Matthew 5:17 says Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. This says something about the character and nature of God and his plan for our lives.

Belonging House International is a fellowship of Christian artists and creative people who are called to raise up an army of artists who will build Jesus a throne in the earth.

We are here to help you grow and thrive as a Christian artist, develop in your relationship with God, experience transformation, and discover the change you can make in the world.

Our videos and teaching are designed to transform your spiritual life. Your inner life determines your creative output.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto. We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://christjohnotto.substack.com

You can find out more at https://belonging.house

Fear not God can be trusted.

#artists #Christian artists #thriving #discipleship #Jesus #Bible #creatives #creativity #healing #spiritual healing #prayer

What is the purpose of light?

To illuminate the darkness.

And Jesus says,

you are the light of the world,

and you have no purpose

if you put that light under a bushel.

The purpose of light

is to bring light to dark places.

The religious mind

thinks from the outside in,

and that the darkness

will make my light dim.

No.

The light in you

will make the darkness lighter.

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You can support Belonging House athttps://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/raise-up-an-army-of-artists, https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto. We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://christjohnotto.substack.com

You can find out more at https://belonging.house

Fear not God can be trusted.

I am going to make your head explode this Sunday as

we look at the Wedding at Cana.

This is the first recorded miracle in the Gospel of John

and John states that this was the first miracle of Jesus.

John says

that through this miracle

Jesus manifested his glory

and this disciples believed in him.

That's a big thing to say about

wine at a party.

Maybe it's not about the wine.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto. We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

This word "call"

in Greek,

Kaleo,

appears 148 times in the New Testament.

It is the greek word used for the Hebrew word

"cara."

This word first appears at the beginning of Genesis

when God speaks and he calls the light day

and the dark night.

In the Bible,

and especially in the Gospels,

the word "call" has an intrinsic meaning.

The call defines a person

and calls them out of one reality

and into another.

So Jesus calls fishermen,

and in the call itself

is the power for those men

to leave their nets,

leave their family legacy,

leave their place in society,

and follow Jesus.

And in the call

is another reality.

The call defines you.

So Jesus calls them and says,

from now on

you will be fishers of men.

Notice what Jesus does here.

He does not say

You were once fishermen,

and now I am going to make you

Christian accountants.

No.

The call of God

transforms what they are,

their natural gifts and abilities,

into something much higher.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto. We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

God is always calling us out of our illusions and into Kingdom reality.

The religious worldly mind

calls us backward

into the realm of the past.

And that realm of the past will then cause us to live in unreality.

God is present future.

He is always talking about now

and calling us into future.

This is why,

when we confess our sins

he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and then we move into his reality.

This is why you feel free.

You are back in sync with God.

Sadly,

many people conjure up and relive the past over and over again

and they are living and being defined by things

that are gone.

This is the illusion that God has not forgiven.

The religious mind thinks

God forgives us

but we still have to do something to make it happen.

This is not reality.

In today's gospel,

Jesus comes to John

and John declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world.

And then John says this,

my ministry is for a season.

My ministry and my baptism is only here

to point the way to someone else,

and this one is here.

And then John gives us the point.

The one coming after me

will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

You will not be baptized in water,

but in the Holy Spirit.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto. We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord

and I want to talk about a few BIG ideas

that will lay out the next season of teaching.

In John chapter three

one of the leaders of the sanhedrin,

Nicodemus

comes to Jesus secretly

at night.

And Nicodemus makes an observation to Jesus,

no one could do the signs that you do

unless God is with him.

And the Jesus replies,

No one can enter the Kingdom of heaven

unless he is born again.

And then Jesus explains

that unless you are born

by water and the Holy Spirit

you are not in the Kingdom.

Flesh gives birth to flesh

and spirit gives birth to spirit.

The Kingdom of God

is not a kingdom of talk,

but a kingdom of power.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto. We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

You are the light.

Light is only useful in dark places.

And you cannot be sacred space

unless you learn to listen to the Lord,

and do what he tells you.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto.

We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

God delights in you.

God is coming to earth,

not as conqueror or warrior.

God is coming to earth

in peace with love, delight, and favor.

Heaven is invading earth

and it is an invasion of favor.

Christmas is the miracle.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto.

We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

This is why when we make scriptural declarations

we see so much happen in people's lives.

When we declare scriptural truth,

even if that truth is not yet reality for us,

we begin to see movement

from our broken reality

into God's reality.

The incarnation is everything.

Jesus came into a broken world

and said

I am salvation

I am God with you.

I am close

and I can bring the life and love of God

into your broken reality

and bring salvation.

That word salvation

means healing, wholeness, shalom,

transformation and blessing.

And so we declare salvation over situations.

You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto.

We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com

Find out more at https://belonging.house

What do you do when the fulfilment comes and it is not what you expected? There is a back side to the forerunner calling and we need to talk about it.

God is fulfilling promises right now in our community, and it is important to understand a core piece of God's fulfillment. Most people miss the day of their visitation and the day of the fulfillment because they are expecting one thing and God does another. God fulfills the word and the promise but it does not look like what we expected. And when this happens people either get disappointed or offended.

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You can support Belonging House at https://belonginghouse.betterworld.org or buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto.

We have a Mighty Network for artists and creative people who are committed to a lifestyle of discipleship: https://belonging-house.mn.co

You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com