You've Already Got It Part 3

G.o.d's Word doesn't advocate waiting on the Lord the way you wait on a bus. It's not a scriptural principle for you to pray and then say, "Well, it's in G.o.d's court now. Que sera, sera-whatever will be, will be. It's up to Him. G.o.d has seen what I've done, and now we'll see what He'll do." No, G.o.d doesn't respond to you!

When a problem comes up in your life, it's nothing new to the Lord. He knew what your problems would be long before you ever had them. By grace, He provided the solution in advance-before you were even born! He provided healing before you ever became sick. He provided joy before tragedy, grief, and sorrow came into your life. G.o.d has already made your way of escape. He's already accomplished everything. By grace, it's a done deal! You aren't waiting for G.o.d to do something new. He's waiting on you to respond positively to what He's already done!

If you've been believing "G.o.d, I've done this, I'm doing that, and I'm confessing these things and waiting for You to heal me," then that's precisely the reason why you aren't seeing healing manifest. It's the wrong att.i.tude! Instead, change your thinking and start saying, "Father, I thank You that You have already healed me. By Your stripes, I was healed. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is already in me. By faith, I receive what You have already provided!"

"You Command Me!"

Peter didn't even pray a prayer to ask G.o.d to heal that man at the temple gate. He just said, "Such as I have, I give it to you!" How could he do that? Peter knew that G.o.d had already done it. He understood that G.o.d's healing power had already been released. The Lamb had been slain, and the perfect sacrifice had already been made. G.o.d-by grace-had already produced healing. Peter didn't wonder, Will the Lord heal him? Will the Lord heal him? because he knew in his heart that G.o.d had already done it. because he knew in his heart that G.o.d had already done it.

The only question today is, "Are you ready to believe and receive?" If you're praying for someone else, there needs to be a degree of faith on their part. It's not like it has to be fifty-fifty or something like that. If you're strong in faith, you can carry someone. If they're in neutral, you can at least push them. But if they're in park with the emergency brake on or in reverse fighting against you, saying, "I don't believe G.o.d wants it," then you won't be able to make it happen.

When Peter ministered to this man, first he fastened his eyes upon him. (Acts 3:4.) This means he looked at him with a penetrating stare. Paul did the same thing when he ministered to a crippled man in Acts 14:8-10. As he did, he perceived that the man had faith to be healed. (Acts 14:9.) That's exactly what Peter was doing. He perceived this man had enough faith to receive healing if he ministered it to him.

So Peter said, "Such as I have give I thee" (Acts 3:6). When you understand grace-that G.o.d has already done everything-you'll become bold and authoritative. You can literally command the power of G.o.d to come into manifestation because you aren't commanding G.o.d Himself to go and do something. Instead, you're commanding what He has already done to manifest in the physical realm.

When you understand how grace and faith work together, you'll become a commander instead of a beggar. The difference is huge!

"Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, my sons, and and concerning the work of my hands command ye me" concerning the work of my hands command ye me" (Isa. 45:11, emphasis mine). (Isa. 45:11, emphasis mine).

Concerning the work of His hands, G.o.d says to His children, "You command Me!"

Flip the Switch!

The power company generates electricity at the power station. Then they deliver it to your house. However, whether your living room light comes on or not has nothing to do with the power company generating electricity. The power is there, but it's been placed at your command. You must go over and flip the switch on the wall. When you do, you're commanding that power to flow.

Since you're the one commanding the power to flow, does that make you stronger than the power company? No! They want you to do it! They've already done their part by generating the electricity, delivering it to your house, and placing it at your command. Flipping the switch doesn't mean you are "forcing" them to do something. All you can "make" them do is what they've agreed to already. You can't make that electricity do something that it's not already wired to do.

You can't force G.o.d to do anything that He hasn't-by grace-already done. G.o.d (Father & Son Power Company) has already done His part. Through Christ's atonement (the power station), everything you'll ever need has already been generated. In fact, the power has already been delivered to your house (born-again spirit). All you have to do is flip the switch! "Concerning the work of my hands command ye me" (Isa. 45:11). When you believe what He's done and reach out in faith to appropriate it, you're commanding what G.o.d has already provided to come into manifestation.

You're the one responsible to flip the switch! If you want your living room light turned on, you can't call the power company and say, "I have people coming over for a party this evening. Could you please turn my living room light on?" They'll answer, "No! The power has already been generated and delivered to your house. We're not going to send someone all the way over there just to turn your living room light on. That's not in our agreement. The power is at your command; you flip the switch!"

G.o.d is the power Source, not you. It's His power, not yours. But He's put that power inside your born-again spirit. You didn't produce the power, but it's been placed at your command.

G.o.d has already provided everything you need by grace- but it's at your command. Faith positively responds to what G.o.d has already done and appropriates it. Faith reaches over into the spiritual realm and draws what G.o.d has already supplied, out into the physical realm. If you understand this, it'll revolutionize your life!

Excuses, Excuses Most people are asking G.o.d to do for them what He's already done. They're pleading with Him to give them what He's already given. Then, after praying this way in unbelief, they wonder why they aren't seeing the physical manifestation of their healing. Since they think the Lord can do anything He desires, they wonder, Why isn't Why isn't He He healing me? If G.o.d wanted me well, He could heal me right now! healing me? If G.o.d wanted me well, He could heal me right now! So they come up with all kinds of excuses like, "G.o.d is perfecting me through this trial." Wrong! So they come up with all kinds of excuses like, "G.o.d is perfecting me through this trial." Wrong!

For additional light on these important issues, I'd like to recommend some teaching materials. Understanding Spiritual Authority Spiritual Authority will really help you sort these things out. Also, my individual teachings, "The Book of Job," "G.o.d's Not Guilty," and "The Sovereignty of G.o.d" all soundly debunk this false idea that the Lord puts suffering in your life to teach you things. It's simply not true! will really help you sort these things out. Also, my individual teachings, "The Book of Job," "G.o.d's Not Guilty," and "The Sovereignty of G.o.d" all soundly debunk this false idea that the Lord puts suffering in your life to teach you things. It's simply not true!

People come up with wrong conclusions like that in order to make sense of their disappointing experience. They pray for healing, thinking that faith is something they do to move G.o.d. They believe He evaluates their "faith"-whether they're sincere enough and have done enough-and then He responds to them accordingly. Since there's no apparent response, they wonder, Why isn't G.o.d answering my prayer? Why isn't G.o.d answering my prayer? Then they start coming up with different excuses like: "Maybe He's trying to teach me something. Maybe I'm not holy enough. Maybe I haven't prayed enough. Maybe I have sin in my life. Maybe I need to do this and that and all these other things." No-G.o.d has already done His part! Then they start coming up with different excuses like: "Maybe He's trying to teach me something. Maybe I'm not holy enough. Maybe I haven't prayed enough. Maybe I have sin in my life. Maybe I need to do this and that and all these other things." No-G.o.d has already done His part!

When you understand that G.o.d has already done it, condemnation is defused. How could you think that you're not holy enough if He's already done it? G.o.d provided everything you would ever need before you were born again, before you did anything good or bad, before you were even born! He provided it independent of you-by grace. All you have to do is-by faith- reach over and get it.

Can You Receive?

That's how you were saved! What would have happened if someone had told you that if you'd pray and seek G.o.d, beg and plead for mercy, fast and live holy, t.i.the and be earnest, sincere, and desperate enough, then Jesus would come and die for your sins? If salvation had been presented as something that could happen but hasn't happened yet, the devil could easily have convinced you that "Maybe G.o.d can do it and maybe He's done it for others, but He'll never do it for you because you're just too __________ (fill in the blank)."

It's mind-boggling to think that Almighty G.o.d would become a human being, take our sicknesses and sin, suffer our punishment, go to h.e.l.l, and then turn around and give us-as a free gift-salvation. That's too wild! The only way someone could believe that is if it had already happened and the Holy Spirit bore them witness saying, "Yes, I did it! You just have to receive what I've already done for you." If you thought your salvation had yet to be accomplished and was based upon whether or not you were good enough, you'd be convinced, "It won't work for me." But since forgiveness of sins was presented as an already done deal, you were able to receive it. since forgiveness of sins was presented as an already done deal, you were able to receive it.

The same is true of every other salvation benefit, including healing. It's already been provided. At the cross, Jesus bore all your sicknesses, diseases, and infirmities at the same time as He bore all your sin. You don't have to wonder, Will G.o.d heal me? G.o.d heal me? Like forgiveness, healing is a done deal! It's just a matter of whether you can reach out by faith and receive. If you can get this att.i.tude that healing has already been done, it will manifest. Praise the Lord! Like forgiveness, healing is a done deal! It's just a matter of whether you can reach out by faith and receive. If you can get this att.i.tude that healing has already been done, it will manifest. Praise the Lord!

CHAPTER 7.

G.o.d's Best!

In the early part of 2000, I ministered on grace and faith at a church in Lewisville, Texas. It's the same truth I've taught thousands of times (in book form as "Living in the Balance of Grace and Faith"). I emphasized how faith works and countered some common misconceptions (i.e., "faith" is believing G.o.d to do something in the future). While sharing that true Bible faith is believing what G.o.d has already done by grace, I used healing as my main example.

Chris Ochenski attended that meeting and took a tape of the message home to her sick daughter. Niki loved the Lord and enjoyed a close relations.h.i.+p with Him. However, at age nineteen, she had been very ill for five long years.

Misdirected Faith Niki was believing G.o.d for her healing but hadn't received the manifestation yet. She'd seen visions of the Lord, and in them He told her that she would be healed. Because of this, she had faith and was happy. Niki was praising G.o.d even though her doctor- who kept a weekly appointment with her-never expected to see her alive again. Niki was nearly gone! was believing G.o.d for her healing but hadn't received the manifestation yet. She'd seen visions of the Lord, and in them He told her that she would be healed. Because of this, she had faith and was happy. Niki was praising G.o.d even though her doctor- who kept a weekly appointment with her-never expected to see her alive again. Niki was nearly gone!

Although she had faith, it was misdirected. Niki believed G.o.d was-future tense-going to heal her. She was pa.s.sively waiting on the Lord to do something. Then she listened to my message on ca.s.sette about how G.o.d has already done it and faith just reaches over to appropriate what's already been provided. My statement "Progressive miracles aren't G.o.d's best!" really upset Niki at first.

I'm not against progressive miracles, and there's no "bad" way to be healed. However, some ways are definitely better than others-and G.o.d's best for everyone is always an instantaneous miracle! The only reason progressive miracles come is because of the way people believe. Their theology-the way they think-only lets it manifest a little at a time.

Since the Lord had told her that she would have a progressive miracle, Niki took offense at my remark. But because she had such a good relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d, she just asked Him about it. While listening to the tape, she said in her heart, "Now, G.o.d, what about that? You told me I was going to be healed progressively!" He answered saying, "Niki, that's according to your faith. That's what you were believing for. It was all you could receive, so I was meeting you where you were. But My best is instantaneous!"

Once she understood, Niki saw that she could've been healed five years before. She'd been pa.s.sively "waiting" on G.o.d, and her faith wasn't out there for an instantaneous healing. She hadn't understood how grace and faith work together to bring into manifestation what G.o.d has already provided. This became a revelation to her as she recognized her healing was already done.

Redirected Faith The next day, I went over to the Ochenskis' house. I was praying that Niki would become so angry that she'd reach out in aggressive, violent faith and take her healing. (Matt. 11:12.) Up until then, she hadn't been able to feed herself, go to the bathroom on her own, or even brush her hair. Niki wasn't paralyzed, but she was so weak and frail that she couldn't even lift her hand-much less move, walk, or do anything. However, after I arrived, Niki became so riled up that she put her arm across my chest, pushed me out of the way, stood up, and walked!

All I did was redirect her faith! Niki had thought that "faith" was something she did, and sooner or later G.o.d would respond and grant healing. I simply told her, "No, that's not Bible faith. You must believe that G.o.d has already done it. Then-by faith-reach over into the spirit realm and take what's rightfully yours!" Healing manifested-BOOM--just as soon as Niki received the revelation!

This ministered to me too! I saw how this understanding could effectively redirect a person's faith. Therefore, I've been trying to share it with as many people as I can. Since Niki's healing was so dramatic in ill.u.s.trating this truth, we made a video out of it called "Niki Ochenski: The Story of a Miracle!" This powerful video has already impacted tens of thousands of lives!

I've seen more individuals healed in the past few years than I have in a long, long time. It's simply because people are understanding and saying, "I'm no longer asking G.o.d to heal me; I am receiving my healing, which He has already provided. When I pray for people, I'm no longer asking G.o.d to heal them. Instead, I'm ministering healing. I'm giving them healing-the same healing virtue that G.o.d has placed in me!" Both myself, and others, are seeing infinitely better results-glory to G.o.d!

Reach Out and Receive! Receive!

All of this applies to your financial prosperity too! G.o.d has already commanded blessing and the power to get wealth upon you. You just have to learn how to reach out in faith and receive it!

G.o.d doesn't give you wealth directly; He gives you power to get it instead.

"But thou shalt remember the Lord Lord thy G.o.d: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant" (Deut. 8:18). thy G.o.d: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant" (Deut. 8:18).

As a born-again believer, you already have G.o.d's wealth anointing and prosperity power. However, you must believe in your heart that you already have it and then put it to work by faith.

Many things are involved in the process of putting this power to work and seeing wealth manifest. You need to wholeheartedly seek G.o.d and His kingdom first. (Matt. 6:33.) You must trust in Him and start giving. It's important to understand that there's always a period of time between sowing and reaping. Also, you must go out and work. There are many, many practical things you can do to actively cooperate with G.o.d's laws of faith concerning prosperity.

The Lord has worked these truths deep into my life. My wife and I have gone from nearly starving to death on several occasions as impoverished young ministers to seeing G.o.d provide an average of $ 1,200 every hour of every day of the year for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. I have several teachings that will help you better understand and receive the manifestation of prosperity, including: "Grace and Faith in Giving," Financial Stewards.h.i.+p, Blessings and Miracles, Financial Stewards.h.i.+p, Blessings and Miracles, and and The Power of Partners.h.i.+p. The Power of Partners.h.i.+p. Prosperity is simply having enough of G.o.d's supply to fully accomplish His will for your life. I pray that you get a hold of this revelation and fully accomplish your destiny in Him! Prosperity is simply having enough of G.o.d's supply to fully accomplish His will for your life. I pray that you get a hold of this revelation and fully accomplish your destiny in Him!

Once you believe that G.o.d-by grace-has already provided prosperity, you'll begin to reach out in faith and take it. You'll start cooperating with the power and anointing to get wealth that is already in your born-again spirit. Instead of just praying and asking G.o.d to dump a bunch of money in your lap while you sit at home watching "As the Stomach Turns" on television, you'll get up, go out, and start touching things. Why? Because you know that G.o.d has promised to bless all the work of your hands! (Deut. 28:8, 12.) When you start doing things-believing for that anointing to manifest and prosperity to come-then you'll start seeing it. If you just sit at home, pray, and wait for G.o.d to magically put money in your wallet, you'll never receive it. G.o.d said He'd bless the work of your hands. One hundred times zero is zero (100 x 0 = 0). You need to believe that G.o.d has already done His part, and then do something. It's not, "G.o.d, did You see that I worked? Now, release Your power!" No! You're working because you believe that G.o.d has already given you this anointing to get wealth, and you're acting in faith to release that power to manifest the prosperity the Lord has already provided. Can you see the difference?

G.o.d Has Already Moved Moved Confession doesn't make G.o.d move. You're wrong if you think reciting "By His stripes I am healed" 599 times will force G.o.d to heal you. You can't make G.o.d do anything! Faith doesn't move Him. G.o.d-by grace-has already moved as much as He's going to. He's already provided everything. Your need was abundantly supplied before you even had it. Since the Lord has already done it, you confess G.o.d's Word to encourage your own heart and to drive off the devil. It might take you confessing that Word 599 times before you actually believe (Rom. 10:17), but G.o.d's not the one who needs to move; He already has. Confession moves you into faith and the devil out of the way so your manifestation can come. (Rev. 12:11.) You don't have to read the Bible to make G.o.d love you! He won't love you any more than He already does if you read the Word, and neither will He love you any less. However, you'll love G.o.d more if you read the Bible, and you'll love Him less if you don't. His love doesn't change; yours does. G.o.d has put things in His Word that draw out this love and everything else He's already placed in your life.

Living holy doesn't make G.o.d love you more. Neither does a lack of holiness cause Him to love you less. G.o.d-by grace-is the same toward everyone. However, if you don't live holy, you won't love G.o.d as much. Through sin, your heart will become hard, and you'll deaden yourself to the things of G.o.d. (Heb. 3:13.) You need to study the Word, fellows.h.i.+p with believers, and do good things, but not in order to move G.o.d. He's already moved, but you recognize that you must-by faith-reach over into the spiritual realm and receive. Attending church, reading the Word, and listening to good Bible teaching doesn't cause G.o.d to move in your life; they help your faith!

Even reading this book won't make G.o.d love you more. He isn't going to look down on you and say, "You read Andrew's book! I'm giving you three stars. At six stars, you'll get one answered prayer!" No, that's not how He works! The Lord loves you, and His grace is the same toward you whether or not you read this book. However, you won't be the same toward G.o.d and His grace without this understanding. Apart from this revelation, you won't have the same degree of faith operating in your life. This teaching is helping your faith-your positive response to what G.o.d has already done.

Reading the Bible and going to church help you. Studying the Word and fellows.h.i.+pping with other believers stir your love for G.o.d. (Heb. 10:23-25.) However, the Lord would love you exactly the same if you never went to church or read the Word again. But that's stupid! Why would you cut yourself off from the very things G.o.d's given to help you walk by faith?

Faith Responds to Grace Although you need to do those things, don't ever think that your actions make G.o.d react. He never reacts to us. G.o.d has already done everything by grace, and faith is our reaction to Him. Flesh, works, and legalism all try to do things in order to solicit a positive response from G.o.d. But the Lord said He'd never share His glory with anyone. You didn't "make" G.o.d save, heal, or prosper you. He had already done it. All you did was respond positively in faith to reach out and appropriate what He had already provided.

Don't confuse trying to "make" G.o.d do something with your faith causing what He's already done to manifest. You can't force G.o.d to do anything. But-by faith-you can make what He's already provided to manifest. That's a big difference!

Faith is simply your positive response to what G.o.d has already done. You don't get the glory You can't say that you made something happen. It was G.o.d's power, not yours. He wasn't reacting to you or anything you've done. You simply responded to His grace!

Faith or grace taken alone-apart from the other-will kill you! They must complement each other in order for you to experience the abundant life G.o.d intended for you to enjoy. Faith teaching, if it's just "Do something to move G.o.d!" will kill you. You'll end up stuck in the flesh-frustrated, legalistic, and works-oriented. On the other hand, extreme grace will also kill you. If it's, "G.o.d does everything and you have nothing to do with it," your subsequent pa.s.sivity will prevent what the Lord has done from manifesting in your life. Then you'll have to make up all kinds of excuses for why you aren't experiencing the abundant life G.o.d provided by His grace grace and clearly promised in His Word. Grace and faith must work together! and clearly promised in His Word. Grace and faith must work together!

"I Labored More Abundantly" Labored More Abundantly"

Paul understood and lived by this truth.

"But by the grace of G.o.d I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of G.o.d which was with me" (1 Cor. 15:10).

Paul cooperated with G.o.d's grace. He didn't labor in order to get it, but once grace came, he labored in faith to reach out and receive what G.o.d had already done. That's a powerful revelation!

I pray that G.o.d gives you understanding and wisdom as you begin to harmonize this revelation of grace and faith and apply it to your daily life. The rest of this book will build upon the foundation that's been laid thus far. I'll be sharing some things that will really encourage and help you to successfully walk this out.

CHAPTER 8.

Seeing in the Spirit.

We're already blessed. (Eph. 1.) G.o.d has already done it. He's already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph. 1:3.) We have the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead living on the inside of us. (Eph. 1:19, 20.) Everything we'll ever need has already been provided. It's not a matter of asking G.o.d to do it, but rather believing that it's already done and releasing it to manifest.

G.o.d-by grace-has already done everything. Faith isn't something we do to make G.o.d move. Rather, it's our positive response to what He's already done. Since G.o.d has already done it, faith is simple; it's not a struggle. We don't have to do all these things in order to twist G.o.d's arm. Faith is simply our responding in a positive way to what G.o.d has already done.

"How Can This Be?"

Many people wonder, How can this be? can this be? It's like their circuits overload and start to blow. They say, "I'm miserable and fighting depression. I don't understand how you can say that the Lord has already done everything He's going to do and I'm already healed. It's like their circuits overload and start to blow. They say, "I'm miserable and fighting depression. I don't understand how you can say that the Lord has already done everything He's going to do and I'm already healed.

That can't be right. Here's my doctor's report. This proves that wrong!" Or they feel pain and other symptoms in their bodies and conclude, "Nope, I'm not healed." For many people, these truths are simply beyond belief because they're so obviously contrary to what they're presently experiencing in the physical realm.

Yet the Bible clearly teaches that G.o.d has already blessed you. You have the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Everything's a done deal, and you've already got it. So you're probably wondering, If all this is true, then where is it? If all this is true, then where is it? In the spirit realm! In the spirit realm!

G.o.d has already moved and blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Everything we'll ever need--joy, peace, wisdom, revelation knowledge, etc.-has already been provided. But it's all in the spirit realm.

If you can't understand that everything G.o.d has already provided for you is in the spirit realm, then you'll lose this truth I'm communicating. Why? Because the physical realm does not exactly reflect what's true in the spirit realm. Faith acts like a bridge to bring what is true and real in the spiritual world into the physical world. The truth is, very few believers allow their faith to be that bridge for what G.o.d has already done to cross over into the natural realm. We just don't see very much manifestation of it.

My New Ident.i.ty Ident.i.ty One of the first things the Lord gave me a clear revelation of was the truth that I'd become righteous. It wasn't a righteousness I had earned through my works, but rather a free gift He gave me based upon His work. (2 Cor. 5:21.) It didn't come from my living holy and doing everything right. When I was born again, Jesus Christ Himself became my righteousness. (1 Cor. 1:30.) My born-again spirit was "created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24). My new nature was created to be righteous. It's not something I'm becoming or evolving into. In my spirit, I am righteous. So is every other born-again believer!

I saw this truth in the Word and in my heart, but I couldn't perceive it in my experience. I looked in the mirror and saw zits, wrinkles, and bulges. My feelings and thoughts included anger, bitterness, l.u.s.t, and many other nasty things at times. In considering all of this, I knew I wasn't being like Jesus. At the time, I thought that when the Bible spoke of being righteous-in right standing with G.o.d-it meant sinless perfection in my thoughts, feelings, and actions. So I diligently searched my physical actions (body), and my thoughts and my feelings (mental-emotional realm, a.k.a. the soul), but I still couldn't perceive this righteousness. I really struggled with this for a long period of time. Then the Lord gave me revelation concerning spirit, soul, and body. (For further study, see Spirit, Soul & Body). Spirit, Soul & Body).

Through this revelation of spirit, soul, and body, I realized that when the Bible calls me righteous, it's talking about my born-again spirit-not my thoughts, feelings, actions, and physical body. I began to understand that in my spirit, I was totally changed. I'm a new creature. There's a new me!

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are pa.s.sed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

I started to recognize that in my spirit, I had become a totally brand-new person!

When I stopped going by what I saw in the mirror, thought in my mind, and observed in my actions, I began to experience victory in my Christian life. As I changed my ident.i.ty to who the Word said I was in the spirit, I started enjoying the promised abundant life in manifestation. (John 10:10.) 10:10.) How did that happen? Through G.o.ds Word! How did that happen? Through G.o.ds Word!

"So Are We in This World" Are We in This World"

G.o.d's Word is the only reliable, accurate representation of the spirit world. Jesus declared: "It is the spirit that quickeneth [makes alive]; the flesh profited! nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63, brackets mine).

G.o.d's Word is spiritual. The Bible tells us what's truly going on in the spirit realm.

That's why some people struggle so much to understand G.o.d's Word. They're trying to perceive in the natural realm what the Bible is speaking of in their spirit! Take, for instance, 1 John 4:17: "As he [Jesus Christ] is, so are we in this world" (brackets mine). It's not talking about your physical actions (body) or your thoughts and feelings (soul), because G.o.d's Word plainly reveals that someday (future-when you arrive in heaven), your body and soul (corruptible) will complete the process of change to perfection (will put on incorruption). (1 Cor. 13:9-12, 15:50-54.) However, Christ is perfect right now. So then, what part of you is already perfect-as Jesus is? Your born-again spirit!

As Jesus is-right at this moment-so are you in this world. It's not talking about when you get to heaven. It means right now here on earth. You can't say you're acting exactly as Jesus. You might be acting better than me, or better than you've ever acted before, but you're not manifesting everything physically, emotionally, and mentally exactly as Jesus is. The only way to understand 1 John 4:17 is to realize that it's talking about your born-again spirit. In the spirit, you're a totally brand-new person. The real you-who you'll be throughout eternity- is who you are in Christ. Living from who you are in Christ is what the Word calls "walking by the spirit" (Gal. 5:16). If you begin to do that, then you'll find the power of G.o.d manifest in your life. better than me, or better than you've ever acted before, but you're not manifesting everything physically, emotionally, and mentally exactly as Jesus is. The only way to understand 1 John 4:17 is to realize that it's talking about your born-again spirit. In the spirit, you're a totally brand-new person. The real you-who you'll be throughout eternity- is who you are in Christ. Living from who you are in Christ is what the Word calls "walking by the spirit" (Gal. 5:16). If you begin to do that, then you'll find the power of G.o.d manifest in your life.