Today, I want to charge right into a religious demon.

Yep, I’m pretty much over small talk at this point in my life *grin*. I want to talk about REAL things that TRULY matter.

I’m in a new and significant learning curve. Six months ago, Father took me through the entire Bible and revealed the truth (and the lies) about the end times passages. It was one of the most revelatory seasons of my life. I have such peace about the end of the age, the rapture, the church and this world. Thank you, Lord.

Today, I want to challenge what I believe the church in general, believes about the Presence of God. And this is without condemnation. But here it is:

Scripture teaches:

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ROMANS 8:9-10

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. JOHN 14:23

To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. COLOSSIANS 1:27

Okay, I’m mostly talking to myself now, but I’ve been captive to an error mindset. I know that in seasons past, I would pray things like, “Jesus, please show up. Jesus, bring Your Presence. Lord, I need you to come to me and show me what to do next. Jesus, where are you?”

Also, I’ve participated and joyfully sang worship lyrics that are calling for Jesus, and/or The Presence to “come down.”

Now, I’m not placing any condemnation upon myself or anyone else that has prayed or sang similarly. Yet, the Lord is revealing a deception to me that I didn’t understand prior to now.

Here it is: Christ LIVES in me.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” GALATIANS 2:20

Now I know we all have read this passage many times, but do we TRULY believe it? Because when you begin to truly catch the revelation of this truth…… IT CHANGES EVERYTHING!

We ALWAYS have God in us. Christ dwells in us. The Holy Spirit lives IN us. Father is in us because Christ and the Father are one. We are one together with Christ.

Wow wee!

Now take a minute to think this through. When we truly BELIEVE the Word of God and begin to comprehend that God is in us, and we don’t need to wait for Him to show up to bring healing, wisdom, salvations, help, and rescue, blessings, etc……, we arise to a new level of power and authority in Christ.

This means…..

RIGHT NOW: I am healed, in Jesus name.

RIGHT NOW: I am free of addictions, fear, anxiety, and small living.

RIGHT NOW: I have access to the Father’s provision because He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

RIGHT NOW: I AM FREE from demonic oppression, petty friendships, stupid concerns of this earth, and what others think about me.

RIGHT NOW: I’m free to live authentically and wholly as created by God.

This also means……

RIGHT NOW: I carry the Son of the Living God within. The weight of this fathomless truth pushes me to greater honor, respect, and reverence.

RIGHT Now: My selfish and petty desires are insignificant to the lavish riches of my inheritance and the blessings that are mine, right now, on earth as it is in heaven.

RIGHT NOW: Humility and worship empower my prayers to lead others into freedom and truth.

RIGHT NOW: I feel coursing through my body, the potential of the untapped power source as well as the preeminent authority I carry as a daughter of Yahweh!

RIGHT NOW: Absolute devotion and surrender are the only response!

My friends, something is happening. I can feel the God of the ages alive in me. I want to rush to Walmart and pray for everyone strolling the produce isle. I want to meet the postman at the door and ask to lay hands on him. I am compelled to stop living in lazy comfort and to bring Christ into every interaction, all my days and night, into my church, my family, all my conversations and to become what Christ has promised to those who believe:

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become (powerful and authoritative) children of God— JOHN 1:12

I DON’T NEED TO CALL God to come down. I will no longer wait until I feel His manifest Presence because He is alive in me. All. The. Time. Forever.

When we begin to truly walk in this reality, we will start to live like Christ Jesus. And that is what our original design demands. As a result of living fully in this reality of these promises and truths, we will….

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. MATTHEW 10:8

Next time you find yourself signing a song asking for God to come down, smile to yourself and call to your mind, “Christ is in me. He is already here. I carry Him with me, so what do I have to fear.”

Next Post: Difference between abiding presence and the manifest presence of God.

Okay, thoughts? See you in the comments. I love you. Walk TALL! Christ LIVES IN YOU! Hugs, Lynn

JESUS IS LORD!

Today is my freedom day! Freedom in my mind, thoughts, body, soul. My spirit is free in You. You are God, Yahweh, The Creator and giver of life.

I STEP INTO LIEF today!

Life abundant because Jesus is Lord of me. I declare Jesus is Lord over my will, my emotions, my time and my purposes. He Lord over my house, all future homes and dwellings, my finances and Lord over ALL provision.

Jesus is Lord over my future, my giftings, callings and mindsets. Jesus is Lord over my body, soul and spirit. My thoughts, my hope and all my joy. He is Lord over my health, and I live in Divine health. He is healer and over all my bodily functions, organs, bones, nerves, heart, pulmonary and my hormones.

Jesus is Lord over my efforts, my hopes, dreams and over my future. He is LORD over every disease, illness and every lie of the evil one. Jesus is also Lord over my husband and his health. He is LORD over cancer and all sickness. Cancer is a liar and defeated by His stripes. Jesus stripes heals my spouse, my kids, my bloodline and heals every issue of my flesh, especially cancer. I break all power of cancer, RIGHT NOW, in my husband and me and declare WE ARE CANCER FREE IN JESUS NAME.

Jesus is Lord! He is my love, my pursuit, my passion and my promise. He is my joy, goodness and example. He is the voice I follow and He is my leader. My King! I serve Him exuberantly, with humility and utter devotion. There is none above Him and He is my life. I adore Him, love Him, and acclaim him publicly.

Jesus is my rock, security, truth. He is my compass and answer to every question. He is my strength, my food and my laughter.

Jesus is Lord over my home, my city, my state and nation. He is preeminent, renown and ruler over all principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. He is MASTER over every galaxy and the entire universe. He reigns, sovereign, over all of creation; past, present and future.

His law is grace. His commandment is obedience and His reward is sonship. Peace, love and right living are His promises. He is wholeheartedness and the light of the world.

Jesus is kind, forgiveness is his mantle, mercy, healing, health and beauty are gifts from his bounty. His ways are light, fulfillment, authenticity and freedom.

Jesus is King!

(penned from my quiet time on Sunday, March 20, 2022: Lynn Donovan)

Artwork by StudioJRU

Jeanne here!

Did you know that before you were breathed into existence by God, he wrote a book about your entire life?  That book is in heaven right now.  God created you with a set of absolutely unique gifts and talents and abilities and strengths.  There are things that God put inside you that he didn’t give anyone else.  And then he planned out a whole lifetime of ways for you to use those gifts to benefit the people around you and bring glory to him.  He designed you so that when you use your gifts to do the things he planned, it brings you great joy and a feeling of fulfillment. Your book is not just about you, but about the thousands of lives you will touch, all woven together.

 You are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he planned for us to walk in.  Ephesians 2:10

I always pictured “good works” as passing out sandwiches and socks to homeless people, but this verse isn’t necessarily talking about acts of charity.  It concerns all the things God designed you to do in your little corner of the world.  For most of my life, I didn’t know what my purpose was.  I’m really just now starting to get it.

When He created you, God had a very specific set of characteristics that he built into you so you would be equipped to accomplish your purpose.  God has big dreams for you! Sadly, a lot of us grow up and never use or even discover our God-given design.  sin and violence. I believe we can determine whether we are operating in our giftings when two things are true: One, it blesses others or brings glory to God, and two, it brings us joy. 

We begin life with the unconditional love of our heavenly Father and a world of possibility.  But in ways big and small, the enemy kills our dreams, steals our joy, and destroys our vision.

So, what if we don’t know what our gifts are?  Or what if we use them for selfish purposes?  Does God give up on us?  Not at all. When it comes to us, God is a little bit like that annoying parent who thinks their kid can do no wrong.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.   1 Corinthians 13:7

You’re not a disappointment to God.  He’s still working in your life trying to line things up to go well for you.  He doesn’t ever think about or even remember the times you messed up.  He is still as crazy about you as he was the day you were born.  He sees your potential; he is looking for ways to get you into position to receive all the blessings he wants to give you.  You are tremendously valuable to God, but not in the way the world judges value.

My mother had twelve children, and once when I was a kid I asked her which one was her favorite.   She answered, “The one who needs me most right then.”  I’m pretty sure God is like that.  He wants us to realize that we need him. He wants us to come as children, trusting him and loving him and just wanting to be close.  He isn’t waiting until we have it all together or until we have accomplished what he created us to do.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.  Hebrews 11:16

We need to realize that God is good, and that it will be tremendously rewarding to seek him. It absolutely requires sacrifice and commitment on our part.  But God’s mercy and grace are far more than enough to pick us back up when we fall.   For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross.  You and I were that joy.  The Father wanted us back, and Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price to give us the opportunity to be in full, intimate relationship with him.

The next time the devil tries to whisper that you don’t measure up, remind him (and yourself) that you are God’s masterpiece, his beloved child intricately designed, bought with a price, and that no one can snatch you out of God's hand.  I encourage you to come into the presence of your Abba Father like a child, and ask him to read to you out of your book.  Share what you hear in the comments!

Jeanne here:

A couple years ago, my family adopted a mixed breed dog from a rescue organization.  Tasha is a friendly, playful, goofy dog.  She’s a good companion, but she’s no working dog.  She isn’t particularly fast or strong or smart or protective, and she has zero interest in retrieving.  She’s well behaved and she makes us laugh, and we are happy to have her as a part of the family without expecting her to do anything.

A few months ago, our indoor cat Allie escaped outside.  Our yard has dozens of tall trees and a ton of places for a cat to hide, so we wanted to catch Allie before she got herself into trouble.  When I went out to look for the cat, Tasha bolted straight for Allie, and kept her contained by circling around her until I came across the yard to pick her up.   Who knew?  Tasha must have inherited a herding instinct from one of her doggie ancestors, and it kicked into action that day. She was enormously pleased with herself for doing something useful.

All of us have traits and abilities that we inherited from our parents and grandparents, whether we knew them or not.  I inherited my bone structure from my mother’s mother, and my eye color from my biological father.  But what traits and characteristics have I inherited from my heavenly father? According to Scripture, those of us who are believers are children, and heirs, of God!

John 1:12-13: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Galatians 4:6-7: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” 

2 Corinthians 6:18: “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 

Romans 8:17 says that we are God’s children, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

What does it mean to be part of God’s family?  The Scriptures mention our heavenly inheritance, the riches and glory of Christ himself, held safely for us in eternity.  But Holy Spirit also gives us godly traits and talents in this life.  It’s not our human heritage that empowers us to love the unlovable, to heal the sick and raise the dead and turn the world right-side-up. It is our place as children of God that enables us to take authority over all the power of the enemy.  But most of all, we were bred (so to speak) for a purpose: to love God and to bring glory to him through our own unique giftings and circumstances.  To very loosely paraphrase 1 Corinthians 12:29-30, we are not all sled dogs or retrievers, but each one of us has a gift, or multiple gifts, to use for the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God.  

You are an answer to someone’s prayer.  You were designed and created to be a blessing to specific people at specific times in specific ways.  Just like Tasha’s latent herding instinct, there is some gift or talent in you that will bless others, and make you come alive while you’re using it.

If you aren’t aware of what you have to offer, sit quietly before the Lord and ask him to bring to mind times in your life when you felt fully alive and connected to something or someone outside of yourself.  It could be when you were nursing a baby, or painting a landscape, or tutoring a teenager, or a million other things.  These memories are clues to the way you were designed to be used by God.  Ask God to reveal your gift to you and unwrap it.  Then ask him to show you one small step you can take on the path to living out your purpose.  If he doesn’t give you something specific right away, keep asking and keep your heart open to his still, small voice that says, “This is the way. Walk in it.”

If you already know or suspect what your gift is, then your mission is to ask God how and where and when to use it.  Then whatever he says, DO IT.  That’s where I falter most often.  Many times I know what I’m to do, but I place a higher priority on any number of other things.  God is faithful to forgive me, but meanwhile the people that he has sent me to bless are left praying and wondering why God hasn’t answered them. And I’m left with the empty things I have chosen instead of the joy that comes from being used by the Lord.

Don’t be like me.  Be like Jesus, and choose to fully carry out God’s mission and purpose for you on this planet. It’s work, and it takes sacrifice, but it’s well worth it. There is nothing that compares to the joy of partnering with the Creator of the universe to show his love to people.  When this life ends, you will hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Start right now. What is one unique aspect of your design?  Share it with me in the comments. See you there!  Jeanne

Greetings dear readers, this is Jeanne.  I want to apologize for not identifying myself in previous posts, and I have a confession.  When Lynn asked me to contribute to her blog, I was really nervous! I feel this is a sacred community and I don’t want to harm it in any way.  I want to be one of the conduits through which the Lord blesses you.  He does have good things for me to give you, if I can keep my flesh out of the way!  With that said, on to today’s post.

A few months ago I heard the song “Thy Will” by Hillary Scott.  It’s a beautiful, haunting, heartbreaking song.  I don’t have permission to quote it here, but if you get a chance to listen to it, please do.  She wrote it after losing a baby to miscarriage.  The most heartbreaking part for me is that she seems to believe that God caused or at least allowed her baby to die, for reasons she might never know.

We all have tragedies in our lives that leave us asking “Why?”  You probably know people who have turned away from God because of a painful event or a prayer he didn’t answer.  If you are like me, you have also gone through times when you weren’t sure you wanted to serve a God who lets bad things happen to good people.  Or perhaps you have believed that he has some unknowable reason, and the painful experiences are part of his plan for you or for them.

Please know that I am not condemning this thought process; trust me, I’ve been there.  It is one of the most insidious lies of the enemy that God controls what happens on this earth.  You may have heard it taught in your church, but it’s still a lie.  God gave dominion – power, authority, jurisdiction -  over a perfect earth, in which there was no death, to human beings made his own image. When they chose to obey the devil instead of God, they handed that authority over to the enemy.  

               The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.  Ps 115:16

Don’t you know that you become a slave to whomever you choose to obey? You can obey sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteousness.  Romans 6:16

Jesus came as a man because that was the only way he could get the earth back from the enemy.  He came to destroy the works of the enemy. To get mankind out from under the yoke of sin, Jesus had to lead a perfect life, never once obeying the enemy instead of God.  What an incredible task!  He did exactly what the Father sent Him to do, and in the end sin and death had no power over him. 

Jesus gave that power and authority over the enemy to his disciples (that would be us.)  He gave the church (us again) power to bind and to loose, and he said the gates of hell will not prevail against us.  What happens on earth is our will, not God’s.  He allows what we allow; he won’t interfere with our free will.  God’s will is that every one of us would choose life, love each other, and spend eternity with him.  But the choice is ours.  Each of us has free will and the choice of how to live and whom to serve, every moment of every day.

Back to the tragedies that fill our lives.  If it wasn’t God’s will that the Scotts lost their baby, why did it happen?  God breathed life into that baby at the moment of conception.  He had a plan for that child’s life.  It was cut short by the thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy.  The devil and the effects of sin are all around us.  People blame God for what man does or does not do, which is exactly what the devil wants.  The good news is, we have the power and the authority to rebuke the devil, to walk in the power Jesus gave us, and to bring the Kingdom of God to earth.  The bad news is, it won’t happen if we don’t do it.

Today, let me encourage you to search the Scriptures and ask Holy Spirit to show you the authority you have and where he wants you to exercise it.  Our prayers are powerful; our words are powerful; our actions are powerful.  Don’t let the enemy deceive you into believing what you do or say or pray doesn’t matter.  Leave a message in the comments about what He shows you.  Remember, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” (Phil. 4:13)

Jeanne