PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

John 15:9
I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me].

The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit when we got born again. To walk in His love is simply a choice we make. The love of God is not a feeling, but a spiritual fruit that will change one’s feelings. Love is seen in what you do, not how you feel about someone. The God kind of love is not interested in what I can get, but what I can give. It’s focus is not on self but on others.

Galatians chapter 5 verses 22-23 tell us the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits are a part of every born-again believer. It is the fruit of our new spirit man. A key to walking in the fruit of the spirit begins with love. When you walk in love you will walk in the remaining fruit of the spirit. You cannot walk in God’s love and not experience joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. The rest of the fruit are a result of love.

So to abide in love there are some things we must do. First, act upon God’s love. Love requires us to treat others just as you want to be treated no matter how you feel. The love of God is not a feeling, but a fruit of the new you. Secondly, God is love, and when we take time to fellowship with God, He rubs off on us. So, make the choice to act on God’s love instead of your feelings, and stay in close fellowship with God. You will experience a much better life by abiding in God’s love.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

This is one of the most powerful truths in the Bible. Think about what Jesus said here. To abide means to be one with. We abide in Jesus when we become born again and take the time to walk with Him, staying in close fellowship with the Lord. This is an often overlooked key to faith, diligently seeking Him (Hebrews 11:6). Our faith is not in the Word, it is based on the Word, but our faith is in the One who spoke that Word.

The Word abiding in you means that Word has become one with your heart. This is a vital key for us to see this verse of scripture work for us. Many may have head knowledge of God’s Word, but that is not the same as His Word coming alive within your heart. Until it does, it will not have the power to produce through us what God has said. For that Word to come alive in us, we need to take the time to meditate in and upon His Word.

To do this you must give the Word of God your full attention as if Jesus was the One speaking to you. Beyond hearing the Word preached in church, you need to read God’s Word, seeing that Word as a reality in your life. You must learn to accept what God’s Word says above all else, making His Word the priority in your life. When you take the time to focus your attention on God’s Word, turning away from other distractions, His Word becomes alive in you, and you can ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

1 Corinthians 11:28-29
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

When we receive communion scripture teaches us that if we do not rightly discern the Lord’s body, this is the reason why many are weak, sick, and some die early. When we rightly discern His body, we have properly judged ourselves. We discern the Lord’s body three ways.

1. Acknowledging the stripes of Jesus that paid for your bodily healing. With the stripes that wounded Him, we are healed and made whole. This is not a promise; it is a fact already established.
2. Do not speak evil of other believers for they are a part of the body. If we slander and gossip about other believers, we are speaking harm to ourselves.
3. Recognize who you are in Christ Jesus and do not belittle yourself, for you are His body whom He has purchased. When we do not recognize who we are in Christ, we will be hindered in receiving what we have in Christ.

So, if we want to walk in health and healing, we must learn to discern the Lord’s body. When we do, we can experience the benefit of what Jesus purchased for us through the blood He shed. Through the body that He gave for us He not only bore our sins, but He bore our sickness, disease, pain and suffering. Rightly discern the Lord’s body when receiving communion and you can receive what He has provided for you.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, …

Some of the final words Jesus spoke to His disciples before ascending into heaven are here in Matthew 28. Think of how important these words to His church are. He revealed two things in the above statement. He wants every believer to become a disciple, and to make disciples. You are not a disciple just because you are born again, you are a convert in Christ. A disciple is a Christ follower. Let’s look at what Jesus said makes you a disciple of Christ.

1. You become one with the Word of God. (John 8:31) – Jesus said if you abide in (become one with) His Word, you are a disciple indeed.
2. Jesus is your first love. (Luke 14:26) – Jesus said you cannot love anyone more than Him, or you cannot be His disciple.
3. You live to fulfill His will. (Luke 14:27) – Jesus said you must bear your cross to be a disciple. This is fulfilling His will for your life.
4. You are willing to forsake all. (Luke 14:33) – Jesus declared you must forsake all (give Him your complete loyalty) to be His disciple.
5. You bear much fruit. (John 15:8) – A disciple walks close with Jesus bearing much fruit.
6. You walk in God’s love. (John 13:35) – Jesus said all will know you are His disciples by the love you have for one another.

It is a privilege to be a disciple of Jesus, but you must have the “want to” in order to become one. Be a disciple and help make disciples. In doing so you will lead people to Christ and help them become a Christ follower, and there is no better way to live.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Colossians 3:1
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

All who are in Christ should change their focus in life. We should get our focus off of the world and the things of this world, and get focused on the realm of the spirit, putting our focus on God and the things of the spirit. Looking to God’s Word helps us change our view of life. Doing so will help us to see things from God’s perspective.

The key to getting this new view on life is to just accept God’s Word and don’t try to reason it out with your mind. God’s Word is Truth. The Bible does not say God’s Word is true, but Truth. You may see things in the natural that are true, but God’s Truth can change what is true in the natural if you will fully accept what it says, and do not question the Word of God.

Here is how you should approach the Word of God. If God’s Word says it, I believe it, and that settles it. Jesus declared that heaven and earth would pass away, but His Word would by no means pass away. So, look to the Word and accept what it says as the Truth. The Bible tells us that it is impossible for God to lie. So don’t question God’s Word, just believe what it says, and you can see life from a whole new perspective.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Colossians 2:13
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, …

Once we are born again, we no longer reside in death (separation from God) for Jesus has forgiven us of our sin by becoming sin for us (removing what stood between us and God). We have been made alive together with Jesus Christ. You are one spirit with Him. God told Adam if he sinned he would die. Before Adam sinned all that God had made was good. After he sinned evil entered into the world through the death that came from man’s sin.

Death (all that is not good) reigned in the earth and over man. Jesus has tasted death for all so that man could be restored to life by our union with Him, and now by faith in what Christ has done, we can reign in this life over death and all the evil that came as a result of that death. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pro. 18:21). Remove the taste of death from your mouth by speaking words of life, declaring what you now have in Christ Jesus.

As a child of God death no longer has dominion over you. See yourself as one with Christ, victorious over death, and all the evil that came as a result of that death. For you have been delivered from death and have been made alive together with Christ. Speak in line with God’s Word, declaring who you now are in Christ, speak the Words of life for you have been made alive with Him.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Who is Paul referring to that was crucified? He was of course referring to his spirit man, not his soul, nor his body. The disciples in referring to themselves in the first person referred to their spirit man within, the real you. Most Christians are body or soul conscious when talking about themselves because that is what they are referring to when they say “I”.

You must become spirit conscious if you want to walk by faith in the body you live in, for faith comes from your heart (your spirit man), not your head. You are a spirit, not a body, nor a soul, you have a soul (mind, will, and emotions) and you live in a body, but the real you is a spirit being. Once born again we are to walk by faith not by sight. But if we think of ourselves as a body or a soul and we are not spirit conscious, we will walk by sight and not by faith, missing out on what God wants to do in and through us.

So as you read through the New Testament start meditating on the scriptures that reveal the real you, the “new creation” you have become once born again. These are the “in Christ” scriptures just like the one above. This will make you conscious of your spirit man, the new you. As you become more aware of the new man on the inside, it will help you to walk by faith in what Jesus has done for you, and not by sight.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Hebrews 3:18-19
18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Unbelief is a thief that will rob us from our faith in God. There are three key things that will cause unbelief. The first is found in the verses above. Willful disobedience to God will lead to unbelief. These verses refer to the children of Israel who did not by faith enter into what God had promised was theirs. They continually disobeyed God. Disobedience will harden our heart toward God, robbing us from trusting in Him, resulting in unbelief.

In 1 Timothy 1:13, Paul talks about his life when he was persecuting the church before he had revelation of Jesus as the Messiah. He reveals he did so ignorantly through unbelief. Ignorance will cause unbelief in one’s life. Ignorance simply means we lack knowledge or understanding. When we lack knowledge or understanding of what God has done for us through Christ, we will walk in unbelief. Faith begins where the will of God is known.

The third area that can cause unbelief we find in Mark 6:4-6 where Jesus had gone to His hometown. He could not do any mighty works there and marveled at their unbelief. He reveals in verse 4 that one called to preach is without honor in his own country. A lack of honor for who God has anointed to teach the Word will cause unbelief. Because of this lack of honor, we won’t really hear what is being said. Jesus told us to take heed how you hear, for faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Avoid these three things and you can avoid the thief of unbelief.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.

Is there anything a person could do to earn the salvation that God offers? The answer of course is clear, we could not. If we could, Jesus would not have needed to die for us. Not only could we not earn our salvation, we were far from perfect, for we were sinners in need of salvation. So once we are born again, why do so many believers think they must earn the promises of God we have been given through Christ Jesus?

The scripture above clearly states that if God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all to be saved, how then would He not also freely give us all things? We are the ones who think somehow after being saved we have to convince God to give us what He has already freely provided through the redeeming work of Jesus. But the same way we received salvation is the same way we receive His promises, by faith in what He has already done.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20 we are told that all the promises of God are yes and amen. We must first know the answer as to whether every promise God has given us is already ours. The answer is yes. Then we must give our “amen” to receive it. Amen simply means “so be it for me”. This is a statement of faith. When we choose to believe in our heart, confess with our mouth, and act upon His promises as already ours because they are, we can “freely” receive what has already been freely given to us through what Jesus has done for us.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

1 John 4:9
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

The word “live” in this verse is defined as, “to enjoy true life”. There is only one way you can enjoy true life. You must live your life through Jesus, not through the old you. Jesus is our example. To live through Him one must learn to walk in the love of God. Jesus told us in His Word that we now have a new commandment to follow. We are to love one another as He has loved us.

When we walk in love, we follow His example and are therefore living our life through Jesus. Scripture teaches us that faith works through love. Jesus lived a life of faith, because Jesus lived a life of love. To walk in the love of God is a choice we make, and it takes practice. The love of God is in our new recreated spirit. Walking in love is choosing to walk in the new you, instead of the old fleshly outer man, treating other people the way you want to be treated, no matter how they treat you.

We must also spend time with love Himself, our God. 1 John 4:16 tells us God is love, and when you fellowship with God He rubs off on you. When you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. So make the choice to walk in love, treating others how you would want to be treated, and to daily fellowship with love Himself, our God, and you can live your life through Jesus Christ. In doing so we can enjoy “true life”, the kind of life Jesus lived.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas