September,2009
Christ Our Strength
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!
This verse is for the Body of Christ, not just me. We as believers have strength to do any and all things in and through Him. We can’t do it on our own. We would fail, but with the Lord’s help we can do anything from the easiest to the most difficult. So Saints we have to totally trust the Lord to give us the strength we need for the task at hand.
Let me give you an example, last year at this time I was very over weight and had many health issues. I could not lose the weight on my own. The Lord gave me the strength to get up, get out, and start walking and to cut back on my food intake. So you see without His super with my natural I would have surely failed, but I didn’t because HE was there with the strength I needed. He can also be there for you when you need His super with your natural. All you have to do is allow Him to be your strength when you need Him the most.
Stand on Philippians 4:13.
That is my prayer for each and every one of you, that you ask the Lord to put His super with your natural so you can carry out things He would have you to do in your daily walk with Him. So the next time you think you can’t do something, ask the Lord to give you the strength to carry it through!
BECAUSE HE WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH!
Copyright Living For God Ministries 2009 Janice Frame
All rights reserved
Saturday, December 26, 2009
An Encounter With Darkness - With Commentary
Matthew 26:41-75
The hour was here, our Lord was in grievous agony in the garden.
He knew what was coming, he carried all the sin and iniquity and agony of us all at that moment, this was the beginning of a agonizing journey to his final destination of "accomplishing that to which he was sent.
John 14:29-31"I've told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don't worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father's instructions right down to the last detail.
"Get up. Let's go. It's time to leave here."
Jesus, was as a Champion taking the field for his damsel in great distress....warring against the very powers of darkness, the prince of darkness himself to bring his dominion to a halt; he was agonizing due to the great sin and iniquity placed on him; It was written Jesus was to be "a man of sorrows", and that he was, even to the point of seeing no way out but through death. He knew this and carried it all anyway....Jesus was exceedingly sorrowful- Perilypos, meaning compassed about with sorrow on all hands....it was surrounding him, attempting to overpower our Lord...But all the while his focus stayed upon the work of his Father and doing his will until "It is finished". This was great heaviness upon Jesus, we have but tasted of what true heaviness is...and that in itself is because Jesus carried it all so we wouldn't have too....he knew we could not , he knew if that task was put upon us, we would surely die at the hands of the enemy! Jesus the Son of the Living God, stood in between the enemy and "this damsel in distress" to free her. Truly Jesus IS our Champion....he took the field arrayed in humility, love for his Father and for his Fathers purpose in saving mankind....he went forward in battle conquering the foes and enemies of our very souls...he put to shame the principalities and powers of darkness...he took back the "Keys" of death and hell...and openly stripped the devil of ALL power!
Colossians 2:11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
Through his agony and sorrow on the cross...we were given joy; through the agony of the cross, we were forgiven, through the agony and sorrow of the cross we were redeemed from the power of the enemy, we were delivered and set free, healed and seated with our Lord in heavenly places, Jesus saved his damsel in distress, and protected her from a foe of which she could not contend...He truly was a" Knight in shining armor" coming to our rescue. Jesus never wanted help in carrying any of this none at all...He went into hand to hand combat with Satan and his demons and bought us back with his own blood! Don't we see the sorrows this man carried...don't we realize that he carried ALL mankind's sin and iniquity then and for all those to come after...what agony this was, is it any wonder he sweat great drops of blood? Even then he was shedding blood on our behalf....because the stress and heaviness upon him manifested itself in the physical, showing us how he fought on our behalf...Jesus covered the whole of man during this journey to the cross....He not only redeemed us from sin and death but bought back ALL that was lost in the beginning in the Garden of Eden...don't we see that? When sin entered the world, we lost it all....our right to life abundant, or peace, our health, our communion with God, Jesus now is standing in the place of Adam, Jesus the second Adam....Bought it all back BY this shed blood, Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. Jesus didn't flinch he stood firm and immovable, took every strike against his body, every lash for us that by those stripes we would be healed, every attack against his mind and emotions, that we would be able to have the mind of Christ, was steadfast in his obedience to his Father, thereby opening communication with the God of Israel for us through him. Thereby bringing a COMPLETE restoration of man unto God...
Ohhh if we would but see all Jesus, Our Champion actually accomplished on this journey, we would not be able to contain ourselves! No greater love Church, No greater Love....
The most wonderful words of our Lord, spoken in death, fulfilling all in all
"It Is Finished"
Revelation 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
"Jesus IS The Champion" Now And Forever More, Amen
Pastor Deborah Covington
His agony in the garden.
Matthew Henry Commentary
He who made atonement for the sins of mankind, submitted himself in a garden of suffering, to the will of God, from which man had revolted in a garden of pleasure. Christ took with him into that part of the garden where he suffered his agony, only those who had witnessed his glory in his transfiguration. Those are best prepared to suffer with Christ, who have by faith beheld his glory. The words used denote the most entire dejection, amazement, anguish, and horror of mind; the state
of one surrounded with sorrows, overwhelmed with miseries, and almost swallowed up with terror and dismay. He now began to be sorrowful, and never ceased to be so till he said, It is finished. He prayed that, if possible, the cup might pass from him. But he also showed his perfect readiness to bear the load of his sufferings; he was willing to submit to all for our redemption and salvation. According to this example of Christ, we must drink of the bitterest cup which God puts into our hands;
though nature struggle, it must submit. It should be more our care to get troubles sanctified, and our hearts satisfied under them, than to get them taken away. It is well for us that our salvation is in the hand of One who neither slumbers nor sleeps. All are tempted, but we should be much afraid of entering into temptation. To be secured from this, we should watch and pray, and continually look unto the Lord to hold us up that we may be safe. Doubtless our Lord had a clear and full view of
the sufferings he was to endure, yet he spoke with the greatest calmness till this time. Christ was a Surety, who undertook to be answerable for our sins. Accordingly he was made sin for us, and suffered for our sins, the Just for the unjust; and Scripture ascribes his heaviest sufferings to the hand of God. He had full knowledge of the infinite evil of sin, and of the immense extent of that guilt for which he was to atone; with awful views of the Divine justice and holiness, and the punishment
deserved by the sins of men, such as no tongue can express, or mind conceive. At the same time, Christ suffered being tempted; probably horrible thoughts were suggested by Satan that tended to gloom and every dreadful conclusion: these would be the more hard to bear from his perfect holiness. And did the load of imputed guilt so weigh down the soul of Him of whom it is said, He upholdeth all things by the word of his power? into what misery then must those sink whose sins are left upon their own heads! How will those escape who neglect so great salvation?
Weekly Proverb:
Proverb 13:3"He that keepth his mouth, keepeth his life; but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction"
Copyright © Living For God Ministries 2004-2011 All rights reserved
The hour was here, our Lord was in grievous agony in the garden.
He knew what was coming, he carried all the sin and iniquity and agony of us all at that moment, this was the beginning of a agonizing journey to his final destination of "accomplishing that to which he was sent.
John 14:29-31"I've told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don't worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father's instructions right down to the last detail.
"Get up. Let's go. It's time to leave here."
Jesus, was as a Champion taking the field for his damsel in great distress....warring against the very powers of darkness, the prince of darkness himself to bring his dominion to a halt; he was agonizing due to the great sin and iniquity placed on him; It was written Jesus was to be "a man of sorrows", and that he was, even to the point of seeing no way out but through death. He knew this and carried it all anyway....Jesus was exceedingly sorrowful- Perilypos, meaning compassed about with sorrow on all hands....it was surrounding him, attempting to overpower our Lord...But all the while his focus stayed upon the work of his Father and doing his will until "It is finished". This was great heaviness upon Jesus, we have but tasted of what true heaviness is...and that in itself is because Jesus carried it all so we wouldn't have too....he knew we could not , he knew if that task was put upon us, we would surely die at the hands of the enemy! Jesus the Son of the Living God, stood in between the enemy and "this damsel in distress" to free her. Truly Jesus IS our Champion....he took the field arrayed in humility, love for his Father and for his Fathers purpose in saving mankind....he went forward in battle conquering the foes and enemies of our very souls...he put to shame the principalities and powers of darkness...he took back the "Keys" of death and hell...and openly stripped the devil of ALL power!
Colossians 2:11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
Through his agony and sorrow on the cross...we were given joy; through the agony of the cross, we were forgiven, through the agony and sorrow of the cross we were redeemed from the power of the enemy, we were delivered and set free, healed and seated with our Lord in heavenly places, Jesus saved his damsel in distress, and protected her from a foe of which she could not contend...He truly was a" Knight in shining armor" coming to our rescue. Jesus never wanted help in carrying any of this none at all...He went into hand to hand combat with Satan and his demons and bought us back with his own blood! Don't we see the sorrows this man carried...don't we realize that he carried ALL mankind's sin and iniquity then and for all those to come after...what agony this was, is it any wonder he sweat great drops of blood? Even then he was shedding blood on our behalf....because the stress and heaviness upon him manifested itself in the physical, showing us how he fought on our behalf...Jesus covered the whole of man during this journey to the cross....He not only redeemed us from sin and death but bought back ALL that was lost in the beginning in the Garden of Eden...don't we see that? When sin entered the world, we lost it all....our right to life abundant, or peace, our health, our communion with God, Jesus now is standing in the place of Adam, Jesus the second Adam....Bought it all back BY this shed blood, Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. Jesus didn't flinch he stood firm and immovable, took every strike against his body, every lash for us that by those stripes we would be healed, every attack against his mind and emotions, that we would be able to have the mind of Christ, was steadfast in his obedience to his Father, thereby opening communication with the God of Israel for us through him. Thereby bringing a COMPLETE restoration of man unto God...
Ohhh if we would but see all Jesus, Our Champion actually accomplished on this journey, we would not be able to contain ourselves! No greater love Church, No greater Love....
The most wonderful words of our Lord, spoken in death, fulfilling all in all
"It Is Finished"
Revelation 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
"Jesus IS The Champion" Now And Forever More, Amen
Pastor Deborah Covington
His agony in the garden.
Matthew Henry Commentary
He who made atonement for the sins of mankind, submitted himself in a garden of suffering, to the will of God, from which man had revolted in a garden of pleasure. Christ took with him into that part of the garden where he suffered his agony, only those who had witnessed his glory in his transfiguration. Those are best prepared to suffer with Christ, who have by faith beheld his glory. The words used denote the most entire dejection, amazement, anguish, and horror of mind; the state
of one surrounded with sorrows, overwhelmed with miseries, and almost swallowed up with terror and dismay. He now began to be sorrowful, and never ceased to be so till he said, It is finished. He prayed that, if possible, the cup might pass from him. But he also showed his perfect readiness to bear the load of his sufferings; he was willing to submit to all for our redemption and salvation. According to this example of Christ, we must drink of the bitterest cup which God puts into our hands;
though nature struggle, it must submit. It should be more our care to get troubles sanctified, and our hearts satisfied under them, than to get them taken away. It is well for us that our salvation is in the hand of One who neither slumbers nor sleeps. All are tempted, but we should be much afraid of entering into temptation. To be secured from this, we should watch and pray, and continually look unto the Lord to hold us up that we may be safe. Doubtless our Lord had a clear and full view of
the sufferings he was to endure, yet he spoke with the greatest calmness till this time. Christ was a Surety, who undertook to be answerable for our sins. Accordingly he was made sin for us, and suffered for our sins, the Just for the unjust; and Scripture ascribes his heaviest sufferings to the hand of God. He had full knowledge of the infinite evil of sin, and of the immense extent of that guilt for which he was to atone; with awful views of the Divine justice and holiness, and the punishment
deserved by the sins of men, such as no tongue can express, or mind conceive. At the same time, Christ suffered being tempted; probably horrible thoughts were suggested by Satan that tended to gloom and every dreadful conclusion: these would be the more hard to bear from his perfect holiness. And did the load of imputed guilt so weigh down the soul of Him of whom it is said, He upholdeth all things by the word of his power? into what misery then must those sink whose sins are left upon their own heads! How will those escape who neglect so great salvation?
Weekly Proverb:
Proverb 13:3"He that keepth his mouth, keepeth his life; but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction"
Copyright © Living For God Ministries 2004-2011 All rights reserved
Monday, December 14, 2009
Living For God In These Last Days Part 2
Who we are in Messiah....
We are Faith filled people in the GOD of Israel!
We are all given a measure of FAITH....we are to walk by that FAITH. If we believe a certain thing long enough it will become a part of our very being...we MUST be careful in our faith walk...
Last time we studied a bit about fear and how it can attack our minds in various ways. We also learned that it is up to us to re-new our minds to the word of God in order to be free from the spirit of fear.
Unbelief, doubt, and fear are opposites of faith, and can shipwreck our faith if we are not mindful of it.
But where do they come from?
1)Unbelief, comes through the theories of men (listening to others)
2) Doubt, comes by hearing and accepting the voices of religious traditions or others who are doubtful (once again, hearing)
3) Fear, comes by listening to the lies of the devil, all of these are the seeds planted by the devil , doubt, unbelief, and fear...they have the same same source. (hmm once again, hearing)
NOTE: it is at these points of "hearing" that we must determine whether we accept it by "faith " or not. There is ONE truth..
I want to share 7 facts about faith, they are as follows:
1) It is impossible to please God without faith - Hebrews 11:6
2) Messiah/Christ is our source, author and developer and finisher of our faith Hebrews 12:2
3) the word of God is called the word of faith, and faith comes by hearing the word of God
We must HEAR the word, internalize it, over and over again, speak in agreement with the word of God; our words are seed and will produce in like kind; the word of God is for ALL his people, the LORD GOD, by his Spirit, shared something with me years ago that has been so beneficial in my faith walk; I would like to share it with you as well. He told me, my word is for each of my people, individually as well as corporate; put the word in first person ( put your name in there ) for example:
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Would read:
I, Deborah CAN do ALL things through Messiah/Christ who strengthens her. Phil 4:13 This has been a real blessing to me over the years and I pray it will benefit you as well. God is a personal God, we have a personal relationship, therefore make his word just as personal.
Once heard then what? OBEY! Walk in it, DO IT!
This pertains to all scripture, front to back cover!
There are only 2 sides in this world, God's and Satan, our words form our lives, words are creative folks. We are where we are now by the words we spoke and choices we made in the past; we can frame our future by our words. We must not listen to anything that opposes the word of God....like fear we cannot afford for it to slip into our minds, become thought, those thoughts become actions and actions will produce a destiny. We are created in Gods image...God SPOKE and there was light, God SPOKE and there was the sun and moon etc etc We must imitate our Father in heaven and speak HIS word; faith filled words.
The power of life and death are IN the tongues Proverbs 18:21.
Gods words = Life; Satan's words = Death, its just that simple. As I said earlier...there are only 2 forces at work in this world, God's and Satan's, where do we line up?
This is a daily choice we can accept fear, doubt and worry and unbelief or we can choose NOT to accept it, by the power of our testimony; Speaking what God has to say about it all..regardless of what it is.
Fear Not! Do not be moved by what you see and hear from this world; cling to Y'shua and his promises, that is the only truth.
4) God has given to every believer a measure of faith Romans 12:3;Ephesians 2:8
If we say we have no faith, that is a lie, we all have been given a measure of faith. The problem with us is, we don't exercise it enough, and we don't allow it to grow, we dont feed it! We wont discipline ourselves to. If we would just put a 1/4 of the trust we have in this world and man in the one true God...we would be truly blessed indeed!
After all, there would be no world, there would no "man" had God not brought it forth amen? We need to read the instruction manual and walk by it; apply it; LISTEN to it. It is the voice of God your Father.
5) The God kind of faith is produced in the heart and released by the mouth Mark 11:23; Romans 4:17; Romans 10:8
From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks take time to notice what comes out of your mouth...are the words God filled words or the enemies; faith or doubt, fear or unbelief; Jesus said SAY to this mountain be thou cast down and thrown into the sea...not merely think about it; but think about it and then SAY it. That mountain can be anything in our lives, even Fear, doubt and worry, unbelief! In these last days more than ever we need to cling to the words of God and align our hearts, mind and words up with what God has to say about it. It will produce fruit, NOT might, it WILL!
6) Faith IS believing what God said in his word Hebrews 4:2; 2Cor 4:16,18
Faith is an action word; God said it, I believe it, that settles and THEN walking and talking like we mean it...
Finally,
7) Faith is measurable and it can grow, 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Acts 6:7,8
With this world in constant turmoil; with all the truth of God's word coming to pass more and more everyday, would it not be wisdom to KNOW what God says about it all and to be in agreement with him, which will in turn give us HIS peace that passes ALL understanding
And friends I think we can all agree that we ALL need HIS "peace" in these end times.
Tid Bit for you all:
"Sow a thought - reap an act"
Sow an act - reap a habit
Sow a habit - reap a lifestyle
Sow a lifestyle - reap a destiny
The choice is ours. Speak Life Filled Words...
Remember..we serve a mighty God an awesome God and there is nothing that catches him by surprise!
Love In Christ To You All,
Shalom
Pastor Deborah
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Living ForGod In These Last Days Part 1
Living For God In These Last Days Fear is one of the major routes of attack the enemy uses with Gods people. Have you ever stopped to see what brings this fear on us? What constitutes fear? Below are some of the other types of fear that we all need to really look at and take inventory of in our lives. Keeping in mind fear is the opposite of faith; and without faith it is impossible to please God.
1) Fear of poverty; lack, not making ends meets; job playing out; hours cut; pay cuts, not affording food etc
2) Fear of the past; inability to let go of our past and let God; dragging it with us into the now and into our futures; afraid of things being/or relationships being like our dreadful pasts.
3) Fear of future; uncertainty of what will come; afraid of not being able to cope or succeed
4) Fear of sickness; cancer runs in the family, so you guess your next; afraid of the many diseases that are arising in this world
5) Fear of rejection; afraid you wont be accepted by others including family members
6) Fear of man; afraid of venturing outside in some cases because of a fear of being victimized in one form or another; afraid of what men can do to you.
7) Fear of height, flying and the like; these are phobias
These are all signs of our minds under attack from the enemy. Firstly, there is a answer and cure for all the above Jesus! Did you know that the term Fear Not is repeated 366 times in the word of God? God is trying to tell us something, but are we listening? Do we really trust God as much as we claim too, or do we limit our trust in him. Do we put more faith in men and the enemy than we do our heavenly Father? God has not given us the spirit of fear child of God 1 Timothy 1:7, note what he DID give us ( paraphrased ) Love, Power AND a Strong Mind so that leaves only one that plants seeds of fear in minds, Satan. We can choose to receive it or to resist it by the blood of Jesus and according to the word of God.
Sometimes, we bring fear on ourselves to. How? Well what we watch for movies, on TV, what we read, listening to other people. In doing that we give permission for fear to come in. These seeds of fear, if not put in check by casting these thoughts down and speaking the word of God over our minds, can cause a stronghold of fear in our minds to built by the enemy. Our minds are the battleground, we must win the battles of our minds for Christ; our minds are not saved they are to be re-newed or re-trained to think as God would think; therefore the enemy knowing this, thats where he is focusing much of his attacks, he knows already our minds can be vulnerable if NOT renewed to the truths of the word of God. It is up to us to KNOW the word of God, not merely read over it; but to internalize it, deep in our spirit. Worry is a form of fear; Jesus said Matthew 6:25 Casting ALL your Cares/Worry upon him because he cares for you. As a matter of fact Jesus tells us dont worry 6 times! So this brings us back to the question, where does our trust and faith truly lie? Fear is a demon spirit as it is referred to in 1 Timothy above.
Refuse to fear in any way and trust God at HIS word and not that of this world or the god of this world Satan. In closing lets get back to Matthew 6:25 for just a minute. The term care or cares of this life derives from the Greek word merimna Meaning the following: 1) To have anxious cares about present world conditions 2) To be full of concern, anxiety, and worry about the present circumstances 3) To have our minds occupied with the problems of this life 4) Mental suffering or torment, anguish, grief 5) To be harassed by fearful or negative thoughts 6) Troubling of the mind and emotions caused by a painful load of anxious thoughts 7)
Oppression of the mind weighed down by the pressure of circumstances. I pray this will in some way help and minister to you, as our minds must be free of all fear and renewed to Gods word. I wanted to start here because there is so much fear raging in this world and even seeping into the body of Christ! It is up to us to stand up and take control of our own minds by the word of God! Here s a little tid bit to chew on till next time.
Till next time, Keep Looking Up!
Jesus is coming soon! Are you ready?
Pastor Deborah
Living For God Ministries
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