New Glorified Immortal Bodies

Don't be afraid of the destruction of the mortal body. All of us who have acknowledged and accepted Jesus The Christ as Savior, who love Our Father and who obey The Holy Spirit will live in the Resurrection of Life. 

The second death will have no power over us. We know what to expect, as much as God has chosen to reveal and as much as we can understand. 

It is our spirits that are born again, or reborn, not our corrupted bodies. It doesn't matter what happens to our bodies for we must put on the incorruptible. (I Corinthians 15:53-55) We are getting new, glorified, immortal bodies. 

Rejoice! May the peace of God be with you. 

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The Truth Of The Gospel Of Jesus Christ

This earthly life is confusing, unfair and very hard for many, many Christians. There are many who love God who are still striving to do The Ten Commandments.  The list, however, is only a revelation and a guide. The instructions were not given to man to be able to perform flawlessly. In fact, we can't successfully perform them because they originate in the heart of man which is desperately wicked. The Commandments were given as a precursor, a forerunner to the arrival of Jesus Christ into the world.

Those Commandments were also given to show man that more is needed, because the more that we try to do them the worse it gets. Without The Ten Commandments, man could not see the truth about his condition, the result of what happened to us after Lucifer rebelled against God. Through The Commandments, we can see our need for a profound and extraordinary source of help.

 
The one thing that all humans on this earth have in common, past, present and future, whether they have any faith or not, is that we all age and die off of this earth. No one can stop it. Though I have struggled as a Christian, though I have failed, though I still have times when I'm angry with God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only theology or doctrine that makes sense to me. I don't mean that it makes sense with respect to my fleshly, mental or psychological understanding. I mean that it is the only faith-based, divine belief that makes sense to me of all of the world's religions.

Though we can study and learn and grow in the knowledge of the things of the One True God, the Kingdom of God that is given to anyone who wants to receive it, is solely based on faith, faith in the revelation that God has given us about his Son. Those who love God are never able to make sense of things in this life, in this world. God has presented to us the answer that he has given to us and it is based in faith as long as we are on this earth. Those who choose to believe in Jesus' sacrifice continue daily to choose faith no matter what is happening or not happening in their lives. Living in faith in Jesus Christ, however, makes a difference in my life and in my person today, despite the fact that this earthly life is hard.

Life on this earth will never be perfect but God has a plan that he has asked us to believe in and hold to the knowledge of it until we leave here. For me, the very fact that we do leave here in undeniable death, is the fact that ties me to the truth of God's revelation of his Son and all that it implies. God asks us to believe in the salvation of His Son until the end. And whether I am still on this earth or have died on, there will be an end to all of this horror, though it does not seem like it. The spirit of man lives forever, with God or without God. That's where salvation comes in, because physical death is inevitable. Spiritual death is not. We leave here but we are not gone, because the spirit man cannot die. It came from God.

There was great devastation that happened in the spirit world that affected all of mankind. God, in his love for us, provided a way for us to choose restoration of our spirits to a good life and to his love. He made it simple so that anyone who wants it can simply receive it. Just acknowledge that we need a savior and that Savior is the Son that he sent, Jesus Christ. That's all. We don't have to live a certain way. We don't have to do certain things. We don't have to stop doing things or start doing other things. We only need to accept the truth in our hearts. The good thing is that not only has God provided a way out for us, he will also help us to accept the truth. He knows the hearts of every man and knows those who would like to believe and accept.
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In a nutshell, a big nutshell, this is the knowledge, belief and faith that keeps me everyday and grows and strengthens in me. My prayer is that you are growing and that your faith is increasing in a remarkable way everyday.

We Need The Entire Bible For Transformation

It is important to read several scriptures, a whole chapter, a complete passage and over time, the entire Bible. We must also try to read it everyday. We learn the context of points, lessons and stories and get a more accurate understanding about what is being said.

Christians who only read and quote favorite scriptures do not grow. 

We need all of the Word over a period of time for our minds to be renewed and to begin to be transformed. 

As we daily read the Bible the conversion begins. This is through the Holy Spirit. He took up residence in our reborn spirits when we acknowledged and accepted Jesus Christ as God's ordained Savior. The Holy Spirit is a person, like Our Father and Our Savior. He's not a dove, a tongue of flame or a breeze, though he can use these things to operate. 

Working with the Holy Spirit through acceptance and obedience, and eating and drinking a variety of Bible scriptures daily starts the miracle transformation within us. We can then learn to apply the Word to our daily lives in a practical and beneficial way.

Spiritual Growth Not Fleshly Control

As I've grown to the level that I am at in the Lord, I've come to understand that we shouldn't be striving to stop "sinning". As Christians continue to harp on that, I feel that there is something wrong and that they are making Jesus' blood to none effect. I know it's hard for some to not focus on working to stop sinning because of sinful habits. How terrorized, sinful and hopeless we feel when it comes to sinful habits that we can't seem to break. 

The Bible teaches us that we are only to focus upon:

• eating and drinking the Word everyday, 
• taking time to acknowledge and appreciate Jesus' sacrifice, 
• worshipping God, 
• and obeying the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

The result of these efforts is: 

our thoughts, words and deeds will become regulated to God's kingdom. 

This is what we want and what God wants for us. We'll become knowledgeable and wise on how God wants us to think, speak and behave. The most important effect through focusing on spiritual builders is that we'll lose the desire for anything that is not of him. We steadily become who God has ordained us to be and we don't even have to work to stop sinning. Isn't that amazing?

The Bible plainly teaches us that focusing upon the flesh profits us nothing. Trying to accomplish righteousness and holiness through carnally-minded efforts profits us nothing. Focusing upon spiritual efforts transforms and renews us everyday and stores up riches for us in Heaven. The riches that we each store up in Heaven are not just there to look pretty. We will be able to use them in the New Heaven and the New Earth.                                                               

We have to be faithful with reading the Bible, appreciating Jesus, praying, talking with God and obedience to the Holy Spirit. This is because our flesh or carnal mind is not changed in this world. It is only suppressed, crucified and brought under each day as we choose to live our lives through spiritual pursuits. Our flesh and its affections, passions and desires are always with us in this life. The flesh and the carnal way of thinking are not converted. It is our spirits that are converted or brought to life. We are choosing every day to walk in our reborn spirits through the help of The Holy Spirit that lives in us. These two facts are why we struggle so much. Romans 8 tells us what to expect and how to think about it so that we will not neglect our spiritual growth. It is easy to rely upon the flesh because we were born into it. Only through choosing to function in our reborn spirits with the help of The Holy Spirit can we daily defeat the carnally-minded flesh.

Remember that Jesus' blood paid it all. Don't be deceived into striving for things that will leave you lacking at the end time. Be attentive to spiritual things and your control over your physical life will follow. You'll experience the righteousness and holiness that has come to us through Jesus' sacrifice. You'll begin to live the change that can only come through a growing, personal relationship with Our Father.

Whom Did God Tell Not To Eat The Fruit?

Christians debate on whether or not God told both Adam and Eve to not eat from the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil in The Garden. Here is a view on it by Rev. Dr. Christopher R. Smith, who is an an ordained minister, writer and a biblical scholar. This post from his Good Question blog seems thorough and accurate. It's a good answer that leads me to ponder my next question of why Adam did not stop Eve, since he was with her when she ate.

Did God give the command not to eat from the tree only to Adam? 

The Rev. Dr. Christopher R. Smith is an an ordained minister, a writer, and a biblical scholar. He was active in parish and student ministry for twenty-five years. He has a B.A. from Harvard in English and American Literature and Language, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and a Ph.D. in the History of Christian Life and Thought, with a minor concentration in Bible, from Boston College, in the joint program with Andover Newton Theological School.

Why Did You Let Me Do It Father?

When I find that I've made what appears to be a poor decision and traveled in a direction that did not work out, I know that my Father knew it would happen and how it would end. I know that He was not surprised by my journey. He knows the beginning to the end of everything. He knows everything about me. I come from him and he has numbered all of the hairs on my head. He is concerned about every little thing that has to do with me. 

Most importantly, I look to him when I make plans. I am becoming more consistent about running every idea, goal and pursuit by him before I embark upon it. I want His supreme guidance and if it is not in His plan for me, I don't want it.  Because of my determination, when a path seems to goes awry, I lament to Our Father, Why, oh why did you allow me to go this way when it wasn't going to work OUT! 

I have learned that even when he allows us to go on a track that seems to not produce a favorable return, it's still in his plan for us and will work out for our good. We learn things and collect experiences that he will use to benefit our upcoming purposes. 

If you love God The Father, appreciate God The Son and obey God The Holy Spirit every day, don't ever think that an experience is useless. God does not produce useless things in our lives. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Rejoice! Just rejoice in the experiences that God allows into our lives, fully believing that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Obedient By Choice

The Holy Spirit is the voice of authority and the voice of knowledge within. When he speaks, the growing Christian automatically hears and does, with contentment.

We are obedient because we want to be, not because we have to be. We are contented to obey because we know that not only will God be glorified but we will be blessed richly.

It is a pleasure to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit because of the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that we can partake of. Those resources make a difference. 

Knowing God is supposed to make a difference in our lives. Those who love God covet that difference. We embrace the authority of God's Holy Spirit because we want to live in the blessings of God. We want to daily experience the difference that knowing God can bring. We are obedient to the authority of God's Holy Spirit because we choose to be.

Walking In The Reborn Spirit

Galatians 5:17 tells us that the flesh fights against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. This is because our flesh is not reborn when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Our spirits are reborn. The fleshly attitudes in us are against God and will never be subjected to him. The fleshly way is against God and the flesh can never be subjected to God's way, love or law. (Romans 8:7) I know that when I am disappointed in God, unhappy with him and not appreciating and respecting him, I am walking in my flesh. 

My reborn spirit loves God with a perfect love. The more that I walk in the spiritual life, or in the spirit, the more that I am happy and satisfied with God. This knowledge and revelation helps me to quickly get back into my reborn spirit side of my being, with the help of the Holy Spirit, when my thoughts and feelings are not helpful or fair. It is difficult to resist the fleshly way of thinking because we are born into it. We always need the help of God's Spirit in us to get back into our reborn spirit's way of functioning.

While on this earth, we as Christians have our reborn spirits and we still live in bodies that function by fleshly control. The best that we can do with our flesh is to crucify and bring it under.  (Galatians 5:24, I Corinthians 9:27)  Doing that with that same flesh, however, does not have lasting effects. The flesh, any way that you cut and dry it, profits us nothing. That's why we fall back into our detrimental habits and destructive ways when we try to make ourselves do better.

Romans 8:13 shares that through the spirit man we do mortify the deeds of the fleshly man. This profound knowledge helps me to know that I am not bad or wrong when I suffer through my fleshly attitudes and habits, because my fleshly influence does not go away or die in this life. My reborn spirit man is real and I need to use it like God means for me to. I must always remember that I have a reborn spirit and that I must spend quality time building it up. I must use the spiritual strength that comes from God to quickly get back into my reborn spirit when the flesh directs my thoughts.

Happy Wednesday: God's Daily Provision

God will always provide our needs daily. We are to practice good management of our lives but this does not include obsessing and stressing about the future. 

Our main management efforts are to focus on today and also not to be overly absorbed with physical and material needs and wants for today. 

God wants us to be centered on spiritual growth each day. Through that commitment will we then see God's provision in every way, each day.

Matthew 6:33-34

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A Little Leaven Leavens The Whole Person

Evil spirits always want to entice us with what we should not have but it's rarely in the form of an outright transgression. It's usually something on the thin line between what is acceptable and what is not, something that our flesh can slip past our reborn spirits. 

Paul, in Galatians 5:7-8, says, "You were doing well in your faith." He then asks, "Who persuaded you to not continue in the truth? It was not God the Father who called you to follow his Son Jesus." He goes on to share that he believes that through the Lord they will understand and remember the truth about the leaven of lies and seduction. 

We may think that little, questionable indulgences are not that bad but a little leaven will eventually leaven the whole attitude and direction of the person. It will cripple our walks in Christ. (Galatians 5:9) Succumbing to those minor fleshly desires will wreak havoc in our spiritual lives over time. 

Temptation and enticement to subtle, ungodly things are not insignificant. Evil spirits are not out to play with us. They are out to destroy us in as many ways and from as many directions as they can. The more that we brush off accepting small allurements and discount receiving little inducements the more destruction that rulers of the darkness of this world can do. Just as we eat and drink the Word of God everyday, they eat and drink plans for our destruction every day.  

When we work with God as he shows us the little issues, we allow our spiritual eyes to be opened so that we can see what the enemy is doing. We can perceive evil influence and control in our lives. We can obtain the answers that we need and information on directions to take regarding issues in our lives. Leavening takes over. That's what it's designed to do. Depending on what the leaven is, it can also be beneficial.

Adding the leaven of the Word by reading and studying it everyday will transform us. The Holy Word is living, like leaven, and will cause us to become more like Christ and draw closer to God. We don't have to be overcome by all of the Christian practices and traditions that we are judged for not being able to keep. When we focus upon putting the Word inside of us, we will please God and grow in him. A little leaven leavens the whole person, for bad or for good.