John 1:16 says "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace."

God does not do things in half measures! When He gives or releases something, He gives the full measure. Salvation, forgiveness, mercy, grace, whatever He does, He does in full measure. I want you to know that this year can be the year of His full measure in your life, all you have to do is receive it. The only thing stopping you is how you think or how you see. Psalm 16:11  says, "In Your presence is fullness of joy;" 

In this year, let's seek the presence of God, not just His omnipresence, but His dwelling presence. 

In Exodus 33, Moses has a decision to make. God promises to send an angel with Moses and the Israelites into the promise land. The angel will drive out all the "ites" from the land, the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Victory was promised to them, but God said " for I will not go up in your midst,". Moses could take the people into the promised land with the angel and have victory over the "ites" without the presence of God, or he could stay where he was with the presence of God. He said to God "if you will not go with us, we'll stay right here. 

Moses sets up a tent outside the camp and goes in daily to worship and spend time with God. Moses was perusing the dwelling presence of God, he wasn't satisfied with the omnipresence of God, he wanted to see Him and he wanted to know Him. He wanted to feel that tangible presence that brings the fullness of God into his life.

This is our prayer for you for this year, that as you seek His presence, His fullness will fill your life in every measure possible. Seek Him and let Him fill you to overflowing!

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Peace Comes from God and is the evidence of the rule of Jesus, the Child that was prophesied in Isaiah 9. He is the Prince of Peace and the character of His rule rests in our hearts. Jesus said in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you".

When we let the Peace of God rule in our hearts, His Peace becomes our umpire to:

1/. Make righteous decisions

2/. Overruling doubts that plague us

3/. Overcoming the lies of the enemy that try to defeat us

Let the Peace of God rule in your heart and mind, keep focused on His Promise, His Power and His Presence.

Matthew 1:23  "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which is translated, "God with us." 

In Matthew 3:16-17 When Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, it says when He came up out of the water the Heavens were opened, He was filled with the Spirit and verse 17 says:

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Jesus wasn’t just filled with the Spirit, but His identity was revealed. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” Jesus sonship was revealed when the Spirit of God had come upon Him.

Jesus walked in the power of His identity, filled with the Spirit and all hell trembled when He spoke.

Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Just as Jesus was filled and His identity revealed, the same happens with us. When we are filled with the Spirit, there is a mighty sound from Heaven, we are filled with Godly fire, our speech changes into Heavenly speech, and our identity is now in Him, the one who created us. It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me.

We now have a remarkable resemblance to our Heavenly Father.

When the Spirit of the Lord starts working in our lives, things begin to change. Our focus changes from inward to outward, we become givers and not takers. We begin to take on a holy passion as the fire of God begins to burn in us.

Let’s examine ourselves today. Is there a Holy fire burning in me, how do I respond to life situations, is it more about me or do I see the need of those around me, have I become more inwardly focused than outward? If so, it’s time for a fresh infilling of Holy Spirit.

BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT!

GALATIANS 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We who are Christians declare that we are under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

EPHESIANS 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Holy Spirit is a person, not a feeling, an idea, or an atmosphere, His presence is the knowing and the assurance that God is with us. He is our guarantee! 2 CORINTHIANS 5:5

When we learn about Holy Spirit we need to understand that He is sent to us by Jesus, the anointed one, and the fountainhead of all Anointing is the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the Root of David, He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He is the Earth’s one true Messiah, His name is Jesus!

Just as Elijah was caught up and left his mantle, a double portion of his spirit, for Elisha to pick up, Jesus, when He was caught up left His mantle, Holy Spirit, for the Church to pick up!

Holy Spirit has been sent to dwell in the Church, build the church and lead the church, Gods people, into maturity.

So with Holy Spirit comes the Anointing, you cannot separate the two. If you are filled with Holy Spirit, YOU ARE ANOINTED!

PSALM 133:1 BEHOLD, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in UNITY! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For THERE the LORD COMMANDED the blessing—Life forevermore.

BEHOLD means to See, as an expressing of surprise, take notice of this!

WHERE?

“For THERE the LORD COMMANDED the blessing”….

Commanded means to constitute, appoint, charge, send a messenger.

God has constituted or appointed laws and principles in place, so that when certain things happen, there are blessings that are automatically activated!

Verse 1: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

UNITY in this verse is the activating factor. Unity of the brethren, the people of God, the Church.

The Church speaks of the Global Church uniting together, it speaks of the local Church uniting together and it speaks of our Church uniting together, being of one heart and one mind, to build together the vision and the mandate of what God has put in our hearts. God does not just want His Church to be full of Church Members, but United Builders of the Manifold Wisdom of God.

EPHESIANS 3:10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

When the Church comes into Unity (Agreement), something begins to happen!

MATTHEW 5:23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

The Love of God in us works all these things!

VERSE 2: It is like the precious oil (Holy Spirit anointing) upon the head (the mind and the thoughts), Running down on the beard (strength and honor), The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments (covering). 3 It is like the dew of Hermon (place of consecration), Descending upon the mountains (the Kingdom of God) of Zion (the Church);

Aaron here is the high priest, what is written here sets a pattern for the anointing to be released and flow down from his head, over his garments and to his toes, that which ultimately affects the blessing of the whole local church!

Most times the church members have an expectation for the Aaron of the Church to carry and release the anointing in the house. Although this is true, it is a partial truth. This scripture shows us how important we all are to the level of the anointing in the house.

The anointing in your leaderships life is increased in it’s release when we as a body unite together.

Let’s look at the word THERE!

There means: there, as transferred into time, then and is In relation to another Hebrew word that means: who, which, what, when and where, so that.

“THERE” in this scripture is not talking about a place, something over there, but a specific moment in time. A moment when God releases His Word, Mercy, Grace or Favor into a situation pertaining to man.

Moses had a THERE moment with the burning bush!

Elijah had a THERE moment when the fire fell upon the alter!

Elisha had a THERE moment when the river opened up when he struck it with the mantle of Elijah!

David had a THERE moment when the stone struck the giant and took him down!

Saul had a THERE moment when he was knocked off his horse and God spoke to him!

The disciples had a THERE moment when Holy Spirit arrived suddenly on the day of Pentecost!

We had a THERE moment when we met Jesus and gave our lives to Him!

CONCLUSION

Faith creates expectancy, expectancy places a demand on the anointing, our unity releases the man of God to function in his anointing, which fills the house of God with His Glory, which gives us life forevermore!

JOHN 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

From the very beginning of time, there was agreement in the heavens. There were three that bore witness or walked in agreement.

1JOHN 5:7 For there are three that bear witness (agree) in heaven: the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

1JOHN 5:8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

Who is this Spirit, water and blood?

1JOHN 5:6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness (brings agreement), because the Spirit is truth.

This agreement came down to earth in the form of the man, Jesus the Christ.

From the agreement in Heaven, Jesus was sent to earth to bring and release that agreement on the earth.

JOHN 17:20-22 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

Jesus prays for the church, the people of God, not only those who now believe, but those who will also believe because of their word. He says “that they also may be one in Us”. In other words, “that they may also be in agreement with us”. Jesus says this in:

MATTHEW 18:18-20 "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

Assuredly = most definitely, properly firm, amen!

If two agree, how hard is it to get two to agree? Jesus knows that it is hard to get individuals to agree on things, and He is not talking about agreeing with our mouths, but agreement that comes from the heart as well. The Bible says “let your yes be yes, and your no be no”. We can agree all day long with our mouths, but if our heart is not in agreement, then there is no power in the agreement. We cannot agree with our brother while we sit together, and then go and disagree with him in our speech to someone else. In the spirit the agreement holds no substance.

This is why we do not see the miraculous power of God in the church, for if we cannot agree here on earth, we cannot ask our Father in Heaven for the miraculous.

We are a church that God wants to establish in the miraculous. For us to see that release of God in and through our lives, we need to be in agreement.

I pray that God will send people into your life today that can agree with and release Gods miraculous for you today.

MARK 2:3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."

We have all heard and read this story of the paralytic and the men who lowered him through the roof.

As I was reading this this morning, I felt the Spirit of the Lord asking me “IS YOUR FAITH THROUGH THE ROOF?” I immediately took a deep dive into my life and ministry over the years and found myself longing for some of the moments when God showed up with miraculous expressions of His glory and touched many people’s lives.

Going back to the scripture, the phrase that stood out to me was: “WHEN THEY HAD BROKEN THROUGH.” These young men had such conviction and such faith that nothing would stop them, they would even break through the roof to see the healing power of Jesus.

Do you have such conviction and such faith today? Do you have TROUGH THE ROOF FAITH today to push through for the BREAK THROUGH?

Father, we pray today with FAITH that will BREAK THROUGH the roof, for those who need Your touch, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Touch them today Father God, only the way you can, in Jesus name we pray, AMEN

The very essence of what God created is family, and just as we take pleasure in our families, God takes pleasure in His family. This means that God is pleased with us and takes great delight in us. Because of this, it is His pleasure to beautify us with salvation in every arena of our lives.

PSALM 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

To beautify means to glorify to the point of boasting. Just like we are proud of our children’s accomplishments, so God is proud of our accomplishments. When my children are excelling at school, when they are enjoying good relationships, when they are achieving their dreams in the market place, when they are fulfilled, I take pleasure in them. Gods heart is no different. When we are blessed and fulfilled, His heart is pleased.

When we humble ourselves as His people, His children, His salvation is in us and for us. To humble ourselves simply means to submit or to acknowledge, to position yourself as a son or daughter under the fathership of God. To allow Him to be Father over your life, with the desire to be just like Him.

One of the greatest feelings a parent can ever feel is when your child is proud to say, “I want to be just like you Dad or Mom.” Or someone says to you, “Your child acts just like you do, or has the same expressions as you do.” When that happens, you just feel so proud, and realize that your children have a desire to be fashioned in your image. Gods desire is the same. His salvation in our lives is to see us, His children, prospering in the earth so that He can take pleasure in us.

You are a son or daughter of the most high God! Fashion your life after Him today and feel the release of His pleasure over and for your life!

Many principles have been written into the Word of God and all are truth, inspired by Holy Spirit, and applicable to us as the people whom God has created for His pleasure.

PSALM 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people….

So when we look at the Word of God, we cannot just look at the New Testament, and neglect the Old Testament, for we are looking for the full counsel of God. In the following two scriptures we find that the Old Testament and the people of the Old Testament are given to us as:

1/. An example to us

2/. For our learning

3/. To build our faith and hope

ROMANS 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

1CORINTHIANS 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

It was never Gods intention to give us a measure of who He is, and keep us in a place of limitation, but to give to us His measure, which is the fullness of who He is.

JOHN 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

EPHESIANS 1:22-23 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

When God gives something, he does not think like us, and give in small portions, but gives with His measure which is fullness. By FAITH, receive from His fullness today and walk in your victory!

COLOSSIANS 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the RICHES of the GLORY of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is CHRIST IN YOU, the HOPE OF GLORY.

We are the house of God, the temple or tabernacle of God, the dwelling place of God because His Spirit dwells in us, AND:

1JOHN 4:4b ....because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Over the last few weeks we have looked at the Glory of God in you as being the gifts God has put in your life. Today we look at the gifts of Jesus given to the church, the Five-Fold Ministry.

EPHESIANS 4:11 And He Himself (Jesus) gave some to be APOSTLES, some PROPHETS, some EVANGELISTS, and some PASTORS and TEACHERS, 12 for the EQUIPPING of the saints for the WORK of MINISTRY, for the EDIFYING of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the UNITY of the FAITH and of the KNOWLEDGE of the SON of GOD, to a PERFECT man, to the measure of the STATURE of the FULNESS of CHRIST;

Yes, these five gifts where given to us all by Jesus and these graces are still functional in the church today. They all have different anointing's and work in different ways to build us into the fulness of Christ. They are here to EQUIP us for the WORK of MINISTRY. Yes, we the church are all called to ministry but we are not all called to five -fold ministry. They are also called to EDIFY the church which in the Greek means: "the architecture of a family". We are the family of God and these gifts are continually working on our character and building and strengthening us to become a perfect man (family), to that which measures up to the stature of the fullness of Christ.

When God sends these gifts into your life, do not despise, criticize or reject them, for they will challenge you, stretch you, encourage you, show you tough love, show you grace as they are lead by the Spirit of God. Just because they don't tickle your ears and tell you what you want to hear does not mean they don't love you!

MATTHEW 10:41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

Jesus has given these gifts to you! Receive everything you can from them and prosper into the fulness of what God has for you!

God bless you!

COLOSSIANS 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We are the house of God, the temple or tabernacle of God, the dwelling place of God because His Spirit dwells in us.

Last week we touched on the Glory in you being all the gifts and abilities God has given to you by the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This week we will look at the gifts given by the Father to us.

ROMANS 12:3 For I say, through the GRACE given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of FAITH.

There are two gifts mentioned here and they are GRACE and FAITH. These are gifts given to us by the Father.

Be encouraged today, God has dealt to you a measure of Grace for a few reasons.

1/. The Grace upon your life enables you to be who God has called you to be. It's the measure that that makes way for you to express your identity in Christ.

2/. It is also the measure that creates the space and opportunity to be successful in fulfilling your passion and desire in this life.

I believe that our passion and desires are given by God and are breathed on by the Spirit of God so that they come alive in us.

PSALM 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

That brings me to the next gift given by the Father, Faith.

Faith is not the practice of religious rituals, but the absolute belief that God loves us unconditionally and that He has our lives in the palm of His hands. This kind of Faith believes that He can do all things and that nothing is impossible for Him.

So here's how it works: God has given us the grace of desires and the passion to pursue those desires, He has also given us Faith so that we can take the first step towards the desire and when we take the first step, then His grace makes way for us to fulfil those desires.

Faith is the action that moves us towards, and God's Grace makes the way to bring it to fruition.

I can testify through many experiences in life and ministry, that taking a Faith step towards what God is stirring in your heart will begin the process of fulfilling the desire of your heart.

The gifts of the Father are Grace and Faith. They are both working in your life today and everyday to show forth the Glory of God in you.

Take a step of Faith today and watch the Grace of God work miracles in your life.

COLOSSIANS 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We are the house of God, the temple or tabernacle of God, the dwelling place of God because His Spirit dwells in us.

God has already placed in you what you need to be who you were created to be here on the earth. Every spiritual gift, every spiritual fruit, every grace, every measure of faith, God has created you to be the body, the house for His glory to dwell within. His Kingdom authority is in you, the rule and reign of Christ is in you, His Word is in you that speaks Spirit and Life.

If His Spirit dwells in us, then His gifts and abilities dwell in us, His personality dwells in us. It is by Faith that we walk in this Grace that God has given us.

So what are the gifts then?

1CORINTHIANS 12:4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same (Holy) Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord (Jesus). 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same (Father) God who works all in all…

This is the scripture that leads us into the revealing of the nine Gifts of the Spirit. In the introduction, it mentions three different manifestations of the Godhead, Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father.

Diversity of Gifts by Holy Spirit, differences of ministries by Jesus and then diversities of activities by Father God.

Three different manifestations, one God, and all of these have been given for the perfecting, empowering and releasing of you and I, the church, into the full functioning body of Christ.

This is the Fulness of His Glory, and it dwells in you and I!

Next week we will look at these manifestations in more detail.

God bless you as you begin to manifest His Glory in the world around you!