In that wonderful story in John’s Gospel Chapter 11, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Notice that Lazarus was still bound with grave clothes when he came out of the tomb and so Jesus had to say: “loose him and let him go” (KJV). We as Christians are born again to new life in Christ but are often bound by grave clothes; these are the trappings, habits and behaviors of our old life. The word tells us we need to put off the old man and put on the new (Col 3:9). This means to allow God to change us so we no longer live like we did but walk in the new nature of Christ that lives in us (Gal 2:20).

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:1-2a). We are in a race, going on with God, allowing him to change us by his word and power day by day.

So, what do we have to do? We need to cooperate with God, spend time in his word and yield to the Holy Spirit as he gently convicts, encourages and changes us through our spirit (1 John 3:20). The journey is amazing, the results wonderful.

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"If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be the measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath" (Mark 4:23-25; NKJ).

These 3 verses tell us that the amount of time and effort we put into reading, meditating and studying the word is equal to how much we get out of it; a sobering thought. Let’s have ears and eyes that truly hear and see what God is teaching us. Be encouraged by our passage above, we are shown that what we receive from the word will continually increase and time invested in God is never wasted; it always benefits us. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8). I like the sound of that!

Time spent in God's word is always beneficial because God is watching over his word to perform it (Jer 1:12).

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As Christians, we are new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). The bible says that: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13). The Holy Spirit who dwells in each of us is the same Spirit that empowered Jesus for his ministry (John 1:32) and raised him from the dead (Rom 8:11). The Spirit in us is mightier than any demonic force in this world (1 John 4:4).

If we cooperate with God, he will transform us to be more like him each day (2 Cor 3:18) and in fact, we are assured that he will complete the work he has begun in us (Phil 1:6).

Do you realize that the fullness of Christ is in you (John 1:16)? God wants to show his fullness to the world through you (Eph 3:10). Jesus told us to go and shine like lights to our broken world, to make disciples of all nations (Mark 16:15-18). He said we would do the miracles he did and even greater things because the Holy Spirit lives in us (John 14:12-18). We walk in the power and authority of Jesus (Matt 28:18-20). When we share Christ with people, Jesus will give us the things to say (Luke 21:15); he never leaves or let us down (Heb 13:5). We will lay hands on the diseased and they will be healed (Mark 16:15-18). Are you getting the picture? Let God flow through you today, his: “rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

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In the apostle John’s gospel chapter 17 and verses 20 through 26 Jesus prayed for all believers (that’s us) that we would walk in unity so that the world would believe in Jesus. Paul exhorted us to: “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, and to pursue the: “unity of the faith” (Eph 4:3, 13; KJV). He said: “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phil 2:2). In other words, we must walk in the unity the Spirit brings, walk in God’s love, and pursue peace and the one faith in Christ that we all have; be in agreement.

We should never grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). Unity will only come as we humble ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit and to teach us from God’s word and change us.  In that beautiful Psalm of unity, Psalm 133, we are clearly shown that God loves unity and that the blessings of God come with unity.

In the early church, unity heralded the coming of the Holy Spirit, with signs, wonders and miracles. Many people were added to that early church, a church characterized by great grace and powerful preaching (Acts 2:46; 4:32; 5:12). Do you get the point?

We should search our hearts; do we contribute to unity or do we stand in the way? 

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"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (2 Pet 1:10; KJV). The meaning of the Greek word diligence as used in the New Testament is to be zealous or to work hard for something, to make every effort and to exert oneself. In Hebrews 4:11 the writer exhorts us to be diligent to enter into God’s rest. King Solomon in his proverbs, (Prov 8:17) directed us to seek wisdom diligently and to (Prov 4:23) guard our hearts with diligence.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans (Rom 12:11) admonished us not to be lagging in diligence but instead to be: "fervent in spirit". Fervent is a very similar word to diligence and it means to be burning hot.  

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about diligence and the benefits of diligence are found in that book. If we seek wisdom with diligence, we will find it (Prov 8:17) and people who have a diligent approach to life will be successful (Prov 21:5; 13:4)   As Christians diligence should be part of our character. Effort is required to be diligent as it is the opposite of laziness but the effort will certainly pay off because the Bible teaches us that the amount of effort, we put into something determines how much fruit we bear (Phil 3:14).

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.