Living By Faith

VICTORY IN CHRIST

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto
the simple. (Psalm 119:130)

You are who God says you are; you can do what God says you can do; you can have what God says you can have!
Mark Hankins

My dad and mom pastored a full gospel church in West Columbia, Texas for more than 50 years. When my parents first moved to West Columbia, I was only a year old and my older brother, Mike, was four. Mom was sick and mentally tormented for two years. Dad not only pastored the church, but also had the pressure of all the family responsibilities. Dad began to have heart trouble. The church was small and struggling, and we were poor.
However, in the middle of this struggle a man gave my dad some books on the authority of the believer, the integrity of God’s Word, and who you are in Christ. Dad began to read and study the material and gained a new understanding of God’s Word. Dad began to speak the Word to Mom and had her repeat it after him. She began to say, “I am who God says I am. I have what God says I have. I can do what God says I can do!” As my parents saw who they were in Christ and spoke the Word, faith arose in their hearts. They knew that victory belonged to them in every area of their lives.

Confession: Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

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THE STORY OF THE BLOOD

So Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
(Hebrews 9:28)

As believers, we can take the Word of God and tell the devil a bedtime story!
Mark Hankins

Whenever you face any challenge, remember this story and tell it again: “Once Upon a Time!” As believers, we can take the Word of God and tell the devil a bedtime story. Say, “Devil, ONCE upon a time Jesus defeated you for all eternity.” Speak the Word of God with boldness and rock the devil to sleep!

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE for all…For by ONE offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:10,14) By looking at these scriptures we see that Jesus cancelled and abolished sin ONCE for all time and for all men. The Holy Spirit continues to emphasize the word “ONCE.” We must know this story well. It is the story of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Heaven, and Earth. This story is well known by angels and demons. The story of the blood of Jesus is an established fact throughout eternity!

Confession: I am sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ! By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10,14)

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LIFE AS GOD HAS IT

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

A man in Christ is a man with the life of God.
Mark Hankins

The Greek word in the New Testament that is translated life or eternal life is zoe. I like W.E. Vine’s definition of the word zoe (eternal life, everlasting life, or life):

“It is life as a principle…life in the absolute sense, as God has it, that which the Father has in Himself and which He gave to the incarnate Son to have in Himself. (John5: 26) Eternal life is the present actual possession of the believer because of his relationship with Christ.”

God has given us a new quality of life in Christ. He has given us His own life — the very same life that raised Jesus from the dead. (Ephesians 2:4-6) God wants us to know that we have eternal life now. We are not trying to get it or some day in the sweet by-and-by going to get it. The gift of God is eternal life. (Romans 6:23) What a great gift God has given us in Christ!

Confession: Eternal life is my present actual possession because of my relationship with Christ!

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THE GOD-KIND OF LIFE

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)

Eternal life is not simply life that goes on forever; it is the coming into human life something of the life of God.
William Barclay

I like how James Stewart said that the life that flows from God to man was “a sudden emergence of an entirely new and original element.” We become partakers of the life of God–suddenly! Through simple faith in Jesus Christ, the miracle of the new birth takes place in the spirit of the believer. Eternal life is a spiritual substance from heaven that is imparted in the spirit of a man.

This life flows in heaven from the throne of God; it flows like a river. (John 7:37-39) God is overflowing with this life. You and I can have more and more of this life flowing in us. We can have this life in ever-increasing measures as we are filled with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We can walk in the light of this life and in the consciousness of what we have in Christ as we learn more and more of the “words of this life.” (Acts 5:20)

Confession: I am a partaker of the life of God. I have eternal life. I have the life of God flowing in me. I am walking in the consciousness of what I have in Christ as I learn more and more of the words of this life!

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THE ANOINTING ABIDES IN YOU

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. (I John 2:27)

The reality of the power of God, that unction or anointing, will teach you all things.
Mark Hankins

The Lord told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh. He said that He would multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 7:3) Aaron did as the Lord commanded and went before Pharaoh. He cast down his rod and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh called his magicians and they cast down their rods, which also became serpents. But all of a sudden, Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

The real gifts of the Spirit will eat up the false manifestations. You do not need to be afraid of the counterfeit. All you need is the reality of the gifts of the Spirit. The anointing will teach you all things. The anointing will teach you what is the truth!

Confession: I have an unction from the Holy One, so I know all things. The anointing teaches me what is real and what is truth and not a lie!

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