The Perfection & Renewal Process

Philippians 1:6 (Amplified Bible) And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

Last night I was up late watching TBN and I felt lead to mute the television and read the book of Philippians again. I love the Holy Spirit because He is always so faithful to lead me right to the perfect place in the Word of God so that I can receive His comfort, revelation, and confirmation for my situation. Thank you Lord! The scripture above reminded me that I am a working progress and so are you. He is not finished with us yet. In fact He will be working on us until the day our Lord returns.

The reality is that we are going to make mistakes, stumble, and sin. We are imperfect people living in an imperfect and corrupt world full of temptation. The awesome part is that even though we sin we do not have to worry about being under a spirit of condemnation. You see we have to remember that our High Priest, Christ Jesus, understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings that we do, yet He did not sin. So we can go boldly before the throne to receive His mercy, forgiveness, and grace to help us when we need it most. We can confess our sins to Him because He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (Hebrews 4:15-16, 1 John 1:9)

However, I want to be sure to clarify that just because we know that our Lord is constantly working on us and we are going to make mistakes because of our old sin nature, this does not give us an excuse to compromise the Word of God or to keep on blatantly sinning. The good work that our Lord started in us is that He has created in us a new spirit and given us a new nature. We have new lives in Christ Jesus. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! Our new nature is born and created to be like God-truly righteous and holy. (Romans 6:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 4:24)

Although our spirits have been born again and we have this new nature, this doesn’t mean that we will not still have sinful thoughts, desires, actions, or reactions. This is where Christ will be continually developing and perfecting us through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The perfection and renewal process that our Lord wants to take us through requires that we willingly put aside our selfish ways and follow Him. We can chose to stay baby Christians controlled by our sin nature, acting and living like people of the world, and still needing someone to teach us the basic things about God’s Word. Or we can grow up in the Word and into a full experience of salvation, teaching others to follow Christ. (Hebrews 5:12-14, 1 Peter 2:2, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

The Word of God has promised that He would continue the good work but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do our part. Our part is to choose to throw off our old sinful nature and our former way of life which is dominated by sin. Instead, allow the Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes as we meditate on The Word of God. This is how our Lord is transforming our minds, making us complete, and developing us for His good works and service. The Word of God washes and cleanses us. It is His Word working in us giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. (Ephesians 4:22, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 5:26, Philippians 2:13)

None of us have arrived at perfection. But because we know that our Lord is working in us daily renewing and transforming us into vessels of honor used by our Father in heaven to bring glory to Jesus, we should press on to posses that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed us. Let us all like Paul forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead, pressing on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:12-14)

From the Archives: Abundant Life

“The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

An abundant life is what Jesus came to give us. As believers we can live free from fear, bondage, guilt, shame, debt, strongholds, worry, and anxiety. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to be more than conquerors. The One who lives in us is more powerful than he who lives in this world. We have been given the mind of Christ. When we are surrendered to the Word of God and allow ourselves to be lead by His Spirit we can live the abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

We don’t have to be overcome and defeated by temptation and troubles. We can live free from all strongholds and bondages. However so many Christians live defeated lives. They are struggling with alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, pornography, consumed by debt, lying, unforgiveness, resentment, robbing God of tithe and offerings, and so much more. The enemy is just having a field day with their lives while they just stand by and wonder why this is happening to them. Telling themselves that they’re good Christians because they go to church all the time and volunteer for different ministries.

I spent many years living a scarce Christian life. I allowed myself to be defeated by addictions and destructive emotions. I was in bondage. I allowed myself to get beat up all the time by the devil and his demons. My marriage was in trouble. My family was under severe attack. I knew the Word of God. I had spent several hours, days, months, and years reading it. But I was just a hearer, not a doer of the Word. I was not surrendered to the Word of God or His will for my life. In a lot of ways I had harden my heart to His Word because I still wanted my own way. I did not fully trust Him even after all He has done for me.

I began to seek God’s face about why I was struggling so much. I was tired of playing church. I was tired of allowing the enemy to steal my joy, peace, and mental stability. I decided that instead of just sitting down to read the Word for knowledge of scripture, that I needed to sit down to read the Word expecting God to show me how to improve my life. I would pray before I began to read for God to change my heart and renew my mind through the reading of his Word. I desired more than ever for Him to search every corner of my heart, even the hidden places, and purify me. I began to long for Him to create in me a clean heart. I abandoned my own will and craved His heart and His will for my life.

If we are to walk with God and live a more abundant life now, then we need to surrender ourselves completely to Him. There’s no room for half stepping or compromise. Our emotions, problems, enemies, unforgiveness, addiction, any hindrances, and our complete will must be laid down on the altar and presented as a sacrifice to God. He will honor the sacrifice, cleanse us, and give us new heart that longs to please Him. The joy of our salvation will be renewed. Then we will be able to live this abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

Father, thank you for your sacrifice of Love. We know that this sacrifice was made so that we can live in freedom as conquerors free from any bondage or stronghold. We lay our will down at your feet and ask that Your will be done in our lives. Teach us how to live this life more abundantly. In Jesus name. Amen.

Do Not Let Sin Control You

“Do not let sin control your puny bodies any longer; do not give in to its sinful desires. Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God-every part of you-for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.” Romans 6:12-13

A couple of postings back I wrote on how our Lord gives us 'Do Overs'‘ when we mess up and sin. I feel the need to follow up that posting by clarifying that all though we know that our Lord Jesus is merciful, quick to forgive us, and gives us ‘Do Overs’ when we sin, that does not mean that we are to take advantage of that. His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. We are Christians saved to be living testimonies for the world to see Christ. We are the walking Gospel. Our lives will either be an encouragement and inspiration to others, drawing them to Christ or our lives will be a hindrance to others faith and could possibly be the reason why they stumble and fall away.

We must stay away from sin. We are not to make plans to sin doing things that we know are unpleasing to our Lord. We are called to live holy and pure lives. This is not an impossible request from our Lord. He would never ask us do something that He has not empowered us to do. It is by His power, the power of the Holy Spirit that we can resist the temptation to sin. It is by reading and hearing the Word of God that our minds are renewed and our desires are changed. When we are constantly in the Word we will desire to please our Lord instead of gratifying our own sinful desires. The secret is staying close to the Lord, being in the Word of God consistently because our Lord promises that if we keep looking steadily into His Word that we will not only remember it but we will do what it says, and God will greatly bless us in everything that we do. (1 Corinthians 10:13, James 1:25)

But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is done against the will of God. So if we stay close to him, obedient to him, we won’t be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really known him or become his. Oh, dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: if you are constantly doing what is good, it is because you are good, even as he is. But if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who since he first began to sin has kept steadily at it. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil. The person who has been born into God’s family does not make a practice of sinning. Because now God’s life is in him; so he can’t keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him, he has been born again. (1 John 3:4, 6-9, 1 John 5:18)

There should never be an area of our lives that is reserved and devoted to sinful practices. We are to give ourselves completely to God. Instead of being defensive and self excusing, we must acknowledge our sins and renounce them. We should continually look at all areas of our lives asking our Lord to reveal to us anything in us that is unpleasing to Him. By not exempting any part of our life from continuous self-scrutiny I believe the Holy Spirit will show us any hidden sin that hinders us and may even be a stumbling block to others around us.

Just as you used to be slaves to all kinds of sin, so now you must let yourselves be slaves to all that is right and holy. You choose your master. You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself-he will take you and be your master and you will be his slave. (Romans 6)

Holy Spirit search us through and through. Show us any unconfessed sin that we need to renounce. We long to be slaves of righteousness. We do not want to be slaves to sin. Thank you for the power to resist temptation and sin. May our lives bring you glory and draw others to your Son, in Jesus name. Amen..

Read the posting "Do Over!" now

Surrender Daily

When we ask Jesus to come into our lives it should be because we acknowledged that we have sinned against God and disobeyed His laws. We go to Him broken with a contrite spirit, humbly sorry for our sins. Asking Him to forgive us, restore us, transform us and create in us a clean heart. It has become apparent to us that we need Him to help us because our ways of doing things in our lives have lead us down the wrong path. Heart ache and pain are the result of our own selfish and rebellious nature. Tired of this way of life we turn to Him and ask Him to take the wheel. We want him to be our Lord and Savior so we surrender to Him and confess our sins, repent, and ask Him to come into our hearts to live and rule.

This attitude of complete surrender that we have when we realize that we are sinners and hopeless without Him is one that we need to have on a daily basis. The definition of surrender is to give oneself up to another’s power or control. In order to be effective, victorious, powerful Christians then we must choose to surrender daily to the Lord’s will, His Spirit, and His Word.

Our Lord gave Joshua specific instructions when he was promoted as the new ruler of Israel after the death of his mentor Moses. His directives were to 1) be strong and courageous because the task ahead would not be easy, 2) obey God’s Word, 3) always remind the people of God’s Word, and 4) daily read, study, and meditate on God’s Word. Joshua followed our Lord’s instructions and he conquered his enemies and successfully ruled God’s people. This advice is still good today. We can apply these instructions to our Christian walk so that we can be mighty conquerors just like Joshua was. (Joshua 1:6-8)

The writer of Psalm 119 also understood that it was vital to know God’s Word and to submit to it.

“Blessed Lord, teach me your rules. I have recited your laws, and rejoiced in them more than in riches. I will meditate upon them and give them my full respect. I will delight in them and not forget them.” Psalm 119:12-16

“Keep me far from every wrong; help me, undeserving as I am, to obey your laws, for I have chosen to do right. I cling to your commands and follow them as closely as I can. Lord, don’t let me make a mess of things. If you will only help me to want your will, then I will follow your laws even more closely.” Psalm 119:29-32

“May I never forget your words; for they are my only hope.” Psalm 119:43

If we will choose to meditate on and surrender to God’s Word daily we will desire His will and His way of doing things for our lives. His Word will rise up in our hearts and minds and then flow out our mouth producing life. We will be changed and empowered to live victorious Christian lives.

Thank you Lord for your Word that gives us power and courage to produce fruitful Christian living. We will daily surrender our will and lay it at your feet. Your way is what we desire most. Thank you for your power and wisdom. In Jesus name. Amen.

Abundant Life

“The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

An abundant life is what Jesus came to give us. As believers we can live free from fear, bondage, guilt, shame, debt, strongholds, worry, and anxiety. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to be more than conquerors. The One who lives in us is more powerful than he who lives in this world. We have been given the mind of Christ. When we are surrendered to the Word of God and allow ourselves to be lead by His Spirit we can live the abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

We don’t have to be overcome and defeated by temptation and troubles. We can live free from all strongholds and bondages. However so many Christians live defeated lives. They are struggling with alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, pornography, consumed by debt, lying, unforgiveness, resentment, robbing God of tithe and offerings, and so much more. The enemy is just having a field day with their lives while they just stand by and wonder why this is happening to them. Telling themselves that they’re good Christians because they go to church all the time and volunteer for different ministries.

I spent many years living a scarce Christian life. I allowed myself to be defeated by addictions and destructive emotions. I was in bondage. I allowed myself to get beat up all the time by the devil and his demons. My marriage was in trouble. My family was under severe attack. I knew the Word of God. I had spent several hours, days, months, and years reading it. But I was just a hearer, not a doer of the Word. I was not surrendered to the Word of God or His will for my life. In a lot of ways I had harden my heart to His Word because I still wanted my own way. I did not fully trust Him even after all He has done for me.

I began to seek God’s face about why I was struggling so much. I was tired of playing church. I was tired of allowing the enemy to steal my joy, peace, and mental stability. I decided that instead of just sitting down to read the Word for knowledge of scripture, that I needed to sit down to read the Word expecting God to show me how to improve my life. I would pray before I began to read for God to change my heart and renew my mind through the reading of his Word. I desired more than ever for Him to search every corner of my heart, even the hidden places, and purify me. I began to long for Him to create in me a clean heart. I abandoned my own will and craved His heart and His will for my life.

If we are to walk with God and live a more abundant life now, then we need to surrender ourselves completely to Him. There’s so room for half stepping or compromise. Our emotions, problems, enemies, unforgiveness, addiction, any hindrances, and our complete will must be laid down on the altar and presented as a sacrifice to God. He will honor the sacrifice, cleanse us, and give us new heart that longs to please Him. The joy of our salvation will be renewed. Then we will be able to live this abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

Father, thank you for your sacrifice of Love. We know that this sacrifice was made so that we can live in freedom as conquerors free from any bondage or stronghold. We lay our will down at your feet and ask that Your will be done in our lives. Teach us how to live this life more abundantly. In Jesus name. Amen.

God's Spirit Lives In You

When you received Jesus as your Savior the Spirit of God came to dwell in you. We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple of God. We are His home. God’s Spirit is not far away. He is in you and with you all the time!

Take a moment and really let that sink in…

God’s Spirit lives in you! You are the temple of God!

If you truly meditate on this Word it should be life changing. We are supposed to keep God’s home holy and clean. We are not to defile or spoil it. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Knowing that God lives in us should really help us be more accountable and aware of what we do, say, think, where we go, and who we spend time with. We do not belong to our selves. God bought us with a high price. So we MUST honor God with our bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Smoking, drinking, doing drugs, going to sinful places, listening to sinful music, and watching in appropriate shows or movies defile the temple of God. His Spirit lives in you offering you help and guidance in this life. His Spirit encourages you when you need comfort. So don’t ignore the Holy Spirit when he is nudging on your heart to stop what you are about to do.

You see the Holy Spirit is constantly trying to do a work in and thru us. His Spirit in us is what helps us to express Jesus’ actions and attitudes in our lives. He is God’s fire dwelling in the believer. The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” Or another translation reads “Do not GRIEVE the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We bring the Holy Spirit sorrow when we act out in sinful manner and when we follow our own worldly desires.

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did. (1 John 2:6) We are to follow God’s example in everything we do because we are his children. We need to try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord by reading the Word constantly. The Word of God will help us remain pure by showing us what is wrong in our life so that we are constantly changing and becoming more like Christ. (Ephesians 5:1-13)

And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind God will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good, pleasing, and perfect His will really is. (Romans 12:1-2)

Forgive us Holy Spirit for causing you sorrow. Remind us constantly that you are with us and in us. Let us be lead by your Spirit Lord and help us to bring your name glory in everything we say and do..In Jesus name.. Amen…

The Secret To Successful Christian Living

James 1:25 says, "But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men, he will not only remember it but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does." I truly believe that the secret to living a successful Christian life is in reading the Word daily.

Reading and meditating on the Word of God renews our minds and our thinking so that we do not deal with life the way we did before we accepted Christ. The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Joshua was appointed to lead the children of Israel after Moses died. Joshua had big shoes to fill. He was scared, but God encourages him to be strong and courageous. Then our Lord gives him the secret to becoming a great leader. He instructs Joshua to read the Word day and night. “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)

God promises us that if we will steadily (reliable, unwavering) keep looking into His Word that we will remember what the Word says. Not only will we remember, but we will begin to do what the Word says. Then because we are remembering His word and applying the principles of the Word to our lives He will bless us in everything we do. It’s a win win situation!

Make reading the Word a priority in your life and you will see that your attitude, your speech, and your mind will change. You will have more peace, hope, and direction as you draw closer to God.

Renewing Your Mind

As new creatures in Christ we are called to be transformed (changed) by the renewing of our mind. Romans 12:2 says,

2Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

Renewing your mind can not be done over night. It takes times and most of all the Word of God to change the thoughts, language, habits, actions, and reactions that we have developed over the years when we were of the world. This process requires feeding our spirit by spending time daily reading the bible.

Jesus is the Word that became flesh. (John 1:1 & 14) When you spend intimate time reading and meditating on the Word of God you will be truly changed because you are spending time with Jesus. Look at the affect that spending time with Jesus had on the twelve disciples. They became servants of God spreading the Gospel all over the world full of faith and power. They cast out demons and healed the sick. They knew who they were in Christ and it was evident in their lives.

Going to church on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s is not enough to keep us feed spiritually. We are our stunning our own growth and remaining baby Christians, always needing someone else to feed us. We have to start growing up and feeding ourselves daily if we want to live successful lives and grow into mature Christians. (Hebrews 5:12-14) Without the daily nourishment of the Word we will eventually find ourselves stuck wondering why we are trying so hard to change certain things in our lives but can’t.

The Word of God is living and active! (Hebrews 4:12) It is through the power of the Word of God that we are truly changed. The Word gives us everything we need:

Life & Freedom – John 6:63, John 8:31-32, 2 Peter 1:3-4
Counsel & Direction – Psalm 119:24, Psalm 119:105, Proverbs 3:5-6,
Comfort & Encouragement – Psalm 119:50, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Correction & Discipline – 2 Timothy 3:16, Proverbs 6:23
Wisdom & Understanding - Psalm 119:98, Psalm 19:7-9 , Psalm 119:130 Proverbs 2:1-5,

I challenge you to start reading your bible daily and see for yourself how spending intimate time with Jesus will transform your mind and your life.