BELIEVERS RECEIVE

 “And blessed [is] she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” 

LUKE 1:39-56

There are many reasons why God’s blessings don’t always come to pass in a person’s life, but the most frequent cause is simply unbelief on our part. There are no limitations on God’s part. He is willing and able to do anything He has promised. The problem is with our believing.

The Lord has given every believer faith (Rom. 12:3). It was given to us at salvation through hearing the Word of God (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 10:17). It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). However, we must choose to exercise it.

Our faith is linked to our knowledge (2 Pet. 1:1-4). What we think on is how we will be (Pro. 23:7). The problem is not that we don’t have faith. The problem occurs when we don’t allow our faith to work because we don’t keep our minds stayed on God’s Word. Then our faith is choked out by the cares of this life (Mk. 4:19).

Keeping our minds stayed on God’s Word will release our faith and thereby release the power of God in our lives. Certainly Mary must have been a person who put God’s Word first in her life. Mary saw a performance of what she believed. We receive what we believe, not what we desire or even need. Today believe the word that the Lord has spoken about you.

Available?

God looks for availability.. Always. “And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”  LUKE 2:21-24.

The Old Testament passage being quoted is from Lev. 12:6-8. There the Lord commanded a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtledove as the prescribed sacrifice. If the woman was unable to offer a lamb, then two young pigeons or two turtledoves were acceptable. Mary would not have offered the lesser offering if it had been in her power to provide the lamb.

This reveals that Joseph and Mary were not well off financially, yet the Lord chose them to be the earthly parents of His only begotten Son. The Lord doesn’t choose the way man chooses. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).

Mary and Joseph were chosen when they were without: without fame, without position, without money. God entrusted the most precious gift He had to a couple who would surely have been overlooked if men had been conducting the search.

God isn’t looking for ability, but rather availability. As a matter of fact the world has never seen what God can do with one man who is totally yielded to Him. In response, you and i should say, “By the grace of God, I’ll be that man.”

God will choose you too, if you’ll make yourself available to Him (1 Cor. 1:26-28).

 

REVELATION KNOWLEDGE

“And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” LUKE 2:25-35

Simeon didn’t receive this knowledge through the normal method of learning. This knowledge was revealed to him directly from the Holy Spirit. This revelation knowledge which comes only from God is distinctly different than knowledge acquired through study. Man’s knowledge is based on observation. It cannot give perfect instruction about the future. God’s knowledge can. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we can know things to come (Jn. 16:13).

When dealing with God, revelation knowledge is essential. The Lord’s ways are not always our ways (Isa. 55:8). A fear of trusting the intuitive knowledge that God gives us will cause us to miss many blessings of God.

If he hadn’t received it and anticipated its fulfillment, what a blessing he would have missed! He would not have been led into the temple at exactly the right moment to see the salvation of the Lord.

We need to ask for and expect to receive revelation knowledge from the Lord. God desires to impart it more than we desire to receive it. Great blessings await those who will not depend solely on their own understanding (Prov. 3:5).

HE BECAME LIKE US

Luke 2:52, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

How could it be that Jesus, who was God (Jn. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16), and in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, increased in wisdom? (Col. 2:3) God is a Spirit (Jn. 4:24). Jesus, as God, had existed as a Spirit forever. When He came to the earth as Jesus, he was Lord at birth, but that was in His Spirit (Lk. 2:11). His Spirit didn’t have to grow or increase in wisdom but His physical body did.

The Lord could have done things differently, but He didn’t. Jesus came into this world in His physical body exactly as we did. He had to grow and learn.He became just like us so that we could become just like Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

This is the great exchange. He became like us so that He could bear all our iniquities and become a mercy high priest for us (Heb. 2:14-18).

Christianity does not produce a changed life but an exchanged life. Christ does not reform us, but He transforms us through His union with us. In the same way that the Eternal Christ could come and inhabit the body of an infant and still retain all His deity, He now inhabits our bodies through the new birth in all His glory and power. Like Jesus, grow in your wisdom and understanding of who you now are in Christ.

Who are you?

Knowing who we are in Christ is one of the most fundamental questions a believer has to deal with..

Watch this!

MT. 4:1-11; MK. 1:12-13; LK. 4:1-13

Two of Satan’s three temptations began with the words, “If you be the Son of God.”

Jesus was God, but he did have a human body that had to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God (Jn. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16; Lk. 2:52). It took faith for the physical mind of Jesus to believe the witness of the Spirit within Him that he was the Messiah. Satan was attacking the most basic of His beliefs. This must have been a temptation to Jesus or Satan would not have used it.

Satan is very subtle in his temptations. It may have looked like he was trying to get Jesus to perform a miracle, but he was actually trying to make Jesus waiver in His faith of who He was. He tried to get Jesus to draw on the supernatural power of God to confirm it to the devil and Himself.

Unlike Jesus, we sometimes fall for this trick of the devil. We may say that we are arguing for some truth of the gospel, but many times we are hoping to convince ourselves. Someone who really knows who they are and what they believe, doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.

Isaiah 30:15 says, “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…” Let the Lord build your confidence in who you are in Christ.

Take pride in your identity in Christ.

THE WORD

Jesus answered every temptation with, “It is written.” The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). It is the only offensive spiritual weapon that we have.

Luke 4:4, “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

 

MT. 4:1-11; MK. 1:12-13; LK. 4:1-13

Since Jesus was the Word of God (Jn. 1:1), anything he would have spoken would have been the Word. He could have said “scat” and the devil would have had to go, yet He quoted the written Word of God three times.

This gives us great assurance that the written Word of God is sufficient for us. Jesus, in the face of the greatest temptations that Satan had to offer, did not need to say anything that was not already recorded in scripture.

It is likely that when Jesus returns to this earth and destroys His enemies, He will just speak the Word that has already been given in scripture. No wonder Satan tries to keep us from studying and knowing God’s Word. Even our good works will hurt us if they keep us from really knowing the scriptures.

God has given us this mighty weapon of His Word! When we speak the Word in faith, hell shakes. Satan and his minions have already experienced what the Word can do. They know its power. We need to know it, too.

SATAN’S POWER IS LTD!!

Luke 4:13, “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.”

MT. 4:1-11; MK. 1:12-13; LK. 4:1-13

The wording of this verse implies that Satan exhausted his arsenal of temptations on Jesus and then had to leave.

We have mistakenly given Satan too much credit. He does not have a limitless number of temptations that he can pull on us. As 1 Jn. 2:16 says, there are three areas where the devil tempts us: (1) the lust of the flesh, (2) the lust of the eyes, and (3) the pride of life. Jesus’ three temptations correspond to these.

By ascribing to Satan limitless temptations and abilities, we have built up our adversary to be bigger than he is. The truth is, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]” (I Cor. 10:13).

Satan would like you to think that he is tougher than he really is. One of his greatest weapons is intimidation, but he has been defeated. His teeth have been pulled. Now he can only roar as a lion seeking to devour uninformed souls who don’t know their authority in Christ (1 Pet. 5:8).

Today, realize that whatever Satan is fighting you with is only temporary. Don’t quit. In due season you will reap, if you faint not (Gal. 6:9).

Are you usable?

“But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all [men].” JOHN 2:18-25..

This was the first time Jesus had ministered in Jerusalem. Multitudes believed on Him when they saw the miracles He performed (v. 23). This looked like a perfect opportunity for Jesus to take these people and use them to spread the news far and wide that He was the Christ. Instead Jesus did just the opposite. He didn’t want people proclaiming His gospel in their own ability.

This reveals an attitude of Jesus which is lacking among many Christians today. Jesus is more concerned with the quality of ministry than the quantity of ministry. In contrast, today’s Christians often feel that “the end justifies the means.”

We take new converts and place them in leadership–which is directly opposed to the Bible’s instructions (1 Tim. 3:6). Many times movie stars or other famous people who have come to the Lord are made spokesmen for the Christian faith. This works to the harm of these people and the Body of Christ as a whole.

Some of you can’t understand why the Lord hasn’t used you, but rest assured the Lord is using everyone who is usable. Instead of looking at the need and begging God to use you, take a hard look at yourself and ask the Lord to make you usable.