Live in Your Blessing

Hey, welcome to Self Talk. I'm your host, me, Dr. Ray Self. I'm excited about today's show. I think I've discovered a revelation in scripture that is life-changing. Although there's a lot of life-changing revelation in scripture, but this one has really been on my heart, and I know, I know that I know it is a key to victory in life. So stay tuned. I hope you enjoy it. This show is sponsored by, as always, the International College of Ministry, icmcollege.org. I don't know if you knew it or not, but you can also get certifications through our ministry. If you want a certification in Christian counseling, or to become a certified life coach, check out uh, International College of Ministry, icmcollege.org, or icmcampus.com. God bless you. Thanks for listening to today's show. This is Dr. Ray. 

Okay, here we go. You know, I've often believed, and I’ve believed for years, that we're living beneath what God has promised us. You see these incredible promises. Jesus said, "I've come to give you life and give you life more abundantly." The word says that uh, by His stripes, we are healed. The word says that we're blessed coming in, blessed going out, above and not beneath. And you know the promises, and they are amazing. And there's conditions. You know, the condition with God is always faith. You have to believe. I want to tell you something. The key to victory is not only your faith, but it's your revelation. When you have a revelation, and you know that you know that you know that revelation is God and it's God's word, and you put your trust in that revelation, which is God's word and God's promise, amazing things happen to you. 

So, I want you to consider some things right now which I think can and will change your life. So I want to give some principles. Now, the reason I want to talk about this is, I don't want you to live beneath what God has promised you. I don't want anybody to do that. I don't want it for myself. Okay? So in Romans 5:17, there's a promise here. And it says, “For if by the transgression of one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life. Those with the gift of righteousness will do what? Will reign in life. Some of you are not reigning. A matter of fact, life is kind of burying you. You're, you're walking beneath. You're, you're in that rut. You, you're oppressed. You're depressed. And I wouldn't call it reigning, but there's a, the gift of righteousness says we will reign in life. 

Now, it's important to understand this gift. Now, number one, righteousness means right standing with God, or justified with God. Now, you are in right standing and justified with God, not because of your ability, your good looks, and how good a person you are. You are in right standing with God if you have accepted Jesus Christ and believe Jesus Christ to be your savior, have received the Holy Spirit. And when you do that, you receive the gift, and that's important, the gift of righteousness. Righteousness is a gift. And scripture tells us about that over and over and over again. For instance, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus." So again, we're declared righteous. 

Now, it's important to understand righteousness means you have been made right with God. And it's not because you live a perfect life, because nobody can do that. It's because of Jesus, who went to the grave and died to make us righteous. Now, that's the beginning. That's your qualifications. But because you have this qualification, there's something you need to realize, which is a key to your victory. And I want to talk about that right now because it is critical. Romans 6:8 says this. It says, "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe we shall also live with Him." Then let me give you another scripture. It says, “Consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Now, in this scripture, it's talking about two things: dying with Christ and living with Christ. Now dying with Christ means when Jesus went to the cross, He died a vicarious death, He died a substitutionary death for you. But when He rose from the dead, that was also substitutionary, which means when He rose from the dead, you rose from the dead. And it's critical, critical, critical that you understand the resurrection power of Christ because not only did you spiritually, and…die with Christ, but spiritually, you rose with Christ. Now that resurrection with Christ is a key to your victory. “Consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” 

Now this death, that, that died, this death that Jesus died for you includes all your failures, your sin, your shame, your guilt, your diseases, and your curses. But being alive with Jesus, that means victory, abundance, peace, love, power, eternal life. Okay? So that's what alive means. That's the resurrection. You see, not only did we die with Christ, but we rose with Christ. Romans 6:4 explains this. “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism unto death. So that as Christ was raised from the dead for the glory of the Father, so we might too walk in the newness of life.” Christ was what? Was raised from the dead so that we too might walk in the newness of life. This new life is a life of victory. It's a life of overcoming. It's a life where there's no shame. There's no guilt. There's no condemnation. Okay? Now, you still get convicted. You see, this is an amazing, an amazing truth. 

So, Paul said, “Consider yourselves dead…” past tense. You died, but alive. That's present tense. So when he says, “Consider yourself alive,” he's talking about the resurrection. The resurrection is when Jesus came alive. He came alive out of the grave. And when Jesus rose out of the grave, you rose with Him. You have been risen with Christ. It's no longer Christ who lives, but it's Christ who lives in you. Okay. Another scripture that explains this very, very well. He says, Paul said in Philippians 3:9, "May it be found in Him, not having a righteous–” “...righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." The power of His resurrection that he wants to know the power of His resurrection. What were you resurrected to? To victory, to breakthrough, to healing, to abundance, to blessings, to, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are living in the resurrection. We're living in the resurrection. Consider yourselves dead and alive. Dead past tense, alive present tense, right now. You see, because when Christ rose from the dead, you rose with Him. You see, the death of Christ is only half the story. The resurrection is the victory. And the victory that Christ won, just like He died for you, He also rose from the dead for you. 

So, for instance, when you're baptized in water, that's symbolic of you dying with Christ and then raising from the dead with Christ. So, you were buried with Christ, and now you have risen with Christ. And this risen Christ, which is a risen you, is a person who's risen to victory. You've risen to abundance. You've risen to healing. You have to understand this, know this, and believe this. It's over and over in scripture. You see, we fail. We fail many times. Okay? We fail many times, but we have the ability to rise again. The benefits are enormous. Paul said again, "That I may know Him and the power of his resurrection." Consider yourself dead to sin, but alive with Christ. Alive with Christ. walk in the newness of life. The newness of life. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too might walk in the newness of life. We too, we too walk in that. You have died with Christ. You live with Christ. You died on the cross with Christ. You live with Christ. You are resurrected with Him. Do you get that? You're resurrected with Him. The dead past is your failures, your shame, your guilt. And the alive which is your present day is your victory, your abundance, your peace, your power, your love. 

So I know what I'm trying to tell you is for years, we've all taught and heard thousands of times, do you know Christ died for your sins? Yes, He did. But you know, also Christ rose for your victory, and with– not only did He die for you, but He rose for you. And so by faith, I died with Christ. But also by faith I have risen with Christ. I have risen from the dead. I have risen from, and so have you. You have risen from disease. You've risen from shame, from guilt, from poverty, from condemnation. You have risen from this. You must believe this and get this into your spirit. Christ rose from the dead so you could have victory. He died to take away all the ugly stuff. And He rose to give you all the beautiful stuff, the wonderful stuff, the good news. The good news of the gospel is not just the death of Christ. It's the resurrection of Christ. You have, like Paul said, “I want to know the power of His resurrection.” Do you know the power of His resurrection? 

See, you got to understand Christ died for you and He rose from the dead for you. You died with Him, and you rose with Him. You died with Christ, and you rose from the dead. Rose from the dead with Him. When you understand this, you get this into your spirit, and this becomes a part of your identity. You know that this is who you are. This is your right. This is your DNA. Then this stuff will begin to manifest or show evidence in your life. Your DNA, your right, your identity, you’re who you are as a risen person who's risen in victory. Now, Satan, he, he's a, he's a gravedigger. He loves to throw that dirt back on you. Don't let him dig up your grave. What's in the grave stays in the grave. But your focus today should be you're living in the resurrection. You have risen with Christ from all that ugly stuff. And the risen you is a victorious you, a blessed you, an overcoming you. This is who you are. This is your identity. This is your right. This is what the Bible says belongs to you. You must believe it to walk in it. Receive it, believe it, and know it. In the name of Jesus Christ. And I hope this ministers to you because you know, I got excited there. This is going to be a short podcast, but I want to pray for you. 

I pray right now, in the name of Jesus Christ, that we will all know the power of the resurrection of Jesus. Father, it is no longer I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me. We're living in the power of the resurrection. Lord, I ask for everyone listening to this show that you make that real to them. Make it, make that truth manifest all throughout their body and in their life, Father. “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Father, let us think. Let us believe. And let us know that we have risen from the dead with you, and we're living in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ today. The power to overcome, the power to heal, the power of love, the power that gives us peace that passes all understanding, the power that gives us eternal life to, to reign and rule with you, to be seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Lord, that's the resurrection. And Father, I thank you for it. And I thank you for everyone listening to this show. I pray this show will be a blessing and this show will change lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. 

That was powerful. If this show has been a blessing, or anything I can do to help you, please email me, you know, follow up. Make sure that you subscribe. Uh, I want to get the podcast out. I want to get this message out to more people. That's my heart. I want more listeners. I really think there's a good message here, and more people need to hear it. Share it with people. Tell people about it. Go to the website, icmcollege.org/selftalk, and subscribe, do a review, all that kind of stuff helps. You know the drill. Just help us get the word out. I appreciate you listening to Self Talk. Email me if you need, if you have questions, or I can pray for you. drrayself@gmail.com. D r r a y s e l f @gmail.com. Thank you so much for being a part of this show. I appreciate you very much, and God bless.