The glorious church is filled with the manifest power and tangible presence of God.
The Glorious Church is:
Without spot or wrinkle - Oneness of faith
Holy and without blemish - Filled with the Holy Spirit
Without wrinkle - Renewed and refreshed
God created Adam to reign in life, and He gave him dominion over the earth. Adam was also given the power of choice. When he sinned, death reigned on the earth. This had nothing to do with us, we just inherited it.
We have become very good at pointing out each others faults, but we should look at each other through the lens of grace - as the righteousness of God. We also need to look at ourselves this way. rather than allowing condemnation to reign, we need to re-program our minds to believe that we are free in the righteousness of God.
Romans 8:15-19
There are 2 different mindsets or spirits that we can have in our approach God:
Slaves in bondage / Spirit of slavery
Adopted children / Spirit of adoption
There is a difference in the way a son serves their fathers (acts of love) and how a slave serves their masters (acts of duty).
Listen to the newest message from James Alexander, where we learn to understand the true abundance of the grace of God.
The start of any year is often a time to reflect on where we were, compared to where we want to be. Remember:
1. Count it all joy. James 1:2
2. We MUST walk by faith. Isaiah 46:10, Revelation 22:13
3. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8
4. We're in blood covenant with God.
A blood covenant is a serious thing, and has been used for centuries. Often it was made between two individuals or tribes, where both had something the other needed. A blood covenant was sealed when the blood of two individuals was mingled. In Old Testament times, God entered into a covenant with Abraham and as God couldn't 'bleed', a substitute was used (a lamb or heifer). But it wasn't a perfect substitute, therefore needed to be repeated.
When Jesus died on the cross, the blood of God and man was mingled, because Jesus was both God and man. Never again would a sacrifice have to be made.
5. God has given us authority. Luke 10:19
6. His Grace is Sufficient for us. Corinthians 12:9-10