22 Comments so far

1. Michelle January 30th, 2008 1:35 pm

   That was gorgeous !!!!! I once heard someone say that being born-again is not just accepting Jesus into your heart. That is more like “conception”; being “born” is a narrow (strait), constricting, pressure experience. So what you have is people going around claiming to be born again but really, they have just been “conceived”. Does that sound accurate to you?

2. Nina January 30th, 2008 2:37 pm

   Wow this is GOOD STUFF!!! I feel as if I will burst forth with light. I can feel it spreading through me. I feel very shiny right now. YEAH GOD!!!

3. Barbara January 30th, 2008 3:10 pm

   Seems to me the way you explain it that it is way easier than I thought. I somehow had some distorted view what spirituality is; but what you write makes sense and makes it easy. Thank you. I enjoy the way you explain things; like turning on a light bulb in my mind. See: more light…
   Greetings Barbara

4. Jena January 30th, 2008 3:38 pm

   This is a cool blog. I like where you talk about internal communication versus external communication. I know when I make decisions I pray for the Holy Spirit to lead me and wait for that internal “knowing” to come. I always go with my gut feelings and if I don’t then I usually wind up regretting that decision. I was praying about this and wondering if it was truly the Holy Spirit leading me when I heard someone teach on a scripture in the old testament that mentioned the bowels as being where God resides - in the deepest part of us. I realized that when we as Christians (with God living inside the deepest part of us) say “I have to go with my gut” that we are actually speaking of the Holy Spirit and internal guidance and communication with him.

5. Anonymous January 30th, 2008 5:48 pm

   Wonderful, Stunning!

   The light contains it all…revelation, wisdom and understanding, healing, deliverance, creative power, protection, abundance, love…(just reading the last posting a song came to my mind…)

   …And it shines in His face! 2Cor4:6 Stunning…

   So much has been covered in a month, I wonder where we (if I can say we) will be in a years time!

   God Bless!

   PS: Sorry folks, if I sound like a kid, that’s most probably because I still am (31 and stopped counting a while back)

6. Emily January 30th, 2008 10:30 pm

   To know that the Creator is seeking me to be more intimate with Him gives me encouragement that I can develop my supernatural senses and embrace Him. Thanks for the encouragement to allow myself to ingest, taste and see that He is good!

7. Will January 30th, 2008 10:51 pm

   fascinating! I agree. One thing that I love about our life with God, is that when we put JESUS on the throne of our heart, then the entire kindgom of heaven resides within us, the kingdom of heaven at hand. Much like in the book of revelation, when Jesus sits on the throne there is flashings of light, thunder, and rainbow around the throne, angels and creatures singing ‘holy…’

   Each of us carries this kingdom everywhere we go, and I have seen true believers who have rainbows, flashings of light, sounds, angels, etc encircling them. If we only all believed that the kingdom of heaven really DOES flow as a river out of our belly!

   All that is there, is implanted with the sperma of God, much like the dna of our family is passed on, all of heaven is passed down into us when we were created in ‘the image of God’ and then it is born and awakened at the rebirth.

   thank you for sharing your IN(sight) of heaven. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I know that GOd is my ultimate treasure, and since that is true, my heart is there, one with God, and all that is in heaven and around the throne, is also around me, because God is in me too!

   much love,
   will

8. Sarah January 30th, 2008 11:51 pm

   Wow!
   So, it’s about experiencing change from within, true change that isn’t just about the change of behavior but the kind of change that’s much deeper then just behavior. It’s kind of like a re-orientation of sort. Haha, I love it!! The kind of change that has no limits!! The kind of change that God desire to bring in our lives but as a perfect gentlemen waits for us to say “alright, I surrender,” Now this is exciting!! This is not religion but embracing a life transforming relationship with Jesus.

9. Joe Leone January 31st, 2008 3:21 am

   So your sayin’ God is a good one to follow? -Eh, I guess I’m on the right track. Good stuff John Paul.

10. Antonio January 31st, 2008 4:19 am

    Sorry, I didn’t write my name in my comments…anonymous = Antonio

    God Bless!

11. David from Louisiana January 31st, 2008 8:39 am

    Word Study - Ginosko - ginōskō Greek

    I used (()) to highlight the word ginosko

    (Joh 14:17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither ((knoweth)) him: but ye ((know)) him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

    (Joh 17:3) And this is life eternal, that they might ((know)) thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

    (Mat 1:25) And ((knew)) her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

    G1097
    γινώσκω
    ginōskō
    ghin-oce’-ko
    A prolonged form of a primary verb; to “know” (absolutely), in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as shown at left, with others not thus clearly expressed): - allow, be aware (of), feel, (have) known (-ledge), perceive, be resolved, can speak, be sure, understand.

    This word is often used to indicate intimacy that leads to and includes conception.

    Thanks JP for letting Holy Spirit use you to stir us up! \o/
    God bless
    David

    ps. Still very excited about the 201 course coming to Shreveport!

12. Butterfly January 31st, 2008 11:15 am

    I am just beginning to grasp an understanding of who I am as the light of the world. I have been studying about this and your explanation has taken me to a deeper understanding of knowing how to fellowship within to realize greater brightness externally. My deepest desire is to “Know” HIM so that I may Show HIM (with such intense light) that the hurting people of the world are drawn to me to see HIM. Grace to you.

13. Lori January 31st, 2008 12:38 pm

    I love this “TRUTH”. The Holy Spirit revealed to me in the scripture “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”, that the word “know” meant intimacy like when Adam “knew” Eve. And the “truth” is the revelation word which is Jesus. Being intimate with our creator makes us free! So when I read what John Paul wrote about knowing God means being intimate with God our creator it totally witnessed with my spirit. Thank you Mr. Jackson.

14. David from Louisiana January 31st, 2008 10:11 pm

    Radiating the light…
    One of our teachers explains that a piece of Radium in a room would affect everyone in the room… unless they were wearing something that blocked the radiation like a lead cover!

    Would it be true to say that Radiation is a by-product of light.?

    There is much more to the light spectrum that we cannot see with our eyes. This tells us that there is much more to God than we can see.

    John compares Him to light, In Him there is no darkness or variableness of turning, such as a shadow.

    Let me say this, I do not know a lot about the study of light, or even begin to understand how it all works. I have found some interesting things though.
    such as,
    There are 7 different spectrums of light… there may be more that I am unaware of.
    Radio, Microwave, Infrared, Visible, Ultraviolet, X-Ray, Gamma Ray.

    “Visible” light covers only 1/1000 of a % of the spectrum.

    If there is much light that we cannot see, that affects us in many ways… wouldn’t that suggest that the True Light that is in us and with us would affect many others even if it is not visible?

    Some of this I learned on HowStuffWorks, How Light Works

    so… how do I get to the place where God can shine in a greater way through the “Lead” or density of my soul? by breaking through! Somehow I think the tearing of the veil is symbolic of this in relation to the Temple being the body.

    May we continue to grow in the use of our senses to the communion of Holy Spirit. We have 5 natural senses, do we have at least that many spiritual senses?

    God bless
    David

15. One of Those February 1st, 2008 12:34 pm

    A Question….

    Since I’ve been reading and writing on this blog site some things have been changing in me. For one, I have had two good dreams. This is not to say I have bad dreams typically. I just had two dreams of things I wish would happen and they happened in the dream. I know that is not too spectacular but there is more. I’ve had a couple of dreams with spiritual type experiences in them and they were good. One of them I woke up out of this morning to a nice experience.

    I woke up in the middle of the night, out of a dream I can’t really remember well, and was suddenly hit with a ‘filling’ feeling. It was really incredible. It made me feel more alive, lightweight, and clear. I am assuming this was God. I am assuming this is spiritual communication though nothing was said. It was a feeling but not physical (unless you count the euphoric experience).

    I know it sounds very basic to describe it this way but I’m going back to basics these days. So, my question in another blog was ‘how do you communicate with God in a spiritual sense?’ I did nothing but sleep before this ‘experience’ this morning. In the past I have prayed, praised, meditated, waited, begged, pleaded, and finally given up trying to ‘spiritually communicate.’ Other times, without warning I might “feel” something I have thought to be God.

    The seeming inconsistency is frustrating in that sometimes He seems to answer and sometimes He doesn’t. It has made me quit trying for years. I stumbled on the blog and here I am. I have seen over the years how people flock to spiritual leaders and long to be a part of their church, ministry, or discipleship. I know why some are that way. They don’t know how to spiritually communicate with God on their own and think it will be better if they are around some leader. Or, they get their spiritual kicks by being in those places and cannot reach God on that level on their own. In fact, it often does seem to be the case that it is easier or better communicating with God in a spiritual sense around certain people, places, or situations (especially demonstrated in the Toronto revival).

    I don’t know why certain people, places, or situations seem to make it easier to spiritually communicate with God. Maybe you can comment on this? Or, why it seems that we often cannot connect with God on a spiritual level unless around certain people, places or situations? The bottom line is that I don’t want to have to follow people, places, or situations around in order to have a deep spiritual relationship with God. I think I should have every facility available in order to have just as deep of a spiritual relationship with God as anyone else. Some people fade away from God unless they are around the right people. Can’t we have a vibrant relationship with God without running from one ‘hot spot’ to another? What is the cause of so many not being able to have that relationship with God on their own, in their own location, under their own leadership?

16. Susan February 1st, 2008 4:23 pm

    Thank you John Paul for your pearls of wisdom. I’d like to share a little of what’s been in my heart about walking in the light. In the light there resides no darkness, walking in the light is all part of intimacy, having a pure heart, being transparent. We know God knows everything about us but many times we are very good at hiding, at erecting walls with a sign that says ‘NO ENTRY’ …. Intimacy which has to do with the heart needs light to bring communion with God. If our hearts are not willing to be transparent with Him (or anyone else for that matter) we could be associating with a spirit of religion which normally makes us want to hide who we are. Hiding is a sign of not walking in the Spirit. I think Light + purity + transparency = intimacy.

17. Nina February 5th, 2008 1:23 pm

    First, Will has such amazing insight and I long for my mind to be renewed to such a degree. Okay, what “One of these” wrote regarding “a question” keeps coming to me. I couldn’t agree more. I am one who has been on a pilgrimage hoping to glean from others, but I want so desparetly to receive what I get straight from Father and not from a certain place, leader or whatever else. I need to go right to Him for all things. Can we talk more about her/his “question”?

18. Chris Long February 6th, 2008 5:38 pm

    Hey guys and gals, I am on this same journey, and to be honest even though I don’t know the answers except for the necessities, I know that the answer is coming soon. It might be tonight at church, in a dream, or in a year or more. This month has been one of the greatest months of my life. I am so dependent on Jesus and his presence, that there is nothing else worth seeking. Maybe God keeps in the dark to awaken a deeper hunger for him, it is like. if you in a dry land the more desperate you get for water and refreshing, and OH the Refreshing!! Have you ever been so hungry that when you did get to eat, it seemed to be the best meal you ever had. We need to lay aside this world, and persue only him because when he comes to us will we be ready or will we still be drawing from the pleasure of this world. He will not share his glory with us as long as we are see through worldly colored glasses because we will misinterpret what he is truly trying to say.

19. Holly February 8th, 2008 11:43 pm

    I am coming into this study a bit late, but wanted to share something on the topic. I wrote this back in December and posted it on my MySpace blog.
    ——-
    “Gimme the Permanent Radiance Factor!”
    “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” - 2 Corinthians 3: 12-18

    It is commonly known that Moses covered his face with a veil after coming off Mount Sinai. The Old Testament account in Exodus 34:29-35 tells us he put the veil on after the Israelites were afraid. So, one assumes that the veil was to keep out fear. Still, Moses removed the veil in the Lord’s presence. Then when he came back out, he put the veil back on only after the people saw he was still radiant. I never thought much about this.

    But tonight, reading the account in 2 Corinthians 3, I got a whole new perspective. In the old covenant, which was the account in Exodus, God’s presence “recharged” Moses’ face. He had to continually refresh by getting back in communion with God. If the Exodus account was all there is telling us about Moses and the veil, then we’d have forever assumed that the reason for the veil was to prevent fear. However, the explanation of the new covenant sheds a whole new light. Moses didn’t wear a veil to hide the radiance! He wore it to hide that the radiance was FADING! Prove it, you say?

    Back in Exodus 34: 34-35:

    “But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.”

    He was showing off the new recharged look, and THEN covered it up. If he just wanted to prevent fear, he’d have replaced the veil before returning to the people.

    Then back to 2 Corinthians 3, where it is stated point-blank the reason. Under the old covenant, the radiance of an encounter with God, although glorious, would fade quickly.

    Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit dwells WITHIN us! Beloved, we are illuminated from the inside out instead of outside in! Therefore, we are able to be in constant communion with Him and if we let the Spirit do His work in our lives, not only does the glory remain…it is ever-increasing! The more yielded to His presence we become, the more we radiate Christ’s love and the immeasurable power of the Holy Spirit.

    Furthermore, we are called to boldness under the New Covenant. We are not to cover our radiance with a veil, because the secret and shameful ways of the past have been renounced. His glory outshines everything we have ever done. And if anyone sees us through a veil, it is not that we are veiled any longer. Instead, it is that the person looking is blinded by “the god of this age.” The veil is on their hearts instead of our faces (2 Cor 4:3-4). If someone chooses to live only under the promises of the old covenant, they will miss the permanent radiance factor. I firmly believe this is why so many people, even professed believers, cannot live out the victorious life that we are promised under the New Covenant. When the Spirit Himself makes His home in our hearts, and when we accept the fullness of His presence, we can’t lose. Did you get that?

    We CAN’T lose. Loss is a form of death, and the Spirit gives LIFE.

    “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” - Romans 8:11

    What then are we to do?

    We are to be faithful carriers of the “treasure in jars of clay.” We are to live bold New Covenant lives. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us. It is not our job to remove the veil of the unbelievers. The veil is only to be lifted by the Bridegroom when the time has come for revelation. It is our job to be faithful to Christ. Our communion with Him is precious to His heart. He longs for us to stay close.

20. Tom Zawacki February 9th, 2008 3:45 pm

    This post reminds me of the whole Friend of God vs. Fan of God point Patty was making at our ABC meeting in Dallas.

    Oh that we would never be satisfied to be God’s fan when He is offering us friendship and so much more.

    Z

21. Sarah February 12th, 2008 1:02 am

    I want to know Christ and the power of His resurection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering…

    The more I understand suffering the more I understand that the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is the same Spirit who dwells within me.

    Holly: Thanks for sharing…I’ve been stirred up tonight while reading what you wrote. I’ve been challenged…

    There is a book I believe it’s called “Facing The Wall”.

    For those who are Worship Leaders and yet who seem to be hidden and certainly not because they’ve chosen to be hidden but it’s simply the season they are in.

    Being hidden…facing the wall…often I take my guitar and face the wall as I stand before my God and worship Him and then as soon as opportunity comes knocking I’m right there but until then I continue to face the wall as He does His work in me.

    I think some people drift from one “hot-spot” to another because they are still babes in the faith. Perhaps they really need those “hot-spots” and perhaps they need mentors in their lives who will lead them towards the next level so to speak. Perhaps there are stronghold in their lives that prevent them from being teachable and perhaps that stronghold is an unteachable spirit.

    The “hot-spots” got me through so much crap and today when I look back and remember my time spent in some of those “hot-spots” I’m amazed with the faithfulness of God to come and reveal Himself to me that I might one day go from a “fan-club” type relationship and grow into a friendship with God.

    Was I unteachable in my early days? I think I had been and I think facing the wall has done a great deal of change in me. Or perhaps the older I get the more teachable I become because I’ve tried to do most things my way only to find out it didn’t work and so became ready to try things a different way. Perhaps it’s both.

    I no longer try to hit all the “hot-spots” but rather I try to find a “hot-spot” where I am in the moment. And I find it can be as simple as practicing the presence of Christ and maintaining conscious contact with God and to continualy allow for praise to flow out of me. And so what I’m trying to say is that I’m finding that it’s not as complicated thing I once thought it was. It’s actualy quite simple.

    It’s interesting to note that the Israelites could have communied with God as Moses communed with Him. Israel could have had experienced the presence of God to the depth Moses did but because of their fear they sent Moses up the mountain.

    And so I’m challenged to break through the fear and you know that fear can act like a lead covering…somebody mentioned earlier in reference to different forms of light…in our own lives I really believe it’s that whole thing with fear that has the potential of acting like a lead covering in our own lives. When we can break free from the fear people will be drawn because they will see the light of Christ.

    There were times people would experience healing just because the shadows of the disciples would fall on them. Amazing isn’t it! And this is the New Testiment. How many testimony’s are out there where people experience being healed or set free from demonic stronghold and delivered just because a Christ follower passed by?

    Anyways, just thoughts though probably incomplete….

22. Andrew March 20th, 2008 12:56 am

    John Paul,
    Can you tell me the differences and roles of the following:
    The Holy Spirit within us, Our Spirit, The seed of God being placed within us (being born again), the New Man Creation, having The fruit of the Spirit and being joined and one spirit with Him?
    How do all these Biblical concepts flow together? I want to have understanding and walk in it.

Leave a comment