PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;…

In the above verse Paul describes four things that he was in pursuit of with his life. The reason these four things were so important to Paul is because he knew how gracious God had been to him, forgiving him of having lived a life that even led him to persecute the body of Christ. These four things should be what every believer is pursuing. Let’s take a quick look at them.

1. THAT I MAY KNOW HIM. Every believer should daily be pursuing an intimate relationship with God. Those who are not will live fearful of the things we will see in the last days.
2. THEY I MAY KNOW THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION. We should also desire to see His power working in and through our lives. This power comes by yielding to the Holy Spirit within us.
3. THAT I MAY KNOW THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS. We should want to live a life like God, which means you won’t be liked by everyone. In 2 Tim. 3:12 we are told all who desire to live a godly life will suffer persecution.
4. THAT I MAY BE CONFORMED TO HIS DEATH. In John 10:18 Jesus said no one took His life from Him, He willingly laid it down. We should conform to His death, choosing to daily lay our lives down to live for Him and not for self.

Every believer who is grateful for what God has done for them just as Paul was, should be pursuing these things in their life every day. In doing so, we like Paul can say we fought the good fight, and we kept the faith.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Colossians 1:14
In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.

The word redemption means to liberate through the payment of a ransom. Before being born again we were slaves of sin, and all that came as a result of sin. But Jesus in shedding His blood paid the price to set us free. We see a picture of this redeeming work through the seven redemptive names of God revealed in the Old Testament. Let’s look at these names and see what He has done for us.

1. JEHOVAH JIREH – THE LORD MY PROVIDER (GEN. 22:14) – Just as the Lord provided a ram for Abraham; He will provide all our needs.
2. JEHOVAH RAPHA – THE LORD MY HEALER (EX. 15:26) – The Lord has provided us healing just as He did for the children of Israel.
3. JEHOVAH NISSI – THE LORD MY BANNER (EX 17:15) – He is our banner of victory over all the works of the enemy as He was for the children of Israel.
4. JEHOVAH SHALOM – THE LORD MY PEACE (JUDGES 6:24) – The Lord is our peace as He was to Gideon.
5. JEHOVAH ROHI – THE LORD MY SHEPHERD (PSALM 23:1) – He will watch over us as a shepherd does His sheep.
6. JEHOVAH TSIDKENU – THE LORD MY RIGHTEOUSNESS (JER 23:6) – He has made us right with God by giving us His righteousness.
7. JEHOVAH SHAMMAH – THE LORD IS THERE FOR ME (EZEK 48:35) – He is always with us and will never leave us nor forsake us.

As we take time getting to know Him, we can experience the blessings of His full redemption, for all of His redeeming work is ours now. Give Him thanks for His redeeming work fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Matthew 6:25
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…

One of the most detrimental things in life is worry. Think about these questions for a moment. Has there ever been a time in your life when worrying helped you? Did worrying about anything ever bring resolve to the problem? The answer of course would have to be no. Then why do believers worry, especially when Jesus told us not to worry. Doing so means we are not obeying our Lord who told us not to worry.

The devil loves for believers to worry. Where worry is present faith cannot work and here is why. The word worry means to be divided in thought, pulled away from trusting God. The devil knows if he can get you to take the wrong thoughts he can get you to worry, and therefore not trust God. One translation of the above verse even says take no thought for your life. Worry means you have taken the wrong thought.

This is why we have the Word of God, which contains the knowledge of God (our weapons). You must learn to take every thought that comes that is contrary to what God’s Word says and cast it down by speaking God’s Word. If you do not learn to do so you will lose the battle of the mind and can therefore be defeated by the devil. Stop taking thoughts contrary to God’s Word. Declare what His Word says every time such thoughts come, and you can live worry free and win the battle of the mind.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 5:11
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

When God created man in the garden of Eden, man and God had the perfect relationship. But when Adam and Eve sinned that relationship was broken for God is everything that is good and perfect. God has no sin. This relationship now broken caused Adam and Eve to hide themselves from the presence of God. Now feeling shame for what they had done, and being controlled by fear, afraid to face God they pulled away from Him.

Reconciliation changed all that. Jesus by taking our sin on the cross by being punished for our sin made the way for us to be reconciled, restored back to relationship with a holy God. This is done by the removal of our old spirit man as we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Once we are born again we no longer like Adam have to be afraid of God, pulling away from His presence in our life by not acknowledging Him. Our enemy does not want us to experience His presence so he through deception makes us still hide from Him, making us think He is angry with us.

Jesus in bearing our punishment on the cross removed God’s anger toward us and has provided through salvation a restored relationship with God. One reason satan tempts us to go the way of our flesh and sin is so that we will hide from the One who loves us and wants to walk with us so we can enjoy fellowship with Him by acknowledging His presence. In His presence there is fullness of joy. Don’t hide from the One who has reconciled you to Him. Daily fellowship with God and you can enjoy His mighty presence for you have been reconciled to Him.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 6:11
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Christ took our sin on the cross and freed us from sin and all that came as a result of sin, sickness, disease, poverty, lack, fear, worry, stress, etc. Consider yourself dead to all that came through sin and alive to all that we now have through Christ Jesus our Savior. Stop thinking about and magnifying what you see in the natural, instead meditate on and magnify what Christ has done for you.

Scripture teaches us that as a man thinks, so is he. If you see yourself sick, lacking what you need, or defeated, you are going to continue to allow the very things that Christ has freed you from to overtake you. You need to renew your mind to what God says about you. Consider instead all that Christ has done for you instead of what you may be facing in the natural. We walk by faith (what God’s Word says), not by sight.

To walk by faith you must consider the Word above everything else. Stay in the Word of God and focus your thoughts on what it says by “Thanking Him” for what He said is already yours. The Word is Truth, and even though it may be true that you are facing something in the natural, the Truth will change what may be currently true in your life. Scripture teaches us that what you see is subject to change. What are you considering?

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Philippians 3:8, 12
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ,
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

The apostle Paul always had a passionate love for God. He had made living a life of upholding God’s law his pursuit in life. But after his experience with the Lord on the road to Damascus, his desire in life changed. From that first encounter to the end of his life he desired only one thing, that he might come to know Jesus. Not know about Him but have an intimate relationship with Him.

He reveals in verse eight of this chapter that all of the things he thought were so important in life were nothing more than yesterday’s garbage compared to knowing Jesus personally. Everything else took a back seat in Paul’s life and knowing Jesus became his daily pursuit. Because of this passionate desire he developed a powerful relationship with the Lord, and in knowing Him, he was able to trust Him, walking by faith in the One who had given His life for Him. He made the choice to press toward the relationship Jesus had already made possible for him.

This is the biggest hindrance and the reason why many Christians do not truly walk by faith, fully trusting God in the daily challenges of life. They reveal this fact by speaking the problem and not the Truth of what God has said is already ours. If like Paul you don’t put other things that in the past were your passion and pursuit in life behind knowing Jesus personally, then you will not be able to press ahead into the infinite value of knowing the One who has already overcome all things for you. Make knowing Him your daily passionate pursuit, and you will have no problem walking by faith and not by sight.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 5:1
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,…

Through Jesus we have been given peace with God. The word peace means to be one with, in a state of harmony. Once born again we become one spirit with the Lord. There is no battle between you and God, because you are one with Him. The devil does all he can to convince believers that God is mad at them so that they won’t draw near to God. But when Jesus bore our sin He also bore the punishment our sin deserved.

The Word of God tells us we will not face the wrath of God to come, so we can rest in God’s peace. Scripture also teaches us that those who keep their minds fixed on God and not on the things around them, God will keep them in perfect peace for they trust in Him. To get your mind set on God you simply make God your priority in life everyday. When you do peace will be the result.

When we know that we have peace with God and we walk in that peace by focusing our thoughts on Him, peace will surround you. You won’t be depressed, full of fear, and doubting God. Peace will be present and therefore your faith will work for you, leading you into a victorious life. So don’t run from God, run to Him, making Him your priority everyday, because we have already been given peace with God.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

John 3:17
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Through Jesus Christ we have been saved. The word saved is defined as rescued, preserved, healed, restored, delivered, and made well. All of this is a part of God’s salvation package. To receive what we have available to us we must by faith see these things as already ours, for in the eyes of God they are already done because of what Christ has fulfilled for us through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

For example when someone today receives new life by accepting Jesus into their heart they become born again. But the moment they did so is not when salvation was provided by God, it was already available, for 2,000 years ago Jesus gave His life for us. They just chose to receive what God said was already done. So it is with all we have in this salvation package. We must see it as already ours, taking it by faith, and not something God is going to do.

Take time to meditate on the promises you have been given in Christ Jesus until that Word get’s in you. Continually speak God’s Word over your life thanking God that you are healed, blessed, and delivered, because His Word says you already are, not going to be. Once the Word comes alive in you, faith becomes active and you can have the manifestation of what Christ has already provided for you have been saved.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

1 John 2:27
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the One who helps us to get revelation of the things of God in our heart. When revelation comes faith is there. It’s like walking into a dark room not being able to see the way out and then the Holy Spirit flips the light switch on. Once that happens you can see the way to go and act upon the Word of God.

A vital key in receiving this revelation is in how we read and listen to the teaching of God’s Word. Whether reading or hearing the Word taught, you must first recognize it is God speaking to you. It is not man’s words but God’s, for all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Secondly you must give your full attention to God’s Word and not become distracted with other things. You must pay close attention to what you are hearing.

Third you must learn to take verses that speak of who you are, what you have, and what you can do in Christ and declare them daily. Faith grows in the atmosphere of the spoken Word. Finally, put what you know into practice, for you deceive yourself if you are a hearer and not a doer of the Word of God. Put these truths into practice and His Word will become alive in you by the Holy Spirit.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

1 John 1:5
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Have you ever had someone accuse you of something you have not done? I am sure we have all experienced this in our lives. Did you know God has been accused of many things He has never done? Because of ignorance of the Word of God, and for others who do not know how to walk by faith and don’t see the results God’s Word promises, they falsely accuse God of things that are not true. For example, they may say God does not heal everyone, or they blame God for the death of a young person saying that God took them because He needed another angel in heaven.

First of all, healing is for everyone as scripture clearly teaches in Acts 10:38, that Jesus went about healing all, but not all know how to receive it. God has also promised us long life, so to refer to someone who is young that God took them is also contrary to the Word of God. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him. The works of darkness are not of God, they are of the evil one. God has come to give us LIFE, and that more abundantly. It is the devil who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

The devil wants you to believe these lies about God, because then he can keep you from receiving what God has for you. The greatest truth to remember about our heavenly Father comes from Jesus. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus modeled the Father to us. Jesus never did anything that was of the works of darkness. Don’t fall for these lies about God. As James 1:17 tells us, all good gifts come from the Father above, and He does not change for He is light, and there is no darkness in Him.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas