Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

October 24, 2008 · 10:13 pm

The Kingdom of God–Not a Worn Out Phrase

    The phrase “kingdom of God” has been used so much by so many people from so many different religious backgrounds that its real meaning may have been lost.  Heretofore, most  have understood the phrase to mean “God’s kingdom,” or the kingdom that belongs to Him.  And this is true, it does belong to Him and His children.  However, there is another way to look at that phrase, and that is “the kingdom of the Spirit.”

    It says in John 4 that “God is Spirit.”  Therefore, “kingdom of God” can be construed as “kingdom of Spirit.”  Or, in other words, it means a form of order and government headed by a Sovereign entity that is comprised of Spirit.  The Master did say that “the flesh profits nothing; it is the spirit that makes alive.”  “All is vanity,” in other words, except the invisible spiritual things.

     We are admonished that we should seek first this invisible spirit kingdom.  Also, the only true worship of the Father is in spirit and in truth.  It is not any old spirit worship, but it must be spiritual and truthful. It won’t be anything remotely having to do with earthly natural things.

     True worship is an invisible connection between our spirit in the human heart and the Eternal Creator Spirit.  It is the connection you cannot see.  You cannot legislate it, tax it, build fine buildings in order to coax true worship into your midst.  It is an invisible agreement between the Creator and His special spiritual creation, Adam.  “The true worshippers must worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”  They must find out the truth about His invisible Spirit reign within, for “the kingdom of God (Spirit) is within you.”

      It is a realm of the heart, an inner sanctum full of true thoughts about the true nature of things.  “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”  You can’t see it with your fleshly eyes.  It is not of this earth.  Consequently, when we look out over this earth, anything we see, be it ever so religious, cannot be or have anything to do with the kingdom of Spirit (God).

      “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.”  The kingdom of God is a dimension and realm that our five senses don’t pick up on.  It is not of this earth.  It must first be believed on, and then it will begin to manifest itself to the understanding of our hearts.  We will never see it first with our earthly eyes and then believe.  Faith must be exercised—believing having not yet seen with the fleshly eyes.  The kingdom of God is a government of God, who is Spirit, and who rules in our hearts by His very essence, which is spirit.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock        {For more on this topic see this earlier article  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/not-of-this-earth/ and the one dated 3/17/08 }             

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

    

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

    

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

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September 15, 2008 · 4:39 pm

“Baptized into His Death” Frees Us from Sin–The Doctrine of Baptisms

The early apostles’ taught their third doctrine–the “doctrine of baptisms” with an “s.”  For there are several baptisms in the Christian walk–not just the one with water.

The first baptism mentioned was John the Baptist’s “baptism unto repentance.”  He encouraged the people to repent of their sins, be baptized in water, thus pointing them to the Lamb of God, who would soon become the Sacrifice for all men’s sins.  “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I…he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Mt. 3:11).  Here we have three baptisms in one verse.

The baptism in water is symbolic of the death of our old sinful heart (see post on this at https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/baptismempty-ritual-or-symbol-of-death-of-self/ ).  Paul taught that it was symbolic of being immersed into Christ’s death.  “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6: 3).

Just How Are We Immersed into Christ’s Death?

     Just before Christ died, this perfectly sinless man took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future.  Sin was transferred onto this sin offering, and He died with all our sins upon Him.  Consequently, when He died, my old self died.  When He died that day, our old selfish egos died.

When He was literally buried in the tomb, our old lives were buried.  Gone.  Over with.  And when He rose from the dead, we rose from the deadness of our sinful existence, into a brand new wonderful life, energized with God’s Spirit now within (for more on this, see “Introduction” of my book The Unveiling of the Sons of God  found at the top of this page).  All this has already been done for us by God.  We have to only believe it when we read it in Romans 6: 3-7 :

     “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.  Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

     We are now free from sin–if we really believe it.  Free!  We are no longer slaves to the pulls, urges, and demands of that old spiritual nature that held us in bondage to do sinful acts!  I’m talking about revolutionary freedom here!  We were dead to sin, but now we live unto God by faith in the Spirit that He has given us.

     Water baptism is just the symbol of this immersion into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  Believing and walking in this truth is the reality.  But God has promised his sons and daughters more and greater baptisms–the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire, which takes us into the very presence of God’s transformative power.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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August 7, 2008 · 11:54 am

“Thine Is the Kingdom, Power, Glory”–Surrendering to God

     It is all His, and we’ll surrender to Him when we believe it.  Because in the end, it will be all Him.  It is the Father’s kingdom rule that will hold sway to the furthest speck of the universe. 

     His power will permit what He desires and will permeate the will of mankind.  He will share His glory with the humble, with those who have abdicated and renounced themselves unworthy to rule their own lives, and have surrendered to His majesty for ever.

     Here lies a paradox.  There is nothing in the plan of God for us humans, and yet, if we surrender to Him, we inherit all things!  How can this be?

     Christ is teaching us His disciples in this closing line of the blueprint prayer to realize that it is all about the Father.  In the end, after our fitful demands and childish schemes, all of us humans will fall into one of two categories: vessels surrendered to Him or unsurrendered to Him.

     “Surrender” implies a fight that has taken place.  We see in the natural a little child throwing a fit, fighting the will of his parents.  It is his will versus his parents’ will.  And so it is spiritually with us adults.  We have our own will initially that fights against God’s will for our lives.  And His will is for us to see that His way is best and surrender to it.

     For He, of course, already knows “the end from the beginning,” and in the end, it will be all Christ.  The Spirit of Christ will be all, and will fill all (Colossians 3:11). 

     When we surrender to Him, we receive His Spirit into our hearts (“that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”–Ephesians 3:17).  He begins to make His abode in us; He takes up residence in our hearts, and His Spirit in us grows as we water the Seed through study and prayer.  He actually fills us with His goodness.

     He in His surrendered vessels is how He multiplies Himself.  This is the role that we His followers play.  For we become more than just followers.  We become His dwelling place, His temple, His body.

     The “Father of glory” glorified Christ, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15).  The Father unleashed His power and glory to be channeled through Christ.  And He has opened it up to the likes of us.  To us, who were so far removed morally from His purity, has He provided a way “to partake of His divine nature” (II Peter 1:4). 

     If we surrender to Him.  And those who do will become His body, His very dwelling place, which is “the fulness of Him that fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23).  Full of His power, full of His glory, and full of His regal aspect.  Wow.  That is all I can say right now.   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).

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July 12, 2008 · 5:12 pm

“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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April 10, 2008 · 4:57 pm

“All Is Vanity” Without the Holy Spirit

     Without God’s Spirit dwelling within us, we are only a member of the walking dead who spend a few nightly whispers with loved ones and then bury our dead and wait to be buried in turn.   

     Without the Spirit of God that makes alive whatever it touches and lives in, we are just as good as dead.  Without His Spirit, we walk around breathing borrowed air into the lungs of an incredibly delicate and fragile shell.  And our  shell  will in a few moments, comparatively speaking, go back to dust from where it came, and our brief stint at self-glory here on earth will not be  remembered anymore.  Every thing that man says and does without the Spirit of God is vain and of no profit in the final analysis.

     But, if we ask Him, He will grant us a portion, an earnest, a down payment of His Spirit.  And that Spirit will come into us to replace that old heart and spirit, and it will grow like a tiny seed in a large garden, and we will come alive.  We must water it with our prayers and feed it with our study.  And that little portion of His Spirit will grow up into a full-fledged son or daughter of the King.  And we, the sons and daughters of God, will someday be transformed in a twinkling of an eye, and we “will be changed” when immortality will come down out of heaven to swallow up our shell that can die.

     Without His Spirit, we are the walking dead doomed to dust, unremembered, in the tombs of time.  But with His Spirit dwelling within us, we are destined to be His sons and daughters, sitting with Him on His throne–immortals whose legacy is neverending.              Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{If this has been helpful to you, please leave a comment and/or pass it on to someone who would appreciate it}

 

 

    

    

 

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March 31, 2008 · 5:38 pm

Is Christ Divided?

     There’s something like 2600 flavors of Christendom at last count.  This fact points us to a biblical question: “Is Christ divided?” I heard last week, “Well, the black church says things on Sunday from the pulpit that the white church don’t say.”

     Is this what we’ve come to–an “us” and “them” mentality?  (Just insert your affliliation for “us” and another’s denomination for “them.”)  And it is not just a black and white thing; the problem is spiritual, and it is 2,000 years old.  For since the days of the early church, the apostles have been addressing the problem.

     For true followers of Christ, it is not “us” and “them.”  It is Him.  It is God, the one Spirit, dwelling in His one spiritual body of believers.  Anything else is division, and that is not of God, according to the apostles.

     Like a physical body has hands and feet and eyes among its many members, so also does the spiritual body of Christ.  “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body…and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (I Cor. 12:13).  We have been immersed into His death when our old spirit (heart) has died and through His resurrection (and our belief in it), we have received a new spirit, a new heart, whereby He has given us of His Spirit (Romans 6:3-11). 

     Because of this stupendous transformation, we should now look at each other as members of His spiritual body, members one of another, members of Him, for His Spirit now flows through His followers.  We all should care for each other and respect each other as we look on each other after the Spirit, in accordance with the way our Father looks at us.  For it is He that has “set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him” (I Cor. 12:18).  We are to honor each other “that there should be no schism (division) in the body of Christ (v. 25), “till Christ be formed in you.” 

     And in this spiritual body, some members will be used to teach and help others see what the Head sees.  Hey, if I’m a foot way down here, and you are an eye in Christ’s body, hey, man, could you tell me what you’re seeing up there?  Could you help a brother out?  And then the eye shares with the foot, and then the foot walks on helping the rest of the body get done what God wants done. 

     “Come on, people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together try to love one another right now.”  A good line that even The Youngbloods had back in the day.  And this sentiment needs to be embraced by Christ’s followers and applied.  But it won’t be by our might, will, or power, “but by My Spirit, saith the LORD.”

      Is Christ divided?  No.  Christ and those with His Spirit aren’t divided.

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March 25, 2008 · 2:55 pm

“Fruit of the Spirit” : Why the Love Stops Flowing

     We’re spiritually going great.  The love, joy, and peace, “the fruit of the Spirit,” is flowing down and through us on out to others.  After a great day we get some sleep, wake up the next morning, and then–the blahs hit us.  Other thoughts begin to enter into our mind about worldly pursuits, obligations, responsibilities, money matters, and before we know it, we are sitting there wondering, “What happened to me?”

     We think, “I thought His presence would last forever.  I don’t feel too loving and kind right now, and I don’t like it.”  At this point, we need to realize that the Love-from-above stops flowing down and through us because we simply run out of the Holy Spirit.

     To illustrate this point we look to the Old Testament Tabernacle, which is a type of our spiritual experience today.  Inside the Tabernacle there was among other furniture a golden lampstand (candlestick).  The Levitcal priests were responsible for refilling the olive oil so that the light would not go out.  They literally went to a barrel of olive oil daily and brought enough to fill up the lamps on the lampstand.

     What’s that got to do with us?  Those priests are a type and shadow of us, the sons and daughters of God in this era who have the Spirit of Christ.  We are “a royal priesthood” according to the apostle Peter.  The olive oil is universally accepted to be a type of God’s Spirit.  The light from the lampstand’s burning oil is a type of the love, joy, and peace that our bodies exude when the Spirit is flowing in us. 

     The point:  The Love-from-above can stop flowing through us if we do not go and get more oil (Holy Spirit) to supply our vessels.  We must pray and ask God for more of His Spirit to come down and into us so that we can continue to channel His love to others.  He wants us to have His Spirit, but we His children must request it.  He has promised to give us His Spirit when we want it to give to others. 

     The Love-from-above can stop flowing at times, but we only need to ask Him for more of His Spirit to get it started again.  If a hungry little child asks us for some jelly and bread, are we not going to to give it to him?  How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?  Luke 11:13                         Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{If this has been helpful please make a comment and/or pass it on to a friend}

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January 26, 2008 · 6:04 pm

Sons of God, Daughters of God–His Princes and Princesses

     We who have been born from above have become the “children of God” or the sons and daughters of God.  For we “have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).  And we know that our Father is the “King of glory.”  And we know that the sons and daughters of a king are princes and princesses. 

     We, then, as His children, are the princes and princesses of the Kingdom of God.  This is how God looks at us!  And so now we should look at each other with the love and respect given to an heir to the throne of the King.  In fact, this is our major responsibility as children of the King–to “let the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” that dwells within us.

     Look–the most practical way that God has of loving humankind on an everyday basis is through us, His princes and princesses.  If we are truly His children, then we will put away all of the selfish pettiness and start loving each other.  And if we have a tough day where the love is stopped up and can’t get flowing, we’ll call on Him and ask Him to melt our hearts and get that love from above flowing again.

     His princes and princesses will lead out by example.  They will exemplify their Father’s personality traits.  They will be faithful ambassadors of Him, showing the world the Love that God is.  They will stride forth matter-of-factly, shining forth as “lights in the midst of the selfish darkness. 

     And those that sit in darkness will look up from the mundane mire and see this light shining into their dark world of no-love.  They will see and hear and feel this light of love-from-above, and they at first will not comprehend it.  But as we keep shining, eventually they will awaken out of the night-slumber and will seek the light of love themselves.

     This is our calling.  He has chosen us for this.  It is His vision for our life here on this earth.  For really, we are his hands and feet; we are his arms and his legs; we are His body here on earth, and He is our head.  And we are beginning to know His mind, His will, and His wishes.  And we are in His mind, for He sees us as His princes and princesses!                                                           Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{If you have a moment, please make a comment below if this article was helpful}

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