Yesterday,
2/20/2011, I preached at Deliverance Church (The church we are
working for in Busia). I was really nervous, because I knew it was a
strong word. However, I knew I was supposed to preach it, because the
Lord had woken me up, in the middle of the night, to download this
message to me. Praise the Lord, it went really well, and even though
I felt like throwing up the whole time, the Holy Spirit did His
thing.
The
Power We Carry as Children of God (Part 1):
First,
how do you become a child of God? When you are born into this world,
you become naturally alive, but you are born spiritually dead. When
Adam and Eve gave into temptation, they handed over the keys of
authority to Satan, and we were condemned to death for eternity. God
wanted nothing more than to be in relationship with us, like He once
had in the Garden. So, he sent His perfect, blameless, beloved Son to
this earth. He was born of a woman, and walked through every trial
and tribulation we have and will face….except He did it without
sinning. He boldly and courageously chose to drink the cup of the
wrath of God, so we wouldn’t have to. He became our sin, the sin of
our past, the sins we will commit today, and the sins of our future.
He condemned our sin to death once and for all on the cross, where He
shed His blood. The blood that would cleanse us, free us, and allow
us to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father. He didn’t just stop
there, He became our sin and took our penalty, but at the same time,
He gave us His position. He traded places with us. All that He is:
Righteous, Blameless, perfect, Holy, Worthy, the Heir to the throne
of God…..He gave to us. That’s why it says in the Word, we are
co-heirs with Christ. What a loving King….so completely worthy of
ALL of our praises. He finished it all on the cross, and He did for
everyone. Salvation is for everyone, and it’s already out there. All
you need to do is reach out and grab it. Repent of your sins, and
accept the free gift of salvation. Ask Jesus into your heart and
experience true freedom. Christ died on the cross, and was
resurrected to life. This is the same thing that happens to your
spirit when you accept salvation, it comes to life. That is why they
call it born-again. No more walking dead, find out what its like to
really live.
Second,
when you become a child of God, you have access to the same power and
authority Jesus had when He physically walked this earth. So what is
that power?
Genesis
1: 1-3
“In
the beginning God CREATED the heavens and the earth. Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness, was over the surface of the deep.,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
So
the earth was lifeless. How did God create life on earth?
Verse
3: And God SAID “Let there be light and there was light.”
Verse
6: And God SAID “Let there be an expanse between the waters to
separate water from water.”
Verse
7: And it was so.
So
God SPOKE and creation/life happened.
Ezekiel
37:
(paraphrased)
The Spirit of the Lord took Ezekiel and set him in the middle of a
valley full of dead, dry bones.
Verses
4-6: Then he(God) said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to
them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the
Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and
you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh
come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and
you will come to life.
Verse
7: So I prophesied as I was commanded. Then Ezekiel heard a noise and
looked and the bones were covered in tendon, flesh, and skin.
Verse
9-10: Prophesy to the breath: Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe into these slain, that they may live. After Ezekiel spoke
they came to life and stood up on their feet.
So
God wasn’t speaking directly to the bones. He used His servant and
child, Ezekiel, to speak life into the bones and they came to life.
James
3:6, 10
“The
tongue is also a fire.?ut
of the same mouth come praising and cursing.”
Proverbs
18:21
“The
tongue has the POWER of life and death.”
God
always gives us a choice. We have a choice to serve Him or serve the
enemy. We also have a choice to curse with our words, which brings
death, or bless with our words, which brings life. Your words are
very powerful!
*Because
we are children of God, and His Spirit dwells in us, we too can speak
and cause life where there once was death.
