A Pauper In Paradise

I want to honor a great singer Gino Vannelli.   In my seventies rock and roll circles,  few men have possessed the singing talents of Gino Vannelli.

Gino cut an album titled “A Pauper in Paradise” which describes today’s entry. As a matter of fact, we Christians, though already in God’s paradise, live as paupers.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The word “indeed’ talks about reality, a state of existence, identity, nature, essence, and being.  The Christian as to her image, essence, and make up,  her core identity, is now free.

She is free from the sin producing nature. She is free from disease because the sinful nature which generates it has been dispatched away .  She is free Satan and his demons, because she sits at right hand of God, in His throne, far higher than them.

Google defines free as follows. “It is to be no longer under the control or in the power of another and thus able to act or do things as one wishes.”

She who is a new creation in Christ, is no longer under the control of these things. She is free to live her life exempt from their authority and sway.

The Christian life has two elements; position, and manifestation.

The “free indeed” which Christ points out, is our position.  This is our new identity.  This is our reality, the way that God sees and deals with us now,  because we are in Christ.

By position, the Christian is no longer under the control of sin, disease or the devil.  She can act now in a way in which she does not focus on these things. She can act as a free agent in Christ.

When the Christian wants to do this though, she finds herself with many obstacles contrary to experiencing the reality of freedom.

Herein is the struggle for manifestation. The process of taking the position of being free indeed, and manifesting it as a tangible reality, is more complicated.

Much of the tangible manifestation of our position has to do with obedience to God, His word, and His voice.  The Christian life functions by understanding the new position, believing it, and acting upon it time and time again, until it becomes the reality.

Php 2:12  So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

This is what Paul calls, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Rom 3:27  Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

Secondly, because faith is a law, what we believe and act upon, will become manifested.

This is why it’s  important to become a student of God’s word. So much of  our new position lies within its pages.  You can’t manifest your position unless you know what it is!

Part of being free however, is to act free, live free, play free, talk free, think free, and give freely. Be a free man!

Pr 23:7  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee

I love what Solomon says in Proverbs. As a man thinks in his heart, and what he acts out, that will be his reality, or what he truly experiences.

I was confronted with this word at church.

God told me…” Jose, though you are free as to your inward nature, your essence, and being, you sure don’t act it half of the time. You don’t think yourself as free.”  You focus, on the lie of the devil, instead of acting, talking, thinking, and giving as a free man.  I had to repent at this revelation.

Am I truly free? Has the son of God set me free?  Am I truly free from disease and from the attacks of the enemy which paralyze me, or do I see myself yet plagued with them?

Being a worry wart shows that I don’t think myself as free!

Do I focus on the need, or do I focus that Christ has given me all things abundantly?  Do I think like a pauper who is already living in paradise?  Maybe Gino would ask me this!

Php 3:13  Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,

I won’t give in to fear or intimidation. I will act out in boldness and confidence.  I will be free to love people and not be insecure with them.  I won’t act out from disease; but rather from health. Being free, means that I let all bondage go, ignore and forget them.

The devil energizes when we are obsessed with the things which Christ set us free.  If we concentrate on them it means that we don’t consider ourselves free.

Welcome to the devils playground then, boys and girls!  He loves when we are obsessed with the things which Christ already removed. He energizes in proportion to our focus on  things which are no longer there.

Now mind you, I know that this is easier said and done. I know that there are many steps that God has one take for freedom to become  manifested.

Let it begin though,  by your knowing, that in reality, as to your nature, and essence, you are a free agent and exempt from all control, except that which comes from Christ.

Rom 6:14  For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.

No longer are you subject the whims of sin, sickness or the devil.  They can’t control you if you really see yourself as free.

Act free, be free, think free, talk free, give freely, and ignore what is not from Christ.

Stop being a pauper in paradise!