Complete Forgiveness in Christ

Complete Forgiveness in Christ!

I John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Are you confessing over and over to God? Weeping, groaning, running to altar calls to somehow become cleaner through your attempt to get God’s attention. Stop it!

I have been taught over the years that asking God to forgive me over and over was somehow something I should do to draw closer to God. I believed that we should confess over and over to some how relieve the guilt, the shame, or the sin. I ran forward to altar calls, weeping and wailing, begging and pleading in years past. I attended prayer meetings and even led prayer meetings where I encouraged people to come clean before they drew close to God.  Well think again. This verse above was not even written to Christians but to unbelievers. We have to rightly divide the Word of God and realize that Scripture is for our benefit, yet some of it simply does not apply to us.

In the verse above, John is talking to Gnostic, unbelievers, not believers. Yet this verse has been preached to us indicating that we should constantly confess our sins to cleanse us from unrighteousness. Well, here is something you should know. In Christ Jesus, you are not a sinner anymore. You are righteous in Christ in salvation. Yes you do sin and can sin because you are human, but you are not defined as a sinner but as righteous in Christ. Think about that for a while. I definitely had to mull this over during this past year. There is a big difference in the simple fact that in our humanness we miss the mark in our daily lives as opposed to defining yourself as a sinner.

In being human, we wholeheartedly receive the total forgiveness that Christ accomplished for us on the cross and walk in that freedom. Talking to God in the midst of our imperfections is to draw close to Him in intimacy, not to be forgiven.

In defining yourself as a ‘sinner” (which you are not if you are righteous in Christ) you walk with a whole different perspective in life. You define yourself by your faults, your guilt, your shame, and so much more. And you walk in this truth, never fully accepting your total forgiveness and acceptance in Christ. Why do this? Christ accomplished total forgiveness for us on the cross. Receive it and believe it and walk in it!

In the finished work of the cross, you are forgiven. You can’t be more forgiven or less forgiven. You are forgiven of it all – past, present and future. Once you enter into that pure, simply revelation of forgiveness a light goes on and you receive the fact that you are in Christ, righteous and clean. It is finished!

1 Corinthians 1:30

 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption —

You are righteous in Christ – in Christ! 

Eyes Wide Open In Grace

Eyes Wide Open

Read the Scriptures with the finished work of the cross in clear view. Filter what you read in the reality of the New Covenant. If you don’t do this, then you will, quite possibly, mix New Covenant reality with Old Covenant reality. This will cause your vision to be askew if you mix the two without the focus of the cross. It will take your eyes off of Christ and the reality of all that the New Covenant accomplished for your life of salvation in the freedom of extravagant grace.

The reality of extravagant grace in Christ will put to rest the inaccuracy of what the prophetic has taught us as truth. In reality, what has been fed to us is often an illusion obscuring the main focus of Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. His testimony forms the foundation of all that is prophesied, always. If He cannot be found glorified in the prophetic, how prophetic can it actually be?

This email will take an example of something I believed before being apprehended by grace in Christ and what I SEE now. Again, I will try to be as concise as possible.

 I was reading this verse the other day. I see it so differently now.

Luke 1:17

He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

For years I followed a prophetic movement that focused on a forerunner spirit, bright and shining lamps, continual intercession, fire on the altar, and on and on and on. I believed my prophetic call was that of a forerunner and focused on their teachings on John the Baptist, among other things. I wanted prophetic revelation and often, that pursuit took the focus off of the simplicity of Christ Jesus. It all seemed right and gave me a focus UNTIL I realized that this Scripture above is somewhat askew unless I look at it in its proper context. (I have many examples but please know that I am only focusing on one example right now to give you my experience.)

I am in union with Christ according to 1 Corinthians 6:17. Christ is in me, the hope of glory according to Colossians 1:27. My life is so different in the New Covenant that there is little if any comparison to John the Baptist. One can glean from his boldness and passion, of course. Other than that, how can one build a platform in the New Covenant of God rising up of prophets and forerunners after the order of John the Baptist? Not going to happen. Not in light of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

John was an Old Covenant, Old Testament prophet. He called people to repentance. He lived in the reality of the law apart from the indwelling Spirit of God. He cried aloud in the wilderness, calling forth a people and making them ready for the Lord.

People of God, how does that apply to us? I fell into the mess of this. What have you believed that is basically an illusion in the prophetic, taking your eyes off of Christ and the simplicity of His grace? Focus on glory, angels, gems, manifestations and so much more. Keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus is enough. Whether we see any manifestations or see no manifestations, He is enough.

Contrary to popular belief this Scripture, as I was taught in the prophetic is outside of the revelation of grace We are not called to bring people to repentance, convict them of sins, judge nations, call down fire, pray for revival 24/7 and again, so much more. We are called to walk in the reality of our union in Christ. That expounding revelation in us is the reality of our Christianity. It is the reality of our focus. The simplicity of Christ in us is enough to challenge and change wherever He sends us.

We are not ‘going before’ the Lord, making a people ready who are under law. Christ in us! We are in grace. Say that to yourself over and over. Meditate on that simple revelation and put to rest that which is contrary to that simple reality. We are in Christ, therefore where we go, He goes. We BE in Him wherever we are. We are not producing any results from something that is external but flowing in the reality of who we are and who is in us. Big difference. Yet if you have been in the prophetic long enough, you have been held captive by an illusion or distortion of its true purpose. Christians are ‘ready’ if they are saved. They don’t know it because they have been fed teaching that denies the power of grace. You are ready. Now! You need not wait for anything. Just move in Him, now.

A few more things coming your way right now. We are not, and never will be, going forth in the power of Elijah. How ridiculous to constantly prophecy this in any way. Christ in me! Christ in you! Why focus on an anointing from someone in the Old Testament when you have the real deal in you. Scripture says they saw forward to a day that we live in. We are in that day. Christ in you! Christ in me! Christ alone gets preeminence in our lives. We can glean from the Old Testament of the courage and passion of its people but we are not there anymore. We can extract some principles but that’s as far as it goes. When the New Covenant came, it drew a distinct line in the sand of what is relevant to us and what is not.

Grace has transformed by life and is transforming it day by day. There is no turning back in my life or this ministry. I have been apprehended by the freedom in Christ Jesus, life in Him. Why go back to anything that is only a shadow when we have the real deal.

Bless all of you and thanks for reading. I am so clear in my life about this. I am also learning and in the process of it all, I am growing in Christ. Please consider all that has been said above with new eyes in grace.

Love in Christ

Debra Westbrook

The Day of Passing Illusions!

The Day of Passing Illusions

Illusion: A misleading image presented to the vision

This word will be written in 2 parts. It speaks to all illusions fading in the reality of grace and truth in the person of Jesus Christ. It concerns the prophetic. It will minster to you as you partake of this word slowly and surely. I have confidence in saying this for this word ministered to me as God revealed this to me for my life. Follow along carefully. I will be clear and concise so you get a clear picture. This is my continuing journey of grace in the prophetic.

I am a visual person so I SEE by the Spirit in images, in vision, in song, in pictures and in words. In my time with the Lord the other day, He said two things to me.

“Today is a day of the passing of illusions in your life.”

 “When all illusion dies, faith begins.”

I looked up the word illusion and saw the definition as stated above in this insight. Then I began to tie this all together and I was in awe at what God was speaking to me.

When something obscures a vision by adding something to it, it is called an illusion. An illusion hinders us from seeing clearly what God may be speaking to us in a vision for our lives or ministries. It is an add-on possibly coming to us from many different places. It can come from our unfulfilled hopes wanting something to happen that has not happened. We lose hope and then we begin to build on an illusion rather than reality. It can be from the enemy trying to divert us from complete and absolute faith and trust in God. He creates an illusion of defeat, discouragement or even hopelessness in many ways that obscures our vision of Jesus Christ. My question to you at this point is simple: Has illusion entered your life and obscured the vision that God has given to you? Illusion is obscuring your reality. The reality is Christ Jesus. Seek out the reality of grace that is yours in Christ Jesus. Reject the illusion.

Any vision that God has or will give to you will be focused on glorifying Jesus Christ. Vision is prophetic along with dreams and all revelation and it serves this purpose.

Revelation 19:10

The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.

So illusion in many forms seeks to take our focus off of Christ Jesus and focus us on the peripheral and not the main thing. We have gotten caught up in illusion in the prophetic over the past years. How? Look around. The words, dreams, prophecies and so much more focused on the illusory nature of angels, demons, glory clouds, heaven and so much more. I would say that all of this may be good but it is not the main thing. The main focus is Christ Jesus. The illusion in the prophetic has done exactly what the definition says it does. It is a misleading vision presented to the vision. It may cause us to believe we need to be more, do more, seek more, or pray more. It is misrepresenting in an illusion the reality of your life IN Christ.

We did not start this journey intentionally getting off yet I feel the prophetic is so very off in its focus for many years in the peripheral illusion of the ‘stuff’. God is getting us back on track with His revelation of grace and truth that is apprehending people at the very core of their lives. God will release prophets and prophecy free from illusion in their lives. We will focus on reality, grace and truth in the person of Christ. What flows from this will flow forth in reality and not illusion or not in misrepresentation.

Rivers of Eden was given to me from God. Yet in the delay of it coming to pass, I turned to an illusion rather than wait in patience for the real deal. I tried everything and pursued the illusion of what this ministry should look like. This was often fueled from prophetic words that came from a foundation that was not focused on Christ. I followed the forerunner movement, the bright and shining lamp references, Elijah prophets, and so much more. The list goes on and on.

It was also fueled by the enemy’s lies, which said I would never see anything transpire in my life. The illusion came from many different areas. Its’ purpose: to obscure the vision of Christ Jesus. I will give you other examples in the next email. In my impatience and lack of trust in God, I chased the illusion BUT I NEVER REALLY CAUGHT IT IN ANY WAY.

All illusion dies in the revelation of grace in our lives. Grace brings us into the reality of Christ Jesus: His love, mercy and forgiveness for us by the finished work of the cross and His shed blood. Grace brings us into reality of the person of Christ. God begins to destroy, dismantle and uproot that which has contributed to confusion, blindness, and striving in our lives. We rest in the reality and illusion dies.  This WILL change the whole flow of the prophetic.

What is left when illusion dies? Faith. Faith is reality in the person of Christ and His Lordship over our lives. It is when all illusion is destroyed that we actually LOOK at our lives. When we look at reality we see that EVERYTHING is impossible when left to our devices or good ideas. The word is clear.

Luke 1:37

For with God, nothing is impossible.

When Illusion dies, faith begins – in God in the person of Christ. When we see that we are nothing apart from God, our eyes are opened to see that we are everything to Him. We are in union with Christ. We are in Christ. In that, there is no illusion.

Part Two Tomorrow…………

Apprehended By Grace: The Real Deal!

Apprehended By Grace: The Real Deal!

January 10, 2013 - Our Fifth email regarding our convictions and beliefs in 2013 for Rivers of Eden. These will be posted on our updated web site as the foundation of what we believe. I encourage you to read the previous four emails also.

I was wondering how to write this fifth email and then suddenly, after reading a post on Facebook, I knew what to write. Here is what I read.

“A great sign of the revelation of grace I have seen in preachers that really get a hold of Grace is the following. They APOLOGIZE to people for what they preached before they got a hold of the truth.” Bertie Brits

So, here goes. How did this grace journey begin in my life? Quite simple. About two years ago, I was bored, uneasy and losing passion from all the externals that had taken hold of my heart. The prophetic, the conferences, trying to keep up with the latest postings, the superstars and on and on an on. I looked at my heart and saw something missing. I had left my first love in search of ministry, prophetic standing and acknowledgment, and much more. I repented and began to seek the reality of Jesus Christ, according to Colossians 1:27.

Over the previous two years or so, I began to see that my eyes were being unveiled to SEE the reality of the beauty of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus. As I looked carefully at what I had preached, taught and prophesied for all these years I SAW such MIXTURE – Old Covenant and New Covenant. I began to see that there was only one path in front of me – all grace.

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17

I went to our current web site and got rid of any and all teachings, prophetic insights, and video and audio messages that spoke from mixture due to my ignorance of GRACE in the person of Christ Jesus. I unsubscribed from lists that contradicted the message of Grace. I subscribed to lists that impacted my life with a message of Grace. Many people unfriended me and removed themselves from Rivers of Eden’s list because of this message. This is reality. The message of grace shall confront and challenge anything that stands in the way of the glory in Jesus Christ. This is a given fact. My focus is not to dwell on what is wrong that is out there. I want to bring forth truth that will set you free to BE in Christ.

I want to ask forgiveness from all who are reading this if I have negatively impacted your life from this ignorance in words that may have conveyed an angry God, an unforgiving God or a God that unconditionally holds His love back fro His people. It is a new day! And there is an updated web site coming in the near future filled with grace.

My life is and will continue to be filled with grace. The person of Christ Jesus IS the reality of the message that we will carry forth to the nations in the coming year. 

The simplicity of this fifth message I am writing reflects the simplicity of the passion in my heart for Jesus Christ. Enjoy the upcoming year with us as we walk in this journey of grace. Be blessed in reading all that we shall write and impart into many of your lives.

Here we go!

In Christ

Debra Westbrook

Next post…Luke 1:17 – Contradictions abound in current “Forerunner, Elijah, John the Baptist” prophetic teachings. You are IN CHRIST- formed and defined by Him and Him alone. Renew your mind in the truth in the person of Jesus Christ.