Friday's Five - Psalm 19

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.

It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.

Psalm 19 verses 4, 5 & 6

This Psalm gives us an amazing picture of God’s unmerited favor to us through the picture of the Sun.

Every day, every morning the Sun rises in the morning sky and radiates its heat to every living creature in creation.

Without exception we all benefit from the Suns life giving force.

God is not going to create another Sun; we have all that is needed to provide heat, warmth, light for ever.

God’s provision is enough.

According to the psalmist: -

God placed it in the heavens – God put the Sun exactly where he knew it would be must effective. It was all according to his plan and purposes.

It is full of radiant life – The Sun provides us with everything we need. There is no need for another Sun, one is more than sufficient. Likewise God provided all we need by grace through Christ’s one and for all death at the cross. He will not die again and we are buried and united with him as a new creation.

It rejoices – The Sun is a picture of our hearts rejoicing in the goodness of God. God is good all the time, always bright, always radiant giving good things.

It declares God’s faithfulness – Every day the sun rises and follows its course without fail. Likewise everything God has promised to us is trustworthy and he is faithful in all he does. His loving-kindness is everlasting.

It is all about his unmerited favor – The heat that the Sun omits us exactly the same for everyone, we have access to the riches of God and all he has provided. God’s grace is a waterfall of abounding love and provision.  We can either jump right in and enjoy all the benefits and wonders of it, or we can hid away and stay in the dark and the shadows.

This Psalm is a magnificent picture of all that God has freely given to us.

We can enjoy, revel, soak, immerse and be refreshed by God’s grace or we can hide away and keep ourselves in the dark.

Let’s soak in the sun and become worshipers of Christ and his finished work.

An Average Day

What is an average day?

Going to work

Brushing your teeth

Filling your face

Watching TV

Having a drink

Relaxing at home

Life is made up of average days

Unimportant days

Little consequence

But everyday

Christ lives in you

Christ’s power is within

Christ works through you
He is grace.

Tuesday’s Track – Cannons by Phil Wickham

We sang this song on Sunday morning

I love it

A great melody with excellent words that is great to mediate on.

This afternoon there was an amazing rainbow, so bright it illuminated our garden.

The heavens do declare the glory of God.

It's falling from the clouds
A strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It's ringing in the skies
Like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays

You are holy great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free
Song of Galaxies
It's reaching far beyond the milky way
Lets join in with the sound
C'mon let's sing it loud
As the music of the universe plays

All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours forever amen

Grace Notes - Galatians 2 v 20

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This is a very important and life changing truth. Our old sinful nature was crucified and buried with Christ, in fact Christ died AS me. I have now been raised into fullness of life and the power and spirit of God reigns in me.

The focus of my life is now all I am in Christ and not on all I was in the flesh. I am now Christ conscious not sin conscious.

Andrew Wommack explains that now Christ lives through us.

“Paul's "old man" was dead through Christ. He was truly free to live, but it wasn't actually Paul who was living--it was Christ living through him. Paul had learned the secret of victorious Christian living; it is not us living for Jesus, but Jesus living through us.

Failure to understand this simple truth is at the root of all legalism and performance mentality. The Law focuses on the outer man and tells it what it must do. Grace focuses on the inner man and tells it what is already done through Christ. Those who are focused on what they must do are under Law. Those who are focused on what Christ has done for them are walking under grace.

The Christian life is not just hard to live--it's impossible to live in our human strength. The only way to walk in victory is to let Christ live through us.”

I have...

I have access to the Father

I have a home in heaven waiting for me

I have all things in Christ

I have a living hope

I have an anchor to my soul

I have a hope that is sure and steadfast

I have authority over the evil one

I have power to witness

I have the tongue of the learned

I have the mind of Christ

I have boldness and access

I have peace with God

I have faith as a grain of mustard seed

I have the fullness of Christ 

Friday's Five - Psalm 100

Psalm 100

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

This is a great Psalm.

Full of great promises that we can think and ponder.

It is a treasure of hope in the storms of life. Even though heavy clouds full of rain may obscure the sun, it is still there, shinning with all its strength. So God is always with us, in his fullness changing us from one degree of glory into another.

It is an outpouring of the oil of grace into our hearts, bringing peace, security and gladness.

The Lord is the creator – He made us, he is the architect of the universe and he intimately designed us in his image. We are wonderfully and amazingly made.

The Lord has made us his – We are God’s possession, his chosen ones, the desire of his heart.

The Lord is good – In everything he does, he is good. No evil comes from God, all his actions are gracious and he is merciful to us. He is not counting our sins against us and he does not condemn us, in all his ways he is good!

The Lords love is forever – His love is not conditional, not bound in time, it does not fade away, and it does not grow dim. God’s love is the same, yesterday, today and for every moment and second into eternity.

The Lord’s faithfulness continues – He is faithful, he will never leave us, and he will always be with us, in us, united by his spirit with us. We are in complete union with him and he is faithful to us.

God through Christ is an inexhaustible fountain of goodness, an ever flowing stream of mercy and a fathomless ocean of the grace of God.

Because of all that God has amazingly already provided for us we can revel in his love and enjoy all the privileges of being sons and heirs of the living God.

As Psalm 100 encourages us ‘give thanks to him and praise his name.’ 

Stop...Start....

Stop

Trying

To make it right

Stop

Attempting

To live right

Stop

Performing

To please God

Stop

Doing

To make myself right

Stop

Working

To get acceptance

Start

Living

In his grace

Start

Trusting

In His finished work

Start

Believing

In my union within

Start

Receiving

All he has done

Start

Resting

In his love.

Eternal Life

Eternal life is a gift

Intimacy with Christ

More than just eternity

More than future

It is

Living forever in the gift of grace

In a close

Personal

Intimate

Relationship with Christ

It starts right now

And carries on

Intensifying

Releasing

Freeing

Glorifying

Until we are consumed by its fullness

Grace Notes - Colossians 2 v 14

Colossians 2:14 - "Having cancelled the written code with it's regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us, He took it away nailing it to the Cross".

He has cancelled the written code! Now why did He have to cancel that? Because Jesus could not give you His righteousness while the Law existed towards you and it's towards the world and those not saved but for those in Christ, we come into the benefits of the Cross and so that Law has been cancelled.

Why did it have to be cancelled? If it was not cancelled - the 10 Commandments would demand a righteousness of you that you couldn't give. But once it is cancelled now legally Christ can give you His. What did He give you? His righteousness. What's that? Right standing with the Father. That means right standing equal to the standing Jesus has. That means you stand before the Father on equal terms with how Jesus stands before the Father. YOU have access to the Father. Access to grace. Access to intimacy with the Father - you can stand there with innocence just as if you have never sinned and just as if no one had sinned against you. YOU are accepted in the Beloved just as Jesus is because the Law that demanded righteousness and brought wrath on your life has been cancelled.

"And where there is NO law - there is NO transgression".

Not only has God forgiven all your sins up until the point where you got saved and all the future has been blotted out on the Cross but He has taken away the means by which the devil accused you or God could condemn you. He has taken away the Law and you no longer grasp after righteousness through the Law or try to obligate God to bless you through what you do but now having got this righteousness as a gift and you no longer grasp after it and humble yourself and lay your life down to the point of death if necessary not out of a place to get identity but because YOU have identity.

Rob Rufus

I am....

I am complete in him

I am sanctified

I am forever free from sin’s power

I am loved eternally

I am saved eternally

I am eternally kept in the palm of his hand

I am kept from falling

I am kept by the power of God

I am not condemned

I am one with Christ

I am quickened by his mighty power

I am seated in heavenly places

I am the head and not the tail

I am light in the darkness

I am a candle in a dark place

I am a city set on a hill

I am the salt of the earth

I am his sheep

I am a citizen of heaven

I am hidden with Christ in God

I am kept by the power of God

I am secure in Christ

I am set on a rock

I am more than a conqueror

I am born again

I am a victor

I am healed by his stripes

I am covered by the blood of Jesus

I am sheltered under his wing

I am hidden in the secret place of the Almighty

Friday’s Five – God’s protection in Psalm 18.

Psalm 18 is a wonderful treasure of the protection and security we have in God

“I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.”

The world with its distractions has a way of dulling us to all the promises we can take refuge and rest in.

God’s protection of his people is limitless,

He is our:-

Rock –   He cannot be moved by those that would harm us or try to thwart us. 

Fortress – He is a place of safety, a place of security.

Shield – He comes between us and harm. Just as a shield stops the arrows and spears of the enemy, so God has given us himself and his word as a protection for our soul. We just have to hide ‘In Him’ and stay within his mighty power.

Strength – God by giving us salvation through his unmerited favour has become our strength, our might and our power. The same strength that created the universe is our strength and is at work in us.

Stronghold – He sets us high above our enemies. Just as a castle sits on a hill, impregnable and powerful, so are we in Christ. We can rest in his grace and trust his protection.

These 5 promises of God as our, rock, fortress, shield, strength and stronghold give us great security and assurance as we mediate on them.

Not by our own works or performance but by the finished work on the cross through his son

If you need protection, look to God, look to his promises and rest in all he has provided by grace through Christ.

Through The Door

Through the door

From darkness into light

Entering into all God has done

Entering into all God has provided

Entering into all Christ has won

From lies to truth

From works to faith

From fear to love

From guilt to righteousness

From condemnation to freedom
From performance to rest 

From hunger to satisfaction

From sickness to healing
From defeat to victory
From despair to hope
From rejection to acceptance

From sin conscious to righteous

From confessing sin to living in his spirit
From law to grace

From death into eternal life

Unmerited Favour

Unmerited favour

Freely given

More than I can contain

Overwhelming treasure

Poured into me.

Igniting a fire

An eternal flame

Consuming all my doubt

Living by His spirit

United with me

Rivers of grace

Overflowing inside

All I have freely received

Resting in the fullness

Placed in me.

Tuesday's Track - How Deep the Father's Love

This song is filled with the grace of God

The last line, “His wounds have paid my ransom,” says it all

Not by anything I have done, not by my efforts, works or performance but all by his blood and death I have freedom and eternal life.

Words cannot express the amazing love and grace that overwhelms me through the cross

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Grace Notes - 1 Corinthians 2 v 16

1 Corinthians 2:16

”For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. “

Andrew Wommack explains that in our born-again spirit we have the mind of Christ. Not just a little bit, not just a small amount but the actual mind of Christ.

As we meditate, soak and marinate in the grace of God through his spirit our physical mind is renewed and his word frees us to soar with him by the power of this revelation.

Here he expands this amazing truth: - 

What an awesome statement! We haven't just had a portion of Christ's wisdom transferred to us. We have the mind of Christ! We know everything that Jesus knows!

Some people just can't believe this. Their school grades prove that they don't have the mind of Christ. So, what's right-our experience or what God says? In this case, both are correct.

Our physical brain is limited and certainly does not know everything. Yet, in our new born-again spirit, we are a completely new creature. We actually have the mind of Christ. The spirit of a born-again man has been renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. We have received an anointing in our spirit so that we know all things. Praise God!

So, the spiritual portion of a Christian has the mind of Christ while our physical brain does not. This is why the renewing of our physical minds is so important. We already have the perfect wisdom of Christ on the inside, but we need to transfer that knowledge to our physical minds and thereby change our physical emotions and actions.

It is not our spirit that we are trying to train in the Word of God. Rather, the Holy Spirit is trying to train our physical minds to let the perfect wisdom of Christ, which is already resident in the spirit of every believer, prevail over our carnal thinking.

How can we tap this mind of Christ? God's Word is Spirit and life. God's Word has written in print what is written in our hearts in the mind of Christ. Therefore, as we study God's Word with the revelation knowledge of the Holy Spirit, this mind of Christ is reproduced in our physical mind and the life of God is released in our bodies. 

Awaken my mind

Awaken my mind to the spirit

Aware of Christ’s life on the inside

Not just my thoughts

Emotions

Reason

Logic

Knowledge

The influences of the natural world

Change the perspective to my re-born spirit

Walk in closeness with Christ’s presence

Grace

Hope

Faith

Love

The consciousness of the spirit’s realm

I Have Been....

I have been redeemed by His blood

I have been set free from condemnation

I have been chosen before the foundation of the world

I have been predestined to be like Jesus

I have been forgiven of all my past, present and future sins

I have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus

I have been given a sound mind

I have been given the Holy Spirit

I have been adopted into God’s family

I have been justified freely by His grace

I have been given all things pertaining to life

I have been given great and precious promises

I have been given a ministry of reconciliation

I have been given authority over the power of the enemy

I have been given access to God

I have been given wisdom

Friday's Five - 5 Blessings from Numbers chapter 6

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:

May the Lord bless you
    and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
    and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
    and give you his peace.’

Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”

In the Anglican Church I attended as a choir boy, the lay preacher often departed from the traditional ending of the service.  He would speak over the congregation the priestly blessing from Numbers chapter 6.  This blessing has stuck in my mind and its 5 parts have imparted, hope and assurance to my mind.

A blessing was one way of asking God for his divine favour to rest upon us.  In the New Covenant through Christ’s death on the cross, His unmerited favour is freely available to all in Christ.  All the promises of the Old Testament are YES and AMEN in Christ.

So we can meditate and soak in the fullness of this wonderful assurance of God’s divine favour on us

1.      The Lord will bless and protect you
2.      The Lord will smile on you – He will be pleased with you.
3.      The Lord will be gracious to you – His goodness, mercy and compassion will be on you.
4.      The Lord will show you his favour – He has made you righteous as a free gift.
5.      The Lord will give you his peace.

You can go to God and receive these blessings on your life and as you receive you can bless others that cross your path with the same blessings.

Through blessing others we demonstrate love, and encouragement, with the very heartbeat of God.

Not through works or performance or selfish-ambition but through an overflow from the heart of all that Christ has blessed us with.

Bless and be blessed in all that Christ has placed in you and showered upon you.

A Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

You are holy, Lord, the only God,

and Your deeds are wonderful.

You are strong.

You are great.

You are the Most High.

You are Almighty.

You, Holy Father are King of heaven and earth.

You are Three and One, Lord God, all Good.

You are Good, all Good, supreme Good,

Lord God, living and true.

You are love.

You are wisdom.

You are humility.

You are endurance.

You are rest.

You are peace.

You are joy and gladness.

You are justice and moderation.

You are all our riches, and You suffice for us.

You are beauty.

You are gentleness.

You are our protector.

You are our guardian and defender.

You are our courage.

You are our haven and our hope.

You are our faith, our great consolation.

You are our eternal life,

Great and Wonderful Lord,

God Almighty, Merciful Saviour. 

Christ My Everything

Through my veins

Your life

Torrents of power

Your grace

Filling this vessel

Your spirit

Pierce my armour

Your kindness

Trembling inside

Your love

My beating heart

Your presence

Breaking out

Your power

In my every part

Your favour

(Written during a time of worship in church on 2nd Sept 2012). 

Tuesday's Track - On Christ The Solid Rock i Stand

Sometimes things that are very familiar can become amazingly wonderful

We are often have a diluted view of the ordinary that is all around us.

This Sunday at my church we sang an ‘old’ hymn, one I recall singing many, many time before, but as I feasted on the words and let the song infiltrate my soul, this old familiar hymn had new depth and meaning.

The words of the verse, flooded over me in a torrent of overwhelming joy as I savored all that Christ accomplished for me at the cross and through the free grace of the New Covenant.

“His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay”

Christ in me, Christ working through me is the solid rock I stand on.

Christ + nothing = everything.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

When darkness seems to hide His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand

Grace Notes - Romans 5 v 17

Romans 5:17 - "For if by the trespass of the one man Adam, death reigned through the one man how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ".

Rob Rufus shows us that the free gift of righteousness through Jesus sacrifice at the cross, is exactly that, a free gift. This seems too good to be true. It is all through Jesus and has nothing to do with our performance or good works.

The most amazing fact with this free gift is the more we live in the fullness of it the closer we get to God and the greater he works through us.

I'll let Rob explain: -

"How do you reign in life? Through having faith in the gift of righteousness. Romans 5:17 - "For if by the tresspass of the one man Adam, death reigned through the one man how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ". So here is the biggest contradiction to the brainwashing of the religious community in the world. The religious world says if you want to reign and rule in life and have success in life then you have got to do a whole lot of things, perform, keep laws and rules and regulations - you have got to live holy and act righteous all the time. The Bible contradicts that in the New Testament. It says if you want to reign in life, it is not through what you do but through what you receive. You receive the abundant provision of grace as a gift of righteousness. A gift is something you don't pay for.

Now if someone gives you a gift and tells you it is free but a week later they invite you to do something with them and you say no I haven't got time and they say; "Yes but I was generous to you last week" - then it was not a gift - it was a setup! It was a demonic ambush to manipulate you with guilt to do something for them. Now that is why when we hear that God gives righteousness as a gift, we struggle to believe that because we think He is like a human being giving you something that is not really free but is obligating you to do something for Him. But this is a gift from a God who is absolutely pure, holy and righteous and would never manipulate you. He means it is a GIFT and when you get this GIFT you are not obligated to do ANYTHING for God! It is a gift of righteousness and righteousness means "right standing with God!".

It means that God looks at you in exactly the same way as He looks at Jesus! All the time - every second of every moment of all day! It is a gift and you reign in life through receiving this gift and raising your faith by the hearing about this gift to higher levels!

You see Jesus Christ's perfect faith before the Father is what causes you to stand in righteousness before the Father. So you don't even need perfect faith! Your imperfect faith is represented by Jesus's perfect faith before the Father so that all the time you are righteous even when your faith is very weak. But here's the deal. The benefits here on the earth go up as your faith increases. In other words in heaven, you are righteous all the time but if your faith in His gift of righteousness is at a very low level and you walk around going; "Oh I am so unworthy, I am so guilty, I am so condemned" but in heaven, all heaven is saying; "No you are not! You are worthy! You are the righteousness of God - perfect faith in heaven!".

But you see if your faith is low then you don't walk in the reality and experience of the fact. We are positioned in Christ Jesus in heaven in righteousness but how we live it out in experience and enjoy the benefits of that is according to the level of faith that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

So the reason why some people struggle to that we are the righteousness of God is simply because their faith in that gift is low. But the more your faith grows that you are righteous, the more authority in your life, the more victory over sin, the more joy and the more blessings - which we are going to see in a moment. But let's say God we need a fool-proof righteousness because we act like a fool sometimes. We need a devil-proof righteousness because we hear about this and then the devil comes along and says; "Yes but you have sinned so you are not righteousness anymore". We need a failure-proof righteousness because none of us are walking perfectly in this life ... yet.

What is the foundation for that? The basis of our righteousness has to be taken away from our performance and put on the performance of Some one who is always perfect. So here is the basis of a fool-proof, devil-proof, failure-proof righteousness that we have as a gift because it is not based on your obedience, but the obedience of the one Man Jesus Christ. For all human beings death reined through Adam's disobedience now in Christ we all reign in life through one Man Jesus Christ and His obedience."

Because

Because you came I have love

Abundant grace from above

On a hill nailed to a tree

God’s love eternally set me free.

Because you came I have hope

When darkness starts to come and choke

In your victory now I trust

For sins hold you forever crushed.

Because you came I have truth

Dispelling the lies of my youth

Breaking in with shards of light

Your words contain all heavens might.

Because you came I am forgiven

Your bloodshed without restraint given

Now I stand wholly clean

Cleansed in your crimson stream.

Because you rose I have life

A new creation on the inside

Encased in my Father’s love

Securely seated in glory above.

I am God's....

I am God’s child

I am God’s friend

I am God’s possession

I am God’s workmanship

I am God’s temple

I am God’s vessel

I am God’s witness

I am God’s Ambassador

I am God’s building

I am God’s instrument

I am God’s chosen

I am God’s beloved

I am God’s heritage

I am God’s precious one