WORKS TO WALK IN
Thursday – November 10, 2016
Greeting from Eastern Gate Ministries International and welcome to The Three Minute Word publication. The picture of Patti and I was taken in Maine this past month at an overlook in the Rangeley area. It was a beautiful day and the leaves were at peak color. However this pales in light of the original creation, the wonder to come in the Millennial Reign, the wonder of Heaven, and for now for us the unimaginable beauty of the new heaven and the new earth to come. God is so good.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
For the last several days I have been talking about verse ten above and the good works prepared by our Heavenly Father for us to walk in. This work is not to be hard nor exhausting. The nature of it should never cause us to think of it as toil or as requiring the sweat of our brow, those things are the lot of the heathen not the inheritance of the saints of God. You may be thinking: “this guy has got to be kidding, or what planet does he live on?” Any apparent mismatch of our lives and the Word of God is not a failure of the Word of God, a failure of God to perform His Word, other people, our color, who our parents were, or where we were born, and it is not the devils fault, it is our fault for not applying the Word of God correctly to our lives.
Now back to Isaiah sixty-one. We are talking about the works our Heavenly Father has prepared for us to walk in which includes the seven original mandates, the works of Jesus, and the greater works.
Isaiah 61:1-11 (KJV)
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
The following text from Isaiah encompasses the works of Jesus and the works we are to continue in His place.
Isaiah 61:1-11 (KJV)
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,…
Following this we find the ‘greater things’ described. As we continue with our text we find that we are to exercise the vengeance of our God, not on people, but on the works of the devil, on the devil himself. We can comfort all that mourn or grieve for we have received a hope which is certain (sure, definite) in Christ Jesus. This mourning brought on by the stealing, killing, and destroying of Satan is turned to an abundance in the Kingdom of God. We are not to walk around with downcast eyes and a mournful voice, but one of great victory in Christ Jesus. This hope is not only for the sweet by and by, but right now in the hell that those outside the Kingdom of God experience and those in the Kingdom who are unbelieving. Every child of God is to be known as a tree of righteousness showing the goodness (glory) of God. The people of God, not the government, are the ones who will turn our cites from the epitome of stealing, killing, and destroying to havens of hope, the bright shining city on a hill.
The people of God are to be prosperous and be at the gate with strangers (hired people) tending their businesses. This is reflective of our positions as kings, next in verse six we find a reference to our role as priests in the earth. A priest is one who stands between God and people for the benefit of the people. This is the time of great wealth transfer from the wicked to the righteous. The people of God will be well known, even famous among the heathen. It is obedience before the Lord that brings all of this to pass in the lives of the sons of God who are determined to not only do the works of Jesus but the greater works, not for their aggrandizement but for the glory of God and to bring in the final harvest for the Lord.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
