Plugged into the Power

Plugged into the Power

Plugged into the Power was our first session at the women's conference, it was taught by April Goestch. (Blue words will be her notes, pink will be mine)

This message probably impacted me the most. Her question to everyone was: 

"What is Victorious Christian Living?"

1) KNOW WHO YOU ARE -- YOUR OLD NATURE IS DEAD (Romans 6:6)

  

A. The old man was crucified with Christ. Your past has no hold on you anymore, Christ is in you and has made you new!  

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

 B. Even if you don't feel dead, you still are. Your feelings always scream louder then the truth and they tend to drown out the truth from your mind. 

-Sometimes it's hard for Christians to believe that their old nature is dead and gone, and if you stay chained to that you will never live victoriously. 

-The Bible doesn't say that the pleasure of sin goes away, it's just now against your new nature. 

-Don't ever allow your feelings to drown out the truth of the God's Word!

Romans 6:9 "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." 

2) KNOW HOW GOD SEES YOU -- AS FULLY ACCEPTED THROUGH THE BLOOD

-Satan tries to convince us that every time God looks down at us He's frowning because of how much we've failed throughout the day.  But that is so far from the truth! When God looks at us He doesn't see US, He sees Christ and HIS BLOOD SHED FOR US. 

-It's not up to you to make yourself acceptable to God, you'd never be able to do that. Christ already did that for us when He died on the cross for us, wasn't He enough?! 

-The Blood of Jesus was not meant for us to see or feel, it was solely meant to satisfy God. 

3) KNOW YOUR MOTIVATION TO LIVE -- BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S DEATH, YOU HAVE HIS LIFE  (Romans 6:8)

-The Blood of Jesus was not just meant for salvation, but also to give us complete, direct, unrestricted access to God. Nothing we can ever do will make us better or worse, we come before God through the Blood regardless of how our day has been. 

-Hebrews 9:1-14 

-Boldly approach the throne, because you have a High Priest (Jesus) who has provided a way for you! 

4) KNOW THE REASON FOR THE FRUSTRATION -- SATAN WILL DO EVERYTHING HE CAN TO GIVE YOU A FALSE IDENTITY 

A. Don't believe the LIES of Satan. (Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon [continually conclude] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord") 

-Just like a hypnotist, Satan will try to convince you of every lie in the book. 

-Satan can't take your salvation away, you can never lose it, so he does the next best thing: he confuses us and makes us doubt our identity. 

-The song "I'm just a sinner saved by grace" can be a dangerous thought if taken too seriously, because when we are saved we share CHRIST'S identity...why are we downplaying the magnitude of how He has changed us??  

-Do you ever look at a butterfly and think: "Wow! What an awesome, converted, used-to-be-ugly, worm!"??? NO. You just see a butterfly. So why do Christians believe Satan's lies and look at ourselves that way? YOU'RE NOT A WORM ANYMORE, DON'T ACT LIKE ONE! BE A BUTTERFLY! 

 

B. Don't give POWER to the flesh. (Romans 6:12-14)

-Ephesians 5:1-8

-WE have the CHOICE to yield ourselves to Christ or to Satan. Which will we choose? 

-Always ask yourself, "what's true, and what's feelings?"

5) KNOW YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE -- YOU ARE A FRUIT HANGER; NOT A FRUIT PRODUCER (John 15:1-5)

A. Follow the PATTERN of Christ--Total dependency on God

-John 5:36 "But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me."

-John 12:49 "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 

B. Love Him because He first loved you

-Love leads to Dependency which leads to Obedience.

-1John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

-1John 4:19 "We love Him, because He first loved us"

C. Constantly ABIDE in the vine

-John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing."

-It's only the branches job to HOLD the fruit, that's it, nothing more. It's Jesus' job to bear the fruit. 

One final thought:

There's a story of a boy in a room, he's got headphones on and is clapping and tapping to the music he's listening to. Then (as a test) a deaf boy is added to the room... He sees the boy clapping and tapping and figures that that is just what is done in this room and so he starts clapping and tapping too. However, since the deaf boy can't hear the music, he eventually tires and stops clapping and tapping. 

This is how it applies to us:

Apart from a heart motivated by the Spirit to live right, we're going to stop "clapping and tapping" to the "music." So seek the Spirit's guidance in your life, don't ever allow yourself to get to the point where you can't "hear the music" because that's when weariness sets in, and then we fall away from God. Instead, keep close to Him, read your Bible, pray, spend time in worship, all these things will keep you motivated; keep you going.