Our Purpose as Christians

2 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;”

The Purpose of God for us was set in motion before the world began. Before He created anything at the first; God saw us in Christ Jesus, according to His Purpose.

It is according to His Purpose and grace. His Purpose is His Will; and His grace is His unmerited favor of Power to bring His Will to pass.

Ephesians 2:8-10 ” For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

This is written to Christians, telling them how they were saved.

It was by the power of grace, not anything they did to deserve it.
It was through faith, a gift given them by the Holy Spirit.

And they are “created in Christ Jesus”; given new birth and a new nature.
So created, not to stand by and watch; but to take part in His Purpose: those good works we are to walk in.
We are so created as a “workmanship”; which is a molded image. We are to be molded into the image of Christ. (Remember the word Christian means: Little Christ)

And how are we to do this?

By using the means and provision God has given.
That is what “ordained” means.
It means that all the provision for our walk with Him, is there in Him.
We just have to use it. To will with Him.

Let us talk, for a moment, about the things which hinder His Purpose.
(If you ask, How can anything hinder God’s Purpose? I answer, that as He gives us choices, He is allowing His Purpose to be fulfilled or hindered by us. It is His way of teaching us, and training us. He knows all things, and makes arrangements for it. His Will, will be done; but He wants it to be done through us, so He can bless us.)

The greatest hinderance to God’s Will, is that we do not go on with Him as we should.
Our walk with Christ is progressive:
We are babes in Christ, being seen to, fed with the milk of His Word, so we can begin to crawl and then walk with Him.

We come to the place of walking; and often like mules, stop and stand and bray. Having a fit about some part of His Will.
He must, and will correct us: sometimes with rebukes.
Rebukes are words which awaken us to His claims on us. Showing us where we should be, and how to get there. (Hebrews 12:5)

Sometimes He must chasten us. This is serious; He does not do this lightly. (1 John 5:16)
But He will not empower rebels with His Spirit. That would be joining our rebellion against Himself. But what He does, He does because He loves us. As a parent corrects a child, for their good, so God corrects us.

The answer to this is to will to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Him. (Matthew 16:24)
We preach on this often; because it is the backbone of progress. We will deny ourselves, and follow Him.
Or we will put up with ourselves, and lose another opportunity to please our Lord.
It is a choice the Lord gives us: for it is “if” any man will.
Those that love Me, Jesus said, keep My commandments.

John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

When we truly want His Will and have denied ourselves, daily; we come to the place where we no longer resist His Will in anything.
(Resist is a good term. Do you instantly want to “back up” every time you hear about what you should be doing? )
Well, we can come to the place, in our experience, that we don’t resist. It is not instant obedience, but it is final obedience. We will obey.

But the crowning glory, in this life, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:17-18 “Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”

When we are filled with the Spirit of God (and this only happens as we are emptied of the fullness of self); then the blessed influence of His life, love, peace, joy, and patience, is placed within us. And can be seen through us.

We are expressions of His life, and Purpose. That Purpose He purposed for us before the world began.
This is in Christ, for us.
Imagine a life full of the Lord’s light, and joy.
Better yet, don’t imagine it. Get it. If you are in Christ Jesus, born again; then His Purpose for you is to be filled with all the fullness of God. Filled to your capacity in Him.
Ephesians 3:16-19 “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”

We never truly know the love of Christ, the way He wants us to, until we walk along with Him: His hand for our strength, His Word for our help, His Spirit shining in us for comfort, and joy.

His Purpose for us, in Christ, is to walk with Him, into those good works He has ordained us for.
Will we go on with Him?

 

 

 

LOST

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Lost. That which was lost. Lost to God, and all His plans and purposes.
For He purposed life and fellowship for each one.

But man is lost to that.

And more he is even lost to himself. His mind, which could have thought God’s thoughts after Him; is now filled with swearing, adulteries, plans of how to get even, and lying (even to ourselves).

His heart, which could have loved God, and his fellow man with respect, and care; is now filled with wrath and violence. (Test yourself here: what do you feel when people cut you off, or speak rudely to you, etc.)

His will, which could have willed to do God’s will; now seeks only to go along in the world. (All going closer and closer to the pit.)

But Jesus Christ came to seek and to save us.

First He seeks us out in our own circumstances. He sends the Holy Spirit to Awaken us to Christ, and His way; then to give us truth.
This is usually quite a shock, to see where we are. Who we are. And where we are going. (No, I don’t mean Hell, here. I mean the downward spiral of our lives, into selfishness, and confusion)

Then, He draws us to Christ. The loveliness of the person of Christ, we begin to see.
The fact that He loved us, enough to come and save us, we begin to believe.
The Light that He will save US, we begin to have.

The Holy Spirit opens our hearts to hear the Word of Christ to us:
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, Verily,(Verily means Truth. Jesus is saying: Truth, Truth.) I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your soul.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

John 7:37-38 “In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

And we reach out in faith, receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior, to be born again.

John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

As this happens, we are no longer lost to God, or to ourselves. We can begin to fulfill the purpose for which we were created: God’s Purpose for us, personally.

We are Found.
Ephesians 1:4-6 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved:”

1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”

The Narrowness of Self

Matthew 16:25 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

We lose our self-life, that we might find our Christ life.
You find your Christ life as you, by deliberate acts of the will, bring yourself into subjection to the principal of obedience, which is God’s Principal.

Let us describe what our “self-life” is:
It is all the experiences you have had in your life (those we remember and those we don’t).
It is our thinking (this is shaped by our parents, our background, and the world we move around in: If people around us hate something, mostly likely we will, too)

It is our affections (the things we TRULY love, not what we pretend to care for: You may go out for tennis, not because you love tennis, but because there is someone you see, at tennis practice, that you “love”).

It is also your will. It is the active part of yourself. What you will to do, you will do.

All these are your self life. You can easily see how they can be influenced (as a Christian) by the world, the devil, as well as God.
Each of these powers exerts influence in your life. Which you choose to yield to is the most important question you face each day.

Romans 6:16 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey: whither of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

We lose our self life, little by little, until you are an expression of God’s Will, no matter where you are, or what you are doing.

We will be defeated by the wiles of the Devil, in this, unless we keep before us always: “For My Sake”.

We do this for Jesus sake. This is the personal choice of our hearts, minds, and wills, for Him.
It is done, once, when we give ourselves to Christ, as Lord and King.
And it is done again and again as we walk through life, with Him.

“For Jesus sake”. It should ever be our thought and desire.

Now, let us see how we are to lose our self-life:

First let us see how we shrink in to the narrowness of self, any time we are put into a trying position.

We are going along, denying self, when someone says something we take VERY personally about ourselves.
We then begin a series of steps, backing up, into the “safety” of our self.
If we back up, we start shutting doors, closing windows; keeping out as much of what is being talked about as possible.
We may smile and even agree with what is being said; but plainly we have shut ourselves up, so we will not be hurt.
We focus on something good we have done, or something bad that person has done. All the while we are smiling, and pretending we are really in the conversation. But we are not.

This is seeking the narrowness of self. It is a mechanism that most people employ at one time or another.
What they are thinking and saying inside is entirely different, than how they are acting outside.

But this is self. And Christ says, IF we are going to follow Him, we must deny self.

Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Will we?
It is a matter of the will, willing with Christ.
And it is effort. To find out His Will, and then to set aside our opinions about it, and do it: “for His sake”.
Will we place ourselves in His pure Light, and see Reality?
You see, our memories, attitudes, and affections all play a part in our bringing ourselves to Christ.
They are all to be sanctified, or set aside to Him; one by one, as they start to hinder our walk with Him.
This requires us to see them as they are. To stop hiding from the truth about ourselves, and bringing us, the real us, to Christ.

The old song, “Just as I am”, is true.
(It was, in fact, written because a person who felt that he could never be saved, was about to give up. In a last ditch effort to know for himself whether God would save him, he entered a church, and sat in the last row.
He listened as the preacher was giving his message; when suddenly he stopped, looked around, then said: “You come to Jesus, just as you are.” Then he went back to his message.
The person was saved, just as he was, for that was what he needed to hear.)

God can not save the pretend you. He saves you.
And salvation is four-fold.
He saves from self’s love of sin–conviction of the Holy Spirit.
He saves from our guilt of sin–being born again.
He saves from the power of sin and self–sanctification.
He saves from the presence of sin–taking us to Heaven, when we die, or are raptured.

To come out from the narrowness of self, you must want to get honest with yourself and God, tell Him the way you really feel, and listen to His reply.

If you are ready for such a personal relationship, for His sake; start talking with Him.
And expect an answer, for He will speak to all who will hear.

John 7:17 (N.A.S.) “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.”

 

Partakers of His Holiness

Hebrews 12:10 “For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”

Let us consider “Holiness”, for there is a lot of confusion about this word.

Holiness when it speaks about God, is His sinlessness. This attribute is the beauty and perfection of all His attributes, which are many. He is Good, Mighty, Powerful, Merciful, full of Grace, Purposeful, Wise, and much more.
But Holiness is the greatest attribute, for His purity of thought, will, and action is wonderful.
(Imagine a God who was wicked, or greedy, or impure. What a hell, created beings would be placed in, under him.)

But Holiness, when it speaks about Christians, is when we, by a deliberate act, place ourselves at God’s disposal; to do with us as He wills.
To send us where He wills. And to give us the circumstances of our lives, as He wills.
So when it says “that we might be partakers of His holiness”, it means that we, by the power of the Holy Spirit within, experience God’s LOVE of sinlessness.
We seek to please Him, by the obedience of life and heart.

This is a process, which begins at new birth, and continues on, throughout our Spiritual lives. When we fall down, He will correct us, and we get back up to walk with Him.
Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grieveous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

It is for our profit; that we might have the reality of a life, lived in fellowship with Him.
Fellowship is what God desires, but it can only be as we BECOME partakers of His holiness.

The Lord showed me this, very clearly once:
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
I was an alcoholic. And when I became born again, He removed the desire for the drink.
Praying about the great and wonderful grace He had given me, He said, “I didn’t pick you up out of the gutter, so you could be SOMEBODY. I picked you up, and cleaned you up, so that I could have fellowship with you.”
This was all for His own sake: And praise Him for it!

Hebrews 12:12-13 “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”

Lift up the hands which hang down. Tired, weary in well doing?
Raise up your hands in Thanksgiving and Praise.
Remember the many mercies He has given you, and begin there. Then present gifts of grace and peace will come to mind, and thank Him for them.
And most of all remember Who He is to you. Savior, Friend, Comforter, and King.
And praise Him for Himself.

And the feeble knees. Those things which should be holding you steady, are feeling weak?
Strengthen them by willingly determining to Stand in your place, as He has commanded.
(Sometimes it takes great determination to overcome the fear; but if you will determine, He will give you power to overcome.)

And make straight paths for your feet.
If you have been “wobbling” back and forth from the world’s plans, to God’s will; Stop!
(“A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:8)
Has your experience been like the ship in a storm: up, one minute; and down the next?
He has stability and established strength for you, if you will: make straight paths for your feet.

This is to set in order before Him the way that you should take.
Seek the Lord for just what you should do, each day.
Well, you say, I have to go to work, or school. Or today I do the laundry, or visit Aunt Mary.

What it means is that we are to bring all our plans for each day to Him, and seek guidance from Him for them.
It is not just where we go, but in the attitude we take with us.

I have visited many people, not because they were nice, or even because they wanted to see me, or for that matter, I wanted to see them.
But I went, because the Lord wanted me to. Simple as that. And then, it was according to God’s Will. The Lord’s blessing could attend it.

I have gone to work, with the same attitude; Because the Lord told me, I was not there as men pleasers; but “I serve the Lord Christ.”

Colossians 3:23-24 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

This is to make straight paths for your feet. You will not stumble or fall, if you follow your Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Where He leads, He has gone before. When He stops us; it is so we will not fall off a cliff.
Yield to the Holy Spirit’s impressions within, and Christ’s guidance in His Word to us; and be “partakers of His Holiness”.
This way leads to joy, and usefulness.

 

 

God can take care of His own Glory.

God’s usual way of working for man, is to use another man to speak, or show God’s Will. (1 Corinthians 1:21, 25)
But it does not have to do so. God can and does take care of His own glory. (though His choice is to use man, so he may share in that glory.)

1 Samuel 2:29-30. “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation: and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
The priesthood had failed, for Eli had not rebuked and chastened his sons, who were disobedient to God’s Word.
So God had another man in the wings to lead Israel, spiritually. (That man was Samuel, who was a picture of the Lord Jesus who would judge, and lead His people in the right way.)

But now, Israel is in a battle with the Philistines. And they are losing.
Instead of seeking God as to what to do, they go to bring out the Ark of the Covenant, like a lucky rabbit’s foot; hoping it will save them.

1 Samuel 4:3-4 “And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.”

Yes, it is the symbol of God’s Presence, but frankly God is not with them, in this battle; and He will not be “used”.
He will defend His Ark, but not Israel.
He actually uses the Ark to stir up the enemies of Israel, to teach them ALL a lesson about Himself: Who He is, and what He can do.

1 Samuel 4:5-6, 9-11. “And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord is come into the camp.”

“Be strong, Quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: Quit yourselves like men and fight.
And the Philistines fought and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.”

God is the God of the whole earth, and can make Himself known to any people, at any time.

1 Samuel 5:2 “When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.”

Confident that they had beaten, not only Israel, but Israel’s God; they brought the Ark into the house of their god.
But, God is not defeated, but ready always, with power to show Himself strong.

1 Samuel 5:3-4 “And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
And when they arose on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both of the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.”
First, God just has their god fall down before the Ark. Showing that their god was nothing.
Then, God chops off the head, and hands of their god; leaving only the stump. All were down at the Ark’s feet.

1 Samuel 5:6-7 “But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with hemorrhoids, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.”
God, then began making the men of the place sore. He destroyed some, and gave others hemorrhoids so painful that they cried out for help.
But not to the true God. Instead, they gathered the lords of the Philistines and wanted relief. So they thought that they could stop God, by moving the Ark.

1 Samuel 5: 8-9 “…And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel thither.
And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had hemorrhoids in their secret parts.”

But God’s hand was against this next city, and it’s men, as well.
It was worse there, for it says, “a very great destruction”.

The Philistines were not going to give up their “trophy” from their victory over Israel (How silly pride is), so they start to move the Ark again.
(I wonder if the Lord is not slaying the very men who fought in the battle, which took the Ark.)

1 Samuel 5:10-11 “Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites cried out saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.”

But even while it was coming, the men of the place cried out against it. They thought that the lords of the Philistines had brought it, to slay them.

This would destroy the unity of the five lords of the Philistines, not to mention decimate their population.
Even as it came to the last city, it destroyed many.

After seven months of slaughter by the Lord, the Philistines finally seek a way to send it “to his place.”

They wanted to be rid of it; but just to take it back, was a sign of defeat. This, they did not want. What if the plagues remained after it went back?
So the priests of the Philistines told them:
First, make images of the hemorrhoids that were sent among the men, and images of the mice that were sent among the cities.
“…and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you…” (1Samuel 6:5)

Then, they were to make a new cart.
They were to take two milking cows away from their calves, and put a yoke on their necks (they had never been used to pull anything before).
They were to tie them to the cart with the Ark in it, put the offering of gold images in a box by it, and let it go.
Then they would see if God could bring His Ark home.

1 Samuel 6:9 “And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coasts: to Bethsemesh, that he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.”

Of course, He did take His Ark back to Israel
God always sees to His glory, whether He can use His people or not. Israel lost out; and so can we, if we are not being what we should be.

1 Samuel 6:12, 16 “And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethsemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethsemesh.”
“And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.”
(It is amazing, God took simple animals and made them obedient: against their nature, for milking cows DO NOT want to leave their calves.
But men and women, God gives a choice. Believe and obey, or Turn aside after their own way. Isaiah 53:6)
God’s honor and glory should be our highest aim.

And now let us see what God did to backsliding Israel, with Samuel’s guidance:

1 Samuel 7:3 “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

God sends Samuel to speak to Israel about what they should do.

And they did put away the gods they had secretly worshipped, and “served the Lord only.”
1 Samuel 7:4 “Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.”
God can do anything, in any way He chooses. But His Will is that we deliberately choose Him.
Will we go along in His Way? Or in our own way?

There is more to this:

Samuel calls for a time of repentance.
But when the Philistines hear of the gathering, they come looking for more victory, more slaughter.

But now God was for Israel:
The means for Victory in Israel was their repentance, Samuel’s offering and prayers, and the Lord’s thunder and lightening.
Yes, Israel fought, but this time the Lord was with them.

1 Samuel 7:8-10 “And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
And Samuel took a suckling lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.
And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomforted them; and they were smitten before Israel.”

We should always thank the Lord for His Presence with us, in times of trouble, or in times of prosperity.
His Presence and Help make ALL the difference.

Have we learned the lesson of making sure that God is for us, because we are seeking His will, and doing it?
God can take care of His own glory, but would rather we shared in it, with Him.

 

 

 

Our Blessings as Christians

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Ephesians 2:6 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

If I am a Christian, I am seated “in” Christ Jesus in the heavenly places; and He is seated “in” our hearts, down here, in the earthly places.

All these Spiritual Blessings we have in Christ Jesus, in the heavenlies.
What we need to do, is get them down here, in the earthlies, in us.

So we ask: How do we get the blessings Christ has for us in heaven, down here in us?

The answer is: Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
His will be done IN me, as it is in heaven.
By the slightest hint of His Will, it is done in heaven.
And so it ought to be done in me.
He is to be our King; not just in name, but in practical application in my life: now.

If He reigns in my life, our lives are elevated into a single goal: What is Your will for me now?
He is in charge, so that also elevates all the circumstances of my life to: The path that I must take.

It is His kingdom coming within us, that matters.
(His kingdom will come one day, on earth; but now His kingdom here, is only found in the lives of His Christians willing to surrender to His Rule. Yes, He is Governor and Sovereign of all things, seen and unseen, but Kingship is personal. It is to choose to be a subject of a King.)

“Who hath blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings.”
The Spiritual Blessings are the means of seeing His Will done in me; that is what they are for. Not to lift me up; and make me SOMEBODY.
But to lift up Christ in me, and to show Him forth in all my doings, sayings, and thoughts.
In other words: to show forth Christ in me.(Colossians 1:27)

Included in these Spiritual Blessings is the fruit of the Spirit, for He works them within us, helping us by these fruits. The practical outworking, of His working them within us.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Love,
Joy,
Peace,
Longsuffering, or the patience to put up with others,
Gentleness or kindness,
Goodness or not being mean,
Faith,
Meekness or a putting away of pride,
Temperance or moderation in all things.

These are all for us. Ours, when self is denied, and Christ sits on the Throne of our hearts.
We would have Him change our circumstances; but He wants to change us, in our circumstances, and enable us to be all He wants for us.
What a life, so described! We can have it, to the degree we yield to His Kingship.

Ephesians 2:6 “Who hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
This sets forth Authority.
The Authority He places upon us, when we have made Him our King, practically.

It is Authority for my daily life; in the circumstances of my everyday life.
He endues me with some of His Authority, for here, and now.

It is according to that power that worketh in us, that His Authority is given us for our lives. And it is all a matter of love to Christ our King. (That is why the first gift of the Spirit is love.)

Ephesians 3:19-20 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US.”

This is the power that works in us, to bring us into subjection to Him.
As we are, in the circumstances we are; we submit.

Paul said, “this power works within me mightily”.
Colossians 1:29 “Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”

Quench not the Holy Spirit within; which wants to work IN us the same way.
But openly, deliberately, lovingly, yield to Him, and His gentle impressions to us.

If we would reverence Him more, as He is; we would find Him to be able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, in our lives.

It is His kingdom come within us.
There is Authority in the voice of the King.
And Christ, our King, wants us to hear Him;
And wants others to hear Him, through us.

The Spiritual Blessings He has for us, are there in Christ.
Will we deny ourselves, and get them into us here, where He can be honored by us.

 

 

 

 

 

The “I Want To” of our Christian Experience

It is good to be obedient to the Word of God, by the impressions of the Holy Spirit.
It is better to “I want to”, for Christ’s sake.

Philippians 2:13 ” For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

If the Holy Spirit has not yet created within you a desire for Spiritual Reality, then that is the place to start. This is the “want to”.

We are to come to Him and ask for it, to be placed within us.
It is usually a progressive desire.
We go from lost to born again. But we are babes, needing a whole lot of care. A whole lot of His teaching us His Will and Way.

We go from rebels (yes, this is even as Christians), fighting against God because of our position in the world, our looks, our parents, our circumstances; to yielding to the Holy Spirit, where we throw down these “reasons” against God, and submit.
(2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

We go from stumbling along (because we do not want to do what He asks, or are afraid to find out what He asks), to walking with Him in fellowship.

The way forward, in all of these, is: Yielding, denying self, getting out of the way. There are a lot of terms for the same experience (and it is an experience), of giving in to Christ.
Proverbs 23:26 “My son give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”

Notice it is as we give the Lord our hearts, that we will yield to His ways for us.

Now I believe that when the Bible speaks of our heart, it is speaking of our souls.
That which is uniquely us. Our personality, if you will.
I believe, it is most precious in God’s sight, having sent His Beloved Son to save it.

Give Him your heart, and keep giving it; till you know he has it.

“Let” thine eyes observe my ways. Let it happen. This is an act of your will. Let it.
Stop resisting it; for whatever reason.

Now, plainly, it is the Holy Spirit that works these changes within us:
John 7:38-39 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they which believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

If you don’t have this flowing rivers of living water in you, and through you, then it means you have blocked that flow. That is why the Word says, “let it”.
(But let me tell you, like the water, the Holy Spirit keeps building up, and building up behind the blockage; till it is dealt with)

It is His power and love, that molds us into Christ’s image.
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

As Christ is our example, we are to follow Him into the experiences of the love of God, our Father; of doing His Will, willingly; of trusting, to the end, on His Word to us; and of living in the Light of His Love.
Jude 21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

All of this is by the Holy Spirit working in us:
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Man, Made in the Image of God

Genesis 1:26-28 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over everything that moveth upon the earth.”

God is a Trinity: God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.
Man is made in the image of God, for we are a Triunity: Body, Spirit, and Soul.

Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Body formed from the dust of the ground.
The Holy Spirit was breathed into his nostrils. (Called the breath of Life)
And man became a living soul.

No other creature was made the same way.
We are tied to God in a more personal way than any other creature. His hands made Man, personally.
His breath came into us, supplying us with His Holy Spirit.
His creative power gave us our souls, our personalities, the real us.

And let them have dominion, and subdue.
This Adam was given to do.
But it was lost to man, through the fall, when Adam and Eve sinned.
Though he tries to have dominion, yet he always fails, for he can not even subdue his own soul.

But, for the Christian, there is the fact that he is restored to God, and placed in a position to do what was commanded in the first place: have dominion and subdue.
He is to do it in his own circumstances; and for God’s glory.

Romans 5:17 “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

We “reign” (have dominion, and subdue) in our lives, by Jesus Christ.

And we will have as much dominion in our everyday circumstances, as we have His Image, in our lives, by the Holy Spirit.
It is not that we make others do God’s Will, but that we ARE His Will, in our lives; and then, others see Him through us.

Our lives should be a constant witness for our Lord Jesus.
When He has had the Victory over us, then we can possess our souls in peace.
Luke 21:19 “In your patience possess ye your souls.”

This means we are no longer at the beck and call to our lusts or desires, our anger or hate, and our attitudes or bitterness. No, we are in charge of our souls.
(Our souls consist of our hearts {emotions}, our minds {thoughts, and attitudes}, and our wills {the action part of our souls. What we will, we do})

We can will for God’s Will, and our emotions won’t come along and have a fit about it, because our hearts wanted to do something else.

We can will for God’s Will, and our thoughts won’t be giving excuses not to do it.

This means freedom of choice. Hallelujah! What a Savior, which gives us so much.
It is liberty of the Spirit, in our lives. It is freedom to be what we ought to be.

This is by His Victory over us.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.
For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
To the one we are a savor of death unto death; and to the other a savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

Isn’t the knowledge of Christ Jesus a sweet taste in our mouths?
And He makes us show that to others, by having the Victory over us.

The Victory Procession Paul is writing about here is Christ’s.
It is pictured after the Victorious Roman Generals; when they had their parades into
Rome.

First in line of march, were the incense bearers, on either side of the march. The smell of it would go out everywhere.
Then it was the banners of the legions of the General.
And then the General, himself on a great white horse.
From his horse were chains leading back to the captives he has brought to Rome.
First, there were kings, and generals he had defeated.
Then, counselors, and leaders; going back to the common people.

All these were brought for Rome’s glory. Some to live, to serve. Some to die.

This is Christ’s Victory Procession. He has had the Victory over all. The Christians to life and service; and the lost(those who refuse His Lordship), to death, spiritual death.

Here the battle is over. But it was a battle.
He is God, and by His Spirit He knows how to place His hand on each tender, and rebellious thing in our lives, so we will yield to Him. For in yielding, there is joy.
It is when we throw down the weapons of our warfare against Him, that He moves in with all the fullness of His grace, peace, and joy.

Once, preaching a message on Christ, standing before the congregation, I felt the shackle of Christ’s Victory around my throat. It was not strangling, as some think working for Christ Jesus to be. I could feel the weight of it setting on my shoulders, but it was such a liberating feeling; I could not explain it, if I tried.

“You belong to Me.”, He said. “I will use you to show Me. My power over your life, My peace in your life, and My Word worked out in your life.”

That is the chains of love, which He uses to bind us to Christ.
Have Dominion, and Subdue. It is to have dominion in our lives, and subdue everything which hinders us, from experiencing His Freedom from sin, and ourselves.

 

 

The Work of the Spirit of Truth

John 14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever,
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive; because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you; and shall be in you.”

The first work the Holy Spirit does in us, as Christians, is to come and be with us forever.
This is one of the greatest blessings we have. God is with us, by His Holy Spirit, so that we are never alone, never deserted, never apart from His love and care for us.

John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

The next work the Holy Spirit does within us, is to teach us things. He brings to mind the Word we have heard, reminding us of what Jesus has said to us; and telling us what we should do.
He teaches us about the circumstances around us; for He gives us His wisdom concerning the people and things of our days.

John 15:26-27 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me;
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

The Holy Spirit teaches us how to witness of Christ. We do this in two ways. First, by our lives showing all we come into contact with, that we belong to Christ. There are many who will never get a glimpse of Jesus, except we show Him to them.
Second, by our testimonies about what Christ has done for us.
The Holy Spirit gives us the words to say, and also the enablement to say them.

John 16:13-14 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.”

The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth.
This is personal, private truth; that which you need to know.
How many things we could avoid, if we were more sensitive to Him, and what He is telling us?
And how much more we could have enjoyed other things, if we could have seen that this was what He wanted for us, at the time?

And He will show you things to come.
I’ve been warned by the Holy Spirit within, concerning certain circumstances that were coming up. Warned against being part of them; also warned about what to say.

“He shall glorify Me”, the Lord Jesus said.
As I die to self’s demands, the Holy Spirit lifts up Christ in me. He glorifies Christ by this.

For He shall receive of Mine, and show it unto you. It is His Spirit within us, making all the things of Christ real to us.

The Work of the Spirit of Truth is to guide us into all truth concerning God.

He lives within us , giving us the reality of the truth of God.

He enlightens us, so we can know where to go, and how to go. And with the enlightenment, He gives us power to live the life we have been given to do.

And He shows us Christ. Again and Again and Again, the Holy Spirit brings to our minds and hearts, our dear Lord Jesus, His love, and His peace.
He shows us Christ, as our example, and encourages us to follow Him.

 

Let us Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not a high priest which can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

This is written to Christians:
As a child of the our Heavenly Father, we are to come boldly to His Throne, that we may obtain (get into our experience) mercy, and find the grace we need to help.

Mercy shows the inclination of God to relieve the misery of fallen men and women.

His Sovereign mercy is to His elect (the born again ones). It is reserved for the heirs of Salvation, which is passed on to them through Christ Jesus, their Mediator. He appears before God the Father for us.
These Sovereign mercies, are more than the temporal mercies He gives to all men.

Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
God’s temporal mercies include, as the verse says: sun, rain, ground which produces food, and companions. These are for everyone, no matter whether they are good or evil.

But for His own children; God gives mercy which transforms the heart of the individual, and enriches their lives in spiritual blessings.

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved);”
It is mercy that quickened them to life in Christ when they were dead in sins.

Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost;”
It is mercy that saved them.

1 Peter 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
His abundant mercy gives us an inheritance, which is reserved, just for us, in heaven.

2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;”
Unto His own children, God is the Father of Mercies.

Time would fail us, if each Christian would tell of His preserving, supplying, pardoning, and sustaining mercy to them, for we are called the “vessels of mercy”.(Romans 9:23)
God would fill us up with His great mercy. Full and overflowing.

This is the mercy God gives from His throne of grace.

And “grace to help in time of need.”
This grace is enabling grace.
Grace to do what needs to be done. And we are to come boldly to God’s throne to receive it.
We are invited to come, on the merits of our Mediator, Christ Jesus. And invited to bring our requests for mercy, and our needs, to be supplied by grace.

When you think of the Almighty and His Power: He can do anything.
He is Creator. He created the worlds, and heaven of heavens. As David prays: “Create in me a clean heart, O God:”. So God creates within us, by the Holy Spirit, new desires, new hopes, new goals.

He is the Sustainer. Which means He will keep us from trouble by guidance; and if we fall into trouble He will lead us out, and uphold us through it. He sustains us in His Word, and by His Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
He is the Rock on which we should build our lives.

Our circumstances change often. But His love, mercy and grace never does.
We fall, or fail often. But He never fails us, as we seek to keep coming to Him.

Let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in this time of need.