I chose the title of these articles to highlight what Scripture tells us should be the true habitual focus and intent of every authentic disciple. This is especially significant and important for those whom the Lord has chosen and called into His service during the era of the Last Days.
At the beginning of this awesome New Covenant era, the Holy Spirit was transforming the hearts of the disciples who had just recently been filled and set on fire by the Spirit of God, and moving them to become sensitive to the needs of their fellow believers. At this point, the Lord was separating them from their former ties to this fallen, self-adoring, greedy, selfish world, and forming a Family whose task it would be to serve as living members of the earthly Body of their resurrected and glorified Master. The Spirit was bringing them into the Reality of the Bond that God’s Eternal Covenant creates and establishes between His Living Word, and those who believe, embrace and become one with the Word, as His ‘Blood brothers’ and Covenant friends.
That Bond makes each one of us to be one with our risen Lord; but it also makes us to be one with each of His other ‘Blood brothers’ − all those who have also become one with Him. And so, God considers His Living Word to be His Vine, and each one of us who belong to His incarnate Word, therefore, become one of His Vine’s ‘living branches.’ And so, what happens to the Vine happens to the branches, and vice versa.
“Now Saul, still breathing out threats and murder against the Lord’s disciples, went to the kohen gadol (the high priest). He requested letters of introduction from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
“As he was traveling, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
“Who are You, Lord?” Saul said.
“I am Yeshua—whom you are persecuting. But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:1-6 TLV, Amplification and emphasis added)
So, in those post-resurrection and ascension days, the Holy Spirit began emphasizing the fact that those whom God joins to Himself in the Blood Covenant Bond, become one with Him. But they are not merely ‘retreaded sons of Adam.’ No… He recreates and makes them to be brand new beings, and they are now rightly called ‘sons of God’ because they are now one with Yeshua, His Eternal, only begotten Son!
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Ruach—if indeed the Ruach Elohim (the Spirit of God) dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Ruach of Messiah, he does not belong to Him. But if Messiah is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Ruach of the One who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also (at His appointed time) give (resurrection) Life to your mortal bodies through His Ruach who dwells in you.
“So then, brothers and sisters, we do not owe anything to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Ruach you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. For all who are led by the Ruach Elohim, these are sons of God.
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall again into fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Ruach Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, also heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Messiah—if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8: 9-17 TLV, Amplification and emphasis added)
“Therefore, if you have been raised up with Messiah, keep seeking the things above—where Messiah is, sitting at the right hand of God. Focus your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in God. When Messiah, who is your Life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him, in Glory!” (Colossians 3:1-4, Emphasis added)
So from these auxiliary texts, we can see that when God ‘engrafts’ us into His Eternal Blood Covenant, He makes us to be one with Himself. That is how He views us and that oneness is the basis upon which He can now begin to deal with us, and reveal Himself, through us. So it’s vitally essential, for any disciple that has been given the privilege of becoming one with God, to effectively and thoroughly bring his or her fallen, Sin-corrupted human brain and mind up to date with the marvelous spiritual transformation that they have just undergone. The mental and emotional adjustment and reconfiguration that becomes necessary as soon as we are ‘born again’ is a major part of the retraining and reconditioning we will be required to undergo. It is an essential part of the preparation regimen the Holy Spirit will provide for our Messiah’s New Covenant Last Days Disciple Boot Camp Training.
“I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For through the grace given me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think—but to use sound judgment, as God has assigned to each person a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body—and all the parts do not have the same function—so we, who are many, are one body in Messiah and everyone parts of one another.
“We have gifts that differ according to the grace that was given to us—if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; or the one who teaches, in his teaching; or the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who gives, in generosity; the one who leads, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
“Let love be without hypocrisy—detesting what is evil, holding fast to the good. Be tenderly devoted to one another in brotherly love; outdo one another in giving honor. Do not be lagging in zeal; be fervent in spirit. Keep serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring in distress, persisting in prayer, contributing to the needs of the kedoshim (the saints), extending hospitality.” (Romans 12:1-13 TLV. Emphasis added.)
Transformed by Our New Birth in Yeshua
And so beloved, these texts provide us with more understanding, and familiarity with, the awesome spiritual ‘New Birth’ that takes place the moment God makes us to be one with His Living Word and Holy Spirit. At that point, we are spiritually transformed and everything in our essential makeup is changed. And nothing about us can ever be the same. We are no longer what we used to be. Once, we were citizens of this fallen world. But now, we are brand new creations, made in the image and likeness of God. We are citizens of His Heavenly Kingdom, and living human extensions of God’s Living Word made flesh!
So, with these glorious truths in mind, I submit a little more background information that I pray will equip us to better understand what is contained within the title of this article. Our Covenant union with our risen Lord also unites us with our Heavenly Father and His Holy Spirit. And this awesome union is the foundation underlying what I ask you to consider during the course of this article: What is the habitual focus of a New Covenant disciple’s attention, supposed to be? For what purpose does God deploy each of the precious ‘living members’ of the Body of His risen Son all across the earth? What are we here to be, and to do, regardless of what earthly situations we’re in, or what circumstances we may have to endure?
The answer to these questions can, I believe, be found in what the Holy Spirit brought to the forefront of a cataclysmic event that took place among the original disciples that we read about in the book of Acts, during the first century. This is when the era of the Renewed Covenant of Abraham − the ‘New Covenant’ that God promised to make with Israel through His prophets − was first introduced to the world… and then launched by the risen Lord and His Spirit-empowered, one with God, post-Ascension disciples. So consider the following text with this New Covenant Reality-shift, in mind.
“Now the whole group of those who believed was one in heart and mind. No one would say anything he owned was his own, but they had everything in common. With great Power the emissaries were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and abundant favor was upon them all. No one among them was needy, for all who were owners of lands or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds and set them at the feet of the emissaries. And the proceeds were distributed according to the need each one had.” (Acts 4:32-35)
The apostles were leading the way, demonstrating and teaching their Lord’s awesome indwelling New Covenant Life that was now operating within them, just as it did in Yeshua before His death and resurrection. Almighty God Himself, was now their new abiding Life. He was the one abiding and acting from within each one of them, by the Power of His Holy Spirit. And this is what the apostles were demonstrating and explaining to the newly gathered believers in the risen Lord Yeshua. Now it was their turn to learn how to embrace, and identify with and embody the Lord who was now living in them. Now their challenge was to learn how to allow the Lord to reveal Himself from within their midst so He could be and do whatever Father was sending Him to be and do to them… for them… in them… and through them!
“Now Joseph, also called Barnabas by the emissaries (which is translated Son of Encouragement), was a Levite and native of Cyprus. He sold a field that he owned and brought the money and laid it at the feet of the emissaries.” (Acts 4:36-37)
Barnabas was a good example of the inner transformations that were taking place in the inner being of each of these post-ascension, Acts 2, new Jewish disciples. But Acts 5 begins by showing us not only what God was doing in the midst of His chosen disciples, but also what the Serpent and his powers of Darkness are always going to be trying to do to contaminate, warp, twist and destroy what God is here to do in our hearts, and in our midst:
“On the other hand, a man named Ananias together with his wife, Sapphira, sold a property. He kept back some of the proceeds, with his wife’s full knowledge, and brought part of it and set it at the feet of the emissaries.
“But Peter said, “Ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Ruach ha-Kodesh and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, it was your own, wasn’t it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? HOW DID THIS DEED GET INTO YOUR HEART? You haven’t lied to men but to God.”
“As soon as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and died. Great fear came upon all who heard about it. The young men got up and wrapped him in a shroud, then carried him out and buried him.
“After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter responded to her, “Tell me if you sold the land for this much.”
She said, “Yes, for that much.”
“Then Peter said to her, “How did you agree to test the Ruach Adonai? Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door—they will carry you out, too!”
“Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came back in, they found her dead and carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came over the whole community and all who heard these things.” (Acts 5:1-11)
Dear ones, can you see that Ananias and his wife allowed the Father of Lies to enter their hearts and to usurp the place that the Holy Spirit was now supposed to be occupying within them? Can you see that they allowed the Serpent to take back the control he once had over their minds, hearts and wills? He twisted what the Spirit was doing in their midst to enable them to care for each other, into a monstrous scheme, by deceiving their brethren and making them believe that they had given everything they had for the benefit of all their brethren who might be in need of it.
The Deceived Become Deceivers
They were not obligated to give away any of the income that came to them from the sale of their property. They could have rightly and justly kept all of the money for themselves. But by doing what they did, it seems clear they were trying to ‘set up’ the apostles for a later time, when they would be able to claim they were ‘hurting financially.’ And then the apostles would have assuredly designated them as being among the brethren who were gravely in need of financial aid.
So, instead of serving as the image and likeness of the Word of Truth, they were demonically manipulated to serve as the image and likeness of the Father of Lies! This, of course, had to be exposed and rooted out as soon as possible, for several very important reasons. And so, to maintain the purity and integrity of the Body of the Lord in that place, the Holy Spirit nipped that devious scheme in the bud… and delivered the Lord’s Body of any traces of the death-inflicting sins of deception and fraud.
“Now this is love: that we walk according to His commands. This is the commandment—just as you heard from the beginning—that you walk in love. For many deceivers have gone out into the world—those who do not acknowledge Yeshua as Messiah coming in human flesh. This one is a deceiver and the anti-messiah. Watch yourselves, so you do not lose what we have worked for, but receive a full reward.” (2 John 6-8, Emphasis added)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His Mighty Power. Put on the Full Armor of God, so that you are able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the worldly forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places!” (Ephesians 6:10-12, Emphasis added)
So now, dear ones… here is something further to ponder in this consideration: At the time all of this took place between Peter and Ananias and Saphira, no one in that body of believers had a clue, concerning what was about to happen to them all in the very near future. At that time, the believers in Jerusalem were still basking in the afterglow of what took place when Father released His Holy Spirit upon all of the 120 original disciples that were waiting, as they had been instructed, in that upper room amid the temple precincts in Jerusalem. Suddenly Father immersed and filled them with His Holy Spirit… so that the Spirit could begin to transmit the Resurrection Life, and everything else that pertained to their resurrected Lord Yeshua… into their newly regenerated human spirits! And the Reality of that awesome new spiritual Reality-shift was still very fresh in all of their minds and hearts, and it soon began to spread to many others!
And during that ‘afterglow’ period, they remained in Jerusalem, and were meeting daily in Solomon’s Portico in the temple. And the Lord, who was present in each one, and operating in their midst, caused many wonderful signs and wonders to take place wherever His apostles, and the newly Spirit-filled disciples happened to be located at any given time. It was a glorious time for them all… and that is why I call this period ‘The Afterglow.’
“Meanwhile, through the hands of the emissaries many signs and wonders were happening among the people. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. But no one else dared to join them, though the people continued to think highly of them. Yet more than ever those trusting in the Lord were added—large numbers of men and women. They even carried the sick into the streets and laid them on stretchers and cots, so that when Peter passed by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. Crowds were also gathering from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing those who were sick or tormented by unclean spirits, AND THEY WERE ALL BEING HEALED!” (Acts 5:12-16 Emphasis added.)
Beloved, this was a monumental Reality-shift in Israel, and for the entire world! But how could this be explained? Who was responsible for all of these things happening? Could the apostles be the ones that were doing all of this?
“But Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us!” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you—in the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach ha-Natzrati, get up and walk!” Then grabbing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began walking; and he went with them into the Temple, walking and leaping and praising God!
“Now all the people saw him walking and praising God. They began to realize he was the one who used to sit begging for tzedakah (alms) at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were filled with wonder and astonishment over what had happened to him.
“While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people together came running toward them in the place called Solomon’s Portico. But when Peter saw, he responded to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us—as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (Acts 3:4-12. Emphasis added.)
So at this time, we can see what the main focus of these newly-blessed and beloved disciples of the Lord HAD to be! They were all still being overwhelmed by the Awesome Mysterious Reality that comes when you know, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the risen Lord of Glory is PRESENT… WITHIN YOU… AND IN YOUR MIDST… RIGHT NOW… AND ALL THE TIME… FROM NOW ON!
Yeshua Himself Deserves Our Priority Focus and Trust
Dear ones, how could they not have been overwhelmed by this awesome spine-tingling realization… that the miracle of the Resurrection of their Messiah was filling them and covering them, and accompanying them everywhere they went? What else could have taken their attention away from THE LORD HIMSELF? What other consideration could have been more important to them than seeing Him do one miraculous thing after another, right before their eyes? If you were among them, would you have been able to focus your attention on anything other than that? What else would have been more important or captivating? What else could they have talked about, other than, “O Lord You are right here, with us! How wonderful this is! What will You be doing next? Now whose life will You touch? Who among us will You set free or heal next?”
And the newly-regenerated disciples were all being allowed to watch the apostles… just the way the apostles themselves had been allowed to watch Rabbi Yeshua, when He was working all of the wonders that took place while He was with them in the flesh. What the Lord had done by the Power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were now equipped to do… while the newcomers watched. So all the while He lived on Earth, the Lord was demonstrating the mysteries of the New Covenant Reality which had always obviously been present in Him. And now that Reality was present in the apostles who had lived with Him day and night! They had seen and experienced the way He lived and acted and interacted with His Father and the Holy Spirit. And now, the Lord was showing them how He was going to be with them all, now that they all had received the Holy Spirit! What He had done in the flesh, He was now going to be doing through the Holy Spirit… in and through their flesh!
And so those days immediately following the Lord’s Resurrection and Glorification, the disciples were able to see the apostles embodying Yeshua as He continued to do what He had done before His death. Now He was doing it through the apostles, before the eyes of the newly saved disciples! The same marvelous things were happening again! BUT… as Peter and John were so quick to emphasize… they and the other apostles were not the ones that were working these wonders. IT WAS THE RISEN LORD HIMSELF THAT WAS DOING IT THROUGH THEM! Just as He had done while He was still with them in the flesh, He was doing it still… only now, He wasn’t present with them in the flesh… He was present within them, by the Power of the Holy Spirit who had recently been given to them all!
This is the Resurrection Reality! And it was what the apostles were teaching and demonstrating to all the new disciples during that Afterglow period. Originally, the Holy Spirit had been operating through the flesh of Messiah Yeshua. And now He was operating through the flesh of the well-trained and Spirit-empowered apostles. And all of the newly saved disciples were being allowed to watch the apostles, because very soon, they too would begin to demonstrate the glories and mysteries of the New Covenant lifestyle of those who have become one with God’s Living Word!
So I submit to you what the habitual focus of the newly saved disciples had to be: it was the Glory of having the risen Lord living in us and operating in our midst! And this is what our focus must always be, in the present, and throughout the future. The dynamic Perfect Presence of the risen Lord must forever be the most heart gripping, vitally important Reality in every disciple’s life! It is this tremendous GIFT of the Holy Spirit, who causes the risen Lord to be formed and activated and rendered to be dynamically fruitful within His disciples.
No, dear friends, nothing else beside this would have been able to captivate their attention. So I ask, ‘Why should it not be the same with us?’ This Reality… that Yeshua is always present in our hearts, and in our midst, has to be foremost in our minds at all times! From the moment we are saved and Spirit-filled, our risen Lord must be the ever captivating Center Point of our conscious awareness.
HE IS REAL… AND HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD… AND HE IS REALLY HERE IN US AND WITH US… AND HE AND THE FULLNESS OF GOD THAT IS IN HIM… IS ALL THAT WILL EVER MATTER TO US FROM NOW ON! EVERYTHING ELSE IS LIKE A PUFF OF SMOKE IN COMPARISON TO HIM!
“My dear children! Again I suffer labor pains until Messiah is formed in you!” (Galatians 4:19 TLV. Emphasis added.)