"THE I AM”!!

 TEXT:  EXODUS 3:13-14: And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you:  and they shall say to me, What is his name?  What shall I say unto them?  And God said unto Moses, “I AM THAT I AM”:  and he said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you".

“I” is the ninth letter of the English alphabet.  “I” is the person speaking or the person writing.  And right now I AM the person speaking.

We must first realize and know that “I AM” is God’s name in “man” (male and female), the indwelling Christ!  This is the same name God gave Himself when He commissioned Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, and that name became Moses’ name when he went back to Egypt:

·         Exodus 3:14: And God said unto Moses, “I AM THAT I AM”:  and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  Vs 15: “And God said moreover unto Moses, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you:  this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations”.

This “memorial” has continued and will continue throughout the ages forever!!

Memorial in this verse is the Hebrew root word zikrown’ (zik-rone’) meaning, a memento or memorable thing, day or writing; record.  It goes to another root word zakar (zaw-kar’) meaning, to mark (so as to be recognized); to remember; mention; be mindful; think on.  What did God say He would do with His Word?   

·         Hebrews 8:10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days (after Jesus’ resurrection; after Pentecost), said the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people.

This is actually a fulfillment of what God said through the Prophet Jeremiah in relation to the “new covenant”, which has extended even until now:

·         Jeremiah 31:31: Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

There is no more two, a house of Israel nor a house of Judah, because all now are ONE HOUSE that’s contained in Christ Jesus!  For all believers now are God’s Israel [he/she that have power with God; a prince with God; shall rule as God) / and we are His Judah or His congregation of praise].  Galatians 3:27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  Vs 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:  for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

·         Jeremiah 31:32: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, said the LORD: Vs 33: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days (after the sacrifice of Jesus Christ), said the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts:  and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Are you a believer in Christ Jesus?  Then you are included in the category of being “God's Israel or God's people”.

Back to the definition of “MEMORIAL”:

What better “mark” can we have from God than His Word written in us?  So that makes us God’s Word in flesh form. 

·         2^nd Corinthians 3:2-3: You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:  forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God:  not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart (kardia’) [thoughts; feelings; will; mind; understanding]!  Hallelujah!! 

This word fleshly is sar’kinos, meaning, similar to flesh.  The other definition touches on the human nature and its frailties (physical or moral), and passions that taps into the heart which are the thoughts; feelings; will; mind; and understanding.  But we must be willing to fall on “The Stone” for purification, which is Christ so that He can cut away everything that is not like him, and cleanse us in every area, heart, soul, mind, and body, so that we can be like Him.  Or, “The Stone” will fall on us, for destruction. 

·         Matthew 21:44 (Jesus said): “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken:  but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder”.

Paul gave specific instructions to us: Romans 12:1: I beseech (beg; ask urgently; entreat) you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (rational) service.  Vs 2: And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed, by the renewing of your mind:  that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Know with certainty that God’s Israel is not over in the Middle East, His Israel is all over the world made up of people that have accepted His Son Jesus Christ and following after Him.  Israel means he will rule as God, and also from sarah (saw-raw’) meaning to prevail; have power (as a prince).  Being a “prince” places one in position for “king-ship”.  We God’s people, believers in Christ Jesus are already “kings and priests” in God, through Christ. 

·         Revelation 5:10: And he hast (already) made us unto our God kings and priests:  and we shall reign on (over) the earth.  (Also Rev.1:6). 

·         Revelation 19:16: And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 

WHAT A MEMORIAL (MARK), bearing the “NAME OF GOD”!!

And all this was done “after those days”!  What days?  After Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and at  Pentecost when the Holy Ghost was given as a universal gift to all that would believe and receive God’s Spirit, Jew and Gentile alike and thereafter! 

·         Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:  for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

·         Ephesians 2:14: For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us:  vs 15: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.  Vs 16: And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. 

Back to Exodus 3 (the I AM):  

Vs 10-11 (God talking to Moses):  Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.  And Moses said unto God, “Who am I”, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt”?  Moses did not know who he himself was at that time, because of what he said in verse 12, when he said to God, “Who am I”.  He didn’t know yet that he was the “I AM” that was about to go into Egypt and deliver God’s people!!  Did you get that revelation?

The Lord gave Himself the personal name I AM THAT I AM.  From this is derived the Hebrew name YAHWEH, a Hebrew phrase that indicates action.  God was in effect saying to Moses I want to be known as the God who is present and active.  In Hebrew “AM” is hayah’, meaning to exist, be or become, come to pass.  Then it goes to another Hebrew word havah’, meaning to breathe; to be (exist):  be thou; shall be; may be; hath.  In the Greek “AM” is eimi (i-mee’), meaning, I exist; I am; am; it is I; be; I was; have been.

These definitions are explaining that “AM” is neither, past, present, nor future tense.  It’s all three at once!!  It connotes eternal existence.  God is, He has always been, He will always be!  

·         Psalm 90:2: Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

·         Revelation 1:8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Inherent in the name YAHWEH is the promise of the living presence of God Himself day by day with His people.  Inherent in Webster refers to something that is “stuck in” something else so firmly, they can’t be separated.  “I AM” reveals the God that is present with us and dwells in us.  Hebrews 13:5: Let your conversation be without covetousness:  and be content with such things as you have:  for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

What did the Prophet Isaiah say:  Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign:  behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [with us (is) God].

·         2^nd Corinthians 6:16: For you are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them:  and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

·         1^st John 4:4: You are of God little children, and have overcome them:  because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

God is the one independent (free from outside control), entirely (completely) self-subsistent (sustained; sufficient; contained; supporting; standing] Being in the universe who Eternally Exists, and all that exists has been created by Him for His own glory.

·         Colossians 1:16: For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:  all things were created by him, and for him:  vs 17: And he is before all things and by him all things consist (sunista’o) [set together; introduced (favorably); is exhibited; constituted or approved]:  vs 18: And he is the head of the body, the church:  who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (superiority; supremacy].

Jesus declared Himself to be the Great I AM, maintaining that He tells the truth and supports it by saying what He has heard, seen and been taught by His Father.  Didn’t the disciples make the same claim, that they can only testify to what they had seen, heard and handled?  

·         1^st John 1:1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life:  vs 2: For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.

This “I AM” statement is a powerful phrase!  When Jesus said to the Jews in John 8:58: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am”!! 

The Jews realized this was a claim to deity and they wanted to kill Him because they knew He was identifying Himself with the, I AM THAT I AM of Exodus 3:14, when God was speaking to Moses.

Deity can be a supernatural being who’s attributes are sinless, divine, holy, or whose name is sacred and to be revered.  As a matter of fact John recorded seven statements of Jesus declaring His deity.  He said I AM the Bread of life (John 6:35); I AM the Light of the world (John 8:12); I AM the Door (John 10:9); I AM the good Shepherd (John 10:11); I AM the Resurrection (John 11:25); I AM the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6); I AM the true Vine (John 15:1).

Jesus made these declarations because He knew who He was!  So therefore with every I AM declaration, He was identifying Himself!  Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am:  and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all:  yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1^st Corinthians 15:10).

I thank God for this truth and I’m so glad about it because I (we) can declare the very same!!  That is why God is maturing us and growing us through knowledge and experiences.  We are changing our language and speaking in “new tongues” because of the revelation of His Word.  These “new tongues” are not just the heavenly language but also our English language, which is, we being careful what we attach to the “I AM”!!!

·         Matthew 12 (Jesus said):  vs 36: But I say unto you, that every idle (argos’) [inactive; unemployed; lazy; useless] word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment:  vs 37: For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

And the “Day of Judgment” is the day those “idle words” comes out of one’s mouth, because those words at the time spoken are taking effect. 

Before we came into this knowledge we all know what we were saying then:  “Lord, I’ve got to die with something”.  “I am sick and tired of this and that”.  And surely our response to gross situations was “I will be damned”!  I didn’t curse either, because Mark 16:16, (the latter part):  But he that believeth not shall be damned.   Also Romans 14:23: And he that doubts is damned if he eat, because he eats not of faith.  In both scriptures damned in Greek is from katakri’no, meaning, to judge against; sentence; to condemn. 

In 1^st Thessalonians 2:12: That they all might be damned who believes not the truth.  Damned in this verse is the root word kri’no, meaning to distinguish, decide (mentally or judicially); condemn; punish; avenge; conclude; sentence to.  So whatever “idle (inactive; unemployed; lazy; useless) word” you send forth out of your mouth is a judgment call that will sentence you to life or death. 

Oh yes, such harsh words we spoke upon ourselves because we didn’t know any better at that time.  We didn’t know that “Death and life” (was and) is in the power of the tongue:  and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21).

Yes, we believed the lie or saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but WORDS can never hurt me”!  But we found out that our words are power, and we have what we say, whether negative or positive.  Words can build up or words can destroy!

Let’s take a look at Numbers 14, and what the Israelites said [The Israelites rebel]:

·         Vs 2: And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron:  and the whole congregation said unto them, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt or would God we had died in this wilderness!”  Vs 3: And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?  Was it not better for us to return into Egypt?

Now we will take a look at what God said (in relation to what they said):

·         Vs 26: And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:  vs 27: How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.  Vs 28: Say unto them, “As truly as I live, said the LORD, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you”:  vs 29: Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.  Vs 30: Doubtless you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.  Vs 31: But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.  Vs 32: But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.

What they said, was what they got.  By their own words they were condemned and sentenced to death, and died.

But NOW, because God is maturing us, has opened and is opening our understanding, and now our words are those which bring life and not death.  We are aware that we have to “change our thought processes”.  We have become aware of ALL these things, which in turn, we are saying, “I have the mind of Christ”, because we didn’t know at first that our carnal man or (natural mind) was enmity (hostile) against God and that was how we operated at that time, by the flesh.  But now because of revelation truth we know that we have to become spiritually minded!!  For to be carnally minded is death:  but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6).  Thank you Jesus!!!

So now, because God has opened our eyes to see and our ears to hear, we know that the “old man” (Adam) has to die and the second man Adam, the Lord from heaven (Christ) has to be manifested in us!! 

·         Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin:  and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:  vs 18: Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

·         1^st Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

What a mighty God we serve!  He didn’t just provide salvation for the Jews only, but He broke down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, having abolished in his flesh the enmity (hatred; hostility), even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace (Ephesians 2:14-15).

So when Jesus said “I AM”, He was again declaring His deity in John 18:1-11.  This was the time of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest:  then came Judas with a band of men and officers sent by the chief priests and Pharisees with lanterns, torches, and weapons to arrest Him.

·         Vs 4: Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, “Who seek you”?  Vs 5: They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth”.  Jesus said unto them, “I am he”.  And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.  Vs 6: As soon then as he had said unto them, “I am he”, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

What had just happened?  Because of the fact Jesus had said, “I AM HE”, He had uttered the ineffable title of deity and the effect was startling!  The word ineffable means too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.  These officers were awestruck!  They were in the presence of incarnate deity and were overpowered by a brief consciousness of Divine Majesty!!

OH MY GOD!!  I AM THAT I AM!  Such authority, such power and majesty in “I AM”!! 

Because God has given unto us Ephesians 1:17-21: The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints:  and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and because “As he is, so are we, in this world (1^st John 4:17), we know how to use “I AM” in a sentence!!  NOW we say:  “I AM NOT SICK, I AM HEALTH”!!  “I SHALL LIVE AND NOT DIE, AND DECLARE THE WORKS OF THE LORD”!!  “I AM REDEEMED”!!  “I AM THE WORD MADE FLESH”!!  “I HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST”!!  “I AM THAT I AM”!!  “I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD”!!  “I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA”!!

Keep in mind people of God, the Word of God:  “AS HE IS, SO ARE WE, IN THIS WORLD” (1^st John 4:17).

Once again, “AM” is defined in Hebrew as hayah’, which means to exist; I be or I will become; I will come to pass.  It goes to another Hebrew word havah’ meaning to breathe; to be (be in existence); be thou.  This is saying that He is us and we are Him!  This doesn’t happen somewhere out beyond the blue, but it is happening, occurring right here in us God’s people, right now!!

·         1^st Corinthians 12:12: For as the body, is one and have many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, is one body:  so also is CHRIST!

·         Ephesians 5:30: We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones!!

Again, “AM” in the Greek is eimi (i-me), which means I exist; I am; I have been; it is I; I was; I have been; I be.  That’s why Jesus could say to the Jews in John 8:58: “Before Abraham was, I am”!!   “Am” is always present tense!

Again I say, Paul wrote in 1^st Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am:  and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all:  yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me”.

The “am” here is the same as “ei’mee”, the same “AM”  in Exodus meaning I Exist; I AM; I have been; it is I; I was, I were; we are!!

Always remember, regardless of what is thought or said about you, regardless of what is said to you, just know, you are none of those negative things, because you are everything God says you are!!! 

Watch over your words as to what you say!  Let your words be positive and not negative!  Let them be life and not death!!  Because you will have what you say!!

“YOU ARE THAT I AM”!!  “I AM THAT I AM”!!  WE ARE GOD’S “I AM” IN THE EARTH!!

Evangelist Mary Perry 

Oneness with God!! (Pt.1)

Text:  Ephesians 4:10: He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things:  vs 11: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers:  vs 12: For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  vs 13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of CHRIST! 

One is from the root word homothumadon’, meaning unanimously; with one accord; with one mind; indivisibility; inseparability; homogeneity; identity; uniformity.  It’s from two words:  homos meaning “same” and thumos meaning “mind", which means to be of “the same mind”!

Jesus spoke of His “oneness” with His Father:

John 10:25-38 (Jesus stating proof of His deity):  Vs 30: I and my Father are one:  Vs 37: If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.  Vs 38: But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works:  that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him.

John 14:8-11 (Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father):  Vs 9: Jesus said unto him:  “Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip”?  He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how says thou then, “Show us the Father”?  Vs 10: Believe thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?  The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:  but the Father that dwells in me, he doeth the works.  Vs 11: Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me:  or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

John 17:9-23 (Jesus’ prayer for oneness of the believers as He and the Father were one):  Vs 11: And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.  Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one (unanimous; with one accord), as we are:  Vs 22: And the glory which thou gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.

To confirm His deity with His Father:  St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:  vs 14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

The Word made flesh was Jesus, even though He existed from the “Beginning”.  But when He was made flesh as the Man Jesus Christ, born through the womb of a Virgin named Mary, He then came as the Savior of the world.  Matthew 1:21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:  for he shall save (so’zo) [deliver; protect; preserve; heal; make whole] his people from their sins:  vs 23: Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

We know that He was “The Beginning” in which God created all things!  Genesis 1:1: In the Beginning, God created.  

Beginning in Hebrew is reshiyth', meaning the first, in place, time, order or rank (a first-fruit); chief (est); principal thing.  It goes to another root word rosh, meaning "the head"; the highest part.  Beginning is the Greek word arche’, meaning, a commencement or chief in application (of order, time, place, or rank):  principality; corner [even then the “Corner Stone” was already in place]; first; first estate; magistrate; power; principle; rule.

·         Colossians 1:18: He is the head of the body, the church, who is “the beginning”.

·         Revelation 3:14: These things said the Amen, the faithful and true witness, “the beginning of the creation of God”.

·         2^nd Corinthians 5:19: To wit (know), that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Reconciling, is katallas’so, meaning to change mutually (in common, or shared by all); to compound (mix or combine) a difference.  In other words, Jesus would become our sacrificial Lamb to redeem us from our sins, and bring us back to the Father, in Himself.  The invisible God would become visible in the man Jesus, so that the visible man would be the invisible God in the earth in flesh form.  St. John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

·         2^nd Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us; who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

So through Jesus Christ, we are made “one” again, with the Father, and it’s through a process!

·         St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:  vs 2: And the “same” was in the beginning with God.

The “same” that was in the beginning with God was you and I.  Same is the Greek word hou’tos, meaning the he (she or it), this or that, these, he, this man, she, they, he it was that, this (same, woman), which, who.  So we were with God in the beginning as spirit and came forth in these flesh bodies we are in at the time appointed of the Father, so that we could conquer the things pertaining to flesh carnality by the power of the Holy Ghost that dwells in us.  That’s what’s meant by St. John 1:5, “The light shined in darkness and the darkness comprehended (seized; possessed; apprehended [arrested]; overtook) it not”.

Jesus was and is “Light” and though He stepped into flesh as a man, yet the powers of darkness (sin, death, hell, and the grave), could not seize, possess, or overtake and hold Him as a man because of the “light” (knowledge) and “power” (miraculous working) of the anointing that was in Him and the “Light” which He was.

·         John 10:15: As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father:  and I lay down my life (psuche’) [soul] for the sheep.  Vs 16: And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:  them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be ONE fold, and one shepherd. Vs17: Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  Vs 18: No man, take it from me, but I lay it down of myself.  I have power (exousi’a) [ability; liberty; capability; jurisdiction] to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This commandment have I received of my Father.

He is our example showing us that we too can overcome in these flesh bodies just as He did!!

·         1^stJohn 4:4: You are of God, little children, and have overcome them:  because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world:  vs 17: As he is (present tense), so are we, in this world.

Our conquering or overcoming is not out beyond the blue but “right now” (present) while we have our flesh bodies!

To be transformed is to be metamorpho’o, meaning to change.  We must change into another form or take on God’s nature by the renewing (renovation; refreshing) of our mind (Romans 12:2).  Mind in this verse is nous, which is the intellect (the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract or academic matters).  These are the things we’ve learned through education or have been taught through head knowledge.  It is also defined as thought, feeling, will, and understanding.  For one to make this “change”, one must “think differently” or become spiritual minded rather than operation with the natural (sensitive) [that's captured by seeing; hearing; tasting; smelling; touching] mind which cannot receive the things of the Spirit for they are foolishness unto him or her; neither can he or she know them because they are spiritually discerned (1^st Corinthians 2:14).  Therefore we must put on Christ’s mind so that we can live, for to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life (zo’e) [eternal; everlasting] and peace (eire’ne) [prosperity; quietness; rest; set at one again] Romans 8:6.

This is the same “forming” process the LORD God took the man Adam through by breathing into his nostrils (countenance; forehead) giving him a new mind-set to understand what it would be like to be God’s ambassador or representative in the earth walking in dominion and power living eternally!!  This tells us that being in the “form of God” is not just because we have on a flesh body.  The flesh body in reality is the invisible God made visible.  But to be in the “form of God” is when our mind has been transformed by renewing it and taking on the same mind Christ had, which was the mind of the Father!  1^st Corinthians 2:16: But we have the mind (nous) of Christ.

·         John 4:24: God is Spirit and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in truth.

Therefore we need not just fellowship with God but we must have a spiritual relationship with God and that’s what the Adam race of people had with God prior to the fall.  They had a “spirit” or a “love” relationship with God.  St. John 4:24: God is Spirit, and  1^st John 4:8: God is love.  Then that tells us that “love is spirit”!  God communicates with man through his/her spirit.

·         Mark 12:30: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, soul, mind, and strength.

This is the place from where Adam fell.  He fell from the “love relationship” he had with the Heavenly Father.

Revelation 2:1-7 (the letter to the Ephesus church):

·         Vs 5: Remember (recollect; rehearse; be mindful; call to mind) therefore from whence thou art fallen (dropped away; driven out of one’s course; become inefficient) and repent (think differently; reconsider) and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

So our “first work” is to “love” God!!  God is “Spirit” and God is “love”, then “love is a spirit”!  We were with Him in the beginning, so when He brought man forth in His image and after His own likeness (Genesis 1:26), man had to have the “love” of God in him because it was “Love” that did the creating.

·         Mark 12:30: Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment”!

·         Vs 31: And the second is like, namely this, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself:  there is none other commandment greater than these”!

Exodus 20:1-17 (lists the Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel):

·         Vs 3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

This is the first of those commandments in Exodus 20, and it says nothing about “loving the Lord or thy neighbor”.  That commandment for the Israelites “to love the LORD thy God” wasn’t given until Deuteronomy 6, and it was a command given them for them to inherit God’s blessings along with hearing and obeying when they go into the land of promise.

·         Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel:  The LORD your God is one Lord:  vs 5: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy soul and with all thy might.

So for “love” to be the “first and greatest” command as stated in Mark 12:31, “love” was the beginning (original) factor (element; component).

·         Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God (love) created.

Mark 12:30: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and with all they strength:  this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”.  There is none other commandment greater than these.

First in this verse is the Greek root word pro’tos, meaning foremost (in time, place, order, or importance); chief; first day; former; before; beginning; best.

·         Revelation 1:8: [Jesus said]:  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning, and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty:  vs 17: I am the first and the last.

1^st John 4:8: God is love!  Being that it was “Love” (God) that created in the beginning, when He created man (male & female) in his image after his likeness (Genesis 1:26-27), they were created with the “love” of God in them and that’s what they knew to do.  They knew to love God the Creator and His creation along with obeying His instructions in Genesis 1:28: And God blessed them and God said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it:  and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over everything that lives and moves upon the earth”.

Genesis 2, when the LORD God formed man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and made him a living soul, He was also breathing the “love” of God into him!  So in Genesis chapter three when the woman accepted the fruit (not an apple), but the lie (the deception) of the devil, and her husband ate also with her, they fell from immortality into mortality, from life into death, which brought corruption and death to the creation or mankind.  When this happened, man (the Adam people) was “driven out of his course” as head of the creation and became inefficient not only in dominion, authority, and power, but also inefficient in his “love for God”!  Therefore he lost “spirit fellowship” and “spirit relationship” with the Heavenly Father.  But through Jesus Christ we are now restored back to "spirit fellowship” and "spirit relationship" with our Heavenly Father and must “love Him” with our entire being and His people or His creation also!!

·         2^nd Corinthians 5:19: For God was in Christ (the Chief Cornerstone; the First and the Last, the Beginning of the creation of God), reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing our sins against us:  vs 21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him!

Ephesians 4:8: Wherefore he said, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.  Still talking about “ONENESS” with our Father!!

Who were those in captivity?  

It was those that were then and still are bound by law.  

James 2:10: Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The good news is that Jesus has freed us from the “Law”!

·         Matthew 5:17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 

Jesus was the total of the “love of God” walking around on two feet!  And when we “love” the law is fulfilled.  Romans 13:8: Owe no man anything but to love one another:  for he that love another, hath fulfilled the law!!

·         Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath (already) made me free from the law of sin and death!  Vs 3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh:  vs 4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

·         Galatians 3:13: Christ hath (already) redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us!

Those in the unseen spirit world:

·         Matthew 27:50: Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  Vs 51: And behold, the veil of the temple (His flesh) was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; vs 52: And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, vs 53: And came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 

·         1^st Peter 3:19: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.

This prison is a guarding; the place; condition; the time (as a division of day and night); imprisonment; hold; cage; ward.  And this prison is not just limited to the “unseen world” but it’s happening in this natural world we are living in as well, because of the world systems of government including political, social, economical, and ecclesiastical systems. 

·         Revelation 18:1: And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  Vs 2: And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, “Babylon the great (religious order) is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage (prison) of every unclean and hateful bird.

 You see it politically in many countries with leaders that are actual tyrants. This is happening within the walls of churches as well.  Those bound to religious Pharaohs that Paul warned us about in Colossians 2:8: Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy, vain deceit, tradition of men, rudiments of the world, and not after Christ,

·         2^nd Peter 2:4: For if God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved (guarded; kept) unto judgment.

The “judgment” is passed already!  That happened when Jesus went to the cross and rose from the dead (John 12:31-32): Now is the judgment of this world:  now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Hell is not down deep under the crust of the earth, but it’s defined in New Testament scripture as either Hades (the unseen world), tartaro’o (place of torment), or gehenna (hell fire).  Know this, anywhere outside of Christ is “hell” (torment).  Many people are in “hell” right now due to circumstances surrounding them and are experiencing the judgment fire of God right now while they’re alive, because of disobedience toward God.  But if we’d love and obey the Father, the “water of life” which is His Word will cool that “judgment fire” and bring our total man (heart, soul, mind and body) into the place of:  

• “Perfect peace”:  Isaiah 26:3: Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee:  because he trusts in thee:   
• John 14:27: Peace I leave with you, my  peace I give unto you:  not as the world gives, give I unto you.  Let not your heart (will; thoughts; understanding) be troubled (stirred; disturbed), neither let it be afraid (timid; fearful).  
• “Divine health”:  Isaiah 53:5: He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed: 1^st Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes you were healed:  3^rd John 2: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prosper.

Hebrews 11 (speaks of the heroes of faith):

·         Vs 39-40: And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

·         Hebrews 12:1: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us!

Those in Hades (“the unseen world”} are not off beyond the blue, but they are right here where we are witnessing all we go through because we are being perfected (made complete) in Christ Jesus together with them as ONE!!  We are not going to sail off up through the clouds as religion preaches to join the Christian band, we are already connected as “ONE” by the Spirit!  Those freed from Law, those in the “unseen world of spirits” and those of us in this natural realm are now all being made ONE or are ONE in Christ Jesus!!

·         Hebrews 12:22: But you “are come” (present tense) unto (point reached) mount Sion (the church triumphant), and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.  Vs 23: To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

The only thing we as Christian believers in Christ Jesus are captive to (engrossed in; wrapped and absorbed in) now is and should be is the “Kingdom of God” with the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and nothing shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19).  As Jesus said of Himself, so it is for the sons of God now:  Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

We do understand that God gave gifts to men according to 1^st Corinthians 12:1-11: vs 8-11: the word of wisdom; the word of knowledge; faith; gifts of healing; prophecy; discerning of spirits; diverse kinds of tongues; the interpretation of tongues:  and all these work that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

·         Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of CHRIST (christos’) [the Anointed One] and His anointing, to give us the power, dominion, and authority, wisdom, knowledge and understanding, to do what God assigns and sends us to do.

These are also gifts God gave to the church:

·         Ephesians 4:11: And he gave some, apostles [to establish order]; and some, prophets [to say what thus said the Lord]; and some, evangelists [those heralding, crying loud, sparing not, lifting up their voices as trumpets]; and some, pastors [those shepherding, feeding the sheep] and teachers [those instructing in the Word, the deep things of God to get the message in the ear].

We are to evangelize and save souls.  One writer stated “Many seek to find out how many imperfections, failures, and carnal traits are allowable in religion, but few seek to bring Christians to the height of the gospel standard and to the limitless promises of God”.  “The measure of the stature of the fullness is seldom mentioned much less demonstrated, while the stature of littleness, emptiness, and powerlessness of Christianity is often emphasized and demonstrated”.  This fits right in with what we’ve been saying for a long time and that is that religion is more concerned about having brick buildings (physical buildings made with hands) with steeples on them, than they are about building the “temples not made with hands” which are God’s people!!

·         Acts 7:48: Howbeit the Most High dwells not in temples made with hands; as said the prophet:  vs 49: Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool:  what house will you build me?  Said the Lord:  or what is the place of my rest?

·         1^st Corinthians 6:19: What?  Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?  Vs 20: For you are bought with a price:  therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

And religion is mostly concerned with preachers with a style and a hoop, that will tell them what they want to hear or what they’re used to hearing, rather than what they need to hear.  And because many don’t want the truth, Paul said:  2^nd Thessalonians 2:10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved:  vs 11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion (deceivers; imposters), that they should believe a lie:  vs 12: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The results of these gifts (the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) are:

·         Ephesians 4:12: For the perfecting of the saints (those in the spirit realm); for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ (those of us in this natural realm).

Why the “perfecting of the saints”?

Perfecting is the Greek root word katartismos’, meaning to completely furnish.  The other root word is katarti’zo, meaning to complete thoroughly, in relation to repair, adjust, mend, frame, prepare, restore, and to perfectly join together.

This is in relation to those that are in the “unseen world of spirits” that are all around us that we don’t see with the natural eye that are perfected in Christ along with us being perfected, and we all can be made one.  Again I say, as is written:

·         Hebrews 11:39-40: And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

·         Hebrews 12:1: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses:  [that’s why we must do what the latter part of this verse says]:   let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us [murmuring and complaining], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us! [Because they’re watching and listening]. 

Remember what Paul told Timothy:  2^nd Timothy 4:1: I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing (not out in the sky, but in manifestation [demonstration; declaration; expression of Himself in His people] and his kingdom (His dominion, power, and authority in His people, in the earth).  Vs 2: Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

·         2^nd Peter 2:4: For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartaro’o) [abyss; prison], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved (guarded; preserved) unto judgment.

Again, the “judgment” spoken of here took place when they nailed Jesus to the cross and the victory was when He rose the third day!!

·         John 12:31: NOW is the judgment of this world:  NOW shall the prince of this world be cast out:  vs 32: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

·         1^st John 3:8: He that commits sin is of the devil:  for the devil sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

So when Jesus got up in resurrection power, those that were in the spirit realm got up with Him: Matthew 27:51: And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom:  and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent:  vs 52: And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose:  vs 53: And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.   

1^st Peter 3:18: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:  vs 19: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.  

That was the man Jesus that died on the cross, but when He rose out of the grave at His resurrection, He rose, a many-membered body, and we are also a part of that body that’s called CHRIST!!  1^st Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is ONE, and hath many members and all the members of that ONE body, being many is ONE body:  so ALSO is CHRIST:  vs 13: For by ONE Spirit are we all baptized into ONE body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free:  and have been all made to drink into ONE Spirit.

Why the work of the ministry? 

The work of the ministry is to deliver God’s people from the snares of the enemy and restore God’s people back into “ONENESS” with the Father!!

·         Isaiah 58:1: Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

·         Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

·         Romans 10:9-10: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be save.  For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Vs 13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  Vs 14: How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?  Vs 15: And how shall they preach (kerus’so) [to herald (cry loud) especially divine truth of the gospel] except they be sent (set apart)?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things”!!

·         2^nd Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

Why the edifying of the body of Christ? 

Edifying is the root word oikodome’, which pertains to architecture (the science or profession of designing (intention; pattern) and constructing (composing; erecting) buildings); structure (assembling): confirmation (establishing; approving); edification (instruction; enlightenment; teaching).  

First of all, we (the Church) are Christ’s Body in the earth, in physical form! 

·         Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:  for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus.

·         Ephesians 2:14-15: He is our peace, who hath made both ONE and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain ONE new man, so making peace.

·         Ephesians 5:30: We are members (limbs; parts) of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Edifying is His Body (the church) growing into maturity in Him to do the works He did!  We grow into maturity through knowledge, knowing that “As he is, so are we, in this world” (1^st John 4:17).  Edifying also comes through feasting on not just the milk of the word but the meat of God’s Word!

·         Matthew 4:4: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

·         John 6:53: Jesus said unto them, “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Vs 55: For my flesh (the Word) is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed.  Vs 56: He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me, and I in him.

·         Hebrew 5:13: Every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness:  for he is a babe.  Vs 14: But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

The “meat of the Word” comes through revelation knowledge which is that which can only be taught by the Holy Ghost.

·         1^st Corinthians 2:12: We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  Vs 13: Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches; but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Vs 14: But the natural (sensitive; carnal) man receives not the things of the Spirit of God:  for they are foolishness unto him:  neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

·         Ephesians 1:17: That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation (truth unfolded) in the knowledge (full discernment) of him:  vs 18: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

Edifying also comes through not just reading the Word but “studying” the Word of God!

·         2^nd Timothy 2:15: Study (spouda’zo) [use speed; make effort; be prompt and earnest; give diligence; labor; eagerness] to show thyself approved (acceptable; tried) unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly (orthos’) [in a straight manner; correctly; plainly] dividing (orthotome’o) [make a straight cut; dissect [expound (presenting; putting forth) correctly (the divine message)] the word of truth.

And it brings us into what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  Vs 14: That we henceforth be no more children (babes), tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive:  vs 15: But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even CHRIST!  Vs 16: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised:  vs 19: To preach the acceptable (approved; favorable) year of the Lord.

NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OR TIME!!  Anytime the door is opened to preach and teach God’s Word to His people, it is the favorable or acceptable year (or time) of the Lord.  One day with God is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (2^nd Peter 3:8).

We, Christ’s Body do all of this by faith: 

·         Matthew 28:19: Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name [character; authority] of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Vs 20: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen.

·         Mark 15:15: And Jesus said unto them, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”.  Vs 16: He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.  Vs 17: And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; vs 18: They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

·         John 14:12: Verily, verily, I say unto you, “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father”.

And we do it by the power of the Holy Ghost:

·         Luke 10:19: You shall receive power (exousi’a) [ability; liberty; freedom] to tread on serpents and scorpions (those that don’t preach the fullness of God in us now, and won’t let anyone else come in and do it), and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

·         Act 1:8: You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

We being “ONE” with the Father is all contained “IN CHRIST”!!

·         1^st Corinthians 12:12: As the body is ONE and hath many members and all the members of that ONE body, being many are ONE body:  so also is CHRIST!!

·         2^nd Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man, be “in Christ”, he is a new creature:  old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new!!  How much more being One, can you be, than you "BEING IN CHRIST" and "CHRIST BEING IN YOU"?

Remember, CHRIST is the understanding, the awareness that you are fully God and fully man in the earth, for God’s glory!!  So that makes us all ONE with the Father and Son, by the Holy Ghost!!!

Pastor Gracie Perry