In December I gave a teaching on the exchanged life that you and I have in the Lord.  It’s amazing to me how many have said I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about.  In Romans the 6th chapter it says “if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be one with Him in sharing His Resurrection, [by a new life lived for God.]”

When you and I accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the old you died and the new you came to life in Jesus Christ.

Paul says in Gal.2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His Crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Now stop and think about what Paul is saying, this is not a life Paul was able to attain to, no, this life was his from the time, that he realize who Jesus really was and committed his life to Jesus Christ.  In the same way as you should be living today trusting and putting your faith in Jesus Christ alone.

You now have that exchanged life in Christ Jesus if in fact you have accepted Him, Jesus, as your Lord and Savior.  Are you free enough to let that exchange take hold of you and lead you into the fullness of life?  Jesus said “…I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full till it overflows)” John 10:10.

Maybe we should ask ourselves the question “What’s wrong?  Why don’t I seem to have the abundant life that Jesus talks about?”  In John 8:31 “So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in my word [hold fast to my teachings and live in accordance with them] you are truly my disciples.  32 And you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”

Are you free?  No I mean really free to follow your new nature?  Have you taken time to study the Scripture, the Word, the Bible to find out what this freedom that Jesus is talking about is really all about?  Or do you still live in the same old bondage that you have always lived in?  Ask yourself one simple question and that will answer all the other questions you have in your life.

At any time during your everyday work are you spending any time at all thinking on who God really is in your life?  I mean do you have a walking, living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?

Is He a very intimate part of your life today?

If you can answer that question from your heart and have personal knowledge, and relationship with Him, I would say your life is full every day for you.  It doesn’t mean you don’t have questions or doubts or times of being upset, but you always know He is there to light the path, to lead you to the answers that are needed in our everyday life.

That’s what Paul meant when he said “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.”  We need not fear, we know that Colossians 2:10 is true every moment of every day.  10 “And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead –Father, Son and Holy Spirit– and reach full spiritual stature].  And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic

principality and power].” 

Yes, praise God we have exchanged the old for the new and life is now full. Amen!

 

Dearly Beloved in Christ:

Praise the Lord and peace to all of you.

Happy New Year to all the Family of God.  Yes, did you know that we are the family of God, in the Kingdom of God and on the earth today?

So often we forget that the Kingdom of God is on the earth right now and you and I are the King’s family, sons and daughters of the most high God, who rules and reigns now and forever.  Oh yes, I know that at times we wonder just what’s going on, but that only happens because we take our eyes off of our Father.  Jesus said in John 5:17, “My Father has worked [even] until now. [He has never ceased working; He is still working] and I too must be at [divine] work”.  Think about that sisters and brothers our father is none other than God, He who spoke and it was so, and He who speaks and it still is so.  Oh I tell you I am looking forward to this New Year, the joys of living in such a great a time as this.  More people are coming into the Kingdom of God everyday than ever before at any time in history.  Coming from every tribe and nation.  I’m telling you this is the year of outpouring of the Holy Spirit in revelation knowledge, in deliverance and in unity. I’m believing men and women will let go of their division and come together to pray and see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the body unite as one.  I know some of your dreams of last year may not have come to pass yet, but hold on they are on the way.  Oh please don’t let go and don’t turn back but keep pressing onward, the Master will lead you all the way if you will but let Him.

Recently we took two days and spent our time reflecting on the many blessings of 2006 and I’m here to tell you they are and were wonderful.  So much to be grateful for.  I realize there are trying times but He is always there to comfort, to strengthen, and to lead us into the Fathers rest if we but take one look at Him.

Last week one of our sisters in the Lord, gave us a testimony and I want to pass that on to you.

Before I do I would like to say don’t try this on your own, because God was just responding to her heart at the time.

She was questioning whether or not God really heard her prayer, so she decided to put it to the test.  She prayed, “God if you really hear my prayers, I want it to snow today.”

So she waited all day for snow with her drapes open, it was getting dark and no snow, disappointed she closed her drapes.  Sometime later she went out to shake a tablecloth and there was ice crystals all over the place, and she was excited, but then she thought, that’s not snow, it was only hail.  She went back into the house and after a while she decided to take a magnifying glass and check it out.  She looked and thought no, it’s only hail, but all at once laying on a table outside was this perfect snowflake and she was so happy she cried, and right about then it started snowing and the more she laughed the more it snowed.  She actually heard God laughing with her.  After a while she went to bed thanking and praising God for what He had done for her, knowing in the morning snow would cover the place.  Guess what?  No snow anywhere.  You see, God did it just for her and met her at her need.  Why did I feel like I need to put this in my News Letter?  Sometimes like our sister, we need to let our heart cry out to the Lord, like never before, maybe I could call it like the prayer of Jesus in Heb.5:7 “with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death”.  Jesus who is always our example shows us the way to the Father.  In the Gospels we find Jesus going off to spend time with the Father.  I like to think of it as filling up His tank of life.  Our Father is an all loving, all giving, all kind, all patient, all protecting, and all delivering Father who never sleeps or slumbers.  His eye is always going to and fro across the earth watching out for us, always right inside us, there to be a part of the family.  He knows no bounds, all there is about our Father is boundless, no beginning and no end. How can one        describe such a Father with mere words?

I believe that one must experience Him in our everyday life.  One must know that truly in Him, in His Son, in the Holy Spirit we have now come to the fullness of life.  Let us, you and I, live and experience that life in this year of 2007, drawing ever closer to Heaven right here today in the Kingdom of God.

Yes, I’m excited about this year, yes I’m looking forward to another 50 years of  experiencing the Kingdom right here present with the family of God on the earth, until that final time when Heaven and earth come together and we will always be together to enjoy all that the Father has for us.

As we look forward to another year, as always we ask for your prayers that we would be open to the direction the Master has for us.

We are praying for you and believe the Father of all the saints will pour out a blessing you cannot contain.  Our Family is doing well, our son Joshua is helping out as is our daughter Juli, who is at home as well going to school.  What a blessing.  You may all pray for me [Ed], as I’m not used to having so much help around, and they tell me I’m a bear to put up with.  Imagine that, nice lovable me. Ha-Ha!  Pray that we will receive the finances that are needed for our house in Napoleon, North Dakota.  Some have come in but not enough to pay it off. It may be that I made a mistake in that house and if so I’m always willing to sell it.  Also pray for us, I believe we need to replace our cars, which have way too many miles on them.

Last but not least I want to thank you for all the support in time and prayer, in finances, in words of encouragement, in every way possible, you the family of God have been there.  My prayer for all of you, ‘may the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bless you and keep you, and may God’s love, peace, and joy surround you.  May you rest in His rest all the days of your life.

We Love You All, Ed & Colleen Klein