Tag: PRE

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From This Side of the Cross

by Pastor Roy Esposito

  • David’s 3-Fold Anointings – King – Priest – Prophet
  • Psalm 32:1-2 – “Forgiven” – lifted off – “Imputed” – charged to an account
  • David prophesied of a time After the Cross when a person’s sins would not be charged to their account.
  • Romans 6:23 – The “wage” of sin: death – was fulfilled by Jesus’ death on the Cross
  • 1 John 2:1-2 – Our Advocate and the propitiation (appeasement) for our sin
  • 1 John 4:17 – “For as He is so are we in this world.”
  • Romans 6:15-16(TPT) – The revelation of the Cross’s produces MORE love, not LESS
  • The greater the love, the greater the strength we’ll have to break sin’s power over us. –PR
  • The “GOOD NEWS” – Psalms 32:1 – “Blessed is the man whom the Lord WILL NOT impute sin.”
  • John 8:32 – “This revelation of the Cross is the Truth that sets people FREE.” –PR
  • Staying on the “wrong side” of the Cross will keep us bound to the fear of God, our only true source of freedom. –PR
  • Devil’s tactic – Distort our understanding of scripture because he knows it is the book of our inheritance
  • He is a master illusionist who holds a Ph.D. in Lying
  • Matthew 24:11 – Jesus warns of false teachers and false prophets.
  • BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHOSE TEACHINGS YOU’RE LISTENING TO.

Hint: Check for the right ORTHOCARDIA – the right heart.

  • Leviticus 26:27-28 – Before the Cross
  • Colossians 2:13b-14 – After the Cross
  • Isaiah 53:4-5 “By His stripes, we are HEALED.”
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Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

  • 2 Tim 2;15 (KJV)     Study to be able to “Divide” the word of truth
  • Jack Hayford – “Dividing” – to rightly DISCERN scriptural truth by capturing the Spirit of the Word
  • The Cross – Transformational in human history: Where Love and Mercy superseded Law 
  • Orthodoxy – Correct Beliefs – Orthopraxy – Correct Practices – Orthocardia – Correct Heart
  • 1 Cor 13:1 (TPT) – all is noise without Love
  • Having correct beliefs and practices are not adequate for transformation
  • Matt 23:23 – The more important moral and spiritual matters: Justice (doing the right thing) – Mercy (kindness and mercy) – Faithfulness
  • All beliefs and practices must flow from hearts that are oriented towards God’s heart of love and mercy to contain transformative power.
  • Rom 6:14 – Governed by grace
  • 2 Kg 1:1-16 – Elijah calls down fire
  • “Many believers today live as though the Cross made NO difference; thus their hearts have not yet been fully converted.” – PR
  • Lk 9:55-56 — “You know not what manner of spirit you are of.” – Jesus
  • Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil (1Jn 3:8) but also the works of our natural mindsets
  • Rom 8:31 – “God is FOR us!”
  • Dark Times: Not Punishments but Opportunities to cling to God more tightly and receive more Amazing Grace
  • Isa 59:19 – RCF’s banner “RESTORATION.” 
  • Jer 1:12 – He watches over His Word to perform it!
  • Jer 29:11-29 – His good plans for us
  • 1 Cor 13:8 – “Love never fails!”
  • Isa 58:12 – “Repairers of the Foundations of Faith – Restorers of Communities.”

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Re-Minded

by Pastor Roy Esposito

— Viewing Platform   –   How we see stuff

— Eph 4:22 (AMP) —    Take Off / Put On

— Illusions create Delusions  —   PR

— Liminality – The “in-between” place  – A transitional period or phase in a rite of passage

— John of the Cross — “The Dark Night of the soul.”

— Intrinsic to the very nature of faith is the invitation to the unknown, an invitation to a new and unfamiliar place.

— The “Walk of Faith” demands the letting go of all carved (graven) images; material and MENTAL b/c all humans have Disordered Desires and Attachments

— All attachments to sin, active or held within our hearts, must be broken and is a prerequisite for an elevated, God-inspired viewing platform

–God’s will must be desired but not out of fear of hell but from a love of heaven; out of a sincere and focused love of God

— Jesus’ 40 days in the desert  — He emptied Himself of all His old images– of Himself, of God, of others and received new images of Himself as the Son of God and an image of God as ABBA

— Transformation and Regeneration can’t happen in our heads. 

— We are converted only when we allow the breath of the Spirit to intermingle with the actual circumstances of our lives  — and then only if we allow the circumstances to “Speak” to us

—  When I refuse to allow my old self-image to be broken, I remain identified by it. 

— Every event I experience will form images that have the power to snag and control me and cause me to serve them.

— Only when my present self-image is broken off me  can the Father give me a new self-image — that of a Son of God — I PUT ON SONSHIP 

— Rom 8:16 (TPT)   “You are His beloved child!”

–– Rom 8:14 (NKJ) –  Led of the Spirit of God — Sons of God

— New and elevated Viewing Platform — “Sons of God.”

—Jn 5:19 — The Son only does what the father does

–-1Cor 2:16  — We have the mind of Christ

— Zech 4:6   — Not by might or by power — by My spirit

— Rom 12:2 — Transformation — Spirit re-forms how we think

— Eph 2:8 — Saved by Grace through Faith

— It’s His grace and favor that allow us to ascend, but it’s our FAITH that  ACTIVATES the grace that makes it possible

— Lk 12:32  — Fear not. Father’s pleasure to give the Kingdom  — Grace and favor

— Eph 4:23-24 (NEV) — “Made” new in mind and spirit

— Jn 14:26  – The Spirit will teach and RE-MIND you

— 1Jn 3:2 — We shall be like Him — for we shall SEE Him as He is

— New Identity:   SHINING REFLECTION OF GOD  — B. Simmons

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A Mental Revolution

By Pastor Roy

Matthew 4:17 – “Repent! (metanoia) For the kingdom of God is at hand…”

Metanoia – “Turn from your ways and go beyond your mind.”

Law – “Thou Shalt Not”
Grace – “I will.”

Hebrews 8:8-10,12

The Cross – “It is finished!”

Hebrews 8:12 – “…all their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.” –God

Romans 5:17 – Gifts: Grace and Perfect Righteousness

Ephesians 4:22-24(AMP) – “Put OFF and Put ON”

Exodus 20:1-5a – Do not make nor serve any Graven Images

Graven Images – made by impressions – physical and MENTAL

Souls – Like “soft wax” – easily moldable

The WORLD – Currently under the direct influence of the “prince of the air.”  – Ephesians 2:2

He offers ILLUSIONS posing as TRUTH and supports them with Myths

  • Myth #1 – More Options mean More Freedom
  • Myth #2 – More Analysis – More Wisdom
  • Myth #3 – More “Things” accumulated – More Happiness
  • Myth #4 – Progress must be made regardless of the COST

Evolution – CHANGE: A gradual progression in which something changes into a different and usually better form.

Christians – Natural man to Spirit man

The greatest danger in the “Theory of Evolution” – What are we willing to accommodate in our lives in order to affect future change?  Where are we headed as a species?

The destination we chose will determine the Approach we will take to progress.

True Wisdom – Jesus Christ: His approach; His heart; His teachings; His life’s model as the means to Evolutionary Transformation.

True Godly Transformation can’t be accomplished through a world viewpoint with its fake and flawed wisdom and ILLUSIONS.

Illusions create Delusions

Delusion [Def] – “A fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual facts.”

Matthew 7:7-8 – “Ask – Seek – Knock” and keep doing it!

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Building On Bedrock – 03-Oct-2021

“See-Saw” Faith leaves us unstable and insecure.

Matt 7:24-27 – Building on an unshakeable foundation

“When a person feels moral clarity and a burning sense of purpose, they can often UNDERESTIMATE the complexity of an issue and OVERESTIMATE their own wisdom in solving the problem. Virtuous purpose can then become self-righteousness of our own sin.” – David French

Matt 4:7 – “REPENT….”

REPENT – METANOIA(GRK) – Meta – “Beyond” (preposition) – “Large” -(adj)

                      “Go beyond the mind.”  or  “Go into a large mind.

Mind -operates on a BINARY system (Right/Wrong – Good/Evil) of contrast and comparison (division and separation)  

“Get beyond the system of the mind because the “Kingdom of Oneness” will soon arrive.” – Jesus.

Binary – “Double-mindedness” – James 1:8 – Doubleminded = Unstable

Ezk 36:26 – “A NEW HEART” – Intuition, unity, aesthetics, creativity, image-forming, and symbolic capacities.

Jesus came to short circuit our mental wiring so we can be catapulted into a “Larger” way of being.

Rom 12:2 – Do not be conformed to the model of this age whose god is the devil

Conformed – “Accommodate” – Prove – Show through everyday life what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

Ps 27:1 (TPT)

Phil 3:14 – “I will press toward the mark…” – the finished work of the cross

Matt 5:3 (NKJ) – “Blessed are they who’ve come to the end of themselves”

Overcomers – Free from the limitation of this realm

Ps 40: 1-2,4 (NKJ)

“Child-like Faith” – not IMMATURITY  but  VULNERABILITY

Isa 6:1 – Uzziah – a type of the “World” system – Robe – God’s glory

1Jn 3:2(TPT) – We’ll be like Him when He’s revealed

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Adam is Us! – 29-Aug-2021

Any outward display of power without inner transformation isn’t Supernatural, just Superhuman.

Spiritual Anbesol – Busyness, “Toys,” Noise.  Or any Distraction to distract us

Serpent’s lie – Venom that poisoned Adam’s identity in God; midwife to the False Self

In its simplicity, the desire to be like God is the desire to be what God originally intended for man to be.

Adam’s Sin – more a matter of IDENTITY than a SIN of MORALITY

Adam is more than a historical figure whose mess up created a multi-generational “Identity Birth defect” – Adam is US in our disobedience to God.

The Inner Battle – Truth Vs. Lie – God’s Gift of Identity Vs. An Illusion – True Self Vs. False Self

False self – must go to the Cross each day to be deconstructed

Thomas Merton – ”The secret of my identity is hidden in the love and mercy of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:45-46 – Jesus, The Second Adam – God’s Mercy

James 1: 22-25(NIV) Do not merely listen to the Word – DO IT!

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Pain Relief – 22-Aug-2021

Suffering and His Identity from Pastor Marie

Pain Relief

1 Corinthians 15:45-46 (TPT)

”The spiritual life is to be pursued as though NO spiritual life exists because it is not really a separate life — Only ONE Life exists, and that is from God which is given to us moment to moment.”

Christianity — Deconstruction and Reconstruction surrounding CHAOS

Chaos — a cause of instability and PAIN:  Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual

General Pain — 3 Types : 

  1. Burns, cuts, lacerations — damage to organs, muscles, bones, etc.
  2. Inflammation — swelling, throbbing, etc.
  3. Neuropathy — excessive and abnormal sensitivity: magnifies ordinary sensory outputs and converts them into pain

External Energy used for relief; Massage therapy, Sonic Heat, Hydro-thermal

Emotional and Spiritual Neuropathy  – constant emotional pain, lacking peace in their minds and hearts

John 14: 27 Jesus’ peace

  1. Restores to ONENES
  2. Single-minded focus
  3. Clears confusion
  4. Stability

“World’s” peace — lack of conflict

James 1:8 — “A double-minded man is UNSTABLE in all of his ways.”

Unstable Mind — yield Confusion — Doubt — Shakey Faith, causing “Spiritual Sensory Overload.”

S.S.O. — sends wrong signals to our minds and spirits that cause pain by magnifying untruthful messages

Pain is real — messages are NOT– “Nobody likes you.” — Too fat/ skinny/ tall/short. Etc

Negative messages – common goal: Pain, Sickness, and Death

Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice — communicate with God  — be Grateful.”

Philippians 4:7 “…and the Peace of God will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” — Because of your RELATIONSHIP with Him

Your Hearts — will receive inner peace

Your Minds  — will gain Clarity of thought

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Love: Jesus Style

Love: Jesus Style by Pastor Roy Esposito
  • Matthew 22:37-39
  • John 13:35 — A “New” commandment:  “Love as I love.”
  1. Attentiveness — Jesus LISTENED and was PRESENT
  2. Caring Confrontation  — No MALICE
  3. Generational Thinking  — Imparted Authority
  4. Celebrated People  — as Gifts from God  —   Matthew 25:40 (TPT)
  5. Humour  — approached people with Joy and Mirth
  6. Creativity  — spiritual matters in improvisational stories- “Parables.”
  7. Reverence – respect for people, family, home, nature
  8. Compassion –  KARA – (Gothic)  – “To enter into another’s sorrow with them”

    First,  become “CARERS”  — HEALING follows
    John 7:38 (AMP)
    James 5:15-16 (AMP)

  9. Forgiveness– The ultimate expression of God’s love

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Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Freewill: 18-Jul-21

by Pastor Roy Esposito

  • 1 Samuel 23:1-13 – Two questions:
    1. “Should I go?”
    2. “Will I defeat them?
  • Two questions:
    1. “Will Saul threaten the city because of my presence?”
    2. “Will they deliver me to him?” – God answered “Yes” to all four.
  • But NONE of these events actually occurred!
  • Significance: Foreknowledge does not necessitate predestination.
  • The theological point: That which never happens can be foreknown by God but NOT predestined simply because the event NEVER HAPPENED.
  • The fact that God foresaw an event does not require that the event WILL happen.
  • It may become an ACTUAL event or just a POSSIBILITY.
  • Predestination and Foreknowledge are separable.
  • God may foreknow AND predestine an event which doesn’t necessarily include the decisions to yet be made by those He has granted the gift of FREEWILL.
  • The final outcome of the event may be sovereignly ordained but the MEANS to that end may or may not be ordained.
  • Implications:
    • This is the way God has decided  His rule over human affairs will work.
    • Has significance in understanding the “FALL”  and the presence of all evil in general.
    • God is GOOD and never evil.
  • There is no biblical reason to assert that God is a factor in the evil of the world.
  • There is no biblical reason to argue that God predestined the “Fall” even though He foreknew it.
  • There is no biblical support for the idea that God has factored in all evil acts in history in order to bring about His “Grand Plan” for the universe.
  • God doesn’t need the rape of a child or a holocaust so that some greater good may come from it.
  •  EVIL is a perversion of God’s good gift of freewill.
  • EVil arises from the choices made by imperfect beings – human and divine.
  • Freewill in the hands of imperfect beings, human or divine, means that they can opt for their own authority in place of God’
  • Heaven and Earth are separate but CONNECTED realms.
  • Sadly, BOTH of God’s household have experienced rebellion resulting in a protracted war against God’s original intention.
  • Good News! – God is fully committed to preserve what He began.
  • Philippians 1:6 – “God is the one who began this good work in you and I am certain He won’t stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.”
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Anger 04-Jul-2021

by Pastor Roy Esposito

  • Contempt – Holds within it the intention to harm and is Anti-Love; Anti-Christ
  • Matt 5:21-26 (TPT) — Don’t HOLD anger in your hearts
  • a FEELING that can seize minds and bodies and impel one to act against any perceived threats
  • Ps 4:4 (NKJ) “Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still.”
  • “Go to a safe place (bed) – take a beat – think it out – still your emotions”
  • Eph 4:26-27 (TPT)
  • Eph 4:26 (NKJ) -” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.”
  • Jack Hayford – “Anger may win a moment, but it is not to win the day.” -Don’t hold it even for a day!
  • Anger expressed with contempt will quickly turn dark and evil
  • Contempt – has within it MALICE; the will to do evil
  • Intention: To make a painful impression on us
  • Beyond the spontaneous form of anger – Choose to stay angry – “Angry People”
  • Angry People – carry a full supply of rage with them, ready to explode
  • When anger is not waived off and chosen to be indulged there is an element of Self-Righteous and Vanity at work. People with wounded hearts and egos
  • The antidote for the poison of contemptuous anger: Persisting in LOVE
  • 1 Cor 13:4 – Love never fails!
  • Jm 4:7 (TPT) -” Surrender to God, Stand up to the devil and resist him and he will run away.”