Living By Faith

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.

  • 0

LIVE BY FAITH

YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS NOW

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins…declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.  (Isaiah43:25-26)

You will never get God’s best blessings as long as you live with a sense of condemnation, guilt, and unworthiness. – Mark Hankins

In Smith Wigglesworth’s book, Ever Increasing Faith, he tells the story of praying for an Episcopalian priest who wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When he started to pray for him, the priest fell down on his knees and began to say, “O God, make me holy and clean.” Wigglesworth said, “Stop, old man! I thought you were saved! If you’re saved, then you are holy.”  The man said, “Well, I am aren’t I? I am righteous!” He lifted up his hands and got filled with the Holy Spirit right there!

In order to put on the new man in Christ you have to say something. You need to declare that you are righteous. If you fail to declare your righteousness, the devil will keep you in a sense of guilt and condemnation. He will try to cheat you out of God’s best blessings for your life. You will never get God’s best blessings as long as you live with a sense of condemnation, guilt, and unworthiness. In Christ, righteousness has been imparted to your spirit. You are a new creature in Christ.

Confession: I am a new creation, and this new man has been created in righteousness and true holiness!

  • 0

YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS NOW

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins… declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.  (Isaiah 43:25-26)

You will never get God’s best blessings as long as you live with a sense of condemnation, guilt, and unworthiness. – Mark Hankins

In Smith Wigglesworth’s book, Ever Increasing Faith, he tells the story of praying for an Episcopalian priest who wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When he started to pray for him, the priest fell down on his knees and began to say, “O God, make me holy and clean.” Wigglesworth said, “Stop, old man! I thought you were saved! If you’re saved, then you are holy.”  The man said, “Well, I am aren’t I? I am righteous!” He lifted up his hands and got filled with the Holy Spirit right there!

In order to put on the new man in Christ you have to say something. You need to declare that you are righteous. If you fail to declare your righteousness, the devil will keep you in a sense of guilt and condemnation. He will try to cheat you out of God’s best blessings for your life. You will never get God’s best blessings as long as you live with a sense of condemnation, guilt, and unworthiness. In Christ, righteousness has been imparted to your spirit. You are a new creature in Christ.

Confession: I am a new creation, and this new man has been created in righteousness and true holiness!

  • 0

EXPOSED TO THE GLORY

The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth everyone speak of his glory. (Psalm 29:9)

The glory of God has the power to produce and birth things into your life that have never existed before.
Mark Hankins

I have some friends in Louisiana who raise cows. Whenever they take a cow to the auction, they have to disclose whether that cow has been “exposed” to a bull. When you get in the glory of God things are created. You will be able to conceive and new things will be born. God will put things in your spirit that you will give birth to nine months later.

The devil doesn’t want you to get in the glory because every time you come out, you are carrying something from heaven that is going to be born in this earth. Things that didn’t exist before will come into being when they are conceived in the glory of God. The devil wants you to stay religious, but when you get hungry for the glory of God, it will position you for something to be born in your life!

Confession: My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. (Psalm 84:2)

  • 1

YOU ARE FREE

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor… preach deliverance to the captives. (Luke 4:18)

Your release from prison has been accomplished through a price that was paid on your behalf.

Mark Hankins

In Jesus’ first message, He declared that He would “preach deliverance to the captives.”(Luke 4:1)  Beck’s translation says, “He sent me to announce to prisoners, You are free.’”  Jesus is not talking about His jail ministry. A prison ministry is a great ministry, but there are many people held captive who are not behind steel bars; they are behind real bars.

Only Jesus can bring deliverance. Only the power of the Gospel can bring freedom. Your redemption was legally purchased through the blood of Jesus. His death and resurrection have established a new, universal fact for every man.  Jesus purchased your freedom. That means the prison doors of Satan, sin, and sickness are open and the prisoner is legally free! The prisoner does not have to sneak out some dark night; he can walk out in the daylight because he has a legal release!

Confession: God has given me a legal redemption. I am free because God is righteous and He has righteously effected my release!

  • 1