WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!

 

SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE:

                              WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!

SCRIPTURE:  Philemon 1:6

“I pray that the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is IN YOU IN CHRIST JESUS.”

Communication is the successful conveying of ideas and information!

The Apostle Paul emphasized that to be effective in our faith life, we need to clearly understand and verbally acknowledge every GOOD THING that is IN US that is IN CHRIST JESUS!

You are actually God’s House Address!  Wherever you go, as His temple, he goes—Christ in You! 

1 Cor. 3:16. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

The Greek definition for “Temple” is:

-a sanctuary

-a divine dwelling place

-a sacred abode

-a place of divine manifestation

That is what each of us that are born-again believers are!

John 3: 3 “Jesus answered him, “Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Romans10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 12:2 tells us the benefits available when our mind gets transformed to understand who lives inside of us because He desires the attributes of who He is in our temple to be let out!  He wants us to release words of encouragement, inspiration, health, healing, happiness, wisdom, blessings, etc., on his behalf!

“And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the GOOD, and PLEASING and PERFECT will of God.”

Wait!  God says through renewing our mind to God Things, we have three opportunities to prove and experience what his will for us is. 

There are three avenues so to speak we can take:

-the Good

-the Acceptable

-the Perfect 

This is so important because 1 Timothy 2:4 says what God’s will and desire for mankind is:

“Who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

With that in mind, following are some Scriptures and confessions that I found online some time ago that have been and continue to be extremely helpful to me! I believe these will inspire you as well as you become more knowledgeable of who you are in Christ Jesus and they will help you communicate your faith in a concise and powerful way!

I encourage you to meditate on these “faith confessions” until they become real and factual in your life.  Taking time to look up the Scriptures will build your faith so that you will be able to prove what His good, acceptable, and perfect will is for your life in Jesus Name!

Some of the “faith confessions” will resonate with you more than others.  When that is the case, spend more time acknowledging those so that what Paul said in Philemon 1:6 comes true in your life!

“That the communication of YOUR faith may become effectual by the ACKNOWLEDGING of EVERY GOOD THING THAT IS IN YOU IN CHRIST JESUS!”

Final Thought:  I believe as we grow in the knowledge of, HE who lives inside of us, we put a big smile on God’s face. 

The Apostle John who understood how much he was loved said this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

“I have no greater JOY than to hear that my children are walking in the truth!”  Amen-so be it in Jesus Name!  3 John 1:4

Diana

Continue reading Scripture Confessions below! 

Scripture Confessions

 

WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST SCRIPTURES AND CONFESSIONS:

 FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD ROMANS 10:17

 THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH! 1 JOHN 5:4

 

I have the fullness of the Godhead living in me.  Colossians 2:9

I have been made complete in Christ.  Colossians 2:10

I do not live according to human traditions but according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8

I have the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ that has set me free. Romans 8:2

I have been buried, raised and made alive with Christ.  Col 2:12-13

I have been given glory.  John 17:22

I have the riches and glory of Christ living inside of me.  Colossians 1:27

I am loved by God as much as He loves Jesus.  John 17:23

I have been given the mind of Christ.  1 Corinthians 2:16

I am the body of Christ.  1 Corinthians 12:27. AMP

I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God.  1 Corinthians 2:12

I live life by faith in the Son of God.  (One translation says: By the faith OF the Son of God.) Galatians 2:20

I am to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15

I am victorious because of Jesus’ victory.  1 Corinthians 15:57

Priority Letters from God.

 

Priority Letters: What will you do with them?

 

As stated before, when you become born again or literally, “born from above” by asking Jesus to come into your heart and by believing and confessing that Jesus is Lord, you become a joint heir with Jesus.  You may say, but how does that have any effect at all on my life?  The Bible says He actually becomes your elder brother. Think about it.  You are now part of his family, and you are an heir with Him to all the promises that God has made to Jesus. As you take time to read the Bible, where you will learn what rightly belongs to you as part of the family of God, see it not as just a “good” book, but as “Priority Letters” to you which hold information you need to move forward daily in life with lots of wisdom and insight as to how to apply and appropriate the words and truths into your own life.   See these “Priority Letters” as personally written to you and this will help your ability to believe God wants to do so much for you and through you.

Because of a lack of understanding of how deep God’s love is for them, many have lived far beneath the privileges God has established in his Word. As discussed previously, many have allowed “stuff” to accumulate in their lives instead of the knowledge of the love of God and his plans for their future. 

If Jesus, our Savior, said, “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” John 10:10 (NIV) shouldn’t that be what we base our faith and trust in rather than what life has dealt many of us, or what others may have said to us or about us?

The New Century Bible says it this way:  “A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.” John 10:10 (New Century)

It has been stated that people have three identities:

1. Who people say we are;
2. Who they become because of what they accept as the truth concerning what people have said, or
3. Who they are based on who Christ says they are…. 

A fresh experience with God’s love and taking time to get release from preconceived ideas, hurts and others’ opinions that have been stored in your soul can connect you to the identity Christ paid for you to have. You, yes, you have so much in store when you accept the truth about how much you are loved!  Jesus said “a full life” was His goal for you!  Could this be the season for you to win your own personal “super-bowl” by running toward the goal Jesus set for you?

To be more specific as to what Jesus was saying when He said His desire for you was a full or abundant life, some of the meanings from the Greek language that this Scripture came from will give a more complete picture of what Jesus was saying:  Jesus came so you could have “advantage,” “have what is above and over, superadded,” “have what is superior and advantageous,” “experience life in a more superabundant way,” and “experience the exceedingly and out of measure.”

These are not my words, they are the words of Jesus himself describing the gift He came to earth for you to receive and subsequently experience on an ongoing basis while you are here on earth, let alone thinking about the magnificence of eternity in Heaven!

The way God has set up for you to experience this is according to the following Scripture:

“This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”  I Timothy 2: 3 & 4 (NIV)

If we need to “come into a knowledge of the truth,” could there be many untruths or lies we need to get rid of?”  The answer is unequivocally yes!

The work of salvation covers every area of life and to receive the fullness of it, you have to pursue His truths and act on them in the here and now!  When we become born again, our spirits are reconnected to God but our souls have to be renewed day by day to fulfill what God has planned for us.  Getting “rid” of untruths opens the door wide for knowledge of the truth to come in!   He desires you to know you have a safe place in Him.  He is concerned that you experience the feeling of well-being and care knowing you are loved by your Heavenly Father.

The world is a confusing place and the Bible says in the latter days people will lose consideration for each other because of pressures all around but, He has promised a Covenant of love that cannot be altered and the more you learn of His love the more you will experience His higher purpose for you, which, He states, is health, prosperity and well-being…not what you may have experienced or are experiencing today.   

He even wants to reward you for seeking Him because it gives Him such pleasure to see you living in and experiencing his blessings!

I pray that this book will help you experience the blessings God has in store for you and that it will help you understand the “great exchange” you need to make on a daily basis to incorporate and experience God’s promises and truths in your life as opposed to thought patterns you are currently living by.

Did you know God is an equal opportunity God?

“And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Think about it. Are you an “anyone?” Would you be willing to be one who earnestly seeks Him?  To experience all of the rewards he speaks of, you have to seek him for yourself. No matter what anyone tries to tell you, it is God who says He wants to reward you; it is not based on man’s opinion of you or who likes you or doesn’t.  It is a God loves you awareness! He says, “You must realize He exists” and that He has you on His mind for a purpose.  If you have depended only on others’ perception of God, whether it be a spiritual leader, family member, friend, associate, etc., you may have missed out on a lot of things already.  It is never too late to begin believing for yourself that He exists and that He wants to reward your faith in earnestly seeking Him and learning about His promises.  Again, re-evaluate daily who and what you have been basing your faith in to see if it warrants your continued focus!

You have a major choice:  Act on man’s opinions or God’s opinions!  Which will you choose?

The issues most of us have are that we have put more confidence in man and his opinions than

We have in what God has said about us and who He is!  Again, it is very empowering to realize God has a reward for those that take time to get to know Him for who He really is and commit to applying His promises in their daily lives so that they can experience more in their life which will also allow them to experience a more full life and be in a position to help others.

Think about this:  You are deemed a person of value by God! It pleases God when you realize how much you are deemed valuable to Him.  

You can learn how much you are cared for through the word of God which is Good News and by someone telling you truths they have learned and experienced from the word.

The Scriptures tell us how faith to believe comes: “So faith comes from hearing the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.” Romans 10:17 (New Century)

Think about your life right now.  How much of the word of God do you hear on a consistent basis?

How much have you heard over your lifetime?

Now, take time to think of how many words from “man” you hear on a regular basis and how much you have heard over your lifetime.

Which one is now having the greatest influence over your life?

Psalms 1, for instance, tells us how blessed we will be when we seek His counsel and meditate on His words instead of sitting around listening to the ungodly or those that are scornful or not properly connected to God.  His promise to us is that “if” we stay focused on Him and His words and ways of doing things, whatever we would put our hand to would prosper in its season and appointed time. He says that we would be “like” trees planted by rivers of water that would produce fruit in its season.

It is important to realize that just as plants and trees, etc., have different seasons for producing green leaves and fruit, seeds of faith-filled words and God’s determined seasons all come into play.  It is then, through faith and patience you see results. This means, of course, you need to be actively seeking His wisdom for you and not sitting passively and accepting what the “world” has to say (negative seed) about you and your circumstances.  A case in point is what we see and hear on television, the internet, radio broadcasts, what is written in newsprint, and, of course conversations we hear from people in general. These can very easily usurp time and often provide information that is misleading and not faith-filled but more often than not fear-filled. If you are tired of being overwhelmed and/or underwhelmed, decide to focus on what will bring God’s best into your life.  Here is how you begin:

“But seek for (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom, and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”  Matthew 6:33 (Amp)

This “adding” comes as a result of your faith being activated and exercised with confidence in how much He loves and cares for you.  Also, when He speaks of “meditating” in the Book of Psalms 1, this word actually means “to speak out over and over.”  That is how you activate God’s word in your life which will open the door to abundant life!  You find out what God has to say about you and then you talk about it!   

 

FRAME YOUR WORLD? YOU CAN

 

You Can Have What You Say!

 Scripture: Mark: 11:22-24 (Amplified)

 “And Jesus, replying, said to them, have faith in God constantly. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, be lifted up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason, I am telling you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe, trust and be confident that it is granted to you and you will get it!”

Have you ever spoken to a mountain? Well really if you have an obstacle in your path or a circumstance that seems to be overwhelming and you talk about how big the problem is, you are talking about that mountain and that mountain is talking back to you!

Jesus said that instead of talking about the problems facing us, we should talk to the problems with our faith in God who can move all mountains.

There are several vital keys that can work for or against you seeing your prayers answered and your dreams become a reality.

1. Jesus declared, “Truly!”  If you doubt not in your heart you will have what you say. The question is, do you believe this?

An Evangelist once said the Lord told him to tell the people: "I have told them they can have what they say; but they are saying what they have." There is a big difference. One requires no faith, the other requires great faith.

1.   Take time to listen to yourself talk.  Then ask yourself, is what I have been declaring about my life what I want to happen?  Are your words full of confidence and faith in God or full of doubt and fear?

2.   It is possible to move mountains out of your life.  God said, “The people perish because of lack of knowledge.”  He did not say they perish because that is His will, but because they do not know what the Word of God says. Begin in faith to say what you desire. It is Jesus that gave us the example of talking to your mountain! Jesus said  "Truly I tell you whoever says to this mountain and does not doubt in his heart at all, will have his request granted."

If you are a “whoever,” He is talking to you! 

Stop saying what you have and start believing you can have what you say!

Do it today!

 

SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE:

 

                           SOMETHING BETTER THAN THAT!

Have you ever had something happen and you immediately thought: God has got to have something better for me than that?!  Well, you are absolutely right!

SCRIPTURE:  John 10:10

Jesus said, “The thief has come to steal, kill and destroy but I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it MORE abundantly.” Anytime you see “they” written in the scriptures, it is important to personalize it by saying: Jesus said he came to give “me” life and to give it to “me” more abundantly! 

You are God’s creation, and his promises are as important to you as an individual as they are to the masses.  However, if you cannot see yourself important to God and realize how much he loves and cares for you as an individual, you can easily miss out on the “MORE” Jesus proclaimed was his will for you and you will, more than likely, find yourself experiencing what the thief has on his mind for you which is to steal, kill and destroy.  He does this by putting obstacles and lies in your path to subvert the truth about what Jesus came to do for you! 

Remember, it was Jesus who spoke about the two courses life could take.

With this in mind, for some time I have been feeling a prompting by the Holy Spirit to teach on three enormously powerful words: “Better than That!”  If you take time to think about your circumstances in the various areas of your life, I imagine there are some “That” experiences you would love to see improved and changed for the better!

These words are especially meaningful to me because a few years ago a dear friend, Evangelist John Mahon, preached a sermon based on those three words that the Lord had spoken to him and shared the powerful results he and his family had experienced by believing and decreeing that God truly did have something “Better than That!

I looked up some synonyms for “better” and the first definition to come up was MORE which represents:

-     a greater or additional amount or degree

-      added

-      extra

-      increased

-      new

-      some more! 

Why is this so interesting and exciting?  Because the Lord Jesus Christ stated one of his missions for mankind was as follows:

John 10:10: “I came that they might have life and that they might have it MORE abundantly.”

If this sounds like what you would like to experience perhaps in areas of your life that seem “less than,” I believe you will be inspired and encouraged through this teaching to believe God for MORE of what Jesus offers and “better” than what you have been experiencing!

Maybe you are in a situation like my husband and I were in a few years ago.  We wanted to sell our house in a timely manner when a couple came and were haggling over and over about the price and content and although we were wanting to sell, something just felt wrong and frustrating.

Then something wonderful happened! I was standing at my refrigerator contemplating the situation and I heard those three words from the sermon I had listened to a few years earlier “Better than That!” What that said to me was, God’s got something better, so we decided to release our faith for a “better than that” buyer!

My husband said an emphatic “no” to the deal and within days we had buyers that were over the moon with the house and everything in it, and we were all delighted with the end result!

How about you?  Do you have something going on in your life that you believe with all your heart God has a “more abundantly” outcome for you?  I encourage you to stand strong and release your faith for a “better than that” outcome because that is what Jesus said his desire clearly is for you!

You know so often in life people have grown up in tough circumstances or had people interject very negative words or statements about them that have been used by Satan to steal, kill, and destroy the “better than that” life Jesus created them to experience! 

I remember my husband and I working with an associate pastor who when he ministered or talked just seemed almost childlike in his actions.  He obviously was a grown man, however, words spoken to him in a jeering mocking way years earlier blocked him from experiencing the full life Jesus paid for him to have.

After spending time with him and praying about the situation, Jesus reminded him of a time when he was younger when he was very badly mocked and made fun of and was called by the name of a cartoon character in front of his peers repeatedly. This had so shamed him that even after becoming a grown man and a leader in the church, he was still carrying around the pain and wounds from being repeatedly embarrassed. 

Thankfully, he was able to pray and release those hurts and issues surrounding that time in his life so that he could move on and be the successful leader God had in mind for him to be.  He received something “better than that” and we marveled at his demeanor the next time we saw him minister!  Years of emotional pain that had been stealing from him had been lifted off him and he began to genuinely enjoy and live out Jesus words: “I came that they might have life and that they might have it in a more abundant (better) way.”

Has someone “dumped” negative, embarrassing words on you that don’t line up with Jesus’ mission statement for you which He says is a more abundant life!  Remember your faith response to Jesus’ words is what will make the difference! 

The opposite of better is worse!  That is what Jesus clearly stated the thief, Satan, has on his mind.  That is why it is important to make a quality decision daily to become more knowledgeable of what Jesus offers you, so that your life will become better and reflect His thoughts for you, not the thief’s!

Even the Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament had to be actively involved in letting go of his past so that he could be the man God called him to be.  At one time, he was all about destroying and locking up anyone proclaiming Christ as Lord and Messiah, but what a turnaround when he came into the knowledge of the truth of how much he was loved by Jesus as well as how much Jesus came to give a more abundant (better) life for all of mankind!

To say the least, he was quite a character prior to his conversion but then stated his life’s goal in Philippians 3:13: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching for those things which are ahead I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

I also love the New Living Testament translation which we can easily relate to:

“…dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Don’t you love prizes?  Think about God being the prize giver in your life!

Just like Paul, who had to get stuff such as wrong beliefs, errors in religious persuasions and connections, etc., out of his mind so that he would not be stuck in his past but move forward to the “better than that” life God had called him to, for God’s will to be accomplished in our lives, it is important that we do the very same thing! 

Just like you can press the eject button on a CD to change what you are hearing; you can do the same by rejecting wrong thinking and believing and switch over to “better than that!” thoughts and plans Jesus said he has for your life.

James 1:17 is a “more abundant” scripture that perfectly describes our Lord’s will for those that believe it and receive it: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Aren’t you glad God does not change his mind about you and what he desires for you from day to day?

How do we know this?

2 Corinthians 1:20: “” FOR NO MATTER HOW MANY PROMISES GOD HAS MADE, THEY ARE “YES” IN CHRIST.  AND SO THROUGH HIM THE “AMEN” IS SPOKEN BY US TO THE GLORY OF GOD.”

Take time this week to find the promises concerning issues in your life, maybe it’s a health issue, a financial crisis, a job you or a family member needs, any area you wish to see improvement in, find God’s promise, receive it, and say “AMEN” because the scripture says when we do so God gets the glory when his promises are performed!  Note the “AMEN” must be spoken by us, then God goes to work if we stand in faith to see it performed!

God released his faith into his promises and desires you to know if he promised it, he desires you to have it— but your part is to BY FAITH take what belongs to you because God said it!

We pray you will take time on a regular basis to assess what is happening in your life and those you love and, if it does not measure up to Jesus’ mission for you, a More Abundant (Better than That) life, decide to be like the Apostle Paul and begin reaching for the goal for the heavenly prize God has in store for you in Jesus’ Name, Amen!

 Diana

 

FOCUSED FAITH GETS RESULTS

 

ARE YOU USING YOUR GOD-GIVEN SPIRITUAL BINOCULARS?

 Focused faith gets results!  Focus on God’s promises adjusts your spiritual binoculars to see the promises that are for you so that you can experience success, joy and fulfillment in your daily life!

 You might be thinking, I did not even realize I have spiritual binoculars to use.  Well, you do!  We are not talking about just any faith, which is vital for success, but faith that focuses on God’s promises.

Faith originated with Jesus.  Hebrews 12:2 refers to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith. “It says that for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God!”

His faith was focused on “the end result”—the vision.

Proverbs 29:18 is such a profound Scripture because it describes the results of not having a vision concerning God’s plans and direction in our lives in clear focus.  It says: “Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelation of God) the people perish, but he who keeps the law [the lord] of God, (which includes that of man) is blessed, happy, fortunate and enviable.” Amplified

The actual meaning of vision is to mentally perceive, to contemplate with pleasure and to constantly anticipate something great is going to happen.  Basically, a vision is faith in your mind’s eye like an architect would draw up a blueprint.  He sees the finished product before it is even started!

Hebrews 11:1 refers to faith as something you start with, with a picture or definite focus in mind. “NOW FAITH, is the assurance (the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].” Amplified

The Bible says your faith, your vision, your dream is like a title deed…a title deed is proof that you own something.

FOR THE REST TOTAL TEACHING GO TO THE STORE: 

Focused Faith Gets Results

 

SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE:

                       BLESSINGS FOLLOW RIGHT BELIEVING!

 

Scripture:  Mark 9:23-24

This is the story of a man who was feeling pain and frustration for the terrible situation his son was in.  He obviously had heard about all the wonderful things Jesus was doing for the people around him, but the situation was so big in his eyes he was not convinced Jesus had the power or would even have compassion to help him out! However, to these questions Jesus replied:

 “If You can believe?  All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!” Jesus quickly let the man know it was not about his power or willingness to do something for him, but the man’s faith. Immediately after hearing Jesus’ words, the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief or help my weak faith!”

Just like the situations many of us go through and things we see going on around us, this man’s faith was shaken by what he saw, and he became conscious of his own inability to believe beyond what he saw.  He then asked Jesus to remove his doubt!

Jesus obviously honored that man’s prayer because when his believing got straightened out, immediately his son was set free. Jesus was happy to work with this man’s limited faith so that He could give him the miracle he needed!

Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him!”

That is a powerful promise for us today that the Lord absolutely rewards faith and Jesus took time to help straighten the man’s thinking out so he could receive what Jesus wanted for him all the time!

Jesus loved performing miracles and answering prayers and today is still looking for those that believe He will do what the Scriptures say He will do!

 Ephesians 1:19-21 “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who BELIEVE him.  This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.  Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else-not only in this world but also in the world to come!”

 Mark 6:4-5 will help us to see how right believing attracts God’s blessings and wrong believing forfeits God’s blessings.

“Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home. He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” Look at that!  We are talking about the Son of God, the living Word, walking among them, but people in his everyday sphere of influence forfeited miracles and blessings because of familiarity or judging things in natural ways.  They were saying, “Oh, this is just the carpenter’s son and we know all of his family; He is just like us!”

Often, we, as believers, can have similar experiences with family, friends, business associates, etc., because they do not understand that as born-again Christians, God, through the finished work of Jesus, now lives inside of us and has delegated to us the power and authority to use His Name so that his will is manifest on earth as it is in Heaven!

The Apostle Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

 The exciting news for us today is as faith-filled believers in God’s promises, we have assurance God watches over His Word to perform it.  One important aspect of faith is that while we are waiting for the answers to show up, we must purpose in our heart, ahead of time, not to let situations or circumstances steal our joy or our faith!

 Always keep in mind, as well, “Delay is not Denial!”

 God desires us to continue to proclaim his Father’s Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven for the people HE CREATED!  Jesus came from Heaven to earth so you can imagine his excitement about getting people to understand His Father’s heart so they could experience “Heaven on Earth!”

 He has now commissioned us to do the same:

 Mark 16:15:  And then He told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone….”

With all the bad news and confusion going on around the world that we mostly learn about through media, focusing on the Gospel continues to be the way we release faith for God’s will, not man’s will to be done!

Luke 18:8 Jesus asked, “…. but when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?

In Matthew 24:12. Jesus stated that right before his return, “because lawlessness, {wickedness and iniquity) would multiply and abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

Have you noticed how easy it is to get caught up in negative conversations which inflame emotions and before you realize it, you are agreeing with others about how bad things or people are when Jesus said: “IF YOU can believe all things are possible!” 

 The Apostle Paul said: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel for IT IS THE POWER OF GOD to salvation to everyone who BELIEVES…” God is in His Word!  When we speak His Word in faith, His power goes to work to change situations!  Paul was saying not to be ashamed to speak about the Gospel because he knew it had power to bring people to salvation and change circumstances in their lives!

Jesus was not ashamed when some did not believe!  He just kept on doing what His Father had sent Him to do and those that believed received the blessings! 

When stuff happens, however, we can get bogged down with issues and our faith to believe all God promised those who would believe can get blocked. When this happens, we must quickly cast it off being fully persuaded of God’s goodness and love for us and his desire to reward our efforts in seeking Him. Realizing we are God’s investment will help us focus on the benefits he has placed within us. Our part is to daily take time to make the great exchange: 

His Peace for our worries:

John 14:27 “Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 

His Health for our infirmities:

1 Peter 2:24 “He Himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, “by his wounds you have been healed.”

His Joy for our sadness:

John 15:11 “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow.”

His Power for our weakness:

Isaiah 40:29 “He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.”

His Faith for our fears:

Luke 12:32 “Fear not little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Visually making these exchanges on a regular basis can bring our lives into God’s Will on earth as it is in Heaven!

Have you ever heard the expression, “You can take it to the bank?”

It means what was said is absolutely guaranteed!

Hebrews 6:17-18: “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise, the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

From this Scripture, we, as heirs of the promise, can absolutely be convinced that if we do not draw back and allow wrong thinking or wrong beliefs to fill our lives but keep the faith for the victories He paid for us to have through right believing, we can take God’s promises to the Bank of Heaven and expect the promised results!

Diana

www.dianasykes.com