Blessed to Bless

Blessed to Bless

“Then God blessed them…”
Genesis 1:28

The history of humanity begins with God blessing mankind.  It is impossible for humans to be what they were intended to be without God’s blessing.  That which comes before must bless that which comes after.

To know that we are blessed by God makes our souls rest and want to bless others.  Only God’s blessing can free us enough from our fear to truly be a blessing to others.

God blessed so they would bless.  Mankind exists to bless. Isn’t blessing others that for which we were truly made?

Jesus came to restore the blessing of God over all mankind.  To be restored humanity we must receive Jesus as God’s new blessing.  The New Testament could easily begin with “Then God blessed them again.”

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus describes what His blessing brings to us.

The Kingdom becomes ours.
We are comforted in our pain.
We are promised the earth as our inheritance.
We find our hunger for justice satisfied in God.
We find mercy in abundance to free give mercy.
We see God now.
We are called the Sons of God
The Kingdom is ours.
We will receive reward in heaven.
We become the salt of the earth.
We become the light of the world.
(See Matthew 5:1-16)

We are the blessed again ones who exist to bless again in Jesus Christ.  It is our continuous connection to Jesus that keeps us forever blessed in order to bless forever.

To abide in Christ is to live as one of the blessed.  Right now say “I am blessed again in Jesus to bless again!”  Now, go and bless again the people who make up your world this day.

“Then God blessed them….”   “Then God blessed them again”.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

When Cain Kills Abel

Everyone knows that Cain killed Abel.  Even so, have you ever considered why Cain killed Abel?

Cain’s anger was rooted in his failure to establish once and for all what God  expects of human beings.  To establish for all humans what God expects of them Cain had made his best offer to God.  Abel had made his offer as well. God accepted Abel’s offering not Cain’s.

When God affirmed Abel’s offering Cain was furious.  Cain understood establishing once and for all what men think God expects of them is the most powerful force on earth.  Cain did not want to do what God expects, Cain wanted this power over mankind.  Abel just wanted to do what God expected of men. Abel wanted to leave the power up to God.

Leaders who want the power to establish what God expects of all men become violent when they are not the final word.  They will find a way to force their view and their will on every Abel who just wants to do what God expects of us.

Jesus simply did what God expects of mankind.  For doing what God expects of us without seeking power He was persecuted and hated by the Cains of His day..  He told those who follow Him to expect the same reaction from the Cains of their day.

The Cains of the world still kill in the name of what is right for their power.  They may not even use God’s will  as their excuse but in their minds they want to tell God and every Abel how things should be.

God will take care of the Cains of he world.  As costly and dangerous as it may be to only want to do what God expects of us among the Cains of our day, we must be the people who submit to God like Jesus did.

Abel did not lose His life.  He found it.  So do we when we live Jesus.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Holding Visible Things Loosely

Every week we hear of a brother or sister in Christ who has been robbed while walking the streets of a Brazilian city.  Robberies are now so common that there is  a common wisdom in Brazil for how to be safely robbed.  The wisdom is  “Do not resist”.  This wisdom will save your life because the standard behavior of the thief is “Kill all who resist so others won’t.”

Jesus told His followers these things about resisting certain kinds of people.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Matthew 5:38-42

Was Jesus predicting situations like robberies in modern Brazilian cities?  At first glance the “don’t resist” wisdom of Brazil sounds a little like Jesus’ wisdom.  Upon deeper examination one can see that Jesus’ wisdom is not about survival or avoiding pain , it is about holding tightly to love instead of less important things.

Jesus wants His disciples to value love over survival and material things.  He also wants us to hang on tightly to Him and to love and to hold loosely everything else.

The Apostle Paul gave the early Christians this wisdom.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things  which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things  which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  II Corin. 4:16-18

As disciples we need to understand that all visible things are in decay and any strategy to hold on to them tightly is not wise in Brazil or anywhere else.  On the other hand, all invisible things rooted in love are permanent and we must hold tightly to them even if it costs us our visible life to do so.  That is called carrying our cross.

So, here is the Jesus wisdom for all times and all places.
Hold the visible very loosely and hold your love (cross) very tightly.

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Live Jesus Now and Forever

LIVE JESUS NOW AND FORVER

He had to come as He did (miraculous birth)
to be what He was (perfect).

He had to be what He was (perfect)
to do what He did (redeem).

He had to do what He did (redeem)
That you might have what He is (life).

You must have what He is (life)
        to be what He was (perfect).

Major W. Ian Thomas

The Gospel is 100% Jesus.  It is what He did perfectly for you.  It is what He perfectly gave you.  It is what He is perfectly in you.  All of this He perfectly did and perfectly is so you can live Him perfectly for all eternity.

“Jesus is all and is in all”.  Col. 3:11b   All he did, all He gave and all He wants to do forever through you is in you.  You will spend all of eternity receiving, rejoicing in and releasing as love all He is in you right now.

Since you have Jesus you lack nothing to live the Christian life right now. The entire Christian life is Jesus living in you right now.  All the Father expects of you is to live Jesus and all the Spirit will ever inspire you to do is live Jesus.  Live Jesus now and forever.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

A Plan For LIfe

If you had to choose between living your own plans and God’s plan in Christ, what would be your choice?  As simple as this question sounds, it is the essence of our daily struggle as disciples of Jesus.

We must become comfortable with God’s plan in Christ.  We must become comfortable with Jesus’ perfect presence in us as being God’s plan for our life.

We have spent so much time cultivating our own plans that we truly find it strange to stop the continual planning process and rest in the singular plan that is “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

If someone were to ask you what your plan for living this day is, what would you say?  Could you honestly say your plan is to live Jesus?

To become comfortable with this kind of living just take it one day at a time.  Start today by living a plan for life that says  “ For to me to live is Christ.”.   Let living Jesus be your plan and then be ready to move at the speed of Christ.

 

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Equality

From the beginning of our lives we begin to see the many ways that we are different from other people.  In our perceptions about reality we cannot help but find ourselves feeling unequal to some people.

Some are more beautiful than we see ourselves.  Some run faster and jump farther.  Some are taller and seem  able to draw attention to themselves with ease. No matter how beautiful, how athletic or how tall, no one escapes the sense of inequality.

There is one place, however, where inequality is defeated and must bow to Jesus’ perfect presence .  This place of complete equality is described as being  “in Christ.”   To be “in Christ” is to find the one place in our reality where we can completely lay aside all fear of comparison and inequality.

Being “in Christ” is the true Christian mystery and revelation. If the words “in Christ” were truly understood by every disciple the church would once again find  its most beautiful reality and power.

Every time you see the words “in Christ” read them as “I am in eternal spiritual union with Christ.”  Whoever is in this blessed spiritual condition has found the only equality that really matters.  If we could see each other as “in Christ”, we could literally begin to live the mystery  and revelation of Christ in us which is the hope of God’s glory appearing in all of our lives.  Only through this “in Christ” equality can we demonstrate the true power of being the body of Christ in action as one.

Those who would like to create a type of Christianity that begins with those who have spiritual equality and those who do not have the same equality destroy Christianity at its core.  We would all be wise to see every believer from the moment of their new birth as “in Christ”.  Only then we correctly see them as worthy to be considered spiritually equal to us at the core of their being “in Christ.”

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

 

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Good People

"Joe is really good people."

Having someone describe us as "good people" is an old american compliment.   Is it, however, a sign of Christian spirituality to be called "good people"?  Does Jesus in us as our source of spirituality produce a type of human being others would call "good people"?

Sometimes we create a vision of spirituality that measures activities linked to our church calendar, our private devotional time or our evangelistic proficiency.  Unfortunately being simply "good people" doesn't seem to describe much of our spirituality.

If we take a close look at Jesus' spirituality it becomes abundantly clear that He was "good people."  The impression He left wherever He walked was that pure goodness had arrived in human form.  When Jesus says "He who sees Me sees the Father", He was not speaking of His perfect attendance at the synagogue, His private devotional time or His evangelization of people.  He was speaking of the goodness of the Father that was continuously inspiring His goodness day by day.

The spirituality of Jesus was born in the presence of the Father that was abiding in Him moment by moment.  Jesus was "good people" because of the goodness of the Father that was living in Him.  Jesus' visible goodness 24/7 proved that God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Jesus in us is the source of all of our goodness.  Jesus in us is what makes us "good people".  Jesus in a disciple will always inspire the disciple to be "good people".

Can you imagine Jesus applauding  the spirituality of one of His followers while knowing that His disciple was not "good people" in His neighborhood?  We would do well to be "good people" all the time and all the time be "good people".  "Jesus was "good people" and is "good people" in you right now

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Challenge of Genuine Spirituality

Can the spirituality of the early church be ours today?  Yes it can if we accept the challenge of living Jesus' spirituality and not ours. 

 

The great challenge for genuine spirituality in Christians is to move away from attaining spirituality to receiving spirituality.  We must move away from the current personal spirituality paradigms of believing doctrines or creeds, perfecting our personal thought processes, practicing lists of so called Christian principles or living intense church activity.  We must move to the perfect and perfecting spiritual presence of Jesus who abides in every disciple.  We must move toward Jesus in us as the source of all authentic spirituality.  We must live His already perfected spirituality not develop our own over time.

 

When we are in the presence  of people, we are impacted by their presence.  In fact, some people's presence will drive us crazy over time!  Jesus' spiritual presence, on the other hand, spiritually heals us and makes us sane for love over time.  Pursuing a Jesus in us spirituality is not a spiritual therapy we master and then walk on our own.  It learning  to live continuously in the presence of Jesus who is the perfectly Spiritual Person.  He goes with us and is in us until His spirituality is our spirituality and His life is our life.  Jesus in us spirituality is learning to abide in Christ.  It is to go to Jesus alone for spirituality and stay there forever.

 

All who long for a return of a genuine, original Christian spirituality the path to spiritual life will need to move from increasing their own spiritual information or spiritual activity to increasing their awareness of Jesus' spirituality in them and their cooperation with His eternal spiritual life.  

 

Only when the church's primary  concern for believers is seeing Jesus' spirituality formed in every disciple will we see Christianity expressed in spiritual power as it was in the beginning of the church.

 

By the Spirit of Christ in us there is enough genuine spirituality  in us to make us perfectly spiritual.   Our job is to receive and release His spirituality.  He gives it and we live it.

 

Are we up for the challenge to live Jesus' spirituality?  By His Spirit Jesus in us certainly is ready and all we need to do is receive His spirituality moment by moment and release it as fruit.

 

"For to me to live is Christ."  Phil. 1: 21

"It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me."  Gal. 2:20

 

Bud McCord

Abide International14

The Temple and The Sanctuary

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

I Corin. 3:16

Temples and Sanctuaries are not unique to Jews and Christians. All the major religions of the world have holy places where disciples gather to know their source, consider the meaning of their life and seek healing. What is unique to Christians is that we are the Temple and in the center of each of us there is the Sanctuary of God.

As a Christian where do you go so God can show you Himself, to find healing and to see your future? Do you go within? Do you know how to find the Sanctuary at the center of the Temple of God you are? Do you know how to enter into and abide in the presence of the God who dwells in you?

Jesus said: ... nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21

Thomas Kelly said: "A practicing Christian must above all be one who practices the perpetual return of the soul into the inner sanctuary."

Major Ian Thomas said: "Relate everything, moment by moment as it arises, to the adequacy of what He is in you, and assume that His adequacy will be operative..."
For much of my Christian life I made my church my Temple and my Bible my Sanctuary. The result of this was a limited intimacy with God and a lack of inner healing.

The Bible never says it is the Sanctuary. The visible church building is certainly no Temple where God now dwells.

Today in the light of the Scriptures and as a part of the visible church I know I am the Temple of God and I know I must enter the inner Sanctuary in me to begin and continue to live in the Spirit of Christ.

This is part of what happens when I quietly enter the Sanctuary in me where I meet the Trinity within.

I enter empty. I leave with abundance. Matthew 5:3
I enter mourning. I leave comforted. Matthew 5:4
I enter releasing control. I leave calm. Matthew 5:5
I enter hungry. I leave satisfied. Matthew 5:6
I enter wanting to be merciful. I leave merciful. Matthew 5:7
I enter with pure intentions. I leave seeing God. Matthew 5:8
I enter wanting peace. I leave as a son of God. Matthew 5:9
I enter persecuted. I leave knowing my future. Matthew 5:10
I enter hated and falsely accused. I leave joyful. Matthew 5:11-12
I enter without meaning. I leave as salt of the world. Matthew 5:13
I enter with a heavy load. I leave as light as light. Matthew 5:14-16

Learning to practice the perpetual return of the soul (mind, emotions and will) into the inner sanctuary is to learn to simply abide in the true Vine. Learning to relate everything moment by moment as it arises to the adequacy of what He is in me is to walk in the Spirit or walk in the light as He is in the light.

Isn't it time you visited the Sanctuary in your spirit and learned to live in the Presence of your God? The Bible tells you where the Sanctuary is and the church should teach you how to enter. Even so, you must enter alone.

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Rose Bush

When visiting a vineyard rose bushes carefully planted around the outer edges of the vineyard are a common sight.  Besides being beautiful and adding a colorful touch to the vineyard,  the rose bushes are nature's alarm system for protecting the sensitive branches in the vineyard.

There are diseases and plagues that can weaken or destroy the ecosystem in the vineyard.  When these unwelcome invaders come the signs of disease and death first appear in the rose bushes.  This gives the Vinedresser time to protect the vineyard and save the harvest.

In the life of the church the alarm system is the sudden loss spiritual beauty around the edges of the church.  When a church loses the sensitive and beautiful signs of righteousness, peace and joy, then spiritual disease and death is coming to the entire vineyard.

Along with our desire to have a fruitful vineyard we must also be sure to surround the vineyard with beauty that is sensitive to the coming of sin.

"...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17

Future Fever

People are willing to do almost anything to have the future they want.  Some will literally stop at nothing to have the future they envision.  This may, at first glance, seem admirable but the cemeteries of the world are filled with those who stood in the way of someone's vision of the future. Cain and Abel had two different visions of the future.  When Cain's vision of the future was rejected by God, a fever burned inside Cain and he killed he own brother to eliminate the future competition. The future fever that burned in the heart of Cain was just the beginning. The fever would spread and millions would die. Some of the more recent mass future fever killings were led by men named Stalin, Hitler and Mao. Their future fever burned so hot  that it led them to murder millions. Though most are not as evil on the world stage as these future fevered men, we are all tempted to kill relationships to secure the future we envision.  We, too, can catch future fever. Older men trade the wives of their youth for a younger woman.  Company executives move older employees into early and unwanted retirement to save a few dollars.  Young pregnant women abort tiny babies to continue pursuing lucrative careers.  Friends abandon old friends in order to move in a more popular group. Pastors build churches while abandoning Jesus' followers who get in their way. While in the grip of future fever we all are tempted to kill whatever impedes our move toward the future we believe we need. Living for a future we feel we must have makes us all dangerous to ourselves, others and the glory of God. The only man who ever lived completely free from the fever of needing to have and protect a future at other's expense was Jesus. From eternity Jesus had the future He wanted. He never lost it.  He left his future voluntarilly to die for us.  Rather than kill us to get a future He wanted, He left what He had and died so we could have with Him the future He already had and we really need right now. At this moment Jesus' future is in us.   He abides in us as our future so we can lay our life down for our friends who need to live His future. The next time you are about to panic and protect your future in some way that will kill a relationship, remember that Christ in you is your future and nothing can take your future away.  Nothing. Turn the other cheek.  Go the extra mile.  Don't worry about tomorrow. Forgive 70x7. Love your enemy.   This kind of living can only happen if our future is not an issue.  This only can happen when we say  "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." May God deliver us personally from the temptation to fight others, leave others or kill others for our future.  May God rid the world of those who fill the cemeteries with the bodies of those who stood in their way and fill the world with friends of Jesus who will lay their life down so their friends can live Jesus' future now. "Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends."  John 15:13   Bud McCord Abide International

Identity Matters

Who I perceive myself to be exercises a powerful control over everything I do.  Identity matters.

Who are you really?  How many different voices and experiences have fashioned your perception of yourself.  Would people be shocked to find out what you honestly think of yourself?

All of us must deal with the question of our identity every day. For some it seems fairly easy.  For others it is a frightening battle they fear they are about to lose.

I fought the identity battle in my childhood and into my adult life.  Looking back I can now see that this was the most critical battle of my life.  I learned that my sense of identity was impacting every relationship and every move I made in life.

My cure began when I accepted Jesus' offer to lose my personal identity and begin a new identity in Him.  I lost my life to find it.  I had to change identity instead of trying to repair my own identity.  This hurt deeply, but the result has been abundant life and a new, stable identity.

It comes as a shock to us that our personal identity is not adequate do let us be what we really know we should be.  We keep hoping we can tweak the identity we have from our life experience and somehow it will all fall into place and we can be the person we know we should be.  This just does not work.

An old Jewish man named Nicodemos came to Jesus to talk about entering the Kingdom of God.  This deeply religious man had done all a human can do to be the man he knew God would have him to be.  Even so, Jesus looked at Him and said  "You must be born again."   In other words, Jesus was saying to him, "You need to lose your old identity and live the new one the Father and I will give to you."  Identity matters.

Once I lost my old identity I began a daily spiritual discipline of repeating a list of my new identity in Christ.  This habit helped me embrace my new identity in Christ.

Perhaps a part of my list will help you enjoy your new idenity in Christ.

As I awaken each day I know that God wants me to see myself as...
 

• A Child of God  Romans 8:14-16
• Crucified with Christ  Romans 6: 6-8
• Reconciled  Romans 5:10
• Resurrected  Romans 6: 9-11
• In Christ  Romans 8:1
• Free of Condemnation   Romans 8:1
• Loved John 3:16
• Secure  Romans 8: 31-39
• Complete in Christ  Colossians 2:10
• Forgiven Colossians 1:13-14
• Saved forever  Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 5:9-10
• Justified Romans 5:1
• Sanctified  I Corinthians 6:11
• New Creation II Corinthians 5:17
• Redeemed  Galatians 3:13
• Joint Heir with Christ  Romans 8:17
• Conqueror  Romans 8:37
• Justice of God  II Corinthians 5:21
• Light  Matthew 5:14
• Salt  Matthew 5:13
• A Branch of the True Vine John 15:1-8
• Dead to Sin  Romans 6:11
• Having the Divine nature  II Peter 1:4
• Chosen João 15:16
• One with Christ  John 17:20--21
• Sealed in Christ  Ephesians 1:13
• Free  John 8:36

Your new Identity in Christ Matters

Bud McCord

Abide International14

Satisfaction

If Jesus suddenly walked into your home one morning and you had two hours to be with Him, what do you think would be the most striking difference between you and Jesus?  What is it about Jesus as a human being that sets Him apart from all other men and women who have ever lived?

The difference was in His inner life. Nothing biological made Jesus different than you or me.  The difference was in His spirit and His soul.

Jesus lived from a source of continuous inner satisfaction with His Father. At the very center of His being Jesus was 100% satisfied in God. This satisfaction allowed Jesus' soul (mind, emotions and will) to be completely at rest and continuously able to release God's love without interruption.

Being in the presence of Jesus for two hours would probably make us all extremely uncomfortable with the state of our own inner life. If not for the continuous love coming from Jesus to us during our two hour meeting we would certainly be overwhelmed by the presence of such a pure human being.

Now expand this two hour encounter to every moment for the rest of eternity.  Jesus has made His home in you. You are His home! If you will let Him love you He will overwhelm you with His love and you will begin to experience the satisfaction He continues to find in His Father. Your inner life will become one with His inner life.

Don't be afraid. Abide in Christ since He already abides in you.

"The difference between Jesus and me is simple. He lived 100% satisfied in God 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. I do not, but I can learn!"

 

Bud McCord

Abide International14

God's Expectations and Man's Competence

Many years ago I read a book called  "The Peter Principle".   The principle that had been discovered by a researcher was that  good employees will be eventually be offered a promotion beyond their level of competence.

The person who discovered this principle counseled people to know their level of competence and never let the boss promote them beyond it.  If they were promoted beyond their competence then very soon the boss would be wanting to get rid of them due to unfulfilled expectations and incompetence.

In any relationship it is critical to know what the expectations and competences are on both sides.   If the expectations are clear and the competence is there, then there is great hope for satisfaction for all involved.

Now think of expectations and competence on a universal scale.  Jesus among us is God letting us know what he expects of humanity and Jesus is the kind of competent human being with whom God will become one.  Anything short of Jesus is just not acceptable for God.  No Jesus equals no relationship with God.

Jesus is also the kind of human being we must want to become for this relationship to work..  Seeing Jesus' love in action we need to say say clearly that this is the kind of human being we long to be and can become.  Somehow we must believe we can be made as competent as Jesus was as a human being.

So, from the Divine side Jesus is God's expectation and from the human side Jesus is our expectation.  If we cannot become like Jesus the relationship will not work.  If we do not want to be like Jesus and cannot become like Jesus the relationship will not work.

So, Jesus is the key to everything. In Jesus God gets what He  expects and wants and we get what we expect and want.  Jesus makes this a win/win for all involved.

Jesus is the perfection God demands of us and Jesus is the perfection that will make us  competent humans like Him.  Unlike any other relationship that has ever happened before, God met all the expectations in advance for both sides in Jesus and He invites us to come into the relationship through the door of  fulfilled expectations and competence named Jesus.

On a universal scale the Peter principle is completely overcome in Jesus.  God's expectaions are perfectly met and we will become competent human beings like Jesus.

This is very, very, very exciting indeed!

Romans 8:1 "There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"

John 1:10-11 "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Bud McCord

Abide International

Perfection

 

"No one is perfect."

At first glance this appears to be a very reasonable and true statement.  Starting from our knowledge of ourselves and our contact with other human beings like us, we can easily be convinced that perfection is a non-existent or very rare thing.  Is it really?

Among humans perfection is certainly missing. Perfection in the universe, however, is not rare.  Perfection is actually the norm because God is perfect and we live and move and have our being in God's perfection.  Perfection has imperfection surrounded.

If we observe the beauty of creation around us it is easy to see that many things are living as they should.  When something lives as it was created to live it is accurate to say that thing is perfect.

Perfection is fully being what we were created to be.  When we observe the flowers and the birds in our world we can still glimpse creatures being what they were meant to be. That is why Jesus told us to observe the birds and flowers to calm our minds and hearts. 

When we do observe them, they seem to be able to be what they were meant to be without great effort.  They seem completely at peace being what they are.  When we observe ourselves and other humans trying to be who we should be, we certainly do not see peace or perfection.

When we see Jesus we do see relaxed human perfection.  Being fully what He was created to be was not hard work for Jesus.  He was perfectly natural and at peace being Himself.  Perhaps that is the main reason some people loved Him and others hated Him. To some He was perfection and they wanted that.  To others He was something they were not and they hated that.

Jesus was human and perfect so we should not say "No one is perfect." What we should say is "Jesus was perfect. Can I hope to be perfect like Jesus?"

The answer is yes!  Jesus' perfection is contagious to all who believe in Him and receive Him.     Perfection is not something we can do, but it is someone we can receive into our spirit.  As Jesus abides in us by His Spirit, He begins to work His perfection into every corner of our life until we are returned to what a human was meant to be.

C.S. Lewis called this new life in Jesus the 'good infection'.  Acording to Lewis,  once you get this 'good infection' you are headed for nothing less than perfection.  You are on your way to being a human who is able to easily do what humans were meant to do which is love God and love neighbors.

Not everyone who gets this 'good infection' shows the symptoms of perfection at the same speed.  In some disciples Jesus' perfection is barely noticeable.  Even so, make no mistake, if you have received the perfect life of Jesus in your spirit you are on you way to perfection.  You might as well relax and cooperate.  You will be perfect eventually in Jesus.

"Be perfect as you Heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48

Bud McCord

Abide International

Truly Pregnant With Jesus

Christmas is about believing.

Elizabeth, the mother of the prophet, John the Baptist, said of her cousin Mary…

“Blessed is she who believed, for this will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

From the beginning, Christmas has been about believing and pregnancy, and it remains so today.  Mary was believably pregnant.  To Mary, Joseph, Zacharias, and Elizabeth, it was not about believing in a myth or philosophy.  It was about very believable angels, aches, and changing bodies.  It was as real as any pregnancy is real as bodies stretch and birth pangs begin.  It was as real as labor and delivery in a shed borrowed for the night.  It was real life – not theory.  Heaven had invaded earth by way of a virgin cradled in the womb of BELIEF from conception to delivery.

To experience the real meaning of Christmas we must be willing to become “pregnant” with the belief that God has in fact come to earth in the person of His Son Jesus.  If we, too, believe, our lives will be stretched and changed as surely as Mary's, Joseph's, Elizabeth's and Zacharias' lives were stretched and changed.  No one carries a life inside them and does not change – especially the life of God!

Paul, the great Christian missionary, wrote to a confused, young church in Galatia and said,   “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”  (Galatians 4:19).  He was worried that the belief he knew had begun in them might not mature into a full understanding and complete Christian life.  His concern for Christians would be greater today if he visited our churches at Christmas.  I am not sure he would see many “pregnant” with a living Jesus.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for people to believe as Mary did.  The idea that God really does invade human history in order to save was taught to her from her birth as a Jew.  It is harder to believe today because we do not think we need saving anymore and we say little to our children about it.

Thank God Mary was ready for a pregnancy from God!  If she had said to the angel, “Thanks, but I just cannot believe that,” where would we be today?  Probably at the mall, but certainly not at church.

For Christians who truly believe as Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zacharias did, Christmas is as life changing as a real pregnancy.  It means the world to us to know He came and we are forever changed by His life in us.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

A Necessary Confrontation

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?  Galatians 2:11-14

Personally I do not like confrontations.  Over the years I have tried my best to avoid them but I have found some confrontations are necessary for love to continue.

The Apostle Paul confronts the Apostle Peter face to face because it was necessary. Paul could not ignore the love stopping behavior of the man who preached the sermon on the day of Pentecost.  Wow!  This certainly lets us know that none of us is free from needing a confrontation from time to time!

Paul loved Peter and the church Peter represented too much to simply ignore what he had seen. This was a necessary confrontation.  Love demanded it.

Paul had seen a change in Peter's behavior in his dealing with the Gentile disciples in the church at Galatia.  Peter had treated them as equals until a group of Jewish disciples came to visit.  While the Jewish disciples were in town Peter no longer ate with the Gentiles.  Paul called Peter out face to face because the equality of all believers was at stake.  Peter was too important a voice and symbol to miss this necessary confrontation.  Peter needed to be reminded that a church where equality is lost is no longer the church of Jesus Christ.

There is a valuable lesson in this story for all of us.  When we see someone doing something that is destructive to them and to love, then someone who loves them and loves to see Christ's love flow must confront them.   No matter how powerful they are and how much they have done in the past they need to be confronted.

If a person is doing something to stop love and they see clearly what they are doing then a confrontation will do little or no good.  The person will simply marginalize the person confronting and hide behind their own false superior spirituality.

If, however, the person actually is not seeing clearly the evil they are doing, they will listen if the right person confronts them in love. Not everyone is called to confront every evil they see.  God raises up a Paul to confront Peter.  Who else could have gotten his attention?  Who had paid the price as a Jew to love the Gentiles?

I have been confronted several times over the years by people who love me and love the flow of Christ's  love.  I am so thankful these people were a part of the churches I was leading!  They respectfully followed my leadership but they knew me well enough to know I could go in the wrong direction  but I did not want to stop Christ's love.

I have confronted other leaders over the years when I could clearly see that their errors were not errors of the heart.  Those leaders listened and made the necessary changes.

If you see someone of influence stopping love then pray that God will raise up the right person for the necessary confrontation.  Perhaps you are that person.  Perhaps it is someone else.  Pray until the right person receives the difficult task of the necessary confrontation.  Christ's love and its flow are too important for us to fear a necessary confrontation.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Miracles

I recently participated in a beautiful church service in a small Brazilian church.  Talking with the pastor before the service I said "Every church is a miracle.  Imagine any other system working for nearly 2000 years that asks every member to give 10% of their income, volunteer their time and give 100% of their daily life to see the system succeed." He quickly agreed because he tithes and leads his church without receiving any pay as he simultaneously leads his own family and over 150 employees in his four restaurants. A church may have 10 people or 10,000 people.  Every church is a miracle.  The church is a miracle because only God could have kept her healed and alive for this long.  A miracle is something only God can do and from what I have seen only God could have kept the church alive.  Men certainly have not kept her alive. People want to see miracles.  We all want living proof that the God of the Bible is still at work today as He was in the past.  Unfortunately we do not see the existence of churches as living proof that God is still active.  How sad! We prefer to see a physical healing or a raise in salary so we can satisfy our need to know God is still active.  We are satisfied with too little!  If we could see every church correctly we would say  "It is a miracle!  2000 years have gone by since Pentecost and the church still exists!  The Body of Christ remains visible and available in the whole world because God is keeping it healed and alive." People flock to churches when word gets out that God is doing miracles in that church.  Who doesn't want to see miracles?  Who doesn't want to have something miraculously resolved in a matter of seconds?  Everyone does. It is sad, however, that we do not see that we ourselves are an ongoing miracle just like the church is an ongoing miracle.  Every disciple in whom Jesus dwells is a miracle 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The next time you are leaving your home to go looking for a miracle, remember that angels leave home to see you!  They still cannot quite believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made us their home on earth.  Truly, you are a miracle just as surely as the church is a miracle.  You are something only God could have done and continues to do. You can go looking for miracles if you want to, but I am going to continue to see the church and my life in Christ as the main miracles.  These two are the main miracles because they are for every one of us and they are God's very best work for us and in us.  I like miracles that happen for everyone! Bud McCord Abide International

Watch a little update and thank you video:

Updates from Brazil - Abide International

Define! Receive-Rejoice-Release!

DEFINE!
RECEIVE, REJOICE and RELEASE

It is not easy to define love in this world.  One would think love would be easy to define, but any attempt to explain love clearly is tough and often creates arguments.  Why is this?

The word love has become overused and abused at the same time real love is in short visible supply.  The only hope of love being properly defined in any of our lives is to receive love from God and define it  visibly by moment by moment  release of love.

We know we are being loved when over time someone releases the best they are and the best they have to us.  This is why mother's day is so celebrated!

We know we are loving others when we release the best we are and the best we have to someone else.  This is why true friendships are so valuable and so rare.

It is not necessary that every Christ follower should be able to verbally define love but it is necessary that they be a living definition of love.  For this reason every Christ follower should master the art of receiving, rejoicing and releasing or faith, hope and love.

Paul says in I Corinthians 13:13 that there remain three things in human experience.

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Faith is the receiving for ourselves the love that God is releasing to us.  Hope is internal rejoicing because we are aware we are being loved by God.  Love is releasing toward God and others the best we are and the best we have.  This is the spiritual ecosystem God created mankind to enjoy and to be in this world. We exist to receive love, rejoice in love and release love.  The greatest of these is the release of love.

Jesus summed up man's part in this ecosystem with these words found in Matthew 22: 37-39

Jesus said to him,‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Jesus tells us we exist first to release the best we are the best we have to God.  Jesus tells us to release the best we are and the best we have to our neighbor. We know how to release love to others because we always give ourselves the best we are and the best we have.

Verbal definitions for love are hard to create and hard to communicate.  Disciples who know what it is to release love toward God and toward others like Jesus did are the true, daily, defining eloquence we need in the world. Release!

 

Bud McCord

Abide International