Continuing where I left off last time:
"But whoever is the united with the Lord is one with him in spirit." 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV).
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV).
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV).
"For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." Ephesians 2:18 (NIV).
".....in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:14
".....and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority." Colossians 2:10 (NIV).
Once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are giving our bodies to Christ. This means that Christ will be in total control of our bodies. When Jesus died for our sins, He paid the ultimate price for our freedom and in return we should respect our body that Jesus paid so much for.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Who I am in Christ? (part 1)
We are going to take a look at how believers are referred to in the New Testament. Each of these names should give comfort to those who are saved. Some of the names are God's child, friend, saint, and united with the Lord.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- John 1:12 (NIV). This passage refers to the believers as children of God. This is our spiritual life is considered a new life from God. All of our sins were rearranged and God changed us from the inside out. This means that we have new attitudes, desires, and motives.
Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his masters' business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:15 (NIV). How awesome is that to know that Jesus refers to us as a friend? Because Jesus is Lord and Master of the World, we should be called servants to the Lord, but Jesus confided in us God's plans for sending a savior to die for our sins. Only friends will confide in others this way.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.... Romans 5:1 (NIV). Peace with God means that we have been reconciled with God. The sin that was prohibiting us from having a relationship with God is gone. The only reason we can have this peace with God is because Jesus paid the price for our sins.
We are so thankful to serve a loving God. Thank you for giving your son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. Amen.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- John 1:12 (NIV). This passage refers to the believers as children of God. This is our spiritual life is considered a new life from God. All of our sins were rearranged and God changed us from the inside out. This means that we have new attitudes, desires, and motives.
Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his masters' business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:15 (NIV). How awesome is that to know that Jesus refers to us as a friend? Because Jesus is Lord and Master of the World, we should be called servants to the Lord, but Jesus confided in us God's plans for sending a savior to die for our sins. Only friends will confide in others this way.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.... Romans 5:1 (NIV). Peace with God means that we have been reconciled with God. The sin that was prohibiting us from having a relationship with God is gone. The only reason we can have this peace with God is because Jesus paid the price for our sins.
We are so thankful to serve a loving God. Thank you for giving your son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. Amen.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Freedom
What is freedom? According to dictionary.com, freedom is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. This is a very accurate account of how some of us feel on a daily basis. While this doesn't apply to everyone, most of us can associate with the feeling of being enslaved to our sin. We can also have fear, guilt or have an addiction that is tearing our worlds apart. I am one that has had to overcome some of these feelings. In order to accomplish this, I had to realize that Jesus Christ was the freedom that would fill the void where the sin was.
In John 8:32 (NIV) Jesus says "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." A few verses later in verse 36 Jesus says "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
This tells me that we are free to make the choice to put our trust and our life in Jesus, as He is the truth, and this truth will set us free. This is the ultimate in freedom. I cannot tell you how much better I feel knowing that my sins are forgiven because of me realizing that I can't go through the events in this world alone. I must remember that I am never alone, because Jesus is always with me day in and day out! All I have to do is talk with Jesus in order to be reminded of this.
"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves." 1 Peter 2:16 (NIV).
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1 (NIV).
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV).
In John 8:32 (NIV) Jesus says "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." A few verses later in verse 36 Jesus says "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
This tells me that we are free to make the choice to put our trust and our life in Jesus, as He is the truth, and this truth will set us free. This is the ultimate in freedom. I cannot tell you how much better I feel knowing that my sins are forgiven because of me realizing that I can't go through the events in this world alone. I must remember that I am never alone, because Jesus is always with me day in and day out! All I have to do is talk with Jesus in order to be reminded of this.
"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves." 1 Peter 2:16 (NIV).
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1 (NIV).
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV).
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Whole Armor of God
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:14-17 (NIV).
What does the armor of God mean to us in our everyday life? In order to better understand, we need to look at each piece of armor and tell how the piece of armor can protect us daily.
Belt of truth - Satan will try anything he can to get the believers to fall for his lies of deception. With the belt of truth, we are able to put God's truth into the mix and fight of the lies from Satan.
Body armor of righteousness - Satan tries to attack our hearts and the body armor is to protect our hearts from being penetrated from the self-worth, trust, and emotions that tear us apart. The armor allows us to see that God loves us enough to send His only son to die for us.
Shoes of readiness to spread the Good News - The shoes are the source of Christians sharing the Word with those people who have been deprived of His mercy and grace. It is our responsibility as Christians, to spread the Good News and what Jesus is doing in our lives.
Shield of faith - Satan will do anything to stand in the way of believers relying solely on God. The way Satan does this is through insults, setbacks, and temptations. The shield of faith is used to shield us from the fiery arrows.
Helmet of salvation - Satan wants for us to doubt what God and Jesus can do in our lives. This helmet protects us from the doubt that Satan tempts up with.
Sword is the Word of God - It is amazing that the sword is the only weapon that is listed in the Armor of God. God wants us to rely on His Word when we are being tempted by Satan. All we need is the Word of God to stand up to evil doers.
I hope this helps establish the importance of knowing what the Bible says we as Christians should do and how we are to handle certain circumstances.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord's people." Ephesians 6:18 (NIV).
What does the armor of God mean to us in our everyday life? In order to better understand, we need to look at each piece of armor and tell how the piece of armor can protect us daily.
Belt of truth - Satan will try anything he can to get the believers to fall for his lies of deception. With the belt of truth, we are able to put God's truth into the mix and fight of the lies from Satan.
Body armor of righteousness - Satan tries to attack our hearts and the body armor is to protect our hearts from being penetrated from the self-worth, trust, and emotions that tear us apart. The armor allows us to see that God loves us enough to send His only son to die for us.
Shoes of readiness to spread the Good News - The shoes are the source of Christians sharing the Word with those people who have been deprived of His mercy and grace. It is our responsibility as Christians, to spread the Good News and what Jesus is doing in our lives.
Shield of faith - Satan will do anything to stand in the way of believers relying solely on God. The way Satan does this is through insults, setbacks, and temptations. The shield of faith is used to shield us from the fiery arrows.
Helmet of salvation - Satan wants for us to doubt what God and Jesus can do in our lives. This helmet protects us from the doubt that Satan tempts up with.
Sword is the Word of God - It is amazing that the sword is the only weapon that is listed in the Armor of God. God wants us to rely on His Word when we are being tempted by Satan. All we need is the Word of God to stand up to evil doers.
I hope this helps establish the importance of knowing what the Bible says we as Christians should do and how we are to handle certain circumstances.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the Lord's people." Ephesians 6:18 (NIV).
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Who is The Enemy?
When times get rough, it's easy to loose focus on the real issues at hand and turn your focus on fighting the enemy. Who is the enemy? How does the enemy get to us? The enemy is not the loved ones that you are trying to reach out to. The enemy will show themselves when we are the most receptive to the trouble in our lives. The Bible tells us who the true enemy is. 1 Corinthians 15:26 (NIV) "The last true enemy to be destroyed is death." We know from other scriptures that death has been defeated once and forever. Jesus died on the cross so we could have eternal life. Eternal life cannot be taken away from those who have asked for God to forgive them of their sins. With this being said, it doesn't mean that believers will not fall into the traps of the deceiver, and begin to second guess who the enemy is. First thing to remember when you feel yourself tempted with this type of doubt is to step back away from the situation. Think about everything that was being said. Go to the Bible to try to find out what God wants you to do in the situation.
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." James 1:19-20 (NIV). This is how the enemy gets to us. Human nature is to defend ourselves against anyone that we feel is in our way. This includes our loved ones. If we were to listen more and react less, then I imagine that there would be less battles being fought with the wrong enemies.Death is the enemy! "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 (NIV).
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." James 1:19-20 (NIV). This is how the enemy gets to us. Human nature is to defend ourselves against anyone that we feel is in our way. This includes our loved ones. If we were to listen more and react less, then I imagine that there would be less battles being fought with the wrong enemies.Death is the enemy! "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 (NIV).
Friday, August 19, 2011
Forgiveness
My initial blog tonight was going to be about the deceiver. I had everything ready, research done and as I was signing onto the computer decided to read what the topic for tomorrow's devotional was. Forgiveness was the title. I felt compelled to write about forgiveness, because over the past two weeks some miraculous things have been happening, and it deals with forgiveness. This all came about from a quote that I read on July 31, 2011. "Only the truly forgiven are truly forgiving." C.S.Lewis. All I could say after I read this was WOW!. Remember that I just gave my life to Christ on July 5, 2011; so this really hit at me hard. I knew that deep down inside I had some hidden torment from a certain individual that hurt me. I had resentment for what happened to me and resentment for the person. I knew that Jesus wanted me to forgive this person. I know that what this person did was wrong and it was not my place to condemn.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17 (NIV)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy time seven." Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV).
Rabbis taught that a person could be forgiven 3 time, so Peter asked Jesus. Jesus was trying to explain to Peter that it is pointless to keep track of how many times you forgive someone.
The person who I chose to forgive did not ask me to forgive them, I have not talked to this person in a very long time. I can say that since I have chosen to forgive this person, I can feel the a difference this had made in my life. Forgiveness is a difficult step to take and for some it takes some time to heal the wombs that caused the pain. In my case the these wombs festered until it caused other troubles and for that I am truly sorry for. I do see now that God knew that in order for me to be truly forgiven, I had to go through this difficult time and forgive the person that hurt me.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Psalm 32:1 (NIV).
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17 (NIV)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy time seven." Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV).
Rabbis taught that a person could be forgiven 3 time, so Peter asked Jesus. Jesus was trying to explain to Peter that it is pointless to keep track of how many times you forgive someone.
The person who I chose to forgive did not ask me to forgive them, I have not talked to this person in a very long time. I can say that since I have chosen to forgive this person, I can feel the a difference this had made in my life. Forgiveness is a difficult step to take and for some it takes some time to heal the wombs that caused the pain. In my case the these wombs festered until it caused other troubles and for that I am truly sorry for. I do see now that God knew that in order for me to be truly forgiven, I had to go through this difficult time and forgive the person that hurt me.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Psalm 32:1 (NIV).
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