The Chemistry of a Christian 08: Atmospheric Effect

The Chemistry of a Christian 08: Atmospheric Effect

THE ATMOSPHERIC EFFECT

 2 CORINTHIANS 2:11 (NLT)

…so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes. 

Mark 4:37-40 (NLT)

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

JESUS CHANGES THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH FAITH

With His faith, Jesus changed the atmosphere. Jesus caused a stormy situation to turn into a peaceful situation. The storm did not obey Jesus because He was the Son of God. The storm obeyed Jesus because Jesus had faith and He understood the authority mankind has in the earth (Genesis 1:26). 

FAITH IS OUR SUPERNATURAL ABILITY TO TAKE AUTHORITY

Matthew 21:21 (NLT)

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.

Jesus understood that the magnitude of His faith can move mountains and change the atmosphere. 

We too can operate in the same type of faith that Jesus operated in and press light into a world of darkness. Find the atmosphere of freedom in an oppressed world. 

Our faith in the accomplished work of the cross…

LET THERE BE LIGHT WAS AN ENABLING AND EMPOWERING

Jesus does everything with PASSION! (John 3:16) 

JESUS OVERCOMES THE WORLD

John 16:33 (NLT)

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

The WORLD is restored when it is defined by His WORD

He restores the WORD as being the ONLY TRUTH and MANIFESTS the fullness of God the Father to all mankind again.

RELATIONSHIP is what the Father desires… No matter what we have done.

The Spirit was given to draw us towards the Father, now grace would present the Father as desiring to draw Himself unto us. He presents His RELATIONAL DESIRE.
 

Jesus supernaturally defined WHO God was in us and from this point onward, it was all about empowering us to become who we are in Him.

Even though He made the way, LIES still dogged our psyche…

A NEW ATMOSPHERE HAD TO BE DEFINED

Romans 5:8 (TPT)

But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!

Under His governance GRACE is truth. But now this is not only grace given it is grace to give.

HE CONQUERED THE WORLD’S ATMOSPHERE – The Lies of the Flesh

The story of Jesus conquering the dark atmosphere with the Word (Matthew 4:1-11)

The Moment Jesus Defeats Satan and makes a way for anyone who wishes to have the one true DIVINE God.

HE Displaces any other god, power, principality, or stronghold and reestablishes the Father as our source.

Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

AND THEN…

Matthew 4:14-17 (TPT)

He did this to make the prophecy of Isaiah come true: Listen, you who live in the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, along the road to the sea and on the other side of the Jordan, and Galilee—the land of the Gentiles! You who spend your days shrouded in darkness can now say, “We have seen a brilliant Light.” And those who live in the dark shadow land of death can now say, “The Dawning Light arises on us.” From that time on Jesus began to proclaim his message with these words: “Keep turning away from your sins and come back to God, for heaven’s kingdom realm is now accessible.”

JESUS Restores the Human Spirit (The one God gave us)

Luke 4:18-19 (TPT)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he has anointed me to be hope for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, and new eyes for the blind, and to preach to prisoners, ‘You are set FREE!’ I have come to share the message of Jubilee, for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.” “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he has anointed me to be hope for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, and new eyes for the blind, and to preach to prisoners, ‘You are set free!’ I have come to share the message of Jubilee, for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.

Table of Divine Elements = God’s Character in Us

Table of the Blind = What was taken from us

THE TABLE OF THE FREE

Table of the Free = what restoration looks like – our response to His Freedom

FREEDOM IS ON OFFER BUT NOT GUARANTEED

The human heart still treacherous (Jer. 17:9)

Jesus promises to send us a helper – the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of TRUTH and the Revealer of GRACE.

If we know who we are, we will know what to do.

Not just His purpose for us, it is our Purpose in Him

THE FRUITS FOR HIS PURPOSE IN US

Galatians 5:22-23 (Fruit of the Spirit)

VERSUS

Galatians 5:18-21 (TPT)

But when you yield to the life of the Spirit, you will no longer be living under the law, but soaring above it ! The behavior of the self-life is obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior. Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!

THE ATMOSPHERE HEALED AND REVEALED

Our OPINIONATED Self is overwhelmed by the revelations by the Holy Spirit of His Opinion of us – LOVE.

Not just the receiving of His love but defining our love-based response.

THE NEW ATMOSPHERE

John 13:34 (NLT)

So I give you now a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you.

It is new because we are now motivated to respond and not just receive.

His love breaks us out of every OPPRESSIVE circumstance and excuse – now we are free to respond in LOVE.

We are amazed, and the FEAR we once had is transformed into REVERENCE. 

PROVERBS 1:7 (TPT)

We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God. Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.’

REVERENCE changes our UNSTABLE THINKING into TRUE KNOWLEDGE of truth (John 17:3).

IRRELIGIOUS is transformed into a prayerful HONOR

Prayerful – Honor the space of God in our Lives

HONOR is restored. We HONOR HIM, and we HONOR OTHERS.

We No longer JUSTIFY SIN (fear of disappointing Him), and we humbly REPENT.

PRIDE is a weakness that was installed in us by man, not GOD – He Gave us Power. That power is translated into a response in the form of FAITH.

FAITH helps us replicate the characteristics of God as a servant and as such we respond not with IRRATIONAL knee-jerk reactions but with IRRATIONAL GIVING to others.

SELFISHNESS becomes SELFLESSNESS.

Selfless irrational giving is linked to a quality that is found in the Holy Spirit but also a response we need to choose. Our DEPRESSION is linked to our pride. There is no joy in thinking of ourselves. (Acts 20:35) But there is JOY in the giving of ourselves. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Satan’s DECEPTION is obliterated through God’s divine justice. His justice restores  BALANCE (complete not missing a part). 

That balance removes the craziness of BLAME by restoring the PEACE IN OUR IDENTITY.

At peace with ourselves, we are no longer blown about and SPINELESS. We can endurance and cultivate a COURAGE that enables us to press through when it’s tough and not live OPPORTUNISTIC – IN-THE-MOMENT LIVES but rather lives with HIGH LEVELS OF COMMITMENT.

The Holy Spirit reveals that our SHAME is not founded, and we don’t have to walk around looking for fault but rather opportunities to display KINDNESS. 

That kindness dissolves our SPITEFUL demeanor and has us responding with CHARITY.

The world’s fixation on the short-term effect of small-minded MINORITY MOVEMENTS is converted through God’s compassion into KINGDOM-MINDED thinking.

Kingdom-mindedness means that we seek to be busy – we are not LAZY or ENTITLED.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (TPT)

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 

We are ENTHUSIASTIC, SACRIFICIALnot bound by DOUBT, and as a result CONFIDENT in the promises of GOD and the Gospel.

Desiring CONTROL or being controlled is not based on the truth of God. We rescind our control to His truth and become the SPEAKERS OF TRUTH to all mankind. 

We are Salt and Light, not CONDEMNING, but GENTLY turning the spirit of RELIGION into a collection of GRACE GIVERS.

REBELLION – knowing we naturally rebel against the Holiness of our calling we submit and present ourselves to our Rabbi as TEACHABLE. 

EXCUSES when presented with God’s teachings grow strangely unusable. And we start doing GENUINE GOOD. 

This means we don’t injure people by being UNFAITHFUL to our commitments, but our YES is YES, and NO is NO! 

This turns the ducking and diving, double-life manipulation, and our DECEIT into becoming vulnerable and transparent in being ACCOUNTABLE.

The CONFUSION of life when focussed on the spirit of TRUTH is turned into CLARITY. 

CLARITY brings a self-awareness that is rewarded with TEMPER being transformed into SELF-CONTROL. 

Our Irrational and ILLOGICAL thoughts are transformed back into Logos LOGIC that restores our SOUND-MIND.

MENTAL ILLNESSES are readjusted to a focussed RATIONALITY that surpasses understanding.

Our FRAIL-based thinking turns our convicted sense into one of being HEALED.

Our ADDICTED mindset that is governed by quick fixes and escapism is restored to PATIENT methodical thought and behavior. 

Our Father’s LONG-SUFFERING becomes one of our characteristics. 

Our FALSE AUTHORITY is adjusted to reveal our ability to SUBMIT to His Righteousness. 

Our DISOBEDIENCE, CORRUPT, MONEY-DRIVEN MINDS become OBEDIENT and CHRIST-FOCUSSED with a BLESSED TO BLESS mindset. 

Turning our inevitable DESTRUCTIVE behavior into a life of freedom and ABUNDANCE.

THE CROSS CHANGES THE ATMOSPHERE OF OUR LIVES…
 

Next Week:  The Oath of Good Character