nature

October 20, 2020

“Things That Please the Spirit”

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. – Romans 8:5 NLT 

Romans 8:3-5 NLT

The Law was given as a  teacher. Its purpose was to teach us that we could not live perfect lives while in this flesh.  Since the forgiveness of sin required a perfect sacrifice, God supplied that for us. He sent His Son, Jesus, who lived a perfect, spotless life. Those who choose to live under the Law are still condemned by that Law. Their only hope, our only hope is to accept the gift of salvation bought and paid for by our kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ. When we do that, God places His Spirit inside us to convict, correct, and direct us in how we should live. Now, we are living in accordance with what the Spirit desires.  And the Spirit desires only what Jesus and the Father desire for us. The Spirit is perfect in His communications between us and God.  When God speaks to us through other Christians, we might question the message.  But, when the Messenger is the Holy Spirit, we must walk humbly before our God and deliver the message exactly as it is given to us by the Holy Spirit.

26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.–John 15:26-27 NIV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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September 28, 2019

“The Mighty Power of God”

12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. — Colossians 2:12 NLT

Colossians 2:6-13 NLT

The Old Testament circumcision was of the flesh as an outward symbol of a covenant relationship with God. Our circumcision is of the spirit removing our sinful nature and replacing it with God’s Holy Spirit. Our hearts and desires were changed and God wrote His Name upon our hearts. Our baptism is the outward symbol of being buried with Christ and raised again to a new life.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”-2 Cor. 5:17” Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” – Eph. 4:24

We were spiritually dead in our sinful nature but now all things are made new. We are new creatures:

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”-Romans 6:4

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 09-28-2019

July 24, 2019

“He Lives In All of Us”

11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. — Col. 3:11 NLT 

Col. 3:1-12 NLT

God’s Holy Spirit abides in us and we abide in Christ. We are now filled with and fully clothed by God Himself. Therefore, we have access to the same attributes as Christ Jesus Himself. Just as we accepted God’s Gift of salvation, we can accept (access) His attributes or we can use our own vain imaginations. The question is this: What thoughts are we going to allow to control our words and actions? “Wrong” or “right” thinking, that is the question.  Will we continue to let our old fleshly nature control our thoughts and actions or will we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us?  Will we allow Him to teach us and guide us into all truth?  Will we allow Him to sanctify us on a daily basis?  The flesh says “no” so we must put to death the flesh and follow after the Spirit.  Jesus wants to be Lord over every area of our lives, not just part.  The journey begins when we accept Jesus as our Savior and continues until we meet our Savior.  It is onward and upward and it gets sweeter every day.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 07-24-2019

June 19, 2019

“Beyond Anything You Cu;d Imagine”

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.— Isaiah 55:8 NLT

Isaiah 55:8-11 NLT

It is impossible for humans to know all of God’s thoughts and plans.  Just as He created the whole universe by His spoken Word, He holds it all together by the power of His Word.  How could our finite, human minds even begin to understand the intricate details of how nature works?  Our scientists fit a little piece here and a little piece there, but they can’t put it all together.  Just as the people of Babel thought they would build a tower to the heavens, we may think that we can figure it all out.  But just as God confused their language and made it impossible for them to work together, He will confound our human plans. The wisdom of humans is foolishness when compared to the wisdom of God.  As Job could not answer God about the intricacies of nature, neither can we answer Him.  We, as Job did, can come to only one conclusion and that is this: “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. Job 19:25 (NLT)  Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  The question is not “Will I do this?” The question is “When will I do this?”  Accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord today and enjoy spending an eternity with Him.  He is the One who made it all possible  by dying on a cross for our sins.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 06-19-2019

May 14, 2019

“Great and Precious Promises”

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. — 1 Peter 4:4 NLT

Divine Nature

God created Adam and Eve in His image.  They did not have the advantage of having the Holy Spirit abide within them. After we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are daily being transformed by the Holy Spirit.  As we learn to follow His leadership more closely each day, we become more and more like Jesus.  In this way, we can share in His divine nature.  It is only as we learn to listen to that still, small voice and heed its teachings that we slowly escape the corruptions that are caused by our human desires.  As we grow Spiritually, we become less like the world around us and more like Jesus.  We are a part of the body of Christ.  He is the head and the same blood that flows through the head flows through the body.  So, we are “partakers of His divine nature”.  We are forever connected to the Divine source.  Just as a branch can produce nothing without the nutrients that flow from the root through the vine to the branch, we can do nothing in and of ourselves.  It is only as we drink and eat the goodness of God that we can become more like Him each day. If we are what we eat then we need to feast daily on His word and drink deeply of His Holy Spirit.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 05-14-2019

September 19, 2018

He’s Coming Back!

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24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act. — Exodus 2:24, 25

God never forgets a promise.  He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would one day free the people from Egypt and that time had now come. He had listened to the groaning of His people long enough.  God never fails to deliver on a promise, but He has His own timetable to do so.  He used Moses to fulfill this promise.  If God has made a specific promise to us, individually, He will fulfill it but it may very well be after we have gone through a period of groaning and travail. He has made a specific promise to all of His children.  The first part of that promise was fulfilled when He came in the flesh to redeem us from sin and free us from our bondage to satan.  We and all of nature are now in a period of groaning, waiting for His return to take us out of Egypt (the world).  When He does come back, we will fly away with Him to our Promised Land. A land flowing with living waters and filled with the light of the Son.  No more groaning, no more sorrows, no more pain, a land where the lamb will lay down by the lion.


22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come! — 1 Cor. 16:22 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
Post 09-19-2018
July 24, 2017

Does Grace Encourage Sin?

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2 May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. – Jude 2

Jude 1-4 NLT
Jude opens his letter with great humility. He identifies himself as a slave of Jesus Christ, which is how we should all feel. His heart is to deliver a message of salvation to the unknown community of people that he is addressing. But, because some false teachers had started teaching that God’s grace allows us to go on sinning as much and as often as we want to, he feels it is much more important to rebuke these teachers and correct their teaching. These teachers had not had a real experience of salvation that changed them from their sinful ways, they were not “new creatures” in Christ Jesus. While forgiveness and grace are certainly there for those of us who fall, it is not meant to allow us to live a sinful lifestyle. This would be in direct conflict with Romans 6:
​1​ Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.–Romans 6:1-4​ ​(NLT)

Those who do these sinful things and teach this false doctrine are making a mockery of God’s grace that He has shown to us. As we are told in Galatians 6:

7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.– Gal. 6:7,8 (NLT)

So we must stand firm in what we know to be the truth. When we accept Jesus, we are no longer slaves to the flesh, we are “New creations” and now we are slaves to Christ Jesus and we walk in the Spirit. Do not be deceived by every “new” philosophy that comes along. Stand on the Rock and teach the Truth, even though it is no longer popular to do the right thing.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 07-24-2017

March 6, 2017

Raised Up for His Glory

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12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
— Colossians 2:12 NLT

The Old Testament circumcision was of the flesh as an outward symbol of a covenant relationship with God. Our circumcision is of the spirit removing our sinful nature and replacing it with God’s Holy Spirit. Our hearts and desires were changed and God wrote His Name upon our hearts. Our baptism is the outward symbol of being buried with Christ and raised again to a new life.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”-2 Cor. 5:17
” Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” Eph. 4:24

We were spiritually dead in our sinful nature but now all things are made new. We are new creatures:
 

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”-Romans 6:4


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 03-06-2017

March 2, 2017

Created for His Glory!

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16b.  Everything was created through him and for him.

— Colossians 1:16b NLT
Colossians 1;15-20 NLT


We were born with a sinful nature and born into a sinful world. But God, because of His omnipotence, omniscience, and His great love already had a plan in place to rescue us. The plan called for His Son, Jesus, to be born sinless, live a perfect life, and die a horrible death on a cross to redeem and reconcile us to Himself. When we accept this plan, our sins are forgiven and we are placed in right standing with God. Jesus was resurrected from the grave as the firstborn of all creation to live eternally. Everything was created through Him and for Him. Without Him, nothing exists or can exist. He raises up leaders and kings and He brings down those leaders and kings for His own purpose. We are created to glorify God and to one day be raised in His image, changed from mortals to immortals, from corruption to incorruption, to worship and praise Him throughout eternity.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 03-02-2017

January 24, 2017

What Voice Are We Hearing?

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5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. — Romans 8:5 NLT
Romans 8:5-9 NLT

How can we know if we are being led by God’s Spirit or by our flesh? If we are giving in to the flesh, we will be prideful, we will harbor hate, anger, resentment and bitterness. The acts that our flesh produces are illicit sex, perversion, promiscuity, idolatry, drug use, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambition, conflict, factions, envy, drunkenness, wild partying, and similar things. If we are Spirit led, we will show others love and respect. God’s Spirit produces (in us) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We should all take a few moments alone with God and examine our actions for the last few days. What voice are listening to? Who are we following? Flesh? or Spirit?

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
Post 01-24-2017