Change is the essential process of all existence.

Look Down

2Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
2Co 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
2Co 5:16 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.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

(MKJV) So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

We preachers are guilty of not allowing people to grow up into their destiny. We have kept people in a place of self focus or old life by the very phraseology that we use among them. How often have we told people to look up to God and get your eyes on God. This may all sound well and good, but it still leaves us in a position in life of being outside of God, looking at life through our own eyes. If we are truly in Christ and in God then we would see life from His perspective, from His vantage point. Scripturally we are positioned with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) and therefore need to view life from our new position or perspective.

Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
(Phillips) We are asking God that you may see things as it were from His point of view, by being given spiritual insight and understanding,

To be a new creature or new creation is to have a new look on life from our new position in Christ. Now we see as He sees because we are in Him and in the Father, seated in heaven’s throne now. This is often hard for us to realize because we are expecting something to change on the outside; but Christianity is a lifestyle of living from the inside out. It is what happens to us on the inside that determines what we see on the outside.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

It is faith that allows us to see life from this new perspective now. It is faith that allows us to sit on heaven’s throne in Christ and see like God sees. It is faith that burns this reality into our hearts and allows us to see what we cannot naturally see. It is faith that helps us realize that we are dead in ourselves and are risen in Christ, so therefore we no longer have the right to view life from a perspective of how it relates to me.
From this day forward we choose to see life only from His perspective and how it affects Him. This is life eternal (life from the eternal viewpoint), this is being born again (being born from above in the higher level), this is spirituality (seeing through His eyes), this is being a Christian and this is why we look down.

To hear the audio message press here.

It was late Saturday night on June 20th and the phone rang. It was my sister. It was a phone call that I knew would eventually come. My sister informed me that my father was at his end and probably would not make it through the night.

Through this journey of preparation for my father’s passing, there were two things that I’ve always known. Firstly that I would write a song for Dad and sing it at his funeral, secondly that I would be with Dad at his passing. Strangely enough I find myself about 250 miles away from him with no way of getting to him in time.

After the phone call from my sister, I spent some time talking with my wife, Robin, trying to decide what to do. It was during this time that the Lord unctioned me to start writing the song. The music came together in about 10 minutes and everything just seemed to flow. Now was the time to write the lyrics and this is where things got interesting. I felt someone inside me fighting against me and blocking my ability to put words to the song. I wanted to write a song for my dad, to honor his life and what he meant to me but the harder I tried, the worse things got. So I decided to just let the words flow and see what comes out. The problem was that what was coming out was not the words I wanted to sing, so again I fought against this force and tried to write the song for my dad.

Finally after some time, it was like the veil was removed from my mind and heart and I began to realize that my dad had come to me in his spirit. I did not have to get to Dad, he had gotten to me and the reason for the fight inside of me was that Dad wanted to write the words of this song through me. So I resisted the fight and allowed the song to flow out of me and allowed Dad to say what he had to say. To my surprise the lyrics that came out were a mixture of Dad and myself. Our two lives had become one and the song became a generational expression of what had begun in my father’s heart and now was continuing through my life.

After playing the song for the first time I also realized that my heavenly Father had His hand in this also and that this song is timely for the Body of Christ and the purpose for which we are all called.

I invite you to watch the video of the song entitled “It’s Not about Me” which was sung at Lake City Christian Centre during the Dick Mills weekend. God bless you and I would like to hear your thoughts about what the song speaks to you.

Press here to see and listen.

Five Levels of Fellowship

Fellowship: G2842 koinōnia
Thayer Definition:
1) fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse
1a) the share which one has in anything, participation
1b) intercourse, fellowship, intimacy
1b1) the right hand as a sign and pledge of fellowship (in fulfilling the apostolic office)
1c) a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship

1) Fellowship in the Gospel: Philippians 1:5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

The first level of fellowship is in the grace of God. This is where we connect on the basis of what God has done for us. Each of us has received the free gift of God in Christ Jesus and has come into a new life of hope and love. As wonderful as this fellowship is, it is primarily based on what God has done for me and is man centered.

2) Fellowship of the Spirit: Philippians 2:1-2 If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tendernesses and mercies, then fulfill my joy, that you may be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind.

The second level of fellowship causes us to walk and be led by the Spirit. Here we learn that there is more to life than just getting something from God, now we know that we are to be filled by the Spirit and led by His voice in the doing of His will. We have transitioned from getting to doing and have come into the understanding of obedience.

3) Fellowship of His Son: 1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The third level of fellowship brings us into the reality of the Christ. Here we discover that everything is in Him and through Him. This is where we learn to have the mind of Christ as we go deeper in relationship with the Son. An unfolding reality has begun and we see that life is now about giving and bringing others into this fellowship.

4) Fellowship of His Sufferings: Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death;

This fourth level of fellowship causes us to realize that power and authority
only comes in the resurrection life. The resurrection life is the fruit of the
death to self. Here we learn that the pressures of life give us the opportunity
to die to ourselves and come alive in Christ. The great obstacle in our life is
ourselves and our self will, we must die daily in every situation to
experience the Christ life. Like Jesus, we realize that life is about being and
being for the benefit of others. Our focus is now on living unto the Father
and sharing His resurrection power and authority. Our lives have become
the fruit that others can partake of to experience life themselves and as fruit
we realize that what happens to us is not as important as what we can be for
others.

5) Fellowship of the Mystery: Ephesians 3:9 and to bring to light what is the fellowship of the mystery which from eternity has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ;

This fifth level of fellowship is the ultimate in which we share with the Father “that which from eternity (beginning) has been hidden in God”. This is the realization and participation in the purposes of the Father that were written before the beginning of time and our lives fulfilling that purpose as a part fitting into a greater whole into His ultimate purpose and intention. This ultimate is a oneness of all things in the Christ unto the Father that we are all one in all.

John 17:21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
Joh 17:22 And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one,
Joh 17:23 I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.

To listen to the audio press here

It’s in Christ

Perspective; everything in life is about perspective. Perspective is the starting point on which we view and measure the world around us. The only problem with perspective is that it can taint or distort the truth because if we have the wrong starting point, how do we know we are on the right path. This idea flows over into our Christianity. In Christianity there is only one perspective that matters and that is The Father’s perspective through His Son, Christ Jesus.

Let me give you an example; Redemption. Traditionally in our Evangelical Movement we would ask the question “How does the Christ fit into the picture of redemption?” The problem here is a redemption viewpoint and therefore Christ is measured through redemption and life’s purpose becomes redemption. This viewpoint blinds us from the bigger picture and the Father’s ultimate purpose for our lives. The question should be “How does redemption fit into the picture of Christ?” Now we shift from a redemption viewpoint which ultimately has us focus on what God can do for us (me centered), into a Christ viewpoint which causes us to see the potential of Christ and our fitting into Him for His purpose and the benefit of others (Christ centered).

Even in our evangelism we solicit individuals into ask Christ into their lives as Lord (generally as savior), but even in this, the life of the individual is the focus. Paul’s gospel according to Colossians 1:23-27 reveals the truth of the mystery that Christ is in us and our journey is this awareness and the progress from Christ in us to us being in Christ. You see all of the promises of God are realized when we live in the Christ and not because Christ is in us. Look at the following text.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
Eph 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Eph 1:8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
Eph 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
Eph 1:10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
Eph 1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
Eph 1:12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:11 (Msg) It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.

Therefore it is not about my life, my blessings, my vision, my destiny or my anything; it is all about The Christ and The Father’s purpose in Him. So what about me? For me and for us we have the opportunity to be part of the Father’s purpose and destiny for our lives, which is found in losing our life in The Christ. It is in losing our life in The Christ that we find the true life (His Life) and have that life live through us. It is only through the Christ life that we can experience oneness with The Father which is His ultimate purpose for our lives.

To listen to audio click here.

Lose Your Soul?

Let us look at this question beyond the traditional Evangelical viewpoint. Let us see a fuller picture from a God perspective that is not limited to time or space. Let us look at this question beyond the after life and into the Now of God. Remember that the Kingdom of God is here now both among us and in us and to God everything is in the now.

Mark 8:31-37

Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
(ASV) For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
(CEV) What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself?
(Darby) For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?
(GW) What good does it do for people to win the whole world yet lose their lives?
(MSG) What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?

What is a man gaining and what is he losing? To answer this we need a more precise biblical definition to the words “world” and “soul”.

World: G2889 kosmos
Thayer Definition: 6) the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ
7) world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly
7a) the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

In this verse we see that walking according to the course of the world is walking according to the prince of the power of the air. This we know to be the devil, but it is also the spirit of the anti-Christ (remember that there are only two spirits, that which is for Christ and that which is against or anti-Christ). The world or kosmos represents the self life and all of its wants. This is the lifestyle where I put me first, think about me first, look at life from the perspective of how does this affect me and what will this do for me! Making decisions without considering how it will affect others!

Soul:
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
(BBE) And the Lord God made man from the dust of the earth, breathing into him the breath of life: and man became a living soul.
(MSG) GOD formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive–a living soul!

The word “soul” and “being” are synonymous words, that is to say that they mean the same thing and are able to be exchanged in a sentence. The word “being” comes from the verb “to be” which when expressed in the first person is “I am”.
To lose your soul is to lose the “I AM”, the God potential, the God identity, the God awareness and the God relationship or oneness. It is the loss of purpose and destiny in the Christ; it is the loss of discovery of why you were born and how you fit in the larger picture of God’s marvelous plan in Christ Jesus.

The good news is that this lifestyle is a daily decision. Each day we are tempted to choose what we want without considering how it might affect others but we don’t have to answer that temptation. Instead we can ask ourselves before any decision is made “How will this decision affect others and my ability to serve them?” This is the Christ Life!

To hear the message click here.

His Works or His Ways?

Do you want to see the works of God manifest or would you rather know the ways of God? This is quite the question for some. There are many out there in the body of Christ that are seeking after a sign, seeking to see His works and displays manifest on the earth. Although at first glance this may seen righteous but when we look a little deeper into the issue we find a conflict. This conflict is between man and God and the conflict is over whose way is the better way or whose way will lead to the Tree of Life. Let us look firstly into the Old Testament.

Psalms 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.

The children of Israel saw the works of God (the external manifestations) but Moses knew the ways of God (understood God through relationship). The children of Israel had no personal relationship with God; in fact the only way they could relate to God was through Moses. The result of this lack of personal relationship was that the only way the Israelites knew that God was on the scene was by way of external works or a sign.
The problem here lies in the fact that you can have the works of God manifest in your midst and still have your life unchanged and even uneffected. God is not after a show or display of who He is on the external rather He is after an intimate relationship through the workings of His Spirit within you. This journey with God is the only way we can even begin to understand Him and His ways. Now let us look into the New Testament to shed even further light on this issue.

Mattew 12:38-39 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

Jesus called these sign seekers “evil and adulterous” because all they wanted was the external things to stimulate their senses and they were not willing to invest in the time and effort it takes to build a relationship. Their “god belief system” was about living a spiritual life in the confines of their own understanding and they were not willing to step into that which they did not understand.

1Corinthians 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

The more we try to control our own spiritual journey, the more we try to live in our own understanding, the more we try to base our lives by what we see with our eyes, the further away we find ourselves from a relationship with God.

Mark 16:17a And these signs shall follow them that believe;

We do not seek or chase after signs; signs will seek and chase after us as we seek and chase after God and His ways.

Remember that our job as a believer is to live a life of journey and discovery with Father God through Jesus Christ; getting to know Him better each day thus finding ourselves understanding God and His ways. The result of this journey is God living His life through us and then and only then will we see the purpose of God manifest in the earth and His signs will then be seen in a miraculous way.

To listen to the audio message click here.

Holiness

Exodus 3:5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Sandals would collect dirt and dust from the world, so that in removing them, one was removing the dirt and dust from their life to stand before God. The word standing had more to do with a positional relationship; so the idea of the verse was that as the heart was cleansed from contaminants, the individual would find themselves in a positional relationship with God.

Read Ephesians 4:17-27

Ephesians 4:23,24 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Holiness is about a progressive change that takes place on the inside of us and as this change continues we find ourselves living differently on the outside. This change affects how we relate to people, how we speak, how we present ourselves and even the life choices we make. Holiness is about living a lifestyle that has a positive Christ effect on others and having removed anything from our life that could cause others to stay away from God.

Here is a measuring stick: in every situation of my life, whether it be what I say, what I do, how I dress, what I drive, how I drive, where I go, what I eat and what I drink, I ask myself this question “Am I drawing attention to myself or am I drawing attention to Christ Jesus?”…..…..Eph 4:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Holiness is living a selfless life and living a Christ centered life, in other words in all the decisions I make I will ask myself “How does this effect others? Does this decision draw people closer to God or cause them to move away from God?”

Here is a personal example: In my life I choose not to drink any alcohol, not because it is good or evil, I just simply ask myself whether drinking can help me have a better Christ effect in the lives of others or would it hinder that effect? I have decided that drinking would limit my ability to serve and empower others therefore I do not drink alcohol.

Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Holiness is all about the Tree of Life (Christ) and not the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (self).

To hear the audio message click here.

Who Am I?

Exodus 3:

Moses had no problem with God’s plan to deliver the children of Israel until he finds out that something is required of him. It is fear and insecurity brought about by a lack of identity that causes this response.

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

Exodus 4:

In this chapter we see how self centered Moses was; all he could think about was who he was not instead of whom God is. All he could see was his inability to perform the task at hand when all God was looking for was someone to perform through.

Exodus 5:

Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

Pharaoh represents the self willed mind or intellect; he who trusts in his own ability. Everyone has a Pharaoh in them that only believes in the solid evidence of logic and fights against any thought or idea that would bring challenge to his thinking.

Note in verse two what Pharaoh (the mind) says. “I do not know the LORD”. Obedience to the voice of God is dependent on an intimate relationship or knowing Him.

Exodus 14:11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Exo 14:13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
Exo 14:14 “The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Verse 14: If you cannot speak the answer, than it would be better to remain silent until you can!

Here we see a different Moses, we see a man who is starting to know God and to trust Him; a man who is now starting to speak the answer and not the problem; a man who is starting to think and speak like God; a man who is starting to discover who he is!

Remember: God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called!

Who is God?

G – giving
O – oneness
D – destiny

It is in the discovery of who God is that we discover our own identity.

Giving:

Genesis 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Matthew 5:14a “You are the light of the world.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

In creating light God gave of Himself, in fact everything that was created was created by God and made up of God. God gave everything into existence. The first part of our God life that we must embrace is giving. We give our life into existence because giving is creating and without giving there can be no creating.

Oneness:

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
One is the Hebrew word ‘echâd meaning unity!

John 17:22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
Joh 17:23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

We must realize that we are created for unity and are created in unity with God and with each other. Furthermore we are created in unity with all things because Christ is all things and we are one in the Christ.

Destiny:

Exodus 3:10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Destiny is discovered or is the fruit of the God relationship through the Christ in the life of giving and oneness. Remember that the Christian journey is one of discovery of who we already are and what we already have.

Go to the sermon here.