Death is overcome!

But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, Isay to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall Isay? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again ” (John 12:23-28NKJ). I think back to times as a child, at Easter time, watching movies on TV about the death of Jesus Christ; and though I did not have the understanding that I believe I have today, I would start to weep. I would weep because someone died for me. I thought, “Why would anyone want to die for me in the first place?” Year after year, (my first remembrance was when I was about five years old), I remember crying at the thought that someone would die for me: that was the Holy Spirit at work in my life -- even at that tender age. Have you ever had an experience like that, where you would weep at the thought that someone did something for your life? The love of heaven was released through the cross for you and for me to walk in.

In recent years, on one Good Friday, I was responsible for organizing the prayer walk in Sylvan Lake -- we had about 150 people on that walk. As we walked through Sylvan Lake, we proclaimed the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were proclaiming that our community is His. God did some amazing things that day and since that time. All the churches came together, and you know that even that is a miracle. We met at the Community Centre, and we heard a powerful message on the cross, from the Baptist pastor. It was so exciting to see all the churches in one accord, going forward. Our common bond is the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe what was released two thousand years ago at the cross, is available today, and this is the very thing that we need as believers. What was released through the cross is for you and for me. That type of love that was released through the cross is out there for every one of us. The reality is, that the majority of those who call themselves Christians, have no idea of this love being out there and available to them every moment of the day. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this: I believe that Jesus died twice. He died twice because He died once to Himself, and once a physical death, which led to supernatural life being released for you and me. That type of power is available to be released to us. That type of power is there for us. Do you remember the scripture that says the Holy Spirit will quicken our mortal bodies?“But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you ”(Romans 8:11 NKJ). There is so much available for us, but right now we aren’t walking in the full measure of what the Lord desires for us to walk in.

The Lord is in the miracle business. When some members of our church were in El Salvador, and of course now in Bulgaria we have seen so many miracles. It is the Lord’s desire to bring healing and miracles: It is out of the very same motives that propelled Jesus to the cross: the compassion, love, and the mercy of God. I don’t know if we can fully comprehend how much the Lord loves us. How we comprehend is intermixed with all sorts of things that go on: the world impacts it; the way we think impacts it; the things that have happened in the past; and the things that have controlled our lives, all impact our comprehension of God’s love. We just thank God for what Jesus did for every person two thousand years ago, and for who He is. The Prayer in the Garden “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray. And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved so that]I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire. And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again a second time He went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass by unless Idrinkit, Your will be done ” (Matthew 26:36-42Amp). This is an account of the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. There are two points that I’d like to draw from this passage: 1) death is necessary 2) out of life flows love. It is available to the church. Death is necessary for our lives, because we desire life. Death is an attribute of life. In verse36 we read that Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray, taking Peter, James and John with him. We read, “He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed.”The first point I want to make about this is that Jesus was going through a great deal of distress in His life over the very thing that would bring humanity victory, that being the cross. You may be in distress now. There is grief and distress in the world, and the Lord Jesus experienced it just before He died. There was a wrestling that was going on: a wrestling between the natural and the supernatural. Jesus came in bodily form. There was a wrestling that took place in His life, even though He was the Son of God. Jesus experienced everything that humanity experiences. Simply speaking He fulfilled the mandate and overcame every temptation and scripture makes it clear He was tempted in all things including sin that has overcome your life, empowered by the Holy Spirit. He did nothing but what He saw His Father say and do. “ThenJesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner ” (John 5:19 NKJ). The father's plan from the beginning was for the cross. That is the direction I believe the church is headed, as we become the bride of Christ. Sin and death are overcome and there is a day for all to walk under the overcoming power of the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all work in a coordinated effort to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

We have the fivefold ministry until we come into the fullness of this great victory. We are headed in a direction to become the bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle. Without having a spot or wrinkle correlates with doing only the Father’s will. What fraction of our lives do we spend doing the Father's will? Ask yourself, “Am I doing the Father’s will, or am I doing my will?” What percentage of our day, are we walking focused with a kingdom mindset? There is coming a church that will walk in this: this is the church that will bring in the harvest. We are totally incapable of this in our natural strength, but empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can walk in this. I am excited because the remnant is going to walk in this. It comes out of a release of love. The Father’s heart is love. We are not capable of ourselves-- I say this because sometimes religion tries to bind us. It is really a lack of love that the church suffers from on occasion.

“Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved so that I am almost dying of sorrow. ” Have you ever experienced sadness, grief, and sorrow? You may have gone through these things even this week. Take hope, because there was a great release of love at the cross that becomes your empowerment. There was a draw that the Lord Jesus made on the Holy Spirit. The thing that empowered our Lord Jesus, is the same thing that empowers us. Jesus asked His disciples to stay in one spot as He went a little farther to pray, “He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me;”

What was the cup? The cup was the cross. He knew what laid ahead for Him: Jesus knew that He was going to die very soon. His natural man really didn’t want to die. There is a key here that brought life, and I want to leave you with this one key: “Nevertheless, not what I will, [notwhat I desire], but as You will and desire.” What is it that will bring life? Death. Death will bring life, but there is also an attitude that the Lord was releasing. Just think about Abraham, who was ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac: how was he able to do that? There is something that Abraham knew: that it didn’t matter when he was holding up the knife -- somehow there was a resurrection that would happen to Isaac if he had gone through with it. Somehow, deep inside Abraham, he knew that his God was faithful. Jesus knew that His Father was faithful. The only thing He was looking for was -- not His will but His Father’s will to be done. He knew that there would be life out of it and produced for multitudes into eternity.

“And He came to His disciples and foundt hem sleeping.” Do you know that there will be people, who will be asleep, when you are walking in the plans and purposes of God? The disciples were not walking in the revelation that they would get later. How did they get it? They got it through the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Jesus said that He was leaving, but He was sending Someone to take His place to be the Comforter and the Helper. That same Comforter and Helper is here and is available for your life and my life. He is available here. He has been available for over two thousand years, and He is what we draw upon. The Lord Jesus Christ made the way for you and me to enter in and possess the fruit of His sacrifice; which became a call that still echoes today to each and every believer. My life and your life our not ours to squander.

“And He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? All of you must keep awake, (give strict attention, be cautious and active.) ” That last verse is for the church. Wake up church! Be vigilant! We must be aware of the days we walk in through the Holy Spirit. It is a new day. I believe the Lord is releasing new love for the church to propel us. The bride is being perfected. “And watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Do you see the two things that are opposing one another? Who said this? Jesus said this. You can walk in the spirit of the Lord for your life through the Holy Spirit. Our citizenship is not of this world. This is true Christianity; it is more real in the supernatural than the natural. Logic can’t cut it, but there is a release of the supernatural that propels us by the HolySpirit. In May 18, 2005, I had a vision: I was face down at a conference and I had a vision of Jesus on the cross. I was right there beside Him when He said, “It is finished!” I received a revelation and the vision didn’t end for me there, but the words came to me very clearly, “Now walk in it.” The trouble with Christianity is that the majority are not walking in it. That is what the Lord is building and developing. A walk that says Christ has done His part now lets all walk in it.

“Again, a second time He went away and prayed, My Father if this cannot pass by unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Jesus died to His will. There were two deaths: Jesus died to His will; which released an authority in the Throne Room to empower Him to go through the second death; which was physical death. We need to be cognisant of the kingdom of God in our lives. Have you ever missed God? There is coming a day when there is an empowerment that will take place for you and I. How could Jesus have 100 % communion with the Father? He could, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Don’t you want to go higher?

In my former occupation, one of the things I would do is hire people. I would go through a bunch of questions just to get to the point where I would have an understanding of where the individual was at. I was trying to get the answer to a fundamental question, and it would take me an hour and a half to perhaps get around to it. The question was simply this, “Are you part of the problem, or are you part of the solution?” I could get an idea of who these individuals really were. As believers, we are called to be a part of the solution. s the kind of person I was looking for; is easier to deal with solutions than problems! Jesus made a clear path for us to follow and as we celebrate the cross let us be clear that it was not in vain for our lives in eternity. Much love!