1. There I was exercising on the treadmill, meditating on God’s word when I came across an extraordinary piece of insight. It has the potential to revolutionize our theology. It’s so staggering in dimension. #Illuminare
2. Drawn to its logical conclusion, the implications are mind boggling. I’m still trying to work through the applications. What I chanced upon was God’s energy policy for the human race. #Illuminare
3. As I thought of it, I said to myself, God is absolutely brilliant! And I said it in quiet joy. #Illuminare
4. By the way, you’ll need to read this piece over and over again. There’s just so much information to digest. #Illuminare
5. I had for some time been pondering Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. It’s a most unusual prayer. It’s not the kind of prayer an apostle prays, unless of course he reads superhero comics. It is perhaps the most significant prayer in the New Testament. #Illuminare
6. That should have been the Lord’s Prayer but the Lord’s Prayer is not exactly a New Testament prayer. Jesus lived under the terms of the Old Testament. He came to fulfil the law. Matthew 5:17. #Illuminare
7. Among the apostles Paul was the one given the revelation of the New Testament. The other apostles thought Christianity was progressive Judaism; which is why the Jerusalem Council mandated benevolent terms of the Law for non-Jewish converts. Acts 15:20-21. #Illuminare
8. For Paul to understand the New Testament he needed a historic grasp of certain fundamentals. So, God gave him a verbatim of what transpired at the Lord’s supper. That was the first communion. 1 Corinthians 11:23. #Illuminare
9. Communion is the basis of the New Testament. #Illuminare
10. This is the section of Paul’s prayer we’re interested in: “I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling.” Ephesians 1:18 TPT. #Illuminare
11. That’s not a religious prayer. What Paul was saying in effect is, you can’t grasp the full ramification of the program of salvation unless your imagination fires up. That’s because the salvation program sounds like science fiction. #Illuminare
12. We tend to view salvation as a character modification program – some sort of morality play; something like, I used to chase girls, drink and smoke, but now that I’m born again I no longer do those things. Our focus is on repentance not the concept of salvation itself.
13. Truth is, you don’t need to be born again to be moral. There are moral atheists. Therefore, the salvation program is not about morality, or else it will boil down to human effort. And if it’s human effort it cannot be grace. #Illuminare
14. “And this salvation is not of yourselves, not through your human effort, but it is the undeserved, gracious gift of God; not as a result of your works nor your attempts to keep the Law.” Ephesians 2:8-9. #Illuminare
15. That’s not saying a Christian should not be moral. No. A Christian thief is an oxymoron. But the salvation program is spiritual rebirth not a January 1 resolution. #Illuminare
16. Jesus said we must be born again. John 3:7. He was talking about the new man program. The “new man” is created in Christ Jesus, meaning Jesus is the production platform not the first Adam. Ephesians 2:10. #Illuminare
17. Jesus is scientifically labelled the Second Man or Last Adam. 1 Corinthians 15:45-48. #Illuminare
18. What Jesus was talking about is a new species of humanity. If any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature. 1 Corinthians 5:17. The new man is Man Version 2.0. #Illuminare
19. The new man was a revolutionary concept. He’s not just an upgrade of humanity. He’s a very radical redesign, a piece of science. He has unusual capacities. He can for example give birth non biologically. #Illuminare
20. Under the terms of the salvation program those we lead to Christ are our children. Galatians 4:19. The implication is that a 20year old can become the father of a biological 70year old, who at the point of rebirth suddenly becomes a baby – a spiritual baby. #Illuminare
21. It also means males can give birth. The new man can heal the sick, drink deadly stuff, raise the dead. Mark 16:18, Acts 20:7-12. The reason he can do all this is largely due to God’s new energy policy. #Illuminare
22. God instituted a number of policies to regulate the new man. There’s the judicial policy, the security policy, the health policy and the prosperity policy. These four policies are the pillars of the salvation program. The Greek word is SOZO. #Illuminare
23. By the terms of the judicial policy no criminal charge can be brought against the new man. Romans 8:33. His old criminal record is automatically expunged. #Illuminare
24. Technically he can do no wrong before God since his past, present and future sins are under the amnesty program, Aphesis and Paresis. (You can look up those Greek words). #Illuminare
25. Under the security policy his enemies can’t vanquish him. God is his refuge, his fortress, and deliverer. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Psalm 34:7, Isaiah 54:15,17. #Illuminare
26 Under the health policy he has access to divine healing. This was facilitated by the brutal scourging of Jesus. Isaiah 53:5. Jesus bore the punishment required to make him well. Lawyers call this vicarious liability. #Illuminare
27. Under the prosperity policy, God covenanted to supply his needs. He’ll receive mercy for his failures. Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 4:16 AMP. These provisions are guaranteed. #Illuminare
28. Paul was particular about those guarantees. He prayed for enlightenment for Ephesians to know “the divine guarantee, the confident expectation” to which God has called them. Ephesians 1:18 AMP. #Illuminare
29. There are two other things Paul wanted them to know. One, that the prosperity policy is predicated on the fact that each of them is God’s investment portfolio. Ephesians 1:18. Second, was the energy policy. #Illuminare
30. In fact the energy policy undergirds all the other policies. For example, the security policy is ineffectual without power. You can’t vanquish Satan without power. One of the executive positions on Satan’s organogram is called “Powers.” Ephesians 6:12. That says a lot.
31. You need power for prosperity. God famously told the Israelites, “The Lord your God gives you power to gain wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18. #Illuminare
32. You need power for healing. In his encounter with the woman with excessive menstrual bleeding Jesus said, “I perceive power has gone out from me.” Luke 8:46. What that says is that he had power inside of him. #Illuminare
33. The new energy policy is based on that model. In Jesus, man became a storage facility for power. In Christ Jesus power became local and mobile. #Illuminare
34. Here’s what we’ve all missed: there’s a power generating unit inside each of us. We never need to seek power from any external source. #Illuminare
35. Paul prayed for the Ephesians “to know what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of God’s ACTIVE spiritual power IN US who believe. This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ form the dead.” Ephesians 1:19-20 AMP, TPT. #Illuminare
36. Meaning the installed capacity of that power generator is frightening. It’s the power that raised Jesus from the dead. There’s nuclear fission going on right now inside your spirit. #Illuminare
37. Because power is local, mobile and individualized under the new energy policy the shadow of Peter could heal the sick, the handkerchiefs laid on Paul could cure diseases and terrorize demons. Acts 5:15, Acts 19:12. Those guys were radiating energy. #Illuminare
38. We need to stop praying for God’s power to come down in our gatherings. “Let the power of the Lord come down” is an unscriptural song. The power has already come down. It’s inside of us and it’s active.
39. We don’t have a power supply problem, we have an outflow problem. #Illuminare
40. How do we draw the power out? Simple. The Bible says it’s through faith. #Illuminare
41. This is what Paul wrote: “I pray that you will continually EXPERIENCE the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you THROUGH FAITH. Then your lives will be an advertisement of his immense power as it works through you!” Ephesians 1:19 TPT. #Illuminare
42. The distributed nature of the new energy policy makes it a brutally efficient idea. It gives an individual control over his fate. Policing the devil thus becomes local. There’s local government effectiveness as well. #Illuminare
43. You can heal the sick in your community, you don’t need to dial HQ. The reason we don’t see healing is because we’re not even aware God’s power resides in us. Stop looking for power, the power is within. Just draw on what is inside of you. #Illuminare
44. God literally empowered us. Those who are attuned can sometimes feel the power coursing through them. Sometimes they tingle, sometimes they feel warm. They can’t wait to lunge at the devil. There’s holy anger. It’s like they’re rearing to go. Their words feel prophetic.
45. Now, you understand what Jesus meant when he told the disciples, you shall RECEIVE power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Acts 1:18. And you can also understand what Peter meant when he said to the lame man, What I HAVE I give to you. Acts 3:6. He knew he had power.
46. If you’re a minister stop praying for power. The power is within already. Stop begging God for what he has already given you. You can draw on the power to heal the sick, you can draw on the power to prosper. The power will vanquish the enemy. #Illuminare
47. You’re a mobile power generating unit. As improbable as it sounds that’s a new creation reality. #Illuminare
48. I want you to give your life to Jesus. Please pray this prayer: “Father I come to you in the name of Jesus. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead. I am saved. Amen.” #Illuminare
50. *To understand the Christian walk from a contemporary perspective, read my book, Conversations of a 21st Century Saint. Order at lekealderstore.com. #Illuminare
Don't give under pressure. Give of your volition. If it's going to make you grumble, or unhappy, or bitter, don't give it. God loves a cheerful giver. There's no compulsory giving in the New Testament.
Have a healthy relationship with money. Love of money will make you amenable to evil. Jesus warned against Mammon.
Financial deprivation is relative before God. The widow's mite was more than the millionaire's might.
#Illuminare - ON FAITH - THE FINALE: FAITH NUGGETS
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1. Over the past eleven weeks we have held communion on the subject of faith. Together, we navigated the theology of faith as espoused in scriptures. #Illuminare
2. This week, we round up the series. Here are some of the nuggets we shared. They serve as reminder of the lessons we learned. #Illuminare
#Illuminare - ON FAITH PART 10: NINETY-NINE PLUS ONE
Begins now 👇
1. In the last few weeks, we’ve been treating the subject of faith. There are many dimensions to faith. In this article, we’re going to be looking at faith for venture and innovation. Happy reading. #Illuminare
2. The Jewish society in the day of Jesus wasn’t much different from our society today. The elites were segmented. #Illuminare
1. So, here’s how the faith thing works. It’s like a machine. Think of a car engine with three gears or cogs that are all held together by a fan belt. That’s what the machinery looks like. #Illuminare
2. The first gear is the provisions made by God. The Bible says God has blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:3 KJV. #Illuminare
1. The Bible says to visit the house of mourning if you want cogitative wisdom. Ecclesiastes 7:2-4. The house of mourning is not necessarily a funeral parlor. A hospital qualifies as house of mourning. #Illuminare
2. You become sober when you visit a hospital. It’s the opposite of a house of mirth – a night club or beer parlor. What is alarming is the continual supply of patients. The flow just never stops. #Illuminare
1. Humanly speaking, Jesus had to have been an extraordinary individual. There are no two ways about it. While his betrayal was in progress, and he knew what was going on, he instituted the rite of communion. 1 Corinthians 11:23 AMPC. #Illuminare
2. He just carried on with the program. Communion was the dramatized pre-announcement of the program of atonement. This is in consonance with God’s time-honored tradition of announcing stuff before it happens. Isaiah 42:9. #Illuminare
3. On a sentimental level, the rite of communion was designed to be an In Memoriam - like the placement of a memorial advert for a loved one in the dailies on the anniversary of death. Jesus said we should do it in affectionate remembrance of him. 1 Corinthians 11:24 AMPC.