Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Our thoughts are what determine our success.  It is our thoughts which determine our behaviors, but more than that, it is our thoughts which determine how we feel, and our values.

Beyond the natural, it is also in the realm of our thoughts in which our faith is founded.  We have faith in God’s Word.  Faith in His promise to heal.  And, it is in keeping the realm of our thoughts rooted and grounded in God’s Word that we are able to keep our hearts from doubting what He has told us.  So important are our thoughts that they are, indeed, the realm of our salvation, as it is written, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romanbs 10:9).  Our thoughts are what make our lives.

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Who Christ Is In Me

Christ is the hope within.  He is the hope of Glory within us.

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Colossians 1:27

He is my high priest and apostle.

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;

Hebrews 3:1

He is my Rabbi, Teacher, and Leader.

But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:8-12

He is the Head of the Body, First-Born from the dead.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:18

He is the Head over all things for the church.

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 1:22

He is my judge, lawgiver, and king.

For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us–

Isaiah 33:22

He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord.

 which He will bring about at the proper time– He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

1 Timothy 6:15

What Christ Does In Me

Christ within us is our Advocate, our Comforter, Strengthener and Standby, abiding forever.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—

John 14:16 AMP

Christ, who is both within and in heaven, lives to make intercession for me.

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:25

He helps me in my weakness, and prays for me through unutterable.  And, when He does, He prays perfectly, always according to the will of God.

 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

He reveals all things, even the deep things of God.

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10

He produces fruit in me.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

He brings me conviction, reprove, and correction.

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

John 16:8

I am His property, His possession. He owns me.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

2 Peter 1:9

He teaches me all things and reminds me of it when I need it.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

John 14:26

He anoints me with power, and makes me a witness.

[B]ut you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

Acts 1:8

He is the strength of God.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11

He gives me strength so I CAN do whatever I need to.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

He guarantees my portion in God’s promise.

[W]ho is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:14

How Christ Is In Me

Christ Himself is the mystery of God.

[T]hat their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

Colossians 2:2

He is my glory.  He lifts my head.

But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.

Psalms 3:3

He is the image of God.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Colossians 1:15

He is the radiance of God’s glory, resembling in every way.  He has become better than the angels.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

Colossians 1:3-4

He is my Beloved.  I am His, and He is mine.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies.

Song of Songs 6:3

He is my Beloved, and He desires me.

I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.

Song of Songs 7:10

He is my righteousness.

In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ [Yahweh Tsidkenu].

Jeremiah 23:6

He, in me, is Love–the very flame of God.

Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the LORD.

Song of Songs 8:6

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

1 Corinthians 2:12-15

We must be clear.  We are not to judge those outside of the church, but we are called to judge those inside it (1 Corinthians 5:12).  Those outside are sinners, and we expect them to act like sinners.  If they sin, it is their nature to sin, and we do not do well if we point fingers at the unregenerate, just as we do well not to fit into them, for there is no fellowship between light and dark.  Likewise, when we enter into soulish, or carnal, judgement against a brother, failing to discern the Lord’s body, we do sin.  Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30).  He did not use His own mind or understanding to judge, but He judged according to the Spirit, and was right when He prophesied judgement on the Pharisees, on Jerusalem, and on the cities that would not hear His Gospel.

Yet, Paul made it clear that the man of the flesh cannot receive the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned.  Not will not, cannot.  Jesus said it this way, that those who are not born again cannot see nor enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:3-5).

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For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

Grace is God’s gift to men.  It is His unmerited favor, it is His divine enablement, it is never deserved.

Grace and holiness always go hand in hand. His Grace teaches us to say no to sin, and by it we put to death the misdeeds of the flesh in the finished works. Any “grace” that is not intrinsically tied to real, practical holiness is not Grace. And by humbling ourselves and repenting and mourning, more Grace is given, submitting to God, resisting the devil, Christ within conquers all our foes.

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They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy [corrupt]: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Psalm 14:3, emphasis added and edited

There is no one in this world that is righteous outside of Christ.  The quicker we see that this world is completely condemned, that there is not a single person who seeks the right outside of His Spirit, and hate it, the quicker we will realize that the only good we have is in Him.

They have all turned aside, and they have all become corrupt, of filthy.

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I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Luke 13:5

Take an apple, cut it open, and put it on the counter.  Leave it there, say, for a week, or a month, and you will notice something. The apple is no longer the apple you left it as, but it is now destroyed.  Further, there is no repairing that apple to it’s original golden deliciousness.  It is now, if you leave it long enough, brown slime, and food for the bees.

This world, like that apple, is broken like that apple.  And, in fact, it was God that broke it for His own justice at the beginning, when the man fell.

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If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:26

There are many ways to approach discipleship in Christ, but one thing is assured.  Unless your obedience is carried to the extreme, it is not Biblical Christianity.

Discipleship begins at the cross.  It begins at the laying down of everything of this life, and that of following the Master.  From start to finish, it must be about absolute trusting and dependence upon the Shepherd for everything. Read more…

Imagine for a moment that the church made a shift, that it turned a corner, and that instead of holiness being a marginal topic, one that is sometimes talked about, but seldom embraced, imagine that it was suddenly the norm for Christians again to expect holiness in their meetings, in their ministers, and in their people’s daily lives.

What if there was a dramatic shift in the body, only possible by God, of course, so that the whole of mainstream Christianity was revitalized, revived even, so that we had a living, active knowledge of God on a personal basis from God teaching us Himself? Read more…

Hidden in the flow of the Spirit, one voice remains. Beneath the flow of time and life, only One Thing matters.

One Thing I asked of the Lord, this one thing I seek, that I might dwell, gaze, and inquire, hidden by thy wing.

Within the realm of the Spirit, all else ceases to matter.

Consumed within His fiery love His Gaze rises above the rest.

One Thing I asked of the Lord, and this I shall receive.

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The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

1 Corinthians 2:15 NIV

You see, it is the spiritual man that is free.

According to Paul, he, the spiritual man, judges all things, and yet is judged by no one.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1 Corinthians 2:15 KJV

He that is spiritual judges.  He that is spiritual is not subject to other men’s judgement.

The man led by the Spirit is not under the law.  He neither looks directly to it for his direction nor does he receive criticism or accusation that he has violated it or has transgressed it.

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