Posts Tagged ‘love’

The transformative power of knowing the Father’s love

Posted: December 27, 2023 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching
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The transformative power of the “Beloved Identity” in John’s Gospel. In reading the Gospel of John, we find ourselves, witnessing this disciple encounter Jesus’ love in a way that not only shapes their own journey but also offers us a powerful lens through which to experience that love ourselves.

Transformation Within the Beloved Disciple:

Reclining at the Last Supper: This intimate gesture speaks volumes about Jesus’ acceptance and affection. It likely transformed the disciple’s perception of himself, granting him confidence and fostering a deeper sense of belonging within Jesus’ inner circle.

Entrusted with Mary at the Crucifixion: This act not only highlighted the deep trust Jesus placed in the disciple but also entrusted him with a profound responsibility – caring for his mother in a moment of immense grief. This experience would undoubtedly have deepened the disciple’s understanding of Jesus’ compassion and sacrifice.

Receiving revelations after the resurrection: Witnessing Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and receiving special revelations likely solidified the disciple’s faith and ignited a burning desire to share the Gospel with the world.

Impact on Readers:

Witnessing the Beloved’s transformation: By observing the impact of Jesus’ love on the beloved disciple, we can imagine and hope for a similar transformation in our own lives. Their journey becomes a model for how Jesus’ love can heal, empower, and inspire us to live out his teachings.

Experiencing God’s love through the Beloved: The disciple’s close relationship with Jesus creates a bridge for us to connect with God’s love ourselves. Witnessing their intimacy can open our hearts to receiving and reflecting that same love in our own lives and relationships.

Embracing the Beloved Identity: Recognizing the symbolic potential of the disciple allows us to see ourselves reflected in their story. We can all aspire to become “beloved disciples” – individuals who actively seek a deeper understanding of Jesus, embody his love, and strive for closer intimacy with him.

Challenges and Considerations:

Avoiding an idealized image: It’s important to remember that the “beloved disciple” is presented in a highly idealized way in the Gospel. While we can strive for similar traits, it’s crucial to avoid comparing ourselves too harshly or feeling inadequate.

Focusing on our own journey: Ultimately, the transformative power of the “Beloved Identity” lies in its ability to inspire our own unique relationship with Jesus. Instead of solely focusing on the disciple, we should use their story as a springboard to explore our own paths of growth and deepen our personal connection with God.

Remember, the transformative power of the “Beloved Identity” lies not in achieving a perfect image but in embracing the ongoing journey of growth in Jesus’ love. As we open our hearts to his love, just like the disciple in John’s Gospel, we can experience healing, empowerment, and a deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.

In my own life over the past 8years of swimming in the revelation of the “Beloved Identity”, neatly wrapped in John’s Gospel my own life has been radically changed due to this revelation. And probably the most defining change has been that of the depth of intimacy that I now have with the Lord.

I believe that one of the core impacts of knowing our identity is the rest it brings to the individual who no longer questions how the God of the Universe looks and feels about them. Just knowing that the Father’s love for each one us is bigger than the largest ocean, and runs deeper than the depths of the deepest sea, will totally dismiss the voice of rejection, guilt, and condemnation.

Friend, if you do not know how much God loves you, Holy Spirit is inviting you to take a journey with Him that will bring you into the fullness of revelation as to how much the Father loves you. And once you settle into that revelation and it settles in you, your life will never be the same!!!!

And the Journey Continues………

~WindWalker

The sea of Father God’s love

Posted: May 4, 2019 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, wilderness
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To experience the transforming love of the Father is like stepping into a sea without end and with no bottom. One’s whole life is radically turned inside out, religion cannot survive in His love and a death of self takes place, the length of which depends upon ones embracing the love of the Father as in a total surrendered diving in with or slowing stepping in while hanging on to the part of the old nature that seems to be safe although in truth is filled with dangerous traps. In fact these traps are false images of what appears to be truth yet were never their true identity in the first place…..

As for me, I first waded in, allowing the wounds of the past which empowered fear & insecurities to attempt to speak louder than His Love…. and over the past 36 months His love has been erasing each, dis-empowering them and replacing them with truth as to how He views me, what He says about me and even to the heart of the matter as to what His desire and purpose for my life is. (Even though I had been saved at 15 yrs old…I never knew His true love. Only the false picture of His love religion paints of a judge in a court room).

Over these months, I’ve found His Love to be so overwhelmingly intoxicating that I have reached the point to where I feel as though Holy Spirit has led me up to the highest diving board and the time has arrived to dive off from it, going into such a depth that the old man will be completely drowned. In the Spirit I can see the new man, the true man, the Spirit man, the very son of God I have been purposed to be since the foundation of the world, coming up out of the sea of His love with such resurrection power that the very shadow of the past will be broken into so many tiny pieces and sink back to a such a depth that they shall never be found again, a place where even the enemy will never reach them.

It is almost surreal while at the same time heart breaking as I see friends, family and others merely looking at the sea of His love, some have dipped a toe in other may be ankle deep yet either religion, the voice of the past or lack of faith (in some cases all three are intertwined). And I feel at times if only I could push them in they’d be set free, yet I know that they like myself and many before me, they must make the choice to jump themselves. Many say, I know His love, yet I can discern the longing in the spirit for that to be true. I know that yearning for I was lived in it day and night.

But one thing He did tell me was to allow my own life to become such a picture of the Father’s Love that like let the Master, others will be drawn to dive in His sea of love, that they too may find the abundant life, surrendered in the sea of His love.

~Russ Welch

Let not the new wine be diluted!

Posted: May 29, 2011 in disciples life, teaching, wilderness
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Mat 9:17 Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, people pour new wine into fresh skins, and both are saved.”

The signs are clear to the truth that we are in the these days now and we can see where the Lord has started the process of pouring out His wine into new wine skins, for many over the past 50 years have mis-handled His wine, they have diluted it with the things of this world. Yet we do serve a God of Mercy, who will look upon once again with favor those whom turn, repent and ask for His forgiveness:

Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first. I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place if you don’t change.(Rev 2:5)

We must understand that God the Father wants us to change, He in His Mercy has dealt with the western church as a father deals with an infant, after all we are but a few hundred years old. But we are now in the era that we should have matured into sons & daughters of righteousness rather than un -matured squabbling babies.

There are many “churches” which had the revelation of this truth, of how far the main stream has walked away for the Pure Gospel, to one that is diluted with the philosophies of men and is in actuality not the Gospel at all. I say that because much of the “church” has gotten to where they have the desire and ability to make the people worship them, like the sons of Eli, they have lead the Bride from the heart of the Father, to become addicted to the emotional services, to become addicted to the “ministry” of the House rather than to the place of complete surrender to the King, Jesus Christ. With a luring of hype and emotionalism they have betrayed the very One whom they are supposed to be serving.

We see that it was with regret that those, who once saw this truth and having broken away from the traditions of religion haven’t not completely washed off the religious traditions after a period of time they merely become a smaller model of the larger harlots.

The Bride of Christ must come forth and shed herself of the ways of the world, remove the garments of bondage. To those who do the Lord has promised many rewards for being the victorious Bride:

“Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life, which stands in the paradise of God, to everyone who wins the victory.(Rev 2:7)

Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Everyone who wins the victory will never be hurt by the second death. (Rev 2:11)

Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give some of the hidden manna to everyone who wins the victory. I will also give each person a white stone with a new name written on it, a name that is known only to the person who receives it. (Rev 2:17)

A word of caution to those who have received the revelation of who the Bride is, to come out and walk in holiness, shedding the ways of the old wine skin, not to look back and conform to that which the Lord has called you from. We must take a stand of no compromise, holding onto the glorious truth, being a broken vessel like that of the alabaster box, for you are precious, purchased with a great price, you must remain pure, unadulterated. (Matt 26:7)

We must be a people who stand in the gap for those trapped in the old, we have been giving the keys to freedom and walking in the position of true sons & daughters of the Most High, to be the lamp stands of His glory and be the very torches of holiness that light up the entrance into His Kingdom.

For the desire of the Father is that non should perish rather that all are saved.

Torches that have been dipped in the oils of His holiness, rapped in His righteousness and lite by the fires of His love and compassion for His church which John saw inn His eyes (Rev 1:14).

The radical disciples desire only to see the will of the Father done – their lives have been placed upon the Alter – the old wine skin has been removed and once removed the New Wine skin is being filled.

Are you radical enough today that there is no dilution in the wine that the Father is pouring out – have you forsaken the Old and with hungry hearts have fallen face first on the alter crying out to the Father, as did Isaiah, use me!

Friends we are in radical times and it will take radical individuals who count not their own lives even unto death that the lost and dying should see the glory of the Father!

Are you a radical?

If you are, then you shall produce radical fruit – larger because it is receiving from the True true!

(Re-posted in modified form via Russ G Welch Facebook originally posted 04-27-10)

Peace: Freedom from Fear, Anxiety and Worry: The Rest in Yahweh …

Posted: April 27, 2011 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Do we have peace in our hearts or does fear, worry and anxiety grip our heart relentlessly? Can we have wonderful peace in our hearts even during these troubled times? God in His goodness promises peace so let’s examine in more depth this awesome promise from the Bible. The fourth characteristic of the goodness of God revealed in the covenant redemptive names of Yahweh is set forth in the book of Judges.

Judges 6:11-16 (American Standard Version):

And the angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

And the angel of Yahweh appeared unto him, and said unto him, Yahweh is with thee thou mighty man of valor.

And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt? but now Yahweh hath cast us off and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites.

And Yahweh looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand from the hand of the Midian: have I not sent thee?

And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Mannaseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

And Yahweh said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Joshua had successfully led the children of Israel into the promised land of Canaan and instructed them before His death. He advised them to love the Lord God and know in their heart and soul that not one good thing that God had spoken concerning them had failed to come to pass. He told them to cleave unto the Lord and serve Him with sincerity and truth, and warned them of the consequences of serving other gods. Joshua wrote all these words in the book of the law of God and made a covenant with Israel that they chose to serve Yahweh. He sealed this covenant with a great stone that he set under an oak tree as a witness to Israel of their promise to God. After Joshua died, it was not long before Israel forsook the Lord, forgot this convent, and began to serve Baal, Ashtaroth, and other gods of the surrounding nations. This dramatically weakened Israel spiritually as a nation, and they could no longer stand against their enemies. When Israel became greatly distressed and cried out to the Lord, He would send a judge to deliver them from the hand of their oppressors. But once the judge died, they fell back into running after false gods to serve and worship them.

In Judges chapter 6, Israel had forsaken the Lord again and pursued their evil way of life, cleaving unto the powerless gods of their enemies. This new generation of Israelites had forgotten that only the Lord was Yahweh Jireh, who provided for every one of their needs; that only the Lord was Yahweh-Rapha who healed them in every way, and that only the Lord was Yahweh-Nissi, who brought them victory and protection from their enemies. The Midianites rose up and gained a stronghold in their country and oppressed Israel for seven years. Midian and her allies, which included the Amalekites, swarmed like locusts down on Israel with great hordes of men and animals and destroyed their crops and animals, bringing great impoverishment on Israel. The Israelites were hiding in dens and caves in great fear of their lives, without food and supplies to survive. They cried out in desperation to the Lord again and in great mercy and love, He moved greatly to help His people and reveal to them another magnificent aspect of his goodness.

God sent His angel to seek out a very simple man from a poor background to deliver His people from a massive and powerful enemy who was laying waste to the promised land of Israel. At that time, Gideon was hiding in the winepress, threshing some wheat so he could eat and survive. Yet God had other plans for Gideon, as He sent his angel to announce to him the awesome things He was going to do in his life and for his country. God called Gideon “a mighty man of valor” and “a valiant warrior” as God saw Gideon for what He would become when Yahweh worked in his life. God saw Gideon’s potential as a victorious warrior, a fearless leader and a future judge of Israel. God took a man who was behind closed doors in fear and exalted him to the position of valiant warrior, giving him the privilege to lead God’s people into victory and peace.

Judges 6:22-24 (American Standard Version):

And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Yahweh! for as much as I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.

And Yahweh said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built and altar there unto Yahweh and called it Yahweh-Shalom: unto his day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon finally accepted the call of God on his life and built an altar calling it Yahweh-Shalom, which means “the Lord our peace.” God showed him that he can have peace, even in the midst of life’s most difficult circumstances. The fourth characteristic of the goodness of God revealed in His name is peace. In Hebrew, the word for peace, shalom, means: wholeness, completeness and soundness; it’s a harmony and unity of heart and soul because of a restored relationship with God, our Father; it is an inward and outward tranquility, a quiet assurance and a complete well-being where nothing is lacking or broken.

Peace is the symphony and harmony of life, in which you enjoy all that is good because of your right relationship with God. It’s the freedom from being disturbed, agitated, stressed and troubled. It is the absence of discord, strife, and anxiety. It is to be at ease and calmly unaffected by circumstance. Peace is the highest measure of contentment, joyfulness, happiness, and satisfaction in life. There is absolute security, safety, and victory at the center of peace. It is the absence of inward conflict, condemnation, and torment, but rather a state of rest, calmness, and quiet confidence.

True peace is oneness and complete unity with Yahweh-Shalom, where there is a wonderful mutual sharing of the enjoyment of that bond and relationship. Yahweh-Shalom is the origin and source of all peace and we have and enjoy peace because of our relationship and oneness with Him. His peace is our peace. His wholeness is our wholeness. His soundness is our soundness. His completeness is our completeness. No man or woman can ever have peace without a vibrant, living fellowship and right relationship with Yahweh-Shalom.

You can’t buy peace, you can’t medicate peace, and you cannot manufacture peace. You cannot produce peace from some mental gymnastic exercise or self-help book or seminar. It is impossible to have peace apart from Yahweh-Shalom. There is and never will be true peace for the unbeliever.

Isaiah 57:19-21 (New Living Translation):

I will comfort those that mourn bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far, says the Lord, who
heals them. But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt.

There is no peace for the wicked, says my God.

Isaiah 59:8 (NIV):

The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them
will know peace.

To the unbeliever who rejects Yahweh-Shalom, his life will be like a troubled, restless sea. There is no calmness, no rest, no quietness, and no tranquility of heart and soul to those hostile toward God Almighty and His goodness. Picture in your mind a rough and raging sea, as the waves crash all around and the sea rises violently up and down, churning up all the muck and mire of its bottom. This is a vivid illustration of the heart of someone who does not know Yahweh-Shalom. His heart is a continual state of unrest and instability, tossed around by the raging waves of circumstances, troubles, and problems, contaminated by the muck and mire of sin. But when a man or woman turns to God and gives their heart and soul to Him, Yahweh-Shalom brings comfort, rest, healing, and abundant peace, as He calms the furious seas of a person’s soul.

The peace of God is where the stillness, calmness, and quietness of God reign unbroken and undisturbed. Picture a beautiful serene lake that is perfectly still with only a gentle breeze and crystal clear water. The lake is calm and tranquil, with the sun glistening off the waters. This is a vivid illustration of the heart and soul of someone who has the peace of Yahweh-Shalom in their life. Yahweh-Shalom is the way of peace, as He provides the direction and road to travel in life, in order to accomplish His purposes and have abundant, cleansing peace.

The wicked follow a crooked path that only leads to frustration, anxiety, and unrest, as it never leads to peace. God wants us to know and experience His awesome peace from the morning sunrise until the evening ends. Nothing is more refreshing, healing, and exhilarating to experience than the peace of God.

Psalm 29:11(Amplified):

The Lord will give unyielding and impenetrable strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

Isaiah 26:12 (New Revised Standard Version):

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.

Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified):

For I know the thoughts and plans I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace, and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

We, as God’s children, have the blessing of His peace, and He has ordained the path and way of peace for each believer’s life. God wants us to live and abide in His peace in everything we do. His refreshing peace should be a vital, living reality in our daily walk with Him. The peace of God should penetrate our thoughts and actions as we build our lives on the foundation of His peace.

Psalm 72:7 (God’s Word to the Nations):

May righteous people blossom in his day. May there be unlimited peace until the moon no longer shines.

Job 22:21: (New King James Version):

Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace. Thereby good will come to you.

God wants you, as His beloved son or daughter, to blossom and flourish in life like a beautiful flower, and be filled to overflowing with His unlimited peace. There is no boundary or limit to the peace of Yahweh-Shalom. God does not want a speck or a brief flurry of peace for you, but desires His boundless peace to permeate every fiber of your being. The peace of God should be our lifestyle and our way of living. We must acquaint ourselves with our Heavenly Father and build our intimate relationship with Him, in order to live and abide in His peace.

The word “acquaint” in the Hebrew means: to know intimately, to show harmony with, to cohabit with, to come home and to be familiar with. The essence of the word is to know and experience such a close and personal relationship with someone, that we cherish and treasure everything about it. God wants us to come to Him and know Him in an intimate, close, and harmonious relationship, where we feel completely at home in His presence. God wants us to cherish and love Him deeply, and as our relationship grows with Him, then our lives will be at peace and all the goodness of God will flourish in us. God’s goodness flows out of our union with Him. When we learn how to live and abide in His peace, then the goodness of God will be manifest in our thoughts and actions.

The goodness of God and the peace of God are intertwined companions and cannot be separated by any earthly circumstance or power. The peace of God rests on the foundation of His goodness.

Isaiah 26:3 (Amplified):

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

Gibbs :

God keeps him in perfect peace whose mind is union with Him through loving trust.

When our mind is in union with God and we lean on Him, commit our way to Him, and believe confidently in Him, our lives will be in constant and perfect peace. The word “stayed” in the Hebrew means: to lay, support, lean and rest upon; to sustain and uphold.

What supports your thought life? What do you lean your mind on when times get tough? What do you rest your mind upon in your daily living? Our minds as Christians should be sustained, upheld, and supported by being intently focused on God and His Word.

The word “mind” in the Hebrew expresses the whole direction and attitude of one’s life. It is everything we fashion and form in our mind, which includes thoughts, purposes, desires, goals, ideas, considerations, and reflections. Everything we devise in our mind should rest and lean upon God. Our mind should be stayed, focused, and immersed in our loving Heavenly Father. The whole direction of our thoughts, actions, and desires should be firmly supported and established in God.

Then God will keep us in the center of His perfect peace. God guards and protects your peace when you are focused on Him, and nothing the world throws at you can rattle or disturb your peace. The words “perfect peace” are shalom, shalom and the doubling of the word emphasizes that it is an absolute truth that God has established; it is even more certain than any natural law like gravity. The word is doubled to show the abundance and completeness of his peace available to the believer who trusts and centers his mind on Him.

Romans 8:6(b) (KJV):

But to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Psalm 119:165 (Amplified):

Great peace have they who love your law; nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.

Psalm 4:8 (Amplified):

In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.

Life and peace abound in the life of a man or woman who has their thoughts focused on God and His Word. When we love God’s Word, meditate upon it, and hide it in our hearts, great abundant peace will flow through every part of us. Absolutely nothing in the world will cause us to stumble, for we are rooted and grounded in His peace. We have confident trust in the Lord and the complete safety and protection He provides, so every night we enjoy the sweet sleep of peace. Nothing disturbs us; nothing rattles us, and nothing agitates us, for we have His peace.

Psalm 55:18 (Amplified):

He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me [so that none came near me], for they were many who strove with me.

We can have the peace of Yahweh-Shalom overflowing in our heart in the midst of any battle we will ever face in life. No matter how difficult the circumstance or how hard the problem, we can train our mind and heart so that we live and abide in His peace. We have a quiet assurance and an inward tranquility for we rest in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father who protects, sustains, and shields from every harm, every attack, and every enemy.

Romans 5:1 (Amplified):

Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us grasp the fact
that we have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

No one can have the true peace of God in their life until they are reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Reconciliation produces the restoration of a relationship of peace that had been disturbed and broken in the Garden of Eden by the high treason of Adam. Reconciliation is to change a relationship of hostility, enmity, and separation to a relationship of love, acceptance, admiration, and friendship. It is a relationship of peace and favor, as we are no longer at war with God or hostile to Him. There is no rejection, no condemnation, no guilt, and no unworthiness in this close, loving relationship. This relationship of peace is more than the mere absence of enmity or hostility, but the invitation from God to come into his presence and enjoy the closeness and loving bond of a relationship with Him.

The peace of God is the legal right and possession of every born again believer. We HAVE peace with God. All the barriers have been abolished between you and God. There is no friction, no uneasiness, no conflict, and no obstruction in this new relationship of peace. It is a complete harmony and unity with Yahweh-Shalom. The word “peace” in the Greek means: to bind or join together what is broken or divided, setting the broken parts as one again. When the broken parts come together, there is nothing between them that would stop the cohesion that has taken place. Once they are joined together they are one, never to be separated again. It holds better than super glue, because they will never come apart. True peace is complete oneness and unity with God where there is a mutual enjoyment of the wonderful relationship of a Father with His children.

The Greek word also carries with it the meaning of the absence or end of strife and denotes a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being. The word “with” in the Greek means: toward and is an indication of closeness or nearness and could be translated ‘facing’. We stand in God’s presence justified and freed from the penalty of sin, completely made righteous and redeemed with unlimited access to our Heavenly Father, because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. We have made lovely and acceptable in Christ Jesus and gaze face to face into the loving presence of our God, having complete peace and oneness with Him.

We are in Him, and He is in us, and in this oneness we have His peace as a permanent possession, because of who we are in Christ. His peace is a part of us, just as much as an arm or leg is part of our physical body. We don’t have to ask God for peace because we already have it. He has given to us all the peace of God to hold and enjoy every moment of our lives. We renew our minds by faith and confess this great sonship right of peace to bring it into manifestation in our lives. We do not want the peace of God to remain dormant in us, but we want to activate it by believing, so it is a living reality in every circumstance of life

What a wonderful truth and message about the peace of God, as it is so magnificent that God calls it the “gospel of peace” in Romans 10:15. The good news of peace that Jesus Christ brings should be declared from every mountain top to every valley, to every city, and to every town. We should just stand in awe of how breathtaking the goodness of God is as He has given us His peace that can never be disturbed, agitated, or broken.

Jesus Christ is the way, truth, and the life to the peace of God. It cannot be found or discovered anywhere else. It does not originate in the mind of man or in some philosophy, religion, or way of thinking. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, according to Isaiah 9:6, and the word “prince” in the Hebrew means: ruler, prince, chief, captain and leader. Jesus Christ is the captain, the chieftain, the ruler, and prince of the peace of God. If you want the peace of God to rule and reign in your life, you must come to its only Prince, the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God is only available in, through, and by Him.

Luke 1:78,79 (New Living Translation):

Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven (Jesus Christ) is about to break upon us. To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.

Ephesians 2:14(a) (Wuest):

For He (Jesus Christ) himself is our peace…

When you examine this verse in Ephesians in the Greek, the emphasis is on the intensive pronoun autos which means, “He and no other.” In his Word Studies of the Greek New Testament, Wuest states that there is even a deeper meaning from the Greek and that this verse suggests:

Not only “He alone” but “He in His own Person” made peace. It was not only that peace was made by Christ and ranks as His achievement, but that it is so identified with Him that were He away, it would also fail-so dependent on Him that apart from Him we cannot have it.

Without Jesus Christ, there is no peace of God available to any man, woman or child upon the earth. Jesus Christ is the light of the world that delivers us from the power of darkness and guides us to the path of peace. The peace of Yahweh-Shalom is absolutely dependent upon what Jesus Christ did at Calvary, for it required His sacrifice on the cross and God raising Him from the dead to restore the peace of God lost by Adam in the Garden of Eden. We cannot enjoy and experience this peace unless we are a new creation in Christ; otherwise peace is a fleeting illusion. The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for our peace.

Colossians 1:20 (NIV):

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Isaiah 53:5 (English Standard Version):

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

The punishment that Jesus endured on the cross was for our peace. He paid the penalty of our sin, and as our Savior, brought us into harmony and oneness with God, where we can rest in and enjoy the wholeness of His peace. Our peace was bought and paid for by the blood of Christ and sealed with an eternal covenant that guarantees peace as part of our eternal inheritance. You are identified and share in everything He accomplished at Calvary, for Christ is in you and you are in Christ. He is a part of you and lives and abides with you always. We can experience as a living reality the same peace Jesus had when he walked on the earth.

John 14:27 (Amplified):

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be
agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

John 16:33 (Amplified):

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

Jesus Christ gave us His perfect peace, and this is the same peace Jesus had in quality, richness, and measure. It is the peace Jesus had in the midst of a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the angry crowd at the synagogue in Nazareth, in His quiet prayer times on the mountainside, and in the middle of the hurling accusations of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The heart of Jesus was absolute perfect calmness, even in the midst of the most raging circumstance or challenge. It was a place where no trouble or agitation could penetrate or disturb, and where the stillness and quietness of God reigned unbroken. It was a peace that came from the bond of unity He has with His Heavenly Father, and the harmony and intimacy of that relationship.

The word “give” in verse 27 in the Greek means: to give freely and unforced; to deliver, supply, and commit. Jesus freely and without hesitation supplied, committed, and delivered to us in love His wonderful, awesome peace. It is not a counterfeit outward peace that the world offers, which is unstable, fleeting, and temporary. It was His peace that He lived, breathed, and walked in every moment of His earthly ministry.

The world “troubled” in verse 27 in the Greek means: to stir up, to agitate as water in a pool, to disturb with various emotions, to disquiet and make restless, to cause inward commotion and to take away one’s calmness of mind. The word “be afraid” in the Greek means: to be timid, to be cowardly, and to shrink back in fear.” Both of these verbs are in the passive voice in the Greek, which means the heart is being acted upon by an outside force or power and is the receiver of the verbal action. We are to stop allowing outside influences to disturb, agitate, and trouble our heart, for we have the same peace of God that reigned in the life of Jesus. Jesus Christ never became agitated, restless, or disturbed inwardly, no matter what was happening around him. Even as he hung on the cross for hours in pain and agony, his heart was at complete peace. He did not allow circumstances, people, or relationships to steal His peace.

There will be tribulations, trials, and frustrations thrown at you while you live in the world, but it never need disturb or agitate your inner calmness and peace. In Christ we have perfect peace and confidence, for our Savior overcame every circumstance and power in the world and deprived it of its power to harm us. His complete victory at Calvary gave us his peace so that we can be more than conquerors both inwardly and outwardly in every situation. We never have to shrink back in fear from any person, influence, problem, or circumstance, for we are His and He is ours and we have the peace of God living in our hearts. It is like a ship’s chronometer, which remains perfectly motionless in the midst of the most tumultuous rocking and raging of the sea, and maintains its perfect level when the ship is plunging and careening in every direction. The peace of God in our heart is our chronometer that allows us to be perfectly calm and tranquil, even in the midst of a tempest sea of circumstance and the raging waves of the negativity and fears of this age.

Philippians 4:6,7: (Wuest):

Stop perpetually worrying about even one thing, but in everything by prayer whose essence is that of worship and devotion and by supplication which is a cry for your personal needs, with thanksgiving let your requests for the things asked for be made known in the presence of God. And the peace of God which surpasses all power of comprehension shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Phillips Translation:

Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer. And the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.

We need never worry or be anxious about any circumstance or problem we face, for we have a Heavenly Father to whom we can take every need and difficulty to in prayer. In the Greek, the word “worry” describes the state of the mind of being pulled apart and divided by anxious cares and worries. It is characterized by an extreme uneasiness of the mind and a brooding fear about something, and emphasizes a fear of misfortune, failure, disappointment, and disaster. Worry denotes a lack of focus and trust in God and an endless running of the mind in all directions. God says instead of worrying or being anxious, bring the problem to Him in earnest and thankful prayer. We should worry about nothing and pray about everything. That is the lifestyle of the believer.

The word “prayer” in the Greek means: a prayer to God of worship, adoration, and devotion remembering His character, His attributes, His names, His goodness, and who He is. It is a prayer where our heart is focused on His greatness and majesty. It is a prayer where our heart remembers all the great qualities of the goodness of God and overflows with thankfulness. It is from this heart of love that we make specific detailed requests for our personal needs and the needs of others. Then God promises that His awesome, wonderful peace will mount and keep constant guard over our hearts and minds as we rest in our union in Christ Jesus. No fear, no worry, and no anxiety can penetrate and disturb our heart or mind, for the peace of God is guarding our heart.

The word “guard” in the Greek was a military term for the guarding of a city by a military garrison that kept constant watch to protect and secure the city from the hostile invasion of any enemy. This peace of God protects and guards our heart like a military garrison, keeping it calm, tranquil, and without agitation from any outside influence. When we love God with all our heart, seek Him in prayer in all of life’s situations, and walk in our sonship rights and privileges in Christ Jesus, the peace of God will overflow in our heart and act as a strong barrier against every fiery dart of the wicked one. The peace of God is the impenetrable barrier, the unbreakable wall, and the protective watchtower against every device of the devil designed to distract and divide our mind from serving the one true God. The peace of God enables us to live above the fear and anxiety of the world and enjoy our reconciliation with our Heavenly Father, even when the terror of this age rages around us.

Romans 16:20 (English Standard Version):

And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. .

Wuest:

And the God of the peace will trample Satan under your feet soon.

Yahweh-Shalom is the God of THE PEACE, and He will crush and trample Satan and all his influences under our feet, because His peace lives and reigns in our heart. The word “crush” in the Greek means: to break in pieces, to shiver, to tread down, to be perplexed and in anguish, to tear one’s body and shatter one’s strength, and to trample on as a conqueror.” When we are in harmony and fellowship with the God of peace and allowing Him to direct our lives in the center of peace, every satanic power, every satanic bondage, every satanic anxiety and every satanic fear, is utterly broken in pieces and shattered by the God of peace. There is nothing that perplexes and causes anguish to the devil more than seeing a born again believer walk and live in the peace of God. Satan cannot rattle, disturb, agitate and control a child of God, who enjoys and claims their sonship right of peace. The peace of God allows us to live with Satan utterly trampled and tread down under our feet. If you want to crush the negative influence of Satan, then you must live, move, and breathe in the peace of God.

Colossians 3:15 (Wuest):

And the peace of Christ, let it be acting as umpire in your hearts, into which also you were called into one body. And be constantly thankful persons.

The peace of Christ should be the foundation of every decision we make in life. This peace should be the umpire in our heart determining the direction in which we choose to walk. I love the game of baseball, and umpires are an important part of the game. The umpire determines whether a pitch is a ball or strike, whether a player is safe or out, and whether a ball is fair or foul. They enforce the rules and make the calls, unruffled by managers or players. The umpire settles differences when there is a conflict in thought and opinion. The outcome of the game is often determined by the call of the umpire.

When we are in harmony and fellowship with God and walking by the spirit, the wonderful peace of Christ will settle every difficulty, resolve every conflict, and enlighten every decision. The peace of Christ will show us what the will of God is in every choice we have in life. The peace of God not only guards our heart, but it guides our heart into the paths that God has chosen for us. The peace of God allows us to move into every situation with total poise and calmness, not upset or perturbed, because we know the God of peace. Every born again believer in the body of Christ has been called to peace, and the peace of Yahweh-Shalom should be a vibrant, living reality in our lives.

II Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV):

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

Amplified:

Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace (the peace of His kingdom) at all times and in all ways [under all circumstances and conditions, whatever comes]. The Lord [be] with you all.

What a wonderful relationship of peace and wholeness we can enjoy with our Lord, where nothing is broken or lacking. We have the great benefit and blessing of peace, where we are in complete unity with Him and have an inner tranquility and calmness that is unaffected by circumstance. At all times and in all ways, no matter the problem, condition, or circumstance, the Lord has given us His peace to guard and guide our hearts. No trouble, no fear, and no worry can disturb the heart of peace. What an awesome characteristic of the goodness of God-His peace which He has given to every person who has been reconciled to Him through Christ. The Lord of peace lives in our heart, and nothing is more refreshing, more exciting, and more exhilarating than to experience His peace every moment of our lives.

Posted by: goodnessofgod2010

Excerpt from “The Magnificent Goodness of God and How it Will Transform Your Life” by Tim Rowe

Heaven’s Deepest River

Posted: March 28, 2011 in disciples life, Parents, teaching, wilderness
Tags: , , , ,
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We have entered the time of transition to the kingdom of God. God is sending forth His sons empowered from heaven to establish His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Many are having supernatural encounters with God today! – Encounters for empowerment to establish the kingdom of God on earth.

FOR THOSE WITH AN EAR TO HEAR – TODAY – THIS DEEPEST RIVER FROM HEAVEN CAN BE IMPLANTED IN YOU AND YOU WILL BE TRANSFORMED and EMPOWERED. TODAY, GOD WANTS TO TAKE YOU INTO THE DEEPEST RIVER OF HEAVEN.

The supernatural empowerment to establish the kingdom of God is in this deepest river – all the power – all the life – all the wisdom – everything needed. God is now taking His sons to a new place IN HIM.

At this writing I am almost 69 years old and have sought to serve our Lord for 48 of those years. I have had many experiences with God and a few major encounters. What happened to me a few weeks ago exceeded all my previous experiences with God.

One of the most significant past encounters with God happened almost 20 years ago. To help understand what I am about to say, here is a very short nondescript account of some of what happened at that time.

I stood before the boiling fire of Father God and the Lord stepped out from the fire carrying a large sword and said, “Receive your anointing.” He touched me three times with the sword and stepped back into the fire of the Father. Two giant hands of the same fire appeared in the fire. One hand held a large vial like a cup or beaker filled with liquid fire. The other hand held a tall thin empty vial somewhat the shape of a test tube. I heard, “I am going to fill you with my love.”

The Father began pouring the liquid fire from the large cup into the test tube like vial. As the level rose in the vial, liquid fire filled me to the same level starting at my feet and rising up my body. When the liquid fire reached my arms it flowed down to my hands and streams of liquid fire began to flow out the ends of my fingers onto the ground. I was concerned that the liquid fire of God’s love was being wasted. I was told not to be concerned, that there was an endless supply and that I would never run short and to go ahead and be sloppy with it. As the level rose to the level of my eyes the liquid fire began to flow out of my eyes in two small streams just like was flowing out the ends of my fingers. Soon it began to ooze out the pores of my skin and I glowed all over with the liquid fire of God’s love. Though I have not been a perfect carrier of the liquid fire, this experience had a profound impact on me and radically changed my life.

The feeling that nothing greater could ever happen to me was shattered recently as I experienced an even greater encounter with God.

A few weeks ago at a Thursday night prayer meeting at World Revival Church, I was lying on the floor before the altar in the Spirit and God began dealing with me. I began to feel a great desire to be in the fire with God and not just standing before Him. I had never even had this thought before but now it was burning in me. The Word came to me that we have not because we ask not. I remembered that almost 20 years ago prior to that encounter I had asked to see the Lord and to receive anointing.

I asked God to take me into Himself – into the fire with Him.

Immediately I was transported into the fire of God and my life is forever changed. Everything of me is totally ruined for anything but God. I wept inside continuously for weeks and outwardly often. I am consumed.

Heb 12:29: For our God is a consuming fire.

I now have an idea what Paul meant when he said, “And I know that this man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows– was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” (2 Cor 12:3-4)

I had never dreamed what it would be like to really be literally in the Father – in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit – to literally be in the actual Fire of God.

To come to Jesus is awesome. But we need to remember that it is a primary purpose of Jesus to take us to the Father. And that He and the Father are one.

I was exposed to a brief glimpse of the unfiltered pure heart of the Father. I was not prepared for the shock of knowing His heart – His feelings about His children – His desires – His responses to His children – the very affect we have on the heart of Father God astonished me and broke me to nothing.

What I encountered in the heart of the Father has taken my life.

I am about to try to tell you the thing that ruined me for any life other that pleasing and serving Him – The thing that has made me to hate disobedience (sin) with a passion – The thing that has generated an intense passion to bless Him. This is the thing that has removed all shallowness and self focus and replaced it with a passionate depth of love, obedience, desire to serve Him, desire to worship Him and praise Him, and to see His kingdom established on earth.

The first thing that overwhelmed me was the indescribable intensity and vastness of the love of the Father for His people. It is absolute purity and absolute passion an unending unstoppable immeasurable flow of God. I have no words to describe the experience of becoming one with the love of God. It is inexpressible love.

The next thing that I experienced is the thing that killed me. Personally, I believe that this next thing may be one of the things Paul spoke of when he said, in 2 Corinthians 12, “He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” Could it be that it was not then time for this to be told but that the time has come?

The next thing I experienced in the heart of the Father was unfathomable intense pain – immeasurable sorrow – deep distress beyond measure caused by the indifference of those He loves. The lack of response or improper response to this awesome love has created a vast brokenness in the heart of the Father.

The deepest river in heaven is the broken hearted ness of Father God.

Our Father, the source of all love – the one that is love – the one with love beyond all we can imagine has a broken heart filled with painful desperate passionate longing. One cannot be deeply hurt by those whom one does not love deeply. The more deeply one loves the more deeply one can suffer pain from that love. The love of God for His children and His Bride exceeds all love.

The casualness of God’s people toward His complete passionate love has created immeasurable pain in the heart of God. God’s heart is breaking for His disobedient unresponsive Bride who chooses to ignore His great passionate love and to seek romance with other things of this world.

The pain of His immeasurable love was clearly felt and spoken in the Garden of Gethsemane. The exceeding pain and deep distress in God’s heart is the same pain felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus only did what he heard and saw the Father doing. Our God is one. The distinct characteristics and work of Christ and the Holy Spirit become very apparent as they move out from the Father. But inside the Father they are one. The feelings of grief of the Holy Spirit and the deep sorrow of Christ are felt in the heart of the Father.

What was happening in the heart of the Father at Gethsemane?

Mat 26:36-39: Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Those among us who have loved someone very deeply and felt the pain of that person pulling away from us may begin to grasp the depth of painful longing in God’s heart caused by those whom He loves. Those who have known His love and then allowed their affection to move to something or someone else causes great pain in God’s heart.

Inner pain mixed with genuine forgiveness becomes and increased intensely passionate flow of real love. But if it is mixed with resentment it can become intense bitterness in the heart. God has complete forgiveness and therefore no bitterness. The pain in God’s heart becomes an increased flow of extreme passionate love for His people. This love flows like a deep and mighty river toward all mankind.

God is pouring out his love to all mankind equally. He loves all people unconditionally. He loves those who love Him and he loves those who hate Him. He loves His friends and enemies all the same.

But all do not respond to His love the same. Some come closer and others move further away. Those who come closer receive more because they choose to draw near to God and are greatly blessed. Others, who choose to move away to live in darkness, are cursed by the same love that blesses those who come to His light. Those who do not receive and respond to the love of God offend the love of God.

One definition for jealously is love offended. God is jealous when His love is offended by lack of proper response from those He loves. God refers to Himself as jealous several times in the Bible. Jealousy leads to wrath caused by the love of the husband for His wife.

Exo 20:3-6: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Deu 4:24: “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

God speaks of His wife having other gods as committing spiritual adultery. A man destroys himself when he chooses to not respond to the love of God and has affection for other things.

Prov 6:32-35: But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away; for jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.

God’s love offended becomes jealousy. Jealousy arouses wrath and is an expression of the intense passion of the love of God for His people.

God’s pain and sorrow began even before He created man. Lucifer and the angels, who rebelled, greatly dishonored and shamed God in His own home territory of heaven. Perhaps this has something to do with the creation of man in Satan’s home territory of earth. Man was created, in part, for the purpose of restoring honor to God by properly responding to His love. We are just now beginning to grasp that God has an awesome need for us to respond to His love.

Christians today are generally accustomed to looking to God to meet their needs. For centuries we have trusted Him to meet our need for a savior to save us from the penalty of sin and more recently many trust Him to save them from their sinful lifestyles. Many have learned to trust Him for financial provision; healing and other practical needs as well.

But for the most part, we are just now catching on to the reality that we exist to be an object of the love of God and thereby meet the need of God’s heart. Our purpose is to receive and respond to the love of God.

Many revived Christians today have discovered the unconditional love of God and some have erroneously concluded that because Father God has such great love for them that they will be no repercussions for their lack of response to His love. They have not known the pain they cause in the heart of God by frolicking with the Father and then walking away and entering into disobedience to Him.

It is true that God’s mercy is endless and at the cross our sin debt is fully paid. It is also true that the cross must again be visited and the blood applied because of our disobedience. Our “little sin” or disobedience may seem insignificant to us. We know forgiveness and redemption is available for us in the cross. But we do not know the pain in the heart of God every time the cross must again be applied and we crucify the Lord afresh in the heart of God. We greatly pain our loving Father with our carelessness.

The glory of the next great outpouring of God upon the Eastern USA and eventually the world is dependent on the people of God responding to God’s love by drawing close to Him and stepping into the all-consuming fire.

God is greatly pleasured when love arises from earth to Him in heaven. When we respond to God’s love and send it back to Him with our commitment, our obedience, our praise, worship, and honor giving prayer, our sacrifice of fasting, and sacrificial offerings – when we become living sacrifices to Him.

When we respond to His love, the more we give the more we receive. God is so pleased and so gratified when filled with the love response of His people that he pours out blessings of everything we need and more. He comes with His presence in great glory and manifest among His people. He pours out special anointing of healing, deliverance, and miracles of many kinds. We have all the money, all the goods, all that we need to fulfill His plan and more when we respond to His love by giving our lives as a living sacrifice.

We must fill His heart with our total love for Him. We must give Him generous expressions of that love. Those who will sacrifice their self-life to live only for Him and will come all the way into His consuming fire of love bless him. We must fill His heart with joy by properly responding to His unconditional immeasurable love.

The greatest result of all this is that we actually become a blessing and a giver to our loving Father. But surely the next greatest blessing is that as we give we release the deep river of power, strength, wisdom, gifting, miracles, and all that is needed to establish His kingdom on earth. Every apostle and every prophet, pastor, evangelist and teacher of God who fully enters into this fire and sacrifices all as a gift to God will have the empowerment to establish the kingdom of God on earth now.

The powerful love of God will flow through leaders and whosoever will abandon this life and move into the fire of God. All flesh will leave, only powerful spiritual sons will remain, and nothing will be impossible to us as Christ is formed within. Even if we have great revelation of many facts, times, and things they will not profit unless we are put to death by the awesome love of God.

It is time to pray for God to finish us off – to go ahead and kill us now. That we may enter fully into the very heart of God through our brokenness.

There is today an open door without veil before the church to walk into the holy of holies – the fire of the Father himself and it will only be done through brokenness.

We can forget accomplishing anything with our gifts and intellects. In the fire of God, only our weakness of brokenness will provide the flow of power to make our revelations work to change the world to the kingdom of our God.

All aspects of life will be affected as people are consumed by the love of God. Those who minister will do so by the supernatural power of the kingdom of God. Those who work in government will begin to rule according to the power of the kingdom of God. Those who work in business will begin to work by the principles and power of the kingdom of God. Those who do anything will do it for the kingdom of God, by the supernatural power, and according to the principles of the kingdom of God. This is the season of change from the ways of self centered greed based life to the serving giving love of the kingdom of God ruling all life.

Sons will be raised up in all walks of life and service. They will receive and respond to the love of God and order their lives and all they possess or influence by the kingdom for God ways. There will be many fathers and many teachers in the land bringing forth the truth of God by the living example of the clear word of their testimony.

This is the season of the transition. The source of power for the transformation is the love of God. The method is our responding fully to the love of God by taking that final step into the very fire of God rather than just standing nearby.

Keep on Pursuing Love,
It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://www.openheaven.com