Removal of my sin nature through spiritual circumcision has removed the shame that comes with the sin nature.

No sin, no shame.

Know sin, know shame.

Colossians 2:11

In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ. . .

Joshua 5:7-9 Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
⁸ So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. ⁹ Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”

It is really quite simple, let Jesus circumcise the sin nature off of you, and enjoy your freedom from shame!

Let's not lie about this, and let's make this abundantly clear.

The old man IS dead, and I didn't kill him.

I don't have to crucify him or kill him any more. Dead is dead.

I have only to embrace the New Man that is already alive and well inside of me and quit trying to raise that Old Man back up. He doesn't even need life support, he just needs a once-and-for-all burial.

You can't crucify your flesh - if it could be done it would be done. But it was done - approximately 2000 years ago, and not by you.

Galatians 2:20 I HAVE BEEN crucified with Christ. . . .

Don't lie to me now!

I've been meditating on Col 3:9,10: Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.

Why in the world would Paul tell us not to lie to each other. Isn't that fairly obvious that we shouldn't do that? But I find it more interesting that he says do not lie SINCE you have put off the old man with his deeds...

The old man's deeds were the way of death, the new man lives the way of life.

What ways have I been thinking and being death, instead of being and breathing life....

Thoughts on flowing in the prophetic

Want to be more prophetic? Paul said to desire the gift of prophecy more than any other gift. I Cor 14:1 says Follow the way of love, eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

Prophecy is saying or knowing what the Lord is saying about a situation or a person.

I do desire to prophesy but how do I get to flow in it better?

Well, here's a few thoughts:

1. Devour the Word of God.
The Bible is the most prophetic book there is. As a whole, the Bible points to Christ as the Savior of the world, and it also tells us how the end of the age plays out. I guess you can't get more prophetic than that..

The Bible is in God's language. If you want to learn to speak God's language, read His book. Understand it, make it your life and your goal to KNOW it.

2. Fellowshipping with the Holy Spirt.
What does this look like? This was a new area for me. I hadn't ever really thought about what this was or what it looked like. So, I started with the basics: speaking in tongues whenever I had the opportunity.

It meant prioritizing my calender so that I was spending more time with the Lord, and less time with other things. This meant giving up some things. In order to add this to my life, I had to take away a few things in my life.

It also means yielding. When you get that still, small voice telling you that you should watch a specific TV program, or listen to certain music/songs, or that you need to just slow down - when you yield, or obey, the rewards are great.... because this is how your relationship with the Holy Spirit grows.

Just as when you and your firends do things together - if you don't listen to your friend and take their suggestions, pretty soon they'll stop talking or making suggestions. It's the same with the Holy Spirit.

3. Slowing down.
This is a big area for me. Finding the time to dedicate to being still, to listening is very difficult. BUT, it can be done. I have made a specific point of turning off the radio during my commute to work (~40 minutes one way). During that time, I either listen to a sermon on my iPod, or I pray in tongues. I sing praises, or songs that I know that praise the Lord. In doing that, I calm myself down, and position myself to hear from the Lord.

What is your fresh bread from the Lord today? The Word is living and active, and it must be fresh every day! We cannot continue to live on yesterday's bread, or even the bread from last week, or last month. Yuck!!!

We must, must, must seek the Lord to get fresh bread every day.

Fresh bread can be had by HEARING what the Lord has to say to YOU personally. You get this by reading the Bible and asking the question "What does this mean for me?" "What are you trying to say about me, my life, my situation with this verse/chapter/etc?"

Our "experience" or hearing from Jesus cannot just be limited to our salvation experience. I'm sure many of us have wonderful stories to tell, but it has to be an ongoing revelatory, hearing from God, having His story change my story type of lifestyle.

I know this is true - I must hear from God so that His Story about Me, changes Me and My Story, and that the change has to be from the worldview (evil!) to His View of Me.....

Returning to my First Love

On the way to work the other morning I was listening to an MP3 teaching and it briefly mentioned the verse in Revelation where Jesus says to the church in Ephesus: "You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen, repent and do the things you have done at first."

Instead of thinking about where I am right now as a Christian, I thought about what it was like when I first became a Christian.

Remember things like this:

• When you couldn't get enough of the Word of God and would read it at every spare moment?
• When you loved to be around other Christians, were in church every time the doors were opened?
• When you were filled with love for other Christians?
• When you desperately wanted others to experience the same thing you experienced?
• When you wrangled with passages in the Scripture to determine its meaning, especially for you and your life?
• When you had such childlike faith you believed everything was possible with God and nothing was impossible?
• When you could tell in your spirit that you shouldn't be watching certain TV shows or movies? When you were so sensitive to the spirit you instinctively knew right from wrong?

How did I end up falling away from all of that? This is my confession of how I fell away from being utterly in love with Jesus:

I know I got caught up in watching my church leaders - wondering how the pastor had so much time to watch TV because it seemed to be all he talked about in his sermons. Then starting to think that it would be okay to watch the same shows he does because after all, he's a pastor.

I also watched the deacons and other leaders in my church and saw gossip, hating, watching of R-rated movies, etc. Well, I still don't like R-rated movies, but you get the idea. I started looking at the leaders in my church to set the standard for my behavior.

In the beginning I yielded to the Holy Spirit, and that was my standard. It was a way different standard from what most of the church held. I should have stayed in that place, sensitive and yielding to the Holy Spirit.

I remember attending other church prayer meetings. When did I stop devoting myself to so much prayer? When I first became a Christian I prayed a lot, and remember praying in a Catholic Charismatic prayer meeting. When did that stop? Now, it seems a lot of meetings are about talking, sharing, etc., and not much about prayer. I am hungry for prayer, for communication both on an individual as well as in a group meeting setting.

I am hungry for more of the Lord. I am hungry to be more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and to be obedient to that leading.

I am convinced of this - if I return to the things that I did at first, that He will satisfy me fully, He will fill me to overflowing, and I will walk with Him and He will walk with me... closer and closer!

What's Your "Ultimate Destination"?

I got to thinking the other day about how often I have heard someone say that they were going to heaven, or how it was important to ask Jesus into their heart in order that they might be saved from hell or the wrath of God and go to heaven.

Now, I'm no Bible scholar, but when I was thinking about all my reading of the Bible, I don't think I ever saw that as a "promise" in the Bible.

I did a little research with an online concordance, checked a few of the "standard" versions of the Bible and didn't find that wording anywhere.

So, that brought up the next question. If one is a Christian (which I am) what is my ultimate destination?

Some verses in the Bible started to give me clues:

Eph 1:10 "...to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head..."

Col. 1:20 "and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood"

Why do heavenly and earthly things need to be reconciled?

Also, throughout the New Testament we are told that we are inheritors - the meek will inherit the earth, we are "heirs" (implying that we inherit something), etc. If all that happens is that we go to heaven, then why the need to inherit anything?

Isaiah 65 talks about the new heavens and the earth. It says in verses 21 and 22:

They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands.

There certainly is a lot to indicate that there indeed may be a life on a new earth for the believer.

I am one

Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ's sacrifice broke down the dividing wall and made me one. Sure, I am one with Christ - but further than that, I have to come to a point where I am no longer double-minded... that even in my mind I am one with Christ.

James 1:8 says that a man with a double mind is unstable in all he does. Or in other words, a man who lives by two sets of rules is unstable in all he does.

I struggle in this area. It's confusing to live in the kingdom in one way and then to go to work and operate by a different set of rules. My day starts out good - worship, pray, commune with God on my way to work. Then get to work, and often feel nothing of God's presence. Leave work and do the same on the way home and once again feel His presence. How frustrating!

So, if I live compartmentally - living in two different worlds in one day, or live by two different sets of rules, how do I bring these two areas into one - to break down the dividing wall between them.

Jesus, I ask you to break down the dividing wall between my work life and my REAL life. Invade my worklife with your rules and your kingdom in a way that is apparent and transparent to me.

Only One Thing Gets You Access to the King

Immense favor comes to one who gets to have an audience with a king. It's often a chance to be noticed, have your say, or even to just revel in his presence.


A young girl had that opportunity - to be alone with the king and to gain his favor. In addition, she allowed to take one thing with her when she goes to see the king. She counts on the king's trusted advisor to tell her what that one thing is....


In the story of Esther (see chapter 2, vs. 15), we learn that Esther took the advice of Hegai and took what Hegai suggested into the king.


As a result, she won the highest favor a woman could win - she would be queen!


As Christians, we also have access to the King. And in the same way, there is one thing and one thing only that allows us to have that access and to have the King's favor.


This one thing is nothing you can do or produce. You can't be good enough, or do anything to gain an audience with the King. There's only one way in - that is through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus.


Romans 5 talks about the faith that gives us access to His grace and favor. What a wonderfully easy way to get to talk with our Heavenly Father directly. Approach Him boldly in faith - you already have access through this faith.

What is the highest form of favor you can ask of this King??

Cry Out!

A friend posted this on another forum:

Ezekiel 9:4
and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” (NKJV)

I got to thinking how I have not been sighing and crying over the wicked things done in my city or county or state or country.

It's time for me to have an attitude adjustment. Rather than letting my heart turn cold. I admit that the flood of bad news gets overwhelming at times. The horrible things that people are doing to one another hurts, tires me out, and causes me to throw up my hands and say "what can possibly be done?!"

But even Jesus knew this was going to happen when he said in Matthew 24:12, 13 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

I pray now and cry out for the horrible things that are going on. Rather than saying "I could care less," I do care, and will care. I will cry out to the Lord for the rapes, the cheating spouses, child and spousal abuse, murders, those that willfully hurt others, etc. My prayer now is, Lord do not let my love grow cold even though I live in terrible times.

Really Simple

So I judged that to know nought but Jesus Christ and him crucified was the way, the only way of this Gospel, which is demonstrated divinely by the Spirit and by power, not by persuasive preaching. I Cor. 2:2 (St. Paul From the Trenches)

This really is a simple Gospel, one that doesn't convince a man by persuasive speeches or arguments or philosophy. The Gospel in its simplest form only needs to be preached - then the Spirit, whose job description states that He convicts, not man, not by persuasive words. (see John 16:7-9)

So, perhaps we need to step out of the way, and preach Jesus, and him crucified as the only way. Nothing else is required, just the crucifixion of Jesus.

It's really very freeing when we admit we can do nothing, and devote ourselves to discovering what happened on the Cross.

Great Pleasures

I've been thinking about some of the greatest pleasures in life that I have experienced. I thought of things like:

Sleeping in
Climbing into a bed made with freshly laundered linens after a nice hot shower
Cuddling with my husband
Eating a great meal with friends and family
When Jake (my cat) comes to me in an affectionate and cuddly mood

But of all these things I think these are greater:

Experiencing unity in my local church, especially during worship
Being overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord
Hearing the Lord speak (whether through dreams, experiences, visions, etc)
Having the Word of God LEAP off the page and into my spirit

These things are such great pleasures. Thinking on this last group inspires me to continue to pursue Him in whom I have placed my hope and my trust!

I've been chewing over Philemon verse 6 recently.

This verse says that we must share our faith so that we come into full understanding of what Christ has done for us.

Consider the impact of that. We share our faith with others - and we're not just talking about witnessing, but sharing why we have faith in Christ with others, Christians or non-Christians. When we share our faith, we come into fuller understanding of what Christ has done for us.

So, to increase my understanding, I need to share what I know now, and what Christ has done for me on the Cross.

This scripture is very true.

I shared with my church and in this blog about how my husband and I buried an argument in the Cross and we had instantaneous restoration of our relationship. A few days later I got more revelation on how the power of the Cross could work in the dysfunctional relationship patterns that I get enmeshed in.

So, to increase in your knowledge, share your faith with others - even if it's a friend, spouse, or in an email to someone you know. Share your faith and watch for an increase of understanding and revelation.

Further Revelation on Burying Things in the Cross

A friend of mine wrote a note on his Facebook page about how the Cross affects communication. After thinking about this and meditating on this recent revelation on how when you bury things in the Cross, they are really gone, I had an amazing revelation that the dysfunctional relationships that I have and that cause me to get in a spin from time to time can also be buried in the Cross!

As I shared this with my husband last night, he reminded me that if I chose to do that, that I must remember that I had to LEAVE those things there, too.

So, I am choosing to let the Cross have its supernatural way in my dysfunctional relationships that I cannot fix. I am burying the issues with those relationships in the Cross, deep in the Cross.

Bury It In The Cross

My husband and I had a huge argument one day. It started in the morning, and throughout the day the emails and texts to each other only made things worse. When we got home later that day, things between us continued to progress badly.

We continued throwing words at each other. I think we both wanted an end to the argument but neither of us wanted to admit they were wrong first. Maybe you have been there, where you realize that you are wrong, but you want the other party to give in first, andthen you’ll admit you’re wrong, too. Or maybe I’m the only immature one like this on the planet.

However, we kept saying the wrong things and the argument continued to escalate.

Finally my husband said out loud: “Father, help me end this.”

And then he said a phrase that totally changed the atmosphere: “Let’s bury this deep in the Cross.”

I agreed: “Yes!” and immediately whatever was there between us just vanished. Really, it completely and utterly vanished.

Now, I wish everything was great after that, but the next day, I recognized that I still had some “emotions” that were creeping back and thoughts that came back to my mind. I realized that I was behaving somewhat like a weaned child – remembering the past, and maybe a little hurt about what happened. You know how a child will sit there after some traumatic event, and even though they are fine, they are still going through a little quiet sobbing, stuttered breathing as they “come down” from the traumatic experience. That’s kind of how I felt. The argument was a bit traumatic, but the release when we just buried the whole argument in the Cross was bliss.

I went through a long period of wondering if what had happened was real or not. Some things that have finally convinced me that it was real:

As my pastor said one recently Sunday, we should not be governed by feelings. My feelings of being hurt did try to resurface, but I stood in the truth of the Cross, - that my old man IS dead, those hurt feelings could not continue on. They had no life in them and could not continue.

The realization of how I limited the work of the Cross by spending time wondering if this was "real" or not. It is an easy thing for Him to take this argument and obliterate it for time and eternity.

And lastly, I had no recollection of what the argument was about. Talk about amnesia! I honestly cannot remember the reasons for the argument. Even when I look back in my emails to my husband on that day – it’s like I’m reading something I didn’t write.

Isn't this just glorious?? It is for me, especially now that I am fully embracing it as TRUTH! The argument was buried in the Cross, and the work of the Cross is a completed work - not a some time in the future work... it's a work for NOW and for our daily mundane lives.

Plugging In

I had a vision recently. The church was in worship. Everyone had cords with a plug on the end. Some were plugging into a power source in the wall, and some were not. The cords that were plugged into a power source were glowing yellow. Those that were not were dull, lifeless and brown.

We all have a choice to make in our everyday lives, whether we plug into our source of power – the Lord – and choose to interact with Him or not. Some ways that we choose to interact:

• Engaging with the Word on a regular, preferably daily basis. Notice I didn’t say “reading” – reading and engaging are two different things. When you read the Word ask the Lord “What are the implications of this for my life?” Make it personal, ask Him questions and listen for His response.
• Engage with the Lord – have a dialogue with Him. Ask Him questions, seek His answers to your questions.
• Engage with the Body in unity. Be sure not to just go to church to check it off the list.
• Engage with others in the Body in unity – talk the Gospel to each other – not to try to save each other, but to build up each other in the message of the Cross.
• Engage with the Cross. What took place on the Cross 2000 years ago still has an effect on your life today. What effect is the Cross having on your life today? And if it’s not having an effect, ask the Lord to show you what effect the Cross is having in your life today.

Time

The crucifixion of Jesus was an act that took place outside of time.

We know that the scripture says that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and that He was killed before the foundation of the world. John the Revelator who saw visions of heaven recorded seeing the Lamb of God freshly killed.

So we know by this, that the crucifixion happened outside the boundaries of time.

And we know that it also occurred IN time, at a specific point in time, in history.

These thoughts came to me on my drive into work as I calculated various things in my head:
5 minutes to get to I-96
5 more minute to get to M-39
10 more minutes to get to another point in my drive

All of these are points in time, time markers on my way to work.

However, if Jesus' death took place outside of time markers, what does that say about the way I think and order my day and my thoughts? I know that just thinking like this first of all fills up my mind with trivial, useless thoughts.

Not only that – it imposes LIMITS on me. God can work outside the boundaries of time – he is not limited by it. I am in union with God, (see previous day's post). If my thinking is limited by time, that may limit my experience or notice of the works of God.

This is an area where I need to meditate and contemplate more… perhaps it’s a jumping off point for others, too.

Meditation on My Union with Christ

Flesh ripped and torn open

I am compelled

drawn in

into the body of the sacrifice

I am become the sacrifice together with Him,

In union with Him.

He took on the scourging, the horrible punishment

Thorns driven into the precious head

The nails piercing first one hand and then other, and his feet

The spear in his side

Yet, I feel none of the pain

He drew me into this

In union with Him

One flesh

But no one can see

It is in a secret place

A place of union

Joining

Becoming one

At once and forever one

I don't have to earn it

I just have to be

One

Drawn in

In Union

License Plates Speaking to Me

Yeah, I know this will be odd... but I believe God is always speaking, whether or not we're tuned in to listen is the question.

The first week back to work of this month, I saw a "vanity" plate on my way to work that said GODSFAV.

Indeed, I do have God's favor on me and my life. I am transferring to a new department and I'm very happy and excited about it. Interestingly, I have talked to the Lord about this during the summer - about how much I would have liked to move to this new department rather than stay where I was. I really didn't think anything of it until I was presented with the opportunity.

On the way home from work on the same day I saw another vanity plate that proclaimed GODSWRK.

It reminded me that all this favor is coming down on me, not because of anything that I have done, but because of the completed work on the Cross which opened up for me every single blessing in Deuteronomy 28!

Does familiarity breed contempt? Or rather disregard?

Sometimes, when we are so familiar with a passage we lose what the true meaning of the passage really is. We read of children's renderings of nursery rhymes that the child learns by memorization and we laugh. We share this because we have all been through it.

There is a lesson to be learned here - that we don't become so familiar with a passage that the words and their meaning don't truly register with us any more.

This morning I woke up thinking about Romans 6:6 and the beauty of this passage. So, as an exercise I wrote it out in various translations/versions/paraphrases and will share with you here.

So grab a cup of coffee, take a deep breath and read Romans 6:6 with me:

NIV: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--

MSG: Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life -- no longer at sin's every beck and call!

WEYMOUTH: This we know -- that our old self was nailed to the cross with Him; in order that our sinful nature might be neutralized so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin;

PHILLIPS: Let us never forget that our old selves died with Him on the Cross that the tyranny of sin over us be might be broken--

WUEST: ..that our old [unregenerate] self was crucified once for all with Him in order that the physical body [heretofore] dominated by the sinful nature might be rendered inoperative [in that respect], with the result that no longer are we rendering a slave's habitual obedience to the sinful nature, for the one who died once for all stands in the position of a permanent relationship of freedom from the sinful nature.

NLT: We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

JERUSALEM: We must realize that our former selves have been crucified with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin.

NASB: Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

LIVING LETTERS: Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with Him; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and fatally wounded, so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin's control, no longer needs to be a slave to sin;

AMP: We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body, [which is the instrument] of sin, might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.

COTTON PATCH VERSION: We are convinced that the person we used to be has been strung up with him, so that the sinful nature may be wiped out, and we no longer need to be addicted to sin.

MOFFAT: knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin...

NEW AUTHORIZED VERSION: Know this: that our old self is crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that from now on we would not serve sin.

ROTHERHAM: Of this taking note--that our old man was crucified together with him in order that the sinful body might be made powerless, that we should no longer be in servitude to sin;

RSV: We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.

KJV: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little journey through the various renderings of Romans 6:6. After this, realize with me that it is impossible to have contempt or disregard for the marvelous work of Christ on the Cross encapsulated in this one verse.