What are we working for?
Ephesians 2: 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Paul said that we were Christ’s workmanship. Workmanship means the product or result of labor and skill; work executed. Our new life was created in Christ Jesus when He completed the work God gave Him. We clock in by believing in Jesus and at that point our righteousness becomes effective. It begins the grace period. So it’s not how much I go to a building on set days or how I try to be just this good person but all work is established in or through faith in Jesus Christ alone. If we don’t first believe in Christ then it’s like going to work and forgetting to clock in. It’s like going to college for so many years and then going to your graduation to find out that you never registered for classes or weren’t even accepted into the school. We have to believe in Christ.
Believe in Christ and doing good works = Clocking in ☺
James 2:20
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
we may fall down but the Lord isn't finished with us yet
We may fall down but the Lord isn’t finished with us yet….
Romans 7:15 for what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
The Apostle Paul could easily be cited as being one of the most influential and vital contributors to the New Testament. Paul reveals his “human side “in Romans 7 of battling flesh versus his spirit. Many people may look at this passage as Paul cosigning for sin but he later pens in Romans 13:14 to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and not to make provision for the desires of the flesh. I like what he says in Philippians 3;12 " Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me". Giving up is not an option as we keep moving forward until the coming of our Lord. It is a daily process but with the help of the Lord we will get there.
Romans 7:15 for what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
The Apostle Paul could easily be cited as being one of the most influential and vital contributors to the New Testament. Paul reveals his “human side “in Romans 7 of battling flesh versus his spirit. Many people may look at this passage as Paul cosigning for sin but he later pens in Romans 13:14 to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and not to make provision for the desires of the flesh. I like what he says in Philippians 3;12 " Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me". Giving up is not an option as we keep moving forward until the coming of our Lord. It is a daily process but with the help of the Lord we will get there.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Christian
The purpose of us following Christ is not to get to that Apex moment and to look at another and say hey you dirt bag, i'm better than you. God never intended for Christ to be crushed, battered, and bruised only for us to gloat in our superficial holiness. The very name of Christ is slandered at the moment when we think upon ourselves to be more than what we are. Jesus Christ was the bomb and even He wasn't full of Himself. He always did things to glorify God. Like manner we are to do things to glorify Christ which in return glorifies God. I am thankful and honored to know that God loved us so much to send Jesus to live the perfect and flawless life for us. If I am looking to be right in the sight of God and man through works then the cross is rendered useless.
The Lord's Prayer
he Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6: 9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is the basic model for the Christian lifestyle. It identifies God as Father or the Head of the family of earth. It gives us the lens in which we should view Him. God is elevated not only because He is in heaven but because His name is above all name and He is the God of all gods. God is Holy and our understanding that is so important. The Father desires love, respect, and honor from the free will of people on earth. He wants for His creation to recognize Him and to do His will so that we can be a part of His Kingdom and be His children. The order of earth has always been intended to flow in the mode of heaven. The angels are given commandment and they follow them out so obedience is never in question. He expects the same level of obedience from us as well. There is worship for Him alone and praise is perpetual. We are to seek Him daily for guidance through prayer and His Word. Jesus said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. He knows because of Adam (1st sin against God) and Cain (1st sin against man) that sin abides but He wants our horizontal relationships with our neighbors to be whole so that it doesn’t affect our vertical with Him. He desires mercy and not sacrifice. We can't do any of this apart from Him and He is the power source to tie all things together. If we follow the bidding of His Spirit then we are able to endure temptation and to conquer evil.
Matthew 6: 9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is the basic model for the Christian lifestyle. It identifies God as Father or the Head of the family of earth. It gives us the lens in which we should view Him. God is elevated not only because He is in heaven but because His name is above all name and He is the God of all gods. God is Holy and our understanding that is so important. The Father desires love, respect, and honor from the free will of people on earth. He wants for His creation to recognize Him and to do His will so that we can be a part of His Kingdom and be His children. The order of earth has always been intended to flow in the mode of heaven. The angels are given commandment and they follow them out so obedience is never in question. He expects the same level of obedience from us as well. There is worship for Him alone and praise is perpetual. We are to seek Him daily for guidance through prayer and His Word. Jesus said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. He knows because of Adam (1st sin against God) and Cain (1st sin against man) that sin abides but He wants our horizontal relationships with our neighbors to be whole so that it doesn’t affect our vertical with Him. He desires mercy and not sacrifice. We can't do any of this apart from Him and He is the power source to tie all things together. If we follow the bidding of His Spirit then we are able to endure temptation and to conquer evil.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Which operating system are you using?
People are much like computers. We shutdown and sometimes we need to be restarted so that we can reboot our system. We are susceptible to viruses in many ways. The virus of sin affecting both the natural and spiritual or viruses that affect our natural bodies only. I’ve said all of that to question what operating system are you using? We were all created unique models and we have the same maker in God. He desires us to use the operating system that is suitable for the type of machines we are. We are spiritual “machines” living out our existence in a physical body. The operating system God desires for us is HOLY SPIRIT. Galatians 5: 6 so I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. If we flow in the Spirit then the fruits of them will follow. Galatians 5:22,23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The other operating system is the Worlds system. The world system consists of anything that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:16 for everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. The creator of that is of course Satan and it has a definite expiration date set up in which it will not have any more versions. In fact the version that it operates under is still the same old version even from the fall of Adam. The enemy has been using the same old tactics of causing us to doubt God’s Word. He even questioned the Word with scripture in Matthew 4-11 and leaving out key points to accomplish his plan to deceive. The world system is a twisted version of the Spirit. You can be sure that whatever the Spirit of God suggests, there is an invert of it:
Galatians 5: 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is imperative for us to share with the world the best operating system that is offered in the name of Jesus Christ alone. 2 Corinthians 4: 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The other operating system is the Worlds system. The world system consists of anything that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:16 for everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. The creator of that is of course Satan and it has a definite expiration date set up in which it will not have any more versions. In fact the version that it operates under is still the same old version even from the fall of Adam. The enemy has been using the same old tactics of causing us to doubt God’s Word. He even questioned the Word with scripture in Matthew 4-11 and leaving out key points to accomplish his plan to deceive. The world system is a twisted version of the Spirit. You can be sure that whatever the Spirit of God suggests, there is an invert of it:
Galatians 5: 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is imperative for us to share with the world the best operating system that is offered in the name of Jesus Christ alone. 2 Corinthians 4: 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Flesh injections
We can't let up on the flesh not even for a second. When that thing called flesh wants to get out of line then you have to give it a chill pill and if that doesn't work then inject the Word of God into its wayward heart. The heart of flesh is pride. Its likes to tell God what it ain't gonna do. The two can never see eye to eye. The two being the Spirit and flesh. If we operate in the flesh then its impossible to please God. The Word says that we cannot please God in Romans 8:8 if we operate in that. So we must build up our spirits by feeding it the Word and keep starving to death our flesh because it doesn't eat spiritual food.
Why Christmas?
Why Christmas?
This is a brief over view of why Jesus Christ, being the Son of God came to the earth in the form of a man. Jesus came to set the record straight. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill”. Humanity tried so hard to obey the Law and listen to what the prophets instructed but it was an epic fail.
Jesus was also on a search and destroy mission. Luke 19:10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. ” and 1 John 3:8 “But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” When you are looking for something or someone that is lost, its hard work. Not only did Jesus seek the lost but also saved as well. He then handled Satan in His life, death,burial, and resurrection.
Jesus had that focus and was so humble. Matthew 20:28 says “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Imagine royalty coming to serve you! Jesus also gave up His life. He makes it clear that if He wanted to fight back it would not have been an issue. Matthew 26:53 Jesus says“Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels? Jesus even fought fair!
My favorite verse that validates Matthew 20:28 is what Jesus says in John 10:17 “the reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” I know that Jesus came the first time as the Lamb and He will return as a Lion but Jesus was still so hard! No one takes it from me! Hard!
The overall story kind of reminds you of Super Mario right? Defeat the dragon (Satan) and get the princess (The Church) So the next time someone asks you why you celebrate Christmas you’ll be ready :) Jesus is our hero!
This is a brief over view of why Jesus Christ, being the Son of God came to the earth in the form of a man. Jesus came to set the record straight. Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill”. Humanity tried so hard to obey the Law and listen to what the prophets instructed but it was an epic fail.
Jesus was also on a search and destroy mission. Luke 19:10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. ” and 1 John 3:8 “But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” When you are looking for something or someone that is lost, its hard work. Not only did Jesus seek the lost but also saved as well. He then handled Satan in His life, death,burial, and resurrection.
Jesus had that focus and was so humble. Matthew 20:28 says “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Imagine royalty coming to serve you! Jesus also gave up His life. He makes it clear that if He wanted to fight back it would not have been an issue. Matthew 26:53 Jesus says“Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels? Jesus even fought fair!
My favorite verse that validates Matthew 20:28 is what Jesus says in John 10:17 “the reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” I know that Jesus came the first time as the Lamb and He will return as a Lion but Jesus was still so hard! No one takes it from me! Hard!
The overall story kind of reminds you of Super Mario right? Defeat the dragon (Satan) and get the princess (The Church) So the next time someone asks you why you celebrate Christmas you’ll be ready :) Jesus is our hero!
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