You are Love and Power

Praise the Lord. Hallelujah to Jesus. People of God, praise God. We give glory and honor and praise to our God tonight. For another day in a new month, God has been exceptional. As we advance towards the end of 2023, God has proved himself to be faithful. God has proved himself to be provider. God has proved himself to be deliverer. All the glory, all the honor, all the praise belong to our God. It's been an awesome year. It's been a year in which Jesus has been revealed marvelously all over the world. I am in awe of our Christ. I am in awe of the reality of the God whom we serve. And so, without further ado, we're going to pray. Because Holy Spirit is on standby as always to release a fresh word. In my spirit, I perceive that tonight there is going to be a mysterious revelation of a new dimension of God tonight. I sense that the Lord wants to speak to us mouth to mouth tonight. And so, Father, we thank you. We honor you. We worship you. We reverence you. We acknowledge that you are God and there is no God like you. For the opportunity to report for duty tonight, to sit at your feet and drink of your word and learn of you. For the opportunity to enter into your word again tonight, we are grateful. For the opportunity to lean in and hear what the Lord is saying tonight, we are grateful. If there is God like you, there is no other God like you. By yourself, you reign forever. And we worship you. So, we ask tonight in the name of Jesus, Father, that you will come by your Holy Spirit. Breathe. Breathe on us tonight, O God. Reveal to us a new dimension of yourself. You know, we always want to see more of you. We want to know more of you. We want to see a new dimension of you. Hide not yourself tonight, O God. Manifest yourself. Let your word come to us fresh and new tonight. In the name of Jesus, blessed be God who reigns forever. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Tonight, we want to talk about something that is very dear to my heart. Everything that the Lord speaks to us on this platform is dear to my heart. But sometimes, there is a depth to my desire to deliver a word from the Lord. Such is tonight. And I say this because on this platform, we have spoken regularly about God's people and our understanding of who we are in God. And you know, even now as I say this, I know I have heard this before from various teachers. Almost cliché, that's what it seems like when preachers come and say believers don't have adequate understanding of who we are in God. And that if we knew who we are in God, we would not be so afraid of the enemy, for example. This is true. This is true. The Bible says, they that know their God, they shall be strong and shall do exploits. It's in my Bible. My Bible and your Bible tells us this. Which is to suggest that there are people who don't know their God. This is to say that there are people who have a God whom they don't know. And if they were to know their God, that knowledge would give them empowerment for what? To do exploits. So it is true that there are people who don't know their God. Because if there are people who know their God and that knowledge results in exploits, the converse must be true, that there are people who don't know their God and therefore have no knowledge and do not have the capacity for exploits which come from knowledge of their God. Tonight, my subject is You are love and you are power. That is the title of our conversation this evening. You are love and you are power. And that's because we are made in the image and in the likeness of our God. Our God is love. Our God is power. All-powerful is our God. El Shaddai. Our Father is all-powerful. Our Father is love. God is love. And because we are made in the image and in the likeness of our God, we are love and we are power. So my title again is You are love and you are power. My scripture, tonight's anchor scripture, is from the book of Matthew. Chapter 5, verses 14 to 16. Chapter 5, verses 14 to 16. And the Bible reads, Ye are the light of the world. I am reading from the New International Version. And the Bible says, You are the light of the world. A town, a town built on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand. And it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, your light, your own light must shine. Let your light shine before others. That they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. You are the light of the world. You are a town built by God, which has foundations, whose maker and builder is God. Even such as the town which our father Abraham was looking forward to. When the Lord called Abraham, He said, Go, leave your father and your mother and go to a place where I will show you. When the journey began for father Abraham, he had no idea where he was going. But he knew that his journey was going to end in a town with foundations, built by God, whose maker and architect is God. And that town was going to be evident to Abraham because it was not going to be hid. The Bible says, A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. When God builds a town, He builds the town on a hill. The hill is the making of Almighty God. A hill is the foundation of Almighty God. And when God builds you, when God builds you, He builds you on His foundation. A foundation by God is a natural formation. So that means that when God is building you up, He builds you on a formation that is not built by the hands of man. Regardless of what you have been through, when God is building you into a town, He builds you on His own foundation. That's the hill. The foundation is a formation of the hand of Almighty God. So no one can claim the glory when God is done building you up. You are the light of the world. Wherever you go, you can't be hid. Such as a town that is built on a hill cannot be hid. In the same way, when people light a lamp, they don't put it under a bowl. You light a lamp so that it can illuminate the area. It can bring light. Because if you are going to put a lamp under a bowl, you won't bother to light a lamp. You won't light a lamp and put it under a bowl. If you are going to put it under a bowl, you don't need it. You don't need the lamp. So you are lighting the lamp because you need the lamp to do what? To give light. So you put this lamp on a stand. So that the light can do what it's supposed to do. Give light to everyone in the house. Everyone. When you light a lamp, the lamp gives light to everyone within the area where the lamp is. The lamp isn't going to choose one person to give light and neglect to give light to the other person. As long as you are within the area where the lamp is, you get light. In the same way, the Bible says, your light must shine before others. So everyone who comes within your territory, who comes near you, must see the light that is your lamp that is burning. Your lamp that is giving life, that is giving light. Everyone that comes within your area, your territory, your jurisdiction, must see your light burning. How do they see? By the things that you do. By the things that you do. Your good deeds. For what result? The ultimate result is to glorify your God in heaven. Why? Because it is only God that is able to light the world. It is only the light of God that is able to light the world. Who is the light of God? Jesus. Jesus is that light that has come to light our light. Jesus is the light of the world. And we, we, we are made in the image and in the likeness of Christ. So therefore, we are the light of the world. We on earth, we are Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. And Jesus has dropped his light. He has lit his light in us. So now, by extension, because in Christ we live, in Christ we move, in Christ we have our being, we also are the light of the world. Therefore, everywhere we go, we also must do there what Jesus has done in us. That light that we carry, the light of Jesus that we carry, we must ignite that anywhere we go. We must ignite that place with the light of the world which we have received from Christ. Everywhere we go, everyone we meet must receive ignition from us so that they also become the light of the world. How? By our good deeds. You know, the Lord revealed something to me last year. The Lord revealed something to me last year and I now have such great understanding of what it means to be the light of the world. We as believers, everyone, first of all, we live in two dimensions. We live in the physical dimension with our bodies and we live in the spiritual dimension with our spirits and our souls. Now, when you look at a believer in the realm of the natural, you see a person, you see a man, you see a woman, maybe tall, maybe short, maybe light-skinned, maybe dark-skinned, you see a human, dressed, looking normal, like a human. Now, in the spirit realm, that same human has a feature. In the realm of the spirit, every believer has a feature. In the same way that the believer in the natural has a feature, maybe slim, maybe chubby, maybe, you know, also in the realm of the spirit, every believer has a feature, they have vital statistics, they have a way that they look in the realm of the spirit. In the realm of the spirit, the believer who lives in Christ and is the light of the world and has received light from Christ and has become the light of the world, in the spirit realm, this believer is a bundle of light. The believer who is a flame for God, who lives in Christ and lives a righteous and holy life and is truly the light of the world As it is written in our scripture today, in the realm of the spirit, the similitude of that believer is a bundle of light. And that bundle of light has a shape. It's shaped as love. Why? Because we are the light of the world. Like our Christ. And our God is love. So we also made in the image and the likeness of our God, we are also love. So in the realm of the spirit, we, our feature, is love and light. And that light, really, is power. Because it is power that produces light. If there was an earthquake, or a hurricane, or a flood, you know, thunderstorm or something, and the power goes out, we're going to be in darkness. There will be no light. So it's power that produces light. So what it really means is that the believer, our state, our spiritual state, which is our real and actual state, is we are power and we are love. God is love. And God is all-powerful. Amen? So, as the light of the world, power that generates light for the world, light which is shaped as love, everywhere we go, there must be manifestations of our inherent nature in the spirit. Everywhere we go, there must be a translation from the spirit realm to the natural, what we consist of spiritually. So, when we go into a home, and darkness resides in that home, when we enter that home, certain things should begin to happen. Power should begin to unfold in that house. And when power begins to unfold in that house, what happens? Light is birthed in that house. When light is birthed in that house, the activities of darkness must recede. Because when light enters into a place, darkness must recede. So, when you as a believer, a righteous believer, a believer living wholly, and a believer who is living in the pillar of fire, pillar of light, whom is Christ, because Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. Without Him, we can do nothing. So, even as we are light and we are power, our light and our power is derived from a source, and that source is Christ. So, for the believer who lives in Christ, who dwells in Christ, who moves in Christ, and has their being in Christ, you must, as a matter of necessity, manifest these features. Power and love. Power that generates light. When you enter a house, the power that you bring into that environment must generate light. And any activity of darkness in that house must recede. Because where there is light, darkness cannot dwell there. Also, when you enter a territory, when you enter a building, be it a home, be it an office, be it a church, love must manifest in that environment. Why? Because your inherent composition is love and power. If the place is cold, when you get in there, it must begin to warm up. Because you carry power that generates light. And you are love. And love has fruits. Your good deeds must be evident everywhere you go, because you are the light of the world. If you are in a place and there is no manifestation of these things, check your light, check your power, check your living. Check your living. Are you living in Christ? Are you dwelling and living and moving in Christ, the light of the world? Because if you are, you will become the light of the world. You will go everywhere and do what Jesus was doing when he was here on earth, and is still doing even now. You release power, and you spread love. It's impossible to live in Christ, to move in Christ, to have your being in Christ, and not be the light of the world. Christ is the light of the world. So, the more time we spend in Christ, the more time we move in Christ, the more our being becomes like Christ. And everywhere we go, we will manifest these features, power that generates light and love. Now, if we understood who we really are. You see, many people don't understand the nature of Christ. And for those who understand, many don't realize that the nature of Christ is the nature of us. Behold, I give you power, says Jesus, Luke 10, 19. That power is the power that you carry everywhere you go, and it generates light. If we knew who we were in Christ, we would do more with this power that we have. If you go and you are living in an environment and nothing is changing, there is a problem. If you go and you are living in an environment and you are not impacting the people there who want to live differently, there is a problem. If you go in an environment and the people there are not catching on fire, there is a problem. Take your light. Take your loving. Take your power. Jesus wants us to release into the world these features. Because we are ambassadors for Jesus. We are ambassadors for Jesus. If you go someplace and there is evil happening there, once you get in, that evil must be arrested. You don't even have to do much. In fact, you don't even have to do anything except just be in Christ. The light that you carry will manifest itself from out of you. Because in Christ you live, in Christ you move, in Christ you have your being. When you get into a place, Christ comes in there using you as a medium. Using you, you become an altar for the Lord, for the light of God to manifest in that environment, for the power of God to be released in that environment, for the love of God to spread abroad in that environment if you live in Christ. Very few Christians understand that in the dimension of the Spirit, there are people, there are forces that have the ability to see into the Spirit. And these people who have the ability to see, they see what I'm saying now, they see you as your bundle of light, they see you for who you really are, the light of the world. But you see, the Christian who doesn't know his God and doesn't know the power that he wields, is no threat to the enemy. No force of darkness is afraid of the ignorant believer because you have power that you don't activate, you have power that you don't use, so you're not going to ignite anything because you have no knowledge. It is they who know their God, who have knowledge of their God, they are the ones who do exploits with that knowledge. So you have God, but you have no knowledge of your God, and therefore without knowledge, you cannot activate your power, and therefore you are no threat to the kingdom of darkness. But the believer who knows their God, who understands that they are the light of the world, and who understands how that light shines, how that light is generated by power, through loving, they are the ones who do exploits, they are the ones whom the kingdom of darkness is afraid of. They are the ones, when you go into a territory, things begin to change. You go into an atmosphere, things begin to change. If something wasn't working before when you get in, it begins to change. Why? Because light comes. With light comes clarity. With light comes clarity, wisdom, understanding. You begin to see new ways of doing things. With power comes light. With light comes clarity. With clarity comes understanding and progress. When you go into a place, if it was cold and unloving, they begin to change, because love is contagious. Love is contagious. When you bring love into an environment, you bring love into an atmosphere, it's contagious. If you doubt me, if you know any children around you, hug them on a regular basis. When they see you, they begin to expect to be hugged. When you go into Sunday school, you hug the kids, they now identify you with hugging. They identify you with loving. So when they see you, they position themselves to be hugged. They position themselves to be loved. It becomes their expectation. When other people see you doing this, and they see the result of what you're doing, they begin to emulate you. And that's why the Bible said, let the world see your light. By your good deeds, by your good deeds, love is contagious. Your light begins to shine before others. Others are seeing now how you're spreading love, how your light is moving, and the atmosphere changes when you come in. Everybody feels warm and fuzzy when you are around. You don't feel, you don't hold back loving people. Now some people don't like to be loved. Some people don't like to be hugged. Some people don't like too much attention. They don't like to, you know. So everything is, life is balanced. You love people how they want to be loved. If you know someone who doesn't like to be hugged, you don't go and impose yourself on them. You don't grab them suddenly, trying to love on them, trying to hug them. Because the Bible says, do not lay hands suddenly on anyone. And laying of hands includes hugging people. Don't go from the back and try to love them, and try to hug them. Some people have been through so much. Many people have been abused. And so some people have an aversion to touch. So you have to ensure that they are open to being loved in a physical way like that, to being touched. Some people have an aversion to being touched. But otherwise, love is contagious. Everybody wants to be loved. Now the question is, how do they want to be loved? Learn their love language. And speak to them their love language. So that your light, your light shines before others. And others may see your good works. This is Matthew 5.16 now. Others may see your good deeds, and glorify your Father in Heaven. The Bible says that the love of God is spread abroad in our hearts. The love of God spreads. It's contagious. If you carry love into an environment, and you pour out that love with little or no reservation, that love is going to catch on to someone. It's going to be contagious. And someone is going to begin to do like you. Someone is going to begin to emulate you. And that's how love, power, and light begins to move. Begins to move. And it becomes a lamp that is set on a stand. The whole world begins to see that lamp, which is your love and your power, and the light that the power generates. And that light and that love is contagious. It's contagious. Begins to ignite everyone. Begins to... The next person next to you begins to catch on fire. Begins to do what you're doing. And that's how the entire atmosphere is changed by reason of your light. And because you know the light that you carry, you know the purpose of that light that you carry. And that light begins to ignite. And everybody around you catches that light and becomes what? The light of the world. That's the ultimate goal for everyone to become the light of the world. Everybody is already the light of the world, but not everybody is aware that they are. So if you know who you are, that you are the light of the world, and you go igniting other lights, and you bring them into this knowledge, imagine the size of this light that is moving, this light that is shaped as love. So the light of God, the love of God, is moving through His people, generating power, moving power right through the body of Christ. Humanity will never be the same again if we understand who we are in Christ, if we understand that Christ has ignited us as the light of the world, and we are meant to not hide our light, but set our lamp on a stand, even as a town built on a hill. Let the whole world see your light by the manifestation of your features, of the things that you do, the manifestation in the natural of who you are in the spirit. Your love is your loving, glorifying God, is your loving. Matthew 5.16, the ultimate goal of you being the light of the world is to glorify your Father in heaven. Now, your loving. Does your loving glorify God? In your home? In your workplace? In your church? As you walk around? Does your loving glorify God? Or are you judging everyone that you see with a critical heart? Or are you so proud for because God has blessed you with those things that you desire and the next man is still waiting, Do you feel you're special because God has done yours now? Are you judging? Are you condescending? Because your life looks like it's all together now, and your next man, your brother man, is waiting, is struggling in their marriage, in their business, but God is faithful and good to you. You don't have those issues now. And in your heart you think you're better than they are. Is your love, your loving, glorifying God? Are you loving your brother, your sister in a way that glorifies God? Does your light glorify God? Is your light shining at all? Is darkness afraid? When you move, does the light of God move with you? Is the entire environment illuminated by you, by your presence? Is there a change in the atmosphere when you step in? Is there a charging in the atmosphere when you step in? Are you igniting the territory in the place of prayer? Is the power of Almighty God active in your life even in the place of prayer? These are deep issues that I believe God wants us to address. I believe God wants us to ponder these things, because these are things that I believe are very close to the heart of Almighty God. Otherwise, how will the world know that we are believers if we have no light? Or if our light is hid, nobody sees our light. Nobody sees our love. We are undercover ramps for God. We must all repent. We are all guilty of this. We are all guilty of not allowing our light to so shine to bring glory to our God. Amen. Hallelujah. God has been dealing with many things. Even in His church, in the body of Christ, God has been dealing with many things. And I believe that in this season, it's close to the heart of Almighty God that we return. We return to our first call, which is love. Our God is love. I believe it's dear to the heart of Almighty God for us as believers to return to the love of God and let the love of God shine through our lives, even as light, to light up the world by the love of God. There is too much judgment going on. We are criticizing each other too much. Even men and women of God who are supposed to know better, who are supposed to lead with more light, there is too much competition. But that's a message for another day. Today, our prayer in the name of Jesus is that God will open up our hearts and give us new hearts. God will remove stony hearts and give us hearts of flesh. Give us the heart of our Christ. Give us the heart of God so that we are able to love with the love of God, which is unconditional. Our God loves us with no condition. Sent His very best, His only Son to die for a perverse generation. The Lord, our God, forgives us, overlooks our mistakes, our imperfections. Lord, help us to be generous to ourselves, generous to each other, generous to the nations, even as You are generous to us in love. Help us to shine for You, Lord Jesus. Help us to shine Your light throughout the world. Help us not to think of ourselves so very highly but to give all the glory to You at all times because the glory belongs to You. Help us to love in a way that reveals You, Jesus. That our loving honor You. That our giving honor You. That our light honor You. That You be glorified on the earth in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen, brothers and sisters. Thank you for joining us again this evening. Until next time.