As I Disappear, He Appears. Is This Possible?

 

Man was created in the image of God. However sin entered the human race through the Fall and man lost his original place on earth. Man became a slave to sin. Sin thus controlled man, but Jesus came to reverse the power of sin over man. Yet man continues to suffer under the burden of sin. We are assailed by sickness and disease. We face death daily. Stress is a way of life for we face pressures from within and without. This is the state of man despite the salvation wrought through Christ. Who can deliver us from this state? God has provided the means.

 

We must take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. This is the only way we can overcome sin, the world and the devil. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. We are to do the same. Yet what we see is that the devil is destroying us. Why has the church lost its initial glory? The early church was full of power. Jesus did not leave us alone but sent His Spirit to indwell us. Yet we live like we are under siege. We live in fear rather than faith. We have wandered away from our first love. We excuse our lack of faith and blame it on the devil. It is time to wake up and take our place in Christ.

 

The only way we can do this is through total surrender. Jesus was dependent on His Father all the time. He only did what He saw His Father doing. We have to do the same. This is only possible as we turn from our own independence and walk in dependence on Him. We must disappear if He is to appear. As we become less He becomes more. There is no other way the Spirit can conquer through us. God has provided for us and we must depend on His provision. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) . This is the only way. Is this possible? It surely is. Only believe.

Your Spirit Is Born Again And Redeemed. Your Flesh Is Being Sanctified.

 

Man is made of body, soul and spirit. Man was born in sin and so his spirit was dead at birth. Man is made in the image of God but his spirit is dead due to sin. Now he has a form of godliness but his spirit is dead. Man needs to be born again in the spirit to be made new. This is the reason Jesus came. Through His death and resurrection He was able to impart His Spirit into man. When His Spirit is received he becomes a new creation in Christ. This is called the born-again experience. Man now lives forever in his spirit. However the body and the soul are still not redeemed. The body and soul are still subject to man. God resides in his spirit but only those who walk according to the Spirit can subdue the body and soul.

 

The flesh which is a term for body and soul needs to be sanctified. Sanctification is a life-long process. To be fully sanctified is to be like Jesus. His Spirit in us does the work of sanctification as we submit to Him daily. Many don't understand this process and so remain infants in their spirit. To grow in the spirit one needs to be filled with the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in us and He leads and guides us. He is our Helper, Comforter and Teacher. He is always communicating with us. He gives us His thoughts and feelings. All we need to do is listen to Him. When we acknowledge Him as Lord, He takes over. This is a daily surrender to His will. Remember, we are in a battle.

 

The battle for our soul is called spiritual warfare. The devil and the world conspire to distract us from our submission to the Lord. God is on our side but He has given us a free will to choose whom we will serve. Jesus had many following Him but only a few stuck with Him. So also today many are happy to be saved but few want to be His disciples. Many start well but then fall away due to the pressures of the world and the devil. We see this in every area of life. The battle can get fierce and some have lost their lives in following Jesus. We must surrender all to Him daily till we are called home to Him. There is no better life to live than in total surrender to Him.

What Is Your Filter? Is It The Word Of God?

 

What is your filter that allows your perception of what you hear and see? All of us have filters that help us to process the information we receive from our senses. These filters enable us to accept and reject information. They are like inbuilt defences. Negative information is rejected. Our filters are like our conscience. Our conscience helps us to be sensitive to the voice of God and to others. Without a conscience we will be like animals that have no conscience. We were made in the image of God. The rest of creation was not. Therefore it is sacrilegious to say we have evolved from monkeys. This is why we need to know the word of God to counter the nonsense from the opinions of man. Man was born in sin and therefore our knowledge and wisdom are fallen and partial. Our knowledge of truth is partial till we know the Truth.

 

Jesus is our Truth. He came to redeem us from our fallen state. Now He is our filter. When we acknowledge Him as Lord, He becomes Lord. He is not just our Saviour but also our Lord. He becomes our conscience. This is why we face so many battles in this life, for truth is always attacked. The world does not know Him. He came into the world but the world knew Him not. When we are born again in the spirit we come to know Him as God. Yet despite this we still see so many versions of Christianity amongst His followers. Why is this so? Our spirit is redeemed but our flesh is not. Our flesh continues to be influenced by sin and is susceptible to sin. 

 

What is the way out of this dilemma? Paul addresses this issue in Romans 8. Only in the Spirit can we find true freedom from the desires of the flesh. We could be in the spirit but still walk in the flesh. This is why we say a lot of right things but then live like the world.  We need to be filled with the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. These days the church is like the world and so has lost its light and salt. We are called to be light and salt in the world. We need to repent for our tastelessness and darkness and return to His light. When we do this, we usher in the glory of God into our midst. We need to filter out all ungodliness and worldliness and become holy in His presence. This is the only way to cause a revival to break forth in our midst. Let us start today and continue daily till we are called home to His heavenly abode.

 

Resting In God Is A Faith Position For Those Who Know God.

 

Resting in God's promises is only possible for those who know God intimately. The place of rest is a place for all who believe and trust in Him and His word. God rested after He did His works. We need to enter into His rest now that He has completed His works. Why then the restlessness in our hearts? We are restless only because we have not entered His rest, which is a place where we trust all things into God's hands. He is the Creator and we are His creation, who should know His love and therefore rest just like a child knows his father's love and rests. What a place of peace and trust and no man can buy this rest. This rest is only available through intimacy with God.

 

Intimacy is a well-known term but few understand the depth of its meaning. To be intimate is to be exposed to another and be vulnerable. One cannot be intimate with another if one is not exposed. God knows all things about us. We cannot hide from Him. He knows our deepest thoughts and the intent of our heart. We may think we can fool others but we can never fool God. We must come to Him openly and bare all to Him. In this place we will know the Father heart of God and know His rest. We trust Him and He trusts us and there is no doubt. “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give” will be our daily song.

 

What a good place to be when all around us appears to be crumbling and falling down. Man-made structures and monuments can be easily destroyed. His word never changes and is eternal. His word is a light that shines through darkness and shows up the hidden areas that need to be exposed. In this process of exposure is our deliverance. We are at rest for there is no fear in perfect love. Others may deride Him but we choose to trust Him and His completed works. Hallelujah what a salvation we have in Jesus. We rest because He rests and is seated on the right hand of the Father. Come and enter into His rest today.

How To Translate Your Faith Into Action In Jesus’ Name.

 

Faith is easily said but many do not understand the depth of this word. Many have tried to define faith as trust, hope, evidence of things not seen. It is all that, but more. God created the worlds by faith. The blind man was healed by faith. The lame man walked by faith. Water was turned into wine by faith. So what is faith? Words fail to define faith because it is something that God has dealt in measure to each one (Rom 12:3).  As Christians, we all have a degree of faith and therefore are able to see the invisible realm to a degree. However God imparts faith to not only see the impossible but also make it possible. 

 

To have faith in God is to believe in Him. Without faith no man can come to God. God has imparted to us a degree of faith to be able to believe in Him. However to do exploits in God we need to have the gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:9). This is the faith of God. This is supernatural faith. This is faith that believes beyond all doubt. This is the faith that enabled Peter to walk on water. There are so many examples of this faith in action in the Bible. Recently I heard of a testimony of faith in a prophetic word for compensation to come to pass. In natural terms it was impossible but faith in the spoken word broke through the barriers.

 

We too can see the prophetic word come into action. Faith without works is dead. Faith must result in works. God promised us that He will do what He promised to do. The Apostle John prayed for health and prosperity even as our soul prospers (3 John 2). We either believe His word or walk in unbelief. I choose to walk by faith. I will  believe till I see the fruit of my faith in God's promises being fulfilled daily in my life. We can grow in faith as we walk by faith. Choose to walk by faith today and see the impossible become possible.