Where My Heart Will Take Me / Russell Watson

The Resurrection… The Most Powerful Event In History!

Ephesians 1:17,19-20 (AMP)
¹⁷ [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory… ”
¹⁹ And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,
²⁰ Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…”

J

esus predicted His Death, Burial and Resurrection which is recorder in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Below is the prediction in Matthew’s gospel.

21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

(NKJV Mt 16:21)

Peter began to rebuke Jesus because he didn’t know as yet the purpose of His death, and the resurrection that would follow. He thought it was defeat and that he would never see Jesus again.

Yet this was God’s instrument (the Cross) and His plan to bring mankind back into the relationship and fellowship once enjoyed with Himself.

Satan didn’t know either, that Jesus was going to be resurrected from the dead the third day, ascend into Heaven and be seated at the right hand of God the Father. He thought His death was the end of him.

This single event (the resurrection) was going to change mankind, and liberate them to live and serve God forever by dealing a death blow to Satan’s authority over them.

           

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
¹⁹ Go therefore…”  (Mat 28:18-19)

Jesus has All Authority in Heaven and on Earth and has given to the Church His “Name” that represents all that ”He is” and all that “He has”.  He says, “Go therefore...”

³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ^‎5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” (Rom. 6:3-5)

All over the World Christians are celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is alive!  Death was defeated by life! Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. “Because He Lives so do We!”

                                                                                                                                               

CHRISTIANS ARE SUPPOSE TO BE GOD'S HOUSE

Heb 3:6 (NKJV)

"but Christ as a Son over His own house, WHOSE HOUSE WE ARE...if we hold fast the confidence...and the rejoicing of the hope... FIRM TO THE END." It's something we do! the Bible also says to, WORK OUT "your own salvation" with fear and trembling. (Phil 2:12) It implies effort on our part. We should read and study our Bibles everyday! To get our thinking straightened out. To think like God does.

Romans 12:2 2 (NLT) "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." The Bible is God's revealed will!

Secondly, we should pray everyday! Prayer is talking to God. Any relationship without communication IS WRONG and WILL NOT LAST. Marriage is a good example. To be "God's House" we're TO LIVE AS HE LIVES and we SHOULD COMMUNICATE DAILY with Him! TAKE TIME OR MAKE TIME. Start a new, fresh, and close relationship with the Lord in 2013!

YOUR LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AND YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID! people around you will notice the change and your love for God will grow. He will be to you what He has always wanted to be...Your God. And you will be to Him what He has always wanted you to be...as Abraham was, and as Jesus' close disciples were...God's Friend!

Think About This...'Don't allow Distress, Fear, or Problems To Overwhelm You...give it to God.' 

  Psalm 61:1-2 (NKJV)   
  Hear my cry, O God; 
  Attend to my prayer. 
  From the end of the earth I will cry to You, 
  When my heart is overwhelmed; 
  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, December 28th, 2012. My son Matt & I were driving on the Coronado Bay Bridge when traffic in the lane in front of us suddenly stopped. We went around like others and noticed a man was out of his pick-up truck, who climbed up to sit on the cement side rail of the bridge. My son, who was driving pulled over in front of his truck and we got out. He was going to commit suicide! We attempted to talk with him that Jesus loved him and he ought not to do that. He wouldn't listen and told us not to come closer. He plunged over 200 feet off this bridge to his death. My son watched in horror as his body hit the water. I looked away and back again to only see his body float on the water. We prayed for him when we went to our car. I believe God had us come there at that same time to save his life and he was given another chance...we heard later he was alive after hitting the water but later he finally died...The Police told us (both San Diego & California Highway Patrol) that most people would not have stopped to help him...
Jesus said that he came to save those who were lost... Our hearts were saddened for someone we didn't even know except that Jesus wanted us help him and to tell him that he loved him...

               Philippians 4:6 (NKJV) 

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

               1 Peter 5:7 (NASB) 

⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 

                         See the Bridge below:       

                            
                        Remember: JESUS LOVES YOU!

Staying Filled With The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV) "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." 

The words "be filled"  in the Greek is a COMMAND to ALWAYS BE. (present tense, passive, imperative verb) God is telling us what to be filled with! He says not to be drunk with wine, "in which is dissipation." but literally: BE FILLED ALWAYS WITH THE  HOLY SPIRIT!

The Greek word translated "filled" means to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full.  to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally. The bible teaches us that there are different measures of the Spirit one can receive as is demonstrated in the case of Elijah and Elisha in 2 Kings.

Walk Close to God

In order to maintain the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life he or she must walk close to God by daily Bible reading, study and meditation in the Word. By daily prayer with ones understanding (mind) and praying in tongues. If you haven't been "baptized in the Spirit", or "received the Spirit" when you "received Christ" you need to (Acts 19:1-7! This is an experience subsequent to salvation (receiving Christ as Savior and Lord of your life.)You will speak in tongues as the Spirit is giving you utterance (Acts 2:1-4). This is the Early Church's pattern that we have in the book of Acts which must be followed by the church today! 

Tongues are for Today!

Some have said that tongues are not for today. I say this humbly and with kindness that they are wrong! They haven't rightly divided the word of truth. I'm talking about good Christians who love the Lord. I'm not talking against them. I love them. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ! You don't need this to go to Heaven but you do need this to be obedient to Jesus the head of the Church! Those who don't believe this have just been taught wrong. Whether in seminary or by their church or their denomination. We just stated that verse 18 is a command to be filled always! 

(1 Cor. 14:14) "If I pray in a tongue MY SPIRIT PRAYS..." Our human spirit prays directly to God enabled by the Holy Spirit. The Amplified Bible says it this way: "...my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays..." When we pray in tongues we are "building ourselves up..." ." When we exercise with weights, we build ourselves up physically. Our
muscles become stronger. So it is when we pray in tongues. This also keeps us filled with the
Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues daily to God is the only way of spiritual edification! Some have called it in Christian circles the believer's 'prayer language.' Tongues are for today, for the Bible is pattern in which the church in Corinth spoke in tongues so much that the Apostle Paul had to give them guidelines (1 Cor. 14). He concludes in Chapter fourteen: "do not forbid to speak with tongues" and "Let all things be done decently and in order. THIS IS GOD'S WILL AND PLAN TODAY!

 Have been filled...don't speak in tongues

Some people have said they have been filled with the Holy Spirit but don't speak in tongues. They also are wrong. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians (12:28-31) and verse 30 say: "...Do all speak with tongues? Many say, see, not everyone is to speak in tongues. This verse in context is talking about "ministry gifts", NOT "spiritual gifts!" This is a ministry gift to be used in the local church congregation publicly by those anointed and called to full time ministry (Eph. 4:11). The other verses ask the question, "are all apostles, are all prophets, etc.,etc. and of course the answer is no to these questions because not everyone is called to "full time ministry" and would have these "ministry gifts!"

Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs...

Notice that verse 19 gives us even further insight:  "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
'One another,' I believe is an incorrect translation. I'll tell you why. The King James, Young's
Literal Translation and the New American Standard Bible Update (foot note) translates it "yourself" referring to you individually. You are speaking to God not others. This is in agreement with other scripture and in practice. 
1 Corinthians 14:4 says: "He who speaks in a tongue EDIFIES HIMSELF.." When YOU SPEAK in tongues  YOU EDIFY YOURSELF! This is the reason why God has given the Church this supernatural gift of tongues for personal worship and communication with Himself!
PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS are given by the Holy Spirit to aid in worship and for your personal edification or building up of yourself spiritually! Notice the last part of verse 19 tells us what we are doing when we speak in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs!
These are given by the Holy Spirit and comes by His inspiration.

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit gave King David inspiration in the many Psalms that are recorded.  Over and over again He would describe his feelings and adverse circumstances he was in but they always concluded with praise and glory to God because he was trusting Him for help and  deliverance. We can relate with what David experienced in our own lives. In James it says for us to "COUNT IT ALL JOY"  when we encounter various trials so we  would not lack anything from the Lord! The rest of verse 19 says: "and making melody in your heart to the Lord." That's what we are doing!  As we GIVE WORSHIP TO HIM, one on one, WE ARE BUILDING OURSELVES UP SPIRITUALLY! 

WE NEED TO REJOICE ALWAYS 

What does "rejoice" mean? According to Webster's New World Dictionary: from French- inflectional stem of OFr rejoïr < re-, AGAIN + joïr, TO BE GLAD < , "to be glad again."
Many people are happy or joyful because they won the lottery or got a raise at work, bought a new car, etc., etc...which CAUSED their happiness and joy.

The Amplified Bible says in Philippians 4:4 (AMP) to us as Christians we are to:

4 "Rejoice in the Lord always [DELIGHT, GLADDEN YOURSELVES IN HIM]; again I say, Rejoice!" BUT WE ARE NOT TO WAITE UNTIL something like that happens to us! that makes us FEEL LIKE REJOICING. we are to STIR OURSELVES UP BY ACTING ON GOD'S WORD IN FAITH! It will bring us into Joy! Outward circumstances have nothing to do with it. It's from within!

"Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS," especially when things are going wrong. In every test, trials, or adversity shout the victory! Because it's your's! It will keep you in the Spirit and in-tune to Him! This is GOD'S WAY to victory!!! 

When your are by yourself... and things are not going right...lift your hands up to Heaven and dance, wave your arms like you won a million dollars...but in truth you have something soooooo much better... eternal life!!!

God's joy will fill your heart and discouragement, disappointment, and depression will leave!!!

Christian... what mind do you have?

Romans 12:2 (NKJV) " And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" NEVER STOP...it's a process! Your mind needs the Word of God everyday just like we need food everyday! The mind has to be renewed by us. God won't do it for us. Take time to renew it. To THINK like he wants us to THINK! So we can DO what He wants us to DO!
God's Word will bring us out of defeat into Victory each and every time! It has the power to heal, deliver, restore and renew! 

Jeremiah 23:29 (NKJV)
29 "Is not My Word like a fire?" says the Lord, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" Amen!