Category Archives: princes and princesses of God

March 26, 2009 · 3:19 pm

“Though Our Outward Man Perish”–On Becoming Older in the Kingdom of God

In the world of men, the older one becomes, the less valuable they become–especially in American culture. For only the outward appearance is esteemed. But in the kingdom of God, as our earthly bodies age, it ofttimes yields a needed wisdom on the inside. And with wisdom, one finds much spiritual treasure.

A Sense of Our Own Mortality

As our earthly body begins its corruption through aging, we begin to get a sense of our own mortality. When we were young, we never thought that one day we would expire–that one day we would have breathed our last breath of earth’s good air. We careened through youthful roads with a reckless abandon, never contemplating the delicate balance between life and death.

And then one day, we wake up and realize that we cannot do the physical feats we did in our youth. And if we are blessed, we will then turn to the inward spiritual country, a land prepared by the Master Surveyor, laid out for those of us who will seek that rare realm. This great land of the heart is called “the Kingdom of God” and it “is within you.”

Feeling the Need for the Spiritual

And as we turn to go there, we begin to feel the need for the spiritual food to sustain on our journey. We see the futility of clamoring after things for just our earthly bodies, and we begin to respect and reverence the Spirit that fathered us anc created and placed us down here on earth.

Becoming older brings wisdom, for the dreams and schemes of youth have run their race cars into a wall of disillusionment. Survivors of the crash walk more circumspectly, more grateful for more time to now think about the eternal things of God. It takes time’s erosion of our earthly strength to help us realize that God has an eternal purpose in all our trials, temptations, and tears.

The Fisher of Men

God allows us spools of line as a fisherman does a giant, fighting fish. And with that extra line and time, the fish flips and flashes and flaps and flails until all his dreams and schemes of his own vainglory are surrendered to the will of the Great Fisherman.

And so it is with us. He gives us great latitude to pursue our own way of non-surrender. As the years pass, some will work so hard to wrestle free from God, that He allows them to throw off the hook.

But a chosen few will realize that they are destined for greater things, spiritual things, “things kept secret from the foundation of the world,” and they will surrender to His will. They will see that “though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” And because of this, these few will not look at the outward appearance, which shows the mere temporary things, but they will look on the invisible, into that dimension which is eternal (II Corinthians 4: 16-18).

And thus God brings them into His ship, into His heart, giving them a new spirit and a new in life–His life.

So becoming older can mean becoming wiser. For with age comes spiritual clarity and more reverence for the Great Fisherman. Youth are more likely to trust in the “arm of flesh,” which never has the strength to carry us down the road to immortality. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Filed under immortality, kingdom of God, princes and princesses of God, sons and daughters of God

Tagged as Aging, christianity, Holy Spirit, kingdom of God, religion

March 4, 2009 · 10:11 pm

God’s Faith Once Delivered to the Saints

Faith is extremely important but often misunderstood. It is not us believing in something. That is not the true faith of God. No. The true faith of God comes from Him to us, not from us about Him. It is His belief in Himself that He gives to us.

Faith Is Not Something We Have to Muster Up

It is the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Faith is a spiritual commodity from God that has been delivered to the people of God. Who delivered it? The Creator Yahweh did. Faith is not something that has to be mustered up by His people. We rather must receive it from Him. It is something that originates from out of His nature and is given to us. “For every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.” That includes faith.

It is His faith that is transplanted into our hearts. It is not something we muster up and finally believe about Him. His faith in us is the first part of His divine nature to enter into the human heart. But what is it exactly? Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1.

God Has Assurance in the Things that He Hopes For

“Things hoped for…” Because we are naturally egocentric, we think that it is the things we hope for. No. What does God hope for? What are the desires of His heart? What has He purposed? Long before we were ever born, He saw us in our down-trodden state of sin and misery. He also saw us rise with Him by His Spirit to vanquish sin and death in our lives. He believed that this was a reality—that this was substance—having not yet seen it come to pass. He believed and so therefore spoke and said that it was so. He believed the best about us and His plan—not having seen the evidence yet of its fruition. We as changed individuals are evidence that the invisible Supreme Being is real. We are His witnesses that He is God. And if He believes in His work in us before it comes to full fruition, then we should, too. He is our example.

His divine nature is positive, full of faith and power. All of His promises are “yes.” Nothing negative flows from His heart. He is positive; His attitude is positive. In fact, He calls those things that are not, that do not exist as yet, as though they did exist. He said that He will be all in all eventually. We should then, right now, begin to walk around as if He already is all in you and me. This will take belief that “it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.”

He is positive, giving “life to the dead and calls that which does not exist as existing.” This is He. This is how He thinks. He is positive about His capabilities. He has absolutely no doubt about His reserves and His resolve to get done what He wants done. And what He wants done is the multiplication, the reproduction of Himself, within His creation. He is an invisible Spirit; He wants to see Himself in action in human form. This is the witness that He talks about in Isaiah. We are to be His witnesses that He is the invisible Spirit/God. His faith believes that not only we can change, but that we will change—that we are changed! He seeks people to worship Him in this spirit and attitude and in this truth. He needs people to worship Him in this way—to believe the way He believes.

And it is to this faith, His faith, that we are to add several more spiritual qualities as outlined by the apostle Peter (II Peter 1: 5-8). These are the more advanced facets that the Holy Spirit gives to those going “unto perfection,” which is full maturity in Christ. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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{This is an excerpt from my book The Unveiling of the Sons of God, which you can read here: YahwehIsTheSavior.com/sonsch19.htm }.

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Tagged as Christ, Christianty, faith, religion, Yahweh

February 12, 2009 · 6:48 pm

We Were with God in the Beginning–Part II

Why This is Hard to Believe

The children of God were with their spiritual Father in the beginning, so declares the holy scriptures {see Feb. 9, 2009 post). This message is difficult to receive when a person, dwelling on the earth and its pulls, is full and fat, and is “doing great,” and is living high-on-the-hog.

He has need of nothing, he thinks. But he does not know that as a selfish earthbound mortal, he is really blind to the heavenly way. He is wretched in his blindness to spiritual matters, for he can never be happy being earthly-minded. He is poor, for he lacks the Spirit that was in the beginning. And he is naked, strutting blindly on the earth, willingly ignorant of the truth about what is really happening “on earth as it is in heaven” (Rev. 3: 17).

This is the state of mankind now in this prosperous 21st century. And the only thing that will wake up God’s people to Him is that He allows the engineering of an economic fall–one that will strip the toys and gadgets from the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

In the Old Testament stories, it was always an economic collapse brought on by crooked politicians that finally pierced through the hard hearts. When they became destitute, “then they cried unto the LORD (Yahweh).”

And He heard them and came down by making His Presence known to a prophet, who in turn, led His people away from the moral and spiritual abyss and led them back “to the beginning”–back to the pastures of the Father’s heart.

How to Get Back to the Beginning with Him

We will be restored back to what we had with Him in the beginning. How? We believe that we receive His Spirit–after we surrender our old self on the cross and let it die with Christ, who was the sin sacrifice (Romans 6: 1-6). This is the first step. Then through just believing God and His love granting us a new life, heart, and spirit, we begin to walk in this new life–His Life now incarnated in us.

We believe that His Spirit within us now cauterizes eventually all connections to our earthly past. And then by faith (belief), we leave the bars and chains of earthly thinking with its negative demands, and we begin to walk in the Spirit, in the spiritual state that we already “had with Him before the world began.”

The Truth

For the truth is that we were with Him in the beginning. The “We” here is the portion of His Spirit that we are now, not our earthly body.

For after receiving Christ, anything we are is “new” to our current earthly reality, but “old” in that our new existence in Christ is one we shared with Him before time as we know it began.

A person instructed in the Kingdom of God will, consequently, “bring forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matt. 13: 52). The “old” is our spiritual relationship we had with Him before our earthly sojourn began. The “things new” is living now through His Spirit within our hearts–right now here on earth.

This sin-free spiritual walk in Christ is “new” and rare, for few have been priveleged to glimpse this; few have been given the eyesalve to anoint the earthen eyes that they may see. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Tagged as children of God, christianity, faith, Holy Spirit, religion

February 9, 2009 · 1:39 pm

We Were with God in the Beginning*

{Order your free copy of The Unveiling of the Sons of God or my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It is totally free with free shipping to my readers. Just send your mailing address to my email address: wayneman5@hotmail.com Specify which one.}

When we partake of His Spirit, we are drinking into what we had with Him in the beginning.

His Spirit in us transforms us day by day into what we were when we were with Him back then. We are restored by faith, back to that relationship we had with Him before the worlds were ever formed. Before the earth was ever made, before the seven day creation week, before the sabbath day was instituted–we, His children were there with him in spirit.

For what are we really without Him? Our bodies without His presence within are so much earth and dust. When we receive a portion of His Spirit, we receive into these earthly shells a spark of the divine One.

He who was from the beginning now takes up His abode in our earthly bodies, and the only “I” now is His Anointed One (Christ) in us. For after our own cross experience with Him, it is no longer the old selfish “I” that lives, “but it is Christ that lives in me.”

As we continue to walk this way, we can pray as Christ prayed, “Father, glorify me with the glory I had with You before the world ever began” (John 17:5).

We Must Go Back

But we must go back, back, back into time–before the temporal, before the temporary shackles of our earthen bodies, before the clamor of the flesh’s demands and desires, before the worlds were ever slung into their ethereal pinnings–when we sat around with our Father, rejoicing with Him about the beauty of His plan, “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38: 7).

We must go back there, before Satan was ever commissioned by the Father to be the “accuser of the brethren.” Before Satan became the prince and power of the air, sent down to try us and force us ultimately back to our Father for deliverance.

For we have all strayed like sheep away from our Shepherd. We have strayed from the spiritual pastures we had with Him before He created the pastures of earth.

When we return and let Him gather us and restore us back into His heavenly-minded fold, then we will know what it means to have “our conversation in heaven.”

Passing the Test

When we walk in this truth–that we were with Him in the beginning–then we have passed the test–the test to see if we will believe the lie that we are only animal and not children of God, or believe the truth that we are only temporarily in a mortal state before our change to immortality comes.

This is the crux of the matter. When we are stripped of everything and reduced to our lowest state, do we believe that we are His spiritual children, with all the rights and responsibilities or do we believe the lie?

For this lie must be refuted by our walk on earth. Others must see “our good works and glorify the Father.” They will see that, yes, there is a God, for only God can shine the light of joy and love through a person like that. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

*{“…and your old men shall dream dreams…” Received in a dream, Feb. 8, 2009}

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Tagged as christianity, faith, Holy Spirit, immortality, religion

December 27, 2008 · 7:49 pm

“Christmas Unwrapped” and “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT”

“Christmas Un-wrapped—The History of Christmas” is quite a documentary produced by The History Channel. Harry Smith narrates as it exposes the historical roots of how this holiday came to be. Its origins are pagan and go back thousands of years to the festivals of the winter solstice, Rome’s Saturnalia, Mithras the sun god’s birthday, and the Nordics’ Yule time (you can see it here on youtube: https://youtu.be/Ots9y_xcaX8

I am astounded as I look out over the earth on this time of year and see people of every race, nationality and gender, embracing and reveling in this winter holiday season. I don’t condemn anyone for doing so; I’m just amazed to see people caught up into a spiritual vortex with seemingly no power to refuse.They are not just lured to the stores to buy anymore; they are told that if you don’t go and spend money, even money that you don’t really have, you are going to contribute to the downfall of our economy. It is not even subtle anymore.

It is like in Revelation when “the whole world wondered after the beast.” The people are caught up into something with a pull they can’t rationally fight. I see people practicing traditions handed down to them from ancestors who had no idea where it all came from. They follow on not knowing why, and frankly, not caring why.

Like you, I am interested in the Time of the End as described in the book of Revelation. How will the masses be? How will they act during this time? What type of world system will be in power? And I find that it is called a “beast with seven heads and ten horns” and has a woman riding it. And this woman is a symbol of a religious system, a church system.

And this church “was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand” (Rev. 17:4). This shows a system that is rich and luxurious. This is not a church system that the ancient Hebrew prophets adhered to—the ones who were of the true faith, who “wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11: 37-38). No, the true prophets of God did not array themselves like this religious system.

In fact, this false religious system has in the scriptures an identifier, a tag that tells us about her. She has a “name written in her forehead.” Names in scripture tell what the person or thing is—what its roots are, what its core values are. A name in scripture tells us its origin, its reason to be, and its destiny. This name written in her forehead means that her mind is full of what her name implies. Her heart and mind are full of what her name means. And her name was “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5). Her name is given all in capital letters to signify its great importance to us.

And this church has blessed this holiday that falls on the winter solstice, that is built upon a flimsy, secular, and pagan foundation. “If the root be holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11: 16). What if the root be unholy? So, are the branches? If we are a branch of the latter or are partaking of an unholy branch, are we not a partaker of the tainted spiritual fruit?

We, who are the called to be His princes and princesses of His soon-coming kingdom must examine ourselves in this light, for we are admonished to “come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins” (Rev. 18: 4). We are rather to be “partakers of the divine nature” (II Peter 1: 4). Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Tagged as christianity, Christmas, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, religion, Revelation

October 4, 2008 · 4:25 pm

The Parable of the Sower–The Secret of Spiritual Growth

Parables conceal the mysteries of the government (kingdom) of God. They contain things “kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

One parable, the parable of the sower, is the key that will unlock the understanding to all the parables, and that is the parable of the sower. Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? (Mark 4:13). It is found in Matthew 13:1-9.

Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, Some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them; but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty-fold. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.

He mentions three levels of fruit production—thirty, sixty and one hundred fold. Just like some plants produce more fruit than others, some true Christians will “produce” more fruit of the Spirit than others. Some will remain “babes in Christ,” mostly concerned with what God can do for them. Some will grow to be young men and women in God. And some will grow up fully “into Him,” or rather He will be fully manifested in them. All three of these fruit bearers are in His fold, in His kingdom, and yet, some will have Christ walking in them fully.

The Master goes on and explains this parable in v. 18-23. The seed that the sower sows is the word of the kingdom, the words about God’s government that rules the human heart and also the governments of this world. Seed by the wayside is snatched up by Satan. Seed on stony ground can’t get rooted because of fear of what their friends and neighbors will say, so it withers. Seed among the thorns is when this word is choked out and pushed aside by loving the riches of this present world system. But seed into good ground is a “good and honest heart” taking in this truth, and understanding it, and bearing fruit–the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, and peace.” These are the “good ground” who will bear fruit at different levels–30, 60, and 100 fold.

We will not all remain children “tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.” We will not all remain powerless “against the wiles of the devil.” We will not all remain weak and powerless against sin and sinning. Some will become the “manifested sons of God.” Some of us will fulfill this “high calling of God in Christ.” Some will be able to say like Paul the apostle, “It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me.” Some will not remain in buildings with the other pretenders, who go through the motions of “going to church” instead of being the church, the very body of Christ.

Yes, some will see and believe the secret concealed in this parable and will realize that there are different distinct levels of fruit bearing in His kingdom. Some of his offspring will walk in His Spirit in a greater depth than others.

The apostle John writes to Christians on different fruit bearing levels in I John 2: 12-13–children, young men, and fathers. Many other scriptures confirm this. “First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear…Faith, hope, and charity (agape love)…Justification, sanctification, and glorification…” and many more.

This does not set well with the politically correct. It never has. The same word of the kingdom is sown to all, but the growth by the “good ground” depends on how much the seed is watered by study and prayer.

Finally, as the last line of the parable of the sower says, “Who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Let those who can take this in and understand it, do so. For some do not have “ears to hear” this parable. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{For more on this read a chapter in my book at http://www.yahwehisthesavior.com/yahch20.htm . Also see

https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/parables-conceal-the-mysteries-of-god/ for more on parables.

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Tagged as christianity, kingdom of God, manifested sons of God, Parables, religion

September 2, 2008 · 10:40 pm

The Apostles’ Doctrine–Curriculum of God’s True Teachers

Teachers of God will expound His way, while false prophets and false teachers lie to the flock of God. The true teachers are gifts to mankind from God (Ephesians 4: 11). They are precious and very few in number. If we seek, we will find one, and we will hold them dear.

But how can we tell the true from the false? The true teachers will have a grasp of the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42). They will know how to explain in detail how one repents, how faith works in us receiving a new heart. In short, they will have true knowledge of the “principles of the doctrine of Christ” (Hebrews 6: 1-2).

Yet they will also know that one must leave those first principles in order to “go on unto perfection.” The Spirit that is within them will “lead us into all truth.” They will know that it is Christ in them who actually is the real Teacher.

Many in “church circles” talk about wanting the same life as the early church in the book of The Acts of the Apostles. They see the miracles and wonders performed and long for that same divine power to hold sway on the earth today. They want, however, to circumvent the procedure used in those enlightened days right after Christ’s resurrection. They want to accept Christ, be baptized, and then they want to set the world on fire with God’s power.

Before the miracles come from God, pre-requisites must be done. “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles” (Acts 2:42-43). Here you see the progression of things: the doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread, prayers, fear of God, and then came the wonders and signs.

“We Don’t Want Doctrine–Just Jesus”

It was the apostles’ doctrine that the early converts stayed in. They did those teachings. For “doctrine” is translated from the Greek word didaskalia, which means “teaching; that which is taught.” Beware of those who will say, “We don’t want doctrine, we just want Jesus!” If they could only realize that the Savior Himself was referred to as a “Didaskalos,” meaning “Teacher, Master.” The same root word! People who say, “We don’t want doctrine” are really saying they do not want the real Christ and what He taught.

The true teachers of God will teach true repentance from sin in one’s life and how faith works to give us a new heart and new spirit that pleases God in not sinning against Him. And this is just the first principles “of the doctrine of Christ” (Hebrews 6: 1-2).

This is not a new thing that I write about. Read it for yourself in Martin Luther’s writings, “The Sermon on three-fold Righteousness [http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/3formsrt.html ; in the sermons of John Wesley ( http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/sermons/040.htm ), founder of the Methodist Church; from Andrew Murray, 19th Century Scottish Missionary and author http://www.victoryoversin.com/murray/like/lc24.htm ); or in my book The Apostles’ Doctrine [free copies available].

So, turn away from anyone who doesn’t teach the apostles’ doctrine, that says that you cannot be a righteous son or daughter of God. Don’t believe them. They will try to drag you down into the same spiritual slop that they are stuck in. Find yourself a true teacher and study out the apostles’ doctrine, for those are the teachings of Christ. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

* “Sermon on Three-fold Righteousness” at http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/3formsrt.html

“Beware of False Prophets”–Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Christ warned us about being deceived by false prophets. We must realize that after “placing our hands to the plow,” our enemy Satan has been authorized by God (Yahweh) to test us and prove us (remember the story of Job). He’ll try to deceive us and detour us. And Satan will use men to do this–false prophets and teachers.

“Let No Man Deceive You”

Being deceived by false prophets and teachers is the first thing Jesus Christ (Yahshua the Anointed One) warned us of when He spoke of the last days before His coming. A potential son or daughter of God can be fooled by false teachers, false prophets, and false ministers of Christ.

We are to “take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt. 24: 4). These men are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are the deceivers. For they will come in His name and deceive many (v. 5, 11). In fact, don’t believe them when they say, Christ is here; you’ll find him by following me. “Believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets” (v. 23-24).

We have been warned. “There shall be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in damnable heresies” (II Peter 2: 1). We must realize that these have “transformed themselves into the apostles of Christ.” They are imposters, peddling themselves off as God’s ministers, like Satan who has transformed himself into a “messenger of light” (II Cor. 11:13-14).

Enter the Kingdom of God Through the Narrow Gate

But it is difficult to know whether a minister is deceiving us or not. Christ gave us a sign. He said for us to enter His kingdom through a narrow gate. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” Many will be deceived by false teachers who provide an easy-to-get-through gate into Christendom, but it is the false way that leads to death. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7: 13-14). Few will find Christ’s true way. There it is in black and white.

Then Christ warns in the very next verse to “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing” (Mt. 7:15). Revelation: The false prophets are the very ones that are leading the “many” through the false wide gate that is not taking the deceived masses to the place they were promised.

Televangelists, pastors of megachurches, and leaders of Christian sects never warn their people about these false prophets and false teachers. Ever wonder why? Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 16, 2008 · 3:20 pm

“Lead Us Not Into Temptation”–Being “Led by the Spirit of God”

God does not tempt us. When we desire worldly things, we are lured away from the spiritual heavenly things. This is temptation, and Christ is reminding us of this in the Lord’s prayer.

“Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed” (James 1:13-14). Those without the Spirit of God dwelling in their hearts fall prey to these thoughts and desires as they conceive and bring forth sin (Thou shalt not covet) and death (1:15). Those with the Spirit are spared this, for they have a new heart.

Our example in the Bible of how not to act are the Israelites in the wilderness. They lusted after the food and creature comforts of their old homes in Egypt, and those desires took root in their hearts and led them to perdition. We are specifically admonished to not do what they did (I Cor. 10:6-13).

No, God will not lead us into temptation. He is our faithful Shepherd, as David sung, “He leads me beside the still waters…He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalms 23: 2-3). And yet, God gets blamed for our foibles and trials.

God, rather, leads His sons and daughters into unspeakable realms of glory by His Spirit. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons (and daughters) of God” (Rom. 8:14). He has given us the downpayment of His Spirit through our belief in His resurrection in us. His Spirit that now resides in us is leading us on down the path to an immortal reign with Him.

As we continue reading Romans 8, we see that we have received from Him the “Spirit of adoption” instead of our old spirit of fear (v. 15). He is our Father and we cry out to Him as such. We are His children and His heirs. He is the King; we His children are His princes and princesses–heirs to His throne (v. 15-18).

The whole world is groaning, waiting for the “manifestation of the sons of God” (v. 19-22). This unveiling of God’s soon-to-be immortal offspring is the final act of the play called Life As We Know It (read more in my book The Unveiling of the Sons of God at http://yahwehisthesavior.com/unveiling.htm ).

We all want to live on, but we are entrapped by a body of fragile flesh that is destined to expire. We are rushing to our “expiration date” because of the physical corruptability of our bodies. Most have little hope.

But Christ our Shepherd will lead us through our faith in Him. For we know that it is all going to work out, for we love Him. We have been called by Him according to His plan and purpose (see post “Nature Teaches God’s Plan of Reproducing Himself” at https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/nature-teaches-gods-plan-of-reproducing-himself/ ).

He knew us and gave us a destiny to become His sons and daughters long before we came to the earth–a destiny “to be conformed to the image of His Son…the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8: 28-30).

He is leading us down this path to His throne as we write this. Believing this gives us great confidence, for we will never ever be separated from the love of God, which is in Christ (8:39).

“Forgive Us Our Debts”–Love Is All We Owe

We owe mankind only one thing–love. In the “Lord’s Prayer,” Christ is teaching us that loving others is all that we should owe anyone. As the princes and princesses of the King, we are held to that high standard. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another (Romans 13:8).

God the King is Love, and we His children are born of His nature, which is love (I John 4:8, 16). Loving others, then, is how we pay our debts.

So when the Savior, in teaching us to pray, tells us to say, “And forgive us our debts,” He want us to mean this: Forgive us Father, for the times we didn’t love others the way You love them. And when Christ instructs us to say, “As we forgive our debtors,” He wants us to mean this: Father, grant us a forgiving heart to all who do not love us as You love us. He did tell us, “Forgive and it shall be forgiven you” (Luke 6:37).

To love one another–this is one of the “new commandments” Christ gave us. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).

Loving one another is the sign that God resides in us. “If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (I John 4:12). The caveat: we cannot love one another with the agape “love from above” if we do not have His Spirit within us. Human love will only stretch so far and then it snaps ugly on somebody.

Love is the fruit produced from the sap (Holy Spirit) within us, the branches. And we cannot be grafted in to the vine (Christ) until we go through the death, burial, and resurrection experience with Him {Read more on this in my book The Unveiling of the Sons of God at http://www.yahwehisthesavior.com/sonsintro.htm }. We must be “raised to walk in a newness of life” through faith in God’s promise to give us a new heart and a new spirit if we put to death our old sinful self on the cross with Christ (6:1-6). When we receive His Spirit into our hearts, then the love will start flowing down and through us to others (See post, “Love From Above, Down and Through” at https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/love-from-above-down-and-through/ ).

The “debts” spoken of in the “Lord’s Prayer” is much more than money or material things. It is spiritual love that we owe each other. We owe mankind a heart of love in gratitude to God for the love He showed us by providing the Sacrifice, the Lamb of God, and thereby giving us a way to escape sin and corruption. It is now about Him channeling Himself (Love) through us on out to others.

These things should be in mind when we pray to our Father, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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