THE PROCESS OF RECOVERY

God communicated with the people up to the time of Abraham through a word, but then the scripture declares, "God appeared to Abraham." Acts 7:2. The one who appeared is the "GOD OF GLORY," and that is the Kingdom Name for God. Abraham was called to be the Father of a Kingdom people.

Paul says, "Know therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. The scripture forseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal 3:7-8. This is the Gospel of Grace to all men. Abraham is the one through whom the Gospel of the Kingdom would be established.

The land of Canaan speaks of the fullness of our inheritance, that is in Christ. It speaks of a total salvation including our body, soul and spirit, for this is what God has promised to us. Paul continues in Rom 3:30, "Seeing it is ONE GOD that shall justify the circumcision (Israel) BY FAITH and the uncircumcision (Gentiles or heathen) THROUGH FAITH." "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we who have believed into Jesus Christ, that we might be justified BY THE FAITH OF CHRIST, and not by the works of the law." Gal 2:16.

Notice that the Faith spoken of here is not just a mental assent to certain facts or verses in the Bible as so many seem to think. This is a faith that is rooted in the dominion of God and the certainty of his will and purpose being fulfilled. Such is the faith that was generated in Abraham and then transmitted to all of his children. For "Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith." This speaks of a development of Faith in us until everything God has purposed for us to have, will become our reality. Then the Faith of Christ will become established IN US as OUR FAITH.

Many Christians have only believed for a "minimal salvation", just sufficient to get them to "heaven" when they die. They have neglected the "so great a salvation," that brings transformation to us now, having passed from death to life. Abraham represents a people who have been chosen of God for no other reason than, "God was pleased to do it because his nature is LOVE and we are his children." Noah was chosen because he was perfect in his generations. But there was not one thing in Abraham’s life that would commend him to God. He was a heathen man living the life of an idolater. For this reason we can all find our identity in this man, totally dependant upon the Grace of God.

Jesus said, "YOU have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit that shall remain." Peter tells us, "We, receiving the ultimate fulfillment of your faith even the salvation of your souls, that the Prophets have searched and looked into diligently, who prophesied of the GRACE that should come unto you, searching to discover the time the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when they testified before hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow…..Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind and be sober, and hope perfectly for the Grace that is to be brought unto you, at the revealing of Jesus Christ in you. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in THE PRESENT TRUTH."

This is the important issue for all of us, that we be established in the Present Truth. It is time to lay aside all the traditions and man made doctrines that have prevented us from entering into the Kingdom of God. We need to recognise that the call on Abraham’s life was different to those who came before him, and remains as a pattern for us today. The only thing Abraham was called to do was to turn his back on the world that he knew. He was not asked to try and correct what he considered to be wrong, but simply to walk away from it.

In his call, God redirected his life giving him a new focus and expectation. He began a journey that involved leaving behind all that constituted his life up to that moment, seeing by faith a better land and a holy city. From that moment he classed himself as a Pilgrim and a traveler and no longer a part of the establishment. This account of Abraham’s call and subsequent journey is not recorded for us just as history, as so many have assumed. It is time beloved, that we see ourselves in this man who has FATHERED all who are OF FAITH. This is the birthing of our NEW LIFE in Christ, with every precise detail set before us.

We are not called to correct the wrongs in society or the religious systems on the earth today. To become involved in such things will simply delay our departure and restrict our progress towards the City of God. We must become single minded in our quest to possess the "land" which is our inheritance in Christ. We are not called to become religious nor to try and impress the world simply with our moral behavior. The truth is that everything God requires of us can only be achieved as we D-I-E. The self, that feels at home and a part of this world, will never desire to leave that which has become reality to it. He must increase and therefore I will decrease.

Abraham is a type of those who are the CALLED OUT. Like him we are not called out to be something, or to do something, but just called out not knowing exactly what is ahead. This is a journey of Faith, the confidence for which is imparted to us within the call itself. Our destiny shines before us first of all just as a flicker of light. But as we go on, the light intensifies until the light of the city of God absorbs us completely and we begin to radiate the same light.

Having begun the journey, Abraham was delayed in Haran until the death of his father who had gone with him. This is often repeated in our own experience as so many of us have discovered in our own lives, as we get side tracked along the way and have to be "called out" again. We trade our tent for a more permanent residence, somehow feeling convinced that we have left so much behind, that we must have achieved what God had in mind. Abraham had taken his natural father along with him so was delayed until his father died. Haran was named after Abraham’s brother who died in Babylon so the natural tie that linked him to Babylon was not yet completely broken until he departed and continued his journey.

The next place he came to was Sichem, which means "shoulder or back," and relates to obedience. We must come to understand that to obey is better than sacrifice. It is through obedience that we gain knowledge. Jesus said, "If any man will DO his will, he will know of the doctrine." So how will we know the TRUTH? By being obedient and doing what the truth implies.

However we must never forget that the Canaanite was then in the land, and he is not there to help but to hinder our progress. The Canaanites are the ones that have settled in the land claiming it for themselves, even though God said he had given it to us. They are just one of the nations that dwell in "our world," and it is our responsibility to drive them out. So we must learn to deal with the Canaanite even as we journey. But it is interesting that it was at this point that the Lord appeared to Abraham. While so many Christians are waiting for the "second coming" of Christ at the end of this age, he is appearing in revelation within a people even as they journey. Here is the light that illumines our way bringing knowledge and understanding to us as we continue our journey, and destroy our enemies.

This is a comforting thought for us who may grow weary in life’s journey. The Lord does not say to us, "I will appear to you when you reach the end of the road!" No, he appears along the road, manifesting himself within us as the strength and wisdom we need to reach our goal. The Prophet Isaiah said, " In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them." Isa 63:9. How comforting it is to know that Christ shares with us the experiences of life. Today beloved, he wants to reveal himself to you in the form that will meet your particular need, and bring with that revelation the guarantee of victory.

After the battle of the kings Abram was greeted by Melchisedek who brought forth the bread and the wine as the priest of the Most High God. He said, "Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of HEAVEN AND EARTH." The meeting with this mysterious figure who is the Priest of El Elyon is not just by chance. This marks a distinct point in Abraham’s journey and therefore must find expression in our lives also. Melchisedek was God’s representative in a heathen country being a Priest of the Most High God.

Melchisedek connected Abram with El Elyon the Most High God and not with Yahweh who was later to become the Law giver and the God of Israel. El Elyon the Most High God is possessor of both the spiritual realm and the realm of earth, so has a special relationship with the people of the earth. It is interesting that Jesus was also a Son of the Most High God. Mary conceived under the power of the Most High God and so the child Jesus considered him to be his Father. El Elyon was responsible for setting up the throne of David which was a type of the Throne of God.

His name expresses a great truth that was revealed by the Psalmist in Psalm 82:6. "I have said, Ye are Gods, and all of you are children of the Most High = El Elyon." The Psalmist identifies us as Gods because that is our origin, and over all these Gods there is a MOST HIGH GOD that is supreme above every other God. Jesus himself used this very truth in his defense against the charge of blasphemy in John 10:34-35. His statement was, "I and my Father are ONE," which made him a SON OF GOD, and that was the TRUTH. As we progress on our journey like Abram, we must come to the same realisation that our identity is also as sons of the same Most High God.

Abraham’s discovery of his true identity manifested itself in the birth of Isaac, as the power of the Most High God overshadowed both he and his wife Sarah. The seed planted in Sarah’s womb had the power to produce not only Isaac but also Jesus the Son of God. We must also enter into the realisation that the same power dwells within us today, to bring forth the Christ in us.

Melchisedek played an important part in this revelation as he brought forth both the BREAD and the WINE for Abram. This was not some traditional religious ceremony, but an impartation of the reality of the Christ, whose dwelling place is with men. In John 6 Jesus reveals the truth represented by the Manna that Israel collected each day to sustain them on their pilgrim journey. However that "bread" or manna could not give them immortality for they all died, in the wilderness.

Now Jesus takes them into the realm of Spirit and says to them, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, YOU HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU." Jesus had previously told the people that he was the TRUE or LIVING BREAD that came down from heaven. But to the natural mind such thoughts as these made no sense at all. What did Jesus mean when he said you must EAT MY FLESH, and DRINK MY BLOOD or you will have no life in you?

Here is the analogy. When we eat food, it is processed by the body and literally becomes Y-O-U. It is no longer bread or fruit but has been assimilated into our body. Jesus said, "My flesh is TRUE FOOD and my blood is TRUE DRINK. This means that if we partake of the substance of what Christ is, then it will produce that same reality in us. "He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, DWELLS IN ME AND I IN HIM." Jesus is saying that his "FLESH" is not like natural food, that has no power to create an eternal reality in us. To eat his FLESH, that is the reality of what HE IS, will transmit to us that same incorruptible substance, thus allowing us to live forever. Jesus explains it this way, "You will dwell IN ME and I will dwell IN YOU." Which means, What HE IS, IS WHAT I AM.

So we can see this was a powerful lesson Abram was given as he journeyed on looking for that "City" that has foundations and whose builder and maker is God. His whole thinking was lifted into a higher dimension. The King of Sodom kindly offered Abram all the goods taken in the conflict, only requesting the return of his people who had been captured. Now this was according to custom and was the accepted procedure in that day. However after his contact with the Most High God he refused to touch anything of the spoils of war declaring his sufficiency was in God.

How different is the journey of so many Christians today who do not even expect such revelations to be imparted to them along the way, because all their focus is on some thing which is out there somewhere in the sweet bye and bye. Until then they feel justified in getting all they can in terms of material things. As a result they have no "bread and wine" to give the weary pilgrim they may happen to meet along life’s pathway.

Before we continue we must also consider Abraham’s concern for those who had been taken captive by those evil Kings. I suspect that there would be many Christians today who would not give much thought to those who had fallen victim to some enslaving tyrant. In most cases we do not consider they are worthy of our effort to release them. Our attitude so often is that they must accept responsibility for their own problems. They are captives because they do not love the Lord enough or they are not spiritual. But Abram did not hesitate, as soon as he heard Lot was taken, he set out to release him, and in doing so opened the prison doors to a host of others as well.

Remember Abram was only a little way into his journey when all these things took place. It is most interesting to notice that when Jesus had just begun his ministry, he read in the Synagogue from Isaiah 61, about releasing the captives and opening the prison doors to those who are bound. For him this was indeed the very core of his ministry as he understood it. Is it not strange that today so many Christians seek for the filling of the Holy Spirit for POWER so they can perform miracles in order to build their ministry, rather than to enable them to set the captives free.

Jesus corrected this false idea by linking the anointing to an empowerment to heal the brokenhearted, and deliver the captives, giving sight to the blind (spiritually) and to set at liberty those that are bruised. He declared this to be the purpose for which the anointing is given, thus this prophecy found fulfillment in his ministry. Because we are the Church of the First-born, the double portion has been given to us just for such a purpose. Abram realised that his release from the bondage of idolatry was not just for his own personal benefit, but in order that he might free others also. This is the lesson we must all learn in our own walk with the Lord.

Let me again emphasise that this was at the beginning of Abram’s journey and also at the start of the ministry of Jesus. No deep teaching is required for us to be concerned for those who have not yet been set free. All that is necessary is that we have first experienced a release in our own lives, which is a token of God’s love and grace. That same love is all the motivation we need to see others set free also. We are blessed of the lord in order to be a blessing to others.

UNDERSTANDING ABRAHAM’S SEED.

Abraham was told that his seed would be as the stars of heaven, even though he had no heir and Sarah was beyond the age of child-bearing. His faith was sufficient to believe God despite his circumstances at that time. However Isaac was born by the power of the Most High God who had been revealed to him. But in God’s mind Isaac was not the seed to which he referred. Paul explains clearly in Gal 3:16, "He said not, and to seeds (plural) as of many, but as of ONE, and to thy seed WHICH IS CHRIST." There is no other seed but CHRIST.

Many Christians believe that Israel is the SEED, but this is not so. Abraham birthed both the natural seed in Isaac, and the spiritual seed in Christ. So in Matthew 1:1 Jesus Christ is declared to be the SON OF ABRAHAM in terms of genealogy, but in spiritual reality he is the son of the Most High God. Both aspects of his origin were birthed through Abraham, the Father of the faithful, through El Elyon. Once we understand this we have no trouble identifying the rest of the seed, which God said would be "AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN."

Paul continues in Gal 3:29 saying, "If you are Christ’s, then YOU ARE ABRAHAM’S SEED, and heirs according to the promise." We are the many membered CHRIST who has been established as Abraham’s seed. In the "rapture" teaching the saints will fly away, leaving the whole of God’s program to Israel. This is a people who have rejected Christ for 2000 years. Such an idea can hardly be imagined. However the Christ seed is not a natural seed as Paul makes it clear, it is a SPIRITUAL SEED for God is SPIRIT. This is why God told Abraham that his seed would be as the stars of heaven. Israel, the natural earthly seed is, as the sand of the seashore. Gen 22:17.

We are the inheritors of all the promises given to Abraham, for we are his seed. Therefore the blessing of God is to flow through us to all the nations of the earth. Just as Abraham was chosen to head God’s recovery movement on the earth in his day, so we are a CHOSEN GENERATION to fulfill God’s program in this our day. WE ARE God’s program for this time and there is no other program.

THE JEW

We need to ask the question, "What is a Jew?" Paul tells us, "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." Rom 2:28-29. Paul also says, "They are not all Israel who are of Israel. Neither because they are the SEED of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." The apostle is trying to tell us something very important that we need to understand.

The explanation is given to us in the next verse. "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." V.8. Paul makes a very clear distinction between the natural generation that came from Abraham and was called ISRAEL, and the Children of God or the Children of the promise. Not recognising this distinction has given rise to many erroneous teachings. Such as the concept that natural Israel is to be the instrument in the hand of God to evangelise the world, in this end of the age. However Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matt 21:43. He based this change on the fact that the "Builders" of the Old Testament (Israel) rejected the "Stone" that God had planned to be the CAP-STONE of the whole building. That stone was CHRIST.

Now Peter takes up the theme and says, "YOU are a chosen generation." He was not speaking to natural Israel when he said these words, but to the Elect of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit. But he continues, "YOU are THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD……YOU ARE THE HOLY NATION…… YOU ARE A PEOPLE WITH A PURPOSE." Beloved, the Apostle is speaking to us today and reminding us of the calling that has been put upon our lives. It is not natural Israel, who live in the Middle East today, that is to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Nations of the earth, but a people who are BORN not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, BUT OF GOD. Beloved WE ARE THAT PEOPLE.

Paul tells us to beware of the CONCISION. This represents the depths to which Israel had fallen, as the right of circumcision became simply a mutilation of the body having no spiritual effect. The Apostle refers to them as "dogs", i.e. people with impure minds, and evil workers, saying we are to beware of them.

But he continues by saying, "YOU ARE THE CIRCUMCISION, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." What Israel followed as an external law, had no real spiritual value to them, but to us it becomes a completely spiritual experience of circumcision performed without hands. On the same subject Paul says, "In Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything, only a NEW CREATION." But notice what follows, "And as many as walk according to this rule, Peace be on them, and mercy, and upon THE ISRAEL OF GOD." Beloved THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE.

In Heb. 12:22 we are told that we are the NEW JERUSALEM or the HEAVENLY JERUSALEM. Many Christians have been taught that the Kingdom of God will have as its authority center, the literal city of Jerusalem in the Middle East. However, the only city that God is interested in is the HOLY CITY and the NEW JERUSALEM which WE ARE

Now in order to appreciate the power of these words let us look at who Paul reminds us we were. Remember that you being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, (according to your natural birth) and were called Uncircumcision (heathen) by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands, which is Israel. You were ALIENS from the Commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promises of God, having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph 2:11-12.

This is a clear picture of the Gentiles and those who were born according to the flesh. The word "Gentile" is the translation of the Greek word "Ethnos" meaning a Race, tribe, or Nation, or a multitude of the same nature and race of people. However this word is used in many places to represent the Jewish nation of Israel. We need to have a clear sense of our identity to be able to lay claim to that which is rightfully ours. Dispensational teaching told us that many things were for another time, or for another people, and so we have been robbed of what is rightfully ours in Christ.

OUR INHERITANCE

Paul tells us that we are heirs according to the promises given to Abraham. However many Christians consider their inheritance is a place they call "heaven," which has gates of pearls and streets of Gold. But Peter tells us that our inheritance is INCORRUPTIBLE and UNDEFILED, that does not fade away, reserved in the spiritual realm for us. 1 Pet 1:4 Peter continues, "You know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, from your vain life style we received by tradition from our fathers. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot or blemish."

We must be clear that all the promises were made to Abraham and to his seed, which is Christ, and so includes all those who are "IN CHRIST." Therefore when God spoke those promises to Abraham he was actually speaking to US today. That is, to Christ and all his "brothers."

First of all we find that Christ has been appointed heir of all things and that we are JOINT HEIRS with him. Now we will look at the promises God made to Abraham and their application to us.

"I will make you a great Nation!" So Peter tells us, "You are a Holy Nation." 1 Pet 2:9.

"I will bless you." Paul says, "You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

He (and all his seed) was made heir of the world, not through the Law, by through the Gospel of G-R-A-C-E. Jesus said, "The meek shall inherit the earth." But also John tells us in the book of Revelation, "He has made us Kings and Priests unto our God and we reign ON THE EARTH, N-O-W.

The Psalmist says that God will remember his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. God gave it to Jacob (the earthly man) as a Law, but to Israel (the spiritual people) FOR AN EVERLASTING COVENANT. Now it is obvious that Paul understood these things for he says, "That in the ages to come he might shew the riches of his grace." This age is drawing to a close and another is taking its place. It is that "Sabbath Day" of the Lord and it is 1000 years long and then there are other ages to come after that. Don’t become caught up in the childish nonsense that the end of the world is just around the corner!

It is interesting to note that the Fathers even though they lived in faith, all died without receiving the promises. However there is another Nation that is being raised up in our day, a New Creation people who will possess the promises of the Covenant God made with Abraham. This has been ordained as Paul says, "We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that have been ordained in the counsels of God, that we should walk in them." The scripture declares, "ALL things are yours, both things PRESENT and also things TO COME, and you are CHRIST’S and Christ is God." 1 Cor 3:21-23.

To sum up our inheritance there are several aspects that we need to note. The first is we have been made acceptable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints IN LIGHT. The "light" speaks of spiritual understanding and enlightenment without which we will never even know what is ours in Christ. Thus these things are hidden from those who still walk in the darkness of their own ignorance.

Then our inheritance is not earthly, but heavenly. For we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ. Because they are not earthly, they are not subject to decay nor can they be stolen or destroyed. Our inheritance is divinely preserved, incorruptible and undefiled.

It is also prepared and ready to be revealed in the last time. We cannot look back in history to see this inheritance and how it will function, for it is only now beginning to be revealed. So we must walk in a new confidence in God, if we are to see it coming or we will die like the fathers who had faith, but did not receive the promises. God is not just providing "Things" for us as an inheritance, but perhaps that greatest aspect of our inheritance, is to become a PARTAKER OF THE DIVINE NATURE. There is nothing in earth or heaven that could be greater than to receive the very nature of God so that our being could vibrate with the same frequency as God.

Peter tells us that it is through these Great and Precious promises that we become partakers of the Divine Nature. Therefore It is not sufficient for us just to know that the promises have been made, but we must also personally embrace them as our reality. There are many today that speak about those promises with great joy, but who have never received them unto themselves, so there is no real result in their lives. The promise of the Holy Spirit is one of those Great and Precious promises, bringing the realisation of the presence of God into our being. Paul also says that God has delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love. But we can KNOW this and even believe it to be true, but never possess the reality so continue to walk in the darkness of ignorance.

For Abraham to inherit the promises God made to him he had to be separated unto God. In the beginning God began his work by using the same principle, as he separated the Light from the darkness. The LIGHT he called DAY and the darkness he called NIGHT. These two expressions are mutually exclusive so that they cannot both function together. The Light has power to dispel the darkness, but the darkness cannot put out the light. Separation is a principle God uses in all of our lives. Psalm 4:3. "Know that God has set apart, him that is Godly for himself."

We can see clearly in the life of Abraham how important the principle of separation really is. First he was told to leave his country. This involved his natural birth and everything associated with it, including everything that would limit his growth and development in God. The reason for this is that our true origin is not earthly but heavenly. We must be separated from every thought word and doctrine that would limit the expression of Christ in you. We are being separated unto HIS NAME, i.e. his NATURE.

Abraham took Lot with him, so there had to be another separation before he was free. Lot’s Name means "a veil" or a covering and so he walked by sight and not by faith. He chose the well watered plains in which to settle, actually going back in the direction he had come. He made his home in the wicked city of Sodom, with his daughters. Lot represents the man who goes along with someone who begins to walk with God but his heart remains back where he came from, and sooner or later he will follow his heart and not God. From that time Abraham was released to pursue the goal that had been birthed in his heart.

SALVATION

Many Christians would not consider what we have said about Abraham’s journey, has very much to do with Salvation. Traditional teaching suggests that to be saved is just a case of giving your heart to Jesus and being sorry for your sins. It is for this reason that so many today are "still born" or are Ishmael’s, being the product of the flesh. Salvation has to do with being made whole, Spirit, Soul and Body. It also involves being delivered from Death and this present evil world. This does not happen in one moment but occurs as our consciousness rises to embrace those precious promises given to us in Christ.

Israel did not walk into the Land of Promise the moment they were released from Egypt. They began a journey lasting forty years before they were ready to enter the land that represents for us, the life lived by the promises of God. Our journey does not have to last forty years but just as long as it takes for us to touch reality in God and to know our true identity and walk in it.

Salvation has to do with the release of our true being which is Christ, from the Adamic darkness in which it has been imprisoned. As Abraham obeyed the voice of God and left behind all that represented his past life, God began to share with him those great and precious promises that are able to make us partakers of the divine nature, and allow us to be able to "Live as God."

The prophets of old were also speaking to US, as they revealed the truth that was to be fulfilled in Christ, who was to come. Their fulfillment in Christ was our guarantee that they would also be fulfilled in us. But we must realise that they can only be fulfilled in us in the same way as they were fulfilled in Christ. It is for this reason that his life is recorded for us, not simply as history but as a foundation upon which we can build our lives. Paul tells us, "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, and that is Jesus Christ."

Salvation has little to do with being a Christian, in the traditional sense. The reason why God called Israel into being was to put in them the "Secret of Life," and make them a spiritual priesthood through whom God could reveal himself to the nations. However they failed and were finally brought again into captivity simply because they had become just like all the other nations, and this was never God’s intention. They were to be a peculiar treasure above all other people, to the Lord, and a kingdom of Priests and a holy nation. But they failed to obey the voice of the Lord and so their spiritual expectations were never realised.

Israel’s experiences are not wasted, for Paul tells us that their history now serves us for an EXAMPLE of how we also will fail, if we follow their pattern of life. God’s desire to have a unique people, who are alien in this world, through whom to express himself. Today he is raising up a NEW CREATION people for this purpose. The principle of separation from everything that would tie us to this natural world, must functions in us just as it did in Abraham’s life, for we are to express life on the highest dimension.

Through Moses God released the nation of Israel from the strongest nation on the earth at that time, without an army and without a war. Such was the manifestation of God in their midst. When Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time, he saw there was "no man" fulfilling the purpose of God, and so realised he was sent to be THAT MAN.

So Christ fulfilled in himself all that the prophets had promised, and in doing so opened the way for a NEW CREATION people to be raised up as a HOLY NATION and a Kingdom of Priests, all manifesting the divine nature living above the corruption that is in this world. The world has its own agenda and believes it is invincible. But the time is fast approaching when this people of God will defy the world authority, and its plan to control every nation, and begin to move across the earth setting all creation free. We are the people who will declare the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and it shall be, that, "One shall chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight. They shall run like mighty men, and climb the wall like men of war. The earth shall quake before them and the heavens shall tremble. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great and he is strong that executes his word."

The voices of Christians are filling the air today with rpophesies, as we approach the year 2000, bring fear and impending doom upon many of God’s people. Some ill-informed Bible teachers are predicting the end of the world. However the next age is approaching, which is represented by the Most Holy Place in its dimensions. It was ten cubits by ten cubits by ten cubits, which equals 1000. It will be a time of unsurpassed miracles, as God’s New creation people release the glory of God that will cover the earth, even as the waters cover the sea.

WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD

There is much teaching today in the Church about the judgement of God, that is ready to be poured out upon the earth after the saints have all been taken to some ethereal heaven. But Heb 3:1 tells us, "Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." Our leader and fore-runner has established for us the ministry involved in this Heavenly calling, which we must continue until every knee has bowed and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God. Beloved we are the ones that are to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Paul declares that in the ages to come, (beyond this one) he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Jesus Christ. Many Christians have been taken captive by their enemies, because they have failed to grasp their uniqueness and true identity in God. As a result they have taken on the same identity as their enemies. Thus, many of the "Holy People" have been possessed by Edom, the fleshly children of Easu who denied their true identity, counting their birth-right of no value.

In Ezek 36 the Prophet prophesied against Edom who have taken that which belonged to God and claimed it for their own. God is jealous for us, because he made us for himself, to be an everlasting possession and his divine habitation. This is God dealing with the unholy nations within us to remove our shame, that his glory might be revealed in us. Then the prophet says that we will shoot forth our branches, and produce fruit. This will be the evidence of the Life God has put within us. Then there will be a great multiplication as the nations within us are made to conform to the Christ, and we become unified as one man.

Throughout this chapter 36, Ezekiel the Prophet reveals the Lord’s plan to lift us out of our earthliness into the image of the heavenly. This will be the end of every false identity and concept we have carried with us in our Adamic consciousness. At that time the shame of our failure will be removed and there will be no more reproach. God is not going to remove the saints and abandon the people on the earth, as is taught today. He is bringing forth a people who will be the true expression of Christ, who has saved us and called us by his grace, right here on the earth.

The Prophet Ezekiel speaks of the Mountains, or the High Spiritual Places to which the Lord is calling his people today, which will yield Divine fruit, causing a bursting forth of Life from what were formerly dry sticks. He also likens us to a field that is untilled and unsowed, i.e. we have only produced that which has grown of itself, out of itself. This is God speaking about a revival unlike any revival we have previously known. This is not some spiritual stirring that lasts for a while and then disappears so that we return to our former state. This is a true metamorphous experience in the lives of his people, that the Prophet is speaking about here.

He speaks about Israel when they dwelt in their own land, how they defiled it because of their waywardness and infidelity, making them abhorrent in the eyes of the Lord. V17. Like natural Israel, we have also produced the weeds and seeds of our own willfulness causing our testimony to be less that positive before the world. However despite our failure to declare our true heritage in God, we are living in a day of his marvelous Grace, when he is doing a new work in us unlike anything we have previously known.

GOD’S PROGRAM

First of all the Prophet reminds us that what God is doing in us is not simply for our personal blessing, but is designed to sanctify his Holy Name before the heathen. But in order to achieve this, he said he would sanctify HIMSELF in us. This would involve a separation between his people and the people of the world, by constituting us a peculiar people. This is what the Apostle Paul spoke about when he said, "If any man be IN CHRIST he is a New Creation, old things have passed away, behold all things are NEW."

This is not a self-reformation process, but a sovereign work of God that begins with the words, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." This will remove from us our false sense of identity, and establish within us a new understanding of our origin and sense of being. It is important to notice that God does not begin this dramatic process by outlining out failures and telling us to change our ways. The divine method begins in the depths of our being, and not in the superficial areas of our lives.

We must understand that the way we live and act is based on the fact of our perceived identity. If we see ourselves as a mortal man and a sinner, then we will live accordingly. However if our consciousness reveals we are sons of God, that will be reflected in our behavior. Much of our Christian revival stems from seeking to conform to pre-conceived ideas, and modifying behavior. It is for this reason that the changes are never permanent.

The confidence of God in his method of renewing is expressed in his own words, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you and YOU SHALL BE CLEAN." This "water" is not sent simply to clean, but to activate the "Life" that has remained latent within us, manifesting itself by producing its own fruit. This is the new creation Paul speaks of in 2 Cor 5:17. This is TRUTH as opposed to the doctrines of men taught in many Churches today, concerning the "total depravity" of man in the "fall" that can only be eradicated through physical death and resurrection. Man’s original identity in God can never be lost for it is established in us in creation.

A person who cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality is considered to suffer from some form of insanity. But from a spiritual perspective, millions of people in this world including many Christians are also suffering from a similar form of "spiritual insanity." What they perceive to be the reality of their being, is actually fantasy, because they have been deceived. The consequence of this is that they actually live out of that false consciousness, considering it to be their spiritual reality.

GOD’S RESTORATION PROGRAM

The Good News is that God has a remedy that goes to the very root of our problem and guarantees we will be conformed to the image of his Son. The uncleanness we have manifested, due to the idolatrous perception we have had of ourselves, can be removed by the "Clean Water" or "Water of Separation," as it is called in Numbers 19:13. This recovery movement of God is to establish again the distinct difference between the people of God and all the other nations. Israel lost this distinction during 400 years in Egypt, during which they became largely assimilated into Egyptian custom and idolatry.

The Plagues were the first indication of this distinction when the Israelites were exempt from the consequences of some of them, but Passover was the most dramatic indication of this difference. So much so that many Egyptians "cashed in" on Israel’s deliverance by joining them as they left Egypt. It was a mixed multitude that was released that night from the mighty power of Pharaoh, without a war and without a gun.

This is indicative of the mixed multitude who have "joined" the people of God today, with the hope that God would be good to them and they could enjoy his blessing in their lives. But we are living in a day when the Lord is setting a mark upon a people who will set all creation free. There can be no mixed multitude among these, who are being "called out" unto himself today. I believe the Prophet Ezekiel saw this day, and in this Chapter 36 is explaining to us what God is doing.

God’s people have been scattered like Israel of old, among the nations. Over many years we have slowly conformed to the ways of the heathen, being convinced this is how life was meant to be. The result is that today there is very little difference between the life of a Christian and the life of someone who as yet does not know God.

The Prophet speaking for God says, "You have profaned my name among the heathen." Many Christian businessmen function no differently to ungodly men, in their business. The breakdown in the marriages of Christians is no less than in the rest of society, and the children of Christians are just as prone to be involved with drugs and wanton behavior. Cancer, dis-ease and all forms of sickness are just as prevalent in Christian circles.

Today, God is restoring the integrity of his holy Name that we have profaned among the heathen. I am not exempting myself from this accusation of the Prophet for I have been just as guilty. But since God has put his light within me I now see what before, was still shrouded in darkness. Father began to reveal to me that sickness is not inevitable in this polluted world, and nor is death. Am I to live my life subject to anger, fear or lust, when Christ dwells within me and he is my LIFE? Such is the absurdity of our testimony to the world today.

Unfortunately, Christianity has been reduced to a code of ethics and morals which becomes a religious law by which so many live, thinking this is the "Life of Christ." Even in our failure, we console ourselves with the concept that "everybody does it, and nobody’s perfect!" Anyway, who wants to be so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly use?? Such are the depths to which the testimony of Christ has fallen.

Just because we personally seek to be holy and never go to the extremes to which others have gone, we tend to glow with pride like the man Jesus spoke about in the Temple who said, "I thank God that I am not as other men are, I fast twice a week and pay my tithes!! " But there was a publican there who was much more honest saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Humility will at least allow us to see Christ not just as a historic figure, but as our own true identity.

The "Gospel" that the majority are still preaching today says, " Repent and be sorry for your sins, and give your heart to Jesus and ask him into your life, and you will be saved and go to heaven when you die!!" However this has little relevance to the TRUTH presented here by Ezekiel, in God’s restoration movement. We notice that in this changing process the Spirit of God is the prime mover, and also the one who consummates the whole will and purpose of God in us. The whole process is recorded in verses 25-38, and is based upon the "I will" of God without any demand for, "If you will!"

Most Christians have never considered that what God is doing in us has anything to do with anyone else. We have had a very selfish idea that everything being fulfilled in us is basically for our own benefit. However Jesus did not consider that his life was being fulfilled just for himself. He knew what was being accomplished in him was to affect all mankind. Of course we can accept that as being true for Jesus Christ, but surely that does not apply to us today?

Can we conceive of a Salvation that does not include all men. Is God interested in simply those believers who are alive on the earth today? Are we to ignore the millions who have lived and died because of the transgression or the curse, without experiencing the Redemption of God? Has God arbitrarily relegated those millions to obscurity? Let us be honest beloved, and stand guilty before God in the light of our selfish and often conceited notions we have of the character of God.

Yes, we may consider the restoration of God’s people in Ezekiel’s vision as that which we desire, and gladly open our hearts to receive it, but only out of a selfish longing. I find it most interesting that this Prophet who was a priest in exile in a foreign land, should be chosen to reveal the glory of God’s will and purpose in us. What could he do as a Priest in such a situation, with no temple and in bondage under an alien power? But this revelation was to bring hope to a people even today who have never been able to find release from the bondage inflicted upon us by this world.

Ezekiel continued with the document of our release, saying, "I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and idols." What is God saying, surely we are not to be considered "filthy," and idolaters? Yes, it really is true. Our righteousness is actually "self righteousness" and is as filthy rags in the sight of God, because it is not based upon his righteousness. We are also idolaters because so many worship a God who does not exist, who lives up in the sky and blesses us when we do good and punishes us when we do evil. There is no such God!

He said, "I will give you a new spirit and a new heart, and I will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be MY PEOPLE, and I WILL BE YOUR GOD." This renewal is from the inside out, that guarantees we will live life in another, higher dimension. There will be no separation between you and God, for the two will have become one, so that the excellency of the power will be of God and not of us. But to what purpose is God doing such a refining work in us. Is it simply for our benefit and blessing? The answer is no, and here is where our whole thinking must be changed, to discover that, "It is God that is working in you, to WILL and to DO OF HIS GOOD PLEASURE."

After concluding the declaration of renewal for his people the Prophet is lifted up in the Spirit and transported to a valley filled with dry bones. Our imagination takes over and we see this scene as a literal landscape filled with literal bones. Beloved it is time to grow up and discover the realm of Spirit and Reality. You may not want to consider Ezekiel’s experience in this valley, deciding rather to enjoy the blessing of God given just for you. But I am going to take you there and open for you a scene that has been rarely contemplated.

Ezekiel was now exploring the spiritual realm of his own being. This was an area he had never visited before, after all, who wants to stand gazing out on a valley filled with dry bones that have never been buried. Why were they not put out of sight in graves? Because the "end" of those whose bones litter this landscape, were never destined for the grave but to LIVE!! The prophet has to discover the connection we have with all mankind.

Paul tells us, "God has made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth…..For IN HIM we all LIVE and MOVE and have our BEING…. For we are also the offspring of God." Acts 17:26-28. All mankind has a common ancestry and origin but our religious doctrines have segregated humanity, denying our relationship to the rest of humanity. The doctrines of men, deny Paul’s teaching making those they consider OUTSIDE of CHRIST to be parented by someone other than God. Such religious dogma can so easily relegate them to a burning eternal hell forever, without even shedding a single tear.

We deplore the Moslems when they fight what they call a "Holy War" calling them fanatics, but Christians are just as fanatical based upon their distorted view of the character of God. I make no apology for what I am saying, because the Name of the Most High God has been desecrated by such devilish teaching. The world will continue to be divided and the vast majority ignored in their fight against hunger, disease and stability in their lives.

Ezekiel now faced the dry bones of past generations, who were no longer present to enjoy what God is doing in our midst today. They may be forgotten by the living, but they are not forgotten by the Father from whom they came. The prophet is asked the question, "Son of man, can these bones live?" For the fundamentalists who insist on a literal interpretation of the Bible, this whole incident has absolutely no relevance to us today. However beloved, there is somewhere in the uncharted realm of your spirit, where this valley of dry bones exists, and today God is asking you to face up to the challenge even as Ezekiel did.

The prophet answered, "O Lord thou knowest." But this was not to be an escape route for him, for the voice commanded him saying, "Prophesy upon these bones, and say to them, O ye dry bones hear the word of the Lord. Behold I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall LIVE. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin and put breath in you and YOU SHALL LIVE. And you will know that I AM THE LORD."

What did this prophesy indicate concerning these bones? It suggests that these people could never be forgotten because they all contributed to the CHRIST who is the "Savior of the World." Why did God wait so long before they were raised up? Because he has to wait for the Sons of man to grasp the enormous scope of the will and purpose of God that is being realised within them today. Can you imagine the spiritual dimension into which we will move as these dry bones are brought to life within our own consciousness. The Noah’s and the Abraham’s and the Jacobs, and David’s and the Ezekiel’s and a host of others who are a part of the "Whole house of Spiritual Israel."

The CHRIST is not a single man, as so many Christians consider him to be, as they wait for "him" to appear in the clouds of heaven. This concept causes us to retain the individualism that contributes to the multitudes of divisions which exist among God’s people today. This "Christ" is a corporate man comprised of a people, all of whom have found their origin, identity and being in him. When Jesus took those three disciples up the mountain into that high place in the Spirit, they witnessed there the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, as the consummation of their redemption was displayed before their very eyes. However is it not tremendous to see Moses appear with him, and also Elijah. Their bones had plenty of time to become dry, but there was one who saw them as a part of himself and raised them from that valley in his consciousness to fulfill his destiny.

Jesus fulfilled the Law that came by Moses, in himself. How did he do that? He recognised the position, purpose and ministry that was fulfilled in Moses, as being an integral part of the whole redemptive process instituted by God. So Moses stands there with him, to fulfill his destiny in Christ, and share in that same glory. Jesus also challenged the religious systems of his day defying the Pharisees and others who were seeking to kill him and enslave his followers. But he was not the first one raised up to set the captives free and defy the enemies of the saints. There was Elijah who challenged the prophets of Baal, and outnumbered 400 to one, destroyed those who sought to enslave God’s people. His bones may have been dry but in fulfillment of the purposes of his Father in his life Jesus spoke life into those dry bones and breathed breath into them and they lived IN HIM (Christ)

Beloved we must put off our individualism and see our corporate nature in Christ. Do you realise we were all created in Christ! Eph 2:10. We all have the same spirit! Because for so many, these things are just knowledge and have not yet become reality, we often act as if we were on opposing sides, being quite prepared to destroy those who do not agree with our ideas. Paul says, "Till we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But speaking the truth in love, may GROW UP INTO HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

Every person who has fulfilled the purposes of God in his life regardless of when he lived forms a part of "CHRIST" growing up INTO HIM, not outside or separate from him. We often speak about the unity of the faith, but for many that means you must agree absolutely with what they consider is "the faith," and only then can we be unified. I believe we need to know today, that while we argue our differences from the point of view of knowledge we will never reach the unity of the Faith. Jesus said, "I am the truth."

This means that truth cannot be considered to be a system of knowledge, but it must be related to the person of Christ. Therefore Truth must be appropriated, as an expression of Christ and this can only be done experientially. The measure of Christ in your life will determine the measure of truth that you can say is yours.

While we are not centered in reality, I see little hope for the saints to enter into that corporate sense of being which is Christ. In the meantime the saints of yesteryear will remain in the graveyard waiting for the realisation of our Union with them, to burst upon our consciousness, with the desire to prophesy over them and bring them to life to complete our incorporation into Christ.

Jesus knew full well, that his ministry was not an end in itself. He came to incorporate humanity into a KINGDOM which he said, "Was not of this world." This Kingdom was not conceived with the coming of Jesus Christ, but was spoken of by the prophets in the Old Testament. Baalim prophesied concerning the Kingdom, and so did Samuel, and Nathan among many others. Abraham the Father of the faithful, birthed the Christ, according to Matt 1;1. Neither was David separated from Christ, for he established the kingly order and it was declared of him, "That of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne."

There is no past, present or future in God for he dwells in the eternal NOW, therefore all the purposes of God are linked together regardless of TIME or the person involved. Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden brought death into the world, which was passed upon all men. The Scripture speaks about DEATH REIGNING, exercising authority over all men until someone came who could conquer it. The only way the power of death could be broken, was if a man could die and then return to life and be seen by men. This is exactly what Jesus Christ did.

However this break-through came not just for Jesus Christ, but through his death, burial and resurrection, the power of death has been defeated forever, for all mankind. This victory is to be manifested in a people who would realise the same consciousness and identity that conquered the monster called death. However, this victory seems to have come too late for the millions who have lived and died from Adam to Christ? Are these to simply drift off into the mist of time and be forgotten? Has God made any provision for these who through no fault of their own were born too early before the solution was revealed?

The writer to the Hebrews says, "That he should taste death for EVERY MAN." Surely that must cover all those from Adam to Christ. To exclude them from this promise of immortality would make God totally unfair and arbitrary in his judgement. The time, place and country of our birth is not under our control, so God must accept some responsibility for the adverse conditions under which some have been born. What about those who are born into heathen countries with no Bible to show the way? Or those who are born into Islamic or Hindu cultures, and never hear the Gospel? Are all these to be excluded from the victory that is in Christ? I think not!!

Paul says that if Christ be not raised up, then all our preaching is vain and all those who are fallen asleep in Jesus are PERISHED. But because he has conquered death, he has become the FIRST-FRUITS of ALL them that sleep. So we know that those that have died are to be included in Christ’s victory over death. Christ did not overcome death just for his own benefit, but that the power of death could be broken for every man.

How did he accomplish this victory? Was there some real battle fought until one defeated the other? No, death is not some physical being that can be engaged in battle. While Adam lived in harmony with God in the Garden of Eden he was immortal and "death" could not exist. However, when he lost the sense of his true identity in God, as "I AM" and entered into another consciousness, that assumed an identity not related to LIFE, he immediately became subject to DEATH. The process is exactly the same for us all.

The only one who can bring the dead back to life is CHRIST. The only way we can "prophesy" over the dry bones, is if we enter into the realisation of CHRIST AS OUR OWN IDENTITY. The Truth is that, "As he is so are we in this world." The word to us is the same as it was to Ezekiel, "Prophesy and say, O ye dry bones, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD!!" That is the only word that has power to bring life to the dry bones. No one from the Aaronic priesthood had to power to conquer death, For the bones of Israel were strewn across the wilderness before they entered into Caanan. It would require a New Priesthood that was established on the power of an endless life. This is the Melchisedek Priesthood, that is being raised up in this our day.

Melchisedek

For most Christians, this mysterious figure that suddenly appears in the book of Genesis chapter 14 and then is only spoken about in two more passages in scripture, is passed off as of little importance. However here is the key to help us understand, first of all the ministry of Jesus Christ who became a part of that order, and the ministry God is raising up today in the lives of his people.

Perfection could not be attained under the Levitical Priesthood because it was tied to the LAW. However the Melchisedek Priesthood has no association at all with the Law. Furthermore Melchisedek is not a Priest of Jehovah the God of Law, but of EL ELYON the MOST HIGH GOD, who is also the Father of Jesus! Like 1:32. This is the God who is most closely related to man, who said, "Ye are GOD’S, and all of you are children of the Most High God." Psalm 82:6. So if we are to do the will of our Father, we must be a part of his Priesthood, which is the Melchisedek order.

What is different about this order? Well its members are aliens in this would of sin and death, being without father and mother in the natural sense, and having no beginning or end of days. In other words these people are in no way influenced or affected by DEATH. Have you ever stopped to consider how much death impacts upon the lives of people in this world? Without death there would be no sickness, no crime or murder, no wars, no crying no sorrow, no separation from friends and loved ones.

Most ministry today follows the pattern of the Levitical order, which was an established hierarchy, subordinating the people and governing them under the Law that had been established. The Melchisedek Order only has one heirarchy and that is THE MOST HIGH GOD and everybody else is his offspring and therefore a god (Elohim) under him, there is no other strata of government in between. The question of authority does not enter in as we are all brothers and sisters with the one Father who will rules all, thus bringing in PEACE. The Melchisedek order is not based upon doctrines or laws, but the power of an endless life, into which death with all its ramifications cannot intrude.

This order will be responsible for the birthing of the corporate CHRIST on the earth, not through the physical birth process, but through a mystical virgin conception, just as it was with Mary. She represents the female element of God divinely impregnated, who produced a child that is still alive and well this very day. Beloved we are walking in a new day, and it is time to step over the bounds of our humanistic theology, which has placed upon us the limitations of natural humanity.

This new Order represents the power of an endless life, and not dying and going to heaven to live. This is the substitute theology that has been peddled for many years, that has never taken us beyond our natural humanity. We have remained the children of Adam, having been BORN and then we DIE, we come from the dust and we will return to the dust. What kind of a hope is that?? Paul said, "We shall not all sleep but we shall be changed." Beloved that is my expectation, to be among those who will not sleep.

To many this sounds like an impossible dream. Who ever saw a man who was not subject to death. I don’t think Jesus ever thought like that or he would never have believed for it either. He knew it was possible and said, "I will be the man to break the power of death for every generation." There is so much talk about the Melchisedek Priesthood today, but it represents for us the Power of an endless life, and how many are advocating that!!

Without mother or Father suggests that our ancestry and origin, is heavenly and not earthly. If our origin is El Elyon or the Most High God, and that is the TRUTH, then we must conclude that death retains its hold over us, through a false consciousness of our identity that is apart from I AM. This is proved for us in the Garden of Eden, where Adam was immortal, walking in perfect fellowship with God, until he appropriated a knowledge that gave him an identity apart from God. The snake told him that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would constitute him as GOD, thus denying his true origin. This false consciousness, is still poisoning humanity including those who claim to be Christians, allowing death to exert its power over us.

The subtlety I am expressing here, is that "Knowledge" was the gate through which death entered into the human race. But today we are seeking to destroy this same "death" by means of the same MIND activity we call "Knowledge," that allowed it access in the first place. We have been fooled again, thinking that now our "knowledge" is the TRUTH, and therefore has the power to destroy the false knowledge we once held. We keep forgetting God’s warning concerning the snake, that it is more subtle than any beast of the field.

God did not say that the words the snake told eve were subtle, because it was a straight out lie, with nothing to support it except the word of the snake. NO, it was the snake itself that is subtle!! It is not a symbol of evil as is taught in theology, because it has for eons been a symbol of WISDOM. From the ancient past, right up to today, it has symbolised natural "wisdom" so that even the medical profession use the snake on a pole as their signature. This represents for them a knowledge that can save lives!! There has to be something much more than changing doctrines, or hearing some new revelation, or possessing some other knowledge, that will deliver us from the power of Death.

Paul speaks about the experience of being IN CHRIST saying, "For in him dwells the "fullness" of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete (sharing the same "fullness") in him, which is the head of all principality and power. In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Col 2:9-12. This divine surgery is designed to remove from us that part of our being that responds to the desires lust and cravings of that which is not of God.

God’s recovery program today must begin IN US and until we have been liberated and freed we will not share in the reconciling of the world to Christ. Let us concentrate at this time on becoming the true testimony of Christ on this earth. May you be challenged and blessed as the Spirit makes real to you the things concerning himself.