Pushing Peanuts

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Did Jesus die for a free ticket to heaven? Is that why He died? Is that the only reason? In my opinion, "NO."

The bible says, we go from glory to glory and faith to faith. These describe a maturation process. The word salvation means "to make whole." In 1 Thess. 5:23, Paul says, "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." During the course of salvation we are sanctified. In this process of sanctification, we grow in our wholeness in Him. We become more whole and complete. At salvation our spirit is immediately made whole and quickened by grace through the Holy Spirit. The revelation of this quickening affects the soul or person of an individual. In turn, the quickening affects the body. Healing, deliverance, radical change in personality/lifestyle, redemption, and numerous other things occur because of the death of His cross for us.

Romans 5:17 says,
"For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)"

Paul calls Christ the Last Adam. Christ says He is the First and the Last.

So, salvation is not just a ticket, but an adventure of growing whole in Him more so everyday. We are saved over and over and over again unto fullness in Him.

2 Corinthians 4:16 says,
"Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

Also, creation longs for the revealing of the sons of God. It longs for redemption.

Romans 8:19,
"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."

So, He died to REDEEM ALL CREATION. ALL CREATION. Not just earth. Every planet, star, galaxy, universe, and molecule everywhere. That every knee should bow and declare Him LORD of LORDS and KING of all KINGS!


Ephesians 1:10,
"that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him."

A brother in Christ told me once, "I would serve Jesus even if I were going to hell." When he told me that my thought was, "Huh? I don't get it." That is the point. We serve Christ because we have an exceedingly strong desire to do so not because of a free ticket to heaven. The bible speaks of inheritance. The bible also speaks of those escaping by the skin of their teeth or as one who escapes the flames. Not much inheritance there, but that is not the reason to serve Him either. Service unto Him is because of who He is. That is more than enough reason. Even the reason to serve Him is not of ourselves, but it is the faith of Him in us to serve Him, Gal. 2:20.

There is a contrast between preaching Christ and the ministry of the Word. Both are seen in the book of Acts. The free, gracious, heavenly ticket is preaching Christ and the need for Him to save you from hell and really you. Note, hell is a place prepared for the enemy not man, Matt. 25:41. The ministry of the Word is infusing the Word of Christ into the believer into discipleship.

The root word, "manthano", for disciple means the following:

1. to learn, be apprised
• to increase one's knowledge, to be increased in knowledge
• to hear, be informed
• to learn by use and practice
2. to be in the habit of, accustomed to

Click here for the physics of a bouncing ball.

Excerpt:
"The ball stores this work/energy as a deformation of its elastic surface and a compression of the air inside the ball. The ball then rebounds from the table as this stored energy reemerges as kinetic energy in the ball."

So, I was bouncing a ball today and this popped in my head. How? I thought about it and dug around a little on the internet.

The ball absorbs and converts the energy applied to it. Hopefully I am saying this correctly. The ball is a medium so to speak of the energy applied to it. My energy (me throwing the ball) acts as the catalyst and initiates the process. I bet if I were in space and I bounced the ball in zero gravity (or no resistance/friction) the ball would move indefinitely. The harder I bounced the ball or more energy applied to the force of my throw I believe would increase acceleration. The distance would not change which is infinite. I picture a space craft traveling through space and at different stages a booster will fire off and increase the acceleration. Einstein said that time slows down as an object approaches the speed of light. This starts to go into the theory of relativity which is where I'm going.

Isaiah 28:10 says,
"For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:"

John 1:16-17 says,
"And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Colossians 2:9 says,
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

I've noticed as I've grown in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ that revelation reaffirms and intertwines with other revelation on a micro- to macroscopic scope of cognizance. This reminds me of the Isaiah scripture. The revelation of Him compounds itself and its growth is eternally exponential. Hence, grace for grace unto infinite fullness in Him by Him in us.

In Ephesians 3:8, Paul speaks of the "unsearchable riches of Christ." I interpret this as no bounds, limitations, or finite end to what Christ has done for us and His creation.

This revelatory knowledge of Him enters our inner man with it's purpose and does not return void. The knowledge of Him could be energy, His energy. In Colossians 1:29 Paul says, " Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." This supernatural knowledge of Christ deposited into Paul and worked in him like a dynamo which is where the word "power" comes from in the Greek. "And you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you", Acts 1:8. A dynamo is power reproducing power. A reoccurring pattern in nature I see of this power is the nuclear power of the sun. Nuclear power is created because of the nature of a star over and over again. There is an exceeding power towards those who believe, Eph. 1:19. This power that is created by the knowledge of Him. This power gives ability to bear His fruit, say no to p0rn/perversion, quit smoking, quit cocaine, no to desire to participate in foul language even, raise the dead, grow new limbs, change personality and not modify it, cast out demons, see the future, experience pure joy, run with all endurance, authority over all death, and the list goes on.

There seems to be a lot happening when a ball is bounced.

To right is an artificial palm tree. Things are not always what they seem to appear at first glance.

Col. 2:18 "Let no man beguile (umpire) you of your reward in a voluntary humility (self-abasement) and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind..." Appearance of godliness, 2 Tim. 3:5. Menpleasers, eyeservice, Eph. 6:6; Col. 3:22.

Beguile also means "to be an umpire towards". Voluntary humility is very different from the humility of Christ.
Phil. 2:5-8
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
The mind of Christ, 1 Cor. 2:16.
Col. 3:10, renewed in the knowledge of the Creator according to the original pattern.
Gal. 1:12, the revelation of Christ in us. The revealing of Him and of His "mind" in us.
2 Pet. 3:18, growing and maturing in this knowledge and grace of Him.

"Voluntary humility" in other scripture translations is also called false humility, self-denial (performed by self and not Christ), asceticism, self-abasement, and "doing his own will in humility".

Galatians 2:13 gives a great example of this "voluntary humility". Personally, I call it dead religion, works, another gospel (Gal. 1:16), non-inspiring, lifeless, Pseudo-Christianity, deception, and absolutely undesirable. For the longest time, I thought this was true Christianity. I would try and try and try...I and fall, and fall, and fall...I would become more and more frustrated and hopeless trying to fulfill this walk by voluntary humility, self-denial, and so on hoping Jesus would look down because I thought He or the Father didn't notice me unless I was tap dancing or hopping one foot for Jesus with my W.W.J.D. hat (I never wore a W.W.J.D. hat and pray to God I never will.) W.W.J.D. hat's mean "What would Jesus do?" This is based on human presumption and intellect possibly mixed with Truth at best. In turn, the results of decisions based on W.W.J.D. are similar to Las Vegas casinos because God is a gambler you know (just a joke.) If one is wearing such a hat though that is what I am led to believe that God is part of the mob and watches C.S.I. Las Vegas. That His will is arbitrary. This leads to what doctrine the individual is basing their walk on?

Paul says in Romans 6:17, "but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." The form (or pattern/blueprint) of doctrine is sound doctrine. Sound doctrine firmly establishes, roots, and grounds the believer to be immovable IN Christ because you are more convinced of the revelation of Him than you are of the air you breathe. This sound doctrine germinates the humility of Christ. Otherwise, it is something else as previously described. So, true, authentic, sincere, real humility is Christ in you. Jesus did Phil. 2:5-8 on the basis of God's love. Paul says, "the love of God compels us." The revelation of Him is His love. John says in 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." I started this journey of knowing Him and His love on a Capital Metro bus 20 years ago. On the bus, I asked Him, "If you are who people say you are show me?" I began to cry uncontrollably and knew I was different and never to be the same. This was the germination of Him in me. Peter, Paul, and elsewhere throughout the Word He is spoken of as the incorruptible seed. The seed must be watered with sound doctrine. From the incorruptible seed will grow a real tree.

Psalms 1:3
"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

At times in my walk I have perceived what I could only describe as a spiritual current or undertow.
See rip current or undertow.

Ezekiel 47
Ezekiel 47:5
"Afterward he measured a thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over."

There a 7 baptisms. Three that are pertinent are the baptism into Christ when you are saved, baptism by water, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Ezekiel saw a river which depth was ankle, knee, waist deep and then it was a river that could not be passed. Romans 6 says we are baptized or immersed into Christ's death. Immersion or baptism here means "to be drowned." I have been drowned in Him, Gal. 2:20.

The other day my family and I went down a "lazy river." What I noticed was it was very difficult to go against the current and would become tiresome and eventually wear me out. The river constantly moved. It was alive. It did not stop. When I sat in the tube the river took the tube and me along with it. I am not saying to sit in a tube and let the river take you listlessly. In the context of Romans 6, the river drowns you and you die. The power of the river takes over and afterwards you arise from the river a new creature. Jesus says, "Rivers of living water will flow from your belly." Revelation speaks of a river in the New Kingdom.

Isaiah talks about mounting up with wings as eagles. Ephesians talks about being filled with the Spirit. These are external forces. The wind creating lift for the eagle. Negative pressure created from an airfoil enables the sailboat to move. The overpowering current of the river is an external force. Gravity is an external force. The power of the sun is an external force. Ephesians 1:19 speaks of "the exceeding greatness of His power towards those who believe." There is an inexhaustible, unlimited resource of power by faith through grace towards those who believe in Christ Jesus.

His will is good, well-pleasing and perfect (Rom. 12:1-). It is not arbitrary.
His will is that all men be saved (or be made whole spirit, soul, body). (1 Tim. 2:4)

–adjective

1. subject to individual will or judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one's discretion: an arbitrary decision.

2. decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute.

3. having unlimited power; uncontrolled or unrestricted by law; despotic; tyrannical: an arbitrary government.

4. capricious; unreasonable; unsupported: an arbitrary demand for payment.

5. Mathematics. undetermined; not assigned a specific value: an arbitrary constant.


It is His will. His will is Truth.

On the other hand, I have a free-will to decide who will I serve.

As I grow IN Him, my will becomes His will by the revelation Him through faith by grace.

His decisions are always good, well-pleasing and perfect.

He cannot lie and does not change His mind (ever).

His decisions cannot be malicious, chaotic, inadequate, or indecisive because it is not in His nature. (1 Cor. 13)

His will for Truth, goodness, well-pleasing (by faith), and perfection(maturity and fullness in Him) is in me.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence/proof of things not yet seen.

Jesus is the only begotten Son in whom the Father is well pleased.

When the Father spoke this He did not change His mind and will not. He can only speak that which is True.

His will is in those who have been immersed or baptized INTO Him. His will grows in the "immersed" by faith through grace.

His will is His will.

What is Repentance?

Act 9:4
"And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

2 Cor. 7:10
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

Sorrow: Lupe (root) - signifies "pain," of body or mind;

Repentance: Metanoia Repentance (3341) (metanoia from meta = after + noéo = to understand) literally means "afterthought" or "to think after" and implies a change of mind.

Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Christ revealed himself to Paul. Saul replied, “Who art though Lord?” The revelation of Christ changes us and makes us righteous by grace through the faith of Him in us. Knowing him is knowing absolute and total truth. Knowing Him is enlightenment of unveiled knowledge. This knowledge of him changes us. It causes us to have “afterthought.” This “afterthought” is the beginnings of Godly sorrow which changes us and causes us to grow as new creations in Him by the knowledge of Him. Christ was resurrected by the glory of the Father. The glory of the Father could be thought of as His unchanging essence. He is the “I am that I am” and because He “is” Christ Is The Resurrection. Death has never had authority over Him. All things were created by Him and for Him and by him all things consist. Christ said He and the Father are one. Jesus was crucified before the foundations of the earth. Jesus was resurrected before the foundations of the earth. That which was contrary to us and against us was nailed to His cross. Our old man was crucified with Him on the cross. We resurrected with Him. This knowledge makes me aware and changes my whole person: spirit, soul and body. I am ever-sanctified and grow in Him from glory to glory, faith to faith because of repentance by grace.

Glory (1391) (doxa from dokéo = to think or suppose) means to give a proper opinion of, in this case a proper opinion of God. Glory then is the true apprehension of God. The glory of God means His unchanging essence, what He is essentially, the totality of His perfection. God is glorified when He is allowed to be seen as He really is.

The Greek word definitions are referenced from http://www.preceptaustin.org/

Hebrews 9:16-17
"For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth."

After Jesus died, resurrected, was glorified and sat down on the throne.

When did the Church become the Church?
It is still a work in progress, but the after Christ ascended on high he gave gifts to men and sent the Spirit of God to earth. The baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:4 was the genesis of the New Testament Church not the Gospel of Matthew. To interpret the Gospels as the New Testament is inaccurate and can dilute sound doctrine. These books are intermediary between the Old and New Covenants. Technically, they are the Old Covenant.

Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments.

1 Cor. 9:27
"But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

This could sound legal (religious) to many and probably has.

Paul says, “The love of God constraineth us…” , “revelation of Christ in him” , “life he lives is by the faith of the Son of God.”

My conclusion is the revelation has apprehended and passively arrested him.

The revelation of Christ took and arrested Paul into the kingdom of the Father’s agapeo’d Son (Col. 1:13) almost without Paul’s knowing it. Paul grew and became more conscious and fully aware of this apprehension.

The ‘knowledge’ of this apprehension or ‘apprehension’ of this knowledge consumed, absorbed, and metabolized Paul.

In this supernatural, spiritual, metabolic process Paul’s will becomes Christ’s will which is really Paul’s will.

Paul was who he was by the grace of God which is really who he was. This identity of ‘who he was by grace’ included his will.

Essentially, Paul was IN Christ and Christ was IN Paul and because of this Paul has an overwhelming, engulfing, overflowing desire towards godliness (Tit. 2:11).

This engulfing desire enabled him by the faith of Christ through His grace to willfully keep his body under subjection. This ‘willfulness’ is the good, perfect, pleasing will of Christ in Him. It was Christ in him.

Passive: -adjective
1. receiving, enduring, or submitting without resistance: a passive hypnotic subject.

Apprehend: v. tr.
1. To take into custody; arrest: apprehended the murderer.
2. To grasp mentally; understand: a candidate who apprehends the significance of geopolitical issues.
3. To become conscious of, as through the emotions or senses; perceive.

1 Cor. 15:31
“I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

2 Cor. 4:10
“…always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

I have heard so many Christians say, "You gotta crucify and die to your flesh!" "You gotta, you just gotta." I have a question. If someone is dead then why would you have to kill them again? Romans 6 says, "We have been planted together in the likeness of His death." We partake of His death and life by grace. The above scripture, 1 Cor. 15:31, can also read, "I am dead daily" in the Greek. I believe what Paul was saying was that he is ALWAYS dead IN Christ. All the time.

As believers, we are not who we were.
Col. 3:3
"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

We do not have to “try” to die to the old self either if it is already dead. I've never seen a dead person "try" to die. Either they are dead or they aren't. The next question is, “Is Christ your savior?” If He is, then you should know you are dead and no longer have to die anymore. We partake in His death. We partake of His nature by grace.

If we are trying to "be dead" in Him then this could be looked at as necromancy.
nec·ro·man·cy [nek-ruh-man-see] –noun
1. a method of divination through alleged communication with the dead; black art.
2. magic in general, esp. that practiced by a witch or sorcerer; sorcery; witchcraft; conjuration.

Essentially, necromancy is a type of witchcraft. Samuel said, "Rebellion is as witchcraft." If a believer is trying to die to self when he/she should already be dead in Christ then the next question is, "Is Christ truly their savior?" If He is their savior then they are not who they were. They are a new creation in Him. The old has gone. Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their dead." I wonder why?

Paul speaks of another gospel which really isn't another gospel in Gal. 1:6-7. I've noticed brethren co-mingle the "other gospel" with the true Gospel and get entangled. Sounds like Galatians 5. This leads to the need and purpose for sound doctrine in the Church. It authenticates the Church and more.

Accuse
–verb (used with object)
1. to charge with the fault, offense, or crime (usually fol. by of): He accused him of murder.
2. to find fault with; blame.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make an accusation.
________________________________________
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME ac(c)usen <>

The enemy is the accuser of the brethren. I am noticing the things the enemy can do such as accuse, lie, deceive, etc. are in essence powerless. he can accuse me of whatever, but even if I did something it was not reckoned to my account IN Christ. So, all he has left is accusation, frustration, expected judgment and fear.

In Christ I am blameless, holy and without reproach. I have grace not sin (Titus 2:11, Romans 6). That is who I really am by His grace and have been so before the foundations of the earth. The enemy is only a rebellious cherub who was originally created by the Creator for Him (Col. 1:16-17). Jesus sets me free from the old me (Gal. 2:20) or nature which was under the power of guilt and sin. Not anymore. No condemnation Ever for those who are after the Spirit of Christ.

Romans 12:1 speaks of "presenting your body a living sacrifice." For the longest time when I have read this I think I need to push a peanut with my nose and tell God, "Look God I'm pushing the peanut with my nose! Aren't you so proud of me?" Whether it be reading the Bible, fasting, going to church, participating in church ministry or events, doing any good deed, praying for a healing for someone, and the list goes on. Today, I spoke to two people. One man, whom I met recently, I talked to at the gym. He told me he's been separated for seven months from his wife and hasn't seen his daughters either in that time. Long story short, I encouraged, exhorted and gave him some direction. He went from, "I want a divorce" to "Do you think she still loves me?" When I got home my wife took our sons across the street to the neighbors kiddy-pool. All the kids on the street play a lot together. I had a long conversation with my neighbor talking about movies, electronics, etc.

Man, where am I going with this, right?

Anyways, this is what I saw later this evening. Both times at the gym and at home Christ was and IS the Living Sacrifice in me. The sacrifice is not a strenuous effort of self-will. It is not maintaining and walking some impossible statute, but because of the revelation of Him IN me and towards me I responded the way "He is" (improper grammar, but correct meaning) towards me my whole life because I strongly desired to. "He strongly desired to" IN me. This is so beautiful. The living sacrifice is Christ living IN me. It is living life very naturally ministering all the time to others through me because of fullness in me. It is more than that. Colossians says, "Let the word (logos) of Christ dwell in you richly." Let Living Word dwell in you. The Word does not go away and come back, but stays. His Words endures forever. He lives in me by the unveiling of the mystery which has been kept hidden in ages past as Paul describes. This is also what Paul calls, "Walking or living in the Spirit."

Amdro is an insecticide. I was thinking the other day about Adam and Eve (really Hebrew feminine form of Adam, the name Eve is post-fall) prior to the Fall. They were both in their birthday suits. I was thinking, "When they went to sleep did the ants or insects bite them?" My opinion is no the insects did not harm them whatsoever. Prior to the fall there was complete order in the earth. Man dwelled in God's presence, walked with Him and had fellowship with Him. Creation did not possess fear in itself because fear had not entered into creation through the knowledge of good and evil. Perfect love casteth out fear. Prior to the Fall Adam and Eve did not know what sin was or missing the mark. Again, they had not yet received the knowledge of good and evil. How then would they know the difference? Previous to disobeying the Lord's command their consciences were pure and not defiled. That most definitely will be another blog.

There is a prophecy that says, "The lion will lay with the lamb." If Jesus is our Redeemer and has reconciled all things to Himself then creation is "bought back" by Him and placed back in it's original purpose with His redemptive power. In other words, the lion laid with the lamb prior to the Fall and will again after the Church becomes the Church Christ died for and not another aestheticly pleasing, non-gift operating denomination.