This is in the realm of confession brings possession. I know a lot of Christians have a problem with that Word of Faith tenet, thus I have hesitated in posting this.

Let me attempt to be the apologist here. I believe in "confession brings possession;" however confession merely to possess material possessions or selfish designs is not the Will of God. Herein may lay some confusion.

God wants Believers to be prosperous; however my personal belief from Word of Faith prosperity teachers deviates a little. You can confess until you are blue in the face for an upgrade in monetary lifestyle; however if you are not disciplined enough or a good steward or especially plugged into the will of God enough, it ain't gonna happen (to say it in the vernacular).

The blessing of a level of prosperity is congruent to the level of ability God believes you can prosper. (Matt. 6:33. Matt. 24:45 - 51. Lk. 16:1 - 13 and more) God's Grace is sufficient, be happy and grow in faith. As one draws closer to God, God draws closer to you. God like a good Father wishes the best for His children and a good Father knows what His children can handle or not handle.

Does the same thing pertain to "confession brings possession" in matters of healing or divine health? Yes, I believe so. Here stewardship is not the issue though, it is faith and/or trust. In this case confession builds faith to the degree that your actions are in line with the Will of God and one possesses health or healing.

Note in all cases whatsoever on sows shall also reap. New Agers and Eastern Religions relate this Christian principle to Karma, a word that is becoming well known in English in the Western World.

Again you can confess until you are blue in the face, and eat wrong or smoke continuously or have multiple sex partners or - you get the point, the diseases or health problems that follow will more than likely happen.

I also believe in the Mercy of God. This is something that is beyond my understanding, but God just plain has a plan for a person's life and regardless of a bad life led miracles, wonders and healings occur.

Here is another thing that is beyond my understanding: Good people and Good Stewards are sometimes the recipients of bad news and unlike Job do not recover to be blessed in multiple dimensions (while others that connect to God in some way God expects do recover like Job with blessings in multiple dimensions).

So that is my take on "Confession brings Possession."

Below is a Greek lesson in Spirit by Rick Renner along similar lines.

JRH 10/3/07

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It's Time for You To Start Confessing ‘Good Things' About Yourself!

Rick Renner

Sparkling Gems from the Greek (Link Updates Weekly)

Mon, 24 Sep 2007

Rick Renner Ministries

That the communication of thy faith
may become effectual by the acknowledging
of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
- Philemon 1:6

What kind of things do you say about yourself? Do you speak well of yourself, or are you hyper-critical of your appearance, your weight, your intelligence, your talents, your skills, and every other aspect of who you are as a person?

I used to be so hyper-critical of myself that one day the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "How dare you continually talk so badly about yourself after the good work I've done inside you. Don't you know how marvelously I created you to be in Jesus Christ? Quit speaking so negatively of yourself, and start acknowledging every good thing that is in you."

I didn't realize how badly I was speaking of myself until the Holy Spirit brought it to my attention. But after He spoke to me, I started noticing every time something evil slipped out of my mouth about myself. I was stunned to see how many times I did it! I became painfully aware that my own mouth had become one of my greatest enemies. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I made a decision to quit speaking such foul things and to start aligning my mouth with what God's Word declared me to be.

Paul said we need to speak good things about ourselves! In Philemon 1:6, he said, "That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." Today I want to especially draw your attention to the part of the verse that says, "...May become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."

Even though God has done great things in you and has planned a powerful future for you, it is up to you to activate His blessings in your life! This is why Paul says, "That the communication of your faith may become effectual...."

The word "effectual" is the Greek word energeo. It is where we get the word energy. However, in this verse, the word energeo carries the idea of something that has suddenly become energized or activated. Paul's words could actually be rendered, "That the communication of your faith may become energized and activated...."

Let me give you an example to help you understand what this word energeo means in the context of this verse. An automobile may be filled with enough fuel to drive a long distance, but it won't go anywhere until someone puts the key into the ignition and then turns the key. The moment that key is turned, the spark plugs are sparked, which fires up the engine. Once the engine has been activated, the potential in that car is ready to be unleashed.

The car always has the capability of moving, but if it is never activated, it sits silent in the drive¬way. No matter how much fuel is in the tank or how much horsepower that car possesses, its power and potential will never be realized until someone turns the key in the ignition.

Now let's apply this to you. In Philemon 1:6, the apostle Paul writes that "every good thing" has been placed in you by Jesus Christ. Think of it - He saved you, healed you, redeemed you, and protected you. He has given you a sound mind; He has given you the mind of Christ; He has imparted gifts and talents to you; and He has planned a future for your life that is simply glorious. You are loaded with phenomenal potential that is just waiting to be activated!

You may say, "Yes, well, I know that the Bible says I've been given all those good things, but I don't feel like any of that is true about me! I feel like such a defeat. Even though the Word says I'm healed, the reality is that I feel sick. Even though God's Word says I have a sound mind, I continually feel like I don't have control of my thought life. And in spite of the fact the Bible says God has blessed me with gifts and talents, I feel like a dope who has nothing to offer to this world. There is a big gap between what the Bible says about me and what I feel about me!"

My friend, you are like a car that is loaded with enough fuel and horsepower to get anywhere you need to go. But for that potential in you to be released, you have to hold the right key in your hand.

Furthermore, it isn't enough for you to just possess the key. You have to put that key into the "ignition" and turn it so the latent potential that resides inside you will be ignited. When you turn the key in the ignition, suddenly the potential you possess in Jesus Christ is supernaturally ignited, activated, energized, and released inside you!

So what is the key that sparks all the good things God has placed inside you into becoming an outward reality?

What is the key that causes all that God declares about you to become manifested in your life?

How do you "turn the key in the ignition" so that the great work God has done inside you is activated and released?

Paul says, "That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."

The word "acknowledging" in this verse holds the answer to the questions above. This word is from the Greek word epignosis, which describes a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts.

The word epignosis pictures a person who knows his facts like a professional. This is a person so sure of his information that when he speaks, he does so with confidence and boldness. He has no reason to be ashamed or to fear that others may accuse him of being incorrect because he is well instructed and has an intensive, deep knowledge of the facts.

But how did he obtain such knowledge of the facts? No one becomes this knowledgeable accidentally.

For example, consider the book you hold in your hands. The information contained in this book didn't come to me while I was sleeping. It is the result of many years of study and very hard work. I have passionately applied myself to understanding the Greek New Testament so I could share these truths confidently and boldly with others.

To become astute requires study, meditation, digging deep into truth, and applying oneself to know the facts inside and out. The result of this hard work is such a thorough knowledge of the facts that a person has a strong confidence regarding what he says or writes.

In my case, I am confident of what I have written in this book because I have put so much study into it. You could say that I have an epignosis of this information.

Now Paul uses this same idea when he says we are to "acknowledge" every good thing that has been placed in us by Christ Jesus. Of course, this means we are to confess the truth about ourselves - but before we can confess the truth, we must first know the truth!

Because the word epignosis depicts a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts, Paul is letting you know that it is essential for you to possess:

1) a knowledge of exactly who you are in Jesus Christ.

2) a knowledge of what Jesus has purchased in your redemption.

3) a knowledge of every good thing that God has placed in you by Jesus Christ.

4) a knowledge of all these truths that is so concrete and so unshakable that you are immovable in what you think and believe.

If you don't know the facts of who you are in Jesus Christ, it's time for you to get serious about digging into the Bible until you know these truths like a professional. The truth about who you are in Jesus Christ is the key to your victory. You should study, read, listen to teaching material - in other words, you should use every available resource to discover what God's Word says you've been given in Jesus Christ. This knowledge is the key that will set you free. However, merely possessing the key won't activate these realities in your life. You must put the key into the ignition and turn it, sparking these truths into manifestation in your life!

A key in the ignition switch does no good unless it is turned. Likewise, the truth in your life does no good until it is spoken! The moment you open your mouth and start confessing the good things that are in you by Jesus Christ, a supernatural connection is made between your faith and all that Jesus has deposited inside you. At that moment, the gifts and treasures God has placed inside you become supernaturally activated. The confession of your mouth - your acknowledgement of the truth - is what sparks these spiritual blessings and causes them to become operative, activated, and manifested realities.

Sadly, many people who know the truth remain in bondage because they never align their mouths with the truth. Instead of speaking what God says about them, they ridicule themselves, put themselves down, and speak badly of themselves. They possess all the potential that God has placed inside them, but they never experience that potential because their mouths have never sparked and activated those spiritual blessings into becoming manifested realities.

To make these truths real in your life, you have to put the key in the ignition switch.

A)  The key is the Word of God.
B)  The ignition is your mouth.
C)  The key is turned in the ignition when you open your mouth and start to speak the truth. 
D)  The good things in you are activated the moment you start confessing the truth.
E)  The way to make these blessings real in your life is to: 1) thoroughly know them through diligent study; 2) put these truths into your mouth; and 3) speak them out loud!

That is how you turn the key in your ignition and energize these truths until they begin to manifest in you!

You see, it's time for you to stop speaking so badly about yourself. Instead, you need to open your mouth and start acknowledging who you are in Jesus Christ! By acknowledging the basic truths of what you have been given in Jesus, you will release so much divine energy that it will radically transform your life. The recognition of these spiritual treasures that reside within you will pick you up, lift you high, and carry you right over into the realm of victory you desire!

So quit talking negatively about yourself, and begin to bring the words of your mouth into agreement with the truths God has deposited in your life.

God's Word says you're healed, so begin to say you're healed.

God's Word says you have the mind of Christ, so begin to say you have the mind of Christ.

God's Word says you're blessed, so begin to say you're blessed.

You turn the key in the ignition by getting your mouth into agreement with God's Word. And as you start speaking what God says about you, all your potential will start becoming a manifested reality!

The lost documents of the heresy trials of the Knights Templars discovered in the "secret archives" of the Vatican are going to be published in Latin in limited release (39 for sale and ONE for the Pope) at a price tag of $8, 377.00.

JRH 10/12/07

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Vatican publishes Knights Templar papers

By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer

Yahoo News

October 12, 2007 (aprox.)7:00 PM CT

It's not the Holy Grail, but for fans of "The Da Vinci Code" and its tantalizing story line about the Knights Templar, it could be the next best thing.

Ignored for centuries, documents about the heresy trial of the ancient Christian order discovered in the Vatican's secret archives are being published in a limited edition - with an $8,377 price tag.

They include a 14th-century parchment showing that Pope Clement V initially absolved the Templar leaders of heresy, though he did find them guilty of immorality and planned to reform the order, according to the Vatican archives Web site.

But pressured by King Philip IV of France, Clement later reversed his decision and suppressed the order in 1312.

Only 799 copies of the 300-page volume, "Processus Contra Templarios," - Latin for "Trial against the Templars" - are for sale, said Scrinium publishing house, which prints documents from the Vatican's secret archives. Each will cost $8,377, the publisher said Friday.

An 800th copy will go to Pope Benedict XVI, said Barbara Frale, the researcher who found the long-overlooked parchment tucked away in the archives in 2001.

The Knights Templar, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, recently captivated the imagination of readers of the best-seller "The Da Vinci Code," which linked the order to the legend of the Holy Grail.

The new Vatican work reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened after Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality.

The military order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon was founded in 1118 in Jerusalem to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade.

As their military might increased, the Templars also grew in wealth, acquiring property throughout Europe and running a primitive banking system. After they left the Middle East with the collapse of the Crusader kingdoms, their power and secretive ways aroused the fear of European rulers and sparked accusations of corruption and blasphemy.

Historians believe Philip owed debts to the Templars and used the accusations to arrest their leaders and extract, under torture, confessions of heresy in order to seize the order's riches.

The publishing house said the new book includes the "Parchment of Chinon," a 1308 decision by Clement to save the Templars and their order.

Frale said the three-foot-wide document probably had been ignored because a catalog entry in 1628 was "too vague."

"Unfortunately, there was an archiving error, an error in how the document was described," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from her home in Viterbo, north of Rome. "More than an error, it was a little sketchy."

The parchment, in remarkably good condition considering its 700 years, apparently had last been consulted at the start of the 20th century, Frale said, surmising that its significance must not have been realized then.

Frale said she was intrigued by the 1628 entry because, while it apparently referred to some minor matter, it noted that three top cardinals, including Pope Clement's right-hand man, Berenger Fredol, had made a long journey to interrogate someone.

"Going on with my research, it turned out that in reality it was an inquest of very great importance," she said.

Fredol "had gone to question the Great Master and other heads of the Templars who had been segregated, practically kidnapped, by the king of France and shut up in secret in his castle in Chinon on the Loire."

Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake in 1314 along with his aides.

The surviving monks fled. Some were absorbed by other orders, and over the centuries, various groups have claimed to be descended from the Templars.

As for Clement, he "was a hostage in French territory" on the eve of what historians would call the Avignon period of popes, Frale said.

She said the parchment reveals the cardinals reached the conclusion the Templars were guilty of abuses but not "a real and true heresy."

"There were a lot of faults in the order - abuses, violence ... a lot of sins, but not heresy," she said.

These included forcing new recruits to "reject Christ in words and spit on the cross," in imitation of the violence suffered by knights when captured by Muslims, Frale said. New members were kicked and punched if they refused to undergo this kind of hazing, she added.

Philip had "confiscated all the wealth of the order, which he used to pay his debts," said Frale, who has written three books about the Templars. "Had the (order) survived, it's clear that Philip ... would have had to give back all" the wealth.

"But the king of France had already spent it," she said.

__

On the Net:

Vatican secret archive, http://asv.vatican.va/ 

Publishing house, http://www.scrinium.org/ 

___

Associated Press reporter Ariel David contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Darkness to the Light of Jesus

I just read a little prophetic essay about being transformed from darkness into light.

As a Christian I have heard and read the "transformed" phrase so often I either tend to take it for granted or gloss over the pertinence of a transforming reality.

This dear Sister in the Lord relates a personal experience with Christ in such a way that any Believer might find that Light union with God and the inner peace that comes with it. If you are not in Believer, don't sweat it. When you search for a light to end a darkness in your inner man (I am old school, "inner person" just doesn't sound correct), I believe the Light of Christ will ultimately find you. (If you are not a Christian don't get bent out of shape, I am merely sharing from my perspective.)

Now as you read this do not blow it off if you are not from the Pacific Northwest (where I grew up by the way) because the writer - Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm - happens to be an Oregonian (I was a Washingtonian). Sometimes people turn off the mind when another relishes in a home not their own. Get past that and listen with your spirit. Read the whole experience and engage in how it may relate to you.

This is an Elijah List E-Newsletter, thus I am including the introduction from the Elijah List editor.

JRH 10/15/07

**********************

"BEING TRANSFORMED FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT"

By Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm

Intro by Julie A. Smith

Elijah List

October 14, 2007

Intro from Julie A. Smith:

Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm is a "pillar" at the ElijahList and does much behind the scene work to keep us organized and on track. She proofreads everything I edit as well as pretty much everything published on the ElijahList. And she also keeps track of our 134,000+ subscriber list!

Below is a word Cathy shares about us being transformed as His Light comes in to shine on any darkness in our lives. This word shows how important it is to let our light shine towards others so they too can be drawn to THE Light, Jesus Christ. This is simply said but not always easily done. I encourage and challenge you today to find someone in need to lavishly love upon with the Light of Jesus Christ--that is IN you!

Julie A. Smith, Editor
The ElijahList
http://elijahlist.com/

++++++++++++++++++++

"If you have darkness in whatever form, take heart, the Lord is your LIGHT."

Darkness or Light

It is on occasion only that I am in the car by myself (being a busy mom and wife), but on September 19, 2007, I was driving on Highway 20 towards Sisters, Oregon, alone. I was listening to the CD, Since the Fall by Don Potter (who is my very favorite musician), when I just started worshipping and praising and thanking the Lord for His goodness and mercy and the beauty of what He has created! I was so thankful for how good He is to me and my wonderful husband and son.

Then all of a sudden without warning, the thought came to me, "THE DARKNESS is coming." I was not thinking of the nighttime or even the enemy, I was thinking that summer is almost over and the darkness of fall and winter would soon envelop me and all of us who live in the Pacific Northwest. For most of the 26 years I have lived in Oregon, I have more than just dreaded the gray days of winter. I have referred to this time as THE DARKNESS many times, and I have thought about it this way even more often.

But how did I go from praising and thanking Jesus--to this thought? It felt as if I was slapped. How can a mere thought change the way I feel? Dread instantly replaced the joy. I was no longer paying attention to the CD I was listening to; I was too busy worrying and wondering how I would make it through the upcoming darkness.

Then I heard the Lord say, "LISTEN." Then I heard Him say, "I want to tell you something." So I listened. At that moment the song, I Have a Light started to play. WOW, it was like a LIGHT bulb moment. I HAVE A LIGHT and HIS NAME is JESUS!!! John 8:12, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'" I always have THE LIGHT, Jesus, the Christ, so why do I worry about the sun when I intimately know the Son, the Lord, the Creator of all?

Transformation of Letting Go and Letting God

As most of us, I, too, have been going through a transformation this past year. I've been seeking and asking Him, "Where do I fit in, what am I to do, and how do I get there?" And He has been talking to me. Funny how that works. Some of the transformation has been very painful and some of it has been total joy.

The Lord has allowed me to see and understand things about myself, Him, and others that I have not wanted to or been able to see correctly in the past. As far as I can remember, I have been able to "see" and "know" things. Seeing and knowing isn't worth much if you don't do what God wants you to do with that knowledge. I am a "fixer," at least that is what I told myself. I've always wanted to fix things--situations and people. That is not my job. God told me so. Our precious Lord has shown me how ineffective and wasteful my criticism or "fixes" have been in the past. I like it when the Lord is direct and to the point. This year the Lord has clearly communicated with me in this manner. Jesus has taught me many things this year, but the things He wants me to share with you now are these:

Let Go and Let God. Let Him do it, fix it, carry it, heal it...all the things He does very well. Some of you may be thinking, "Well that's not news to me." I must confess that actually doing it--letting go and letting Him--was hard at first and still is hard at times. But since I've been practicing this, I've been living in a place of peace that I didn't know was possible before.

During this ongoing process, the Lord has taught me the next important step--LOVE. Love Him, love others (in their current state), AND love myself as well. In the beginning it seemed impossible to really love. Loving involves trusting in a big way. I had a wonderful mother and father loving me while growing up and I trusted them. But I also learned early on that I better not rely on someone else "too much," and I needed to be self-sufficient. I learned to do that pretty well in my early adult years, or so I thought. This was wrong thinking--I have to TRUST Him.

In all the years I've been saved, I said that I trusted the Lord, but my life was not showing "the fruit" of trusting Jesus. The trusting has led to Love. I feel I love Him, others and myself much better today than I did a year or more ago. It is an ongoing process that is full of surprises and so much joy, it is hard to describe. I am learning to enjoy the journey and trying not to be in such a hurry.

Let Go and Let God, Love, and the third thing is LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE! Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men...and glorify your Father in Heaven." Let the Lord shine through your life. Let your family, friends, loved ones and the world see Christ in you. It matters and it makes a difference.

I have been asking the Lord, "What is my part in the Body of Christ?" His answer to me was this, "Cathy, I created you to be an encourager. You are an encourager. Encourage the Body of Christ."

I want to encourage you today. If you have darkness in whatever form, take heart, the Lord is your LIGHT--our Light. Darkness cannot remain in the Light. He is your answer for ALL things.

I leave you with the words of the song that I was listening to while on my scenic drive with God. I pray the words encourage you as much as they encouraged me. Enjoy the SONSHINE!

I Have a Light by Don Potter from his CD Since the Fall:

I have a Light and it always shines
Shines in the day and it shines in the night
When the dark days come and the sun isn't bright
I will be shining cause I have a Light

My Light is the Lord
Jesus by name
My Light is the Spirit, Who leads me to change
My Light is the Father
Who Gave up His own
My Light is the hope that one day I'll be with Him in a Heavenly home.

Abundant blessings,

Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm
The ElijahList
Email: mailto:cswilhelm@elijahlist.net?subject=Inquiry%20from%20ElijahList%20Subscriber

Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm Elijah List

This is an awesome wisdom for anyone who has or still is a Word of Faith movement follower.

Some have denounced (or have become bitter) to the teachings of the Word of Faith because of the misunderstanding, misrepresentation or false expectations of the movements concept of "Faith."

Faith is not a magic formula to live a life of a bed or roses, no problems, no crisis, no tragedies or no whatever negative appellation you can think of. As Rick Renner eloquently writes below, "Faith" is a never wavering trust in the Lord that whatever deals the devil dishes out a person can overcome and continue to overcome to whatever the favorable outcome that spells victory in one's life walk.

JRH 10/22/07

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Jesus Has Overcome Everything!

Rick Renner

Sparkling Gems from the Greek (same link new weekly message)

Rick Renner Ministries

10/22/07

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more;
in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure,
in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. - 2 Corinthians 11:23, 24

Once when I was teaching from Paul's words in Second Corinthians 11:23-25, I especially emphasized the afflictions Paul overcame by the power of the Spirit. Later a young man came up to me and said, "It's obvious to me that the apostle Paul had no faith!"

Shocked by his words, I asked him, "What do you mean when you say the apostle Paul had no faith?"

He answered, "If Paul had walked in faith, he wouldn't have gone through any of those ordeals." 
 

The young man's words made me think about the great number of people who have the wrong impression about faith. They think that if a person walks in faith, that somehow means he will escape all adversities in life.

But when you read the New Testament, you find that the early believers and the apostles faced many adversities. Certainly it wasn't God who planned those hardships. The devil was the one who shrewdly planned those attacks in order to stop the preaching of the Gospel. And Satan is still working nonstop to prevent people from stepping into the glorious plan God has designed for their lives.

There is something very encouraging about studying the strategies the devil arrayed against the early believers. You see, regardless of what the enemy tried to do, he was unsuccessful in stopping them! Because they did have faith, they were unconquerable.

So I told the young man who talked to me that night, "Young man, the fact that Paul survived all those ordeals and continued his ministry to the end of his life is proof that he did possess faith. A man with no faith wouldn't have survived those attacks." Don't get the impression that walking in faith removes you from all challenges. Faith just gives you the ability to overcome the challenges that will attempt to assail you. Even Jesus said, "...In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

The word "tribulation" is the Greek word thlipsis, which describes a situation so difficult that it causes one to feel stressed, squeezed, pressured, or crushed. It can be translated as distress, affliction, or trouble, always indicating a level of intensity that is almost unbearable in the natural.

But Jesus tells us to be of "good cheer." These two words are from the single Greek word tharseo, which literally means to be courageous. It is consistently translated, "Fear not," but a better rendering would be "Take heart!" It is a word that would be spoken to strengthen someone who is facing some kind of hardship or difficult ordeal. Jesus was literally saying, "In this world you will go through some distressing times, but take heart and be courageous...."

Then Jesus tells us, "I have overcome the world." The word "overcome" is the Greek word nikos, which is also the word for victory. But the grammar used in this statement does not imply a single victory in the past, but a continuous and abiding victory. Therefore, the idea that this Greek word presents is this: "I have overcome the world; I am still overcoming the world; and I will always be in an overcoming position over the world!"

The word "world" in Greek is kosmos, the Greek word that is always used to depict the arena where Satan attempts to wield his influence and describes all the human systems of the world. It is the very word Paul uses in Second Corinthians 4:4 when he refers to Satan as the "god of the world." Satan is not god of the earth, but he operates through the human systems in the world - and these systems are what the enemy usually uses to attack the Church and God's people.

When we consider all the things that assailed the apostle Paul, we realize that most of the attacks came through the world systems of government or religion. These were the primary instruments Satan used in his efforts to curb Paul's activities. But Paul learned to take heart in such situations. He never gave up! Paul had obviously grabbed hold of Jesus' words in John 16:33, because he overcame everything Satan ever tried to use against him. The devil simply was unable to stop this man who was determined to finish the assignment Heaven had given him!

Five Times Received I Forty Stripes Save One

In Second Corinthians 11:24, Paul goes on to say, "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one." This was a Jewish method of punishment, applied to Paul on five different occasions. Deuteronomy 25:2,3 refers to this method when it specifies how the wicked man should be punished: "And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed...."

This was one of the most vicious treatments of the ancient world. The tortured person's clothing was completely removed so he appeared before his persecutors naked. His arms were tied so he could not defend himself. Then the torturer would begin to lash the prisoner's bare body with a whip made of three long cords, one from calf hide and the other two from donkey hide.

Pieces of glass, bone, and metal were often attached to the end of the cords to make the lashing more memorable. The torturer would hit so hard that the pieces of glass, bone, and metal would lodge into the victim's skin. Then as the cords were jerked backward for the next lash of the whip, those pieces of glass, bone, and metal would rip out significant amounts of flesh. This left horrid scars on the victim's body - permanently.

The first third of these lashes were given across the prisoner's upper chest and face, while the remaining two-thirds of lashes were applied to his back, buttocks, and legs; meanwhile, the victim was forced to bend over to make it easier for the torturer to hit his body. Blood flew everywhere as the cords whipped wildly through the air, making snapping noises as they struck the victim again and again.

But let's think a little deeper. If the whip was made of three cords and Paul received thirty-nine lashes each time, this means he received 117 lashes at each beating! And he went through this grueling exercise on five different occasions, which means 585 lashes were laid across Paul's upper chest, face, back, buttocks, and legs. There wasn't a place on his body that hadn't been beaten or had pieces of flesh ripped out of it!

Paul was so committed to fulfilling his God-given call that he wouldn't let anything stop him! After being repeatedly beaten in this terrible manner, he'd get up, put his clothes back on, and go right back to what he was doing before he was beaten. He had already made up his mind. He would not stop until his mission was complete!

Being beaten was an unpleasant experience. It was definitely a part of the journey that no one would relish. But Paul refused to let this experience become a permanent roadblock to his ministry. He pushed the opposition out of the way, got up, and went on. He overcame in the power of Jesus' name and in the power of the Holy Spirit!

What are you facing today? I'm sure it isn't a beating of thirty-nine lashes, yet it may still seem overpowering and overwhelming to you. How are you going to respond to these things? If you've been knocked down, are you going to stay there? Or are you going to get up, brush off the dirt, grab hold of the power of God, and start moving forward again?

Never forget that Jesus said, "In this world you will go through some distressing times. But take heart and be courageous, for I have overcome the world; I am still overcoming the world; and I will always be in an overcoming position over the world!"

If you'll make the choice today to get up, brush off the dirt, tell your mind and emotions to be silent, and submit yourself to these words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will begin to fill you with new strength so you can come through the difficult situations you are facing victoriously. And as you rely on God's power to bring you to the place of victory you desire, you will learn how to overcome every challenge you will ever face in life!

If you've been knocked down, are you going to stay there? Or are you going to get up, brush off the dirt, grab hold of the power of God, and start moving forward again?