My Child, You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28 For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16 I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26 You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6 I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44 I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1 Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17 For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33 My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11 Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18 And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40 For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5 I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41 And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3 If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29 Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11 One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4 And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4 I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23 For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26 He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3 He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10 I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32 If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39 Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7 I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15 My question is… Will you be my child? John 1:12-13 I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32 Love, Your DadAlmighty God
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Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A Love Letter from God to you
Monday, June 27, 2011
GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW HIM
How important is it to know God? Your life depends on it. Jesus says in (John 17:3 NKJV) "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. Our life is hidden in Christ and is revealed to us through knowing Him. (Colossians 3:1-4 NKJV) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. {2} Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. {3} For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. {4} When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
The reason that God desires that we know Him is because He wants us to love Him. (Mark 12:30 NKJV) 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. The more we come to know God, the more we come to know love, because God is Love. The more realization and awareness we have of God's love for us the more we will love Him. (1 John 4:19 NKJV) We love Him because He first loved us.
Moses asked to see God's glory, The Lord said I will cause my goodness to pass before you. (Exodus 34:5-7 NIV) Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. {6} And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, {7} maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; The first thing that God revealed about His character is He is compassionate. The Hebrew word used here means to be full of Compassion. God is full of compassion; God is love, the Love that God is we would call compassion. All the other characteristics of God mentioned are results of compassion.
God forgives wickedness, rebellion, and sin, but the guilty that are punished are those that are full of pride whom reject God's compassion, mercy and forgiveness. The guilty do not accept Jesus Christ and the awesome price that Jesus paid on the cross for their sins. They choose to make themselves god, thus rejecting the God of love and instead serving the god of hate and selfishness.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; {24} But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
These are the things that God enjoys. The word judgement here can be good judgement or bad judgement. God is the great equalizer He humbles the proud and exalts the humble. Being fair and just is a part of being compassionate. (1 Samuel 2:6-8 NIV) "The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. {7} The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. {8} He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them he has set the world. (James 4:6 NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Exercising compassion is a key to knowing God. (Jeremiah 22:15-16 NLT) "But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father, Josiah, reign so long? Because he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. {16} He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
When you exercise actions of compassion toward people in need something wonderful happens. You begin to experience the love of God flow through you toward the person that you are helping. We think of it as an emotion called compassion, but it is not a human emotion it is the awesome presence of God's Holy Spirit. It is true love, God love. It is a love that meets all of the definitions of love in the Bible. It takes you into the deepest presence of God that a person can experience. It is knowing God in an intimate way by experiencing His love. This revelation of knowing God's love causes you to love Him in the deepest part of your being. Expressing God's love to people is expressing love to God; It is worshiping God in Spirit and Truth.
(Matthew 18:5 NKJV) "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV) "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? {38} When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? {39} When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' {40} "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Compassion is not a human emotion it is the awesome presence of God, it is knowing God, it is experiencing God, it is experiencing Love. (1 John 4:7-8 NKJV) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. {8} He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. When you walk in compassion you walk in the Spirit, compassion bears all of the fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25 NKJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. {24} And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. {25} If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Compassion is totally unselfish, you love the person you are giving to and you don't care if they give anything back to you. Compassion is it's own reward, the presence of God.
There are so many things to know about God but the most important thing is God is full of compassion, God is Love. Everything else in all of creation can be explained by this knowledge. God loves to exercise compassion so He has created a universe that needs His compassion desperately. (Romans 11:32 NIV) For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy (compassion) on them all.
The scene of the cross was a setup for the ultimate demonstration of God's compassion for you. (1 John 4:9 NKJV) In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. (John 15:9-13 NKJV) "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. {10} "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. {11} "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. {12} "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
When we obey the commandments to love, and we give help to those in need in Jesus name, then we experience the most awesome joy. Compassion (love) causes us to be filled with joy and running over, because compassion is the presence of God. (Psalms 16:11 NKJV) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 140:12-13 NKJV) I know that the LORD will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor. {13} Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.
True love in the form of compassion always demands actions of compassion. (1 John 3:17-19 NIV) If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? {18} Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. {19} This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.
Remember King Josiah (Jeremiah 22:15-16 NLT) "But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father, Josiah, reign so long? Because he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. {16} He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
If you do these actions of compassion in Jesus name you will experience the presence of God in an intimate way; you will come to know Him. (Isaiah 58:6-12 NIV) "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? {7} Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? {8} Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. {9} Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, {10} and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. {11} The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. {12} Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
(Micah 6:8 NIV) He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Jesus says in (Matthew 9:13 NKJV) "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy (compassion) and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." God wants us to obey His commands to
Love by actions of compassion. Actions of compassion express love and cause the love of God to flow through us touching the people we help. This is the highest form of worship, worship in Spirit and Truth, and always causes the presence of God to be manifest and felt in the givers life. When we do it unto the least, we are doing it unto Jesus. And when we receive one little child in Jesus name, we are doing it unto Jesus, we are receiving Jesus.
He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
http://www.seekgod.org/message/knowgod.html
The reason that God desires that we know Him is because He wants us to love Him. (Mark 12:30 NKJV) 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. The more we come to know God, the more we come to know love, because God is Love. The more realization and awareness we have of God's love for us the more we will love Him. (1 John 4:19 NKJV) We love Him because He first loved us.
Moses asked to see God's glory, The Lord said I will cause my goodness to pass before you. (Exodus 34:5-7 NIV) Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. {6} And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, {7} maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; The first thing that God revealed about His character is He is compassionate. The Hebrew word used here means to be full of Compassion. God is full of compassion; God is love, the Love that God is we would call compassion. All the other characteristics of God mentioned are results of compassion.
God forgives wickedness, rebellion, and sin, but the guilty that are punished are those that are full of pride whom reject God's compassion, mercy and forgiveness. The guilty do not accept Jesus Christ and the awesome price that Jesus paid on the cross for their sins. They choose to make themselves god, thus rejecting the God of love and instead serving the god of hate and selfishness.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; {24} But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
These are the things that God enjoys. The word judgement here can be good judgement or bad judgement. God is the great equalizer He humbles the proud and exalts the humble. Being fair and just is a part of being compassionate. (1 Samuel 2:6-8 NIV) "The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. {7} The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. {8} He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them he has set the world. (James 4:6 NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Exercising compassion is a key to knowing God. (Jeremiah 22:15-16 NLT) "But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father, Josiah, reign so long? Because he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. {16} He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
When you exercise actions of compassion toward people in need something wonderful happens. You begin to experience the love of God flow through you toward the person that you are helping. We think of it as an emotion called compassion, but it is not a human emotion it is the awesome presence of God's Holy Spirit. It is true love, God love. It is a love that meets all of the definitions of love in the Bible. It takes you into the deepest presence of God that a person can experience. It is knowing God in an intimate way by experiencing His love. This revelation of knowing God's love causes you to love Him in the deepest part of your being. Expressing God's love to people is expressing love to God; It is worshiping God in Spirit and Truth.
(Matthew 18:5 NKJV) "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV) "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? {38} When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? {39} When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' {40} "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Compassion is not a human emotion it is the awesome presence of God, it is knowing God, it is experiencing God, it is experiencing Love. (1 John 4:7-8 NKJV) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. {8} He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. When you walk in compassion you walk in the Spirit, compassion bears all of the fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25 NKJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. {24} And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. {25} If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Compassion is totally unselfish, you love the person you are giving to and you don't care if they give anything back to you. Compassion is it's own reward, the presence of God.
There are so many things to know about God but the most important thing is God is full of compassion, God is Love. Everything else in all of creation can be explained by this knowledge. God loves to exercise compassion so He has created a universe that needs His compassion desperately. (Romans 11:32 NIV) For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy (compassion) on them all.
The scene of the cross was a setup for the ultimate demonstration of God's compassion for you. (1 John 4:9 NKJV) In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. (John 15:9-13 NKJV) "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. {10} "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. {11} "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. {12} "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
When we obey the commandments to love, and we give help to those in need in Jesus name, then we experience the most awesome joy. Compassion (love) causes us to be filled with joy and running over, because compassion is the presence of God. (Psalms 16:11 NKJV) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 140:12-13 NKJV) I know that the LORD will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor. {13} Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.
True love in the form of compassion always demands actions of compassion. (1 John 3:17-19 NIV) If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? {18} Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. {19} This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.
Remember King Josiah (Jeremiah 22:15-16 NLT) "But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father, Josiah, reign so long? Because he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. {16} He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
If you do these actions of compassion in Jesus name you will experience the presence of God in an intimate way; you will come to know Him. (Isaiah 58:6-12 NIV) "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? {7} Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? {8} Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. {9} Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, {10} and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. {11} The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. {12} Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
(Micah 6:8 NIV) He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Jesus says in (Matthew 9:13 NKJV) "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy (compassion) and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." God wants us to obey His commands to
Love by actions of compassion. Actions of compassion express love and cause the love of God to flow through us touching the people we help. This is the highest form of worship, worship in Spirit and Truth, and always causes the presence of God to be manifest and felt in the givers life. When we do it unto the least, we are doing it unto Jesus. And when we receive one little child in Jesus name, we are doing it unto Jesus, we are receiving Jesus.
He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
http://www.seekgod.org/message/knowgod.html
Who Am I In Christ?
All bible verses (quotes) quoted in NIV
- I am a child of God; God is spiritually my Father.
Romans 8:14,15
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
Galatians 3:26
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - I am a new creation in Christ; old things have passed away and all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! - I am in Christ.
Galatians 3:26,28
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - I am an heir with the Father and a joint heir with Christ.
Galatians 4:6.7
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, " So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Romans 8:17
Now if we are children, then we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. - I am reconciled to God and am an ambassador of reconciliation for Him.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. - I am a saint.
Ephesians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
1 Corinthians 1:2
to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours:
Philippians 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: - I am God's workmanship, created in Christ for good works.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - I am a citizen of heaven.
Ephesians 2:19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household
Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ - I am a member of Christ's body.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him.
1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. - I am the temple of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
1 Corinthians6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. - I am a friend of Christ.
John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. - I am a slave of righteousness.
Romans 6:18
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God - I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - I am enslaved to God.
Romans 6:22
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. - I am chosen and ordained by Christ to bear fruit.
John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. - I am a prisoner of Christ.
Ephesians 3:1
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles
Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. - I am righteous and holy.
Ephesians 4:24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. - I am hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. - I am the salt of the earth.
Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness,how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything,except to be thrown out and trampled by men." - I am the light of the world.
Matthew 5:14
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." - I am part of the true vine.
John 15:1-2
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." - I am filled with the divine nature of Christ and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:4
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. - I am an expression of the life of Christ.
Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved.
Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
1 Thessalonians 1:4
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you - I am a child of light.
1 Thessalonians 5:5
You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. - I am a partaker of a heavenly calling.
Hebrews 3:1
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. - I am more than a conqueror though Christ.
Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - I am a partaker with Christ and share in His life.
Hebrews 3:14
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first - I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house.
1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. - I am a chosen generation, a royal priest hood, a holy nation.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priest hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - I am the devil's enemy.
1 Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. - I am born again by the Spirit of God.
John 3:3-6
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. - I am an alien and a stranger to this world.
1 Peter 2:11
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. - I am a child of God who always triumphs in Christ and releases His fragrance in every place.
2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. - I am seated in heavenly places in Christ.
Ephesians 2:6
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus - I am saved by grace.
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - I am a recipient of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ.
Ephesians 1-6 (The Whole book!) - I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Revelations 5:9
And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." - I am part of the Bride of Christ and am making myself ready of Him.
Revelations 19:7
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. - I am a true worshiper who worships the Father in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
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I am accepted...
- John 1:12 I am God's child.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - John 15:15 As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. - Romans 5:1 I have been justified.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, - 1 Corinthians 6:17 I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. - 1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ's body.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - Ephesians 1:3-8 I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. - Colossians 1:13-14 I have been redeemed and forgive of all my sins.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. - Colossians 2:9-10 I am complete in Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. - Hebrews 4:14-16 I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
I am secure...
- Romans 8:1 I am free from condemnation.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. - Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughter"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. - Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, - 2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. - 1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
I am significant...
- John 15:5 I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. - John 15:16 I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. - 1 Corinthians 3:16 I am God's temple.
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - Ephesians 2:6 I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, - Ephesians 2:10 I am God's workmanship.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. - Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Monday, June 20, 2011
WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? |
| There is no personal name for the Third Person of the Godhead. The Bible does not give us His name. There are various appellations applied to Him throughout Scripture, but they divulge nothing of His personality. They show instead His office and His work, and the relationship which He maintains between God and fallen man in the plan of salvation. He is known variously as the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the LORD, the Comforter. But these are not His name any more than Word or Redeemer is the name of the Second Person of the Godhead.Just as "Word" is used to suggest Christ's unique position as the mouthpiece for the Invisible God, so does the term "Holy Spirit" designate the One who supervises the implanting of God's own nature in the lives of His sons—and daughters—elect. It is through Him that God's own character is imparted to those preparing for citizenship in the heavenly kingdom. He is the "Mighty Ally" in the final conflict for the control of men's minds and hearts. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON: having the characteristics of personality
NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (87 from both the Old and New Testaments) Taken together this list of names reveals an amazing amount of information about the Holy Spirit. The first time He is mentioned in the Bible occurs in Genesis 1:2, and the last time is Revelation 19:10. Thus, the work of the Holy Spirit spans the entire Bible, from creation to the final redemption of God's people. This is by no means an exhaustive list. The Third Person of the Godhead has as many names as He has attributes—just as God the Father does.
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Sunday, June 19, 2011
God's Love is Deep
Let me take you into some deep water for a moment. We know that God is love and that love does not seek its own. Does that mean that God created you for your own good, not His selfish interest. Yes, because God is not selfish, although all things were created for His pleasure, His pleasure is to pour out His loving compassion on to you, and in to you, and through you to others. As in every case it is more blessed to give than to receive, so God is more blessed than we are because He gives, we receive.
I believe that God's greatest pleasure is to give in compassion to His children, showing forth mercy, grace, and love. We are created in the image of God and our greatest pleasure is to give in compassion also, it brings the greatest happiness in our lives that we can experience on earth, because it brings the presence of God. It is more blessed to give than to receive, if you don’t believe it, try it and see. We seem to be blinded to this wonderful pleasure always seeking to get more so that we can be happy in the future, that attitude always puts happiness just out of our reach, leaving us empty when we finally get what we thought that we wanted. (Proverbs 14:21 KJV)… he that has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
God is Love. Compassion is the kind of Love that God is, and the kind of love that He desires that we have for others. God's compassion is manifested by His mercy, grace, pity, patience, loving kindness, goodness, truth, forgiveness, and justice. (John 3:16-17 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. {17} "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Jesus Christ demonstrated true love when as God He humbled himself and became a man on earth to restore our relationship with the God who created us. Jesus said in (John 15:12-13 NKJV) "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
A person that knows God loves to spend time with Him in prayer, basking in his presence. A person that knows God loves to spend time in His awesome Word and receive new revelations about Him. A person that knows God will see everything about God through the knowledge of His loving compassion. (Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV) This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. {22} Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. {23} They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. {24} "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" {25} The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. {26} It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.
(Hosea 6:6 NKJV) For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. God desires that we come to know Him, and accept His love; and that we become a channel for His compassion to flow through. He has promised that if we seek Him we will find Him. (Acts 17:26-28 NKJV) "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, {27} "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; {28} "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'
We know that we are commanded to love God above everything and everyone. (Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV) Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' {38} "This is the first and great commandment. We are to love God even more than our own family members. (Matthew 10:37 NKJV) "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
When you put Jesus first in your life you are set free from the bondage of depending on another person. God becomes your source to meet all of your needs, physical, spiritual, and emotional. This sets you free to be a giver of loving compassion to the important people in your life, not depending on them to give back to you.
Too often in marriages spouses look to each other to get their needs met, this causes the one to feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled that their spouse can not satisfy their needs. The other one feels frustrated and inadequate to meet the needs demanded.
This causes a whole range of problems including anger and resentment all coming from selfishness. In a good marriage the two people will have compassion for each other making them givers not takers. They will each get more pleasure giving to the other person than from receiving. Because the Lord becomes their portion their reward, He gives satisfaction and fulfillment and meets every need.
Next time your needs are not being met, go to Jesus, that is an opportunity for you to grow in Him, becoming more dependant upon Him, developing a greater love toward Him, as He comforts you through the peace of the Holy Spirit. When your spouse, or your children, or your boss, or whoever does not seem to appreciate you enough and they don't thank you enough. Then take it to Jesus, He is the one you are working for, all that we do we are to do unto Him, go to Jesus and see if He does not thank you in a more special and deeper way; than anyone else ever could.
Christian couples need to realize that their eternal union with each other is in Jesus Christ, not in their temporary physical union on earth. The closest relationship we can have with another person is in Jesus Christ, where we are made one in Him forever; all who enter in are our true and eternal family.
Where your treasure is that is where your heart is, that is why Jesus teaches us to invest in heavenly things. When two people are married and their hearts are both in heaven, then their hearts are joined together in heaven, as one in Jesus Christ. This is the only way to get a marriage made in heaven. Our blood relatives through the Blood of Jesus are eternal; our physical blood relatives on earth are temporary.
People should do everything possible to nurture and encourage their spouse and children's relationship with Jesus. (Isaiah 54:13 NKJV) All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. In the King James Version it says your children shall be taught of the Lord. Both are true parents need to teach their children of the Lord, then when they have a personal relationship with their Creator He will take them into deeper revelations of knowing him.
From http://www.seekgod.org/message/godslove.html
God is Love. When you discover God you will discover Love...
I believe that God's greatest pleasure is to give in compassion to His children, showing forth mercy, grace, and love. We are created in the image of God and our greatest pleasure is to give in compassion also, it brings the greatest happiness in our lives that we can experience on earth, because it brings the presence of God. It is more blessed to give than to receive, if you don’t believe it, try it and see. We seem to be blinded to this wonderful pleasure always seeking to get more so that we can be happy in the future, that attitude always puts happiness just out of our reach, leaving us empty when we finally get what we thought that we wanted. (Proverbs 14:21 KJV)… he that has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
God is Love. Compassion is the kind of Love that God is, and the kind of love that He desires that we have for others. God's compassion is manifested by His mercy, grace, pity, patience, loving kindness, goodness, truth, forgiveness, and justice. (John 3:16-17 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. {17} "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Jesus Christ demonstrated true love when as God He humbled himself and became a man on earth to restore our relationship with the God who created us. Jesus said in (John 15:12-13 NKJV) "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
A person that knows God loves to spend time with Him in prayer, basking in his presence. A person that knows God loves to spend time in His awesome Word and receive new revelations about Him. A person that knows God will see everything about God through the knowledge of His loving compassion. (Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV) This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. {22} Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. {23} They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. {24} "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" {25} The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. {26} It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.
(Hosea 6:6 NKJV) For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. God desires that we come to know Him, and accept His love; and that we become a channel for His compassion to flow through. He has promised that if we seek Him we will find Him. (Acts 17:26-28 NKJV) "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, {27} "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; {28} "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'
We know that we are commanded to love God above everything and everyone. (Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV) Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' {38} "This is the first and great commandment. We are to love God even more than our own family members. (Matthew 10:37 NKJV) "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
When you put Jesus first in your life you are set free from the bondage of depending on another person. God becomes your source to meet all of your needs, physical, spiritual, and emotional. This sets you free to be a giver of loving compassion to the important people in your life, not depending on them to give back to you.
Too often in marriages spouses look to each other to get their needs met, this causes the one to feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled that their spouse can not satisfy their needs. The other one feels frustrated and inadequate to meet the needs demanded.
This causes a whole range of problems including anger and resentment all coming from selfishness. In a good marriage the two people will have compassion for each other making them givers not takers. They will each get more pleasure giving to the other person than from receiving. Because the Lord becomes their portion their reward, He gives satisfaction and fulfillment and meets every need.
Next time your needs are not being met, go to Jesus, that is an opportunity for you to grow in Him, becoming more dependant upon Him, developing a greater love toward Him, as He comforts you through the peace of the Holy Spirit. When your spouse, or your children, or your boss, or whoever does not seem to appreciate you enough and they don't thank you enough. Then take it to Jesus, He is the one you are working for, all that we do we are to do unto Him, go to Jesus and see if He does not thank you in a more special and deeper way; than anyone else ever could.
Christian couples need to realize that their eternal union with each other is in Jesus Christ, not in their temporary physical union on earth. The closest relationship we can have with another person is in Jesus Christ, where we are made one in Him forever; all who enter in are our true and eternal family.
Where your treasure is that is where your heart is, that is why Jesus teaches us to invest in heavenly things. When two people are married and their hearts are both in heaven, then their hearts are joined together in heaven, as one in Jesus Christ. This is the only way to get a marriage made in heaven. Our blood relatives through the Blood of Jesus are eternal; our physical blood relatives on earth are temporary.
People should do everything possible to nurture and encourage their spouse and children's relationship with Jesus. (Isaiah 54:13 NKJV) All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. In the King James Version it says your children shall be taught of the Lord. Both are true parents need to teach their children of the Lord, then when they have a personal relationship with their Creator He will take them into deeper revelations of knowing him.
From http://www.seekgod.org/message/godslove.html
God is Love. When you discover God you will discover Love...
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Personal Relationship with God
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD?
GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM
God loves us even if we haven’t loved him.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” (1 John 4:10)
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” (1 John 4:10)
God wants us to know him.The Bible says God is at work in everyone’s life. “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27)
WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HAS BEEN BROKEN BY SIN
We have all made choices showing we are inclined to be:Passively indifferent to God
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
Or actively opposed to God
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
Or actively opposed to God
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)
The result of our choices to resist or ignore God results in spiritual death (separation from God).“We are dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
“And thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
WHAT DID GOD DO FOR US?
GOD HAD PROVIDED A SOLUTION FOR OUR LOST RELATIONSHIP
Jesus Christ came to do what we could not do for ourselves.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
He came into the world to bring us to his Father.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ” (John 14:6)
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ” (John 14:6)
He died in our place to pay the penalty for our sin.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)
He rose from the dead to show that his claims were true.
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?
WE MUST EACH PERSONALLY TRUST JESUS CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR
Our own efforts to earn God’s acceptance are inadequate.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
We must admit our need for forgiveness.“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ” (Luke 18:13)
We must receive Christ and his offer of salvation as a gift.“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
WHERE DO WE BEGIN?
A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BEGINS TODAY
You can begin your personal relationship with God by putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. You may find it helpful to express your new faith in words similar to these:Dear God, I know that my sin has separated me from You. Thank You for sending Your Son to die in my place. I now trust Jesus to forgive my sins. I invite Him into my life as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for receiving me into Your eternal family. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
WHAT’S NEXT?
YOUR TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST BEGINS AN EVERLASTING PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
God’s commitment to you:
God assures you that if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, He has given you eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
God assures you that if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, He has given you eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
God promises to never leave you. ” I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
God has forgiven all of your sins, past, present, and future. “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)
God has given you His Spirit to enable you to live in a way that pleases Him. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior today, please let us know.
This is linked from http://odb.org/personal-relationship-with-god/
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Spirit Led Faith
Spirit Led
Faith
Faith
Hearing God’s Voice
Faith comes from hearing God’s words through His Holy Spirit. Faith is accomplished by actions of obedience with patience and perseverance.
Every true Christian has heard God’s voice. It was God’s voice that called you to Him; it was His Holy Spirit that drew you with chords of love to receive His salvation message, the gospel of Jesus Christ. You heard God’s voice say in your heart “I have chosen you, and ordained you, come unto Me”. Jesus says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). So then your Christian walk began with faith, and you received that faith from God through His Holy Spirit communicating with you.
Faith is a gift from God; it is a part of God’s grace that is at work in your life. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8). True faith, true hope, and true love, all come from God and not from your self they are gifts from God. The Bible says, “God has given a measure of faith” to each Christian, (Rom 12:3). Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith, (Heb 12:2).
God imparts faith to people through the hearing of His words. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word rhema of God, (Rom 10:17). In the New Testament when the word of God is mentioned there are two main words for the word, word; they are rhema and logos. They both have a similar definition that is “spoken words”. But in studying the Bible I noticed an important difference, rhema has to do with hearing the voice and sensing the spirit by which the words are spoken. Logos are recorded words, which have been spoken.
Jesus the Christ is also called The Logos, the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) The Words that the Father spoke through Jesus created the universe and all life. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psa 33:6) The Bible is logos, the recorded words of God. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)
I love the Holy Bible and I accept without doubt that it contains the infallible words of God from Genesis to Revelation. But faith does not come from the Bible; faith comes from God through the Holy Spirit. Rhema is the word of God that is associated with faith; faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema) of God. So unless a person hears God’s voice and senses His Spirit when receiving the words from God, there is no rhema, there is no faith, there is no life, and there will be no good fruit produced. In fact when people quote scriptures with out being led by the Holy Spirit they produce death not life. Remember even Satan can quote scriptures, Mat. 4:6. People in the New Age movement quote scriptures, Muslims accept some scriptures, and many cults will use some scriptures from the Bible, but there is no true faith produced when they quote the Bible.
Because of the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the cross He made available to us a new covenant between God and man, a new relationship. Everything about the new covenant has to do with the Spirit, not the law. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! (2 Cor 3:6-9)
Because of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross God is able to give us His spirit in us, and not just with us. "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)
So now we have a new nature in us that is God’s laws written on our hearts, God’s Holy Spirit in us. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. (Heb 8:10-11) We know God and have intimate fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
The Pharisees and Sadducees used the scriptures to bring death, as do some religious leaders today, but when Jesus quoted scriptures it brought life. Jesus says “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Too many pastors and Bible teachers are bringing death to people instead of life by speaking un-anointed words, that is words that the Holy Spirit has not led them to speak.
Too many people are teaching the written word without teaching the Spirit, which is how to hear God’s voice in you, the Holy Spirit. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (Mat 12:35-36) Idle words are dead words that do not carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which means that they do not carry God’s voice and His spirit to penetrate the heart of the hearer bringing life and faith.
Pastor, if the Lord has not given you a word to speak then stand behind the pulpit and keep silent, waiting on God until He does. One anointed word from God spoken through your mouth can bring a revival in your church that will touch the world. But great swelling words of emptiness produce death; don’t be a cloud without water that passes over the desert; see 2nd Peter chapter 2.
Too many Christians do not know how to witness to others because they are trying to follow a formula taught by man instead of being led by God’s Holy Spirit in them. Even in your Bible reading you need to be led by the Holy Spirit otherwise it can be dry and boring, but when the Holy Spirit leads you to a passage it brings life and joy because you hear the voice of God and sense His Spirit while you are reading it. You then know that those words were written for you even though they were written thousands of years before. In praying you need to also be led by the Holy Sprit so that you can speak God’s words from your mouth and bring God’s will upon earth.
Everything about our relationship with God has to do with the Holy Spirit. He is our bond and unity with God, and He is our source of communion and communication with God. Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13) It is the Holy Spirit that guides us into all truth, the Bible contains truth but only when the Holy Spirit guides us do we know how to apply Bible truth.
The Holy Spirit tells us how to do God’s will, God’s way, and in God’s timing.
There are seven influences that the Holy Spirit has upon the believer found in Isaiah chapter 11. The first is that He is to rest and remain with you forever, He will be with you your whole life, He will be with you through death, and He will be with you in the next life also, forever. The Holy Spirit is the One who is called along side of us; He is our Helper, our Comforter, and our Counselor. There are times when the Holy Spirit’s communication with us is beyond words that we can understand, but we will sense the divine message anyway.
The Holy Spirit will communicate to you wisdom, understanding (discernment), counsel, power (faith), knowledge, and the fear of the LORD. He will cause you to delight in the fear of the LORD walking in obedience and righteousness because the joy of a clean heart will be yours. The Holy Spirit is such a great treasure in the true Christian, what a privilege that God has given us who are of the new covenant. But how often have we neglected, ignored, and allowed ourselves to become distracted from His influence in our lives.
Jesus says, “It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”, (Mat 4:4). The Bible does not contain all the words of God, but we are to live by all the words of God, that can only happen by living a life led by the Holy Spirit. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Rom 8:14) God’s children that have His Spirit also hear His voice. Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27) The people that hear God’s voice are the people that He knows.
There are many people who call themselves Christians and they may even do great things in Jesus name but they are not being led by God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Mat 7:22-23). These people made two fatal mistakes; first they took credit for, and trusted that the works would get them into heaven instead of God’s grace given through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. The second fatal mistake was not being led by God’s Holy Spirit, which is practicing lawlessness and disobedience.
The just shall live by faith, faith is hearing and obeying, so the righteous people live by hearing and obeying God’s words given to them through the Holy Spirit. Whatever is not of faith is sin. The Christian’s spiritual journey begins with faith and continues with faith. Your faith increases as you become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, hearing God’s words spoken in your heart, and then through obedience and perseverance see the great results of walking in faith. When you are sensitive and obedient to God’s words there will be evidence of your faith. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)
When you receive a word from God there are four possible reactions that you can have to the Word of Truth that God speaks to you through the Holy Spirit.
1. A hard heart does not receive the word and then the devil can easily steal it.
2. A shallow heart receives the word with joy and it begins to grow, but when persecution comes it withers because it does not have deep roots in a persons heart.
3. A heart that has other priorities receives the word but it is chocked out by the cares and distractions of this world.
4. A good and humble heart receives the word, and holds on to it, and thereby produces much spiritual fruit through perseverance and obedience to God.
(Luke 8:11-15 NIV) "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. {12} Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. {13} Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. {14} The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. {15} But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
When you first receive a word from God you feel the joy of receiving God’s word in your heart because you are hearing His voice and you sense His Spirit while you receiving the word. That is a rhema word from God. Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16) But after receiving a word from God it is no longer rhema, it becomes logos, a received word from God.
You may not continue to feel the joy and sense God’s Spirit from the word that has been received; this is why perseverance is required to produce fruit from a word received from God. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; (Isaiah 55:12) Even if you do not have the joy you can hold on to the word received and be led by God’s peace. At discouraging times when you turn your attention back to God the Holy Spirit will remind you of the promise and you will be able to hang on to it, and sense God’s peace and comfort.
It is possible to receive a word from God and then not go on to see it fulfilled in the physical realm. Many people get discouraged when circumstances make it look like it is impossible, some will let go of the word and go no further. There will be a time of testing after you receive a word from God, you may even question if you really heard from God, thinking that it could have just been your emotions or imagination. But if you hold on to the promise and persevere you will see it fulfilled and it will produce fruit that glorifies God. For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. {36} For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: {37} "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. {38} Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
(Hebrews 10:35-38)
(Hebrews 10:35-38)
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