FINALLY MY BRETHREN

Eph. 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might

To my dear fellow reader, it has been quite some time since I posted a blog due to my busy season of traveling, but I again want to right once more to encourage you with a simple little post as this year comes to an end and a new one comes forth.

“Finally my brethren”, the beginning of a cry within Paul’s heart close to the ending of a letter that he wrote to the church of Ephesus, as a man who is bound literally in prison chains, but yet found himself to be more liberated than ever before. Here, a man who gave his life to the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ is urging a people who are not the same condition as him to be strong in the Lord and in the POWER of His might!

What was it with Paul? Did the awful stench of prison odors get to him, that he is now writing to free men as if they were held captive from moving forward? Paul’s attitude while in this type of dilemma seems to be backwards to the carnal mind. Prior to Ephesians 6:10,Paul (as the Apostle that he was), is directing the Ephesian church in their walk concerning; salvation, the unsearchable riches of Christ, keeping the unity of the Spirit, understanding and walking in the gifts of Christ, how to put on a new man, how to walk in love and as children of light, and also how to be married and so forth… Though bound by chains, Paul’s heart became more liberated by the Spirit than ever before. So what was feeding on His mind? What was His obsession?

His obsession was his goal, His heavenly vision, what He saw in His encounter with Christ, that being God IN Christ Jesus!

Philippians 4:14 I PRESS toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.

To press is to move forward full force and focus or to URGE onward!

One would say, “Paul how is it that you are saying you press and yet you are bound? Are you mad? Are you crazy?” Well, truth be told, he was both! He was madly obsessed with the exposure of Christ’s body, His church! And he was crazy enough to go against all odds and limitations, in order to expose the risen and living Christ to a fallen and dead world!

The world would call Paul…”close minded”, yet he was used to reveal truths that he claims the world can know not of, unless the spirit of truth be in them!

What was his secret to this “inner urge” he obtained? What was it that Satan tried to rob from Paul, in hope to cripple Paul’s ministry, Paul’s walk? Well discerning Paul shares the secret toward the end of his course in this life by telling his secret to his spiritual son, Timothy, saying “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept THE FAITH” (2 Timothy 4:7).

That’s what it was! Faith! But not just any type of faith. It was The Faith! The seed of God given faith is what Satan tried to steal from Paul! Paul did not bother with the world’s understanding of faith as just some type of “religious title”, but a faith that has life and is fully operational! A faith that enables bound men to live free, a faith that brings renews hope and manifests into the purpose and promise given to us! A faith that never fails, because God’s word never fails! A faith that enables the blind to see, a faith that causes the deaf to hear, a faith that causes the dead to rise! This type of faith is what enabled Paul to rise up and go BACK into a city that casted him out and stoned him, leaving him for dead! Oh how confident he was that Christ would be exposed to those blind souls.

Now here is this vigorous and violently passionate patriarch for the Gospel bound in prison chains, speaking as a desperate man, not for himself but desperate for others! For others to come to know the risen King of Glory!

Paul urges the brethren to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! Notice Paul didn’t say do strong and powerful things for the Lord, but he said…BE strong in the Lord and in the power of HIS might. You see it is all about being! We are human-beings not human-doings. It is determined by who you are that makes a world wide change, not just what you do. Nevertheless what you do reflects who you are. If you are one who continues in the strength and power of the Lord, then it is obvious that those things will flow out of you.

Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:But I have prayed for thee, that thy FAITH fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

You may be bound, afflicted, handicap, etc, but that shouldn’t stop your faith being fully operational and continuing in the supernatural strength of Christ and in His power. Beloved, it is possible to be faithful in your routine with God, and yet be faithless. You can be faithful to going to church once a week, faithful to the routine of reading a page in a devotional book, even faithful to preach all over the world and yet have no faith to the call God has called you too. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please Him, that he who comes to God MUST believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him!

You know what Paul considered his reward? It was the crown of righteousness Himself! Jesus Christ the crown jewel of all that is glorious, all that is holy, all that is victorious!

II Timothy 4:8henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

The Bible says that our inheritance IS the Lord and Paul wanted the world to see the body, the person of Christ revealed so that the world itself would be encouraged to be born again, made anew and free from the grip of the rulers of darkness! And so it shall be by promise at the coming of the Lord when the earth and heavens shall be made new! (Rev. 21:2) Paul walked in the power of His baptism and drove under the influence of spirit filled faith in hope that the lost would lay hold of Christ and be saved from death.

When bound, Paul began to realize that the prison was his secret place with the Lord. The secret way which leads out from weakness and defeat’s hostility and an escape into divine strength and victory’s liberation. This way of escape, called salvation is what enabled Paul to write and the most impact in the world today.

So I encourage you my fellow reader… who are you? Is what you do reflect who you are, or who you want to be? Most importantly is what you do a reflection of what Christ called you to be? Don’t fight against the dealings and convictions of the Holy Ghost upon your life, but rather rejoice in your sufferings as Paul encourages, so that the power of Christ may rest upon your life. Believe God at His word, and like Jesus told Peter…WHEN you are converted (to change), strengthen your brethren. In this case, when you change your position of attitude toward the dealings of life that come your way don’t complain but continue in the strength of the Lord and the power of His might! Get ready and posture yourself as a bound ambassador of Christ, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints! (Eph. 6:18).Let us gear up in the whole amour of God, withstanding the attacks of the enemy upon our lives and the lives of others, and doing all that we can in the power of the risen King to stand! Stand in the gap for the lives of loved ones, stand in the gap for our nation, stand in the gap for a lost world and having done all to stand! Don’t let the former year get you weary in the place of believing God’s word, because a new year approaches and this is where the fun begins! This year let’s claim with no slogan but a vow that we will fight a good fight of FAITH! As this year ends and the new year approaches, I encourage you with these words… “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!” Blessings to you all and remember to keep the faith!

Lamentation 3:22-23It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

God Bless