Category: Monthly Posts for 2024

How to make your enemies the footstool of Jesus

The Lord told us that he uses physical things to explain the spiritual. We live in the earth with physical bodies but our minds should be heavenly. God’s will must be done in earth as it is done in heaven.  When we have the Christ-mind, we have a heavenly mind. To be saved into Christ is to be hidden in Christ. As Paul says in Galatians 2:20: It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. (Gal 2:20) The things of this world can’t touch us if we remain in Christ.

Before Jesus was crucified he was called Jesus of Nazareth. After the cross,He became Jesus Christ. He is the Christ! He now has a Spiritual body and sits on the right hand of God waiting for His enemies to become His footstool. Note, that he will not make the enemy his footstool, we are the ones who should do it. We do this by following Jesus daily and laying down our lives.  We have given our lives to Christ and His Spirit lives in us, however, we live in a physical body and the FLESH lusts after the things of the Flesh.

Gal 5:17: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” 

In Galatians 19 Paul lists the fruits of the Flesh.  I am saying that the flesh is the enemy that must become the footstool of Christ.

The enemy is my sinful nature that must be dealt with daily, at the cross. Worry is fearfulness and it is the enemy. So is pride, anger, gossip, judgment greed—the list goes on and on.  All people have this inherent problem called ‘The Flesh’. The problem is not demons that float around in the air and jump into me at will. There is no point in blaming the Devil when we step over the line. We are the ones who must guard our hearts against sin. We do this by doing introspection daily and dealing with sin at the cross while using communion. 

Jesus said we should pick up our cross and follow him. We follow Jesus and deal with the flesh in the same way he did. He crucified the flesh. This is why we eat the flesh of Christ. Remember how offended the disciples were when he said they must eat His flesh? This is because they did not understand what the flesh was, and most people I meet have the same problem.

The life we live in Christ is the life of dying to the flesh. As we allow the Holy Spirit to show us which sins we must die too, our minds slowly begin to transform, as we become a living sacrifice. (Rom 12:1-2) Use your imagination and see what you look like when you are angry, then take it to Jesus at the cross and he will crucify it in the same way he was crucified. In this way we become a new creation, no longer living after the flesh we will begin to live in the Spirit.

Gal 5:22-26:  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

This is the way the enemy becomes the footstool of Christ.

We rule with Christ when we rule over the enemy of our own lower self.  

Eph 2:5-6:  “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

When we use the cross to die to the sinful nature we follow Jesus into his death and also into his resurrection, to live and rule in the Spirit with Him!

Over what do we rule in Christ? We rule over the flesh! Now Romans 14:11 says:  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.   

Now your flesh becomes the footstool of Christ!

How to get the River of the Spirit flowing

In the Old Testament God spoke through his prophets about this day that the Spirit of God would live inside his people. This Spirit is the power of life, it is life. Jesus could do no miracles until the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him. Once the Spirit came upon Him, he became like Isaiah prophesied; The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to preach good tidings, bind up the brokenhearted, and set the captives free. (Luke 4:18 and Isa 61:1) Once the Spirit came upon Him, he could heal the sick and do great miracles to show the will of God on the earth. God’s will is that all be healed and be provided for. God wants us to enjoy our lives and the wonders of nature. We are compared to nature and we are supposed to become like it.

With the Spirit of God in us, we would become like watered gardens, like wells of living water. I believe that many believers have been given the Spirit the same way Jesus received it, but are not walking in the power of the Spirit. The Word of God was written by the Spirit, by the hands of people who made themselves available to the Spirit. The prophets saw this generation and described us as a chosen generation of kings, priests, and prophets. That the Holy Spirit would guide us continually and satisfy our souls in drought, make strong our bones and we would be like watered gardens like fountains of water and wells of living water.

We have fountains that run with a pump in our gardens. This fountain of waters that is life and life abundantly is forever flowing and is the life of God that heals and provides all we need. No one knows how it works. He who meditates the Word of God, day and night, is like a tree planted by the streams of water (Ps 1). To get my river to flow I start early in the morning with Psalm 103 and see where my healing comes from. If you meditate on the Word of God it is as if new understanding comes from just thinking what each word means.

 Ps 103:1: “Bess the Lord all my soul and all that is within me.” 

It sounds a lot like the First Commandment. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and everything in you.

Then he names the benefits of doing this –

Ps 103:3: “He forgives my sins AND HEALS ME!”

Remember these words were written by the Holy Spirit. The way to get healed and be provided for is by having a clear conscience.

Ps 103:4: “…He crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies.”

We are filled with the understanding that God loves us dearly. We are crowned with the knowledge that we are sons and daughters of God to rule over our bodies and thoughts with the Word of God.

Ps 103:5:  “He fills my mouth with good things…”

If we speak the Word and meditate on it continually we become like the fountain of gardens of living water. Finally, he says that he “Restores our youth like the eagles”.

Pro 4:10:  “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.”

Pro 4:22:  “Keep my words, For they are life unto those that find them, and health unto all their flesh.”

Pro 4:23:  “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” 

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and now lives inside us to guide us continually and satisfy our souls in drought. He makes strong my bones and He makes me like a watered garden like a spring of living water. (Isa 58:11) The physical Tabernacle is where the presence of God was with the people in the wilderness. Today we are the tabernacle of God. In the morning we go to the outer court and have our sins dealt with at the cross where we use Communion.

After this, we go to the Holy place to honor the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit looks like Jesus and is the Spirit of Christ. He waits for us in our favorite garden and teaches us all things. He is the one who inspires us and guides us if we will only give Him time. Read Paul’s prayer in Eph 1;17: That we should have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation of the power that we possess in Christ. We have an unction from God to know all things. It is important to honor the Holy Spirit and live in his peace. After this, we go to the Holy of Holies to walk in the courts of God, bathe in the great fountain of life, and be thankful for the Love of God.

Does this help you to become a fountain of the living waters of God?

Life and Death is in the power of the tongue

Some people I know have turned talking nonsense into an art form. These same people are the ones who are not getting their basic needs met. They say they pray and believe but when they meet up with their old friends they talk a lot of negative nonsense, canceling out every life-giving word they spoke before. Did you know the Bible says we will be held accountable for every idle word we speak? It also says that the angels of the Lord harken to the voice of God’s word. It means that they are listening to hear if our words line up with what God said in His Word.

Did you know that God created the world with His Word? When we give our hearts to God heaven is listening to our words to bring to pass the things we need. If we say something long enough it gets into the heart. The heart, like soil, will bring forth the things we sow into it. If you say it long enough it will be the way you say. I believe even the angels are so frustrated with the way we speak that they just ignore us until we actually believe the things we say.

I had this experience where the Holy Spirit was teaching me about the City of God. The building itself was too big to describe, but the part I saw had steps leading up to a great door. The door had a porch over it and I knew there were chambers in the same way Ezekiel described. The door was guarded by two angels who were talking about things I did not understand. I thought that I would go greet them because I have never spoken to an angel. I knew that they were aware of my presence but it was as if they were looking right through me. I had an idea that they were ignoring me on purpose. So, I stood around admiring the building, I was in awe of the size of it all and wondering what it would be like inside. As I stood there Psalm 103 came up inside me and I said: “Praise the Lord all my soul and all that is within me.” The next moment the angels lifted their arms and ran to open the door before me. After this experience, I  became more aware of the angels and the reason for their existence. When I entered the city I found Hebrews 12:22 there.

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.”

Hebrews 12:22-23

The city of God has twelve gates. To enter we go by way of the Tabernacle that had the daily sacrifice in the outer court. For us today this is the cross where we become a living sacrifice as in Romans 12. The first door of the city that is within us is about Calvary. The second door is the Holy Place where we honor the Holy Spirit who lives inside us. The same Spirit who rose Jesus from the dead lives in us. He quickens our mortal body. He is the same Spirit who did miracles through Jesus here on earth who now lives inside us. Because of His presence, we can lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. We can lay hands on ourselves and recover. We can speak God’s Word and it will be exactly the way we say. (Mark 11:23)

 The third room is to stand before the Almighty God and Father who has chosen us to be His dwelling. The Holy of Holies is where all of heaven is within us as in Hebrews 12:22. One translation says thousands and thousands of angels are present here along with all the cloud of witnesses, people who are dead physically but alive with God, are listening to what we say when we appear before God with a clear conscience. I have seen my loved ones singing for me and cheering me in hard times. I have also seen the angels move and do the things I needed because my words line up with God’s Word. If we can train ourselves to always speak life-giving words, I know God will give us the desires of our hearts.

Remember life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Can you share your experience with this?