Eikon | The image of Christ

Check out a new resource by Michael Saxbury, on how to live victoriously over the problems of life!

“Do the problems of life steam roll over you and it just doesn’t seem like there is anything that can be done about it? The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that He came to restore who we are, putting the problems of this world in subjection to Him. We don’t have to submit ourselves to the course of sickness, disease, pain, suffering, tribulation, trials, or the problems of life hoping we can endure and learn some spiritual discipline that overrules the frustrating sense of futility those things will emphatically produce in our lives. All of these things are now subject to the kingdom, power, and authority within us, who are “in” Christ, coheirs, ambassadors.

No matter who we think we are, or who we have been told we are, we are commanded to identify our self-image with that of Christ’s, in every way. I want to paint a picture from scripture that may give us some insight into how we as believers experience the life God desires for us and promises us in the word. A picture presenting an office of authority, power, and responsibility that is meant to reap these promises and experiences we are told about from scripture but yet rarely see. It is an Eikon representing the full image of Christ, a likeness into which the Father predestined us (cf. Ephesians 1:5, 11 NKJV) and completed when He reconciled us (cf. Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18 NKJV) into absolute conformity (cf. Romans 8:29 NKJV) with the Son. Have we settled for being someone less than who we really are because it ‘feels’ right to the carnal mind’s understanding? Accept by faith today this calling into being an Eikon in the full image of Christ!” 

The Narrow Way

It is the passion of my heart to show people the real true gospel of Jesus Christ active in my life. I desire for people to experience the supernatural influence of God in their lives. It is a way of life that every believer can and should experience.

I believe Christians are called to experience a way of life that few can ever imagine living and I know many have not found that way yet. The Abide Project blog has been instrumental in helping believers understand and walk in this way. “But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” –Matthew 7:14 (NLT). The gateway to life means the “access or entrance into any state”. Accessing the realm of God is possible. Entering a state of being where the supernatural becomes reality is a narrow and difficult journey. It can become more complicated without the perfect truth and revelation of the word of God.

I have observed Christians misinterpret scriptures regarding the sovereignty of God, the will of God, seeking God, sin and the sin nature, righteousness, and spiritual deliverance for believers. It has led to propagation of false understandings for many years turning the misinterpretations into tenets of faith and principles of church denominations. I believe these traditions have become stumbling blocks that prevent the spiritual growth and maturity necessary for Christians to enter the “gate” that Jesus says few will ever find. Take a journey with me to examine the truth of scripture regarding these topics. I believe this book will help you avoid the stumbling blocks of church tradition and enable you to find the path into “The Narrow Way”.

Sincerely,
Michael Saxbury

Don’t put your LIGHT under a darkened understanding of yourself

The new LIGHT you see Him in IS the same LIGHT you exist in! Check this out:

giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the LIGHT. 13 He has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins(noun).

Colossians 1:12-14

YOU are the LIGHT of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let YOUR LIGHT so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

But IF WE walk in the LIGHT as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin(noun).

1 John 1:7

Did you catch it? WE are no longer affiliated with the kingdom of darkness brought on by our sin. We have been fully translated, transferred, moved, and delivered into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, who is THE LIGHT of the World…..and that makes US the LIGHT of the world now too!

So, are you choosing to walk in that LIGHT? Are you depressed or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of joy; are you unworthy of love and acceptance or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of being loved by God; are you sick and diseased or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of His healing; are you financially in debt or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of His kingdom resources; are you insecure or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of His son-ship; are you in fear or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of His peace and sound mind; are you in doubt or are you placing yourself in the LIGHT of His promises and inability to lie; are you choosing to be in ANY aspect of darkness or are you choosing to place yourself in the fullness of LIGHT His word of truth and Son gave freely to you? Do you see how it is our choice?

We have a choice to live in the LIGHT of His ways and fellowship with Him which is His will and heart’s desire for us. When I look back at my life and let those past failures define who I am today; when I let other people’s views of me define who I am today; when I let the lies of the devil steer my understanding and belief about who I am today, who I will become, and what I have or don’t have; I am NOT walking in the LIGHT of His ways. I am NOT letting MY LIGHT shine, I am hiding it under a basket – a covering of darkness!

I want to encourage you today to let your place, feelings, desires, mental pictures, and hearts reflect the LIGHT of His ways. 1 John 4:17 says “…as HE(Jesus) IS, so are WE in this world”. Where and How is HE? Ephesians 1:21 – “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

That is the LIGHT of His Glory!(2 Corinthians 4:4,6) The hope of Christ IN you!(Colossians 1:27)

May you choose to walk in the way HE thinks about you every minute of the rest of your life, placing yourself in the full LIGHT of His Glory, far above everything in this world that is of darkness, resting in the fellowship with Him that you have always dreamed of!

Father of LIGHT

Has your week, month, year, life been completely joyful? Have you been seeing God in the right “Light”? Take a look at this:

And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and your joy may be complete]. And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way].

1 John 1:4-5

Did you catch what the message of promise of was? God is LIGHT and there is absolutely NO darkness in Him at all, none, not any! When you serve a God who has no dark capabilities in Him, your Joy is absolutely complete and full. WHY?! Because there is no chance that HE will ever be the cause of anything dark in your life. I said, because the things that come from darkness, pain, suffering, hate, meanness, poverty, selfishness, immorality, lack, depravity, sickness, disease, persecution, and every form of sin and sinful condition WILL NEVER come to you FROM Him. It IS a promise!

That means that ONLY things of LIGHT come from HIM to you, thus making your Joy complete. Oh the strength of such a promise from the Father above. Thank you and praise your Holy Name forever Jehovah!

I want to encourage you to always look upon your Abba Father in the right Light. Always know, realize, and understand that God ONLY delivers the things of LIGHT to you. Anything from darkness that comes your way is NOT from your God and Father in heaven(1 Corinthians 4:5). All good things come from heaven above(James 1:17).

So, begin to see Him right now, amidst any darkness that might have found you, as a bringer of LIGHT which forces the darkness completely away. Begin to thank Him and rest in His desire to bring you LIGHT that completely drowns out any thing of darkness. See Him as LIGHT, know it is a promise from Heaven and let that make your joy in Him complete.

May you joyfully see your Father in all of His LIGHT, promising that all the dark things of this world will shrink back from your life and situations.

Jesus was raised because of YOUR justification!

Do you know how special you were made in God’s eyes? As if these encouragement posts haven’t been enough to tell you….are seeing that the word is never ending regarding your place before God? Check this out:

Who was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.

Romans 4:25

Did you catch it? Why is it that we always like to focus on the negative parts of verses? Don’t we all have it engrained in our hearts and minds that our lawless deeds and transgressions nailed Christ to the cross and secured forever His death? GUESS WHAT! it doesn’t end there! The whole Book is full of positive, hope inspiring, love filled, freeing passages if we will just keep reading the rest of the verse. Look what it says…..

Jesus was raised from the dead BECAUSE OF our justification! God the Father required a satisfactory offering to put us in right standing with Him. Jesus was that sacrifice. IF Jesus’ sacrifice was not good enough to settle ALL of God’s wrath and judgement against us, then God could not raise Jesus from the dead WITHOUT making us pay the portion that Jesus’ sacrifice couldn’t cover. Why do most Christians live as though we are helping Jesus pay for some of our transgressions?

I want to encourage you today to believe that Jesus completely paid for your transgressions, FULLY justifying you before God the Father, and BECAUSE of your full justification, God was able to raise Jesus from the dead and seat Him in heavenly places at His right hand, and raise you with HIM!(Ephesians 2:6) Notice how we have nothing to do with this and never will? It was God’s free gift to us that believe! Thank you Jesus I will forever praise your name for such a complete sacrifice.

May you walk in the FULL justification that Jesus provided and God approved through the resurrection of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ today!

You are God’s Valentine

Think back to Valentines day, did you get your valentine card from the God of the universe? Look no further than your bible, an everyday valentine from a gracious merciful God who tremendously LOVES you! Look at what He says:

God SO loved YOU and He reached out to YOU first!

John 3:16, 1 John 4:19, Romans 8:39, 1 John 4:9

And proved His love for YOU by giving Himself to YOU!

Romans 5:8, Ephesians 1:4, John 15:13, Revelation 13:8, 1 Corinthians 5:7

He adopted YOU and accepted YOU!

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:5, 1 John 3:1, Ephesians 1:5-6, Romans 5:5, 1 John 4:16, 1 John 2:5

That YOU, might have LOVE and LIFE and reign!

2 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 3:19, Ephesians 2:4, Ephesians 4:15,1 John 3:14, 1 John 4:12, 1 John 4:17, Romans 5:17

I want to encourage you to find your true LOVE from the one source that will never leave you nor forsake you! Don’t seek love from that parent who could not give it appropriately to you as a needing child. Don’t grow up and learn to seek it from your college and career friends. Don’t mature and try to find it in your spouse. Don’t let your all attentive babies and younger children become the source of your need for love and acceptance. Don’t let your job or hobbies be the last resort of finding love and satisfaction. Don’t give up hope in LOVE because none of those people or things could satisfy the longing in your heart to be intimately known, loved, cherished, accepted, valued, respected, honored, or completed!

I encourage you today to focus all your desire, want, and hope on the one true source of LOVE and let JESUS shower your heart and mind right now with Perfect LOVE that casts out all fear of never being intimately known, loved, cherished, accepted, valued, respected, honored, or completed.

The rule of Freedom in life

Are you experiencing the prosperity of Liberty and Freedom in every aspect of your life? Look at this:

But he who looks carefully into the faultless law of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).

WUEST – But he who with eagerness and concentration has pored over the perfect law, the law of liberty, and has continued in it, not having been a hearer who forgets but a doer who works, this person shall be prospered spiritually in his doing.

James 1:25

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1

The reason for these posts, is to help you become aware of the Will of God for your life through His Word of truth and to provide you an opportunity to pour over it, look carefully into it, and eagerly concentrate upon it. My prayer for you is that you will be regularly reminded what this perfect law of liberty says! Spiritual blessing and prosperity comes when you focus your attention on consuming the perfect law of Liberty, His Word, AND bring your thoughts into alignment with what it says over your situation. Do you know that when you speak His Word of truth over your situation and life, you are doing/obeying that law and liberty is the result!

Stand fast on what His word of truth says, obey it and practically apply it to the situation by reading it and speaking out loud what God would say on your behalf and watch the yoke of bondage completely disappear!

Be blessed today with Liberty and Freedom as you consume His word and use it obediently to establish God’s will and purposes over every area of your life.

Are you confessing correctly?

Have you been saying what you think about yourself and your situation, or what God says? Look at this!

Let’s hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one who made the promises is reliable

Hebrews 10:23

The Greek word for “confession” here is a noun – ho-mo-lo-ge’-ä, and it is referring to us performing the verb form – ho-mo-lo-ge’-o. The verb form ho-mo-lo-ge’-o means this:
Are you saying the same thing as God, agreeing with Him, about who you are and what you are supposed to experience in any situation in this life? Are you conceding your opinion to what the Word of God says about you and your experience in life? Are you refusing and denying what you think? Are you saying and accepting the truth and promises of God, confessing and declaring them openly and speaking them out freely?

The reason there is HOPE in us professing what God would say instead of what we would say is because He is FULLY reliable! The reason we can have hope in saying what God would say, is because He canNOT lie (Titus 1:2), and He is a re-warder of those who diligently EXPECT what He has given (Hebrews 11:6)!!

Say what God would say, use the verses from these posts to help you. Put your full assurance of HOPE in His words for your life, without wavering! Don’t look at what the devil brings to your door. Saying what God says in response to what the devil brings to your door helps you not focus on what the devil brings. Have confidence that God does not lie and His word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11) and EXPECT His power to flow to your life and situation!!

May you be blessed today to HOPE fully in the promises of God, expecting His goodness by saying what He would say about you and for you in every thing you experience.

Your weakness, His strength

The Abide Project Encouragement category is meant to help you see God’s heart for your situation and life. He loves you so dearly and desires to display His strong power in your life.

And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

When you are having a rough, hard day and the experiences of life seem to be stealing, killing, or destroying something in you or in your life, you are poised for the God of the universe to exercise His strength to come to bare on that situation and enact change to cause it turn around for good for you.

I want to encourage you with hope by showing you WHAT God’s strength is ready to accomplish for you. Triumphing, blessing, favor, conquering; whatever your situation needs, God is ready to exercise His power and show Himself to be real and alive to you and those watching, so His name can be glorified and you or those around you can experience His goodness, loving mercies, and kind intervention for a more perfected life.

Don’t look at the weakness’, look at His Strength! Focus on these verses and let His words richly dwell in you (Colossians 3:16). Whatever you focus on, will fill your heart and mind. Focus on His provision, blessing, favor, care, and desire to work a miracle in your life. When you do that you will speak forth that which is in your mind and on your heart. When you speak it, you will begin to act upon it in faith which releases the power of God into the situation. You successfully partake of that divine nature in you (2 Peter 1:4) and escape ALL of the corruption of the world that is storming around you!

I want to encourage you today to start immersing your thought life with these verses over and over. The more you intake the truths of God, the more they are able to be spoken out and operated upon with Faith.

May your mouths be full of God’s words and your actions abundantly proving the overcoming power of your God!

Are you giving or receiving?

And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Acts 20:35b

in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began

Titus 1:2

We have been taught to place ourselves in a position of serving God, giving all we have to Him and for Him. Some how we have believed that if we do that, God’s blessings and favor will fall upon us. But how many of us have truly realized what Jesus says here? Jesus spoke everything the Father had to say (John 15:15), and God cannot lie, therefore God is bound by His own truth.

The truth here is that God’s heart and will is to GIVE and not receive! Do you see the freedom in that? Oh how marvelous! God commanded His love towards us BEFORE we gave or will give anything (Romans 5:8 KJV), He chose us, we did not choose Him.

God is a GIVER and He is blessed because of that giving, not because we bless and server Him. He expects us to take from Him. It is only after we accept and take from Him that we can truly respond in giving back to Him the praise, honor, and thanks due to Him because of His giving acts of provision. God does not need our service or worship to be blessed. He is blessed because He gives. If we are giving to God to get, we have the cart before the horse. Faith is based upon expecting provision, the things we hope for (Hebrews 11:1). Hebrews 11:6a – “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”.

Seeking Him for what? The REWARDS that He has freely GIVEN! Seeking Him is not serving and giving to Him so that those rewards will come. That is OT law and when you put yourself under that law you reap all the miseries of sin and death. The NT is clear that EVERY thing has been given to us by Christ’s sacrifice. Seeking Him is expecting what He has GIVEN, to manifest in your situation.

I want to encourage you today to start thinking that what you need has already been provided, start saying that to yourself, start acting as if God HAS provided that thing you need and start positioning yourself in rest to draw upon His inextinguishable resources. Watch the good, acceptable, and pleasing will of God the GIVER be proved out in your life as you accept by faith today His endless giving provision to you.

Give Thanks for what He has already provided to you and watch the GIVER meet your needs. You ARE blessed!