The past few months I’ve been really consumed by the revelation that it’s Christ in me the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). How could we ever forget this? I’m glad that Jesus didn’t just die to wipe away every sin but to also make a way for me to be a carrier and temple of His glory and goodness. That’s the truth. That yes, Jesus did die to bring atonement for my sin but even more he died so that I would encounter His glory, His presence, His nearness, His goodness, here and now and that He would intentionally set me up to release His glory!

I think that we as sons and daughters of God can walk in so much more power and fruit if we would just realize the power, which is Jesus Himself, that’s already living inside of us. We have to get rid of the false mindset that believes and says that one day in the upcoming future we will have supernatural access and see powerful breakthrough – instead we have to believe that the Kingdom of God is here and now! That’s why Jesus prepared the way for the type of powerful lifestyle by always preaching that Kingdom of Heaven was in us and at hand/near/within reach (Luke 17.21, Matthew 3.2)! In fact, Jesus frequently declared this as He performed miracles all throughout the Gospels. It’s true! Jesus didn’t just die so that one day we would encounter the power, glory and beauty of Heaven when we pass away from our earthly bodies! He actually died so that we could tap into the power of His Presence, the Kingdom of Heaven and the eternal realm of His glory here and now – right where you’re two feet are standing! What a waste life would be if we thought we were just supposed to struggle through life without any tangible and overwhelming outbreaks of joy, peace, power, love and freedom that come with entering in the Presence of God just hoping that we would see those things in Heaven one day. Jesus ripped the spiritual veil that separated us from the power of His Presence once and for all and continues to call us deeper into a lifestyle that beholds and demonstrates all of these things!

 With that, I think a lot of times we manipulate the power and Presence of God almost making it seem far off inaccessible, ignoring what Jesus has already done and promised - like we have to twist God’s arm to convince him to move powerfully, show up and touch someone. Most times that is rooted in a works mentality, which focuses on what I have to do to earn the movement of God. You see, it’s not about what I can do to attain a place with God but all about me coming into the tangible reality and freedom that His grace that He has already poured out on the Cross releases every good thing that He is and has (His healing, joy, peace, love, etc)! And it’s even more about realizing that I can’t earn any of these things in my life because they’ve already been paid for and given over to me as a part of my inheritance by the finished works of the Cross! Don’t get me wrong – I definitely believe in the anointing of God coming upon people and equipping them to minister supernaturally but lately I’ve more been in a place that focuses less on different anointings and  hyping them up and more on the simple and raw power of Christ in me which can release and reveal His glory everywhere I go. I think so many people spend so much time waiting and praying and asking for God to anoint them when the simple truth is that if Christ is in them then they are already more than capable to flow in the anointing and power of God and actively move, operate and walk in powerful fruit! Once again, don’t get me wrong – I completely believe that there are times in every believer’s life where God calls us to wait on Him and out of that place he floods us with more of His Presence and baptizes them in His Spirit and fire but I also believe that out of that place God gives us a simple view of the reality of Jesus living in us.

The core of "the Christ in us hope of glory" belief is the finished works of Jesus on the Cross. The truth is that Jesus died once and for all for everything we could every want and need over 2,000 years ago and there's where our hope and rest comes from. This truly is good news because it means that we don't have to try to strive, work for, earn, beg, or hopelessly plead for what Jesus has already freely poured out by His blood and supernaturally placed in our very spiritual DNA. That's where the most powerful breakthrough comes - knowing that He's already done it, which means that I already have a 100% guarantee that I can walk in everything that He died for (which once again includes divine healing, joy, peace, love, freedom). A lot of us Christians pray like Jesus is still hanging on the cross – like He hasn’t paid for our healing or wholeness yet.  I am fully convinced through what God has already said in Scripture and through an overflow of personal experience and breakthrough that Jesus not only can but wants to heal us, fill us with joy and cover us with peace because that’s who He is and what He died to give us access to! So I think that we can see Christ in us the hope of glory most powerfully manifested when we rest in the the pronouncement of the “tetelestai” which Jesus declared on the Cross right before He died - which is the Greek phrase meaning “it is finished.”

Lastly, I have such a desire rising within me to see people walk in the reality that they actually are carriers and hosts of God’s Presence, Temples filled with His glory (manifested goodness) just as God says in His Word! If we truly realized what we carry inside of us we really could change the world one person and situation at a time, day by day! I think this is the key to seeing God’s promise in Habakkuk 2.14 come to pass in our day, which says “The Lord will fill the earth with knowledge (or experience) of the glory of the Lord (the Presence and manifest goodness of God) as the waters cover the sea.” The Lord actually revealed to me last year that my view of the promise of this verse was all wrong. I used to read this verse and picture and dream about what the glory of the Lord invading and filling the earth looked like! I imagined it to be something like a heavy glory cloud (something like in 2 Chronicles 7) coming down from Heaven and filling the earth and then a giant mass of people would come into salvation and encounter with Jesus because of that supernatural manifestation and wonder. Then one night the Lord changed my mind and showed me that He was actually going to fill the earth with His glory through me and many others who realized that God’s glory (and joy, peace, healing, love, freedom and all the things that Jesus died to freely give to us) lived in me. And because I encounter and receive and am filled more and more of God’s Presence and glory, I can continue to actively minister and give those things away in my conversations and daily interactions because I have received them. You see, just like the Bible says – we can’t truly give something way until we’ve received it or encountered it (read the last part of Matthew 10.8) How do we receive these things? I think one way is to simply come to a resting place of agreement with the Spirit of God and what He is inside of you, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.  So I want to exhort you to continue to realize the power of God stirring inside of you and filling you. I believe that Jesus and all of His glory are yearning, burning and just waiting to leap out of you – through your words, and actions!