Authority

Posted on jan2 CommentsPosted in Challenge, Relationship, Trust

                                                                    … in Him!

 
If you know your authority,
… you have authority,
not because the Bible says so,
… but because it is real to you.

Quoting scriptures, shouting at the devil, being boisterous
… won’t give you authority,

      And the evil spirit answered and said,
      ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’
      Acts 19:15

Knowing who you are in Jesus, and who He is in you,
… that is the foundation of your authority.
Remember, the authority is in His name,
… so if Jesus is not there where you are,
neither will His authority be,

      and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us
      who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
      which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
      Eph 1:19-20

The power is there, where are you,
… when you are with Him and in Him.

      If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
      John 15:7

      for in Him we live and move and have our being, Acts 17:28
      … and our authority!
 

I have come…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Life, Potential, Value

                                             that you may have life!

 
      I have come that they may have life,
      John 10:10

What does ‘that you may have life’ mean?
What is life?

      If you are saying to someone who is breathing,
      … ‘I am here so you can have life’
      that LIFE is not referring to the physical state,
      BUT is obviously about what is happening in your life,
      … and about what you are doing with your life!

For this very reason the Apostle John wrote…

      Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health,
      just as your soul prospers.
      3 John 2

In order for us to prosper and be in health, something needs to happen,
… we need to make some changes in the way we do things.
In other words,
we have to LIVE that life that Jesus made available to us,
and, as we renew our minds by responding to God’s Word
… our souls will prosper,
and the evidence of that abundant life will be in our lives!

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10:10

Life and the abundant result of life is available to you,

      If you will avail yourself to His Word,
      … you will be en-abled through His Word
      to live in the fullness of God’s life in you!

      If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
      John 15:7
 

Faith works

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Character, Faith, Relationship

                                                        … always?

 
Faith works
… but does it always?

The Bible tells us that,
      … faith is the substance of things hoped for – Heb. 11:1
      … without faith it is impossible to please God – Heb. 11:6

So obviously faith does work,
Yet the Apostle James wrote
      Thus also faith by itself,
      if it does not have works, is dead – James 2:17

Does that mean that I must do something to get faith to work?
No, not at all!
But, if what you are doing is not bringing anything,
… it is obviously NOT faith.

So what should I do?
      looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
      Heb 12:2

Get to know Jesus personally, and hear Him for your life,
… as Jesus Himself said,

      If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
      John 15:7

That is how faith works
… in Jesus and in what Jesus has done, for you.
That is the faith that pleases God, and that He rewards

      But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
      for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
      and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
      Heb 11:6
 

Knowledge

Posted on jan4 CommentsPosted in Challenge, Expectations, Relationship

                                           …not just information!

 
Knowledge … a word everyone knows and uses,
yet few seem to know the true or real meaning of ‘knowledge’?

      An archaic, but the most descriptively correct definition is
      … ‘sexual intimacy’
      In other words, meaning to … intimately KNOW (something),
      … is the closest to what knowledge is really all about.

We may know about so many things,
… but what ‘real’ knowledge do we have of those things?
Do you really know more about it than just – what it is?
Can you say that you have a close, intimate knowledge of it?

Take God as an example,
If there is anyone who really knows everything, God does.
Yet, more than once in the Bible it is recorded that God said,
      ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ Luke 13:25

      Now since God does know everything,
      what could He have meant by saying, I don’t know you!
      Simply this, that the people God was referring to,
      … did not have an ‘intimate or close relationship with Him’.

Is it really impossible for God to know what everyone thinks?
Of course not.
But God does NOT involve Himself personally,
… with what we don’t want to share with Him!
And therefore there is NO intimate or personal knowledge.

      Consider this …
      We all have and know how to use a ‘smart phone’,
      … but do we have the KNOWLEDGE of all that it can do for us?

      Just as we all also know God and all of His promises,
      … but do we have a personal relationship with Him,
      … and that intimate knowledge of His will for our lives!
 

Change …

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Character, Responsibility, Value

                                                     the way you think!

 
If you change your way of thinking
… you change your way of acting,
that is what repenting is all about.

      When you change what you are thinking and believing
      … you take responsibility for your life.

If you dare believe (that Jesus came so that you may have life),
… and change your way of thinking (renewing your mind),
it WILL change the way you act
… and you will start living that abundant life
Jesus gave His life for:

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10:10

Through living what you believe
your life on earth changes into what God planned from the beginning,
… and as you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
… and what God did when He raised Jesus from the dead,
God comes into your life and changes it.

      And as you receive Him and His love for you,
      … your life is being changed,

      Love has been perfected among us in this:
      that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
      because as He is, so are we in this world.
      1 John 4:17
 

Move that Mountain

Posted on jan4 CommentsPosted in Expectations, Faith, Trust

                                               … with your faith!

 
Do you have challenges in your life?
Are there some mountains in your path?
We all do.
But how do you believe and not doubt
… that that mountain will move?

      If what you want is based on God’s Word,
      … and you have made Him your source,
      then what doubt can there be?

So, simply do what the Bible tells us to do,

      Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
      Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
      James 4:7-8

For that is when God not only hears you,
… but is when He will do as He promised.

      And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask,
      we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
      1 John 5:15

But, why does that mountain have to move?
      Because Jesus paid the price for it to move,
      … and because you put your trust and faith in Him,
      it has to move!

      So Jesus answered and said to them,
      Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt,
      you will not only do what was done to the fig tree,
      but also if you say to this mountain,
      ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
      Matthew 21:21
 

Faith is…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Covenant, Faith, Relationship

                                                              … important!

 
Faith is not just important
… faith is essential,
because,
      without faith it is impossible to please God,
      Heb. 11:6
However,
… faith is not about what you do,
but faith is about what God has done
… and about what Jesus has done!

So how then do I get faith?
      For by grace you have been saved through faith,
      and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
      not of works, lest anyone should boast.
      Eph 2:8-9

Faith is a gift …
      looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
      Heb 12:2

Therefore, as you get to know Him,
… through reading and meditating on His Word,
faith will come!

How does faith grow?

      Our faith does not grow just by reading the Bible,
      … unless God Himself is part of our time in His Word.
      Faith does not grow because of our efforts,
      … or even because of how many times we confess the Word.
      Spend time with Him and in His Word,
      … and let Him grow your faith through His Word,

      So then faith comes by hearing,
      and hearing by the (rhema) word of God.
      Romans 10:17
 

In His Rest…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Life, Potential, Trust

                                      … and in His plan!

 
Where does God’s rest come from,
… and why does God want us to enter it?

      Then God saw everything that He had made,
      and indeed it was very good.
      Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,
      because in it He rested from all His work
      which God had created and made.
      Genesis 1:31 – 2:3

God’s rest is therefore in that place where all that He created and made is,
… where everything is not only done, but very good!
And God planted a garden which He filled with everything man needed,
… with all the resources for man to exploit.

      Then the Lord God took the man
      and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
      Genesis 2:(8-)15

God’s rest, that place where God intended for us to live!

      It is not about a place where our needs are met,
      … and it is not about where we have all we want,
      but God’s rest is where we are who and what He created us to be,
      … where we live in the fullness of what He created for us.
      A place that is without need because in creation
      … God already prepared all we could ever need or want.

Then He put man (us) in the place of His full provision (Garden of Eden),
… an earth and universe that He prepared for us to develop,
… for us to manifest Him, His plans, His purposes,
For us to continue with what He started, and rested from,
… so that we, in Him and with Him,
would continue His ever increasing plan and vision in creation!

      There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
      For he who has entered His rest
      has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
      Hebrews 4:9-10
 

In the Presence…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Fear, Love, Peace

                                                     … of fear?

 
Fear is probably mankind’s worst fear!
So, what do we really know about this enemy?
What is the root of fear?

Well let’s go back to where it all began,
… in a beautiful, tranquil garden,
where one of mankind’s first emotions was recorded.

      Mankind did something … they decided to go their own way,
      which caused something … they were suddenly on their own,
      which meant that they … stepped out of a place of protection,
      and the result was …

      So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden,
      and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’
      Genesis 3:10

What happened?
      When mankind decided to partake of the negative, of evil,
      … which is the opposite of what God is,
      … and thus stepped out of the presence of God.
      It meant that they stepped out of the presence of Love,
      … of God, in Whom there is no fear!

Since then mankind has been trying to get out of fear,
… the only question is HOW?

      There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
      because fear involves torment.
      But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
      We love Him because He first loved us.
      1 John 4:18-19

It’s not about fighting fear, or getting rid of fear,
It’s about stepping into His presence, into LOVE!
 

There’s always a Cost

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Character, Potential, Value

                                                 … to everything!

 
There is always a cost
… to everything!

      We have many wants and desires,
      … and we’re very quick to ask,
      but most often without considering
      … that there is a cost to everything,
      regardless of who is doing the paying.

What are you asking of God?
And,
… have you counted the cost
… of what you are asking God for?
Remember as far as God is concerned,
… He has done it all and paid the price.
God is therefore not going to pay the cost
… for what you ask!

      That simply means that like God,
      … if you will pay the price of what you want,
      God will help you get what you want,
      … and He will help you with what it takes
      for you to pay for what you ask.

As Paul wrote to the Philippians,
… who were indeed ready to pay the price…

      And my God shall supply all your need
      according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
      Philippians 4:19