Posted: 07/19/2013 at 7:55am | IP Logged

OpenHeaven.com Digest Publication

In This Issue
1. The Life of Fullness and Significance
2. Overcomers Arise
3. News Headlines

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1. The Life of Fullness and Significance

By Ron McGatlin

In many nations of the world, including America, we are living in the time of one of the great opportunities to further the work of God’s kingdom on earth. The remaining freedom to use media and move about is a powerful opportunity to connect and bring forth to the world the loving works of Christ in us by the Holy Spirit.

There is no assurance that the liberty that remains yet upon us will be the way of the future. Now is the time to employ every tool and asset available to us to reach the nations with the love governance of God that can change the world. It is more than possible that a mighty release of the love and power of God from every believer on earth could turn the tide of the current dissolution of the liberty and freedom in the nations of the world.

It will not be well to look back on this time from the future and regret not using the liberty we had to do all that we could have done to impact a troubled world with the truth of the love based governance of Almighty God that would bring peace on earth and goodwill toward mankind. How bad will it feel to look back from a place of tyrannical godless governance and persecution and realize that while we entertained ourselves with games and indulged our appetites for pleasure seeking that the time of opportunity to freely proclaim the kingdom of God had passed away?

Only turning to God with our whole hearts and seeking His kingdom first, above all else, can assure us that there will be no regrets. Having fully obeyed the will of God and given our all in pure love and obedience to His call and leading, we will know that our lives and the great opportunity were not wasted.

Regret with its resulting condemnation is one of the most troubling dilemmas of life. Because they are in the past, natural wisdom cannot help us with past failures. We must tap into higher wisdom for life from Spirit God rather than anything from natural human thinking. Most of the world uses human or earthly natural knowledge, human intelligence, or understanding to guide their lives.

Knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom.

There are only two ultimate sources of wisdom and two resulting kinds of wisdom. The two kinds of wisdom are natural or earthly wisdom and spiritual or godly wisdom (James 3:13-18).

Our value system that prioritizes our lives is geared to one source of wisdom or the other. To change our value system we must first change our source of wisdom. Our lives are the compiled results of the decisions we have made from the source of wisdom we have accepted.

The two wisdom trees in the Garden of Eden

The two trees, in the center of the Garden of Eden, represent the two sources of wisdom for our lives. We know that God’s instruction was and is to not partake of the tree of knowledge in the center of the garden of our lives. The serpent pointed out the fact that partaking of that tree would make one wise and become as god. Partaking of the tree of knowledge is depending upon our own human wisdom to guide our lives, thereby becoming our own god apart from the true God that made us.

Death is the promised result of partaking of the tree of knowledge. Death is separation from God and His much higher and better way of life. We will have regret if we partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is the tree of man guiding his own life by natural human wisdom apart from the full leadership of God. Experiencing regret and self-condemnation is the experiencing of a level of death while we yet live. Through the centuries, many Christian religionists have turned to partaking of the tree of knowledge and not the tree of life.

The tree of life refers to becoming one with God and being guided by His voice – His full direction in our lives that is not based upon what we think but rather what He is saying by His Spirit into our “ears to hear” by the Spirit of God.

Many if not most Christians have been tricked into a form of godliness that is in contrast to the reality of the power of the life God has for us. Traditional religion has cunningly been infiltrated with deceitful partial truths that can steal from people the life of the reality of greater intimate relationship with God.

Church system training – good but not whole

We have been trained to receive Christ Jesus as Savior into our lives. We have sometimes also added the term as our Lord. Though the part of being truly Lord of our lives is often negated by the concept that we should make Jesus part of our lives. We may even believe that we should consult Him about all major decisions in our lives. All of this sounds really good and it is, but it is not the whole pure truth of God.

The devil is in the details. How do we consult God about our decisions? We may tend to like the verse in the Old Testament about “come let us reason together” because it makes it sound like we have some say in the process of figuring out what to do next.

Wow! This is so tricky. Come on, do we not know that God is God and we are not? Are we going to expect Him be only a part of our lives and only a part of the deciding process of how and what to be and do in this life?

God wants no part of being only a part of our lives. He will not be a part of our lives. He is only satisfied with literally 100% of our lives. Either he is God, or he is not. Our partaking of the tree of knowledge that is making ourselves as a god will never lead to true life but will eventually always come to being separated from His fullness and experiencing a level of death while we are naturally alive in these bodies.

Who says we cannot hear God?

Many of us have been subtly trained that we cannot hear God today and must try to figure out with our human minds what the Bible says in order to know how to live life. That is simply another big trick. We cannot naturally receive the word of God for it is only spiritually discerned (1 Cor 2:14). Therefore, we are stuck with reasoning out for ourselves what we are to be and do. Guess what? It never comes out exactly right, and we always have some form and amount of regret because we did what we thought was best but did not find out what God’s plan was for us.

God wants all of our life, not part of it. He does not want a tithe or an offering; He wants all of our money, all of our life, all of our time, our all abiding in Him and He in us by the Holy Spirit.

He does not want us making good decisions; He wants us to hear and represent what He has already decided.

Life is NOT all about us. It is not all about our wellness, our salvation, our hope of heaven, our good looks, our social and business accomplishments, our ministry, our sophistication, our reputation, our religion, our needs, or anything else.

This life is about Him, about becoming what He desires, about pleasing Him, about glorifying Him, about loving Him, honoring Him, praising Him, worshiping Him, depending on Him, seeking Him, serving Him, seeking His kingdom and His righteousness, knowing Him and being known of Him, representing Him on earth, and anything and everything else that He desires in or from His bride.

This is losing our lives for His sake and the gospels (Mark 8:35). This is the way to a miraculous life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is seeking Him and His kingdom first and all other things being added to us.

We are spirit beings who have a soul (mind will and emotions), and we live in a body, an earth suit, a carton that contains our spirit and soul. These bodies are not who we are; they came from dust and will return to dust. Our spirit is who we are and the part of us that can become one with Spirit God, just as air mixes together with other air and becomes one air, our spirit can become one spirit with God.

The life we now live is His life living in us where we once lived. It is the most fulfilling, the most satisfying life that a human being can ever experience. In losing our lives in Him we gain His life in us. We become the best that we can be at everything in life: the best parents, the best teachers, the best farmers, the best business people, or whatever mission He has for us in this life.

There are never regrets to His life living in us. There is always righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit no matter what the circumstances. There is complete healing of all past failures, mistakes, and all painful wounding experiences, in the life of the reality of Christ in us by the Holy Spirit. We are not just filled with His Spirit, His life; we are saturated inside and out with His Spirit life.

This is the all-consuming fire of the love of God lifestyle that is available to those who truly seek Him with their whole hearts. It is a life of joy unspeakable and full of glory. A life in which experiencing His manifest presence among a group of His people in the presence of holy angels is far more exciting and fulfilling than all the riches and finery that worldly life can ever afford (Heb 12:22-25). It is simply life in the Spirit bringing heaven to earth.

In religious church we sought to get to go to heaven when we died. In the relational kingdom age church, it is about heaven coming to earth. It is about ruling and reigning with Christ in this life now.

God loves us so much and so desires to consume our lives with the fire of His love. God desires to take us to places in the Spirit that we have never even dreamed existed, places of rest and peace beyond measure – places of unspeakable beauty and graciousness in which there is neither press nor stress of life but unending power and wisdom to live this life to the fullest now and in the life to come eternal life.

It is never too late to get in on life in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This is all clearly presented in the Bible and is available only to those who will seek Him and His kingdom with their whole hearts.

For more on all of this and more study the books by Ron McGatlin available for Free Download in PDF format HERE.

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

Ron McGatlin

archive.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

2. OVERCOMERS ARISE

By Amanda Leonard

What is an overcomer? One who overcomes. The Lord has been speaking to me about being an overcomer. It’s amazing to me how the Holy Spirit will just POP words out to you. It’s almost like you’ve ‘seen’ it a zillion times but you’re really just ‘seeing’ it for the first time. That’s how I’ve felt with this word OVERCOMER. The Lord has been showing me that He is creating His children to become overcomers, actually we already are but we haven’t appropriated it through the blood of Jesus.

The first thing that He is teaching us to overcome is our own mind. We as the body of Christ have been an orphan bride for far too long. We have let the lies of the enemy penetrate our minds and we haven’t believed who God has said that we are. We have felt unworthy, been disconnected, believed we are ugly, beaten down, addicted, and bound long enough. God is waking us up to the realization that we are OVERCOMERS through the blood of Jesus Christ. As we are awakening from our slumber, God is transforming us to have the mind of Christ. He is teaching us to truly walk in the ways of His Kingdom.

Romans 12:2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Vision

I was in a burn unit. I myself had been burned at one time (spiritually) and God was stretching me until the skin was smooth and the burns were no longer noticeable. I sat in front of a room full of burn victims. These people had been burned by religion and the systems of man. The enemy had feed them so many lies that it was ingrained in their skin and had disfigured them.

I saw that the enemy was putting a veil over them. The people felt unworthy and didn’t want to be noticed. The veil was blinding them from the realization that Jesus the Christ had given them skin grafts! They had new skin, new DNA, they were covered in the blood of Jesus, yet this veil was covering their eyes and keeping them from seeing who they had always been before the creations of the earth.

God showed me that He is raising up people to apply the healing balm of Gilead to these people who have been burned. He is taking off the veils from their eyes. As they look in the mirror, they hardly recognize themselves because they are beginning to see themselves the way that God has always seen them, as whole, beautiful, worthy carriers of His glory….a pure and spotless bride!

As these people began to see their transformation, they realized all the lies from the enemy and the effects of religion that tried to leave them completely lifeless, barely getting by…….definitely not the overcomers that the word says we are! They began to see the life of Jesus, the blood of Jesus running through their veins…..they began to realize they were OVERCOMERS!!!

”These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Hallelujah!

Our mission is to overcome darkness with His marvelous light. His light is within us. In His Presence, darkness must flee. The enemy can’t stay, he must scatter. So it’s time for our light to shine! We are a city on a hill, a light that cannot be hidden. His light in us will dispel any darkness. As we realize we are overcomers through Jesus, truly ALL things are possible.

His love pouring through purified vessels with scatter any work of the enemy. Our part is to overcome the evil of this world with the goodness of God. Christ in us the hope of glory, a city of light shining into the darkness to dispel it and replace it with the real life of God.

This past Sunday we broke out in spontaneous song with these words, “In Your Presence, the enemy scatters, in Your Presence, the enemy scatters…..let your light shine, shine upon the earth, let your light shine, shine upon the earth!” It’s happening as we are overcoming our self-life and being birthed into the Kingdom of God life, the abundant life in Jesus through Holy Spirit in us….NOW! The time is here, the time is NOW!

I’m reminded of an experience last year about this time. We were in a town that had lots of darkness everywhere. We were worshipping our King in a small little coffee shop downtown and my friend was taken out into the street in the Spirit. The darkness was everywhere, it tried to envelope her like a glove, and then suddenly she saw liquid light flowing through the cracks of the wall. This liquid light began to seep from under the doors and windows. It brought light into the street and she watched it flow down the streets and alleyways. Then she could see inside the coffee shop and saw this liquid light was coming from our mouths as we praised and worshipped our King!

A man came in the coffee shop that night and told us afterwards that he was walking down the street and was thinking of ways to kill himself. He told us that he could hear the music and something lured him in and he didn’t understand why he came in but when he experienced God’s love he knew why. He heard about and experienced the love of our Father. He said that what happened with him coming in the coffee shop and us praying over him and loving on him had changed his steps and his life!

He is our light and in Him there is no darkness, (1 John 1:5). So when we walk in Him, we emit His light into the darkest places. As we overcome the darkness that has been in our lives, more light comes and we shine brighter and brighter as we continue to be transformed into His image.

By faith, we are going to enter His courts and declare His justice and His righteousness over situations. God is raising up ones who by faith are engaging the heavenly courtroom to honor God, repent of sins, and hand over situations to God for Him to judge. God is our righteous judge.

Revelation chapter 12 talks about how the accuser is accusing the brethren day and night….10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they OVERCAME him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

We have overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Oh how precious is His blood! Can you imagine how many things that the enemy has stolen….being that he is continually, day and night accusing us before God?

As we are overcoming our mind and what’s in our hearts, we will begin to realize the power of the words we speak. The enemy will use words that we speak and take them to the courtroom and use them against us, if they aren’t words that come from Father. For example, Sally is talking about Joe and says, “Oh, he will never change….he will always be the same old mean man he’s always been.” The enemy will take those words to the Father and use them against you.

That is why we must overcome our mindset and our mouths, this happens as we shed off the ways of self and see people through the eyes of Jesus. This is a process most times because of all the years we operated out of our soul and fleshly desires, instead of walking in the pureness of His Spirit.

There is a testimony in heaven about you that needs to be fulfilled and as we enter the courtroom Father will show us the testimony of our scroll. Jesus had books in heaven about him that were to be fulfilled, and of course He fulfilled them. How did he know? He was One with the Father, Jesus was the word that became flesh, He fulfilled every word that was written about Him. He only did what He saw the Father doing and only said what He heard the Father saying. As we by faith enter this heavenly realm, in which we are already seated, we will become more and more one with Him……and we will OVERCOME the enemy by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony.

Father teach us more about how to be overcomers. We want to overcome the darkness of this world by Your light shining from within us! We want to shine even brighter and brighter for You Jesus and be Your glory that covers the earth. Teach us to operate in Your heavenly courts by faith. Show us more of Your Kingdom Lord that is within us. Take us to a new place in You. God we plead the blood of Jesus over situations and over our loved ones. Let us realize the importance of Your blood. Help us to overcome our minds first and then to overcome the darkness in the earth by shining Your light and by going to the heavenly courts to receive Your justice and mercy. We have OVERCOME by Your blood Jesus and the word of our testimony. We want all to see Your light and love and for all believers to overcome this life of self and live Your Kingdom life now. The time is here and the time is now Lord, prepare us for what’s to come. We were created for such a time as this!!! Yes Lord!

Amanda Leonard
http://timeinhispresence.wordpress.com/



3. News Headlines


Kenya: Christian president seeks God’s covering for nation - 7/18/2013
Kenya has been a nation struggling with issues that have tried to divide it, with Islamic terrorists killing Christians with increasing frequency. Muslims have tried to shut down Christian gatherings and houses of worship. “Islamic agenda against the Christian Church.” “Through much prayer and faith all over the country, all resistance is coming down,”


Change comes at a price for Egyptian Christians - 7/18/2013
On the streets, you're seeing all this violence by the Muslim Brotherhood. Since Morsi was forced from office, there has been a string of attacks on Christians. "We've seen over the last week or two, attacks against Christians, there has been deaths, churches and Christian businesses attacked." a priest was shot dead, a beheaded Christian man was found. Arson attacks....


Christians the scapegoat of Egyptian coup - 7/18/2013
Egypt's Muslim extremists, enraged over the ouster, have apparently zeroed in on the nation's Christian minority, scapegoating them even though the Islamist leader was widely unpopular. "I talked to leaders up in Alexandria that have said it's an absolute mess up there. It is on the radar, not as much as Cairo and Tahrir Square, but there are some terrible things happening...


Jonathan Cahn: God Is Warning America - 7/18/2013
“Before God judges a nation, He sends warning.” “But America, like Israel of old, has not responded with repentance but with defiance.” Cahn leaves room for hope. Some people ask him if there will be judgment or revival. “It can be both,” he says, adding, “If there was no hope, there would be no warning.” It would “take a miracle” for revival, but “God's into miracles.”


Pakistan: false claims, blasphemy and Interpol - 7/18/2013
This case shows how police actions and court rulings are being dictated by belligerent 'Muslims and clerics' whilst the government is either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. Clearly Pakistan is no longer ruled by law, but by vindictive and intolerant Muslims and clerics who persecute with impunity and dictate to police, judges and lawmakers.


Israel's Second Holiest Religious Site, Burial Place of The Patriarchs, Desecrated After Friday Prayers - 7/18/2013
Jewish worshippers who arrived at The Cave of Patriarchs in Hevron (Hebron) after Muslim prayers on Friday were horrified to find that the site had been vandalized, according to www.israelnationalnews.com . The Cave is usually split between Jewish and Muslim worshippers, but this past Friday it was open exclusively to Muslim worshippers in honor of Ramadan.


Sudan Tracking Down Converts from Islam in Purge of Christianity - 7/18/2013
Morning Star News said harassment, arrests and persecution of Christians have intensified since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. That was when President Omar al-Bashir vowed to adopt a stricter version of sharia (Islamic law) and recognize only Islamic culture and the Arabic language.


Tragic Killings of South American Indians - 7/18/2013
Ompore Omeway and his wife Buganei Cayga, were killed. "there are reports of attacks against the Taromenane, in which an unknown number are believed to have died. It is unclear who is responsible for these killings, but violence is caused by the threats to the Indians posed by loggers coming into the area and the cutting of survey roads by oil companies."


Angry Islamists Turn Wrath on Egypt's Christians - 7/18/2013
On Thursday, the body of a Christian merchant was found decapitated in a cemetery. Last Saturday, a Coptic Christian priest was shot by gunmen in an outdoor market. Also, days after the military coup that removed Morsi from office, Muslim extremists in southern Egypt burned dozens of Christian homes and stabbed four believers to death. They are targeting Christians.


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