Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Through the small door

Hello from Duisburg, Germany! We've been here for almost a week now and already feel at home, loved and welcomed. We're staying with the Spreer family – Martin, Heike and their five children. Our abode is a little 'hut' right next to the main house, made up of living area, kitchen, bathroom and loft bedroom. It's cosy and warm and we feel very blessed. It's so good to have a mixture of family time and meals with them as well as our own space. Yet again we are overwhelmed at Papa's kindness through the love and generosity of others. We have been embraced into family and have already fallen in love with them all!

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.
Golden Ladder in the centre of Duisburg
Martin and Heike lead a great church here that we first came to in April 2011 for a conference. It's a wild, Holy Spirit infused place where the presence of Jesus is thick and there is tangible life and love. We had an incredibly warm welcome on Sunday, we even had our own interpreter during the service, and we came away with two invitations to lunch!

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.
April-Konferenz 2011 Christus Gemeinde Duisburg
Before we came here, someone had a picture for us in which we walked up to a large mountain and, as we did so, we could see that our way through the mountain had been blocked by a rockfall. It was only as we got right up to the mountain that we saw a tiny door to the right of the rockfall that was open. The person giving the picture said that the tiny door was actually going to be a much better way through the mountain. So we believe Germany was the tiny door, yet now that we're here it feels much bigger!

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

There's such a sense of expectation here, like a heavy pregnancy about to birth something amazing. It feels exciting to be making relationships in Europe and it feels as if there is a strong bridge between here and the UK.  Revival is coming and the waves are going to get bigger and stronger - it is Europe's day!

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

I think there's going to be a lot of change in 2012 and we're going to see the Holy Spirit move in powerful ways - the invitation already goes out to ride the waves even if it feels uncomfortable. It means letting go of the old - having both hands raised in worship and surrender to His ways, and with a willingness to abandon our own ways and thoughts. If we are willing, we can become part of a huge outpouring of glory and revival the like of which has never been seen on  earth before. We can be the conduits for bringing heaven to earth as we trust Him and flow with the Holy Spirit. The new wine is already beginning to flow!

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

In the darkness

Well, this journey is nothing if not exciting! As many of you will know, before Christmas we had been planning to go to Sri Lanka then on to New Zealand. You may also know that this didn’t happen! We didn’t get the provision we needed to make the trip and so we found ourselves traveling back to Devon to spend Christmas near to family and friends. It wasn’t that we ever had clear direction or a direct promise from God for this particular trip, however we do know that our travels are not over, that we have more connections to make and things to learn on our journey.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

And so we stepped out, following our heart's desire to be with friends in Sri Lanka, believing that the door would open, but also totally prepared for God to direct our path and change the direction in which we were setting out. We also wanted to speak, think and act from a place of faith regarding this desire, so we traveled to London without money for flights but believing that, if Sri Lanka was where God wanted us, He would get us there even though it looked impossible. Ultimately the door remained closed, and we don’t profess to understand why, nor do we expect others to understand, but we do know He has used the journey to forge faith and trust in us yet again!

One thing this experience has taught us is that it’s easy to think that when circumstances line up and things seem to fall into place, God must be in it. Equally, it can be tempting to think that when things don’t go the way we expect or plan, when things look messy, that God is not in it. To us, and to many people looking on, these last few weeks have seemed very messy, but we believe that God has been in it and He continues to use our outward circumstances to transform us within.


 As the door closed to Sri Lanka, another door opened to Germany - so we are going to walk through it! Last April we connected with some lovely people at a great church in Duisburg, near Dusseldorf, and have kept in touch with them since. They have graciously opened their hearts and their homes to us and we know a warm welcome awaits. However we leave not knowing where this will ultimately lead, or for how long we might be there, but simply holding Papa's hand and trusting Him to make the path clear with each step.

It's been quite a journey since we arrived back in England at the beginning of November. Before we left America we had both had visions of Papa leading us deeper into the darkness, not into a place of fear or danger, but into a place that would require more trust and dependency upon Him. We had words from others too which echoed the visions we had, as Holy Spirit was gently and graciously preparing us for this tough and challenging time.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

During this time not only have we continued to feel a deep sense of loss of things past and things we have given up, the cost of following Him, but we also recognise that we have given up belonging. We find ourselves without the security, comfort, acceptance, worth, fellowship and sense of belonging that emerges as lives intersect within the context of a local community. We feel a sense of 'rootlessness' and not fitting. For us right now our community is made up of people dotted all over the globe, not found in one place. It’s an odd feeling and drives us deeper into intimacy with God, to find our place of belonging, our home in Him above all else.

As we enter this new year we remain largely in the dark, sometimes to our own frustration and the perplexity of many of those looking in. We don't know why it’s like this, but we have given up any right to understanding, instead choosing to trust and believe. We abide in the ‘nowhere’ (now and here) of the moment, a place of believing without seeing, of loss without gain, of stepping out without seeing the road stretched out ahead of us. It looks to the world like foolishness, and somedays it can feel like foolishness to us too, but we cannot turn back and nor would we want to.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

We trust this pilgrims way and the One we follow, the One who forges the path ahead of us. We are incredibly grateful for those we meet along the way, and to those who journey with us in friendship, support, encouragement and love. We rest in confident expectation of His kindness and goodness as we learn to embrace all things, knowing that He is working in them for good and that He carries us close to His heart. Most of all we are grateful that we are loved by Him and that all our tomorrows are written in Papa's book.

Thank you to those of you who remember us in your prayers, our desire is that you would echo Paul’s words in Colossians 1:9-12 in your own prayers for us, as this is also our prayer for you:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

Happy New Year to you all. May you know His love and presence wherever the year takes you and may it be a wild and glorious adventure!

Mike & Nicky
xxx

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Step by step

I'm not enjoying this part of the journey. With Christmas around the corner, I want to be in the home I don't have, decorating a tree with the children I don't have, listening to Christmas carols and getting excited about the season. I want to have been able to do Christmas shopping and wrap gifts for friends and family. I miss being part of a community. Instead we leave for London tomorrow, stepping out in faith believing it's what Holy Spirit is leading us to do. We hope 'against all human odds' for tickets to take us to Sri Lanka in time for Christmas, but only He knows where this step will lead us. My heart aches and I feel the cost of the narrow path again.


Yet, I always come back to love, hanging upon a tree, and to the fact that I am a new creation, that I have been given a new life and that I am loved beyond all measure. In His incredible love and divine wisdom, this is the best path for me, right now, today, and that here on this path there is treasure in the darkness. This part of the journey, even the pain, is transforming me and preparing me for what is ahead. I need to yield to this, to be on this step because this step leads to the next one and is vital. I trust my Beloved Jesus, I know Him to be wholly good and overflowing with loving kindness towards me, so I know that this momentary affliction will pass, will do it's work and the darkness will turn to light again.

“We seldom get to choose our circumstances, but we always get to choose our responses. Men and women of God understand that nothing is coincidental, they take advantage of everything in order to discover God and find themselves.”
Graham Cooke



I am also comforted in remembering that life on earth is just a whisper of time compared to an eternity of living every day in heaven, face to face with Him. I only have one opportunity here on earth to choose Him, to yield even when it hurts and to say yes. I know that all loss will be great gain whether in this world or in Heaven. I also know that I am storing up a weight of glory in these circumstances for eternity.
 
"For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." 
2 Corinthians 4:17 NASB

If your path is dark and stormy, take heart that 'this too shall pass', that He is with you in it and using every circumstance to produce a greater weight of glory for you. He is already leading you to the next step, which will be different to this one. He already has victory in mind. He keeps you close to his heart and He knows and sees the end from the beginning. He sees the full picture and knows that it is good. Remember His kindness, be confident in His love, keep going and expect good things. 

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. That Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." 
Ephesians 3:17-20. NLT

Monday, 5 December 2011

Feeling the pinch

Pummelled, crushed, squeezed on this narrow narrow path. Tears, pain and discomfort. This dark unknown. Walking, stumbling, trusting, blindly moving forward holding the hand of love and breathing in the aroma of heaven. Wrecked by love  even here in this dark place. He is worth every breath, every tear, every cold, damp night, every inconvenience, every discomfort. He is worth it all, even when it hurts and the way ahead seems totally blocked. My soul feels bruised and circumstances are testing yet my Spirit yields in the knowledge that His ways are wise and good and He is holding a banner of love above my head.


You are worth it Jesus. My devotion is on you. All that I am is turned towards you. In this place where I feel naked and exposed and there is nothing to hide behind, no other comfort. I remember that you really are enough. That i am clothed in you, hidden in the Father, safe.

You really are all I want. You are enough Jesus, you ARE enough. I trust you. I know that you love me and I am convinced of your goodness even in the storm. There is no other my heart desires, there is no other lover for me besides you. I don't know how long this battering storm will go on but I shout to the skies, I shout as loudly as I can that you are worth it and my heart belongs to no other. I run this race and I cannot turn around for this path is too narrow for turning.


Heaven is my home, heaven is where I dwell. Earth is a fleeting moment where pain and suffering is real but even now with my feet in the natural, I abide in the heavenly realms, pulled in by their wild gravity. This is the place where I find rest and sink into Shalom. I know I am found by you. I know your thoughts reach me, I know you are with me here in this dark place. I sing for joy for this is the path you have chosen for me and I walk it gladly trusting in your wisdom and your kindness. You will not fail me. You will not let me down. I surrender. I am yours. I praise, worship and adore you. Abba, Papa, friend, IN you.

Nicky xxx 

Monday, 21 November 2011

Beyond the shadow of doubt

 We landed in the UK as October gave way to November, and the warm weather of North America gave way to the cold and damp of England. Our trip had been rich with treasure. Not of the monetary kind, though we found generosity and love as we followed our favour across the continent and back, but in the form of precious friendships and a bounty of prophetic words and promises from Papa. Before we left back in April, God had made it clear that a significant part of our trip was to be about the connections we made, His purpose was reticulation, connecting us in to the body of Christ, and this was most definitely our experience. The rich promises He spoke into our lives, through many prophets and prophetic words, were also clearly part of His divine purpose.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

As we travelled, we continued to seek God each day, as has been our practice for the last three years or more, enjoying His presence in the moment, as well as seeking wisdom and revelation about His destiny and purpose for our lives. We may not have changed outwardly, apart from a few extra pounds (Mike) and longer hair (Nic), but we are acutely aware that we have been, and continue to be, transformed by the renewing of our minds. Papa has been so gentle and kind as He has led us on the path of preparation for what is to come.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

And so we find ourselves back in our home country, but without a home of our own. It’s a situation that has proven challenging, but once again God has gently been encouraging us to make our home in Him wherever we find ourselves in the world. We also have a sense of not fitting in the UK, not right now anyway. It’s a strange and somewhat disconcerting feeling, when we have spent 40+ years of our lives here, but once again we can see God’s hand at work, for we believe He is calling us on and that now is not the time for us to settle back here. In fact, God had told us that we have more ‘spices’ to collect on our travels, to add to those He has already given us, before the recipe is complete. In this sense, our journey has been and continues to be, like a school, training us for the life in ministry (for want of a better word!) that He is calling us to.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

We have been visiting family and friends in London and Devon since our return, and are planning to spend time in Wales and Scotland before we leave the country again. Our intention is to leave for Sri Lanka to visit friends there for a few weeks, before going on to New Zealand, again to stay with friends for up to six months, followed by South and North America. Though we will be travelling once more, this stage will look a little different as we aim for a more settled existence in each location - to enable Mike to find a daily rhythm in which he can write (something Papa has been on his case about!) and in order to experience community in a way that constant movement from one place to another doesn’t allow for.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

All of which brings us pretty much up to date. Our journey has been one of ruthless trust, of learning to depend on Papa, because He is totally dependable. We have felt an increasing call to lives lived in faith for our every need, not just because the funds from our house sale have slowly dwindled to the point now where they have been used up, but because we believe He is able to meet our every need. For us, and we recognise that such a path is not for everyone, this means not seeking paid employment, but continuing to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, trusting that all these other things will be added.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

Our journey of learning to trust has not just been about trusting God, but also about learning to trust that we hear from Him, that as His beloved children in relationship with Him, He speaks to us. Not in a booming voice, not in the wind or the earthquake, but, like Elijah, in the gentle breeze. Our plans to continue our travels are not in response to a loud and clear command but a quiet invitation. We are choosing to believe that we have heard His voice and that, in spite of our circumstances and lack of finances as we write, He will meet us with the provision we need as we step out in faith.

© Mike Temple Photography 2012. Not to be used without the owner's permission.

We are excited as we anticipate with confident expectation our Papa providing for us. It’s not an easy path to tread, but a daily choice to persevere and let our beliefs determine our experience, rather than the other way around. And so we wait patiently, for the most part, and in the waiting God continues the process of transforming us, shaping us, preparing us for all that He has for us in our lives and all that He wants to do through our lives.

Mike & Nicky
xxx

Thursday, 15 September 2011

The emperor's new clothes

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality.” Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

I have for many years lived with the burning desire to know the reality of life as a believer; to experience what it truly means to live on earth as it is in Heaven; to be able to discern the facts of a life lived in Christ from the fiction of a life lived outside of Him; and to reveal the freedom-giving truth of this reality to others. All the while, aware that the great deceiver is actively working to get us to believe a false reality, to deny who we really are.

“Our expectations are always fallacies, attempts to control reality and manipulate mystery... Our expectations are our greatest obstacle to union with God in the present moment.” Brennan Manning, Lion and Lamb

Reality is such a slippery subject, it’s difficult to grasp. When you think you have a handle on it, your experience can rise up to bite you, and the lies can creep back in, redefining your expectations and telling you that what you believe is not really true at all.

As a believer though, there are some immutable truths which define my reality. However, these truths are not always ‘seen’. For example, I know that Jesus heals, that I, through Jesus victory on the Cross, have the power to heal, but I personally have never SEEN anyone healed through my prayers. Does my experience deny the truth of the healing power of Jesus in me? No.

We also believe in Heaven, the paradise of Eden where we can walk as Adam did with God in the cool of the evening. I haven’t seen it, yet I believe it is real. In fact, I am seated with Christ in heavenly places right now! It’s a reality I simply haven’t seen. Yet.

We believe our sins are forgiven. If we don’t, we’ve missed the whole point of the Gospel! Yet, though we are forgiven, many of us live on a tightrope, expecting to fall from grace if we sin again. Perhaps the problem is believing a Gospel that is SUCH good news - one in which His grace is more than sufficient for all our sins, past present or future.

We believe that God is good. All the time. The entire Bible, culminating in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, reveals the heart of a loving Father, prepared to do anything to be reconciled with his beloved sons and daughters. And yet our daily experience of life lived in a broken world, with all its pain and suffering, might seem to provide evidence to the contrary.

Another truth, though is that just because we see something, it doesn’t mean it’s real. By the same token, the things we don’t see aren’t necessarily unreal. The Bible tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith says ‘I’ll see it when I believe it’, doubt says ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’. There is NO room in faith for doubt: faith + doubt = unbelief.

“If you want to see things you have never seen before, you must be prepared to do things you have never done before!” Graham Cooke

Albert Einstein defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again whilst expecting different results. Using this definition, the world might classify faith as insanity - just because to date I may have seen the same result in response to my prayers for healing, provision or change, I still expect a different result - our victory and His glory.

Equally, are we prepared to do something different, to respond to circumstances in a way that is contrary to the world, to step out into the ‘unknown’ and the ‘unnatural’ in obedience to Papa’s prompting, in order to see His Kingdom come and will be done? Even when we do find enough courage to step out, do we always see His power manifest in our lives? In my own experience, I can’t honestly answer ‘yes’. Does that mean I stop expecting to see it? Despite my own experience, I can honestly answer ‘no’.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

For most of us the ‘reality’ of our daily lives consumes our thoughts: we agonise over hands without work, stomachs without food, bank accounts without funds, retirement without a pension, a home without enough room, or no home at all, (add your own here). The brokenness is real. I’m not denying that we live in a world where we experience pain, loss and hardship, or suggesting that we do not have compassion for those whose suffering is all too real, but I am convinced that there is another reality in which we, and they, can experience joy, peace and freedom.

Often too, the colour of the grass that others feed upon seems so much greener than our own, and this presents us with another illusion - that our lives would be so much better if only we could have what they have: their house, their family, their friends, their job or even their husband or wife. But, as John Eldredge in Wild at Heart puts it so well, “The answer doesn’t lie in the arms of another woman” (man, house, job, money, etc.).

"However tempting the flight into unreality may be, there is no comfort in it."
Mary Craig, Blessings

So how do we live in the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, when we dwell in  the brokenness of this world, when we live with the temptations of the flesh and when we find ourselves in dire need? It is here that we learn, perhaps,
why the poor, those with literally nothing, choose to put their trust in God - because there is nothing else. And the reality is that there really was nothing else in the first place!

I have heard it said, and have probably been guilty of it myself, that some people are too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. But doesn’t the Bible tell us to set our minds on things above, to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be added to us?

“We only believe what we can see, so I make sure I'm looking at the unseen.” Seth Dahl, Bethel Church

We are also invited to share in the sufferings of Christ, to love in spite of sin, rejection, torture, alienation, misunderstanding and betrayal, as Jesus did when He went to the Cross. To suffer for the sake of Love is God's strategy for overcoming evil - not to resist evil, but to overcome it by surrendering to it in love and obedience. Love moves forward to face evil not to fight it, finding victory not necessarily in immediate, tangible results, but in the transformation of the world around us.

“Because you are identified in the Name of Jesus Christ, you can afford to always overflow in gratitude to the Father, (not for everything that happens to you but) in spite of everything that happens to you; you are not under circumstances but above circumstances because you are in Him!”
 Ephesians 5:20, (Mirror Translation)

In the upside-down, back-to-front, Kingdom of Heaven, to surrender is victory. God brings good out of evil - even greater good than if there had been no evil - and the trial will have been an immense good for us. When circumstances would seem to indicate the opposite of His promises that we can ask for anything in Jesus name and it will be given to us, if we choose to trust in God and His love for us, He can and does bring good out of any situation.

“No matter what the circumstances are on the outside, I live with the inner revelation that Christ is always with me. He knows me, He holds me and He loves me.” Mick Mooney, Phillipians

In every circumstance. we are faced with a choice: to either let our reality be determined by what we see, or by what we believe. Either to let our experience determine our beliefs, or to let our what we believe determine our experience. In choosing to accept the reality of who God is and who we are in Him, despite our circumstances, we align our expectations with Heaven, rather than the world. Only then will we see and experience the reality of the Kingdom in which we live and breathe and have our being.

“Losing our illusions is painful because illusions are the stuff we live by. The Spirit is the great unmasker of illusions... God strips those falsehoods from us no matter how naked it may make us, because it it better to live naked in truth than be clothed in fantasy.” Brennan Manning, Lion and Lamb

To live in the truth of the reality of who we are in Christ, sets us free from the illusion of the safety net we build for ourselves and the pain we experience when that illusion is unmasked, when that safety net fails. To live in the light of the truth of our adoption and in the fullness of our inheritance as sons and daughters of the Living God, in spite of our circumstances or experience, exposes us to the reality of Heaven on this earth. If we stand on this truth, hold to this truth, embrace this truth, believe this truth, I believe we really will see.

"Jesus was matter-of-fact: Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything.” Mark 11:22-25 (The Message)

I cannot deny the reality of pain, suffering or hunger, any more than I can deny that gravity keeps my feet on the ground, but to deny that some things are impossible for God, that somehow my problems are too big or difficult for Him to handle, or that I am just not important enough to warrant His divine intervention into my life, is to deny the sufficiency, power and love of God in Jesus to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory.

It is at the Cross that the stark reality of brokenness, loneliness, hunger and pain is met with the sweet reality of love, healing, provision and compassion. The Cross is where we died with Him and, through His resurrection, have risen to new life in Christ. Such a life, lived to God, in this broken world but not of it, is a journey of discovery in which, as much as I may have seen or experienced thus far, there will always be much more of Him than I have ever known or experienced. And so I simply cling to the Cross, pursue His presence in intimate relationship with Papa and let Him define my reality.

Mike x

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

We're dead!


Just over 2000 years ago we died. Nailed to the cross in perfect union with Jesus, we died a full, one-time-only death. The nails that went through His hands and feet pierced our hands and feet. He became our sin. He took our broken, fallen, depraved, futile life and an incredible exchange took place. We went into the grave with Him, we were crucified with Jesus and yet He was the one who felt the pain and anguish of our sin and brokenness. We were given a pain-free death in return for the most amazing new life. He became our sickness so we could be healthy, He became our lack so we could live in abundance, He became our depression so we could be happy, He became our sin so we could be perfect.


This is the most awesome news that we could ever be given. It is stunning, it is almost too good to be true. It blows every grid of thought and when you begin to grasp it's truth, it changes everything!

Not only did we die with Jesus, but we were also resurrected into new life with him. We came out of the grave with Him completely transformed. We were resurrected into 'kainos' life - this is a Greek word used in the New Testament when describing this new life. It means "new as to form or quality, of a different nature from what is contrasted as old". This kainos life is not an improved version of the old, but a completely new version altogether. It is superior to what existed before and actually takes the place of the old. This is the new life we were born into when we came out of the grave in perfect union with Jesus.

The Distilled Bible says:

"I consider myself having died and now I am enjoying a second existence which is simply Jesus using my body."
  Galatians 2:20

The Mirror Bible puts it this way:

"My co-crucifixion with Christ is valid! I am not making this up; in His death I died to the old system of trying to please God with my own good behaviour! God makes me alive together with Christ. The terms co-crucified and co-alive defines me now. Christ in me and I in Him." Galatians 2:19-20


We have been totally set free from the law of trying to please God, of trying to be free from sin, of trying to do better. We have been given an entirely new life which is abundant in every possible way. He has done it ALL. Everything to do with our old life has been eradicated and we now live a new life where Jesus has taken full possession. We do not need to work out our salvation by trying to be better, it is a done deal, once, total, finished. We are now free to enjoy a life of co-reigning, seated in heaven and feasting on it's glory. All the joy, completeness, peace, life and fulfillment of Jesus is ours. We have become the fourth member of the Trinity merged into Jesus, represented by Jesus and we appear spotless and perfect before our Papa.

Anything we now offer based on the law of self works, of trying to please God, of trying to do better or be better are futile. We are only seen through the perfect, finished works of the Cross - this is pure grace, pure gift. 'Me' no longer has a role because it has become all about what He has done.

Francois du Toit, in his book God Believes in You, says:

“The cross is a success! God is fully persuaded about us, he does not need any further proof; His concern now, is to persuade us about ourselves.”


Jesus believes in our innocence. He really sees us as perfect in every way. We are the ones who need convincing of this truth! Imagine the possibilities that would open up if we really did believe this, if we saw ourselves though this lens of this truth. We are now fully alive to God, in union with Jesus. We are dead to the old life and have been gifted with brand spanking new kainos life!

"For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus." Romans 6:10-11 (AMP)

Nicky x