By Beholding We Become
What’s first and foremost on you mind? What’s constantly drawing your attention…. Your focus? Whatever “that” is… IS WHAT YOU WILL BECOME… Because it is BY BEHOLDING… That we BECOME…
Don’t let the enemy’s “substitutes” draw you away from The Substance… Jesus Christ… Don’t be fooled by imitations…. There are no satisfying “substitutes!!!”
In order for our gaze to be transfixed on Jesus we must hold and be anchored on this unwavering truth:
HE FIRST LOVED US
1 John 4:10; 19 Amplified Bible (AMP)
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath].
19 We love, because [b]He first loved us.
This Truth is foundational… it is the Root that holds us… grounds us… keeps us in the storm… Everything hinges and pivots [your entire life] on how much you KNOW AND BELIEVE this Truth.
You have to say to yourself:
“God put loving me first, before, and foremost in His time, place, and order of importance!”
1 John 4:16
16 And we have known and believed
the love that God has for us.
God is love, and he who abides (stays)
in love abides (stays) in God, and God
in him.
If He’s a “stranger” [or distant] to you, you won’t trust Him… If this is true in your life… Let me ask you this:
Is preaching unveiling or obscuring Him… making Him distant?
“Well how would I know?”
Do you feel close to Him…? Do you feel you can approach Him no matter what mess you’re in?
Do you feel GUILTY when you fail, or do you feel relieved that He loves you still regardless of what you did?
Pause and consider this:
To the degree that I am able to trust Jesus…
is to the same degree that I am living out of His love for me.
When I know that I am loved unconditionally…
then I will trust unconditionally.
1 John 4:16, 17-18
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides (stays) in love abides (stays) in God, and God in him.
17 This is how our love is made perfect and complete , so that we may have boldness, assurance, and confidence in the day of accusation and condemnation; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect and complete love casts out fear, because fear has torment. But he who fears has not been made mature in love.
There is a perfection in Love that no amount of self-effort can ever come even close to.
Love brings a depth of character and maturity… A Peace and Rest… An Eternal Hope that is steadfast and sure… an Anchor For The Soul that enters beyond the veil… Into the very Presence of Almighty God… [Hebrews 6:19]
At Pure Grace, we endeavor to unveils ABBA’s Heart, because:
When you unveil the Father’s heart to people…
the end result is Transformation!
“But how do you do that, Pastor Sharon…? How do I position myself to receive AND WALK in His Love?
I’m glad you asked, precious one:
You MUST always keep these biblical truths in your heart and in your mind:
I am a new creation in Christ… The old me no longer exists!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
The transaction that took place on the Cross had nothing to do you with you! It was a legal transaction between The Father and The Son. Our “role” is simply to acknowledge, accept, believe, and receive it!
This, beloved, is THE foundational verse for us:
18 And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing reflected as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image from one degree of glory to even
more glory, by the Spirit of the Lord who makes us more and more like Christ as we are changed into His glorious image.
2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP
Change is both progressive AND daily… Don’t beat yourself up when you fall…. GET UP!!!
Proverbs 24:16 Amplified Bible (AMP)
16
For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,…
Get up, get up… GET UP!!!
Your standing with God is NOT based on your self-effort or law-keeping BUT on the Divine Transaction that took place on Calvary!!!
The Holy Spirit took up residence IN you upon salvation. He goes to work IN you as you YIELD and SURRENDER to HIM.
Old Testament New Testament
“What can I give “What can I LET GO of?”
God… do FOR God?
That things that keep us from maturing in Love [thereby, in Christ] are not sins! Sin has been already taken care of for ALL TIME:
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.
Hebrews 10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things (sins), there is no longer any offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. (Meaning the forgiveness was finished.)
Romans 5:10a For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, ... (Notice this verse says we were reconciled while we were enemies, not after we become friends with God.)
Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, (Again, forgiveness happened before we became believers in Jesus Christ.)
Romans 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
I think by now, you get the picture!!!
Remember this truth [and say it to yourself]:
“I am ALREADY righteous… but as I yield to the Holy Spirit, He make me righteous in PRACTICE and in my BEHAVIOR.”
This is very important because:
Every attempt to self-correct makes Christ of NO EFFECT!
Galatians 5:4
Christ is become of no effect to you, whoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace.
The word “fallen” in Greek is “ekpipto” meaning:
• to drop away
• to be driven off course
• to become inefficient
• and of none effect
Imagine this: EVEYTHING that Jesus purchased for you on the Cross and His Divine standing at The Father’s Right Hand is CUT OFF from you… it has no power… and effect in your life!!!
That is the insidiousness of SELF-EFFORT!!!!
SELF-EFFORT [or Self-Focus] looks like this:
• Distracts you from Jesus’ finished work on the Cross
• Leads to condemnation
• Ultimately begs you to “do something” to fix yourself
Every attempt to self-correct
makes Christ of no effect.
A life IN-Focus looks like this:
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
A life IN-Focus is an invitation to COME… to stop trying to please God Who is ALREADY pleased with you because of Jesus’ FINISHED work on the Cross…
It’s done… FINISHED!!!!
In closing, I want to share with you a deep spiritual insight the Lord revealed to me after I had already finished this message. It is about the life of Moses…
It was in Exodus 33…
The children of Israel have already left Egypt and crossed the Jordan River. God instructs Moses to continue the journey and lead the Israelites to the land of promise.
However, God drops a bombshell and says that He will not make the journey with them because they are “stiffnecked” (stubborn, obstinate, and hard-hearted).
Now Moses took a tent and pitched it outside the camp and called it the “Tabernacle (or Tent) of Meeting”. Everyone who sought the Lord would go to this Tent of Meeting outside the camp.
When Moses entered the Tent a pillar of smoke would descend and God would speak with him. And all the people would rise and worship at their own tent doors.
Moses makes three requests of God…
1. I Need To Know You… (Exodus 33:13-14)Grasp the connection between the awareness of God’s Presence and your ability to REST.
2. I Need Your Presence…. (Exodus 33:15-17) God’s grace is the awareness of God’s presence in your life every day.
3. I Need Your Glory… (Exodus 33:18-23)Moses and the Israelites had only “shadows” of hidden things to come. But we have the full “substance” of God revealed in Christ!
By Beholding… We Become
2 Corinthians 3:18
Jesus is the glory of the Father! When we look in the mirror we see His reflection. Christ IN us, the hope of glory!
Colossians 1:26-27
26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.
27 To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!
In Christ, we possess the glory that Moses could never have! I need the substance… the essence… the power… and the presence of Jesus every day in my life.
Because His beauty transforms!
Click for the full message and be blessed!
Pastor Sharon