Author Archives: Erica Partida

Are you in covenant with God? Of course you are, if you have made Jesus the Lord of your life! But did you know there are 3 Steps To Being In Covenant With God that you need to understand and walk in? When you do, it will simplify your understanding of all that God wants you to know about His covenant with you. Furthermore, it will help all the elements of the covenant process, seen throughout the Bible, make sense.

As Kenneth Copeland and Greg Stephens write in their new book, God, the Covenant, and the Contradiction, the process of entering into a covenant always involves three steps. To God, three is a significant number. Throughout Scripture, He often works with groupings of three, a number that conveys completeness. The Bible tells us for example:

• There are three members of the Godhead—God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit—which makes the Trinity.
• There are three facets of God’s existence throughout time—God who was, who is, and who is to come (Rev­elation 1:4).
• God created us to be triune beings made up of spirit, soul and body.

This pattern of threes emerges repeatedly in all God-initiated covenants because it’s a reflection of His divine nature. It also signi­fies the fact that all three Persons of the Godhead are actively involved in His covenants. Each member of the Trinity plays a unique part in the process of fulfilling the Father’s plan to redeem mankind and restore us back to Himself. So, here are 3 Steps To Being In Covenant With God.

Step 1: The Calling

The first step in the covenant process is the calling to covenant. God, the Father, takes this step by graciously inviting us to join ourselves to Him. Then He, in turn, can join Himself to us, bringing all of who He is and all of what He has into our lives.

Nehemiah 9 tells us it was God who chose Abraham. It wasn’t Abraham who initiated their covenant relationship. God approached him first. He brought Abraham up from his homeland and gave him a new identity. God even promised to give Abraham all the land as far as his eyes could see (Genesis 13:15), an offer seemingly too good to be true.

God has essentially done the same for us, as believers, today. He has called us, just as He called Abraham, and made us an astounding offer. He’s offered us the opportunity to enter into a relationship with Him for all eternity. He’s promised to BLESS us and assured us, as Romans 8:28 says, that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (KJV).

Do you see it? As believers we are “the called!” That means God has already taken the first step in the process of establishing covenant with us. He has extended to us a personal invitation to join ourselves to Him.

Step 2: Entering Covenant

The second step in establishing a covenant is the actual entering into the covenant. This is where the terms of the covenant are agreed upon by both parties, and the agreement is executed or acted upon. In Hebrews 11:8-9, we see Abraham taking this step. We see that “by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise” (KJV).

Imagine how much trust it took for Abraham to say yes to God’s call without knowing where that call would take him. Imagine how much faith it took for him to leave everything behind without having any idea of exactly what lay ahead. When Abraham acted on God’s promise in Faith, he entered into covenant. He accepted God’s invitation and joined himself to God.

Hundreds of years later, when God gave the people of Israel the opportunity to enter into a covenant relationship with Him, He added to this second step. He required the Israelites to agree verbally with His covenant conditions. He had them declare out loud together all the BLESSINGS and the curses of the Law. Like the reading and signing of a contractual agreement, this formalized their agreement to enter covenant with Him (Deuteronomy 27-30:19).

Today, because of the new Covenant we have through Jesus, God doesn’t ask us to declare out loud all the requirements of the Old Covenant Law. We take the second step of entering into covenant with God by believing on God’s Son, Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, and receiving Him by faith as our Savior and LORD.

As Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6, KJV). In other words, He told us, “The only way you can enter into Covenant with the Father is through Me. Yes, He has called and invited you, but I’m your way in!”

Jesus did for us what we couldn’t. He did what mankind had tried and failed to do for thousands of years. By living a sinless life and perfectly keeping God’s Law, He fulfilled all God’s covenant requirements. Then He became the ultimate covenant sacrifice, paid the price for the sin of all mankind forever, and shed His blood to ratify a second covenant, a new Covenant.

The new Covenant cannot be broken. It is between the eternal, Almighty God, and the resurrected, glorified man, Jesus Christ—and we get access to it by faith in Him. One of the articles of this precious covenant is recorded in 1 John 1:9. It says that when we sin, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (KJV).

That means we can’t mess up this Covenant! As The BOOK says, “Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages)” (Hebrews 13:8, AMPC). Because Jesus is always the same, so is His covenant with God, and therefore ours is, too.

Step 3: Keeping Covenant

The third and final step of the covenant process is keeping or maintaining the agreement. A covenant relationship, like any relationship—whether it’s a marriage, parenting, business or simply a friendship—requires maintenance. Relationships need nurturing. For them to remain healthy and vital, you can’t just forget about them. You must remember and attend to them.

Jesus spoke about this to His disciples just before He left them to go to the cross. During their last Passover meal together, He took the bread, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25, NKJV).

When Jesus instructed His disciples to do this “in remembrance of Me,” He was pointing back to what their Hebrew forefathers had done for thousands of years. When they ate the Passover meal, they remembered how God had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 13:3; Deuteronomy 4:9). This remembering kept their minds focused on their covenant with Him.

This is why Jesus established under the new Covenant what we today call “Communion.” By telling us to eat and drink the Covenant meal, He provided us with a simple action step we can take to remind us that we’re in Covenant with God through Him. He gave us a powerful way to release our faith in that Covenant. This helps us nurture our connection with Him and keep it intact—healthy, active, strong and thriving.

Right after that last covenant meal Jesus shared with His disciples, He also told them another way He was going to help them remember and maintain their connection with Him. He was going to send them the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to help with this third covenant step. He said:

If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you…. he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:15-17, 26, KJV).

Notice a major role of the Holy Spirit is to help us remember our Covenant and keep our relationship with our heavenly Father strong and vibrant. He also helps us by empowering us to be faithful to the conditions of the Covenant agreement and to obtain its benefits. But, under the new Covenant, this doesn’t involve following an overwhelming list of rules and regulations, as was required under the first Covenant.

No, as born-again believers, our focus is on the One who went before us and fulfilled for us the terms of the Covenant. We take step three by giving attention to Jesus: to His Love for us and to our place in Him. And we do that with the ever-present help—and continual prompting—of the Holy Spirit.

Have You Stepped Into Your Covenant With God?

If you haven’t yet stepped into Covenant with God, pray this prayer today, making Jesus the Lord of your life. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pray for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. There’s nothing more powerful than receiving both your salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit in you!

Prayer of Faith

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, “But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Acts 2:21). I am calling on You. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life according to Romans 10:9-10: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” I do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead.

I am now reborn! I am a Christian—a child of Almighty God! I am saved!

You also said in Your Word, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13). I’m also asking You to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to speak with other tongues as You give me the utterance (Acts 2:4). In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

To learn more about your newfound Covenant with God, order your copy of God, the Covenant, and the Contradiction today.

Years ago, as Kenneth Copeland was praying and believing God for the needs of the ministry, the Lord said to him, Let the Word fight its own fight. In other words, find what you need in God’s Word and then to pray that Word. We’re never to wonder what the answer is to a prayer. Instead, we’re to go to the Word and find it there—and then take that verse or passage and make it our petition. When we build a petition from the Word, and pray it in faith, receiving what it says by faith, God says in His Word that He’ll grant our petition—His Word will fight for us!

“At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy” (John 16:23-24).

Kenneth has always written out his petitions to receive what he calls a heavenly grant. Do you have a need that’s physical? Financial? Relational? Is there strife in your family? At your workplace? Whatever it is that’s got you stressed out, take it to the Lord in prayer, but take it to Him based on what’s written in His Word. If you do, then He promises to give you what you need in the form of a heavenly grant.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). It’s a promise! Everything pertaining to life and godliness—everything that we could ever need or want—is in the Word.

Why We Want To Say the Same Thing as God

The entire Bible is a book about receiving, and the way we receive what’s written in it is by faith. When it comes to fighting our battles, God wants us to let the Word fight its own fight. Our job is to release the Word of God—thereby releasing our faith—with the words we speak and pray. In other words, we’re to receive by faith, and then say what we have received, even when we haven’t seen the manifestation of what we’re saying.

We call this practice confessing the Word. Confessing the end of a circumstance, even while being at the beginning of one, is how we call things that be not as though they were. We get this understanding from Romans 4:16-18, and therefore practice it according to the Word.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be” (NKJV).

It was Jesus who said, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32, NKJV).

Revelation 12:11 tells us that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and the word of our confession.

The Greek word for confession is homologeo. The Greek Lexicon defines it as to “say the same thing as another.” When we confess the Word of God in prayer—when we declare the end from the beginning—as we go about our day, we are saying what God says. We are saying the same thing that He’s saying! We are releasing our faith in His Word into this earth and into the circumstances that we want to see change. What’s more, when we say the Word, Jesus will say the Word, and the Father will say, “Amen.”

How God Governs the Universe

The following came to Greg Stephens one night:

1. God governs the universe with His mouth (or His words).
2. God governs the earth with our mouth (or our words).

And the Word backs this up: “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us” (1 John 4:4-6).

We’re not of the world, so we are not to speak like the world speaks. We’re to speak only what God speaks—what the Bible speaks. As we do that, we give voice to His Word, which is His will, and surrender this world and our circumstances to God’s governing.

The Word tells us that God formed man (Genesis 2:7), but He created everything else with the words of His mouth. He declared things and they happened. Out of the vast majority of the 31,102 verses in the Bible, He speaks most of the time. And we are to govern our lives in the very same way—because we are made in His image.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, “But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, ‘I believed in God, so I spoke’” (2 Corinthians 4:13). Our faith finds its voice when we speak God’s Word!

How Are You Governing Your World?

What is that you want to see change? Begin to pray based on the Word of God, and then speak only what the Word says about it. Isn’t that what the Roman officer understood when he said to Jesus, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it” (Matthew 8:8-9).

The Word goes on to say, “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, ‘I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’” (verse 10).

Can you imagine amazing Jesus? We can when we decide to only speak the Word. When we pray and give His will a voice in this earth, we see the same results the centurion did. Again, what is it that you want to see change?

The Word Will Change Things

1. Go to God’s Word and find the verse or passage that the Holy Spirit illuminates with the answer you need.
2. Write out a prayer of petition using the Word you’ve found.
3. Begin confessing the truth, the heart of your petition, thanking God that it is done even though it may have yet to manifest in this natural world.
4. Continue thanking God for all He is doing, by faith, until you receive your heavenly grant.
5. Keep doing this for everything you need while on this earth, because this is How To Let the Word Fight for You.

Our values are the beliefs through which we process life in our family, our culture, our community and our workplace. They are the lens through which we make decisions, develop our mindsets, and determine our standards. They affect our attitude, our outlook and our spiritual walk. How critical it is then that we ask ourselves, What Do You Value Most?

This question is crucial because it sets us on the journey to discovering what our values are—the core beliefs and principles that shape every part of our lives and the way we approach them spiritually, mentally, emotionally, financially and physically.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, in the early years of their marriage, their walk with God and their ministry, began adopting God’s values as their own as they learned what the Word of God had to say about how we’re to live our lives here on earth. It was through this process that they matured as believers and grew up in Christ.

This process of adopting God’s values as our own is part of our maturing, as well. It’s part of our transformation. It helps us to renew our minds according to the Word, be healed in the realm of our soul, and learn how to live our lives looking through the lens of God’s Word instead of our own.

Some people call this process, and where they land becomes their core values. Others might call it a code of conduct or their nonnegotiables or simply truths they live by. Whatever we might call them, we all need them. We need to make what God values most become what we value most—and then we need to learn how to live that out in our lives. So, again, What Do You Value Most?

Determining What Matters to Us

To help you begin establishing what you value most, consider some of the tangible and intangible things that might appear on your list—both of which can be spiritual or natural. Perhaps you value ideals like transparency, discipline, a good reputation, integrity, kindness or love. Maybe you equally value gratitude, courage, self-respect and dependability. Perhaps it’s critical to provide for your family, to create a safe place for your children to grow and be nurtured, to attend church together, and to pray together. Perhaps being generous and tithing are nonnegotiables that you would never let go. Maybe serving at your church or volunteering in your community are acts of high value because giving back is something that means a great deal to you—perhaps because you once benefited from others who gave of their time and talent to you.

Whatever your values are, it’s important to evaluate them in light of the Word and to double-check that they are rooted and grounded in the Word. The Word is our standard for what matters most while we walk on this earth. Our values should be informed by and based on the Word!

Where To Look for God’s Values

If we want to ensure that our values line up with God’s values, we need only look to His Word—to key passages of Scripture that give us a clear window into God’s perspective and His will for our lives. Consider this list of values and corresponding Bible verses as you begin to double-check what you value most. It’s not an exhaustive list, but it will help you get started thinking and praying over any adjustments you might need to make in your heart and mind.

1. We’re to love God and love others.
   “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-38).
2. We’re to be forgiving, just as God is always forgiving with us.
   “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
3. We’re to walk in the fruit of the spirit.
   “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23).
4. We’re to put the Word first place in our lives.
   “With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes” (Psalm 119:10-13, NKJV).
5. We’re to talk to God continually, meaning we’re to pray about everything.
   “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
6. We’re to share the gospel with others.
   “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16, NKJV).
7. We’re to fellowship with other believers and gather together regularly. This would include honoring the Sabbath in our lives.
   “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25).
8. We’re to avoid practicing the things God hates, including all the things He calls sin.
   “There are six things the LORD hates—no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
9. We’re to be generous with others with our time, talent and treasure.
   “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21).
10. We’re to tithe the resources God puts in our hands.
    ‘“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!’” (Malachi 3:10).

Did the Holy Spirit show you any adjustments you need to make in your heart and mind? Did other values come up in your heart as you reviewed this list? Did you recognize some values that you’ve let go of, and need to begin practicing again? Defining our values, knowing they line up with God’s Word, and seeing them written down to review regularly, keep us on track. Then we can obey and please God, and live our lives according to His Word, which is His will for us. Save this article and refer back to it quarterly or annually as a checkup, to keep yourself spiritually strong and continually maturing. And when you face a decision, a trial or an attack of the enemy, don’t forget this crucial question: What Do You Value Most?

In the early years of their ministry, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland began learning God’s absolutes for their lives. They began applying principles from God’s Word for guiding their personal life and ministry. Their goals were to use His Word as the blueprint for how they would raise their children, how they would treat the people God would call to serve alongside them, how they would handle their personal finances and the finances of the ministry, and as the standard against which they would make all the decisions necessary for encouraging everyone God had called them reach.

These principles evolved over the years to become the standards by which Kenneth Copeland Ministries and Eagle Mountain International Church would reach the world with the Word of God. And today, the ministry refers to these as our core values.

Understanding what core values are and why they are important to you will help you walk successfully in your life with Christ. Perhaps you’ve heard of core values, as they are something that’s become an integral part of businesses and churches alike. In business, core values are often defined internally as the principles that a business aims to operate by as they lead their teams, and externally as they connect with clients or customers. In churches, core values are often defined as the foundational beliefs and practices a church follows as they worship God, minister to the people in their congregation, and reach others for Christ.

What you may not have considered before is that every one of us should have our own set of core values so that we, too, have a set of guidelines by which we chart the course of our lives—in our spiritual life, in our relationships and in this physical world.

Core values can serve as a clear guide to how we relate to one another in our families, churches, at work, at school and in society in general. They can serve as a compass and filter to navigate any decision we face. They can keep us on track and in the will of God. When we live by core values, it creates a culture—in a family, in a church, in an organization.

Granted, the words core values cannot be found in Scripture, but the idea of what they are most definitely can. For example, the core values of KCM and EMIC are:

1. We put the Word of God first place. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
2. We live by faith. Galatians 3:11, Romans 1:17, Hebrews 10:38 and Habakkuk 2:4 all tell us that “the just shall live by faith” (NKJV).
3. We walk in love. Matthew 22:37-39 says, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
4. We are led by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (AMPC).
5. We pray about everything. James 5:16 says, “Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (AMPC).
6. We protect the anointing. Luke 4:18-19 says, “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” (NKJV).
7. We honor God. Revelation 4:9-11 says, “Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne,  who lives forever and ever,  the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created’” (NKJV).

Can you see how each of these core values are rooted and grounded in the Word of God? These are God’s values and His priorities, and what He demonstrated in Scripture as vitally important. They are the foundation of all Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and Pastors George and Terri Pearsons do in their leadership of the ministry and the church, as well as the foundation for how they live their lives.

What Is Your Foundation?

The core of anything is its central part. It’s where the seeds of reproduction are produced. Think of an apple; it has a core and that core is loaded with seeds. Our physical bodies have a core; it includes the pelvis, lower back, hips and stomach. It includes the muscles that surround the spine. Core exercises train the muscles in our core so we are steady and upright, and have proper balance.  

When it comes to our values, core refers to our principles or standards of behavior. Core refers to our judgment of what’s important. Therefore, our core values are what we hold most dear; they are our internal compass guiding all our decisions and actions; they are central to how we conduct our lives, guiding our thoughts, motives and actions. We could call them core beliefs, because what we believe is the power that directs our lives. Believing comes from out of our hearts—and that’s really what we’re talking about. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10, NKJV).

Why Do We Need Core Values?

Have you ever composed your own core values? If so, are they based on the Word of God? Defining your own core values is a powerful step to keeping yourself in the will of God throughout the years of your life. It’s a powerful way to identify what’s most important to you and the beliefs God wants you to hold on to. If we don’t have core values, the pressures of this world and deception of the age will steal from, kill and destroy us and everything we love and care about (John 10:10). Without core values rooted in God’s Word, we are ships without a rudder, destined to be tossed back and forth, subject to every whim of evil (Ephesians 4:14). But with core values, we will have the tools to weather any storm and come out better than before.

Consider the following 5 Strategies for Defining Your Own Core Values:

1. Start with the Word, because God upholds all things by the power of His Word (Hebrews 1:3). The preeminent question in the life of every believer is, “What does the Word say?” The Word is to be final authority in our lives, and for it to be final authority, we must change our lives to line up with the Word of God—and not make the Bible fit our lifestyle.
2. Pray because prayer is way we communicate with God, so prayer is the means by which we have success. James 4:2-3 says, “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” Be sure to ask God to help you define your core values.
3. Write your core values. Habakkuk 2:2-3 says, “Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry’” (NKJV).
4. Subject your core values to the Holy Spirit for His guidance and truth. John 16:13-14 says, “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you” (AMPC).
5. Begin filtering everything through your newly defined core values. Store them in your heart. As you do, watch how heaven will be produced in your life. Jesus said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45).

As you implement these 5 Strategies for Defining Your Own Core Values, adjust your list and add to it as the Holy Spirit illuminates even more scriptures and God’s principles to you. Walk into your future trusting that you will have influence in society, be relevant, and remain grounded in who you are in Christ. As you realize you are called by Jesus to live according to and be grounded in your core values, outside elements will not be able to move you and you will walk successfully with Him!

In the very first sermon Peter preached after the resurrection of Jesus, he testified of Jesus’ power over Satan saying, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip” (Acts 2:22-24).

Then, in Acts 13, the Word goes on to tell us, “God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David’” (verses 33-34, NKJV).

Notice that Jesus was raised up; He was resurrected from hell. What happened to Jesus was far more than His body coming up out of the tomb. In fact, those three days He was in the belly of the earth, a lot was happening, including prophecy being fulfilled. The Scripture tells us: “For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40).

What Jesus did during those three days is why The Resurrection of Jesus Changes Everything!

Jesus Gave Us Eternal Spiritual Life

The dictionary tells us that death is the cessation of life. Jesus did far more than die; He took on the sins of you, me and every person who ever lived. “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24; also see Isaiah 52:14).

Because of His death, burial, Resurrection and being seated at the right hand of God, He conquered death itself, enabling us to live eternally with Him. “I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave” (Revelation 1:18).

Yes, it will look like we die someday (Ecclesiastes 3:2), but if we have made Jesus the Lord of our lives, we will continue to live in eternity with Him. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

You could say that we will never die, but it is only true in the context that we will never die spiritually. Our earth suit (body) will give out, but our spirits will live on. To help us understand this, let’s look at Adam. In Genesis 2:16-17, the Scripture says, “But the LORD God warned him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.’”

We know that Adam did eat of the fruit, but he didn’t die physically right then, because he went on to live to be 930 years old. The part of Adam that died that day was his spirit—the most important part of every one of us. Do you remember when Satan tempted Jesus? The devil said to Jesus, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9, NKJV). Who gave Satan “all these things”? Adam did. He did it when he committed an act of treason. God had given him all authority over the earth and Adam gave that authority over to the devil. And then he died, spiritually.

The death that Adam experienced was separation from God, showing us there is a difference between spiritual death and physical death. Ephesians 4 calls this being “alienated from God” (Ephesians 4:18-25, NKJV). We were never meant to experience death (spiritually or physically). We were made to experience life and spend eternity with God.

But here’s the thing: To fully understand spiritual death, we need to fully understand life. Life is God. The Bible says God is our life: “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).

The Bible also says God’s Word is life: “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12).

Can you imagine what would happen if God ceased to exist? Everything that is in existence would go into nothingness. It would cease to exist because all existence comes out of God. He is the source of everything. It was Jesus who said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NKJV).

To give us this abundant life, when Jesus died, He had to be resurrected; but before He could be resurrected, He had to deal with Satan once and for all. He was reclaiming the authority that Adam had given to Satan when he sinned in the Garden of Eden…and that authority was about to be given back to us!

Three Days In the Belly of the Earth

What happened to Jesus in the three days He was in the belly of the earth really is the centerpiece of the gospel. In that span of time, He represented the entire human race. When He called Himself the Son of God (Matthew 27:43), He was identifying Himself with man. He said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10, NKJV).

Jesus came as a man and operated as a man! He was Anointed of God, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and did and said what He saw and heard His Father do and say. Philippians 2 says He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (verses 7-11, NKJV).

He became obedient to death on the cross. In other words, He did not disobey the Word of God. He never sinned. He didn’t die. Why is this distinction important? Jesus made Himself subject to death and He laid down His life—long before His physical death. In the Garden of Gethsemane He laid His life on the line on purpose. “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42, NKJV).

Jesus separated Himself from God in obedience to God. That wasn’t sin; it was sacrifice. And when He was placed in the tomb, He spent three days in the belly of the earth where He defeated Satan for our sake.

What Jesus Did to Satan Changed Everything—For Us

Somewhere between the Garden of Gethsemane—where He chose to be obedient to death on the cross—and the cross, Jesus took on the sin nature and was separated from God, so we would never have to be. This is the game changer…what Jesus did changes everything!

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Romans 5:1-11, NKJV).

Jesus was the first-begotten Son of God; the first man ever to be born again from spiritual death to spiritual life. Hell couldn’t hold Jesus because Satan had no legal right to Him. Every demon had to let him go.

At the moment Jesus was resurrected by the glory of God, in the eyes of God, in the heart of God, in the life of God, in the will of God…in everything that has anything to do with God…every man, woman and child ever born in this earth was totally, absolutely and legally freed from Satan’s dominion! Sin was broken. In the eyes of God, the entire human race was free from sin. In God’s mind, even before you made Jesus the Lord of your life, you were free. You have been free all your life. Still, we have to act on it. We have to choose Him as our Lord. Because Jesus rose up, we can rise up. Because Jesus was resurrected by the glory of God, we can be resurrected into His glory!

You are everything to the heavenly Father that Jesus is. God loves you the way He loves Jesus. He doesn’t look upon you and see the ugliness of sin; He sees the beauty of Jesus’ resurrection. He looks at you the way He looks at Jesus—with the same adoration and wonderment. You are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10).

All of this is why The Resurrection of Jesus Changes Everything!