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Word for Today:  June 5

What is involved in Salvation?

God has a part and we have a part.  God’s part is called Regeneration and our part is called Repentance and Faith.  When we repent of our sin and believe in our heart that Jesus is Messiah and openly confess our heart-belief, we become Born Again.

God impregnates us (natural man) with His Life (Spirit) and we are made Supernatural Men.  God’s Life comes into us along with all the other God Characteristics and we become the Sons of God.  “As many as received Him to them gave He power to become the Sons of God…”  We receive God’s Life, God’s Power, God’s Authority, God’s Love, and God’s Faith.   His Word becomes flesh through us.

All these come INSIDE of you when you get Born Again.  God purposes this for you.  God wills this for you.  God has prepared this for you.   Your body literally becomes the Temple of the Holy Ghost.  You are bought with a price and you belong to God. You have been Born, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible seed, the Word of God.

Salvation has responsibilities.  It is free but it is not cheap.  It is received by Faith but it is outwardly expressed in works.  We are not saved by works but works will follow salvation.  We are told to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling…” and this means we are to work out what God has worked in.  Salvation will be demonstrated by and through a changed life.

If any man be in Christ he is a new creature (creation) old things are passed away and behold all things are made new…   2Cor 5:17

Eternal Salvation is the greatest miracle available to man

Word for Today:  June 4

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.  Heb 13:8

Religion and many denominations have taught us that we can experience the power of God only occasionally and periodically.   We have been taught that sometimes God just lets a little dab of heaven come down and bless us.  We have prayed and stayed and fasted and repented and preached and prophesied and spoke in tongues in order to get the power to come down… the fire to fall… revival to happen.  We have been led to believe that every once in a while God will give us a little touch of glory just to keep us going.

We have been taught that the Christian experience is a series of peaks and valleys… drought and abundance…. times when we are fired up and times when we are cold.  Where did this come from?  It came from our emotions and our feelings.  It came from our soulish man.  It is not the way it is in the Spirit!

God is the same.  Jesus is the same.  The Holy Ghost is the same.  The Word is the same.  His Eternal Purpose is the same.  When we walk in agreement with His Purpose, we are the same!  There is no “variableness” in Him or in us when we fulfill our part in His Plan.

We are clothed in His Power and we live by His Spirit.

Our Inner Man is as changeless as God

Word for Today:  June 3

The Church.

Jesus gave a powerful prophesy concerning the Church in Matthew chapter 16.  He said the Church would not be intimidated or overcome by the powers of hell.  He said He would build His Church and when He had it built, it would withstand and overcome all the powers of hell.  He said His Church would be built on the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God… the Savior, the Messiah, the Promised One, the Redeemer and the Conqueror!  Notice four basic facts about this Church:

• Jesus will build it.
• It will be built on the Revelation that Jesus Christ is Messiah.
• It will have and exercise power over the kingdom of darkness, over hell, over demons and over the devil.
• It will have in its possession powerful Kingdom Keys that Believers can use to bind and loose.

When Jesus foretold the Birth of His Church, He said:

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with Power from on High….  Luke 24:49

Therefore, one major characteristic of His Church is POWER from on HIGH.  That “power from on high” is still to be the means of changing the world.  “Not by (human) might or by (human) power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord…”

What the Church did then, is what the church is to do today.  How the church did it then is how the church is to do it today…

With Power from on High

Word for Today:  June 2

Many attempts have been made to change the world.

Governments have arisen and leaders have been established in order that the world might be changed.  Nations have been birthed and wars have been fought and millions of men have died in order that the world might be changed.  Religions have been formulated and philosophies have been initiated and kings have been crowned… all in order that the world might be changed.  However, the world is still wounded, it still hurts and it is still for the most part, unchanged.

The world will not be changed until people are changed.  People cannot be changed apart from God.  When God birthed the Church, He equipped it to change People.  When people are changed, the world will change.

To understand God’s Purpose for the Church, we have to go back in time. We have to go to the time the Church was Born.  When we see the birth of the Church and the Beginnings of the Church, we can discover what God purposes for the Church to be.

God’s Purpose for the Church has never changed.  It is the same today as it was in the day it was Born.  God intends for the Church to make a difference in the world.  God intends for the Church to govern, to control, to influence, to judge, and to function in Divine Authority here on this planet.  God wants the Church on earth to do the same things the Church in heaven is doing.  There should be no difference!

“Upon this rock I will build MY CHURCH and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…”   Jesus

The Body of Christ is invincible

Word for Today:  June 1

You were born with a purpose

You were born with a purpose and were brought into the Kingdom for a purpose.  You are alive today and are here for a purpose.  You are right where you are for a purpose.  You are where you are spiritually for a purpose.  You can know it and rejoice in it because it is good.  It is better than you can imagine.  And it is happening now.  When you discover God’s Purpose you can plan to accomplish it.  This places you in agreement with God.  When you are in agreement with God you are in disagreement with the devil.

When your purpose is the same as God’s purpose you have all the power of Heaven supporting you.  When your purpose is the same as God’s purpose, you are connected with heaven and plugged into Miracle Power.  You are, in effect, walking with God.  When you walk with God you are in agreement with Him and when you are in agreement with Him you can “ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you..”   This keeps you in the place of authority and power and control.  It gives you strength to do what needs to be done.

This is exactly what Paul meant when he said:  “now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.”  Eph 3:20

The “power that worketh in us” is the Power of Heaven that is released when we walk in agreement with the Eternal Purpose of God.  When you do this, you will Reign in Life.

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.  Rom 5:17

Word for Today:  May 31

Don’t get discouraged because it is hard.

Remember… situations are not supposed to affect the Believer.  Believers are supposed to affect situations.  Situations changes.  God never changes.  Situations pass, God’s Word never passes.  Remember:  It came to pass… not to stay!

The 3 Hebrews were in a strange land far away from home and they were in the company of a pagan tyrant who set himself up as god.  They lived in the midst of paganism, idolatry, unbelief and outright blasphemy.  They had been taken captive and led away into the headquarters of all that hated their God.  Their hopes and dreams were shattered and their future looked bleak.  But they refused discouragement and they believed God.

Paul and Silas landed in jail because they Obeyed God.  They were persecuted, beaten and locked in stocks.  But they refused to get discouraged.  Instead they considered God.  When they considered God they began to sing and praise Him.  They were anything but discouraged.

How are you?

Daniel wound up in a Den of Lions because he refused to stop praying to Jehovah God.  He used one lion for a pillow, another for a foot stool and another for cover.  He slept and the lions trembled in fear.  Because he refused to be discouraged.

John was left alone on an uninhabited volcanic island to starve and perish in the elements.  The boat was not out of sight before John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day and fell out in the Holy Ghost.  He saw Jesus.  He was not discouraged or defeated.  He knew that his God was able.

Understand that discouragement will breed self-pity and cause complaining.  Complaining will lead to murmuring and grumbling.  Discouragement will cause you to look at the problem instead of the answer.

Refuse to be discouraged

Word for Today:  May 30

God is so much bigger than we can imagine.

What He can do far exceeds our ability to understand and comprehend.  He is greater than the greatest, bigger than the biggest and more powerful than anything or anybody we can imagine.

John speaks of the “streets of gold” when he attempts to describe the splendor and opulence of heaven.  He is limited by the words at his command to describe what he sees in the spirit.  Did you know that the “streets of gold” are nothing more than the “garbage dump” in heaven?  The earthly streets that John knew about were littered with garbage in his day.  The inhabitants of the city would throw their trash and garbage into the streets and the traffic of human feet and the paths of plodding animals would pack down the garbage.  The streets in John’s day were the garbage dump.

If Heaven’s Garbage Dump is solid gold, I cannot begin to imagine what the houses and lands and habitations of the redeemed will be like.

Do you have a need?  Any need.  Big need.  Small need.  Few needs.  Great needs.  Many needs.  If your answer is “yes,” name your need.  Does it have a name?  What is it?  Call it out.  Give it a name.  Tell yourself what it is.  Tell the devil what it is.  Tell God what it is (even though He already knows.)  Is it a health need?  Is it a financial need?  Is it a marriage or family need?  Is it a spiritual need?  Is it an emotional need?  If you have a need, then God has the supply… and God is Able to get His supply to your need… AND HE WILL.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, (Jesus) and given him a name which is above every name:

Therefore, the Name of Jesus is ABOVE the name of your need.  And it is subject to that Name.

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

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

God is Able to meet your need TODAY.

Word for Today:  May 28

God is able.

Most every Christian will agree that God is Able.  To settle for anything less would degrade the concept of Christianity.  God truly is able.  Paul declares in Ephesians that He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…” However, the majority of believers would agree with the FACT that God is Able but I want to add a new dimension to this confession of faith.  I want to declare that God is Able and God Will.  God Will do for you what nobody else or nothing else can.

The fact that GOD IS ABLE is the Magna Charta of the New Testament Church.     This is the Emancipation Proclamation of the Body of Christ:  God is Able.  This is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the Christian:  God is Able.  Confess “GOD IS ABLE!”  Now add to that confession:   “… AND GOD WILL!”

As we begin this day, I want to begin it with high hopes… with Great Expectations.  With great faith.  With awesome Dreams.  I want to take you with me into the place where you can rest and know that God is Able and…. God will!  No matter what.  No matter who.  No matter where.

God wants to encourage you.  He has set aside this day and this moment to build you up and strengthen you and to help you.   He is able to deliver you out of your fiery trial and out of your furnace and out of your Egypt.  And He Will.  He wants you to know that.  He wants you to know that today.

God wants you to get out of hoping and praying into confessing and believing.

And then from confessing and believing into Receiving and Possessing.

God is Able.

And He will

Word for Today:  May 27

The fact is, life does deliver some crushing blows

We need to “get real.”    It is unprofitable for us to live in some dream world where everything always is perfect.  Life is not some Hollywood American Utopia where there is no pain and no disappointment…  The devil is real and the kingdom of darkness is real.

Some of these contradictions that we are unable to understand are aimed at believers as well as unbelievers.  The church is not immune to demonic attacks.  In fact, the purpose and ploy of the devil is to kill, steal and destroy… primarily that and those who are not already “his.”   Therefore, how we react and cope in difficult and trying times is extremely important to the Kingdom of God.

We must understand that the “curse” is far reaching.  Even though the Redemptive Work of Jesus cancelled it for the Believer, its effects and influence is still very active in the natural world.  That’s why we are experiencing war and murder and injustice and abuse….  All manner of wickedness and evil that is contrary to the Kingdom of God.

The world we live in is influenced by principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:12).  This is a principle that those in the early church were well aware of.  However, the Message that motivated those experiencing the trials and tribulations of such an unfair and unjust environment was a Message of great encouragement.  It declared that even though times were tough, they were Overcomers.

This is one of the recurring themes of New Testament Theology and it is a contemporary Message of encouragement to us as well.

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

Word for Today:  May 26

God established the family.

The first human He made was a Husband and Father.

The second was a Wife and Mother.

The first family was given the awesome responsibility of “replenishing” the earth.

The family is more important than the church.  The family is more important than “religion.”  The family is more important than being “spiritual.”  The family is more important than anything God planned for the welfare, protection and propagation of the human race.

The family was established before the church.  It was on earth and functioning before Israel became the Chosen People… the Grand Plan through which God would send a Savior and redeem the world.

There is a Biblical pattern and plan for the family… It is simple and it is clearly stated in the Scriptures… One man.   One woman.  One time.  Forever.

The plan is defined and explained in the Word as follows:

• Husbands… love your wives. (Eph 5)
• Wives… submit (yield) to your husbands… (Eph 5)
• Children… obey your parents…. (Eph 6)
• Families… serve the Lord. (Jos 24)

…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Simple.  Plain.  Unquestionable.  Imperative.  Fundamental.