Making the Connection

Making the Connection

I am sharing a collection of messages in the post. It feels like we have shifted into a new season. We are getting closer to Christ’s coming. There are many distractions. The enemy is trying to pull our focus away from God. Many of you are in a harvest season, and the enemy wants to get you caught up in drama.

The scriptures we are dealing with today deal with the subject of connecting to the fullness of God.

Two Systems

The World System

Hollywood began calling its actors stars around 1910. Before then, its actors were known by nicknames. The industry felt that if actors became famous, they could demand more money. Hollywood realized they could make even more money by developing personas and brands.

So they began to market these stars. People were drawn to the movies by the millions. Entertainers today are paid billions of dollars for their ability to draw multitudes.

God’s System

The Garden of Eden

When God created Adam, he first formed his physical body from the dust of the ground. The formation of his physical body was not the creation.

The creation took place when God breathed life into him. The Bible says God breathed the breath of life into his nostiles, and he became a living soul, created in the image and likeness of God.

Even after Adam failed, God never changed his mind. He created Adam and Eve in his own image and likeness.

God told Noah, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood shall be shed, because he is created in the image of God” Genesis 9:6

God backed away from his original vision of Genesis 1:26, ‘Let us make man in our image after our likeness”

Created to Receive

When God formed man, he programmed his physical body to function on its own. For example, the body has natural reflexes. It can breathe on its own. It can maintain a heartbeat. It can digest food and send nourishment to the body, among many other things.

God gave him five physical senses. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and hands. God designed all his physical abilities to receive information. They were created to drink in the glory of God. Before they fell in the Garden of Eden, they were naked and not ashamed

How do we know this? God designed it that way. It was God’s will for them to know him only. They had eyes for him only! God willed that they know Him, not evil. They walked in God’s unveiled glory.

The tree of knowledge of good and evil stripped them of the conscience of God.

How do we know this? As soon as they ate the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked; they ran and hid themselves.

We can see this in the Serpent’s temptation. He got her to look at the forbidden fruit,

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Genesis 3:6

Created in the image of God

We have been deceived into thinking people are our source. We have been mesmerized by someone’s talents, gifts, abilities, and wisdom. Culture is full of artificial stars. They are called idols. American Idol features a grueling competition to find the best talent. The best and brightest stars are given a recording contract, in hopes of becoming famous. 

God said to Abraham, “Look now toward heaven and tell the number of stars…”

God said to Abraham concerning the stars of heaven, ‘so shall your seed be’

God had something in mind much more powerful than stars. He created man in his image and likeness.

The fullness of God

  • We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places Ephesians 1:3). In other words, the Garden of Eden has been restored to its fullness in Jesus Christ
  • Of his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace, John 1:16
  • Jesus said, ‘I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly’ John 10:10
  • In Ephesians 3:14-21, the Apostle Paul prayed that Christ might dwell in our hearts by faith, so we could comprehend the scope of God’s plan and be filled with all the fullness of God in accordance with the power working in us. A power source that is capable of doing exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.
  • The fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, and we are complete in him, Colossians 2:9-10
  • Jesus had the Spirit of God without measure John 3:34-36.
  • The Father planned that all fullness dwells in him
  • The fullness of him fills all in all, Ephesians 2.
  • Jesus fills ALL things. In other words, there isn’t anything that is above or beyond him, Ephesians 4:8
  • God ordained before the foundation of the world that we should be conformed to the image of Christ, Romans 8:32
  • We are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God ordained before the foundation of the earth that we should walk in them, Ephesians 2:10
  • Jesus, who was rich, became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich through his poverty, 2 Corinthians 8:9-10

God coded himself in us

One of the reasons these promises are impossible to believe and, more importantly, receive is that people have not connected to the original blueprint. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

1 John 3:8 reads, “Whoever is born of God doth not commit sin, because his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

All seeds are supernatural. God created and designed the seed to transmit life and blueprints. For example, take an apple seed. In the seed of an apple are the blueprints to make apples and the power to generate apples on a supernatural scale. For example, one apple seed planted and nurtured can produce a tree bearing thousands of apples.

He has begotten us again unto a lively hope!

God has made exceeding great and precious promises to us that we might partake of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption of the world through lust, 2 Peter 1:3-4

Filling

Who is filling your heart? What has captured your imagination?

Acts 5:1-4, the apostle Peter said to Sapphira, ‘Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?’

The apostle Paul wrote, ‘Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in your hearts to God.’ Ephesians 5:19-20

For example, I heard this young man share how he listens to rap music. He said that he listens to rap music through earphones constantly. Even after taking the earphones off, he still hears the music and lyrics playing over and over in his head.

God created us to receive his image and manifest his likeness. The image is hardwired in our DNA.

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord.”

We have gone from broke to full. From poor to wealthy. From weak to strong. From sick to health.

He gave them dominion over

The original blueprint, it says,

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every LIVING THING THAT MOVETH moving upon the earth.” GENESIS 2:28

Is cancer a living thing? Are sickness and disease living things whose purpose is to destroy your physical body?

Well, God has given us dominion over everything that creeps upon the earth.

Jesus illustrated to us how dominion worked when he cursed the fig tree in Mark 11:20-21. He said,

“Have faith in God.” ‘Whosoever shall say to this mountain, ‘ Be removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but believe those things which he says, it shall come to pass.’

God never changed his mind about being made in his images and likeness

Grace and peace

👑

The Difference between Covenant and Contract

The Word of God is forever settled in heaven, Psalms 119:89

God created everything

In the beginning, the earth was without form, void, and darkness covered the deep.

The Genesis narrative reveals how everything was made. Everything was created by the spoken word.

God said, “Let there be light,” and it was so. God saw the light, and he said, ” It was good.” And a glorious creation came into being.

Covenant

The first covenant was made in the Garden of Eden with Adam in Genesis 2:15-17. It is called the Edenic covenant.

God said to Adam, ‘eating you shall eat of every tree in the Garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ The price for eating from that tree is death, or as the literal translation says, ‘dying you shall die.’

God commanded Adam to dress and keep the Garden. Adam’s job was to make a sacrifice of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was to arrange the fruit of that tree. He was also commanded to keep the garden.

Adam was a steward  of the Garden of Eden and earth. As far as the earth was concerned, Adam had complete dominion.

There was also a second covenant made with Adam after he ate the forbidden fruit, which resulted in spiritual death. It is found in Genesis 3:14-21. It is called Adamic covenant. God gives Adam a new sacrifice. It is the blood of a sacrificed animal. One distinct feature of this covenant is that it contains the promise of eternal redemption.

Other Covenants

God made a covenant with Noah and his family after the flood.

God made a covenant with Abraham and his seed. God made a covenant with Israel through Moses.

God made a covenant with King David and his seed.

All of the covenants are fulfilled in the New Covenant. God offers eternal life to whosoever believes. God makes a covenant through his Son, Jesus Christ, and it is based on John 3:16.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Covenants are a binding agreement between two parties. 

God’s covenants governed Adam and all his descendants. Today, we are still governed by covenants.

Contracts

The concept of contracts came into being around 4000 years ago in the city of Iraq.

The systems of man have taken the idea of covenant to form contracts. 

ECCLESIASTES 1:9-11, SAYS, ‘There is nothing new under the Sun.’

There could not be contracts or covenants unless God created them first.

The difference between covenants and contracts is that contracts are man made and deeply flawed. Contracts may be voided.

God’s concept of covenant is that the only way a covenant can be broken is by the death of one of the partners.

God’s covenant is stronger than the world’s system of contracts.

God’s covenant is based on the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ and HIS SPOKEN WORD.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

“The SAME WAS in the beginning with God.” John 1:2

“All things were made by HIM; and without HIM was not any thing MADE that was MADE.” John 1:3

“And the WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:16

God came to earth and became the sacrifice. He taught the terms of the covenant. He is at God’s right hand, fulfilling the covenant.

God’s Economy

I’ve been the victim of many broken contracts, especially with car insurance companies. People fulfilled portions of the contract that are favorable to them. The contracts were constantly changing either in price or service.

We know from the earlier history of the United States that many peace treaties with Native Americans were broken by the government.

God’s word is unchangeable, unshakable, and all-powerful. Never ending, eternal in the heavens and earth.

In God’s economy, there are only TWO PARTIES to the Covenant, GOD, and YOU!

For example, Jesus said, ‘This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for YOU.’ It’s personal. HE said, “Take and eat, this is my body, which is broken for YOU” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

It is eternal, much more powerful, and permanent, not for God’s sake but for our sake.

It’s easy to put faith in a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, or a medical plan. But when they don’t have the answers. What hope do you have? But we are called to a living hope because God’s power backs us.

The Covenant is in Jesus’ flesh and in his blood. It’s a covenant based on the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

If you could see Jesus today, you would see the holes in his hands, feet, and the hole in his side that was made by the soldier’s spear.

Case in point, in John 20, when Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection, Thomas isn’t there. When he was told that Jesus was alive, he said,

John 20:25

“The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the PRINT OF THE NAILS, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I WILL NOT BELIEVE.“ John 20:25

Eight days later, Jesus visited them, and Thomas was with them. Jesus addressed Thomas,

“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: AND be not faithless, but believing.” JOHN 20:27

Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God.”

Jesus said to Thomas,

“… Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, AND yet believed.” John 20:29

There is no doubt about God’s covenant. We have sixty-six books in the Bible that attest to God’s provision.

Grace & peace!

👑

The clothing mountain visible from space: How 60,000 tonnes of discarded clothes ended up in Chile’s Atacama Desert | World News – The Times of India

The clothing mountain visible from space: How 60,000 tonnes of discarded clothes ended up in Chile’s Atacama Desert | World News – The Times of India https://share.google/abw5UoAWAeP8IOB6X

He joined Himself, Be careful of the choices you make

With whom are you joined?

Pharisees and Scribes accused Jesus of fellowshipping with publicans and sinners. The Pharisees and Scribes were considered righteous, moral leaders in Israel and were honored by Jewish society. Publicans and sinners were despised.

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus taught the parable of the prodigal son.

Jesus said a man had two sons. The younger son asked for his inheritance. The Father divided the portions of the estate between them.

The younger son gathered up his goods and went into a far country where he wasted his substance in riotous living.

The Bible says that when he had nothing left, a mighty famine arose in that land, and he began to be in want.

Desperation

The prodigal son joined himself to a citizen of that country. They sent him to the fields to feed the swine. He got so hungry that he was willing to fill his stomach with the husks that the swine ate. No one would give him anything.

This parable is a prime example of someone who thought life was better in a far away land.

The world strips away value and sends them out to work its fields.

Jesus was communicating the Father’s love by receiving those despised in society—the value of our partnership with the Father.

Much like the prodigal son, we wasted our inheritance on riotous living. We joined ourselves to the world’s system. They sent us to the field to work off our debt.

The turning point

The prodigal son reached a point of desperation in which he realized he didn’t have to suffer. He could return home, have his needs met, and have plenty to spare.

He starts the journey back home. He is tired and weary. He doesn’t know how his father will receive him.

The point of the parable

The Father is always waiting for us with outstretched arms. However, the prodigal son is rehearsing what he was going to say: ‘I’m not worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants.’

But the father is looking for him, waiting on him. The father sees the son, runs to him, and embraces him.

In the parable, the Father gives the son a new set of clothes and shoes. He gives him a new ring and throws a party for him.

The finer points of the parable

The Father- Son Relationship. The unbreakable bond between father and son. The son walked away because he valued something more important. The father never lost hope.

The finer point of the parable is partnership. Adam was created for partnership. God works out partnership. God committed creation to Adam’s trust.

The Serpent, Satan, had nothing. He needs man’s resources. He needs his hands to move his drugs. He needs his talents to draw you away, to confuse you, and to entangle you!

Friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). The world’s system strips us.

In the parable, the prodigal son joined himself to the citizens of another country. Nobody would give him anything. They sent him to the fields. He got so desperate that he wanted to eat pig slop.

As Christians, we are in the world but not of the world. God is our Father, and he has already supplied all of our needs. What most believers struggle with is trust. They have not learned how to receive from their father.

2 Corinthians 6:11-18

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infdel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Another warning comes to us out of Revelation 18:4

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

Don’t yoke yourself together with unbelievers. Value the relationship with the Father above what the world has to offer. Value seed above money. All seeds are supernatural because they contain life.

Grace & peace