Christ's Abundant Life Ministries
  • Home
  • Our History
    • The Tenet of Our Faith
    • Health Institute
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Give A Donation
  • Valuable Links
  • Testimonies
  • Contact Us

January 31st, 2014

1/31/2014

0 Comments

 
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

0 Comments

January 24th, 2014

1/24/2014

0 Comments

 
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

0 Comments

January 17th, 2014

1/17/2014

0 Comments

 
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

0 Comments

Know the Blessing of the “Lord”

1/10/2014

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

We can Walk in the Authority of Christ 

1/3/2014

0 Comments

 
 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

0 Comments

    Author

    Christ's Abundant Life Ministries.

    Archives

    January 2015
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed


Copyright © 2006 Christ's Abundant Life Ministries. All rights reserved.