#ChristJesus Archives – RhonieSays

A Fresh Perspective

RhonieSays — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:20:04 +0000

I’m at a place in my life, that even after 36 years of consistently walking with Christ, I find myself more hungry for His Presence than ever before. At a time when most individuals are okay with just hanging out, I am looking to get out of the boat, not for the miracle, but for the intimacy of experiencing Christ in a new place of faith.

Peter says to Christ in Matthew 14:29, “Lord, if it is you, then tell me to come out to you on the water.” Many have preached this scripture from a similar perspective of the miracle of Peter walking on water. I want to take a few of your moments to cause you to look at this scripture a little differently, hopefully encouraging your soul today.

Peter walking on water is miraculous! It was the moment of a lifetime! We have no record of anyone ever doing that but Christ. However, I want to direct your attention to his request – bid me – tell me to come out to you on the water.

In the midst of the raging storm, in the midst of the struggle, warring with thoughts and fears that consistently threaten to overwhelm you, I challenge you to ask Christ this same question.

Ask Him to call you out to where He is….

I love this! Peter didn’t wait on Christ to call him. He ASKED Christ to call him out to Him!

There are times in our lives when we need to ask Christ to call us out to Him. Call you away from the busyness, from the darkness and from the fear. Ask Him to call you out to Him and as soon as you hear His voice, respond. Be willing to leave friends – notice, I’m not saying walk away from relationships – because Peter remained in a relationship with the other disciples. However, this was a moment that he NEEDED!

There are moments where we need to experience the Presence of Christ because His Presence is the fullness of joy. No matter the storm, you will experience peace when you hear His voice because His voice is the answer to everything happening in your life.

I challenge you to ASK Him to call you to come out to where He is. Yes, there is the original call of salvation and discipleship. However, this is different. This is you asking Him to call you out to Him, to where He is! If He needs to rescue you, let it be because you stepped out on faith to be closer to HIM! Your responding to Him calling you means being ready to leave the place that you deemed safe to a place that demands faith. Ask Him to call you out of the place where everyone Is holding on waiting on deliverance. Walk towards your deliverer!

BY: Pastor Vanessa McQueen

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What Is The Kingdom?

RhonieSays — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:18:48 +0000

“Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Those words must have felt like a ton of bricks being dropped on the ears of Nicodemus. The Lord Jesus was telling him “Nicodemus, a man cannot even perceive of the kingdom of God unless a renewing of the inner man has occurred.” The question is, how well do we understand the gravity of what the Lord Jesus spoke? Do we even understand what a kingdom is? Most people are taught that being born again is a religious experience, a moment of spiritual exhilaration achieved by deciding that they either believe in Jesus or have decided to make Him their Lord and Savior. In other words, being born again is their choice. But does that really make sense? After all, if we had no choice of being brought into this world, which is a temporal world, why would we think that we can ultimately decide if we will be citizens in God’s kingdom? Perhaps it is time for us to examine this idea of the kingdom of God more closely.

A GOVERNMENT, NOT A RELIGION

First and foremost, a kingdom is a form of government. It consists of a ruler, the king, a people, and a territory. While many people today think of a kingdom in terms of land, the word kingdom is a much broader concept. In the English language, we have only one word to describe this broad range of ideas. So the word kingdom can be used to define the rule or authority of the king, the era during which the king rules, the king himself, the nation of people ruled or governed by the king, and even the emblems owned by the king. The emblems include the king’s crown, his scepter, his throne, his robe, his signet, and any other instruments or items owned by the king that designate his authority. All of these attributes of a kingdom are governmental, not religious. A citizen that lives in a kingdom has the rights and protections afforded to him in exchange for his loyalty to the king. Just as your rights, duties, and responsibilities in the country that you live in aren’t religious, the same holds true for those citizens living in a kingdom.

A TOP PRIORITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The kingdom is so important, in the book of Matthew we hear about it from John the Baptist before we see the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. In the book of Mark, the kingdom is the first utterance we see quoted from Christ Jesus. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus stresses that His very purpose for coming was to proclaim the kingdom. And in John, Jesus states that being born again is a prerequisite in order to even perceive the kingdom. In Acts, it is so important that the resurrected Christ spent 40 days teaching His disciples about the things of the kingdom prior to His ascension. Paul, at the end of the book of Acts, spent two years preaching the kingdom out of his apartment. And if you recite the Lord’s Prayer, do you realize you are asking that God’s kingdom come?

If the kingdom is a concept of such great importance to God, why do we hear so little about it today? One reason is that in the country we live in, we are taught to despise kingdoms. Our country is a democracy, founded upon the principle that all men are created equal. This message is in our foundational document, the Declaration of Independence. The drafters of this document made it clear to the king of England that he was no better than they were, and they were going to separate themselves from the king’s rule and form their own government. In short, they were rebelling against the king. This attitude has been embedded in our culture. We have no desire for anyone to hold sway over us. Ironically, this is the very thing that the Lord Jesus told His disciples they were to seek first; a kingdom where the Great King would rule over them as a people.

RENEWING OUR MINDS

Now, it is time for us to renew our minds to this concept of a kingdom. But how do we do that? Fortunately, the Lord Jesus provided us some direction to help us begin our journey. First, we must approach this idea of the kingdom as if we were little children. Children are fascinated when they see something new. You see the sparkle in their eyes and the smiles on their faces as they are completely captivated by this new thing in front of them. The kingdom of God has to fascinate us in that manner. There should be a desire within us to learn all we can about kings and kingdoms. Next, like children, we have to completely trust what God is doing. When little children obey their parents, they don’t do so for the sake of reward. They obey because they feel safe in the presence of their parents, and they will do what is necessary to maintain that security. This is the way we are to seek the kingdom. We submit ourselves to the rule of Christ by obeying the Holy Spirit, which is the voice of Christ in the earth today. By submitting to Christ, we are proving to Him that we trust in Him completely, regardless of the outcome of a situation. This submission is an attribute of our renewed mind. Finally, we realize that when we are called out of the world, we are called into a nation of people. We are no longer independent, as we learned in our society; instead, we are now interdependent. We need one another. When we are called into the kingdom, we are called into community.

NEXT STEP

Now that we know we must pursue this kingdom more fervently, where do we begin? I would recommend purchasing the book A Glimpse of the Kingdom. The book consists of five chapters, explaining in simple language how the kingdom of God is expressed in the Bible. You can purchase the book at Amazon, or you can email info@fogocinti.org to order a copy. This book will help you see the kingdom of God as you haven’t seen it before, and open your mind to the beauty and wonder of God’s kingdom as it is revealed in the Bible. Finally, it will help you see that the Bible is not a religious book, but a governmental book.

By: Elder Ron Mosby

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Lifetime Warranty

RhonieSays — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 12:06:50 +0000

If I look at the countless products I’ve purchased that come with a lifetime warranty attached… it’s too many to count. Now ask me the number of those warranties that still exist? Very few and far in between. The intended purpose of a warranty is to guarantee the integrity of the product. The warranty is supposed to ensure a level of confidence to the buyer of its dependability. The reason these guarantees haven’t lasted is that the lifetime warranties are based on the life expectancy of the companies involved. If the companies have gone belly up and are no longer in existence, so goes those warranties.

However, there is one warranty that will never become void and is guaranteed for life. There is a guarantee of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Once we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead we receive this covenant bond. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23) becomes like a seal stamped upon us that could only be accomplished through Christ’s love for as the only begotten son of God. This warranty has to do with the saving grace that now affords us peace with God, the integrity of the product which is the righteousness of Jesus, was the only thing that could have stood up to the wrath and judgment of God in our place. We are sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ and that stamp will never dry out nor will it become unrecognizable.

Now, most warranties include parts or labor or you can even purchase an extended warranty for extra coverage. Thankfully our warranty has parts that were part of the purchase deal let’s take a look.

-Redemption from the sting of death-Jesus secured for our freedom from the bondage of sin. God’s justice was fulfilled for our sins and we now stand acquitted and reconciled with God.
“With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever”( Hebrews 9:12)

–Ability to commune With God -Now we have the right and authority to come into the most intimate fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.
“If we declare that Jesus is the Son of God, we live in union with God and God lives in union with us.” (1 John 4:15)

-Spiritual Rebirth -The Spirit of God resides inside of us through Jesus which allows for our hearts and minds to be renewed in ways that honor and glorify God.
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” ( 2 Corinthians 5:17)

-Eternal life in Heaven– Jesus went away to prepare a place for us where we will be able to reside with Him for all eternity as part of His kingdom.
“but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)

These additional parts to the promise are sealed over us and will never lose their power or strength. Now that we know what’s guaranteed the question becomes what are we doing on our end? Are we acting as if the promise of salvation is permanent or temporary? Are we trusting Him or trying to return the promise because we haven’t put any faith in the guarantee? Once we fully trust in the promise that’s when the stamp of His righteousness allows us access to not only this promise but promise after promise in God’s word.

Today I hope all of us stand with a little more confidence in the lifetime warranty that we have in and through Jesus Christ. He fulfilled everything we need to live a life where we enjoy the benefits of residing under such a grand guarantee of salvation. Trust in the warranty, the benefits are phenomenal.

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