Equipped/Immersion

You are being equipped by what you are immersed in

No matter what you say you believe, nothing outweighs what you are actively giving yourself to daily. It’s more than what you say you want most, but it’s what you are actively giving yourself to consistently. Each of us are being discipled and equipped for what we face in the future by what we open ourselves to today.

This is the reason Paul warned, “be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

This was said to remind us that the culture is a leaven. What culture you give yourself to

daily, is the one that will show up in your decisions, opinions and your values.

Jesus said, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisee”, knowing that giving yourself to a judgmental religious spirit will harden your heart and leave you feeling at arms length from the care of the Father.

But Jesus also said, “the kingdom of heaven is like leaven.”

Both of these statements teach us exactly how immersion works. Whatever you give yourself to fully will eventually create your value system and will frame every decision you make. Immersion is an abiding union. Your immersion will ultimately integrate your desires to one another. You will respond with what you are immersed in. You will believe by what your thoughts are immersed in. You will produce the fruit of what your roots are immersed in. Your decisions are directly affected by your obsessions.

Jesus said, “Abide in me and I in you.”

As the first church gathered in the upper room waiting for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, they didn’t know what to expect or when to expect it, but they gave themselves to waiting “until”. There is no more powerful illustration of devotion than the word “wait”. To wait is to actively braid heart and mind as we yield ourselves to receive where we anticipate. As they waited, one could conclude that they shared memories, shared in suffering, and held on the promise of what was to come. What happened next was more than imagination could conceive. Wind and fire possessing each one. Everything shaken, everything changing because the veil was torn and the spirit that was on is now the Spirit that’s within. The same Spirit that was in Jesus is now in them! This full immersion has now equipped them to embody the beauty of the gospel in a way that will send shock waves through the ages!

What was experienced then was not exclusive to them, but a first witness of divine love living in humanity once again. No separation, no distance, just pure light living in man. As we learn to yield to love we give place to light that radiates through our lives. The deepening revelation of our union depends on the unveiling of the kingdom in our thinking. The renewed mind transforms the old to new and the impossible to accessible.