In Christ

"It is Finished!” these are the final words of Jesus, as a man on this earth. He had accomplished all He had been sent to do in His ministry here on earth. He had started The Church (not a denomination, but The Church of which Jesus is still the head). It was finished for Jesus, but just beginning for every born again believer since then (including you) to accomplish the ministry He started in you.

Matthew 16:18(NLT) "¹⁸Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock'), and upon this rock I will build My Church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

Jesus was not talking about a building or a group of followers of Peter. He was talking about the revelation that Peter had that Jesus was the Son of God! We see this if we look into the rest of the conversation Jesus had with Peter. Matthew 16:16-19(NLT) ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. ¹⁸Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock'), and upon this rock I will build My Church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. ¹⁹And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

Notice what it says in the last line? "Whatever you forbid on earth... "Whatever you permit...”

"Wait. I thought God was in control and whatever He wanted to happen will just happen...” Wrong!

God is out of control!

"Well then, who is in control?” I am glad you asked. We are! That is, the Body of Christ! Born again Christians are to be doing what Jesus did! We are to continue His ministry! "Wow, I don't think I could do what Jesus did.” Why not? He said we could! The problem is too many people have not been taught the truth about what the bible really says.

Too many people have went to church and been lied to or taught out of human reasoning, based on Pastor's experience. Bottom line if what you are hearing from the pulpit does not line up with the bible run from that church. Your life and those lives around you depends on it!

It is the responsibility of the Pastor and ministers of The Church to help God's children do the works of Jesus, not hinder them. Pastor's will be held accountable for what they teach and they have an obligation to teach the truth. But not all will. That is why it is so important we all read the Word and get to know Him personally, so we can judge if what we are hearing is truth, or not.

Ephesians 4:11-16(NLT) "¹¹Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹²Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up The Church, the body of Christ. ¹³This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. ¹⁴Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, The Church. ¹⁶He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

This is what Northern Light Ministries is all about.

This is our heart and goal in all we do – this is who we are!

John 14:12(NLT) "¹²"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”

Mark 16:15-20(NLT) "¹⁵And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. ¹⁶Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. ¹⁷These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. ¹⁸They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” ¹⁹When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. ²⁰And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

It is time we, The Church started believing Him and doing what we were asked to do!

It is God's will you are healed! It is God's will you prosper in every area of your life including finances! And yes, it is up to you (and I) to complete the works of Jesus – He has finished His ministry and He handed it to us (born again believers), The Church to carry on with Him working through us!

Jesus is not coming back for a church building or a certain group or a certain denomination. He is coming back for His Church!

You need to ask yourself, "Am I pleasing my Father (God) or just my church group with my life?” Am I being taught the truth according to the Word of God or according to man's experience? Am I using my faith to change my world or hoping God will do it for me? The bible says, It is impossible to please God without faith.” So, sorry to be so blunt, but if you are not using your faith in your life right now or in a church that teaches faith... you may not be experiencing God's best for your life.

Those people around you, who do not know Jesus, are looking for the truth. If you are In Christ it is your responsibility not to believe just anything that comes along, but to seek the truth and walk in it so that Jesus can work through you, as He did the disciples of the early Church, with many miraculous signs!

Submission by Dale McDonald