PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Matthew 2:11-12
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

HONORING OUR KING – PART 1
A powerful truth about the wise men coming to Jesus is seen in why they had come and what happened afterward. It is a picture of our salvation. The first thing they did when coming to Jesus was to worship Him. The word worship means to bow the knee in a sign of surrender. This represents when we come to Jesus and surrender our lives to Him receiving the new life He offers to us.

After that they presented to Him their gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We too can present what these represent in our lives to Jesus. Then they returned “another” way. As we present these three things to Jesus, we don’t go back to our old way of living, but can now as scripture teaches walk in newness of life. So let’s look at these three areas of our life together. The first gift they offered was the gold. In the days of Jesus, gold was always given to a king, one acknowledge as having authority.

We give our gold to Jesus acknowledging He is now our King, the One with supreme authority in our lives by living a life of faith, which is simply trusting Him. 1 Peter 1:7 tells us genuine faith is more precious than gold. If we recognize Jesus as supreme in authority over our life, we simply do what He says showing we trust Him, and that is faith. Jesus said in Luke 6:46-48 if we call Him Lord we hear what He says and then do it. One who does builds their life on a rock, and when storms come you won’t be shaken for you walk by faith. Offer Him your gold and you can begin to see your life forever changed.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

The word for law here means a governing principle or power. Before Christ we were under the power of sin and death (separated from the God-kind of life). But in Christ Jesus we now have the governing power of the Spirit of life, which is translated as a life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, and blessed. The old nature of sin leading to death has been removed. As you receive a new spirit within you, your spirit now has residing in it the Spirit of God Himself. His Spirit is where this “Zoe” life comes from.

To walk in this new Zoe life within us we must as Paul states a few verses after this, get our mind focused on the spirit man, and not on the flesh. Simply put, we must renew our mind to see ourselves through our new spirit, in union with Christ. You renew your mind to this union by looking at the in Him, in Christ, in Whom scriptures in the New Testament that reveal this new you. If we will start getting this new view on life from the spirit man united with Christ, and we follow the leading of the inward man, we will experience the freedom we have been given from the rule of sin and death.

When we follow the leading of our spirit, we are being led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit man. We need to listen to what our spirit is leading us to do. Our conscience is the voice of our new spirit man. When you have an inward peace within you are in agreement with God, but when you have an agitation within your spirit, you are not following after the Holy Spirit. Follow this inward witness and start seeing yourself for who you really are, a spirit who is one with Christ. As you do you will experience the governing power of the Spirit of life over you, and walk free from the power of sin and death.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 3:27
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.

Faith is a spiritual law. The reference in the above verse to the word “law” means that which is established. For example, there is the law of lift, which was established by God and has always been in existence here on earth. Man did not invent it, so he cannot take credit for the law of lift. God created this law. Once man began to understand this law and how it works, he was able to make use of this law to our advantage.

To try and explain this law in simple terms, when an “airfoil” (wing of a plane) goes through the “air” it redirects and “forces” the air to follow a path that goes downward. This change in direction causes a downward force applied to the air. This results in the air causing an upward force on the airfoil (wing), and that creates lift. It works whenever these elements are applied. So it is with faith. Faith is a spiritual law and therefore it always works. It is not something we take credit for because we did not create it, God did. Our part, like the law of lift, is to figure out what it takes to see this law work.

Faith has three elements that when combined works, just like the air, airfoil, and the force created causes lift. Faith believes in the heart, not the head, faith speaks in line with that belief, and then faith acts upon that belief. When applied faith always works, for it is a spiritual law. We never boast about faith, because we did not create the law of faith, God did. Our part is to believe in the heart, which comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God; to speak in line with that belief, and then to act upon what we are fully convinced of in our heart, turning our faith loose. When we do, just like the law of lift, we will see faith work.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Romans 8:1
THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.

Once you are born again there is no condemnation for the believer who does not denounce Jesus Christ. The word condemnation is defined as a damnatory sentence or judgement of guilt. The reason we are free from condemnation is because the old sinful man within has been done away with and we are made new. Jesus on the cross not only bore our sin, but He also bore the punishment our sin deserved.

This is why in Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus he said that Jesus was stricken and smitten of God. Jesus, after His death on the cross, went into hell itself paying the full price for our sin, and the judgement that is to come for the sin of man. So, the damnation (separation from God) that man deserved has been taken away for those who receive Christ as their Savior. When we sin as a believer we will feel convicted for what we have done so we know to turn from sin, but condemnation is the enemy trying to convince you to pull away from God.

Satan does this by getting us to focus on seeing ourselves through the old fleshly man on the outside so we will feel condemned. But if we see what God sees, our new spirit man on the inside, and we choose to not live according to the flesh but live in accordance with this new nature within us, we will not feel condemned for we will see our new nature. Become spirit conscious and spirit led, governed by your new nature, and you will not fall prey to feeling condemned.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

John 14:13-14
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

In the verse right before this Jesus had declared that those who believe in Him could do what He Himself had done. In these above two verses many think this is referring to making a request to God, but in fact that is not what these verses actually say. The word “ask” here in the original Greek language means to make a demand. In John 16:23-24 Jesus teaches us about asking the Father in prayer for answers we need. Here in John 14, He is revealing how we can do what Jesus did.

We are not making a demand of Jesus nor the Father for anything, as these scriptures do not say anything about directing this demand to them. When you look at Jesus’ example of what He did, He never prayed to the Father when dealing with the works of satan. Jesus simply used His authority and demanded change. He demanded sickness and disease to go. He demanded demons to leave. When it comes to dealing with the works of satan you don’t pray to the Father, you use your God-given authority and demand it to go.

We do this by using the name of Jesus. Notice Jesus said whatever you ask (demand) in my name, I will do it. When you use the name of Jesus and demand the works of our enemy to go, it’s the same as if Jesus is right there Himself, and therefore it will be done. This is because of our union with Him. We are one spirit with the Lord. What God has already done for us through Christ we don’t ask Him to do, we go and enforce His victory by demanding the works of satan to go in Jesus name, because we are one with Him.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us keep paying attention to one another, in order to spur each other on to love and good deeds,
25 not neglecting our own congregational meetings, as some have made a practice of doing, but, rather, encouraging each other.
And let us do this all the more as you see the Day approaching.

As we look to what is happening in Israel, and what we see going on throughout the world, we can clearly see the “Day” approaching. This Day is referring to the return of Jesus Christ. We as believers are not to neglect our coming together as a body with our pastor, and with the body of believers we are to be a part of. Notice we are to do this all the more, not less as we see this Day drawing near. What is often overlooked in these verses is the purpose of us not neglecting coming together in God’s house.

Many who do go to God’s house are doing so only thinking about what they can get for themselves. But that is clearly not what our focus is to be on. Verse 24 tells us we are to “pay attention” to one another, in order to spur each other on in love and good deeds. Then in verse 25 we are told to encourage one another as we come together to worship our God. Imagine how different the body of Christ would be if we lived out these two verses every time we come to church, joining together more not less.

When believers make the choice to not neglect gathering as a church, and we focus our attention on each other, the church will not only experience the love of God, they will become united as one. Unity not only makes the body stronger, but more powerful as well. In 1 Corinthians 14:3 we are told that we can all proclaim words of exhortation, edification, and comfort to men. Make the choice to not neglect going to God’s house, and to focus on encouraging others every time you go. The whole body of Christ will benefit and will have a greater impact on the world around us.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Hebrews 11:1
Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.

Have you ever heard the term “blind faith”? There are some who think faith is blind in the sense that we have to sit back, do nothing, and just believe somehow God will make everything right, and therefore I just need to walk in blind faith. But faith is far from blind. In fact, the above scripture clearly states that faith convinces us of the existence of things that are not yet seen by the natural eye. If they exist there is a way to see those things. You do so with the eye of faith.

We know faith is based on one thing — what God has said. When God told Abraham he was a father of a multitude he was told to look at the stars of heaven and the sand beneath his feet, and in doing so he could see with the eye of faith what God had said He had already made him, a father of a many nations. Romans 4:19 tells us that he was not weak in faith, not considering (looking at) his natural body, but instead focusing on what God had said was already his.

Today we have God’s Word that we can look to and therefore see with our own eyes what God has said we already have based on what Jesus has done for us. We then focus on what we can see, the Word of God, and then like Abraham and God, we begin to call those things which do not yet exist in the natural as though they did (Rom. 4:17), for what God has said is the evidence of what already exists. With faith in our God through relationship with Him we base our faith on what He has said, convinced in our heart that it is already so.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

One of the most important keys to life is in finding God’s purpose, what is His ultimate plan for our life, for when we do, and if we then follow that plan, we will see God accomplish with our lives what He wants in and through us. What gets in the way of that god-given purpose is the many plans or ideas of what we want to do. Man’s plans will not fully accomplish what God wants to see happen through us.

I remember when I first started my walk with God. I was chasing a dream that I thought was a good plan for my life, and I believed God would use me to reach others through my rodeo career. God did use me during that time in many ways, but I had never taken the time to really seek God for His ultimate purpose in my life. God used other godly leaders around me to begin to lead me into the plan of God. Becoming a pastor was one of the last things I would have ever chosen to do.

God’s plan for my life became clear as I got connected with the pastor and the church body God had for me. I began to grow spiritually, and I began to serve in my church. My focus turned away from me to God. When this happened I began to see and hear in my spirit what God had intended for my life. Get your focus off of you and on God. Find your pastor and become a part of that church body. In giving yourself completely to Jesus, the plans He has for your life will become clear, and you can know God’s plan for your life that will prevail.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

Proverbs 18:24
Some “friends” pretend to be friends, but a true friend sticks closer than a brother.

I remember growing up with my brother how close we were. My mom used to tell people that when we were younger you almost never saw us somewhere without the other one being right there with you. We see in the verse above that there is a true friend who sticks even closer than a brother. What friends we have in the natural we must choose carefully, for as scripture teaches choosing the wrong friends can lead you the wrong way. So we should learn to not neglect the opportunity of the One who wants to be our very best friend.

In John 15:15, Jesus told His disciples that He no longer called them servants, but friends. Jesus is that friend who we can always count on. Let me share with you two key attributes that make Him the best friend you could ever have. In Hebrews 13:5 we find the first of these two things about Jesus. It states that He will never leave you nor forsake you. That means He will always be there for you, because He is for you. As a true friend, He will watch out for you for His focus is to be a help to you, and therefore you know you can depend on His help whenever you need it.

Secondly right after this in Hebrews 13:8, it tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Because He is love He never changes. He will always treat you the same no matter what. When you need encouragement, He will encourage you, but when you need correction, He will correct you because true love cares about you. Don’t neglect the relationship of a true friend in Jesus, because He will always be there for you, and will never leave you nor forsake you.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas

1 Corinthians 12:18
God has meticulously put this body together; He placed each part in the exact place to perform the exact function He wanted.

Have you ever worked on putting a puzzle together. If you have there was probably a time or two that you had a piece of that puzzle that you really thought would fit in a certain place, and when trying to put it there it even seemed to work, but yet you could tell it just didn’t quite fit. The more you looked at it and worked on it you eventually realized it was close, but not an exact fit. At some point you then found where that piece fit perfectly.

The local church body of Christ is like that puzzle. When you finally find where you are to fit with the right church, you find the very place where God wants you to be so that the picture He wanted is complete. Imagine if every believer was connected with the local church where He wants them. If we allow Him to put us in the very place where we belong, it is there we help bring His complete work to pass. Often because people look for only what “they want” in a church home, they sorta fit but not completely the way God intended.

You sadly also have many in the body of Christ who simply don’t become a part of a local body thinking they don’t need to do so, but they are not only missing out on the complete picture, so is that church. How do we find where God wants us to be. Jesus tells us in the following verse.

John 10:4 – When all the sheep have been gathered, he walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice.

Jesus taught here that you get connected to the shepherd of that flock. When you initially hear them preach your spirit man knows this is your shepherd. Once you find that shepherd don’t allow the enemy to take you out of your place where God put you. If you are somewhere that you have not found that connection with a shepherd, go and find them. In doing so you help complete the picture God has for you and for that body.

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Christian Faith Fellowship – Ponder Texas