Time to Get Violent!

Hello everyone,

Ever heard of experiencing days of heaven on earth? Does it sound too good to be true? Well, Jesus taught us to pray this very thing and by faith see it become our daily reality. In Matthew 6:10, He said we are to pray that His kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, the kingdom of heaven is run on the principles and authority and power of God, with no resistance. The Bible tells us Jesus came to earth to demonstrate how to access and operate in God’s kingdom way of living in this world, where there is much resistance to it. That’s why He placed so much emphasis on living controlled by the Holy Spirit; to operate in His power, authority, and dominion, while we are in this world.  

Jesus showed us how to take authority over the devil and the elements, and made a practical and tangible exhibition of God’s goodness to all people, everywhere He went. Then…He went to the cross, defeated the devil, rose again and handed the baton over to the Holy Spirit to do His work through us!

To experience days of heaven on earth is only possible through the dominating power of the Holy Spirit that resides within us. It also requires a strong and radical commitment and determination for those who choose to live it. A determination that requires us to forcefully stand our ground and deliberately push back all resistance from the devil, who mercilessly seeks to steal, kill and destroy this inheritance we have as children of God.  

This kind of action requires a violent kind of faith! Look at what Matthew 11:12 says: “And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].”

In the original Greek, this verse conveys the idea that Jesus set up the kingdom of heaven as a powerful movement, or reign, among men; which requires of them an equally strong and radical reaction. The footnote in Nelson’s Spirit-Filled Life Bible says, “The violent, who take it by force, are people of keen enthusiasm and commitment who are willing to respond to and propagate with radical abandonment the message and dynamic of God’s reign.” 

Praise the Lord! Now that is a clear call to end all passive complacency in our Christian walk! This mentality of ‘what will be, will be’ has no place in the life of a believer who is fervent about His victory and freedom in Christ Jesus, and completing His God-given assignment here on earth.  

When Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan, they all returned acknowledging that it really was a land flowing with milk and honey. However, there was a ferocious enemy they would have to contend with to possess it. Only Joshua and Caleb were confident to go up, at once, and take the land. They knew that just as God had promised the land was good, He would keep His promise to go with them, empowering them to take it – regardless of what stood in the way.  

Caleb pleaded with the people to be strong and courageous and move forward, trusting in God’s promises. This was the only way they were going to possess the land. It wasn’t that the people didn’t want to live in the Promised Land; the problem was they had no faith or zeal to get up and do something about it. You see, God never promised His people they wouldn’t have to fight, He promised they would WIN every time they put their faith in Him and moved forward in obedience.

Years later, under the leadership of Joshua, God instructed the Israelites to take that Promised Land. They were to go armed and ready for battle (Joshua 4:13; 6:9). Unlike those before them, they were filled with courage and faith – and a strong determination to put that faith into action. As a result, God miraculously moved on their behalf and empowered them to take what was rightfully theirs. 

The same is true for every believer. We can’t remain passive when it comes to living in our inheritance. The devil isn’t going to just let go and hand over what belongs to you. You have to get violent in your faith. So determine to be so committed to the things of God that the devil stands no chance of holding anything from you. This way you will stop being fearful, know who you are in Christ, and stand strong in faith. Use your words of faith to declare what is yours, and act like someone who has the victory. You’ll put the devil on the run as you advance God’s kingdom by force!

Next week we are going to learn how to practically sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus and reign with Him in life!  

Much love,

Jenny

Words That Activate the Power of God

Hello everyone,

The late John G. Lake described the power of God as a “tangible substance, and a living quality”. He spoke about how it’s possible for people to feel God’s power as they would an electrical force. He said the power of God is a living force that can be felt and experienced by our natural bodies, as the manifestation of God  meeting our needs.

Since the power of God resides in the Person of the Holy Spirit, and 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “... the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” , we know the living force of Holy Ghost power lives inside us too! Remember 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God?...”

I was listening to a message by Kenneth Hagin on the power of God. He said, since God is omnipresent, His power is too.  In other words, since the presence of God is everywhere, His power is wherever He is.  So, all over the world, wherever we go, the potential to activate God’s supernatural power, is not only possible from inside us, it’s possible all around us too! Psalm 72:19 says the whole earth is filled with His glory! Even the psalmist declares in Psalms 139:7, “Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence?”  Did you know that the spiritual realm is more real than the natural one we live in? The problem is most Christians are so caught up in the natural things we see and hear and touch with our physical senses, forgetting that we are spiritual beings first and foremost; and everything begins in the spirit realm before it’s manifest in the natural!  Can you imagine what will happen when we understand how to activate the power of God that is in us and all around us, in this world?

Now, the Word of God teaches us that the power of God is activated by FAITH! It declares this over and over again. But it’s not faith based on our feelings, it’s faith based on what the Word of God says!  No wonder the devil is on an all out attempt to discredit God’s Word, trying to convince God’s children to loose interest in it, making them think it’s not relevant anymore and intolerant of society and the times we live in.  That’s so funny, because the only thing God’s Word is intolerant of is the devil, and His lies and schemes to keep people in bondage!  Oh, the Word of God is powerful and alive and able to produce that unstoppable, supernatural force of faith inside of every born-again child of God!  Why? So we can activate God’s power wherever we go! God’s power is always present to heal, deliver, restore and meet every need of man.  But only faith based on God’s Word is able to activate it. 

And how does faith do that? When faith is released in our words and our actions, God’s power goes to work!  What do I mean by that?  Well, just like the wind in the natural, faith and love are real forces that can’t be seen but you can always see the result of them being present. For instance, you know the wind is there when you see the leaves and branches of the trees moving, and you feel it move across your skin or through your hair. Just the same, when faith and love are in operation, you will always see the results they produce in our words and actions.

For instance, you can tell when you are in faith or fear, by the words you speak when you’re facing a challenge. Sarah Pearsons once shared a message about the language of faith. I really do believe faith has a distinct sound and language. It’s called thanksgiving, and it’s usually always spoken as a sacrifice of praise. That’s because faith is a deliberate decision to thank and praise God, when there’s little or no natural evidence to support why we should.  When we refuse our minds the luxury of falling into the natural course of doubt and fear, and instead choose to delight ourselves in the Lord, finding our place of safety in what His Word says concerning us, we are exercising true faith.  And when we are at that place, the faith in our hearts and minds begins to flood out of our mouths in spontaneous praise and thanksgiving.  And that is exactly what activates the power of a God that is in and around us, to go to work and produce exactly what the Word says in our lives.

Another way our words of faith activate the power of God, is when they deliberately line up with God’s Word and never contradict it. Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible.” Let me paraphrase, “...through faith, we understand that from the invisible spirit realm, not the natural realm we can see, the worlds we see now, were created by the words of faith, that God deliberately spoke, from what He saw in the realm of His Spirit.”  

When God spoke creation into being, there was no hesitation involved. He never doubted or wondered if His power to create was going to work or not.  He saw it in His Spirit and spoke it into our reality.  As a result, that which was not visible became visible.  When we question or wonder if it’s God’s will to heal, or deliver or prosper us, we will never activate His power to receive it in our lives.  Not because His Word hasn’t promised it, it has!  But because we aren’t convinced in our hearts, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it’s true.  When we don’t see God’s promises fulfilled in our minds and spirits first, our own words of doubt betray us.

Kenneth Hagin tells a story of a woman who attended one of his services. She came forward for prayer for healing, as she couldn’t walk unassisted and had severe arthritis. When he prayed for her, he could sense she wasn’t receiving anything. It was as though the power of God, which was tangible when he prayed for others, was simply inactive when he prayed for her. After the service, she approached him and told him straight out that she didn’t receive her healing. 

She continued to tell him that she knew she wasn’t going to be healed, but just thought she would try it out anyway.  She told brother Hagin she really didn’t believe anything would happen. Then, she promptly asked him to pray for her again.  At this he told her it would do no good, because even though the power of God was present to heal her, it can only be received through faith. 

She looked at him and said, “Yes, I know that now, and I do believe.” He was rather taken aback, but prayed for her anyway. He said he barely even touched her head when he felt the power of God, like a bolt of electricity, flow out of him into her. She fell down under the power of God and, after a while, she got up, and was completely healed. She didn’t need any assistance in walking and the arthritis had completely left her body.  Praise the Lord! She came back the next evening, glowing, and eager to testify of what the power of God had done for her.

Now I’ve given you more than enough to meditate on concerning activating the power of God through your words of faith. Words that are filled with thanksgiving and praise in spite of the circumstances around us; and words that never speak contrary to the Word of God, because we speak them from hearts and minds that are convinced they are true; are what activates the power of God in and around us.

Next we I’m going to talk about violent faith that ensures days of heaven on earth and enforces the devil’s defeat in our lives. Until then, become increasingly aware of the power of God being a tangible force not just in you, but around you, ready to be activated by your words of faith!

All my love,

Jenny 

The Power of God In You

Hello everyone,

The Bible teaches us that the power of God is not only accessible to every born again, child of God; it is, in fact, a vital part of our rich inheritance we have in Christ Jesus! Ephesians 1:18-19 says, “By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,...”

In verse 14 of Ephesians 1, we learn that the Holy Spirit is the One Who makes this power operative in our lives. It says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, causing us to have full possession of it!  What is that inheritance?  We just read it in verse 18 &19, it’s the “immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength...” That power is purposed to not only influence and change us into the very image of Christ, by having His character formed in us, but it’s there to significantly touch the lives of people in this world to demonstrate His glory and goodness!  

What is most important for us to understand is that the working of this power in and through our lives is only possible through our continued, intimate relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. In John 17:22, Jesus tells His Father, “I have given to them the glory and honour which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one...”

Jesus demonstrated how to live and operate in the glory and power of God, through a complete dependency on the Holy Spirit. He made it very clear that the power He operated in was not from Himself; rather, it was His Heavenly Father who was doing the work, through the Holy Spirit. John 14:10 says, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power).”

Acts 10:38, says that it was God Who anointed Jesus to do the work, “How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.”

Now if you’re thinking that because Jesus was the Son of God, He was more entitled to carry the power of God than you and I are, you are wrong. Paul was an ordinary man who carried and operated in that same power too. Acts 19:11-12 says, “And God did unusual and extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, So that handkerchiefs or towels or aprons which had touched his skin were carried away and put upon the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.”

Paul had a background that should completely disqualify him from being a carrier of God’s power and operating in it. Paul, who was Saul, lived to persecute and murder Christians! But, praise the Lord, the Bible teaches that our glorious inheritance is a gift from God! It’s God’s grace that enables us to receive our new life of power, in Christ Jesus. This is not something we deserve, nor can we work our way to achieve it! 

Believe it or not, there are churches today that teach the power, to operate the miraculous through people, ceased when Jesus and the Apostles died. But that power was not from them, that power was from God and He is still very much alive and at work in every born-again believer today! Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—“

And Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness...”

What about 2 Corinthians 4:7 which says, “However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.”?

What’s more: God will never change. His love for people and desire to see all living in Him, free from the bondage and oppression of the devil, is as strong today as it was when He sent His Own Son Jesus to die for us. 1 John 4:9 says, “In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him.”

The power of God to overcome and live full, productive lives for His kingdom resides in His children today. And when we chose to live controlled and led by the Spirit of God, just as Jesus and Paul did, we will see that power manifest in our lives as a very real, tangible substance. This is our inheritance in Christ Jesus, something that we should be experiencing every day.

Spend time meditating on these scriptures that clearly and deliberately teach us that God’s manifest power is supposed to be a vital, working part of our lives here on earth. As you do, you will find your faith and confidence begin to rise strong on the inside of you to be all that God has purposed and enabled you to be right here, right now.

In next week’s letter we will explore, from God’s Word, how to activate that power that’s living inside us!  

Much love,

Jenny

Living Out of Your Inheritance Now!

Hello Everyone,

Recently, I felt impressed to increase my time in the word, as never before!  I believe that we are not just living in the last days, but according to Bible prophecy, we are living in the last hours of the last days.  Which means each of us should be living with our eyes up and our hearts full of expectation!  These are the days where the church of God will walk in the revelation of who we are in Christ Jesus, so that we can declare the Gospel with great conviction and power, bringing in souls for His kingdom like never before, because time is short!  

This past week my children and I were watching Jonathan Shuttlesworth speak on Bible prophecy.  It has been excellent!  I want to encourage you to download his U tube App called revivaltoday - do it today!  You can go back and watch his powerful teachings, all relevant concerning what is happening in the world today and how it lines up with the word of God.  Trust me, you will be blessed watching it!!

We live in a world where the spiritual battle over souls is rife!  So if you’re finding you’re facing opposition in moving forward with whatever God has called you to do - keep pushing forward!  Don’t get distracted or dissuaded, regardless of the struggle you may be facing. I want to remind you that God has already overcome the situation that has you troubled. John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”.  Today I want to show you, from the Word, that God has placed inside you all you need to live as an overcomer in this life. 

Many believers find their comfort in knowing that one day, when they get to heaven, all struggles and pain and suffering will be over.  And that if they can just patiently learn to accept and endure the suffering now, and hang on by whatever thread of hope they can muster, they will eventually be free of their burdens and find rest.  But that’s not living, that’s surviving, and Jesus didn’t say He came to give us enough power to just survive, He said He came so that we would live abundantly, full of His power and might.  

Please understand, I have personally know the pain of loss and disappointment.  I’ve  slipped into the trap of fear and tasted despair and hopelessness.  I don’t for a moment make light of the severity of the struggle each of us face during our life here on earth.  But when we realize who we are in Christ Jesus and the powerful inheritance we have in Him, we keep walking, we dig into the well of abundant life that’s flowing from His Spirit and we use the light of His Word to find our way, right out of the darkness and into the light again. We cannot afford to camp in the valley, we must get up, shake ourselves off and move on in the strength of God that’s inside us.  

You may feel that there’s nothing of value left in you, and that you have nothing more to offer.  But that’s just your feelings, it’s not what the Word of God says about you.  And God’s Word is truth!  You don’t have to wait for heaven to live free and blessed. There is a glorious inheritance that’s yours to enjoy, right here and right now, in the midst of the ugly and unfair reality of life we find ourselves subject to. 

Having said that, let’s take a look at the spiritual inheritance every child of God should be living out of now! Ephesians 1:17-18 says, “[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),...”

The Apostle Paul refers to God as the ‘Father of glory’, Who will grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to truly know Him and His glorious inheritance that is in us.  Through the finished work of the cross, Jesus has already done everything needed for us to live in victory in this life. Now it’s up to us to understand what the extent of our inheritance is, and to walk in it every day of our lives. 

The moment we became born-again, we inherited the nature of our Heavenly Father.  He is the Father of glory, that’s His nature. So our reborn spirits hold the essence of His glory within us. Now, we found the Hebrew language has two different words to describe the word glory. The first word is kabod which means a weight or heaviness.  The second word is Kavod , referring to the shekinah glory, which is the dwelling, Devine presence of God.  This tells us that the glory of God, which is our spiritual nature, is in fact the weight of the indwelling, Devine presence of God.  Romans 11:36 says that all things originate from and are found in God. The fullness of God’s powerful, supernatural life and light and love are locked up in the nature of God, which is called His glory. Since our spirits are made of His nature, it means we carry the fullness of God inside of us. 

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.”

If this is true, then how can we cause the supernatural fullness of God, which is our spiritual inheritance, to influence our lives while we are here on earth?  It can only be done through our cooperation with the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:14 says,“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  We must be led by the Spirit of God, if we are to live in the full inheritance we have in Him.  Jesus demonstrated how to live led by the Holy Spirit. He made it His business to continuously spend time with His Father and only did what His Father told Him to do.  John 14:17 tells us that the Spirit of truth is with us, and in us and we will be able to recognise Him.  That means we will know when He is leading us.  Every child of God has the capacity and ability to hear His voice.  We will only be led if we take time to meditate on the Word and spend time listening to the Holy Spirit every day.

Romans 8:17 says, “And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.”

Now, as tempting as it is to not add that last phrase of verse 17, it must be mentioned. If we are going to live out of our spiritual inheritance, as children of God in this world, we must be determined to live by His principles and walk holy lives.  We must be sincerely devoted to Him.  Living like this is going to bring much opposition from the world and the devil himself. That’s because any believer who knows that they are walking full of the power of God and is more concerned with being led by the Spirit than his own comfort, is dangerous to the devil and his agenda on this earth. Rejection and ridicule, even gross injustice, were things Jesus suffered for standing His ground for what was right and good in His Father’s sight.  How can we imagine it would be any different for us?

What is extremely important however, is that we don’t misinterpret that word suffering in verse 17 as meaning anything Jesus died on the cross for. He became the substitute for all sickness, poverty, depression and every devilish bondage, so that we don’t ever have to bear it ourselves.  Our freedom from the curse of sin and every bondage of the devil, including sickness and poverty is all part of our inheritance.  In fact, as we keep on reading, that’s where Romans 8:37 comes in, declaring: “Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.” 

As heirs of God, we are free to live free from every curse Jesus carried on that cross and full of His Devine power to touch and influence the world around us.  Every promise in His Word is already ours and we have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing!  By faith, and living completely surrendered and controlled by the Holy Spirit, we can live as God’s powerful ambassadors here on earth, until the day we go home to be with Him in heaven.

Much love,

Jenny

Love, Our Inseparable Connection

Hello everyone,

In my previous letter, we learnt how since the foundation of the world, we were chosen to be in Christ.  I ended my letter reminding us of the truth that while on earth, Jesus faced the greatest challenge anyone could ever face.  He had to endure every aspect of the cruelty of the cross and become the ultimate sacrifice to free mankind from the curse and bondage of sin. This was the barrier preventing us from being inseparably connected to Him.  And to do this, He not only had to take the sin of the world upon Himself, He had to become sin itself (Isaiah 52:14, 1 John 3:5).  

Knowing full well, the full extent of what He had to face, as an innocent man, certainly took its toll on Jesus’s state of mind in the garden, moments before His arrest.  Luke 22:44 says, “And being in an agony [of mind], He prayed [all the] more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground.”

However, something significant happened to Jesus in that moment of intense turmoil and distress, that caused Him to suddenly stand up strong and full of determined purpose, ready to fulfil what He knew He was destined to do. 

Luke 22:43 tells us that while Jesus was in a desperate state of mind, “... there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit.” Rick Renner, in his book “Sparkling Gems From the Greek”, does a wonderful study on this particular verse of scripture.  When Luke writes that the angel “strengthened” Him, he uses the Greek word enischuo. This is a compound of the words en and ischuos. The word en means in, and the word ischuos is the word for might or strength. Compounded together, the new word means to impart strength; to empower someone; to fill a person with heartiness; or to give someone a renewed vitality.  In other words, a person may have been feeling exhausted and depleted, but he suddenly gets a blast of energy so robust that he is instantly recharged! Now he is ready to get up, get with it, and get going again!

That inner strength made such a drastic change in the countenance of Jesus.  He got up, shook Himself off and immediately walked with full, determined purpose to his disciples.  He woke them up and with a voice full of authority and passion, declared the time had come, and He was more than ready for it.  I can just imagine the fire burning in His eyes as He marched out of that garden, set and ready to do what was burning inside Him to do.  

John 18:2-6, tells us that as they were walking, they encountered a small army of soldiers, accompanied by Judas and some temple guards.  Then Jesus, knowing exactly what was about to take place asked, “Who are you looking for?”  When they answered, “ Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus uttered three words, boldly and clearly, “I am He.”  And when He spoke those words, the power of God that was inside of Him, being activated by that mighty inner strength, was carried on those three words and knocked everyone of those men, out cold, flat on their backs!  Obviously, Jesus waited patiently for them to come around and gather their wits about them, before they could get on with business and arrest Him.  Have you ever thought why Jesus did that?  I believe He was demonstrating the statement He made in John 10:17-18, “For this [reason] the Father loves Me, because I lay down My [own] life—to take it back again. No one takes it away from Me. On the contrary, I lay it down voluntarily. [I put it from Myself.] I am authorised and have power to lay it down (to resign it) and I am authorised and have power to take it back again. These are the instructions (orders) which I have received [as My charge] from My Father.”

Jesus knew exactly Who He was to His Father, and the love that they shared is exactly what fuelled His purpose to fulfil what He was born to do - more than anything, He was determined to make a way for us to be inseparably connected to them, and experience the depth of their supernatural love.

Now, let’s back track just a little to the moment this drastic change of Jesus’ state of mind happened.  Right there in the garden, when the angel came to strengthen Him.  I’ve heard many different opinions regarding what the angel actually did to strengthen Jesus in the garden that day.  Some say he brought Him food to strengthen and sustain Him.  But that just doesn’t ring true to me.  No amount of ‘comfort food’ would ever be enough to cause the drastic change we see happen in Jesus in these moments leading up to the cross.  Besides, we know that Jesus has just finished having a meal with the disciples, and He knew that if He really was hungry, He had the power to change even the stones into bread if need be.  

I have my own theory concerning what transpired between Jesus and the angel in that garden.  I believe that the angel looked Jesus in the eyes and reminded Him of the very words we read in the previous letter from the book of Ephesians 1:4-5, and 2:4-7. They echo the very conversation Jesus had with His Father in John 17:20-26.  Speaking of their desire for us to be inseparably connected to them.  To be perfectly one in them, and to know and experience the full extent of God’s love - to be loved by the Father, just as He loves His Own Son.

When Jesus was reminded of the unfailing, never weakening, all consuming, and all powerful love He shared with His Father, and how that love would one day include you and me in its everlasting embrace, His purpose became more important to Him than anything else in the world.  And being reminded of that purpose is what infused Him with mighty inner strength that activated the power of God to flow through Him that day.

When we are reminded of who we are in Christ, and the mighty bond of love that secures us there, our kingdom purpose becomes more important to us than any challenge we face.  We become unstoppable in our purpose because we are empowered by the supernatural inner strength that activates God’s unbeatable, irrepressible power that flows from our spirits that are inseparably connected to God Himself.

My prayer is that from your time in God’s Word, you would discover who you are in Christ, and experience the fullness of His love for you.  That will keep the mighty inner strength and power of God flowing strong and sure in you, empowering you to fulfil His perfect will for your life.

Much love,

Jenny

Created for Intimacy

Hello everyone,

The Bible says that before the foundation of the world, God chose us to be in Him, to fulfil a specific purpose that is in line with His good, perfect, and pleasing will.  Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent].”

What I love about this particular truth, is that living out God’s perfect will for our lives (which is always good and for our very best interest) has everything to do with us being in Christ.  In other words, when we are consciously aware of having our identity in Him, we are empowered and able to do exactly what He has purposed us to do.  No matter what impossible challenge looms over our ability to get the job done, when we understand who we are in Christ, there is nothing that can stand in the way of His purpose being fulfilled in and through us.  

I want to bring this truth to the table, so to speak, that the motivating purpose behind all that God has ever done in this world has been His intense love for us.  His desire to have us live in Him and to know Him intimately is far stronger than we could ever imagine.  Can you just for one moment allow yourself to imagine that? That you are so completely loved and cherished by a God that was willing to give everything so that He could satisfy His intense love for you, and make a way for you to experience the full extent of that love, and live every moment of every day in Him?

Please take your time in reading the next couple of verses.  Read them carefully, paying attention to the Spirit of love that inspired them.  

Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him...].”

Ephesians 2:6-7, “And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).  He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favour) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.” AMPC

Again, will you allow yourself to imagine that YOU, in your weakness of character, shortcomings and insecurities, are LOVED so completely, so intently, so deliberately by God?  And the only way He could satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us was to conquer and eliminate the barrier that prevents us from being inseparably connected to Him.

In the previous letter we saw how Jesus faced the greatest challenge anyone could ever face.  He had to endure every aspect of the cruelty of the cross and become the ultimate sacrifice to free mankind from the curse and bondage of sin. This was the barrier preventing us from being inseparably connected to Him.  And to do this, He not only had to take the sin of the world upon Himself, He had to become sin itself (Isaiah 52:14, 1 John 3:5).  

Knowing full well, the full extent of what He had to face, as an innocent man, certainly took its toll on Jesus’s state of mind in the garden, moments before His arrest.  However, something significant happened to Him in that moment of intense turmoil and distress, that caused Him to stand up strong and full of determined purpose, ready to fulfil what He knew He was destined to do. 

In next week’s letter, we will see what transpired in that garden that brought about that drastic change in Jesus.  Having said that, it’s very important to have this letter as a background to the next, to receive the full benefit of its remarkable truth!

Much love,

Jenny