Have you ever considered the full implications of the Biblical stories and verses which every year are commonly referenced in our carols and found on our greeting cards during this season?

These implications are discussed in the audio message below entitled, “Kingdom Conversations,” as presented on December 9, 2012 at Emmanuel Church of Etna. www.emmanuelohio.com

Many of us on this planet have certain common long and short term concerns. Those who have been called by God to come out of the thinking and lifestyles of the world often have difficulty in reconciling our concerns with those of the Lord Himself. After many years I have become persuaded that God does care about the things that trouble us in our daily lives. How great is His love and patience for us to finally come to the conclusion that all of our spiritual, emotional and physical needs are truly fulfilled in Him!

Oh how we all need to focus more on Him! This is an area where Christians often fail, much to the rejoicing of our enemies. They know that when we finally realize the power of simple, pure devotion to God, we will not be stoppable!

The purpose of this message is to share some understanding of God and His eternal purpose, that has helped me greatly in allowing Him to return to the center of my life. The hope is that when you consider and meditate in these truths, your life will then be seen as part of a more wonderful and greater whole. Then the past, present and future will begin to connect, and the patterns of our daily lives can develop deeper spiritual meaning.

The great Creator, the God of the whole universe, has always been the God of now, but we can only begin to appreciate that fact as we come to know Him in the present. 4000 years ago, Moses knew the God of now, or the Great I AM, through the law that descended from Mount Sinai. Many others would later testify of the life that the law breathed into them in those days. In my day, however, God is not present in that old covenant system. I can only find the God of today in the location of time and space that I find myself in.

THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE…

Road maps have been helpful to mankind since their invention. Their purpose is to aid the user in arriving at their destination. The first thing that must be done, however, is to find our present location on the map. We must look for a street sign, landmark or anything we can find at that location, which has a corresponding spot on the map. Have you ever appreciated the red mark found on shopping mall maps that brightly indicate, YOU ARE HERE?

After finding our location on the map, we can then begin charting a course to our destination. With the help and direction of the Holy Spirit, I sincerely hope that together we can begin to understand, first, what our destination in the plan of God is, then to find out where we are now in that plan. With that we can all begin moving towards that destination together for His glory. Becoming ever more conscious of His eternal purpose in our daily lives, we can then begin to know Him in His eternal Now.

In the dark ages, a scientist named Copernicus made a discovery. He learned by an honest and thorough investigation of the facts that the earth was not the center of the universe as was previously believed. Upon receiving this revelation, everything else began to fall into place. He could then more easily and accurately chart the courses of all the planets, their moons, and our relationships with the stars. Think of it. Our current explorations of the moon and space would have never been possible without this knowledge. The heart of this revelation was, of course, that the sun is the center of this solar system, with the earth and the other eight planets revolving around it.

It is time for mankind, and even for Christianity, to come to the conclusion that the universe does not revolve around us. God is, has been, and always will be the center. When we begin to see this, everything begins to harmonize and work together in perfect order. For thousands of years we thought it was about us, our sin, our salvation, our peace, security and happiness. Even though these concerns are legitimate, the focus will be entirely wrong when man is at the center.

With man, the story begins at the fall, and the focus becomes redemption, salvation, restoration etc. All of these are cru[...]

Is the devil real? It is interesting how present experiences can influence our point of view on this question. In the early seventies I had an experience that impressed upon me how great our God in Jesus Christ truly is. Even though I was saved in my teens, it was not until then that I understood where the men God used to write the Bible were coming from. After having personally experienced His awesome presence, I could not even begin then to see the devil as a threat to the child of God.

At the time I was fairly certain that I could convince love ones and friends that what I had experienced was real and that the Bible was true. Most were unfazed, and others probably thought I was confused. To me the truth of the Gospel was obvious, and I assumed the change they saw in me would be enough to convince them of it. It did not take long for me to learn that other forces were also at work, forces that the Bible also had much to say about. At one point I even felt the sense of what the scriptures taught on the pervasive presence of evil in the world. It is simply a matter of perspective.

As time progressed, I sought to understand the Scriptures more and to understand the sovereignty of God and His wisdom in permitting the devil to continue in this earth, with some success. In a time when preachers were mostly sin and devil conscious, many of us were seeing the importance of acknowledging the finished work of Christ upon the Cross. Scriptures like this one seemed to literally jump of the page:

Colossians 2:9-15:

“For in Him (Christ) all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

NASB

Think of it! Your are complete IN HIM! The invisible evil forces that rule in this world have been disarmed, overcome and publicly humiliated. Every accusation that has been made against God has been put to rest. His motives that had been questioned first in the garden can no longer be doubted, as He proved His love and perfect intentions for humanity by His sacrifice on the Cross. Every accusation against those who trust in Him is eradicated as well, for they become identified with Him in baptism. Their old life has been buried, and they are raised with Him into the new!

All of this actually happened the moment I surrendered my heart and life unto Christ. I began to experience it immediately, but without full understanding, I could not live in the fullness of it. Our minds are the actual battleground in this war, which in Christ has already been won. In one sense the growth process of the Christian is related to our increasing ability to accept the fact that we have become entirely new and righteous by the work of Christ on the Cross.

Jesus Christ was manifested that He might reverse the damage done by the devil. (1 John 3:8 Darby and Amplified Bible).

Hebrews 2:14-15:

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

NASB

From these Scriptures we see that the [...]

In an effort to sell soft drinks, advertisers have attempted to associate their products with exciting and dangerous sports such as skiing, parachuting, and mountain climbing. The implication is that real men love to face death for the sheer thrill of it. There should be no doubt that the powerful soft drink companies of America know what they are doing. Before they invest millions in such ads, be assured that the techniques they use have been thoroughly researched and tested.

The fact that humans enjoy the thrill of risk taking is well established. The numbers of large amusement parks multiplying all over the country owe much of their success to the exploitation of daring rides, that give one a sense of life-threatening danger. The millions invested in the making of action-adventure movies, and the billions earned by them also confirm our love for excitement. For a few dollars anyone can pretend to be a super hero or heroin while comfortably snuggled in the safety of their living room or a neighborhood theater.

At the same time, far too many of us tend to shrink from the greatest challenge of them all — life itself! Even with all of the inner drives that nature has provided for us, we still have a habit of shrinking back when faced with the slightest appearance of any personal risk. This could possibly be attributed to the overdevelopment of another natural instinct — self-preservation.

Most everyone wants to love and to be loved, but too often this wonderful experience is prevented by other very strong emotions. There is one in particular that is related to self-preservation, and that is fear. When out of balance, these survival instincts can distort our thinking and actually deprive us of love, intimacy and many other important needs. We have seen how the fear of becoming hurt has caused an unreasonable number of failed relationships in our culture and time. Another fear, that of losing personal security has often driven people to greed, power and excessive materialism.

The greatest Teacher of all history has given us the solution to every problem faced by mankind. He understands us better than we could ever understand ourselves. Yet after 2,000 years, we still have difficulty trusting in His wisdom. Never had any man spoken like this man. His Words penetrated into the depths of our being, challenging us to trust and believe in things that could not always be seen and touched. He reached down inside men and women and ignited that inner light which had long been a dying ember!

By His wisdom, compassion, love and truth He intended to change the world! Even many of those who opposed Him were weakened by the love in His eyes. Could it be the people sensed that somehow He knew a secret? Do you suppose their hearts told them that this One had actually solved the riddle of life?

In a short three and a half years this man had given theologians centuries of homework. Ages of religious debate have followed His life, death, burial and resurrection, but still so few have gotten the point. Jesus came that we all could have LIFE and that MORE ABUNDANTLY! His words, and testimony were given to instill in us the faith to receive and walk in that life.

How is it that we can become so preoccupied with dissecting His Words and those of His Apostles, that we could forget the reality of Him? If we could only give Him the opportunity to speak to us now, I am certain He would be absolutely overjoyed to share His Secret with us again!

Before going any further, I would like to ask you who are reading this to take a few moments to wait before the Lord. By this I mean to become quiet and submissive to Him, allowing His Peace to pervade your thoughts. If you can begin to trust in His Person and grace, you might very well hear His Voice speaking very softly and clearly to your inner being. Take as long as you can and as often as you can to get to really know Him. Only then can the reality of His teachings and commandments have their full meaning f[...]

In the parables of Jesus, we saw men who were concerned about the hardness of the master. These hoped to fulfill the least possible requirements, and to so preserve their security.

But the fruitful were more concerned about the pleasure of their master. They took risks that others would not, knowing that He would be pleased in their desire to please Him! Likewise, many today are preoccupied only with what they must believe or do to make it into heaven. Just what exactly are those minimum requirements?

This has resulted in distortions of the true outworking of the grace of God. For example, we have seen the people of God divided into groups like the “saved” and the overcomers.” In this teaching, the merely saved, simply make it into heaven, while the overcomers are to rule and reign in the Millennial Kingdom.

Of course there should always be the motivation to overcome. And the scriptures are clear that rewards are given to those who do! But the missing note to this song is one that is so often found in the lives of all the holy ones that have gone before us.

The Desire of the Lord!

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6)

Enoch was a man who walked with God for 300 years! (Genesis 5:22) This is about all we know of him. The Genesis account leaves no record of any mighty deeds he performed, only that he walked with God and that God took him! Later this commentary was given by the Holy Spirit through the writer of Hebrews that he left a testimony…. His testimony was that he gave pleasure to the Creator and Lord of the universe!

Faith was the means by which He walked with his God, and during this time spent walking with God, he learned about the things that made God happy. Sounds very simple does it not?

He was unlike his ancestors Adam and Eve, who hid themselves when Jehovah God came walking through the garden in the cool of the day. They lived in fear, while Enoch had faith. They responded foolishly to His warnings and desires for them, but Enoch responded positively.

He trusted in God’s greater wisdom, while they questioned it. He believed in the goodness and grace of God, but they perceived Him to be a threat to their overall happiness. He opened himself to God’s dealings, while they hid themselves from Him.

Enoch gave the Father pleasure, but the first couple gave Him grief.

But what was it about Enoch and His walking with God that made God’s Great Heart so happy? Could it be that he somehow touched the Heart of God? Was his simple companionship so important, and was the quality of it so rich, that delight sprang up from deep within the Lord of all?

Do you and I, simple creatures that we are, have this same potential? Does the Mighty and Majestic King of the universe hunger for fellowship with us? Are we even capable of giving Him pleasure?

Consider the passage of human history. Consider all of the covenants that God has make with men, including this new and living way, which Jesus made for us into the holiest place of all by His Blood. We must begin to understand what our Father and Creator has been after all along!

His desire has always been for a relationship with us! Without that relationship, the words of all the various covenants lose their sense of purpose. Even this glorious New Covenant has so often been trampled upon by those of its adherents who have left their First Love!

When you love someone, you delight in giving them pleasure. When someone is in your heart, you hurt when they grieve! Does the Heart of our Lord grieve? I believe it does. I believe it breaks His Heart when we honor Him with our lips alone. When we forget how much He loves [...]