teaching is common for a host of believers in reference to explaining their current fight with temptation. The old man of sin nature was co crucified with Christ at the cross (see Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3 and 9, Romans 6:6 and 14 for starters).
The biggest deception of the enemy is deception. There is nothing new under the sun as he tried the same thing on Jesus in the desert temptation going after His identity. As the first Adam lost his original identity to the deception of satan, don't be hoodwinked into believing you have an old self, "black dog" that spiritually exists. The enemy and his cohorts are simply but methodically trying to convince you that you still carry around that old man nature. The truth spiritually (which is who you really are eternally) is that you are ONE with Christ (Ephesians 2:6, 1 Corinthians 6:17)
You cannot crucify yourself! You were co-crucified with Christ, co buried, and therefore co- resurrected with Him and now seated with Him (I john 4:17, Ephesians 2:6).
The reality of the outward behavior of your physical actions is the result of what and how you believe. What you believe to be true will eventually manifest.
So, Romans 6:10-11 is critical: "For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves dead to sin (noun), but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Flesh is a way of thinking that produces self effort and dead works. This flesh is activated and increased by focusing on right behavior rather than right believing. If you begin to believe right, your behavior has no chance but to start manifesting the fruits of the Spirit instead of the works of the flesh.
Any type of religion including works based Christianity will "prod", "poke",  and activate the works of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit and you will see the kingdom of heaven manifest in the earth like never before.
Let that old man stay in the grave! The life of Christ Jesus is in you and He is the hope of manifesting the Glory of God in the earth......

Blessings.......Brad

Keep it Simple

Why is it that the human race finds if incredibly difficult to just keep things simple? We tend to think the more twists, turns, regulations, and instructions the better the end result will be. We may not really want to admit this altogether, but if we take an honest look at our lives we may be surprised where we have complicated things.

One of the reasons why God told Adam and Eve to not partake of the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil" was to keep things simple. Simple in terms of where our focus lies.
In 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 the apostle Paul draws a parallel to Eve in the garden. This verse says, 3"But I fear, lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted-you may well put up with it!NKJV

I have been challenged lately to keep things focused on the simplicity of the Gospel. We need to be struck again with the wonder and amazement of the depth and riches hidden in the very person of Jesus. If you look at what Paul was also saying to the Church in Corinth, simplicity in where wisdom and knowledge is found. Look at this, Colossians 2:2-4 "being knit together in love, and attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words."

We have this treasure in our earthen vessel. Christ is in us, the hope of realizing the glory He has imputed to us at the cross. As Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert on a pole for the Israelites to expectantly gaze upon, a constant gaze upon Jesus will bring manifestation for you today. Amen?

Wow! What a Gift....Fullness!

This morning I was spending a little time with the Lord and asked Him to show me something I had not seen before or realized. I was led to John Chapter 1:16 which says, "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace."

To think that when we realized the gift of His son and accepted what He did for us, He gave us His FULLNESS!? I looked up the Greek word used here for "fullness" and found that it literally means: power, agency, riches of Christ, of those things a ship carries for its' journey and is filled with all merchandise-manpower-and supplies needed for the journey! The root word of fullness in the Greek means: to make full, filled to render perfect, to accomplish, and to bring into realization!

All we need to realize is that the Gospel is a receiving kingdom. Out of our revelation of what He has given us we are then able to manifest Him. If we still think we are striving to become something for others and God, then we have stepped into the religion zone. That's a dead end my brothers and sisters!

His "fullness" is a much much better option than beating ourselves up and trying to "obtain fullness" by our efforts and mindless religious activities designed to make us feel better about ourselves. Receive the ongoing gift of His fullness and you will see the fruits of the Spirit manifest and not the works of the flesh, Amen?

"How do I know I'm loved?"

At our core, we all cry out to absolutely know that we are loved and desired. It is the greatest need of humanity and always will be. Not how much money we make, how many good friends we have, getting the perfect career, or even having the perfect family life. There is something embedded in our DNA that yearns for intimacy with the One who formed us and made us with an eternal destiny in mind. The truth is, if we find it and then nurture that relationship...it enhances and makes everything else all begin to fall in place.
Many people, weather you are a Christian or not frequently say things outwardly or inwardly like, "God, if you really loved me you would ............." right? I have too my fellow sojourners. Here is what I have found and have seen to be helpful. First off you need to be determined to not just have an "engagement" with Jesus and actually get married and joined to Him. If you are not interested in learning the heart and character of God, the rest of this might not gel with you.
I spent the majority of my Christian life relying on a prayer and "good moral" behavior and found that to be a dry dead end...I started hungering for more of the real thing(about 2004) and boy am I getting more and more evidence of what I had been missing out on! LOL
If you have not really spent time in the word of God lately or ever for that matter...now is a great time! Take a look at how wonderfully Romans 8:32 tells you how you can KNOW He loves you and desires an intimacy with you that may seem impossible where you are at right now in life....It says, "He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?" WOW! In fact Romans chapter 8 is probably one of my favorite chapters in the entire bible to read....consider doing a slow, methodical "soak" there and I guarantee you will see a side of God you might not have really experienced before!
Beloved, I think we in North America need to get back to the raw, powerful message of the cross. What I mean is that God made the greatest love move in the history of mankind when He sent His Son to become "sin" so that we could become the "righteousness" of God through Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).....Romans 5:8 says, "But God shows and clearly proves His own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ the Messiah (Anointed One) DIED FOR US!"
The bottom line is that the sole expression (Hebrews 1:3 AMP version) of His Glory and majesty paying the penalty for our sins is proof of His love for you. As you continue to ask for revelation and and develop a personal, intimate relationship with Him by spending time and just enjoying His presence...You will KNOW you are loved. This love tank filling will be so superior to anything else available on the earth that anything someone or some thing gives you on earth will just be a nice bonus! Chew on that today and ask the Lord if what I am saying is truth. Blessings to you!

"You Need the Steak & Ice Cream"

When we take an honest look at our lives, do we ever wonder why our Christian life looks hardly any different than the world? I know, I know kind of a tough question to start things off ...sorry :)
Really though: If we are supposed to reflect the loving heart of our heavenly Father and the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23...something is missing as a corporate whole.
The other day I was ministering to someone and trying to get across the need for the necessity of walking in a revelation of the unconditional love our Father God has for us. What transpired was an explanation from heaven that at the time really touched us both! It may bless you as well....here it is.
What would happen if you put a plate or a bowl in front of someone you were preparing food (in this case a steak or ice cream) for and started pouring steak sauce, marinade, seasonings, or any other "add on" seasoning or flavoring? In the case of the ice cream: whipped cream, syrup, cherry, etc....
Now imagine just starting to eat the toppings, seasoning, and or flavorings without having the steak/ice cream there? Kinda weird right? Well, getting a revelation and ongoing meditation on the Fathers' unconditional love for you is like the steak/ice cream. If you don't have it and walk in it, you will be trying to feed and get your "satisfaction" from the things of this world like money, jobs, other people etc.....All you get from your husband, wife, kids, job, etc.... is icing on the cake....seasoning on the steak.....toppings on the ice cream....it won't satisfy you-feed you-or bring absolute fulfillment to your life! But, if you are "fed" by the steak of His great love...all the other "things" will be a wonderful bonus to the fulfillment you already have in His love for you! Otherwise, you will always be frustrated-upset-and inwardly unsettled because the "condiments" of the world will never satisfy. This is one of the main reasons I think the Church has fallen short as a composite whole in reflecting the love of God to a fallen world...Let's receive the fullness of His Fatherly love and we will see changes happen!!!..take it to Him yourself today and ask Him what He thinks?

Slave or Son?

Sometimes I think the understanding and definition of our current role in partnership with God gets muddled. There is a fine line between viewing ourselves as lowly servants of the Master and joint heirs with Jesus as sons of the Living God. The word of God is very clear that when Jesus came and shed His royal blood for us on the cross and rose to the right hand of power and authority, we are to join Him (1 John 4:17, Ephesians 3:6, Romans 8:14-17). Do you think Jesus serves the purposes of the Father and heaven with a servant mentality that resembles a slave? Now, when I say slave, I am referring to someone who is in bondage to a harsh taskmaster as the Israelites were in Egypt. No way-He served as a humble "son" who knew His rights, privileges, and authority given to Him to enforce the agenda of the kingdom. There is a stream of false humility that runs through some teaching out there that says we ought to see ourselves as lowly "servants" of the mighty Master...A false humility is when we claim to be humble and talk about our low position under the premise that we should, "serve" from a slave mindset. This is very dangerous ground as is a pompous, haughty position that God "owes" me something! He neither wants us "lowly thinking like a slave" or "sticking our chest out and demanding a handout". There are always extremes of teaching and attitudes that bring confusion. The enemy is the author of confusion while the Spirit of the Lord and Wisdom brings freedom. Hosea 4:6 says that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Galatians 4 is pretty clear of our position in Christ and from what mindset we should approach God. Verse 6-7 say it beautifully, 6-"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba Father!"(Which literally translates to Daddy God in the Hebrew). 7-Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Then in Romans 8:14-17 is says,14- "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. 15-For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba Father." 16-The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17-and if children, the heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Adopted sons and daughters in our world are not "slaves" of their parents are they? No, they grow in a nurturing parental environment and ideally "obey" and "submit" to their parental guidance from a position of love and respect, not of fear and intimidation. A healthy, loving and intimate relationship produces obedience and respect as a by-product of knowing and receiving unconditional love from the parent. If we do not see and have a revelation of the fatherly, "Daddy" side of God-we will always be measuring ourselves by our performance and ability to "earn" our love from God. God sent Jesus to restore us back to our created value and the intimacy Adam and Eve experienced in the garden prior to them falling into a twisted mindset. He came to put heaven back into us, not slave away to get to it someday by our efforts. Our efforts flow from a loving relationship and intimacy from spending time with Him getting to know His heart and agenda for His children, not man's ideas and knowledge.
Believe you are seated with Him in heavenly places-put on the robe of righteousness purchased by Christs' blood, receive the ring of authority, put sandals back on your feet, receive the hugs and kisses of Daddy, receive the sacrifice of the fattened calf along with the party! You are "Accepted in the Beloved" (Eph 1:6)...this does not produce an" Entitlement attitude", but a gratitude that empowers to live out the sonship Jesus grafted us into! (See Luke 15:20-24 for proof of these claims), matter of fact if you read the whole story, the "older brother" was mad and wanted his younger brother to be treated as a "slave".  He thought the father "owed" him and yet he couldn't see it was there for him all along. It might be time we get truly humble and evaluate if we think God "owes" us because we have "served" tirelessly all these years and still have not gotten what we are "due". I think if we come alongside and start agreeing what His word says about our identity, we will see that we have all things that pertain to life and godliness now, because of what Christ already accomplished at Calvary. Amen?
Beloved, we are to serve alongside of Jesus with joy knowing that we are put into Christ not by things we do for God and our fellow man. We are saved and maintained by the Grace of God and knowing our acceptance because of His sacrifice will cause us to humbly serve from a position of joint authority. These are not my thoughts and ideas, but the thoughts and ideas of a loving Father that simply wants to pull as many children to His side as would receive Him. Will you?

"Giving Gods' Way"

I was awakened early this morning (as is common lately if the Lord really seems to want to share and show me something) and immediately recalled a short conversation I had with someone yesterday while at my sons' soccer game. We discussed how putting emphasis on getting assists (giving the ball away) instead of goals when going into the game was a good strategy for his soccer development.
As I recalled this conversation this morning, the Lord began to encourage me to write this morning about giving from a position of overflow and not of need. Then I clearly heard Him say "Teach them about My way of giving" and immediately several scriptures began to flash in front of me that were very relevant to this topic.
Interesting that one of the first scriptures, which is probably the most quoted and memorized in John 3:16 came to mind. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" Notice how from the position of fullness of love-God gave to us heaven's best, Jesus. God is a giver and His motivation is always a position of massive love towards us. He is the focus-His greatness, goodness, and compassion on those He created allows us to receive of His loving heart so that we are empowered to give. See, in 1John 4:10-11, 18-19 it clearly tells us that love is defined as God first loving us and not us loving Him and that Him sending Jesus to wipe away our sin is the measuring stick of Gods love. It also indicates that perfect love casts out fear and fear is unfortunately the position that a lot of us "Give" to others from. If we give from a position of fear (most of us don't even realize when we do it) and do kind, nice, courteous things for people we unintentionally expect something or some reaction back from that person. This is why giving out to people has to come from a heart of unconditional love (like the Lord gives) or else it is a set up for disappointment, resentment, and hurt feelings. John 1:16 says, "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace." When we spend time to get recharged and filled up by concentrating on His love for us, His fullness will be imparted to us and the grace that is flowing towards us because of the cross will empower us to give to others. Giving to other people whether it is God, your spouse, kids, friends, co-workers, or strangers with an agenda behind it is treading on thin ice. I know I spent years and years trying to give just to get from people and it caused nothing but heartache for all parties involved. What I have found in growing towards a permanent shift in this mindset is His love for me is so much more infinitely reliable that when focused on, fills me to overflowing so that I can give.
In Matthew 10:7-8 Jesus told the disciples, "And as you go, preach saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand", "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give". Wow, we give and serve others because we have been given from Him freely! Sound familiar? "We love (God-not here in the original Greek), because He first loved us 1 John 4:19.. in the Greek the word God is not actually there...so we love and give period because God first loved us! Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Giving is done freely-sounds obvious right? But I think if we really were to get before the Lord and receive more of His love and recharge our batteries only on His love for us....we will see our motivation change from a position of bankrupt hearts that love to be loved - to hearts that love others because He first loved us and gave of His fullness all the grace we need to love others. Loving others is a grace that the blood of Jesus provides for you to love others. One of the greatest examples of love motivation transformation (is that a real phrase? LOL) is the apostle Peter. Before Christ was crucified he boasted quite frequently in His love for the Lord and did a lot of great things and good deeds for the Lord. At that time his heart was more filled with passion and desire to do good and be good for Jesus but it got him in trouble. John was more focused on Jesus' love for him and he ended up being the one at the foot of the cross in Jesus' greatest time of need. In fact Jesus entrusted John with the care of his earthly mother Mary.
The point is that once Jesus completed the work at Calvary and the Father sent Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost everything changed. Has it changed you? Or are you satisfied with a ticket stub to heaven and a give to get system of giving and receiving that leaves you and those around you frustrated, behavior focused and judgemental? I lived that "American religion" for too many years and am now experiencing another side of the gospel that quite frankly is liberating! This transformation is ongoing and we never "arrive" fully on this earth but we should be moving forward from one glory to another by His grace. If you are stuck not progressing forward, receive freely more of what is available to you from the Father God (James 1:17) who loves you!
Beloved, there are many places to find evidence in the Word of receiving His love and that alone empowering you to, "Give Gods' way". Here is one that came to mind this morning as I pondered this topic with Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:12 says, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." Love this verse! The spirit of the world is a spirit that gives to get, measures and quantifies their giving, and has ulterior motives when they give--do we? This is what I think the Lord is trying to teach us this morning. It is incredibly liberating and freeing to give from a position of: "Hey, I was freely given all things by a loving Heavenly Father, matter of fact He gave me heaven's best-Jesus-so I'm going to give to others because I have been freely given all things!" Amen? Otherwise we measure the giving of our time, money, efforts by some made up standard in our mind that we ourselves and others rarely if ever measure up to! Guess what happens next? Condemnation and guilt come and start accusing us of not hitting the standard we set for ourselves and others. See what a crazy, vicious cycle that is?
One last thought, remember our buddy the Apostle Peter? Well, after He was transformed by Holy Spirit filling him in Acts 2, he preached an amazing sermon and he and John ministered to a lame man begging for money in chapter 3. Interestingly verse 6 says, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." Peter now gave from what he had received and it was the powerful love of God that gave the man not what he wanted but what he needed! Beloved, give Gods' way and you will experience the life of giving you have desired to have--Only this time you will be giving from the motivation of love, not to get back what you gave.
Blessings.

"Don't Come Out From Hiding"

Hiding can be a good thing right? At first glance we might think that hiding is not necessarily the best thing for us most of the time. Well it depends on the context of what we are discussing. For our purposes today we will see that staying hidden is the best thing for us!
In Colossians 3:3-4 Paul by the Holy Spirit says, "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears (or is revealed NAS), then you also will appear (be revealed) with Him in glory"
This word "hidden" in the original Greek is the word, "krupto" which means" to conceal that it NOT become known." The world and most Christians are trying to become known in so many ways but I think sometimes we have it in reverse because if we realize it is about Christ and His character that needs to be manifested in this world change happens. We have been crucified with Christ--you are dead---the new life of Christ wants to manifest--you are a son of God--die to your old self and align with the life of Christ...Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been Crucified with Christ; it is NO LONGER I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith OF the son of God, who LOVED me and gave Himself for me." Amen? Our lives will come together more and more in all areas as you submit to this reality: Your REAL LIFE is hidden in Christ!
Now...my brothers and sisters, this word "Appears" from verse 4 of Col 3 is interesting in the Greek because most of us think of this(appearing of Jesus) when ,"Oh glory He comes back to take me to heaven" when the reality of the true life of a Christian is that Christ came back to restore your created value back and put heaven back into you as was in the garden pre-fall! Back to the Greek word for appears...It is, "Phaneroo" which means to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown to manifest, whether by words, deeds, or any other way!" In other words, the more you get "hidden" with Christ--- the more His life is made manifest and visible in your visible outward actions and attitudes, which in turn reveals to others the REAL JESUS..You and me are individually so precious to the Father that He sent Jesus to make it possible to get us back on track by "restoring" us back to our God given purpose!...the word MUST become flesh, but it cannot unless we get out of the way and rest in the finished work of Jesus! If we simply agree with God, change in our lives will manifest as a by-product of our believing and meditating on the loveliness of His accomplishments on the cross! So, "don't come out from hiding" and rest in the shadow of the Almighty...Stay in the "secret" place and Jesus will shine through in your life...and He is much more lovely than we could ever be ;)

Multiplication of Grace & Peace

Grace & Peace Multiplied   

Hey all....Have you ever wondered how one might go about getting to the point where very few things rattles you anymore? I mean we all have days that can seem challenging right? But, shouldn't we begin to see the transformation in all areas of our earthly life and how we react to others, circumstances, etc.. and just the fact that Jesus himself says "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). We are not looking for the trouble obviously, but Jesus said that it will come our way from time to time. Many times, well actually most (if not all) of the time our peace and joy level are determined by how we react to a trial or tribulation...How do we preemtively (is that a word? LOL) strike tribulation so we can actually look more like Jesus than the world we are supposed to be different than? I have found my own efforts and self will fails every time...haven't you? However, in the past 5 years or so I have found a more excellent way.
^{2 Peter 1:2-4 says: 2} Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (lust here is not sexual (although it could include it)...is human nature apart from God or selfish desires not caring what your Daddy God thinks)........You can't have knowledge and understanding of His ways if ongoing fellowship with Him is not taking place...receiving His love intimately and personally having Him teach you. His divine power has already given us everything we need that pertain to life (everything you are going through) and godliness (How to look, think, and act like who you were birthed from).....in verse 4 he tells you that through focusing on the promises of God...you will be a partaker of the divine nature of God Himself! Wow...Do you think Jesus is worried about the future? Do you think He is under condemnation from Father God? Well, 1 John 4:17 part b states that "As He IS so are WE In This World" not oh glory when I get to heaven some day! (We get that too)
Jesus came not just to get us to heaven alone, but to put heaven back into us! We are restored back to the fellowship and communion Adam and Eve had before the fall...We are sons and daughters of Him because He loves us and keeps coming after us....just receive an abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness and you will begin to look like your heavenly daddy and a sibling of your brother Jesus (Romans 5:17, Ephesians 1:6) and reign in life as a king along side Jesus....Remember, His divine power has given us everything we need pertaining to life AND godliness....Its Simply Jesus...Focusing and receiving what He completed for you on the cross and the Resurrection from the dead is going to produce joy and peace no matter what adversity or obstacle you face today amen?

Grace is a Teacher-Titus 2:11-15

One of the most powerful (but underdeveloped revelations and teachings) on the power of Gods' Grace is that grace actually is a teacher and trainer unto outward holy living. See grace is not a doctrine or a "teaching"..Grace is Jesus manifested in the earth and we have that life living on the inside of us by Holy Spirit. Titus 2:11-15 reveals this and Paul exhorts Titus to release the teaching side Grace (think of Grace as the empowerment and resources of God) to combat the sinful behavior going on there. He doesn't throw the ten commandments at him as how they will have victory, no he encourages them to focus on Grace to teach them about the love of God and mercy of God which empowers to walk in the victory over sin that Jesus already paid for! See Romans 5:17-20 for additional declarations and evidence that it is by receiving an abundance of Grace is what trains you to live by His Spirit.......

Where we stand with God

Sometimes we forget that if we have come into the kingdom of God by the shed blood of Jesus, we are regenerated and renewed! What do I mean by that? Well if we look at a rarely read scripture passage in Titus 3:4-7 we find in verse 5 it says, "not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration AND renewing of Holy Spirit". The word regeneration means: Renewal or restoration AFTER an injury or loss! and the word, renewed is defined as: An instance of resuming an activity of state after an interruption! Very interesting because by faith, through our helper Holy Spirit we receive a completely new start when we are born again. Notice how the loss or injury can be thought of as the fall of man in the garden which was a state of "interruption" if you will to the progress and original intention for us as Gods beloved creation.
As we renew our minds to the fact that salvation was not just simply to pray a prayer so we could escape going to hell and go to heaven someday... but a much more majestic a purpose in that Father in sending His son was restoring us back to unbridled relationship with Himself as was the intent from the beginning. He saw the created value in you and restoration to that original condition to resume intimate fellowship with you was the ultimate intent of sending Jesus. We are standing (actually seated with Christ LOL) with the Father in a state of unconditional love, acceptance, favor, and intimacy because of Jesus! Its' Simply Jesus....focus on Him....His life in you and His presence in you is your standing with our heavenly Father
I encourage you to really ponder and spend some alone time with the Lord in Titus 3:4-7 and then read 1 John 4:9-19....I promise you will be Blessed by it!

Welcome to Its Simply Jesus!

Welcome to my blogspot! I am Pastor Brad J. Penner and have decided to start blogging to encourage all who would feel led to be a part of this outreach.  I am believing this will be a place that you will encounter the love and grace of Christ Jesus, the unconditional embrace of the Father, and the sweet fellowship of Holy Spirit.
The subject of identity and who we are as children of God has been really on my heart lately. What we find is that what we really have inside of us or what we focus on will eventually be what overflows out of us. We all have the potential for living a life that exemplifies the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), and that potential was deposited the day we said yes to Jesus and received His Spirit. We have the treasure of Christ in our earthen vessel..in our spirit man. All the identity of Christ, all the potential to live a God honoring life is there just waiting for us to decide to fully die to our self and let Christ be the life that "leaks" out of our earthen vessel.
So, our identity has to be founded and then grounded in the revelation of our "sonship". We are joint heirs with Jesus, we are seated with Him in heavenly places, and as He is so are we in this world....the word clearly states this. If we really knew and believed what His word says and what He says to us by His Spirit, then we would be secure in love. Perfect love casts out fear, right? Well most Christians are so focused on doing right before God, looking right before man etc...they forget to or may not even have been taught to RECEIVE ongoing love from their "Daddy God" so that they are not dependant on the opinions of man or the people closest to them. See, man will always let you down in some way shape or form...eventually. His unconditional love, mercy, grace, and provision is stable and ever flowing towards you...His heart to yours...its a receiving kingdom, not a doing to please kingdom....that was the Old testament system that God says in His word He found fault with.(Jer 31:31, Hebrews 8:6-8)....Man can't be perfect, yet we are hinging our identity and self worth on people being perfect and filling our need, wants, and desires which they never will be able to. I personally have found that when I stopped looking for my identity in others (or even myself for that matter)..and began looking to my heavenly Father for approval-things began to change.
If you don't understand or believe that you are accepted the same way Jesus is accepted (Eph 1:6) then you are always trying to earn or work for approval by what you do for others and God. Stop trying to become someone you already are...Christ shed blood is the payment for your entrance into the forever loving arms of Father God....from this positional righteousness can flow a life that becomes a lot less striving and a lot more flowing by His Spirit...Amen?