October 29th, 2006: MANIFESTING CHRIST, BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS.

PART # 19

THE STAFF AND SWORD MINISTRY

OCTOBER 19, 2006

M"IFESTING BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS

by Nancy-TONI Youngbrandt I have to admit that the inspiration for this article has come from quite a different source than those which I am used to. Normally I would find great help and insight in reading the works of Madame Guyon, Andrew Murray, Michael Molinas and other Christian authors.

However, this time the Holy Spirit chose to direct me through a book by Cesar Millan, the "Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel, entitled: Cesar 's Way: The Natural,..

Every day Guide to Understanding and Correcting Dog Problems (published by Harmony Books.) It was in reading his book that I saw some useful insights into not just our dog's behavior but our own basic soul-level behavior and its relationship to Jesus Christ working in our daily lives.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION I suppose this part of my _journey in Christ began a year ago when we brought home our first puppy. Chuck-JOHNEL has had several dogs in his life but I hadn't and knew next to nothing about raising a puppy when we got one. However, knowing Chuck-JOHNEL's fondness for dogs, I knew that once we had a place of our own, it wouldn't be long before he'd want one. That day came when one day there was a new batch of free puppies at the local grain and hardware store and Chuck-JOHNEL took me down there to take a look. This ti me there was a bin of adorable husky/blueheeler-mix puppies, all squirming and vying for attention. In the process of checking the puppies out, it wasn't tong before Chuck-JOHNEL picked up one and told me that the Angel had said that this one would be a pleasant companion — so, of course, we quickly decided she was the one for us. On the way back, Chuck- OHNEL asked me what we should name her so I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and said, "Topaz", after the blue gem stone like the one Chuck-JOHNEL gave me from Jesus when I first started working with him as a Prophet of Jesus Christ.

Well, I can honestly say that the first couple of months were a bit rough for me as I struggled to housebreak our new addition and keep up with the ministry and housework I normally did. I didn't take to long to reaIize that I just couldn't do everything as I had before

Page 2 MANIFESTING CHRIST— BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October I9, 2006 A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION continued

but then Jesus intervened and brought Leith into our lives to help both Chuek-JOHNEL and myself with the work load around here, which has been quite a blessing all by itself.

The next realization that came to me was that while Chuck-JOHNEL has had dogs before and he has worked with them in the past, it had been so long that he had forgotten much about what was involved. Then there was the time factor — Chuck-JOTNEL wanted to train Topaz but somehow the time just wasn't there. It was then that I realized and came to accept that this puppy was here to stay and so I needed to start reading up on what was involved in raising and training a puppy up into a civilized, well-behaved dog. I even took her to "puppy kindergarten" (with Chuck-JOHNEL when he was able.) Each step of the way, I picked up pointers here and there. I worked in the training exercises when I could and am trying to do the best I can with the time I have.

It was in this time that Chuck-JOHNEL was flipping around and caught the "Dog Whisperer" by Cesar Millan on T.V. and taped it for me. I found a few more tips and pointers in watching his show and so I bought his book as well.

I mention all this because when I first started reading books on puppies and dogs, I felt conflicted and a bit like I was having to set aside my walk in Christ and my `spiritual' reading to learn how to handle Topaz even though at the same time, it was apparent that I really needed to do this because Topaz was becoming too much of a handful to let things stay as they were. So, I lastly put aside my own feelings about what I should or should not be reading but focused on the fact that the Angel had directed us to this dog and that she was now a part of our life in Christ and that Jesus would understand my need to learn to care for her. Then as the Holy Spirit would quicken certain things to me in my reading and training with Topaz, I saw what I always knew and that was that Jesus and the Spirit of God can teach us and lead us through anything and in many different avenues in our lives — not just the ones that seem "spiritual", but in every aspect of our daily living. It seems in hindsight now that once I made the decision to accept the responsibility and to take all the time necessary to raise and train Topaz — accepting her into my life 100% — that it was then that things started to smooth out for me and her training really started to fall into place.

All this is to say, that I plan to use some of what I have learned through this experience to explain how I see it can apply to each of us and our relationship with Jesus. Most notably,

in this article, I'd like to discuss just what it means to be a follower of Jesus using the relationship between `pack leader' or `alpha' leader and the follower as an example. With dogs, if the human isn't the leader, then they will automatically try to fill that position; the same goes for us and our own animal or carnal nature within our soul. Spiritually speaking, if Christ isn't our leader and we don't Iearn to submit to that leadership, then how can we call ourselves true followers of Jesus Christ?? After all, isn't our walk supposed to be all

Page 3 MANIFESTING CHRIST—BEING FO LLOWERS OF JESUS October 20, 2006 A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION continued about doing God's Will and not our own?? After all, it was Jesus who told us to take His yoke upon us and to learn of Him — is this really all that different than putting a collar & leash on a dog and then training it up in ways we want him or her to behave on a basic soul level?? Well, anyway, let's take a closer look at this whole idea_

THE BASIC SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES First of all, let me explain where I am coming from and why I see there are similarities

between the basic makeup of a dog and us humans. We, as children of God, have both a soul and a spirit; dogs, on the other hand, just have a soul. They certainly are much simpler beings since they can't carry on an intellectual conversation and certainly don't think in terms of right and wrong. However, they do have a mind, a will and emotions of their own — all the basic ingredients of a soul. We as humans are different in that the Bible tells us in Genesis 2:7 that "... the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. " However, while we have the Divine Life of God within inner man, when we are born into this world and into these physical bodies, we also are given a soul and that soul has an animal or carnal nature as well. It is this basic soul - the mind, will and emotions we are born with — and the animal nature within our soul that we have in common with other creatures such as dogs.

It seems to me that this animal nature within our soul is perhaps best seen in children. As children, we all start out operating very much in our soul — we are very much into our own mind, our own will and our own emotions. We want what we want and are very much selfcentered at this stage in our lives. As we grow up, it is our parents' job to help us learn to control our soul and its ways and hopefully learn to get outside of ourselves as well. To do this with a dog, you start by training it to sit, down, heel and so forth. This outward training is necessary in the beginning but ultimately as the dog gets older, you work to guide the dog so that he or she can control his or her own self rather than having you do it for them. The more you can get your dog to calm down and submit to you, the more he or she will learn to control his or her self and work to please you by doing what you them to do.

Likewise, we as Christians are to go through a similar growth process — one that begins with an outward restraint from sinning to one where the Spirit of God changes us from within to where, God willing, we are no longer are capable of sinning as we become more and more like Jesus. For example, it's like when we were children and thought about doing something we knew was wrong but were restrained because we were afraid of Dad and the punishment we would receive — we were restrained by threat of outward, sometimes physical, force. But then we hopefully grow up and come to love and respect Dad to where now we don't do a particular thing we know is wrong not out of fear of punishment but out of love and the desire to not want to be a hurt or trouble to Dad. Better yet, we grow up in

Page 4 MANIFESTING CHRIST— BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 21, 2006 THE BASIC SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES continued changed to the point where sin no longer enters our mind or heart with any real temptation and we go from living to please and protect our own self interests to giving up that self-life to live to please and to love God and Jesus Christ. In doing this, we go from being in the position of leader of our own lives to giving that leadership role over to Jesus and becoming followers of Christ.

=1 EI1 III e]-UI/I►.i—M_II As I said earlier, in the dog world there are two basic positions in a relationship — leader or follower; dominant or submissive. This is such a basic, primal reality that from the first day when a puppy or dog is brought home, if you are not the pack leader or dominant one with your dog, they wiII automaticatIy assume that role without a thought and can make your life miserable. However, the truth is that the same can be said in our lives — if we do not let Jesus become Lord of our lives, our own self-life will carry on in the role and make our lives miserable.

What I found helpful about Cesar Millan's discussion on the leader-follower relationship were his definitions of what dominance and submission mean to him since to be a leader, one must be `dominant' and to be a follower, one must be submissive. I found it helpful that he pointed out that `dominance' doesn't mean being abusive or cruel but rather it means that you are providing leadership—calm-assertive leadership. Likewise, `submission' isn't being weak, vulnerable or ineffectual in any way but rather it is "merely the energy and state of mind of a follower." On one of his shows I heard him say that being submissive (or calmsubmissive, as he calls it) meant that the mind was "open to direction." Again, the definitions we are looking here are:

Dominance — Providing calm-assertive leadership.

Submission —(1) Having the energy and state of mind of a follower.

(2) Being open to direction.

With this in mind, I see this leader-follower or dominant-submissive relationship as having three applications to us as Christians: (I) In our relationship with Jesus.

(2) In the relationship between our spirit-man and our soul.

(3) In our relationship to others in the Body of Christ.

So, first let's start with # I here and how this applies to our relationship with Jesus.

Page 5 MANIFESTING CHRIST --- BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 21, 2006 LEADER AND FOLLOWER continued

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS In our relationship with Jesus, to have a closer walk with Him, it is not enough to have Jesus as our Savior only (though this is certainly of utmost importance) but He should also be our Lord, which means that He is our leader and we are His followers. He makes this relationship clear in Matthew 16:24-25 when He said: "...If any man will come after me, let hint deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. " In John 12:26 Jesus tells us again, "If any mean serve me, let hint follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. "There is no question that Jesus is to be in the lead and we are to be His followers — this is the proper order.

What I found interesting about this in leader-follower relationship in relation to dogs, is that while dogs will assume a dominant role when there is lack of leadership, dogs, for the most part, are happier being followers. Very often dogs misbehave and become aggressive, fearful or develop odd behaviors due to lack of leadership and direction. It's like they instinctively know that someone should be in charge and if the owner isn't doing the job, then the dog assume the role in whatever way it can ... but this usually leads to unwanted and sometimes dangerous behavior. On his show, it is interesting to watch how quickly some dogs will respond to Cesar's calm-assertive influence and visibly relax in a happier, more contented state of mind than the owners thought possible.

I find that the same goes for humans. Whenever we try to take too much onto ourselves, or try to be something we are not created to be, stress, anger, and a whole host of troublesome behaviors can emerge. I have also seen there are certain members in the Body of Christ that when they perceive a lack of leadership in a meeting of Christians will automatically try to assume the role but usually with mixed results as it was prompted more by that basic animal nature drive rather than by the Spirit of God. So what's the answer for us? Let Jesus and the Holy Spirit be our leader by submitting to His leadership with a mind and heart that is open to direction — this is where it all begins.., within us. It really starts when we can honestly come to Jesus and do as He beckoned in Matthew 11:28-30 —

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Here we see that Jesus is calling us to submit to Him by taking on His yoke and learning of and from Him. He is also telling us that in being yoked with Him, we will find rest unto our souls. Why? Because He is now in charge and He will lead us from here on. The word "yoke" means "a thing that binds or unites" so when we take on His yoke then we become

Page 6 MANIFESTING CHRIST—BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 2I, 2006 LEADER AND FOLLOWER OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS continued bound or united with Him, and from here on He will take the lead.

Here are a few other Scriptures I found interesting in fight of this discussion: Psalm S:8 "Lead me, 0 Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make

thy way straight before my face."

Psalm 139: 23-24 "Search me, 0 God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in thy way everlasting. " Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led b y the Holy Spirit, they are the sons of God." I Timothy 6:11-12 "... follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,

meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on the eternal life, whereunto thou art also ca/led.,."

2 Timoth y 2:22 "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charrtity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. " 1 Peter 2:21-24 "For even here unto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps : Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his nmouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that . judgeth righteously: Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUR SPIRIT-MAN & OUR SOUL If any Christian was really honest about his or her walk in Christ, they would have felt at one time or another a struggle within as to whether Jesus was really the Lord of our lives or if our own self with its strong desires and a mind of its own, would be the leader. I know I can certainly identify with Paul when he wrote in Romans 7: 22-23 the following struggle:

"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. " Here, the inward man is his spirit-man and the war that seems to rage between that man and

Page 7 MANIFESTING CHRIST — BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 22, 2006 LEADER AND FOLLOWER THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPIRIT-MAN & SOUL continued

the animal nature that comes with this soul and body -- his members. This struggle brings the Apostle Paul to reflect in verse 19 — " For the good that I would do I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. " Oh, the frustration of it all! ! So, what are we do??

In this case, with Jesus as our ultimate `alpha' leader, this is where our spirit-man in submission to Christ is to be leader over our soul with its mind, will, emotions and animal nature. This is where it is up to us to provide calm-assertive leadership to that which is within us through patience and by providing direction. In the end, it is up to our soul to learn to become a follower — to have the energy and state of mind of a follower, not a leader, and to be open to receiving direction.

In Luke 21:19 Jesus said, "In your patience, possess ye your souls. " In other words, with patience don't let your soul dominate you but rather bring your soul into calmsubmission; let your soul learn to follow and take direction rather than letting it run wild and be in control of your life — you possess it, instead of it possessing you. To do this, a part of

you has to give your soul direction and leadership so that it will be open to the filling of the Holy Spirit and changes and direction Jesus would bring. This direction and leadership comes in part from Jesus but also from your spirit which is yielded to Christ and His Spirit already.

For example, Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 16:24 — "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and fallow me. " To do as Jesus asks here takes an inward leadership decision to `deny' oneself — to deny the will, mind and emotions of self and therefore the soul — then to follow Jesus.

Another example can be seen in James 4:7-8, 10 where it says, `Submit yourselves therefore to God. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. ... Humble your-selves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. " Here again we see the need for our spirit-man to give our soul direction to submit and humble ourselves in the sight of God. Like telling a dog to sit or lay down, there just are times when our soul needs similar direction to be in submission to Jesus and His Spirit. One of the reasons we encourage that Christians abide in the Lord's presence is in part to teach the spirit and the

soul to be in calm-submission before the Lord. It is only in humble, open-minded, openhearted submission that we can truly receive our clearest direction from the Lord.

The thing to remember about your soul, is that before you became a Christian your soul was pretty much in charge of your inner life, and therefore has been leader for a while — it has been the dominant one. And since it has been charge for a sizable portion of your life, it is not going to give up control easily. Old behaviors that have served you well up until

Page 8 MANIFESTING CHRIST — BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 22, 2006 LEADER AND FOLLOWER THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPIRIT-MAN & SOUL continued now will be hard to shake but not impossible if you really want to change — it will just take ti me, patience, discipline and lots of prayer on your part. It will also require a commitment from you to give 100% of yourself to Jesus and a willingness to be broken before the Lord God. As Jesus showed a Prophet years ago — to truly grow in Christ, you don't have the right to be right and you don't have right to wrong; you only have the right to be broken.

IN SUBMISSION TO CHRIST IN OTHERS This is perhaps the most difficult form of submission for many of us as usually somewhere in our lives, just about all of us have submitted to someone only to be hurt or to have had that submission abused in some way. Any yet, Paul writes quite a bit about this in the New Testament so what are we to do? The key is that any and all submission be first and foremost unto the Lord God. Now combine this with the understanding that being submissive has to do with being in the state of mind and energy of a follower of Jesus and therefore you are opening yourself up to His direction — either directly or through someone in the Body of Christ — then we arrive at a clearer understanding of what it means to submit ourselves "one to another." (Ephesians 5:21) Paul explains this in Colossians 3:18-25 in several ways. Here the Apostle Paul writes about submission and obeying but qualifies that when you do, you should submit ... "... as it is . fit in the Lord. " ( verse 18) "... in singleness of heart, fearing God." (verse 22)

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." (verse 23) On the other hand, those in a leadership position should not try to force submission upon another but rather, as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:3, leaders should be "examples to the flock" — in other words, they should lead by example with their example being Jesus Christ. Even those in leadership need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit working in any part of the Body of Christ, and are to keep in mind 1 Peter 5:5-7 where it says: "... all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for

God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon Him: for He careth for you."

Lastly I would say that when submitting to another in Christ, just means that you are open

Page 9 MANIFESTING CHRIST — BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 22, 2006 LEADER AND FOLLOWER IN SUBMISSION TO CHRIST IN OTHERS continued to Jesus' direction through that person. It does not mean that you have to blindly obey every thing that person says, even if it is in the name of the Lord. If you have submitted to someone who says or does something that you question really being from the Lord, it is perfectly okay to pray and wait on the Lord to show if what that person said or did was truly of Jesus. The main point of being submitted to Christ, again, is to be open to His direction but we must also be wise and prayerful in that submission so that we don't submit to something not of Him. After all, none of us if perfect in Christ and Jesus would not want us trusting more in Christ through other brothers and sisters in the Lord than in Him directly.

Likewise, Jesus wants us to be His Body and has made us to work together by the Spirit of God for the Glory of God so not being afraid to submit to Christ in each other is of utmost i mportance — we do need each other. We just need to better understand how Jesus would have us operate as His Corporate Body which includes leading and following in a Christcentered way.

IN THE FEAR OF GOD The last point I am led to make on this subject is about what it means to fear God. For example, in Ephesians 5.21 it

says, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of

God." For many, their first thought about what it means to fear God is along the lines of.

"If I don't submit then God is going to get me." This goes with the definition of fear that is: fear: anxious anticipation of danger, pain, etc.

However, there is a second definition of fear and that is: fear: awe or to be in awe (of) This is closer to what the Lord has shown me. To me, to be in fear of God is to have a healthy respect and reverence for God which comes from a love of God and not wanting to displease Him or do anything that would separate me from Him and His Presence. I see it as a fear that come from love — I love Jesus and God the Father so much that I don't want to do something that would grieve Them or be a barrier between us in anyway. Furthermore, I also have a fear of God in the sense that I am aware that I don't want to knowingly or

willfully be outside of the Perfect Will of God and in some realm that may give the enemy opportunity or occasion to come against Chuck-JOHNEL or myself.

LET LOVE FOR GOD BE YOUR FOUNDATION When all is said and done, whether you can relate to what I have written about or not, you can't go wrong if you keep in mind the two greatest Commandments —

Page 10 MANIFESTING CHRIST—BEING FOLLOWERS OF JESUS October 22, 2046 LET LOVE FOR GOD BE YOUR FOUNDATION continued

THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITHALL THY MIND. and

THOU SHALT LG VE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. I have found that when I do what Jesus asks of me out of the love for God which He has given me, then I am able to do what He has asked me to do regardless of any attacks or troubles that may come my way. I have found that if I submit to Christ in another out of a love for Jesus Christ and the desire to do His Will, then He will keep me. I also know that when a thing is not filled with the Love of Christ, then I don't have to accept it either. As I said, have the Love of God as your foundation for all you do, and you can't go wrong. Yes, you may make mistakes and you may get hurt, with the Love of God in your heart, even a

blast can be a blessing. With God, all things are possible and when we trust in Him, He is well able to keep us and bring through even the trialsome of difficulties.

So, to conclude this article, I would suggest submitting your whole being — body, soul and spirit to Jesus Christ, coming to Him with humbleness of heart for His direction and leadership of your life_ Be not afraid but have the faith and trust that He is greater than any of us and our shortcomings. As God the Father kept Jesus in His walk in this world and led Him every step of the way so this kind of leadership is possible for us if we but learn to follow after Christ by the Spirit of God for it is here that we find our true life in Christ Jesus.

"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For wit osoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for m y sake sltaell find it."

(Jesus in Matthew 16:24-25)

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