June 13th, 2023
This week I’ve spent a great deal of time in just one portion of scripture, asking myself a question I want to ask you: Do you know who you are? Especially in today’s world, we must know who God is and who we are according to His Word. 2 Peter 1:3 says,
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
This scripture is clearly referring not only to our spiritual condition, but our daily lives. Do you live like He’s granted you all things? Paul said it like this in Romans 8:32:
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
If we have a need in our lives, it’s not because that’s the will of our Father. He has already made provision for everything we need, as any good Father would! This passage of scripture goes on to say,
“…by which He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:4)
As believers, we get to share in His very nature. Do you believe that about yourself? 1 John 4:17 says, “as he is so also are we in this world.” We walk in His righteousness, not our own. We have His mind, not our unredeemed flesh. We are His body, having died to our sinful nature. The weight of that scripture should sober us. Are we really like Jesus in this world? Jesus, who had compassion on the lost and broken and called sinners to repentance. Jesus, who only did what He saw His Father doing. Jesus, who calmed a raging storm with a word. Jesus, who walked on water. Jesus, who cleansed lepers, opened the eyes of the blind, and commanded cripples to walk. Jesus who fed multitudes with scraps of food. Jesus, who stopped a funeral procession to raise a dead man and give him back to his mother. Jesus, who died, laying down His dignity, His royalty, and His rights as a King, for us. Are we truly as He is in this world? Do our lives demonstrate who He is? That’s the call of the gospel.
We must know who we are. John G Lake was a powerful minister in the early 1900’s when the Bubonic plague was ravaging society. It was so desperate that men would get paid to dispose of the bodies of those who’d died because no one wanted to go near them for fear of the disease. John G Lake would go and minister to the sick and dying and deal with the deceased without fear, and he never contracted the Bubonic plague. The doctors didn’t understand how, and so they conducted an experiment. They put a sample of the foam of a sick man under a microscope to ensure the virus was alive and then placed it on the hand of John G Lake. It is documented that the virus died upon contact. When asked about it, he reportedly said, “I believe that as long as I keep my soul in contact with the living God so that His Spirit is flowing into my soul and body, that no germ will ever attach itself to me, for the Spirit of God will kill it.”
There are a lot of contagious things in the world, physically and spiritually. Fear, depression, and negativity are all contagious and they spread like a disease through social media. However, the Spirit that we carry in us is more powerful than any contagion, spiritually or physically. When His Spirit flows through us and we understand that as He is so also are we, we become immune to the things of this world that would try to harm us. Just as the virus died on the hand of John G Lake, fear, anxiety, negativity, sickness, anger, will die when they come into contact with the authority that we carry. The Holy Spirit changes the atmosphere, and He lives in us!
In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant contained God’s presence and was kept in the Holy of Holies, in the temple. In 1 Samuel 5, there is a very interesting story in which the ark was stolen by the Philistines and taken back to their pagan temple and placed with their god, Dagon. 1 Samuel 5:3-5 tells what happened:
“When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So, they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.”
There is more to the story, but finally after some deliberation, they sent the Ark back to the land of Israel with a sacrifice in hopes that they would be spared. They had more reverence and fear of the power of God than some believers! Do you know that by the power of Jesus blood, we are now the temple of that very presence? The blood-washed child of God has become the dwelling place of God! The Ark just being in the House of Dagon destroyed their makeshift deity. Darkness always has to fall at God’s feet.
Luke 8 tells the story of a man with a legion of demons that had tormented their society for years. No chain or earthly restraint could control him, but the moment Jesus stepped into the region darkness bowed. Jesus didn’t have to argue or fight with the man. The demons asked Jesus what He was going to do, begging Him not to torment them (Luke 8:26-33). So many people live their lives dictated by darkness, hiding from things that intimidate them, but the finger of God drives out darkness, and that light dwells in you!
So, I ask you again what I’ve been asking myself this week: Do you know who you are? Do we live like we are the hands and feet of Jesus? Do we have the kind of faith that will stand up in every situation knowing that it is not our authority that we stand in? God redeemed us and has made every provision for us. He loves us so much and He is looking for a people who will take Him at His word. By the blood of Jesus Christ, we get to come boldly to the throne of grace. We get to carry the presence and power of God to a world that is desperate for it! It’s time to contend as a church for the promises of His word to be manifest in us. We can be who He says we are and live like He says we can. We are His children and if we’ll believe what He says, we’ll see the power of God confirm His word, just like it always has!
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
This scripture is clearly referring not only to our spiritual condition, but our daily lives. Do you live like He’s granted you all things? Paul said it like this in Romans 8:32:
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
If we have a need in our lives, it’s not because that’s the will of our Father. He has already made provision for everything we need, as any good Father would! This passage of scripture goes on to say,
“…by which He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:4)
As believers, we get to share in His very nature. Do you believe that about yourself? 1 John 4:17 says, “as he is so also are we in this world.” We walk in His righteousness, not our own. We have His mind, not our unredeemed flesh. We are His body, having died to our sinful nature. The weight of that scripture should sober us. Are we really like Jesus in this world? Jesus, who had compassion on the lost and broken and called sinners to repentance. Jesus, who only did what He saw His Father doing. Jesus, who calmed a raging storm with a word. Jesus, who walked on water. Jesus, who cleansed lepers, opened the eyes of the blind, and commanded cripples to walk. Jesus who fed multitudes with scraps of food. Jesus, who stopped a funeral procession to raise a dead man and give him back to his mother. Jesus, who died, laying down His dignity, His royalty, and His rights as a King, for us. Are we truly as He is in this world? Do our lives demonstrate who He is? That’s the call of the gospel.
We must know who we are. John G Lake was a powerful minister in the early 1900’s when the Bubonic plague was ravaging society. It was so desperate that men would get paid to dispose of the bodies of those who’d died because no one wanted to go near them for fear of the disease. John G Lake would go and minister to the sick and dying and deal with the deceased without fear, and he never contracted the Bubonic plague. The doctors didn’t understand how, and so they conducted an experiment. They put a sample of the foam of a sick man under a microscope to ensure the virus was alive and then placed it on the hand of John G Lake. It is documented that the virus died upon contact. When asked about it, he reportedly said, “I believe that as long as I keep my soul in contact with the living God so that His Spirit is flowing into my soul and body, that no germ will ever attach itself to me, for the Spirit of God will kill it.”
There are a lot of contagious things in the world, physically and spiritually. Fear, depression, and negativity are all contagious and they spread like a disease through social media. However, the Spirit that we carry in us is more powerful than any contagion, spiritually or physically. When His Spirit flows through us and we understand that as He is so also are we, we become immune to the things of this world that would try to harm us. Just as the virus died on the hand of John G Lake, fear, anxiety, negativity, sickness, anger, will die when they come into contact with the authority that we carry. The Holy Spirit changes the atmosphere, and He lives in us!
In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant contained God’s presence and was kept in the Holy of Holies, in the temple. In 1 Samuel 5, there is a very interesting story in which the ark was stolen by the Philistines and taken back to their pagan temple and placed with their god, Dagon. 1 Samuel 5:3-5 tells what happened:
“When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So, they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.”
There is more to the story, but finally after some deliberation, they sent the Ark back to the land of Israel with a sacrifice in hopes that they would be spared. They had more reverence and fear of the power of God than some believers! Do you know that by the power of Jesus blood, we are now the temple of that very presence? The blood-washed child of God has become the dwelling place of God! The Ark just being in the House of Dagon destroyed their makeshift deity. Darkness always has to fall at God’s feet.
Luke 8 tells the story of a man with a legion of demons that had tormented their society for years. No chain or earthly restraint could control him, but the moment Jesus stepped into the region darkness bowed. Jesus didn’t have to argue or fight with the man. The demons asked Jesus what He was going to do, begging Him not to torment them (Luke 8:26-33). So many people live their lives dictated by darkness, hiding from things that intimidate them, but the finger of God drives out darkness, and that light dwells in you!
So, I ask you again what I’ve been asking myself this week: Do you know who you are? Do we live like we are the hands and feet of Jesus? Do we have the kind of faith that will stand up in every situation knowing that it is not our authority that we stand in? God redeemed us and has made every provision for us. He loves us so much and He is looking for a people who will take Him at His word. By the blood of Jesus Christ, we get to come boldly to the throne of grace. We get to carry the presence and power of God to a world that is desperate for it! It’s time to contend as a church for the promises of His word to be manifest in us. We can be who He says we are and live like He says we can. We are His children and if we’ll believe what He says, we’ll see the power of God confirm His word, just like it always has!
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