Month: May 2014
Who Do You Say That I Am – By Kim Hadaway
Who Do You Say That I AM?
God Himself told Abraham, “I am…your exceedingly great reward.” There are also places in the Word that describe the richness of the Promised Land and the inheritance and allotments of land that were given to the children of Israel.
In doing a study on this, one of the most amazing discoveries that I have come across in my walk with the Lord is that God gave Himself as an inheritance to the priests. The Lord God told the priests that He was their inheritance, just as He told Abraham that He was his exceeding and great reward. That is the richest and best inheritance of all!
When we read these passages, we must be encouraged and know this was and is not just limited to Abraham or Old Testament priests. For, as Believers in Jesus Christ, we are priests and kings before our God, and all that God is and all that He possesses is ours. The Word reminds us we are joint heirs with Jesus and have become partakers of the richest inheritance of all. We know that the first and greatest gift we receive as Believers is eternal life! And we, through Jesus and His rich gift of salvation, have been restored to the Father and have been blessed with complete and total access to the Father. Praise God!
That is why I entitled this devotional, “Who Do You Say That I Am?” If we fully have understanding of Who our God is, and all He possesses, we gain insight into all that He has imparted to us as Believers. What an amazing Father! May your heart be filled with praise as you continue to discover the depths of our God and Maker and His rich love. He truly has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places and given us everything that pertains to life and godliness.
Devotional Teaching: The Lord Desires For Us To Know Him and His Great Love
Over 12 years ago, the Lord spoke to my husband and me and told us to go to the land that He would show us, just like Abraham. I knew that it was a new chapter in our journey of life, and I knew that there was a promised land that awaited us, filled with richness like we have never known before. We have always been blessed, but we somehow knew we were about to encounter so much more than we had ever known.
As we began that next chapter in our journey in life, the Lord shared with us prophetically that we would enter a place of enlightenment and we were to embrace the time. I will never be the same because of it. During this time I was given the greatest invitation. I was to become intimately acquainted with our God and discover the rich inheritance that we have in Him.
While on this journey, I was being led by the Lord to do a study of His names, and let me share that I have never been the same. I truly entered into a place of enlightenment; in fact, this is now part of my life’s message.
I have always known the Lord and been aware of His presence. I have communed with Him for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the Church and in a Christian family. I accepted Jesus personally as my Savior at age eight and have always been thankful for His presence and unconditional love!
But during this particular part of my life’s journey, God did an amazing, deep work in me and, again, I have never been the same. As I shared earlier, I have known the Lord my whole life, but the discovery of His goodness, rich love, and faithfulness only cause me to grow stronger each day. His truths are being established at such a deep level that I am not easily shaken. Again, it all begins with knowing Him. The Word of God states that those who know their God will be strong and do great exploits.
Who do you say that I am?… Matthew 16:15-19
As I said, I grew up in the Church and my family members were Christians, but I was not created to live off their salvation and encounters with Jesus. It had to become personal to me, and this is true for us all. Their salvation and experiences with the Lord influenced me, but God created each of us for personal relationship. He created each of us individually for relationship and to know Him intimately.
In Matthew 16:15, the Lord Jesus asked the disciples a huge question and it was, “Who do you say that I am?” They had been walking and living with Him for a while before He asked the above question. This could be true for many of us in the Church and for those in the world at many different levels – how long have you been walking with the Lord? Do we really fully know Him? We can only grow daily in this revelation. God invites each of us to do so by walking and communing with Him every day. And in this place, we will be strengthened, encouraged, and strong!
Jesus asked the personal question and Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus shared, “Flesh and blood didn’t reveal this to you, Peter, but My Father who is in Heaven, and upon this rock (this revelation), I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven.”
Hell will never be able to prevail against Jesus. He is the Victor, and when we encounter Jesus and discover the richness of Who our God is, hell cannot prevail in our lives. The Lord desires for us to know Him and His great love. Jesus demonstrated this great love on the Cross, but defeated the powers and works of darkness as well, and rose victorious. Again, as we receive this revelation, we too are strengthened, because He dwells in us! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us – the very Spirit of God.
During my journey with the Lord, He took me through Psalm 23 as well, and began to teach me how to lie in green pastures and trust in Him and allow Him to be my trust. Psalm 23 begins with letting us know who the Lord is – He is our Shepherd, Protector, Nurturer, Guide, Provision, Help, Comforter, Peace, Sustainer, Restorer, Lover, Deliverer, Life, Truth, Counselor, Breakthrough, King of Glory, Lord of Heaven’s Armies, Friend. He is Faithful, True, Merciful, the Alpha and Omega…and so much more. Many of these names and characteristics of God are mentioned in Psalm 23 and other places throughout the Word. These names describe our God!
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it (His Name, the truth of who He is) and they are safe. As we study His name and meditate on Him, we find ourselves strengthened, empowered, and established in the truth. Poverty mindsets are broken off and we, who have been held captive in times past, find ourselves walking and established in freedom. Giants are defeated as well.
As Believers our inheritance in Jesus Christ is rich and without limit. My prayer for you is the same as mentioned in Ephesians 1: I pray that the eyes of your understanding will continue to be flooded with light and that you will continue to grow in the knowledge of Him.
Ephesians 1:15-23 reads: “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 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.”
Weekly Scripture Meditation
Week ONE – Matthew 16:15-23
Week TWO – Ephesians 1 and 3
Week THREE – Revelation 1 and 4:1
Week FOUR – Psalm 23
Out of Your Belly Will Flow Rivers – By Kim Hadaway
Out of Your Belly Will Flow Rivers
In John 7:38, the Word states, “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (KJV). This word has been quickened in my spirit again, as well as the emphasis on rivers. It speaks volumes to me, and I pray it will be quickened in you as well, again and again.
We as children of God are to bring forth life and fruit that was birthed and begun in God. In the above Scripture, we see a key that is so important. The passage begins with, “He that believeth…” The word believe is in no way a shallow belief, but one of complete trust and total reliance on. Jesus is not only the One we trust in, but He must become our trust. And out of this place of trust we will find the abundance of God flowing through us in every area of our lives.
The word states in Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits” (NKJV). And another Scripture that resonates is Isaiah 26:3, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind…is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You” (AMP). Strength and peace are fruit that are produced as we abide in the river of God.
As we are born again, we are blessed with His extravagant love and the privilege of knowing Him and being filled with Him, His love, His riches, His promises, His healing, His restoration and becoming one with all He is and possesses.
This place is a continuous flow from Him to us, through us to others – ah, what bliss. Again, this is a river that never runs dry, and as we learn to bask in this river we will never run dry.
The Rivers of God
Let me share a couple of other Scriptures with you and encourage you to look them up and meditate on them, because these Scriptures speak of the rivers of God and the abundance, fruitfulness, and healing in them.
Genesis 2 speaks of the river that flows through the Garden of Eden. This river was split into four rivers, and each river’s name describes it as bursting forth with life, fruitfulness and abundance. Solomon was anointed and proclaimed king beside one of these rivers, and the first river unearthed some of the treasures that were in the land. It actually states pure gold, bdellium, and onyx.
The river mentioned in Ezekiel 47 speaks of it flowing from the temple, and everywhere it flows it brings forth life. Many trees of various kinds grow along the banks of this river, and their leaves never wither. There will always be fruit on these trees and new crops of fruit will spring forth every month. There is never a season where fruit is not abounding. This fruit will be for food and the leaves are for healing.
Revelation 22 speaks of the river with the water of life, clear as crystal, that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. As it flows, on each side of the river grows a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves are used for medicine to heal the nations (this is after the vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven). In verse three of chapter 22 it states there will no longer be a curse upon anything, for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will worship Him.
I recently heard an analogy of a sponge on the water, which abides or stays in the water and begins to be filled with the water. Before long it is completely immersed in the water until it is overflowing with water. When that sponge is taken out of the water, the water is still in the sponge and it leaks on everything around it. That should be us. Again, this is a simple analogy, but why would we not go deeper in Him? If we think we have experienced all of Him and understand all of His Kingdom, we are deceived. We will continue to discover our Lord and His love forever – I know I desire to grow deeper in Him. In Ephesians 3 it speaks of comprehending spiritually that which in the natural we cannot. But the more we experience Him and His love, the more we find ourselves consumed and realizing there is always more.
During this time of renewed study on the river of God, I began to have experiences with the Lord. By faith I began to posture myself afresh and new to lay in the river of God and allow Him to flow over and through me and carry me wherever He desired.
One such time was after having a disturbing dream. The dream had to do with injustice, and in the dream I knew I was seeing and experiencing what others had been, or were, experiencing. I knew the dream was for intercession, but when I woke from the dream it was a little difficult to pray because of all the emotion in the dream. As I lay (by faith) in the river of God and allowed His peaceful waters to flow over me, I began to have clarity of mind and thought. The intercession came easy and strong.
I actually had a friend with me when the memory of the dream came back to me, and as I shared the dream with her, she too felt the emotion and injustice in the dream. I shared with her that I needed to, by faith, lie in the river of God to have the emotions in the dream washed off, so I would not pray out of my emotion but out a pure place of union with God, and we both did this together. We each tangibly felt the emotion being submitted to God and the peace of God come into us and into the room. The time of intercession was so beautiful and filled with life and revelation, I knew the time had been fruitful.
This is just one example of this, but, even as we go about our daily lives, no matter where we are we can remind ourselves we were created to live in a state of peace with Him, and His peace won’t just affect and change us, but it will affect and change the world around us.
Another Scriptural example of this union is in Ezekiel 1. In this chapter it shares about the living creatures and how they are filled with eyes, and they are only moved by Holy Spirit. They move when He moves, and nothing else moves them. This should be so with us. They are filled with eyes, always seeing what the Father and Son are doing and moving beautifully and in total union with the Holy Spirit of God. This is how we will establish His government on the earth as it is in Heaven, becoming one with Him.
We truly are anointed sons and daughters of the Living God, and I am crying for the river of God to flow in and through us as Believers to bring forth abundant life, food, and healing for the nations!
Prayer For You, the Body of Christ
Lord God, we thank You that we have been given invitation to make our home in You. We are so grateful and filled with joy, and we willingly accept this blessed invitation. We desire to flow with You as one, even as You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are One. We desire to live our lives flowing as one in perfect union with You, and with our brothers and sisters in Christ as well.
We invite You, Lord God, to continually move in and through us, that Your name will be glorified in all the earth. We pray that many souls will be saved, delivered, and healed in this day and hour, and we will be truly aware of the rivers that flow out of it to bring life to individual people as well as people groups and nations.
Let’s pray for the earth to be “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Prayer For Those Who Cannot Speak For Themselves
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Proverbs 31:8
Lord, we come as priests and kings ministering before You, our God. We cry out for those who cannot speak for themselves. Lord, we cry out for justice to be ensured for those who are being crushed by the enemy’s schemes. We use the voice You have given us and are speaking up for the poor and the helpless, so they may receive justice.
We pray for Your river of life to flow through us, Your people, to those who are hurting and abused and in need of You, so they can experience Your great love, salvation, and abundance. We pray in agreement with Your Word in Isaiah 61 and decree that Your Spirit is upon us. You continue to anoint us to preach the Good News to the poor, and send us to bind up the broken hearted, set the captives free, and open of prison doors. And as we have once been those who were broken, we now sing the songs of freedom for all to hear. We will go forth into the nations and be repairers and restorers and builders in the wastelands, and we’ll see the desolation of many generations brought to repair and complete restoration in Jesus’ name! We call forth salvation for the peoples and nations around the world who have not been able to speak nor cry out for themselves, and we declare they now have a voice and it is heard by the Most High God.
