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Many discoveries on the level of quantum physics, the study of subatomic particles, proved that we influence our world with our thoughts.  No wonder that the greatest “physicist”, the Creator of the universe wrote in His Book, the Bible, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Pro 23:7). Our thoughts can play a powerful role in our wellbeing, health and prosperity as I will explain below.

We can influence our destiny, create opportunities and change circumstances by practising positive thought as an underlying principle of faith.  In fact, I will show you that this is exactly how we are instructed in the Bible to practise our faith:

If you are not in control of your life, chances are that other forces are.  Your words and actions are duly noted in the spiritual realm as it identifies your position and authority in the spiritual realm.  You are being tested all the time!

1 Peter 5:8
Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

Look carefully at the meaning of the words in the scripture above:

1. You have an enemy, the Devil (a spirit) who roams around. The spiritual dimension consists of good and bad spirits. The bad ones are looking around to find a prey to devour.
2. He is seeking (testing you) to see IF he CAN devour you.  This means he cannot devour anyone, he has to SEEK for those who he can overcome (by fear).
3. He is walking around like a lion, roaring (to scare you).  Fear is the method used to test you by means of negative conversations, threats, calamities and other negative situations. He is watching your reaction and words (your spiritual knowledge).
4. He isn’t a lion, but rather a mouse with a loudspeaker.  If you get scared and don’t talk authority and faith, he will become your lion.
5. You allow him to become a devouring lion, or you can make him run away like a scared mouse.

Luke 10:19
Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you.

Every spiritually empowered person knows this scripture by heart! When others are negative, this scripture should be your talk.

Sow thoughts and words of trust and dependence on God and you will reap supernatural provision and outcomes.  In the spiritual realm, your mind is the battlefield for control.  You can memorize Psalm 91 and use it as a faith affirmation whenever you face opposition.  Verse 1 of Psalm 91 contains the key to make this supernatural spiritual help available to you in the midst of negative circumstances.

The prerequisite for the Psalm 91 type of provision is to dwell in the presence of God and abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  This means that we should be walking in the Spirit.  How do we do that?  Psalm 1 gives the answer; He that meditates on the Word of God day and night, will be prosperous in all his ways.

The presence of God is activated in a special way inside of you, wherever you are, because your thoughts are constantly on His Word.

They who control your mind can do in your life as they will, using you to do their will in the earthly realm, expanding their sphere of control.  They will also control your destiny and your circumstances.  If you fear, it is a sure sign of a lack of faith and you may become an easy prey.

Look at this well-known scripture:

Proverbs 18:20-21
A man’s [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil].
Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

Don’t be surprised if the seed you sow into the spiritual realm are tested.  Once you start to visualize, confess positive thoughts and spiritual truths, expect opposition to come your way.  It is training grounds for the true believer to discover his authority and power!

Opposition to your “creative seed” will come by means of discouraging facts and reports that might oppose your idea, positive expectation and faith.  A few negative reports will arrive to try to discourage you from further “watering” your seed.  It may seem that since you have started to talk about a new idea, or might have asked for something in prayer, the situation is just deteriorating.  I have seen it many times.  Your innermost believes are being tested.  The quality of your faith determines the outcome in the face of opposition.

We can learn from this story in the Bible, a situation of life and death.  Note how Jesus controlled a desperate situation without allowing fear or negative words to contaminate the atmosphere for a miracle:

We read in Mark 5:22-42 the story of Jairus who asked Jesus to come and heal his little daughter, Talita. In this story Jesus went with this father, pushing through the crowds.

Jairus, had a clear and detailed vision.  He told Jesus exactly what he believed should be done and what the positive outcome would be.  His expectant faith was probably based on previous accounts of healing he surely have heard about – we have a Book full of these accounts from which we can learn and build our faith.

As they went along, a woman with a 12-year old ailment touched Jesus’ garment. The negative situation for Jairus was escalating…  in spite of the urgency of Jairus’ desperate situation, Jesus stopped to ask who has touched Him, and then he entered into a conversation with the woman.  What was Jairus thinking by now? Maybe he started thinking like many of us would, If these hold-ups keep on happening, it might soon be too late to save my daughter…

Isn’t it amazing that there is no indication of haste, fear or doubt in Jesus’ behavior?

Jesus’ words and actions demonstrate the virtue of true faith, the outcome (for the daughter of Jairus) in his mind (words and vision), was already achieved in the spiritual realm and there is no need for anxiety or haste. It seems that whenever Jesus was on His way to someone who was sick and even dying, He never seemed to be in a hurry (read the story of Lazarus).  If ever someone demonstrated the concept of “believing that you have already received what you have asked for”, it was Jesus!

Then came the bad news as people from Jairus’ household told him not to bother, his daughter has already died.

This seems like the final report!  What Jairus probably feared most, became a reality and a fact:  “It’s too late, she is already dead”. And of course, the encouragement to give up: “Don’t bother the Teacher any further.” Give up Jairus, give up!

What did Jesus do when the final message of her death arrived?  He ignores it!

Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing.

If you live by faith, people may criticize your faith-talk and may even tell you to “rather except the facts than to live in denial”.  “The sooner you accept the facts, the quicker you will get over it.”  They will send you nice comforting messages like – “God gives you the strength to accept the things you cannot change.”

Unfortunately, acceptance of physical facts immediately limits us to the level natural laws. Accepting this as the ultimate truth will never produce a single miracle. So, what do you do when people talk to you in this way?

YOU IGNORE THEM!

Jesus ignored the messengers and immediately prevented Jairus to say anything negative.  The natural fact is: she is already dead, but Jesus just held on to the original spiritual vision that Jairus brought to Him saying, “Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be healed and live.”

Fear could have killed the seed (the original thought and vision).  Immediately when hearing the negative report, and before Jairus could say anything negative, Jesus instructed Jairus: “DO NOT FEAR, KEEP ON BELIEVING”.

Of course, I realize that we don’t walk on water yet (last time I checked I got wet), and not all of us have raised the dead yet, but many situations in life can be changed around miraculously by applying these truths.  We all have to start practicing spiritual authority on a level where we can challenge our own level of faith.  Once you see a supernatural outcome, your faith will be strengthened to apply it to even greater challenges in future.

Knowing how people could influence faith by confessing negative thoughts, Jesus only allowed those instructed in the principles of faith, to accompany Him.  During an ordeal, substantiate yourself as much as possible from sources and people that are uniformed in the principles of faith.

Notice how Jesus never accepted or confessed the fact that the girl was dead, He knew that there is a higher plane of authority, much higher than the physical plane.  Even in the sight of physical death, He kept on confessing the spiritual truth, the final outcome of the original thought and vision based on faith in God.
Jesus didn’t see the dead child in His mind, He saw a living, sleeping child that will awake and play again, fully alive!

Important points

• Never talk about your fears or worries to anyone.  Make your needs known to God – in faith, not wavering, but with a clear concept and vision of what you require. Then be expectant!
• When you need support, connect to spiritual-minded people that understand the principles of faith and positive thought.  Never talk to people who will be happy to sympathize and build your problem into a mountain.  Talk to those who will encourage, agree and build your faith in God’s supernatural provision.
• Do not discuss in depth the details of negative facts, but always demonstrates your faith by confessing the Biblical and spiritual truths that overrules the physical fact.
• Remember that facts reside in the natural, spiritual truths are from a higher plane of authority. Speak spiritual truths, not scientific facts.
• What you believe with your heart (mind) is what will come from your mouth.  Discipline your speech, control the tongue.
• Always make sure that you keep the original vision and thought clearly in your mind.   Do not take “no” for an answer, especially when the Bible say “yes”.  Make sure you have spiritual laws (get scriptural support from the Bible) working with your vision.
• Again: believe the spiritual truths not the visible facts and reports.

(Scriptural references from The Amplified Bible)

Modern day scientists and intellectuals doubt many of the stories in the Bible about Jesus and the miracles, signs and wonders that He performed. There is however a difference between educated intellect and spiritual intellect, and many times it is our well-developed worldly intellect and understanding of physics that prevents us from performing supernatural acts.

We read about an amazing miracle in the Bible that contains a very important key to miracle-working faith that can manifest supernatural outcomes in the natural. Not only was Jesus able to perform this specific supernatural act, but also one of His disciples, and this an important key for us normal mortals to also know how to live a supernatural, spiritual life. The spiritual dimension is not limited by natural laws as Jesus has so beautifully demonstrated during His life on earth. We may ask ourselves why did God manifest in the lower form of flesh for a while to show us this kind of power? As we closely study Bible Scripture, we can clearly come to the conclusion that it was to show us the way into a higher life of spiritual authority and victory, even over natural forces:

Mat 14:24-31
…but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

We all know that Peter started to sink after walking a certain distance on the water, but note what Jesus said to Peter in verse 31:

You of little faith, why did you doubt?

It is clear from these words that it was Peter’s faith that enabled him to walk on water, and iut was his own doubt and fear that prevented him to walk on water all the way!

What we think with our rational minds, and accept as the highest law at work in our believe system, can limit us to what we can, or can’t do. We have unlimited capabilities as demonstrated by Jesus and these words. Our minds, lack of faith and understanding of spiritual concepts, are the limitations we continuously impose on ourselves. The only barrier standing between us and supernatural ability is our lack of spiritual understanding.

But can we really have this kind of power? More than two thousand years ago, Peter had the momentary faith to get out of the boat and walk on water. A logical deduction from this is that it must then be possible for man to walk on water…. think about it! Shouldn’t we have discovered the secret after all these years?

What prevents us from walking on water or effecting other supernatural miracles? Nothing, really, according to Jesus!

You might argue that this miracle was only possible because Jesus was present and He, in His divine power commanded Peter to walk on the water. So, it was by the authority that Jesus had, that Peter walked on water… but these words of Jesus “..why did you doubt?” clearly shows that Peter actually walked on water by his own spark of faith.

Jesus also commanded us, His followers, to go and do supernatural miracles, signs and wonders:

Mark 16:17,20
And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.

And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it).

The Bible is full of examples of miracles performed by ordinary people. The following scripture makes it quite clear that we are actually empowered and commanded to demonstrate God’s kingdom power by means of supernatural signs, miracles and wonders.

John 14:12
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.

Our preconditioned, objective minds are causing doubt and unbelief. We are so scientifically educated that our rational minds overrule spiritual truths. From childhood, natural knowledge and experiences convinced us that anything heavier than water will undoubtedly sink. Subsequently, what science teaches us, we are accepting as the highest law at work on earth.

However, what the Spirit of God teaches us originates from a higher realm of authority. Spiritual power originates from the same realm from where thought and words have created the universe. It is even a higher spiritual law at work than mere mental science or the Law of Attraction.

Jesus demonstrated this kind of powerful living all the time and the Bible kept record of it as an example for our spiritual development.

What do you believe – natural fact or spiritual truth?

Where do you limit yourself? Do you limit yourself on the level of the natural, or are you willing to leap out of the boat into the supernatural dimension of authority and power?

At first, Peter didn’t reason about the water and scientific facts, but acted on a higher authority, this “blind” faith enabled him to actually walk on the water for a while. Then a second thought, on the level of physics started to contradict his act of faith. As soon as he started lowering his level of thought to consider the natural environment and the lower laws of physics, accepting this as the controlling level of authority, he sank. He became subject to a lower level of authority limited by physical laws.

Now you know why there are educated intellectuals who will forever doubt and argue the possibility of miracles and they will never see or believe in miracles. It just goes beyond their rational understanding. They are specialists within the lower physical plane of existence. The lower level cannot explain or understand the higher spiritual level of the supernatural. Many people’s level of spiritual power is based on the knowledge from the lower physical level of science, which has become their controlling law. For many people, entering into the higher level of spiritual power is very difficult, as it requires that the rational mind must accept concepts that are in contradiction to the laws of physics that can be explained by logic and mathematical equations.

There are many examples of this battle inside our minds:

• The physical proven fact is: Man can’t walk on water.
  The spiritually proven truth is: Man can walk on water.

• The medically proven fact and the prognosis might be that someone is terminally sick, and there is no medical cure for the specific illness.
  The spiritual truth is: “By His stripes we were healed” (1 Peter 2:24), and Jesus and His disciples demonstrated this power by healing the blind, those with leprosy and every other ”incurable” sickness, they even Many of us have seen and experienced these miracles in our lifetime.

• The natural situation is that there might be a recession and a lack of jobs and finances, or you have lost your source of income.
  The Biblical spiritual truth is that you can become rich in the midst of famine and create opportunities from a supernatural dimension. Jesus demonstrated this by withdrawing money from the mouth of a fish and increases a few pieces of bread and fish to feed five thousand men and their families. He said that He came to preach the ”good news” to the poor. You don’t have to stay in poverty!

Was this only possible in Biblical times?
Not at all, I tested each and every principle described above in my own life and you can read these testimonies in my book – Entrance to Power. In this book I describe the exact circumstances, the exact thoughts of doubt or faith that were going through my mind at the time when I saw these miracles manifesting before my own eyes. I tell it just as it was, the words I spoke and the acts that brought about the most amazing miracles, and these are only a few examples.

Yes, people might have thought I was blasphemous and trying to exalt myself to the level of Jesus. One day, I was standing listening to the family members of a man that was already being declared brain-dead, he was litterally taking his last breaths of life and was only kept alive by machines. While they were standing there waiting to bid this dying man farewell, and discussing the funeral arrangements, I chipped in and said: “You know what? Garry is not not that sick all! “.

You could hear a pin drop…
Then I said: “He is still breathing, Lazarus was in the grave for three days, and lived…” Well, it is a long story, but this man and a few other critical cases are alive and well today because I refused to accept the natural facts. It was a lesson for me, what would have happened if I conformed to everyone else’s idea of what is going to happen?  And I had the priviledge to witness this a number of times.  Yes, I consider myself extremely priviledged and I am humbled by these experiences.  But the fact is, if I can see these miracles, so should everyone else.  And what a place this world would be if we all step into this realm spirit power?

What are you going to accept and believe as the highest authority in your life, natural fact or spiritual truth?

Are you constantly feeding your mind with natural facts and negative talk, or are you meditating and prophesying spiritual truths over your own future?

What you believe is what you will create in your own life. What you believe will also come out in your words. Do you speak life and act on spiritual truths, or do you accepts the symptoms of sickness to be the final outcome in your life?

Initially, Peter probably never thought that he could walk on water because everyone knows as a natural and scientific fact that it is impossible. Peter and the disciples have never seen such a thing accomplished by any man. However, hearing the calm and commanding voice of his Teacher and witnessing the example Jesus was setting before them, Peter at once believed in his inner most being that it must be possible. For a moment he silenced his rational mind and really believed that he can also do it. For a moment he accepted the Words of Jesus as the higher level of authority.

True to his impulsive character and without a second thought, he jumped out of the boat. It was only a distance away from the boat that his rational mind awakened to the fact that he is actually doing the impossible, he is walking on water!

His rational mind, the logically reasoning mind, started to contradict his “blind” faith. Doubt and fear then started to overrule the principle of “supernatural faith”, fear gripped his heart and his abilities were limited to the laws of physics, he started to sink. Nevertheless, he walked on water back to the boat together with Jesus. Not too bad for walking on water for the first time, I would say!

When you are having second thoughts about anything you believe, you will start losing faith and the creation of the supernatural outcome that was already on its way to you is compromised. Never accept the physical facts as final! Do not accept that God is saying “no” to your prayers, not if His Word says “YES”.

Just like Peter listened to the voice of Jesus, commanding him to get out of the boat, we should not attempt the supernatural without first seeking the knowledge, guidance and instructions from God, and apply it for the right purpose – to establish or expand the kingdom of God in people’s lives.

How do we know what God’s instructions are?

The first level of instruction and guidance can be found in the Bible. The better you know God’s will and instructions by studying and meditating the Word of God, the more faith you will have to perform supernatural miracles. From studying the Word with the right attitude, we know that physical healing is God’s will, and we can perform healing miracles without doubting if it is God’s will. Why? Jesus never turned anyone away that came to Him for healing. It is written – “He healed them all!”

This is why, when I minister to people for healing, I will never pray “If it is Your will God, please heal this sick person? ” This is what I have done for many years, trying to get people healed, and nothing I can really describe as a supernatural miracle ever happened. There is another kind of faith that can produce instant results, or results that are unexplainable by science. It was only when I blindly “jumped out of the boat” and started commanding sickness and pain to leave. This authority, backed by many hours of meditating and studying to understand and believe, caused that first miracle to manifest. There was no turn-around after this, I have witnessed my first miracle!

If you are a believer in the God revealed to us in Bible scripture, you are supposed to be God’s appointed ruler on earth (Rev 5:10, Luke 10:19). Just accept your God-given right (by grace) and take up the responsibility. We should start doing the things God expects from us as His sons and daughters, people that should start coming forth in the very same image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

Jesus commanded His disciples to go and heal the sick. God is on your side! It is your inheritance. We should rule on this earth as God’s appointed kings (Rev 5:10, Luke 10:19), not sickness or calamity! Train yourself then in this faith, grow in it, and start to practice your authority over natural things from the supernatural dimension of the Spirit.

By studying the Word of God, we also know that prosperity and abundance is God’s will for everyone. One of the main reasons Jesus mentioned that he came to earth, is to “proclaim the gospel (good news) to the poor”. The promise for provision and prosperity is one of the most repeated promises to be found in the Bible. It is the one promise directly associated with the Way of the Spirit in Mathew 6:33. Mathew 6:33 is about material blessings. We should know who we are in the spiritual realm and we should know our position of authority on this earth.

Therefore, we can freely ask God for anything we need, as long as our purpose is to support us in demonstrating and advancing His kingdom on earth. This is one of the basic rules for wealth creation. Work for the kingdom of God by performing the miracles and the signs identified with His kingdom of power, and everything “shall be added unto you” .

God’s kingdom is one of giving to receive. To serve is one of the most important factors that will bring supernatural provision into your life. Giving away demonstrates our faith in God’s supernatural provision and abundance.

God’s kingdom is on earth, and it is a kingdom marked by miracles, signs and wonders as Jesus has demonstrated. God is waiting for us to heal the sick, raise the dead and speak abundance into existence. Get the knowledge!

(Scriptural references from The Amplified Bible unless specified)

This is an article based on the contents of my eBook – Entrance to Power

As he talked with some of those men, it soon became apparent that adapting to freedom would require some adjustment. They were so used to forced regimentation that some of them really did not know they were free.

As children of God, we also find two types of believers.  The first group is very religious, but powerless to live above the limitations of a three-dimensional world.  But there is a second group. Many times they are called radical, because they believe in miracles and nothing will change their optimism.  They believe they are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6).  They believe they are souls and co-creators who represent God and heaven on earth.  They see themselves as ambassadors visiting from a higher kingdom (2Cor:5:20), this means that they are not subject to the limitations of the laws of this world.

There are the religious law-keepers and then there are the spiritual believers.  Many believers are so captured in their religious doctrines that they do not quite comprehend the fact that we have been set free by our Saviour. Some of us are imprisoned by the memories of a sinful past. Lloyd Ogilvie said, “The memory of past failure is like sand in the gears of our effectiveness.” God did not put the handcuffs of past memories on you. They are self-imposed.  He wiped out your sins in order that you might have seasons of refreshing (Act_3:19).  He has set us free from all bondage and sin consciousness so we can do the works He did, and may even progress to greater works (John 14:12).

The first group mentioned are Christians incarcerated by legalism. They read the Bible to learn of its rules. The legalist with a sensitive conscience knows he cannot keep God’s laws perfectly. Maybe that is why the novelist John Updike said, “I agree with the Jews. One Testament is enough.” If faith is solely a matter of law keeping, I would agree. The Psalmist was talking about the Old Testament when he said, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psa_19:7). There was no need for a new law code, but there was a need for freedom from the consequences of disobedience. Small wonder that legalists either live in a state of perpetual discouragement or self-righteous hypocrisy. The legalist does not understand that “everyone who believes in Him is freed from all things” (Act_13:39).

If you are living in a prison of your own making, you can walk through the doors of freedom today. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal_5:1).  While sin-consciousness separates you from the presence of God, grace-consciousness leads you into son ship. (Rom 8:14-15)

No Half-Measures With Him

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2Co_5:17). New status, new life, new creation-we must not separate these blessings. They belong together, and are given to all who are in Christ.

A simple illustration may help. If a vagrant comes to us in dire need, down and out, in rags and tatters, and sick, even starving, it will be good to give him a bath and a change of clothing, but not enough. For he is ill and undernourished. So, in addition, he needs food and hospital treatment. Similarly, we come to Christ down and out, in the rags and tatters of our sin, spiritually sick and starving. In Christ, we are at once made welcome and accepted, and given a bath and a change of clothes. God sees us as righteous in Christ. This is our new status. But it is only the beginning. The Good Physician knows we are sick. So he puts His Spirit within us to give us new life and health, and He feeds us with His Word until we grow strong and vigorous. There are no half-measures with Him.

Imperfect Christians and the Perfect Christ

Two fellow travelers were seated together in a railway compartment engaged in earnest conversation of a religious nature. One of them, a skeptic, was evidently trying to excuse his unbelief by exposing the various evils which afflict Christendom, detailing with pleasure the hypocrisy and the craft, and the covetousness and divisions found in the professing church, and then he pointed to some of the leaders as the most markedly corrupt of all.

In front of them sat a Christian who was compelled to hear all this. He knew the accusations to be true-too true to be concealed from the most charitable mind-so all he could do was to bow his head and bear the deserved reproach. Soon, however, the accuser, anxious to extend the circle of his audience, addressed this fellow passenger in front of him.

“I see you are quick to detect evil,” said the Christian, “and you read character pretty well. You have been uncovering the abominable things that have turned Christendom into a wreck, and are fast ripening it for the judgment of God. You have spared none, but given all a good measure. Now, I am a Christian and love the Lord Jesus and His people. Not a word shall I offer in defense, but I solemnly challenge you to speak the first word against the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.”

The skeptic was surprised. He seemed almost frightened and sheepishly replied, “Well, no! I could not find fault with Him. He was perfect.”

“Just so!” said the Christian. “Therefore was my heart attracted to Him, and the more I looked, the more I found I was not like Him at all, but only a poor, guilty, sinful man. All of the evil which professed followers of His may do cannot turn me away from Him. My salvation hangs on what He has done, and not on what they are doing.”

Are You Refusing Your Inheritance?

While a student at Yale University, Eugene F. Suter, Jr.’s father died, leaving him an estate of $400,000. When Eugene refused the inheritance, the trustees of the estate insisted he take it, and even took him to court to force him to accept the money. In an unprecedented case held in New York City, Judge William T. Collins reluctantly ruled that the young man had a legal right to reject the $400,000. The order legally cut off the 22-year-old student from all future interest in the family fortune, leaving him without an income.

There are a lot of people in this world who are refusing a far greater inheritance than Suter did. God has offered us the opportunity to be joint-heirs with Christ and heirs of eternal life, and so many are refusing to profess belief in Christ and to be born again. Like Suter, they will be cut off from all future benefits from their Father’s estate. Will your inheritance go unclaimed?

Every once in a while, we need to take some time to think about the things that are troubling us and decide to do something about it. This step is so important, because we so easily brush our challenges aside. This is what I call being in denial. We rather try to not think about them, so we seek diversions such a watching TV, socialize with friends or go shopping. Unfortunately our lives will not improve until we face our challenges and resolve them. We have to face our challenges before we can become committed to solving them. Notice that I refer to challenges and not problem,s because it is easier if you understand from the outset that our approach to problems is with a negative mindset, but challenges are faced with a positive and creative mindset.

It is this first step of taking action that gives birth to motivation and commitment. Lack of action is called passivity and can even mean surrendering to our “problems” and giving up. The hardest part facing our challenges is getting started. We might feel overwhelmed by the size of our challenges but we must remember to start with baby steps. Remember that the smallest step is still a beginning, and then many small ones will add up to a big one.

When we take action we need to acknowledge to ourselves that “I don’t have to run away from my challenges any longer, because I am big and strong enough to take it, I am more than a conqueror”. Secondly, when we become spiritually enlightened and are aware of this very powerful dimension, we realize that we have an even more powerful and supernatural “Resource” available to us, we are not suppose to face our challenges alone.

The responsibility to take action however still resides with us. Blaming others and circumstances for our setbacks and failures is a step in the wrong direction. We have to accept, no matter how painful it might be that the choices we have made are what brought us to where we are today. The choices we are making today determine where we will be tomorrow.

We have to choose to seek and find a solution in every challenge we face, rather than concentrating on the circumstances and reasons for our calamity. Start looking at the future. For those who have discovered their inner spirituality, it is easier to take this first step as they already know they don’t have to face this alone, there is Supernatural Help available to all of us.

Although not easy, we must try and let our faith and emotions work for us rather than against us. We may come to a point where we feel so desperate, that we will finally say, “I’m not going to take it anymore; I am going to do something about it.” This is where willpower and faith kick into action in a positive and creative direction. Is our success and happiness not more important than our reluctance to act or ignore the Help that is available from a supernatural dimension? Despite how we feel now, we must say to ourselves that I am going to do what is best for me. I deserve to be happy and successful. It is almost like doing a cost-benefit analysis. Compare the pain of acting now, with the pain you will feel in the future if you don’t act. Can we afford not to act? Can we afford to stay spiritually powerless?

The question is: which pain is more severe? We must choose to accept the risk of getting out of the boat (our negative mind set) now, for a big reward in future. There is a true story that demonstrates how we could get out of trouble by supernatural means; the Apostle Peter, in Bible times, when He heard His Master’s voice didn’t think about the sinking boat, the storm and the overwhelming waves threatening him and his friend’s lives, he trusted in a higher power and took that first step out of his devastating circumstances. He walked on water, that is supernatural! Yes, doubt caused him to sink again after walking on water a certain distance , but Someone was already there because of his act of faith to take the first step. I heard this saying many years ago, “God only help those who help themselves”. I have come to realize that there is truth in this. God will not act if you do not engage the heavenly dimension by faith. God honors a man who takes the first step of faith to get out of the boat.

The same supernatural power is available to you, and when you practice faith, God cannot watch without acting (Hebrew 11:6). You will find yourself walking on the proverbial water and out of negative circumstances! It might take time, but you will be heading in the right direction. Someone once said, “Warfare always surrounds the birth of a miracle”. This warfare might come in the form of further deteriorating circumstances or negative reports, but keep your eyes on spiritual truth, not physical circumstances, your miracle might be around the next corner.

I have come to the realization that to focus on what I have at my disposal (physically, emotionally and spiritually), and not on what I lack or don’t want, completely changes my perspective and outlook on the future. Furthermore, if we can learn to focus on what we have, rather on what we perceive as lacking in our lives, we will start to live a life of gratitude and a positive outlook. This is already a powerful creative force on a soul (mind) level!

Always remember that commitment begins with a decision. Not only is commitment the gateway to success, but it will fill our life with purpose. This is what gives us a reason to get up in the morning, provides us with energy, and fill us with enthusiasm.

It all starts with making a plan and implement it. Ask yourself what are your goals and dreams? Not the goals that we walk around with in our thoughts, but something concrete that we have written down somewhere with timeframes attached to it, and a constant reminder to monitor ourselves against those timeframes.

Then we have to celebrate our successes and acknowledge our victories. The challenge is to maintain and sustain our successes by repeating them, building on past breakthroughs, applying the same principles that have worked in the past. Faith grows as we go along, seeing its power at work in our lives.

What I have also learned, and is still learning, is that we should not be so demanding on ourselves, to push ourselves to be perfect which is not achievable anyway. Learn how to rely on a Higher Power (God). We have to remember that it is perfectly natural to relapse and fall into a slump again, it is human. That means we have to expect future resistance and obstacles. The difference however lies in the approach towards it, will we stand up again? We can choose to tackle it as a problem with a negative connotation or we can face it as a challenge and tackle it with a positive mindset, knowing that the victory is already ours when we have God on our side.

Remember, we face challenges not problems. Challenges are the opportunities given to us in life to help us learn how powerful we really are and to discover our spiritual authority and inheritence. Without battles, there are no victories, and no spiritual growth.

In a following article we will go into more depth regarding the authority we have on a spiritual level to influence our circumstances in a positive way.

Philip
(With acknowledgement to my friend Carlo for his inputs from a soul perspective)

John 14:13
And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son.

I have many times witnessed supernatural interference beyond the limitations of science, manifesting without even mentioning the name of Jesus. I have seen instant healing miracles by stretching out of a hand and touching a person afflicted with pain and discomfort. Clearly, the mere mentioning of the Name is not a formula to produce the supernatural. Yet, these words by Jesus are of utmost importance to understand, and a key to God’s power.

In the following series of articles to follow, I hope to shed some light on the meaning of this instruction by Jesus to His disciples.  Readers of my eBook ~ Entrance to Power ~ will already have a better understanding of the source of spiritual power and especially the deeper meaning behind the the Name of Jesus, and what it represents.  In the following articles, I will further expand on this theme as well as the differentiation between the “Sons of God” and the “children of God”. (Gal 4:1-7, Rom 8:14)

Have I seen Christian believers using the name of Jesus, and most of the time, there seems to be no release of supernatural power? Yes!

Have I seen miracles manifesting in the Name of Jesus? Absolutely!

Death Frees the Soul

[A letter written to one's physical body.] 1Co_15:44.

“You and I have been together for a long time in a most intimate and valuable relationship. Now you have grown old. Your hearing and strength are failing. Your resistance to cold is diminishing. You cannot climb and run as you once did. In a word, you are running down. In a short time you will cease to breathe and your heart will stop beating. When you can go no further, you will be returned to the substance of which you were made, and I shall continue on in that life where you are not needed. A Power greater than you and I started us on this journey together. Now I recognize that you are aware of the fact that your journey is nearing its end, while my journey has scarcely begun. I know this to be true, for while you are feeble, I have never been more alive. Our separation, therefore, cannot be one of sadness, but will be one of joy. You are weary and want to stop. I am longing to alight from this slowing vehicle and go on without you. Death will mean that your desire to stop is granted, and my longing is satisfied.”

Death for a Believer Is Sleep in Jesus’ Arms

A farmer took his little son on a visit to a distant village. Along the way they came to a swift stream spanned by a rickety old bridge which frightened the little lad even though it was daylight. Returning at dusk, the boy recalled the stream and old bridge and became panicky. How would they cross that turbulent stream in the dark? Noting his anxiety, the father lifted the boy and carried him in his arms. Before they reached the bridge, he was fast asleep against his father’s shoulder. As the next morning’s sun streamed in his bedroom window, the boy awoke to discover he was safe at home. At death the believer falls asleep in the Savior’s arms to awaken in His bright land of no night and no fear.

When Science Is Silent

Said Dr. Joseph A. Parker: “Some have found fault with me. They say I am old-fashioned and out of date; I am always quoting the Bible; why not turn to science this morning?

“There is a poor widow here who has lost her only son. She wants to know if she will see him again. Science shall give the answer, and I will put the Book away.” So he took the Book and put it on the seat behind. “Will this woman see her son again? Where is he? Does death end all? What has science to say?” Here a long pause. “We are waiting for an answer, the woman is anxious.” Another long pause. “The woman’s heart is breaking. Science must speak. Nothing to say? Then we must take the Book,” and here he reverently replaced it, and with great deliberation opened it and read: “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me …The dead shall arise …for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. O death, where is thy sting? …I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.”

Then, closing the Book, and patting it affectionately, he said, “We will stick to the Book!”

Death Is Not Necessarily Loss

A little girl whose baby brother had just died asked her mother where Baby had gone. “To be with Jesus,” replied the mother. A few days later, talking to a friend, the mother said, “I am so grieved to have lost my baby.” The little girl heard her, and remembering what her mother had told her, looked up into her face and asked, “Mother, is a thing lost when you know where it is?”

“No, of course not.” “Well, then how can Baby be lost when he has gone to be with Jesus?” Her mother never forgot this. It was the truth.

If You Knew That Your Days Were Numbered

A man in Iowa discovered that he had terminal cancer. For weeks he moped around the house avoiding loved ones, inwardly cursing God and wondering why this tragedy had happened to him.

Then one day he made a decision: “I am not dead yet, and I am going to live each day to its fullest the rest of my life.”

Sometime later, when he was interviewed, he said he had experienced a more abundant life in the weeks after that decision than during his prior 42 years-colors seemed more vivid, the laughter of his children more bright and precious.

One suggestion he gave to help others with terminal illness was, “Consider each day as a gift from God; enjoy it fully.”

Called! Held! Kept!

Frances Havergal, the songwriter, lived and moved in the Word of God. His Word was her constant companion. On the last day of her life, she asked a friend to read to her the second chapter of Isaiah. When the friend read the sixth verse, “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee,” Miss Havergal stopped her. She whispered, “Called-held-kept. I can go home on that!” And she did go home on that. She found His promises unfailing.

Sooner or Later Everyone Runs Out of Time

Much sooner than you can anticipate, you will be the silent guest at your own funeral. No doubt there will be relatives and friends present to mourn for you whom you haven’t seen in years. After the preacher delivers a message in your memory, you will be taken to the graveyard, given a final farewell and buried.

The retirement that you spent your life working for will be gone forever. Remember the new car that you worried about scratching? Its new owner just wrecked it! The newlyweds bought your house and have redecorated the room that you had at last decorated to your liking. Your personal belongings have been sorted and some discarded. The dog is making a bed out of your favorite old coat. Other clothes of yours that no one could wear or did not want have been boxed and given to Goodwill. Your personal treasures that were valuable only to you-the carefully preserved flower, the lock of hair, the torn picture, the stained postcard-have been burned as trash.

You attended a number of funerals in your lifetime, but for some reason you just never expected to be lying in the casket yourself. Sure, someday, but not that particular day. “Maybe tomorrow,” you always thought, “but not today.” You remember telling the Lord each time you thought your time was close, “Not this time, Lord. Not today. Maybe tomorrow.”

Sooner or later, everyone runs out of time. Paul states that everyone has an appointment with death and then the judgment (Heb_9:27). The only time that you can decide whether or not your death will be a blessing is today while you are alive. Today is the day of salvation (2Co_6:2). Today is the day to do the Lord’s work. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working, nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (Ecc_9:10).

Sooner or later, everyone runs out of time but no one runs out of eternity. Doesn’t it make more sense to spend your time preparing for that which will not end, rather than squandering your time trying to hold on to that which will not last?

“Careless soul, O heed the warning,

For your life will soon be gone;

O how sad to face the judgment

Unprepared to meet thy God.”

Will you be prepared on the day that you run out of time?

Known But to God

Shirley Pope Waite tells this moving story:

“‘You must visit the American cemetery,’our bed and breakfast hosts told us. We hadn’t known about this cemetery three miles from Cambridge, site of one of England’s most famous universities.

“Upon our arrival, we were surprised to see the American and British flags at half mast. Special Memorial Day services were scheduled to honor the war’s dead buried there.

“Established in 1943 on land donated by the University of Cambridge, it is the only permanent World War II military cemetery in the British Isles. The rolling grounds are framed by trees on two sides, and contain 3,811 headstones in seven curved grave plots.

“A large proportion of the servicemen and women buried there were crew members of British-based American aircraft. Others died in the invasion of North Africa and France, at sea, or in training areas within the United Kingdom.

“An impressive Wall of the Missing lies alongside a mall with a pool bordered by roses. The wall records names of 5,125 missing in action, lost, or buried at sea. Four huge statues represent a soldier, sailor, airman, and coast guardsman in uniform. A mosaic in the chapel of the memorial building stretches across the ceiling above the altar. It depicts the archangel trumpeting the resurrection and the last judgment.

“As we walked reverently around the beautiful grounds, we paused at the foot of a grave. It was one of 24 decorated with red and white carnations tied with a blue ribbon, and flanked by a tiny American and British flag. The words etched in the headstone read: “here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God.”

“Tears came to my eyes as we stood in an attitude of worship. Unknown but to God, these service people were once known intimately by parents, siblings, friends, perhaps a spouse and children. Young men and women who fought for freedom and the dignity of humankind! Yet in death-known only to God!

“Relatives and friends may forsake us. We may feel alone in a world that offers many only poverty, cruelty, and apathy; but God knows each of us intimately. He is a husband to the widow: “for your Maker is your husband; the Lord of hosts is His name” (Isa_54:5). He is a father to the orphan: “Father of the fatherless …is God in His holy habitation” (Psa_68:5). He is Father to us all!

“Unknown except to God! Isn’t that the most important relationship of any? Thank God, we are known to Him not just in life, not just in death, but for eternity!”

The Shadow of Death

The first wife of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, a well known minister in Philadelphia, died from cancer while still in her thirties. All three of his children were under 12. Dr. Barnhouse had such victory that he decided to preach the funeral sermon himself. En route to the funeral they were overtaken by a large truck which, as it passed them, cast a large shadow over their car. He asked one of his children, “Would you rather be run over by that truck or its shadow?” “By the shadow, of course!” replied the 12-year-old daughter. “A shadow can’t hurt you.” With that answer Dr. Barnhouse said to his three motherless children, “Your mother has been overrun not by death, but by the shadow of death.” At the funeral he spoke on Psalm 23, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”

Beyond Death

A sick man turned to his doctor, who was leaving the room after paying a visit, and said: “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” Very quietly the doctor said, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?!”

The doctor was holding the handle of the door, on the other side of which came sounds of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with eager show of gladness. Turning to his patient, the doctor said, “Did you ever notice that dog? He has never been in this room before. He did not know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing: I know my Master is there, and that is enough. And when the door opens, I shall pass through with no fear, but with gladness.”

Praise Out of Tragedy

God can bring fresh praise out of both tragedy and glory, as illustrated by this story about a favorite hymn. Luther Bridgers began preaching at age 17 while he was a student at Asbury College in Kentucky. He was a young Methodist minister of unusual zeal and evangelism. In 1910 the future looked bright for the 26-year-old preacher, who by then had a young wife and three children. The Bridgers family was visiting Mrs. Bridger’s parents at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. After the family retired for the night, a neighbor noticed flames coming from the house. He roused Mrs. Bridgers’ parents and Luther, but the rest of the family members were beyond reach. The young pastor lost his wife and children.

In the awful days of sorrow that followed, Luther remembered that God offered songs of comfort in the night (Psa_42:8), and would never forsake him. It was during this period that Luther wrote the words and music that we sing so many times: “There’s within my heart a melody/Jesus whispers sweet and low/fear not, I am with thee, peace be still; in all of life’s ebb and flow.” In the fourth stanza he referred to his own experience: “Tho sometimes He leads through waters deep/trials fall across the way.”

In the darkest night, in the depths of despair, God gave an inward song to Luther Bridgers that has blessed millions. Out of a pit of grief came a song of blessing.

Only the Cocoon

Arthur Brisbane once pictured a crowd of grieving caterpillars carrying the corpse of a cocoon to its final resting place. The poor, distressed caterpillars, clad in black raiment, were weeping, and all the while the beautiful butterfly fluttered happily above the muck and mire of earth, forever freed from its earthly shell. Needless to say, Brisbane had the average orthodox funeral in mind and sought to convey the idea that when our loved ones pass, it is foolish to remember only the cocoon and concentrate our attention on the remains, while forgetting the bright butterfly.

Crossing the River of Death

Christ crossed the river of death and the grave so that you and I as believers, whose sins have been forgiven, may not have to cross that river alone. The story is told of a shepherd who tried to induce his sheep to cross a swiftly flowing stream. Sheep are naturally afraid of rapidly running water, and he could not get them to cross. Then picking up a lamb and stepping with it into the river, he bore it carefully and tenderly to the opposite shore. When the mother saw her lamb had gone, she forgot her fear and stepped into the rushing current and was soon safely on the other side. All the rest of the flock followed her leadership. Thus we follow our leader, Christ, and those of our loved ones whom He has already carried safely over to the other shore.

The Clock

The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop at late or early hour. To lose one’s wealth is sad indeed. To lose one’s health is more. To lose one’s soul is such a loss that no man can restore.

Thirty-nine people died while you read these words. Every hour 5,417 go to meet their Maker. You could have been among them. Sooner or later you will be. Are you ready?

Image of Glory

“It is a peculiar thing,” said an embalmer as he stood by a woman’s casket, “but it isn’t necessary to tell me she was a Christian. I always know as soon as I see a body; the glory leaves its stamp on the face.”

The Glory of Death

George Truett once assured the wife of a Texas judge that when death came she should not be afraid. When the day finally arrived the nurse and doctor were there. She said, “Tell me frankly, doctor, is this death?” He said, “Yes, it is death.” She turned to her husband and said: “Oh, dear husband, you know this is the hour for 30 years I have dreaded. This is the hour of all hours I have shrunk from.” Yet later she said, “Husband, don’t you see that face? Don’t you hear that music? Christ is here. I have never known such rapture of light and peace and joy.” In that glory she went to be with the Lord. She found that God’s grace was sufficient. God’s love was not limited.

Sin

There is said to be a church which is very attractive to tourists. The graveyard of the church is always kept locked, but on a gate is the following notice, “The key to the graveyard is to be found in the tavern.”

A great army of men and women daily find in the taverns or lounges the key that opens the way for them into the graveyard.

How Do You Face Death?

An aged lady left Buffalo by boat for Cleveland to visit a daughter living there. Soon a dreadful storm arose and many of the passengers, fearing death, gathered for prayer. Only the aged lady seemed unconcerned about the tempest as she sat with her hands folded and prayed. After the storm had subsided, some of the passengers were eager to know the secret of her calmness. They gathered around her and asked her the reason. “Well, my dear friends,” she replied, “it is like this. I have two daughters. One died and went home to heaven. The other lives in Cleveland. When the storm arose, I wondered which of them I might visit first, the one in Cleveland or the one in heaven, and I just left it to the Lord; for I would be glad to see either.”

Unafraid of Death and Judgment?

A certain person was driving 70 miles an hour down one of those long, straight stretches of West Texas highway one hot afternoon. No other cars were in sight, but up ahead he saw the form of a large bird bending over and tearing flesh from a run over rabbit. As he got closer, a huge hawk straightened up defiantly and looked directly into the headlights.

Instead of taking flight as these birds normally do, the giant hawk spread his wings, almost blocking the road, and challenged the speeding car. Its body made a “whump” sound as the car hit it, and the proud bird was instantly dead. Neither the run over rabbit nor its pride were any good to it then.

On another occasion in East Texas, the same man was again driving 70 down a highway when he saw the small rounded form of a turtle making a slow journey across his path. He remembered the giant hawk, and thought of what a 4,000 pound car would do to an eight-ounce turtle.

The turtle looked up and saw the car coming. He didn’t run; he didn’t dodge out of the way, nor did he challenge the car. He stopped and pulled all four legs and his head into his shell. The car missed the motionless turtle that rested confidently in his shell.

The proud hawk and the deluded turtle are like two kinds of people ignoring the speeding advance of death and judgment: one is proud and defies the claims of Christ on his or her life; the other pulls into his or her own self-righteous shell.

“Shadow” Illustrated

Little boys sometimes do the strangest things for excitement. To break the monotony of their young lives, two small lads lay down by the railroad tracks to feel the track vibrations of the oncoming train, as well as to hear its thunderous sound. After it had passed and only the shadow of the train had passed over them, they were secure and no harm had been done to them, even in this seemingly precarious position.

Just so, when we pass through the “valley of the shadow,” we only experience the “shadow.”

Face to Face

Men inspired by the Bible have called death by many names-the destroyer, the last enemy, the angel who summons our souls, a deep dark river. But here is Paul’s picture of death from the believer’s perspective-a man gazing at first into a metal mirror, seeing only baffling reflections and the fantastic shapes of half-facts, who suddenly wheels around and then sees things as they really are. He sees his fellows as they are; he sees the Savior as He is, in all His beauty-that is death for the Christian. No more peering through the mists of human ignorance to try to discern the face of the Savior; but clear, immediate, direct vision-face to face. We shall see Him as He is, and be forever like Him.

Just an Empty Shell

Two little birds had a nest in the bushes in the back part of a garden. Five-year-old Amy found the nest. It had four speckled eggs in it. One day, after she had been away for some time, she ran into the garden to take a look at the pretty eggs. To her dismay she found only broken shells. “Oh,” she cried, “the beautiful eggs are all spoiled and broken!” “No, Amy,” said her brother, “they are not spoiled. The best part of them has taken wings and flown away.” So it is with death. The body left behind is only an empty shell, while the soul, the better part, has taken wings and flown away.

Prepare for Your Finals

Every time a certain little boy went to a playmate’s house he found the child’s grandmother reading her Bible. Finally his curiosity got the better of him. “Why do you suppose your grandmother reads the Bible so much?” he asked. “I’m not sure,” said his friend, “but I think it’s because she’s cramming for her finals.” Your finals may be closer than you think. There’s only one book that can prepare you for them-that’s the Bible, the written Word of God.

Suffering for a Good Cause

When the Marquis of Montrose was sentenced to death, the judge ordered that his head and limbs should be severed from his body and hanged in the Tolbooth in Endinburgh and in other public towns in the kingdom. The Marquis heard this sentence with a grim smile of pride and in defiance he cried, “I wish I had flesh enough to be sent to every city in Christendom, as a testimony to the cause for which I suffer!”

New Estimate of Death

Christ has brought a new attitude toward death. He has invested it with a beauty, a peacefulness and a glory unknown before. This is what caused a Greek by the name of Aristeides to marvel, when trying to explain to one of his friends the reasons for the extraordinary success of Christianity. In a letter written about a.d. 125, he said: “If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.” Those believers who are gone before are not lost, not separated from us permanently; they are only waiting in another place nearby for us to join them again.

Burial Causes No Grief

Did you ever see a farmer weep as he placed seed in the ground and covered it with the freshly turned earth? Of course not, for that sort of burial causes no grief. The farmer knows that the buried seed will spring up into luxuriant vegetation in due course. Human burial is quite a different matter. It arouses far deeper emotions because of our attachment to the precious form laid in the grave. But for Christians this grief is tempered by the knowledge that those who die in the Lord are safe with Him, and that one day we will be reunited with them, not only in our spirits but in new and glorious bodies that will spring from the grave at our Lord’s coming.

“So also is the resurrection of the dead,” says Paul, referring again to his analogy of the seed. “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption” (1Co_15:42)

The Seed-Then the Plant

You sow a seed by putting it into the ground. It must first die, and then it rewards you with a living plant. How does this take place? Can you or anyone else fully explain this philosophically, rationally? Do you refuse to eat the fruit of this seed until you know in minutest detail how it grows into a plant? Hardly. You accept the generating power of nature. When you sow wheat, you expect the same kind of plant to come up. But that plant does not contain every particle of matter that was in the seed. It contains the identity of the seed, but not the entire actual seed as it was put into the ground. Yet the plant resulting from that seed will produce seeds corresponding to that original seed, made of different and yet identical material particles. The plant in reality is that same seed which was placed in the ground, in different form. So will it be with your resurrection body. It will be the same body in the sense that it is your own body-yet no longer in the seed, so to speak, but the plant. When your soul leaves your body at death, that spiritless body is good for nothing but burial in the ground. There it can die and return to dust; and through death it will live again by God’s power.

Glory Revealed

A minister was once called into the room of a dear saint of God who was suffering much pain. He had often visited her, and in spite of pain, found her greatly rejoicing. This time, however, he was told that she was in trouble and wished to see the minister urgently. Wondering what the trouble could be and how the devil might be tempting her, the minister rushed to her bedside. She said, “I cannot pray any more. As soon as I begin, my prayers are all turned into hallelujahs. I would have esteemed it a privilege if God had permitted me to spend my remaining days in supplications for my friends; but as soon as I open my mouth, it is all glory, glory, glory!” The minister could not but congratulate her on being drafted into the employment of the celestial choir before her time. She lived for two weeks in a gust of praise, and so she died.

On the Way Home

At the funeral of a minister, a little child was seen skipping light-heartedly through the cemetery at dusk. Someone asked, “Aren’t you afraid of this place?” “Oh no,” she replied, “I only cross through here to get home.” Death for the Christian is only a “crossing-through to get home.” It is not ultimate and final death.

A Joyful Meeting

A young woman who lay dying sought to console her father who was overcome with grief. “Dad,” she said, “don’t be so broken up. If I had received an offer of marriage from someone who was all you could desire for me, and whose station in life was far superior to mine, but who wanted to take me to live in a remote part of the world, don’t you think you could have borne the separation, knowing all the advantages it would bring to me? But I am now being promoted to a situation incomparably beyond anything that could have happened to me in this world. Then why this reluctance to let me go? Our next meeting will be in far more wonderful circumstances, joyful, and everlasting.”

A Re-created Body

While it is literally true that our bodies shall live again, Scripture does not require us to believe that God has to take exactly the same particles of all the physical substances of which our bodies are made and put them together again like a jigsaw puzzle. Let’s not be like that woman who blithely stated that she did not believe in the resurrection of the body, because as the result of an accident she had left one leg in England, and she fully expected to die in the United States. If you expect the same atoms to be brought together again, how would you expect this to happen in the case of a man eaten by cannibals? His flesh would have been digested and become part of the bodies of those very ones who dined upon him. In the resurrection, would their bodies be robbed of the necessary particles to reconstitute the man they had devoured? Do you see to what ridiculous extremes we would be led by an insistence that God work in accordance with what we believe must happen? Of course, nothing is impossible with God. I would not find it difficult to believe that God is able to gather every fragment of bone, flesh, muscle, and sinew that made up our earthly bodies, to make up our glorified resurrection bodies. Men might conceive this impossible, but God can do it. The only reason I declare that it is not going to be so is that God’s Word reveals that it will be otherwise (1Co_15:37). He, an omnipotent God who created our bodies in the first place, can recreate them at the resurrection.

Is Our Resurrection Impossible?

Will our bodies one day be raised from the dead or not? How can we know? Impossible, says one group. Before you make such a flat declaration, look at that unattractive insect upon the blade of grass. In just a few short days you will find that insect floating in the air, a beautiful gossamer creature with wings that rival the rainbow. Look at the dry root in the dark, cold winter. When spring comes, out of that root will blossom forth a profusion of beautiful blossoms. Look at the egg, an inert and earthbound shape. Yet in it lies the eagle that can wing and soar above all other birds, or the tiny hummingbird that remains poised in mid-air before some flower, defying the pull of gravity. The doctrine of the resurrection is not inconsistent with the analogies of nature or the experience of our common history.

Plant Corresponds to Seed

In 1Co_15:36-38, we see that a seed must die in the ground before God causes it to spring up into a plant; that this plant will be consistent with the nature of the seed planted, yet different in form and function. To emphasize this difference between the seed and the plant is similar to the difference between the body that is laid in the grave and the body that will one day be resurrected, Paul says in verse thirty-seven, “And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain.” The analogy is that of your dead body to a seed and of your resurrection body to the plant. There is nothing in Scripture that requires you to believe that the body you put into the ground is the selfsame body that will rise in the resurrection. Paul says that, with bodies as with plants, you don’t bury that which is to be in the same form that it will eventually assume. A bare grain of wheat will produce a plant bearing many grains, but you don’t sow the whole plant. You sow a seed and you get a corresponding plant.

It Is True

Death, like its master, Satan, stealthily watches to take its victims as a thief in the night. Quite often he gives no warning. Be prepared, therefore, to meet this enemy at any time. Professor J. H. Huxley was a well-known agnostic. His nurse revealed that in the last moments of his life, as he lay dying, the great skeptic suddenly looked up as at some sight invisible to mortal eyes, and, staring a while, whispered, “So it is true.”

Alive Forever

The famed evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, once remarked in a sermon: “Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all-out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the spirit will live forever.”

A Lesson from a Silver Cup

A servant who had received a silver cup from his master accidentally dropped it into a vat of acid. The servant was dumbfounded when he saw the whole cup disappear. He immediately went to a fellow servant and told him that the silver cup was lost forever. “It can’t be recovered. You can’t even see it.” The master, an educated man, came on the scene. He infused salt water into the acid, which precipitated the silver from the solution. Then by melting it and hammering the metal he restored the cup to its original shape. A skeptic who saw this was so struck by its analogy to the resurrection, which he had rejected as impossible, that he now believed it most credible.

A Body Fit for Heaven

What do we know about the germination of seeds? Keep a grain of wheat in your pocket all your life and it will never change. But place it in a congenial environment, a furrow of earth, and it will sprout into a living sheaf of grain. Every kind of life requires its particular corresponding environment in order to achieve its full and predestined potential. You would really be just as foolish to expect your body, as now constituted, to be able to live in the world to come, as a farmer would be if he expected to produce a harvest of wheat by keeping bare grains stored in his pocket.

A Divine Display of Power

“Thou foolish one, that which thou sowest…” (1Co_15:36). The Greek verb is speireis, “you sow all the time.” This is a common everyday experience. You accept it because you see it happening all the time. How true it is that there are many wonders in the world that you would not have believed by report, if you had not come across them by experience and observation. Had you lived fifty years ago, would you have believed that a picture could be taken by Telstar, a photographic communication satellite in the sky, which would then send back a clear picture on your television screen? In fact, would you have believed television? In the air there are only video waves, but on the television screen you see a person, an actual scene. Everything is wonderful until you are used to it; the resurrection of the body owes the incredible portion of its marvel to the fact of your never having observed it. After the resurrection we shall regard it as a divine display of power as familiar to us as creation and providence are now.

Are You Ready to Die?

One day when Luther was a young man, he was walking with a friend named Alexis. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck his friend and killed him instantly. From that moment on a radical change took place in Luther’s life. Your life will also change if you think seriously that one day it will end, perhaps suddenly and soon. After that you will have to give an account of it to God. Are you ready for it?

Nature Hints at the Resurrection

An illustration of what one may learn from nature, if he only has eyes to see, is the example of a man who looked into his tropical aquarium one day and saw on the surface a tiny creature, seemingly half fish and half snake, not an inch long, writhing in what seemed its death agony. With convulsive efforts it bent head to tail, now on this side, now on that, springing in circles with a force truly remarkable in a creature so small. “I was stretching out my hands to remove it,” said the aquarium owner, “so that it would not sink and die and pollute the tank, when in the twinkling of an eye its skin split from end to end, and there sprang out a delicate fly with slender black legs and pale lavender wings. Balancing itself for one instant on its discarded skin, it preened its gossamer wings and then flew out of an open window. The impression made upon me was deep and overpowering. I learned that nature was everywhere hinting at the truth of the resurrection.”

The Foolish Question

A little boy drove his mother to distraction with questions one day. Finally she sent him packing off upstairs to bed. Later feeling troubled, she tiptoed into his room, knelt beside his bed, and told him she was sorry she had been cross with him, adding, “Now, dear, if you want to ask one more question before you go to sleep, I’ll try to answer it.” Quick as a wink the youngster blurted out, “Mommy, how high is up?” Some theological questioning is just about as foolish. That’s exactly what Paul calls the man who asks these questions about the resurrection body, “Thou fool.” The Greek word here is aphron, which comes from the negative prefix a, “without,” and the noun phren, “mind.” You are a man without sense, without reason, Paul says, if you think there can be an explanation in detail of all observable facts and the conclusions to be drawn from them.