PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Romans 5:17
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

When Adam sinned in the garden, he allowed death to reign over mankind. The word reign means to rule. Death and all that came through satan as a result of death such as sickness, poverty, evil, etc, ruled over mankind. The word for life is Zoe. It refers to life as God has it. God is not affected by death, and therefore clearly no element of death rules over Him. In the same way once we are born again, death should no longer rule over any believer for we have been delivered from death and given life.

To reign in this Zoe life, the God kind of life, we do so as the scripture above reveals through One person, Jesus Christ. Jesus in paying the penalty for man’s sin provided for us new life, and a new way of living. A life in which we can now walk free from the rulership of death. To live this new way of life through Christ we must have our faith in what He has done for us, and nothing else. We do not earn this new way of life, but we must learn this new way of life, walking by faith and not by sight.

To walk by faith, we have to learn to stop allowing what we may see or feel in the natural realm to affect what we believe in our heart, speak with our mouth, and act upon. Instead, we must “focus only on” what God’s Word reveals Christ has done for us, and that alone determines what we believe, say, and do. When we learn to “LIVE” a life of bible faith every day, we will reign in life as God has it. So, begin this new walk of faith by focusing on and believing, saying, and acting upon what you now have in Christ Jesus.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Colossians 2:11
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.

As stated in this verse, circumcision means a cutting away, and in this reference, it refers to a cutting away of the old sinful nature on the inside, referring to our old spirit man. When you truly become born again, that old dead spirit man was taken away and a brand-new spirit with the life of God is birthed in you. The Lord removed the old sinful man on the inside so we can be transformed on the outside as well.

As Romans 12:1-2 tells us, we are to now present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable response of worship unto Him. And we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we can prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. This renewal of the mind is the key to seeing this new man change the way we live outwardly, now walking in what scripture refers to, life as God has it. The key to renewing the mind becomes what we renew our minds to.

We need to focus the renewal of our minds on the scriptures in the New Testament that refer to “In Christ, In Him, In Whom, etc.” Take time to write these verses down. This is who you have now become in Christ as a new creation. As you look at these verses, declare them to yourself. In doing so, they will begin to help you see the new man within, and this will transform you from the inside out, walking in this new life you have already been given.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Colossians 2:3
God has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ.

Man has always looked for knowledge and wisdom. When you have knowledge, you have understanding. Once you have understanding you need wisdom, which is application of that knowledge. All the knowledge and understanding we need to live the life God has for us is found in our faith in what Christ has done. People become deceived and misled when they try to take what God’s Word teaches and then add their own opinion to it.

Paul a few verses after this warned not to be cheated from the Truth of what Christ had done through philosophy and empty deceit. He then tells us that philosophy is the traditions of man or man-made religion. Empty deceit he reveals is the principles of the world. Sadly in many churches you hear much of both. Religious traditions that man has come up with which put faith In a religious system and not in what Christ has done; or in worldly ways which take the focus off of our Savior, and puts the focus on self, telling people what they want to hear.

Our focus needs to be on Jesus and what He did for us. As Paul states right before these verses you received Christ by faith, so walk in Him, walk in what He has done for you by faith in His completed work. If we do so we simply take God’s Word for what is says. We don’t add to it (man’s religious traditions) nor waster it down (worldly ways). If we just look to Jesus through the Word and choose to exercise our faith in all He has done, we will walk in the reality of true knowledge and wisdom, the completed work of our Savior.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Ephesians 3:12
We can go to God with bold confidence through faith in Christ.

Through Christ we now once again can approach God without fear. Our Father has provided for us the privilege of fellowship with Him. It is the very reason why Christ died. When Adam and Eve sinned their fellowship with God was broken, and they became estranged from God. This brought a fear in the heart of man in approaching God, for after they had sinned, they hid themselves from the presence of the Father.

Because of what Christ did in bearing our sin and the punishment our sin deserved, we no longer need to live fearful of approaching our heavenly Father. The sin that separated us is gone, and we can now approach God with complete confidence. So, as a believer we should daily draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us. Don’t ever run from God, run to Him. If you have sinned repent and run back to the Father, for He awaits with arms open wide to help you get back on your feet again.

It is the devil who tries to keep us from approaching God by making us afraid to do so through wrong thoughts. Scripture teaches us to come boldly to the throne of grace, to find grace and help in our time of need. God is waiting to help us overcome whatever we may be dealing with in life, but we must draw near to Him to get that help. The door is open, so do not ever run from the Father, run to Him. He is your answer, He is your deliverer, He wants to help you, and most importantly He wants you to know Him.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 8:14, 16
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

When we are born again, we receive the Holy Spirit to come and live in us. One of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit is to be our guide, leading us in the will of God for our life. Believers often look for guidance every other way instead of the way God said it would come. God does not guide us through outward circumstances, but through His Word, and through the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:16 tells us that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, the inner man, the real you. For you are a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. Jesus said that we would have a Helper in the Holy Spirit, and the way we would know if we are going in the right or wrong direction would be revealed by an inner peace or a lack of peace. When we are making decisions in line with His will, there will be this inner peace that lets us know we are headed the right direction. But when we miss it with God then we will have an agitation or a check in our spirit, which reveals we are not in the will of God.

The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Truth. The Bible tells us that the Spirit and the Word agree. We know when we are being led by the Holy Spirit it will always be in line with His Word, for God’s Word is Truth. The Holy Spirit will never lead us contrary to God’s Word, for He will guide us into all Truth. So, learn to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit who has been sent to guide you in this life, and you can walk in the plan God has for you.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples. Many think that being born again means you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, but in fact you have only taken the first step in becoming a disciple. In Luke 6:40, Jesus said those who are disciples, who become completely trained, will be just like their teacher. A disciple of Jesus becomes like Jesus. What a promise.

In scripture we find four growth stages for the believer. You begin as a convert, turning (converting) from the ways of the world, which begins once you are born again. Then you become an epistle, a living letter as you learn who you are in Christ through the letters of the New Testament and begin to be transformed through the renewing of your mind. If you continue to grow in God, you become a disciple. Sounding and acting like Jesus. Finally, you find your ultimate ministry within the body, functioning in the gifting God has given to you. But to become a disciple takes one key element as revealed in the above scripture, “desire.”

You will notice it goes on to talk about denying your own interests, taking up your cross, which is fulfilling God’s will for your life, and then following Jesus. But without a desire to do so you will not become a disciple. Becoming a disciple is the goal. If you don’t have a passionate desire to be like Jesus, now fulfilling your God-given purpose to be a disciple, it will not happen. Without that desire you will not do what it takes to honor Him with your life, living as He lived. What is your desire? For every believer it should be to become a disciple of Jesus, living as He lived.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Hebrews 4:12
For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective];…

God’s Word is full of power. The definition of the word “power” here means that it is full of energy, and able to accomplish what it says. God’s Word created the world in which we live. Yet as powerful as God’s Word is there are two primary things that can stop it from working in our life. Those two things are unbelief, and the traditions of men. These two things can completely stop the power of God’s Word from working.

In Hebrews 3:19, we find out that the children of Israel could not enter into the promised land of God’s rest for them because of unbelief. God had already said that the land was theirs. He had spoken to Moses and told him that He would drive out all those in the land that He had given to them as their inheritance. Yet even though God had told them it was theirs, they stopped the power of His Word from coming to pass because of their unbelief. Unbelief is simply not taking God at His Word. We choose to belief something other than what God has said.

In Mark 7:13, Jesus tells the religious leaders of His day that they had made the Word of God of no effect in their life because of their traditions. The phrase “of no effect” means to render devoid of power. Because these religious leaders had chosen to live by their own traditional beliefs, they stopped the power of God’s Word from working in their lives. Many today still do so by man-made tradition when it comes to the Word of God. They would rather believe their tradition instead of taking God at His Word. Don’t allow unbelief nor the traditions of man to hinder His Word from working for you.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Choices, they determine what our life will become. Many like to say they believe everything happens for a reason, meaning that God had a purpose for what takes place in our life, but the truth is things happen because of choices we make. Galatians 6:7 tells us that God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will reap. We reap in life based on what we believe, which affects the decisions we make.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Those who choose the way of life, the way of blessing, choosing to devote themselves in developing an intimate relationship with their Heavenly Father, and they will experience what others will not. Choosing to develop and maintain a close relationship with God will have an influence on the decisions we make in our life. The choices we make today are determining the life we will live in our tomorrows.

If we choose to fellowship with God daily through the Word, taking time to learn who we have become in Christ, making spiritual things a priority in our life, this will lead us into the blessed life that God has made available. We can choose to speak life over ourselves agreeing with what God says about us, or we can speak death agreeing with what the world says. Our future will be determined by our choices we make today. We are just a decision away from what God has for us. The choice is ours.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace …

Through Christ we are redeemed through the blood He shed for us. Redemption means liberation by the payment of a ransom. There are three primary things we have been redeemed or liberated from. The first is spiritual death. Spiritual death means to be separated from God, who is life itself. Being separated from God man no longer found his identity in the Creator, but in the creation itself. But now redeemed we are reunited with our Father and therefore our worth (our value) can be found in Him and nothing else.

We have also been redeemed from sickness and disease. Jesus did not just bear our sins and the punishment our sin deserved, He also bore our sickness, for by His stripes we are healed (1 Peter 2:24). He also redeemed us from poverty as 2 Corinthians 8:9 declares that He became poor that we might be made rich. Rich means to have more than enough. God wants us to walk in the blessings He has for us so we can be a blessing, helping those in need, showing His love for them, but we cannot do that if we lack what is needed to help.

Scripture teaches us that the redeemed of the Lord should say so. This is one of the most important keys to walking in our redemption. You need to start declaring according to His Word who you are in Christ, what you have in Christ, and what He says you can do through Him. According to God’s Word you are His child, you are healed, and you are blessed. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, so let the redeemed of the Lord start declaring their liberty by agreeing with God’s Word.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Colossians 3:9b
…having put off the old man with his practices,

A vital key to walking by faith is found in this verse. When you understand how faith works, you understand that you must learn to put off the old man’s way of doing things, and put on your new man’s way, which is the way of faith. As 2 Corinthians 5:7 teaches us that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. The old fleshly natures way of doing things is to focus on and believe in what you can see or feel in the natural. But doing so is not how faith works.

In Romans 4:19 we have a great example of Bible faith. Abraham did not consider his own body, nor the fact that Sarah his wife was barren and not able to have children. Abraham focused on one thing, what God had said. For faith to work you cannot allow what you see or what you feel to affect what you say or do. This is why many do not see what God has promised come to pass in their life. You cannot walk by faith and walk by sight at the same time.

As Jesus Himself said in Mark 11:24, whatever things you ask when you pray, BELIEVE THAT YOU RECEIVE THEM, and you will have them. If you believe you have received what you asked for, you will then speak and act accordingly and never consider what is seen but only consider what God has said. That is what Abraham did, and that is how he saw what God promised come to pass. If you want to walk by faith, you must put off the old way of going by what is seen and only go by what God has said.

http://www.cffchurch.com
Subscribe to my daily blog: http://www.pastorbaker.blog/subscribe
Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas