Tasting Powers Coming Age

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GOD said we areliving in a worldof shadows andvisual aids...all created to hidethe Truth from some,and to demonstrate

and empower theTruth, Jesus, to aspecial few witheyes to See. He is calling now:Open the eyes of your heart,and fall to your knees.

New Horizons and Reality await!


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Tastingthe Powers

of theComing Age


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As always, i we can help you in any way, please contact the church here atP.O. Box 68309, Indianapolis, IN 46268 USA.

www.JesusLifeTogether.comCopyright 1986, 1999, 2006 [email protected]

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(the entire document) except by the authors permission. You may, however,reely reproduce this in its entirety. And, o course, this publication is never

to be sold or any price (2 Corinthians 2:17, Matthew 10:8).

PROLOGUESEEinG ThROUGh ThE MiRaGE

You are not meant to be a slave, bound to this decaying, allen world.You are not meant to be a slave to your lustul pursuits and to theutility o your thinking. You are not meant to be bound by the emptydarkness o your heart and understandingbeing a slave pushedaround by hormones and moods and selsh desires that have enslavedthe present age and those who have lived or pleasure.

I thats you, then you are dead even while you live. No matter hownice you are, no matter how talented you are, no matter how intelligentyou are, and no matter how accomplished you are in this allen world.

Te real issue is this: What are you going to do in the real world,the unseen world, which is eternal? Eternal lie is to choose to livein what cant be seen. What is seen is temporary; what is unseen iseternal. Where will you live and choose to make your mark?

Satan wants us to be a whole race o slaves who think we are having un,who think we are ree, who think our lives have meaning. Ten, Poo!Flush! Down into the abyss goes everyone who lived or themselves,religious or not, with nothing le to show or it all.

Tis world we are living in is not the real world. Te REAL world isa world that is UNSEEN. All the unseen issues o Authority, Love,

Grace, Prayer, Worship, Forgiveness, Angels, Freedom, Wisdom, rueRelationship, LightHESE things are the REAL and tangible thingsrom Gods view o planet Earth. And the reality o all o those thingsis ound in the unseen worldNO the seen world.

Mere humans (as God called those who can ONLY see temporaryand three-dimensional objects) are BLIND to the only things that areREAL, and controlled by things that are only shadows and objectlessons in the visible world. Tis world is a mirage. Everything youdo in this seen world is just a sandcastle which will dry up and blowaway. Its worthless. It doesnt mean a thing. Tere is a whole unseenuniverse that you cant see because you are dead in your transgressions


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and sins. You are darkened in your heart and mind in the utilityo your thinking. You are darkened because you have decided toworship the created things rather than the Creator, who is ever to bepraised. Youve been given over to a depraved mind, and yet JESUS isextending His hand to pull you into the REAL world.

Eternal lie is to choose to live in what cant be seen. Whoever believesin JESUS shall receive eternal lie. Te process o salvation itsel is to

live in the unseen world with a priority system that reects the actthat we know this seen world is just a mirage, a shadow. Whoeverbelieves in JESUS shall receive and live in the eternal, the unseen. Tisseen world is not where their allegiance is going. Its not where theirheart is going or where their loyalties are. Tey ear nothing here inthis world. Tey embrace nothing here and are obsessed with nothinghere.

All o this is really as basic as salvation itsel. When you live or yourhobbies or alcohol and drugs or power or money, you are living or amirage and it cant satisy because it is in the physical realm, and you

were created in the image o God or heavenly realm satisaction.

JESUS, HE ONE raised from the dead, can see things as theyreally are and can pull you into the real world where you are nota slave anymore. Stretch your heart towards these things, and theFather will bring it all to pass in your life and family!

Tis is an invitation into the Real world where everything is eternal.Eternal Lie. Te Unseen.

TaSTinG

ThE POwERS

OfThE

COMinG aGE

In Hebrews 6:4-5 we nd a list o some very basic descriptions o aChristian: ...who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the

heavenly gi, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted thegoodness o the word o God and the powers o the coming age...

Do you know what it means to taste the powers o the comingage? It is said to be the normalexperience o a Christian lie. Tis issomething realandpoweruland it is meant to be the EXPERIENCEo every Believer. Doyou know what it means?

I think it is sae to say that tasting the powers o the coming age ismore than going to church and singing a ew songs, even dancing,and going home. Nobody being honest could say, Now that wastasting the powers o the coming age. Only those who have neverasted MORE would say so! Right?

Jesus said that the norm o a Believer is to have rivers o living watergushingout o their belly. So, trulystepping into the Kingdom o Godmust be more than some ritual o dressing up and going to church onSunday. As Paul said, the Kingdom o God consists not o mere words,but o dunamiso dynamiteo power. Its not just a bunch o talk,with a bible study here and there and a couple o prayers. Tere is

power, and that power is real. Maybe dynamo would be a better


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way to express that, because a dynamo is a waterall that is generatingpower day aer day, whereas dynamite is one fash in the pan.

BEfORE TiME BEGan:

ThE PROMiSEOf ETERniTyLets go all the way back to creation and look at some o what God is

doing. Beore creation, what was in existence? GOD!Period. Tats all.Everywhere, God. Nothing else. Tat was even before the beginningo time because when creation came into being, time itsel waspartothat creation! In itus Chapter 1 it says: Paul, a servant o God and anapostle o Jesus Christ or the aith o Gods elect and the knowledgeo the truth that leads to godlinessa aith and knowledge resting onthe hope o eternal lie... Tat sounds good, right? Anyone in theirright mind is interested in eternal lie. You can go all the way back toPonce de Leon and his search or the ountain o youth and nd thateternal lie is something that man, just out o his natural mind, wants.Obviously, it would be a real curse to live orever in a place that is notgood, so NO ONE desires that. But man longs to be able to live oreverin a good place...in some place where he could enjoy living orever.Eternal lie is something that God created, and now He is trying to tellus what thats all about.

A person consists really o three thingsa body, a soul and a spirit.A spirit is conceived when God breathes lie rom another worldinto the womb o that expecting mother. At that point, a spirit is bornthat cannot die. It is impossible that it can die. Te only questionthat remains is: Does that spirit spend eternity in a paradise or in a

torment? As it turns out, that is a choice that we make.So, as we explore creation, well see that creation involves thenature o God and eternal lie, because all these things work together...a aith and knowledge resting on the hope o eternal lie, which God,who does not lie, promised beore the beginning o time... (it. 1:2).Tat promise (that thought in Gods mind o eternal lie) happenedbefore time ever began. Tat promise happened beore any creation,and even beore there was such a thing as time.

...and at his appointed season he brought his word to lightthrough the message entrusted to me by the command o God our

Savior (it. 1:3). You can see that in Gods heart is also this aspect

o bringing His Word to light through the message. We have to beAUGH. You see creation. You see God. You see that beore thebeginning o time there is salvation or eternal lie...and then you seethat Paul says that he has been brought this knowledge rom Godabout what its all about. I am glad that Paul received that (and thatwe have received that), so we can know whats going on! A personwho is ignorant o acts is going to make bad decisions. You need tohave acts to make decisions; otherwise, you go blindly through lietripping and alling all along the way. You go blindly through whateveryour situation is, and you blow it because you didnt know theacts.God, who does not lie, merciully stretches out His hand and says, Illgive you acts. I will bring to light the reality o what the universe isall about. Beore time began, I had specic intentions, and I will makethose things known to you i you will search. I you seek, you will nd.I you ask, you will receive. I you knock, the door will be opened. Forthose who are honest and are seeking, I will make known the realityo My presence and what I have in store or them. I will let you knowwhat I have prepared or you rom the beginning o creationeven

before there was time. EERNAL LIFE!

So, not only do we see this idea o salvation and a knowledge that restson the hope o eternal lie, but we also see that God intends or thismessage o God to beproclaimed!

in hEavEnLy REaLMS...

in ChRiST!Beore the beginning o time there was just GOD. When God created,

He created things called heavenly realms, and then He created thingsthat well call the natural or physical realm.

In the letter to the Christians in Ephesus Paul is reerring to theheavenly realms. He is opening the mind o God to them: Praise beto the God and Father o our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us inthe heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He choseus in Himin Christbeore the creation o the world to be holy andblameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sonsthrough Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and willto thepraise o his glorious grace, which he has reely given us in the One he

lovesJesus Christ. In Him we have redemption through Jesus blood,


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the orgiveness o sins, in accordance with the riches o Gods grace thathe lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made knownto us the mystery o his will according to his good pleasure, which hepurposed in Christ, to be put into eect when the times will have reachedtheir ulllmentto bring all things in heaven and on earth togetherunder one head, even Christ (Ephesians 1:1-10).

What phrase keeps popping up over and over again? In Him, in

the One He loved. In Christ, In Christ. All spiritual blessings arewhere? In Christ. In heavenly realms, in Christ. Tis thing we callheavenly realms is part o Gods creation, and thats where all theblessings o the universe are. Te blessings are all in heavenly realms,and heavenly realms are Christ! Christ is in heavenly realms, ...andhis incomparably great power or us who believe. Tat power is like theworking o his mighty strength [the mighty strength o Almighty God],which he exerted in Christ when he raised Jesus rom the dead andseated him at the right handin the heavenly realms,ar above all ruleand authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given,not only in the present age but also in the one to come [tasting thepowers o the coming age]. And God placed all things under his eetand appointed Christ to be head over everything or the church, whichis his body, the ullness o Jesus, who lls everything in every way (Eph.1:19-23). He said the Church, which is His Body, is the ullness o theGodhead, the ullness o deity who lls everything in every way! Yousee all that, right?

Do you eel like everything is grand and glorious and absolutely perectin the physical realm here on planet Earth? J No. Tats because theblessing isnt in the physical realm, is it? But there is another realm

called the heavenly realm, where all the blessings of the universeare, and all the authority is. Jesus Christ sat down at the right hando the Father in heavenly realms with all power and dominion andauthority over all things or the Church, which is His body, whichlls everything in every way.

Because o Gods great love or us, God, who is rich in mercy, madeus alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit isby grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ andseated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order thatin the coming ages [tasting the powers o the coming age] he might

show the incomparable riches o his grace, expressed in his kindness to

us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).

With ever-increasing glory God is breathing into people who arepart o His Kingdom. He is breathing His power, His authority, Hiswisdom and His creativityand the heavenly realms are astounded atthis! When you become a disciple o Jesus, you are seatedin heavenlyrealms. You are not seated on planet Earth anymore. You become apartaker o heavenly realms. All spiritual blessings are given to us. He

blesseduspast tense! It is not that He willbless us, but He has blessedus, past tense, with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenlyrealms. It has already been established.

Tis heavenly realm is where everything good is. Every spiritualblessing, every blessing that really makes any diference, is in heavenlyrealms. It is not in earthly realms. Teres some mingling, but the goldis in heavenly realms. When you become a disciple o Jesus you areseated (past tense) in the heavenly realms. He has blessed us (pasttense) in heavenly realms with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.You can see this thing that is happening as part o creation, a part that

we dont see all together clearly, but heavenly realms is a glorious parto creation.

ThE BaTTLEiS ThERE, TOOIn Ephesians 6:10-12 we nd that there is a whole other part oheavenly realms: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mightypower. Put on the ull armor o God so that you can take your standagainst the devils schemes. For our struggle is not against fesh andblood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the

powers o this dark world and against spiritual orces oevil in theheavenly realms....

Wait a minute! We are not talking about heaven. We are talkingabout a whole other part o creation, because even the devil himsel isin heavenly realms. Some how, some way, satan is in heavenly realms.Now, who were the Ephesians? Who was Paul writing this to?Christians, or non-Christians? He was writing to Christians. Noticehe said, Our struggle is not against esh and blood, but againstrulers, authorities, powers o the dark world, against spiritual orceso evil in the heavenly realms. He said our battle is in the heavenly

realms. As Christians, our battlethe warare that we wageis not


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with weapons o this world, as it says in 2 Corinthians 10. Were notthrowing hand grenades. Te physical realm stuf has nothing to dowith it because our battle is not in the physical realm. Our battle is inthe heavenly realms, and against dark orces, dominions and powers.Satan is not Captain Kangaroo. He is not some imaginary orce o evil.He is a very real, created being that once went by the name o Lucier,the most powerul created being that ever was. He stood at the righthand o God as the anointed cherub, the anointed angel that covers.He was lled with all wisdom and all beauty. He is a powerul being.He is a created being, and he is just as real as you and I are...exceptor one diference, he is in the heavenly realms. Our battle, when webecome a disciple o Jesus, is now in heavenly realms.

Has anybody ever noticed that when you become a Christian, thingsthat used to be easy seem to all o a sudden be hard? Even thoughlie was a real pit when you werent a Christian, its almost like thingsthat were easy to deal with when you were not a Christian becomethings you start struggling with all o a sudden. You think, Im notsupposed to be struggling because Im a Christian now. And yet, insome ways you are struggling even more than you were. In diferentways, but now all o a sudden there is turmoil in your heart that youmight not have had beore you stepped into heavenly realms. Itsbecause HAS where the battle is. When you step into heavenlyrealms, when you become a Disciple o Jesus, now all o a suddenyou are a very clear mark or satan. Now he can see you ace to ace,because now you are in his realm, in a sense. Hes the god o this age,and hes taken dominion over planet Earth, but even so, the heavenlyrealm is where the battle is waged.

Its like a man who is very clumsy. I hes sitting in a chair, would youever know that he is clumsy? No. But i you gave him ve things to doand ve minutes to do them, you would nd out pretty quickly howclumsy he is. All o a sudden he is all thumbs and he cant do anythingright. And thats the picture o what happens when we become aChristian. Tats what Paul is talking about in Romans 7. I you arenot a disciple o Jesus, i you are not pursuing the things o God butyou are just living your lie or yoursel, its like youre just sitting ina chair. You dont see or notice how clumsy you are until you standup and start to do something in heavenly realms, then you nd outthat you need perecting! You need ever-increasing glory. You need

to grow in the grace and the knowledge o our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. You need to grow into maturity and strength. But you neverknew that as long as you were just sitting there. Tats why, when youbecome a Christian, sometimes you nd yoursel starting to battlewith things and wage war with things that never were a big problembeore you became a Christian. Tere is a war that you are waging,according to the Word o God. Tat war is in heavenly realms. Satanis in those heavenly realms also.

EvERyThinG REaL

haSa ShadOwGod has created this invisible world that He reers to at the end o 2Corinthians 4 as what is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal.Te things we cant see are the only things that are going to last. Petersaid that everything else is going to be burnt up with a ervent heat.Tere is going to be a meltdown. And the physical realm, which is theother hal o creation, is going to be burnt up. Te chair you are sittingon and everything you can see right now in this world is going to beburnt up, because it is part o the physical realm, not the supernaturalrealm or the heavenly realms.

When God decided to create us and to create planet Earth and all thethings that we see, and when God created this thing called religion,He was taking the reality o the heavenly realm and making littleminiature models o it on planet Earth. When he brought the seenworld (the physical realm) into existence, those things were shadowso the heavenly realms. Tere was a purpose or them. It wasnt thatGod just randomly decided to create this, that, and the other. But

there was a whole creation called heavenly realms, and God decidedto create miniature models o it to paint a picture o reality. I youset up a canvas and you paint a picture o someone, the person isreal, but the painting is not. Tey look alike, but the painting is intwo dimensions and the person is in three dimensions. Te paintingdoesnt have lie, but the person does. But they look alike. Tat is whatcreation is. Te physical realm is a shadow, or picture, o the heavenlyrealms. God in His innite wisdom did something pretty incrediblein that.

Te priests serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow o what is

in heaven... (Heb. 8:5). God went into great detail to talk to the Jewish


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people about how big the temple was supposed to be and the diferentkinds o gold and jewels that went into it. He gave specic detailsabout how the ark was to be so long and so wide, and have angelssitting on top...and that there would be manna, Aarons rod, and stonetablets inside. Te Jewish people were scratching their heads saying,Whats going on? Why are we supposed to do all these religiousrituals? Well, the word o God says those things were a shadow, aminiature model, o the reality in the heavenly realms. Tere is atemple in the heavenly realms, and that temple is Jesus. Tere is anark in the heavenly realms, and that ark is Jesus! Everything pointsback to the reality in heavenly realms.

In Hebrews 9:8-9 Te Holy Spirit was showing by this that the wayinto the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the rsttabernacle was still standing. Tis is an illustration or the present timeindicating that gis and sacrices were not able to clear the conscienceo the worshippers. Tis is an illustration o what these people weresupposed to do, an example or shadow o the reality o somethingelse God was doing. Te Most Holy Place was to be in the presenceo God.

Te law is only a shadow o the good things that are coming; not therealities themselves... (Heb. 10:1). Even the laws o God, where Godsays Do this, do that, are only a shadow o what is already happeningin heavenly realms. Remember Whatever you bind on earth shallbe bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed inheaven, as Jesus told Peter. He is reerring to these heavenly realms.All these thingsthe laws, the righteousness and the holiness oGod, and the characteristics o Godare real up there and are only

shadows down here. Do not steal. Tats only a shadow o a realityin heaven.

Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regardto a religious estival, a New Moon celebration or Sabbath day. Teseare a shadow o the things that were to come; the reality, however, isound in Christ (Col 2:16-17). Again, you see this idea o a shadow.I you were to go to the book o Hebrews in Chapter 4 or to the booko Revelation in Chapters 21 and 22, what you would nd i you aretrying to understand what is in these heavenly realms, is that there areshadows on Earth that represent REALITIES ound in the Heavenly

Realms. We have a shadow o the Sabbath on Earth, and there is a

realityo the Sabbath in heavenly realms. It talks about ood, what youeat and drink, and these are a shadow o the reality that is to come.Tere is a reality o ood in heavenly realms, and what we eat todayis only a shadow, a mirage. Tere is a river on planet Earth, but thatsonly a shadow o a reality that is in heavenly realms. Tere is a realriver in heavenly realms, and God gave us an illustration o a riverthat we could understand on planet Earth.

Te temple is that way. A banquet is that way. We have parties andcelebrations here, but there is a reality in heavenly realms. Jesus talkedabout the great banquet that we are going to be going to. A party inthe sky, i you will...a estival going on in heavenly realms. It says thatthats a shadow o the reality thats in Christ, and Christ is heavenlyrealms. We are walking around and doing things on planet Earth,and we need to realize that all o this creation is only a mirage, onlya shadow o the heavenly realms. God created this Earth that we arewalking around on as a shadow. And everything about it is only alittle miniature model, a painting, o the realitythat is in heavenlyrealms in Christ. And thats what we are going to experience.

ThE REaLMS

MELTEdand MEShEd TOGEThER!When God created man He did something really amazing. He took ahandul o clay rom planet Earth and molded a man out o that clay,and then He breathed on it. He didnt do that with any o the rest ocreation. In man, God did something that He had never done beore.He took some of heavenly realms and some of earthly realms and

put them together. Tats the rst time He ever did that. He breathedon it. He said, I created man and woman in my own image. He hadnever done that beore! O all the animals on all o planet Earth,He had never done that beore. But now, in man, God took some oheavenly realms...pneuma, spirit, breath...and He blew His Spirit intoman. He took something out o the heavenly realms, the reality in theheavenly realms, and He took something out o the earthly realms atcreation, and He put them together in one package. Tats what youand I are. Tats why weve got to come to grips with that i we aregoing to nd this thing called salvation. We have to realize that Godcreated us in His own image, and He took part o heavenly realms

and part o earthly realms and put them together in this thing called


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man. Tats why we have eternal lifebecause part o us is heavenlyrealms. Its spirit that cant be destroyed. Its reality. Our bodies can bedestroyed because theyre only the physical realm, but the spirit withinus cant because it came directly out o heavenly realms.

diSOBEdiEnTand daRkEnEdHeres what happened though. Man messed up. Remember what

happened with Adam and Eve, when man ell? He ate rom the treeo good and evil, deciding to make himsel a godIll make my owndecisions. Ill do what I eel like. Im going to look out or Number1. I I want to do something, I am going to do it. And God calledthat sin. He put a name on it. When man sinned, he darkened thespirit that was within him. He became numb to it. Te relationshipso man broke downAdam and Eve started arguing with each other.She made me do it. And then, eventually, we have murder on ourhands with Cain and Abel. Mans relationship with God broke down.All o a sudden people started being araid o God. Beore that sin,

they walked with Him and talked with Him because there was part othem that was in the supernatural realm, in heavenly realms, so theycould communicate with God.

Part o them was heavenly realm, which could communicate withGod, who was Christ, who was seated in heavenly realms. But whenman sinned, he darkened his understanding in the heavenly realms,and no longer could he have ellowship with God. Now he is hidingrom God. He had to have his g lea, he had to try to hide and protecthimsel. He said, Oh, God, I was araid o You, and I had to hiderom You. Tats what people do today. Tey either hide rom God by

creating all kinds o things to keep themselves occupied and amused,or they hide rom God by calling God names. You are just a meanGod. I wouldnt serve a God like you anyway. All that came becausesin entered our hearts and darkened our spiritual understanding. Wecan look at that in a couple o places in the Scriptures.

As or you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which youused to live when you ollowed the ways o this world and o the ruler othe kingdom o the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who aredisobedient (Ephesians 2:1-2).

Paul said, You were dead in your transgressions and sins. When you

selshly decided to live or yoursel and to make your own decisionsrather than letting God make your decisions or you. When youdecided that you were going to eat rom the tree o the knowledge ogood and evil, andyou were going to decide what was good and whatwas evil rather than God, you died. Paul is saying to the Ephesians,to these Christians, You used to ollow the ways o this world. Youused to do what everybody else did. You used to dress like they dress,you used to talk like they talk, you used to do what they did in all

their habits and pleasures and hobbies. And while you ollowed thatway you were DEAD. You were dead in your heart and your sin. Youdidnt have the heavenly realms that you were created or! Tats notan insult. He is saying, You were created or something wonderfuland you blew it. You ollowed your own ways and the ways o thisworld, and you ollowed the prince o the power o the air who is atwork in those who are disobedient. For those who disobey God andserve themselves, satan himsel is at work within them. Tey move inthe heavenly realms to serving satan, who is also in heavenly realms,and they became darkened to the Glory o God.

We have all sinned and allen short o the glory o God. We haveall allen short o the heavenly realms. Tis tremendous power, theawesome inner strength, the gleam in our eye, the joy inexpressibleand ull o glory, the peace that transcends understanding...doesanybody NO want those things? O course we want those things.People would die to have peace, to have joy, some how, some way.People would die or that, no matter how much seen-world stuf andmoney they have.

Te richest people in the world have committed suicide. Tey thought

they could get peace and joy by having money or power, but theyound out it doesnt work!And the reason it doesnt work was becausewe are created to be in heavenly realms. As much as you accrue inthe physical realm, it is never going to satisy you. It all stinks. Youwill never be satised.

So i the heavenly realms part o you is darkened by moving overto serving the prince o the power o the air by being disobedient, youdie. In a way, you die to all the glory that God has inside o you. Paulsaid to the Ephesians, All of us also lived among them... You cantdo any o this holier-than-thou stuf. You cant say, Im a great guy

and youre a sinner. Forget that! We also lived at one time among


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them, gratiying the cravings o our sinul nature and ollowing itsdesires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were objects o wrath. We werecraving the satisaction o our own bodies, we were craving pleasures,and Paul is saying that you are missing what God created you orwhen you do that. Youre missing it! He created you or somethingglorious and powerul, not to be on your hands and knees trying to getthrough liejust trying to survive, hating yoursel and hating others.He created us to be seated in heavenly realms with Christ Jesus.

ThE TURninG POinTNow, there is a point at which you can step back in to what Godis doing. In 2 Corinthians 3:16 it says: Whenever anyone turns tothe Lord, the veil is taken away. [Tat veil is the darkening in ourunderstanding.] I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that youmust no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the utility o their thinking.Tey are darkened in their understanding and separated rom the lieo God because o the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening o

their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves overto sensuality so as to indulge in every kind o impurity, with a continuallust or more...(Eph. 4:17-19).

Teres this darkening in understanding, theres not the Lie o Godthat He created us or, and it is utile thinking and just doesnt pay of.Everywhere you turn is a dead-end road. But thats not the way it hasto be! In Christ theres a better way, a powerul way that releases yourom that darkness and it brings Lie and Spirit and Peace and Joy andinner strength that you will never nd when you are darkened in yourunderstanding by the prince o the power o the air.

But, again, in 2 Corinthians 3:16 it says, Whenever anyone turns tothe Lord, the veil is taken away. Tat darkness o not being ableto understand is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and wherethe Spirit o the Lord is there is reedom (2 Cor. 3:17). RememberJesus said, I the Son sets you ree you shall be ree indeed. Whereis Jesus seated? In heavenly realms. And all spiritual blessings arewhere? In heavenly realms. And where the Spirit o the Lord is, thereis reedom.

Teres reedom when you move into heavenly realms. When the veil

is taken away and we are in ellowship with God, then we nd that

reedom. We who with unveiled aces all refect the Lords glory, arebeing transormed into the likeness o Jesus with ever-increasing glory,which comes rom the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). We all sinand all short o the glory o God. But when our aces are unveiled andour understanding is no longer darkened, now with ever-increasingglorywe move into the image o Jesus Christ who is seated in heavenlyrealms. Now, because o what God is doing within us, we (who werecreated in His image) can re-establish what God created us or. He

created us or dominion over the Earththe power and the authoritythat He meant or us to have, and we had in the Garden o Eden.Okay? When we sinned we ell short o all o that. But God intends tore-establish that in our lives.

Tereore since through Gods mercy we have this service we do not loseheart. Rather we renounce the secret and shameul ways; we do not usedeception, nor do we distort the word o God. On the contrary by settingorth the truth plainly, we commend ourselves to every mans consciencein the sight o God. And i our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those whoare perishing. Te god o this age has blinded the minds o unbelieversso they cannot see the light o the gospel o the glory o Christ who isthe image o God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ asLord, and ourselves as your servants or Jesus sake. For God who saidlet the light shine out o darkness [back to creation that same God thatsaid, Let the light shine out o darkness], made his light shine in ourhearts to give us the light o the knowledge o the glory o God in the aceo Christ (2 Corinthians 4:1-6).

We can have our understanding darkened by the god o this age.When sin came into our lives satan came in and darkened our minds

and we couldnt understand the glory o God anymore. We ell shorto that and we couldnt see it, we couldnt comprehend it. We couldntunderstand it. We were veiled. Satan was leading us down thisprimrose path. We were dead in our transgressions. We were deadin our sins. We were darkened in our understanding and the utilityo our thinking, giving ourselves over to the craving o the esh andall types o sensuality and wickedness. We were in the middle o thatstuf. We were all that way.

Man ell rom the glory that God meant or him to have, but Godpromised that He would reestablish His Plan. He said, Ill send a

man, born o a woman, to crush the head o the serpent, o satan,


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to crush the head o the god o this age. When man ell, satan tookdominion over the Earth. He became the god o this age. Te princeo this world, Jesus called him. He took control o planet Earth, whichGod originally gave to man. God had given us dominion over it, butsatan took it over when we gave him that authority by ollowing hislie. When satan lies to us and we willingly ollow his lies, we are givinghim authority that he doesnt have a right to. Satan does not have aright to push us around because we were created in the image o God.

We dont have to blindly ollow everything satan and the world tells usto doas i weve got some ring in our nose! We dont have to do thatbecause we are created in the image o God.

So satan took over planet Earth and he blinded our minds so wecouldnt even see the gospel. But Paul said itll be okay because Godsent His Son. Te same God that said, Let the light shine out odarkness sent His Son to planet Earth to reveal the glory o God inthe ace o Jesus Christ. He reestablished that glory to planet Earth,and now the light began to show through the darkness. And nowwe can begin to see what God blinded our minds to...with unveiledaces now.

When we call on the name o the Lord, when we turn to Jesus, the veilalls away. Te darkened understanding alls away. Tats what Godis calling each o us to do, to turn to Jesus so the light can shine in thedarkness and reveal the Glory o God again. He can show us truth.Paul said, I taught that. Trough the word o God I will show you whoJesus Christ is, and i you will turn to Him through the proclaimingo the word o God, He will let the light shine in the darkness in yourlie. Hell scatter the darkness and satan will ee rom that. Good

news? Good news!

JESUS, ThE RadianCE

Of GOdS GLORyLuke 1 talks about a young woman named Mary that the angel Gabrielcame to and said, Guess what? God is going to be born in yourwomb. And she said, What?! How could that be? I dont understandthat. But let it be done according to your word. Te angel said to her,Te Holy Spirit will visit you, and even though you are a virgin, even

though it is impossible or you to bear a child...you, a woman, are

going to bear a son and His name shall be called Emmanuel, whichmeans, God with us. Tis little baby will be called God with us. Hisname shall be called Jesus, or He shall save His people rom theirsins. He shall save them rom the darkness and the blindness that isin ront o them. He will save them rom the god o this world thatis now at work in those who are disobedient. Jesus will come and

visit His people. He is born o a woman, but He is also born o God.He is hal God and hal man. He is hal rom heavenly realms, hal

rom physical realms, and now He can walk through planet Earth andpenetrate what satan is taking control over. Because He came romheavenly realms, but was born o physical realms, now the problemcan be solved that was rom the very beginning. Glory to God!

Tats what God intended to do and we can read in Hebrews 1 allabout who Jesus is: In the past God spoke to our oreathers throughthe prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last dayshe has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir o all things, andthrough whom he made the universe. Te Son is the radiance o Godsglory and the exact representation o his being, sustaining all things byhis powerul word. Aer he had provided purication or sins, he satdown at the right hand o the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:1-3).

He is the radiance o Gods glory, the exact representation o God.Have you ever wondered who Jesus Christ is? Hes the radiance oGods glory, just as the sun shines and the rays o the sun reach out.Were not touching the sun and yet something about the sun warmsus, right? You say, Well, there is only nothingness between us andthe sun. How can we eel something we cant touch with our hands?How could that possibly be? And yet the rays, the radiance o the

sun, warm us. We see the light, we eel the warmth rom it, we knowit is absolutely very real, and yet were not actually touching the sun.Tats what happened in the Son o God.

He is the exact representation o God the Father and the radianceo Gods glory that was made to shine in the ace o Jesus Christ. Weeel the warmth and the power o the sun...we use our little solarcalculators that prove that there is power in that sun even though itnever touches us. Tats what happened in Jesus. Te radiance o theglory o God was poured out in Jesus Christ and it was like the rayso the sun.

Phillip said, Show us the Father, Jesus. What did Jesus say? Have


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you been with me so long and you still dont understand? Whenyouve seen Me, youve seen the Father! I am the exact representationo the Father. Te radiance, the warmth o the Father, the goodnesso God, the compassion o God, the power o God...youve seen all othose things, in Me. I AM WHO AM. Beore Abraham was, I AM.

You are not yet y years old, how can you say that you knewAbraham?

Well, beore Abraham was, I AM, because I lived in the heavenlyrealms. I am the Ancient o Days! I lived beore anything was.I lived beore there was time. And yet, Im born o a woman. Andyet, Im rom heavenly realms. otally God and totally man. otallyo heavenly realms and totally o physical realms. Paul said, Temystery o incarnation... I dont understand it. And yet, its true.Tats who Jesus is.

JESUS, RECOnCiLER

Jesus is the image o the invisible God.... (Col 1:15). See that? Teimage o the invisible God. Te heavenly realm is invisible. What isunseen is eternal; what is seen is temporary and will be burned up.Jesus, when He walked on planet Earth, was visible. He was a shadowo the reality that was in heaven. Jesus Christ, as He walked on planetEarth, was a physical representation o an eternal, invisible being. Herepresented heavenly realms, and His body was a shadow, just like ourbodies are shadows, o the heavenly realms. He is the image o theinvisible God, the rstborn over all creation. For by Him all thingswere created... Jesus created all things. He was with the Father increation (Jn 17).

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,visible and invisible...and in Jesus all things hold together. And he ishead o the body, the church; he is the beginning and the rstborn romamong the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.For God was pleased to have all his ullness dwell in Jesus, and throughJesus to reconcile to himsel all things, whether things on earth orthings in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross(Colossians 1:17-20).

What does reconciliation mean? I you and I have a ght and we

reconcile, it means we make up, and there is peace. Reconciliation

means to bring two things back together. So, that means there wasa war going on between heavenly realms and physical realms thatrequires reconciling. Tis war is going on because the physical realmwas rebellious against God, and there is a reconciliation that must bemade between the heavenly realm and the physical realm. He wantsto reconcile those things, making them the way they were in thebeginning. So Jesus Christ, who was the image o the invisible God,came down to the physical realmbeing part God and part manto

bring those two realms that had been alienated (that had been madedead) back together. He came to bring Lie into people and to be therstborn rom among the deadbirthed back into the original planin the image o God. His plan is or us to be seated back again inheavenly realms, to be seated with Christ Jesus, to receive all spiritualblessings in heavenly realms, again. Jesus Christ, by His blood, by Hisdeath, brought that back into availability to a allen, wretched, pitiulpeople that have no ability to raise themselves rom the dead.

You can see how important Jesus is! DON tell me, I will takeConucius, and they can take Buddha. Tey are all roads leading upthe same mountain. Tat is so ridiculous when you truly understandwhat all o creation is pointing towards. Impossible reasoning. JESUS isthe image o the invisible God. No one else. All things were created byHim, not by some at, bald guy. But by Jesus Christ! Beore Abrahamwas, I AM. Teres power in that.

Jesus came to merge God and man (reconciliation) in order to conquersin. Te Son o God was maniested that He might destroy the workso the devil. Why did Jesus come? He came that He might destroythe works o the devil. Yes, its true, that when we sinnedwhen we

decided to live or ourselves in selshness and sin and gratiying theeshwe lost all that we were created or. We were created in theimage o God to experience peace that passes understanding andall the spiritual blessings, to taste the powers o the coming age. Welost all o that. We lost all those spiritual blessings we were createdto receive when we decided to live or ourselves in selshness andsin and gratiying the esh. But Jesus came to reconcile that and tobring us up into heavenly realms where He is, that we might nd allthose spiritual blessings with ever-increasing glory as our aces areunveiled and we see Jesus Christ and the image o the Father in Jesusand are drawn up into that. We received the glory that we lost when

we sinned. All have sinned and allen short o the glory. But Jesus


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said in John 17, Im leaving my glory behind. Te glory that yougave me, Father, Im leaving my glory or them. Do not ear, littlechildren. It pleased the Father to give you the Kingdom.

hEavEn REiGnSJesus came to bring the Kingdom o heavenly realms back again.What was the message Jesus and John the Baptist kept declaring?

Te Kingdom is at hand. Te Kingdom is at hand. What does theLords prayer say about that? Ty Kingdom come, on earth as it isin heaven. Heavenly realms and physical realms coming and being

joined together as they were meant to be in the beginningin man,not just in the rest o creation because those werent partakers o thedivine nature. Great and precious promises, partakers o the divinenature (2Pet. 1). Christ in you, the hope o glory (Col 1:27). Christlives in you by aith (Eph. 3:17). Your body is the temple o the HolySpirit (1Cor 6:19). Heavenly realms dwelling within us! Tats theway it was meant to be. Yet, we were dead and apart rom that in our

sins and transgressions, and we were blinded in our minds. But Jesuscame to restore that dominion o the heavenly realms. He came torestore that power and to destroy the works o the devil.

Do you remember when Jesus came to earth that He walked on thewater? Physical realms couldnt stop Him because heavenly realmshave dominion over the physical realm. Right? He said, I give youdominion over the creeping things. I give you dominion over theearth. Te physical realm is controlled by the supernatural realm,the heavenly realm, and Jesus came to prove that act. He was able toprove it because He was living a lie in ellowship with the Father and

living in the ullness o heavenly realms. And guess what? He couldsay Peace, be still to a storm, because heavenly realms are in controlo the physical realms. Te heavenly realms were there rst and hadpriority, or preeminence, over the physical.

Jesus was the rst one to be born through a allen earth and to beborn back into heavenly realms again. He took that preeminence byconquering satan and destroying the works o the devil. He could turnwater into wine. What kind o person can do that? Someone who isliving in heavenly realms! Because physical realms are only a shadowo the realitythat is in heaven, i you are living in heaven, then the

physical realm is not a big deal. You change reality and the shadow

changes. What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. I a shadowo your hand is cast on the wall, i you change the shape o your hand,the shadow has to ollow. I I am making my hand into the shape oa duck and then I make it in the shape o a rabbit, the shadow has toollow! So when you change realities, the shadow changes. BecauseJesus lived His lie in ellowship with the Father and He was seated inheavenly realms and was in ellowship with the Father, He only didthe reality o what He saw the Father doing. Tats reality. He didnt

live in the gment o His imagination. He didnt live or Himsel inthe mirage.

Could you ever drink a mirage? Maybe youve seen the picture oa man crawling across the Sahara Desert and he sees a mirage o alemonade stand and he tries to grab a glass o lemonade and drinkit. Its not very satisying, is it? It looked good, but when he tried todrink it, it didnt satisy him. All spiritual blessings, not some but allo them, are in heavenly realms. Every last one o them. Te rest oit is just drinking a cup o sand. Its not going to satisy the thirst.We all know that its a ool who tries to eat a shadow. Its a ool whotries to buy a shadow. Its a ool who alls in love with a shadow. Its aool who decides to beriend a shadow and have a relationship witha shadow. You are just not going to do that i you are wise, are you?Well, when you live or your hobbies or alcohol and drugs or poweror money, you are living or a mirage and it cant satisy because it isin the physical realm, and you were created in the image o God orheavenly realm satisaction.

So Jesus came to destroy the works o the devil, and because He lives inheavenly realms, guess what? Weve seen miracles in God conquering

health problems and other things. Why? Because heavenly realms hasdominion over physical realms. I you change the reality in heaventhe shadow changes. Tats why Jesus could walk on water, because Hewas in heavenly realms. He was physical, He was a man, but His liewas hidden in Christ, i you will, because Christ is in heavenly realms.He hid His lie in God the Father, and or that reason the physicalrealm couldnt take dominion over Him. It didnt have authority overHim. He said, Te prince o this world is coming, and he has no holdon Me (Jn. 14:30). He could say that because He lived in ellowshipwith the Father, and living in ellowship with the Father puts youin heavenly realms where the physical realm cannot control you

anymore. Peace, be still to a storm. Or, like Elijah who was a man


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like us. Te Holy Spirit made that so clear! A man o like passions. Aman, just like us. And this man commanded the clouds not to rain orthree and a hal years and they did not rain. Sun, stand still. And itdid. Why? Because its a shadow o the reality in heaven. Even the sun.A New Moon estival is in heavenly realms also. Te one on Earth is

just a shadow o the estival o New Moons in heavenly realms.

and REMEMBER, RECOnCiLiaTiOnCOMESBy dEaTh

Tats what Jesus came to do. He came to conquer and to humiliateby His blood, by His death. And I want you to know this too, thatthe way back into heavenly realms is by death. Its by a death to ourlie. Tats what Jesus did. In Colossians 2 it says that He conqueredsatan, made an open show and publicly humiliated him. Does thatsound good to you? o stick your tongue out at satan and say, Youcant have my lie? o publicly humiliate satan? Well, that happenedby Jesus death on the cross, and that is the waywe step into heavenly

realms too. Deny yoursel, take up your cross and ollow me. Die toyour own passions. Die to your own selshness. Die to gratiying theesh. Die to those things and call on the name o the Lord. Tere isthat reedom and that new power that comes rom being reunitedwith Christ in heavenly realms to destroy the works o the devil.

SOnOf Man...SaLvaTiOn!Jesus was called over and over again the Son o Man, and Hereerred to Himsel a number o times as the Son o Man. But the

devil only called Him the Son o God. Many deceivers who do notacknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the fesh, have gone out into theworld. Any such person is a liar, the deceiver and the antichrist (2Jn.7). What is this antichrist? What does this wicked, demonic persondo? Tey deny that Jesus came in the esh. Why? Because they haveno discernment about a kingdom they are not part o. Tey cant seeit. And even beyond that, i satan can prove (which he cant) thatGod is up there and man is down here, then hes got us all in hisstronghold. But there is a man named Jesus Christ who was part Godand part manVERY MUCH a man. He came in the esh and had

esh and bones like we doand still He conquered satan. So guess

what? Te gigs over! Tere is nothing satan can do to us anymore.I Jesus Christ came in the esh, then there is nothing satan can doto us anymore, because a man has conquered satan. A man in theheavenly realms has drawn on the power o God to push satan out oHis lie, to destroy the works o the devil. So we too can declare: Teprince o this world has come, but he has no hold on me because I amseated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Christ took captives in Histrain and gave gis to men and delivered them in heavenly realms...

salvation is ull and ree.

Salvation! We think o that as, Well, salvation means when I die Ican go to heaven and my sins are orgiven. I want to tell you whatsalvation is. Salvation is the restoration of the glory of God inheavenly realms to a persons soul. Its the restoration o what manwas created or in the rst place. He was created to be in the image oGod. Salvation is the restoration o His ullness in the glory o God.Weve sinned and allen short o the glory o God. But when we callon the name o the Lordcry out or salvation, identiy with Christand die to our sinsat that moment in time Christ has reconciledus to God the Father so that the glory o God in heavenly realms isrestored to us. Satan cant deal with that because Jesus came in theesh and as a man in the image o God conquered satan. Tat was theend o it. Te ball game was over. Tats good. Tats very good.

Tis message that Jesus declared was that the kingdom o God was athand, Ty kingdom come, the restoration o the kingdom o Godand the kingdom o man, heavenly realms and physical realms. Terewould be a restoration o those things. Te kingdom is coming. Atime is coming, saith the Lord, when I will breathe my spirit in them.

I will turn their hearts o stone into hearts o esh, and I will pour outmy spirit on all men. John baptized you in water, but Jesus will baptizeyou in the Holy Spirit. He will baptize you in a divine nature. In thenature o the Glory o God, not just a physical thing, but somethingo a heavenly thing. Te heavenly realms are going to be poured outinto your lie when you become a disciple o Jesus, a Christian. Tenyou will share in the divine nature.

As we are restored in heavenly realms, there are some other thingsthat happen. In 2 Corinthians 10 it says that we can tear down satansstrongholds. We use divine weapons. We use weapons in heavenly

realmsnot o this world, but in heavenly realmsto destroy satans


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strongholds, to destroy the works o the devil and to have authorityover the works o the devil.

OnE nEw ManIn Ephesians 1, Paul writes to Christians, I pray also that the eyeso your heart may be enlightened in order that you might know thehope to which he has called you, the riches o his glorious inheritance

in the saints...When is that going to happen? When is the gloriousinheritance? Now! Paul said He has blessed us (past tense) with allspiritual blessings in Christ Jesus and he seated us (past tense) inheavenly realms. Paul is saying I want you to open your eyes to theglorious inheritance o the heavenly realms that God has given you...and his incomparably great power or us who believe [those who areseated with Christ in heavenly realms]. Tat power is like the samepower that raised Christ rom the dead and seated Him in heavenlyrealms, ar above all rule and authority and power and dominion andevery title that can be given. Not only in the present age, but also in

the age to come (Eph. 1:18-21). When you are seated with Christ inheavenly realms, it is ar above any authority, over any power. Farabove satan. Not a little bit above, but ar above satan. All authority,dominion, and power. And God placed all things under Jesus eet andappointed him to be head over everything or the Church, which is HisBody, the ullness o Him who lls everything in every way.Now yousee the church coming in to play.

I can be a Christian, but I dont need the church. Wrong. Because Godin His innite wisdom said that Jesus Christ is the head o His Body,and IN His Body He has chosen to invest HIS SON as the ullness o

Him who lls everything in every way. COULD there be someonewho says they love Jesus, but wouldnt want HA?! Unless you are adaily part o a local body o true Heaven-Born Believers, a Lampstand(not simply an attendance-based clergy-laity organization), you aremissing SO much, or yoursel and your amily. A REAL Church is tobe a daily Christ-honoring, Christ-centered, Bible-believing peoplewho are walking in obedience to Godnot just talking about it.

Tere is no such thing as an independent Christian running aroundBECAUSE Godsaw t to breathe the ullness o deityo the divinenatureinto His Body, which, He says, is the Church . I will build

my church and the gates o hell cannot stand against it.Te power o

hell is no match or the Church, or a Body o people that are joinedtogether heart, soul, mind and strength, laying down their lives orone another, loving each other, sharing all things in common,daily and in public and rom house to house, enjoying the avor oall the people, enjoying the avor o God and seeing the presence oGod in the things they are doing.

Te Church was and is Gods divine plan or extending the power o

Jesus Christ rom the heavenly realms. Te heavenly realms is locatedin the Church. Not simply in isolated believers. Tat is why Jesussaid, Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am intheir midst. He wants to draw us together...conessing sins one toanother and bearing each others burdens. I we are not relating toone another, like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12, then we dont havethat power.

Te Body has many members: Te body is a unit, though it is made upo many parts; and though all its parts are many, they orm one body. Soit is with Christ (1Cor. 12:12). Te Greek has a denite article beore

Christso it is with HE Christ. He goes on to say: For we wereall baptized by one Spirit into one body.... You see the descendingheavenly realms there. But i you were to read this careully I thinkwhat youd see is that the Body is called HE Christ. So it is withChrist. Tats not reerring to Jesus. Tats reerring to Jesus Body,which is the Church, and it says that we are one Body and we are theChrist. We are the Christ. We are God incarnate. We are the wordbecome esh. Now, I say that in a sense where I know these awesomethings are mind-boggling, and I want to say them as careully andas reverently as I can. But this is very truly the nature o what Godhas said that His people are. Te Bodyis the same Spirit that dweltin Jesus, that gave Him Lie and gave Him ellowship with the Father.It is the same Spirit that gave Him authority over the dark warrior,and is the same spirit that lives collectively within us. Te ullness odeity dwells in us as His Church, as His Body, and we are called HEChurch...HE Christ...HE Body, almost synonymously all in just aew verses (1Cor. 12).

Tereore, remember that ormerly you who are Gentiles by birth andcalled uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision...remember that at that time you were separate rom Christ...[Christ is

in heavenly realms and you werent] ...you were separate rom Christ,


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excluded rom citizenship in Israel and oreigners to the covenants othe promise...

Tere are no spiritual blessings outside o Christ. You are...withouthope and without God in the world... Do you see that? WithoutChrist, without Jesus the Son o God, you are without hope andwithout God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once ar away have been brought

near through the blood o Christ, or he himsel is our peace who hasmade the two one, has destroyed the barrier by dividing the wall ohostility, by abolishing in his fesh the law with its commandments andregulations. His purpose was to create in himsel one new man out othe two, thus making peace and in this one body to reconcile both othem to God through the cross. [Tats how the reconciliation comes], ...through the cross by which he put to death their hostility. He reconciledthe hostility. He came and proclaimed peace to you who were ar awayand peace to those who are near. For through him we both have accessto the Fatherby one spirit. Consequently you are no longer oreigners

and aliens but ellow citizens with Gods people and members o Godshousehold, being built on the oundation o the apostles and prophets,with Christ Jesus himsel as the chie cornerstone. In Christ the wholebuilding is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord,and in him you too are being built with ever-increasing glory together tobecome a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit (Ephesians 2:11-22).

A habitation o God through the spirit, the King James versionsays. You are becoming a habitation o God through His Spirit. Youno longer live as the Gentiles do in the utility o their thinking.Tey are separate rom God and have lost all sensitivity. When Paul

is speaking o Gentiles, he is not talking about simply Jew vs. non-Jew. He is talking about someone who is an aliena oreignertothe promise o God, dead in his transgressions and cut of romthe lie o God. Tere is no Lie in him. He is without hope andwithout God in the world. And yet we are reconciled by the crosso Jesus, by the blood o Christ, and we are made one new man.One man. We are made the Christ. We are made one man that nowhas the same power that rose Jesus rom the dead. Ephesians 1 saysthat power is over principalities and powers and dominions. It isover all those things because Christ dwells in His Body on planet

Earth. Te Kingdom o God has come, and now the heavenly

realms have descended and now have been reconciled back with thephysical realm that was once an enemy, an alien, a oreigner. Nowwere becoming the habitation o God through the Spirit. Heavenlyrealms. Weve penetrated through Jesus back into what God alwaysintended. Tats the denition o salvation.

MORE aBOUT hEavEnLy REaLMS

Angels. How about angels? What are angels or, according to the lastverse o Hebrews 1? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to servethose who will inherit salvation? Ministering spirits to those whoare elect, those who are receiving eternal lie...those who are seatedin heavenly realms. Now the angels can interact with us because weare in heavenly realms where they are. What are angels or? Tey areministering servants or those that will inherit eternal lie. Tats theirpurpose: to serve those that are inheriting eternal lie, those that arein the image o God, those who are part man and part God. Teyhave dominion, and the angels are sent to be our ministers or our

servants.Prayer. Prayer is called incense. And the angels opened the bowl oincense which was the prayer o the saints. Our prayer, the prayero a saint, penetrates through the physical realm. We think, Teseare just words. Tey all to the ground. Tey bounce of the ceiling.Uh-uh. No. God sees them in His realm. We hear them in our world,but God hears them in His world. He hears them in heavenly realmsas a tangible being. Our prayers are a shadow o the reality in heaven.Te reality in heaven o our prayers is incense to God. It is a sweetaroma to Him. Dont think when you are spending a lot o time in

prayer that you are wasting your time because you are interjectingyoursel, your lie, into heavenly realms. Come into my gates withthanksgiving, and into my courts with praise. We are coming intoheavenly realms where Jesus is seated. When we praise and when wehave thanksgiving it is a tangible thing in heavenly realms.

Evangelism. Tis thing we call evangelism. Paul told Philemon, Ipray that you will be active in sharing your aith so that you will have anunderstanding o all the good things that we have in Christ Jesus (Phm.1:6). In sharing the Kingdom o God with someone, youll begin toexperience more and more o the good things that we have in heavenly

realms, the spiritual blessings in Christ. When we start to knock on


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satans door, when we start to kick down the gates o hell, we aremoving ourselves and bringing others into heavenly realms, and nowwe can begin to see the spiritual blessings that are in Christ Jesus.

Tereore, I encourage you to be active in sharing your aith. Not justbecause God said so, but so that you will have an understanding...so that the eyes o your heart will be enlightened to understand allthe awesome blessings that we have in Christ Jesus. See that? I know

rom experience thats true. I never knew it on paper. I ound it outin reality long beore I ever knew that verse was in the Bible! Tatsabsolutely true. Start sharing your aith and see i you dont understandthe blessings o the riches. I you are not reaching into the realities oheavenly realms and spiritual blessings, you might check that part oyour lie because God made that a highway into His presence. Use it.Bring somebody with you.

Rainbows. Tere is a rainbow around the throne o God in heaven.Rainbows have been in the Heavenlies long beore the earth was.God said to the human race, Im going to give you a rainbow and

whenever I see this rainbow I will be reminded o the covenant thatI made with you. So God took something rom the heavenly realmsand threw it down to planet Earth and said, Hmmm, I like this uphere. Ill let you guys enjoy that too, and when I see that shadow I willbe reminded o the reality o my aithulness to you and my covenantthat I have made with you.

iniTiaTiOnOr dont you know that all o us who were baptized into Christ Jesuswere baptized into his death? We were thereore buried with himthrough baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised romthe dead through the glory o the Father, we too may live a new lie(Rom. 6:3-4). We, too, might step back into the reality o heavenlyrealms in our lie. In Colossians 2 it says that because o Christs deathHe became the rstborn rom the dead. Te stone was rolled backand now Hes sharing the glories o a heavenly body, one that canwalk through walls, etc. Even more glorious is what He did beore Hedied: He made an open show, a public spectacle o satan, triumphingover satan in the cross, in His willing death, in His willing surrenderor other people. He died to Himsel and His own rights. He died or

other people. He made himsel nothing and took on the orm o a

servant, and in that death to sin and selshness and sel-centeredness,He conquered satan. I you too will die, as He died, then you will denyyoursel, take up your cross and ollow Him. Tats why it says, Youcannot be my disciple unless you have orsaken your very lie. Tatswhy...because it can only happen through death. Unless a seed allsto the ground and dies, it abides alone. But i it dies, it bears muchruit. Tereore, whoever would save his lie will lose it, but whoeverloses his lie or my sake will nd it.Youllndyour lie i you will die

to sin and selshness. I youll die to your rights and to your old way othinking and start exchanging your thoughts or the thoughts o God,youll fndyour lie. When you start exchanging everything or therealities o God (renewing your mind, not conorming any longer tothe patterns o this world, but ofering your body as a living sacriceand renewing your mind in the image o God, the thoughts o God,the will o God, the ways o God, and the word o God)...when you dieto yoursel and you take that death and you bury it under the water inthe initial stages in baptism, then just as he was raised in the glory othe Fatheryou too can be raised in the glory o the Father.

We have all sinned and allen short o the glory. And that glory wasin heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. How do you restore that glory?How do you have a new lie? Te death in sin and transgressionshow do we walk back into the ullness o what God intended or us tohave rom the beginning? Tere is a death, a calling on the name o theLord, which is what baptism is. Tis water symbolizes baptism whichsaves you also (1Pet 3:21). Not by taking a bath, but by the resurrectiono Jesus Christ. Arise and be baptized, washing away your sins, callingon the name o the Lord (Acts 22:16). 1 Peter 3:21 says that baptismis a pledge or an appeal o a good conscience towards God. It is

calling on the name o the Lord. Tats what its all about. You die toyour own rights and selshness as Jesus did, and just as Jesus wasburied and came out into a brand new lie, so do we. And now, aswe understand the reality o that, we realize that what were doingis restoring ourselves to heavenly realms. New lie, it says. Behold,all things are new. Te old is passed away. Were new creations inChrist Jesus. With unveiled aces we are being transormed with ever-increasing glory back into the spiritual blessings o heavenly realmswhich we lost when sin came over the top o us. All that remains is torenew our minds. I pray that the eyes o your heart will be enlightened

to all the power that raised Jesus rom the dead.


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REnEw yOURMindS!Establish your thoughts as dung and His thoughts as reality. Trowaway the shadows and grab hold o the realities o heaven. Someonesays, What diference does doctrine make? It makes all the diferencein the world! Because all the commands are a shadow o the realitiesin heaven. You cannot keep your own ways and your own rights andyour own way o thinking and say, Well, I always grew up this way

and I think that its okay. It is not okay. When you do that youremissing the glory of God and the reality o heavenly realms. Our jobis to continually exchange our thoughts or Gods thoughts. Tink onthese things...whatever is pure and loving and praise-worthy.

Renew your mind in the thoughts o God. Any thought that youhappen to have about any subject in the universe, orget it! Find outwhat Gods thought is. Renew your mind in the thoughts o God.Tat is all that remainsthat the eyes o your heart and your mind beenlightened. Beore, the problem was utility o thinking. Tere wasa mind problem. Now, with ever-increasing glory, we are throwing

ofourthoughts, and grabbing hold o Gods thoughts and makingthem ours. As we do that, with ever-increasing glory, we move intothe promises o God and the power o God and the reality o heavenlyrealms that are in Christ Jesus. I am the truth. You shall know thetruth and the truth shall set you ree. Tose things are vital to movingahead in the power and the authority and the love o Jesus.

So, theres the initiation...that the seed alls to the ground and dies.We die to our rights to have our own opinions. Now, all that mattersis ruth. Gods thoughts. Tats what Jesus did...I say nothing on myown. I do nothing on my own. I am in ellowship with the Father, and,

Father, I pray that Your Glory will be on them and that they will beone as You and I are one, in mind and in thought.

Tats Gods intention or us. And in the Body being one in thoughtand unity, it is also one in the glory o heavenly realms because theChurch is the ullness o deity. Weve got to be together on this. Tereis no way to pull apart rom it. Tere is an initiation individually odeath to rights, and as we die to ourselves, we are ellowshipping withChrist Jesus and with each other. Our ellowship with each other isdependent on our ellowship with Christ, and our ellowship withChrist is dependent on our ellowship with each other, says the apostleJohn in 1 John 1. It is the Body, the Church, that together will restore

the glory o God to planet Earth...that will make His enemies Hisootstool...that will destroy the gates o hell, together. Its His Body asa unitTe Christ, Te Body, One in Spiritthat will do allo that.

ThE kinGdOMS MERGEHere we will see the end o the story: But someone may ask, How arethe dead raised? With what kind o body will they come? How oolish!

What you sow does not come to lie unless it dies. When you sow, youdo not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps o wheat, oro something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, andto each kind o seed he gives it its own body. All fesh is not the same:Men have one kind o fesh, animals another, birds another and shanother. Tere are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies;but the splendor o the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendoro the earthly bodies is another. Te sun has one kind o splendor, themoon another; and star diers rom star in splendor. So will it be withthe resurrection o the dead. Te body that is sown is perishable, it

is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; itis sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body,it is raised a spiritual body. I there is a natural body, there is also aspiritual body. So it is written: Te rst man Adam became a livingbeing; the last Adam, a lie-giving spirit. Te spiritual did not comerst, but the natural, and aer that the spiritual. Te rst man was othe dust o the earth, the second man rom heaven. As was the earthlyman, so are those who are o the earth; and as is the man rom heaven,so also are those who are o heaven. And just as we have borne thelikeness o the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness o the man

rom heaven (1 Corinthians 15:35-49).Ten Paul goes on to talk about the perishable and the imperishable:...Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is yourvictory? Where, O death, is your sting? Te sting o death is sin, andthe power o sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us thevictory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Tereore, my dear brothers,stand rm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves ully to thework o the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is notin vain (1 Corinthians 15:54-58).

Te ulllment o all these things is when we see Him ace to ace,

and nally the completed process. Now we see in the mirror dimly,


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but then we shall see him ace to ace.Te completed process o ever-increasing glory will come at that point when the Judgment Daycomes and He returns or us in the clouds; and now we are seeing Himdimly, and as we are seeing Him with unveiled aces, we become moreand more like Him. No one can see God except they die. Anyone whosees God dies. And as we see more and more o God, more and moreo the esh dies, and more and more o the Spirit is released in us. Itsa really powerul thing!

We can see in Revelation 21 that nally the kingdoms merge: TenI saw a new heaven and a new earth, or the rst heaven and the rstearth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the HolyCity, the new Jerusalem, coming down out o heaven rom God, preparedas a bride beautiully dressed or her husband. And I heard a loud voicerom the throne saying, Now the dwelling o God is with men, and hewill live with them (Revelation 21:1-3).

In Ephesians it says we are becoming the habitation. It does nothappen on Judgment Day. It is already happening. We are becoming

the habitation o God. Now the dwelling o God is with men, and hewill live with them. Tey will be his people, and God himsel will be withthem and be their God. He will wipe every tear rom their eyes. Terewill be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, or the old ordero things has passed away (Rev. 21:3-4). Te physical realm has beendissolved, and now the reality o heavenly realms becomes all that weare doing, all that we are.

He who was seated on the throne [in heavenly realms] said, I ammaking everything new! Ten he said, Write this down, or thesewords are trustworthy and true. He said to me, It is done. I am the

Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End... (Rev. 21:5-6).I was beore creation and I am going to see the end o things, too. IAM WHO AM. Beore Abraham was, I was. I AM. Te beginningand the end. ...o him who is thirsty I will give to drink without costrom the spring o the water o lie. He who overcomes will inherit allthis, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly,the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, thosewho practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liarstheir place willbe in the ery lake o burning sulur. Tis is the second death (Rev.21:6-8). Tose were all things that were consumed with the physical

nature, conorming to the patterns o this world. Not a renewing, but

a conorming to the ways o the prince o the power o the air. Tewrong side o heavenly realms.

I we live or all those things in the physical realm, i we choose tolive or that house with the white picket ence, i we choose to liveor amilies or jobs or our pride or our selshness, i we make thatchoice to ollow the natural realm, the physical earth...then we willburn as the physical realm will burn. But iwe renew our minds in

the thoughts o God, call on the name o the Lord with unveiled acesand look into the ace o Jesus, into the image o the invisible God andthe radiance o God...iwe look to Him and draw on Him and callout an appeal with a good conscience towards Him...iwe die to oursin, ourselves, our rights, our thoughts, our plans, and our desires...iwe die to those things and we bury it ...THEN, well rise to walk in anew Lie thats ull o glory, and the glory o the Father is restored to

planet Earth.

Ty kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Teheavenly realm and the earthly realm merge in the Kingdom o God,

called the Church, and called a Christian, a disciple. Te two realmsmerge and end up being a partaker o the divine nature. Tats theinheritance, that as we renew our minds we move urther into thespiritual blessings that are in Christ Jesus. Everybody or doing that?J

inCEnSEHoly Father, these are just words, and we know that You are an inniteGod in a realm that we cant imagine or understand. It is more thanwe can ask or imagine. Glorious Father, we pray that You will continueto open the eyes o our hearts, to enlighten us to the riches that areone place and one place aloneIn Christ Jesus. We pray that well lookdeeply into His eyes and walk in His steps, longing to pass out o thenatural realm and longing to continually renew ourselves, no longer inutility o thinking and oolishness o darkened hearts, but in eyes thathave had a light to shine upon us in the ace o Jesus.

Our Father, we ask You that You would not give us spiritual blessings,but that You would allow us to move deeper into a love relationshipwith Jesus Christ where those spiritual blessings are. We pray that we

will leave behind the patterns o this world and renew our lives and


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our thinking continually in You. Father, we pray that every person thatclaims to walk in You has in act died to sel and selshness and goalsand plans and has died to everything in the physical realm that willbe burnt up. We pray that every person claiming to wear your nameis investing and storing up treasures in heavenly realms, a lie that iswaiting or us in the imperishable realm.

Father, Your Son said that He went to prepare a place or us, and i it

were not so He would have told us. He has prepared a mansion or us;He has prepared a glorious inheritance. Father, we ask that Youd teachus right now in this lie to share in the realitieswhile in the mortalbodyo the riches that You have given us in Jesus. Father, help us toshed the old skin, the old man, and to live or and to long or the ullnesso Jesus Christ and be that new creation that You meant or us to be.Help us to kick down the gates o hell as one man, as a Body joined, asa Church joined in Your name, loving each other, laying down our livesor each other, tossing aside our dierences, tossing aside the personalityquirks, and penetrating into the ullness o deity through that agape lovethat pours out o Your Kingdom into our lives. Our Father, make it a

reality. We pray that these things will not go unattended in our lives.Amen.

EPiLOGUE

aBandOnMEnTand faiTh

Abandonment is essential in order to see supernatural realms and in

order to experience supernatural reedoms in these other areas o yourlie. Abandonment is an incredibly important part. Ive seen again andagain how a lack o abandonment has kept people earth-bound andlimited and shallow. Te utility o back and orth, in the storm, out othe storm, unstable living comes oentimes rom this reusal to abandonsome thread o lie that is almost unspeakably small, and indescribablysubtle. But theyknow in their heart that they are too araid or unwillingor untrusting, and that they wont let go o this one thing. Like the richyoung ruler, one thing you lack. Tey are hamstrung.

I you want to deeat a cavalry, just cut the hamstring on the horses,

because then they cant do anything. Tey are still alive, but they cantdo anything anymore. Tey have no energy, no power, and no thrustle. Tats how a lot o people live their whole lives. Tey are hamstrung.Tey are alive and breathing, but there is no thrust, no power. Teycant gallop through the meadow. Tey cant jump over the creek. Teycant live the kind o lie God intended them to live. Teyre hamstrung.Tey are breathing, their brainwaves are still there, but they cant be allthat God wants them to be because one thing they lack. Tey will notorsake their lie. Tey have to hold onto it and protect themselves in onearea or another.

Faith is another issue that is very dependent upon this heavenly seeingand living: all things are possible to those who believe. You have to believein the other realm. You have to have your eyes xed on things that areeternal and not temporary. Your eyes have to be xed there. Seeing Himwho is invisible,Moses orsook the riches o Pharaoh (Heb. 11). He sawinto the other realm and believed thatwas reality and thereore couldlet the other stuf pass by without taking his attention, or controlling hisemotions, his eelings or his thoughts. A lot o this, as it says in Romans6, is reckoning yoursel dead to sin but alive to Christ. Why? Becausethe nature is that the Son o God was maniest to destroy the works othe devil. I eel tempted, but am I really obsessed with it? Do I have to

be controlled by this? Or can I have weapons o righteousness in my


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le hand and my right, supernatural weapons or the tearing down ostrongholds? Not that we wont be opposed by the enemy, but we have tobelieve with all o our heart that the prince o this world has come, but hehas nothing in me. We should be able to drive right past that temptationand say, Tat is not me. I dont need that. Tat is not who I am. I am nota slave to ood. I am not a slave to ear or paranoia. I am not a slave tomy children or being araid or their health or araid or my health. I amnot a slave to those things. Nothing is impossible or those who believe.

Nothing is impossible or those who believe.Te people who believe are the people who are so connected with theunseen realm that they dont do anything apart rom God. Tey are sodependent upon the things the Father says and the things the Father does,that they dont do or say anything that HE is not doing and saying. As theylive watching Him, they bind on earth what has been bound in heaven.Tose who believe are watching what is happening in heaven. Tey arebinding on earth what has been boundin heaven. When people live trulybelieving that heaven reigns and that the unseen world dominates theseen world, then they are able to believe that all things work together

or the good to those who love Him and are called according to HisPurposes. Tey are able to live without being tossed to and ro by everywind because they believe, and live in, and see, and are dependent upon,and totally condent in, the unseen realm. We are to live by aith and notby sight. o really, honestly, with every ber o our being believe that weare not limited. Walking on water is not impossible or you any morethan it was or Peter. Okay?

Te things that we are seeing and experiencing? God can inltrate theseen world and manipulate what we call reality in the human existencebecause it is truly just a shadow. He can manipulate the seen world orHis purposes. He rules everything, the Scriptures say, or the Church. Herules everythingor His Church. So part o being able to see the miracleso God and to overcome temptations is to absolutely, totally, be convincedo Gods Sovereignty over these things. In other words...Faith.

Faith is what allows us to overcome the world. Tis is the victory thatovercomes the world, even our aith. Not even our willpower, buteven our aith. Its believing that He is and that He rewards those whodiligently seek Him. Te work o God is this: to believe on the One Hehas sent. Tis whole thing isnt about the battle o willpower and eshlysubstance and hormones. Tis is a battle o truth and light. I am theWay and the ruth and the Lie, no man comes to the Father but by Me.

Tere is but one way to overcome the shadow world: to believe what is

really Real. Abandoning ourselves to the ruths o God in the unseenrealmtherein lies the power to experience what mortal man cannot.Reckon yourselves dead to sin. Tat is believing that just as He died tosin, and as we submerge ourselves in Him, we too then are dead to sin.

Te temptations? Te prince o this world has nothingin us. You mustbelieve truth rather than believe the lie. We have these supernaturalweapons to tear down strongholds. What strongholds are we tearingdown? Tose things that exalt themselves against the ruth. Te things

that exalt themselves against Jesus and against His authority. Tats whatthe supernatural weapons are orthe tearing down o strongholds. Testrongholds are built by lies. Tey are built by things that arent true.Tey are built by what seem to be natural laws, habits, past histories andweaknesses we have, but in Reality we dont have those weaknesses. Wedont have those limitations. We dont have that railty. Tose things arelies based on the shadow world. Te reality is in Christ, Christ in you.

What is Christ in you? What is that? Tats the hope o Glory!Tats notthe hope o weakness and ailure. Christ in you is the exploration o aworld that is without ear, that is without sin, that is without weakness,

and that is without ailure. It is withoutselshness, withoutpride andloneliness and all that other junk. We are not araid anymore o givingeverythingto God. We believe that every spiritual blessing, everythingthat ever could be and ever will be, is in act in Christ Jesus. And weare in Him, i weve abandoned ourselves. Tose are the two things:abandonment and aith. Te prince o this world has nothing in us withthose two things lying there at the altar in ront o us.

Can we ail in spite o those? Yes, but only when we lose sight o thosethings. Will we ail? Probably. Why? Because we probably will take oureyes of o those things or any number o reasons. Do we have to ail?

Absolutely not. Have I? Have you? Absolutely. Do we have to anymore?Its not possible that we have to. Expecting to ail dees everything inthe Scriptures. You can go back and look at testimony aer testimonyin the written record o the Scriptures and see the men like Moses andElijah and David and Paul. Go right down the list and you will see thosetwo things in their livesabandonment and seeing the unseen worldand putting all o their condence there. Tose two things are whatsustained them. Tose two things are what catapulted and propelledthem, not the act that they never ailed or never had temptations. Tosetwo things are beyond question. You cant look at those men and saythey never sinned, never made any mistakes, and at every point in time

were pillars o strength and perect execution. You cant say that. But you


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can say the substance and essence o their lives were those two thingsAbandonment to God and Absolute Condence in Faith.

You see the substance that was in Davids heart when he said, Give me asling shot. Tats all I need. You will die, big guy. Tat wasnt somethinghe mustered up reading a ew bible verses, and then stammering outthere to see i he could maybe pull it of. Tere wasnt any doubt in hismind. Because he was abandoned, and because he saw into the unseenrealm and trusted, he went right into it. Tats what created David.

Tats what ormed Moses. Tats what gave substance to Abraham. Anabandonment and total trust in the unseen and not the seen. What wasseen wasnt important to them. What was unseen was what they wereabout. Tat was Gods measuring rod o those men, and that will be Godsmeasuring rod or us, too. Te things men judge byeven as Samuel wasselecting Davidare not how God makes these decisions. God makesHis decisions by abandonment and aith.

I you want to know what you have not yet abandoned to God, Hewillshowyou i you truly want to know, wont He?Yes, but you denitely wont likewhat He shows you or else it wouldnt be an issue. You will not like what

He shows you, and you probably wont like how He brings it about either.But anytime you want to know, anytime you want to be tested to the limitso that you can explore the depths o the riches, He will take you there.In the meantime, you dont have to sweat it. Te abandonment isnt thatyou have already aced everything you could ever ace. Abandonment isthat you are willing to ace anything that would ever come up...whenever,i ever. So, you dont have to sweat the now, just because the new thing,whatever it is, hasnt come up yet. I dont know what the next thing is thatGod is going to test me in, but I have to lay it all at His eet in trust andabandonment. Whatever that may be, I must ace it when the day comes.Im not waiting or some big new test and some big new event. Tingswill come as they come, but I need to be post

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Tasting Powers Coming Age