“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19

Jesus said “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” John 14:12 

The Christ follower has been created in the workmanship of Jesus for good works. This work is accomplished through the Holy Spirit who is sealed in all believers.

The works are created by prayer and faith in the words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit anoints a believer and equips him with the gifts of the Spirit to do the works. 

The works must be ordained by the Holy Spirit without self interests. Many of the works in Christianity come through religion and without the auspices of the Holy Spirit.

There are many kinds of ministry but the starting point is a lifestyle ministry. Jesus said he who believes in Me will be a fountain of Living Water touching all those in his life. This can be a smile, genuine concern for an individual or kind, caring words.

The anointed believer does not really have to do or say anything because the light of Jesus is a powerful witness. People will be attracted to the light because the authenticity of Jesus is evident.

The ministry of Jesus is to bind evil and loose the light of Jesus on the earth. This work has lasting effects in heaven.

The believer binds evil through prayer and intercession. The Holy Spirit anoints the believer and equips him with the armor of God to destroy the work of Satan, bring down strongholds and set people free from the bondage of sin.

The believer must also confront sin and pray for the judgment of God to shatter the tactics of Satan.

The believer looses the light of Jesus through the gifts of the Spirit to create salvation for unbelievers.

Jesus equips believers with gifts like prophecy, words of knowledge, and healing to accomplish His goals.

There are many diversities of ministry and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Wait on God for the wisdom and perfect timing to start a ministry. Remember, ministry is not handmade; it comes from God.

The authenticity of Jesus will not come to an individual by going to church, simply reading the Bible or participating in religion. 

The relationship starts with a serious decision from the heart to live for Jesus above all else. This requires giving up your individuality and rights and turning over your life to Jesus.

Jesus is very personal. He is easy to approach and desires to have a close and intimate relationship with a believer.

Jesus knows your every thought and understands all of your emotions. He sees all of your personality including genetic dispositions and compulsive behaviors.

There is no reason to attempt to hide anything from Jesus. Be transparent and honest with Him.

Jesus desires to speak consistently with a believer.

Jesus gives believers dreams and visions to provide wisdom and guidance in walking with Him.

Jesus physically touches a believer with the Holy Spirit. At times, He sends a warm feeling over your body to confirm His presence and truth.

Jesus offers a believer the ability to speak in tongues with a heavenly language. This gift comes by faith. Ask and you shall receive.

Jesus seals a believer with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and the portal to all the powerful attributes of His life.

The decision for Jesus causes a believer to be “born again” and transition from his natural life at birth to a new identity. He becomes a new creature in Christ and the Holy Spirit begins to transform him into the character of Jesus.

The believer who surrenders to Jesus and walks in oneness with Him under the authority of the Holy Spirit will experience the authenticity and majesty of the Living  Christ.

The Holy Spirit spoke these words to me this morning;

“Christianity is incongruous in teaching the truths of Jesus. They are out of step with the reality of the Living Christ.”

Salvation is a gift from Jesus but Christianity is a religious organization which fails to teach the reality of the Living Christ and has been corrupted by worldly values.

Jesus says go and sin no more. Christianity says join a church and submit to their laws and regulations.

Christianity does not want you to personally know the Living Christ because the leaders will lose value and validity.

Christianity is discriminating and many operate with a sanctimonious attitude. The qualities of Jesus are unconditional love, holiness and humility. 

Christianity operates by laws. Jesus operates through the Holy Spirit. 

Christianity cannot look into your heart and speak the words of Jesus. They just issue laws to live by.

Christianity is about hype. Jesus is about conviction of sin.

Christianity pretends to be a house of God but the fullness of Jesus does not live there.

This is the perfect time to seek the Living Christ. Jesus will be a powerful reality and a life changing factor in your life. 

The war with God started in Heaven when Satan proclaimed he wanted to  be like God.

God cast Satan and thousands of his angels out of Heaven and to the earth. Jesus witnessed the fall of Satan.

Jesus, the Son of God, had a peaceful life with His mother, father and four brothers. He worked as a carpenter and then in his early thirties all hell broke out.

Jesus was called by God to begin a ministry that would last about three and a half years. 

At the start of the ministry the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to pray and fast for forty days.

Satan, an enemy of Jesus, attempted to lure Jesus away from God. Satan knew Jesus would be given the power and authority to crush all darkness.

Jesus was hungry after fasting forty days and Satan attempted to get Him to turn rocks into bread. This would be an action of using His power without the consent of God to meet His needs. Jesus responded man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 

Then next Satan challenged Jesus to jump off a high cliff and that the angels would protect Him. Jesus responded do not tempt the Lord your God. 

Finally, Satan took Jesus to a high mountain and offered Him to be the King over all the nations if He would bow down and worship Satan. Jesus said get behind Me Satan.

The revelation in this story is that Satan will try anything to prevent a believer from walking in oneness with Jesus. Satan tactics are to steal, kill and destroy believers.

Jesus started His ministry and was immediately confronted by demons working through the Jewish leaders who hated him, condemned His ministry and finally convinced Pontius Pilate to order His death.

The death of Jesus was purposeful by God. Any human being who confesses with his mouth and believes in his heart that Jesus is Lord will be saved. All believers will live with Jesus forever. Death has no dominion over a Christ follower.

The death of Jesus on the Cross unleashed the wrath of God on Satan.

Satan will be defeated by any believer who speaks the name of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is your safety net against Satan. 

The Bible explains that when Jesus was risen He was seated at the right hand of God and makes intercession for believers.

Intercession is based on this verse in Colossians 1:24. “Filling up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.”

Jesus looks at the evil work of Satan and decides to work through the Holy Spirit sealed in a believer to bring down strongholds and set believers free. 

Last night God reminded me we are entering the tribulation ordained by God. This will last a few years and consist of wars, famine, pestilence outbreaks and economic disasters. Two thirds of the world’s population will die.

I have been feeling disappointed recently because my prayers to Jesus about evil leaders and terrorists in places like Russia, North Korea and Israel are not being answered with a victory over evil. But God has a perfect plan and they will be struck down on His time line.

The enemies of Jesus cannot win but they can drag a lot of people down with them into a hell hole.

Jesus is the only hope to survive the coming tribulation! He is a God of victory!

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

God looked at humanity and knew a miracle was required to make people like Himself. 

Jesus, the Son of God, was perfect and formed in the image and character of God.

God decided Jesus would be a sacrifice for all mankind. God sent Jesus into the world to demonstrate the glory and power of God. 

God told Jesus he would die on a cross and be a sacrifice for all sin. 

The redeeming work of Jesus begins with a man or woman making a decision for Jesus. This creates the gift of salvation for a new believer.

The death of Jesus created a way for a human being to be forgiven for all their sins and restored to God. The blood of Jesus cleanses a believer of all sin and offers forgiveness. The believer can face Jesus blameless of any shame or condemnation.

The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and transforms the believer into the character of God. 

The workmanship creates the ability for a believer to walk in and do the works of Jesus. 

The starting point is to be a powerful light for Jesus for all those in your life.

Jesus instructs a believer to pray vigilantly, seek the will of God, and listen for the voice of Jesus.

He must read the Bible consistently and learn to live by spiritual principles.

The believer is to submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit and walk in oneness with Jesus.

The works are orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. He is like a wind and will do as He pleases. The believer cannot tell where the wind is coming from or where the wind is going. 

This is the life of a believer born of the Spirit and truth.

There is no striving or intellectual involvement in doing the works of Jesus. 

The Holy Spirit anoints and equips the believer with the gifts of the Spirit and sends him out into a ministry ordained by God. 

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ the new creature has come” 2 Corinthians 5:17

The goal of sanctification cannot be fully attained until you are in Heaven.

The new creature in Christ has to follow spiritual disciplines in the process of change. Making a decision for Jesus is just the starting point. If you are not willing to change Jesus will be a no show.

There are many steps a believer can take to initiate and make progress in becoming a sanctified being.

The believer has to desire to be holy. He has to be willing to give up his fleshly desires and the values of the world.

He has to ask God to reveal compulsive behaviors and genetic dispositions that are hidden from him. 

The believer can only see glimpses of his personality but God sees everything.

Another positive step is to give the Holy Spirit authority over your life. This will unleash a strong dialogue with Jesus and guide your motives and decision making.

The Spirit works through the Word of God so spend quality time each day reading the Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you learn how to appropriate the principles of Jesus into your life.

Prayer creates a healthy relationship with Jesus. Devote time every day for fellowship with Jesus. Commit your works to God, pray for your needs, listen for the voice of Jesus and seek His will for your life.

Pray for the simplicity and order of Jesus to be at work in your life. Jesus wants to be in all the routine and sometimes boring details of life. For instance, ask Jesus what you should do for lunch today and you will be amazed at how well He knows you.

Listen for the voice of Jesus and be obedient to His instructions regardless of the personal cost or lack of logic. Like Abraham, obedience to Jesus will be credited to you as righteousness.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything you are thinking or doing that grieves the Spirit. Repent and turn away from any darkness.

Jesus is patient and is not looking for perfection just a willing heart to change!

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32

The goal of Jesus is to offer the gift of salvation to all humanity. He has no favorites. All are welcome.

Jesus died and was lifted up to heaven by his Father.

Jesus works in various ways to get the attention of a non believer. However, the unbeliever must initiate contact and reach out to Jesus. Jesus will not respond until He is asked. 

Jesus works through believers, angels and the local church to save unbelievers. He will engineer difficult life conditions or create a crisis to cause a non believer to come to Jesus. 

The unbeliever must reach out to Jesus by faith and have an open heart willing to change his ways.

The call from Jesus is not about religion. Jesus desires to build a personal and symbiotic relationship with a believer. He wants the believer to get to know Him, hear His voice and live in His presence.

Jesus is asking a believer to walk by faith and be obedient to His instructions.

Jesus seals a believer with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and the portal to the powerful attributes of Jesus.

It is possible to have intimate contact and a strong presence with Jesus by giving the Holy Spirit authority over your life. This will put Jesus into all the moments of life.

Jesus desires for a believer to be clean from all darkness. Ask Jesus to convict you of all sin and cover you with His blood.

Pray to Jesus to reveal anything you are thinking or doing that grieves the Holy Spirit. Then ask for forgiveness and the discipline to remove the sinful condition from your life.

The reality of Jesus is awesome and He can be in your life forever!

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:20

The human mind cannot comprehend what Jesus did on the Cross. He was perfect and paid a steep price for a human being to belong to him. Jesus was taken into a horrific sewer while dying on the Cross. He died for all sin with His blood.

The reality of changing from your natural life to a new creature in Christ cannot be taken lightly. This cost Jesus dearly.

The gift of salvation provides eternal life, forgives all your sins with the blood of Jesus, seals you with the Holy Spirit who is the life of Jesus, and transforms you into the character of Jesus. You move from a death sentence to an heir of God entitled to all the promises of Jesus.

The instructions in the scripture above are to glorify God in your body and in your spirit. Salvation is a powerful gift and a believer is obligated to die to self and live for Jesus.

The believer is asked to present his physical body as a  living sacrifice holy and acceptable to Jesus. The bad habits and compulsive behaviors have to go away.

Pray for Jesus to purify your thoughts and actions through the Holy Spirit and help you honor and respect the redeeming work of God. 

Do not be conformed to the world but be transformed to prove the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Walk in oneness with Jesus and sever ties with worldly beliefs and values.

The relationship between Jesus and a believer is a symbiotic union that benefit both parties. The believer cannot just take from Jesus and expect to get His favor and blessings.

The responsibility of a believer is to concentrate on Jesus through prayer, reading the Bible and listening for His voice. 

He must vigilantly seek the will of God with a surrendered heart to serve Jesus.

He must comply with obedience to the instructions of Jesus regardless of the personal cost or lack of logic.

He must live under the authority of the Holy Spirit and ask Jesus to reveal anything he is thinking or doing that grieves the Spirit. This will keep a believer in check with Jesus.

The Christ follower is accountable to Jesus for his every thought and action!

I woke up today to the voice of Jesus speaking the word “sacrosanct”. 

Sacrosanct is defined as something sacred, holy, and important which cannot be changed or interfered with in any way.

Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Jesus has power and authority over the heavens and earth.

Jesus is perfect and without sin. He is a holy God.

Jesus is unconditional love and has no favorites in dealing with humanity.

Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. He sees all of your personality traits and genetic dispositions. 

Jesus is omniscient and knows every detail of your life from birth to the end. Today He will hear your every thought.

Jesus is a God of power and glory. The presence of Jesus can be terrifying and intimidating at times.

Jesus is a jealous God. His jealousy is like a consuming fire. He wants all of a believer and will not share him with other gods or idols.

Jesus desires to give you more than you ask or think but He must come first in your life.

Jesus died to forgive your every sin with His blood.

Jesus lives in heaven and manages a powerful network of angels. They protect believers and fight off evil.

Jesus is very approachable. He desires to have a personal and embracing relationship with a believer. Jesus wants you to get to know Him, hear his voice and live in His presence.

Jesus has no interest in religion, keeping laws, or doing works. He wants a symbiotic relationship built on faith and obedience.

Jesus is a promise keeper. He honors His word!

Jesus is a mighty rock that never changes and He wants to become your best friend!

This narrative deals with impropriety which covers a wide range of sinful conditions. The world today condones almost any behavior. The attitude is anything goes!

We have been born with an inner nature to defy God and live for self. This impropriety distances a human being from God.

The idea of trying to be squeaky clean will never work. Don’t even try. You will just create an artificial personality and a superior attitude towards others.

The natural man can never overcome sin regardless of how hard he tries to be clean. 

Jesus does not want you to attempt to change for the better with self discipline techniques because He knows they will fail.

Jesus teaches we are to be righteous people and powerful lights for Him.

So how we get from our natural life at birth to wearing a crown of glory.

To understand this we have to examine the death of Jesus on the Cross. He died so you can be “born again” with a new identity and transformed into the character of Jesus.

The decision for Jesus causes a man to die to self and live for Jesus. He becomes a new creature in Christ and old things fade away and are replaced by new things.

The believer thinks differently, has a new set of moral values, and a spiritual perspective on life. The world becomes less important to him as he matures into a Christ follower.

This does not happen through human ability or discipline. God seals a believer with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and does the work of sanctification in a believer.

The believer just needs to have an open heart to change and a willingness to submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will teach, correct and transform the believer into the character of Jesus.

Commit your works each day to Jesus and yield to the authority of the Holy Spirit. This will give you intimate contact with Jesus and build a life of faith and obedience.

Ask Jesus each day to reveal anything you are thinking or doing that grieves the Holy Spirit. This is your safety belt in walking with Jesus.

Concentrate on Jesus through prayer, reading the Bible and listening for His voice.

Develop these spiritual disciplines and you will hear Jesus say “Well done good and faithful servant”!