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Righteousness

26. Nov 2024 On The Way In Love
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21; NKJV). Jesus, through his suffering and death on a cross bore the penalty for our sins so we could receive God’s righteousness. The Greek word translated as righteousness here, means to be right, to be in right standing with God or in line with his will in all things. God sees His Christian children as righteous. However, we need to grow in the revelation that we have God’s righteousness (2 Cor 5:21) and allow the fruit of righteousness to be seen in our lives (Phil 1:11). We are called to pursue righteousness (1 Tim 6:11), allowing God to discipline us (Heb 12:11), while studying the word which is: “profitable…. for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16b; NKJV). We must allow the Holy Spirit to guide, direct and change us (Rom 8:4-6; 2 Cor 3:18). All of this must be undergirded by our faith (Phil 3:9; Rom 3:21-23). Righteousness brings life (Prov 11:19) and God delivers the righteous from affliction (Ps 34:19). The righteous are blessed (Ps 106:3, 5:12), they enjoy peace (Isa 32:17) and their prayers are powerful (James 5:16). “Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever” (Ps 112:6; NIV). Finally, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov 14:34; NKJV). Now, surely that last verse in itself is thought for the days we live in! Let’s us walk in God’s gift of righteousness.

Rooted in Love

21. Nov 2024 On The Way In Love
“May Christ through your faith (actually) dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely in love” (Eph 3:17; AMPC). (See also Col 2:7; AMPC).
Read this verse again slowly! To think we can have Almighty God living in our hearts permanently – so we can communicate with Him and be led by Him day after day. The first sentence of the verse describes something that God will do (if we invite Him to) and the second sentence pertains to something that we must do, which is to allow our roots to go down deep into His love. If you compare this to natural roots you know that initially a young plant has only very tiny roots but gradually as nutrients and water are received from the soil, they grow and spread all over the place. That’s what we want to do with our spiritual roots – get so much watering and nourishment from the word that we get absolutely rooted and grounded in it. Do you remember the parable of the Sower? The seed on the rocky soil didn’t last long. Why? Because it couldn’t develop deep roots. To be deeply rooted in God and His love we need to meditate on it until we know of God’s love beyond a shadow of a doubt and experience it daily (See 1 John 4:7-21). God’s love isn’t fickle like human love can be; it is constant regardless of what we may or may not do. “God’s love never fails” (1 Cor 13:8).


We are Spirit Beings

18. Nov 2024 On The Way In Love
“May your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:23b). We are spirit beings; we live in a physical body and we have a soul (mind, will and emotions). When God created man, He formed our bodies from the “dust of the ground” and “breathed into us” the “breath of life”, our spirit being. (Gen 2:7; NKJV). God is Spirit (John 4:24) and we were created in His image (Gen 1:27). Before we believed in Jesus (Acts 16:31) and became Christians, we were spiritually dead because of sin in our lives (Eph 2:1) and Jesus told a Pharisee named Nicodemus that he had to be born again spiritually (John 3:3,5-7). Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins so we could be forgiven (Col 1:4) and be restored spiritually into fellowship with God (Titus 3:5), spirit to Spirit. As Christians, God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us (2 Cor 1:22) and interacts with our spirit, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16; NKJV). The Holy Spirit will develop His fruit in our lives if we allow Him. This fruit is “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23; NKJV). This power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) through our spirit, helps to mature us to be more and more like Jesus (2 Cor 3:18). He reveals God’s words to us (John 14:16), enables us to have all God has for us and to be all God wants us to be (John 10:10). At the end of our lives here on earth we, our spirit beings, will be with God in heaven forever! (Eccl 12:7). Amen!

Another

14. Nov 2024 On The Way In Love
I love this verse in the Amplified Classic Bible, “Be strong and courageous. Be not afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there is Another greater than (all these) with him” (2 Chron 32:7). Hezekiah was encouraging God’s children in Judah with these words and continued in verse 8 to say that it was the Lord that would help them to fight their battles. These words were spoken many, many years ago but they still apply today. The “Another” is of course referring to God and He is also with us and is greater than anything that can come against us. Maybe you are not facing the king of Assyria but you are facing a major battle in your life that is causing you to be fearful and stressed. Whether it be a health crisis, financial issues, marital problems or anything else, this verse applies to you! Firstly, God says through Hezekiah to “be strong and courageous” and not to be afraid. It is interesting that both Moses and Joshua spoke similar words when leading the children of Israel. If we are not afraid, we can trust that God will fight for us as He said He would. (See also Ps 60:12; 44:5 and Prov 21:30,31). We also need to train our minds to focus on victory rather than failure (2 Cor 10:4,5). “Ye are of God, little children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4; KJV). As you go through your day meditate on the fact that “Another” is with you and will fight your battles for you; He will help you, give you wisdom and bring you the victory. Keep trusting Him!

Live according to God’s Word

11. Nov 2024 On The Way In Love
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds form the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4; NKJV; Deut 8:3b; Luke 4:4). God’s word for us is our Bible. The scriptures were written by men but under the inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:16). The apostle Paul wrote that God’s word provides us with the foundation for our Christian faith. It instructs us about salvation, how we can growth in our walk with God, and provides the discipline and direction we need to mature and do all God wants us to do (2 Tim 3:15-17). God’s word is truth (John 17:17) and life (John 6:63) and God’s truth will set us free from the effects of sin in our lives (John 8:32). “And now I entrust you to God and the message of His grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those that He has set apart for himself” (Acts 20:32; NLT). Paul clearly emphasizes the importance of God’s word to change us into true Christians or Christ-like men and women. The apostle Peter teaches us to “desire the pure milk of the word” (1 Peter 2:2; NKJV) so we can grow and Paul exhorts us to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16; NKJV). However, it doesn’t end there, the writer of Hebrews further encourages us to dig deep and move on from the basic principles or milk of the word to solid food or a mature understanding (Heb 5:12-14). Let’s renew our minds, wash them with God’s word (Eph 5:26) and bring our thoughts in line with Christ’s (2 Cor 10:5b). The results are amazing but it does take work and discipline.

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