“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” Philippians 2:6-7

Last night God spoke this verse to me along with the title for this narrative.

To understand the role of a Christ follower we have to look at the life of Jesus. 

Jesus was the equal of God but in the likeness of man. 

Jesus did not come to exploit the world for personal advantage. 

Jesus did not try to create a reputation but humbled Himself in the role of a servant. 

Jesus performed signs and wonders in the likeness of man with the authenticity of God. 

Jesus came to offer Living Water to the unsaved and free those in bondage to darkness. 

The legitimacy of a Christ follower begins with your decision to live for Him. 

This decision is to walk humbly with Jesus simply seeking to His will for your life. You are not entitled to exploit God for personal advantage. Your purpose is to serve Him. 

Many believers get into trouble when they attempt to define the boundaries and terms in a relationship with God.

Your motive is to bring glory to God and should never be focused on building a reputation or fame for yourself.

Your purpose is not to take from the world but to dispense the Living Water to those around you. 

The Christ follower operates under the authority of the Holy Spirit. This will attract people to the authenticity of the Living Christ. They will see you have no hidden agendas or motives.

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” Philippians 3:10

If you are a believer you will have the markings of Christ in your life. This is unavoidable for those who come to know the Living Christ.

We live in a narcissistic society and are self driven people.

God has no ego and is motivated by unconditional love to save souls.

God designed the Cross to breach the gap between human nature and the life of God.

The Cross causes you to deny yourself and live for Christ.

You become a new creature in Christ Jesus and old things pass away and all things become new.

This causes pain and suffering as you have to be crucified to the things of the flesh and learn to walk with the values of God.

God creates hardships and sorrow in your life. They are purposed to strengthen your faith and train you in the ways of God.

The spiritual man faces all kinds of afflictions dealing in the war between light and darkness.

Fortitude is a mark of a Christ follower. Jesus gives you His courage as He faced the Cross to deal with pain or adversity. 

The Cross creates the character of Jesus in your personality. You become a humble and gentle person esteeming others above yourself. You have no desire for boasting because God is your provider and keeper.

The Cross teaches you to walk by faith believing in the promises of God. You live in the world but you are not motivated by the machinations (or schemes) of the world. 

The Cross makes you see yourself for who you are and identify with your abject unworthiness to God. 

The Cross gives you the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and your navigator through life. He is the source of the resurrected power of Christ which helps you meet all the challenges of life.

The Cross gives you the ability to have an embracing and vibrant relationship with the Living Christ. Jesus speaks to you and teaches you how to live with His values.

The Christ follower is marked with a brazen quality. When you fall, God picks you up. He fills you with boldness and erases the shame with the blood of Christ. 

The most significant marking of the Cross is waking up each day with an attitude of “Not my will but Yours be done.”

“The law of his God is in his heart and none of his steps shall slide.” Psalm 37:31

The word from God today is the compunction of God living in a believer!

The definition of compunction is a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad.

If you are a believer the moral compass of God is alive in your heart.

The moral compass is the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and will always glorify God.

Your steps cannot stumble if you are walking under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, no one can live in perfect oneness with God and we all end up falling into the abyss of moral decay.

So after stumbling we have to get up off the ground and return to the Lord. 

God is merciful and filled with compassion toward those who repent and confess their sins to God. 

It is impossible to match up to the standards of God even if you vigorously strive through religion and attempt to keep the laws.

You will fall. And, probably more than once. The Israelites were God’s chosen people but they did not listen to God and were severely punished.

Your hope for righteousness will come by faith in the Living Christ and walking under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

“Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. Why do You hide Your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?” Psalm 44:23-24

This happens to every believer who walks with God. The absence of God might be for a day, a week or several years.

To get a better feeling for this characteristic of God you might want to read Psalm 44 and see how God crushed the hearts of the Sons of Korah.

The perception is the Living Christ who can move mountains changes to a figurehead lacking power.

God not only seems to disappear but He causes you to look like a scourge (or eyesore) of society.

In reality, God is present in every moment of your life but He chooses to distance Himself from you and allows you to become scorned and despised by those around you.

Do not interpret this action of God as punishment for your sins. He is at work to refine you into His character. 

The purpose of God is to strengthen your faith and prepare you for future battles between light and darkness.

During the times when God seems absent walk by faith understanding God hears every word you speak to Him.

Cast your feelings of anger, bitterness and depression on the shoulders of God. Don’t allow them to lead you into darkness.

Seek the blood of Christ to cover your sins and be open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Finally, put your hope in these words; “I would have lost heart unless I had believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living.”

“The glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” Colossians 1:27

God woke me up last night with the words in this narrative.

The appellation (or name) of Christ lives in all believers. The appellation begins and ends in Heaven.

The decision for Christ by faith places the seed of Christ within you.

The seed is the gift of salvation and has to be watered and nourished.

The seed is the Living Christ who wants to speak to you and become your very best friend. 

The seed will be severely tested to determine your loyalty to Christ.

The seed grows to maturity through prayer, the Word, and worshipping God in Spirit and Truth.

The seed must be covered with the blood of Christ to deal with the retardants.

The seed becomes a powerful light for Jesus touching those living in darkness.

The seed needs the protection of Christ to grow and thrive into a beautiful tree of righteousness.

The seed lives to glorify God in your words and actions.

The seed multiplies the life of Christ within you.

The seed experiences a growing season with pain and sorrow.

The seed grows by faith in the promises of the Son of God.

The seed overcomes the storms of life through the strength of Christ.

The seed magnifies God in your words and actions.

The seed groans for the creation of Christ.

The seed is Christ in you through the efficacy of the Holy Spirit.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

God spoke to me today about abandonment using the analogy of barnacles on a rock to illustrate what He does to those who yield to Him.

Abandonment is giving God permission to do with you as He pleases. You live in the presence of God without expectations.

Abandonment is building a personal relationship with God through prayer, the Word and listening for His voice. 

Abandonment is living in obedience to the voice of God even when it makes no sense to you.

Abandonment is living under the blood of Jesus confessing your sins and seeking repentance. 

Abandonment is not about personal holiness or sanctification; it is walking in oneness with God.

Abandonment is making God your priority above all the things in the world. 

Abandonment is not about giving things up for God; it is receiving the abundant life from God.

Abandonment is vigilantly seeking the will of God. 

Abandonment is walking by faith believing in the promises of God. 

Abandonment is resting in God and allowing the Holy Spirit to help you meet every challenge in your life. 

Abandonment is understanding your unworthiness and depravity will never leave you and the righteousness of God is a gift from Heaven. 

Abandonment is an open heart to God. 

“The LORD said to Hosea, Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom.” Hosea 1:2

This narrative deals with unabashed devotion to the reality of God. It is about turning away from your cherished religious beliefs and convictions and entering the world of the Living Christ.

God told Hosea to marry a prostitute and ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son.

What is God asking you to do?

Many believers hide in the comfort of religion and never experience the sometimes harsh and controversial reality of the Living Christ.

You and I have to be completely devoted to the Living Christ and turn away from cursory practices of worship.

Worship Jesus in Spirit and Truth. Invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life. Listen for the voice of God and respond with obedience.

What you think might please God is usually far from the heart of Jesus.

If you are one with God He will take you out of the bubble of religion and lead you into the sewers of life. This is where He does His work. 

God is looking for your undivided loyalty to Him regardless of the cost or repercussions from others.

Invite the Holy Spirit to crush your unfounded beliefs and traditions about Jesus and show you the purposes of His heart. 

You will be amazed about the unconditional love of God and how Jesus works to draw those living in abject poverty to receive the gift of salvation.

“There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12

Last night God spoke to me through a dream. There was a man who changed his identity in an attempt to protect himself and his family. He was pretending to be someone whom he was not. He was deceiving himself and those around him. Finally, he faced God and those in his life and confessed his real identity.

God told me what happens to all of us is that we start out with good intentions but our motives become twisted. We end up perverting the gospel and diminishing the power of the Holy Spirit working within us.

Your intentions and plans have to originate through and be submissive to the Holy Spirit. He will keep your motives on track with God. We attempt to think for God in planning our goals. This will always lead you astray.

The challenge is living in your new identity in Christ and not relapsing into a false identity.

This happens when you make decisions from the flesh which may seem like they are good but they do not reflect the purposes of Jesus.

There has to be an integration of the Spirit and Truth in all your decision making. This will allow you to do the will of God on earth as it is done in Heaven.

Live in your new identity in Christ through vigilant prayer seeking His will for your life. Walk with God by faith yielding to the authority of the Holy Spirit. Listen for the voice of God and respond with obedience to His instructions.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

The word from God today is the adornment of Jesus in a believer.

The definition of adornment is an action of decoration or embellishment to make someone more attractive to others.

You were born in the image of God but you are incomplete in the eyes of Jesus.

The adornment begins with your decision for Jesus. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ.

You are born again by the action of the Water and Spirit. The Water makes you clean in the eyes of Jesus and the Spirit baptizes you into the death and resurrected life of Jesus.

Sin diminishes the power of the Holy Spirit so you and I have to live in continual repentance and ask to be covered with the blood of Jesus.

This is a lifelong process and requires you to have an open heart to the conviction of the Spirit of Christ.

People see the Living Water through your demeanor, words, and actions. This is mostly a subliminal action by God for those who walk in oneness with Him.

The powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon those who walk by faith and are obedient to the voice of God.

The Holy Spirit equips you with spiritual gifts to do the work of ministry. The gifts are designed to increase the Body of Christ and bring counsel to believers in the knowledge of God.

The purpose of the Living Water is to glorify God and draw unbelievers to Him.

“So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.” Deuteronomy 13:11

The disposition of Jesus today deals with judgment and is reflected in these words: “I will take vengeance; I will not arbitrate with man.”

God is angry and His judgment is terrifying and severe.

The Israelites were tempted by the teaching of false prophets and many were seduced into worshipping false gods. 

God spoke very clearly about this situation. He ordered the Israelites to kill all the false prophets and to kill every family member worshipping false gods.

This is how serious God feels today about the conditions in our society. And, He never changes.

Satan is at work everywhere in our world. Sin abounds with sexual immorality, deviant gender behavior, and greed for worldly living. 

In Christianity, Satan has seduced the Body of Christ into worshipping a spirit of religion impersonating himself as Jesus.

The leaders in the Body of Christ whitewash the truths of God.

They compromise the standards of Jesus to appease our changing society and to fulfill their own purposes. 

Walking with Jesus begins with an internal transaction. You agree to live for Jesus above all else. There can no compromise in this heart transaction with God. 

Worship Jesus in Spirit and Truth. 

Commit your works each day to God and invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life.

Listen for the voice of God and respond with obedience.

Open your heart up to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Do not start your day until you have faced God and humbled yourself before Him. 

This solidarity with God will strengthen your faith and give you the confidence to deal with any challenge in your life.