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Overcoming the Will

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Scripture reading: Luke 22:39-43

Notice the beasts in Ezekiel versus the beasts in Revelation. The beast that was called an OX in Ezekiel 1 was changed to a CALF in Revelation 4. The implication is, instead of a big, old stubborn ox pulling a plow, we have a calf, humble and willing to suck milk. God is saying, the area of YOUR WILL is to become a calf. Jesus Christ told the disciples that all power was given unto Him in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Jesus had that power and He gave that authority. He was in full charge of His will. A short time before, while in the garden of Gethsemane, He said to the Father, “Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” In other words, “Couldn’t we do it another way? Couldn’t we finish the devil right here and now?” Then He said, “Nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”

The only hope for us and our will is that it be subject to the will of the Father.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 80)

Thought for today: Let our prayer be as our Lord’s, “O Father, Not My Will, but Thine Be Done.”

What Is Life? – Part 2

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Scripture reading: John 1:4-5

The devil must be really mad to know that there is such a thing named LIFE! It is written in John 1:4-5, “IN HIM WAS LIFE AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” 

In this passage, the word translated “comprehended” could be better rendered “overcame.” The devil cannot overcome life for the life is the light. We are actually taking in more and more of the light and the life, which is more and more of Christ which is our resurrection. BY OUR DAILY SPIRITUAL GROWTH, WE ARE ACTUALLY TAKING IN CHRIST. WE ARE TAKING IN OUR RESURRECTION. THE MORE YOU OPEN UP TO GOD, THE MORE THE CHRIST COMES IN. CHRIST IS OUR LIFE! (See Colossians 3:4.)

Imagine a picture of the Great Almighty God, Author and Possessor of this great reservoir called LIFE. The name of God’s LIFE is Christ (Messiah). He dipped into His bosom and took out “Messiah,” and let Him loose in the earth. The life came down as an entity in the person of Jesus Christ. God can divide Himself in as many parts as He wants to since He has power over all things and all things are subject to His will.

In Luke 1, the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary with her consent. The conversation that the angel had with her was designed to get her consent. When Mary accepted what the angel said, he departed. He was only the messenger. The Holy Ghost then came and overshadowed her, meaning to say that the Holy Ghost planted the seed of Life in her, and she became pregnant, because that was the will of God. Some ignorant people felt this was a sexual thing. God is the Creator. He created Adam and Eve. He created the first man, and He was in the process of creating the second man. The first man, “Adam,” was a full-grown man; the second man was born in a manger, sired of God, born of a woman. The first man, “Adam,” was a natural man, and the second man, “the Lord from heaven.” (See I Corinthians 15:47).

May God bless our understanding. God put Jesus into Mary and Christ into Jesus. Therefore, when Mary birthed Jesus as a babe, she brought forth Christ in the earth. Since Christ is the Messiah, the second person of the Godhead from before the foundation of the world, then the birth of Jesus Christ was the entrance of God as a member of the human race.

When we receive Christ in us through the action of the Holy Spirit, then we are on par with Jesus when He was born of Mary in Bethlehem of Judea. Jesus, therefore, did not need to be born again, since He was never born of corruptible seed. Because we were born of corruptible seed, we need to be born again.

You were first born in Adam, then you were born in Christ. A charge of LIFE came into the earth in Jesus Christ, and then the charge came into you as an individual. This life is eternal; it cannot die.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, June 1996, pg. 4-5)

Thought for today: Let us grow daily in God in order to take in Christ, to take in our resurrection. The more you open up to God, the more the Christ comes in. Christ is our life!

What Is Life? – Part 1

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Scripture reading: John 11:21-27

We do not fully understand what life is. If you do not understand what life is, then you do not understand what death is, either. LIFE IS GOD. Jesus says in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” This means that life cannot be killed. Resurrection life means that even one who has been blasted into smithereens, so that you could never find any two pieces of his body together, is then seen sitting in this room smiling at you, complete and whole. Death had been conquered; it had no power over him. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life.”

Do we understand how powerful life is? We know the awesome power of destruction. We have seen things like the atom bomb blast in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which brings terror to the human mind, but the power of life is greater because it reverses the power of death and destruction. The Bible says in Revelation 20:13 that the elements will give up the dead, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” 

We are comprised of so much air, so many gasses, so much water, minerals and all the different substances, but we also have LIFE in us, and the life determines that we must remain an entity for eternity. In the interim between our physical life and eternity, old time gets a hold of us and we die, and our body goes to the earth. We see the gasses and the entire physical body yield to the earth and join this great reservoir of elements in the earth and sea.

The Word says the sea gave up her dead, and the earth gave up its dead, the air and the ashes gave up their dead. The soul (which is the real man) slips back into its body like a man putting on his clothes. He is raised up—not another man, not another flesh—but the same man is raised up, and he looks at the devil and all the forces of destruction and death and says, “Aha!” The devil and all his forces are beaten; all that he has done to humanity over the ages has been in vain. “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (I Corinthians 15:54b-55).

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, June 1996, pg. 2-3)

Thought for today: Ask God to give you a personal revelation of what it means when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” Then, hold on to this eternal life and never let go.

The Power of Life

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Scripture reading: Hebrews 2:11-18

God’s loving kindness reaches out to us even in our lowest estate. It says in Hebrews 2:14-15, Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 AND DELIVER THEM WHO THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH WERE ALL THEIR LIFETIME SUBJECT TO BONDAGE.

Jesus Christ is in the process of conquering death in us and through us, His body. If a man walks into the room and puts a gun to your head demanding that you open the safe or he will blow out your brains, because of fear you would do what he says with the hope that you would preserve your life. It was the fear of death that caused you to obey his command. If you did not fear death, he would have no power over you. His power lies in your being afraid. If, on the other hand, when he says, “Give me your money or I will kill you,” you answer, “I am not afraid of you killing me,” then when he kills you, he still does not get your money. He would soon learn that he is not going to get anything from people who are not afraid to die. The thing that appeases him and makes the spirit strong in him is when you get up, get the money and give it to him. He goes to the next house and expects the same human behavior. He will never stop doing this. If, however, he knew that none of these people were going to give him what he demands, because they are not afraid of him or of death, then the power would be taken out of his hands.

The power of death lies in fear. If we are not afraid of death, then we are not afraid of anything. The power of fear is the power of the devil and that is what makes him function. Christ abolished death, yet death is a great big thing for us. We are afraid of death. WHAT GOD IS DOING FOR US NOW IN CHRIST JESUS, IS GETTING US INTO A PLACE WHERE WE WILL LOSE THE FEAR OF DEATH, AND INSTEAD WELCOME IT, AND DESTROY IT THROUGH THE POWER OF LIFE. When Jesus Christ was on earth, He had life and immortality dwelling in Him as a human being.

II Timothy 1:9-10, “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began; 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, WHO HATH ABOLISHED DEATH, AND HATH BROUGHT LIFE AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT THROUGH THE GOSPEL.”

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, June 1996, pg. 1-2)

Thought for today: There is a place in God where we can be free from the fear of death. Ask God to bring you to that place and He will.

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Scripture reading: Revelation 4

Here we are in Revelation 4 with the four beasts and WE ARE BEING CHANGED. We are being metamorphosed. A gradual change is taking place in us. God wants us to give way to this change – GIVE WAY. The caterpillar craves food and it eats green leaves and everything. It eats and eats and eats until it goes into a chrysalis or a long sleep, then awakes as a beautiful butterfly. We must feed upon the Word of God until the time of final change comes. The change begins right now, gradually. Sometimes you cannot even see it. You look like an old caterpillar outside, but a beautiful butterfly is being formed within the soul, THE THRONE OF GOD.

The twenty-four elders sitting around the throne represent the priesthood. We are becoming priests IN OUR SOULS. The four beasts, the four natures of the soul, are being changed. Hallelujah! The PERFECTED IMAGE is shown in the white robes and the crowns worn show kingship. For God has promised us kingship. The lightnings and thunderings that proceed “out of the throne” room are the massive power of God’s energy and life which will come forth to change the world in which we live, bringing us into total union and oneness with God.

“The seven lamps” that burn are “the seven Spirits of God.” The Spirit of the churches will be in us and it will be all perfected in us. One church will NOT be in charity and another one in evangelism and another one in praise. We will ALL be in charity, in evangelism, in praise, and in love, and ALL THE ATTRIBUTES of God will come forth in the soul nature of man.

The “sea of glass” means there will be a clearness, a purity that you can see right through. There will be nothing to hide. No one will have secrets. It will be just one pure nation of people, one holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. There will be clarity. This heaven is the heaven WITHIN US, the place from which Christ is going to reign and rule in the earth.

In Revelation, “the four beasts” are “full of eyes.” When you look in Ezekiel 1, there are wheels outside. The wheels represent the Holy Ghost. In Revelation 4, instead of wheels, gyrating wheels moving with the spirit, the eyes came into the beasts themselves. The wheels had incorporated themselves into the beasts. The Holy Ghost had now incorporated the soul of man. Remember, the Holy Ghost is in the man’s spirit at this present time. HE IS WORKING IN THE SOUL. He is preparing a place in the soul FOR THE CHRIST. When the fullness of Christ comes, then we will have Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

When the beasts give glory to God, the elders fall on their faces. At this point man does not want any more glory. HE GIVES IT ALL TO GOD. “THOU art worthy…for THOU…hast redeemed us.” GLORY TO GOD!

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 84-85)

Thought for today:  Give way to God changing you. Let His metamorphose begin in you today.