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OPENHEAVEN.COM DIGEST ARCHIVES
OpenHeaven.com Forum : OPENHEAVEN.COM DIGEST ARCHIVES
Subject Topic: OpenHeaven.com Digest June 04, 2010 Post Reply Post New Topic
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Ron McGatlin
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Joined: 08/23/2004
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Posted: 06/05/2010 at 7:04am | IP Logged Quote Ron McGatlin

Worldwide Kingdom Awakening News and Views

 

 

 


Published by Ron & Barbara McGatlin - Basileia Publishing

 


In This Edition
1. Everlasting Life Experience
2. The Sword That Divides
3. TOP NEWS Headlines


 

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1. Everlasting Life Experience

By Ron McGatlin

Life involves much more than conscious existence. There is an experience of spiritual everlasting life that is above and beyond natural life. Also, there is a natural life or existence apart from God that is empty and more like living death.

There is an awakening of everlasting life coming to many secular and religious people including Christians. People who have been trained to seek knowledge of life and yet have not walked in the experience of everlasting life are awakening to a potential of an inner quality of life of God that is above and beyond natural existence and religious living.

Man’s knowledge applied through human initiative can accomplish many impressive works. However, without God those marvelous works will never lead to everlasting life experience, but they will lead toward an existence that is void of real life.

The knowledge of godliness without the experience of it in life is empty and vain, like puffed up dry clouds of no value or usefulness (1 Cor 8:1) (Jude 1:12). Knowledge alone can do nothing constructive until it is made alive in life experience. Knowing the Bible word without the Spirit’s appropriation of it into the life is powerlessness.

Intimately knowing the WORD, Christ Jesus, who abides within His people, is the source of the abundant kingdom of heaven life that is above and beyond natural life.

Knowledge without Spirit leads to hypocrisy.

Without the power of the Spirit revealing and appropriating the knowledge from God, people are set up for fear and guilt. They fear not measuring up to biblical standards and feel guilty when they do not measure up.

This often leads to employing human strength and discipline in an attempt to achieve Christ-like standards in life. The goal of the full stature of Christ in our lives is always somewhere ahead out of our reach (Eph 4:13). We are driven to live a lifetime of repenting and seeking but never quite getting there. Striving and self-sacrificing leads to the development of systems of religious rules and practices for justification and penitence.

If we do a reasonably good job of self-sacrificing and doing religious things, it often leads to religious pride and arrogance covered by a façade of false humility and fake smiles. We religiously attempt to ACT like Christ Jesus and strive to become like Him. We become actors playing a role of acting like Christians.

Becoming truly humble by the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ pleases God. Acting humble through self-abasement is false humility and pleases the devil.

Religion becomes a very strong force driven by a carnal state of mind seeking self-justification.  Religion satisfies our need to do something to try to justify ourselves. Religious people love their religion, because it is their source of hope to become free from a life of carnal-minded death.

Other streams of secularism and “new age” type religions have taken another approach to accomplishing self-justification. This approach consists of lowering the standard of godliness so low that there is nothing lacking to be or to do. There is an illusion of no sin awareness, no demons, and no standards or judgments. Therefore, there is no need for justification.

Kingdom Transformation

We have reached a pivotal point in the history of God and man - a time of turning away from the “tree of knowledge” and turning back to the “tree of life.”

There is a maturation of the work of Christ with His people that has grown through the generations. It is a graduation time, if you please – a time of graduating from self-focused, man-driven religion to Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered abundant everlasting life.

People of God are maturing and graduating from going to church to being the church – from trying to be like Christ to the life of Christ within by the Spirit – from knowledge without experience to intimately knowing Christ Jesus and experiencing the life of His power and love by His Spirit.

We are moving from only waiting for Christ Jesus to someday be with us again to seeing the reality that since Pentecost He has been available to indwell His people with all the power needed to transform us and change the world with His life (Rom 5:10). The power to overcome the devil and destroy his work in the world is available in the Spirit and awaits a people to abandon religious and secular false beliefs and receive the fullness of the powerful Spirit of Christ Jesus to fully live in our bodies. Thus we collectively, truly become the Body of Christ in the world.

This is the PROMISE OF THE FATHER through Christ Jesus.

Acts 1:4-5:  And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Acts 1:8:  "But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

  • The power to love God and our neighbor is in the abiding with Christ Jesus by the Spirit.
  • The power to overcome sin and destroy the works of the enemy is IN THE PRESENSE OF GOD WITH US IN THE SPIRIT.
  • The power to experience everlasting life of the righteousness of God is in the presence of the Spirit of Christ Jesus.
  • The power to live in joy and peace at all times is in the presence of the Spirit of Christ in us.
  • All the power needed to fulfill all the word and works of God is now available to all who are saturated in the Holy Spirit of God.

We in Christ and Christ in Us

The actual resurrection life of Christ Jesus is available to abide in His people by the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus said the Father is in Him, and He is in us by the Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one. We now have the potential to become one with God.

John 14:18-20:  "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

John 17:23  "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

When Christ left heaven and came to earth, He did not become like man. He became the Son of man. Though He became a man, He was still God.

When we are in Christ and He is in us by the Spirit, we do not become like Christ. We become a body in which Christ abides and moves upon the earth. We become sons of God but are still man (Rom 8:14-19) (Gal 3:26).

Collectively, as the body of Christ, we have the potential to become fully redeemed man in whom the Spirit of Christ sits upon the throne and rules and reigns on earth while still seated at the right hand of Father’s throne (1 Cor 3:16) (2 Tim 2:12) (Rom 5:17) (Rev 5:10).

For more on the sons of God see Kingdom Growth Guide (#050).

For more on Christ in the Spirit see Overcoming Life On A Small Planet - Chapter 8, Entering the Kingdom.

Keep on pursuing love. It never fails
and His kingdom never ends.

Ron McGatlin

archive.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net


2. The Sword That Divides

By Kriston Couchey
 
DIVIDING SOUL AND SPIRIT

A friend of mine invited me to go to a men's camping retreat where we would spend the weekend fasting, praying, and repenting. When we arrived I was impressed by the level of maturity and fervency for the Lord. The leader of these men had a vision that was national in scope. I could see that with the men he had with him He could very well start a movement that could sweep the nation. I also discerned the heart idols of works of the flesh, and nationalistic pride that kept them from discerning between the kingdom of God and the soulish works of men. These Idols held by the leader tainted his God given vision, and affected all of the men he was leading. I had seen this idolatry in the hearts of many Americans and it did not surprise me. 

When the leader said to split up into pairs he quickly pointed to me and said "I want to go with you." I shared a couple things the Lord had been saying to me about Abraham laying down Isaac (our destiny, purpose, and vision) in faith that God could raise up Isaac as He desires. He then announced that I was to be the speaker at the main gathering the next day. I did not maneuver this, God set me up again. After the usual nighttime demonic attack when about to face a stronghold, the next day I prayed about what to share and to my dislike the Spirit of the Lord told me to confront the idolatry. I did NOT want to do this, I did not come to confront this thing and knew from experience it would not be a joyous event.

At the meeting, I shared about sacrificing Isaac and laying down our God given vision in order to receive an even larger purified vision from God. I shared kingdom truth; confronting the specific idolatry birthed in the souls of men. I did not expect what happened. The leader ended up hiding in his tent crying and unresponsive. I went to his tent and ministered to him, showing him God's love and told him that he needed to lay down his vision into the hands of the Lord so the Lord could raise it up again as He desired. He would not accept what I had to share with him and was unable to lead the rest of the day. The weekend fell apart at that point and I prodded him to get up and lead these men. He got up in the closing morning and closed the weekend. He completely shut down spiritually, and later when I emailed him one of his men answered it because he still was unresponsive. The people were exasperated. Yet there were those that received what was shared with joy. Sadly, what I shared at that meeting was a judgment to this man, and the vision and plans God had given Him ended up coming to nothing.

THE WORD THAT JUDGES (DISCERNS AND DIVIDES)
For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two–edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern (JUDGE) the thoughts and intents of the heart.! ~The Writer of Hebrews~

If you have learned to speak by the Spirit of God, you probably recognize that what you release to others can be blessing for some, and like a spiritual roadblock to those who reject your words. The implanted Word (Christ) within you judges (discerns) or clarifies the true condition of the hearts of men.  When the Word Himself is speaking through you, your very Words become a sword that divides soul and spirit; clarifying that which is from the soulish realm of man from that which is birthed in the realm of the Spirit. Jesus said, "I do not judge you, the words I speak to you judge, you."  Men are judged by their willingness to repent and believe the living Word; which is the voice of God to men through whatever vessel He chooses to speak through. We do NOT make our own judgments. We must discern and come into active agreement with the judgments of God.

For every one instance of rejection and judgment there may be ninety nine instances of blessing and joy from those receiving the Word. 99% of kingdom work is not negative in nature but building up and releasing blessing and life. Paul said it well, "should I use my authority to tear you down or build you up?"  There is more tearing down work in the church that must be done in this day then in Paul's day, and there will be times of confrontation. God's purpose in this hour is to redeem mankind in His mercy and love, and we should always have the mind and attitude of Christ to redeem and reach people. Nevertheless, men are judged by their willingness to repent and believe.  In this new day we will be speaking Words that will be both blessing and judgment; blessing to those that respond, and judgment to those who reject. The heavens will open for those who receive the Word, and be closed for those who do not.  If you are speaking the Word Himself, It is not you they reject, it is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. This is not about cursing anyone. It is the nature of Divine Authority entrusted to men that naturally judges iniquity. It is a work of HIS justice, not ours. It is the Lord's decision to judge people, but it is our responsibility to agree with and carry out His judgments.

I had a similar experience with a friend when God showed up in our home group in the mid nineties. While we ministered to, and shared the Word of the Lord with this man, there came a time when the Lord spoke clearly to me and said "Stop praying for him!"  His rejection of the Living Word and His work among us had cut off the flow of blessing that others were receiving from the throne. It may well be that at a later time he will be able to receive, but for the time being He was judged by the Lord as not able to receive His blessing. 

In our own spheres of influence or authority, we are to be in agreement with the judgments of God, and at times be the mouth that speaks forth God's judgments, be they for good or for the detriment of the others. Empowered by the Spirit, Peter pronounced judgment on Ananias and Syphyra and they died, Paul pronounced the blindness of Elymus the sorcerer who opposed the Word through Paul, and he was lead away because of his blindness. Paul told him he was "...full of all guile and all mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?"

Stumbling blocks and those that draw others into error are what gets the swift justice of God when the glory has landed. Even Jesus pronounced woe on the Pharisees who were leading people astray and keeping people from entering the kingdom. God is jealous for His people, and stumbling blocks can die for the sake of offending one of these little ones. And yet, thankfully Father has a long-suffering mercy and desire for all men to repent.

FALSE JUDGMENTS
The problem in the church is not judgment; judgment is good, the problem is FALSE judgments made from the SOUL of men. These judgments come from those who are not pure in heart, and their judgments destroy and defile people. People whose hearts have idols bless what should not be blessed, and curse what should not be cursed.  What has passed for prophetic judgment today is a pitiful thing formed in the hearts of insecure deceived men and women.  Those who have idols, offense, and judgment in their hearts will not be allowed to enter into what God is doing in this day. Many would use the authority of God to destroy anyone who opposes them or their personal agenda. They are not in submission to the will of Father and dead to themselves.

HOPE FOR THE CHURCH
The apostles James and John showed their nationalistic pride and prejudice towards the Samaritans with their desire to call down fire from heaven to destroy them. Their lack of discernment as to the reality of the kingdom and the merciful nature of God shows there is hope for the church that is willing to go through a death and resurrection experience. After the church has laid it's Isaac (destiny, purpose and vision) down on the altar to die, God will raise it up with His greater destiny, purpose and vision, which is the gospel of the kingdom untainted by the soulish imaginations of men. 

In His Love
Kriston Couchey 

http://my.opera.com/Boanerges/blog/ 


3. TOP NEWS Headlines


Ted Haggard Starts New Church in Colorado - 6/3/2010
More than three years after stepping down as pastor of the 14,000-member congregation he founded in Colorado Springs, Colo., Ted Haggard announced that he is starting a new church in the same city even though he once agreed not to start a church within 100 miles. "Though many believe that I am not qualified nor will I ever be qualified again to be a pastor ... Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32729&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1


Al Qaeda Cleric’s Recordings Sold at Virgina Store - 6/2/2010
Some U.S. intelligence officials believe al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is now the world's most influential Islamic terrorist, surpassing even Osama bin Laden. CDs and DVDs by al Awlaki were found at Halalco, a Muslim supermarket in the Washington, D.C. area. In addition to halal meat, the store carries a large selection of Islamic books, recordings and clothing. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32708&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1


Down in the trenches with persecuted Christians - 6/2/2010
Today more than 100 million Christians face unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beatings, torture and even execution in restrictive countries around the world. Their crime? They are followers of Jesus Christ. Rarely will the public hear about their plight on television in the United States. But now there is the opportunity to get a new television documentary series. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32711&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1


Christian Woman Kidnapped in Pakistan Escapes - 6/2/2010
A Christian woman who was kidnapped, forced to marry a Muslim farmer and told to convert to Islam amid a dispute over a loan said she has returned home after weeks of "captivity and torture." Sania James, 33, was kidnapped April 5 by armed men who stormed her parent's house. The armed men took her to her father's employer. She refused to convert to Islam and was tortured. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32710&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1 


Courageous Missionary Murdered - 6/1/2010
Pastor Ajit saw his dream of a church building unfolding before him as God provided for the land and construction. He went to a nearby town to purchase the final building supplies for the church, but he never came home. A violent anti-Christian group ambushed him and three other travelers. They brutally shot and killed all four, dumping the bodies on the roadside. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32694&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1


Muslim Students Stage Sit-In To Support Christians At Iraqi University - 5/31/2010
One person was killed and 100 others, mostly students, were wounded when a roadside bomb and a car bomb exploded near a bus. It was transporting students from a predominantly Christian town to Mosul University. Lecturers and Muslim students at the school responded with a sit-in. Christians stopped attending classes out of safety concerns. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32666&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1

 

Aborted but Still Living Baby Sent for Cremation - 5/28/2010
A funeral home worker was startled by a cry from a box, labeled "medical waste," that he was about to put into an incinerator. He opened the carton and found the baby moving, but choking on some cotton wool. After the worker cleared his mouth, the baby yawned and breathed normally. The infant was rushed back to the hospital, but doctors reportedly left him to die. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32623&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1


US Trying to Deport Converted Son of Hamas Founder - 5/28/2010
Mosab Yousef is the author of the best-seller, "Son of Hamas." It's the story of his conversion to Christianity and spying for Israel. Yousef's legal problems started when he told Homeland Security he was the son of a Hamas founder and asked for asylum. He says the agency is having trouble distinguishing between a terrorist and someone who's been fighting terrorism. Read On:
http://archive.openheaven.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=32624&a mp;a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1


For More Top News Headlines, http://archive.openheaven.com/news/headlines/

 

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