God Sees only the New You

As I have seen many believers over the years in ministry, I realize that most of us see ourselves after our sin, failures, inadequacies, or weaknesses and have less than glowing view of ourselves.  Now I am no way pointing a finger because I have also seen myself the same way.  It is outrageous to see the truth that Father God is no looking at our sin, our weakness, our bad habits, our failures, our lack, or our rebellion.  Why because He dealt with all of these things through the blood of Jesus to take the complete punishment for sin and then through the cross of Christ where our old identity was crucified on the cross.

So if God is not focus on our junk, what does He see when He looks at us?  He sees us "in Christ" which means He sees the fullness of everything Jesus had done being manifested in who we are as New Creations united to Christ.  Instead of seeing our sin, Father sees Christ's blood covering every sin and taking it away on the cross.  He sees a completely forgiven person, even when we keep getting stuck in the same sin.  Instead of seeing the identity we have formed in our sin and the habit in our lifestyle, He sees the love that is expressed in Christ functioning in this area.  I learned how to worry and be anxious about being provided for from a young age, I lived in the reality that there is not enough.  As I put off how I see myself with worry and anxiety on me (according to Ephesians 4:22-24) which looks like a snake always whispering bad possibilities and me listening.  As well as eating stale bread.  Jesus gives me in place a royal robe with a crown on my head, being united to Jesus I experience that everything that has been given to Him is mine.  "My God will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:19)

Every negative that comes at us, God has made provision for us in His grace through His promises so that life is released and manifested.  Really every negative that comes into our life is a place where my functional view of God can grow.  Negatives in our life push for attention and focus, getting us to seek to always be dealing with the difficulties and the problems of life rather than be caught up in God's majesty, goodness, and love.  The enemy knows that we are transformed to look like what we focus on.  Rest is key to not being pulled into this negative cycle, from a heart posture of rest we can perceive who God is for us that overcomes the negative.  We don't have to fight the negatives that come into our lives by our own effort, could it be God being bigger than all the negatives that come into our lives has extravagantly provided by giving us Himself "in Christ".

God's view of the true you "in Christ", which by the way is the True You, is full of life, full of God's light and love, and amazing.

in Christ,
Bret

Law of Love

I was struck as I listened to a series on "The Truth about Deception".  In this series Holy Spirit highlighted the truth that to be free from the law of sin and death, we live from the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2) is all about living in the relationship of the Father to the Son, which is a relationship of endless love and kindness.  As we step into the truth of the Word of God allowing Holy Spirit to guide our imagination to see the truth of ourselves "in Christ" then we experience more of life from our union with Him.  The law of sin and death operates through fear which appeals to the flesh for a solution, then when we make choices according to the flesh then we get the fruit of the flesh (Galatians 6:8).

A law is a principal that works the same way each time.  For us to rise up in who we are "in Christ" means we need to access the love of God through the Holy Spirit who is in our spirit.  Love is foundational to life in the Kingdom of God, while fear along with selfish ambition is the operating system of an orphan planet.  Through fear and selfish ambition the law of sin and death constantly appeals to the flesh to meet a person's needs.  Even though as believers we are set free from the law of sin and death, we can still function under it.  Why is it at times it seems to be easy to operate in love and other times it seems that are being squeezed to the point where operating from fear seems to make sense?

Since God is love, God empowers us to love yet there seems to be a power that works through fear pulling us towards the flesh and sin.  The law of sin and death is like the law of gravity, it's always on and just because you believe you can fly by jumping off your house it doesn't mean you will.  In fact we live with the law of gravity everyday to the point that people once believed manned flight was not possible.  Yet two brothers at Kitty hawk with a whole lot of passion, tons of failures, and an inspiration that gravity could be overcame flew that day.  The law of trust and aerodynamics overcame the law of gravity.  Yet without trust or aerodynamics working properly many a plane crash have shown that the law of gravity is in no way gone.

We are to soar in the Spirit "in Christ" above our old identities, sin habits, fears, limitations, and even above demonic forces.  This is our destiny in Jesus Christ and God's promise to His Son that there would be a people that would soar in Union with Him.

Learning to Soar above,
Bret