RSS

Tag Archives: grace

Are You Positioned for the Anointing? #anointing

20 Nov

OilWhen all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.  And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21-22

In the past, I have posted about the anointing of God upon our lives.  We receive God’s anointing when we are chosen by God for a specific task.  We’re then anointed to complete it.

What we see from Scripture is that the Spirit follows the anointing.  At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in power.  That was His anointing for ministry.

At the same time there was a voice from heaven (The Father) confirming this calling.  My question is; how did He get to this point?  The answer will help me in my walk with God.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Luke 2:52

Wisdom is the application of what you’ve learned.  Stature speaks of physical growth.  The word favor is the grace of God.  These are very important points for us to learn.

Have you ever thought about it in these terms before?  Jesus had to grow in grace.  But the key word is grew.  That Greek word literally means to drive forward as if by beating.

Jesus was driven to grow in grace and wisdom.  Of course He did have an advantage over us.  He was perfect and He had a photographic memory.  The Lord only had to hear the Scripture once and He remembered it.

The key is that when He heard Scripture He was driven to enter into the grace of it.  This should be the same for us.

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.  Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
1 Timothy 4:14-15

Paul tells Timothy, a young pastor, to be diligent and give himself totally the callings that were placed upon his life.  Paul explains to Timothy the reason for this.  It literally says, so that your driving forward may be a light to all.

We must drive ourselves to secure the anointing.  To walk in our callings will take drive and determination.  It will not just happen by accident.  It’s a spiritual battle.  But, through the power of God, we will be victorious.

Question: What does it mean to drive yourself forward in grace?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 20, 2013 in Anointing

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spiritual Power – The Holy Spirit versus the Law

25 Mar

PowerI’ve been posting about the two different sources of spiritual power – the Holy Spirit and the law.  Remember, it’s the law that powers sin.  There are some important differences between the law and the Holy Spirit.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

Literally, this verse says God is powerful enough to do everything you need according to His grace.  In all things, at all times – this means that the power of the Holy Spirit is permanent, whereas the law is temporary.

If I base my walk on how well I follow the law, I’ll soon be in big trouble.  Everything is fine while I’m at church, especially if I just went to the altar and repented.  I go on my way feeling strong spiritually.

Then it happens, on my way to the car I get into an argument.  It all goes downhill from there.  Now Satan has a base for accusation again and I can feel my power dwindling.

On the other hand, I can base my spiritual walk on the Holy Spirit within me.  I know that He’s always there.  I can run to Him in all things, at all times, and I know that He’s able to meet my need no matter what.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20

There’s a second difference – the Holy Spirit is true, but the law is deceitful.  What does that mean?  When it comes to the law, you can always talk a good game.

“I pray, read my Bible, and am always on time for church.”

You can make it appear that you’re very powerful in the Lord, if that’s what it takes.  It’s a good thing that most believers don’t know what true power is or the charade would be over.

With the power of the law, you can hold the batteries in your hand.  Show off how much voltage you’re capable of.  We can even hear other’s proclaim, “Boy, those are a lot of pretty big batteries.”

The reason I said that the law is deceptive, is because the batteries can be dead and no one would know the difference – unless they looked for change being produced.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret – even the little pink bunny that keeps going and going eventually dies.  His batteries run out.

When yours do, because you’re relying on how well you follow the law, then you’re left with only the appearance of power.  That’s when we get together and “Remember when…”  Remember when our batteries were charged and we saw someone saved, or healed so many years ago.

It’s time for the church to tap into the only reliable source of power – the Holy Spirit whom God has placed within us.

Question: How have your attempts at following the rules turned out?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 25, 2013 in Power of God

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Word of God – Who, not What

13 Feb

BeamI want to talk about the very foundation of the Word of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:1-2

Whenever you talk about the Word of God you must start with Christ.  Notice that in this verse the Word is a He.  God and His Word are one and the same.  When the Bible speaks about the Word of God, it’s talking about God’s revelation of Himself.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Christ is the Word made flesh.  He was the Word throughout eternity past.  He will be the Word for all of the eternity that lies before us.  This is the foundation of all we know about the Word of God.

By looking at Christ we see the total embodiment of what the Word of God is and does in our lives.  It’s through His life and words that we can truly understand how the Word applies to us.

You would think that because of this truth, there would be no question as to what the Word of God is in our life and walk.  I wish that were the case.  The fact is that there’s much controversy surrounding exactly what the Word of God is.

Please read my posts carefully, and prayerfully.  It’s my hope to cut through some of the problems created by our present use of “Christianese” – the religious language we have grown used to in the church.

This language is not always in line with Scripture.  It’s my prayer that you will see a difference between how we describe certain truths and how the Bible describes them.  I also pray that when you see this difference, you’ll choose the Biblical definition.

It’s because of our use of this religious language that we get into many arguments.  One of these is over what the Word of God is.

There are some who insist that only the King James Version of the Bible is the Word of God.  There are others who say that any translation is the Word.  Who is right?

Actually, according to Scripture, the above argument is not even asking the right question!  Let’s allow Christ, the Living Word, to be the Judge in this situation.

Over the next few posts I hope to clarify some things that are causing tremendous problems in the Body of Christ.  I want to see God’s people get back to where we should be in our handling of the Word.

Question: How does Christ continue to reveal Himself as the Living Word of God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on February 13, 2013 in Word of God

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 5 Warning Signs of Legalism

10 Sep

Many Christians are bound by legalism.  Are you one of them?  The trouble is that legalism can be very deceptive.  You can be caught up in it and never know it – unless you see the warning signs.  I hope this will be both a challenge and a blessing to you.

1. Elevating works over position.  Do you worry about what you can do to please God?  The correct answer is – nothing!!  It’s the blood of Christ that makes me acceptable to God.  Nothing I do can make Him love me any more or any less.  While works can affect my rewards and blessings, they will never change God’s love and acceptance of me if I’m in Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

2. Seeing yourself more of a slave than a son.  Yes, we do serve God and are expected to obey Him in all things.  But the way we obey is as mature sons and daughters.  As spiritual children we learn servanthood.  It is the training ground for our growth in Christ.  The purpose of servanthood is so that we can walk in maturity.  The Lord desires sons and daughters to represent Him to the world.  (Galatians 4:1-7)

3. Relying more on your confession than God’s grace.  I believe in the confession of Scripture.  Rehearsing and memorizing it is an important part of the believer’s life.  Just as important is the reason we do it.  The purpose of confessing God’s Word is to increase our faith in Him.  But ultimately, it’s not my confession, but the power of God that will bring about the changes that I need.  (II Peter 1:3)

4. Giving more time to studying Scripture than to intimacy with Christ.  Scripture study is very important – it is one of my passions.  I couldn’t live without it.  But, spending quality time with the Lord is even more so.  Jesus rebuked the Scribes and the Pharisees for diligently studying the Scriptures, yet not going to the Christ that they pointed to.  It’s not enough just to know about Christ.  I need to have an intimate, personal knowledge of Him that only comes from time spent in His presence.  (John 5:39-40)

5. Being confident more in the comparison with others than abiding in Christ.  Comparison is a deadly trap.  the problem is that I can always find someone less committed than me.  It gives me a false sense of security because I’m no worse than anyone else.  On the other hand, I can spend my days feeling worthless, because I look at others who are farther along than me in the faith.  I can’t base my self-evaluation on someone else’s life.  My goal is not to be better than you, but to be like Christ.  (II Corinthians 10:12)

Question: Have you battled with legalism?  How have you overcome it?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 10, 2012 in Legalism, Power of God, Revival, The Church

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Crossing Over

11 Jul

Luke 8:22-25
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.”  So they got into a boat and set out.  As they sailed, he fell asleep.  A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.  “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this?  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Being out in the open water in a storm is very risky.  Even with all the modern equipment that boaters have today, it is no easy thing to navigate in a raging storm.

In this passage, the disciples are crossing a lake and a huge squall engulfs them.  The wind is against them and the waves are filling the boat.  Imagine their terror when they realize they’re not going to make it.

Yet all the while, Jesus was with them.  That was a factor that, apparently, none of them considered to be important.  When they woke Him, Jesus showed Himself to be in control of the forces of nature.

Never forget that truth in your times of struggle.  The Lord is in control of the winds and the waves.  We have got to remember that, even when the road ahead seems hopeless.  I can rest assured that nothing will touch my life, except that which will help me.  I need never fear for the future.

Remember to place yourself in His care each and every day.  The Lord has already walked the road ahead and is well able to bring you through.  Trust His wisdom and grace to handle each situation that arises.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 11, 2012 in Daily Thoughts

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Right Hand of Fellowship

11 Mar

Galatians 2:9
James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.

The right hand is important in fellowship.  Even left-handed people shake hands with their right hand.  The right side is considered the side of importance and power.  Consider the saying, “He’s my right-hand man.”  It is a position of trust.

Here Paul and Barnabas were given the right hand of fellowship – they were accepted as fellow ministers and believers in the body of Christ.  This was important, because before his salvation, Paul had a reputation as being a deadly enemy of the church.

How were the early believers able to trust him enough to embrace Paul into their spiritual family?  The answer is in this verse.  It happened when they recognized the grace given to him.  They were able to see that he had a calling from God to bring the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles.

So often Christians find themselves unfulfilled.  This shouldn’t be the case.  We all have a calling from the Father.  Sometimes we blame God and say that He hasn’t spoken to us about our calling.  I think that in many cases it is more a problem of inactivity.  The verse above says that they recognized the grace that Paul was given to minister to Gentiles.  If he had never done anything, there would not have been any recognizing.

Today, don’t just go to church.  Make it your goal to be the church.  Do something for the Lord.  Allow His Spirit and His grace to work through you.  Who knows, maybe you or others will recognize a gift of God’s grace in you.  Then you can be fulfilled as you pass on the blessing of God to others.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 11, 2012 in Daily Thoughts

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Newer posts →