Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” Matthew 3:7

The word from God today is intrinsic which is defined as belonging to the essential nature or constitution of something. In the context of a believer this refers to belonging to God.

The intrinsic nature of God does not exist in you at birth. The gift of salvation comes to all those who make a decision to live for Jesus. You then belong to God and are born into His nature.

The Holy Spirit seals you with the life of Christ. He is the intrinsic nature of God. Jesus lives in your mind, soul, and personality.

The desire of the Holy Spirit is to transform you into the character of God.

This cannot happen unless you are totally devoted to God and seeking His will for your life.

The intrinsic nature will remain at a static or dormant stage until you abandon yourself completely to God. And, religion will stifle the growth of God in a believer.

This is a decision to come into oneness with Jesus and seek His will for your life. This cannot be consummated by words, emotions, or works. You must come into a personal and embracing union with the Living Christ.

God wants you to be obedient to His voice regardless of the cost or sacrifice.

The purpose of the intrinsic quality is to allow the translucent light of God to pass through you touching others

The Living Christ wants to fill you with strength, wisdom, joy and protection and help you deal with the troubles of the world.

Salvation is not an escape from troubles, it brings more troubles.

The advantage of Christ is that He is on your side fighting for your needs and working to deliver you. He is advocating with God on your behalf.

Make your goal to know the Living Christ and walk in oneness with Him.

Jesus will give you a life you can never achieve on your own!

“It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” Matthew 10:15

I did not want to write this narrative but I have to comply with God.

This is about the reality of God and the future for believers. The compunction of God is coming like never before. I have witnessed this wind of judgment. It is frightening and all powerful.

We are in the end times and believers have to understand the night is over and the day is here. Your salvation is nearer then ever before.

There is a brandishing light coming from heaven.

This light is a powerful beam bringing conviction on all believers

You can no longer shuffle between light and darkness. This is about insatiable greed, sexual immorality, and debauchery. The list goes on and on. They grieve the heart of God.

The days of mediocrity are over.

If you are not all in with God and living in the light you will be subject to the consequences of His judgment.

God has taken me into the eddy of this brandishing light. Believers will collapse, lose consciousness and stumble to the ground. This is the hand of God dealing with conviction and judgment.

This will happen because God is angry over sin and the lack of respect for His name.

You will not be able to argue or compromise with this light.

God told me the impunity (exemption) to escape His judgment is to turn away from sin and open your heart up to God with a desire to seek His will for your life.

Jesus loves you! He has power and dominion over the heavens and earth.

“Salvation belongs to the Lord” Psalm 3:8

God spoke to me last night about understanding the reality of the gift of salvation and the relationship of God to man.

Salvation is God at work in a human being. It begins with God and has no ending. Salvation is God transforming you into His character. You have no control over your salvation or the ability to manipulate this gift to your advantage.

Salvation is yielding to God without any purpose. Salvation is not writing your own script; you allow God to do with you as He pleases.

Salvation is the work of breaking your compulsive behaviors and fleshly desires.

Salvation is living by faith with obedience to the voice of God.

Salvation has nothing to do with religion. You worship God in Spirit and truth.

You lose your rights to the will of God.

Salvation does not operate on human logic or make any sense in how God directs your pathway.

The goal is to live in oneness with God without seeing any purpose or goal for your life.

Salvation can be nourished by prayer, meditating on the Word, listening to the voice of God, and living under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

The practice of religion, doing works or keeping laws will not enrich your salvation. It will deter you from the heart of the Living Christ.

We attempt to manipulate God by thinking if we do something good for God He is under an obligation to bless us. This is a heresy perpetuated by religion. The blessings of God come by your faith in Christ and in His perfect timing.

Salvation is asking God how you can please Him without any strings attached.

Salvation is the revelation of Christ in the life of a sinner!

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.” Psalm 34:15

You can’t get the attention of God unless you reach out to Him.

You need two things to get the favor of God; a clean heart and unyielding faith and obedience in His words.

The clean heart comes through the blood of Christ. Confess your sins and turn away from darkness. Jesus will cover you with His blood and make you blameless in His sight.

The righteousness of God comes through your faith in His promises and your obedience to His voice. It will never come to you through works or sacrifices.

God isn’t looking for perfection; He is looking to accomplish His work through an imperfect believer filled with character defects.

Abraham believed God and was obedient to His instructions. He followed God and was credited with the righteousness of God.

Reach out to God with a serious desire to do His will. Ask God “How can I please you today?”

Then be still and listen to the Living Christ.

God will speak what is on His mind in His perfect timing.

The eyes of God see everything about you. He knows you better than you know yourself.

God will honor your prayers and cries if you walk by faith and are obedient to His voice.

All you need is a heart willing to follow God regardless of the cost or lack of any logic.

This will get His attention!

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight” Psalm 19:14

We all complain about our troubles. At times, I have been a chronic complainer and have faced the rebuke of God.

We complain because we don’t get our way.

Complaining starts with the onset of troubles. Grumbling diminishes the power of the Holy Spirit and takes away your joy and peace.

God hates grumbling and complaining. He considers this behavior an insult to His character.

We have the mistaken mindset that troubles are not the will of God. Troubles are created or permitted by God.

The revelation of Christ is accepting that troubles perfect you in the sight of God.

God delivered the Israelites out of slavery and got very mad at them over their continued complaining and lack of faith.

God punished the Israelites by sending them on a forty year zig zag journey. All the adults died in the wilderness and never entered the Promised Land.

The mature Christ follower is a powerful witness for God and a fountain of Living Water on the outside but on the inside he is an embattled individual facing crushing burdens.

Complaining provokes God because you are doubting His power and dominion.

The challenge is to accept that burdens are the will of God and cast them on the shoulders of God. This will give you freedom, peace and joy.

The burdens are the way of life for a believer. You are called by God to die to self and live for Him. This cannot happen unless you become crucified like Jesus who carried the burden of dying on a cross with Him every moment of His life.

God promises to deliver you but in the seasons of troubles Jesus wants you to praise Him with a heart of thanksgiving.

“The peace that surpasses all understanding” Philippians 4:6

There is a direct relationship between the peace of Jesus and the circumstances in your life. When life is good God is great.

Peace tends to disappear when the troubles come. We become overcome by fear and anxiety. And, many times we blame God for our troubles.

If you lack the peace of God you have to look into yourself. Something is blocking the Holy Spirit. It might be your lack of faith, emotions or a specific behavior.

We wake up each morning with challenges, feelings and needs.

The junction always leads to two different roads; we either trust God implicitly or yield to self. Or, sometimes we agree to trust God on some matters and yield to self on other matters.

Let’s look at the burdens you face each day. They may have been engineered by God, your mistakes or the actions of others.

Does it really make any difference? You cannot assign blame for the troubles. They exist and God wants you to give them to Him.

The mature Christ follower accepts the troubles without blaming and casts them on the shoulders of God. He walks by faith believing God will deliver Him regardless of the mountains to leap over. This attitude will cover you with the peace of Christ.

Now back to the junction and making choices for today.

Develop the mindset God wants to bless your desires. Then give the Holy Spirit authority over your actions. He will guide you in a smooth pathway and show you what to do and what to let go of for today. God has taught me over the years there is a time for a Macdonald’s burger and a time for a more lavish meal. Yield your decision making to Him.

The peace of Christ will allow you to live above your troubles!

“There is no one righteous, not even one” Romans 3:8

God spoke to me recently about the contrast between Jesus and a human being.

The revelation from the Holy Spirit is you can never match up to the standards of God and don’t even try.

Jesus doesn’t want you to try to be like Him because this is impossible. Jesus wants you to be yourself and ask Him to fill you with His life. Then you can live and move and have your being centered in Him.

As a human being you and I are plagued with moral decay. This nature just doesn’t disappear in a flash through a prayer or self control. In fact, it never completely leaves you until your entry into heaven.

Jesus desires to give you a strong compunction about sin and a moral compass aligning with His values. The goal is steady improvement and never perfection.

The Christ follower accepts his impoverished condition and doesn’t come across as a religious or pious individual.

This attitude of the heart comes through prayer, an open heart, and the blood of Jesus.

You have to be “In Christ” to live a life pleasing to God. The conflict is between the Spirit and the flesh.

To be “In Christ” invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life and old things will pass away and all things will become new.

People will see you as a genuine Christ follower with humility and respect for others.

“The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.” Psalm 94:11

You might be well educated or possess a high IQ but this will never give you the ability to think like God.

You can read the Bible endlessly but this will just create a quandary.

Your cannot think like God because His thoughts come from a source out of your universe.

The thoughts of man originate in a mind that is grounded in self and the ways of the world. To be blunt, God calls your thoughts foolishness.

You cannot think for God but you can have the mind of Christ. This comes to you from the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and dwells in all believers.

God speaks to those who live for Him above all else with a burning desire to do His will.

The mind of Christ is given to those who submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer invites the thoughts of God to those who learn to be still and listen for His voice.

Read the Word of God and ask God to imbed His curriculum into your heart. This gives God the ability to relate to you through His words.

God is holy and does not to waste His precious words on an unclean person.

Pray for Jesus to cover you with with His blood so He can speak into a pure and blameless vessel.

Seek the words of the Lord. They are pure and life changing and to be treasured above all else!

“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Matthew 8:26

What would you do if you were stranded on a boat in a stormy sea? Panic or reach out for help?

Last night I was in a similar position in a dream from God. I was fearful and did not know what to do. I reached out to God and His arm stretched out to protect me. Then the dream was over.

We all get in circumstances where there is no way out. This causes anger, fear, and confusion.

The adversities of life are engineered by God. They are designed to perfect your faith and teach you how to walk with Jesus.

The only option for a believer is to reach out to God for help. Jesus told His disciples they were fearful and lacking faith when they were on the boat in a stormy sea.

Jesus was sleeping; the disciples were in a state of panic.

We are human beings unlike God and often become overcome by anxiety over difficult circumstances.

The word from God about dealing with adversity is “aplomb” which means you can have assurance and confidence in the promises of God.

The command is to reach out to Jesus by faith. Ask Him for wisdom for dealing with your predicament.

Walking with God in a whirling eddy is believing and living by faith in the promises of Jesus. It is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of Christ.

Wait patiently on God and do not panic because your situation is in His powerful hands.

Most importantly, do not react to your feelings. This will only dig your hole deeper. Find your joy and peace in the sufficiency of Christ.

Paul and Silas were in jail and possibly facing death. They sang praises to God and waited upon Him by faith. God responded by sending an angel to break them out of jail.

God is not asleep. He may take some time or work in an unorthodox manner but He will deliver you. He is under the obligation of His word to rescue you.

“Christ is in you” Romans 8:10

The word of God today is juxtaposition which is defined as two things being merged close together creating a contrasting effect.

This is the dynamic union of Christ and a human being. The contrast is the glaring difference between light and darkness.

You see the frailty of your inner nature compared to the greatness and glory of God.

You experience the reality of the Living Jesus and not a figment of religion.

This synergy of man with God creates a new creature in Christ filled with the life of Jesus.

The reality of the light pierces your heart as God reveals your inner nature and convicts you of sin.

The light gives you insight into your motives and how they compare to the values of God.

God seals you with the Holy Spirit and gives you direct access to Jesus. This enables you to live in the light and provides a link to all the attributes of Christ.

Juxtaposition gives you the mind of Christ. You hear the voice of God.

The Holy Spirit gives you strength, wisdom, joy and guides your pathway.

The light reveals your vulnerabilities and the need for the sufficiency of Jesus. We live in the darkness of the world but we are not of the world.

We are a human vessel filled with Living Water and a powerful witness for the name of Jesus.

Juxtaposition creates a burning fire inside you to live and move and have your being in Christ.