Epistles from the Hand of Jonathan

I am a little late for your birthday. I would have been with you all Saturday, but I had commitments with my church. Our church took part in dedication services for a new church on Tuckasegee Road in Charlotte—Blessed Assurance Community Church. Pastor Don gave a word and our praise team, which I am a part, played for them.

I hope your birthday was a swell one. May this be a year of new beginnings for you. Whether you know it or not, there is a lot in you just waiting to blossom. I will not wish you luck for this year, because there is no such thing. We have been given avenue to be blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is my prayer that you come to know those blessings. When we allow him access in our lives, he ordains our footsteps. He has purpose in us and we are not subject to come what may. There is no luck in Christ.

It is coming up on two years that I made a commitment to Jesus. For years I recognized that God is good, but I did not allow him access in my life. Now that I have, I have found that Jesus is so much greater than the religion that I was brought up in. It is my hope that you come to know his greatness as I have. It requires you to forget about what you think you know from religion. God is not about sitting on a pew once a week. There were people sitting on pews before Jesus died on the cross. Jesus has given us access to himself, which is what he has always intended. Adam did not change God’s plans. There is a place in Jesus where he is there always, giving you his peace, joy, and comfort in the good times and the bad. He is there to carry us through this world. He is the ark that we have been provided, just as Noah had an ark that will carry us through as this temporary world crumbles. His is the Kingdom that cannot be moved and you need to be in it.

The Kingdom is within us. On the cross he provided avenue for you to have presence with him. The same Spirit that raised him from the dead is in you. He has spread his seed into humanity. There is a seed within each one of us waiting to sprout. I pray that you come to know what it is to be led by the Spirit. Through the cross, Jesus has given you the ability to be a son of God. He is the pattern Son and wants to mold us by his spirit to his image. Remember man was originally created in his image. Well now when the Holy Ghost has access to your life, you are being conformed to his image.

The Bible says that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish. That is so true. The things of God are not understood in our minds. We have to come to know him in the Spirit. To give Jesus access to your life, you must just let go and cry out to him. I continually tell people of how my prayers were empty until I got on my knees and just started speaking to Jesus. And do not let religion confuse you—our Lord is Jesus. Jesus is Lord. All power is in him and in that name. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are manifestations of God, but in Jesus is the fullness. If you study out the Greek and Hebrew, you find that Lord Jesus Christ is the same as saying Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Religion confuses a lot of people by dividing God into parts. The word says the Lord our God is one Lord. He continually revealed himself in the Old Testament, and fully showed himself through the person of Jesus. He manifested himself in the flesh. The Word says he was the express image (exact copy) of God.

Well, anyway, there is so much to our Lord Jesus Christ that you come to know when you allow him to have access into your life. He does not dwell in man’s doctrines and religion. There is a lot of junk out there that people follow. People in general are complacent towards Jesus. They think that it is just about being at church. Most Christians are ignorant. They sit in churches because of tradition and never come to know the Christ in them. The major focus of the Apostle Paul, who wrote fourteen epistles of the New Testament, was for people to come to know “Christ in you”. He wanted believers to come to know the power of Christ in them. Jesus said you shall receive power. I seek to walk in his resurrection power. You have to seek him. The word says that if we seek him, he will add to us. Most professing Christians do not seek, and the net result is that you cannot tell the difference in them and anyone else.

When you allow Jesus in your life, he will change you. For one to say they know Jesus, yet they never experience change in their life tells me that they know nothing of him. His spirit changes us. He has changed me drastically over the past two years. He wants to bring us higher. He wants to bring us up out of the muck and mire of this temporary world. I have seen the Lord change so many within my church. Our keyboard player has seen an awesome change in her life. When she first came to our church, she suffered from depression. Pastors Don and Carla spent a lot of time with her and her husband. Now she is just full of spirit. In fact, the other day we left the sanctuary open for a good while after service so that she could continue to worship. She was just overwhelmed with the presence of God and could hardly walk. God will do that to you sometimes when you get to a place with him where your focus is on him, and not you.

It is my prayer for you that you come to experience the power and presence of God. I pray that you come to experience the change that the Spirit will bring about. God loves you, and has given you access to his Kingdom. And the Kingdom is within you when you come to acknowledge and confess him. So many people are looking outwardly for signs of God, but Jesus said the Kingdom is within you. In the Old Testament days he showed his presence in the Tabernacle. Now, you are the Tabernacle.

Bob, this thing is real. God is real. You can tap into his river of life. Without him, we have no life. We have only something that is temporary. Jesus called those without him “the dead”. We are born into a state of condemnation. We are not condemned because of God, but because of his Holy, Holy, Holy nature. Our sin nature has no presence with him. But because he loves us so much, he provided the avenue for us to have communion with him. The Way, the Truth, the Life is Jesus. Call out to him and make him real in your life. It is time for a new way. A new beginning. Forget what you know. Forget what you have done. Forget what you are doing. Cry out to him to be your Lord and Savior. He is the only way you will come to have a fulfilling life. There is no other way.

Once you make him the center, it is important to be assembled into a church body that believes fully in him. One that believes in the work of the Spirit. One that believes in the gifts of the Spirit. Things like prophecy and speaking in tongues. When you seek him, he will allow those gifts to come out of you. He enables us as we come into his purpose. He has great purpose for you, but you must get on your knees and make him real in your life. I used to think that speaking in tongues was weird. I did not have Jesus. Earlier this year, all of a sudden I started speaking in tongues one day. One of its purposes is to increase our faith. When the different gifts manifest themselves in us, we recognize that God is working in us. Speaking in tongues came about in me as I continued to seek and let go of the reservations in my mind.

Jesus has done great change in me. He has me doing things that I never thought I would be doing. He will bring change in your life as well. When you come to know Jesus, you find most of the natural world to be mundane and superficial. I pray that you can just let go and let God. Forget everything, and ask him to take over. I believe God has you over at First Assembly for a reason. I knew God had purpose in me for a long time, but I continually resisted. I think you are much the same. I do not care what anyone has said of you or what you may think of yourself—I know that God has purpose for you and will lift you out of what you have known over your lifetime. You have an eternal existence no matter what you do. Jesus has given us avenue to be with him. I am here to tell you that the spirit world is real. God is Spirit, and where his spirit is there is liberty. When you take on his name, Jesus, you become a spirit being. It is real brother. I pray you come into his place of purpose for you this day. Do not wait. Now is the time. It is time for a new beginning. I do not care what state you are in. I do not care what things you are doing. Jesus wants sinners. And he wants us now. He wants you to experience his glory. When you come to know his glory, there is nothing in this world that can compare. No drug, no material possession, no experience can compare to his presence in you.

Without him we are dead. Most people chase after wealth and pleasures all their life trying to fill a void. The void is Jesus. Give him opportunity this day. Thank him for going to that cross for you. Thank him for giving you access to him. Thank him for giving you eternal life with him. Thank him for giving you his spirit inside you to guide and comfort you. His spirit did not inhabit man until after the cross. He has given us a great gift to endure this world and to do his purpose. He uses his people. He wants you to be a Son of God. Those who are led by the Spirit are Sons of God. Acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. Repent for your sinful nature. Ask him to change you. Ask him to use you. SEEK HIM NOW!! Put the past where it belongs, the past. In him, you become a new creature. Let's see life coming out of you. Allow him access and he will use you mightily. Get beyond the stuff that has plagued you. Call out to him. He loves you so much. Ask him to reveal himself to you. SEEK! SEEK! SEEK! SEEK!

He is looking for “whosoever will”. Are you Whosoever Will? He said Whosoever will, let him drink of the water of life freely. Come. Come and drink. Come on in, the water feels good. He told Peter while walking on the water, “Come.” He wants you to walk on the water with him. Come, he says. What are you waiting for? The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept.” He weeps because man lets his pride and knowledge get in the way of knowing him. Forget what others think and focus on him and you in him. We each have to work out our salvation. It is my desire to see life burgeoning out of you, not death. Death is not what man thinks. Death is separation from God. We are born into the first death, and experience resurrection when we allow Jesus into our lives. We are given a short amount of time to be reconciled without Lord. He has given us the opportunity. Seize the day! Without him, we experience the second death—eternal separation from God. I am so glad to have him. He has given me life! He is real Bob, but you have to take the step to make him real in your life. Pour out to him. Speak to him and make it real. Get in that church and get assembled. Forget what others think. Bury your pride. God exalts the humble and shuns the prideful. Resist the enemy. The enemy would tell you not to go up to the altar in a church service. Not to let go. The enemy would tell you to walk out of a church when the Spirit starts drawing on you. Let go and follow the Spirit. That tugging you feel sometimes is God pulling on you. God gives us free will. He draws on us, he gives us his truth. The enemy will cloud your mind with truth and lies. He will deceive. He does not want you to find out about the true power of Christ in you. He is a defeated foe. He went down with the cross, but he can still speak into your mind and deceive you. He does not want you to discover the gifts that were bestowed on us through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. I pray that you come to know the power of Jesus. It is real Bob. It is real. You have to seek him though. He will take you out of the mundane and superficial crap that you have put up with for so long. Surely you are tired of all that. I am, and I have not lived it. God has taken me out of so much, and I know he will do the same for you.

So I pray, this time next year, you and I will be praising the Lord together freely. I pray for you this day that you let go, raise your hands in the air, and praise him. Ask him to take over. There is nothing you can do to save yourself. He has already done it all. You just accept his free gift. I pray for the day that I can speak openly with each of my natural family about what God is doing in their life. We serve a Go Do God. He wants you, and he will use you. I pray that he becomes real in your life and that you come to have a church family. But do not seek religion, seek him.

It has become obvious to me what churches are allowing the Spirit of God to lead them. Not many of them are part of a religious organization. Scripturally, God plants churches, not man. He uses apostles, like my pastors to start them. He also plants the members into the church. I did not choose my church; he made it obvious to me shortly after being saved that I belonged there. I am now a teacher in our new private school, a Sunday school teacher, a guitarist on the praise team, and was recently put in the office of Deacon. I do not acknowledge those things to boast on myself, but to boast on Christ. None of those things were anything that I sought. But as I kept my focus on going Christ-ward, as I continued to seek Him, things just came about that I ended up in these positions. Next year it will be other things. Jesus continues to bring us into new things when we are open to his will. He will do great things in your life.

Well, I must wrap this up. I can write all day about Jesus. What I am sharing with you is what I share with others. It is my desire for others to experience what I have come to experience. Since I have been saved, I want to see others to know the Life of God. The enemy clouds your vision. So many think that Jesus is just about finding a religion and it just seems boring to them. Once you let go, and let him, you find that Jesus is 24/7. He said he will be with you always, but if you never come to accept his love you do not experience him. He is only a topic of discussion for most. In most churches he is a topic of conversation. I have come to know him as the All Mighty that he is. And he has made a dwelling place inside me that only exists because of his sacrifice on the cross. I have come to know that he heals, that he speaks through his people, that he does provide, that he enables his people, that his word is true. We have to take advantage of the opportunity he provides, let go of what we know, and step out on faith.

Hallelujah!!!!!! I will let you go. Once again, happy birthday. I will not say God bless you, because I know he has. You are alive today for his purpose. He has kept you. His blessings are there, you just have to make him real in your life. He is faithful when we seek him. He will reveal himself in ways you cannot comprehend. Give him the opportunity today to make a change. Be open to his leading and he will continually change you. Some things change overnight, other things take some time. If we keep our focus Christ-ward, he will work on us. When we stumble, he is faithful to forgive. When we accept him, he wipes the slate clean and gives us the avenue to keep that slate clean. We must repent and acknowledge our sinful condition to him, and over time he changes our desires and habits to conform us to his image.

I love you brother and want you to experience Jesus in his fullness. I hope that something registered with you and that you speak to him right now.

Have a blessed day and life through Jesus,

Jonathan

	Letter to the Lost (Bob) All of us who are truly in Christ have a burden for certain individuals to come into the light. Here is a letter that I was led to write to one such person. We'll call him Bob.		Epistles from the Hand of Jonathan My Lord and my God! Jesus IS Lord!
	Dear Bob,		Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3)
	I am a little late for your birthday. I would have been with you all Saturday, but I had commitments with my church. Our church took part in dedication services for a new church on Tuckasegee Road in Charlotte—Blessed Assurance Community Church. Pastor Don gave a word and our praise team, which I am a part, played for them. I hope your birthday was a swell one. May this be a year of new beginnings for you. Whether you know it or not, there is a lot in you just waiting to blossom. I will not wish you luck for this year, because there is no such thing. We have been given avenue to be blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is my prayer that you come to know those blessings. When we allow him access in our lives, he ordains our footsteps. He has purpose in us and we are not subject to come what may. There is no luck in Christ. It is coming up on two years that I made a commitment to Jesus. For years I recognized that God is good, but I did not allow him access in my life. Now that I have, I have found that Jesus is so much greater than the religion that I was brought up in. It is my hope that you come to know his greatness as I have. It requires you to forget about what you think you know from religion. God is not about sitting on a pew once a week. There were people sitting on pews before Jesus died on the cross. Jesus has given us access to himself, which is what he has always intended. Adam did not change God’s plans. There is a place in Jesus where he is there always, giving you his peace, joy, and comfort in the good times and the bad. He is there to carry us through this world. He is the ark that we have been provided, just as Noah had an ark that will carry us through as this temporary world crumbles. His is the Kingdom that cannot be moved and you need to be in it. The Kingdom is within us. On the cross he provided avenue for you to have presence with him. The same Spirit that raised him from the dead is in you. He has spread his seed into humanity. There is a seed within each one of us waiting to sprout. I pray that you come to know what it is to be led by the Spirit. Through the cross, Jesus has given you the ability to be a son of God. He is the pattern Son and wants to mold us by his spirit to his image. Remember man was originally created in his image. Well now when the Holy Ghost has access to your life, you are being conformed to his image. The Bible says that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish. That is so true. The things of God are not understood in our minds. We have to come to know him in the Spirit. To give Jesus access to your life, you must just let go and cry out to him. I continually tell people of how my prayers were empty until I got on my knees and just started speaking to Jesus. And do not let religion confuse you—our Lord is Jesus. Jesus is Lord. All power is in him and in that name. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are manifestations of God, but in Jesus is the fullness. If you study out the Greek and Hebrew, you find that Lord Jesus Christ is the same as saying Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Religion confuses a lot of people by dividing God into parts. The word says the Lord our God is one Lord. He continually revealed himself in the Old Testament, and fully showed himself through the person of Jesus. He manifested himself in the flesh. The Word says he was the express image (exact copy) of God. Well, anyway, there is so much to our Lord Jesus Christ that you come to know when you allow him to have access into your life. He does not dwell in man’s doctrines and religion. There is a lot of junk out there that people follow. People in general are complacent towards Jesus. They think that it is just about being at church. Most Christians are ignorant. They sit in churches because of tradition and never come to know the Christ in them. The major focus of the Apostle Paul, who wrote fourteen epistles of the New Testament, was for people to come to know “Christ in you”. He wanted believers to come to know the power of Christ in them. Jesus said you shall receive power. I seek to walk in his resurrection power. You have to seek him. The word says that if we seek him, he will add to us. Most professing Christians do not seek, and the net result is that you cannot tell the difference in them and anyone else. When you allow Jesus in your life, he will change you. For one to say they know Jesus, yet they never experience change in their life tells me that they know nothing of him. His spirit changes us. He has changed me drastically over the past two years. He wants to bring us higher. He wants to bring us up out of the muck and mire of this temporary world. I have seen the Lord change so many within my church. Our keyboard player has seen an awesome change in her life. When she first came to our church, she suffered from depression. Pastors Don and Carla spent a lot of time with her and her husband. Now she is just full of spirit. In fact, the other day we left the sanctuary open for a good while after service so that she could continue to worship. She was just overwhelmed with the presence of God and could hardly walk. God will do that to you sometimes when you get to a place with him where your focus is on him, and not you. It is my prayer for you that you come to experience the power and presence of God. I pray that you come to experience the change that the Spirit will bring about. God loves you, and has given you access to his Kingdom. And the Kingdom is within you when you come to acknowledge and confess him. So many people are looking outwardly for signs of God, but Jesus said the Kingdom is within you. In the Old Testament days he showed his presence in the Tabernacle. Now, you are the Tabernacle. Bob, this thing is real. God is real. You can tap into his river of life. Without him, we have no life. We have only something that is temporary. Jesus called those without him “the dead”. We are born into a state of condemnation. We are not condemned because of God, but because of his Holy, Holy, Holy nature. Our sin nature has no presence with him. But because he loves us so much, he provided the avenue for us to have communion with him. The Way, the Truth, the Life is Jesus. Call out to him and make him real in your life. It is time for a new way. A new beginning. Forget what you know. Forget what you have done. Forget what you are doing. Cry out to him to be your Lord and Savior. He is the only way you will come to have a fulfilling life. There is no other way. Once you make him the center, it is important to be assembled into a church body that believes fully in him. One that believes in the work of the Spirit. One that believes in the gifts of the Spirit. Things like prophecy and speaking in tongues. When you seek him, he will allow those gifts to come out of you. He enables us as we come into his purpose. He has great purpose for you, but you must get on your knees and make him real in your life. I used to think that speaking in tongues was weird. I did not have Jesus. Earlier this year, all of a sudden I started speaking in tongues one day. One of its purposes is to increase our faith. When the different gifts manifest themselves in us, we recognize that God is working in us. Speaking in tongues came about in me as I continued to seek and let go of the reservations in my mind. Jesus has done great change in me. He has me doing things that I never thought I would be doing. He will bring change in your life as well. When you come to know Jesus, you find most of the natural world to be mundane and superficial. I pray that you can just let go and let God. Forget everything, and ask him to take over. I believe God has you over at First Assembly for a reason. I knew God had purpose in me for a long time, but I continually resisted. I think you are much the same. I do not care what anyone has said of you or what you may think of yourself—I know that God has purpose for you and will lift you out of what you have known over your lifetime. You have an eternal existence no matter what you do. Jesus has given us avenue to be with him. I am here to tell you that the spirit world is real. God is Spirit, and where his spirit is there is liberty. When you take on his name, Jesus, you become a spirit being. It is real brother. I pray you come into his place of purpose for you this day. Do not wait. Now is the time. It is time for a new beginning. I do not care what state you are in. I do not care what things you are doing. Jesus wants sinners. And he wants us now. He wants you to experience his glory. When you come to know his glory, there is nothing in this world that can compare. No drug, no material possession, no experience can compare to his presence in you. Without him we are dead. Most people chase after wealth and pleasures all their life trying to fill a void. The void is Jesus. Give him opportunity this day. Thank him for going to that cross for you. Thank him for giving you access to him. Thank him for giving you eternal life with him. Thank him for giving you his spirit inside you to guide and comfort you. His spirit did not inhabit man until after the cross. He has given us a great gift to endure this world and to do his purpose. He uses his people. He wants you to be a Son of God. Those who are led by the Spirit are Sons of God. Acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. Repent for your sinful nature. Ask him to change you. Ask him to use you. SEEK HIM NOW!! Put the past where it belongs, the past. In him, you become a new creature. Let's see life coming out of you. Allow him access and he will use you mightily. Get beyond the stuff that has plagued you. Call out to him. He loves you so much. Ask him to reveal himself to you. SEEK! SEEK! SEEK! SEEK! He is looking for “whosoever will”. Are you Whosoever Will? He said Whosoever will, let him drink of the water of life freely. Come. Come and drink. Come on in, the water feels good. He told Peter while walking on the water, “Come.” He wants you to walk on the water with him. Come, he says. What are you waiting for? The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept.” He weeps because man lets his pride and knowledge get in the way of knowing him. Forget what others think and focus on him and you in him. We each have to work out our salvation. It is my desire to see life burgeoning out of you, not death. Death is not what man thinks. Death is separation from God. We are born into the first death, and experience resurrection when we allow Jesus into our lives. We are given a short amount of time to be reconciled without Lord. He has given us the opportunity. Seize the day! Without him, we experience the second death—eternal separation from God. I am so glad to have him. He has given me life! He is real Bob, but you have to take the step to make him real in your life. Pour out to him. Speak to him and make it real. Get in that church and get assembled. Forget what others think. Bury your pride. God exalts the humble and shuns the prideful. Resist the enemy. The enemy would tell you not to go up to the altar in a church service. Not to let go. The enemy would tell you to walk out of a church when the Spirit starts drawing on you. Let go and follow the Spirit. That tugging you feel sometimes is God pulling on you. God gives us free will. He draws on us, he gives us his truth. The enemy will cloud your mind with truth and lies. He will deceive. He does not want you to find out about the true power of Christ in you. He is a defeated foe. He went down with the cross, but he can still speak into your mind and deceive you. He does not want you to discover the gifts that were bestowed on us through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. I pray that you come to know the power of Jesus. It is real Bob. It is real. You have to seek him though. He will take you out of the mundane and superficial crap that you have put up with for so long. Surely you are tired of all that. I am, and I have not lived it. God has taken me out of so much, and I know he will do the same for you. So I pray, this time next year, you and I will be praising the Lord together freely. I pray for you this day that you let go, raise your hands in the air, and praise him. Ask him to take over. There is nothing you can do to save yourself. He has already done it all. You just accept his free gift. I pray for the day that I can speak openly with each of my natural family about what God is doing in their life. We serve a Go Do God. He wants you, and he will use you. I pray that he becomes real in your life and that you come to have a church family. But do not seek religion, seek him. It has become obvious to me what churches are allowing the Spirit of God to lead them. Not many of them are part of a religious organization. Scripturally, God plants churches, not man. He uses apostles, like my pastors to start them. He also plants the members into the church. I did not choose my church; he made it obvious to me shortly after being saved that I belonged there. I am now a teacher in our new private school, a Sunday school teacher, a guitarist on the praise team, and was recently put in the office of Deacon. I do not acknowledge those things to boast on myself, but to boast on Christ. None of those things were anything that I sought. But as I kept my focus on going Christ-ward, as I continued to seek Him, things just came about that I ended up in these positions. Next year it will be other things. Jesus continues to bring us into new things when we are open to his will. He will do great things in your life. Well, I must wrap this up. I can write all day about Jesus. What I am sharing with you is what I share with others. It is my desire for others to experience what I have come to experience. Since I have been saved, I want to see others to know the Life of God. The enemy clouds your vision. So many think that Jesus is just about finding a religion and it just seems boring to them. Once you let go, and let him, you find that Jesus is 24/7. He said he will be with you always, but if you never come to accept his love you do not experience him. He is only a topic of discussion for most. In most churches he is a topic of conversation. I have come to know him as the All Mighty that he is. And he has made a dwelling place inside me that only exists because of his sacrifice on the cross. I have come to know that he heals, that he speaks through his people, that he does provide, that he enables his people, that his word is true. We have to take advantage of the opportunity he provides, let go of what we know, and step out on faith. Hallelujah!!!!!! I will let you go. Once again, happy birthday. I will not say God bless you, because I know he has. You are alive today for his purpose. He has kept you. His blessings are there, you just have to make him real in your life. He is faithful when we seek him. He will reveal himself in ways you cannot comprehend. Give him the opportunity today to make a change. Be open to his leading and he will continually change you. Some things change overnight, other things take some time. If we keep our focus Christ-ward, he will work on us. When we stumble, he is faithful to forgive. When we accept him, he wipes the slate clean and gives us the avenue to keep that slate clean. We must repent and acknowledge our sinful condition to him, and over time he changes our desires and habits to conform us to his image. I love you brother and want you to experience Jesus in his fullness. I hope that something registered with you and that you speak to him right now. Have a blessed day and life through Jesus, Jonathan		about the author ... More Epistles What Price Will You Pay? Witness to an Accident Precious Spirit New Covenant Circumcision In the Zone! Comments or Questions And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)
	May Jesus Bless You!
	Comments or Questions