Tuesday 30 March 2010

Reigning in Life!

Glory to God!

On Saturday the women of KLF had a brilliant time together as the Lord revealed the truth of His goodness to them and they encountered and experienced the God who is good!


On Sunday the Lord spoke to us about how He wants His children to reign in life (Rom. 5:17)! Having received God's abundant grace and the gift of righteousness, the believer can live in the fullness of life God has given him/her. However many Christians aren't living the abundant life God intends for them.

Looking at the history of Israel, the Lord showed us 3 stages that symbolise our walk with God.
  1. The first stage is in Egypt - the "house of slavery" where man is ruled by satan and his kingdom of darkness. Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 1:13
  2. God rescues His people out of bondage and are led into the desert, having been led through the Red Sea - the waters of baptism.
  3. God's will is for His children to be led directly out of bondage into the promised land - the life of abundance where His children reign in life.
  4. However, God first leads us through the desert (the second stage) to ensure that the believer loses his self-life.
  5. The children of Israel wandered/roamed in the desert as long as they:
  • Lived in unbelief. Heb. 3:7-12; 4:1-3
  • Worshipped created gods and served them. Ex.32
  • Lived according to their own desires and will. Num. 16
  1. Joshua led the children of Israel through the Jordan (a type of Spirit-baptism) once the Israelites believed God's Word, devoted themselves to God alone and surrendered their lives to the Lord (stage 3).
  2. The believer is baptised in the Spirit when he allows the Holy Spirit to control him and saturate him.
  3. Only as the believer is dominated by the Holy Spirit can he dominate/ reign in life!
The account of Jesus in Luke 3 and 4 demonstrates many striking parallels:
  1. Jesus was baptised and led into the desert by the Spirit. Luke 3:21,22; 4:1,2
  2. In the desert (not 40 years but 40 days), Jesus was tempted by the devil to try to move Jesus away from absolute surrender and faith in the Word of God. Luke 4:3,4
  3. The devil also tried to get Jesus to worship him rather than the Father. Luke 4:5-8
  4. Jesus was also tempted by the devil to do His own will just as the Israelites rebelled in the desert. Luke 4:9-12; Heb. 3:7-12
  5. Jesus proved His absolute surrender to God's will and returned to Gallilee in the power of the Spirit! Luke 4:14
  6. Jesus then entered the "promised land" as He applied God's Word to Himself and walked in the promises of the Father. Luke 4:16-21
The 3 stages are:
  1. Egypt-house of slavery-kingdom of darkness-ruled by satan.
  2. Desert-dying to self-roaming-ruled by self.
  3. Promised Land-faith and surrender-reigning in life-ruled by the Spirit of God.
To reign in life is to believe God's Word and walk in it by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
God's Word to us is both challenging and encouraging. He wants His children to stop roaming and to start reigning as they submit themselves to Him and His Word!
We praise God for His grace and the gift of spiritual revelation, understanding, wisdom and knowledge to know Him more and to reign in life.

A couple of our leaders attended Kingdom Faith's Leaders' Conference last week and were mightily inspired and ignited by the presence of God and the richness of His revelation through the worship and the preaching of His Word. We praise God for our relationship with KF and are excited about what God is doing in them and through them in that nation that is spilling over through the churches that live in covenant relationship with them. Check out this link for excellent resources and teaching...

Quote of the week:

"...if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:17

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