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Walk in Truth and Receive Blessings

1/25/2015

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Each of us was created by God as a “spirit being.”  Our spirit is called our inward man. II Corinthians 4:17 declares, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” Our inward man, or spirit, daily walks just as our outward (physical) man moves about daily. However, our spirit walks inside knowledge that we receive and think.  Our spirit takes “thought steps.” Each time our mind thinks a thought; our spirit takes a step inside that specific thought, whether good or evil.  Therefore, knowledge (thoughts) deposits paths inside us in which our spirit walks. Therefore, the quality of life that we experience is tied directly to the types of knowledge that we receive and daily think. 
Before Jesus Christ entered our hearts through the Holy Spirit, we were “natural thinkers.”  All of our thoughts were natural from the world. Our spirits were dominated by those thoughts and we walked in them. Satan, the wicked one, influences this world with dark thought patterns.  Ephesians 2:2 declares, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ, was sent from Heaven to dwell inside our hearts. He guides us into all truth. St. John 16:13 declares, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” The Holy Spirit dominates or rules all natural thoughts, since truth is greater than natural thought. When we receive Him into our hearts, our spirit is placed inside Him. He deposits the words of Christ inside us, which are truth.  Colossians 3:16 declares, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”  
Christ’s words release a path in which our spirit is to walk. We receive a new spiritual path which is totally opposite of our old one. This path is a commandments path. God gives commands to us; we are to receive them and walk in those commands. Psalm 119:151 declare, “Thou art near, O Lord, and all thy commandments are truth.” When we receive His commands, they release the path of truth in which our spirit now walks to our blessings.  Psalm 119:35 declares, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.”  This walk in truth causes our soul to prosper and we receive the benefits of a healthy body and prosperity in our professional endeavors.  III John 2-4 declare, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”  Be assured that as our spirit daily walks in the truths of Christ, blessings are guaranteed to come upon us. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.org

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Walk in God’s Words for Blessings 

1/11/2015

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The make-up of every individual is a spirit, soul and body: these three are connected. What happens to one affects all. God has established His “perfect” way for us to (1) prosper on earth and (2) for our bodies to be restored to total health. His way is through the restoration and prosperity of our soul. (III John 2)  This should be our focus. The Power to prosper our soul and bring health to our body is already contained in God’s living words. (Psalm 107:20)  

God’s words are Thoughts from His Heart.  He created Heaven and earth with words from His Mouth. (Hebrews 11:3)  His spoken words always (1) flow, (2) work and (3) manifest. Therefore, to experience manifestations of a sound healthy body, great family relationships, and financial prosperity from a prosperous soul; the tongue must be trained to speak God’s words which flow, work and manifest them.

God’s words have been designed to work on every part of our being – spirit, soul and body. After hearing them, they first work on our spirit. They sanctify it from all evil thoughts and ways. This must be accomplished because the thoughts and ways of our heart determine the blessings that God releases into our lives. Jeremiah 17:10 declares, “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”  St. John 17:17 declares, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” From our heart, God’s words purify and restore our soul to wholeness. Evil thoughts and ways have scarred the soul where it literally cannot prosper.  James 1:21-22 declare, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Our body automatically receives the resulting Supernatural health of God. Proverbs 4:20-22 declare, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”  Then, we prosper in our professional endeavors. (III John 2)  

Follow this carefully: our soul eats “fruit” from our heart that is framed by our tongue.  It requires sweetness from our heart to be restored and prosper.  This is why our tongue is so critically important to the process.  God has provided both “restoration” and “healing” Power in sweetness. Specifically, this Power is contained in two distinct things: (l) specific words, which are Truth; and (2) specific tones of voice, which include sweet and pleasant.  These two (Truth and tone) must be framed into fruit by our mouth and sent to our soul to prosper it.  Proverbs 16:24 declares, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.” The Holy Spirit is to dwell inside our heart and train our mouth to speak in ways that send sweetness to our soul. Proverbs 16:23 declares, “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Remember, daily speaking truth sweetly and pleasantly guarantees blessings in our lives. God Bless.


 From Pastor Leroy Rankin
www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.org


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How to Experience the Blessed Life

1/11/2015

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Jesus Christ came to earth that we might have and enjoy an abundant life. Located inside Him are God’s hidden Spiritual Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge to accomplish it. Colossians 2:3 declares, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The Supernatural Power of God that produces this life is presently located inside these Treasures.  However, mysteries surrounding them must be understood and embraced to experience it.  

First, since these Treasures are hidden, they must be sought and found. God requires that our soul prospers to experience His prepared abundant life. Only His Treasures prosper our soul.  Therefore, our priority in Christ is to actively and diligently seek to get God’s Wisdom and Knowledge inside our hearts, understanding that He is a Rewarder of diligent seekers. (Hebrews 11:6)  Daily, we should be discovering Pearls of Wisdom from God’s word to direct our behavior in life; for it is our behavior that determines the quality of our future.

God’s Knowledge is His words to us. Specifically, He has provided commands or wise Instructions for us to follow. His Instructions make us spiritually wise individuals.  Proverbs 8:33 declares, “Hear instruction, and be wise and refuse it not.”  They take control of our minds and direct three things: (l) what we say, (2) how we say it and (3) how we treat people. His Wisdom is the application of His Knowledge to life. For example, to receive God’s Supernatural Health in our body, we simply follow His Instructions and depart from earthly wisdom, which opposes God.  (Proverbs 3:7-8)

God’s Instructions contain His Spiritual Ways and Paths, which are deposited inside us as we receive His Instructions.  Our spirit is to daily walk in them (obeying them) for His blessings to flow and manifest in our lives. (Psalm 119:1-3) Equally important to know is that His Ways and Paths are spiritual “Light.” They dominate all spiritual darkness, the only place where Satan walks. God’s Ways and Paths must replace all those inside us that oppose Him. 

 It is clear that we cannot walk in what we do not know. Accordingly, the Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven to instruct us in God’s pure Ways and Paths. (Psalm 25:4)  As we learn them, we must walk in them, doing what they direct.  For the benefit, we must make a critical self evaluation of our ways and turn our feet to God’s “Paths of Righteousness.” (Psalm 119:59-60)   We are to literally depart from walking in evil wisdom to God’s Wisdom that is contained in His instructions.  Also, a critical value of His instructions is that Satan, who destroys, walks only in paths of spiritual darkness. As we walk in God’s Paths, Satan has absolutely no dominion over us; again, because he can only walk in paths of darkness. (Psalm 17:4-5)  Knowing and doing these truths cause us to experience the blessed life. God Bless.


 From Pastor Leroy Rankin
www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.org


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Understanding the Power of Praise

1/9/2015

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To receive the blessings that our Heavenly Father has prepared for His children, we must understand and behave in a manner prescribed by Him, which gives Him pleasure. A key part of that behavior is Praising Him. Praise will play a vital role in our success this year. As such, we must learn the role and dynamics of Praise to receive the goodness that God has “already prepared” for us. 

Under the Old Covenant, God required sacrifices to be “offered up” to Him by His people. The Purpose was two-fold: (1) to honor Him and (2) to bless Him. In response, out of His Mercy (loving-kindness), He released “Supernatural Power” and blessed them.  The persons ordained to “offer up” official sacrifices were Priests.  In carrying out their service inside the “tabernacle,” they offered meats and drinks, and divers washings and carnal ordinances ordained by God. (Hebrews 9:9-10) 


Now, under the New Covenant, established by the shed blood of Christ, God accepts Spiritual sacrifices from Spiritual Priests. We are made kings and priests in Christ unto God. (Revelation 1:5-6) 


God demands sacrifices from us for the purpose of releasing His Mercy or Loving-kindness to us. He is “rich” in Mercy. His Mercy delivers us; His Mercy restores our body to health; His Mercy blesses us with abundance. Therefore, we hope in His Mercy. Psalm 147:10-11 declare, “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” However, to gain His Mercy, we must give Him His ordained sacrifices. 


First, we must present our body a “living sacrifice,” holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)  Out of a sacrifice body, we “offer up” sacrifices of Praise with our mouth to God, blessing Him. These Praises are sanctified by the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:16)


The sacrifices must be Joyful. They are “offered up” with our mouth.  We “offer up” the sacrifice of Praise to God continually, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15)   We bless Him at all times with everything within us. (Psalm 34:1)  Further, we are to “clap” our hands to God. The sound is an offering sent up to Him which blesses Him.  Remember, we are to “shout” unto the Lord. (Psalm 47:1)   


We come into the House of the Lord with our sacrifice body. We bring with us the voice of joy and gladness.  We are to stand in the congregation, raise our voice and bless the Lord. (Psalm 26:12)  We offer sacrifices of joy; we sing. (Psalm 33:3) Also, He requires that we acknowledge and declare specific truths about Him that move Him to action. They are: (1) Praise the Lord of Hosts, (2) For the Lord is good, and (3) For His Mercy endureth forever.  When we praise in this manner, God releases His “Supernatural Power” which works and manifests on our behalf.   Determine to give God more praise this year and receive more prepared blessings from Him.  God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin
www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.org
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Understanding God’s Reward System

1/9/2015

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Our Heavenly Father, being Almighty, can do anything. However, He does for His children according to the correct exercise of their Faith. We must exercise Faith to please Him. Hebrews 11:6 declares, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”  God exists in the realm of Eternity and manifests things in the natural realm to bless our lives. He has established a “Reward System” for doing so. Therefore, to experience His Power release, we must intelligently believe that His blessings are released as a reward for actions that we take according to His directions. He is a Rewarder of those who diligently “seek” Him.  Diligence is marked by focused, persevering effort.  He releases Power and performs after we do His ordained actions, which are His Will.  His Blessings are automatically released as a reward, being attached to the ordained actions.  

God exists in secret; He sees in secret; and He rewards openly. Therefore, His seeking process is a secret one, which He watches. He has ordained three actions that we are to enter into secretly, perform and receive rewards.  The first is Fasting. St. Matthew 6:16-18 declare, “Moreover when ye fast be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
The second is Prayer. Fasting and Prayer are connected. We must pray to Him in secret for results. St. Matthew l6:5-8 declare, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 


The third thing is Alms giving, which is giving to bless those in critical need. St. Matthew 6:1-4 declare, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shalt reward thee openly.  We perform as follows: (l) understand God’s secret process, (2) set ourselves mentally and perform the action and (3) expect manifestation of rewards to supply our need. This pleases God. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin
www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.org
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Believe to see the Goodness of God

1/9/2015

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Almighty God is invisible and Supernatural. As such, He does nothing naturally. Having created Heaven and earth, there is absolutely nothing impossible for Him to perform. He has “already” crowned Year 2015 with “great goodness.” Psalm 65:11 declares, “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.  The amount of His goodness that we will receive will depend upon our under-standing of God and our behavior in accordance with His Will, which is walking in His truth paths. 

First, we must understand that our God is the God of Mercy. Out of His Mercy, He desires to show Himself strong on our behalf.  II Chronicles 16:9 declares, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him….” He does so by releasing goodness from His rich glory and blessing us.  Specifically, He releases His “Supernatural Power” as acts of kindness by His Spirit. This release of Power is unmerited. We can do nothing to earn it; it is His grace. Our Faith lies in His Supernatural Power being released to us.  


When God’s Power is released, it works and ultimately appears and we see it. Psalm 90:16 declares, “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.”  There are a number of things that His released Power does for us. First, it causes us to triumph over every challenging situation that we face. II Corinthians 2:14 declares, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.” His Power will not allow us to remain in a stressful situation where there seems to be no way of escape – a family problem, financial difficulty, a legal challenge, etc.


His Power also works inside our bodies, producing deliverance from bondages and addictions, and releasing His Supernatural Health in them. God’s Will is for us to live healthy lives, free of sickness and disease. He created the body from the dust of the earth. Surely, He knows how to restore health to it.  He has provided health Power inside words that is released into our spirit, then into our body taking dominion over every demonic force within us eradicating them. His power works on people and things that He owns. Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”  He takes control of them and produces blessed results for us through them. This is His Favor.


The things produced by the work of God’s Power manifest His glory, showing that He is God alone. (Psalm 86:10) We believe to see His Power manifest in our lives—inside us and on our behalf. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin
www.ChristAbundantLifeMinistries.org

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March 28th, 2014

3/28/2014

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The Operation of God’s Faith

The Faith of God is designed by Him to bring blessings into our lives. It originates with Him amd is to be used by us.  Specifically, God gives us faith words which are His authority by which we are to live on earth. Also, He gives us promises of great things that He will supernaturally perform and fulfill in our lives. When we receive His words, we do not physically see those things. Our faith is the evidence that they exist. (Hebrews 11:1)  By our exercising God’s Faith, those unseen things are transferred from the spirit realm to the physical realm and manifest for our consumption.  

The Faith that we exercise is a “Power Law” embodied in the Holy Spirit. We receive Him into our heart and He teaches us the law. It is called the law of liberty and it dominates all natural thinking. James 1:25 declares, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” God designed the Faith structure. It is a pattern of specific thinking that comes from His knowledge.  We hear His  knowledge and keep it inside our heart. It naturally extends to our mouth.  Proverbs 22:17-18 declare, “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy mouth.” When we say what God has said, His law is in operation.

There two spiritual components of the law: (l) spiritual thinking and (2) spiritual speaking.  II Corinthians 4:13 declares, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken, we also believe, and therefore speak;” We believe His word that we received in our heart and speak it with our mouth. We come into possession of His prepared blessings as we speak His words. What we are doing is believing to see or experience the goodness of God while we live. Psalm 27:13 declares, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  

It is important to understand that Faith Law cannot be violated by unbelief in our heart for it to have the effect that God designed it to have. It cannot be interrupted by distractions. Unbelief is a distraction. It is natural thinking which refuses Spiritual understanding.  When there is a Faith thought being exercised by us, then we speak a word  that opposes what God has said, our mouth transgresses faith law. The result is that nothing happens for us.  Psalm 17:3 declares, “Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me and shalt find nothing: I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.”  If we consistently think and speak what God has already thought and spoken, we will see His goodness in our lives while we live. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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March 21st, 2014

3/21/2014

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Our Blessings Follow completed Instructions

Almighty God, with whom we link in Covenant through Jesus Christ, is a Rewarder. The blessings that He has prepared to be released into our lives are given to us as rewards.  Hebrews 11:6 declares, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” A reward, by definition, is something given in response to a specific action performed that the rewarder prescribes.  Only after performance is the reward released.

Our thinking regarding receiving rewards must begin with knowing God’s Will. We must know what He has prepared for us and what He requires us to do to receive them. The Holy Spirit reveals these things to us. (St. John 16:13)  St. Matthew 6:10 declares, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

Learning God’s Will causes us to become spiritually wise individuals. Ephesians 5:17 declares, “Wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”  God’s Will is incorporated in specific commands or instructions to us.  After carrying out His instructions, we always receive a blessing. Proverbs 8:33 declares, “Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.” His Wisdom is critically important because He has ordained that only spiritually wise individuals inherit His glory.  Proverbs 3:35 declares, “The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”

Wise behavior by us is God’s Will in motion. It is produced by our following His instructions.  When we follow God’s instructions in our family life, on our jobs and socially; we are acting wisely. With this wise behavior, we have a right to expect to receive God’s manifestations of His glory, or His promises fulfilled in our lives.  Hebrews 10:36 declares, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”

We will be challenged before we possess His blessings. God instructs us how to treat those who challenge us to inherit blessings. I Peter 2:8-9 declare, “Finally, be ye all of one mind having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”  Blessing those who do evil to us is the Will of God. The Holy Spirit empowers us supernaturally to love those who come in conflict with us. When we obey God’s command to bless, we show Him that we love Him and we do His Will.  Psalm 31:23 declares, “O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.”  God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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March 14th, 2014

3/14/2014

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Walk in God’s Commands and Receive Blessings

 

Being “born again” by the Spirit of God, we are children of God.  The Holy Spirit ministers God’s words to us to bless us. His words are living, powerful words. When they enter our hearts, they produce three spiritual things in us: (l) an image of who we are in Christ, (2) a vision of the things that God has prepared for us and (3) an understanding of how to acquire them.  Our Heavenly Father has already prepared great blessings that make our lives abundant on earth.  Those blessings exist in spirit form, not yet physically manifested. (I Corinthians 2:9)  God gives us Promises to release the things to us.  (II Peter 1:4)  He reveals both the blessings and His Promises to us by the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 2:10 declares, “But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”  We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to imagine that the revealed things are there and that they belong to us. Upon receiving the knowledge of them, we must take ownership of them. We do so by declaring with our mouth that we have the things.  The promised things are destined to manifest in our lives.

Now we must position ourselves to physically possess our blessings. To do so requires a specific walk in the sight of God. We must make a quality decision and walk in a disciplined manner in the Love of God. It is this walk that determines the reception of our blessings; because the prepared things are for those who love God. I Corinthians 2:9 declares, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”  The way that we show God that we love Him is to walk in the commands that He has given us.  Psalm 119:35 declares, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.”  We must receive His commands to walk in them.  St. John 14:21 declares, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

 I  Thessalonians 4:2 declares, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.” When we walk daily in God’s command of love, we please Him.  Those who please God are certain to abound in blessings more and more. I Thessalonians 4:1 declares, “Furthermore then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God so that ye would abound more and more.” With keeping God’s commands, we walk in expectation of receiving. We live each day expecting the things that God has promised to happen.  Where no expectant thinking is operating, His Power is not at work within us.  Ephesians 3:20 declares, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh within.”  The blessing is that expectant thinking empowers us to resist all natural, opposing thoughts that hinder the flow of God’s Blessings into our lives.  By walking in love and expecting, we are certain to experience God’s glory.  God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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March 07th, 2014

3/7/2014

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God’s Word must Grow inside our Hearts

The natural world has its own way of thinking, which is natural; it is based on what is seen. Natural thinking in people’s hearts prevents the Supernatural work of God in their lives.  God is a Spirit, not natural. When we are “Born Again” by the Spirit of God, we are to experience Supernatural manifestations of blessings directly from Him.  We are given a spirit to know the things that He gives to us.  I Corinthians 2:12 declares, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” We must learn to operate in new spiritual knowledge to receive manifestations of blessings.

God created the heaven and the earth by thinking, then speaking. His thinking created the things in thought form. His speaking transmitted them out of Him. They worked and manifested themselves like a seed manifests. The mystery is that God has already given us everything that we need for an abundant life through spoken knowledge seeds. II Peter 1:3 declares, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

The Kingdom of God, from whence we receive our blessings, is in Knowledge Power. Each Promise that He has made available to us shows us what He will do in each area of our lives as His children. We are to inherit them by exercising the Faith that He gives us. Faith Power is in “Thought seeds.” Our heart is the spiritual soil in which Kingdom word is planted.  It is planted as a small thought; it grows and becomes great. The great Power is already inside it; it is greater than all natural thoughts.  It simply has to grow within us like a seed.

When God’s thoughts become great within us, no other thought can enter our heart and force us to think it. St. Mark 4:30-33 declare, “And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or what comparison shall we compare it. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it growth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” 

We facilitate God’s thoughts growing inside the ground of our heart by meditation. God’s word is planted and must be watered to grow. As we meditate, we are spiritually watering the word to facilitate increase.  We focus our minds on God’s Promises, accept what He says, and hold on to His thoughts. We must daily visualize or imagine things that are presently located in His Spirit and prepared to be released and transferred into our lives as His word grows within us.  As God’s thoughts grow, they become in us the greatest thoughts operating on earth.  Every negative thought and manifestation of Satan comes out of his kingdom of darkness, which is less than God’s kingdom.  Accordingly, through God’s Kingdom words, we are more than conquerors and positioned for great blessings.  God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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February 28th, 2014

2/28/2014

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Focus on the Eternal and Overcome Afflictions

 

 Almighty God is the Eternal Spirit; therefore, what proceeds from Him is eternal. He created all things, both visible and invisible, with eternal words.  Colossians 1:16 declares, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him.” God’s words created all things, including the principalities and powers that manifest themselves against us.  Since His words created them, His words are greater than they. They cannot overpower His words. Further, since they were created for Him, He owns them. Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”   

 

Two categories of things exist on earth: (1) eternal things and (2) temporal things.  Eternal things are everlasting; like God, they cannot end. Temporal things last only for a specified period of time, then end.  The principalities and powers that are created and owned by God work and manifest negative things in our lives called afflictions.  They manifest in our bodies with health challenges; in our finances with lack and in our relationships with various types of turmoil. They embody physical, mental and emotional pain.

Every affliction that manifests is temporal. As such, there is a “limitation” them. They are light and are designed to last only for a specified period of time.  II Corinthians 4:17 declares, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” What Satan does is approach us and manifests challenging situations that can only last for a specific period. He designed them to appeal to our senses to defeat us.  Our directive from God is to endure and overcome them. Every affliction encountered contains negative thought pressure.  The strength of the pressure is a function of the degree of difficulty of the challenge.  Satan uses the pressure to break our concentration from God’s words and draw our attention to him.  He then seeks to capture our imagination with negative images into our spirit that make us think.  Inside those images reside the spirits of fear and unbelief.  In our pain state, if we are weak in Faith, we will observe the negative manifested things. If we are strong in Faith, we will observe the eternal words of God about them.

We are to be filled with God’s “eternal words.” (Colossians 1:9)  They foster two valuable things: (l) effective resistance against the temporal afflictions that are to come, without giving in to the pain; and (2) our being strengthened with God’s Might by the Holy Spirit unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. (Colossians 1:11)   As we focus on God’s eternal words in the face of temporal afflictions and overcome them, we inherit blessings from God. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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February 21st, 2014

2/21/2014

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Fight the Good Fight of Faith

 

 Satan, the adversary of Believers in Christ, walks about strategically seeking whom he may devour. I Peter 5:8-9 declare, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”  We are directed by God to resist Satan steadfastly in the faith. The Holy Spirit, who is greater than Satan, arms us with the faith to do so. Specifically, He supplies us with truths regarding Satan that guarantee our victory. We fight him from a position of truth.

Everything that proceeds from Satan is a lie. (St. John 8:44) He uses the devices of manifestations. He illegally causes disease (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.), poverty and turmoil in people’s lives. With his lying manifestations, he directs fearful thoughts and imaginations to our hearts with which he seeks to defeat us. He persuades people to receive his thoughts by directing their attention to his manifestations away from God’s knowledge. Then he forces them into submission by making them talk about the lying manifestation in natural terms. Example: “I have cancer.” The truth is that by the stripes of Jesus, we were healed. (I Peter 2:24)

Every manifestation of Satan exalts itself against the “Knowledge” of God. Therefore, to be successful, we must focus our attention on God’s truth, rather than on the affliction. The reason is that Satan’s afflictions are light and only for a moment. God’s truths are eternal.  II Corinthians 4:17-18 declare, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Further, God promises to give us victory over every affliction that we encounter. Psalm 34:19 declares, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

God’s Will is for us to be bold as a lion when facing afflictions. (Proverbs 28:1) We are bold because God has not given us the spirit of bondage to fear. (II Timothy 1:7)  Armed with overcoming Faith and boldness, we stand and fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal things. (I Timothy 6:12)  Our war, being spiritual, is waged with spiritual things: thoughts, imaginations, and natural reasoning brought by Satan.  II Corinthians 10:4-5 declare, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”  When we defeat Satan’s thoughts and imaginations, we conquer him. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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February 14th, 2014

2/14/2014

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Truth gives us Victory in Battle

 God has ordained that we effectively fight Satan, our adversary, and win: then inherit blessings that He has prepared for His children.  Foundational to conquering Satan is knowing truths about him and his principalities and powers. First, they are presently bound in chains of spiritual darkness and cannot escape them.  II Peter 2:4 declares, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;” Spiritual darkness does not have the ability to overcome spiritual light. We have been given the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in which we are to walk and with which we fight.  (II Corinthians 4:6)  

Jesus Christ has already destroyed the devil that illegally manifests disease (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.), poverty and turmoil in people’s lives. Hebrews 2:14 declares, “Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Christ is presently the head of every principality and power that manifest themselves against us: they are under His total control. Colossians 2:10 declares, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”  Since they are under Christ’s control, He will never allow them to manifest things beyond our ability to bear; and He is certain to deliver us. II Corinthians 2:14 declares, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.” Knowing these truths lessens the fear of the negative things when they manifest against us.

We must also correctly understand the power of the Holy Spirit for battle.  He is sent to work inside our hearts and transfer dominion truths to us to use to overcome in battle. He is greater than the devil and every ruler of darkness that works against us. I John 4:4 declares, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”  Therefore, technically, through the Holy Spirit, we are more than conquerors before anything manifests against us.

Through training, the Holy Spirit imparts “victorious Faith” in our hearts that guarantees our victory. I John 5:4 declares, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Also, we are provided God’s spiritual “Armor of Light,” which is greater than the powers of darkness that manifest against us.  Romans 13:12 declares, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”  When we fight using God’s Faith and His armor, we always win. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin   

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February 07th, 2014

2/7/2014

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We Fight and Inherit God’s Blessings

 After accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. When received, He imparts several things of eternal value to us. First, He gives us a Heavenly image of who God has made us in Christ. We are to think of ourselves accordingly. Romans 12:3 declares, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”  The Holy Spirit is the spirit of adoption. He gives us faith by revealing to us that we are the “children of God.” (Romans 8:15:16) As God’s children, we are His heirs and are destined to possess prepared blessings as inheritance.  He  has ordained that we inherit blessings that make our lives abundant—health, financial abundance, valuable relationships, etc.  We must think that as God’s heirs, we have a God-given right to these blessings.  

Second, and equally important, the Holy Spirit gives us a Heavenly vision of the behavior that God has ordained for us to come into possession of our blessings. That behavior is fighting and overcoming. To overcome means to win in conflict with something that challenges. Revelation 21:7 declares, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”  We are to effectively resist demonic forces by warfare and receive inheritance. Accordingly, God has chosen us to be solders for battle. We must see ourselves as such. II Timothy 2:4 declares, “No man that warreth entangeleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” 

As soldiers, we are to be built spiritually strong for battle to inherit. Acts 20:32 declares, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” God’s word contains His grace to build us up. Without it, we will submit to fear in battle and not overcome. His words must be seen as spiritual “grace food” that strengthens us. We are built up by daily eating, or meditating, upon God’s grace word. (Hebrews 13:9)  Since our battle is spiritual, it is against spirits, not people.  The Holy Spirit trains us to fight and win spiritual battles. He trains our minds to think spiritually and our mouths to speak spirit words. Proverbs 16:23 declares, “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.”

We fight against principalities and powers, the rulers of the “spiritual darkness” of this world. Ephesians 6:12 declares, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Demonic spirits work and manifest lies in the lives of people: lying diseases in our body, financial lack, turmoil in our relationships, etc. We are to fight and overcome them and inherit God’s blessings. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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January 31st, 2014

1/31/2014

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Our New Spirit from God Receives His Blessings

 

The words of Christ abiding in our hearts empower us to dominion thinking. When we receive the Knowledge of Christ, the power of His indwelling thoughts causes us to think accordingly: they literally shape our thinking. We receive God’s thoughts by hearing His words and agreeing with them. Then, we do not think outside of His words. His thoughts are greater than natural thinking which is unbelief. Natural thinking is controlled by Satan, the god of this world. When we think of things as they naturally appear, we are not in faith, but in unbelief.

Unbelief is the state of a mind that is blinded and dominated by natural knowledge. II Corinthians 4:3-4 declare, “But if our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them.”  A blind mind connects to a blind heart which is the base our understanding.  Our understanding is considered our inner eyes, or our ability to perceive things.  The cause of the blindness of the heart and darkened understanding is spiritual ignorance, or a lack of the knowledge of truth operating in it. (Ephesians 4:17-18)

The words of God are spirit, not natural. If His knowledge is not present and operating inside an individual’s heart, natural knowledge dominates his or her thinking. Spiritual things cannot flow to natural minds because they will reject them. The perfect illustration is with Jesus in His own country.  The 6th Chapter of St. Mark records what He confronted there.  Although He was the Son of God, anointed by the Holy Ghost and performed Miracles, He literally could not do so there. The reason was not an inability or a lack of desire on His part; rather, it was the spiritual blindness of the people’s understanding as to who He was.  They made the following statements in St. Mark 6:3, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Judah, and Simon? And they were offended at him.”  What offended them was what they thought about Jesus.  He was performing spiritual things while they were thinking naturally about Him.  

The impact of their unbelief is recorded in St. Mark 6:5-6, “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.”  We must know that we connect to God in believing His knowledge. We depart from Him in unbelief, or focusing on opposing natural knowledge.  Hebrews 3:12 declares, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” The living God gives us His Living words. When we no longer think in agreement with His words, we depart from Him in thinking.   Do not allow Satan to draw your minds away from God with natural thoughts, then you will see more blessings manifest in your life. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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January 24th, 2014

1/24/2014

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Faith Work causes us to Receive God’s Blessings

 Work is required of us by God to receive the blessings that He has in store for His children. It is a specific kind of work, called Faith. Faith thinking is called believing.  St. John 6:29 declares, “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” We must believe to see God’s glory; we do not have an option. Believing is Faith at work within us. Without works, Faith is dead and we receive nothing from God. (James 2:17))

We were created by God as spirit beings; as such, we are all thinkers and talkers. Daily, we do the mental work of thinking and the work of talking. We think inside our heart and from the abundance of our thoughts in it, we speak with our mouth. (St. Matthew 12:34)  Two types of knowledge exist from which we think and speak: spiritual and natural.  We were born into the natural world with a natural spirit tied to it. As such, we knew only natural knowledge. We learned to think and talk naturally. We talked according to what we physically saw, or according to our senses. This gave Satan dominion over us. He is called the god of this world. He blinded us and kept us ignorant of spiritual Knowledge. (II Corinthians 4:3-4)

Satan was destroyed by Jesus through His death on Calvary’s cross and His resurrection from the dead. (Hebrews 2:14-15)  However, Satan is allowed to remain on the earth. He works and manifests evil things in the natural realm designed to oppress people.  He is effective only because of the absence of spiritual knowledge. People think on his manifestations naturally since they physically see, feel, and touch them.  Satan has no legal right to manifest sicknesses and diseases in our bodies. He has no legal right to bring turmoil in our families or lack in our finances. However, he does so.  With his manifestations, he sends fearful thoughts and doubting imaginations designed to defeat people. If we think that we are to have sickness, we give him room to dominate us. The pressure of his manifestations are designed to force us to agree with him by using natural language: “I am sick,” “I have cancer,” “I don’t have enough money,” etc.  With such words, we cannot overcome him.

The blessing is that when we are “Born Again” by the Spirit of God, our spirit is made new in Christ. (II Corinthians 5:7)  We receive a spirit that is not of the world, but one directly from Heaven. It is above Satan and the world. It is a spirit to know the things that are in God’s glory to be freely given to us. (I Corinthians 2:12)   With our new spirit, our mind must be renewed with the Knowledge of God so that our focus is upon Him and His words, not on the negative manifestations that Satan presents. We are to walk by Faith, not by sight. (II Corinthians 5:7)  God’s spiritual blessings come upon spiritually minded individuals.  The Holy Spirit trains us to think and speak spiritually to see the Glory of God. (II Corinthians 4:6)  When we work accordingly, blessings will flow to us. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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January 17th, 2014

1/17/2014

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God’s Grace Ensures us of His Blessings

God’s greatest desire is that we as Believers in Christ prosper and be in health as our souls prosper. (III John 2) The provisions are presently available to carry out His desire for us. The price for them has already been paid, consisting of the: (1) sufferings, (2) shed blood and (3) death of Christ according to the Will of God. The price that Christ paid directly affects our righteousness, prosperity and our health.   

For our righteousness; Jesus, who is righteous, was made to be sin for us who were born sinners.  Jesus bore our sins in His Body and died for them, paying their debt in full. (Romans 6:23)  As a result, our spirit is made the righteousness of God inside Him. II Corinthians 5:21 declares, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”  He redeemed us from the curse of God’s Law being made a curse for us. All sickness, disease, poverty, etc. were under the curse. Having hung on the cross, Jesus rescued us from under the curse and all the negative things associated with it. (Galatians 3:13)  Having redeemed us, the only things that are to legally enter our lives in Christ are the blessings of God.

Jesus also paid a great price for our prosperity. He became poor so that we through His poverty might be rich in Him. (II Corinthians 8:9) Likewise, He paid a great price for our health. He took our diseases (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.) in His Body at Calvary. (St. Matthew 8:17)   With our diseases inside Him, He received stripes on His back, paying their penalty in full. With those stripes taken, we were healed. (I Peter 2:24)   Therefore, no sickness or disease has a legal right to dominate our bodies in Christ.

While the provisions for an abundant life have been paid for and are available to every Believer in Christ, the mystery is how we receive them. They are in spirit form as God’s grace. We come into possession of them as benefits of being in Christ. We do absolutely nothing to earn grace; we access it by Faith.   

Here is the process: God releases “grace things” to us through His spoken words, which are truth.  All of His works are accomplished inside truth. (Psalm 33:4)  God’s spoken truth travels to us. Psalm 107:20 declares, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” The Power of health and deliverance was already located inside truth when God released it. Once His truth enters our heart, it begins its work. It sanctifies our heart from all uncleanness in thoughts and desires.  Then truth transfers God’s grace located in it from the spirit realm to the physical realm and manifests it in us and on our behalf.  As a result, we experience God’s Glory.  God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin

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Know the Blessing of the “Lord”

1/10/2014

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After destroying Satan on earth, Jesus ascended back to Heaven where He presently sits at the right hand of God the Father in a seat of Absolute Authority. He rules as Lord, having total dominion over every spirit operating in the earth realm. (Acts 2:36)  I Peter 3:22 declares, “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”  (Colossians 2:10)

Evil spirits have a three-pronged relationship to Christ.  First, they are afraid of Him and tremble at the thought of Him. James 2:19 declares, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”  They tremble because Christ defeated Satan through death. Second, they are all subject to Him and His commands. There are no spirits existing on earth who are not under His control: they obey Him without hesitation.   Third, none of them can touch Him because He sits far above them. (Ephesians 1:20-23)

 

Christ is also the Landlord of the earth. He owns it and everyone dwelling in it.  (Psalm 50:10-12)  Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Peoples’ hearts are in His Hands. He takes control of their hearts and minds and, at His Will, makes them do whatever He pleases; and they cannot resist Him. (Proverbs 21:1)  

We must visualize the Holy Spirit the same way. He is the third Person of the God-head. (I John 5:7)   He is co-equal with Christ: all the things that Christ possesses, He possesses. Since Christ is Lord, He is the Spirit of the Lord, the ruling Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:17)  He operates in dominion. He raised Jesus from the dead; therefore, His Power is greater than death and everything that can cause death and despair. (Romans 8:11) Every demonic spirit on earth is afraid of Him and is subject to Him. They all do what He commands. No evil spirit can touch the Holy Spirit because He is higher in “thinking” than they. There is no sin, disease, fear, or lack in Him.

The Holy Spirit was sent to earth to live inside our hearts and give us what He possesses.  No spirit on earth is greater than He. (I John 4:4)   He is the Spirit of Truth. (St. John 16:13) Therefore, Truth has dominion over Satan. He transfers dominion truth to our spirit to know by teaching. Our spirit is to live and walk in the Spirit, or in truth. III John 3 declares, “For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.”  We walk in truth by thinking, speaking and acting according to the truths that we learned from Him.  When we do, we walk in dominion over Satan and he cannot touch us. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin
http://www.christabundantlifeministries.org
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We can Walk in the Authority of Christ 

1/3/2014

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 Out of His great love for humanity, God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to break the power of Satan over mankind so that we could experience an abundant life.  Satan held dominion over mankind. He could cause problems in people’s lives; keep them poor, make them sick, and kill them at his will. It must be noted that he affects people’s lives by the spirit of fear operating inside their hearts.  Whatever people are fearful of, he effectively uses to threaten, torment, and defeat them. Job declared in Job 3:25, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”

There is absolutely no way that one can enjoy life in bondage to Satan. Jesus would take away Satan’s dominion and destroy him for us. He accomplished it through His death on Calvary’s cross.  It was through death that Jesus delivered us from the bondage of fear. Hebrews 2:14 declares, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Jesus was then raised from the dead by the glory of His Father. He was raised for a number of significant reasons for us. First, He was raised so that we might be justified before God, as though we never sinned against Him. Being justified, we have peace with God. Second, He was raised so that we could, through Him, become Covenant children of God. Third, and most importantly, we could walk no longer in fear, but in the dominion that He gained over Satan.  What must be understood is that Satan became legally helpless upon Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus took the keys of death and hell from him and now He holds them. (Revelation 1:18)  Upon His resurrection, Jesus declared emphatically that all Authority was given unto Him in heaven and in earth. (St. Matthew 28:18)  Being destroyed, and having lost the keys, Satan has absolutely no more legal ability to make people sick or kill them. Knowing this truth frees our hearts from fear.   

However, to experience the abundant life, individuals must accept Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives and receive the Holy Spirit into their hearts. The Holy Spirit exhibited His Supernatural Power inside Jesus’ dead Body. He went inside it and released life into it, quickening it. He raised Him up from the death state by the glory of the Father. (Romans 8:11)  Just as Jesus was dead in the grave, we were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. (Ephesians 2:5-6) The Holy Spirit quickens us together with Christ, raises us up together with Him and makes us sit together in heavenly places in Christ ruling over all the demonic forces of the world. (Ephesians 2:5-6) Then, no weapon formed against us can ever prosper. (Isaiah 54:17)   This is good news! God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankinhttp://www.christabundantlifeministries.org

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Right Words will guarantee a Successful Year 2014

12/30/2013

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Words contain thoughts that shape our communication and behavior, and ultimately our future.  What are right words? They are God’s words. Psalm 33:4 declares, “For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.” They come to us through the Holy Spirit who came from Heaven. He is the Spirit of Truth. One of His major Ministries is to dwell inside our hearts and teach us words from Heaven. (St. John 14:26)  He brings health and wealth with Him through words and deposits them within us through teaching.  Therefore, for success in 2014, we must submit our hearts to Him, allowing Him to deposit new, good words there for us to speak, replacing old evil ones.  Proverbs 16:23 declares, “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.”  The Holy Spirit trains our mouth to talk Heavenly talk in a Heavenly manner. No arguing or cursing comes from Him. He does not teach us to murmur or complain. He teaches us Faith. Faith says what God has declared, not what our situations dictate.   

The major focus of the Spirit’s training is our mouth. The tongue is unruly; it has to be trained to speak only good things. We must be disciplined by Him to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking guile or deceit. Psalm 34:12 declares, “What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”  Our words can tear people down emotionally or build them up. We are to allow no corrupt communication to proceed out of our mouth, but only good words that will build up or encourage those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:28)  Evil speaking produces destructive fruit that is eaten by our soul. This keeps it in a damaged state. In such a state, it cannot prosper. The heart of the wise must teach the mouth to speak correctly to bring restoration to the soul.

We must always use pleasant words in our communications with others to prosper our soul. III John 2 declares, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. As we daily talk only good, pleasant words that the Holy Spirit teaches, we literally create spiritual Fruit that is transmitted to our soul which causes it to prosper.   Proverbs 16:24 declares, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  As our soul daily receives sweetness from the Spirit’s pleasant words that we speak, it prospers. Then we are certain to experience God’s best. 

This year, determine to submit to the Holy Spirit and practice speaking good, pleasant words in your communications with others, even with disagreeable individuals. You will certainly be blessed in the process.  Psalm 103:5 declares, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankinhttp://www.christabundantlifeministries.org

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The Work of Truth within us

12/22/2013

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God’s words are creative and Powerful. All of His work of creation was accomplished by His spoken words, which are truth. Psalm 33:4 declares, “For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.”  Further, Psalm 33:6-7 declare, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.”

Out of His great love, God sent His creative, Powerful words to earth through Christ to accomplish His Will in the hearts and lives of humanity. He designed words to travel within us and release His Supernatural Power and bless us.  Hebrews 4:12 declares, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God’s living words move throughout our spirit, our soul and our body and release Power that blesses us.

God's words enter our heart by our hearing and mentally processing them.  They are designed to actively work there and accomplish a number of things that please God.  First, they sanctify our heart from sin, fear and unbelief or natural thinking. These are dangerous hindrances to the flow of His blessings into our lives.  St. John 17:17 declares, “Sanctify them through thy truth: by word is truth.”  Then, they produce a clear vision of things that God has prepared to be released into our lives as gifts of His grace.  Also, Truth empowers us to achieve the spiritual state of knowing Truth. It is the power of knowing that defeats every evil force that attacks us. Truth is greater than anything that exalts itself against it.  Knowing Truth, then, allows us to effectively resist manifestations (sickness, disease, lack, turmoil, etc.) that Satan uses to exalt himself against the Knowledge of God.

Our mind focuses on God’s words and receives the thoughts that are contained in them. Then we begin the disciplined habit of talking, or professing His words. (Hebrews 10:23)   Since they come from God who created all things; there is nothing created on earth that can overcome them. They are greater than the structure, laws and order of the natural realm. Finally, God’s Knowledge inside our heart causes us to expect to see the things that He has prepared to be released in our lives as gifts. Remember, God watches over His words that are active inside us and performs them causing His blessings to flow to us. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin http://www.christabundantlifeministries.org

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We are Transformed in Christ by Learning 

12/9/2013

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As Year 2014 begins, Believers in Christ must commit to allocating more quality time and effort to daily learning God’s words. We must not only hear them; we must learn what we have heard. The reason is that God’s words contain transforming Power. He has already prepared great blessings designed to make our lives abundant this year. Ephesians 1:3 declares, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Notice two things in this passage. First, God has already blessed us. Second, the blessings are spiritual in nature.  Since God is a Spirit and His blessings are spiritual, He releases them upon spiritually minded individuals. To partake of them, He requires that we become spiritually minded. Romans 8:6-7 declare, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Only God’s words can renew our minds to operate in the manner that positions us to receive His blessings. 

When we are “Born Again” by the Spirit of God, our spirit is regenerated, or made new in Christ. However, our mind does not change at that point; it remains carnal, or natural, tied to the natural world. It, too, must be made new. God’s requires that we be transformed by our mind’s renewal to partake of His blessings. (Romans 12:2)

Transformation to spiritual thinking is accomplished by mentally laboring in God’s word and learning it.   Using our mind, we must focus on, acquire and process the Knowledge of God, which is Truth. Living Truth has been provided by Him to be known. (St. John 8:31-32)  Truth that we do not know is what hurts us.  Hosea 4:6 declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:..” When we know Truth, it is permanently fixed in our memory and its power works to manifest a new way of thinking within us. We ultimately experience a total change in thinking and associated behavior, since we think to act. Equally important, our spirit is freed from the bondages of unbelief and fear that hinder the flow of God’s blessings into our lives. 

It must be understood that one can be acquainted with Truth, but not know it. Learning Truth leads us to the state of knowing it. We learn from teaching and then by meditation upon that which is taught. This involves speaking. (Ephesians 4:20-21)  As we daily speak Truth, it reshapes our mind into a new spiritual state.  This state connects to God’s glory where His rich blessings are.  A divine “thought channel” is established within us causing our mind to expect to receive the gifts that God flows to us from above to make life more abundant. So, think spiritually and be blessed this year. God Bless.


From Pastor Leroy Rankin
http://www.christabundantlifeministries.org

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Hope in God is an Anchor of our Soul

12/2/2013

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To experience the abundant Life that Christ came to give us, we are required of God to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness and all other things will be added to us. St. Matthew 6:33 declares, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  The Kingdom of God is the spiritual place of God’s dominion over devils.  It is located inside the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17 declares, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Inside Him is the “spiritual path” to the Kingdom.  Our spirit walks in the Holy Ghost. That path that it walks in is a Faith path. Our spirit moves in Faith toward the Kingdom of God.  It moves on Faith thoughts. Acts 14:22 declares, “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The Faith is dominion Faith. It comes by hearing words from God who has dominion over every principality and power that cause the trouble.

Dangerous things will happen in the natural environment (body, family, finances) . They must be seen as the means of spiritual movement toward the Kingdom of God. The troubles will have the capacity to cause harm and destruction. A perfect example is found in the book of Daniel. Three of God’s men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown in the midst of a burning fiery furnace because they refulsed to obey the King’d degree to worship the false God that had been set up.  (Daniel 3:21)   The fire had the capacity to burn them up. It was evidenced b y burning up the men that threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace. (Daniel 3:22)   The king was astonished that the fire did not hurt them. Daniel 3:25 declares, “He  answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurtT and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

The problems that will come will encounter will be greater our natural strength and wisdom to overcome. We cannot overcome problems without trusting. Our spirit goes through the thoughts of the troubles.  We are to walk through troubles by Faith thinking. We walk through trusting God who rules over all and what He declares that He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)  To forsake means to abandon. He will never abandon us in the midst of our troubles.  Whn we see that tahe problem does not destroy, we know that it is by His power.

Faith is placing total confidence in God is with us and actively trusting Him to keep Promise to be with us and to act on our behalf.  And His shielding Power. His protection inside trouble.   We trust him as our shield inside the trouble.  The hevbrew boys were shielded to that the fire could not hurt them. By His almighty Power God quenched the violence of the fire so that it had no ability to hurt them. He was hurt them. He created fire, therefore he was greater than the fire. The Holy spirit inside us is greater thatn the problem brought on by the devil. (I John    ) This ensures that we have the ability to overcome it.  

When the trouble and making a way foir us to escape the trouble.  

We must trust in God’s knowhow.  Job 5:19 declares, “He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seen there shall no evil touch thee..  Our heart must be fixed firmly on God’s integrity and His Promise. He declares in Numbers 23:19 declares, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

3:19 Promise to do so.. There is absolutely no problem that we will ever encounter that our God cannot deliver us out (financial, health, relationships). II Peter 2:9 declares, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”  It is imperative that we trust in God’s know-how. We do so by not leaning to our own understanding in the troubles.  When we think on our situations naturally, fear is automatically generated because we see challenges to overcoming. We cannot overcome in our own natural wisdom and strength.  We must receive the Might of God to overcome.

God’s Knowledge is already mighty. Greater thatn any satanic force because God created all things with Knowlede. . Natural understanding is an enemy of Faith and is prohibited in trouble. God instructs us not to fear because He is with us and will help us. Isaiah 41:10 declares, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”  God will not allow us to be defeated. For this reason, we trust Him and lean not to our own understanding. We must settle two things in our minds: (l) There is absolutely nothing that can happen to us that is outside of the control of our Lord. He is Lord over everything. (2) Our problem cannot resist His power to deliver us.  

Forsake mens to leave or abandon.

Remain walking in the light. Do not all any dark thought to draw you fro the light. The Word of God is ligh.  of God ngs on earth Fellowship  Ephesians ___

Psalm 119:130 declares, “The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.  The simple minded will accept the things that Satan brings because they do not have spiritual understanding. Understanding is insight. It causes us to visualize unseen things.  Satan has the ability to manifest in our lives. The thoughts that come from his manifestation are dark to draw us away from the light. We are to remain walking in the light. Do not walk in dark thoughts to draw you away from the light.  

Transformation Process - Transformation to spiritual thinking is accomplished by mental laboring. Using the Mind, we must focus on, acquire and process the Knowledge of God, called Truth. Living Truth has been provided by God to be known within us, just as we know our name and other things. (St. John 8:31-32) What we do not know is what hurts us.  Hosea 4:6 declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:” When we know Truth, it is permanently fixed inside of us and its power works to manifest new patterns of thinking. We ultimately experience a total change in behavior, since we think to act. Further, when we know Truth, our spirit is freed from bondages that hinder the flow of God’s Blessings into our lives.  Such hindrances are (l) Spiritual ignorance, (2) Carnal behavior (3) Fear, and (4) Unbelief. 

The state of Knowing Truth results from the process of learning it. One can be acquainted with Truth, but not know it. Learning Truth encompasses the following: (l) Understanding and accepting it from teaching and (2) daily Meditation on that Truth through speaking. (Ephesians 4:20-21)  As we daily speak Truth, it forces the Mind into a new pattern of thinking.  This pattern connects directly to God’s glory where His rich Blessings are.  A divine thought channel is established within us causing the Mind to accept or believe to receive the gifts that God flows to us from above to make life more abundant.  (James 1:17)  God Bless

What is told must be believed to be performed in time and recdeived by the hearer. If the hearer rejects the thought, he or she rejects the things that are to manifest. 

Design of Truth to Work

The Mission of the word is accomplished with two things: (1) Grace - the "Supernatural" Creative Power of God, and (2) Truth -the means by which God's Power "Works" and "Manifests" for us.  Psalm 33:4 declar      es, “By the word of he Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by he breath of his mouth.   

Spirit - God's words are "Spirit." They are designed to work inside spirit and sanctify it from sin, fear, and unbelief or natural thinking.   Vision is Spiritual Understanding  or “Enlightenment.” Truth enlightens when it is received, not rejected. Once Truth is inside our heart, it empowers to achieve a spiritual state of Knowing Truth. It is the power of knowing.  All truth is greater than anything that exalts itself against it.  Knowing Truth frees our spirit from Ignorance, the state used by Satan to “Blind” and “Bind” mankind.  (St. John 8:32)  Jesus said in St. John 8:32

The Mind focuses on the The Word of God and receives it thoughts  that are outside the natural order of things.        and talk them day and night. (Hebrews 8:10) .  Since they come from the God who created all things, anything created in the earth cannot cannot overcome it.  It is greater thatn the structure and the order of the natural realm. You grow in it and the results manifests. Focus-  It focuses our “Attention” only upon God, outside of the natural order of things.

The words produce a “Vision” of the Supernatural things that God will do and  (2) Spiritual Understanding” to walk in.

Expecting is a part of Believing. We cannot believe and not expect. God remembers his thought He takes hold of the thought in time, He releases His Supernatural Power and performs the thoughts  Psalm 105:37

St. John 6:29  states,, “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” 

What we Must Do – First, we must accept Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives and be filled with the Holy Spirit. He brings Health with Him.  Then, we must submit our hearts to Him, allowing Him to teach us new “Good” words to “talk,” replacing old “evil” ones.  Proverbs 16:23 declares, “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.  The Holy Spirit trains our mouth to talk heavenly talk. No arguing or cursing comes from Him. He does not teach us to murmur or complain.

As we daily talk only good, pleasant words that the Holy Spirit teaches, we literally create spiritual Fruit that is transmitted to our soul. This allows it to prosper.  Proverbs 16:24 declares, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  As our soul daily receives sweetness from the Spirit’s pleasant words that we speak, it prospers.  Then we can experience God’s Best.  God Bless.

Speak only Good words — The major focus of the Spirit’s training is our Mouth. The tongue is unruly; it has to be trained to depart from and remain from evil speaking. The heart of the wise must teach the mouth to speak correctly. (Proverbs 16:23)  We are to be trained in being “Good.”

Our words can tear people down or build them up. We are to allow no corrupt communication to proceed out of our mouth, but only good words that will build up or encourage  those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:28)   We must always uses Pleasant words in our communication with others. The power of pleasantness is released to the soul, then brings God’s Divine Health to the body.  We  must practice the way of pleasantness.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin
http://www.christabundantlifeministries.org
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We are “Born again” to Reign

11/8/2013

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All human beings were created by God as spirit beings. As such, we are all thinkers. Proverbs 23:7 declares, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:…”  Before Christ, we were natural thinkers; our thoughts being tied to the natural world with its fears.  However, when we are “Born Again” by the Spirit of God, we become totally new creatures. We are given a new spirit which is not of the world, but of God and is linked to His blessings. I Corinthians 2:12 declares, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

Our new spirit is inside Christ, God’s Son; therefore, we are made spiritual sons of God. I John 3:1-2 declares, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” God has given us a “Son” Image to embrace and out of which we must daily think.  Faith is simply correctly thinking from God’s perspective. We must think of ourselves as His children because He made us such in Christ, nothing different. To think differently would not be in Faith. As God’s children, we must also think that we are His heirs. Romans 8:16-17 declare, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” 

We are to be jointly glorified with Christ and reign with Him; however, only after suffering with Him.  After Christ suffered the death of the cross, He was resurrected from the dead, raised and ascended back to Heaven. Today, He sits at the right hand of God ruling all the forces operating in the earth realm. (I Peter 3:22)

The mystery is that our spirit is to be raised up inside the Holy Spirit to reign with Christ. (Ephesians 2:5-6)  We obviously do not physically leave the earth; we are to be raised up spiritually in our thinking- spiritual thinking over natural thinking.  It is accomplished by our continuously thinking God’s Thoughts which are given to us by the Holy Spirit. We are to think them through suffering difficulties we must encounter that challenge God’s Thoughts.  God’s Thoughts are already higher than all natural thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 declares, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” As we maintain a disciplined focus on God’s Thoughts through difficulties, overcoming every one; we are raised up in His Thoughts. They will become more natural for us to think than our old natural thinking.  When we reach the place of thinking only God’s Thoughts for life, we reign.  God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin
http://www.christabundantlifeministries.org

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What God Places in our Spirit will Manifest

10/31/2013

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One of the fundamental things that must happen after we receive Jesus Christ into our lives is the renewal of our minds so that we can receive the spiritual things of God. (Romans 12:2) God is a Spirit: He gives to us in thought first, then manifestation.  God’s thoughts already have His health and wealth inside of them. We must view Faith, then, as God’s thoughts which we focus on, understand and build our spirit up in.  His health and riches will be in our spirit before they manifest in our lives.

 A perfect example is found in the 3rd Chapter of I Kings with young King Solomon. The Lord appeared unto him in a dream and said “ask what I will give you.” (I Kings 3:5)  Solomon asked God for a wise and understanding heart. (Verse 9)  God answered Solomon and gave it to him. At that moment, God also gave Solomon riches and honor. I Kings 3:13 declares, “And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.”  Notice, God said that He had given Solomon both riches and honor; He did not say that He will give him.  When God said it, Solomon did not see any riches; his natural senses did not conform that he had received riches and honor. God gave Solomon a Thought to think through words. What Solemn had to do was: (l) receive the words from God, (2) think at that point that he was rich; and (3) act as though he possessed riches and honor. His behavior was in agreement with the truth.

In God’s New Covenant, He has already given us everything that we need for life and godliness through His knowledge. II Peter 1:3 declares, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”  Notice, this Scripture declares that God’s power has already given us the things through knowledge. Like Solomon, we must receive the thoughts that are inside His knowledge. At the point that we receive them, we must think that we have the things.  

When we accept what God says, the things are inside us as living thoughts. We focus on those thoughts and expect the things to manifest, since they have already been given to us. God Bless.

From Pastor Leroy Rankin
http://www.christabundantlifeministries.org

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