Saturday, December 18, 2010

Summary: Who We Are In Christ

Who We Are In Christ
~~Summary~~
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." ~ John 16:33
Well my friends? What we've done is lay the basic foundation of understanding on which you can build your entire relationship with Christ in your own mind. Within this writ is the knowledge to renew your mind to some basic Truth's of who you are "In Christ".
  • You are a "new creation" IN/BY CHRIST!
  • You are TOTALLY forgiven, past, present and future, "IN/BY CHRIST"! Incredible!
  • You are made totally righteous "IN/BY CHRIST"!
  • You are already reconciled "IN/BY CHRIST"!
  • You are redeemed "IN/BY CHRIST"!
  • You are sanctified "IN/BY CHRIST"!
  • You are justified "IN/ /BY CHRIST"!
  • You are totally loved by BY CHRIST"!
  • You are part of the Body of Christ, "IN/BY CHRIST"!
  • You are a Citizen of Heaven 'IN/BY CHRIST"!
  • You already have eternal Life "IN God, "IN/BY CHRIST"!
So, my Brothers and Sisters All... Whenever you hear this fellow say, "It's all Jesus!", this contents of this book, summarized by the list above, is part of the reason I say, "It's all Jesus". Truly my family, it is all Jesus. As a rule of thumb, if anyone tries to teach you anything that requires "YOU" to do something to retain your salvation? Drop it like a rock. That teaching is deader than a hammer my friends. It's all Jesus. It's not about me... you... us... It's about Jesus. You can pack alot of meaning into three little words sometimes, can't you? Amen.

Now do me a favor. Go back to the beginning of Chapter One and read the part about the butterfly again... especially where the butterfly and God were talking... Read it slowly... Does it take on a different meaning to you now that you've read of the transformation Jesus has provided you? If it does, then the Truth in this book will be of growing and great benefit to you throughout the remainder of your earthly life. It would be best to read and re-read this book, time and time again, taking notes and praying all the while, until the reality of who you are in Christ has become who you are! My God... I have never, and will never again, experience anything like it in my mind, heart and spirit! I do pray this becomes a reality for you too!

Before we go, I'd like to tell you of a real experienced I encountered just a couple of weeks ago at the time of this writ (01/25/2009):

Due to circumstances beyond their control (maybe), I ended up with a dog. The name given her in her puppy hood was "Geish". She's some sort of Alaskan dog... very big... very powerful. To humans, she is the best natured dog! She's all the time acting like a puppy, wanting to play... plenty of energy...

But when another dog of any type or breed enters her domain, to her, one of them must die. You see, in her youth, her taskmasters were hard. They used her to dog fight. She was trained early on that every dog that comes within reach wishes to kill her... therefore she's learned to kill... It was the only way she could survive. It's like the natural part of her wants and is so loving and kind... But her nature has forever been altered because of the training she received when she was young.

Now it's needless to say, I must keep Geish tied at all times. I hate tying a dog or confining any animal. To me, it's a sad life for any creature to be all bound up, not free to do that which God intended. But because we live in a community of others, there is no choice. She must be kept, bound up by chains and 3/8 inch steel cable because of her gruesome training in her past.

Well a couple of weeks ago, and don't ask me how she did such a thing, she snapped the 3/8" cable that held her. My daughter Kalla was the first one to notice it. As she called us all to come and look, I could not believe my eyes to see her sitting across the creek here at my home (where she always stays), with about a 3 foot section of the cable still attached to the leather collar around her neck. She was walking around in her open lot just like normal, within the confines normally afforded her by her restraints... SHE DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS FREE!

Of course I realized I had to replace the cable IMMEDIATELY! So I immediately went across the creek to splice the cable together so she could be temporarily restrained until I could get a replacement. As I approach her when taking her food to her, she always comes to the limit of the restraints and bounces up and down of her front paws, excited because I am coming. She always pulls against the cable while she bounces, wanting to come further.

But not this time. As I approached her this time, she came to the usual place where she was usually stopped by the cable. I thought to myself, "Here is when she'll realize she is free, and I'll have a very hard time catching her." But I was amazed as she stood in that very same place, with nothing holding her back nor standing in the way of her freedom, and bounced up and down just like usual. She never made an effort to go any further than the usual spot. She never knew she was free, so her opportunity passed her by without her really even realizing it.

But you know what? Later that day, my splice broke. Again she was free... Again, she didn't realize it. I found another cable designed for a smaller dog that would restrain her until I could get a replacement. Once again, I went across the creek. As I approached her, I again wondered if she would figure out she was free. You know what? She did.

The second time I went to her, she went the limit as usual, then in her excitement, she went a little further than usual. About three feet further as a matter of fact. Suddenly, she forgot the excitement of seeing me coming as she realized for the first time that there was nothing holding her... The realization came slowly to her, thank God. For I would have never caught her had she bolted from me. But her excitement was building as she went further and further with her head down investigating everything with her nose that she had not gotten to investigate before! Finally, she knew she was free...

Sadly, I had to tie her back up because her past is still who she is.

So why do I give you my two week old dog story in such a lesson as this? Because even at the very minute I first saw Geish standing in her lot with her chains broken... even at the very second I was amazed she was still there, thinking herself trapped by things of her past... The Holy Spirit ever so clearly spoke to me and told me so, so very many people are the exact same way!

Some of you are trapped in the circumstances of your past. All of us are so different, with such different pasts... Our circumstances can vary greatly, but as with ALL error... all error in understanding leads to nothing else but bondage... in your mind you may be chained more tightly than Geish ever has been.

Some of you know not the Christ. Some of you may have even been trained up to hate Christ... trained to curse His name... trained to shed the blood of those who love Him... To you, I tell you with absolute certainty that Jesus loves you and He wishes to bring your heart unto Himself... He wishes that you would invite Him into your heart as your Lord and Savior. The Christ wants you to "turn to Him". You see, when you turn to the Christ, you also turn your back on everything you ever were in yourself... all your former beliefs... all your former faiths in whatever god you were told to worship... all the bad you had ever done... turn your back on it all. After all, really, you never had a love for any of it... It despises you... Therefore my brothers and sisters, turn your back on all of it and turn to the Christ! Invite Him into your heart and everything mentioned in this book will IMMEDIATELY become a part of you, growing daily in you, until you too, are gathered unto Christ and the rest of us at the Marriage Supper of The Lamb!

Christ has already dealt with all the bad you've ever done! If the Holy Spirit knocks at your heart's door at this very moment? That is the reviving power of The Holy Spirit bringing your heart to life enough to make your choice! DO NOT turn The Christ away now! He may never return unto you! Get on your knees right now, where ever you are and say this prayer along with me, but also? Have the meaning of these words in your heart as you cry out to The Christ!

Oh Christ! Oh my Lord Jesus! Right here, right now, there is a brother or sister of mine on their knees under the unction of the Holy Spirit seeking You Jesus as Lord and Savior! Receive the heart of this brother and sister of mine that they will be saved! Eternal Life in heaven will be theirs! Life on earth will be possible! Listen to their heart as I lead them in their prayer of heart unto You, The Christ!

(Please repeat this prayer with me and have it in your heart):
My Lord... At least I want to call You "MY" Lord! To You, The Christ I call out right now in my desperation. All my life I have believed nothing, or I have believed a lie. Jesus, I no longer believe these lies. I have a strange thing within me telling me You are my Way, my Truth and my Life! Oh Christ... I have been such a curse upon the earth! I have been such a sinner... such a bad person...

But I have been told, and I believe, that You will forgive me and forget about all that, and that You will fill me with Your Spirit so I can start in all newness of LIFE! I am told You will make me... different. You will make me alive, where I have been dead. You will make me into who YOU want me to be. You will provide for me everything I need to have a real relationship with You!

To The Christ, the Son of God, I believe You died a horrible death to pay for all my sins. By doing so, I realize You took Your own Father's wrath for MY sins, and the sins of the whole world! Oh God I can't imagine anyone ever loving me enough to do such a thing! You suffered unimaginable WRATH, being deserving of none of it, just so I might Live... forever! Thank You for such love as that, for me.

Oh Jesus... The Christ! I believe You are the most powerful Son of God! I believe all other gods to be false! I humbly ask You into my heart! Oh God! I turn my back on everything I have been and I turn to YOU alone for my salvation... for my very LIFE! Come into me Jesus! Come into me, The Christ! Fill me with the Promise of Your Holy Spirit!

Ohhhh God... The Christ! Thank You! Oh Lord! My Lord... Thank You! Oh my Lord... The Christ... From this moment on... I love... and I follow... only You!

To the Christ only, will I ever pray from here, on. Praise be the Name of The Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen & Amen!

My brother or sister? If you just said that prayer above, with the meaning of it in your heart, you have been saved! Your salvation is already complete. Jesus holds you never to let you go, and The Holy Spirit has sealed you unto eternity. It's hard to grasp, I know... But true, never-the-less. As far as your salvation goes? It's all Jesus.

There is yet another group I'd like to address. These are my brothers and sisters in Christ that have given their hearts to Christ and are born again children of God... yet they have yet to understand, without error, the terms of who they are "IN CHRIST". There are a great many among the modern day church that erroneously think they have certain things that are their own responsibility to uphold to "keep" their salvation. These people think it possible to lose their salvation... their eternal life in Christ. Folks? Salvation is from God. Anything from God is eternal. If one could lose their salvation, nothing about their life could be called eternal. We'd have to scratch the word "eternal" out of our bibles and replace it with "temporary", or add the word "possibly" to eternal. That's really kinda silly isn't it?

But for these people, I pray for courage.... Courage to take a new stand in your knowledge. It takes courage to admit you've preached error for maybe over 50 years in your ministry. I did for 12 years. What's the difference between you and I? Nothing. In all cases, all we can do is man up and make our new found knowledge of the Truth part of our personal testimony of God's faithfulness to bring us to the understanding of the Truth! It does take courage... So I pray for all of you that struggle in this manner my friends.

Now all that remains is for you all in whatever your back round, is to begin your life-long process of learning and growing in the knowledge of Truth in Christ. Please... begin this book all over again. Your mind has begun a "renewing" process to where it will consecutively and progressively be brought from it's darkness into the Light. This book... or better said the Godly Truth herein, will help your mind understand Godly foundations, on which all things spiritual will be built. It does not matter how long this takes. What matters is that every Truth offered up here for your understanding become a part of who you are. Spiritually, it has already happened. That is all Jesus. But struggling with your own mind (the flesh), is an ongoing process in which you will be victorious with the faith of a mustard seed and The Holy Spirit to guide you into Truth and away from error. In the Spirit, we have already been given all things (Ephesians 1:3). But your flesh will have to learn of it before you will be free in your mind. For concerning the flesh, it is not the Truth alone that sets you free... It is the "knowledge" of the Truth that sets you free to peace that surpasses all understanding and in the Joy of your salvation through the love you'll know God has for you (John 8:31-32 ; Proverbs 23:7 ; 1Corinthians 2:14
).

There will be a great and beneficial by-product of gaining this knowledge in Truth also. Where once you were trying your best to "positively" love yourself and others in mimicking to the best of your ability the love of God, now, you can know the REAL love of God. THAT will enable you to REALLY love your enemy, instead of just "trying" or "pretending" to, to the best of your own ability. This is a short paragraph, but I'm describing something right here that will transform you in every way... if you'll let it... if you'll stop long enough to think about what I'm saying... God's love toward you is the key that opens the heavenly floodgates, my friend. I pray you find these keys, and use them.

God bless you all in your quests, chasing after the very heart of God. I trust when you get there, you'll find it quite different than anything else you'll ever encounter.

I love you all. God bless, keep and protect you all... mentally, physically and spiritually. May you always follow the path of Truth, without error. Bless the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that provided all this to us.

~~Amen & Amen!~~

2 comments:

FresnoJoe said...

Amen~!

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Psalms 42:1

Maranatha!

Matt Thompson said...

PLEASE take notice anew of all this, my Brothers. The words in this writ have not changed... but they hold NEW purpose for you.

I love you All...
Matt