James 3:17
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (NLT)
The title sounds like a code name for a covert special forces unit. It seems to imply we have the ability to create peace. Politicians seem to think they can just like they think they alone can create jobs and solve all the problems of the world.
And wisdom? We have been fooled into thinking that wisdom is the result of college and if all are pushed through that educational funnel the end product will be a country filled with graduates wiser than we could imagine. We may gain knowledge in our places of education, but the wisdom to use that knowledge? That is not man made, it is God created.
What good is knowledge without God given wisdom to use it? His wisdom is pure and always points us in the direction of peace. It is not biased or tainted by greed.
True peacemakers do not have to go to college, they go to God. They are the few who plant seeds of peace as they share the Gospel message reaping a harvest of believers.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Being Spiritual
1 Corinthians 2:14
But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. (NLT)
In the world in which we live, the words spirit and spiritual have many meanings. There are numerous television shows and movies that delve into the spiritual. That is, what they consider spiritual. Then we have books for children delving into spells and other such other world things. The spirit world is looked on as a fun place to fantasize about with most believing it is just that--fantasy.
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) tells us that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." You see, there is another unseen realm present all around us.
So when we say we are filled with the spirit of Christ, we are not speaking about ingesting Jesus into our mortal body. No, we are speaking about Jesus' promise to have the Father send Holy Spirit to reside in each believer. The evidence of such being a prayer language spoken in unknown languages also known as tongues.
As we pray in our spirit language as Paul did, our spirit prays directly to God the Father and receives truths from His Spirit. The more we pray in this fashion, I believe, the stronger we get in the Spirit and the more His power and authority manifests in our lives.
In Luke 3:16 (NIV) John answered them all [saying], "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
And that is the baptism I want. That is the baptism that opens up the floodgate of communications at the Spirit level between me and the Father.
But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. (NLT)
In the world in which we live, the words spirit and spiritual have many meanings. There are numerous television shows and movies that delve into the spiritual. That is, what they consider spiritual. Then we have books for children delving into spells and other such other world things. The spirit world is looked on as a fun place to fantasize about with most believing it is just that--fantasy.
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) tells us that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." You see, there is another unseen realm present all around us.
So when we say we are filled with the spirit of Christ, we are not speaking about ingesting Jesus into our mortal body. No, we are speaking about Jesus' promise to have the Father send Holy Spirit to reside in each believer. The evidence of such being a prayer language spoken in unknown languages also known as tongues.
As we pray in our spirit language as Paul did, our spirit prays directly to God the Father and receives truths from His Spirit. The more we pray in this fashion, I believe, the stronger we get in the Spirit and the more His power and authority manifests in our lives.
In Luke 3:16 (NIV) John answered them all [saying], "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
And that is the baptism I want. That is the baptism that opens up the floodgate of communications at the Spirit level between me and the Father.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Live Decent Lives
Romans 13:13
Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don't participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. (NLT)
The world we live in and the people we know probably think us strange. We no longer have any interest in the things we used to like to do. No more parties. No more looking for things to fill our time until we had to go to work once more. And at work we would brag about the great times we had on the weekend and look forward to the plans for the the next weekend.
O we still might go to dinner and a movie together, but the eatery is not a local club anymore. We go for the food and not the beverages. And the movie is uplifting and happy instead of filled with sex and violence.
Was that change in us like flipping a switch. Not for most of us. It takes time while God is changing us from the inside out. At first we stopped the old ways not because our desire was gone. We still wanted to do those old things. We just knew we shouldn't. Over time our desire to repeat them was actually gone. With the help of Holy Spirit we no longer wanted them.
As we persistently seek His face the old desires fade away to be replaced with godly ones. At first we do because we should and over time we do because want to. And that journey takes us closer to God.
Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don't participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. (NLT)
The world we live in and the people we know probably think us strange. We no longer have any interest in the things we used to like to do. No more parties. No more looking for things to fill our time until we had to go to work once more. And at work we would brag about the great times we had on the weekend and look forward to the plans for the the next weekend.
O we still might go to dinner and a movie together, but the eatery is not a local club anymore. We go for the food and not the beverages. And the movie is uplifting and happy instead of filled with sex and violence.
Was that change in us like flipping a switch. Not for most of us. It takes time while God is changing us from the inside out. At first we stopped the old ways not because our desire was gone. We still wanted to do those old things. We just knew we shouldn't. Over time our desire to repeat them was actually gone. With the help of Holy Spirit we no longer wanted them.
As we persistently seek His face the old desires fade away to be replaced with godly ones. At first we do because we should and over time we do because want to. And that journey takes us closer to God.
Monday, October 08, 2012
Copycat
Romans 12:2
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)
Growing up the only way to make a copy of something was to take it to a professional printer. They would make a plate of it and then print any number of copies. Then technology came allowing us to feed the original into a machine with a special kind of paper. Out the other side came the original and a copy that was yellowish with a poor but readable copy of the original burned into it.
Then Xerox came out with a copy machine and it was so popular that even today when someone wants a copy of something they ask for a Xerox of it. "Can you Xerox this for me?" But with the home printers that include scanners available today, making a copy is as simple as pressing a button and the copy comes out in color. Often the original and the duplicate are so alike you cannot tell which is which.
As easy as it is to make a copy of a document or a photograph, it is just as easy to copy what everyone around us is doing. We become copycats without even realising it. After all, as the logical thinking goes, if everyone else is doing it or acting this way or agreeing with him, why shouldn't I do the same? Wrong!
The only copy we are to be is a copy of Jesus Christ. At first this might require conscious decisions as we go through each day. But God changes the way we think. As we allow Holy Spirit to teach us and change us, the decisions become as natural as breathing because we have taken on more of the mind of Christ.
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)
Growing up the only way to make a copy of something was to take it to a professional printer. They would make a plate of it and then print any number of copies. Then technology came allowing us to feed the original into a machine with a special kind of paper. Out the other side came the original and a copy that was yellowish with a poor but readable copy of the original burned into it.
Then Xerox came out with a copy machine and it was so popular that even today when someone wants a copy of something they ask for a Xerox of it. "Can you Xerox this for me?" But with the home printers that include scanners available today, making a copy is as simple as pressing a button and the copy comes out in color. Often the original and the duplicate are so alike you cannot tell which is which.
As easy as it is to make a copy of a document or a photograph, it is just as easy to copy what everyone around us is doing. We become copycats without even realising it. After all, as the logical thinking goes, if everyone else is doing it or acting this way or agreeing with him, why shouldn't I do the same? Wrong!
The only copy we are to be is a copy of Jesus Christ. At first this might require conscious decisions as we go through each day. But God changes the way we think. As we allow Holy Spirit to teach us and change us, the decisions become as natural as breathing because we have taken on more of the mind of Christ.
Monday, October 01, 2012
Who Has Control
Romans 8:6
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. (NLT)
There is a difference form being led by our sinful nature, the Adamic nature and being led by our intellect. The difference as I see it is whether the results line up with the word of God; whether all the glory goes to Him.
If what we do is driven out of greed or anger, it is coming from that sinful nature. God is love and we are to be a reflection of that love. Because we know the right response or the good path to follow in life, we think we are saved. But are we?
Knowing the truth intellectually is not knowing God. It is following His principles in life. It is relying on our intellect to do the right thing. Hidden in the recesses of our mind is that Adamic spirit laughing at our ignorance. We think we are good and godly in how we live our lives, and yet the future is dim.
We wonder why things are always going awry. We are in a constant battle to stay focussed on the path we know to be true. We feel the enemy always confronting us at every decision, every fork in the road of life. Is it really him or is it the difficulty of trying to do the right thing without Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us each day?
When we give ourselves totally to God and follow Jesus, Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. And when we allow Him to rule and reign in us giving all control over to Him for our daily decisions our lives are filled with a peace that defies all human understanding.
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. (NLT)
There is a difference form being led by our sinful nature, the Adamic nature and being led by our intellect. The difference as I see it is whether the results line up with the word of God; whether all the glory goes to Him.
If what we do is driven out of greed or anger, it is coming from that sinful nature. God is love and we are to be a reflection of that love. Because we know the right response or the good path to follow in life, we think we are saved. But are we?
Knowing the truth intellectually is not knowing God. It is following His principles in life. It is relying on our intellect to do the right thing. Hidden in the recesses of our mind is that Adamic spirit laughing at our ignorance. We think we are good and godly in how we live our lives, and yet the future is dim.
We wonder why things are always going awry. We are in a constant battle to stay focussed on the path we know to be true. We feel the enemy always confronting us at every decision, every fork in the road of life. Is it really him or is it the difficulty of trying to do the right thing without Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us each day?
When we give ourselves totally to God and follow Jesus, Holy Spirit comes to reside in us. And when we allow Him to rule and reign in us giving all control over to Him for our daily decisions our lives are filled with a peace that defies all human understanding.
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