Jesus' birth is a picture of our own birth into His kingdom. His birth in the flesh is a perfect picture of our birth in the Spirit.

Mary was espoused (engaged) to Joseph. We must become espoused to God. We must pledge ourselves, commit ourselves, to become His bride. She was a virgin - we must seek to avoid other gods. Jesus was physically found in her, the Holy Spirit is spiritually found in us. His name is Jesus - "The Lord Saves", for He saves His people from their sins, when the Holy Spirit is found in us, He forms Christ in us, like He did with Mary and Christ in us (the hope of glory) saves us from our personal sins. The ultimate miracle is that our Jesus becomes our Emmanuel - God with us, a restoration of the garden of Eden. Our hearts become, in a real sense, the garden of Eden - where we fellowship with God, walking and talking with Him, where we eat with Him and of Him, our Jesus, the Tree of Life. From the moment Christ is birthed in us, we are to begin eating Him, that is, our souls are to begin feeding on His Word(s), on His knowledge, His wisdom. We are no longer to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. He told us to eat His flesh, didn't He? We know that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us - so in us, His flesh becomes the Word and it is this Word we must feed our souls upon. We no longer seek knowledge alone, we seek Him, the source of all knowledge.
Joseph was raised from sleep - we must all wake up from spiritual slumber to rise and do the Lord's bidding. We must both hear AND obey. "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." This is a picture of Babylon, of the end days when "all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond.....receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads." So we see that Christ will return under similar circumstances like unto His first appearance. The world is fixated on money. Their souls are consumed by the love of it,
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the "House of Bread". Jesus is the Bread of Life, which He commanded us to eat when He took bread and broke it, saying "This is My body, broken for you." We must all become "houses of bread", vessels, mobile homes, carrying the bread of life wherever we go, then, when we give ourselves to Jesus fully, in His hands, we become broken, like He was, that He may feed us the Christ in each other.
There was no room for Him at the Inn, The Inn represents the Human heart. Today, many have no room for Him in their hearts and no room for those who carry Him, who bear Him, in their hearts. The Inn is like many churches today - full of paying customers but no room for Christ. He isn't welcome among them in their comfortable religion.
So our Christ was born in a manger, a humble, humiliating, filthy place. He will only be born in humble hearts, and when His Spirit is found in us, our hearts are filthy, deceitful places, a filthy place for Him to enter the flesh into (some more filthy than others, but all dirty to some extent).
The angels know, and still know today, where Christ can be found on this earth. Anytime anyone receives Christ, anywhere He is welcomed, the angels know of it and rejoice. They announced the "good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people" to shepherds abiding with their flocks by night. Shepherding was a humble profession - God sends the message of Salvation to the lowly and the meek. He did not send the angels to the rich or to the king's palace. We must all be like shepherds, able to hear from God and who will make us aware, like the angels, of Christ's presence in others so that we may shepherd and care for each other.
Another root meaning of swaddling clothes is "bandages". Our hearts are wrapped in His love and our wounds are dressed, bandaged, when Christ enters into them. He begins a healing process that eventually results in a healthy heart, if we remain still before Him, our great Physician, and do not move off the operating table, as He circumcises our heart, turning stone to flesh. No pain, no gain. No cross with loss.
As well as the angels, God will have prophetic voices aware of Christ, or where He is, who He is with, and of His true purpose for being here on earth. Both Simeon and Anna longed to see Christ. We too must greatly desire to see Christ, in others, with others. We must crave His presence, not only in ourselves, but in others too. Like Simon, we must come by the Spirit into the Temple where Christ is found. The Holy Spirit will lead us to "temples", bodies, people where Christ can be found today, and like Simeon and Anna, the Holy Spirit in us will rejoice and cause us to prophecy over those who are with Christ, who care for Him.
So, as Jesus humbled Himself, He became less, He became small, so must we humble ourselves, by becoming small, and giving up any glory or wealth we may have in this life, like He gave up His heavenly throne and riches, in order to taste and partake of the glory and wealth of the life to come.
As He "grew and waxed strong in Spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him", so shall we. And when we leave our parents, our pastor, our elders (who are often surprised that we left them), those who care for us, because we're supposed to remain with them, they think, we will say to them "know you not - I must be a bout my Father's business". In other words, you are not my father or mother, but rather God himself is. And my heavenly Father must be obeyed before any earthly man or woman (authority). Amen.

This is part two of my last post.

But again, the pastor who refused to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me, a stranger, was walking in the flesh, not the Spirit because if he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, The Spirit would have born witness that I was sent from God. How many blessings have been denied because the pastor was abusing and misusing his limited authority from God? God will send wise men to us bearing gifts for us, if we'll receive them. Isn't is funny how pastors will not hesitate to receive a gift in the natural, for instance money, from a stranger but will instantly refuse without question a spiritual gift, for example, prophecy? The Word they claim to hold dear tells us to "be careful to entertain strangers", yet in most churches strangers are given very little genuine honor and respect (because the people are not given honor and respect. They are accepted only to the point they "submit" and obey the pastor.)

Getting back to the model for meetings I introduced in my last blog, at the end of the service, give people time to question or comment on the teaching just taught. This is also a good time to activate people into God's spiritual gifts ( James Rutz has a wonderful book on this subject called "The Open Church", by the way.) Those who need the greatest gift of all, Salvation, should have this gift activated within them at this time (if the Holy Spirit hasn't convicted them already to enter into this). Those who need to be baptized into the Holy Spirit - go for it! Everyone should be active in the gift of prophecy. Some may need the gift of healing while others may need the gift of money. Taking people's money and redistributing it back to the people is a wonderful way to use their money. The rich giving to the poor brings Divine balance. No one, absolutely no one in the meeting should go hungry or without basic necessities. Give the Body time and space to "edify itself in love" and the Body will grow healthier and healthier and may I say - the healthier my physical body gets, the more quickly it reacts to anything entering into it that isn't healthy. 

I once fasted completely from all junk food, eating only healthy food and drinking only water, for three weeks. I also breathed only pure, mountain air the whole time. When I finally came down from the mountain, just the fumes from a passing bus made me sick, as did a few bites of junk food. 

No, the more of the Holy Spirit that's allowed in the people and the meetings, the more the people are given free reign to minister in His power and anointing, the easier it will be for the whole Body to recognize and reject a foreign body that shouldn't be allowed to enter in. You can smell foul, demonic spirits when they try to influence a fellowship, though most demons will flee from, and stay far away from, any fellowship ruled by, led by the Holy Spirit....."ruled by" is perhaps the wrong wording, accurate only if you understand what "ruling" means to God. The Holy Spirit, just like the Father, just like Jesus, is sent to serve us. He doesn't "lord it over us" but rather goes where He is welcome and says and does what pleases the Father, for He is always fulfilling the Father's will (this is how Jesus was able to please the Father (this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased) because he was full of the Spirit of the Father). Since Jesus left us physically, The Holy Spirit is now the greatest servant on earth, therefore He is the greatest in the Father's kingdom. Think about it, He graciously shares and bears His fruit in us, which edifies and prepares us all to dwell in the Father's presence forever. The fruit of the Spirit is delightful to the Father! Think about His gifts - all designed to benefit and bless us, His people His thoughts are continually toward us, Amen. Everything He does on this earth is for us, His people (which included Israel, by the way). Ultimately, it's all for Him, for His glory and pleasure because the end result of all His hard work in our lives is that He gets to be with us forever. 

What is a groom without a bride? What is a father without children? We are His inheritance and He is ours, hallelujah! "And the lord spoke to Aaron, you shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any part among them: I am your part and your inheritance among the children of Israel" Hallelujah! I want the Lord for my inheritance - "Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world", "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be my son". Even more remarkably, He claims us as His inheritance "for the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob is the lot of His inheritance". Selah. 

As a teacher of English in South Korea, I decided to become certified. So I took and completed a 120 hour TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. Part of this course included a chapter on the ESA method of teaching, that is Engage, Study, Activate.
The idea is to open the class with five or ten minutes of relaxed, no teaching, conversation - get them to feel comfortable opening up and talking. Start a conversation - do not correct them during this time. Perhaps use icebreakers to get them talking. Teacher's talk is kept to a minimum.
Next, have 20 minutes or so of teaching. Open book, power point or whatever, but always leave time at the end for the students to practice what they've just learned. It's one thing to teach someone grammar, it's quite another for them to use it successfully in every day speech.
I'm thinking this may be a good model for a church service, at least a step in the right direction. Maybe, open the service with a sort of round table discussion. Choose a topic, or, anyone is welcome to share anything. The Pastor during this time is like a moderator, but does not control the discussion at all. People may share whatever they please - a song, a prophecy, a plea, a testimony, an observation, a proverb, a teaching - but all should endeavor to stay in the Spirit, asking Him what they should share, if anything. During this time, try to bring the two extremes into balance - those who will try to take over the meeting, taking all or most of the time, getting in the flesh, full of pride and those who will never share anything at all, ever, no matter how much you invite them to do so.
Encourage the former to brevity, the latter to at least try to share something, even if they prepare it before they arrive. It's usually interesting and edifying to hear what God has been saying to people in between meetings, as they live their daily lives.
Nest, some teaching. Not necessarily by the Pastor or a recognized teacher. Always let the Holy Spirit guide, follow His lead.  He may want to skip the more formal teaching time to continue the open sharing of hearts. He may give a teaching, fresh revelation to someone there, someone unexpected, in that moment. This is always wonderful because it's from the Holy Spirit, for those exact people present at that exact meeting. I've been in services where the Holy Spirit gave me a word but the Pastor refused to allow it to be shared, as if he had authority over the Holy Spirit. He said write it down so He could review it and maybe he would share it at another time. This sounds like wisdom but it is man's wisdom. It's actually rebellion, it's quenching the Spirit, which the Bible forbids. It's despising prophecy which the Bible also forbids. It's man taking control of the meeting from God. A better reaction would have been to tell me to share the word with him, the pastor, at that moment, that way he could judge it but the problem with that is if the pastor is walking after the flesh, he won't be able to recognize God's voice.

Part two soon....

Part two

Just as Jesus said "You will surely say Physician - heal yourself" so is one close to me saying now. They are saying "why behold the note that is in your brother's eye, but perceive not the beam that is in your own eye?" As long as my old man is still alive, they will not receive from the New. I truly desire to fulfill Luke 4:18 in my days, in my life. This is not a fantasy, it's my heart - not to point our faults to put people down but to build them up. Not to say "I'm better" but "you can be better". I want all my brethren, wherever they may be, to be free "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" shall become  My people who are "filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding" (not carnal understanding), no, my people will "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every work, and increasing in the knowledge of God".
This is God's word for this time, for this season - Hear and take notice - "Come My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut the doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. In this day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."
Leviathan is the pride of men, that they would dare to join with Satan and not our God, that they would believe the lie that they are acceptable gods, apart from God. They will indeed inherit the kingdom they've built and desired, a kingdom without Christ anywhere to be found except in submission to them. And this kingdom is called Hell and it will be cast into the lake of fire, far from the God the despise "Woe to the crown of pride" for all who wear this crown, who exalt themselves - above God's will, will be humbled, will be brought low, even unto Hell, while those who abase themselves, who humble themselves, will be lifted up on high, even unto Heaven. 

Someone who knows me well said they think I am against everyone. This really saddens me. I want, with all my heart, to see God's people, my people, set free, delivered and healed. I want blind eyes opened and broken hearts mended. This is the call on my life from God, my Father - "You shall go to all that I shall send you (to) and whatsoever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with you to deliver you. Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant". "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns that can hold no water."
I am for, not against, my people. The end game, the ultimate goal, it so build and plant, but first old mindsets and pet false doctrines, all of Satan's influence, his wisdom, his ways, must all be exposed, rooted out and pulled down, thrown down and completely destroyed. Hearts and minds must desire and receive Truth. Truth must expose lies for lies to be forsaken. Luke 4:18 is my calling but 4:19 is not, for i am to proclaim "the day of vengeance of our God" "to comfort all who mourn" (Is:61). This is a key verse - people must mourn the years Satan's stolen, they must mourn the wickedness in this fallen world, they must return to the God they've forsaken, weeping as they go. They must mourn their own sinful condition as well as the sin filled condition of others "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted". We must truly mourn our soul's service to Babylon, to the religion Satan has deceived so many with.
If our hearts are aligned with God's, His day of vengeance will comfort us, for it is us He is avenging. Speaking of Babylon, Satan's kingdom on earth - "Rejoice over her, you heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her (Satan's bride). For by your sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints - and I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven saying Hallelujah; Salvation and glory, and honor and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments, for He has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand."
"Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord"  "and they cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" "And the nations were angry, and Your wrath is come."
God sees, He notices, every single sleight, every single wound, every careless word spoken, every drop of blood spilled, every tear shed, by His people - and it is for His people that He will return, with a shout, with a mighty sword in His mouth, avenging His people and judging the evil and wickedness all the nations of the earth have embraced. Both Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 were/are speaking to God's people. They are made that way (poor, brokenhearted, held captive, blind and bruised) by religion - by following Satan while believing they are following Christ, by never having received their riches in Christ - His Spirit, His gifts, His fruit, His anointing. They're brokenhearted from being let down and abused by man, by going to meet with others they believe are God's people, God's leadership, with their hearts fully open, with great anticipation, but instead of receiving and meeting with the Holy Spirit, all they meet with is flesh, dressed up to look holy, but flesh nonetheless. They meet with man, not God. If they submit to this they become prisoners, imprisoned by ideas and philosophies of men and devils, in a religion so deceptive because it uses God's word and God's name "For many shall come in My name, saying I am Christ (also I am of Christ) and shall deceive many. Take heed that NO MAN deceive you".
Alas, the whole time they're in this prison of their own devising, using Satan's blueprints, they believe it's all of God THOUGH THEIR HEARTS TELL THEM DIFFERENTLY.  IF they stay in this prison without bars or doors, they become blind - to truth, for they are abiding in a "prison of darkness" where the light of revelation from the Holy Spirit does not shine. They don't know God, only about Him. They're blind to the truth. They're followers of Satan and not of God. They become spiritual Laodiceans. If at this point, if they stay there long enough, they become bruised, their spirits and souls become wounded from the abuse and treatment they get from men and demons who are in league, building kingdoms of flesh, built on and by flesh for their own glory and benefit (money), not God's. Are not denominations kingdoms on earth built by men? Do they not glorify men rather than God?