As we continue to move into this new year, and approach the swearing-in ceremony for President Trump’s second term, opposition against him and the plans of the Lord have continued unabated. That means that we have an increased responsibility to be lifting him before the Lord, along with his family, and his staff and cabinet. This is a practical dimension for us to exercise ruling and reigning!
Before we took our break for Christmas, we were talking about the significance of righteous judgment. I want to pick up on that again as we begin the new year. 2021 is going to be a year for the record books! I know that some of the first four years of the Trump administration have been real barn-burners but get ready for some amazing events this coming year!
It has been a constant source of amazement to me that Jesus has always been painted as poor and indigent -- never mind what the Word clearly states. Ever since the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD,error after error after error has crept into the body of Christ, and promulgated with traditions that have no validity in the Word. The compromises that Constantine made with church leaders in order to bring the Roman Army into the church and declare them to be "Christian" have contaminated the truth ever since.
This whole topic of death cancellation is one that is hard for many Christians to swallow. Even though it is so clear throughout the Word, the death culture is deeply embedded in our culture and our mindsets. It takes a real leap of faith for us to accept this, and having done so, it next becomes the transforming and renewing of our minds in order for it to become life to us. Here’s what Paul writes to the Philippians.
I sort of got off on a political tangent at the end of last week’s Coffee Break in talking about the focus in our society on death or the threat of it. Think about the two weeks or so just preceding the election on November 3rd. The media was using the threat of the virus to shape the thinking of people in the outcome of the election. Because the Biden campaign was focusing on the virus as the fault of the Trump administration it became an easy way to associate people’s think with the threat of death as it related to Trump. Fortunately, the Lord had another plan in mind, and it didn’t work.
We’ve been talking about the significance of the laying on of hands and the impartation that comes with it. Generally we think of the laying on of hands in relationship to healing or ministry for some particular issue – not as a prophetic impartation. The Lord directed me many years ago to lay hands on certain individuals as He directs and prophesy over them. The laying on of hands generally comes with the impartation of certain prophetic gifts.
Last week, I had intended to branch off for a bit into a discussion on faith that wasn’t a part of where we had been, but because of time constraints, I decided to leave that discussion for today instead. In past discussions, I have commented about the number of man being 6.
The body of Christ needs to come to grips with the truth concerning our dealing with unbelief. Family, we all do. We all fail in this way, depending on the circumstances. Can we please start speaking to situations in stead of praying about them? OK. That’s just the preface for today’s discussion and time of sharing. Let’s begin again with what Paul wrote to the Hebrews:
In order to maintain the continuity between last week’s discussion and this week’s, Let’s pick up with some of the statements we wrapped last week with. We go back to Isaiah’s prophecy. In Isaiah 28:13, we are told, “But the Word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.”
Many of you have heard me say the following statements in the past, but for the sake of today’s sharing, it is imperative that they be shared again. The Body of Christ has been through several generations of teaching and learning what I have come to call "escapism." Escapist doctrines are those which permit God's people to "hang on" by the skin of their teeth with salvation and baptism doctrines, waiting for that day when they will be "changed in the twinkling of an eye," and raptured out of here. Escapist doctrines do not teach or recognize the necessity of thlipsis.
