ABIDING IN THE ONENESS OF GOD

Good morning everybody. Welcome to the grace gang. This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and we will be exceedingly glad in it because God is good and he is worthy to be praised. Praise God. Hey, here now we set that thermostat at blessing.

You already know you're blessed today. You're blessed in everything that you do. Somebody just asked me, "How do I feel?" I feel if I feel absolutely amazing. I did some squats this morning and um that that got me up. Amen. Praise God. I love you guys so much.

Appreciate you asking. Um let's see. Uh you're blessed today, but I want to add something to that. The blessing is running you over. You need to get ready to be run over by the blessings of God. And um I am just so ready to impart uh in the lives of the grace gang.

We just got so much more to to learn. We got so much more to decipher. We've got so many things to rightly divide the word of truth on. And um it's just something. It's amazing to be able to just Lord, how do I articulate this thing? You see it, you know, in your spirit, but you know, how do I say it?

How do I articulate it? And uh it's just so amazing. And I thank you guys for being teachable. You know, a lot of people aren't teachable. They just, you know, yeah, whatever. You kind of get stuck with what you've always known. I ask the Lord to help me with that.

I don't want to just like get stuck with what I've always known and then shut myself away from what God is trying to say and reveal to us. And so today, I'm going to take some time to talk to you on a practical level about abiding in the oneness of God and really getting a hold of this.

And then I'm going to uh begin to teach on some things um hopefully this weekend on you know what's motivating you and to make sure that we're being moved by the right motivations in our life. We're going to move into uh deciphering the difference between uh the grace of God uh and having faith in the finished works versus the law of Moses and having faith in and actually being motivated by fear.

We need to know the difference. We need to know the difference. And I thank God that you are growing every day and you're growing and you're doing amazing things. We had an we had an amazing time in in South Africa. It it was a it was a uh an eyeopener.

I I heard and saw some things that I'm like, "Wow, Lord, help me to to uh to decipher this thing." And and so I couldn't wait to to get with you guys. Um, so we're going to have a great Thursday. Friday, we're going to deal with this subject abiding in the oneness of God.

And then Sunday, I'm we're going to we're going to hit some things. And so, uh, I'm even thinking about doing some, uh, specialized seminars on Wednesday, um, to make sure that our foundation is is set. There's some foundational teachings, and I wouldn't call them found foundational. I think they're they're teachings that I just need to really take my time and break it down so that we can see it.

Happy birthday uh to somebody in New York, I think. Praise God. Happy birthday to anybody that's having a birthday today. So, let's go ahead and um let's see who's in the house just for a couple of minutes. Who's joining me and where are you joining me from? Welcome to the Grace Gang wherever you're from this morning.

Uh we we we we're glad to have you with us. College Park, the international city, is in the house. Thank you for being here, guys. Uh, South Africa is in the house this morning. Irving, Texas is here. Las Vegas, Corona, California, Chicago, North Carolina is in the house.

Dallas and Arizona is here. Liberia is joining us in the house. Washington DC, Nashville, we send blessings to you guys. Snailville, Georgia. Uh Fedville, North Carolina. St. Augustine is here. New York City in the house. Uh Dallas and Los Angeles and the UK and Fedville and um Cape Coral, Florida, Melbourne, Australia, uh uh is in the house this morning.

We we we welcome you guys to the Grace Gang. Uh good morning, British Columbia and Canada. uh over in San Diego is in the house with us. McKenna, Texas. We send blessings to you guys. Hateville, Georgia is here. Um Tennessee is in the house and we just welcome you to the grace gang today.

And I pray that you're teachable and that you're ready to continue to grow. I just have to believe you you are growing by leaps and bounds. You know, the Philippines is in the house. Vancouver is in the house. Pickings, Mississippi, East. Uh, I missed that. Maloi. Yeah, I met a met a friend from Malawi.

Uh, Brother Clifford from Malawi. And, um, praise God. Uh, Springfield is in the house. Uh, God bless you guys. Irving is here. Jackson, East Africa's in the house with us today. Las Vegas is here. All is well in Jesus name. Seattle Washington, God bless you guys. We welcome you to the grace gang this morning.

And I want to start off by declaring our our identity today. Uh if you can join me as we declare who we are and our identity in Christ. Uh maybe you want to text a friend and tell them to join us today because um I'm just I I ask the Lord to give me an increased intensity uh on my teaching so that the words will be anointed and they will get on the inside of you and the light bulb comes on and you're going to be able to see some things um clearly and uh it'll be a blessing to your life.

All right, let's join together and let's declare this out loud. I feel like I need to do Psalms 91 this morning. How y'all feeling about that? Let's do Let's do Let's get Psalms 91 equipped this morning. Amen. Repeat after me. I will dwell in the shelter of the most high God.

I will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. God is my refuge and my fortress. You are my God in whom I trust and with great confidence in whom I will rely. God will rescue me from every trap and protect me from every disease. I am covered and protected by his outstretch arms.

God's faithful promises are my armor and my protection. I will not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor of the arrows that fly in the day. I will not dread any disease that stalks in the darkness, nor any disaster that strikes at midday. God is my refuge and the almighty God of my home.

No evil can befall me. No plague can come near my dwelling. God has ordered his angels to guard, defend, and protect me in my house. God's armies of heaven will keep me from falling. I will walk unharmed and kick anything that is evil from my path. Because of God's love for me, I will call upon him.

He will set me above all my troubles. He will deliver me from all my fears and he will honor me with his presence and power. He will reward me with long life and he will show me his salvation. In the name of Jesus, I am righteous. I am forgiven.

I am one with God. I am completed in Christ. I am seated with Christ. I am the mirror image of Christ. I declare according to 1 John 4:17, as he is, so am I in this world. I am redeemed. I have wisdom now. I am holy. I am sanctified.

I am in I am everything God says I am. Not what my past says I am. Not what other people say I am, but what God says I am. I I am accepted right now. I rest in him right now. And in the name of Jesus, I declare that all is well with me and my house.

I am loved by God. I'm highly favored by God. I'm blessed by God. And he loves me with an everlasting unending love. And today I believe the love that God has for me in Jesus name. All is well. And everybody said amen. All is well. All is well.

John chapter 15 um verse one uh and verse two. We're going to look at some things here because this is so so very important. John chapter 15, he says, "I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.

And every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now the word, you know, taketh away, it comes from a Greek word, uh I believe it's arrow, a i r o, and it means to lift up, to bear up, just like a a grape vine.

If the uh if it's not getting enough sun, you're supposed to lift it up and and place it on these little little wooden cross things so that the sun can get to it. And um yeah, that's what it means to lift up, to bear up. Okay? Not to cut you off and throw you away.

I mean, if he cut you off, you wouldn't be saved again. And so I had the thought, let's let's talk about something here this morning uh concerning abiding in the oneness of God. This this union with God. We're the branch. He's the true vine. What does all that mean?

So let's get in that. Okay. And and see um it's not just believing in God. Abiding in that oneness is not just believing in God, but living from union with him. I'm branch. We're all branches. We're connected to the vine. Okay. Uh so it's not just believing in God.

It's living from union with him. So as a branch, I'm connected to the vine and what's in the vine flows through the branch. So my my my whole life is a life that is lived from the vine, lived from union with him. Now we've talked about this before, but I I I just have not been completely satisfied with, you know, um how to articulate this.

And so when we talk about abiding as Jesus described in John chapter 15, uh he said, "Abide in me and I in you." There's that union described. Abide in me and I in you. We're talking about, listen to me, a conscious awareness of oneness. Abide in me and I abide in you.

We're talking about a conscious awareness of oneness. It it's it's it's it's it's in your thinking. It's in your conscious. It's you're consciously aware of oneness. It's not a striving to get closer to God. Now, that's what I thought it was. All right. I'm I'm the He's the vine.

I'm the branch. And so, I got to work hard to get closer to God. No, it is an awareness, a conscious awareness of oneness. It is the union. The union is already established. Abiding is living aware of what's already established. Abiding is living aware. I am aware that I am connected with the vine.

I am aware. And so we want to wake up every day in the awareness of this union. Right? So, uh, in order to really get this today and tomorrow, we're going to talk about some practical benefits of of of being consciously aware of this union that we have with with Christ.

Okay? Uh, consciously aware of it. So I thought the best thing to do rather than me getting real deep uh doctrinally, I want to I want to explain this um through practical benefits of this union with God. Uh where this really touches our everyday life. How does this impact us in our everyday living?

Right? Okay. So that's that's the issue we're going to deal with. How does this oneness with Jesus, this awareness, I am aware today, say this out loud. I am aware today that I am the branch. He is the vine and we are consciously aware of the union we have with one another.

Wow. Wow. So, number one, here's the first benefit. consistent inner peace. Not not situational peace, consistent inner peace. I mean when I wake up every morning and I am consciously aware of this union, this abiding, you know, to abide abiding or is to live in awareness of it.

I I I want you to be aware of this union. When you are aware that you are in union with Jesus, you have consistent inner peace. Consistent inner peace. I mean, when you are aware that you and God are one, that's powerful, guys. It's like Jesus in the father and then we, you and I are in Jesus and then the holy spirit is in us.

What a glorious entanglement. What a glorious entanglement. I am aware that I'm in God and that he is in me. So you're not trying to reach him in crisis when you are consistently having inner peace and you're aware of that that union. You're not trying to reach him in a time of crisis, right?

You're not wondering if he's with you in a time of crisis. See, all of that stuff is eliminated because peace becomes the baseline, not a reward. Peace becomes the baseline, not the reward. So instead of God, where are you? Instead of going there, uh it becomes you're hearing me and I respond to that.

You know what that response is? It's peace. Instead, oh God, I'm in trouble. Help me, Lord, where are you? It's like, Lord, you're here with me. And now I'm I'm living from that union. I'm living from that union. All right. All right. So, now let's see what the second benefit is.

And I won't finish it all today, but I'll get enough in for you to really, really start working on this. Okay. Number two, effortless transformation. In other words, it's going to be less striving and more fruit. See, if you're connected to the vine, by pure fact, you're connected with God, it's going to say, "My transformation is going to be effortless because of my connection with God."

Now, this is the big part. This is the part I'm going to have to deal with for a month or so in different ways because this is the part that really gets people. What do you mean effortless? because we have we we feel better when we know that we did something to to to cause the the transformation but I am saying in this effortless transformation what am I saying I'm saying less striving more fruit less striving more fruit so Jesus said fruit comes from abiding not from striving read that whole chapter John chapter 15 fruit comes from abiding, not striving.

Fruit comes from abiding. Look at that. On a normal tree, you don't see the branches striving to get fruit on it. Fruit comes from abiding. I mean, by pure fact, you see an apple on a branch. It didn't strive to do that. It It was It was It was abiding because it was connected.

The fruit came because it was in union with the vine. the fruit came. So what does this mean? More less striving and uh more abiding or or more awareness that you're abiding. Well, it means you don't force change. Number one, you're not trying to force change. And that's what happens when you don't have an awareness of the oneness with with Christ.

You begin to force change. Okay? But when you are aware of it, you don't you don't force change. You you don't manage behavior um at the root level. You don't manage behavior at the the root level. Change becomes organic in other words, right? Change becomes organic. It's like it's like fruit growing on the branch.

It it's please tell me how it's struggling. It's it's in union with the vine. And so we're talking about the things that show up in our life as a result of our awareness with with with with God and our awareness uh with the vine. Oh my god. Check this out, man.

It it it's organic. It's because you're connected. Now, we're talking relationship because you're connected. It just flows in in your life. Okay. Let's see if I can give an example. I want to make sure you you you get this right. So instead of trying hard to be patient, for example, you ever you ever been in a situation where something around you was freaking out and I'm going to do I'm going to try real hard to be patient.

Instead of trying hard to be real patient, I want you to become aware Christ is my patience. You know, Christ is my patience because I'm in union with God. Christ is my patient. All of the fruit of the spirit is you have access to it through your union with God.

And I thank God that he knows what I need on the branch. Okay? Christ is my patience. And you know what happens? Patience begins to show up without pressure. You're just aware that I'm in union with God and who I am in union with is my patience. And patience just begins to show up without pressure.

But but the thing I'm going to be dealing with in the future here is like, but we just want to be able to do something or strive to try to get patience when no branch on any tree strives to bear what's on that branch. And here we are branches still trying to strive to get something on that branch instead of just being aware that I'm connected to that vine.

And then patience shows up because I am aware that I'm already connected with patience. Oh, is everybody on the bus? Is everybody on the bus? This is like this is like this is big. I'm telling you, you get this whole life changes. Everything changes. Everything changes. You your whole view of God and who you are in Christ. changes from I got to work and strive and I got to sweat to make something happen to I am now resting in my union and I am now living my whole life from from my union and my connection with him.

Woo Lord if I didn't if I'd have known this 45 years ago boy good Lord have mercy. Okay so let's look at the third the third benefit here. Freedom from condemnation and sin consciousness. Freedom from condemnation and sin consciousness. Now, this is big, guys, because you listen, I know I know people who are born again and talk in tongues and they deal with sin consciousness all day.

Just let them miss the mark. Let them do something that that brings about condemnation and shame and guilt. That's that's because a sin consciousness is a sin conscious is still there hadn't been dealt with. So you still are allowing your bad behavior to determine your identity. And so here is this this third um result of being aware of your union with Christ.

You have freedom from condemnation and sin consciousness. Union settles your identity. I mean, a branch that's united with the uh the the vine of a a grape vine. Well, I already know. I mean, it's it's a it's a grape vine because what? Because of what? Because of what it's united with, right?

And so, union is settled. It settles your identity. I know who I am because I know who I'm connected with. I know who I am because I know who I'm in union with. I know who I am. Right? So because you're one with with him, you stop defining yourself by your failures.

Because you're one with him, you no longer define yourself by your failures. You stop cycling through guilt and self-correction. Uh you stop cycling through guilt and self-correction. It's like the condemnation comes, the guilt is there, the shame is there, and like you know, you go through all right, all the things you do to try to get through this.

But as the apostle Paul explains in Romans chapter 8 and one, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. And when you're in Christ, um, you share with his accomplishments because you're in union with him. When you're in Christ, everything he is and everything he has, you sharing that because you're in union with him.

So, the benefit is of of being aware of your union is freedom from condemnation and sin consciousness. Every time something happens, you you live your life through your union. You think through your union. You you you live your life through your connection as the branch to the vine.

Everybody hear me? So practically when you miss it, and that's the thing people struggle with. When you miss it, you don't spiral your you don't you don't just, you know, you know how people when they miss it. Oh Lord, I this ain't good no more. I don't even know if I'm righteous anymore.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't spiral. You realign your thinking, not your identity. Your identity is is there. You're already connected. Your union um was not disrupted when you missed it. Okay? So, don't spiral. It wasn't disrupted. You're still united with him. All right? All you need to do is realign your thinking.

Not you don't you're not trying to realign your identity. Oh, I got to go. I got to get my my my identity was disconnected. He didn't take the branch and just throw it away somewhere. No. What he did was I just need to lift it up so the sun can get to it.

I need to lift it up. It's in a place right now where it's not getting sunlight. I need to lift it up where the sun can get to it. Oh wow. This is awesome, guys. This is awesome. You see what I'm saying? I'm I asked the Lord this morning while I was praying.

I instead of me getting irritated because people are not, you know, immediately hopping on the gray train, I say, "Oh, Lord me, let me let me let me teach with more clarity and more intensity so that people can literally see it." So they can see it. All right.

I think I give I got time to give you one more and we'll pick up with this tomorrow. Uh here's the fourth um practical benefit for being aware of your union with God. This is the big one. Confidence and boldness in your everyday life. Confidence and boldness in your everyday life.

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. You're talking about confident, dude. You're in union with God. You're talking about confidence. You are in union with him. It brings about boldness in every day of your life because you're living from that union with him. What you scared of? I mean, what are you afraid of?

You afraid of what man can do with you? You You're afraid that, you know, little money is there right now. You're afraid of the report that the doc gave you, man. I'm living from him. I'm good. That's that happens to people who understand this union literally removes the distance between you and God.

So you're not, you know, seeing God is far off somewhere and does he know what really happened. Union removes the distance between you and God. So instead of hoping God will come through or or just wondering if if you qualify, see how you're in union with God. Oh, hoping that or praying that he'll come through.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. H. No, that that's that's that union removes the distance between you and God. You live um with quiet confidence. Oh, did y'all get that? You live when you become aware of your union with God, you live with quiet confidence. Hey, God is God in me is more than enough.

Quiet confidence. God in me is more than enough. I in him, he in me. If you abide in him and he abides in you, it's it's more than enough. And you know where this will show up every day in your life when you get this? It'll show up in your decision making.

Mhm. It'll show up in your speaking. It'll show up in your leading. This shows up when you begin to to to understand this and recognize these things. It shows up. It shows up in your praying. Some of you, you're not going to pray the same way because of this quiet confidence and awareness of your union.

Oh my goodness. And then I see it. I see this confidence in my decision making. This boldness in my decision making. H I see it in my speaking. I see I I sound differently. I speak differently, man. I see it in my leading. If you're leading people or or managing something, you see it there.

But I see it in my prayer. I'm not saying things two or three times. I'm aware of who I'm connected to. And as a result of that, it changes everything. I'm living from that. Lord have mercy, guys. We got a lot to talk about. We got a lot to talk about, guys, and I just don't want you to miss none of it.

Um, I'm going to change some things around because I got a lot to get out. Uh, I've got to create a format where I can continue to hear from you what you're understanding, what you're not understanding, what you need more. This this this thing is is happening. The grace gang is equipping.

Ladies and gentlemen, the grace gang is rising all over the world. I'm seeing stuff I've never seen before. And I believe in all you're getting, get understanding. If we can understand this this gospel, this almost too good to be true news about Jesus and his finished work. If we get this or let me say when we get this because it's like again like an onion, you peel one layer and then you know you you think, "Oh, I got it now."

Then you peel another layer, you're like, "Whoa, I didn't know that." Then you peel another layer and you're like, "Oh, whoa." And and and I' I've gotten to that point where I'm thinking like, "Oh, wow." after so many years I think I got it and I don't and I think oh I got to remain a student this is why he said will you be remain a student of grace will you remain a student of grace why let's keep peeling that layers of that onion let's keep peeling it let's keep peeling it peeling it and I tell you what man you're going to you're going to know Jesus more than ever I don't know about some of y'all but I've been I've been you know on the verge of just breaking down crying every time I think about Jesus and and I'm thinking he died for me.

I mean he everything he did he did it for me and I want to make sure that I don't strive um trying to do what Jesus already done as if I'm saying well what you did was enough wasn't enough. He's enough. What he did was enough. I just want to become aware of everything that he did in the name of Jesus.

All right, guys. So, maybe um check this teaching out a little bit more. Um maybe go to one of the platforms and listen to it again and really get it in your spirit. Um you know, I've got a big series coming up on renewing the mind. What does it really mean to renew the mind when he said what he said?

And he started off with therefore, which means I got to consider what he said before he got to Romans chapter 12. There's a lot of stuff that we need to get a hold of. I believe that all of what's about to be shared in the next two to three months is going to lead you walking in signs and wonders and you're going to be like, "Whoa, where' this come from?"

Because of your awareness of him. Now, he's able to do exceedingly abundantly above what you can ever ask or think according to the power that workketh in you. It's going to be an amazing amazing end of the year as we come to this. And God is not through with you yet.

He's not through with you yet. Praise God. Anyway, I love you guys. I will see you on tomorrow. And uh uh yeah, I I just want you to have a great day. Uh I'm I'm going to take some rest today to continue to recuperate and and um yeah, man.

I'm I'm stirred up. I am so stirred up about getting you to understand some stuff. So, uh let's see. I think it's next week, the 24th, we're going to be in uh Salt Lake City, Utah. Um April the 24th for another leg of the Spirit and Grace Tour.

Salt Lake City, Utah. All right, come on guys. Let's let's get it in Salt Lake City, Utah. If you haven't registered, go ahead and register. I want to see you there. Praise God. We're going to have an amazing time in Salt Lake City, Utah. And uh I'm coming.

I don't care how many of you there. I'm coming. Jesus went all the way around the place to meet one woman at a well. I'm coming. So it ain't Don't you know whale at me? He ain't coming. Yeah, I am. Excuse me. Yeah, I am. I'm all college part this morning.

So, if you haven't registered, Salt Lake City, Utah, or the surrounding areas, we will see you there. And it's very intimate. Just talk to somebody who's experienced uh one of these meetings. It has been amazing at amazing and I am so excited about seeing you there. And I think after Salt Lake City, we're coming to Denver, Colorado.

Is that right? Uh yeah, May the 8th, Denver, Colorado. So, uh, if you hadn't registered for the Denver, Colorado meeting or Salt Lake, uh, city of Utah, go ahead and get those things squared away, and we look forward to seeing you there. If you're in Utah, spread the word.

Bring some folks with you. Um, you know, for every person that dared me to go to Utah, here it is. We going, we on the way, bro. Praise God. Uh those of you in Johannesburg, it was a blessing. Uh such a blessing. I thank God for Pastor Josh, his wife, the team, uh all of our office people over there.

Thank you for everything that happened this past week. It was amazing. I want to thank uh uh Sat. I want to thank uh Jordan. Um it was the music was just just off the chain. Want to thank Bishop McClendon and Taffy for uh helping me to to to to teach and to to um share the word with the people of God there.

All blessing. What a blessing. So the next time we come to to South Africa, it's going to be in a tour form. We're already working with it. Uh we'll be coming to Durban. We'll be coming to Cape Town and Ptoria. Uh and uh we're trying to see if we can uh fit in there.

Malawi. I don't know what year quite, but uh we we started working on it before I left. Amen. God is so good. I love you guys so much. Have a great day today. I'll see you on tomorrow. Let's let's keep talking about this uh abiding in the oneness of God.

Amen. God bless you. Have an amazing day today in Jesus name.