Spot On With The Word

Once we understand what it means to call on the highest-ranking name in the universe and honestly believe that we have access to Him by that name, it will transform our entire paradigm for living. This is the good news of the gospel. In the book of Exodus there is the story of the burning bush. God speaks to Moses through a burning bush and instructs him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to, “ Let my people go!” Moses asks God an incredibly significant question. “Who shall I say sent me?” He is going to a ruler to demand the release of millions of people. Moses’s question is legitimate. He wants to know on whose authority he will be speaking. What right does Moses have to demand anything from the highest-ranking authority. He was no equal. BUT GOD WAS MORE THAN PHAROAH’S EQUAL! MOSES WAS NOT SPEAKING ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY, RATHER HE WAS SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE AUTHORITY OVER THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. In the King James version God answers and says, “Tell them, I AM THAT I AM.” The closest translation means,” I will be what they need me to be, when they need me to be it.” In other scriptures Jesus identifies Himself by saying, “ I am The Light of the world.” “ I am The Bread of Life.” “ I am Living Water.” “ I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE” God said,” I AM THAT I AM!” In the desert God was the fire and the cloud. Whatever you need Him to be, that is what He will be. When you call on the name of Jesus, He steps into your situation. Call on Him today. He is waiting for you to ask Him to reveal to you His presence and His power!

When Adam was given dominion, he was also given the responsibility to name creation. Whatever he called it, that is what it was. The highest authority is given the right to name something. This is the reason that the authority of Jesus can never be questioned. God exalted Him and named Him above every other name. The name of Jesus outranks every other name. Do you remember how the angel of the Lord visited the virgin Mary? He tells her that she would give birth and have a son. He told her that she would call his name Jesus. The angel never gave Mary the right to name Jesus. He was named by God. Mary never had authority over Jesus. His heavenly Father named Him and told her what to call Him. This is so beautiful and critical to us that we understand the gift that God gave Jesus and that He in turn gave us when He gave us permission to use His name over the heartaches and crises of our lives. Whatever you may be facing when you call on the name of Jesus, you have literally invited the power of God into your circumstances. When God shows up, He will then show out. You can count on it!

Have we been living far beneath our God given potential because we never understood or applied the powerful name of Jesus? Is it possible that the very name of Jesus, when spoken with heartfelt belief can heal the sick and move mountains? Scripture teaches us that this is exactly true. God exalted Him and named Him above every other name and then Jesus turned and gave us the permission to use His authority to transact Kingdom business in the earth. This is important because the ability and the authority to name something is one of the blessings and privileges of dominion. When God created Adam, he created him in His image and then gave him dominion over all the earth. He gave Adam the right to name the creatures of the earth. Creation did not get a vote. Adam decided. We understand that the power to name is given to the one who has the greater authority. This is critical. Do not let anyone give something a name in your life that is contrary to what God has called it. Do not submit to the authority of anyone else who negatively defines you or your life experience. Do not even do it to yourself. It is easy to do when you are hurt or agitated. You empower what you name. Be careful what you declare is unattainable, impossible, or unforgiveable. Be careful who you say is unlovable. Some circumstances that you declare are destructive were meant to develop you. David said, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” In the beginning, he names it,” The valley of the shadow of death.” When he came out of the other side of the valley, it was named the “valley of fear no evil.” He came through it and out the other side of it. No human on earth can dispute the power in the name of Jesus because they will never be able to dispute the power of THE ONE who named Him.

Philippians Chapter 2 vs. 9, tells us that God has highly exalted Jesus and named Him. Not only did He name Jesus, but God gave Him a name that is above every other name. Jesus has supreme authority. The writer goes on to say, “At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow. Those that are in heaven, those on the earth and those under the earth.” There is no other name that is more powerful. What could we accomplish if we really believed in the power of The Name of Jesus? In scripture Jesus tells His disciples that they would go out in His name, lay hands on the sick and they would recover. We would have the ability to speak to mountains and they would be removed and cast into the sea. It has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with the power that is in The Name of Jesus. His name is superior in all things. It will do no good unless we use the name and activate the power over the situation or circumstances. We go to doctors for a diagnosis. Jesus can not only diagnose the problems accurately in your life, but HE IS THE SOLUTION. All through the day, NAME HIS NAME when the other names seek to overwhelm you. When you introduce His name into the crisis, the atmosphere must change.

There are aspects and facets of God’s nature at you may never have known before. It is God’s desire to be known. He cannot be understood, but He can be known by us. Our God does not require explanation. All you will need is an experience with Him. The person with an experience with God, will never be at the mercy of the individual with an argument. There will be occasions where the anointed Word of God will literally seem to jump off the pages with Divine revelation. Such is the case in the book of Philippians the second chapter. The Apostle Paul says in verse nine,” God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name.” You can draw strength from that. Each of us are walking through challenges in our lives, particularly at this present moment. Every one of those challenges has a name. We can rejoice that no matter how difficult a situation that name represents; Jesus has been given a name that is above that name. The word “above” literally means “seniority or rank”. It is given to a high ranking official. The name of Jesus outranks every other name. That is good news. If you were in the military, you would understand that a grunt from a general outweighs a soliloquy from a sergeant. This is because of the bars and the stripes that the general has earned. When he speaks, he has greater authority. The Bible declares in the book of Ecclesiastes that, “The word of the king has power and who can question it?” Today, if you are facing a problem, a sickness, or a challenge, I would encourage you to name it. Whatever name it has, you can then call on the name of Jesus. His name outranks any other name in heaven, on the earth or below it.

We have been considering the activation of truth in our lives. It really does not matter what you believe if it is not translated into a living reality. It also will not help you, if you can believe for someone else, but not for yourself. There are some who can pray and believe God for others, but they are unable to activate faith for themselves. An activated truth brings visible, tangible results. We should see fruit. We should see results in this life. We should see the goodness of God manifested today! Scripture tells us that, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!”  Once you have recognized, received, cooperated, and wrestled with truth, the last step is you must learn to rest in the truth. The visible proof that you are believing in something is the act of resting. This is an outward proof of an internal confidence. You must learn to labor into rest. You may not always see the results immediately of a promise for which you are believing. Rest in The Lord. Rest in His Word to you. As you do this, you will experience more of the goodness of God and the fulfillment of His truth in your life.

Most people do not listen to what you say as much as they watch what you do. Our faith is something that must be something bigger than the pages of a book. It must be demonstrated by our choices. Faith without activation through cooperation manifests nothing. It is of no use. For our faith to be strong we must be not only hearers of The Word of God, but doers as well. If faith is not activated, there will be no fruit of what you say you believe in your life. God’s promises are to be revealed in our present not just for our future. We must recognize truth, receive it, and cooperate with it. The fourth step is that you may have to wrestle with it. You may be standing on a specific promise from God and time seems to stand still and nothing is moving in the direction of that promise. This is when we must learn to stand, irrespective of what we see with our natural eyes. God’s timing is not ours. His ways are not ours. Wrestling with The Truth is tough. We are the most vulnerable when we have not yet seen the manifestation of a promise in our lives. What would happen if you grabbed hold of every truth in God’s Word and you refused to let go? Do not be frustrated during your season of wrestling. God responds to the intensity of your desire!

Do you want every promise God has for you in His Word to become a reality? Then you must cooperate with your faith to bring it to pass. You will first have to discern truth and then receive it. Next you will have to cooperate with what you say you believe. Many people believe that exercize is good for the body. It will not do them any good personally however, unless they engage with that belief by exercizing. The Bible teaches us that faith without works is dead. You don't have to work to earn salvation, but in order to activate the priciples of the truth and promises of God, you must participate by acting on them. If you believe in the principle of forgiveness, then you will have to choose to put forgiveness into practice in your life. The walk of faith was never to be only cognative in nature. It was to be an experience that results in a manifestation. Sometimes it may feel that you are being asked to walk on water. Faith will require that you step out of your comfort zone and into the arena where the supernatural can occur. God honors faith. It is an action word. He will meet you there.

We are continuing to consider why we do not always see in our life experiences the truth that we profess to believe. Faith comes by hearing, but it is an action word. We must be active in our faith. To see the manifestation of the promises of God in our lives, we must be active participants. We must cooperate with the process. Are we doing what we need to do so that our spiritual walk with the Lord is more than just a cognitive belief system? An inactive faith is like an automobile with no ignition. The first step is recognition. It is imperative that we learn to recognize and discern the voice of truth when we hear it. God gives both the seeing eye and the hearing ear. These are gifts from God. The more you engage the more they are developed. The second step goes beyond recognition to reception.  In John chapter 1, scripture tells us that “ Jesus came unto His own but His own received Him not. But to as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God.” Reception is the seed for power. You receive the power to become. Jesus can not do anything beyond an individual’s ability to receive Him. Reception of Him determines what you can receive from Him. Do you have a hard time receiving? It is not based on your worth. It has everything to do with His worth. God loves and desires you. Do not eliminate yourself from the blessing.

Pastor Scott begins our second season with a series on what it means to have a healthy soul. In 3rd John the second verse, the scripture says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” The word prosper has little to do with finance in this verse. It literally means to be healthy and without limitation. It means to be without need. It is important to differentiate the parts of our being. We are created in the image of God. He is a triune being. He is God the Father. He is God the Son and He is God the Holy Spirit. He is three in One. We are created in His likeness and in His image, so it stands to reason that we would be three in one. We are a spirit; we have a soul and we live in a body. It is our spirit that interacts with God when we are born again. That transaction can take place in a minute because of a decision. Our soul, however, is in the process of being saved. Psalm 23 says, “ He restores my soul.” Deliverance is past, present, and future. My spirit is instantly saved, my soul is being saved and my body will ultimately be saved. Deliverance is a continual process. It is not one event. Your soul is made up of your mind, will and emotions. This series will deal with what it means to think healthy thoughts which will result in making healthy choices and decisions. That is the will of God for each of us.