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Thursday, March 27 2014
Introduction: Doubt is to hesitate to believe, to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely. Your confession of Satan's ability to hinder you and to keep you from success gives Satan dominion over you. Your confession of your fear or doubt gives fear or doubt dominion over you. If you confess fear, your fears become stronger and you get more and more into bondage to the enemy. But if you will boldly confess your Father's care and protection, and confess God's Word and declare that what God says about you is true, you will rise above satanic influence every single time. Matt.14:31; “…..o thou of LITTLE FAITH wherefore didst thou DOUBT?” Today, we are looking at seven steps to the highest kind of Faith. This is the faith which takes God at His word and gets results.
“For the word of God is QUICK, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Moffatt's translation reads, "For the Logos [Word] of God is a living thing. . . ." You see, "quick" means alive or living. And so the Word of God is a living thing. But it will only come alive to you and work in your life as you accept it and act upon it. Therefore, the first step to attaining the highest kind of faith is to settle on the absolute integrity of God's Word. The Word of God should be of foremost importance in your life. Sometimes people feel that God hasn't spoken to them unless they have received a message in tongues or a prophecy, but God's Word - the Bible - is God speaking to us! And tongues and interpretations or prophecy are not to be put above the holy written Word of God. Say it out loud: "God's Word is God speaking to me."
“12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet [able] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 WHO HATH DELIVERED US FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins.” Another translation of verse 12 reads, ". . . which made us ABLE to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light"! Thank God, we are able to be partakers of our inheritance and we can enter into our inheritance in Christ. Now read verse 13: "Who HATH delivered us from the POWER of darkness. . . ." This verse does not say God is going to deliver us; it says He has already delivered us when we were born again into God's Kingdom. The Greek word translated "power" here means authority. In other words, we could read that scripture, "Who has delivered us from the authority of darkness....". Now that word "darkness" means everything that Satan is - the kingdom of Satan. But in Christ we have been delivered from the power or authority of Satan's kingdom. Notice Colossians 1:14 says, "In whom we have redemption through his [Jesus'] blood. . . ." Therefore, Satan cannot lord it over the believer, for we have been redeemed! Let's look again at Revelation 12:11. “And they overcame him [the accuser of the brethren, Satan] BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY....”
COLOSSIANS 1:18 “And he [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the” FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead (Rev. 1:18). We are begotten of God, but Jesus was the first One who was begotten of God (Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:5). Peter said, "Being born again begotten] not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23). Thank God, we are begotten of God. We are born of God. We are children of God. We are heirs of God. We are joint or equal heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). We are not magnifying ourselves when we talk about our inheritance in Christ; we are magnifying God and what He has done for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. We did not make ourselves new creatures; God made us new creatures. And Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). Thank God, we are new creatures created by God in Christ Jesus.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his RIGHTEOUSNESS: that he might be JUST, and THE JUSTIFIER of him which believeth in Jesus.” The same Greek root word that is translated "righteousness" here in Romans 3:25 and 26 is also translated "just" and "justifier" in this same verse. The margin of my Bible reads, "that he might himself be righteous" (Rom. 3:26). The words "just" and "righteous" or "righteousness" can be interchangeable terms. What is this verse in Romans 3:26 telling us? That God has declared His righteousness to us through Jesus. And that God Himself is righteous and He has become my righteousness. God is the righteousness of all who have believed on Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21). This is not theory but a Bible fact. 2 Cor. 5:21.
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19,20 “ What? know ye not that YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE of the Holy Ghost which is IN you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” We need to become "God-inside minded." In other words, we need to just simply take God at His Word. We need to believe and act like the Bible is true when it says, ". . . greater is he that is IN you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4)! "He that is in the world" is the god of this world, Satan (2 Cor. 4:4). But, thank God, He who is in us, the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, is greater than he who is in the world!
“God is faithful, by whom ye were called UNTO THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” The very heart reason for redemption is fellowship. The highest honour that the Father has ever conferred upon us is to be "jointfellowshippers" with Himself, with His Son, and with the Holy Spirit in carrying out His dream for the redemption of the human race. But relationship without fellowship is an insipid thing. It is like the marriage relationship without love or fellowship. Fellowship is the very mother of faith. And fellowship is the parent of joy. It is the source of victory. And God has called us individually into fellowship with His Son. If you have fellowship with God and you are walking in the light as He is in the light, then prayer becomes one of the sweetest and one of the greatest assets to which we have become heirs in Christ.
God has given us the power of attorney to use the Name of Jesus. This means we have power in that Name over Satanic forces. Jesus said, ". . . In my name ... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17,18). Jesus said, "... whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15:16). We have authority to use that Name. The Name of Jesus carries authority on this earth. It is not a matter of faith, but it is a matter of knowing your legal rights in Christ and taking your rightful place as a son or daughter. It is a matter of taking your place in carrying out God's will in the earth. Getting us to cooperate with God is the biggest problem! Contributor: Alex Alajiki Please Note: This teaching is an extract from Kenneth Hagins Book - FAITH BIBLE STUDY GUIDE |