MARCH 2007

 

VOL 29 #1     PAUL & NUALA O'HIGGINS, P.O BOX 2778, STUART, FL 34995    paulandnuala@bellsouth.netMarch 07

LIVING IN THE GLORY

When man was first created he lived in the presence of God. (Genesis 2)

This was a realm of immediate relationship and fellowship with God. God was his

•          SOURCE of wisdom, counsel and

•          SUPPLIER of every blessing, every provision and every good thing.

•          And above all FRIEND & COMPANION

It was Paradise! It was also called THE GLORY.

When we began to go our own way, choosing to be led by our own opinions of good and evil and ignore God’s help we fell from this glory. (Genesis 3:6-7)

It was not evil behavior but independence that caused us to lose the glory.  We lost the glory of God’s presence simply by choosing to go our own way and refusing to lean on God’s counsel and resources.

 

We All Missed Glory

      When we choose to serve God on our own terms by our own methods and own opinions instead of leaning on Him, we miss the glory. Even religious activity done apart from dependence on and direction from God is as far short of the glory of God as any secular activity.  “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Jesus, Himself is our great example of refusing to walk independently. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise..” (John 5:19)

He emptied Himself of His own agenda to be available to his Father’s direction. As He did nothing without His Father, we are to do nothing without Him. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” he advises us that we “ (J oh 15:5) As he leaned on His Father so are we to lean on Him and on the Father. What could be plainer!

It is not simply the overtly immoral that are short of the glory. All who of us who act independently of God fall short of the glory. When we work primarily from our human strength and abilities rather than from His, we are separated from the Kingdom of God, we are in a merely humanistic realm  – even if what we are doing is ‘Christian’ activity.

•          A moral person living a moral life independently from God’s direction and help cannot live in the glory of God.

•          A rebellious person ignoring the moral law is not living in the glory of God.

•          A person ignorant of God’s plan of salvation is not living in the glory of God.

•          Even a born again Christian when he lives an independent opinion-governed life is not living in the glory of God.

      As Paul rightly reports “All” have “fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) This means the moral and the immoral, the theologically orthodox and the theologically ignorant, all fall short of God’s glory until we return home through Jesus to the realm of the Father’s love, and empty ourselves of our opinions and agendas. A new wave of believers is emerging who  are willing to lose their lives to be available for His. “He who loves his life will have it taken from him; and he who has no care for his life in this world will keep it forever.” (John 12:25)

This is not a call to martyrdom, suicide or self-hatred for the kingdom but a call to trade the life built on self for a life lived in the glory of God.

 

It’s More Than Forgiveness

The Blood of Jesus is not only a payment mechanism to satisfy the debt of sin - it is THE DOOR that gives us open access to the love and glory of God the Father.  Jesus’ death accomplished more than remission of sin - it makes it possible to return to and live in OUR FATHER’S HOUSE and in the glory of His presence.

Unfortunately many come to the DOOR for the remission of sin, but do not go THROUGH THE door to a life of fellowship with God

      The famous story of the son who left the glory and was later restored to the glory of his father’s house illustrates the reality of redemption better than any theological explanation. (Luke 15)

The son who left home and later returned was not only forgiven - he was restored to glory.

The elder brother, on the other hand, though he lived at home, never entered full relationship of sonship and intimacy with His Father’s love and provision. The younger brother entered this realm when he returned home. The elder brother was then invited to come along and enjoy the glory also. Though not given to immorality and never unfaithful to his father, the elder brother had missed the glory as much as the younger.

 

The Glory Our Home

The return to the glory is the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ work. The Good Shepherd is bringing His scattered sheep home. He is bringing “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10) He is working to bring all who have strayed through immorality, independence or self-righteousness not only to forgiveness but to the presence, care, love, guidance and provision of God – the glory.

Because they do not understand what THE GLORY OF GOD is, many believers assume that salvation is simply a matter of getting sins forgiven and then going on our way, with the assurance that we are going to heaven when we die. Salvation is an invitation not only to have sins forgiven but also to return to the Glory - the realm of God’s love, presence and guidance. This return to the Father’s love and house, to live there is the essence of full salvation. Salvation without entering into this realm was not envisioned in the New Testament.

To stay in the GLORY we must learn to live in this realm - it is our new home. We adopt the manners and ways of the Kingdom of God and leave outside that which is not harmonious with it. Egotism, envy, bitterness, resentment, fornication and the rest of the misery-producing attitudes and sins must be abandoned and replaced with the happiness-producing attitudes which are the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22) The kingdom of God is about living in the love, presence and ways of the Father. It is not about food or drink (or any particular denominational affiliation, customs and agendas) "but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17)

Many of us were brought up to believe that the glory is a realm we can live in only after we die and go to heaven, but when we come through the Blood spattered door of Jesus we enjoy this relationship with God the Father now - on earth as it is in heaven!

 

The Blessings & The Place

The realm of glory is a place of steady blessing. These blessings are a natural by product of living in the Kingdom. As Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) The meaning here is not that we can seek the kingdom at the beginning and then ignore it, but that as we live in God’s presence and remain there, the blessings will naturally follow.

Seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness is not just a one-time quest; it is the daily lifestyle of the believer.

When we enter the realm of the Father’s love, the Kingdom of God, we are also entering a realm where the supernatural activity of God is normal. This is the realm of the Lordship of Jesus, and the operation of the Holy Spirit where the supernatural is natural and miracles the norm.  Here millions of angels move back and forth operating as messengers, executing God’s will (in a realm usually hidden to the natural eye but accessible to the eyes of our faith).

 

‘Extension Pole’ Faith

You cannot (as some imply) receive God’s blessings apart from His presence. Some people try to use faith like a long extension pole to reach over an orchard wall and pluck the fruit. When you live in the garden on the other hand you can simply lift your hand and take the fruit effortlessly.

Faith works so much better when we are in Father’s house and is difficult outside His house. In His presence you can “ask what you will”, but the things that you will ask for will have changed. When we come home to his presence even our asking is changed, sanctified and Spirit led.

 

A Wedding or A Marriage

Redemption has a legal side and a subjective (experiential) side. It is like the difference between a wedding and a marriage. There are many today with a wedding certificate to God who has never entered a life of companionship with Him.

The objective side of our redemption is fixed and settled. When we believe we are reconciled saved, healed and delivered. The subjective experience of these realties is however progressive and increasing. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to bridge the gap between the legal and experiential sides of redemption. He opens our eyes to the spiritual realm and communicates the love and life of the Father to us more and more. There is always more to experience in God and more to press into.

 

Conviction & the Call To Glory

The ministry of the Holy Spirit ‘to convict the world of sin righteousness and judgment” (John 15:8) has traditionally been seen as telling the world how bad and immoral it is. Some believers have picked up on this and assumed that it is their spirit-inspired task to tell others how bad and how wrong they are.  This is not the way of Jesus who did not condemn sinners but came to befriend us and lift us from the guilt, penalty and power of our sins.

Since sin is estrangement from the glory of the Father’s presence and life, conviction of sin is the Holy Spirit’s work of showing us how empty and hopeless life is apart from God glory.

As long as we are away from the realm of glory we are out of our element like fish out of water. That is why in the realm where we are severed from fellowship and friendship with God nothing really works and we are never really satisfied.

In our postmodern age the Holy Spirit is convicting people of the emptiness of life apart from God’s presence and purpose. He is placing  in men’s heart a hunger for real meaning.  This search for true purpose and destiny will propel millions in this generation and the next back to Our Father’s house - the glory, which He had planned for us before He even made us.

‘This gospel of the kingdom will be preached as a witness to all nations and then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:26)

 

The Glory & Unity Of Believers

      Jesus said the glory which the Father has given him He gives to us who believe in Him that we like He would be one with the Father as He was. “The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.”  (John 17:21-23)

He speaks here of the glory that is ours as we walk in union and oneness with Him and His Father. As believers enter into this realm of glory and union (vertical unity), we become one in Him (horizontal unity).

This unity cannot be created by organization as it is a spiritual unity, created by the glory of God’s presence nor by political associations of believers. It is a gift of God and not a creation of man. The horizontal unity with one another cannot be produced apart from the vertical unity with God the Father.



NEWS

Dear Friends

We pray that all is well with you since we last wrote.

Since then we have been home based, planning the year and getting our lives in order.  We spoke weekends at several  churches. including ”Shekinah Glory Fellowship” which is pastored by Rich & Dottie Kane at Pompano Beach Florida. They are doing a tremendous work with the Healing Rooms of Florida and their church is a dynamic center of the Lord’s presence. Thanks to our friends Dick & Lucy Van Scoder we had the opportunity to speak at their church, “The Chapel Church” of North Canton, Ohio and were very warmly received. We have promised to return there later in the year. 

In the last few weeks we were blessed by two conference retreats  at our favorite church in Florida “Our Father’s House’” in Satellite Beach. One was conducted by Gary & Kathy Oates who challenged us all to experience and press into more of the supernatural. The other, led Tod Zeiger (founder of Embassy Network Of Churches) was equally inspiring

We leave at the end of March for our annual ministry time in Ireland. This year as well as our usual itinerary of about 60 meetings we plan on spending more time there in the autumn. During this time we will have ministry in U.K.. Switzerland & Ukraine.

In July we will be visiting Israel (without a group) with our friends Mike & Candy Mann  to visit some Messianic believers in the land  and  encourage them.  This is in addition to our October tour of Israel which we hope some of you will join.

As you can see we need prayer for the strength of the Lord to accompany us and for lives to be transformed and refreshed from His presence as we minister. We also ask your prayers that the Lord will enable us to finish a book we are writing on "The Habits Of The Effective Believer” and for the right publisher.

Our ministry stands on the prayers of our intercessors.

 

With deepest thanks to all of you who help us with your prayers and support - we need you!

: PRINTER FRIENDLY FLYER! :