Living By Faith

SEATED FAR ABOVE WITH THE MOST HIGH

The eyes of your understanding enlightened still more and more…
(Ephesians 1:18 Doddridge Translation)

When you see things from God’s perspective, life will be different for you! Mark Hankins

I prayed the Ephesians 1 prayer without fail day after day. For a long time, it seemed like I didn’t get anything for my efforts but a dry mouth! I never smoked marijuana and I never took LSD, but the night revelation hit me I got higher than a kite! I saw myself sitting together with Jesus in the presence of God the Father far above all principality, power, might, dominion, and every name that is named. The fact that God had put everything under Jesus’ feet, and then raised me up together with Him became so real to me!

I had been a slow learner, but revelation finally came. When revelation came, my perspective changed. I wasn’t trying to be victorious; I was victorious because of what God did for me in Christ. The spirit of wisdom and revelation changed my perspective. Instead of trying to get the victory, I realized I already had the victory in Christ!

Confession: I am victorious because of what God did for me in Christ! “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV)

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PERSPECTIVE AND REVELATION

But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6)

I never smoked marijuana and I never took LSD, but the night revelation hit me, I got higher than a kite. – Mark Hankins

One Friday night I was sitting with some friends of mine at my dad’s church. We studied Ephesians 2:4-6, and something different happened on this particular Friday night!

Suddenly, the eyes of my understanding were flooded with light! These were not just words and normal mental, intellectual knowledge. Revelation hit me, and I saw with my spirit eyes the light of redemption, the light of the Gospel; I saw that I was made alive with the life of Christ! The same life that God gave to Christ, the very same life that raised Him up out of hell — God gave that same life to me! He quickened me with the same life and then raised me up together with Him. Now I am seated with Christ in heavenly places!

Confession: God has given me the same life that He gave to Christ when He raised Him up out of hell! Now I am seated with Christ in heavenly places! (Ephesians 2:6)

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RESURRECTION POWER

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

The power that God used to raise Christ from the dead dissolved, melted, and liquidated the works of the devil. Mark Hankins

Jesus came to redeem us primarily through His death and resurrection. The power of Christ’s resurrection is destructive — not to us, but to the works of the enemy. The word destroy is luo, which means to loose, break, or undo. Jesus rose from the dead to undo all that Satan had done in man through the fall. Jesus put an end to the works of the devil by first bearing those works in Himself as our substitute in His death, and then rising again free from them all.

In 2 Peter 3:10-12, the word luo was translated “melt” and “dissolved.” When we take this definition back to 1 John 3:8, we get an interesting insight into Christ’s destruction of the works of the devil. “Now the Son of God came to the earth with the express purpose of liquidating the devil’s activities.” (Phillips Translation)

God made Jesus to bear and become all that was wrong with us in spirit, soul, and body and then vaporized it with the power of His resurrection!

Confession: Jesus was my substitute! Because of His death and resurrection, I am free from the works of Satan! (John 8:36)

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THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY

And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
(Ephesians 1:18)

God intends for you to live in two worlds—to function in this natural world, but also to operate according to His unseen world.
Mark Hankins

Growing up as a pastor’s kid, my family did not enjoy a luxurious lifestyle by any means. However, I always sensed that God wanted to make me rich. (Rich means abundantly provided for.) Once I started studying God’s Word, I began to get a glimpse of my redemption in Christ. I found out that I had been redeemed from the curse of the law, (Galatians 3:13) that the blessing of the Lord makes me rich and adds no sorrow with it, (Proverbs10:22) and that God has made me the head and not the tail. (Deuteronomy 28)

Paul said in Romans 8:17 that you are an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. By the spirit of wisdom and revelation, you access the inheritance that is yours through Christ. As a member of the body of Christ, you have an inheritance to claim that is beyond anything you could ever ask, dream, or imagine!

Confession: It is my Father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom! I am an heir of God and joint heir with Christ! (Luke 12:32, Romans 8:17)

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THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

The spirit of wisdom and revelation is necessary and mandatory for a believer to access the call, the inheritance, and the authority we have as believers.
Mark Hankins

The moment you are born again in Christ, you possess a supernatural calling and identity in your spirit. That is why it takes the spirit of wisdom and revelation to open the eyes of your heart to access who you are and what God has called you to do.

God told Jeremiah, “I called you before you were ever born. Now, let me tell you who you are. Don’t say you are something different. Say that you are who I say you are.”

Each one of us has a call of God on our lives. We have a choice. We can function in a lower calling, bumping around in God’s permissive will for the rest of our lives, or we can press for the high calling of God. The high calling will always cost you more than the low calling; however, the high calling will bring far greater rewards!

Confession: I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

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