Diane Penny

The sins of mankind caused them to be separated from God. Despite their sins, God desired that mankind be reconciled to him. God needed someone to intercede between him and mankind, but there was no one fit to intercede on behalf of mankind. God decided that he would be the one to bring salvation to mankind. Isaiah records, “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him” (Is. 59:16). God robed himself in the flesh in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Word of God manifested in the flesh. John writes, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). God’s plan of salvation for mankind began with his Word. God accomplished his plan of salvation for mankind by sending his Word to redeem mankind from the law of sin and death. John writes, “...

A year ago I committed myself to daily early morning prayer and fasting to 12 noon. During one of these prayer and fasting times, God told me to pray to be perfect. “I didn’t know that I could ask to be perfect,” I said. From that time till now, I pray and ask God to make me a perfect woman in Christ Jesus. Since that time a lot of unexpected and even unexplainable events have taken place in my life. My experiences over this past year can only be described as the refiner’s fire. Jesus taught his disciples to be perfect as God is perfect. Jesus says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Strong’s defines the word “perfect” used in this passage of scripture as G5046, teleios: This definition of perfect means brought to its end, finished; lacking nothing necessary to completeness, perfect, mature (Blue Letter Bible). James writes, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing” (James 1:4)...