God Makes Sure That We Are Rewarded

Knowing that for whatever good anyone does, he will receive his reward from the Lord, whether he is slave or free. Ephesians 6:8

   

As we have studied so many times before, the Truth that sets us free is that we are empowered with the Holy Spirit to accomplish all of the required works of the Bible. There is no fear for us whatsoever that we will miss the mark, because in Christ we will perform all of these things. We will receive from the Lord because we are empowered by the Him to do all things. In Christ we will love and respect our elders as He loves and respects them. We will not provoke but encourage and strengthen as Jesus encourages and strengthens. We will respect others and render service in the full power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit that we are now one with.

You will fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit [worthy of admiration], but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit. A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear [excellent fruit [worthy of admiration]. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Therefore, you will fully know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:16-20

Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. John 15:4-5

For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power (moral power and excellence of soul). 1 Corinthians 4:20

We are in Christ and one with Him right now. His is the only power that sustains us and because of this great Truth we will fulfill every last commandment and scripture that has been written. When our Father had the word “if” written in the Bible, He had already fulfilled the “if” for us through Christ. If you are truly a part of Christ, there is never any question of if, because the Truth is if is finished or us! So as you read all of the verses that speak of how we have to be, rejoice, because Jesus is our Head and He alone will cause every last Word of our Father to come to pass in our lives. We are more than conquerors through Christ.

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

Grace Is Seen By All

Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon]. Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. Philippians 4:5-6

The Holy Spirit will cause us to show all people our Father’s Grace. When Jesus was here 2000 years ago He was used to do the same thing. Think about Jesus’ life, did He go around and tell everyone that He was the Lord and that they must worship Him. Or was He used to heal the sick, raise the dead, feed the hungry, make wine for parties, and run off religious bullies who were placing rules on people that no one could keep? Jesus was used for the latter. Our Father never changes and He will use us the exact same way today, Hebrews 13:8.

There are non-believers everywhere today who are lost and need help, just as there were when Jesus was here. They do not need to hear that they are wrong, most of them know that already. What they need is to see love in action and that can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit working through us, without Jesus we can do nothing, John 15:5.  

We do not have to fret about being used to serve. We never have to be anxious about it either, because we cannot help but to be used by our Father. We are Jesus’ body and the body of Jesus will be used.  

But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and moment, Matthew 10:19

So please join with me in making this request to our Father: use us just as You use Jesus, 1 John 4:17. We want all of the power, love, grace, faith, and hope that Jesus has. We want to be used to do the same works that Jesus did and even greater works, John 14:12. We want to be removed from all of the concerns of this world and totally realize and trust in You Father just as Jesus does. 

Grace Is Free

Grace and spiritual blessing be to you and [soul] peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), Galatians 1:3

   

As with all of the Epistles that the Holy Spirit has Paul write, He has him clearly tell us that we have Grace from our Father. The word Grace is translated from the Greek Word, Charis. Charis means: that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, favor, and love. It also means the merciful kindness by which our Father exerts His Holy influence on our souls and that turns us to Christ and His power keeps us, strengthens us, and increases our Christian virtue. Grace means that we are governed completely and solely by our Father’s Divine power.

Grace is also a free gift from our Father.  

But God's free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if many died through one man's falling away (his lapse, his offense), much more profusely did God's Grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many. Romans 5:15

The Truth for a born again believer is that our Father freely exerts His influence on our souls. He freely caused us to call on Jesus as Lord, John 6:44. Our Father freely causes us to be strong in Christ and He freely causes us to grow in Christ. This brings us great joy and delight, because when it is our Father freely causing us to do these things, we have peace that there is now no condemnation for us, Romans 8:1. In Christ we now have peace that everything that is needed for us to live eternally with our Father will get done. 

And He will establish you to the end [keep you steadfast, give you strength, and guarantee your vindication; He will be your warrant against all accusation or indictment so that you will be] guiltless and irreproachable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 1 Corinthians 1:8

So when you read the Word Grace, rejoice greatly, because it means that our Father is in complete and total control of your life and He will never leave you or forsake you. Grace will also breed Grace. When our Father freely gives Grace to us, it causes us to freely give Grace to others. Grace is a rapid growing plant too.

We Are Free From The Law So That We Can Be Used To Serve

So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in 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

    

So many people are in a religious situation where laws and rules are being preached and commanded of them. This is such a shame, because they are being taught lies that bind them. The Truth, and it is so freeing, is that every requirement for righteousness was fully accomplished for us by Jesus. Righteousness is not found by keeping rules. 

Let’s put this Truth in the real world plain English: we are now as righteous as Jesus is! I want you to think about Jesus, do you believe that He is worried about messing up? What about ever being overtaken by satan? Do you believe that Jesus can be sick? Every single glorious thing that we believe about Jesus, He has because He is so righteous. Now because of His Blood we are as righteous as He is, 1 John 4:17. That is why Jesus came and that is what He accomplished for us. Jesus secured complete and total success for us. We are sanctified by this Truth, John 17:17, and the Truth is that Jesus made us every but as righteous as He is. 

Grace and spiritual blessing be to you and [soul] peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), Who gave (yielded) Himself up [to atone] for our sins [and ]to save and sanctify us], in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father—Galatians 1:3-4

We are rescued from this wicked world, not by being taken out of it, but by being kept by our Father while we are still in it, John 17:15. Our Father's Grace is what keeps us and there are no longer any laws to stop us from fully realizing that we have it. We have our Father’s favor just as Jesus has it. Our Father definitely wants us to know and enjoy this Truth. If you don’t believe that He does, just look at how many chapters in Romans that He had written to tell us that we are free from the Law. He also had it written of in Galatians, Ephesians, and Corinthians. 

There is another real world application to this Truth, we can go into the world and actually serve them through our Freedom in Christ. We can intercede for people and they will be healed, just as they were healed with Jesus. We can cast out demons, raise the dead, and prophesy Truth just as Jesus did. We can freely receive and freely give and all without any condemnation. We can because there are no laws that anyone has broken. There is nothing that holds us back from loving all people in the full power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. 

We Now Witness With The Full Power Of Our Father

And with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great Grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33

Our Father is great and He has never done anything that isn’t great. He empowered Samson, He gave Solomon wisdom, He used King David to kill Goliath, He walked this earth manifested in the flesh as Jesus, and He worked miracles through the Apostles with great power and with great Grace! Our Father knows how to witness! He can preach a sermon and then work miracles left and right to confirm the Words that He spoke and prove that they are Truth!

Our Father wants to use each and every one of us with the fullness of His power! Faith allows Him to and we have the strength of Christ so that He can! Together with God there is nothing that cannot be accomplished through us! Our Father can talk about how He raised Jesus from the dead through us, just as He spoke through Jesus about how it was going to happen! Our Father is confident in His abilities; He is assured that His Word is powerful and just like with the Apostles, He will freely bestow His Grace, His great Grace, on each and every one of us!

Our Father has given us a new heart that desires His Truth, a heart that is filled with the very love that He has for Jesus. We now have a heart that seeks His fullness, a heart that eagerly desires His Spiritual gifts, and a heart that has no fear of accepting that He wants such great things for us! This is what is in abundance in the new heart that our Father has given us and this is how our mouths speak! We don’t go looking for God, we know Him, we know He is in us, and we know that we are in Him! Out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak!

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

The Power With The Sign Of Healing

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mark 16:18

The Word of our Father says that we shall be used by Him to lay hands on the sick and they will recover. The sick will recover, the sign of God within us goes beyond just praying for the sick, the proof of God within us, is the sick recover!

And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both men and women. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. Acts 5:14-16

We are shown here that all that were sick were healed. They weren’t just prayed for, they were healed, and because of the power of our Father working through the believers, multitudes were saved! The ministry of healing grew the Church like nothing else and it does the same thing today! 

Without television, without radio, without telephones, without mailers, and without the Internet, people, even from far away cities, came and were added to our Father because of the ministry of healing! The power of the sign of healing is unmatched! Jesus healed everywhere He went, and so did the Apostles, so did Paul, and so did those who believed! Man has no ability to miraculously heal apart from God! We have to create a medicine with side effects. We have to cut a person open and remove something, or shoot poison into the sick and hope that it kills the sickness before it kills the person. This is man’s healing process and we charge enormous amounts of money for it. But our Father just heals, no pain, no charge, and when He does, people get saved, even those who just watch it! Jesus taught us that all who believe would have this sign follow them and as our Father had Paul write, we all should eagerly desire it!

Our Father Will Use Us

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 that dwelleth in Me, He doth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works sake. John 15:10-11

The first faithful thing that Jesus will lead us into regarding works is this: it is our Father within us, He does all of the works! Faith Authored by Jesus regarding this Truth is the key to walking in the full power and love of God Himself! Faith Authored by Jesus in this Truth will allow us to walk as Jesus walked! 

He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. 1 John 2:6 

I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. John 12:46

Through Jesus we are empowered to live and understand all of the Truth’s of our Father! Through Christ and the Light that He provides there is now no darkness for us! And since there is now no darkness for us, there is now no occasion for us to stumble and fall! Jesus will teach us all that there is to know about our Father and He will give us the confidence and full assuredness that it is our Father within us doing His works of righteousness! Jesus will Author the faith within us so that God can give us the utterance to speak in new tongues. Jesus will finish the faith within us so that our Father can cast out all devils through us! Jesus will Author and Finish our faith, so that God can empower us to suffer no harm or ill effects from deadly things! Through Christ, and through the faith that He now gives us, we will lay hands on the sick and the power of our Father within us will cause them to recover, just as they recovered when Jesus laid His hands on them!

Jesus will Finish our faith so that we just don’t talk about these Truth’s of God. He will Finish our faith so that we will actually live and rejoice in the Truth’s of God. The world will believe and they will know that our Father loves them, just as He loves Jesus because of the acts of love that He uses us to perform for them! We will live in the fullness of our Father and in the power of our Father because Jesus has given us the faith that allows our Father to work fully through us!

We Have Jesus' Anointing To Be Used

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

Hallelujah, the Truth is that our Father now works through us in the full power and demonstration of His Spirit! Think of the way that Jesus lived when He was manifested in the flesh. Our Father had compassion on the sick, so He used Jesus to heal the sick and He used Jesus to raise the dead! Jesus didn’t stumble at Who He was, He rejoiced in it. We are now one with Him and our Father has given us an Anointed mind that looks towards Jesus for full understanding of who we are. Jesus will show us and He will give us the ability to accept and have boldness in who we are!

Now here is the powerful Truth of our salvation, if we have truly been empowered by the Holy Spirit to make Jesus the Lord of our lives, we can’t help but look to Him!

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

If we are truly saved, it is now Christ, which is our Father's anointing, the exact same anointing that Jesus has, that now lives within us. The exact same anointing that God gave to Jesus to live and to fulfill all that He was sent to do, now lives within us! The same anointing that allowed Jesus to know that it was God within Him doing all of the works, now lives within us! The same anointing that allowed Jesus to know that He was One with God, now lives within us! We have not been given a different anointing then Jesus has. We have the exact same anointing and it is that force that now lives within us. We cannot help but to look unto Jesus to Author and Finish our faith, the very life force within us can do nothing else! We will win and our Father will work through us. This way of life is not dependent upon our abilities to accept our Father's Truth’s either, it’s dependent upon Jesus’ abilities, and He finished all that was needed for us to fully believe at the Cross!

Jesus will Author and He will Finish our faith and it will allow our Father to be all that He is within us! How great is that? This is the freedom that we have been given through salvation: our Father does the works and we all receive the rewards! Through Christ, our Father can now have fellowship with us and through Christ He is able to work through us as He has always desired to. Jesus makes us able vessels unto God’s righteousness! Our Father will show His signs through us and we will glorify Himself in every action! Through Christ we will never stumble or fall!

Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Jude 24

Because we are saved, and because we are now one with Jesus, and since we have His Anointing, we will never fall, and we will stand before God with boldness and with all joy! Greater is He that is within us, than he that is in the world!

Our Kingdom Is The Most Powerful

For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power (moral power and excellence of soul). 1 Corinthians 4:20

We have power, God’s power, working through us! Just as Jesus has God’s power working through Him!

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

The Kingdom of our Father is in power, it’s in doing the works that Jesus did and even greater ones. Now that is some power! Jesus doesn’t hymn hall around with this statement either! Jesus said we shall be used by our Father to do miraculous works, no questions about it! Jesus spoke with certainty and with authority about God working through all of us who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to believe! It’s the power of our Father working through us that allows people to look beyond man, beyond some fancy words, beyond poetic speeches, and cunningness to see the Truth, and the Truth has set us free!

People need to know that our Father still heals. They need to know that He still gives wisdom and knowledge, peace and joy that passes all understanding. The world needs to know that our Father understands us and knows our needs, even before we ask. The world needs to know that God is willing and able to do the absolute perfect things in every situation for us! Jesus said that if we believe on Him, then we absolutely would do the works that He did. The Truth is this: if we truly have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then God absolutely will work through us. He will work through us as He worked through Jesus and our Father will even work greater things through us, because the sacrifice of Jesus has allowed Him to! The hindrances of the price of sin are gone. The Blood of Jesus has destroyed them and the Old Covenant is finished! Our Father is able to work through us with the freedom of the New Covenant, where sin and the wages of it have been destroyed and removed from us. Our Father can now work freely through all of us! Look at what God was able to do with just the one body of Jesus. Now He has millions of us! Faith comes from hearing this Truth!

Father I ask You in the Name of Jesus, that you use each of us, so that the Church will finally walk in the full and complete power that you have provided for us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! A-men!

Christ Is Always Working Through Us

But the righteousness based on faith [imputed by God and bringing right relationship with Him] says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into Heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; Or who will descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead [as if we could be saved by our own efforts]. But what does it say? The Word (God's message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach, Romans 10:6-8

What our Father is telling us here is that it is always Christ empowering us to ever live to serve. Our Father’s power, or Christ, is always with us. He is always leading us and guiding us. It doesn’t matter how smart we are or how we can quote scriptures. It doesn’t matter how old we are. It doesn’t matter if we are sick, or have cancer, or have had a stroke, or are on medication, Christ is not limited by our flesh. We do not do works, or keep laws, to bring Him into our lives. The power of our Father is always with us and because He is, there are no limitations whatsoever for us. We can be used to raise the dead, heal the sick, give to the poor, forgive those who are killing us, walk two miles when we are only asked to walk one, and bless those who curse us. 

Because we have Christ we can even ask amiss and the Holy Spirit will take what we ask, turn it around and make it conform exactly to our Father’s will. 

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning’s too deep for utterance. Romans 8:26

The Law doesn’t permit such Grace. Jesus has made us free and because He has, we are free indeed, John 8:36. So don’t consider your abilities, because you have none. Through the complete and full power of the Holy Spirit we only consider Jesus’ abilities, Who is limitless.

We Can't Help But To Esteem Others

Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves]. Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, Philippians 2:3-7

But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17

For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. Ephesians 2:10

Our Lord, Jesus, Who we are now one with, ever lives to serve others, Hebrews 7:25. He is a High Priest Who knows what it is like to be going through what we are going through, Hebrews 4:15. Jesus humbled Himself to come to the earth and serve those who He created. He then allowed Himself to be sacrificed for His creation so that we could have all of the glory that He has, John 17:22. Now here is the powerful Truth of the Word: we are now one with Him, so we cannot help but to be humble and esteem others more than we esteem ourselves. Because we are as Jesus is, even while we are on this earth.    

In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17

We are the branches of the Vine of Jesus Christ and we cannot help but to produce the fruit of meekness, humbleness, and love that Jesus is. 

You Have Abounding Grace To Help Everyone

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” 2 Corinthians 9:8

Our Father is willing and able to make all Grace abound towards us. He will do this so that we will always have all sufficiency in all things and so that we may abound in every good work! This is such an awesome verse that I just had to repeat it! Our Father teaches us that faith is believing that He is able and that He is willing to perform His Word, Romans 4:20-22. And faith comes for us by hearing our Father’s Word.

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

We need to hear each and every day, and even multiple times a day, that our Father will make all Grace abound towards us. We need to hear that through Christ we will always have all sufficiency in all things, so that we may be used by our Father to abound in every good work! We need to hear that our Father will use us to help everyone!

With that being said, what exactly is Grace? The Strong’s Concordance defines grace like this: that which affords joy, pleasure, sweetness, and delight. Grace means favor, the merciful kindness of God exerting His influence on our souls that causes us to turn to Christ and that which keeps us, strengthens us, and increases our faith, knowledge, affection, and Christian virtues!

Using the Strong’s definition of Grace lets read 2 Corinthians 9:8 again. And our Father is able to make all favor, influence, strength, faith, affection, virtue, and protection that causes joy, pleasure, and delight to abound toward us; so that we may always have all sufficiency in all things, so that we may abound unto every good work. Our Father will always favor us, and He will always strengthen us with affection, virtue, and faith so that we can be used by Him to perform every good work that is needed, wherever we go! Our Father will always protect us as we are always used by Him. Our Father will always influence us, so that it is always Christ Who is strengthening us! He does this so that we can be used by Him in all things through the power of Christ! Our Father will always do this for us and Jesus ever lives to intercede for us that we are saved to the uttermost!

Our Father will always cause His grace to abound towards us so that we will always have all sufficiency in all things! God will always exert His influence on us, because He will never leave us or forsake us, Hebrews 13:5. Because of Grace we will always have all of the love, wisdom, knowledge, power, faith, hope, forgiveness, joy, health, money, resources, and Anointing that we need! And since we have all of these things in abundance, our Father will always abound through us in every good work! Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, and Grace is the power of our Father working for us that allows us to live in His abundance! 

Jesus Was Manifested To Take Away Sin

And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. 1 John 3:5-6

Jesus has completed all of the tasks required for our perfection! Man had absolutely no ability to even keep the simplest of the laws before Christ came. Think about it, our Father said that man should not make any graven images, and yet, at the first sign of trouble, graven images abounded! This is a very basic and simple law to keep; yet man had absolutely no ability to keep it! Our Father also asked man to keep just one day a week holy and that was too much to handle. Man messed the Sabbath Day up so badly, that when Jesus healed people on it, they wanted to kill Him for it! The Sabbath was made for man, not for God!

So we really can’t preach that we have any ability on our on to perform any acts that will allow our Father to move in our lives! It is only our Father within us, He does the works, and our Father can work through us because it was Jesus who paid the price, so that He can! If it where up to us to act right, and not sin, so that our Father could come in and accomplish something, nothing would ever be accomplished! Man cannot even keep one day! But with the power of God within us, there is nothing that we cannot do, because there is nothing that He cannot do! We don’t sin, because God’s Seed remains within us. We don’t sin, because every law that was contrary to us, was destroyed and taken out of our way! We don’t sin, because greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world! We don’t sin, because God is our Father! Man cannot have two Fathers; we only have one. If God is our Father, then sin has no ability to be within us, because to be born of God, means the Blood of Christ has been applied to our lives, and that Blood cleanses us from all sin!

But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. 1 John 1:7

Our Helmet Is A Gift

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. Ephesians 6:17

Salvation is a gift, so that means that our helmet is a gift. Salvation is placed upon us, we do not place it on ourselves. 

For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ( delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Ephesians 2:8

And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day. John 6:39

We are also told in Ephesians 6:17 that we are to wield the Word of God as a sword. Jesus is the Word, He is our Head, He is our Vine, He is our Shepherd, and we are one with Him. Jesus is greater within us than anything that is in this world. Jesus causes us to walk in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. We wield the Sword of the Word because we have been grafted into It, we are one with It, we cannot help but be who we have become.

So relax, our Father is the One Who dresses us for battle and He is the One Who always causes us to triumph in everything. This is why we have confidence in our eternal salvation, because we can never lose it. 

For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] Romans 11:29

The Armor of God is placed on us by our Father. He sanctifies us completely in the power of His Truth. He will use us to wrestle evil and He will cause us to be victorious over it every single time. Our Father will show the world that they are loved, just as Jesus is loved, and He will do it through us.  

Our Father Creates The Anti-Christ

For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. Colossians 1:16  

The anti-christ will speak so wonderfully and he will be permitted by our Father to do many works and people will love him, Revelation 13:5. He will look very religious, but everything that he does and says will bring the power and glory to what man is doing. He will be blasphemous, because he will talk of what man can do if we only choose to. Jesus will be mentioned by the anti christ, but man will always be the main focus of his testimony. We see this kind of ministry being very prevalent today. How many times have you heard, “if we take the first step, then God will take the next two?” Or, “that God is our co-pilot?” The message of the end times is being spoken all over the world right now. 

The Truth is that we are dead and yet we live, Galatians 2:20. We are dead and our lives are hid with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3. We are new creatures in Christ, all things are now new for us and every old thing has passed away for us, 2 Corinthians 5:17. We do not first do anything, even accepting or choosing, on our own. A branch does not first choose or accept to produce the fruit of the vine that it is united with. The clay does not first act or accept the potter. The hand does not first move, then the head reacts to its movement. Our Father is proactive towards us, He is not reactive to us. So these end time false teachers, that Jesus spoke of, are all around us right now. There are many false prophets who claim to come in the power of Jesus, when they aren’t, and they are leading many astray. This is not the sign of Jesus' return though, it is only the beginning of the sign of His return. 

However these false prophets will fail. Jesus will win and He will overcome all that is against Him, even bad teaching. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, Romans 14:11. Jesus will succeed beyond our wildest expectations! Neve forget though, that these false prophets and the anti-christ are not in control, our Father is. Our Father created all things, even these people and beings. He did it to wage war on evil, not on His kids. Everything was created to bring about our perfection. All things now work for our good, whether we know it or not.       

The Number Of False Prophets Will Increase

While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age? Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. For many will come in (on the strength of) My name [appropriating the name which belongs to Me], saying, I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will lead many astray. Matthew 24:3-5

Ask yourself this question: how many people right now say that they are Christians when they really aren’t? How many wolfs in sheep’s clothing are there in the world right now attempting to cause people to trust in themselves and our powers to please our Father, Matthew 7:15? Or how many preachers are preaching that we need to trust, accept, and believe through our own free will?  How many are teaching us that we need to first choose, on our own, to live right? 

So many people use the name of Jesus, while they mainly claim that we have the power, on our own, to accept or deny, when the Truth is that it is all Jesus causing us to do everything, John 15:5. Without Jesus we can do nothing! These false prophets have a form of godliness, but they deny that it is all Christ within us doing everything, 2 Timothy 3:5. They will talk about how we have to love, but they will not teach the glorious Truth that Jesus ever lives within us and because He does, we love as He loves, John 17:26. From the pulpit they will proclaim that we must have faith to please our Father and yet they fail to mention in the sermon that we cannot help but to have faith because Jesus ever lives to Author and Finish our faith, Hebrews 12:2. They will talk about how they accepted Jesus, they will even give a date when they did, when the Truth is that we were chosen by our Father, Matthew 22:14. The glorious Truth is that we did not first choose Jesus, He first chose us. He chose us even with all of our faults and shortcomings and He will never change His mind about having us, Romans 11:29. We only came to Jesus because we were empowered and enlightened by our Father to come to Him, John 6:44.

So we don’t necessarily look for people specifically saying that they are Jesus, even though many will say this. We also look at the false prophets who want to place all of the burden of righteousness on ourselves and not on Jesus, Who is our Shepherd, our Head, our Vine, our Master, our Potter, and our Lord. The anti-christ will not appear to the world to be anti-Jesus. He is the anti-christ. That means that he is anti our Father’s power causing everything to happen through us.

The Lords Prayer And Free Will

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

Have you ever prayed the Lord’s Prayer? There are an awful lot of us who have. What is so great about this prayer is: how can we mess it up? I mean Jesus told us exactly what to pray and one of the first things that He told us to pray is that our Father’s will be done. Jesus did not tell us to pray that we know our Father’s will or that we understand our Father’s will and then choose to act on it. Jesus just told us to pray that our Father’s will be done. We cannot ask amiss with this. Amen, it is impossible to ask amiss with this prayer and we all have prayed, “Father Your Will Be Done.”

[Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.  James 4:3

We can’t fail to receive when making this request, because there is no way to use our Father’s will being done for our own sensual pleasures. Our Father’s will is never evil. It is impossible to be selfish with our Father’s will being done. So it is impossible for this prayer to not be answered 100% of the time. Jesus absolutely knew what He was doing when He told us how to pray.

O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps. Jeremiah 10:23

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. John 15:5

Think about Heaven. Do you believe that in Heaven that there is a bunch of free will’s going on? Do the angels have a free will? Do the 24 Elders have a free will? Do the 4 beings that surround the Throne have a free will? Does Jesus have a free will? Is Jesus’ Will something different then our Father’s? Does Jesus have to decide each and every moment to choose to act on our Father’s Will, or is He just One with it? He is One with our Father’s Will, because He is our Father and we are now one with Jesus. We are now Jesus’ flesh and His bones, Ephesians 5:30. We now have the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16. We have been crucified with Christ, and nevertheless we live, yet it is not us who live, it is Christ in us Who lives, Galatians 2:20. Our Father has the free will and His will is being done in us, just as it is being done in Heaven! 

Our RIghteous Conqueror

THEN I saw as the Lamb broke open one of the seven seals, and as if in a voice of thunder I heard one of the four living creatures call out, Come! And I looked, and saw there a white horse whose rider carried a bow. And a crown was given him, and he rode forth conquering and to conquer. Revelation 6:2

In the Bible a horse is often used by our Father in prophesy to show power and great strength for battle. Job 39:19, Psalm 137:10. Jesus shows John here that this rider has been given great power by our Father; power to conquer. Jesus also shows John that he has been given a bow to do it with. A bow is a weapon that is used to wage war from a distance. Whats powerful about this is that all of the plagues, wars, and catastrophes in the Book of Revelation are first ordered and released from Heaven. Not until Jesus returns to the earth do we see that our Father has Him use a sword, the weapon of close range warfare, Revelation 19:5. 

A crown is used in prophesy to represent a ruler or kingship. Now I want you to take notice that this horseman is the only one of the four Apocalyptic Horsemen in the Book of Revelation that has been given a crown. This Rider is given his power from our Father in Heaven to conquer and He has been given a crown. Our Father allows this ruler to successfully conquer nations from afar. His authority to rule is solely given by our Father and his power to conquer is solely given to him by our Father. He was given all of this power and ability to carry out our Father’s wrath on His disobedient children. Ask yourself this, does a loving father seek revenge and destruction or does he seek the correction of his children? A loving parents wrath is against the disobedient acts of the child, not the child themselves. 

I find it really powerful that the color of the horse that this Rider is given is white. White in prophesy represents purity. We don’t often think of conquerors as being pure, but this Rider’s horse, or his power to wage war, is pure. This shows us that our Father is in total control of the conquering and His judgments are righteous and they are true! Are you seeing anything developing here with the definition of this Rider? Who is now the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s, 1 Timothy 6:15? Who is now more than a conqueror, Romans 8:37? (This verse tells us that we are more than conquerors, but we are, only because Jesus is!) Who has now had all things placed under His feet, Ephesians 1:22? Who now holds the keys of death and Hades, Revelation 1:18? And Who rides on a white horse in Revelation 19:11? The answer to all of the questions is Jesus and only Jesus! 

Who better than Jesus to go and rage righteous and pure warfare on our disobedient acts? Who has our Father placed in charge of His judgments? Jesus is the One Who has been raised up to sit in complete power in Heavenly places. Only Jesus has the ability to correct us in perfect love.  

The Holy Spirit Is Responsible To Make Us Righteous

For we, [not relying on the Law but] through the [Holy] Spirit's [help], by faith anticipate and wait for the blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God [our conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope. For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love. Galatians 5:5-6

The Holy Spirit is responsible for bringing our righteousness. The Holy Spirit is Who we rely on: He is our only Strength, He Alone is our Teacher, our Advocate, and He Alone is our Stand By.

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26

It is insulting to our Father to believe that our works make us right. Yet so many believe in their works and while believing that works bring us favor with God sounds religious, it is the message of the anti-christ. If a person believes that we are justified by keeping a law, then they are separated from Christ, Galatians 5:1! To believe this way is like believing that a child must do works to earn the attention and love of their father. If a parent needs a child to do things for them to love and pay attention to them, then they are lousy parents. 

Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Our freedom is that Jesus is the only reason that we have faith. True faith is not a human ability to believe God, faith is Jesus’ ability to believe God working through us.

I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them. John 17:26

Our peace that passes all understanding is that Jesus lives to make our Father known to us so that we may have His very love dwelling within us. There is nothing that we do first in Christ, we are never separated from our Head to initiate anything on our own. We have no part to play that is separate from Jesus. We are told in the Bible that we have to have faith and love, and the Truth is that Jesus is our source for both. It is impossible for a man to have true faith and love on his own. Everything must come directly from our Head first, John 3:27. If we believe that you must do any work on our own, then we are told that we have no part in Christ. 

Compassion Forgiveness, And Grace

I AM speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying; my conscience [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with me. That I have bitter grief and incessant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off and banished from Christ for the sake of my brethren and instead of them, my natural kinsmen and my fellow countrymen. Romans 9:1-3

    

Our Father’s Grace is the power that is working in Paul here. The Israelites were fighting and attacking Paul at every step, Acts 23:21. They followed him to every city that he went to contradict what our Father was having him preach, Acts 13:45. The Jews lied about Paul, they imprisoned him, and they they tried repeatedly to kill him. They were relentless in their pursuit to destroy him, yet Paul longed for all of Israel to have what he had in Christ. That is Grace; Grace is always active and alive. Grace allows us to have compassion in the harshest of situations. It actually flourishes when times are the toughest, Romans 5:20. 

This is why I believe that we should be excited about the end times, because as the world is being destroyed, our Father will be using those of us who are still around to intercede in a power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit that few have ever seen.

That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless]. Ephesians 5:30

And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end. Matthew 24:14

Just look at the power of our Father working here in Paul. It has to be our Father, it is just not in humans to want to be sacrificed for people who want to kill them. 

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength). 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

It's God's Mercy, Not Our Free Will

So then [God's gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God's mercy. [It depends not on one's own willingness nor on his strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God's having mercy on him.] For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for this very purpose of displaying My power in [dealing with] you, so that My name may be proclaimed the whole world over. Romans 9:16-17

Our Father’s gift, salvation, is not based on human will. We can exert no effort to obtain it. Salvation is solely based on our Father’s mercy and our Father has mercy for everyone. 

I was always told that we had to first accept salvation. I was told that we had to first ask for it. I was told that we had to work to keep it. But thank God, He has shown us the Truth that He must first empower us to do all of these things. So we are now truly free at last, free at last! Our Father has used me to proclaim His freedom in Christ and He will never stop. This body of flesh will cease to be, but our Father will still have this spirit telling any and all of our freedom through Christ. I have been kicked out of four churches and He will not let me stop sharing the Truth. I have been damned by elders and He will not let me stop. I have been threatened, people have covered their ears and told me to never talk to them again and our Father will not let me stop. Jesus has freed us and our Father will not let this glorious Truth be silent. 

It is such a lie that we have a free will that is accepting and allowing our Father to work through us. It is such a lie that says that we must first believe for our Father to use us. Just look at what the Holy Spirit shows us here in verse 17.   

Pharaoh didn’t believe and that didn’t stop our Father from using him. Pilate and Herod didn’t believe and that didn’t stop our Father from using them, Acts 4:27-28. The Disciples didn’t believe and that didn’t stop Jesus from using them, John 6:7. The man at the Pool of Bethesda didn’t believe and that didn’t stop Jesus from healing him, John 5:2. Our Father does not react to our promptings, He causes us to do His Will by first prompting us. He is always greater in us and He is always Shepherding us. Our Father is always our Head, our Potter, and our Gardener. He has eliminated all laws and now we serve by the promptings of His Holy Spirit, Romans 7:6. 

I hate the message of free will, I absolutely hate it. I freely admit that I do not fully understand the complete freedom that we have in Christ yet. But I don’t fully understand how my car works either and that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it. There is so much that we still have to learn, but I know this Truth: it is our Father’s Free Will that is working in all of us, not our will. I use to be told that our Father loves us so much that He allows us to do what we want. I love my two kids and I would be arrested for negligence if I just allowed them to do what they wanted. We call that kind of parenting abuse, not love. We come to Jesus as little children, Matthew 18:3. The Kingdom of Heaven is also as little children, Luke 18:16. We don’t come to Him as full grown adults with our doctorate degrees. It is not in a man, even a strong man or a good man, to order his own steps, Jeremiah 10:23.