Activated Christianity

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The whole purpose and point of these DAILY MEDS is to encourage Christians to actually LIVE out their faith.

If we look at the example of Jesus, He didn’t ask His father to do the miracles for Him. He’s the One Who performed them by speaking to the need. And this is exactly what He taught in Mark 11:23. He said you must speak to the mountain, yourself: “For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;’ and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mk 11:23)

Jesus didn’t ask His Father to raise Lazarus from the dead, He thanked His father for the fact that His father always hears Him (Jesus). And then, He went ahead and called out Lazarus. And, in the same fashion, He spoke to the wind in the sea to calm down and it did.  He spoke to the illnesses in people and they were healed. Or to the demons, and they left.

Even Peter and John commanded the lame man at the Beautiful Gate to stand up and walk. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6b)

The whole point of living out what Jesus tells us in the gospels is to “speak the Word ONLY”.  The centurion really got the point when coming to Jesus for the healing of his servant.  He said to Jesus, “Speak the Word only, and my servant shall be healed.” (MT 8:8b) We are to speak to the mountain, we are to speak to the problem. We are to command the change to take place. That’s what activating the authority means. We put our faith into action. We put our faith into words to give a command.

There’s no point in asking God to do it when He has told us to do it. He has given us the authority and the power through the Holy Spirit to do as much and more than what Jesus did when He was on earth. “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (Jn 14;12)

This is the point that all Christian must understand. We are to become Jesus to the world. We are to accomplish ALL that Jesus did in this world. Yes, here and now, not there and then.

So, if you really want to live true Christianity, START speaking the changes that you desire.  Start destroying the works of the devil with your word.

That AUTHORITY was given to ALL Christians — all believers. (see Mark 16:15-20) It is part of our inheritance! That authority, that power, the ability to activate the Word of God to destroy the works of the devil. And we, ALL of us must change our way of thinking, and our way of operating so that we take the responsibility right here on earth to bind and to lose according to God’s Word.

Practically speaking, walk up to somebody who is limping, and tell him/her that you want to pray that they be may be healed. And lay hands on the problem and speak to the problem, not to the person and not to God, but command cancer to die or command the pain to be gone.

And, once you’re done commanding, ask the person to do something that they could not do before. That’s what Jesus did. He asked people to “rise up and walk”, to go “wash in the pool of Siloam”, and so much more!

Then, if there’s no change, go ahead and pray again until you see the change. Jesus did.  With the blind man who wasn’t clearly seeing the first time, He needed to pray again and then the blind man saw perfectly clear. “And when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, ‘I see men as trees, walking.’ After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” (Mk 8:22-25)

If you pray more than 4 or 5 seconds you’re probably trying to get faith as you pray on. Jesus never prayed long prayers. In fact most of the time He never did pray, He simply commanded. Or even better, He complimented people on the fact that THEIR faith made them whole. It was their faith and their believing that made them better.

This is the main point that we must understand. We are responsible for the gospel to be lived out and manifested to the world. Jesus was not only a sermon but a sample as well. He even said if you don’t believe me for what I’m telling you, believe me for the miracles that I am able to do. “Though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” (Jn 10:38)

Having heard the truth, we are accountable to obey it by acting it out. By commanding and by proclaiming. We are now supposed to be a replica of Jesus. Whatever He did we can do. In fact we have been asked to do it. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” (Jn 14:12)

To put it bluntly, we are no longer ourselves! We are crucified with Christ, and it is Christ living in us!  “For it is God Who works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”  (Phil 2:13) We must be Jesus to those around us! We must act like Jesus and do what Jesus did and still wants to continue to do thru us! Our faith has to be visible to others and tangible.

It’s not enough to “keep our eyes on JESUS”, He said “I in you and me in you”. (Jn15) We have to BE Jesus to the world. Him in me means Him LIVING through me.

There is more to Christianity than wearing the t-shirt. We have to SHOW the world the miracles that Jesus did DOES TODAY. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may SEE your good WORKS, and glorify your Father which is in heaven“.(Mat:16)

We must get our belief ACTIVATED. Our name should be “Jesus Continued”.

Just “Do It”

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Most Christians understand that at the new birth, Jesus comes to live in their heart, and consequently they have eternal life.

However, to understand the true depth of what was done at the new birth, is not something that most Christians fully grasp. Jesus not only lives in us,  God’s Spirit dwells in us and Jesus has given us His name and His authority to use as we will . And therefore all principalities and powers are subjugated to us. We are His body and He, the head. We are one as He is one in the Father.

Jesus reclaimed dominion over the earth and gave it back to believers along with the authority to subjugate the devil, and He promised to send us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Ac 1:8).

The power of the Holy Spirit is miraculous power. “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18).

This means that the same ministry of reconciling all things unto God has been given to us. Along with the authority, the power and the name of Jesus to do it with. But the key words are to DO IT. It’s not enough to know about it, or to hear about it.

 This is why Jesus kept insisting on being DOERS of His Word and not hearers only, thus deceiving ourselves. Jesus made a very clear distinction between HEARING and DOING. He said, “Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and DOES them, I will liken him to a WISE MAN who built his house on the ROCK:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did NOT fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and DOES NOT do them, will be like a FOOLISH MAN who built his house on the SAND  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And GREAT was its fall.” (Mat 7:24-27).

In other words, the DOING is the most important part of the Christian life. How much like the devil to blind Christians into believing that if only they hear the Word, it’ll be sufficient. But not so!  We were predestined by God, before the foundation of the world, to rule here on this earth, to take care of the works of His hands, to replenish the earth with His image (make disciples of all nations), to subdue the earth (by destroying the works of the devil) and have dominion over all things.

This is what Jesus paid a mighty price for. To bring not only man, but the earth back into full reconciliation to God. This is why Paul was so adamant in teaching. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; (opened), that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,  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 and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and  might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Eph 1:17-23)

So for all who desire to be disciples of Jesus, let this be the ruling principle before reading His Word. We must understand who we are in Christ and the power that He has given to us through the redemption of the cross. We have been given the keys of the kingdom, which is to bind and to lose on earth and to know that heaven will back us up accordingly. We have the full power and authority in us through His name, IF we will DO IT.

“We’ve been deceived” Understanding the NEW MAN – Part 1

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There is an underlying message in the New testament that every Christian must fully understand in order to walk into the new creature that God has given them when born again. The new testament talks about the “old man” and the “new man”, or the old self or the new self.

Paul in Ephesians 4: 20-24 says, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus…”

Notice that Paul is talking to committed Christians and yet he leaves open the possibility that they may not have heard the full truth concerning their position and identity in Jesus. And I believe that the same is true today for many sincere Christians who have not yet understood the truth in regards to the difference between the old man and the new man.

Paul then goes on in verse 22 admonishing them “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”.

So he makes it clear that they are two “selfs“. The old self and the new self. And the Word tells us to take specific action about these two selves. To PUT OFF the old self and to PUT ON the new self.

Obviously, in order to do this, we must be able to identify those two. In order to do that, we have to understand the origin and the nature of the old self. It is summed up in the word that Paul uses in Ephesians 4:22. He says “the old self which is corrupt through deceitful desires and lust“. There are 3 key thoughts here: corrupt, lust and deceit.

Let’s start with the word deceit. The origin of the old self is deception, the old self is the product of deceit, specifically Satan’s deception. It’s the result of man heading Satan’s lies.

If we go back to the record of man’s creation, the origin of man’s history in Genesis, you will recall that after Adam and Eve have been created, God gave them a warning that there was ONE TREE in the garden they were not to touch or to eat of, the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil.

God said to Adam and Eve very solemnly “in the day that you touch that tree or eat of it, you will surely die”. In the next chapter Satan, in the person of the serpent, comes to the woman Eve, and tempts her. In essence, temptation is to ignore God’s warning and to disobey what God says.

And in persuading Eve to do this, Satan brings forth his lie. The LIE is the direct negation of what God has said. God said that you will surely die. Satan said you surely will not die. This is found in Genesis 3:4 “the serpent said to the woman you surely shall not die”. Now that’s a direct lie and it’s that lie that negated God’s truth which gave birth to the old self.

The old self is the product of deception of Satan’s lie. We need to know that Satan’s primary activity against the human race is always deception. In Revelation 12:9 Satan is called the “great dragon, the devil, Satan who deceives the whole world“. 

 

To be continued…

“There’s a REBEL inside EACH ONE of us” (Understanding the NEW MAN)–Part 2

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Yesterday we talked about DECEPTION and how the devil’s main goal is to deceive people; to lie about what God has said and to get people to disobey God’s Word. Deception sets in motion a process of degeneration: deception produces lust; lust is a perverted, rebellious desire designed to contradict the will of God. Lust in turn produces sin, and sin produces death.

James explains this clearly. “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (Jam 1:13-15).

So here it is. That’s the total process that deception produces. It generates lust, lust produces sin and sin produces death.

Now, the Bible says that the old man is corrupt, in every area, spiritually, morally, and physically. Because the old self is the offspring of Satan. It is of the seed of the deception of Satan. Consequently, God told the serpent in Genesis 3:15 that his seed would then be corrupt, and therefore be the enemy of the seed of the women… “I will make your offsprings and her offsprings enemies of each other”.

So the old self is actually at war constantly against the new self. Paul said that the carnal mind is enmity against God. “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will” (Rom 8:7)

Remember how Jesus said that “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bear good fruit” (Mat 7:18). In other words, man in his original state is essentially CORRUPT, and consequently cannot bear good fruit. Isaiah 53:6 says “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all”. That is the mark of the “old man” and his behavior, he turns to his own way, he goes away from God and seeks his own will, his own pleasure and satisfaction.

Paul explains this clearly, “and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:1-3).

So that is the product of Satan’s lie and rebellion in the sons of disobedience. This is the description of those who live by the old self, the sons of disobedience. Satan is able to work in them because of the spirit of disobedience. It goes on to say “how we all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging in the desires of our flesh, and of the mind, whereby by nature we are the children of wrath”.

Notice that it says “by nature”, we are the children of wrath. In other words by default, we’re born in sin, and consequently children of wrath. We have in each one of us a spirit of rebellion and disobedience to God which was created by Satan’s deception.

The nature of the old self has two distinctive marks. First of all it is corrupt– spiritually, morally and physically, and secondly it is the nature of rebellion.

But hang in there, there’s GOOD NEWS… the new man is created from an incorruptible seed.

To Be Continued…

“Why self-improvement DOESN’T work” (Understanding the NEW MAN)–Part 3

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We’ve already covered that the old man is corrupt, born from deception, and therefore by default, we were all born a rebel.

So, let’s look at the solution for the problem of the old self, since it is a universal problem which each and every one of us faces. First, let’s mention the potential solutions that are NOT part of God’s resolve.

We can rule out all the “self” solutions beginning with contemporary psychology which promotes self-realization, self-fulfillment, self-expression, self-improvement, because all these give POWER to SELF, which is the rebel.

Incidentally, we have just passed through a generation which decided that it was wrong to discipline children and to restrain them, assuming that children should be granted freedom and self-expression. Sadly, that generation has learned too late that what it was doing was giving freedom of expression to a rebel: the Brat. (See “How To Raise A Brat” by James Dobson).

Another thing that is not God’s solution is a system of laws. Many people look to the law to deal with the problem of the “old self” but Israel’s failure to whom the law of Moses was given, is a demonstration that law does not achieve the desired end. The reason is not that there’s anything wrong with the law. Law in itself is good as Paul says in Romans 7, but it cannot change the rebel and anything that does not change the rebel is not a permanent solution.

The third thing that is not God’s solution for the old self and this one may surprise you is religion. God does not send the old self to church or to Sunday school, nor arrange for the old self to memorize scriptures and do all sorts of good things that people do in church such as singing, and saying prayers.

Religion is somewhat like a refrigerator. It can temporarily conceal the corruption or slow it down but it cannot ultimately change its course. Let’s take a luscious peach that looks so good and so appetizing and yet, left to itself, it will quickly wither and rot because the process of corruption is already working. Now you can slow down the process of corruption for a little while by putting that peach in the refrigerator. Then it’ll stay fresh looking and attractive much longer but ultimately even in the fridge it’ll wither.

So trying to deal with the old man through religion is like putting the peach in the refrigeration of religion. It will slow down the process of corruption, it may even conceal it for a little while but ultimately it cannot change it.

So there are three things that are not God’s solutions to redeem the old man.

  1. All of the solutions that start with “self”, such as self realization, self-fulfillment, self-expression, self-improvement, Etc,
  2. a system of laws
  3. religion

None of these can change the nature of the old self. They simply cannot change the rebel in the old self.

Jesus said, “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:17-19). So there’s only one solution: it must be cut down. It must be done away.

God’s solution is not to try to repair it, patch it up, delay the corruption. It’s simply to get rid of it. Destroy it!!!

But keep hanging in there, there’s good news coming. In our next discussion we will bring out the NEW MAN, which is God’s solution.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…

“YOU are BARABBAS” (Understanding the NEW MAN)–Part 4

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In our last discussion, we talked about God’s solution to not try to repair or revamp the old tree, but rather to cut it down. But let’s talk no more about solutions for trees, but a solution for man’s old self.

So there is one solution that God has come up with in order to get rid of the old self in man: EXECUTION. God does not send the old self to church, or to the psychiatrist, or put him under the law. He simply executes the old man. There is no other solution for that rebel.

But the good news of the Gospel is that execution has ALREADY taken place in Christ. This is really the key to understanding the gospel message. It is God’s program for dealing with the old self that is very vividly stated in the living Bible in Romans 7:24 through 25. Paul says, “oh what a terrible predicament I’m in, who will free me from that slavery to this deadly lower nature”. But then he cries out in gratitude, “thank God it has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord, he has set me free ” that is FREE from that deadly lower nature, this old self, has been sacrificed with Christ. Jesus has set me FREE from my old man.

Many Christians do not know that the old self has been crucified so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless and that we should no longer be slaves to sin. That’s the only way of escape from the slavery of sin. It’s by knowing and by believing that our old self, the deadly lower nature, the rebellious and contaminated default-nature of man was crucified with Jesus when Jesus died on the cross. No more rebel. That old self was executed. That is a fact of history.

I love the testimony the Derek Prince gives when the Lord asked him, “who do you think that center cross was prepared for”? Who was supposed to be on THAT cross? It was prepared for Barabbas; The robber and murderer. The actual truth is that Barabbas was the one who was legitimately supposed to be executed that day. But then there was a sudden change of event.

Jesus took the place of Barabbas. But in actual fact, the criminal that was supposed to be executed was YOU. Jesus took the place of the old-you and died in your stead. That’s the good news of the Gospel. That’s the grace of God that paid the price of redemption for all of us. And he made it so that we ALL died on that cross with Jesus.

Jesus took the place of the old REBEL and we were all crucified with him. Whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not, that does not change the fact. God’s remedy for the old self was not to improve him or reform him or making him religious, but to execute him. No more rebel, no more disobedience and no more deception.

And that’s not the end… not only the old man was crucified with Jesus, but when Jesus arose, we arose as well. We resurrected into a new creature, a new creation, born of God and made after his own image, just as he had intended for man to be, in the garden: Reconnected with God, no longer a slave to sin, but a SON of righteousness.

That’s the wonderful MERCY and GRACE of God; the AWESOME mystery of the Gospel. Man redeemed through Christ DYING for man’s sinful nature, and Christ living in us and through us.

Don’t go away, this is just the BEAUTIFUL beginning…

To be continued…

BACK to the BEGINNING? (Understanding the NEW MAN)–Part 5

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Yesterday we covered that God’s solution for the old self was EXECUTION. 

In Romans 6:6 Paul explains that our old self has been crucified with Christ. Meaning that the body of sin has been done away, and therefore we are no longer slaves to sin. That was God’s solution to ending the slavery to sin, and the only escape for man’s corrupt nature: to execute it on the cross when Jesus died. 

So let’s agree on one thing. If you’re born again, YOU’RE DEAD to yourself.

Now, let’s take a look at the nature and the origin of the NEW MAN. In Ephesians 4:22-24 which pictures both the old self and the new self, Paul says, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to be MADE NEW in the spirit of your mind; and to PUT ON THE NEW SELF, created to be in the likeness God in true righteousness and holiness”. 

It says “created to be in the likeness of God, in righteousness and Holiness of Truth”. 

Notice it says that it’s been CREATED by God. It’s not something that man can ever produce by his own effort, with good works or legalism or religion or anything of that nature. It is strictly from a creative act of God which proceeds out of the truth of God’s Word.

 It is exactly opposite to the old self which is a product of Satan’s lie. There are two things in a position here. The lie of Satan and the truth of God. The truth of God produces righteousness and holiness, whereas the lie of Satan produces deception and sin.  

And Paul says the new self is created according to God’s original purpose for man, that is to be in the LIKENESS of GOD. The new man is restored to what it was meant to be originally. 

This is important. It’s the revelation of the New Testament. God re-created man, through the death of Christ and His resurrection. And the whole purpose of God and the destiny of man was restored.

And Paul goes on to say that you have “put on the new self which is being RENEWED in the true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him”. So the new man, while FULLY BORN again into the redemption of God, must be renewed in his mind. Your spirit is made anew, but your mind needs renewal. We have been recreated in the likeness of God but we must progressively grow into the true knowledge of God. 

John 1:12, 13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God“. It is the seed of God that created the new man. 

And 1 Peter 1: 23 says “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring WORD of God“. So again, the new man is created by God through an incorruptible seed. 

The seed of God is the Word of God. We first receive the seed of God’s Word by faith, and obey it, and consequently God’s spirit brings forth within us the very nature of God’s Divine, incorruptible and eternal nature. 

In the very first verse of the book of John, Jesus is called the WORD of God three times. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. And in Revelations 19:13 there is a description of Jesus returning to Earth in glory and power to reign, and he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called “The Word Of God”.

So in receiving God’s Word, we receive Jesus, and we receive the incorruptible SEED of God, and as we obey the Words of God, Jesus, we are being transformed into the original nature of God.

This Divine nature is imperishable and incorruptible, born from the seed of God. This is why the old self, being essentially corrupt, is transformed into the NEW MAN, a newly created being, born from God, coming forth from the very seed of God’s incorruptible Word. Through our obedience to the Word (Jesus), we express the new nature and the new incorruptible creature created in the image of God. 

This is why Paul says, “it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me”. It is the new self, the very nature and person of Jesus reproduced in me, as I believe and I receive and obey the Word of God, I become the Divine eternal incorruptible seed of God’s Word that produces in me the very nature of God’s son, Jesus.

Don’t go away, it only GETS BETTER FROM HERE ON…

 

Multiplying JESUS (Understanding the NEW MAN)–Part 6

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Here is a short recapitulation of the different points since the beginning of this dissertation. First, that because of the fall of Adam we were all born corrupted. Second, that Jesus came to redeem us to full relationship with the Father, so that we can be accepted as sons, no longer slaves of Satan.

And for us to fully walk into that new self, newborn identity, we must renew our mind with the Word of God. (For more on this topic please refer to the “Power of Proclamations“)

Being born again, we are back to the beginning, fulfilling the destiny that God originally had for us to multiply his image. Jesus said that he came reproducing the image of his father, and we in turn must reproduce the image of Jesus to the world.

After his death and resurrection, Jesus commissioned his disciples to do the same for Him as he had done for the Father. In John 20:21 when Jesus appeared to his disciples in a group, he said,  “peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you”. In other words as I have reproduced the image of the Father Who sent me, and I now send you so you can reproduce My image to the world.

Paul, in Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters”.

WOW… God’s purpose from the beginning. God’s destiny for the new man is reinstated; to become conformed to the image of His son Jesus, the One who is the first born amongst many brethren. God wanted to bring forth many children, but all children reproducing the likeness of God’s oldest son, His first born, His only begotten son.

So that is our first responsibility in the new creation. We are to exercise the authority that Jesus has given us, to bring God’s will on Earth as it is in heaven.

 

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18 – 20). Jesus was telling his disciples that, because all authority has now been given to Him, He is now sending us to exercise that authority on his behalf as His delegated representatives and reproduce His image by making disciples.

So it is now OUR RESPONSIBILITY to exercise Christ authority on his behalf by making disciples of all Nations and this is expressed in two things that Jesus tells us to do:

  1. baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy Spirit.
  2. teaching them to observe all things that I have taught you.

In our next DAILY MEDS, we will talk about THAT authority that has been given to all of us who are born again…

YOU have been DEPUTIZED! (Understanding the NEW MAN –Part 7)

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We’ve talked a fair bit about the VICTORY of the NEW MAN over the old man. How through Jesus, the old man has been crucified and we now live as newly accepted children in the Kingdom of god. We are accepted as sons of the Most High God. WOW… And we have inherited the righteousness of Christ. We no longer have the contaminated sin-nature inherited from Adam, but now have been JUSTIFIED, made righteous through Christ. “Just-as-if-I’d” never sinned.

We’ve talked about how He is now sending us to enforce His victory and EXERCISE the AUTHORITY He’s given us. We’re His delegated representatives and and we’re assigned to reproduce His image by making disciples. Jesus said, “you have not CHOSEN me but I have chosen YOU, and ORDAINED you,  that you should go and bear MUCH fruit –fruit that will last— not converts but DISCIPLES…” (Jn 15:16).

Our commission is to replicate what Jesus did, and to push back the kingdom of satan. Just before ascending into heaven, Jesus assigned us a few jobs: “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…. (Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned). And these signs (miracles) will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:15-19).

  1. Preach the Gospel
  2. Drive out demons
  3. Heal the sick
  4. And make disciples

In Luke 10: 17-19, we read that the 70 returned with joy after they had been DEPUTIZED by the Lord, and they said “even the demons submit to us in your NAME“.  In other words, those demons had to obey those disciples who commanded them to leave in the name of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus gave them HIS authority. This means that we have total authority as his disciples. We’re His representatives and we should not be afraid, because Jesus said “nothing shall in any way harm you”.

In the next part, we’ll touch on that assignment and how we can be FULLY trained as a SWAT team for Christ…

 

We’re God’s SWAT team ! (Understanding the NEW MAN –Part 8)

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Let’s remember Jesus has already defeated Satan at the cross. That was Satan’s total, permanent, irreversible defeat.

Jesus has disarmed Satan’s powers and whatever authority he may have over us. He made a public spectacle, triumphing over him by the cross. “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col 2:15). Satan’s main weapon against us was guilt (accusing us as sinners), but Jesus deprived him of that weapon by forgiving our sins at the cross. We no longer have that sin-nature.

God canceled the written code, the law and its requirements, because we could never make those requirements. The law was nailed to the cross when Jesus died on our behalf, as our representative. Jesus paid the final penalty for all who had broken the law. Therefore we are no longer subject to the requirements of the law. We can now come to God on the basis of our FAITH in the death of Jesus. Or faith is credited to us as righteousness.

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

We’re now living in the Kingdom of light and are sent by God as His representatives, HIS ARMY to charge against the forces of darkness in order to administer the victory that Jesus won.

We’ve been “ordained“, and “deputized“. All believers have been given THAT AUTHORITY to fight against the forces of evil, NOW.

Why? We are living in the Kingdom of Light, NOW, and while we still live in a world which is filled with lies, darkness, confusion and mind-pollution, we have the victory in Christ along with the Words of Life and Truth to use as our weapons. NOW !

Let’s remember that Truth has power over lies the same as Light has power over darkness.  We know that the devil is the prince of darkness, and that Jesus is the TRUTH.

The apostle Paul says in Romans 12:21: be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. In other words it is within our power to overcome and be WINNERS, NOW !

Yes, THERE’S A WAR ON. We’re assigned to enforce the VICTORY won by Jesus, and claim back the souls that the devil keeps stealing from God.

We know that the enemy is a deceiver, an accuser, and a liar who comes for the sole purpose of stealing, killing and destroying. And his main tactics are to deceive, tempt, entice and accuse. That’s who and what we’re fighting against. He’s the real terrorist in this world.

And we’ve been deputized as SWAT officers. We’re in a Spiritual Warfare Against Terror… Satan is the one terrorizing God’s children. We’re a Spiritual Warfare Attack Team.

Ephesians 6:12 says, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”.

Our war is a spiritual war. We have to WIN THE WAR in the spiritual realm first, and in order to do so, our minds have to be renewed so that we can walk in the full identity of who we are in God’s Kingdom.

Once we know and are fully aware of the devil’s devices, it’s pretty easy to make a clear distinction in our thoughts and hearts and know whether we’re listening to God or the devil. And if our thoughts are of the devil they can be overcome with TRUTH.

We know the truth is God’s WORD. And that God’s Word is an incorruptible seed which is bound to result in good fruits. The Word is the most powerful weapon we have against the forces of Satan. Even Jesus in the wilderness, used the WORD in order to refute and rebuke the devil. (Matthew 4:3)

2 Cor 10: 4, 5 says that “Our weapons are spiritual, they’re divinely powerful to the destruction of fortresses of satan. We are destroying speculations and every lofty idea raised up against the knowledge of God.

In our next chapter, we’ll discuss how to win the mind war…

WINNING the Mind-War! (Understanding the NEW MAN –Part 9)

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The battle is already won. Christ won the victory over the devil on the cross. We’re born again in the spirit, but our soul (mind, emotions) and our bodies are not yet redeemed.

However, we know the enemy is a deceiver, a liar and an accuser, and since he couldn’t keep us from making Jesus our Savior, and becoming a child of God, he’s going to try all he can to keep us from growing up in Christ, to keep us weak and ineffective.

The devil knows that if he can control our mind, he can get us to disobey our born-again spirit. The Bible tells us to “keep every thought captive and make it obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). In other words, instead of fighting the temptation, we must REFOCUS our mind on the things of God. Instead of tuning in to the devil’s thoughts, just refocus your thoughts immediately on God. “Give no place to the devil“; –don’t EVEN go there!! 90% of all our battles would be won from the start if we didn’t OPEN the door to them.

The Bible does not tell us to resist temptation, but to resist the Devil. That’s different… to resist the devil means we are resisting him and his kingdom; it means we are at war against the works of the devil on earth. But we won’t be effective warriors if we’re plagued with temptations. Paul said,  “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer” (2 Tim 2: 3).

Winning the Mind-War is winning the mind of war. It’s winning over the mind tricks of the enemy. Once you know how the enemy’s power lies in lies, you get it and you refuse to tune in. So the key to overcoming temptation is not to push back and get into a tug-of-war game with the devil.. It’s to CHANGE your FOCUS.

We must keep our mind “on guard” at all times. In Rom 6:16, it says, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are SLAVES of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”. Whatever gets your attention gets YOU.

The battle for sin always starts in the mind. That’s why the Bible says in Psalm 119:6, “Thinking about Your Word will keep me from doing some foolish thing” (CEV). Why? Because if you’re thinking about God’s truth, you’re not thinking about whatever else the devil wants you to tune into.

If you focus on Godly things, they’ll pull you in a Godly direction. But if you focus on the bad news you see on television and on social media, they’ll pull you down into the devil’s pit. Remember whatever you focus on gets your attention. And whatever gets your attention gets you. The key is to change your focus.

There’s a pattern to every temptation. First attention, then arousal, and then action. Your mind gets hooked, your feelings kick in, and then you act on it.

Most people aren’t very good at capturing their thoughts and turning them to Christ—because it takes practice, discipline. But that’s just it. “Renewing” your mind means “disciplining” your mind. Rom 12:2 says, “Do not conform yourself to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.

We can’t always control our circumstances, nor the way we feel, but we CAN control our thoughts. We can just turn our mind to something else just as easily as we can turn off the TV, or walk away from conversations that don’t edify you. If you see something you’re not supposed to look at, you can decide not to look again. Seeing is not the same as looking. We can’t always control what we see but we can control what we look at. And we control what we think about.

And if we change the way we think, it changes the way we feel, and that will change the way we ACT.

The best way and the quickest way to tune out the devil and tune In God is to start PRAISING. Whenever you’re worrying, whenever you are fearing, whenever you’re feeling incapable, just start thanking God, or praising God or worshipping God. Whatever you do, just love God.

You get EMPOWERED when you PRAISE. Praise breaks the power of the devil.

In our next chapter, we will cover how the Christian life is filled with positiveness, praise, and consequently BLESSINGS….

You were CREATED to PRAISE! (Understanding the NEW MAN –Part 10)

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As established in previous discussions, we live in a different Kingdom. And we must live by the laws of the kingdom of light. FAITH is the currency of God’s kingdom. “For without faith, you cannot please God” (Heb 12:6).

We were created to PRAISE! It’s a law of God; the more we PRAISE the more our mind flourishes. It is a proven fact in quantum physics that our mind is in full operating function and creative mode, when we praise.

Praise has 3 main benefits:

  1. It causes us to enter into the presence of God. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, & into His courts with praise” (Psa.100:4).
  2. It defeats the devil because he hates for you to give God praise. (Remember, his sin was pride, in wanting the glory of God for himself).
  3. And it calls on the BLESSINGS of God because praise is the voice of faith.

If you want to win the Mind-War, you’ve got to LEARN to PRAISE. It’s an exercise of faith, and it’s a sacrifice, it’s a discipline of the mind, but it’s the most rewarding and the most rewarded. Paul calls it a sacrifice. “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name” (Heb.13:15).

People think that Philippians 4:8 is just good advice. But it actually is a LAW of God to keep your mind on only the positive things, otherwise known as “the things of God”. Here’s what the verse actually says: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, THINK (ONLY) ABOUT THESE THINGS”. Your mind was created to think on good things. And it cannot operate property in negativity. That’s a fact.

When you praise God, you’re letting the Light in. The devil sure doesn’t like the Word of God & he hates praise & he hates thanksgiving. For as long as you’re thinking about the Word & the Lord and you’ve got a song or a praise in your mouth, there’s no room left for complain, murmur, groan and bemoan about how bad you feel!

Murmuring is a very bad thing. Look at the poor example of the Israelites in the wilderness who kept complaining and murmuring… God was about to slay them on the spot except for Moses’ pleading (Exo 32:7-14). Why? Because when you murmur, you’re turning your victory and your testimony over to the devil. Complaining is voicing the enemy’s lies. It is taking God’s promises in vain.

Just take notice of the folks who keep complaining about everything. They complain about their job, their boss, their life, and in the end, they do end up with a miserable life. Why? Because you get what you SAY… Your mouth is a sowing machine. You reap what you sow.  (Read James 1 and Eph 4:29). Read also “Watch your mouth!” Our mind cannot process toxic thoughts.

It’s an established law of God that we must keep our mind on good things. It calls down the blessings of God. Some folks complain because rose bushes have thorns–others thank God and rejoice because thorn bushes have roses! The choice is YOURS. Read “Are you even thankful?”

If you wanna knock the devil for a loop, just start PRAISING the Lord no matter what’s happening! The Lord loves praise. “The High & the Holy One dwelleth in the praises of His people”. Let’s Count our blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!

I would like to leave you with a little ASSIGNMENT.

Throughout the day, today, set your alarm to stop for 10 minutes of PRAISING God every 2 hours. Read some of the verses below during those times of praise.  Just try it and see what victories and blessings come in to your life today. COMMIT to Do it!

 

It’s a discipline but the results are AWESOME. It’ll make you want to permanently CHANGE your thought pattern through PRAISE.

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Deu.10:21  He is thy praise & He is thy God, that hath done for thee these great & terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

2Ch.20:22  And when they began to sing & to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, & Mount Seir, which were come against Judah; & they were smitten.

Psa.18:3  I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Psa.33:1  Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

Psa.34:1  I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psa.35:28  And my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness & of Thy praise all the day long.

Psa.50:23  Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God.

Psa.71:14  But I will hope continually, & will yet praise Thee more & more.

Psa.92:1,2  It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, & to sing praises unto Thy Name, O most High: To shew forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, & Thy faithfulness every night.

Psa.98:1  O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, & His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.

Psa.103:1,2  Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

Psa.104:33  I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

Psa.107:8  Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa.107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, & declare His works with rejoicing.

Psa.113:3  From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s Name is to be praised.

Psa.118:24  This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice & be glad in it.

Psa.119:7  I will praise Thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned Thy righteous judgements.

Psa.138:1  I will praise Thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee.

Psa.146:2  While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Pro.27:21  As the fining pot for silver, & the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.

Isa.38:18,19  For the grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy Truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known Thy Truth.

Lam.3:41  Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the Heavens.

Mat.21:16b  And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes & sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?

Mar.14:26  And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.

Act 2:47  Praising God, & having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.

1Th.5:16  Rejoice evermore.

Heb.13:15  By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name.

Rev.19:5  And a voice came out of the Throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, & ye that fear Him, both small & great.

The VICTORY of the NEW MAN (Understanding the new man. Part 11)

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I want to do a quick recapitalisation of the 10 different chapters on this discussion regarding “Understanding the NEW MAN” to help you understand where we now stand in the spirit.

First we’ve brought out how man was deceived by the devil in the garden. Man was told that he could be as God on his own, if he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In other words, by disobeying God, man could be greater and more knowledgeable than he was. And that was his downfall and it’s caused all mankind to be born with a root of rebellion and disobedience in their heart.

Then we covered how THAT REBEL in us cannot just be simply patched over, re-trained or religionized or self-improved. God’s solution was not a revamp, but the execution of the rebellious and sin-full “old man”. The fact that we are all sinners and consequently ALL GUILTY, we were all condemned. Just like Barabbas, we should have been the one(s) executed!

But instead Jesus took our place and paid the full price for all men to be redeemed and reconciled to the Father! That’s the AWESOME victory of the cross and Christ’s resurrection which made Him the King. He said “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18). He brought man back to the beginning, to his original destiny and purpose, where man had dominion on earth… and back to the intimacy with the Father, and back to the image of God.

To that effect, Jesus told us to imitate Him as He imitated the Father. And he sent us His spirit, the Holy Spirit, to be with us and guide us and strengthen us and empower us. So that we could be just like Jesus.

…And the MYSTERY of the AGES was REVEALED–Christ in us and through us!

Then before ascending into heaven, He gave us His authority so that we could replicate and multiply His image and His works. He deputized us and gave us His name and “power of attorney” to destroy the works of the devil. He sent us to be His ambassadors, not only as winners but as “more than conquerors”.

Basically he’s made us His own SWAT team, with all of the power and the ability needed to accomplish all that He did. He even said ” these works (miracles) you will do and even greater works than I did you will do”. (John 14:12)

He gave us “power over all the power of the devil”(Luke 10:19), so that we can win the MIND-WAR which is where the devil operates, to try to defeat us by keeping condemned or accused, and thereby render us ineffective before we even start to OBEY and carry out the commandments of Jesus.

And in our last chapter, we have covered how we can actually ACTIVATE our victories by speaking His Word and by PRAISING Him through everything. In other words, our OUTSPOKEN testimony, our OUTSPOKEN PRAISE and our OUTSPOKEN affirmation make an actual STAND against the lies of the enemy.

The REASON for explaining the process of what took place in history was to show how God had a PLAN from the beginning for man to return to his powerful state of being, spiritually here on this Earth. We’ve regained that which was lost, our powerful spirit and our original image.

That’s how the NEW MAN is empowered through full possession of God’s spirit living in him. All that Christ was, is now in us. That’s what being born again means. Christ now lives in us. We, as a new man, are fully possessed by Christ.

The old man is DEAD.

And by reminding the devil of His VICTORY, all that we have and are through Christ, we can never lose. We are made to be more than CONQUERORS through Christ.

So HERE’S where I am going with all this…

The life of the Christian is a VICTORIOUS LIFE. It’s not hardship, deprivation, pain and constant difficulties. We are HID in Christ’s victory and the devil cannot hit us if we stay in Christ. Hence the need to live in the Kingdom all day long. We cannot live on the fence with one foot in the world and one in the Kingdom of Light, and keep wondering “why it’s not working”.

We have to be fully dedicated, fully possessed by Christ. And there lies that victory, everyday, all day, in all ways, and ALWAYS. The Word works if we work it. We must be DOERS.

That means that if we are fully convinced in our own heart, and fully walking in the new identity, and exercising the power that God has given us, WE JUST CAN’T LOSE.

There are 101 sermons out there about the “spiritual warfare”, and how we have to “wait on the Lord”, and how we need to “fight through the valley of Bacca”, and how God’s “dealing with us” and on and on and on. But in actual fact, we HAVE the VICTORY, NOW. We’re not marching towards the victory, we are walking from a victory and we can walk in full triumphant attire and attitude. And that’s what the life the Christian disciple is about.

I’m not that interested in the many sermons that we all hear week after week, church after church, and yet we continue to walk as defeated Christians in a world that’s overcoming us. That is NOT the portrait of Christianity and we need to get rid of that image.

We are fully possessed by Christ’s Spirit and we are fully empowered as disciples. And I would like us, from hereon, to change our thought pattern as DOERS of the WORD. We cannot be empowered unless we DO the Word. If you do the Word, you do the works. The miracles come from obeying the Word.

The Way to WORK it. (Understanding the new man-Part 12)

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In the last few days we have been through a series of DAILY MEDS explaining the VICTORY of the new man and how the old man is DEAD. And how the victory of the Christian is in living in full possession of Christ.

Meaning that we should be FULLY possessed by Christ.

Yesterday on a Zoom call with other Christians, someone asked the question in regards to a health problem that persists. This man and his wife have been battling some health issues, wIth recurring pain which they have prayed against fervently, but still the pain persists, and they even had to go to the doctor at times. Unfortunately the doctor was  unable to find what the problem was, and they had to resort to some strong painkillers.

In a few words, the question was, WHAT to do when the problem persists?

I would like to take that question to another level.

As we all know, we’re NOW living in the end time. The world is getting worse and worse, and it’s getting to be harder and harder to live for Christ and to stand up for our faith. We know that Christians are going to get ridiculed and persecuted more and more for their faith.

If you stand up for one thing, you will eventually need to stand for everything that is true and worth holding on to. If we should stand against abortion, or against homosexuality, or against evolution, will we not eventually need to stand against them ALL, at once?

So the ultimate question is HOW will we stand?

Right now, governments all over the world are enforcing serious regulations which in many cases violate people’s rights.

Similar situations have occurred throughout history. People have had to live under very evil regimes. Throughout the Bible, the Israelites have had to endure very difficult hardships. Daniel did when living in Babylon when he was expected to worship Nebuchadnezzar. David did when living under Saul, having to constantly run for his life. Mordecai did, and we could name so many others.

So, how do we STAND against evil? Ongoing chronic pain is an evil similar to an ongoing government’s oppression. They’re all the devil’s works. How can we look to, and trust God through all those times? …In the “meantimes“, when the times are mean.

And this is the main reason why I wanted to expand on the Victory of the New Man with you. The new man in Christ is a WINNER, a CONQUEROR.

David was a winner even when hiding in the caves of Abdulum fearing for his life.

Daniel was a winner even when kneeling in his room in prayer, facing persecution and eventual death. Paul went through so many hardships, but he ran the race as a WINNER.

In every situation when people stood their ground for Christ, the Lord came through for them.

My wife and I have also had different health issues that we’ve prayed against without seeing the expected results yet. But we have committed ourselves to ATTACK the devil through PRAISE every time the pain returns. Every single time the pain returns, we BUST OUT IN PRAISE and thank the Lord for all that He has done for us.

We have made a list of all His blessings to us, and of all His love has done for us. And we bust out with that list every time the devil comes back at us. And IT WORKS WONDERS. For two reasons:

  1. It gets our eyes off the pain, and
  2. We rub the goodness of God in the devil’s face.

One other thing that you can do is to make yourself a “jewel box” in your heart of 1 or 2, or 10 scriptures that you know in your heart work for you, that you can stand on firmly, that you can use every time, that you know will defeat the devil. You don’t need 100 of them. Only one verse will defeat the devil. Jesus used only one against every temptation of the devil in the wilderness. Just select the one(s) you like the most and use them to STAND.

Claim the Word and STAND. Linda and I stand on our STANCE of faith. We make a concerted effort to turn to God to stand by us and with us. We remind ourselves that we have authority over all the power of the devil. We keep our thoughts in subjection to what Christ has said about us and what He has done for us.

Brothers and sisters, we need to stand for Christ NOW, and every day, if we plan to STAND in the end. Standing is what we do. We don’t just “wait on the Lord” to come through. Waiting is passive, but STANDING is an ACTION. We stand with the Lord’s victory and for the Lord. Let’s not be passive Christians, but DOERS of the Word.

Remember the WAR is in the MIND. If the devil can get you to doubt and question, he’s got you defeated. Watch your MOUTH and watch your THOUGHTS. God expects us to keep standing. And we do so by PRAISING.

Once we’ve prayed, we don’t pray again, we PRAISE! — not only to remind ourselves of God’s goodness but also to remind the devil of his defeat… Ha!

You may be thinking, “you mean to tell me that I can overcome the attacks of the government against our Liberty simply by praising?” What I mean is whatever you do, STAND. Don’t focus on the bad of the world, don’t let the devil conquer your mind. Look to God, keep your mind on God and stand on what you believe, and don’t budge till God comes through for you. The victory comes with your fighting for it.

It won’t be easier tomorrow, the problems will persist. But it will be easier to STAND tomorrow if we’re in the habit of STANDING today and every day. Don’t let go of YOUR victory.

STAND in (and) PRAISE !