Something of heaven & earth merging in you

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Welcome to The Smart Edit newsletter! This Christmastime, we believe for a deep peace, personal enrichment, and rightsizing for ‘25!

This week … heaven and earth merging in you, thoughts of many revealed, power of the promise, and more.

✅ SIgn up for the Smart Edit here.

Trivia question: How many wise men were there in the Christmas narrative? 12, 3, or we don’t know? ⬇️ Answer below.

P.S. — Feeling off? The mineral you could be missing.

KINGDOM DYNAMIC
Something of heaven & earth merging in you

Here’s the true joy and potential of Christmas … when we understand that Christ has come, and now is “born” in us through the born again experience (John 3:1-8).

Then, through growing in the Lord, we can progressively conform to the nature of Christ.

As we develop, we can learn to release the extraordinary potential of the Kingdom of God into our world.

It goes beyond the sweet imagery of a baby in a manger—Christmas becomes a profound interface of heaven and earth in you. A taste of heaven interfaces with something of earth.

Heaven and earth in us

Through the indwelling Christ, something of heaven meets something of earth in us. Jesus becomes in us the point of contact between the 2 realms. Don’t underestimate it. It can be a transformative process that impacts the world around us.

Heaven’s thoughts, words, and movements flow through us.

Release this potential

Be born again
The starting point is spiritual rebirth. Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3, NLT). This new birth introduces you to Kingdom life—we have been requalified for the Kingdom through the born again experience.

Expand Christ’s presence within
After rebirth, deepen your relationship with Christ. Invite Him to dwell in your heart more expansively. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 3:16-17 to be strengthened by the Spirit so that Christ may truly live within us.

The sense of the NT Greek language here is to excel in hospitality, making Christ feel comfortable, hosting a greater measure of the presence of Christ within.

Until then
Heaven and earth will completely merge in the New Heavens and New Earth. Until then, the developing Christ-follower has an advanced deposit of this reality! You can taste the “good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6.5) right now, right wherever you are. We are life witnesses of the coming King and his Kingdom.

Holy Spirit, reveal to me more of what it means for heaven and earth to merge in me. Jesus, I want your presence to reside in me in a more expansive way. Be that point of contact between heaven and earth in me. Father, I desire that heaven’s thoughts, words, and movements flow through me. Be pleased with my influence for your Story. Thank you. Amen.

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Smart Edit rewind!

Thank you for engaging the newsletter! Since the launch in March 2024, it’s been a joy to grow and learn alongside you. I’m motivated to keep improving and creating more touchpoints for the Kingdom.

Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve accomplished this year. My prayer remains that the Lord works through this newsletter to fulfill His purposes.

➡️ 59.4 thousand words written
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➡️ Posts that grabbed the most attention: Write you legal prayer petitions | Live with conviction in crazy times | The will of God for you is life-giving

On the pod

Carpe Kairos: Making God-given opportunities count. Unlock the full potential of Kairos Time—special windows of opportunity given within the everyday hustle.

WORD WEALTH 🪙 
The thoughts of many revealed

“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against, (yes a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the THOUGHTS of many hearts may be revealed’” (Luke 2.34-35 NKJV). Dialogismos (dee-al-og-is-moss) means inward reasoning, deliberation, turning thoughts over in the mind. The piercing sword of Christ is primarily about what does the person think of Christ. What do they believe about him? Will they receive the King of the earth?

Related: see the new, growing collection of Smart Edit ‘Word Wealth’ segments.

Jesus offers us a 2nd childhood—“Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18.3 NKJV).

God is eternally young and vibrant. We are the ones who have grown old. (A truth from Dallas Willard’s writing and teaching.)

The power of the promise is built right into the word. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the coming birth of Jesus, he declared, "For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37 NKJV). Most translations render the phrase like this, but the original New Testament Greek offers a deeper understanding. It literally reads: "There is not one word (rhema) of God devoid of power to be fulfilled." Rhema refers to a spoken word or a specific message from God. When God speaks to you—whether through Scripture or an authentic personal word—the power to bring that promise to pass is embedded in the very word itself. God works via speaking. This is why, with God, nothing is impossible. So Father, speak into my life.

Which 4 of your friends will carry you to Jesus? (Charisma News). Value your inner circle. Brian—Holy Spirit, bring people into my life, and take people out of my life, according to the Father’s design for me.

US adults are getting worse at reading and math. Out of 31 industrialized countries that test adults, the U.S. ranked 14th in literacy and 24th in numeracy. Finland ranked No. 1 in both literacy and numeracy, while sharing first place with Japan in problem-solving. Source. Brian—Jesus is the master at human flourishing. Lord, we ask for discipline in learning throughout a lifetime and the renewing of the mind.

American is done with wokeness. Some have gotten the memo, some haven’t (The Stream)

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❗️ Hearing from you matters! 60 seconds. Confidential.

The Word of the Week is … tidings.
News or information, often associated with gladness or celebration. Commonly used in the phrase “glad tidings.” “The carolers brought glad tidings of joy to every doorstep they visited.” Middle English, tidinges, from Old Norse tíðindi, meaning "news or events."

Trivia answer: We don’t know how many Magi visited Jesus—the Bible doesn’t specify. Tradition assumes three because of the three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However, there were likely more than three Magi. The group caused a significant stir when they entered Jerusalem, alarming the city and fueling Herod’s paranoia about a potential rival to his throne. See Matthew 2.1-12.

Related post: Teach me how your Kingdom works