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Posts Tagged ‘Blood of Jesus’

Christ in the Soul

Posted in Growing in God, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: John 12:20-26

When we accepted Jesus Christ, we received life. The Blood of Jesus Christ is the life of God. This is what we received in our souls which were dead in trespasses and sins. This life had to help us die to the alien life of sin which had occupied the soul. Then, we had the self-life, which also had to die. So we see that when we accepted Christ as our Savior, it was a matter of submitting to death in order to receive life. When that process is completed, then we begin to enter into Christ. Paul, speaking to the Corinthian Christians in I Corinthians 12:13, declares, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.”

We are not baptized into the body of Christ until the body of sin and self is given a death-blow. If sin is still reigning in our members, then it was not fully dealt with. The grain of corn cannot bring forth a new life until it has given up its own life. We must die to live and that life does not begin until the death is complete. This is all done by faith.

The divine order of the entering into Christ is shown in the tabernacle of Moses by the three veils. The first veil is called the Gate, the second is called the Door, and the third is called the Veil. The door is Christ, and the entering in is preceded by the washing at the Laver, which is death to self and a complete surrender to Christ. Self cannot be on the throne and, at the same time, Christ be crowned as King. One King must depose the other. Even more than being deposed, ONE KING MUST SLAY THE OTHER so that there is no further possibility of a coup to regain the throne.

THE ENTERING IN OF CHRIST INTO THE SOUL of man is a conscious act of man’s will, which is preceded by the three BAPTISMS of death.

There must be a death before there can be a resurrection. The three baptisms are:

(1)        Baptism in water, the baptizer being human
(2)        Baptism in the Holy Ghost, the baptizer being Jesus Christ
(3)        Baptism into Christ, the baptizer being the Holy Ghost

Christ enters into us, then we begin to enter into Christ. Just as the Holy Ghost enters into us, then we begin to live in the Spirit.

When Christ enters the soul as King, He begins His rule on earth within the individual. HE MUST REIGN TILL ALL ENEMIES ARE PUT UNDER HIS FEET, even death. We see, therefore, that He brings life and immortality to light by the gospel (II Timothy 1:10). The beast nature of man is being changed to the nature of the Christ.

We can see then that we can have Holy Spirit occupying our spirits, but not our souls as the five foolish virgins had in Matthew 25. This stands to reason why, although we receive the Holy Spirit, we still have the power to reject His counsel and have our own way. It also is the reason why we still fall into sin though having the Holy Spirit of God within us. The process of the Kingdom of God gently seeps into every area of our lives with our own free will consent, just as the leaven that leavens the whole three lumps of the woman’s meal in Matthew 13:33.

(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 148-149)

Thought for today: Let us give way in our souls to the Holy Spirit so that He may fill our vessel and conquer every sin in our lives.

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The Manifestation of the Living Word

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: John 15:1-11

“…and the Word was God.” The Word is still God. He is still walking among us and living with us; and every utterance of God is God whether spoken through the Christ within or the Christ without; it will create or destroy as God Himself.

The person of Jesus Christ is alive and living with us in our daily operations. He says in Matthew 28:20, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” 

In our salvation experience, it is not just the will of God to give us the Blood of Jesus and the attributes of Jesus Christ, but He is creating in us the person of Christ Himself. Even as Mary became pregnant with the Christ child, so it is that God is impregnating our womb (soul) with Christ Himself in order to take us out of the human and incorporate us into the divine. Some of my readers might have some difficulty with this, but I am not speaking to you of some grandiose theory, but lessons which have been taught me by the Lord and which I have experienced. There is a Living Word, “Christ,” which the believer is destined to receive within his soul before he can enter into Christ. The Holy Ghost does this work. Even as He planted the seed of Christ in Mary, so the process is being repeated in the church. The apostle Paul confirms this in one of his letters to the Galatian church. Had they not been in a spiritual position to understand this, he would not write it to them:

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19).

This speaks of the forming of Christ in the believer as a fetus is formed in the womb; as Jesus was formed in Mary. It would be safe to say that the church is pregnant at this moment. Revelation 12 speaks of the woman being pregnant and in travail to bring forth the man child. This man child is none other than the fullness of Christ as the head and the Church as His Body, which is destined to rule (shepherd) the earth with a shepherd’s staff of iron:

“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule (shepherd) all nations with a rod of iron…” (Revelation 12:5).

This door is already open to us, but even as the tree of life was awesome to Adam, so that he did not eat of it when he could have done so, even so it is for us. The tree of life, which is Christ, is wide open to us at this time, but it is a dreadful and awesome place for us to enter. The Word in Genesis 3:24 says that an angel with a flaming sword was placed in the Garden to prevent man from returning into Eden:

“So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

The flaming sword that bars the four entrances of the soul will destroy anything human and carnal which tries to enter. The burning at the altar of incense must be complete before we can enter through the veil. Note that the veil has cherubim all over it. This is a symbol of the cherubim in the Garden of Eden. Anyone who dares to enter in will lose his life. If you think I mean he will just die, you are sadly mistaken. I mean he will lose himself totally and immediately would be persecuted by his own. He would be dubbed as absolutely crazy and his goods and estate would be taken and shared up among his family and friends as if he were dead. We had a friend who was so touched of the Lord that he began to give away large sums of his vast riches to the church. A restraining order was brought against him by his son and he nearly got himself thrown into the asylum as being demented.

You may call it the travail of the church, the burning at the altar of incense, or the great tribulation. All of these names would suffice, but our souls must be stripped of the body of this death (human thinking, feeling, hoping, and desiring) before we can receive the full power of the life of the Divine God in the soul. At present this power is in our spirits and by various means He is bombarding us to make the life (or, the Christ) come forth in the soul. The Word says that tribulation worketh patience, but I know now that it is not just patience that it works, but every grace given us of the Spirit. It is the fire that is promised by the Holy Ghost as a baptism of fire, which burns the dross out of the silver and the gold. Upon feeling the slightest sickness or pain, we run to the doctor, and our terror is complete as we hang upon the word of the doctor for his diagnosis. We are afraid of fire; we are afraid that God might burn us to cinders. In our trust and confidence in God, let us trust Him to burn the dross out of us so that when the prince of this world comes, he will find nothing in us.

At this time, just before the end of time, the Lord has begun to bombard all the souls of His people at once. This is called the great tribulation, or the travail of the Church. This bombardment has been continuing for a number of years now and it is getting worse every year. Finally, even as the plagues of Egypt got worse and worse until the culmination of the death angel being loosed at midnight, so shall it be for the world and the Church. The Church is being given the power to overcome just as Israel was in Egypt. In Egypt, they overcame the death angel with obedience to the Word and the blood. At this midnight hour, we will be overcoming with the power of the Word and the Blood:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).

In concluding this part of the word, let me say that the Living Word, Jesus Christ, is in our midst, among us and within us; and when He speaks, it is the obedience to Him that brings the results. In the first miracle of Jesus after His baptism, Mary told the servants at the feast that whatsoever He tells them to do, they should do it. Jesus told them to fill the water pots with water. They did. Then He told them to take the water to the master of the feast as wine. The moment the word went forth from Jesus Christ and the men obeyed, the water became wine:

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

Here is the formula for spiritual authority: 

1.  Abide, abide, abide in Jesus Christ.
2. Let the Word abide in you.

The Word in you as a living person and you in Christ as a living organism – when these come together in divine unison, then every agent of God and nature must obey, for it is the Word of God.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 7-9)

Thought for today: The Living Word, Jesus Christ, is in our midst, among us and within us; and when He speaks, it is the obedience to Him that brings the results.

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The Living Word

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , , , , , on November 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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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The Spirit Indeed Is Willing – Part 2

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , , , , , on November 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Zachariah 4:6

Taking a look at the Old Testament, there appears much evidence of the weakness of the flesh, like…

DAVID – chosen of God, courageous, a champion, a good soldier, but was led by passion to violate the law; (to) yield to gross sin. When the Spirit of the Lord anointed him, he did mightily; outside of that, he was an ordinary man subject to the weaknesses of the flesh.

MOSES – leader and law-giver of Israel; was as God to the people; spoke with God’s personality; moved mightily under the anointing, but manifested as an ordinary man when provoked.

SAMSON – Showed such supernatural power and might, yet there was the expression of the carnal appetites; weak in resisting temptations.

The plotting, planning, cunning, scheming JACOB (could have been a familiar spirit; mother deceived Isaac, Laban her brother deceived Jacob) had a bout with the angel all night, but thank God he had the tenacity to hang on for the blessing or measure of deliverance which he received towards morning. The Jacob nature must be dealt with by the Spirit before any possession of the Land. No one is going to conquer those giants in the land, but the one who owns the land. The Land is OURSELVES. Each individual is well acquainted with the giants that rise up in his or her own soul to challenge the Spirit. Some have been there so long, that they appear to be part of the person. The individual may even be afraid to lose that spirit which might well be a controlling spirit. Anything that cannot be identified with the gift of the Holy Spirit and righteousness (Christ’s nature) is of the carnal, evil spirit, and must be driven out of the land.

There are so many examples in the Old Testament proving the weakness of man, that it is virtually impossible to deny the fact that “in man dwells no good thing.” Without the Spirit there is bound to be failure.

Take Peter as an example. In the New Testament, Peter had been with Jesus for three and a half years, and seen and shared in all that Jesus manifested; yet, in his humanness, he denied Him before the people, and returned to fishing after Jesus left. No wonder Jesus said to him, “Peter, lovest thou me?” – asking the same question three times and receiving the same answer from Peter, even with a little disgust at the last. Then Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” At one time, Jesus told Peter, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee.”

Peter, as well as all of us, have to be fortified by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, or there is no overcoming of the flesh (the world, the flesh, and the devil). Peter’s impulsiveness and all other weaknesses of the flesh, as well as all of us, have to come under the effectual working of the Spirit if we are to be transformed to HIS IMAGE.

It is not because these characters mentioned in the Bible were bad or evil that they fell short of the expressed image of God, but because in the Old Testament, (or in other words under the old covenant), the Spirit of God was not yet come to indwell the believer (John 7:39), and in (the) three and a half years that Jesus was on the earth with His disciples, the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Therefore, Peter was without strength. Jesus said, “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” When the Spirit fell at Pentecost, Peter rose up in the midst and proclaimed the wonders of salvation.

The willingness to the Spirit anointing was not enough for the Old Testament believers. Some did mightily in spite of their limitations, yet they were judged.

God expects greater overcoming from those to whom He has given not an overshadowing of the Spirit only, but an indwelling portion to all who will receive.

To this FORTY-SECOND GENERATION, therefore, He says, “Thou art inexcusable, O man,” (Romans 2:1), in that God has, through Jesus, laid the way wide open to redeem man from the bondage of corruption (bondage of human nature), and raised us through the Spirit to overcome the weaknesses of the flesh.

“…Not by might, nor by power (in the natural), but by my SPIRIT, saith the Lord of hosts,” Zechariah 4:6.

There is no sin or weakness that the blood of Jesus, the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit cannot overcome.

Walking in the Spirit destroys or retards the weaknesses of the flesh, (and) builds spiritual character, thus the true nature of Christ is formed in the believer.

The Holy Ghost is given and is always willing and ready to purge the dross, that the gold (which is the nature of God) may come forth; that the world may see Christ Jesus living in His temple. As the temple of God, we should allow the Spirit to deal with the weaknesses of the flesh, so that the Divine Nature might destroy the evil nature, and take full control of the man for Christ’s sake. Amen.

(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, 1997, pages 71-74)

Thought for today: There is no sin or weakness that the blood of Jesus, the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit cannot overcome.

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In All Thy Ways Acknowledge Him – Part 2

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , , , on November 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Proverbs 3:6

God has assigned us to a partnership with Him through the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. By the Spirit and the Word, He makes each part of the Contract clear; His part, as also our part. When Paul sought the Lord regarding his thorn in the flesh, God’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient.” Paul had this responsibility by the grace of our Lord and Saviour, through the effectual working of the Spirit in him, to have the victory over that thorn. He must have really fought a good fight, as he said, seeing it was not the thorn in the flesh that ended his physical life, but some of the rulers of this world.

“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed,” Psalm 2:2. History repeats itself.

Our only hope and protection is hiding in the Rock, and dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High. It demands a daily commitment to His PERFECT WILL for each individual. What man of war goes into battle on his own dictates? He would be a fool, and would die like Abner. Man in himself is no match for the enemy, for it is a battle against a very high intelligence: against principalities and powers, not flesh and blood. See Ephesians 6:12.

Therefore it takes “…being endued with power from on high,” baptized in the Spirit of God, and complete obedience to the CAPTAIN AND SOLE COMMANDER, who is our Lord Jesus Christ (CAPTAIN OF THE HOST) and Lord of All. He sees and knows each battle from beginning to end. Yes, the infinite God knows each person’s battle from beginning to end; that is why we must trust Him – He is our VICTORY. We must acknowledge God in all our ways. In nothing can we be our own MAN or WOMAN, and do our own thing whenever we feel like it. Our behavior, our speech, our attitudes can arrest the flow of God’s blessings, and cause us to forfeit our heritage in Christ.

Oh, how many times we are caught in being careless or impatient, acting out of the will of God, and are caught in the snare. The price is pain, regret, remorse. “Oh, what needless pains we bear, all because WE DO NOT CARRY EVERYTHING TO GOD IN PRAYER.” “Wait upon the Lord – wait, I say, upon the Lord.” Good things come to those who wait.

For instance: it might be good and proper for one to buy a house, car, horse, property or anything, even choosing a partner in marriage or business, etc., but God wants us to realize that there is a special one of any or all of these; that God with His love and foreknowledge would choose for you – the special individual that we are to Him. Our knowledge is limited, therefore, we must always bear in mind that our CAPTAIN who is ALL WISE, ALL KNOWING, is the perfect consultant whose ears are always open; His doors never close; He just sits waiting, looking and listening for His children to ask so “it can be given.” Of course, we should not ask:

  1. To heap upon our lusts
  2. Amiss
  3. Wavering.

Times without number, Jesus testifies of His union with the Father, showing how absolutely necessary it is for total submission to the Father’s will. John 8:14-18 gives the working arrangement with Jesus and the Father. Athough the Father has given to the Son ALL POWER for deliverance and judgment, yet He did nothing but the Father’s will. In healing and miracles, etc. “My Father… and I work;” in judgment, “I judge no man… yet my judgment is true.”

Seeing that Jesus, the Son of God, found it necessary to acknowledge the Father in all things, thus fulfilling His perfect will for Him, how about us? All power is given unto us through Jesus; as He was, so are we to be in all obedience and humility, that we might also find our place in His purpose for His creation.

In order to walk safely and securely, (to) be blessed in Him and be a blessing, there is the need to be found in Him; not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of the Father. This righteousness will desire, seek after, long for and be satisfied with nothing but the Father’s perfect will.

Each new day brings its new demands of new experiences in our Christian walk. Our Heavenly Father has given the Holy Spirit with the necessary tools to fight our battles, but although He knows the order of the battle completely, He cannot breach our free will. He tells us in His Word to trust Him each day that He might be in control through the Spirit. “IN ALL THY WAYS (and through all thy day) ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS,” Proverbs 3:6. The power and glory of heaven is made available to us through Jesus Christ, but if the whole world of wealth is made available to one man, woman or child, and he or she does not choose to effect that claim, it becomes useless to such a one.

We are encouraged to appreciate and appropriate that which was lost in the first Adam, but restored in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, to bring us into eternal victory. God uses every method to awaken us to the consciousness of who we are, where we are and what we ought to be. He allows us to go ahead and do things we desire so badly – which are not His perfect will – knowing that the circumstances will teach us the bitter lessons of what it means to move out of the will of God. Happy are we if we learn the lessons through one or two experiences. It is very sad when our own attitudes rob us of being able to glean from our experiences the lessons God intends that we embrace, seeing that the sole purpose and intention of His dealing with us is to bring us into union and communion with Him, that we might walk as wise men.

(Excerpt from Nuggets for the Needy, 1997, pages 45-47)

Thought for today: Yes, the infinite God knows each person’s battle from beginning to end; that is why we must trust Him – He is our VICTORY.

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