In Christ

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as I look around today, I see so many facing challenges in their lives, whether it be with health, finances, family issues or ministry. I want to look at some promises today that will help you walk in victory whether facing the fiery furnace or a den of lions that seem to be ready to devour you at any minute.

Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

This promise of overcoming circumstances and people that may come against us is based on two godly principals. First, as children of God, being more than a conqueror is our heritage. Because Christ overcame we will overcome also. He has defeated the powers of death, hell and the grave. We walk in His resurrection power. God does not promise to keep us from attack of the enemy, but the attack will not prosper because of who we are in Christ Jesus.  

Secondly, God declares that our righteousness of from Him. We do not stand in our righteousness but in the righteousness of Christ. This promise is not based on our goodness or our ability, but on who Christ is and what He has accomplished for us. We often fail to overcome because we are so aware of our weaknesses and failures, and we lose sight of who we are in Christ. Romans 8:1-3 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

I like to illustrate the principle of Romans 8:1-3 by placing a hanky over my fist. My fist represents my sinful nature, and the hanky the righteousness of Christ. The accuser of the brethren, other people, and even we ourselves often focus on what is under the hanky, while all God only sees is the hanky. I then begin to stuff the hanky into my fist to illustrate that over time as we walk in the Spirit, the righteousness of Christ that covers us begins to fill our life as we are changed from glory to glory in the image of Christ. However during the transformation process we are constantly covered by and stand in the righteousness of Christ.

Christ is our salvation, our healer, our provider, and our deliverer. God loves you not because of who you are or what you have done, but because of who He is. He is love. Victory is His because He cannot fail. Defeat is not in His nature. He has peace in the midst of conflict and turmoil because He is the Prince of Peace. As a born again believer, you are in Christ and it is out of your relationship with Him that you overcome and walk in love, peace, and victory no matter what circumstances you face.

Whatever weapon has been formed against you today cannot prosper because the God of the universe declares over you “this is their heritage and their righteousness is of me.”

Andy Clark

Old Clothes

Mark 2:21-22

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.”

In Mark chapter two, Jesus has just healed the paralytic man who had been lowered through the roof and forgiven of his sin, causing a stir among the scribes who teach that only God can forgive sins. Jesus then goes on and asks Matthew, a tax collector, to be His disciple and goes to a party at Matthew’s house, causing more consternation among the Pharisees. They then ask Jesus why He and his disciples don’t fast twice a week like the Pharisees and their disciples. 

It is in this context that Jesus makes the above comment about old clothes. Jesus had a habit of totally upsetting the traditions of His day in His teachings and actions. What He did and said challenged the norms and traditions of His day. To choose a tax collector hated by Jews to be His disciple and then go hang out at a party with all his ungodly, corrupt, and wicked friends, when Jesus should have been fasting with His disciples, was total sacrilege. All of this was punctuated by a demonstration of power that no one had ever seen before.

Jesus has not changed. He still wants to strip us of our old clothes, our old nature, mindset, and traditions that war against what God wants to do in our lives and our communities. We tend to cling to our understanding and experiences to define our future. When faced with new challenges in the wilderness, the children of Isreal kept wanting to go back to the familiar of Egypt. Egypt was not a good place but a safe place that they were familiar with and understood. The wilderness was a hostile environment where they were totally dependent upon God.

Jesus calls us to a radical change of dying to our old nature, ways of thinking, and doing things. We, in turn, would prefer a gradual reformation. We want to keep the old clothes of our past that we are comfortable with and just have Jesus patch the bad spots in our lives. But Jesus wants to strip us of ourselves, so that He can clothe us with himself and move us into our future. The only way from Egypt to the Promised Land is through the wilderness, where we totally lose control and become dependent on the Father.

Sometimes we forfeit future promises of God for the security of our present. We become so familiar with where we are. It is not the best, but it is comfortable. Allow God to enlarge your borders. New borders bring new challenges but also greater capacity. God doesn’t call us to be normal because Jesus lives in us. God wants to introduce you to your future while you are in your present. “For I know the plans (plural) I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Andy Clark

Rivers in the Desert

Isaiah 43:19

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Maybe you find yourself in a spiritual desert or wilderness, whether it is where you work, live, or minister. You find yourself surrounded by spiritual apathy, no spiritual life, or actual antagonism against spiritual things. Maybe your own life feels a little dry or you feel you are in a spiritual rut. I believe God wants to do a new thing in your life, your family, your church, community, and job. But that new thing can only spring forth as we allow Him to build a road in the wilderness or bring a river into your desert.

Jesus said in John 7:37-39, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Isaiah said God would make rivers in the desert. Jesus said, “…out of our heart will flow rivers of living water.” The source of living water for your desert begins with your relationship with God. The new thing begins when you become so thirsty for God that you cannot be satisfied with anything else. Jesus said we must come to Him, we must believe in Him, and we must receive Him. The man who found a treasure in a field sold everything He had to buy the field. To come into the fullness of what God has for us we have to sell out to the River Maker.

Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as the living water that will flow out of us to water our desert. Now, in the context of this Scripture, it says the Holy Spirit had not yet come because Jesus had not yet been glorified, meaning He had not yet died, risen, and ascended to the Father. But I believe in a spiritual sense the Holy Spirit is unable to refresh our desert because Christ has not yet been glorified in us. As a believer, the Holy Spirit resides in you, but His presence, this living water, has not been manifested in your life, family, or job because Christ has not yet been glorified in you.

The key to a road in your wilderness and rivers in your desert is not only a pursuit of Christ, the treasure in the field, but a willingness to glorify Him in the midst of your wilderness and desert. Exalt His Name on your job, in your family, and in your church. Involve Him in your dry places, and rivers of living water will spring out of you, bringing refreshing into your environment. Be a cup of cold water for someone today in the Name of Jesus, and see what He will do for and through you for His glory.

Andy Clark