Are You Jesus Yet?

Are You Jesus Yet?

Marsha Deveaux Johnson, www.livingjoyministries.com, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

God spoke this sentence to me in September of 2006, “Our bodies have to move into being Jesus on the cross”.  I understood that He was speaking to me and I went to my computer.

The body of man is the last frontier to be conquered spiritually.  We begin our journey with God by accepting Jesus Christ.  Our human spirit is then reborn.  We continue our journey by allowing our soul (intellect, will, and emotions) to be led into the will and purpose of God.  This is guided by the Holy Spirit and the word of God that we receive.

 The body is flesh, blood, and bones.  It is the house that our spirit and soul lives in here on earth.   The term “flesh” refers to the ungodly manifestations in the soul (mind, will, & emotions) and body of man.

When we continue to receive the word of God and live for God wholeheartedly, we come to a place in life where there is nothing else to do but die (to the flesh). This death is one that is a long time coming and sometimes never comes to those who accept Jesus Christ.  If you are on the path of eternal friendship with God, you will ultimately come to this place where there is nothing else spiritually you can do but die ((to the flesh). 

 When you come to this place, everything and every circumstance you experience is orchestrated for the express purpose of assisting you in this death process.  Here is where many fail because of a false belief that they are now in a venerable position.  The false battle then becomes to secure and protect yourself from what is happening to you.  When you engage in this falsely motivated battle, you begin to try to keep yourself alive.  You then miss the whole point of what Father God is doing in your life.  He is causing death (to the flesh), so that life may spring forth!

Isaac did not resist Abraham’s positioning of the wood, being bound, and being placed on the altar (Genesis 22:1-24).  He just knew that He had a good father and that everything was going to be alright. If you don’t submit to the death (of the flesh) process, you will miss the whole purpose for which you came to earth.  Jesus was not the only one sent to earth to die.  Each believer must understand that death (to the flesh) is the key to abundant life on earth.  Without it, there will be no completion of your God intended purpose. 

Jesus ministered profoundly when He was here on earth; however His primary purpose for coming to earth was to die.  That is our primary purpose also, for if we don’t die to our flesh, we can do good things and great things but we will never be able to say as Jesus did, “It is finished.”

He finished the work of His Father, not His own flesh desire (John 5:30).

So what is accomplished when we move into being Jesus on the cross?  We first of all understand that when He was on the cross, He had already conquered the battle of being there.  This battle was conquered in Gethsemane when He had His freedom and had to choose to perform God’s will rather that not perform it.  The battle ends when you make a choice to die to your flesh.  It is simply a decision you make that has no “exit clause”.

God expects us to follow our perfect example, Jesus.  We must make a conscious decision to die to the flesh at a point in time when we have the freedom to do otherwise.  This is called choice.  Some choose not to die (to the flesh) and remain in a “spiritual holding pattern” throughout their walk with God.  They never really get to the intimacy that life after death ((to the flesh) can bring.  Others, like Jesus, give up the search for “another way to accomplish this” and go willingly by decision to death (to the flesh).  The results become life.

When Paul talked about a “living sacrifice”, it was literally an oxymoron.  The literal interpretation is a “living dead.”  You cannot be a literal “alive dead person.”  It won’t work.  We understand the spiritual meaning of what Paul was saying.  You must die to the flesh and live in Christ Jesus.  We must “move into being Jesus on the cross.”  It was eminent death that produced eternal life through Christ Jesus.  He died to produce life for us and we must die (to the flesh) to allow His life to flow in us.

Both Isaac and Jesus were brought into the death process willingly, but there came a point at which they were in the hands of the Process (God, Holy Spirit) and not in their own hands.  It was the “nevertheless, Thy will be done moment.”

When we submit to dying to the flesh, the process is then out of our hand.  God chooses and uses whatever means He has ordained to accomplish His will.  We must simply give up to the process.  It’s in His hands.  It will be for our good.  His plan is a good one for us (Jeremiah 29:11)

Have you given up to the process?  When the scourging and mocking and temptations come, do you want the flesh to come down from the cross of Jesus?  If you have truly surrendered, regardless of how the present moment feels, you are committed to die and you move right into being Jesus on the cross.  He performed His duty to His mother; He ministered to the dying thief.  He did not exhibit hostility toward the instruments of death.  He simply gave up His spirit into the hands of God.

Have you done this?

You are invited by your heavenly Father to move into being Jesus on the cross. Are you Jesus Yet?