Greetings!

IS BEING A CHRISTIAN THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR LIFE?  Continued ...

Making Jesus to be only a part - even the most important part - of our lives is simply NOT what God teaches us about living as His children!

What DOES God teach us about living as His children?

Let's look and see . . .

• Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.          2 Corinthians 4:10-11
• For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.   Colossians 3:3-4
• Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 
  2 Timothy 1:1
• And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.    1 John 5:11
• For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 
  Philippians 1:21
• Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
  2 Corinthians 5:17
• For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.    Galatians 6:15
• And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:    Ephesians 2:6
• Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
  Philippians 2:5

Think about this for a moment:  If it were a question of making Christ the most important part of our lives, then why does God tell us that - -

1. He wants us to be conformed to the image of Christ
2. He wants our lives to be transformed
3. Our lives are hid in Christ
4. Our lives are IN Christ
5. That even our minds are to be the same as the mind of Christ

THEREFORE . . . The question we really need to address is - - IS OUR LIFE IN CHRIST?  Which would translate to:  IS CHRIST OUR LIFE – or is Christ just a part of our life?  In order for Christ to be our life, our lives must first be IN Christ!

Here is what will happen when you change your focus of priority from Christ being a part of YOUR life to your life being IN CHRIST - - We begin to transform the basis, the foundation, the priorities, the desires, the activities and the thoughts that make up the life we experience!

IF YOUR LIFE IS IN CHRIST then will you - -

• Find lust in Christ?
• Find pornography in Christ?
• Find adultery in Christ?
• Find Astrology in Christ?
• Find fear in Christ?
• Find drunkenness in Christ?
• Find getting high on drugs in Christ?
• Find ANY addiction to any substance in Christ?
• Find (you fill in the blank) in Christ?

To live life in the fullness of God’s love, blessing, power and peace our lives need to be based on WHAT IS IN CHRIST!

If something is not “in Christ” then why would you want anything to do with it?

If you are invited – drawn, urged, encouraged – to take part in some “thing” and you want to ensure that it will be something that God will agree with and bless, simply look to see if you can find that “thing” in Christ!

A life that is IN Christ is not a life with no pleasures or fun! 

• We can watch television and go to movies - - but it is the kind of programming and movies we watch and what is their content that determines if we should or should not watch a particular program/movie.
  • Do you find profanity in Christ?
  • Do you find obscenity in Christ?
  • Do you find wanton violence in Christ?
  • We can certainly listen to the radio/CD’s/etc; but again, it is the content that we must question - -
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement to do drugs in Christ?
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement for drunkenness in Christ?
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement for carnal lusts in Christ?
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement to be violent in Christ?
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement to be rebellious in Christ?
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement for self-pity in Christ?
    • Do you find the promotion/encouragement for divorce in Christ?
    • Do you find in Christ the promotion/encouragement of (you fill in the blank)?

A life in Christ is a life that is not focused on what pleases the flesh nor is it based on worldly priorities, tolerances, desires, or standards!  If you find it in the world, if the flesh demands it, in all likelihood you won’t find that same thing IN Christ!

This takes us to a place of accountability:  If our life is “hid” in Christ, then why do we search the world for pleasures?  Think about this for a moment … to be hidden in something means that we are totally engulfed in and surrounded by that thing, else we could be discovered!  You are not truly hidden in a closet unless the door is closed!  Thus, if our lives are truly hidden in Christ, that means that in order to do what the world does, we must come out of our hiding place, we must compromise what is covering or protecting us!  We must look “outside” of Christ – worse yet, we must place ourselves “outside” of Christ – if we want to experience what the world has!

And the only way you can rationalize “looking and/or living outside of Christ” to experience or have something that is not found in Christ, is to rationalize based on the deception that “Christ is the most important PART of your life”!  (I say again, this makes Christ to be but a part of your life!)

Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves, everyday, “is my life in Christ?”  “Is Christ my life?”

Let’s transform our thinking about the role of Jesus in our lives and think of OUR role in the life of the Body of Christ!  Let’s reform our thinking and stop seeing Christ as merely a part of our life and insist on experiencing a life that is IN Christ, where He is not a part but the Whole!

Many Blessings!
Dr. Timothy

PROPHET'S CORNER

Iran Boasts of End to US-Israeli Alliance

http://frontpagemag.com

An Iranian newspaper tied to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently boasted that the U.S. has “rejected” Israel over the past three months. This belief could have disastrous consequences. The author writes that the only “obstacle” remaining is the Saudi Royal Family and once it falls, Israel can be destroyed.

“It can be said that within the last 60 years, this is the first time that the Zionist regime, since its illegal inception, has had to endure rejection by the West over its vision and interest in the region,” wrote Sadollah Zarei, according to a translation by Reza Kahlili.

It’s easy to see why Iran has picked up on this fact, which Democrats have desperately tried to deny throughout Obama’s tenure. Headline after headline is about the U.S. trying to hold Israel back. In March, an anonymous administration official told the Washington Post, “We’re trying to make the decision to attack as hard as possible for Israel.”

There’s been a steady stream of leaks from administration officials potentially damaging Israel. On March 28, Foreign Policy reported on the alleged existence of a secret agreement between Israel and Azerbaijan making the latter’s airbases available for a potential strike on Iran. The results of a classified war game simulating a conflict between Israel and Iran that showed hundreds of U.S. casualties made its way into the press. Another report claimed that Israel is using members of the MEK Iranian opposition group to target Iran’s nuclear scientists.

The author attributes the change in U.S. policy to recognition of Iranian strength because of the Arab Spring, which he refers to as the “Islamic Awakening.” He specifically mentions the removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the subsequent takeover of the country by Islamist forces. Zarei also claims that the U.S. is “on the verge of accepting the Iranian nuclear program” and points to statements by Israeli officials that Iran is “rational” as proof that the Israeli government is weakening.

Don’t let the fact that Iran is Shiite and the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists are Sunni fool you. The two forces may be battling in Syria, but the Iranian regime still believes that its rise is a fulfillment of Islamic End Times prophecy. Last year, Ahmadinejad’s office produced a documentary titled The Coming Is Upon Us. It outlined how it views its role in Islamic prophecy and plainly states that the Muslim Brotherhood’s ascendance is “in accordance with the Hadith.”

In February, Khamenei declared, “From now on, in any place, if any nation or any group confronts the Zionist regime, we will endorse and we will help.” This should be seen as an overture to the Muslim Brotherhood. The film states that the destruction of Israel is preceded by the creation of an anti-Western Arab coalition.

Arguably the most important line in Zarei’s column is this: “With diminishing support for Israel and with the (upcoming) collapse of the monarchy in Saudi Arabia, there won’t be any obstacles left facing Iran with its policy of annihilation of Israel.”

This statement echoes what the apocalyptic documentary said. In The Coming Is Upon Us, the regime teaches that the death of Saudi King Abdullah will be a fulfillment of prophecy and one of the last precursors to Israel’s destruction. Saudi Arabia will be consumed with internal turmoil until the Mahdi appears to vanquish Islam’s enemies. King Abdullah is at least 87 years old.

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Government Churches

This is a bit different for “Prophet’s Corner” as I don’t usually write the articles in this column; however this is an important piece and must be shared.

In the very early 1990’s God gave me certain visions and messages concerning the church community that, at the time, were pretty much rejected by the church leaders and members that I shared these with - - yet over time they have all either begun or have fully come to pass.

What I call government churches is one of those messages which people of the day and even up until recent times had said “no way”, we live in America and that just can’t happen here!

The Lord said that those churches that relied upon government money for the projects they wanted to engage in and for services they want to provide, will one day become agents of the government because the churches were (are) doing two things in disobedience to God.

First, they were not performing the ministry services detailed in God’s Word, but instead have subrogated those to the government and instead were engaging in activities that God’s Word never instructed churches to be involved in.

Second, and far more dangerous, churches were being lured into submission by accepting government money for the services and projects that, even though were meritorious, were never meant to be supplied by anyone other than God!  Day cares, schools, etc. are certainly “good” services but if God is not the Provider for the resources then they are nothing more than the work of man.

The Lord showed me at that time (1990 – 1992) that the day was approaching whereby these works of man would come under threat by the government and in order to protect their own works, churches would accept the terms of the government in order to retain and keep receiving their government money both in forms of grant money and tax credits.

God showed me that the churches that were receiving government money to operate their programs would eventually become agents of the state and the reason is this:  That if a church receives government money that church (or organization) would have to perform as the government dictated and that the churches would agree because of the importance of the money to their operations.

A few nights ago on “Hannity” (Fox News Channel) Sean Hannity had a guest on his panel who argued that the government had every right to tell the Catholic Colleges what to do (in this case with medical insurance that provides abortion) because of the fact that the Colleges such as Notre Dame were the recipients of enormous amounts of government grant money each year for student tuition, these colleges really have no choice but to obey the government mandates! 

Gallantly, Lou Holtz replied that the government could keep their money.

However the sad reality is that the bridge has already been crossed and this is but the first in what will be a long line of challenges and breakages of what once was religious freedom in our nation - - and it was surrendered for the sake of Mammon!

Although this has not come fully to pass as of yet, prepare for the day that churches will choose to become defacto government agencies rather than to lose the precious money for which they never trusted God!

Timothy Hoflund

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Messages from: Leaders in Ministry

Use Your Head!

Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
                   —Hebrews 5:11

Many a preacher would like to challenge the intellectual and thinking capacity of his congregation, but he has been warned about preaching over the people's heads.

I ask, "What are people's heads for? God Almighty gave them those heads and I think they ought to use them!"

As a preacher, I deny that any of the truths of God which I teach and expound are over the heads of the people. I deny it!

My preaching may go right through their heads if there is nothing in there to stop it, but I do not preach truths which are too much for them to comprehend. We ought to begin using our heads. Brother, you ought to take that head of yours, oil it and rub the rust off and begin to use it as God has always expected you would. God expects you to understand and have a grasp of His truth because you need it from day to day.     

Lord, help me to use my head, to be willing to be stretched intellectually by Your Holy Spirit. Use me to stretch others as well. Amen.

A. W. Tozer, Tozer on Christian Leadership: A 366-Day Devotional, (Camp Hill, PA: Wingspread, 2007), WORD search CROSS
e-book, 148-149