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

Spiritual Amphibians Part 2

“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

Heshen was a Chinese ruler in the eighteenth century.

He began his career as an imperial bodyguard known for his handsome appearance and charm.

After a revolt in 1796, Heshen was put in charge and, at the same time, he began to put money into his own pockets. His wealth was legendary.

He reportedly owned 8,000 acres of land and 60 million ounces of silver. There were 600 women in his harem.

But his career ended when he was removed from power and forced to commit suicide.

Wealth and power do not guarantee a long and happy life.

We saw in our last blog that it is hard to live like spiritual amphibians, since our main problem is that earth operates in a totally different manner from heaven.

If we are not careful, we can get so involved with the philosophies and lifestyle of this world where we live.

In order for us to be living like spiritual amphibians, we need to focus on 3 realities. We saw in our last blog that We are citizens of heaven, vs. 20a.

We learn in verse 20b that we are to get excited about the Rapture, vs.20b–“from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

The phrase “eagerly wait” is a strong compound word and speaks of an attitude of intense anticipation withdrawing one’s attention from other objects.

How about us? Are we just waiting for Christ or are we eagerly anticipating Him?

If we are, it will cause us to live like spiritual amphibians by living in our true identity in Jesus Christ and not out of our own fleshly strength.

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3

Two psychologists at UC San Diego have published research showing that people who read “spoilers”—information about what will happen in a story—actually end up enjoying a story more than people who don’t know what is going to happen.

As believers, we already know the end of the story, so we can enjoy life as we get excited about the Rapture!

Blessings!

Rev. Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries

Just Do It

Have you ever sought the godly counsel of another believer only to receive a Bible verse, a pat on the head, and the challenge to just do it?

I call this the Nike approach to Christian counseling.

Having trouble loving your spouse?  Well, just love them.

Having trouble with anxiety or fear?  Don’t worry; be happy; trust God!

Having lustful thoughts?  Don’t think about sex.

Is this bad advice?  No, but it’s powerless and guaranteed to leave the recipient frustrated and discouraged.

If they could do what they wanted to do….walk in victory… they would!  But they can’t.

Why?  They’ve never been taught to plug into the power source of the life of Jesus within them.

Why?  Many churches are content to teach the Nike approach to the Christian life.

So, churches are full of two kinds of Christians:

• Those who think they are doing well because they have most of the Christian check list checked off.
• And those who are really frustrated with not measuring up but are too afraid to ask for help because they know they are only going to hear a Bible verse along with, “Just do it.”

So, instead they hide their struggles or walk away from church and give up altogether.

Remember that Pride says, “You can do it; just try harder.”

Beloved, there is only one Person who ever successfully lived the Christian life:  Jesus.

Here’s more good news: He knows you can’t live the Christian life, and He’s okay with that!

In fact, He’s taken up residence in your skin, so that He can express His life in you and through you.

So, if you’re struggling in an area, consciously engage Jesus in the battle.

Let Him fight it on your behalf.  He wins every battle that we yield to Him.

If someone comes asking for help, do not give them a Bible verse and tell them to just do it.

Give them a Bible verse and share how Jesus can do it through them for His glory.

He is far more powerful than the Greek goddess Nike could ever be.

Our victory has already been won for us by Jesus, and we live out His victory as we walk in total dependence on His life expressed in us and through us for His glory.

Blessings!

Robyn

In Sync with Jesus

Have you been watching the Olympics from Rio?

I have, and I was excited to hear the testimony of two US athletes who won the silver medal for men’s synchronized diving.

Both David Boudia and Steele Johnson indicated that it was because they understood their identity in Christ that they were able to be at peace and enjoy their performance.

You see, they knew that their performance does not define them, Jesus does.

This understanding helped them to relax and trust Jesus to dive through them without worrying about the result.

They both knew that in God’s eyes they already had been victorious because they were resting in His love and acceptance no matter the result of their performance.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have peace and joy in every task we face?

It’s possible for every believer, but the key is to rest in our new identity in Christ instead of falling into the worldly trap of defining and valuing ourselves based on the outcome of our performance.

Beloved, because we are in Christ, we are all winners.  Why?  Because Jesus has already gained the ultimate victory.

He lives in us; and we live in Him.  His victory is our victory.

So, relax and enjoy His life flowing in you and through you.

By faith, receive His love and acceptance every day.

Set your mind, just like these men did, on this reality, and you will experience Jesus’ peace as you let Him do all things through you for His glory.

If you want to see NBC’s interview with David and Steele, I have it posted on ELM’s facebook page.

Blessings!

Robyn

Friends with Jesus

Last week, we started to look at our new identity in Christ. Remember that mental health comes from seeing ourselves as God sees us.

This week our focus is on the reality that Jesus calls us His friends.

In John 15:15, He states that He considers His followers His friends, and as a result, He shares all that the Father shares with Him.  Now, that’s intimacy.

Do you have any friends that you can share anything with and know that they will share your joy or sorrow?  That’s how Jesus views our relationship with Him.  Why?  Because He loves us with Phileo love — the love of friendship.

For friendships to be what God wants them to be, they have to be rooted in Agape.

Agape expressed in phileo looks like one friend considering his friend’s needs as more important than his own, as he sacrifices to serve his friend’s well-being, no matter the cost or how he is treated in return.

Jesus loved us with Phileo when He died on the cross for us, and He loves us with Phileo every day.

But, here’s something even harder to comprehend: He not only loves us, He really, really likes us too!

Now, He doesn’t like our flesh – the ways we operate in our own strength and selfishness, but we are not our flesh.

We are who we are based on being members of His family.

So, He sees us as we really are: complete in Him.  He sees the finished us.  He sees us in Him, righteous, holy, sanctified, and so much more that He’s given us by His grace.

Beloved, we don’t have to like our flesh; in fact, we shouldn’t.  We should detest our flesh patterns so much that we choose to put them off and put on our new identity in Him.

The more we learn to rest in our new life in Him, the more we will increase in our awareness of His presence dwelling in our spirit as He expresses Himself through our soul/personality.

As we connect with Him, He will speak in our spirit through His Word and through the Holy Spirit and share all the that the Father shares with Him.

Beloved, think about that.  All that Jesus has from the Father, He shares with us.  Why?  Because we are His friends!  How awesome is that!  That’s mind-blowing folks!

So, if you react to this with, “Why would He ever want to be my friend?”  Stop it!

Reset your mind on the reality that He is your friend because you are in Him and He is in you.  You have an intimate friendship with Him!

Blessings!

Robyn

The Feast of Trumpets Part 2

Last week, I shared with you about the uniqueness of the start of the Feast of Trumpets.

No other Feast was linked to the start of the New Moon.

And, just as  the exact timing of the first sighting of the New Moon was unknown, so is the exact timing of the Rapture of the church.

While the exact day and hour of Jesus’ coming for His Bride is unknown, He still tells us to watch for the cosmic signs and world events that precede it.

When the disciples asked Him in Acts 1 if He was restoring the kingdom to Israel at that time, He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons…”

Now, the Jews would have seen the allusion in His use of the word seasons to point to the seven Feasts.

Yet, several years later, Paul wrote of the Rapture in his first letter to the Thessalonians saying, “of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need for me to write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.”

Today, we have the advantage as well as the responsibility to understand the season of history in which we now live.

We have the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

We have the list of ‘birth pangs’ like wars, famines. pestilence, earthquakes, comets to tell us that the season is truly upon us.

Jesus tells us that when we see these things to look up for our Redemption draws near.

Some folks say, “So what!  People have always thought the Rapture was near.”

Well, the point is that we have to live with the mindset that expects Him to call us upward at any moment.

If you thought this way, how would that impact your decisions, your relationships, your willingness to share the gospel?

Do you want to be on your way up thinking, “Oh No! I never shared Jesus with…”

The folks that are left behind are here for the Tribulation and reign of the Antichrist — the most horrific time in history.

Who do you want to be caught up with you?  Make a list.

Then, ask them for 15 minutes to share some good news.

If they give you the time, share the message of the cross with them.

• Romans 3:23  “for all have sinned and fal short of the glory of God.”
• Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Romans 5:8  “For God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinner, Christ died for us.”
• Ephesians 2:8,9  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not that of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one can boast.”
• Romans 10:9,10  “For if you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord and believe in your hear that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved….

It’s their decision to accept or reject Jesus and the Spirit’s job to work in their hearts with faith.

Our job is to share the good news and to live lives that are holy — different than the world around us.

Beloved, our Redeemer is drawing near.

Are you ready for His return?

Maranatha!  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Blessings!

Robyn Henning

The Feast of Trumpets Part 1

I mentioned before that I am a bit of a prophecy addict and that I am one who believes in the pretribulation Rapture of the Church.

This is when the Lord Jesus calls all believers up to meet Him in the air to return to heaven to celebrate the Wedding Feast of the Lamb as recorded in Revelation 19.

I also hold to the prophetic pattern of the Jewish Feasts where the Spring feasts – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits -correlate to Jesus’ first coming; the Feast of Pentacost represents the birth of the Church; and the Fall Feasts – Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles – point to the Rapture, the Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ and His Millennial Reign.

Now, a number of folks have tried to name the date of the Rapture only to look like fools.

Speaking of the timing of the Rapture, Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, “But of the day and the hour knows no man, no, not the angels of  heaven, but my Father only.”

So, from this verse comes the doctrine of Imminence – Jesus could come for His Bride at any moment.

And, that’s true when you look at the Jewish wedding process where the groom arrives to snatch away his bride at a time she does not know beforehand.  The bride and her attendants were expected to be ready no matter what time the groom arrived for her.

What I recently learned about the Feast of Trumpets is that it is the only Feast with an uncertain start time.

The reason is that the Jewish calendar is based on the Lunar System.

So, months begin only at the first sighting of the new moon.

In ancient times, a 48 hour window was given by the priests for people to arrive for the feast and prepare.

Two priests were assigned the task of watching for the first sliver of the new moon to appear in the night sky.

Once they sighted the New Moon, they would report to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin,  the New Moon was declared ‘sanctified,’ and the order to blow the Trumpet was given.

Thus, no one knew the exact day or the hour of the sounding of the first trumpet marking the start of the Feast of Trumpets.

Because cosmic signs were key to this Feast, it’s no stretch to see why Jesus indicated in Luke 21 that cosmic signs will precede the Rapture.

We’ve heard a lot about the Blood moons over the last two years.  Are they an indicator?  They may be.

Either way, as believers, we need to be ready every day for the Trumpet and upward call of our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

Maranatha!  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Blessings!

Robyn

Good Enough for God

Do you feel good enough for God?

How good does a person have to be to get into heaven?

How good is God?

He is ALL good, in other words, He is holy.

Picture a blank white board.  Let that represent holiness.

Now, let’s get extreme.  Let’s say a person only ever sinned once….ever.

So, they are 99.9% perfect/holy.  But what does that really mean?

Right, they aren’t perfect or holy.

So, if God were to allow them into His Presence, what would that do to God’s holiness?

Exactly, He would no longer be holy.

So, other than Jesus, has there ever been a human being that qualified for holy?  Nope.

Paul reiterates God’s declaration, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside; together they have become useless; there is none who does good; there is not even one.”

So, why is this so important?

It means that people cannot stand before God on their own merits.

When our performance is judged against God’s Law, we ALL fail.

We need someone to intervene for us.

Well, I have good news!  Someone did!

God Himself came in the form of Jesus to pay the penalty for all of our sin.

He gave us His righteousness and took on Himself our unrighteousness.

So, in exchange for our imperfection, when we place our faith in Jesus, we are given Jesus’ perfection through His grace and mercy.

This is the start of the glorious exchanged life.

His life in exchange for ours.

All accomplished on the cross; proven by His resurrection.

Now, we are free from the Law, and free to live with grace as our teacher.

The old sinner me is dead; the new me, a saint in Christ Jesus, now lives.

All credit and glory goes to Jesus…none to me.  I’m fine with that.

Now, we are free to rest in His love and acceptance and to pass it along to those around us.

Beloved, have you entered into His grace by faith in Jesus’ shed blood?

Why not choose right now to turn from sin and admit there’s no way you can be holy?

Put your faith in Jesus and choose to follow Him.

It’s the best choice you could ever make!

Blessings!

Robyn

 

 

The Resurrection for Real

Have you ever felt disenfranchised?  Like someone robbed you of  a privilege or right?

I am going to use this week’s Nugget to vent a little bit.

When I learned that Easter services were set for the end of March, I scratched my head thinking, “But the Feast of Passover isn’t until the end of April, how can it be the time to celebrate the Resurrection?”

Then, I read an article sent out by Koinonia House Ministries that explained the reason that the church celebrates Easter on a date that does not coincide with the anniversary of the resurrection.

Apparently, the early church leaders were so filled with hatred for the Jews that they detested the idea of any celebration of the resurrection coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover.

So, they opted to ally with the pagan celebration of the fertility goddess, Astarte, from whom we get the word, Easter.

The early church went to great pains to ensure that Easter celebrations and Passover would not coincide.

Another misconception passed down to us is that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, but it most likely took place on a Wednesday.

After reading the article, I was just flat out cranky about being robbed by church leadership of the right to celebrate resurrection day on its proper anniversary.

So, while even today’s church leadership continues to ignore this error, I will choose to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday following the end of Passover week.

If you see me at church on May 1st this year, and I say, “He is risen!” you will know why.

To this point in history, there has been no more important day than Resurrection Day.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the evidence that His blood was accepted by the Father as payment in full for mankind’s sin debt.

It is because of the Resurrection that believers can be reconciled to the Father and receive the very life and essence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

It is because of the Resurrection of  Jesus, that we are transformed from children of wrath in Adam to children of grace in Christ…. transformed for sinners to saints!

Hallelujah!  He is Risen indeed!

There I feel better.  Have a blessed Resurrection Day on May 1st.

Blessings!

Robyn

 

 

Co-Mingled With Christ

Have you read about the movement towards Trans-humanism?

It’s what some folks consider the next evolutionary step for humanity.

Think Iron Man.  In essence, it’s the blending of technology with humanity (and there are some other weirder forms too).

It could be something as simple as an embedded chip to track a variety of information to the insertion of nanobots to battle cancer or other illnesses.

Now, there’s a number of folks who’ve posted videos on this topic, but what I want us to consider is the reality that Christians are already trans-human.

You see, our lives have been co-mingled with Christ’s life.

He literally lives in our skin.

That’s a whole lot better than any tiny robots! (and a lot less creepy)

He’s the Creator of the Universe, yet we carry Him around every moment of every day.

We share minds with Jesus.

Through the Holy Spirit, we experience His leading in decisions, His comfort in stressful moments, and His power to walk in victory over Satan.

Another thing to consider is that since out lives are blended with His life, we share His past, His present and His future.

All that He went through on the cross, we went through too; that’s why Paul stated, “I have been crucified with Christ.”

When Jesus was resurrected, so were we.

Our old nature in Adam, died on the cross, and we were born again into Jesus’ family with a new nature freed from the power of sin.

Crucified sinners transformed into resurrected saints.

And, it’s all due to our lives being co-mingled with the very life of Jesus.

Technology cannot improve on that!

No matter what they invent, our  mortal bodies will die.

But, for those of us whose lives are co-mingled with Christ’s life, the day that our bodies die is the day that we are transformed into what He originally intended for us to be.

The shadow will be lifted, and we will experience His life in dimensions we have yet to see.

So, beloved, rejoice in your trans-humanism…. your life is co-mingled with Jesus’ life.

It doesn’t get any better that that!

Blessings!

Robyn