Guard Your Heart With All Diligence
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23) (1 Peter 5:8)
The first thing you have to do is to know what part of you is the heart. I used to believe that the “heart” referred to the spirit of man, but not anymore. Man is a spirit he has a soul and lives in a body. (1 Thess. 5:23) I believe it has more to do with the soul. The soul is the seat of consciousness; the mind, the will, and the emotions. The soul is the place where decisions are made based on information it receives. The heart is the center and, if this is where decisions are made then it is indeed the place where the issues of your life flow from.
* heart: Heb. leb feelings, will emotions intellect, the center of anything.
Everything you do flows from this area where you have made a decision. Mt. 12:34; 15:18,19; Lk. 6:45
However, the spirit of the Christian always does the right thing, always makes the right decision, and here is why:
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20) (2 Cor. 5:17)
But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. (1Cor 6:17)
So this issue is not with the spirit if we are one spirit with Christ. It is because of this union, that we are seen as righteous and holy by God. (2 Cor. 5:21)
So why must we guard the heart above all else? And why does the bible say that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked? (Jeremiah 17:9) If this verse is talking about the spirit that has been joined to the Spirit of Christ, then the blood that Christ shed is not doing what it was supposed to do. A more accurate translation is found it the New English Translation (NET):
The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
This is why Paul wrote in Romans: And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that all of you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.(Romans 12:2) It would seem that the mind needs to be trained.
Now of course one of the best ways to renew the mind is by reading the written Word of God. As I said earlier the heart is the center of man. It is the place where decision are made, and those decisions are made based on input and the influence of that input. This is why you must guard your heart with all diligence. The soul/mind/heart is easily influenced, and you make decisions based on input that influences your mind one way or another. You can have godly influence and evil influence.
You can influence your mind with scripture, but you can also allow the Spirit of God to influence you from within. This is living by the Spirit. If you try to live your life solely by trying to live by the written word, you end up making it a law unto yourself, thus again you are trapped by the letter of the law. I am not saying that you should not read your bible (read it often).
What can happen when we take the word of God and use it as a set of rules, is that Sin rears it’s ugly head..
For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.(Romans 7:11)
Remember sin takes advantage of a command through your flesh (old patterns of thinking). Later in Romans 8 Paul says..
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; so that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (verses 3-4)
So there is sin in us (in the flesh), but, not in our spirit where Christ dwells. It is in the old thinking patterns of the mind. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nether indeed can it be. (Romans 8:7)
So if we try to live by what you know to be the command of God written in the bible, in other words walking by the letter, we will fail because of sin working against you.
We must begin to live out of the union that we have with Christ in our spirit. Use the scripture to renew our mind to the fact that it is not you who lives; it is Christ who lives through you. Let the Spirit of Christ influence everything we do. We must come to realize that Christ is in us. He is the only one who can live the Christian life.
God is constantly trying to lead us from within our spirit. We feel His influence in our heart, the soul/mind. This is where we have to make a decision. Do we do what we know, or follow worldly advice, which is walking by the flesh? Or, do we follow the influence of the Spirit within us? He is there at every decision point but, we have to stop and present our self as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.(Romans 12:1)
In other words when we have a decision to make or, are considering any action, stop and offer yourself to Him. Simply say to Him, I want to do what you want to do in this situation. Then trust what you hear is coming from inside where Christ dwells.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
The heart is the mind, the center of the soul. It is the control center of your life. In the heart we can choose to walk according to what comes out of our spirit from God’s Spirit (which will always be in agreement with His written word), (Grace) or, walk by trying to keep the word of God (the law) by our own effort, or, walk by what the world says which is ruled by Satan.
It is our choice, and, that choice is made from a carefully guarded heart. What is allowed to enter the heart is what will influence decisions that are made there.
To answer the question above, about why the bible says the heart is “deceitful” and “desperately wicked,” sometimes the mind can become confused because of wrongful desires and emotions.
Example: A person could be in a marriage and, that marriage could be going well. Then someone new comes into the picture; a new co-worker, a new friend, a trainer at the gym, a person at church. It could be anyone who possesses something that suddenly captures your attention. You may see something in them that you admire, a trait your spouse doesn’t possess. It could be something they do. It could be anything. You can become more and more infatuated, more interested and distracted, and suddenly, you think you are in love. Your desire for that person begins to change, and becomes something that you can’t resist. You have let your guard down and thoughts that you should have guarded your heart/mind against have taken over in the desire of your flesh. Before you know it you’re having an affair, destroying your marriage and the life of your spouse and children (if you have any). You do all these things because you think you “love” this person. (emotion)
The fact is love is a choice. This is why in your marriage vows you “promise to love” etc.. The heart can become confused. This is why it must be guarded. Be careful of what you allow to influence your heart/mind (soul), for out of it comes the issues of life.
1 Peter 5 (New King James Version)
Submit to God, Resist the Devil
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, (self-controlled) be vigilant; (watchful, alert, on guard) because[c] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
THE POWER OF HOPE
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
The God of Israel is the God of Hope _ Elohei HaTikvah. Our God is the true source of hope. He is the one that fills us with joy and peace that we may abound in hope through His Holy Spirit. Hope is the very nature and character of God. We are created in His image to be a people of hope with the capacity to have dreams and visions. Without hope something dies in us; we are alive yet dead, living a life that seems meaningless.
Hope, however is the expectation of good and with it the future seems bright. The Bible is full of magnificent promises that provide real substance for our hope. God Himself has given us these promises and we can expect Him to fulfill them.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)
Hope is powerful. It brings creativity, energy and life. When hope is activated and made alive in our hearts, it opens our heart to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
That is why satan, the accuser, wages war against our hope. He will try to steal the hope, the dream, and the vision by bringing in fear. Fear is an expectation of something negative. Fear shuts the door to the Kingdom of God and saps our soul of creativity and energy.
It is God's will for us to be filled with the Spirit, and there is a correlation between a hopeful attitude and being filled with the Spirit.
When we cultivate an attitude of hope and expectation in God, the Holy Spirit gets involved.
God wants us to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to filled with hope so that we can be visionaries and have prophetic anointing. He wants to show us things to come.
There are four significant characteristics of an attitude of hope or expectation in God.
1. Positive Expectation
In the Lord we have a positive picture of the future, no matter what our circumstances are.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have a positive attitude because of who God is. He is our rock; our salvation; our defense. Our expectation is from Him. And God is light; in Him there is no darkness. Our attitudes have tremendous impact on our lives. Attitude is more important than facts; more important than education, appearance, talent, or skill. Attitudes can make or break our lives. Each day we must choose what attitude we will embrace for that day.
2. Possibility Thinking
An expectation and hope in God helps us to see what is possible. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to see possibilities.
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Though all things are possible with God we must understand that God works through our faith. In order to grasp possibility we need to have a spirit of hope; a positive attitude of hope to see the possibilities in life and to believe..
"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
With our expectation grounded in God let us be expansive in our vision and increase our faith to believe all things are possible! Expectation in God engenders a "can do all things" attitude. Let us not limit the God of Israel. He who has promised is faithful and will fulfill what He has promised.
3. Prosperous Attitude
A hope in God will bring a prosperous attitude; an expectation of success, victory and abundance. An expectation in God will cause us to prosper (increase),
"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 have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
We must have an expectation of success and victory. This is the attitude we need and can have when our hope is in God. This is God's will for our lives. It is this victory that overcomes the world. Joseph was called a dreamer but he waited on the Lord and God gave him phenomenal success; from dungeon to the throne room!
Many of us carry, a negative self-image that chains us to the person we were before we met Jesus. The Word of God however says that in Jesus we are "new creations". We have been raised up in the image off Jesus the One who is alive from the dead and seated at the right hand of God. "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me." (Mt. 28:18) We were not created to fail but to succeed!
4. Profound Expectation
Finally in God we can have a profound expectation. Since our God is bigger than we can ever imagine, we can expand our vision: think bigger and think more profoundly
The Gospel we have is revolutionary. It has power to change society forever.
We can have a profound impact in our generation if we think and believe for big things in God. Just think ---if we win just one soul, that is for eternity. And that person can reach their family and friends for eternity. And each of those people can reach many others for eternity.
We must never despise the day of small beginnings because small seeds eventually yield large crops.
Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5)
Abraham and Sarah were both advanced in age and they had no children. They were strangers in a strange land with no natural inheritance and no natural hop. Yes Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His hope was in God. Just as God used Abraham to bless all the nations, God is able to use each one of us to profoundly impact the world around us if we will believe. This hope we have in God is powerful; it is positive, it opens the door to possibilities, it is profound. May the God of hope fill you today.
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
The God of Israel is the God of Hope _ Elohei HaTikvah. Our God is the true source of hope. He is the one that fills us with joy and peace that we may abound in hope through His Holy Spirit. Hope is the very nature and character of God. We are created in His image to be a people of hope with the capacity to have dreams and visions. Without hope something dies in us; we are alive yet dead, living a life that seems meaningless.
Hope, however is the expectation of good and with it the future seems bright. The Bible is full of magnificent promises that provide real substance for our hope. God Himself has given us these promises and we can expect Him to fulfill them.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)
Hope is powerful. It brings creativity, energy and life. When hope is activated and made alive in our hearts, it opens our heart to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
That is why satan, the accuser, wages war against our hope. He will try to steal the hope, the dream, and the vision by bringing in fear. Fear is an expectation of something negative. Fear shuts the door to the Kingdom of God and saps our soul of creativity and energy.
It is God's will for us to be filled with the Spirit, and there is a correlation between a hopeful attitude and being filled with the Spirit.
When we cultivate an attitude of hope and expectation in God, the Holy Spirit gets involved.
God wants us to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to filled with hope so that we can be visionaries and have prophetic anointing. He wants to show us things to come.
There are four significant characteristics of an attitude of hope or expectation in God.
1. Positive Expectation
In the Lord we have a positive picture of the future, no matter what our circumstances are.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have a positive attitude because of who God is. He is our rock; our salvation; our defense. Our expectation is from Him. And God is light; in Him there is no darkness. Our attitudes have tremendous impact on our lives. Attitude is more important than facts; more important than education, appearance, talent, or skill. Attitudes can make or break our lives. Each day we must choose what attitude we will embrace for that day.
2. Possibility Thinking
An expectation and hope in God helps us to see what is possible. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to see possibilities.
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Though all things are possible with God we must understand that God works through our faith. In order to grasp possibility we need to have a spirit of hope; a positive attitude of hope to see the possibilities in life and to believe..
"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
With our expectation grounded in God let us be expansive in our vision and increase our faith to believe all things are possible! Expectation in God engenders a "can do all things" attitude. Let us not limit the God of Israel. He who has promised is faithful and will fulfill what He has promised.
3. Prosperous Attitude
A hope in God will bring a prosperous attitude; an expectation of success, victory and abundance. An expectation in God will cause us to prosper (increase),
"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 have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
We must have an expectation of success and victory. This is the attitude we need and can have when our hope is in God. This is God's will for our lives. It is this victory that overcomes the world. Joseph was called a dreamer but he waited on the Lord and God gave him phenomenal success; from dungeon to the throne room!
Many of us carry, a negative self-image that chains us to the person we were before we met Jesus. The Word of God however says that in Jesus we are "new creations". We have been raised up in the image off Jesus the One who is alive from the dead and seated at the right hand of God. "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me." (Mt. 28:18) We were not created to fail but to succeed!
4. Profound Expectation
Finally in God we can have a profound expectation. Since our God is bigger than we can ever imagine, we can expand our vision: think bigger and think more profoundly
The Gospel we have is revolutionary. It has power to change society forever.
We can have a profound impact in our generation if we think and believe for big things in God. Just think ---if we win just one soul, that is for eternity. And that person can reach their family and friends for eternity. And each of those people can reach many others for eternity.
We must never despise the day of small beginnings because small seeds eventually yield large crops.
Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5)
Abraham and Sarah were both advanced in age and they had no children. They were strangers in a strange land with no natural inheritance and no natural hop. Yes Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His hope was in God. Just as God used Abraham to bless all the nations, God is able to use each one of us to profoundly impact the world around us if we will believe. This hope we have in God is powerful; it is positive, it opens the door to possibilities, it is profound. May the God of hope fill you today.
The God of Israel is the God of Hope _ Elohei HaTikvah. Our God is the true source of hope. He is the one that fills us with joy and peace that we may abound in hope through His Holy Spirit. Hope is the very nature and character of God. We are created in His image to be a people of hope with the capacity to have dreams and visions. Without hope something dies in us; we are alive yet dead, living a life that seems meaningless.
Hope, however is the expectation of good and with it the future seems bright. The Bible is full of magnificent promises that provide real substance for our hope. God Himself has given us these promises and we can expect Him to fulfill them.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)
Hope is powerful. It brings creativity, energy and life. When hope is activated and made alive in our hearts, it opens our heart to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
That is why satan, the accuser, wages war against our hope. He will try to steal the hope, the dream, and the vision by bringing in fear. Fear is an expectation of something negative. Fear shuts the door to the Kingdom of God and saps our soul of creativity and energy.
It is God's will for us to be filled with the Spirit, and there is a correlation between a hopeful attitude and being filled with the Spirit.
When we cultivate an attitude of hope and expectation in God, the Holy Spirit gets involved.
God wants us to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to filled with hope so that we can be visionaries and have prophetic anointing. He wants to show us things to come.
There are four significant characteristics of an attitude of hope or expectation in God.
1. Positive Expectation
In the Lord we have a positive picture of the future, no matter what our circumstances are.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have a positive attitude because of who God is. He is our rock; our salvation; our defense. Our expectation is from Him. And God is light; in Him there is no darkness. Our attitudes have tremendous impact on our lives. Attitude is more important than facts; more important than education, appearance, talent, or skill. Attitudes can make or break our lives. Each day we must choose what attitude we will embrace for that day.
2. Possibility Thinking
An expectation and hope in God helps us to see what is possible. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to see possibilities.
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Though all things are possible with God we must understand that God works through our faith. In order to grasp possibility we need to have a spirit of hope; a positive attitude of hope to see the possibilities in life and to believe..
"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
With our expectation grounded in God let us be expansive in our vision and increase our faith to believe all things are possible! Expectation in God engenders a "can do all things" attitude. Let us not limit the God of Israel. He who has promised is faithful and will fulfill what He has promised.
3. Prosperous Attitude
A hope in God will bring a prosperous attitude; an expectation of success, victory and abundance. An expectation in God will cause us to prosper (increase),
"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 have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
We must have an expectation of success and victory. This is the attitude we need and can have when our hope is in God. This is God's will for our lives. It is this victory that overcomes the world. Joseph was called a dreamer but he waited on the Lord and God gave him phenomenal success; from dungeon to the throne room!
Many of us carry, a negative self-image that chains us to the person we were before we met Jesus. The Word of God however says that in Jesus we are "new creations". We have been raised up in the image off Jesus the One who is alive from the dead and seated at the right hand of God. "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me." (Mt. 28:18) We were not created to fail but to succeed!
4. Profound Expectation
Finally in God we can have a profound expectation. Since our God is bigger than we can ever imagine, we can expand our vision: think bigger and think more profoundly
The Gospel we have is revolutionary. It has power to change society forever.
We can have a profound impact in our generation if we think and believe for big things in God. Just think ---if we win just one soul, that is for eternity. And that person can reach their family and friends for eternity. And each of those people can reach many others for eternity.
We must never despise the day of small beginnings because small seeds eventually yield large crops.
Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5)
Abraham and Sarah were both advanced in age and they had no children. They were strangers in a strange land with no natural inheritance and no natural hop. Yes Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His hope was in God. Just as God used Abraham to bless all the nations, God is able to use each one of us to profoundly impact the world around us if we will believe. This hope we have in God is powerful; it is positive, it opens the door to possibilities, it is profound. May the God of hope fill you today.
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
The God of Israel is the God of Hope _ Elohei HaTikvah. Our God is the true source of hope. He is the one that fills us with joy and peace that we may abound in hope through His Holy Spirit. Hope is the very nature and character of God. We are created in His image to be a people of hope with the capacity to have dreams and visions. Without hope something dies in us; we are alive yet dead, living a life that seems meaningless.
Hope, however is the expectation of good and with it the future seems bright. The Bible is full of magnificent promises that provide real substance for our hope. God Himself has given us these promises and we can expect Him to fulfill them.
"My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." (Psalm 62:5-7)
Hope is powerful. It brings creativity, energy and life. When hope is activated and made alive in our hearts, it opens our heart to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
That is why satan, the accuser, wages war against our hope. He will try to steal the hope, the dream, and the vision by bringing in fear. Fear is an expectation of something negative. Fear shuts the door to the Kingdom of God and saps our soul of creativity and energy.
It is God's will for us to be filled with the Spirit, and there is a correlation between a hopeful attitude and being filled with the Spirit.
When we cultivate an attitude of hope and expectation in God, the Holy Spirit gets involved.
God wants us to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to filled with hope so that we can be visionaries and have prophetic anointing. He wants to show us things to come.
There are four significant characteristics of an attitude of hope or expectation in God.
1. Positive Expectation
In the Lord we have a positive picture of the future, no matter what our circumstances are.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
We can have a positive attitude because of who God is. He is our rock; our salvation; our defense. Our expectation is from Him. And God is light; in Him there is no darkness. Our attitudes have tremendous impact on our lives. Attitude is more important than facts; more important than education, appearance, talent, or skill. Attitudes can make or break our lives. Each day we must choose what attitude we will embrace for that day.
2. Possibility Thinking
An expectation and hope in God helps us to see what is possible. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to see possibilities.
"But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)
Though all things are possible with God we must understand that God works through our faith. In order to grasp possibility we need to have a spirit of hope; a positive attitude of hope to see the possibilities in life and to believe..
"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
With our expectation grounded in God let us be expansive in our vision and increase our faith to believe all things are possible! Expectation in God engenders a "can do all things" attitude. Let us not limit the God of Israel. He who has promised is faithful and will fulfill what He has promised.
3. Prosperous Attitude
A hope in God will bring a prosperous attitude; an expectation of success, victory and abundance. An expectation in God will cause us to prosper (increase),
"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 have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
We must have an expectation of success and victory. This is the attitude we need and can have when our hope is in God. This is God's will for our lives. It is this victory that overcomes the world. Joseph was called a dreamer but he waited on the Lord and God gave him phenomenal success; from dungeon to the throne room!
Many of us carry, a negative self-image that chains us to the person we were before we met Jesus. The Word of God however says that in Jesus we are "new creations". We have been raised up in the image off Jesus the One who is alive from the dead and seated at the right hand of God. "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me." (Mt. 28:18) We were not created to fail but to succeed!
4. Profound Expectation
Finally in God we can have a profound expectation. Since our God is bigger than we can ever imagine, we can expand our vision: think bigger and think more profoundly
The Gospel we have is revolutionary. It has power to change society forever.
We can have a profound impact in our generation if we think and believe for big things in God. Just think ---if we win just one soul, that is for eternity. And that person can reach their family and friends for eternity. And each of those people can reach many others for eternity.
We must never despise the day of small beginnings because small seeds eventually yield large crops.
Then He brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5)
Abraham and Sarah were both advanced in age and they had no children. They were strangers in a strange land with no natural inheritance and no natural hop. Yes Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. His hope was in God. Just as God used Abraham to bless all the nations, God is able to use each one of us to profoundly impact the world around us if we will believe. This hope we have in God is powerful; it is positive, it opens the door to possibilities, it is profound. May the God of hope fill you today.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
LIVING THE DREAM
Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
(4) Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (the dream).
(5) Commit your way (dream) to the LORD, trust also in Him , and He shall bring it to pass.
God has given each one of us a dream, he has a plan for your life. Even before the beginning of time, He had a plan and purpose for your life (Ps. 139:16-18) (Ps. 40:5).
We Touch the Future
Part 4
3. The Seed of Responsibility
As a society, we protest for individual liberty and social order in the same breath. We strive for material wealth and would like spiritual wealth as a by-product. We plead for more protection from crime, but demand less interference in our social habits. We want to cut taxes, take the great risk, and build our own destinies and at the same time we want financial security and safety provide by our government. But we can’t have it both ways. If we want results we must be willing to pay the price.
Our rewards in life will depend on the quality and amount of the contribution we make. Every cause brings its effect; every action has a consequence. If a man plants melons he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans. This is true in everyone’s life; good begets good, and evil leads to evil.
True enough, the sun shines on the saint and the sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked prosper. But we can say with certainty that, with the individual as with the nation, the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for, unceasingly, life keeps books on us all.
In the end, we are all the sum total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited, nor can it be put on and cast off as it if were a garment to meet the whim of the moment. Like the markings on wood that are ingrained in the very heart of the tree, character requires time and maturing for growth and development. Day by day, we write our own destiny.
Galatians 6:7; Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
As a society, we protest for individual liberty and social order in the same breath. We strive for material wealth and would like spiritual wealth as a by-product. We plead for more protection from crime, but demand less interference in our social habits. We want to cut taxes, take the great risk, and build our own destinies and at the same time we want financial security and safety provide by our government. But we can’t have it both ways. If we want results we must be willing to pay the price.
Our rewards in life will depend on the quality and amount of the contribution we make. Every cause brings its effect; every action has a consequence. If a man plants melons he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will reap beans. This is true in everyone’s life; good begets good, and evil leads to evil.
True enough, the sun shines on the saint and the sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked prosper. But we can say with certainty that, with the individual as with the nation, the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for, unceasingly, life keeps books on us all.
In the end, we are all the sum total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited, nor can it be put on and cast off as it if were a garment to meet the whim of the moment. Like the markings on wood that are ingrained in the very heart of the tree, character requires time and maturing for growth and development. Day by day, we write our own destiny.
Galatians 6:7; Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Does God Always Heal?
Does God Always Heal?
In considering the subject of Divine Healing and Its application to present day needs, the question, “Does God always heal” is very important. The church at large has taught that healing is dependent on the exercise of the will of God, and that the proper attitude for the Christian to assume is “If it be Thy will.” And continually we hear men say; “no doubt God can heal; He has the power, and He can if He will.”
I believe this attitude of mind and character of reasoning is due to misunderstanding of God’s Word and the will of God as revealed through Jesus Christ. I contend that God is always the Healer! I believe that it is not necessary for God to will, and that He does not will the healing, or non-healing of any individual. In His desire to bless mankind He willed once and for all and forever that man should be blessed and healed, and He gave Jesus Christ as a gift to the world, through whom this blessing was to be demonstrated and His willingness and desire to heal forever made clear.
Christians readily admit Jesus was the entire expression of the law, the life and will of God. He demonstrated forever by His words and acts what the mind of God toward the world was. He healed all that came to Him, never refusing a single person, but always giving them the desired blessing. In healing all, and never refusing one, He demonstrated forever the willingness of God to heal all, both believer and sinner.
It is absurd to think that only the good were healed by Jesus. “He healed all that came.” Their coming was sufficient to receive the blessing. He healed because it is the nature of God to heal, not a change of mind of God, nor was the mind of God changed toward a person through some special prayer, but whosoever was ready and willing to receive healing received it from the Lord. His grief is express in one incident in Matthew 13:58. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Men have assumed that it was necessary to persuade God to heal them. God has manifested through Jesus Christ His desire to bless mankind. “He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be saved”, John 3:16-17.
His method of saving the world, and what constituted His salvation, is shown in Matthew 4:23, “Jesus went about about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues [revealing the will of God], and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” The knowledge of God’s will, His purpose to establish the Kingdom of Christ, and deliverance form sickness---a kindred blessing for spirit soul and body---are here provided, for in salvation.
The redemption of Jesus does not rest on His crucifixion alone. It rests equally in a combined victory of crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Each step was an elevation in divine consciousness to one end, the bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon the world. Through His crucifixion He fulfilled the type and fact of the Jewish sacrifice. Through His resurrection He manifested and demonstrated His power over death, and that death itself was a captive. Through His ascension to the Throne of God, and through receiving from the Father the gift of the Holy Ghost, He was now equipped to bestow universal salvation upon whosoever would receive.
On the day of Pentecost, when the floodtide of the Holy Spirit broke over the church at Jerusalem, it’s glorious power radiated through their souls, and rested upon them as tongues of fire. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. The people demanded an explanation of the phenomenon, and Peter replied, “This Jesus God has raised up, we were all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted [ascended] and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this, which you now see and hear” Acts 2:32-33.
It was the crowning climax of the redemptive power of God ministered through Jesus Christ to the world. From that day to this every soul is entitled to embrace to him self this blessed Spirit of God, that Jesus regarded as so valuable to mankind, so necessary for their healing and salvation, that He gave His life to obtain it.
The will of God to save men is undisputed be intelligent Christians. The will of God to heal every man is equally God’s purpose. God has not only made provision that through the Spirit of God received into the life, our souls may be blesses and our bodies healed, but further, we in turn are expected to distribute the Spirit’s power to others, that they likewise may be blessed and healed. “In My Name, “ said Jesus, “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Not a special priest or minister, not a particular individual endowed with peculiar powers, but the common believer, the everyday man, who accepts the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who becomes a declared disciple of the Son of God. (Read Mark 16: 14-20)
Consequently, it is not a question of “Does God always heal?” That is childish. It is rather a question of “Are we willing to embrace His healing?” If so, it is for us today and to receive. More, it is for all the world to receive, for every man too receive who will put his nature into contact with God through opening his heart to the Lord.
Jesus knowing the world’s need for healing, provided definitely for physicians patterned after Himself (ministers, disciples, priests, every believer), who would minister, not pills and potions, but the power of God. Gifts of healing are among the nine gifts of the Spirit provided for and to be perpetuated forever in the church as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
It is an evidence of ignorance of God’s Word to continue to discuss the question of “Does God always heal?” As though God healed sometimes and sometimes He did not. Enlightenment by the Holy Spirit through the Word reveals God always the Healer, is the Healer today, will be the Healer forever. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Consequently, there is healing for every man, for every disease, who will in faith embrace the Spirit of God, promised by the Father, ministered through Jesus Christ to the soul and body of all who desire the blessing.
Peter stated, “By His stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) It was done in the mind of God when Jesus gave Himself as the eternal sacrifice, and has never had to be done again ever, and it will never be necessary for God to exercise His mind again for the healing of the individual. He willed it once; it is done forever. He made the provision and invites the world to embrace it. It is yours to have, yours to enjoy, and yours to impart to others.
A Study Guide
Jesus demonstrated the Father’s will. The leper spoke to Jesus, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” and Jesus replied, “I will, be clean.” (Matthew 8:1-3) Why? “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17).
Jesus healed all that came or were brought to Him!
Matthew 4:23, “Healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
Matthew 4:24, “Syria, and they brought unto Him all sick…and He healed them.”
Matthew 8:16 and Luke 4:39-41, Rebuked the fever and healed all in the town.
Matthew 12:15, “…and He healed them all.”
Matthew 15:30-31 “…and He healed them.” Great multitudes came to Him.
Matthew 21:14, “And the blind and the lame came…and He healed them.”
Luke 6:17-19, Great multitudes came and they were healed.
Luke 5:15, Great multitudes came to be healed of their infirmities.
Luke 7:21, He cured many plagues, infirmities, and blindness.
Luke 9:11, He healed all that had need of healing
Jesus, moved with compassion toward the multitude, healed their sick (Matthew 14:13-14).
That is the very nature of God to heal is demonstrated in the case of the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20-21 and Luke 8:43-37). This lady did not request Jesus to heal her. Neither did Jesus give his consent to her healing. She touched His garment by faith; and virtue went out of Him and made her whole.
Many touch Jesus and were made whole (Matthew 13:14:35-36; Mark 6:53-56; Mark 3:10).
Jesus healed without being asked. In John 5:6, He healed the impotent man.
He perfected subnormal bodies (birth defects). In John 9:6-7, He healed the man born blind. In Matthew 12:13, He restored a withered hand to normal.
Jesus healed people who were absent at the request of others (Matthew 8:13). He healed the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:13) and the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-53).
He cast out devils (Luke 4:33-35); also see Luke 4:41. He cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2) He cured many of evil spirits (Luke 7:21); se also Luke 11:14.
He healed all who would let Him. All He laid His hands on were healed. “And He could do no mighty works there, except that He laid hands on a few sick folk and healed them.” He was willing and able to heal the entire crowd if they had allowed Him to do so. They would not come and allow Him to lay His hands on them. He cannot be blamed for that (Mark 6:4-6).
Jesus sent out His twelve disciples to heal (Matthew 10:8 and Mark 6:12-13). He sent out the seventy to heal (Luke 10:9). Jesus healed after He was arrested (Luke 22:50-52.
His final command included healing to be a part of His continuing ministry through the believer (Mark 16:15-18, 20).
He came not “to destroy men’s iHis
lives, but to save them” Luke 9:56). This included the body as well as the soul and spirit. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). He came “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Jesus took pleasure in delivering men (Luke 10:21).
Jesus healed all that came to Him. He did not turn anyone down. He never told a single person that his sickness was making him better. He never told a single person that it would be better for him to remain under the oppression of the devil, as it was a blessing in disguise. He never told a single person to wit for healing until next year. Does God heal? Yes! Does He always heal? Absolutely! He is no different today (Hebrews 13:8).
In considering the subject of Divine Healing and Its application to present day needs, the question, “Does God always heal” is very important. The church at large has taught that healing is dependent on the exercise of the will of God, and that the proper attitude for the Christian to assume is “If it be Thy will.” And continually we hear men say; “no doubt God can heal; He has the power, and He can if He will.”
I believe this attitude of mind and character of reasoning is due to misunderstanding of God’s Word and the will of God as revealed through Jesus Christ. I contend that God is always the Healer! I believe that it is not necessary for God to will, and that He does not will the healing, or non-healing of any individual. In His desire to bless mankind He willed once and for all and forever that man should be blessed and healed, and He gave Jesus Christ as a gift to the world, through whom this blessing was to be demonstrated and His willingness and desire to heal forever made clear.
Christians readily admit Jesus was the entire expression of the law, the life and will of God. He demonstrated forever by His words and acts what the mind of God toward the world was. He healed all that came to Him, never refusing a single person, but always giving them the desired blessing. In healing all, and never refusing one, He demonstrated forever the willingness of God to heal all, both believer and sinner.
It is absurd to think that only the good were healed by Jesus. “He healed all that came.” Their coming was sufficient to receive the blessing. He healed because it is the nature of God to heal, not a change of mind of God, nor was the mind of God changed toward a person through some special prayer, but whosoever was ready and willing to receive healing received it from the Lord. His grief is express in one incident in Matthew 13:58. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Men have assumed that it was necessary to persuade God to heal them. God has manifested through Jesus Christ His desire to bless mankind. “He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be saved”, John 3:16-17.
His method of saving the world, and what constituted His salvation, is shown in Matthew 4:23, “Jesus went about about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues [revealing the will of God], and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” The knowledge of God’s will, His purpose to establish the Kingdom of Christ, and deliverance form sickness---a kindred blessing for spirit soul and body---are here provided, for in salvation.
The redemption of Jesus does not rest on His crucifixion alone. It rests equally in a combined victory of crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Each step was an elevation in divine consciousness to one end, the bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon the world. Through His crucifixion He fulfilled the type and fact of the Jewish sacrifice. Through His resurrection He manifested and demonstrated His power over death, and that death itself was a captive. Through His ascension to the Throne of God, and through receiving from the Father the gift of the Holy Ghost, He was now equipped to bestow universal salvation upon whosoever would receive.
On the day of Pentecost, when the floodtide of the Holy Spirit broke over the church at Jerusalem, it’s glorious power radiated through their souls, and rested upon them as tongues of fire. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. The people demanded an explanation of the phenomenon, and Peter replied, “This Jesus God has raised up, we were all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted [ascended] and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this, which you now see and hear” Acts 2:32-33.
It was the crowning climax of the redemptive power of God ministered through Jesus Christ to the world. From that day to this every soul is entitled to embrace to him self this blessed Spirit of God, that Jesus regarded as so valuable to mankind, so necessary for their healing and salvation, that He gave His life to obtain it.
The will of God to save men is undisputed be intelligent Christians. The will of God to heal every man is equally God’s purpose. God has not only made provision that through the Spirit of God received into the life, our souls may be blesses and our bodies healed, but further, we in turn are expected to distribute the Spirit’s power to others, that they likewise may be blessed and healed. “In My Name, “ said Jesus, “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Not a special priest or minister, not a particular individual endowed with peculiar powers, but the common believer, the everyday man, who accepts the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who becomes a declared disciple of the Son of God. (Read Mark 16: 14-20)
Consequently, it is not a question of “Does God always heal?” That is childish. It is rather a question of “Are we willing to embrace His healing?” If so, it is for us today and to receive. More, it is for all the world to receive, for every man too receive who will put his nature into contact with God through opening his heart to the Lord.
Jesus knowing the world’s need for healing, provided definitely for physicians patterned after Himself (ministers, disciples, priests, every believer), who would minister, not pills and potions, but the power of God. Gifts of healing are among the nine gifts of the Spirit provided for and to be perpetuated forever in the church as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
It is an evidence of ignorance of God’s Word to continue to discuss the question of “Does God always heal?” As though God healed sometimes and sometimes He did not. Enlightenment by the Holy Spirit through the Word reveals God always the Healer, is the Healer today, will be the Healer forever. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Consequently, there is healing for every man, for every disease, who will in faith embrace the Spirit of God, promised by the Father, ministered through Jesus Christ to the soul and body of all who desire the blessing.
Peter stated, “By His stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) It was done in the mind of God when Jesus gave Himself as the eternal sacrifice, and has never had to be done again ever, and it will never be necessary for God to exercise His mind again for the healing of the individual. He willed it once; it is done forever. He made the provision and invites the world to embrace it. It is yours to have, yours to enjoy, and yours to impart to others.
A Study Guide
Jesus demonstrated the Father’s will. The leper spoke to Jesus, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” and Jesus replied, “I will, be clean.” (Matthew 8:1-3) Why? “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17).
Jesus healed all that came or were brought to Him!
Matthew 4:23, “Healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”
Matthew 4:24, “Syria, and they brought unto Him all sick…and He healed them.”
Matthew 8:16 and Luke 4:39-41, Rebuked the fever and healed all in the town.
Matthew 12:15, “…and He healed them all.”
Matthew 15:30-31 “…and He healed them.” Great multitudes came to Him.
Matthew 21:14, “And the blind and the lame came…and He healed them.”
Luke 6:17-19, Great multitudes came and they were healed.
Luke 5:15, Great multitudes came to be healed of their infirmities.
Luke 7:21, He cured many plagues, infirmities, and blindness.
Luke 9:11, He healed all that had need of healing
Jesus, moved with compassion toward the multitude, healed their sick (Matthew 14:13-14).
That is the very nature of God to heal is demonstrated in the case of the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20-21 and Luke 8:43-37). This lady did not request Jesus to heal her. Neither did Jesus give his consent to her healing. She touched His garment by faith; and virtue went out of Him and made her whole.
Many touch Jesus and were made whole (Matthew 13:14:35-36; Mark 6:53-56; Mark 3:10).
Jesus healed without being asked. In John 5:6, He healed the impotent man.
He perfected subnormal bodies (birth defects). In John 9:6-7, He healed the man born blind. In Matthew 12:13, He restored a withered hand to normal.
Jesus healed people who were absent at the request of others (Matthew 8:13). He healed the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:13) and the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-53).
He cast out devils (Luke 4:33-35); also see Luke 4:41. He cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2) He cured many of evil spirits (Luke 7:21); se also Luke 11:14.
He healed all who would let Him. All He laid His hands on were healed. “And He could do no mighty works there, except that He laid hands on a few sick folk and healed them.” He was willing and able to heal the entire crowd if they had allowed Him to do so. They would not come and allow Him to lay His hands on them. He cannot be blamed for that (Mark 6:4-6).
Jesus sent out His twelve disciples to heal (Matthew 10:8 and Mark 6:12-13). He sent out the seventy to heal (Luke 10:9). Jesus healed after He was arrested (Luke 22:50-52.
His final command included healing to be a part of His continuing ministry through the believer (Mark 16:15-18, 20).
He came not “to destroy men’s iHis
lives, but to save them” Luke 9:56). This included the body as well as the soul and spirit. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). He came “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Jesus took pleasure in delivering men (Luke 10:21).
Jesus healed all that came to Him. He did not turn anyone down. He never told a single person that his sickness was making him better. He never told a single person that it would be better for him to remain under the oppression of the devil, as it was a blessing in disguise. He never told a single person to wit for healing until next year. Does God heal? Yes! Does He always heal? Absolutely! He is no different today (Hebrews 13:8).
The life of Jesus, His resurrection force, is a divine reality that impregnates the soul and spirit and body to man. It not only energizes his own being, but flashes from him into the life of another, and is a destroyer of sickness, a destroyer of sin, and a creative force that makes man a new in spirit, soul, and in body.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Three Enemies of Healing
Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.
Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.
Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.
Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.
Three Enemies of Healing
E.W. Kenyon
It is easier for us to face the problem of the failure of unanswered prayer, if we understand some of the reasons for it.
One of the Worst
One of the worst enemies of healing is, that unconsciously our hymn writers have all put our blessings into the future.
The theology that we sing eventually becomes the theology we believe.
We have unconsciously put all our blessings and Spiritual achievements into the “tomorrow.”
Almost no one speaks of their redemption rights in the present tense.
It is always, “I’m going to be.”
But the remarkable thing about the Scripture is that it is always in the present tense.
“In whom we have our redemption.” “Who was raised for our justification.”
There is the past and present blended in that glorious truth.
“By His stripes we were healed,” this is now!
“Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
This is all in the present tense. Sometimes He speaks of our redemption as having taken place.
If you can think of your healing as something that is done now; that has been accomplished on your behalf in Christ.
More than 130 times we are spoken of as being “in Christ.” If you are in Christ that is present tense. “You are complete in Him.” He is our fullness, our perfect redemption, now! You can see the great danger of our placing our blessings in “tomorrow.”
We have done it because of our sense of unfitness now; of our unworthiness now; and because of that sense of unfitness and unworthiness we have unconsciously pushed our victories and our healing into the future, when in reality, in the mind of God, we are healed now.
We are victors now! We are over-comers now! We are more than conquerors now in Christ Jesus!
Learn to think of yourself as indwelt, now through our Lord Jesus. Think of yourself as a victor, now; more than a conqueror now and you have placed yourself in your own mind where God has placed you.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the “now.”
“For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” That is past tense.
That is salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, now! Praise the Lord!!!
The Second Enemy
The second enemy is Mental Assent. This, the most dangerous and the most subtle of all the enemies of the human soul.
One may be deceived for years thinking that it is faith that is acting when it is only mental assent. You can be a staunch advocate of the verbal inspiration of the Word of God; you can sit under the ministry of an able expositor of the Word of God, and still not believe in faith. Mental assent recognises the truths but it does not enjoy any of the present tense realities. They stand beside the showcase and gaze upon the beautiful gems within. They rejoice in them, they can point out the differences on them. They know the difference between a faulty stone and a perfect one, but they do not own any. There is a man who understands the great prophetical teachings; rejoices greatly in the finished work of Christ; yet lives in defeat; lives in the consciousness of utter failure. What is the trouble? He mental assents to everything, but doesn’t believe.
In contrast: A believer is one who has received; who has entered into the fullness; who enjoys the present tense of the Finished Work of Christ. If we could coin the word, a Believer is a “have-er.” He has; he enjoys the experiences and the riches of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. He has passed the period of mental assent into the actual realization of the glories of Christ.
The Third Enemy
A Third enemy is the fear of yielding all to Christ. It is the old problem of the Lordship of Christ. It is strange how a man fears to yield utterly, absolutely, to the Lordship of Jesus.
It is hard for the sick to give up their medicine and their doctors. It is hard for another to yield to the Lord in regard to finances.
But you will never reach a place of real faith until you have laid aside every other means of help, relief and deliverance. God does not bless means, except to those in the babyhood state of faith.
But those who by reason of time have reached a place of full knowledge that God does not bless fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; Ephesians 5:11-12.
If you want God’s best, you will lay your best on the alter. You see, real faith thanks God for deliverance, before God has acted or delivered. Anything short of that is not faith.
If I believe in the Scriptural sense, in Divine Healing, I praise God for my healing before I am healed. The same law holds in Salvation. “That it you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you shall be saved.”
Man believes he is redeemed before he is born again, and when he believes then God acts. We make confession that the thing is done before God has done it. Then God does it.
Faith always praises before God acts.
Friday, August 1, 2008
SELAH
Ephesians 4:27, nor give place (opportunity) to the devil.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against all the wiles (deceptions, lying vanities) of the devil.
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against all the wiles (deceptions, lying vanities) of the devil.
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you
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