Who Are You?

Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.
No one can brag that they are saved and on their way to heaven because we don't earn heaven, we are given the gift to go to heaven by God because Jesus paid for it.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
The Holy Spirit lives inside our bodies. We were bought by Jesus with His blood, and we are not our own. No one can say that they gave the devil permission to afflict them because our bodies don't even belong to us. It's like if I let someone borrow my car, they don't have authority to sell it or give it away, neither do we have the authority to give the devil permission to attack us. Some people think that they gave the devil permission to attack them because they sinned or brought something on themselves.  That is simply not true, that is impossible. Only Jesus has that authority.

2 Corinthians 2:17
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
Bottom line, we serve God.  In our daily dealings, we speak like men sent from God, because WE ARE men sent from God.

Galatians 3:26-27
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
We are no longer the sinful people we used to be. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus because we have clothed ourselves with Him.

Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Again, our life is HIDDEN in Jesus. Not even the devil sees us, He sees Jesus.

1 John 3:2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
We are God's kids. Our spirit is made perfect the day we are saved but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we look like Jesus on the outside.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Matthew 20:12
These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
The men who worked all day and the men who worked one hour all earned the exact same amount, and that is a comparison to being saved. We all will get to heaven because of Jesus, even the people who accept Him in the last half hour of their life. We are all equal in Jesus, we all have an equal portion of His inheritance.

John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
Everyone who chooses to make Jesus their Savior become God's children. We are born of God, spiritually. He gives us His Spirit.

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Amazing. These are the things God says about us. WE are the chosen ones, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, we belong to God. He called us out of darkness, and now we are in His wonderful light, we are NO LONGER in darkness.

John 15:15-16
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Jesus says that we are NOT servants. The Old Testament Israelites were servants. They had to cry out to God and beg for Him to help them. If they didn't keep up their end of the Covenant, God would allow thier enemies to overtake them. We live by faith, and unlike the Israelites, we have grace. It doesn't depend on our actions, just on belief in Christ. Jesus says we are His friends because He taught us everything He learned from the Father.  We are appointed to bear fruit, which means we go and DO the Word (do what we read we are supposed to do).

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus says that He is the light of the world.

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
First, Jesus says that He is the light of the world. Then He says that WE are the light of the world. We are to let our light shine before men so they glorify our Father in heaven. And what is this "light?" It is our good deeds. And not just our good deeds, but the confirmation that the Holy Spirit brings when we step out in faith (...and these signs will follow all who believe... Mark 16:17-18).

Romans 8:13-17
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Since we have God's Spirit in us, we put to death the desire to sin, and we let the Spirit lead us. By that, it means we read the Bible and do it. If we focus on doing God's will, we will not be thinking about sinning, and we re-program our minds to live for God instead of for the devil. We are not slaves to fear, but we are sons of God, which He guarantees by the Spirit He gave us. We are God's children and co-heirs with Jesus, which means we share everything He has. His power and authority are not divided up, we all have the same portion that He has and we have permission to use it.

Romans 8:29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Why would it say that Jesus is the FIRSTBORN among many brothers? And what is the correlation that God calls us His sons and daughters? It is self-explanatory, Jesus was raised from the dead and went to heaven. He sent back the Holy Spirit, Who happens to be the One Who lives inside of us. Now WE are the "many brothers" this verse is talking about. We do what Jesus did because we are His hands, feet, and mouth while we are here.

1 Corinthians 14:25
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
Jesus is reigning in heaven until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

Romans 16:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
This is how Jesus is going to put His enemies under His feet. He is going to use His body to do it. We are His feet.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
God lavished love on us and calls us His children. The world thinks we are nuts, but we REALLY ARE God's children. The Bible says it over and over, it is very true.

1 John 3:10
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
God's children do what is right, and the devil's children don't.

Acts 5:32
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
God has given us His Spirit so we obey Him.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

We are God's temple and His Spirit lives in us. We are sacred, we should never say we are less than what God says we are.

Romans 9:20-21
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
Who are we to tell God that we are not what He says we are. If He calls us holy, and calls us His children, and says that we are no longer in darkness, and co-heirs with Jesus, and we have His Spirit, and we are hidden in Christ, and we are clothed in Jesus' righteousness, who are we to say that we are still sinners or unworthy or nothing?  To do that, we are saying that we can override what God has said, and that everything He says about us doesn't matter, that we are somehow greater than God and have the power to override what He says.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
God anointed us with His Spirit. We ARE anointed. We don't have to wait for an anointing, we have it. And He says that the Spirit never leaves us. So once we are filled with the Spirit, there is no other filling or anointing or leading that we need. We just go and do God's Word.

2 Corinthians 6:18
"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Once again, God emphasizes that we are His children.

Revelation 21:7
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
We will inherit the kingdom of God and He will be our Father if we stand firm in His Word.

Romans 8:1-2
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
We will not go to hell now that we are saved, if we walk after the Spirit. We are above the law of sin and death, we now live by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ.

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Sin does not have a hold on us because we are saved by grace, by Jesus.

Proverbs 18:21
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Your words have power in them. The power to bring life or death. Watch what you say because it is true.

1 Corinthians 14:4
Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.
When you speak in tongues, you edify yourself, in other words, you build up your spirit and get spiritually stronger (which also builds up your immune system).

James 1:22-26
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
In other words, if you hear God's Word and choose not to do it, it is like looking into a mirror and forgetting what you look like. The reason being, the Bible is your mirror. You look like what it says you are. God has called us all these amazing things, and when we read the Bible, we are reading about who we really are now. The minute we are saved, we look like Jesus because He lives in us and we live in Him. We are now responsible to live like Jesus did when He was on the earth. Not simply in doing good deeds, but in doing the miraculous. He said we would do the same things and even greater works because He went back to the Father and sent us His Spirit, who lives in our hearts.

James 3:9-12
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Again, watch what you say. We should only praise God and bless others with our mouth, and not use it for cursing.

1 Peter 3:8-12
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
To live for Christ means to hold your tongue, even if you think you have the right to get even.

Galatians 3:13-25
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
God made a promise to Abraham almost 1400 years before Jesus come to earth. The law only led to death but Jesus freed us from the law by dying for our sins. The law has no hold on us because if we break the law, it is already paid for by Jesus' sacrifice. The law was put in place to show man the boundaries and help him stay away from sin. We are justified, or "made right," with God through faith in Jesus, all our debts are paid by Jesus and we no longer have to pay for the sin we committed.

Romans 7:4
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.  (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal. 5:22-23)
We count ourselves dead to sin because we were bought by Jesus and we belong to Him. Jesus paid one price, it is kind of like you and a group of 5 friends to go to the drive-in theater. If you all take separate cars, you each pay to get in, but if all of you get into one car, you pay once to get in. Jesus paid once, we all get in. And He since we are in Him, we are dead to sin since He is the One living through us now. We are now bearing fruit because it is He works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure.

Galatians 4:1-7
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
When we first get saved, we usually don't know much about the Bible or what God says about us or what we are supposed to be doing. We are like children who inherited an estate. We rely on pastors, mentors, other Christians, and the fivefold ministry to help us grow and learn, then we become who God wants us to be. The truth is that we own the whole estate! We have an equal portion with Jesus, we just need to learn how to live like Jesus while we are here on earth.

John 4:34
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (The Greek word for food is "brōma" which means "food of any kind" and it is also the same word used in 1 Corin 3:2 "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.) (Hebrews 5:13-14 & 6:1 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.)
The Bible is milk. It teaches us who we are what we are supposed to be doing. It doesn't become "meat" until the rubber meets the road and we start stepping out and doing God's will. We must take what we learn in the Bible, believe it, and step out in what it says. We are expected to grow and mature and go do God's will, not become dependent on constantly learning, and sit around doing nothing.

2 Peter 1:1
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Peter is addressing the people who got saved after hearing the Good News. They had not walked with Jesus when He physically was on earth. But Peter says that they obtained a faith of EQUAL standing with his. That pertains to us, because we got saved but never walked with Jesus when He was on earth. And since Peter and the other Apostles healed people and did miracles, we do the same because we are equal.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah prophesied over 700 years before Jesus walked on the earth, and back then there was no such thing as "crucifixion" or death on a wooden cross. He says that by Jesus' stripes we are healed. So that is an ongoing thing. Our healing was paid for before He even went to the cross to pay for our salvation. The word used for "healed" is the Hebrew word "nir·pā-" of which the root means "to heal." Everywhere it is used in the Old Testament, it is in the context of physical healing. It is not used in any other context so skeptics cannot say that is means anything other than physical healing, such as spiritual or mental healing.

Matthew 8:14
When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

 “He took up our infirmities
and carried our diseases.”
...And here is the proof. The New Testament shows that Jesus healed ALL the sick to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah.

Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Greek word for peace actually has a few different meanings: Health, welfare, well-being, and wholeness.  That means our physical bodies are healed through Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We are new creations, and it is a gift from God, it's nothing we can achieve or work for. Reconciled means we are made right so we are made right with God because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. And now we are His representatives to the rest of the world and bring the message of reconciliation, the fact that we can be made right with God through Jesus' blood. Jesus died a sinless man, and paid the price for our sin so that we may be clothed in His righteousness, not by anything we can do, but by faith in Him.

Hebrews 9:27-28 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Revelation 20:6  Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
Man dies physically, and then faces judgment if he has not accepted Jesus as his Savior. Jesus died to make us right with God so that we don't have to die a second death, which means the punishment of our spirit. Jesus will appear again, physically, but He isn't coming back the way He came the first time. He already paid for sin so He isn't going to be crucified a second time, He is coming to take His people to heaven.

Hebrews 2:1-18
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:

“What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
and put everything under his feet.”

In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”
And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

God put everything under Jesus' authority, and there is nothing that is not under His authority. But currently, we don't see everything obeying Him. Jesus was in heaven from the beginning of time, but God sent Him to earth and He became 100% human, spiritually lower than the angels. Now He is back in heaven, seated at the right hand of God and crowned with glory because He died on the cross and went to hell to pay for everyone's sins (He tasted death. The Bible talks about two deaths: Physical and spiritual, so Jesus died physically AND spiritually when He spent 3 days in hell to pay for the sins of all mankind).
   So now the One Who makes men holy (Jesus) and the ones who are made holy (people who accept Him as their Savior) are of the same family, we are holy as Jesus is holy, and Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers.
   He came to earth to live like we did and be tempted just like we are, and He never sinned, so when He died, He didn't die for His sins, because He had none. He died for ours. He provided freedom for everyone from the power of death (spiritual death) so that no one (who receives Salvation) has to fear death any longer. Since we need to have faith in Him in order to be saved, we are Abraham's descendents, since Abraham was the first one who had faith and trusted God completely. Jesus understands what we go through because He walked the earth just like we do. Now He has mercy on us as our faithful high priest.  He paid the price for our sins, and He experienced temptation, so He helps us when we are tempted.

Ephesians 2:6
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
We are seated in heavenly places with Christ and He is now lifted above the angels, He has everything under His feet. We have the same Holy Spirit in us Who raised Jesus from the dead, so we, too, are above the angels, so that now we command the devil and his angels for Jesus.

Matthew 18:18
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
And this is the power Jesus told us we have. It starts here on earth.

1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
He paid for our healing so that we can live for Him. He was whipped for no reason and paid for all humanity to be healed.

Matt 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Jesus gave us an assignment. Once we know who we are and what we have authority to do, we are to go and "do" the Bible.

Mark 16:15-20
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.  (See 2 Peter 1:1)
Again, Jesus gave us an assignment that we can work on while we are here on earth. He says that these signs will follow us. It means that we have to step out, and He will work the miracles as we go, we just need to believe it.

Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
After Jesus rose from the dead, He told His disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth are given to Him.  That means the devil has NO authority in heaven or on earth. And He told them to teach everyone to obey everything He commanded them.  So everything you read in the first 4 books of the New Testament that Jesus ever told His disciples, He told to us.

Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus would say, "The kingdom of heaven is near you," because He carried the kingdom of heaven inside of Him. We carry the same kingdom inside of us, the Holy Spirit. We take heaven everywhere we go, and it's our job to do His will on earth as it is in heaven.

Conclusion: We are God's children and He gave us permission to do what Jesus did while He was on earth. The things He told His disciples to do, He told us to do. We are not beggars, sinners, worthless, or empty. We are God's children, a royal priesthood, Jesus' brothers, filled with the Spirit, seated in heavenly places with Christ, etc. We already have our orders: GO! And we have the power and backing of God. The signs WILL follow us. God's Word says that He doesn't lie. We are given tongues to edify ourselves and we are to guard our own tongues so that we don't curse ourselves or others. God's Word is our mirror to show us what we really look like after we have given our lives to Jesus, and when we do what it says, we remember what we look like. Everything is plain and simple to understand. God is not trying to trick us or give us hidden messages. The Bible means what it says. It's time to take it for what it says and do it.