Entering In (pt. 2)
Recap
The spiritual realm is the essence of reality. The physical world is only an image, or reflection, of the spiritual reality of existence. The spiritual realm rules, or determines, what happens in the physical realm. Whatever we expect to accomplish in this world must first be conquered in the spiritual realm. Faith is the basic underlying reality, or the foundational principle out of which all things are created - the building blocks of the spiritual world. It is a deep abiding trust and commitment to that which you believe. Faith brings spiritual realities into manifestation in the physical realm, because God wills it so and we accept Him as true. Faith is not magic. It is the acknowledgment of truth. It is the operating principle of the spiritual realm and seems to be the language of God. Finally, faith is basically what makes you cling to God and conform to His will. Confession God spoke all things into existence. Ge 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Ro 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (AV) Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (AV) The fact is, the things God calls into existence already exist in the mind of God. In other words, it is His will that these things exist, and so they do. (The realm of the Spirit is the mind of God.) If a thing exists in the spiritual realm, it can be manifested in the physical realm. But it exists in the spiritual realm only if it exists in the mind of God - that is, only if it is God�s will. Not your will; not in your mind, but God�s. You can�t speak things into existence unless God wants them in existence. This is where faith extremists go wrong. They try to confess their own will and not God�s. The Bible is God�s general will. It is all true; it is all His will; But it is His general will. Then God quickens His Word to you, that is, when He pin-points a specific promise or exhortation or any portion of His Word and applies it to your heart, it becomes specific and not general. Then you confess it because you know it; not because you want it, but because you know it. You don�t think it is for you, or wish it was for you, but you know it is for God. God has spoken to you. Let me site examples to clarify: A person does not receive salvation simply by confessing Jesus is Lord, or by saying, "I�m saved." Rather, the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin and convinces him of Christ�s work on Calvary. Jesus said, "No man can come to me ex-cept the Father draw him�" Salvation come from you, or from your desire. It comes from God. There again, you can try all day to walk on water. It is possible. Jesus did it. Peter did it. But that is only because said, "Peter, do it." It is not because Jesus said, "All things are possible to him that believeth", but because He specifically said, "Peter, you walk on the water." Peter got a positive re-sponse from a request and acted on it. What about Mark 11: 23-24? Look at it. Mr 11:23-24 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. In verse 22 it says, "have faith in God". Not have faith in prayer, or confession, or faith, but have faith in God. Verse 23 says, "whosever shall say . . . and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that these things which he saith shall come to pass�" I must confess to you, I don�t believe every word that comes out of my mouth will come to pass. I believe that if everything I said was what God told me to say, then it would come to pass. (I also believe I wouldn�t say a whole lot.) Verse 24 says, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive, and ye shall have them." 1 John 5:14-15 says, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. I must assume, then, if we ask not according to His will, he doesn�t listen as intently. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. So, we must make sure God hears our prayers by asking according to His will. To ask according to His will, we must become God minded. Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (AV) If you delight yourself in Him, all the desires of your heart become God centered. You will find that you don�t want as much as you used to. Prayer Paul Billheimer, in his book Destined For The Throne, says, "The ultimate purpose of creation is the production and preparation of the bride of Christ." The church is to be that bride. Just as Eve was created out of Adam, Christ�s bride is created out of Him. (see 2 Cor 11:2; Rev 19:10; Ephesians 5:25-32) As His bride, we will share His throne. 2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: (AV) He has made us "kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth". (Rev. 5:10) Even now, at the present, we are "raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6) We don�t realize the power we have as believers. There are 2 words translated �power� in the New Testament. One means "ability". We are "endued with ability from on high. (Luke 24:49) We receive "ability after that the Holy Ghost" comes upon us. (Acts 1:3) Ability is for living and surviving. The other word for power means �authority�. Authority is for overcoming. Authority is �legal right�. Jesus said, "All authority is given unto me�" (Matt 28:18-19) And "I give you authority � over all the power of the enemy." (Luke 10:19) Our authority is basically over Satan and his evil forces. Satan is defeated. He is under Jesus� feet, while we are at Jesus� side. Psalm 8:4-5 tells us: Ps 8:4-5 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. The word is Elohim, which is the word for God.. We are acyually created a little lower than God. 1Co 6:2-3 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest mat-ters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? We will govern the world and judge the angels. Next to God, we are second in command. We outrank Satan. Satan, obviously, is not yet stripped of all his power, but he is stripped of his power over us. We are presently engaged in spiritual warfare. Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (AV) Why, if we have power over Satan, do we struggle with him? God could, of course, do away with Satan, but He uses him to perfect us. Prayer is on-the-job training for co-rulership with Christ. Jesus battled with Satan all his earthly existence. So do we. We learn spiritual warfare in prayer. It is for apprenticeship under Christ. Quoting Billheimer again, "In order to enable her to acquire the character and know-how she will need as co-sovereign, He has place upon her (the church) the re-sponsibility and authority to enforce God�s will and admin-ister His decisions in the affairs of earth." Do you realize what this means? God has given us power of attorney. (Matt 18:18; Like 10:19; John 20:21-23) Jesus said, "In my name � go � ask � cast out � heal." In Ezekiel 22:30-31, we see an amazing thing: Eze 22:30-31 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. God bound himself to prayer! He wanted to avoid judg-ment, but could not without a man to stand in the gap and pray. This is why John Wesley said, "God will do nothing but in answer to prayer." Along with power comes responsibility. "Prayer is imple-menting upon earth heaven�s decisions concerning the af-fairs of men. God has placed the enforcement of Calvary�s victory in the hands of the church. Here is where, again, we must remember that God�s will is all important. God invites man into partnership in implementing decisions, but not in making them. All prayer is subject to God�s will. Our responsibility in prayer is to en-force and implement His will - not to design and demand our own. If we will learn to pray perfectly according to His will, we have yet to see what we can accomplish. "The fault with unanswered prayer is always on the human side."This page hosted by
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