"That the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." - Philemon 6

Introduction

Being a Christian is not about what you do -- it is all about who God is, and who He has made you to be in Him. The key to being effective and victorious in our walk of faith is to know and fully acknowledge all that Jesus Christ has secured for us by His victory at Calvary, continually declare it in faith and act upon it. James 1:23-24 tells us that hearing the word of God and not doing it is like looking at your natural face in the mirror, and then immediately forgetting afterwards what you look like. But remember we are brand new creations (2 Cor 5:17), and so it is easy to look at that mirror and forget what you see when you've been used to being someone different your whole life! That is why it is important for us to keep looking into the word of God, and declaring what it says about us until our minds are transformed to identify and behave as the brand new sons of God that we are. We should steadfastly confess the word of God without wavering (Hebrews 10:23), even when what we see and feel seems contrary.

The scriptures say that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). Often we think of this verse in terms of sin - that is, "train your mind to do good things and not bad things". That is a very shortsighted, defeatist way to look at it. The great battle is not learning to overcome sin, because Jesus already did that for you and gave you His divine nature. The great battle is learning how to think and behave like someone who carries that divine nature. And for many of us, that means unlearning many thought patterns and habits that we think are good and spiritual, but are actually obsolete and useless. God has already given us everything that we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3), so our mission is to condition our minds to think that way, and then we can truly begin to live by faith - faith in what Jesus has done for us and not what we can earn for ourselves.

2 Corinthians 4:18 – “… While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

If we are to fulfill God’s will for us as His children, we must learn to see. Seeing is central to everything that the kingdom of God has to offer. There is a reason why the first thing God created was light (Gen 1:2-3). The just (that is, the Christian) shall live by faith (Romans 1:17), faith being the evidence of things not (physically) seen. The way faith works is that we must first see what is unseen, and develop confidence in it, and then it manifests (Gen 15:5-6). One of the greatest gifts we have been given as believers is the ability to see. But too often, we do not use it.

"... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection of the dead." - Phil 3:10-11

It's Easter once again - that time of the year when we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But do you really know everything you need to know about the resurrection? Why is it significant? What does it mean for you and I? Let's dive in.