Tag Archives: spiritual authority

September 3, 2012 · 10:47 am

Evidence Removes the Shame of the World

Jesus came to reveal God and reconcile our relationship with God our Father. Sin causes us to fear and be shamed towards our heavenly Father. From the day that Adam and Eve sinned men and women have been hiding from God. Our father asked “who told you, that you were naked?” Even today some 6,000 years since the first couple walk out of the garden mankind hides in fear and shame.

Jesus through His life, ministry, death and resurrection is evidence that we do not have to hide from the presence of God. When we analyze this evidence of Jesus we can understand that everything we believe that separates from God has been removed. In other words we have been made children and citizens of God’s Kingdom and that Kingdom is inside of us.

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

Romans 10:10-12 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

Jesus was sent by God and we are sent by Him to help people understand that God has removed their shame. Feeling separated from God is something that should no longer be in the hearts of any human. The primary effect of any evidence presented by children of God should be establishing the fact that our shame has been removed. Revealing our Father’s Presence and the fact that His love is constantly reaching out us should be our primary focus of the evidence we present.

We children of the Kingdom of God have been given understanding and now have the responsibility to help others to see and grasp this truth. Forgiveness is available to every person and the tool of repentance can be used by people that believe God will forgive them. There will always be those reject spiritual truth and believe the deception of the material world. Also there are those in our own religious community that choose to use fear and concentrate on sin as the focus of a relationship with God our Father.

Being a child of God and becoming a disciple of Christ is a very real status for all of mankind. If you are open God is willing to reveal insight into His thoughts towards you. Regardless of your current belief of His love for you God remains faithful and steadfast. We who call Christians have the privileged and authority to help any person we meet to become Disciples of Christ and children of God. Spiritual evidence from God’s super-natural realm such as healing the sick, cleansing the leper and raising the dead is what we present. For us that believe that Gods love trumps all we honor Him with our presentation of evidence.

We have been created as the only part of creation that can span both the spiritual and the natural realm. We are gate-ways and door -ways between the two. So I encourage you to open up and reveal to others the truth of the Kingdom within.

Psalm 24: 1-2, 7 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
2 For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.

…

Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.

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August 5, 2012 · 2:55 pm

Righteous Relativism

In this post I am going to stray from my normal look at evidence as a metaphor. The goal of this posting will remain the same in that I hope to encourage us to present spiritual evidence of God’s Kingdom. So today I want to discuss Legal Relativism or Righteous Relativism.

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

 As a person who is spiritually aware I believe in the absolute of right and a wrong and the understanding that there is truth and untruth. But I also know that my understanding of these at any moment is a function of my perception. I also believe there are three basic relationships, one with God, one with others, and the one with our self. For this discussion of relativism I am comparing our relationships to truth.

 John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 There is a personal momentum that relates to our transformational journey. We all find ourselves  in place that is relative to truth. As we begin to explore the world around us we move toward what we believe is truth and away from dysfunction and untruths. Then we begin to gravitate in our relative orbits around God and truth and we say to ourselves and others I can live here. This is our lifestyle, which is a summation of choices that we have made and this places us in a relative position never static because we continue to make choice throughout our life.

 As we discover a clearer picture of truth we can choose to move toward it and as we discover that the traditions we have embraced are not as pure in truth as we once thought we willingly refine our lifestyle and thereby move our position relative to the truth we discover. So from a material or a spiritual point of view the question remains what is truth and are we willing to change our lifestyle to move forward on our journey of transformation? As Christians we believe Jesus is the Master copy of perfect human lifestyle, is in perfect relationship to God, others and Himself.

 2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

 If our spiritual journey is toward truth and God (children of light seek light) there are several ways to determine if we are making progress in a direction toward truth. One way is by judging our relative position using others as relative markers so we can determine if we making forward momentum. But if we judge our movement using others that moving away from truth our movement is relative to those and not relative truth and God’s Kingdom.

 Some religion’s tend to rely on this form of relativism to justify stagnate growth and a refusal to allow their personal lifestyles to become transformed. So during the weekly meetings instead of seeking truth they tend to point out the faults in other religions, other sexual lifestyles, or the effects of holding different political positions. While these other groups may be wrong in their choices this approach only proves that they are not moving in their direction it does not prove they are moving toward truth. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Romans 12:2-3 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

 The best way to determine our relativistic movement is to focus on the source of God and truth and not the movement of others.  In the material world science has determined that as we approach a light source the light will appear blue and as we move away it will appear red. This is called the red and blue shift effect. This is the best way to gage our spiritual journey and this will reduce the false readings we get by observing others.

 Spiritual evidence tends to reinforce our focus on the spiritual source of God’s Kingdom. Transformation into the likeness of Jesus carries with it the purpose and responsibility of revealing God the source of all truth. Jesus was sent and we have become His agents, forgiving sin, healing the sick and waking the dead. All of these are results of spiritual evidence but they are themselves also spiritual evidence.

 It is my hope that we to speak the truth in love in order to encourage others to move towards God and His Kingdom. It is easy to point the finger at the Muslim, the homosexual, and the illegal immigrant. Seeing and judging them may prove that our relative position is closer to God as compared to their position. However, unless we are willing to love, forgive and establish an atmosphere of reconciliation for them, our relative position to God will also be moving in a direction that is anti to Christ and His purpose. God so loved this world that He sent Christ who has given us His authority to carry out the purpose of the one who sent Him. So let us walk in the light of God’s truth and enjoy our position of right standing with God our heavenly Father.

 Mark 6:4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”

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April 22, 2012 · 8:20 pm

The Spirit of Physical Evidence

So far we have discussed two types of evidence, exculpatory and testimonial.  The next type of evidence I want to discuss is termed real (physical) evidence. This type of evidence is a material object presented to prove a fact. Real evidence can be authenticated by other evidence to establish its chain of custody.  As you know the fact we are establishing is the Kingdom of God, which is spiritual and not physical. So the question is can there be real (physical)  spiritual evidence?

John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

God our Father understands that we are materially oriented.  God sent His Son Jesus from the spiritual realm to appear in the flesh so He could provide physical (real) evidence to us citizens of the earth realm. Flesh and blood, bread and wine are material things that are presented to us as physical evidence so we can experience spiritual reality. The transition of our understanding from its material orientation to a spiritual one is not easy. Even more difficult is living in that realm where everything that we need here on earth for life and godliness is supplied from the spiritual Kingdom of God (KoG). Adam lived this way before the fall and Jesus the last Adam demonstrated that we also can live, not by our physical power or might, but by the Spirit of God.

John 6:57  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

John 6:60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

John 6:66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

In John Chapter 6 we witness a dialog after Jesus performed a miracle by feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The big picture and the purpose of this real evidence is to change the minds of all who review this testimony. Upon hearing this testimony we are all forced to judge by either accepting or rejecting the KoG which is the object of this physical (real) evidence. In order to operate in the Kingdom we must transition or mindset from carnal (earthly) thinking to spiritual thinking. 

John 6:30-32 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

John 6:42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

John 6:53-54 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Carnal thinking people are always trying to get more food or earthly stuff. To think from earth’s point of view is natural but to think from a spiritual point of view is to live in God’s Kingdom or presence. Jesus who is Spirit put on flesh and blood and called it bread and wine. Then He takes it a step further and asks us to eat and drink His heavenly bread and wine. His physical body was beaten before death and Thomas one of the Disciples pressed his finger in the hole of Jesus’ hand after His resurrection. This supporting testimony establishes a chain of custody authenticating the evidence of Jesus our Brother in flesh and blood form on earth.

Today we make up the jury of peers and as we share this testimony others join the jury pool. Each person must decide for themselves to live spiritually or turn back and live by the sweat of their work. Feeding five thousand is spiritual living. Turning water to wine, opening blind eyes, healing deaf ears, freeing people from bad relationships and reconciling them to our Father in heaven is normal spiritual living. Causing situations where stage four cancer leaves a body and witnessing the restoration of non-working or missing limb is all part of a joyful spiritual lifestyle.

If you are reading this blog I believe you are a child of God and an heir to the KoG. I know that once reconciled you will begin to believe the evidence presented by the Spirit of God and live up to our Father’s full expectation for your life. We were born for a time such as this and Father has placed His Spirit inside of us so that failure will not be and option. So go in His authority and may signs and wonders follow you always as you live out the scripture below. 

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

 

 

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