A warrior is a seeker after truth. We want freedom above all else. We seek to release captives. To open blind eyes and create an awareness of God in all his beauty and excellence. Warriors want territory. They seek a land of their own. They want the city, the region, the state/Province, the country and the nations. They want war. They seek battle. They have a passionate love for Jesus and an equal hatred of the enemy. We come to destroy the devil and all his works.
Jesus came to reveal the father. His goal was to open up and establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. He came to model a righteous life – as a man before God – pre-– cross. His intention was to create a supernatural lifestyle that was physical and practical. He wanted to disciple and mentor a generation of leaders and warriors. He came to battle against the religious system that took everything from people but did not give them a direct encounter with God. He came, of course, to die for us – to be the sacrificial Lamb of God that would save us from our sins. He came to rise from the dead and be our intercessor and provider before the throne of his father.
He came, of course, to be the fullness of our truth and experience. I am the way, the truth, and the life – John 14:6. He who has seen me, has seen the father – John 14:9. As he is, so are we in this world – 1 John 4:17. To be Christ like is to be the same as Jesus in all things. We cannot separate him from the supernatural lifestyle that he still models. In the same way that we are in him, we too, cannot be separated from healings, miracles, signs, and wonders.
John 14:12 – truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the father. Whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, so that the father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Like Jesus, we depend on the father for all things. We can do nothing outside of our position in Christ. Christ is our life – Colossians 1:4, and we model in ourselves his relationship with the father – John 5:19 – 20. The Holy Spirit is our helper in all things Christ like – John 14:26/15:26 – 27.
When Jesus revealed his life message – Isaiah 61 – he did not do so as part of his Sermon on the Mount. Instead, he went to his hometown church to talk about his relationship with the seven Spirits of God:
Luke 4:14 – in Jesus returned to Galleon the power the spirit, and news about them spread through all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. In the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to them. He opened the book and found place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Yes sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; in the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
Part of his ministry was to take a stand against religiosity in church leadership. Woe is a primary exclamation of grief and also of denunciation. In Matthew 23:13 – 29, he used it on 8 occasions. He called church leaders hypocrites, blind man, blind guides, and whited sepulchers. His foremost accusation – verse 23 – was that they shut off the kingdom of heaven for people because they had no experience of it themselves.
In mentoring the disciples, he was developing a church leadership that could carry the message and lifestyle of the kingdom in themselves.
He taught them how to believe God, how to move in the supernatural, how to have power over the enemy, and how to love the people and release them into a lifestyle of blessing and favor.
He did not teach them how to do meetings. He taught them how to be good examples of the kingdom lifestyle.
He stood against the religious system that had captured people in a legalistic environment that prevented them from being fully loved by God. When the system defines the experience we can have with God, then we have no freedom. Jesus came to set us free from an organized religious experience that teaches us how to think, speak, and act before God. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to renew our minds, not for man to program them. Jesus came to overthrow a system that does not allow us the joy of exposure to His fullness, anointing, and glory. We have an entry into the eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, abundantly supplied by him.
2 Peter 1:2 – grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that 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 is granted to us is 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. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in-your-face supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your press appearance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor and fruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, the all the more diligent to make certain about is calling in choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
An abundant life involves multiplication. It is concerned with living an accelerated lifestyle within the permissions of God. In Christ, everything is yes and amen from the father’s heart. He has granted us so much in his son. We have permission and also formal rights on the kingdom by virtue of being included in Christ. The father is in complete agreement regarding our position, status, and inheritance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves to honor Jesus in this way. To grant literally means to “consent to support”. God is saying yes to us. Warriors live in the permissions of God.
Everything that our life and calling requires for us to follow and serve God wholeheartedly, will be supplied in Jesus name. We are developing a habit of faith based upon a true knowledge of God. There are levels of knowledge, obviously. All knowledge gained must be accompanied by an experience. Only the truth can set us free. Knowledge without experience is merely true. Knowing it in our head does not change our mindset. Knowing it in our heart – the inner man – and experiencing the power and release of it in our circumstances, makes it truth.
Head knowledge is one level. Academic understanding is another. Never trust a theologian who has not experienced truth for himself. Logical, rational, and intellectual appreciation of Scripture will not take us into the high places of faith and breakthrough. A true knowledge of God is based on the relationship that has proved the intentions of the father in the physical, natural level of life situations. A true knowledge of God must lead us into a direct, physical encounter with the Lord.
The most important purpose of the father is that we experience His glory and excellence as a part of our calling – verse 3. We do not represent an inferior kingdom. We are not helpless and hopeless. The God who gives knowledge that creates medical breakthroughs, loves to surprise us with outbreaks of power from another dimension… The spirit.
Healings, miracles, signs, and wonders are all physical breakthroughs that cannot be rationalized. Sometimes the father has no intention of explaining himself. Faith is beyond reason and far superior to intellect. It is a glorious thing to see people healed physically – to witness the resurrection of physical capability in Jesus name. Glory and excellence is the only way to represent the Majesty, sovereignty, and supremacy of heaven.
Our problem as evangelicals is that we believe that the kingdom is only spiritual. We do not believe that it is also physical, mental, and emotional. It is for the whole man. We compound our unbelief by trying to access his kingdom from a cerebral viewpoint. So we water down the spirituality of the kingdom by using our reason as a prime means of interpreting God’s heart.
Then we elevate Scripture above the Lord Jesus Christ by referring to the Bible as the word of God… When Scripture actually says the opposite – John 1:1 – 5/1st John 1:1 – 4/John 1:14 – 18/Revelation 19:11 – 13. Then we replace the Holy Spirit with the Bible because, obviously, now we have a book; we don’t need God! Then, because we have no spiritual dimension of interpreting Scripture, we fall back on logic, and rationale rather than wisdom. We have a knowledge of God but no power to relate to him in a way that changes our environment. We are reduced to explaining him rather than experiencing him. How far have we fallen from the early church! Where is the glory and excellence of God in his body?
Scripture is within truth. The words of God in written form. The word of God is a person (Revelation 19:11 – 13/John one: 1 and 14) Jesus said of himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6 the word and the truth are one person, Jesus Christ.
Freedom occurs when we receive truth and develop a relationship with it that leads to transformation. For that to happen we must receive truth in the shape, identity and personality of Jesus. He becomes that true to me, in me and for me.
I cannot take the truth and apply to myself. This is self-help. Which self is applying the truth? Instead, Jesus lives that truth in me. I surrender to his life and he becomes the living word in my spirit and soul. I am wonderfully impacted by his presence spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally. My whole person is affected by his whole person. Too many Christians only give mental assent to the truth. Cerebral acceptance is not an experience. The joy the Lord is relational encounter with his exuberant happiness. We live under his smile and our hearts are light.
He is the truth and fully makes his abode in me using that truth. John 14:23 – the Holy Spirit leads me into all truth – John 16:23 – by empowering me to have a relationship with Jesus in the particular area that he is changing in me.
The way we come into salvation is the way that this salvation is sustained. Jesus as the living word is presented to us as Savior. When we receive Jesus personally as Savior, we become saved. Salvation is a person living within us. Anyone who has not received him as a personal Savior, even if they know all the Scriptures, is not saved. What is true in one area of spirituality, is true in all. The word and the truth are a person that must be invited into our lives and fully received. The question is not, do you know about Jesus, but have you received him? For the truth to set us free, we must continue to receive it as a person.
For example, if we want to experience the real peace of God, then memorizing scriptures about peace or studying the subject will not achieve that objective. We study to show ourselves approved when we want to teach others and guide them into an experience of God – 2 Timothy 2:15.
Memorizing scriptures about peace will not lead me into an experience of peace. When Jesus by his presence becomes my Prince of peace then I’m set free to be peaceful. Truth has an identity attached to it. We experience God relationally in all matters of truth and spirituality. This is what it means to be Christ like. He has made his abode in me. He lives in my experience because I encounter his personality in the truth he established in me. He is my experience. We called it godliness.
Godliness is about experiencing the wonderful nature of God in all of life. It is knowing with certainty that God is made provision for all eventualities that we will face. A warrior does not let go of splendor. They refuse to be downgraded from the truth.
We have been granted precious and magnificent promises so that by them we can partake of the nature of Jesus. The promises of God, when they become a reality, lead us into godliness – a revelatory experience so profound it changes our whole character and personality. We become transformed. We experience a marked change in nature, form, and appearance.
Transformation is the process by which a person is converted into another of greater value. In biology, transformation is the genetic alteration of a cell, by introduction of extraneous DNA. Spiritually, transformation occurs by the renewing of our mind. That means at some point, we must cease to use logic as the prime means of understanding God and his kingdom. Logic, as the prime means of understanding, has been superseded by the wisdom from above. We are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind – Ephesians 4:23.
How the Lord thinks is the model for our own thought life. We have the mind of Christ. Jesus’ thought, spoke, and acted in faith, which is the language and behavior of heaven. He saw what his father did, and his own actions were compatible. He spoke the way he heard it from the father. Knowledge must become experience, or we are not changed. Only the truth can set us free. The key to knowledge is experience. This actually was the charge that Jesus made in his denouncement of religiosity to the Pharisees:
Luke 11:52 – woe to you lawyers! Free of taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who are entering.
God deliver us from people who teach truth but have no experience of it. Their lack of experience in the truth prevents people from seeing the opportunity that the father is presenting. One of the saddest talks I ever heard was a man teaching about the Holy Spirit, who clearly did not have a relationship with him. It was pitiful; and totally, mind numbingly boring!
When we practice the presence of God, we can never stumble. Godliness is the presence of God personified in our hearts and minds. We do not become a new person by changing our behavior; we discover the person we already are in Christ and behave accordingly. Truth walks with you and replenishes your experience of God at different levels of life.
How many sermons have we listen to over the years? How many have caused us to see God as he really is? How many have set us free to be loved by God differently? How many have been backed up by supernatural ministry that has resulted in a breakthrough over our lives? What have we learned and experienced of the Majesty, sovereignty, and supremacy of God in our lives? do we know our place in the kingdom? Do we understand anything of the intentionality of the father towards us in Christ?
Are we astonished, amazed, and full of wonder about the father? Are we living above our circumstances? Has faith increased? Are we confident about God’s passion for us?
Assignment – be honest about your current experience of God. Do you know more about how the church operates then how God works? What is your current experience of the kingdom of heaven? What was the last truth you were taught, that actually set you free in your circumstances?
Commission – are you being equipped to do the work of ministry? Are you being mentored toward in your devotion, relationship, and worship of God? What do you need God to do for you that empowers you to live the life you have always wanted in Christ? Ask the father to send you a helper who can lead you into all the truth – John 14:16 – 17.