The Rainbow: God's Character Displayed

I love rainbows!  The colors are absolutely gorgeous.  No two are ever exactly the same.  We can see them from such  a variety of perspectives. The times I've seen a double rainbow are particularly breath-taking.   Have you noticed  that no matter the setting or the view point, everyone seems to stop what they are doing to take the time to  notice, and point it out to others around them?

As Believers, we have a particular fondness, and appreciation of rainbows.  After the flood, God told Noah:

 Genesis 9:12-17, "This is the sign of the agreement between me and you and every living creature that is with you.  I am putting my rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the agreement between me and the earth. ....Floods will never again destroy all life on the earth.... I will see it and I will remember the agreement that continues forever between me and every living thing on the earth.'  So, God said to Noah, ' The rainbow is a sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.'"

After a time of rain, there is always something cheerful and comforting about seeing a rainbow.  Seeing a double rainbow doubles our joy.  Whether or not we are consciously aware, rainbows are soothing for our souls.

Artists know that if they mix all the colors of paint together, they will end up with the color black. With light, they will end up with a very opposite result.  When all the colors of light are mixed together, white light is seen.

We enjoy looking at light that is refracted by anything that acts like a prism, which creates rainbows.  God is light according to 1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 1:5.  In Him there is no darkness.  Christ is Light: John 1:4-9, 3:19-20, 8:12, 12:46.  Psalm 119:15 tells us His word is light.  And light is used to indicate the presence of God: 2 Cor. 4:6,  Ephesians 5:8-9; 1 Peter 2:9.

There is only one "Light of the World!"  That Light can manifest in a multitude of ways.  By looking at the individual characteristics of that one Light, we are not creating more Light, only looking at its make up.

Science has shown us that light can be separated into distinctly different and unique colors. Each of these colors can serve as a tool to enable us to see a larger picture of the character of God.  These distinct characteristics can be something with which we remind ourselves when we are going through some challenging circumstances, and stormy times in our lives.

The Bible tells us that there are seven spirits of God. These are God and not God divided into seven parts. Nor is this implying that there are seven "Gods." God  is simply expressing Himself as each one of these.  These seven spirits are listed in Isaiah 11:2-3, and mentioned in Jeremiah 33:14, and  Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6.

Isaiah lists them as follows:  The Spirit of the Lord,  The Spirit of Wisdom,  The Spirit of Understanding, The Spirit of Counsel, The Spirit of Might (Strength), The Spirit of Knowledge, The Fear (Respect/Awe) of the Lord.  All of these equals ONE God.

This perspective is being shared for encouragement, and not for theological debate.  The rainbow is a very literal sign, but it also can be a symbolic tool that can help us be reminded of Who God is and to remember  that He dwells in fullness within each of His children.

When we experience some tough things in this life, we can be reminded of the rainbow.  Just as it is a sign to remind us that God will never again bring destruction by flood,  we can use the various colors of the rainbow to remind us of the fact that God's Holy Spirit lives inside of us.  When we need wisdom, we can be reminded that HIS Wisdom lives inside of us.  When we need courage and strength, we can be reminded that HIS Might lives in us.  The same is true for Knowledge, Understanding, and so on.  Christ in us is our Hope (confident expectation for a good outcome)!

So, What is a "Birthright"?

If you are a born-again child of God, you have recieved all of Christ as your life.  He is sealed in your Spirit, and you have also been placed "in Him".  (I will discuss this more fully, in another blog post).  When you received Him, you received everything that He is.  You have and can do everything that Jesus is and can do because it's produced by Him as we learn to yield our wills to His and allow His Life to flow in us and through us to accomplish His purposes.

Romans 8:17, "If we are God's children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ."
 
You have been made a joint-heir in Christ  A "joint-heir" is a co-participant, or a co-sharer; a co-partaker with another. In Hebrews 11:9, it speaks about Isaac and Jacob being joint-heirs due to their relation with Abraham.   It's used when a wife is a joint-heir with her husband, for example. 1 Peter 3:9, talks about this.  In Ephesians 3:6, Paul speaks of gentiles being joint-heirs with Israel.

According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, (10th Ed.) 1997, an "heir" is "one who receives or is entitled to receive some endowment or quality of a parent or predecessor ."  The heir is also entitled to receive  property, and any rank, title, or office that may apply.

A "birthright" is the "rights of the firstborn".   In the Bible, Esau is an example of one who "showed how little he cared/valued the rights and privileges as a firstborn son." (Gen. 25:32-34;  Heb.12:16).

In the ancient Hebrew culture, in addition to receiving property as the first-born son, he also had conferred upon him the rights of acting as the family priest, which shows the authority he was given over the younger siblings.

In the Old Covenant, the firstborn was a type of Christ as God's Firstborn, and High priest.  This is also a picture of us, as Christians. 

Hebrews 12:23, "You have come to the meeting of God's firstborn children whose names are written in Heaven."

Since we are "joint-heirs" with Christ, then take a look at the following scripture:

2 Peter 1:3-4, "...His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory, and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you  may become partakers of 'the' divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

Children of God, ("Believers"/"Christians") have a brand new nature.  Your nature is Christ, living inside of you.  God's Divine Nature lives fully in your Spirit.  1/3 of you is wall-to-wall God indwelling us.  Your Nature is the same as HIS.  We are Who we are because of Whose we are, and Who it is that lives in us.

Our "Birthrights" are everything that is HIS DIVINE NATURE.  They are In Christ.  He is fully in you.  As you partake of HIS Divine Nature, you will experience your birthrights, right now, in this present life.  They are powerful expressions of Himself.   You can't experience any of them apart from Him, and is why it says in John 15:5b,"....apart from Me, you can do nothing."

If you think of yourself as a prism, and God's Divine Nature (in you) as "the Light", then in our daily earthlife experiences, what you need in any particular moment is an expression of His Nature to meet that need. Those expressions are your "birthrights" flowing through you full of power for experiencing Kingdom Life, now.

Knowing what you have inherited is a process of discovery.  Valuing your inheritance is vitally important to your being able to experience them.

Birth Determines Identity

When you were born, you were identified as being the son or daughter of whoever your natural birthparents are. Your last name indicates who your daddy is.  We were born into a dark kingdom.  Our original father was the evil one.  We were born with very natural tendencies, and a propensity to be just like him. 

Somewhere, in your life as you grew up, you were presented with the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus.  At that moment, you had an opportunity to receive Him as your Savior, and for Life.  You were presented with the opportunity to have a 'legal name change'.   You could become Christ's "annointed one", rather than continuing to be a child of our original dad:  "The father of lies".

If you said yes, to Christ's offer, then, according to Colossians 3:12b-13,  you were immediately, "freed from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son." (New Century Version).

You now have been adopted into God's kingdom.

Romans 8:16-17, "And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God's children.  {Since} we are God's children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ."  

You are God's child and accepted just as if you had never not been His child.  You have been given a marvelous new identity and many, many "birthrights"/inheritances simply because you are now a child of the King.

In this natural earthlife experience, adoption, when legally done, provides the child with every right,  position, and privilege that a naturally born child has by the ones who adopted that child. Actually, it's even more legally binding and secure.  An adopted child receives the same things as the natural child. 

As children of God, we are joint-heirs with Jesus.  Everything that Jesus is, so are we, right now.  (To be clear, this does not make us God!  We have been given the same privileges He has.) 
1John 4:17, "As He is in this world, so are we".

To delve further into what you have been given so you can experience "Kingdom Life" right now, check out www.graceplaceintl.org  for a free downloadable book mark, and other materials you may find helpful for you. 

This bookmark lists many of our new rights and privileges as God's children, so that you can get started on your journey.  My suggestion is to read, and re-read this list, and search out more from the written Word of God to add to it.   In time, it will become revelation knowledge to you.

You Can Overcome Weariness

This is the time of year that many of us can become overwhelmed, worn-out and just plain weary. Jesus said, in Matt. 11:28-30:

 "Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.  Accept my teachings, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives.  The teaching that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you is light."


This passage is full of insight for walking in greater levels of peace and stress-reduction. If you are feeling pressured and weighed down with the cares and duties in your day to day life, what did Jesus say to do?   v. 28--Come to Him, and rest.  In Him, is where you will find rest for your life.  He said HIS load is light.  If what you are carrying feels heavy, then you want to consider what it is you are carrying, why you are carrying it, and who it came from.  Anytime something feels too heavy, then something has been added to the load that God never intended.

God gave us emotions.  They are part of our soul.  We feel many things, but we aren't to be led or make decisions based on the emotions.  They actually should be followers and not leaders.  However, they can serve as indicators that some things are amiss.  When pressure or stress begins to build, we can choose to take time and assess what is going on.

The following is a simple acronym using the word: W E A R Y.  When you are feeling weary, tired, and worn out, then you can use this acronym to ask yourself some questions and consider what you can do differently to feel less pressured and stressed, as you move forward in life.

W---Ask yourself WHO has been in charge of your activity(s).Ask yourself WHY you are doing what you are doing.  WHAT is your motivation?  WHAT is it that's pressuring you?

E---Energize.  What perks you up?  Do you need to physically stop your activity and make time to physically rest as in sleep?  Have you veered away from some healthy eating habits?  How is your water intake? Perhaps you need to incorporate some healthy type of purposeful exercise into your daily or weekly schedule, other than just being busy. These can contribute to those feelings of weariness.  Give yourself some time, and space to regroup, relax, and gain some refreshment, and a fresh perspective.

A---Attend to the Words of the Lord.  "Attend" means to understand, discern; to pay attention; to prick up the ears.  It’s paying attention with the attitude of having the intent of doing according to what you heard.

God has the instructions for what is BEST for you, and that will work according to how He's wired you to function best.  Be willing to subtract some things from your list(s) of things to do, if that is what HE says, or add some things.  Whatever He says, He will have the way for you to move forward without being weighed down, or overloaded by them.

By the way, at this time of year, in particular, your list(s) can be filled with "should do's", "ought-to's", "obligations" you feel you have to fulfill.  I would like to encourage you to start with these, when trimming your list.  You can be busy about a lot of "good" things, and completely miss or be too exhausted to really enjoy the things that matter the most to you, your family, and close friends.

R---Rest in HIS ability to do the work in and through you.  Now that you've taken time to stop what you were doing for a bit, checked your motivations, energized yourself,  and paid attention to the Words and directives of God, you can move forward in the peace and confidence of knowing that what is left on your list is from God.  Whatever He directs, His power will enable you to accomplish those things.  Deadlines are God's business, though we can assign our deadlines to things.  If you listen to God, He will lead you in the way that will enable you to meet deadlines.  

An attitude that can really help you to walk more stress-free, is to let go of the need to protect your reputation.  That can add a lot of stress that you may be carrying around needlessly.  Meeting deadlines and/or any other expectation adds lots of stress because it opens the door to the fear of not meeting those expectations.  God wants to free you of that.  As I said earlier, He will meet what He knows is the best thing for you.  Only He can see the future, and knows what’s in all of your tomorrows, anyway.  He will tell you, today, what you need for your tomorrow.   He is the one who causes people to have favor toward you.

 Y---You and your choices.  What you experience will be as a result of the choices you make.  This is not meant as condemnation.  If you are happy with how you feel and like your results, then, that's wonderful!  If you're not, then you are the one that can seize the opportunity to seek the Lord for insight into how to proceed in a way that promotes peace, and harmony for you and those closest to you.

All of us are on our own journeys of discovering how to live more Spirit-led, and experience the abundant life Jesus provides. We enjoy blessing people and doing nice things for others.  May this be a simple, handy reference tool to help you not become weary or discouraged in accomplishing what you believe is important.

Welcome

As I've journeyed through my life, I've learned many things along the way.  The Holy Spirit is indeed our Teacher.  Spending much time as His student, He has equipped  me to share Truth with you that can help set you free from some things that can hold you in bondage, keeping you stuck, and unable to move forward in some areas in your life.

Grace is experiencing "Kingdom Life" now!  Your basic core beliefs are what will determine what you experience in this "Earthlife".  Everyone experiences positive and negative situations.  Your underlying belief is what will enable you to live in peace, full of hope and full of life ("Kingdom Life"). while in the midst of turbulent circumstances.

All of us are in a process of continually dropping things that have weighed us down, causing us to become weary and discouraged.  God calls us to:

"Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest.  Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives.  The teaching I ask you to accept is easy;  the load I give you to carry is light." Matthew 11:28-30.

My goal is to help you live Kingdom Life NOW!!