Through Christ All Things Now Work For Our Good

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall never wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalm 1:3

People struggle so much with this Truth; I know we do. We think that we have not earned such an overwhelming blessing as to prosper at everything we do. But look at what Romans 2:4 has to say about God's goodness "..the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." God uses enriching our lives in everything that we do to lead us in becoming all that we can be in Him. "And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it unto you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." John 16:23-24 Ask and receive so that your joy may be full, isn't that great, full joy! No partially with our Father, He has all and He will freely give us all.

The Lord is Sovereign, and God can do whatever He wants. Absolutely He can and He does! God can do anything and He does everything and they all prosper, and our Sovereign Father, Who is God, has said that He and His Word are one. God, Who is Sovereign, has said that He never changes, and the only Sovereign God has said that whatsoever we do will prosper, and that we can ask for whatsoever we will and we will receive it, so that our joy may be full! Man typically does not trust himself with such power. However, we are not alone anymore, we no longer stand as one or act on our own behalf, it is God within us Who now does the works. "I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

We think that it cannot be this good, that this is just not the way life is. The truth is, we could never earn it and we could never pray enough, witness enough, do anything enough to warrant the mercies and favors of God. He knows that, yet He still said whatsoever. God put no qualifying statements before or after His proclamation of whatsoever. He just threw it out there, and through Christ we have a lively hope that produces faith that believes that we can have it. That is what it all boils down to, do we believe God. "He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded, that what He had promised, He was also able to perform." Romans 4:20-21

The Truth that sets us free is that through Christ we are now one with God, we are now His temples, we are now members of His body, so we prosper because God prospers, and we receive because God receives. As Ephesians teaches us, through the power of Christ the two become one flesh!

Through Christ Everything We Do Prospers

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall never wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Psalm 1:3

Whatsoever, don't you just love that word, whatsoever, it leaves nothing out does it? When we are born again of God and baptized with the Holy Spirit, we begin to prosper in all things, plain and simple! God is not a man that He should lie and God said whatsoever. We will prosper in our walk with the Lord, we will prosper in our marriage, in our health, with our kids, with relationships, in love, in faith, in hope, in ministering the Gospel, in our jobs, with our schoolwork, sports, whatsoever we do will prosper! Plain and simple this is a Truth of God that will set us free! We need to come to Jesus as little children and allow the Holy Ghost to teach us the simplicity of God, and through faith Authored and Finished by Jesus we need to dare to allow Him to empower us to fully accept and believe whatsoever today! This isn’t a hard thing to do; Jesus’ yoke is easy to be borne and it’s pleasant. It’s not hard for us to prosper at everything we do because our Father prospers in everything He does, and through Christ we are now one with Him, it is just what has been born into us. We are our Fathers’ children; the Seed that we are born again of is God’s Incorruptible Seed. We can only be what we have been born from! We may not be as mature as we can be, but it’s in us, and we are not alone in growing up. God is right here in us, insuring that we do! And through Christ, all things now work together for our good, Romans 8:28!

God Overtakes Us With All Of His Blessings

"And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.” Deuteronomy 28:2

“So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met within us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit.] Romans 8:4 Amplified Bible

The Truth of God will absolutely set us free. God’s Truth will set Islamic extremist free, it will set atheist free, it will set young and old, male and female, minority and majority free! Faith comes from hearing God’s Truth and faith is the evidence of things hoped for. I do hope for this: that we all live as our Lord and Savior lives, and that we are actually as He is in this world, as 1 John 4:17 teaches us we are! Out of all of the blessings proclaimed in the verses that we have studied together so far, the one I want you to really remember and take hold of is, "shall come on thee, and overtake thee." Far too many of us believe that we have to labor intensely, and only after we get it exactly right, will we be blessed by our Father. That is crazy; for those of you that have kids, you know what I mean. As parents we are every bit as much involved in, and responsible for, the well being of our children as they are. Far more times than not, we pour out blessings on our kids, and they have done nothing, other than being our kids, to earn the blessings. God is the same way. Jesus teaches us, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30 The Truth is that if we are truly chosen of God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say yes to Jesus, than all of the blessings of God will overtake us! We may be disciplined along the way for taking thought or messing up, but thank God, our disciplining is from our Father, and it will lead us into even a greater and more mature walk with Him, and thus more blessings overtaking us!

Turn to 2 Corinthians 12 and read. Paul had a thorn in his flesh; a messenger of satan sent to buffet him. What the thorn was, I have no idea, God didn’t have him write what it was. But Paul had gone to God three times and asked Him to remove it. Well, what did God do? He corrected Paul for taking thought about his own life. God told him that His grace, His unmerited favor, was enough. God gave Him the answer, so through the power of the Holy Spirit Paul began to praise God in his troubles and God was strengthened within him! God’s strength was perfected, perfected mind you, in Paul’s weakness. Paul didn’t have the strength to praise God in his times of trouble, but God sure did, and God’s strength is perfect! God had to have Paul stop taking thought for himself, so that Paul could be delivered! Notice that God was right there with Paul. He never left him, and He never forsook him, and God gave Paul the answer! I am telling you, God said take no thought, it’s not just a good idea, it’s the way that God leads us into an abundant life, and if we are saved, then God will lead us there! A-men, that is so great, even if we act like immature babies, if we are born of God, abundance will overtake us because Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it abundantly. God is always right here with us. I may need this, you may need that, God knows exactly what it will take with each of us, and He is right here leading us and guiding us, teaching us, rewarding us, disciplining us, and it is all blessing us! Blessing us abundantly!

I hope you see a pattern developing here, according to God's Word, His desire for us is to be prosperous in everything we do. His hope for us is to give us the desires of our hearts, and to insure that our hearts desire the right things; He gave us a new heart! God has provided a way through Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to accomplish all of His desires for us. God will provide all of our needs, so that we will have an abundant life. Earlier I asked the question, why would someone want to be saved? These verses we have studied together so far are the beginning of an explanation as to why. We are blessed this day and every day through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Who ever lives to intercede for us so that we might be saved to the uttermost!

We Don't Have To Take Thought For Our Own Lives

“Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? Matthew 6:25

“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

We don’t have to take thought for being blessed, because through the power of Christ, God’s blessing will overtake us! We don’t have to take thought for being victorious when attacked by our enemies, because we are now more than conquerors through Christ Who loves us. We don’t have to take thought for having an abundance of goods, or being blessed at our work, or providing for our families, because through Christ God will pour out an abundance of blessings that will overtake us! The Truth of the power of our salvation is that we don’t even have to take thought for being Holy, because Jesus came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Hallelujah, God said that all of His blessings would overtake us because of Jesus, so it is the absolute Truth! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has given us all of God’s blessings freely and abundantly! Now ask yourself this, how much time do we all spend praying for being blessed at work, or praying for bills to be paid, or praying to be holy? When Jesus said that He came so that we might have all of His blessings abundantly and that all of Gods blessings would overtake us! Jesus paid the price in full and through Jesus’ precious Blood all of the righteous requirements of the Law have now been fully met within all of us, who have been chosen and empowered by God to be saved!

Jesus teaches us that we are not to take thought for the our own lives, so what are we to take thought for? According to Jesus we are to take thought for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness! Jesus ever lives to intercede for us, and we are now one with Him, so we too have an anointed mind to ever live to intercede for others. Whatsoever thing a man soweth, that shall he reap! If we want to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, we need to be the biggest servants, Matthew 23:11! Jesus taught us to take no thought for our own lives, and He came and was sacrificed so that we could actually live and realize it! God never requires us to do anything that He has not provided a way for Him to do it through us! God is within us, strengthening us, encouraging us, authoring our faith, and He is ever living to intercede for us. We are more than capable through Christ Who strengthens us to take absolutely no thought for these blessings of abundance to overtake us! How peaceful is that, you talk about an abundant life, not having to take thought for it as we enjoy it, wow! That is true Godly abundance! And we also have the full and complete power of God within us, so that we can absolutely ever live to serve others and serve the Kingdom of our Father! God is faithful, He is able, and He is willing to do what He has spoken!

God's Blessings Overtake Us

"And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 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. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thy enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come at the one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 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. The Lord shall establish thee a 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. And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of they cattle, in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 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 to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 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 thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe to do them:" Deuteronomy 28:2-13

In these verses Moses was talking to the children of Israel and he was telling them that if they followed the Law of God, then all of these blessing of God would come upon them and overtake them! Now here is the really cool part for us today.

“So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met within us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit.] Romans 8:4 Amplified Bible

Everything that our Father required to have all of His blessings overtake the children of Israel have now been fully met for us by Jesus. Jesus was successful so that we may now have all of God’s blessings in abundance! Here is the really important Truth about our abundance in Christ: not only can we can have all of these blessing in abundance because of Jesus, but we have them just like Jesus has them! Jesus said in John 17: 22, that He gave us the exact same glory that He has, and our righteousness is now of Him, Philippians 3:9. Jesus said that He would send the Holy Ghost, so that the Holy Ghost could take everything that Jesus has, and give it to us, John 16:13-16. We have an abundant life and our abundance is directly from our Father, and our Father loves us just as He loves Jesus. Our Father's abundance overtakes us, and praise God we don’t have to take thought for it, Matthew 6:25!

A Benefit Of Salvation: An Abundant Life

"I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:9-10

Plain and simple, Jesus came so that we might be saved and He came so that through Him we would have an abundant life! Jesus came so that we might be preserved and He came to deliver us from all danger. Jesus came so that we might be delivered from the power, pleasure, presence, and penalty of sin. Jesus came so that we might have health and so that we might be delivered from all earthly ills. And Jesus came so that we might be saved from all of the evils that would ever obstruct our reception of our Father's deliverance. Jesus came so that we might have all of these blessings in abundance!

The Truth is also that now is the time of our abundant salvation! Now we have life, now we have Jesus, and now we have the Holy Ghost dwelling within us, and we now have it all abundantly. Look throughout the Bible, Paul and Silas sang songs of praise while they were in Jail. Peter slept so soundly in jail, even though they had killed James the day before, that the Angel had to slap him to wake him up to deliver him. Stephen was being stoned and He still cried out for his killers’ forgiveness. You talk about abundant lives, these guys were filled with the fullness of God to live in such abundant peace. Jesus and Peter needed to pay their taxes, so they just caught a fish that had the exact amount of money in its mouth that they needed! You want to talk about abundance; Jesus had a thief in charge of His moneybag. Go ahead and steal Judas, our Father was supplying their needs according to His riches and glory! There is no one, including satan, that can steal from us fast enough to overcome our needs being met by our Father's riches in glory in Christ Jesus abundantly!

God's Hope Purifies Us

“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” 1 John 3:3

God bore into us His very Own lively hope and God has given us His very Own Holy Spirit, so that we may abound in His hope. And we now have Jesus Who Authors and Finishes our faith. So if we are truly saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, we absolutely have hope! And praise God that means that we are pure, even as our Father is pure! Salvation goes so far beyond what is being preached by the masses. God gave it all to us, He gave us all of Himself, and there is nothing lacking in our salvation through Christ, nothing! We can open up our Bibles and read about how God worked through Jesus, and when we do, we can rejoice in the Truth that God gave us the same hope, the same faith, the same Anointing, and the same Spirit, so that He can do the same things through us! God did it so that we could be used as servants, just as Jesus served! We are not saviors, but we are part of the Savior, and we are tools of our Savior. When Jesus was here as a man, He was physically used by God to lay hands on the sick and they were healed, and we are now our Fathers instruments of righteousness to do the same. When Jesus was here as a man, He allowed the power of the Spirit to show people that God was real, and now we are part of Jesus’ body to do the same! Jesus is Lord and we are now members of His body and He will use us to glorify God as He serves the needs of those around us!

Jesus is Lord!

There Is No Fear In Hoping For All That God Has

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5

There is no fear in the perfect love of Jesus, and we have not been given a spirit of fear by our Father! We will not be ashamed in hoping for the fullness of God to dwell within us. Because God is fully within our hearts, and these Truths that we have studied together so far clearly show us how He is, these scriptures are our Fathers Truths. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but these Truths shall remain, and hoping for them, and the fullness of them, will never leave us ashamed! There is no fear in hoping for the greatness of God to be revealed and realized through each one of us! We shall not be ashamed in our hope that God will perform His signs through us, and that through the power of Christ that we will have boldness in the Day of Judgment!

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of your calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1:17-18 The hope of our calling is this, that God will be the same within us as He is in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the First begotten among many brethren! We are now members of Jesus’ body, we are flesh of His flesh, and we are bone of His bone. We are now one with God through Jesus, and Jesus has made perfect in that oneness, and since He has, the world will believe and come to know that God loves them just as much He loves Jesus! We are blessed this day and every day in the power of our Fathers might!

We Have Peace In Believing, So We May Abound In Hope

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:13

God has given us His very Own Spirit to empower us to believe all of His Truth and in believing we will have peace, just as Jesus has peace in God’s Truth. Jesus isn’t fretting about anything, all of His needs are met, and we too are empowered with the Holy Spirit to have Jesus’ lively hope in the Truth! Yet we don’t just hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit that is within us we abound in God’s hope! Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, and we have been given the Holy Ghost, so that we may abound in God’s hope, so praise be to God we may abound in His faith! And to insure that we do, we have God’s very Spirit within us! Jesus taught us that if we have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, that we could tell a mountain to move and it would obey us. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to be powerful. And God has given us all of Himself, so that Jesus may empower us to abound in His Own faith; which is far greater than the size of a mustard seed! God is a God of hope and God’s hope for us is that we abound in His hope. And to insure that we do abound in His hope, God has filled us with all peace and with all joy! Faith comes from hearing the Word of God, so you bet ya; I am going to desire and allow God to preach it through me! I need this Truth, life in this world without Jesus is ruff, and eternity is hell! But through the power of Jesus in our lives we now have lively hope and hope brings powerful faith and faith brings abundant life results!

Through Christ We Can't Help But Have Hope

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3

Think about Jesus’ hope and think about exactly what it means. Jesus hoped that He would be able to be offered on the Cross, so that we might be saved and have eternal life. His hope was that we might have life and that we might have it abundantly. Jesus hoped that by His stripes we would be healed. God had not done any of these things through man before Jesus went to the Cross, He had only spoken of them, and Jesus had hope that they would be. He had the hope that God would strengthen Him so that He could accomplish all that He was to accomplish, and this hope that Jesus had, came only from hearing God’s Word about it! “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17 This is what and Who we are born of; this is now our hope. The same force within Jesus, the force of hope that allowed Him to come as a man and die on the Cross, is the force of hope that God has given to us. Jesus was able to hope and thus He was able to walk in faith, and faith produced the miraculous works that God did through Him to serve others, and faith allowed Jesus to endure the Cross, which served us all! This same lively hope has been born into you and I! Now stop and actually allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you and strengthen you in the power of this Truth!

When people think of Jesus, they tend to put His hope, His faith, His attitude, and His works in an unattainable category, as if Jesus was the only one that could ever do them. We do this because Jesus is our Lord and Savior, He is our Head, and we believe that by doing so is a way to worship Him. But that’s not what Jesus came to do. Jesus didn’t come to show us that He was superior to us, even though He is! He came to show us and to empower us to live as God desires for us to live, just as He lives. Jesus came to show us that we could have hope as He has hope, that we could have faith, as He has faith, and that God could do His works through us, just as God does through Him. Jesus came to tell us that God could even do greater works through us because He has gone to the Father. That is why God had it written that Jesus Authors and Finishes our faith, that He is the one that gives us hope, and that He is the One performing the works through us. Jesus is Sovereign, He is our Lord, and our sovereign Lord gave us all that He has, so that we could live as He lives. Jesus is hope, and He is faith, and He is love, and He is power, and we are now and forevermore one with Him. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17 Jesus is a being of hope, and as He is, so are we in this world! We truly worship Him and we truly please God by allowing God to live within us, as He lives within Jesus! We can’t help but be filled with hope; it’s how God has made us!

A Benefit Of Slavation: Hope

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3

When we were born again one of the greatest attributes that our Father bore into us was a lively hope. Christians are able to hope when the world is unable to even think of hope. When the world has no answers, Christians have hope, and the lively hope that has been born into us is the power behind our faith.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

As we have studied, Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith; so Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit is the One Who is Authoring and empowering us to continue in our Father's lively hope. Christians are able to have hope when there seems to be no hope, and the reason that we are able to have such hope, is because we have not been given a spirit of fear.

“But God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Through Christ we have been given a spirit of peace, love, power, and a sound mind. Now do these attributes sound like anyone that we may know? Jesus has all of these things in abundance and He is now within us Authoring our faith, which has its beginnings in the lively hope that our Father has born into us! Our Father is all of these things. He is the fullness of all of these attributes and He has chosen us and He has birthed us from His Divine Incorruptible Seed. When our Father created us, He created us in His image. He breathed life into us and that life came directly from His life. Our Father didn’t conjure up a different life force for us; He gave us His Own life force, just as He gave it to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t fear, He doesn’t fear failure; He doesn’t fear death, He doesn’t fear sickness, and He doesn’t fear what people think of Him. Jesus has no fear! What He does have is absolute trust; absolute trust in what God has spoken will be done. Absolute Trust that God is willing and able to complete all of the promises that He has proclaimed! Think about when Jesus was manifested as a man, the things that our Father was going to do through Him had just been spoken of, and that was enough for Jesus! Just our Father speaking it gave Jesus complete trust and faith that it would be done and we now have Jesus’ mind, and we now have His Spirit, and we are now members of His body!

The Power Of Hearing God's Word

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

The Word of our Father clearly tells us that we now have Jesus’ actual faith working within us. The Bible teaches us that our Father has given the measure of faith and the Bible teaches that Jesus Authors and Finishes our faith. So if we have been chosen by God and have been empowered with His Holy Spirit to make Jesus the Lord of our lives, we have the ability to believe that our Father is and that He will reward us for diligently seeking Him.  We are now empowered to believe just as Jesus believes that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him! Our Father has seen to it through Christ. Our Father has empowered us to be used by Him to do all things!

Everywhere we turn in the Word, we see that God is the One doing His works of righteousness through us, and since He is, we then are able to fully enjoy the benefits of righteousness! There is now no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus! Do you see why? There is now no condemnation because our Father has placed the responsibility of faith on Himself and not on us. Our Father is the One Who will guide us into a faithful life, and our Father is the One Who will prune anything out of us that needs pruning. He does this so that He can continually produce more and more fruit through us.

 Jesus is our Refiners Fire and our Fullers Soap! So if there is anything within us that would hinder our faith, Jesus burns it out of us and cleans us with His pure water. Jesus is our Shepherd; He leads us right to where we need to be, to walk in His faith. Jesus is our Vine; He is continually providing the very life giving powers that allow us to be all that God has made us to be. We have it all with God and our Savior Jesus Christ, there is nothing lacking for us, and because of Jesus, we are fully pleasing to our Father. We are God’s children; there is absolutely nothing that He has, that He hasn’t given us through Jesus our Lord and Savior! Faith to serve Him, faith to serve others, faith to love, faith to move a mountain, faith to heal the sick, faith that freely receives and freely gives. We now have and enjoy Jesus' very faith to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are God’s kids. We are complete in Jesus, the Firstborn among many brethren! Our Father has given us the faith to live as Jesus lives. We  know that it is our Father, Who is God, within us, doing His works!

Jesus Empowers Us With His Own Faith

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

From the very second that we are chosen by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to make Jesus our Lord we have eternal life; we have an abundant life, and we have a life that is filled with the fruits of the Spirit and a life that is filled with the very presence of God. We have passed from death unto life, we have passed unto an abundant life in Christ, a life where God is the provider of everything that pertains unto life and unto holiness! Through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit we now have faith in these Truths, so God is pleased, and we are eternally justified!

Now here is the really awesome Truth of the power of our salvation, we don’t come up with this faith on our own to believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Nope, Jesus gives us the faith to believe these things! “Looking unto Jesus the Authorer and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 How great is that? To please God we need to have faith; Jesus knows this, so He Authors and He Finishes our faith, so that we can be pleasing to God! There is nothing that God has not provided with our salvation. Jesus knows the rewards of God. He knows what a life filled with God can be, and we have Him right here with us, insuring that we can know and live these Truths as well. Jesus completely knows the power of God, the will of God, and the desires of God and He has complete and total faith concerning them, and Jesus now Authors and Finishes our faith!

Faith is not a human ability to believe the promises of God, faith is Jesus’ ability working through humans to accept and believe God’s promises. And there is not one believer who lacks faith, not one, that’s why we cannot boast! “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

How awesome are those two verses? We don’t have to take any thought about having enough faith, God has given us the measure of faith to believe and we now live with the power of Jesus’ faith to believe. We haven’t just been given the ability to believe, we have been given Jesus’ ability to believe! Man that is good Truth! Jesus Authors and Finishes our faith, and He doesn’t write a different faith book for each of us. Jesus gives us the One that was written by God for Him, and we now live by Jesus’ faith. Jesus isn’t stumbling when God says all, He doesn’t stumble over a spiritual gift like tongues. Jesus completely and totally understands God and He places within us His ability to believe in all of God’s Truths!

Faith Justifies Us

“He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was also able to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:20-25

Abraham was a hundred years old and his wife Sarah was about ninety years old when they were promised a son. Our Father not only promised them a son, He promised Abraham that He would establish His Covenant through that son. Abraham staggered not at what our Father had promised him. Abraham believed God was willing and he believed that God was able to do what He had promised them. Abraham believed that our Father would reward him for it to and since Abraham did believe, our Father justified him with His covenant!

There is another important Truth here and it is this: our Father did what it would take for Abraham to believe. Our Father actually came down and ate with Abraham. He didn't just show Abraham a dream, He came and allowed Abraham to see His power and our Father exerted His influence on Abraham. Our Father gave Abraham His grace so that he could believe.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Romans 5:1

We are now justified by Christ and we are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to believe in God. We now have Jesus Authoring and Finishing our Faith, Hebrews 12:2, so that we may be justified in believing that we will be rewarded for doing so. We are rewarded just as Abraham was justified and counted as righteous for believing in the promises of God.

So when will we receive our reward and justification from God? Is our reward reserved for us in Heaven, waiting on us for when we arrive there, or is our reward to be enjoyed right now, on this earth, or is it both?

“(For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

Our Father proclaims that now is the time of our reward and justification, as well as in the future! Once we are chosen by our Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say yes to Jesus, we have peace with God. We are rewarded from that point on, right now and forever more! Abraham had Isaac, the son that God had promised him while on the earth; the Covenant that God created with Abraham came into existence on this earth. Abraham didn’t have to wait until Heaven to receive these rewards and we don’t have to wait for the promises of God to be realized and lived. Heaven will be great, it will be better than the earth, and our eternity with God in the New Heaven and new Earth will be stunning! But we have great and precious promises for our lives right now and to please our Father we have been empowered to believe that we have both! What faith Authored and Finished by Jesus really allows us to believe is that our Father is every bit as much a force in our lives right now as He will be in Eternity! This Truth is what Jesus now Authors and Finishes within us, because this is the Truth that He lives in, and we are now one with Him! We enjoy the blessings of God that Jesus enjoys!

What Faith Is

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” Hebrews 11:6

It is impossible for us to please our Father without faith, now here is the question, what exactly is faith? According to the Word of God, faith is believing that God is and believing that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him! Now a lot of people believe in God, just go and ask them. But when was the last time you heard it preached, that to please our Father, you also had to expect that He would reward you for seeking Him. Well, if we want to please our Father, according to His Word, we have to have both, and that is the glory of our salvation, our Father wants us to have both! Our Father wants a relationship with us and He also wants us to be rewarded with all that He has because of that relationship.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Faith that is pleasing to our Father accepts this Truth! And our faith is now Authored and Finished by Jesus Himself. The faith that Jesus empowers us with doesn’t stumble at the blessings of God, blessings such as an abundant life; love, health, peace, joy, hope, wisdom, knowledge, spiritual gifts, and sanctification. The faith that we have been blessed with now diligently seeks out these promises of God. Our faith knows that we have been chosen by God and our faith knows that now is the time of our salvation through Jesus Christ. Our faith authored by Jesus knows that all of the blessings and powers of our Father are for us right now through His Anointing! Our faith is all of these things, because our faith is Jesus’ faith! Jesus is now our head, we are now His body, we now have His mind, and He now Authors and Finishes our ability to believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who are empowered to diligently seek Him.

Never be ashamed or afraid of wanting everything that our Father has. Actually we should eagerly desire everything and believe that our Father will reward us for doing so. This is the spirit that has been born into us, a spirit of hope, faith, peace, and a sound mind. We have not been given a spirit that fears the promises of God, but one that diligently seeks them! The Holy Spirit of God Who now dwells within us. The Holy Spirit now strengthens us and He now comforts us. He also now teaches us all of our Father's Truths. The Holy Spirit believes that God is willing to give us everything and He believes that God is able to give us everything. Through Christ we are now God’s children. We are now joint-heirs with Jesus and our Father has created us in His own image, so that we can have fellowship with Him. Our Father has strengthened us with His Anointing, so that just as Jesus has fellowship with Him, so can we. Our Father has accomplished everything needed for us to be eternally in perfect fellowship with Him! This is the abundant life that Jesus came for us to have and this is eternal life!

God's Love Is Abundantly Within Us

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5

The love of God, His very Own love that He has placed within our hearts, allows us to never be ashamed. The love of God allows us to abound in hope. The Truth that sets us free and allows us to have life abundantly is that we have God’s love shed abroad in our hearts by the very Spirit of God. And nothing will ever separate us from God’s love. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Romans 8:35

“Nay, in all things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 Wow, nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from our Lord and the love of our Father, Who just happens to be God! Nothing present and we are in the present, no creature can and we are creatures, not life, and we are life, do you see where I am going? Once we are truly saved, even our own stupidity can’t separate us from Christ. As we need it, God will prune out anything that is contrary to His Truth, and if it needs to be burned out of us, than Jesus is our refiner’s fire and our fuller’s soap! Once we are chosen by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say yes to Jesus, than there is nothing that can ever separate us, including ourselves, because we are no longer our own, that can separate us from Love. God and Jesus are Love, and nothing will separate us from Them! This is such a great gift of salvation; nothing will ever separate us from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I hear people say that they can walk away from God, well that’s kind of hard when God said that He would never leave us! Can we walk away from Omnipotence? Now that is peace, perfect peace, that passes all understanding, and that is perfect love that casts out all fear and all torment. We have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and through Him we know who we are, and we know where we are going, and nothing can separate us from it, including ourselves!

God is love, and we are born of Him, through Christ we are one with Him, we now have His Spirit, and we now have His mind. So when we are chosen and empowered to say yes to Jesus Christ and make Him the Lord of our lives, we too become love! And love is not selfish, it is giving, its kind, its helpful, its powerful, full of faith and hope, and love passes knowledge! This is who we are in Christ Jesus and this is why salvation is so great! Through Christ we can’t help but love!

We Are Empowered With God's Love

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)” 2 Corinthians 10:4

To bring down the strongholds of this world that are against us, we are empowered by God Himself to use the weapons of His warfare, and God’s weapons are spiritual, they are not carnal, and God’s weapons are mighty! God has empowered us with His Holy Spirit and God’s weapons are grace, kindness, prayer, charity, faith, hope, Truth, and love! The Holy Spirit uses us to bind the things that are contrary to God’s Truths with the power of the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Name that has been given us, the Name above every Name! We speak the Word of God through the strength of the Holy Spirit that is within us, and the Word is the sharp two-edged sword of God. God uses His greatest weapon through us, His love. He uses the love that Jesus gave us, His perfect love that casts out fear! As our Father is in Heaven, so is He in this world! We love, even when people are against us! “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” Ephesians 2:4-5

It can be preached that we have to love, and that is the Truth, we do have to love! But that is not the complete Truth of God, the Truth of God that will set us free. The complete Truth is this, we can’t help but love, because we are born of it, the only reason we are born again is because of God’s love for us. Love is the seed that we come from. Through Christ we are now one with Love! “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 Jesus is now our Head, He is our Vine, we are His body, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and since we are, we have Jesus’ characteristics; we love all, even when they hate us. We love those who love us and we love those who hate us, just as Jesus loves! Jesus was on the Cross, they were brutally killing Him, and He cried out for their forgiveness! This is the love that is now within us! This is Who we are born again from and this is Who now abides within us, this is the Holy Spirit that we now have strengthening us and teaching us. Love is not just born into us, it is what we have been born of! God has given us a new heart and a new mind that are capable of operating in His perfect love, and He has placed His very Spirit within us that causes us to walk in His love. That is one of the greatest powers of salvation, we cannot help but to just love, and there is no fear in love. We know God loves us and nothing that the world can do to us will take us out of Love’s hand, we are sealed with it, we are one with it, and we are Love’s Temple! God is Love, and we are more than conquerors through Love. Love leads us into the paths of righteousness, we are new creatures in Love, old things are past away and all things have become new for us. Love is now our Shepherd, and Love is for us, so who can be against us? It can be preached that we have to love, but if we don’t preach that through Christ we can’t help but love, than we haven’t preached the Truth that sets us free!

A Benefit Of Salvation; Love That Casts Out All Fear

100% of the tribulation in this world comes directly from fear. Think about what brings on the torment of tribulation: fear of disease, fear of finances, fear of crime, or fear of failure. Fear causes dictators to kill those who disagree with them. Fear allows people to allow a dictator to gain power in the first place! Fear of failure or being out done causes businessmen to lie and cheat. Fear of getting old causes people to spend millions of dollars needlessly on changing themselves. Fear of not keeping up with the neighbor’s cause’s people to go into debt. Fear of reality causes people to become dependent on drugs and alcohol. There is fear that the world will be devastated if someone is elected who isn’t from a certain political party. Every tribulation has its beginning in fear, and the media and satan play on it all day long! Fear has torment and fear is of the world, it is not of God! God uses His Truth and His Holy Spirit to teach us, He does not use fear!

So what do we do for those who use fear, such as the media, who use fear to sell their wares, which according to Jesus is a very dangerous thing to do! “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe on Me, it is better for them that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” Mark 9:42 We don’t hate these people, or lash out against them, we do not use condemnation, just as God does not use condemnation against us, Romans 8:1. We don’t go and create our own media whose sole purpose is to point out the faults of those who are living in the world, or try and use fear of what fear can do to stop people from listening to them! What we do is love them; we love them as God loves Jesus! We pray for them, as Jesus taught us to do, and we ever live to intercede for them in a never ending hope of their salvation! “But I say unto you which hear, love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Luke 6:27-28 Whatsoever thing a man soweth, that shall he reap, and through the power of the Holy Spirit that is within us we love those who hate us, we bless those that curse us, and if our enemy hungers we feed him! We sow these things because they have first been sowed into our hearts by God, and we reap the harvest of being used by God to further the glorious Kingdom that we have now become one with!

The Power Of God's Love

“And I have declared unto them Thy Name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast love Me may be in them and I in them.” John 17:26

Jesus taught us that in the world there will be tribulations, just turn on the news or pick up a newspaper and you will see that He knew what He was talking about. But Jesus also told us to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world for us! Jesus has robbed the evil that is in the world of all its power over us, it can no longer harm us, or move us off of our firm foundation of Truth that has set us free! “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 Jesus came and declared God’s Name unto us, and He continues to do so today, and because of the Truth that He gives, we now have love, and not just any love, we have been given the ultimate love, the love that God has for Jesus. This is the love that now abides within us! Remember what Jesus said: that He will continue to declare God’s Name unto us so that we will eternally have love. Jesus ever lives to intercede for us; He is right here with us, He never leaves us or forsakes us!

God’s love for Jesus, the love that Jesus has given to us, is perfect love and God’s perfect love casts out all fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 Jesus gave us the perfect love of God and that love casts out fear! Notice that it’s God’s love that casts out fear. God is the One Who is doing it, He has not left us alone to just use His love to cast out fear, He is right here with us, never leaving us or forsaking us! God does not leave us on our own to love! To become perfect in love does not mean that we will be the ones doing the works; it means that God is the One Who will be doing the works through us, just like it was God in Jesus doing the works. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father in Me, He doeth the works.” John 14:10 Now if you go on to verse 11, Jesus teaches that it is by the works of the Father that we can believe. If it was just you and I using God’s love, we would fail all of the time! But it’s not us, it’s God in us doing His works through us, and God never fails, and that is why people can believe. People can see God within us, and that is what will bring the hope of an abundant life, a life without fear, and a life of perfect salvation!

The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit: Part VII

“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Acts 9:17

Jesus visited Paul on the road to Damascus. During that visit Paul was chosen by God and he believed and had accepted God’s calling. But Paul had not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit until God sent Ananias unto Him, and as soon as Ananias was used to lay his hands on Paul, the baptism occurred! Also as soon as the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred Paul received back his sight that he had lost as a result of seeing Jesus! The Truth is that we cannot be filled with the very Spirit of God and not have miraculous things happen through us! Jesus taught us that signs and wonders would follow all who believe, Mark 16:14-18.


Be blessed, the Word of God is Truth, and the Truth will set us free, and God’s Word will never fall void to the earth. The Holy Ghost is the power of our salvation, and together we can walk in the fullness of Him. Together with Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, we can be used by God to heal the sick, save the lost, prophesy to the needs of the people, ask and receive, seek and find, and through the power of God all things are possible! The Anointing of the Holy Ghost allows God to be fully Who He is within us! We are born of God, we are His offspring, God chose to have us, we are because He is, and we are because He willed us into His eternal life! Through Christ we have passed from death unto life, and God has delivered us out of darkness and has placed us in His glorious Light. God has saved us to the uttermost, and because of Jesus all things are now possible for us. God is willing and able to do all that He has spoken, and He loves us every bit as much as He loves Jesus! You my brothers and sisters are strong in the power of His might, and we are more than conquerors through Christ that loves us!

The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit: Part VI

“And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” Acts 19:1-6

Again we see that people believed and some time had passed before they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And here again we see that as soon as they were baptized miraculous power followed! Some of us may be baptized with the Holy Spirit right when we are chosen and accept Jesus as Lord, some of us may be filled later, but the important thing is that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The common ground is a believing and having an accepting heart. If you don’t know if you have been baptized with the Holy Ghost, than you haven’t! If you can’t testify of the exact moment when it happened, then you haven’t. I am not trying to be mean, you may very well believe in Jesus as Lord, just as these scriptural examples show us, but look at what Jesus said. “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:38-39

How can we have rivers of living water flowing from us and not know it? When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit our lives are instantly changed, and as we read in the Book of Acts, when people were baptized with the Holy Ghost, supernatural things happened as a result of the baptism. They prophesied, they prayed in tongues, there were healings, mass conversions; power was always associated with the baptism of the Holy Ghost! God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He changes not, so the same holds true today! “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 The baptism and indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not an uneventful or uncertain event in our lives! God does not respect the people in the Bible over us, so if He showed His mighty power through them when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, He will show His power through us! We are all God’s kids and He is able and willing to be all that He is through each and every one of us who believe.

The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit: Part V

“Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” Acts 8:14-17

The people of Samaria had received the Word of God, they welcomed it, they believed it, and they were even baptized in the Name of Jesus, but as Jesus taught, that was only half of the process. Here we see God fulfilling His Truth, the second half of salvation, after believing they were baptized with the Holy Spirit! In the Acts 2 we saw that God just sent His Holy Spirit and the believers in the upper room were baptized, now here we see that God used believers to lay their hands on people and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. God is God and however He wants to baptize us is fine. But the Truth is this: all who have been chosen of God and who have been saved will receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit! It may occur right away, or it may take some time, but if a person is truly saved then they will be baptized with God Himself! “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.” Ezekiel 36:27

The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit: Part IV

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:2-4

Now is the time for our baptism of the Holy Spirit, it will occur to everyone who is truly chosen of God and saved, and Jesus is the only way for God to make us one with Himself. Salvation is being empowered by God to believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and being baptized is having Jesus make us one with the Holy Spirit of God! Let’s study some scriptures to see exactly how God baptized people with His Holy Spirit. And as we study these Truths over the next couple of sections, remember that Jesus teaches us that there are two distinct things: believing and being baptized!

In Acts 2 Jesus had told the disciples to go into an upper room after His ascension into Heaven and pray and wait, and that He would send the Holy Ghost unto them. These people had already believed on Jesus as the Lord. Many of them had seen Him after He was raised from the dead, but they only had part of the equation filled within their lives, believing, Now Jesus fulfilled the second part, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Notice that as soon as they were baptized, that they were filled with a sign of the power of the baptism. “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of Whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:” Luke 3:16 The Holy Ghost is the power of God working within us. He strengthens us with God Himself and signs and wonders that go beyond human power follow Him. This is the fire of God!

The Baptism Of The Holy Ghost: Part II

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” Mark 16:16

“I indeed have baptized you with water: but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” Mark 1:8

Jesus taught us that salvation is for all who believe and who are baptized. Believing is easily understood, but what does Jesus mean by baptized? Is baptized being sprinkled with water as an infant, is it being dunked in water as an adult, or is it something else? In Mark 1:8 John the Baptist was talking about the power of Jesus. John was baptizing people with water as an evidence of them turning from their sin. It was a testimony to others. As John baptized with water, God began to have him prophesy about Jesus, and what God had him say was that, “He Who was coming after him, was stronger than he was, and that He (Jesus) wouldn’t baptize with water but with the Holy Spirit.” “And I knew Him not, but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” John 1:33 The baptism of Jesus isn’t an action by us, or a testimony we provide as an evidence of doing something, it is an action by God. It is Jesus’ testimony that He did something, that He saved us and empowered us to be free from the power of death. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive evermore, A-men; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Revelation 1:18

The second Truth about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that it is Jesus doing it to us! Jesus is the only way to salvation and since He is, He is the only one Who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit!

The Baptism Of THe Holy Spirit: Part III

“I indeed have baptized you with water: but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” Mark 1:8

God’s Word teaches us that Jesus doesn’t use water to baptize us with; the Word teaches us that Jesus uses the Holy Spirit of God to baptize us. But what exactly is being baptized with the Holy Ghost? To answer that, let’s first look at the Greek word this verse originally used. The Greek word is baptizo, Strong’s Concordance number 907. The example given in the Strong’s Concordance to explain baptized is a cucumber becoming a pickle. The cucumber is first washed, that is a cleansing from all dirt. The Greek word for that is bapto, then after the cucumber is cleaned, you baptizo, or baptize, the cucumber: submerging it in the pickling spices. This baptism forever changes the cucumber into a pickle. The spices become one with the cucumber and it is changed into a pickle. That is baptizo, or baptized. So if you are baptized with the Holy Ghost, you have become one with God, His Spirit is in you, on you, through you, and you are a new creature in Christ, which is God’s Anointing, old things are passed away and behold all things are new to you!

“At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.” John 14:20 In the verses right before this one, Jesus is proclaiming that the Holy Ghost was coming. So the day Jesus is referring to is the day of us being filled with the Holy Ghost! The day you will know that Jesus is in you and that you are truly in the Father, is the day that you are baptized with the Holy Ghost, the day that you are filled with Him, the day that He is on you, through you, and one with you! Remember Jesus said for us to be saved is not just believing on Him, but when we believe and are baptized with the Holy Ghost. There are many people who believe in Jesus, think about how many people you know who say they believe that Jesus lived? Yet they don’t trust Him as their Lord and Savior. Man can’t do the things on his own that God has required for a full and rich and eternal life. We could never continue to believe in Jesus throughout our lives without the power of Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God, within us to insure it. We could never even accept Jesus, unless the Holy Spirit empowered us to. The assurance of salvation is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The power of God that birthed Jesus into this world and the power that allowed Him to serve God and to serve us, is the same power that we have been given, and the same power that we have been birthed of!

The third Truth about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that it is life changing. Once Jesus has baptized you with the Holy Spirit you become one with God, as Jesus is one with God and you are forever changed! “That they all may be one; as Thou Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” John 17:21 We become new creatures in Christ, old things pass away, and all things become new!

The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit: Part I

“He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [from the penalty of death]: but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Who it sets forth] will be condemned.” Mark 16:16 Amplified Bible

The first step to being filled with the Holy Ghost is to believe in Jesus, to accept Him and to make Him the Lord of our lives. Jesus is the only way, He is the Truth, and He is the Light. Jesus is the only doorway into salvation, and no man can enter in except they go through Christ! “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9 Now the great freedom in this Truth is this, we are only able to accept Jesus and be born again because God chooses us and because God empowers us to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior! “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:13

“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” 1 Corinthians 12:3

The first Truth about being filled with the Holy Spirit is that we must first be empowered by God to accept Jesus as Lord! And all who truly accept Jesus as Lord will be baptized with the Holy Spirit! Faith comes from hearing the Truth that God would that all men be saved and that God will empower all to believe who truly want salvation!

We Have Peace In Our Salvation

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Through the power of Christ in our lives, the pressure has been removed from us! God knew who we were, and He completely knew what we were. So He did something about it, He sent Jesus to pay the price, and then He sent the Holy Ghost to empower us with His fullness. Notice that God said that He, His Spirit, will cause us to walk rightly! God’s Spirit will teach us all things! Jesus said it was better that He went away, so that God’s Spirit would come. There is a truth here that only the Holy Ghost can teach us, and it is this: God placed the responsibility and burden of us walking uprightly on Himself, not on us! Religion and man have placed it all on us, claiming that if we do what is right than we can have some of the glory that God has to offer. Yet that is not what God has said! God’s Truth is that He will cause us to walk in His statutes and in His judgments. God said that He would teach us all Truth. God said that He would do superabundant things through us by the power of the Holy Ghost that is at work within us. There is so much freedom here! My experience with religion is that the burden is placed squarely and completely on us, and our success or failure is measured solely on our desire and ability to perform. Yet God said that He would lead us into the paths of righteousness, Psalm 23:3. You know we only have one work according to Jesus. “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” John 6:29 We only have to do this one thing, believe on Jesus, and everything else God will perform through us, and God will even assist us in believing on Jesus, He will Author and Finish our faith, Hebrews 12:2. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to have peace in who we are, just like Jesus had peace in Who He was!

Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, John 10:10. Well, with the Holy Ghost, abundance is measured on God’s level, not on man’s! A life filled with love, hope, faith, service, forgiveness, miracles, and unbroken fellowship, now that is abundance! These things are not limited to what we can think of either, regardless of what we can ask or think of, God can do more, and He can and will do more through us. We are born of God, He is not ashamed of us, because He has saved us to the uttermost. We are a chosen generation and a royal priesthood. Through Christ we enjoy abundance on God’s level, and it’s the Father in us, He does the works! A-men!

Salvation Means That We Will Be Used By God

“Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” John 14:12

Now you may be thinking, yeah, but He was Jesus! He sure was and here is what Jesus had to say. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father in Me, He doth the works.” John 14:10 It was God in Jesus Who did all of the Works, the Holy Spirit did the works through Jesus, the exact same Holy Spirit that you and I have been given, and the same exact same Spirit that we have been filled with! And that Spirit now has the freedom to work through us under the power of the New Covenant, a covenant ratified and placed into effect by the Blood of Jesus that was shed on the Cross, the perfect sacrifice of Jesus our Lord and Savior! Remember, Jesus is the one Who said that God would do the same works, and yes even greater works, through us, than He did through Him! That is why it was better that Jesus went away, remember, one of the works that Jesus did while on the earth as a man, was to have unbroken fellowship with God. Through the Holy Spirit, we too have the exact same thing! We are one with Christ, Jesus is in us, we are in Jesus, and everyone is in God, sealed with and filled with the Holy Spirit until the Day of Redemption!