The bible says that as Christians, Christ lives in us (Gal 2:20) and we are in him. He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). We have been grafted in to the vine. Spiritually this means that we are in Christ. As the life of the vine flows out to its branches, so the life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, lives in us and flows from us.

In the book of Colossians, we are told that we have been removed from the power of darkness and placed in to the kingdom of light (Col 1:13). This is God’s spiritual kingdom of light; we are connected to Jesus and live in his sphere of influence.

Satan has been defeated through Christ’s victory at the cross and he (satan) was stripped of all power and authority in our lives as Christians (Col 2:15).

In Christ, God sees us as righteous (1Cor 1:30), his sons and daughters (Gal 3:26) and more than conquerors (Rom 8:37). “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13; KJV).

This is who we are but we need to walk in it. This requires that we study the word and find out who we are in Christ; build up our faith so we can stand up to satan when he comes to question our new life in Christ. Satan is defeated but he will try to question your relationship with God through people and by sending you negative thoughts. You must be convinced of who you are so you can stand firm in your victory in Jesus.

In Hebrews 6:10 we are told: "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister." The apostle Matthew (Matt 25:35-46; KJV) recorded how Jesus expects us to minister to people, whether it be to the sick, the poor or those in prison etc. Jesus finished up by saying that whatever we do we do it unto him. So, when we are showing love or kindness to someone we think we are doing it for that person but we are actually doing it for Jesus.

Jesus gave a similar instruction in Matthew 10:42 (see also Mark 9:37-41), where it says that if we give a cup of cold water to a: "little one", it is as if we are giving it to Jesus. This lines up with the instructions we get in the Bible to: "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mark 12:31).

In 1 Corinthians 13:4 the apostle Paul said said that love is kind. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul taught us that we are recreated for good works. In the epistle of the apostle James we are reminded that faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and that true religion is taking care of those less fortunate than ourselves (James 1:27).

This is what love is all about - kindness in action, acting out the love that God has put inside of us (Rom 5:5). Look for ways to show a little kindness today and make someone's day.

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“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King coming unto the: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." (Zech 9:9; KJV). At the culmination of his ministry on the earth, our King of Kings, Jesus, rode triumphant into Jerusalem, holding the keys to our salvation, death on a cross and resurrection to life. What power, what victory, what contrasts.

 His triumphant entry was not in a chariot of gold surrounded by warriors but he came sitting on a lowly donkey with his bewildered disciples around him. He did not come as an earthly conquering king to destroy the Roman oppression as many expected (John 6:15). He came humbly, to do his Father's will (John 5:19), and to win back dominion from satan and all the spiritual forces of darkness (Col 2:15).

This was a victory in the spirit realm that won forgiveness for us (Col 1:14), restored authority over satan and all his minions (Luke 10:19), and gave us eternal life with him (1 John 2:25). Zechariah foresaw it (Zech 9:9), Matthew reported it as fact (Matt 21:3) and the people rejoiced: "Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt 21:9).

Christ, humbled to the point of death on a cross (Phil 2:8), won more than any mighty army of men ever achieved. Let's walk in that victory and authority and impact our world for good.

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In Mark 4:35-39 (KJV) we read about how Jesus spoke to a storm, He said: "Peace, be still" We then learn that immediately there was a: "great calm". Jesus then reprimanded his disciples for their lack of faith. Notice that Jesus didn't pray for the storm to stop, he just told it to. Jesus has authority over nature and we have the same authority as well.

In Mark 11:14 Jesus spoke to a fig tree and then in verse 23 of that same chapter he told us that we could speak to a mountain and tell it to move. If we assume that any obstacle in our lives is a mountain, then according to this verse we can simply speak to it and it will move. This sounds very simple; however, we need to speak to our mountains out of a heart of faith because: "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt 12:34). Even before Jesus said we can speak to mountains, he said, "have faith in God" (verse 22) and this is the key.

God has given faith to all of his people (Rom 12:3). If you don't feel like your faith is where you would like it to be spend a few minutes each day meditating on verses to do with faith; this will serve to increase your faith: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). As your faith grows you can step out in faith and see the results, guaranteed!

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In Exodus, the nineteenth chapter, the people of Israel were to see their God at mount Sinai. The awesome might and presence of God was heralded by thunder and lightning, thick clouds and a loud trumpet (V16). The Lord descended in fire and smoke, causing the mountain to quake (V18) and God spoke (V19). In all of this, one thing struck me in verse 23; the people were separated from God, only Moses came into Gods presence as their mediator.

This gulf between God and man was only broken by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (Heb 10:19-20). As he died the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matt 27:51), by Gods hand, signifying that we were no longer separated from his presence. As Christians, in our new relationship with Jesus Christ, we now have direct access to God, to his throne room and his very presence (Heb 4:16). We can come boldly into the throne room of grace.

Christ dwells in us as the Father dwells in Christ (John 17:23). We are Children of God the Father (1John 3:2); we can ask the Father anything in Jesus name as long as it is according to his will (1John 5:14-15). This is the kind of intimate relationship that we have with the God of Mount Sinai. Think about that!

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