Like Grass

Psalms 103:15-18 (ESV)

15 As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children's children,

18 to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

When the wind of the Holy Spirit passes over man without stopping, his days are are few. He flourishes briefly, then his time is done. 

But if the Holy Spirit stops and dwells with the man, his life will have no end, for the Spirit is from everlasting to everlasting. Those who love the Lord will obey His commandments in the freedom of His salvation. 

Pure Words

Psalms 12:6 (ESV)

The words of the LORD are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

The words of God are revealed according to the purity and maturity of the reader. Multiple readings can yield different thoughts and interpretations which meet us where are. 

Sanctification is our transformation and refinement into the image of the nature of our Lord. Seven is the number of perfection. We persevere toward that ideal as we sojourn through the wilderness of the world. We will be perfected when we are resurrected into the fullness of His likeness. 

I Press On

Philippians 3:12 (ESV)

Straining Toward the Goal

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Paul has been changed into a new creation. His spirit leads the way that will be complete upon the resurrection of his body. His spirit is alive in Christ. Our resurrected body will perfect the fullness of life in Christ that includes body, soul, and spirit. We will be like Him. Until then, we are the body of Christ on earth in these mortal bodies, as was Jesus before He died and was resurrected. In the meantime we press on to overcome the flesh and be like Him. 

Come Into His Presence

Psalms 100:1-2 (ESV)

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS.

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

If He is with us, how do we come into His presence? Consider Adam in the garden of Eden. He lived in the presence of the Lord, but he was a separate person. The Holy Spirit had no part in the events that led to the fall. It was later that the Lord was walking in the garden and began calling Adam who tried to hide. His spirit died to the Lord when he disobeyed the given commandment and was no longer present, or alive to the Lord Spirit to spirit. 

We have been made alive to the Lord, and in that sense have entered the garden of His presence. When we call on His name, He answers us Spirit to spirit. Let us do so with a thankful heart that sings of His love forever. 

The Heart Of The Matter

The Garden of Eden is found in a heart given to the Lord. 

Revealed His Righteousness

Psalms 98:1-2 (ESV)

Make a Joyful Noise to the LORD

A PSALM.

1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song,

for he has done marvelous things!

His right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for him.

2 The LORD has made known his salvation;

he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

The Lord is doing a new thing in the world. He has made the way for a new creation. This takes place through the right hand of His holy arm: His Son Jesus Christ. He brings the salvation of man and freely gives His righteousness to all who ask. He completes man made in the image of God by giving His Holy Spirit, the breath of life, to those who seek and follow Him into the fullness of the kingdom of heaven. 

The perfection of man and the gathering of His bride is the final work of His creation before taking His Sabbath rest. 

For He Comes

Psalms 96:11-13 (ESV)

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

12 let the field exult, and everything in it!

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

13 before the LORD, for he comes,

for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Heaven and earth will sing the same song of gladness and rejoicing when Christ returns to the earth to establish His kingdom. The sea and the field refer to the people of the earth who are outside the kingdom of heaven. The trees of the forest may refer to those who have inherited the promised land. When He sits upon the throne of David, He will judge the world in righteousness and faithfulness. 

Into His Presence

Psalms 95:1-2 (ESV)

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

The Lord is the rock of our salvation from whom the living waters flow into the world. He is the face of the Lord that is His presence among us. His Spirit hovers over the face of the deep in creation and became the flesh of the Son of Man to be with us face to face in the darkness of where we are. Our resurrection will bring us to be with Him face to face where He is in the kingdom of heaven. 

The Little Children

Matthew 19:14 (ESV)

but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven,

Jesus came into the world and into the flesh of man as a helpless baby to be like us in every way. Those who come to Him are reborn into the life and the Holy Spirit, and enter the kingdom of heaven as a child of God. He grew in the maturity of the Son of Man, perfecting our flesh into the image of God. We grow into the nature and maturity of Jesus as we journey with Him in the flesh, yet not of this world. We will resurrect to be as brothers with Him for eternity. 

Holds Fast

Psalms 91:14-16 (ESV)

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Everyone who trusts in the name of the Lord, holding fast to His name and word will find His salvation, even eternal life. 

I Have Anointed Him

Psalms 89:20 (ESV)

I have found David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have anointed him,

David was anointed  with holy oil applied to His head and made king. We have been anointed with the holy oil of the Holy Spirit that ever dwells in our hearts and made a royal priesthood. 

A Mighty Arm

Psalms 89:13-15 (ESV)

13 You have a mighty arm;

strong is your hand, high your right hand.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,

who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,

The strong arm of the Lord is His Son Christ Jesus. He is the finger of the Lord who wrote the commandments on stone for Jacob and on the hearts of flesh of those in the body of Christ. 

 He will judge the world with perfect justice which flows from His righteousness. His righteousness becomes ours and covers those who walk in His light. His love and faithfulness go before us and sustain us as we journey through this life. 

Your Steadfast Love

Psalms 88:10-12 (ESV)

10 Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

God would indeed work a mighty wonder in His creation. He so loved the world that He gave His only Son to enter our grave and then rise up to His praise and glory. He entered the depths of our darkness and was raised into the light which is the fullness of heaven and earth. 

O City Of God

Psalms 87:1-3 (ESV)

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH. A SONG.

1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;

2 the LORD loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

3 Glorious things of you are spoken,

O city of God. Selah

Of all the places of the earth, the Lord chose Zion as His dwelling place, just as He chose Jacob as His people out of all those on the earth. They are the foundation of the new thing that He was doing. 

A New Jerusalem will descend from heaven onto this Holy Mount. It is the holy city of those who chose God in heaven as Father and became His sons. There is no need for a temple in the New Jerusalem, for the Father and Son will inhabit His living temple whose cornerstone is Christ. Heaven and earth will be one in the union of Christ and His bride and will be the light of the world. 

Teach Me

Psalms 86:11 (ESV)

Teach me your way, O LORD,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

You have wrapped me in your truth and righteousness. Show the way I should walk and strengthen me to follow in your way. Unite my heart with yours to revere your name and claim it for my own. 

A Way

Psalms 85:10-13 (ESV)

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

The love and faithfulness of the Lord have rained down His righteousness and peace on mankind. Man responds in kind with faith in the word of the Lord. His righteousness is given to us who believe and love Him through obedience to His word. 

A new creation appears and it is good. We begin to take the shape of the one we follow in the way He has made. His righteousness goes before us leading us into the righteousness of a son. 

The Fullness Of Deity

Colossians 2:9-10 (ESV)

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

We have been filled with the fullness of deity of Christ if you have received the Holy Spirit. We have been incorporated in the body of Christ with Him as the head with all rule and authority. 

Who Shall Ascend

Psalms 24:3-4 (ESV)

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

Only the pure of heart will inherit the kingdom of heaven. He is the one who follows the leading of the Holy Spirit, who walks after Jesus until he ascends into the mind and maturity of Christ. Some will opt to grow old in one place and there be satisfied. Others will take up their cross and persevere in their journey through the wilderness until they reach the throne of Christ. 

The Body

We are in the body of Christ and we have become the body of Christ. He dwells in us collectively and individually. 

Collectively we are united by the Holy Spirit with each other to form the living temple of God. God is dwelling in the flesh of many to create the fellowship of being one with Him. We are added to the life of the Triune God. 

Individually we are united by the Holy Spirit with our Father as a son and to Christ as His bride to form the Holy of Holies in the temple of God. God dwells in our flesh to allow the intimate knowing only found in a one to one relationship that leads to our becoming flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. This is the ultimate perfection of man. God has taken our flesh for His own and we have received His Spirit to become one with Him. We enter into His Sabbath rest. 

Blessed In The Doing

James 1:23-25 (ESV)

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

The word is a mirror that reflects the reality and poverty of the natural man. The one who hears the word of the gospel and understands, even gladly receiving it, but turns and forgets what he has seen will not profit from that revelation. The one who seeks to become more like Christ by following Him and persevering in obedience to His word will be blessed in the doing and in the end. 

In A Mirror

James 1:23-25 (ESV)

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

The word is a mirror that reflects the reality and poverty of the natural man. The one who hears the word of the gospel and understands, even gladly receiving it, but turns and forgets what he has seen will not profit from that revelation. The one who seeks to become more like Christ by following Him and persevering in obedience to His word will be blessed in the doing and in the end. 

If

John 15:10 (NASB)

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

To abide in Christ, one must obey His commandments, which are our Father’s commandments. Jesus is speaking this word to the body of Christ. It is our choice to follow Jesus. It is our choice to continue. If…

Working Salvation

Psalms 74:12 (ESV)

Yet God my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

The Hebrew for salvation is Yeshua which is the name of our risen Lord and the King of Kings. He is the way that God has predestined from old as the way we should go to fulfill His salvation on the earth. To believe in His name and to pursue His name for our own allows us to overcome the world. The riches of heaven will become our inheritance. 

He Humbled Himself

Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

To be reborn into the life of Christ, we must humble ourselves by being obedient to the point of death to self. This is the cross we must each bear in the body of Christ. This is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and the individual which we refer to as sanctification. This will last until our death of our mortal bodies. Adam died to God long before the death of his mortal body. We come into the presence of God when we are reborn, thus reversing the curse of Adam. For a little while we remain in these bodies of flesh until our spirits are freed to be with Him. 

To Work

Genesis 2:15 (ESV)

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

The Hebrew word translated as work could have just as easily been translated as serve. The Hebrew word translated as keep could have just as easily been translated as guard. One might say Adam was placed in the garden to serve the Lord, to guard and keep the word of the One who made the garden. 

Each one who is taken from the world and placed in the body of Christ is charged with serving the Lord and guarding the flame of life that is to be a light for the world. Those who worship in spirit have become the true garden which pleases and delights the Lord. 

A Good Work

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:13 (ESV)

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Jesus has begun a good work in us by justifying us into His salvation. We are then reborn for the good works of our sanctification. He has given us the Holy Spirit that we might “will and work for His good pleasure.” Our works include transforming our minds into thinking as children of God who are growing into the mind of Christ. We work to overcome the flesh through obedience to His word through word and deed. We present our minds and bodies and souls to our Lord Jesus Christ. He has begun a good work in us and He will accomplish it. 

I Know Your Works

Revelation 3:1 (ESV)

To the Church in Sardis

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

The reality of our life before the Lord is the measure of our life. 

Israel’s Fountain

Psalms 68:26 (ESV)

“Bless God in the great congregation,

the LORD, O you who are of Israel's fountain!”

From the fountain of the.Lord came the living waters which became the four rivers of the Garden of Eden, which is the promised land of Israel. 

The heart of the believer receives the living waters of the Lord and the landscape of the Garden becomes the interior of those in the body of Christ. We become part of the living temple of the Lord, with Jesus as the cornerstone. 

Blessed are those who receive the living waters that flow from the fountain of God. 

Before Them

Exodus 13:21 (NASB)

The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

The Lord led Israel through the wilderness, going before them in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of flame during the night. He led them as a people, not individually. Their destination was and is the promised land. 

Today the Lord leads the body of Christ through the wilderness with the flame of His presence from within. Each person receives the Holy Spirit to be in Christ and to be guided in the truth of His word. Our destination is to be with Him and to be like Him. 

Understanding

Psalms 49:20 (ESV)

Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Man without God will perish as will any beast of the field. The understanding of man is limited by the dust of the earth from which he came. He is a creature of the world and a child of the earth. 

Entering the life of God requires one to be reborn into that life, to become again like a child, (Mat 19:14), to begin to learn a new nature that will lead us into the mind of Christ. We become as children with a Heavenly Father and as a brother of Christ. We are a new creature and a child in the kingdom of heaven. 

Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV)

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Israel was chosen out of all mankind to be the people of God who would bring His light into the world. The disobedience of Adam would foreshadow the disobedience of Israel and they would be thrown from the promised land. 

The light of the world did come through this people in the person of the second Adam who was Jesus Christ. He would show us the way of obedience to the Father which enables us to enter His life and His eternal fellowship. It is the same choice between life and death. This has always been the question God poses to man. What is the right answer? In a word: Jesus. Only in Him can we perfectly obey our Father because He is the only perfect man. Through Him we can choose life. 

In The Sanctuary

Psalms 63:2 (ESV)

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

We behold the Lord in the sanctuary of His house. Our hearts become the holy of Holies when we find Him there. We behold His power and glory in His presence. This worship experience is fully comprehended spirit to Spirit. It is peace and understanding which is beyond words. 

Through Works

We are not saved through works, but it is through works we are sanctified. 

For My Sake

Matthew 16:25 (ESV)

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

To save your life you must lose it. This doesn’t make sense unless you are able understand it from the divine perspective of God. It is from the kingdom of heaven and the land of the living. 

Be Transformed

Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is something we pursue and perform with the leading of the Holy Spirit, to will and do according to His purpose. 

Our hearts are stirred by His word. It is found in Scripture and made alive by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Our thinking begins to coalesce into the mind of Christ. We call this sanctification. 

Tent Resurrection

For those who walk with the Lord, the tent of our mortal bodies will be turned into the mansions of our resurrected bodies at the end of the wilderness journey. 

Away From Your Tent

Psalms 52:5 (NASB)

But God will break you down forever;

He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,

And uproot you from the land of the living.

Selah.

Our bodies are but a tent for our spirit of being. For now we tabernacle on this earth, in these jars of clay which are created to receive the filling of the Spirit of God. Our resurrected bodies are likened to mansions that are being prepared for us. Part of this work is accomplished in our sanctifying walk with His Spirit who dwells with us until His final work of lifting us up into our resurrected bodies. Those who do not walk with Him will return to the dust of the earth and there remain. 

There were many trees in the Garden of Eden and there are many trees in the land of the living. The road that leads to destruction will cause one to be uprooted from the land of the living, experiencing the full wrath of God. 

I Will Wait

Psalms 52:9 (NASB)

I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,

And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

We wait for the morning sunrise of your return to the world, for your light has broken into the darkness of our hearts. It grows ever brighter as we wait for your kingdom on the earth, even as it is heaven. Your godly ones are those united in the body of Christ by the life giving presence of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has accomplished our salvation and union with Him and we eagerly await the consummation of all things.