FELLOW WORKERS

By Faith You Stand

Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand. 2 Corinthians 1:24

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:1-3

As Christians, we are not to be ruled by what is around us. As Christians, we are not to make our decisions in life based on what we see. Our decisions must be based on the commands from God in the invisible world and we must act on them in this visible world we live in. If we allow ourselves to react to the circumstances around us, then all the devil has to do, to nudge us into the place where he wants us to be, is to change our circumstances. As believers, we are commanded to not be moved by what we see, but instead, to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When Joseph was sold as a slave to the Egyptians, he didn't have a dime to his name. He didn't even have his freedom. He'd been sold as a slave. But, right in the middle of his slavery, God gave Joseph such wisdom and ability that he made his owner prosper. As a result, the man put Joseph in charge of all his possessions.   Later, Joseph was put in prison. There's really not much opportunity for advancement in prison, is there? But God gave him insight that no other man in Egypt had. That insight landed him a position on Pharaoh's staff. Not as a slave but as the most honored man in the entire country next to Pharaoh himself.  He rode along in a chariot and people literally bowed down before him. During a worldwide famine, Joseph was in charge of all the food. Now that's prosperity!  How did God accomplish all that? By prospering Joseph's soul. No matter how dismal his situation became, no matter how impossible his problems, God was able to reveal the spiritual secrets that would open the door of success for him.   That's what makes God's method of prospering so exciting because we base our faith and our lives on God’s exceedingly great and precious promises. God’s word is true:

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,  who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:20-22

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you."  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Hebrews 6:13-15

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4

We are blessed to have the promises of God from One Who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and Whose words are true and to live by them. If there were no promise of salvation, we would be lost in sin. If there were no promise of healing, the prayer of faith would be to no avail. If God had not promised us eternal life in heaven, we would be hopeless in this life. But our God is good and mighty God Who loves and cares for us and has promised to arm us with strength for the battle. His word is unchanging:

For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. Psalm 18:39

The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace. Psalm 29:11

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;  He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them and deliver them;  He shall deliver them from the wicked,  And save them,  Because they trust in Him.  Psalm 37:39-40

The LORD is good,  A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, And darkness will pursue His enemies. Nahum 1:7-8

Yes, the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them and deliver them. And He will deal with their enemies accordingly just like He dealt with Daniels enemies who were put into the same den of lions that they had conspired and put Daniel in (Daniel 6)!  Yes the LORD will bless His people with peace.

It’s to be noted that the Hebrew word for peace is shalom (both adjective and substantive), meaning, primarily, "soundness," "health," "prosperity," well-being in general, all good in relation to both man and God. God wants peace and prosperity to be within our walls and palaces. He wants His people and His church to be sound, healthy, wealthy, and prosperous and have favor with God and with men. Hence we can rebuke anything that takes away our peace and root it out, pull it down, destroy it, and throw it down. God’s word is unchanging:

Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.  See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant."  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree." Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word." Jeremiah 1:9-12

"Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." John 20:19

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

God has made us spirit, soul and body and we are supposed to function in the spirit world all the time. But ever since man sinned, the soul of man has degenerated into a mere natural function and we have neglected the spiritual function of our soul. We need to be able to know how to move into the spirit realm and how to get back into the natural realm. God made us to be spiritual beings that also live in the natural world.  In the natural world we have five senses to relate to the natural world. The sense of sight, the sense of hearing, the sense of smell, the sense of taste and the sense of touch. These five natural senses relate to the natural world. They are senses that are part and parcel of our physical body. We also have the spirit man. Our spirit was created to relate to the spirit world. We have taught before that there are five spiritual senses. Just as in the natural, so is the same in the spiritual. In fact, the spiritual came before the natural. There is the spiritual sense of sight, spiritual sense of taste, spiritual sense of smell, spiritual sense of hearing, and spiritual sense of touch.

Regarding the spiritual senses, the bible talks about the eyes of our understanding, the inner eyes of our spirit and seeing with the eyes of our spirit. The bible talks about hearing the Word that causes faith. He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. He is talking about spiritual hearing. There is a spiritual sense of taste. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Spiritual sense of smell is found in Phil. 4 where the offerings that Paul received from the Philippians were a sweet savor onto the Lord. There is a spiritual sense of touch.  There is a spirit of heaviness and there is a spirit of liberty. With our spirit, we relate to the spirit world. With our physical bodies, we relate to the physical world.  How our mind is set determines whether we can move into the anointing or not. When our mind is set on the things of the Spirit, we are in a position where we can yield to the things of God.  When our soul breaks into the spirit realm, it’s easy to break through.  It just takes a yielding of the soul to the things of the spirit to break into the spirit realm. It looks hard but it’s easy.  The renewal of the mind takes time. But the yielding of the mind is instantly decided by our will. To yield is an act. To renew is a continuous process.

What God wants from us is to obey first then understand. Whatever happens to the soul determines how much our soul can move in the spirit. When our mind is not set on the spirit world, we are just in the natural world. It takes a lot out of us to get into the spirit. But if the spirit realm becomes a realm that we are acquainted with, we can move in the spirit and in the natural world quite easily. And in the spirit realm is where we find peace.

The Hebrew word for peace is shalom (both adjective and substantive), meaning, primarily, "soundness," "health," "prosperity," well-being in general, all good in relation to both man and God. Yes, God wants peace and prosperity to be within our walls and palaces. He wants His people and His church to be sound, healthy, wealthy, and prosperous and have favor with God and with men. And this is not done for them not by the works of the flesh but by the anointing and grace of God which He freely gives to those who believe Him for it!

The touch of God, the fire of God and the presence of God does more for us than anything else in this universe. And it’s the pearl of great price that Jesus talked about, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, "who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45-46). It’s God Spirit and presence that is important and moves out the mountains in our lives through grace and not other things. God’s word is unchanging:

Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." So he answered and said to me:  "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:  'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'  Says the LORD of hosts.  'Who are you, O great mountain?  Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!  And he shall bring forth the capstone  With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' " Zechariah 4:5-6

Only the Spirit and function of the Holy Spirit can remove every hindrance and obstacle in our lives and make something out of nothing! Only the Holy Spirit does something so supernatural from nothing to something by the Spirit called grace, grace, just like God created heaven and earth out of nothing and sustains it by grace! But we must do our part by cooperating with God and doing whatever He tells us to see our miracles. God’s word is unchanging:

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. John 2:1-11

Mary told said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." And when they did what Jesus told them to do they saw a miracle. For many reasons including ignorance, fear, and unbelief, God’s people are not doing what God’s word has told them to do because  don't understand the power in the declarations: "Exaltation will come," and "Decree a thing and it will be established" (Job22:28-29). Our ministering angels carry out our earthly prophetic decrees which line up with the truth of God's word and His will.  When we declare "Restore!" "Restore!" Then the angels in heaven are released to execute this decree! God’s word is unchanging:

But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, "Restore!" Isaiah 42:22

Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up,  And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully,  And He will cause the rain to come down for you- The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.  The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,  The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to  shame.  Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other.  My people shall never be put to shame. Joel 2:21-27

EXTRACT FROM Our Wonderful Redeemer 
http://walthope.tripod.com/redeemer.htm
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