Last week we focused on one key only, because it was the first and most important. Without it, you won’t be very successful even trying to use any other keys.
This week, we’ll focus on four very important Basic Keys. Yes. We’re going over some very basic Christian principles before we get into some of the more impactful ones. It is always good for us to remember the basics. Also, you have to master the basics if you want to move on to the more advanced stuff. So we should ask ourselves regularly, have we REALLY mastered the basics? Are we still practicing them regularly?
(Smartphone/Camera Digital Image object lesson.) If I take a picture with my phone, it creates an image file. Each file has a name. You can go in and change the name so that it makes sense to you. If I take a selfie, for example, it might have the name 2022.10.12.19.10.png (write on whiteboard), basically creating a name based on the date and time the image was taken. I can then change the name to something like, “Korey Keys to Power Night 2” (erase name and write new name on whiteboard). Every time I want to view that image, I click or tap on the name.
But what actually IS the image file? If I open my image file using a software program called Notepad, what I find are a whole lot of symbols. Line upon line upon line upon line of symbols. Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of Isaiah 28:13. “But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.
It looks kinda like this:
‰PNG IHDR H * P@"© sRGB ®Î é gAMA ± üa pHYs à ÃÇo¨d ÿ¥IDATx^ìý”]gb ÞœÃ˱r ( As“ÝìÄêV·$[¶e+Ûr˜Ûk{4»sv΄µ<Ç^Ÿ³ãõ(Xò¸%Y²R+u;ÝÌA9W/§›ó~ÿ+¶$K¶,c¯%?n^½wß½üŸ.MÝ ïíð <ýés3ŠÈ24ƒ?ó<÷ó_z©˜Óï?ºP«</øíçÏ/ÍÎ^Y?0 ³ï]ïÅA”Ê’dy¡í†q’14ÅóœÈ±‡—ËÒŠ(NÆT/o2l'‹3e]¡ï¶¬W¯îZnø¾“Í8ÅÛÉßøôcIœ½tá–©+³³%ÇšM}¹QßéJµy³T5óêaT)žÕÊ ×ܺü| íÆYŠ÷è,Ͳ”¦IMÎ2az E¥P¦ Þo.óy¼áÅ¡çO˜,Ækܴߧ’4KÓT•–åðf^‚([iœP9ÕYYh0Ó ô‘‚,Ëx–Ã-’8ÄwÂÀÅÂ( C*Ži^Íi«_¹}çõßþ9\jvåÔÊýñ’ŒØѬˆw†Ýƒó¯|¡×?xùÊh`û§jÚßù+Où~|tmÁõƒ$Ž_}ùõŹ&R’$i¾\eÙ0òƒA‡xMTpÛqeIÉÚ—^xåêÅ;¥¢IâÜ(Hºøøý'îììÍVŒ½ý®Èó›»Ï tûgï;. *"?°†‚(ç+u¤T•ÕÞîN{d½tãÖÞöxbGaœúÓ”8¦;rý0Ì›ÆL£ÑÚ? ¦‘"?>Š¢$ÉÜ4v] YGÓ¨2,•!¢yŸá´ŒÉ(äRE1©R,©T‡(sXF‡áðòð0¤ ùúôäOü?qþ$Å;}ñ{÷ÕŸ<|ëΤŠg4EâÄàòH >"±4®LZ ÎD<™i\ñîˆT$i‚/‘·ð> $bøŒœ¦¨Þ4C.2‡äÎÇ›ÓTNðNŒc¤ošÂéͦŸ0Œ)K‚¬ t:Qœ’ðnz˜Xr"‰×4í÷Ÿ(°ïþ/¼WÙ…BSˆËiºc;[û-A`æ墩– rN÷;ƒ"P_äm/Þí3šÊùaêû‘ëƒá?ŠÑ&I³$ @(= ˜…)9ÍÆiq’+ä,ËáDþÆVŸç8Ð_ÞÐðBÕÔ\Îè
I just copy/pasted this from png file that was a map. Now, I don't understand the computer code entirely, but it works something like this:
IHDR H * P@"© sRGB ®Î é gAMA ± üa pHYs à ÃÇo¨d basically commands the computer to put a black dot on the screen at a particular location (again, not literally, but this is basically how the computer code functions). The next line might tell the computer to draw another dot on the screen to start creating a line. Then another line, another dot and so forth. Each dot is called, in computer language terms, a pixel. Pixel upon pixel forms your image.
Here is a snippet of the actual image I took this code from:
So what you see is a whole image, but that image is actually made up of line upon line of words that tell the screen what to display and where and in what color. Every single digital device is made this way. Line upon line upon line of computer programming - words - that define what things inside the computer are and how they interact with one another and you, the user.
Believe it or not, this is the same thing as the Word of God, the first Key to Power we’ll discuss tonight. The Word of God is, to get really, really technical, the defining element - or more accurately defined as person - of God. We call the Word of God a person because what is a personality? A personality is a set of definitions that tell what a person likes, dislikes, how they respond to different situations, etc. If I say you are kind, that means that you have a personality that is gentle and nice and friendly to others. Kind is a word that defines you as a person.
So, the Word of God IS the defining person of God; meaning God’s likes, dislikes, how God responds and interacts with others, etc. The Word of God, who is also Jesus, the Son of God, is and was the element/person of the Holy Trinity that defines everything that exists, including God Himself. Isn’t that what the Bible teaches us?
Turn to John 1:1-5; 9-14; 18. 2,000 years ago, God inspired a person - John the Beloved - to write these words. This, to me, is simply amazing. John couldn’t have understood ANYTHING about computers, but these words about the Word of God are eerily similar to how computers function. It reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
“9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
“14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
“18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
Also, Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and THE EXACT REPRESENTATION OF HIS BEING, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
So God’s Word defines all things, creates all things and sustains all things. What is the Word of God? Jesus, the EXACT REPRESENTATION OF GOD. His exact definition and description. His personality. His image.
What is an image? A visible representation of something, created by light. Jesus is the light. What is a word? An audible representation of something. The exact definition of a word is: “a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing.” In other words, it is a sound that defines something - a sound that is associated with something. Jesus is the Word.
Now, if I give a name to someone, whenever that name is spoken or read, it immediately conjures up in my mind the person associated with that name. That single word defines an entire person, place or thing. “Debbie.” When anyone says that name to me, I immediately conjure up images in my mind of my beautiful wife because that is her name. Since I know her personality, when someone says her name I also think about what type of person she is. This is the power of a name; of a word. It literally has the power to summon or conjure up images, feelings, thoughts, descriptions, definitions, etc. of whatever is associated with that name.
So words are, in short, the very raw elements of reality. Whatever you give a word to, you define that thing. God said “Jesus” is THE Word of God, so that means when I say “Jesus”, I summon the essence and personality and representation and manifestation of God. If I say “Jesus”, I am immediately conjuring up the image (point to the stick figure in the box) that represents God’s goodness and love and mercy and kindness and justice and strength and power. By simply speaking the name “Jesus”, we invoke the very Word and Definition of… THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. Just think about that. By that one name, we invoke, or tap into, or activate, the very fabric of reality; the very essence of what makes up ALL things - for “Through him all things were made.”
That is why His name, the name above all names, is so powerful. Literally NOTHING exists if it was not defined by Jesus, God’s Word. Therefore, the Word of God is intelligent and powerful and can divide even soul and spirit, meaning it even defines soul and spirit, as Hebrews 4:12 teaches us.
Now, before moving on, I want to go back to the computer one last time. If you never change the programming, the system will always run the same exact way every time. The computer MUST obey the programming. So, if you never change the programming, the computer will run the same way every time. The only reason the system stops running the same way every time is because someone or something has changed the programming.
Want to change things in your life? The same principle applies. It’s time to start changing the words you speak and the actions you take on a regular basis. This is the ACTUAL meaning of repentance; to turn from your ways and start living differently - according to God’s ways. Just like a computer, your life will continue to run the same exact way over and over again if you never change anything that you are saying and doing. Speak and DO things differently, and see how things change.
Now, moving on. What else is called the “Word of God”? The Bible. Why is the Bible considered the Word of God? It is because ALL truth is God’s Word. God literally cannot lie. If the Word of God says it, it MUST be done. Therefore, if it is the truth, it is God’s Word. The Bible is from God and without error. Therefore, it is the truth and therefore the Word of God.
How is the Bible also Jesus, the Word of God? Jesus’ Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit, inspired - meaning dictated to individuals via internal thoughts; spirit to spirit communication - everything you read in scripture. In other words, Jesus’ thoughts communicated directly to the minds of the authors telling them what to write. How do we know this?
2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” Paul, who wrote these words, was inspired by God to validate the scriptures that had already been and ever would be written. Through Paul, God was telling the world that ALL scripture is given by Him.
And it makes sense - doesn’t it? - that God, who calls us His Children, would give us a perfect guidebook to live by. It is meant to help us more clearly define good and evil. It is meant to teach us more about who God really is and to give us a firm foundation to rely on and trust. It is actually silly - well, I think it’s silly - to think that God would create us and not love us, and if He loves us that He wouldn’t give us something like the Bible to rely on and trust in. Through scripture, He can teach all of us at the same time, using the written Word so that we have something to fall back on every time and something to study and research and soak up. It’s profitable to HEAR the Word and READ it and STUDY it; all these things combined, because each of these things helps us remember the Word in different ways.
As a side note, I don’t really have time to go into it all here, but the Bible is the most unique book in the world. There is no other book like it. If you research facts about the Bible, what you find is that it is a miracle. If you’re interested, one website to check out is https://kenboa.org/apologetics/how-accurate-is-the-bible/. To summarize the site, the author points out that through various tests, the New Testament is proven to be 99.5% accurately passed down from the original writings 2,000 years ago. The remaining 0.5% is basically stuff that doesn’t change the meaning of the text; punctuations, exact wording, etc. No other book in the history of the world has that kind of accuracy rating. None even come close. I think the closest second is like 60-something%.
Anyway, all this to say that the Second Key to Power is the Word of God. But how can you use the Word of God in your life to have power over your circumstances?
Knowing scripture allows you to use the Bible as a weapon of defense against the things you’re going through. Use it like a sword and shield. Something bad happens. Quote scripture that relates, speaking the promises of God.
Sometimes doubts plague us. It is good to know the Bible because it helps us solidify our faith in Him. When doubt comes, if we KNOW the Bible, we can recite scriptures and remind ourselves why we truly believe in Him; how we KNOW that He is real and that He cannot lie, so His promises are true.
It teaches us God’s ways - what is wise and good. In other words, the more we know of the Bible, the easier it is to make smart decisions. We can relate patterns we see in scripture to patterns we see in our own lives. We can use it like a mirror to examine ourselves and tell whether we need to fix something.
We can trust that whatever we speak from scripture, it is the truth. This is comforting because if we ever feel like God is telling us something, or telling us to tell someone else something, we can rely on the Word of God to make sure that what we are saying truly is from God. His Word NEVER contradicts, so you can’t go wrong by speaking His Word.
In other words, if you want more power in your life over your circumstances, you need to first read the Bible, and you need to SPEAK the Word of God wherever you go. You don’t have to quote it perfectly, word for word. If you know what it’s saying, speak its meaning even if you don’t know the exact wording. Nobody’s quizzing you, and there are many translations. The meaning is what’s important. Just make sure it is ACTUALLY what the Bible says (the true meaning).
Now here’s something to watch out for - to avoid. Speaking the Word of God, aka speaking the truth, doesn’t mean that you suddenly have a license to tell people all the things that THEY are doing wrong. “Well. It’s the truth!” isn’t an excuse. In fact, that’s what the Devil does. He’ll speak the truth if it means he can twist it to make it a lie in someone’s mind or make it condemn others or put them down or enslave them.
Speaking the Word of God means that you are speaking things that are positive and uplifting even if what you are saying is a correction to someone’s behavior. Remember, the Word of God, Jesus, is love and light and life and hope. If you speak hope, you speak faith in God. If you speak faith in God, you are praising God and proclaiming that you trust Him even when things seem hopeless. If Jesus is love and light and life and hope, therefore, He would never speak the truth to be mean or condemning or cutting or manipulating or whatever.
Being positive, therefore, moves God. Negative gives birth to negative. Positive gives birth to positive. THIS is the essence of the Keys to Power - moving God and influencing Him to act on your behalf in a positive way. The more you speak positive things in your life, ESPECIALLY things that are directly from the Bible, the more powerful you’ll become.
Doing these things lines you up with Jesus, the Word of God - the Word of Truth. As you speak words directly from the Bible, and even as you simply speak any truth, you attune yourself more and more to Him, lining up with Him. This is how you truly become like Jesus.
John 5:19 says, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’” We can be just like that if we practice speaking the Word of God; the truth. The more we do this, the more we will do nothing of ourselves, but what we see Him do, we will do. Whatever He does, we also will do in like manner, if we practice studying and speaking the Word of God in our lives.
And just think about that for a moment. If He is invincible, and we become more like Him, we become more and more invincible too. And if His Word MUST be done, because He cannot lie, and we speak His Word, what we say must also be done. Right? Do you genuinely want magic words in your life - words that hold supernatural power? Speak God’s Word. It MUST be done.
Now, on to the next two keys. These two Keys to Power go hand-in-hand, so we’ll discuss them both together. They basically unlock the same gate. Believe it or not, though, before we discuss them, we’re going to talk about magic and witchcraft. It may not seem relevant, but there is a good reason we’re going to go over this.
First, what is magic? Long story short, the Devil set up the system of witchcraft so that humans would fall to an even deeper level of rebellion, and it was all to hurt God even more than we already had. But what is witchcraft REALLY? It is basically using Satan’s system - the World’s System - to gain supernatural influence over your life and surroundings. BUT, true witchcraft is actually channeling power through your body, power given to you by spirits other than God.
For example, a psychic reading may be nothing more than a con artist using simple cues and tricks to pretend to see your fortune. This is not witchcraft. It’s still wrong, but it’s not witchcraft. If the person ACTUALLY comes in contact with a spirit, that is witchcraft. An example of witchcraft in scripture is the story of King Saul and the Witch of Endor. The witch actually spoke with spirits and so forth.
But regardless, when you REALLY examine witchcraft, the bottom line is that it is supernatural rebellion against God. This is why the Bible calls rebellion “as the sin of witchcraft.” Both are synonymous because witchcraft is one of the most extreme forms of rebellion. Instead of repenting to God and asking for His forgiveness and help, people turned to this system of witchcraft and trusted in it to give them the desires of their heart and to meet their supernatural needs. In other words, they needed healing or wanted something, and instead of trusting God for it, they turned to this supernatural alternative, most of the time not even realizing who they were turning to and believing it was their own power and intelligence controlling some mystical energy within all things.
So, witchcraft is real. It is found in the Bible, and it is expressly forbidden because it is absolute supernatural rebellion. It is buying into Satan’s World System and trusting it instead of God for all your supernatural needs and desires.
How is this important to us today? Believe it or not, today, witchcraft comes in all new packages. Satan isn’t using the same system that he did in the Bible or even 100 years ago. He is using a new strategy - something similar and in many ways even more effective than witchcraft. Instead of relying on God for the supernatural, we now rely on advanced medicine, science and technology.
Now, I’m not saying this stuff is from Satan or that it’s evil. These things are tools that can be used for good or evil. What I’m saying, though, is that people are now trusting in these things instead of God to do what used to be strictly supernatural. These things have replaced witchcraft because they are far more subtle and sneaky. But the end result can be the same.
And here’s how this affects us. Whatever you are placing your trust in rather than putting your trust in God, that is the same thing as witchcraft. Again, this is much more subtle than you think. Many things can easily start to creep into our lives. Without knowing it, we can start to trust too much in things other than God.
Remember, Satan’s objective is essentially to get you to no longer have faith in God. If he can get you to take control of your own life and not trust God, he can rob you of your love for God. If he can rob you of your love for God, he basically steals you away from God. If he steals you away from God, he hurts God deeply, which is the most he can essentially do to God.
So what do you put your trust in? Really think about it. Money, your job, technology, science, modern medicine, friends, family, etc. All these things CAN become LIKE witchcraft in our lives if we put too much of our trust in them.
Now let me just say, trusting in these things is fine as long as they aren’t the PRIMARY thing you are trusting in. There is a HUGE difference between witchcraft and trusting in technology or modern medicine, for example. You aren’t communicating with devils and evil spirits and such, or channeling them through your body, when you take a pill your doctor prescribed. In fact, God inspired scientists and researchers to create such things to help make our lives better.
The Bible teaches us in James 1:17, that “Every good and perfect gift is from above,” so if there is medicine that can help you manage your symptoms, that is not a “I don’t trust God” thing. Remember what we said last week, “God wants to work through us to be a blessing to one another. We are meant to be His hands and feet. So when someone creates a medicine that helps people with their physical problems, if it is a good medicine, that is from God.
But that’s what can make Satan’s newest strategy even more dangerous. Witchcraft is obviously evil to most people, even to those who don’t believe in God. But trusting in how much money you have or your job or medicine or whatever isn’t so obvious. If Satan can get you to put your primary trust in things other than God, he still robs God of your trust and faith, and if he can do this with something mundane and seemingly NOT evil, he has a much better chance at succeeding in keeping you there.
Here’s a good question to ask yourself: “When something goes wrong, who or what do I turn to first?” Whatever you turn to first, that is the thing you primarily trust in. If God is not first, if your first reaction isn’t to pray and ask God what you should do, you may want to rethink things. In fact, you should probably check yourself regularly just to make sure you aren’t letting something creep in to take God’s place as your foundation. Remember, the Devil is very sneaky. Even the best of us can fall victim to starting to trust in things other than Him.
So, in order for Him to be in control over you and your life, you need to communicate with Him REGULARLY. You need to talk to Him constantly. How can you expect Him to be in control over you and your life if you aren’t even talking to Him or listening to Him on a regular basis?
And so, finally, we are back to the Keys to Power. How do you make sure that you are giving God full control, and you are relying on Him primarily when things go wrong? Prayer and Meditation. These two go hand-in-hand.
When an actor performs on stage, do they simply pick up the script and perform? No. They spend weeks and even months rehearsing and practicing before the performance. So why do we try to perform as Christians in our daily lives without rehearsing? Even Jesus went off and prayed and studied scripture. How can we, then, expect to act like Christ if we aren’t even trying to practice being like Him? Many Christians don’t pray or read their Bibles or anything. Then, when troubles come, they for some reason expect that they’ll be able to respond to it just as Christ would. They haven’t spent any time trying to first learn the script, then rehearse it by speaking it and acting based on it - but they expect to perform it perfectly.
How do we rehearse? Reading the Bible and studying it. Prayer. Meditation.
But what, exactly, is prayer? Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is thinking about something. The Bible teaches us to do both. Through prayer, we bring all of our life to Him. We tell Him all that is happening to us each and every day, and we ask Him to guide us, help us with our issues, etc. Meditation is thinking about God, His Word, His Ways, His Law, and how those things apply to our lives - even to the situations we are asking for His help on. When we meditate on Him, we open ourselves to receive responses directly from His Spirit to ours. Meditation, therefore, is listening to God. Prayer is speaking. Meditation is listening. This is communication.
So what does a conversation with God look like? It should look something like this:
Pray before reading the Bible. This allows you to tell God things that are happening in your life and ask Him for guidance and help.
While reading the Bible, look for how what you are reading might relate to your own life and the things you prayed about.
After reading the Bible, take a few moments to really think about what you read. How does it relate to what you read previously? Try to imagine yourself as the author or the people the author is writing to or about. Do you have any questions about what you read? Maybe even write down questions you have. Then look those things up or talk to other Christians about them. And again, how does it relate to your life?
Meditation is, in many ways, more important than prayer just as listening is often more important in communicating with others than speaking. And one thing many people don’t realize is that it is also about more than thinking about God or the Bible. It can even be just sitting and thinking about good things. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things.”
So, it’s okay, actually, to just sit and think about good things that aren’t necessarily directly related to God. Thinking about God is better, but it doesn’t always have to be you thinking about Him and His ways and such ALL the time. Remember, since every perfect gift comes from the Lord, whenever you think about the good things in your life, you are actually thinking about Him.
Now, for our last Key to Power for this week. Solitude. It goes hand-in-hand with Prayer and Meditation and God’s Word. Solitude amplifies the power of these three keys. Solitude is getting alone with God. That means shut the door, even if it’s a closet you’re sitting in or a garage or a bedroom or whatever - but as alone as possible - away from spouse and kids and dogs and cats and everything that might distract you (including TV, books, games, phones, whatever). Then talk to God in prayer and MEDITATE on Him and read your Bible. When you do this, even for a few minutes if that’s all the time you have, you WILL get closer to God.
ANY time you can get alone with God, even for a few minutes to just say, “Jesus, I need you,” is VERY meaningful to Him. It shows Him that you love Him and trust Him. This moves God. Sometimes the most powerful moments of alone-time with God are just like that. Super quick. Taking a moment to call out to Him; tell Him you love and need Him.
So like with any basic Key to Power, the more alone you can get with God - again, as alone as possible - the closer you will get to Him. The closer you get to Him, the more influence you will have with Him.
In short, the more we practice reading the Word, praying and meditating and getting alone with God, the more we communicate with Him. The more we communicate with Him, the more we learn to go to Him first whenever things go wrong and the stronger our relationship will get. The stronger our relationship with Him, the more we become LIKE Him. The more we become LIKE Him, and the more we speak His Word - the truth - the more powerful we become not only in our own lives but in the world around us. Thus, we don’t need something stupid like magic. We have God’s Word, Jesus - the true eternal, indestructible, ever present, all knowing power that defines and shapes our very reality. Let’s pray.
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