Jesus Quotes (Paraphrased)

"Follow me; not the theologies" - Jesus

"I died in vain if you think righteousness comes through your works" - Jesus (Gal 2:21, Ephe 2:8-9)

"My sacrifice was perfect. Be free from the religious mindset that tries to make you earn what you freely have, in me." - Jesus

"I died in vain when you trust in your prayer/fasting for your healing. You are already healed in me." - Jesus (1 Pet 2:24)

"Believe in me and love everyone. When you are grafted in me, my Life in you will enable you to love." - Jesus (1 John 3:23, John 15:5)

"It is easy to love your friend, but my Life in you will help you love your enemies." - Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44, John 15:5)

"Look unto me for answers; not the neo-legalistic principles." - Jesus

"I was not kidding when I said 'I am The Way, The Truth and The Life.'" - Jesus

"Bring me your so-called "impossibilities". I specialize in solving them. Your job is to trust me." - Jesus (Matt 19:26, Mark 9:23)

"The New Testament "works" is to believe in me." - Jesus (John 6:28-29)

"You do not need "more faith" than you already have. What you need is a revelation of my finished work on the cross." - Jesus

"It is not about what you "do", but what I DID on the cross. What you do is merely respond to what I did, by believing." - Jesus

"I do not need your rituals; I am after your heart." - Jesus

"If a message/writing makes you feel inadequate, then it is not my Gospel. You, my child, are complete in me." - Jesus

"I don't say 'Yes', 'No', 'Maybe'. All the promises in me are YES and Amen!" - Jesus (2 Cori 1:20)

"Eternal life starts right here, right now." - Jesus (John 17:3)

"If you are a "Word" preacher, you will preach me, for I am the Word." - Jesus (John 1:1, 14)

"I give you sickness to 'teach you a lesson'? What is it that you are smoking?" - Jesus (Acts 10:38)

"I did not place that brain in your head to fill the space. Think. Ask questions. Allow my Spirit to enlighten you." - Jesus

"'The Blessing' is me." - Jesus

"I AM the abundant Life." - Jesus

"Break that full length mirror that is attached to yourself and turn your attention to me." - Jesus

"The demented religion makes you jump hoops to reach me, but you, my precious, are in the palm of my hand. Know that." - Jesus

"I am just a thought or a breath away." - Jesus

"I am the treasure in you." - Jesus

"Please leave Elijah and Moses alone. Don't you remember what my Father said on the mount of transfiguration?" - Jesus

"Quit thinking that you do not have enough faith. I AM the author and finisher of your faith and I am in you." - Jesus (Heb 12:2)

"The centurion had "great faith", the epileptic boy's Dad and my disciples had no faith. Your faith level is not your answer; I AM." - Jesus

"I will build My church. Now if you could please move out of the way, that would be awesome!" - Jesus

A Jesus Manifesto

If you could read only ONE post in this weblog, let it be this.
A Jesus Manifesto for the 21st Century Church

Preach the Vine

A Plea:

With all due respect, I am happy that you are a "grace" preacher, "faith" preacher, "feel-good" preacher, or that you can levitate while preaching. But unless and until the people are connected to the person of Jesus, what they hear are mere "doctrines" that will feed their head and not The Gospel, which will set them FREE - free from condemnation, free from the futile self-effort, free from every imaginable physical or emotional bondage, free to be themselves in Christ Jesus, free to fulfill their destinies in Christ.

The supernatural changes happen as we behold the Son, not the preacher or his/her "10 principles" or the labels. Gospel is a person and His name is Jesus. Eternal life begins right here, right now. Listen to Jesus' definition of eternal life - "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3 NKJV). It is about an intimate walk with God. It is about plugging into The Life, for we can do nothing apart from depending on Him (John 15:5). There is no life for the branch apart from the Vine. Preach the Vine and not how the branch can survive on its own. It can't. Self-effort may appease one's ego, but the branch will soon wither and die. We were created to live from the Tree of Life (Jesus) alone.

Please, bring the Son and His finished work back to the center, for He is the embodiment of grace, faith, love, joy, wisdom, righteousness, healing, prosperity, miracles, deliverance, sanctification, redemption, peace and whatever it is that we are looking for in Him.

One milli ounce of poison

Religion stifles the very life within a person. Religion imposes what it think is right, when we are liberated, in Christ and we have the Spirit (The Teacher) to guide us. Imposition (no matter how subtle its nature is) and condemnation is never from God. It is the hallmark of a religion.

In Jeremiah 31:33-34, we see - "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

I just have this feeling that God is much smarter than all of us put together. He died for a person, He removed the old nature and chose to forget his iniquities. Now it is Him who draws the person to Him. His Spirit convicts him of the peril of not trusting in Him. When yielded, He changes the soul of the person. When the person is connected with the person of Jesus, new life flows from him. It is that intimate walk with Jesus that brings about changes on the outside, not the personalized doctrines.

Is it "rebellion" to speak against the message (not a person or an organization) when it tries to put me under the curse because of the mixture of law and grace (see Gal 3:10)? Look at it this way; if someone harms your family members, would you stand idle "in the name of love"? I would hope not. Yes, you love the invader with your whole heart because Jesus loves him unconditionally and His love is flowing through you, but you will not allow his negative actions to affect you or your loved ones.

Read it in context; legalism is the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) and I refuse to let that happen to me or my family anymore. All it takes is one milli ounce of poison to spoil a big container of soup. One milli ounce of legalism is more than sufficient to nullify the finished work on the Cross. Paul calls it foolishness when we try to mix God's gift with our weakly little efforts. I would urge you to please read the letter that Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians in five different versions, until the mighty truth sinks in. Ask the Holy Spirit to quicken you with the revelation of the finished work on the Cross.

The Church That Christ Built

The Church That Christ Built
by Darin Hufford - The Free Believers Network

Related articles:
What I Think of Church
What I Think of Church - Part 2

My Papa

When people get the realization that Christian life is about an intimate, playful and an informal relationship with the Papa all the doctrinal talk will vanish.

The phrase "child of God" is thrown around a lot without realizing the depth of it. If President Obama's children were to visit our home, imagine how respectful we will be, because they are the President's kids! My Papa, however, knows the exact number of cells on Obama's body. That's how powerful and big my Papa is. And He loved me before I received Him. He continues to love me in spite of me. Jesus went through all of that so that our Papa can hold us so tight in His arms. He is love.

I have not even scratched the surface of what my Papa has done for me. Most of the info I have is head knowledge. A real person died for me! The more we know that this is about sitting in Papa's lap and playing with Him and that He is not angry, the more we enjoy Him. When I play with my son, He enjoys each moment. There are times I become stern. But stern is not equal to terror. If a child is fearful in his heart, he will not go to Papa; never mind enjoying His presence. That is religion. Text based. Cold. It look at the Bible as a rulebook. Bible, actually is a love letter of our Papa, a story of what He did so that we could enjoy His company, not fear Him. There is no fear in perfect love and He is love. How much would it hurt Him, when His precious children, that He gave His life up for, are afraid of Him and do things as an obligation!

Golf Balls

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a golf ball at Tiger.

He that has been made righteous (not self-righteous), let him know that it is purely by grace (unmerited, unearned, undeserved Gift of God) that you have been saved and made righteous, before you decide to condemn the man.

Remove grace from the picture; all of us are in the same boat. I realize it is a tough pill to swallow, especially for the religious crowd, but if you doubt my statement, read James 2:10.

None of us can judge him (or anyone), because, often times people judge others based on the presumed notion that they are somehow "better" (self-righteous) than the other for whatever reasons. James 2:10 proves that one little lie keeps me in the company of the "worst" criminals without me lifting one finger. This is why there is none righteous by their own merits and all of us needs the gift of grace, which is freely available.

We Are the World 25 for Haiti

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Mahima

Mahima (Glory), by Kontagious

...
Mahimaa... Mahimaa....Mahimaa....Mahimaa.
Glory. x 4

Mahimaa....Mahimaa ho theri x 4
Glory.......May You be glorified x 4

Pavithra......Shakthimaan
Holy...........Powerful / Almighty

Ithna Mahaan......Theraa Pyaar
How Great is Your Love

Ishvar Puthr.....Theri Karuna apaar
Son of God...Great is your mercy

Pavithra...Thera Naam
Holy is your name

Utthar say Dakshin thak.....Purab say paschim thak
From the north to south .....East to West

Thera hee naam goonjay
Let your name alone resound

Aasmaan ki chaayi thak.....saagar ki dheh thak
To the heights of the heavens .....To the depths of the sea

Thera hee naam goonjay
Let your name alone resound

Mahimaa....Mahimaa ho theri x 4
Glory.......May You be glorified x 4

Saari srushti....karay theri.....stuthee x 2
Let all creation Praise you x 2

Mahimaa....Mahimaa ho theri x 4
Glory.......May You be glorified x 4

Thanks to Sam Mathew for the help with the translation.

"Spirit-led"

I had used the phrase 'Spirit-led' in my post titled 'Guilt Vs Love' and I feel I should clarify a point.

This phrase has become a cliché among some circles. People are waiting to be "led" always. We do not have to wait for the glory cloud to envelope us or for a booming voice from the Heaven, when a situation that needs Jesus' touch presents itself. Jesus said, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." (Matt 10:8 NKJV). "Go into all the world and preach the gospel...And these signs will follow those who believe..." (see Mark 16:15-20 NKJV). The directives are straightforward and it is for the believer, not just a select few.

The person who has His power, which He freely gives, is equipped for the task. The authority is His; we are merely yielding ourselves so that He can flow through us. This does not necessarily have anything to do with our senses. Sometimes we may have to step out in faith and when we do that, the Holy Spirit will give us specific words of knowledge or a vision regarding the situation at hand. This is what I meant by 'Spirit-led' in this context. But often times, we like to wait for that 'great anointed minister' to pass through our city, while forgetting that the believer has The Anointing (Jesus) in him. 'Heal the sick' does not have a different or a deeper meaning in Greek. Gospel is powerful. But I can sound "spiritual" and mask the timidity that I have (which is simply a product of unbelief/unrenewed mind) with a statement like, "I do not feel led to go and empty a hospital".

Suppose a person who is gifted with the spiritual gift of prophesy stumbles upon a sick person. Should he say, "well, I'm a prophet and therefore I do not heal the sick"? No, Jesus wants to see the manifestation of the stripes that He bore for everyone. "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven". Jesus healed and delivered those who were oppressed by the devil. Now that He is Spirit, He flows through us to touch others. Although we would have the urge to call it "our ministry", the ministry is really His.

However, each one of us have distinct* assignments (Eph 2:10) in Him. Not everyone is called to occupy the office of a pastor, evangelist, teacher etc. If my calling is to clean the bathroom at church (if you think that it does not need a calling, volunteer to clean your church bathroom for 8 weeks, and see if you can do that cheerfully), I should not try to become a teacher. This "trying" only leads to a flesh-driven activity, which will bear no fruit from Him. But when we are connected with and gently guided by the Holy Spirit, we will have great joy in whatever task that we are involved with and above all, He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

*Lest it be misread, distinct does not mean that one person is "better" because he or she has a "flashy" assignment than the other. They are not. They are not lesser either. As a matter of fact, 'I' or 'They' no longer exists. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal 2:20 NKJV).

I could be 5 seconds or 50 years in Christ Jesus - the resurrection power (Rom 8:11) that houses me is the same in either cases. Jesus Christ or His Power is not the variable here. What changes is my understanding of Who I am carrying, as I renew my mind to the knowledge of my new-creation reality.