Think In Christ By: Dr. Pete Norris

When a man becomes fully alive, that's the glory of the Lord on the earth. Being you, the inheritance of God. Where's the glory? Listen, we ought to be excited about who we are in Christ. Knowing that we're no longer having any struggles, that doesn't mean we're going to have hardships. What's on the inside of us is really real, man. It'll manifest itself out of you. It'll produce that love, it'll produce that peace, it'll produce that joy. With that wayward son, or that wayward daughter, or that wayward marriage, or that struggle in your man. God can fix all those things. Thank you for joining us at Power in the Word. What does it mean to live a Christian life? Is it just about going to church, and going through the motions? Well, today, Dr. Narsa, gives us truth from the Word of God, and shows us what it means to be in Christ, and how your life will reflect the very nature of God. You stay with us, and you'll be encouraged. This week, the Holy Spirit, who woke me up on Tuesday morning, and he said something real blunt to me, which is very unusual. But he said, "You've got to change the way you're thinking, Pete." He said, "You've got to think like me all the time, not just part of the time, but all the time." He said, "You've got to understand what Paul was talking about when the world grows strangely damn." He said, "You can't have attachments." He said, "If you want to go where I want to take you, you can't have attachments. You can't have things that can get your attention. You can't have attachments." But I want us to talk about a minute about think in Christ. Not think about Christ, but think in Christ all the time. Because I don't think we realize who we are, and how God's got things planned out for us. I don't think we know who we are. I know we say we know who we are, but the reality is you don't know who you are until a crisis comes, or a situation comes, or a circumstance comes that you're not comfortable with, or an obstacle comes that you're not comfortable with.

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1, "Paul in the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, who the saints who are in Ephesus." Now, who's the saints? You are. So we're talking the saints here, right? Or you're a saint? Yes. Now do you really see yourself a saint? If you saw yourself a saint, you'd walk around and call yourself a saint. But see, there's a fine line between knowing who we are, and believing who we are, and thinking who we are. But if I think in Christ all the time, I don't have another option to think a different way. Now, think about a minute. Paul said that by the will of God, I'm an apostle. He didn't say, "Well, I hope I am. Maybe I will be, or I hope I'm going to be an apostle." He said, "I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus." He said, "Not only am I talking to the saints in Ephesus." So that means that everything after verse 1, he's talking to believers. Now, that's only good for saints. If you're not a saint, that don't concern you after verse 1. Think about it. So, who do we say that we are? Now, most of us say, "Oh, I'm just a believer. I'm just saved by His grace. I'm a sinner, saved by grace." I'm not, okay? Jesus didn't walk around and say, "Well, I'll tell you what, I was a sinner, but now I'm found." If you notice, he never mentioned this past. He never mentioned how he grew up. He never mentioned his struggles. He never mentioned any of those things. He only talked about who he was now because until we understand and think in Christ, we're never going to walk into who we are. So we can't have, I know I'm messing you up, but we can't have attachments if we're going to walk in Revelation knowledge. You say, "Well, Pastor, how do you balance yourself?" I ain't figured that out. But go to 2 Peter 1, verse 2, "Grace and peace will be multiplied to you have in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." So, grace and peace is going to be multiple, in the knowledge I have of Him. How am I going to get knowledge of Him if I don't spend time with Him? Think about it a minute. So, grace and peace in my life is going to be multiplied. How many of you would love to have peace sometime when you lay down? How many of you would just love to have peace sometimes period? Isn't it amazing sometimes you got everything perfect around you? Money is good, family is good, children is good, but you ain't good. But the Bible said, "I'll give you peace beyond anything you can imagine, but I can't give you peace until you

understand that grace and peace is multiplied. So, there's a part here I got to play. What is that part, understanding who I am? Do you realize you're a saint? Do you realize that that peace and grace can be multiplied the more you find out about Jesus? It's verse three. Now, as grace and peace is multiplied to me through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, as his divine power have given unto us all things that pertain to life and God is, how am I gonna find out what's been given to me? I got to have knowledge of him through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. So, if I wanna walk in the knowledge of him, if I wanna know about him, I got to spend time with him. The only way I'm gonna spend time with him is spend time in this book. So, this book is what's gonna bring me peace. This book is what's gonna bring me grace. This peace is, this book is gonna bring me knowledge which I'm gonna discover all things been freely given to me. What does 1 Corinthians 2 and 11 say? He said, I've given you the Holy Spirit to do what? To get real to you, all things have been freely given to you. Then the Holy Spirit in John 1426 to teach you all things and bring all things you'll remember is that I've said unto you.

So, how am I gonna know about him if I don't spend time with him? I'm not. We gotta understand that if I wanna know his grace and I wanna know his peace, I got to spend time with him. What does that look like? I'm gonna give him, don't get upset today but I'm gonna give him the leftover part of my day. You ever lay down in bed and, you know, I haven't prayed today so I'm gonna pray right now. And then all of a sudden you fall to sleep no member of finishing the prayer. Or I'm gonna give him the first part of the morning so I'm gonna get up early and I'm gonna pray. You fall asleep while you pray it early in the morning. I want you to get this. If you will eliminate your options and settle some things in your life, you won't have options and choices anymore. There's no choices in Christ. You with me? In other words, if you make a decision in your life, you don't have to make it every day. If you make it the first time, you don't ever have to make it anymore. Jesus eliminated options. There's no options. Here's what I've done for you. Take it all. Take it all, but we don't know how to receive it.

Look at verse four. By which have given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. I mean, I mean, there's 33,000 promises in the book for you. 30, over 33,000. How many of them you know? That through these, you might be protectors of his divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. In other words, by which have been given to us exceedingly and great and precious promises. See, everything's been given to you. That through these, you'd be protectors of his divine nature. Guys, you understand he wants you to have all these things, and he gave you the Holy Spirit to teach you all these things, but how's he gonna do it if he don't spend time with him? See, we're too busy trying to make it happen. He just wants you to realize it's already happened, and he wants you to walk in it. He wants you to know him. He wants you to know his peace. He wants you to know his grace. What does John 14 once say? "Let not your heart be troubled." So it's your responsibility to not let your heart be troubled. Or what's you gonna, if you put your heart on the world, you're gonna be troubled. If you put your heart on him,

he's gonna increase you with grace and peace. Go me to Hosea chapter four. So we increase by knowledge, right? Right? My people restore it for a lack of... Oh, isn't that amazing? Because you have rejected knowledge, I have also rejected you from being a priest for me, because you have forgotten the law of your God. I will also forget your children. Think about it a minute. He said, my people are being destroyed 'cause they don't have any knowledge. What's the difference in a man that's wealthy and when it's not, knowledge? What's the difference in a man's sick and when it's not, knowledge? Think about it a minute. The way that you and I think, the way that we do, the way that we react, knowledge is power. No matter how pure we are in the world, people will pay money to hear people talk that have knowledge of something. You ever been paid to hear somebody talk? - Yeah. - Yeah. Knowledge is power. But the lack of knowledge, my people destroy it because they don't have any knowledge. They don't have any revelation.

They don't have any revelatory revelation. So people restore it because they don't have any knowledge. So what kind of knowledge do we have? We won't peace, we won't joy, we won't, and the Bible very plainly tells you how you have peace and how you gonna have grace in your life and how it's gonna be multiplied. Go me to Ephesians chapter one. We're gonna go to verse two. Now we read one, remember? So everything after two is for the saints, right? "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." Read verse three. "Blessed be the God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ." So what's he done here guys? He has passed tense, blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What did he really do? He brought heaven down to earth and now the heavenly blessings are all mine in yours. We ought to be a dominating force on the earth because low here low there for the kingdom of God's on the inside of us. So all the blessings of God are ours right now. Look at somebody say I'm blessed. Now watch this. The word blessed means he empowered you to prosper. Look at somebody say I'm prosperity waiting to happen. And I'm not just talking about money there. I'm talking about every area of your life. You're not blessed because you're so smart. You're blessed because you make wise decisions. Sometimes those decisions are made for you. God knows where there's enough stuff lost to make you wealthy. Listen, let's go to verse four right quick. "Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him. Now I want you to get this. Now I want you to stay right here with me. He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Before my mother and granddaddy and my granddaddy and my grandmother on my daddy's side five

generations back before they ever got together he had already chose me. In him before the foundation of the world. Before Adam was ever created he'd already chose me. Guys come on. Then he's gonna bring you to earth and let go of you and let you just wander around and wonder what. See, he's more sovereign. He's so wonderful. He's so compact. Listen, we need to understand that he's just not a get something that's going to get us to heaven. He's a personal, intimate relationship with him on a daily basis that we're so consumed with him that we can't think about anything else. What was it? He said in the song, "I'm lovesick for him." Do you hear his voice or are you spending time with him? It can be riding on a tractor. It can be riding down the road. It can be sitting in an office. Guys, he's real. He's more prevalent. Listen, if we're not careful, we get so consumed and lost in this world with all the things that's going on in the world, with our job trying to make a living. I understand you got to do all those things. I understand it. But what I want you to understand is that he's got you and he chose you and that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Now I pulled that word out and began to do a little word study on that. I run that word for like almost two hours. I wanted to find out what he was really saying to me. That's not saying that we should be holy and without blame before him and that I should love him. That's not what it's saying because here's the thing and I've told you this before. It's not about you loving him. It's about discovering how much he loves you. And once you discover how much he loves you, it ain't about you loving him. See love to over one of us in here today is a different thing. Love in here is a different thing. I was reading a book to my grandson this weekend and it was talking about love and to one love was caring about one another. To another love was hugging one another. To another one. And I see something spiritual in everything I do because I think that's God's intention. What is love to you? Is it having a good feeling about somebody? And the Holy Spirit spoke to me so plain and he said, Pete, it's not about any of that. It's not me trying to love you, but I want to just let God love you through me. He

said, that's what that's what he and love is Pete. It's letting God love you through me. See, her love is based on feelings. It's all five senses. It has nothing to do with that. Most things we call love is lust, but Jesus said, no, it's not about that. I demonstrated my love for you when you were yet a sinner Romans 5. So what is love? Love is a fruit that is produced out of his mercy and his grace. See, you don't have to love. It's a fruit from who you are. It's not based on what you're doing. It's a fruit. An apple tree never strains to produce an apple. Let me have you know he chose you before the foundation of the world. That's how special you are. 22. But the fruit of the spirit is, now look at the first fruit that the Holy Spirit produces. You don't have to produce it, the Holy Spirit produces it. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23, gentleness. He put self-control at the end. A sense there is no law. Now think about it a minute. The first thing he gave you was love. The first fruit that ought to be operating in your life ought to be love. I didn't say you're going to like everybody. Jesus didn't like everybody. But there's a couple of people he said he liked. He liked David. He loved John and liked John. Think about it a minute. He didn't like everybody. We don't understand what love really is. Love is something that produced in us. And that God loves you through me. See we're two five senses. We're too touchy, tasty, and smelly. And everything operates that way. But listen to me. When Adam was in the garden, he was spirit-led. He won't flesh-led. When he died in the garden, now he was flesh-led. He was led by his five senses. And that's been traveling through time all the way to right now. Now you and I, for maybe me, for example, 22 years I was led by my flesh. Or what I seen, what I touched, what I looked at, what I felt, what I could see, what I could hear. And then all of a sudden I get born again. And I got to stop the way that I've been thinking into what I've been feeling. And now I need to be living out of my inside instead of my external. So now what's happened is the church is struggling with living out of here. They're still living out of here. And they base everything. What does the Bible say? A fool always shares his feelings. A wise man learns how to hold it back. Proverbs 29 to 11. Think about it a minute. You and I need to start living out of here instead of living out of here. And what I mean by that is living out of our spirit and not living out of our sense realm.

Because our sense realm will dominate your life. Most Christians are led carnally. Paul called them carnal Christians because they're led by the five senses. The fruit of an apple tree is an apple. It's not going to give an orange. So the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, peace, generalness, meekness, temperance, self-control, faith. And all these things are fruit that He's working through you. He wants to work through you and produce all these things out of your life. But you base it on five senses to whether I love somebody or not. And it's love He puts in you. The way that I knew I was born again is I loved before. I never knew what love was. I don't think most people today know what love is. Read 1 Corinthians. 13 tells you love. Just don't keep a record of wrongs been done to it. Don't want it's own way. It just keeps on giving and giving and giving and giving and giving. It's a powerful thing. It's a powerful thing. But He put you in love with Him. In other words, He loves you before you ever got born again. He demonstrated His love for you when He was yet a sinner. Think about it. And then He chose you out of Himself for such a time as is. You are absolutely some kind of something. You're absolutely His first priority in the world. You're the most important thing in the world. He created everything. And then He made you and put you in it. So that you wouldn't have to do anything but just take care of what He created for you to have. He had you on His mind when He was creating everything. Think about that a minute. How special are you? You got to Matthew 5. You're the salt of the earth. What does salt do? If you raised on a farm, you had hams and stuff when you killed hogs. If you know anything about that. And you'd put salt on them to preserve them. And they would last and last and last. But if the salt loses its flavor, how much it isn't be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out, trampled under foot by men. Look at verse 14. You're the light of the world. A cedius set up on a hill cannot be hidden. How many of you know you're the light of the world? He said, you are the light of the world. What kind of light you beaming? You ought to be on high beams, man. You're the light of the world. A cedius set up on a hill cannot be hidden. Look at verse 15. Nor do you take a light, a lamp, and put it up. Verse 16, "Let your light so shine before me and that it may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." You're the light of the world. Let me ask you a question. What's people saying when they get around you?

What are they saying when they get around you? Are you beaming? Well, let me tell you, bronze, been a hard week this week. You know, I've been serving the Lord for many years. It's tough, brother. I just want a cabin in the back. I ain't going to hear that. If he ain't better than giving me a cabin, I get a cabin down here. Amen. He's made us some kind of something. He's blessed us and highly favored us. He's living inside of us. He's resurrected us out of death and made us alive. We're fully alive now. That's all the glory of the Lord is a man fully alive. When a man becomes fully alive, that's the glory of the Lord on the earth. Being you're the inheritance of God. We're the glory. Listen, we ought to be excited about who we are in Christ. Knowing that we're no longer having any struggles. That doesn't mean we're going to have hardships, but listen to me. What's on the inside of us is really real, man. It'll manifest itself out of you. It'll produce that love. It'll produce that peace. It'll produce that joy with that wayward son or that wayward daughter or that wayward marriage or that struggle in your man. God can fix all those things. Yes, he can. He can fix all those things because I'm telling you. He's already done it.

Stop turning for the wrong place for the right answers. He's your answer. He's your answer. I'm telling you, you're the light of the world. It's your light shining. People ought to get tired of being around you. Think about it. People ought not to be able to leave you sad. They ought not to be able to be more depressed when they leave you than they are when they got around you. You ought to light them up. Turn to someone and say, "I'm going to light you up." I'm looking at me right in the morning. This is the day the Lord had made. I know who I am and I'm going to rise above this situation and I'm not going to feel depressed. I'm not going to feel discouraged. I'm going to rise up above it because what's inside of me is a lot, man. I can tell myself how I'm going to be. I get up and I like me. I like my love being with me. Why? Because I like me now. I didn't like me for a long time. But now Jesus coming in and I like me. Look at somebody saying, "I like you too." Colossians chapter three verse one. If you then were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Verse two. Set your mind on things above and not on things of this earth. Verse three.

For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Let me ask you a question. What do you think about most of the time? Earthly things are heavenly things. I know you've got to work. I know you've got to make a living. I know you've got to do all those things. I know you've got to be a husband. I know all the stresses that. I know you've got to be a dad. Later you get to be a granddad and they take more time. I understand all that. But think about it. What you got your mind set on? Really? What you got your mind on set on? That's what a guy this week and he's 88. He called me when we go talk to him. I went and talked to him. He was a big baseball player. I went in this house and he's got all these trophies up where he played professional baseball. It was really a great conversation. We were talking about all those things sitting around there. He had a trophy from 1960 from the World Series where he won as a World Series in 1960. Pittsburgh Pirates. We were sitting there talking. He was talking about all those things. I was listening because most people talk about what was in the past because they ain't got nothing in the future. The reason people talk about their past so much they don't know how bright their future is.

So here we go. He's talking away. I was listening. I was enjoying it. Then all of a sudden he stops the conversation and he said, "You know what? All that was great. I'm living in the heavenly realm now." And I said, "I'm sorry." I said, "Now he's talking my language." He said, "Every day I'm talking to heaven." Good shape. He didn't have a whole lot of sickness in his life. He said, "But I've turned my eyes to the heavenly things now." He said, "I've had all the accolades and all the things that the world can give you, but they didn't make me happy." He said, "Now I've set my mind on heavenly things." He said, "So every day I think about heaven." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "And he shot me with this." He said, "Oh, I'm not going there, buddy. I'm already there." He said, "I've been listening to you." He said, "That's why I wanted to talk to you." So for two hours we talked about heavenly dimension. He said, "I'm already there, buddy. I've been living there a long time." He said, "When I was catching those baseballs in the '60s, I was there." you every day? Paul said I'm progressively determined to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering conformable even unto death. What makes you move? What drives your car? What stirs your heart? What makes you get up in the morning?

What do you think about when you get up in the middle of the night and go to the resurrection? The things that's on your mind is where your mind is going to stay most of the time. Your most dominant thoughts are going to control your life. Go meet in Matthew chapter 6 verse 19. "Do not lay up for your self-treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy you and where thieves break in and steal." Verse 20. "But lay up for your self-treasures in heaven where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Verse 21. "For where your treasure is." There your heart will be also. Now that doesn't mean you don't want you to plant on earth. That's not what that means. He just don't want earth to have you and he don't want you what you got to have you. Anything you have you can't get rid of. You ain't got it. It's got you. He gave his only begotten son for me and you. Now think about it a minute. That's how much he loves you. When you were out in sin, the father's heart was you and me. It was you and me. The only reason he created anything was because of me and you. And then he took me and you out of him sent us to earth as a spirit. We took on a body. We dwelt him and me in full of truth and grace and here we are. He said, "If I can give my life for you, the least you can do is give your life for the brethren." How valuable are people to you? You know, a few weeks ago I said, "Lord, you know, there's prison things getting a little tough." He said, "How valuable are you to you?" And then he turned and he said, "How valuable are they to me?" That's giving your life for the brethren. He spoke plainly to me. I'm asking you today, "How valuable are people to you?" They were valuable enough for Jesus to die for but they're not valuable to us at all. That person that's double-crossed you, that person that's done you wrong, Jesus died for. And has chosen them in him before the foundation of the world. Isn't that amazing? See, that's the mindset we've got to have in this heavenly mindset. They have to operate and live the life that God has planned for us to live because our contentment is not based on us. It's based on other people. Thank you so much for joining us today at Power and the Word. All of us here at Harvest Fellowship Church want you to know that God is not mad with you but He loves you so very much and He has a plan for your life. Please feel free to contact us here at Harvest Fellowship Church at our website, harvestfellowshipchurch.net. So until next week, please remember there's power in the Word.

[Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]