Joel's Perspective

“Our cities (and our personal lives) may seem like those in Canaan, surrounded by walls that reach up to heaven – walled in by unbelief. But – let’s not forget–-the walls of Jericho fell. The walls of unbelief are beginning to crumble. What is long overdue is the shout of the people of God. I grew up near the mouth of the river Elbe in North Germany where I used to see huge flat-bottom river barges set fast in the mud banks.

No tug or marine engine could shift them. But the tide quietly rippled in, hardly perceptible, creeping higher and higher up the sides of those immovable hulks. Soon those hundreds of tons were floating. From the quay I could move them with the slightest kick. When we obey the Holy Spirit the waters begin to rise. That is fact, not wishful thinking.

We are seeing promises fulfilled which once sounded like fantasy. The words of Joel 2:28 are coming true before our very eyes. God says: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. We see it happening. God is doing mighty things in our world. Challenge yourself. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal the walls in your life that must crumble for your “expected end and destiny” to be fulfilled.” (Inspired by Reinhard Bonnke)

23 Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rains he sends are an expression of his grace. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. 24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with wine and olive oil. 25 The LORD says, "I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts, the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts, and the hopping locusts.

It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. 26 Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the LORD your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced like this. 27 Then you will know that I am here among my people of Israel and that I alone am the LORD your God. My people will never again be disgraced like this.

28 "Then after I have poured out my rains again, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. 29 In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even on servants, men and women alike.

30 "I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth -- blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon will turn bloodred before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. 32 And anyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. There will be people on Mount Zion in Jerusalem who escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.

I need this reminder everyday...

To our graceless world comes the revelation of grace. To merciless Nineveh is offered mercy. To hypocritical Jerusalem comes truth. To faithless humanity comes faithfulness. That is God! That is Jesus! He is a God of faithfulness, without injustice, of inexhaustible patience and unsolicited concern for us all. Rejoice.

To us has come the revelation of Grace. The mystery hidden for ages is being revealed in and through us! We walk daily in the very same mercy as Nineveh! Our hypocrisy is swallowed up in boundless loving truth. And Jesus daily exchanges our faithlessness with His faithfulness.

“Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be a charlatan.

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him.

Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego (e.dging G.od o.ut) is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous (truth is the reality that lay behind appearances) before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, than Christ died unnecessarily.” Galatians 2:17-21 (Msg).

Living in the grip of grace, Ron Ross

The Reservoir of Christ Within

The Reservoir of Christ in Me

The longer I walk with Jesus; my Elder Brother, Lord and Savior, the more I need strengthening from the inside out! "Out of our innermost being flows the river of life." The flow of life more abundant is always and only from the inside out. It always has its origin and power in the reservoir of Christ in me! So why do I seem to persist in my veiled attempt at living from the outside in?

3:16 3:16 I desire for you to realize what the Father has given you from His own limitless resources, so that you may be dynamically reinforced in your inner being by the Spirit of God.

3:17 this will impact your faith with capacity to fully grasp the reality of the indwelling Christ. You are rooted and founded in Love.  Love is your invisible inner source just like the root system of a tree and the foundation of a building.  (The dimension of your inner person exceeds any other measure that could possibly define you.)

3:18 this is your reservoir of super human strength which causes you as saints to collectively grasp (come to terms with, make one’s own) the limitless extent of His love in breadth, in length, in height (rank), and the extremities of its depths.

3:19 I desire for you to become intimately acquainted with the love of Christ on the deepest possible level, far beyond the reach of a mere academic, intellectual grasp.  Within the scope of this equation God finds the ultimate expression of Himself in you (so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God).

3:20 we celebrate Him who super charges us powerfully from within. Our biggest request or most amazing dream cannot match the extravagant proportion of His thoughts towards us. Ephesians 3: 16-20 (Mirror Bible)

Destructive thoughts and habits lost their authority to operate in my life when I died together with Christ. And so now my victory is not related to my outside behaviors and efforts at self-control, but to the accuracy of my faith-sight and agreement, that I reckon myself as having died together with Christ and alive to God . Jesus is not now, nor will He ever struggle with destructive thoughts and habits!

"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! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection." Romans 6:11a (Msg)

"Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life." Romans 8: 5-8 (Msg) 

Confession is not to tell God about my sin, as if He didn't know, but to tell sin about my God....And if you fall, we have an Advocate, and this Advocate has indisputable evidence that you are innocent. So, when you mess up, run to Him and not away from Him! Boy, have I been running toward him like never before!

Following are a couple of the thoughts Papa has shared with me of late. These inner realities and words have beckoned me toward him.

1. Keep forgiveness at the gate of your heart. Why? Forgiveness alone frees us from the inevitable hurts, disappointments, anger and bitterness of life. It flies in the face of pride and self-justification. It also keeps us from getting stuck in yesterday. Only his forgiveness helps me see what mercy sees! We are freed to forgive just like he forgives.

2. Never look back. Always embrace the unfolding of grace in life. Keep the true prize in sight and (as a good friend recently reminded me) if you feel like your going through hell; keep going! He will carry you through to completion and maturity.

Diving into the Reservoir of Christ, Ron Ross

Question for the Times

Question: (first posed to me by Papa) Are you caught up in the "drama" of the moment or are you "centered" from the core of your heart in Jesus?

Christ-centeredness is peace in the storms of life, rest while living in this tedious everyday abusive world-system and hidden away for intimacy with Jesus while all hell is breaking loose around you! "Your life is hidden with Christ in God!"

What Joy and celebration we have now in the sanctuary of our hearts; anticipating the eternal party yet to come! You will be paid in full!!!

Living in Tenacious Resolve

Living in Tenacious Resolve

How many of you feel like your life is bouncing out of control? Do you sense that you are in free-fall with no ripcord for the parachute of life? A dear friend and brother gave me a medallion to remind me of “tenacious resolve”. It has the words “finish strong” inscribed on it. I keep it in a place where I will see it often. I don’t know about you, but I need reminders. God is great about giving us sign-posts and reminders. There are always little, and even big reminders along life’s path---they are there to show us that he is still our strongest encourager.

Here is one of my favorite “tenacious resolve” Scriptures: 

“Therefore, we do not lose heart.” “So we are not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.  These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

We are prone to loosing heart and giving up without this level of regular encouragement. It’s bad enough without negative reporters, naysayers, critics, and discouragers. They seem to abound the harder circumstances become. Which am I-a spiritual cheerleader or “frump grump”? Never heard of a “frump grump”? They only prognosticate on how much worse it’s going to get. 

So, what do we do with all the evidence of things seeming to fall apart around us? First, resolve not to ever give up! It’s just not an option. With that “tenacious resolve” you will not lose heart. Once you lose heart-it is easy to become overwhelmed to the point of seeing only the negative and missing all the positive signs around you. 

Next, focus your heart attention on the wonderful work of grace unfolding inside of you. God’s grace always unfolds before us—moving us forward to our expected end of Christ likeness. Equally his grace folds up behind us. That is to dissuade us from trying to go back to some elusive time that seemed better. Today and tomorrow are the most promising times in our life. Even if yesterday was terrific—the future in him is the best!

And then, always keep your spiritual compass on true north—the third heaven. Don’t ever, for one moment, think that the coming blessing of being with “them” for all eternity is not worth every difficulty in the “now”. Everything in this life really is “small potatoes” compared to the eternal celebration that is coming! 

The lasting value of what he is accomplishing in the present trials and tribulations of our lives are treasures for us to be discovering forever. We are on an exciting treasure hunt with only the most precious of jewels to be found. And we are “jewels from the devils junkpile” amassing incredible crowns to throw at the feet of Jesus! He is the crowning jewel. Hang in there! Be nurtured by “tenacious resolve”.

In the grip of Papa’s unfolding grace! Ron Ross