“All Freedom is measured by its boundaries.
So carry a tape measure.”

How do you measure your boundaries – in inches or in cinches? Living free in your own power is not a cinch! It’s no easy task. When I began my journey back toward a relationship with Christ, I needed guidelines to help me stay within God’s parameters. I have found ten principles that will keep us within the boundaries of our freedom in Christ.

If we are ever going to have any success whatsoever in our efforts to experience freedom in life, we must determine that if God tells us that something is wrong, it is wrong. If God is against it, so am I. I grew up in a Christian home and had lots of boundaries and rules put on me. As a young person, I misunderstood their purpose. I used to plan for the day when I became an adult and could release myself of all those rules. I could not wait for the day that I could live in what I thought would be true freedom! But make no mistake about it, friend, true freedom is found in boundaries. For you only exchange boundaries for bondage.

After stubbornly refusing to allow anyone to tell me what was right and what was wrong, and after my life was destroyed from the “freedom” I chose, I finally realized the lie to which I had become enslaved. As I sought to gain stability once again in life, I struggled because part of me was still living like the world but on the weekends I would sober up and go to church. God taught me a valuable lesson after several months of struggling, ten principles to conquer stubborn habits and that is what I needed to have oneness with God in all parts of my life.

I had to come to a point where I set the standard that if God pointed out to me that something is wrong, I must adapt the same standard. I made the decision that if God would tell me through either my umbrella of authority or through His Word that something was wrong, I was going to get on the right side of the fence. The first line that I drew for myself was when I started coming back to church. I knew that using drugs was wrong. So, I drew a line in my life and set the standard that I was not going to use drugs anymore. But I could not stop there, I soon discovered. Because it would only take a bad day or a wrong choice and I was merely one step away from my addiction. I continually found myself falling over that line. However, as God began showing me more things through His Word and through my leadership, I began drawing more lines in my life. Each one pushed me further and further from the life I once knew. I continued to take steps in the right direction.

As I began to follow this first principle in its entirety, God gave me several others to help me maintain complete sobriety! They are what is now commonly referred to as the RU Ten Principles of Prosperity:

Principle #1- If God’s against it, so am I.
Principle #2-Every sin has its origin in our hearts.
Principle #3-It is easier to keep the heart clean than it is to clean it after it has been defiled.
Principle #4-We cannot fight a fleshly appetite by indulging in it.
Principle #5-Small compromises lead to great disasters. (Little sins lead to big sins.)
Principle #6-Those who do not love the Lord will not help us serve the Lord.
Principle #7-Our sinful habits do hurt those who follow us.
Principle #8-It is not possible to fight a fleshly temptation with fleshly weapons.
Principle #9-We lose our freedom to choose when we give in to temptation. Our consequences are inevitable and incalculable and up to God.
Principle #10- God balances guilt with blame. Accept the blame for your actions and God will remove the guilt.

These principles I still apply, as daily I seek to die, their relevance you cannot deny; if on self you once did try. So soon you will reply, “In Him I must rely”!

He uses fiery trials to enlist us.
Prior to this instance, in the previous chapter (John 20:22), Jesus showed Himself to Peter and others and breathed on them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. This was the indwelling. It would be followed by the infilling. Once He is in, if we will remain empty of self, we can be filled with Him.

Peter, having just been emptied through his trial “by a fire,” was about to be enlisted through his trial “by a fire.” It would develop Him to be full of the presence of God. As he sat by a fire of coals with fish laid thereupon, we see Jesus challenging Peter as He says, “feed my sheep (lambs).” What made this man full of denial so valuable to the soon to be departing Lord Jesus? He was emptied, filled, and useful for strengthening the brethren who needed conversion back to the Truth.

So, Peter begins his ministry, having been emptied and enlisted. But, he would soon find another trial by a fire, and this trial would empower him.

He uses fiery trials to empower us.
This third trial by a fire came when Peter was huddled with the other disciples in the upper room. When, suddenly, a might rushing wind came upon them. With this wind came cloven tongues of what? You guessed it . . . fire! This fire would empower Him. It was not the Holy Ghost in Him. For, that had happened in John 20. It was the Holy Ghost coming UPON Him. It was a result of a man being emptied of self, filled with the Spirit, enlisted by Christ, and then empowered by that Spirit as the filling poured out. He was filled UP until it flowed ON. That’s what the word UPON means–up, and then on! The Spirit was IN, then UP, and then ON! But, it took a few fiery trials.

Because Peter was emptied, he could be filled. Because he could be filled, he was indwelt. Because he was indwelt, he could be enlisted. Because he embraced his enlistment, he WAS filled. Because he was filled, he could be empowered. Because he WAS empowered, nearly ten thousand people were saved within a few days.

I guess the devil should have thought twice, before he sought permission to sift ole’ Peter, huh? And my friend, likewise with you and I need to think twice. It is a privilege to be worthy, like Jesus, who was led of the Spirit. To be “considered” worthy, like Job, whom God Himself suggested to Satan. To be “requested” like Peter, who Satan personally requested. To be “counted” worthy, like Paul, whom Satan delegated to a personal messenger.

Remember these passage paraphrases? Jesus telling us to feel “blessed when we are reviled, persecuted, and heavily criticized.” Paul telling us that he would “MOST GLADY glory in his infirmities.” Peter telling us to “rejoice as partakers in Christ’s sufferings during the fiery trials which try you.” Peter actually said to not even think it strange to enjoy your suffering?

Rejoice in fiery trials?! Most gladly glory in my weaknesses?! Be blessed while persecuted?! How can I do this? Accept my temptations as examinations. When I pass them, I am to rejoice and be blessed. When I fail them, I should make adjustments in my weakened walk that was revealed to me during His private examination, and then and only then, can I be emptied for His filling, enlisted to be full, and empowered till overflowing.

The disappearing of self automatically initiates the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ and OUR praise (commendation), honor (promotion), and glory (observation). Want to be noticed a little more for your hard work? Want to be commended for your efforts? Want to be promoted for your sacrifices? Change your focus of a temptation to an examination and let Him do something about your failing grades.

In this issue, we discussed our multiplication of temptation (the cause). In the next issue, I hope to discuss the maturation of temptation (the effect), and then the meditation of temptation (cure).

The word praise means “worth commending.” The word honor means “worth promoting.” The word glory means “worth observing.” So, we can conclude that if we accept our temptations as examinations from God, we will determine, whether we pass or fail, who or Whom we are depending upon. With the exposé of His examination, we can make the necessary adjustments in our life to regain and remain situated IN Christ.

Once we have retained our position IN Christ, His presence appears in the midst of our difficulties. That presence brings us commendation, promotion, and observation (praise, honor, and glory) that can only be experienced when He appears, not me. The presence of the Lord Jesus in my life is clear evidence that I have decreased, and He has increased. What does it take for that to happen? One thing: a fiery trial of temptation. God has three purposes for fiery trials.

He uses fiery trials to empty us.
Peter knew a little bit about fiery trials, didn’t he? Remember the passage in Matthew where Peter was warming his hands by a what? You guessed it . . . a fire! It wasn’t long, before he was weeping bitterly because of his failed temptation that he would surely deny Christ, thrice.
But what truth from Christ preceded Peter’s first failed fiery trial? It was the revelation that Christ made to Peter indicating Satan desired access to Peter, “that he may sift you as wheat.” Jesus could have kept that potential fiery trial at bay, but instead Jesus responded with this, “I have prayed for you.” Great! Thanks a lot! He could stop it from happening. He could disallow it. He could empower Peter through it. But rather, He allows the sifting and instead accepts it as an opportunity to pray. What was the prayer? Very simple “that your faith fail not”!

That blows my mind! Jesus knew that Peter’s faith was in self and that Satan wanted access as a result of his vulnerability, and Jesus allowed it. Why would He allow a weaker brother to be sifted by fiery trials of temptation? Peter was full of himself and Christ needed Peter to be empty of self in order to fill him with the Spirit.

Though Satan wants to exploit us through temptation, God has greater intention for His examinations. It is to expose us, not to the world, but to ourselves. It is our neglect of our own personal examinations that leads Him to put us through private examinations. It is our rejection of the results from His private examinations that leads us to the humiliation of a public exploitation. Remember, if God doesn’t succeed in exposing us to us, the devil will eventually succeed in exploiting us to others.

After Jesus indicated that Peter was being prayed for, that his faith fail not, Jesus then said something very similar to what James repeated in our opening verse of this article. “When you are converted,” this is to say, when you have turned back to Christ. I guess Jesus knew that His prayer request WASN’T going to be answered, for He says, “when” you are turned back to me. I want you to “strengthen the brethren.” Aha! Now we see the cumulative power of restoration from the examination of temptation. Our conversion back to Christ will allow us to strengthen other believers to do the same. We can assist in the conversion of other believers back to Christ. Amen!

But, this was not the only time that Peter experienced a trial by a fire. The second time was after the resurrection of our Lord when Jesus was standing on the shore as Peter and his fishing buddies were fishing, sixty yards off the coast. Upon recognizing it was Jesus, Peter swam to the shore and was met by what? You guessed it . . . another fire! The first fire emptied him. The second fire would enlist him.

So, we have an admonition for the body of Christ to actively participate in bearing the burdens of tempted people. We, as believers, ought not only to overcome our own bouts with temptations, but we ought to sustain other brethren through their temptations and save them in their failed errs from the truth, as well.

This is the view taught by James. I enjoy learning the Spirit-led views of the apostles, especially when they so clearly match (especially in their vocabulary words) the very same views of other apostles. It helps me to accept by faith the many difficult positions in Scripture that we must embrace.

One such view that James shares with Peter is the position that temptation should be an enjoyable, albeit successful, trial. Both James, in chapter one, and Peter, in chapter one of his first book refers to it as such. I find this position difficult to embrace. It’s hard to believe that someone can actually enjoy the process of temptation that leads to personal victory.

I have surely experienced victory over temptations and determine it is sweet, but these men go so far as enjoying the anticipation of victory, in the face of temptation. They come to believe that whether enduring or escaping temptation, the process is even sweeter to them than MY victories are to me!

We see this plainly taught in First Peter 1:6, “Ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” Notice that they are not only experiencing individual acts of joy in their temptations, but that they are experiencing repeatable acts of joy. That’s what rejoicing means. It is joy that repeats itself!

Why are they in this time of temptation? Peter says, “Because you need to be”! Though they are in heaviness because of God’s determination that they need to experience a season of temptation, they are rejoicing over it all. How easy does that seem to comprehend for you?!

But then, Peter defines what he means when he uses the word temptation, for the word temptation in our passage is followed in the Bible with a colon (:). A colon is a punctuation that precedes an explanation.

So, we know that Peter is now going to explain what a temptation is. His definition is found in the next phrase: the trial of your faith. The word trial means “examination.” The word faith is the word “confidence, or dependence.” God is going to examine Who or who your faith is depending upon. In who or Whom is your confidence? If it is in the flesh, you shall fail. If it is IN the Lord, you shall be safe.

So, we can conclude that what the devil determines to be a temptation, God intends to be an examination. It’s an examination that we may learn to discern the position of our heart. Are we IN Him or on the verge of being IN sin?

These folks found manifold temptation (or various trials of our dependence) even more precious to them than temporal treasures. For Peter discerned, “the trial of [their] faith” was “much more precious than of gold that perisheth.” How do you find such faith that would find its trials of temptations to be a priceless reward worthy of rejoicing? Of course, this faith is the faith that often lies dormant within us, for it is the seventh fruit of the Spirit. It is not my faith. It is His faith.

Peter taught these “strangers” in Asia (verse one) that, even though their faith is “tried with fire,” it should be “found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” This appearing of Jesus Christ is NOT referring to His second coming. It is referring to His consistent outpouring. It is Christ APPEARING to others in the midst of our adversities.

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. James 5:19-20

Did you know that temptations begat more temptations – not less, no matter if you succeed or fail? A failed temptation only leads to the degradation of future temptations. Success in the wiles of temptations, or victory over our vices may bring us new levels. But new levels only bring new devils. Thus, I have learned that success breeds more difficult temptations and failure breeds more harmful temptations. It’s a never ending cycle. It would be nice if God saw our battles and gave us a break, wouldn’t it?

Wouldn’t it be nice if a victory over temptation could add up to less temptation? Sorry, can’t happen! Maybe, if we could succeed more often, God would divide our temptations over time, giving us more rest from the wicked? No chance! How about periods of success with NO failure? Could that lead our longsuffering Lord to actually subtract from future temptations? Uh, uh! Temptations, no matter if we succeed or fail, will only multiply.

Even when we are “trying harder to do better,” we are unable to hinder the multiplication of temptation. The little train that “thought it could” was good motivation for climbing hills but bad advice for spiritual maturity.

But, when we fail, I have learned, God has people He uses to restore us into a renewed relationship with Him. Aren’t you glad that the Lord never gives up on us?

In James 5:19-20, we are introduced to one who desperately needs such mercy from His Maker, the Lord. It is someone who has erred from the truth. The word erred means “wander.” Let’s meet a Christian who, as a result of a failed temptation, has “wandered over yonder”! These verses say, “Brethren, if any of you do err (or, wander) from the truth, and one convert him (or, change his position); Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

We see in this passage, two persons being discussed. The one is the wandered brethren. He has erred from the truth, and strayed from the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that this phrase, “err from the truth,” is a manifestation of somebody caught in a temptation. He has faced a level of devil too big for his current walk; thus, the tempted brethren erred from the Truth—Jesus.

The second person discussed is the one reaching out to convert the erred brethren. He invests in those who wander, that he may change their position from erring away from Jesus to returning to His position IN Jesus.
To convert somebody back to Christ, is to convince them to change their position from their selfish leading to being Spirit led once again, from wandering away from the truth to remaining IN the truth.

The person who invests in changing the position of a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. Now, that could be referring to a premature physical death as a result of an error, but it always is referring to the subsequent spiritual death we experience when we lose fellowship with the Son in our spirit.

Twelve Inches of Faith—Diligently Seeking Him

Most Christians that see God reward diligent seekers are content to be casual observers of this truth rather than participants in it.  Their faith, or their measure of confidence, is too weak to jump out and trust God for rewards in their own life.  They know God rewards diligent seekers, but they seek their own reward.  However, as Christians, they are guaranteed by God to not gain their reward.  They will seek it and never receive it.

They remain baby Christians because while they believe God rewards diligent seekers, they won’t participate in diligently seeking Him.  Like newborn babies, they will grow as they are fed and exercised.  Hearing the Word feeds a baby and doing the Word exercises it.  If a baby eats and eats and eats without exercising they become nothing more than a fat baby!  That’s what we have in most of our churches—fat babies.  They cry and whine and the only way they “get changed” is if someone else “changes them!”  The reason for this is that after their birth they began to eat and failed to exercise.

A baby begins skinny until she is introduced to her mother’s milk, then she gets fat.  All of a sudden she starts crawling around, and then that baby fat disappears and she gets skinny again.  Then her mother will introduce her to baby food and she will grow chunky again.  By this time, however, she begins to walk and next thing you know she’s back down to a skinny little thing.

Next, her mother will introduce her to solid food and back up in weight she goes.  But she starts running and jumping and playing and she drops the pounds again.  This cycle continues in our life until we reach about….oh, well.  Let’s say about 30 years old.  Then what happens?  We get fat.  Why?  Because we stop exercising!

This same truth can be applied to why most people never grow in faith much deeper than six or nine inches.  They are so close to gaining the entire foot that would cause them to be filled with the love of Christ, but they fall short.  Why do they do this?  Because they will not exercise their new found faith.

Let me encourage you to change your observations into participation.  “Jump in—the water’s fine!”  The more you diligently seek God, the more you will be rewarded.  The more you are rewarded, the less faith you will need.  The less faith you need the more God will challenge you.  The more God challenges you the more your faith will be tested.  The more your faith is tested, the more faith you will need.  The more faith you need the more you will need to diligently seek God!  It’s a reciprocal cause and effect.

Some say faith is to believe in what you cannot see, so that you can someday see what you have believed.  If you will step out in bold confidence and express faith in God, He will show you that your confidence is not in vain.  He will show you what you have believed!  From there, it will require no more faith.  You will be living by sight again.  Thus, God will take you to new levels and introduce you to new devils.  As you exercise faith, he gives you clearer sight.  Diligent seeking of God in anticipation of a reward is your faith in ACTION!!  Faith without works does not produce life, much less can it reproduce life!

If you want to have Enoch’s faith, you will have to take a walk with God.  But, be careful, you may end up out on the water!  “…O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

Three Inches of Faith—Coming to God

The first three inch measurement of faith is a confidence in God that leads you to “come to God.”  Working with addicted adults and with troubled teens, I meet a lot of people that “come to God.”  They come to God every time they have a problem.  But that’s about all they do.  Every time they need God, they come to Him.  But as soon as they are bailed out of their immediate problem, they are gone again.  When you come to God, you are sure to get closer to God, because if you draw nigh to Him, He will draw nigh to you (James 4:8).

Now, God won’t help someone who has no measure of faith, so if these people are intentionally trying to use God, it’s unlikely He will help them.  But if you come to Him in faith, He will not cast you out.  People with this measure of faith may not have enough faith to stick around, but at least they have enough confidence in God to come to Him in times of urgent need.

I often have thought that God should punish people for behaving like this, but I guess that’s why I’m not God.  (So I guess I should start acting like Him!)  You see, this measure of faith is not enough to save you.  It’s a level to gain God’s goodness as He prepares you for repentance (Rom. 2:4).  But absent of belief in Jesus, you remain unregenerated and unconfident in Him.

Thus, if God is going to be good to unbelievers in Jesus who come to God without Jesus, then I should consider doing the same thing and for the same reason.  The reason is quite elementary—so that they can increase their measure of faith until they reach the second three inches and gain the 6 inches of faith necessary for salvation.

Six Inches of Faith—Believe He is God

If we are patient with those who take advantage of God with their small measures of faith, they will eventually, over time hear enough of the Word to increase their faith.  If they come to God, and come to God, and come to God, you will probably find them believing that He is God.  More importantly, they will believe in His plan (Jesus Christ and Him crucified).  This measure of faith brings salvation.

When you have this level of confidence in God and His sacrifice you have six inches of faith.  Remember, this is just a metaphor to show you where different types of people are spiritually in their faith.  But faith that saves is not a full measure of faith.  These people have the information, but they don’t yet have the personal relation.  Still, with six inches of faith out of twelve, they are half way there!  Yet, unfortunately, that is where most Christians begin to slow down.

Nine Inches of Faith—Believe that He Rewards Diligent Seekers

After acquiring six inches of faith and accepting the plan of salvation, new believers are given an opportunity to grow in their faith.  They begin to attend functions and join classes at church.  They start fellowshipping with other believers.  As they observe those who are dynamic in their faith they see that God is rewarding them.

It doesn’t take long for a new believer to realize that mature believers are indeed blessed by God.  Whether they see someone donate a like-new car to a low paid godly school teacher, or they see people promoted at work that have less experience but are mature Christians, it’s noticeable right away.  God shows them these blessing in the lives of others so that they will be motivated to grow their faith to the next three inches of confidence.  This level teaches that God rewards those who diligently seek Him.

This represents nine inches of faith.  At this level you have heard, accepted and observed the truth.  You lack only one more level.  That is a level of participation.  This level of participation is proof of your measure of confidence in God.  Without this measure of confidence, you will not participate in the final three inches of faith—the twelve inches that “please Him.”

Galatians 2:20 “I 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.”

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Faith is defined as a measurement of your confidence in God, both in what He has done  (justification) and what He wants to do (sanctification).  However, there are different measures of faith.  Galatians 2:20 teaches us that faith is not simply what saves you, but it is what will change you too!  I believe John 3:16 is the most important verse in the Bible to the unsaved.  But I believe Galatians 2:20 is the most important verse in the Bible to the saved.

If Paul is telling us that the same thing that saves us (faith) is the same thing that changes us, then we must conclude that there are different measurements of faith.  There must be different levels of confidence, among believers, in what God has promised to do for us.

In order to understand what these measurements might be, we should look to the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11), where we see three men mentioned.  One is Abel.  He expressed his faith as he “worshiped God” in sacrifice.  We see Noah.  He expressed his faith as he “worked for God” when he prepared an ark.  But between the two we hear of a little known man named Enoch.  He exercised his faith when he “walked with God” (Gen. 5:24).

But yet, he had a testimony that God did not attribute to any other member of the Hebrews Hall of Faith.  Enoch had the testimony that “he pleased God” (verse 5).  How did Enoch please God more than Abel and Noah and the others?  Very simply, he exercised all four measures of faith by wrapping his worship and work around his dynamic walk with God.   This pleased God so much that He then explains that we need Enoch’s “measures of faith” in order to please Him ourselves!  God lists these four measures in the next verse, Hebrews ll:6.

I believe it takes all “four measures of faith” to please God.  I also believe that it takes all four “measures of faith” to experience the crucified Christian life that is taught to us in Galatians 2:20.  We will look at each of these measures as if they were inches on a ruler.  Each measurement will be three inches in length.  If we have a full measure of faith, it would metaphorically equal a foot of faith.

The pattern of our relationship with God was set in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man. God would daily visit and talk to Adam. We were created to have that kind of close fellowship with Him. Nothing in life can substitute for it in the Christian life. You can no more have a vibrant spiritual life absent of a relationship with God than you can have a vibrant physical life absent of oxygen.

Relationship is “us getting to know God.” Knowing someone is far different from simply knowing about them. I have a friend who knows just about everything he could ever learn about D.L. Moody. But no matter how much he knows about Moody, he will never know D. L. Moody. Obviously, it is because Moody is dead and gone to glory.

However, Jesus is very much alive and He longs to be a very real and present Presence in your life. Yes, indeed, without a dynamic love relationship with Him, we will find the Christian life to be a series of ups and downs, periods of self-induced victory punctuated with bouts of self-indulged defeat. If we don’t walk in intimacy with the Spirit, we will eventually walk, once again, in the immaturity of the flesh.

The Hid-N-Life™ is a term at RU that we use to define this intimacy in Christ. Simply put, when it comes to true Christian living, it is not about information; it is about a personal relation. That intimacy only comes as we experience God’s work of sanctification in our lives.

Have you struggled to experience that dynamic personal relation? Well, thanks to the prince of this world and his delegators (powers and authorities), the information needed to develop that personal relation often remains hidden! Just like the devil hides justification from the unbeliever, he hides the benefits of sanctification from the believer.

The Hid-N-Life™ is best described as exercising a measure of confidence (that’s faith) in God’s ability to do the work (that’s grace) necessary in my life to conform me to the image of His Son (that’s fruit) through a daily walk with Him. I will not do the work (that’s performing); I will allow the work to be done in me (that’s transforming). I must realize that God did not come to change my life (that’s self righteousness). He came to exchange it (that’s righteousness)!

As a result, I will die daily through confession and repentance of all sin that is obvious to me or brought to my conscience by the Holy Spirit during my daily time with God and throughout the day. As I do this, I will experience a greater enlightenment in my worship. My enlivened worship will then provide me with the most coveted act of the Spirit, and that is His intuition. With Holy Spirit intuition, I will remain the clean vessel required to qualify for God’s power on my walk and work.

As we walk in His Spirit, and enjoy the enlightenment of real worship, we will begin to see great victories in our lives! However, often in the life of a Christian, we experience great victories, and then we fail to remember Who did the work! We take the compliments, the exhortations, the glory…and begin to let them make us look good, rather than making Him look good! Our relationship with Him takes “backstage” as we begin, once again, to perform in our own power. God may allow us “center stage”, but only for a short “act”. The curtain will come down and this will lead to the inevitable….defeat.

The only way to conquer this “actor” from taking stage is to consistently acknowledge our helplessness. We must realize that we are NOTHING outside of Christ. It is only by remaining “IN CHRIST” that we will experience continual victory.

Realize our need and think not we are elite…or surely our victory will cause us to retreat in defeat!

Friend, whatever it is you are trying to change in your life, you cannot do it.  Without God, you can do nothing (John 15:5).  But you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you (Phil. 4:13).  The Holy Spirit in us is Jesus Christ personified inside us.  The Holy Spirit on us is Jesus Christ personified on us.  One gives us the ability to live the Christian life, the other gives us the ability to do dynamic things that we don’t have the skill to do.  I was not a leader growing up; I was a follower.  I barely made it through school.  I never made it to Bible college.  I am not really smart.  Every day I cause God’s power to come off of me because of wrong choices.  But every great thing that God has used me to do in this ministry He has done because He has rested temporarily (because of my weaknesses) upon me.

If you are unsaved, you need God to live within you.  But if you are saved and want to change, you don’t need God in you, you already have that.  You need God on you.  So I ask you to make the following New Year’s resolution to God: If God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself, you will live your life uncomfortable.