[ecko_quote source="2 Corinthians 5:20"]So, we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God![/ecko_quote]
In every weekly newsletter of our Shalom Fellowship specifies our slogan “We are Christ’s Ambassadors”. Also,our beloved brother Anil Amatinthala quoted this verse and reminded us in our Fellowship meetings several times. Lately, I have been wondering about what this motto means to us as followers of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Jesus used several titles to address us such as friends, brothers, fellow soldiers, fellow servants and His ambassadors. Each calling has its own significance in the Christian life. In a general sense; an ambassador is a spokesperson or representative of one state who holds the authority to communicate or converse with the authorities of another state. In our context, as an ambassador for Christ, we have been authorised and clothed with divine authority and power to speak His reconciling message of love to the unsaved world (Mark 16:15)
In other words, we are the representatives of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. For us Christians, this world is a temporary home and a foreign country. It is true that we are ambassadors for Christ who represent our King of Heaven and the Heaven itself in this foreign land. Nevertheless, none of us can truly represent our Lord in our own strength, but when He sends us out, we go fully equipped with all the resources of heaven as he is all sufficient.
However, we must consider certain important traits of a true Christ’s ambassador before we claim to be His ambassadors. First, he must be a citizen of heaven. No alien can ever represent our government in a foreign state. The above verse states that true ambassador must be “in Christ”, “a new creation” ... and “redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19) and holds a citizenship of heaven. Secondly, he must be above reproach. Our government never sends out a man of doubtful character. Our Lord requires that His ambassadors should live lives that are above suspicion. He is the object of the closest scrutiny, and in every relationship, he must be blameless. Further,he must not interfere and involved in the worldly matters & activities.
Thirdly, he must be selfless. He must be willing to completely put aside his own interest and personal agenda so that he might do the will of his King. It is the whole determined attitude of our lives, Not I, but Christ lives in me (Galatian 2:20), and his self must die daily (1Cor 15:31). Fourthly, he must be in constant touch with the Throne. An ambassador of this world uses every modern method of communication to ensure his contact with the officials. In the same way, Christ's ambassadors can be in constant contact with the Throne of God by Prayer.
Fifth, he must be steadfast and loyal. He must be willing to suffer for Christ’s sake as Apostle Paul suffered in prison and experienced persecutions. How faithful and how loyal he was to his king. Sixth, he must be diplomatic. Diplomacy is the art of negotiation. We have no wisdom of our own, and we certainly do not have the wisdom needed to win souls and represent the Lord before men. However, we have a great promise that God will fulfil in us if we ask Him for wisdom (James 1:5).
Finally, he must know the language of the people among whom he lives. The language that we, as ambassadors, need to learn is the language of love (Luke 10:33-35)
At an infinite cost to Himself God has made a way of reconciliation possible. That He has done by sending His own Son to die for sin, and through His sacrifice, the barrier of sin has been removed. God and man have been brought together in Christ by His atonement. As Christ’s ambassadors, we need to proclaim this message in this world.
Source: Jonah Ravinder, UEC Ministries and Francis Dixon of Life Ministries.
[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eUA_GotediU/maxresdefault.jpg]
[ecko_quote source="Galatians 2:20 "]I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me[/ecko_quote]
A few weeks ago, while I was working on my office computer, one of the important application was disabled. This application is vital for me to carry out my job. I tried my level best and asked my colleagues for help. Unfortunately, they could not fix the problem either and suggested me contact our helpdesk which is located in Wellington. A lady attended my call. She asked for my identification and my computer ID. After that, she sent me a message which requested for an approval to access my computer. I agreed and gave her the remote access. To my surprise, she was just browsing all around my computer and opening various applications. I was just watching her operating my computer without my interference. She took control of every aspect. She requested me to simply wait while she is fixing the problem. Finally, she identified the trouble and fixed it accordingly.
This incident taught me a spiritual implication of our lives in Christ. In the above incident, I should not interfere with what she was doing. If I did, the computer would crash, or she may withdraw from fixing the problem. Similarly, we should not live but let Christ live in us. The above verse states we have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer we that live, but Christ lives in us. When we provide full access and fully surrender which includes being dead to our will, only then Christ can make a difference in our life. Jesus said in Mathew 6:24” "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. We should no longer live let Christ live in us. If we continue to live, we only encounter defeat in every realm of our lives and would only receive bitter disappointment. Our best efforts and talents will not make us any good. Our system and thought lines are corruptive, and we cannot bring any good from it. The best thing we should do is to let our 'self' die so that Christ can live in us. Therefore, learn the art of surrendering moment by moment knowing that we and the life which we were living in the flesh have been crucified with Christ. And then, we can live with of full of faith in Jesus.
When we are crucified with Christ by faith in Him, we have to completely surrender every selfish desire and ambition to the perfect will of God. Self-promotion and self-pleasing desires are the greatest obstacles between man and salvation. It is because the very nature of man always wants to please himself, and this self-recognition is a building block for sin. All sin erupts from the desire to please self which must be crucified with Christ in surrender to the will of God before salvation can bear fruit. Man, cannot overcome his inherited sinful nature on his own and needs the power and assistance of the Holy Spirit to make this happen, but the surrender of his own will to that of God’s will is essential for the elimination of his own desire’s powerful motivation and enslavement. This is repentance. It is a surrender of one’s own control and will to the power and will of the Holy Spirit that is the beginning of being crucified with Christ.
Not by man’s own effort to battle his corruptible nature, but in surrender of his own will to God’s will (1 Peter 1:23). This proves to be a great challenge for many people because we attempt to control our sinful nature on our own. This only results in repeated fall into the same old, sinful ways from which we are attempting to escape. If it had been possible for a man to overcome his sinful nature with his own power and will, there would not have been any need for Jesus to die for our sins.
salvation is by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8–9).Many Christians want to be obedient but continue to stumble in sin because they try to hang on to parts of their old self which they think they can control. This is a self-defeating rationale that relies on the idea that man saves himself by his own works. The Bible teaches us that nothing a man does can save his soul. Only salvation by the grace of God can (Ephesians 2:8–9).
[http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/737/jesustakewheel.jpg]
[ecko_quote source=" Matthew 11:28-30"]Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My Yoke Is easy and My burden is light[/ecko_quote]
In the light of our previous devotion “The impossibility of Christian life,” the fundamental thing that we have to do is surrender our lives so that Christ can live in and through our lives. Surrender is not the surrendering of the external life, but of our will; when that is done, all is done. There are very few crisis in life; among which the great crisis is the surrender of our will willingly. God never crushes a man’s will into surrender. He never beseeches him; He waits until the man yields up his will to Him. That battle never needs to be refought.
Surrender for deliverance “Come unto Me and I will give you rest”. We begin to experience what salvation means only after we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is perplexing your heart or mind is a call to the will- “Come unto Me”. It is a coming that is done voluntarily.
Surrender for Devotion- “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself”. The surrender here is of ourselves to Jesus i.e. our own selves with His rest at the heart of it. “If you would be My disciple, give up your right of yourself to Me.” Then the remainder of the life is nothing but the manifestation of this surrender. When once the surrender has taken place we won't need to think of "suppose" for anything. We do not need to care what our circumstances are or would be; Jesus is amply sufficient.
Surrender to death (John 21:18-19) …” Another shall gird thee” Have you learned what it means to be bound for death? Beware of a surrender which you make to God in an ecstasy; you are apt to take it back again. It is a question of being united with Jesus in His death until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
After surrender – What? Christ lives in us. The whole of the life after surrender is an aspiration for unbroken communion with God.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him; In His presence, daily live……. I surrender all; I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.
Source: Pastor Jonah Ravinder; The Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers.
[https://whispersfortheheart.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/istock-purchased-surrender.jpg]
[ecko_quote source=" Galatians 2:20"]I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me[/ecko_quote]
Many of us start our Christian life thinking it as very easy. Author and teacher Stuart Briscoe said, When I got saved, it was so wonderful. The burden of sin was gone. Boy, I started out wanting to live for God and be so happy. “It’s wonderful. Here I am, saved. Hallelujah, Jesus! I will never make another mistake. I have been saved; my sins have been forgiven. I have the Holy Spirit in me. This is just wonderful,” I was saying, and then I stumbled and fell. I got discouraged a little bit. I said, “Well, this isn’t as easy as I thought. This is difficult.” And I began to strive and tried to be a better Christian, but again I failed miserably. I stopped saying this is difficult. I hung my head in despair and said, “This is impossible.”
The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that the Christian life is very difficult. I was supposed to love my neighbours. Some of them I hadn’t even got around to liking! God seemed to expect from me a love that would put Him first, and I wasn’t too sure that was what I wanted. Often I pretended all was well when I knew it wasn’t. Then something happened. Reading through my Bible, I have learnt that I had been wrong about the Christian life. First, I thought it was easy. That was wrong. Then I figured it was difficult. But I realised that was wrong too. For the first time in my life, I understood that Christianity was impossible for a human being. Not easy and not difficult, Impossible.
Then God showed me that what He had for me was CHRIST. He had told me to live the impossible because He had given me Christ to whom it was all possible. My inability was the perfect soil for His ability. My defeat was the stage for His victory. My barrenness was the seed plot for His fruitfulness. The answer to my problem was Christ. I got more conscious of my helplessness and failure than ever before. But I was strangely excited to know that the Lord was resident in my weakness and master of my defeat. The next time when I got up to preach, I whispered “Okay, Lord, here we go again. These problems are too big for me but well within your capabilities. I claim your power to triumph” And I began to do just that. God in His goodness had introduced me to a life of faith, trust, and dependence on Lord Jesus. He was becoming increasingly real to me. In fact, that should be the story of the Christian life. Finding it continually impossible to you, but always possible to the One who lives in you, and being excited about being able to prove Him.
A dear friend used to say, we all are the failures that we were meant to be. In other words, our attempts at living the Christian life in own power were always supposed to fail. God never intended for us to succeed by self-effort, self-motivation, and self-striving. We were never designed (of course after Adam's sin) to live holy lives without trusting the Christ who died for us. In short, we cannot live the Christian life without Christ. Only by grace through faith, Christian growth is achieved (Gal. 3:1-5).
When we attempt to live the Christian life in our power, we find it impossible. We grow frustrated. Our up and down experiences of momentary victory and devastating failures prove exhausting. The cycles of perpetual self-confidence/pride and shame/guilt leave us wondering if we are really saved. Then, we realise that our sense of desperation and defeat is what God is waiting for; he wants us to come to the end of ourselves.
God is waiting for us to admit our struggle, repent of our self-sufficiency, and pray for divine help (2 Cor. 12:8-10). It sounds a bit cliché, but God desires for us to stop trying and to start trusting. He wants us to give up striving and struggling to allow Christ to do the impossible: give us liberty and victory over our on-going struggles with sin (2 Peter 1:3-4).
The Lord’s purpose and goal is to allow his Son, Jesus Christ, to live his life in and through us (1 John 4:9). The only person who ever successfully lived the Christian life was Christ himself. Therefore, we need to allow Christ to live his life in and through us for victory over sin, power over temptations, and anointing for ministry (Gal. 2:20).
The Christian life can only be explained in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you, your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarships, your dedication, your sacrifices, or your anything... Then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it!
You know what? Mr Briscoe was right. The Christian life is impossible, without Christ. You see, when Mr Briscoe discovered that God is the God of the impossible and that Jesus Christ was in Him, he then stopped trying, started trusting, and let the Lord Jesus Christ live His life through him. He also stopped saying Christian life as impossible and started saying, “This is wonderful!”
Source: Jonah Ravinder; Mr Stuart Briscoe
[http://www.yahwehclub.com/uploads/5/0/8/2/50821077/825_orig.jpg]
[ecko_quote source=" Proverbs 29:23"]A person’s pride will humble him but a humble spirit will gain honour[/ecko_quote]
Pride is the great enemy of the Christian. It motivates you to do things that you know are not Christlike, and it hinders you from doing what brings glory to God. Pride influenced Adam and Eve to try to become like God (Genesis 3:5). Pride motivated Cain to murder his brother (Genesis 4:5) Pride provoked Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery (Genesis 37:8). Pride caused King Saul to resent David so deeply that he even tried to murder him (1Samuel 18:8). Pride led King Hezekiah to foolishly reveal his nation’s wealth to his enemies (Isaiah 39:2), Pride was at the root of the Pharisees’ anger toward Jesus. Pride was the reason the disciples argued over rank in the Kingdom (Luke 9:46).
If you succumb to its influence, there will be consequences. You may know that you have offended someone, but pride holds you back from asking forgiveness. You may realise you need to reconcile a broken relationship, but pride will lead you to deny that need. The Holy Spirit may convict you that you are living a sinful lifestyle, but pride will discourage you admitting it. Pride will convince you that you deserve better treatment. Pride will impede your serving others. Instead, pride will have you striving for places of prominence. Pride will have you listen to flatters and ignore honest counsellors. Pride will lead you to isolate yourself so that you are not accountable to others.
Humility, on the other hand, is pleasing to God and places your life in a position where God will honour you. If pride has crept into some areas of your life, ask God to give you victory over it before it robs you of God’s will for you.
Source:Henry T Blackaby
Image Source:
[http://paradoxbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/curso-basico-3.jpg]
[ecko_quote source="Daniel 6:10"]Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days[/ecko_quote]
How can you follow God and thrive in this secular world at the same time? In almost every workplace/ community and the world at large Christians face this question daily and many find the answer so difficult they are tempted to give up. Daniel, the central character of the Book of Daniel, also faced the same question under extreme circumstances and he was successful in every facet of his life.
There are many characters in the Bible such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon. Each one of them had played their roles and left a legacy. The Bible writers described their lives without any reservations both positive and negative aspects of their walk with the Lord for our edification.One of the most interesting characters of the Bible and a role model for the 21st century young Christians is Daniel. He is one of the few well-known Bible characters about whom nothing negative is ever written.
His life was characterised by faith, prayer, courage, consistency and lack of compromise. We can notice some excellent attributes in Daniel's life, great teamwork, (with his three friends); great negotiations,(with the chief of eunuchs in relation to the food matters); respect and honour to the king at the same time making it known to the king about the one true God; Daniel never spoke negatively, not even about his enemies; and of visions and their interpretation .
Daniel, even in youth, displayed these characteristics. He was already considered one of the best among the best. Because of Daniel's obedient and submissive heart, God took him and made him better. In fact, the Bible says that in wisdom and understanding, Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were ten times better than any of the magicians and astrologers in the entire empire.
Daniel knew the importance of remaining pure and undefiled, even in a culture that was saturated with pagan practices and idol worship. It was because of Daniel’s love for God and his commitment to purity that God entrusted Daniel with the ability to understand and interpret dreams and visions. Moreover, this divine ability served Daniel well many times during his service to the king.
Daniel lived a pure and holy in the midst of wicked people. Daniel's world is not much different to our present world. The only difference is that this generation is committing techno and cyber sins using phones, computers and other electronic gadgets erroneously. In this era holiness and pure life are outdated and old fashioned lifestyle which is why we hardly see young people looking for a righteous way of living and greater commitment to God. They want new inspiration, new methods of enjoyment and further they have no time to wait; they want everything in real-time.
The book of Daniel shows Daniel to be a faithful man of God. When King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to destroy all the wise men if one of them did not tell him his dream and interpreted it, Daniel and his friends asked for time so he and his three friends could beseech God in prayer to reveal this information (Daniel 2:18). When God answered his prayer, Daniel remembered to praise and thank God for giving them what they had requested (verses 20-23).
Daniel's lifestyle portrays a modest way of life. Adoption of a modest way of life, so that attachment to money, prestige or power do not stand in the way of risking our jobs or careers if we are pressured to do something contrary to God’s commands, values or virtues. Despite reaching the pinnacle of Babylonian education, position and wealth, Daniel and his friends were constantly ready to lose everything in order to speak and act on God’s word (2:24, 3:12, 4:20, 5:17, 6:10, 21).
The secret of his success both in Godly life and as the Governor in the Kingdom lies in his prayer life. He demonstrated his faith by praying to God even though he knew that doing so would endanger his life! “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed [that no one could petition any god or man except the king for 30 days], he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt on his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Daniel 6:10). I think this was the secret of Daniel's success, and I wish it would be our custom too in this wicked generation.
[http://media.freebibleimages.org/stories/FB_Moody_Daniel_Lions/overview_images/007-moody-daniel-lions.jpg?1446539468]
[ecko_quote source="1 Peter 1:16"]For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy[/ecko_quote]
There are three fundamental principles/truths that every Christian should get the revelation from the Holy Spirit God. Otherwise, your understanding of the Bible will be skewed. Last week we examined one of the principles related to “man’s three-fold nature (spirit, soul, and body). Today let us look at the second aspect - righteousness and holiness. By the way, righteousness and holiness are not the same. In brief, righteousness is what God does for you and holiness is what you do for God. Righteousness is a result of your acceptance of His work, and holiness is a result of Him accepting your works.
Under the New Covenant anyone one who believes and confesses with their mouth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and believes in their heart that God raised Him from the dead, they will be saved (Roman 10:9). The moment a person chooses to believe and confesses the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a supernatural miracle takes place. The Word says “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). This person becomes a new creature or a new person and their spirit is born again. At this point, this born-again person is cleansed from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). If they are cleansed from all unrighteousness, how much unrighteousness do they have? None! Because they are totally cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit God dwells in the heart of a born again Christian and is sealed by the Holy Spirit Himself until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). Further, 1 John 1:5 says” God is light and in Him, there is no darkness at all” That is why an unclean spirit can not possess a Christian. It is because they already have the Holy Spirit God within them. The re-born Christian’s body becomes the home of the Holy Spirit, and He does not share His home with demonic spirits (1Corithians 6:19). The born again Christian cannot sin because God's seed remains in him as he has been born of God (1 John 3:9). I will reiterate once again that a man is a spirit, soul, and body. We can see how our spirit is cleansed through our born again experience and our spirit does not sin. For example, we will not accept and worship other gods even if it costs our lives. While the flesh (body) and soul are still subject to the temptations and addictions of the world.
In this regard, Apostle Paul said a war is taking place between spirit and soul/flesh. While our spirit man is righteous, our flesh (disobedient nature) must be brought into subjection and become holy. “flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want" (Galatians 5:17 NIV).
We will grow in the nature and stature of our Lord Jesus Christ and mature through daily meditation on the word. This will result in an increase of holiness in the Lord. However, we are never any more righteous than the day of our salvation. Righteousness is what we are, and holy is what we become. Righteousness is established and is constant. However, holiness increases through obedience. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We become holy by obedience which activates the grace of God and empowers us to do His will.
Simply put, righteousness is a condition of the born again spirit of man. Holiness is the conscious submission of the flesh to the will of God and is obedient to the whispering voice of the Holy Spirit.
References: Cutting Edge
[http://www.bthebestnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/holy-living.jpg]
[ecko_quote source="I Thessalonians 5:23"]Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit (man’s spirit), and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [/ecko_quote]
Today, I will conclude our series of devotions about “man’s three-fold nature”. Man’s spirit can be educated and improved just like his mind which can be educated and improved. The spirit can be built just how the body can be built through the study of God’s word. We cannot understand spiritual things with our natural minds. Therefore, we could see so many highly educated individuals who find it difficult to comprehend simple engrafted Word of God. The Apostle Paul said,” But the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned (understood) (1Corinthians 2:14). The Word of God was given by the Spirit of God because “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). This is why the natural mind cannot understand God’s Word. The Bible can only be understood with the heart (spirit). We must get the revelation of it in our spirit.
Sometimes we hear a preacher announce that “souls” were saved. However, it is not the soul of man that is saved at that very moment; it is the spirit of man that is born again. However, I am glad that we correctly say in our Telugu language “ఆత్మలు రక్షింపబడినవి”. Then comes a question, what about our souls? In James 1:21-23 the Bible says “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was”. Apostle James was telling believers if they want to get their soul (mind) saved, they must be a doer of the Word, not just hearers only.
As believers who have become new creatures in Christ Jesus, we are spiritually saved, and we have received eternal life. We should then receive the engrafted Word, which will renew, restore, and save our mind, or soul. This is something believers must do for themselves. Therefore, the first step in developing our spirit is to set aside time to meditate the Word and follow the word. Too often we think we can ignore God’s Word and accomplish the job simply by praying. We think if we could pray loudly enough, long enough, and get enough people praying, it will work. However, it will not. Prayer has its place, and I certainly would be the last to belittle the importance of prayer. However, if we are not going to do what God’s Word tells us to do, we can pray forever and ask God to prosper us but it would not be answered.
The world is entertained with movies, games, and sporting events, but movies, games, and sporting events will never transform an alcoholic, will never heal the crippled, or restore a broken life to the fullness. Only the revelation of the Word through the demonstration of power by the Holy Spirit will accomplish this. One of the greatest deceptions of the modern church is the idea that to attract the world; we must show the world that we understand them by looking like and acting like them. The tolerance of sin through the searing of the conscience (1 Timothy 4:1-2) will dullen the message of the gospel and eliminates the need for repentance. Of course, we do not want to be condemning and judgmental, but we cannot accept or ignore sin in order to draw the world to the church.
I have seen Christians spend hours trying to intellectually explain to a nonbeliever why they must repent. While it is good to share the Scriptures, we must never forget that the revelation of the Scriptures only comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember, Paul said that spiritual things could not be understood by the natural mind (1 Corinthians 2:14). This is why Paul did not approach people only through natural persuasive words of wisdom but by the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:4).
We now know that; to develop our spirit life; we begin by meditating on the Word, practice the Word of God in our daily lives, give first place to the Word of God and obey the voice of your spirit. This will develop the inner man. Then the inner man will dominate the outer man. Worry from the outside cannot dominate us when our mind is renewed with the Word of God.
References: Kenneth Hagin and Cutting Edge
[http://biblearchive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/tripartite-01.png]
[ecko_quote source="I Thessalonians 5:23"]Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit (man’s spirit), and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [/ecko_quote]
Today, let's look at what the scriptures say about the body. As stated in our previous devotions, a man’s spirit is the inward man, the part of him that knows God. The physical body is the outward man, the house/ shell in which we live.
As a Christian, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The body not only contains your own spirit within it but also the Holy Spirit which lives within your spirit from the day of your salvation. Your body, while on the earth, is not eternal and it will eventually die and decay. It is like your earth-suit. Just like an astronaut who can only live in space with a space suit your spirit can only stay on earth with an earth suit. An astronaut cannot survive in space if his space suit is destroyed. Likewise, you cannot remain on earth if your body is destroyed. When your body dies, your spirit must depart (James 2:26).
Apostle Paul said in Roman 12:1 “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. He asked us to do something with our bodies; to present our bodies a living sacrifice and it is up to us. If we do not do anything with our bodies, nothing will be done with them. Further, Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new”. Many Christians are trying to get people to join the church as they want them to do better and try to live right.
However, I have never tried to live right because I have been right ever since the time I was born again. The Holy Spirit God would give you the power to live a righteous life. We often hear people say " I live for Jesus" that shows their self-effort like Pharisees who emphasise to put forth self-effort. All we need to say is that " Jesus living in me" that shows a surrendered life. As Christians, we must surrender our ambitions, plans and our will to our Lord. He will make everything beautiful in its time (Eccle 3:11)
Living right is good, but it would not make you a Christian. Siting in Church on Sunday morning will not make you a Christian any more than sitting in your garage will make you an automobile. And this will not take you to heaven but being born again will. Striving to be good on your own is not Christianity, it's a mere religion. Christianity is being born again. Christianity is receiving the gift of eternal life.
Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I keep under my body and bring into subjection”. Here again, Paul is saying that we should do something with our bodies. Then we might ask, “bring the body into subjection to what?” To the inward man. We do not let our body dominate us. We do not let our body rule us. We rule our body. The inward man (spirit) is to rule the body. With most folks, however, their bodies rule them. Moreover, this is what keeps them as baby Christians.
With my spirit, I have a spiritual life, and I know the world above me. With my soul, I have a psychological life, and I know the world around me. With my body, I have physical life, and I am related to the world beneath me. When my spirit is right, I am holy. When my soul is right, I am happy. When my body is right, I am healthy. Our bodies do not belong to us; they are to be dedicated to God.
Do you know what some of us want? We want God to allow us to violate His natural law, and then let us live a healthy life. And if we get sick and ask God to heal us, we think we do not have to be responsible for our personal choices and actions that made us sick in the first place. When you willingly violate the natural laws God has made clear in the Bible, then if you are not careful, you will become a burden to yourself and a burden to your family, and your family will become a burden to others around them. Many people spend the first half of their lives accumulating their wealth by wasting their health. Then they spend the last half of life spending their wealth trying to get their health back! And they remain unhappy in both halves of their lives.
When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it is your spirit that is born again, not your body. Your body will be glorified in the future, but that does not happen until the rapture of the church.
References: Kenneth Hagin and Cutting Edge
[http://biblearchive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/tripartite-01.png]
[ecko_quote source="I Thessalonians 5:23"]Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit (man’s spirit), and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [/ecko_quote]
We will continue our series on man’s three-fold nature – the spirit, soul and body. I covered in our previous devotion on man’s first dimension - the spirit. We have a new spirit now, for our spirits are born of God. But we will have a new body at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a new life now, but we will have a new body then. As we continue our devotion of man’s three-fold nature, today I would like to focus on man’s soul dimension. As I stated earlier, the soul is the intellect. It is man’s sensibilities and will. It is the part of man that reasons and makes him think. It deals with the mental realm. In simple terms, your soul is your mind, your will, your intellect and your emotions/feelings. Your soul is where decisions are made on what you think and what you do. Your soul must decide whether to be led by the flesh (man’s disobedient nature inherited through sin) or to be led by the Spirit. Depending on what your soul decides your body will respond accordingly.
In Romans 12:1, Apostle Paul said “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”. In this verse, Paul teaches us that we have to do something with our bodies and with our minds also. Paul was writing here to be born-again; Spirit-filled Christians. Yet their Christian experience had not affected their bodies or their minds. He told them that they were going to have to do something with their bodies; and with their minds.
God is not going to do anything with our body or our mind. God contacts our spirit. We contact God with our spirit and our spirit (the inward man/hidden man of the heart) becomes a new man in Christ. One of the greatest needs of the church today is that God’s people renew their minds (souls) with the Word of God. This is the reason God put teacher (those who really called to teach) in the Church - to renew our minds. Many times those who teach do so with only a natural knowledge that they have gained from the Bible and other sources. But I am referring here to one of the ministry gifts - those who are called and anointed by the Spirit to teach. So our minds are renewed by two methods. First, one feeding upon God’s Word in our private study and meditation and the second one is being taught by Spirit - anointed teachers.
Even if your spirit is born again and has the Holy Spirit abiding within, if your mind is not renewed with the Word of God, the mind which has been educated through the body and the physical senses will side in with the body against your spirit to keep you a baby Christian. But when the soul has been renewed with the Word of God, the spirit through the renewed mind can control the body. The soul (mind) will then take sides with the spirit because it knows the Word. It is renewed with the Word. It will allow the spirit to dominate. Then God’s Spirit will dominate through man’s spirit.
The man's soul is the weakest area. Therefore, it requires regular renewal through the Word of God. It is the favourite place for the Satan to enter into your thought arena which is your mind. There is absolutely no effort required to get the thoughts, in fact, thoughts would keep on bombarding into our mental realm. Therefore, most of the times we walk by what we see, understand and perceive instead depend on living Word. Pastor Hagin said in his teachings that “if the devil can hold in you in the thought arena (in your soul dimension), he will whip you. If you hold him in the arena of faith (in your spirit dimension), he is the victim.
The Holy Spirit does not dwell in our heads (soul), but in our hearts (spirit). Our head is what hinders us most of the time in receiving the promises of God. The Holy Spirit God does not communicate directly with our mind. The Holy Spirit God is in our spirit and communicates with us through our spirit. Of course, our spirit does influence our intellectual process within.
[http://biblearchive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/tripartite-01.png]
