Living By Faith

THE ENGRAFTED WORD

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)

The Word doesn’t work unless it is implanted on the inside of you. Mark Hankins

James 1:21 was written to believers. This must mean that after you are born again, your soul still isn’t saved. Your soul is made up of your mind, your will, and your emotions. Even after you are born again, you still have to get your soul saved.

James says to receive the Word with meekness. In other words, humble yourself and be teachable. The engrafted Word has the ability to save, deliver, restore, and make your soul (your mind, will, and emotions) whole.

Why does James call the Word the engrafted Word? The Word will not work for you unless it is implanted on the inside of you. How do you get it implanted? By acknowledging every good thing that is in you in Christ. In other words, you stick with it and keep feeding and meditating on the Word. God already deposited every good thing in you when you were born again, but it is up to you to acknowledge what you have in Christ.

Confession: I lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save my soul!

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A LIVING SACRIFICE

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)

Anyone who has ever won an Olympic gold medal will tell you he did something about his body.
Mark Hankins

Paul said for you to present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. People often go to the altar because they want God to take cigarettes or some other habit away from them. God doesn’t smoke, so He is not going to take those things from you. God does not chew tobacco, so He is not going to take it from you. Your body can become addicted to things that will destroy it. The Bible calls these habits “sin” because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who has ever won an Olympic gold medal will tell you he did something about his body. When his body did not want to run, he kept on running. When his body said, “I want to go eat this,” he said, “No, you are not eating that.” I am not referring to people who run every once in a while; I am talking about gold medal winners. They have to do something about their bodies.

Confession: Body, I am doing something about you right now. I am presenting you as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.

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FREEDOM FROM GUILT AND SIN CONSCIOUSNESS

Now thanks be unto God, which always cause thus to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

God is your heavenly Father, and He is glorified when you reflect His life, joy, and victory! Mark Hankins

God does not want His children to live with a continual consciousness of sin, failure, defeat, weakness, guilt, and inferiority. As a father of two children, I know I don’t want my children to live that way.  This does not mean that you won’t have challenges. You live in a world that is full of adversity, but you are overcomers because you are born of God. (1 John 5:4) Instead of a sense of sin or guilt, you should have a sense of righteousness and triumph.

The Apostle Paul was shipwrecked, snake-bit, beaten in the head, and left for dead, yet he came out saying, “I am more than a conqueror in Christ.” (Romans 8:37) He came out smelling like a rose with victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Paul saw himself in Christ.

God wants you to smell like the triumph of Christ.  This means you have to live in the consciousness and with the confession of who you are in Christ.

Confession: I am more than a conqueror in Christ. I have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil! 

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THE YOKE IS DESTROYED

…and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. (Isaiah 10:27)

The anointing stands up to whatever challenges you are facing, whether they are mental, physical, emotional, or relational. Mark Hankins

What is a yoke? A yoke is something than attaches you to a weight. The devil will try to wrap things around you, chain you up, lock you down, and get you underneath some load or burden. Satan is the oppressor and wants to keep you bound, but the anointing destroys the yoke and everything the devil tries to put on you. When you begin to acknowledge every good thing that is in you in Christ, the anointing empowers you to overcome.

Where does the anointing come from? You can receive it from someone else, but you can also let the anointing rise up from inside of you — from your spirit.

The anointing responds to faith! Your faith will function as you acknowledge every good thing that is in you in Christ, and it will pull on that anointing. In Christ, that anointing will rise up on the inside of you and meet the challenge.

Confession: I am not quitting. I am not giving up. Whatever God has called me to do, I can do. I am in Christ, the Anointed One, and He lives in me! I can not be defeated!

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STAY IN THE ANOINTING

And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? (Luke 4:22)

You can never fulfill the destiny that God has for you if you stay in the natural, in your reasoning, and in your sense knowledge. Mark Hankins

When Jesus stood and read Isaiah 61 in the temple, the people did not exactly have a great revival day in Nazareth.  The people responded in the natural, and said, “This is Joseph’s son. He lives right down the street from us. He is saying that the Spirit of God is on Him and He is anointed.”  Then they tried to throw Him off a nearby cliff!

Do you think everyone is going to be happy when you say, “I am a new creation in Christ; I am redeemed, blessed, and prosperous”? No, someone is going to say, “You think you are what?You live right down the street from me. You are not any different from anyone else.”

This world, the devil, your kinfolks, and your past will try to hold you in the natural. The anointing is in you, but the key is in your declaration, “That is who I am. I found it right there in the Word!” If somebody asks, “Who doyouthinkyouare?” you can say, “How much time do you have to listen?”

Confession: I am in the Anointed One. Jesus paid too high a price for me to stay bound. In Him I am redeemed!

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