Meditation Chip Brogden

May 3
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"It is of God that you are in Christ Jesus, Whom God has made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (I Corinthians 1:30).
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.


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May 2
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:13b).
The final word is: "Amen - may it be so, henceforth and forever." We proclaim it, not to bring it forth (as if it depended upon our confession), but to acknowledge it as a present reality which is breaking forth upon all that stands in opposition to it, and to establish once and for all that we have chosen - individually and corporately - to align ourselves with God's Ultimate Purpose and Will, making us co-workers together with Him towards the Goal of CHRIST FILLING ALL THINGS.
He MUST increase, and all else MUST decrease (John 3:30). We can observe this decrease taking place in the world around us, but we should also be able to see that WE, the Self, is being decreased in order to prepare us for Kingdom in which it is no longer "I" that live as a thing outside of Christ, but it is Christ Who lives in me, conforming me to His image, and reproducing His character and nature within me (Galatians 2:20).


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May 1
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:13b).
There is a Remnant of called-out ones who have seen the Glory of the Son and WILL seek the interests of God's Only Begotten One. In a time when men solicit the glory and honor and power from one another, there is a Holy Nation of priests and kings who will give the Son the glory He deserves, declaring, "THINE IS THE GLORY, we will render to You, and to You alone, the glory due Your Name."


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April 30
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Jesus answered and said to them, 'You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God'" (Matthew 22:29, NKJV).
One way the God-Man reveals Himself to us, of all ways, is not in a glorious vision or supernatural event, but in the pages of this thing we call the Bible. Imagine that. How odd. A book. Why not just appear to the one who seeks Him and speak face to face. No! Why? It would kill us. It would absolutely blow us away to be confronted with the Real Jesus, because the Jesus we have come to believe in is a fairy tale, a jolly elf, a fantasy character. The Bible prepares us for Him, does it not? Using types, shadows, stories, just to whet your appetite and get you accustomed to Him and His dealings so you are not totally shocked when you do meet Him.
How flippantly we just pick up the Word and skim through our favorite verses and say "ho hum". We haven't met the Lord. We haven't touched the God of the Word. How can we do that? Because the Bible is, outwardly speaking, so ordinary. Nothing high-tech about it. It seems so innocuous, so innocent. But it is the primary introduction we have to meeting the Man, the God-Man. Absolutely brilliant, this plan of God.


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April 28
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Except a man eat my flesh and drink my blood, he has no life in him" (John 6:53).
We need more than a touch from God; we must have God Himself. There is an ocean of difference between receiving the blessing and receiving the One Who blesses; between getting a touch and receiving the One Who touches; between healing and the Healer; between redemption and Redeemer; between salvation and Savior. The former deals with what God has or can do, while the latter deals with God Himself.


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April 29
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"But when you give to someone, don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3, NLT).
Jesus did not advocate anonymous charity in order to make us paranoid or fearful of being caught doing a good deed. He did it to liberate us, to enlarge us, to help us experience the pure joy of a no-strings-attached gift, to ensure we would not become proud, and very importantly, to prevent others from rewarding, manipulating, regulating, or expecting us to give to them on a continual basis apart from His direction. He understood how easily people, even with the best of intentions, make value judgments of others based on material possessions. He obviously didn't want that to be the case among His people.
Unfortunately, acquiring, building, and catering to people of affluence has been the modus operandi of Organized Religion since its inception, and continues to run rampant in Churchianity today. Yet for all its money and temporal possessions, Organized Religion has always been in a state of spiritual impoverishment.


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April 27
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none" (Ezekiel 22:30).
The Lord searches the whole Earth, and when He has found a person who sees that Purpose, and daily orders their life according to that Purpose, and (here is the key!) consistently rises up to pray for the fulfillment of that Purpose, then God will move Heaven and Earth on behalf of that person; for He has found, at last, some ground to build upon. That person is numbered with the Remnant because, I promise you, men and women like that are few and far between.


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April 26
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matthew 13:44).
For too long we have contented ourselves with what God can do for us and what He can give us. We come the Lord with a need in mind, and the next day we approach with another need, and the following day we return with yet another request. This pattern repeats itself continually. We return again and again to withdraw a little more from the heavenly bank.
Surely we should let our requests be made known unto God, and we must also ask, that we may receive. But think: if a man owns a field, does he not also possess the buried treasure in the field? Does it not stand to reason then, that if we receive HIM, we possess all He has? How shall He not, with His Son, freely give us all things?


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April 25
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).
The difference between those who overcome and those who do not overcome is a difference in their own PERCEIVED position. We all ought to perceive that in Christ we are seated in the heavenly places. We cannot overcome without this perception, this seeing, this revelation. If our perception is earthly, we will remain earthly. If our perception is heavenly, we will overcome.


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April 24
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Don't be afraid. From the very first day that you humbled yourself before God and began to pray for understanding, your words were heard" (Daniel 10:12ff).
If God will do whatever He wishes, regardless of whether we pray or not, then we do not need to pray at all, and the Lord's instructions on praying for the Kingdom and the Will are superfluous. But the truth is that God waits for a Remnant to rise up and to pray in agreement with His Purpose before He does anything - He will do nothing apart from the Church. Apart from HIM, we CAN do nothing; apart from US, He WILL do nothing.


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April 23
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (Revelation 21:7).
As we look at the promises made to those who overcome we should see that God is not establishing some new order or special group which enjoys rights and privileges not accessible to the rest of the saints. This is not the establishing of new promises, but a bringing us back to the same exceeding great and precious promises which are potentially true of everyone who is in Christ. It is not establishing a new foundation, it is calling us back to the foundation which is already laid.


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April 22
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Now has God set the members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased Him" (I 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.


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April 21

Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'" (Acts 13:2).
The believers in Antioch ministered to the Lord in prayer and fasting, and afterwards they ministered to one another. Let us recognize that our first ministry is to the Lord, not to people. Perhaps you have been in a situation where the people came first, and the work became so huge and the needs so great that you neglected to minister to the Lord. Before long you felt deflated and empty inside. This happens when we are reaching out, but not reaching up.
I like the way Jesus selected His disciples, and the explanation as to why they were selected: "That they should be with Him, and that they might go forth and preach" (Mark 3:14). 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.


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April 20
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Early the next morning Jesus went out into the wilderness. The crowds searched everywhere for Him, and when they finally found Him, they begged Him not to leave them. But He replied, 'I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other places, too, because that is why I was sent'" (Luke 4:42,43, NLT).
If we are primarily motivated by what other people want, expect, and need then we will be tempted to stay longer than we should stay, or say more than we ought to say. When the crowd is begging for more, most Christian workers and preachers are only too eager to accommodate them. But Jesus had an acute sense of purpose because He knew to whom He had been sent. As a result, He did not bow down to the will of the people and go beyond the time and place appointed Him by His Father, even though they begged Him to stay. He was responding to what God needed, not what the people needed.


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April 19
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And [Jesus] said to them all, 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me'" (Luke 9:23).
Thank God for the cross of Jesus Christ! For it is there that my sins are forgiven; it is there that the "old man" died. Yet it is also true that there is something as wicked, if not more wicked, than sin, and that is Self.
It is true that every sin is rooted in Self. As we must initially accept His death for sin, so we must daily accept our death to Self. As we are once crucified with Him for the remission of sins, so we must daily take up the cross, deny our Self, and follow Him. We walk in the narrow Way just as we entered the narrow Gate - by way of the cross.


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April 18
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"[Jesus] said to them, 'When you pray, say: 'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven''" (Luke 11:2).
Someone might ask if God wants His Kingdom to come and His Will to be done, why does He not just do it? Why do we have to pray for it to be done in order for it to happen? We believe the answer to these questions is based upon the fact that God wishes to do nothing apart from the Church. This is in contrast to a kind of attitude that passively accepts whatever happens and just believes that everything will take care of itself. This sounds like faith, but it is really not. It is a subtle form of laziness. If this were the case then daily bread would automatically come to us, and doors would automatically open, and workers would automatically go forth into the harvest. And if these things happened of their own accord, regardless of whether we prayed or not, then everything Jesus taught us about prayer is superfluous. Jesus taught us to always pray, and not quit (Luke 18:1).
The truth is that God HAS revealed His Will to us, the Spirit WILL make His Mind known to us if we ask, and we are thus instructed to cooperate with God by praying specifically for His Will and for His Kingdom to be accomplished. The fact that God has promised to provide us with daily bread, open doors, and workers for the harvest is intended to inspire us to ask for these things to be done and to give us a basis upon which we may reasonably expect God to bring it to pass.

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April 17
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).
We can quote these teachings of Jesus, seek to imitate Him as our Example, strive to walk the narrow Way, and even accomplish many good deeds in His Name. But apart from the Cross these activities are wood, hay and stubble. The moment we are challenged or confronted by the opposition we will fall away. Perhaps we can appear to be patient, but a day comes when we lose our patience. Perhaps we can appear to be gentle, but a day comes when our roughness is revealed. Perhaps we can appear to be humble, but a day comes when pride is discovered in us and we fall. Perhaps we can obey the letter of the law and appear outwardly to others as being righteous, but when alone and faced with the secrets of our heart and mind we discover that the inside of the cup is full of uncleanness.
In calling us to come back to the Cross, God is asking us lay down our lives and embrace the Wisdom of death, burial, resurrection, and ascension in order to live as sons and daughters within the Kingdom of God. Apart from the Cross we can neither enter the Kingdom nor live in the Spirit, no matter how great the desire. For apart from the Cross, we do not know what it is to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. Apart from the Cross, we do not know what it is to submit to the will of God, accept suffering, and cast ourselves upon Him. Apart from the Cross, we do not know what Resurrection is.


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April 16
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you. How often I have longed to gather your children together under my wing, as a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not allow it. Now your house will be empty. You will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord'" (Matthew 23:37-39).
Jerusalem represents that which initially gave the Lord satisfaction, but no longer. It continues in the tradition and ceremony, in the outward things, yet it does not recognize Who the Lord Jesus is. The place of His rest used to be the Temple, but even it has become a "den of thieves".
He longs to have them, to gather them under the shadow of His wing: but THEY would not allow it. There is a place where the Lord is received: but it is outside of Jerusalem, away from the religious establishment, away from the scribes and teachers of Law, away from the Pharisees, Sadducees, theologians, Bible scholars and hypocrites, even away from the Temple in all its splendor. Just east of Jerusalem, in a little village, in a single house, He finally finds what He has longed for.


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April 15
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Philippians 3:21).
Everything is moving back TOWARDS a Christocentric universe, so that as it was in the beginning, so it will be in the ending. Just as all things have their source and beginning in Christ, so all things will have their ending in Christ. He subdues all things, in order to gather together and reconcile all things, that He may fill all things.
What a task that is! How can that be? How can all things ever be subdued, gathered together into one, reconciled, and filled by Christ? We cannot say how, but we know that "He is able". Praise God, how can we doubt Him? How can we question this Man? Do we not yet know that He is the Preeminent One? Let us bow down and thank and praise God that He is able!

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April 14
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him" (Colossians 2:6).
Thank God for the cross of Jesus Christ! For it is there that my sins are forgiven; it is there that the "old man" died. Yet it is also true that there is something as wicked, if not more wicked, than sin, and that is Self. It is true that every sin is rooted in Self. As we must initially accept His death for sin, so we must daily accept our death to Self. As we are once crucified with Him for the remission of sins, so we must daily take up the cross, deny our Self, and follow Him. We walk in the narrow Way just as we entered the narrow Gate - by way of the cross.


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April 13
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).
This "looking for another" is the entire object of our adversary, that spirit of Antichrist that is forever trying to corrupt us "from the simplicity of Christ" (II Corinthians 11:3), always trying to get us to leave "Him that called you" to follow after "another Gospel" (Galatians 1:6), which really is no other, Paul says, only the appearance of Another, Something Else, or Someone Else. At least Peter, for whatever faults he may have had, was smart enough to realize that there was no one else but Him: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
But this does not stop people, even Christians who should know better, from "looking for another." They look for another pastor, another preacher, another teacher, another prophet, another ministry, another sign or word or prophecy or teaching or manifestation or meeting or miracle. The simplicity of Christ, the reality of Who He is, cannot keep their attention for very long.


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April 12
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him" (Luke 24:30-31).
After Jesus blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they knew Him. Until you have the blessing and the breaking your eyes will remain closed. Blessings alone do not open our eyes. Indeed, blessings by themselves tend to close our eyes. We do not come to know Him in the blessing, but in the breaking. Then what we already have in Him will be revealed. Our eyes will be opened and we will see that He has been standing there the whole time.
Do you want to know Him? Do you want to see Him for Who He is? Do you want to go deeper? Do you want to have your eyes opened? Embrace the blessing AND the breaking; receive them both. If you are a bruised reed or a broken cistern, take heart, because you are making progress.


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April 11
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Thanks be to God, Who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57).
People are looking for a technique or method by which they may work out a victory on behalf of Christ. Not surprisingly everyone has their own way of waging warfare. Some emphasize intercessory prayer, and believe the secret is in getting hundreds of people praying for the same thing. Others lean towards praise and worship. Some stress binding and loosing. Others believe the key is in locating and naming certain spirits which supposedly control different parts of the world. Still others think there must be some prophetic act to be performed or declaration to be made.
Here is the problem with virtually all of these things: they are just that - THINGS - methods, techniques, teachings, strategies, but they are not Christ. Victory is not this, that, or the other. It is not some spiritual thing. Victory is a God-Man. The one in Christ is seated with Him in the heavenly places. If we see ourselves in Him then we cannot help but understand that since the battle is already won, and Victory is ours, then we do not need a method or a technique designed to "get" a victory which we already possess.
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Message from Elaine.
A few times I have had problems bringing up the link to relative follow on of the Discussion It may be the site is experiencing problems.

Adding link below where if this is not given you are able to find from the list.

http://207.56.83.135/read.html

April 10
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"This man cannot be from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath day" (John 9:16ff).
I have made the statement several times that most churches would not recognize the Lord Jesus even if He walked down the aisle on Sunday morning and sat on the altar. This statement is largely designed to shake people out of their complacency. It is highly unlikely that Jesus will actually go to church this Sunday. I do not believe Jesus attends many religious meetings, and this belief has a Scriptural basis: "He does not keep the Sabbath day." For that matter, He does not keep any day, for every day is His Day and He cannot be contained within a particular twenty-four hour period.

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April 9
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ" (Acts 5:42).
We have taken "church planting" as a goal, or a means to a goal, when the goal is not "church planting" at all. What were they really doing? Not planting churches, but planting Christ - sowing the Word, the Living Word, so that He will find some good ground to build His Church upon. Those who believed were called disciples, and together they are referred to as the Church. That is the right order of things.
Christ must have the preeminence: the first, the full, and the final place, and when He has that kind of position then we will see disciples made and ekklesias come forth spontaneously.
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April 8
Today's Message from Chip Brogden
"Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needed" (Luke 10:41,42ff).
Like the Laodiceans, we consider ourselves to be rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing (Revelation 3:17). Like Martha, who was vexed over "many things", we have too many religious things, too many Christian things, too many spiritual things, too many church things, too many of the "many things" that distract us from the One Thing that is needed (Luke 10:42). No one is ever vexed over the One Thing. It is always the "many things" that vex us, all those "things" apart from Jesus that we think we just cannot live without, all those "things" we think we "need" simply because when it gets right down to it, we do not see Jesus as Enough.


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