JACKS DAILY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
(Psalm 51:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart… these O God, You will not despise”
As we talked about yesterday, God is looking for a people… you and I, His children, His Bride, His followers, to have “a different attitude” than the world around us.
As I have pointed out in the past, God wants to conform us to the “image of His Son Jesus Christ”
(Romans 8:29) “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be “conformed to the image of his Son”, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters
To understand more about why God wants us to have “a contrite heart”… in contrast, notice the kinds of hearts God is not happy with.
These are all symptoms of deadly “spiritual heart disease” or a bad attitude!
1) A hard heart.
Start with Pharaoh of Egypt who enslaved the Israelites and wouldn’t let God’s people go.
Even in the face of God’s great power through the 10 plagues… again and again Pharaoh’s “heart grew hard”.
(Exodus 7:13) highlights the continuing resistance of Pharaoh despite witnessing God’s miraculous signs.
It demonstrates the sovereignty of God, the consequences of pride and stubbornness, and sets the narrative for the plagues that God sent against Pharaoh, illustrating the unfolding of God’s plan to deliver the Israelites from Egypt
2) A stony heart.
(Ezekiel 11:19) tells us that God wants to remove our stony hearts
3) A heart that’s lifted up.
(Deuteronomy 8:1-2) Moses warned of the dangers we can face when we have been blessed materially.
He explained that it becomes easy to forget that “blessings come from God”, and to be careful in believing we have achieved success through our own efforts and self righteousness, self-sufficiency, and pride, which are all hallmarks of the heart that’s “lifted up”
(Daniel 5:20) Nebuchadnezzar serves as a powerful example of someone whose “heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride”
Other hearts God does not want include… A perverse heart, a proud heart, a wicked heart, a defiant and rebellious heart, a sinful heart, deceitful heart, an adulterous heart, an impenitent heart, a veiled heart, an evil heart, and an unbelieving heart ,
What can be done about all these symptoms of deadly spiritual heart disease?
God wants us to experience “a change of heart”.
God said in (Deuteronomy 5:29), “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”
That “change of heart” starts with repentance.
Repentance is an action inspired and motivated by sorrow over and for sin, and its ugly hold on our lives.
God desires for each of us to humbly repent with a broken, contrite, crushed and sorrowing heart.
When we recognize our inability to fix ourselves to overcome sin and we see the filth it produce in our hearts…
Then we can pray, as David did, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
(Acts 2:37) we read where early believers were “cut to the heart” by the realization of their sins, and asked what to do about them.
Peter gave “a call to repentance” and the steps needed for becoming a wholehearted follower of Christ…
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins… and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
God promises to change our hearts, if we will let him, if we will respond to Him.
He promises to give us a new heart and a joyous future.
As God said in Ezekiel: “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19)
Our hard and stony heart must be replaced by a “broken contrite heart” so God can create in us a clean, pure, healthy heart that is wholly devoted to God.
The beauty of this as well, is that we don’t have to do it on our own.
According to (Isaiah 28:10)… God sends the Holy Spirit to lead us, quicken us, remind us and strengthen us to cleanse our hearts and starts a process of changing them spiritually… little by little, line up on line, precept upon precept.
All we have to do is be a willing and obedient recipient.
Paul says that God wants to write “His beneficial laws” on our hearts.
(2nd Corinthians 3:3)… says, that He will (through the Holy Spirit) “write on tablets of flesh”, that is, “of the heart”.
This healing, this heart transplant, is only possible because of God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice.
Jesus said, “He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18).
By doing this, He fulfills the wonderful promise of (Psalm 147:3) “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Broken, bruised, repentant hearts are necessary for the transformation and healing God has in mind for each of us.
If we approach Him “contritely”, (when we approach Him with the right attitude), ”He can create in us pure, sound, living, “peaceful hearts” that will rejoice forevermore”.
Jesus said “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
(Psalm 105:3) tells us that In the end, “our hearts will rejoice”.
(Philippians 4:7) says that we will experience “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”
While (Psalm 16:11) says that we will and find “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore”
In my travels, I meet many whom are searching for answers continually.
Maybe your one of them today reading this blog/devotional, and your wondering what it is that is “eluding you”, keeping you, from experiencing all the that Heaven will allow?
As Paul talked about in His encouragement to the Corinthian Church, (1st Corinthians 2:9) “the eyes has not seen and the ear has not heard nor has it entered into the heart of man all the things that God has prepared for those that love Him”.
Perhaps your like King Solomon who wrote the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Ecclesiastes… and you have come to the realization that “life is folly” or meaningless, there’s something missing!
(Ecclesiastes 2:23) “So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it.
This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
All their days their work is grief and pain… even at night their minds do not rest… this too is meaningless”.
John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1st John 3:1)
Jesus said His followers don’t need to “be troubled in heart”, because He is going “to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2)
The God who inhabits eternity and dwells in the high and holy place, wants to live with us and in us!
(Psalm 51:17) “a broken and contrite heart… these O God, You will not despise”.
What about you… have you had “a change of heart”?
Do you need a “spiritual heart transplant”.
Do you consider yourself a “Christian” or a “child of God”?
Then you must have a heart like God, not a heart filled with the nature of the world.
(2nd Corinthians 5:17) “if any man is in Christ He is a new creation, old things pass away and behold all things become new”!
God wants to change your heart…
Will you let Him?
Good day!
(Psalm 51:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart… these O God, You will not despise”.
When King David recognized the enormity of his sin with Bathsheba and his “attempted cover-up” that ended with her husband’s death... he cried out to God in deep repentance.
In (Psalm 51) David prays, or cries out saying, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart…these O God, You will not despise”.
What did he mean by this statement or declaration?
Why does God value this kind of sacrifice much more than the traditional “burnt offerings” that were demanded as a price for sin under the Old Covenant?
David used similar words years earlier in praising God for protecting him from the Philistine King of Gath.
He wrote... “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18)
The truth is, God highly values those who are “contrite of spirit” or “those who have a right attitude”!
In the book of Isaiah, God shows how highly He values those who are contrite...
“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.
I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15)
"For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist says the Lord... But on this one will I look... on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at, (reverences), my word’” (Isaiah 66:2).
The Good News Translation puts (Isaiah 66:2) this way, “I myself created the whole universe!
I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant, who fear me and obey me.”
God loves us and wants us to change from following the way that leads to death, (Proverbs 14:12)… (Proverbs 16:25) and instead, to follow the Bible and its beneficial laws that lead to life.
That being following the way of Jesus and being obedient to “His way” (John 14:6)
God wants us to have “a humble spirit” that is willing to change, as well as to have a reverence and love of His Word, which reveals truth.
(John 17:17) “Sanctify them through thy truth… thy word is truth”.
As Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, God is looking for true worshippers who worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
So what is a contrite heart?
The Hebrew words translated “heart” referred to “a person’s inner being.
In the Hebrew culture, the heart was the seat of the affections, will, and mind.
In these passages, the word “spirit” also refers to our inner being, our disposition or our “attitude” toward life.
So having a contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness.
It means being humble and teachable.
(Psalm 51:17)can be translated… “chastened heart”, “humbled heart”, “repentant heart”, “sorrowful heart”.
If you have time this morning, turn to Psalm 34 and read another one of David’s “prayers of contrition” which describe vividly the humble and contrite heart, and the benefits that overtake such a one.
In essence, having a contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness.
It means being humble and teachable.
It means hitting bottom and realizing that only God and following “His way”, can turn things around for us.
Being crushed, bruised and broken is a prerequisite for being healed, forgiven and transformed.
With all of these descriptions of “contrition” or “contrite of heart”, we must understand that the Bible is talking about our attitude.
A contrite heart is a heart with the right attitude!
God called David a man after His own heart (1st Samuel 13: 14) - (Acts 13:22)
In addition to Psalm 51... here are quotes from a few of David’s other heartfelt “Psalms of repentance” and “contrition” that we can learn from.
His was and is an attitude with which we would do well to copy or imitate in our society today!
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
When I kept silent (about my sin), my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:1-5).
“There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. … For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin” (Psalm 38:3-4, 18).
“For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up… they are more than the hairs of my head… therefore my heart fails me” (Psalm 40:12)
“Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant… I was like a beast before You.
Nevertheless I am continually with You… You hold me by my right hand.
You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:21-24).
Take some time as well to read Job’s heartfelt prayer in (Job 42:1-6) and Daniel’s prayer of repentance in (Daniel 9:3-19).
These great Patriarchs and hero’s of faith all had one thing in common... a contrite and humble heart before God!
They had “a right attitude.”
Unfortunately we live in a society to day that is puffed up with arrogance, pride, and selfish ambition and willfulness!
It’s a selfish me, me, me, mentality… that continually thumbs it’s nose at God and anything to do with submission, obedience, or self denial concerning our perceived “right” to pleasure.
Paul warns of this in (2nd Timothy 3:1-5) when he says "But mark this… there will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves… lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous... without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good… but treacherous, rash, conceited... lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God… having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Have nothing to do with them”!
So let me ask you this morning this provocative thought.
Do you have a heart like David, Job, or Daniel?
Do you have “a right attitude” toward humble obedience and submission to the God of the ages?
Or are you still filled with the carnal, wicked, selfish, willful, arrogant, nature of the world.
Maybe it’s time to do some “self evaluation” and spend a little time before the feet of our Master, our Lord, our Saviour "Jesus Christ" ... and ask Him to show you those things that are contrary in your life to having a humble and contrite heart.
Good day!
(Proverbs 9:9) ‘Teach the wise, and they will become even wiser.’
Whether we consider ourselves to be academic or not, it’s important for us to keep learning and
keep developing wisdom.
The Bible says “Teach the wise, and they will become even wiser”
Sometimes we can come up with excuses for not developing our minds and
growing intellectually.
But God gave us minds which are capable of learning new things.
Learning is very important to God.
In fact, in (Hosea 4:6 ) God says “My people will be destroyed, because they have
no knowledge”.
Now understand that God isn’t asking us to reach a certain level of academic achievement.
We don’t need to achieve a certain grade in our exams in order to be used by God.
But He wants us to be eager to learn rather than wasting time on things that don’t help us to grow spiritually.
Formal education is only one stage in the process of becoming a wise person.
Much of life has been professionalized and institutionalized and we easily slip into the notion that it is the responsibility of some educational teacher, professor, or some institution to impart to us wisdom.
You can see this mindset in the fact that “continuing education” is thought to be only possible under the watchful eye of professionals in institutions.
The implication seems to be that wisdom and understanding are something you purchase with tuition and class fees, rather than being a daily, lifelong process of growth.
But what I want to stress this morning is that we should never be content with the wisdom we attained through formal education, and we should not think that the only way to grow in our understanding is by taking more courses.
(James 4:4) teaches us that “the wisdom of his world is at enmity with God”
(Proverbs 4:5) “When the wise man says "Get wisdom, get insight”… he does not mean, "go to school, take more courses."
That might be part of God's plan for you but for most of us it is not.
Yet the command comes to us all… "Get wisdom!"
So what does this mean, how shall we do it, and why is it so important?
The Bible says in (Proverbs 27:17) “As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other”
To grow and become sharp, to develop Godley wisdom we need people in our lives who sharpen us.
We need to think about who we’re spending time with.
Are they encouraging us to learn more about God?
Are they helping us move forward on our faith journey?
I believe all of humanity have one thing in common… and that is that we all want to be happy.
We don’t all all agree on what brings the greatest happiness, but we all do long to have it.
And this longing is not bad… it is good, but our pursuit of happiness is not found in attaining mans wisdom.
Evil consists in trying to find happiness in ways that displease and dishonor God.
Goodness consists in finding happiness in ways that please and honor God.
God has established this world in such a way that doing good through faith in Christ, always leads to greater happiness eventually.
How ever we are living in a world today that says we must choose between our own wisdom and God's glory to achieve happiness.
(Proverbs16:25) and (Proverbs 14:12) tell us “There is a way which seems right unto a man but the end there of is death”
God has created this world and given moral laws in such a way that the more we choose to glorify God, the happier we will be.
The reason that getting wisdom is important, is that it is through practical knowledge that we gain true and lasting happiness.
(Proverbs 3:13) says, "Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gets understanding."
(Proverbs 24:13-14) says, "My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul, and if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off."
Wisdom comes from time spent with God.
Having said that… to get wisdom is to saturate our soul with Godly principles His word, prayer and meditation, and the fellowship of other believers whom influence our thinking
As we do this the Holy Spirit whom lives with in each of us will help us grow in wisdom and understanding.
Wisdom comes from reading the Bible.
(Proverbs 19:8) says, "He who gets wisdom loves himself." In other words, do yourself a favor… Get wisdom! Get wisdom! Get wisdom!
(Proverbs 8:32–36) sums it all up beautifully... "And now, my sons, listen to me. Happy are those who keep my ways… Happy is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
For he who finds me, finds life and obtains favor from the Lord… but he who misses me injures himself”
Let’s just make sure we’re always open to learning more about God and His Word.
As (Proverbs 16:16) puts it, "To get wisdom is better than gold… to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver."
It is a matter of life and death.
The ultimate, and eternal happiness that all people long for is truly found by those who first "get wisdom."
Wisdom must go beyond knowing and doing the Word of God.
Gods wisdom gives us a sensitive, mature judgment or discernment of how the fear of the Lord should work itself out in all the circumstances of life not specifically dealt with in the Bible.
There has to be what Paul calls in (Romans 12:2) a "renewing of the mind" which is then able to examine and approve the will of God.
He calls this "spiritual wisdom" in (Colossians 1:9) "We have not ceased to pray for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding."
The wisdom we develop from knowing God's Word and the wisdom which discerns the way we live in this world when there is no clear word from God are not separate.
It is precisely by saturating our minds and hearts with God's Word that we gain the spiritual wisdom to guide us in all situations.
So in summary, when the Bible say’s "Get wisdom"… it is referring to the practical knowledge of how to attain true and lasting happiness under the direct influence of God, the Holy Spirit and his Word found in the scriptures.
It begins with the fear of the Lord… and continues in the humble obedience of doing God's will… perceived both from scripture and the guiding and influence of the Holy Spirit.
Such wisdom is essential because the person who has it finds life and joy, but the person who doesn't, finds only emptiness and misery.
Therefore, “Get wisdom”!
Pursue “Gods wisdom”!
Good Day!
The Bible says “Teach the wise, and they will become even wiser”
Sometimes we can come up with excuses for not developing our minds and
growing intellectually.
But God gave us minds which are capable of learning new things.
Learning is very important to God.
In fact, in (Hosea 4:6 ) God says “My people will be destroyed, because they have
no knowledge”.
Now understand that God isn’t asking us to reach a certain level of academic achievement.
We don’t need to achieve a certain grade in our exams in order to be used by God.
But He wants us to be eager to learn rather than wasting time on things that don’t help us to grow spiritually.
Formal education is only one stage in the process of becoming a wise person.
Much of life has been professionalized and institutionalized and we easily slip into the notion that it is the responsibility of some educational teacher, professor, or some institution to impart to us wisdom.
You can see this mindset in the fact that “continuing education” is thought to be only possible under the watchful eye of professionals in institutions.
The implication seems to be that wisdom and understanding are something you purchase with tuition and class fees, rather than being a daily, lifelong process of growth.
But what I want to stress this morning is that we should never be content with the wisdom we attained through formal education, and we should not think that the only way to grow in our understanding is by taking more courses.
(James 4:4) teaches us that “the wisdom of his world is at enmity with God”
(Proverbs 4:5) “When the wise man says "Get wisdom, get insight”… he does not mean, "go to school, take more courses."
That might be part of God's plan for you but for most of us it is not.
Yet the command comes to us all… "Get wisdom!"
So what does this mean, how shall we do it, and why is it so important?
The Bible says in (Proverbs 27:17) “As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other”
To grow and become sharp, to develop Godley wisdom we need people in our lives who sharpen us.
We need to think about who we’re spending time with.
Are they encouraging us to learn more about God?
Are they helping us move forward on our faith journey?
I believe all of humanity have one thing in common… and that is that we all want to be happy.
We don’t all all agree on what brings the greatest happiness, but we all do long to have it.
And this longing is not bad… it is good, but our pursuit of happiness is not found in attaining mans wisdom.
Evil consists in trying to find happiness in ways that displease and dishonor God.
Goodness consists in finding happiness in ways that please and honor God.
God has established this world in such a way that doing good through faith in Christ, always leads to greater happiness eventually.
How ever we are living in a world today that says we must choose between our own wisdom and God's glory to achieve happiness.
(Proverbs16:25) and (Proverbs 14:12) tell us “There is a way which seems right unto a man but the end there of is death”
God has created this world and given moral laws in such a way that the more we choose to glorify God, the happier we will be.
The reason that getting wisdom is important, is that it is through practical knowledge that we gain true and lasting happiness.
(Proverbs 3:13) says, "Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gets understanding."
(Proverbs 24:13-14) says, "My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul, and if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off."
Wisdom comes from time spent with God.
Having said that… to get wisdom is to saturate our soul with Godly principles His word, prayer and meditation, and the fellowship of other believers whom influence our thinking
As we do this the Holy Spirit whom lives with in each of us will help us grow in wisdom and understanding.
Wisdom comes from reading the Bible.
(Proverbs 19:8) says, "He who gets wisdom loves himself." In other words, do yourself a favor… Get wisdom! Get wisdom! Get wisdom!
(Proverbs 8:32–36) sums it all up beautifully... "And now, my sons, listen to me. Happy are those who keep my ways… Happy is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
For he who finds me, finds life and obtains favor from the Lord… but he who misses me injures himself”
Let’s just make sure we’re always open to learning more about God and His Word.
As (Proverbs 16:16) puts it, "To get wisdom is better than gold… to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver."
It is a matter of life and death.
The ultimate, and eternal happiness that all people long for is truly found by those who first "get wisdom."
Wisdom must go beyond knowing and doing the Word of God.
Gods wisdom gives us a sensitive, mature judgment or discernment of how the fear of the Lord should work itself out in all the circumstances of life not specifically dealt with in the Bible.
There has to be what Paul calls in (Romans 12:2) a "renewing of the mind" which is then able to examine and approve the will of God.
He calls this "spiritual wisdom" in (Colossians 1:9) "We have not ceased to pray for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding."
The wisdom we develop from knowing God's Word and the wisdom which discerns the way we live in this world when there is no clear word from God are not separate.
It is precisely by saturating our minds and hearts with God's Word that we gain the spiritual wisdom to guide us in all situations.
So in summary, when the Bible say’s "Get wisdom"… it is referring to the practical knowledge of how to attain true and lasting happiness under the direct influence of God, the Holy Spirit and his Word found in the scriptures.
It begins with the fear of the Lord… and continues in the humble obedience of doing God's will… perceived both from scripture and the guiding and influence of the Holy Spirit.
Such wisdom is essential because the person who has it finds life and joy, but the person who doesn't, finds only emptiness and misery.
Therefore, “Get wisdom”!
Pursue “Gods wisdom”!
Good Day!
(Philippians 1:6) “And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns”.
God is committed to the task of conforming you and I to the image of His Son.
Now understand… its not a physical transformation.
He’s not making us look like Jesus looked physically on the outside… but inwardly in character, in patience, in gentleness, in goodness, in grace, in truth, in discipline.
He’s committed to conforming our lives to the inner character of His Son.
Years ago I worked as a millwrights helper and would watch as modern technology and fabricators worked together to create certain parts and tools that were needed for the many upgrades and or repairs that were underway
One of the lathes I learned to operate was a tracer lathe.
It had an air-controlled “finger” that traced its way along a fixed template.
The template was an exact pattern of what was to be turned out on the lathe.
And as this very sensitive little finger followed along the template, its every movement caused the tool that was cutting the metal to cut that exact shape.
When it was finished, we had a finished product from the lathe that was a precise replica of the template.
Spiritually speaking… that is the Father’s specialty.
He places His finger on the template… His Son… and He watches over His workmanship.
At times the tool bites in, causing the heat to increase because of the friction.
We squirm and may even try to get away.
But we are His workmanship, and the Father won’t let us go.
He holds us tightly in the lathe of His will.
His goal is that we bear the image of His Son.
That’s the Father’s task or main purpose in our relationship with Him.
He’s committed to it.
Little by little… line upon line He’s changing us.
Another verse brimming with encouragement is (Ephesians 2:10) which says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them”
Look again at those first five words: “For we are His workmanship.”
We’re His project.
He’s got His eye on us.
He knows what our tomorrow holds.
He knows what the year will hold for us.
And He is working on His project all year long.
He’s shaping and moulding and making us like He wants us to become and He knows what we need to accomplish the task
The key to a finished product is the ability to stay in Him… let Him have His way… submit to His way… His will… and try to put Him first in every aspect of our lives.
Good Day
(Galatians 2:20), “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me"
The apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me… and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
What does Jesus Christ do when we allow Him to live in us?
Well one thing for sure is that He does not live our lives for us and He doesn’t make our choices for us.
No!
The Bible makes it clear that we are to be the temple and abode of God (2nd Corinthians 6:16)… but how does Christ live in us?
Well as Paul writes in (Romans 8:9-11) it is through “The Holy Spirit,”
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.
And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of Him (God) who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead (God) will also give life to your mortal bodies “because of His Spirit” who lives in you”.
The Bible makes it clear that we are to be "the temple" or "the abode" of God.
(2nd Corinthians 6:16) “for ye are the temple of the living God… as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them… and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
But again…how do God and Christ live in us?
The answer is through the Holy Spirit who “indwells” us… and to the degree to which we submit to the Holy Spirit, and we follow the leading of God’s Spirit, and let Him set up residence in our lives… thats the degree to which we will become more like Him in nature, character, spirit, attitudes, approach and love.
What all the scriptures on this subject reveal, is that Jesus Christ’s life will be in us as we seek to make His way of life our way of life… to walk as He walked, to live as He lived.
(1st John 2:6) “Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.”
The Apostle John wrote this epistle to address false teachings and to distinguish true believers from those who merely profess faith.
By instructing believers to “walk as Jesus walked” or “to live as Jesus lived… John emphasizes that authentic faith is inseparable from right or righteous living.
This instruction counters early Gnostic tendencies that separated spiritual knowledge from moral behavior, reinforcing that belief in Jesus must be accompanied by action
The Bible also calls this “putting off the old man and putting on the new man"
(Ephesians 4:22-24) “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires… and to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
The more we depend on the Holy Spirit to become like Christ, the more His life will be in us and, thus, the more He lives in us.
But that process “is under our will and control”... not His.
God wants us to “choose” to live as Jesus lived by our own free choice.
This involves humbly, earnestly seeking to become like Jesus Christ so His life becomes our life.
God’s desire is for each of us is to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29)
(1st Corinthians 16:19-20) says “We are not our own we are bought with a price!”
That price was the precious blood of Jesus!
In keeping with this thought is (Colossians 1:27)… “To them God has chosen to make known the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The Father and Jesus Christ seek to lead us through the power of the Holy Spirit, by revealing knowledge and understanding and giving us the spiritual strength to change and live righteously.
But God will not force us to live this way... it is our free choice.
We have to “want to", we must “seek” to have the Holy Spirit become the motivating factor within each of us, for Him to give us the help we need to achieve that end.
We must want for, long for, and purpose in our heart, to have or find or develop “the desire” to change.
A 100 percent commitment of heart to change, that is the only thing we can bring to the table.
As we read in (Philippians 2:13) “For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure”,
This means we must long for and cry out to God, for the help we need to change.
We cannot and we must not submit or give in to the lie of the devil that says “this is the way I was born and I can’t help it… It’s just the way I am!”
John said, “In Him was life… and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).
Jesus Christ’s life illuminates the path… the way in which God wants us to live.
He calls each of us to the path... but we must want to get on it.
If we do, when we do, He will give us all the help we need to grow.
But again, only if we seek it… and desire after it.
He will not force the help on us... nor will He “arbitrarily” make the changes we need to make for us.
Many seem to believe that just saying a simple prayer becomes an automatic free pass, and that Jesus does or will do everything for us.
To many of us do not put an earnest effort into “seeking to change” to become like Jesus Christ.
Paul writes in (Ephesians 2:10) “for you have been created unto good works”.
The heart and core of Christianity is the fact that we must be “diligently seeking to change”, to become like Jesus Christ, to have His life formed in us.
(2nd Corinthians 13:5) “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith… test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you”?
This fundamental truth of “seeking to change” is not understood by the many who think that “Christ living in us” means, He takes over.
No!
Jesus Christ does not just “possess” us as in demons possessing people.
The Christian life involves using “our own free” to will allow the Holy Spirit to have free reign in us… helping us to develop “Christian character” through right choices.
Christ lives in us only to the degree we use or allow the Holy Spirit to have His life in us, and to live as He lived.
So my question for you to do is, “Do you have the want to”?
Good Day!
(John 14:6) “I am the way the truth and the life”
The Christian way of life is the best way of life possible!
Jesus said He came so His followers “may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10)
In John (8:36) He said “Him whom the Son sets free is free indeed”.
God’s way of living, has great benefits for this life and offers “pleasures forevermore” (1st Timothy 4:8) (Psalm 16:11)
But that doesn’t mean that Christian living is easy… and the challenges and difficulties of “this way of life”, come to help us grow, develop patience and perseverance, and to have Jesus Christ’s mind and the character of God grow in us.
They come to make us stronger spiritually and to mature in ways that the easy life never can.
We are to learn to think and act like God because He wants us to be His children forever!
God gave us the Bible to teach us the best way to live and to give us examples of others to learn from.
The good and bad examples in the scriptures can make what may seem to be abstract principles, come to life.
I write these articles each day to lead you into His Word, help you build an understanding of His ways… that will help you understand biblical principles for dealing with the challenges of life.
(1st Timothy 4:8) “but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come”.
(Psalm 16:11) “You make known to me the path of life” you will fill me with joy in your presence and with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
It is my prayer each morning, that these devotional topics will challenge you and help you build a stronger and better understanding of God and the relationship He wants us all to enjoy with Him.
That they will challenge you to stretch your faith.
(Psalm 16:11) “You make known to me the path of life” you will fill me with joy in your presence and with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
It is my prayer each morning, that these devotional topics will challenge you and help you build a stronger and better understanding of God and the relationship He wants us all to enjoy with Him.
That they will challenge you to stretch your faith.
That they will help you grow in the knowledge of “God’s way” and to mimic, practice and act upon them.
God’s way is the way of love… it’s the way of peace.
Humans have yearned for and struggled to attain peace, but still it has eluded us.
History is the story of human conflict, violence and war.
Even times of relative peace, seem in the long-run, to have been nothing more than the preparation period for the next war.
It’s not that the human heart doesn’t long for peace, or that many individuals haven’t devoted themselves to trying to “mediate” conflicts and promote peace.
Those who work ceaselessly for peace are to be applauded, but their efforts are too often in vain.
The Bible accurately described the human condition in (Romans 3:17) “The way of peace they have not known.”
The Bible accurately described the human condition in (Romans 3:17) “The way of peace they have not known.”
The Bible explains how our first parents rejected God’s “peaceful way” and were deceived into accepting the “deadly, destructive way”, foisted on humanity by the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
And ever since, violence and war have been the result of this wrong, selfish way of thinking.
The Bible tells us that Satan, humanity’s greatest adversary, currently rules this world, and broadcasts his attitude of hate and violence into the minds of men… (Revelation 12:9) “that ancient serpent called the devil, or?Satan, who leads the whole world astray”.
His influence helps amplify our natural selfishness to a fevered pitch as described by James:
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” (James 4:1).
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” (James 4:1).
But Jesus Christ desires the opposite attitude for His followers… “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
God wants His children to learn “that way” and to enjoy its benefits and to become like Him.
By practicing Christian living, we learn to control our emotions and grow in spiritual maturity.
As we grow as we mature, we demonstrate the reality of a relationship with God to the world around us… the values that Christ has, and the love He extends to humanity.
It’s a way that this world hasn’t known (Romans 3:17), but it’s a way that God reveals throughout the Bible.
It’s the way our loving God wants and commands us to live and the benefits are “out of this world” and are priceless.
Jesus spoke in (John 14:6) Saying “I am the way”.
So in the days ahead I’m going to look at some of the ways we can live that will help us grow into mature believers
Godly ways, spiritual ways, “ways” that are not of this worlds thinking but they are “ways”, that will help us to be effective witnesses of His love and peace to our society.
Ultimately, “the way” to His redemption and salvation for humanity.
Good Day!
(2nd Corinthians 7:10) “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.”
There’s a difference between confessing your sin and repenting of it.
In Scripture, the word repentance means “to turn away from sin.”
By confessing your sin, you acknowledge what you have done… by repenting… you turn away from it.
And the good news is that there’s no limit to God’s forgiveness.
The moment you ask for it, you receive it.
But here is the thing.
God doesn’t intend for you to keep repeating your sinful patterns over and over again.
That’s where “godly sorrow” comes in.
Paul wrote, “You sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you” (2nd Corinthians 7:11).
Paul is not asking a question here, he is stating a fact.
When you sorrow over sin, it changes you!
The purpose of Godly sorrow is to bring us to bring us to a place where we are broken, submitted, obedient and pliable.
God does not want us to walk in shame or defeated condemnation.
But he does want us to be a people whose “desire in life” is to rise above sin and its “mastery” over us.
He wants us to allow Him (God) to “conform us” (Romans 8:29) “to the image of His Son.”
When we are filled with Godly sorrow over our sinful ways, we are like Paul whom cried out in (Romans 7) “why is it the things I want to do I don’t and the things I don’t want to do I do?
Oh God who will deliver me from this wretched body of flesh.”
Paul isn’t giving us headline news of disgraceful misconduct here, but is sharing his personal awareness of the power of indwelling sin, experienced as “sinful desire”.
This sinful desire is with us till the day we die.
The world puts it this way. “It’s just the way I am.
But friend you don’t have to be that way.
You don’t have to accept the old conditions.
Paul writes also in (2nd Corinthians 5:17) “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Old things
pass away and ‘behold’ (watch, take note) ‘all things’ become new.”
Our problem is that we tend to roll over and allow sin to continue in our mortal bodies, rather than “fight the good fight of faith”.
You can change! You can be different! You can rise above your old nature.
But it takes “Godly sorrow over sin” to “develop the desire” to want to overcome sin and this worlds evil nature of sin.
However… we can’t do it on our own!
Paul writes in (Romans 8:9-11) “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you… but if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
You need the indwelling spirit of God to lead you, to caution you, to reveal to you the deception of sin.
The world says “there is a way which seems right unto a man” (Proverbs 16:25 and Proverbs 14:12)
(Hebrews 11:1) says that “for without faith it is impossible to please God!
Faith means “going outside ourselves “
(Romans 7:18) As Paul writes “there’s no innate good within us” and we must flee sin daily, yes hourly, yes every waking moment!
We must rest in Christ, not only for justification and deliverance, but for power to overcome sin…
Our problem is that we tend to roll over and allow sin to continue in our mortal bodies, rather than “fight the good fight of faith”.
You can change! You can be different! You can rise above your old nature.
But it takes “Godly sorrow over sin” to “develop the desire” to want to overcome sin and this worlds evil nature of sin.
However… we can’t do it on our own!
Paul writes in (Romans 8:9-11) “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you… but if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
You need the indwelling spirit of God to lead you, to caution you, to reveal to you the deception of sin.
The world says “there is a way which seems right unto a man” (Proverbs 16:25 and Proverbs 14:12)
(Hebrews 11:1) says that “for without faith it is impossible to please God!
Faith means “going outside ourselves “
(Romans 7:18) As Paul writes “there’s no innate good within us” and we must flee sin daily, yes hourly, yes every waking moment!
We must rest in Christ, not only for justification and deliverance, but for power to overcome sin…
there is no victory or “fruitfulness” in life” apart from Him.
The inference here is that God wants us to live and learn and act like His children, and it all starts with Godly sorrow for the condition we are in and repentance the key to change
Godly sorrow simply makes us keenly aware of our situation and causes us to be more diligent when it comes to changing or curbing our behavior.
When you allow sin into your life, you violate your core of righteousness, your core of integrity, who you are in Christ…
The inference here is that God wants us to live and learn and act like His children, and it all starts with Godly sorrow for the condition we are in and repentance the key to change
Godly sorrow simply makes us keenly aware of our situation and causes us to be more diligent when it comes to changing or curbing our behavior.
When you allow sin into your life, you violate your core of righteousness, your core of integrity, who you are in Christ…
Satan tries to keep bringing us down to His level by using our old nature against us.
But never forget that God came down to our level at the cross so He could lift us with Him into “Heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 2:6)
“God… made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2nd Corinthians 5:21).
You’re a “regenerated spirit” living in an “un-regenerated body”, and when you permit or allow sin into your life, it violates the very core of who you are!
Or at least it should!
And that will cause you “Godly sorrow”, leading to repentance and a turning away from sin.
Don’t settle for saying… “This is just a habit I can’t break, but it’s okay because God will forgive me.”
Yes, God will forgive you, but He doesn’t want you to “settle for a cycle of sin”, repentance, forgiveness, and then repeat it all over again.
He wants you to be strong and effective… filled with victory in His service.
It is the person filled with the Spirit and yielded to Christ that will find that victory!
It is the person that says, “I live, but it is no longer I that lives… but Christ that lives in me.
And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God… Who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
The key to victory over sin is “Christ in you”, the “Holy Spirit in you” and submitting to His leading.
What must come from us… is the “want to”
Good Day!