Sonship and Light

Sometimes revelation breaks forth like a good soaking rain, when there has been a long drought.  Other times the seeds of revelation spring forth after the they have laid dormant in the soil for many weeks, months, or even years.  I believe the Lord has planted seeds in my heart for years about walking in the Light but this revelation is now springing forth with new life for me.

As I continue to press into the Father's Love to live from a place in His heart, at rest in His love, and having His love pour forth I am learning what hinders the flow.  As an only child of a single mom I often spent many hours alone, being more of introvert it was easy to withdraw and hide.  I still enjoy time by myself with the Lord, especially taking hikes, walks, or somewhere in nature.  Yet there have been patterns, agreements, lies, and sins from my old life that still have room to sneak into my life.  Since at 6 years old my father committed suicide after being suicidal from age 18 till he finally ended his life at 36 years old, the way of walking in darkness has been well paved for me.

Times of self-pity, withdrawal, depression, and despair have been known in my life.  Yet Colossians 1:13 says, "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,"  I am a child of Light according to Ephesians 5:8, "for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light."  When we agree with our old nature and walk in it's ways then we are deceived to believe this is who we are and are bound to always be.  The Father's love breaks forth in the gospel by announcing all our sins are completely forgiven and we are washed clean, then even further our old nature has died on the cross with Him and been buried.  The new man that came forth united with Christ in resurrection life is brand new and totally transformed.

I have found that walking out being a New Creation and a Beloved Son is not as easy as the truth of the Gospel is proclaimed.  Not because God has neglected anything in the Gospel and even given us the Holy Spirit but because my mind has been so deeply entrenched in the darkness and seeing myself as an orphan.  One of the best analogies I can use is being married, I have been married for 22 years and I remember the day of our wedding and lighting the unity candle.  We were married in a moment and our lives forever changed, yet I have spent the last 22 years exploring the reality of marriage and learning about love.  I am not more married than I was 22 years ago but my understanding and revelation of this life-changing relationship has grown dramatically.

I am convinced that being a Child of Light, having a revelation of His light and choosing to live my life in the light without hiding areas of my life is crucially important to knowing Father's love.  Living in the light (truly being known by those closest to us) is one of the most humbling ways to live, yet frees us from the traps of the darkness.

Choosing His Light,
Bret

Father's Love: Living in His Forgiveness

I was recently been struck with the reality that our forgiveness by our Father through Jesus Christ is so critical to our freedom and living in Father's Love.  In an article by Joseph Prince he says, "Recently, the Lord told me, “Son, what I showed you some time ago—that condemnation kills—it’s time to take it seriously. You’ve been preaching to the church about the dangers of stress, but there’s a deeper root than stress.”  In this article Joseph points to a deeper enemy that operates within and that is condemnation which is behind much of our fear.  If we are living in fear, than we are not experiencing His perfect love even though His love is an ever present reality.

When we fear something or someone in our future, it can begin to make us avoid situations and people to appease our fear.  We may be afraid of failure, abandonment, rejection, sharing our heart, or fear success.  Yet at the root of these fears is the largest fear which is one of condemnation or punishment.  In 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love."  So there is a vital connection between fear and punishment, so where does punishment come from.  Glad you asked.  Punishment comes from our breaking or transgressing the Law (or an internal law), thus sin and then what follows sin is condemnation then punishment.

In Genesis 3:10 Adam feels afraid (the first recorded time fear enters in) but why, because he has eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil sinning against God, Eve, himself, and all of Creation.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was choosing a type of law, rather than the Tree of Life which was eternal and complete communion with God (relationship vs. law).  God did not intend for us to know good and evil only good which is God.

It is very intriguing that Satan, in Hebrew, means "prosecutor of law" or "accuser", which is what he is called in Revelation 12:10-11.  Yet these verses give us a clue to overcoming, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.  And theyovercame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."  In Matthew 26:28 we are told that the blood of the Lamb is for the remission of our sins, Jesus taking our sin upon Himself as us and also taking the condemnation and punishment because of the sin.

How much condemnation is left for you as a born again, blood bought, new creation, child of God?  None.  Most believers understand this on a mental ascent level but very few walk in the fullness of this revelation where the enemy has nothing on them.  This is the power of Father's Love and why Paul announces in Romans 8:1 "Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..."

Free from condemnation "in Christ",
Bret

Why Father Loves Weakness

I have found in our world and culture in America that we value strength in it's many forms but tend to carry a shame when there is weakness.  Yet every person on this planet carries gifts but also all have weaknesses.  The Bible is blunt when we are told, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)  What led to people sinning and coming short of the glory of God (their original design) but some weakness in their character (being led away from God through deception).  Ever since the Fall with Adam and Eve, people have been using proverbial fig leaves to hide their weaknesses or failings.  This is not redeemed humanity "in Christ" but the default way to deal with these areas of our lives.  Even recently when I was asked about an area of my life that I have struggled with for years, I told a white lie that it was getting a little better when truthfully the symptoms of the problem are still present.

For those who are redeemed and born again, has God given us a different way to see our weaknesses and thus a different path to walk.  Do we have a Father in Heaven who not only was not shocked by our weaknesses but actually made a plan to redeem us in our weaknesses?  God is love and we need to see the reality of His love in the middle of our weakness.  I would say that the majority, if not all, our weaknesses are connected to our trusting in the flesh and not trusting in the Spirit.  I talked to someone who was recently going through a great tragedy, they were realizing that all their efforts to be in control was actually their weakness instead trusting God is true strength.

What if we viewed our weaknesses as being the very place that God wants to upgrade our experience of Christ.  Can you imagine a people that would go around encouraging each other by speaking destiny words over those very people that were experiencing the greatest weakness.  Wouldn't it be amazing if this was not just every once in a while but actually became a common dimension of culture in a group of people.  Darwin talked about the "survival of the fittest" which basically meant that the weak and sickly would die off and only the fittest and strongest would survive.  This is exactly opposite of the Kingdom of God, it is actually the weak and dependent that can become great in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 18:1-3).

See your weakness as your next upgrade "in Christ" and open your heart for the Father to pour in His love and strength.

In His Strength,

Bret

The Ultimate Transformation

I have spent over 18 years working and ministering within the area of counseling, inner healing, and prayer ministry.  In those 18 years I have seen people in some of the worst places, most broken, and most desperate.  There would be some who would wander why I would spend this much time in the midst of such darkness and brokenness, truthfully I can't tell you all the reasons but I do know I get to see miracles.  I am not talking about necessarily miracles of multiplying food or even a lame man walking.  What I do get to see is the resurrection from the dead.

No I don't work as a Mortician or a Coroner.  Many would think it is just broken people that need to be fixed, instead it is much worse than that it is people who are like the walking dead.  That sure makes you want to come to counseling or ministry with me.  What I mean by that is the Holy Spirit recently spoke to me out of Ephesians 2:1-7 which describes the condition that God found us in before we were saved and it was "dead in our transgressions".  I was drawn to this passage but couldn't describe for you why but sensed the Holy Spirit had something for me in my life and then for others.  I have seen people so caught up in their addictions, their anger and unforgiveness, or their hopelessness that they experience life more like the living dead.  They have no joy, no peace, and little to no hope.

To offer a person like this a little help to fix their brokenness would be cruel, the fact is they need a whole new life.  Father in His mercy has recently exposed a lot of fear and intimidation in my life, which has been painful and uncomfortable.  Yet I now see that fear is really the absence of love and the absence of love is death (love=life).  God is not interested in helping me manage my fear, He is about bringing His perfect love which will cast out all fear.  The fear working and operating in my life brings about death, even if it is slowly.  It works in my relationships, it works to have me back away from risks of faith, it stifles creativity, under it's influence I choose self-protection rather than openness, and finally when it remains in my life it brings hopelessness.  Needless to say fear is integral to my old man who is married to sin, my orphan life.

In Ephesians 2:4-5 the Word says, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),"  It is God's love that raised us from the dead and we were dead because of our transgressions.  In Romans 6 tells us that we were baptized with Christ (placed in Him) and not only crucified with Him, buried with Him, but then resurrected with Him.  God doesn't seem interested in fixing the brokenness of the Old Man but raising us to New Life.

The difficult part of living as a New Creation (New Life) is that we have not been this way before.  I am so familiar with the thoughts, lies, and ways of living of intimidation and fear that it is easy to go there.  Yet, living in this Old Man identity is death and does not have a destiny except to repeat what has been the past.  Fear produces a lot of stress in our lives and doctors say too much stress is a killer.  What I and others need is to see the New Creation that they are, specifically the man of courage vs. intimidation or free from addiction vs. the alcoholic they know so well.  We need people around us who not only believe in raising the dead but actually will speak to dead bones to live.  I really believe one powerful part of prophetic ministry is to reveal the New Man to people and thus their destiny.  Truly the Gospel is about the Ultimate Transformation.

Being Ultimately Transformed,
Bret