Always stuck Looking Into the Future

The Lord revealed something as I was just reflecting on a passage, I find revelation can come at the most unlikely time.  The revelation was into "The Lie" Satan told Adam and Eve in the garden, he said "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  Notice that Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden enjoying relationship with God, with each other, and had all they needed for life, yet Satan points to something future tense to lead them away from what they were currently experiencing.  Satan began to paint a different picture of the wonderful life Adam and Eve had with God, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"  Satan eloquently paints a picture that they are really not as free as they once believed they were, by suggesting that God is withholding or limiting them.  Then he sets the hook by giving them an alternative to the problem they really don't have, he says if they eat from the tree then their eyes will be open and they will be like God.  God is saying of Himself "I AM" meaning He is present tense, when Jesus begins His ministry He announces the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Religion is always telling us if we would just do this (pray more, read more Scripture, stop sinning, lead more people to Christ, etc...) then we would truly be living the Christian life.  We also live in a culture that is constantly striving for more than what we have today, we often buy into this through the mindset (if only I had......).  We fill in this blank with many things- a better marriage, more money, less stress, I would be skinnier, in better shape, happier, and on and on it goes.  What is implied is that God would then be pleased with us but when we arrive only to find another thing.  Often our thought is if I could just get over this issue (weakness or sinful habit) then I could truly live.  My point is that the Kingdom of God through the New Covenant in Christ is always present tense, whereas everything else is it may happen some day in the future.  To be fair I do understand that there are promises we receive from God, that He works over many years into our life to see come to fulfillment.  Jesus in His time on earth would often declare things about Himself or about the Kingdom, most of these were present tense.  In Corinthians Paul declares that all the promises (of God) are yes and Amen in Christ.  By the way it is us who say the Amen (so be it) on earth as it is in Heaven.  We are release God's Word on the earth by coming into agreement with the truth but there are so many things that war against us declaring His Word.  Many times it has to do with our identity and feeling unworthy, or feeling a lack of faith, or just a sense of not quite measuring up.  The Enemy has planted the seed of "The Lie" and it has multiplied into millions of lies that affect the way we think and see ourselves.  The Enemy has spread his false gospel of fear, which has affected the way we live, relate to one another, and the way we see God.  The Kingdom of God is now, we (heirs of salvation) can declare His Kingdom of love, peace, and grace on the earth.

An Heir of the Grace,
Bret

Worship dethroning god (little "g")

I was struck by the Lord to see worship from His perspective.  As I looked back at Genesis 3 I read this section from "The Lie", "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  One of the declarations we made as a group of 20 men at "Men at the Cross" is that we are not God and we are not in control.  See all of us believe that we are "God" at some level, that we need to run our own worlds, that our view of life, ourselves, and others is right, and that for me to be in control is the only way.  I will admit to you that I love and hate worship.  I know hate is a strong word but I never understood the resistance inside of my heart to fully enter into worship.  Worship exposes the deep places in us where we want to be "god", thus we want to be worshipped.  This was the first rebels (Satan) problem and at some level it is still our problem (because of thinking/believing in our soul).  I understand at a deeper level why worship is a priority in God's heart, to free me from my self-idolatry.  Worship is a direct offense to this "god" mindset inside of us known as the flesh, Jesus is calling me out of this binding lie into the glorious truth of being united to Him.  When we worship the true God, we declare that we are not God, God's Word is true, and that He alone deserves worship.  When we look at God's Word as suspect, then this is indication that we are being influenced by "The Lie" and thus the Liar himself.  It was questioning God's Word that led to questioning God's nature and ultimately to choosing oneself (Adam & Eve) as "god".  It makes sense why the Enemy hates worship of the true Lord, so he has waged an all-out war against worship.  There are many times when churches argue about worship styles, length, and volume.  Also I have seen that worship leaders are often ones who are faced with more temptations, attacks, and issues in their lives because God knows that when we worship Him we come alive.  I pray that God will renew your mind of why worship is a central priority in His Kingdom and must become in our lives if we are going to glorify Him.

Worshipping Our King,
Bret

Soul and spirit seperate?

As I was reading a book by Watchman Nee called "Releasing the Spirit" I resonated with what he talked about that the outer man (soul) is separated from the inner man (spirit).  As we go through brokenness this fusion between our soul and spirit seems to be torn and broken.  This is often involves deep pain, yet our spirit is allowed to be more free.  After going through brokenness, which can be somewhat of an outer body experience I began to experience life very differently.  I began to notice that my soul can be struggling, while my spirit remains calm.  Before experiencing brokenness I always thought freedom would mean that my soul would never struggle, I find that this is not true.  After going through brokenness the first time and many times afterwards, there are days when my soul struggles deeply with deceptions and temptations.  It was very helpful to read Watchman Nee's description because I can see more clearly that my soul is in a process of being transformed, so many times it will be in a state of unrest.  This doesn't mean I have to be in a state of unrest, because the real me is hidden "in Christ" so I can be at peace even though there are large swells on the ocean of my soul.  The world on the other hand offers soul peace through controlling your outside environment, going to restful places, and removing things that are annoying.  This is why in Matthew 6 Jesus talks about how the pagans strive for what they need, but we as children of God receive them from Our Father.  Jesus talks about the state of worry in which our souls are concerned for our basic needs, worry also means to go two different directions.  When His Spirit is enthroned in our life through our spirit we are depending on Him, thus not divided otherwise we are depending on ourselves always trying to determine good and evil.  Our spirit united with His Spirit has one focus and that is His Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  Separation between the soul and our spirit means that we can praise God in our spirit continuously without being constantly interrupted by the troubles of our soul.  May you begin to notice the shift the Lord has brought about within, so you can yield to the Holy Spirit and not the noise of the soul.  The soul is not bad but cannot be our master or we will not experience freedom and life.

Possessed by Promise,
Bret

Lower to go Higher

I just got back from a weekend retreat called "Men at the Cross", I was struck through the whole experience how integral humility is in our journey with the Lord.  As I had written earlier I believe 1 Peter 5:5, "...God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  Jesus was willing to humble Himself by coming from Heaven into earth, being born a little baby to a working class family, be under his earthly parent's authority, apprentice under Joseph, and then humble Himself unto death through the terrible toture of the cross including everything that led up to it.  Since Jesus came to us in humility, weakness, and even brokenness are we to come any other way.  Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."  in John 14:6.  I have recently been struck with the awareness that I often don't realize how I am coming to God but when I am exposed then I can understand the outcome.  In other words the Holy Spirit has revealed to me that I often come to the Father expecting disappointment, that He won't meet me and bring comfort, hope, and life.  So my flesh is stirred up, then I make excuses for not spending time in worship, study, or prayer.  The lie is that He will disappoint me and leave me all alone, the only way that I have gotten free of this is to come in humility being open about what I really believe.  Jesus is the truth, He does not need me to correct my thinking but to bring what I am really believing to Him.  I once heard a Beloved Daughter of the King say, "I seek to humble myself because the Spirit flows to the low places."  The Enemy always seeks to bring the counterfeit, which is self-condemnation and degrading oneself.  This is not humility but actually pride because we are not agreeing with who God says we are, the Word says that the carnal mind is at enmity with God.  Only we as believers can hold two seemingly contradictory things in tension and see truth, i.e. Jesus says He is the fullness of grace and truth.  We are His Beloved sons and daughters (1 John 3:1&2) but also cracked pots/broken people (2 Corinthians 4:7).  Jesus would often challenge the Pharisees when they wanted to use the Law to qualify some and tear down others, He would speak life into these dichotomies.  The Pharisees in John 8:2-11 brought a woman before Jesus saying that the Law of Moses commands her to be stoned, they were attempting to trap Him between obeying the Law (being just like them) or being soft on the Law and letting her go (then He would be condemned under the Law).  Jesus was able to bring grace by reconciling two contradictory things, this woman's sin and being accepted by God.  I encourage you to come to God in humility, weakness, and complete honesty.  He will meet you.

In His Grace,
Bret

Got God Got Hope

Hope is critical to life, without life quickly fades into death.  I recently talked to a friend who shared a story of a man who had been standing in the gap to see his marriage restored (even wrote a book about it) and yet after 7 years he was losing hope and feeling condemned.  Everyone who is alive has hope or they would not continue to live, many are giving up on life in droves (suicide rates are high).  I have times in my life where the darkness seems to creep into my life and I have difficulty finding purpose and hope.  In my spirit I know I am not without hope and only going through a dark day or two.  My soul is where there is doubt about hope.  I was recently reminded that this passage in 1 Peter 5:5 is really the gospel wrapped up in one little phrase, "for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."  Pride is far beyond arrogance but the relying on ones self and viewing God and His Word as suspect.  As I came to the Lord in humility with the darkness that was going on in my soul, the Lord revealed that after my dad committed suicide I gave up on life and hope.  Then because of those around me, I believed I had to strive for hope.  The Lord spoke deeply to my heart, "Will you let Me be your hope?"  The words pierced deeply through my heart as I realized that all my striving (listening to worship music, reading Scripture, and reading books) to find hope had not really changed these deeply held beliefs.  In Ephesians 2:12 we are reminded that God connects Himself to hope, "and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."  If you are in the world without a Covenant then you have no hope, but you can also have no hope when you don't connect with Jesus in Covenant.  I thought I had to get myself through the sadness, loss, and change in life of losing my dad.  The Lord showed me that I had no way to know how to get through this so I needed to rely on Him.  We all have times where something or someone in our life pushes us beyond the hope we have in and of ourselves, Jesus is our only real hope.  It is so different from the world that we find hope in the person of Jesus Christ, versus something in our circumstances changing (internal hope vs. external hope).  Jesus reminded me, "Just come to Me as you are."  So often we feel that we have to straighten things up on the inside to come to Jesus, we have to at least be presentable.  I love it that Jesus is not in the least interested in these efforts but simply wants us to come as we are.  As I get ready to spend a weekend with 24 men I don't know on Men at the Cross, I have been touched by the ministries challenge to come as you are without the masks, the striving, or the religion.  They have discovered through the Word that Jesus meets us in our weakness and humility.  Hope is that there will be a change for the positive, instead of things continuing as they are or getting worse.  I reminded that Jesus met people who were in need and humble, He is still the same today.  Come as you are, receive the New Life He has promised you.  Our posture in the New Covenant is always of receiving by grace, no earning or striving will work.

In the ONE who is my hope,
Bret

Receiving People and Increasing in Revelation

What does receiving people and getting increased revelation have to do with each other?  I am glad you asked, the Lord recently showed me something I had only heard about.  In Matthew 10:41 it says, ""He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward."  I heard a message about receiving people for who they are "in Christ" and receiving the grace that is on their life.  So here was my lesson, my uncle (a business and community leader) came to visit.  Our visit was pleasant but he had more than just family time in mind, coming all the way from Georgia.  Then we had two conversations where he spoke into our lives in two important areas for us: our family and ministry.  Because my uncle is a leader and is decisive his authority can be wrongly received.  My uncle is a gracious man who has a lot of godly wisdom and he has considered me like a son ever since my father (his brother) committed suicide.  As I had listened to the message on honoring the Spirit of the Lord on people's lives, I recognized that my uncle is a builder or in Biblical terms apostolic.  This comes from Ephesians 4:11-12 which says, "And He [Christ] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;"  I am not saying my uncle is an apostle but simply that I recognize through the Spirit of God and the Word that he has an apostolic bent.  All this to say that in order to position my heart to receive grace that is on his life, the Lord led me to see that he is a builder (apostolic) in order to receive this grace.  People who are apostolic seek to see life aligned according to Heaven's priorities.  So after my uncle challenged us in the area of family instead of receiving it wrongly, we decided to take a step up in the authority God's given us "in Christ".  Thus we were built up, putting into action what God had revealed earlier instead of making fleshly excuses for our lack of growth.  I walked away from that conversation and the one regarding the ministry and our support situation, challenged but empowered with a new sense of growth for the immediate future.  I had other people in my life who felt insecure, anxious, and even threatened by the level of authority that my uncle carries because of who he is.  I have to admit that at first I wrongly took the challenge and had some self-condemnation for what I had failed to do but then the Lord reminded me of the prayers that I had prayed seeking to have Him move me out of a particular stuck place in my life.  People who are given an apostolic gifting will exhort people in the Body of Christ to walk in the authority, identity, and power they have been given.  In Matthew 13:57 the people of Jesus home town began to receive grace from Him, until they saw Him as they knew Him as a child (Jesus of Nazareth) then they took offense and did not receive grace or any miracles.  In 2 Corinthians 5:16 & 17 it says, "Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. "  In these verses the Holy Spirit through Paul is exhorting us to see people differently than when we were not born again, to see others for the new creature they are which means that I can also receive the grace of God through them.  May the Holy Spirit give you different lenses to see people, especially believers.

For His Kingdom,
Bret