Meditation Chip Brogden

February 15

Pressing Him

“Whom are you seeking?” 
JOHN 18:4

In other words, who are you looking for? This particular crowd was pressing in to have Jesus arrested and put to death. The day before the crowds were pressing in to proclaim “Hosanna!”, and before that they were pressing in to make Him their king by force (John 6:15). At other times the people pressed Him to hear the Word of God. Still other times the people pressed Him to be healed of their diseases.
Pressing Him, pushing Him, forever wanting more and never satisfied. Very few know how to sit at His feet just to hear His Word. Very few are willing to pour out the best ointment on Him, and when they do, they are severely criticized for such a “waste.”
Does anyone seek Him for His sake? Does anyone press upon Him, not for what He can give, but for Who He is? Does anyone seek Him out, not to get some need met, but so they “may know Him” (Philippians 3:10)?
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,

We had to reschedule last week's webinar for this week.

So if you missed it last week, here's another chance to join us.


(If you already registered you don't have to register again.)

Here's the invitation, in case you missed it...

------------------------------------------------

The people weren't sure about Him.

Most of His disciples had already left.

The religious leaders were trying to having Him killed.

His own family didn't believe in Him.

Indeed, Jesus said the world hated Him.

Not because He was rude or obnoxious, the way some fundamentalists
are.

Jesus said the world hated Him because He exposed its evil works.

But here's the twist...

We think the world is "out there" somewhere - all those
people who don't believe in Jesus.

But the world (Greek: kosmos) includes the religious system.

The religious system is one of the main pillars supporting the
world system.

Nothing has changed.

Jesus clashed with Judaism.

Today, the followers of Jesus clash with Churchianity.

They judge you by appearances (just like Jesus was judged).

They hated Him; they will hate you too, if you represent Him
properly.

How do you handle it?

Join us this Thursday night for the answers:
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 11

The Treasure Within

“The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 
COLOSSIANS 1:26,27

H ere is an amazing fact: the Bible says that we carry this Treasure (Jesus) within earthen vessels. In other words, the Living Christ indwells us now. We are His House, His Temple, His Dwelling Place, His Body.
I doubt if we really comprehend that. Do we really know that we are in Him, and He is in us?
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!

February 10

The Eyes Must Be Opened

“There was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.” 
2 KINGS 6:15-17

When the servant’s eyes were opened, he saw what Elisha saw. When Elisha said, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” it must have sounded like lunacy. It cannot be understood with words alone: the eyes must be opened. If words were enough then Elisha would not have prayed for the eyes to be opened.
We should spend less time trying to understand “words” and more time praying for God to open our eyes. When our eyes are opened, then the words will make sense. Until then, words are like hieroglyphics – we know there is something significant there, but we cannot understand what it means.
Source: The Strength of Seeing 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!

February 9
Don't Instruct the Master

“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 
MATTHEW 16:22

See how many times the disciples tried to correct the Lord. See how many times they argued with the Lord. See how many times their thoughts contradicted the Master. See how many times they urged Him to take action. And the Lord, ever patient, would correct them.
In every case we see that He is the Lord, and they are the disciples. The roles must never be confused. He is the Master, and we are His servants. We do not command Him, but He commands us. We do not lead Him, but He leads us. He was not created for us, but we were created for Him. He does not serve us according to our pleasure, but we serve Him according to His pleasure. So we must be adjusted to Him, and not the other way around. The Lord will never apologize to us and say, “I’m sorry, I was wrong. We’ll do it your way.” How laughable! How absurd! But we often live as if we expect Him to do that very thing. We have not humbled ourselves.
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!

February 8

God's Simple Solution

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make
no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” 
ROMANS 13:14

God’s Solution to the problem of sin, self, and satan is to have us put on the Lord Jesus. Only through Him can we “make no provision for the flesh,” and only through Him can we “stand against the wiles of the devil.” We dare not make it more complicated when the Lord has made it simple.
To focus on our flesh and on our enemy is a huge waste of time. Instead, we must perceive just how glorious the Son of God is, and press deeply into Him. Do you have a method, or a Man? It is not about me, my flesh, or the devil – it is all about Christ, and as He is increased, none of these other things can do anything but be decreased.
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!

February 7

Deliver Us from Distractions

“I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 
2 CORINTHIANS 11:3

I have said many times that we do not need more of the Lord, since we are already complete in Christ – we just need less of everything else. There are many things that spoil, hinder, distract, and lead us away from the simplicity of an abiding relationship with Jesus. Many of them are spiritual and religious. The spirit of Antichrist is not necessarily seen in something that is obviously satanic or demonic. Instead, the spirit of Antichrist is revealed in anything that seeks to spoil us by taking our eyes off of Christ – it is anti-Christ, against Christ, antithetical to the great Purpose of God.
How easy it is for us to become distracted into something less than Christ! Are you centered on Christ? Is Jesus your obsession? Is He your focus? Or have you set your sights on something beneath Him?
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!

February 5

Receiving Christ As All

“Because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” 
1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 ESV

Have you ever seen a brother or a sister try to act sanctified? They wear themselves and everyone else out. It is a burden to be around such a person. That is not Christianity.
Christianity is this: not that I am trying to be wise, but that I receive the Lord Jesus as my Wisdom; not that I am trying to be righteous, but that I receive the Lord Jesus as my Righteousness; not that I am trying to be sanctified, but that I receive the Lord Jesus as my Sanctification; not that I am trying to be redeemed, but that I accept the Lord Jesus as my Redemption. Henceforth I cease trying to be anything, and I allow Him to be Who He is through me.
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!

February 6

"Wasting" Yourself on Him

“A woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.’” 
MATTHEW 26:7-9

We want to appear to be busy doing for God, busy at our “ministry.” But there is a place where we simply “waste” ourselves on Him, and outwardly we appear to be doing nothing.
Would that more believers would “waste” themselves more often, ministering to the Lord, sitting at His feet, hearing His word, ministering to Him in secret prayer and fasting! Then when they do rise up to work, how much more fruitful they will be!
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!

February 3
Two Become One

“He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” 
1 CORINTHIANS 6:17

To the Ephesians, Paul compares this spiritual union to the union that exists between a man and a woman when they are married: “And the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the [Ekklesia]” (Ephesians 5:31,32). Certainly this is a great mystery.
How God is able to make us one spirit with Jesus is beyond human knowledge. But this we know: however it is accomplished, it has its beginning in the Cross. The Cross is the starting point of our union with Christ. In the Cross, God sees us in the place of Christ and sees Christ in the place of us. That is to say, in the Cross, all our sinfulness is attributed to Christ, and all His righteousness is attributed to us. How wonderful for us – but how terrible for 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!

February 4

Manifesting Christ

“What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” 
PHILIPPIANS 3:7,8

The ones who have been sufficiently broken eventually manifest very little of their self, and very much of Christ. God must work long and hard with us to bring us to this place, but what a glorious day it is when we are able to bow our heads and finally surrender everything.
What joy it is to look back over all that the Lord has led us through and realize His purpose in both the good times and the bad times, to behold the goodness and the severity of God in His dealings with us.
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 people weren't sure about Him.

Most of His disciples had already left.

The religious leaders were trying to having Him killed.

His own family didn't believe in Him.

Indeed, Jesus said the world hated Him.

Not because He was rude or obnoxious, the way some fundamentalists
are.

Jesus said the world hated Him because He exposed its evil works.

But here's the twist...

We think the world is "out there" somewhere - all those
people who don't believe in Jesus.

But the world (Greek: kosmos) includes the religious system.

The religious system is one of the main pillars supporting the
world system.

Nothing has changed.

Jesus clashed with Judaism.

Today, the followers of Jesus clash with Churchianity.

They judge you by appearances (just like Jesus was judged).

They hated Him; they will hate you too, if you represent Him
properly.

How do you handle it?

Join us this Thursday night for the answers:
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 1
The Heavens DO Rule

“Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.” 
MATTHEW 6:13

What assurance are we given? It is this: that in spite of nation rising up against nation, kingdom rising up against kingdom, political tumults and global confusion, “YOURS IS THE KINGDOM” – Your Throne is everlasting, Your Kingdom is established, and of the increase of Your Government there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:6,7).
In other words, as Daniel would say, the Heavens DO rule, and it is the Most High God Who governs the affairs of men. THAT is the heart of the matter. THAT is what we are moving towards, from our day-to-day affairs as followers of Jesus, to the course and direction of this entire age.
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!

February 2

A Fresh Start

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” 
JOHN 3:6,7

Jesus said that to see His Kingdom “you must be born-again.” To enter His Kingdom, He requires us to “become as little children” (Matthew 18:3).
That is another way of saying, “You have to start all over again. You cannot make any progress with Me so long as you cling to the old way of thinking, perceiving, understanding, and interacting. I cannot pour new wine into old wineskins because it would ruin both. You need a new wineskin – a new heart, a new mind, a new understanding of things in order to receive what I wish to give you.”
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!

Hating for Jesus

by Chip Brogden

The Bible says that Jesus “loved righteousness, and hated iniquity” (Hebrews 1:9a). Jesus has not changed. He passionately loves what His Father loves, and He passionately hates what His Father hates. And this is the One Who lives in us, the One Who is making us in His image.
To touch the Lord Jesus is to touch what He loves and what He hates. It is to have compassion on the multitudes and be angry at their oppressors. We cannot know the Lord to any depth and remain passionless. The measure of our love for righteousness is determined by our hatred for iniquity, and the measure of our hatred for iniquity is determined by our love for righteousness. Holy love and holy hatred go hand-in-hand. Both are gifts from God. Both are powerful motivators, each one being fueled by the other...
Click here to read the rest of this article:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/hating-for-jesus.html

©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

January 31
Receiving His Fullness

“Of His fullness we have all received.” 
JOHN 1:16

If there is a seeming difference in the “level” of anointing or power or spirituality among believers it is definitely not because some have more of the Lord than others. Let this be an encouragement to you. Indeed, Christ is not divided, and of His fullness we all share. We are all baptized into the same Spirit.
The difference is some saints are more broken than others. Some have passed through many seasons of tearing down and building up, while some after many years of experience are still resisting the Lord and refusing to lay down their lives. Some have recognized God’s dealings and have submitted to them, while others have misunderstood or been totally ignorant of God’s dealings with them.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

January 30
All or Nothing

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)— [from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life].” 
1 JOHN 5:21 AMP

That is the sort of radical, uncompromising attitude he says we must exercise over our own hearts, for as the members go, so goes the whole Body. Just look at the gravity of his words! “Keep yourself from ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from ANY SORT of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life.” Fanatical, impossible directions! Do you really mean to say that there can be NOTHING that takes first place in my life but Christ? Is that what it comes down to?
Absolutely, that is precisely what is at stake, and that is precisely where the battle rages, and that is precisely why we are being tempted on a daily basis. All we have to do to be defeated is to put Him some place other than first. Either He is Lord OF all, or He is not Lord AT all.
Source: The Prophetic Mandate by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

Hello!

We just posted this week's CrossWind podcast:

THE SECRET TO UNLIMITED SPIRITUAL POWER
http://theschoolofchrist.org/crosswind

Enjoy!
I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://TheSchoolOfChrist.Org


P.S.  There's still time to join us for tonight's live
teaching from the Book of John.  Go here to register (free):
http://theschoolofchrist.org/webinar


©1997-2014 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!

January 27

The Cross Never Fails

“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 
1 CORINTHIANS 2:2

Religion seeks to reform a man; the Cross seeks to crucify him. Religion may fail to bring about the desired result, but the Cross never fails to achieve its end.
Mankind will pursue morality, virtue, spirituality, even perform religious works and good deeds, in order to avoid death on a Cross. But there are no wounds, no scars, no evidence of having ever died and been made alive unto God. Either a man has never died, or he has died and been raised again. You cannot fake a resurrection.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

January 28

My Cup Overflows

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you Living Water.” 
JOHN 4:10

We must know the Gift of God. The one who knows will not only be satisfied, but will have an abundance of Life springing up from within. If we are mainly interested in being filled for ourselves then we will have little to offer anyone else. Yet when we know the Gift of God the Life will overflow. “You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5).
Are you an overflowing Christian, with all of God you can hold, and much left over? Sadly, this does not describe many of us. To drink is a beginning, but God’s goal is an overflow. How we need clear revelation into the Son! How we need to see just how precious and worthy He is!.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

The Strength of Seeing

by Chip Brogden

Most people look out and see themselves surrounded by an enemy. That is why they live their lives in desperation and fear of what may happen next. They see the devil everywhere they look. They are full of stories about what the devil is doing to them (or what he might be doing). But the overcomers look around them and see something different. They do not see as other people see. That is why they overcome.
To be an overcomer does not mean that we deny the existence of the enemy. We are not going to overcome by pretending we are not really surrounded. Denying the existence of the adversary will not make him disappear. We acknowledge and admit that there is a real enemy, a real spirit of Antichrist, that is out to destroy the Remnant and hinder the Testimony of Jesus. We also acknowledge and admit that more often than not, this spirit of Antichrist seems to get the advantage over us.
Even so, the issue is not the enemy. We may look at the enemy, study him, and build an entire movement around different ways to fight him. We can write books and hold seminars on “spiritual warfare”. But when we look out from the mountain, what do we really see? Here is the difference between those who overcome and those who are defeated: it is not in their ability to fight, but in their ability to SEE, and this seeing is not of themselves, but is of God...
Click here to read the rest of this article:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/the-strength-of-seeing.html

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!
 
January 26

The Heart of a Father

“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.” 
2 CORINTHIANS 12:15

Paul gave us an example to follow. Don’t just look at his calling and his gifting and his revelation. Look at his heart of love. He gave all – not just for the Lord, but for the Lord’s people. And they were a most carnal, unappreciative bunch of people. Even so, the heart of a father is demonstrated. That is the reason he had authority. I tell you his authority was not in his title, his position, or his status as having taught the believers there. His authority was not in his calling, gift, or revelation. His authority was in the abundant love he showed.
Make no mistake: I am not there yet. I still struggle with how to be a good brother, much less a spiritual father with abundant love for everyone. I obviously have a long way to go, but now I see the missing ingredient and I am following after Love. How about you?
Source: The Church in the Wilderness by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

January 24

One Body, Many Members

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” 
ROMANS 8:32

There are different members in different places with different purposes: each distinctive but each working together, united beneath the same great Purpose and Intention of God, working under the direction of the Head like a great spiritual symphony.
“God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” (1 Corinthians 12:18). This results in a spiritual oneness and unity (for better or worse) so that “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Everything you do (or do not do) as a member of the Body of Christ affects all the other members. No one is an island. The Difficult Path may be lonely at times, but we are never truly alone.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends! 


January 25

What Lies Beyond

“God… Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 
1 TIMOTHY 2:4

Here we see one will of God with two expressions – a gate and a path. We enter the gate in a moment, but we walk the path over time. We are saved in a moment, but we come to the full-knowledge (Greek: epignosis) of Christ over time. So John 3:3 is not telling us about our ending, but our beginning. Birth is the beginning of Life, not the goal of Life. The goal in view here is not being born-again, but entering the Kingdom.
Jesus does not just say, “You must be born again.” If He did then we might be correct in saying that is all there is to it. But Jesus says, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see or enter into the Kingdom of God.” It is clear that the Kingdom is what we are trying to gain entrance into, and while being born again is the gate, the ultimate destination of the Kingdom of God is at the end of the path.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden
©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

January 23

One With Him

“As the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12

The Bible says that there is an invisible but very powerful union that exists between Jesus and all His disciples; they are one Body. It is a spiritual union. This spiritual union forms the basis of our relationship and fellowship with Christ. Jesus says, “I am the True Vine… Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:1,4). Jesus compares this union to a vine that has many branches. Each branch lives in union with the vine. The same life flowing in the vine is also flowing in the branches. Jesus says He is the True Vine, and we are His branches. This is spiritual union. As branches, we can only grow and produce spiritual fruit so long as we continue to live, dwell in, abide, and be part of the Vine. So then, union with God is not the reward for spirituality; it is the basis of spirituality.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!

Today at 1:44 PM
Hey Elaine
I just had to share this email with you.

---------------

"I just want to thank you for the fabulous new teaching,
'A Balanced Christian Life'. I immediately bought it and
so did my daughter and we are both amazed at the depth and scope of
this material... I am more filled with confidence and peace about
my purpose than I've ever been. I am 73 years young and I feel
like a kid again. I have taken many other courses about finding my
purpose, and of course read countless books, but this one is far
and away the best." - Linda

---------------

Well, that cheered me up!

Go here to see what Linda is talking about:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3ioAJNZ0ewpjxNq&b=uj..4zeTWF.dQrTXnrmXgA


I am your brother,

Chip Brogden
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3ioAJNZ0ewpjxNq&b=LrfUsrwRjIjjeSL8Z4CE1w


P.S.  If you're still wondering about goal-setting for
Christians, you may find this week's podcast interesting:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3ioAJNZ0ewpjxNq&b=jrMqV8Us38ZVq29a8pdMQA

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!

January 20

When Things Go Wrong

“We wanted to come to you – even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.”
1 THESSALONIANS 2:18

We should not expect things to always go as planned, even when we are indeed following the will of God, and especially when we are trying to do what we feel led to do. Sometimes it seems as if everything is rising up against us. Cars break down, people get sick, misunderstandings arise, businesses fail, things happen.
We do not want to give the devil any glory and attribute everything to him. But we do want to discern the true operation of the enemy so we may dispose of him. We must exercise discernment and wisdom to know the difference between the hand of the Lord, the work of the enemy, and the natural environment. Otherwise we will suffer unnecessarily.
Source: Dealing With Difficulty 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!

January 21

To Be With Him

“He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach…”
MARK 3:14

I like the way Jesus selected His disciples, and the explanation as to why they were selected: “That they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.” Their being sent forth was contingent upon their having been with the Lord. Preaching was only optional, but being with Him was the primary objective. If they will only be with the Lord then they will have something to say when they do go forth.
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!

I've had people take me to task because I "talk about
Jesus" too much and don't mention the Father often enough.

*sigh*

Poor, ignorant, foolish people.

The Father is not *slighted* when we honor the Son - He is
*delighted*!

The Father has orchestrated His Eternal Plan so that it revolves
around the Son.

If you honor the Son, you honor the Father Who sent Him.

"No man has seen God at any time."

Yet, if you have seen Jesus, He says you have seen the Father.

So the only way to see the Father is to see the Son.

That's why the Spirit testifies of Jesus (not the Father).

That's why the Testimony of Jesus (not the Father) inspires all
prophecy (Rev. 19:11).

Christ-centered teaching and prophetic revelation (used correctly)
reveals the Father by revealing Christ.

Don't make it complicated when it is so simple.

This is not an either/or proposition.

This is not about what I think.

This is what Jesus taught.

Join us Thursday night to dig deeper into this:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3iUNX4K5ggpjxNq&b=1kjwHG5P1xDXLbdAabejPQ



I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3iUNX4K5ggpjxNq&b=yDFA2YiIPybyHwDPE3e_aQ

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
Share this message with your friends!

January 22

The Pure Gospel

“The gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
GALATIANS 1:11,12

With the Biblical record before us, compare what those early disciples believed and preached to what we see and hear being taught and demonstrated in the name of Jesus today. If someone from the apostolic age were to visit our generation, take an account of our lives, document what we preach, and survey what we listen to and currently accept as “The Gospel,” how would they respond?
Would they be able to say that we preach the Gospel of the Kingdom? Could they report back to their first century friends that we teach the same things they taught concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God? Or would they weep and lament at how the Church has distorted the original message of the Ekklesia?
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
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January 19

Feet Like Bronze

“His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace… When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.”
REVELATION 1:15,17 ESV

When this other side of Christ was revealed to John, he “fell at His feet as though dead.” At the Last Supper, John had leaned on the Lord’s breast and eaten dinner with Him. In this context, however, he can do nothing but collapse at His feet.
There at His feet we discover there is a difference between the Holy and the Human; the One Who comes from Above, and the ones who come from Below; the One Who is Spirit and Truth, and those of us who are merely flesh and blood. His feet are burnished bronze. This is His majesty, and His righteousness. It immediately identifies Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Righteous Judge, the Living Word Who discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

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I Know Whom I Have Believed

by Chip Brogden

The Scriptures exhort us to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our spiritual growth may be generally discussed as occurring in three seasons of development.
Please do not use this teaching to examine where others are, but use it to examine yourself and see if you are indeed growing and maturing in the knowledge of Christ....
Click here to read the rest of this article:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/i-know-whom-i-have-believed.html

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anuary 18
The Lion and the Lamb

“Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
REVELATION 5:5

When John was given a revelation of Christ in the Isle of Patmos he described the feet of Jesus as “fine brass as if refined in a furnace.” Brass is a symbol of judgment, and the furnace is a symbol of wrath, purification, and refinement. This dimension of the Lord Jesus was something quite new to John.
Because Jesus did not come to judge the world right away, but to save it, we tend to think of Jesus only in terms of the “Lamb” – meek, silent, longsuffering, and turning the other cheek. He certainly is all that. Yet here we get a glimpse of Jesus as the “Lion.” He said He was indeed a King, but that His Kingdom was not of this world. Up until now the kingly aspect of Christ and the majestic glory of His Kingdom had remained hidden.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
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January 17
An Ascendant Spirit

“And [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.”
LUKE 24:50,51

Bethany has a heavenly savor. There is an ascendant spirit there which lifts us up to the heavenlies. I believe that as we prepare a place for the Lord this ascendant spirit will break forth upon us spontaneously. It is one thing for us to try to act heavenly, and it is quite another thing for us to enter into such communion and fellowship with the Heavenly Man that we simply begin to exude His heavenliness, as the priest in the Holy Place exuded the fragrance of the sweet incense.
The Kingdom of Heaven is where Christ has the preeminence and fills all things: and if this is the case with us individually, or corporately, then it can be said of us that the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden

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Hi Elaine!

In this week's podcast I talk about why most New Year's
resolutions fail...

http://theschoolofchrist.org/crosswind

PLUS: since a lot of people have been asking about my new audio
program (The Balanced Christian Life), I decided to share a good
clip from the "Goal-Setting With God" segment of that four-hour
teaching.

Listen to it here:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/crosswind

Got any questions? Reply and I'll try to help.

Have a great weekend!

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!

A strange sight to be seen on that day...

A hot, thirsty, tired Jewish rabbi.

And a hot, thirsty, tired woman (of somewhat questionable
reputation).

Sitting by the well, having a conversation about God, in the middle
of the day.

Surprising?

Even shocking.

But nothing happens by coincidence.

It was all orchestrated for you.

Why?

To teach you some deep spiritual lessons that can change your life.

Want to learn what they are?

Go here to meet me at the well:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3iTklgY0ngpjxNq&b=IuIn43JstI9Pb6G9vTt8qA

I am your brother,
Chip Brogden
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=MayDZ&m=3iTklgY0ngpjxNq&b=LQ8JaTyL8pNV_0dnIVIdVg

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted
for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.
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January 15

Abundant Life

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
JOHN 10:10

Those who hunger and thirst after Righteousness – Christ – will be filled. Thus, the one who is filled is never hungry or thirsty. So on the one hand I want to know the Lord and my desire for Him increases day by day; but it is not the desperate search of a hungry or thirsty man who is fainting and wasting away.
I am full of Him because He fills me. There is my “Life, and Life more abundantly.” My Life is not in what He gives me, but in Who He is.
Source: Lord of All by Chip Brogden


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January 16

The Head of the Body

“Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head.”
COLOSSIANS 2:18,19

Even in the natural realm we know that a healthy physical body does not make decisions or take any action apart from the head. It is the head (i.e., the mind) that determines what the body will do. Indeed, the body cannot properly function apart from the head. When the body is disabled due to injury or disease it means either the body is unable to carry out the instructions of the head or the head is unable to give instructions to the body. We rightly observe this as something that needs medical attention.
Were the head to be separated from the body the result is immediate death. Equally obvious is the fact that the head can take no action without involving the body.
We must not force this metaphor to an extreme and suggest that Jesus is unable to do anything without us; but we can certainly say that Jesus, as the Head of the Ekklesia, will not do anything without involving His Body.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden

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A Step-By-Step Plan For Finding Your Balance, Defining Your Purpose, Achieving Your Goals, and Simplifying Your Life in 2014 - and Beyond

Hello Elaine!
Jesus warned that if we are not careful, the cares of this world will enter into our life and choke out the Word so it becomes unfruitful.
Christians often complain to me about feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, not having enough time, and just feeling out of balance.
In this video I explain why that happens - and how to keep it from happening to you.
Watch this video to learn more:
http://theschoolofchrist.org/2014

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!
January 14
The Privilege of Patmos

“I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
REVELATION 1:9

Since John is an Overcomer, God sends out the call for Overcomers through John. John is symbolic of all Overcomers, and he is the instrument through which God raises up Overcomers.
I can relate to John. I know many of us feel as if we are alone, in exile, in a wilderness. Gradually we feel we are being shut up and shut out by others who have not seen what we have seen. It is right THERE, in the desert place, in the place of exile, in the place of banishment, in the place of dryness, in the place of darkness, that Christ is revealed to us. This ought to encourage us no matter what our situation.
Source: The Prophetic Mandate by Chip Brogden


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January 13

Crucified With Christ
“I have been crucified with Christ; 
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
GALATIANS 2:20

Paul says that even though he was crucified, he lives. Does Paul mean to say that he was raised from the dead with Jesus also? If so, why have we not heard about this before now? Finally he says he is not really living at all, but Christ lives in him. To the natural mind, of course, this all sounds very strange. This is why we must discern spiritual things spiritually.
It should be obvious that Paul is talking about something other than a physical crucifixion and a physical death, burial, and resurrection. Although he says, “I was crucified with Christ” he does not mean that he was present with Christ in the flesh at the moment of crucifixion; instead, he intends to show us something much more profound.
We will soon discover that this experience of being crucified with Christ is not unique to the apostle Paul, but is true of every born-again child of God. Not only Paul, but all disciples of Jesus have been crucified with Christ.
Source: Embrace the Cross by Chip Brogden

©1997-2013 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears. Share this message with your friends!