His Heart, My Home

Holy Spirit has been making bread in my spirit!

He’s been mixing up the Word-ingredients and kneading the dough.

He just baked the first loaf and it’s ready, hot, fresh, and delicious, right out of the oven!

The Word-ingredients Holy Spirit used were Scriptures focusing on our union with the Lord and our communion with Him and each other.

He has personally given me a deeper, more intimate understanding of our relationship and fellowship in Christ. I want to share some of these insights, some of this hot, fresh bread, with you.

Let’s start with the word “relationship”.

The Online Dictionary defines relationship as:
“a connection with another, based on blood or marriage”.

Can you see how this applies to us as believers?
We are connected to the Lord, one spirit with Him, because of His blood shed for us. And now we are His Bride, waiting for the marriage ceremony to begin! Hallelujah!

That’s not an allegory, a metaphor, a parable, a symbol, or a myth. Our connection, our union, our relationship with the Lord is both actual and authentic.

Our relationship with the Lord is an unbreakable, eternal, spiritual union.

1 Corinthians 6:17 describes it this way: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”

The Authentic Translation of this verse says: “He who unites himself with the Master forms a single spirit”.

I’m hungry! Let’s have some of that hot fresh bread, with hand-churned butter, and home-made jam!

Make this confession of faith out loud right now: “I am eternally connected to Jesus. I am truly one spirit with Him!”

Jesus described the foundation of our relation- ship with Him in this well-known passage:

(Matthew 16:13 -19) – ¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” ¹⁷Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Regardless of the opinions of anyone else, (your parents, spouse, religious leaders, etc.) you and only you can and must determine once and for all, with “rock-solid faith”, who Jesus is to you.

All the other disciples heard the question that Jesus asked. “But who do you say that I am?” They had all lived and walked with Jesus, heard His teaching, seen His miracles, and believed in Him.

Yet they only knew Him from a fleshly, human perspective, as Teacher, Healer, and Miracle-Worker! A great start… “But, wait, there’s more!”

In verse 15, Peter boldly speaks out the revelation he had just received from the Father: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter was the first person to know Jesus in the Spirit! And this was before the Transfiguration!

Why Peter? The name his parents had given him was Simon. One meaning of Simon is “a reed; a thin plant easily bent and swayed by the wind; known as weak and unstable”. I knew that meaning of his name, and had always thought of Simon that way.

But I never knew the name Simon also means “he who hears”. I believe that’s why Simon, whom we often remember only for his big mouth, should also be remembered as the one disciple who was listening as God was revealing who Jesus was.

The first step to having a deep, intimate, living relationship with Jesus is to receive a revelation of who Jesus is to you!

If you will listen with your heart, you will hear what God is saying, and you will know things about Him that others don’t know. Listening to Holy Spirit will transform you from a reed into a rock!

Notice what happens next in verse 18: Jesus gives Peter the revelation of who he (Peter) was to Jesus:

“And I also say that you are Peter (Greek “petros” = a large rock; a boulder), and on this rock (Greek “petra” = a cliff wall; a mountainous rock) I will build my Church…”

The “other side of the coin” that is critically important to a thriving relationship with the Lord is for you to realize who you are to Jesus.

Until we come to the realization of who we are “in Christ”, we don’t really know ourselves and our life’s purpose.

Without Jesus, Peter is just Simon, and we are just “human reeds”, the wind playing “Que sera, sera” as we are bent and shaped by the opinions of others, and the influences of our life experiences.

Some would say, ” I’m comfortable in my own skin. I know who I am.”

But, are you comfortable beneath your skin? Do you know who you really are in Christ?

Anybody remember Popeye, the Sailor? His catchphrase was, “I yam what I yam, and that’s all that I yam”.

Well, I think we need some “sanctified Popeyes” in the Church who say, “I yam who Jesus says that I yam, and that’s all that I yam”!

Who are you? What’s your real identity? Not your “Clark Kent” identity, but your inner identity, your true identity, your spiritual identity in Christ… your “Superman” identity.

Who are you? Let’s see some I.D.!

Jesus said, “Peter, you just received a revelation of who I am in Spirit. You just realized the eternal reality, the spiritual truth, of who I AM! Now, I’m going to give you a revelation of who you are in spirit, in your connection to me, and in your relationship with me. I’m going to begin the process of opening your spirit-eyes so you can see yourself the way the Father, the Spirit, and I see you. This is who you are destined to be, and who you will be for all eternity. This is eternal truth, Peter!”

Who you are “in Christ” is your real identity!

When you go to vote, or board an airplane, or do a hundred other things, you show your driver’s license, or your passport, or some other form of I.D. to prove who you really are.

I learned this life-lesson many years ago:

If you are asked for your I.D. when it’s needed to do something you want to do? GOOD!

If you are asked for your I.D. when you’ve messed up and know you’ve been caught? NOT GOOD!

The enemy will challenge your identity, trying to delay, defeat, and destroy you. He even used this tactic against Jesus… twice!

“If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3,5)

Now let’s say that as a Christian you “run afoul of the law”, spiritually speaking. In other words, you sinned. The devil will always be quick to accuse you when you’ve broken the law. He will use the law to control and condemn you. He is a legalist.

He pulls you over. He’s thrilled when he can stop your progress and thereby delay your arrival at your destination. Then you hear these words of accusation: “Boy, you really messed up this time. God is so disappointed in you. You’re a stench in His nostrils. You know, I will actually be doing God a service by locking your sorry butt up till you get yourself straightened out and become a better person. Now, you have the right to remain silent…”

Before he can finish you say, “Back off, Officer Devil! You’ve got the wrong guy. And I won’t remain silent”. As you pull out your “in Christ I.D.”… your Bible, you confidently say. “You can’t condemn me for that because…”

“God made Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for me, that I might become the righteousness of God in Him”. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“I’ve been washed. I’ve been sanctified. I’ve been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of my God”. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

“In Him I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”. (Ephesians 1:7)

“There is therefore now no condemnation to me because I am in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1)

Before you can even finish quoting your I.D. scriptures, you hear the sound of tires “peeling out” on the asphalt and sense the smoke and smell of burnt rubber. You shout, “Come back, devil! There’s at least 130 more of my ‘in Christ’ scriptures that I want you to hear”, but the “crooked cop” is long gone!

I’ll close with this: Let God reveal who Jesus is to you, not the “historical Jesus”, not the “social justice Jesus”, but the “real deal” Jesus, the Son of the Living God!

Then let Him reveal who you are in Christ, the real you, the new creation you, the “real deal” you, the “Jesus-you”! When He does, don’t be surprised that your I.D. looks just like Jesus’ I.D. After all, you are one spirit with Him!

Finally, hold on to your I.D. It’s proof that you are vitally and eternally connected to Him. Have it nearby (in your heart) where you can always access it quickly. Don’t lose it and never let the enemy steal it from you! You’re gonna need it!

NOTE: This teaching is the first of a multi-part series on our spiritual union with Christ. Check the site weekly for the newest post.