Prophecy

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John 8:31-32,36-- “Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on Him, If (on the condition that) you continue (stay in that place of learning and expectancy, living in and standing in) My Word (logos, divine expression of Christ, the revealed will of God), then are you my disciples (learning pupils) indeed (guaranteed).

32-And you shall know (absolutely, have knowledge of, perceive, be sure, understand) the truth (pure, unconcealed, you won’t be ignorant or unaware of), and the truth shall make you free (liberate you, no longer restrained or slave to lies, free from obligation---free man/woman--at liberty).

36- “And whom the Son sets free is free indeed.”

The word obligation means---to owe a debt. We owed a debt for our sins but Jesus paid it on the cross for us so we could be debt-free.

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THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT:
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I want to take a few moments and talk a little bit about ‘Out With The Old, In With The New.’ A while back, the Holy Spirit spoke a word to me while in prayer one day and said, “Its time to lift the sword of the Spirit and slice through the cob webs of deception, tearing them down and destroying them.” And so came a time of having more places of deception in my own life revealed and thereby torn down.

I was surprised at some of the things I had believed practically all my life as a truth only to discover that they had been untruth. One of my consistent prayers has been, “God, don’t let me be deceived. I don’t want to be deceived. I want to know the truth, even if it’s painful.” God has been and He is answering this prayer and a lot of it has been most painful but once I was set free from it, I could come back to my Father and say with a grateful heart, “Thank you, Father, for showing me truth and for setting me free from deception.”

The Sword of the Spirit is truth. It is the Rhema Word of God revealed to you by the Holy Spirit, as He’s works with the logos Word. Once the sword of the Spirit slices through those cobwebs of deception, truth can come forth then to replace the lie you’ve believed as a truth. I’ve said this before but I want to say it yet again, you will only act on what you believe to be true. If you believe a lie as though it’s a truth, you’ve put your faith in it and because you have, you will act on it.

For example: for years I had heard people say, “I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.” I’ve even said this myself in times past. You may have said it of yourself at some time or other, believing it to be a truth. It does sound good and religious but its not truth at all. It’s diabolically planned by Satan to keep God’s people from walking in total truth and freedom. It is to keep you enslaved to an ever-present sin mentality, which ultimately keeps the shame of sin hanging over your head like a cloud you can’t get rid of. And it’s not the glory cloud either. Lets look at what the real truth is found in God’s Word.
Ephesians 2:8- “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

Nowhere in that Scripture does it mention the word sinner let alone, you’re still ‘an old sinner saved by grace.’ If you look at it again, this Scripture says, “You’re saved. You can’t be saved by grace and still be an ‘old sinner’ at the same time. You’re one or the other. You’re no longer an old sinner but once you’ve received Jesus into your heart as Lord and Savior, you’ve become the righteousness of God. So this ‘old’ definitely needs to be tossed out of our thinking.

Romans 3:22 says, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon them that believe.”

This takes you right back to Ephesians 2:8 that we just looked at.
Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart man believes (has faith) unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Can you see the transformation that takes place once you’ve been saved by grace through faith? It’s in with the ‘new.’ You’re transitioned from an old sinner to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This changes the whole picture around and helps you to see more clearly the lie you’ve believed. Now, you can begin to see the truth. Lets look at one more Scripture.

II Corinthians 5:17- “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”

Before, “by grace are you saved through faith,” you were an old sinner without Christ Jesus. But once you were saved by the blood and the quickening power of the Spirit, you moved to a higher level in Christ. You became a new creation, covered in the love and grace of God as His righteousness. You’re no longer an old sinner saved by grace, you’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You’re in right-standing with God. The lies are torn down with God’s truth and then replaced with the truth of who God says you are.

Romans 8:17 says, you’re a child of God, you’re His heir and you’ve been made a joint-heir with Jesus. We know that Jesus is not an old sinner because even though He became sin for us on the cross, we know that He was the sinless Lamb of God. He committed no sin. This Scripture says we’re a joint-heir with Jesus. We can’t be groveling in the dirt like an old sinner and then go be seated in heavenly places with Jesus at the same time.

God, the Father is saying here, ‘I see you the very same way that I see my Son. He’s My heir and as my very own sons and daughters, I’ve made you a joint-heir with Jesus. Everything I’ve given My Son, I give also to you.’ Are you beginning to see the fallacy of this wrong belief? The old has passed away and the new has come.

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NEW FOR THE NEW YEAR:
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This brings me to talk about this New Year of 2003. You know, you have to remember that with every ending there is a new beginning and God is always doing something new in our lives and in the life of the Church. 2002 is fast drawing to a close and a New Year is already dawning on the horizon soon to step onto center stage of the world. The old of yesterday is slowly fading into the background as this New Year arrives on the scene.

What will the New Year of 2003 hold for the Church? For each of us individually and for the world? One thing we must remember and that is this, all of God’s plans are for our good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11). All of satan’s plans are for our harm and destruction (John 10:10), therefore we should be able to tell the difference between God’s good and satan’s evil. I know that God has good plans for each of His children and for His corporate body. His abundant blessings are not at an end; in fact, God is looking for even more ways to bless you in this coming New Year.

I know that a lot of God’s people have been going through the fire of purging in 2002, as I have myself. I want to say that what God started in your life in 2002, just because 2002 is ending, it doesn’t mean that the purging, the molding and shaping on the Potter’s wheel is going to end. But rather, in 2003, the Holy Spirit will be turning up the refining fire on the Church because God must have a holy people. He will have a holy people just as He said, “Be ye holy, as I am holy.” God is working on character in the lives of His children because Jesus is coming back soon for a Church without spot, wrinkle or blemish.

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ASK WHAT YOU WILL:
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Let me add one last thing before I close. A few days ago during a time of praise and worship, the Lord spoke in my spirit and said, “Ask what you will in My name, and I will give it to you” (John 16:24). I felt impressed that God so desires to do great things for His children during this season that He says, (paraphrase) “Just ask Me to do something for you, and I will do it.” No, God is not our servant. He’s not some glorified errand boy. He’s almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth and there is no other God except Him. Therefore, we reverence Him.

God has opened a window of heaven and He stands ready to pour you out a blessing beyond what you can think or imagine. This is not unlike we are as parents when we want to do something over and above what we’ve already done for our children because we love them and we just want to bless them. God is no different and He loves you and me more than we are capable of ever loving our children. Can you imagine?

Also, get ready to flex your faith muscles and put them to use in this New Year of 2003 because it’s going to be a year of believing God for the impossible. When the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of the Messiah, Jesus, Mary was wondering how this great event was going to be possible.

When she voiced her concern, the angel Gabriel quickly brought her to a place of faith and said, “For with God, nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37). Then Mary said, “Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word. And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). The day of December 25th may be past but the Word of the Lord is forever. It never passes away.

This is also a year of surrendering to the Lord‘s purposes and saying, “Be it unto me according to your word.” This is because God is asking us to believe Him for the seemingly impossible that He will drop in our spirits by His Holy Spirit. Thus, let me repeat what the Lord said to me recently, “Ask what you will in My name, and I will give it to you.”
God bless all of you and may He make your ways prosperous in all areas of your lives for this New Year of 2003.


Plain As Day Ministries

Shirley Williams
12-27-02

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