Transformed

By

Oneness

Into His likeness

Step Up And Step In

CHRISTINE NELSON

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

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Phone: 1-800-839-8640

© 2013 by Christine Nelson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/21/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8616-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8617-1 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

In The Beginning…

Chapter 1   God’s Original Plan

Chapter 2   Fall Of Man

Oneness In Death

Chapter 3   The Power Of Dying

Chapter 4   Denial Of Self

Chapter 5   Removal Of The Veil

Chapter 6   True Brokenness

Oneness In The Resurrection

Chapter 7   The Power Of The Resurrection

Chapter 8   Christ In Us

Chapter 9   Walking In Obedience

Chapter 10   Be True To Who You Are

Oneness In Ascension

Chapter 11   Principle Of Ascension

Chapter 12   Reaction That Transcends

Chapter 13   Waiting On The Lord

Chapter 14   Walk In The Spirit

Chapter 15   Carriers Of His Presence

Chapter 16   Reflecting Christ

Biography

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the Holy Spirit who is my Mentor, Comforter, Teacher, Guide, illuminator of my mind. He tells me things about others, about the future and warns me about things to come giving me strategies to combat. I invited the Holy Spirit into my life through water baptism over 22 years ago. Although I have changed during this time; nine years ago when I learnt about the baptism of the Holy Spirit I encountered something AMAZING!! I found the catalyst to transformation. I encountered a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

God is able to do all things and only needs us to trust Him explicitly. I can truly say that I wrote this book blindfolded. There were many times when I stopped and asked the Lord, “Where are we going with this?” “I am not sure I understand!” As I wrote what I interpreted as His instructions and continued to do this; I began to see this beautiful tapestry being created before my eyes and my blindfold fell like scales from my eyes. This book reiterates to me the importance of complete surrender to a Mighty God who is empowered by our submission.

The Holy Spirit has really opened my eyes to see so many divine blueprints (His blueprint, when applied generate His results) in scripture. I inevitably saw that by following Jesus’ example of death, resurrection and ascension is to “Walk in Oneness” which inevitably will bring forth transformation in us. Indeed the Lord always has the best for us and His best comes from Him not from our own self efforts. This divine blueprint is the way to recreate all He had planned for us before, to become a reality; as we endeavour to Walk in Oneness and allow this Oneness to bring Transformation in our lives one step at a time.

Acknowledgements

The process of transformation is a continuous development that we must go through in order to step up and step into the person God has called us to be. I am grateful for those who have been a part of my journey of transformation and am mindful that I am still a work in progress.

This process of transformation begun with Christ and indeed He is more than able to complete what He has started. I begin by first acknowledging my Enabler, Strength, Focus, Inspiration, my Lord and Lover of my soul, my Saviour Jesus Christ. I am fully persuaded that He loves me so much that He will not leave me as I am but will continue to do in me so that He can do through me.

I am grateful for my husband Omowale, who has been one of the most instrumental humans in my own journey of transformation. This I have found to be true having been married for more than 16 years. He has seen me at every stage, each milestone, every defeat and every victory. However, he has not given up on me but has been a source of encouragement throughout. Love you Honey!

My sons, Kobi and Kristian two of my greatest teachers in becoming more like Jesus. Kobi has taught me how to walk in peace while Kristian has taught me how to be a warrior in the spirit. As you continue on this journey, I look forward to see how God will transform you both into becoming true expressions of Himself as He uses you as vessels to be the world changers you were created to be. Love you so much.

As always, I will be eternally grateful to my parents Maureen Johnson and Merton Owens without whom I would not be here to make this contribution of expressing my heart through printed word. The Lord handpicked you both to be my parents and I will always be grateful for your love, input, discipline, guidance and support.

My pastors Paul and Joanne Naughton, Pastors Temi and Mary Ewousho and Pastors Tokie and Ronke Jegede of Harvest Church, London. Thank you for being the example of true change and shining like stars. Thank you for your ministries individually and collectively which have continuously edified my soul enabling the Lord Jesus to form more and more in me.

A big thank you to my brilliant editorial team: Joanne Johnson, Tim Collins and Angela Manning Edusei for all their editorial insights and direction. The Lord has used you to hone my skills. Thank you for the time spent reading through and making recommendations. Your support and love is invaluable. Thank you for helping me fulfil this dream. The Bible says, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” (Hebrews 6:10)

I am so grateful to God for my most faithful friend who has been such a support and encouragement to me, Margaret Tusiime, not just a friend but a true sister. Your prayers, your faithfulness, your kindness and your love have been such an encouragement. The Lord has used you countless times to listen and to bring clarity as I externally process my thoughts. May God bless you richly! Love you dearly!

I am so grateful to Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, Fathers in the faith, prolific writers and teachers. They have written countless books explaining so many truths from the Word which has contributed to my own growth and development. I thank God for their lives and ministries.

Foreword

Christine Nelson is passionate in her relationship with the Lord and has a great desire to draw other people into a closer walk with God. She gave her life to The Lord as a teenager and has continued to pursue a deeper understanding of His ways and His word throughout her life.

Christine has been a dedicated member of Harvest church for many years serving as a children’s church teacher and a singer in the worship band. She mentors a group of women and pours her heart out into their lives to see them moulded to be more like Jesus.

Her hunger for God has never dwindled; rather it has grown stronger year by year.

Through tests and trials, Christine has remained resolute and continued faithfully. As a wife, mother and working woman, she has learned the secret of juggling the pressures of home and work while keeping Christ firmly at the centre. She loves her husband and children dearly and clearly understands the value of building a happy home.

The sequel to Walking in Oneness, ‘Transformed by Oneness into His Likeness’ is a devotional aid that is part Bible study, part testimony. It seeks to take its readers on a journey with Jesus that will strengthen their walk with God and bring lasting change.

In its pages, Christine shares some tremendous testimonies of how God brought healing and restoration as she surrendered to God’s work in her life. These personal stories will bring hope and healing to others.

Each chapter aims to lead people a step closer to transformation. As it follows the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, it seeks to lead Christians to become more like the Lord by knowing Him in His crucifixion and in His new raised life. There are practical tools that Christine draws from her own walk with God which are designed to help the reader apply the teachings to their own life.

May God’s wonderful will be done in every person’s life as they read.

Pastor Joanne Naughton

Harvest Church

Introduction

In 2008, when Barrack Obama became the first black President of the United States of America, the world at large experienced a transformation shift. Minds were unlocked as many realigned to explore new ways of thinking. Walls of narrow-mindedness came down, as belief systems were enlarged. Meanwhile, ideologies and traditions were challenged to adapt. Generations of children who had seen only the majority reign became believers in themselves and their own potential to be great men and women for their generations.

You see change occurs in us sometimes without our knowing. In the world today, if our mindsets do not evolve with the times we could find ourselves deskilled and jobless because our qualifications have become redundant. Meanwhile, in the kingdom of God, transformation is fundamental to prevent spiritual death.

At the beginning of 2011 I began to pray the prayer of Jabez, 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. My prayer was; “Daddy enlarge my capacity to receive more of You.” The more I prayed this prayer; the Lord began to expose character issues that He wanted me to surrender to Him. What I had not realised, is that for expansion to occur, He had to test my ability to be pliable in His hands. It is equally important that we acknowledge that our enlargement is directly related to our degree of transformation. For God to use us to affect change in our families; in His church; this nation and our world, we must be transformed!

The goal of transformation is for God to be reflected in us. Transformation is not a mere outward change. It is a change that revolutionises us on the inside. As transformation occurs, our lives visibly change too. For example, if I broke out with pimples on my face, I could use some cream to get rid of them. The cream may dry them up, but it wouldn’t get rid of the pimples completely. The minute I stopped using the cream, they would be likely to resurface, this is because I am dealing with the problem superficially. I would need to figure out what was causing the pimples in the first place and look at what I was putting in my body. The minute I address the problem from the inside, the possibility of a more lasting change would occur. This is also true when we consider ourselves being transformed.

The Bible has a plethora of examples of people who were transformed by God. As their characters transformed, their names (identity) changed as well. People like Abram who later became Abraham (the Father of all nations); Jacob (the deceiver) became Israel (the name given to God’s people); Simon (Greek word for hearing) became Peter (the rock) the concept of living stones for building God’s spiritual house; Saul (murderer and persecutor of the church) became Paul the apostle. What is clear about all these examples is that as they lived in obedience to God, their nature was being transformed (even though they were unaware of God’s plan for their lives).

We must also understand that transformation happens in the context of our experience. That is we cannot be changed in an area unless we have experienced it. For instance, because I am married there are elements of my character that have been exposed like never before. For example, I have noticed the need to have my own way and the desire to win an argument at any cost. Being in a leadership role, I began to see competitiveness and impure motives being exposed as a way to bring about change. Within the experience of my marriage and leadership, I am able to see these areas and approach God to work on them. God will transform us, taking us from one level to the next. This process of transformation becomes a reality through revelation and renewal of the mind.

When we think of transformation we must also know that if we are already in Christ we are complete in our human spirit. The Bible says in Colossians 2:10 “that we are complete in Him”. Although we are, by faith, complete in Christ we are still working out the reality of this finished work because our soul (mind, will and emotions) needs to become one with our spirit. Although our spirit man has been transformed our soul is still in the process of renewal. This is why we might find that we still have a bad temper, or we lie, or we are unforgiving. Whatever the struggles are, God wants to perfect us in those areas so that we can see the manifestation of His complete work.

Jesus lived the Christian life as a model for us to follow. We obtained a life of redemption through His death, resurrection and ascension. I believe this is a divine blueprint for us to be transformed. In this book, we explore how Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension sets out a plan for us to evolve into the people God intended us to be. As we follow this path, it will help us step into all God has obtained, attained and accomplished for us.

As we journey through the scriptures, may the Lord grant us the grace to understand but also the courage to embrace all that He had planned for us before the fall. So that as we behold Him we may be transformed from glory to glory and ultimately allow people to see the reflection of Christ in us.

IN THE BEGINNING…

CHAPTER 1

GOD’S ORIGINAL PLAN

To appreciate where we are going, we have to look at where we have come from.

In Jamaica, there is a saying we sometimes use, “you won’t know who you are, until you know where you have come from”. This suggests that identity is intrinsically linked to an understanding of one’s origin. Likewise, it is important that we know and understand what God’s original plan was and still is for us—before the fall. We must understand the Architect’s blueprint in order to interpret what the building should look like. God’s original design or blueprint captured three main features, which relate to us; our identity, our purpose and our authority.

Self image affects identity

In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image according to our likeness.” I have many pictures of myself with long hair, short hair, smiling, laughing and with serious expressions. Although the pictures differ, it doesn’t change the fact that the image in each picture is mine. In the same way, God made us in His image whether we are Black, White or Asian or any other race. We are identical to God in our spirit man. Man’s outward form is a copy of God’s form. What God imagined we became! Man has the capacity to contain and to express God. He did not make the animals or the plants in His image; that was reserved for us humans. We are so valuable to Him that He wanted us to look like Him. Isn’t that extraordinary?

How are we made in His likeness? To be made in His image is to be like Him in character and nature. God is love, light, holiness, righteousness, peace, joy, kindness, power etc. Everything we need is in Him and we have all this in our spirit. John 4:24 tells us that God is spirit; man is a spirit that lives in a body and has a soul. God created man according to His kind so that it is possible for man to be one with God (1Corinthians 6:17). Once we allow our minds to be renewed, then we will naturally replicate His character and nature in our lives. This will change the way we view ourselves.

When I was a little girl, I was called many derogatory names like (good for nothing, fool, idiot) this stripped me of my self esteem, worth and dignity, resulting in me having a poor and incorrect self image. Throughout school, these negative words stopped me from believing I could achieve or fulfil my dreams. I believed that I could not rise above these names and allowed them to define me for a long time. It took years of reading God’s word and putting it into practice for the negative words to lose their power. I am now determined to believe what God said about me and to live that out. You see, an incorrect image of ourselves comes mostly from our environment—what we hear, see in magazines and watch on television. We need to stop and look at ourselves through the eyes of God and say I am made in God’s image.

What is the significance of knowing that our identity is in God and not satan? In the beginning man loved God and desired Him. The fall reversed this. Man still had the capacity for good but his spirit was altered by sin. Sin created an illusion that forced man to begin to look outside of his (spirit). It is crucial that we know we sometimes do bad things or indulge in bad behaviour but this is not who we truly are. We, like God, are innate lovers of righteousness. When we truly have a revelation of our identity in Christ, we will walk in agreement with Him. We must not allow people’s words, success or failure, but His words to define who we are and embrace our true image and identity in Him.

Live life on purpose

God did not create us to live aimless lives; we have an individual purpose, as well as a corporate one. We must realise that if we are called to be fruitful and multiply then we are responsible for what kind of fruit we bear. This emphasises the need for us to be one with God in order for Christ to be produced through our offspring.

God commanded us “to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”. (Genesis 1:28) A part of God’s blessing to us is our ability to multiply. God wanted us to populate the earth by being fruitful. He gave us the ability to procreate both naturally and spiritually. Spiritual procreation becomes natural as we walk in our divine calling. God intended us to be vessels of honour so our offspring would be a legacy to Him.

As Christians we are a part of God’s divine family. If we did not have a call on our lives we would probably be zapped up to Heaven on receiving salvation. I believe every Christian has a designated group of people who they will influence; how we achieve this is dependent on who we are and what God deposited in us when we were conceived in our mother’s womb. For some it could be playing an instrument bringing God’s peace into the lives of others; for others it may be taking care of an elderly member of their family; for some it could be mentoring families to develop strong parenting skills. The Lord has given me a desire to help others establish and have a deep and intimate relationship with Christ. God’s divine purpose for my life is to teach the Word, (writing being an extension of that teaching gift). As I operate in my calling, being fruitful and multiplying will become effortless. You see, the more we walk in our divine calling our purpose, fruitfulness and multiplication will be a reality. The need to know our call is crucial for us to fulfil our divine purpose.

Execute your authority

God in His grace gave us authority. He declared: “Let them rule over the earth!” (Genesis 1:28b) He gave us dominion over the earth, as He rules over Heaven. Why would God do this? In other words why would God create earth and give us complete dominion? I believe He wanted to partner with us. In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray that “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10b) This prayer is an open invitation from God to synchronise Heaven and Earth as one, through our partnering with Him.

Today God has not changed; He still desires to partner with us. He desires for us to take back that which the devil has stolen by taking a stand in our God-given authority and rule over the earth as it is in Heaven. Satan has wormed His way through the entertainment industry, the lyrics of some songs have become so lewd; video games wreak violence, where children kill people in a game devaluing the lives of humans. Arguably, as a direct result there has been an increase in murder; our national television has become so perverted it is no longer safe to leave the television on without adult supervision if we want to protect the purity and innocence of our children. We must be quick to identify when our world does not look like Heaven and to pray against all alien manifestations such as sickness; war; homosexuality, slavery etc.

I heard a story about a circus that went to a town in the United States of America where there was a man at the circus doing palm reading and other forms of witchcraft were being practised. A Christian man brought his son to the circus and when he saw these activities, he stood nearby, but not conspicuously enough for the man to know that he was praying and he prayed for the man to pack up and leave because he knew he would not see such practices being done in Heaven. He went back to the circus for two days and continued to pray until the third day the man and all who were practicing witchcraft packed up and left. This man was determined to see his town on earth look like Heaven. How determined are we?

To ensure that our dominion over the earth is not passive but active we need to be transformed in the way we see ourselves. We are valuable to God, we have an individual call on our lives and we have been given the authority to partner with God to see this become a reality. We are called, as children of God, to be people of influence. He has to do a work in us before He can do a work through us. When we take responsibility for the change in us rather than a que sera sera (what will be, will be) attitude, we will walk in His authority and change our world. Today our world is waiting on true children of God to represent in politics, in media, in law making, in education actively infiltrating every area of society with the authority God has given us to change our world. God needs us to see our worth and align ourselves, in order for us to walk in the identity, purpose and authority He has called us to.

Step up and Step in by:

(i) Looking at ourselves through the eyes of God and confess “I am made in God’s image. I am inherently good; I may need to change my behaviours but in my human spirit I am the spitting image of my Father in Heaven.

(ii) Seeking God about your divine call; then, pursue it with all your heart. Take your rightful place by fulfilling your reason on earth.

(iii) Deciding to be active not passive about your authority on earth and execute it. Partner with God to see Heaven come to Earth in your world.

CHAPTER 2

FALL OF MAN

Listening to the wrong voice, led to man’s fall; obedience to the right voice will cause us to rise

In 1 Kings 18:21 the Prophet Elijah enquired of the sons of Israel, “How long will you go hopping between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him . . .” Throughout life we are faced with choices. We have the option to receive spiritual life or death, God or satan, Heaven—dwelling in the Presence of God or Hell or the Lake of fire—eternal damnation. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were faced with two choices; death or life.

God gave man free will

In the Garden of Eden, God created all that Adam and Eve needed to live. What is more, the word Eden from the Garden of Eden means “the Presence of God”. So Adam and Eve lived in God’s Presence. They were physically naked with no shame. This exposure illustrated their innocence. They lived transparent lives and as a result lived in God’s light. They experienced what it is to reside in true freedom, to live in God’s rest without condemnation, guilt and fear thus dwelling in peace. It is imperative to get a picture of what life was like for them before they sinned.

In the Garden there were many trees; although two trees were highlighted. The first tree was called the tree of life and the second was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). In Genesis 2:16-17 God explicitly told Adam that he could eat from all the trees except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. My question is why were they told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The tree of knowledge of good and evil brought spiritual death. We know this because in Genesis 2:18 God Himself told Adam if he ate from the second tree he would surely die. Adam and Eve’s spiritual death separated them from God, this meant that they no longer communed with Him, walked in oneness with Him, or fulfilled the purpose for which they were created.

Surreptitious Serpent

God made man from the earth or dust (Genesis 2:7). The serpent had a plan to cause man’s downfall. You see satan is this serpent and he expresses himself through death. The serpent cunningly went to Eve because, God told Adam not to eat the fruit, not Eve directly. Although, scripture reveals that Adam was with Eve when the serpent was deceiving her he did not speak up or seek to protect his mate, his dominion or his life.

Firstly, the serpent questioned God’s word by adding doubt (Genesis 3:1). “Did God say you should not eat of every tree of the garden?” This question was the serpent’s attempt to cause Eve to doubt what God commanded.

Secondly, this doubt from the serpent caused Eve to justify her additions to God’s Word. She told the serpent God said that she should not eat from the tree and neither must she touch its fruit or she would die. When we add to God’s Word we are opening doors for deception. It shows our own inability to believe God at His Word thus the need to add our own ideas.

The serpent insinuated that God’s motives for telling Eve not to eat of this tree were impurely motivated. The serpent made Eve feel like she had misunderstood God’s command, so her ignorance led her to act unwisely. It created in Eve the desire to be wise and ultimately to be like God. Being led by her mind, will and emotions, Eve began to believe satan’s deception, he had her believing that God had lied to her because He did not want her to be like Him. She then ate the fruit and gave some to her husband.

How does this occur today?

We are faced with the temptations of the enemy on a daily basis. We have the choice of whether to listen to satan or God. To give into the suggestions of satan is give the enemy access in our lives. God in His loving kindness never forces us, but always gives us a choice. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, represents all that satan stands for. Anything that prevents us from being in God’s Presence represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It could manifest itself in shame, guilt, lack of faith, work, offence, dishonour, rebellion etc. You see Adam and Eve’s first response when they sinned was to hide from God’s Presence. When we disobey God, the truth of God’s Word is stolen from our hearts and is replaced with lies. Faith comes by hearing the Word and if our faith is stolen then we cannot please God.

Eve’s Choice

Eve allowed her natural senses to lead her rather than obeying the voice of God. It is very dangerous to be led by what we see, hear, feel or think because all these things are temporal and subject to change. What we can see in a glance could be gone in the next. On the other hand, the Word of God is eternal it does not change, it is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Eve knew what God said, but the devil made a suggestion and it appealed to her. In that instance, the fruit became her god and God’s Word was silenced by her own desires. Anything we place before God is an idol; in this case Eve placed her desires above God’s Word.

Eve was deceived because she did not know who she was. The serpent promised her that by eating the fruit she would become like God. Instead, she should have declared that she is already like God because she is made in His image (Genesis 1:26). It is important to know who we are in Christ, if we do not know our identity, any snake from the pit of hell can come and tell us who they want us to be. We must choose to take captive every thought and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:7). So if satan whispers anything contrary to what the Word says about us we must replace that lie with the truth of God’s Word. I shared before (in chapter one) the derogatory names I was called when growing up, I believe that was satan’s way of deceiving me into believing that I was worthless. This type of thinking caused me to feel like a second class citizen and that I was not good enough. You see lies imprison us but freedom is only found in the truth. I began to let go of those lies when I understood two things, the first that satan can only lie he cannot speak the truth, even if he tried; that my Papa God is in love with me and only wants and dreams the best for me. What lies have you believed over God’s Word?

The truth is, when you know that you are a favourite child, you don’t compare. We need to believe, we are our Daddy God’s favourite; we have great favour with Him and He will not withhold any good thing from us.

Adam’s choice

Adam chose to eat the fruit when Eve offered him a bite, but when God confronted him, he blamed God and Eve, telling God that it was that woman He gave him. Blame shifting of any sort delays transformation. It prevented Adam and Eve from seeing their sin through the eyes of God. Hence, it prevented them from repenting. We must endeavour to quickly admit where we have gone wrong. The Bible says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8). We see that confession is directly linked to forgiveness and cleansing.

Consequences must follow

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and probably thought that was the end. The table shows the remarkable difference that occurred before and after the fall.

Before the fall

After the fall

God consciousness

Self consciousness

Power to do good

Gained the power to do evil

Was like God

Became unlike God

Innocent

Guilty

God’s voice brought peace and joy

God’s voice brought terror

Lived in the Presence of God

Driven from God’s presence

Eternal life

Physical death, spiritual death,

The consequences of their actions began caused them to become afraid, and hid as they heard God’s voice. They had feelings of shame and guilt and attempted to make clothes to hide their nakedness. These are all signs of self consciousness. They lost their identity because they had partaken of the one thing that would cause spiritual death. Sin being the embodiment of satan; Adam and Eve partook of him and by default we all partook. Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:23 about the warring that is against our minds and bringing our mind into captivity under the law of sin which is in our members. Paul described the battle that we undergo when we want to do the right thing; but the law of sin stops us from living out those desires. We must see that our (negative) transformation came about by partaking of the wrong tree. Satan then thought he was victorious in taking over man. But God in His infinite wisdom had a plan. He sent Christ, the embodiment of God reincarnated as a man, to become flesh so as to become one with man through the cross. A (positive) transformation comes about by partaking of Christ applying the divine blueprint he left us.

Step up and Step in by:

i) Choosing to listen to the voice of God.

ii) Renewing your mind, of God’s intention for you before the fall (See the table above) by confessing the truth of God’s thoughts and desires for you.

For example:—I dwell in the peace of God not in terror.

I choose to live in the Presence of God.

ONENESS IN DEATH

The first step of being transformed, is to live for Christ, we must first die to all that nailed Jesus on the cross. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:31b

“I die daily . . .”

We must come to the end of ourselves by dying to sin daily and allow God to begin His divine work of transformation.

CHAPTER 3

THE POWER OF DYING

Death to sin is the beginning of experiencing the transformation power of the cross

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18; writes “. . . the cross of Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. This scripture clearly outlines two groups of people; those who are perishing and those who are being saved. Those who are perishing do not acknowledge or understand the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross. They may believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus but it has no relevance in their lives.

For some, Jesus’ death on the cross is a story which is watched on film during Easter. It often evokes an extreme emotional response in the viewer, as they watch the torture and suffering of Jesus. As a child, and throughout my teenage years, I remember how angry it made me when I watched what Jesus went through. I would walk away from the film thinking; “those cruel Romans how could they have done that to Jesus!” For some, the cross is a reminder that it is Easter and so attending a church service is a part of the routine, while for others, the cross is a piece of jewellery that can be worn.

Whatever our understanding of Jesus’ death, we must hope that we don’t miss its true value. 1 Corinthians 1:18 teaches us that one of the prerequisites of knowing whether you are being saved is experiencing the benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice. What is this power? The sacrificial death of Christ on the cross is a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for us. It is God’s battle plan to destroy satan and to prevent him from using us like pawns on a chess board. Jesus’ death is the redeeming power of God to restore all that God intended for us in the beginning. If you are beginning to know experientially who you are in Christ, then the power of Jesus’ death is being expressed through you.

You see Jesus’ death represents the cutting out of all defects and weaknesses of our humanity. Galatians 2:20 states, “I am crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” As we become one in death with Christ we release the Power of the cross to work in us. We become one in death by dying to the flesh.

The redemptive benefits of the cross

Before being nailed to the cross, Jesus dealt with:

The burden of our sins (Isaiah 53:6) “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

Our death (Hebrews 2:14) “Since then the children share in flesh and blood. He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil.”

Our flesh and self (Galatians 2:20) “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”

Old nature (Romans 6:6) “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

Old creation (Colossians 1:20) “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross: through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Satan (John12:31) “Now judgement is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.”

Satan’s Kingdom (Colossians 2:15) “When He has disarmed the rulers and the authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” Recovery Version

Jesus’ death has redeemed us from all that would prevent us from living an abundant life. We must be resolute not to live our lives defeated and powerless because Jesus’ death has enabled us to trade in all that weakens us. To be baptised into His death, is to be separated from the world and the satanic power of darkness. Jesus’ death was so powerful that it has terminated our natural life, self and our old nature and has given us a new beginning. We must believe this and expect to see the manifestation of these benefits in our lives.

On the cross, death occurred because Jesus denied himself. The cross represents a dying to our carnal nature. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me”. You see, the cross is the end to all those things that pertain to us. Jesus died an all-inclusive death, but for us to be transformed we must experience the dying of self, the refusal to be cripplingly dependent on others and to live in our own God’s power and ability. This occurs as we experience death by surrendering our will and being willing to conform to God’s will.

Years ago, I went through one of the hardest times of my life. I experienced what I perceived to be rejection of my husband and a close friend. Throughout my life, I had always depended on the approval of others. At the time I was going through a difficult period in my marriage. I took a step of faith and shared what I was going through with a close friend. I was offended with my friend because I felt she betrayed my confidence. When I tried to deal with my offence by telling her how I felt, I came across angry and hurt. Whatever I expressed was not received, an even bigger wedge grew between us. I felt completely isolated and our friendship disintegrated. For the first time, I was isolated from the two people who were closest to me, my husband and my friend.

This was a painful time it was probably the loneliest time of my life. When I chose to face what was being exposed in my character, rather than focus on what was done to me-I realised that God was at work in this situation, and would bring about transformation in me. I was forced to look to God like never before. The Lord showed me that I had unconsciously given my husband and my friend a part of my heart that should have been reserved for Him alone. I was depending on man (my husband and friend) for security, which is impossible for any human to give. It took going through this unsettling time for me to realise how idolatry had taken over my heart. We all like Abraham have to put to death our Isaac or Isaacs in order for us to die. Who is your Isaac? God desires to be our sole source—He wants to be our number one.

In order to experience the principle of the cross we need to come to the end of those things that stop us from having the divine exchange that the cross provides. In the example above, I had to bring my human way of loving to the cross, for Jesus to show me how He loves me unconditionally and to reflect His love to others. I had to bring myself to the cross and to continuously choose to take Christ in His fullness instead. In order to do this, I had to remind myself of the divine exchange that we can partake of. Below are SOME of the examples of divine exchange.

The divine exchange of the cross

Fear

Faith

Sickness

Health

Defeat

Victory

Slave

Sonship

Shame

Honour

Rejection

Acceptance

Bondage

Freedom

Torment

Contentment

Confusion

Sound mind

Orphan

Adoption

Negative circumstances are never the end of our journey; they have the ability to make a way for the positive. “We have to be crucified and crossed out” as Witness Lee said in The Economy of God. We have to bring all things to the cross: our abilities, our talents, our knowledge, our thoughts and our emotion. The more we understand our death by the cross, the more Christ will be resurrected in us.

Step up and Step in by:—

i) Meditating on the benefits of the cross and the divine exchange that the cross brings. Find other examples of divine exchange brought by Christ.

ii) Applying Luke 9:23 by denying yourself; by dying to offence; un-forgiveness; hatred; procrastination; sexual sins or anything that would prevent you from experiencing the benefits of Jesus’ death.

iii) Overlooking an offence and choose to examine self by focusing on what God is exposing in you.

CHAPTER 4

DENIAL OF SELF

Self denial is the price you pay to carry your cross!

As a Christian I have always been aware of the sins of the flesh as they are outlined in Galatians 5:19-21 “sins of the flesh are obvious because they are unrighteous. The sins detailed include; adultery; fornication; uncleanness; lewdness, idolatry; witchcraft; hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies; envy; murder; drunkenness, revelries, and the like”. It is true; these sins of the flesh must be dealt with radically. For a long time, I was unaware that there are two sides of the flesh; the sins of the flesh and the works of the flesh. The works of the flesh produce self righteousness; that is righteousness motivated by self and works done with wrong motives. Works of the flesh demonstrates itself in good things with good intention which could also lead to sins of the flesh. In essence, sins of the flesh and works of the flesh are both abominable in the eyes of God.

Works in our strength

Growing up, I always strove to do the right thing. When others would be mischievous, I would do my best not be involved or to encourage any naughty behaviour. My desire to do what was right caused me to feel condemned and frustrated when I fell short. To my shame, it made me feel justified to judge others of their wrongs because I felt they weren’t trying hard enough. When I gave my life to Christ I continued to live my life with the same determination but I soon became more and more frustrated because my efforts were embedded in my own strength. I realised that I did not understand the grace of God, which would enable success through His empowerment. I was trying to finish what God started by His grace when He saved me. “Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). You see, just like the Christians in Galatia, I became a child of God not because of something I did or didn’t do, but because of His mercy and grace. I quickly realized I could not have earned my salvation by my good works, and therefore cannot live the life of Christ by my works either.

Impurely motivated works

When I began this journey with Christ, I became involved in the worship ministry; I actively sought to help people to know Christ, teaching the Word to people and so on. I began to do these things with the intention of pleasing God. Soon, my motive for doing these things became perverted. The lines became blurred as to whether I was singing in the choir because I could sing or because of the compliments I received after church. Also, with helping others to know Christ, whether I was sharing my faith because I wanted to be recognized as the most fruitful; or to have a feeling of accomplishment. The fact was my motive for doing these things was no longer centred on Christ. The motivation for my seemingly good actions became more about me and less about Christ.

I did not have the revelation that even when a good deed is done in the flesh it is an abomination in the sight of God. If it does not proceed from the Holy Spirit it will ultimately glorify self. To live a life denying the soul and to only live for Jesus is to lead a life of purity. The Lord told me one day when He was helping me to have a pure heart. He told me, water is a pure substance because it has one single material. The minute I add lemon and sugar, it is no longer water it is now lemonade. He cautioned me that if He demands my voice for worship; but when I am singing, my heart is seeking approval from men, then it is no longer worship but performance. James 4:8 says, “Purify your hearts you double-minded.” You see being single minded keeps our hearts pure. Jesus needs to be our motive for every act. If our intentions are not centred on Him then it is impure and such a man should not expect to receive anything from God for he is double-minded (James 1:7-8).

How do we deal with our flesh?

The apostle Paul writes and gives us the solution of crucifying the flesh: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

“But I say, walk by the Spirit and thou shall by no means carry out the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5: 25)

These two scriptures give us two ways to deal with our flesh, first we must live by the Spirit; secondly, deny the desires of the flesh. We must understand that Jesus crucified our flesh when He died on the cross. By faith we must embrace that we are dead to our sinful nature for this to become our experience. When we accept the power of the cross, we will deny our flesh and walk after the Spirit. This is the only way we can please Him.

No confidence in Flesh

The apostle Paul who was an astute student of the Word; educated by the best teachers; went to the best schools and followed the law to the letter wrote in his letter to the Philippians that he “put no confidence in the flesh”. (Philippians 3:3) Paul, more than anyone else, should have been self-confident because of his successes and his ability; his eyes were open to the snare of putting any confidence in the flesh and he knew the futility of this. He knew that whatever he did without waiting on God or depending on the Holy Spirit is undoubtedly the flesh. When we substitute self for the Spirit we deny ourselves the chance to reflect Christ. Jesus clearly said in John 16:24, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Any attempt to follow Jesus without denying self will result in failure.

When we are living by the Spirit and not by the flesh we are walking in oneness by crucifying the flesh as Jesus did on the cross. Jesus sets us an amazing example of what happens when we come to the end of ourselves and deny the flesh; we become nothing and honouring the Father becomes everything. In the words of Jesus:—

• The Son can do nothing of Himself (John 5:17, 19)

• I can of Mine own self do nothing (John 5:30)

• I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father (John 6:38)

• My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me (John 7:16)

• I do nothing of Myself (John 8:42)

• I seek not Mine own glory (John 8:50)

• I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father gave Me commandment what to speak (John 10:25, 37-38)

Jesus did nothing of Himself, but became a vessel for the Father’s use. This needs to be our desire and focus.

Are you living by the spirit or the carnal mind?

Soul

Spirit

Focus on self

Focus on God

Self-dependence

Dependent on God

Self-will supersedes God’s will

God’s will supersedes

Self is the motive behind all actions

Pleasing God is the motive

Natural power

Supernatural power

Produces self righteousness

Produces humility

Self glorification

God is glorified

Self consciousness/self examination

Search out our activities with our heart

Soul is affected by outside influences.

Spirit is not affected by outward influences

Hasty

Avoid haste and exercise patience

Confusion

Clarity

Gullible

Test the spirits

Step up and Step in by:

i) Being led by the Holy Spirit (follow your heart not your head). (Romans 8:14)

ii) Being watchful and praying unceasingly to prevent the flesh from reigning by having the right motive. (1Thessalonians 5:17)

iii) Living a fasted life kills the flesh. (Psalm 35:13)

CHAPTER 5

REMOVAL OF THE VEIL

Turning our hearts is a sign of surrender which

removes the veil.

Before we can remove the veil we must first understand what the veil represents. Biblically, the veil signified a barrier between man and God. This veil prevented a direct relationship between God and man; which prevents or slows down our transformation.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 says that if we turn our hearts the veil will be removed. The word heart has been used interchangeably with the word spirit throughout the Old and New Testament. To turn our hearts is to turn to our spirit. Hebrews 12:2 puts it this way, “fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith”. Turning our hearts is to fix our eyes on our Lord, we can do this by calling on the name of the Lord, by worshipping, being grateful, praying unceasingly, being still in His presence and by applying the Word. Every time we do this, the veil is being removed.

The Prophet Isaiah described to us in chapter 59 verse 2 that “our iniquities have separated us from our God. Our sins have hidden His face from us so that He does not hear us”. According to this scripture sin acts as a barrier that prevents us from communicating with God freely. We must ensure we do not allow un-confessed sins, un-repentance, to cause a barrier preventing us from having the kind of relationship with our Father that Jesus died for us to enjoy. James 5:16 reminds us to “confess our sins one to another . . . . so we may be healed”. You see sin steals our faith to enter into His presence boldly.

Matthew 27:50-52 tells of the veil being torn in two after Jesus’ death. Before we look at the tearing of the veil, it is imperative to see what Jesus did before the veil was removed. The Bible says in Matthew 27: 50 that Jesus gave up His spirit indicating that He voluntarily gave up His life. It can be deduced that before the veil can be removed in our lives we must first surrender to the Father, by releasing to Him anything that could prevent Him from doing a divine work in us. When we are brutally honest by sharing our feelings, thoughts, desires and our circumstances, we are giving God an open invitation to come in and excavate our hearts. As we do this by way of surrendering, we are able to take on God’s heart and His thoughts in our circumstances. In doing this, we are giving up our lives or giving away our hearts so we can walk in submission to Him. Sometimes, in the hope of being spiritual we fail to be honest. By being honest, we are emptying ourselves of all that hinders; then God can pour in His goodness. One of the ways that I practise being honest, is to go on dates with the Lord. I decide where God would sit and then I focus all my attention in that direction, talking freely about all that is on my heart. As I share each of my worries, or problems, I wait for God to speak to my heart and I make notes. I always leave these times feeling refreshed and light and equipped to take on the day. Honesty builds trust which develops an intimate relationship.

In Matthew 27:51 the veil was torn in two, signifying that the separation between God and man had been removed. This is why the Bible warns us in Proverbs 4:23 to “watch over our hearts with all diligence, for from it flows the spring of life”. Life flows from our heart both physically and spiritually. If our actual heart is filled with saturated fats it could kill us. The same is true when we hoard sins in our spiritual hearts. It prevents the life of Christ from flowing through us and can cause spiritual death and separation from our God. We must become dead to everything that prevents us from fellowshipping with God freely. Without truly connecting with Him, transformation cannot be a reality.

As I previously illustrated, the goal of removing the veil is to give us free access to our Father in Heaven. Mark 5:24-34 gives us an awesome example of a woman who turned her heart and her veil was removed. This woman suffered from a bleeding disorder for 12 years, she visited many doctors but to no avail. She always got the same prognosis—they could offer no help! In those days a bleeding woman was considered to be unclean and it was common practice for that woman to be isolated. In this woman’s case her disorder can be seen as her veil and based on the law of society (at that time) she should not have been in the crowd to have access to Jesus. She thought if she could touch the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed. As a result, she pushed passed the barriers of tradition to make that connection with Jesus by turning her heart. When she made this connection with the Lord she was healed, her life changed immediately. Similarly today, God is waiting for us to touch His heart, His Spirit with our spirit, a divine connection. It is only when we do this that we are able to be transformed from one degree of glory to another.

Benefits of removal of the veil

Hebrews12:1 encourages us “to throw off all that entangles”.

We need to remove the veil, so that:

• we can draw close to the Lord (James 4:8a)

• our prayers are heard (Isaiah 59:2)

• we prevent hardness of heart (Matthew 13:15)

• we prevent satan from having a foothold in our lives (Ephesians 4:26-27)

• we can see and hear from God clearly (Matthew 13:14)

Step up and Step in by:

i) Spending quality time with God. Write a letter to Him about all that has stopped you from connecting your heart to His by releasing them into His capable hands. Renew your mind whenever you remember what you have surrendered. Simply thank the Lord because He is working it out for your good.

ii) Confessing that every veil be lifted off of you. His revelations and His favour will flow from His throne upon you in Jesus’ Name.

CHAPTER 6

TRUE BROKENNESS

Brokenness is facing the reality of your own powerlessness without God’s divine power

A commitment to do what is right even when you do not feel like it, is proof of transformation and growth. When we are truly broken about sin in our lives we react to any hint of it, like Joseph who ran away from the seductress so as to protect himself. Or like David, when we are faced with our sins we lose all excuses. Only when we commit our flesh by way of death to the cross does it give the Holy Spirit access to take full charge; to produce in us what the Bible describes as a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17b).

To be broken is to come to the end of our natural life/ natural self (life acclaimed by our own strength) and natural ability. Seeing ourselves as we are without Christ will bring us to our knees with a desperation and hunger for more of Him. When we come to the end of ourselves it enables us to surrender to God. You see, when we sin it is a clear reflection of our inability to do right without a true brokenness of how sin caused the death of Jesus. With this revelation we can then conform to His death by dying to our desires and wills.

In the gospels we see Peter and Judas’ reaction when one denied and the other betrayed Jesus. Although they were both sorrowful about their behaviour, one brought transformation while the other brought death. Peter denied Jesus three times. Judas betrayed Jesus for forty shekels. They both did wrong in the eyes of God. However, they both responded to their sin differently. Judas unfortunately was so driven by shame and self pity that he killed himself. Peter, on the other hand wept bitterly, because he was completely ashamed of his actions. His tears were of disappointment, disbelief and the fulfilment of the prophecy he so vehemently denied was possible. His actions brought him to a place of brokenness and a deep need for God. Judas, on the other hand, ended his life because he chose the cowards way out. He did not want to face up to the consequences of what he had done and he probably believed that there was no forgiveness for what he had done. He couldn’t face the disciples, his close friends, Jesus; he knew Jesus was the Son of God, he knew that the religious leaders had used him and he was now left with no one to turn to.

2 Corinthians 7:10-11 outlines two types of sorrow. It reads:—

“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong!”

Peter demonstrated a godly sorrow which brought about his repentance while Judas showed worldly sorrow that brought about his death. Godly sorrow is a reflection of real repentance that grieves our souls to such an extent that we don’t ever want to repeat that act again. Repentance is a change of mind, or a change of direction. Too often, as Christians we seem to be battling with the same sin again and again. This is not because God is powerless! Quite the contrary! It is because there is no true brokenness in us about the sin; we lack godly sorrow. The differences between godly and worldly sorrow are so distinct that there can be no confusion.

Godly sorrow

Worldly sorrow

Vindication of yourselves

Self pity

Righteous anger

Death

Fear of God

Make excuses for sin

Resolution

Blame others

Zeal to make it right

Regret

Change

No change

Transformation occurs in us when we are truly broken about the consequences of our sin. For us to be broken we must see our sin the way God sees it. The cross is not only the foundation of our faith. It is also a reminder of the seriousness of the sins that Jesus had to die for in order to save us from their consequences. As a young Christian I found myself in a web of lies, sexual impurity and living a life as a “schizophrenic Christian”—one way at church another way behind closed doors. One day when I was at church, and was about to take the communion; I was confronted by the Holy Spirit about the double life that I was living. I remember how afraid I was, but resolute to tell all and to begin the journey of repentance. I had lied for such a long time about my sin that I had detached myself from how God saw my sin. It took me sometime before I really had a revelation of what Jesus did for me on the cross.

One night I was so desperate for change I told myself that I would not go to bed until I understood the cross and my sin before God. My prayer was answered at 5:00 am that morning when I finally understood how much God loved me, and had made provision for me should I fall short. The ultimate aim was for me to be holy. I wept and wept uncontrollably because I saw that Peter denied Jesus because he was working and relying on his own will and power. I failed because I was independent. I saw my need for God like never before.

In Psalm 51: 4 David says, “against thee and thee only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight”. As I regularly prayed through this psalm I began to understand how David was able to write it, because he too had come to a place of true brokenness. I recognised that I sinned against God and, therefore, needed His forgiveness. I was so penitent about my sin that I asked God to grant me a willing spirit to sustain me or enable me because I knew I could not do it on my own or in my own strength. I was so sorrowful about my actions that I never wanted to make the same mistakes again.

The other important thing is, when we are broken we want to rectify the wrong. First we make it right with God but then it is equally important to be right with man. If we have caused someone else to sin or to stumble or caused pain we must endeavour to make it right. We often forget that in order to make amends to the person we have wronged, we must confess our sin. The Bible says in James 5:16 “confess your sins to one another so you can be healed”. When we go back and apologise for any pain we have caused, it gives us the chance to reconcile and to restore health to the relationship. To be restored to both God and man helps to prevent habitual sin through accountability.

Step up and step in by:—

i) Studying the cross until you have a real revelation of its relevance and need in your life.

ii) Becoming accountable to someone, especially if you know that you are hiding sin and or consistently battling with the same sin.

iii) Pray through a psalm relevant to your circumstances. It will keep your heart soft and your eyes on the amazing God we serve.

ONENESS IN THE RESURRECTION

The resurrected life is the second step towards transformation. The resurrected life represents a real knowledge and revelation of who we are in Christ.

Romans 8 v 15-17 “The resurrection life you received from God is not timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us-an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with Him!” (Message)

This step towards transformation sets us apart as children of God, to walk in our God given inheritance. This life is a life of restoration, during this step God will restore all that was taken when we became spiritually dead through Adam. It will re-establish us in Christ.

CHAPTER 7

THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION

Resurrection life is a call to walk in what was

obtained by Christ!

One Easter Sunday, I was passionately giving praise and adoration to God through the song Celebrate, Jesus Celebrate. We got to the chorus when I bellowed “He is risen, He is risen, and He lives forevermore!” I heard the Lord whisper to my heart “Do you know how many of my children live like I am dead?” I was taken aback by what He said but certainly not shocked. I too remembered a time when I lived like Jesus was dead. That is, I was not walking in the blessings that were obtained through the resurrection. I was sick for 15 years but I did not believe in supernatural healing in the twenty first century. I genuinely thought that people were healed in times past because Jesus was on earth and could lay hands on the sick. I had completely missed the revelation that if He is raised, He is still on earth today through you and me. When I got this revelation I prayed for my healing and I was healed. It took me 15 years! How long will it take us to receive by faith that which was obtained and attained by Christ? You see the principle of the resurrection is living by faith. It is expecting the unexpected. It is living the supernatural in a natural world. It is stepping up and stepping into the life Christ prepared for you and I.

Benefits of the Resurrection

One of the first facts about the resurrection is that we can’t rise to a new life if we have not first died to the old one. How much of Jesus’ resurrection power we experience is dependent on how much of ourselves has experienced death. Death must occur first, then resurrection. Our death and resurrection is the principle of our salvation. Romans 6 says as we die with Christ we raise to a new life. Romans 7 says that our old man is dead. As seed fall to the ground and die; when the seed becomes a plant and grows out of the ground, the transformation from one form to another is new and living. In the same way, so is death and resurrection which brings us into a new life.

Romans 6: 4-5 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His resurrection.” The resurrection is not a futuristic state it is a process that we are presently going through. Therefore, it will not occur when we get to Heaven. It is the manifestation of the new life given to us by Jesus. Christ Himself is the resurrection (John 11:25). Therefore, to grow in Him is to be enriched with more of Christ. This grafting of us partaking in Christ death and resurrection has joined Christ to us as One.

Luke 24:26-45 describes three subsequent effects that occur when we move from death to resurrection.

1) The opening of spiritual eyes (verse 31)

2) The opening of the scriptures (verse 32)

3) The opening of understanding (verse 45)

The resurrection of Jesus can be described as where we enter into our full salvation. We receive all that comes with prosperity, manifestation of gifts, healing, deliverance, transformation, overcoming and redemption. In the resurrection all these accompaniments are available in Christ’s life.

Through the resurrection we gained son-ship. In John 15:15, Jesus referred to His disciples as His friends, in John 20:17, after the resurrection, Jesus referred to them as His brothers. It can therefore be construed that the resurrection has made a way for us to be adopted into God’s divine family. God the Father became our Father and God the Son became our brother and God the Holy Spirit became our most intimate friend. Essentially, His blood runs through our veins.

The resurrected life comes with a new power. Jesus is the only person claimed to be God that died for us so as to save us, but most importantly, He rose from the dead. Buddha, Allah, Confucius and the other acclaimed god’s didn’t. Jesus was raised from the dead with tremendous power. This resurrection power is the same power that the apostle Paul spoke of in Philippians 3:10 when he expressed his desire to know Christ in His death and the power of the resurrection. This power conquered death and sin, so we could be partakers of His Spirit and His Life. His life in us has given us the power to change, power to overcome, power to become all that God had envisioned for us.

Step up and Step in by:

Renewing your mind with all the benefits of the resurrection by confessing them and believing their manifestation in your life.

i) I have died with Christ and I have been raised to a new life.

ii) I am One with Christ for He is the resurrection living in me.

Iii) I have spiritual eyes, I see past the natural realm into the supernatural.

iv) I step into all my spiritual gifts

v) I am a son of God—I am not an orphan

vi) I intimately know Christ in His resurrected power and I will move in His power not my own.

CHAPTER 8

CHRIST IN US

A revelation of who you carry will determine your

conduct and the atmosphere you bring to a place.

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon men as a divine spirit of revelation to reveal mysteries of God or the power to do the work of God. He never dwelt in them. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit has been given to us as an indwelling Spirit, to renew the whole life. The Bible describes this oneness of Christ in us in John 15:5: “I am the vine and you are the branches.” The vine is clearly a part of the branch. That is the two are one. We are in Christ but He is also in us. Christ in us opens up a wealth of possibilities.

Oneness with Christ

Ephesians 1:6 says we are in the beloved.

Ephesians 2:6-7 says we are seated together

Ephesians 2:10 says we are His workmanship created in Christ.

Ephesians 1:7 says in Christ we have been redeemed through the blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to His grace.

Colossians 3:2 says we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 1:27 says Christ in us is the hope of glory.

It is imperative to see this pattern of oneness of being one with Christ. If we are not in Christ and Christ is not in us it is impossible for transformation to become a reality. Why did Jesus come to dwell in us? I believe it is because we do not have what it takes to be like Christ on our own. In Romans 3:23 “it says all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God”. Clearly, from this scripture sin has caused us to fall short of God’s glory so we need Christ to dwell in us in order to manifest the nature and character of God. This was made possible because of Jesus’ resurrection.

Draw on the power within

The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:6-7: “Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God, did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained. But stripped Himself (of all privileges and rightly dignity), so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.” (AMP) This scripture shows us that Jesus was able to demonstrate for us how to live, not because of any divine power He used. Luke 4:1 tells us that “Jesus, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in (by) the Holy Spirit.” (AMP) But you see He was controlled by the Holy Spirit that lived within and rested upon Him. Jesus knew where His power came from. Do we know where our power comes from? To gain a revelation of the implication of Christ living in us is to understand the power, ability, dominion, love, enablement that we carry. It has been said that “Christians are millionaires that never make withdrawals”, may we be so awakened by the truth of what we host that this revelation will remove all excuses and justification from our vernacular. We will only speak in terms of ‘I can’ because we know with Christ in us we are more than able.

The Lord is calling us to stop looking outside of ourselves for help because all we need is in us. That is essentially what the apostle John said in 1 John 4:4: “Greater is He in me than he that is in the world!” When we compare ourselves to others making us feel like second class citizens; we seek approval from others because we need their encouragement to step out; it is a sign that we do not understand what we carry. Depending on man, rather than on God’s power, is to have the water to quench a raging fire and choose not to use it. We need a transformative shift in our focus, which demonstrates our acknowledgment that all we need is within and we draw on Him.

Christ within brings new life

According to 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” The divine life of Christ to which we are partakers of, consumes our shortcomings. Just as antibiotics kill infections, the life of Christ terminates the negative things in us as we draw on His divine power which dwells in us. Like Jesus, we must tap into the power within by walking in oneness.

Christ in us occurs when we open the door to our hearts and let Him in, the seed of Christ is planted (1 Peter 1:23). As we mature spiritually our minds are renewed, and the seed of Christ grows and Christ is formed in us more and more (Galatians 4:19). This is a sign of us becoming one with Christ in His resurrection. This is essentially when the old nature dies and the new nature (Christ) comes forth. An apple tree for instance, needs the seeds of an apple to be transformed from seed form to plant and to eventually become a tree. The same is true of us.

We are now recreated by God in our spirits. Our spirits’ are now endowed with God’s nature and His riches (2 Peter 1:4), with God’s life (Colossians 3:4) and the awesome Holy Spirit to live in us and to lead us victoriously. The old spirit we had that became corrupted by satan has been recreated by God. In Colossians 3:9-10 we are encouraged to take off the old spirit and put on the new. This tells me that we could have given the Lord our lives but if we do not have the revelation that we have a new spirit then we could be living in the old spirit. This is why the apostle Paul writes so actively rather than passively to encourage us to put the new self on and take off the old. When we resurrect to a new life we were given a new Spirit; God within us!

Old Creation

New Creation

In cooperation with Satan

In harmony with God

Satan ruled spirit

God ruled spirit

In fellowship with satan

In fellowship with the Father

Could not approach God

Come to the throne boldly

Condemnation

No condemnation

Partaker of satan’s nature

Partaker of Divine Nature

When we were born again, although we gained a new spirit we still possessed the same soul (mind, will and emotions) and body that had been under the dominion of adversary. Therefore, our physical body must be conformed to Christ. Our mind must be renewed (Romans 12:1-2). Our body is the dwelling place of our spirit. We must bring our body, our five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch) into subjection; only then will our mind be renewed and we will be transformed. Transformation is the conformity of our soul (mind, will and emotions) to Christ.

The indwelling Spirit:

1. Forms in us a Holy character

2. Sanctifies our soul so we can live for the glory of God.

Intimately fellowship through the Word (JESUS)

Psalm 34: 8 tells us, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” as we read the Word we are able to fellowship with Christ in an intimate way. The Bible says, “Christ in you is the hope of glory.” He only becomes our hope of glory when He is within us. Then we will know He His good. For the goodness of Christ to nourish our soul we need to eat Him and drink of Him. The Lord is the Word, who became Spirit who has become our life. In the same way, the Word of God needs to become not mere knowledge but spirit that imparts life into our souls. One of the ways I practise ingesting the word is by praying the Word and by meditating contemplatively upon the Word until I gain fresh insights. I have found that by merely reading the Word I most times forget what I have read throughout the day. I have to go back to my notes to remind myself what I am focusing on. Whilst, when I pray the Word I feel energized to live out the Word as it permeates throughout my body acting as a fuel to strengthen and infuse me to manifest Jesus in those areas that I am weak. Jesus is the Word and to interact with the Word is to inquire of the Lord to wait for understanding and wisdom to apply specifically to your own life.

I love knowledge and am an avid reader. In most cases I read more than I pray. I have learnt experientially that reading alone is not enough for me to gain strength from God or to reflect Him. The Bible teaches us that knowledge puffs us up and kills. This is the same knowledge that Eve was hoping for by eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead, we need to eat the tree of life which is Christ; by praying the Word. Part of becoming an expression of God is to embrace the resurrected life by allowing Christ to be produced in us through prayer. The Bible encourages us to ‘let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly’ (Colossians 3:16) Christ ministers His riches to us through His Word. The Word dwells richly in us by teaching it; allowing it to correct us; worshipping with songs that are filled with the Word; meditating on it, as we toss it around until we gain revelation by confession.

Step up and Step in by :

i) If you know you have never opened the door of your heart for Jesus to come on the inside of you then turn to Chapter 16 and pray the prayer of salvation with all your heart and invite the Lord Jesus to come and dwell in you by His Spirit.

ii) Believing in the power that is on the inside of you and knowing that there is nothing that you cannot change (finances, weight, forgiveness, addiction). Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

iii) Finding a scripture on any of the areas you desire change and pray the Word, confess it, meditate on it until you gain revelation then Step in God’s reality by application.

CHAPTER 9

WALKING IN OBEDIENCE

Obedience is the key to unlocking the doors of

blessings in your life.

The resurrected life is possible as we walk in obedience to the Word and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Obedience to God is so crucial that a lot of our blessings are directly connected to it. According to Deuteronomy 28, obedience carries blessings while disobedience carries curses. Many do not experience half the blessings that God has for them because of disobedience.

Transformation occurs through obedience. God communicates with us in a plethora of ways. As we obey His promptings it increases our spiritual senses. Sometimes our lack of change and growth can be accredited to our lack of obedience. I heard Joyce Meyer once say that; “if you have stopped hearing the voice of the Lord ask yourself what was the last thing He said to you?” Rest assured you probably did not obey what He told you. John 10:27 that says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” This scripture describes children of God (sheep) as hearers and doers. We then need to hear God’s voice by listening to our hearts and obey.

One of the world’s mottos is “seeing is believing”. The Bible however teaches and demonstrates the opposite. God’s way is to believe first and then you will see it. By way of illustrating the same principle of obedience, when you believe the Word, through that belief the manifestation comes. I believed God when He said in Isaiah 53:5 “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” This scripture says that my healing has been obtained by the wounds that Jesus suffered and as a child of the Most High I need to claim that healing.

I was sick for 15 years with an illness that was eventually diagnosed as fibromyalgia. After going to numerous doctors I progressively became worse. I left the doctor’s surgery feeling discouraged and depressed at times and to my shame even entertained suicidal thoughts. The truth is I felt like a prisoner in my own body. I was young, full of life on the inside, but completely trapped in my physical body because everything I did caused excruciating pain.

Years later after my diagnosis, I decided to go and see a new doctor because I had some questions about my treatment. The doctor I saw was adamant there was no such illness as fibromyalgia and that the pain I was feeling was completely in my mind. I was furious. I left his office without saying a word; I refused to defend the illness I had had ENOUGH! I walked home that day crying.

As I entered my home, I cried out to God for the first time telling Him that I no longer wanted this illness and that He was to take it away. To my amazement, I heard myself say that I would never say with my mouth that I have fibromyalgia. As I said this my faith jolted to another level. That day, I received in my heart faith that I was healed and I confessed it. For months after, the pain still persisted but I did not change my confession. I would say to my husband I am feeling a pain like when I had fibromyalgia.

Over a period of six months the pain kept decreasing and after a year the pain was completely gone. At the time I did not know 1 Peter 2:24 which says, “By His stripes we were healed.” Suffice to say by my confession I was applying the principle of this scripture. Since then I have been determined not to tolerate a headache. I know that God is truth and the devil is a liar so I expect God’s Word to come to pass. This testimony highlights the power of the resurrection. The resurrection brings newness of life and we must no longer accept the old way of living. Every time we hear of someone who was on drugs, then they came to know Jesus and they were no longer bound by drugs but free to live out Christ, someone who habitually stole but no longer steals but now works and believes God to provide for them; or someone who physically and emotionally abused their wife or husband but no longer does it, but now loves his wife or her husband tenderly. These are evidences of the power of the resurrection.

Do not miss God

The Jews in the New Testament knew the scriptures and were committed to reading them but missed the revelation that Jesus was the fulfilment of the scriptures. We can miss God today in the same way, if we are expecting Him to speak to us or reveal Himself in a particular way and it doesn’t happen the way we presumed. In 2 Kings 5:1-14 we see a superb example of this. In verse one the Bible recalls that Naaman was a great man and he was highly respected. He was a valiant warrior but he was a leper. Due to his position and standing in the community, Naaman was treated as a VIP (very important person). In his own mind, he had earned and deserved such treatment and, as such, he became accustomed to being honoured by people. Naaman was believing God to be cleansed of leprosy when he heard of a man of God called Elisha who could help him. He arrived at Elisha’s house and stood in the doorway. At this point he was full of expectation, he would have imagined that his healing would include a public spectacle, possibly some type of ceremony. If it happened in this way, it would be befitting for someone of his standing! Elisha, oblivious to Naaman’s expectations did as God led Him to do. Elisha sent a messenger to give the great and respected man a message to go and wash in the Jordan seven times and he prophesied that if he did this his flesh would be restored.

Naaman was furious that he was treated with so little honour and was most offended. After all, Elisha’s instructions did not comply with his expectations. He thought that first Elisha himself would come out to him; stand and call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand over his body and he would be cured. He also thought Elisha would then send him to wash in the Ababah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus because they were better than all the waters of Israel. Naaman’s expectations were not met. He was about to leave when his wise servant cautioned him that; “had the prophet told you to do something great would you not have done it? How much more when he says to you, wash, and be clean?” Only then did Naaman obey and he was completely healed. You see, he received his healing because he obeyed. Naaman almost missed his healing and restoration and this revelation of God as His healer.

True obedience comes when we humbly do as we are told. We need to resist every temptation to reason away the voice of God. God is eagerly waiting for us to attune our ear to His voice. Luke 6:46-48 tells us that we follow Jesus by listening to His Word in our heart, hearing Him, and obeying Him.

Step up and Step in by:

i) Waiting to hear God as He speaks to your heart. Confess John 10:27 until it becomes a reality in your life.

ii) Believing God at His Word and expecting His Word to be a reality in your life.

iii) Obeying at once without reasoning. Ask the Lord to test you in this.

CHAPTER 10

BE TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE

To embrace who you are—is to become

one with yourself.

The Bible warns us that “as a man thinks in his heart so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

The Lord explained this scripture to me like this:—I can only become what I believe about myself. If we believe that we are poor, then we will always manifest poverty in our lives. If we do not know who we are then it is only possible to manifest a false identity.

To know who we are, we must endeavour to seek with all our hearts the Author and Perfecter of our lives. If you wanted to make a bottle of Pepsi surely you would go to the manufacturers of Pepsi for help rather than Coca-Cola makers. In the same way, God created us and only He can tell us who we truly are!

The more we pursue Him and know Him intimately, the more we will know who we are. We see an example of this and an outline of another divine blueprint in Matthew 16:15-20. Jesus asked His disciples “who do they say that I am?” Simon Peter spoke with divine knowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. He had gained a revelation about Christ. This revelation led Jesus to change his name from Simon Barjona to Peter, which means rock. Peter received a new identity because of his revelation of who Jesus is. In verse 19 Jesus told Peter He would give him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven and he would be able to bind and loosened on earth and it shall be bound and loosen in Heaven. As a result of his revelation, not only had Peter’s identity changed, but he was now given authority and dominion to do something he was not able to do before. In addition, Jesus warned them not to tell anyone who He was. As I inquired of the Lord why this was so, I realized that when we are being true to who we are, we become a reflection of Christ and people will see Christ demonstrated in us.

Four principles are highlighted in Matthew 16:15-20 to help us to be true to who we are.

1. A revelation of who God is

2. A change in our identity

3. Walk in our dominion and authority

4. Reflection of Christ

As we follow this divine blueprint it is important to note that these steps are in chronological order. I can’t be an expression of the love of Christ before I have a revelation of His love for me. I will not be able to adequately identify the ways in which I need to grow in love if I am not fixing my eyes on the true template of love as I do then I am able to walk in the authority that love has. You see, it must be activated chronologically.

Another point which I believe is crucial for us to be true to who we are. Jesus pointed out to Peter that his revelation about who He is was not from earth, but from Heaven. In this revelation I believe Jesus was highlighting that as His children we should think from Heaven to Earth. Colossians 3:1-2 puts it this way: “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things which are on the earth.” (NASB) You see part of being transformed into the likeness of Christ is to have a heavenly mindset rather than an earthly one. A heavenly mindset gives the freedom and perspective of God while an earthly mindset has the limitation of man. When we have a heavenly mindset, we are being true to who we are.

In Matthew 16: 21-23 Peter, who was previously commended for his heavenly mindset (Heaven to Earth), was later rebuked by Jesus for having an earthly mindset (Earth to Heaven). Jesus prophesied to them about His suffering and that He would be killed and raised on the third day. I believe Peter; petrified by the thought of losing His Lord rebuked Jesus saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Jesus rebuked Peter and referred to him as satan. Jesus said, “For you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” This is a clear description of us having an earthly mindset rather than a heavenly one.

Earthly mindset

Heavenly mindset

Man’s pleasing, approval and interest

Mind is set on God’s interest—pleasing Him

Toiling for everything you need and want

Walk in the spirit

Condemnation, guilt, shame

Enters God’s rest

Beg or borrow rather than believes the promises of God

Walks in power and authority 1 Cor 3:16

For true transformation to occur it needs to be clear in our minds that as children of God we must have a heavenly mindset. As we are transformed in the way we perceive ourselves then we will begin to reflect the royalty we were created to be. This is true in the undeniable transformation in the disciples after Jesus’ death. We saw a group of fearful, proud men with selfish tendencies, who were more concerned about position and recognition than the things of God. They argued amongst themselves about who would be the greatest. Interestingly, after the resurrection the disciples were no longer concerned with position, but were now driven to work as one man, to pray in one accord for the promises of God to come to pass. Throughout the book of Acts the disciples were amazingly transformed from ordinary men to extraordinary men of God who were focused on the Father’s mission. Their only goal was to honour the Lord Jesus, to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and ultimately to conform to the very image of Christ. They no longer lived for themselves (Galatians 2:20). Not I, but Christ, was a concept they embraced. This is achievable for all of us.

I remember when I embraced this concept; it was during an encounter weekend with my church. The Lord had been doing a work in the area of surrender and as I encountered God that weekend, I was determined to live only for His purposes, not my own. I dedicated my life as a living sacrifice and purposed in my heart to fulfil His desires, dreams and purposes in my life. I prayed and asked the Lord during the week to make clear what He wanted me to do for Him. On two occasions I heard the Lord say ‘mouthpiece’. I heard about a prophet who would be visiting our church. I asked the Lord to tell him what He wanted of me. During the service, the prophet called me out by name and declared that I was also a prophet and that God would show me things in my church that I would tell my Pastor. What the Prophet did not know was that the Lord had already begun to do this. I did not know what God’s calling on my life was and, in turn, had no clue of my identity! I was sharing these dreams and visions with my Pastor’s but I did not know I was moving in the prophetic.

It was so humbling to hear those words! By God doing this I felt directed and honoured by my Father to step up into who He created me to be. God confirmed His Word on 3 occasions in one week and has not stopped since. From that night onwards I have never been the same again. My identity changed, I was transformed into the woman I was created to be in the first place. I determined to speak as God gave me utterance and sought to consistently lay down my life as a living sacrifice in surrender for God to use me as His instrument. I have never walked in such boldness, with a determination to hear the heart of God, walk in His mindset and focus to fulfil my God-given call.

In my case the Lord used a prophet. Sometimes all it takes is a life changing prophetic word to grant us the grace to come into all that God has for us. For someone else it could be someone coming alongside and pointing out the treasure that lies within nurturing those goals and dreams. We are all born for greatness, we are extraordinary and supernatural beings. God has great plans for us. It is time to believe it and be true to who we are.

Who Am I in Christ?

I am a King and priest (Proverbs 25:2; Hebrews 8:3)

I am loved (John 17:23)

I am chosen, adopted, handpicked by God (Ephesians 1:5)

I am justified (Galatians 3: 11b)

I am redeemed by the blood of Christ (Titus 2:14)

I am a joint heir with Christ (Ephesians 3:6)

I am the home of God (Colossians 3:2)

I am delivered from sin and all its effects (Galatians 1:4)

I am a saint not a sinner (Ephesians 1v1)

I am a friend of God (John 15v15)

I am the righteousness of God (Ephesians 4:24)

I belong to God. (1corinthians 6:20)

I am adopted as God’s child (Ephesians 1v5)

I am a recipient of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:17)

I am one with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

I am seated with Christ in Heaven (Ephesians 2:6)

I am firmly rooted in Christ and I am being built up in Him (Colossians 2:7)

I am free to approach God with boldness and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)

I am free to live out Christ (Colossians 3:4)

Step up and Step in by:—

i) Asking the Holy Spirit to show you any areas in your life where you have failed to see yourself the way He sees you. Repent before Him by embracing the real you.

ii) Confessing daily the list above of who you are in Christ until you have begun to see it in your reality.

iii) Asking the Lord to open your eyes to see people the way He sees them, by His grace speak life and encourage them to be all they can be for His glory.

ONENESS IN ASCENSION

Becoming one with Christ in His ascension is the third step to transformation. The Lord extends an open invitation to us to live the ascended life. We see this in Revelation 4:1, “. . . a door open in Heaven. The trumpet-voice, the first voice in my vision, called out. ‘Ascend and enter. I’ll show you what happens next’.” (Message) The ascended life gives us oversight and foresight view of God’s world and calls us to an elevated standard of living that is supernatural. This life empowers us to live above our circumstances and the world’s standards without using natural means.

CHAPTER 11

PRINCIPLE OF ASCENSION

Ascension calls us to rise above natural senses

and embrace the supernatural

The word “ascend” comes from the Greek word anabaino which means to “walk up” or live a life from “above”. The perspective of the ascended life is one of oversight. When you are travelling in an aeroplane the view that you have is very different from those who are on the ground. The view from above gives a clear picture of where things are and their relation to each other. This view can give us new insights into problems like a renewed foresight into what could potentially happen in the future. The Lord invites us to ascend into this new realm so that we can download and minister the love of Christ on earth. To gain this new perspective is to become a true reflection of Jesus in every way. The principle that underpins this life is James 3:17 which reads “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). (It is willing to yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering and insincerity).” The wisdom that comes from above uplifts us to God’s level which produces in us the reality of God in our lives. The revelation of this new perspective equips us to live above life’s circumstances, because every problem has a heavenly solution through the wisdom from above.

There is a new authority that comes with the ascended life. The revelation that we have ascended with Christ and that we are seated in heavenly realms not only changes our perspective but our ability to reign. A sniper goes above his victims not only because he gets a better view but also it puts him in a better position to take out the victim. So it is with us as we are one with Christ seated above in the Heavens we can see that everything is under our feet. By way of position, every circumstance, every problem is under our feet. Therefore, we should not fear but be confident in God that we have dominion and authority to rule. The Bible puts it this way, when referring to Jesus “. . . seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named . . .” According to this scripture as we become one with Christ in His ascension we have been given this same authority.

Blessings of the ascension

1. After the ascension in Acts 2 the Spirit of power was poured upon the disciples and when the Spirit of God comes and lives in us, it brings all that God is in man which enables us to be a true reflection of Christ.

2. The ascension calls us to put off being led by physical appearances but by the Spirit. In Acts 1:9-11 as Jesus ascended into the heavens to take His rightful place with His Father, we too must take our rightful place by looking in our spirit man where Christ dwells to live the ascended life.

3. The ascension represents a new phase of Jesus’ ministry through the Holy Spirit’s dominion. The ascension is proof of the deity and Jesus’ claims and thus, the guarantee of all His promises.

4. The ascension made Jesus our intercessor and our advocate (Romans 8:34). He vouches for us, He stands up for us in all life’s battles and backs us up.

5. The Bible records two ascensions of Jesus. The first ascension was a spiritual ascension (John 20:17) and the second was a physical ascension (Acts 1:9). Jesus’ first ascension was to show Himself first to the Father. Jesus did not want Mary to touch Him because He had not ascended. Later, when He appeared to the disciples He did not mind being touched because He had already ascended. Jesus teaches us the importance of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God so as to live a life.

6. According to Ephesians 4:8-10 gifts were given prophetic, evangelistic and teaching because of the ascension.

7. The ascension brought about the initiation of Jesus’ ministry in Heaven. The work of His ministry is to replicate Himself in man.

How do we apply the ascended life?

1. By being certain of our present and our future because we know who we are, where we are and what our destiny is.

2. By changing our perspective ensuring that we no longer view things from a worldly perspective but through the eyes of God. That is, to transcend above the world’s ideas and systems. No longer conforming to power struggle, petty competitions, material things (Romans 12:2).

3. By walking in confidence in what was already completed for us on the cross rather than what will happen. We do this by applying the authority given to us as we reinforce our new position of being above not beneath.

Step up and Step in by:

i) Writing down the vision you believe God has given you for your life and goals to accompany that vision. Write a plan that will ignite those goals to come into fruition. Keeping them in a place where you can always see them, as it says to in Habakkuk 2:2. (You could use a dream board or dream book).

ii) Praying about your vision whenever it comes to mind.

CHAPTER 12

REACTION THAT TRANSCENDS

Our reaction tells us what is brewing in our

hearts-to overlook our reaction is to live in denial!

You may be asking what our reaction has to do with transformation. How we react in negative circumstances reveal how much we have grown or changed. As years have gone by, things that would have once caused me to be offended do not affect me in the same way. This is not because I have become better at hiding my reactions but because I am beginning to deal with the issues of my heart more quickly and radically. I have seen the consequences of not dealing with the issues of my heart and how it can fester into reactions that are ungodly and can destroy relationships.

Identifying a wrong reaction

Many people will assess your Christianity based on your reaction. They may not have a relationship with Christ but they are able to discern what a right reaction looks like. How we react as Christians sometimes tells us how we are doing spiritually. I am reminded of an occasion when my son was about 8 years old. As I was ranting about something he had done (the fact that I can’t remember what it was I am ashamed to say it must have been trivial), he looked at me with all the love he had in his heart and spluttered with much pity and concern, “Mummy you really need anger management”. He may have meant it as a joke but I took his words to heart. I was gobsmacked to say the least. I was not sure what to say. I could respond two ways; I could speak sternly to him and caution him on whether what he said was respectful; or, I could stop, pray and see if there was any truth in his statement. I decided to choose the latter.

Later, as I prayed, I asked the Lord to tell me what my problem was. Why did I react so impatiently and became angry so quickly? I asked if all is well why am I like this? As I waited that day in prayer for the Lord to answer I heard the Lord say “I am slow to anger and abounding in love.” Suddenly, I realized that God was slow to anger because He was so filled with love; one tempered the other. Instantly I saw my problem; I was full of pent up anger that had been stifling God’s love. You see wrong reactions are usually rooted in something that has not been dealt with or resolved.

Levels of reacting

I believe there are three levels of reacting.

1) We can react with negative emotions (by snapping, being impatient or worrying).

2) We can react seemingly with patience but we are suppressing our anger by biting our tongues.

3) We can turn our hearts to the Lord through prayer or worship and lean on Him to rise above our circumstances by reacting as Christ would.

I have noticed that sometimes when we are in a challenging situation we actually try each level until we rise above the circumstance. I was in a restaurant with my firstborn (who was 9 at the time) when he turned to me and demanded; “Mummy do you really expect me to clean the inside of your car for five pounds?” I looked at him dismayed by his question. Trying not to react emotionally, I replied thoughtfully by giving him a scenario. If you found a job you wanted and the boss offered you five pounds, you could accept the offer or you could try to negotiate. If at the end of negotiations the boss insists that five pounds is all he could offer you, then it is up to you to accept or refuse the offer. Since we tried the negotiations on many other occasions I explained decisively that we had already discussed this and five pounds is what I am willing to pay. I told him he needed to make a decision.

To my surprise his response was I will not work for five pounds. He continued to mumble about it. As he mumbled I was being wound up like a clock waiting to alarm. I began to feel resentful towards him, knowing full well that this is the same child that leaves his rubbish in my car. I then realised I could lose my peace and react emotionally by probably telling him how ungrateful he was being. Instead, I just cried out to the Lord and asked Him to help me. I heard myself say “Lord forgive him for he is speaking out of ignorance.” As I continued to pray for him my heart was filled with love for him. My anger and resentment dissipated. My son was hoping for a negative reaction. He realised that I was not moved by his ranting so he changed the subject and we spoke amicably about many other things. To God be the glory, on this day I transcended.

By transcending I kept my peace, I preserved the Presence of God I was carrying and I was able to walk in love towards my child. I gave him a choice; he chose and was five pounds richer. Reacting emotionally and trying not to speak rashly are ways of reacting but none of these reactions would have left me with the peace that transcends.

This is exactly why hardships or adversity can be stepping stones to live a life of ascendency. The more pressed, persecuted and frustrated we are the higher we should aim to climb. I hate when I react in frustration or impatience because I know it is not a Christ-like response. The more I am pressed by these negative reactions the more desperate I become for God to change me. It makes me realise the limitation of my humanity and my insatiable longing to manifest the divine nature of Christ. We are seated in heavenly places far above all the works of the devil. We must learn how to manoeuvre the pressures of life without reacting rashly. Instead, we must rest in the knowledge that our only solution for a Godly reaction is to turn to the Lord and transcend! To react like mere men is fleshly and not of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:4).

What is God’s expectation about our reactions?

In Matthew 5: verses 41-45, the Lord teaches us what His expectations are when we react.

Verse 41 “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”

Clearly the Lord is saying in your response to God and man never give what is required or because you feel compelled, but go the extra mile. We should give freely, give abundantly and sacrificially.

Verse 42 “Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow at interest from you.”

We should continue to do good even when we do not see the rewards.

Verse 44 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Proverbs 25:21and 22.

To pray for your enemies may be hard initially but when you get into it, it is most liberating and brings you tremendous healing. Indeed God’s ways are not our ways!

Verse 48 “You must therefore be perfect growing in complete maturity of godliness in mind and character having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

To show we are children of our Father in heaven we should love those who love us and those that don’t. God calls us to raise our standards to His and go the extra mile in our reactions. These are all examples of reacting God’s way which illustrates true transformation.

Step up and Step in by:

i) Spending time with Christ to be filled with His power to enable you to react in Godly ways.

ii) Being slow to speak and quick to listen. Do and say nothing until the Lord gives you utterance and directs you. Ask the Lord to show what He is doing and to tell you how you can partner with Him (John 5:19).

iii) Emptying yourself through journaling and seeking godly solutions for any unresolved issues.

CHAPTER 13

WAITING ON THE LORD

Waiting is an act that tells God your desire for His agenda not your own!

Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Why is it important to learn how to wait, when we are talking about transformation? I believe that waiting is a very important part of the process of changing. Transformation is a process. Therefore, knowing how to wait on the Lord is fundamental, to prevent frustration, apathy and ultimately giving up. Most times when we do not understand the secret of waiting; we can do a lot of things in our own might and when we do not see the results we become despondent. We need to know without a doubt that God has our best interests at heart.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has in store for those that love Him.”

Jeremiah 29: 11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you to give you hope and a future.”

God has a plan, it is a good plan, a plan that will prosper and give you a hope and a future. It is such an awesome plan that no eye has seen and no ear has heard His plans.

Isaiah 40:31 promises us that, “Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall walk and not faint.” Waiting helps us to soar or ascend like an eagle.

What does it mean to wait? The Hebrew word for wait means: to bind together (perhaps by twisting) to expect or tarry. From this definition we can clearly see that to wait is a verb, so it is something you actively do. It is not a passive state of mind. We do not wait by twiddling our thumbs. In Genesis 32: 24-32 we recall the story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob was so desperate to change from the deceiver that he had been all his life; that he had the tenacity to hold onto the angel and stubbornly not to let him go until He blessed Him. Jacob was prepared to take by force from the Lord, what he knew God could do in Him. By doing this he was active in pursuing this change rather than passive. As Jacob pressed into God, becoming single-minded in his focus, God not only showed Himself to Jacob as the God who transforms, but He supernaturally changed His brother Esau’s heart towards him; He was so transformed that when Jacob met Esau after much trepidation Esau hugged and kissed him. This example only validates that we cannot wait passively but we must actively wait and not give up for God to transform us.

Wait expectantly

Proverbs 23:18 (Amp) tell us that “your hope and expectation shall not be cut off”.

This scripture tells us that God is motivated by our expectation. Our expectation shows Him that we trust Him to perform according to His Word. To wait in expectancy, is to wait with a clear vision of what is to come. Expectancy causes us to ascend or draw close to our God, transcending our circumstances.

When we wait in expectation, God will not disappoint. I remember when I was so expectant for the dunamis power described in Acts. One night I studied the book of Acts, with the intention to gain revelation on the dramatic and immediate transformation that was described in the disciples of that time. I stopped in Acts two, when the Holy Spirit came in power, I was completely mesmerised by the whole event. In my enthusiasm to gain revelation and to be transformed like the disciples I went shopping for books that would aid me in my study. I soon found myself with five books.

One night I spoke to the Lord about this power and my need for it to be transformed. To my shock that night as I was sleeping I heard the floor boards creaking as if someone were walking around. I quickly got up and looked around with my natural eyes but saw nothing. I went back to sleep thinking nothing of it. I was sleeping again when I heard the same sound. This time I could not deny what I heard. I quickly whispered a prayer under my breath. I said to the Lord “if there is anything in this room that is not of You chase it out in Jesus name!”. As soon as I prayed this, I heard the sound like a violent wind and I felt a gust of wind on my body. Perplexed by this, I tried to turn to see if the window was open but to my amazement I could not move. My body was completely pinned by the wind to the bed. Immediately, my spiritual eyes opened and what seemed like a television screen came before my eyes (I could no longer see my bedroom which I was aware that I was in). I saw the upper body of a beautiful eagle perched on top of a building. Soon, the picture changed to the same eagle on top of another building looking at some workers below doing manual labour. The sound of the wind came to a halt. Then as suddenly as my spiritual eyes opened they closed. The significance of what I saw was later revealed to me. The Lord gave me this scripture John 3:8:

“The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

What I understood then was, being born again is about seeing and hearing heavenly things. I believe that night I had an angelic visitation; the eagle represented the eyes God has given me to see beyond the natural. When we wait expectantly, God can swiftly move the veil from the natural realm to the supernatural realm. I was expectant for something to happen in me and to me. I really had no idea that this was how it would manifest. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the point that when you are expectant God will always exalt Himself and meet you at your point of need.

Wait for supernatural power

According to Isaiah 40:31 when we wait on the Lord we gain supernatural strength, we walk but not faint nor become weary. One of the ways we can wait is by soaking in His presence through worship, contemplative prayer and by creating an atmosphere that will allow God to saturate us with His Spirit.

A great example of this was when the 120 disciples waited in the upper room. They waited in obedience to what Jesus had promised them. These 120 disciples waited expectantly and as they did, Acts 2:2-4 says;

“Suddenly there was a sound of a violent wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire which were distributed; and it sat on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, even as the Spirit gave to them to speak forth.”

They gained supernatural power and strength which transformed them; those who saw them were baffled with disbelief that they were not drunk. Some were amazed when they heard them speak in different languages and took note that these were unschooled men but reminded themselves that they had been with Jesus. So supernatural was this event that 3000 people gave their lives to Jesus in one sitting. The disciples waited for the promise of the Father the beloved Holy Spirit, the catalyst of transformation who would clothe them with power on High to do the supernatural. Today, we too must follow the disciples and wait or soak in the Presence of God for this same power, not just on Sundays or on special occasions, but every day we need to draw from Heaven a fresh supply of His power. As we gain more of it, we should expect supernatural change in ourselves and our nation, one person at a time.

Wait for Divine Connection

In our waiting we need to believe in God for a connection with Him that will bring our relationship with Him from glory to glory. Supernatural experiences happen today as in the Bible as we seek to draw close to Him do not be surprised if He chooses to give you a supernatural encounter. Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, there are surplus examples of supernatural events. Ezekiel, Isaiah and John all had throne room experiences, which shifted them from one dimension of glory to another. Paul, John, Isaiah and Ezekiel spoke about their visits to Heaven. Are you expecting the same?

I remember one night the Lord decided to give me an encounter that I will never forget. I had just shared my heart with the Lord. I had confided in Him that I felt lonely and sad about my marriage. I cried until I fell asleep. About 30 minutes later in a dream I was awoken by a bright light which illuminated my room. As I looked up towards the direction of the light, I noticed my room had no roof. I saw that the light was coming from the sky. As I stared at the beaming light two arms came out of the light on either side and extended down towards my bed and lifted me up to the sky where I was now suspended between heaven and earth. I was being cradled in the loving arms of our Lord. I then heard Him say “I love you, I love you” repeatedly and for every time he said it I responded “I love you”. As I did I received more and more of His love. This encounter changed my life. Months later, I noticed that I had stopped feeling sorry for myself and crying that nobody loved me. I was no longer a victim and I walked in more confidence not just outwardly but inwardly. I felt I had a secret that was so exciting, GOD LOVES ME!!! It was and still is one of those experiences I rarely shared (until now) because it was my secret and it was so special to me. You see, at the time I was not aware that supernatural experiences like this even occurred but as I drew near to the Lord by expressing my heart to Him, He honoured me by making me feel like I was to die for. I was never the same. An encounter with God can transform your image of God and ultimately how you view yourself. Wait on Him and watch Him do wonders before your eyes.

Step up and Step in by:

i) Spending some quality time with the Lord. Bring a notebook and write down your deepest longing or expectations of the Lord. Keep inquiring of the Lord, keep knocking on the door until your expectation has been met. Ask Him what you can do to partner with Him for this to be a reality. He is a faithful God.

ii) Soaking in His Presence by playing some worship music and wait for the Lord to speak and transfuse you with His Spirit.

CHAPTER 14

WALK IN THE SPIRIT

Walking in the spirit is to live God’s life

devoid of self

To walk in the spirit is to walk in love. There is a song that we used to sing at church called More Love, More Power. Often when we sing this song, we are asking for two separate things. I have realised that love and power are used interchangeably in scripture. In 1 John 4:8 the Bible says that God is love. To receive God is to receive love. We also see in the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost the Bible describes the experience as one of power. As a direct result, when the disciples received this power they were fearless. The Bible also says that there is no fear in love. This reiterates my point that when love or power was poured from on high the disciples lost all fear and gained supernatural power to do extraordinary things.

In the early church there was so much love poured out on the day of Pentecost that “they had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” (Acts 2: 44b-45) To walk in the spirit is the same as walking in love. Walking in love is not only doing loving things, but the overflow of that power on the inside that is working itself out as the loving heart of our Lord Himself being expressed through us. We must watch out for unduly harsh criticism, hasty opinions, unloving words, secret contempt of each other, secret condemnation. When I love my brother and sister intensely it gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to work. A lack of love grieves the spirit. To walk in power is to walk in love.

The Bible clearly says that to love is one of the defining characteristics of a disciple. We also know that as the apostles operated in this love even those who saw recognized the power that accompanied it; even Simon the sorcerer wanted this power. To walk in the Spirit is to continuously yield or surrender to the Holy Spirit by having honest talks with the Lord about how you are feeling and surrendering negative feelings that can put a wedge between you and God.

Walking in love

The Bible encourages us in Colossians 3:14 to “put on love” describing it as though we were putting on an item of clothing. As we get dressed in the morning we need to deliberately say, “Lord thank you for another day where I can put on love. Continue to remind me throughout the day when I have taken off love. Lord I choose to put on love: kindness, patience, selflessness etc.

In life it is inevitable that people will hurt you, both consciously and unconsciously. The one thing that you can control is your reaction to it. Avoid speaking in anger; it is likely that you will in turn hurt someone. Then choose to put on love, walk like Jesus did. Instead of becoming cold and withdrawn, be quick to express your hurt and pain to your Father in Heaven and ask for healing. Release the person to God, do not withhold anger but confess and relinquish it. Find a scripture that will help you to let go of the pain. I would also say if you have done this and you are still struggling wait until you have calmed down and speak to the person about what has hurt you so as not to compromise the relationship.

1 Corinthians 13 outlines clearly what love does and doesn’t do.

Love

Love does not

Destroys selfishness

Take advantage of the weak

Bears the burdens of others

Seek its own

Words seasoned with grace

Use vile language

Keeps no record of wrongs

Remember evil

Covers up other’s faults

Talk about the weaknesses and failures of others

Rejoices in good

Rejoice in evil

When we walk in the spirit we are walking in love even when faced with challenging circumstances. Pain is one of the surest ways to bring forth transformation. The hardships we face are sometimes the only way to awaken us from our spiritual slumber. A good example of a righteous person facing challenging times is Mary (the mother of Jesus). Having been chosen to carry and give birth to the Son of God, you would have expected her to live a life of comfort and luxury. I remember when I first saw the movie Nativity I was taken aback at the hardships Mary and Joseph faced before and after the birth of Christ. They had fled so many places for their safety and had no place for Jesus to be born. One would have thought that since they agreed to serve the Lord in this way, He would give them a smooth ride. Scripture is littered with examples of righteous people going through hardship and being persecuted. It is the same with us, as we agree to honour God with our lives we give the enemy a red flag. Ultimately we learn to love by going through pain. I am sure you would agree, that if your hand is on fire you would remove it quickly as soon as the pain becomes excruciating. For us to be transformed sometimes pain can help us to go deeper and higher with Christ. Pain can cause us to yield to the spirit more than ever before because you want out. If there is something worth changing in our lives, sometimes if it is not painful enough there is no motivation or desperation to activate the change necessary.

Faith is needed

To walk in the Spirit faith is needed. The question we need to ask is what is stopping our faith from working or what is stopping us from stepping into our inheritance. Imagine a child who has become an orphan. His parents have left him an inheritance, what are some of the things that would prevent Him from receiving his inheritance?

1. Lack of maturity

2. Poor stewardship

3. Someone else lays claim to the inheritance

4. No documents to provide proof of identity

In the same way, there can be things in our lives that can prevent us from being able to partake of our inheritance. Immaturity and disobedience are good examples of what can cause us to miss out. The ascended life is calling those things that are not, as though they were although they may not have manifested to know that you know you have it.

I had been praying to God for an increase in our finances for some time and although, there was a steady increase which I was really grateful for, it was still not sufficient. I continued to press on through prayer. As I did, I was led to listen to a message by Pat Francis. Whilst listening, I sensed in my spirit that I should declare war on the spirit of mammon; I discerned that it was hoarding our money. I prayed and as I did, I was threatened by the devil. Later in a dream, people were exclaiming that my son had died. I believe this dream was to discourage me from praying. Instead, I saw this as a sign that I was onto something. Again, the next night I prayed against this spirit of mammon. During the day whilst taking a nap I had another dream. This time I was being suffocated and oppressed by something that had covered my head. I tried to pray out loud in tongues but nothing came out. I then said in my heart “the blood of Jesus” and I declared it a few times. It would seem that for every time I repeated the “the blood of Jesus” I gained power to break free. I eventually caught the thing that tried to suffocate me and I beat it against a wall until it became as thin as a pillow case. When I woke up from the dream, I knew I had conquered in the spirit and any hold on our finances had been released.

The next day, I began to see the manifestation in the natural of what had been conquered in the spirit. My husband had a breakthrough in a business negotiation which increased our income. Later, my husband saw an increase in his business by 40 percent in a two week period and continuous growth since. The Lord began to open other financial doors for us to double our income. Clearly, the spirit of mammon, in our case, was stopping us from truly experiencing the God who is more than enough. “God is not a man that He should lie.” He has bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus all that we need for life and godliness. If we are not experiencing His truth as fact in our lives then something is stopping it! You see, our fight is really not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers (Ephesians 6: 12).

Step up and Step in by:

i) Asking the Holy Spirit what are the areas in your life that you are not experiencing that which has been attained for you. Ask: Where have I settled for less? How have I failed to walk in love? Seek God for His solution and apply them until it has been rectified.

ii) Inquiring of the Holy Spirit to lay someone on your heart that you could share God’s love with. Allow your eye to find those that everyone else overlooks by turning the despair of the despised into hope and joy.

CHAPTER 15

CARRIERS OF HIS PRESENCE

To be a good host self preservation

must be sacked!

The ascended life requires us to see ourselves as carriers of God’s Presence. It is His Presence that separates us from others on the earth. Moses knew this fact and hence his refusal to be escorted by an angel instead of the Presence of God. He boldly stated, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us?” Exodus 33:15-16. When we embrace the awesome privilege to host or carry His Presence, we will enjoy Christ in everything we do, impacting lives everywhere we go.

For us to enjoy Christ in this way, we must have a revelation of being carriers of God’s presence. The example the Lord gave me was Mary carrying the Son of God for nine months. In the same way we too are called to be carriers, not for nine months, but for the duration of our lives. When we give our lives to Christ, He is planted like a seed in our hearts where He grows and develops. The Lord gives us an open invitation in Romans 8:29-30 to be conformed to the likeness of His Son; to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13); while 2 Peter 1:4 talks about us being divine partakers of God’s nature. As we become more hungry for God’s nature to be engrafted in us the more we will experience more of our salvation (James 1:21). The Lord being formed in us and seeing ourselves as vessels with Jesus as our content, is a revelation we must activate by faith as we acknowledge His Presence.

Faith in the unseen creates depth of relationship

In order to host His Presence we must become led by the Word of God rather than what we see, hear or feel. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples on a number of occasions, but He did not walk with them in the flesh like He had before. This was with the goal of training the disciples not to depend on his physical Presence but to become more spiritually attuned to His Presence. Jesus Himself said to Thomas “. . . because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29). Jesus was saying that those who know Him through their physical senses, can never know Him in the same way as those who know Him by their spirit. Peter and Paul are examples of this.

20 years ago when I met my husband I was so mesmerized by his gentleness, humility and his elaborate organization skills of planning our memorable dates that I overlooked a lot of things that could be perceived as negative because I was swept up by his love. I am sure he would agree that he too was more bolded over by my beauty, my passion for God and that he had no idea he would later face in marriage stubbornness, or even disrespect. You see we were both captivated by what we could see in the natural. Surely you can see the point I am making; when we are led by our natural sight it is often superficial and prevents us from drawing on the spirit in order to cultivate the depth of relationship needed to sustain us.

What causes God’s Presence to flee?

There are places in scriptures that say the Presence of God, or the Spirit of the Lord departed. King Saul and King Uzziah are two notable examples. Their lives were so similar and show a pattern of sin that caused the Presence of God to flee from them. King Uzziah sought God and gained wealth but pride overtook him. He forgot where his success came from and he stopped pursuing the Lord, this led to his death as a leper (2 Chronicles 26).

Saul too was successful but became proud and began to disobey the instructions of the Lord. His disobedience cost him his relationship with God, his kingship, and ultimately he was tormented by an evil spirit rather than resting in the Presence of God. God brought these two kings success but they allowed pride and disobedience to drive away His presence. They did not value the privilege of hosting the Presence of God. Neither did they acknowledge that through their perusal of God, the Presence of the Lord had brought them success, authority and dominion.

I once had a supernatural experience where I visited Heaven, I remember that I was lying beside my husband in my bed in the natural yet, I could see myself somewhere else in a moving vision. I went to a heavenly place of splendour and beauty. The natural beauty of this place was picturesque. The vegetation was rich in colour, the stream glistened as if it was transparent and the shrubs cascaded around the garden. Most incredible of all was the undeniable Presence of God that infused and drenched the very atmosphere of this heavenly garden. This experience reiterated for me the saying that on earth we inhale oxygen but in Heaven we inhale and exhale the very Presence of God.

During that day and the rest of that week I was tangibly clothed with the Presence of God. Until… I became angry and lost my temper about something, which to my shame, I cannot recall. I remember how immediate it seemed that the manifest Presence of God had left me. I quickly repented and inquired of the Lord as to why His tangible Presence had departed. I perceived the Lord saying “I can’t hang around that!” referring to my anger. In James 1:20 it says “Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” In my example anger which caused me to lose my peace caused the Presence of God to flee.

Encountering His Presence

To encounter the Lord is very important. Doctrine without transformative experiences is dead religion. There are many great examples of people throughout the Bible who encountered the Presence of God. Abraham experienced the manifested presence so much so, that in His old age he told his servant; “For the lord, in whose presence I have walked, will send his angel with you and will make your mission successful.” (Genesis 24:40) This indicates that by walking in His presence, God equips us with what we need to be successful.

Also, we see that the prophet Samuel; “grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” 1 Samuel 3:19. We know that this was because Samuel grew up in the Presence of the Lord. This shows that when the Presence of the Lord is with us we will speak the very heart of God and the things that we confess shall come to pass.

David spent so much time in God’s Presence, that he was greatly influenced by God himself. The Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart. He knew how to fellowship with the Lord and how to draw from His wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

The Presence of the Lord brings a greater revelation of who God is and with each encounter we are forever changed. In recent years, I have asked to be clothed in His tangible presence. Have you heard the saying that silence is golden? One morning I sat at Jesus’ feet like Mary did and I listened and waited. I fixed my eyes on Jesus by focusing my thoughts on Him. I was determined to speak only when the Lord wanted me to. I soaked and waited as He revealed my sins; I repented and confessed when they were brought to mind by emptying myself unto Him. I then worshipped my way into His presence by shutting out all distractions. I was so overcome by His amazing Presence I was slain in the spirit a few times. I could feel from my toes that I was being filled all the way to my head. I positioned myself and I soaked. Initially, I was filled up on the inside which I believe would enable me to live His way and then I was clothed on the outside with the Spirit of God to draw all men to Him. I believe this is the same power that Peter himself carried when his shadow healed someone in Acts 5:15 as well as Paul’s handkerchief that was used for healing Acts 19:11-12. To be clothed in the Presence of the Lord is crucial for us to be all we can be in Christ.

A few days later, when I was still very conscious of the awesome Presence of God I was hosting I was reading about the seven aspects of the Spirit of God. As I read about the Spirit of Wisdom like a child telling her Dad what she wants for Christmas; I said, “I want this one”, referring to the Spirit of Wisdom. Later when I had a nap; I had the most life changing experience ever. In a dream my husband and I were in our room getting dressed. As we did he told me that someone was coming upstairs. I was adamant that whoever it was would not be able to enter our room, because we were getting dressed. I told him to tell the person this but as he looked out again, he seemed more fearful this time and backed away from the door anxiously telling me again that the person was coming. In a second, my bedroom door opened and a bright light shone through and there stood a lady dressed in a white or a silver suit, I was unsure of the colour because of the blinding light. Without thinking, I raised my hand and said, “I am sorry we are not dressed, could you…” My voice trailed off when it dawned on me that the woman who stood at my door was not a human. As I stared in dismay, I heard the voice of the Lord whispered to me, “this is the Spirit of Wisdom”. As He introduced me, the woman immediately smiled with eyes filled with love and compassion simultaneously, as if She also heard what was said to me. I was then slain in the spirit as if I were dead.

When I woke up that afternoon, my room was saturated with the Presence of God, it seemed that I could only breathe in Christ with every breath I took. I was enveloped in the awe and wonder of the present state of my room; I was speechless. I too had been permeated with His presence like never before. That evening when I had visitors they mentioned the Presence of God which radiated from me. Not long after that, I experienced a series of life changing events. God in His goodness opened the heavens over our finances. I began walking in supernatural wisdom and profound word of knowledge (ability to know people present or past situations without any prior knowledge). My love walk catapulted as the Lord filled me with His love; the Lord gave me supernatural wisdom. Being clothed in His presence drew people to me. You see, when the Presence of God abides, His blessings, favour, miracles, dreams, revelation and healing occurs. We see this in Jesus’ ministry as the Spirit rested on Him. This entire experience was life transforming because the events themselves are biblically based. Most amazingly I saw the Lord face to face. I know that the Spirit of Wisdom has always been referred to as a She (proverbs 1:20;9:1) and biblically whenever the Lord revealed Himself people were most times slain in the spirit (Revelation 1:1; Ezekiel 1:28, Daniel 10:5-10).

I believe this experience taught me some keys of how to pursue and encounter His Presence.

1. Pray for a holy hunger (Psalm 84)

2. Soak and wait on His presence by worshipping Him; the more you practice His presence through worship, the easier it is to enter the Holy of Holies (1Samuel 3;1-8; 2Chronicles 7:1)

3. Repentance and obedience is key for sanctification (Exodus 19:10-11)

4. Prayer and fasting aids sanctification (Psalm 69:10)

5. Tithes and offerings opens the heavens (Malachi 3:8-10)

6. Meditation on the Word (Joshua 1:7-8)

7. Serve others (Galatians 5:6)

How can we preserve the Presence of God?

We must preserve the gift of God’s tangible Presence. As long as you are a Child of God you carry His presence whether you can feel it or not. David describes it like this in Psalm 139:7-8 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your Presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths you are there.” Jesus sets a superb example of how to be a perfect host. Jesus knew of His oneness with the Father and fed His relationship with Him through consistently communicating and depending on the Father for direction and utterance. There are so many examples where Jesus would remove Himself from the crowds, so that He could spend time with His Father. We too must separate ourselves from others and pursue this unceasing communication with our Father. We can do this through interactive prayer. That is always seeing prayer as a dialogue and being open to hearing from God throughout the day. If we consider that God does not ask us to do anything He Himself does not do, then when He encourages us to pray unceasingly it implies that He communicates with us unceasingly. If prayer becomes as natural to us as breathing then we would be able to perceive his promptings and preserve His presence. Continual communication is crucial to be a good host.

When John the Baptist baptised Jesus, the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove and the Bible said it “remained’ (John1:31). Jesus was able to preserve the Spirit of God despite the demon possessed people He encountered and the myriad of people who were out of control. This highlights the incredible peace that Jesus operated in and how He reacted in love not fear. Clearly, to practise hosting the manifested Presence of God we must walk in love and peace will follow.

Another key we must pursue to preserve the Presence of God is found in Hebrews 12:14 where the scripture reads “Pursue peace with all men and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.” So what is sanctification? Sanctification is to be set apart for sacred use. We see a great example of the Israelites experiencing this fact in Exodus 19:1-25. God had told Moses to tell the people that if they obeyed Him, they would be His personal treasure and they would be a kingdom of priest, and a holy nation. When the people heard this they said they agreed and would obey Jehovah. God, hearing their confident response (which was based on their belief in their own abilities), knew they did not know Him or themselves because on their own they were incapable. He told Moses that He would come down and meet the people in three days but first they must sanctify themselves, which meant to purify themselves. After they sanctified themselves, only then were they able to come into His Presence. So many times we go to church or we actively try to spend time with God without acknowledging that His tangible presence will not come unless we first sanctify ourselves. According to John 17:17 the Word of God sanctifies us in the truth. When we obey the Word we are honouring God’s boundaries of remaining in His presence so as to maintain fellowship. As we walk in peace by following His lead we will preserve His tangible Presence.

Step up and Step in by:—

i) By identifying the things that steal your peace. (For me my home being untidy steals my peace; feeling rushed; being late; lack of foresight; lack of rest; not enough time soaking in His Presence.) Ask the Lord for wisdom to organize your life, so as to preserve the Presence of the Lord.

ii) Sanctifying yourself by obeying the Word of God. Make a commitment to turn from behaviour that offends God. Choose to be intentional with your words, giving thanks to God and lifting up others, will help you feel connected to God throughout the day.

iii) Developing the kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit that fosters interactive prayer begin a two way conversation where you talk and listen to God as He replies. Proverbs3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

iv) Asking the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in you and to rest on you like Jesus. Apply the KEYS of how to encounter the Presence of God.

CHAPTER 16

REFLECTING CHRIST

A mirror image of Christ is the end product of transformation

In Genesis 28:13 God referred to Himself as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, each representing a different revelation of Himself. God became the God of Jacob who later became known as Israel, the name from which God’s people were called Israelites. Jacob experienced God as the God of transformation (Genesis 33:20 and Exodus 5:1). Jacob became a reflection of the God who transforms because; he was determined for God to do a work in him. We too must have that same tenacity to be the mirrors that reflect the image of Christ as we are being changed.

In Genesis 28:11-19 I believe Jacob had a prophetic dream, where He saw a ladder that connected Heaven to Earth with angels ascending and descending. We see the fulfilment of this dream in John 1:51 when Jesus said; “. . . truly truly I say to you, You shall see Heaven opened and that angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”. Jesus Christ, in His humanity is that connection we have with Heaven on Earth. He is that ladder set up on earth reaching towards Heaven as we step up and believe and put into practice His teachings we will reflect His light to the world.

What we behold we become (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Jacob beheld the God that transforms and he was forever changed. Jesus is that ladder that we must choose to step upon by partaking of His death, resurrection and ascension and we too will become a reflection of His love, light, holiness and righteousness. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, the bible reminds us that under the new covenant we are unveiled unlike the children of Israel. As a result we will reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord and are thus being transformed into the same image as the Lord from glory to glory. To behold the glory of the Lord is to see the Lord ourselves; to reflect the glory of the Lord is to enable others to see Him through us. We are like mirrors beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord. This being the case, our face is unveiled that we may see well and reflect properly. We can only reflect what we possess. This happens when we have given our hearts freely to Him by allowing Him to become Lord of our lives.

From the beginning, God’s desire was to express Himself through man because the scripture says that “those whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” (Romans 8:29) For us to be an ambassador of Christ we must be one with Him in nature; that is we must receive God as a content by becoming earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7) so as to be an expression of Him as Jesus was the human embodiment of God, that is, God’s image being expressed in man. Today, the call of God on our lives is to cultivate so much of Jesus on the inside of us that reflecting Him is natural.

If you have been reading this book and Jesus is not the Lord of your life then I invite you to experience the ladder that connects Heaven to Earth by praying this prayer sincerely and begin to step up into God’s divine goal for you which is to dwell with you as one so You can be a true reflection of all He is.

Prayer

God in Heaven, I am a sinner I like a sheep have gone astray and have lived a life that is sinful. Lord, I believe that you are Christ that died for me and rose on the third day so that I could have a relationship with You. Help me this day to come to know You intimately and to become an expression of You. Like Jesus was an expression of God the Father, may I be an expression of Jesus, use me O God for your glory. In Jesus Name. Amen.

We are what we eat

For us to truly reflect Christ, who we associate with is important. Jesus puts it this way, “you will know them by their fruit” Matthew 7 : 16. To bear His image by consuming Him. From the beginning the bible highlights two trees in the Garden of Eden the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Today we are faced with the choice of eating from the tree of life which represents Christ life, or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which is the embodiment of death and all that satan stands for. Satan, the god of this age has blinded the thoughts and the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory might not shine into our hearts. Satan does this, by us repeatedly partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This tree represents anything we do in and of ourselves. In the same way that the tree of knowledge of good and evil caused Adam and Eve to spiritually die, this is the same way it promotes deadness of spirit in us when we live out our talents, our abilities, our culture, our mindsets. We must renew our minds.

As we partake of Christ life (Hebrews 3;14) by: feeding on His Word, living in His Presence, communing with Him all the time; capturing His heart in all things; by worshipping Him in all we do, so that others may see Christ in us and praise our Father in heaven. Today and every day we must choose to eat from the tree of life because only this can sustain and transform us in Christ. To be a true reflection we must be so saturated with Christ that His will becomes ours. What He thinks becomes our thoughts; what brings joy to His heart brings delight to our hearts and that which saddens Him breaks our hearts. May our eyes be opened to the real transformation that Jesus bought for us through the cross; a transformation that is reflected based on what we consume.

Like Christ had to pass through the process of crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to accomplish our full redemption (freedom). We too must partake of Him by dying to self, by resurrecting to the new life He obtained for us, and then we will naturally ascend or transcend above all things because it is no longer in our strength but Christ living through us. Within 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 the only instruction the apostle Paul has given us is to turn our hearts. We turn our hearts by being consumed with the only one who can satisfy. As we drink and eat Christ we treasure His presence and live out His Words in our lives. The proof is in the eating.

Steps to being transformed

1. Death to selfishness (turn your heart by looking to God to crucify all that hinders)

2. Resurrection (Removal of veil—embrace the new you)

3. Ascension (Transcend above the natural and embrace the supernatural)

These three steps are the divine blueprint that Jesus walked. As He sits in glory, we too, by following this pattern can be transformed from glory to glory. God has called us into partnership with the three in one. May we become like seeds that God can use to sow in the hearts of people so that others may become a reflection of His image as we are being changed under His mighty Hand. Let us therefore choose to step up on the ladder of Christ and step into the blessings of being one with Christ.

When we work in partnership with Christ as one, success is inevitable. Let us keep surrendering our lives and working in partnership and truly reflect the Lover of our soul Jesus. May we truly attain by His death and resurrection and truly ascend into this realm, where we are conquerors, over-comers and being victorious is common place; in Jesus Mighty Name.

Step up and Step in by:—

i) Ensuring that you become a regular partaker of Christ (tree of life) not only on Sundays or once a day but every chance you can fix your eyes on Him, His Word, in worship and praise. (2 Peter 1:4).

ii) Reflecting Christ by surrendering and partnering with Christ in all you do. Proverbs 3:5 “In all your ways acknowledge Him!”

iii) Applying Jesus’ template for life and ministry—to do only what Jesus would do, endeavour to do only what you see the Father doing (John 5:19).

Biography

Christine Nelson born in the 1970s, a worshipper at heart, song writer, poet, international speaker and author. An educator by profession, Christine has taught for more than a decade at the primary education level with favourable results. She is a spiritual leader in her church and is an excellent tutor of God’s word. She spends much of her time counselling others on life issues and their walk with God and is very passionate about helping people develop a deep, meaningful, and intimate relationship with God.

Christine Nelson has written several songs and poems of praise. She is the published author of the Book “Walking in Oneness: Taking the Father by the Hand.” Her passion was birthed having been raised by a single parent. This conjured feelings of abandonment and rejection of not knowing a father’s love. Her desperation for intimacy with a father prompted a deeper walk with the Eternal Father, which ultimately led to her discovery of a number of truths which she shared in her first book and has continued to share in this second book and other volumes to be published. God uses Christine in the prophetic and she carries a breaking anointing that seeks to establish people in their God given call. She has mentored several potential authors on the skills, aptitudes and other requirements to write and publish their own books.

Christine is a West Indian by birth and currently resides in London with her husband of 17 years Omowale and two sons Kobi (age 10) and Kristian (age 2).

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1END Notes Change into His likeness by Watchman Nee explains this issue on reaction powerfully.

2END NOTES Drawing Near:A life of intimacy with God John Bevere explains this issue beautifully.