Either God is a Liar
A considerable majority of people don’t believe that in addition to this world, there is a parallel world that also exists. Of that majority, a vast number of those people are Christians. I do not doubt their conversion or commitment, although we are called to make loving judgement based on the fruit that ones life produces (drawn most notably from matthew 7.16, Matthew 7.20 and also Luke 6.43, John 15.4, John 15.8, John 15.16 and Romans 7.4), but looking at the life of Jesus, which will always be the primary source and subject of authority in my entries, it is unquestionably clear that He believed in the existence of another reality that occurs in-step, that is to say side-by-side, with the reality that you and I experience every day. These realities are sometimes referred to as “realms.” The everyday, sensory, “what-you-can-see, taste, touch, feel, hear” reality is known as the “natural realm,” but there also exists a realm which often transcends the information that we gather from our interpretation of our brains sensory inputs. It is often beyond what we can see and hear . This realm is known as the above-natural or “supernatural realm.” This is the realm where God works and lives and where heaven is found, and also it is from this realm that Satan works. It is superior to the realm of the natural and the effects of this reality have significant bearing, as experienced here in the natural, both good and evil. While both exist in-step with one another, an element of the supernatural realm is always exercising its influence over the natural. When the evil influence of Satan is exercised, the effects of sickness, death, poverty, and sin are seen in our lives and in the world. A common misconception is that this is not an “evil influence of the supernatural realm” but rather “normal life ” or ” just how the world works.” The partial truth in this misconception is that Satan was given dominion over the earth (temporarily, through Adam’s disobedience-romans 5.12), and so the nature of satan (”to kill, steal, and destroy…” Jn. 10.10) is commonly seen on earth. Conversely, when the supernatural power/influence of the Kingdom of God is manifest in the earth, it always subverts the effects/influence of Satan and darkness often producing results that are frequently awe-inspiring, and astounding as most people are acclimated to a “natural realm view” ,with no regard to the supernatural, and so these “supernatural” results are “impossible,” or more graciously “exceptionally unlikely, or improbable,” because such a realm, where they would be characteristic, does not exist. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus proves the existence of these two realms, as well as the possibility of humans to sanction the conformation of the natural realm to the realm of the supernatural (Christ did this being FULLY HUMAN, by walking in right relationship with the father). Jesus exemplified this in the many “miracalous” healings signs and wonders he did. His motive (in addition to true love) is uncovered when He teaches His disciples to pray. In the last part of that prayer (matt. 6.10) He prays “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, or in other words “may your kingdom be established here on earth, as it is established there in heaven.” It is very apparent that Christ was doing this, every time he performed a miracle-establishing the kingdom of God on earth, just like it is in heaven. In Gods kingdom or domain (kingdom=king’s domain) in heaven, there is no one sick, poor, afflicted, or bound by sin (as satan can have no dominion in heaven) , so whenever Christ healed, delivered, or provided he was simply asking God to make the situation on earth like it was in heaven. Two things were required for this to take place: faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith (hebrews 11.1) enabled Jesus to look to heaven and see with His heart how things are in heaven, and earnestly believe that the natural could/and would conform to look just like heaven. The power of the Holy Spirit was what enabled Jesus to be fully human and perform such miracles, signs and wonders and was always present whenever he commanded an earthly situation to conform to the Kingdom of God (matt. 12. 28). I dont think that we can relegate God to a formula, but in this aspect i dont think its a mystery. When Jesus came across a situation in the natural that didnt line up with how it was in the “supernatural realm” of the Kingdom of God, He prayed in faith and believed commanding the situation to line up with the Kingdom of God in Heaven, and it was the power of the Holy Spirit that made it so. He was able to subvert the influence of Satan in the natural, because while satan has dominion over the earth Jesus had authority over satan, therefore satan has no choice but to submit to the authority of Jesus Christ (given to HIm by the Father-matt. 28.18). The exciting news about all of this, is that Christ gave us (believers/disciples) that same authority over satan and is dark influence over this world, so that we can also bring the Kingdom of God into “everyday” situations (sickness, poverty, sin) by the power of the Holy Spirit (matt. 10.1,5-8, matt. 22.18). More than that, Jesus Christ himself PROMISED that we (believers/disciples of Christ) would do “greater things than these” if we simply believe and use the eyes of our heart to see things as they are in the Kingdom of God in heaven and in faith command the natural to fall in line with the supernatural (John 14.12). Furthermore, Jesus said to his disciples that these “signs” will follow those that believe; that they will cast out demons, speak with new tongues, get bitten by snakes and not die, be poisoned and not die, and lay hands on the sick, and the sick shall recover (Mark 16.17-18). Shortly after this he ascended into heaven, and its funny what the disciples did….they believed what he said and began to attempt to do what he said….turns out “the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (mark 16.19).Lets go home…Ive only arrived at this point after dropping everything and moving away from everything ive ever known to a strange land. This bold action of faith has brought me to a total dependance upon God, and a side effect of that is a new revelation of what Jesus is talking about when He speaks of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was kingdom minded and thats all he ever did on earth was establish Gods kingdom. His death and resurrection enabled us to do the same by the power of the holy spirit, in an effort to make disciples. From this place I currently reside, getting ahold of this revelation, my thinking has been challenged, and transformed to the point that miracles are the “norm” and situations in the natural, are merely opportunities for God to showcase who He is and for His glorious kingdom to be established on the earth. Miles and miles away I ask, what is happening in our churches? Not the buildings we go to, or the denominations we entangle ourselves with, but what is happening with us-the “church” of the “living” God. Are demons being cast out, are the lame walking, the sick being healed??? And if so at what frequency? From what ive seen where i used to live, miracles signs and wonders rarely ever happen, and if a miracle happened, people are like “wow” and are actually suprised, when Gods people should not be suprised at miracles because they are supposed to follow us that believe in him, and He has given us the power (by the Holy Spirit) for these things to happen. So my conclusion is this: either God is a Liar,or we simply dont believe… written in love to make you thinkgospel
Filed under Gospel | Comments (24)Being true
It’s so easy for me to live up to others’ expectations of me. Growing up, my mom instilled such a fear in me to make any mistakes of any kind that I grew up a lot faster than most. I’m the “mature one” or the “really polite one” or “the proper one.” I’m the one who constantly tries to do everything perfectly, to respond to everyone in the right manner, to present things the right way, to be the great and perfect everything for everyone. But i’m not perfect…I try to be, but I’m not. And every time I do something wrong and hurt someone, I feel like the worst person in the world because my mom’s expectations of me keep swirling in my head… they say “You’ve got to be somebody. You’ve got to show your mom that you are not who she thinks you are. You’ve got to show her that you are mature, that you really have a heart, that you are worth it, that you can make it, that you are honestly trying…” How can these thoughts still chase me when she is so far away? “You’ve got to be the perfect wife, the perfect daughter, sister, friend…”
I’m realizing how destructive these thoughts are…they are going against everything God tells me I am. With God, I don’t have to be perfect. He already loves me. It was the hardest thing for me to grasp because I felt like I had to be perfect for my mom to really love me the way I am, but God came in and He told me that I am perfect just the way I am and it took a while to register in my heart. I guess I’m going through one of those times when I just feel not good enough you know? I’m still new at this whole “wife” thing and I really feel like I’m not passing any of the marriage tests right now. But I know what God’s Word says. I know He’s here and this too shall pass…
God is definitely showing me things that need to go and things I can’t stand about myself. I know it’s His fire and He’s refining me and burning away the dross. I just wish it wasn’t so hard.
I got God’s Heart
I’ve been going through a weird time this past weekend. I’ve been kind of hyper-active and crazy. I’ll go way up and come crashing way down. So what’s going on? I have no idea. It feels almost like a rut, but it is not debilitating me. Normally I would get into a rut and crash and burn, but this is different. God’s love surrounds everything. All the up and downs of my life are covered by the grace of God. I’m covered, I’m really covered. I’ve been finding that I’m in love with God and it’s not just words people. It’s like infatuation. All of a sudden I’ll be sitting in the car and I’ll be like, “I love you, God. I just love you. I love you ….” God’s love goes through me and shoots right back up at him. My favorite song right now is ”Everything Glorious.” It’s like the perfect song. God made me glorious, he really did, and that’s how he sees me. It just makes my heart want to burst.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about something Lucrece told me awhile back. She told me that she saw Jesus come and take my heart out of my body and replace it with his. WOW. God gave me his heart. How does he know that he can trust me with it? I wouldn’t trust myself with it. A heart is such a fragile thing. It’s a treasure and it should be handled gently. I feel so honored to be trusted with the heart of God. What’s really amazing about it is that it was exactly what I needed to begin to trust God.
It’s like having a friend who’s closed off. The only way for you to get them to talk is to talk yourself. Openess is the key to a good relationship. My heart has been battered. I’ve given my heart away so many times only to recieve it back bloody and ripped to shreds. How could I know that God was going to be different? My picture of God was a reflection of my father. Not good, but no one could really tell me otherwise.
But God gave me his heart. God gave me his heart. He said, “Alyssa, I trust you and I want to give you all of me.” Because God trusted me I began to trust him. Now that I can trust God live is a lot less stressful. Can you imagine. I love it. My heart is being loved for the first time by my father, God. It’s exactly what I need. So I can’t help but sing his praise and smile at him and tell him how much I love him. Joy is mine.
IN GOD’S HANDS
I would have to say that since arriving in Moravian Falls it has been quite a roller coaster journey. For a lot of the time I have been wondering what God has been up to. I have not questioned whether or not we should have come. I am so excited that we were able to come but I have been wondering if I am growing and changing. One of the biggest challenges I have faced is just to rethink what I believe. Maybe that isn’t even the right way to word it. In reality I have been looking at what I say I believe and realizing that in a lot of ways my life doesn’t line up with it. Too much of what I have said I believe has simply been lip service. God has been revealing this to me.
Now, the other major thing that I have faced I was warn
ed about. Craig 
& Lori and Lacey all told us that we could expect any “stuff” that had roots in us was probably going to start coming to the surface… and that was God saying He had some stuff he was wanting to deal with in us. As the weeks passed I was becoming more and more angry. It was such a hard time because I was realizing more and more that I just did not like myself… I didn’t even want to be around me. I found that everything I said to Corey was rooted in anger. It was constant and I felt that there was no way to conquer it, it felt like it was conquering me. I was crying out to God to help me, to show me how to truly love, and to take this anger from me. I truly felt that He was my only hope… I could not gritt my teeth and act like this anger didn’t exist anymore. God had to release me from it somehow. Then last Sunday Corey & I were talking and he had looked away from me while I was talking. I really wanted to know that he was listening and so I asked him to look at me. Now this may seem small but it was an amazing turning point for me. I was simply able to keep telling my story. What was so amazing was that I normally would have become totally angry with Corey, to the point that I would not have even wanted to keep talking at all. I realized that it was a major turning point. What was so amazing was that God just wanted me to surrender myself to Him and He did the rest. It is the whole thing of the fruit of the Spirit coming to life in me. It is His fruit not me trying to make myself good enough. It is all part of His grace which is so amazing. Suddenly I felt so much love coming from Him and I wanted so badly for others to know this love and freedom that He has to offer. And just a couple of days later I has a great opportunity to make His love known. I went into a store and as I was walking through I got a sharp pain in my right knee… it was to the point that I had to limp through the store. I knew that this was not a pain of my own and that God was trying to let me know that there was someone in the store who had pain in their right knee. I found the person that I thought it was and asked her if there was pain in her right knee. She asked why and I explained that I felt God was speaking to me and that He wanted to heal her if she had pain in her right knee. So I asked again if she had pain in her knee… and yes she did. Actually pain in both knees but the right one was worse. I got to pray for her right there in the store. I was so excited because I knew God was just wanting to show her that He loved her so much that He would let a stranger know what was happening in her life so that He could touch her life.
Video
Hey here is a video that i made i think you might like it..