2008 © #2
All scripture taken from KJV unless otherwise stated
THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WILL OF GOD
If someone were to ask me what are the most important things we need to know about the Christian life, my answer would be to tell them of the great importance of being completely grounded in the written word of God. The Bible calls it being sanctified in the truth, John 17:17.
Every born again Spirit filled Bible believer is told in scripture to check out everything and to live in the light of the written word - 2Tim. 3:16, Matt. 4:4 . These instructions are given to us by a loving Father for our protection, guidance and good.
God is a good God and wonderful heavenly Father, and wants to bless his children just like you and I want to do good and bless our very own children - Matt.7:11.
So the question arises how can we know Gods will for our lives? How are you going to find out what Gods will is? Simple, go to the will of God, the New Testament, there you will find it.
At the reading of a will, someone reads the last will and testament of the deceased person. A testament is a will, and the New Testament is the will of God for us today. It is His plan, His purpose, and it is a testament of all He wants you to have and has provided for you. But it is your job to read that Will and find out what belongs to you.
It is only through a careful study of His word that we discover the treasures within it. A casual once in a while reading of God's word will not reveal these things to you.
All that Christ has accomplished through his sufferings and the cross was done not for himself, but for you and me and he freely gives us all things, Romans 8:32 & Col.2: 10. Many of Gods children are living without the provisions that have been provided for them through Christ simply because of a lack of knowledge of the written word, while others know it is there and yet let their unbelief, doubt, or just plain laziness rob them of the blessings and they never lay hold of it. Contrary to what many believe ,faith is a decision its not a feeling, Heb. 10 :38 &11 : 1–33.
These treasures that Christ has purchased for us do not simply fall upon us like overipe cherries from a tree simply because we are Christians . We as believers must go after them and take them in exactly the same way we took salvation. By faith !
Jesus died upon the cross 2000 years ago for my salvation and yet I was not born into this world automatically having salvation. Even though it had already been provided for me before I was ever even born into this world , I did not possess salvation until I heard the message of the gospel of salvation and then it was me, who made the decision to take hold of it by faith, Eph.2:8 .You see it was my responsibility to receive it.
The entire New Testament is a covenant based on faith. Get out your Strongs Concordance of the Bible and look up the words faith, believe ,believed ,and believing, and read some of the scriptures and you will see what a huge role faith actually plays in the New Testament. Everything without exception that God has provided for his children in the New Testament can only be received by faith, Heb. 11:6 .
Speaking in natural terms,imagine yourself as someone who is living a life just barely making ends meet, not able to pay your bills and even putting food on the table for your family has become a major hurtle . And unbeknown to you, something wonderful has happened, but no one has informed you that someone has died and left their entire estate to you worth millions of dollars. What would happen? You would continue living the same lifestyle of poverty and barely getting by even though in reality you were a millionaire!
You see, until you know what is yours and take hold of it ,it does not do you one bit of good. You will simply remain in the same state as the rest of the unbelieving world.
Let me put it another way. Christ has died [ and rose ] and left you and I his entire estate. The Bible says we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus, Rom. 8:17. And yet a large majority of Christians are living the same defeated life as the unsaved people of the world who do not have the benefits of Christ!
In the New Testament Jesus reveals to us that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one, 1 John 5:19 . In scripture Jesus shows us that it is the devil who is the one that came to steal, kill and destroy and that he [ Jesus ] is the one that had come to bring us life more abundantly, John :10. Never get the two mixed up.
Clearly from this scripture we see it is the devil who is behind all the horrible things we see happening in the world today. The New Testament shows us Jesus conquered the devil for us, Col. 2:15 and gave the believer power and authority over all the power of the devil, Luke 10:19 !!!!
We have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God ,Col. 1:12 – 14. Most of the church does not know the authority they have been given and therefore does not make use of it or exercise that authority and the devil takes full advantage of their ignorance concerning these things, 2Corn. 4:4
Others know of it but permit their unbelief and the devil to rob them of the blessing Christ died to give them, Heb. 4:2 & 6:12 . Remember ,Jesus called Satan a thief and thieves steal, John 10:10 How does he steal from you ? If he can talk you out of something Christ purchased for you and get you to doubting the written word of God then he has successfully robbed you of what rightfully belongs to you !
If the devil is wreaking havoc in our lives it is because we are allowing him to do it, instead of taking hold by faith of all of the provisions and promises God has supplied for us in Christ, Heb.4:2 & 1 Peter 5:8 .
The Bible says “Resist the devil and he will flee from you’’- James 4:7. If you do not obey God's instructions in the written word and resist the devil then he won’t flee from you , its just that simple !
Your inheritance is hidden within the pages of the New Testament Acts 20 :32. And believing it and laying hold of it by faith is what makes it become ours . Our belief or unbelief in God's word does not affect it in the least, but unbelief keeps us from having the benefit of it. We need to search the scriptures and find out what we are heirs to and then begin to learn how to draw on it so it will eventually manifest in our lives.
Begin to read the New Testament with new eyes and an open heart . Read it as though it was a personal letter from God to you because that is exactly what it is .Put your name in there when you read it . From this day forth, make up your mind once and for all that you are going to take the time to study the word of God and never question or doubt what it says. Believe God will do, what he said he would do. Believe God has done ,what He says He has done. Believe you can have, what the Bible says you can have. Believe you are, who the Bible says you are. Believe you can do, all the Bible says you can do . Believe these things and God will bring them to pass in your life. This and this alone is the road to victory in every area of our life !