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Father God forgive me.
You are my portion, you are my portion.
You are sufficient.
Not that you are in my portion or that you are part of my portion but you ARE my portion.
And in you lies everything I need or desire.
I was made to love you, my soul purposes of being called into creation was to love you.
And I thank you Lord.
You are so beautiful, and knowing you has broken my heart so many times, because all I know of you is your love.
I am so broken for this love...
Lord I thank you for people in my life.
I thank you that I do not always have to walk this journey alone.
I thank you that I have someone to know and love and share in you.
You are my light, she is my blanket.
I pray that I wont forget what you've done for me this past year.
I pray that I will be a testament to your promises and love and that through our lives together nations will rise, hearts will be restored and souls saved for the sake of you oh glorious king.
My Father, Abba Father.
I want to know love.
How high, wide and deep is your love?
Lord I need to know, let that be my purpose oh Lord.
I set aside my life for you and what you have called me and I dedicate every last fibre of my being to serving you fully till every last breadth of life has been ripped from my lungs.
I vow in my heart, mind and soul to love you, to give everything I humanly am to loving you.
I vow with my life to love her, to be a pure, praiseworthy, excellent, lovely and noble reflection of your love and grace and mercy. I will serve, love and cherish. I vow to persevere beyond every last towel that has ever been thrown to her, for us and everything I believe in. I vow to give up everything I am for her in the name of love, of your love, in the same way that you gave yourself. And I know you will be there with us.
Micro-blogging, twittering or tweeting if you will, is slowly but altogether surely reducing our capacity for words. Our sentences, our paragraphs, the real expressions of self are being chopped down and diced into mere snippets of otherwise extensive thought. We’re being wounded by a culture of instant diets and quick fixes; A culture in which every progressive step is geared toward the purpose of being slimmer than the last, and somehow we have managed to arrive at a place where less is always more - somehow this culture of downsizing has crept into our scripts and it seems we’re trading in our full bodied paragraphs for semi-skimmed sentences.
Why say 100 words when now you can just say one? – Bored. is bored. and for the stretched individual, is well bored. Our written voices have been trimmed from the wonderful insights they once were to the pale comparisons they are now; One dimensional punch lines that serve a single purpose at one single point in time. Where are the sonnets? Where are the prose? Where are the sweet soliloquies? The voices of the people are being narrowed, flattened and dumbed-down one status at a time.
The impact, power and freedom, oh lest we forget the freedom, of our minds is slowly being robbed as we all hop aboard the train of instant expression. Would we have Martin Luther King trade in history on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a mug and a seat, and a “Why can’t we just all get along?”
There was a time when we had something to say, when it was valued, when the freedom of speech that millions died for, was appreciated. Those very freedoms and rights we now discard and overlook whilst we’re taught that refusal to generate a constructed retort is excusable, and as if a simple reply with words was all too much, they gave us the “thumbs up.”
In our efforts to take away from the clutter and drop excess baggage in vein of functional operation, we lose something; We lose flare, we lose vivacity and exuberance, we lose ourselves. We lose the very thing we were created for; Not to exist, however, but to live.
Did not mankind’s communication start with a grunt? We have spent the last few millennia or so discovering, exploring and perfecting, language, narratives and literature. Coleridge, Shakespeare, Whitman, they did not pawn us off with their spare change in words. They graced us with songs of the soul, plays on words, visions of depth into the human condition albeit for what? For us to arrive at this point in our generation where what one would’ve motioned with a verse is instead uploaded with alas a grunt.
Indeed there is something to be said about our so called advances in communication. By no means do we dare suggest that we turn our backs to the progress we have made thus far. And for all the grumbling, grievances and objections this author has with perhaps underlying change, its impossible not to acknowledge the vast applications micro-blogging offers. At the very least, its opened up to us all, the opportunity to give what we have given modern day time constraints; To throw away the very thing that has given a generation of concerning mothers, fathers and friends piece of mind would be short sighted to say the least.
The issue to any degree is not of participation but it is one of replacement. More than anything we must be aware that at any time, if we are indeed substituting what otherwise would have been detailed insight for a snappy one liner, then we are at risk of losing the ability to articulate ourselves well. There are thousands of would-be memoirs, monologues and journals out there that have been lost or forever forgotten only because it was all too easy to just say “is unhappy.” and that, is inexcusable.
For the dying breed of those who choose words, sentences, articles over verbal flatulence, there exists a harsh environment for anyone who desires to go against the grain. The nature of communication is changing, and whether we are changing with it, or perhaps by it, one thing is certain, is that this trend is not coming down any time soon, albeit certainly not without toil.
While this author offers little comfort amidst this stark realization, hope and perhaps change lies on the individuals, individuals who refuse to regress to the grunting and mere musings of today’s portals of networking and communications. By far and large the general populous will in all likelihood succumb to what is now fast becoming the standard for communication, but it is up to us, the free thinkers, radicals, and revolutionists alike to turn around, wave the finger, and say no.
Thumbs up.
remember back when spring was a breeze.
stormy brews were sipped with ease.
walks and pieces of parks and cakes
and we would make whatever of it we could make.
down mid September and autumn leaves hang.
wistful of the tune with the wind they once sang.
still orange with sun, losing its glow.
listening, waiting, for that final blow.
Oh Lord hear my cry,
I am but a man who wants to walk in your path.
Take me to the promised land, lead me home.
Home to where my burden is light and my worries are few.
Where the days arent numbered, yet forever in awe of you.
Would it please you that i be there now, then by your will be it so
But Lord i know there are many things you still have yet to show.
Alas Oh God, how can i please thee.
I come before you broken and weak.
With lips that are dry i yearn for your word
all honour and glory and praise be to you first
Hear my cry, Lord for you i yearn
Till my last days Lord let it burn.
Let this be my prayer, that now and forever more.
With every last breath pour worship and adore.
I am but a man who wants to walk in your path.
Take me to the promised land, lead me home.
Home to where my burden is light and my worries are few.
Where the days arent numbered, yet forever in awe of you.
Would it please you that i be there now, then by your will be it so
But Lord i know there are many things you still have yet to show.
Alas Oh God, how can i please thee.
I come before you broken and weak.
With lips that are dry i yearn for your word
all honour and glory and praise be to you first
Hear my cry, Lord for you i yearn
Till my last days Lord let it burn.
Let this be my prayer, that now and forever more.
With every last breath pour worship and adore.
life was never meant to be like this
sombre laughter,
ordered chaos,
convincing uncertainty,
confused clarity,
heavy lightness,
burdened blessings,
ceasing rest,
restless peace,
twisted straights,
conditional faith,
reluctant will,
divided unity,
vacant fullness,
reserved joy,
restrained freedom,
clouded certainty,
distant intimacy
distant intimacy
but we do try
Is true love reciprocal?
Why do we place such a heavy importance on love being reciprocal?
Christ died for us, not expecting that we would love Him back
He died for us whilst we were sinners
and we [are able to] love Him, because He first loved us.
true love is not reciprocal
or at least its not the principle of it.
if love is founded on only the basis that we get something back
then it is a selfish love.
but true love is selfless.
see if love is reciprocal, it implies there is a condition that must be met in order for the love to be fulfilled.
but true love is unconditional.
As humans, we are incapable of this unconditional love
All we can do is try to love in this way.
I dont want to try to love, I just want to love.
I've come to realise that the only way i can have this love is by loving Him.
The closer we draw to Him, the more we are filled by His love.
And we no longer try to love those around us, but its His love filling us that allows us to love others.
My first and foremost commandment is to love Him.
I believe that it is impossible for me to love others unless i love Him.
I believe that he commanded us to do so for so many reasons.
Through loving Him, we can truly understand what it means to love people.
If i am trying to love people, that is love coming from me.
But if i stop trying, and I love Him first. Then He will satisfy every need and take away all the selfish reasons that i have for love.
and i will just love, and that love will be because of Him.
true love is not about us loving each other.
Its about us loving Him.
true love is not about us loving each other.
Its about us loving Him.
Oh Lord my God, lover of my soul
Your love washes me, and cleanses me
Your love covers me like rays of water
Oh Lord my God, how my soul yearns for you
In you I find satisfying hunger
You quench my every thirst yet I cannot draw from your fountain
Oh Lord, maker of everything
You knew me before creation
You prepare a shelter for me, for you know my walk is weary joy
You carry me in the weakest of my moments
Oh Lord my God, my healer
In my brokenness you see light in my brokenness you call me new
You fill the wounds that run deep and I cover them no more
Oh Lord my God, how you lavish me
You see every desire of my heart
And when I lay them at your feet, you give them back to me
No request is too small, no order too high
Oh Lord my God, my deliverer
You scour the Earth in search of this fleeting soul
With it you wrap a longing embrace, Oh Lord how you love me so
Oh Lord my sovereign God
Remove from my life, restless peace, divided unity, and breathless life
Take guilty truth, shallow wisdom, and selfish love
Oh Lord, how undeserving I am. Oh Lord how your grace covers me
You knew I would fall and yet while I was a sinner you died for my iniquities
You did not forget me, and when you resurrected your son, there you resurrected me
Oh Lord I must ask why, why you choose to love me so
Why your grace knows no bounds
Why in the place of my sin you chose to stand
Oh Lord my God, my heart, my soul, my mind
My words, my life, my love, make yours
Amen.
Your love washes me, and cleanses me
Your love covers me like rays of water
Oh Lord my God, how my soul yearns for you
In you I find satisfying hunger
You quench my every thirst yet I cannot draw from your fountain
Oh Lord, maker of everything
You knew me before creation
You prepare a shelter for me, for you know my walk is weary joy
You carry me in the weakest of my moments
Oh Lord my God, my healer
In my brokenness you see light in my brokenness you call me new
You fill the wounds that run deep and I cover them no more
Oh Lord my God, how you lavish me
You see every desire of my heart
And when I lay them at your feet, you give them back to me
No request is too small, no order too high
Oh Lord my God, my deliverer
You scour the Earth in search of this fleeting soul
With it you wrap a longing embrace, Oh Lord how you love me so
Oh Lord my sovereign God
Remove from my life, restless peace, divided unity, and breathless life
Take guilty truth, shallow wisdom, and selfish love
Oh Lord, how undeserving I am. Oh Lord how your grace covers me
You knew I would fall and yet while I was a sinner you died for my iniquities
You did not forget me, and when you resurrected your son, there you resurrected me
Oh Lord I must ask why, why you choose to love me so
Why your grace knows no bounds
Why in the place of my sin you chose to stand
Oh Lord my God, my heart, my soul, my mind
My words, my life, my love, make yours
Amen.
Oh typhoon oh typhoon
how my boss frowns
Oh typhoon oh typhoon
Wont you just stick around
Typhoon typhoon we’ll catch a few beers
As long as you make sure you end in tears
Typhoon typhoon were it up to me
You’d unpack your bags and never leave
Typhoon typhoon when will they learn
Youre a blessing and not a cause for concern
Typhoon typhoon when will there be
Another time for you and me
We’ll eat and sleep and play all day
While the rest of hong kong fuss and fray
My desk is swamped, there are mountains to be marked
Oh wont you let off a disruptive fart
Typhoon typhoon my pal, my friend
Next time wont you be a number ten
how my boss frowns
Oh typhoon oh typhoon
Wont you just stick around
Typhoon typhoon we’ll catch a few beers
As long as you make sure you end in tears
Typhoon typhoon were it up to me
You’d unpack your bags and never leave
Typhoon typhoon when will they learn
Youre a blessing and not a cause for concern
Typhoon typhoon when will there be
Another time for you and me
We’ll eat and sleep and play all day
While the rest of hong kong fuss and fray
My desk is swamped, there are mountains to be marked
Oh wont you let off a disruptive fart
Typhoon typhoon my pal, my friend
Next time wont you be a number ten
Someone who will wade through your crap without ever once looking back to see how else life couldve been.
They'll come out at the end of it still to say I love you.
Even if it's the same shit they have to walk through, that nobody else does; that they would be willing to do it over and over and over until you absolutely knew they would never quit - and then some.
I don't care how you wanna put it, but I know that's love.
It's the same love Christ has shown me, minus the profanities.
It's the same love the world is looking for.
They'll come out at the end of it still to say I love you.
Even if it's the same shit they have to walk through, that nobody else does; that they would be willing to do it over and over and over until you absolutely knew they would never quit - and then some.
I don't care how you wanna put it, but I know that's love.
It's the same love Christ has shown me, minus the profanities.
It's the same love the world is looking for.
There are a million and one thoughts racing through my mind.
All collectively they are forming a picture, but I don’t know what that picture is yet.
It is NOT about us.
Righteousness comes through faith
Where to begin…
Let’s start at the beginning with Adam.
Now, Adam, was the first man to sin.
His sin was his disobedience to God, and the result of that sin was separation from God.
Through this act, Adam, bound his life in sin.
He was married to it, he was chained to it, he was part of sin, and sin was part of him.
But not only had he bound his life in sin, but ALL the future generations to come.
We were married to it, we were chained to it, we were part of sin, and sin was part of us.
In order to be free from sin, they had to offer sacrifices.
This was the only way that their sin could be removed.
Now, God saw this as a problem.
Being bound to sin, He saw that all we had in our capacity to do was sin.
Imagine if you will a rock in water.
All it can do is sink.
We were that rock, all we could do was sin.
He loved us SO much… that He said this needed to stop.
He loved us SO much… that He sent us His one and only son to die for us, to die in place of our sins.
When he died in place of our sins, we to died to our sins.
We were no longer married to it, we were no longer chained to it, we were no longer part of sin, and sin was no longer part of us.
We were and are no longer bound to sin.
“sin has no power over us”
Faith is EVERYTHING
For the Longest time.
My Christian walk was blind.
I stumbled in my walk with Christ, because I was blind.
I used to think that I belonged to sin, I used to think that my capacity was sin, and that all that could come out of me naturally was sin.
That is why I need Jesus.
I was a rock, that needed Jesus to help me float.
But then what does that mean about the death of Christ?
Didn’t Christ die so that we would no longer be slaves to sin? Of course he did!
When Christ died and resurrected, he died and resurrected for us.
The truth is that when He died, we became wood.
At the end of the day, What we will always, always go back to, what all this means
Is - righteousness by faith
We are righteous, we are made righteous by faith
What does faith mean?
The Bible says we are made righteous by faith
Romans 3:22
“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference.”
What does faith mean?
I used to think the faith, was just believing in Jesus.
faith was such a tiny word for me.
Faith meant just I know that Jesus is alive and died and rose for my sins and I accept that I and I believe that he existed and I believe that he is God and that’s all faith meant to me and that’s not the full extent of what faith means.
God’s still yet to reveal completely what faith means but this He has now expanded what my idea of faith is.
What does faith mean?
Believing in the power of the cross.
When Christ died we died.
When Christ rose, we rose.
The sinful nature in me, the part of me that was bound to sin, the part of me that was just completely chained to sin; When Christ died, that part of me died, that part of me is already dead.
The part of me that can ONLY sin is dead.
Imagine your sins are chained to you.
This is before Christ died for you
Imagine your sins are chained to you
And you’re walking
And you’re trying to walk to God
But your sins are heavy, they’re like heavy blocks, they’re chained to you they’re chained to your back, they’re chained to you.
Now Christ’s death meant that the chains, these chains were broken.
Sin was no longer chained to you.
It was no longer holding you back it no longer had that power to stop you, it was no longer pulling you back it was no longer chained to you
You were dead to sin
You were dead to sin
That part of your life; those chains were removed, all the chains were removed.
Do we still sin?
Yes of course we sin
But sin is no longer chained to us
Imagine back to the picture, were walking and suddenly all these chains are broken.
Were no longer attached to our sin
Were no longer attached to our sin
We are free from our sin.
But the only thing now is that, some things, we choose not to let go.
For example lust, I still choose to hold onto that lust and that’s what weighs me down.
Its not chained to me, it’s free from me. I’m free from the chains, the hold.
The sin is not chained to me but I am still holding on to the sin.
That what im doing when im holding onto the sin.
But Christ’s death, was so that we’d be free from those chains.
Its so important to know that sin is no longer chained to us, is not longer who we are.
[I was sin, but when Christ died, I died, I died to sin.]
what does faith mean?
So the death of Christ, meant the chains are broken and we are free, we’re no longer part of sin; that’s the death of Christ.
The part of us that was naturally sinning and would naturally come to sin, all those chins were broken, that was the death of Christ.
So imagine we were a rock.
If you imagine were a rock.
The resurrection also included us we were resurrected in Christ also.
So imagine if you’re a rock, all you can do is sink [all you can do is sin]
The resurrection of Christ turned you into wood.
So that all you would do is float.
So you are by definition something that floats now. You are no longer a rock who just sinks, who just sins, who is chained to sin, you are now a piece of wood.
Because of the resurrection of Christ you are now wood.
Imagine Christ is wood
You are now also wood.
Christ is wood and we are wood also.
So all we can do is float.
For the longest time I thought no it’s a naturally part of me to sin, my natural state of being is to be rock; my natural state of being is to sin.
But that’s not why Christ died.
Christ died so that our natural state of being would be wood.
And it is wood
Our naturally state of being is to float.
So that’s what it means when we say Christ is in me and I am in Christ
It means Christ is wood and I am wood
Christ is in me, therefore I float and I am in Christ therefore I float.
Colossians 2:10-15 Amplified Bible
“10And you [a]are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
11In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts).
12[Thus [b]you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [[c]to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [[d]as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.
13And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions,
14Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared [e]completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
15[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].”
And this is what the whole faith in righteousness means
[To know this truth.]
My eyes were open to the biggest thing.
The biggest thing is this faith.
To know that I am no longer rock, to know that I am wood.
The biggest lie
The biggest lie that the devil tells us is that the cross doesn’t matter, that the cross is meaningless.
He tells us that yes, Christ died and Christ rose for you but it didn’t really do anything because were all still natural sinners.
All it means is that we can turn to Christ to forgive our sins – NO
All our sins are already forgiven.
All our sins are already forgiven.
The biggest lie is
Even comes down to when satan tells us
Lets say we having a good week with Christ, were having a good week with God;
Were praying and were keeping up with quiet time and doing all these things.
Lets say one day we don’t do that.
The devil will say to us, look you didn’t do that.
You didn’t do your quiet time.
Youre less holy now
That’s what he says to us and that’s what we think.
When we think that to ourselves that’s what the the devil is saying, were believing those lies.
So we believe that were less holy now because ive missed out on a quiet time.
So alright now im going to do this quiet time so I can be more Holy and RIGHT THERE, right there what have we just done? We have answered to the devils lies.
The devil is saying look, Will you haven’t done this, so youre not holy so im going to say, ok fine I’ll do that then so I can be holy.
Does that make us any more holy?
No it does not!
Are we answering to his lies?
Yes we are;
Instead of Just being in Christ; which is the alternative; which is faith.
Instead of just having the faith to know I am in Christ
Through no amount of quiet time through no amount of worship through no amount of prayer can I be made more Holy.
That’s what it means by faith; to know! TO KNOW
Not to believe, to know deep down in your core that you have already been made righteous, you are already wood.
To know that you have already been made a new creation, you have already been made perfect, by Christ’s death.
That’s what faith is.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)
“17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
And that’s what the devil does, he tricks us into to thinking that no, the cross was meaningless.
The cross means you are a new creation.
You are naturally wood.
So aren’t we living this out?
Why aren’t we seeing this change in our lives?
If Christ has already died, and Christ has already risen and that part of me is dead, why are we not living this righteous life?
Why are we not righteous?
Now the verse says
Righteousness comes through faith
So again, what do we have faith in?
We have faith in the fact that we are new creations.
I walk down the street and I say I have faith that I am in Christ.
No longer do I try to control my thoughts my emotions, my actions.
Its not me, its not me!
If I try and control them… ill never be able to get my thoughts, or my actions or my emotions in control.
I, me, will never!
That’s why its not about us.
It can never be about us, because we are so powerless.
But in Christ, having faith in Christ means that we just know that he is the one who is controlling our actions, he is the one who is controlling our thoughts.
I walk down the street and I see a girl wearing hot pants.
And im a legs man.
So I see a pair of legs, and my brain switches off, or it goes intro overdrive, either of those things.
2 Corinthians 11:30-31 (New International Version)
“ 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.”
But now, having faith, I walk down that street and I see a pair of legs and I say…
Before I used to say – oh will come on, don’t look or keep walking straight, keep your head straight, try try try try dodod dododo, don’t look, don’t look, don’t look
And what is that?
That’s me not having faith.
That’s me believing in myself
That’s me believing that I can do that by myself
That’s me believing that I have a way to control my thoughts and my actions and that is wrong, that is not having faith in the Cross.
Having faith in the Cross means that I walk down the street I know God is taking over my thoughts.
And I see a pair of legs and all I say Is. I am in Christ. I am a new creation. That doesn’t sin, that doesn’t fall into lustful thoughts.
Faith! Just saying I AM IN CHRIST, I DO NOT FALL TO THOSE SINFUL THOUGHTS. Believing it! Faith! Knowing! That Christ has died for you, knowing that Christ has risen, and knowing that you are that new…
Christ is inside you!
You are in Christ
You are one with Christ!
You are Holy as Christ is Holy!
Having faith in that
Knowing that you can just walk down the street and say that my faith in the cross means that I lift up everything to Christ.
That is freedom.
That’s the freedom of the cross.
The freedom of the cross means that there’s nothing we do, that’s the freeing part.
Its not about us, its not about what we do. Its not about how hard we try, its not even about the sins we commit!
Its about the power of the cross, its about knowing, its about having faith in the cross and what it means for us.
Going back to what I said before, its not about the sins we commit.
Its not!
Christ doesn’t care
I mean he cares.
He says, actually lets go to the verse, Psalms 51,
Psalm 51:17 (New International Version)
“17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.”
But our sins don’t condemn us.
What we do doesn’t matter
If we think for a minute what we do doesn’t matter then the sins we commit cant condemn us because Christ already died for that.
Hes already forgiven you
His blood counted, it accounted it accounts it stands up to every single one of our sins.
We pin every single one of our sins on the cross, by the blood of Christ!
So absolutely none of our sins condemn us!
We must believe that!
Why must we believe that?
Why must we believe that all of our sins cant condemn us because the devil, what he does is that he makes sin this crippling part of our lives.
If we sin, then he says oh wow, you’ve sinned!
And he makes it into this big thing, he says you did this!
And this is a big thing
It means that you cant be in fellowship with God anymore, it means that God cant love you anymore.
He makes sin huge! He makes sin so huge that you get to the point where you’re so ashamed that cant you even come to God with your sin.
And that’s when he takes away that faith in the Cross!
Again because the cross meant that your sins were all accounted for. Past present and future.
And he makes your sins so big that you don’t even have that faith in what Christ did for you on the cross, what the cross meant.
The devil uses sin as a way of trickery, blowing it up making it big, making it big in your head.
He makes sin in your head overpower the significance of the cross!
But if we have faith, then the cross is so much bigger than our sin.
So much SO that our sin can not condemn us! Yes?!
Our sin cannot condemn us!
Romans 8:1-2 (New International Version)
“ 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
So if we think our sin cant condemn us, then really we have nothing to stop us from coming into fellowship with God.
The victory, the victory is in our sin.
In sin, We don’t lose.
The devil wants us to think we’ve lost something or we’ve lost the battle when we’ve sinned, the truth is the battle’s already been won.
There’s nothing to lose anymore, when we sin,, there’s still victory is that we come to Jesus and say I’ve sinned
But I need to Jesus.
I sinned, but I need you Jesus.
That’s the victory, that’s why I say sin is insignificant, because it should not stop us from being in Christ.
That’s what Christ died for.
He didn’t die so that we could have a hard time fellowshipping with him or connecting with him.
And again, it’s not about us, because it says in the bible, through the obedience of one, many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:17
“ 19For as through the one man's disobedience (AM)the many (AN)were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (AP)the many will be made righteous.”
So you see through the obedience of one, through the obedience of Christ, through the obedience of Jesus, we are made righteous.
In that verse, is there anywhere in that verse that says what we have to do? No!
Through Christ’s obedience we were made righteous,
Are we made righteous by reading the bible? No. we were made righteous through Christ’s obedience.
Were we made righteous by leading a prayer group? No
we were made righteous through Christ’s obedience.
Everything is about Christ and the cross
Not about what we do.
Good or bad.
Not even our obedience, HIS obedience.
Not OUR obedience to God but HIS obedience, Christ’s obedience to God.
That WE are made righteous.
And the biggest difference is knowing.
Knowing that yes the blood has counted for my sins, past present and future.
That’s what the blood is for so that our sins would be insignificant so that we would be dead to sin. Dead to sin, dead to sin, that’s what it means, sins have no power to condemn. They’re not alive anymore, they’re dead, they’re insignificant. They’re nothing.
Romans 8:2 (New International Version)
2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
The biggest thing is faith in righteousness, going back to the beginning, faith in righteousness.
And I cannot stress enough how much we just have to know, how we have to KNOW that we are made perfect in Christ.
There’s nothing we have to do, we are already there, Christ has already done it, through his obedience we are made righteous.
Im not boasting in myself, im not saying – me, look at how righteous I am! I saying look at the power of the cross!
It says if we should boast in anything we should boast in the cross.
Galatians 6:14 (New International Version)
“14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Look at the power of the cross!
The power of the cross is that I a made righteous.
We are boasting in the power of the cross
When we say we have faith in our righteousness we are boasting in the cross.
We cannot be made into what we already are.
I cannot be made to be a new person, A new creation.
The bible says I have been made anew.
He made us anew!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)
“17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
I cannot be made into what I already am I already am a new creation.
All that there is left for me to do is to believe it, is to have faith.
To KNOW that I am a new creation in Christ and through that knowing, through that faith, I am made righteous.
See, that’s what faith means now.
Faith is so much more.
Faith is in fact everything
I used to think faith was this small tiny insignificant word but actually faith is everything!
Faith is what our salvation is based on.
Faith is the difference between living and average Christian life and you living the normal Christian life.
And everyone thinks that there’s a difference between the average Christian life and the super holy Christian life. And the super holy Christian life is reserved for those who do a lot of bible study or a lot of prayer or who are pastors and just are super holy people but no.
That “super holiness” is the normal Christian life;
Which is brought about by faith.
Faith is the key to that “super holy” normal Christian life.
We need to all start claiming that.
We need to all start claiming our normal Christian lives
We need to all stop believing the lies that we are all still bound to sin, or that we have sinful natures.
Our nature is not sinful we are new creations in Christ!
Our NATURE is in Christ!
We need to start believing that we are all righteous through his death and resurrection that we are made righteous.
This is nothing new, this is all in the bible. Everything is in the bible, just looking at it in the fullness of its truth.
We need to continually have faith
Faith is not a one off thing.
I don’t just believe it once, I need to believe in it continually.
There are many times when I walk down the street and I forget or I try under my own strength and that is not having faith.
And its at that point that I have to remember that I have faith I am in Christ, I lift up everything to Christ through his cross.
That is faith
That’s the difference, its no longer me trying, its me walking it out.
We had a discussion at plus and it kind of blew open new revelations for everyone.
And God really kind of blew it open, he opened our minds and just, He just exploded.
And so we thought what does this mean?
How can we test this?
Is this for real?
Yes its for real.
So what we decided to do was… well yes we could SAY it was real but we needed it to be real in our lives and in order to see that we needed to test it.
So what we decided to do was, for one week, were just going to be wood
For one week were going to be wood, were going to know that what were made of is Christ.
We are wood!
We are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Just for a week, have that faith, have that knowledge. Know without a shadow of a doubt that is what you are, that is all you can produce.
So I think really that is the challenge for all of us to just step out in faith, (faith again), step out in faith and just do it, just live, just for a week, knowing.
Romans 1:17 (New International Version)
“17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.”
All collectively they are forming a picture, but I don’t know what that picture is yet.
It is NOT about us.
Righteousness comes through faith
Where to begin…
Let’s start at the beginning with Adam.
Now, Adam, was the first man to sin.
His sin was his disobedience to God, and the result of that sin was separation from God.
Through this act, Adam, bound his life in sin.
He was married to it, he was chained to it, he was part of sin, and sin was part of him.
But not only had he bound his life in sin, but ALL the future generations to come.
We were married to it, we were chained to it, we were part of sin, and sin was part of us.
In order to be free from sin, they had to offer sacrifices.
This was the only way that their sin could be removed.
Now, God saw this as a problem.
Being bound to sin, He saw that all we had in our capacity to do was sin.
Imagine if you will a rock in water.
All it can do is sink.
We were that rock, all we could do was sin.
He loved us SO much… that He said this needed to stop.
He loved us SO much… that He sent us His one and only son to die for us, to die in place of our sins.
When he died in place of our sins, we to died to our sins.
We were no longer married to it, we were no longer chained to it, we were no longer part of sin, and sin was no longer part of us.
We were and are no longer bound to sin.
“sin has no power over us”
Faith is EVERYTHING
For the Longest time.
My Christian walk was blind.
I stumbled in my walk with Christ, because I was blind.
I used to think that I belonged to sin, I used to think that my capacity was sin, and that all that could come out of me naturally was sin.
That is why I need Jesus.
I was a rock, that needed Jesus to help me float.
But then what does that mean about the death of Christ?
Didn’t Christ die so that we would no longer be slaves to sin? Of course he did!
When Christ died and resurrected, he died and resurrected for us.
The truth is that when He died, we became wood.
At the end of the day, What we will always, always go back to, what all this means
Is - righteousness by faith
We are righteous, we are made righteous by faith
What does faith mean?
The Bible says we are made righteous by faith
Romans 3:22
“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference.”
What does faith mean?
I used to think the faith, was just believing in Jesus.
faith was such a tiny word for me.
Faith meant just I know that Jesus is alive and died and rose for my sins and I accept that I and I believe that he existed and I believe that he is God and that’s all faith meant to me and that’s not the full extent of what faith means.
God’s still yet to reveal completely what faith means but this He has now expanded what my idea of faith is.
What does faith mean?
Believing in the power of the cross.
When Christ died we died.
When Christ rose, we rose.
The sinful nature in me, the part of me that was bound to sin, the part of me that was just completely chained to sin; When Christ died, that part of me died, that part of me is already dead.
The part of me that can ONLY sin is dead.
Imagine your sins are chained to you.
This is before Christ died for you
Imagine your sins are chained to you
And you’re walking
And you’re trying to walk to God
But your sins are heavy, they’re like heavy blocks, they’re chained to you they’re chained to your back, they’re chained to you.
Now Christ’s death meant that the chains, these chains were broken.
Sin was no longer chained to you.
It was no longer holding you back it no longer had that power to stop you, it was no longer pulling you back it was no longer chained to you
You were dead to sin
You were dead to sin
That part of your life; those chains were removed, all the chains were removed.
Do we still sin?
Yes of course we sin
But sin is no longer chained to us
Imagine back to the picture, were walking and suddenly all these chains are broken.
Were no longer attached to our sin
Were no longer attached to our sin
We are free from our sin.
But the only thing now is that, some things, we choose not to let go.
For example lust, I still choose to hold onto that lust and that’s what weighs me down.
Its not chained to me, it’s free from me. I’m free from the chains, the hold.
The sin is not chained to me but I am still holding on to the sin.
That what im doing when im holding onto the sin.
But Christ’s death, was so that we’d be free from those chains.
Its so important to know that sin is no longer chained to us, is not longer who we are.
[I was sin, but when Christ died, I died, I died to sin.]
what does faith mean?
So the death of Christ, meant the chains are broken and we are free, we’re no longer part of sin; that’s the death of Christ.
The part of us that was naturally sinning and would naturally come to sin, all those chins were broken, that was the death of Christ.
So imagine we were a rock.
If you imagine were a rock.
The resurrection also included us we were resurrected in Christ also.
So imagine if you’re a rock, all you can do is sink [all you can do is sin]
The resurrection of Christ turned you into wood.
So that all you would do is float.
So you are by definition something that floats now. You are no longer a rock who just sinks, who just sins, who is chained to sin, you are now a piece of wood.
Because of the resurrection of Christ you are now wood.
Imagine Christ is wood
You are now also wood.
Christ is wood and we are wood also.
So all we can do is float.
For the longest time I thought no it’s a naturally part of me to sin, my natural state of being is to be rock; my natural state of being is to sin.
But that’s not why Christ died.
Christ died so that our natural state of being would be wood.
And it is wood
Our naturally state of being is to float.
So that’s what it means when we say Christ is in me and I am in Christ
It means Christ is wood and I am wood
Christ is in me, therefore I float and I am in Christ therefore I float.
Colossians 2:10-15 Amplified Bible
“10And you [a]are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
11In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts).
12[Thus [b]you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [[c]to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [[d]as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.
13And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions,
14Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared [e]completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
15[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].”
And this is what the whole faith in righteousness means
[To know this truth.]
My eyes were open to the biggest thing.
The biggest thing is this faith.
To know that I am no longer rock, to know that I am wood.
The biggest lie
The biggest lie that the devil tells us is that the cross doesn’t matter, that the cross is meaningless.
He tells us that yes, Christ died and Christ rose for you but it didn’t really do anything because were all still natural sinners.
All it means is that we can turn to Christ to forgive our sins – NO
All our sins are already forgiven.
All our sins are already forgiven.
The biggest lie is
Even comes down to when satan tells us
Lets say we having a good week with Christ, were having a good week with God;
Were praying and were keeping up with quiet time and doing all these things.
Lets say one day we don’t do that.
The devil will say to us, look you didn’t do that.
You didn’t do your quiet time.
Youre less holy now
That’s what he says to us and that’s what we think.
When we think that to ourselves that’s what the the devil is saying, were believing those lies.
So we believe that were less holy now because ive missed out on a quiet time.
So alright now im going to do this quiet time so I can be more Holy and RIGHT THERE, right there what have we just done? We have answered to the devils lies.
The devil is saying look, Will you haven’t done this, so youre not holy so im going to say, ok fine I’ll do that then so I can be holy.
Does that make us any more holy?
No it does not!
Are we answering to his lies?
Yes we are;
Instead of Just being in Christ; which is the alternative; which is faith.
Instead of just having the faith to know I am in Christ
Through no amount of quiet time through no amount of worship through no amount of prayer can I be made more Holy.
That’s what it means by faith; to know! TO KNOW
Not to believe, to know deep down in your core that you have already been made righteous, you are already wood.
To know that you have already been made a new creation, you have already been made perfect, by Christ’s death.
That’s what faith is.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)
“17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
And that’s what the devil does, he tricks us into to thinking that no, the cross was meaningless.
The cross means you are a new creation.
You are naturally wood.
So aren’t we living this out?
Why aren’t we seeing this change in our lives?
If Christ has already died, and Christ has already risen and that part of me is dead, why are we not living this righteous life?
Why are we not righteous?
Now the verse says
Righteousness comes through faith
So again, what do we have faith in?
We have faith in the fact that we are new creations.
I walk down the street and I say I have faith that I am in Christ.
No longer do I try to control my thoughts my emotions, my actions.
Its not me, its not me!
If I try and control them… ill never be able to get my thoughts, or my actions or my emotions in control.
I, me, will never!
That’s why its not about us.
It can never be about us, because we are so powerless.
But in Christ, having faith in Christ means that we just know that he is the one who is controlling our actions, he is the one who is controlling our thoughts.
I walk down the street and I see a girl wearing hot pants.
And im a legs man.
So I see a pair of legs, and my brain switches off, or it goes intro overdrive, either of those things.
2 Corinthians 11:30-31 (New International Version)
“ 30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.”
But now, having faith, I walk down that street and I see a pair of legs and I say…
Before I used to say – oh will come on, don’t look or keep walking straight, keep your head straight, try try try try dodod dododo, don’t look, don’t look, don’t look
And what is that?
That’s me not having faith.
That’s me believing in myself
That’s me believing that I can do that by myself
That’s me believing that I have a way to control my thoughts and my actions and that is wrong, that is not having faith in the Cross.
Having faith in the Cross means that I walk down the street I know God is taking over my thoughts.
And I see a pair of legs and all I say Is. I am in Christ. I am a new creation. That doesn’t sin, that doesn’t fall into lustful thoughts.
Faith! Just saying I AM IN CHRIST, I DO NOT FALL TO THOSE SINFUL THOUGHTS. Believing it! Faith! Knowing! That Christ has died for you, knowing that Christ has risen, and knowing that you are that new…
Christ is inside you!
You are in Christ
You are one with Christ!
You are Holy as Christ is Holy!
Having faith in that
Knowing that you can just walk down the street and say that my faith in the cross means that I lift up everything to Christ.
That is freedom.
That’s the freedom of the cross.
The freedom of the cross means that there’s nothing we do, that’s the freeing part.
Its not about us, its not about what we do. Its not about how hard we try, its not even about the sins we commit!
Its about the power of the cross, its about knowing, its about having faith in the cross and what it means for us.
Going back to what I said before, its not about the sins we commit.
Its not!
Christ doesn’t care
I mean he cares.
He says, actually lets go to the verse, Psalms 51,
Psalm 51:17 (New International Version)
“17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.”
But our sins don’t condemn us.
What we do doesn’t matter
If we think for a minute what we do doesn’t matter then the sins we commit cant condemn us because Christ already died for that.
Hes already forgiven you
His blood counted, it accounted it accounts it stands up to every single one of our sins.
We pin every single one of our sins on the cross, by the blood of Christ!
So absolutely none of our sins condemn us!
We must believe that!
Why must we believe that?
Why must we believe that all of our sins cant condemn us because the devil, what he does is that he makes sin this crippling part of our lives.
If we sin, then he says oh wow, you’ve sinned!
And he makes it into this big thing, he says you did this!
And this is a big thing
It means that you cant be in fellowship with God anymore, it means that God cant love you anymore.
He makes sin huge! He makes sin so huge that you get to the point where you’re so ashamed that cant you even come to God with your sin.
And that’s when he takes away that faith in the Cross!
Again because the cross meant that your sins were all accounted for. Past present and future.
And he makes your sins so big that you don’t even have that faith in what Christ did for you on the cross, what the cross meant.
The devil uses sin as a way of trickery, blowing it up making it big, making it big in your head.
He makes sin in your head overpower the significance of the cross!
But if we have faith, then the cross is so much bigger than our sin.
So much SO that our sin can not condemn us! Yes?!
Our sin cannot condemn us!
Romans 8:1-2 (New International Version)
“ 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
So if we think our sin cant condemn us, then really we have nothing to stop us from coming into fellowship with God.
The victory, the victory is in our sin.
In sin, We don’t lose.
The devil wants us to think we’ve lost something or we’ve lost the battle when we’ve sinned, the truth is the battle’s already been won.
There’s nothing to lose anymore, when we sin,, there’s still victory is that we come to Jesus and say I’ve sinned
But I need to Jesus.
I sinned, but I need you Jesus.
That’s the victory, that’s why I say sin is insignificant, because it should not stop us from being in Christ.
That’s what Christ died for.
He didn’t die so that we could have a hard time fellowshipping with him or connecting with him.
And again, it’s not about us, because it says in the bible, through the obedience of one, many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:17
“ 19For as through the one man's disobedience (AM)the many (AN)were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (AP)the many will be made righteous.”
So you see through the obedience of one, through the obedience of Christ, through the obedience of Jesus, we are made righteous.
In that verse, is there anywhere in that verse that says what we have to do? No!
Through Christ’s obedience we were made righteous,
Are we made righteous by reading the bible? No. we were made righteous through Christ’s obedience.
Were we made righteous by leading a prayer group? No
we were made righteous through Christ’s obedience.
Everything is about Christ and the cross
Not about what we do.
Good or bad.
Not even our obedience, HIS obedience.
Not OUR obedience to God but HIS obedience, Christ’s obedience to God.
That WE are made righteous.
And the biggest difference is knowing.
Knowing that yes the blood has counted for my sins, past present and future.
That’s what the blood is for so that our sins would be insignificant so that we would be dead to sin. Dead to sin, dead to sin, that’s what it means, sins have no power to condemn. They’re not alive anymore, they’re dead, they’re insignificant. They’re nothing.
Romans 8:2 (New International Version)
2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
The biggest thing is faith in righteousness, going back to the beginning, faith in righteousness.
And I cannot stress enough how much we just have to know, how we have to KNOW that we are made perfect in Christ.
There’s nothing we have to do, we are already there, Christ has already done it, through his obedience we are made righteous.
Im not boasting in myself, im not saying – me, look at how righteous I am! I saying look at the power of the cross!
It says if we should boast in anything we should boast in the cross.
Galatians 6:14 (New International Version)
“14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Look at the power of the cross!
The power of the cross is that I a made righteous.
We are boasting in the power of the cross
When we say we have faith in our righteousness we are boasting in the cross.
We cannot be made into what we already are.
I cannot be made to be a new person, A new creation.
The bible says I have been made anew.
He made us anew!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)
“17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
I cannot be made into what I already am I already am a new creation.
All that there is left for me to do is to believe it, is to have faith.
To KNOW that I am a new creation in Christ and through that knowing, through that faith, I am made righteous.
See, that’s what faith means now.
Faith is so much more.
Faith is in fact everything
I used to think faith was this small tiny insignificant word but actually faith is everything!
Faith is what our salvation is based on.
Faith is the difference between living and average Christian life and you living the normal Christian life.
And everyone thinks that there’s a difference between the average Christian life and the super holy Christian life. And the super holy Christian life is reserved for those who do a lot of bible study or a lot of prayer or who are pastors and just are super holy people but no.
That “super holiness” is the normal Christian life;
Which is brought about by faith.
Faith is the key to that “super holy” normal Christian life.
We need to all start claiming that.
We need to all start claiming our normal Christian lives
We need to all stop believing the lies that we are all still bound to sin, or that we have sinful natures.
Our nature is not sinful we are new creations in Christ!
Our NATURE is in Christ!
We need to start believing that we are all righteous through his death and resurrection that we are made righteous.
This is nothing new, this is all in the bible. Everything is in the bible, just looking at it in the fullness of its truth.
We need to continually have faith
Faith is not a one off thing.
I don’t just believe it once, I need to believe in it continually.
There are many times when I walk down the street and I forget or I try under my own strength and that is not having faith.
And its at that point that I have to remember that I have faith I am in Christ, I lift up everything to Christ through his cross.
That is faith
That’s the difference, its no longer me trying, its me walking it out.
We had a discussion at plus and it kind of blew open new revelations for everyone.
And God really kind of blew it open, he opened our minds and just, He just exploded.
And so we thought what does this mean?
How can we test this?
Is this for real?
Yes its for real.
So what we decided to do was… well yes we could SAY it was real but we needed it to be real in our lives and in order to see that we needed to test it.
So what we decided to do was, for one week, were just going to be wood
For one week were going to be wood, were going to know that what were made of is Christ.
We are wood!
We are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Just for a week, have that faith, have that knowledge. Know without a shadow of a doubt that is what you are, that is all you can produce.
So I think really that is the challenge for all of us to just step out in faith, (faith again), step out in faith and just do it, just live, just for a week, knowing.
Romans 1:17 (New International Version)
“17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.”
