One of my favorite authors these days is Bill Johnson.  He is extremely practical and believes that Jesus is coming back for a glorious church rather than a church hiding in the shadows of persecution and apostasy.  He believes in a kingdom of power rather than resignation.  He believes in a triumphant church rather than a church winding down its influence in the last days.  I like that.

One of the thoughts he has challenged me with is that believers should limit their self-examination and introspection.  That thought immediately flies in the face of Paul’s admonitions in his letter to the church at Corinth form believers to examine themselves (1 Cor.11: 28) and to judge ourselves (1 Cor.11: 31).  Many of us have been taught that the true way to holiness and spiritual maturity is to identify every sin and shortcoming in our lives so that we might live a life of confession and repentance, bathing all those failings in the blood of Christ.  I am an introvert by nature so all that introspection is something I am wired for anyway.

However, I believe the Holy Spirit has confirmed in my own heart the truth of what Bill Johnson has said.  I’ll quote from him.  “I struggled for many years with self-evaluation. The main problem was that I never found anything good in me. It always led to discouragement which led to doubt, and eventually took me to unbelief. Somehow I had developed the notion that this was how I would become holy – by showing tremendous concern for my own motives.”

He goes on to point out that a preoccupation with our weaknesses and failings keeps the focus on “Me” rather than on Christ.  It keeps the focus on the failings of the natural man rather than the glory of the spiritual man who has been clothed with Christ.  It tends to deny the things that God says are true about me – that I am a son in the house of God, holy, forgiven, beyond condemnation, seated with Christ in the heavenly places, representing the courts of heaven on the earth, walking with the power that raised Christ from the dead within me, and so forth.

Its not that we never deal with sin and weakness, we just let the Holy Spirit point out the things he wants to deal with rather than us always being the judge and setting the agenda.  Paul had just pointed out specific issues in the church at Corinth that had ben revealed by the Spirit.  Once revealed by the Spirit, they were to acknowledge the issues within them and deal with them.  Part of the ministry of the Spirit is to convict us of sin and to lead us into truth.  Our role is to listen and be led by the Spirit, not to dissect ourselves on the table each day until we are overcome with remorse and condemnation.

Our own constant introspection becomes a kind of work where we are trying to establish our own holiness through our own efforts.  God’s process for making us holy is to constantly remind us if who we are in Christ rather than reminding us of all the ways we are not like him.  I have come to agree, that we should take the same tact – spend more time reflecting on who we are because of Jesus rather than the ways in which we don’t yet measure up.

So, if you are a prone to introspection, self – criticism, and condemnation think about it.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren.  The Holy Spirit is the encourager! Perhaps, you should park your introspection and simply listen to the Spirit to see what he is concerned about in your life.  See what God shows you.  It might be a better, more biblical path to spiritual maturity.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1Jn. 3:8). Whatever Jesus healed, cast out, or overcame were works that the enemy had constructed on the earth.  In the opening salvo of Christ’s war on the devil, he announced that he had come to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, and to set captives free (Luke 4).  He then proceeded to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, heal every kind of sickness and physical condition, cast our demons, raise the dead and break the power of sin over countless lives.

However, sometime in the last 2000 years, a few prominent theologians decided that the very things Jesus opposed on the earth did not come from Satan but from God himself.   Somewhere along the line, theologians decided that since God is sovereign, everything that happens on this planet is his will and has been ordained by heaven.  That kind of theology makes God the author of rape, abortion, famine, war, cancer, birth defects, and crib death. That kind of theology makes God a heartless manipulator of people and circumstances.  However, John definitively says that God is love.

The truth is that there are countless things that happen on this planet that do not reflect the heart or the will of God for his people.  For instance, in his first letter to Timothy, Paul says, “This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim.2: 4) Paul clearly states that God’s desire is for every soul to be saved.  Scripture also clearly says that not all will be saved. In the matter of the world’s salvation, God’s desire will not be completely fulfilled.

Even, when the persistent acts and sins of men demand God’s righteous judgment, that is not what God rejoices to do.  In the book of Ezekiel, God says, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” declares the sovereign Lord.  “Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live” (Ezek. 18:23)?  He also says, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezek.22: 30). Sometimes, disaster comes because man leaves God no choice.  Like parents exercising tough love toward a rebellious child, God sometimes brings discipline or judgment.  But it is not his pleasure to do so.

The world is clearly full of tragedy.  In his sovereignty, God gave man free will and in doing so set limitations on himself in terms of how he would intercede in the affairs of men.  When mankind chooses violence over peace, adultery over faithfulness, abortion over parenthood, bitterness over forgiveness, deception over truth and rebellion over obedience, bad things happen and people are wounded in ways that were never in the heart of God for his people. When men act in such ways they open themselves and their families up to the work of Satan who comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

However we understand God and his heart for us, the clearest demonstration of his heart is found in Jesus. Jesus declared in John 14 that whoever has seen him (Jesus) has seen the Father.  Whatever Jesus did on the earth is an accurate reflection of the heart of God.  The heart of God, like the heart of God’s Son, is to heal, bless, set free, and eventually abolish death altogether.

When we blame God for the tragedies, the pain, the sorrows of life we misjudge his character and his heart for us.  That misconception is a great tool of the enemy to alienate people from a God who loves them and to limit our faith when we pray.  If we ever believe that God’s heart for his children is that they be raped, abused, murdered, ravaged by cancer, and stuck in crippling poverty, or die tragically then how will we pray against those things?  How will be believe that God is sitting on the edge of his throne waiting to arise and set his children free from the hate-filled works of the devil?  And yet, that is where he is.

The good news is that disease, disabilities, shattered emotions, broken families and all the rest of Satan’s work is not the heart of God for his people.  Jesus came to begin dismantling those works in individual lives and then in society as a whole.  The church has been commissioned to do what Jesus did and to continue to destroy those works with the love of God and the power of heaven.  God longs for us to call on him in faith to push back the borders of darkness through us.  He longs to display his power to heal, mend, and set free through us, just as he did through Jesus. Whenever we have it in our hearts to do the works that Jesus did then we can rest assured that heaven is ready to join us in the battle.  Be bold today.  Know that God is on your side when you push back in faith against the kingdom of darkness.

I have a 97 Honda Accord.  It’s paid for, gets good mileage, and most of the paint is still stuck to the body.  It runs good and the insurance is cheap. But, I think the front end may need to be aligned. It tends to drift to the right instead of staying in the center of the lane. One or both front wheels have turned a few degrees from the factory settings.

I also live in West Texas which is the galactic center of pickup-world.  Most of the pickups are new and shiny and pricy but a few are beat up, rusty, and old enough to smoke.  Occasionally you will see one of these “classics” running down the road with one front wheel pointing at a 45 degree angle from the other. That is seriously out of alignment. When that is going on the front end shakes, the tires get exceptionally hot and the tread wears off like a pencil eraser in the hands of a five year old.  At any speed, these pickup trucks put everyone around them in danger and may be life threatening to those actually along for the ride. In the automotive world, alignment is important. Both front wheels need to track together and need to be set to the “specs” of the one who designed it.

In the arena of spiritual warfare, alignment is even more critical.  Spiritual alignment is the metric that tells us whether of not we are tracking with God.   When our lives begin to diverge from the track God that has laid out for us, shaking occurs, friction increases, and control becomes an issue. If not corrected, we will end up in the ditch and probably take others with us. The primary strategy of the enemy is to get us out of alignment with God.  This strategy appeared first in the Garden when Satan convinced Adam and Eve to alter their view of God and, in doing so, they altered their alignment.  Rather than tracking with God they began to track with Satan.  In some ways it was a subtle realignment.  It was just a question of whether God was being totally fair with them or whether he could always be trusted to have their best interest at heart.

God had given them a clear commandment to steer away from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but they began to steer toward the tree as they came into agreement with Satan about God’s commands and character.  God had said that eating the fruit of that tree would be disastrous. Satan said it would be liberating and enlightening.  God had said that the fruit would leave them impoverished and touched by death. God said the barriers he had erected around that tree were for their safety.  Satan said the barriers were there to keep them away from the best things in life and that God was only bluffing about the death thing.  We all know the rest of the story.

By coming into agreement with Satan while rejecting the word of God, Adam surrendered the glory and dominion that God had given him.  Adam and Even had been given dominion (authority) over all of God’s works on the earth. When Adam aligned himself with Satan, and chose to act from that place, he forfeited his dominion and gave his authority over the earth to Satan – who then became the “prince of this world.”

The Old Testament prophet put is this way.  “How can two walk together unless they be agreed?”  The corollary could be stated, “If two are agreed, then they end up walking together.”  This verse implies equality, but Satan never grants equality to anyone. He is determined to rule. If we align ourselves with Satan, then he will eventually exercise his dominion and control over us.

Jesus, has taken away all of Satan’s rightful dominion over those who are in Christ. But we, like Adam, can give Satan dominion over a piece of real estate in our own lives when we come into agreement with him about that slice of our life.  When we refuse to repent of a persistent sin, refuse to acknowledge our responsibility, when we refuse to forgive, or when we put an ungodly relationship ahead of God, we give Satan authority in that part of our life. From that position, he can create havoc in all kinds of ways.

To confess is to agree with God.  It is to say what God says about Christ or a sin or any other truth that God has declared.  In the arena of spiritual warfare, we need to be sure that we stay in alignment with the Father. We need to be careful to say what he says about Jesus, about life, and about ourselves. Declarations from our mouths that are contrary to God’s word begin to move us from an aligned position with Christ toward a position aligned with Satan.  Sometimes, the misalignment is just a few degrees.  Then that minor vibration becomes the norm.  We don’t even notice it anymore.  Then a few more degrees of departure may occur, and then a few more. Before we know it, we have given authority to Satan to have access to our lives and family, and we are headed for the ditch.

The solution is always careful realignment based on a Holy Spirit scan that tells you where adjustments need to be made. A life of saying what God says about everything and quick repentance when we notice our misalignment disarms the enemy and restores our authority in Christ. Watch for spiritual vibrations, shaking, and wobbling or persistent pulls to the left or right.  Alignment or agreement with God in every area of your life, thoughts and words is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of divine weapons God has given you.

I have always been puzzled by the large number of evangelical churches that declare “the age of miracles is past.”  These churches maintain the position that God no longer intervenes in the lives of men and nations with miracles as he did in both the Old and New Testaments.

This position holds that the miracles of Jesus and the apostles were granted only to validate Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God and the apostles as those who spoke and wrote under inspiration of the Spirit.  Once Jesus had performed enough miracles to validate who he was and once the apostles had done enough to validate who they were and, thus, the inspiration of the New Testament…miracles were no longer needed.  Miracles just faded away as the apostles died off.

There are a number of strong theological responses to that position.  Jack Deere, a former Dallas Theological Seminary professor, does an excellent job of that in his classic book, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 1993).  But apart from detailed theology, why would one argue so strongly against miracles in our age or any age?

I suspect that, ultimately, a Christian would argue against the validity of miracles because he or she has “never seen one.” But the same argument would eliminate the reality of angels for most of us.  Evangelical Christians believe they exist and even minister on our behalf but I am not sure most of us have ever seen one. I believe in “black holes” in space although I have never seen one.  I believe in Tahiti, although I have never actually seen Tahiti nor personally known anyone who has.

Now, I suspect that would also be true of most Christians who don’t believe in present-day miracles.  So it must go deeper than that.  Perhaps, it is about fear and doubt concerning my own relationship with God. Perhaps, I might hold that position  because if God still performs miracles, if he still heals, if he still speaks to his people apart from the Bible,  if he still delivers people from bondage in a single power encounter…and I have never experienced him in that way…then, perhaps, I am afraid that there is something wrong with me or my faith.  So, I simply deny the things that might create doubt for me.

Here’s the thing. Deep down we all want God to still act in miraculous ways on our behalf. All of us will face moments when we need a miracle, we need to hear the voice of God, we need to be healed, we need to be delivered.  Deep in our souls, we want a God who will display power on behalf of his children.  And, whether we recognize it or not, all who pray believe in present-day miracles.

By definition, a miracle is a moment when God intrudes into the natural order of things to bring about an outcome that would not occur without his intervention.  Every time we pray for something, are we not asking God to intervene in the natural order of someone’s life or a nations destiny?  So… we all pray for miracles and believe in them.  Some just believe in small or subtle miracles rather than the big, obvious ones.  But a miracle is a miracle.

If God still operates in the miraculous then he operates in the miraculous. We might argue that God acts sovereignly and directly, but he does not give miraculous gifts to people….no healing, no prophecy, no miracles, and certainly no tongues!  But the same people who object to a prophetic gift or word of knowledge would declare that their own preacher or worship leader is “anointed.”  To say that someone is anointed is to say that God has given that individual a supernatural level of ability that goes beyond the natural.  How is that different from a healing gift or a prophetic gift?

The truth is that God’s Spirit has operated miraculously in the church since the days of Jesus.  Angels have ministered while we were unaware.  The Spirit has revealed truth to you when you thought you were that insightful.  God has whispered a word of knowledge to you (someone just popped into your mind) and you called a friend who needed your encouragement. You thought it was coincidence.  People you know have been healed miraculously but the doctors called it remission.

So…we want a God who still moves on our behalf with power.  We pray for miracles every time we ask God for anything. And most of us have experienced the “miraculous gifts” of the Spirit – we just called it something else.  Wouldn’t it be better if we just decided that what God has always done for his people, he still does today?  Wouldn’t it be better to follow the desire God has placed in our hearts  and begin to ask for and expect the extraordinary from our God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us (Eph.3:20).  God is not glorified when we ask for the ordinary but the extraordinary.  Ask for miracles because the age of miracles is now!

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Cor. 10:-4-5

When the Apostle Paul spoke of divine weapons, he said that they had power to demolish or tear down strongholds. He goes on to say that with God’s power we demolish arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. He then counsels us to take our thoughts captive, submitting them wholly to Christ. Paul’s emphasis in this passage is on our thought life.

Somewhere deep within us lay powerful belief systems. Some are aligned with God’s truth and others are contrary to God’s truth. These belief systems shape the way we perceive reality. They are about the stuff that life is made of. Is there a God? What is he like? Can God be trusted? Does he care about me? Who am I? Do I matter? Why do I exist?

These core beliefs are usually established through life experiences rather than teaching.  We believe many things that have been deposited in our intellect through teaching.  But we also believe things in a deeper part of our being that scripture calls “the heart.” Those beliefs in our heart that align with God’s truth got there by revelation.  Those beliefs contrary to God’s truth were usually planted as we drew some conclusion about life, God,  or ourselves because of a traumatic experience.  These beliefs usually trump the things we have been taught.

Strongholds, then, are belief systems deep within us that are contrary to God’s truth. Satan works to establish and reinforce beliefs that are not aligned with God. Notice that these strongholds are active – arguing against God’s revealed truth and making arrogant, deceptive claims (pretension) that deny the sovereignty and the goodness of God.  As demons are assigned to reinforce these lies, these belief systems become spiritual strongholds.

God’s divine weapons have power to demolish these strongholds and to bring our thoughts into a surrendered relationship to Jesus, who is truth. Secular tools and techniques for interior alteration and healing, by their very nature, fall short of tearing down these strongholds that limit our ability to fully experience God. It takes spiritual power to penetrate spiritual fortifications. Paul clearly states that our real battles are not fought against flesh and blood but waged in the spiritual realm, with God’s power and his weapons.

When the church depends on the strategies of the world for healing and transformation, it fails God’s people. The power of God expressed through revelation, prayer, declarations, spiritual authority, deliverance and a host of spiritual gifts have divine power to bring down the enemy and the fortifications he has built.  Too often believers run to the world first for help and turn to God only as a last resort.  We must take Paul’s teaching to heart.  We must always run to God and his arsenal of divine weapons first because that is where real power, healing and freedom truly reside for every need of man.

Anger. Bitterness. Unforgiveness.  These are common characteristics in hurting and broken believers.  They are bitter and broken because they have been hurt and their hurts refuse to heal because they are broken and bitter. Jesus had a great deal to say about these spiritual trip-wires in the lives of believers. So did the apostle Paul.

IN your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph. 4:26-27).

Anger is a common response to the hurts and injustices of life.  Even Jesus felt the flush of anger.  Anger in itself is not sin.  What we do with the anger is what matters. We often keep our anger and our offense alive because we believe that our anger forms an invisible wall that protects us from those who would wound us again.  It makes us feel powerful rather than weak and vulnerable.  It makes us feel that justice is being served because we believe our anger is somehow exacting payment from those who wronged us.  Satan fuels those beliefs.

The truth is that anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness create a breech in the wall of our spiritual defenses that allows the enemy access to us and our families. In the passage listed above, Paul warns that holding on to our anger gives the devil a foothold or a topos – a Greek word with several interesting meanings. It means a place, a territory, a dwelling, or a sanctuary.  The Hebrew equivalent originally referred to old Canaanite shrines where demons were worshipped. Paul is literally warning that we when we keep our anger alive, we give Satan a place of dominion in our lives, even a high place where, in some way, he is worshiped.

Because Jesus triumphed over Satan, the only authority Satan has in the life of a believer is the authority that believer grants him by withholding areas of his life from the Lordship of Jesus.  When Adam and Eve came into agreement with Satan in the Garden, they forfeited the dominion God had given them over the planet and that dominion was surrendered to the devil. In our own lives, we can forfeit areas of dominion when we begin to walk in agreement with Satan rather than with God about sin.

Jesus is very clear that forgiving those who have wronged us is not optional.  Other than blasphemy of the Spirit, unforgiveness is the only thing in our lives that puts a hold on God’s flow of forgiveness towards us.  That unforgiving place in our life gives Satan access to harass and torment us.  It gives him a legal right to take up residence in our house, so to speak.  I’m not talking about possession. Jesus owns the house. I’m talking about oppression.  The house belongs to Jesus but Satan can garner authority to lease a room in our house on the basis of our actions and create a base from which demons can harass us year after year.

Paul’s point is that nurturing and maintaining anger creates a kind of sanctuary where Satan is honored (even worshiped) by our agreement with him.  When we keep our anger alive, we agree with Satan that it is our right to sit in judgment on another.  It is our right to withhold forgiveness and in many ways make the object of our anger pay for what he/she  has done to us.  It is our right to reject God’s command to forgive because our hurts and our wounds should be exempt from God’s commands.

Again, Satan fuels those thoughts so that for months, years and even decades, Christians harbor unforgiveness towards those who wounded them in their past.  As they do, the foothold that was given to Satan becomes a stronghold and that stronghold limits the blessings and destiny of God in the life the one who is keeping bitterness alive.

Anger and unforgiveness do not protect us or validate us.  Bitterness and resentment poison our own heart and our own relationships.  The very thing that we believe will keep pain out, opens the door for the demonic to come in.  God’s command to forgive is not primarily to make life easy and consequence free for hurtful people. Forgiveness is primarily for your blessing and your protection. It keeps the root of bitterness out of your heart, shuts the door on the enemy, and keeps the soil of your relationships free of emotional poisons so that love can take root and flourish.

For your sake and the sake of those you love, put away anger.  Forgive and give no place to the devil.  Remember, biblical forgiveness is simply a decision to no longer require payment for the wrongs done to you because that is what Jesus did for us.  It is not letting hurtful people back into your life or trusting the untrustworthy.  It is simply releasing judgment and payment to God.

Let God be your protector, your vindicator, your power and your strength – not anger and unforgiveness.

Many believers have made brokenness their identity. These individuals focus on the past rather than the present or the future; on what God has not yet done for them rather than what he has done for them; on their lack of resources rather than the resources they have in Christ; on their weakness rather than on his strength, and; on their view of themselves rather than on his view of them. A significant part of transformation in the Kingdom of God is based on choosing a kingdom mind-set. The gospel of the kingdom points us to power rather than weakness, abundance rather than poverty, and significance rather than insignificance. The reality of the Kingdom of God on earth enables us to choose a heavenly focus, as we become what we behold.

Paul knew about extreme “personal makeovers.”  He wrote,  “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17-18).

Notice that this kingdom mind-set is directly related to our freedom and our freedom is directly related to our focus. The Apostle Paul did not miss this point: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Cor. 4:18). “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Heb. 3:1). “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..” (Heb. 12:2).

In the natural, whenever you have five loaves and two fish to feed a crowd, you send everyone home. In the kingdom, you pray for the abundance of heaven to be manifested and feed every person in the crowd with food to spare.  In the verses above, Paul tells us to fix our eyes and our thoughts on Jesus. To fix is to establish a permanent position that does not waiver. Our focus determines our view of reality. For those in the Kingdom of God, reality is not what is seen with the natural eyes but what is seen with the eyes of faith and the eyes of our heart. The focus we choose in our seeing, listening, speaking, and thinking will determine the lenses through which we view life.   (Excerpt from Born to Be Free by Tom Vermillion, Morgan & James Publishers, page 30)

If we are honest, many believers today are saved but remain in bondage to sin, addiction, shame, and a host of other hindrances to their walk. The truth is that other than church attendance, a large percentage of believers look just like the people they work with or go to school with who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them. Divorce rates in the church rival divorce rates in the culture at large. Christian teens seem to have little power over the cultural pressure to drink, experiment with drugs, or to be sexually active. A significant number of believers live on antidepressants, tolerate marriages dominated by anger and rage, live with bitterness toward the past, and are crippled by an overpowering sense of unworthiness and rejection. I’m not scolding these brothers and sisters for not being “the Christians they should be” because I have struggled with many of those issues as well. These believers are desperately looking for freedom, but in many cases have not been shown by their churches how to access the freedom that Jesus promises.

A gospel that only gets us to a place of forgiveness but that does not radically change us so that we stand out in contrast to our culture is not the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached. Paul pointed to this truth when he said, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:14-16). Stars stand out in stark contrast to the darkness. Jesus himself declared that his followers were to be the light of the world. Those who wear the name of Christ should stand out in the crowd by their sheer “differentness.” Jesus spoke of being “born again” not as figurative language for trying harder but as a reality where something real and essential has been altered in everyone who comes to him. After a while, that essential difference should become apparent, not a as a reflection of our efforts but as a reflection of the power of God working in us and Christ being formed in us.  (Excerpt from Born to Be Free by Tom Vermillion, Morgan & James Publishing, 2013, Page 11).

As you scan the Old Testament, God seems to pretty busy functioning in His role of Judge of All the Earth. It would be easy to view Him only as the high and holy one (beyond our reach); the all powerful God of the universe (destroying His enemies); and the righteous but wrathful one (fire and brimstone).

We, like the Hebrews gathered around Sinai, sometimes see only the fire and smoke and hear only the trumpet blast.  We see Him as the one who cannot tolerate sin and who lives in unapproachable light, Sometimes we feel, if we approach Him at all, that  we must approach him full of fear and trembling as the high priest did when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement.  Because of that, we sometimes choose not to seek Him or enter his presence at all.

But then Jesus dropped in to live among us for about 33 years. His view of God was radically different.  He taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven.”  He used the Aramaic term “Abba” to address the creator.  “Abba” is the intimate and familiar term of a child calling out to a loving Father in whom the child feels totally loved and totally secure.

The cross launched a seismic shift in the heavenlies. The unapproachable God of Wrath became the God in whose lap we could fall asleep – Abba. The Old Testament displayed the power of sin to separate man from God and to create alienation.  The New Testament displays the power of love and sacrifice to reconcile God to his children.  Both are the same God, but a God relating out of different covenants.

It’s not that God never loved or showed mercy in the Old Testament. He did over and over but somehow His love and mercy get drowned out by the plagues and the earthquakes.  Sometimes it’s confusing.  Sometimes we want to say, “Will the real Father in Heaven please step forward!”

Actually, Jesus solves the dilemma for us.  In John 14, He simply says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”  Jesus carried the heart of the Father within Him.  Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father.  Did you ever need to know how God feels about messed-up people, women caught in the act of adultery, people with multiple spouses who are now just shackin’ up, people crippled by disease, cheating tax collectors, or political terrorists? Just look at Jesus.

The heart of the Father toward you is reflected in every event recorded on the pages of the New Testament.  However you understand the God of the Old Testament, you need to know that Jesus released the love and mercy that always rested in the heart of God.  That love and mercy are waiting to heal you and set you free.  That’s what an “Abba” Father does.  Don’t run from Him, run to Him.

Bill Johnson has said that a gospel without power is no gospel at all.  I agree.  Much more importantly, so does Jesus and so does Paul.  A gospel that leaves us floundering in our pain and brokenness in this life while promising relief only after the funeral denies that the kingdom of God has come to this world.

Jesus scolded the religious leaders of his day because they neither knew the scriptures nor the power of God (Mt.22: 29). Paul warned Timothy about those who held a form of godliness but who denied the power of the kingdom (2 Tim.3:5).  He also declared to the church in Corinth that the kingdom is not a matter of words but of power (1 Cor.4:20).

A gospel without the power to transform lives and set people free from the oppression of the enemy is only a philosophy of life. Jesus didn’t come as a philosopher but as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus didn’t come just to talk about how to navigate life in a fallen world but he came to teach us how to transform that world.  Jesus came to defeat the “prince of this world” and to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn.3:8).

Those “works” were the condemnation of man that came through sin, disease, suffering, torment, brokenness, violence, and finally death. Jesus spent three years and several hours on a cross triumphing over each of those things by the power of an advancing kingdom.  Jesus taught us to constantly pray that the kingdom of God would come to this earth so that the Father’s will would be done “on earth as it is in heaven.”

God’s will is for the works of Satan to be eradicated from this world.  Some of that work will be done in the hearts of believers as they receive Christ and the love of God and as the Holy Spirit begins to redesign the landscape of their hearts. But much of that work will be done by confronting the powers of darkness with the authority and the power of heaven that has been given to the church who is destined to do even greater things than Jesus did on the earth. (Jn. 14:12.)

A gospel that does not declare the power of God’s kingdom as well as the grace of that kingdom, is not the gospel Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated day after day. Don’t settle for less.