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And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.  And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.   Ex 33:18-19

God’s glory consists in His moral attributes–in His goodness.  Everything He has done for us in Christ reflects His glory.  As we fix our attention on what we have received in Christ, we prepare ourselves to receive … receive His glory!

When God spoke to me those many years ago to prepare the people, I had no idea how to do such a thing.  He spoke to me of what He desired to do in each meeting, and I prepared the people’s hearts to receive by proclaiming His Word.  As they believed, He poured His love and goodness into their hearts. 

His desire and direction is once again to prepare the hearts of the people.  As you fix your faith on His Word, He will pour His goodness on you, and manifest what He has accomplished through His Son in you!

Do not underestimate how important it is to know what God has done for us in Christ, it is the foundation of faith, and we can receive nothing from God apart from faith.

We must train our soul and exercise our spirit.  The Bible commands us to take every thought captive, every thought!  You may say that is impossible, but it is a command, and thus it is possible.  It will, however, require conscious awareness of the thoughts that pass through your mind, and the words that come out of your mouth.  Every thought that runs contrary to the Word of God must be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  The only way to do that is to know who we are, and what He has given to those who believe.

 Let us prepare to receive His glory and be equipped to manifest His kingdom rule on this earth.  May that glory shine forth from us in increasing measure and draw many to our victorious King.

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There are two sides to the cross, the earthward side and the resurrection side.  It is the Blood that separates those two sides.

As we look at everything that God has accomplished in Christ for us, we are focusing on the resurrection side of the cross. 

As we look at scripture, we are exhorted to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and many other such scriptures.  As we honestly look at ourselves, we can agree that we fail in many things.  As we look at Christ, we see ourselves as holy and complete.  How do these two aspects of the Word of God reconcile with each other?

Foundational to the Christian life is Christ.  God accepts us because of what His Son has done for us.  He has placed us in Christ and thus we are imputed with His righteousness, His holiness, everything is of Him.  Because of that, we can acknowledge our lack and look to His victory.  We can see our utter sinfulness and yet boldly enter into His throne room of grace.

In studying foundational truths, let us put blinders on lest we get distracted from the most essential of all truths, His finished work.  Let us train ourselves to view ourselves in Him, from the ascended side of the cross.  It is then that we can embrace the light God gives which shows us our current condition (the earthward side of the cross) and apply the truth of the ascension side.  We will be able to embrace Christ and not fear seeing the Lord in His holiness.

As His light shines on our current condition, never let that revelation violate the blood barrier between the sides of the cross.  Because of the blood, there is no condemnation.  Because of the blood, even though our sins are as scarlet, we are made whiter than snow; because of the blood, the work is accomplished and can now be experienced in our mortal bodies.

Remember, we have not only been delivered from death, we have been delivered from living!

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With this lesson we reach a turning point.  What is that change? 

Previously, we strove to establish the importance of the Word of God.  Can that be overstated?  No, it cannot.  Now, however, we will begin to look at what the Word of God is NOT.  Please pay close attention to both aspects, as the enemy will fight furiously to prevent this teaching on that very perception!

Religion is the enemy of relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit!

To many of you, the concepts and precepts you have learned equal living as a Christian.  Perhaps you have never even considered them or felt a need to call them into question.  To these, you may find the material challenging, or even somewhat confusing.  Please press through with an open mind to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  Changing paradigms (the set of lenses through which we see the world) can be, well … challenging.

To others, you will find a measure of relief from the pressure you have lived under, and perhaps the judgment you have felt or placed upon yourself.  To these, soak it in and rejoice in the freedom we have in Christ.

To all, keep your heart fixed on seeking truth, together with every blessing we have been given in Christ.  Press into God and refuse to relent.  He will respond in measure to our heart cry for more of Him.

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And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thes 5:23

And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. Mark 9:2-3

How wonderfully and fearfully we are made … and how little we may comprehend of our own being.  God created us in His image and He is Spirit!  We often relate most strongly to our bodily image and our soul’s personality and have little understanding of the dwelling place of God within us.  Our understanding of the dynamics God created in us is about to open.

I encourage you to take the time to understand the interworking of the spirit, soul and body.  Once you have the experience, your understanding will increase exponentially.  The experiential understanding of how they work together will greatly increase your ability to distinguish the direction of God and your spiritual discernment.

Jesus became flesh and walked among men.  It was not until the transfiguration that they saw the glory that was in Him.  He carried the treasure in an earthen vessel.  We too carry a treasure within our earthen vessel.

How can that treasure be made manifest?  It is just as in a seed, the outer husk gives way to the life that is within, and life comes forth.  There is a breaking of the outer shell that the life within can come into fullness.  In nature, the process flows naturally, a seedtime and harvest. 

In our lives, however, recognition of the process is an important part.  God allows circumstances in our lives for His purposes.  Do we recognize them?  Do we resist and redirect ourselves into another path?  Do we become oblivious to His hand in our environment?

I invite you to a new perspective on life and all the events, drama, upsets and delights that it presents.  May we come into a clearer understanding that nothing happens to us by chance, but that our God watches over every detail.  Can He who knows every hair on our head be doing anything less?

I do not believe that He micromanages our lives.  But I do believe He has an overarching control over all that pertains to us.  Let us never lose sight of God’s oversight or we are liable to be askew in our view of God’s authority and the demonic.  Like a rainbow in the sky which arches over everything below, He is ultimately in control.

May we at once look up, and also bow our heads, in recognition and submission to His Lordship and His purposes to bring forth the treasure that is within us, His Spirit! 

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He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.  2 Samuel 22:35 Amp

The Lord is a Man of War; the Lord is His name.  Exodus 15:3 Amp

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.  2 Corinthians 10:4 Amp

The Lord spoke to me a number of years ago about discipline being a way into the deeper things of the spirit.  I understood that with the discipline He arranges, and our cooperation with it, we train our souls in obedience.  As our training increases, we respond with quickness as we bring the arguments of the soul under submission to His Spirit. 

In the deeper places of the spiritual realm we cannot rely on anything natural.  The more we have been trained through discipline and trial to trust the Holy Spirit’s leading and not our own reasoning, the more we are prepared.  To move into deeper places of intercession and battle we must be free of control.  Our control over ourselves is the hardest control to break.  The Holy Spirit alone understands the plans of God.  If we are unresponsive to Him, we are greatly hindered in our usefulness.

Let us pull down the strongholds in our thinking which prevent us from receiving the Word of God and being transformed by its power.

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God knows the end from the beginning.  From His foreknowledge, He brings into time His designed purposes for the earth. Scripture tells us that it is first the natural (foreshadowed) then the spiritual.  God gives types and shadows of a reality in heaven.  You cannot have a shadow without a reality.  God's objective is the reality.  The shadow puts into our conscious thinking the reality, which He brings forth in the fullness of time.  Type and shadow are but precursors to acquaint us with the reality before it comes.  When the reality comes, it transforms us. 

When God took woman out of man in Genesis, he was foreshadowing the church taken out of the wounded side of Christ.  When Israel sacrificed spotless lambs, those sacrifices foreshadowed the coming of the Lamb of God.  John proclaimed, "behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world."  Suddenly, the lamb is a man and the Ark of the Covenant is no longer a box, but the presence of God.  All of the blood sacrifices by the priest are but a picture, a foreshadowing of the blood shed by Christ and offered before God to cleanse the sin of mankind. 

Once the greater comes into time the lesser falls into the greater and no longer competes.  When the light appears, the shadow recedes, giving place to the light.  This is part of the function of the unveiling of the reality. 

God created man in order to have many sons.  The power to become a mature son is a process.  Along the way, training and discipline work to make you a mature son.  You then have the grace to be the face of Jesus Christ for someone else.  If you are saved He designs you from your mother’s womb to be a carrier of the eternal realities in time. He designs you to function in the eternal economy.  The earth is not a place devoid of either the presence or the process of God.  You can choose to live by God's economy or your own economy.  You can choose to ignore the reality of God's purposes and live life as a natural man, or you can come into the experiential reality of His plans and purposes. 

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God is inviting you into a deeper place of intimacy with Him.  He longs to dwell with His people, with you.  The Father has provided everything for you so that you can fellowship with Him in a very real and personal way.

I encourage you to practice the presence of God.  His presence is a tangible place.  We sit with Him and He dwells in us.  All relationships require us to be present, to give time, and to learn to communicate one to another.  As a rule, the more that we give to a relationship, the more we receive in return.  God has given everything in His desire for relationship with us.  Our response determines the level of depth and richness we will experience.

Passion for the presence of God has characterized my life and ministry.  His presence is my joy, my sustenance, and my chief desire.  I hope to kindle within you an even greater desire for His presence.  No matter what measure we have now, God has so much more for us.

In His presence, we are strong and free of fear, for He is with us to strengthen us.  In His presence, we find refuge, grace, and safety.  In His presence, there is fullness of joy!

Determine now to press in like never before for the fullest measure of the presence of God.  Commit to spend more intimate time with Him.  He rewards those who earnestly and diligently seek Him and you will not be disappointed.

Be sensitive to the wooing of the Holy Spirit.  Resist everything that stands in the way.  As you set your heart on Him, He will empower and enable you to find that which you seek. 

Be expectant and receive by faith each time you come into His presence for He will not disappoint.

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Of all the powerful and rich truth in the Word of God, I believe you are about to look into one of the most intimate.  I encourage you to approach this teaching in a very personal way.  Set aside every other thought and position yourself to understand and feel the heart of God. 

God has created us in His image and He desires intimate relationship with His children, just as we desire intimate relationships with people close to us.  From the beginning of creation, God has set His heart to dwell with man.  From the Word of God, we know that ultimately He will have His desired end. 

We also know that we will have intimate fellowship with God in heaven.  Is God to wait until the end?  Are you to wait until heaven for that deep personal fellowship with Him?  Let it not be so! 

No matter whether you are very new to this relationship or have walked for many years in close fellowship, take hold of a deeper revelation of His desire for you.  I encourage you to receive all things from His hand.  Hold all things equal and receive them with joy.  One day you may experience overwhelming love, and another time seeming dryness.  He may even lead you through long periods of apparent dryness.  Do not count one greater than the other, but with thankfulness receive both from His hand.  As you practice this, you walk by faith and not by feelings.  All things come to us by faith.  Know this, He will bring forth His desire and intent for you in everything that He allows to come to you. 

Stand in the resolute place of absolute submission to His will.  Recognize His goodness in everything and resolve to trust Him with everything earthly and spiritual.  He is good.  Declare that goodness and He will cause you to walk in triumph. 

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I have related strongly to being a pioneer over the years.  Although others have referred to pioneering churches, I realized long ago that I was pioneering in the spirit.  When I read the book Pioneers of the Heavenly Way (T Austin Sparks), my inner being resonated with it.  I believe your spirit will respond also, even if you have not considered yourself, or indeed been a pioneer.

When you are born again you are translated from the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of God.  That is an actual event in time and eternity that affects you in a very real way.  Your relationship to this earth changes dramatically.  Do you wonder that you seem not to fit?  Do you struggle to fit, even in religious circles?  You were created and translated to fit in a heavenly calling.  Nothing less than that will ultimately satisfy you.

The Bible tells us that we are aliens, sojourners in a foreign land.  We need to apprehend the fullness of what that means.  What would it look like and how would you react to an alien from another planet?  Certainly you would not understand and indeed be suspect, if not threatened, when meeting such a strange being.  Do not be surprised then as you pursue this heavenly calling at how alien you are to those closely associating with this world.  Do not be surprised at the need to learn, to explore, to understand the changes that come with the translation from one kingdom to another.

Because my experience of being born again was so dramatic from darkness to light, this is perhaps clearer to me.  Too others, who are raised in church, this may not be as clear.  Nevertheless, make no mistake about it; if you are indeed born again, your life is alien to this earth.  There is no common ground between heaven and earth.  Jesus has overcome Satan, but he still rules the earth and its’ systems.  He is the usurper that the church has been appointed to displace. 

Because you are related to heaven, your presence on earth is like an inoculation, opposing the virus of the enemy.  He realizes this far more clearly than you, and will block and defend his territory with all his force.  Be encouraged and of good cheer for Christ has overcome, and thus we can overcome.

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God desires to make you a declaration to the kingdom of darkness— the kingdom of God is at hand! The Bible tells us that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Cor 5:17 

In Christ you become a totally new creation. In Christ is a place, an identity, a relationship with a completely new order of thinking and acting.  From this position, He has made available to us the use His name and His authority.

In Christ there is no division, not Jew or Gentile, no male or female. In Christ there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. All divisions and separations fall. In Christ we have entered a new kingdom—the kingdom of God.  All other kingdoms are merely the kingdoms of man.

Are you in Christ? I mean are you really walking as one in whom all things have become new? Or are you in Christ, yet still dependent upon the kingdoms of man for your identity? The real question again is, are you in Christ? If you are in Christ, you are of a completely new order of species, responding to a new kingdom and no longer wooed by or intimidated by lesser kingdoms. It is a choice between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man, which is ruled by Satan. Wherever man is at the center and not God, you have man's kingdom.

Although we speak of man's kingdom, there are really only two kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Ephesians is very clear on the fact that when we did not know Christ, we walked under the power of the dark kingdom. When we came to Christ we were translated from one kingdom into another. We can only walk in one or the other. Eph 2:1-6; Col 1:12-13

We can make many things kingdoms if we are not careful. We can have the kingdom of family, the kingdom of our work, even the kingdom of church or our ministry. When we lose the focus of being identified with the one King and His kingdom, we allow all the division that comes in with clashing kingdoms. Seeing the kingdom of Christ and having our hearts submitted in all areas to the King, sets us apart and allows the bringing forth of the kingdom of God on the earth.

God must realign us. He will remove us from under the kingdoms of this world and place us solely under Christ, if we will allow Him. The Holy Spirit will sovereignly and in various ways work with us to cause us to lose our grip of control. As we seek Him, He will give us more and more revelation, the truth that sets us free indeed. Pray for this and allow God to have His way, no matter what the cost.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven … may it be so in and through us!

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The natural man cannot know the ways of the Spirit. What happens when he tries? He may find himself tangled in the sticky spider web of judgment, reasoning, and control.  As we begin to understand judgment, we can avoid entanglement in our own or other people's judgment.

In this teaching, we will look at the differences between natural ground and resurrection ground.  The measure of blindness in spiritual things correlates directly with the measure in which we live as natural men!

T. Austin Sparks states, "The church is at war with spirituality." I believe that ongoing war has caused a fear in believers.  That fear has blocked their progress in learning to discern spiritual things and walk in victory.

Join with us as we venture into the subject of judgment and our choice to walk as a natural man or a spiritual man.  Learning to stand on resurrection ground will open the way for greater revelation.

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