Embrace His Strength Not Your Weakness

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9 AMPC).

As a Christian, you’re not subject to disease, infirmities or demons, because you have the transcendent life in Christ. You’re not in bondage to the elements of this world; you live above them.

I love the way the Apostle Peter puts it; he said, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

You live far above and beyond the corruption, decadence and darkness of this world because you’re an associate of the God-kind, a partaker of the divine nature. You’re superior to Satan and the corrupting influences of this present world of darkness. Your life is full of blessings, glory and virtue. Virtue is excellence; you have an excellent life in Christ Jesus.

Think about the Apostle Peter who wrote the beautiful verses of scripture that we read earlier; he once trembled with fear and denied the Lord Jesus before a little girl. His faith was unstable. But after he received the Holy Spirit, something changed. He expressed and manifested the God-life in Him with such glory and boldness that through his preaching, three thousand souls gave their hearts to Christ in one day, as revealed in Acts 2:41.

What transformed him? He had come to the revelation of the glorious life we have in Christ. What a life! There’s no failure, defeat, or darkness in you; only blessings, excellence, perfection, and glory. 1 Peter 3:9 says you were called to inherit a blessing, not shame or weakness. This is the life you’ve received in Christ; it’s one of dominion over sickness, disease, demons, poverty, failure and death. Glory to God!

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Actually, it’s not scripturally correct in the New Testament to say, “May God’s Spirit rest upon you.” Someone may read our opening verse and run off with the idea that even Paul desired that the power of Christ may “rest upon him.” That wasn’t the case.

What Paul said wasn’t about the power of Christ resting upon him. The word translated “rest” is from the Greek, “episkenoo,” which is a combination of two words: “epi” meaning “a superimposition,” and “skenoo” meaning “habitation.” “Episkenoo” therefore means, “coming over something to take charge of it from within.”

Paul was in other words describing his experience of being continuously filled with the Spirit.

Another use of the term “rest upon” is seen in 1 Peter 4:14, where the Bible says, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you….” Here, the word, “anapauo” is used, which refers to being refreshed or given rest, but not as in sleep.

If you study the context, you’ll observe that it says, if you’re persecuted because of Jesus, happy are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God will give you rest; He refreshes you and strengthens you. The Greek word doesn’t say rest upon you; it can’t even be translated that way.

The essence of the detailed foregoing explanations is that in the New Testament, there’s no suggestion of the Holy Ghost coming to rest upon us. The emphasis throughout the Scriptures is for us to be full of the Spirit because He lives in us. This was the standard in the early Church, and it’s still our standard today.

The Bible says, “…and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost…” (Acts 6:5). In Acts 4:31 NIV, it says, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT….” This is the will of God for us today in the Church: being continually filled with the Spirit.

As a Christian, you’re not subject to disease, infirmities or demons, because you have the transcendent life in Christ. You’re not in bondage to the elements of this world; you live above them. I love the way the Apostle Peter puts it; he said, *“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”* (2 Peter 1:4).

You live far above and beyond the corruption, decadence and darkness of this world because you’re an associate of the God-kind, a partaker of the divine nature. You’re superior to Satan and the corrupting influences ofthis present world of darkness. Your life is full of blessings, glory and virtue. Virtue is excellence; you have an excellent life in Christ Jesus.

Think about the Apostle Peter who wrote the beautiful verses of scripture that we read earlier; he once trembled with fear and denied the Lord Jesus before a little girl. His faith was unstable. But after he received the Holy Spirit, something changed. He expressed and manifested the God-life in Him with such glory and boldness that through his preaching, three thousand souls gave their hearts to Christ in one day, as revealed in Acts 2:41.

What transformed him? He had come to the revelation of the glorious life we have in Christ. What a life! There’s no failure, defeat, or darkness in you; only blessings, excellence, perfection, and glory. 1 Peter 3:9 says you were called to inherit a blessing, not shame or weakness. This is the life you’ve received in Christ; it’s one of dominion over sickness, disease, demons, poverty, failure and death. Glory to God!