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There are three identities we choose from everyday, we could call them three different perspectives as well. These are places we choose to live from, act and react from. This is a simplified explanation of them.

No 1. Identity of Value.

This is the place God created for us through His Son on the cross. Here He showed us our value according to Him, we are worth His Son. So in this identity we know who we are according to our Father, we are completely loved, we are affirmed, we are fulfilled and live from His divine power where He has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Here He is our Source and reason for living, He completes us from the inside out. Lastly here we are secure, we have no need to change others or manipulate them to meet our need or feel obligated to meet theirs, and we have the choice like the Samaritan to walk the extra mile or not.

No 2. Identity of Need.

In this identity we have come to know what we need, we need love. Our source is love and affirmation. These we usually get from other people, in what they perceive us to be, how they describe us, what we could do for them and not forgetting what they could in return do for us. This is where most people find themselves. Here we know terms like “bend over backwards” for people or “always be strong” for others. This is a very sincere place of wanting to be good.

No 3. Identity of Greed.

In this identity we make sure we take from others, they need to do things for us because we deserve it and they need to listen to us. Things need to happen the way we want it to happen, otherwise we will give others a hard time. We reject love here, we rather want something that makes things easier than love since love just feels like work, work is hard, we don’t like that. This identity tends to abuse the identity of need & lives off of it like a parasite.

When Identities Meet.

These identities we choose from everyday, not necessarily all three of them, some of us go back and forth between the first two while other people choose the last one or stay in the middle.

If we look at these three we can make it easy to explain the Christian life and even practice discernment in a simple way. When looking at these identities, we know they will flow to our relationships. So how does it affect them?

Let’s say you are in the identity No 1, you have a friend with identity No 2 and also one with No 3. You are fulfilled and complete since you are no1 and have no need to cater to the demands of other identities. Will you stay friends with No 3?

Then you also see what No 3 does to No 2 everyday, demands, manipulates and has no sincere regard for No 2. No 2 on the other hand tries to love, gets heartbroken and abused by No 3. No 2 believes if they loved, cared more, did more for No 3 that it will change their identity to No 2 as well. No 3 uses this to demands that No 2 walks the extra mile and more. No 2 feels this is what they need to do to be a better person, they see and feel their own void and therefore recognizes the void No 3 has. No 2 feels guilty for not making No 3’s life better. What will your advice be to No 2?

Lastly, when you are No 1 you see Gods value for No 2 and No 3. You will be able to discern whether there is a willingness in No 2 or No 3 to see their value or not.

Trick about this is, when we are No 1 and try force others like No 3 to see their value, we actually become No 2 and lose our fulfillment since we pour our own value into a hole that we cannot fill. We are to be filled with God, only He satisfies. So how do we influence others to switch identity? Live fulfilled! Shine His light! They will see and come…and they will then be willing to start cultivating a No 1 identity.

What identity do you choose today? Jesus said we should love our neighbour, how will we do it by any other identity, than the one He gave us. How else will we ever live fulfilled, unless we let God complete us.

Written by Carlo Merrick

Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash

Our rebirth reality from a different world is not completely off planet in origin, but different in realm. Realm is accessed through heart intent. So discerning between good & evil or spirit & flesh is hardly as religious & external as we have made it.

It is either an internal desire to satisfy self or a desire to make room for the One who is The All Consuming Fire, then also purposefully being present with Him in one’s intent & awareness. Here we become representations of His love, purity & glory, we become those who react to His intentions & desires, instead of responding to the world that is fallen because it is only concerned about “self”.

It is in regarding God & His destiny for us that we really find who we are, but it works from the inside out. This is the opposite of what a large part of Christianity teaches, they teach an “outside in” gospel & therefore it always feels like a losing battle since the world is lost to begin with!

But the truth is, in Jesus you & I have already won! We take this victory to the world so hope an arise & they can believe through the Word in us.
So it is paramount to our growth & understanding of why we are here while we make room inside of us for the reality of Christ’s victory & fulfillment.

1 John 5:4
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Faith is fueled by knowing realities that aren’t visible(Heb11:1). So we feed off of inner thoughts, intentions & purposefully realign our reality according to His will/word. (This is why Jesus says” if you have thought it in your heart, you have committed the very act” – Mat 5)

This was not said to create greater judgement on people, but rather a reality to live according to, to really live free & access Gods promises to us, because we are not slaves to the world, we are not what we have done, we are who He says we are when we believe. Free sons of the kingdom! Our judgement becomes greater on the things that keep us back from growing in our destiny! We cut those things off! (Mat 5)

I want to encourage you to tap into your potential in Christ, because it will only remain potential, unless we intentionally grab it & start wielding it, doing this will result in stepping out in the physical & expecting results from the realm you are born from!

You are not of this world! Your world has come here, the kingdom is at hand!

The are Christians calling death & curses over our country & over our land because they look & people’s sin around us.

But the whole dynamic is off, it is as if we are in the old covenant with God on the outside, where we are separate from Him, calling Him down to bring rain.

So then they tell people to repent before God can move & if that doesn’t work, they start breaking curses. Real bummer if then still no rain comes!

But God has given us this earth. Even from Adam God gave him dominion over all the things of the earth. But now in the new covenant God gave Jesus all authority in heaven & earth. Now Jesus lives inside of us when we are born again, meaning that authority is available for the believer.

So then we don’t ask God to please bring rain. Because when we don’t see results we get confused about sin & curses that Jesus paid for on the cross already as if that never happened. He is waiting for us!

Now we can speak to clouds & the things on the earth as we speak to our dog. There is no arrogance in tell our dog what to do, why would it be wrong to tell the clouds what to do? We know where the authority we have comes from!

But what about the sin in the world we ask? Are we called to preach the gospel? Aren’t we the light of the world? Didn’t we receive the ministry of reconciliation? Or are we just waiting for God to judge people that we are not willing to reach with the truth in love?

Let us as new creations in Christ speak life over the earth so people can see the goodness of God(it does lead us to repentance?). If the results vary then we know we have space to grow in authority.

Rom 8: 19 says that creation waits expectantly for the sons of God to be revealed…

Even the earth is waiting for you…

Come on guys…no one likes to wait. 😁

So many times I have seen God being presented as an unchanging God, like a Robot or static force that is always the same & never changing in the full sense of the word.

But is this true? Does nothing about God ever change? How is it that people are not judged today like they were in the Old Testament through natural or supernatural means? Most Christians might say : But Jesus came & paid the price for us! So did that make God change? Because we still live in a world that sins everyday & acts horrible in so many ways. We say the wrath of God was satisfied in Jesus on the cross, yet His promise of wrath still came on Israel in 70AD when the temple was destroyed(point just being, wrath still happened) about 40 years after the cross of Christ.

For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Malachi 3:6 ESV

This is the famous verse, yet it ends with therefore you, O children of Jacob are not consumed! So He is saying He is merciful and that does not change! Whoo! That is good news right there!

You will see right through the Bible that God likes to be merciful. People forget that in Gods’ mercy, what He has always desired with man is relationship even though man messed up. Right from the beginning, after Adam & Eve sinned, the All Knowing God goes to look for them to talk to them about it. Cain & Able, God warns Cain before he kills Able that sin wants him…but he could overcome it. But yet Cain chose sin. This shows that God believes in us & our potential as the only creatures that are created in His image & likeness.

There was the two cases where God changed His mind because of humans. One of the cases was with Abraham asking God not to destroy the city of Sodom while Lot was living there. So asked God not to destroy it for the sake of the righteous & God didn’t. Only when Lot left the City it was made waste.

Second case was with Moses :

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people
Exodus 32:11,14

He has always been fascinated with us & when we discover Him, we become absolutely fascinated with Him! It’s like we were meant for each other. The stories like Noah when so many people died are harder to understand to some of us. But the moment we see Him protecting us against evil people who did not want to turn to love & cause death for the rest of the planet, it makes more sense.

I like using this example :

What will love(as a physical person) do if a criminal runs straight at you to kill you? He would stop him and if need be kill the criminal to protect the innocent.

Now where am I going with this? I am telling you that you do have a good God & also have a good Father. When you start believing in Him(following Him) then He sees you as innocent. This is His desire by His mercy to have you innocent & come into your original potential He created you for.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Romans 5:9 (ESV)

So if He always wants to be merciful & wants relationship. But why at times was it so seemingly harsh? Covenant! Covenants have always been about God & man, because He seeks relationship with us. The covenants were harsh, time & again God would look at what the punishments results were , then He would stop the process because it would sadden Him.

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:13 ESV

But here we are today, in a New Covenant. So when did the Old Covenant officially stop? The Cross? Nope I dare say.

70AD when the temple & the Old Covenant System was destroyed & brought to an end. Jesus did start the NC through the cross though.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
Romans 4 :13-15

It may be argued that from Adam there were no law either. Problem is that there were fallen men & cursed men, Love Himself will jump in the gap to save the innocent, warn the guilty & ultimately stop them if needed. Whereas now we have Jesus that became a curse for us & was the propitiation for the whole worlds’ sin!

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2 : 2

Now everyone can have the grace while they live, only those who receive the grace will experience their inheritance whether they are alive or have died. God no longer has need to pour out His wrath since the covenant declares us under grace. So what’s the answer today? New Covenant! For out of it flowed His love & grace.

So this is what stays the same about God : He wants relationship & He will remain merciful! Have you ever wondered why there were all the other covenants? Noah,Abraham,Moses,David & then Christ. I mean the NC is the greatest because it came out of Gods’ heart & He just gave so we can receive. It is a covenant based on grace.

I believe God & us had the other covenants so He could do it with us even though our requests & wants were detrimental to our relationship at times, He remained merciful & was bearing with us even though sometimes to bring His part by covenant to punish us saddened Him.

I feel this is important because God can’t be filtered through one lens of grace or even love. But He can through relationship, out of that comes His love & grace because His heart will always beat with mercy toward those made in His image.

Written By Carlo Merrick

God is good! All the time! All the time, God is good!

Tell me you heard that at some stage in a church? There is such an importance in the fact that God, our Father in heaven, is good! As we know the Bible states that He is the giver of good gifts!

In John 10 Jesus says :

Joh 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Joh 10:11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

There are so many verses that let’s us know God is good. But so often I hear these questions :

1 : Why would a good Father let this happen in the world?

2 : Why doesn’t God want to give me this or that since He is good?

We try to reconcile the idea of His goodness through our circumstances while we find ourselves and others’ lives in questionable circumstances.  we base our ideology on a Father that made promises & then we demand to see that He fulfills it! Soon ,in having these questions, without us stating it, we feel like we are in an abusive relationship with a “Good Father”; making promises that He never keeps & we have to suffer  while we wait.

If you are asking these questions today, I would like to ask some questions too if I may.

Is a Father truly good to their child if they do everything for him or her? Wouldn’t that child be completely dependent on that Fathers actions? Of course they would. This might even sound ok, since we should be dependent on God!? But should we be dependent on Gods actions now?

To that I say ..NO.

The fact that He laid down His life for you showed you His actions &  He overcame the world for you! That’s a good God! But now today we don’t always or even sometimes see that victory in the world. How is this possible?

Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him.
Joh 1:11 He came to His own, and His own received Him not.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name,
Joh 1:13 who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God.

This is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. He came not to give us cars & houses or trouble free lives even, but He came to give us Himself. Now we have this great opportunity to receive Him! But it is left to us to do this since there were some who did not receive Him.

So if you have been given the authority as a child of God, what will you do with your life? Will you not do everything to not just let bad things happen in the world? Here comes the main two questions :

What kind of person do you need to be to walk in the promises of God?

What kind of person do you need to be to help bring answers to the problems you see around you?

If you step into the identity God gave you as someone that is born of God, He will give you the things needed for the journey through the world. Mat 6 : 33

Never let the world tell you your identity.

Joh 1:13 who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God

So does He let stuff happen? No, not since He now lives in you & gave you the power walk as His child.

Does He not come through on His promises? He does to all His children, because it’s all about who they are to Him & it is not just a external relationship as He now lives through us from the inside out.

Too many of us still try to live a life as if we belong to ourselves, while Christ paid such a great price in order for us to live His life & leave our old life behind. So we try ask God to tend to our old life & make sure everything works well while He hung on that cross to kill our old life with Him! it’s time to leave it ll behind & follow Him & trust that He is a good Father & you are a good son/daughter through Christ!

2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all, then all died;
2Co 5:15 and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.
2Co 5:16 So as we now know no one according to flesh, but even if we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we no longer know Him so.
2Co 5:17 So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Carlo Merrick

Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

One of the biggest lies I have ever believed as a Christian is materialistic evidence of righteousness. Growing up we were relentlessly harangued on a counterfeit prosperity gospel. A fundamentally unsubstantial doctrine of materialistic gain as a sign of spirituality infiltrated the church, and I fear I was the recipient of the brunt of it. I felt an inordinate amount of pressure on me to “manifest” my well doing by having a comparable amount of wealth.  This ideology has its roots in a mentality of lack.

Matthew 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We have made Matthew 6:33, in practice, a means to an end. Seeking the Kingdom has become synonymous with gain and has caused us to feel entitled to the things we need. Our faith journey, our prayer life, and our thought patterns too often revolve around the things we need from God, as opposed to having the fullness of God. With the value the church has placed on having materialistic things, our prayer lives has become increasingly overwhelmed with demands. Growing up poor, as a young person I constantly struggled with the reality of God’s kingdom because I apparently lacked the basic evidence of said Kingdom, namely money.  The perpetual cycle of not having, and praying to get to give, to get had me in a whirlwind of frustration of never having enough, yet having to always give to get more. The lack mentality will have us ever wondering if we are sowing enough, ever fixated on when our breakthrough is going to make its debut- in glitter and gold.

I do believe in tithing, sowing, generosity and giving. Yes, God will supply our needs. Yes, He is aware of and concerned with our needs.  But there is a position we come to relationally, where we find our needs met in Him. I have come to realize that God wants to give us all of Him. I firmly believe He is enthusiastically encouraging our hunger and thirst after Him. He stirs our hunger, so we can have our fill of Him. He does not take away so we can seek Him more so that we can in turn have more things.  We will have our needs supplied through riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

There is no bypassing Him, our righteousness, peace and joy is found in Him. When we find security in His peace and joy, our supplies will follow. We do not possess more of the kingdom when we possess more things, the things come as a result of possessing kingdom, and they aren’t synonymous with the kingdom. God wants to have a relationship with you. Matthew 6 says “and” all these things will be added unto you, not “so that” all these things will be added unto you. There is a state we enter into when we are in the kingdom of God where we experience righteousness, peace, and joy regardless of our physical circumstances. Often times in my pursuit of breakthrough and provision, in my limited view of His heart, God was the barrier between me and the things I needed. The point of my life was to see how much I could acquire, as an attestation of my righteousness. Because I was fixated on material gain, God became a threat to my wealth. What if I pray and don’t receive? What if I spend time studying the word and stay poor for all to see? What if I fast and pray and don’t make rent? With thoughts like that there was no right standing with Him, no peace, and no joy. Because when we do to get, we are no longer in a covenant, but operate as a slave under the law. Seeking His kingdom comes naturally to a believer. It is meant to be easy to receive from the Father. God does not operate as a vending machine; put in the right amount, press the right buttons, and you get what you want.

Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This is one of the most practical Scriptures you will find in aiding your prayer life. When we realize God is a person and wants to have fellowship with us, our prayer life starts sounding a little more intentionally sincere. In reference to Philippians 4, your prayer life should include the words “please” and “thank you.” When we talk to God it moves Him when we are sincere in our need of Him, acknowledging Him as our provider. Philippians encourages us to demand less, but ask more. One of our good friends calls this having spiritual manners.

Abundance will look different to different people.  The issue will never be how much stuff you got, but indeed how much Kingdom you portray. This life should only ever be about containing and manifesting the fullness of God. I want to be so bold and say that we could potentially come to a place where what we possess and don’t posses no longer has any bearing on how righteous we are perceived. When we are concerned with elevating people’s hearts to the full knowledge of Christ, instead of their financial status, we have embraced Kingdom principles.

Written by
Franciska Merrick

Something I’ve been thinking about. Jesus says that not one part of the law will pass away until heaven & earth passes away.

Not one part! Which means the whole thing is intact & ongoing or it passed away. Plain & simple.

Here is the verse with some before & after scriptures :

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matthew 5:17-22 ESV

Problem with thinking the law is still intact is that we have to obey it all….all! Jesus after then made it worse by saying our inside feeling & thought is the sin & not just the act! There’s got be more to what Jesus was saying here right?

Problem with thinking it has passed away is that it says it will not until heaven & earth passes away & until all is accomplished.

We can maybe say all was accomplished on the cross but then what’s up with this heaven & earth statement? Is it a literal heaven & earth? If it is we better keep the law, the whole law(Law & Prophets)! Many of us just read through it without thinking twice.

The Bible mentions “Heaven & Earth” on multiple occasions.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
Isaiah 65:17 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Revelation 21:1 ESV

These verses show us that God promised a new heaven & earth.Rev 21 (above here) even says there is no more sea? Does this mean no one will swim anymore? 😜

Here is another promise :

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Matthew 24:35 ESV

He also promises that heaven & earth will pass away & in Luke 21:33.

Both these passages(above here) in Mat & Luke saying heaven & earth will pass away is found in the same chapter that speaks of the temple being abolished & the Jews being killed (all part of the tribulation).

So Jesus came to fulfill, He did the law & lived a sinless life so everyone in Christ could be perfected in the Spirit, that’s why He says He did not come to abolish the law. But when does heaven & earth pass away? When is it all accomplished? It is when the former things are destroyed :The Old Covenant, Temple, Old Traditions.

Note :

These things(Temple) were not destroyed in the New Testament, even after the cross, everything in the NT was written before the destruction happened in 70AD. That is why you still read about the apostles doing things that were according to the law or event feasts of the Old Covenant at times even though as Paul said, it is fading away. For this same reason Jesus tells the Jews to teach the commandments & not to slack in them, then He makes it worse by implying our sin happens internally before the act. So there are believers today that still want to enforce the law from the Old Covenant, but only some of the laws. This is in direct opposition to what Jesus said here, He said : Not an iota, not one dot shall pass away!

If they are questioned to why they are not keeping the whole law, they say that they cannot since there is no more Temple or system in place. So isn’t it interesting that Jesus says in Mat 24 & Luke 21 that heaven & earth will pass away & that those are in the very chapters that He says the temple will be destroyed! Not so much coincidence if you ask me.

So what is heaven & earth? By simple interpretation, it is the whole system that the Jews held onto via the Old Covenant, the way they did things for God & interacted with God via physical objects & places.

Why this truth has not hit every ear across the world is because of Mat 24 & Luk 21 that speaks of a coming of the Lord and so this whole chapters gets flung into our future & way out of context. I won’t write on the “Coming of the Lord” here, but I can tell you that this “coming of the Lord” from these two chapters was a coming in Judgement like the comings from the Old covenant where the prophets would say God would be coming upon them, but what it looked like was not the imagery the prophet said it would be. It would be another nation attacking them by surprise. Just food for thought.

Is everything that was prophesied in the New Testament also fulfilled? No, Jesus will still return according to Acts 1:9-11. The glory of God will still fill the earth through His Children as well.

Point is, you are either stuck keeping the whole law & believing in the tribulation & Jesus coming that way or you believe the law passed away & Jesus is coming more like in Acts 1 or some other way according to scripture in the New Testament.

Got any questions on Heaven & earth? Contact us through our contact page. Blessings

Carlo Merrick

He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:30 ESV

Is this verse for you today? Please bear with me. John, the prophet that declared the coming of the Messiah said this while the Messiah was being revealed. Now Johns disciples was saying that people are now going to Jesus & being baptized by Him(although it was His disciples I’m sure).

Lamb & Pig life.

We all know the pig was seen as an unclean animal in the Old Testament, not worthy to be eaten for food.

But also we have the lamb that was seen as pure & clean, worthy of sacrifice to forgive sins!

Today we have our lives that are in either of these natures. We either live the life of the pig or the lamb nature.

This might not be a 100% theologically correct metaphor to use but it will bring truth out clearly if you can bear with me. We have the pig nature that we grew up with, from being a baby, growing & learning to the time until we get born-again. The pig nature speaks of that what became of Adams nature once He listened to the lies of the serpent & ate from the tree. It also speaks of that what the New Testament calls the “flesh“ nature that comes through the carnal mind, it is the place that enables us to sin successfully while we were clearly meant for more than what sin could offer.

But then when we get born-again we get transformed by the Holy Spirit to be a new creation, we change into a ‘lamb’. The lamb nature speaks of being pure, holy, justified, righteous (in right relationship with the Father) & in the Spirit.

Now that is a basic explanation of which our two natures consist of. Our problem as Christians is that we have born-again people that totally believe they still have a pig nature. They look like the blond Mangalica pig in their own minds, having fur that seems like that of a sheep, but they are still pigs with only an outward appearance of something similar of that of a sheep. Unfortunately when that is our mindset, most of the time we live our life according to that, having a good religious confession & a life that looks like the world.

Just to throw in some Bible into the mix to bring perspective:

Romans 8

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[d] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers,[e] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[f] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God..

The flesh here is the pig nature that Jesus condemned. This nature could not do what God wanted & brings death according to these verses. The pig nature cannot please God, doesn’t matter how religiously we dress it up. The pig will never be like the lamb, we have to deal with this truth now.

Verse 5 of Romans 8 says : ‘For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh’ so you live that way before you think that way. I was taught through church that it’s first a renewing of my mind before I could be spiritual. But as it speaks here of the flesh(pig nature) we know we lived in sin quite naturally before ever thinking about it. This is because we have a core belief that we are pigs way before we reason about it. We believe we are just people, an insignificant form of life, worth only what we can produce & then receive recognition for. This is a perspective from the pig nature that stands condemned from the start. The pig cannot produce anything that is good from itself. So we have to be able to accept our origin from the Spirit as a lamb so that we can live & then think accordingly .But now we have this piece of scripture in John 3 where Jesus talks to a Pharisee :

John 3 : 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Jesus says no one can see the kingdom unless they are born again. Born again meaning born of the Spirit (Lamb nature). Interesting part for me is that Jesus says then we can see the kingdom. Where you also taught that it was heaven one day? That is probably ok to say that, but I believe He is talking of a Spiritual kingdom that we see manifest through us, so we are the ones who proclaim that His kingdom has come & then healing the sick & doing the works because of this.

But when we are born(according to the flesh), the first things we get to know is that we are human & automatically conform to the patterns we see in the lives of those around us. Wanting to be different & standing out in a crowd is things we either learn later or decide for ourselves that our surroundings just are not worth conforming to.

Just like that we as born-again people need to accept that we are lambs & will be that way forever more. This way we can live accordingly, conforming to the ways of the lamb nature.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

(Verse 1 & 2)How are supposed to present our bodies as “Holy, Pleasing to God” if we are pigs? We come as lambs before our God as the sacrifice. We are not to conform to the world but are transformed by the renewing of our mind (learning the ways of the lamb nature that we have been changed into) & then able to show what is the good and pleasing will of God.

(verse 3)Very important that we see one another according to the right-mind,  not comparing yourself to them or them to you. Everyone is at their own place of growth of renewing their mind according to the lamb nature, so have grace on them & encourage them in it as it being their true nature.

Check what the Spirit does even to our natural bodies in this next verse :

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.

Not everyone that is a Christian has this mind set & if not they can still act in selfishness, fear, anger & still think that it is who they are. This is the problem, we acknowledge a pig nature that Jesus killed on the cross & then we ask God to help us kill it still now. We can put-off these acts by the Spirit in us & renewing our mind to our original purpose of being God’s lambs. His Son being the perfect example of the Lamb nature subjecting the carnal mind like we see in this verse.

Luk_22:42  saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.

We have the enemy who was destroyed by Jesus at the crucifixion, but he still accuses the people in the world. The pig nature stands in agreement with the enemy’s accusations & therefore we can have no place for this! He has no place in the lamb nature, as the Holy Spirit is the enforcer of the lamb nature that cannot stand accused.

As Rom 8 says : 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God..

And

Joh 14:30  ….. for the ruler of this world comes, and he has nothing in Me

The problem with the pig nature is that it gets its life from your past. It is the only place that it can draw from & once we give place to that, the enemy can also take the opportunity to accuse & lie to us.

See the end of Romans 8 :

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39  nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

See that present & things to come is listed, but the “Past” is not there? Because embracing the past is you giving life to a nature that died & the past absolutely does not accept the love of God for you, even though from Gods side, He still loves you the same. The past is where the pig nature was in charge, un-forgiven, condemned, perceived as the very life that exists.

The past is the mud bath that the pig nature thrives in. This is Pauls take on dealing with the past.

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I am pressing on, if I may lay hold of that for which I also was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Php 3:13  My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before,

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be of this mind. And if in anything you are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you.

Renewing our minds should also be forgetting what lies behind us. The way things were, the way they worked then. Many of us were taught that we were forgiven of sins & that is correct, but we were taught that those sins were the acts of the flesh (pig nature) that we are still part of. As Romans 8 said earlier, to set their minds on the flesh is death, so to think that way produces death. Sin & the pig nature are also synonymous.

Rom_6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under Law, but under grace.

We have been released from the pig nature & given the grace of God to live by. Lastly let’s look at the following.

2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all, then all died;

2Co 5:15  and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.

So the pig nature is a dead nature that consist of memories and lies & by receiving Christ we now do not live for ourselves (since the life we had was dead  & we left it behind)  and we are lambs now made alive in Him by His Spirit.

2Co 5:16  So as we now know no one according to flesh, but even if we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we no longer know Him so.

2Co 5:17  So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co 5:19  whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us.

2Co 5:20  Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as God exhorting through us, we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

2Co 5:21  For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This is so amazing right? That God wants to call those that have not yet accepted Him (living according to their dead pig nature) through us to be reconciled to Him so they can be made alive in Him. So you never have to acknowledge their pig nature as a threat, as you have have left that nature behind with your past & no longer has relevance. You wake up as a lamb, go to work as a lamb, come home to your family as a lamb and go to sleep as a lamb. My point is that you are a new creation, born-again, spiritual person first, the living it out comes after. Allow yourself to grow in grace & don’t allow the flesh to accuse you or the enemy to lie to you through the past or religion (pig with sheep fur).

Rom 5:17  For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.)

Thankx for reading. Bless You

Carlo Merrick