Jehovah-Rapha

The Importance Of A Name

An exciting aspect of Christian life is that Jesus gives us changing seasons .. it seems that a fresh time has begun for me; God recently reminded me again of His names. In the Old Testament God revealed Himself by telling the people His different names. In Bible times names meant a great deal, they fully described a person. This is true for God too.

We even see in the Bible where God changed people's names so that they would be in line with who God had grown the person to be; I remember Abram being named Abraham when he was to be "the father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5). In the New Testament Jesus called Simon “Peter”, which means "rock". For a while it looked as though Peter was least-likely-to-succeed as a disciple of Jesus, but as I read his 2nd letter I am so aware of Peter’s rock-like-ness; his faith is unshakable as he remembers Jesus love for him and their beautiful and totally secure relationship which informs every part of Peter's life (John 1:42).

Even today we understand the importance of a person's name as we seek to call our babies by their "right" name when they are born .. sometimes we are certain of what their right name is .. Trish and I had no trouble naming our six children, mostly we felt that the names were either "right" or were God's gifts to us. Every one of our kids names still suits them very well! This is a lovely human characteristic common among the countless cultures throughout the world ..

God's name "Jehovah Rapha" is from the book of Exodus. "Jehovah" derives from the Hebrew word "Havah" meaning "The Existing One" or "Lord", or "to be", "to exist", "to become" or "to become known"; from this we can see why we know Him as God who reveals Himself unceasingly. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has sent me to you''" (Exodus 3:14).

Similarly "Rapha" has a complex meaning: "to restore", "to make whole", "to heal" or "to make healthful", (Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:3; Isaiah 61:1; Jeremiah 30:17). When He first gave this name to Israel, God could be interpreted as saying "Healing is what I am". "Rapha" is related to the New Testament Greek word "sozo", which means "to save", "to deliver or protect", "to heal", "to make whole", "to preserve". I see that "to make whole" is God's plan for each of us. This is much more than healing our injuries or sicknesses, and even more than a doctor may try for when he or she sets out to heal our "whole person". God can heal us totally, in spirit, soul and body.

It is the very bigness of God's healing that has thrilled and encouraged me over all the years of my Christian walk. We can contrast it to the healings available through our (truly wonderful) national health services .. Our second son Frank was an adventurous Australian Rules football player, he would go flat out after the ball; one afternoon his efforts earned him a  broken leg. His team-mates took him to hospital where the doctors set the bones and wrapped his leg in plaster. The healing of Frank's leg began. (This is very memorable because he and Anlia were married while Frankie was still in plaster)! So it could be said that the skills of the hospital doctors and nurses healed Frank's broken leg. God can do much more than this.

We each see God through the lens of our own life and experience. From my younger years I see that He protected and saved me in the midst of adventures which could have been disasters. I got lost trekking in the mountains and nearly drowned while swimming in the sea when it was too rough and there was a rip .. I didn't know God then, and had not the slightest idea about Jesus .. even so God saved me, He brought me alive, and very appreciative, through some memorable and scary times!

You may say that these were not really healings, and this is what I am trying to communicate .. in the Bible "healing" is a very big word. When God told Israel that Jehovah Rapha was His name no-one was ill or diseased. It was during the Exodus, and Israel had been traveling for two days and nights without water, they were tired and very thirsty. God led them to springs at Marah, but the water was bitter, (this was about 40 miles south of the modern town of Suez; bitter springs are there to this day). The people complained about the un-drinkable water and God showed Moses a tree, which, when cut down and thrown into the waters, made the water sweet. It was here that He said "I am the Lord who heals you" (Exodus 15:26). So the healing was not of sickness or disease, but of the waters, thereby saving the people and soothing both their thirst and their angry hearts.

When God heals us, it is much bigger than just fixing one presenting problem .. God heals all of us, beyond our thoughts or imaginings "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us" (Ephesians 3:20). 

This is what I get so excited about! God can even heal our nation (2 Chronicles 7:14). (He asks us, God's people, to become the unified Church, to humble ourselves together, and to pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways! For some years I have believed that the biggest single problem in the world today is the lack of unity in the Christian Church .. we even speak as though we belong to one of 10,000 different churches ..)

In my own testimony, and those of many others, I am frequently reminded of how Jesus heals us. (Indeed, for a season I was part of a lovely ministry called "Jesus Heals Us" where we all saw many miracles! "Jesus Heals Us" continues and blesses many still).

Our Spirit

Our spirit is where we relate to God; Holy Spirit can fill us so that our spirit and the Spirit of God interact, hallelujah! We can also relate to other people on a spiritual level; Trish and I are very aware that we do this. I used to often feel alone. So many of us try to live busy lives to cover up our alone-ness. Some say that we have a "God shaped hole" inside us; this was first written about by Blaise Pascal who said that we have an "infinite abyss [which] can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself", (Pensées VII, 1670).

Saint Augustine of Hippo was a wild young man, his mother prayed for a quarter century that he would come to Jesus and settle down; in his Confessions (around 400 AD), he said "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you" .. so true .. God heals our spirit when He comes to us and we can rest in Him! Jehovah-Rapha.

Our Soul

Our soul is the uniquely "you" part of who you are and includes our thoughts, memories, our will and our emotions. I guess our "soul" is our "personality". My lovely Jesus has healed my soul in so many, many ways .. For a long time I lived in fear; fear for my family and especially for Trish and our two daughters, but also of random violence against any of us, and fear of financial collapse, and fear that my many weaknesses would become known and I would be ridiculed .. Trish and I were at a healing meeting when the leader said something like: "Jesus wants to heal people from fear .." I immediately knew he meant me! I was one of the first to walk to the front to be prayed for. I may even have run, I was so sure this was for me! Jesus healed me instantly from fear; I can now trust Him to protect all my family .. when I get a hint of fear I mentally (spiritually?) look over my shoulder and there He is .. Jesus has our backs, He also walks beside each of us, and is always before us (Matthew 28:20).

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14, and all of Psalm 62). Jehovah-Rapha.

Our Body

Our body is our physical presence, the part of us you can hug (though our spirit and our soul definitely benefit from hugs too)! Jesus can heal our bodies and delights in doing so, Scripture tells us that He was tortured and died so that we can be healed (Isaiah 53:5). After decades of prayer, study and practice in supernatural healing I confess that I understand little of it. One of my conclusions is that healing is a sovereign act of God. Sometimes is seems that not every prayer is answered in a timely way, while at other times people who appear to us to be much less deserving are miraculously and spectacularly healed.

I am at an age now where I go to funerals; if the person is Christian these are always celebrations .. we all "know" that Jesus "took them home" at just the right time. This is a beautiful form of faith in action! We see that our friend was not healed on Earth but has received "ultimate" healing and now lives gloriously with Jesus. Jehovah Rapha.

I have seen hundreds of healings, (probably thousands), which science cannot explain; these were miracles where the laws of nature were suspended while God did something only He can do, supernatural events. Some of these miracles happened to me. That I am alive today is the result of several miracles .. I live in a state of deep gratitude to Jesus and day by day I can rejoice in the loveliness of His Creation, within my family and the tiny part of the world He has placed me in. Not everything in me is healed; doctors and specialists; hospital clinics, medications and physiotherapy are part of my daily life, but it's ok .. I rest in peace and joy in the palm of Jesus' hand (Isaiah 62:3).

Sometimes I will be reading my Bible and come upon a miraculous healing. This gets me to pondering about the power and glory of that moment way back in Bible times; natural processes were suspended and God in His love and compassion reached down and brought a change beyond nature. Somebody saw this and wrote it down for us to celebrate again all these centuries later! I smile to myself as though to say, "John why do you act surprised? You read the Bible and see the vast array of healings there .. you rejoice at the many reports of Jesus healing "all" who came to Him, now here you are seeing the same thing happening in our world and in our time .. Jesus never changes (Matthew 4:24, 8:16, 12:15, 14:36; Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40, 5:15; Acts 5:16, and Numbers 23:19, James 1:17).

The Bible declares that God is at work in the world and in the lives of those who believe in Him. This is just so clear to me .. Jehovah Rapha. Bless us all.

Favourite Scriptures

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought our peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak" (Isaiah 40:18-29).

"But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:31).

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:  Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,  Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.  The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed" (Psalm 103:1-6).

"News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them" (Matthew 4:24).

"Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed" (Acts 5:16).

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

Not Against Flesh And Blood

Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh And Blood

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12 KJV).

The spiritual world is real and there is a continual war between the Kingdom of God, and Satan with his demons and his forces of evil. Many people will tell you that this is not true, but that is only because they have not seen, heard, experienced or accepted the supernatural as have the vast majority of people. (A survey by the very reputable Pew company found that 82% of people do believe in the spiritual world, this is more than 4 out of every 5 in the whole world).

Many scientists will tell you that they find truth by following the "scientific method". Now the scientific method explicitly excludes any possibility of any spiritual or supernatural reality .. so basically it is flawed; they are trying to find fact and truth by looking at less than half of all that there is! So sad.

Happily many scientists do recognise the spiritual realities, indeed many of the great scientific advances over many centuries, and during our present time too, were made by people who love God and were in awe of Him and His vast, glorious and hugely complicated universe!

In the past Australia was a very popular immigration destination because our culture was so egalitarian and inclusive; we were known as the nation of "a fair go" and everyone was accepted for who they were. Immigrants would happily assimilate into Australia's broad, peaceful and harmonious culture while keeping the distinctiveness of their original ethnicity. Sure, there were occasional cases of discrimination (as I have seen in every country I've been to); but over all, Australia was a peaceable, well-balanced and wealthy nation with many great fundamental freedoms.

I won't tell you the names I, a Kiwi, was called when I first came to live in Australia, but the names were not intended to wound, just to prevent me getting too uppity, and to be sure to remember that I was not born Australian and therefore was not as blessed as they were! (I found the same thing when I was in Afghanistan before all their troubles of recent decades).

Australia largely followed the Christian way. What did Paul say? "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). Yes, this was how it was when I came here and when I brought Trish, my wife, here.

But now, and for some time, a tiny minority on the far political left have carefully planned, and are executing, massive cultural changes and reducing our long established and hard won freedoms, not just in our country but in every Western democracy. This is social engineering as all the totalitarian regimes do it; it is the opposite of democracy.

Much of the erosion of our freedoms is contrary to our laws or United Nations charters and agreements that our countries have signed. So are illegal. None-the-less the changes continue .. Deception and intimidation, even outright lies, ridicule, scorn, name calling and other anti-social methods are used to influence our population while also marginalising truth and shutting down discussion or conservative opinion.

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:4-5).

Political correctness is now a big part of what our media presents to us. By definition what is politically correct is untrue; if it were true then it would not be being "politically corrected". This same minority have effectively taken over our whole system of education so that our children are growing up being told what to think. An open and enquiring mind is no longer welcome in our universities .. (See Note 1).

The Christian newsletters I receive are clear in their concern; these activities always have a spiritual root. The newsletters quote warnings from history and from Scripture. Humankind has seen these uprisings many times and always amid much suffering.

Isaiah lived and wrote about 2800 years ago, he saw  things then much as we see them today:

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

And:

"Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice .. " (Isaiah 59:14-16a).

Paul, when writing to Timothy, makes it plain that we are to show courage in times like these, to be encouraged and not discouraged (Romans 1:12), but to be ready to seek God's will for us (Romans 12:2), and to follow His leading (Mark 8:34).

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV) ..

"a sound mind" .. Paul is saying that although this is largely a spiritual problem we are to respond to it with all of ourselves, spirit, soul, mind and body.

Our "sound mind" and our "spirit .. of power and love" enable us to identify and understand the spiritual world around us. We can receive the gift of discernment of spirits: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).

Satan and his many demons are also spiritual, and we are reminded: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (1 Peter 5:8-9). This will require that every aspect of who we are is sharp and part of our response.

At some point in your life you may have completed a survey to see if you are a "left brain" or a "right brain" person. I know I did and concluded that I was "right brain" with some left brain qualities. Some work I did years ago necessitated my forming a small business and operating through that; I called it "Eagle Creative" because I love eagles (Isaiah 40:31) and needed to be very creative if I were to succeed ..

These are the kinds of thing associated with:

Left Brain	Right Brain
reason	intuition
cognitive	subjective
task-oriented	relationship-oriented
verbal	visual
facts	feelings
language	arts
mathematics	music
linear	spatial

(Neil Anderson, "Living Free", 1999, Monarch Books, p 30).

Jesus put me right about my "right brain" thinking. He wants us all to use the "sound mind" God has given us, as well as our more subjective or creative attributes and our spiritual gifting. He gave us a complete brain, indeed a complete person, so that we can think and reason and feel, build and sustain relationships and be creative as He is (Genesis 1 and 2).

We can be both internal, so we know what is going on with our self, and external so we know what is going on outside (Ephesians 5:15) and with others (Matthew 22:39). God created us to be able to understand facts and feelings, mathematics and music, logic and things spatial, things verbal and things visual and things spiritual ..

We are told to both "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:15-20), and to "let the Word of Christ dwell richly among you" (Colossians 3:15-46), so that we will be equipped and free to  "sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,  always giving thanks  .. "  (both the above Scriptures). Not the one thing or the other, not just spiritual and not just intellectual, but both so we can be a complete person for our Lord:

And we are also to clothe our self fully in Jesus Himself so that we "can take our stand against the devil's schemes". As you read these verses you will see that every piece of God's armour protects us in a way that Jesus Himself already has covered for us (Romans 13:14):

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people" (Ephesians 6:10-17).

God is teaching us through Scripture to be ready to respond to any situation by seeking revelation and clarity from the Word, and from Jesus by the Spirit of God, so that we can use the knowledge and skills we have gained in the church and in the world to shape our prayers and our actions. At the same time Jesus will protect us from the "flaming arrows" of the world.

Jesus always goes before (Matthew 10:38), even when we must speak: "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,  for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:19-20).

Jesus is the ultimate revelation in the universe, He is "truth" (John 1:16), and He is "light" (John 1:4). Jesus draws us to Himself and never lets us go: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). We are equipped with Him and in Him ..

Once again I am reminded of the song:
"Fix your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face.
For the things of the Earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace".

We are spiritual people in a world which largely thinks in physical terms. At the same time, we are all affected by "the rulers ... the authorities ... the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". I choose to look to and cleave to Jesus!

"But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe [who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by faith preserve the soul" (Hebrews 10:39 Amplified).

And also, let us keep praying (Ephesians 6:18).

Hallelujah.

Note 1:

In November 2018 the Australian Prayer Network published an article by John Anderson, former deputy prime minister of Australia and leader of the National Party from 1999 to 2005, here are excerpts:

We Cannot Let The Aggressive Secularists Drive Out Religion

" .. how are 25 million people going to live together with their deepest ideological and religious beliefs in the vastly different Australia we now live in .. How are we now going to respect diversity and still promote liberty while maintaining the harmony that has been so much the hallmark of our national life .. We are atomising and fracturing in the context of the rise of powerful ferment over beliefs and ideologies ..

We are witnessing a global resurgence of religion and ideology.  We are also living through a clash .. between liberal traditionalism and cultural Marxism, both of which emerged out of the Enlightenment. 

The emergence of social media, which was supposed to create a virtual global public square .. has also created virtual global tribes, and we have a vast new machinery for transforming civil disagreement into civil hate.  These forces are potentially so destabilising that they may threaten our governability.

History teaches that the long arc of Christian influence on society has proven to be hugely beneficial.  No doubt it is easy to find serious moral blemishes in Christian history, but it was also out of Christianity’s capacity for reform that the solutions evolved .. "

We are in the midst of spiritual problems .. let us do what Jesus asks of us .. we know that we can always trust Him ..

One thing He asks often is that we unify .. (John 17:23, Ephesians 4:3, Ephesians 4:13, Colossians 3:14), so let us do all we can to unify the church; to become unified with other Christians, unified in personal relationships, and in groups, and more ..

"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove" (Matthew 10:16 Message).

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

Bless you .. bless us all in Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

Inside Out

Extraordinary Possibilities

(2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come".

(2 Corinthians 5:17 Message)

"Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!".

After coming home from our wonderful two weeks of camping and bush-walking by the sea down South, my wife Trish and I spent ages de-cluttering and sorting out our stored stuff. The shed where we keep our camping gear has shrunk over the years as we have acquired more and more equipment. We emptied it all out and unpacked and sorted and found that we were are able to give away lots that we no longer need. I built some shelving and we repacked into standard sized plastic boxes we can stack. When we finally got finished it was a great improvement. But living day-to-day through this time was hard with all the mess and simply knowing how much there still was to do.

So from time to time I felt rather oppressed ..

And then I would remember that I belong to Jesus and quickly brighten up!

It is so good to know that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). That's me! I am a "new creation" in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), Jesus lives within me, by His Spirit (Galatians 2:20), and I within Him (John 14:20)! It is so good to remember these things in such a practical way - so I have been pondering what "new creation" means.

When Trish and I were new Christians we learned about "life in the Spirit" and "every member ministry" because this is what our excited Christian friends had discovered and shared with us.

The extraordinary possibilities of these faith positions made me see that I now live from the inside out.

We also learned that our "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God" (1 Corinthians 6:19a).

This certainly is "new creation" .. imagine, me, a temple where God lives? How Jesus must love each one of us that He would bless us like this, what grace! Paul goes on to say:

"for you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (6:19b-20).

Me being a "new creation" came at a price, a price that Jesus willingly paid to have me, and you, as one of His own.

"As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him -  you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises [excelencies] of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:4,9-10).

Clearly we are secure in this place God has put us, this is not a temporary or transient position.

Isaiah tells us what we were like before our salvation, "all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (Isaiah 64:6), this was written in the present tense.

But we are under Jesus' New Covenant; in the instant we are saved Jesus firmly moves our "uncleanness" and "filthy rags" into our past. I can certainly see this as true of my past life, and can see the contrast in what He has been doing in me over all these years since He drew me to Himself.

Jesus gives His righteousness to me "by grace" (Romans 3:22), I am no longer a "sinner" (Luke 15:10, compare Luke 18:13); now I am a "saint who sometimes sins" (Neil Anderson, "Living Free", 1999, Monarch Books).

I now know a beautiful "freedom" (Galatians 5:1) and peace, "my peace I give you" (John 14:27).

Back in the days of the hippies and flower power, people would say "if it feels good, do it". That is living from the outside in! Today we still see lots of hedonistic, consumerist and purely entertaining or recreational activity; the world is now no different .. It is all from the outside in.

Paul found the same thing in his day, just two or three decades after Jesus ascended to Heaven and formed His church, with all the excitement and commitment seen in the Book of Acts. He felt called to write to the Christians in Galatia, admonishing them, when he learned that they had moved a long way away from the Christian life they had been baptised into. They were again looking to the Old Testament law for their salvation, especially the rite of male circumcision, a change to a man's outside.

As Christians we are asked that we may experience "circumcision of the heart" (Romans 2:29), as we change on the inside, as we come to "know" a life-giving saving faith in Jesus (Romans 6:6). 

(Another aspect of the Galatians’ "foolishness" (Galatians 3:1) is that circumcision was only for men, they seem to have had no special rite for women to be affirmed as God's people. Perhaps women were expected to be second class citizens of the Kingdom of God, just as they were in the Old Testament in Judaism, and only the men could speak or be fully in the inheritance. But this is false; in Jesus "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), we are all included).

I often see that Christians are very different from everyone else, mainly for two reasons. Firstly Jesus has come to live in each one; the Bible does not say that this is symbolic, but in many verses says that it is real, "for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Also we are set free; not just free from sin but also our desire to sin decreases and continues to do so .. we are being "sanctified" (John 17:19). We are also set free from death and ultimately will live eternally with Jesus in Heaven (John 3:14-16, John 4:14)!

Secondly, if we listen out for God's voice, (sometimes just a small soft whisper, perhaps during our prayer times, or when we spend time in our Bible, or as we fellowship with other Christians, or when we sleep and dream, or even during the busyness of our days), He will share with us what His will is for us, each one.

God created every person for a purpose. God doesn't make two snow flakes the same, let alone two people. We are all unique! Every single person has a God-given destiny .. Your country, and your neighbour too, needs you and the "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Jesus wants our help: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

I am careful about where I fellowship. I seek out meetings where the people are aware of who they are in Christ (John 14:20) and how their lives have been enhanced .. people who are grateful to Jesus and ready to unify with other Christians (Ephesians 4:1-3, 1 Peter 3:8), and are keen to serve where-ever Jesus leads them (John 12:26).

I go to events which are not just led from the front but where people can share and contribute to what God is doing, as Holy Spirit leads. We tend to sing joy- and gratitude-filled songs, most of which call Jesus by name and are full of Biblical truth and theological depth (very few of these songs are new).

The people at these meetings are fed, they are enriched by Jesus, His life and His Word, and often by Communion. The fellowship is rich. It would give a wrong impression to call these gatherings "services". The life flows out into the city when the meetings conclude and we disperse. What happened on the inside goes out! It is not just church buildings, not just leadership people, and not just Sundays.

What God has done for us in Jesus is so perfect, so complete and so total, that there is nothing more that we can or could ever do to make things better. All we can do is accept it! It happened on our inside and shows on our outside, (Kerry Kirkwood, sermon, April 2018).

Barry Chant, founder of Tabor Bible College, said: "Living in the image of God is not trying to be what we are not .. rather it is simply becoming what we already are", ("Creative Living", 1999, Tabor Publications, p 49).

I find that I am so changed on the inside that I want my outside, that part of me which inter-acts with others, to reflect what is there. Thoughts of living as the world does is frightening to me, I do not want to live without God's love, or grace, or meaning, or purpose, or hope!

Paul writes that we are to remember who we are in Jesus and what He has done on our insides, and in our life, and to live out the truth and fullness of it, spirit, soul and body! "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Likewise, each of us is a part of Jesus' earthly body today. Jesus' human body is in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, ruling and reigning. We are to be His physical manifestation here on the Earth; His heart, compassion and voice, His hands and feet. "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose"  (Philippians 2:13).

As we live our Christian life we grow more into the image and likeness of God. How beautiful and awesome! I, who was once simply John, am now John with Jesus added, Holy Spirit added, and also with gifting added and my spirit made alive, to enable me to do the works God wants me to do with His power. I know that that is totally beyond what I could ever do as I used to be or in my own strength and skills.

Spiritual gifts help in our life here. They are given so that our spirit is equipped and strengthened. They add to us inside, and enable us to be more effective on the outside.

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,  who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter [of the law] but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ESV) ..

"The Holy Spirit gives life / makes alive" .. as I write this I am finally getting over a very nasty cold and chest infection. I needed antibiotics to overcome the infection, so my gut flora were devastated and I was very uncomfortable. But because I spend so much time with Jesus and His people I have been delighted to be "made alive by Holy Spirit", and have not felt defeated! Thank you Jesus, I am so grateful! It could have been a very difficult time ..

When Elohim God created humankind, They (Elohim is a plural word in Hebrew), said that each and every one of us were to  "rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). This is a part of our work, yours and mine .. we are to be stewards of all that God has made, effectively servants of the Creation, and at the same time it's rulers, overseers and workers, it's keepers. This is now our rôle. For us to be asked to share in Jesus' work on Earth and to steward it's resources is a great honour, and is yet another way we can worship our lovely Lord ..

The Hebrew Old Testament words for "work", (avad) and "keep" (shamar), are the words for worshiping God and keeping His commandments.

God is connecting the inside-ness and outside-ness of each one of us as we grow in Him and in wholeness .. any walls between our spiritual and our worldly life are being softened, even removed .. So it is all one .. our Christian life, that is our life in Christ and in Holy Spirit, is as one with our life and our work in the world and our work for Jesus and His Kingdom.

It truly is becoming inside out and really is "not just Sundays"!

Praise Jesus ..

(See Note 1)

Favourite Scriptures

"'In the last days', God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Acts 2:17-21).

"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:10).

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

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).

"[Jesus'] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with perseverance, and perseverance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:3-8).

"So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Do all things without grumbling or disputing;  so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God, above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:12-15 NASB).

Hallelujah!

Note 1:

Thinking about: "It is all one .. our Christian life, that is our life in Christ and in Holy Spirit, is as one with our life and our work in the world and our work for Jesus and His Kingdom .. "

Hindus and Muslims have told me that they see themselves in a similar way, as a unified one-ness, although their relationship with their gods is not intimate, or even close, as ours is with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are not children of their god(s) or even included in godly things as we are, but they clearly are people of their own faith ..

"God has revealed Himself in time and space". Our Christian faith is based in history and geography, many, many historical hi-lights are recorded by strong witnesses. Jesus lived, His miracles, His crucifixion, death and resurrection were observed, marvelled by many (more than 500 people) who recorded what they saw and knew to be real. "This is not the case with many cults [and religions] which base their faith in mystical time and space". (Neil Anderson, "Living Free", 1999, Monarch Books, p 112).

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

In

In Father, In Jesus, In Holy Spirit, In Me, In You

John 14:20 - Jesus' words: "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you".

Some years ago, I started to see the many Bible verses which talked about God being in me, and me being in God. I do not remember preachers or teachers bringing this forward .. just a quiet recognition from my own Bible reading.

I always thought that Adam and Eve had a really good thing going in the very early part of the Creation, you know, before the Fall. They lived in a glorious garden in what I am sure was a really great marriage, (after all, it was God Himself who put them together). They helped God to name all the "kinds" He had created and all the many, many species within each "kind", and even got to walk and talk with God, in the garden at the end of each day! Such a lovely thought .. hanging out with God almighty, the God of all creation! (My wife, Trish, is a brilliant and enthusiastic gardener so we live in a place nearly as gorgeous as that first couple. We also walk and talk with God! How wonderful that is!)

But this being "in" that I found in my Bible, is so much more than Adam's and Eve's experience. A really radical concept. It is to do with our spirit being the main part of us, greater than our soul or our body. I see it in a similar way as when I add milk and honey to my mug of tea. I now have a brew where one cannot distinguish the different inputs but, instead, have something new and better and sweeter too. Recently I was told that I am a sweet guy! Thank you Lord! People used to point out how disenchanted, angry and inflexible I was. Definitely I am much better, in every way, with Jesus added to me, and Father God, and Holy Spirit! How rich my spirit has become, and my life.

I have long understood that Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection made it possible for God and humankind to be fully re-united for the first time since the Fall (Ephesians 1:9-10), and that this is where all humankind are headed (2 Peter 3:9,13), perhaps not in my lifetime but certainly I will see it from my place in Heaven.

After the Fall, God cast Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden, they became outcasts (a very sad word), and He even posted "cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life", to prevent their return (Genesis 3:23-24). Then Jesus cast Himself in, with us on Earth, to rescue, redeem and save us. He cast Himself in - what an amazing and costly thing for God to do - yet He did do it as the only way to pay for all our sin and redeem us for Himself. We know Him as Jesus our Messiah.

Surely all this in-ness is a part of the "every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), part of the "glorious inheritance" (Ephesians 1:18) that is promised for all Jesus' people.

Here are some of the very clear, and very striking Bible verses I have added to my "In Father, In Son" list on my laptop.

Jesus' words:

"I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive; for it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you" (John 14:16-17).

"Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father" (John 10:37-38).

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4); "abide" means "live"; our position is that we live in Jesus!

"My prayer is .. that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21).

And Paul's words:

" .. you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). 

So this is where our righteousness comes from, and our wisdom and our growing sanctification, it is all Jesus! we don't have to rely on ourselves - praise you Lord!

"Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17 Amplified).

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness" (Colossians 2:6-7).

As I ponder these many Scripture verses I am overwhelmed by how I am so very beloved of God - God chose me, a disinterested sinner whom He had created in my mother's womb all those years ago. For each one of us, this was a sovereign choosing, we had no virtue and played no part in it. Then God showered us with gifts beyond price:

•  We were "chosen" in Christ before the Creation of the World (Ephesians 1:4)

•  It was God's pleasure to "predestine us for adoption to sonship" (so, whether we are a man or a woman we are fully included in God's inheritance, just like the first-born son in Bible times) "through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:4-5)

•  We are saved by Jesus' work, we were redeemed and washed clean "through His blood" (Ephesians 1:7;  Hebrews 13:12)

•  We are established by God in Christ ".. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

•  We are blessed, in Christ, with "every spiritual blessing" in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3); "every", this means that there are no spiritual blessing that we do not have!

This "in" study is very exciting! All the blessings were simply given to us, some were given before we were born ..

But there is something Jesus wants us to do, in fact, He commands it. Once we belong to Him, Jesus desires that we are baptised in the Holy Spirit.

John Baptist told the people about this and it was reported in all four Gospels, and in Jesus' words in Acts:

"John answered them all, 'I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire'" (Luke 3:16; see also Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 1:5,8).

“Baptise" means "to immerse", so we are immersed in water for our believers' baptism and then are immersed in Holy Spirit to be, in a sense, completed - filled with Holy Spirit and fire (Acts 2:4).

Three of the Old Testament prophets declared this future pouring out of God's Spirit on His people (Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 2:28-29). From this we know that this was eternally planned.

When it was coming to the time when Jesus would ascend to Heaven He told His disciples not to act yet, but to wait until: ".. you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Acts chapter 2 concludes with a description of how these new Christians were able to live; they were a tightly grouped, strong, generous, sharing and loving community; all their needs were met; they prayed and worshiped and were filled with joy.

When the Pilgrims first arrived in America they appear to have followed this powerful and free way of living with Jesus at the centre. For years there was no sickness and no fighting among them, until they started to claim land and other things as their own. It seems that humankind still has a lot to learn, and a lot of growing to do in Jesus.

This baptism in the Holy Spirit brings "fire" and "power" into our lives .. it enables us to "do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:6,10), to live closely with Jesus and with our Christian brothers and sisters and to be "Christ's ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20) in the world.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit comes after our salvation, our justification and redemption, when all the amazing and glorious "in" things are added to us and we are brought into Jesus' family and Kingdom. Sometimes this "second baptism" happens immediately and for others it happens later. Please read Acts chapter 2; Jesus had left His followers and ascended to Heaven. The confused, frightened, bereft disciples were completely transformed by this baptism. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, became a giant for Jesus and immediately gave a powerful sermon. Then in Acts chapter 3 he and John, with one word and Jesus' power, healed "a man who was lame from birth" (Acts 3:1-10). The whole book of Acts is one of the greatest adventure stories I have ever read!

Baptism in Holy Spirit completes us in Jesus. All we need then is to cleave to Jesus (John 6:29, Acts 11:23 Amplified), share our love, allow time in Scripture, fellowship and prayer, so we can continually grow, and to persevere when things seem not to be going well, and be grateful (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

" God has chosen to make known .. the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Amen.

PS: The words "in Christ" appear 86 times in the NIV New Testament. During my childhood it was understood that to "eighty-six" a person was to absolutely put them out of the game. Whilst working on this piece it occurred to me that we Christians have yet another great tool to put Satan in his place, we can "eighty-six" him with Scripture, reminding him how clearly the Bible reinforces our "in Christ" position, AND that Satan has much less power and influence than he tries to tell us that he has! This is what Jesus did, in the wilderness, when Satan tempted Him (See Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 4). (If my children were reading this, they may well say "ha ha" at this point!)

Bless you, bless us all. Amen

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Praise Jesus. Amen.