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The Present Truth Magazine (Email)
April 2007


Abundant Life Covenant Church Logo

FROM THE EDITOR’S HEART

Recently my husband and I saw the movie “The Last Sin Eater,” and something unusual happened—my husband shed a few tears. Of course, I spilled more than a few, but rarely does he cry during a movie. The inspirational theme of the movie—the redemption of Christ—moved both of us deeply because we have experienced His redeeming love and mercy. Like the film’s characters, we have come to realize that there is only One who can keep us in good standing with the heavenly Father.  

…now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ… through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:13, 18). 

With patience and grace, Holy Spirit persistently teaches me the significance of what took place at the cross event. When Jesus traded His life for ours, His blood cleansed us from sin and redeemed, justified, and sanctified us. As we submit to the Word and Spirit, the ongoing work of the cross in our lives keeps us free from the bondages of sin, bad habits of the flesh, destructive emotions, and worldly lusts (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20, 5:24, 6:14). 

As we embrace the cross and let our old nature die, the vibrant life of Christ comes forth. Being an expression of Christ’s life is the best way we can honor Him this Easter season. 

…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matt. 16:24-25).

Sincerely in Christ,
Christa Clark
Editor


New

THE LAST DISCIPLE is a well-written novel that is a good alternative to the left-behind series.  It is written from what we consider a partial-preterist viewpoint; i.e. that the great-tribulation and most of the book of revelation was written about and fulfilled in the first century.  Reading it is an excellent way to both enjoy a novel and gain a scriptural understanding of how Jesus' and His apostles prophecies were fulfilled in the first century.
Read More

 

5 Powerful Booklets

Click Here To

$10.00

or view them individually:

Spiritual Israel: Then and Now

Armageddon

Holy Spirit and Humanity

Divorce, Remarriage, and Apostolic Doctrine

The Perpetual Lie About Lucifer

 

Announcements:

You can now listen to our Sunday Sermons online!  Click on our Sermons page.

We are also making some of our sermon series available for purchase on the web.  These are messages that have been brought by the pastors of our church that we believe would be beneficial to the body of Christ at large.  Subjects include:

*Who is This Babylon: Teaching through the book of Revelation from a past-fulfillment covenantal perspective.

*The Power of Positive Thinking: How to be Holy Spirit led, Bible inspired, positive thinkers in Christ.

*Wealth, Riches & Money: Teachings on finances & stewardship.

*God, Man, & Miracles: How miracles can be experienced today with many practical examples.

*Hebrews: Covenants in Contrast: An in-depth study of the book of Hebrews from the past-fulfillment covenantal perspective.

By way of encouragement, we continue to receive regular additions to our magazine, as well as e-mail newsletter, Present Truth Newsletter.  We have also been receiving e-mails from all over our nation and the world from people whom God has in the process of reform.  God is continuing to reform His church and He is faithful to remind us through the testimonies of His people!

For Further Study

Spiritual Israel: Then & Now by Marti Mikl

SPIRITUAL ISRAEL: THEN & NOW
There exists a great debate today as to who the true Israel of God is.  Is it a small nation of people in the middle east, or is it a spiritual people? Spiritual Israel: Then & Now is a reader friendly, yet thorough, study of Israel from the covenantal perspective.  Today, all who are in Christ make up the Israel of God....
Read More

 

If you would like to add someone to our Present Truth Magazine mailing list, visit our Present Truth Magazine Page


Dear Present Truth Magazine Subscriber:

We are glad to have you as a subscriber to our Present Truth Magazine.  Below you will find articles from individual authors who have written for our magazine.   Our prayer for all who receive read these articles is that the Lord "...may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:17-18).

Resurrection—Fact or Fable?
By A. Wilson Phillips
 

When Jesus Christ, the Son of God/Man, was in His earthly ministry, He said, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven…” (John 3:13). This statement tells us that the Old Testament saints must have been in Sheol (Hades) awaiting the time that they could go to heaven. Scripture helps us to understand this and the importance of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and God’s covenant people. 

God’s prophet Hosea said, 

After two days He will revive us;

On the third day He will raise us up,

That we may live in His sight...

I will ransom them from the power of the grave (Sheol);

I will redeem them from death (i.e., spiritual death) (Hos. 6:2, 13:14). 

Scripture says that when Jesus was crucified, 

the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His (Jesus’) resurrection, they went into the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many (Matt. 27:51-53). 

Jesus was the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest. More would follow (Lev. 23:4-14). Jesus and these “firstfruit saints” were taken to heaven: 

Therefore He says:

       “When He ascended on high,

       He led captivity captive,

       And gave gifts to men”

(Now this, “He ascended”— what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things) (Eph. 4:8-10).  

God raised up Jesus and these Old Testament saints (1 Cor. 15:1-24). Jesus was glorified; His prayer (recorded in John 17) was answered:  

…Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that your Son may also glorify You,

as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was (John 17:1-5).  

After God emptied Sheol (Hades) and took the Old Testament firstfruit saints to heaven, the way into heaven was opened up for the rest of God’s covenant people to be spiritually joined to the resurrected Christ; “…he who is joined to the Lord (resurrected Christ) is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17). This spiritual union is made clear to us through Jesus and His apostles. God identified us with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection.  

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Rom. 6:5-6). 

We have become partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). In Him we live and move and have our being through the new birth into the resurrected living Christ. We become Father God’s divine offspring as joint heirs with Jesus Christ, our elder brother. 

Since the time of the return of Jesus in judgment [parousia (par-a-see-ah)] in 67-70 A.D., those in Christ have transitioned into their spiritual bodies in heaven when they died physically (2 Cor. 5:1-5, 1 Cor. 15:44); the fate of the unrighteous is condemnation and destruction (John 5:24-29). Jesus said, 

…I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die (physically), he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26).  

I believe Jesus and His apostles’ divinely inspired words. God’s Word and Holy Spirit bears witness to my spirit of these truths. 

When we know the truth concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and God’s covenant people, we will have a positive outlook toward God, ourselves, and the future. Truly, the best is yet to come.

A. Wilson Phillips is the co-founding and senior pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.

ALIVE FOREVERMORE
By Richard K. Clark
 

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death (Rev. 1:18).   

When Jesus arose from the grave, the world as it was would never be the same. He conquered death and Hades (the domain of the dead), and for all in Him, Christ fully dealt with sin, which had brought death. Our Lord became sin, died to sin, and we died to sin along with Him by faith (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 6). 

… knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God (Rom. 6:6-10).  

Our Lord’s body and blood sacrifice leading to His resurrection was a permanent solution for Him and for us. He offered one sacrifice for sins forever (Heb. 10:12), ushering us into a new and better covenant with better promises. Here are a few of the “forevermore blessings” that we have in Christ:  

Eternal salvation                   (Heb. 5:9)

Eternal redemption               (Heb. 9:12),

Eternal inheritance    (Heb. 9:15)

Everlasting covenant             (Heb. 13:20)

Everlasting kingdom             (2 Pet. 1:11)

Eternal life                            (1 John 5:11) 

This eternal life is more than a length of days—it’s a quality of life as well. The eternality of God Himself has become our life. Rather than creating a different life for us, He gave us His own. God’s life-essence has no beginning or end; He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere-present. He is the “all-sufficient One”; therefore, the life that we have in Christ is all we will ever need. We are partakers of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places as we still reside in these earthly bodies (Eph. 1:3). 

We have been transferred into the infinite, timeless presence of God, and we will spend our forever with Him learning what it means to be “alive forevermore”!

Richard K. Clark is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.

Resurrection Under Authority
By Benjamin Davis 

I once had a Bible student friend in college who visited our church. After attending several times, he became offended at how often we talked about “authority.” Since he was honest enough to share his offense with me, I suggested that he take time to do a little research with his Bible concordance on the subject of authority. After a few weeks, he returned expressing amazement about how much the Scripture deals with the subject of authority. It was always there; he just hadn’t seen it before. 

During Jesus’ 3 ½-year ministry, He often predicted His death, burial, and resurrection. Nevertheless, when the time came, His disciples still did not understand it. Though Jesus had predicted it, the prophets before Him predicted it, Moses symbolized it, and Abraham/Isaac foreshadowed it—the disciples could not see it until God revealed it to them. 

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus were ultimately an issue of authority. In one of Jesus’ predictions of this event, He said: 

The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father (John 10:17-18, NIV). 

Some translations translate “I have authority” as “I have power.” The Greek word is exousia, which is best translated “executive authority.” 

Jesus had received executive authority from His Father not only to lay down His life on the cross, but also to resurrect it on the third day. 

Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple He had spoken of was His body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken (John 2:18-22, NIV). 

Jesus’ ability to “raise it again” was not a God trick, as many would assume. He lived in perfect harmony with His heavenly Father and remained under His authority. Everything that He did, He did as a man with God’s anointing and power. Having the testimony of “this command I received from My Father” gave Him executive authority even in the matter of His own resurrection.   

Understanding Jesus’ resurrection under authority has great meaning for us today. Just as Jesus had authority to lay down His life and take it up again, so we who are in Christ have been given authority to lay down our lives—the old flesh, habit patterns, and things that hold us in bondage. Just as Jesus was given executive authority to raise His life up again, so we who are in Christ have been given executive authority to take up a new life in Christ, free from all bondage and fear. As long as we remain under Father God’s command, we have His executive authority to successfully live like Jesus. That is truly abundant life

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (executive authority) to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).

Benjamin Davis is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church

JOB’S PANIC ATTACKS
By Jonathan Clark 

The psalmist David wrote:  

Come, you children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps. 34:11). 

God developed a fear of the Lord in His servant David. There was another man from the Old Testament that feared the Lord—the suffering servant Job. 

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1).  

The Lord actually said of Job: 

Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth…he holds fast to his integrity… (Job 2:3).  

God in His sovereignty decided to take Job deeper in godly fear. Like David, Job learned to say, “I will teach you about the hand of God…” (Job 27:11). As the Lord began revealing Himself to Job at a deeper level, there is a recurring theme in Job’s words. 

…The terrors of God are arrayed against me… (Job 6:4).

 

For destruction from God is a terror to me… (Job 31:23).

 

Then You scare me with dreams

And terrify me with visions… (Job 7:14). 

Job, who already had a reverential fear of God, was learning that God’s fear can…at times…if necessary…take on a whole new quality—one of terror and dread. 

For He performs what is appointed for me,

And many such things are with Him.

Therefore, I am terrified at His presence;

When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

For God made my heart weak,

And the Almighty terrifies me(Job 23:14-16).  

In his terrifying suffering from the Lord, Job did not consider that the devil or any other being could generate such terror; he knew that only God was capable of this. He began to loathe life (7:16; 10:1) and developed bitterness of soul (7:11; 10:1), for the thing he had greatly feared came upon him (3:25). Yet, in all this, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong (1:22). In chapter 18, Job refers to the “king of terrors” (v. 14) as he explains that the wicked can also expect terrors from God. (I am reminded of Hollywood’s depiction of this in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” when the unworthy treasure seekers inadvisably opened their latest find—the historical ark of the covenant. What was initially for them a source of joyous beauty became a source of terrible fear.) 

It wasn’t just Job who experienced God’s manifest presence in a terrifying way. 

And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling(Heb. 12:21).

 

(Isaiah said,) Woe is me, for I am undone!

…For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts … (Isa. 6:5).

 

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him (Gen. 15:12).  

When God initially revealed His presence to Saul (the future Paul), Saul was trembling and was unable to see (Acts 9:2-9). Zacharias was unable to speak (Luke 1:22). Jesus explained it this way:  

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body… (Matt. 10:28). 

Whether God is revealing His terrifying fear because of sin or apart from sin, His purposes are always redemptive, leading us to a better life! Saul (Paul) immediately called him Lord. Isaiah was convinced. Moses got the point. God had Abram’s full attention. Job’s understanding of God was deeper than ever before:

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,

But now my eye sees You (Job 42:5).  

Job’s panic attacks ended. He lived a better life (Job 42:12). 

When all these men properly learned the fear of God, they no longer had unhealthy fears of men. 

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day… (Ps.91:5).  

The lives of these men were better as a result of understanding the fear of the Lord. They were able to live in true peace and joy and prosperity. Such was also the case with me when I began to surrender to the great and awesome Lord—my terror attacks ceased, and I was able to live in peace and joy. My life has been so much better since I learned the fear of the Lord.

Jonathan Clark is an elder of Abundant Life Covenant Church and a physician in Springfield, Missouri.

STRONGER FOR THE STRUGGLE
By Shari Tyson
 

This past year has been one of great challenges for my husband Tom and me, not the least of which was a health issue that arose shortly after he started a new job. When the offer for this new job came, we prayed for God’s guidance and wisdom and sought wise council from our pastor. It didn’t take long for us to realize this was the next step we were to take in our journey of faith.

Shortly after Tom began his new job, we found ourselves in a much different situation than we had anticipated when we made the decision. Suddenly, Tom was in the proverbial pressure-cooker job. For the first time in many years, stress became an ongoing factor in his everyday activities. Though we have understanding as to how to walk with peace in the midst of difficult situations, this challenge became a great test of our faith. It wasn’t long before he began to experience some difficulty with his health. Though the problem was actually a progression of an ailment he had dealt with for many years, it most likely was exacerbated by the stress of his job. 

Because of the situation’s serious consequence, I found myself wondering about God’s intentions for leading us into this new job. Though the travel was getting tiring with Tom’s previous job, it was one that he enjoyed. His potential for progressing in the company was limited because we would not leave this geographical area, but it was a good, stable financial provision.   

When this job offer came to us two years ago, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity for Tom to change his travel schedule and career focus. However, things began to change quickly after his hiring, and we saw that God had a different purpose in our being there than we had thought. This was certainly okay with us, but we had no idea how much stress it would bring to our life. 

At one point, I said to our pastor, “Surely, God didn’t bring us here to destroy Tom’s health!” I knew that wasn’t the case—but as I watched my husband endeavor to fulfill God’s plan in this new calling with integrity, as I listened to his recounting of each day’s challenges, as we prayed earnestly for God’s wisdom, as he faithfully shared truth with his new coworkers and purposed to be a testimony of doing business God’s way—I became hurt in my heart for the increased challenges he began to face in his physical body. And, in honesty, I have to say that I asked God, “Why?” 

Then, the other day, I was going over one of my pastor’s sermon outlines. (The Lord has directed our pastor to speak on “Divine Healing” in recent weeks. Coincidence in timing for my husband and me? I think not!)  I was reading the verse in which God reveals Himself as Jehovah Raphe, our Healer. I decided to go back a few chapters and pick up the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt.   

God told Moses to lead the people out and to camp by the sea. Then He said to Moses, “…I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them…” God was willingly and purposefully putting the children of Israel into a very difficult situation. However, God continues,  

…and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.  

That the Egyptians may know; the Israelites already knew this, or so they should have! 

However, we know the story. The Israelites became fearful and, in their fear, accused Moses of misleading them and irresponsibly leading them to what appeared to be their deaths. But Moses said: 

Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today…The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace (Ex. 14:13-14). 

Yes, God led the people out of Egypt. And, yes, He hardened Pharaoh’s heart to cause him to pursue them! However, He didn’t do it to terrorize the Israelites but to express His power to them and to confirm His loving protection and desires for them.   

I must go deeper still in my understanding of God’s ways. God does not fear my questions, but I have found that as I wrestle with them—if I do not let go of God—He will bless me as He did Jacob. And though He may have to touch my hip that I would walk with a limp, I will be stronger for the struggle.  

Shari Tyson leads the nursery ministry at Abundant Life Covenant Church.

Thanks in the Middle
By Cassandra Walker 

As I was thumbing through my Bible recently, I saw a Post-it note marking Luke 4:18-19:  

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.  

Jesus is quoting this passage from Isaiah, illustrating that He is the fulfillment of it. On June 23, 2004, I felt in my spirit that the Lord wanted me to consider this passage my calling as well. So, on my note I wrote, “This is why I woke up this morning. This is why I draw my next breath. This is why I’m granted another heart beat.” I like to review the note from time to time because it helps keep me grounded. I may have the daily circumstances of being a human on this planet swirling around in my brain, but I can read this and be snapped back into the proper perspective. 

Recently, when I reviewed this passage again and its application to me personally, I thought about the time of testing that I’ve been going through, and I did something that I have never done before—I thanked Father God for the test as I was experiencing it. I rehearsed in my mind the past trials that the Lord has allowed me to experience and started thinking about how every time I leaned on Him for guidance, there was always a reward on the other side. I began to realize that the Lord desires to give me something, so He is moving me towards what He has for me. For the first time, I thanked the Lord out loud for the current test I was experiencing while I was still experiencing it. I believe that it was the grace of the Holy Spirit to lead me to do this. This isn’t something that I could have come up with!  

After I did this, my trial did not instantly ease up. In fact, it pretty much stayed the same. However, the trial was easier to face knowing that it was designed to equip me to fulfill my calling. Thanking Father God while it was still going on helped me to maintain more of a thankful attitude even though the stress level remained the same. 

It seems the Lord tests me in three areas: money, relationships, and health. Father God has tested all of humanity in these same areas regardless of whether they are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Universalist, atheistic, Christian, etc. Knowing that I can’t escape the trials of life, I desire to accept this and learn how to go through them well. My pastor has said, “You can get there in a beat up Volkswagen Bug, or you can get there in a Cadillac.” I would like to learn how to keep peace in my heart during all of life’s experiences, whether it be tests or times of refreshing that come after the trials are resolved. Only the Holy Spirit of the God of Abraham, poured out by Jesus Christ, can show me how to continue to experience joy in the middle of a trial. 

Cassandra Walker and her husband Gavin own MedTech Medical Management Systems in Springfield, Missouri.

EASTER REDEMPTION
By Mamie Tally 

As a child, I always greatly anticipated Easter. Each year, my Christian parents would hide candy and treasure-filled baskets in our small country trailer. My sister and I would awaken early to find our baskets, and then we would get ready for the Easter sunrise church service. 

My Great Grandmother Dimple was a very special part of my life when I was young. It was very common for my sister and me to call her regularly from our party line phone to share exciting news and make arrangements to visit her home. 

One Easter season when I was four years old, I was anxious to talk to Grandmother Dimple on the phone. After acquiring permission from my mother, I picked up the phone receiver to dial Grandma’s telephone number. To my surprise and irritation, our country neighbor, Mrs. Maston, was already using the party line telephone. I replaced the telephone receiver, prepared to wait my turn as my parents had taught me. Several times I picked up the receiver to see if the line was free, but Mrs. Maston continued to occupy the line. Finally, my childhood patience ran out. I picked up the receiver and said very clearly to Mrs. Maston, “Get off the phone, you old bag” and quickly hung up. A short time later, the phone rang, and my mother answered it. Mrs. Maston had recognized my voice and called to discuss my behavior with my mom.  

After careful deliberation, my parents decided to take away my Easter basket until I apologized to Mrs. Maston. I remember staring longingly at that Easter basket with a queasy feeling in my stomach. I dreaded having to talk to Mrs. Maston. Even at the age of four, my pride made it difficult to call and apologize. 

My mother, in her wisdom, enlisted my Grandma Dimple’s help to convince me to make that humbling telephone call. Grandma and my parents shared with me that I should respect my elders, speak kindly to others, and ask forgiveness when I hurt others. I obeyed my parents, humbled myself, and called Mrs. Maston and apologized. Two good things happened: my parents returned my Easter basket, and Mrs. Maston became my friend. 

That Easter, the Lord used my family and neighbor to show me the benefits and blessings of repentance and redemption. It was no coincidence that twelve years later, around Easter time, the Lord used the principle of repentance to draw a confused and willful teenager back to Him. Over the years, I have had many opportunities at home, church, and work to apply that lesson of repentance. I have learned that repentance is never easy if it comes from the heart, but the benefits of restored relationships far outweigh the momentary discomforts of humbling myself to another. 

Mamie Tally is an audiologist for St. John’s ENT Clinic in Springfield, Missouri.

GOD’S CALLING
By Paul Gabbert 

Christ obeyed, to the point of death
And fulfilled His calling as a faithful Son
For on the cross He had prayed
That His Father’s will be done. 

Tortured, bruised, and battered
How can we even comprehend His pain?
Yet it pleased our Father that by His stripes
Our healing God would bring.  

All the world’s sin and darkness—future, present, past
God placed on His shoulders
He who knew no sin had to suffer,
The additional agony of a spiritual death
Freeing man forever from Satan’s grasp.

Yet even the grave could not hold Him
As the Scriptures had prophesized
In three days He arose
Oh how God’s enemy Lucifer was surprised! 

Yes, all the heavens must have shouted for joy
As Christ stormed the gates of hell
And took back the keys, setting the captives free
As the prince of darkness fell.

Sin, self, and Satan in our bodies must now no longer reign
Bought by Christ, our bodies are no longer our own
For by the Perfect Lamb’s spilled blood, our redemption came.

We are slaves now to righteousness
To perform His ministry
Speaking words and living lives of faith
For all to hear and see

By the fruit of these words of spirit and life, we will daily overcome
And see the kingdoms of this world
Become the Kingdoms of Christ the Son
As we fulfill our calling and God’s perfect will is done. 

Paul Gabbert owns and operates R & P Cleaning Service.

WISDOM
By A. Wilson Phillips

When Jesus Christ grew up in the city of Nazareth, it was not considered a good place to raise a child to be successful. The environment did not lend itself to that end according to the philosophy and wisdom of men. However, the wisdom of God makes foolish the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:20). 

The Jewish educational philosophy focused on imparting wisdom that would give the child the ability to judge and act according to God’s directives in every area of life. The wisdom of God tells how to order one’s values—which leads to character development, which leads to wholeness, which leads to satisfaction in living. Wisdom that originates in God and not man comes by attention to instruction. Wisdom and righteousness go together. It is good to be wise, and it is wise to be good. 

Evil men suffer the consequences of their evil deeds. The simple, the fool (atheist), the lazy, the ignorant, the proud, and the sinful are never to be admired or idolized.  

These truths are some of the basic principles that Jesus Christ was taught from His infancy. 

After Jesus was circumcised under the law and covenant of Moses, His parents returned from Jerusalem to Nazareth to raise Him.  

And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2:40). 

When Jesus was about 30, His heavenly Father led Him to the Jordon River to be baptized. 

…and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). 

Jesus then began His public ministry. He imparted godly wisdom to those who would receive Him and His message. The tragedy is that the majority rejected Him. This still happens today. Divine wisdom is lacking in our postmodern world. 

In about 62 A.D., Jesus’ brother James wrote a divinely inspired letter to the twelve Jewish tribes of Israel who were scattered in Gentile lands outside their homeland. He said, 

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). 

God does not remind us of our unworthiness. He has made us accepted in Christ. Christ has been made unto us wisdom from God—and righteousness…” (1 Cor. 1:30).  

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:13-17). 

Today, my challenge to all believers in Christ is to earnestly seek the God of the Bible and ask Him to “…give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17). The best is yet to come.

POWER HOUSE
College/Career Ministry

Bears Mall – National & Grand, Suite H
 

bulletA place for students to hang out
bulletComputers with Internet access
bulletWi-Fi for laptops
bulletBig-screen TV
bulletFood, fun, fellowship

IN-DEPTH BIBLE STUDIES
Tuesdays & Thursdays
7 to 9 p.m.
(Tuesdays—pre-meeting dinner @ 6:30)
 

OUTREACH & SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
Sundays
7 to 9 p.m. 

Phone: 863-POWER (7693)
www.powerhouseministry.
net

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