Christ is Love

As I was driving to the office this morning, I felt the Spirit moving strongly in my heart. The words of 1 Corinthians 13 appeared in my mind. I saw Christ everywhere!

Christ is patient. Christ is kind. Christ does not envy. Christ is not jealous. Christ does not boast. Christ is not proud. Christ is not rude. Christ is not self-seeking. Christ is not easily angered. Christ keeps no record of wrongs. Christ rejoices with the truth. Christ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres... Christ never fails.

All I could see when I thought of 1 Corinthians 13 was Christ. Talk about intense light! And then I came to the end of the Scripture:

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)

The greatest of these is Christ.

Of course! What or who could possibly be greater than Christ in the universe? No thing or no body. Christ is the greatest!

What the Spirit revealed to me today is that where ever you see the word "Love" in the Scriptures, you can substitute the word "Christ." "Love" and "Christ" are One and the Same. Hallelujah!

In chapter 13 of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was describing Christ. And what a glorious description that was! Light was pouring out of Paul's heart.

As I continued to drive, another thought came into view. Romans 13:10 flash before me:

"Love is the fulfillment of the law."

In this Scripture, I saw:

Christ is the fulfilment of the law.

That's it! That's the New Covenant in one sentence. He is the fulfillment of the law! We put our faith in Christ, not in the law. That is precisely what Paul told the Galatians.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:6)

Paul didn't say that the only thing that counts is faith in the law. As a former Pharisee and killer of those who followed Christ, he knew far better than to say something so foolish.

As I continued driving, Matthew 22:34-40 flashed before me:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Jesus said all the Law and the Prophets hang on one thing: love. Everything hangs on LOVE. Our love for God and our love for others.

The law could not make a human heart love. Christ knew this. He has always known this. This is why He came. Only Christ (through the Holy Spirit) has the power to change our hearts in a way that fills us with His never-failing love. When we see Christ and are blessed with His Spirit, our hearts change in a profound way. We become new creations. We are born again.

When we see love, we see Christ. When we see Christ, we see love. 1 John 4:8 flashed in my mind: "God is love."

Christ is love.

Yes!!!

Coming to the end of my drive, I saw more Scripture from 1 John:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)

There is no fear in Christ, but Christ casts out all fear.

"The Spirit is the truth." (1 John 5:6)

Christ is the truth.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says:

"If I have not love, I am nothing."

If we substitute Christ for love, we have:

If I have not Christ (in my heart), I am nothing.

There, in a single line from Scripture, we can see the preeminence of Christ - Christ as all in all. We can see God's plan in full view. Christ as Life. Christ as the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end.

Why do we continually go to the Cross? After all, you cannot travel the narrow path and follow the Lord without the Cross. It's impossible. The Cross is not something that is optional in our love walk. It's required.

We go to the Cross and endure the pain because that is how our hearts become ever-filled with His never-failing love. The Cross is the place where our hearts become filled with His love - a love that has no rival in the universe. The most powerful force in the universe.

It is His love that gives us ability to love our neighbors and our enemies. It is not something we do - it is something He does through us - through our hearts.

Put simply, the Cross is the place where He increases and we decrease.

And we know this:

He must increase, but we must decrease. (John 3:30)

In the end, there will be Love and only Love.

May you see Christ as Love.

Agape,

Steve

In Spirit and In Truth

The good people who run the T. Austin-Sparks website posted a new article today titled, "In Spirit and In Truth." The essay was published in 1967, but I think after you finish reading it, you will see that much of what TAS has to say still rings true today. This particular essay has much in common with the blog I posted over the weekend (see: "A kingdom divided"), and several other blogs I've posted over the past several months on Christianity and religion.

I've re-printed the entire essay below for your reading pleasure. May it give off much light to you.

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"In Spirit and In Truth"

by T. Austin-Sparks

John 4:23

It is no exaggeration to say that the briefest phrase from the lips of Jesus Christ contains a depth, wealth and cruciality of significance that is inexhaustible. The above clause is an example of this. In the first place it - with its context - was used to mark the change in a long and powerful tradition. A system and tradition so strong and deep-rooted as, in any questioning of it, to rouse the most vehement and deadly wrath and antagonism of a whole nation, dispersed throughout the whole world. The book of the Bible in which this phrase occurs is just full of this so terrible antagonism. The words not only indicate the transition from one long dispensation to another, altogether different but they go right to the very heart of the situation which is stirring and troubling Christendom today as it has never before done. Christendom, which means everything bearing the name of Christianity, is moved in our time in every one of its many and varied circles by an enforced necessity - to save its very life - to find a way of unity.

Never before in the Christian era has the word 'Church' been so much, so often, and so seriously upon the lips of those included in the word 'Christianity'. From the biggest to the smallest communities within its compass this word 'Church' and its unity is the subject of convocations, conferences, councils, committees and conclaves. All this betrays a deep and serious concern, and when that is true of anything it implies that things are not right. What is called 'Christianity', and what has come to be called 'the Church', has become a tradition, an institution, and a system quite as fixed, rooted and established as ever Judaism was, and it will be no less costly to fundamentally change it than was the case with Judaism. Superficial adjustments may be made, and are being made, but a very heavy price is attached to the change which is necessary to really solve the great problem. It may very well be, as in the time of the Lord, that the essential light will not be given to very many because God knows that they would never pay the price. It may only be a "Remnant" - as of old - who will be led into God's answer because they will meet the demands at all costs. Therefore we cannot be too hopeful in regard to all that is going on in this connection. It may be that this so widespread stirring is in the sovereignty of God intended for "the sifting of the hearts of men".

The sifting may very well be in the direction of a winnowing of the variety of conceptions of what the Church is.

Somehow, in the course of time, the word 'Church' has become associated with a kind of building or architecture, for that is now the common word for such places. Or again, it is used of congregations and assemblies of people, physical bodies. Sometimes it is employed to define a worldwide body of people comprehensively called 'Christians'. Within that widest circle there are all the many denominational 'churches', too numerous to tabulate. The sifting may mean that we have to recognize that the true Church is not the aggregate of human physical bodies. It is not a society tied together by either a title or a creed, i.e. a set of beliefs. It is not constituted by a certain procedure called 'New Testament Order' or practice. All these externalities, physical, temporal, material, etc., will go, as they have done in numerous places in history, and are doing under the stresses of persecution in wide areas of the world.

But with the passing of the material, the places, the physical, the true Church is unaffected and it is one; not divided and not many. It is here that, in the words of John 4:23 (and context), Jesus has made more than a statement, He has defined the Church for this whole dispensation. He has peremptorily dismissed Jerusalem and its Temple and Gerizim in Samaria, and with them everything of the same type and order, and has enunciated the principle which defines and designates the alone true Church. If we are to take Jesus seriously, as we hear Him in this Gospel by John, then buildings however ornate and magnificent, and congregations of religious people however great, and ancient traditions and systems however they may have been sovereignly used by God, are not the true Church! There are many things within this compass which are thought to go to make up and belong to the Church, but really do not do so. It is significant how, when a man or people walk with God, the road leads from the outward to the inward, and how so much of that which was before thought to be so important, just falls off, and spiritual reality dispenses with so much ecclesiastical paraphernalia and trapping. What, then, was that essential and ultimate to which Christ reduced and sifted everything on the basis and essence of the Church? In finding that we shall find the answer to all divisions, and the secret of true and eternal unity.

When Jesus reduced everything - as in John 4:23 - to "In spirit and in truth" (and note - it was the whole matter of "worship", related to places and ancient systems, that was being dealt with), what really did He mean? If we use a term which sounds difficult, what follows will explain it, we trust, quite amply. The Church is the unity of spiritual personalities.

This, purely, is just what Jesus had been saying with such emphasis and imperativeness to Nicodemus. "Verily, verily" - "Most truly" - "I say." Remembering who Nicodemus was, and what he represented, Jesus emphatically told him that not only was he outside of the Kingdom of Heaven, but that, as he was, with all his religion, tradition, and sincerity, there was a positive embargo upon his entering; the door was fast closed to his kind. The demand and requirement, Jesus categorically stated, was that something should happen which would be a starting of life all over again, and that as a born member of a new and altogether different race, sphere, and nation. In elucidating Nicodemus's perplexity, Jesus made it clear that this is not a physical-body matter, for, as stated elsewhere, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven." So, basically, the Kingdom or the Church is not so many religious physical bodies. What, then, is this "you" that has to be "born from above", "born of the Spirit", in contrast to "that which is born of the flesh"? What is it that - in God's and Heaven's realm - has no existence or place until it is reborn? What is it that, as to union with God, has no life until life is given as by a new birth? The answer of Jesus, and of the New Testament as a whole (which only is Christianity), is that the spirit of man, the "inner man of the heart", "our inward man" as an entity, has to have this rebirth. When the spirit of man is referred to, it is not just what is meant when we say of a person: 'He - or she - has a nice, a pleasant spirit', or 'is nice-spirited'. That is abstract. The spirit in man is the essential personality of that order which belongs to the Kingdom of Heaven: it is a different order from all others. It is, as Jesus said, the alone and direct result of the action of the Spirit of God, and it is essentially different from every other religious order.

The Church, we repeat, is the organic unity of such spiritual personalities, and such alone. The Church will never be anything or anywhere more in existence, greater or smaller, than the spiritual personalities and spiritual measure of such as have come into being - with God - by this definite operation of the Holy Spirit; not by means of sacraments, or any other outward means, but by a Divine fiat, an act of God. Sacraments are not spiritual, they are temporal and symbolic. The context of our governing words is: "God is Spirit". That is nature, not firstly disposition. It is a kind of being, the essential order of being. Then Jesus went on to emphasize that relationship, intercourse, oneness with God, is only possible when man becomes - by Divine act - basically and essentially a spiritually reborn creation; what Paul termed: "He that is spiritual". The Church will never be - locally or universally - more perfect than are the spiritual personalities which comprise it. The buildings and the old human bodies will go. The "spirits of just men made perfect" will be clothed upon with a body "not made with hands", but, like the newborn spirit, "a body which is from above". (See Hebrews 12:24 and 1 Corinthians 15.)

Hence, the focus of God's training and "chastening" is as by "the Father of our spirits" (Hebrews 12:9).

The Church begins with spiritual birth. It grows by (a) the multiplication of spiritual births, and (b) the growth of the spiritual personalities.

The only seen Church is the character of Christ in persons. Bodies are an essential media. We are not thinking of unembodied or disembodied spirits. We are not in the realm of mysticism. Spiritual life is essentially practical because we are spiritually developed by all the practical experiences of bodily life. While our bodies are but the 'vessels' of ourselves, they are the vessels, and 'in these we do groan'. We do not accept the 'Christian Science' tenet that "matter is an illusion, and at most evil".

We must take time to be very clear on this side of this great matter, because it will be so easy for us to be misunderstood; and it would be so likely that it would be said that we are just spiritualizing away the Church. The human, physical bodies of Christians are as essential to the Church as they are to man himself as the vehicle of self-expression and presence in this world for practical purposes. This should not need saying, for it would be so absurd to think of the Church as so many spirits without bodies. The same is true of locations. The Church is not an omnipresent spirit, even if governed by the Holy Spirit who is omnipresent. What we are saying - as we believe the New Testament teaches - is that within and behind the needed physical and bodily 'temples' the Church is constituted by the regenerated spirits of men and women, in whose spirits the Divine gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus dwells by new birth. This is the eternal Church. Physical bodies may pass away and give place to the bodies "like unto his glorious body". Localizations may cease, as they have done from New Testament times onwards. Temporal housings of the Church may - and will - go, sooner or later; but that true Church of "the spirits of just men" is eternal. To see and understand this true nature of the Church is to have several vital effects. It will show the fallacy of much of the common and prevailing phraseology in relation to the Church - such as 'joining the Church" whether by invitation, constraint, attractions, or any other outward means. The fallacy in our Church mentality and talk is largely responsible for the fallacy that the historic 'church' is in the eyes and minds of so many people today. It is something very misleading. The Church is not a composite thing which can be 'joined', any more than is a true family. It is a spiritual entity into which we have to be born by a begetting of the Father God and born by the Holy Spirit.

Another effect of knowing what the Church truly is will be to solve the whole problem of unity. Unity, according to the New Testament, is not firstly and basically intellectual; neither is it emotional. It is unity of spirit - "One Spirit". The mind may not grasp all the truth as stated, but the spirit can know with assurance that it is the truth. The mind may not be capable of defining error, but the spirit - indwelt by the Holy Spirit - can register that there is something false in the statement. This is how the true Church is safeguarded and preserved.

Then, in what we are pointing to, there is the explanation of an otherwise very puzzling thing. Both Peter, John and Paul lived to see a great decline setting in where the churches were concerned. All in Asia turned from Paul. Peter saw much that made him write strong and faithful words. John saw all those elements of declension about which he wrote in the Revelation. All of these men also knew that their death at the hands of the enemies of Christ was imminent. The outlook was grim and deeply disappointing from every natural standpoint. Apparently the Church was being devastated, and their life work was being desolated. Apparently, we say. Yet all of these men were in spiritual triumph and ascendancy to the end. Why? Just because they knew that the Church and the work, and the deepest truth about believers, was not the outward, but the spiritual and inward, and therefore indestructible. What is truly definable as "Spirit and truth" cannot be prevailed against by the gates (councils) of hades. Deeper than nationalities, temperaments, traditions, 'birth', training, intellect, is God's work in the renewed and indwelt spirit of man, and the bond of spiritual unity can stand heavy strains and stresses.

May the Spirit of Truth use what has been written here to open our eyes to the so much more that the New Testament has to say as to spirit and truth. Call it 'mystical' if you like; or describe it as 'spiritualizing', if you choose; but still the truth is that Christianity has become a religion, a concept, a form, a system, a name. What the one and only authority for the name "Christian" solidly lays down and teaches is that it is a Person; a Person in abiding individual reality, but expanded and reproduced by His own Spirit through new birth to an "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father". The Church and unity are no more and no less or other than the spiritual presence and measure of Christ. One of the very onerous and exacting obligations thrust upon us by the developments of 'Christianity' is to look through its accretions and adoptions, such as adornments, vestments, clericalisms, forms, etc., or the absence of these, and seek for Christ. It may be hard work; it may require the very strong handling of our own likes or dislikes; but it has got to be done, for the Church and unity are not any one of these complexions, neither can we make the perfect church by composing a complexion. It is that that the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote what is in 2 Corinthians 5, particularly: "...if one died for all, then all died (in Him)... I therefore, from henceforth, view no man carnally..." (Conybeare). Although not here in actual words, but in other places, the Apostle contrasts 'carnal' with 'spiritual', and we should take it that that is what he meant here. He says that he no longer views or knows Christ carnally, i.e. after the flesh, and implies that Christ has now to be known spiritually, so also with Christian men. God help us to keep our carnal selves hidden behind Christ! Also, God help us to - at least - seek to find Christ in others, however little. You will agree that the very effort demanded for this makes the spiritual life intensely practical.

This, then, is the Church, and this alone true unity. No wonder that it is a case of "giving diligence (striving to maintain) the unity of the Spirit". It demands "striving". If we project ourselves, our natural selves, or carnal selves, in front of Christ we - at least - injure the unity and the Body of Christ.

Here we must stop for the present. But surely we have begun to verify and prove our statement at the beginning: 'Any brief phrase from the lips of the Lord Jesus contains an inexhaustible fullness.' So it is with "In spirit and in truth".

First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Mar-Apr 1967, Vol 45-2

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May you worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

Agape,

Steve

Divine Love: The Essence of Christianity

I came across a small fragment of Scripture from Ephesians today that captures the essence of Christianity. I wanted to share this fantastic light with you:

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)

Here, in these two sentences, we have the essence of Christianity. We have:

- Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith

- Hearts rooted and established in love

- The Holy Spirit Who gives us the faculty to comprehend and know Christ's love, which surpasses knowledge

- That by knowing the never-failing love of Christ, we experience the fullness of God

These four things capture the essence of Christianity: faith, hearts filled with love, seeing and knowing Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, and experiencing the fullness of God.

If you are feeling overburdened and overwhelmed with all of the religious things associated with modern day Christianity (Churchianity, as it were), you may want to meditate deeply on Ephesians 3:17-19. There is much glorious light to be found there.

May Christ dwell in your heart through faith, and may you know the Divine love of Christ and experience the fullness of God.

Agape,

Steve

A kingdom divided...

A while back, I wrote that the future of Christianity as a world religion is bleak. In fact, it has no future. There are more than 38,000 denominations in Christianity. Christianity has fractured into tens of thousands of little pieces. There are divisions everywhere you look.

If we view the Christian religion as a whole, as a kingdom, as it were, it is clear that it has no future. Every single one of these denominations, including Catholicism, is doomed. Every single one.

Jesus told us clearly why a divided Christian religion has no future. The Lord said:

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. " (Mark 3:24)

There are no denominations in the kingdom of God. There is only Christ. The Holy Spirit, the Son and the Father are One. They are not divided. They are One.

When you see Christ through revelation, as Paul did, all religion and religious things become unimportant. After he saw Christ , Paul had no use for his former religion (Judaism) and his religious upbringing. Here's what the Apostle said:

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:4-11)

Rubbish! That's what Paul considered his former religion and religious upbringing. Rubbish!

To the Colossians, Paul told us in no uncertain terms where reality is found:

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17)

The reality is found in Christ, and only in Christ. Reality is not found in one of the 38,000-plus Christian denominations. Reality is found in Christ.

Simple, isn't it?

Paul also told the Colossians that the labels they used to describe themselves and various things were of no value either:

"... since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (Colossians 3:9-11)

When you see Christ, He becomes all in all. There are no other things of any importance or value. There is only Christ.

Christianity as a world religion, consisting as it does today of tens of thousands of denominations has no future. It is a kingdom divided against itself and, as a result, it cannot stand. It must fall.

We see signs today of Christianity coming undone at the seams. Many people appear concerned about this trend, but it is necessary. It is necessary because Christ must be increase. He must have pre-eminence.

There is only One Christ, and He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end.

May you see Christ as all in all.

Agape,

Steve

Something More

I've been working on a book using the title "An Open Heaven" as a working title. Today, the Spirit gave me a new title for the book - one that really appeals to my heart. The new title is:

Something More

The "something more" is an open heaven. It's a direct pathway to Christ via the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual journey that requires us to abandon our religion and all religious things, just as Saul of Tarsus did after seeing Jesus.

"Something more" requires brokenness and the Cross. It requires having the eyes of our hearts opened so that we see Jesus. Living in an open heaven profoundly changes our hearts and transforms our lives. It is a process. As we move forward in an open heaven, we leave the natural realm and enter the supernatural realm. It is no longer us, but Christ in our hearts.

An open heaven leads directly to the kingdom of God - Christ himself. With an open heaven, our hearts become filled with His never-failing love and Spiritual fruit. Darkness and death are transformed into Divine light. An open heaven illuminates the narrow path to Life.

Do you have a feeling there is more to this life than what you see with your natural eyes? Have you let too much darkness seep into your heart? Does everything revolve around you and what you want? Has food become your best friend? Has some addiction overtaken your life? Are you weary from not receiving the love you need or think you deserve from others, perhaps even members of your own family? Have you lost faith in people? Is money and the pursuit of ever-greater wealth your master? Are you burned out on church? Have you grown tired of religion and religious things? Do you yearn to know the truth?

If any of these questions are relevant to your current circumstances, then there is something more. This book will hopefully shed light on that missing piece in your life - that something more. It will reveal an open heaven filled with Love, Light and Life.

May you see an open heaven.

Agape,

Steve

The Mind of Christ

I have been struck over the years by how foolish otherwise intelligent people who are not of the Spirit sound when they talk about things of the Spirit. Everything always seem to be couched in terms of religion. You mention God and Christ and instantly you are labled "religious" and put into that category. It's too bad, because anybody that is filled with the Spirit knows that all religious things fade from view when Christ enters your heart and become Lord. Paul called the religious things of his past "rubbish."

The truth is that there is a disconnect between the natural man and the spiritual man and it is this disconnect that accounts for what way people talk about God and Christ. Listen to the Spirit through Paul:

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:12-16)

Spirit-filled hearts have the mind of Christ. It takes the mind of Christ to comprehend - to discern - all things spiritual. When we see Chist through a revelation and are blessed with the Holy Spirit, we are given this faculty to discern spiritual things. The natural man does not possess this faculty. This is why the natural man sounds foolish to a spiritual man when they speak of God and Christ. The natural man puts God and Christ into a box called "religion." However, the spiritual man knows they are not religious - God and Christ are Spiritual.

Religion is for the natural man. Christ is for the spiritual man.

May you possess the mind of Christ.

Agape,

Steve

Snow in Baghdad: A Sign of Peace?

Here's a story that appeared today in the media that may warm your heart:

Snow falls on Baghdad for first time in memory
Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:57pm IST
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Snow fell on Baghdad on Friday for the first time in memory, and delighted residents declared it an omen of peace.
"It is the first time we've seen snow in Baghdad," said 60-year-old Hassan Zahar. "We've seen sleet before, but never snow. I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished," he said.
"A few minutes ago, I was covered with snowflakes. In my hair, on my shoulders. I invite all the people to enjoy peace, because the snow means peace," he said.
Traffic policeman Murtadha Fadhil, huddling under a balcony to keep dry, declared the snow "a new sign of the new Iraq."
"It's a sign of hope. We hope Iraqis will purify their hearts and politicians will work for the prosperity of all Iraqis."
The streets of the capital were largely empty as big, thick, wet flakes fell on Friday morning, a weekend day in Iraq. The temperature hovered around freezing and the snow mostly melted into grey puddles when it hit the ground.
But it was still lovely, said Mohanned Rahim, a baker: "This snow will bring pleasure to the people of Iraq. It's beautiful!"

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May all hearts be purified and may His peace reign on Earth.

Agape,

Steve

What Kind of Christian Are You?

It took me over five years of being in the Spirit to understand the world He brought me into when I became a new creation. It's been a long, difficult journey, filled with disillusionment, tears, heartache, and other hardships. But, after all the struggles, I finally saw the light!

The light went on as I was finishing up T. Austin-Sparks' "The School of Christ." Here's what Sparks' said in his book:

"Yes, we may get a very good idea for the Lord, but we have to submit it to the Lord, to be quite sure it is not our idea for the Lord, but the Lord's mind being born in us. It is very important to learn Christ; He is so other.

You see, this divides Christians very largely into two classes. Christians can be, in the main, divided into these two classes. There is that very large class of Christians whose Christianity is objective, is outward. It is a matter of having adopted a Christian life, that now they do a lot of things which they once would not do. They go to meetings, they go to church, they read the Bible, lots of things that they used not to do; and they now do not do quite a lot of things they once did. That is what holds good more or less in that class. It is now a matter of not doing and doing, not going and going, being a good Christian outwardly. That is a big class with its various degrees of light and shade, a very big class of Christians indeed.

There are others who are in this School of Christ, for whom the Christian life is an inward thing of walking with the Lord and knowing the Lord in the heart, in greater or lesser degree. That is the nature of it, a real inward walk with a living Lord in their own heart. There is a great deal of difference between those two classes."

I now realize that the main problem I was having all these years was that I was trying to fit into the first group of Christians - the "very large" class - instead of understanding that my revelation of Christ had put me solidly in in the second, much smaller class. I now fully understand that I've been in what Sparks calls "The School of Christ."

After reading what Sparks' wrote in his book, I felt as though a veil had been removed from my eyes - a veil that was preventing me from seeing the whole picture of Christianity - the truth about Christianity. There is great light from these three paragraphs in Sparks' book. Powerful light!

What kind of Christian are you? As Sparks' says, there is a great deal of difference between the two classes? If you are in the first class, may you receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation of Christ that allows you to enter into the School of Christ. The truth is there is no School like it in the universe. It stands far above all others.

Agape,

Steve

Depicting an Open Heaven

This morning a picture emerged in my mind that illustrates the power of an open heaven. I am going to try describe the picture for you in my blog.

There are two pieces to the picture. For simplicity, let's label them as such:

1. An Open Heaven
2. A Closed Heaven

I would like to begin with number 1, an open heaven and focus on that today. I will describe a closed heaven in another blog in the near future. Here's the picture:

At the top of the picture, we have the Trinity:

GOD = CHRIST

HOLY SPIRIT

The Trinity is in the heavenlies. They are One. The Ekklesia - the Church Jesus is building - is in the heavenly realm. The Ekklesia extends from heaven to our hearts here on earth. We are living stones in the Ekkleisa.

"and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

Now, let's draw a line down from the Trinity to a heart to depict an open heaven. Here's what we have:

HOLY SPIRIT


(An Open Heaven)


Our heart
(spirit -> soul -> body)

As you can see from the diagram above, there is nothing standing in the way of our hearts and the Holy Spirit. It is a pure connection. Following Jesus requires a pure connection to the Holy Spirit, for as the Lord says:

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)

An open heaven is a pure connection between our hearts and Christ via the Holy Spirit. There is nothing standing in the way of our relationship with Jesus. There are no barriers - no religion and no religious things. It is a clean connection - pure as pure can be.

Powerful, isn't it? This explains why the Lord told His disciples:

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

Without the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, there is no power and there is no witnessing. There cannot be any Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) without the Spirit. The Spirit is what connects us to the vine, which is Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no spiritual connection to Christ. There are only dead works in the name of Christ. And, sadly, there are plenty of those in modern day Christianity.

Think of Saul of Tarsus for a moment. He was a devout religious man. A proud Pharisee. A keeper of the law. Saul new the Old Testament inside and out. He was a man of God. But there was something missing - something vital. Something that prevented Saul from truly connecting with God despite his religious training and credentials.

What was missing?

There was no open heaven for Saul. There was no spiritual connection to Christ, only a closed heaven. Until that blessed day when Saul saw Christ through revelation on the road to Damascus, there was a religious man devoid of the fruit of the Spirit.

The difference was like night and day.

After his revelation of Christ, Saul's entire system of religion collapsed. His religious credentials went out the door, although the Lord used Saul's knowledge of the Old Testament to illuminate Christ, Saul saw the Scriptures in an entirely new light. He saw Christ in full glory. He had what the Greeks called 'epignosis' - full knowledge.

Saul's heart was utterly transformed following his revelation of Christ. Once an enemy of Jesus - a religious man that presided over the stoning of followers of Jesus - he became a tremendous light for Christ. The light of Christ shined brightly in Saul's heart. So much so that Saul of Tarsus was transformed into Saint Paul.

That's the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. That's what an open heaven does. It transforms religious-based hate, darkness and death into Spiritual-based love, light and life.

Saul could have never written 1 Corinthians 13 without the Holy Spirit. Never in a billion years. It took a new heart - the heart of Christ - to utter those beautiful words. And just as it took a new heart to utter those words, it requires a new heart - an open heaven - to fully understand what those words mean.

The truth is you cannot comprehend fully the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13 until you are blessed with the Holy Spirit and have an open heaven. When you are blessed with the Spirit, you will understand instantaneously and without a shred of doubt in your mind that Paul is describing Christ.

We see Christ in 1 Corinthians 13. He is love - true love. A love that has no rival in the universe. A love that never fails.

An open heaven reveals Christ as never-failing love.

Oh, the power in that revelation! It's a life-changing thing. It changes everything!

Once you see Christ as love, religion and all religious things in the world fall away, just as they did for Saul of Tarsus. A closed heaven becomes an open heaven. The Spirit becomes the guiding light in our lives. We become less dependent on "correct" teachings, pastors, priests, ministers, small groups, addresses, etc. Not that these things are unimportant, ineffective, or unproductive, mind you. But they become of lesser importance because you have direct access to Christ through the Spirit.

With an open heaven, the Spirit is our Instructor. He becomes the Ultimate Guiding Light.

Blessed with the Spirit, we desire more of Christ and less of ourselves each passing day. We endure the pain of the Cross daily and rid ourselves of the past in order to fill our hearts with more of his never-failing love and Spiritual fruit.

He is love. He is joy. He is peace. He is patience. He is gentle. He is kind. He is good. He is faithful. He is truth. He is righteous. He is all these things and more.

The truth is we cannot fathom the depths of Christ. We can only know Him in part.

Paul ended his description of God's love with this passage:

"Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

An open heaven will lead you directly to the heart of God. With an open heaven, you will see Christ. You will see Him as love - the greatest...

May nothing stand in the way of your heart and Christ.

Agape,

Steve

Jesus versus Religion

There is a common misconception among many people in the world who equate followers of Jesus with being religious. When you search the Scriptures carefully, however, you will see quite clearly Jesus was a harsh critic of all things religious. He was, in fact, and still is, an enemy of religion and its leaders.

Jesus was not alone in admonishing the leaders of religion. All of the great prophets in the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, conveyed God's distaste for all things religious. I think when you are finished reading this short note, you will think twice before ever labeling a follower of Jesus "religious."

Choice Words

Jesus had some very strong words to describe the religious leaders of Israel. These words include "vipers," "snakes," "serpents," "hypocrites," "blind guides," "fools," and "white washed tombs full of dead men bones."

These are words, mind you, from the same man that, through a gracious act of unconditional love, saved an adulteress - a "sinner" in the eyes of the law - from being stoned to death by the religious leaders. The irony is rich. Jesus came to the strong defense of a "sinner," but had no difficulty verbally blasting the religious leaders who sought to kill her because the law said that an adulteress must die.

The Spirit loves, and mightily trumps the law, which is prone to try to kill love. There is an incredibly powerful lesson here, but let us not get off track from the main purpose of our examination.

The harshest indictment of religion and its leaders by Jesus recorded in the Scriptures is found in the Book of Matthew, Chapters 23 and 24. Let's have a look at Chapter 23 first, shall we.

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows'houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation." (23:13-14)

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." (23:15)

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it." (23:16-22)

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (23:23-24)

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." (23:25-26)

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (23:27-28)

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." (23:29-30)

"Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." (23:31-36)

As these Scriptures reveal, Jesus had significant issues with the religious leaders of Israel. As we will see now, the Lord foresaw a bleak future for all things religious.

The Future of Religious Things

At the end of Matthew Chapter 23 and the beginning of Chapter 24, Jesus tells us what is to become of religion and religious things. Listen to the Lord:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" (Matthew 23:37-38)

And then we have this telling passage of Scripture from Matthew 24:

"Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.'" (24:1-2)

The prophets Isaiah, Amos, and John the Baptist testified on the behalf of the Spirit the future of religious things. Let's have a look at what the Spirit said through them.

Here's what the Spirit said through Isaiah:

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies-I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil." (Isaiah 1:11-16)

Here's what the Spirit said through Amos:

"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them." (Amos 5:21-22)

Here is what the Spirit said through the prophet John the Baptist:

"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matthew 3:7-10)

And then we have the Lord clearly expressing disgust outside of temple in Jerusalem just before Passover. This is a time when the Israelites commemorate the Exodus, their liberation from Egyptian slavery, which God had accomplished for His purpose:

"When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" (John 2:13-16)

Here we have the Spirit telling Israel that they have become a people unwilling to listen - unwilling to hear the voice of the Lord and obey Him. We hear the Spirit time and time again telling His people to put an end to all the religious things and change their hearts.

A New Heart

What is the major difference between followers of Jesus and those who are religious? The difference is profound, and boils down to one thing: The condition of the heart.

The Lord sees right through all of the religious things straight to our hearts. A heart full of God's love and His Spiritual fruit is a heart that is right with Christ.

This is the message of the Spirit through the prophet Ezekiel:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

A new heart - that is Jesus. The spirit is the Holy Spirit - the power from on high. Equipped with new hearts and the Spirit, we are now able to follow Jesus. Without the proper heart and Spirit, we cannot go forward with the Lord. We cannot enter the kingdom of God (which is Christ).

Religion is not the ticket for entrance into the kingdom. The Lord requires a new heart and the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual fruit is the essential element that distinguishes a follower of Christ from the religious. Religion does not and cannot produce Spiritual fruit. That is the message that echoes loudly through the words of the prophets and the Lord Jesus.

The fruit that is produced by the Spirit is proof that Christ is living inside our hearts. His fruit becomes precious light that shines through our hearts. As we walk with the Lord and bear our crosses daily, our hearts are increasingly filled with His Spiritual fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. "Against such things," said Paul, "there is no law." (Galatians 5:23)

We can easily summarize the difference between Jesus and religion in two simple sentences:

Religion has not love, is incapable of producing light, and destroys life. Jesus is love and light, and He is eternal life.

May His love and light shine brightly in and through you.

Agape,

Steve

God's Heart

In today's blog, we are going to go directly into the heart of God. What does the Lord's heart look like? What is inside His heart? Have you ever wondered?

Paul gave the most accurate picture of God's heart that has ever been recorded in human history. God's heart is summarized in one word: LOVE.

The love in God's heart is the most powerful force in the universe. It is incredibly dynamic. The love in God's heart is:

Patient
Kind
Does not envy
Does not boast
Not proud
Not rude
Not self-seeking
Not easily angered
Keeps no record of wrongs
Rejoices with the truth
Always protects
Always trusts
Always hopes
Always perseveres

God's heart is full of a love that never fails.

(1 Corinthians 13)

Many people often mistake love as a feeling or equate it with sex, and this is the source of much confusion in the world today. Love isn't a feeling and it certainly isn't sex.

Look inside your own heart today and compare your heart with God's heart. What do you see? Is there a difference? Jesus wants you to possess a heart that is filled with God's love. That is what the Cross is all about. Before He went to the Cross, Jesus told His disciples:

This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. (John 15:12)

God loves us. His love is a love like no other. It has amazing power - the power to heal, to transform, to bring people back to life.

At the end of his description of God's heart, Paul said this:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

There is nothing greater than God's heart - a heart filled with never failing love.

May your heart be increasingly filled with God's never failing love.

Agape,

Steve

Beginning Anew

I would like to wish all of our readers a New Year filled with much Spiritual fruit. May His Divine light shine brightly in your hearts.

For all those readers who consider themselves Christians, I came across a definition of the Christian life that resonated strongly with my surrendered heart. Here is the definition:

"The Christian life and everything to do with it is inclusively and fundamentally a revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart. " - T. Austin-Sparks

That sums it all up. Have you had a revelation of Jesus in your heart? If not, there is something fundamental missing in your love walk. Let us pray the prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians:

"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. " (Ephesians 1:17-21)

Yes, may God of our Lord Jesus give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart being opened. In Jesus' name, amen.

Agape,

Steve