Spiritual Amphibians Part 3

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”  Philippians 3:20-21

In order for us to be living like spiritual amphibians, we need to focus on 3 realities.

In our last 2 blogs, we saw that we are citizens of heaven (vs. 20a), and we are to get excited about the Rapture (vs.20b).

This week we will focus on Paul’s exhortation to look forward to our New Bodies.

vs. 21-“who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Our physical bodies are subject to sickness, decay, weakness, and the power of sin which indwells them.

Our bodies have been humiliated by the fall and the curse of sin.

These bodies will be transformed into a body that will be refashioned with the glory of our Savior’s body.

They will be glorious replicas of Christ’s body that He had after the resurrection and that He has now in His present glorified state in heaven.

Our new bodies will be adapted to the eternal state and our spiritual life will dominate them.

They will not die, get weak or sick; they will have flesh and bones.

We will eat, talk, walk, fly through space, and be recognized by others. They will be patterned after our physical bodies but be without their limitations.

Christ has subjected the entire universe to His sovereign control, so He certainly will have enough power to raise our bodies and make them like His.

How often do we wrongly complain about life here on earth because we don’t have all we want or don’t like how people treat us?

This is not home; our citizenship is in heaven.

Let me illustrate.

Bob was staying at an expensive hotel in New York City, and he woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach.

So, he called room service and ordered some soda crackers.

Later, when he looked at the charge slip, he was furious.

Bob called room service and raged, “I know I’m in a luxury hotel, but $11.50 for six crackers is ridiculous!”

“The crackers are complimentary,” the voice at the other end coolly explained. “I believe you are complaining about your room number.”

As spiritual amphibians may we live out these verses by the power of the Holy Spirit:

“Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, focus on what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.  Fix your thoughts on the things in heaven, not the things on earth. For your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3

Blessings!

Rev. Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries

Back from the Dead

Have you ever met someone who died but was brought back to life?

I would have loved to sit down with Lazarus to hear about all that he experienced over the few days he was in heaven!

I wonder how he felt about being sent back to earth.

I bet he had mixed emotions about the whole mission.

The reality is that every time we meet up with another brother or sister in Christ, we are meeting someone who died and was miraculously brought back to life!

You see, when we placed our faith in Jesus to pay the penalty for sin, we became one with Him.

So, when Jesus died on the cross to sin, so did we.

And, when He rose from the grave, so did we.

This is why Paul wrote in Romans 6, that we died to sin and now are alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Out relationship with sin is severed once and for all.

Because we are in Christ, His resurrection life now permeates our essence and reconnects us with the only Source of Life, Jehovah.

Each one of us is a walking, talking miracle of God’s grace.

Close your eyes and imagine hearing the Lord Jesus say your name and the words, “Come forth.”

The moment you received Jesus as your Savior the true you arose from  the dead, and sin’s grip on you was shattered.

That which is truly you came alive by being reconnected to the Source of Life.

This happened to me when I was seven, and I remember the experience of breathing in His Life as I expressed my faith in Jesus’ blood to pay for sin and received Him as my Savior.

I don’t remember anything else from age 7!

A miracle happened for me that day.

I was dead; by faith, Jesus made me come alive again.

He transformed me from a dead sinner to a living saint!  Hallelujah!

If you’ve never experienced this miracle, won’t you consider putting an end to your own pathetic efforts to be ‘good enough,’ because no one can be 100% perfect, which is God’s standard.

But, Jesus was good enough, and so He was the perfect sacrifice who died for sin on our behalf, so that by faith in Him, we could receive His resurrection life in us.

In your own words, admit to God that you’re a sinner and that you believe that Jesus’ blood paid for sin once for all.

Then, make the choice to turn from sin and tell God that you receive Jesus as your Savior and His gift of eternal life.

Thank Him for bringing you back to Life, and ask Him to teach you to follow Jesus as both Savior and Lord.

Blessings!

Robyn

The True You

Have you ever heard anyone say, “You just have to be true to yourself?”

What on earth does that mean?

Frankly, most of the time it’s an excuse to indulge their selfish flesh.

However, the reality is that our choices flow from our perception of self.

For example, if I see myself as a person with a bad temper, then I will be perfectly comfortable with biting someone’s head off.

On the other hand, if I see myself as a nice person but react to someone with angry words, it will bother me, and I will quickly apologize.

Our perception of self forms in large measure based on the verbal and physical feedback we get from our parents, siblings, friends, and teachers.

Unfortunately, none of those folks are the Source of Truth.

The key to mental health is perceiving ourselves as God perceives us.

Author Brennan Manning wrote:

“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.  This is the true self.  Every other identity is illusion.”

In Christ, you are loved, accepted, made righteous and holy, safe and secure, His friend, complete, lacking nothing, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

The very life and essence of Jesus flows in you and through you thanks to His gift of the Holy Spirit.

Beloved, we need to put off our old self perceptions and  put on God’s perception of us.

This is where truth is regardless of what we feel.

We have been taken out of Adam, so people no longer define us.

We have been born again into God’s family; we are children of the King of Kings; we are princes and princesses.

God sees us as we really are: complete in Him, perfect, holy, Christ-like brothers and sister of Jesus.

Beloved, this is the true you, so be true to yourself and live out of your new identity in Jesus.

Blessings!

Robyn

 

 

Powerful Rest

Did you know that there is tremendous power in resting?

Absolutely!

When we choose to rest in faith in Jesus’ life in us, He empowers us with His strength to handle all of life’s circumstances.

What did Jesus say in John 15?

“If you abide in Me and My Word abides in you, you will bring forth much fruit.”

He didn’t say, “work harder, try harder not to sin, do more ministry.”

No, Jesus said rest in My life in you and watch My life bear fruit through you!

Our lives are completely safe and secure in Jesus.

Believing this truth empowers us with His life to boldly navigate the waters of life.

Life becomes more about Jesus and less about us.

We will not freak out at life’s storms because, like Jesus, we will take no offense at them, as we find our rest in our Father’s hands.

Beloved, Jesus said that both He and His Father hold us in Their hands, and NO ONE can snatch us out of Their hands…not Satan, not ISIS, no anyone.

Resting in His love and life in us becomes the energy that empowers us to deal with every circumstance and person we come across.

How do we stay focused on this precious truth?

We simply remind ourselves throughout the day by saying, “Thank You, Jesus, for doing this through me,” or “Thank you, Jesus, for Your love and that I am safe in Your hands,” or “Thank You, Jesus, that I am righteous in You and so is….”

Beloved, setting our minds on God’s Truth helps us to rest in His love.

So, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and praiseworthy, let your mind dwell on these things and God’s rest will empower you.

Blessings!

Robyn

Righteous in Christ Jesus

Did you know that there are only two kinds of people in this world?

The righteous and the unrighteous.  That’s it.

We are all born unrighteous in Adam – sinners by nature.

Now, for the person who puts there faith in the shed blood of Jesus to pay the penalty for sin, there is a mighty transformation.

We become what Jesus called – born again.

By faith, we are identified with Jesus to the point that we share in His death, burial and resurrection.

Therefore, we are spiritually reborn into Jesus’ family.

Jesus took on our sin and in turn gave us His righteousness.  Wow!

But, how should this impact how we see ourselves and others?

Here’s truth: believers are already 100% righteous in our spirit because Jesus lives in us.

Our problem is that we focus on our failures and the failures of others and take offense.

Beloved, how many of our sins have been paid for on the cross?

All of them!  100% covered by the blood!

The reality is that we are in Christ, and He is in us, so we are immersed in His righteousness.

So are all believers!

Now, how does his factor into forgiving others?

Think on this: What would it be like to not take any offense at what is done to us?

We would never be upset, ever.

What kind of freedom would that give us?

We would never again be enslaved by hurt, anger, bitterness, shame, fear, anxiety, or rejection.

When we choose to abide in Christ and to see Jesus followers as righteous in Christ Jesus, we can more easily choose not to take offense when they react in their flesh.

Also, resting in faith in Jesus, gives us His eyes for the unrighteous and therefore, empowers us to not take offense at their actions against us just as Jesus did from the cross.

The first martyr, Stephen, understood this as he responded with forgiveness toward the unbelievers as they hurled lethal stones at his body.

He refused to take offense, because he could see His Savior ready to receive him into heaven.

Beloved, this takes faith in the finished work of the cross.

We have been redeemed.

We are clothed in His righteousness by His grace!

No one can truly harm us.

They may hurt our eathsuits, like they did Stephen’s, but they can’t really hurt us unless we choose to take offense.

Forgiveness brings freedom.

When we surrender and rest in the knowledge that nothing can harm the real us, we will be free to respond in all situations in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Blessings!

Robyn

Actively Passive

God wants us to be actively passive.

How’s that for an oxymoron!

Critics of the Exchanged Life often accuse us of teaching passivity.

The Exchanged Life is not, “Let go, and let God.”

It is a mindset of acknowledging that without Jesus, I can do nothing and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

What does this look like in real life?

A simple prayer of awareness, “Thank you, Jesus, for doing this through me.”

Appropriating Jesus’ power and life is all about setting our minds on the truth that He lives in our skin and therefore is supplying the life energy to do all things through us.

Jesus expresses Himself co-mingled with our personalities.

He does not usurp our will, nor do we sit down until He moves us.

No, we actively engage our environment with the awareness of His life flowing in us and through us.

This is how Jesus lived and engaged people.

The Father, through the Holy Spirit, led Jesus and empowered Him as He expressed the Father in all that He did from the mundane tasks of carpentry to the three short years of ministry.

Beloved, Jesus so loves us that He wants to be our power source for all things from the mundane to the spiritual.

When I teach these truths to my clients, I challenge them to start in the simple things, like household chores, by saying, “Thank You, Jesus, for doing this through me.”

Then, when the harder things come along, we will more likely acknowledge Him in those things as well.

So, start acknowledging Jesus in the simple things this week.  As you do, you will start remembering to thank Him in the harder things too.

Blessings!

Robyn

Law vs. Grace

What does the word grace mean?

I’ve heard it defined as,”unmerited favor,” or “When you get what you don’t deserve.”

The problem is that many Christians think that grace is a free pass to indulge fleshly lusts.

I agree with Paul: “May it never be!”

Paul tells us that sin takes advantage of the Law to deceive us.

Here’s how sin takes advantage of the Law:

What happens if you put a plate of green beans in front of a kid and say, “Don’t stick those up your nose.” Right, as soon as you aren’t looking, they stick the bean up their nose. Why? Because the flesh wants to do its own thing, and sin is right there to help by saying, “do it!”

The problem isn’t found in the Law; the problem is found in sin and our flesh.

So, what happens when we choose to live in God’s grace instead of the Law?

Sin loses its opportunity to use the Law against our flesh. How?

When I live by grace, I am choosing to let the Holy Spirit lead me into what is good for me.

Titus tells us that it is “grace that teaches me to say “no’ to ungodliness and ‘yes’ to righteousness.”

It is God’s grace that has transformed us from children of wrath to children of God.

And, it is His grace that will teach us to make choices that line up with our new identity as His children.

The Law says, “I HAVE TO” live like this.

Grace says, “I GET TO” live like Jesus, as I allow Him to express Himself through me.

Grace does not let me sin all the more; grace lets me live out of the righteousness of Christ in me.

The Law compels me to perform; grace gently leads me to rest in my new identity in Christ.

Beloved, choose to live in God’s grace and love for you, and you will experience the victory He has accomplished for you over sin!

Blessings!

Robyn

Resurrection Life

I hope you had a blessed Resurrection Sunday!

He is RISEN!

Guess what… So are you!

If you’ve trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you were resurrected on that day too!

How?

In Romans 6, the Apostle Paul explained that by faith our lives have been so intertwined with Jesus’ life that when He was crucified, so were we.

When Jesus was buried, so were we.  When He rose from the dead, so were we!

By faith and by His grace, we have been reborn into Jesus’ family.

We are now identified by Him instead of Adam!

We have been transformed from sinners to saints!

Saint: one who is set apart from sin and set apart unto God; one who is holy.

We have been made holy through Jesus’ blood atonement for our sins.  He has justified us before the Father.

As a result, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our human spirits as a down-payment on our redemption.

His presence alone is enough to declare us holy – set apart unto God and therefore, saints in Christ Jesus.

Many Christians would describe themselves as ‘sinners, saved by grace.’ 

That’s NOT TRUE!

We were sinners in Adam; we are now saints in Christ Jesus!

You might respond, “But I still sin.”

Humanistic psychology misleads us into believing that we are defined by our actions.

“I sin; therefore, I am a sinner.”

Folks, when Mr. Ed talked to Wilbur, it didn’t make him human; he was a horse, of course! (If you don’t know who Mr. Ed is, look him up on YouTube!)

Being born into Adam’s family is what defines us as sinners.  Our sins are just the evidence of a corrupt human spirit.

Being born again into Jesus’ family brings a transformation to our human spirits.

Again, by faith and His grace, our spirits are transformed by His blood.

The process of sanctification begins and is a work of the Holy Spirit.

His job is to teach us to follow Him by submitting our choices to Him, as He shows us what is ‘good’ for us.

This is a lifelong process.

Some day, when we enter God’s presence our bodies will be transformed, and this is called: glorification.

At that point, our redemption will be complete as all three parts of us – body, soul, and spirit – will be totally free from sin’s presence.

Beloved, why is it so important for us to understand that we are saints by His grace?

No one can consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with their self-perception.

It may sound humble to say, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”

But, it’s a lie sold to us by Satan to keep us enslaved to the lusts of the flesh.

The truth is: “I was a sinner.  By His grace, He has transformed me into a saint!”

Do I still make sinful choices?  Yes, but when I do, it causes inner conflict, which the Spirit then uses to convict me and provoke obedience.

Beloved, ponder this: When Jesus was resurrected, so were you!  You’ve been transformed from sinner to saint by faith in Jesus!  Hallelujah!

Blessings!

Robyn

Setting Spiritual Goals

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time!”

There’s a whole lot of truth in that statement.

In fact, there are a multitude of books written on goal setting, Most of which focus on career and financial goals.

But, I think it’s even more important to set spiritual goals.

I challenge you to take the time in prayer to ask the Lord to show you what He wants to accomplish through you this year to grow you into His Image.

What parts of the Bible does He want you to digest and apply?

What does He want you to do to grow your daily dialogue with Him in prayer so that your relationship with Him grows in intimacy?

Where does He want you to minister as His hands and feet in service to others?

How does He want you to invest your financial resources to advance His Kingdom?

These are all great questions to ask Him as we head into the New Year.

It’s so easy to just set temporal goals like weight loss, career advancement etc.

Our life here is just a vapor compared to eternity.

That said, setting spiritual goals that have eternal ramifications is far more important that temporal goals!

Beloved, make the time to talk to the Lord this week about His spiritual goals for you in 2015.

Write them down and ask a godly friend to keep you accountable.

Remember: Jesus is the One who began His good work in you; He will be faithful to complete it!

Have a blessed 2015!

Robyn

Do Nothing!

This week, I want you to try really hard to do…. NOTHING!

That’s right NOTHING!…. without Jesus, that is!

Since Jesus tells us in the later part of John 15:5 that, “without Him we can do nothing,” I want you to purposefully do NOTHING without Jesus.

The sister verse to John 15:5 is Philippians 4:13 which reads, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

So how does this play out in everyday life?

It’s starts in the morning by choosing to declare aloud:

“This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!  Lord Jesus, I admit that I can do NOTHING apart from You.  I choose to be emptied of my SELF, and I ask You to fill me with the Holy Spirit so that He can express Your life through me for Your glory.”

Then, throughout your day even in the little mundane tasks of life, thank Jesus for doing the tasks through you.

The more you cultivate this attitude of total dependence on Jesus living His life through you, the more eternal fruit will be borne out of your life.

So, I hope you’ll take to time to view this week’s Nugget video and practice doing NOTHING without Jesus!

Blessings!

Robyn