Our Prayers For Others

When we pray consistently for someone, God will often give us something that he wants us to do for that person. If so, it will be something that is consistent with how he wants to answer our prayer. It may be something that we'd never think of doing for that person. 

It may be something that we are reluctant to do. It may be something that is difficult or it may be fairly easy. It may be something that aligns with what we are already doing in our lives or it may cause us to stretch a little. It may be something that will obviously bless us in our journey, or maybe not obviously. 

When we pray for someone, though we may know some things about them, we don't know the extent of their needs. We don't know what it will take for God to answer our prayers for them and for his will to be done in their lives. Just be prepared to obey the Holy Spirit's surprising request and prompting. When God uses us in his plans for people that we pray for, we can be assured that it will not only bless them but us as well. 

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Jesus' Sacrifice Has Given Us Power

Jesus Christ, The Lamb of God, The Bright And Morning Star, The Resurrection And The Life, was revealed, personified and embodied to:

1. destroy the works of the devil 
2. and to take away our sins.

We should make sure that we are daily recognizing that his pure, shed blood has covered all of our transgressions, past, present and future. We don't need to feel guilty for mistakes, uninformed choices, inherited weaknesses and any other challenges. 

Not only are we covered for all time by Our Savior's sacrifice but God is always with us to help us to manifest a better future and the future is today. Nothing can separate us from his love. 

We should also make sure that we are submitting to God daily so that we can work with the Holy Spirit to destroy the efforts of principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. 

In other words, Jesus' sacrifice has made us able to restrict the activities of all beings who are against the Kingdom of God. We can operate daily on the fact that they have no authority in our lives. We can stand on it until the time when they are completely put away by Jesus.  

I John 3:5,8 

The Weapon Will Not Produce

No weapon formed against us shall prosper doesn't mean that the weapon itself will always be stopped from striking. It means that the purpose and plan of the weapon, as designed by whoever the enemy is, will not produce the evil effect that the enemy intended. This is the heritage for those who love God through Jesus Christ by the power of The Holy Spirit, for those who choose to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh.

Isaiah 54:17

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Ask God Only Once

Yes, it's good to ask Our Father for something only once. After that, we should thank him for it when the desire to ask for it again arises. Don't ask again. We should thank him for what we have already asked for. 

When I ask, I also follow Jesus' example and I say, "Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done, Father." I am acknowledging that if the answer is not as I expected, I trust that he has planned something better.

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It's All About God The Father

Jesus always pointed to his Father. He never uplifted himself. He only firmly and confidently stated who he is. His words and actions always directed us to God. Our Christian lives are hid in GOD through Christ. It was The Holy Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, not Jesus himself. It's all about God The Father and his provision to restore us to himself through giving us the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. 

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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.