PART 7C
THE STAFF AND SWORD MINISTRY
June 29, 2012
MANIFESTING CHRIS T A CLOSER WALK WITH JESUS -1
W Aw ~ ~ - - ~ - V 0V p-..-
tii rV r►. .j p- ~ ~ P5
- p-j ~ „► i'► H
THE LIGHT OF GOD Continued by Nancy-TONI Youngbrandt
In my last article I shared how the Spirit of God was filling my heart with the desire to be ever closer to God and Jesus Christ, to be filled with His Light and Presence in a new and more fulfilling i ng way. 1 shared about Moses and how present the Spirit of God was upon him in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and how God's Light and Presence literally shone down upon that 'I ahernacie and within Moses himself, to the point it was visible to others. I then sought to draw on Moses' example and that the of the physical Tabernacle set-up to relate it to our inner walk in Christ. Afterall, Jesus and the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul, make it plain that the Old Testament "Tabernacle/Temple set-up was but a shadow and pattern to what would he fulfilled by Jesus Christ. We can learn from the Old Covenant God had with mankind to better understand and Fully appreciate the New Covenant. The truth is, we can't fully appreciate all that Jesus did for us without the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant and Law worked to show mankind its sin and that we of and out of our self effort cannot make ourselves holy and rit hteous — our fallen nature sees to that. Rather, the New Covenant shows us that Christ is our answer. Since we couldn't fulfill God's Law perfectly, God did It for us through His Son, so it is in Him that we can enter in and renew our relationship with God — this is what God has desired and purposed all along. One mistake that I see we tend to make in our relationship with God is that we tend to want to bring God down to our level rather than rising up to His. This is actually contrary to Scripture and what Jesus teaches us. For example, Jesus tells us that if we abide in Him, then He will abide in us. The same goes for the Heavenly Father: Jesus tells us Scripture if we come to Him. and keep God's statues and walk in His Way, then the Father will also make His abode in us. In Scripture it is always about us coming to God first, getting right with Him and being made a new vessel in Christ for 1-Jim and His Spirit to abide and live in us.
Page 2
MANIFESTING CHRIST --- THE LIGHT OF GOD cont.
June 29, 2012
This is also the example taught us through the Tabernacle set-up of the Old Testament. Here we see each step of purification and cleansing so we can stand in and be able to bear to be in God's Light and Presence. So, let's recap the breakdown of the Tabernacle and how the Holy Spirit has shown me it applies to each of us.
GOD+
JESUS CHRIST /
I I INNER
\\I/ /
HOLY OF HOLIES: OUR SPIRIT IN CHRIST
COURT SANCTUARY: OUR HEART
To enter the Tabernacle we must first conic out of the world and into the outer court. This means bringing our focus from the cares of this Iife and worldly things around us, and focusing our attention toward God and .Jesus Christ. When we do this we are first entering the Outer Court. The Outer Court represents our soul. Our soul is then to come out of the world, be cleansed of its sins of the flesh by pleading the Blood of Christ on it, and then putting that soul into submission to the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. I wrote about this Outer Court area in my last article so in this one let's move onto the Inner Court, which represents our heart.
Our Inner Court or heart is the next area in
OUTER COURT; OUR SOUL
THE WORLD
need of purification and cleansing. Here is where the priests in the Tabernacle/Temple would partake of the Showbread and be purified by the blood of a heifer to be able to go before God in the Holy of Holies. The Good News for us is that Jesus became the Bread and the Blood sacrifice so we are no longer hound by the limits of an earthly priest to pave the way for us, but we can enter in through Christ Jesus ourselves on a daily, constant basis.
As I prayed about receiving more of Christ and being filled with God's Spirit and Light in a greater way, the main point I am shown is that we must first come to God Through Jesus Christ, and then bring Him back to and into our physical, worldly lives ... but we must first go to Him and spend time in His Light and Presence. I stress this again because I have seen that too often we are unconsciously trying to bring God down to our level, like a child grabbing the hand of a parent and trying to pull that
Page 3
MANIFESTING CHRIST —THE LIGHT OF GOD cont. June 29, 2012
parent towards what the child wants. Then we get frustrated or believe God isn't answering our prayers when He doesn't respond. But God can't respond to us when we behave that way because once He starts relating to us on that level, then we will not be motivated to move and grow beyond that approach — it's basic fallen, human nature. The flesh and carnality within our soul tries to have its own way, but it is not God's way. What is God's Way? Well, that's what I am writing about here. The Tabernacle is the pattern/example which God provided to show us His Way. This was fulfilled through Jesus Christ so He is our way now. So within that context, fetus continue our inner journey to the Holy of Hol ies.
"LET US DRAW NEAR ..." In Hebrews 10:19-22 it says: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He bath
consecrated far us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; And having an high priest over the ho use of God, Let us draw near with a true heart in ,full assurance of aith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." This Scripture confirms to me that the area just before the Holy of Holies, the area of the Sanctuary, is indeed the heart. Here it speaks of boldness to enter the Holy of Holies by the Blood of Jesus by first drawing near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having that heart sprinkled with the BIood from an evil conscience. Here are some other Scriptures that tell us of the importance of the heart you might find interesting: Matthew 5:8 "Blessed Tire the pure in heart: fnr they shall see God." Proverbs 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.' Proverbs 16:9 "A m an 's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directs his steps. " 2 Timoth y 2:22 "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, , faith, charity,
peace, with them that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. " Matthew 12:35 "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth
good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth .forth evil things. "
Page 4
MANIFESTING CHRIST — THE LIGHT OF GOD cont. June 29, 2012
"LET US DRAW NEAR. _." continued Jesus then explains further in Matthew 15:11-20 the following:
"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this deftleth a man. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart: and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. " I know that 1 have written about this before but the very fact that Scripture deals so frequently with the heart, it must be truly important. As a matter of fact, I believe it is of utmost importance since it sets our path and directly affects the fruit in our lives – whether it will be the fruit of the Spirit of God or of sin and the Devil. I certainly don't want to be among those Jesus spoke of in Matthew 15:8 where He said, "THIS PEOPLE DRA WETH
NIGH UNTO TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONO URETH ME WITH TIIEIR LIPS, B UT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. " Instead, it should be our prayer to draw ever closer to Jesus, to be closer to Him and to have more of Him in our lives – and this will not happen if we don't address the things in
"THOU SHALTLOVE THELORD THY GOD WITH ALL THYHEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND." our own heart and soul. This is also God's first and greatest commandment to us:
SO ... WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK? One of the reasons for this article is to stiryou up a bit, by the Spirit of God, to where you begin to explore and seek to know what holds you back from coming into the Presence of God. The reasons are no doubt as varied and peculiar to each of us so there will be no one answer fits all' but rather is something for you to work out in prayer with Jesus personally, and I encourage you to do so. However, for this article I will offer some more Scriptures which perhaps may strike a chord and encourage you to put your heart under the Blood of Jesus and to let the water of the Word cleanse your heart, renewing a Right spirit within you. One possible hindrance, for example, could be unbelief acting as a veil over our hearts. The Apostle Paul wrote of this in 2 Corinthians 3:13-18. Here Paul speaks of Moses, and the time when God's Light shone from his face so brightly that people asked him to put a veil over his face. The sin in them could not bear the Light of God. And while Moses put a veil over his face, the true veil was over the minds and hearts of the people.
Page 5
MANIFESTING CHRIST — THE LIGHT OF GOD cont. June 30, 2012
SO WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK? continued Here is what it says in 2 Corinthians 3:13-15
"And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished.- but their- minds were blinded. for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done awa y in Christ. But even to this
day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. " I believe this applies to the Body of Christ, the whole Church body today as well. The Good News is that this veil does not have to remain in any of God's people as we see when we read on ... "Nevertheless when it (the heart and mind of the individual) shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken awa y . Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is libert y . But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as b y the Spirit of the I ord. Oh, how encouraging those words are! When we turn our heart to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away! When we abide where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty! And, by the Spirit of the Lord, we are indeed changed deep within into the same image we are beholding which is the glory of the Lord! Wow!! Let the veil be taken from my heart today!!
HOW DOES ONE KNOW WHEN WE MIGHT HAVE SIN IN OUR HEART? Now, for others who believe with an open heart but perhaps are not aware if they may have issues in their heart or not, they may be wondering, "How do 1 know if I have sin in my heart?" Well, this is when it is what I call "fruit checking time." Quite simply, you will know by the fruit coming out of your heart if it is of the Spirit of God or of sin. This means being honest with yourself and taking stock of what words are coning out of your mouth, what thoughts you find fiII your day, and how you are feeling and reacting to things, people and events in your life.
Let's look at two main Scriptures for some examples of what fruit we are looking for and how to check for that fruit. The first Scripture is an obvious on-e, Galatians 5:22-23 which says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance..."
Page 6
MANIFESTING CHRIST — THE LIGHT OF GOD cont. June 30, 2012
HOW DOES ONE KNOW...? continued Therefore, if you find words, feelings and actions stemming from these fruits, you're okay. However, ifyou can't find joy and peace in your heart, ifyour impatient, rude, abrupt, quick to anger, especially with others, then perhaps it's time to pray about what is going on inside of your heart. Just keep in mind that 1 John 4:20 reminds us: "1'f ' a n7an says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hash seen, low can he love God whom he lath not seen?" So in other words, how we treat and feel towards each other also reveals how we feel about God. Therefore, let us use this to our advantage and take these things to God in prayer and repent of those sins we see emerging in our relationships with others so we might have a closer relationship with Jesus. It is also helpful to keep in mind and even meditate in prayer over Jesus' Words to us in John 14:1 &27:
"LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED : YE BELIEVE IN GOD, BELIEVE A LSO IN ME.... PEACE I LEA VE WITiI YOU MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GI VETH, GIVE I UNTO YOU. LETNOTYOURHEARTICETROUBLED NEITHERLETITBEAFRAID. The interesting thing about these Scriptures is that it is not a suggestion but pretty much a commandment Jesus is giving us. He is literally telling us to not let our hearts be troubled, period. We are to believe on Him and receive His peace, period. Fear has no place in our hearts, especially if Christ is to abide there. The second Scripture which I would like to use as a sort of a list of fruits of the Spirit of God pertains specifically to the fruit of the Spirit which is LOVE or charity (Agape Love), which is I Corinthians 13:4-8, the Love chapter. Here is tells us what LOVE is. LOVE: Suffers long Is kind Envies not Vaunteths not itself Is not puffed up Does not behave unseemly Seeks not her own Is not easily provoked Thinks no evil Rejoices not in iniquity Bears all things* Believes all things* Hopes all things* Endures all things* LOVE NEVER FAILS (*I would qualify "all things" as being alt things in and from Jesus Christ and Father God, and that which is within Their Will for us, in and out of a Right, Godly Spirit.)
So, if we take the opposite of what this list says, we can see what happens when we are not operating in God's Love, but in our own carnal, sinful state. This fist would look like
Page 7
MANIFESTING C HRIST — THE LIGHT OF GOD cont.
July 1, 2012
HOW DOES ONE KNOW...? continued this: CARNALITY, FLESH, SINFUL STATE: Impatient Unkind Envy/jealousy Pride Vanity Building up one's self Seeking our own desires and will over God's Easily upset/quick to anger Thinking evil thoughts Rejoicing in iniquity
Unable to bear all things ... believe all things ... hope or endure all things in Christ love CARNAL, CONDITIONAL LOVE FAILS: It isn't fulfilling, satisfying, sustaining or uplifting the way God's Love is. Carnal, fleshy, soulish love can wax cold. So, if any of these "fruits" are emerging out of your heart and mouth, then its time to go into prayer, repenting of the sin and putting it under the Blood of Jesus Christ. Another way to pray generally about your heart is to see yourself giving your heart to Jesus – literally. If you're like me, there are times when I am all too aware of the sin, hurt
and wounds within my heart, and often feel helpless in dealing with it all. Well, that's what Jesus is for — dealing with it all for us. So, as a visual prayer, I would pray to see myself with my heart in my hands, giving it over to Jesus. I would then pray to see Jesus taking it from my hands, for it is now His, and I know He can and will heal it and keep it for me. Praise the Lord!
MEETING THE LORD All of this is spiritual preparation for not just drawing closer to Jesus but will eventually be a part of His Second Coming and marriage to the Bride. As I read the Bible, I know that the ultimate fulfillment of that Day is in God's Hands and Timing, bitt I also see that we have a part to play in being prepared and ready for that moment. Just look at the Parable of
the Ten Virgins, for example, and see how important this work of prayer is. This Parable is in Matthew 25:1-13, should you wish to read the whole thing for yourself: However, since most of you are familiar with it, I will go straight to the main points I would like to share about it. Here we have the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins waiting for the Bridegrooim Each one has a lamp which must be kept "trimmed", which I believe involves being filled with oil and having the wick ready to be burned when needed. Since it is not known when the Bridegroom is coming, the virgin must be prepared to wait a long time and therefore have ample wicks and oil. There are likely multiple applications as to what each of these
Page 8
MANIFESTING CHRIST — THE LIGHT OF GOD cont.
July 2, 2012
MEETING THE LORD continued represent but I like to think of the lamp as being our heart, our vessel for the oil of the Spirit of God and His Love. If we allow that oil/Love of God to "wax cold", or be choked out by persecution, cares and riches of this life or unbelief, then we are as a foolish virgin who will have no oil in her lamp for when the Bridegroom finally comes. In context of the Tabernacle, having our lamp trimmed and ready puts us in the Inner Court/Sanctuary, awaiting the Bridegroom to emerge from the Holy of Holies. If one runs out of oil and has to go and "buy" more oil, then it means leaving the Sanctuary and going out into the Outer Court to "pay the price" for more oil. It's like starting over in one respect. You have to pray, repent and atone for your sin all over, seeking to be made righteous in Christ Jesus and to be refilled with the Spirit of God and His Love to where you can be counted worthy to go back into the Sanctuary. By doing this you risk being absent when the Spirit of God moves, and the Bridegroom calls FIis prepared ones to enter the Holy of Holies for the marriage. This can happen at any time as Jesus warned: "Watch therefore, for
ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cornet/i."
This brings me to my bigger, and main point of this article, and that is: What happens once we enter the Holy of Holies and are filled with God's Light and Presence when we are joined with our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ? Do we just stay there? And since this all happening while we are physically here on Earth and this is in our prayer time in the Spiritual realm, what happens next? Well. I believe that it is God the Father's intent that we be like Jesus and filled with His Spirit and Presence so that we might continue the work Jesus started, which to bring Salvation and Life to mankind. Jesus' wish for all of His people is to have Life, and have Life abundantly. We also know that eventually the Devil and Satan will be defeated and cast into Hellfire for all eternity. To do this, we will need to be overcomers in Christ Jesus, and have His power and authority like never before. To do this, we must go to Him in prayer, meet the Lord in the Spiritual realm, be filled with Him and made one with God the Father's Will and then return to our life in this world, bringing in God's Will on the Earth. In I Thessalonians 4:13-17 Paul wrote about the sudden coming of the Lord. This Scripture has been used to support the Rapture doctrine but we don't believe it is speaking of a physical taking out of God's people at all, but rather just what I have been writing about here: a meeting ofthe Lord in the spiritual realm, while we are alive in this world physically, and then returning to Earth with Him. To best understand what Paul is saying, it helps to understand what he means by certain words. For example, when he speaks of those which are "asleep", he is referring to those who have physically died, those who have gone on to with the Lord before us. The "dead
Page 9
MANIFESTING CHRIST — TI IE LIGHT OF GOD cont.
July 3, 2012
MEETING THE LORD continued in Christ" also seem to be those who have died physically who are Christians. The other term that is helpful to understand is the word "clouds" because this Biblically can speak of a "cloud of witnesses", which are God's people who have gone to be in I-leaven with Him as those who are "dead in Christ" have – they could be one and the same. Lastly, the word "air": this word speaks of the Spiritual realm or what we call "in the spirit" where the battles with the demonic enemy take place. So with this in mind, let's take a look at I Thessalonians 4:16-17 in particular:
For the Lord hitnsel f shall descend , from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall he caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord " With those definitions that I have shared already, I see this Scripture in this way: 1) "... the Lord Himself descend from Heaven with a shout...": We have seen this happen in the spirit, in the Spiritual realm, during some of our battles there when Jesus Himself would descend over the battle field and shine forth His glory to all below. This would either destroy the demons or at least, back them off_ For those of God's army looking to Him, we are often renewed and filled with His Light and Presence at that time as well. 2) "...and
the dead in Christ shall rise first... ": I believe this is speaking of a time when
the end battle comes and Jesus is Returning for His Second Coming, and those Christians who have gone on to be with Him already, will be therefore returning with Him when He comes. Chuck-J0H1NEL has been shown that he will be among those returning with Jesus. 3) "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, ... ": This speaks to ine of those alive and remaining on earth, and that these shall be caught tip or drawn up into the spirit in our prayer time to be together with Jesus and those returning with Him, the cloud of witnesses. 4) "... to meet the Lord in the air... " : This where it gets interesting -- TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. The word meet has several definitions such as: to come upon; to be introduced to; to come into contact with; come together; satisfy; pay; but the one I like best which I believe applies most here is: to be present at the arrival of. Why do
I say that? Because I was taught years ago that the use of MEET in this Scripture means to go meet (to be present at the arrival of) someone like a dignitary or ambassador at a train station or airport and then bring them back with you. So, we are to meet the Lord Jesus `in the spirit' – the `air' – and then bring Him back with us into the world. This is especially true if those who are "alive and remain" are live the last part which says ...
Page 10
MANIFESTING CHRIST—THE LIGHT OF GOD cont.
July 4, 2012
MEETING THE LORD continued 5) "...and so
shall we ever be with the Lord. " : It is easy to assume that this is speaking
of being with the Lord in Heaven, as when we die physically but I see a greater application. Seeing that Paul wrote of those who are "alive and remain"as those being who shall ever be with the Lord, I see that he is writing of an intimacy and closeness with Jesus while being here on earth, as well as when we pass on. This is part of'His Second Coming, for which we can begin to prepare for today!
"THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU" Jesus tells us in Luke 17:20-21, "The kingdom of God coineth not with
observation; Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! ftir, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." This means to me that we can't be looking for Jesus to come "out there",or somewhere or somehow in a way we can see with our physical eyes. We aren't to be looking over here or looking out there for Him to come, for, BEHOLD, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN US! It all starts and ends there. This is why the inner journey of Manifesting Christ is so important, as is seeing and understanding how the physical things of the Old Testament like the Tabernacle are really patterns and teaching tools to a spiritual reality and fulfillment brought about by and in Jesus Christ. So, the next time you pray to draw close to Jesus, keep in mind the Tabernacle and ask the Holy Spirit to make it real to you. As you pray, first quiet your soul, and pray to put all sin under the Blood of Jesus and to be cleansed or washed by the Water of the Word, which comes from Jesus Christ. Then pray to move into your heart area, your own personal
Sanctuary which brings you to the doorstep of God's Presence and Light within the Holy of Holies. Pray to put all sin and uncleanliness under the Blood of Christ, to wash with the Water of the Word, and to partake of the Bread of Life. Pray to receive these things within your heart and every part of your being. Pray to abide in Jesus Christ, inviting Him to abide in you. Our Bride-Groom awaits!
"This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness as all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (I John 1:5-10)