Archive by Author | Ben Kilen

Alive in….death

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“We can do nothing, it is all of God… If God had not quickened us we should still be dead. A dead man cannot give himself life. God quickened us, and because God has put new life into us we are alive in Christ Jesus, and in the realm of the Spirit.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

(Romans – The Sons Of God)

Questions

Does God show favor one person over another?  Can he?

How can we enter into his presence if he is in us and we are found in him?

Is there a difference in believing for salvation as compared to believing for healing or righteousness?

Does/Can sin offend God?

Be Thou my vision

I rarely admit to it but there is a softbspot in me for some hyms. I’m not sure if it is the little boy in me that grew up in the Lutheran Church in small town Westby Wisconsin or some other oddity within. As I wasvon my way to work this morning I was surfing radio stations and Be thouh my vision came over the radio.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Words: Dallan Forgail (8th Century)

Contemplate this!

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What’s true of Him, is true of you!

Jesus is not an example for you, but of you!

He is the I AM in me!

Ok, if you haven’t gotten it yet folks, we were made in his image, he is my identity!

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Religion emphasizes what man must do with strings attached. ..
God emphasizes what he has already done for you with no strings attached. ..

Poo Water…. yeah I went there!

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Ya know I dont think anything offends God, he only knows us through our original identity, he sees us through his Grace and Forgiveness. To God there is no concept of time. He made us in his identity befire the creation of the world, Adam was not a mistake. He has alreasy sent his son to obliterate the law of sin and death. He has already judged mankind in the light of the act of the cross. He sees mankind as blameless and forgiven. This pass is a free gift for us to partake freely. 

On the 7th day he sat back and rested not cuz he was tired or worn out. He eas done. He completed his plan. Jesus at the cross said it is finished. We are redeemed, our re-Genesis was complete. Our redeemed is intact BAM! God sees mankind in our orignal identity the one pre-Adam. Jesus is not example for us but of us!

The neglect of Grace and putting a list of do’s and don’t s is putting people bacj under the law. Grace is not a license to sin by any means, it is however very freeing! It acknowledges the fact that I no longer have a sin nature. I am no longer a sinner save by grace but a son of God who does not live under the premise of “oh no, I’m a sinner trudging through this world trying to fight off sin and overcome the demons and devils” that mentality puts one into continuous condemnation cuz it makes man try to comply through his own efforts and sets one up for continuous failure.

The purpose of the law in the old testament was to show the flaws of the law and man’s ability to save himself. If the law worked and man was able to save himself Jesus wouldn’t have had to go to the cross to wipe out, obliterate, put it in the past, kill, etc. Get the picture?

Adam was not a mistake! The cross was not a do over, the second coming is not a let’s clean this mess up.God knows me as I was before I was born. That’s the olnly way he ever has and will. Yeah I got a God who purses me. He left heaven and sought me!

You will know  those who realize they are pursued God by there love. Jesus never once in the 33 years came across with judgment, he dealt with the prostitute(s) the tax collector with love and grace.

If I gave you a water bottle that was 99% pure and 1% poop, would you drink it? Probably not. The same is true of grace, if it has 1% law (do’s and don’t s) to adhere to or to attain on your own merit, it is not grace! If you are required to do or attain it is not relying on God. If man could attain any level of purity on his own God would not have had to send Jesus to obliterate, do away with, negate,….. the law of sin and death.

To even assume man could overcome sin is saying that Jesus’ s death on the cross was worthless and un-needed. 

I like the fact that God see’s me as pure and holy from pre-birth to eternity. All that is required of me is acceptence of a gift that was given and waiting for me to accept. No work no striving no nothing on my part beyond resting in his grace.

Quick Question. ..

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A) Does man  pursue God?

or

B] Does God pursue man?

Which is more important?

Dangers of ‘Hard-line’ Eschatology

Mark Hendrickson is a long tme friend and apparently he is wise too.

Mark Hendrickson's avatarBeyond the Map

Note: this post is rather long.

The following is an excerpt of my response from an email dialog which occurred in fall 2011 between me and several people about eschatological issues.  My experience has been that those whose central message is eschatology are prone to creating division if they are not agreed with… as opposed to guarding and promoting the unity of the body of Christ.  The hard-line response I received afterward required that I ‘pull out’ of the dialog.  For those who are ‘fighters’, there is no letting up and no end to the contention until someone is subjugated… or worse… pit-bull style.  Unfortunately and historically, for the hard-line eschatology ‘fighters’, ‘blood flowing in the streets’ is of only minor concern… and in some cases it may be celebrated as a personal victory trophy.

This thread started as a random general email asking me for feedback about the differences between…

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Know yourself

Jesus did not come to reveal your fault, he came reveal your perfection.

God has never been confused about who you are…. he intimately committed himself to you!

He doesn’t like you for your potential, he loves you for you!

It has nothing to do with what you could do for him, he left heaven to pursue you!

Cone Man!

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Posted this in reply to a Facebook post by  Tim Cone (oh, ladies I think he’s single)

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“My identity is not found in what I do, but who I am in Christ”

My identity is who I am in him, He is the I am in me! His definition of me trumps who I say i am every time. He created me before the world was formed, he forgave and poured out grace for all mankind at the same time (time is a man concept, God doesn’t deal in a time continuum) Romans 6:10-11. Says he died once for all mankind. So his only image of me is forgiven an whole. Gen 1:26 says wevwere created in his likeness his image, we weren’t goats or guinee pigs! We were created in his image, he is my identity. 2 Cor 3:18 is the whole mirror deal. When we look in the mirror he is the reflection in the mirror. A mirror does not show the past or future but what is there at that exact moment. He is the I am in me! As he is so am I!

Sanctifa… When? sorta blogged on this, this morning. .

Sanctfi…when?

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Think if the word sanctification, we have been lead to believe it is a process, a process leading to our fullfilment or being whole.

Now think about a prayer you say for your food, when you ask God to sanctify your twinkie, do you wait 6 months for the process of sanctification to work its way out in the twinkie? Nope, we somehow believe God can do it instantaneously. The fact of the matter is Jesus paid for my sanctification and our fullness 2000+ years ago. My fullness was actually set in God’s mind before the world was formed, before Adam was created. We were created in God’s very likeness and image.
Mankinds identity is found in Him pre-Genesis (Genesis 1:26 Jeremiah 1:5).

Adams sin was not a surprise to God. He knew in adavance what would come to pass. He knew that Jesus would come as God incarnated as a man and be crucified, buried, and resurrected. We (mankind) were co-crucified, co-buried, and co-resurrected with him. By doing this the curse of the law of sin and death was broken once and for all (Romans 6:10-11) He died once for all! He does not have to die again for any new sin that happen. God does not relate to us in a time and space mentality. He created us in his being before the foundation of this world. He set his son out as a sacrificial lamb before Adam, before everything he created us and forgave us. He saw us perfected and walking in fullness. Romans 8:1 tells us we are are now no longer condemned, our sins are not held against us. The accounting ledgers have not only been credited to us but burned up and forgotten. God does not and will not see those ledgers or remember them again. The way he saw us pre-conception is the way he will always see us (perfect!).

I was at a conference two weeks ago and I heard this “the church is devils best PR agents.” We have been deceived! I have been lied to. I no longer have a sin nature. That sin nature was obliterated at the cross. For the past 30+ years I have been walking under the idea I had a sin nature and I had to work out my salvation. I was a bi-polar Christian mess. My relationship with God was based on my performance. If I was having a good spiritual day I could show up before God. If I was having issues (which was 90% of the time) I would wallow in (self) condemnation. I was living under the law and a lie. My identity was found in my actions. I was taught to press in to God. I taught others, “to the degree you press in to God is the degree he comes to you.” THAT IS SUCH A LIE!

He loves you and sees you from the place of your original identity. The cross brought mankind to its place redeemed innocence and a re-Genesis. Salvation, forgiveness, and grace are free gifts. Nothing we can do will help us obtain them. The law was based on works and was a flawed system thats whole reason for being there was to point to the short comings of mans ability to come to God. Jesus came to wipe out the law and replace the system. It wasn’t an upgrade it was a new (kainos) way.

Romans 8:10-13

10 The revelation of Christ in you declares that your body is as good as dead to sins demands; sin cannot find any expression in a corpse. You co-died together with him. Yet your spirit is alive because of what righteousness reveals.

11 Our union with Christ further reveals that because the same Spirit that awakened the body of Jesus from the dead inhabits us, we equally participate in his resurrection. In the same act of authority whereby God raised Jesus from the dead, he co-restores your body to life by his indwelling Spirit.

12 We owe the flesh nothing.

13 In the light of all this, to now to continue to live under the sinful influences of thevsenses is to reinstate the dominion of spiritual death. Instead, we are indebted to now exhibit the highest expression of life inspired by the Spirit. This life demonstrates zero tolerance to the habits and sinful patterns of the flesh.

If you still believe you have a sin nature you will continue in fighting to overcome sin. It has already been defeated. When you walk knowing it has been defeated and in the understanding that God sees you whole an perfect you can come to God as your GOOD FATHER! I am found in Him and being in Him changes my paradigm completely. Walking in the understanding of how God sees and defines me is so freeing. I want to be defined by God not by others or myself.

Yes I am sanctified, its not a process but God’s declaration over mankind. I have no part of attaining it but accepting it.

I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! I am found whole in him!

On the night of 8/1/13 I had a dream where I was praying for God to break in and blinders to fall off people, that the revelation of being found in Him would change lives. If you are reading this take that prayer for yourself.