Missions Update: The team from our church, Victory Christian Ministries International, is ready to come home. They had an amazing time in Africa. God used them for His glory. They are coming back with many testimonies. I will provide you two quick ones. First, they encountered a little girl who was crying uncontrollably. The mother said the baby was colicy and she had been crying for hours. Our team prayed for the baby, she stopped crying, she started smiling, and that opened the door for the team to minister to the family. Second, our team met with a couple who were leaders of their village or tribe. Basically, they were the King and Queen of their people. They did not know Jesus, they were up in age, and the Queen had been blind for years. Our team ministered to them. They told them about Jesus. The Queen received Jesus as Lord and Jesus restored her sight. One of our team members has purple hair. When the Queen touched her hair and mentioned how beautiful the purple was, everyone erupted in praise and tears. The grace and power of God visited this Queen and her people that day. Thankfully, our team was able to be a part of it. This is what ministry is all about. I will provide more testimonies when our team gets back. They will be traveling today and into tomorrow. Please keep them in prayer.
Today we continue our new series entitled, “It’s already done!”, under the banner of the overall series for the year, “Supernatural Manifestation.” If you go back to January, all year I have been teaching you about walking in God’s supernatural power. You have learned about God’s unmerited favor (His grace) and your requirement to live by faith in order to access it. You have learned about God’s sovereignty and His timing. You have learned about the importance of developing the proper self-image/identity; if you can ever see yourself “As Jesus is, in this world”, then your opinion of you, will line up with God’s opinion of you. And powerful things happen when there is a human alignment with a divine assignment. Which leads me to the series we are in now. We will flow in this series to close out the year and I believe we will close out the year strong. We are now learning that we don’t have to strive to make things happen. Our role is to discern what God has already done and to simply release our faith to see, in the earth, what God revealed, in our hearts. With that, I want to get into a few scriptures. But for the sake of time, I will simply share a few thoughts with you today and come back to the scriptures tomorrow.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- Once you know who you are in Christ, your next step is to seek to DO what you were born to do. You are not DOING to get God to move. You are DOING because God already moved. You are, because He is. You DO, because He did.
- When our team was praying for the lady who was blind for years, they did not actually need to ask God to provide healing. God provided healing 2,000 years ago. Healing has already been provided by grace. It is freely available to all people. What they did was release their faith to access God’s grace. Their faith tapped into what God had already provided and the woman’s sight was restored. For you, this morning, it may not be sight you are looking for. Whatever it is, God has already provided. His work is already done. Your role now is to release your faith to access His grace.
- If you come to God from the position of lack, like you need something and you are asking God to DO something for you, then you are acknowledging the fact that you DON’T BELIEVE it’s already done. And if you believe this way, your faith is going to be OFF. Because you are asking God to DO something He already did. Let me put it this way. Let’s say I buy a dozen donuts and place them on the kitchen counter. I then call my kids to the kitchen and say, “Hey, I bought these donuts for you. They are here if you want them.” And then later, one of my children comes up to me and says, “Dad, can you go buy us some donuts? I would really like a donut right now.” I would be disappointed, because my child did not acknowledge the fact that I already provided what they are asking for. Their job was to simply LAY HOLD of what I already provided. The same holds true today, for us, in so many ways.
- Sometimes Christians believe there is something else that needs to take place. They are waiting on God to do this or that. But God has already done all He needs to do for us to live the life we were born to live. Waiting on God’s timing is one thing. But waiting on God’s performance is something else. If you believe God needs to DO something before you can move, you will be waiting a long time. It’s already done.
- You must get to the point where you realize ‘you lack nothing’. All you need has already been provided. It’s already done.
- Jesus is not coming back until the Judgment. He did all He needed to do while He was here. It’s now your turn. You are supposed to do what He did. You are supposed to live like He lived. The ball is in your court. The onus is on you. What are you doing to do with the grace God has already provided?
- You are called to live by faith. Because faith is how you access what God has already provided. God’s part is done. As you enter this day, are you determined to do your part?
That’s enough for today.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. I am learning so much about You. You reveal to me what You have already provided. You show me what You have already done. I don’t have to strive to get You to move. You have already moved. Your part is already done. Your grace is there. Now my faith will be there as well. I walk and live by faith. By faith I access what You have already provided. By faith I LAY HOLD of the life I was born to live! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
