Jesus says to His covenant family that He will pray and Father God will answer His request for the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever. I
like that prayer, don’t you? The Spirit of God is our Comforter, our Guide, our Teacher, in fact, the original Greek word used to speak of
Him is “parakletos.” In the ancient world a parakletos was one assigned to walk alongside another person to be an aide or assistant to
them. That is the intent of God for us – to have a Helper. Please note a parakletos is not the "Doer" he is the "Helper."
As you know, there are many erroneous “doctrines” floating around in the Body of Christ. Well-meaning Christians perpetuate these
false doctrines unwittingly. One of these is the notion that “God does it all.” I saw a little ditty a while back in which God supposedly tells
us to sit back and enjoy the day, that He has it all in control and does not need our help. This is false doctrine. Why? It is false doctrine
because it counters what the Bible teaches us about our responsibility in conjunction with the power of God. Take for example these
words of Jesus:
Mark 11:23
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and
does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
This simple verse destroys the notion that we have no part to play in removing the mountains in our life. Of course there is no doubt
that it is the awesome power of Almighty God that moves the mountain, but we must conclude from this passage that we are involved in
the process as well. Jesus does not tell us to sit back and watch Him remove the mountain, but what we see here is that our words are key
to our deliverance from those things that rise up to hinder our walk with God or try to defeat us. The truth is this:
God + Me = Success In My Life
Look at another passage of Scripture that further develops this truth for you:
Matthew 16:19
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Again we see our partnership with God in this verse. We acknowledge that it is God’s power that moves the heavens and accomplishes
His will on the earth, but He uses His words through our mouths as the instrument that dictates His will here. Perhaps I can liken this to a
trumpet that makes beautiful music. Can the trumpet produce music alone? Can the musician produce beautiful sounds without his
trumpet? We are God’s trumpet, so to speak, and His Spirit blows through us to produce His will on planet earth.
One reason I believe Christians have adopted this false doctrine of “no involvement” is what they see in the Old Testament. They see
God operate somewhat sovereignly and seemingly apart from human involvement. He decides to flood the earth, and then He does it. He
decides when to free Israel from Egyptian bondage, and then He does it with supernatural signs and wonders. But if we look closely even
at Old Testament writings we do not see God act apart from mankind. God had man build his own floating shelter to survive the flood. God
negotiates with Abraham over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We see Him order Moses to stretch out his hand over the Red Sea
and only then did it part. Elijah decides to stop the rain, and God stops it, and he calls down fire from heaven, and God responds according
to his words. In each of these examples we see the manifestation of God’s original design and purpose for man: to have dominion over
the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28) The fall of Adam and Eve lost our authority to rule the planet, but Jesus regained that right and has now set us
in the place of authority on His throne in Himself right next to the Father. (Ephesians 1:20-2:10) In truth, we are a nation of kings!
My admonition to you is to discover the truth from the Word of God about your authority through the name of Jesus Christ. Find out how
to operate in His authority, how to remove mountains and what it means to bind and loose. Accept the truth that you very much are a
partner with Almighty God! Know what part your faith has in seeing the blessings of God in your life. Let the Holy Spirit to teach you about
the powerful anointing that is in you and how it can impact those around you. The truth is this,
Ephesians 3:20
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Amen.
Partners With God
By Bishop Randy Barnett
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John 13:16
“And I will pray the Father and He will give you
another Helper that He may abide with you forever.”
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