The Kingdom of God- Upside Down to the World

As I stared reading a book "Compelled by Love" I began to be reminded that the Kingdom of God is so different than the world system. The world system seems have an insatiable hunger for dependence on The Lie (self-sufficiency and independence) while the Kingdom of God is about humility, dependence, and desperation. I will be 40 this year and I can honestly say I have never been successful at living in dependence on The Lie. It seems I have never been successful at being strong, independent, or self-made. Yet Jesus tells me in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." I have felt poor in spirit for most of my life, except for those moments where I soar high into pride only to fall flat on my face. In the book she talks about how the Kingdom of God is so manifest to the poor because of their absolute desperation and dependence. Desperation and dependence are very unpopular ideas in our success-driven, independent, and self-reliant culture. I had another opportunity to rely on the Lord. Each of us as supervisors for our Advanced Training students needed to say some words about them. I decided I would ask the Father if He had something to say about each person because my wise, intelligent, and polished words would not compare to what He had to say. I was nervous about sharing what I sensed was the Father's heart for each of these people because the word was very personal. How easy it would have been to rely on my own way and not take the risk. It was encouraging to see how the words the Lord gave me for each person touched their hearts and drew them closer to the Father. I realize depending on the Lord in a new way is scarey, yet reliance on myself has not produced security, freedom, or Fruit of the Spirit. I still don't like being needy, desperate, and weak but I am beginning to be more used to it. When Jesus said "Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:23), I always thought it was because of the man's riches. I believe it is because this man has learned to use his riches as his source of provision, protection, and identity. Thus the reason the it is difficult for the man to enter the Kingdom of God is because of relying on The Lie to make life work. I believe a person can have riches and yet be poor in spirit but it is more rare. I pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart (Ephesians 1:18) so that you would see the Kingdom of God, not for what you think (according to your filter) it is but by the revelation of the truth by the Holy Spirit. I realize that everything good is a gift from above, even the air I breathe today.

In His Kingdom,
Bret

Ultimate Privilige

What is the ultimate privilige of the Christian life? Is it to see successful ministry, or meaningful service, have a good family, see many come to know the Lord, see miracles, know the Bible very well, be free of all our bondages, or fill in the blank. I believe the ultimate privilige of the Christian life is said in Hebrews 8:11 "...For all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them." Also in Ephesians 2:13 "But now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." This is not some future thing that will happen, I believe Satan has been deceiving through tradition, our wounds from imperfect parents, and just lack of knowledge. We have been brought near not through our own efforts, our acts of service, or our perfection but by the blood of Christ. The kind of "knowing" that is referred to in Hebrews is not some intellectual information, this is knowing by experiencing a relationship (even saying like Adam "knew" Eve and she bore a child). God has invited us into the ultimate privilige to actually know the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings, and the Alpha and Omega. Unfortunately, we have been deceived to just expect to know about God rather than actual encounter with the Divine. I know of no one who encountered Jesus who was not changed, even those who walked away from Him were impacted or those who insulted Him. I am accepting the invitation that My God has put before me, I will know Him intimately not from a distance. In knowing Him we are transformed, families are changed, circumstances are changed, the physical realm is changed, and the atmosphere of Heaven is brought into earth. We come just as we are, don't think you need to clean up because the blood of Christ is sufficient to clean you up. If only we understood what Jesus has done to make intimacy with the Father available to us. I find in these days that I don't want to pray, trying to get God to do something. I just want to know Him, it is the cry of my heart to know Him deeply and to be known by Him. All of the life, freedom, power, and love flows out of this place of intimacy. I find that I am so weak when I am not in that place of intimacy because human strength is so insufficient when God has called us into the impossible. Seeing God's glory over the earth is a huge dream, the Kingdom of God can only be release in power when we enter into this deep intimacy. I am going deep with Him because I know the life He wants to pour through me is His. I now understand why praise is so powerful because in praise we declare to all of the powers of Hell that we are the Beloved of God and have total access to His throne room through Jesus Christ. It now makes sense why hearing God's voice is often thought of as unusal or impossible, if we can't hear from the One who loves us we will only hear the voice of the Enemy, others disappointment, and the world's constant barrage of expectations. What a joy to hear from the One who knows us best and loves us, then we can really know Him. The Lord recently touched my heart through the 1 John 3 which says "Beloved, now we are children of God....". As I looked up this word I was overwhelmed to see it meant "worthy of love". There are times I don't feel or believe I am worthy of love and yet God chose me and saved me through Jesus Christ so I could know Him and be loved. Everything else that is not consistent with this truth is a lie against my heart. Because of being shown an imperfect love through our parents, it leaves openings for us to internalize lies about who we are. I accept that I am the "Beloved" of God and I announce it to the world. This is the quality of love God has bestowed on us (1 John 3:1) that could take us from "children of wrath" to His Beloved. It is one thing to accept this truth, it is another to walk in and live in the reality of His love for us daily. The Gospel allows us to know Him, be loved by Him, love ourselves, and then love others. This seems to be the order of it but I think we often just go to the last one of trying to love others without any real power and love from God. Be the Beloved today.

In His Love,
Bret

Aslan is on the Move!

Sometimes in the busyness of daily life, we can often miss the subtle but powerful hand of our supernatural God. In a society where we are focused on where we are going, what we are doing, who we need to talk to, etc.. Basically much of our thought life is preoccupied with ourselves, what others think of us, is someone upset with us, and did we do everything right. Our whole society is based on the Lie of self-focus, self-sufficiency, and us meeting our own needs. The gospel does not just cleanse us of sins but also opens up a new way of living, where we are no longer the center of our existence. Our awareness and sensitivity to the Spirit of God increase as we realize that the promise of the New Covenant is that He is constantly at work transforming us into a totally new person. Ezekiel 36:27 tells us "And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them." Clearly we are the receivers of this awesome promise but not the initiator or the one running the show. As I sat with a friend who has struggled with an orphan heart ever since I am known him, I began to see in his eyes a flicker of the Spirit of God moving Him. An orphan heart is a person who believes his heart has no home and thus searches to meet his needs on our own. We all often have feelings of loneliness, emptiness, shame, fear, and insecurity. These lies from the Pit of Hell move us into a place of being an orphan rather than being at home in the Father's Unconditional Love. My friend had move closer to be at home in the Father's love, yet when there is not a huge experience the subtle hand of Father's Love can be missed. As I met with some new friends involved in a ministry for healing hurting shepherd's the Lord began to confirm the vision He put on our hearts. We connected because we desire to see the Kingdom of God go forth and yet we each have a unique part of this overall dream to see the glory of God seen around the world. I can tell the dream in our heart to see orphans come home to the Father's love made an advance today, in the unseen realm. Faith is evidence of things hoped for, the substance of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11). As I shared the vision the Lord has put on our heart and these new friends affirmed the need and the call. I believe as citizens of Heaven, we are born of the Spirit to be attuned to the movements and rhythms of Aslan's moves. Aslan is purposeful and intent but not in a hurry. You were born of God to inhabit Heaven, are you willing to have God train your senses to His movements? If you are "in Christ" then Aslan is on the move in your life, it is not about getting God to do something but becoming aware of His movements.

In His Power,
Bret