Our free gift of salvation is so sweet. It never stops being newly revealed in deeper depths!! It just keeps getting sweeter as we walk it out and grow in the understanding and experience of what all salvation really means, and that is exactly what the Lord intends for us!! His desire for us is to grow into the full experience of our salvation, which is the free gift of grace that He purchased for us. God’s heart for us is to grow in passionate love with Him that gets bigger and brighter with every trial!! The enemy’s one goal is to move us out of that place of passion. He prowls around looking for the opportunity to bring distraction, fear, unbelief, guilt, shame, depression, disappointment, and anything else he can to snuff out our passion and the intensity to seek the Lord’s presence. The enemy wants our hearts, and he will throw everything he can at us, but through it all, in every place of pain, loss,betrayal, fear, sickness, and anxiety, the Lord wants us to receive His presence and perspective. His presence brings joy unspeakable, and His perspective is always victorious! The stuff we go through is meant to drive us to His presence where we have a consciousness of His perfect and complete grace for every situation. I’m not talking about that I’m going to press on cause there’s grace. I’m talking about grace that transforms your life, your emotions, and your perspective. I’m talking grace that ignites your heart with passion and joy and causes you to fall deeper in love with Jesus!! I’m talking grace that takes everything the enemy means for evil and transforms it to be the very thing that brings you into a greater revelation of this great salvation into which we have been born!

God is so other than us!!!  We can’t fathom His thinking, because He is other than us!!  We can only know Him through revelation.  Scripture says for us to know Him, He must first draw us.  That’s my paraphrase, but if you read the actual scripture, I don’t think you will argue with me.  All that we know of Him is because He revealed Himself to us. 

I get lost, in a good way, when I think of how He loves us!!! Most of us know the theology that when the Father looks at us He sees Jesus, but we don’t see ourselves that way.  We struggle to embrace the new creation we are; blameless and spotless before Him (The spotless Lamb). 

Scripture says that we are continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.  The language there actually means we are the mirror.  When God looks at us He literally sees Jesus!!  We are in Jesus.  We stand in all that He is.  It’s a free not earned gift.  How can this be?  It is so GREAT a LOVE.  It’s completely other than us!! He knew we could not save ourselves. That’s why He did it for us.

TC

Grace is so strange because it’s other than us!!! He is other than us. His love is other than us. When I was younger, a month ago, I used to be filled with thoughts about how much I love the Lord based on my actions, and I would feel better about myself and more confident before the Lord when my actions met some crazy standard of behavior that I had idolized in my head. If I didn’t meet those standards, I would feel so guilty. I would come sheepishly to the Lord as if my actions and failures were strong enough to cancel out the GRACE of God. His GRACE is bigger and stronger than anything we will ever do or face. I go before Him engulfed by Jesus!!! My life is hidden in Christ!! I stand in all that Jesus is!! I stand in His favor, His grace, His righteousness. I’m hidden in all that He is!! That’s our confidence to go before our God!!!

TC

Grace does not just lure us to the place where we surrender our lives to Jesus and are born again. Grace introduces us to Jesus then swallows us up and weaves us into His very existence. Our Lives are hidden in Christ. Not like hidden where we have to do right to seek and find it, but we are literally hidden in Christ. When the Father looks at me, he sees Jesus!! I’m fully covered and consumed by His life!! The more we get this, the more freedom and Christ likeness we will see experientially walked out in our lives!! He settled once and for all who we are!! He is now growing us into the experience of who we are!! It’s the revelation of who we are that changes our outer man to look like the Lord. Pure Grace!!!!

TC

My friend sent this quote to me, “Grace does not follow repentance, but repentance follows grace.” I so get that. A lot of people think that you have to repent to get God’s grace, but actually it’s His very grace that draws you to repentance. He is all Grace, love, and kindness!! He is!! Scripture says it’s His kindness that draws us to repentance. I read this quote recently, “if Christians could keep their mind on this trifecta, God’s forgiveness, faithfulness, and favor(love), we would be unstoppable.” We would be unstoppable because rather than spending time beating ourselves up when we fail, promising to do better, we would be standing secure in His faithful forgiveness and favor over and over. Secure that He will never forsake (turn His heart from us) or fail us!!!

It gets even better!!! If we lived trusting in Him and only His faithfulness, forgiveness and favor, we would give that to others!!! We would live in a mindset to faithfully forgive and love others when they hurt and fail us even when they don’t ask. Knowing so great a love and mercy humbles you. The gratefulness and humility of experiencing so great a love that covers all our mistakes and failures even before we ask His forgiveness makes you want to give it to others. It’s not based on anything but Gods faithfulness, forgiveness and favor that He has so freely lavished upon us!!! Some people would say that’s not fair! Grace is not fair. It’s free. We don’t want God to be fair!! That would not end well for any of us!!!!

He is amazing!!

TC

Luke 2:9-11 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shown round them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The great joy that scripture promises is not just a one-time experience when you hear, believe, and receive the gospel. Great joy is meant to be a life changing encounter for us that remains throughout our lives. Joy is meant to be a normal feeling in our emotions. As a matter of fact, it’s our inheritance. However, in this life, we know that there will be struggles with pain, strife, disappointments, trials, and tribulations; but in the midst of the aforementioned, we must believe that we can undergo real joy. The Lord promises now joy, which is the supernatural joy that comes from His presence. You see, just like love, joy makes up His very  essence. The Lord is pure joy, pure love, which brings pure pleasure. Therefore, joy is not something that He does or is going to do for us one day.  Because He dwells in us, we really can experience all that He is and all that He feels. That is why His presence should be such a priority to us. No matter what you and I are going through, we can get in His company and allow His character to consume us. In this season and more than  ever before, I believe He wants our present from Him to be real joy.

TC

I will try to keep this brief. There were promises in the Old Testament concerning a new heart and a new spirit that God would give His people one day under the New Covenant. You see, under the Old   Covenant, people lacked the equipment they needed to sustain a living, loving relationship with God. Plus, the presence of the Lord wasn’t within them. The promises stated that He would circumcise old hearts and give new hearts that would love Him and seek Him. At the cross, Jesus fulfilled all of these words. As new creations, you and I were given brand new hearts that beat and pant for Him, and we were given new spirits that tabernacle His Spirit and that desire His presence above all else. By the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself came to live within the human spirit, and He gave people what they needed to have an eternal relationship with Him. I know this is elementary, but I want you to understand that you and I should never fall under the deception of the enemy. He tells us that we don’t have a heart for the Lord like we once had or that we have somehow lost the burning desire to know Him, but the truth is that we were all given hearts that love God above all else. That is our true identity!

When Jesus directed John to write a letter to the church of Ephesus, He told them to do three things in order to return to their first love: remember, repent, and do the works they did at first. I think it was a simple command. First, they were to remember that God had given them a  first love heart. Second, they were to repent of believing anything differently than this truth. Third, they were to do the ‘first works.’ In John chapter 6, when the disciples asked Jesus how to work the works of God, He told them to believe in the One He sent. So, to do the first works was to simply believe that Jesus has done everything to make first love a reality in our experience. Therefore, all that needs to be done is to rest in His finished work. The great reality is we are seated with Him in the heavenly places surrounded by an atmosphere of perfect love.

I, TC, know the subject of not being afraid of Covid has been discussed so much, but there are so many aspects of our lives that this virus has affected and ways it has closed us down that I wanted to share this word. It is by no means meant to be a word of condemnation but of encouragement. It started with me singing the lyrics, “Though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” As I was singing it, I began to think about the times we live in; all the doom and death that seemingly surrounded us. I know so many people who have shut down and been completely taken out of the race since this began. I realize that some of the  carefulness we are walking in is wisdom, but part is straight-up deception from the enemy. He has used fear to separate us from the body and stop us from corporate gatherings. He has used the separation to cause our lamps to grow dim.

The lamp of our soul is what drives us to passionately, fearlessly, and unashamedly pursues God. A burning lamp causes us to run after Him and be willing to face anything and overcome anything to know Him better. When full of oil, the lamp is all we can see, and all we want is more!!! But recently, we have found our lamplights growing dim, not all at once, but little by little. There was a time when nothing could stop us, but we now find ourselves making excuses and not feeling like showing up for the battle.

One of our biggest adversaries is fear, and the enemy uses it to go after our passion ultimately. By passion, I mean our extravagant love for the lover of your soul. This is where not fearing comes in. In many scriptures, the Father tells us that there will be moments that look like storms and death are all around us. He tells us there will be times that 10,000 will be against us, and it will just flat out look like we are in the shadow of death-not just look like it, but will be in it. Still, one of His most frequent commandments to us is “do not fear.” Why did He say not to fear? Because He is in control! He has us in the palm of His hand. We don’t have to be afraid. We also cannot question His goodness or let other people’s stories cause us to fear. He really is our Father who takes care of us. He won’t leave us or forsake us for any amount of time. If we believe that truth, then how is the  enemy able to ravage us spiritually? I believe it’s through the massive separation the enemy has been able to accomplish in the body. Scripture tells us not to forsake the gathering of the body. When that was written, people were risking their very lives by coming together. Likewise, when it was written, God had   foreknowledge of the situation in which we now find ourselves.

Again I say, this is not a word of condemnation for anyone. God is so good. There is no rejection in Him. But are you finding yourself feeling anxious and  experiencing a real lack of peace? Are you feeling further away from God? Are you losing your passion for seeking Him and running after the things of Him? Are you losing your desire to fight the good fight and overcome every encumbrance that slows you down? Are you finding yourself in a parched land? If so, it could be because your lamp has grown dim. It’s not the Lord’s will for you to be there. If you find yourself there because of missing church, then you’re probably one of those who the enemy has deceived by calling it wisdom. How do we know the difference? If you are willing to hear the Lord, He will tell you. Our hearts have to be open to hearing Him and willing to be honest with Him. It’s not about    judgment, but it is so important to take notice.

The bible tells us the story of the foolish virgins and their lamps growing dim. I don’t want to be one of the foolish ones. Unfortunately, I have found myself there several times during this season, but one glance at my Jesus causes the lamp of my heart to glow brighter again, and the excitement to find Him returns. The passion for running faster rises within me. The hunger to be with the body of Christ grows deeper.  Please obey the Lord in this season. Don’t let fear keep you imprisoned! Remember, in the Song Of Songs, the Lord tells us to tend to our vineyards. It must be our first priority.

Last night, I had a dream that I believe is a word for my local church and the body of Christ. In the dream, I was walking with a Maasai warrior. He started to pick up the pace and he wanted me to run beside him. In the dream, I knew that we were running toward a battle. At that moment when the warrior asked me to run, I didn’t have a weapon. All of a sudden, I looked up to the sky and declared that I needed a spear, and one appeared in my hand. Then the Maasai and I picked up our pace and started running and the terrain ahead of us was at an incline. That was the end of the dream. When I awakened, I knew the dream was from the Lord. I felt like the Lord was saying that it’s not a time for the body of Christ to hunker down in foxholes, but it’s a time to run toward the battle. Also, the spear represented spiritual weapons that the Lord has equipped us with in Christ. All we have to do is ask (As you know the battle we are fighting in this country is a spiritual one, and you can only fight spiritual battles with spiritual weapons, which are mainly released in prayer). Honestly, I don’t know what running toward the battle is supposed to look like for everyone, but I believe if we seek the Lord, He will reveal what it means for us individually. Like I stated in my last email, I know that there is grace for this pandemic time. However, I also believe that if we’re not careful and discerning the enemy will keep us stationary in our foxholes dodging mortars. Again, I’m not judging anyone, or saying that we don’t need to honor the social distancing and mask wearing. For all that know me, I am saying this will all grace indented as we are all trying to figure this out.  For TC and I, running toward the battle means that we are spending time in prayer together, and we are seeking the Lord trying to get heavens report; and we are receiving Eucharist and plugging into fellowship as much as we can. Grace, mercy and peace to everyone, and there is NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST.

One thing I continually say in my bible study and in counseling sessions, is that warfare is designed to deceive you. The enemy tries to stay hidden, and he tries to convince you and me that what we are thinking or feeling is coming from us or from God. Scripture tells us that Satan is a liar, schemer, deceiver, and tempter. Also, and very important, is that Satan comes as an angel of light (I Cor 15). He doesn’t show up with a tail and pitchfork. He comes to twist truth and make it seem right. The Apostle John tell challenges us in his epistle to test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many deceivers and antichrist spirits are in the world. I say this because of all the happenings surrounding us. Before you or I jump on board with any organization or group, we need to test the spirit behind the scene to see if it’s from God, and the litmus test is Jesus. According to John, if it is from God, Jesus will be exalted and proclaimed. But here is my main point for writing this. During this pandemic (and I say this will all grace), make sure that the enemy doesn’t take you out and totally remove you from fellowship in the days to come. Demonic forces love to separate, isolate, and eventually decimate. Again, I know there is grace during this time, but the Apostle Peter tells us to gird our minds and be sober in spirit, which is to recognize what’s going on around us.