This Present Truth

The Lord Jesus's first call was to rest from all burdens of life. When we choose to come to Him, He gives us rest from sin and the world system. However, Jesus calls again to learn of Him. Once you've learned to be like Him you receive a secondary rest. The second rest is rest for our souls in heaven. This rest comes once we've taken the yoke of discipleship and have chosen to learn from Him. If y...

Jesus went up on a mountain to teach but not everyone followed. Only those who were disciples did. Our discipleship begins once we've chosen to lay down conveniences and excuses to follow Him. You cannot be a disciple and never go up to meet the Lord. The multitude stayed at the ground level and received no revelation of the Word. You too will struggle to receive revelation if you don't separate y...

What is the assignment of a disciple? It is simply to produce, make, and birth more disciples. This is our call. It is not to have fun church services, or relaxing vacations. It is to bring more people into the yoke of Christ. We are also commanded to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This word baptism doesn't mean 'sprinkle with water'. It means to immerse something, in ord...

Every person called into discipleship is first called to be with Jesus. Many want to come into discipleship for things, gifts and anointings. A gift will not last if you do not have the life to sustain it. It is not to preach or do works, but to sit down at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him. Only when you've sat down to learn can you take the practical step in taking the yoke of Christ. The goal...

After a person has come into Christ they receive rest. Jesus gives rest to every person who has chosen to come to Him. Rest isn't all that He wants us to receive. The next step is for us to come into a discipleship relationship with Jesus. In this relationship we find rest for our souls. It is this second 'rest' that many church people fail to receive. The first rest can only give you freedom to c...

There are levels of learning that every child of God must enter into. The first is blade level. This is the most basic stage and focuses on 'understanding'. What a child of God understands from the Word of God is dictated on their understanding of the scripture. At this stage a person must pursue proper knowledge of the Word. The second level is the ear stage. This is how a child of God will devel...

A lack of conformity leads to a lack of spiritual growth. As we are conformed into the image of Christ we begin the process into heirship. If we are children of God, then we are children of Light. If you are not living a life of light, then you are not a legitimate son. It is what comes out of our lives that proves if we are a true son of God. It is the way we act, think, rationalize, and understa...

Coming into the kingdom of God we are baptized into Christ's body. Our dead spirit is made alive by the Holy Spirit. With a newly quickened spirit we can communicate and fellowship with God the Father. Unless this quickening happens, one's spirit is totally unresponsive to anything of the spirit realm. This includes reading the Word of God and getting God's response to prayers. Our experience with...

Let's go back to the basics of Christ. In Romans 8:29 we are told that our goal is to be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ Jesus. With this goal in mind, we must align our lives and pursue this if we want to achieve God's will. Discipleship starts at this junction: conformity. Jesus is our pattern because we are supposed to be becoming just like Him. A mature Christian is one who's lif...

How do we get out of spiritual dryness? We must first be deliberate. No complacent man can get out of a dry place. Without a deliberate commitment to be delivered you will not come out of spiritual dryness. The second way to come out is to forsake where you are. You must repent and turn back to the Lord asking Him to flush out any sin that has caused you to drift. Coming out of spiritual dryness r...

The first thing we must monitor is what brought us into such a dry place. The causes of spiritual dryness can be independence, disobedience, busyness, and sin. We enter into these usually deliberately. When in spiritual dryness it can seem like God isn't hearing us, but in reality, He may be waiting for us to repent. It is important to constantly check our hearts, thoughts and ways. How have we ac...

The dryness of a desert lacks the moisture of rain. Sometimes this can be our lives spiritually. In the midst of trials and tribulations it can seem like God is a far off. What do we do in these situations, and how do we handle them? You know that you're in a period of dryness when there's no freshness, difficulties come without resolve, frustrations are central, and the Holy Spirit's voice is fai...

What is God's testimony about you? For Abraham it was that He was a faithful man. He trusted in God's promise for himself and his family. Is was that he commanded his children after the Lord. A true father leads his family into Christ Himself. He directs his wife and children to know God for themselves, causing them to grow in spiritual stature. It was that he kept the way of the Lord. Abraham wou...

Study to show yourself approved of God! An approved life is one that is yielded completely to God. Everything about our lives, private or public, ought to be pleasing to God. An approved life is a subject that many fail to emphasize causing many to wander in deceit. The Word you are to receive must cause spiritual alignment in the direction of godliness. Beware of those false teachers who because...

How is your walk with the Lord? Is it worthy? Have you taken the correct steps to make sure that how you are walking is acceptable to Him? If not, then how can we call ourselves followers. The three components of every walk are fruitfulness, acceptability, and knowledge of Him. Join us for this episode of This Present Truth as we dive into what is means to walk hand and hand with our Master. Thank...

jProper Identity in Christ is based on how we grow. Since everything produces after its own kind we must become like Christ if others around us will be like Him. For unrighteous seeds will grow an unrighteous tree that will produce unrighteous fruit. The quality of life is equivalent to the quality of fruit that one will bear. If a man is defiled on the inside, then out of his heart will proceed a...

Why is being built up so important? It is the only way to be a proper stone for God to build with. We aren't being built up for show but for God to use to build his church. The church, believers in Christ, is what Jesus is coming back for when He returns. He isn't looking for men who haven't yielded to God's making process. He's not looking for mere parts that never were assembled together by the...

We must regulate our lives to His pattern after we've received Him. Receiving Christ is more than just having Him and living the same way. Receiving Him should push you into a growing into the ways of Christ. You receive Him through a conviction in the heart from the Holy Spirit through the gospel. If you have yet to receive Him then you have yet to come into existence in His sight. The way you re...

The foundation of a man's life determines how high in God he will go. The godly are properly built up on the foundation of Christ. Now that we've been rooted in Christ, we must be built up on Him. However, no man can built spiritual things on the life of the old sinful nature. To be built up means to be consistently in God's presence. Lack of consistency will cause gaps in your foundation. If not...

Your root life is what sustains and produces one's lifestyle. You cannot live contrary to how rooted you are in Christ. Being rooted is foundational to the building of one's faith and life in Christ. Since coming into the new creation does not make one automatically righteous, we must take time to learn the basics of Christ, i.e. 'become rooted'. Without a stable root life your relationship with G...

As we continue in our series about being rooted, built up and established it's important to look at our root life. The consequences of not being rooted in God is that you will not be able to be built up. Our roots have to sink down deep in God that He might be able to build the life of Christ in us. Maybe the reason your life doesn't reflect Christ is because you are not properly rooted in Christ...

Likeness equals the kind of life you'll build. Who you are is a reflection of how well you've built yourself on the rock of Christ or the sand of the world. As we look at being built the examination of our likeness is important. To be as a wise man requires one to hear God's Word and obey. Hearing but not doing equates to one's likeness being as a foolish man. Because our likeness coming into the...

The Lordship of Jeus is how we need to regulate our life. Is Jesus Lord over your life? Does He have full control? Have you fully surrendered yourself to Him? To be steadfast in Christ requires Him being our Lord. Through the process of discipleship can our lives be properly shepherded by Christ. For He is the only one who is capable of sending a quality word that can root, build up, and establish...

Every fruit is determined by its fruit. Last episode we talked about the importance of being rooted and digging deep. Digging it important so that God's Word can take effect in our heart: bearing fruit. We must establish ourselves to a point where God can expect good fruit from our lives. We either must make the tree of our lives good or make it bad. When our tree is good then and only then can we...

Before anything can be rooted it must first be planted. Being planted in Christ comes with first God having encountered your life so that His seed can be put in you. Without the seed, that comes by hearing the Word, being planted in our relationship with God has not officially started. Being rooted without God's seed is like the seed sown on the rocky soil. It received the Word with gladness, but...