Believer's have to understand that the resurrection of Christ means overcoming the power of death. The power of death is the stronghold of sin upon all of humanity. For Jesus, as a man to be raised from the dead indicated that for the first time in all of human history a man conquered the power of sin. This is what it means when God says that every believer is to be raised up with Christ.
“...which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Ephesians 1:20-21 Prayer: Father, I desire to experience your resurrection power in every area of my life. I desire to walk in that resurrected power, to experience the power of the cross in my daily life. I am seated with Christ in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. I have been risen with Christ. I am an overcomer. I have overcoming faith. My life is hid in Christ. He is my rock. He is my salvation. I place my hope in Him alone. In Jesus's Name. Amen.
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God's purpose has always been for man to rule alongside of Him. In other words, Adam's authority was directly connected to the closeness of his divine relationship with God. Authority is not something that we earn but something that has been given to us by God Himself. Authority is based upon intimacy with God which makes us His delegated representatives over His creation (Gen. 1:26-30, 2:15-23, 3:8). We see Satan's attempt to rob from Jesus what rightfully was His from all of eternity. The devil understood and discerned the anointing and authority that Jesus carried. The devil sought to bring doubt to Jesus' closeness of intimacy that He had with the Father. His temptation against Jesus in the wilderness was not to simply get Jesus to do something to prove His power, but it was to get Jesus to believe that He had to work and earn God's love rather than just believing the Father's word.
“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread... and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written ‘He shall give His angels charge over you and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” Matthew 4:3, 6, 9-10 “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 Just purchased this tonight:
The New England Pulpit: When American Pastors Preached Politics, Resisted Tyranny and Founded a Nation on the Bible "The diminishing light of civil liberty in this land is linked directly to the lack of preaching on it in today’s pulpits. Dr. Alice Baldwin’s wonderful book is a welcome antidote to this problem, should we be willing to take it." - Dr. Baldwin Dr. Baldwin illustrates how the preachers of the early American era thought and practiced just the opposite as today. Mountains of research in colonial sermons, tracts, pamphlets, and other publications, reveals how the pulpits of colonial America rang constantly on all aspects of the public square: good rulers, good laws, good forms of government, and the blessings of liberty. We especially hear of those choice values of biblical order that became the battle cries of American independence. Commenting on the classic paraphrase of “life, liberty, and property,” Baldwin proclaims, “No one can fully understand the American Revolution and the American constitutional system without a realization of the long history and religious associations which lie behind these words; without realizing that for a hundred years before the Revolution men were taught that these rights were protected by divine, inviolable law.” Covering the entire revolutionary era, she concludes that the central force behind it all was the pulpit’s application of the Word of God to politics and government. She says, “It must not be forgotten, in the multiplicity of authors mentioned, that the source of greatest authority and the one most commonly used was the Bible.” And she proves that “from the law of God they derived their political theories.” It is long past time to recover the great and powerful preaching of our founding era—a time when pastors did not fear to preach politics, resist tyranny, and found their governments on the Bible. Dr. Baldwin’s nearly-forgotten book is a powerful resource toward that end. We recommend it to every pastor and every Christian in hope that they follow the example of its subject matter even more. The spirit of fear is a very powerful force that cripples the gifts and anointing of the Holy Spirit given to us. Fear intimidates us into believing that we are not capable of walking in our destiny in God. It causes us to focus on our own abilities rather than God's grace and ability in and through us.
Only through the power of God's love can we overcome the spirit of fear so that God's power can flow through our lives. When the believer is convinced that God's love is unconditional and committed to perfecting us into maturity, it is then that fear will be completely overcome. This produces a supernatural confidence in God's love and grace which releases faith to manifest God's gifts and anointing through us. “...when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:5-7) "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." I John 4:16-18 The fact that God's word declares us NOW to be His sons and daughters, qualifies us to be completely accepted in God's presence. It also assures and equips us to operate with the authority of God's kingdom, which belongs to our Father. It is not God's will for us to think we must earn the favor of God in order for us to be able to do the works of God. Walking in our delegated authority, first and foremost comes about from believing who God says we are and what He has bestowed upon us now. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:1-2) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) |
Carlos SarmientoAuthor & Speaker Archives
November 2017
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