"I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Hebrews 2:9, 14-15
9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
No More Dying to Do
Gloria Copeland
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9)Death. It's not a popular topic--even among believers. In fact, a great many are just plain scared of it. Oh yes, they talk about having eternal life. Yet when the devil tries to threaten their earthly survival with sickness or calamity, they panic.
Why? Because they haven't learned to look at death through God's eyes. Even though their spirit has been made immortal, they haven't renewed their minds to include that truth. If they had, when the devil tried to push their panic button, they'd just laugh and say, "You can't scare me, devil. I've done all the dying I'm ever going to do!"
That's true, you know. The Word of God says that you, as a born-again believer, are never going to see death (John 8:51). Jesus has been your substitute. He suffered death, so you wouldn't have to. And when He was raised, Hebrews 2:14-15 says,
"He destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."If you've made Jesus the Lord of your life, the only death you'll ever experience is behind you now. It occurred the instant you received Christ. At that moment, your old self--the one whose nature was to sin and rebel against God--died. Your body didn't die, but your spirit man--the real you-- died to Satan and all of his works. You became "a new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17), immortal and absolutely incapable of death!
When you're finished with your work on the earth, you're not going to die. You'll simply shed your earthly shell and relocate to a far more glorious place.
Go to the Word and get God's perspective on death. Make a study of it. Once the reality of your immortality begins to dawn on you, the devil will never be able to threaten you with it again.
Scripture Study: Hebrews 2:9-15
1 Corinthians 9:27
26 -27I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.
Romans 12:2
:2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
2 Corinthians 5:17
:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Freedom From Bondage Is Your Choice!
Dr. Betty R. Price
Many Christians wait on the Lord to drop the answer to their prayers out of the sky, and when it doesn't happen, they say God has forgotten them. But that is not the case. For the truth about God's love for us, we have to look at our choices.
God gave us free will. It is our choice to follow God's commandments, and when we do, we prosper and live under God's protection. Proverbs 10:22 tells us that, The blessings of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. On the other hand, it is our own choice to follow Satan, who tempts us with evil, then rewards us by killing, stealing and destroying us.
How do we choose to follow the commandments of the Lord? We must first accept Christ as Savior and Lord. Then, we are Christians. That is when the spirit man in us becomes a new creature. Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.Even though our spirit man has become a new creature in Christ Jesus, it is only the correct choices of our soul that keep us from sinning and displeasing God. When Paul speaks of all things having become new, he is talking about the spirit man, not the natural man or the physical body. This lets us that we have to allow the spirit of God and the Word of God to rule our bodies because our bodies are not redeemed and cannot be trusted.
The flesh is ruled by the soul-our intellect, our mind. The flesh will do anything we allow it to do because it has not been changed. There can be outward changes in physical habits when we accept Christ as Lord-people do stop drinking, cursing, smoking, chasing women or men, and lying-but only the inner man takes on the nature of Christ by being born again.
The true man is the spirit man, the one who takes on Christ's nature when we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. We have to use our free will to accept Him and have the righteousness of Christ operate in our lives.
The soul man is our mind, will, emotions and intellect. Satan tries to tempt us by suggesting to our mind to yield to our carnal man, which has not been changed. Our soul man stands between our spirit man and our carnal man, and whichever man is stronger that is the one we yield to. That is why the Word tells us in Romans 12:2 to renew our minds with the Word of God, then we will yield to the spirit and not to the flesh.
Renewing our minds come by hearing the Word of God, practicing the Word of God, memorizing the Word of God and speaking the Word of God. Understanding the makeup of man may better help us understand the part man's will plays in freeing him from Satan's bondage.
The physical man is made up of our senses-seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. Our goal must be to have the physical man come in line with the spirit man, which means we have to submit our ways to the ways of God. The soul makes the choices and tells the body what to do-rightly or wrongly. That is why we must constantly renew our minds so that the soul makes the right choices, being able to say, "No, I will not steal, kill, fornicate, commit adultery. My body is the temple of the living God. I cannot sleep with that woman's husband. I will not load my plate with that pie because my body does not need it. Sexual intimacy must wait for marriage."
The body only comes in line with the Word of God when the soul has been trained to obey the teachings of Christ through the spirit man.
So what must we do to bring ourselves in line with God's Word? We must recognize that Satan constantly brings temptation, because he is waging war to keep us in bondage. To break that bondage, we have to see ourselves as God sees us according to His Word. God sees us as the righteousness of Christ. He views us as more than conquerors. That means that through Him we have conquered disease, poverty, fear, strife and all the evil that Satan tries to bring against us.
Once we see ourselves according to God's Word, Satan can no longer whip us, or defeat us. But even when we are speaking the Word, we have to keep our eyes on the flesh. Paul had to discipline his body, and he was always speaking God's Word. He writes in 1 Corinthians 9:27:
"But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."Discipline takes time and effort. It is an every-hour, every-minute, every-second job to ward off the temptations of the evil one. However, the great rewards of doing so is truly freedom unspeakable and full of glory!
Dr. Betty R. Price plays a vital role in her husband Dr. Frederick K.C. Price's ministry, as well as in the operation of the Crenshaw Christian Center as well as the Fellowship of Inner-City Word of Faith Ministries. She and Dr. Fred Price travel extensively all over the world, ministering the uncompromising Word of God. Dr. Betty also shares her personal testimony, along with the Word, with women’s groups and organizations. Her love and concern for others have led to the establishment of numerous programs and groups. Click here to read more about her.
The Need to Control
1 Samuel 13:13 - "You acted foolishly," Samuel said....
The prophet Samuel had anointed Saul the first king of Israel. Saul was now 30 years old and was leading the nation in battle against the Philistines. The Philistines had gathered at Micmash to come against Saul and his army. The Lord was directing Saul through the prophet Samuel. Samuel instructed Saul to go ahead of him to Micmash, and he would follow in seven days. He would then offer a burnt offering on behalf of the people of Israel.
The pressure began to build as the Philistines gathered around Micmash preparing for battle. The people of Israel grew fearful and began to scatter throughout the countryside. Saul was also afraid. Samuel did not show up on the morning of the seventh day. Finally, Saul, fearing the impending attack, took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering. After he had done this, Samuel showed up.
..."You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you hhad, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command" (1 Samuel 13:13-14).
Saul believed he needed to take control of the situation. Whenever we try to take control of a situation out of God's will, we demonstrate that we are led by fear. Many a boss is so driven by fear that he attempts to manage by overcontrolling his people. This results in codependent relationships in which the employees are fearful of making the wrong decisions, and are driven to please the manager at all costs. This results in loss of respect for the manager. Many times the employees make poor choices just to please their manager; as a result, resentment begins to build among the employees due to the manager's overcontrol.
Do you see any signs of overcontrol in how you relate to others? Can you allow others the freedom to fail? Do you find yourself changing directions in midstream when you see something you don't like? Are you fearful of failure? These are all symptoms of a Saul-control spirit. Pray that God will allow you to walk in the freedom of trusting in Him and those around you.
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