YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS and PERFECTLY LOVED

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The devil will always try to get us to doubt God’s goodness and mercy towards us, he will try to convince you that you deserve the restlessness and the torture he is inflicting on you because you’ve failed to please God. Beloved, do not be fooled, God’s goodness and mercy towards us is not based on our performance, but on Christ’s performance. Anything and everything we receive from God is both through and because of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior; it is through faith in Him that we are counted as righteous and holy before God.

²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

At the cross, Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness which is God’s very own righteousness, not some second hand, almost-like-but-not-quite-type of righteousness, No, no, no …a resounding NOOOO! When we put our trust in Jesus we receive this indescribable gift of GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS. It is a gift not a reward, and God is consistent so this gift of righteousness like all His other gifts, is irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Religion may huff and puff, hem and haw, the enemy can knock himself out hurling accusations at you, but if you are in Christ then you are a recipient of this gift of righteousness, you are now righteous! You did nothing to earn it and can do nothing to lose it so relax and begin to live from that place of total rest in Christ.

²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, - Romans 3:22 NIV

Now that you know and are established in the truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you can confidently live your life knowing that it is all about Jesus and not us, He is the one who leads, guides and orders our steps by His Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Being made righteous emboldens us to freely fellowship with our Father and out of that fellowship, we do life. Out of our fellowship with the Father, we receive sight, insight, foresight and oversight concerning His heart and purpose for our lives.  As we receive God’s abundant grace and His gift of righteousness, we will reign in life (Romans 5:17).

Not only that, our Abba Father is infinitely good and gracious towards us; He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). And since the material proceeds from the spiritual, it follows that we have been blessed with every material blessing in Christ! So as dearly beloved children, let us seize every opportunity to spend time with the Father throughout our day. It’s not complicated really, just engage the Holy Spirit who is resident in you as you go over your daily activities, a simple ‘thank you Lord”, “what do we do now Father” or … you get the idea, this way you will also learn how He speaks to you specifically.

You see, He who made us as individuals knows how to communicate with us individually – uniquely, and the beauty of it is there is no formula to follow. A child who knows they are unreservedly loved doesn’t have a care, they will bring anything and everything to their parents without fear or trepidation. You are not only righteous before your heavenly Father, even though that alone should make you bold as a lion, you are also perfectly and unreservedly loved by Him. Fear has no place in you, none whatsoever!   

You are loved and you are righteous – live like it!

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SEE JESUS IN THE SCRIPTURES

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. - Luke 24:45 NIV

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One of the first things Jesus did for His disciples after His resurrection was to open their minds to understand the Scriptures. Have you ever wondered why didn't He open their minds to understand the Scriptures during His earthly ministry before the crucifixion? I believe it wouldn't have been possible because the natural mind cannot understand or accept the things of the Spirit of God and the disciples, even though they believed in Jesus, were not regenerated or born again yet, they were not New Creations yet, they didn't have the Spirit within them. Remember, Jesus was yet to go to the cross and atone for the sins of the human race.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus said He had many things to tell them but they couldn't bear or understand what He wanted to tell them at that time. He then went on to tell them that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will teach them and guide them into all truth. But right after His resurrection, Jesus, opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost just as Jesus promised, the disciples with their minds now open to understand the Scriptures, were empowered to boldly preach the Word of God. 

An example of the natural mind unsuccessfully struggling to understand the Scriptures would be that of the Pharisees and the Scribes together with the Priests. They searched, studied and memorized the Scriptures, they could quote them forwards and backwards, upside up and upside down and everywhichway (I know...I know... but you get the point!) :) :) but according to Jesus, they didn't understand or even believe the Scriptures. Jesus rebuked them with these sobering words:

³⁹ You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me to have life. - John 5:39-40 (NIV) 

As you spend time in the Word of God, know that the Holy Spirit has already opened your mind to understand the Scriptures, invite Him to illuminate the Word, He Authored it, remember! See Jesus in them in all His glory, majesty, splendor, mercy, loving kindness and grace. For the more you see Jesus revealed in the Scriptures, the more of His life flows in you and the more you are being transformed into His image from glory to glory!

Instead of just studying the Scriptures looking for a sermon to preach or a doctrine to teach, let's consciously endeavor to see Christ in the Scriptures today and every day. 

Blessings beloved!    

KNOW, TRUST, OBEY AND ENJOY

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Many Christians today know, believe and confess that the Word of God is true, inerrant and infallible and it is. We believe that it is forever settled in Heaven and it is (Psalm 119:89). We also believe that the inspired Scriptures are packed with the Almighty’s power and they are. I’m sure we've all quoted it several times ourselves. We are familiar with many portions of Scripture that speak of the eternal qualities of the Word of God. Perhaps you even have a few favorite ones yourself, here are some of mine:

¹² The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” – Jeremiah 1:12 NIV

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. – Matthew 24:35 NIV

⁶³ It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. – John 6:63 NRSV

Well, you get the idea… Today many have no problem agreeing with all that about the Word of God. Don’t get me wrong now; I’m not bashing knowing or quoting Scripture verses, not at all. I actually think it is important and absolutely necessary for every believer to know what the Word of God says. However, I would hasten to add that one’s knowledge of the Scriptures isn't necessarily reflective of their spiritual maturity.

You can have the Bible from Genesis to Revelation memorized, but unless you make a conscious decision to take to heart and apply the truths contained therein, you will neither grow spiritually nor be able to enjoy all the wonderful promises that are yours in Christ. Furthermore, you will only be deceiving yourself with all the Biblical knowledge you've amassed and pride wouldn't be far off.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22 NIV

Beloved, here's the thing, we are children of God, we are sons and daughters of the Most High, we have His Spirit living in us, our Father’s supernatural ways and acts should be natural to us. We should be experiencing miracles of diverse kinds every single day, just like our elder brother Jesus did while on earth, anything less is unacceptable.

I know that’s a bold statement, but then again Jesus said we will do greater works than He did (John 14:12) Now, pray tell, how are we going to do greater works when we are barely, just barely attempting to do the ones He did, often failing miserably and rationalizing our failures with wise sounding phrases to mask the real problem – DOUBT and UNBELIEF.

We know what the Word says, we know what we are to do, but we aren't doing it  and if we are, for the most part we do it halfheartedly, why is that?! Is it because we have bought into the world system unknowingly? Are we fully trusting God or are we "wisely" keeping our options open...you know...er...just in case…think about it. Have we forgotten who lives in us? Have we forgotten that He is the Most trustworthy Person ever, that He never lies nor does He go back on His word to us? Who are we listening to? We may claim to be listening to and obeying God but the results or lack thereof, in our lives testify to the contrary. This has got to stop! 

It is the enemy who plants doubts in our minds disguised as “wisdom” when it actually is anything but wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Anything that seeks to add to or to subtract from the Word of God is void of any form of wisdom. The enemy cannot force a child of God to disobey God, all he wants to do is to get us to doubt God and when we comply, we give him an open invitation to wreck havoc in our lives. Adam and Eve doubted and disobeyed God, we all know how that turned out.

As a child of God today you have the power to choose to fully trust God or not, whatever choice you make you’ll have to face the consequences, the good thing is, His grace will be right there for you to appropriate by faith as you come before Him. That’s one reason we are encouraged to come boldly before the Throne of Grace so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. If you've blown it through doubt and unbelief, don’t wallow is self-pity and condemnation, instead run to the Throne of Grace. Remember this: Jesus already dealt with our sin once for all.  

I for one do not want to get to Heaven and realize there was so much I could have done in this life for Christ and to bless others, but because of my doubt and unbelief I lived way below what was available in me and to me and just squeaked into Heaven. I hope you too wouldn't want that to be your experience.

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The beauty of it is, we get to do the works of Christ and greater ones in this life, right here, right now on earth, not someday in heaven. We have the Holy Spirit living in us, He desires to empower us and use us to bring glory to Christ. He desires intimacy with us, the more we spend time with Him and get to know Him, the bolder we will become. Doesn't the Word rightly say those who know their God will become bold and do great exploits? (Daniel 11:32)

Choose to fully trust God and take Him at His Word. He means what He says and says what He means. Hear His Word today and do it!

NEWSFLASH: YOU HAVE A NEW ADDRESS

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Instead of rehearsing, regurgitating and rehashing all the painful, destructive and negative stuff you've been through, instead of dwelling on a past you don’t want anything to do with anymore, choose to dwell on the bright present and glorious future that are yours in Christ. Let the past be exactly that, the past. It’s time to move on with God; He has new things for you to explore and not only that, He has a place meticulously prepared just for you.

¹⁸ Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. - Isaiah 43: 18 - 19 NIV

Because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of Himself in reconciling us to God, when we believe in Him, we become children of God and as children of God, we have every right to live in the Father’s presence and the Father Himself lives in us by His Holy Spirit. Jesus' death and resurrection guarantee you full and complete access to God, your Heavenly Father. Remember, when you believed in Jesus, the old you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God, so if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you are in Him already!

³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. – Colossians 3:3 NIV

Instead of dwelling on the unpleasant experiences of the past, see Jesus – The One True Way – make a way for you out of the wilderness. Be refreshed by His Holy Spirit within you; let the rivers of living water gush forth from your innermost being and transform wastelands into arable, productive soil for effective sowing of the seeds of the Word of God.  

He is your dwelling place and you are His dwelling place. In other words, He is now your residential address if you will; your very being, your existence is in Him. You live IN Him and since you are in Him, you have everything you will ever need for life and godliness. The Word of God says:

        ¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
        will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. – Psalms 91:1 NIV 

It is your right and privilege as a child of God to live in your Abba Father’s shelter and rest in His shadow. Jesus calls us to come to Him and rest, it is His desire that we live in a continual state of rest IN HIM, trusting Him in each and every situation. He encourages us to acknowledge Him in all our ways and when we do we allow Him to direct our steps.

The Word of God also describes our new address this way:

⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, - Ephesians 2:6 NIV

So right this very second if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are seated with Him in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers, whether you feel like it or not. Your body is here on earth but with your recreated spirit which has been made one with Him you are seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father and that’s your new address – enjoy your new residence and invite others over, once they come they won’t want to leave and guess what, there’s room for everyone in the Father’s mansion.

Go on, glorify your Father and give the enemy a nervous breakdown – publish your new address!

  

GRACE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS: Your Passport to Reigning In Life

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¹⁷ If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:17 NRSV

We all know that because of Adam’s sin, we were all born sinners. Adam and Eve’s failure to obey God’s simple instruction of not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, plunged the entire human race that proceeded from them into sin. The Word of God declares “there is no one righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10) and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Sin brought separation from God, Adam and Eve lost the glory of God that was on them and with it their ability to properly carry out the responsibilities they were entrusted with when they were created. They no longer had dominion over all creatures, they no longer could subdue the earth and they could no longer tend the garden as they were kicked out of it. Child bearing was to be accompanied with pain, they went from ruling and reigning over every created thing, they went from face to face fellowship and communion with God, they went from living a worry free, doubt free and care free life to a shame filled, guilt filled, fear filled, worry filled and pain filled life. In short, death entered the picture and with it every negative thing.

Jesus is the Second Adam, He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, a perfect sinless man; He lived a sinless life and took upon Himself all the sin of the human race on His body on the cross and atoned for them once and for all. He died, was buried and rose again so that anyone who believes in Him and what He has done receives this awesome free gift of God’s righteousness, that is, when we put our trust in Jesus and what He did to save us, God makes us righteous just like Himself – think about that! Now, that’s Good News!  

We do not work to become righteous before God, we cannot earn right standing with God by our actions, however “holy” they may be – His righteousness is a FREE GIFT to us. It is by grace that we are saved, not of works so we cannot boast. Just as sin came in through one man – Adam, Righteousness comes through one man, the Last Adam – Jesus Christ. Just as we were born sinners and didn't have any say in the condition in which we were born, in Christ we are made perfectly righteous before God, not because of anything we have done, it is all by His grace and the result? We are empowered to walk in dominion over our circumstances.

Now that we have been made righteous before God, not because of anything we have done but because of what Jesus has done, as we receive His grace can reign in this life. It is not a question of willpower or self-effort or determination, no it is by His grace. His grace is sufficient. The Holy Spirit encourages us to boldly come before the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16) for God knows the more grace we receive from Him, the more we will be able to walk in dominion.

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Beloved, if you are being challenged in any specific area in your life, you don’t need to keep on struggling on your own, following formula after formula to no avail. Stop accepting the enemy’s condemnation, stop wallowing in guilt and condemnation, stop the pity party, stop feeling sorry for yourself – that’s not humility, it actually is a form of pride. Remember, you are your Father's beloved and in Christ you are His righteousness. Your spirit is there already, your soul and body need to catch up. So rise up and by faith come and receive an abundance of grace and your Father’s free gift of righteousness. Only then will you be able to exercise the dominion that is yours in Christ over every situation that has held you captive.

By faith keep coming to the Throne of Grace, keep receiving His grace and His free gift of righteousness, the more you receive the more you’ll reign in life.  

IN HIS WORD LIFE AND LIBERTY AWAIT!

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³¹ Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” – John 8:31-32 NRSV

Many times we read or quote these verses in passing as we share some specific truth from the Scriptures, be it on salvation, healing, restoration, deliverance, provision and what-have-you. The implication is, whatever Scriptural truth we are sharing, if received and believed will set the recipient free and while this is true, there is yet another layer of revelation if you will,  that can be gleaned from these oft quoted verses.

Jesus was talking to Jews who knew the Scriptures, they were well versed in all the Jewish Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi as well as in other non-canonical Jewish writings, they were no strangers to the Law and Prophets. Notice, Jesus didn't say to them “If you continue in the Scriptures…”, He instead said “if you continue in My word”. You will recall at one point earlier, He had these sobering words for the Jews:

³⁹ “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. ⁴⁰ Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. – John 5:39-40 NRSV

The apostle Paul had a revelation of this truth when he said the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). In John 6:63 Jesus reveals to us that His words are Spirit and they are Life. He is now in us by His Spirit, therefore we have His life within us, we'll do well to acquaint ourselves with His Spirit within us. We are His temple, His dwelling place, His habitation.

Seeing how powerful the words of Jesus are, let us do ourselves a huge favor and pay attention to what He is saying to us, our very lives depend on His specific word to us. To enjoy the freedom that is ours in Christ we must continue, abide and remain in His word and how can we do that unless we first hear what He is saying to us. Remember the profound statement Jesus made when He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness? Check this out:

⁴ Jesus answered, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.’”– Matthew 4:4 GW

There you have it again, we cannot live on bread alone but on EVERY WORD that God speaks. Bread here is for natural sustenance but every Word of God speaks of the Spirit led life we are called and privileged to live.

The written Word rightly states that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). You see, faith cannot even begin to come without hearing, not just some random Scriptures, but the WORD of Christ, once you hear what He is saying to you then faith for what He said to you comes with His Word. Remember, His Word is Spirit and it is life. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and now we've come full circle, as we continue in His Word, we get to know the truth and that truth that we know sets us free. It all starts with what Jesus is saying to us both individually and corporately as well.

The Lord has specific plans and purposes for our lives, now for us to know them and to walk in them we will have to hear His Word, obey it and continue in it. Whatever He tells us will not contradict His written Word. The written Word is the standard against which every revelation, prophecy or Word from the Lord is to be measured before being accepted or rejected. The Lord didn't stop talking after the Bible was written, so expect to hear Him speak to you; hold on to His specific Word to you and experience the liberating truth that is yours in Christ.

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What is the Lord Jesus saying to you today? It is important to read our Bibles and it is important to meditate on the written Word of God for by doing so we are tuning our spiritual ears to hear and discern His voice, He said my sheep hear my voice…if you are His, rest assured you are hearing His voice just fine, perhaps you just haven’t discerned it as His yet. Spend time with Him, get intimately acquainted with His voice, hear His Word and then abide in it, live by it…then and only then will you know the truth and it will make you and set you free!

Don’t just stop at believing in Jesus like the Jews did, but as a true disciple continue on in His Word to you. Blessings!

A BRAND NEW DAY IS DAWNING

Carlos R.W. Kirimbai

I believe this is a timely word of encouragement for many who are going through patches with seemingly no end in sight. Remember that the Lord has promised to be with you always, when you go through the fire, he's with you, when you go through the waters, he's right there with you. No wonder David said "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me". 

It is my prayer that you will be uplifted by this prophetic message from my brother and good friend Carlos R.W. Kirimbai, of Manna Tabernacle Bible Church, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

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Nothing in this life is permanent. No matter how it looks now, your change for the better is surely on its way.

If a man dies, shall he live again? all the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes. (Job 14:14 NKJV).

Job said these words when he was going thru the worst season of his life. It was crazy and outright insane for Job to think in the situation he was in that things could get better. He was at his worst worse… his lowest low… but still against hope he had hope. He dared to believe for a brighter tomorrow. He knew in whom he had believed and was fully persuaded that he was able to bring him through and out of the circumstance he was in.

No matter how hard it is now, how painful it is now, how hopeless it is now, your change for the better is coming.

Yes, you might be crying tears of pain now but I prophesy tears of joy, appreciation and gratitude. You will rise again. It shall dawn again in your life. The glory of what is coming and is being restored in your life is greater than the glory of what you lost. God is going to rebuild whatever it is that has been broken or destroyed and He is going to build right on the site of the former ruins.

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In the Word of God there are many hopeless situations that were completely turned around to the amazement of onlookers and to the glory of God and definitely to the shame of the devil and his cohorts.

Say with Job "I will wait all the days of my hard service until my change comes."

Your change will come for sure. It will rain again. The sun will shine again. The siege shall be broken. There shall be rivers in the desert again. There shall be fruitfulness. Great increase is coming your way in Jesus name.

Remember, it is always darkest before the dawn of a brand new day.