Reform Church Audio Articles

Length: 4 minutes

When you hear that you have been given a gift of righteousness through Jesus, that doesn’t just mean that you are “right in Gods eyes.” It’s not as if you’re really flawed, but God just sees you as righteous. You’ve actually been created in righteousness and holiness, with real godly characteristics!

Ephesians 4:24 (NKJV) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Sometimes people think of new covenant righteousness as just having our sin cloaked before the Father. Or perhaps, being righteous is just a “standing” in which God sees us. Not at all. You’ll notice, Ephesians 4:24 says that we have actually been “created” in “true righteousness and holiness.” It’s a way that God has created you, in your spirit (Hebrews 12:23). It’s not just a cloak that he threw over your sin, so that he wouldn’t have to see it anymore. God has actually re-created you inside (2 Corinthians 5:17). Inside of you is every good, pleasing, and perfect quality about God Himself. In your spirit you’ve been given every right characteristic that God has. You are now as loving, bold, wise, and considerate as God is. All of God’s characteristics have been infused into your born-again spirit, as a gift. And that, because Jesus became sin for us at the cross.

Sometimes, even as believers, if we say something inconsiderate, we feel like an inconsiderate person. If we do something impure, we feel like an impure person. If we do something unwise, we feel like an unwise person. But you could’ve felt that if Jesus never came! Although Jesus did come, and if you received him, something has changed that you’re not recognizing.

You need to remember that God created you in true righteousness, not some figurative righteousness or cloak for your sin. God has gifted you the qualities of being loving, considerate, wise, and right, through Jesus. All you have to do is begin to acknowledge all of these good things inside of you for them to manifest in your actions. But if you’ll judge yourself inconsiderate, impure, or unwise, every time you do something wrong, that’s simply not acknowledging the good things inside of you. And if so, how do we expect them to ever become effectual? 

Philemon 1:6 (KJV) That the communication of thy faith [probably speaking about love, in context] may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

So, as you’re renewing your mind, if you say something unloving, remember that, through Jesus, God has given you the gift of being a loving person. If you do something unwise, remember that God has given you the gift of being a wise person. If you think something wrong, remember that you’ve been given the gift of a mind that always thinks the right thing. All these characteristics are real and truthfully in your spirit right now, but they need to be acknowledged to be effectual!These qualities are the Father’s, and through Jesus, they are yours now as well!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV) For he hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

You didn’t develop these characteristics because of your hard work. All the godliness that you couldn’t develop yourself, Jesus provided to you as a gift, because He became sin for you. The more you acknowledge who you TRULY are in Christ, the more you will manifest who you TRULY are in Him! 

So, it’s not a matter of you becoming a more loving person, more considerate, or becoming wiser. It’s not a matter of becoming a better mom, dad, son, daughter, etc. It’s a matter of acknowledging the good things Jesus has already put inside of you, so that all of the godly characteristics that are truthfully there, can be let out! 

As sure as Jesus became sin for you at the cross, is a sure as you have his righteousness, holiness, and godliness. That’s not a figure of speech or merely a legal standing before God. You’ve actually been created in true righteousness, with true godly characteristics on the inside. For those who are in Christ, you don’t need godliness. You just need to acknowledge the godliness you already have through Jesus, so that it can come out of you!

2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV) as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him…

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Length: 8 minutes

In short, yes, of course you can pray for anyone, at any time, regardless of what you are experiencing physically yourself. Let’s break this down though.

We have a series called “The Power Is Always Flowing” which I would encourage you to check out, but the power of God is not an on and off switch. As you grow in your knowledge, the power of God increases in manifestation from you. And because you are growing in your knowledge, from faith to faith, the Holy Spirit is transforming you from one stage of glory to another stage of glory (Romans 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18). Just because you’re not seeing the power of God fully manifest in one particular area, does not mean at all that the power of God is not working in you mightily. All the contrary, for all believers, the power of God is always working through you, at all times. Never, at any point in time, is the power of God not flowing.

So, if you are sick, handicap, dealing with some wrongdoing, or wrong thinking, go ahead and pray for anyone, for any reason you’d like. You know the Lord! Otherwise, you wouldn’t be a believer. And if you know the Lord, grace is being manifested through you (2 Peter 1:2). The power of God IS flowing through you! Go and heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils. You have freely received everything that Jesus has, so freely give from that abundance (Matthew 10:8)! 

The fact that you are still being transformed from glory to glory is not a disqualification to share the glory of God with somebody else. Otherwise, just about all of us would be disqualified. Just because you have a particular sickness, does not mean the healing power of God is not working in you. Just because you have a particular, temporary handicap, does not mean the strength of God is not working in you. And just because you might be dealing with a particular kind of sin, does not mean you’re not the righteousness of God, and can’t share of that freedom with other people as well. 

It’s not a linear thing. Our minds know different things about Jesus and don’t know other things. While, the things you know about Jesus may need maturity, before seeing a particular healing in your body, for instance, the things you know may be producing just the manifestation to heal someone else’s body. Someone who says, “If you’re sick, then how can you heal someone else?” simply doesn’t understand how receiving from God works.  Just because you’re sick, doesn’t mean you’re not receiving the healing power of God. It may not have sufficiently manifested in one particular area, but the healing power of God is working in you, as long as you’re aware of that particular provision (Philemon 1:6). 

What’s manifesting from you, in this very moment, may not have completely healed a certain area of your body just yet, but it can be the exact thing that someone else needs. And mind you, this power is increasing through us all the time, as we meditate on the truth, so you’ll experience it for yourself too! 

The point that escapes most people is that sickness, handicap, disease etc. is all classified in the Bible as the same thing… Adams “death,” which was passed down from his one sin. And most believers I’ve seen still have a mortal body, which is why they eat, sleep, and take care of themselves. These are not characteristics of the life of God, but of mortality. Yet God has called us to give life to people that are sick, diseased, or even who have died. So should no Christian with a mortal body ever pray, minister, or give life to anyone else, just because they are still growing out of that mortality? Are we to wait until we have a glorified body before we can effectively minister to anyone else? Of course not. Just because a Christian has a mortal body, does not mean that life is not being given to it actively, all the time (Romans 8:10–11). Just because a manifestation is imperfect at a given time, doesn’t mean that rivers of life aren’t flowing! A life that people desperately need, I might add. It’s not all or nothing.

So the question we’re really asking is “Should we continue to pray and minister to people, even before manifesting Jesus through us perfectly?” Of course we should! People need it desperately!

God had Abraham pray for Abimelech’s wives because God had closed their wombs. Abraham prayed for them, and God allowed them to have children again. All the while, Abraham and Sarah were barren themselves! They did eventually see what they wanted manifested in their own bodies, but they prayed for others and saw miracles along the way as well.

Genesis 20:17 (NKJV) So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children;

Not to mention Elisha. Elisha raised someone from the dead when he was in just about the worst bodily condition a person could be in. He was dead himself! And even though Elisha’s body was dead, because it was Elisha’s body, who believed the Lord, his body was still blessed and raised another man from the dead.

2 Kings 13:21 (NKJV) So it was, as they were burying a man… they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

My point is, just because you’re not seeing a particular manifestation the way you want to just yet (and I use the word “yet” intentionally), does not mean that the power of God is not mightily flowing through you. It doesn’t mean you can’t see miracles in your life and in other people’s lives as well.

One last thought that is related to our point: What about preaching? Just because you are still being transformed in various areas of your life, doesn’t mean you can’t preach these things as well! You’re not feeling well? Go ahead and boldly teach on the healing that Jesus provided! You have a family member who has passed away? Go ahead and teach the resurrection Jesus provided with all confidence! Have some gray hair? Go ahead and preach the youth and power that Jesus provided at the cross! On your way to manifesting the glory of God, you’ll benefit yourself and everyone around you in teaching these things! 

And why can we preach these things so boldly, even if we’re still being transformed ourselves? Because we’re not preaching ourselves! We’re preaching Jesus! We never claimed to be the provider of these things, the source, or the savior. We never claimed that we are the standard for people to look at to determine their inheritance. We never claimed that people are healed based on what we do or experience. We preach that people are healed and transformed based on what Jesus has done and experienced. We are preachers of Jesus, and we only claim to be the recipients, who are full inside, and manifesting it from glory to glory as we believe! That’s all. 

It’s not hypocritical or contradictory in the least to preach on righteousness, health, youth, power to wealth, or any other good thing, regardless of what we see in our lives. We’re preachers of what Jesus has done, not what we have done. We’re preachers of what Jesus has accomplished, not what we have manifested. 

It’s by Jesus stripes people were healed, regardless of how you feel. Jesus became sin that we might become the righteousness of God, regardless of what you do. If you’re a preacher of Jesus, and Jesus is still the same, then what’s the problem? Keep preaching that good news! You’re simply a believer in what Jesus has done! You’re not the hero yourself!

2 Corinthians 4:5 (NKJV) For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.

And all of this is not even mentioning the fact that, even if you haven’t seen a particular manifestation in your flesh yet, you can let everybody know, “Oh you’ll see it manifest very soon. I assure you of that.” That’s called “hope.”

So keep preaching, keep laying hands in the sick, keep raising the dead, keep ministering and don’t stop! Don’t let a lie from the devil prevent your effectiveness in ministry. People need the Jesus you have. So go give it to them! 

If this blessed you, share this with someone else!