Who is online?
In total there are 34 users online :: 0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 34 Guests :: 1 BotNone
Most users ever online was 386 on Sun 25 Apr 2021, 2:56 pm
Latest topics
Meditation Chip Brogden
Page 22 of 40
Page 22 of 40 • 1 ... 12 ... 21, 22, 23 ... 31 ... 40
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 22
Governed By the Spirit
“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
JOHN 14:26
The Holy Spirit is the vessel – the Person, the instrument, the agency, the method and the means – through Whom God accomplishes His purpose of increasing Christ in all things. Jesus said this Helper, this Counselor, this Comforter, this Teacher will abide with us for– ever and will help us as we walk the Difficult Path towards the full knowledge of Christ.
To the extent that we allow ourselves to come under the government of the Holy Spirit, to that extent will Christ be increased. Since the Holy Spirit is responsible for the increase of Christ, spiritual growth is impossible apart from the Spirit. There will be no measurable advancement, no real apprehension of spiritual things, and no recovery of the Heavenly Order apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Governed By the Spirit
“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
JOHN 14:26
The Holy Spirit is the vessel – the Person, the instrument, the agency, the method and the means – through Whom God accomplishes His purpose of increasing Christ in all things. Jesus said this Helper, this Counselor, this Comforter, this Teacher will abide with us for– ever and will help us as we walk the Difficult Path towards the full knowledge of Christ.
To the extent that we allow ourselves to come under the government of the Holy Spirit, to that extent will Christ be increased. Since the Holy Spirit is responsible for the increase of Christ, spiritual growth is impossible apart from the Spirit. There will be no measurable advancement, no real apprehension of spiritual things, and no recovery of the Heavenly Order apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 21
All Things Put Under Him
“We do not yet see all things put under Him. But we see Jesus… for Whom are all things and by Whom are all things.”
HEBREWS 2:8-10
Do we see it yet? Not in its fullness, no. We have a little here, and a little there. Where this has already happened, where we actually see and experience Christ having the preeminence, it is called the Kingdom of God. It is not a visible thing, but an invisible thing, for Jesus said the Kingdom is not seen, but is within you.
Eventually the Kingdom of God will swallow up the entire Creation and Christ will have the preeminence in all things. Why? Because all things are for Him, and all things were by Him.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
All Things Put Under Him
“We do not yet see all things put under Him. But we see Jesus… for Whom are all things and by Whom are all things.”
HEBREWS 2:8-10
Do we see it yet? Not in its fullness, no. We have a little here, and a little there. Where this has already happened, where we actually see and experience Christ having the preeminence, it is called the Kingdom of God. It is not a visible thing, but an invisible thing, for Jesus said the Kingdom is not seen, but is within you.
Eventually the Kingdom of God will swallow up the entire Creation and Christ will have the preeminence in all things. Why? Because all things are for Him, and all things were by Him.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 19
Are You Being Cheated?
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
COLOSSIANS 2:8
How can we be cheated? According to Paul we are cheated “through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles (elements) of the world, and not according to Christ.”
It matters not if the philosophy is good, right, morally excellent, and praiseworthy. It matters not how well intentioned, meaningful, or helpful the tradition is. It matters not how necessary we think the worldly element to be, or how important it is to society in general. If none of these things are “according to Christ,” that is, if they are not of Him, through Him, and unto Him, then they are worthless insofar as God’s Purpose is concerned and must be discarded.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 20
Crucified AS Us
“Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
GALATIANS 5:24
Scripture says that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (past tense) the flesh with its passions and desires. No one can commit suicide by crucifixion. Someone else must nail us to the Cross. The flesh cannot crucify itself. Jesus has already done what we could not do. The sooner we stop trying to crucify ourselves, the sooner we can boast in the finished work of the Cross and actually witness the evidence of it in our lives.
Notice that Paul does not merely say that Jesus was crucified for us. That is certainly true in and of itself. But there is more. Not only was Jesus crucified FOR us, He was crucified AS us. God considers us to have been crucified as surely as if we were there receiving the nails in our hands and feet. We have been crucified together with Him because God placed us in Him the moment He was crucified.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Are You Being Cheated?
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
COLOSSIANS 2:8
How can we be cheated? According to Paul we are cheated “through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles (elements) of the world, and not according to Christ.”
It matters not if the philosophy is good, right, morally excellent, and praiseworthy. It matters not how well intentioned, meaningful, or helpful the tradition is. It matters not how necessary we think the worldly element to be, or how important it is to society in general. If none of these things are “according to Christ,” that is, if they are not of Him, through Him, and unto Him, then they are worthless insofar as God’s Purpose is concerned and must be discarded.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 20
Crucified AS Us
“Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
GALATIANS 5:24
Scripture says that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified (past tense) the flesh with its passions and desires. No one can commit suicide by crucifixion. Someone else must nail us to the Cross. The flesh cannot crucify itself. Jesus has already done what we could not do. The sooner we stop trying to crucify ourselves, the sooner we can boast in the finished work of the Cross and actually witness the evidence of it in our lives.
Notice that Paul does not merely say that Jesus was crucified for us. That is certainly true in and of itself. But there is more. Not only was Jesus crucified FOR us, He was crucified AS us. God considers us to have been crucified as surely as if we were there receiving the nails in our hands and feet. We have been crucified together with Him because God placed us in Him the moment He was crucified.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
Elaine
The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35.
Only two words:
"Jesus wept."
Why did He weep?
Was He sad about Lazarus dying?
Was He angry at their unbelief?
Maybe both.
In the end, a dead man came back to life.
This is a prophetic foreshadowing of what we can expect when
the great Purpose of God is fulfilled.
Join us Thursday night to learn more:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
In Him,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
P.S. Someone unsubscribed from the mailing list this week (after
two days) saying this "isn't their cup of tea."
Well, we don't serve "tea."
We're here to challenge you and help you to grow spiritually
into a Christ-centered faith. If you're looking for something
else I encourage you to unsubscribe via the link below; my
"tea-serving days" were over long ago
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
March 18
Boasting in the Cross
“God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
GALATIANS 6:14
Whereas the Holy Spirit is instrumental in the increase of Christ, the Cross is instrumental in the decrease of Self. Remember that the whole trouble with man is his inherent tendency to travel a path that is independent of his Creator. This is why the Cross must do a very deep, thorough work in every disciple of Jesus.
As Self is submitted to Christ, Sin begins to lose its power of attraction, and Satan has no more leverage. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples, “The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). That is to say, there was nothing in the Lord Jesus that the devil could use to get an advantage over Him. This is the condition He desires for each of His disciples, and the Cross is the means through which that condition is arrived at.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35.
Only two words:
"Jesus wept."
Why did He weep?
Was He sad about Lazarus dying?
Was He angry at their unbelief?
Maybe both.
In the end, a dead man came back to life.
This is a prophetic foreshadowing of what we can expect when
the great Purpose of God is fulfilled.
Join us Thursday night to learn more:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
In Him,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
P.S. Someone unsubscribed from the mailing list this week (after
two days) saying this "isn't their cup of tea."
Well, we don't serve "tea."
We're here to challenge you and help you to grow spiritually
into a Christ-centered faith. If you're looking for something
else I encourage you to unsubscribe via the link below; my
"tea-serving days" were over long ago
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
March 18
Boasting in the Cross
“God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
GALATIANS 6:14
Whereas the Holy Spirit is instrumental in the increase of Christ, the Cross is instrumental in the decrease of Self. Remember that the whole trouble with man is his inherent tendency to travel a path that is independent of his Creator. This is why the Cross must do a very deep, thorough work in every disciple of Jesus.
As Self is submitted to Christ, Sin begins to lose its power of attraction, and Satan has no more leverage. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples, “The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). That is to say, there was nothing in the Lord Jesus that the devil could use to get an advantage over Him. This is the condition He desires for each of His disciples, and the Cross is the means through which that condition is arrived at.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 16
Lay Down Your Life
“I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
MATTHEW 5:20
We know we must leave sin because we can appreciate how horrible it is. We do not so quickly leave “our righteousness” because we think somehow it has been “purified.”
Mark well, however, that God does not fix the old man, but destroys it. He does not tell us to clean up our life, but to lay down our life. It is not enough to forsake the wrong: we must allow Him to crucify the right. That is, we must learn to hate our thoughts that we may have His mind. We must give up our “spiritual” desires in order to have Christ as All.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
.
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 16, 2014
Hello Elaine!
A new blog post has just been added to the site...
How to Handle Hypocrites
by Chip Brogden
Jesus did not tolerate hypocrites. And if you are truly one with Him then you will sense not only His joy and His peace, but you will also sense His urgency, and His dissatisfaction with those things that claim to represent Him, but do not...
Read the rest of this blog post:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/how-to-handle-hypocrites.html
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
.
©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 17
"I Am Finished!"
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
LUKE 9:23
When we first come to the Lord we truly think we are giving Him our all, but we cannot fully appreciate just how powerful Self is. It cannot be dealt with in a once-and-for-all manner. It requires many seasons of God’s dealings for us to see the truth about the Lord, and the truth about ourselves.
That is why I say there is more hope for someone who is ready to give up and quit than there is for someone who keeps promising to do better tomorrow. Only after we have tried and failed one hundred, one thousand, or one million times will we at last be able to say, “Lord, I finally understand now that I can originate nothing of my own self, because whenever I do, I meet with nothing but defeat. So I am finished! Henceforth, not my will, but Your Will be done!”
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden.
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Lay Down Your Life
“I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
MATTHEW 5:20
We know we must leave sin because we can appreciate how horrible it is. We do not so quickly leave “our righteousness” because we think somehow it has been “purified.”
Mark well, however, that God does not fix the old man, but destroys it. He does not tell us to clean up our life, but to lay down our life. It is not enough to forsake the wrong: we must allow Him to crucify the right. That is, we must learn to hate our thoughts that we may have His mind. We must give up our “spiritual” desires in order to have Christ as All.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
.
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 16, 2014
Hello Elaine!
A new blog post has just been added to the site...
How to Handle Hypocrites
by Chip Brogden
Jesus did not tolerate hypocrites. And if you are truly one with Him then you will sense not only His joy and His peace, but you will also sense His urgency, and His dissatisfaction with those things that claim to represent Him, but do not...
Read the rest of this blog post:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/how-to-handle-hypocrites.html
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
.
©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 17
"I Am Finished!"
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
LUKE 9:23
When we first come to the Lord we truly think we are giving Him our all, but we cannot fully appreciate just how powerful Self is. It cannot be dealt with in a once-and-for-all manner. It requires many seasons of God’s dealings for us to see the truth about the Lord, and the truth about ourselves.
That is why I say there is more hope for someone who is ready to give up and quit than there is for someone who keeps promising to do better tomorrow. Only after we have tried and failed one hundred, one thousand, or one million times will we at last be able to say, “Lord, I finally understand now that I can originate nothing of my own self, because whenever I do, I meet with nothing but defeat. So I am finished! Henceforth, not my will, but Your Will be done!”
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden.
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 14
Doing Flows from Being
“The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the Law of Sin and Death.”
ROMANS 8:2
Does a fish become a fish by swimming under the water, or does it swim under the water because it is a fish? Does a bird become a bird once it learns to fly through the air? Or does it fly through the air because it is a bird? Which is it? Of course, the bird is a bird, and therefore it flies. It does not have to be instructed per se, but when it is pushed out of the nest it flaps its wings. It is its nature to do so. So doing does not create being, doing flows out of being.
Now the Law of Life in Christ does not try to make us into something we are not. The very presence of the Life in us demonstrates that Christ already indwells us. We are not trying to be like Christ, and we are not trying to live like a Christian. Since we ARE in Him, we WALK in Him. Our works come from what we are, not what we are trying to be.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
Like This? Share your comments...
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 13
Remember the Loaves
“When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?
Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand,
how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
MARK 8:19,20
When you’re going through a crisis of faith, it’s not easy to remember the faithfulness of the Lord. How quickly we forget the previous victories and the former blessings.
Jesus wants us to remember. Keeping a spiritual journal or prayer diary is a good way to remember just how far the Lord has brought us and just how much He has done for us. Our circumstances may change, but He never changes! He is always faithful.
Remember the loaves and do the math, Jesus says. When you do, you will see this simple truth: the fewer loaves you start out with, the more people I can feed. My Power is strongest when you are at your weakest.
Source: Why Do You Call Me Lord? by Chip Brogden
(Free Download
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Remember the Loaves
“When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?
Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand,
how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
MARK 8:19,20
When you’re going through a crisis of faith, it’s not easy to remember the faithfulness of the Lord. How quickly we forget the previous victories and the former blessings.
Jesus wants us to remember. Keeping a spiritual journal or prayer diary is a good way to remember just how far the Lord has brought us and just how much He has done for us. Our circumstances may change, but He never changes! He is always faithful.
Remember the loaves and do the math, Jesus says. When you do, you will see this simple truth: the fewer loaves you start out with, the more people I can feed. My Power is strongest when you are at your weakest.
Source: Why Do You Call Me Lord? by Chip Brogden
(Free Download
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 12
Christ Cannot Be Hidden
“And [Jesus] entered a house and wanted
no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.”
MARK 7:24
When we look at the earthly ministry of Jesus we see that He did not seek to increase Himself. He actually humbled Himself and tried to be inconspicuous. Even so, when He tried to hide Himself, He could not be hidden. I want you to think about that. When God was ready to reveal Him then He could not be hidden. He could not even hide Himself.
I tell you, this idea of Christ increasing is the most powerful reality in this universe! Nothing can stand before it, nothing can resist it, and nothing can stop it.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Elaine
Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice."
So if you aren't hearing His voice, maybe you aren't one of
His sheep.
Or...
Maybe you're doing all the talking and not really listening.
Maybe you're hearing Him, but you just don't like what
He's saying.
Maybe it's not a hearing problem, but an obedience problem.
Whatever your situation, this week's webinar will help.
Join us for a "hearing exam" Thursday night:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
Christ Cannot Be Hidden
“And [Jesus] entered a house and wanted
no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.”
MARK 7:24
When we look at the earthly ministry of Jesus we see that He did not seek to increase Himself. He actually humbled Himself and tried to be inconspicuous. Even so, when He tried to hide Himself, He could not be hidden. I want you to think about that. When God was ready to reveal Him then He could not be hidden. He could not even hide Himself.
I tell you, this idea of Christ increasing is the most powerful reality in this universe! Nothing can stand before it, nothing can resist it, and nothing can stop it.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Elaine
Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice."
So if you aren't hearing His voice, maybe you aren't one of
His sheep.
Or...
Maybe you're doing all the talking and not really listening.
Maybe you're hearing Him, but you just don't like what
He's saying.
Maybe it's not a hearing problem, but an obedience problem.
Whatever your situation, this week's webinar will help.
Join us for a "hearing exam" Thursday night:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 10
Raised With Him
“In Him we live, move and have our being.”
ACTS 17:28
Before my father married my mother and conceived me, he was in a serious automobile accident. Had my father died at the age of sixteen, I would have died also, because I was still in my father. His death would have been my death; and not my death only, but also the death of my children, and their children, all the way down the line. We would have all died together with him, having never even lived. But his life, his survival, his overcoming the accident was just as much my life, my survival, and my overcoming.
Spiritually speaking, this is similar to what God has done for us by placing us in Christ. Christ was crucified, dead, buried, resurrected, ascended, and seated; and since we were in Him when it all happened, God considers it to have happened to us as well. We who are His children now share in the very life of Christ, and each of us bear witness to the resurrection and overcoming of Christ. When God raised Him from the dead, He raised us from the dead as well.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 11
Why the Fiery Trials?
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
JOB 42:5,6
Hearing about God from others is not the same as seeing Him with your own eyes. In Job’s story we find an answer to the age-old question of why God allows the righteous to suffer. The answer is: there are things you need to know about God, and things you need to know about yourself, that you cannot know without going through a fiery trial.
The greatest lessons will not be learned while sitting in a classroom or reading a book. They will be learned in the dark nights, the deep valleys, and the raging seas of trial and tribulation.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Raised With Him
“In Him we live, move and have our being.”
ACTS 17:28
Before my father married my mother and conceived me, he was in a serious automobile accident. Had my father died at the age of sixteen, I would have died also, because I was still in my father. His death would have been my death; and not my death only, but also the death of my children, and their children, all the way down the line. We would have all died together with him, having never even lived. But his life, his survival, his overcoming the accident was just as much my life, my survival, and my overcoming.
Spiritually speaking, this is similar to what God has done for us by placing us in Christ. Christ was crucified, dead, buried, resurrected, ascended, and seated; and since we were in Him when it all happened, God considers it to have happened to us as well. We who are His children now share in the very life of Christ, and each of us bear witness to the resurrection and overcoming of Christ. When God raised Him from the dead, He raised us from the dead as well.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 11
Why the Fiery Trials?
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
JOB 42:5,6
Hearing about God from others is not the same as seeing Him with your own eyes. In Job’s story we find an answer to the age-old question of why God allows the righteous to suffer. The answer is: there are things you need to know about God, and things you need to know about yourself, that you cannot know without going through a fiery trial.
The greatest lessons will not be learned while sitting in a classroom or reading a book. They will be learned in the dark nights, the deep valleys, and the raging seas of trial and tribulation.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 8
Continue in Him
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in you [Gate]… Whoever continues to eat my flesh and drink my blood continues to live in union with Me and I in union with him [Path].”
JOHN 6:53,56 (Williams)
My burden is to see disciples brought down the Path, so I see the Path everywhere I look in the Scripture. How does this relate to our study? In this way: the Gate of eternal Life is to receive the Lord as food and drink, but the Path is to continue eating and drinking.
The Lord tells us that He is meat indeed, and drink indeed. Just how often do we eat and drink? Unless we are fasting, our eating and drinking occur daily, several times a day in fact. That is why I selected the Williams Translation of these passages, because it gives us the continuing action of the Greek verb – whoever continues to eat, continues to live. It is not just a once-and-for-all thing, but a continual thing. It is abiding. It is a Gate and a Path.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 9
Spiritual Satisfaction
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
JOHN 6:35
Here we have another principle of how the Law of Life operates. The presence of this Life within the believer will create hunger and thirst for Christ. What is more, this hunger and thirst for Christ cannot be filled or quenched with anything else – including blessings, power, spiritual gifts, or Christian service.
It is hard to convince new converts of this, but those of us who have been around a long time should know by now that Christ is what makes a Christian.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The Disciple's Goal
by Chip Brogden
I think most of us can grasp the increase of Christ. But what does it mean for Self to be decreased? Does it mean, as some suppose, that somehow I must now cease to have all emotion, feeling and personality? Does it mean I completely disappear to the extent that I no longer exist? What does it mean to take up the cross daily, deny myself, and follow Jesus?
Click here to read more:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-disciples-goal.html
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Continue in Him
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in you [Gate]… Whoever continues to eat my flesh and drink my blood continues to live in union with Me and I in union with him [Path].”
JOHN 6:53,56 (Williams)
My burden is to see disciples brought down the Path, so I see the Path everywhere I look in the Scripture. How does this relate to our study? In this way: the Gate of eternal Life is to receive the Lord as food and drink, but the Path is to continue eating and drinking.
The Lord tells us that He is meat indeed, and drink indeed. Just how often do we eat and drink? Unless we are fasting, our eating and drinking occur daily, several times a day in fact. That is why I selected the Williams Translation of these passages, because it gives us the continuing action of the Greek verb – whoever continues to eat, continues to live. It is not just a once-and-for-all thing, but a continual thing. It is abiding. It is a Gate and a Path.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 9
Spiritual Satisfaction
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
JOHN 6:35
Here we have another principle of how the Law of Life operates. The presence of this Life within the believer will create hunger and thirst for Christ. What is more, this hunger and thirst for Christ cannot be filled or quenched with anything else – including blessings, power, spiritual gifts, or Christian service.
It is hard to convince new converts of this, but those of us who have been around a long time should know by now that Christ is what makes a Christian.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The Disciple's Goal
by Chip Brogden
I think most of us can grasp the increase of Christ. But what does it mean for Self to be decreased? Does it mean, as some suppose, that somehow I must now cease to have all emotion, feeling and personality? Does it mean I completely disappear to the extent that I no longer exist? What does it mean to take up the cross daily, deny myself, and follow Jesus?
Click here to read more:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-disciples-goal.html
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 6
The Key to Ultimate Victory
“Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly.”
MATTHEW 26:75
Jesus was not surprised or disappointed when Peter failed. In like manner, He is not surprised or disappointed when you fail. Rather, He is waiting for you to fail so you will be reduced to Him. He has no illusions about you and He knows you through and through. He knows however much your spirit may be willing, your flesh is weak. Our weakness is not the trouble – the trouble is our unwillingness to acknowledge the weakness.
But I bring you good tidings of great joy, dear Christian friend! This failure of Self is the very key to living the Christian life. As painful as it is, the bitter tears of failure provide the water for nurturing the Precious Seed that is planted in your heart of hearts and making it grow. To despair of ourselves is the very key that opens the door to all the power, the victory, and fruitfulness in Christ that we seek.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 7
Complete in Him
“You are complete in Him.”
COLOSSIANS 2:10
The truth is that you are no more complete in Him today than you were when you first received Him, however long ago that may have been. And you will never be any more complete in Him than you are right now. You are complete in Him – of course, in yourself, you are far from complete, but that is not the issue. “In me” I am growing, learning, struggling, and maturing. But the issue is not “me.” The issue is, “not I, but Christ.”
With less of me, there is more of Him. That is why we say that true spiritual growth is not more knowledge or increase of years. It is simply more of Christ and less of me. This is only the decreasing of Self which makes way for the increasing of Christ (John 3:30). Eventually we will view every weakness of ours as an opportunity to see Christ revealed as Strength. Every momentary “lack” is an opportunity to see Christ as Infinite Supply. For this is the Will and Purpose of God: that Christ may be All in All.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The Key to Ultimate Victory
“Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly.”
MATTHEW 26:75
Jesus was not surprised or disappointed when Peter failed. In like manner, He is not surprised or disappointed when you fail. Rather, He is waiting for you to fail so you will be reduced to Him. He has no illusions about you and He knows you through and through. He knows however much your spirit may be willing, your flesh is weak. Our weakness is not the trouble – the trouble is our unwillingness to acknowledge the weakness.
But I bring you good tidings of great joy, dear Christian friend! This failure of Self is the very key to living the Christian life. As painful as it is, the bitter tears of failure provide the water for nurturing the Precious Seed that is planted in your heart of hearts and making it grow. To despair of ourselves is the very key that opens the door to all the power, the victory, and fruitfulness in Christ that we seek.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 7
Complete in Him
“You are complete in Him.”
COLOSSIANS 2:10
The truth is that you are no more complete in Him today than you were when you first received Him, however long ago that may have been. And you will never be any more complete in Him than you are right now. You are complete in Him – of course, in yourself, you are far from complete, but that is not the issue. “In me” I am growing, learning, struggling, and maturing. But the issue is not “me.” The issue is, “not I, but Christ.”
With less of me, there is more of Him. That is why we say that true spiritual growth is not more knowledge or increase of years. It is simply more of Christ and less of me. This is only the decreasing of Self which makes way for the increasing of Christ (John 3:30). Eventually we will view every weakness of ours as an opportunity to see Christ revealed as Strength. Every momentary “lack” is an opportunity to see Christ as Infinite Supply. For this is the Will and Purpose of God: that Christ may be All in All.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 5
Why Christ is Irresistible
“I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
JOHN 12:32
The increase of Christ does not coerce, it compels; He does not push, He merely draws. The increase of Christ actually enables a person to choose the right way, the way that leads to Life. It is evil that deceives people into choosing the wrong path. Everyone born into this world comes into it as a fallen creature. If they had a full understanding of their spiritual condition, and the deliverance that is offered by and through the Lord Jesus, then they would, of course, choose to be delivered.
People only resist what they do not know and understand. Jesus does not have to manipulate anyone. Once a person with eyes wide open sees Him for Who He is, they will always choose Him. He is irresistible. And as He increases, as He is lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Why Christ is Irresistible
“I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
JOHN 12:32
The increase of Christ does not coerce, it compels; He does not push, He merely draws. The increase of Christ actually enables a person to choose the right way, the way that leads to Life. It is evil that deceives people into choosing the wrong path. Everyone born into this world comes into it as a fallen creature. If they had a full understanding of their spiritual condition, and the deliverance that is offered by and through the Lord Jesus, then they would, of course, choose to be delivered.
People only resist what they do not know and understand. Jesus does not have to manipulate anyone. Once a person with eyes wide open sees Him for Who He is, they will always choose Him. He is irresistible. And as He increases, as He is lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 4
An Accomplished Fact
“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’”
1 CORINTHIANS 1:30,31
We must be clear: these things are not the “reward” for years of faithful service, or the fruit of walking with Jesus after a long period of time. If I have Him now, then I have all that pertains to Him now. My Wisdom, my Righteousness, my Sanctification, and my Redemption has a personality, for He is all those things in me.
It is not a question of my behavior, or my conduct, or my feelings one way or the other – those things will come into line soon enough – but it is all based upon this accomplished fact. Christ is God’s Gift. I repeat, we have much to praise God about!
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Today at 2:17 PM
Elaine
I used to think that if spiritually blind people could just get the
right teaching, they would suddenly start seeing.
So I taught my heart out, trying to get people to "see"
the truth.
But "more teaching" (ever learning) isn't the answer.
Because I can't convince the unconvinced.
Or persuade the unpersuaded.
Neither can you.
Why?
Because the spiritually blind don't need more teaching; they
need to have their eyes opened.
Once their eyes are opened, no convincing or persuading is needed.
Teaching then becomes a confirmation of what they have already seen.
This is what I learned by watching Jesus.
And it's the same process He uses to show you everything you
truly know.
(Everything else you think you know is useless information.)
Join us Thursday night to "see" what I mean:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
An Accomplished Fact
“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’”
1 CORINTHIANS 1:30,31
We must be clear: these things are not the “reward” for years of faithful service, or the fruit of walking with Jesus after a long period of time. If I have Him now, then I have all that pertains to Him now. My Wisdom, my Righteousness, my Sanctification, and my Redemption has a personality, for He is all those things in me.
It is not a question of my behavior, or my conduct, or my feelings one way or the other – those things will come into line soon enough – but it is all based upon this accomplished fact. Christ is God’s Gift. I repeat, we have much to praise God about!
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Today at 2:17 PM
Elaine
I used to think that if spiritually blind people could just get the
right teaching, they would suddenly start seeing.
So I taught my heart out, trying to get people to "see"
the truth.
But "more teaching" (ever learning) isn't the answer.
Because I can't convince the unconvinced.
Or persuade the unpersuaded.
Neither can you.
Why?
Because the spiritually blind don't need more teaching; they
need to have their eyes opened.
Once their eyes are opened, no convincing or persuading is needed.
Teaching then becomes a confirmation of what they have already seen.
This is what I learned by watching Jesus.
And it's the same process He uses to show you everything you
truly know.
(Everything else you think you know is useless information.)
Join us Thursday night to "see" what I mean:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
March 1
Forever Linked
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
When God placed us in Christ, He forever linked us to Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and being seated in the heavenlies. So God considers us to have been crucified, dead, buried, resurrected, ascended, and seated as well. It cannot be otherwise. So long as we remain in Him (John 15:5) our destinies are linked.
I once placed a $20 bill inside of a book. I then misplaced the book. What happened to the $20 bill? The bill was lost when the book was lost. The bill and the book were linked together because I placed one inside the other. In order to find the bill I had to find the book. Once I found the book, I also found the bill. In like manner, God has placed us in Christ. When Christ was crucified, we were also crucified. When Christ was raised, we were also raised. The two have become one, and what is true of Him is true of all those who are one with Him.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 2
God's Ultimate Intention
“Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”
ACTS 28:30,31
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers must point people to Christ. Otherwise they are not fulfilling the purpose for which God placed them in the Body to begin with. Apostolic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Prophetic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Evangelistic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Pastoral and teaching ministries are not ends unto themselves, but are a means to an end.
What is the end? What is the purpose? What does it all lead to? It leads to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). The fullness of Christ, the full-knowledge of Him – this is God’s Goal and His Ultimate Intention.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 3
The Overcomers
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
REVELATION 12:11
It is helpful to identify the three enemies that present themselves to us, and then the above verse will make even more sense. The overcomer must learn how to defeat each one. So what are they?
First, there is the enemy of Sin. Second, the enemy of Self. Third, the enemy of Satan. All contrary things, whether they be of spiritual, natural, or human origin, find their root in one of these three sources.
The glorious thing, of course, is that God’s provision meets all three enemies and defeats them in order to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ. This, in essence, is what it means to overcome. It is to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ over all things.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Forever Linked
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
When God placed us in Christ, He forever linked us to Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and being seated in the heavenlies. So God considers us to have been crucified, dead, buried, resurrected, ascended, and seated as well. It cannot be otherwise. So long as we remain in Him (John 15:5) our destinies are linked.
I once placed a $20 bill inside of a book. I then misplaced the book. What happened to the $20 bill? The bill was lost when the book was lost. The bill and the book were linked together because I placed one inside the other. In order to find the bill I had to find the book. Once I found the book, I also found the bill. In like manner, God has placed us in Christ. When Christ was crucified, we were also crucified. When Christ was raised, we were also raised. The two have become one, and what is true of Him is true of all those who are one with Him.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 2
God's Ultimate Intention
“Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”
ACTS 28:30,31
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers must point people to Christ. Otherwise they are not fulfilling the purpose for which God placed them in the Body to begin with. Apostolic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Prophetic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Evangelistic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Pastoral and teaching ministries are not ends unto themselves, but are a means to an end.
What is the end? What is the purpose? What does it all lead to? It leads to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). The fullness of Christ, the full-knowledge of Him – this is God’s Goal and His Ultimate Intention.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
March 3
The Overcomers
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
REVELATION 12:11
It is helpful to identify the three enemies that present themselves to us, and then the above verse will make even more sense. The overcomer must learn how to defeat each one. So what are they?
First, there is the enemy of Sin. Second, the enemy of Self. Third, the enemy of Satan. All contrary things, whether they be of spiritual, natural, or human origin, find their root in one of these three sources.
The glorious thing, of course, is that God’s provision meets all three enemies and defeats them in order to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ. This, in essence, is what it means to overcome. It is to demonstrate the preeminence of Christ over all things.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 27
Growing in Christ
“Let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”
1 JOHN 2:24
There is still much of Him to learn and to experience. There is much growing which must take place. The Path is a process. We are hardly ever as far along as we imagine ourselves to be. But we have not been talking about spiritual maturity, but spiritual satisfaction. If, in abiding continually in the Lord, He becomes our food and our drink, then we will grow.
Growth is not the result of time, it is the natural result of Christ increasing and us decreasing. The Law of Life says that Christ must increase. Now we can do nothing to speed up this process, but we can certainly hinder or quench it.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Sorry this is late for those who join the webiner
Hello Elaine,
Just wanted to let you know there will be no webinar tonight, but
we hope to resume next week.
I also wanted to share the following praise report with you...
--
"Hi Chip,
"Thank you for your email. I just wanted to share with you
what was happening in my life when I received this email, I hope
that you will be encouraged by it as you have encouraged me by your
obedience to the Holy Spirit.
"To give you a very brief history, we were in a church that
focused on spiritual warfare and the demonic, I used to go to
church and cry out to the LORD about the direction this church
was going in, we were continually asked to dig and dig and dig to
find out what demons and generational sins we still had not
repented of and prayed about...there were times JESUS was not even
mentioned. I left this church and I did not want to have anything
to do with this type of false teaching, with its continual
spiritual warfare, in my heart I knew this teaching was so wrong.
"The day that I received your email I was cleaning out a
bookshelf and as I was taking the books down, I picked one up titled
"Spiritual Warfare", I flicked through it, and thoughts
kept coming my mind, maybe I am missing something and I should not
be against this teaching because of the church we had attended,
maybe there is something I need to have a look at......maybe I am
wrong ....so I kept the book aside and was going to read it later.
"It was evening and I was ready to read this book on spiritual
warfare, but before starting to read this book I decided to check
my emails and there was your email in my in box, so instead of
starting with the book I read your teaching on "Victory is a
Man", Your teaching is exactly what I needed to read and
confirmation that I was not in the wrong direction. The timing of
your email was perfect!
"I was amazed, the LORD did this for me and you were obedient
to His leading, I still find it hard to believe the LORD would do
that, I know it might seem insignificant to others but it is not
for me, as sometimes I find it amazing that the LORD cares about us
so much and reveals Himself in the little things. I hope that this
is encouragement to you as it has been for me."
--
Thank you for allowing me to share this with you.
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
P.S. We are pulling ALL of our CD teachings from the website
tomorrow night. We still have a few titles remaining if you are
interested:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/catalog
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
February 28
Into His Hands
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
LUKE 23:46
Death by crucifixion cannot be accomplished by suicide. We cannot crucify ourselves. The instrument of our death is chosen for us, as well as the manner in which it is carried out, the timing, and the duration of the execution – all is controlled by Another. There is nothing to be done, for we must submit to the Unseen Hand and cast ourselves completely upon Him.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Growing in Christ
“Let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”
1 JOHN 2:24
There is still much of Him to learn and to experience. There is much growing which must take place. The Path is a process. We are hardly ever as far along as we imagine ourselves to be. But we have not been talking about spiritual maturity, but spiritual satisfaction. If, in abiding continually in the Lord, He becomes our food and our drink, then we will grow.
Growth is not the result of time, it is the natural result of Christ increasing and us decreasing. The Law of Life says that Christ must increase. Now we can do nothing to speed up this process, but we can certainly hinder or quench it.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Sorry this is late for those who join the webiner
Hello Elaine,
Just wanted to let you know there will be no webinar tonight, but
we hope to resume next week.
I also wanted to share the following praise report with you...
--
"Hi Chip,
"Thank you for your email. I just wanted to share with you
what was happening in my life when I received this email, I hope
that you will be encouraged by it as you have encouraged me by your
obedience to the Holy Spirit.
"To give you a very brief history, we were in a church that
focused on spiritual warfare and the demonic, I used to go to
church and cry out to the LORD about the direction this church
was going in, we were continually asked to dig and dig and dig to
find out what demons and generational sins we still had not
repented of and prayed about...there were times JESUS was not even
mentioned. I left this church and I did not want to have anything
to do with this type of false teaching, with its continual
spiritual warfare, in my heart I knew this teaching was so wrong.
"The day that I received your email I was cleaning out a
bookshelf and as I was taking the books down, I picked one up titled
"Spiritual Warfare", I flicked through it, and thoughts
kept coming my mind, maybe I am missing something and I should not
be against this teaching because of the church we had attended,
maybe there is something I need to have a look at......maybe I am
wrong ....so I kept the book aside and was going to read it later.
"It was evening and I was ready to read this book on spiritual
warfare, but before starting to read this book I decided to check
my emails and there was your email in my in box, so instead of
starting with the book I read your teaching on "Victory is a
Man", Your teaching is exactly what I needed to read and
confirmation that I was not in the wrong direction. The timing of
your email was perfect!
"I was amazed, the LORD did this for me and you were obedient
to His leading, I still find it hard to believe the LORD would do
that, I know it might seem insignificant to others but it is not
for me, as sometimes I find it amazing that the LORD cares about us
so much and reveals Himself in the little things. I hope that this
is encouragement to you as it has been for me."
--
Thank you for allowing me to share this with you.
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
P.S. We are pulling ALL of our CD teachings from the website
tomorrow night. We still have a few titles remaining if you are
interested:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/catalog
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
February 28
Into His Hands
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
LUKE 23:46
Death by crucifixion cannot be accomplished by suicide. We cannot crucify ourselves. The instrument of our death is chosen for us, as well as the manner in which it is carried out, the timing, and the duration of the execution – all is controlled by Another. There is nothing to be done, for we must submit to the Unseen Hand and cast ourselves completely upon Him.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 26
The Path of Spiritual Maturity
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.”
1 PETER 2:2
When we realize we don’t know, then Christ becomes our Wisdom so we CAN know. When we are children we are apt to say, I know WHAT I believe. As we grow out of infancy and begin to wrestle with the deeper questions and issues of the Christian faith we will learn to say, I know WHY I believe. The ultimate experience, however, is to be brought to a place where we can say with confidence, I know WHOM I believe.
Knowing WHAT is a beginning.
Knowing WHY is progress.
Knowing WHO is maturity.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The Path of Spiritual Maturity
“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.”
1 PETER 2:2
When we realize we don’t know, then Christ becomes our Wisdom so we CAN know. When we are children we are apt to say, I know WHAT I believe. As we grow out of infancy and begin to wrestle with the deeper questions and issues of the Christian faith we will learn to say, I know WHY I believe. The ultimate experience, however, is to be brought to a place where we can say with confidence, I know WHOM I believe.
Knowing WHAT is a beginning.
Knowing WHY is progress.
Knowing WHO is maturity.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 25
The Cure for Complacency
“Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.”
DANIEL 6:11
Something should be driving us to pray. There should be some unction, some inner compulsion, to seek God, to seek Him early, and to seek Him often. If that is not our daily experience then something is wrong.
Perhaps we have grown complacent, or comfortable, or cold. Whatever the reason, vision is the cure. If we have truly seen God’s Purpose we cannot just go along as before. It will consume us. A person with a small vision will pray small prayers. Daniel was a man of huge vision, and so he prayed large prayers.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
» Like this? Post your comments...
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The Cure for Complacency
“Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.”
DANIEL 6:11
Something should be driving us to pray. There should be some unction, some inner compulsion, to seek God, to seek Him early, and to seek Him often. If that is not our daily experience then something is wrong.
Perhaps we have grown complacent, or comfortable, or cold. Whatever the reason, vision is the cure. If we have truly seen God’s Purpose we cannot just go along as before. It will consume us. A person with a small vision will pray small prayers. Daniel was a man of huge vision, and so he prayed large prayers.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
» Like this? Post your comments...
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 24
The Heavenly Order Established
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
JOHN 1:1,2
When you read the first chapter of John’s gospel you discover the presence of Someone Who “in the beginning” was with God and was God at the same time. We will not attempt to explain the unexplainable; suffice it to say, the Word that was with God, and was God, and eventually “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) is the Lord Jesus Christ.
When God created man, it says He breathed the breath of life into him (Genesis 2:7). Here, John states that the Light (Jesus Christ) is the Life of men. What is the point? That before anything was created, God determined in advance that the universe, and everything in it, would be established, presided over, and governed by, through, and for Jesus Christ – and God has never altered from that original intention and purpose. This forms the basic principle of the Heavenly Order, which in turn governs the Irresistible Kingdom.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
The Heavenly Order Established
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
JOHN 1:1,2
When you read the first chapter of John’s gospel you discover the presence of Someone Who “in the beginning” was with God and was God at the same time. We will not attempt to explain the unexplainable; suffice it to say, the Word that was with God, and was God, and eventually “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) is the Lord Jesus Christ.
When God created man, it says He breathed the breath of life into him (Genesis 2:7). Here, John states that the Light (Jesus Christ) is the Life of men. What is the point? That before anything was created, God determined in advance that the universe, and everything in it, would be established, presided over, and governed by, through, and for Jesus Christ – and God has never altered from that original intention and purpose. This forms the basic principle of the Heavenly Order, which in turn governs the Irresistible Kingdom.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 23
One With Christ
“God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
1 CORINTHIANS 12:18
A Christian should realize that he or she is a unique member of the Body of Christ and not the entire Body all at once. We are many parts that together make up the whole. Each individual member has its own unique purpose, function, and role. The responsibility for God’s work is divided among many members.
We are not called to be all things to all people. We are not called to meet every need. God sets each person in the Body of Christ as it pleases Him, and He is the One Who sends us. We do not send ourselves. We do not determine what we would like to do. We do not analyze the situation with our limited understanding and come up with a solution. The Head determines what needs to be done, and the members simply perform it.
Source: The Church in the Wilderness by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
One With Christ
“God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”
1 CORINTHIANS 12:18
A Christian should realize that he or she is a unique member of the Body of Christ and not the entire Body all at once. We are many parts that together make up the whole. Each individual member has its own unique purpose, function, and role. The responsibility for God’s work is divided among many members.
We are not called to be all things to all people. We are not called to meet every need. God sets each person in the Body of Christ as it pleases Him, and He is the One Who sends us. We do not send ourselves. We do not determine what we would like to do. We do not analyze the situation with our limited understanding and come up with a solution. The Head determines what needs to be done, and the members simply perform it.
Source: The Church in the Wilderness by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 222
Believe the Impossible
“Where is your faith?”
LUKE 8:25
What is faith? Is it a spiritual force? Is it a creative power? Is it a special gift from God, or something we have to develop on our own? According to the Bible, faith is simply believing that God is Who He says He is, and trusting that He will do what He says He will do. When Jesus says, “Where is your faith?” He’s saying, “Don’t you trust Me?”
I’m convinced that we have plenty of faith. The problem is we have faith in all the wrong things. Where is your faith? In yourself? In other people? Can you only trust what you see, hear, and experience, or will you dare to trust Someone you can’t see? Believing the impossible makes the impossible possible.
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Believe the Impossible
“Where is your faith?”
LUKE 8:25
What is faith? Is it a spiritual force? Is it a creative power? Is it a special gift from God, or something we have to develop on our own? According to the Bible, faith is simply believing that God is Who He says He is, and trusting that He will do what He says He will do. When Jesus says, “Where is your faith?” He’s saying, “Don’t you trust Me?”
I’m convinced that we have plenty of faith. The problem is we have faith in all the wrong things. Where is your faith? In yourself? In other people? Can you only trust what you see, hear, and experience, or will you dare to trust Someone you can’t see? Believing the impossible makes the impossible possible.
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 21
One With Christ
“You also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another —to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”
ROMANS 7:4
You may wonder how this union with Jesus was accomplished. I do not have the answer to that, but I consider it to be so because God says it is so. God placed us in Christ. I do not fully understand how He did this, but I know that He did it, and I thank God for it. The Bible says that “because of [God] you are in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Disciples of Jesus are one with Christ because God has placed us there. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. We may not understand how this can be so, but it is so. We are spiritually one with Christ. This oneness, this union, this partnership and fellowship with Him is the basis of our spiritual life and our walk with God.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
One With Christ
“You also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another —to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”
ROMANS 7:4
You may wonder how this union with Jesus was accomplished. I do not have the answer to that, but I consider it to be so because God says it is so. God placed us in Christ. I do not fully understand how He did this, but I know that He did it, and I thank God for it. The Bible says that “because of [God] you are in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Disciples of Jesus are one with Christ because God has placed us there. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. We may not understand how this can be so, but it is so. We are spiritually one with Christ. This oneness, this union, this partnership and fellowship with Him is the basis of our spiritual life and our walk with God.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 20
Hope for You
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:13
We don’t have to imitate His Life, we only have to trust His Life! Trust in His Life to do it in, through, and on behalf of us who cannot do it! If you have ever once trusted in His Life to keep you from losing your temper, you can trust in His Life every single time you are confronted with it, and He will bring you through. Without exception. Along those lines, I can say with all confidence, that if you can trust His Life to overwhelm your temper, you can trust His Life for everything else. What do you need? Do you worry too much? Are you fearful? Are you bitter?
His Life indwells you right now, and longs to make you into something totally new, to transfigure you into something entirely different than what you are now. Thank the Lord that I don’t have to be the way I am, but there is hope for me, and there is hope for you, and there is hope for the worst sinner on the face of the earth, because it is not a question of my effort, but of His sufficiency!
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Hope for You
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
PHILIPPIANS 4:13
We don’t have to imitate His Life, we only have to trust His Life! Trust in His Life to do it in, through, and on behalf of us who cannot do it! If you have ever once trusted in His Life to keep you from losing your temper, you can trust in His Life every single time you are confronted with it, and He will bring you through. Without exception. Along those lines, I can say with all confidence, that if you can trust His Life to overwhelm your temper, you can trust His Life for everything else. What do you need? Do you worry too much? Are you fearful? Are you bitter?
His Life indwells you right now, and longs to make you into something totally new, to transfigure you into something entirely different than what you are now. Thank the Lord that I don’t have to be the way I am, but there is hope for me, and there is hope for you, and there is hope for the worst sinner on the face of the earth, because it is not a question of my effort, but of His sufficiency!
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 18
Above All
“He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.”
JOHN 3:31
If people come against you in the flesh, let them come against you. If they wish to rail and argue with you according to the flesh, do not respond in kind. If they attack you without cause, let them attack, because the fleshly, the carnal, the natural cannot defeat the spiritual.
The one who is submitted to the Lord has authority over those who remain unsubmitted to Him. Flesh is overruled by Spirit. Hate is overruled by Love. Darkness is overruled by Light. Death is overruled by Life. Earth is overruled by Heaven.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Think about it...
A lot of your frustration comes from trying to make God in your own
image - trying to get God to do what you think He should do.
And you have probably learned a lot of techniques for trying to get
Him to do what you want Him to do.
Quoting Scripture...
Praying a certain way...
Manipulating His presence (or trying to) with a particular way of
singing or worshipping...
We've got to cut that crap out.
That fact is, Jesus is Who He is.
We have to stop trying to persuade Him with the prayer properly
prayed, or the song properly sung, or the warfare properly waged.
He's not going to adjust Himself to US; we have to be adjusted
to HIM.
That's the essence of I AM.
Loosely interpreted, it means, "I AM WHO I AM, not Who You
want Me to be."
Accepting this is the first step towards being "free
indeed."
To know Him as He really is - that's true freedom.
But following your illusions about Him leads to religious bondage
and spiritual blindness.
Want to be "free indeed"?
Join us Thursday:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
I am your brother
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
February 19
Seasons of Preparation
“Rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose…”
ACTS 26:16
The Lord has a purpose for you, and a destiny for you to fulfill. But things will not always go the way you think they should. That is because the Lord calls you to something bigger than yourself, something beyond your ability, something you cannot originate or perpetuate without Him. It takes time. Noah walked with God for five hundred years and spent one hundred years building the ark. Abraham was one hundred years old before he finally saw God’s promise come true. Moses spent forty years in Egypt, then forty years in the desert, before God sent him to Pharaoh. Jesus prepared thirty years for an earthly ministry of three and a half years.
Dear brother, dear sister: walk with God. Find Grace. Discover the One Thing. Focus on being, not doing. And when it IS time for you to do something you can be confident that your labor of love will be the work that God blesses.
Source: The Church in the Wilderness by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Above All
“He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.”
JOHN 3:31
If people come against you in the flesh, let them come against you. If they wish to rail and argue with you according to the flesh, do not respond in kind. If they attack you without cause, let them attack, because the fleshly, the carnal, the natural cannot defeat the spiritual.
The one who is submitted to the Lord has authority over those who remain unsubmitted to Him. Flesh is overruled by Spirit. Hate is overruled by Love. Darkness is overruled by Light. Death is overruled by Life. Earth is overruled by Heaven.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Think about it...
A lot of your frustration comes from trying to make God in your own
image - trying to get God to do what you think He should do.
And you have probably learned a lot of techniques for trying to get
Him to do what you want Him to do.
Quoting Scripture...
Praying a certain way...
Manipulating His presence (or trying to) with a particular way of
singing or worshipping...
We've got to cut that crap out.
That fact is, Jesus is Who He is.
We have to stop trying to persuade Him with the prayer properly
prayed, or the song properly sung, or the warfare properly waged.
He's not going to adjust Himself to US; we have to be adjusted
to HIM.
That's the essence of I AM.
Loosely interpreted, it means, "I AM WHO I AM, not Who You
want Me to be."
Accepting this is the first step towards being "free
indeed."
To know Him as He really is - that's true freedom.
But following your illusions about Him leads to religious bondage
and spiritual blindness.
Want to be "free indeed"?
Join us Thursday:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar
I am your brother
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
February 19
Seasons of Preparation
“Rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose…”
ACTS 26:16
The Lord has a purpose for you, and a destiny for you to fulfill. But things will not always go the way you think they should. That is because the Lord calls you to something bigger than yourself, something beyond your ability, something you cannot originate or perpetuate without Him. It takes time. Noah walked with God for five hundred years and spent one hundred years building the ark. Abraham was one hundred years old before he finally saw God’s promise come true. Moses spent forty years in Egypt, then forty years in the desert, before God sent him to Pharaoh. Jesus prepared thirty years for an earthly ministry of three and a half years.
Dear brother, dear sister: walk with God. Find Grace. Discover the One Thing. Focus on being, not doing. And when it IS time for you to do something you can be confident that your labor of love will be the work that God blesses.
Source: The Church in the Wilderness by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 17
Spiritual Bankruptcy
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
MATTHEW 5:3
This spiritual poverty is the result of recognizing that apart from Him we can do nothing. It is a willingness to be broken and reduced to spiritual bankruptcy, which implies not only losing everything we once enjoyed, but also making a fresh start with a clean slate and all our debts erased. It is the Second Universal Spiritual Principle, which states: “I must decrease” (John 3:30). This decreasing, or as I like to say, this reducing to Christ, is the first requirement.
If we are unwilling to be emptied then we cannot have the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. We will be like the Laodicean church, who said they were “rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing” yet in God’s sight they were poor, blind, naked, and miserable (Revelation 3:17). So the Kingdom belongs to those who readily admit right from the beginning that “a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven ” (John 3:27).
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Spiritual Bankruptcy
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
MATTHEW 5:3
This spiritual poverty is the result of recognizing that apart from Him we can do nothing. It is a willingness to be broken and reduced to spiritual bankruptcy, which implies not only losing everything we once enjoyed, but also making a fresh start with a clean slate and all our debts erased. It is the Second Universal Spiritual Principle, which states: “I must decrease” (John 3:30). This decreasing, or as I like to say, this reducing to Christ, is the first requirement.
If we are unwilling to be emptied then we cannot have the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. We will be like the Laodicean church, who said they were “rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing” yet in God’s sight they were poor, blind, naked, and miserable (Revelation 3:17). So the Kingdom belongs to those who readily admit right from the beginning that “a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven ” (John 3:27).
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Re: Meditation Chip Brogden
February 16
Perpetual Trust
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
PSALM 37:5
We want the Lord’s Life, but we also want to retain a little something of our life. That will never work. This is why you have such ups and downs, simply because you still love your life, and only trust in His Life for the really difficult moments. In a bad situation you will throw yourself upon His Life and it will carry you on through, but in the normal everyday situations you live according to your own life.
Instead, let us learn to trust in His Life for every moment of every day. If we will surrender everything His Life will reproduce in us more effectively, gradually transforming, renewing, invigorating, and sustaining us from the inside out.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Hi Elaine,
I formulated a quote many years ago based upon a truth I had come
to learn:
"The purpose of revelation is not to *substantiate* your
illusions, but to *eliminate* them."
When so many things are bandied about today as
"revelation" it is important to note what effect the
revelation, word, dream, or vision has upon the recipient. If it
reinforces and substantiate their illusions, makes them more
comfortable in their own world, and generally lets them think that
they were "right all along" then I would typically
question the source of that revelation.
But if the revelation causes an awakening, a change of heart, an
elimination of what was previously held in error, an illumination
of what was previously seen dimly - one of those "My Lord and
My God!" moments - then you can generally trust that the
revelation is genuine.
True revelation eliminates illusions.
Another of my sayings is...
"Blessed are the disillusioned."
Religious folk in particular have some very strange ideas,
opinions, and illusions about God, Jesus, the Bible, and what it
means to be filled, taught, and led by the Holy Spirit.
But the purpose of God-given, Spirit-inspired revelation is not to
substantiate all your silly notions about spiritual things, but to
eliminate them - to DIS-ILLUSION you so that you see things as they
really are.
Blessed are the disillusioned, for they will see God as He really
is.
A man in one of our workshops experienced this. After listening to
what was shared he shook his head and exclaimed, "Jesus is not
Who I thought He was - He IS Who He IS!"
Peter, James and John experienced this in Matthew 17, when Jesus
"was transfigured before them."
Jesus did not suddenly become the Son of God; He was the Son of God
all along.
But they suddenly saw Him differently.
And this seeing definitely dis-illusioned them.
It eliminated all their preconceived ideas and notions about Who He
really was and is.
This revelation did not substantiate their illusions or encourage
their misconceptions; it challenged them, put them on their face in
fear, and forever changed the direction of their lives.
THAT is the kind of revelation of Christ that is missing from many
who claim Him as Savior.
They are trying to follow (and desperately trying to persuade
others to follow) a God that they really don't know apart from
what Religion has taught them.
It MUST not be so with you and me.
We MUST see Him and we MUST proclaim Him, not as we wish Him to be,
not as we expect Him to be, not as we think He should be - but AS
HE IS.
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
Perpetual Trust
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
PSALM 37:5
We want the Lord’s Life, but we also want to retain a little something of our life. That will never work. This is why you have such ups and downs, simply because you still love your life, and only trust in His Life for the really difficult moments. In a bad situation you will throw yourself upon His Life and it will carry you on through, but in the normal everyday situations you live according to your own life.
Instead, let us learn to trust in His Life for every moment of every day. If we will surrender everything His Life will reproduce in us more effectively, gradually transforming, renewing, invigorating, and sustaining us from the inside out.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
Hi Elaine,
I formulated a quote many years ago based upon a truth I had come
to learn:
"The purpose of revelation is not to *substantiate* your
illusions, but to *eliminate* them."
When so many things are bandied about today as
"revelation" it is important to note what effect the
revelation, word, dream, or vision has upon the recipient. If it
reinforces and substantiate their illusions, makes them more
comfortable in their own world, and generally lets them think that
they were "right all along" then I would typically
question the source of that revelation.
But if the revelation causes an awakening, a change of heart, an
elimination of what was previously held in error, an illumination
of what was previously seen dimly - one of those "My Lord and
My God!" moments - then you can generally trust that the
revelation is genuine.
True revelation eliminates illusions.
Another of my sayings is...
"Blessed are the disillusioned."
Religious folk in particular have some very strange ideas,
opinions, and illusions about God, Jesus, the Bible, and what it
means to be filled, taught, and led by the Holy Spirit.
But the purpose of God-given, Spirit-inspired revelation is not to
substantiate all your silly notions about spiritual things, but to
eliminate them - to DIS-ILLUSION you so that you see things as they
really are.
Blessed are the disillusioned, for they will see God as He really
is.
A man in one of our workshops experienced this. After listening to
what was shared he shook his head and exclaimed, "Jesus is not
Who I thought He was - He IS Who He IS!"
Peter, James and John experienced this in Matthew 17, when Jesus
"was transfigured before them."
Jesus did not suddenly become the Son of God; He was the Son of God
all along.
But they suddenly saw Him differently.
And this seeing definitely dis-illusioned them.
It eliminated all their preconceived ideas and notions about Who He
really was and is.
This revelation did not substantiate their illusions or encourage
their misconceptions; it challenged them, put them on their face in
fear, and forever changed the direction of their lives.
THAT is the kind of revelation of Christ that is missing from many
who claim Him as Savior.
They are trying to follow (and desperately trying to persuade
others to follow) a God that they really don't know apart from
what Religion has taught them.
It MUST not be so with you and me.
We MUST see Him and we MUST proclaim Him, not as we wish Him to be,
not as we expect Him to be, not as we think He should be - but AS
HE IS.
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!
Page 22 of 40 • 1 ... 12 ... 21, 22, 23 ... 31 ... 40
Similar topics
» Meditation Chip Brogden
» Chip Brogden
» How to Keep the Sabbath by Chip Brogden
» Prayers please ~Chip Brogden
» Chip Brogden......Moving on
» Chip Brogden
» How to Keep the Sabbath by Chip Brogden
» Prayers please ~Chip Brogden
» Chip Brogden......Moving on
Page 22 of 40
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Today at 4:36 pm by Admin
» WORTHY NEWS
Today at 2:37 pm by Admin
» JIHAD WATCH
Yesterday at 11:38 pm by Admin
» Gatestone Institute
Yesterday at 11:18 pm by Admin
» AISH
Yesterday at 10:24 pm by Admin
» BIBLE STUDY on VERSE
Yesterday at 10:13 pm by Admin
» israelAM
Yesterday at 10:09 pm by Admin
» ISRAEL BREAKING NEWS
Yesterday at 9:54 pm by Admin
» Israel War UPDATE
Yesterday at 9:51 pm by Admin
» Chip Brogden CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 11:49 pm by Admin
» Pressure from UN Threats
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 11:45 pm by Admin
» Ship that obliterated Baltimore bridge
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 11:44 pm by Admin
» PROPHESY NEWS WATCH
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 11:08 pm by Admin
» Be Fervent in Spirit
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 10:54 pm by Admin
» Remain in God - iBelieve Truth
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 1:25 am by Admin
» Amir Tsarfati BEHOLD ISRAEL
Tue 26 Mar 2024, 12:43 am by Admin
» HONEST REPORTING Defending Israel from Media Bias plz read REGULAR UPDATES
Mon 25 Mar 2024, 11:40 pm by Admin
» WORTHY NEWS
Mon 25 Mar 2024, 11:00 pm by Admin
» Israel 365 News
Mon 25 Mar 2024, 8:54 pm by Admin
» Is Gaza Really Starving
Sun 24 Mar 2024, 11:40 pm by Admin