Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I am in Portugal. I arrived here last Friday, and I have had a full weekend with many God testimonies so far. It is always a joy to be here with my church family and to see the work of God’s Spirit in the testimony of His love. It is a great blessing to be a part of God’s purpose and plan in this world. Thank you to all who have participated in this past weekend. Today I met with many leaders of congregations of the CCVA churches in Portugal. God is doing good things!
Christianity is not meant to be a religion. It is not meant to be a belief system. Christianity is a faith, not a belief. It is a faith that comes by a personal connection to God in our hearts. It is the testimony of being a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Faith happens when we hear God in our hearts, and it inspires the actions of our lives.
1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.
When we know God’s love, we are empowered to love God. A revelation of God’s love in our lives will enable us to hear Him in our hearts. When we hear Him in our hearts, we are inspired in our faith towards Him. When we have faith towards God, we make sacrifices of love for Him and for those He loves. This is the fruit of knowing our election in Him. It is not by efforts of our flesh but by a revelation of His goodness and love.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer…
The first century church was suffering persecutions, even unto death. In some places of the world this is true this very moment. In difficult times our faith is tested. Do we trust the One we hear in our hearts. When we trust God, we love Him! This is true in good times and in times of trouble. Our hearts should burn with love for God at all times. Our hope is not in persecutions but in the One who abides in us and causes us to manifest as sons and daughters of God even in times of trouble. Just as the first century church overcame in their generation, we too can overcome in whatever circumstance or situation we find ourselves in. Our faith is the fruit of a personal relationship with God in Christ. Our relationship with Him is also the fire that empowers us to abound in actions of love towards one another.
What seeks to destroy us in life is destroyed by the presence of God in our lives. In the first century there was a day of judgment that destroyed the persecutors of the church. The antichrist spirit of Pharisaic legalism couldn’t destroy the true temple of God but was in fact destroyed because the living temple of God proved to be faithful and true, even in the midst of persecution. The antichrist spirit of dead religion and the antichrist spirit of the world could not destroy the true temple of the Spirit of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:6 …since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
The pronouns in these verses were written for people in Paul’s generation, but they are also true for us today. There was a destruction of the persecutors of the first century church in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Old Covenant Torah/Temple system. What opposed Christ was destroyed by the very weapons they sought to use against the Church rooted in faith and patience in Christ. What was true in Christ proved to be lasting while what opposed Christ was revealed to be false and was removed.
Even in our own lives, everything that opposes the life of Christ in us is destroyed by the life-transforming power of Christ in us. The true always removes the false. Christ is always more powerful than anything or anyone that is antichrist. Embracing Christ is not about embracing a religion or a belief system of Christianity. Embracing Christ is abiding in Him and inviting Him to abide in us at all times. This is the source our faith and the empowerment of our patience to inherit all that He gives to us in life.
Blessings,
Ted J. Hanson
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