Why Jesus is Not Center Place in Many Churches

14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

 

15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

I am appalled at the number of churches, preachers, and sermons which sideline Jesus or do not mention Him at all.

 

This terrible setback is highlighted in the Seventh Church, Laodicea, as described in the Book of Revelation:

 

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Jesus wants to come in, but He will not force Himself. He wants to be willingly received, just like the disciples in John 6.

Why is it that Jesus is not front and center in our churches, where He belongs, since He is there, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the Creation of God?

Jesus indicts the reason why?:

15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

The mixture of law and grace has robbed the law of its pristine grandeur, and removed the passionate power of grace. When the Law is preached in its fullness, bringing men and women to the end of themselves, then they will willingly receive the grace of God, which comes in Christ (John 1: 17)

Then Jesus offers a further explanation:

17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Modern churches have gotten all caught up in securing wealth, material prosperity. Now, God's greatest wish is that we may prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers (3 John 2).

It's all about our soul's prosperity, which speaks to our will, mind, and emotions.

As we renew our minds to the Word of God (Romans 12: 2), we then walk in the truth (3 John 3-4), and we find the truth in Christ and a growing revelation of who He is.

There is no prosperity apart from Christ. In fact, there is nothing apart from Him:

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1: 16-17)

We are nothing without Him:

"1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4)

 

We can do nothing without Him, either:

 

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 5)

 

So, the churches in Laodecia think that they are something because of their  material wealth. They claim that they have no need of anything, because they are self-sufficient, yet they are in fact poor, blind, naked, and miserable.

 

How true is this assessment in many of our churches today!

 

What does Jesus offer to these churches?

 

18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

 

Gold speaks of righteousness, for with righteousness we receive all other blessings in this life. White raiment speaks of the robe of righteousness, too, and eyesalve speaks of healing for our eyes, that we may see more of Jesus.

 

The answer is the gift of righteousness and abundance of grace, all of which we receive in Christ.

 

Therein is the key from going from poverty to wealth, every time!

 

Why is Jesus not center place in our churches? Because the emphasis has been on the self-sufficiency of man to this day, as though He can accomplish all things in his own efforts, when in fact he is dead in trespasses on his own and needs life, Life found in Christ, life which we receive through the gift of righteousness in Him (Romans 5: 17, 8: 10)

 

As long as man still thinks that he has life in and of himself, he will continue to frustrate the grace of God, and Jesus Christ will continue to remain in the background or missing altogether in our churches.

 

Elders Remind You That You are Beloved

"1The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

 

"2Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. " (3 John 2: 1-2)

 

Most people now the Third Epistle of John for the promise provided to us in the second verse.

 

When I read over the first two verses of this lovey letter, I noticed that John the elder refers to Gaius not once but twice as "agapetos" or "beloved".

 

The mark of an elder in the Body of Christ includes their frequent reference to every member that he or she is "loved by God."

 

In the church today, the emphasis is too great on our love for God, rather than His love for us.

 

Because believers do not know how much God loves them -- loves them presently, incessantly, and eternally -- they have a hard time walking in faith, and they struggle to serve others.

 

We understand how much God loves us when we gain a growing understanding of all that Jesus Christ did for us at the Cross:

 

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)

 

In the second chapter of John's first epistle, the writer states the fullness of Jesus as our propitiation, or mercy seat:

 

"1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2: 1-2)

 

Even when we sin, Jesus is our Advocate, our High Priest at the right Hand of God the Father, ministering on our behalf. When Jesus died on the Cross, though, He did not just die for the sins of those who believe on Him, but for all the sins of the whole world:

 

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 8)

 

However, God's love for us does not stop at a mere recognition that Jesus died for our sins. Paul prayed the following for the Ephesian Christians, and by extension all of us who believe on Jesus:

 

"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)

 

Peter invites us to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18), and Paul demonstrates how this love of God took us from dead to living by His faith in us:

 

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

 

Jesus loved us, and He gave Himself for everyone of us.

 

This alone should captivate us forever, such a great love:

 

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." (1 John 4: 11)

 

Yet this love does not stop with His death and propitiation for our sins:

 

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4: 16)

 

God's very nature is love, this never-ending, self-sacrificing which takes us from dead in our trespasses to alive and seated in heavenly places in Christ.

 

In fact, we receive the spirit of adoption (Romans 8: 15), and in Christ we become sons of God, too:

 

"1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)

 

This love has done more than just remove our sins, and grant us justification in the eyes of God, but now we are in Christ:

 

"17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.  (1 John 4:17)

 

A more precise translation offers the following:

 

"This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus." (NIV)

 

This perfected love, one based on a greater understanding of all that we are, have, and do in Christ, casts out every fear in our lives (1 John 4: 18)

 

This is what an elder in the Body of Christ is all about -- reminding us and teaching us more and more about how much God loves us, how beloved we are in Christ!

See Jesus, Fear Not, and Arrive

"20But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went." (John 6: 20-21)

In John's Gospel, Jesus greets His disciples as He is walking on the water.

The disciples are struggling against mighty storms and strong winds, trying to get to their destination. They have been rowing for a long time, much more than the length and width of the sea.

Then they see Jesus walking on the water.

Unlike the responses recorded or us in other Gospels, Jesus right away announces Himself:

"I am."

Jesus is fully God, beginning, middle, and end. He was, is, and is to come. He is before all things, and all things exist because of Him.

Notice that Jesus announces Himself, I AM, then tells the disciples not to be afraid.

Right away, we should receive great comfort from this verse.

Never should we feel ashamed because we are afraid. Never should we assume that we have to get rid of our fears in order to receive from God.

Just see Jesus, and know that He is the great I AM, even in the midst of your storm.

If you have fear of any kind, the solution is not to try and get rid of your fear. The solution is to know more of how Jesus is I AM, the fullness of God Almighty, ready to meet any need in your life.

Jesus does not barge into our lives, either.

The disciples willingly received Him into the ship. They had been rowing all night and got nowhere. When they saw Jesus, they were not afraid, and they welcomed Him into their ship.

For many of us, we often keep trying in our efforts, not quite convinced that Jesus is all that we need. We still have our own strength, our own smarts, and we are convinced that whatever needs to get done, we can still trust and strut in our own efforts.

Yet Jesus did not shame the disciples for working so hard, He did not shame them because they had refused to call out for His help. He did not refuse their invitation when they willingly received Him into their ship.

Now, the miracle which took place afterwards has not received the proper celebration which it deserves. The moment that the disciples welcomed Jesus into their boat, they immediately reached the place where they were going.

That word immediately is so powerful, and so prevalent in the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus is presented as the untiring, eternal servant. The moment that you welcome Jesus into your situation, recognizing Jesus as the Great I AM, greater than any situation, any setback, any circumstance in your life, you will find that immediately He turns your troubles into triumph:

"37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8: 37)

and then

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." (2 Corinthians 2: 14)

Much of the time, we toil in our lives because we do not see that Jesus has everything that we need, that in Christ we are blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1: 3), that we are Accepted in Christ the Beloved Son of God (Ephesians 1:6).

Jesus brought the disciples from the storm to the and immediately. After He died on the Cross and rose again on the Third Day, Jesus has now brought us into Himself, and we are seated in Christ at the right hand of God the Father (Ephesians 2: 4-8)

We are in Christ, Beloved, and Christ now lives in us. We can rest assured that we are already above every storm, that the Great I AM greatly loves us.

See more of Jesus, fear not, and you will arrive wherever He wants you to go.

Bashir Disciplined, Resigns At Last

Martin Bashir Bashed Too Much

For decades, from the ascendancy and preeminence of Walter Kronkite until the chronic, heated attacks against Republican President George W. Bush, the mainstream media has exposed its left-leaning bias without any shame. Aside from an engaging twenty-minute interview/dialogue between Fox News anchor Chris Wallace and The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart in 2011, plus marginal efforts from conservative websites like Townhall.com any effective attempts to expose and undermine this damaging bias remained non-committal or ineffective.

This year, following the growing success of Breitbart.com to unseat the New York Post and other mainstream publications, editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro launched a new movement, Truth Revolt, to hold liberal and left-leaning media conglomerates accountable for offensives, specious, as well as false and misleading.

With a cadre of two hundred plus volunteers, online petitions, and threatening boycotts to selected sponsors, Truth Revolt has succeeded in drawing out apologies or silencing offensive news-casters altogether.

From Breitbart to Truth Revolt, the American right, the conservative and the libertarian, limited government elements in this country are rising up and fighting back against the liberal bent of the mainstream media.

The Los Angeles based Jewish Journal printed an offensive cartoon depicting a Muslim terrorist connected with the Tea Party Movement, entitled “Tea-Hadist.” The editor-in-chief Rob Eshman issued an apology following the massive back-lash against the publication, spear-headed by Truth Revolt.

Loudmouth liberal (read abusive and malicious) actor Alec Baldwin would utter offensive gay slurs sporadically, yet the unheeded silence from the left was just as offensive. Only in the last two weeks, following the weak beginning of his own liberal talk-show, Baldwin vilely mouthed off at a paparazzo, all of which went viral, and Baldwin was canned from his fledgling (and failing) show.

Martin Bashir’s final conservative bashing comments, which crashed his career, began by labeling her “America’s resident dunce Sarah Palin”, followed by a two-minute tirade diminishing Palin, which I will refer to later.

Baldwin tweeted the following in sorrowful solidarity with his liberal media colleague:

Bashir created great television.

Before , Palin Bashir’s interviews included outrageous, inflammatory comments against other conservatives. Bashir attempted to corner Andrew Breitbart with allegations of distortion and lies. Breitbart stood his ground, refused to bow down.

Bashir once referred to military veteran and former Presidential candidate as a “chicken-hawk.”

Bashir also commented about Michael Jackson:

The first time I ask him, have you had your cheekbones raised, have you had your nose changed? He denied it all. I was asking him to compare his face with what it looked like years ago.

How are such questions journalism, or even remotely appropriate? Following the untimely death of the pop star, Bashir acknowledged his controversy-spinning in his documentary Living with Michael Jackson.

Perhaps because of the time slot for his program Nightline, Bashir felt comfortable confessing to the misleading elements in his documentary.

In a stunning reversal on his own show, Bashir was cornered by Breitbart editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro.  While the twenty-year old conservative activist outlined the leftist slant in media, all of which helped create an Obama victory in 2008, Bashir mumbled:

“The media has assisted every other political competitor in exactly the same way.”

Wrong. From the slanders against Sarah Palin, to the Oprah effect which buoyed the first black President to the White House, Shapiro bashed Bashir’s presumptions.

In a heated exchange with Tea Party leader Larry Klayman, Bashir placed the blame for the October, 2013 government shut down on US Senator Ted Cruz:

“Severe conservatives like Ted Cruz leading a rump of true believers. . .almost led the nation into default.”

Apparently, Bashir does not understand the American federal government, which requires compromise and comity among two branches of the Congress and the President. The Senate Majority leader refused to meet with the House, and President Obama had refused to meet with legislators from either party.

 

While castigating conservatives, he reared up against the media and legal inquiries following the death of Trayvon Martin:

“They insist on imposing on his slight young frame an identity that implies criminality, juvenile delinquency, and the all around characteristics of a trouble-maker. This is not only deeply offensive to his family, but also a gross form of character assassination.”

 

Now we return to Bashir’s offensive remarks about Palin. Taking umbrage with Palin’s analogy of the exploding national debt with slavery, Bashir called Palin a “world class idiot”, then referred to the copious notes of a slave-owner’s son named Thomas Thistlewood, including a disgusting, dehumanizing form of punishment in which “A slave named Derby catched eating canes, had him well-flogged and pickled, then made Hector [another slave] sh*t in his mouth.”

In his a condescending finale, Bashir then suggested: “If anyone qualifies for Derby’s discipline [someone s**tting and p**ssing in someone else’s mouth], then she would be the outstanding candidate.”

The following week, he offered an extended apology for his disrespectful remarks. But the damage was done, and the outcry from conservative activists reached such a vocal pitch, including demands for MSNBC sponsors to pull their ads, that Bashir finally submitted his resignation.

Bashir got discipline of his own, and resigned not a moment too soon.

Read Scripture to See Life

For many years, I would read the Bible as part of a checklist, much like "A chapter a day keeps the devil away."

Many Christians read the Bible for knowledge.

What does the Bible say about knowledge, anyway?

"Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." (1 Corinthians 8: 1)

What is the love that we need to know more about?

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)

Paul also writes:

"14For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 14-19)

We need God's strength, which we receive through the Holy Spirit, to understand how much God loves us. This love is manifested to us in Christ, the very Son of God who sits at the right hand of the His Father and our Father (John 20: 17)

His love is not passive or cosmetic, but dynamic and powerful, a love which protects, provides, promotes, and prevents all evil in our lives.

This is the love, the knowledge which we need to receive.

Jesus did not come to give us instructions.

He did not die on the Cross so that we would receive a better program of action.

He died on the Cross so that we would have life, and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life -- so, when you read the Bible, see more of Jesus, and He will show you the way to go, the truth which sets you free (John 8: 32), and His life will guide you!

HB Recount Needed

Following the November 5^th municipal election, one well-favored incumbent lost his bid for reelection. After all the provisional ballots were tallied, another incumbent lost, and by a slim margin. A recount is necessary.

Hermosa Beach civic leaders will be facing particularly difficult issues in the next session, like managing pension costs in the face of union resistance to reasonable reforms. The E and B settlement will also consume much of the next city council's time, and the future of the expanding yet unjustly impoverished school district will try the time and patient of residents and leaders alike. Residents will also expect their new city council to better balance the commercial and residential needs of Hermosa Beach against the green environmental activism which is creeping steadily over the city. For city government representation to be decided by such slim margins as one hundred plus votes between candidates should alert anyone to support a diligent review. Hermosa Beach resident Dency Nelson has every right to pursue a recount of the ballots, as long as the city can count on Nelson to pay for the process.

Of course, another, more disconcerting pattern has emerged out of this close election outcome. Week after week, local residents share their concerns and complaints on the pages of The Beach Reporter.

By all accounts, it would appear that Hermosa Beach residents actively follow and comment on the city's goings-on. Why do so few vote for the people who will be doing so much in the first place?

Bulger's Goods Auctioned Off

Irish Mafia leader James Whitey Bulger, the inspiration for Martin Scorcese’s The Departed, was finally convicted of murder, racketeering, etc. in a federal court, although he still attempted to intimidate witnesses, and former moles came forward and snitched on him.

For eighteen years, Bulger was living it up in rent-control Santa Monica with his long-time mistress. Other than Bulger, more people are leaving California than coming.

Why it took the FBI nearly two decades to find the man is anyone’s guess. But no one has to wonder why he sought Santa Monica: the rent-control haven.

For the past six months, I have been writing guest columns to the New England press, including Worcester. They covered the Bulger trial until the verdict, and local journalists could not resist admitting their shock and horror. When I told one of my colleagues that James “Whitey” Bulger was living incognito in my backyard, all she could say was “Creepy!”

Now Bulger’s back in the news: not just himself, but his stuff, including a mannequin with a fedora hat. According to the Associated Press, the feds will auction off his goods and the proceeds will go to victims’ families. Now I have something to write about for New England this week.

While no indemnity can restore what Bulger took from aggrieved families, at least Santa Monica leaders can consider one reform: get rid of rent control, and make sure that no convicts, suspects, or other criminal element finds a hiding place without paying top dollar.

Thanksgiving List for President Obama

This is Thanksgiving Season, and now is the time to give thanks, and find things to be thankful for, even in the most unlikely, or thankless of places.

Yes, I know this list may offend, if not shock other people, as I have contributed to the Patch Network as a long-time detractor of the Obama Administration.

Frankly, there are some things, if not many, to be thankful for which have occurred during President Obama's fraught and frightful tenure.

1. President Obama issued waivers for No Child Left Behind, a bureaucratic nightmare which is leaving more children behind despite the federal program's intent to expand accountable public education for all Americans. One of President Bush's worst legacies as NCLB, and whether out of partisanship or principle, Obama has compromised the program.

2. In connection with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, President Obama offered "Race to the Top" for state governments to compete for federal aid, provided that the several states integrated comprehensive education reforms.

3. He has faithfully and forcefully enforced our nation's immigration laws, to the extent that he has deported more illegal immigrants than every President from Dwight David Eisenhower to George W. Bush

4. Against his own liberal convictions, he was forced to compromise and enforce the first comprehensive cuts to the federal budget in modern American History. His cuts began with the 2011 debt ceiling deal, which gave way to the Super Committee, and then the sequester cuts. Despite his pleading against the comprehensive reductions, which were supposed to be painful, their effect on the economy was actually negligible.

5. As part of the last-minute fiscal cliff debacle-deal in 2012, President Obama preserved the Bush II tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 for 99% of all Americans, permanently. Not only did President Obama maintain one of the strongest legacies of President Bush, he has further undermined the long-standing progressive agenda of progressive tax rates to fund an expansive welfare state.

6. President Obama's insistence on a health insurance mandates and Medicare subsidies of statewide and national healthcare exchanges have exposed the failed core of socialized programs which attempt to manage one-sixth of a nation's economy. Inadvertently, President Obama's progressive posture may spell the death of liberalism as a serious political philosophy for decades to come.

7. According to MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, President Obama reintroduced deficit reduction as a compelling concern: a Republican talking point. He also appointed fourteen fiscal conservatives, including fiscal-leaning Democrats, on his Presidential debt commission.

8. Before the British Petroleum crisis (which he helped to some degree to clean up), President Obama did acquiesce on off-shore oil drilling. California Governor Jerry Brown should take up this talking point, too.

9. President Obama backed off from closing down Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His attempt to close down the detention center for international terrorists demonstrate that political pragmatism will force the most ideological of politicians to make logical decisions in the better interests of the country.

10. And to round off this Thanksgiving list: President Obama pushed away Cap-and-Trade, ended job-killing regulations from the EPA which would have harmed this nation's recovery. During his administration, drone interventions have increased to neutralized terrorist cells. Under his watch, United States special forces took down Osama bin Laden and his Yemeni surrogate Anwar al-Awlaki. The terrorists can run, but they cannot hide!

Thank you, President Obama. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

We Have To Trust Him Before We Take From Him

"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14: 31)

Even when we doubt, we should never fear to call out for Christ's help in our lives.

Too often, when we start to doubt in any way, we start looking at ourselves to figure out what to do about our doubt.

Yet even in the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus' disciples saw Jesus as a teacher instead of Savior, He reached out and helped them, rather than merely wake up and upbraid them for disturbing His sleep.

Consider also this time when Jesus asked the disciples why they doubted:

"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." (John 20: 27)

Notice that Jesus came to Thomas personally, and responded personally to his doubt.

There is no record that Thomas ever touched Jesus, but he exclaimed:

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God." (John 20: 28)

Still, we will have a hard time receiving from God our Father unless we receive that spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15).

Take a look at what happened to Adam and Eve when they ate from the forbidden fruit:

"7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves " (Genesis 3: 7)

They became self-conscious instead of God-conscious. Even when they had sewn for themselves fig leaves to cover their nakedness, they hid in shame when God appeared:

"8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."

Why?

"And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3: 10)

As long as we have this sin-consciousness of wrongdoing, we will forever hide from God, and we will not trust Him, let alone receive from Him.

How do we escape from this terrible bondage?

John provides the answer:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

We receive boldness when we understand the perfection of God's love, not ours, which has taken us from dead in our trespasses to alive and in Christ.

What then does this love do for us?

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.' (1 John 4: 18)

The love of God was demonstrated for us, in that Christ died for us, was risen for us, and now serves as our propitiation, or our mercy seat before God the Father (1 John 4:10)

We can then trust that God is for us, not against us (Romans 8:31), and thus we can receive all things from Him (Romans 8: 32)

In Christ, We are No Longer Strangers

"33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6: 33)

Jesus exhorted the Israelites of His day not to take confidence in their ethnic status as Jews, nor seek to overthrow the Roman Empire, but seek to entry into God's eternal kingdom.

This Kingdom comes to us through His Holy Spirit, which has been poured out to us now that Jesus Christ has died on the Cross and now sits at the right hand of God the Father ministering on our behalf (Romans 8: 31-32):

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14: 17)

As further proof that the Kingdom comes to us because of all that Christ Jesus did, consider this wonderful declaration:

"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" (Colossians 1: 13)

Where were we before we believe on Jesus? Paul relates the following to the Colossians:

"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled" (Colossians 1: 21)

and also to the Ephesians:

"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:" (Ephesians 2: 12)

Here, Paul explicitly refers to state, kingdom like citizenship.

Because of Jesus Christ, we are blessed as adopted children of God the Father:

"13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" (Ephesians 2: 13-14)

We are now no longer strangers, or foreigners from God's Kingdom, but because we are in Christ, we now walk in His Kingdom as sons of God:

"For our conversation [lit. citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 3: 20)

and

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8: 17)

and

"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:" (Ephesians 3:6)

Because we have received a new citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven through Christ, we are no longer strangers, alienated from God the Father's blessed, eternal Kingdom which He gives in His good pleasure to those who believe (Luke 12: 32)