Friends of God
Section:

Christ in Us

Col 1:27 God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

As I was climbing the mountain, I reached an area called the Presence of God. It was beautiful garden with fragrances like crushed flowers. I felt like I was filled with life, energy filling my entire body.  There was a sign at the entrance called Gal 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, the life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave his life for me.

We need to get the revelation that the Spirit of God lives in us. When we pray we don’t have to pray into a brass heaven as God is closer than you think. If you have truly been born again, His spirit lives in you. It’s the place of encounter where we can feel the presence of God in us. This is not something that you can cause to happen as it’s not you. One time I was already in bed, getting ready to call it a night and thinking about some of my plans. All of a sudden I get a huge jolt in my belly and feel the energy of god flowing through my body. It’s like the Holy Spirit said, Yes, I agree with what you’re thinking right now. My immediate response was, God you’re so amazing, there are 6 billion people on planet Earth and I wasn’t even talking to you. You know every thought and wanted to make sure that I knew you agreed with what I’m thinking.

An even better example was when our family was at a conference at IHOP. We had just heard a message from Allen Hood about being the Bride of Christ. My wife wanted to go up front for ministry time so I thought that I would run across the street and get our son who was at the youth center. I was thinking to myself about the message as I was walking toward the exit. God and Man living together in perfect harmony and this has been God’s plan all along. Then I thought, I should run through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and look for every occurrence of God plan for God and man living together. I was getting closer to the exit door and about to leave the conference center and all of a sudden, the presence of God was getting stronger and my legs were getting weaker. I didn’t realize it was the Spirit of God and thought to myself that I’m a little uncomfortable right now and don’t know why I’m feeling weak, if I walk a little faster and make a run for the door I can get out of here because I have no idea of what’s happening to me right now.  Well, I ran to the door and fell under the power of God in the doorway. Yes, a full blown groaning session with God as I lay in the doorway.  God impressed upon me that he just wanted to take this opportunity to tell me that I was on the right track and that this subject is very important to him. Wow.

There have been a number of times now that I have had thoughts of doing different things for God and ending up slain in the spirit with a great big, Yes, in my spirit saying that’s a good idea. Most of these occurrences are not in church and no one is praying for me to have an encounter. They could be at home, in the car, or walking through a mall. It’s all about the relationship. As we’re talking to God asking questions, expecting answers, and caring about our normal activities, God shows up in the middle of them.

It’s Gal 2:20, It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me, as I lay down my life and pick up God’s agenda I find purpose and run into God. As you pursue God with a passion and have your life centered around Him, He can show up at any time of the day or night.

Our identity needs to shift. 2 Cor 5:17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, all things have become new. By stating that it’s a new creation, that means that this kind of being, God and Man living in one tent, our body, has never existed before. We started our lives in the physical world, but have now been born of His Spirit and should be growing with His nature, becoming more like Jesus every day. It’s the spirit of God living on the inside that makes all the difference in the world.

I had a dream. In the dream I was in an old haunted house with huge spiritual serpents floating through the house. These creatures were huge, some 30-40 feet long, too big to fit in a single room, the head would be in one room and the tail 2-3 rooms down the hall. One of the creatures looked like an eel out of a Star Wars movie about 8 feet tall and 40 feet long. I was not afraid of any of them and normally I pretty aggressive, but these creatures could eat me for lunch with just one bite. All of a sudden God said these words, “Greater is He who is within you than He who is in the world”. He repeated it again. I thought to myself, God I don’t think I can bring myself to challenge any of these creatures. They were huge. The dream ended but to this day I still remember that although we can’t see the Spirit of God, we need to know who we have been created to be; Sons of the most high god, Created to do exploits, Created to partner together with God to see our world change and nothing the enemy throws at us can compare to His greatness.

While we live in this world there will always be a battle between the flesh and the spirit. Our flesh wants us to feed on unholy desires. It’s during those times that we need to call out on God and ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit to increase and fill us quite abundantly. These are the opportunities to increase our Spirit muscle. Just like lifting weights, sometimes it takes a little extra effort to finish your reps. It’s our responsibility to activate our will and turn toward God while being tested. God, More of you, less of Me. Let me breath you in right now. It’s also the place of encounter when the veil comes down and we get the sense the Spirit of God living in us.

Smith Wigglesworth once said, “When I was baptized in the Holy Spirt, God showed me a wonderful truth. After Adam and Eve transgressed and were driven out of the garden, the Tree of Life was guarded by a flaming sword, a sword of death if they entered the garden. But the baptism in the Holy Spirt put the Tree of Life right inside of me and a flaming sword outside of me to keep the devil from me, so that I can eat the eternal bread all the time. I am eating this wonderful bread of life. Nothing can separate us from this life. It is increasing tremendously, perpetually”.

What shall separate us (Rom 8:35). Tribulations come, but they only press us closer to persecution – the finest thing that can come. All these things work together for our good (v 28). Nothing comes except what is helpful. Trials lift you. Distresses give you a sigh, but God causes you to triumph. “Greater is he that is in you” (1 John 4:4) than all the powers of darkness”.

Be patient and don’t give up, Satan will be quick to point out your weaknesses, but God knows all about our weakness and is still committed to working with us. He knows what he’s doing. Allow the Spirit of God to fill you a fresh and new every day. Every day is a new opportunity to follow the Spirit and not the flesh. Remember, if you’re not worth tempting, you’re not worth much. Be thankful for the fire and the testing as it will create an increase in the spirit as you realize your total dependency on God. Allow the spirit of god to change us so we become more and more like him every day.