The Power of the Force

 

Chapter Seven

 

Paul said in Eph. 1:3,

 

          “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms           with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” 

 

The angels of God are ministering spirits and have no bodies to express themselves except as God ordains them to on special occasions. Man is different from angels because he is a spirit being and has a soul, which is his mind, will and emotion, and is connected to a body through which he can express himself. Jesus said in Luke 24:39,

 

     “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as           you see I have.”

 

A spirit, or a ghost, must receive its energy or power from a higher order or another source. We, who want to go on into maturity, must be aware of what is going on in the spiritual realms without being caught up in the mistakes of the past concerning demons and evil spirits. The heavenly realm is the invisible, intangible, spiritual realm of intelligence, power and action.  The influence of spirits over mankind is something we must understand. It is far more powerful than most can imagine.

 

Paul said in Eph. 2:2,

 

          “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the           power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

 

And in 2 Cor. 4:4,

 

          “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the           glorious gospel of Christ, who is the   image of God, should shine unto them.”

 

The world is ruled by forces that mankind are unaware of.  I don’t want to get into the teachings and doctrines of the past that are unbiblical but there are such things as forces which move mankind against there own instincts. No man wants war but through out all of history and it continues today, there is a force drawing men into a conflict that he has no ability to resist.

 

There are spiritual forces that govern and control our cities. If you are in tune spiritually many times you can discern these forces. I don’t believe that gambling, drinking, dancing, and such in and of themselves are wrong. The problem arises from the spiritual forces that get behind these things and causes addiction to them. These are powerful influences, which draw people into excessive behavior.

 

Paul said in Eph. 5:18,

 

          “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

 

Nothing is good if it is taken to excess. We must be wise in all our activities because our adversary is seeking a way to cause us to stumble. Peter said in 1 Peter 5:8,

 

          “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom           he may devour!”

 

There is spiritual influence over all mankind, both good and evil. The Holy Spirit is not only a person but he has influence through out the world and especially the body of Christ. His influence or His presence is holy and creates a holy environment.

 

There are unclean spirits, deft and dumb spirits, spirits of greed, spirits of lust, and spirits of disobedience. There are all kinds of wicked spirits, evil spirits, demonic spirits, and depressing spirits.

 

The highest order of spirits is Holy Spirit. The highest kingdom is the Kingdom of God. There are many kingdoms. Some that are above and some that are beneath. There is the kingdom of the animal world and there is the kingdom of the sea. There is the kingdom of plant life and the kingdom of soil. Everything has a life in it. We are of the highest order of life! We are the highest dimension of living. We are of the highest kingdom in existence; The Kingdom of God. Just as the United States is the most powerful nation or kingdom on the face of this earthly realm, the Kingdom of God is greater than the United States.

 

God is a God of government and a God of law and order. He said let everything reproduce according to its seed. For every natural there has to be a spiritual counter part. Then we must understand that everything spiritual must find a natural counter part; a natural expression or condition making available its expression.

 

Every spirit must find someone in the natural that will be in agreement with it. When that someone is found then the spirit will have a way of expressing itself. This is why John said in 1 John 4:1,

 

          “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false           prophets are gone out into the world.” 

 

Once a spirit gets someone in the natural to agree with it then it can spread its influence to others and begin to build its own kingdom or atmosphere. Just take note of the fashions of teenagers. Someone cuts their hair in a certain way and before long everyone is cutting their hair that way. The whole advertising world is based upon getting a fad started so they can sell their product.

 

Our influence as the people of God has been reduced to the place where we just preach to each other and remain within our sealed walls and we are having very little effect on the spiritual condition of the cities we live in. We have been taught that living Holy Spirit is not watching bad programs on TV.

 

Being Holy is manifesting the very glory and essence of who God knew Himself to be. Now by us God is able to reveal to the world all the attributes of His Kingdom. God who is Spirit, desires the force of His Spirit more than its form.  Jesus said in John 4:23,

 

          “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in           truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship           him in spirit and in truth.”

 

We think that worshipping God in spirit is singing and speaking in tongues. Worshipping God in spirit speaks of expressing that atmosphere of the reality of who God really is on the inside of us.  It is not good enough to have the form without the power. Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:5,

 

          “…having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

 

The essence of everything originates in spirit and it is here where God wants to commune with His people. It is here that His power and authority is released. It is here where our spirits become energized with His power to be. It is here where there becomes a visible expression of His Kingdom that will create an atmosphere in our cities and our country that will draw people to His Kingdom.

 

God is looking for a dwelling where He can fill every nook and corner with His presence. When this occurs there will be power radiated from that dwelling that will change the atmospheres of our communities and our nation.

 

Paul said in Eph. 1:3-14,

 

     “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with           every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and           blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in           accordance with his   praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷In           him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of           God’s grace ⁸that he lavished on us. With all wisdom   and understanding He made known to us the           mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect           when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together           under one head, even Christ.

 

        ¹¹In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to   the plan of him who works out           everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹²in order that we, who were the first to hope in           Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the           word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the           promised Holy   Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the   redemption of those who           are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

 

Notice what Paul said in verse three:  “…..the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has     blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”   We have already been blessed with every spiritual blessings that the Father has to offer!  Then why don’t we see them being manifest?  Mistaken Identity!!!  We don’t understand what we have! We have listen to preachers who have not been led by the Spirit put all these things off to sometime in the future when Jesus returns.

 

Notice verse four; “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. We are blameless in His sight not because He overlooks our faults and mistakes but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We make up the body of Christ who is the head and is the righteousness one. (Verse 10) If the head is holy then so is the body. We do not have to depend upon our rightness but upon His. Paul said in Rom. 5:18,

 

     “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one           act of righteousness was justification that   brings life for all men. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience            of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will           be made righteous.”

 

In verse eleven Paul says; “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,” God has a plan and everything is working out according to that plan. We don’t have to worry about this earth going to hell in a hand basket because He is in control and He said that the meek shall inherit the earth.

 

In verse 13-14, “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy     Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until He redeems all who are His.

 

In order for that which is spiritual to be made manifest it must become personified. By that I mean that it must be embodied or be expressed in a real person. If it remains spiritual it will remain intangible and without expression. Therefore, it must have manifestation in order to be experienced. You cannot know God any other way except by experience. He is beyond intelligence, He is beyond knowing Greek and Hebrew and He is beyond a message. God is an experience. Jesus said in Matt. 7:21-23,

 

          “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth           the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not           prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful           works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

 

We must have an intimate relationship with the Lord. We must experience Him living within us and manifesting Himself through us.

 

In the beginning God gave us the authority to have dominion or control over the conditions of this world. In order for us to experience this dominion we must regain and recover that which has always been the likeness of God.

 

In Christ Jesus we have regained by rightful inheritance the nature of God.  This nature is by heredity. It is in the seed of God that we have been born by. His seed that gave us birth has passed on the genetic transmission of His characteristics to us. We were given His Image or His gene. Peter said in 1 Peter 1:23,

 

     “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and           enduring word of God.“

 

There are two strong forces which influence human life and determine what a person will be. One is heredity and the other is environment. Neither one is sufficient to mold a human life. He is that which we receive at birth that gives distinction to the characteristic of an individual.  Environment is a word used to describe all the conditions and influences that surround a person. That which is within is our heredity and that which is without is our environment.

 

Heredity defines your kind. Environment defines your home. Your values, your education, the place you were raised, how you were raised, the people you were raised with, and the ideas you were exposed to made up your environment. Heredity defines your nature and environment defines the condition that nature lives in.  It is one thing for us to be who we are in Christ by nature but the condition by which that nature is trying to live in is contrary to the expression of who we really are. For example. A child may be gifted with an aptitude in music but depending on the environment surrounding them, they may never have the opportunity to develop that gift or even be aware of it. We see that everyday in the business world that many will be forced to go into business for themselves and become a tremendous success.

 

Environment makes a huge difference in the development of our gifts that we have been blessed with. Within every living organism is contain the principle of life but the environment in which that life lives has the power to sustain and develop that life to the fullest. Heredity by itself is not enough. In the natural we are by nature human beings but we need out of the environment food, air and water in order for that life to be sustained.

 

In the same manner our spiritual life must be in harmony with the spiritual world from which we came and intermingle with that which is true in that environment in order for our spiritual life to be fully manifested. Without this environment there can be no life.

 

We are the Kingdom of God by heredity but we must live in the Kingdom of Heaven that is our spiritual environment. We are of the spiritual world of God and His Son but to be granted this new creation by being begotten of God requires a second factor and that is to have something to live and move and have our very being. It’s called the environment of God.  That environment is the Sonship of God where we can divinely live as sons of God.

 

In this environment of God everything is ruled by laws or by principles. We basically want to rule our lives by what we want to do and accomplish. But Jesus said in Lk. 9:24,

 

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. ²⁵What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

 

God gives us His statutes, His customs, and His ways which all have to do with what He refers to as eternal life. In order to experience this life we have to come into alignment with these principles. In Deut. 6 God told the children of Israel that if they would follow all His statutes and commandments exactly as I tell you I will give you long life and cause you to possess the land and everything you touch will prosper. But if you don’t follow my statutes and commands exactly the way I have told you to do then the opposite will happen to you. Today, I have set before you life and death. Choose which one you want.

 

Everything in God works by divine decree.  It doesn’t work by magic! There are guidelines and rules and if you live your life by them you will get to experience His life in the now. Everything God created works by an order.

 

Spiritual life is lived in levels and is established in dimensions. A dimension is a world that is experienced in levels and stages and in time through the process of revelation its mysteries are made known through visions the breaking of codes contained in the bible. A higher dimension is a world of higher thoughts. If you want to progress in your spiritual life you must go to a higher dimension of thinking. There are usually conflicts between these dimensions because those who live on the lower dimensions do not want to go to a higher level of understanding or living because it requires death to some part of the life they are living now. They cannot understand those who have gone on to the higher dimensions.  

 

If you want to go on to higher levels of understanding the plan of God you must be willing to change your present understanding and be willing to accept the truth of the higher level of understanding. This of course requires change and this is where most people balk. They want to go on with their present level of thinking without changing to what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach them.

 

God has given us power to rule and have dominion. When we refuse that power we will have conflicts and confusions. We have allow prayer to be removed from our schools and allow condoms to be given to our children. Not necessarily because the majority want it but because a few have been brazen enough to fight for what they want while the rest of us are too busy living our lives to notice what is going on in the environment around us. There must be a regaining of the environment and a regaining of the atmosphere whereby we control the dimension that God called us from.

 

There are dimensions, climates and atmospheres. Dimensions have to do with our thinking and as a result of our thinking we create a climate or a condition by which our way of thinking can have preeminence and when joined with like thinkers we create an atmosphere that will control or dominate the world we live in.

 

Atmospheres are the response of spiritual influence either good or bad.