A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of April 3-7, 2023
This week we celebrate Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. It is good to remember that He is risen. Let us also not forget that of us who are born again are raised up in Him, too.
Happy Easter!
MONDAY
Remember that we are raised up in newness of LIFE.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
We are new creatures in Christ. We would have to be in order to be judged righteous. We have never lived before as we live in Christ. We have new thoughts, desires, and manner of living. We are so different that many of our old friends don’t trust us anymore.
Do you recall the reaction of some of your old friends to your news that you were now serving God? That in itself should be evidence that you are brand new. One bible translation says that we are a new species of being. We are human flesh infused with the very essence of God. We are in Christ and therefore partakers of His Divine nature. We have never lived before, so we have no past, only the present and future in Christ.
The Apostle Paul said, “forgetting those things that are behind.” He said this because the past is over and washed away. You only have the future to look ahead to. Every day our outer man dies a little more and our inner man stretches out into greater life. This new life is eternal and will continue long after our bodies have ceased to live on this earth.
This eternal life causes us to live a heavenly life down here on earth. Thank Him today for the new life that He has given you.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Matthew 8:17 ~ Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
April 3: Leviticus 6, Psalms 5-6, Proverbs 21, Colossians 4
April 4: Leviticus 7, Psalms 7-8, Proverbs 22, 1 Thessalonians 1
April 5: Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 23, 1 Thessalonians 2
April 6: Leviticus 9, Psalms 10, Proverbs 24, 1 Thessalonians 3
April 7: Leviticus 10, Psalms 11-12, Proverbs 25, 1 Thessalonians 4
April 8: Leviticus 11-12, Psalms 13-14, Proverbs 26, 1 Thessalonians 5
April 9: Leviticus 13, Psalms 15-16, Proverbs 27, 2 Thessalonians 1
TUESDAY
Remember that we are raised up in newness of HOPE.
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
We have a heavenly, eternal hope that is yet to be revealed to us. What an excitement there is in this life, knowing that God has prepared something that our minds cannot conceive. These things are so special and unique that they can only be perceived by our spirit. Imagine that God has special things so unbelievable to us that they must be shared with us spirit to spirit.
God can only reveal spiritual to spiritual. Many things that we will experience in our new life can only be appreciated by our spirits, for they originate in the realm of the spirit. How wonderful that this new life that we are raised up into has it’s own medium of communication. God will reveal to our spirits the things that He has in store for us. These are non-perishable, eternal things.
The wonder and excitement of it all! Thank God that we are raised up into a new hope. It is a blessed and eternal hope.
WEDNESDAY
Remember that we are raised up in newness of PURPOSE.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16:15-18
We have a new commission. If we have Divine life in us, then this life can no linger have the old purpose. The God-part of us desires to obey the purposes of God. Jesus gives the same command to all believers. We are commanded to go everywhere telling everybody about the goodness of God. We are to preach reconciliation and to reconcile men to God. Many people are aware of their sin, but not of God’s forgiveness.
Sometimes they believe God forgives, but don’t know that they can now resist sin and Satan. We have to give them the total good news… the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is our new mission in life, to let our light shine and lead men to Christ. We have a new, divine mission.
We have a mandate to take as many people as possible to heaven, reconciling them to God. “All is forgiven! Come home to the Father,” is the message of the gospel. Rejoice that we have a new purpose.
THURSDAY
Remember that we are raised up in newness of SPIRIT.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Our new spirits have new spiritual forces pouring forth out of them. Can you remember all the fears, doubts and uncontrollable emotions you were subject to in the past before you were born again? Compare that with the humility and love that you abide in now.
Can you remember the things that used to make you angry and that you were angry for days at a time, and couldn’t get things out of your mind? Your spirit has new spiritual forces of life pouring out of it. We were all subject to the devil’s power, many of us hopelessly bound to a cycle of negative emotions. We didn’t know that there was any other way to react. Then Jesus came along and rescued us and raised us up in His Spirit.
We can now walk in a confidence that no enemy will be ale to stand before us. The spiritual forces that come from His righteousness tell us that we are more than conquerors because love never fails. We have an abiding peace that brings a confidence that the future is bright. Our newness of spirit is something to be thankful for.
Thank you, Jesus, for our new spirit.
FRIDAY
Remember that we are raised up in newness of POWER.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luke 4:18-19
We are called to do the works of Jesus using His power. When Jesus announced that He was anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, He announced that His heirs would have the same power, as well. Since we were called to be in Christ from the foundation of the world, we can claim His life as our very own.
When He called His disciples, He gave them power over all sickness and all demons. This is the new power that we are raised up in. It comes upon all who believe and will pay the price of faith. It is a wonderful blessing to receive healing through faith or prayer instead of having to rely solely on natural means. This new power is the supernatural resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are raised up in the glorious power that raised Jesus from the dead. Be thankful that He is raised from the dead.
We are risen with Him. Happy Easter!