Reigning In Life As A King (4 page)

Sometimes you may feel chained. If you will remember WHO YOU ARE, you will soon be in charge again.

All hope was gone for Paul and the others on that ship, but Paul knew what God had told him. He stood on the Word of God and the situation changed! Every person aboard that ship was saved.

As soon as the men were safe from the shipwreck, they placed Paul back in the position of a prisoner. They told him to collect the wood for a fire. He had just saved their lives, but now they said, "Get out and pick up the sticks!"

The devil was watching. He had failed to kill Paul in the storm. Now he thought, "While these servants of mine have him gathering sticks, I will send a snake to destroy him."

And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

Acts 28:3-6

Paul did not mind gathering the branches. He was not afraid of an attack of the devil. When that snake attached itself to his hand, the kingdom of God inside Paul began to manifest. Kings who walk in the knowledge of their position in Christ do not swell up and die!

When we have this knowledge, it takes more than all the forces of hell to kill us. It does not matter if we are chained, or made to pick up sticks. If we have knowledge, we will reign in life through Jesus Christ!

When Paul did not swell up and die, they decided he was a god. The hands that had picked up sticks were used to heal the sick. The whole island recognized a KING!

When we know who we are, we do not mind picking up sticks. We do face battles and sometimes it seems as if flood tides of evil have come against us, but we must not give up! Kings do not mind fighting the battle when they know the end is victory. When God gives us a promise, He will bring it to pass!

WE REIGN IN LIFE AS KINGS THROUGH
OUR EXALTED POSITION IN CHRIST.

Chapter Three
Reigning In Life Through
The Abundance Of Grace

Paul explains his position in a beautiful way in his letter to the Corinthians. He confessed to them that he was the least of the apostles because he had persecuted the Church. Paul knew that he could not boast in himself, but neither did he have anything of which to be ashamed.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

I Corinthians 15:10

Sometimes we tend to think that everything depends entirely upon us and what we can do. As a result, we become frustrated and disappointed with our lives. If Paul had considered his past, he would have been discouraged. But he was able to say, "By the grace of God I am what I am!"

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17

The word grace appears approximately forty times in the Old Testament and one hundred and fifty times in the New Testament. Grace is undeserved favor. It is the foundation of the Christian life.

When Paul greeted the churches, he began by saying, "Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Usually, he closed his letters by writing, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." Paul knew that the believers needed the grace of God to live out the Gospel in their daily lives.

God created Adam to reign in life, and He gave him dominion over all the earth. He gave Adam a free will, or the power of choice. Then, God put something in the garden to allow him to exercise that power of choice. The choice was whether to obey or to disobey God. When Adam sinned, death reigned on this earth.

God has given every man and woman the power of choice. We can choose to believe God's Word, or we can choose to believe a lie of Satan.

Satan came in the form of a beautiful serpent to tempt Eve. Today, he comes to tempt people in many different areas. He may even come as an angel of light. (II Corinthians 11:14)

The moment Adam lost his authority and dominion, the great love of God began to act on behalf of all mankind. God never intended for man to go through life under the authority of Satan or any of his demon forces. God told Satan that He would break his lordship through the seed of a woman, and that He would use man to bruise his head.

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:14-15

Jesus defeated Satan and then He said to us:

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luke 10:19

In Genesis we read that as man began to multiply on the face of the earth, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and his thoughts were continually evil. (Genesis 6:5)

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Genesis 6:7

God knows what is in a man's heart. He knows our thoughts. (Psalm 139:2)

Throughout the Bible, we learn that God looks at His people through eyes of grace. God looks at our hearts. (Proverbs 21:2) He knows our motives, and when no one else can see anything attractive about us, He begins to move on our behalf.

Have you ever considered a field of grass in the winter months? It is usually brown and unattractive—very insignificant. In fact, you could pass that field day after day and not even notice it.

In the springtime, when the rains fall and the sun begins to shine on that field, the grass turns green and it becomes a lush pasture land. The cattle begin to eat the grass and bear their young. Soon little calves skip around their mothers, enjoying life.

That field is an example of the grace of God. You can be an insignificant businessman or housewife—someone the world has never noticed. Then God looks at you. The Son begins to shine upon you, and you not only become attractive to God, but to those around you. You begin to reproduce. You begin to bear fruit.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

II Chronicles 16:9a

Noah's life was a demonstration of the grace of God.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:8-9

Noah had been a preacher of righteousness. He was unnoticed by his generation, but not unnoticed by God. The eyes of the Lord rested upon Noah, and he began to hear God speak to him. Noah began to obey the voice of God.

Abraham found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.

Genesis 18:2-3

The eyes of the Lord rested on Abraham, and he began to hear God speak to him.

And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Genesis 17:6-7

We are the seed of Abraham. God's covenant with Abraham is our covenant. When God looked at Abraham, He not only saw Abraham, He saw you and me. God saw us reigning in life as kings.

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29

The life of Joseph beautifully exemplifies the grace of God.

Joseph was born the eleventh son of His father, Jacob. He was his favorite child, being born when Jacob was ninety years old. The father's favoritism aroused the envy of the older brothers until they sold Joseph into slavery.

As a young slave in Egypt, Joseph was soon discovered by Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah, who gave him charge of all his house.

And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

Genesis 39:2-4

Due to false accusations, Joseph was put in prison, but he soon gained the confidence of the jailor, and eventually all the prisoners were committed to his charge.

God enabled Joseph to interpret prophetic dreams for Pharoah. Then, God gave him the wisdom to recommend a plan for the salvation of Egypt. God told him how to save produce for the coming years of famine. Joseph was placed in charge of the royal granaries and was made an official next in rank to the king himself.

The famine came as Joseph had predicted and it affected the whole world. God had placed Joseph in a position to provide food for his brothers who had sold him into slavery.

When his brothers came to Egypt to buy grain, Joseph was their only supply. He forgave his brothers and invited them to live in the land of Egypt.

Joseph, his brothers, and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly so that the land was filled with them.

Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He feared their number and put slave masters over all the Israelites. The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. Eventually, the edict came—every newborn boy was to be thrown into the river, but every newborn girl could live.

Before his death, Joseph had spoken a promise to his brothers.

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Genesis 50:24

The Psalmist said of the Lord:

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Psalm 34:15

When God encourages His people to seek His face, He is urging them to live in such a way that His eyes can be turned in their direction. This is what happened to the children of Israel. God heard their cry.

At this time, Moses was born, and his mother hid him for three months in order to save his life. When she could no longer hide him, she placed him in an ark of bulrushes and put him among the reeds on the river's bank.

He was taken by the king's daughter to the palace and his own mother became his nurse. Being the adopted son of a princess of a nation that was unsurpassed in civilization by any people in the world at that time, Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

Years later, Moses visited his own people and observed them in bondage of slavery. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people, and in anger, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

When Pharoah heard this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled to Midian. There he lived for forty years learning the ways of the wilderness, its resources, and its climate. God was preparing Moses to spend the next forty years in the wilderness with the Israelites. It was here that he saw the burning bush and the Lord spoke to him.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of then-taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. . .

Exodus 3:7-8a

God gave specific instructions through Moses for each household of Israel to sacrifice one spotless lamb and to place the blood of that lamb on the doorpost of their house. The blood of the lamb was a sign for the death angel to pass over that house. This sacrifice is known as the Passover.

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:13

God, through Moses, brought deliverance to His people.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and offered Himself as our sacrificial Lamb. It was at the Cross, the shedding of the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, where the grace of God was offered not to one man, not to one nation, but to all who would receive Him.

But God's free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass
—
His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man. For if many died through one man's falling away—his lapse, his offense—much more profusely did God's grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ, abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many.