Posts Tagged ‘theology’

Spiritual Training 06 March 2013

Posted: March 6, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Future Glory

Romans 8:22-23 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits, of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

24-25 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

It is natural for children to trust their parents, even though parents sometimes fail to keep their promises, Our heavenly Father, however, never makes promises he won’t keep. Nevertheless, his plan may take more time than we expect. What are we waiting for? New bodies, a new heaven and new earth, rest and rewards, our eternal family and home, the absence of sin and suffering, and being face to face with Jesus! Rather than acting like impatient children as we wait for God’s will to unfold, we should place our confidence in God’s goodness and wisdom.

In Romans, Paul presents the idea that salvation is past, present, and future. It is past because we were saved the moment we believed in Jesus Christ as Savior (3:21-26; 5:1-11; 6:1-11, 22,23); our new life (eternal life)) begins at that moment. And it is present because we are being saved; this is the process of sanctification. But at the same time, we have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ’s new Kingdom is completely established. That’s our future salvation.

Lets Bring it Home: While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look ahead with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life, when we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2).

Proverbs 06:34 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 6, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 06, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 6:34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

God knows men. He knows their minds and emotions. He knows the jealous rage of men against an adulterer that steals their wives for love or sex. God inspired Solomon to teach men against committing adultery by warning them about a husband’s fury (Pr 6:27-35).

Marriage is an intimate and sacred relationship. Adultery is a horrible violation of it. Jealous rage and unmerciful vengeance are natural consequences of this heinous sin. Solomon soberly warned all men of this further trouble for touching another man’s wife.

He is at the end of a long warning to his son about adultery (Pr 6:20-35). He added a practical argument that the husband of the woman will be outraged by the offence. Not only does divine justice condemn the horrible sin, so do the fair laws of men and nature.

Marriage is a very personal, intimate, and possessive relationship. A violation of it causes enormous pain and loss. For this reason, the blessed God made capital punishment the judgment for this sin. Both the adulterer and adulteress were put to death (Lev 20:10).

Marital jealousy is not sin; it is part of love and possession. Marriage is based on love and possession. Love includes jealousy. Solomon said about his wife, “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame” (Song 8:6).

Envy is horrible. It is worse than anger or wrath (Pr 27:4). A man does not want to share his wife’s body or heart. When another man takes either, the envy is outrageous. A thief may find mercy from men, but not the adulterer (Pr 6:30-33). To steal to satisfy hunger is understandable, but to touch another man’s wife is inexcusable. Young man, Flee! Now!

God’s laws for Israel provided for jealous husbands (Num 5:11-31). If a man was jealous about his wife, with or without evidence, he could take her to the priests for the test of jealousy. If she were guilty, the curse would cause her to rot immediately, starting at her genitals. If she were innocent, she would be cleared by divine revelation and conceive.

A woman’s jealousy toward her husband is not the same, so God did not have the same protection in Moses’ Law. Since he was not made for her, like she was for him (I Cor 11:9), a husband owes his sexual fidelity more to God than to her. God deals with husbands directly, as He did with David and Israel (II Sam 11:27; Mal 2:10-16).

The LORD, choosing Israel to be His wife, declared His name was Jealous, and He was a jealous God (Ex 34:14). The first commandment was for her to love God with all her heart, soul, and might (Deut 6:4-5). Any infatuation with other things caused His jealousy to burn, for He would not share her affections with another (Deut 32:16; Ps 78:58).

For Christians, Jesus Christ is the bridegroom, and He demands total affection (Luke 14:26). All other relationships must be sacrificed, if they conflict with your love for Him. He considers any friendship with the world as spiritual adultery against Him (Jas 4:4). Are you loving Him and living for Him as devotedly and carefully as you should be?

Spiritual Training 05 March 2013

Posted: March 5, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Future Glory

Romans 8:22-23 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits, of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

We will be resurrected with glorified bodies like the body Christ now has in heaven (See 1 Corinthians 15:25-58). We have the “firstfuits,” the first installment or down payment of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our resurrection life (see 2 Corintians 1:222; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14).

Lets Bring it Home: Have you receive the first installment or down payment of the Holy Spirit? Has the Holy Spirit set up camp inside of you? If not, get save now, and believe with Heart and confess with mouth that Jesus is Lord to receive your down payment.

Proverbs 15:05 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 5, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 15, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 5:15-21 – Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.

Love your wife! Make love to her only! Make your marriage the hottest in the world! You have no right to any other woman. You should not look on another woman, think about another woman, flirt with another woman, or ever touch another woman sexually.

Go for it! Today! This is God’s plan and will for your life. He wants you to have a great sex life with your great wife. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19).

The true God knows life can be empty and frustrating, so He gave you one of His greatest gifts of creation: “Enjoy life with you wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun” (Eccl 9:9).

God created love, sex, and every aspect of the woman you need – your wife. He knows you need and want sex, so He chose the woman that is your wife to practice with until you are perfectly satisfied. All other women are off limits. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Heb 13:4).

The Bible is the perfect love, marriage, and sex manual. God invented sex, so He has perfect knowledge about it. Have you read the Bible and heard it preached to maximize your marriage? If you have read and heard it preached, have you submitted to God’s sovereign, providential choice of your wife and His orders for how you should treat her?

Water, a precious blessing in the dry climate of the Middle East, is here a metaphor for sexual pleasure with a woman. Water satisfies thirst, is necessary for survival, and is very pleasing to a thirsty soul (Pr 25:25). Men drew fresh water from wells; they stored extra water in cisterns. Every man needed his own supply to protect himself and his family.

Men need the water of sexual pleasure, for God put a great desire and need in them for it (Gen 2:18; Deut 21:11; I Cor 7:2,5,9). Any exceptions confirm this well-known rule rather than modify or nullify it (Matt 19:10-12; I Tim 4:3; I Cor 9:5). Men will have sex one way or another, but God condemns all other creatures but one – your wife.

Men also crave food by God’s design, and they desire and enjoy His blessing of wine (Ps 104:14-15; Eccl 9:7), but drinking and eating without limitation or discipline are sin and folly (Pr 23:20). Men must hate and reject drunkenness or gluttony, and they should never forget that breaking God’s rules for sexual water is sin and deserves judgment.

A man’s own wife is a great gift from God, for which he should be thankful (Pr 18:22; 19:14). Consider Jacob: “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Gen 29:20). A man may drink deeply of sexual pleasure from his own wife only, not from any other woman, single or married.

No man should even consider the cisterns or wells of others, for the wife God picked for him is more than enough for his needs and happiness. To think upon the cisterns and wells of others is to sin and open the door for great folly (Pr 6:25; Job 31:1; Matt 5:28). Any woman is more than enough for any man, and God chose your wife for just you.

Are you disappointed or frustrated in your marriage? Do you agree with what has been written, but you personally are not experiencing it? Are you thirsty, and your wife seems to have run dry? Or you can see the water, but you seldom or never taste any of it? Is the water of your cistern and well now somewhat lukewarm and putrid, not appealing at all?

If the water supply at home is lacking in any way, maybe the pump needs priming. How do you prime the pump to bring forth running water? Treat your wife the way the Creator of love, sex, marriage, and women told you to treat her. It is that simple. God made her as perfect as a rose, but lack of sunshine, rain, soil, and nurture will cause her to close up.

God and Solomon order you to treat her as delicately and tenderly as a pet female deer, to be totally satisfied with her body, and to choose to greatly enjoy her lovemaking. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19). God knows your wife. Try His way.

Paul told you to love your wife and to cherish and nourish her, like you do your own body (Eph 5:25-29). King Solomon wrote a love song that describes the passion and details of lovers and lovemaking. Have you read the Song of Solomon? Have you tried talking to your wife and treating her the way that this man treated his lover wife?

The strong warning intended by this proverb to limit yourself to your own wife includes use of pornography, which foolishly steals visual pleasure from another woman, causes discontentment with your woman, and hurts your woman’s confidence or desire to ever be the lover you need and want. Your wife will be as hot as you choose or help her to be.

Every Christian woman, every daughter of God, should be careful and faithful in making sure her husband drinks deeply, often, and pleasantly, lest she drive him to wells that are not his, due to bitterness or dryness in his own cistern and well (I Co 7:2-5). Let husbands and wives, with the husband leading the way in love, maximize the pleasure of marriage.

Proverbs 04:07 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 4, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 04, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 4:07 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

Here is the key to Proverbs! Here is the key to life! These are King David’s words to his son Solomon (Pr 4:1-9). They explain the purpose of the book of Proverbs. They describe the greatest goal for your life – the important pursuit of wisdom and understanding.

Most men get distracted pursuing all kinds of other things. It is man’s folly and trouble that any other ambition ever competes with this goal. It is your duty and blessed privilege to consider the wonderful opportunity of wisdom and seek it with all your might.

Wisdom is the principal thing – the most important matter in life. What is wisdom? It is the power of right judgment – the ability to choose the correct solution for any situation. It is knowing how to think, speak, and act to please both God and men throughout life.

Wisdom is the basis for victorious living. Without wisdom, men make choices that bring pain, poverty, trouble, and even death. With it, men make choices that bring them health, peace, prosperity, success, and life. Your future depends on your degree of wisdom.

Understanding is connected to wisdom, and it also is an important goal. Understanding is the power of discernment – to see past what meets the eye and recognize the actual faults or merits of a thing. It is the ability to grasp a matter or situation and assess it correctly.

Without understanding, men are easily deceived and led astray. Without it, men are confused and perplexed. With it, men can see what others miss, and they can avoid the snares and traps of seducing sins. With it, life’s difficulties become quite simple.

Here is the road to success! What will you do with this axiom? If you neglect wisdom, you will bring pain and trouble upon you and your family. If you make it a priority to get wisdom and understanding, you will bask in pleasant prosperity. Finding wisdom brings life and God’s favor; neglecting it wrongs your own soul and brings death (Pr 8:35-36).

The world spends trillions on education, but neglect wisdom and understanding. Parents sacrifice for children to “get an education,” as if it were the noblest of human goals. They do not realize learning without wisdom or understanding is dangerous, for it gives false confidence in knowledge. An educated fool is worse than an ignorant fool (Pr 26:12)!

It matters little who discovered Bolivia, or if it was discovered. Unless you work for NASA, calculus has little use, though it does excuse a lower grade point average! Regurgitating facts you will never use in the real world is one of the greatest hoaxes ever sold. Paul warned of much learning that never leads to truth or wisdom (II Tim 3:6-7).

Wisdom is the principal thing, but it is not in the scope and sequence of any grade, of any state, of any nation. A bachelor’s degree in America takes 17 years of formal education, but the degree is granted without any evaluation of wisdom. Resumes formally list education and professional experience, but there is not a single line about wisdom.

Wisdom and understanding require knowing and fearing God (Pr 1:7; 9:10; Job 28:28; Ps 111:10). You cannot even start to be wise without fearing and loving the true Creator God – Jehovah of the Bible. But these vital prerequisites and their source document are forbidden and ridiculed in America and other nations’ institutions of “higher learning”!

What higher learning are educators talking about? Irrelevant facts and insane reasoning! Facts without the correct context and a productive purpose are irrelevant and distracting. Reasoning without the correct First Cause and moral absolutes is hallucination. These educators need to study, The Emperor’s New Clothes, by Hans Christian Andersen.

What are the main goals of so-called enlightened nations? Pleasure! Which is no better than the Epicurean madness of the Greeks (Acts 17:16-34). Money! Which is the root of all evil and drowns men in destruction (I Tim 6:6-10). Health! Which is quite worthless, if your stronger and longer life is used to extend your dysfunctional living (Pr 13:15).

Parent! What do you do with and for your children? Do you teach them the power of right judgment and right discernment? Do you have these abilities yourself? Or do you think you are a great parent by providing three squares a day, a few hours of restricted television, and picking them up from soccer practice after school? Life is so much more.

Parent! Wisdom is found in the Bible, and any thoughts contrary to it are dark ignorance (Ps 119:128; Is 8:20; I Tim 6:3-5,20). You must learn wisdom from the Bible, and you must teach it to your children (Deut 6:4-9; Eph 6:4; II Tim 3:15). Miss Huckleberry at the elementary school will not do it. Most pastors and churches do not even do it today.

Parent! Wisdom is a Bible worldview. Men are drunk on nihilism, naturalism, humanism, pantheism, etc. Your children must be convinced of a Creator God, Who revealed absolute truth in the Bible, which is perfect in every part, and contains the facts of Jesus Christ, the devil, the origin and future of man, eternal punishment, and rules for living.

Parent! Wisdom may be seen clearly by comparing it to folly, as many of Solomon’s proverbs do. You have daily opportunities in this confused and profane world to identify the foolishness of man and show the answer of wisdom – straight from the Word of God. It is the blessed privilege of the righteous to mock and ridicule the ignorance of fools!

Parent! God did not leave you without tools. He gave you an inspired library of sixty-six books covering the entire scope of wisdom and understanding. He inspired David and Solomon to give you the proverb before you. The book of Proverbs should be required learning for every child. He also gifted and ordained pastors and teachers to help you.

Wisdom takes a commitment (Pr 18:1) to reject your thoughts (Pr 3:5; 17:16; 18:2). It cannot be a part-time pursuit, for it requires the careful diligence that hunting for hidden treasure requires (Pr 2:1-9). You must redeem your time for the pursuit (Eph 5:15-17). Yet it is easy for those who love it and seek it with humble readiness (Pr 8:17; 14:6).

May God bless His children to simplify their lives – getting rid of unnecessary noise and distraction – to focus on the principal things – wisdom and understanding. Do not let the world or devil distract you with frivolous and worthless pursuits. Do not join most co-called Christians today as they turn from the truth to fables as Paul warned (II Tim 4:3-4).

Jesus grew in wisdom and in favor with God and man (Lu 2:52), the perfect goals for you and your family. In Him are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). God put His elect in Christ Jesus and made Him wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for them (I Cor 1:30). The greatest wisdom is to believe this and live like it.

Spiritual Training 04 March 2013

Posted: March 4, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Future Glory

Romans 8:18-22 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Sin has caused all creation to fall from the perfect state in which God created it. So the world is subject to frustration and bondage to decay so that it cannot fulfill its intended purpose. One day all creation will be liberated and transformed. Until that time it waits in eager expectation for the resurrection of God’s children.

Christians see the world as it is-physically decaying and spiritually infected with sin. But Christians do not need to be pessimistic, because they have hope for future glory. They look forward to the new heaven and new earth that God has promised, and they wait for God’s new order that will free the world of sin, sickness, and evil. In the meantime, Christians go with Christ into the world where they heal people’s bodies and souls and fight the evil effects of sin in the world.

Lets Bring it Home: We need to keep fighting and hanging out with Christ, healing people and saving souls. Are you looking for your future glory, or are you searching for your glory here on earth?

Spiritual Training 01 March 2013

Posted: March 1, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Life Through the Spirit

Romans 8:17-18 (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. (18) I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

There is a price for being identified with Jesus. Alone with being “heirs of God,” Paul also mentions the suffering that Christians must face. What kinds of suffering are we to endure? For first-century believers, there was economic and social persecution, and some even faced death. We too must pay a price for following Jesus. In many parts of today’s world, Christians face pressures just as severe as those faced by Christ’s first followers. Even in counties where Christianity is tolerated or encouraged, Christians must not become complacent. To live as Jesus did-serving others, giving up ones own rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world-always exacts a price.

Lets Bring it Home: Nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us.

Proverbs 01:07 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 1, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs 01, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

One of the most annoying types of people is a know-it all, a person who has a dogmatic opinion about everything, is closed to anything new, resents discipline, and refuses to learn. Solomon calls this kind of person a fool. Don’t be a know-it-all. Instead, be open to the advice of others, especially those who know you well and can give valuable insight and counsel. Learn how to learn from others. Remember, only God knows it all.

 

Proverbs 28:14 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: February 28, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs 28, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 28:14 Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble

Are you happy? Are you as happy as you could be? When God and Solomon mention happiness, you should listen! Here is a rule for life from the wisest king about happiness. Those who have tried both sides of this proverb know it is perfectly true. Be happy today!

All men want to be happy and avoid trouble, and here is how. You need a relationship with your Creator. Without Him, you are a lost speck in the universe. If you always fear God, you will be happy. But if you rebel against Him, your life will fill with trouble. May Almighty God of the Bible bless you with grace and strength to fear Him starting today.

Is it the fear of God here? Yes, for that is the theme of Proverbs (Pr 1:7); it is the whole duty of man (Ec 12:13); no other fear brings happiness (Pr 29:25); it is the opposite of hardening your heart (Is 63:17); mischief results from not having it (Ps 36:1-2); and it properly follows the confession of sins to God necessary for prosperity (Pr 28:13).

How often or for how long should you fear God? You should always fear Him, even when you are not happy. The LORD may withdraw temporarily from a God-fearing man, like Job, thus reducing his happiness; but He will return with additional blessings in the end, like Job as well. Your happiness and success depend on always fearing God.

What is the fear of God? It is to love God. Everything you do should be for His glory (I Cor 10:31). You should guard your life carefully, lest you break His commandments and displease Him. You should circumspectly examine every thought, word, deed, and plan. You should ask, Is this choice agreeable to Him? Will this activity bring Him pleasure?

Can happiness and fear coexist? Yes, for fearing God is a reverent desire to please Him by keeping His commandments and hating sin. There is no pain or torment in this fear. This is fear that hopes in God’s mercy (Ps 147:11) and rejoices with trembling (Ps 2:11). This is fear compatible with coming boldly to His throne of grace for help (Heb 4:12-16).

Fear that caused Adam to hide among Eden’s trees was the ungodly fear of guilt and rebellion. The fear of a child of God is like a child’s fear of a loving father. It is a strong desire to please and a powerful check on disobedience, but it also includes affection, trust, and security (Pr 16:20). Knowing God correctly casts out painful fear (I John 4:18).

Your fear of God should cause you to mistrust yourself, for self-confidence leads to sin and mischief (I Cor 10:12). Wise men do not trust themselves, but learn to despise their hearts as their most dangerous enemy (Jer 17:9). Peter’s confidence in his own strength and courage before denying Jesus Christ should humble you to beg for help and strength.

Since God’s commandments are life and prosperity themselves (Pr 3:1-2) and keeping them brings His favor and blessing (Ps 147:11), these two factors produce human happiness. Keeping the rules for success and having God prosper your life is a wonderful combination. Rejecting His commandments is to choose folly and death and bring His judgment. Do not deceive yourself – for you will certainly reap what you sow (Gal 6:7).

If you want to love life and enjoy many good days, then fear the Lord and depart from evil (Ps 34:12-16; I Pet 3:10-12). Men pay large fees for counsel and therapy to be happy, yet here is the perfect explanation from your Creator. And it was written by the man who experimented with every purpose and pleasure known to man. His conclusion here is the same as he concluded at the end of his philosophical and practical research (Eccl 12:13).

Read Psalm 112:1-10 or Psalm 128:1-6. See if there is prosperity in fearing God. What more could you want? Of course, Hollywood will try to sell you its version of happiness, but wise persons see past the bright lights, moving soundtracks, and lying content to the divorces, drugs, drunkenness, disease, and dysfunction that haunt its so-called stars.

If you stubbornly refuse God’s way, you will bring on yourself His severe judgment (Pr 29:1; 1:24-32; 6:12-15; 28:18). The way of transgressors is hard (Pr 13:15; 4:19; 19:16; 22:5). Lot and Saul compromised God’s commands, and they both lived miserable lives that ended in horrible disgrace, quite unimaginable a few years earlier. What a contrast between Abraham and Lot! What a contrast between Saul and David! What a waste!

Fearing God is not a light matter. It is life or death. It is happiness or trouble. It involves eternity. Only fools treat God’s things lightly, and they will reap the reward of their folly. Only fools take confidence in outward religious rituals, for God will destroy the hypocrite (Job 20:4-9). Wise men will pass the time of their sojourning here in fear (I Pet 1:17).

Where have you hardened your heart against God? What does He require that you do not want to give? Do you stubbornly resist the teaching of His pastors? Have you examined yourself today? Is your entire life grounded in the fear of the Lord? Where are you compromising His public worship? Where are you compromising your private life? Have you confessed and rejected your secret sins? Do you search to see if they are all gone?

If you presume to think you can get away with rebellion, if you think you can have peace in disobedience, He will furiously bring curses on your shameful life and blot out your name (Deut 29:18-20). Be sure your sin will find you out! Kiss the Son! This is not the happiness or disappointment you may encounter on a trip – this is life and eternity!

Jesus Christ feared God His Father always and did those things that pleased Him (Heb 5:7), and He is forever seated on His throne in heaven enjoying fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore (Ps 16:11). You may be there soon as well, if you give diligence to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12-13; II Pet 1:10-11).

Spiritual Training 28 February 2013

Posted: February 28, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Life Through the Spirit

Romans 8:10-16 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. (11) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (12) Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. (13) For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (14) because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (15) 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.” (16) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

The Holy Spirit is God’s promise or guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in him. The Spirit is in us now by faith and by faith we are certain to live with Christ forever.

“Put to death the misdeeds of the body,” means to regard as dead the power of sin in your body (see 6:11;Galatians 5:24) When we regard sin’s appeal as dead and lifeless, we can ignore temptation when it comes.

Paul uses adoption or “sonship” to illustrate the believer’s new relationship with God. In roman culture, the adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained at the rights of a legitimate child in his new family. He became a full heir to his new father’s estate. Likewise, when a person becomes a Christian, he or she gains all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in God’s family. One of these outstanding privileges is being led by the Spirit (Galatians 4:5,6). We may not always feel as though we belong to God, but the Holy Spirit is our witness. His inward presence reminds us of who we are and encourages us with God’s love (5:5).

We are no longer cringing and fearful slaves; instead, we are the Master’s children. What a privilege! Because we are Gods children, we share in great treasures as coheirs. God has already given us his best gifts: his Son, his Holy Spirit, forgiveness, and eternal life; and he encourages us to ask him for whatever we need.

Lets Bring it Home: What family do you belong to? Who’s your Father?

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