CHRISTIANITY IS JESUS CENTERED

Ken’s Thoughts:     Being of the Elect of God in Christ Jesus is all about Jesus as HE is all about us in the Holy Spirit.   When we are truly born from above as in John 3 we actually give up what we think we have (OWN) in exchange for what God has designed for us to become in Christ Jesus.   It is no more about me, my, mine or my comfort zone.  it is all about having a new life in Christ Jesus as LORD and in the Holy Spirit finding out what God designed  me to become in Christ Jesus as LORD.  

As I put “Penny” my bantam mother hen to bed tonight with her 3 baby chicks, safe in my study in a cage, it was obvious.  With them it was all about mom and with her it was all about them.   We live in serious mongoose country.  So for the chicks being eaten alive is a very real threat.   And only due to Penny’s protection do they make it through the day.   I am really surprised that she has not lost any of them who stay under her protection.   And our Heavenly Father is all about not losing any of you.  But the 1st night,  I had two stupid chicks find there way out of the cage through the bars and away from of her protection in the carport and next morning,  not a trace,  gone,  eaten alive.   So if in some areas of your life you are allowing pride and rebellion to rule,  heads up,  the enemy of our soul is real.  And only with staying close to the Holy Spirit will you make it out of here to see God’s Eternity in the peace of God, with HIS Eternal Life.   If you don’t die to this world and the love of this world and stay under the protection of the Holy Spirit,  you will not make it.   If you follow after the comfort zone of your Adamic self centered nature of ‘What About ME!!!” you will not make it into the Kingdom of God,  alive.  Paul put it this way:  ”  So then, as brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit]— for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.   Rom. 8:12-14,   

Smith Wigglesworth:    Christianity is not something you pretend. You cannot pretend to have Christ. You must have Him living inside you. The devil knows whether you have Christ or not. The sons of Sceva made that mistake and severely regretted it. The evil spirit said it to their faces – Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? You can put on a “holiness mask” to impress people, but the devil knows just how deep your relationship with Christ is. So when you put on that “saintly face” he stands and laughs at you!  Rom. 8:9

AMERICA by Darren Smith:   About a month ago during a time of great trial in my walk Jesus the Lord spoke to me about being a true follower of Him, not a nominal believer but a true follower. The word I heard was that America is the hardest place in the world to be a believer. This came as a shock to me, for I had often thought and commented on how easy we have it here. But what the Lord opened to me is how hard it is to walk with Him in this land of comfort. It is so easy to be distracted by the cares of this world in our nation, in fact so easy that we have created our own American doctrine to make us feel better about our lack of devotion to Jesus.

If you need Jesus for every meal its far easier to trust Him, and if meeting with a body of believers puts your life at risk, commitment would be easier. Lets face it – we have built a “what’s in it for me” doctrine to fill our buildings and programs. What’s amazing is that we even believe that God has blessed us with all these distractions. We’re even taught to pray for them. After all, surely God wants us all to be rich and happy. This very notion causes us to max out credit cards and other credit, so we can look the part. Even our churches fall for the “bigger-newer-nicer” lie!

If we go back to the basic Gospel we can’t teach the American doctrine because the words of Christ dispel it completely. Even when Jesus gave us a model of how to pray He taught us to be dependent upon Him. “Give us this day our daily bread” is a simple request, isn’t it? Can you find a prayer for riches or possessions in the Bible? Think about this – how can the Lord provide our daily bread when our cabinets, ice boxes and freezers are full? Do you get the point?

Being a follower of Christ is almost impossible in our nation. So many of the things we say God blessed us with are distractions given to us by our adversary the devil designed to turn us away from Jesus. This is why we don’t see the power of God in our life, we simply don’t need it, or, in fact, want it. It would mean an end to our way of life and sure death to the American doctrine of feel-good religion – a bloodless, powerless conviction-less, and (last but not least) God-less faith.

The condition of the body today is sickening. We can’t even call sin “sin” anymore. I am ashamed of myself and other leaders who have let our walk slide so far. Starting with me I repent for the half hearted service to the Lord and struggling with sin that should be put away. Help me Lord to walk worthy of your calling. In the last few days I have seen men that once walked with Jesus struggle with the world and struggle over issues that should not even be a consideration for a true follower of Christ. God help us to return to you with a pure heart, break us Lord, open our hearts to you. We must repent and cry out to God for our nation. We have slept long enough.

Time is short – we must not wait. We must charge forward into the nation preaching only Jesus by actions as well as words. We must plant true New Testament Churches meeting on every block, building the body of Christ, making disciples and tearing down strongholds. People whose only agenda is Christ Jesus and only fear is the Lord.

Ken’s thoughts,   Then end of the “Age of the Gentiles” if fast closing, Luke 21.   Check out the Great Depression of 1929 as I suspect this one will be even more difficult for us as there are a lot less family farms now than then.  So you may want to considering some very serious changes…..  Most all that Jesus shared with us in Matt 24, Mark13 & Luke 21 will happen to the Church prior to the Great Tribulation.  Considered to be the birth pains for the delivery of the Body of Christ into the Kingdom of God.  

Yours, in HIS great Love and wonderful Grace and Mercy,   Ken<><   www.OhanaChurch.Life