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Posts Tagged ‘Blood of Jesus’

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Scripture reading: John 1:1-14

The first phrase of John 1:1 tells us that God was before the beginning, since at the beginning “He was.” He Who has no beginning must have been before the beginning. This phrase, “In the beginning,” must mean, “in the beginning of our world and our realm,” since that which has a beginning must also have an end.

The Word of God transcends time and space and distance. We who walk by the Word need to constantly remind ourselves that we are dealing with a God who is outside of time and space and that His Word is timeless and unrestricted.

The Gospel of John tells us in the very first chapter that “The Word” was God and that it was the same God who manifested Himself in flesh as the baby of Bethlehem, whom we know as Jesus Christ, our Lord. He was the LOGOS. This same Christ, or Yeshua, was the living, walking, talking Word of God. This means that God, the Almighty Father, had visited us in a flesh and blood form, lived and dwelled among us, and through His Blood we, too, will be made to become the Word of God as the apostle Paul said, Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men (II Corinthians 3:2). Thus Christ Jesus, the Living Word, is bringing many sons to glory (Romans 8:29-30) and this must take place in our time.

The Greek word used in John 1 is logos, which literally means something said. Something said by God became a person. In Genesis we understand that God breathed upon a lump of clay, issued forth a part of Himself, and the clay became that which He had purposed – man, the First Adam.

Again, He issued forth His life into Mary and she brought forth a son – Jesus Christ, our Lord. Thus, we had a flesh and blood man who is God also – The Living Word. God’s word cannot die and although Jesus, the son of Mary, died, the Christ raised Him up from among the dead and we have proof that He is alive. Let me say directly and categorically that the living, walking, talking Jesus Christ is in our midst and He is working with us until we have the final victory over the human part of us, until we are changed into that which is Divine. The apostle Peter describes it in II Peter 1:4 thus, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We, therefore, see that the same Christ which was in Jesus is coming in us in order to make us like Him so that where He was we will be until we come to where He now is. If this is confusing to you, then I hope an explanation will not be more confusing.

In John 14:2-3 Jesus speaks of mansions and then He says a peculiar thing, “where I am, there ye may be also.” Many interpret this to mean that where He is now at the right hand of the Father, we will be. But this was not what He said or meant. He said that where He was at that moment, being the light of the world and the hope of mankind, that He was about to vacate that position and that we would be in that position. Truly, in the future we will reign and rule with Him, which is described as the right hand of the Father, but for now, we should be content to be in His place in the Earth. He was the light of the world; we are now the light of the world and that city set on a hill that cannot be hid.

Please do not be confused by the word mansions used by our Lord in John 14. He speaks of dwelling places in God, us abiding eternally in Christ, and Christ in God.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 5-7)

Thought for today: It is God’s plan to make us like Jesus so that we would fill the place He vacated in this Earth – to be the light of the world. Then one day, we will rule and reign with Him.

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Scripture reading: Revelation 2:1-7

We have totally lost sight of Jesus Christ and what He stands for, where He has put us from the very beginning, from the foundation of the world, and the gospel. We need to get back to our first love. Our first love might not necessarily be anything pertaining to the church. When we accepted Jesus as our Saviour, there was a freshness in our first love. If you never had this experience, if never a change came over you, if never the sky looked bluer, if never the earth looked more glorious, if never the peace of God came over you, if never the glory of God came over you – YOU HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED THAT WHICH JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR. Jesus died in order that we might be SAVED. The word saved means reconditioned, reborn, delivered from the thing we were when we were first born of our mothers. We must have a renewing of the mind, a renewing of the spirit, a deliverance from what we were before.

This salvation needs to grow. Many have said that they have received Jesus as their Saviour, are all right, are going to heaven, and can freely do anything they please. This is not salvation. Salvation is a continuous experience, having a beginning and an end. If you turn to Ephesians 1:11-14, you will see that the Word speaks about the end of your salvation. Notice the progression:

11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, AFTER that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Many people do not believe in this progression in God. God is a God of progress and growth. If you are born again, you must grow. You MUST begin to move from that born again position into things higher and into things deeper. Nobody has to preach to you and say that you must do this, and you must talk in tongues, and you must prophesy. Those things do not have to be preached to the true child of God who is following Jesus Christ. The Scripture tells you certain things happen to you as you grow in Christ, but if you do not grow, then you will not have the signs of growth. Some people say that when you receive Jesus as your Saviour, you receive everything. Without going into too much detail, I will say that when you receive Jesus, you receive HIS LIFE to counteract the death that was in you.

God could not do business with a dead man. Therefore, He had to save you, resurrect you, and bring you to the same place where He made Adam. Adam was made a living soul, and you were a dead soul. Dead means you could not respond to God. You could slap or pinch a dead man, you could shout in his ear, but he is dead. That is how God felt towards you for God shouted at you many times. God would touch your body, shake you, wake you up many times but you could not respond to God because you were dead. Now God took some of His life and put it into you through the Blood of Jesus Christ and you became a LIVING SOUL. The Blood of Jesus hovers over the whole world. You can call upon His name and receive His Blood and the Blood quickens you. That is how you know you are saved. No one needs to tell you to say a few words and if you say them right you are saved. This is not a password business that if you say the right password, then you get saved. Nothing of the kind! Sometimes you can get saved by not speaking a word, but just submitting your soul before God and the Spirit of God will come and give you what you ask for. Salvation, therefore, is a quickening of the spirit and a bringing to life of the individual.

When that individual comes alive, he wants living food. Adam was alive but he died because he did not have the Christ. He had neither the Holy Ghost nor the Blood. The Blood first, then the Holy Ghost and then the Christ. This is the right order. After you have been saved, you get the Blood in your soul. When you receive the Holy Ghost, you do not receive the Holy Ghost in your soul. You receive the Holy Ghost in your spirit. The scripture says in Romans 8:16, The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

Those people who have the Spirit of God have within themselves a witness of God that they are the sons of God – little sons of God. Not little gods, but sons of God. Praise be to God.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 29-31)

Thought for today: Are you growing higher and deeper in God? Remember, God is a God of progress and growth and those that are His must grow in Him.

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Scripture reading: Revelation 2:8-11

We find the church being split in two. Part of them will overcome and the other part will not overcome. There are overcomers and there are losers. Sometimes words do not convey the strength of meaning to us when we hear them. For instance, you hear the word overcomers and you wonder to yourself what is to be overcome. Overcomers first of all overcome their own natures. They overcome the mind of the world, the mind of the flesh, the mind they inherited from their families, and they overcome strong emotions. If you do not overcome your emotions and have them under control, then they will overcome you and destroy you. Overcomers overcome their own will and their own desires.

This is a battle royal when a person overcomes himself through the Blood of Jesus Christ and the power which God has given. For indeed, the Spirit of God has given us power to overcome familiar spirits, old family ties, things that pull us down and make us losers. We are not to go out and overcome other people. We need to overcome the flesh, the devil, and the world. This is what we mean by “he that overcometh.

I John 2:15-17, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

What is the love of the world? One day I went to the supermarket and observed the people. They all looked alike. I knew somehow that some Christians had come in, but there was no difference between the way the Christians looked and the way the sinners looked. They all seemed to be part of the sexual revolution. They were showing as much of their bodies as they could, both men and women, young and old. The mind of the flesh had been ministered from Hollywood, Paris, London, and from other fashion places to the minds of these people. The people have become one with this mind of demonic spirits that control the world.

We must realize that the ways of the world, the thoughts of the world, the emotions of the world, and the desires of the world ARE NOT OF GOD. The people of God ARE EXPECTED to resist these things and to be different. It is difficult, but the Holy Spirit in us will help us to be different. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

We have many songs that say, “I love you, Lord Jesus” and the songs are so beautiful. When you hear the people of God singing, you hope and wish their love was true but there is very little truth in it, because those who love the world do not love God. The quicker we realize we do not love God, the quicker we will come to repentance and say, “Oh God, I have discovered that I love the world and I do not love you. Give me Your love.” God will pour out His Spirit upon you. “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” This is the promise to the overcomer.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 36-37)

Thought for today: Remember it is your own nature that you must overcome in order to be the overcomer.

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Scripture reading: Isaiah 7:15 & 22

The world has almost completely reversed the human concept of right and wrong. The only true basis of what is right and what is wrong is the accepting of God as the paragon and Jesus Christ as the “Plumbline”.

Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Darkness is covering the land and gross darkness is taking hold upon the people.

The meaning of the word “contemned” is to disdain or to be contemptible. The Word of God is saying here that we should not esteem those who are evil. The Christian conscience that has been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ abhors evil and does not allow us any kind of pleasure in those who are evil both by their actions and by their life style. On the other hand we find an increasing number of those who profess to be “born again”, freely fraternize with those who are living and fostering an evil and ungodly way of life.

If I should ask my readers, “What is the greatest evil of today that is called good?” I am sure I would receive a multitude of good answers, but most of us would either be afraid to even think of the truth, or if we do, we would shy from the expression of it. The greatest force for good in the world is the CHURCH. There is no doubt about it that God called out a people in Jesus Christ to come out of the world and the things of the world and to be part of His kingdom on the earth. This people are to eventually deliver the earth from all its evil and in the end the “earth will be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea….” BUT if this people, who are the called out of God, who accept the name and the right to be called CHURCH, but refuse to come out of the ways, deeds and thinking of the world, thus looking like the kingdom of God on the outward, but speaking like the world from the inward, then this people would be evil parading as good, darkness parading as light, and bitter showing itself as sweet. There is such a mixture in our present day church system that unless one sees from the eyes of God, it would be almost impossible to discern good from evil.

Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind THAT ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

In conclusion let me quote from Isaiah 7:15 & 22:

7:15, “And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land.”

7:22, “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the EVIL, and choose the GOOD.”

Butter and honey represent the pure unadulterated WORD of GOD. The people’s taste is being confused between bitter and sweet, but God has promised that those who desire to know the truth will know it by divine intervention.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, October 1983)

Thought for today: Let us eat butter and honey, the unadulterated Word of God, so that we may be able to refuse the evil and choose the good.

 

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Scripture reading: I Peter 4:17

The children of God who believe in justice and mercy, must agree that a loving God who is abundant in mercy must judge the children of His household before He judges the world.

I Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

God’s judgments take many different forms, some of which include the allowing of His enemies to come against His people to punish them. One of the staunchest laws of God is the law of Sowing and Reaping.

Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Only the Blood of Jesus Christ remits sin, otherwise all sin must be punished. Sometimes we only see the effects on the outward man, and we tend to wonder why would God allow this? But we should never forget that God is righteous and whatsoever is done of God is righteousness.

As an accountant it is very easy for me to understand that there must be a time of reckoning when all the accounts must be balanced. At the end of the business year there is a time of reckoning, but if the business is being liquidated, then all the accounts must be closed at the same time. This concept is the one which the Scripture speaks of in I Peter 4:17.  – The time is come – for what? – for the judgment of the Church.

It is not enough to accept Jesus as Saviour, we should know him as Lord and follow Him. The majority of Christians dwell in the realm of accepting Jesus as Saviour, but following foolish shepherds who are not following the Lord or who follow Him afar off. The present darkness into which the world is entering demands that we follow Jesus the whole way in order to overcome.

Midnight, as mentioned in Matthew 25, is going to separate those who had the work of God done in their souls from those who frustrated the Holy Spirit, not allowing him to do the transformation within the area of the soul. Jesus Christ redeemed our souls by His death, and he came to save our souls. If in the final analysis, we reject the completion of this work in the soul, then the mind and the emotions will remain unregenerated and we will fail to overcome Satan in the power of his strength.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, June 1982)

Thought for today: It is not enough to accept Jesus as Saviour, we must know Him as Lord and follow Him.

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