The tree becomes one with the earth when its roots grow deep into the earth. A healthy tree is hard to up root, especially a mature tree.

“Be rooted and grounded in (God’s) love.” (Eph 3:17 NASB) “For love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7)

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

We become one with God as we are rooted in His love. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”  (John 10:30 NASB)

Of all things, what did Christ Jesus show us?

What then must we show others in our oneness with Him? Anything less is not Him. Our shortcoming becomes our downfall!

Are our roots deep enough? Are we…One with Him or might we easily be blown over?”

A great uprooting is about to occur. In some hearts it is already twisting their tree of faith, loosening the roots day by day, little by little. Love is our only defense and the only offensive God will bless. Where do we find new strength to withstand? We find it clearly in what Jesus taught us and demonstrated.

We must help others to become more rooted right now. We all must understand that this strengthening process is unavoidable for the eternity bound follower.

We become without spot or blemish, holy and blameless, (like Him) as a result of implementing the love commandments that He has personally shown each of us. Oh yes, He applied them from His heart to ours first! We then by His example hold love up against the fiery darts of daily conflicts.

It is to be understood that “fiery darts” actually make our love (toward offenders) GROW COLD!

In a recent word I had for a pastor. The question God suggested the Pastor ask his congregation was, “What are the Laws of the Spirit of Life, since they defeat the Laws of sin and death?”  I ask you the same thing. See Romans 8:1-2. You really need to know the answer. Hint: Romans 8:1 is not true for you, if Romans 8:2 has not and is not functioning in you.

Please … forward this post to a friend or a missionary in another country, or in this one for that matter.

From one heart to another we protect each other!

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

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Moses said, “But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14 (KJV)

Apostle Paul said, “But what does it say? ” THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart”– that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,” (Romans 10:8 (KJV, NASB) 

“As early as 150 years after the birth of Yeshua, Justin Martyr wrote to Trypho the Jew, telling him, “You can be a Jew or a Christian, but you can’t be both.” Page 198 A Rabbi looks at the Last Days, by Jonathan Bernis, Chosen books a division of Baker Publishing. 

I know many of you (not all) do not believe Jesus (the Jew) was the Messiah. Of all you may have read about Jesus, was He one to call for extermination? No just the opposite. In history, you have been exterminated by those filled with hatred. They claimed to be Christians but we now know it was a manipulating political scam to involve the citizens who did “call themselves” Christians. We know now, sheep are easily led. They chose a new shepherd, forsaking Christ. Never-the-less, “the final solution” became policy, to exterminate all Jews. This was not Christ. It is ironic that Jesus brought the true “Final Solution” that it would save us and exterminate the bad guys and it began by allowing Himself to be “exterminated.” In some ways a shadow of you in the future, like sheep, the Jewish people “allowed” themselves to be exterminated, UNDER DURESS of course.

You gave us King David, he gave us Mary (the mother of Jesus) Mary gave us Jesus, He dies a silent Lamb, for mankind, for the Jew first then the gentiles. WWII, much of the world identifies with Jesus but by an anti-Christ spirit Jewish people are sacrificed. The world rises up against their murderers, and God’s final prophetic piece is in place. The creation of the State of Israel, the ONE THING that had to happen for the world to eventually see the actual coming of the Messiah, the reason behind why her enemies reject her existence and right to exist. It was written. It will be. More was written.

Because some of you and your ancient relatives have rejected Christ, your knowledge of Him is limited. He is rejected out-right. This in the hearts of your people makes the misunderstanding of Him possible. Many Christians have honored you and compelled our nation to support Israel for biblical as well as strategic reasons. We are not stupid. We want God’s blessing. Only in recent years have anti-Christ policies been allowed in America. Democracy has its weak points. This saddens followers of Christ but it is a SIGN that we must admit to as we ready ourselves for a time worse than the holocaust. It has been foretold by the prophets as well as by Christ. It will happen. It is happening. That is what this book is about. It is a direct appeal to you our beloved fellow believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It is written, your Messiah will live (be enthroned) forever. What human can live forever? Forever is offered to us ONLY under the covering of a resurrected life. The temporary (living) status of Jesus of Nazareth was intended to instruct us toward our goal of resurrected life and to satisfy the Mosaic Law for sin, all types of sin.

Jesus, the Jew, showed us enduring love, the character of the kingdom of God, and the mercy hidden in the Law, that a substitute (for us) was acceptable and after that God would reciprocate based on what WE did, as WE were taught. Reconciliation by grace and forgiveness was, to Him, of paramount importance as you even recognize today in your feasts and honored days.

Jesus did not change the Law. He submitted to it in our place and focused us on the encompassing two points of the Law, simplifying our goal so we could actually achieve it. Love God and love your neighbor as your self. He quotes Moses.

As God’s ultimate goal, His resurrection empowered and gave total credibility to His message. Centuries later, my Jewish friends, Daniel the Prophet is opening his book. Will insight bring everlasting life? See chapter 12.

Have only we gentiles been allowed to find what only God can reveal? May it never be! Not to exalt ourselves but to exalt His grace, we have found a way to face a near future, a future God has ordained, so as to have an eternal future God has created for His own. It is distressing but there is truth behind the truth. The proof and credibility of our revelation in Christ, is love! Your Judeo-Christian brothers love you and your nation Israel. The anti-Christ movements hate Israel. Do you really want to identify with them? In fact, Israel, your time has come! You have had your season of wandering in the desert of belief versus unbelief. Definite and prophetic threats are at your doorstep. Your Jewish Messiah has asked “Will I find faith in the earth when I return.” (Luke 18:8 KJV) He (a Jew) was standing in your nation when He asked that. What is written? “To the Jews first….”

God has fought for you before and is willing to do so again. This time the Messiah you were looking for is returning to rescue His own; the Jews who seek and find Him ahead of time and the rest of us also. You can not allow the darkness to distract you from God’s exit strategy. Run to the call of the Shofar!  Eternal life and the millennium wait for those who stand firm and see the glory of God.

If the Messiah were called a “Heavenite” would you not then call yourselves “Heavenites?” and no longer Jews?  Would that eradicate your heritage? No. It would simply point to your association with the Messiah. Justin Martyr was wrong. You were meant to be both associated with the Messiah and your heritage.

The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing ourselves and others now is paramount.

This post, is a quote from chapter 8.1 of Exit Strategy We initiate the return of Christ.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

I mentioned in a previous post, an appeal I made to God because I needed encouragement.

He directed me to the story of Gideon in Judges 6 by asking me, “What was Gideon doing when the angel of the Lord came to him?”

Frankly I did not recall. I looked it up.

Judges 6:11 (KJV)
“And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.”

Gideon was trying to hide the harvested wheat from the Midianites. Threshing it in the wine press is another point.

I realized my encouragement and calling was to guard the harvested wheat by hiding it from the enemies of our souls. If you have asked Jesus to be Lord and Savior, you have become the wheat. Gideon knew the wheat could still be captured by the enemy. Jesus knows the same thing and declares how they will be captured.

“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³  “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-13 (NASB)

Our defense is in maintaining the enduring love Christ has sown into our hearts and watered by His Word of instruction and encouragement. He has shown us the Way. Will we walk in it?

There is no doubt as things unfold we will feel as though we are being threshed like wheat, tossed into the air of circumstances. It is so, that the chaff of our lives can be blown away, so that that which can be shaken from our hearts will be. It is so the goodness of our selves will remain; that which He has made possible, that which He is the author of, that which is Him as it has become firmly us.

The winepress speaks to where our ability to hide from all the attacks of the enemy originates. The Garden of Gethsemane was the winepress for Jesus. Everything about His existence as the Son of Man that could be shaken, was blown away in His words to Father God.

”O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39 (KJV)

Our spirit man and our soul is what must be protected. Our flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Submitting to God’s will is our defense and our hiding place. Jesus showed us the Way to His protection. Yes, His Way will shake us as we discipline ourselves to walk as He walked. As He points to it, we must let the wind of the Holy Spirit blow the chaff away. If we do not let go of those things, we will be blown away with the chaff. The chaff will act like a sail, carrying us off to the fire.

Our being shaken will also shake others!

As we exhibit the disciplines of the Lord others will see that it is possible for them to also. This will be us leading others into a righteousness (see Daniel 12) that many of us as simple believers have not achieved and yet are called to achieve. Following Him and everything that means, is what is required of us.

Recently the Lord has instructed me to get under my Tallit (Prayer shawl) first thing in the morning, read scripture and pray for a minimum of 15 minutes each. No phones no distractions. I ask Him where He would like me to read?

Today it was Zephaniah, a book I seldom read.

^“ Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame,
²  Before the decree takes effect— The day passes like the chaff— Before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, Before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.
³  Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’S anger.”             Zephaniah 2:1-3 (NASB) 

Before you say to yourself “That’s Old Testament,” let me ask you this, “Have you seen this happen yet or is it yet to happen?

“Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Zephaniah 1:18 (NASB)

Wait a minute Michael, you said we might be hidden?” Yes, He did say that, after.

“Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’S anger.

Zephaniah 2:3 (NASB) 

The ordinances in our day are the Ways of the Lord. The righteousness we recognize is that which He taught us to walk in. Humbling ourselves is a prerequisite if we ever expect to walk in it, to be threshed ( or thrashed) if necessary and to become hidden from our enemy in the winepress of God’s love for us.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

Through the abundance of grace I have needed and received, I have come to believe that the gift of righteousness is God’s real instrument of change. I was forgiven but forgiveness was just the beginning, forgiveness did not change me. Forgiveness put me in touch with Righteousness. Forgiveness, made it possible for me to change.

“…much more, those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, they shall reign in life through Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 5:17 NAS)

Righteousness is the hyper-positive power of God. He is the Creator of the Universe. If He says you are…then you are!  If I immerse myself in His loving descriptive words of righteousness, I will become what He says. As I become what He says, I am no longer what I was. His Word is becoming flesh, as I am becoming His Word!

The Lord spoke to my heart several years ago, while in Pskov, Russia on a mission (teaching) trip. It was cold and snowing. We all had settled in for the night, going to our rooms early because we got up at 5:30 AM to go teach in the Bible College. To me, our early evening retreat meant “Word time.”

I really wanted to serve something fresh in a sermon I was going to preach the next Sunday, at a distant satellite church. Alexe’, the young pastor, was a previous graduate of the college where we were teaching. The service was to be held in their church. How cool. It was a former missile factory. Church was in the (Communist) political auditorium!

This particular night, as I sought inspiration, the Lord took me back to Romans 5:17, a favorite verse of mine. The core of the verse says, “much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through Christ Jesus.”  I paused for a moment, God was getting my attention.

A realization came to me. Success in life and in eternity is dependent upon receiving BOTH the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. I know what you are thinking. I was too. “We all receive His righteousness.” Do we or is it a separate item on God’s agenda? It is separate in the verse. It was only a moment later, as I contemplated this dual approach, that God spoke to my heart and said something very simple but to me profound. He said, “You are saved by grace but you are changed by the gift of righteousness.” Another thought came. “…those who receive…(will let)…the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness REIGN in life through Christ Jesus.”

Addressing the first inspiration I thought, many confessing Christians never seem to get far in the changing of their lives. They continue in struggles that are tied to their old man, they are not changing the way they had hoped they would, the way they were told they would. With sincere determination they go to church, believing for something to change, but with little or less than apparent results. The second thought explained why.

In that distant wonderful place, in the cold of night, with the windows frosted over and the wind whispering a high C through the cracks in the 1950’s wooden window frame, I was ensconced in an old armchair, my used and abused bible in my lap. I was joined by Catherine the Great, as she looked down from her picture on the wall. Maybe she was there to observe this pilgrim, a stranger in a strange land. Along with her kind but reserved gaze, I was warmed by the soft yellowish red glow of the simple shaded lamp by my side, but that was not all that warmed me.

That night, His presence by distraction or miracle had robbed the dark, blustery, cold and snowy Russian winter of its chill, warming my heart by the grace of His inspiration.

Understanding had come to me. God had answered my prayer. It was His wisdom that, when shared with His anointing, would offer amazing opportunity for change to many Followers.

“…much more those who receive…”

It now seemed clear to me why Christians all over the world were not changing, why some were to varying extent and why some were not at all. Many had only received grace, one half of what was required for their lives to truly change and that grace only on a limited scale. Neither grace nor righteousness were reigning in their lives…or mine?

We read “You are saved by grace through faith…” (Ephesians 2:8 NAS) Paul makes no mention of righteousness? Could it be because grace must have its way with us first, that righteousness comes as a result of grace?

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21 NAS) In many cases we have received grace but we have not granted grace, creating the problem of unrighteousness, fearfully common but unrealized by many of us.

We receive what we give. The Beatitudes, given at the Sermon on the Mount, confirm this in Matthew 5 and Luke 6. Knowing this, God plants the seed of grace freely, in reconciling forgiveness, with the intent that we will grant it freely, thereby bearing fruit, presenting His Way to others.

Consider this. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:23 NAS)  Now we can understand this verse in light of grace. God, the Master, expects a return on His investment, even more, a duplication of His Son! For the grace He entrusted to us, He expects us to multiply it to many, many others, planting the seed of grace in their hearts with the hope of resulting righteousness, saving them as He saved us. In return we never lack grace abundant! Our salvation is sure by this Way.

We want to go to heaven but we do not understand the nature and the power of the gifts of Grace and Righteousness here in this life. Here prepares us for there! We were to have received both and they were to reign in our lives abundantly!

Do they reign?

As a Follower of Christ,  please share this. The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing ourselves and others now is paramount.

This post, is a quote from chapter 7.1 of Exit Strategy We initiate the return of Christ.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

Like anyone, Christians, caught up in and clinging to offenses, are looking back. Christ warned us about that. Offenses are always in the past. The second after they happen, they are behind us. God’s understanding is meant to put them behind us, with no regard for them any longer. The power to do that is in grace reigning over the situation. Looking back renders us unfit for the kingdom of God. “…but Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62 NAS)

Distracted in the offense, in our need to verbalize our (negative) observations, we are backing up to the edge of a chasm, forgetting who we are supposed to be, who we claimed to be. We MUST turn around in our understanding, before we plunge headlong into the bottomless crevasse of lost love, an icy dead love, void of endurance, seething with offense and a self defined righteousness that rationalizes our ungodly thoughts, words and actions. Like a hell-bound “express” train, the words of our mouth are laying down rails. They are setting the course of our lives. “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.”  (James 3:6 NAS)

This can happen to any unprepared human but Christ has given His friends a warning and a defense. If we learn from history, we remember what God said to Cain. “Sin is crouching at your door seeking to devour you but you must master it.” It is as much up to us, as it was to Cain. We know how Cain and mankind, the seed of his impaired judgment, ended up going for a swim!

We must endure this outrageous world by dismissing it with compassion and pity, praying for “them” from a heart of sorrowful remorse, recognizing their plight. When we hear their anger subside and their anguished cries for help begin, we will understand. We must appeal to God, as those also once astray, asking Him for their forgiveness because of their ignorance. This will be the enduring sacred heart of a kingdom citizen.

As a kingdom citizen please share this.

The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing ourselves and others now is paramount.

This post, is a quote from chapter 5.3 of Exit Strategy We initiate the return of Christ.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $2.99

This is a statement describing Jesus.

“YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”  Hebrews 1:9 (NASB)

It actually begins this way.
”But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.” Hebrews 1:8 (NASB)

I have a simple question. What is the opposite of lawlessness?

Could it be lawfulness?

What law? So many believe we are not under the Law. How about the Law of the Spirit of Life as Paul referred to in Romans 8:2. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” Here we see one law superseding another as it “saves us” by its content. We just have to learn and apply its content.

Jesus the Christ hates lawlessness and God anointed Him because of it.

Is it acceptable to equate lawfulness with righteousness? The Word is pointing to that as that conclusion is expressed (under the anointing of the Holy Spirit) by the writer.

The Word compares the two, righteousness and lawlessness as choices that can and will be made, commending Jesus for choosing wisely. The phrase could easily have said “You have loved lawfulness and hated lawlessness.” So why didn’t it?

Does loving “righteousness” sound better than “You kept the law?” Does it sound more achievable? Do love and righteousness walk together?

Consider this. God used the term “Righteous” because it defines the kingdom. “THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.” The Scepter is the emblem of authority held by the King. As the king wields the authority given Him, He is to and will do so in righteousness with a resulting joy in His kingdom.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” Proverbs 29:2 (NKJV)

If we expect to enter eternal life, to rule and reign with Jesus, then our righteousness is our absolute goal. We however, if walking in lawlessness, lawlessness by opposition to, by blatant rejection of, a teaching or the teachings, the righteous teachings of Jesus, teachings from the Father directly, we foretell our own eternal demise. There will be no lawlessness in heaven. No anger. No unforgiveness. Why? They all equal lawlessness or unrighteousness.

Conclusion: There are laws to follow now. They are depicted in the teachings of Christ and His disciples. Jesus refers to them as commands.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  John 14:15 (NASB)

After all, He is a (the) King. He has a kingdom. We are expecting to live there. Jesus is telling us how that can be possible. He is not suggesting how. He has told us the Way. It is up to us to choose. Our possibilities begin with our grace driven reconciliation to God through the death of His Son. Because we asked Jesus to be Lord, once reconciled, we have a responsibility to be obedient to Christ and His commandments. John 3:36 NKJV or NASB, Romans 5:10 NKJV, NASB

“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things [that which He taught and showed us] , you will never stumble; ¹¹  for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” [Future tense] 2 Peter 1:2-11 (NASB) [*] added for clarity. [A quote from my last post Peter, Paul, amen, joy.]

Here is the reward, while still here, if we fervently choose to embrace righteousness His Way. Our old self dies off and YOUR GOD HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS above your companions.”

Gladness sounds great! “… above your companions?”  It sounds like a good reason for them to look up! They will look up to you and you will faithfully point them to the One who taught you righteousness.

We are under law. The first was satisfied so that the second could be established. If you still question this then answer this question.

Can anyone come to God except through Jesus? If there ever was a law, that is one for sure. The One who rules and reigns forever LOVES righteousness and HATES lawlessness.

All that is required of you is that you put your heart in it. The heart reborn, that has been given all things pertaining to life and Godliness.

“… seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge [what He taught and showed us] of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3 (NASB)

Imagine the Lord’s disappointment when we have it but do not apply it. He loves us.

The coming times demand our understanding. Preparing now is paramount.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world. $ 2.99

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²²  even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ²³  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵  whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, …. Romans 3:21-25 (NKJV)

What is revealed to you in this scripture?

Is it God’s righteousness as we see Jesus the expressed image of God, and believe in Him? (2Cor 4:4, Col 1:15, Heb 1:3) “to all and on all who believe.”

No, I think all who believe (and follow) know that and know also that He (Jesus) was a “propitiation by His blood; a satisfaction of the Mosaic Law, by His blood. “to demonstrate His (Jesus’) righteousness…” He was sinless (Heb 4:15) yet bore our sins (1 Peter 2:24) for our sake and to the glory of the Father.

Look at the last phrase in my quote. “because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed…”  Sins previously committed. Not all sins?

Peter says it this way, “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:9 (NASB)

When we ask Jesus to be Lord, God does everything we have always understood. We are cleansed, washed, forgiven, made new, purified, adopted into His family; we are in simple terms born again. Our former sins are forgiven.

What about the sins we commit in the future, after coming to Christ as Lord? The Word says He died once for all. (Heb 7:27, 9:12, 10:10, 1 Peter 3:18) but as we read these verses “all” seems to reference people, souls. (Heb 7:27)

¹⁸  For Christ also died for sins once for all, [one Man for all men] the just [Jesus] for the unjust [us], so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; [and so able to stand before God literally as the transformed Christ our Mediator, Savior and soon coming King] 1 Peter 3:18 (NASB) [*] added to clarify

Again what about sins committed after asking Jesus to be Lord. We thought they were forgiven when we ask God to forgive us in Jesus name. Under certain conditions they are.

^“ This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, [He and us] and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10 (NASB)

I said, “Under certain conditions they are.” So what conditions do I refer to?

1. How are we walking? Have we violated the commands of Christ? Is there someone we have offended or caused to stumble, making them angry? Is there someone we need to forgive? Are we loving our neighbor as ourselves? I ask this not to cause you to doubt your salvation but instead to bolster your confidence in the precious work He has done in you; so that you might help others in the imperatives of Christ. This portion of scripture above [1 John 1:6] refers to those WITH a relationship to God; the “saved” as we have called ourselves even though we all know true salvation comes with our death or His return. Are we, according to what He taught and showed, us ready for either [death or His return] through the confidence of our consciously and purposely walking WITH Him, in His Ways? We can. We have been give all things pertaining to life and Godliness.

2. The apparent continuous cleansing of the Blood of Jesus depends on our continuous “right relationship” with the Father and Christ. Then is when His blood continues to have its effect over our lives, unto eternal life. Jesus is the Truth (the Way and the Life.) If truth is not in us then neither is He. If we walk in the truth confessing our sins, [it is not about sins it is about truth in the inner most man, where Jesus and the Spirit of God dwell. He knows our flesh wrestles against our spirit,] “He is faithful and righteous [just or justified in some translations] to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” How is God justified except that in Christ and by that which He taught us, we have qualified for His justification? He made the rules and rules by them. He does not violate His Word.

What is my point?  After our initial reconciling to God, we must then obediently walk in the Ways of Christ to remain “saved.” We must obediently maintain what was given to us freely, the Way He taught us and showed us to maintain it.

Paul refers to this necessity and Peter confirms it this way.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge [that which He taught us] of God and of Jesus our Lord; ³  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge [that which He taught us] of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence [that which He taught and showed us] ⁴  For by these [things which He taught us and showed us] He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them [that which He taught and showed us] you may become partakers of the divine nature [that which He taught and showed us], having escaped [by that which He taught and showed us] the corruption that is in the world by lust .
⁵  Now for this very reason also, [because you have been taught] applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, ⁶  and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, ⁷  and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. ⁸  For if these qualities [that which He taught and showed us] are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, [that which He taught and showed us.]
⁹  For he who lacks these qualities [which He taught and showed us] is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
¹⁰  Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things [that which He taught and showed us] , you will never stumble; ¹¹  for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. [Future tense] 2 Peter 1:2-11 (NASB) [*] added for clarity. 

“… you will never stumble”  does not mean you will never sin. It means you have a means of escape that you can implement unto eternal life; that which He taught and showed us!

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ¹⁵  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)

Jesus implemented the truth on the cross. “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” The truth and the grace within set Him free and in His doing so He made our freedom possible in this life and the next. That is, “as we practice these things,” that which He taught and showed us!

Our own “…entrance into the eternal kingdom…” [2 Peter 1:11] depends on how we walk now “… seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge [that which He taught and showed us] of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3 [*] added for clarity

Walking now, in that which He taught and showed us, in preparation for then, we can have joy or distress. In light of these scriptures I believe Peter and Paul would say Amen, choose joy.

The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing now is paramount.

The Lord has instructed me to lower the price of my book to $2.99. The message is more important than the margin. Always has been.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.

Not really prone to use labels, I have the gift of exhortation. I am however challenged by the prophet also within.  One makes friends, the other makes enemies. The exhort-er desires the best for his fellow man. In the prophetic, one is compelled to die to man’s approval for the sake of man. Jesus did the same.

Knowing God’s heart toward mankind, every prophet spoke obediently. Every prophet died at the hands of those same men. Never-the-less we revere the prophets today. They were not wrong. Let us be better. Let us receive scriptural understanding for what it is. Man has nothing to do with it except to shout it from the house-tops.  We HAVE the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.

If we begin our considerations with, “That does not line up with my understanding,” then know that the fellowship of God is changing course for our final landfall.

The ensuing rescue of many “believers” from the Apostasy will be by a God ordained awakening to HIS understanding. It is an understanding as unique as the times we are now in. The times warrant it! If we can grasp this view as being through the eyes of Jesus, a credibility will rush forward in our hearts. It will shake things up in us and in the church like never before.

In “Exit Strategy” you will read what our perspective is to be. We must not only see the light, we must be the light, to a lost and dying world. At this point God is saying times up! How is He saying so? “When you see these things happening…”

For some believers, confessors only, resistant non-followers, this awakening will be their doom if they reject their only means of escape. See Daniel 12. God’s appeal however is to all Christians. Let us not assume our security when we can verify it.

Exit Strategy (the book) is NOT about a day or an hour. It is not kingdom now. It is however about events that we see and those yet to happen, of which Jesus spoke. It is about a prophecy of His and how, when fulfilled world-wide, we will be showing God that we have protected ourselves by His instructions. We will be saying to the devil, “Bring it on, we know the power of God is within us now.”

The world will perceive our commitment as weakness and our witness will blow open the door to the audacity of darkness. This sequence of events cannot be avoided. Our preparation is paramount, darkness is imminent. Are we the light? Our survival and any potential rescue of others depends on it.

PLEASE, share these postings with others. Share them around the world. The church world-wide needs to understand their defense in Christ. We need time to prepare ourselves to endure just as those who have had their throats slit have. They have valiantly maintained their faith. What a witness and what a reason for us to prepare. Share with those you believe are saved. God will help them know if they are or not. Do not argue. Spread the seeds of understanding. Your convictions will lead to theirs.

If you have truly embraced the understanding of enduring love, share it here via the comment button. Share what God has done since your enlightenment. Glorify Him. Others need our testimonies. Our agreement has power.

God is patient desiring that none should perish. This I believe is why He has waited. Many calling themselves Christians are not ready yet. They are reconciled to God but they are not disciples of Christ, hungering after the righteousness He offered. It is a saving righteousness and God is looking to see if we will embrace it. Why now? Because we are in a unique situation in history. The culmination of God’s plan is before us. We are going to be exposed to horrific things like never before. The Word and Jesus point to our saving understanding consistently. See Romans 5:21. We must embrace His Way absolutely and without reservation if we are who we say we are.

God has been holding back darkness for a long time. His Word must and will be fulfilled. God will not wait to release darkness to its uttermost once this message has traveled the world.

It is now beginning to spread. I have testified to the many countries and readers, brothers and sisters, prompted by the Spirit of God to consider what He (not I) is sharing with us. Praise His Holy name. His mercy is drawing us to enlightenment and the leading of many into righteousness. See Daniel 12. Rejoice! We will shine like the stars because we embraced life saving wisdom and shared it, determining that we will not love our lives even unto death.

Rejoice. His Eminence is imminent. The bad guys must have their time first. It is not a rescue if we are not in trouble and yet the trouble will be in their view, not ours!  Oh Lord, You are our confidence! We bless Your Holy name Jesus!

I love you all my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!

The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing now is paramount.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.

As a part of His body I will function more correctly if I see as He sees. Faith must be fueling trust in Him as I grasp what He has revealed. “Revelation prompts exploration,” (Bill Johnson)

We can have faith to see as He sees. A vision I had seeded that in me. In what I write or claim to “see.” having been blind, to God be the glory and to us be the empowerment He intends. Dear loved ones let us serve Him and others by the power that His loving understanding brings.

What advantage we gain to see through His eyes. We go back with Him in time and the Word and a fresh perspective endears us all the more to Him. It is a glimpse of Him that He allows as His friends. Could we actually have entered His moments of private thought and hope? Are we seeing how His fearless determination to complete His purpose in the Father was accomplished? How does this view not prepare us for tasks too terrible to the unprepared heart.

Jesus knew of His future by the Word of God. Do we? He knew His means of escape by the same Word He gave us!  

Jesus sometimes seems to say something out of context. We see this in John chapter 13:33-35.

Jesus has just finished the last supper and has told Judas “What you do, do quickly.” A few verses later Jesus then addresses the disciples saying,  “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ [in a supposed tangent Jesus then says] ³⁴  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵  “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Why the change of subject? “A new commandment I give to you.” Jesus is speaking to them more like a king than a Teacher or Rabbi. These are closing statements in the life of Christ. Their importance can not be diminished. Then Jesus speaks of identification with Him. “By this (love commandment) all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus knows they are about to be scattered because of Him but points to the Way back to Him, where He will be!

Let us stand in Jesus sandals for a moment. He has just said, “ “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; ³²  if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.”  John 13:31-32 (NASB)

Can we be there in this emotional moment with Him?

Jesus has just set in motion His execution. We know that shortly, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sheds blood filled perspiration from the stress of it all. He even asks God to excuse Him from this terrible moment if possible. “if God is glorified in Him…” Here we see that Jesus is also a Father glorifying Son of Man. Take hope sons of men! The trauma of this initiating action with Judas could be causing Jesus to think ahead in protective faith. He is guarding His will and determination to finish the race even as God would have us guard ours. By the message of “Enduring love” we too are initiating the end. Our vision of eternity may be the only thing we have to buoy up our faith in our moments of crisis, in our daily decisions to do what is right. we too can say, if God is glorified in us!

Topically Jesus has said, “Where I am going…” The “new commandment” has not changed the topic. The disciples want to know how to get where He is going and He has just told them!

Some horrific physical trials are yet to happen and He knows it.

Access to heaven is assured to (all) the disciples of Christ! Jesus knows,…love, enduring love, is the law of the kingdom and He has come so that the good news of the kingdom can come, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus is saying this so they CAN come eventually and so they will teach by example how we enter the kingdom of heaven. We are to be disciples. As we walk in enduring love, the kingdom of God is within us. If we do not… it is not.

If Christ had to obey shall we not have to also? (John 3:36 NKJV)

¹⁹  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… ²⁰  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)

The disciples seem to miss this tangent of love and its importance. “Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” They are not going with Him as we might in this understanding.

Jesus then says something cryptically in verse four, ⁴  “And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas then says to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” John 14:4 (NASB)

This last phrase by Christ is worded strangely until you see what Jesus is describing. He is reverting to a description of the kingdom. He is assuring them saying you can come with Me when I return because you already know the “Way” of the kingdom, the “Way” where I am going! “I am the Way…”

How many times do we hear Jesus referring to the Gospel of the kingdom! Do we really know the Way to the kingdom? We know the Way to God, through the death of His Son. Is that it? What does the rest of Jesus’ life mean? You might know but what about others, your brothers and sisters in the Lord that just do not seem as mature in Christ as they should be by now? With out Christ’s love commandment functioning fully in them, they do NOT know the Way. Christ died to His place in heaven to come as our teacher then died again as our sacrificial lamb. He left love to teach love then used love to return to the Father’s side.

Even the devil knows Him. It is our knowing, and abiding in, His instructions, His commandments, given to Him by God, that make us His disciples. This is how He and we become one with the Father.  The key for us to this eternal possibility begins with Jesus dying for us. That is only the beginning. The Way is our responsibility to embrace, then it is Christ in us the hope of glory with the help of the Holy Spirit. Now we know the Way. Let us walk in it.

“Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Psalm 119:35 (NKJV) 

^“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.  2 John 1:6 (NKJV)

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. ²⁴  And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.”Revelation 21:23-24 (NKJV)

Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. We are those kings and lords, if God is glorified in us,  if we walk in the light of His commandments.

Let us look forward as Christ did, knowing His days were few. Let us proclaim and demonstrate the gospel of love, the character and good news of the kingdom, rejoicing in Hope, persevering in tribulation and being devoted to prayer.

The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing now is paramount.

In the guardianship of Christ,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.

Dear loved ones,

“If you already knew, why would you need to be shown?”

This thought came to me as I was considering a verse.

John 16:13 (NKJV) 

In “shouting from the house tops” the protective message for the times we are now in, I am constantly asking for wisdom in how to express what I consider to be a world changing point of view. NOT my view but His view. It has always been there but only now are we in an emotional position to consider it. To consider it we must be shown what we have not seen yet.

Before the first “thought” quoted at the top of this post, it was preceded by this: “Your agreement is not expected until the Holy Spirit is allowed freedom over your soul. Even then you must decide (regarding what you hear). If you already knew why would you need to be shown?”

There is a reason why “all truth” needs a guide. It takes us to secret places in Him. The truth we need to arrive safely is hidden in His Words and deeds. They are the mysteries Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13:11. We are also cautioned that we can have understanding of these mysteries but if we have not LOVE, we are nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2 NASB)  All truth guides us to true enduring love. Saving love.

God knew we would not see what we needed to see without our faithful guide. This makes the saving truth off-limits to anyone who rejects the appeal of the Holy Spirit. This determines their fate, barring true repentance.

God leaves it up to us and always has. God does not condemn us. We condemn ourselves. God tries to save us. When we choose rightly it is by inspiration. Our decision reflects His influence. It brings an inner peace to us. Our conscience defends us, against the enemy’s accusations. We must let inspiration have His way.

Deuteronomy 30:19 (KJV) 

This level of truth in the inner most man is needed now more than ever. Holy Spirit help us please.

The coming times will demand our understanding. Preparing now is paramount.

You are loved, He waits,

Michael

    Exit Strategy

   We initiate the return of Christ!  (The E-book)

Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, many others and around the world.