The Tree of Life, planted in the Garden, demarcates a point in time, before which, God always was. He was complete and had need of nothing. Creation was meant to reflect His character. Man was meant to be in line and in synch with God, but sin entered into man's heart. Through history and even today man tries in his own strength to reconcile his relationship with God — an impossible task. In His mercy and love, God plants another tree in time — the old Roman cross. Through Christ's perfect life and sacrifice on the cross we are reconciled back to God and our relationship is restored.

In Genesis, God gave man dominion over all the earth and crowned him with honor and glory. In the garden, though, sin entered into man's heart and he lost his authority. What we once had dominion over, now had dominion over us. The good news is that God doesn't leave us in our misery and failure. He sends Christ Jesus, as man, to restore the authority originally given to us. Now Jesus is crowned with honor and glory and everything is under subjection to Him. He invites us to partake in His authority and victory.

There are four levels of people in the church — the "come and see" crowd, new beginners, growing disciples and the radically devoted. A healthy growing church will have them all. When Jesus is in the house, people at every level will experience the extraordinary. He wants us all to grow to deeper depths with Him, but our biggest hindrance is clinging to the things that Christ is asking us to surrender. Turn your clenched fist to an open palm and give it all to Jesus. He doesn't promise that it will be easy, or that it won't be messy, but don't give up! God will bring you to a greater glory.

The Question: Will I ever be fully accepted? Will He [God] ever fully accept me? Behold [Jesus], the sacrifice that God will accept for all people. Jesus Christ has covered my blemishes, He has covered my failings and my faults.

The fulfillment of marriage as God intended it to be is still within reach of all of us. True love comes from communication. It comes from knowing one another, from taking the time to talk. Those that make that choice break through. Seek first the Kingdom of God.

The promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and subsequently through the church of Jesus Christ. You are an extension of this promise that God made to Abraham. Your greatest enemy is fear. No one can triumph over the plan that Christ has destined for you. No one! Fear not!

All of God's previous covenants were never fulfilled — the angels fell, Adam sinned and the Israelites couldn't follow the Law — until Christ came and completely fulfilled the Old Covenant. Jesus established the New Covenant — one where God gives us the grace to follow His commands. When we "drift away," as the writer of Hebrews says, it is not toward immorality, but back toward an old covenant works-based mentality. Our good works cannot add anything to Christ's finished work on the Cross. Works are a result of God's grace. They do not make us more holy or more acceptable to God.

 The writer of Hebrews spends a lot of time addressing the issue of worshiping angels over Jesus. While this may not be as much of an issue in today's church, it is an example of glorifying supernatural manifestations more than Jesus himself. Anytime we compare something to Jesus or let it compete with him in our life, we make that thing an idol. God wants all idols to be broken in our life. Idols will break when you know who you are in Christ, when you worship Jesus above all else, when you love righteousness more than anointing and when God is on the throne of your heart.

We often look to men to rule over us, direct us and speak into our lives. We place more emphasis on pastors, prophets and politicians than we do on Jesus. Jesus is our Lord and King. He is the one true Prophet who speaks into our lives and He is our High Priest, interceding on our behalf. When we truly understand who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we can't help but worship Him in fullness and without restraint. When He is preeminent in a church, the culture and people will become more like Him — showing mercy, grace and tenderheartedness toward one another.

Christ has covered us. If Christ has covered us God help us to be kind enough to extend that kindness to other people around us. I believe if we choose this path then we’ll begin to truly find the strength of His love flowing through us. The strength of Christ’s Love is that we take the first step in covering a transgression. Then His love comes.