Come Up Higher

In Ephesians 1:17-23 and 2:5-7 we see that Christ was raised from the dead and seated far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, God put all things in subjection to Him.  Then in Ephesians 2:5-7 we have been raised with Christ and seated in Him in the heavenly places, experiencing the same place of power and authority with Christ.  Our thinking and perceiving is to come from the heavenlies and not the earthly realm.  Yet since our soul is tuned to the world around us, we often draw our perspectives from the natural realm.  Drawing our perspectives of life from the natural realm means that we will end up fighting problems and difficulties in the same realm.  God sent Christ to overcome sin, death, sickness, broken relationships, poverty, fear, anger, lust, strife, rejection, loneliness, and many more.

By God seating us in the heavenlies we are given an open invitation to see everything in our life from a higher perspective and level of thinking.  Since God created the Heavens in Genesis 1 to resource the earth, we need to understand how to access heaven's perspective and thinking by faith so we can see heaven's resources manifest here.  There are times in life where the negatives of life are coming at us like a tidal wave.  So we brace ourselves and try to figure out how to deal with it all, only to get overwhelmed and frustrated.  In Christ we have been taken above the tidal wave to see what God has purchased for us "in Christ" and given us the invitation to partake of heaven's resources.  How does a tidal wave look when you are in a helicopter hovering above it?  There is a sense of safety and security because you are not in front of the tidal wave but in a warm helicopter hundreds of feet above it.

I believe that our loving Abba is issuing invitations through Holy Spirit when problems and difficulties come our way.  Through the promises "in Christ" we can see from God's perspective because He has defeated the things that would crush us.  So every problem comes with a Promise that takes us to not only a new height but a new level of intimacy with Jesus.  The main barrier to experiencing this new perspective and way of thinking is our old way of thinking.  It is amazing to me how the ruts in my thinking seem as worn as the well worn ruts of the Wagon Trains headed west.  Not only do I know how I will respond from this perspective but I have already predicted how others will respond from their ruts.  This is one of the many reasons we need a Savior to save us from our old dead way of thinking and bring us into "newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

We know according to Philippians 4:19 how God has promised to supply our needs, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  Any time there is a need the Holy Spirit is going to point to who Jesus is for us in the situation because He is where the resources are.  When we look to our own resources or to the resources of others, we will only find a limited supply.  When I think of all the "His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" I am blown away by how much there is in Him.

Rising Above,
Bret

From Death to Life

It is important for us to begin our thinking with our old self being dead, which means we are completely new "in Christ".  Often our thinking can go to changing our old patterns of life or improving who we are.  It seems that our culture is obessesed with being better and always working on yourself to be someone better, more beautiful, more successful, smarter, or richer.  The Gospel comes at life a whole different way, your old self was so bad that it could not be improved on or cleansed it must be crucified.  I have to admit my past has caught up with me too many times, where I then became focused on changing who I was in those circumstances rather than realizing that the old man is dead and gone.

If we begin our thinking that our old man or woman is dead, then we will look toward who God is for us and who we are in Him.  We need His thoughts and perceptions, rather than returning to the land of familiar about who we have been (especially when it is a negative).  A great place to begin is to realize that we are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, Christ, and even the Father living in us.  As a mobile-carrier of God Himself you are far beyond ordinary or deficient.  As we rest from trying to fight the negatives in our lives or trying to make the Old Man better, we can begin to hear God's voice releasing newness of life.

Resting from trying to save ourselves goes against the tide of our world who are constantly striving to be better, be stronger, be tougher, be more valuable, etc..  Resting is about posturing our heart to receive salvation and freedom realizing that we will never be able to save ourselves.  The deceitfulness of sin leads us to stuck in places that we need saving from, whether it be from a loveless marriage, a bad job situation, a financial jam, problems with kids, discouragement, or poor decisions about our future.

Honestly, giving on working on the Old me seems like a cop out and getting out of something I am supposed to be doing.  I can see a lot of negatives about my current way of living and this then leads to a striving to fix the old self.  Even in spiritual areas like I need to trust God more, I need to have more faith, I need to be more loving, and I need to be bolder in my faith.  These all sound like good areas to improve on but as soon as I begin to strive to improve myself in these areas I have been deceived.  The New Man I am "in Christ" always trusts God and is increasing in walking in trust.  We need to understand that to be a New Man or New Woman in Jesus does not mean that we are not growing because we need to come into full maturity "in Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).

Let's not work on the negatives in our lives but exchange them for God's thoughts and perspectives.

Old Man is Dead,
Bret

Overcoming Fear with Love

As I listened to a message on Fear versus Love, the Holy Spirit began speaking to my heart.  I have battled fear for much of my life, since growing up with a background of abandonment, rejection, loneliness, darkness, and intimidation.  Honestly, in this battle there are times that I seemed to make forward progress in trusting God versus giving into fear.  Yet I would say that I still did not experience victory.  I was reminded again that it is only through Father's love for us through Jesus Christ that we overcome fear.  This requires we put our faith in who Jesus is for us and look to what He has done to overcome fear.

Fear is such a powerful reality.  When you are under the influence of fear your mind is filled with the worst case scenarios, you are braced for these to come true, the hope and joy seem sucked out of you, and you feel alone in this dark place.  There is no doubt that at that point we are in the enemy's camp experience the reality he wants us to live.  Kris Vallotton said, "Fear is faith in the wrong kingdom."  God's goodness and love seem far away when we are under the influence of fear.

In order for the reality of fears defeat to be made real for us we must choose to stand in faith in God's love.  Jesus took the negatives of fear on the cross and fear was crucified, all those fears no longer belong to us.  Jesus purchased for us to have hope, joy, love, and peace.  Why do we stay stuck in fear because we are believing it is more powerful that what Jesus has done and because we are choosing to hold on to it.  Fear distorts how we see God and ourselves.

We were not created to fear.  Actually fear is our brain's circuitry being high jacked because we are wired for truth and love.  It is only love in action that is able to melt the fear mindsets in our brain replacing them with new mindsets of love.  This takes not only believing in God's love for us but choosing to place our trust in His love.

I believe one of the most powerful steps we must take is to have a "No Tolerance" policy with fear.  Fear must go because Jesus overcame it at the cross and we are in Him.  I have noticed that it is eary to make excuses to stay in fear because we are drawing on this world's reasoning and assessment rather than heaven.  We may win individual battles against fear but I believe it is vital in this hour that we win the war to see fear bow it's knee in our life to Jesus Christ.  This means that we need to be willing for God to deal with the roots of fear mindsets (lies), step out in trust and faith, and for us to experience Father's love in increasing measures.  It was Jezebel's efforts to under mind the faith of Elijah that began to render him powerless.  Being convicted of what is right in God's eyes, knowing who He is for us in the situation, and who we are in Him are vital to overcome.

No Longer A Slave to Fear,
Bret