Religion rubs our noses in the past to keep us humble. Reviewing the sinfulness of our past in order to become humble is a perversion. It actually creates shame; and shame is a poor counterfeit of humility. …
… When we are forgiven, the King gives us permission to live as though we had never sinned
” —Bill Johnson - The Supernatural Ways of Royalty: Discovering Your Rights and Privileges of Being a Son or Daughter of GodThe whole point is that, through the spirit, some of the creative power of God himself comes from heaven to earth and does its work there.
The aim is not to give people a ‘spirituality’ which will make the things of earth irrelevant.
The point is to transform earth with the power of heaven, starting with those parts of ‘earth’ which consist of the bodies, minds, hearts and lives of the followers of Jesus – as a community.
from Acts for Everyone, Part 1: N. T. Wright, referring to Acts 2.
His transformed body is now the beginning of God’s new creation; and in God’s new creation, … heaven and earth will come together in a new way.
Jesus’ risen body is the beginning of that, the beginning of a heavenly reality which is fully at home on, and in, this physical world (‘earth’), and the beginning of a transformed physical world which is fully at home in God’s sphere (‘heaven’).
Not in a million years would I want David’s relationship with God over my own. Not Esther’s. Nor Daniel’s. Nor any Old Testament figure’s. I much prefer what I have right now…
It’s time for the church to wake up and realize how good we have it today on this side of the cross.
Andrew FarleyThe Naked Gospel, Zondervan, 2009, 37
what does it really look like to to be saturated in the goodness of god.
i think it looks different to what we are seeing now.
i think jesus walked that way.
i think it is possible.
let’s do it.
i like this…
When we receive the Lord Jesus at salvation we inherit everything that He is and we learn progressively how to walk in His fullness.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to be firmly rooted and comprehensively built up in Him.
All our circumstances are designed to enable us to be established in our faith and to be overflowing with gratitude.
Graham has a great story that he’s used frequently this year. It’s about a wild dream where Jesus seems mad at him, shouting “Give Me back My stuff!” But Graham doesn’t know what “stuff” means and is overwhelmed.
Finally, Jesus explains, “All that anxiety, fear, worry… I paid for it. I died for it. Give Me back My Stuff!”
Then Jesus explains softly, “I want to give you My peace, My joy, My life instead. Please, give Me back all that other stuff. It isn’t yours anyway.”
Graham Cooke - Jesus Just Cleaned My Closet | Brilliant Perspectives.
YEP, TRUE DAT.
The Worshipping Warrior does not reserve their praise for “no conflict zones”, but kneels as the bullets fly and simply says, “I trust You… because I know who You have been to me and I know who You will be.”
via Life in the Clash Between Two Kingdoms: Part 1 - by Allison Bown | Brilliant Perspectives.
Hey guys, I got off the phone with my big bro this morning in order to make sure I got all the facts straight.
I’ve been given permission to share this.
So here is the full story.
The whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The only thing I’m changing here is my big bro and his wife’s names because I don’t want them to get a ridiculous amount of friend requests from people on facebook (A lot of us know how that is). They need their privacy after what they’ve been through. I would kindly ask that if you know their identity, you would please refrain from sharing that.
So about a year and a half ago, this couple conceived for the first time.
They were super excited.
But what should have been a happy time for a young married couple, quickly turned into pain.
A week later, they found out that the pregnancy had been terminated.
They were devastated.
awesome story… yay god!
Holy Spirit didn’t come upon you TO anoint you… He came upon you BECAUSE you were anointed!
Anointed to preach the kingdom to the poor; to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to heal the broken-hearted and preach the acceptable year of the Lord!! (Lk 4:13)
C’mon church… awaken to the anointing that’s on your life… to that consuming fire in your belly and that resurrection power that’s in your spirit!
It’s time to begin releasing the indestructible, incorruptible seed of life, and let the river of living water flow!
To find every “un-bowed” knee, and every thief that’s stealing killing or destroying… and begin double-wielding that battering-ram rod of authority in one hand, and creation’s sharpest two-edged sword of the Spirit in your other hand!
It’s time to begin accessing the very resources of heaven and releasing the legions of angels that are waiting for deployment!
It’s time to decree forth with the power of life & death in your tongue, and see that it shall be established for you!
Wake up oh righteous ones… for you’re as bold as a lion and absolutely unshakable!
Today is the day of salvation, and God just so happens to will that all men are saved! God IS for you!
It’s time to suit up! The sons of the King are on the move!
Are you with us?!?!?
” —Scott VanderWerf (via hammereddrunkwithfaith)
YES!
…it’s hard to have the same fruit as the early church when we value a book they didn’t have above the Holy Spirit they did have.
One of the things that I’ve been amazed at on this journey since the end of Delirious is how kind God is.
I’ve really discovered the kindness of God in a brand new way, that He is really interested in our lives, that He wants the best for us.
I’ve also rediscovered first hand that when the gospel is preached in power, then it really can change nations.
via Exclusive Interview with Martin Smith | All About Worship.
yay god!
the challenge is this…
to remain sacrificial while you increase with blessing
that’s the challenge that god’s given you
” — - Bill Johnson - Sustaining a Move of God“Once I was spending time alone with the Lord and He told me, ‘I am good. I am so good that I am heretically good’. I laughed at the humor of the Lord in that statement. He was making a clear point that for many in the Body of Christ, God’s goodness only extends so far. To them, we can only go so far in communicating God’s goodness, and going further than that is stretching it, exaggerating, verging on being heretical.”
-Tyler Johnson
YES!
you have heard it said “the earth is not my home. i’m just passing through.”
i say the earth is my home. satan is a squatter, & i’ve got the eviction notice.
when you learn to read matthew, mark, luke, & john, as the climax of the story of israel, all sorts of things begin to fall into place.
because the story of israel is not just a miscallenous bit of history, as though jesus just happened to be born a jew…
the whole point is, god called abraham to undo the sin of adam…
…god hadnt forgotten that that was his promise, & god kept his promise when the time was fulfilled.
via Kingdom and Cross: The Forgotten Message of the Gospels - YouTube.
more interesting stuff from n. t. wright…
if you are used to thinking of ‘the gospel’ as justification by faith on the basis of jesus death for your sins…
then you will scratch your head & search quite a long way in the gospels (matthew, mark, luke, & john) before you find anything that says remotely that…
…what are the gospels actually all about? how does it work? & how are they gospel?
via Kingdom and Cross: The Forgotten Message of the Gospels - YouTube.
