Power in the Blood (our Blood, That Is)

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. –  2Cor 4:7

We’re supernatural by nature. Living in miracles is nothing new in our ancestry. In this family of ours, we have people who raise dead bodies up and who call down fire from heaven as easy as picking up paper (1Ki 17:17-24; 2Ki 1:10-12). People in your village who have been making noise need to know that someone in your new family once made a sunken axe-head to float and also singlehandedly controlled an entire attacking army (2Ki 6:6, 18).

That so-called occult ‘grandmaster’ who arrogantly thinks he has power to do and undo should know that one of your family members once held back every single thing on Earth for several hours (Jos 10:12-14)! Yes, when Joshua commanded the Sun and Moon to stand still, he was effectively commanding the Earth – rotating at a speed faster than a Boeing 737’s top speed – to halt! Hitting the Earth’s brakes at that speed would cause everything: houses, trees, animals, even the oceans to lurch into space; but that was not a problem for Ol’ Josh, was it?

And we've not even mentioned  the original Avatar, Moses himself! Ang and Korra from Nickelodeon know nothing about Earth/Wind/Fire and Water ‘Bending’. In Egypt, Moses ‘bent’ water when he turned the entire river Nile into blood. He ‘bent’ air when he stretched his hands and a “strong east wind” blew and parted the Red Sea. He ‘bent’ earth when he commanded the ground to open up and swallow up his detractors. And strange fire was everywhere in his ministry: as pillars at night, and as sacrifice incendiaries, etc. (Ex 7:14-25; 14:19-21; Lev 9:24; Num 16:31-35).

And to think these are just the ‘boys’ in our family. In Mat 11:11 Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” That means the powers those guys wielded is nothing compared to the power we now have in Christ Jesus. No wonder Paul says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” (2Co 4:7).

Beloved, any Devil, witch, shaman, warlock, native doctor or grandmaster that tries you is in for a rude shock. This drab container we move in can be quite misleading, because raw supernatural POWER flows in our blood. You are untouchable, you are unconquerable, you are undefeatable.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ.”

HALLELUJAH!

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Take the Glasses Off, Mr Kent

He that comes from above is above all. – Joh 3:31

We’re supernatural by nature. And that fact implies we are above nature – in the literal sense of the word. The prefix “Super-” is taken directly from the Latin word super which means “over” or “above”. So, when we say the Born Again Christian is supernatural, it means he or she is above natural. (SELAH?).

John the Baptist, explaining this concept in John 3:31, says, “He that comes from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth: he that comes from heaven is above all.”

While he was directly referring to Jesus here, the truth is universally applicable; whoever comes from Heaven is above all. Jesus said in John 8:23, “You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world.” But in John 17:14 He prays, “I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

We and Christ are not of this world; we and Christ are from above; thus we and Christ are above all. That means we’re above the world’s systems and philosophy; and we’re above the world’s patterns and methodologies.

We may live in this world, but we are NOT of this world. A believer should not be heard saying, “It’s flu season”. No! A believer should not be heard saying “we’re in a recession” No!

It doesn’t mean a Believer should live in denial, it only means the Believer should be conscious of his or her true nature and origin. You must have heard of Clark Kent. Clark Kent was never sick. Clark Kent never panicked when disaster struck. Why? Because innocent-looking, bespectacled journalist of a guy Clark Kent is actually Superman!

Nevertheless, while Kent is a fictional DC Comics character, we have a real, literal SUPERman/SUPERwoman reading this piece right now. Sure, you may look 'normal' to people around you. But Beloved, when it's time for business, you need to take those glasses off, and let the true you face the situation.

Let’s read our anchor verse again from the Amplified version; this time with the consciousness that it’s also referring to YOU:

“He Who comes from above (heaven) is [far] above all [others]; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth, and talks the language of earth [his words are from an earthly standpoint]. He Who comes from heaven is [far] above all others [far superior to all others in prominence and in excellence].”

HALLELUJAH!

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Super_Natural

Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:13

We’re supernatural by nature. In John 3:6, Jesus told Pharisee Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” If you are Born Again, there’s nothing you need to do (or can do, actually) to be supernatural. You already are. John 1:13 says we are born of God or “God-begotten” (Message Bible). Just as the child of a cat is naturally a cat and the child of a dog is naturally a dog, the child of a supernatural God is naturally supernatural (nice phrase, innit?).

This fact is important if one wants to live a life of power. As a child of God, everything you do is supernatural whether you realise it or not. In fact, some of what we do without thinking should scare normal people: things like prayer (speaking to an invisible Being), commanding and directing spirits (angels), laying our hands and pronouncing spells on our children (blessing), and other such actions are – on the surface – not different from what powerful mediaeval wizards and witches were known to do.  

Yet the power a regular Believer has at his or her disposal is infinitely more than any sorcerer can hope to wield. It’s high time we realized what we carry in us and what we are. We’re not victims, we’re victors; we’re not afraid of demons, on the contrary the hordes of Hell are helpless against our advancement, (Mat 16:18).

Indeed, John the Beloved summed it all in the fourth chapter of his first letter:

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world. – 1Jn 4:4.

HALLELUIAH!

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Dividing the Audience

...rightly dividing the word of truth. – 2Ti 2:15

In conscientious Bible study, it’s important to not only note who’s speaking, but also to whom they are speaking. Too much emphasis on a Bible speaker, without consideration to the immediate audience that he/she was speaking to, will only lead to wrong conclusions and applications from that passage.

The most notable example of this error of course would come from the teachings of Jesus.  There’re fanatical church (cult?) groups today that consider ONLY the words of Jesus to be inspired and as such, only read the ‘red letter’ sections of the New Testament. This, of course, is clearly ridiculous because one cannot crystalize comprehensive and substantial doctrines on Jesus’s words alone.

Nevertheless, we sometimes share in this extremism when we say things like, “Look at that verse, as you can see, it’s printed in red, so it has to be important.” Granted they may be important (ALL the words in the Bible are important), but we also need to ask, “Important to whom?” To someone deliberating suicide, the RED phrase, “What you will do – do it quickly!” (Jn 13:27) is clearly not a ‘word of Jesus’ that you want to quote.

Just as we cannot apply the words of Jesus spoken to Judas (ibid.) to ourselves, we must also factor the direct audience of every of His words; reminding ourselves as we read that his immediate audience were firstly Jews (Mat 15:24), people under the law (Mat 5:17-48), and most importantly, not Born Again (Heb 9:16,17).

The words of the epistles, however, have a more binding effect and relevance to us; because they were written to Believers and regenerated persons. This is why it is hard to find a cult that justifies its aberrant teachings exclusively from the Epistles.

Beloved, the Bible is not a repository of quotable quotes and sound bites. Each text and passage must be read in its original context, factoring the speaker as well as whom their words were originally directed to, and then applying the truth found therein accordingly.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Dividing the Prophets

...rightly dividing the word of truth. – 2Ti 2:15

Rightly-dividing the Scriptures is a fine art that every studious reader of the Bible must embrace. It goes more than a general cut down the middle of the Bible to declare, “This side ‘new’; this other side ‘old’”. We need to go even further to divide even parts of each.

Take the prophets, for instance. The Bible identifies about 80 of them and they fill a broad spectrum of personalities and professions. Nevertheless, we can’t assay to emulate just about every one of them just because they’re prophets.

For example, Abraham, the very first person to be designated as “prophet” in scripture, got that appellation just right after he selfishly lied about his wife! (Gen 20:1-7). Similarly, the next “prophet”, Aaron, distinguished his prophetic office by making the famed “golden calf” for the Israelites (Ex 7:1; 32:1-5).

Clearly, no right-thinking Christian would possibly think of emulating lying and idolatry just because a Bible “prophet” did it; but what about cases where the moral line is not so distinct? The fashion style and even diets of Prophets Elijah and John the Baptist have inspired many modern day doctrines and lifestyles. And it’s impossible not to see the influence of Elijah and Elisha in the confrontational way many of our current “prophets” talk today.

So how do we divide the prophets? By divorcing their personal actions from their inspired ones. The Bible records the actions of every one of its characters just the way the events transpired; but documentation does not imply validation. Just as God never endorsed Abraham’s mendacity, or Aaron’s idolatry; He also did not endorse Elisha’s murderous ‘prophetic’ outburst on the jesting youths of Bethel (2Ki 2:23-24).

These of course, lead us to the iconic “fire-from-heaven” Elijah. Even though his actions were not only fear-instigated (not faith) but were also denounced by THE Prophet Himself, Jesus our Lord (2Ki 1:9-15; Lk 9:54-56), many a “Man of God” or “prophet” today still pride themselves in being like him.

Beloved, we do not receive instruction from the un-instructed actions of prophets. Rather we receive spiritual lessons from their inspired words. In this sense, the writing prophets – Isaiah to Malachi – have more to tell us than the powerful Elijahs/Eishas and their so-called “school of prophets”.

We know that “No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet's own imagination,” (2Pe 1:20, NET) but we don’t have such safe guarantee concerning their actions. 

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Dividing the Testaments

...rightly dividing the word of truth. – 2Ti 2:15

If I told you that I had dinner just yesterday with the president, the most natural question that would come next from you would be, “Which president?”

However, if I were the secretary of the Association of Women Metallurgists in Industry (it’s a thing, really), you’re likely to assume I was referring to the “comrade” and not to “his excellency”.

This is an important aspect of scrupulous Bible study. The meaning of a Bible term must be what it means to the person that spoke it. This is most certainly pertinent with respect to the term “Testament.” What our Lord, Paul and the book of Hebrews call “New Testament” (Mat 26:28; 2Co 3:6; Heb 9:15, etc.) was not a collection of books (they were not even in existence at that time); nor was “Old Testament” a reference to a time period that those who preceded them lived in.

“Testament” in Bible usage refers to covenants God had with man; most notably the “old testament” – the one He had with the Jewish people through Moses (Ex 24:3-11; Heb 8:9) – and the “new testament” – the covenant He made with us through the sacrificial death of Christ (Lk 22:20; 1Co 11:25).

Each covenant has its unique requirements, blessings and paradigms and one cannot be used for the other. For example, the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 cannot be applied to a Believer today because those blessings come with a caveat (“If you shall observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day…”) which the Believer obviously cannot keep. However, Heb 8:6 tells us that Christ is for us “the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises. This means that, rather than gawk at the blessings (and curses) given to the Jews under their own covenant in Deuteronomy 28, I should read that same passage to get a fuller appreciation of the blessings I have in Christ. They may be blessed in their “going out and coming in”, I am blessed, period! (Eph 1:3). While the LORD shall command the blessing upon them in their storehouses after they obeyed, the LORD has already commanded the blessing upon me in my storehouses because of the obedience of Christ (Rom 5:19); etc.

While “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2Ti 3:16), all scriptures were not written for everyone to apply carte blanche. Rom 3:19 says, “Whatsoever things the law says, it says to them who are under the law.” Conversely, whatsoever is written under the New Testament, were written to you and I who are living under the New Testament  

It’s only in rightly dividing the testaments can we truly get the blessings and power out of the riches that they contain.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Undiluted But Not Undivided

In 2Tim 2:15, the Apostle Paul enjoins his spiritual son Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

This meant the entire process of applying one’s self as a minister of the Gospel - the process of distinguishing one’s self as a skilled and excellent teacher of the word of Truth – is by rightly dividing it.

Many a church and ministry make boast of preaching the “undiluted” word. By that they mean that what they teach and preach comes straight from the Bible and is presented unvarnished and unadulterated, without fear or favour.

Nevertheless, as Paul’s directive to Timothy shows, one can preach only the word of God, and still present it wrongly.

Paul’s expression of “rightly dividing” the word is found nowhere else in scripture. Literally, he was asking Timothy to “make a straight cut” of the word of Truth; or to “dissect it correctly.”

That means, while we must endeavour to preach the undiluted word of Truth, we must make sure also, that that said word is rightly divided. Some commentators understand this to mean Timothy was to keep the centre path without veering to the left or right in extremist doctrine; it means knowing how to apportion the word appropriately to people based on their spiritual state and spiritual level. It also means making a proper distinction of the scriptures and applying it correctly based on the covenantal realities that were in place when they were written or proclaimed.

Reading and teaching indistinctly and indiscriminately from the Bible will lead, and has lead, many into aberrant interpretations and doctrines. If we are to make ourselves approved unto God, if we’re to make ourselves excellent students of the Word, then we must make sure we study and preach the undiluted (and rightly-divided) word of God.

“Therefore every scribe who is instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.” – Mat 13:52.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

When the Doubt’s Deliberate

And immediately the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. – Mk 9:24.

Doubt in itself is not unbelief. But doubt can lead to unbelief. This is especially true of Volitional doubt.

This kind of doubt covers a range of different forms of uncertainty. It can be in the form of “weak faith” in believers who are too fearful to step out in obedience to God; conscious obscurantism by old Christians who would not bend their ‘theology’ even in the light of revelation of scripture; repeated, endless questioning by “seekers” who keep asking questions but never really getting to ‘commit’, etc.

The most extreme form of volitional doubt is seen in ‘intellectual’ atheists who have made up their minds from the outset not to believe. Their doubts are not because of a lack of evidence, but because of a personal resolve not to accept any evidence that may be thrown at them.

This was precisely the problem of the Pharisees and Jewish leaders at the time of Christ and the early church. Because they wilfully rejected every available evidence – both from fulfilled scriptures and manifest miraculous “signs” – they lost out of God’s eternal salvation plan (Rom 9 and 10).

Every Believer goes through doubt at one time or the other; sometimes it’s factual, other times it’s emotional. But when we begin to nurture doubt for doubt sake, for example through an unrealistic attitude to faith (expecting to be absolutely certain of EVERYTHING), or through spiritual immaturity (refusing to grow), then our doubts can unconsciously become a route to unbelief. And since faith is our lifeblood connection to God (Heb 11:6), once unbelief sets in, we gradually become spiritually dried up and prone to more attacks of the Devil. Don’t give him that opportunity.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN