November 08, 2015

Living out of Heavenly Places

Josh Sanders
Nov. 3, 2015
These are the thoughts and scriptures from Nov. 3 house church meeting. 
Enjoy!!

Living out of Heavenly Places
Colossians 3: 1-2 The Mirror Bible
"3: 1 You are in fact raised together with Christ! Now ponder with persuasion the consequence of your co-inclusion in him. Relocate yourselves mentally! Engage your thoughts with throne room realities where you are co-seated with Christ in the executive authority of God’s right hand. 3: 2 Becoming affectionately acquainted with throne room thoughts will keep you from being distracted again by the earthly (soul-ruled) realm."
Remember, The Mirror Bible translation is taken from the perspective of “Sonship,” Your FATHER in Heaven, wanted you to know what it was like to be his son so much, that he sent his only SON to show you what he is like and what is Kingdom is like. Like a mirror…

Zechariah 3 read the whole chapter,
Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. 4So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”
5Then I said, “They should also place a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the lord stood by.
6Then the angel of the lord spoke very solemnly to Jeshua and said, 7“This is what the lord of Heaven’s Armies says: If you follow my ways and carefully serve me, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards. I will let you walk among these others standing here.
8“Listen to me, O Jeshua the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come.

We are now seated in Christ in Heavenly places. We have a voice in the heavenly courts. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies listen to our voice. We are Kings and Priests because of the Blood that Jesus shed on the cross. "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father…" (Rev. 1:5-6). "Thou…hast redeemed us unto God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev. 5:9-10).

We, as the Ekklesia (governmental authority of Heaven on earth), have the privilege to carry out our heavenly kingship on earth. Jesus is LORD and KING over us; we are lords and kings under his authority. So as we listen to and rely on our Fathers voice, His Word and Holy Spirit’s leading, we bring heaven to earth.

This is how father intended it to be since the beginning. Listen to how he speaks to Moses;  4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. 6And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”
Can you hear the voice of a father in how he speaks? It’s as if he is saying, “I am so excited to bring you away from your enemies, now let me tell you why I made you… it’s so you can rule and reign on earth and bring my heavenly government.” I think as a priest you have the privilege of being in his presence and spending time with your heavenly daddy. And being a King on earth is just one of the perks of being in His Presence and bringing his will to earth. (That’s why Jesus taught us to pray “your will be done”) We need to be in his presence to understand the details of carrying out his will.
But we know that, 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. (Eph 6: 12) So how do live this out continually on a moment by moment, day by day basis? Remember the drawing of the Kingdoms:

Kingdom of Heaven

:
                                Kingdom of Earth                  :                                 Kingdom of God
:
We have to recognize as circumstances and situations come up, we do battle with them in the heavenly realm, where we are seated in authority. We do not do our work, or pray, or live from Earth to Heaven↑, We work, pray and live from Heaven to Earth↓. We use our seat of authority “in Christ” to take control over each and every situation. By looking to Jesus and asking “where are you in this situation, what are you doing?” This is what I know he is always doing, he is giving you the tools you need to destroy every work of the devil and he is also bringing his Government of Peace, which is continual and will never end. (Is. 9)
You will always have 2 weapons the enemy can’t imitate, Joy and Peace. Jesus brings joy and peace when you rest in him. (Remember, snuggling up to him, getting comfortable) Rise above whatever you’re going through, see yourself in heaven above the world, listen to your father and speak.
You’ve got the Keys, so use them:
You:
-          Are seated in heavenly places, with the authority of Heaven
-          Have Joy and Peace as your weapons, don’t be so serious
-          Have The King of Heavens Armies in you. Use his Army, The Angels, they want to help

Additional thoughts:
When you see yourself “in the spirit” how do you look? Are you clean? Are you strong? Are you the same size as on earth? Don’t be influenced by earthly perspectives, I often envision myself big enough to hold entire cities in my hand, then my thoughts and prayers are bigger than that city or situation and have more authority.

When we deal with pain and sickness, it is difficult to remove your mind from your body to practice being in the heavens. So try focusing on the sufferings of Jesus and share in his sufferings, thank him for sharing it with you. I have found this is a gate into the heavens.

Shalom,
Josh