Beauty of Creation in Woman

  We face a mountainous assault against the designed purpose of human relationships. The culture we live in is constantly building man's pride and degrading woman's purity and reverence. Men are becoming disqualified through a murderous, prideful spirit, and many women are trapped in shame and oppression. More and more women are presented as another object for men to play with. You can't hardly watch a movie without the trampling of women's innocence at the expense of gratifying a man's raging desire. The way women are referenced and talked about in a degrading way has infiltrated our media, schools, workplaces and homes. So many families I know where the house revolves around the man's schedule, feelings and desires. Everything there happens on his whim. If the man wants to hunt, he goes, if he wants  to go out with the guys he does, if he wants to have multiple nights of the week dedicated to his pleasures he's gone. And this has become completely acceptable within the church, man acting on every desire and forcing his own way.  The message that is rooting in the hearts of this generation is; women exist for the purpose of serving and pleasuring man, instead of man existing to lay down his life for the sake of love for woman. We are at risk of becoming completely blinded to the beauty of creation in woman. And worse, we are raising the next generation with a low standard on male roles in our homes.


  Looking at the creation account, every creature made was created with a perfect companion, man being the companion to God. At no time in Genesis 1 and 2 do we see anything less than perfect. God begins the creation of woman with the foreknowledge of what man would choose in the upcoming chapter and the separation of God and man. Therefore He says "It is not good that man should be alone" Adam did not know he had longing and desire for a companion until God awakened desire in him. Looking at Genesis 2:18-22 we see that God starts with "It is not good for man to be alone." But then He parades the animals in front of Adam. Why would God do that? This is not about Adam having authority over the animals, that is a given due to Adam's communion with God. This is God showing Adam every creature with it's companion and Adam coming into knowledge that he does not have one. As Adam is naming the animals he is finding he has no helper like all the other creatures and desire begins to take root in his heart. When his desire is full grown God puts him to sleep and takes a rib and out of man's side comes woman. Do we see this picture? That out of the side of Adam came his companion. Later in scripture we find that through the outpouring of blood from the side of Jesus a companion is brought forth. In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son to redeem us. Galatians 4:4 God is saying "It is not good that my Son should have desire for a companion and that desire go unanswered" We know Jesus had desire for us in John 17:24

  "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. That He might present  her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church." 
Ephesians 6:25-29

 Woman was not created as an afterthought, a simple helper or as an inferior being. When God made woman He gave us the clear representation of the bride. Woman is the depiction of God’s crowning jewel, enthrallment with woman would drive man to the depths in pursuit of love. Woman was made to be treated delicately, pursued passionately and served as royalty. Woman was made to be served into greatness, just as Christ did the church. That the elevation of woman would come through laying down of a life in love. The fundamental picture of the bride is one where the bride is helpless and without hope apart from the Bridegroom's desire to see her come into perfection through His sacrificing everything for her.

  The assault against this design whether it be the wickedness of man or the rage of Satan is more potent than ever in history. Pornography so easily accessible (The purchase of pornography is a $96 Billion industry annually, or $3,000.00 per second) The purchase of people to enslave them in sex trafficking is a $32 Billion industry annually. One in three women suffer sexual abuse as a child. The sexual desensitization is coming through every available path. We hardly notice a small adulterous act or a reference to sexual immorality in our entertainment we so love. The grocery store check out attack the eyes of men countless times each minute, degrading the image of women all around the world. Homosexuality is increasingly gaining ground like never before. The attack has many focused intentions: Keep men enslaved in sin, destroy God's image of what He designed to begin with and where everything will end up, make the bride appear as an object and not a passionately desired person, and infiltrate the thoughts of humanity to drag them towards wickedness.

Women - If you have suffered abuse at the hands of man, do not judge this encounter as what God desires over you. You have incredible worth to Him. His desire is that you would come into wholeness and beauty, free from shame and accusation. Women are of vital importance and many have carried the spiritual banner in our homes through generations. Why does God allow suffering?

Men - The call is to pick up our cross in our own home. That a true expression of Christ's love would explode out of our sacrificial living. We must learn to cast down our desires, ambitions, lusts and pick up humility, meekness and the Word. Never stop waring against sin and self ambition. Men our shortcomings have not disqualified us, we forget what is behind and strive towards perfection. Philippians 3:13-14

If you have need to hear truth and sift through confusion and lies from the enemy, or are dealing with unbearable pain from abuse contact: Pastor Jan at New Life Christian Fellowship 810-694-4605

May the love of Christ be overwhelming in your life.

The Pleasure Of Living Holy

  A touchy subject across the body is instruction for living. Possibly the easiest way to offend a fellow believer is to tell them their life does not match what Jesus calls Christianity. Holy living has been warped into an enslavement of pleasure, but I want to tell you it's through holy living we achieve true pleasure. You see, we were created to experience pleasure, but it is what we choose to pleasure us that is the issue. God is the Author of all good things. He intricately created our emotions and feelings. He created us to feel, to enjoy, and to be captivated by the drug of pleasure. I want to be blown away by the God of pleasure forever in the purity of perfect love.

In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures evermore. -Psalm 16:11

They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house. And you give them drink from the river of Your Pleasures. -Psalm 36:8

  First I would like to state that eternity is not an abstract place where our imagination blanks after the streets of gold. The entire quality of heaven rests in it being the place where God dwells. The only reason heaven is good is because God is there.

This is eternal life; The knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. -John 17:3

  So the very basis of eternity is in the knowledge of God. Which is absolutely thrilling because He has given us His Spirit as the internal guide into Him forever. This has significant meaning now because we  can feel like we will in eternity. Not in fullness but we can attest to it. We just have a little bit till Perfection comes and makes all things new. Our ability to fully feel the presence of God is veiled by our carnal nature. We can't have the full revelation yet. So when we think about eternity we need to shift our thinking into, perfect abidance in God. Standing before Him, in Him, unveiled and becoming overwhelmed by His awesome splendor as we join the heavenly host in pure adoration. He will captivate us forever on the greatest subject in existence, Himself.

  Building on the fact that we were created to experience God at the deepest level of any created being we know God wants to be intimately involved in our lives. His desire is to so captivate us with the intoxication of His presence that it consumes every area of our lives. This intoxication from His Spirit drives us in lovesickness to strive for His standard. So it is the very act of God on the inside that invokes our bodies to move toward Him and away from the false pleasures of this age. It is the very revelation of eternity boiling in us that make us love Him and His laws.

  Looking back I always wondered why at times I would feel God in such a powerful awesome way for a brief period during a conference or a particular service. I would always regret the feeling leaving, not knowing it was the divine invitation into greater consecration. You see He releases the intoxication as the trailer to the show. When we experience His presence in a wonderful way on Sunday and its gone by Monday, more than likely we have done nothing to engage our spirit again and just went back to business as usual. I don't want to miss the invitation into Him any more. We cannot love His presence and a sinful life at the same time. We must take radical steps toward Him and His presence will then rest on us, and we can feel the burning love day after day as we walk according to His ways. We don't get the candy unless we eat dinner. We can't have the pleasure of God boiling inside us and the pleasure of our flesh being gratified in every false pleasure at the same time. It doesn't work like that.

1. Important understanding of the pursuit of a holy life: We are not trying to adhere to a set of moral standards that move us out of our culture and into a dry, boring, empty life. We are fighting to align our lives with God's heart in such a way that releases the presence of God into our being. He is a holy God, and the invitation to holiness is the invitation to join Him where He is. And I want to tell you, where He  is is the greatest place in existence. 

2. Prayer is critical. Since it is the very nature of His love pulsating in us that drives us to live Holy we must recognize that we need Him starting a fire inside us. Petitioning for the love that passes knowledge to boil up inside of us propelling us to Him.

And God has poured out love for Jesus into our hearts by the Holy Spirt. -Romans 5:5

  So its by His Spirit that we can even love Him, thus making petitions for Him to come fill us with His love is life or death. Apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus makes this clear by starting the Sermon on The Mount with "Blessed are the poor in Spirit" meaning - only those who realize they have nothing in and of themselves. That apart from God they are nothing. An absolute poverty inside. So the very doorway into kingdom living is a poor spirit fully dependent on God to provide the increase. 

 In the end it's our desire to live a holy life knowing it brings us into greater communion with Him, it is His Spirit empowering us with lovesickness causing us to seek after a holy life, and it is the promises of God that give us hope into what we receive when we choose to live in a manner that pleases Him in every area.

  Pleasing God in every area includes, but is not limited to the following: What we put before our eyes. Do we listen to things that use His name as an expletive? Our emotions, our time, our energy, our finances, the way we treat those who offend us, the way we treat our spouse, our kids, And what we allow to dwell in our minds. It is an all out war against everything that opposes the Heart of Love.

Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

 -Matthew 7:14

  When we encounter Him in love the way we view His laws change on the inside. We go from reluctant half-hearted obedience into desiring fervently to live by all His standards.

"If to be radical means to dis-engage from the lusts of this world to feel more alive in Christ, I aspire to be the most radical man ever."

Our Created Purpose

The human soul was created with one primary function and purpose; The counterpart to the Godhead Himself. The glory of just being human is we share something in God that no other creature in all of creation can experience. We were specifically created to commune with God and the government of all creation would be maintained through the glory of God resting on us, in us and exploding through us. The question remains: Do you know who you are? As humanity abides in perfection the government of God has free reign on the earth. Humanity is the connecting point between heaven and earth, the intercessors between the Creator and creation. God has chosen you and I to rule His creation, when done according to His heart, abiding in Him and communing with Him, creation stands in perfection. Everyone was created to be an intercessor, or to stand in the priestly role, feeling the heart of God and reflecting it onto creation. As we gaze on the beauty of God we reflect His glory to everything else.

In the creation account we see that every created being was made with a primary creature and a counterpart. And in the creation of both beings we see perfection. So God creates the mold and then the matching companion "according to it's kind." When God gets to humanity He says "Let us make man in our image." Meaning-"We are the Mold, we are the first beings let Us make a companion according to Our kind."The God who speaks worlds into existence, who desires and receives whatever He wants, has longing and desire for a companion to come forth full of love and desire back for Him. He has longing for the companion created to be so intimate as to house His very fullness. "The two shall become one flesh" -Amazing, human marriages can only emulate the intimacy God reserves for us and Him. God has designated a relationship so personal, so powerful and all to His glory. The image-bearers, the creatures made for God, would be the ones to have God with them, in them, loving them and loving through them. The awe of perfection has captivated my heart.

When Adam fell all of creation was thrown into disarray and chaos. The perfection of God was thrown off as the bride chose another lover, self, and gave rulership to the evil one. The core root of all sin is every form of self; self-exultation, self-preservation, self-indulgence, and all other manner of self-centeredness. The first offense against God came as Satan desired what God had for himself. Humanity chose this creature as Lord over the earth thus implanting his desires in our very core. Communion with God implants love in our hearts, love for Him and His creation. 

With the realization of what perfection looks like, and that God is working to restore perfection, I long to be found as a man after God's own heart. That His desires would become my desires, that His love would become my love as He pulsates through me. In this fallen age I find myself striving for perfection but not allowing my weakness and shortcomings to disqualify me from what God desires for me. Clinging to our blessed hope Jesus and that He will once again come and make all things new. Perfection restored, humanity restored. Lord let me be found with a heart after you.