Today I am starting a new series. I will be teaching this for a while. I told you in January that the theme for the year is “Heaven on Earth.” I believe it is the will of the Father that we experience heaven on earth every day. God’s desire is not just that we go to heaven when we die, someday. But rather for us to bring heaven to the earth every day. With that in mind, I believe true intimacy with both God and man is required in order to experience this. We need both. The Father wants us to be ONE WITH HIM and ONE WITH EACH OTHER. This is the Power of Fellowship and this is the journey we are about to go on.
I believe we will never be ONE with each other until we are ONE with the Father. So let’s start today with learning about being ONE with God.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The Apostle Paul said: “Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15 J. B. Phillips). People cannot not see God. But while Jesus was on the earth, they could see Him. The people Jesus encountered could not see heaven. But while Jesus was on the earth He was able to bring heaven down to them. Jesus walked around displaying heaven’s reality on this planet. He was able to do so because He was ONE with the Father. God expects us to live the same way Jesus did. Now that Jesus is gone, we are left us to continue what He started. People cannot see God today, but they can see us. We are the visible expressions of an invisible God. As Jesus was ONE with the Father, we are called and commanded to be ONE with Him as well. But in order to live this way you must see yourself “As Jesus is, in this world.” (1 Jn 4:17). You cannot see any separation between you and God, between God and you. For you to make the Kingdom impact you were born to make you must see yourself as ONE with the Father and see Him as ONE with you!
2. In the prayer Jesus prayed for us (see John 17), He prayed that we would be ONE with the Father, like He was ONE with the Father (verse 11). Jesus was God in the flesh. He was the incarnation of God in the earth. We are the continuation of His incarnation.
3. The Apostle Paul said: “This message is the secret truth that was hidden since the beginning of time. It was hidden from everyone for ages, but now it has been made known to God’s holy people…. That secret truth, which is for all people, is that Christ lives in you, his people. He is our hope for glory.” (Colossians 1:26,27 Easy To Read). Many people think God wants us to see ourselves as FAR below Him. In our humanity, this is certainly the case. But we have been redeemed! There is a mystery that was hidden for ages. Paul said it was revealed. What is that mystery? It is the fact that “Christ lives in you!” We are human, yes! But we are humans walking around with a God living on the inside of us. We are human conduits of the divine. We are ONE with God. We must fully embrace this truth in order to become visible expressions of an invisible God!
4. In John 14 Jesus got upset with Philip, because Philip asked Jesus to reveal the Father to them. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus lived His life as ONE with the Father. He fellowshipped with the Father every day. This is the way we are supposed to live. We should be so close to God that when people come in contact with us, they come in contact with Him!
5. The Bible teaches us to live with the same mindset Jesus lived with (Phil 2:5). What was Jesus’ mindset? He saw Himself as ONE with the Father. We are supposed to live the same way. God wants us to be able to say what Jesus said. He said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in me. I am ONE with the Father and the Father is ONE with me.” (John 14). Let me warn you that If you are a religious person you are going to have a hard time with this series. If you are very religious, your mind just went haywire with what I said. A religious person cannot see themselves as ONE with the Father. But Jesus did not die so you could have a religion. Jesus died so you could have a relationship with the Father. He died so you could have fellowship with God.
We are just getting started. I am excited about this series. Please share it with your friends. We are going to learn to be ONE with each other. But before we do, we have to learn to be ONE with God. If we are not ONE with God, we will never truly be ONE with man. But when we learn to be ONE with BOTH, we untap the power of fellowship.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for helping me to fully embrace ALL You are IN me! I am ONE with You. You are ONE with me! I am IN You. You are IN me. I am not disconnected from You in any way. I don’t lack a thing. I don’t have a need You have not already supplied. You live in heaven, but You also live in the earth, because You live IN ME! People cannot see You. But as I walk with You and You walk with me, I allow You to flow through me in ways that can be seen, heard and experienced. The people I come in contact with today will come in contact with You. Because You live in me and I am ready to let You out! I am excited about my relationship with You and I declare that I get closer to You day by day. I live in fellowship with You every second of every day. People will walk away from me knowing that I am a man/woman who walks with God! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
