Knowing Jesus vs. Understanding Principles

Many may grasp a strong understanding of kingdom principles. They may know the power of the name of Jesus. Even the demons understand the power of His Name. But understanding Jesus and kingdom principles is not the same as knowing Jesus. To those who understand but do not know, He will say, “Depart.”

How do we know Jesus? We worship Him, declaring His goodness. Worshipping a God who we believe chooses to do good and bad in the name of sovereignty is not Jesus. The “Gospel” is translated: the too good to be true news. Believe it or not, God is good all the time despite what some people think. He doesn’t shift with our opinions and isn’t moved by our theology.

Another way we can know Jesus is by love. Without Jesus, we don’t know love. Love is a cycle of loving others as you love yourself. Unhindered, unselfish, persistent, unconditional love. Jesus is the source of love that we tap into. From that love, power flows out. Out of our love for Jesus we are quick to receive what He has for us.

What if God rejected our best? How insulting! We can be so quick to insult the Lord by refusing to accept, whether by stubbornness, shame, religion, or ungodly beliefs, the gifts that God has for those who love Him. Be thankful, receive, and when you feel nothing but disgust with personal encounters with others and discomfort in your circumstance, go back to love. Love is more than feeling and emotion. It is beyond your senses. Love is Jesus. Against all odds, love never fails.

In the Soup

The finished work of the cross did not manifest on the day of Jesus’ death, nor did it come into fruition on the day of His resurrection. The finished work launched on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came. Jesus said it was expedient for Him to leave so that He could send what the Father promised. Enter Holy Spirit. He could not have sent Holy Spirit without His death and resurrection.

To have a God who is so slow to anger, we can be so quick to insult Him by substituting His Holy Spirit with programs, events, strategies, or seeker friendly methods for growing His church. In this place of comfort, religion, and man made authenticity, the church has been receiving its affirmation from man rather than from God.

“Why do I need the gifts?” some may ask.

To serve people and to show them that Jesus loves them.

“I don’t need supernatural healing. There’s medicine for that. I don’t need to speak in tongues. God can hear my prayers in my language.”

As true as that may be, it is the ministry of a believer to speak with new tongues and to heal the sick. We cannot limit God to our state of natural because when we do, we lose a generation to hell. The baptism of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with your salvation, but it may have everything to do with someone else’s.

What happens when you’re in the soup? In trouble? When there are no natural means necessary and it’s either going to take a miracle or bust. Many cross a situation of this kind, leaving their true character exposed. What is revealed is often very ugly as ungodly beliefs make their way to the surface. Ungodly beliefs were not produced by these events, but they were revealed. This is why we must build ourselves up in our most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God.

One man, Jason Westerfield, founder of Kingdom Reality Ministries in New Haven, CT, is a believer who loves Jesus with His whole being. He is married with three children, two sons and a daughter. On his oldest son’s fifth birthday, his youngest son drowned. It was a time where flesh cannot overcome Spirit, where doubt cannot overtake faith, and where death cannot steal life. An emotional time of speaking life, praying in the Spirit, and believing the Word of God says that we, as sons and daughters of God, can raise the dead with the authority of Jesus Christ. His son was raised from the dead. When the unexpected hits, we are to be ready in season and out of season. We need to be equipped to believe that nothing is impossible with God. We do this by living a Spirit-filled life where know the Word of God, believe it’s Truth, train our ears to listen to God, pray in tongues, and respond to what He says.

Think about this. Jesus' disciple Luke was a doctor. How many times did Jesus look at Luke and say, "What do you think this guy's condition is? Do you think you can sow him up? What kind of treatment does he need?" Of course not! Jesus gave Luke power and authority to heal all sicknesses and to cast out demons! Not by natural means but by imparting that supernatural power and later by baptizing Luke in the Holy Spirit! Luke not only wrote the "Gospel of Luke" but also the Book of Acts! God's Supernatural > Natural and Luke knew it.

Relationships, Marriage, and Simple Advice

Everybody wants companionship. Those who deny it are in denial of a God given desire. Adam was made in the image of God. Then Eve hit the scene. When they became one flesh, they had returned to the full image of God. We too have a desire to return to the full image of God by becoming one with our spouse. In this (different) blog, I am going to get to the heart of the matter and answer some questions that have kept many humans awake at night.

Is there such a thing as “the one”? Yes. His name is Jesus. In context to this topic, outside of marriage, I don’t believe so. When you enter into a marriage covenant, then, yes, that person is the only one. Sound strange? Maybe. But once you're in it, you're in it. There is no plan B. Make sure you love the person and understand this bit of revelation: You will spend the rest of your life with them and must reconcile your differences-oh my!

Too many couples are miserable in their first year of marriage. Here are some things to help avoid misery.

Move out of your parents’ house. Husbands, sacrifice some things you love in order to spend more time with your wife. Wives, leave the parents out of the picture so your husband can get to know you. Fly far, far away from the nest if that’s what it takes.

Budget effectively. There’s no formula to this but wisdom is required in order to budget successfully. As you budget, give your first fruits, tithes and offerings unto God. He will multiply it back.

Don’t leave the other person behind. If you travel, or have a ministry, do it together. Recognize, nurture, protect, defend, and charge the call of God on your spouse’s life if it’s the death of you. Too many ministers travel abroad as half a person.

Date and rest together. Do not ware yourselves out, even if it is doing the Lord’s work. Set an example for younger generations to see that you cannot exhaust yourself with ministry.

Keeli and I hosted the worship team at our house every Tuesday night. Being a college student means late nights, no curfew, and countless energy. Late one worship night, I approached my friend and said,

“When I married Keeli, certain things changed. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

I didn’t say it out of rudeness but out of love. Not just love for my wife, but for the students. They will have spouse of their own one day and need to see a husband set a good example of purposing to spend time with his wife. Such standards get ingrained and woven into their desires for good mates. Ever since, our friend has kept a close eye on the clock and, before the hour gets too late, he’ll begin packing everyone’s instruments and gear. With everyone’s attention, he cheerfully reminds them,

“When Keeli and Jonathan got married, things changed. It’s time for us to go!”

I have heard the tired tale of wanting to stay single so that one day they can be martyred for the Lord. While this can spark a new topic on the purposes of God and His desire for us to have life in abundance, long and fruitful, He said it was not good for man to be alone.

An instant deposit of favor is given to a man who finds a wife. A man who finds a wife finds a good thing. Since being married, greater opportunities and more open doors have been presented before us. It’s favor from Jesus!

In closing, one item that I want to be addressed is mixing the prophetic and relationships. I have seen the prophetic abused too often when dealing with relationships. The root of this is idolatry. When people pray and see that special person’s face they tend to believe the Lord is speaking to them. It can end in heartache when the discovery is made that the person does not feel the same way. Remember, love between two people is what it is… between two people. Effective love is not a one way street. Love towards one person that is not returned hurts and God’s heart is for ours not to be broken.

God loves marriage and we want to see fruitful marriages that multiply the kingdom of God around the world!