Recorded September 08, 2024, with Rhonda Harrison.

It's time for the Champions in Christ broadcast

with Rhonda Harrison on 1017 Bay FM. Good morning

and welcome to Champions in Christ. Thank you

so much for listening. We're glad you're with

us today. This is the day the Lord has made and

we will rejoice and be glad in it. Praise God.

Hallelujah. Let's go ahead and turn in our Bibles

today. Let's turn into Ephesians chapter 6. There's

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

a wonderful section of scripture. Well, all of

scripture is wonderful. But in this particular

one, we're going to start in Ephesians 6, 10.

It says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the

Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the

whole armor of God. that you may be able to stand

against the schemes of the devil, for we wrestle

not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,

powers, rulers of the darkness of this world,

rulers against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore, take unto you the whole arm of God

that you may be able to withstand in the evil

day and having done all stand." So God's giving

us here some spiritual armor very much parallels

with real armor of like a Roman soldier. And

he's telling us that our fight is not with flesh

and blood. Our fight is not with man. It is not

with women. It is with spiritual forces and wickedness

in high places. This is what the Bible says.

And so we need to fill ourselves with the word

of God and it's going to help us stand. and take

territory because the Bible says we are more

than conquerors. You know Jesus said in Hebrews

13 8 that Jesus is the same yesterday today and

forever so he never changes and so his word never

changes. You know Psalms 33 it says by the word

of the Lord were the heavens made and all the

hosts there by the breath of his mouth. You know

God is still speaking today. You know, the Heavenly

Father's on their throne. Jesus is on the throne.

And the Holy Spirit was sent here by Jesus to

fill the body of Christ. So we are the hands

and the feet of God on the earth, all those who

call upon the name of the Lord. And so we have

been given much to help us live this life victoriously.

We are more than conquerors. We are champions

in Christ, not because of who we are in the natural,

but who he is in us. He lives big in us. That's

what the word says, if we allow it, if we allow

it. And so what we're going to talk about, one

of the pieces of armor today, and it's in verse

16, it says, above all, taking the shield of

faith, wherewith you will be able to quench all

the fiery darts of the wicked one. Wow, all the

fiery darts by that shield of faith. Now the

word of God says, that faith comes by hearing

and hearing by the word of God. That's in Romans

10, 17. So you have to hear it and you can't

hear it once. You got to hear it and hear it

and hear it and hear it and hear it. Just like

your body every day needs bread and nourishment

to carry you through the day. The same with your

spirit man. Your spirit man needs the bread of

life. which was Jesus. And Jesus, the Holy Spirit,

and the Father are three in one. So the Holy

Spirit living in us, when we read the word of

God, He awakens that word. He brings it to life

that we can receive it in our spirit and we can

walk it out and be victorious in this life. And

so the Bible is talking about the shield of faith.

Now, do you want your shield to be a big shield

or a little shield? The bigger the shield, the

more you can accomplish. Because with faith,

everything in God works by faith, even in the

Old Testament. But we're going to talk about

the New Testament. We're going to talk about

when Jesus was on earth. So let's go over to

Matthew. And we're going to start in chapter

8, verse 1. And it says, And when he had came

down from the mountain, great multitudes followed

him. And there came a leopard who worshiped him

saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.

And Jesus put forth his hand, touched the leper

and said, I will be thou clean. And immediately

his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said, see

that you tell no man, but go your way and show

yourself to the priest and offer the gift that

Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. The

leper, back then, Jesus still had not been resurrected.

He was on earth. So the laws... in the Old Testament

were still intact. So he had to fulfill the law.

That's why Jesus told him to go to the priest.

But did you notice that he came and worshiped

him by calling him Lord? And then he said, I

know you can make me clean if you will. It is

God's will that you be healed today, that you

walk in divine health. That's what his word says.

That's why he took those 39 stripes on his back,

that by those stripes, we were healed. scripture

and so again Jesus is is again just available

he's available for you today if you need healing

in your body if you need healing in your mind

if you need deliverance today you can call on

his name in faith it's that faith that's going

to produce results right So let's continue verse

5, and Jesus entered into Capernaum and there

came unto him a centurion beseeching him and

saying, Lord, my servant lies at home is sick

of palsy and grievously tormented. And Jesus

said to him, I will come and heal him. The centurion

said, Lord, I'm not worthy that you should come

under my roof. Just speak the word only and my

servant shall be healed. Did you hear his faith?

Just speak the word only. He didn't need Jesus

to come and touch his servant. He's just saying,

if you just speak the word, I will trust that

word and I know it will be done. That's faith.

And that's where we're at today. We're like that

centurion. You know, Jesus is not in the flesh

here on earth with us, but he is the word of

God. That's another name for him. And the Holy

Spirit brings it to life. And so we can trust

his word like the centurion. Just believe it.

That's it. The work of God is to believe him.

And so if we believe him, we would get a lot

accomplished on the earth. And we would see a

lot of exciting, wonderful blessings from heaven.

And so he had some action to put behind that

faith. But the centurion continues and says I

am a man under authority having soldiers unto

me and I say to this man go and he goes into

another come and he comes and to my servant do

this and he does it. When Jesus heard this he

marveled and said to them that followed truly

I say to you I have found I have not found so

great of faith, not in all of Israel." Wow, this

man had such faith, and he explained to him why

he had faith. He believed it. He believed, you

say it and it'll happen. You know, Jesus is the

King of Kings. He is the leader. He is the mighty

one of Israel. And so we should trust him. We

should trust him. You know, it's amazing that

a man that did not pursue God heard about Jesus

and came to him and said, I will believe you

if you just say it. You know, how do we believe

people that just say something to us? Because

we trust them, we trust them. How do you trust

someone you get to know them? So again, until

we get digging in the Word and we find out just

who Jesus was and how big He was and how much

we can trust Him, you know, every time you read

the Word or hear the Word of God being preached,

the full counsel of God, it will increase your

faith in who He is and what He said He will do,

He will do. He said His covenant He will not

break. nor alter the words that have gone out

of his lips he will not go against anything he

has said hallelujah praise be to god and so on

verse 13 jesus said unto the centurion go your

way for as you have believed so it will be done

unto you and his servant was healed in that self

same hour The same hour when he started taking

steps away from Jesus knowing in his heart believing

it was done. It was done and where did the face

show up first out of his mouth and that's the

same with us. If you listen to yourself, you'll

know whether you have faith about something if

you are saying, oh, I'm believing that I'm healed.

then you don't have that face not grounded in

you yet because just like the centurion, if you

say it's done, Jesus, it's done. You know, faith

works from the inside out. So when faith connects

on the inside of you with the Holy Spirit, then

that healing will break forth in your body. It

may not show up immediately. It may show up immediately

many times in the Word of God. When Jesus healed

someone, it was immediate. When the disciples

healed someone, it was immediate. And today there

are men and women walk the body of Christ has

access to first of all, the name of Jesus. There

is no other name like that name. That name is

all powerful. Every knee shall bow. Every name

bows to that name. So whatever your disease name

is, it has to bow to the name of Jesus. If you

believe it, if you can receive it, that's what

the word says, you know. I'll take you to Mark

11 22 23 and 24 it says and Jesus answered said

unto them have faith in God for truly I say to

you that whosoever shall say to this mountain

be thou removed and cast into the sea and will

not doubt in his heart but believe those things

which he says shall come to pass he will have

whatsoever he says Therefore, I say to you, whatever

you desire when you pray, believe you receive

it and you will have it. Hallelujah. Verse twenty

five. And when you stand praying, forgive if

you have ought against any your father, which

is in heaven, may forgive you of your trespasses.

But if you don't forgive, neither will your father

in heaven not forgive you. So see. Prayer can

be hindered by unforgiveness right here. Jesus

adds this. These are Jesus's words and he adds

that little caveat at the end. You have to forgive.

Unforgiveness blocks our relationship with God.

It kind of clogs it up. It puts a separation

because if Jesus chose to forgive us of all our

sin, no matter what it is, he chose to forgive

us. but we can't choose to forgive our brother

or our sister or our friend or our foe, then

God's not going to forgive us because He gave

us that free gift. So He expects the same thing

out of us that He chose to do for us. And in

it, it will not hinder your prayers. And so sometimes

you have to ask God, you know, show me if I have

unforgiveness so I can let it go. Because sometimes

we press it down under in the depths of our heart.

We forget about it, but God doesn't. He sees

our heart. But when you couple. a heart that

has forgiven others with faith and your action,

then you will get the result. That's what God's

word said. Let's read it again. Verse 24, Therefore

I send you whatsoever things you desire when

you pray. Believe you receive them and you will

have them. Hallelujah. Another place in scripture

says faith without works is dead. It's in James.

So we have to have some action behind that faith.

Right. All right. Let's go back to Matthew eight

again and it continues in verse 14. When Jesus

was coming to Peter's house, he saw his wife's

mother. and laid and she was sick with a fever

he touched her hand and the fever left and she

arose and ministered unto him and there's another

gospel that shares the same story and talks about

how the people asked Jesus you know believed

him that he would pray for her and so when evening

was come verse 16 they brought unto him many

that were possessed with devils and he casts

the spirits out with his word again the word

your spoken word what comes out of our mouth

is vitally important and seeds our future and

so in this case the demon spirits have to obey

that name so we can cast out demons that Jesus

gave his disciples that power in Mark 16 and

you can cast out demons. If you are a disciple

of Christ and the power of God lives within you,

you can do it as well. And right here it was

he cast them out with his word and healed all

that were sick. This is verse 16, Matthew 8 16.

that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken

by Isaiah the prophet said himself took our infirmities

and bore our sicknesses that's right so we don't

have to he took care of it we have to trust and

believe all the way stand you know that shield

of faith as we pour in more and more of the word

of god and get that faith built up we will stand

that's why it's called the good news of the gospel

Jesus is good news. Jesus Christ our Savior.

He didn't just save us from sin. He delivered

us from every bondage of the enemy sickness,

disease, depression, oppression, anything. He

will set you free. Glory to God. Hallelujah.

We thank God for that, don't we? And he's the

same yesterday, today, and forever. So we praise

God for that. And Luke 17, 6 says, if you have

faith, the grain of a mustard seed, you can speak

to the mountain and it be cast into the sea.

That's one of the tiniest seeds available today.

And that's our God. Hallelujah. That's our God.

Do you know in Jeremiah 33, it says, call unto

me and I will answer you and I will show you

great and mighty things you do not know. Expectation

is very important as a Christian, as a disciple

of Christ. Expectation, don't just pray. expect

God to answer. He will answer you, expect it.

Go praising God in advance, thanking God in advance.

That's when it'll really get down in your spirit

and begin, just begin to trust Him, begin to

act out that trust with action. And God will

show you. God will show you what you can do to

show him your faith not just say it but at first

it gets in your in your spirit. and then it comes

out of your mouth and then you act on it and

God seals the deal and answers you because that's

the only way he can because that's a spiritual

law he's placed. Whether we like it or not that's

the way he wants it done but I want to review

some of the names of God so we can talk about

how big he is. I want you to remember how big

he is. He's the Lord of Lords. He's the King

of Kings. There is no one greater. There is no

one above Jesus. No one. He is it. He's Jehovah

Rafa. That's a name out of the Old Testament,

but it means the Lord, our healer. The Bible

says he's our counselor, our mighty God, our

everlasting father. Hallelujah. He is the bomb

of Gilead. What does that mean? That's the Holy

Spirit. He's the comforter. He's the he will

heal your broken heart. He will heal your mind.

If you've been through emotional abuse or mental

abuse or physical abuse, he is your healer and

he will heal you from the top of your head to

the soles of your feet. If you call on his name

and believe him. Jehovah Jireh, he's your broad

provider. Maybe today you need provision. Maybe

you're down to your last dollar or $10 or $30.

You call on the name of the Lord and expect him

to answer you and he will bless you. Why? If

you are his child, if you've received him as

your Lord and Savior, he is your broad provider.

And we're going to go to a song in just a minute,

a couple songs. And it's just going to encourage

you to praise and to trust God. Why? Because

God is, He is our righteousness. We are the righteousness

of God in Christ. That's the glory of it all.

He took care of sin. Hallelujah. I praise the

name of our Lord. He's our righteousness. Glory

to God. He is our shepherd. He's Lord of all.

He's Yahweh. He's self -existent. He's Elohim,

our creator. He's the Lord of the host. Jesus

Christ is the anointed one and his anointing.

Wow, the anointing. What is that? The power of

God. So we're gonna take a break, listen to the,

press into these songs, and I'm gonna meet you

on the other side. I wanna dance like David,

I wanna faith like Paul I wanna sing like Silas

tearing down the prison walls I wanna face that

fire, it won't burn me though God's got my back

shot, rack me shack, or bed me low I wanna walk

like Moses, right through the waves One day I'll

see that promised land no longer slaves Though

the fear is talking, no it can't take out my

faith gift like Mary I want to break my vase

I want to sleep like Daniel even in a lion's

cave I'm gonna get that promise just like Jericho

precious time to waste. I'm gonna give them glory

with all my thanks because there's no greater,

stronger, higher name and that's who I praise.

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine I say... Hallelujah,

we put our trust in God. So right now, Father,

we just trust you. I pray for everyone listening

right now. I thank you, Lord. I declare a blessing

of God over them. I ask you, Lord, to meet them

right where they're at. I ask you to heal them,

to set them free. I ask you to save them, to

fill them, to bring provision on their behalf

in the mighty name of Jesus. and I thank you

for it in advance. In Jesus' name, amen. If you've

never received Jesus, just say, Lord Jesus, come

in my heart, forgive me of my sin, wash me clean.

I renounce the things of the world and I receive

you as my savior. In Jesus' name, amen. If you

prayed that prayer, you've been born again. That

means the angels in heaven are rejoicing over

one that was born again. And if you've rededicated

your life today, either way we'd like to send

you a new Bible. Please get in touch with us

at championsinchrist3 at gmail .com. It's championsinchrist3

at gmail .com. Go out and make it a great day.

Please know that we love you, God loves you,

and you are a champion in Christ.