Tuesday, June 17, 2008

That You May Have Peace-In Him

Jesus said in John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Isn't that a wonderful promise from Jesus? In Him we can have peace even though we are in the world and going through tribulation because he already overcame the world. He beat death and we are victors with Him! So no matter what you are going through in this world, take heart because He is there for you and has sent His Holy Spirit to be with you. No matter what mistakes we make or what comes against us. He loves us. We are chosen by Him.

I am on lesson 4 of the Ephesians study and enjoying it very much. God is speaking to me about so many things that I have gone through, am going through and will go through, for I am still on this earth for a time and the tribulations and trials will not end until He either comes again or I go home to be with Him. Since I know neither date, I just have to walk in faith and trust God to be there for me.

There are so many temptations out there and one of them is to get wrapped up in the worlds ways of doing things. And having bad attitudes towards others that may not agree with us. But I desire to be different and to fight those temptations. I only want to feel towards others the way Jesus does. The only way I can do that is to allow the Holy Spirit to move in me and show me the way. He has been doing that in an amazing way this last week. I could be feeling very upset about some things but I'm not. I am just praying for peace in other peoples lives because I have peace in my heart about things. I know that although I make mistakes God is there for me and He knows I am trying to do His will and trying so hard not to mess up. (but I do anyway) And He knows that my desire to change comes from Him. I have been seeking Him more and more to be close to Him and have a more personal relationship with Him and through that I have grown in many ways.

Does that mean I am saying I am perfect and become all I can be? Not by a long shot. I will not be made perfect until I see Christ again. So I will keep struggling along desiring to be more like Him in all I do. I will falter because I am human and make mistakes. But Christ knows my heart and loves me no matter what.

We, as humans, have a hard time with that concept. We expect people to be perfect. That is an unrealistic expectation. And we judge and condemn those we say we care about in the process because they don't live up to our expectations of them. How sad to put that heavy weight on others. It may be that this happens when we have a heavy weight on our own shoulders that we really don't want to look at and take care of. Like the Bible tells us to remove the plank out of our own eye before we try to remove the speck from a brothers. We see the other peoples faults as unbearable when the plank in our own eye becomes too large to bear. Even if it is something that is hard to deal with, God is there and will see us through it. We must address every issue He brings to our attention so that we can have that peace He desires for us to have. I have been trying my best to allow God to remove the planks from my eyes so that I see others from His loving point of view.

I pray for peace in all of your lives and in my own. Life on this earth is hard. No question there. And each day we have a choice to make. What will we do today that has eternal value? Will we make a difference in other's lives? If you have children or children in your life, what will you give them that day to point them toward the Father above? Towards Jesus who showed us how to live and be light to others? That is something I try to ask myself each morning. I am not always successful in starting my day the right way, but it is my desire to do so. I desire a closer walk with the Lord, daily. I desire to spread His love to others and to point the way to Christ in doing so.

What will your day hold that is eternal? When you are doing your normal everyday activities what can you put in the middle of it that will contain eternal value? Think about it, and share it with me, if you want.

Until next time...blessings to you.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Life In The Spirit: The Spirit and It's Fruit

I just finished up a 15 lesson study on Life in the Spirit with Kay Arthur online. We looked at many verses in the Bible where we see the Spirit and marked them. Today's lesson was on the Spirit and the fruit that is produced when you live in the Spirit instead of the flesh. Kay stated: Life in the Spirit is to have Christ in you by the power of the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you until you see Him face to face.

2 Corinthians 5:9 says: Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

That should be what our lives are like, pleasing to Him. As a human being that is a hard thing to accomplish. But if we live in the Spirit is becomes easier. If we are listening to the Spirit tell us how to act and react to things, then we are on the right path. Yes, we will slip up but it should not be the habit of our lives to follow that other path.

But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Gal 5:22-26

How are we to do that if we are weak? The Bible tells us that Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

That should give us hope because it tells us that we can't do it by our might or our power but by the Spirit of the Lord! Wow!

Well, what about peace? How can we have peace in all things? That is a hard one, right? Nope, same as the rest. Romans 5:1 tells us that Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace through Jesus. He came and gave us so much and much of the time we leave it "on the table" and say "oh, I don't need that, thanks anyway. I am doing just fine on my own." How much we miss out on in our lives when we do not take ALL that Christ offers us. It is a packaged deal, we get it all, not just some of His wonderful gifts.

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ does that mean life will always be easy and we will never have trials and hard times? I am afraid not. Life will not be perfect because we are human and we still have that sinful nature that we have to suppress each and every day that we walk this earth. But the power of the Spirit will give us the ability to overcome the flesh and live in the Spirit and produce those Fruit in our lives.

If you are lost and don't know what Christ did for you, I would be happy to share it with you. How Christ came to earth taking on human form to die for our sins. He died on the cross a sinless man. He rose on the third day and was seen by many. Then he ascended into Heaven and will return one day for all those who choose to believe in Him. He wants all to come to Him. If you know Christ but are still confused as to how you are to live in the Spirit I can give you my notes from the Bible study and we can talk about it. I, like minded with Christ, want none to perish and be lost. The world is getting darker and darker, we need to be that light in the world for others to find so that they, too, can be with Christ in Heaven when He comes again.

Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Psalm 37:5