"...you are citizens together with God’s holy people" Ephesians 2:17-19

We who are not Jews have been brought near to God by the Gospel of peace from Jesus Himself.  This is where the word by the power of the Holy Spirit has been energized and began its transformative work in our lives to change us into the likeness of God.

The word became life to those of us who were not even close to God but were so far away that we were lost in a world without knowledge of our creator.  It was at that point that Jesus brought the good news to declare that God was near to us and loves us with an everlasting love.

That message is a message of peace, peace with God.  No longer are we fighting against God’s design as outsiders but are now incorporated into it as equals with His chosen people. 

They also needed to hear that same message too, but have rejected and spurned it because the Jewish people were looking for a Messiah who was militant and powerful against the political powers of the day, not one who was a spiritual leader and restorer of God’s internal peace.

Jesus came from among the Jewish community which He was born, he began proclaiming the message that God was near to all of us and not far off.  We now have the right to come to the Father in one spirit, no longer separated by being Jew or non-Jew, male or female, or even by nationality or personal conviction, we have the right to come to the Father with boldness and with the assurance that we will be gladly received by Him.

That is the marvelous thing with the Heavenly Father, we are received by Him, not as second-class citizens but as royalty. His intent was always to bring us close to Himself and reveal that we have an identity as family members of His home which was originally hidden from us but is now revealed.  That is right, we have a heavenly home which has been set aside for us, a home we originally came from there before we were born into this world and it is our eternal destination when we pass from this world back to our true home. 

God never views us as anything less than His own dear children, He wants His children to be near Him.  We have a duty and an obligation to let our other brothers and sisters know that we are all being called back home to live in this Heavenly Kingdom in the here and now, not just when we die.  

There is also a strange awareness that this Heavenly realm is a reality that is breaking into our natural world, the fabric of separation of the natural and the spiritual in becoming very thin and is becoming apparent to many as time progresses.  

As the people of God are coming back to the understanding of who God is, they are drawn to worship Him in ever-increasing creative ways.  This is evident by the plethora of worship music which is being released in our day and time. 

In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet was given the privilege of seeing heaven’s design before the throne of God as Seraphim spoke to one another declaring “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.”  They were allowed to see with their eyes a demonstration of His majesty and authority and given verbal expression to it.  Their words began to fill the temple with smoke and Glory by witnessing with their eyes and expressing with their lips the revelation of God sitting upon His throne in perfect supremacy and sovereignty.

As the Seraphim gave Glory to God and as He received that Glory, more of His Divine attributes began to be shown which revealed an even greater expression of praise and Glory. 

This Kingdom exchange and heavenly design continued to fill the space around them with the Glory and illumination of God until the entire temple was saturated with the appearance and revelation of God’s Glory. 

That is the design of heaven that is to be transferred to our earthly reality and our mandate to create an atmosphere on earth that is consistent with His nature and character in which He can dwell.  If we fulfill this mandate, all the other purposes and desires for which we long for will naturally be fulfilled by His Presence and anointing resting in us.

We can only participate in this type of exchange by virtue of the true revelation and comprehension of our hearts. It cannot be the mechanical articulation of words with only an intellectual perception of God’s dominion and glory. It must be through “overcoming” saints anointed with the spirit of wisdom and revelation being allowed to see, comprehend and experience the unveiling of His great Kingly authority, dominion and Glory and then offering expression to it.

It all starts with worship, and much of the creative worship that is being expressed lately is the first step in that direction.  

Let us approach the Lord with clean hands and pure hearts which are free from all ambition and malice and realize as Isaiah did, that only God truly knows our hearts and can cleanse us.  We can then approach His throne with boldness and with worship which expresses His majesty and wonder, and it is God Himself that will take us deeper into His presence with that expression of worship and illuminate and reveal Himself and His glory in us and through us.  

Let us create an environment which is full of praise and worship and where Christ will come and abide with us.  

That is actually our inheritance which has been given to us, that Christ may live within us, He is our hope of Glory!

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

Creativity is our call, restoration is our purpose!

(Genesis 1:26-28) & (Matthew 28:19-20)

some inspiration was gleaned from Paul Keith Davis and his article "to fill the earth with his glory"

"It was faith that immersed you into Jesus..." Galatians 3:26-29 (TPT)

The faith of Jesus Christ has saved you, “it was that faith that immersed you into Jesus…and now you are covered and clothed with His anointing”. That is a remarkable statement stating that Jesus did it all for me.  I didn’t even have to possess the faith to make it happen on my part, Jesus even provided that too.  The only thing that I provided was the empty vessel for Him to utilize.

We have a misconception in the Christian world that somehow we must approach God with OUR faith to believe in Jesus Christ, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  We were dead in trespass and sin, how can something that is dead produce faith?  In truth, it can’t.  It was Jesus who brought us life back to life again and infused us with HIS life, hence we are born again, spiritually awakened unto new life in Christ.

“…and now we are covered and clothed with His anointing” what is an anointing?  “Anointing was the act of pouring or smearing with aromatic oils over the body as a ritualistic act of conferring or initiating an office or authoritative position in which the person was to take”. Jesus is the anointed one who was conferred as the chosen of God, and we are “clothed” with His anointing.  This means we have all of the rights, privileges, and authorities that have been given to Jesus made available to us who believe in Him.

That gives us a new identity, we are all one in Christ.  Our designations are no longer applicable, Jew or Gentile, Slave or Free, Male or Female, even Christian or Muslim, Jesus transcends all of that because He bought us all through His sacrifice, and in union with Him we are all one.

There have been many testimonies of Muslims in middle eastern countries who have encountered Jesus one on one through dreams or through visions, yet there are no bibles to reference or someone to teach them about Jesus other than their one on one encounters with Jesus.  Their faith is very real and they risk death every day they go out into the marketplace by extremists who enforce sharia law.  This is the real faith of Jesus in action.

There is no difference between us in Christ Jesus.  It says because we are in Christ we are considered Abraham’s children which means that as Abraham was a man who believed God it was counted to Him as righteousness, we have the faith of Jesus Christ imparted to us which is also counted as righteousness to us because we trust and believe in Him.

The word “Abram” means “High Father” which was His birth name, He was a respected man among the people where he lived in the land of Ur.  It was the God of Heaven who appeared and revealed Himself to Abram and chose Him, it was then that God renamed Abram to Abraham (which means Father of a Multitude) because He was to bring the inheritance of God forward through His children. That is what it means "we are Abraham’s children", we who trust God like He did.

You could also say that Abraham was anointed directly by God for a specific authoritative position that God gave him.  Abraham was chosen to be the Father of a Multitude of people that would come after Him, people who would inherit a special blessing through His lineage of trusting God for the promises He offered. 

I am grateful that God chose a man like Abraham who needed to be humbled, it took many years before Abraham was ready to hear from God and then many more years to receive the promises offered to him for a son. It was His trust in the Lord which God honored. 

Trusting God with an impartation (or immersion) of faith which comes from God Himself is what we as Abraham's descendants will receive.  We can see the story unfold before us as Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice, in like manner, God offered His Son Jesus as a sacrifice for us.  There are so many parallels with the story of Abraham in how His life intersects with ours through Jesus.

May you know the God-honoring trust which Abraham knew in its fullness, and may it fill your day with a deep awareness that God’s promises are yours through the faith that He has placed in you.  And may you know Jesus in the richness of His presence and the glories of His kingdom as your story unfolds.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

“The work you can do for God starts with believing..." John 6:29 (TPT)

Doing work for God is always a matter of motivation, not our individual drive or effort just getting the job done, but rather what is our motive for engaging in this type of work, and what is our attitude?  Jesus said that “the work you can do for God starts with believing…” no matter what good intentions which may motivate us, unless we have a believing heart in Jesus the work we do is without His blessing or reward.

Believing is an interesting word, in the Greek it is the word “pisteuō” which is a verb.  It means to “trust in, rely on, place confidence in, to credit, to entrust in one’s fidelity.” Believing is much more than just a word, it is an action on our part.  When we encounter Jesus we put our complete confidence, conviction, and trust in Him, to which we are impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative than just obedience, we are motivated by the Spirit of God in our very souls. 

The work that God calls us to do no longer becomes a preference by it being a good idea or a nice thing to do by choice, but a conviction which touches our deepest self as something that God requires us to do.  In our society, we are so taken with the social model of choice and preference which is a human attribute which is the opposite to belief in Jesus Christ and trusting the Word of God.  

Conviction seems to be lost on our society as something that is either Old Fashion or out of step with the liberal culture.  Conviction carries with it the label of intolerance because it leaves one without options for compromise.  There is nothing about believing in Jesus Christ that ends with just a choice, the matter of His life and work was settled on the cross, it was declared finished, a closed argument.  One is either for Him or against Him.

We can say that Jesus had a choice to walk away from His life script in the garden of Gethsemane when He cried out to the Father for this cup of suffering to be taken away from Him, and He sweated blood from His great anguish of soul.  (Luke 22:42-44)  But Jesus knew that the reason He came to this world wasn’t to walk away from His life script but to fulfill it.  It was a moment of weakness, He didn’t have a choice or a preference, but a conviction which drove Him forward.

 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup of agony away from me. But no matter what, your will must be mine.” Luke 22:42 (TPT)

“The key to knowing the difference between a conviction and a preference is based on the reasoning that led to the choice. If the reasoning is based on the influence of the Holy Spirit (and) based on the truth of God’s Word it is a conviction. If it is based on a personal choice (that can change) without the truth of God’s Word, it is a preference. Confusing the two can have severe consequences.”  Read More   (italics mine)

We have been taught that we can make a “choice” for Jesus, but the choice has already been made, Jesus chose us and died for us.  Our response should be to realize that we are lost without Jesus, and the reasoning for that understanding is by the influence of the Holy Spirit and is based on the Word of God and its truth, this is not a preference we can walk away from, because we would be forever lost without Him.  When the conviction is formed that we will believe (trust in, rely on) in Jesus, that conviction is built on the fact that God requires it of us to hold an unchanging, unwavering trust in the person of Jesus who is immovable, He will not only save us from sin but bestow upon us the right to become heirs of the Kingdom.  His cross covered everything past and present for us to become right with God.  (Click on "Immovable" on the right sidebar for more on this topic)

We have been adopted into a glorious inheritance as sons and daughters of the King.  We have a home and a position with Him, never to be orphaned again.  We have been made right with God through the sacrifice of Jesus in an unending Kingdom. That will never change.  Hallelujah!

Doing work for God has much more to do with understanding who Jesus is and putting our complete confidence in His finished work for us.  We can then have trust and reliance in Jesus to become everything we need to live a life of Godliness and peace.

Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness.  2 Peter 1:3 (TPT)

Jesus is our life, He does call us by name and invites us to come with Him through His goodness, that we can fully believe!

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

"Trust in the Lord forever; He will always protect us." Isaiah 26:3-4

How amazing is God’s love for us, that even when we are far off from His presence and peace, He will still reach out to us and let us know that He is near if we but call out to Him.  I have had many mornings when I have needed to call out to the Lord so that His peace would be my portion for the day.  I know it isn’t that He is too tired (like I am) but that He is desiring that I make Him my first priority and purpose in life.

Perfect peace is knowing and encountering the presence of God in a tangible way, I have known the presence of God for many years which to me is a stillness, an awareness of His profoundness above and beyond my typical day to day experience.  God brings character and depth to my morning, like in the way I write these blog posts, I am only journaling what I see God doing, otherwise, I would have nothing to write about.

I have found that journaling is an effective way to communicate with God and with others about what is going on in my heart, it is also a way of becoming personally intimate with the Father and searching out those hidden things inside of me so that God’s peace can enter into me and bring illumination so that those hidden things aren’t hidden any longer.  That is where the peace of God takes on the role of healer and restorer of my soul.

Our purpose is to also become a restorer, but we are in the healing process of being restored ourselves.  Being in the process of healing does not disqualify us from restoring and healing others, but in fact, gives us empathy and compassion which we would not have had if we were not being healed and restored ourselves.  It is that empathy which conveys the heart of the Father for others which makes His peace is so irresistible.

It is this daily dialogue with God and myself that I have found that trust has been developed over time, nothing comes overnight.  When you desire to go deeper with Christ you are essentially asking Him to heal the deeper regions of the heart which have not been fully surrendered yet.  It is those little revelations of the heart that God wants to expose so that His light may reach down inside us and reveal Christ in new and more powerful ways.

Like I said earlier trust is developed over time, it is the awareness of God's presence as deeper areas of our heart are exposed, God is willing to illuminate those areas with light. We can know that He will not harm us in any way, but will protect us and sustain us as only a loving Father would.  I remember at first being afraid of what God would expose in my heart because I was unsure that He would protect me, but God has proven Himself again and again to me that He will not only protect me, but He has become my shield and defense when I surrender the walls and fortifications that I have erected in my life to protect me from hurt and pain.  He lovingly steps in and becomes my strength and my bulwark so that I can enter His rest, an trust Him to heal me.

There is a statement made in this Isaiah 26 passage above which is an impossibility in the natural world but is striking in its sheer scope as it defines God, it says to “Trust the Lord forever” we have a finite time on this earth which has many limitations, what Isaiah is essentially saying is “Trust the Lord without limitations” because time and ability has no limitation for God and His love for us.  Isaiah also says “He will always protect us” which is another statement without limitations either by time or by ability, God will always see us as His own and will be our defense, He is our ‘mighty man’ to come to our defense when we need a defender and protector.

I am so glad that God gave this revelation to Isaiah which is only a glimpse of His wonderful character.  It tells such a great story about God’s ability to be our everything, our all in all.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

Creativity is our call, restoration is our purpose!

(Genesis 1:26-28) & (Matthew 28:19-20)

"In the human body there are many parts and organs, each with a unique function" Romans 12:4-5

Paul’s description of Christ’s body in Romans 12:4-5 reminds me a lot of Mr. Potato Head, where we are given so many parts and pieces to assemble the characteristics of Mr. Potato Head.  We have lips, eyes, ears, and nose, all are put on the potato to for a face and body as we would imagine Mr. Potato Head to look like.

The Ecclesia is not that much different, (though we are not a potato) God has chosen each member or part of the body with a specific purpose in mind, when joined with the other body parts forms a more complete picture of Jesus Christ.  Much like a physical body that functions in the completeness of its form and function, so the spiritual body utilizes all of the individual parts to function as one.

This is the expression of the corporate body of Christ which is essential that we become more Christlike in our actions and our demeanor with each other and the world, in general, to demonstrate who Christ is.  We were not saved to become mavericks with a solitary faith in Jesus, we are saved to become connected with others who also share that same awareness that we are saved for something far greater, we are saved to become the bride of Christ.

At our Home Church meeting last night there was an awareness of this as we met, there is always the need for us to grow and develop in the gifts of the spirit that we might share in the mind of Christ for each other.  One has a tongue and an interpretation which exalts Jesus, while another has a word of knowledge or prophecy which brings encouragement to the body.  These are essential parts of the expression of the corporate body of Christ.  These spiritual gifts are not an end in themselves, nor are they badges of honor to show how much we have grown or developed spiritually, they are specifically for the purpose of edifying, encouraging, and building up the body of Christ that we may function as God intended with singleness of focus and purpose as a corporate body.

We express a desire that we would grow in a deeper relationship with Jesus, it goes without saying that we must participate in body life so that would function as Jesus intended.  Each person brings their individual understanding and beliefs to the meeting, no matter where their experience has come from either denominational or some other traditional experience which has revealed Christ to them.  It doesn’t matter, because we are gathered to share our common love for Jesus and with each other, and to grow in that love for Him and each other. 

That is our reason for our meetings. If it were for knowledge alone then our meetings would be shallow and missing the key element which is Christ Jesus.  We have more biblical knowledge that we need, we really need is Jesus Christ at the heart level and to share and grow in that awareness much for fully with each other.

Paul never tells us that we should meet to study the bible, He tells us that we meet to know the fullness of Christ in each other.  As a body, each body part has a function and purpose, and each body part has a portion to contribute pertaining to the complete expression of Christ as we meet.  That is what Paul means, we are functional parts of the corporate body as we meet, without one functional member we would be incomplete.  Just like if we were missing our ears, where would the hearing be?  Or missing our eyes where would the seeing be?  Each body part is essential to the functioning of the whole body as we meet, and without that specific part the body expression would be incomplete at best. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

I become excited to meet with our small group each week because we are growing in the awareness of Christ in us the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)  As we grow in this awareness we become much more attuned to listening and hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying, and focusing on the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ that they may be healed and restored.

It is only then that we are able to do the works of Christ because it is Him which is moving us forward, not our ambitions or desires, but Christ alone and His purposes in us.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

Creativity is our call, restoration is our purpose!

(Genesis 1:26-28) & (Matthew 28:19-20)

"...your firey love was stirred and you raced to my rescue." Psalm 94:18-19

Have you ever thought that a situation was so out of control that it might actually be your demise?  When life it seems may actually be hanging in the balance?  David knew this kind of dread, and in spite of it he found solace and comfort in the Lord’s presence.

When we have happenings in life which take our imagination to places of fear and worry and there seems to be no escape from these thoughts, the presence of the Lord is always there by our side to remind us that He has got this, and we can rest in His care for us.

That is what is so amazing about the Lord’s love, He knows our frame and everything that we face is within His control, and not hard for Him at all.  Sometimes our emotions can be overwhelming and seem to lack any sense of control on our part when we are challenged with difficult circumstances.  Yet, God is there to be our strength and to give us His peace (which is His presence) when we need it the most during those hard times. 

“…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”  Hebrews 13:5 (AMPC)

The Lord is emphatic that He will not loosen His hand upon us no matter what may unfold in our lives, even though He may seem a million miles away, His is actually right there by our side walking with us through pain and tragedy as well as in joyful times.  His point is that He is with us at all times, not just when times are good.

I love the description of “Fiery Love” above which describes God’s love which is steeped with emotion and desire for us.  We do not serve a stoic and stifled God who cannot feel our pain, He is passionate and connected to us in intimate ways, always to be what we need at the time when we need Him.  That is part of the wonder and beauty of the Lord which always exceeds our expectation.

It was that “Firey Love” which created the earth and the heavens.  There is not one thing that He had not considered which was essential to life and Godliness for us, God did not spare a thing to create for us a home which we could see the creation which testifies so masterfully of God’s handiwork on our behalf.  It is amazing to consider that all created matter as we know it was fashioned for us to know Him.

That is the beauty of knowing Jesus Christ, when we recognize the created order through the lens of Christ for what it is (a testimony of Himself) it can bring us such delight in knowing that all creation was created for us for this purpose, for man to experience and to know Christ through His creation. 

Satan has corrupted and distorted this world to detract us from seeing Christ in creation. He has allowed sin to cause the divine order to be out of place and out of balance, but we can restore that divine order once again through Christ.  It is when we call out to God and speak the truth over creation that it is restored to the glory that God had intended.  That is why we are called a kingdom of Priests, we speak the truths of God over ourselves, over others, and over creation itself.

David only saw this in bits and pieces for Himself, but now we see much more fully in Jesus Christ.  This is about God wanting us to know that He lives inside of us and wants us to speak over His creation to such a degree that restoration becomes like our middle name.  We have a cultural mandate to be creative much like God is creative, as well as a mandate to disciple (teach) others.  (See Genesis 1:26-28)

"Now go in my authority and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach them to faithfully follow all that I have commanded you. And never forget that I am with you every day, even to the completion of this age.”  Matthew 28:19-20 (TPT)

This post started out as David's sole cry about himself for God's help, but turned a corner when he saw how God's fiery love for him which was so much greater than himself was his strength and life.  It started with David's need and ended up speaking about God and His purpose for us by us knowing what we are created for.

Creativity Is our call, and restoration Is our purpose, all wrapped up in the love of the Father as demonstrated by Jesus.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

"If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:29-32 (GNT)

God has chosen us all from the beginning of time to become like Jesus, many have called this pre-destination, I call it divine selection.  He didn’t choose just a select few, but He chose all mankind for salvation, it was up to mankind to respond to that choice.  God knew from the beginning that his plan for all mankind was that He would inhabit His creation with Himself to be our salvation.  There was no other way for man to enter into the presence of God on his own accord without divine intervention.

God also knew that He through His Son Jesus would have to be the first one to taste salvation to redeem fallen man back to Himself.  It says “And so those who God set apart…” would give a false indication that there was only a select few (or an elect) that God had chosen for salvation, but that is inconsistent with the body of scripture.  God chose all of mankind, not just a few, Paul is making a generalization of all people that Jesus died for, everyone belongs to God.

 

Now that all people have been set apart, separate (made holy) from the world because of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, they have been restored to a right relationship with God and are to be called to be sons and daughters of God once again.  The purpose was that all mankind may be made right with God through Jesus, the only thing lacking was mankind recognizing the gift offered to them in Jesus.

Now we come to the question of free will, does mankind have a choice to come to Jesus or not?  The answer is yes and yes.  Does God have the ability to override our will and choose us apart from an obvious choice on our part, that answer is yes, I have seen this happen numerous times in the lives of people who are next to death's door and they find Jesus who carries them home to be with Him.  Does God want us to choose Jesus and choose life in the here and now, that answer is also yes.  You see our inheritance in Jesus is a life full of grace and truth, which also includes love, healing, and restoration, that is the abundant life that was spoken of, and many choose not to receive that part of the gift either because of ignorance or because of false teachings from organized religion which prevents them from entering in to the fullness of who they were called to be.

The key to entering into the abundant life is trusting Jesus to take you there and receiving everything that He is offering. It is true that we don’t deserve forgiveness and restoration, but Jesus died to purchase everyone from the effects of sin and death that we can live in divine health, restored relationship with our heavenly father, and have a home full of love which will last with Him forever. 

So you see it was never about us, but this is where the enemy of our soul comes into the picture.  He wants to make it all about us through shame and guilt, causing us to believe that we are the ones who created this hot mess of sin and rebellion against God, when in fact it was Satan himself who created this dilemma and tries to convince us that we are to blame for His deception.  The whole story is that Satan is a liar and has never told any truth about what He has done in His war of rebellion against Jesus.  It is when we confess our part for believing Satan's lie we can unload all of this shame and guilt and come to believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness from Him and stand with a clean heart and clean hands before Him.

Paul takes us to a place of victory “If God is for us, who can be against us?  Literally no one!  Certainly not God!  We stand in the victory of Jesus over sin and death.  That means there is nothing that can prevent us from coming into and standing in the wondrous promises of God and appropriating these promises in our lives in the here and now.  God is completely for us, the proof is He gave His Son as a sacrifice for us ALL, not just a select few, but ALL.

And now through the promises and blessings, He has given us all things that we need to live a life full of peace and righteousness in Him.  What do we need?  Do we need healing?  Healing is ours.  Do we need Godly miracles in our lives? Ask and it will be done.  Do we need love?  There is an abundance available to us 24/7. And the list goes on and on.  There is never an end to the promises of God and His love for us.

Paul has a point to make here, that you are in Christ and there is nothing that can separate you from that fact because the bill (or penalty) has been paid on your behalf through the cross of Jesus, and it is His perfect love that casts out all doubt and fear.  

Let the love of Jesus compel you to trust Him fully for literally all things that you need in your life today.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

"I am the Gateway..." John 10:9-10

Jesus is the Gateway to enter God’s rest which is true life.  Jesus makes a point that we are to enter through Him, not because of Him or with knowledge of Him, but through Him.  I have a picture in my mind of literally passing through Jesus in a relational exchange which He becomes an essential part of our life.  There is this ethereal energy with flows from Jesus into us as we pass through Him.  This is what we know as the Holy Spirit.

I am not one for Stargates and such, but I believe that the understanding of these types of things has become corrupted by Hollywood and the entertainment industry.  These portayals gave illegitimate attention and mocking of spiritual things. Jesus is our spiritual gateway to the Father.  In the previous verses, Jesus says that those who came before Him were thieves and robbers, that is a strong indictment of everything that came after the creation.  That even includes this natural life which was only a slight shadow of what the spiritual world is like.

Jesus said “To enter through me is to experience life…”, what He is speaking of here is zōē life.  So what is the definition of zōē life? 

1. of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him, both the substance and essential nature of the triune God exists.  The "logos" (written word) and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human form and nature. 
2. Life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever.

Life without the chains and restrictions of the natural laws which limit our lives in every way possible, that is the result of sin.  Through Jesus is “…life, freedom, and satisfaction” which is the expression of the fullness of the zōē life in Christ. 

Apart from what we have been taught, Jesus states plainly that the reason for His coming is “…to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect” these are the words of Jesus, not mine.  This is the result of life in Christ, the power of a connected life.  To show you what is meant, the Greek word for power is Dunamis, which we get the English word dynamo and dynamite.  There is dynamic, explosive power made available to us when we are connected through Christ.

That was the “new-normal” that Jesus came to establish, not business as usual.  It is when we are corporately connected to His body (other believers) to express this life of power, we demonstrate love at a new level.  Power is released for healing, miracles, and direction with Jesus being the Head of the Church.  The Kingdom life becomes evident and sustaining as we engage with Jesus on a higher level.

Jesus finishes this passage by telling us that we can be filled with “…life in its fullness until you overflow!” It reminds me of the other description Jesus gave in John 7 where He gives another example of this:  

"Believe in me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!”  John 7:38 (TPT)

The word living is again the word zōē, but in the active verb form zaō which means active, in-motion.  This is what the zōē life looks like, like a torrent of river water flowing out from us, not a trickle, not a stream, but an unrestricted flow.  That is what Jesus provided for us, a means to know and experience the love of the Father to such a degree that we would desire nothing less.

May you know the Love and Life of Jesus that you may overflow with the goodness and grace that have been given to you in abundance and in power.

Blessings to you;

Stephen Barnett

"When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases..." Matthew 6:7-8

In my prayer life, I find it easy to default back to praying empty phrases when I am not engaged with the Father.  I often catch myself saying things which are true, but not relevant to where my heart is at the time of my prayer.  Often telling God how much I appreciate His presence and saying how much He loves me when my heart and mind are a million miles away from His presence.

God does sense and know that we are a people who are driven by our thought life and our physical characteristics.  In Proverbs 23:7 The Aramaic, the Septuagint, and a few Hebrew manuscripts read like this “Eating with him is like eating with someone with a hair in his throat—his mind is not with you!”, this describes someone who has distractions or irritations stemming from physical conditions which inhibit one from sharing intimate fellowship with another, this can be terribly debilitating especially if one is desiring fellowship with God. 

It is at those moments that I have to purposefully dial back and focus on my heart condition and where I am in regards to my relationship with the Father, taking inventory of my physical as well as my emotional state and begin to give words to where my heart is and what my true needs are.  It is only from that place that I can begin true dialogue with the Father which touches His heart and reveals to Him that I am weak and need His touch.  It also reveals to me that when I come to the Father I need to decompress and let go of everything that occupies my headspace and allow the peace of God to enter in.

I am so glad that our Heavenly Father has compassion on us and does want to meet us where we are at, even at times when we are struggling to find a place of rest so that His peace can penetrate our walls of protection.  He always invites us to enter in with Him, even during times when we feel isolated and alone, the invitation is especially welcoming at those times to help us break down our resistance and surrender to His unmerited favor which is His signature motive.

Jesus said that “…your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him”, It is with that awareness of God’s omniscience that I begin to let my guard down and rest my many thoughts from racing so fast in my mind driving my emotional well-being.  As I choose to put these thoughts into a state of rest I can begin to sense God’s presence again and my prayers become relevant, and in the moment as I focus on Him I am captured by His presence as opposed to my prayer being about me and my needs alone.

“And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation”.   Philippians 2:5 (TPT)

Jesus had a mindset that always pleased the Father, even though the stresses and distractions of His ministry were great, He always found a place to dial into the peace of the Father and found dialogue to keep Him focused and centered on His purpose and goal. 

I believe that as we honestly reach out to the Father with our transparency and vulnerability, He reaches back and lets us know that His affection for us is undiminished by our lack of trust, and that His affection is only increased by the abundance of love He has for us.

“...Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!”   Ephesians 3: 18–19 (TPT)

May you be blessed with the fullness of God’s presence today as you open up to Jesus and let Him express to you His “astonishing love in all its dimensions” which is beyond measure and our understanding.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett

"...this life has its source in His Son." 1 John 5:11-12

"The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life," another way to say this is “The Godhead has reached out to bestow upon us an unending forgiven (zōē) life, and this (zōē) life has its source in the Son" (Huios).  Further references to life in this post will mean zōē life.

One of the things that stands out to me in this bible passage is the word Son.  In the Greek language, there are two words which are commonly used in scripture to speak of the word Son, they are “Teknon” and “Huios” which can speak of the same thing but in different ways.

“Teknon” speaks of an immature, young adopted child, it speaks of the baby stage of one's walk with Christ where they are still immature, they are not any different from a servant. They are not yet ready to handle all the blessings that belong to them, all the inheritance the Father wants to bestow to them may take some time before they are ready to receive them. This is a child who has not yet reached puberty in their walk as a child of God and cannot properly handle the Word of God.

This passage uses the word “Huios” which has a different meaning, which in this case means a child who has been marked as son or daughter as belonging to specific parent because of the similarity of facial features, character, or attitude.  To become a “huios” doesn’t automatically happen, it takes experience, discipline, and obedience. 

Jesus was the “huios” Son of the Father God, He had become fully formed and had experienced all that was necessary in His growth and development to become an obedient Son.  This growth and change mentioned is the life of Christ as it matured Him and brought Him into an active relationship with the Father.  That is the example of what we are called to become.  Just so I am clear Jesus is the man, Christ is the anointing that comes from the spirit of God which rested upon and in Jesus.

Our source of this life is Jesus alone.  We cannot become a fully formed child of God without the life that flows from Jesus.  Though many have tried to grow up as a Christian without the life of Christ residing in them, which has left them weak and dependent upon the bible and other Christians to become their daily source of strength.  Though the bible is a good source of inspiration, it alone does not produce life, that life flows from Christ alone, the Bible is our roadmap which always points us to Jesus Christ. 

Along that same subject line, believers can become stifled in their own gifting when they put men or women as authorities in their lives and trust these teachers to instruct them about Jesus instead of allowing Christ to speak to them directly.  This is also spoken of in 1 John:

"But as for you, Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as His Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For His Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit's teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ."  

1 John 2:27 (GNT)

We are a priesthood of believers who have giftings of the Holy Spirit to share with each other, each one has different giftings.  Our portion of Christ is essential to share when we meet together, this way each person is edified and receives what Christ has apportioned to each believer through our sharing.

This passage at the beginning of this post makes it abundantly clear that whoever has the Son has life.  The word ‘has’ means “to have and to hold, to possess, in a sense of wearing”.  It takes on a deeper meaning which correlates to what Paul has said in Colossians:

"You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity."   Colossians 3:12-14 (GNT) emphasis mine

In the natural (or the flesh) this would be impossible, but in Christ all things are possible.  We are the Children of God (huios) who are ever-growing in relationship with Jesus to become more like Him. For we see Him as He is.

"Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things." Colossians 1:15 (GNT)

In Jesus we have the life of Christ which speaks to us and empowers us to trust Him to take us deeper in relationship with Him.  Oh, that we may know Him more fully.

We will become like Him!  
In the Son there is Life, that is my confession.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett