The news that Christ is in us is great. However, just as some TV ads from a few decades ago exclaimed, “but wait, there’s more!” Not only is Christ in us, but we are also in Christ. We are baptized into Him. We are immersed in Christ.

When Christ resides in a person, that person has eternal Life. In John 4:13–14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (NIV)

The human person of Jesus "the son of man" is inseparable from the Lord Jesus, "the Son of God." Absent one of these we would be either unforgiven, or dead to God.

Father has graciously provided us with armor, and we certainly want to take advantage of it. Some say that Jesus is that armor. I have no problem with that because Jesus is the source, the beginning, the end, our very Life. Everything is summed up in Jesus.

The idea of Jesus coming at any moment used to fill me with fear. I was worried that He would show up right after I had done some terrible thing or thought some terrible thought or had some terrible motive in my heart and that I would be lost. Those fears were completely unfounded.

When you fall back into navigating life like the world and its systems think you should, you're walking according to the flesh. That never ends well. It results in life on a performance treadmill trying to get closer to God while in truth, you’re getting nowhere.

God’s plan for Joseph included him being sold into slavery and spending a few years in prison before God’s ultimate plan to save Israel from the famine came to light.

Deception seems to be everywhere. Escaping it requires wisdom and knowledge. Jesus offers both.

What if all this were true?

Spiritual birth is even better than natural birth, for it contains eternal life. It cannot be undone.

Happiness in and with God comes from trusting that He loves us and that all He has said is true, and it comes from allowing His Love to overflow from us to others.

Trying leads to frustration.
Trusting leads to contentment.
What if you stopped believing your feelings?
What if you decided to trust what God said instead?

James 4 says “You do not have because you do not ask.” and “You ask and do not receive.” So, which is it?

Much like the first, this vision will show him “what must take place after these things.” We are once again about to gain a view into things that must take place in the interim between the coming of Jesus in the flesh and His coming again on the clouds.

Looking into this doorlike opening into the spiritual realm, John heard the same trumpet-like voice he had heard in Revelation 1:10. The voice of the Lord Jesus. He is called to come up to the very throne room of God.

One important thing I have come to understand is that Father is not a genie I can get to act in specific ways if I just ask properly. Additionally, I've found that He is interested in what is best for us and others and that His view of that is far more comprehensive than mine.

We are about to embark on a journey together through the remaining chapters of The Revelation. This is a book that has been the source of a great deal of fear, confusion, and disagreement over the years. Let that not be the case with us. As we travel together through the most perplexing parts of this wonderful and glorious revelation of our lovely Lord Jesus, let’s expect to grow in His grace and in the knowledge of Him. Let’s anticipate knowing more about who He is, His plan for humankind, and how best to understand our current tribulation.

As we have seen in earlier segments, we bear the name of God and of the Lord Jesus. The Revelation also tells us that we will bear the name of the new Jerusalem. This is a curious statement until we read Revelation 21:9–10

From this blessing we are beginning to get a picture of the end of all saints. A glimpse of Life when the Lord has fully consummated the new creation in a new heaven and a new earth populated by new people, who are His spotless bride, clothed in purest white.

What the enemy says, or what Father says.
Which will you believe?