Stand firm in faith! At StandInFaith.org my purpose is to: (1) Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes; (2) Learn How to Possess My Christian Inheritance; and (3) Teach Others How To Possess Their Inheritance.
Stand Firm In Faith | Follow the Lamb
When Jesus called His 12 apostles He simply said “Follow Me.” Then, they left their former life. Instead, they followed, watched, and listened to Jesus, continually learning His ways. This is what it means to be a disciple.
At the end of the age, the 144000 disciples whom God presents as models of Christian success simply “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”
Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads… They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Revelation 14:1,4-5
Abide in the Vine
Spiritual power, confidence in prayer, and supernatural faith flow from ‘abiding in the vine’ (John 15).
Only as I hear God’s voice (rhema) and actively follow His leading is it possible for me to be fruitful in His spiritual kingdom.
As I hear and follow the Lamb I’ll develop my spirit’s senses. My soul will become sensitive and aware of my spirit’s ability to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch things in the spiritual realm…
If Elisha could see in the spiritual realm in the Old Testament (2 Kings 6:15-17), surely we have as much (or more) capability under the New Covenant, especially since Pentecost!
Stand Firm In Faith | Be Holy
Obey God’s Spoken Words
Listen for and recognize God’s voice in my spirit. Obey His voice instantly and completely, every time.
Obey God’s Written Words
Before you can stand firm in faith your conscience must be clean before God.
To be holy, simply ‘walk in the Spirit,’ living within the boundaries set by the Word of God.
Keep God’s Appointed Times
Throughout the first century, Jesus, the apostles, and their followers kept God’s appointed times–listed in Leviticus chapter 23.
But after the first century, and ever since, the ‘Christian’ church migrated away from these ‘Jewish’ festivals, replacing them with festivals rooted in paganism. Trying to make these pagan holidays ‘Christian’ is like putting lipstick on a pig.
God directed His people to keep His appointed times. Jesus honored them, and He didn’t change God’s direction under the New Covenant.
So then, what does the following verse mean?
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.”
Colossians 2:16
It means we are not to judge others regarding how they celebrate the Lord’s festivals. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to replace them with pagan rites.
- We should not celebrate the Lord’s festivals ritually or mechanically. Don’t do them to fulfill the law.
- We should celebrate the Lord’s festivals from a spiritual perspective, looking for their life-giving revelation and fulfillment within God’s plan of redemption and His coming kingdom.
God’s Appointed Times:
Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Tabernacles
Stand Firm In Faith | Possess My Christian Inheritance
What is My Christian Inheritance?
By virtue of Jesus’ sacrificial death as my Passover Lamb, and His subsequent resurrection and gift of the Holy Spirit, I have a Christian inheritance. What is it?
Today, as a follower of the Lamb (even while still within a body of flesh) I have a Christian inheritance, including:
- The right to stand firm in faith, in YHWH’s presence in heaven, without guilt or shame, as a son of YHWH and brother of Yeshua.
- Confidence to walk in mature sonship as a son of God on earth, in constant fellowship and communication with God’s Spirit.
- Authority to perform supernatural ‘greater works,’ as led by the Spirit, just as Yeshua did.
This sounds great, but how do I do them–in practical terms?
How Can I Possess My Christian Inheritance?
In the coming age (the 1000-year reign of Messiah) Jesus will reign over the whole earth. But His earthly reign won’t start until the 7th Trumpet, at the end of the Great Tribulation.
The ‘Ages in God’s Plan’ are fascinating and illuminating to understand, but they’re outside the scope of this article. To learn about them, read The Overcomers’ Treasure Map. It’s available free worldwide.)
So, at least until the 7th Trumpet, our Christian inheritance (our promised land) is celestial–not on earth.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
Ephesians 2:6
Therefore, during this eon my focus is on possessing my Christian inheritance in the heavenly/celestial realm.
As I explain in detail in the Overcomers’ Treasure Map, this means doing my part to win the war in heaven… evicting the Devil, his angels, and any other adversaries from the celestial/spiritual realm.
Having a Christian inheritance in the celestial realm and fighting a war in heaven are foreign and hard for us to comprehend.
- Pastors don’t teach these concepts to their flocks.
- We’ve only known life within a carnal, physical body, and we’re not familiar with the celestial realm.
There’s more on the ‘War in Heaven’ below. But first, some foundational concepts:
Time is an Illusion
We can only physically see what exists in the material world. And, while we cannot physically see it, our spirits dwell in the celestial realm.
So, unlike our bodies, our spirits dwell in another dimension of reality, where time is not a constraint. Our spirits dwell with God in timeless eternity.
Albert Einstein said,
The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. He also said, “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
So, although we can’t sense this in our material world, Einstein’s statement means our spirits now jointly-share Christ’s celestial allotment in heaven. If He is Lord over all in heaven, so are we.
This is just as true now as it will be in eternity–after our spirits receive their glorified bodies. We just can’t sense it now.
We have authority to rule in the spiritual realm
Therefore, as members of Christ’s Body we now have His authority to rule in the celestial/spiritual realm. The fleshly nature of our perishable body doesn’t limit our spirit’s ability to operate in the celestial realm.
Our spirits are as glorified now as they’ll be a million years from now, in the new heaven and earth. The difference in that future realm will be that our imperishable bodies will have been conformed to live in that heavenly realm.
Since our spiritual senses are limited by our flesh, until we receive our glorified bodies we must rely on spiritual guidance from God’s Spirit through prayer, visions, dreams, etc. He is always available–we’re the weak link in the process.
To possess our Christian inheritance we must prioritize His still, small voice higher than all the loud voices and pressures of the physical world that constantly bombard us for our attention.
Hearing God’s Voice
Ancient Israel
For the ancient Israelites, following God’s leading was done in two ways.
- See: When God led them out of Egypt He led them with a visible manifestation of ‘the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.’
- Hear: They followed God through hearing God’s voice.
Jesus
Yeshua also modeled both of these methods for us to follow. Jesus said,
Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
John 5:19
I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 5:30
Unlike the ancient Israelites, however, Jesus didn’t normally see or hear physical manifestations of God in His daily walk.
Instead, just like us, Jesus ‘saw’ and ‘heard’ God with the eyes and ears of His spirit, through prayer and communion with the Father. This is still our method today.
Hearing God’s Voice Today
It is impossible to stand firm in faith unless you’re hearing God’s voice, His rhema. I can positively state this because,
Therefore faith is from the hearing ear, and the hearing ear is from the word (the rhema) of God.
Romans 10:17, Aramaic Bible in Plain English (Italics added)
There are two types of God’s word:
- Logos: God’s written word, the Bible, the gospel in the stars, etc,
- Rhema: God’s spoken word in your heart
YHWH is the living God and He speaks to us in many ways. He also communicates to our spirits through visions, dreams, etc. These are all forms of rhema.
Ancient Israel’s Example
In ancient Israel God expected His people to follow His voice in their daily lives. Here are two clear examples:
If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I, the Lord, am your Healer.
Exodus 15:26
Now it shall be, if you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments…the Lord will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you will obey the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 28:1,2
How much more (since Pentecost) can Christians hear God’s Spirit speaking to them.
How to Hear God’s Voice
If you need help learning how to see and hear God’s voice in your spirit, I recommend the Communing With God course to everyone. (I don’t get anything for this endorsement.)
Or, for free information, see the “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice.”
Stand Firm in Faith | War in Heaven
Before Christ can return to establish His 1000-year reign on earth, the archangel Michael and his army must win the war in heaven, assaulting and evicting the Devil and his followers from heaven.
Michael will cast them down to earth, triggering the Great Tribulation.
The archangel Michael waited hundreds of years for Abraham, and then Israel, to evict the pagan nations from the land of Israel–Michael’s allotted territory on earth.
As of today, Michael has been waiting almost 2000 years for the church to evict the rebellious celestials from heaven. (For the backstory about Michael, Abraham, etc., read the Overcomers’ Treasure Map.)
We Will Win Together
When Israel finally entered Canaan, led by Joshua and Michael, they went in corporately, as a nation. They didn’t enter individually.
The 144000 sons of God will likewise assault the Devil and his angels as a corporate group, following our Joshua as His Spirit leads us. (Jesus is the Greek version of Joshua.)
I must possess my Christian inheritance (my promised land) together with my brethren who must also possess theirs in the celestial realm. But how? How do you evict ‘angelic majesties‘ who ruled their celestial domains for eons, when we are blind and deaf and ignorant in their celestial realm?
I imagine this is similar to how the Israelites felt when they were challenged to evict the giants who lived in walled cities in Canaan. (God, please prevent us from falling through unbelief, as they did.)
Simply Follow God’s Leading
But the answer for how to possess our Christian inheritance will be the same as theirs: All we need to do is follow God’s leading, and do what He tells us to do. This is easy to say, but how can we do it?
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
We don’t need to worry about planning the offensive, or winning the war ourselves. We only need to commune and listen continuously to the Holy Spirit, and instantly obey whatever He tells us to do.
It is the Lord your God Who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy those nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the Lord has spoken.
Deuteronomy 31:3
If we walk in His fellowship, abiding in the Vine, our future victory over the Devil and his angels is certain. God will lead us, and He will fight this war in heaven, going before us. He will cause us to evict and dispossess His enemies. The archangel Michael will then throw them down from heaven down to earth. (The Sequence of End Time Events)
Stand Firm in Faith | Our Christian Inheritance After the 7th Trumpet
After the Devil and his angels are thrown down from heaven to earth, Jesus will return to earth. At the last trumpet our bodies will instantly be transformed into His likeness.
We’ll have glorified, spiritual bodies, like Jesus. Then, we’ll be able to communicate perfectly with celestial and earthly beings, instantly appear in locked rooms, travel a million miles in an instant, and never feel physical pain, age, or tiredness. We’ll be able to perfectly see, hear, smell, feel and taste in the spirit realm.
When God promised Abraham that His seed would be as many as the stars in the heavens, He meant it literally.
There shall be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over His kingdom.
Isaiah 9:7
There will be no end to the increase of His government, or of peace. Astronomers tell us there are countless numbers of galaxies in the universe. And, each galaxy includes millions or billions of stars. It’s hard for our minds to comprehend the practically-infinite number of them.
But, the Bride of Christ (those who follow the Lamb and stand firm in faith) will populate, colonize, and oversee them all. Your allotment (and mine) will be evermore challenging and fulfilling and enjoyable, for eons of eons into the future.
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