Use Your Keys

I know it has been a few days since I wrote last time, I hope everyone can remember what I was teaching on. I have been talking about our, that is humankind's, godly place on this earth. Last time I started to explain that God created everything with His word, and we are created in His likeness. We are the only created beings on this planet that can speak. And we are to use our words to have dominion over our lives.

So, I would like to start with a scripture that I believe I have already used to help us further understand the importance of Jesus, and what He has accomplished, and how we need Him in our daily lives.

18 And the Ever-living One [I am living in the eternity of the eternities]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore; and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead). Rev 1:18 (AMP)Jesus existed before time.

Through Him all things were made. He saw what a mess humans made of this world. His love was so great that He became a man. He loved us so much that He delivered us the only way that was possible. Authority over all creation was given to man, so a man was the only one qualified to take the authority back. And only God was perfect enough to keep the law, which was what was required to take back the authority that Adam lost. So here in Revelation Jesus is explaining He has accomplished this. He is God, so He kept the law. And He was fully man here on earth, which qualified Him to take the authority back from Satan.Let's look at another passage to confirm this.

18 Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matt 28:18 (AMP)

This is Jesus speaking after He died and rose again, before He retured to heaven. Here again we can see that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. "How does that help me?", someone might ask. Let's look at the gosple of Mark for the answer.

17 And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18 They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it). Mark 16:17-20 (AMP)

The answer is in verse 17. Jesus has the authority. And in that authority He has given it to us. He said He has the keys. He love us so much that He has taken back the keys that were lost. He now says to use them. You have the keys. The keys of authority, but if you don't use them what good are they? If I gave you a brand new car and the keys to drive it. And everyday you went out and sat in the car. You washed the car. You even read the owners manual, over and over again. You might have even memorized some of the pages. What if you had to go to work or run to the store, but refused to use the keys I gave to you? Then you came to me and said. Oh, Caroline you are so generous to have given me that car and those keys. I know you love me. But, I really need to get to work today. If it be your will, can you help me, please? How could I answer that? Didn't I already give you everything?? In Mark 16:17 Jesus said that we will have signs follow us, because we believe. Believe what? We believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. He is our righteousness and we believe that He has conquored sin, all the manefestations of sin and death itself. And in doing this, Jesus has given us His name. What does that mean? It means that the keys are in His name. And to use these keys we must speak the word of God over our lives in the name of Jesus. Let's look at the Word to further this piont.

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. John 15:16 (NKJV)

So here Jesus is teaching how we are to walk in authority, how to bear fruit, how to use His keys. He says to use His name, so that God can give the things that you speak to. Does He say to pray to God and ask Him to bear fruit for you? No, when you use the name of Jesus, God will cause you to bear friut. If you look back at Mark 16:20 it says that God worked with them, atesting to their message (or their words) with signs and miricles. They are God's keys, He has given them to us, to use them. And when we do, He shows Himself strong with signs and miricles.But, when we don't use the Word of God, and don't understand the power and authority of the name of Jesus, there will be no signs and miricles. When we don't take His keys and use them to run our lives, and instead let our lives run us, we shouldn't wonder why we don't hear anything from God when we pray. The bible says.

9 Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10 That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 And every tongue [ frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:9-11 (AMP)

Every sickness has a name. Every attack from the enemy has a name. And those names are below the name of Jesus. We have come to understand that we are supposed to speak to things, like God does. And now we are understanding that the keys are in the name of Jesus. So let's say you have a pain in your body, you need to walk in the authority Jesus gave you. Say, "Pain, I command you to leave me in the name of Jesus Christ!" If you have lack in your finances. Say, "Lack, I command you to flee from me in the name of Jesus." And now start to speak blessings over your life, over your body. Start to use the keys.

Word Containers

So in the last blog we began with Genesis and laid down the foundation that we (humankind) were created in the likeness of God, and that we were to have dominion or authority over the earth. I would now like to define the word dominion.

1.the power or right of governing and controlling; sovereign authority.
2.rule; control; domination.
3.a territory, usually of considerable size, in which a single rulership holds sway.
4.lands or domains subject to sovereignty or control

God made the earth and everything in the earth for us to have rule, control, dominate, be subject over, and have complete authority over. Did God say He would have control of these things for you? No, He said that we are to have dominion over them.

So then, the next question should be, "How? How are we to do this?" Now the best place to find the answer would be the Bible. Since we are created in the image of God, it would make perfect sense to see how God rules and reigns. Let's go to the beginning.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen 1:1-5 (NKJV)

God was looking at the earth. He saw that it looked like a big mess. Light was mixed with darkness, good was mixed with bad. There was confusion. I'm sure we have all had a situation like this before. But, what did God do? He spoke. He spoke to the earth. He spoke to the darkness. And He told the earth how it should be. He said, "Light be." and Light was. God used His words to change what was. The way that God created everything we see is with His words. And we are created in His image. To have authority over our lives and this world.

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Heb 11:1-3 (NKJV)

There is a supernatural creative force that God used to create everything that we now see. This supernatural force is the Word of God. His words are the most powerful force in the seen and unseen realm. And this power that is in His Word is called faith.

If you are having trouble understanding what I mean picture this. God is out in the heavens somewhere, and He decides to speak. As the words leave His mouth, somehow they can be seen. But, instead of words we are seeing containers. And as the word reach where they were sent the container breaks open to reveal the thing spoken. Now when the words are in the container form they are filled with Gods power. They are filled with His faith. This is the supernatural faith of God. This is how God creates and this is how we are to take dominion over our circumstances. We are to speak God's Word over our lives. We send out the containers (His Word) filled to the full with faith in His Word. They go where we have sent them. They break open and then we see the manifestation of the things that we spoke to.Let's take a look at how Jesus did this.

19 And as He saw one single leafy fig tree above the roadside, He went to it but He found nothing but leaves on it [ seeing that in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. And He said to it, Never again shall fruit grow on you! And the fig tree withered up at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled greatly and asked, How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once? Matt 21:19-20 (AMP)

Did you catch that? Jesus is speaking to the fig tree. He is talking to a thing. When a fig tree has leaves it is supposed to have figs too, so the tree was lying to Him when it didn't have fruit. So Jesus spoke to it, and cursed it, and His words were containers filled with faith, and the fig tree died. That is dominion. And we know that Jesus was operating as a man, He had to in order to have dominion on this earth. So what was Jesus' response to the disciples?

21 And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done. 22 And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive. Matt 21:21-22 (AMP)

I encourage you to do a study on the way God says we should speak, and study the way Jesus spoke. We are created in His image, to speak like Him. To fill our containers (our words) up with faith so that when we speak our situations change. But, before you can speak you must be filled yourself. You must study, and be filled with, and firmly standing on the truths of God's word. It is a process, but one with great rewards. You will become closer than ever before to God and understand Him better then ever before.

What is Our Place?

I have been working on a new topic. It is the importance of using the authority that God has given us. Let's start by looking in Genesis.

26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Gen 1:26-28 (NKJV)

The book of Genesis is so vitally important to study because it sets the stage of how God created everything and our position in that creation. Here in verses 26 through 28 we can see that mankind was created in the image of God. And in that image we are to have dominion over all the earth. Yes, God created everything but then gave Adam authority over His creation. And once God had done that, once He decided to give mankind authority or dominion over the earth to mankind, we were free to do what we pleased with it. Let's take another look at scripture.

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; But the earth He has given to the children of men. Psalms 115:16 (NKJV)

And we all know what Adam did with his authority. God had given Adam the keys to the planet earth. And Adam handed the keys over to satan. "When did he do that?", one might ask. Adam gave his authority over this earth to satan when he listened and obeyed satan's words about the tree of knowledge, instead of listening to God's words. By heeding satan's lies, Adam forfeited his dominion. God says that He will never break His word. So once He gave man dominion, man was free to do whatever he pleased with it. God doesn't rule directly over the earth. That is why in order to take back the authority that man gave to satan, God became a man. As God, He didn't have the authority to change the earth, but as a man, satan was in big trouble. So let's take a look at what Jesus accomplished.

18 And the Ever-living One [I am living in the eternity of the eternities]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore; and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead).

Rev 1:18 (AMP)

Praise God! Jesus was fully man, just as He was fully God, and therefore able to take back the keys that Adam had surrendered. Yet, He only operated here on this earth as a man. He operated as a sinless man, who walked in the gifts of the spirit. And now He has given us, His children the keys back. He has delivered us from living a life under the authority of satan, and if we will take the keys He died to give us, we will have victory in this life. However, it is still a choice.

I can see Jesus with His arm outstretched, the keys of authority, dominion, victory, peace, freedom, and eternal life in His hands. Yes, He has gone to battle for you. He has won the victory for you. This is what it means to be more than a conqueror. Let's take those keys that Jesus won for us, and walk in the abundant life that He wants us to have. In the next few entries I will be taking those keys and unlocking some of the wonderful treasures in God's word, so we can walk in the dominion that He wants us to have.