God Is Faithful

There are three enemies that believers constantly face, the kingdom of darkness, the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of self. Each one if left unchecked works against the believer to deceive and distract them from the Truth. When Jesus began His earthly ministry as the Son of Man the Bible records that He was water Baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:13-16) and then led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil for forty day (Luke 4:1-2). Next, the Bible records, "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." (Luke 4:13) We see that the devil, even after he was defeated by Jesus in open combat, sought opportunity to get at Jesus.

For believers it is no different. We get victory from an assault of the devil and yet it seem that he looks for opportunity to come at us again.  We need to understand that the devil hates every human being especially those who are "Born Again." His objective is to have as many people as possible face the same fate that he is facing, unimaginable eternal torment in the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10) However, for the believer, Jesus has conquered the devil and all his demon spirits. It is through His meritorious work on Calvary's cross that He has provided a way to be free from Satan's tyrannical reign over them. It is the believers faith in Jesus Christ that has set them free. Although the devil may still try to come against the believer, we must always remember that he is a defeated foe. Paul said it this way, "For sin or Satan shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14) I added Satan because he is the originator and perpetrator of all sin into humanity. Sin and Satan are synonymous.

Next, the believer faces the kingdoms of this world. Unfortunately, most believers do not realize just how dependent they have become on the world. I am not saying this in a condemning way, but it is a reality. For many believers, when things go wrong the first thing that they do, is turn to the world, yet Jesus tells us, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19) How does the world hate us? Look at how the world looks at Christianity. Whether a supposedly free country or not, the world has a growing hatred towards true Christians. I say true Christians because many people attend a church service every Sunday an act no different than the fallen world. They have fallen prey to "...all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life..." John finishes by saying these things "...are not of the Father but of the world." (1 John 2:16) It is no wonder why so many people in the church suffer or have broken hearts. For believers who look to the world for answers and still struggle, you need to know that the world will always take that which is good such as peace, joy, faith and love and then gives worry, stress, disappointment and destruction. The reason for this is due to the CEO of the world system. It is none other than Satan himself.

Finally, the believer faces, the kingdom of self. This is equally destructive to the other two because all three neutralize faith and lead believers away from the abundant life that Jesus brought to earth (John 10:10). The kingdom of self is summed up in this, the love of mammon or riches. In short, it says, "What is mine, is mine" but it does not stop there. It is motivated by the kingdom of darkness and the kingdoms of this world that drives people to get as much as they can. I have seen this in the lives of wealthy people who could retire and live in luxury for the rest of their lives, but are always striving for more. Mammon causes people to waste their lives on things not realizing that they are missing out on the true riches of this life. The kingdom of self unfortunately is a problem among many believers. The best way to see if you are under control of mammon is to examine yourself and see how much you worry about finances especially if you are going to have enough to retire.

So, now that we have taken a brief look at the three areas that believers face, how can we separate ourselves from them to experience the abundant life the Jesus brought? Paul tells us, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2) Believers should consecrate themselves to the Lord daily and use the Word of God daily to transform their mind. This will help believers to find the true riches such as peace, joy, faith and love. Now, I want us to look at another very important key that will help us to act upon the Romans 12:1-2 principle.

David the king was under attack not only by the Philistines but the very king that he served, King Saul. Both wanted him dead which forced him to be on the run and hide in caves. Yet in all of this he remembered who the God he served truly was, "I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies." ( Psalms 18:1-3)

Look at David's confession, The Lord is my strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold. This is who our God is. When believers truly come to know this about God, the three forces that oppose them will have less and less hold. All believers must come to realize that our heavenly Father is faithful. What He says, He does or He would not have said it. When we find ourselves in a conflict with, the kingdom of darkness, the kingdoms of this world and or the kingdom of self it is not that we should not take a stand against them but we must foremost remember who our God and Father truly is. Confess these things, believe it in our heart and act upon it. Doing this will help us build our faith and when we find ourselves facing a seemingly indomitable task, don't be surprised to hear His small still voice say to you, "I Got This."    

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Looking back at how praise and worship has evolved (maybe not a good choice of a word), many have noticed a difference in the lyrics. In many songs today the lyrics have switched from acknowledging who God is and what He has done, to being focused on self. Revelation paints a glorious picture of the worship that take place before the throne of God, “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." (Revelation 4:8-11)

We see further, “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:9-14)

Although this praise and worship is taking place in heaven, it no way infers that praise and worship should be different on earth. The point in this is, true praise and worship comes from a heart that is filled with great reverence, awe, fear, joy, adoration and exaltation that is directed to the Lord. We are to praise and worship Him. If you listen closely to many contemporary songs that have filled many congregation today, it has become somewhat difficult to know whom the song is addressing. The name of Jesus is hardly ever spoken and there is rarely the acknowledging Him as Lord. There are also many songs that do not contain scripture in the lyrics, but many of the songs that use scripture in the lyrics tend to take the scripture out of context, which twists their true meaning. Another unfortunate aspect that we see in many contemporary songs today is the words, He, Him, His have been replaced with me, my, I.

It seems that once again in order to reach the lost soul, the church has cut the Lord out of the equation. Music is a very powerful medium and if the church is not willing to worship God in Spirit and Truth with their focus on exalting Him, then we cannot blame our children for listening to secular music that focuses on the works of the flesh. This is not to say that contemporary music should be eliminated from the church, but that those responsible for music in every congregation should scrutinize the lyrics of every song before they refer to them as praise or worship songs. This also does not insinuate that hymns are the only songs that are pure worship; on the contrary, some of the sweetest sounding hymns also have lyrics that are not focus on the Lord but on the believer. In addition, many hymns place the focus on the afterlife for the believer. Examples of this are, “When we get to heaven we will have the victory;” “When we get to heaven we will be new;” “When we get to heaven we will have rest;” yet God’s Word assures the believer of their victory, new life and rest in Christ right here on planet earth. Regardless of which style of music individual congregation’s desire, the church today must put its focus on the Lord if it is going to truly worship Him.

The church must never exclude an intimate time of ministering to the Lord through praise and worship. We must refrain from placing a limited time of praise and worship in our gatherings. We must reject songs that are not the Word of God as well as songs that do not directly exalt the Lord. To abandon true praise and worship for any reason is to say that God is not worthy of our admiration and we do not need His presences to have a successful church service. Again, church leaders must scrutinize songs so that the music and lyrics is completely God focused. Otherwise, we cannot say that we are worshiping the Lord. Church can no longer fall prey trying to please men instead of God or just sing nice songs if we truly want to experience the glory of the Lord in our congregations. I want to challenge you the reader to take time everyday in praise and worship to the Lord. "Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 150)

Worshipping Through Adversity

When God's people look to Him and not their circumstances and begin to praise and worship Him, He moves in our midst defeating the enemy and bringing deliverance to His people. Another story that the Bible record showing us the power of praise and worship is seen in the Book of Acts as seen in the lives of Apostle Paul and Silas. They were taken into custody for casting a demon out of a woman who was used to earn money for her master, “Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.  Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16.22-29)

We see several things unfold in this account. Paul ans Silas were beaten with rods, placed into the inner prison and their feet fastened in stocks. This would mostly be enough for the average believer to murmur and complain to God for being abused in such a way. But instead of murmuring and complaining, "...at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God." What took place due to their actions of placing their focus on the Lord rather than their circumstances, we note that "...the prisoners were listening to them." This is an important lesson for us to learn. How many people, saved or unsaved are listening to our words without us even knowing? Let's be honest, most believers, way to often murmur and complain aloud about their circumstances not giving any thought to the damage their words are causing and the negative affect that their words are having. They must believe that God somehow does not know their struggles or worse yet, that God Himself has brought these circumstances upon them for some reason that only He knows.

If Paul and Silas murmur and complained instead of praying and worshiping God, the situation would not have had the impact that it had. The fact that they chose to pray and worship gave God permission and access to release His power. Remember Psalms 22:3 "But You are holy, Who inhabit the praises of Your people." Let's look at God operating in this situation, "Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed." The power of God manifested right in the inner prison. Right in the midst of what we would consider a bad situation.

Finally, we see the distance that praise and worship can go in a situation such as this, "And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.  Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? The results of this situation is, “Now when he (the jailer) had brought them (Paul and Silas) into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” (Acts 16.34) Praise the Lord. The jailer and His household were saved opening a door for a church plant in Philippi.

Praising and worshiping God in any situation or circumstance unleashes the power of God. It defeats the enemy and as with Paul and Silas, it opens door for the preaching of the gospel and the salvation of lost souls. PTL...

Defeating The Enemy Through Worship

During the ministry of Jesus on earth as the Son of Man, He had an encounter with a Samaritan woman who was from the City of Sychar. During His conversation with her He made this statement, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4.24) First let's look at what the word worship carries with it, to adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration; to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission; to perform acts of adoration. In other words, worship is not just playing music and singing songs with nice lyrics, but is a deep heartfelt adoration for the Lord. To worship in spirit is to permit the Holy Spirit to move upon the believer’s redeemed spirit causing, honor, reverence, adoration and devotion to ascend to God. In other words, Jesus is saying that true worship only connects with God in the Spirit because He is Spirit.  We also see Jesus telling the woman that true worship to God is also through truth. In John 14:6, Jesus proclaimed Himself the ultimate reality of absolute truth. Therefore, the believer worships the Father by depending on and responding to the Holy Spirit then through Jesus Christ (the Truth) worship becomes genuine and acceptable to God.

When looking at praise and worship in the early church it is easy to imagine how intense and powerful it was. However, we must remember that the church started with the Jews at Jerusalem, a people who once had a king named David who was also a priest, prophet, warrior and most importantly, a man after God’s heart. The Bible records that as David brought the Ark of the Covenant to the City of David that he and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments. (2 Samuel 6:5) This is important for us to see because it is quite sad that the church today differs on what instruments are considered appropriate and which ones are considered inappropriate when in fact we see that Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments.

Another thing that we should note, is David the king danced before the LORD with all of his might. (2 Samuel 6:15) Unfortunately, David’s wife Michal despised him for leaping and whirling before the Lord. (2 Samuel 6:16) She equated him to one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovering himself. (2 Samuel 6:20) However, when we take a closer look at the word praise, it carries with it some interesting ideas: to make a show; to boast; celebrate; virtue; excellence; manliness. So, let's put some of these words together, and see why David danced with all of his might before the Lord. He was celebrating, acting virtuous’, excellent and manly. I always find it interesting how the people in the Old Testament were bound by the Law, yet free to express themselves in praise and worship while believers today are free from the Law but seem bound to express their heartfelt adoration and jubilation for the Lord through praise and worship. The early church did not have this problem, because the King of Kings was the focus, not themselves nor anything else.

Let us look at an extreme situation and what happened when the people praised God, “It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.” (2 Chronicles 20:1) Judah was facing annihilation, but the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel and he spoke to the people, “…thus says the Lord to you: 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.” (2 Chronicles 20:15) “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 20:17) We read further, “And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.” (Chronicles 20:18-19) Notice in the midst of this peril, they stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

Next, “And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: "Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever." (2 Chronicles 20:21) Just as the prophet spoke, we see that the battle was the Lords, “So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.” (2 Chronicles 20:24) With their focus on the Lord and lifting up loud and high voices, the Lord defeated the enemy. Do we see just how important praise and worship is? It is not about us, the instruments we use or don't use, it's about placing our focus upon the Lord, magnifying and exalting Him.

In this particular situation, we see God defend His people and defeat the enemy that was set against them. The same thing holds true today. When the church worships God as He has prescribed, in Spirit and Truth, then we are permitting Him to have access to our difficulties. We give Him permission to bring healing, deliverance, that is salvation in our midst. This is defeating the enemy who has brought these things upon God's people. Psalm 22:3 tells us, "But You are Holy, Who inhabit the praises of Your people." To inhabit means, to live or reside in; to be present in; fill. God does not just hear our praise and worship, but He enjoys being in our very midst. As we minister to Him as priests, He reciprocates and ministers to us His children. What a most wonderful thing to experience. So, let us worship God in Spirit and Truth so that He can inhabit our praises?

Hitting The Mark

Did you ever send an email and have it return without reaching the recipient that it was sent to? If you use email enough sooner or later it will happen. In computer jargon, this is called a bounced e-mail. It is and email that has been sent that never arrives in the recipient's inbox and is sent back, or bounced back, to the sender with an error message that indicates to the sender that the e-mail was never successfully transmitted. In a similar manner, did you ever pray and it seems that your prayer never reached it's recipient, the Lord? Well there are reasons for this, so let's explore some things and get some answers.

First, in the natural, a soldier engaged in combat must have absolute confidence in his weapon. He is depending either on the manufacturer's instruction manual or on his drill instructor that he has been given the correct information on how to use and care for his weapon. When the soldier enters into combat, other than his fellow soldier around him, his weapon is the most important thing that he has. It actually becomes an extension of his body because he literally lives with it even when he sleeps. Not only does it protect him, but it helps him drive back the enemy.

In a similar way the believer also has a weapon, "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17) Like a solider in natural combat, the believer in the realm of spiritual combat, must have absolute, unshakable, unwavering faith in the the Word of God and its ability to stop the enemy's (the devil)  activities in their life. One of the major differences between physical and spiritual combat is that when you shoot a physical weapon you can usually see the damage that has been inflicted by the bullet. In spiritual combat you must depend entirely on what the manufacturer's instruction manual (The Bible) says that the damage will be when you use your spiritual weapon.

For instance, James 4:7 tells us, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." But because you can't physically see the devil in the act of fleeing, you have to believe with total faith and confidence that when you resist the devil and use the Word of God that in the spirit realm, that is exactly what is taking place. "But it doesn't feel like he is fleeing," you say. "The symptoms are still there, the problem is even worse than it was. It seems like my finances are in worse shape than before I prayed. It seems like the pain in my body is worse now than it was before in prayed. How can the devil be fleeing if the circumstances are worse than before?" Again, the answer to your questions are found in the manufacturer's instruction manual, the Bible. Does it say you have to feel good, better or different to prove that your weapon has worked and the devil is fleeing from you? No, it doesn't say that. The only condition James 4:7 emphasizes is that you have to be submitted to God when you resist the devil. "Therefore submit to God..." That condition must be met in your life if you ever expect the devil to flee from you.

Are you submitted to God? Are you staying free from sin and keeping your fleshly desires that aren't pleasing to God under control by the Power of the Holy Spirit? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? Are you living according to His will, in humility and obedience? If not, you could be giving the devil place, an open door in your life which gives him a right to not only hang around, but to also continue hassling you. "nor give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:27) If you have any sin in your life, you must repent and get the door closed top the devil first, before you begin striking down the wiles of the devil with the Word of God.

If you are submitted to God and your heart doesn't condemn you, then you will have total confidence in your weapon and know that the bullet (God's Word) hit the target exactly where you aimed it and that the enemy is on the run. "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ( 1 John 3:21-22) However, the devil will try to deceive you. He will tell you that you missed; That God's Word didn't work for you; that God doesn't really love you; that God's Word doesn't work that way; and on and on. He will say anything to make you doubt God and His promises in His Word. However, Jesus tells us, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23) He also tells us, "...Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:22-24)

These are promises from God's Word that we can count on because God does not lie (Number 23:19) He means what He says and says what He means. If He didn't mean it, He would not have said it. So as Peter said concerning the devil, "Resist him (the devil) in the faith..." (1 Peter 5:9)  we also must, "take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." (Ephesians 6:16) and stand in faith on God's Word knowing, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." (1 John 5:14-15)

In His Unchanging Fulness

Unbelief is the greatest culprit behind a hardened heart and a hardened heart lowers the character, quality, and value of God's Word. Either way it has caused many in the church to suffer. They have been taught that somehow God has brought suffering upon them for some mysterious reason that only He knows and if He decides to heal, deliver or remove the suffering or not, well it's fine with me, God's will be done. Yet in the midst of the suffering that supposedly God has given they will seek relief from a physician or some other person that can help them alleviate the suffering. There is certainly nothing wrong with most physicians. They do help people and have saved lives. However, logic asks, if the suffering is from God, who is all powerful, all knowing, and sovereign, then why doesn't the person go to God for the deliverance? (When I speak of suffering, I am speaking of sickness, disease and pain)  

How it must grieve the heart of our heavenly Father when His children have been trained to believe that He would strike one of them with pain and suffering. How it must grieve the heart of our heavenly Father when His children blame Him for something Satan has done. How it must grieve the heart of our heavenly Father when His children do not believe His Word. A look at the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Peter will shed some light on these things, "In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5 CJB) "He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24 AMP)

Jesus was made sick with our sicknesses. He was made sin with our sin. This was God's method of dealing with suffering and sin that came upon humanity due to the fall of man. In the mind of God there is no sin problem. Christ put sin away and satisfied the claims of justice for man. The real problem is that there are sinners. In the mind of God, there is no sickness or suffering problem. The problem lies in the lack of believers understanding the fullness of redemption and a failure to act upon their rights, privileges and inheritance in Christ that is clearly shown in the Word of God. Of course this takes faith in the integrity of the Word of God.

Did you ever give someone your word? Did you ever tell someone, "I give you my word?" What did that mean to you? It meant that with everything in your power you would make good on what you gave your word for. Well, the Father has given us HIS WORD! Not only will He make it good, but I assure you that He has far greater power to make it good than any person. He also tells us or rather appeals to what we believe about Him, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19) Sin and suffering come from the same source, Satan, not the Lord.

It was the plan of the Father to lay mans sin and sickness upon Jesus, "It pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief..." (Isaiah 53:10) He did this to free humanity from the tyrannical power of Satan. He did this "to open our eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. " (Acts 26:18) Notice that these things only become a reality to people when they receive them by faith, that is, believing and acting upon God's Word. God wants us to know that when He laid our sins and sicknesses on Jesus it was to the end that sin and disease should no longer have dominion over us. If there is any sickness in God's children, as I had previously mentioned, it is because of a lack of knowledge of our rights, privileges and inheritance in the redemption that we have in Christ.

Look at some passages that reveal the purpose and ministry of Jesus...

• Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 
• Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
• 1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
• Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, TODAY, and forever.

Logic must ask, if this was God's purpose in Christ and Christ has not changed, then why would these things not be for today? Has the devil ceases to be? Has his evil stopped on the earth? Not at all. Jesus did His part of destroying the works of the devil and when He departed earth to sit at the right hand of the majesty on high, He sent the Holy Spirit, gave us His Word and the use of His name so that the church would uphold and enforce what Jesus did, that is, continuing to destroy the works of the devil. The sin, sickness and diseases that are in the church today are there because we are not taking our place in Christ, we are not using the Name of Jesus and we have little to no faith in God's Word. God has not changed! His Word has not changed! His power is still available to those who believe and as Jesus said, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23) "Do not be afraid; only believe..." (Luke 8:50)

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all...

God and His Word Are One

The Apostle John tells us, the Word became flesh (John 1:14) and His name is Jesus. The Word is God speaking. God and His Word are one. The Word is the will of the Father, just as Jesus, the Word made flesh was the will of the Father. What God says, is. What God says, will become. If He did not want it to be so, He would not have said it, He would not have sent it. The Word is always now, it is a present tense fact because God is always now. In this part we will see the reason why so many in the church struggle with the questions, as to whether or not what God says in His Word is for today? Does God really do today what He did through the early church? Is what God did in the early church to be expected in the church today?

In Matthew's gospel we see a scene where Jesus is with the twelve apostles and makes a statement concerning the events that awaited Him in Jerusalem, "From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. (Matthew 16:21) After Jesus gives His apostles some final instructions, He once again tells them what is about to happen to Him, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." (Matthew 26:2) In the minds of the apostles they may not have been able to process this or they may wonder why Jesus would even want to go to Jerusalem if this were going to happen, nevertheless, what Jesus tells them, happens exactly as He said it would.

After the resurrection, Jesus appears to His apostles. John's gospel singles out the apostle Thomas and reveals why so many in the church today question whether or not what God says in His Word is for today? Does God really do today what He did through the early church? Is what God did in the early church to be expected in the church today? "Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (John 20:24-25) Notice that the only way that Thomas was going to believe that Jesus rose from the dead was to see and touch Him. It did not matter to him that Jesus told him that it would happen and then reminded him again that it was about to happen and it did happen. The only way Thomas was going to believe the Words of Jesus was to physically see Him and touch Him.

Unbelief is one of the reasons why some many in the church today reject the fact that God and His Word (which are one) still do today what we see recorded in the New Testament. The power of God in the Body of Christ has not passed away with the apostles or in any dispensation. What most call faith today is no more that a mental assent to the Word of God. Mental assent acknowledges the truthfulness of God's Word, but never acts upon it. It's like standing outside of a bakery desiring to have some of the fresh baked goods but never going into the bakery to purchase or possess them. You see them, you smell them, you think just how great they will taste. Your brain acknowledges these things but you do not act upon the truthfulness that brain has made real through your senses. Just like Thomas, you can only believe God's Word based on sense knowledge, what your five senses can make real and never act on what God said. This is the kind of faith that every human has, but it is not the faith that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6)

John continues to record, "And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!" Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him,  "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." ( John 20:26-29) True Bible faith, the faith that please God, is to accept and act on God's Word regardless of the things in the natural. It is accepting and acting on God's Word only because God said and because He said, we do not need physical proof. This is the very way that one is saved. You accept Christ as Lord and Savior without physically seeing Him. It is the same principle across the board when it comes to everything else that God's Word says. We do not need physical proof, what God said is proof enough!

Although John's gospel singles out Thomas, Mark's gospel reveals another issue that keeps most in the church today in bondage to these erroneous teachings that what God did in the ministry of Jesus and the early church passed away with the apostles because we have the Bible and do not need these things today. Mark records, "Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." (Mark 16:14) Notice that not one of the apostles believed what Jesus told them concerning what would happen to Him in Jerusalem.

We saw in the life of Thomas that unbelief was why he would not believe the Lord's Word. Here in Mark's gospel not only is unbelief a problem but the other reason why so many in the church today do not believe and act upon God's Word is due to hardness of heart. Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) and "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:21-23) To defile means to debase the pureness or excellence of something. A hard heart lowers the character, quality, and value of God's Word. Unbelief is the culprit behind a hard heart.

Now that the reasons why so many in the church today doubt the integrity of God's Word has been exposed, my prayer is that you no longer let the doctrines of man sway you from truly believing that God's Word is God speaking, now. God and His Word are one! The Word is the will of the Father, just as Jesus, the Word made flesh was the will of the Father. What God says, is. What God says, will become. If He did not want it to be so, He would not have said it, He would not have sent it. The Word is always now, it is a present tense fact because God is always now. Amen...