Faith to receive.

Grace and peace to you from our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Understanding the superabounding Grace of the Lord and the faith in Jesus Christ are of paramount importance in receiving the abundant supply God has provided us.

God’s providence

Paul writes in his letter to Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verse 3,

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

He reveals the truth that we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

This blessing is a package. The foremost blessing of all is the promise of the eternal life for all who believe in Jesus Christ. It includes all that is needed for our present life also. It’s a package. God has given it all. He doesn’t give anything in installment. When he gives, he gives fully. He doesn’t withhold any blessing partially. He gives it fully. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17. His gifts are perfect and complete, not incomplete. We have our time to receive one after the other, but He gave everything at the cross, around 2000 years ago. It’s finished. It’s done on the cross. God’s act of giving is done, completed. All we need to do is to receive everything in faith. The providence is now available in full measure.

Our God is a provider. Our Jehovah Jireh. He has provided on cross, everything that is needed for us.

In the heavenly realms

Let us understand that all these blessings are in the heavenly realms (domain, kingdom, arena, sphere etc, however ‘realm’ is more appropriate for this context.).

It is a common understanding that there are two realms in theological considerations.

Physical realm and spiritual or heavenly realm.

The physical realm is the one we see and perceive with our five senses.

Spiritual realm is the one that we neither see nor perceive.

We often think that what we see and perceive, that is, the physical realm, is real.

But the word of God says the otherwise.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

This verse clearly speaks about the two realms we are contemplating on. This also reveals that what is seen (physical realm) is temporary and what is unseen (spiritual realm) is eternal.

Now let us renew our mind in this aspect. Spiritual realm is eternal and physical realm is temporary. Spiritual realm is real. Physical realm is seemingly real but is temporary.

Let us see its application in a born again Christian.

The new creation

Word of God says, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5: 17). It doesn’t stop there. It says that the old has gone and the new has come. This verse is speaking about the brand new spirit the person receives when he accepts Christ. The person is renewed in spirit. The spirit that indwells the man is brand new after he accepts Jesus as his savior. The old has gone. The new has come. 

“But brother, yet, the man can’t see deliverance in the body…? the man is still the same in his character,..? the man still has the same disease he was suffering with..? the man is still in his sinful habits..?” 

Yes the newness is in the spirit and not in the body yet. Now understand this spiritual and physical realm. Spirit in the spiritual realm, body in the physical realm. We can’t ignore either of these in our understanding. To see the deliverance in the body, the newness in the spirit has to manifest in the body. This needs renewal of one’s mind (“….but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. – Romans 12:2) and thereby increase in faith, so this manifestation can happen.

Providence and its manifestation

Father has blessed us in the heavenly realms spiritually. He always knows the best to be given us. It is we who often misunderstand the ways of our Father.

Now from human perspective, we of course are in need of physical blessings and our Father is all the more aware of our needs. (..Father knows what you need before you ask him.- Matthew 6:8).

God has provided everything we need, of course to live a godly life or life as expected by God.

(His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.- 2 Peter 1:3)

The point here is, God has already provided all that we ever need for this life.

"But, brother, why I'm still not rich, why I still only have a two wheeler,.? Why I'm still bedridden,.?why I'm not healed..?

Why my relationship broke..? Why there is no peace in my personal life..? Why I'm still in bondage..? "

The answer to all these questions is simple though.

The blessings are in the spiritual realm and needs to be manifested in the physical realm for you to physically feel it.

All the blessings God has granted for whoever believes in Jesus Christ, the offspring of Abraham, as He promised, will come to pass only when faith in Jesus Christ is exercised. God's this act of providence is His Grace. Our act of faith in Jesus Christ is the key to access this providence which in turn brings it to the physical realm.

"through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:2

Let me paraphrases this, "We have gained access into this grace BY FAITH..."

Faith is the channel that brings the manifestation of things in the spiritual realm.

Let us see this prayer by Paul,

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts THROUGH FAITH..."

We have power in Christ as He dwells in us THROUGH FAITH. Faith is the key for unleashing the resurrection power of God.

Connect the dots

Now let us try to connect the dots,

Jesus died on cross in our place and granted us freedom to live a life of glory.

No matter who we are and how we've lived our life, God has granted this salvation to every one of us who believes in Jesus Christ. Jesus finished everything on the cross. All we need to do is just believe in the finished work of cross.

He provided us everything that we need for this life.

This providence is in the spiritual realm and this needs to be manifested in the physical realm.

This manifestation needs Faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ our lord on calvary's cross.

Now this faith comes through the word of God. Seeing Jesus in the scriptures increases our faith.

Faith helps us in receiving the abundant supply God has in store for us.

Let this truth set us free.

May you increase in Faith in our Lord Jesus, so we take part in the divine nature of His glorious riches.

PS: Thanks for reading this post. Continue reading subsequent posts so you can see the big picture of interconnected Truths in the kingdom of God. What is shared here is just one piece of a wider understanding of the kingdom of God. Reserve your doubts. I hope your doubts will be automatically addressed in the upcoming posts.

Fear not (video)

My Youtube Channel video.

Fear not. For I'm with you.

Fear not! For I'm with you!

 

G

race and peace to you from our beloved Father through our Saviour Jesus Christ.

FEAR - This four letter word is a common emotional state of mind in almost all of our lives in various circumstances for various reasons.

We fear for our future, for a perceived impending danger in life, for insecurity etc.

There are a lot of factors in our lives that bring us to the grip of fear most of the times.

We strive hard to find a valid reason to not to fear but end up seeking temporary help. Most often than not, the reason we hold on to not fear is a temporary and a weak reason. We seek help from our friends, family relatives, colleagues, father, mother and so on. We trust them thinking that they will solve our problem we fear for.

Practically speaking, they are weak by themselves that they may fail to protect us even if they intend to do so, eventually disappointing us. This adds fuel to the fire and aggravates the fear in us. In case if they really help us overcome a problem, that gives us only a temporary solace only to lead us into a fear for something else and the story continues.

Now this is a trap in which we put ourselves into and lead a life of fear and distress every day.

What we all fail to consider are the words of our God our Father. He said, "Do not fear, for I'm with you" (Isaiah 41:10). "No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." – Joshua 1:5, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Now just see this one verse,

"Do not fear, for I'm with you" This verse has become cliché overtime and so most of us overlook the revelation and power it carries.

This verse has a command and a reason to obey.

"Do not fear" is the command.

But why?...How can I not fear in such a circumstance? I have this problem, I have that and how can I not fear?

Now the reason is also given. "For I'm with you"

This could be the single highest possible reason for all of us to lead a fearless life. Having God Himself with us is the single ultimate Truth and reason for us to be fearless.

"If God is for us, who (what) can be against us" - Romans 8:31.(brackets mine).

David reciprocates the way we should to the command of God.

In Psalms 23: 4, he says, "I will fear no evil, for You are with me."

He perfectly understood the one Truth that casts out fear in us. "God with us"(Immanuel) is the too-good-to-be-encouraging truth for us to live a life of fearlessness.

Jesus reassured the same by saying, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you"-Hebrews 13:5. He never leaves us. Not even a micro-second in our life. He is with us, totally aware of all that we go through. Just cast all your cares (anything that you care for) on Him for He cares for it. When you consciously do this, you will feel very light in your heart. Surely He takes care of things you hand-over to Him. Just feel the rest He gives you. Word of God says, He has given His peace to us. Literally His peace which no one could ever take away from us.

Just find peace in Jesus Christ in His words. He is the answer for all our questions. He is the Way (solution) for all our problems. He is the Truth that sets all of us free from the trap.

He is all that we need in life and He knew it and made sure He gave Himself to us on cross.

Jesus loves you. He is able to rescue you from your fears in life. Just give yourself to Him.

Let His peace rule your hearts and fill you with hope and confidence to face your life.

God bless you!

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The indwelling Spirit

Realize the power of the Living God in you.

In his first letter to Corinthians, Paul clearly states that we ourselves are a dwelling place of the living God. Our body is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God. This is openly stated in lot of places in the Bible but many of us are ignorant of this Truth. Even if some of us know this, we hardly act accordingly. Let us see some verses in Bible that reiterates this Truth again and again both in Old and the New Testament.

Ezekiel 36:27

"And I will put my Spirit within you,.."

Joel 2:28

"I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;"

Here in these verses, God promises that He will put His spirit within us. Before Jesus ascended, He told His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, until they receive the Holy spirit from above as promised by the Father. On the Pentecostal day, they received the promised Holy spirit. Since then, whoever believes in  Jesus Christ are marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy spirit (Eph 1:13).

Paul re-affirms this in his letters to Corinthians. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are the temple of God and God's spirit dwells in us. The same is repeated in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16.

He also conveys this truth to Ephesians in Ephesians 2:22 "In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." 

These are just a few verses to show. However the indwelling of the Spirit of God is told directly and indirectly in lot of places  in the Bible.

Now it is too-good-to know that God himself dwells in us. The spirit of God, the Holy spirit is in us. Imagine what a privilege it is to host God himself inside us? 

Holy Spirit is the person of God Himself. He created the heavens and the Earth. Hosting Holy spirit inside of us is hosting the POWER of GOD in us. The power by which Jesus was resurrected. Acknowledge that we possess this power of resurrection in everyone of us who believes in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples before he ascended to heaven that when they receive the Holy Spirit, they receive power. The power to live  a life the way God wants us to live. The power to overcome anything that is stopping you from pursuing the will of our Father. The power to overcome this world. "for everyone born of God overcomes the world." 1 John 5:4. The power to heal people around you. The power to raise dead to life. Power to cast out demons. It is this same power of God that created the entire universe. The same power by which Jesus commanded the troubled sea to settle down. The same power that healed the woman with the issue of blood when she touched the hem of the garment of Jesus as He said that He felt the release of power from Him.

It is this power that is in you and me. It is by grace He has given this to us. Most of the times we fail to recognize things that are given freely unto us. But ignoring the Spirit of God is miserable. Jesus commanded His disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give (Mathew 10:8). All of these become possible for us if we renew our minds to know and realize the power of the Holy Ghost in us. That's why we say, 'With the God who strengthens me everything becomes possible for me.' Philippians 4:13.

The revelation of this presence of God in the person of Holy Spirit in us releases tremendous power into our life. We should consciously say that "It is no longer me but Christ who lives in me". Paul says this as He realized and acted with this revelation. Miracles and wonders happened through him in his days. What happened during the days of the Acts of Apostles can happen even in these days if this Truth is widely acknowledged by the believers of Christ and we as believers of Jesus Christ act accordingly to manifest the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's live a supernatural life. Amen..!

Faith vs Fear

Faith vs Fear

Faith is seeing the unseen. Faith is believing in things that are not perceived by our five senses but are promised by our God. This faith is like a life jacket. This life jacket is essential in times when we are in the troubled waters and are about to sink. Most of the times, we used to have good faith and confess the same boldly when we are in the favorable zone, but lose faith when we go through tough times. What we are doing is actually the reverse of what we are supposed to do.We should be strong and courageous during tough times. Use the life jacket when it is needed the most. Fear is the opposite of Faith. Those who fear a lot are actually believing in things that are unseen. Fear is faith in negative things. Faith and fear have the same function but brings opposite results. I can imagine that my finances will be blessed by God in the coming year and feel blissful or can imagine that I will plunge in to debt this year and feel depressed. In both these cases, I believe in something to be happened which I currently don't see, one on the positive side and the other on the negative side. Both are seeing the unseen. The former, we call Faith and the latter, Fear. They are mutually exclusive, like two sides of a coin. Where there is fear, there is no faith, where there is faith, there is no fear. 

We tend to believe in unfavorable things happening in our life.  We often imagine and even have strong hope that things will definitely go wrong. This tendency at least shows that we have high potential to see things that are unseen, but are using our energy on the negative side.  Diverting our energy in seeing positive things promised by God happening in our lives will surely unleash the power of the  Holy Spirit tremendously in our lives. Romans 5:2 says, "through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand" (Emphasis mine), if we carefully see the emphasized part of this verse, it is clear that Faith is the access to Grace. By grace we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Grace is sufficient for us. To approach this grace, the access key is Faith. Faith is the password to enter this grace. Grace is freely given. We receive it by Faith. The act of giving by God is done and finished on Cross. Let us know all that is done for us on Cross and receive that abundant blessings through Faith in him. Let us live a glorious life in Jesus Name. Amen...!

His Grace is sufficient for us.

His Grace is sufficient for us

His grace is sufficient for us... His Grace superabounds to provide you the strength of God to overcome any, I mean any tough situations in your life. Paul says "Where sin increased, Grace increased all the more " in his letter to Romans. I imagine this verse like this, "A man with a rope of infinite length tied to his waist and the other end tied to a pole at the coast, is drowning in a sea. Now the more he sinks the more is the extension of the rope length for him to get hold of at any time to climb up and reach the coast." Now you may be at any depth right now in different aspects of your life, but remember that God has provided the means proportionately to climb up.

Grace is the means by which God's provisions are extended to you. Just grab it, access it by faith and climb up. His Grace is enough for you...
Become aware of this Grace of God and live a victorious life glorifying God...
Amen...

Know Your God

There is a God who created you. He knows you better than anybody else do.

He knows your heart. He knows everything your heart yearns for.
He loves you so much. No one ever loves you as He does, let alone more than.
No one ever comforts you as He does. He is your Creator. To say, "He has love" is a statement of ignorance whereas "He is Love" is the Truth.
He himself is Love. He loves you even when you ignore Him. His love is steadfast and everlasting.
While you search for someone who can show you perfect Love and get disappointed, know that He Himself is the perfection and
completion of Love. If you think that nobody is there to listen to you, He listens to you. He takes up your case. He defends on your behalf.
He sets you free of all that can ever bind you. He is God. He is Jesus.