BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

B V O V : 1 7 How we answer the question, "Who do I say Jesus is?" determines who we allow Him to be to us. He is the Savior to those who receive and declare Him to be their Savior He is the Healer to those who declare Him to be their Healer and their healing He is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit to those who declare Him to be that. But He is none of those until we declare Him to be so. For Every Member God wants to reveal who Jesus is to the Body of Christ as a whole, but all believers must lay hold of the truth. It's not enough for pastors or spiritual leaders to believe. The Church must believe. For example, many Christians believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as the manifestation of tongues, prophecy and others. But sadly, they also believe these gifts operate only through certain persons—like their pastor, a worship leader, a spiritual mentor or a teacher. They don't understand or realize they can operate in those gifts themselves. I sense so strongly that God is lifting the Body of Christ to a new place where every member— not just leadership—is functioning in, flowing in, hearing and expecting the supernatural. Imagine how that would change the world! It doesn't matter who others say Jesus is. What matters is that we know what the Scripture says about who He is, and that we say so ourselves—not just because we're mindlessly quoting Scripture but because we believe it. We also have a responsibility to do our part to help people understand spiritual things they haven't yet grasped. How To Impact the World The good news is, the story in Matthew 16 isn't over yet. Read how the disciples answered Jesus' second question in verse 16: "Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (NKJV). It was the first time anyone had called Jesus "the Son of the living God." That was a new revelation, and a powerful one at that! Jesus responded to Peter, saying, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (verses 17-18, NKJV). Jesus declared that He would build His Church on Himself and the revelation of who He is. If we don't get the revelation of who Christ is, and who we are in Him, then we won't have any real impact on the world. It's Our Time As born-again, Spirit-filled, faith-talking Christians, we've had decades of great teachers teaching us who we are in Christ. We've learned that we are the righteousness of God in Christ—that we are the healed, the delivered, the voice, the hands, the leaders, the pinpoint that connects God to this planet. But do we believe that's who we are? It's time for the entire Body of Christ to learn who Jesus is. We must dig in, study the Word, and listen to anointed men and women of God. We must influence those around us by teaching them how to mature in faith and the Word. And we must provide a place for people to grow in their understanding of who God is and who they are in Christ. Jesus is the Savior, but we are the Body of Christ—the Body of the Anointing. We carry the voice. We carry the authority. We carry the dominion. We are in the days of outpouring where everything the Lord has been saying and telling us for centuries is available for every believer. We have the power of God's love, the gifts of the Spirit, the authority, the doctrines of the Church, and the prosperity that belongs in every household. And we live by faith. The outpouring of God is not limited to a single location, like Ulster or Pensacola or Toronto. The outpouring of God is designed to be in the Body of Christ all over this planet. It's designed to be wherever you are. When we have a revelation of who Jesus is, then we can expect these moves of God to break loose everywhere—because we are the ones who have the right to declare and release the kind of power that will change the world. Who do you say Jesus is? How you answer that question can change your life and, quite surely the world, for the good—forever! i by Dennis Burke Dennis Burke and his wife, Vikki, are co-founders of Dennis Burke Ministries in Arlington, Texas. For information or ministry materials visit dennisburkeministries.org.

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