+ Prayer, therefore, is a lifestyle of attunement with the Holy Spirit. It is walking in alignment with God’s design and remaining sensitive to the motions of God that descend from the heavenly realm into our daily experience. This is why Paul says “pray without ceasing” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Remaining in tune with God ensures that we do not “quench the Spirit”- the presence of God - in our mind, body, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

+ The pattern of this world is the collective mindset (or consciousness) of humanity without God. The mind without God is death and decay, but the mind with God is life, peace, and spiritual progress.

+ A certain progressive authority is granted to us from heaven as we face temptations and trials, devote our energies to God, and grow in the Holy Spirit. Spiritual strength comes from building spiritual muscle. We build spiritual muscle as we face temptations, sacrifice our lives to the will of God, and overcome with the help of Christ.

+ Our modern culture (and church) value drive, ambition, logic, and reason. We are underdeveloped in our silence, intuition, gentleness, and kindness. Women tend to be more naturally sensitive to the voice and promptings of the Holy Spirit. Men can develop these spiritual giftings by focusing on developing their feminine energy to balance the logical action of their masculine energy.

+Paul tells us in Romans that creation is “waiting in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19). Like humanity, creation has been subjected to the curse of Adam’s sin and, like us, creation is on the journey toward glorification and spiritual freedom. In other words, creation will once again experience the splendor of freedom from death and decay. Creation is waiting because this freedom must come about in humanity first

+ What may have the initial appearance of evil will eventually be used for good. This “good” is the healing and fullness of Jesus Christ in the human condition. When we feel emotionally or spiritually pierced, crushed, in pain, rejected, despised or held in low esteem, a deeper divine healing operation may be taking place. And this healing will ultimately change not only us, but others - “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

+ Spiritual freedom is freedom in mind, body, and spirit. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is about freedom to think and act freely. Under this anointing, we ultimately become accountable to One - God Himself. Freedom is about breaking away from the rules, regulations, paradigms, and mindsets of the religious system, so that our hearts become attuned fully to God’s perfect Law - the Law of Love. We are called to be free, for better or for worse. This is what the gospel is about.

+ “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” means that the point of all prophecy (past, present, and future) serves to reveal the heart of Jesus Christ in our experience.

+ Christ’s prayer is that “all of them may be one” - both believers and those who are ignorant of God who will hear the message. Jesus says He has given us “glory” - this is the presence of God, the Holy Spirit. This tangible, experiential glory, or the Holy Spirit, is the force that makes Christians one as Christ and the Father are one. Christ says that unity in Christianity will provoke the world to belief in God and love. It can’t get much clearer.

+ An important lesson we need to learn on the path of spirituality is that we can’t go at it alone. One quote I’ve always loved is “no man is an island” from English poet John Donne. This quote is part of a larger poem that expresses the fact that human beings need community in order to thrive and grow. This is true, but it is also equally true that not everyone is for us, and we have to carefully discern our “family” or “tribe” for our current spiritual season.

+ For fear to be driven out, we must live in and operate from an experience of God’s love. People want to feel the love of God, no matter where they are in life. We can help them by embodying the peace and safety of God when we are with them. If we learn to meet people where they are, and God will do the rest.

+ We start to feel stuck because we haven’t acted on what God has already asked us to do. We feel dead because God is still waiting for us to take that step and do what He has already asked us to do. This is why we are bored, depressed, and hopeless. We might be waiting for God to do something for us when God is actually looking to do something through us.

+ New wine means an entirely new way of being. The new man experiences a spiritual life with God that surpasses mere knowledge. As we grow into the image of Christ, a more perfect unity is achieved between heaven and earth, allowing us to truly walk in accordance with the will of God.

+ As we submit our body, mind, and spirit to the Spirit of God, we are renewed into the divine image. This process requires suffering, temptations, and ordeals.

+ God’s antidote to spiritual sleep is grace, which is the energizing presence of God Himself in the human mind, body, and spirit. Grace awakens us, clothes us in splendor, and frees us from bondage . It awakens us from the dust of the earth (sin) and raises us up with Christ so that we shine with the brilliance of wisdom and righteousness.

+ Moving deeper with angelic (Part II).

+ Guide to angelic presence (Part I).

+ Intellectual obedience to written rules and regulations does not save us. God is not interested in getting us to think in one particular way. Rather, we are anointed to experience God in powerful, individualized ways, in order to contribute to the larger whole. This is where inner Christianity, or a direct experience of God, becomes so important and crucial. We often hear, “it’s not religion it's relationship,” but, as we will soon see, this isn’t quite true - it’s actually both.

+ True Christianity is a response to God’s love and the empowering freedom that comes from this love. The goal of our faith is not to blindly follow imperfect men who can quote Bible verses but to walk with Christ, by the Spirit, into the fullness and perfection of the Father’s divine design.

+ The scriptures cannot be clear enough on this fact: Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh to create a new, “more true” religion than all the others. He came to illuminate and embody the purpose of all true religion: mankind’s reunification with God. This message, this Word, used the nation of Israel’s history and religious system as a platform, but God’s end goal was always salvation (reconciliation, restoration, renewal) for the entire world. The lamb of God was slain before time ever began.