Finding Home: Your place of Security!!

As we have made our transition from Exchanged Life Ministries I have been riddled with insecurity, anxiety, and fear.  I knew that letting go of ELM was Father asking me to let go of an idol of security but I did not realize how deep the roots of insecurity were in my heart.  Father had given me many promises including, "All those who are being led by the Spirit are the sons of God."  We had seen Father come through in amazing ways to make a place for us at BridgeWay Church and also in our own ministry, Destined for Sonship Ministries.  Yet my heart was still affected by these nagging insecurities and fear, like a cat that was locked up in a closet trying to get out.  Father had even prompted me to share what was weighing on my heart with our Pastor which was a great relief when he was gracious and understanding.  It also looked like we would have the financial support we needed to continue in the ministry.  We were at a Conference, "Awakened to Destiny" and I commented to my wife that we ought to expense the Conference.  She said she did not want to put too many expenses to the ministry but I had a sense that Father was going to provide for the Conference.  A supporter and friend was at the Conference, he handed us a year end check which included an extra gift for the cost of the Conference.  I love to see God answer prayer quickly and supernaturally.  Difficulty in finances over the years is also a major trigger for the insecurities in my heart, yet I knew that financial security could not be my source of security.  While we had received favor at the church it has not been finalized yet if we will have a role as part-time staff, so this further brought my insecurity to the surface.  I knew the Lord was doing a work in my heart and getting ready to bring a major revelation but why does great revelation always seem to come with a cost.  As the insecurity, anxiety, and fear came bubbling to the surface (it always seems to be a process of things getting exposed, not  just a quick wham), I poured my heart before the Father.  Whenever you are in doubt it is a good bet to cry out to the Lord or when you want more to cry out to the Lord, I believe he loves raw honesty instead of cloaked hiding and games.  As I was crying out I sensed the gentle nudge of the Father pointing me toward eternal security in Him.  I would tell you that I believe in the New Covenant that when we are born-again that we are saved and secure eternally "in Christ" through believing in our heart and confessing with our lips (Romans 10:9-11).  I understood this in my mind theologically why I believed in eternal security but my heart was in a different place.  I don't believe Father wants our heads and hearts to be out of alignment with His Word but for our whole being to agree with the truth and thus being set free.  As I began to reflect on eternal security from my place of insecurity the Holy Spirit was reminding me of a Scripture that I then found in John 14:1-3, which as I read it the water of His Spirit began to crash into the parched places of my soul.  Jesus says, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also."  The Holy Spirit also reminded me of Ephesians 2:6 which says, "and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"  I put in bold those phrases which hit my heart as revelation, the Holy Spirit was showing me that while I was looking for a home for my heart on the earth, He had already prepared a heavenly place for me in the Father's house.  It was like the Holy Spirit pulled back the curtain on a great masterpiece, it was that I had a heavenly place in the Father's house.  I could feel the arms of the Father wrap around me giving me the security that I had longed for but couldn't find on the earth.  I believe the heart is always looking for a home and our home with our parents growing up was to be a beginning place but the home finds it's ultimate meaning in this dwelling place united to Christ in the Father's house.  Could it be that the Father's house is so large that I have a specific place reserved just for me and that I can experience that now in the Spirit by faith but it will come to pass finally when I leave this body to be with the Lord forever.  I began to see the importance of not only believing this by faith but to actually operate from this heavenly place would bring a level of authority, freedom, and security here on the earth as well.  This gave me a desire to experience this place that God has made for me, what a gift when I deserved death and was given mercy but also a heavenly dwelling place.  I believe an eternal perspective is the only one that puts my daily life into a proper perspective.  The Lord showed it to me this way on an occasion, He showed me an example of the pilot who had his eyes on the horizon and thus could level the plane.  If a pilot puts his eyes on the ground below or clouds close by, he will lose a balanced perspective and the plane will begin to veer off course as he orients to whatever he is looking toward.  The focus of the eyes of our heart is critical to the direction we are going in life.

In the Father's House,
Bret

Needed: Government Change or Revival?

Many believers are probably reeling from some disappointment from the election results, as many conservative values were thrown under the bus in the name of progress.  I am not talking about being Democrat or Republican, for Obama or Romney.  Many of the values represented in the current government movement are not righteous values.  Whether you agree or not is not what is important but I believe our response in this hour is critical.  If I put my hope in the government system, economic system, health care system, or any other human system, we will be disappointed at some point.  As believers we are called to put our hope in the Kingdom of God and the returning of our Messiah.  In Isaiah 60 it points to the light shining (Christ in us- He is the Light and now we are children of Light) when deep darkness covers the earth.  No one can argue that with global economic recession, instability in many Muslim governments, inflation, high unemployment, many natural disasters, human rights violations, Iran enriching Uranium, and many other things that this very much looks like some darkness covering the earth.  I am not for doom and gloom, I think it is important that we be like the sons of Issachar discerning the times and seasons we are in.  Our church recently had a revivalist, Sean Smith, who has studied the great revivals of history.  What is amazing is that what precedes a great rival or awakening is not just fervent prayer, desperation by believers, a uniting of believers for this purpose, repentance but really the darkening of the society the people are in.  Thus he listed several things, like a rise in violent crime, economic problems, etc..  It was his conviction and belief not that revival is coming to America but that it is already here.  This may be shocking to some American Christians but look across the globe at what God is doing:  there is documented outbreaks of revival on every continent on the earth, there are more Muslims coming to Christ in the last 50 years than all the other previous times, there are more Jews coming to Christ than in past history, there are more outbreaks of divine healings, there is incredible growth in people coming to Christ in emerging or developing nations, there are documented resurrections from the dead in over 80 countries, and there are many new countries being opened to the Gospel.  Could it be that in these times that seem so dark, we could be on the edge of one of the greatest outpourings of God's Spirit on the earth.  I have seen in my little world that there is more revelation from the Word of God being shared about our identity "in Christ" and the fullness of God's grace through Christ than I know has been released in the past.  As much as the generations behind me (younger than 40 years old) are often some of the most unchurched, somewhere around 4%.  There also I believe is a rising spiritual hunger where people are genuinely searching for something more than they are currently living and experiencing.  I believe it is time to turn to the Lord and seek His face for what He is looking to do in our nation, our families, and our own hearts.  God is not shocked by the recent election, Jesus Christ is still on His throne and God is still sovereign.  If we are reeling, maybe it is because we don't see it from God's perspective and this is an invitation to wake up to Him and wake up to our destiny as the Bride of Christ.

To see an Outpouring of Father's Love,
Bret

Faith, Hope, & Love

I seem to often perceive things in the Lord while I am riding my bike, it sounds like I just like to ride my bike (which I do) but I like to believe that Father likes to meet me in a place I enjoy.  As I have listened to international speakers who travel the world ministering the Gospel, I was struck by one of my favorite themes Father's Love.  Our pastor who recently went to a national gathering said Father's love was spoken about by each speaker.  As I was riding I sensed the Holy Spirit showing me that the "word of faith" movement was obviously based in faith, while there were abuses in this move of God it also ignited the church to move out in faith declarations that brought some amazing fruit.  There also has been a move of God through the Church that has brought healings, signs, and wonders.  This move has brought hope to the hopeless, with many with terminal illnesses getting healed.  There have of course been abuses, controversy, and difficulties in this move.  It seems the only way to stay safe from those is to have a gospel that does not transform anyone, change any circumstances, but be in Word only.  I personally refuse to believe this is a Gospel that Jesus spoke about and demonstrated, the Gospel of the Kingdom including healings, signs, and wonders.  In 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, it ends with saying these three remain Faith, Hope, and Love but the greatest of these is Love.  Could it be that in this hierarchy of revelation that Faith and Hope are precursors to the greatest revelation, which is the revelation of God's eternal, everlasting, and powerful love in Christ.  As I have been reading a book "The Gift in You" by Caroline Leaf who is a believer and a Neuroscientist she speaks about the two trees, one is based in Fear and the other in Love.  She connects our negative emotions and their consequences to this tree of Fear.  Fear really is simply the absence of love, there was no fear in the Garden of Eden before the Fall because perfect love (God) was connected to Adam and Eve.  The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 really is love, all the others flow out of love (like peace, joy, etc.).  This makes sense when you think that Jesus says He gives peace but not like the world, the world gives it through favorable circumstances but Jesus gives it from relationship with Him.  There was an author, speaker, and head of a ministry Jack Frost who spoke of an upcoming Agape Reformation, where the Love of God would sweep over the Body of Christ.  Most people know of the doctrine of God's love but I have found that people's experience of God's love falls far short of the doctrine.  There are often many ungodly beliefs, hurts, disappointments, and pitfalls that keep people from the actual experience of God's love in their lives.  I find that much of ministry is dealing with people's barriers to receiving love because in receiving love (God's love and the love others) people begin to experience transformation and more wholeness.  It makes sense to me that what is missing in a performance-based, striving, self-sufficient, competitive, and restless world is LOVE.  In order to receive love you must be vulnerable, humble, and even needy while our world celebrates the strong and independent. 

One of the marks that will make the Body of Christ stand out to the world is what 1 John 4:21 says, "And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."  John is repeating the one of the most important commandments Jesus taught them and a mark difference from trying to obey the whole Law.  Could it be that when the Body of Christ gets a revelation of Father's love that touches the deepest areas of need of the human heart, that we will be transformed to actually look like the Bride of Christ.  It is not going to be through our human effort, religion, more cognitive Bible Study, but actual encounters with Jesus that change us into our new identity as sons and daughters.

In Father's Extravagant Love,
Bret

Being Led by the Spirit

An amazing God encounter which blew both my wife and I away!  The verse in Romans 8 had been in my heart for several months, it reads "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."  I was struck by the reality that being led by His Spirit actually revealed our true identity.  As our family has wrestled with God's specific calling and vision for our lives, we came to a place to have some clarity.  Then we took a big step of faith by sharing the ministry's leadership we have been a part of for almost 8 years that it was time for us to move on.  This was truly bitter and sweet, sweet to follow the Lord's groanings inside of us and bitter to be leaving people that we love.  As we took this step of submission to the Lord we were greeted by leadership with understanding, grace, and even encouragement into our future and destiny.  In this journey Father taught us how to bless the people of ELM and not hold onto any negative feelings, I believe Father was setting us up for a blessing we did not expect.

I had met with the pastor of our church for wisdom, counsel, and direction through this transition.  We had a great meeting and our spirits connected right away, we both agreed to pray and seek the Lord over what was next.  In the short time we had been at the church there had been some transition and several staff members had left.  I went on vacation and got back and had a discussion with my boss and felt it best if I wrapped up my position on August 30th, this was sooner that I expected but my trust was in the Lord.  After sitting in corner of a bustling Mexican restaurant with people that I had been in battle with (spiritual battles over people's lives), the end of my time at ELM came quickly.  Yet Father was at work behind the scenes.  I had attempted to call our pastor but found out he was on vacation, the Lord had assured me to be patient but I was nervous.  Only two days after leaving ELM my former boss is sitting in a Starbucks, his group is approached by a man who turns out is a pastor who knows me (the two of them had never met before).  Our pastor says, that the language of the Spirit is unusual circumstances or things that are repeated.  Our pastor in his sermon talked about having a divine appointment, we were shocked that after the sermon he came up to us to tell us that we were the subject of the divine appointment.  Both men had been very honoring to me about how I had walked in trusting the Lord and stepping out in faith.  This clearly was divine favor that followed us placing our trust in the Lord and stepping out on God's word to us sacrificing our current security (the position at ELM).  Grace does not mean that there is not sacrifice, risk, or equal reward for all, stewardship of what God has entrusted to us does bring favor (parable of the talents).

It has been both thrilling like a twisting roller coaster and also terrifying like the drop when you get to the top to be led by the Spirit for the direction of life.  What is amazing is deep within our being we were made to go on this adventure to follow His lead, life is an adventure to be lived not a problem to be figured out.  Listen to His voice today and step into the adventure He has for you, you were created to trust and as you do you experience His love.

In Father's Love,
Bret

Trusting God

"In God We Trust" is on our dollar bills what has been the foundation of this country, yet today it seems we are far from this ideal.  I have to admit that I have trusted God in many areas of my life but I still struggle to release my grip in certain dimensions.  As I began to reflect on this struggle, the Lord began to show me that we were designed to trust Him with all our heart.  In Luke 10:27 a lawyer answers Jesus question correctly by quoting the Law, saying "And he answered, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'"  I have heard this quoted in church that we need to love the Lord but this list is huge and very overwhelming.  Any of you ever seriously try to love the Lord with all you heart, soul, strength, and mind?  This is not just a tall order but completely impossible.  Yet this was our very design from the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden where they totally trusted God.  The Devil's Lie was to undermine the Word of God, His character, and His nature but most importantly (because He couldn't hurt God) was to undermine the trust of Adam and Eve.  Since the Devil began to undermine the trust of Adam and Eve in God then their whole world would begin to collapse because God was the very center of their entire existence.  They relied on every Word that came from His mouth because it not only told them how their world worked but was the Truth.  We were created in God's image male and female, within the Trinity there is complete trust in one another.  Jesus merely demonstrated on earth, His complete trust in His Father through the Holy Spirit, what was already a reality in Heaven (that Jesus trusted His Father).  Jesus in walking out this complete trust in His Father in Heaven demonstrated both His divinity and His humanity.  Jesus demonstrated what a complete human being was to be, one who was totally dependent on the Father who created Him.  Every dimension of our beings are designed to trust the One who created us and formed us.  The only way for us to fully come alive is to trust Him completely because He alone gives us life, yet we have received so much programming and religious undertones that say we are supposed to perform for God to be happy with us.  I am amazed at how difficult it can be to rest and trust (better known as abiding), it is not so much the activities but the thoughts that distract from staying connected to His continual presence.  I find an endless stream of concerns, fears, things I think I need to do, other ways to fill my needs apart from God, and the voice of sin.  Yet as we look into the face of Jesus we see that He overcame every obstacle I have to putting my trust completely in God.    What an amazing truth that we have now been made new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) and it is who we are to completely trust the Father by the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  We cannot trust God by attempting to do it in our own strength, only by surrendering to the Lord and living out who we really are.  We have so many areas to trust God in our lives, to trust Him with your future, your children & family, your career, your personal needs for intimacy and love, your acceptance, your security, and your very identity.  Jesus has purchased for us everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), yet that one thing Jesus cannot choose for us is surrender to Him.  We have the choice to trust in ourselves or throw ourselves completely on Him, trusting Him for all of life.  We were designed to live this life of abandonment and love to the One who loves us perfectly.  No other person is worthy of this level of trust and reliance.  Will you hear His invitation today and take the next step He has for you to trust Him.

In Him I Trust,
Bret

P.S. This is a throwback video (1988) but I enjoyed the trip!

Broken for Others

I believe to begin to experience this New Life "in Christ", the old life must begin to break down and not function.  Living for ourselves and our efforts to please God must fail if He is going to become the very place where we draw life.  I have spent much time walking people through this difficult, painful, and transforming time.  I know that I have been so broken at times in my life that the pieces of me were on the floor all around and I wondered if I would ever be a whole person.  Our self-sufficiency keeps us from opening our hearts to experiencing the love of God and the love of others.  Even scientists are now saying that our brains are wired for love, that everything works as it is supposed to when we are experiencing love.  You were created to be infinitely loved by the God who created you and is called your Father.  Love does not mean that there is not freedom but it does mean that life comes through a vitally connected relationship where we are strengthened and empowered by One greater than ourselves.

Landing in a mix of beautiful green trees, open fields of dirt, the green and blue Pacific, and the low buildings of Puerto Vallarta was our family's first opportunity to minister in Missions together.  In the midst of dirt roads, trash filled fields, and cinder block houses sat a cinder block building a little larger than the houses.  Our first day of actual mission work was to pour a concrete floor in this cinder block building better known as a church.  The thickness in the air of the humid hot of a summer day was stifling at times, the sweating had already begun.  Only blocks from the church was a central basketball court along with a minimal playground and not far away a dirt field that doubled as a soccer field.  This would be the place of our afternoon and evening outreach.  We sent teams out into the neighborhood to invite all interested to get free medical care, have a free meal (hot dogs), and watch the kids do a skit.  As activity began to flourish around the basketball court, another team member gave an announcement over the sound system, then kids began to find their way to a bustling group of white faces in a sea of brown ones.  Kids from the age of babies to even teenagers were interested in all the stirrings and especially when some balloons for balloon animals were pulled out.  As I looked out over the now more than 100 children, I was taken in by the faces of these children.  Many who had no shoes, the Holy Spirit began to sneak into a place in my heart where the compassion and love of God was moving within me before I could try to stay within the safe boundaries of my logic and reason.  As I continued to look into their faces, John 3:16 which is plastered around at football games and often quoted began to come alive.  Jesus spoke those words with these children in His heart, they were the world that God so loved He sacraficed His only Son.  My heart was broken for these children, not out of guilt or sense of duty but of His love for them.  Being reserved and rather shy I kept all these stirrings hidden from others but Father was changing me.  As the medical team found me to pray for a girl who was 11 years old and had seen some men break her mother's jaw only 15 days earlier, I was again undone by the love of God for her.  Her name was America, she had radiant cheeks and was only a little shorter than my daughter Megan (also 11 years old).  What a privilige to lead her through forgiving these men and then let Jesus lift her fear.

I believe part of experiencing our union with Christ is to be broken over what breaks the heart of the Lord, not just to have pity but to be moved by compassion.  When Jesus was moved with compassion over a person, then through His prayers there was a release of God's supernatural power into a person's life.  Loving others will cost us, we can't stay in our place of self-protection, convenience, avoiding rejection, or our self-sufficiency.  I believe that 1 Corinthians 13 is not the only place where love is emphasized as the highest motivation, throughout Scripture you see that God's motivation is love (1 John 4:8- God is love).  In some places the Fruit of the Spirit is talked about as a list of things to do, yet there is really only one Fruit of the Spirit and that is love all the others flow from this one.  Our heart must be broken by the Love of God for others or we will be compelled by fear (duty, guilt, obligation, some reward).  As a new friend said of the what, how, and why we are doing the things we are doing, the why is the most important.  In other words, motivates us to reach out to others is vitally important to God because He sees the heart.  The only way to have His heart is to lay down our life (the soul- mind, will, and emotions).  According to John 15:12-13 and Jesus model this is the abundant life Jesus invites us into experiencing.

May His love break your heart for others,
Bret

Be Fruitful & Multiply

Often it seems that the Lord takes an idea (a spiritual truth) and increases it in your mind, like pouring gas on a burning fire.  The Lord has been doing this in my life around the truth of blessings and curses.  As I have been reading a book on "The Blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow" that I was given by a client, the truth that the Blessing is what produces fruitfulness and multiplication has been reinforced.  When I did a quick word study in the Old Testament the words "fruitful and multiply" appeared 40 times, showing this wasn't a one time thing but a theme God was reiterating.  When God blessed Adam & Eve together to co-reign, He blesses them twice in Genesis 1:22 & 28 with the words "Be fruitful and multiply".  This is covenant language (covenant is an agreement till death made by two parties that is binding) and is part of what makes up the Creation Covenant or covenant with Adam.  It is important that we see this is covenant language because the two parties were God and Adam who represented all human beings because we will see this has implications for us.  We see that from the very design of all Creation, God intends for us to be blessed and through the blessing to be fruitful and multiply.  I know in the past I thought this phrase meant to have kids and for those in agriculture to have good crops, so I figured I got the kids part covered and maybe I can bless our little tiny garden.  As you can tell God is shattering my old paradigm about the blessing and also being fruitful and multiplying.  I believe the blessing was key to Adam and Eve co-reigning on the earth and spreading the will and glory of God beyond the Garden of Eden.  Many people have wrongly believed that the whole earth was the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Eden which God caused to be fruitful and lush was about the size of modern day Iraq.  God displayed to Adam and Eve a prototype of what their dominion should look like, since they were His representatives on the earth carrying His authority and empowerment (the Blessing was from Heaven).  The rest of the earth lay untamed, wild, and in need of the dominion and ruler ship that Adam and Eve would bring.  Also after the great rebellion in Heaven by Lucifer, Satan had to leave Heaven because he violated his own nature and thus he was cast down to the earth (the wild and untamed part). 

I believe that if God had not blessed Adam and Eve they would not have the Divine empowerment to carry out their mission on the earth.  In the past I have thought God cursed Adam and Eve after they believed "The Lie" and chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Yet what I know had revealed to me is that really curse is the absence of the blessing or another way to think of it is that curse is the process of death.  So curse was the result of the Fall and Adam and Eve's disobedience and sin's entrance which leads to death.  I think this is very important to understand this because so many times we assume that we should be prospering and growing but without the blessing.  God announces the results of the curse in Genesis 3:14-19 which affect the serpent, Eve, Adam, the ground, their relationships, and their future.  The Curse is like a nuclear blast, the echos of this blast we are still hearing today in our everyday lives.  I don't believe that God expected us to be fruitful and multiply under the curse only to struggle to eek out an existence but thank God that He provided a way to restore the blessing to human beings.

I believe that Biblical prosperity is not about TV evangelists having personal jets but about every person yielded to God on the earth being fruitful and multiplying.  I have also heard people refer to Genesis 3 where it talks about toiling the land with thorns and thistles and eating by bread by the sweat of your brow as being an explanation of why life can be so hard some times.  This may be the result of living under the curse but then why did Christ come?  It is wonderful to be forgiven and cleansed of all sin, I never want to minimize the powerful work of the blood of Christ but it seems to me that we were in a whole lot more trouble than just our sins.  In Ephesians 2:1 & 2 refer to us being dead in our trespasses, walking according to this world, and children of wrath.  The redemption that God brought about through Christ is a complete redemption and addresses all the root issues that have affected the human race.

I will explore in future blogs how blessing is one of the keys to Biblical prosperity (fruitfulness & multiplication).  Hopefully this begins a little series that will encourage you and take you to a new level of freedom and life "in Christ". 

Blessings,

Bret

Faith or Feelings?

It struck me that as I was taking time to intentionally praise God, that so much of what we do in our American culture is driven by what we feel.  Most media (advertising), political speeches, many sermons, religious and ministry appeals, advertising for food, restaurant atmosphere, and even the church atmosphere can be about appealing to how we feel.  I had recently visited with a Naturopath who explained to me why we eat what we eat over the centuries and it had a lot to do with taste, look, texture, and how a person felt eating the food.  Unfortunately most of this has nothing to do with what is really life-giving to our body.  In the middle of praising the Lord I felt like He was giving me a revelation of the difference between living by faith and living by your feelings.  When you offer up the "sacrifice of praise" when you don't feel like it pretty soon if you continue praising God your feelings change and you are seeing things differently.  But if at this time I did what I felt like, I would tend toward discouragement because there are lies in my soul that are producing some feelings.  Feelings are not bad they are just the fruit of what I am believing and experiencing.  If my feelings are coming from experiencing being united to Christ and being one in spirit with Him, then there will be fruit of the Spirit.  On the other hand if my feelings are coming out of my beliefs rooted in my soul from past experiences and memories than the fruit is not going to be fruit of the Spirit.  If you stop and think about how much of our lives are lived from our feelings and how much of our culture is focused on trying to get me to feel something, this is a sober line of thought.  I believe feelings are a gift from God otherwise Jesus would not have felt every human emotion to its very depth.  Yet if I guided by my feelings rather than the Holy Spirit I will be ruled by the earthly realm and not experience the heavenly realm which I was born again to walk in.  Believe me I am not pointing any fingers because I have been a person who has lived by their feelings rather than the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I believe that part of the difference in being a follower of Christ is that we actually understand the human condition and find real answers in Jesus Christ and His finished work.  We live in a day and age where so many people seem to be on autopilot ruled by their emotions and reactions to situations, Christ followers are to stand out as people who respond to the leading of the Spirit and dwell in the heavenly dimension.  I don't believe that we were seated "in Christ" in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6), just to have God save us a spot for when we die but for this to be the reality that we dwell in daily.  You can't experience that reality by feelings first but by faith and revelation first, then the feelings will come.

It is interesting that most of the Fruits of the Spirit are feelings/experiences but most of the time are not just something we experience without making decisions (often sacrifices) based on faith.  I think of the analogy of our journey with Christ found in the history of Israel.  When Israel was in bondage in Egypt they cried out to the Lord and He delivered them by parting the Red Sea, this is analogous to us coming into a Salvation experience (forgiveness of sins).  The Israelites cross over the Red Sea on dry land only to enter the Wilderness and end up wandering 40 years.  Most of us as believers spend time in the wilderness where we are still trying to live by our own resources rather than the indwelling Christ, also in the wilderness God provides but we have just enough.  Then finally Israel comes to the Jordan River and prepares to enter into the Promise Land, yet the priests must step into the Jordan River at flood stage with the Ark of the Covenant (the Presence) going before them.  In the same way we as believers must appropriate our new life and identity "in Christ" by faith through Total Surrender.  In the wilderness the Israelites were fed not by faith but the mercy of God to give Manna & Quail, they only needed to collect it and had to trust it would come the next day.  In the Promise Land the Manna & Quail are done after 17 days, then Israel must take the seed God provided for them and plant it so they can have a harvest.  In the same way I believe we must take the Seed (God's Promises, dreams He gives us, and promptings of the Holy Spirit) plant it in the soil of our souls so it will bear fruit (James 1:21).  This comes through meditating on His promises, spending time in worship, prayer, reflecting on the Psalms, or many other ways till I come into an encounter with Him.

Maturing In His Love,
Bret

Commands: An Invitation to Destiny?

I seem to have some great prayer times whizzing along on my road bike down the high line canal trail with everything the deep green of Spring.  As I was riding and praying I was asking the Lord about upcoming meeting with some people.  I sensed Him speak to my heart that every commandment that is given in the New Covenant is really an invitation into our true identity and destiny.  I don't know too many people that have feel all warm and squishy inside when they think of being given a commandment, many of us bristle or withdraw.  Unfortunately we often read the commandments of the New Testament as if they were the cold, stony, and demanding expectations of a God who is angry with us.  Thus when we are told in Ephesians 4:26 "Be angry, AND YET DO NOT SIN, DO NOT let the sun go down on your anger."  We have a picture in our minds of a demanding, disappointing, and judgemental look of a teacher who expects us to not handle things well.  Another command in Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."  In this one there is a sense we ought to forgive and the person demanding this has no understanding or compassion for how deeply we have been hurt.  Also the person who expects this is also not willing to help us in any way.  Now let's look through the lens of Christ and the New Covenant:  Jesus has entered being insulted, betrayed, abandoned, and abused then has been united with us so we now have the power to respond as He responded with forgiveness.  Christ is a forgiving person and so are you if you have been born-again because you are united to Him.  So if you step into forgiving the people who have hurt you, you are actually stepping into your truest identity and in the process being released into freedom and life.  Jesus also says at one point in the gospels says to "...Love your enemies, bless those persecuting you...", sounds like a lot of fun when you are pain, yet as I have seen people do this very thing they seemed to launched into an identity of manifesting Christ to others.  All this must be taken in the context of understanding every one of these commands are given to the New Nature of who we are "in Christ" (our Truest self) and not to our old nature.  Thus when preachers get up to beat us with the Word of God of what we are not doing for God and the implied message is that He is disappointed in us, this is not the New Covenant but the preaching of the Old Covenant.  Unfortunately, much of the preaching that is out there is trying to get people's old nature to behave like Jesus.  I heard one of our Advanced Training students say as she was learning about her new identity and union with Christ, "This changes everything".  It's important that we even look at Scripture through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Christ, then we will see freedom, life, and love rather than condemnation.

In Christ my identity and destiny,
Bret

Overcoming the Barriers to Faith

Living as a Christ follower I don't have to remind you that there are so many forces that seek to undermine your faith, the Bible tells us to watch out for the flesh, the world (system), and the Devil.  As some who know me know I often like to ponder and understand the roots of things, especially things related to people.  As I was reflecting on Genesis 3:1 (where it all started), I was struck by this phrase spoken by the serpent "Indeed, has God said...".  The serpent is called crafty which from the translation means prudent or shrewd, this same word is used in other places positively in connection with wisdom.  Satan here has a line of thinking (wisdom- endowed with reasoning & using it) that starts with this opening statement.  In this short jab like the thrust of a sword Satan comes at all the wisdom of God that brought about Creation and holds it together.  Satan attacks the Word of God, "...has God said..." sounds like only a glancing blow of the sword but with further investigation we see that this attack on God's Word is an attack on His very character and nature.  Interesting that Satan doesn't start with small talk to lure in the relational Eve, he makes this initial thrust of the sword and like an enemy turned friend he parrots back what God said "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?"  Notice though that Satan gives his version which is one that God is really preventing Adam and Eve from eating from any tree, instead of only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  We can see several of the enemy's tactics here that we need to be aware of as 2 Corinthians 2:11 tells us, "so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan , for we are not ignorant of his schemes."  The first thrust of the sword of the Enemy of our souls is to bring a shadow of doubt about God's character and nature, this especially enters in when there are strongholds in our souls that the Lord is bringing healing in.  We see throughout Scripture that God's methods and ways with His people changes from person to person and situation to situation.  Clearly Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, yet does God always use the same way to bring about a breakthrough.  No.  One time it might be in personal prayer, or worship, or through another person, through a teaching, or own study of the Word.  Back to one of the most important if not the most important realities is that God is good all the time, His nature is at the very heart of our faith.  If we do not have a revelation of the goodness of God, we will question every action that we suspect Him taking which really is thinking that lines up with Satan's line of thinking in the garden.  Adam and Eve before Satan's entrance experienced and knew intimately the goodness of God because this is how they were taken care of and lived in their relationship with God.  It is easy to believe you know God is good until you are in a place of suffering, it is the squeezing grip of suffering which reveals what we really believe deep in our souls.  Unfortunately in today's Body of Christ there is a tradition of man that will question the goodness of God by seeking measuring the Word of God by our experience, our knowledge, or the science of the day.  The Lord awakened me to this reality when out of the blue, I thought how strange it is that we say "is this the Word of God, am I really who God says I am?"  How can I as a finite human being seek to be judge and jury on the very Word of God, faith believes the Word of God as reality.  It is amazing to me how easy it is to go down a road of thought which is contrary to God's Word and His goodness, especially when it comes to our identity.  I believe there is a parallel between the spiritual realm and the natural, it is interesting that there has been so much identity theft in recent years.  It seems the Enemy is overplaying his hand.

As I sensed the Lord leading me to read verses in Romans 8:15&16 I love how The Message version states it, "This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa? "  I love the simple childlike faith that is displayed, too many times our adult reasoning is really just justification for our doubt and unbelief.  How wonderfully disarming for Jesus to invite us to be like little children in Matthew 18:3 & 4, "And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].  Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."  I love the pictures painted in these two different sets of Scriptures, which I believe are a restoration of the innocence, freedom, and intimacy that Adam & Eve had with God before the Fall.  Are you willing to step into that place of sweet trust "What's next, Papa?"

On Papa's Adventure,
Bret

Two Choices: Life or Death

In a culture where we have ever-increasing choices daily, the Bible places two choices before us life and death.  This is laid out in Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.  So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants..."  I may be the only one in the United States that often feels overwhelmed with the amount of choices from schools, to cereals, to activities, to churches, and even to websites.  It seems to me that we are constantly being bombarded by choices (just the amount products alone can be so much), as a culture we are obsessed with having as many choices as possible.  Does the amount of choices increase our freedom or is what God is saying really true that there really are only two categories of choices life or death.  We are told by God that He sets the choices but that we are the ones who are to choose life.  Many people are looking for God to make the choice for them, where they give over total control and no longer have to make a choice.  As I look at Scripture God is not about taking our choice but He is active by the Holy Spirit to point us to life.  We find that God is not looking to just give us the resource of life but the person who is Life, 1 John 5:11 & 12 say it this way "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."

So this is a paradigm shift to look to the relationship with an indwelling person of Jesus Christ as life, so I am really wanting to see the Life that is in me and on me flow through this earthen vessel out to others through my choices.  When I believe that I am going to get life out of my choices means I deeply believe that the choice I am about ready to make will give me life.  I think this is best seen through kids who long for some toy, they wait in anticipation to get it as a gift thinking "when I get this then...".  They get the toy or the item play with it feverishly getting as much out of it as possible and then not too long later this item is cast aside for something else.  I don't believe the drive that is behind this is bad, it is the desire for life itself and to truly be life it must be better than what I am currently experiencing.  What is the object or focus of what I am looking for to get life, as adults we are more sophisticated we look towards people, a certain job or level of appreciation, or a certain set of circumstances that will finally bring the rest or satisfaction we so seek.  Could it be that a deep relationship with the One who already dwells in us could satisfy the longings of our soul.  The Scriptures only point one place for Life and not the same quality of life we maybe experiencing but supernatural Life but this only comes from Heaven not from this earthly realm.  Even earthly relationships cannot provide the satisfaction we are looking for if we are looking to them for this Life but they can come alive with His Life if we agree to be vessels and conduits.

I had the privilege of attending a Revival for the mature generation at my Uncle's church, in this I can give you example of life versus death choice.  The church sits on the main street with large white columns and weathered granite steps that have seen there share of generations.  Inside the rich wooden pews are lined with red velvet seats and the choir is adorned behind the pulpit and two large chairs for the pastors.  I am not a Baptist by background and also wouldn't identify myself as Southern.  As I listened to the excellent sermon on the Holy Spirit, the seasoned out-of-town pastor succinctly talked about the Spirit-filled life with a few references to the limits he put on the Spirit according to Baptist theology.  Death would be sit back judge, be critical, and differentiate myself as lining up more with the Charismatic tradition.  Yet this man clearly had a rich relationship and intimacy with the Lord that stands out from others, he was one of God's friends.  I believe the other path, which is Life, was to align myself in the Holy Spirit to hear life-giving impartation of the Spirit and the Word even though I don't agree with the Baptist doctrine (which to me limits the manifestation and gifts of the Holy Spirit).  It was once said well that "life flows through Honor" but death flows through judgement and division.  We often see the results of judgement and division and call it judgement and division but the issue really begins in the heart.  It could have even been another step to get prayer from this man to receive an impartation of the grace that was on his life but he had directed prayer to be given by the senior pastor and I did not want to dishonor him.

In Him who is Life,
Bret

A House Divided Cannot Stand

As I was reading "Face to Face with God" by Bill Johnson he was discussing how to increase in favor with God and what can get in the way.  I sensed the Lord revealing something new to me, Scripture clearly points out that a house divided cannot stand.  Jesus reveals an important principal in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."  Jesus did not say it is difficult to serve two masters, He said it is not possible to serve two masters.  In Luke 11:17 this principal is reinforced by Jesus,  "But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house [divided] against a house falls."  Paul talks about our body being the Temple [House] of the Holy Spirit, so if we are divided then we will fall.  Most believers experience the war inside as described by Galatians 5:16 & 17 but wins the war is not us battling against our fleshly desires.  It is our surrendering to God and agreeing with Him that our flesh is dead (knowing that old self died with Christ -Romans 6:6), then looking to God to bring resurrection life.  Therefore the house (us) is no longer divided because we have one King and He is giving dominion over us.  For some not knowing how good King Jesus is there fear anyone having dominion in their lives but themselves.  I have found it is far more scary to trust in my self (the essence of flesh) and miss the blessing, life, and freedom that come through yielding to Christ in me.  It has been said  that God brings a person to brokenness (stripping away the fleshly life), which I believe has merit, but I also think that God knows a house divided cannot stand.  When Adam and Eve agreed with "The Lie" of Satan they became a house divided, up to this point they had fully agreed with the Word of God and life was sustained through the now Word of God.  It now begins to make sense to me why people who have come into agreement with the Word of God by revelation and intimacy walk in more power and freedom to those who only give mental ascent to the Word.  In order to not be double-minded (really doubled-souled) as James talks about we must completely rely on the Word of God in areas of our life to see the power that is contained in the Word released into our lives.  The Word of God becomes revealed as the contrary thoughts, beliefs, and lies are exposed dismantled and we rely on the Word of God as the truth.  Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."  This was not mental ascent kind of knowing but an intimate trusting and relying on knowing.  I pray that as you seek the Lord in intimate fellowship you would come into agreement with what He has done for you, seeing the implications in your life, and finally manifesting what the Word promises.

In One God,
Bret

Jesus Identifying with you!

As we are in Holy Week I was struck again by the reality that Christ completely identified with us in what we would experience in life.  Hebrews 4:15 says it this way, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."  Isaiah 53:4 says, "He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we did not esteem Him."  I had an experience where the Enemy brought up a fear of death that had it's roots in my father's suicide when I was 6.  As I experienced this very real fear of death, which has haunted me since I was 6 years old the Lord began to reveal something I hadn't fully seen before.  That in order for Jesus to save me, He had to enter into my reality, my pain, my sin, my brokenness as me to then save me out of it.  So He faced death in my place (as Hebrews 2:14 & 15 says) and entered into the losses you and I have experienced.  I had a client who was going through the pain of his family betraying him, yet he was trying to fight the pain and betrayal in his own strength.  I shared with him how Jesus entered into his betrayal when He was betrayed by Judas.  That if he would share in Christ's sufferings (receiving them) then he would share in Christ's glory.  I believe to be alone in your pain, suffering, and torment is like Hell on earth, God does not always instantly remove our suffering but He overcame it's power by entering our suffering with us.  As we look to Good Friday and reflect over the reality of all that He went through on the cross, don't sugar-coat it or white wash the reality of the awful suffering Jesus went through in order to complete the salvation work on our behalf.  As the Enemy also worked to bring up an old fear of rejection that has it's roots in my dad's suicide and perceived rejection of me, the Lord began to challenge me to receive the rejection of my father.  This is contrary to everything in our culture where we are on the constant search to avoid pain, maximize pleasure, and do it cheaply.  The challenge of the Lord was not to writhe in the pain of rejection by myself but share in His sufferings to then share in His glory.  The Holy Spirit directed me to the place in the gospels where Jesus cries out, My God, my God why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46).  Realizing that Jesus was not experiencing separation from the Father for anything He had done but for my sake because He knew I would be rejected by my father.  Jesus came and experienced the deep pain of being rejected by a father in all the torturing reality of humanity.  Jesus did not as God say that He knew about my pain, no He (God) entered into my suffering in order to save me through it.  When people say, "No one understands what I am going through" they are saying this through deception that veils the sufferings of Christ.  We have religiously created a Jesus that is neat and together and seems to float through the reality of the cross, I am thankful to Mel Gibson and "The Passion of the Christ" for revealing more of the reality of the severity and brutality of the Cross.  In order to be an acceptable High Priest for us He must enter into the fullness of Fallen humanity, becoming as one of us to save us fully from the sin-scared world. 

In Christ who identified completely with me,
Bret

Battle for Intimacy

As I experience this battle within for the continuous establishment of an intimate place with the Lord not just in word alone but in living reality, I wonder where did all this struggle come from.  There has been a battle raging against us having an intimate connection with God since the beginning of our Creation.  We were designed for an intimate relationship with the One who created us, you could say it is in our DNA (especially for those who are "in Christ").  In Genesis 3:8 we see the root of this battle, God comes to Adam and Eve after they have eaten of tree of knowledge of good and evil but they choose to hide themselves.  It seems to me that the Bible is referring to a pattern, where God would come to Adam and Eve seeking relationship and intimacy.  Notice that the initiation is on God's part not Adam and Eve's but I believe in the past they would have responded in a like manner (because they were created in His likeness).  In other words, if God desired intimacy, wouldn't it make sense that we would desire intimacy because we were designed and made in His likeness and image.  Yet at this point Adam and Eve choose to hide themselves which must have gone contrary to their very design, exposing that something drastic had happened.  I believe this is the first time that Adam and Eve's will is exposed as contradictory to God's will.  The entrance of "The Lie" by Satan was not just a minor twist or another commentary about the going ons of the Garden but a completely different world view offered by a creature who was in full blown rebellion against the whole Created Order.  In the book "Face to Face with God"  Bill Johnson says, "The reason that the territory beyond the garden was in turmoil was that Satan, one of the three archangels, had set up his rule there after being cast out of heaven for his rebellion and his desire to be worshiped like God."  A friend of mine, Lee Eddy, who is a pastor says that everything has a sound vibration and a light frequency.  Therefore "The Lie's" entrance into the peace and tranquility of the Garden of Eden must have been like listening to music you have never heard before or seeing the Enemy must have been like looking at alien (Close Encounters).  Agreement with the worldview of "The Lie" would change the perception of everything, including how Adam and Eve would perceive the invitation of God for a walk in the cool of the day.  Instead of the invitation of God for intimacy being something that was familiar and in harmony with everything they already knew, now for the first time His invitation would be out of frequency and harmony with what they had come into agreement with (The Lie).  I think of the scene in "Jurassic Park" when the first tourists of the park have crashed and then there is silence and the tremendous thundering of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Every footstep shakes them to the core and the fear is overwhelming as they are about to confront an inhabitant of another world.  I am no suggesting that God is like the dinosaur but simply that Adam and Eve's perception of God at this point would be one of the entrance of a being from another world.  Their response of hiding themselves is beginning to make more sense.  Adam admits his fear in Genesis 3:10, so fear is the root of why we don't respond to God's invitation to intimacy and also it is the vulnerability of feeling "naked" before Him.  We certainly can hide from people, even people we love but from God we all stand "naked" because Hebrews 4:13 tells us "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."  It is amazing that God has made a way for us to stand before Him "naked and unashamed" through Jesus Christ, even with our ongoing issues, struggles, and weaknesses.  I wonder if the same invitation to intimacy is being spoken out by God today, which asks the question "Where are you?" when we have hidden again like Adam and Eve.  Instead of appearing before God one time, we live life on a continual journey where we hide and then come before Him "naked".  Unfortunately, this cycle happens often on a daily basis because any time we rely on the flesh we hide.  We may hide behind our smile, our performance, our avoidance, an addiction, or a myriad of other ways.  Jesus Christ has purchased for us to have continual unbroken fellowship with God, the veil has been torn but we need to respond and come out of hiding.  I want the intimacy Jesus purchased for me with the Father.

Designed for Intimacy,
Bret

Wise in your own Eyes vs. Praise

The Lord seems to keep bringing up the phrase "wise in your own eyes", maybe because it was an integral part of Satan's first deception in the Garden of Eden.  I believe two offensive Scriptures (to the orphan heart) are Ephesians 5:20 which says, "always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.." and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  When I am being "wise in my own eyes" I don't have a desire to rejoice or praise the Lord.  This is especially hard when we are in the midst of difficult circumstances or relationship problems, then to be thankful seems counterintuitive.  This is why the wisdom of God is so radically different than the wisdom of man, since our current problem or difficulty has not taken God off the throne of the universe from His perspective praise and thankfulness is an accurate response to the situation.  Praise and thanksgiving make us aware of the higher reality of Heaven, rather than only being tuned into the difficulties on Earth.  In "Destined for the Throne" Paul Billheimer says, "Surely that which occupies the total time and energies of heaven must be a fitting pattern for earth."  This is made clear in the book of Revelation and it is important to understand that these two realities affect one another, when we begin to align with Heaven we are going to see Heaven's atmosphere begin to manifest here.  I don't believe that this is something we seek to perform in our life in our strength but something God does within us as we surrender to His work in our lives.  I believe the more you see the completeness of the New Covenant "in Christ" and how this applies to every dimension of life, the more the wisdom of God (to continually praise Him) becomes part of your thinking.  Since we have been united with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17) in our spirit, our spirit can be in continual rejoice and thanksgiving even when our souls are not.  Yet 3 John 2 says, "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers."  For us to truly prosper in life we must have our soul prospering and this is why I believe the Lord directs us to worship and thanksgiving because it is for our best and our freedom.  Since it is not a natural thing for me to stay continually encouraged, the Lord is teaching me about the importance of a diet of praise and thanksgiving.  I am always amazed at the power of praise to shift your focus from yourself, your problems, and your difficult relationships to the One who is the Author of Life.  I have even found that when I do not intentionally spend time in the Presence of the Lord in praise that I have withdrawals and begin to see a longing in my soul.  I believe David and the Psalms he wrote gives us a wonderful Biblical model of the lifestyle of praise in all circumstances.  David heart for praising and worshipping God so drew the Lord to him that David reached into a future Covenant (New Covenant in Christ) to enjoy benefits that were not accessible under his current covenant.  I believe that to praise and worship the Lord even in hard times is position yourself to receive godly wisdom, since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge according to Proverbs.  In Hebrews 13 the writer talks about the sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice means something dies.  I believe when we offer praise when we don't feel like it, it's inconvenient, or we don't want to is to have some dimension of our fleshly life die in order that our new life "in Christ" would be manifest.  I believe this act of faith sows seeds of life, love, and power into our future.  It does not require any faith to do what you feel but act against your feelings, thoughts, and even the choice you want to make can be to offer the sacrifice of praise.  I believe it is one of the keys to staying encouraged.

Praise to the One who is always worthy,
Bret

Conquering Death !

Every day as I hear stories of broken lives, failed marriages, deaths in families, addictions, abuse and neglect, lost businesses, broken dreams, and abortions I seem to be mired in the death of this world.  Yet in the darkest places the Light shines the brightest, these people are hungry for hope, redemption, freedom, and love.  There is something about experiencing living death which propels you to seek answers in One that overcame death.  Yet I see so much of what Christ died for not being appropriated in the lives of those in the Body of Christ.  Instead of standing in Christ's victory over death as He entered death to overcome it once and for all, yet so many of us simply fight the effects of death in our lives.  I use myself as an example, I have dealt with the symptoms brought about by my father's suicide for nearing 36 years hoping to be among the normal who seem to function in life with happiness.  I struggle still with the effects of my father's hopeless view of the world that ultimately led to his ending his life and giving up on mankind.  In my more selfish times I think only of my freedom and one day no longer struggling with the darkness that at times still overtakes me.  Yet I see a very different picture that God painted in the story of Creation, He created a people who were made in His likeness and image who were to rule and reign over the earth to spread His glory to the ends of the earth.  This vision is God-sized because it came out of the One who calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, but we have traded this gargantuan vision for simply "the pursuit of happiness" for myself.  Jesus entered death not just as the Son of God but also as the Son of Man and the representative for a whole redeemed race of people who are "born again" and children of God.  As the human representative in your place Jesus went through the death you deserved took all the punishment and was raised from the dead to overcome the greatest enemy you and I will face for all eternity.  Could it be that we have yet again underestimated the magnitude and power of what Jesus Christ has done as our Redeemer and King.  God does not intend that I just get through the effects of my father's suicide but that I would be a representative "in Christ" of His resurrected and ascended Life.  I am an Overcomer not simply a survivor of suicide or a victim of a horrible tragedy.  As Joseph said, I agree, what Satan meant for Evil God means for good.  As I work with a family who lost a loved one to suicide, I have been drawn to dive headlong into the grief that was still tucked away in my heart.  Not with some morbid desire to wallow in the misery and self-pity but to discover the resurrection life that God will bring forth through this terrible atrocity.  There is nothing normal or okay about what my dad did and I refuse to make it a part of my worldview as just what happens in the world.  The Enemy has sought to strike a blow in our family, our lives, and ultimately at the world.  Jesus has overcome not by fighting death but through entering into death with all it's hopelessness, despair, darkness, and depravity to be risen out the other side producing a new future for all people's who will enter into this New Life.  Just as Jesus had to descend to then ascend, I believe we must do the same if we are to be His representatives in our families and on the earth.  Too often the dark places in families are hidden, denied, avoided, or covered over with distraction.  I believe these are the very places that God invites into, not for the purpose of death but to display the power His Grace "in Christ" in our lives.  Jesus Christ has done much more than save your individual life, He has overcome the enemy of our souls, our families, our communities, and the world.

An Overcomer "in Christ",
Bret

Relationship for Relationship's Sake

We often have many reasons to seek God:  we have a problem in life we can't handle, we need guidance in our life, we feel an obligation to our parents or someone else important, we are afraid of what might happen if we don't, we seek Him for physical healing, we are interested in knowing more things about Him, to be free from an addiction, to fix a relationship in their life, or to get them out of pain but often what seems last on the list is simply to know Him for the sake of a relationship with Him.  After being in professional ministry for over 15 years I have seen people who have sought God for all the reasons above and honestly I have seen very to little of anyone who has sought Him for the last reason.  I include myself in that assessment, I should also mention that you can seek God on the behalf of others but still that is not seeking Him because He simply is worth knowing.  I sensed the Father speaking to my heart, an impression inviting me into a Father/son relationship to truly know Him.  I quickly realized, I don't know how to do relationship for relationship sake.  There always seems to be a purpose, an agenda, something that needs to be talked about or done, or taught or learned, etc...  Could it be true that the God of the Universe is inviting me (and you) into a relationship where the highest purpose is one of simply and fully knowing one another.  This truly is the core of love (and especially covenant love), which is two parties freely giving themselves to one another without withholding.  In Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. "  God invites us to seek Him by faith and even states that He is a rewarder of the one who goes on this journey to seek Him.  It was amazing to read in a devotion that the Hebraic way was a focus on developing a heart toward God versus the Greek way of thinking which was the study or knowledge of God.  In other words the Hebraic way was toward relationship with God and experience, rather than what is more common today which is knowing about God through discipleship.  It was hard to admit that my purpose and motivations for seeking God were not simply for relationship alone or a desire to really know Him.  I find that some of my motivations were coming out of an unrenewed mind that was conformed to the pattern of an old nature (which is now been done away with "in Christ"), this is what Romans 3:11 states "THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;"  I can distinctly remember a time where I felt condemned in my conscious for not seeking God and then the Holy Spirit took me to the verse in Romans 3:11.  What I began to see is that no one sought to know God for who He really was prior to Christ, we would seek Him for our own selfish reasons.  God is the One who brings life and resurrection from death.  God had resurrected from all my selfish (death) motives, a genuine desire to seek and know God for who He is.  In Hebrews there is an amazing declaration of the New Covenant, in chapter 8 verses 10- 12 "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:  I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.  AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.  FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."  This is an amazing declaration of the New Covenant that all will know God, He will write His law upon their hearts but this is not the Ten Commandments but the law of liberty (law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus -Romans 8:2).  God is inviting us into this wonderful new relationship with Him based on all that Jesus has done on our behalf, in seeking Him will be rewarded.  His Word does not say that we will be more religious, stressed about messing up, or totally self-conscious because we have to do everything right for God to be pleased.  He is inviting us into a relationship where God brings all the strength, wisdom, power, and we simply bring ourselves (including our weaknesses, problems, pains, failures, and character flaws).  It is the great exchange.

In His Amazing Grace,
Bret

Start out being Blessed!

I have noticed a general pattern in our society of how things are set up.  First you must perform and work hard to get ahead, then a reward may be given to you like a carrot at the end of a stick.  You basically are on your own to work hard and be good enough to meet the standard, then hope you did well enough to receive the reward.  Obviously this is the world's way but I believe this kind of mindset has infiltrated the Body of Christ.  Yet I see something very different when I see how God works through Christ in the New Covenant.  In Ephesians 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"  As I look at this verse I see no condition based on performance for the reward or blessing (it has already been given "in Christ").  God gives the blessing and it from a place of blessing that we are empowered to live.  For example, so many of us as parents hope we are loving, raising, and disciplining our kids right but we wait to judge until the results come.  It is amazing to discover that God wants to reveal how great a parent He sees me as "in Christ" before I am done being a parent.  The blessing actually works in us and in our future to bring about the words of the blessing, rather than waiting to judge the end result and then reward.  Another example is that the Father blesses Jesus after He is baptized in the Jordan river before He has ever done any ministry.  If God waited to bless Jesus until He had obeyed, the blessing would have been for His obedience but grace is to bless to live out.  I believe that God thinks very differently than we have been taught to think, I believe His ways are better and higher.  Another example is that in Genesis 1:26-28 God creates Adam and Eve with the design of them ruling and taking dominion over the earth, then He blesses them to be fruitful and multiply.  I sensed the Holy Spirit revealing to me that fruitfulness and multiplication follow blessing.  This is 180 degrees from the world's ways but also much of our ways in the Body of Christ.  In blessing Adam and Eve with fruitfulness and multiplication, God knew that they would be because He blessed them.  God's design came in Genesis 1:26, the creation came in verse 27, and the blessing came in verse 28.  There is a specific order here and fruitfulness and multiplication did not come after their creation but after God blessed them.  I believe the blessing of the Lord is vital to us living in fruitfulness and prosperity for the purpose of blessing others.  God accomplishes what He wants on earth through His Word (mainly Jesus- the Word became flesh), but also as we agree with His Word and release it on the earth.  It seems to me that there are a lot of blessings in heavenly realms that God wants to be released over people and on the earth, yet we agree with so much curse or performance-based blessings that very little of the resources of heaven are finding their way to earth.  I pray the Holy Spirit would reveal blessings "in Christ" that He directs you to release over your family, friends, co-workers, and even over yourself.

Blessings,
Bret