Activate a Chain Reaction
I had the great honor and pleasure of bringing a word to my church family yesterday and I thought I'd share the summary here on the blog. You can also listen to it here.
We've been in a series called Activate. I was on board with that concept the moment my Pastor explained that activated people activate people. That is the truth I walk in every single day. As an activator myself, I've infused the goal of activating people in God's purposes for their lives through Collected and in my coaching business.
As I considered everything God's been downloading to me over the last few months, I noted that the most important catalyst known to mankind is Salvation.
When we decide to follow Jesus, there is a cascade of activation that is set in motion. Like the flip of a light switch, Salvation takes us from darkness to light.
Let’s take a look at the definition of a chain reaction.
CHAIN REACTION: A chemical reaction or other process in which the products themselves promote or spread the reaction, which under certain conditions may accelerate dramatically.
The initial catalyst that activates the chain reaction I’m describing is faith itself. Salvation is our activation. It sets things in motion. From there, we see a cascade of goodness that releases the Light of Christ into the world.
I want to explore seven things that seem to be linked, but there are so many more incredible aspects of life in the Spirit that I don't mention here. Please feel free to comment with anything else you think of so that we can collectively give God glory for all that He unleashes through Salvation.
SEVEN THINGS SALVATION ACTIVATES IN FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST:
1- Revelation: “I can see!”
Jesus literally came to us as the light of the world. A radiant incarnation of the Father and ushered in the Kingdom of Heaven. When the spirit is awakened by belief in Jesus as the son of God and Savior of mankind, the lights come on in the supernatural realm. Before we understand who Jesus is, it is as if there is a veil over our spirit and it is impossible for us to recognize God, let alone our own soul for what it truly is. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and recognize Him as the Son of God, we can recognize and understand things that were hidden from us before we believed.
John 8:12 (CSB)
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
Jesus came to pierce the darkness of rebellion against a loving God. The revelation of Jesus as the Son of God is a revelation of the Father’s love. Jesus said, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.
John 12:44-45 (CSB)
44 Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And the one who sees me sees him who sent me.
When we come to understand and believe in Jesus as the Christ and the embodiment of the Father in Heaven, we can also receive the revelation of our own identity as sons and daughters of the King.
2- Identity: “I am a child of the Light.”
Jesus called believers Children of the Light. When you know Jesus is Lord, you understand that what He said was true. And He only said what the Father told Him to say, so… You, friends, are children of the Light.
Ephesians 5:8-10 (CSB)
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth— 10 testing what is pleasing to the Lord.
If we believe that’s who we really are, there’s so much more that follows. We now belong to the family of God. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings! We have an inheritance that includes not only eternity in Heaven, but Christ’s ministry here on Earth as well.
Pardon the interruption, but there was so much more that God was showing me about that concept of walking as Children of the Light that I went ahead and created an additional resource for us.
SIGN UP HERE TO GET STARTED:
The fact is, when spend our lives getting to know who Jesus is, we can see who we really are. Jesus is the prototype for mankind. The more time we spend with Him, the less we see our mistaken identity and the more we see ourselves looking like Jesus. And because Christ is Holy and we receive the fullness of God upon salvation in the form of the Holy Spirit living in us, WE ARE HOLY.
3- Holiness: “The Light makes me holy.”
For better or worse, our behavior is a reflection of our perceived identity. When we believe we’re holy, we act like we’re holy. The more we seek to understand who God is and who we are, the more mature we become.
Maturity boils down to our level of understanding of God’s goodness and our own identity as His kids.
When we’re focused on knowing the Father and spending time in His holy presence, our behavior is going to be influenced. It’s not about behavior modification, guys. We can’t be holy by our own power. When Jesus ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father until He returns in Glory, He sent His spirit to live in each of us who believe. The light of the Holy Spirit in us compels us to act like Jesus. It not only compels us, it also empowers us to live Godly lives.
2 Peter 1:3 (CSB)
His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
The very holiness of God—everything that Jesus is—exists within each of us. We also carry the presence of the Father with us wherever we go and so our presence ushers holiness into every situation, making us very effective in our work for the Kingdom.
4- Prosperity: “Living a holy life makes me successful, strong, and healthy in spirit.”
To prosper means to be successful or to grow strong and healthy. Just like an athlete who is strong and healthy prospers in competition, a Believer who is strong and healthy in spirit will prosper in the work of the Lord. We become skilled and well-practiced and are met with success the longer we engage in the activities of the Holy Spirit.
If we make decisions from a revelation of the Father’s abundant love and our identity will always lead to success. This does not necessarily mean an accumulation of money or material possessions, though that does happen. God wants the money in the hands of the ones who will leverage it for the Kingdom.
To prosper is to experience success in your endeavors. It boils down to effectiveness. When we operate in the Spirit, our methods are highly effective.
When I think about all the self-help content out there, there’s a twinge of discomfort that rises up in me. We can attempt to find prosperity and success by your own strength, but we’ll only amass material riches and the praise of people.
Spiritual prosperity looks like receiving more and more of what we need to grow the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. More revelation, more strength, more faith, more courage— more of Jesus Himself.
We can’t do that ourselves, by our own strength. The Holy Spirit has to do that through us. This divine work is resourced through God’s glorious riches.
Ephesians 3:16-22
16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
See, Heavenly prosperity looks like more revelation, more understanding, more strength to pursue His purposes for your life, more faith.... And that is SO much more than riches and fame. If you want more abundance, get after revelation. Seek God for greater understanding of who He is. Knowing Him is what activates the chain reaction that leads to prosperity.
Prosperity looks like operating with an abundance mindset. Spiritual prosperity also looks like having everything we need to experience victory over darkness.
5- Victory: “His strength is my victory.”
When Jesus ushered in the Light of Heaven, darkness was defeated! Christ’s victory in and through us transcends time. What He did once was for ALL time.
As we walk in victory, we can recognize it on our:
PAST- Victory over sin
2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
PRESENT- Victory over darkness
John 12:46 (CSB)
I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.
FUTURE- Victory over death
John 3:16 Bible (CSB)
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
If you are someone who needs to know the why, look for the "so thats" in scripture. I always circle the "so thats" so that I don't miss the point.
He gives us victory so that we can press on for His glory and continue His work until He returns. And in the end, everything in our lives adds up to a "so that God may glorified in all the earth." We receive His overwhelming love and grace in the process.
As He shows Himself faithful and leads us in doing good works for His glory, He shows us the particular ways in which He designed us to shine His light and bring victory over darkness. Repeated victory will begin to reveal God’s unique purpose for our lives. Sometimes God reveals Himself to us in themes or threads. In story, they’re called through lines. The through line of victory in my story has helped reveal my purpose. Each step of the way, God’s purposes for my life have become more and more clear.
6- Purpose: “Repeated victory reveals God’s purpose for my life”
Again, if you look for themes of where God has brought supernatural victory in your life. You’ll notice the specific ways in which God has designed you to take ground for His Kingdom.
Your purpose is the unique way in which God designed you and only you to shine the Light of Christ for the expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Activated Believers know they were created for a unique purpose. We all have the common mission of continuing Christ’s ministry cultivating the Kingdom of Heaven. We all do that in different ways and we all do that by submitting to the Holy Spirit. Life in the Spirit looks like having vision for the future, knowing our mission as Kingdom Cultivators, and relying on Holy Spirit for the play-by-play.
When we walk as activated people, operating in the Spirit as we walk in our purpose, we become activators ourselves.
7- Multiplication: “When I walk in my purpose, others see the Light!”
As we walk as children of the light, we are activated people who activate people. Our light spreads to the person next to us and the person next to them and so on as each one discovers God’s great love for them and they come to faith in Jesus Christ.
The entire chain reaction begins again and again and again until one day when the whole earth will be filled with Children of the light!
Do you see it? Do you have vision for the Kingdom of Heaven covering the whole earth? Do you believe that is we activate enough people that eventually the earth will shine brighter than the sun? That's the ultimate "so that"!
Have you experienced activation through Salvation? If not, consider asking God to reveal Himself to you be open to what happens next.
Are you stuck somewhere in your walk, feeling deactivated and not seeing all the goodness promised to Children of the Light? Ask God to reveal Himself to you and be open to what happens next!
No matter where you find yourself in this chain reaction, there is always more. More than I could possibly capture in a sermon or a blog post. More than we can even experience in a lifetime here on earth!