Acts 17:28 (KJV)
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Level #1 Yesterday morning I ministered to my congregation a powerful word from this very passage of Scripture that I believe has the potential of launching any one of us into an extraordinary level of living in the Spirit of God. The Greek word for "live" in this passage is the word "Zao." This is not the same word "Zoe" that we find in the Gospel of John which refers to the eternal life of God. Zao, means to be endued with life or possessed with life. It means to cause to revive or quicken. Therefore, to say I "live" as a believer, I am making a declaration that I live in God. We also find in Scripture that Jesus came to bring that life, and that we might have that life more abundant in Him. Whereas, before Jesus said this, He divulged that on the contrary our adversary comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
So, what Jesus is saying here, is that we can now really begin to live as He lives; and that we might experience this overflowing life infused with His own divine nature in us. This word "live" is not to be confused with the biological life that all humans have when they are born into this world. Because there are a great many people who have life naturally, but fail to live! To live in this sense that we are talking about means to experience that divine change inwardly, rather than just having an intellectual reference to the fact. Too much emphasis is placed on having a knowledge of what real life is supposed to be, instead of actually obtaining it.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (KJV)
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Most students of the Bible probably realize that this passage was quoted by Jesus when He was tempted by the devil to turn the stones into bread after He fasted 40 days in the wilderness. When we fully understand that in Him we "live," than we will quit operating in self-preservation. This passage in Deuteronomy gives us a look at the nation of Israel who had been in captivity to the Egyptians for years and who at this point of time, have now been led out by the Lord into the wilderness free from captivity. It's very important that the believer lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In other words, we should live our lives from a thus saith God!
Notice that God rained Manna from heaven to feed the Israelites each day that they were in the desert. Now, be careful in this devotional that you don't let religion paint that ole hard-lined God image that so many have of Him through wrong representation. Keep in perspective that God does not lead in the same way that He led Israel out of captivity for they were carnal; whereas, those of us born again in Christ are filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit that will lead us into all truth. The Bible tells us that in the last days, He would pour out His Spirit on us and write His words in our hearts and minds. Again, we learn from Scripture that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. In other words, God has now put something divine in us, where with the nation of Israel during that period of time were led outwardly.
It is crucial that we understand a few things in this passage regarding Israel receiving Manna from God. First off, Manna did not yield seed of itself, therefore, it could not be reproduced by man. And even if it had, it would have been impossible to grow it in the middle of the desert. The conditions would have prevented it naturally speaking. What this tells us, is that the children of Israel were in a place of death and unless they had divine intervention from God they would most definitely perish as a nation from the harsh elements of that desert to which they had been led to enter. It is here that someone might be asking why on earth would a God that loves and cares for us, lead His people to a harsh desert place like that. And worse still, its here that many religious hard-liners boast that this gives evidence that God does create our hardships in life in order to teach us something or develop character in us. However, I oppose this view strongly due to the finished work of Christ on our behalf.
It's true that God led Israel out of Egypt and took them to the desert, but it was due to their stubbornness and failure to trust their God. Therefore, He led them out into the wilderness to humble them in order to make them "God dependent." He couldn't lead them to the promise land by way of the Philistines which would have been the shorter route because they were still captives within their minds from being slaves all those years; if they were to face an enemy in battle in that current frame of thinking they would have coward down and ran. While I will agree that any test of life will determine who the real you is; yet, it is not God's desire that you be led in such a manner under the new covenant that we have in Christ. He prefers that you and I put on the same mind that Christ had and follow through obedience to His will and purposes according to His Word. It's a fact, that if we sow to the flesh we will reap corruption, but that is not God's way for us as His children.
Unfortunately for Israel, the chosen nation of God who directly received God's instructions and laws refused to obey Him, thus taking them to a difficult place to weed out that stubbornness and replace it with a God dependence. There is much in this story for you and me that live in the new covenant. One thing is that we don't live by our circumstances, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In other words, in the desert places where you should by all natural accounts should have died, God empowers you to live despite the circumstance. Why? It is because God is speaking a divine Manna into existence on your behalf in order to supernaturally feed you; God speaks a cloud to cover you by day from the heat; He speaks into existence a pillar of fire to warm you through the night; and He speaks water to flow from a rock supernaturally to preserve your life. In Him we live!
This was not some atmospheric phenomenon that Israel happened upon by coincidence. No! This was a place where God spoke and because He spoke, they lived through a place that should have destroyed them. Most people reading this article today think that we will make it by the level of success that we can produce in our difficult circumstances. Sometimes you will need to just understand that God doesn't need our circumstances, He is God, and nothing is impossible for Him period! We as His people need to realize that there is power when God speaks to our situations; and He has spoken to all of our situations with the finished work of the cross. How then do we live? It's not the oxygen that you breath; nor does your circumstance have the resources in it either. Your life lives from a, thus saith God!
The source of your life is not found in a natural thing at all. If life ordinates from what the natural can produce, than why are so many that have everything that life has to offer are still committing suicide today? There are people that have good circumstances in life, and yet they are very unhappy and empty inside. There are kids that run away from good homes. There are business people that have every monetary resource available, and yet they drown themselves in some addictive behavior because they don't understand that having a good life is not the same as living it. Your life is not hinged on a report that someone gives you. Your life is hinged on what God has promised you. In Him we live!
Level #2 The word "move" comes from the Greek word "kineo," which means to set into motion. This is not referring to be in just any kind of motion either. In Him we live, and move! Therefore, if I live, He has endued me or quickened me that I don't live by my circumstances, but I live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. My life is directly connected to the Truth and to His promises which are yes and Amen; and these put me in a divine motion rather than an anxious and nervous movement that exerts all my physical energy as I try to make something work naturally out of my circumstance. There are many who will exert a lot of energy trying things, and yet accomplish very little through the process.
It's much like those of us that cannot seem to help but fill up our day-planners with every thing imaginable in order that we can feel less guilty about the possibility that we are not doing something plausible to God or man. If someone called you very early in the morning while you were sleeping and asked if they had awakened you, many would tell them no I was up praying or some other guilt motivated statement. Most people's motion in life is driven by their circumstances or the guilt they feel as if they aren't doing something constructive unless they are moving even when that movement has no clear direction. There are some of you that think every time a person rings your doorbell with their circumstances that you are supposed to just drop everything you were doing and go save that person and their world.
When this becomes our constant activity in life we begin to realize that we aren't accomplishing much of anything except the comfort of knowing that we are laying down our life for others. I know what the Bible teaches about laying down your life for a brother, but there is a misconstrued interpretation of this passage that has many laid up in the hospital or burned out from doing ministry. Jesus never did anything except what His Father was telling Him or showing Him. Our adversary the devil has done a good job in wearing out many of the saints today with the busyness that sucks up all their time from the things that they should be doing and has them reaching for the things that drain their energy. Face it there is just a lot of tired Christians running around today! Life is busy and we need to be careful what we are always getting ourselves in the motion to go and do. In Him we live and in Him we move! It's important that you understand that the footsteps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, not the motions of busyness.
Psalms 37:23 (KJV)
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
When you get set into motion, you should not be in the kind of movement that is derived from pressing troubles, circumstances, or the dysfunction that may arise in any given day. We are set into motion as the righteous children of God through Him, which moves us into a divine purpose rather than in a place that wastes our energy and kingdom focus. A builder would never go out and just start building something without an architectural blueprint that describes how it should be assembled and the correct components of each level of construction that will be needed to complete it. Neither should our lives just evolve into whatever will be will be. Our life as a believer is actually designed by the very voice of God that determines where we will go and what we will do. God's voice is our architectural plan that reveals the steps to which we should move towards at His directives and not our own. There a great many people that are moving in an area that they were never intended to walk. We need to discover what our passions are in God and move in that direction. You will be much more happier and less tired doing it.
Level #3 The Greek word for "being" comes from a word: "esmen." It is to have an origin or beginning. Therefore, as our text clearly reveals, that in Him we live, and move, and have our origin. With this in mind let's look at a couple of Scriptures to point out something of importance.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV)
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Acts 7:59 (KJV) 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
I might make mention here that Jesus on the cross declared out loud that He committed His spirit into the hands of the Father as well. Therefore, to have our "
being in Him" is to mean that we have our origin in God. Why is this important? The enemy uses so many tactics to keep us from being who we are, and one of the main things that he uses is the exterior of our flesh. There is a constant thread of racism that has run throughout the beginning of time even unto this very day. One race is pitted against another; one nation against another; the rich separates from the poor and visa versa. Now, this easy to understand when we look at unbelievers that judge on these basis; but what about when the people of God do this very same thing? There is a major problem that must be exposed and corrected in right teaching!
If we know our Bibles at all than you should realize that when we die our corruptible bodies will return to the dust of the earth, whereas, our spirit's will return back to the Father from where they came. Therefore, what this tells us is that our bodies have a natural origin; whereas our spirits have a divine origin. Sadly, the thing that keeps people separated from one another in this world is when they judge the exterior of a person as being different from them because of the color of their skin. People are judging based on the outward man rather than the inner man. This should not be how it is among the brethren in Christ, but unfortunately it is. When this happens, is it the spirit of a man that is being judged? Of course not, it's the flesh. However, if we learn from God's Word that the exterior part of you and me is returning back to the dust of the earth we can adjust what we are identifying ourselves with. Too many Christians see their origin through their natural family tree.
Let me pull out some more revelation here that might lend or support a breakthrough in someone's life today if prejudice still lingers in your thoughts. My spirit did not come from my mother and father. My body came from my earthly parents. But my spirit came from God! My parents produced a body, but it was God that breathed a spirit into that body. The spirit of a man will live forever because it came from God, whereas, the body will return to the dust of the earth to which it was made from. In Him we live, and move and have our origin. Who is the real you? Your body or your spirit? If we could deeply understand this as believer's than we could easily leave off from all the many prejudices that so often arise in our fellowships.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (KJV)
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
There is a spiritual battle to keep God's people divided and disconnected. It's the reason we have black churches, Hispanic churches, and Caucasian churches. We protect our territories based on the exterior color of our skin, wealth, or status which according to God's Word returns back to the dust. Yet, our spirit's will return back to God. Which of these are you identified with? The body [flesh] or the spirit that's origin is from God? That which has to do with your soulish realm was groomed by your parents and other influences of this world. How many of you have heard someone in the family tell you that you act just like your mother or father? That soulish part came from corruptible seed, but the part that came from God is your spirit. Our oxygen is the "God said" in our life! We are not the same family as Christians because of the natural. We are family, because of the origin to which we are spiritually born of.
There are many of you that keep craziness in your life because of the connection you have through your family tree. In other words, because they are your blood related family you feel obligated to embrace all of their messes and troubles. However, I bet if they didn't have the same last name as you; you wouldn't put up with none of their stuff for one moment. Our immediate families are often the corruptible seed connectors to our lives. These family members keep us eating the same rotten fruit that they are constantly producing in their own lives. Why do we do this? Because we tell ourselves they are family, and everyone knows that family has to stick together. Let me give you a revelatory insight that is bound to upset a few folks that may read this. Don't let a family member dump their trash in your yard and in your house and you expect to win the prize for having the best kept yard on your block. If they produce it, let them own it, otherwise, they have no real reason to change, because they have you to clean up their messes. Let me close with one last thing here:
Acts 17:28 (KJV)
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
The word "offspring" comes from the word "genos." It has to do with race, family, or kin. Therefore, in light of this meaning, what does our passage in Acts tell us then? Whose offspring are we? What race do we belong to? There is a real problem that can develop when we let our natural family tree take precedence over our real origin. In other words, its all right to honor and give our time and resources when appropriate to those from our natural family tree that are struggling, but not at the expense of dishonoring the Abba Father to the point that we play the role of trying to be God in their life in order to fix them, which by the way will ultimately destroy our own peace of mind. The Christian has a family tree that's origin is from God, and this can be difficult to recognize when we are more identified with our natural family tree. This is how our adversary the devil pulls us into situations and circumstances that exhaust our resources and energy as we feel the need to carry anothers burdens too far simply because they are our natural family members; when if they were not related to us, we would tell them good luck, see you later!
If our origin is in God, then our real family tree is in Jesus the tree of life, that birthed Abraham, Moses, Isaac, David, Elijah, Paul, Peter, James, John, etc. We are the trees of righteousness according to the Word of God. We have kings in our family! If we were apple trees what kind of fruit would we bear? If we were peach trees what kind of fruit would we bear? If we are told in God's Word that we are trees of righteousness, then what kind of fruit do we bear? Righteousness! We are no longer to live our lives rooted in carnality as that will lead to death. The carnal mind is enmity with God and cannot submit to Him ever. This is why we need to discover that our true origin is in God where we can excel in life and become who he says we are and go where He says to go. In Him we live, and in Him we move and have our being! We are a new creation in Christ Jesus, and therefore, old things have passed away and all things have become new.
1 Peter 1:23 (KJV)
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
