Beyond The Natural

Christianity not only claims a supernatural origin, but also is maintained by the same supernatural power that brought it into being. Shortly before Jesus was taken to heaven, He gave the apostles final instructions, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8) The word power refers to miracle working power or the ability of God working through the church, all believers. So, concerning the Bible, to those who love it, it is a miracle book; a spring of life and source of power. (John 6:63; Hebrews 1:3) It is a living message, a revelation of God Himself to humanity. It may appear to be dry, dead and even foolish to those who are not born again, (1 Corinthians 2:14), but it is a supernatural book.

The Holy Spirit through the writer of Hebrews describes God's Word in this way, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) In other words, to the believer, the Bible is the living Son of God in print. Therefore, the Bible is a miracle. The background of the Bible as revealed in the Old Testament is nothing short of a series of miracles. For instance, Abraham is our spiritual father. He was a miracle character. His descendants, the Israelite's, were a miracle people. They were protected and sustained by miracles. They saw the Red Sea opened and approximately two million people escaped from the Egyptian warriors as Israel crossed on dry ground. (Exodus 14)

Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years without any means of support, and yet they were completely provided for by God. (Exodus 16) Their clothes and sandals never wore out. (Deuteronomy 29:5) A cloud led them during the day, and a column of fire led them at night. (Exodus 13:27) They saw the Jordan River obey the voice of Joshua as a servant obeys the voice of his master. (Joshua 3:14-17) They saw the walls of the great city Jericho fall flat at the word of that same man. (Joshua 6) Just as young David said when he stood before the menacing Goliath, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied" (1 Samuel 17:45), we see the miracle-working living God in action, while the Philistine gods of Goliath were dead.

Fast forward, we see Jesus was supernaturally conceived. His public ministry was a series of miracles, culminating in His resurrection from the dead, another miracle. Likewise, the birth of the church was also a miracle, and miracles played a vital role in the early church. (The Acts of the Apostles) Miracles were so interwoven into the early church, it is impossible to even think that the two can be separated. Let's be honest, if you were to take the miracles out of Christianity, all you have left is religion, because in reality, Christianity is a living thing, it is a miracle.  Think about it, God Himself is dwelling in the body of every born again believer. The presence of the Holy Spirit, to save, heal, deliver, that is, transform lives, during our worship services is a miracle. Take away Christianity's spiritual power and you have nothing left but a system of precepts, doctrines and ethics with demands that cannot be met. But let the miracle elements come in, and God becomes a real presence in our midst and Christianity becomes the living force among the nations of the earth as it truly is.

If the days of miracles are in the past, then the days of Jesus Christ's life in the church are also in the past. If miracles are no more, then the things that make Christianity a living religion are gone. If the days of miracles have passed, God's promises exist only to mock us. Likewise, the statements that Jesus made about His name and the power vested in it and given to the church also mock us. If the days of miracles are in the past, then the mighty Name of Jesus is nothing more the a dry cloud to a desert land that is crying out for water. The Bible tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) The truth is, Jesus' name has not lost its power and Christianity is the work of a miracle-working God, through which He is still performing miracles.

So, do not let anyone deceive you by telling you that the days of miracles have passed. If the days of miracles have passed, then God is no longer God, Christ is no longer Christ, there is no need for the Holy Spirit and the Bible is no longer the Word of God. However, the great news is, as long as they are, and they are, miracles will be. "For I am the Lord, I do not change." (Malachi 3:6) PTL...

Our Wonderful Substitute, Jesus

Though resurrection Sunday was celebrated yesterday, let us never forget the great price that our wonderful Savior paid to save humanity from the grips of sin and the devil. Let's begin by turning to the four gospels, it is there we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane pouring Himself out in prayer as He was about to face the most horrific events that He would ever face. We see Him arrested, taken to the High Priest Caiaphas; insulted and struck; He is taken before Pilate, then Herod; He was mocked; see Him scourged, His back laid open, blood flowing, His flesh torn as the cruel blows fall mercilessly upon His bared back by the awful Roman lictor. His own clothes replaced with the mock garment of kingly authority; a mock crown of thorns pressed deep upon His brow; more mocking comes and His own clothes are placed roughly about Him, and He is started out for Golgotha, staggering beneath the "patibulum" (the horizontal crossbeam of the cross). We see Him fal1under its weight, and Simon of Cyrene is compelled to bear it.

Weakened by the loss of blood from the merciless beating, He staggers blindly up the mountain side, surrounded by soldiers who encircle Him. He is laid roughly down upon the "stipes" (Latin; the vertical beam of a cross used for crucifixion), the Roman soldiers stripe Him naked and with cruel hatred drive the spikes into His hands and feet, and the Cross is dropped into a hole to support it. Jesus the Nazarene is crucified! We watch the mob as it surges backward and forward about the cross. We hear the chief priest's hurling their bitter taunts in the face of the suffering Son of God. We hear the mob in their bitter denunciation, led on by their priesthood. Such a horrific sight. It was not a sight for angels, or for men, but for demons only, and yet the worse was yet to come for the suffering Substitute.

Jesus, who is God the Word who became flesh (John 1:1, 14) is now man's sin Substitute. He has taken Man's place. The whole human race is now represented in Him, as He hangs there under judgment on the accursed tree. (Galatians 3:13) God takes your sin and mine, yes, the sin of the whole world and places it upon Jesus until the sin of the world has entered into His very being. Jesus, nailed to the cross, suspended between heaven and earth, has become the outcast of heaven and earth. From the cross the Son of God cries out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me." (Matthew 27:46) Finally, the time had come when "Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last." (Mark 15:37) As mentioned before, when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane pouring Himself out in prayer as He was about to face the most horrific event that he would ever face, it was finally here.

Not only was it the Father's plan for His sinless Son to die on the cross and His blood be shed for all humanity, but he was to go to Sheol (Psalm 16:10) or Hades (Acts 2:31) itself to pay the full penalty of man's sin. God in His justice could not have acquitted humanity so that he could stand in His presence through eternity, until every charge against him had been wiped off the books. (Isaiah 43:25) Only then could man stand before God as clean and as free as though he had never sinned. God could not pardon man until an adequate sacrifice had been made. Jesus tells us, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." The story unfolds.

Peter tells us, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18) Notice that He was made alive in spirit. He would not have been made alive in spirit had not He died in spirit. As it was with Adam, so it was with Jesus. Jesus died in spirit on the cross, before He died in the flesh. Peter declares that Jesus not only died in the flesh, physically, but that He also died in spirit, spiritually, and therefore His resurrection was a double resurrection. He was made alive, first in spirit, and then in the flesh, His spirit being raised from the dead and re-united with His body. The Apostle Paul tells us, "He put off from Himself the principalities and the powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them." (Colossians 2:15) Here is a picture of Christ in Sheol, Hades, with the whole host of demons attempting to keep Him there, but when the penalty of our sin had been paid in full, Satan had no power to hold Him.

Paul tells us, "Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." (Romans 4:25) The very moment the sin problem was settled, the moment Jesus
Christ was legally justified, was made alive in spirit once more, He cast off the hosts of demons, and became the Master of Sheol, Hades, by taking from Satan the keys of death and hell. (Revelation 1:8) Jesus died as our sacrificial Lamb, but He rose as Lord, as Master of death, of hell and of the grave. The matchless, mighty Son of God had gone into the strong mans house, bound him and took his spoils. (Matthew 12:29) Jesus has taken from Satan all his authority, his dominion and now offers it to fallen man through His matchless name and grace. What does this mean to humanity?

It means that every person who turns from their sin, confesses with the mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and takes Him as their Savior, stands legally acquitted in the presence of God, free and clear of all charges against them. It means that God is vindicated, He has taken advantage of no one. He can now save believers and judge the sinners for rejecting His way to freedom. It means that Satan is defeated, and man can be free from sin, sickness, disease, poverty, death and all the works of the devil. (Romans 8:37) It means that man is legally justified, declared righteous (Romans 5:1) and is an heir of God and joint heir with Christ. (Romans 8:17). It means that man, through faith in Christ receive the promise of eternal life. (1 John 2:25) It means that man can become a child of God and have all the privileges as sons and daughters. (John 1:12-13) It means that heaven is legally the home of God's children. (John 14:1-4)

So, let us look beyond "Resurrection Sunday" and live in the triumphant, abundant life that Jesus has given to us. "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32) Remember, we are no longer imprisoned or enslaved by the god of this world. So, let us never forget the cross, that is, what Jesus has done for us!!! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always....

Ambassadors Of Christ

One of the great promises of Jesus in which He spoke prophetically (for the church had not yet come into being) is recorded in John's Gospel, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12) The fact is, we are doing greater works than Jesus did as the Son of Man on earth. He was only one, we are many and by virtue of being born again and filled with the Holy Spirit we can reach more people. We bring to the lost world the Word of Life where they are recreated (2 Corinthians 5:17), where they are delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom is redemption through His blood, and the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14) 

We are God's ambassadors presenting to all people everywhere, eternal life, as well as showing them through God's Word that they are masters over demons and over circumstances. Through God's Word, we lead people into fellowship and communion with the Father and Son through the New Birth. Though the ministry of Jesus was somewhat limited, our ministry is almost an unlimited ministry. For instances, He raised men from the dead to die again. We show them that they were raised together with Christ (Ephesians 2:6); that in Him they never die (John 11:25-26). He fed the hungry with loaves of bread and fishes. (Matthew 14:13-21) We feed the spiritually hungry with His own wonderful Words. (John 6:63) In other words we help them to pass out of death unto life. We teach them through God's Word how God has made them His Righteousness. Now they can stand in His presence as though sin had never been.

For centuries, believers have been burdened with doctrines and precepts which have actually become laws that have given many the feeling of unworthiness. The truth is, from the moment one is born again, they should be told and taught, who and what they are in Christ; what their rights and privileges are in Christ and their legal right to the use of Jesus' name. They should be taught what it means to receive the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4) and the Life of God (John 10:10) in their recreated spirit, that has actually made them a new creation. Not only that, but the new created believer has become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), so they who were once sinners can now stand in the Father's presence without the sense of fear, condemnation or inferiority.

The fact is, every believer has the legal right to stand as a child of God (John 1:12) in the fullness of fellowship with the Father and the Son. (1 John 1:3) When believers truly come to know these things, there will be no struggle for faith, because knowing who and what we are in Christ settles the faith issue. The feeling of guilt, condemnation, unworthiness and or inferiority leave and the fullness of joy takes over. We learn how to take our place in the family of God, how to enjoy our privileges, how to live in the promises of God and best of all, we become intimately acquainted with our Father early in our new life and the great facts of Christ's substitution, the new creation and redemption becomes spiritual realities to us rather than pipe dreams that are unattainable in this life. PTL

You see, if believers do not know who and what they are in Christ and how the Father truly sees them, then God's Word is confusing. However, when believers know who and what they are in Christ, know what their rights and privileges are, then there will be no confusion to their spirit. They will no longer live with fear, doubt or unbelief, but live even as Abraham, "Who did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Romans 4:20-21) So, let us let the Word of God wash over us, transform us, so that Christ can be formed in us, for we are the agents that God has anointed us to be for His glory. 

Life Through Christ

Food for thought. What kind of life is there when you are enjoying success one moment and then defeat the next? Actually, it is the only type of life that the world can provide, because it is based on a system that is completely corrupted by Satan. Jesus tells us, "The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." (John 10:10) The apostle John tells us, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." (1 John 5:19) Living life steeped in the world is why so many people are on a roller-coaster ride which never seems to end. They have bought into the world system so much and even though they sometimes feel hopeless and even hurt, they still believe that this is life. But is it? 

When Jesus walked on the earth as the Son of Man, He introduced a new type of life that no one had ever been exposed to. He put it this way, "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) What was this life? The Greek word here for life is, Zoe. It means eternal life, God's life, life as God has it. This new kind of life is the very nature of God. It has the ability to produce certain changes that can literally be seen in ones life. When one confesses the Lord Jesus Christ and takes Him as Savior, God's life immediately enters. Almost at once, you can see it in a person's habits. You can hear it in their speech. It changes ones conduct. It corrects bad habits and forms new ones and even causes ones countenance to radically change.  

It is essential to the believers life to come to understand the depths of God's life in us. The Apostle Paul tells us, "For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." (Romans 5:17 AMP) This means that every one of us who has been born again has received the life of God and has come into a kingly state. We are accepted by God to reign as kings in the realm of life. We are no longer slaves in the realm of spiritual death, but we have passed out of death, that is, Satan's realm, into the realm of life. Paul states it this way, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." (Colossians 1:13) Man was never made to be a slave. He was made in the image and likeness of God to reign as a king. 

Man was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God's presence without guilt, condemnation or inferiority. Psalm 8:4-6 points to this very specifically, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands..." The phrase, "For you have made him a little lower than the angels" is key to understanding how God created man. In the Hebrew word angels is Elohim, which is also the name given to God as Creator and Judge. So, a literal translation of this phrase is, "For you have made him a little lower than God." That means God has made us as much like Himself as he possibly could. He made us the same class of being that He Himself is. He made man with an intellect of such caliber that he could name every animal, vegetable, and fruit, and give them names that would describe their characteristics. 

Let's look at this in creation. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7)  The Hebrew word translated "breath" is the same word translated "spirit" all through the Old Testament. In other words, God took something of Himself, which was spirit, the life of God, and put it into man. This is why Romans 5:17 is a verse of scripture that we need to get into our heart. God made man to rule as a king over the works of His hands. This should bring all believers to a revelation ending a life of defeat and weakness, an end the we are just lowly sinners saved by grace, or beggars before a Holy God, message. 

Although man lost his place, his dominion and authority over all the works of God's hand by high treason, it does not mean that he is without it forever, on the contrary. The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, God put on flesh to restore mans position. The Apostle John tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1, 14) Now on the grounds of what the Lord Jesus Christ did (that is, His substitutionary sacrifice), God is able to redeem us from our sins and through faith in Jesus Christ is able to impart to us His very nature, eternal life, His very own life.  (1 John 2:25) God has adopted everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord and has placed us into His own family, so that we can call Him Father. (Romans 8:15-16) 

The Apostle Paul tells us, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." (Ephesians 3:14-15)  In the new birth, we are brought into union with Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, far to many believers only think that new birth is simply the forgiveness of sin. They don't know about the intimate union that we have in Christ. Jesus tells us of this very thing, "I am the vine, you are the branches." (John 15:5) The union that the believer has with Christ through the new birth has bestowed upon us the lost dominion and authority man had in the Garden of Eden. 

Look what Paul tells us concerning this very thing, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) The Apostle John says it this way, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life, the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us, that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:1-4) 

I want to challenge you to read scriptures like these and speak them aloud. Right now say, "I am the temple of the living God. I've got God the Holy Spirit living in me. I have the God kind of life in me. I have fellowship with the Father and the Son." Some of these great Bible truths released from the lips of faith will release us, and enable us to dominate and reign in life as kings through Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be with you...

We Have A Glorious Inheritance

During the ministry of Jesus on earth as the Son of Man, His dealings with humanity at that time was  exclusively with the Jews. Though they had a covenant with God, yet He was surrounded by people who were not born again. They had not received eternal life. On one particular encounter that Jesus had with the Jews, He revealed this stark reality to them, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do..." (John 8:44) Though they contended that they were Abraham's children and even the children of God. However, due to the fall of Adam, they were all spiritually dead, and had the satanic nature within like every other person on earth. (Romans 3:23) How hard it must have been for Jesus, whose heart was filled with love, to tell them this unhappy truth. He was able to speak this truth to them, because He was not conformed to the world, His surroundings or to the opinions of man. He always spoke the things that He heard from His Father.(John 12:49)

It is not what people do or have done that separates them from God, it is what they are by nature that separates them from God. By reason of Adam's rebellion and he being the federal representative of all humanity, all like him, were and or are spiritually dead. As Jesus revealed, they all had the nature of the devil. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John tells us, "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest." (1 John 3:10) There are only to categories, one of two families, in which every person on earth is connected to. Unless one is born again through faith in Jesus Christ and becomes a child of God (John 1:12-13), they are a spiritually dead child of the devil. 

Due to this, as Jesus walked the earth, He was limited very largely to the physical realm in His contact with people. He healed them of disease, He raised some from the dead, He fed the multitudes, but He could not redeem them or make even one of them a new creation and give them eternal life. Although the Jews had a priesthood and the high priest made a yearly atonement for their sins, Jesus had not yet satisfied justice by paying the penalty of sin through His own sinless life and becoming the ultimate sacrifice for all. (Hebrews 9:11-12) We get a beautiful picture of this revealed in Hebrews.

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins." (Hebrews 10:1-4) "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." (Hebrews 10:11-14) 

We get a perfect picture here of the people (Jews) under the Old Covenant whose sin was simply covered, not taken away. Then Jesus comes and puts away all the sin that had been covered under the Old Covenant so that the Jews who put their faith in the atoning blood of animals could be saved and given eternal life by His sacrifice. No more would sin be simply covered, but taken away, removed, blotted out. (Isaiah 43:25) Before this, there was no High Priest at the right hand of the Father with blood to show that the sin problem was dealt with. Before this, no human being could approach God. Before this, there was no Mediator at the right hand of the Father making intercession. However, Jesus has made these things available to all mankind. To do this, He became sin with our sin. He went to hell for three days and nights. (Psalm 16:10; Matthew 12:40; Acts 2:27) In hell He satisfied the claims of justice and conquered Satan. (Luke 11:21-22; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 1:18) He was raised from the dead by God's mighty power. (Ephesians 1:19-21) He then carried His blood into heaven (Hebrews 9:12) where it was accepted and then sat down at the Father's right hand making man's redemption a completed thing. (Hebrews 10:11-14)  

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God." (2 Corinthians 1:20 AMP) "He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32 AMP) "Blessed and worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3 AMP) The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter tells us, "For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises [of inexpressible value], so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire, and become sharers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:3-4 AMP)

Finally, the Holy Spirit through the writer of Hebrews tells us, "But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises." (Hebrews 8:6) What a wonderful thing. For all those who confess Jesus as Lord and take Him as Savior, redemption has been made eternal and available. Hallelujah! We are now new creations created in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17) and through faith in Jesus Christ, heaven is open and the promises of God are available to all who, "...believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you." (Mark 11:24)  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you...

According To Your Will

I believe one of the biggest problems that bothers most of God's people, is how to know the will of the Father. As difficult as knowing God's will can be to some, simply put, His will is found in His Word. Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:38) Jesus knew what the Father's will was. We see this when He says, "...for I always do those things that please Him (the Father)." (John 8:29) The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him (God)" (2 Corinthians 5:9) So, if Jesus could please the Father and do His will, if Paul could please the Father, know His will and do it, then it is possible for believers to also know God's will.

What are the grounds for this assurance? In the first place we have His mind and His will in the Word. If we search the Word diligently, meditate on it, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in it, we will attain spiritual growth and come to the place to where His will, will be an unconscious consciousness in us. In other words, it will become normal for the believer to know and live in God's will in the same manner as Jesus and the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul tells us, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another ..." (Colossians 3:16) He also tells us, "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32) and, "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." (Colossians 1:9) 

The word "knowledge" in Colossians 1:9, comes from the Greek word n"epignosis" which means correct, full, complete, concise knowledge. We are to be filled with the knowledge of God in this manner and then He gives us the wisdom to use this perfect knowledge. For some, you may be thinking that it does not seem credible that we could have perfect knowledge of God's will. Well, why shouldn't we? Think about it. We have a perfect Revelation of His will (John 14:1-11) in a perfect book, the Bible. The Holy Spirit is a perfect teacher. (John 14:26) We are perfect new creations, created in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:17) We have perfect righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21) We have a perfect relationship with the Father and the Son. (1 John 1:4) We are partakers of the very fullness of Christ. (John 1:16) We have a perfect and complete redemption. (Colossians 2:10) We are born again by the incorruptible Word of God. (1 Peter 1:23) So, it is only logical, it is only reasonable, to believe that God's children should have the ability to have a correct, full, complete, concise knowledge of God, His will. 

Unfortunately, many believers have been preached at for so many years as to being poor miserable creatures, who are unworthy and unfit to please God. However, freedom has come to you today that you can enjoy for the rest of your life on earth. The Word is a perfect message and you may have perfect knowledge of God's wi1l. Our great, loving, wonderful, heavenly Father has given us His ability to know His will to know what our share is in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:12) We have the ability. It is God-given ability. We have the Holy Spirit whom Jesus said would guide us into all truth. He is our teacher, our guide, our indwelling instructor. 

Finally, in searching the scriptures, I cannot see where there is any ground for us to live in weakness, failure and or ignorance of the Father's will. I cannot see where there is any ground for us to live outside of our true place and standing in Christ or of our rights and privileges that are freely ours through Jesus Christ. We are the sons and daughters of God as well as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:14-17) Know this day and forever, God has and is revealing His perfect will to you and as Jesus said, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) can be accomplished through you...PTL

Like Our Father

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children." (Ephesians 5:1) This literally means that believers are to act like God Himself in the same manner that Jesus, the Son of God did as we will see shortly. Now for many, this may seem difficult to believe or it might even seem absurd, but there lies the problem, that is, disagreeing with God's Word. Jesus tells a parable that reveals why many people have such a difficult time believing God's Word. We have entitled this parable, "The Parable of the Soils." In it, He reveals some important information by asking two questions, "...Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" (Mark 4:13) So, why is this parable so important for believers to understand?

Jesus starts the parable by saying, “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow." (Mark 4:3) To get a better understanding of this parable, we must first "listen" with our spiritual ears. Simply listening with our natural ears may not open our spirits to what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us. In Jesus' explanation of this Parable, He tells us, "The sower sows the word" that is, the Word of God. (Mark 4:14) Simply put, to sow is to scatter (seed) over the ground for growing. In this Parable the ground in which God's Word is to be sown, is the human heart, that is, man's spirit. There is an important reason why sowing God's Word is so vitally important, "that you (all believers) may be filled with the knowledge (complete, concise, full knowledge) of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." (Colossians 1:9) 

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle James tells us,  "...receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul." (James 1:21) So we can see, the more a believer sows God's Word, that is, speak or confess it with the mouth, the more they become imitators of God, as we saw in the above verses. The Apostles Paul also says, "...being transformed into the same image (of the Lord) from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18) Unfortunately, for many believers, they are quick to gloss over this highly important point in this particular Parable. Let's look at why this is so.

In Genesis chapter one we see the account of creation. Nine times we see, "God said...and it was so." (Genesis 1:3, 7, 9, 11, 14, 20-21, 24, 26-31) In the earth ministry of Jesus as the Son of man, Jesus tells us, "...Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner." (John 5:19) "...I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things." (John 8:28) "...I always do those things that please Him (the Father)." (John 8:29) "I speak what I have seen with My Father..." (John 8:38) "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak." (John 12:49-50) Without doubt, Jesus was imitating God, His Father in His words and actions. Do you see the pattern here? "God said...and it was so." Jesus only spoke the words of the Father and I might add, it too, was so.

It is no different for the believer. Believers are to be imitators of our Heavenly Father just like Jesus was during His ministry on earth. This is one of the most important areas for the believers life, sow (speak) God's Word continuously. Moses went to Pharaoh a number of times and spoke God's Word to Him in saying, "The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you saying, Let My people go..." (Exodus 7:16, 8:1, 20, 9:1, 13, ) If we fully read this account, we will see that Moses continually spoke God's Word. God's Word eventually prevailed over the circumstances and the children of Israel were released from their bondage. (Exodus 12:31) This also includes speaking God's Word concerning the ten plagues. (Exodus chapters 7 - 11) But it did not stop there. Not only were they released from bondage, they also left Egypt with their possessions, all of the Egyptians wealth, (Exodus 12:31-36) and the entire nation of Israel had perfect health. (Psalm 105:37)

God tells Joshua, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8) Notice, the first thing that God tells Joshua concerning His Word is, "This Book of the Law (God's Word) shall not depart from your mouth..." God commanded Joshua first and foremost to continuously speak His Word. Why is that? Paul tells us, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17) We are to speak, that is, confess God's Word because it causes faith grow. Paul does not say that faith comes by having heard the Word, but hearing and hearing and hearing, etc. the Word of God.

God also gives us a wonderful promise concerning His Word. "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) What a wonderful promise! We also see, "The Word of God is living and powerful..." (Hebrews 4:12) God's Word is as powerful today as it was when He first spoke it. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:8) So, we have a choice. We can confess (sow with our mouth) God's Word continuously, have our faith built up, see the salvation of the Lord, and live in victory triumphing over the circumstances, or we can confess the problems of life, muddle our way through life and literally let the problems squeeze the life out of us.

Let us look at God's Word spoken through Solomon and Jesus and learn, "You are snared by the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth." (Proverbs 6:2) "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21) "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63) In other words, the words of the flesh have no intrinsic value because they do not produce life. In fact, as we saw in Proverbs, negative confession literally snares us, traps us, and produces death.

I want to encourage and challenge you today to speak by declaring the  following verses over yourself daily until your faith rises up, "I declare that I will not let any corrupt word proceed out of my mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And I will not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom I am sealed for the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:29-30) Corrupt words do not only mean obscene or filthy conversation, but any words that do not produce good fruit. Yes, corrupt words from our mouth will grieve the Holy Spirit. So, let us begin to speak edifying words by also doing as Paul tells us, "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Exercising an attitude of thanksgiving in all things will aid us in promoting healthy, edifying, good fruit bearing words, that is, confessing God's Word, because it always bears good fruit. Let us be imitators of God as His dear children. Amen...