Hope Is A Certainty. It Will Definitely Happen.

Hope is often seen as a possibility and not a certainty. In everyday discourse we use it as something that may happen. However it is more then that in spiritual terms. It is a certainty and will happen. There maybe a delay between what is given and when it is received but it will happen. In God's terms hope is a certainty and so hope is more than just a wish. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. This means that hope is alive and will see what we believe for. Hope therefore is a powerful word that waits for the promise to be fulfilled.

Hope is used many times in the Bible as a word to expect from God what He has promised. Hope is a now word for us to move forward and not look back. Abraham left for the promised land knowing that God had promised and so he went. The promise needs to be received by faith and hope sees it through. We hope for things we do not see. What is there to hope for things that we see? Hope brings the invisible into the visible. It is the certainty of what we believe in. whether it is healing or freedom. 

Let us hope for what God has promised in His word. Today let us speak His word out boldly whether personal or corporate. His word spoken out boldly will release power to perform what it is sent out to do. The angels will carry your spoken word and perform that word into existence. God spoke and created all things that we see. We likewise have to speak His word and will see the mountains move. What a promise we have in the Spirit to pray and see His works through our words spoken in faith.

I Am Dead In Christ. I Am Alive In Christ.

 

This appears to be a paradox but it is not. Jesus said unless a seed dies it will not bring forth life. Death is a condition for new life. Jesus died and rose again into new life. His followers have to die to self to live like Christ. I choose to die in Christ so that I can live in Christ. This is not just an intellectual assent but a key to life. When I believe it, it will become life to me. God's word is full of power to transform what is dead into life. Death may sound like the end but in Christ it is the beginning. Jesus showed us the way to true living by dying for us. This is the way He has paid for us to follow. There is no other way. The sooner we accept His way, the greater will be our experience of resurrection life.

 

Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to live in us and through us. He did this because He knew it would be impossible for us to live His life on our own. We can never be able to live a life of abundance in our own strength. It's His life in us that abounds in us. It is His joy and peace that keeps us looking forward and not backward. We can only move forward in Him. He will take care of our past and so we can let go of all that will slow us down. He has set us free from our past and His blood assures us of true freedom.

 

Christ in us is the hope of glory. He has promised us much but only those who are prepared to die can benefit from His promises. This is a daily death we need to die to self and let Christ rule and reign. His reign in us will lead to His presence being manifested through us. This is how we can establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. There are no short cuts. The way is narrow and straight but few choose to walk in it. I have chosen to walk in it. Will you?

God's Perfect Will Is That You Be Healthy, Wealthy And Wise.

 

God's perfect will for His creation is that we be well as our soul prospers (3 John 2:1). This wellness is in all areas including the physical.  This is God's perfect will for us and He is not a respecter of persons. This means He is not biased in any way as He loves us all equally. However we can choose whether we follow Him or go our own way. Adam had a choice as did Lucifer. They both chose to go against God's way and fell into sin. Rebellion against God is the pattern from the beginning and we see the results in our lives today. We were born in sin and only the blood of Jesus can save us from its power over us. The power of sin condemns us but the blood of Jesus redeems us.

 

This promise of God for a healthy life is His perfect will. In this world we will be faced with choices to sin or not. Sin comes in different forms. We can sin in thought, word or deed. Sin is sin and there is no such thing as the degree of sin. We tend to make judgements like murder is worse than lying. God does not. We think that sinning in thoughts of lust is ok but God does not. He said if we lust after a woman in our thoughts, we have committed adultery with her. God's judgement bar is much higher than ours. This is why we can never work to redeem ourselves from the power of sin. However God has provided a way out in that He sent Jesus to die for us.

 

God's promises remain active today. All we need to do is believe His promises. He can reverse all our sickness and disease in a moment. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. There is no sickness in heaven. Therefore the hindrance to receiving our reward lies within us. We must repent and surrender all to Him. Our soul will prosper as we do this and our health and wealth will follow. There is a condition in God's promises. We have to choose to do His will. What are we waiting for? Let us enter into the land of His promises and be healed and be made whole in Jesus’ Name.

Which Spirit Empowers You? The Evil Spirit Or Holy Spirit?

 

We live in a spirit world whether we are aware of it or not. This spirit world is an unseen world but the spirits in it also have a role in the seen world. The god of this world is Satan, who with his fallen angels operate in this world. However Satan  dwells in the second heaven and has no access to the third heaven where God resides . God is in control of all things He has created. The demons are working in this world to take as many as possible to Hell with them. Satan and his followers are doomed to eternity in Hell. Heaven is for those who have chosen to follow Jesus, who came to save us from an eternity in Hell. We now have to choose which spirit we will follow.

 

Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to indwell all those who will call Him Lord. We are children of God when we choose to follow Him. However as long as we are in the flesh we have to choose to follow Him or the spirit of this world. Our flesh is tempted to give into its desires and follow the spirit of this world. We now have to choose whether we will do this or deny our flesh its desires and follow the Holy Spirit. This is the battle of the mind we have to fight daily in our lives till we die. We will all die one day unless we are raptured or the Lord returns in His second coming. 

 

When we give into the spirit of the world we will be led into all kinds of vices. The spirit of the world comes to steal, kill and destroy. Discern which spirit is leading you by answering this simple question. Am I giving into my flesh which steals, kills and destroys? All jealousy, pride, unforgiveness and hatred is of the spirit of this world. When we harbour these thoughts and feelings we give the devil a foothold in our life. Repent and be set free and live in the power of the Holy Spirit today.

How To Prepare For The Suddenlies Of God.

 

Our God is a God of the Suddenlies. God suddenly appeared to Moses in a burning bush. God suddenly appeared as a strong light to Paul when he was on the road to Damascus. So also there are many other occasions when God came and suddenly did the impossible like parting of the Red Sea. We can and must expect God to move suddenly in our situations in life. One day recently, I was heading for a car crash and God suddenly moved my car sideways and saved me from a head on collision. In the spiritual realm anything is possible. We need to operate in the spiritual realm to see and experience the suddenlies of God.

 

One of the ways to prepare for these suddenlies is to walk in repentance. Repentance is a lifestyle and not just a confession. When we walk in repentance we are preparing the soil of our hearts to receive from God. God loves those who repent and turn from their wicked ways and pray. It is like tilling the soil of our heart. When we till we prevent the weeds from growing and aerate the soil. This enables roots from a wheat crop to grow deep and subsequently the harvest will be rich and full. Take every thought to the obedience of Christ and do not give into the flesh. The Holy Spirit will alert you to those nagging thoughts and desires of the flesh. Delete those thoughts from your mind through repentance.

 

Forgiveness is another key to preparing the soil of your heart. When we forgive a person we say we do not hold any grudges towards them and set them free. This will free us from any negative emotion we hold towards that person. We need to detach from that person and not allow any negativity to be a foothold for the devil. The devil can only harass us when we give him a foothold. Preparing our heart is freeing us from all negativity towards self or others. Self hatred is the worst kind of negativity we can harbour towards oneself. Forgive yourself and embrace the love of God in your heart. Now expect God to move into your situation suddenly.

Faith Says, "I Got It".

Faith is a living word. Faith is active and all of us have a deposit of faith to believe. Faith can be defined as trust. It can also be a gift. Abraham by faith believed God and it was counted as righteousness to him. We too come to God by faith and believe He is our Saviour. Faith has many layers. There is child like faith. There is mature faith. There is faith like a mustard seed that can move mountains. We need faith to believe in God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is. Faith is substance and evidence of what we do not see and hope for. We have it before we see it. There are many examples of the people of faith doing exploits for God. The woman in the Bible who had a bleeding disorder, had faith that she would be healed if she just touched the shawl of Jesus. She was healed and Jesus felt the power leave Him. 

We too need faith to receive all that God has planned for us. We receive all things by faith. There is no other way to please God. We cannot grow in faith by good works. We have to trust God in everything. God is a loving Father and He wants to give us good things. The way to access the benefits of heaven is to ask by faith. Once we have asked it is settled and we wait till we receive it. We must continue to believe we have it and not doubt. This is living by faith in action. Our faith is active and grows as we walk in it. Like a bud it begins and then the full bloom occurs. 

Faith that says"I got it" believes in the finished work. Jesus said on the Cross, "It is finished". This means what He came to do He had done. So also faith believes that what we ask is done. Jesus said we can ask anything in His name and we will have it. I am believing for a new pancreas and believe I have got it. I now wait for the manifestation of it. It could be to-day or in a few weeks or months. I will wait in faith till I see it manifested in my body. Till then I will praise the Lord for a new pancreas.  Today let us operate in faith and believe that whatever we ask according to His will is ours.

There Are No Limitations In God

 

God is all knowing and all powerful. This is an understatement. He is limitless and there are no limits in Him. It is therefore impossible to describe God and know Him as He is. However God made it possible to know Him through His Son, Jesus. Every other knowledge of God is limited whether it is through philosophy or other religions. Jesus is the ultimate answer to knowing God. He has revealed Himself to us His creation in human terms that we can understand. Jesus is God come in human form to reveal His Father in heaven. We His creation only see dimly and therefore know only partially. He reveals Himself to those who seek Him. There is no partiality with Him.

 

Our limitless God came in human form to reveal His personality so that we could get to know Him and have a relationship with Him. We are in Christ in position as a child of God. We are also in Christ in our relationship with Him. Just as Jesus related to His Father in heaven, we too now can relate with God and call Him Abba Father. It is our relationship with Him as a Father that makes it possible to do His works. He works through us and is not limited. He works by His Holy Spirit who lives in us. Can you imagine the potential we have in us? Nothing is impossible when God works through us.

 

When we move in His Spirit we will be able to do wonders in His name. Jesus said we would do greater works than what He did because He is now with the Father. He has ascended to heaven and His Holy Spirit in us is the connection with Him. Without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing. In the Holy Spirit we can do all things for He is our strength. We can heal the sick and deliver the captive. There are limitless possibilities because He lives in us. Do we believe this? When we do, we will be victorious in all situations because the devil is no match to the power of God in us.

Intimacy With God Is Possible Through Jesus.

 

God is not a distant object of our imagination but a person like us created by Him. He designed us for fellowship and intimacy just like Jesus has with His Father in heaven. However through the Fall our fellowship with Him was cut off. Sin cut us off and Jesus had to come and die as a sinless sacrifice to pay for our penalty. This restored us to our right relationship with Father God. This is the gospel in a nutshell. The first Adam created in the image of God sinned. The second Adam, Jesus, the sinless lamb of God redeemed us from that original sin. This was planned before the foundation of the world. God knows the end from the beginning.

 

Now we all have the opportunity to have the same relationship with the Father as Jesus did. The separation has been removed and we have direct access to the Father. Before Jesus came only the high priest had entrance to the holy of holies and that only once a year. Now through Jesus we have access to God anytime and anywhere. This is the Good News of the gospel. Once you receive this revelation of love, nothing can stop you from intimacy with the Father in heaven. Many still are bound by rules and regulations and are blind to the salvation obtained by Jesus on the Cross.

 

Intimacy with God is the hallmark of a disciple of Jesus. It is relationship and not performance that marks the life of a true disciple. Many are caught up by the law of works but work in vain. No amount of work done in our own strength can please the Father. Jesus spent time with His Father and the works He did flowed from His relationship with His Father. We too can do the same. Cultivate intimacy with the Father and see a difference in your walk. Signs and wonders will follow just as when Jesus walked on earth. Come to the river of life and be filled with His love and be victorious. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. What a salvation we have in Jesus.

Crucifying The Flesh Daily Is The Key To Operating In Resurrection Power

 

Jesus made the way for us to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh. He knew the flesh is under the power of sin but He came to redeem our spirit. We can now live in the resurrected power of Christ in the Spirit. We need however to reckon our flesh dead to experience the resurrection power. There is no resurrection without death. However this death to the flesh is something we need to do daily. Our flesh will continue to be our default position unless we reckon it dead. When we partake of the communion we proclaim this death with Christ on the Cross to the flesh. The Cross is what made the resurrection real. This resurrection power is now available to us today.

 

The church however appears to have compromised with the flesh and given in to the ways of the world. What we see in the world is a compromised church. However there is a remnant that believes and pursues the life of Christ on earth. Jesus walked in resurrection power  after His death. He now has afforded this same death and resurrection power to us who believe. This is the truth. Now we can live that life He promised, otherwise He is a liar. But God does not lie. The problem is with us if we are not experiencing resurrection power now.

 

The way is narrow for those who want to live a crucified life here on earth. There are no short cuts to heaven. However God has provided a way by His Holy Spirit. His Spirit empowers us as we die to self and surrender all to Him. This is a daily walk and He helps us live in resurrection power. This is why Jesus said that we could do greater works than what He did. In the Spirit we can walk in resurrection power and reverse the laws of nature. Creative miracles and healings can occur. We will be able to translocate to places in the Spirit. All that Jesus did and more is possible. Will we choose today to walk a crucified life and live in resurrection power?

Mental Toughness. How To Be Mentally Tough?

 

We live in a world where we have to process many things mentally. We sense many things and we process what we sense mentally. Our mental processes are determined by what we have learnt from birth. We develop mentally as we grow. Life experiences that are both good and bad enable us to process and understand our world. We begin to be tough  as we go through bad experiences but some of us buckle under when the pressure gets too much. Some of us are given a good start in life and are able to stand during those bad experiences. Others have had a difficult start but have learnt how to be strong despite the circumstances. Our responses to challenging situations determine whether we will stand or fall. How then can we learn from this and be strong mentally?

 

Having a strong faith in God can help us in this process. His love and strength can help us to stand when everything around us is breaking down. Knowing the love of God deep in our heart is a solid foundation to mental toughness. Having good relationships can also help us get through tough times. This life is an illusion and what appears solid changes with time. We think nothing will change but life is changed when a calamity like a storm or flood destroys what we have. When we come to the place where we recognise that this world is temporary and nothing lasts, then we become resilient. Resilience is a characteristic of those who have learnt to surmount difficulties and challenges in life. We build resilience by confronting challenges and not running away and hiding. 

 

Positive relationships and support from others help in building mental toughness. However at the end of the day we all have to stand alone when everyone leaves us. Jesus was left alone when He went through the desert. We will have times when we too have to go through the desert. These are times when we have to rely on God to fill us and sustain us. It is our connection with Him that will help us when things go sour. It is during the down times when the tough get going. The good times are good but do not challenge us. We have to be willing to go through these down times to become tough. Trust God always to help you through these down times and be victorious.

How To Deprogram And Reprogram Your Mind

 

Our mind is where the battle is. Our spirit has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. However our soul has to go through a process of transformation. Before we were born again in the spirit our soul was programmed by sin and the enemy of our soul and the world. Now we need to deprogram and reprogram our mind according to the word of God. This is a process and the speed of transformation depends on our desire to walk in the ways of the Lord. Many fall away like Jesus told in the story of the sower and the four types of soil. The cares of the world and pressures will take us away from walking with the Lord. I have found a way to stay in the word and be victorious in our battle.

 

Firstly we need to leave all and follow Jesus. This is to detach ourselves from  all things in the world including our relationships. This is not easy as we love to be close to people especially members of our family. However Jesus said that we have to leave all, meaning detach ourselves from any involvement that will keep us from following Him. Many will struggle with this high calling. It is not easy to let go of intimate relationships. However this letting go is not to leave our relationships but have a new relationship that is under the Lordship of Jesus. We will now look to God to meet all our needs and not to man.  Many relationships break down because we expect others to meet our needs. This is a shift where we look to God to meet our needs so that we can nourish our relationships with others. This is to love God and love our brother as ourselves. When we are filled with God's love then we will be able to love our brother as we love ourselves.

 

Secondly we need to delete the old programme in our minds. Every time we have a repeated thought or feeling from the past we need to delete it. This will make room for the Holy Spirit to come in and heal that area of hurt or unforgiveness. We need to repent and forgive and turn from our wicked ways. In this way we begin to renew our minds with God' s word and reprogram our mind. Now we will experience new feelings which will lead to changed behaviours. Once we used to feel anger, but now we begin to feel love for the person who hurt us. This is the only way we can fulfil Jesus’ command to love our enemies. Jesus loved Judas even though He knew that he would betray Him. There is no easy way for the flesh is weak but the Spirit is strong and He lives in us. Let us seek to walk in His ways and glorify His Name and win battles.