Meditation Chip Brogden

July 6
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And [God] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).
Do you see yourself seated with Christ in the heavenlies? Paul saw it, and prayed the Ephesians would see it. When the Lord showed me that I was raised together with Christ and was made to sit (past tense) in the heavenly places with Christ, do you think it changed the way I saw the world? Absolutely! No more was I looking at things from "ground level", but from the heavenly realm. Things look decidedly different when viewed from above.
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July 5
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank" (Daniel 1:8a).
Is Daniel merely jealous for the Law of Moses here, or is there a greater motivation? The point here is really not the meat or the drink, but the purposing in Daniel's heart not to defile himself. That there is one who would even make such a purpose is astounding, considering the circumstances. The easiest thing to do is to just go along with things, accept them as they are, and not make any trouble. But thank God for that decision! Daniel purposed in his heart - a flame was kindled, and the longer he thought about it, the hotter the fire burned.
While the others were eating and drinking, Daniel motioned to his three friends, and whispered, "Eat mine if you will have it - but I will not sin against the Lord in this thing!" And the three brothers, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, agreed that they would not eat the meat or drink the wine either. Hallelujah! This is what the Lord is after - a small company of two or three, gathered together under a covenant that they will stand for the Testimony of the Lord, for something Heavenly, regardless of the cost!
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July 4
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10).
Elisha saw differently, and so he thought, spoke, and behaved differently. So often we try to adopt a certain way of thinking, speaking, and acting in hopes of becoming victorious. If this is your intention then you are already defeated. If victory lies in something you must do then you will never be able to do enough. "Acting spiritual" does not produce victory, for victory is not what I do or do not do: Victory is Christ.

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July 3
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13).
Do you see a defeated devil, or a powerful devil? Many Christians still see a powerful devil, almost but not quite as powerful as God. They are afraid if they aren't looking the devil will slip in and harm them. They become angry if you suggest the devil has no power, and will defend him with anecdotal "evidence" of satanic episodes they have experienced. Their spiritual warfare is based on fear of what the devil might do next. When we see a defeated devil instead of a powerful devil then our paradigm of spiritual warfare will change. It is all in the seeing!
This is why the devil must deceive us into thinking he is more than he is. Why all the formulas and techniques and methods? Because we see the devil as powerful. True, he has power, but only over those who are deceived. I do not need a technique to defeat a defeated devil. It is absurd. It is like trying to enter into a room in which I am already sitting. We have already been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son.

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July 2
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As you have received the Lord Jesus Christ [theNarrowGate], so walk in Him [theNarrowPath]" (Colossians 2:6).
We come to the Lord admitting that we cannot save ourselves, and He does the saving. That is the Gate. Now we come to the Lord every day, admitting that we cannot enter the Kingdom, and He does what it takes to conform us into His image. That is the Path. Hence, I have no secret for the Christian Life, but Christ. I have no key, but Christ. I have no method, but Christ. I have no formula, but Christ. I have no technique, but Christ. I have no life, but Christ - for it is no longer I that lives, it is Christ that lives in me (Galatians 2:20a). In Him, through Him, because of Him, by Him we may enter the Kingdom.
Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that You are my Way, my Truth, and my Life! I praise You that I cannot save myself. I praise You that I cannot enter the Kingdom. As I trusted in You to bring me out of Egypt, so I trust in You to bring me into the Promised Land. As I have received You, so I will walk in You. You are my Narrow Gate, and You are my Narrow Path. As I am decreased, You are increased, and my life is exchanged for Your Life. I thank you, Lord, that through You we may enter the Kingdom.
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July 1
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"One thing I am sure of: I was blind before, but now I can see" (John 9:25b).
The Lord reveals Himself to us in a variety of ways, and every testimony is different. Peter received the revelation of Christ while fishing. But Thomas received the revelation of Christ only after the Lord appeared to Him and showed him His wounds. Paul received the revelation of Christ on the road to Damascus, as he was on his way to kill Christians. One man says Christ was revealed to him as he stood watching a tree in the dead of winter. Christ was revealed to me as I sat in my backyard, arguing with the Lord over the Bible.
What do these experiences have in common? They are spontaneous unveilings of Jesus Christ. Without warning the Lord simply reveals Himself, and whereas we were blind before, today we see. It is like walking out of one room and into another room, closing the door behind us. We are the man born blind in John 9. It is not that he can improve himself, or gradually come to the place where he can see something. He is BORN blind, and he can see nothing but darkness until the Lord, the Light of the world, makes him see. So many blind people hope to improve their seeing through sermons, meetings, and more teachings. But one moment of seeing is worth ten thousand years of learning. It is better to sit at the feet of an ignorant man who has seen the Lord than it is to be instructed by the most educated Bible teacher who is blind to the things of God.
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June 30
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I will build My Church" (Matthew 16:18ff).
We cannot build the Church, for Jesus is building it. Similarly, we cannot assemble ourselves together; the Lord has to do that as well. I am not saying we cannot have a meeting, but I am saying that a meeting is not what makes us the Church. There are many such meetings we can host or attend, but that does not make us the Church. People frequently ask me if I know where they can go to find fellowship. After examining them at length I determine that what they are really looking for is a meeting. Well, meetings are everywhere. You do not need me for that. I am afraid that I cannot recommend "meetings", I can only recommend brothers and sisters who love the Lord.
Now the Lord wants to assemble us together into a spiritual Temple, but if we look around it is clear that we are divided over several issues. We could go down the list and name them all. We could take time to talk about denominations, organizations, doctrines, beliefs, customs, and the like. We could draw up a list of one hundred or one thousand divisions, but the heart of the matter is this: have we seen the Lord? If we have seen the Lord then we do not need to see anything else: this revelation of Him is sufficient. And, if we have not seen the Lord, it is a waste of time to try and discuss anything else along the lines of doctrine or teaching.
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June 29
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10).
When we think of a king, we usually think of some human authority exerting their will upon their subjects with a haughty air. Regardless of whether the "king" calls itself pastor, priest, pope, prophet, or presbyter, all too often this is how we meet human authority. You can be sure that this authority does not represent the Lord Jesus, nor the Church that He is building, regardless of what it calls itself, for it is not congruent with the Lord Himself. True authority is not found in title or position. Jesus, the King of Kings, shows us that true authority is serving, not lording over. In fact, Psalm 72 tells us what a true king is - someone who serves the people, provides for the poor, and defends those who cannot defend themselves.
We are being prepared for a kingdom. But our preparation is not in learning how to wear a crown or how to walk around with a glorious robe and scepter. One brother sings, "He's brought me low so I could know the way to reach the heights." In God's Kingdom, to go higher, we must go lower. That is the Hidden Wisdom.
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June 28
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46ff).
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.
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June 27
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"For I determined to not know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (I 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.
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June 26
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"If God did not spare His own Son, but freely delivered Him over to death on our behalf, how will He not also, with Him, freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)
When God wished to test Abraham, He did not ask him to sacrifice a sheep, a ram, or a cow. He did not ask for Abraham's gold or silver or tents or possessions. He went right to the heart of the matter and asked for Isaac, the son of promise. How gladly Abraham would have given anything and everything but his own beloved son. But in the willingness to give up his son, he was, in essence, laying everything down on the altar. When God owns what the man loves most, He owns everything the man has.
In the same way, the Father, wishing to demonstrate His great love for us, has not given us parts and pieces of things, but has sacrificed His only Son. By giving us His Son, He has, in essence and in fact, freely given us everything. When man possesses what God loves most, he owns everything God has. This is why I say we have little else to ASK God for, but much to PRAISE Him about: for IN CHRIST, God has freely given us all things.
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June 25
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11b).
The Cross is the means by which God reduces us to Christ, that we may be raised to new Life. What cannot be accomplished in a lifetime of self-effort is easily accomplished in God through the Cross. We may take many shortcuts along the way and attempt to escape the inevitable, but the day we cease striving and meekly accept the Cross we find everything is done for us.
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June 24
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Whoever wants to become the greatest must become the servant of all" (Mark 10:44).
When anyone comes to me now and wants my advice about "going" into the ministry, the first thing I seek to do is upset all their ideas about ministry and talk to them about being a servant, taking the back seat, being hidden from view, lowering yourself, and practicing the art of One-Anothering.
The ministry of One-Anothering doesn't require a platform, a pulpit, a building, a budget, or a Board. You can start immediately, with no training and with no experience, and you don't have to quit your job or do anything dramatic. You cannot be voted in, and you cannot be voted out. The Life you possess qualifies you to be in the full-time ministry of One-Anothering. Your wounds are your credentials. You can go to your brothers and sisters right now and say, "The Lord has called me to the ministry, and I am beginning it today." Love, pray for, encourage, and serve the saints. So many times we have observed individuals who claim to be called to some great work but they neglect the basic principles of One-Anothering. There is no competition for the lowest position, so let all who love the Lord go there first and become a servant.
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June 23
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God" (Matthew 16:16).
Eventually the revelation of Christ moved Peter to make the bold confession that "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus did not teach Peter what to say, He merely revealed Himself to Peter. He did not sit down with His disciples and say, "I am the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Now repeat that after Me several times, and I will test you on this in the morning." He did not teach them a catechism or a rosary or a mantra or a confession, He merely revealed Himself to them as He in fact is. They made the confession in due course, having revelation.
The Testimony of Jesus always springs forth from the Revelation of Christ. If we do not have the Revelation then we cannot have the Testimony. That is to say, we cannot bear witness of what we have seen and heard if we have not, in fact, seen or heard anything. We try to get people to confess in order that they may ATTAIN to something, but true confession comes forth naturally after they have OBTAINED it.
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June 22
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

The Scriptures tell us that hidden in Christ are "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3)", "every spiritual blessing" (Ephesians 1:3), and "all the fullness of God" (Colossians 1:19). Since this is the truth, we maintain before God that His Gift to us is Christ, and to the extent that we appreciate the value and preciousness of the Lord Jesus, to that same extent will we be satisfied spiritually. We will find fullness in the Son, and will not find it necessary to be continually pumped up or propped up as we go about our daily walk as Christians.
Imagine the foolishness of asking God for a "few coins" to get you through until Sunday while wealth is buried just below your feet. Or, imagine the vanity of thinking we have to go "here" or "there" to get something from God (such as a "blessing", a "word", an "anointing", etc) when we already have everything He has. I will go so far as to say that when we know the preciousness and costliness of the Lord Jesus we will not ask God for anything else. The one who must ask God for "things" has not yet fully appreciated the treasure he has in Christ already.
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June 21
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations" (Revelation 2:26).
The Remnant is not a closed group. I heard someone say this many years ago: anyone can, everyone won't, but somebody will. That is the gist of it, you see. There is a whole doctrine called Remnant Theology, but that is not what we have in mind here at all. Let us be clear: a Remnant is not an exclusive, elitist circle of super-spiritual saints. Not at all. The promises are made to the "whosoevers".
Anyone can be a friend of God! Anyone can overcome! But we know that everyone will not. Why won't they? I wish I knew why, I wish I could explain it, but I cannot explain it, and I just know it is a fact that everyone will not go on with God. We know it from history, we know it from looking around us right now. Everyone is not going to press into God, everyone is not going to seek His Kingdom, everyone is not going to lay down their life and follow Jesus. Not that they CANNOT, but they WILL NOT. There is nothing set in stone that says you are destined to be an overcomer, but these other people are not. No, everyone is destined for it, but how many will actually go after it? Anyone can, everyone won't (in fact, a large majority will not), but SOMEBODY will. That group of "somebodys" who will is the Remnant.
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June 20
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" (Ephesians 3:17,18).
We have to come to know the breadth, length, depth, and height of HIM, and may I say that we will never come to the end of Him. But we do not search for anything as if we do not have it, nor do we hope to gain some new thing, for what we call "new" is simply that which has been seen for the first time. Thus, revelation is critical, for it unveils what we already have. Having the Son, we have all.
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June 17
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse" (I Corinthians 11:17).
Many churches, gatherings, meetings, ministries and fellowships do more harm than good. They should be shut down because Jesus does not have the preeminence there. Thus, they serve no Kingdom purpose. I am convinced that most churches exist only to give the pastor someplace to preach on Sunday. The meetings continue but no fruit is produced. They are dead branches still clinging to the vine that need to be hacked off to make way for new growth.
Paul told the Corinthians that when they came together it was not for the better, but for the worse. To be sure, they gathered together. They were faithful to assemble. But their gathering together was not a testimony to their faith, it was a testimony to their division. Actually, they were not assembling together at all, they were assembling separately. "Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you!" What pastor is willing to stand up and say, "There will be no more services until we can learn how to come together for the better, and not for the worse." Not many!
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June 18
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I hate your show and pretense - your hypocrisy of 'honoring' Me with your religious feasts and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and thank offerings. I will not look at your offerings of peace. Away with your hymns of praise - they are mere noise to My ears. I will not listen to Your music, no matter how lovely it is" (Amos 5:21-23, Living Bible).
I want to be a blessing and a delight to the Lord. I do not want to grieve Him. What about you? Friends, we need to find out what the Lord loves and what the Lord hates. It would be better for us to cancel everything and just lay face-down in the dirt than to shuffle through yet another church "service" and run the risk of grieving God yet again. We have a responsibility to find out what the Lord loves and what the Lord hates; what is acceptable to Him, and what is unacceptable. It is vain to continually ask Him to bless the thing He is disgusted by. It is a waste of time.
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June 19
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9).
Are we offering acceptable sacrifices to the Lord? Sacrifices of humility? Brokenness? Spirit and truth worship? Or are we just going through the motions of Churchianity every week? We know how to put together a music program (three praise songs, three worship songs). We know how to take up offerings. We know how to preach and give an altar call. We know how to do all these things: but are we giving God what He wants?
It is a sad, but real fact: if God removed His presence from our church services, 99% of the activity would continue on as before, without interruption. We do not need God's Spirit to worship in the flesh: we can do that all by ourselves. But God will not accept this "worship." He looks the other way.
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June 16
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"Stir up the gift of God, which is in you" (II Timothy 1:16).
How will He do it? How will He demonstrate the sufficiency of His Life to do everything in your stead? Why, the next time you feel your temper getting out of control, or the person you resent is bothering you, or things are not going right, or you are tempted to quit, decide that instead of reacting the way you always do, you will trust in His Life, then stand back and just see what happens.
If you are a Christian the Life is there, it just has to be stirred up into activity. The things we call temptations, testings, and trials are the very means through which God desires to activate the Life He has placed within you! How else would we be able to rejoice in our afflictions? How else would we be able to count it all joy when we fall into many temptations and trials of faith? Humanly speaking this is impossible! But what is impossible with man is possible with God, and easily achievable when we trust in His Life to do what we cannot do.
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June 15
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10b).
Ask the Lord to open your eyes and show you the Life which is yours. Go to Him and say, "I have heard about this Life, but I don't know how it works or what to do with it. Please show me, please teach me, please reveal this Life to me." And He will do it. If ever you see this, just once, you will discover the secret to the Christian life. You will shake your head and say, "All these years I thought I was really living the Christian life, and all I have been doing is playing tiddlywinks. This Life I have been given is greater, bigger, and more wonderful than I ever dreamed!"
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June 14
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"It pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me" (Galatians 1:15,16ff).
People sometimes ask me what they have to do to obtain this great revelation of Christ. They think it is God's way of rewarding us for a lot of hard work. Nothing could be further from the truth. To have one's eyes opened is simply an act of grace, and God alone can do it, and will do it, if we will only ask Him. At the risk of making it sound "too easy", I dare not make it any more difficult than that!
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June 12
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"And when the servant of [Elisha] was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, 'Alas, my master! How shall we do?' And he answered, 'Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them'. And Elisha prayed, and said, 'Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see'. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (II Kings 6:15-17).
When the servant's eyes were opened, he saw what Elisha saw. When Elisha said, "The ones with us are greater than the ones 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.
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June 11
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 1:9,10a).
John is typical of all Overcomers. Notice that his greatest contribution to the Church is in his old age and at a time of spiritual darkness. Although we know that he worked diligently among the churches of Asia Minor as a pastor, teacher, and elder, Scripture holds him in relative obscurity until the time of the end. Then, like a treasured vessel, after everything is broken down and falling apart, John is brought out of insignificance and is given the crucial work of restoring the Testimony to the Church, that the ultimate plan and purpose of God may be fulfilled. 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.
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June 10
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel" (Galatians 1:6).
What is commonly preached as the "Full Gospel" might be more properly termed the "Fifty Percent Gospel." We lay such stress on the gate, on the initial coming to the Lord; but the other half of the equation, the Kingdom and the ultimate intention of God, is hardly alluded to. What is worse, we invite sinners to Christ on the basis of their own self-serving needs (e.g., come to Christ and He will take away all your burdens, etc.). As a result, most of these people will sit just inside the gate, claiming salvation, but never enter the Kingdom, never come to the full-knowledge of Truth, and never demonstrate the preeminence of Christ over sin, self, and satan.
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June 9
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God... unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3,5).
So what is the Kingdom of God? Stated simply, it is where Christ has the preeminence as All in All. It is where we finally behold Him in all His fullness. To begin with this preeminence is found inwardly in the individual disciple, where it is then seen a little more visibly in the Church, from which it is eventually manifested outwardly in all of creation. This is why we lay such stress on disciples, for as the disciples go, so goes the Church. Jesus did not establish His Church until He had selected His disciples.
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June 8
Today's Message from Chip Brogden

"In this world you will have tribulation. But cheer up! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33b).
In the world we will experience temptations, testings, and trials. We will experience persecution, tribulation, and afflictions of soul and body. We will experience mistreatment and misunderstanding. It is not a question of God allowing or not allowing things to happen. It is part of living. Some things we do to ourselves, other things we do to each other. Our Father knows about every bird which falls to the ground, but He does not always prevent it from falling.
What are we to learn from this? That our response to what happens is more important than what happens. Here is a mystery: one man's experience drives him to curse God, while another man's identical experience drives him to bless God. Your response to what happens is more important than what happens.
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June 7
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free" (John 8:32).
Most people will say, "My mind is made up, so don't confuse me with the Truth." To choose the Truth is to want the Truth at all costs, even if it means sacrificing everything I have believed up until now, challenging all my paradigms, questioning all my teachers, examining everything I have ever experienced.
Of course our first decision about Truth is based upon Who Jesus is. With that question settled many Christians are content, but Truth is living. Truth will continue to reveal Himself to us and around us for as long as we will allow it. What, after all, is Wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to see things from heaven's, and thus God's, perspective. Daily we must choose between ignorant bliss or seeing things as God sees them. It is a daily choice. You cannot be told, you have to see it for yourself.

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une 6
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Martha had a sister named Mary, who sat at His feet and kept on listening to His Word" (Luke 10:39).
There are two elements here: she sat at His feet, and she heard His Word. We must sit at His feet and hear for ourselves. We can hear His Word through other vessels - the pastor, the teacher, the prophet, a devotional, a television program, a book. In spite of an abundance of vessels we are very dull in our hearing. We are well-versed in "the things of the Lord"; nevertheless we are quite shallow. Why? We have missed the Lord for ourselves. We have not sat down at His feet personally, we are consulting and conferring with flesh and blood, receiving second, third, or fourth-generational teaching. If this is our situation then we have no root in ourselves and we are apt to wither during the heat of the day.
You must sit at His feet and hear Him for yourself. Entering into the Lord's thought, becoming acquainted with His Ways as well as His Word, takes the sort of love-devotion Mary demonstrates. The Greek here is continuous action: she "kept on listening". Martha listened too, but when she arose to prepare dinner, Mary remained. As we progress we will see that Mary has discovered spirit and truth, and from henceforth she is always at the feet of the Lord in one way or the other.

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June 5
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17).
There are some who want the full-knowledge of Christ and want to advance along the narrow path. But they resist the dealings of God which are meant to push them farther along and deeper into Christ. On the one hand they want more of God, but on the other hand they do not want to experience what they must experience in order to see Him. Hence, they unnecessarily delay the work of the Cross. They find fault with their circumstances, murmur, complain, and resist every contrary thing. After ten, twenty, or thirty years of being dealt with they are still as stubborn and headstrong as ever.

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June 4
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto [Jesus], 'Are you the One that should come, or do we look for another?'" (Matthew 11:2,3).
Have you discovered Him yet, and is He enough, or do you seek another? We do not proclaim the preeminence of Christ because it is a nice doctrine to believe in; for us, it is a matter of life and death, because everything hinges on whether or not Jesus is preeminent. If He is preeminent then He is Enough, and there is nothing else but Him, and there is nothing worth proclaiming except Him. To John in prison, and to us wherever we may happen to be, Jesus says, "No, you did not make a mistake. I am the One, but I am more than you can imagine, more than you dare to dream. Blessed are they who are not offended in Me.".

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June 3
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"He must increase" (John 3:30a).
God is not moving backward, but in the Son and through the Son, He moves steadily forward. Christ MUST increase. This is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Just as we cannot have gravity without having the law of gravity, so it is impossible to have the Life of the Lord but not have the Law of that Life. And the Law of Life is that Christ must increase.

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June 2
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"You are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10a).
The real crisis of faith is along the lines of this Man. We can all disagree over Bible doctrine and interpretations of Scripture. But what will you do about Jesus? He will not change Who He is to accommodate Who we think He is. He is Who He is. We either have to come to grips with Jesus as He in fact is, or we have to settle for something less or something else. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
So the question we all have to answer is this: Is Jesus enough? Is He enough, just as He is? Or do we still need Him to do something else in order to satisfy us? Intellectually we can say, "Yes, Jesus is enough. Amen to that. I believe it." But I am surprised at the growing number of people who are openly suggesting that Jesus really is not enough for them! We need fellowship, they say. Or we need God's blessings. Or we need spiritual gifts and more powerful anointings. To believe that Jesus is Enough (they say) is simply too mystical, too simplistic, too out-of-touch with the real world - no matter what Colossians 2:10 says.

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