31Dec2013- Living in Power

How you doin? We watched "Finger of God" last night and was reminded of the tremendous possibilities of living and walking in God's power and love. This reminder was in perfect time to read Ephesians 1. This mornings devotional has 2 parts. Part 1 is from Ephesians 1. Part 2 is from "Normal Christianity", by Jonathan Weton.

Part 1 comes out of the reading in Ephesians 1. As Bill Johnson says, "WOW, WOW, WOW!". Arguable the most empowering chapter in the Bible. I can't read this chapter without feel charged, empowered, equipped, and quite frankly... righteous. Which is AWESOME!!!!!!!, because I battle feeling and accepting the righteousness that Jesus has given me through His acts on the cross. By acts I mean death, resurrection, and ascension. I could easily quote every single verse in this chapter, but will not. I will beg you to read this chapter on your own today. Ask the Holy Ghost to open your eyes, ears, mind, and heart to understanding and acceptance to the magnificent give that Jesus offers us and is to us.

Verses 3-14, basically makes me feel like I just took Holy Ghost steroids. I can fell Him coursing through my veins. SO GOOD!!!!!!! Here comes the oil on my hands. COME ON!!!!!!! I've never read such empowering, encouraging, and yet humbling Scripture. I feel super righteous, but only because of Jesus. PRAISE YOU JESUS!!!!!!!.

Verses 15-23, are titled "Thanksgiving and Prayer". I heard Bill Johnson break the book of Ephesians down into 3 parts or 3 postures of a follower of Jesus. Sitting is the the first posture which is covered in the first 3 chapters. Sitting is the posture of receiving based on the fact that when Jesus ascended into heaven He sat on the right hand of God the Father and received all that He had forfeited to redeem me/us. The prayer that Paul prays here in verses 15-23 is mind changing and more then powerful. Please read it and receive it.

Part 2. I was reading Jonathan Welton's book "Normal Christianity" in preparation for our conference in Feb. I was steam rolled by this part of chapter 3.

   "Love leads to confidence and freedom, whereas fear leads to insecurity and control.  Wherever you see the fruit of control, you can tell that fear is at the root.
 

   Control has been spreading throughout the church because of fear of failure.  We must make a decision: are we going to walk in love, which brings us into risky amounts of freedom, or are we going to live in fear of failure and try to control our flesh through rules and regulations?  If we are going to be Normal Christians, we must return to freedom, and our freedom must spring from the deep root of love from God.

     Many have tried to walk in freedom outside of God's law of love, but this produces an unhealthy counterfeit called independence.  Freedom and independence are not the same.  Freedom comes through self control, whereas independence requires the control of the surrounding environment.  Freedom comes because individuals are in control of their own lives and choices; self control enables a person to stay walking in love regardless of the circumstances.  Independence is maintained by keeping others at a distance so that they do not gain control over us.  People who walk in independence do not walk in love.  The only way to walk in love is to walk in freedom.

  All other forms of freedom are gained through rebellion or isolation.  And when we isolate ourselves from others we are stepping into the danger zone of selfishness (see Prov. 18:1).  The natural expression of fear is to create rules, whereas the natural expression of love is affection and freedom.  What we fear, we try to prevent through control, and what we love is allowed freedom so that it has room to grow." (pages 44-45)

I love being free. 2 Corinthians 3:17, "

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

"

I've read some seriously soft attempts at rationalizing and justifying reflection of this past year. I say "good luck with that". God is good. This I know. Good ole' Bill Johnson again, "I'm not going to sacrifice the glory of God on the alter of human understanding". That's a good word. The Bible teaches me that God keeps no record of past transgressions. God is present future, not present past. I say forget about 2013, because God has. Don't make resolutions, plans, or goals. Pray for revelation of the mystery of God which is, "Christ in you, the hope of glory". Sit and receive the fullness of Christ so that you may live in the power and love of Christ today. 

PS   I can't even come close to imagining a better chapter in the Bible to read closing out 2013. God really is that perfect. 2014 will be powerful and power-filled.