AUTHORITY AND POWER, PART 7

So far we have learned that Jesus came and destroyed the works of the devil for us and he rendered satan entirely useless.  Today we will see what he did to the principalities and powers and the law of sin and death.

Colossians 2:14,15, Amplified Bible

Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us).  This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.

[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it, [the cross].

God through Jesus personally cancelled the handwriting of the note that was written against us.  He completely blotted it out and wiped it away.  It was a legal demand which had been decreed against us.  It was in place and stood against us, condemning us and accusing us.  It was hostile to us.  What was that note?  It was the law of sin and death that had been instituted by Adam’s yielding to satan.  Satan has only one thing—-death, which results from sin and fear because he is fear personified.  We see in Romans 8:2 that the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.  Jesus nailed that note to the cross when he was nailed to the cross because He Who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus—-that we may be made right with God and enjoy His rights bestowed on us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Then, in addition to dealing with the law of sin and death, God through Jesus dealt a blow to satan’s kingdom by spoiling or disarming and stripping every one of satan’s demonic forces of their authority over us as God’s children.  He triumphed over them in the cross.  The cross is where the tide was turned for you and me.  We are on the other side of the cross.  We are on the victory side.  Since Jesus came to this earth and completed His assignment, we are forever free from all the dominion of the satanic realm.  We must exercise the authority we have been given over this realm in order to walk free ourselves.

We are free people!  Believe it and receive it!  Take hold of the truth of who you are in Christ Jesus!

GOD HAS A PURPOSE

God has a purpose and a plan for your life.  He placed that purpose in you when you were born into this earth.  God’s DNA chip of His destiny and purpose for you is built into you; it is a part of your being.  Here’s the good news:  He also made provision for all that you will need to fulfill that purpose.

Perhaps you think you have gotten off course and need a course correction.  The Holy Spirit of God is there to put you back on course.  It is so simple that sometimes we miss it.  God is so easy to walk with.  His love is so great and intense for you and me that He is always ready to come to our aid.  Why is that?  He wants His plan to be fulfilled in your life.  That is the place of your greatest joy and peace.  There is no greater joy than to be right in the middle of God’s perfect will.  Is that possible?  Of course it is.  All we have to do is say:  I am yielded to you God.  Tell me what to say.  Tell me what to do.  Show me where to go to do it.  I will obey.  Yielding and obedience is the key.  What a wonderful God we serve!  What a Father we have!  He waits for our obedience!

Hebrews 13:20,21 Amplified Bible

Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament), strengthen, (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of ages).  Amen (so be it).

This scripture passage settles it for me every time.  God is the Author of peace (shalom: wholeness, soundness).  He is the Giver of peace.  He is the one with resurrection power to bring His life (zoe) into you and me.  That resurrection life raises every dead thing in your life.  And you know what the wonderful part of that scenario is?  He gives us that power to do what He has called us to do.  He equips us with everything good (that’s all of Him) to carry out His will.  He is the One Who accomplishes it.  We are along for the ride.

God is in the driver’s seat and we are the passenger.  There’s only one problem with that scenario.  I imagine you can guess what that is—-we like to drive, even though we don’t know the way.  We like to do it ourselves.  Rest is a word we must learn to employ in our lives.  Rest means sitting down in the accomplished work of Jesus and following directions.  Rest means allowing God to take care of things for us; in other words, let Him do the driving.  We are to rest in His finished work.

Let’s all make the decision today and every day to rest in God’s purpose and plan for our lives and to let Him direct the operations.  He is the Chief of Operations!

AUTHORITY AND POWER, PART 9

We know our authority over the kingdom of satan because Christ has set us free from the curse of the law.  He has given us total freedom from the curse.  What is the curse?  If we look in Deuteronomy 28 we have a list of the things that come from the curse.  They can be summed up in three words:  sin, sickness, and poverty.  Each of these bring death.  Death is separation from something.  Sin is separation from the righteousness of God.  Sickness is separation from the health of God.  Poverty is separation from the prosperity of God.  God’s original intent was for us to be blessed with His Blessing.  That is still true today.  Jesus opened up the way for The Blessing of God to be available to us again.  We as God’s children should expect to walk in that Blessing.

Galatians 3:13,14,16,29

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:  that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.  He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.  And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Our inheritance, our right, is to have The Blessing of God, which is The Blessing of Righteousness, The Blessing of Health and Healing, and The Blessing of Prosperity operating in our lives all the time.  When that is not the case, we have God’s command to take authority over anything that is robbing us of our blessing or blocking our blessing.  We must be open to His instruction, because sometimes the blocking of the blessing is on our part because we are ignorant of our inheritance or we are afraid it won’t work for us or we feel like we are not worthy of it.  Of course we are not worthy of it.  BUT, JESUS CHRIST MADE US WORTHY!  It is because of Him that we have these benefits of the Kingdom of God.

What part of The Blessing do you need to be operating in your life today?  Take authority over the devil who is trying to keep it from you.  You have been set free from the curse that the blessing may be upon you.  Enjoy your Blessing!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PREPARE THE WAY

It’s a new year.  How is this year going to be different for you than last year?  Have you written down your dreams and desires for this new year?  What is it you want to see happen in this year for you and your family?  What are you plans to make it happen?  Do you have any plans, or are you going to live from day to day like you perhaps did last year?  What are your goals?  What are your dreams?  What are your desires?  Why aren’t you pursuing them?

What is holding you back?  Are you afraid?  Are you afraid it won’t happen?  Are you afraid to step out of your comfort zone?

How about making this the year you begin to move out in the things you desire to do?  What are your excuses?  You’re too old?  You don’t have any money?  You don’t have any education?  You are too busy?  You’re a young parent with no space for your dreams?  You know something—-we all have excuses.  They all seem valid to us, but are they?

I once heard someone say that if you are afraid you won’t accomplish anything and make no goals, you will have done zero at the end of the year.  But what if you made goals and only accomplished one of them.  That is better than zero.  Words for you to ponder at the beginning of this new year.

Words we speak go forth before us and create the pathway for our future, create what we will be walking in, later in life.  In due time, those words which were sent on out ahead of us will do everything they can do to produce what we have said.  God created us human beings with our mouth and tongue being the main vehicle for our lives.  Don’t you find that very interesting?  No other creature produces by their words.  We have the ability to form words and those words in turn form the life that we live.

We will walk into the words we have put out in front of us, whether those words are good or bad, positive or negative, God’s word or man’s words about us.  These words will produce substance.  That substance will eventually become reality in our lives, if we speak those words long enough.

We are told in God’s Word that He has set before us life and death, blessing and cursing; choose life! (Deuteronomy 30:19)  His Word is life. (Proverbs 4:22)  That is to be our choice —- the life of His Word.  His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path —- pathway, future, life.  (Psalm 119:105) God gave us His Word so that we would have the good life, the abundant life that He promised.  (John 10:10)  He sent His Word to deliver us from destruction.  (Psalm 107:20)

In the way of righteousness is life and in its pathway there is no death.  (Proverbs 12:28)

God and His Word are life to us, and that is what we want going before us to make our pathway one of the good life of God.

Ephesians 2:10, Amplified Bible

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us, [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

MY FATHER’S PLEASURE

Let’s talk some more today about what pleases the Father.  When we look into the Word of God, there are some very definite scriptures on what pleases the Lord.  We will explore two of them today.

In Luke 12:22-32 Jesus was teaching on being free from anxiety, worries and concerns.  He gave the reason that we do not have to be anxious about anything—-God takes total care of us.  Prior to verse 32 He said that we do not have to take any thought for our life, what we shall eat, or for our body, what we shall put on.  Jesus assured us that God feeds the birds; He causes the lilies to grow; He clothes the grass, so why are we to worry about His taking care of us.  We cannot even add one inch to our stature by worrying about it.

Then Jesus makes a very definite statement:  Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.  Do not have any fear or doubt or seek after what you shall eat or what you shall drink.  Why?  It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

What did Jesus mean by this statement?  God takes pleasure in giving to you His kingdom, all that He has.  A kingdom belongs to a king.  Everything in that kingdom is his.  Therefore, Jesus said:  It gives God pleasure to give you all that is in His kingdom.  To find out what is in His kingdom all we have to do is read this book called the Bible which He has given to us.

The other scripture I want to note here is Psalm 35:27.

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause:  yes, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

In Strong’s Concordance, the word prosperity in this verse is shalom, which means safe, well, happy, health, welfare, prosperity, peace, whole, rest, favor.  It comes from the word shalam which means safe in mind, body or estate, completed, full, peace perfect, restore, make restitution, recompense, make prosperous, make good.  We can see from these words that they are a description of God, of His kingdom.  It is everything He is and has.  Altogether, these words mean to make complete, to restore.  Sounds to me like a restoration of everything we as mankind lost in the Garden of Eden.  Jesus brought back to us with His blood everything we had lost in that Garden.  Hallelujah!

As we said yesterday, God has great pleasure in your faith because of what it brings to you of the joys of His kingdom.  He also has pleasure in your prosperity.  Prosperity is what faith brings.  Prosperity is not all about money.  It includes money, but it is so much more.  Prosperity is being successful in every area of your life, going to the highest level of excellence in each area—-in your spirit, in your soul (which includes your mind, will and emotions), in your body, in your finances and in your relationships.

God takes pleasure in seeing you excel and succeed.  It gives Him great pleasure to give you the kingdom.  I am believing with you for a beautiful, excelling, successful year receiving the Father’s Kingdom, to give Him great pleasure.

FAITH PLEASES GOD

Today is a beautiful day for all of us to be alive and to love the Lord.  He showed me something today about a very familiar scripture.  I am standing in awe at the reality of it.

We have all heard the scripture that says that without faith it is impossible to please God.  In fact, let’s look at it.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please him:  For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We all have looked at this scripture through fleshly, earthly eyes.  Do you know why it is impossible to please God without faith?  That word please does not mean to satisfy Him or perform for Him mighty acts to prove our faith.  No, a thousand times no!  It means that it brings our dear heavenly Father, our God, great pleasure when He sees us enjoying the fullness of the life that He has provided for us.  It gives Him great joy when He sees us basking in the benefits that He has provided for us as His children.  Those benefits, the good life, come as a result of believing that God has provided all of them for us.  That is faith, and that gives God great joy and pleasure to watch us.  He loves to give, and we in turn must love to receive from Him.  That pleasure of receiving turns us into joyful givers who take pleasure in the joy that others get from our giving.  It’s all about the circle of giving and receiving, receiving and giving.  Isn’t that good news!

Your faith pleases your Father!  It is a good thing!

GOD CREATED ALL THINGS

God created all things.  He created you and me.  He knows us.  He knows every desire we have, whether it is little or big.  He knows our thoughts and the struggles we have in our thought life.  He knows when we doubt and He knows when we are strong in faith.  He knows all about our bodies.  He created them.  He knows all about our personalities.  He created us.  He knows all about our abilities.  He put them in us.  Do you get the picture?  The One Who created us can be trusted.  He is the One!  He is the One True God!  He cares deeply about us.  He loves us intensely.

Let’s dwell on some scriptures today to increase our trust in God.

Psalm 115:9,10,12,15

I trust in You, Lord; You are my help and my shield.

The Lord has been mindful of me.  He will bless me.

I am blessed of the Lord Who made heaven and earth.

Revelation 4:11

…He has created all things; for His pleasure, by His will they were created, brought into being.

That includes me!

John 1:3

All things were made and came into existence through and by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made; nothing came into being without Him.

Colossians. 1:16

…all things were created by Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:19

All fullness (divine perfection, powers and attributes) dwells in Him permanently.

Colossians 2:9,10

In Him dwells all the fullness of God.

I am complete in Him.

He’s the Head of all principality and power.

John 1:16 and 2 Peter 1:3,4

Out of His fullness I have received grace, spiritual blessing, favor, gifts —- everything that pertains to life and godliness.

Through His Word I am a partaker of His divine nature.

Romans 11:36

All things originate with God and come from Him.

All things live through Him —- all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him

Acts 17:28

In Him I live and move and have my being….

To Him be glory forever!  Amen—-so be it!

It’s all about God.  It all begins with Him, continues in Him and ends with Him.  We are in Him.  Therefore, we are safe and secure in Him.  We can trust our Creator.  What He creates, He can maintain.  He is capable.  He has the ability.  He will take care of us.

OUR FAITHFUL GOD

Yesterday we talked about our being faithful.  Today let’s talk about God’s faithfulness.  Wow, what a subject!  We read in God’s Word that He is faithful to us.  I know that some of you are saying that it doesn’t look like He and His Word are faithful to you sometimes.  I have had those feelings at points in my life.  But here is the bottom line.  HE IS FAITHFUL ALWAYS AND HIS WORD IS TRUE ALWAYS for anyone, regardless of who you are or how much you feel like you can’t believe or that things are not working in your life for your good.

God is still faithful when you feel like you are not able to grab hold of that faithfulness.  In times like that, grab hold of this statement and believe it is true for your life, regardless of what you are experiencing:  GOD IS FAITHFUL TO ME!  HIS WORD IS WORKING IN MY LIFE!  That is what faith is all about:  trusting God when it looks like there is no reason to trust Him.  He is not a man that He can lie.  Whatever His Word says, that is for you.  It is true for you regardless of what you may be experiencing to the contrary.  Choose to believe.  Choose to receive the truth of His Word working in your situation.  CHOOSE!

Let’s look at a few scriptures to confess and meditate on God’s faithfulness until we have faith built up in us to believe He is faithful to us. They are taken from the Amplified Bible and personalized for confession.

2 Corinthians 9:8 tells us that God is able to make all grace abound toward us so that we may always have enough, regardless of the circumstances or need.  We not only need God’s grace to get saved, we also need God’s grace to live.  His grace is His ability given to us. It’s that simple.  Why do I talk about grace here when we are focusing on God’s faithfulness?  We need His grace, His ability, to believe.

Deuteronomy 7:9

I know, recognize and understand that the Lord my God is God; He is a faithful God; He keeps His covenant with me (His promises, His Word) and He keeps His mercy (steadfast love) with me who loves Him and keeps His covenant (Word).

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, reliable, trustworthy and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended upon.  By Him I was called into companionship with His Son Jesus Christ my Lord.

God, You are faithful to Your Word and to Your loving, merciful, compassionate nature.  You can be trusted.  You are ever true to what You say.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

Lord, You are faithful; You will strengthen me and establish me and set me on a firm foundation.  You will keep me from the evil one.

Revelation 19:11 and 21:5

Lord, You are called Faithful, Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady and True.  Your Word is faithful, accurate, incorruptible, trustworthy, true and genuine.

God and His Word are forever faithful to me as His child.  I can trust Him.

FAITHFUL

A faithful man shall abound with blessings…. (Proverbs 28:20)

In Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents, Jesus talks about a faithful person.

In a number of scripture passages, God is spoken of as a faithful God.

What is faithful?  What does it mean?  How does God look at faithfulness?

A faithful person is one who is true to his word and follows through on what he says.  He consistently does what is right.  He can be depended upon to get the job done when he is assigned a task.  You can depend on that person when you need something accomplished.  You can walk away and know that when you come back tomorrow or whenever the deadline is, the work will be completed with excellence and without complaint.

In today’s world faithfulness is a trait that not everybody sees as important.  The thinking goes like this:  “Oh, well, if I can’t get it done, I can’t get it done.  What’s the big deal!  I have so many other things to do.  They will understand.”

Apparently God thinks it is a big deal.  In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus commended the person who did something with what he had been given.  In Proverbs we read that a faithful man shall abound (that means overflow) with blessings.  I want to be blessed so I ask God to keep me faithful every day to Him and to others.

If you have challenges in being faithful, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to become that person who can be depended upon.  He will help you.  He always helps us to do whatever we need to do.  Ask Him.  Ask for God’s grace or ability to become a faithful person.

God’s faithfulness will make you faithful.  Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:24.

Faithful is He Who is calling you to Himself and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it, fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you.

Look at that.  God is faithful to you.  You can trust Him.  He will fulfill His call on your life.  I know He will help you to be faithful.  You can depend on Him.

GOD MY FATHER

Today I have another set of scripture verses to confess over ourselves and those we love, whether they are family or friends.

Psalm 89:17,24,26,28,33,34; Isaiah 55:11

God, You are the glory of my strength and in Your favor my horn is exalted.

Your faithfulness and unfailing love (loving kindness) is with me and in Your name my horn is being exalted (Great peace and prosperity shall be conferred upon me.).

Horn:  Emblem of excessive strength and stately grace

I shall cry to You:  You are my Father.  You are my God.  You are the Rock of my salvation.

I thank You keep Your mercy and loving kindness for me forevermore and Your covenant stands fast and is faithful to me.

Thank You that Your loving kindness You do not take from me or break off from me, nor allow Your faithfulness to fail (to lie and be false to me).

Thank You that You do not  break or profane Your covenant with me, nor alter the thing that is gone out of Your lips.  Your Word is what has gone out of Your lips, Lord, and it does not return to You empty, void, meaningless, without producing any effect or bringing results in my life and the lives of those I love.

I believe I receive this scripture working in my life and the lives of those I love.  I believe.  I receive.