Return to Normal

Be Inhabited By God!

By Larry Chkoreff

Version 10.5 September 2015

Return to Normal is published by, and is a discipleship curriculum of the International School of the Bible,

Marietta, GA, U.S.A.

info@isob-bible.org www.isob-bible.org

ISBN 9781517247324

Copyright © 2015 by Larry Chkoreff- Author

Published by the International School of the Bible,

Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A.

All rights reserved. This book is the sole property of the author. It may not be reproduced, altered, or transmitted in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author. Any unauthorized reproduction, alteration, transmission, or printing of this book, or any material contained in this book, is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce, alter, transmit, print or reprint this book, or any materials contained in this book, may be requested at the above email address.  Any reference to the materials, ideas, or direct quotations taken from this book must be cited appropriately to this published edition.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the NKJV of the Bible.  Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, publishers.  Used by permission.

Introduction

“Normal” is the Spirit of God indwelling and living inside of a human being. Everything else is worthless religion.

Other religions have been founded on laws, traditions, and other man made ideas. There is undeniable evidence that Scripture in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments are totally inspired by God. I have another book about this issue. [1] see footnote

I was fortunate that when Jesus came into my life I had no prejudices, I had no “ceilings,” or preconceived ideas about what a life with Jesus should look like. I had no unlearning to accomplish.

I believe one of the reasons that Jesus has prompted me to write this book is to break down ceilings that people have adapted through family tradition and denominations. This applies to people who already have Jesus in their lives and to those who are just seekers.

The other reason is to simplify what following Jesus and Christianity is all about by discussing the core and root ideas in the Bible.

If we keep our focus on “normal” in God’s eyes, we can enjoy His fullness for our lives. But even more important is that we can satisfy Jesus’ desire to see us in close fellowship with Him and to guide us into bringing the Kingdom of God into our realm of influence.

In 1979 when I was 39 years old, God started working on me in an intense way. He brought some circumstances into my life that caused me to wonder where I would go when I died. Prior to that I thought God kind of graded on a curve. I felt like I was not that bad, so I would be okay. I asked my 19-year-old son who had just six months prior given his life to Jesus, where we go when we die. He handed me a book about the Book of Revelation and he had his Bible. We read for about four to five hours. Suddenly when I read Revelation 21:7 [2] I crying out to my son: “Patrick, Jesus is alive and has been raised from the dead, He wrote (inspired) the Bible, He is the winner over Satan, and He is coming back”! I said to God, “Father, I have made a mess of my life, please take over.” Suddenly I felt like light and rivers of water flooded my being and I began to weep with joy.

God came into my heart returning me to normal, and I knew it for sure. He became more real than my son who was sitting in the same room. Decades later, it is still the same. My intimacy with Him through His Word and His Holy Spirit in me is precious. He has totally changed my life circumstances and me.

You must have an honest hunger to meet the real God, the Creator. Then you must be very honest with Him. At that point He will reveal Himself to you and make you His Temple. That is a mystery that most people do not understand, but He will show His mysteries to those who are hungry and honest.

Dark clouds often make God obscure.

Psalms 97:2

“2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.”

However God has made a way for real seekers to find Him. We must be hungry and honest, and often it takes a breaking or a suffering in our lives to make us hungry for truth. Those who are hungry pierce the thick cloud of darkness!

For more of my discipleship books, including free audio and IBooks, please go to our website www.isob-bible.org

Chapter 1 Adam – Normal to Abnormal

God has revealed Himself as a loving being that has a passion for intimate relationships. This is the reason that He created Adam and Eve. He gave them dominion over the earth, and thus released His direct control over it.

God carefully designed Adam with the soil of the earth and then breathed His Spirit into him. This is “normal.”

Creation.

Genesis 1:26-28,

“26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

The mystery of God abiding in man! God inhabited Adam. He breathed His Spirit into Adam.

Genesis 2:7-9,

“7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

These verses show David’s desire to be intimate with God.

63:1-8,

“A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.

4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.

8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”

Dominion. God relinquished His direct control over the earth.

Psalms 115:16,

“16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S; But the earth He has given to the children of men.”

Psalms 8:4-6,

“4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels [actually translated God elohiym] , And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,”

Adam was told to “eat” of the Tree of Life rather than “eat” of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 2:15-17,

“15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””

Genesis 2:9,

“9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

The Tree of Life was the Living Word of God. Adam was told to come to God daily in order to hear Him speak. Then Adam was supposed to go and tend the garden and eventually overcome Satan’s influence on earth. The result was supposed to be that the Kingdom of God would be developed on the earth and that God could dwell in and with humans in a love relationship.

But both Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What was that?

That tree represented the human’s brilliant mind to decide to live on its own power without the Word of God. Man was never created to live simply on the brilliance of his mind, but to submit to God’s Word and have God to continually live inside of him. That is normal!

Why does God allow bad things to affect people? Why did God allow Satan to deceive Adam?

God’s original plan was to have a deep love relationship with man. He wanted man to inhabit the earth and to bring God’s kingdom to displace Satan’s kingdom. The only way real love can be expressed and received is by a free will of the two people involved. Love cannot be forced upon another. That is not real love. A free will given to man means that he can choose evil, which he has done. That is why bad things happen.

However, when God inhabits a person, actually lives inside of a person, then that person can convert the evil done to that person into a blessing. This is where the entire Bible is pointing to the defeat of Satan and all those people who make a FINAL decision to follow Satan and not God. This is explained more in the chapter about the Cross.

Normal is a human being with the Spirit of God living inside him, and maintaining a close intimate relationship with God, obeying Him and serving Him.

Adam became “abnormal.”

Genesis 3:22,

“22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” --”

Genesis 3:24,

“24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Most people see “moral sin” as the essence of sin. Moral sin is only the result of the real sin, which separates us from God by trusting in our own abilities with God’s Word and Spirit.

The price of sin is always separation from God.

Adam tried to hide his sin, but God killed an animal, shed blood, to give Adam some relief. It however could not bring the Holy Spirit back into Adam’s body.

Adam could not carry the task of taking the Kingdom of God to earth. Instead Adam gave his dominion over the earth to Satan. Now Satan, through man, governed the earth, rather than God through man governing. Man was given the authority to govern the earth by his words, now Satan and his demons could convince man to speak their words to govern for them.

This did not however take God by surprise. He knew what it would take to finally defeat Satan and to remove his influence from the earth.

It would take the blood of someone, a human without sin to allow the Holy Spirit to re-inhabit man. Man had to have someone pay the horrible price of sin in order to cleanse man from the sin in order to allow God to inhabit and live inside man again.

The price of sin does not only affect us here on earth by not having God live inside of us any longer, but when a human has rejected God coming back into his heart, he spends eternity in Hell. Eternity is forever, and Hell is constant suffering! It is real.

Chapter 2 - Why Blood Shed Is Needed.

Here is the opportunity to return to normal, or to have God re-inhabit man.

God gave dominion over the earth to Adam, and Adam gave it to Satan. Therefore it would take a human being like Adam to redeem the earth back to man, who then would be willing to commit to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth. However it would take a special man to defeat Satan. It would take a man who also had the Spirit of God abiding in him to defeat Satan. But that seemed impossible because God would not allow His Spirit in inhabit a sinful man. Adam, nor his descendants, could be qualified for this task.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam tried to cover his sin with leafs from a fig tree, but God would not accept that. Instead God killed a perfect animal to shed its blood, and dressed and covered Adam and Eve with the bloody skin from the animal.

Then many years later God established a family called the Jewish race starting with Abraham, as stated in Genesis 15 and following. Abraham was called to foster a race that would eventually give birth to a person who would be qualified to overcome Satan.

In the meantime, God provided a temporary way for His Jewish family to atone for or cover their sin - (He did not disqualify Gentiles however).

Finally, a sinless Person with the Spirit of God, Messiah Jesus, would come from Heaven and shed blood in order to finally make a way for mankind to return to normal.

Adam and the blood.

Genesis 3:7,

“7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”

The blood was the key! God could not accept a “fig leaf religion” to cleanse mankind enough to re-inhabit them. God killed a lamb and clothed Adam and Eve to temporarily give them some relief.

Genesis 3:21,

“21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”

The blood offered to and through the Jewish people. Temporary relief.

God provided a Temple to be built through His speaking the plan to Moses. The original Temple was built in the Wilderness as the Jews were leaving Egypt and travelling toward the Promise Land. The Wilderness Temple was called the Tabernacle because it was built of the rough materials that were provided in the Wilderness journey. Among many other things, the Tabernacle provided a temporary atonement or covering for sin through sacrificing a perfect animal, often a lamb, and using its blood to represent the coming blood to be shed by the Messiah Jesus when He arrived. The presence of God was in the inner room (Holy of Holies) of the Tabernacle. However only a priest who had been cleansed by the blood of the animal sacrifice could go into this room, and sometimes even he would die if he had not properly prepared himself.

Like in Adam’s day, this type of bloodshed was not adequate to allow God to re-inhabit man.

God had a plan in place.

God’s love did not cease, but rather went into action to return us to normal. He came to earth as Jesus in order to die in our place, to shed His blood for us, so He could move back inside of us.

Notice even in the original Garden of Eden, God spoke a mysterious idea about His future plans. Although it was “encrypted God talk,” later it came to pass in God’s timing.

Genesis 3:12-15,

“12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent [Satan] deceived me, and I ate.”

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.””

God, speaking to Satan in the above Scriptures was saying that He would send the seed of a woman to defeat him, but that also Satan will bruise His heel. This speaks of the Cross of Jesus Christ, which was to come many thousands of years later. On the Cross Satan’s agents nailed Jesus’ feet (spoken of as the heel) to the Cross as well as His hands.

Also, there is no such thing as the seed of a woman in normal human life. The seed is always in the man. This spoke to all of us that there would be a supernatural birth for this Savior, or Messiah.

The final blood sacrifice that could cleanse man of sin, or separation from God, was Jesus dying on the Cross. This was a mystery.

How could God cleanse man of his rebellion, and the resulting loss of the inhabitation?

Someone had to take man’s place of death, which was the result of being uninhabited by God. God loved man so much that He himself gave His Son Jesus to die our death for us.

The Trinity? How could it be?

Here is a good place to give a brief statement about the Trinity of God that so many people cannot understand. There is only one God and Jesus affirmed this.

Mark 12:29, 30,

“29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.

30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”

However the mystery is that God has a need to take on three forms.

1. The Father. The eternal God who “never did not exist.”

2. He needs a Son who would become a human being in order to die on the Cross so we could be cleansed and return to normal. The Son was also eternal and was a co-creator. His name is Jesus! He also co-existed with the Father from all Eternity. Yes, Jesus is God who became flesh and lived on this earth for a time. He was killed on a cross, went to the grave, and after three days came out of the grave, and 40 days later returned to Heaven.

3. He needs a Spirit so that by His Spirit He could inhabit man. The Spirit was also eternal and was a co-creator. Read Genesis 1 and you will notice all three there. God the Father who had the vision, Jesus the Word, which was spoken, and Spirit who did the work.

Simple but mysterious to many! The Spirit of God must reveal this truth about the Trinity to you. You do not need to take my word or anyone’s word for this. God Himself will reveal this to you like He did to me.

The whole issue of why the Cross was so powerful is a legal matter.

The Cross and Jesus.

Most likely you have at least heard about the Cross and Jesus being crucified on it about 2,000 years ago. You may ask: How in the world would Jesus being crucified help return us to normal? How would this act defeat Satan and bring dominion of this earth back to man? Great questions. If you have not yet asked them, ask them now!

Before I go into more about the Cross and Jesus, I would like to emphasis what I feel is a simple but important issue that was accomplished by Jesus dying on the Cross.

As I have written, God was forced to leave Adam. To redeem that separation between God and Adam, Jesus bore that separation on the Cross. On the Cross Jesus said:

Matthew 27:46,

“46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken [left] Me?””

Another word for leave is “forsake.”

On the Cross The Father “left” Jesus for a time in order that Jesus would pay the price of the rebellion, or sin, that Adam passed down to all of us. By paying that price, Jesus offered us a cleansing so that God could indeed re-inhabit us.

The act of God The Father leaving Jesus for a time was the worst of all that happened to Jesus on the Cross. However, let us not underestimate how painful and cruel the Cross was.

Please go to the endnotes now and read Isaiah chapter 53, which was a prophecy regarding how Jesus would suffer for you and me by taking the penalty for our sin, and sins. [3]

The Cross was in God’s plan before the foundation of the world!

Revelation 13:8b,

“8 b of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

The Eternal God knew what was to happen in the Garden of Eden, and therefore even before He created the world, He ordained that His Son Jesus would be crucified.

God is beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our being able to experience Him. When I first met the Lord Jesus in 1979, it took me a few weeks or months to understand that He “never did not exist,” and that He does not live in a “time mode.” He lives in eternity, no time, and He was never created. He just always was! So His Son Jesus was ordained to become a man and suffer for our sin before the earth was ever formed.

There is a difference between the Holy Spirit indwelling Adam and Christ in us.

Colossians 1:27,

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Adam had the Holy Spirit and we have Christ in us. The Christ in us has been to the Cross, has totally and forever wiped out our sins by His blood, and has given us a life that is “beyond the normal” Adam had. When we miss it and sin, we do not lose the Holy Spirit, He does not move out like He did with Adam. We simply hate what we did, confess is and then Jesus cleanses us completely. See 1 John 1:9.

Who is this Jesus? The virgin birth!

I remember very clearly one day in 1971 just eight years before I met Jesus personally, a man coming to my house with a small pamphlet. He used it to try to convince me to become a Christian and accept Jesus. After about 45 minutes I said to him - “This all sounds so good, except for one thing. A baby cannot be born from a virgin woman.”

Then eight years later after Jesus really revealed Himself to me, the idea of a virgin birth just came to me as a reality revealed to my mind by God Himself.

Why a virgin birth was needed.

Jesus needed to come into this earth as God in the flesh, without any inheritance of sin from the Adamic race, who we are all part of. Therefore God sent the angel Gabriel to speak the seed of the Word into the virgin Mary’s womb.

Isaiah 7:14,

“14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God with us].”

Luke 1:26-38,

“26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.

32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

33 “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

36 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

God Himself, the very Word of God, came to earth out of His great love for people like you and me who are disconnected.

John 1:1-5,14,

“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Get ready for a permanent transformation. The new birth, your path back to normal.

John 3:1-19,

“1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?

11 “Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.

12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

13 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

The Word of God is the spiritual seed.

1 Peter 1:23-25 Amplified Bible,

You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.

For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its glory (honor) like [the] flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off,

But the Word of the Lord ( divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever. And this Word is the good news which was preached to you.

It is our choice; we must receive the love of God and His offer to us.

Mary received the spiritual sperm of the Word for the birth of Jesus. But like all of us, when we are offered the seed, the sperm, of the Word, we must like Mary receive it and welcome it. Otherwise it will not take root and bear the intended fruit.

Titus 2:11,

“11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,”

Romans 10:8, 9,

“8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The filling with God’s Spirit.

Titus 3:4-7,

“4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,

5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

John 20:22,

“22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 2:1-8,

“1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.

6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?

8 “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?”

“How many millennia had God waited for this moment? The same Holy Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation, who was inserted into Adam and Eve, finally could now again inhabit mankind! These experiences of the new birth and filling with the Holy Spirit give you the opportunity to change your race. A new Parent regenerates your entire life, a new Father that is the Creator of all! Notice the amazing prophetic word given hundreds of years earlier by Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36:26-27,

26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

2 Corinthians 5:17,

“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

The Cross is powerful!

The Apostle Paul, who wrote two thirds of the New Testament and preached all around the known world during the first century, knew for sure that the power of the Gospel, the good news, was in the truth of the Cross.

1 Corinthians 2:2,

“2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Why was Paul so intense about preaching the Cross? Because He knew that when people heard about the death and resurrection of Jesus, that if they accepted that truth, the Holy Spirit would find His way into their lives and return them to normal.

Romans 8:11,

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

These are some lyrics from a song that I really love, titled - This Is Amazing Grace.

This is amazing grace, this is unfailing love, that you would take my place, that you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life, that I would be set free, O Jesus, I sing for all you have done for me.

Who brings our chains back into order, who makes the orphan a son and daughter.

The King of Glory, The King of Glory!

Who rules the nations with truth and justice, shines like the sun in all its brilliance.

The King of Glory, The King above all things!

Chapter 3 We Must Live In The Light

Now that we have the New Birth and the Holy Spirit resides in us, we are legally righteous, and our destiny is Heaven when we die. Also, Satan has no legal authority over us as he did before. However there is a difference between who we legally are and who we are experientially. As we live this life we are constantly experiencing our “old Adamic nature” in our thought life. But be sure to know, it is only in our thought life – not our spirit.

We are a new race now cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and totally righteous. As we stumble and sin, we have an advocate, a lawyer, named Jesus, who is constantly cleansing us as we “walk in the light.” We could say that we are normal now that The Holy Spirit inhabits us, but that it could take a lifetime for us to behave as normal people. That is okay, God is at work and He is happy with our hearts to be conformed to His character.

1 John 1:6-9,

“6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship [intimacy with one another [God and us], and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Jesus’ names include, Light, Word, Life, Way and Truth among others. Our foundation to being intimate with God is His love, which causes us to love Him. But you cannot live this way unless you “walk in the light.” We must live in total honesty with God. When we do He gently convicts us, not condemns us, so that we may confess our sin to Him and be made whole again.

If you do not live a life of repentance from everyday sin, you will not experience normal intimacy with God. Truth makes you free, but lies allow Satan to torment you! God’s forgiveness is sometimes more than most people can fathom.

Psalms 85:11,

“11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.”

Remember God lives in you. Your job is to allow Him to manifest His love, mercy, cleanliness and holiness in you. He is not an adulterer, a liar, etc. His attributes will begin to come out in you.

Condemnation – guilt? No!

John 3:16-19,

“16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

God does not want us to live in condemnation because of our past failures. However we must bring everything into His light as stated in the John 3 Scripture above. We must even bring Him the sinful issues we may be dealing with presently that we are having a hard time giving up. You will be amazed that when you interact with God this way how wonderful, loving and powerful He will be with you.

The woman taken in adultery – John chapter 8.

She called Jesus Lord. That was a very big event! Jesus said that He gave her Light. He told her now with this Light she no longer had to live like this. Do you think Jesus would be cruel enough to tell this beaten up woman who called Him Lord to just change the way she lived without giving her the power to do so?  Too many people see this story that way. That is contrary to Jesus's personality. In His eyes she had been justified, cleansed and was now one of His special followers. The only people that ended up with condemnation after this event were those who wanted to stone her.

John 8:2-12,

“2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 “Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

When He said “go and sin no more.” I believe that can be interpreted as “Now you can go in this new power and light that I have given to you, and you no longer need to live like you have in your past. Grace!!

Quoted from Oswald Chambers - http://utmost.org

‘No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings, which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature, which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.”

Spiritual Warfare.

Having said what I did in the previous few paragraphs, I have a warning. Satan is against our walking in the Light because that sets us up to bear fruit. He often works in our minds and our thinking. Simply continue to see who you really are in the Word of God, and allow the facts of that to take precedent over your thinking and feelings. We discuss that more in some of our other books available at www.isob-bible.org. Take a look at the book titled Grow or Die.

Here is a quick summary of how we are to handle spiritual warfare.

Ephesians 6:10-18,

“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--”

We must experience the love and goodness of God in order to have a personal revival.

The word LIGHT in the New Testament represents the very presence of God. The woman taken in adultery was struck by the light and love of Jesus so that she was empowered to no longer live in sin. She called Jesus Lord - John 8:3-12. Read this in the end note of this book. [4]

The Love of God cannot be comprehended, but it can be experienced. He is passionate about you and me. He describes Himself as a Bridegroom who has so much romance that He can hardly wait to connect. He is very hurt when the bride goes astray, but does not give up.

Open up to Jesus, The Father and The Holy Spirit, and ask Him to flood you and others with His Light! Allow Him to search and convict you (no condemnation) so that you may repent, confess your sin, and experience His pleasure and forgiveness!

Allow for Him to convict you in the event your life does not conform to His character. With all of us that is often the case, so we must be ready to be cleansed daily.

His character is described in the Fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22, 23,

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Grace, grace!

Grace is the power of God working in you to accomplish what you cannot accomplish. When you come to Him with repentance, His grace kicks in and provides the power you need to conform to His character. You cannot do that, but He does it through His love and grace!

Pray, pray! Talk to Him, study His Word, and join a fellowship group and a church. But be sure that He leads you to the church He wants you in. You must experience His anointing and His peace.

Chapter 4 - Living The Normal Life

The vine and the branch

John chapter 15 records a time in history just shortly before Jesus was crucified and was buried, later to be resurrected. In this group of chapters, John 14-17, Jesus is giving His disciples, and you and me, some last minute and very important instructions on how to live our lives after He leaves.

I am going to go through John 15 with explanations in between verses as follows:

John 15:1-16:4,

“1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Normal is to have the sap flow from the vine to the branch.

Jesus is saying that we will be eternally connected much as a branch is to a vine. The life of the vine flows through the branch and causes the branch to bear fruit.

2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Pruning should be expected.

Fruit in a vineyard is only produced in abundance on tender, newer growth. As a branch become older, it becomes harder. Even though a branch is living and is connected to the vine, it can become barren. Therefore the gardener cuts back the old hard wood, which forces it to produce new growth that will produce fruit in abundance. God therefore takes us through times where everything in our lives seem cut off except for our relationship with Him. In that process our connection with Him, the Vine, is enlarged and fruit is produced.

Don’t become discouraged when pruning takes place!

3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

To abide is the very key to this book.

The word abide means some very intimate and important things.

From Strong’s Bible Dictionary:

To abide, to remain as one, not to become another or different, remain dwell, continue tarry, endure to remain, in reference to place to sojourn, tarry not to depart to continue to be present to be held, kept, continually.

Is that amazing? God created us to “abide” with and in Him. He in us and us in Him. It is a oneness between the Creator and His created human. Did you hear that? It is like we described in the first chapter of this book. God made Adam out of dust and then breathed Himself into Adam. Now he wants us to return to normal.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Bearing fruit is a mystery!

God bearing His fruit in us is one of the most amazing and least understood facts in the Bible. It is a mystery that God wants to reveal to all of us. But we must be willing to be honest, teachable, and submissive to God. I will take some time to go over the purpose of God’s fruit and how it works. Mark chapter 4 is one of the main chapters in the New Testament that describes bearing fruit.

Mark 4:11-12 – is part of the parable of the sower that Jesus spoke to describe fruit bearing.

“11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,”

12 In order that they may [indeed] look and look but not see and perceive, and may hear and hear but not grasp and comprehend, lest haply they should turn again, and it [ their willful rejection of the truth] should be forgiven them. (Amplified Bible)

There are three main categories of fruit that God bears through us. All three put together will build the Kingdom of God here on this earth through you in your realm of influence.

1. Fruit of the Spirit – or our character. God wants His character to be manifested through us.

Galatians 5:22, 23,

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

2. Fruit for our personal provisions in this life, including but not limited to financial and social.

Philippians 4:19,

“19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

3. Fruit to bring others to the knowledge of Jesus Christ – ministry.

2 Corinthians 4:6,

“6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light [to unbelievers] of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

While bearing fruit is part of our normal life with God, the spiritual warfare from satanic forces is also part of normal. Notice the rest of the parable of the sower that Jesus spoke as recorded in Mark chapter 4. He warns us that Satan will do everything to prevent fruit. Satan will use all means to trick us, discourage us, lie to us, and cause suffering, just to prevent God’s fruit from being manifested in your life. Expect it and know that Satan’s forces are already defeated by Jesus, and we just have to stand on that truth. Please study this in Ephesians 6:11-18.

Mark 4: 13-20 – continue in the fruit bearing process.

13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

14 “The sower sows the word.

15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

17 “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.

18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,

19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.””

Now let’s go back to John 15. There may be warfare, but look what Jesus said here.

John 15:“ 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Look! Bearing fruit is the most important thing that Jesus wants. He wants to be glorified. Now don’t get that idea confused with some sort of ego or pride. God is the most humble of all.

The word glorify means to reveal. It is like an artist that just finished a sculpture. He covers it with a cloth, and then as the crowd gathers, he rips off the cloth to glorify, or to reveal his work.

God loves people so much, even ungodly people, that it is His desire to reveal Himself to them. When He is revealed, then we must make a decision. Will we reject Him? Will we reject truth? It is up to us; we have a free will. When He revealed Himself to me, there was so much love that poured through me that I instantly invited Him to take control of my life.

1 Corinthians 10:31,

“31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Moving on with John 15.

John 15:“9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

10 “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.

Obedience to God is essential. John chapter 14 shows that when we obey that God becomes real to us. Then when we see God is real to us, we have a greater love for Him and have a greater desire to obey Him more. It can be an endless cycle that leads to a very close and intimate relationship with the Creator!

Always ask Him what He wants you to do. Always be alert for where He wants you to give and when you need to forgive. Always be ready to be convicted, not condemned, by the Holy Spirit in you for any sin. When you confess your sin to Him, He cleanses you as if you had never sinned – 1 John 1:9.

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

14 “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

The word appointed used in verse 16 is interesting. It means to lay horizontal in a helpless position. Often we must come to the end of our own limited power and resources to really appreciate submitting totally to God. He loves you so much. Don’t be surprised if he “appoints” you!

15:17 “These things I command you, that you love one another.

How can we love other people? Only by the power of God working in and through us. That is, if you allow Him to do so.

15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

The world – what is it? God loves the world in the sense that He loves all the people in the world. However as I pointed out in chapter 1 of this book, Satan took over the government and system of this world. The world referred to here in verses 18-19 is the world system and its people who are controlled by satanic forces.

Continuing in John 15.

15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

21 “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.

24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.

25 “But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ (Psalm 69:4).

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

27 “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

John 16:1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.

2 “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

3 “And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.

4 “But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”

Chapter 5 Rejoicing In trials.

Peter stated a great truth. The obedient Christian will expect sufferings and at the same time be able to rejoice in them. Why? Because he knows that this is part of normal.

1 Peter 4:12-19,

“12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;

13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.

16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

18 Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”

God’s ways are not what we expect. They are not our ways. He will always surprise you with something better than you expected if you totally trust Him through it all. His purposes include you helping Him to show who He is (glory), transforming your old character into His character, and overcoming challenges and even sufferings in order to defeat the demonic strongholds here on earth so that others will be saved. Our overcoming brings His victory of the Cross here on earth to bring the Kingdom of God here.

Isaiah 55:8-11,

“8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Here are a few examples.

I don’t have room in this book to go into the full stories, but will give you the idea and then resources on how to study these examples.

Job. The book of Job in the Bible is probably one of the oldest and one of the most misunderstood. I have written a short book titled Job’s Journey. You may obtain the IBook version or PDF download for free at our website www.isob-bible.org. Or you may purchase a hard copy.

Briefly, Job was a great respecter of God. He was very prosperous. But his spiritual experience was limited. His “friends” who basically participated in “church” with Job were even more limited. Satan attacked Job with poverty and a horrible sickness. Job complained but also kept his deep down trust in God. His “friends “accused him that his sin was the reason that he was suffering.

However when all was said and done, God showed up in Job’s life in a very personal and intimate way.

Job 42:1-6

“1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:

2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.

3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’

5 I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, but now my [spiritual] eye sees You (Amp Bible) – (There was an intimacy created by this eye to eye contact that you and I can experience)

6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Then God used Job to turn the tables on Satan and that resulted in his friends to be also set free. Notice in the Scripture below the term “turned the captivity” means that Job was free and Satan was “bound” in Job’s realm of influence. My family has experienced this many times.

Job 42;10 Amplified Bible,

10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job and restored his fortunes, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Old Testament Joseph.

Much of Joseph’s story is covered in Genesis 47-50 and also in some previous chapters of Genesis. Joseph was persecuted by his brothers and was sold into Egypt as a slave. In Egypt he suffered and was even put into prison by reason of a lie. But Joseph always saw a bigger picture. Often he would know that “God was with me.” He just knew God on a very personal basis, most likely as a result of his suffering. However Joseph had a good heart, the kind who could hear from God. Eventually God used Joseph to save the Hebrew race from starvation.

New Testament Apostle Paul.

Paul was a Pharisee and greatly persecuted and even killed Christians. Eventually Jesus appeared to him and saved him. Paul was greatly used by God to spread the Gospel all over the known world at that time. Now in this venture he was greatly persecuted and suffered much. But he always knew that his suffering is what caused him to be so successful.

2 Corinthians 11:24-30,

“24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.

25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--

28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.”

2 Corinthians 12:7-10,

“7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Surely we are not all called to suffer as these examples I listed above. However we need to know that God often uses the things that Satan throws at us to overcome his demons in this world. He does this by the power of His Cross and Resurrection living inside of us.

Chapter 6 – We Will Live In Heaven Eternally

The greatest gift of returning to normal is that we will spend eternity in Heaven with God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Eternity does not mean a long time, it means no time. The Bible does not tell us everything about Heaven, but it is enough to make us happy and look forward to it.

There are some descriptions about Heaven in the Bible, however not in enough detail to really grasp the whole wonderful idea. Just know it will be millions of times better than you can imagine. Some believe, according to many Scriptures, that this earth will be renewed after it is burned up.

2 Peter 3:10-14,

“10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;”

Revelation 21:1,

“1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”

I have read stories and seen television testimonies about people who have had after death experiences in Heaven. They spoke of beautiful meadows and rivers. They said that the tall grass beneath their feet felt so good. One young boy told of Jesus standing in a river with him splashing him with laughter. I believe that Jesus allowed us to experience beautiful times in the earth’s nature so that we will really enjoy the perfected nature for eternity.

Nature is groaning.

Romans 8:17-23,

“17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;

21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

23 Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”

There is also a Hell, for sure.

Why? This earth is corrupt and we are not destined to live forever in a corrupt world. God said that He would destroy this world, as we know it now, with fire, and that He would create a new Heaven and new Earth. He wants us to live close to Him and our spiritual family in joyful bliss forever. When people reject God’s offer for the new birth, they do not obtain the Holy Spirit. Therefore when they die they automatically go into Hell.

Matthew 10:28,

“28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Jesus is coming back to this earth.

While none of us can accurately discover just when Jesus is returning and under what circumstances, He promised that He would come. He also warned us that there would be great tribulation and the “end times.” I used to think that I knew a lot about the end times schedule, but as I grew in the Lord I know now that I do not know the details. I really do not believe that God wants us to know a lot of details, or try to make time schedules.

I don’t really care about time schedules any more, but I just trust Him and stay aware. Even as I am writing this, a lot of end times events are happening now.

There are events taking place in Israel, the Middle East, and worldwide now in 2015 that are very indicative of end times as the Bible speaks about it.

Ann Graham Lotz posted this devotion on June 16,, 2015. Footnote [5]

Our Heavenly Home

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:3, NKJV

The first book in the Bible, Genesis, gives us an unforgettable picture of the Lord God. After at least five “days” of intensely creative work, He “planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye” (Gen. 2:8-9, NIV). In my mind’s eye, I can see Him on His hands and knees, grubbing in the dirt, planting trees and flowers and shrubs and grass, watering and pruning and landscaping. God Himself was the first homemaker, preparing a place for His children, Adam and Eve, that would be pleasing to the eye. We can only imagine the joyful eagerness of the divine Gardener as He presented Adam with his lovingly prepared home that was not just adequate or sufficient to meet his needs, but extravagant in its lush beauty and comfort.

But the preparations made for that first earthly home . . . are nothing compared with the preparations being made for our heavenly home!

Blessings,

Ann Graham Lotz

Prayer

For seekers

Romans 10:4-13

“4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”

6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)

7 or,” ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.””

Lord Jesus, I sense you calling me to Yourself. I now realize that I need You, not only for my eternal salvation, but also even to live this life here on earth. I feel that I am not doing that good of a job with my life here.

I believe that You sacrificed Your life on the Cross in order to return me to normal. I believe that You are alive today because you were resurrected from the dead.

I now call you Lord, or the boss of my life. Dear God here is my life; I put it into your hands. I expect you to develop a conversational relationship with me, and show me how deep Your love is for me.

For believers.

Jesus, I believe that I have given my life to you in the past, but that I have not really lived the “abiding life.” I believe You will lead me into an intimacy with You that I have never experienced.

Endnotes

Isaiah 53:1-12

“1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they made His grave with the wicked--But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”

Mark John 8:3-12,

“3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 “Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

[1] Is There A New World Coming? http://www.isob-bible.org/component/content/article.html?id=484

[2] Revelation 21:7 “7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

[3]

Isaiah 53:1-12

“1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they made His grave with the wicked--But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall

[4] John 8:3-12,

“3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 “Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

[5] AnGeL Ministries 5115 Hollyridge Drive Raleigh, NC 27612

Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Chapter 1 Adam – Normal to Abnormal

Chapter 2 - Why Blood Shed Is Needed.

Chapter 3 We Must Live In The Light

Chapter 4 - Living The Normal Life

Chapter 5 Rejoicing In trials.

Chapter 6 – We Will Live In Heaven Eternally

Endnotes

Footnotes