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Word for Today:  August 11

Faith’s potential.

What you do with your faith determines what happens to your faith.  If you use it, it increases.  If you don’t use it, it decreases.  Use it or lose it.   Faith demands action.  Faith demands risk.

Faith is a creative Force.  The Faith of God is the Force behind all creation.  Faith is a “first-order” force.  God is a Faith God.  We are commanded to have the “God-kind” of Faith.

 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Mark 11:22

“Have the Faith of God.”  You have the same kind of Faith God has.  Faith is a Divine Attribute of God.  When you and I got Born Again, we received an impartation of the very Nature and Character of God into our Recreated Human Spirit.  When we were Regenerated, we were “RE-GENED…”  God Supernaturally changed and altered the Genetic Mapping of our human nature.  He “imputed” His Faith into us.  NOW… we have the Faith of God.

Just as you received certain biological and genetic characteristics from your earthly parents at the time of your physical birth, your also received certain Spiritual and Supernatural characteristics from your Heavenly Father at the time of your Spiritual Birth.  You look like your parents.  You have personal and emotional characteristics like your parents.  The color of your eyes.  The color of your hair.  Your physical size.  The way you walk.  The way are physically built.  Your size.

All these were built into you… mapped by the genetic structures of your parents… and passed on to you at the time of your physical birth.  If all these intricate and miraculous physical attributes were placed in you when you were born, what about the wonderful supernatural characteristics that were imputed into your recreated human spirit at the time of your Spiritual Birth…  When you were Born Again?

If the faith of God is behind all creation, (and it most certainly is) and if you and I have the same kind of faith, (and we most certainly do) then we have access to the most awesome force known in the universe.

That is a Spiritual Reality

All things are possible to him that believeth…  Mk 9:23

Word for Today:  August 16

The world will never understand a spiritually minded believer.

We simply believe what the Word says about who we are, what we have and what we can do.

• The Word says we are kings and priests. Therefore, we act like kings and priests.
• The Word says we are healed and not sick. Therefore, we act like we are healed.
• The Word says we are the head and not the tail. Therefore, we act like we are the head.
• The Word says we are above and not beneath. Therefore, we act like we are above our circumstances and situations.
• The Word says we are rich and not poor. Therefore, we act like we are rich.
• The Word says we are more than a conqueror. Therefore, we act like overcoming conquerors.
• The Word says we can do all things through Christ and nothing shall be impossible to us. Therefore, we act like nothing will ever be impossible for us.

We have the courage and the faith to attempt the impossible, see the invisible and obtain the supernatural.

Word for Today:  August 9

Be strong and of a good courage…  Joshua 1:6

Be strong and courageous.  Being strong is a decision you make.  You do not “get strong” you “be strong.”  Being strong is a decision.  You decide to be strong and you decide to be weak.  You decide how you are going to be in your life.  It is really up to you.  You do not wait to get strong…. You “be strong!”  It is a specific choice you make.

God is saying to us:  Be Strong.  Don’t be weak.    Be strong in faith.  Strong in the stand you take.  Strong in the Word.  Strong in your calling.  Paul commands us to “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”  You can be strong or you can be weak.  Strong is better!

Strong wards off hell.  Strong defeats the devil.  Strong believes the Truth.  Strong refuses the Lie.  Strong never fails.  Strong never fears.  Strong resists.  Strong STANDS.

Courageous is Alert, Steadfast, Established, Prevailing, Obstinate… It is to be “on foot” and alert.  It means to be awake and not asleep.  It means to be locked and loaded.  It means to be ready.

Do you have the courage to do something about your situation?  Do you have the courage to challenge hell over your family?  Your marriage?  Your finances?  Your health?  How much courage do you have?  God commands us to BE COURAGEOUS.  Courage is the opposite of fear.  It is boldness and assertiveness.  It is refusing to stand still and watch the devil devour your possessions.  It means to launch an attack.  It means to be aggressive.  It means to be offensive.  It means to run into the battle!   Just as David ran toward his giant.

Don’t look at the size of the enemy.  Look at the size of the prize.  (Phil 4:13)

John 1:12  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:

There is no such thing as “I can’t” in the life of a real believer.  You can because God says you can.  God would not say you can if you can’t.   What God says is absolute… it is beyond questioning, never on the table for discussion, and it is beyond any shadow of doubt. 

God tells us that to those who have received Jesus, He gives the Authority to be the Children of God.  Many are still at the starting stage.  This explains the failures and the dropouts in the Body of Christ…  We are called to be complete.  We are born into the Kingdom to be “all that we can be…”   We are washed in the Blood to be mature and full grown, strong, and able. 

 If  you are not where you want to be, God has given you Power to Become.  If you are not pleased with your Spiritual condition, God has given you Power to Become.  If you want to do more,  accomplish more, win more, go more, give more, pray more, know more, grow more,  God has provided a WAY…

Seeing the Invisible

“For we walk by Faith, not by sight…”  2 Cor 5:7

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…”  2 Cor 4:18

“By Faith, he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he (Moses) endured as seeing Him Who is invisible…”  Heb 11:27

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven…” John 3:3

God calls His People into realms beyond the natural.  We are birthed into a higher dimension when we get Born Again.  According to Paul, “if any man be in Christ, he is a New Creation, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new…”  2 Cor 5:17.  The New Creation is delivered from the “old things” and brought into the realm of “all things new”.   The Word says “we are in the world, but not of the world…”  We are citizens of “another country” and we have been raised up to sit with Jesus in “heavenly places…”   The New Testament is the Believer’s Instruction Manual.  It tells us how to Live in the realm of the Supernatural.  It gives instructions about how to live Heaven’s Life here on earth.  It provides Revelation regarding our Position in Christ and our Purpose on earth.

In the New Creation provision, we are called to See the Invisible.  The Word says:  “while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…”  This is not some psychic phenomenon, or some fortune-teller foolishness, but a real Command to Look beyond what we see until we see what God sees.   Until we are able to “see the invisible” we will never be able to do the impossible.  If we are living in the realm of the possible, we are just like all the other natural, “mere” men on the earth.  You know and I know that we are not called to be “mere men” but New Creation Men.  We are Born with Heaven inside us.  We are called and commissioned to take the world away from the devil and lay it again at the feet of Jesus.  We are a New Breed.  A New Species.  We are Aliens on earth because we are Born to Live in Heaven.  We are a generation of Jesus People, equipped with the Word and empowered by the Spirit.  We must See the Invisible.

The Church is living far below the full potential God has birthed in it.  Most who make up the Church do not know the hidden forces that are in them.  The very Forces that make God God are inside every Believer.  There is great and awesome potential inside every New Creation in Christ.  Why do you think the Word tells us that we “can do all things through Christ…”  Why do you think God tells us that “nothing shall be impossible to you…”  Why do you think God promises us that “if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven…”  We are called to be “more than conquerors…” and we have been equipped with mighty weapons of warfare that are “not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds…”  God is calling LIFE CHURCH to SEE THE INVISIBLE and DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. 

Look at Moses.  He FORSOOK Egypt.  He saw beyond the Natural and the Immediate and into the Spirit and the Future.  He left what everybody thought was a “sure thing” because he saw the Invisible.  The world held no attraction for him.  Money, power, rank, station, reputation, future…. all these were weighed against the “Invisible” things he saw by faith and the promises of God were much better than the wealth of the world.  Hallelujah.   He left the world, the world system, and the things of flesh behind and he “endured” (kartereo: to be strong, steadfast, patient) because he saw the invisible.  Seeing the invisible is preceded by Forsaking and Enduring.  Faith has a flip side.  It is not all just “believing with the head and heart” it is believing with a DETERMINATION to Do the Word and Obey God.  “Faith without works is dead…”

How do we “see the invisible”?  How can we penetrate the Dimension of the Supernatural?  How do we get “raised up” so that we can sit together with Christ in Heavenly places?

I.  OPEN YOUR EYES.

Except a man be Born Again, he cannot see… John 3:3

Get saved.  Stay saved.  Resist the attractions of the world and live for God.  Get Baptized in the Holy Ghost and submit to the Spirit of God.  Walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. 

You may not be able to “see” because you are not right with God.  You can never see the Invisible until you are Born of the Spirit.  The natural man cannot discern the things of God because they are Spiritually discerned.  You cannot walk by faith and not by sight unless you are Born Again.  The natural world burdens your heart, and the problems load your soul.  You can only see things as they are, and you cannot look beyond the natural and see the invisible.

Nicodemus was religious.  Nicodemus was educated.  Nicodemus was righteous.  Nicodemus was seeking God.  Nicodemus was moral.  Nicodemus was LOST and he was BLIND, and he could not SEE the INVISIBLE.  He would have made a GOOD CHARISMATIC, but he was limited by lack of sight.  Jesus said, except a man be BORN AGAIN he cannot see…

If Jesus said it, it must be important.  He wants you to be able to SEE the INVISIBLE and DO the IMPOSSIBLE.  Without the NEW BIRTH this will never happen.

Many who are saved have difficulty “seeing” and “forsaking” and “enduring”.  They are continually knocked down and drug through by the enemy.  They are overcome more often than they overcome.  They are subject to worry, fears, doubts, and discouragement.  They are depressed and done in.  They are unhappy and continually victims of violent mood swings.  One day is good.  Then ten are bad.  One victory is won, then fifteen are lost.  Ground that has been gained is constantly being lost and retreat is the only way out.  You need to receive Power from on High.  You need an encounter with the Holy Ghost that gives you the ability to resist the devil and win the battle.  You need to be Filled with the Spirit and Baptized in the Fire of God. 

Seeing the invisible and doing the impossible.  The first priority is to GET BORN AGAIN and BAPTIZED with the HOLY GHOST.

II.  REALLY BELIEVE

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth…

 Mark 9:23

Faith Vision is seeing THINGS AS THEY CAN BE instead of seeing things the way they are.  Faith vision is seeing THINGS as GOD SAYS they can be instead of seeing things as the WORLD SAYS they will be.  To believe is to abandon all REASON.  To believe is to hold to TRUTH instead of being moved by FACTS.  To believe is to hook up to the WORD and to plug into GOD.  To believe is to resist all doubt, negativism, and pessimism.  To believe is to TRUST IN and RELY ON and DEPEND ON and ADHERE TO God and His Promises.

Faith believes when there is NO HOPE.  Faith trusts when there is NO FEELING.  Faith relies on when there is no ENCOURAGEMENT.  Faith adheres to when ALL ELSE FAILS.  Faith holds on when everybody gives up and everything falls apart.  You can see the INVISIBLE when you look beyond NATURAL.  When you resist every symptom and rebuke everything that contradicts the Word of God.  Faith sees.  Even in the dark.  Faith sees over the horizon and beyond the natural.  Faith is believing. 

            David BELIEVED.

            Joshua BELIEVED.

            Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego BELIEVED.

            Moses BELIEVED.

            Abraham BELIEVED.

            Paul BELIEVED.

            Jesus BELIEVED.

Because they BELIEVED, they SAW THE INVISIBLE and ACCOMPLISHED THE IMPOSSIBLE.  Jesus Christ is the SAME, yesterday, today, and forever.  God is no respecter of persons.  What God did for others, He will do for you and me.  And he will do it NOW.

III.  DO IT NOW.

“Today is the day of salvation…”

“Now is the accepted time…”

Some today will continue to live and look and see only in the realm of the natural.  Some will fall right back into the same trap and same bondage and same defeat.  Some will stay sick and stay whipped and stay depressed and stay lost.  Some will continue to be harassed and vexed and tormented by the devil and demons.  Some will say “next time” or “later” or “not today”.  Some may slip away and never be as touched by the Holy Ghost as you are today.

 “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near…”  He is Here.  He can be found in this place this morning.  He is near.  He is calling you and prompting you to DO IT TODAY.  You have intended to.  You have planned to.  You want to.  DO IT NOW.  You need healing.  You need forgiving.  You need peace.  You need to know that you are loved.  You need power over the flesh and power to see the invisible.. 

When you SEE THE INVISIBLE you can DO THE IMPOSSIBLE.   

Word for Today: August 8

Who hath believed our report?  (Isa. 53:1)

Many in the Body of Christ are walking in defeat and despair and darkness because they will not “believe our report”…  They simply think it’s “too good to be true…”   But it is good and it is true…

Our report…

• Our sins are forgiven.
• We have strength and power to live right and do right.
• We are delivered out of satan’s dominion.
• We are seated with Christ “in the heavenlies.”
• We have the Nature of God our Father.
• We have authority to use His Name.
• We are in possession of Eternal Life.
• We will live and never die.

Can you believe this?

Word for Today:  August 7

Jesus Paid it All

The devil and all demon powers are dethroned and defeated.  At the fall of Adam, satan gained control and dominion over all the earth.  At the Resurrection of Jesus,  satan was factually and actually dethroned and defeated.   he was and stripped of all his power and all his authority.

The Resurrection of Jesus was and is the final proof of satan’s downfall and defeat.  Sickness, sin, defeat, sorrow, death, sadness are all forever conquered.  We (Believers) have been redeemed from satan’s dominion and we have legally become the masters of satan and all his demons.  You have power over the devil because Jesus rose from the dead.  You can cast out devils. You can heal the sick.  You can call things that are not as though they are.  You can overcome poverty and distress and pain and need.  Because Jesus is alive… you are filled with Resurrection Life.

There will be no judgment for us like it was for Jesus.  God will not forsake us.   For us there will be no Cross… no crown of thorns… no separation from God… no suffering in hell… no guilt and no condemnation.

Jesus paid it all

All to Him I owe…Sin had left a crimson stain…He washed it white as snow

Elvina M. Hall  1865

Gal3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Now in that same chapter we read in verse 29…

29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Saints, if we are born into God’s Kingdom, according to these verses, we are the seed of Abraham.  And if we are the seed of Abraham, we are the recipients of all the promises God gave to this Old Testament patriarch.  We have received all of the blessings that God promised Abraham. 

God gave the Law through Moses and because that Law was broken a curse came on mankind.  That curse came upon you and it came upon me.  But the Bible tells us in Galatians that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the broken law.  This means that Christ has literally bought us back (that is what “redeemed” means) and has given back to us the blessings that were lost as a result of the broken law.  The blessings of Abraham were lost to us as a result of sin… because the Law was broken.  Mankind fell short of God’s expectations and God’s glory.  But Christ has redeemed us, bought us back and reinstated the blessings of Abraham for every believer.  That’s really awesome!

If Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, (and He certainly has) you might ask then, “What is the curse of the Law?”  Let’s look at.  The major portion of Deuteronomy Chapter 28 deals with and describes what the curse of the broken law is and what it does.  I want us to look over some of these verses and just see what Jesus has redeemed us from.  The following verses tell us about the results of the broken law…

15 ¶  But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.

18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

20  The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

22  The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

23  And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

When the scriptures declare that the Lord does these horrible things, it says in the original language that the Lord “allows” them.  We know that the Word tells us that God can do no evil,   He is not the author of sickness and disease and calamity and death… He is not the author of poverty and distress… He is not the author or the cause of these things, but He allows them as a means of manifesting the results of the broken law… God does not cause these calamities, He allows them. 

24  The LORD shall make (allow) the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

25  The LORD shall cause (allow) thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 

And on down through the end of this chapter, the Bible is very explicit regarding the results of the broken law and the terrible things that God will allow to happen to those who break the Law of Moses.  He doesn’t cause them… He allows them.  

The good news I bring to you is that Jesus has redeemed us from all of these curses.  He literally became The Curse in order that we might be delivered from the curse.  Jesus has redeemed us … bought us back… from the curse having been made a curse for us and He did it by and through His Redemptive Work on the Cross. 

Ga 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Jesus literally invaded satan’s dominion and stripped him of all the power and authority he exercised over you and over me and over the earth.  Paul writes in Colossians that Jesus spoiled (to strip of or disarm) the devil and took away from him all his offensive weapons and made a show or display of him openly so that all those powers in heaven in earth and in hell would know that the devil was (and still is) totally and completely defeated.  So the devil is a defeated foe right now.  And he always will be.

Col 2:15  And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

One of the blessings of our redemption is the revelation that the devil is presently defeated.  He has no power.  He has no authority.  He has no right and no legal place in our life in this present world… because Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the Law.  This revelation has just begun to operate in my life. 

Just the other day Pat called my attention to the baby.  He had begun to run a fever, his nose was running and as I held him in my arms I could tell that his body temperature was rising and that he was getting worse by the minute.  I could sense by what I saw and felt that he was getting sick.  And it just made me mad.  Real mad.  I hate the devil and I hate what he tries to do to my family and especially to my children.  I just got mad.  I placed him back in his bed and decided to get away so that I could have a sit to with the devil.  I got in the car and drove off and before I got out of the drive way may anger had turned into a righteous rage.  I began to scream at the devil.  I began to rebuke him loudly.  I resisted Him in the Name of Jesus.  I called him names that I would not say in public, much less in the pulpit.  I found out I have the right to do just that.  I cursed the devil and verbally attacked him and told him just where to go… I actually told him to go to hell.  I commanded him to leave my community and my property and my household.  I told him he could not stop at Georgetown or Wilmer or Lucedale… but that he must keep on running.  I reminded him that he had no right or authority to harm or hurt those people in those towns just like he had no authority to harm me or my wife or my kids or my dogs.  I cursed him and fumed at him and lashed him with my tongue.  I slapped him with the Word.  With great rage and violence I came against him all the time I was riding around in my car.  Pat will be my witness that when I got back to the house that baby did not have a runny nose, he did not have any fever and he was not sick.  He has been well ever since.  Hallelujah.    

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the broken law and the curse has no power over us… not anymore.  Do you know what the curse of the broken law is?  It is sickness, and poverty and spiritual death.  These three things are the results of the broken law and Jesus has redeemed me and my family from these three things.  He has redeemed me from sickness.  He has redeemed me from poverty. He has redeemed me from spiritual death. 

I am Born Again.  I am well and not sick.  I am rich and not poor.  I am alive and not dead.  I am just passing through this world, I am not a citizen of this place, my home is in heaven and one day not too far off, I will rule and reign with Jesus right here on planet earth because I am a son of the Living God and I have been redeemed from the curse of the law.  Hallelujah.    

If Jesus delivered me from sin when I got saved He also delivered me from sickness and from poverty because sickness and poverty, just like sin, is a curse of the broken law.  Have you considered the life of Abraham in the Old Testament?   Have you read about him and what God promised him and what God did for him and what God gave him?  If we are studying about the blessings of Abraham which are legally ours because Jesus has redeemed us from the curse, we need to look at this man.  Just how was he blessed?  And what did these blessings include?

Did you know he was one of the wealthiest men who ever lived on this planet?  He was blessed with material things.  Not only did he have wealth, he also had good health.  He was so strong and viral that he fathered a child when he was 100 years old.  He walked and lived in divine health.  He was not sick.  He was not overcome by disease.  He was not weakened by old age.  He was the recipient of tremendous spiritual and natural blessings because God blessed Abraham and Abraham’s seed.  One time God commanded him to look in the heavens and attempt to number the stars because that was just how many offspring he was going to have…he was and is the father of many nations and his offspring is still increasing, just like God said it would.     

The Bible says in Romans chapter 10 and verse 10,

 “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation…”  

More than likely, we have all heard this verse because it is one of the verses we use when we are witnessing to someone who needs to be saved.  However there is something in this verse that I did not see until recently.  The word “salvation” in this verse is the Greek word for “deliverance.”    “Salvation” means “deliverance.”  But deliverance from what?  It means I am delivered from sin, I am delivered from sickness, I am delivered from disease, I am delivered from poverty and I am delivered from instability and I am delivered from an unsound mind.  I am delivered from depression, oppression, despair, fear, anxiety and thousands and thousands of other negative and death dealing things the devil tries to hang on me.  

This word “salvation” is an all-inclusive word of God’s matchless grace and love.  It means tons more than just getting saved and going to heaven and missing hell.  It means that if we confess with our mouth because we believe in our heart we will receive the blessings (all of them) of Abraham and we will nave them now in this life on this earth before we die and go to heaven.  And this is because Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law.  Our Faith Confession brings possession.  What we say we begin to have.  What we decree and speak by faith begins to come to pass.  It is a scriptural principle that we will have what we say.  Remember Mark 11:23? 

23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto 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.

Let me tell you something… in this verse God says one time that we are to believe.  But in the same verse He says three times we are to say with our mouth.  So you see, confession is the key to possession.  Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law but if you don’t believe it and never confess it and never say it but just walk around and keep your mouth shut (or if you do open it you say things that are contrary to the Word)…  you are going to have a very difficult time realizing and experiencing the results of your redemption. 

If you don’t say what God says and you don’t claim what God has already given you to claim, you’ll be sick and you’ll  be broke and you’ll be distressed and sad and fearful and defeated…but IF you get hold of this revelation and begin to confess these things with your mouth and begin to say them and believe them, you will see them begin to come to pass. 

Let me share for moment about the kinds of confession.  There are three kinds of confession.  One type of confession is good only for those who are lost.  The sinner can only confess Jesus as his Lord.  That is the first confession a lost person can make.  Until he makes that confession, no other confession he makes regarding spiritual things will do any good.  We must believe and confess that Jesus is Lord and when we do, that brings about salvation. 

The second type of confession is made when a believer gets out of fellowship with God and recognizes his backslidden condition… he is miserable and  unhappy and he has no joy.  He can confess his sins that are responsible for his separation from God… and according to 1 John…

 1Jo 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And when he makes this confession to God the scripture says that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

The third type of confession is the confession that is made by believers like you and me…when that revelation begins to rise up in our spirit and convince us… really convince us… that when we confess what  the Word says,  we can have what the Word says we can have.  You can have faith, but until you are willing to confess with your mouth what you REALLY BELIEVE in your HEART, you will never see what you say. Unless you are operating with a spiritual mind these things will be hard for you to understand.  But I am telling you what God’s Word says. 

God says we have what we say.  If you go around talking about how bad you feel all the time, you will have what you say and you will feel bad all the time.  You talk about the devil being after you then guess what will happen…. The devil will continue to be after you.  You talk about being sick… guess what will happen?  You’ll be sick because what you say is what you get.  You talk about being broke and poor and needy…. Then that’s exactly what you will be.  What you say is what you get. 

But if you will begin to confess some good things…. Some things that God has provided for you in your complete redemption… begin to confess and say “Praise God, I’m redeemed from the curse….. I’m feeling good and I am well and not sick, I am happy and not sad, I am rich and not poor, I am strong and not weak, I have good health I have a great marriage, I have wonderful children, I am free and delivered from unwholesome habits… “  Confess with your mouth and you will begin to possess what you confess.  Confess that you will succeed and not fail confess that the devil is defeated in your life, confess that he has no power and no authority and no right to mess with you or with anything you have…

Confess and say these good things (they are things that God has already said about you) and they will begin to come alive within you and you will start to see them manifest in your life.  Praise God. This is a Word principle that will change your life.     

Now, what are we supposed to confess?  Let me just give you some ideas. 

You need to begin by confessing what God has provided for you in His Plan of Redemption. 

That could take you three or four weeks right there if you just confess that.    What has God provided for us in His Grand Plan of Redemption?  At one time, my little religious head and heart could only believe that my redemption would keep me out of hell.  That was it.  Get to heaven and miss hell.  Now that’s not bad but it is only the beginning.  It barely scratches the surface.  Thank God for that.  That’s good but when I got the revelation that my redemption provided heaven on earth  for me before I died and that I could receive and enjoy heaven’s benefits right here while I was alive… it nearly blew me away!  It was awesome.  It IS awesome! 

God provided health for me here, He provided prosperity for me here, He provided deliverance for me here, He provided joy and peace and happiness and RIGHTEOUSNESS for me here…  I don’t have to wait until I die and go to heaven to receive these great benefits. What did David the shepherd boy write?  Remember he said,

“bless the Lord O my soul and FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS…”

 Look in Isaiah chapter 61. This is one of the greatest and grandest prophecies in the whole Bible concerning Jesus the Messiah.  And it was written nearly 800 years before Jesus was born in the little town of Bethlehem.

1 ¶  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

What do we have through God’s Great Redemptive Plan?  More than we can list or say… we have Joy unspeakable and full of glory, we have a song in our soul and the sound of victory ringing in our ears…  We have peace and power and soundness of mind. We have freedom from worry and fear and all those things that so easily beset us and draw us away from Jesus.  We have Hope.  We have Faith.  We have Expectancy.  We have Strength.  We have the thrill of fellowship with the Savior and an intimate relationship with Father God.  We have the excitement of Fresh Revelation coming to us through the Word. 

We have the awesome baptism in the Holy Ghost and all the wonderful Gifts of the Spirit.  We have the awesome New Testament Church clothed in the power of the Holy Ghost that is continuing to do what Jesus Did while He walked on this earth.  We have Signs and Wonders and Miracles.  Hallelujah.  Confess these things  and say these things  because they are  REDEMPTIVE FACTS and a RESENT DAY REALITIES.    

Next, we need to confess what God has done IN US

What has God done in us?  I can tell you some of what God has done in me.  He has made me a NEW CREATION in Christ Jesus.  Old things are now passed away, they are history, and all things have become new.  I am a New Creation in Jesus.     I am getting better and not just older.  My youth is being renewed in me like the eagle’s…  I am wiser, more intelligent, I have greater experience and I am continually receiving greater revelation from the Word.  My mind is being renewed.  My physical body is under the influence of the Holy Ghost and what He does for me and in me is timeless.  It is not affected by the passing of years.  Hallelujah. 

I am living by the principles and promises of the Word of God.  Therefore, I am not moved by what I see or what appears to be or what men may say or what the world may dictate… I am moved only by the Word of God and the Word of God is changeless and eternal.  What God promises He performs.  Christ has redeemed me from the curse. 

Confess what God is doing for us RIGHT NOW

Do you know what Jesus is doing for us right now?  He is Interceding for you and for me at the Right Hand of God’s Throne in Heaven.  As we go about our daily living… working, playing, ministering, serving… Jesus is praying for us.  Jesus is praying for me.  Jesus is praying for you.  Jesus is praying for Lott Road Church.  Jesus is ministering to God in our behalf… for us… for our benefit.  Right now.   He is our Advocate.. . our Special Attorney who represents us before God in the presence of the Accuser… He pleads our case and declares us innocent of all charges.  He dispatches Ministering Spirits (Angels) to specifically come and help us in our times of need… when we are hurting and enduring temptations and trials…. He Knows who we are, where we are and what we need… and He is presently occupied in getting the supply to our need.  He is active and aggressive and diligent in caring for and protecting each of us…. He is Christ the Lord and He has redeemed us from the curse. 

Confess what God CAN DO through us. 

This is one of the main reasons I am teaching you about Jesus redeeming us from the curse of the law.    What can God do through us?  He has already told us in Mark chapter 11 that if we believe and speak to mountains, they will be removed and cast into the sea.  God tells us that we can do mighty and miraculous things when we speak God’s Word out of our mouth because we believe it in our heart. 

He tells us that if we will resist the devil he will flee from us.  The Bible tells us that we can do ALL THINGS though Christ Who is our strength.  He tells us that NOTHING shall be impossible to us.  He tells us that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.  He tells us that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ASK or THINK according to the POWER that worketh (is energized) in us.  He tells us that we are the Church of the Living God and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. 

He tells me and you that He has placed an open door before us and that no man (demon or devil) can close it.  He tells us that if we can believe ALL THINGS are possible to him that believeth.  Jesus tells us that we can even do GREATER THINGS on earth than He did.  What did He do?  He cast out devils, He raised the dead, He healed the sick, He gave sight to the blind, He opened the ears of the deaf, and caused the dumb to speak.  He spoke to storms and they stopped.  He fed the multitudes with a few fish and a few of loaves of bread.  He walked on water.  He turned water into wine.  He caused the crippled to walk and the lame to leap.  This is what GOD can DO THROUGH us.  We need to believe this and confess these things.  We need to talk about what we can do instead of what we can’t do. 

Don’t go around feeling sorry for yourself.  Get up and get away from your little pity parties.  Forget about feeling like you are some special blessing from God because you go around sick all the time.  Confess that you are well and not sick.  Confess that you are not poor.  The Bible says that Jesus, though He was rich,  became poor that we, through His poverty might be made rich. 

2Co 8:9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

So, according to the Bible we are rich.  Right now.  At this moment.  Heaven’s Prince became poor that we might become rich. 

Jesus became sin that we might become His Righteousness.

 2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Now say that.  Confess that.  He became sin, and disease, and corruption, and hate, and violence, and every vile and wretched thing the devil has ever hatched up…Jesus BECAME that LITERALLY.  That’s why He was all but unrecognizable in His outward appearance as He hung on the Cross.  He became THAT so that you might have heaven on earth.

 He HATH redeemed us from the CURSE. 

Begin to confess these things that we have in Jesus and begin to say these positive and powerful things GOD says about us… and we will see these things come to pass. The devil is terrified of any believer who will put into practice what I am teaching in this message.  God is holding us responsible for what we hear and what we know.  He tells us that “to whom much is given much shall be required…” (Lk 12:48) 

We will all answer to God at the Judgment Seat of Christ regarding the things we KNOW.  Folks, the devil is whipped.  The only power he has is the power we give him.  That is the only power he has.  He is defeated once and for all.  Jesus dealt with him on the Cross.    He has been overcome by the Captain of our Salvation and it is time that we begin to live like we have been redeemed from the curse.

Now, believe right.  

Believe down in your spirit… receive the Revelation… that the devil is whipped.  Really believe this.  Believe this because the Bible says it. Jesus defeated the devil and if the Bible says it then it is so.  It is a fact as well as a truth.  Jesus stripped him of all his power and all his authority and he is still stripped.  He is naked. He has nothing.  He is nothing.  He is a nobody.  He is only as powerful as you let him be. 

Do you remember the cartoon called the Road Runner?  The cartoon character in that series that really pictures the devil was old Wiley coyote.

Every time I see old “Wiley” with all his cockamamie schemes, I see the devil.  And the roadrunner reminds me of those believers who really believe the Bible.  They are constantly setting traps for the stupid one.  The coyote.  Ole “Wiley” the devil.  And he is always getting smeared and smashed and crushed and bashed.  There he stands with band aids everywhere and bandages and bruises and bumps… a classic example of a defeated enemy.  Nothing he tries ever works for the smart and quick and nimble road runner. 

The Bible says the devil walks about “like” a roaring lion… it does not say that the devil “is” a lion but he is “like” a lion.  And the Bible says he is constantly seeking  (looking for) those whom he might devour.  Do you know why he has to look for those he might consume?  He has to search and seek out those who do not know what I am teaching  you in this message.  Those who are ignorant of these things I am teaching are open prey for the roaring lion. 

The Bible says,

 my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… (Hos 4:6).

I am telling you some things that will keep the devil away from you.  Now, believe in your heart…. Deep down inside… in your Spirit that Jesus HAS REDEEMED you from the Curse of the Law.  Quit dragging about like a bunch of senile old worn out people and get some fire and anger and rage toward the devil down inside your spirit.  Then get aggressive and offensive in your war against him and his demon hoards. 

Next, Talk Right. 

Talk like you are the victor and not the victim.  Talk about your victories.  Don’t talk about your problems.  Don’t talk about your circumstances.  Don’t talk about your sickness.  Don’t talk about your failures… talk about your conquests and your victories.  Talk about what you have in Jesus.  You are the Sons and daughters of the Living God.  You have overcome the enemy by the Precious Blood of the Lord Jesus.  You are ruling and reigning as kings and priests unto the Lord.  You can do what God says you can do.  You have what God says you have.  And you are who God says you are. 

Let’s begin to talk the Word.  Let’s begin to say what God says about us.  Do you know how the devil finds out stuff about us?  He is not omniscient.  He does not know everything.  He has to LEARN about you.  And he does this by LISTENING to what you say.  He cannot “read your mind.”  But he has open ears to hear what you say and demon messengers to run to the devils office and tell on you.   When you begin to talk right he has to go find somebody else who is not as smart as you are. 

Next,  Act Right.  

Some tell me I’m crazy.  Some say I’ve gone off “into the deep” whatever that means.  Some say I’ve lost my mind and gone insane.  Bro. John Osteen used to say that if this is “insanity” just think about what a beautiful insane asylum we are going to.   Act like that thing I’ve been telling you is real.  Act like it is an established fact.  Act like it works.  Act like you really believe it. Act like Jesus has redeemed you from the curse.   Let what you do be an outworking of what God has put  in you.  The scripture says that we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling…” 

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Now just what does this mean?  It means we are to Work out what God has worked in.  We are to act out what God has put in.  We are to act like what is an established fact…  and that is Christ has Redeemed us from the Curse… and we need to ACT LIKE IT.  We are redeemed.  We are delivered.  We are liberated.  We are set free.  We are more than conquerors.  Then we are to act like it.  Amen? 

When the world see us as redeemed, they should be able to tell that Something has Happened to Us.  We are not acting like those who are in the world we are acting like we are citizens of another country.  We are pilgrims just passing through.  We are people of another world.  We are literally aliens on this planet.  Now let’s act like it. 

Next, we are to Rejoice Like IT. 

“O preacher you just don’t know how the devil has been after me…  I have never had it so bad.  I am at my rope’s end.  I just can’t stand any more….”  There you go making a bad confession and using your mouth to say wrong things.  You are being hung by your tongue.  Somebody came up to me and said “preacher I’ve really got the devil on the run!”  I said “Praise God… that’s the way it ought to be….”  Then they said “you don’t understand… He’s doing the running and I’m doing the fleeing…” Sad, but all to true.  When the devil tries to slip up on you, just turn around and look him straight in the eyes and shout PRAISE GOD!  YOU ARE A WHIPPED AND DEFEATED DEVIL!  He’ll run off like a scared dog.  Then Sing.  Rejoice.  Shout.  Dance.  Run.  Do whatever you can do to let the world (and the devil) know that you are REDEEMED  and Delivered and Free. 

Now , PLAN like you have been redeemed from the curse….

 Because you have been!   Plan your life like you constantly have the victory.  Plan your future like you are redeemed from the curse.  I know folks that have planned their funeral for years.  Some have already picked out their casket. They have chosen and selected the clothes they are to be laid out in and given their loved one the order of service.   Some have called me and given me specific instructions about their funeral service.  What songs to sing.  What scriptures to read.  What funeral home to use.   That may be alright for some, but I’m just not planning on dying.

I have found out how to live and I am planning on living  in all the benefits of my redemption.  Some folks are planning on going to the hospital.  They have gone out and bought a brand new pair of pajamas and a new robe and all the stuff they need for a hospital stay.  I want to plan on staying well.  I want to plan on never being sick.  Never needing a hospital.  Let’s make up our minds to plan like we are redeemed from the curse. 

Next, VISUALIZE  it in your spirit. 

See it in your spirit with your faith eyes.  Someone in our church came up to me the other and I said “Have you seen our new auditorium? “  And they sort of looked a little stunned.  I wonder how many of you have seen our new auditorium.  I have a great picture of our new auditorium in my spirit.  And I look at it all the time with my faith eyes.  Have you seen our new gymnasium that goes with our new auditorium?   I have.  I have seen the auditorium full of folks worshipping and praising God.  I have watched our Faith Academy students and our church young people play basketball in our new gymnasium.  I have visualized these new buildings and I am constantly looking at them with my faith eyes.  Have you seen our new classroom building and our new cafeteria yet?  Where have you been?  What have you been seeing here…. Nothing?  Well, I have been seeing SOMETHING and that SOMETHING is an answer from God to our Faith.  And I can see it.  And just where is all this money coming from?  From heaven.  It is coming from God.  He has it.  And He is going to get it to us in answer to our Faith.  

As I confess these things with my mouth and as I really believe that what I confess and what I say will be what I see, I need to act like it has already happened and  begin to rejoice like it has manifested.  I am  planning like it is real and I am seeing it constantly in my spirit with my faith eyes….

Guess what?  I am going to drive up in this parking lot one day soon and SEE a new auditorium and a new gymnasium and a new classroom building and a new cafeteria…  I will preach in the new auditorium and see many saved and brought to God and filled with the Holy Spirit… I will minister to hundreds and hundreds of young people and children who are students at Faith Academy… I will see them as they enjoy the benefits of our faith in a new gym and a new cafeteria, I will live to SEE what God has promised because I have been REDEEMED from the curse.  Hallelujah. 

Remember now, the Bible declares that the blessings of Abraham are ours.

13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The same book that lists all the curses of the broken law also lists all the blessings that are ours because we are the Seed of Abraham.  Read Deuteronomy chapter 28….

1 ¶  And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

2  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

3  Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

4  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

5  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

6  Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

7  The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

8  The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

9  The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

10  And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11  And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

12  The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

13  And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. 

Note:

This message was preached in December of 1975.  In the next 5 years all of the buildings we spoke of were constructed and in use: a new auditorium along with a new High School classroom building, a new gymnasium and a new cafeteria.  And a growing Faith Academy enrollment from grades 1 through 12.

God is Faithful.

Word for Today:  August 6

Called of God.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. Judg. 6:12

I’m quite sure that Gideon did not feel like a mighty man of valor.  He had been hiding out behind the barn to thresh the wheat so the Midianites could not see him.  He was nervous.  He was afraid.  He was uncertain.  He had no confidence in himself.  He was intimidated by the enemy.  Yet, God calls him a “Mighty man of valor.”

This is what God calls you.  He calls you what you are… not what you feel like you are.  You may be hiding behind the barn, but He sees you with a Fire in your heart and a Sword in your hand

There is no lottery program in the Call of God.    The call is direct and personal and based on something God sees within the person He is calling.   He sees in you possibility.  He sees in you capability.  God sees in you potential.  He sees your Heart and He knows what kind of a heart you have.

You may not “feel” like a Mighty Warrior.  You may not look like a threat to hell and the devil.  You may not think you are More than a Conqueror, but that is what God sees in you and that is what God calls you.  And that is precisely what you are.

Today, be WHO God says you ARE

Word for Today:  August 5

Continuing in victory.

Continuing in victory depends on continuing in the Word.  What you do with the Word determines what the Word will do for you.  How you Work the Word determines what and how the Word will work for you.  Giving the Word first place in your life and making the Word your Instruction Manual is extremely important. You need to learn the Word.  Study the Word.  Know the Word.  Meditate the Word. Speak the Word.  Pray the Word.  Believe the Word.  And, most importantly, Do the Word.

When you get full of the Word, no matter what shakes you, only the Word will come out.  If a glass is full of only water, no matter how badly it’s shaken, nothing but water will come out.   When you are full of the Word, no matter how bad your circumstances may be, nothing but the Word will come out.

Hide the Word in your heart and plant it in your spirit.  Think it and meditate it.  Never turn away from it.  Keep it before your eyes night and day.  Treasure it.  Love it and honor it.  Obey it.  See it as your Source.  It is food for your spirit and protection for your body and healing for your bones…  GET INTO THE WORD and GET THE WORD INTO YOU.

Be fill with all the fullness of God…  Eph 3:19

 Ephesians 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…

God specializes in Workable Simplicity.  He is a Specialist in making things work and making them work efficiently and effectively… with no waste and with the least expenditure of energy.  He perfects creation.  He perfects creations operation. What He does perfectly He also does efficiently and economically… that is He gets the Very Most out of the Very Least. 

We are New Creation People… He has created us and equipped us so that we can accomplish the impossible without outside help.   He has imparted to every one of His Children the Power that taps into and connects with His Ability; His ability to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think…. This power is in us.  Now.  This minute.  The primary purpose God has imparted this Power to us is so that we might take Dominion over all things. 

Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psalm 8:5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Psalm 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:               

What is this Powerthat is supposed to work in us?  Where is it?  Where does it come from?  What does it do?  How does it function and work?  Do I have it?  How can I get it and be sure I have it?  These are some of the questions we will be addressing in this study regarding the power and the authority possessed by those who are Born again and in Partnership with God. 

The purpose and plan of God is for His Children to Reign in Life.                 

Romans 5:17  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

The word “reign” comes from a word that means:  to be the king, to exercise kingly power, to reign, to exercise the highest influence, to control.   This is a place I definitely want to be. Don’t you?  The Word also calls Believers “overcomers.”  Listen:

1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

To “overcome” is to conquer… to carry off the victory, come off victorious.  To win.   All the time and every time.  This is what the Bible says about you and me.  Us. Believers.  The Bible also says that we are “more than conquerors.”  We are not just winners, but MORE than winners.  The outcome is not even close… the Bible says we win by a wide margin. 

Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.     

The Bible declares that we can do all things through Christ and that nothing shall be impossible to us.  That if we ask, we will receive.  If we knock it will open.  If we seek we shall find and that with God, all things are possible.  We can live in the Supernatural.  We are who He says we are. We have what He says we have.  We can do what He says we can do.  These wonderful things He has promised us come out of Partnership.  They come out of His Word.  They come out of His Covenant with us.  These are His promises to everyone who will dare to believe.  This is absolutely awesome.  The Bible says that He always causes us to triumph in Christ… this means that we always win.  Every time.  God even says that we shall do even greater works than Jesus did because He has gone to the Father and sent the Holy Ghost.  God promises to supply all of our need according to HIS riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.  He even tells us that we can Choose Life and Refuse death.  And that by choosing Life both we and our seed shall live.  These are profound promises and awesome declarations… and they are to come to pass according to the Power that is working in us. 

How do we do this?  Where does the power and the ability to overcome, to win and to reign come from?  Most would say “from God.”  However, according to the Bible, it comes from what God has done inside the believer.   This power or ability to reign in life and overcome the world comes from inside the New Creation Man.  Then something must happen to a person to make this possible. 

The initial Transaction takes place at the time of the New Birth.  It happens when one gets Born Again.  At this particular instant, the moment of Regeneration, God Himself comes into the heart  (spirit) of the believing sinner.  When one believes with the heart and confesses with the mouth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who came from heaven, was crucified for our sin, was miraculously raised from the dead and Who is now Alive and sitting at the Right Hand of God… that person is Born Again.  Saved.  Redeemed.  Regenerated.  Re-gened… his sins are forgiven and forgotten and he becomes a New Creation. 

2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The Nature and Character of God Himself takes up residence inside the heart of the believer.  The believer becomes, through his faith and through the Grace of God, Born Again.  He becomes A Child of God.  We actually, factually and literally become “partakers” of the divine nature of God, our Father.  We have His character and His nature imputed to us. 

2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The word for “partakers” in this context means:  a partner, associate, comrade, companion…   a sharer, in anything and everything. So, according to the Bible, at the time of Conversion, the believer becomes a sharer, a partner, or an associate with God.  This experience affects the recipient, spirit, soul, and body.  The spirit is quickened and brought to life, the soul (mind and emotions) is renewed by the Word and the body becomes the Temple of the Holy Ghost… the very dwelling place of God Himself.  The Believer is also made Righteous. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Righteousness and sin are totally incompatible.  Just as darkness is incompatible with light, sin is incompatible with righteousness.  If one is Just and Righteous, there is no possibility of sin, failure, weakness or death in his spirit.  (It is the Spirit of Man that is made Righteous… not necessarily his mind and or his body).  Where there is no sin, there is no possibility of weakness and failure.  There is no place for condemnation and guilt. 

What is the seat of God’s Power?  We know He is Omnipotent (all-powerful).  But just where in God does His power reside?  Our concept and understanding of the Nature of God is essential if we are to comprehend anything at all regarding His power.  He is Creator.   Out from Him (by His Power) everything that is made was made.  Out from Him (by His Power) everything that is made is sustained and upheld.  

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power…

What is it that makes God all powerful?    I believe it is His Righteous Nature.  His power comes out of His Righteousness.  Righteousness means Just and Right.  His power comes out of His Justice and His Rightness.  He is “Just Right.” 

“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness (“Just-rightness”) for His name’s sake…”  Psalm 23:3.  Just what does this mean?  If God leads me… He takes me somewhere.  He is in front and He takes me by the hand and He goes somewhere with me.  We are together.  And we are going to the same place.  We go along the path of Righteousness.  The road of “Just Right.”  (Justice and Rightness).  As long as I walk with Him in this place… along this path, then I bring honor and glory to His Name.  (For “His Name’s sake”).  To bring Honor and Glory to His Name is to receive and walk in all that His Name provides.  This is walking in Covenant or Partnership with Him.  The power to do this is in and  by and through the Power of Righteousness; the Force of Righteousness.   Where is this Force and where is this Power?   Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20. 

Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able (dunamai; Present Tense… a simple statement of FACT or REALITY viewed as happening in actual present time.) to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according (Kata: down from… through) to the power (Dunamis:  power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature) that worketh (Energeo:to be operative, be at work) in us…     

On close examination, this verse tells us some very important facts:

1. God is Able.
2. God is Able to do something.
3. The Something God is able to do is far beyond our ability to ask or think.
4. He is able to do this According to something that works kata… “down from”  “through” the Power.
5. Power that is Energized in us (energeo) “to be operative, to be at work…

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made (caused) him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made (become) the righteousness of God in him.

The PRIMARY purpose of the Substitutionary Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is that those who believe might be made Righteous.   This verse declares that God, the Father, caused… was the Author of… Jesus becoming sin even though He never knew sin… IN ORDER THAT we (believers) might BECOME (be made) the Righteousness of God.    Paul speaks of the possibility of us becoming filled with all the fullness of God…

Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

I believe the “fullness of God” has to do with the Righteousness of God.  The force and energy and power of being Just Right.  Justified and Righteous.

In order to understand the principles of Righteousness and the Power of Righteousness, we need to define some terms.

Righteousness:  Dikaiosune.  “The virtue or quality or state of one who is Righteous.”  Equity.  Equality.  Justified.  Justification.  Innocent.  Guiltless.  Faultless.  Free.  “The state of him who is such as he ought to be….”  The only condition that is fully acceptable to God.   

 2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Partakers.  Koinonos.  Partner.  Associate.  Comrade.  Companion.  Sharer.  “To be the partner of one doing something.”  

Divine.  Theos.  Deity.  Divine nature, power, providence.

Nature.  Phusis.  Natural lineal descent. 

God’s Nature is a Nature of Authority and Power,  a Nature of Abundance and a Nature of Righteousness.  As Believers we are partakers of this very Divine Nature or the very Essence of God.  This study will attempt to reveal the How and the Why of the believer’s Righteous Nature.  We will look at where we get this nature and how we get it.  We will discover what this nature is and what it will do for us.  We will learn how most religious teaching and religion teachers have failed to tell us the truth about Who we Are.  They have become experts at telling us what is wrong with us but few have received the Revelation concerning what is Right with us.          

This teaching will dispel all guilt and condemnation.  This truth will set us free from legalism and works-oriented salvation.  This message will magnify our appreciation for God and His Provision for all His children.  We will discover more about the Grace of God and the Mercy of God… we will see God and Know God in a new and deeper way.  We will feel His Heart and know His Mind.  We will enter into a Higher Dimension of Spiritual living and be better prepared for what God has in store or us in this hour.  Hallelujah.

“…and they who receive abundance of grace and the GIFT of RIGHTEOUSNESS shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ…”  (Rom. 5:17)

“But seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God and His RIGHTEOUSNESS; and all these things shall be added unto you…” (Mat 6:33)

“For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us (you and me), Who (Jesus) knew no sin; that we (you and I) might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Him.”  (2 Cor 5:21)

Righteousness was lost.

 “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin... (Rom 5:12)  “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…” (Rom 5:19)

When God created the first man, Adam, He created him in Righteousness and true holiness. He created him in His very own image, His very own likeness and with His very own nature. Adam was a created man with a righteous nature.  Adam was aware of his righteousness.  He was in right standing with God and he communed with God without restraint or hindrance.  He was “just and right” with God.  This Righteous Nature and the Power in it gave Adam dominion over his world and the inhabitants of his world.  Adam had power with the words of his mouth and he ruled over creation with the power of his words.  The power and authority that Adam had was given to him by God when God created him with a righteous nature. 

When Adam chose to sin against God, he lost everything God had given him.  Adam was literally born again in reverse… he was born out of his righteous nature into his sin nature.  (When we get saved we are born out of our sin nature into the righteous nature of God) He was no longer a creature of righteousness and light but instead he was a creature of sin and darkness.  He lost his authority.  He lost his power.  He lost his right standing with God.  He lost his ability to commune with God on God’s level.  He lost eternal life.  He lost Divine health.  He lost Divine prosperity and Divine protection.  Adam became a loser.  Adam became death-doomed and failure-doomed and destruction-doomed.  The result of Adam’s sin contaminated the entire human race.  “Wherefore as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men…”  Romans 5:12

Righteousness has been restored.  We have been “Reconciled” unto God By Jesus Christ.  “God was in Christ, reconciling (restoring) the world unto Himself…”  (II Cor 5:19)  “God made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him…”  (II Cor 5:21)

When we receive Jesus by faith, we receive the Righteousness of God.  When we are Born Again, we are born OUT OF the sin nature and IN TO the Righteous nature of God.   Jesus has exchanged His righteous nature for our sin nature.  When we make Jesus Lord of our lives we are born out of our sin nature and into the righteous nature of God.  We are not a person with two natures, but we are NEW, having never existed before!  What was before… the sin nature, darkness, lack of power, sin, poverty and lack, failure and frustration… is dead.  Jesus has bought back what Adam lost… and MORE.  What God did in us is greater than what satan did in Adam.  Where sin abounded… Grace (Righteousness) did much more abound.  

Ro 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

There is no truth in the statement that Believers are “only human”… this has been a lie from hell for centuries.  We have become partakers of the very Divine Nature of God… God has taken up habitation inside of us and we are possessors of His Perfectness and Righteousness.  We are God’s dwelling place.  He has chosen to live in us.  He has chosen to reproduce Himself in us. 

John 1:12.  As many as receive Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God…

“Power” here is exousia which means “legal right.”  We have received Jesus and therefore we have the legal right to partake (share in) the Divine Nature (Righteousness) of God.  Therefore, every believer is a God-person.  We have the Supernatural Life of God in us.  God has not limited us.  There are no boundaries… no lids… no fences… no restraints.  What God has made us to be WE CAN BE.   We have limited ourselves by saying that we are only human and thereby excuse ourselves for all the weaknesses and temptations we yield to.  Satan has constantly fed us the lie that we are “only human” and we have believed it and thought it and said it until we can hardly conceive of the TRUTH that we are more, MUCH MORE than that.  We are more than human… we are sharers in the Life of God.  Hallelujah.

Righteousness is the Nature of God.  God is Righteous and from His Righteousness all His Power emanates… His POWER comes out of His Righteousness.  The ONE domain Satan cannot enter is the domain of righteousness.  Whatever realm of our life Righteousness is ruling over that is the realm that satan cannot touch.  Whatever realm of our life that Righteousness is not ruling over that is the realm that Satan can enter and set up strongholds.  Satan has no legal right to come into the Righteousness of God.  He cannot and he will not.  Satan has no legal right to come into any area of our life that is ruled over by Righteousness.  He cannot and he will not.  Righteousness is the Power by which and through which we can REIGN in LIFE.  Where Righteousness is recognized and accepted and accounted, we are enabled to live the God Life.  In the God Life there is no sin, so sickness, no failure, no poverty, no worry, no lack, no demon activity.

The Righteous Nature of God is Imputed as a Gift into the Believer by the GRACE of GOD at the time of Salvation.  This transaction is completed as the believer acts on the Power of the Gospel by faith.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

  2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them… (Impute:  logizomai:  To put into one’s account). 

Impute means to “Put into one’s account.”  If I had a million dollars and I chose to freely put it into your back account  with no restrictions you would have the absolute right to spend it as you wished.  God has put His Righteousness into your Spiritual Account and you have the absolute right to use it to produce whatever Spiritual Victory you need.   God has “imputed” His Righteousness into your account as an act of His Grace in response to your Faith.  Remember… it is by His Grace in response to your Faith.  “By Grace are ye being save through Faith…”  Ephesians 2:8. 

Righteousness is not what you do or what you don’t do… RIGHTEOUSNESS is WHO YOU ARE.  Righteousness is what God has done in you.  Holiness is the outworking of the Believer’s RIGHTEOUS NATURE.  Righteousness has nothing to do with works.  Righteousness has nothing to do with how you live.  Most people are appraised for their righteousness by how good they are.  If they are good, they are considered righteous.  If they go to church regularly, they are considered righteous.  If they tithe and live a clean and holy life, they are considered righteous.  This is not what righteousness is.  Righteousness is not what you do or what you don’t do… Righteousness is not performance related.   Righteousness is WHO YOU ARE. 

Righteousness has to do with your inner man, not your outer man.  Righteousness is the characteristic of the New Creation Man.  Men are holy because holy living comes out of a Righteous Nature.  You are Made Righteous by your FAITH not by your WORKS.  Abraham BELIEVED (had faith) and because of his believing he was counted Righteous (Romans 4:3).  Righteousness is a FREE GIFT from God to every Believer.  Righteousness is IMPUTED at the time of the New Birth.  It is a Gift from God to the Believer. 

Romans 5:17  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

The Gift of Righteousness is the Energizing Force that gives us the ABILITY to REIGN and RULE in LIFE.  Righteousness is the SEAT and SOURCE of the BELIEVER’S AUTHORITY and POWER.  Just what is reigning and ruling in life? Reigning and Ruling in LIFE is DOING the Word and RECEIVING WORD RESULTS… it is doing what Jesus did with the same FAITH, with the same AUTHORITY with the same POWER with the same CONSISTENCY and with the same RESULTS.

Reigning in Life is total living in total Covenant Confidence.

Righteousness is a Force.  Righteousness produces Good Works… Good Works do not product righteousness.

  “Awake to Righteousness and sin not…” (I Cor 15:34) 

We can be RIGHTEOUS and not AWAKE to it.  We can be RIGHTEOUS and still have a carnal mind and a flesh-ruled body. Our carnal mind and our flesh-ruled body will SUPPRESS our RIGHTEOUS NATURE and prevent it from producing the FRUITS of RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Phil 1:11  Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

The FRUITS of RIGHTEOUSNESS are the RESULTS of RIGHTEOUSNESS.  The FRUITS of Righteousness are the products of Righteousness.  They are what Righteousness produces.  (Deliverance from sin…Right standing with God…Health… prosperity… protection… peace of mind… forgiveness… Holy Spirit Power… Faith…) 

“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the POWER that WORKETH IN US…”  (Eph 3:20) 

What is the POWER that WORKETH IN US?  It is the POWER of RIGHTEOUSNESS!  Until a man is RIGHTEOUS and KNOWS IT, Satan reigns over him and sin and sickness are his masters.  The very MOMENT a BELIEVER KNOWS that he is RIGHTEOUS and what it means to BE RIGHTEOUS, Satan is defeated. 

If Believers were as conscious of their RIGHTEOUSNESS as they are conscious of their WEAKNESS and UNWORTHINESS they would never be sick or in bondage to poverty and lack.  Most preaching and teaching over the years has dealt with sin, described sin and denounced sin.  This kind of teaching and preaching has made those who heard it and believed it more conscious of sin than they are conscious of God.  It has produced an awareness of weakness and unworthiness instead of an awareness of boldness, confidence and faith.  If Believers were as conscious of their IDENTIFICATION with CHRIST and their ONENESS with HIM as they are conscious of their physical weakness and physical need they would never have pain and never mention need again.

Most have approached Christian Living from the SIN POSITION instead of the RIGHTEOUSNESS POSITION.  We were taught and told what we were instead of who we are.  We have been ignorant about righteousness.  The revelation of Righteousness  is what turned the Apostle Paul into the Revelator of Justification by Faith.  We were taught in the past that if we did good things we were righteous and if we did bad things we were unrighteous.  We were taught that God would “bless us” us we did good things and that God would punish us if we did bad things.  (Santa Clause Theology)  We do not please God by doing things we please God through our faith in what He says about who we are.  “Without faith it is impossible to please Him…”  See Romans Chapter 4. 

Righteousness comes out of unshakable Faith in the Finished Work of Christ.

Never forget that Satan’s first line attack is to attempt to make us doubt who we are.  He tried to make Jesus doubt about who He was.  One of the temptations he presented to Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 was   “If thou be the son of God…”     If we operate in doubt we will always be defeated.   Doubt slanders every promise in the Word of God and negates faith.  Doubt is faith in reverse. Doubt is the antithesis of believing.  When we doubt we move out of the supernatural into the natural.  Doubt purchases sickness, sadness, depression, defeat, demonic activity, and every other thing that is opposed to God and God’s Word.

Doubt makes us forget who we are and whose we are.

Jas1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

Jas1:24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Hearing and not doing comes out of doubt and unbelief.  We can move in wonderful times of revelation and faith, but if we veer away from the revelation of who we are and What Jesus has done for us we will “forget” what we have known and fall into the realm of natural reasoning  and carnal thinking.

When we were Born Again the King of kings and the Lord of lords came into our human spirit and recreated it.  Our recreated human spirit was made a king who has the ability to rule and reign with Jesus through the power of His Righteous Nature that now abides within us. 

The NEW BIRTH EXPERIENCE is compared to the Old Testament law of circumcision.

(Rom 2:28-29)  For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit…

Just as there is a cutting away of the flesh in physical circumcision, there is a cutting away of the flesh in the Circumcision of the heart.  The Sword of the Word cuts away forever the sin nature in us and we are made righteous.  We do not have two spirits (a flesh spirit and a spiritual spirit)… we have one Spirit… and that Spirit is the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST.  “But he that is JOINED unto the LORD is ONE SPIRIT…”  (I Cor 6:17)

Just as our SPIRIT was dead to God before the New Birth so was our MIND darkened and blinded because of sin.  

It was bound and limited to operate by reason and emotion and sense knowledge.   As our Spirit was quickened  (made alive) and joined to the Lord, our soul (our mind, will and emotions) was also joined to Jesus.  As our Spirit took on the image of Jesus Christ our mind (soul) took on the Mind of Christ capable of thinking God thoughts and storing up Word Truth.

I Cor 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the LORD that He may instruct him?  But we have the MIND of CHRIST…  

When we consider just what kind of mind Jesus had, we come into an understanding of what kind of mind we are capable of having.  He Knew Who He was.  He knew what He could do.  He knew what God had provided for Him.  He knew the devil was defeated and that demonic forces were powerless.  He knew what was coming in the future.   He had knowledge of the Word that surpassed mere human capability.  He knew what He was born for and what His purpose in life was.  He had a mind that was constantly being renewed with and by the Word.  He had a fully functioning mind that worked without limitations imposed on it by emotions, feelings, reasonings or doubt.  He had a mind that was perfectly conformed to the will of God. 

 Our unsaved PHYSICAL BODY also functioned in slavery and darkness and bondage to sin.  Its appetites and desires were unchecked and undisciplined.  It was subject to Satan’s dominion and control and it was destined to die.  But now we are “members of His Body, of His Flesh, and of His Bones…”  (Eph 5:30)  Our physical body has become the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

I Cor 6:19-20 What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which (who) is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s…  “Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”  (I Cor 3:16)

And now, as a result of our inborn righteous nature, we are enabled to “bring our body under” or to suppress the ungodly and carnal appetites and desires of the flesh.  The Bible declares that we have overcome the world…

 1Jo 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

The Inborn Righteous Nature of the New Creation drives out the Old Nature and takes possession of all Redemptive Benefits  and Covenant Provisions just as Israel drove out the illegal inhabitants of the land that was promised to them and then took possession of it. The Righteous Nature that God imparted to every believer can drive out all the illegal inhabitants in the realm of human experience…. The Force of Righteousness released in the believer can and will retrieve and restore all that Satan has stolen and suppressed. 

Paul tells us to “put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to STAND…”  (Eph 6:11)  Part of this Armor is the Breastplate of Righteousness.  (Eph 6:14) This is one of the most important pieces of armor because it covers the vital part of the Christian’s identity… his right to the Authority provided by the Righteousness of Christ in him.  When you become conscious of your Righteous Position in Christ you have the boldness and courage to stand against the devil.

Conformity with God is a much higher form of living than merely being in submission to Him.  Jesus prayed for us in John 17 that we “all may be one;  as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee… ”  He goes on and prays “Father, show them that you love them as much as you love me.”  God loves us as much as He loves Jesus.  God sees us as equal with Jesus… there is no difference in His eyes.  This is because of our Righteous  Nature …. begin to see yourself as God sees you and then ACT ACCORDINGLY.

Some common causes of failure in the believer’s life:

1. Lack of Knowledge (epiginosko: full understanding) about the             Righteous Nature of the Believer.

Ho 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:

2. Failure to apply the Word to failing situations.

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

3. Unwillingness to continue (abide) in the Word.  

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

4. Wavering in faith.

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

We are New Creation People… He has created us and equipped us so that we can accomplish the impossible without outside help.   He has imparted to every one of His Children the Power that taps into and connects with His Ability; His ability to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think…. This power is in us.  Now.  This minute.  The primary purpose God has imparted this Power to us is so that we might take Dominion over all things and bring His Will to pass on planet earth… 

Let’s do it.