Category Archives: resurrection

October 31, 2026 · 10:06 am

The Shield of Faith and Hope—Working Together to Produce Agape Love

Faith and Hope United

Faith is “being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NET). Faith rests upon the promises of God and gives certainty to the hope He has placed before us. Though His promises remain invisible to our physical eyes, faith enables us to embrace them as realities that will surely come to pass.

Hope is founded upon the Word of God and the promises He has spoken. He has promised His children eternal life, a dwelling place in the New Jerusalem, and the inheritance of a glorified spiritual body (Revelation 21:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:42-54). Because these promises have not yet been fully realized, we hope for them. Faith, however, gives us assurance that what God has promised will indeed be fulfilled.

Thus, faith and hope are inseparably linked. Hope looks forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises, while faith is the confident assurance that those promises are certain. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and convinced of what we have not yet seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Hope, Faith, and the Production of Agape

This relationship between faith and hope provides the foundation upon which agape love is manifested. Hope is generated through hearing the Word of God and receiving His promises. For this reason, Scripture says, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

As we hear His Word, the Holy Spirit works within us, revealing truth and granting understanding through His gentle illumination (John 16:13). These spiritual insights strengthen our faith and teach us to walk in His ways. As we continue on this path, agape love increasingly abides in our hearts. We become grateful to Christ for calling and choosing us and for revealing His divine purpose to us. Every road that leads to Him ultimately brings us into the blessing of His abiding presence (John 15:4-10). His presence and abiding in us is Agape Love.

The Hope Set Before Us

(Romans 8:14-29)

The Apostle Paul describes several aspects of the hope that God has given to His children:

  • God’s glory shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
  • The sons and daughters of God are those who are led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14).
  • The whole creation eagerly awaits the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19).
  • Creation itself was subjected to futility in hope that it would one day be delivered from corruption and decay (Romans 8:20-21).
  • We hope for what we do not yet see, waiting patiently for its fulfillment (Romans 8:24-25).
  • God foreknew, called, and predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

These promises constitute the hope of our calling. Although they remain future realities, faith enables us to be fully persuaded that God will accomplish all that He has promised.

The Faith of Christ Toward Us

This is the hope of which we are sure and the faith by which we are convinced. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, demonstrating both the depth of His love and the certainty of His purpose (Romans 5:8). He saw beyond what we were and looked toward what we could become through His grace.

Christ endured the cross because of the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). He looked forward to the harvest of sons and daughters who would respond to His calling. In this sense, His actions reveal a perfect confidence in the Father’s plan and purpose. He showed us the way and invited us to follow Him into the same hope-filled faith.

The Faith of God

(Genesis 1:26-28; Isaiah 46:9-10)

From the beginning, God exercised faith in the sense described by Hebrews 11:1. He was completely assured of what He purposed to accomplish and fully convinced that His plan would come to pass. Before creation itself unfolded, He declared the end from the beginning and established His purpose for humanity (Isaiah 46:9-10).

God’s purpose has always been to expand His family by bringing many sons and daughters to glory (Hebrews 2:10). He was certain that His plan would succeed and that His Word would not return void. This divine certainty is reflected in His works throughout history and is now shared with us through the faith that comes from hearing His Word.

A powerful example is found in the resurrection of Christ. The Father was fully assured that His power would raise His Son from the dead, fulfilling every promise He had spoken (Acts 2:24; Romans 6:4). This demonstrates God’s unwavering confidence in His own purpose and power. Before we ever existed, He had already determined that His promises would stand and that His redemptive plan would be fulfilled. Such confidence is the very foundation upon which our faith rests.

Conclusion The shield of faith is inseparably connected to hope and agape love. Hope looks forward to the promises of God, faith embraces those promises with certainty, and agape is the fruit produced as God’s Spirit works within us. Through hearing His Word, receiving His promises, and walking in His ways, we grow in faith and become established in hope. As this process unfolds, the love of God increasingly fills our hearts, directing us ever closer to Him. Therefore, faith, hope, and agape remain inseparable companions in the life of every believer, for “now abideth faith, hope, charity [agape love], these three; but the greatest of these is charity [agape love]” (1 Corinthians 13:13).       Kenneth Wayne Hancock [Having made it this far, you have been blessed by our Father. For He is the One who gave this to me five days ago. This is His letter to us all. I have been studying it for five days. I found out that the knowledge found here is a precious spiritual commodity. Don’t skip over it like a butterfly floating to the next flower. Go over this several times. Dig deep and you will put your house upon the Rock.]

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September 28, 2026 · 7:02 am

Sent to Speak His Words: The Mission of Christ in Us

Every movement of God begins with a sending.

The Father sends the Son. The Son sends His apostles. And now, in these last days, He sends His body—the church—to finish the testimony of His Kingdom. To understand our calling, we must first understand His sending, for no one can walk in apostolic power who has not first seen the pattern of the Father.

Thesis

Because the Father sent the Son into the world, and because the Son now lives in His body—the church—every true believer is likewise sent to speak the Father’s words, bear witness to the Son, and participate in His ongoing work of reconciliation.

The Father Sends the Son

The foundation of all mission begins with this: the Father sent (apostellō in the Greek) the Son. Christ did not come of Himself; He came as the Father’s emissary, carrying the Father’s words, the Father’s works, and the fullness of the Father’s Spirit. Scripture declares, “Yahweh was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,” meaning that the sending of the Son was the sending of God’s own presence into human flesh. When we believe that the Father truly sent the Son, we are positioned to understand our own sending, for the pattern of divine mission begins in Him and extends through His body. (2 Corinthians 5:19; John 3:17; John 20:21)

The Son Sends His Body

Because we believe the testimony of His resurrection, we are placed in the Son—made partakers of His life, His Spirit, and His mission. The church is not merely an assembly; it is the body of Christ, animated by His indwelling Spirit. Thus, the sending of the Son becomes the sending of His people. The prophet John the Baptist said, “He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” If Christ lives in us, then His sending becomes our sending, and His words become our words. We are not sent in our own strength but in His resurrection life, bearing witness to the truth as members of His body. (Galatians 2:20; John 3:34; Romans 10:9; John 20:21)

Purging the Old Leaven to Speak God’s Words

Yet a sobering question arises: If the one whom God sends speaks God’s words, what happens when believers speak error? Many claim to speak for God while teaching doctrines born of human tradition. This is why Paul commands us to “purge out the old leaven,” the leaven of insincerity, falsehood, and fleshly reasoning. The Father prunes every branch in the vine so that Christ—not the old man—may speak through us. Only a purified vessel can carry the words of God with accuracy. To be sent is not merely to go; it is to be cleansed, pruned, and filled with the Spirit so that Christ Himself may speak through His people. (1 Corinthians 5:7–8; John 15:1–5; John 3:34)

Sent to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel

Christ declared that He was “sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” If we are His body, then His mission becomes our mission. Yet few in the modern church understand what this means. The lost sheep are the ten lost tribes of ancient Israel. Who are they today? The mind of Christ is still thinking about them. And the Great Shepherd will find them and restore them in our day.  As Christ walked, so must we walk: sent to proclaim the Kingdom, sent to heal the brokenhearted, sent to preach deliverance to the captives, sent to open blind eyes. John the Baptist was sent to bear witness of the Light; Christ was sent to preach the Kingdom; and now His Spirit sends us to continue His work. (Matthew 15:24; Luke 4:18–19; Luke 4:43; John 1:6–7; John 10:16)

Apostolic Power Through Indwelling Presence

Apostolic sending is not a title—it is a manifestation of Christ walking in His people. When He walks in us, then we are apostles, not by office but by participation in His mission. The same Spirit that sent Christ now sends His body. When the Holy Spirit moves through us, His power is sent forth to reconcile, to heal, to proclaim, and to reveal the government of God. We are not sent to speak our own ideas but to speak the words of the One who lives within us. As the Father sent the Son, and as the Son sends His church, so the Spirit sends His power through yielded vessels who walk in resurrection life. (John 20:21–22; Acts 1:8; Luke 4:18; John 14:12)

Conclusion

The sending of God is a divine chain: the Father sends the Son, the Son sends His body, and the Spirit sends His power through those who believe. To walk in this sending, we must believe the testimony of His resurrection, purge the old leaven, and yield ourselves as vessels through whom Christ continues His work. We are sent to bear witness of the Light, sent to proclaim the Kingdom, sent to the lost sheep, and sent to speak the Father’s words with purity. The mission of Christ did not end at His ascension—it continues in His body. And as long as He lives in us, we are sent.

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August 19, 2026 · 10:06 am

The Joy of the Whole Earth: Psalm 48 and the New Jerusalem

The Mountain of God and the End Declared from the Beginning

Psalm 48 stands as one of Scripture’s luminous windows into the destiny of God’s children. It is a psalm where the earthly Zion becomes translucent, revealing the heavenly Zion behind it—the New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven. The psalmist sings of a city whose glory exceeds the boundaries of history, whose permanence defies the rise and fall of nations, and whose beauty anticipates the consummation of all things.

“Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.” (Ps. 48:1)

This is not merely a celebration of ancient Jerusalem. It is a prophetic declaration of the end from the beginning. The psalmist beholds Zion not only as she was, but as she shall be—established forever, radiant with divine presence, the joy of the whole earth.

The earthly city was the shadow; the heavenly city is the substance. Psalm 48 is the Spirit’s whisper of Revelation 21 long before John saw the city descending in glory.

II. Beautiful for Elevation: The Joy of the Whole Earth

The psalmist continues: “Beautiful for elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion… the city of the great King” (Ps. 48:2). No earthly Jerusalem has ever been the joy of the whole earth. But New Jerusalem is described precisely this way: “The nations of them which are saved shall walk in her light” (Rev. 21:24).

Psalm 48 lifts our eyes beyond geography to eschatology [having to do with the time of the end].  Zion’s “elevation” is not merely topographical—it is spiritual, eternal, and cosmic. It is the city where God dwells with humanity, where righteousness reigns, where the Lamb is the lamp, and where the redeemed abide forever. The psalmist sees what Abraham saw: a city whose builder and maker is God.

III. God Known in Her Palaces: The Manifest Presence

Psalm 48:3 declares: “God is known in her palaces as a refuge.” This anticipates the climactic promise of Revelation: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.” (Rev. 21:3) In the earthly Zion, God was known through temple rituals, sacrifices, and shadows. In the New Jerusalem, God is known face‑to‑face. His presence is not mediated through priests or altars; it is immediate, radiant, and abiding.

This is the fulfillment of the abiding promise:

  • “Abide in Me, and I in you.” (John 15:4)
  • “We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23)

Psalm 48 sings of a city where abiding becomes permanent, unbroken, and glorified.

IV. The Kings of the Earth and the Terror of Glory

Psalm 48:4–6 describes a mysterious scene: “The kings assembled… they saw it and were troubled… fear took hold upon them.” This is not merely historical memory. It is prophetic foreshadowing.

The kings of the earth will one day behold the unveiled glory of God’s city and tremble. Revelation 6 echoes this: “The kings of the earth… hid themselves… for the great day of His wrath is come.” Psalm 48 anticipates the final confrontation between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of our God. Zion stands immovable; the nations tremble. The city of abiding becomes the city of judgment, where divine righteousness is revealed and human pride collapses.

V. The Ships of Tarshish and the East Wind of Judgment

Psalm 48:7: “With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish.” Tarshish represents the farthest reaches of human commerce, strength, and ambition. The east wind symbolizes divine intervention—swift, sovereign, irresistible.

In the eschatological vision, all human systems that exalt themselves against God are shattered. The New Jerusalem is not built by human hands; it is established by divine decree. The psalmist sees the collapse of earthly power before the rising of heavenly glory.

VI. “God Will Establish Her Forever”: Eternal Zion

Psalm 48:8 proclaims: “God will establish her forever.” Earthly Jerusalem has been destroyed, rebuilt, besieged, and divided. Only the New Jerusalem fits the description of a city established forever.

Revelation 21:2: “The holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” Psalm 48 is not nostalgia; it is prophecy. It is the Spirit’s assurance that the dwelling place of God will one day be unshakable, eternal, and filled with His abiding presence.

VII. Walking About Zion: The Pilgrimage of the Redeemed

Psalm 48:12–13 invites: “Walk about Zion… consider her towers… tell it to the generation following.” This is not mere sightseeing. It is covenantal inheritance. In the New Jerusalem, the redeemed will walk its streets, behold its foundations, marvel at its gates, and drink from its river. They will see the architecture of salvation, the geometry of grace, the symmetry of divine wisdom. The psalmist’s invitation is eschatological: Come, behold the city prepared for the abiding ones.

VIII. “He Will Guide Us Over Death”: The Promise of Resurrection

Psalm 48 concludes: “For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will guide us over death.”

The Hebrew phrase for “over death” carries the sense of being led through death or beyond death. It is resurrection language. The God of Zion is the God who leads His people through the valley of the shadow into the light of eternal life. The New Jerusalem is the city where death is abolished: “There shall be no more death.” (Rev. 21:4) Psalm 48 ends with resurrection hope—just as Revelation ends with resurrection reality.

IX. Zion and the Theology of Abiding

Psalm 48 is not merely about a city; it is about a people in whom God dwells. Zion is the eschatological expression of abiding. It is the consummation of John 15, the fulfillment of John 14:23, and the eternal realization of Emmanuel—God with us.

In Zion:

  • Abiding becomes permanent.
  • Presence becomes visible.
  • Judgment becomes righteous.
  • Pilgrimage becomes inheritance.
  • Death becomes passage.
  • God becomes all in all.

Psalm 48 is the song of the abiding ones, the anthem of the redeemed, the prophecy of the city where God and humanity dwell together forever.

X. Conclusion: The City of Our God, Forever and Ever

Psalm 48 is a glimpse into the future of the people of God. It is a prophetic vision of the New Jerusalem, the city of abiding, the joy of the whole earth. It declares the end from the beginning, revealing the destiny of those who dwell in God and in whom God dwells.

This is our God. This is our city. This is our inheritance. This is abiding, consummated and glorified. kwh

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June 4, 2026 · 3:24 pm

When Sheep Become Shepherds: The Mystery of Christ in Us

Most people assume they can recognize God when He speaks. Christ says otherwise. According to Him, only His true sheep—those born of His Spirit—can hear His voice, discern truth from deception, and follow Him into the life of the Kingdom. Everyone else, no matter how religious, remains deaf to the Shepherd standing right in front of them.

John 10 reveals that Christ’s sheep are those chosen by the Father, born of His Spirit, who enter the Kingdom through Christ the Door and become vessels through whom the Shepherd Himself continues His work.

The Sheep Who Hear the Shepherd

The Pharisees stood before Christ with His miracles blazing in their sight, yet they could not believe. The works of God were happening through the Son of God, but spiritual blindness kept them from seeing Yahweh walking among them. Christ explained the reason for their unbelief: “You believe not, because you are not of My sheep.” His sheep hear His voice; they recognize the Spirit speaking through the Son.

Christ promises these sheep eternal life, and He declares that no one can pluck them from His hand or the Father’s hand—because the Father’s hand and the Son’s hand are one. The invisible Spirit works through the visible Son. “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30).

The Parable of the Sheep and the Shepherd

John tells us that Christ spoke these things as a parable (John 10:6). A parable is a “dark saying”—a truth deliberately veiled so that only those appointed to receive it can understand. As Christ said elsewhere, “Unto them who are without, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand.” The parables reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 13:11). So what mystery lies hidden in this parable?

Christ’s sheep are those whom the Father has chosen and given to Him. These elect ones will not follow the voice of strangers. They will not be deceived by the false teachings of churchianity. They know the Shepherd’s voice because His Spirit lives in them.

Entering the Sheepfold: Entering the Kingdom

Christ begins the parable with a mystery: “He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold… is a thief and a robber.” The sheepfold represents the realm of God’s Kingdom. John has already told us that “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Entering the sheepfold and entering the Kingdom are the same spiritual reality.

Christ then declares, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” No one enters the Kingdom except through the Door—Christ Himself.

But then comes the hidden truth most readers miss.

The Hidden Mystery: Those Who Enter Become Shepherds

Christ says, “He that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” We usually apply this only to Christ, the Good Shepherd. But the parable reveals more. Those who enter through the Door—those born of His Spirit—are not merely sheep. They become shepherds under the authority of the Good Shepherd.

Why? Because the One who shepherds is Christ in us.

Paul declares, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” The Shepherd lives in His sons and daughters. The Spirit of the Anointed One guides them, speaks through them, and tends the flock through them. Christ is the Shepherd—through His body.

Thus the mystery unfolds: Christ the Shepherd forms a body of shepherds. His Spirit in them continues His work of tending the flock of Israel. This is the destiny of the elect: not merely to be sheep who hear, but to become vessels through whom the Shepherd Himself leads His people.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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February 21, 2026 · 11:48 am

The Heart and Mind Made New: A Conversation with the Seer”

The little country church was already warm with song when the pastor motioned the Seer forward. He never asked for the microphone, but somehow it always found its way into his hands. He stood there—calm, steady, joyful eyes bright with that inward fire—and began as he always did, with the simple truth.

“Brethren,” he said, “we are gathered here today to hear again what our Father calls sin, and how He has provided the only way to be rid of it. This knowledge is the foundation of our faith. It is the doorway into the house of righteousness.”

He paused, letting the room settle. “The mind,” he continued, “is our boon or our bust. Victory or defeat—it all begins there. But the mind cannot stand on a sure foundation until the heart is made right with its Maker.” He opened his Bible and let the pages fall where they wished.

“Mankind is born into a spiritual condition that naturally breaks the Ten Commandments. People lie, cheat, steal, covet, commit adultery, and place a thousand things above their Creator. That is the human condition. And our Father calls it sin (I John 3:4). But now He is calling all men everywhere to repent of that old nature. And He has provided the way.

Long ago He promised us a new heart. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD [YAHWEH]. “I will put my law in their minds. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The Seer lifted his eyes. “The Father poured Himself—He who is Spirit—into a chosen vessel. In English we say Jesus Christ, but His Hebrew name is Yahshua. That Man from Galilee carried our sins in His own body. He died, was buried, and rose again after three days and three nights. But here is what most churches never teach: we sinners must place our old spiritual heart, our old sinful nature, upon the cross with Him. Not symbolically. Not poetically. But in a revelatory spiritual act.”

He tapped the pulpit lightly. “We must let the old nature die with Christ, be buried with Him, and then—by faith in the operation of God who raised Him from the dead—we too may walk in newness of life, never to sin again (Romans 6:1–6; Col. 2:11–13; I John 3:9). All we must do is believe that He was raised. For believing in His resurrection opens the door to believing in our own resurrection.”

He closed the Bible gently. “Paul explains it plainly: ‘Being made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness’ (Rom. 6:18). And the Master Himself said, ‘Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin… and no man can serve two masters’ (John 8:34; Matthew 6:24).”

That was the heart of his message that morning.

Later, back at the mission, we met briefly for a bit of questions and answers. I finally asked him about what had been stirring in me all morning.

“You mean,” I said, “a person can change so much that they won’t do the bad things they’ve always done?”

He nodded. “Exactly. It is possible. ‘For with God all things are possible… all things are possible to him that believes.’”

“But the preachers,” I said, “they teach the opposite. They say as long as you live, you’ll sin.”

The Seer sighed—not in frustration, but in sorrow. “I know what they teach. But they are confused from the start. They have never narrowed down in their minds what sin is. They do not see that sin is the breaking of the Ten Commandments. They do not see that the old Adamic nature is the engine that produces sin. And they do not see that God has provided the way out. But that way costs us our old life.”

“That’s why people don’t want this message,” I said. “They know they’ll have to change.”

“Exactly,” he replied. “A classic case of wanting one’s cake and eating it too. Scripture plainly states that the Savior destroyed the works of the devil—which is sin (I John 3:8).”

I leaned forward. “Where on earth is sin destroyed?”

The Seer paused, letting the weight of the question settle. “There is only one place on earth where sin is destroyed,” he said softly. “In the heart of God’s sons and daughters. When His offspring believe this astounding truth, and think on it, and fill their minds with His word about it, then they begin to put on the armor of God. This prepares them for the spiritual battle that will come. When our new heart breathes the Spirit into our mind, then the battle is fought, and the victory is won. In God’s mind, it has already happened!”     Kenneth Wayne Hancock, fulltime missionary, 1971-1985

[What is your experience with the cross? Share your testimony in the “Comment” section]

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July 11, 2025 · 3:05 pm

The Longing That Leads to Love—and the King Who Calls

Humanity’s endless quest for love is no accident. Beneath every poem, song, and search for human connection lies a deeper yearning—for God Himself. For “God is love” (I John 4:16). We seek echoes of Him in others, because we were made in His image, wired to respond to His divine presence. The search ends when He is found.

The Hebrew prophets and apostles testified of this love. The Son of God didn’t merely speak of it—He lived it out. By laying down His life for His friends, He offered the greatest love known to mankind (John 15:13). But the Cross was not the end. It was the invitation. For those who believe, Christ calls us to present our lives as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1)—not as martyrs for heaven’s reward, but as vessels of love to a love-starved world.

Dying to Self, Rising in Love

To walk as He walked begins at Calvary. Spiritually joining Him on the cross means our old nature dies with Him: “He that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:7). This rebirth isn’t mere symbolism. It’s a transformation—freedom from the selfish life, entering into resurrection power fueled by agape love. Believing we are buried and raised with Him enables us to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4–5).

Yet many falter. Not because His power is lacking, but because corrupted doctrines and traditions stunt growth. Like children fed on spiritual junk food, many resist the sincere truth of the Word. They cling to old wine, declaring it better—unwilling to taste the new, pure doctrine (Luke 5:39).

The Overcomers…and the Tragedy of the Refusers

Thankfully, some will awaken. God has called a remnant, foreknown and chosen to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). They’ll answer the high calling, decreasing so Christ can increase within them, becoming the vessels through which divine love touches all people.

But not everyone will respond. Scripture warns of those who recoil from the truth, buried in comfort, traditions, or fear. Consider the five foolish virgins—shut out from the wedding feast, unprepared for the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1–13). Or the servant who hid his talent in the ground, scolded as “slothful and unprofitable” by the returning Master (Matthew 25:26). These are not mere metaphors; they are solemn realities.

Those who reject the call to spiritual growth will not mature into love. They will not reign. They will remain infants—content, perhaps, but barren of the fruit that restores righteousness to a broken world. What Christ seeks is a people who will reflect Him fully, expressing divine love that heals, redeems, and incarnates God once again on earth.

Answering the Highest Call

We are living in the days of the latter rain—His Spirit is being poured out. Will we remain near the nursery, or rise to sit with Him on His throne? (Revelation 3:21). Agape love is the bond of perfectness, the final attribute that completes us in Christ. Those who cultivate it will reign. Those who resist it, according to scripture, will be left behind—not out of spite, but because they rejected the very path that leads to transformation.

I believe that we will grow to be His sons and daughters, His lights shining into the deepest, darkest dungeons of the earth: To “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” [Think spiritually. Isaiah 61:1].

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March 3, 2025 · 5:47 pm

You Are Nothing, and You Will Be Happy

Here’s some gospel good news for you: You are nothing. Not just you. Me, too. I received this stupefying information from the apostle Paul, who wrote, “He who plants is nothing and he who waters is nothing, but it is God who gives the increase” (I Cor. 3:7).

If you are sowing the word, spreading the good news of Christ, you are still nothing. If you are not sowing the word of truth out into the good earth, you are still nothing. If you are watering the seed, the word of God, then you are still nothing. There is no place for one’s vaunted pride in the Master’s Regiment.

And he who waters what is planted, he who teaches and expounds on the spiritual truths that have been planted—he is nothing (I Cor. 3:6).

A few people reading this will notice a bit of bile rising in their craw when first being taught about our common spiritual state of nothingness. I call it the “good nothingness,” the nothingness born of truth and nurtured in love. Not the “bad nothingness,” that despondent nihilism, that dark and desperate and hopeless nothingness.

Conversely, the good nothingness is liberating. We are free to dance between the fingers of God, egoless, unconscious of those standing in selfish little pools of hubris, standing there judging the dancing David. For he danced knowing that he was nothing, and his father Yahweh was Everything.

For the Great Something is He who “gives the increase” in this life. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). He has called and chosen you and me to sow His word. We sow His seed/word, knowing that it is the power of his resurrection that causes the seeds we plant to spring to life.

If we are “in the picture,” and we think that we are something, when we are nothing, we deceive ourselves (Gal. 6:3). At best, we are a warm vapor distilling into the “voice of one crying in the wilderness.” And that voice plants and waters the seed, but it is that great, stupendous, and radiantly shining Everything, that shows us the way.

Being nothing begins at the cross. It is the beginning of our new spiritual life, and it is the ending of the old selfish life. We are nothing. After all, it is a “good nothingness” that brings happiness. There is no reputation to uphold, no sword of honor to fall on, no luxuriating in the “wonderfulness of ourselves.”

Rather, we are to have the mind of Christ. Though His destiny was to sit on the throne of the universe, He “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7). He did say to his disciples, “Let the greatest among you be servant of all.”

[Let’s all say it together out loud: “I am nothing. He is Everything.” Now, that wasn’t so bad. I bet you’re smiling right now. See, I told you that you would be happy…]

With agape— Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 27, 2025 · 2:13 pm

Heart Preparation for the Abiding of His Spirit

The book I’m working on, The Abiding, will explain to the reader how the great Spirit, our Creator and Savior, will come and live in us—fully, like in the apostles of old. That is the main theme of the book.

But many Christians will say, “We don’t need to study out all these things; we just need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is raise our voices loudly enough with song and praise. We believe that He will hear our cries and answer us with His slaying power. That’s how the disciples did it.”

Not so fast. The disciples had much more preparation than any of us. The Savior taught and walked with them before their experience at Pentecost. They were with Him forty days after the resurrection. Not to mention the 3 1/2 years that they walked with him before the crucifixion. It wasn’t like twelve men wandered up into an upper room and began to pray and—boom!—they’re all filled with God’s Spirit. With no study? Please.

There was much preparation before their experience. The disciples had studied the Word up close and personal. They were taught daily by the Anointed One. They didn’t fully understand His plan and purpose until they were filled with the Holy Spirit and fire. But they studied the Scriptures and the living, spoken words of Christ, who is the “Word made flesh.”

What Christ Taught Them

And what did Christ teach the disciples during the forty days after the resurrection? He spoke of “the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). That’s what the disciples were doing after the resurrection. Christ was teaching them “the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 13:11). Before they gathered in the upper room, before they were “filled with the Holy Ghost,” before they began “to speak with other languages” to those devout Jews who had come to the feast from at least fourteen countries. They all heard the Spirit speak their languages, through the apostles. It was not “unknown” languages. The Spirit was speaking through them in known, living everyday languages (Acts 2:4-12).

Christ’s lambs and sheep earnestly desire the true experience of the Spirit filling their vessels, but all of us must get our ducks in a row first. We must get an answer to this question: What are these “things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” that Christ, the resurrected Savior, was teaching them? If Christ appeared to us tonight in a vision and asked us, “What are these ‘things’ pertaining to my Kingdom?” How would we answer Him?

Christ was teaching them things about spiritual growth.

Christ speaks no idle words. Christ was teaching “things” to his disciples, as the Spirit of truth directed. It seems like a divine mystery, right? But it shouldn’t be. The disciples wrote down the “things” for us, that Christ had spoken to them about.

I submit to you that these “things” are lessons on how we are to grow spiritually. This gets us ready to be “filled with the Holy Spirit,” like the early apostles experienced.

These “things” are about how we are to go through God’s spiritual life cycle of growth. The parables of Christ teach us about growing from a babe in Christ to apostleship. In the “Parable of the Cast Seed,” the man sows; the seed comes up and grows. “First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mark 4: 26-29). Spiritual growth is also when he likens the Kingdom of God to a grain of mustard seed and how it grows and matures (4:30-32).

“And when they were alone, he expounded all things to His disciples” (4:34). Christ spoke to them “of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” He explained it to them.

And then there is the Parable of the Sower, who sowed the seed, the word, into four different soils. The birds ate up the seed that fell by the wayside. Some seed fell on stony ground and was scorched by the sun. And some seed fell into thorns and was choked out. But some “fell on good ground, and did yield fruit…some thirty, and some sixty, and some one hundred” (Mark 4:3-8).

This great parable is all about spiritual growth. It is so important to understand, for it unlocks the rest of the parables (4:13). Christ explains the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:14-20. It is all about growing and bearing fruit.

The Spirit is expounding to us His word about how He grows in us. In retrospect, nearly everything published on this site is a connecting dot concerning spiritual growth, from the sprouting of the seed, the word of God, in our hearts to the harvest of that seed.

The last phase of God’s growth in our vessels is what The Abiding is all about. It is about the “things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” The complete abiding will come as we do the new commandments, and add to the faith, and put on the armor of God, and continue in the Apostles’ Doctrine.

Christ’s teachings on the Kingdom of God are lessons on spiritual growth, guiding believers from spiritual infancy to apostleship. Parables like “The Cast Seed” and “The Sower” explain sowing God’s word and nurturing it to yield spiritual fruit. Embracing these teachings allows God’s Spirit to flourish within us, helping us partake of the divine nature.

{Subscribe, share, comment, like. May Christ bless you with His thoughts}

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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March 17, 2024 · 11:30 am

The Ebb and Flow of the Abiding

I have noticed that there is an ebb and flow of the Spirit’s presence in my life. I say this not as a criticism of our merciful Savior, for He does all things well.

But I have observed that after a wonderful welling up of His presence within me, His Spirit subsides. Of course, it is I that backs out of the light that He shines. The rays of understanding engulf me, and then, I must back away a bit. I realize that it is “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.”

It is as if this old wine skin of my mind and body cannot stand the constant pressure of the new wine, so I recede a bit. It’s like being in the heavenlies for a while, and then needing to return to the earth’s atmosphere where I may breathe again the accustomed mixture of gases suitable for my current mortal tabernacle. I ponder this ebb and flow of His Spirit, or rather, my drifting away from His rarefied heavenly atmosphere.

I recall passages of scriptures describing what happens to his children who abide in him and not ebb and flow, but rather stay in him.

Our Savior said much about the abiding that we are to maintain. He believes that it is possible and necessary for us to have His Spirit remain, stay, dwell, and continue in our vessels.

Oh, how we need our new spiritual bodies that He has promised us! He knows our frailties, our weaknesses, and our faults. But He has promised us that He would raise us up at the end of this earth age. If we are alive upon His return, He will change us, as “mortality is swallowed up” by  our new spiritual body. If we expire before He returns, He will change us when He sweeps down to earth. We are coming back with Him, our Captain and leader. The ebb and flow will be no more, for we will be full of His Spirit. A glorious time is coming. Now we must wait until our time. “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come” (Job 14:14).     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

(From a Journal entry, 3-29-19)

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February 26, 2024 · 9:26 am

From Death to Everlasting Life—From Earthly Bodies to Heavenly Bodies

(from Kenneth Wayne Hancock, Journal entry, 9-20-21)

Mankind’s trouble is traced from his realization that the earthly body that he walks around in will one day die. It is dissolving even now in a slow march to the grave. Ashes are its destiny. Unless he is a child or a fool, man knows that his body will melt back into the earth.

Our “days are consumed, like smoke” (Psalm 102:3). When the dawn of death’s reality shrouds are minds, we groan under its weight. For we know that in a few short years our earthly body will succumb to our Creator’s will. For He has subjected all humans to the “bondage of corruption (decay unto death)” in hope that we will see the futility of living only for ourselves in this earthly life (Rom. 8:20-23).

The aging visage we see in our mirror is a witness to these things. But then we see Him! High and lifted up, waiting for the few, the remnant, the first fruits to realize the Answer to all their trepidations.

In Adam, all will wither and fade to dust and ash, but “You, Yahweh, shall endure forever” (Psalm 102:12). And because of your great mercy, You see our plight of impending doom, and you reach down and help us live.

“Yahweh looked down from His sanctuary on high; from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.” And why does He save us? “So the name of Yahweh will be declared in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship Yahweh” (102:19-22).  

But now the whole of creation groans with us, waiting for “the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:19). We all wait for the unveiling of the sons and daughters of God. This body of humans will have received their new, spiritual bodies, like the body that the Son of God resides in now. That kind of spiritual body is an everlasting body.

These 100-fold fruit bearing followers of the Lamb will come on the scene at the appointed time of the end. God’s Spirit through them will govern the earth. God will “restore all things” that He prophesied through His prophets. He will establish his kingdom and all peoples and nations will praise his name. But now, He humbles us as we learn that only He will endure. The heavens and the earth “shall perish, but You shall endure” (Psm. 102: 26-27). As we await the appointed time when our earthly body will be “swallowed up” with our new celestial body, we have joy knowing that He will deliver. This vision is the “law [the instruction] and the testimony,” which is “the spirit of prophecy” (Isa. 8:20; Rev. 19:10).   Kenneth Wayne Hancock 

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