Hosanna,



Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours,

Everything i am for your Kingdoms cause,

As i walk from nothing to...

 e t e r n i t y.

Getting to know Jesus

Who am i? Who is Jesus?

 

In one of my other posts I said it was important to know who we are, but in order to know who we are, we need to know who Jesus is.

Why? Because we were created for nothing less than to become like Jesus Christ. This has been Gods plan for us right from the beginning!

“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” Genesis 1:26

Gods plan was always to fill the earth with people just like His son - for His glory. Therefore Jesus wasn't 'plan B' to make up for the fall of Adam. The plan was always Jesus. You can read right through the bible and see something of Jesus on every page. It really is all about Him.

In Matthew 16:13-19 Jesus asks his disciples "Who do you say I am?" and Simon Peter replies "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." What Jesus says next is the key. He replied "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." Firstly, it wasn't until Simon Peter acknowledged who Jesus was that he was given the identity of Peter (once he knew who Jesus was, he knew who he was.) Also, Jesus tells him that it is on the revelation of who he is, the Christ - Son of the living God, that He will build His church. Knowing who Jesus is, is the very foundation of our faith. Which is why, in order to be saved, you must; "confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead" (Romans 10:9)

So now i've said a little about why we need to know who Jesus is I want to touch on one aspect of who He is. The one aspect that is fundamental in His identity. Jesus Christ.

Funnily enough, 'Christ' wasn't Jesus' last name - it's not just there to sound cool or roll off the tongue better. Christ means 'anointed one'.

Many people just see Jesus as the one who saved us from our sins or as the one who wants a nice relationship with us or who comforts us on our bad days. All of these are completely true, but if we focus on just one of these, we are missing the bigger picture! Jesus didn't come just to save us - if that were true He might as well have taken us up to heaven already! We're here for a purpose and Jesus came to allow us to live out that purpose.

Jesus is more than a prophet. He is more than a teacher. He is more than a good person. He is more than an apostle or a priest. He is more than a pastor or a shepherd.

Jesus is the Christ. Anointed one.

Jesus did everything under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, knowing who had sent Him and what He was sent to do. Luke 4:14-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Jesus' calling and anointing were the very centre/core of His identity. You don't read about Jesus having an identity crisis because He knew who He was and He knew what He was here to do. John the baptist told 2 messages about Jesus. (John 1:29-34)

1) "He is the one who takes away the sin of the world." Hallelujah! This is the best news because it was our sin that was preventing us from representing Him fully! But now He has taken away our sins!! However. Too many people stop here. Here is the 2nd message...

2) "He's the one who will baptise you in the Holy Spirit." HALLELUJAH! He didn't just come to deal with sin - He dealt with sin SO THAT He could anoint His people!! Now we can represent Him!

Get what i'm saying? Gods plan is that everyone is under that same anointing - seperated and called out for a special purpose. Everyone anointed to represent Him. Lack of anointing means we don't have the power to represent Him. Jesus was anointed to represent the Father. Jesus has anointed us to represent Him - CHRISTians. Anointed ones.

He knew who He was because He knew who sent Him. We can know who we are because we know who sent us. Get to know Jesus.

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
2 Corinthians 3:18

Kingdom Living!

I have come to the realisation that applying the Kingdom of God to my life is kind of like organising my wardrobe. This sounds weird so just give me a chance to explain why :)

I have a lot of clothes. So many, that my drawers seem to be breaking from the weight. My clothes get all creased because I have to squash them in. I can rarely be bothered to hang my clothes up once I've tried every item on before leaving the house in the morning, resulting in a pile of clean, creased, unworn clothes at the bottom of my wardrobe. There's no special way that I organise my clothes... which often means that I'll just wear whatever is at the top of the draw. Today, I decided to organise my drawers. So I pulled everything out to fold them neatly and place them nicely in their allocated spaces. It was great! I found clothes that I forgot I even had. They were hidden away in the back of my drawers. I decided to sort my clothes into seasons. Clothes I was likely to wear in the next couple of months (remembering I'm in cold, snowy Canada) were brought to the front of my drawers, and summery clothes were put to the back.
So now I have a tidy chest of drawers and a very nice looking wardrobe. (Could still do with a little more space but it'll do for now.)


So how exactly does this have anything to do with the Kingdom of God?
Firstly, when I talk about the Kingdom of God, i'm talking about the active rule and reign of God – the Kingdom of God is where ever His will is being done. Therefore when I talk about applying the Kingdom of God to my life, I'm applying the principles of His kingdom to every area of my life- allowing Him to reign in me – living by His will, not mine.
We're told in Luke 12:31 and Matthew 6:33 to "seek first the kingdom of God" and Jesus spent his last days with his disciples teaching them about the Kingdom of God - for forty days!! This makes me think that it's pretty important...

So when I was sorting out my wardrobe God spoke to me about some of His kingdom principles that we should work out in our daily lives.

Firstly, we need to get rid of any limits and restrictions. We need to have a greater capacity for more of Him. He always has more for us to grab hold of – just like I can never have enough clothes, we can never have enough of God. As humans, there is only so much our minds can understand. How can we expect to understand the full existence of God in all His glory? We can't. God is revealed to us when our mind stops and the Spirit takes over. The mysteries of the Kingdom are so precious and no matter how much is revealed to us – there is always more to discover!

Secondly, he spoke to me about 'different outfits for different seasons'. God has put deposits in us, gifts and teachings and experiences, that maybe we have forgotten about and pushed to the back of the draw. But at the right time they will be drawn out and brought back to our remembrance. It wouldn't do me any good if I wore my summer clothes in the middle of winter – just like it wouldn't be very effective if I was working with what I have outside of the will of God. The right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing. We need to be wise with what we have – attentive to Gods will but at the same time, not neglecting what we do have. Which leads me onto the third thing.

Keeping our clothes in good condition. Matthew 13:1-23 talks about how the word of God is received. It describes seed that is sown in bad soil and good soil. The seed sown in the good soil speaks of “the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”(Matt 13:23) This is how we should be. Not just accepting the word and then neglecting it. But receiving it and understanding it, working it out in our lives – so that when it comes to a season where it's needed, we won't be embarrassed by creased, stained clothes – we can wear what we have with a confidence that it is the best quality.

So to sum up...

1. Expand your capacity so God can give you more! More of His goodness, more of His love, more of His joy... there is always more!
2. Have wisdom in knowing what God requires of you now – when we give everything over to Him, he will show us what is right for the right time. Leave it in His hands.
3. Cultivate the seed you have been given. Don't neglect the wonderful treasures God has given you – spend time exploring them and as you allow the seed to grow, watch it become beautiful, strong and unshakeable.

Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven!

Amen!

Generation Advancing.

Its so exciting to see a generation of young men and women stepping into their true identity, taking hold of whats theres and advancing the Kingdom of God! A generation that were born for such a time as this!
I've only just left youth and already I can see people younger than me overtaking me. This is a generation thats going to surpass any other generation and take the world for Jesus!

"The devil tries to rob us of our identities because he knows that the moment we know who we are, we're unstoppable."

 I can't remember who I got this quote from but it's always stuck with me because it's SO true! Knowing who we are is so important. In Cardiff church they have a phrase; "Its who we are, its what we do." What you do in life is a result of who you are and when you're a child of God life is all the more exciting! So I thought I would put out a list of who God says we are. Maybe after reading it you'll understand why we're "unstoppable" and why the devil has nothing on us.

God has a plan for my life - Jeremiah 29:11
God chose me to be fruitful for Him – John 15:16
Everything – even disaster – can work for good – Romans 8:28
God will guide my steps if I surrender to Him – Proverbs 3:6
God has promised to speak to me – John 10:27
The Holy Spirit will guide me and show me God’s will - John16:13-15
God has promised to complete His plan for my life – Philippians 1:6
I am to be salt on the earth - Mt 5:13
I am to be light in the world - Mt 5:14
I have been given the mind of Christ - 1 Cor 2:16
I'm chosen and appointed to bear fruit - Jn 15:16
I have been crucified with Christ - Gal 2:20
I am called to do the works of Christ - Jn 14:12
I am a new creation - 2 Cor 5:17
I am to do what Christ commanded His disciples - Mt 28:20
I have been made alive with Christ - Eph 2:5
I have been given spiritual authority - Lk 10:19
I am God's workmanship - Eph 2:10
Signs should accompany my work - Mk 16:17-20
I have received fullness in Christ - Col 2:10
I am a minister of a new covenant - 2 Cor 3:6
I am a minister of reconciliation - 2 Cor 5:18,19
I am to be an expression of life in Christ - Col 3:4
I am connected to the true vine - Jn 15:1,5
I am a partaker of a heavenly calling - Heb 3:1
I'm a willing slave of righeousness - Rom 6:18,22
I am a temple of God - 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19
I am one spirit with the Lord - 1 Cor 6:17
I am a member of Christ's body - 1 Cor 12:27

...yeah. and this is only a taster. Read the bible for yourself, there's plenty more in there! We really are the greatest people in the world. If you've made Jesus Lord of your life then this is all about you!

and it's all to glorify God!
Did you know that when God created the earth and everything in it He said it was "good". But when he created man He said it was "very good!" This amazes me because when I think of how much the trees and the sun and the moon and stars and the whole of creation magnify God's glory and then God tells me that I am "very good" - it blows my mind! Your life reveals the glory of GOD better than any other creation!

Take hold of these scriptures and make them your own. Speak them to yourself every day and let 'who you are' become 'what you do'.

I'm Free!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yolk of slavery." Galatians 5:1

Jesus has set us free! He broke the chains of sin and death and now we can live in the freedom He has given us. We don't need to battle against sin because Jesus overcame it and set us free from it! We don't need to fear death because Jesus overcame it and set us free!

Jesus said that His yolk is easy and His burden is light. He exchanged our yolk of slavery for His yolk of freedom - now we can live life to the full - full of love, peace, joy...

...because its who we are! We are a free people.

How do I know we're free?

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Cor 3:17. If you have the Holy Spirit in you, you are free! Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

I'm not saying that we won't have 'bad days' or face trials - Jesus tells us that we will face trials! But it is through these trials that our faith is strengthened! (James 1:2) Because we are overcomers! We don't just 'get by' in this life...

...We GLORIOUSLY OVERCOME!

We have Jesus in us and Jesus has overcome the world! So there is nothing that is too high, too deep or too wide for us!

We all have a birth certificate. It tells us our citizenship - who we are. That citizenship may limit us to certain parts of the world. For example, I am a British citizen, therefore in order for me to get into Canada, I needed a visa because I am not a Canadian citizen. But first and foremost, I am a citizen of heaven! As citizens of heaven we have NO limits, NO borders we can't cross. We are a free people!

What have we been freed into?

1. We are free to love

Jesus set us free from ALL the laws that we read about in the old testament and replaced it with one; to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbour as yourself.

Because God first loved us we are able to love others. - He showed the ultimate act of love by sending His son to die for us.

He loves us inspite of our sins and iniquities - He loves us for who we are.

Its because of this love that we can love others freely.

2. We are free to be.

                                  ... to be who God has called us to be. 

The sooner we accept our identity and everything that entails, we will be free to be who God has called us to be - a child of God, an ambassador for Christ, chosen and made in Christs image.

We find our identity in Christ and we are totally free to be just like He is.

He even tells us in the gospels that we are to do even greater things than He did! Thats a big calling to live up to but He has given us everything we need to do it.

We just need to simply be who God has called us to be and let Him work through us.

Find out who you are and live it out. If you don't know how to do that, look at who Jesus is because we are to be as He is.

The question then isn't "who am i?" but the question is "who is Jesus?"

(I'll come back to this in another post!)

3. We are free to know him.

Jesus died so that we may have right-standing with God. God wants a relationship with us!

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:4

God knows us better than we know ourselves, but there was a time when we couldn't know Him because we were stopped by sin. - its because of Jesus that we are now free to know Him!

It's when we're in relationship with God that we can better focus on Him, hear His voice and discern His call on our lives.

We should aim to know him so well that His voice is the one we're tuned into and when we act, its because we've seen how He would act.

What a great life of freedom we have!

Jesus set us free so that we could have life and life to the full!

Our lives are worth Christ dying for - make every day count!

Live like you are a child of God and know that wherever God sends you will become a place of adventure because He has freed us into life in all its fullness!

Hello!

 

I've always found it helpful to write down what God has been talking to me about but never really saw the point in just letting it sit in a book on my shelf. Hence the reason for writing this blog!

Feel free to take what you need from it. I hope it encourages, strengthens and builds you up!

& I'll try to make the posts as frequent as possible.

"As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless." Psalm 18:30