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THAT  HE  WOULD  GRANT  TO  YOU

6/18/2021

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June 18, 2021                                  THAT  HE  WOULD  GRANT  TO  YOU
Ephesians 3:16-21 “that He would grant to you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up with all the fullness of God. Now to Him is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask are think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
What a prayer for us! We may be tempted to think that this prayer Paul prayed for us is one of those ‘pipe dreams’ that sounds great, but in reality, not our experience. However, Paul did not pray any prayer that was not meant to be experienced or to come to fruition in us; the prayers Paul prayed were inspired by the Holy Spirit who was at work in Him. This awesome prayer reveals the Father’s heart for us; it is not just for certain believers, but for each of us. Most of us do not yet fully understand just what all God has for us to experience in this present life. In Ephesians 1:18 Paul prayed that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” For this prayer to be realized in us, requires a super-natural work of the Holy Spirit; we cannot ‘enlighten the eyes of our heart’ on our own. So one could logically conclude that “There is nothing I can do except to hope that God enlightens the eyes of my heart.” However, when our heart is turned to the Lord and we seek Him and He is our chief desire, He will reveal Himself to us in His own way and in His own time. 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.” God does want us to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in our inner man; He wants us to be grounded in love; to know how great He is and to know His love for us; AND to be filled up with all the fullness of God!” Remember-and believe-that He is able to do way more than we can think or ask, by His power that is working in us. Let us not make the mistake that life is all about God blessing us, but about God being glorified and be honored. The blessings of God may include physical blessings, but even greater than that is how He blesses us in our inner man. Paul prayed that God would grant to us the things that he prayed for-so let us be looking for the ways that God is answering this prayer in our lives.
Philippians 1:9-11 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Blessings,
Buddy

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LIFE-GIVING  PURPOSE

6/16/2021

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June 16, 2021                                    LIFE-GIVING  PURPOSE
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us to do.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Romans 12:1-2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
I am sure that most, if not all of us, have experienced those times when we lacked purpose and direction in life, and perhaps even wondered why we are here. It is also true that we can get caught up in the day-to-day grind of life, doing what has to be done in order to survive and to make provision for life. If employed, we tend to live for the weekends and vacations where we are finally away from the work place. If retired, after a while, we may grow weary of trying to find things to do with our time. The good news is that we can know and experience purpose in life whether we are employed full time or whether we are retired-or even if we are independently wealthy. True purpose, purpose that does not depend on circumstances, comes from knowing our calling in God and knowing our true identity in Him. As a beginning point for finding purpose, we must remember that God created us; He made us in His image-and He does not lack purpose. God puts within us an awareness that there is something greater than what we see, and as we come to know Him, He reveals to us His plans and desires for mankind-and as we learn of His plans for us, we discover purpose. A part of His plan for us is that He invites us to work with Him as He works out His purposes. Someone said that we are “Junior partners with the Creator God.” Now that is purpose!  Having a narrow view of life that focuses on ourselves and how we see life apart from God, sets the stage for lack of purpose; viewing life from God’s perspective opens up endless opportunities for discovering purpose. In fact, the scriptures tell us that we can do all we do as unto the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24. We must remember that we are not living for ourselves, but for Him-the living God who is ruling the universe. God has given us a ministry of reconciliation; we can be instruments that God uses to be a part of seeing others reconciled to Him-and to others. 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. We are light; we can be expressions of hope, joy, love, comfort, encouragement, truth, and be ones who reflect the nature of our Father God. So, if by chance you lace a sense of purpose, read from God’s word, learn or be reminded of the fact that He has called you to work with Him, and then act on what He says-be expressions of His life to those around you. Don’t wait on feelings, follow the leading of the Spirit.
Psalm 37:5 “Commit you way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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PROVE  YOURSELVES

6/14/2021

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June 14, 2021                                       PROVE  YOURSELVES
James 1:21-25 “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.
This passage of scripture can be, and often is, misinterpreted; one can conclude that we earn God’s approval and His love by the works we do. Why we do what we do, or our motive for doing ‘good works’ is the issue. A clear teaching of the New Testament is that we are to be about good works and that we are to live righteously, but if we ever believe that it is by our good works that we earn His acceptance and approval, we are in error. Trying to earn His favor by our works would be an ongoing, difficult, impossible and exhausting endeavor that leads to defeat. The wonderful, liberating news is that God has put a new nature in us, and when we live out of our new nature, we naturally ‘do’ the word of God. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us that the new nature God has given us is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  The word of God is full of commands and instructions; it is an impossible task to keep them in our own strength viz. our old nature. Operating out of our new nature, we find it a joy to be doers of the word, and we are blessed in the process. If we say we believe the word, and we claim to have faith, yet are not doers of the word, our faith is dead-that is the warning in the book of James. We can also say that if we are not doers of the word, then we are not living out of our new nature. The verses referred to above in Ephesians, tell us to put off our old self, and to put on our new self. The putting off the old and putting on the new is a choice we make; in our spirit and in our mind we chose to walk according to the Spirit-it is really that simple. In the first verse above, we are told to lay aside those things that are unlike Christ, and in humility receive the ‘word implanted.’ We receive His word in humility because we are saying ‘no’ to our way and bowing the knee to Him and His ways. We are not to receive is word in a casual way, but are to have His word ‘implanted’ so that that the life we live flows from His word. His word is truth and His word leads to life. If we are hearers only, and not doers of His word, then we are deluding ourselves; to delude ourselves means to mislead, trick, or fool ourselves. In essence, our faith is to lead to being doers of the word-and that is how we prove ourselves and prove that our faith is genuine. So, let us make sure that we are not a forgetful hearer only, but a doer of His word.
James 3:13 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by His good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.”
1 John 2:4-6 “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in Him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
Blessings, Buddy
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TO  HIM  WHO  OVERCOMES

6/12/2021

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June 12, 2021                                         TO  HIM  WHO  OVERCOMES
Revelation 2:7, 3:21 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”       “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
We hear what people say; but much more important is hearing what the Spirit says. God does speak and we can hear what He says. Someone said that only those who are in tune with God hear what He says. I think that is true, but there are occasions when God may speak to one who is lost and has no interest in God. In the book of Revelation, there is much said about overcoming. I’m sure we all agree that we daily face things that we need to overcome-perhaps the day starts with having to overcome the desire to sleep in instead of getting out of bed! I think it is good for us to identity just what it is that the Spirit is telling us we must overcome. I certainly do not claim to know all the Spirit has in mind about that, but I think we can identity some of the things we must overcome. We know for sure that we must be overcomers if we are found to be pleasing to God when we see Him face to face. Books could be written on the subject of overcoming, but I think that simply said, what we must overcome is self. A central theme of the gospel is that Jesus died for us, redeemed us, and joined us to Himself. Galatians 3:13-15 tells us that Christ bought us with His blood; we no longer belong to ourselves-we belong to Him. To live as His possessions, we must die to ourselves-that is overcoming. Man tends to live according to his own likes and dislikes, but now we are to live according to the desires and plans of another-to the plans and desires of Jesus Christ. The Spirit tells us to lay down our life and to let Christ rule instead. Overcoming means that we live according to the ways of God and His ways are revealed in His written word. Of course, we cannot live and according to His ways in our own strength, but only by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Overcoming self results in overcoming such things as impatience, being ill-tempered, greed, conceit, bitterness, anger, lying, and selfishness in general. The one who overcomes is one is living out of the new nature that God has given him, and this new nature reflects the nature of God. Our being an overcomer in this life is obviously of great importance to God. The truth is, that there is no excuse for any believer not to be an overcomer. As someone said, “Let us go to our own funeral.” May we conclude that life is not about making ourselves happy, but about rising to the call to lay our lives down and live according to the ways of our Father.
Ephesians 4:22-24 “in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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PAY  CLOSE  ATTENTION

6/10/2021

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June 10, 2021                                      PAY  CLOSE  ATTENTION
Hebrews 2:1, 3:12-13, 5:11 “for this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”     “Take care brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”    “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.”    
We must guard against drifting spiritually. Often, familiarity leads to a loss of passion and even leads to carelessness. Often, I can be reading from God’s word and I can come to a passage I am very familiar with and I find myself giving very little attention to what I am reading-because I am familiar with it. I can read, but yet not let what I read penetrate my heart, soul, spirit and mind. No one can deny that we live in a culture of busyness and are bombarded with things that would distract us and draw our attention away from the truly important issues. Paul wrote the book of Hebrews as a warning and correction to the Jewish believers who were turning away from the truth of the gospel-back to living according to the old covenant; they were forgetting the instructions that Paul had given concerning life under the new covenant. In Paul’s warning to these believers, he used such statements as ‘pay closer attention,’ ‘lest we drift away from it,’ ‘take care brethren,’ ‘falling away,’ ‘hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,’ and ‘you have become dull of hearing.’ Reading God’s word is not like reading any other book; only in the bible do we read the words of God. God’s word is super-natural; it penetrates our soul, mind and Spirit; it is not based on worldly wisdom but on the wisdom of God; it is truth; it never fails and every word that God speaks comes to pass; it addresses and reveals the intentions of the heart; His words lead to life; and in His word, we learn of our identity in Him; the truth of His word takes us out of mere humanity and joins us to Himself where the super-natural becomes natural, yet it gives practical instructions for daily living and how we are to conduct ourselves. When His word is heard and obeyed, one is able to experience life as God designed; any life that is not based on the truth of God’s word is a counterfeit to real life. Jesus came to set man free from the power of sin and death; He came to give us life, and in His word, He reveals the way to experience life to the fullest. This being true, we certainly must pay close attention to what He has said and not allow ourselves to become dull of hearing. The quickest way to become dull of hearing is not to read His word and not to do what He says; our obedience to the words of God is essential if we are to live as He intended and if we are to hear His voice.
Philippians 4:9 “These things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Matthew 7:24, 26 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.”          “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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ALWAYS  OF  GOOD  COURAGE

6/7/2021

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June 7, 2021                                         ALWAYS  OF  GOOD  COURAGE
2 Corinthians 5:4-9 “For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in body we are absent from the Lord-for we walk by faith, not by sight-we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
In light of the fact that in this world we experience trials and difficulties, sickness and brokenness, one may think it is absurd to think that one could always be of good courage.  Paul said above, “we groan, being burdened;” to deny the trials and difficulties in life would be foolish on our part. We often hear that we should have a positive attitude; to be a ‘positive’ thinker is certainly better than being a ‘negative’ thinker. However, it takes a lot more than positive thoughts to ‘always be of good courage’ in the world in which we live. There is only one way to always be of good courage, and that way is revealed in the scriptures above. We tend to think that this earth is our home and we try to make the best of it, and we view death as our great enemy. Paul is reminding us that as long as we are in this earthly body, we are absent from the Lord; even though His Spirit lives in us now, we are not with Him physically. Simply said, if we are to be with Him physically, we must be absent from the body. Believers have an innate desire to be with God-they have an awareness that there is more. We must remember that we are mortals; but one day this mortal body of ours will be “swallowed up by life.” That is our hope. Even though we are mortals, God has not left us alone; He has given us the Spirit as a pledge; and a pledge means that more-much more-is to come. Paul tells us that we must ‘walk by faith, not by sight’-and that is key. If we focus on what we see, we will not be of good courage. Knowing that we have the Spirit as a pledge and knowing that this mortal we be swallowed up by life, we are to have as our ambition to be pleasing to Him. Our life here is part of a much bigger purpose-what we do, the life we live here matters more than we realize. So, while we live in this fallen, dark world, with all of its trials, let us be ever conscience of the fact that we will one day be present with the Lord. Because we have this hope in Christ Jesus and have the Spirit as a pledge, and because we know that there is a great day coming when we will be with Him, we too can always be of good courage! We don’t deny the pains and hurts that come in this life, but we also know that this mortal will be swallowed up by life! What could be greater?
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to being everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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FROM  SINNERS  TO  SAINTS

6/5/2021

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June 5, 2021                                       FROM  SINNER  TO  SAINT
Romans 1:7 “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints:”
1 Corinthians 1:2 “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
Ephesians 2:19 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.”
Romans 8:27 “and He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
The world, and some religions, would tell you that one earns the title of saint by doing good works. This is far from the biblical teaching; and this view tends to say that most believes simply do not measure up to sainthood-they are ‘less than’ saints. The scriptures make it abundantly clear that all who are in Christ are saints. In the New Covenant, sanctification means being ‘set apart’-set apart from all else and dedicated to the Lord. Everyone who is in Christ is a saint-yes, you and I are saints. Obviously, it is possible for us as a saint to turn form the Lord and sin, but this does not change our sainthood status. A major theme of the New Testament is that of teaching, demonstrating, instructing, and enabling saints (believers) to live as those set apart to the Lord-to live godly lives. God’s view of believers is different from how many believers view themselves; we should be adapting our view of ourselves to how God views us. Certainly we cannot live a ‘godly life’ by our own strength and determination, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. As discussed in many previous blogs, we have a part to play in the process in living as unto the Lord; He does not ‘zap us’ nor did He make us as robots; out part is to work with Him as He works in us. We must make the choice, while depending on the Holy Spirit, to embrace and to live out the teachings of the scriptures. God sees us as being ‘set apart’ unto Him; He gave His only Son to die for us that we might be joined to Him and to make us His sons and daughters. In light of what He has done for us and seeing His great love for us, it should be our greatest desire to live in a way that pleases Him-not to earn His love, but because of His love for us. Let us be reminded of what a blessing it is to be a saint-one called of God and empowered by His Spirit to live a saintly and godly life. Seeing ourselves as saints is not prideful, but is a humble view because we realize it is possible only by the grace and work of God that we are saints. So, let us live out who we are-saints of God.
Ephesians 5:3-4 “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.”
Hebrews 2:11 “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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PAUL'S  PRAYER  FOR  US

6/2/2021

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June 2, 2021                                   PAUL’S  PRAYER  FOR  US
Colossians 1:9-14 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
This awesome prayer that Paul prayed for the Corinthian believers is a prayer for us as well. This prayer, and all of the scriptures, reveal the heart of God for His people. If we are to experience what God has for us and if we are going to walk according to His ways, then we must believe the scriptures. One can say that he or she believes the word of God, but at the same time be living in a way that is contrary to the word of God. In reality, we live out what we believe. Not to bring condemnation on us, but we must be honest and examine ourselves and determine if we indeed believe what God says in His word. This prayer above is an awesome prayer, and certainly life changing, if we receive this prayer and claim it as true in us. Is it not awesome to know that we can be filled with the knowledge of His will, and have all spiritual wisdom and understanding? And when we know and understand His will, we can walk worthy of Him and please Him in all respects. We are not bound to live in ways that are not pleasing to the Lord, and not bound to not knowing the plans God has for us. When we walk in His ways, we will bear good fruit in every work and our knowledge of Him will increase. We will be strengthened with all power that comes from Him, and we will be steadfast and patient. We will be joyously thanking God for all He has done and all He is doing, and be thanking Him for qualifying us to receive an inheritance from Him. We have been transferred from darkness into the kingdom of God-into light-where we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. You may be thinking ‘That all sounds great, but be real-we are not perfect.’ It does sound fantastic to see that this is to be our life; yet, it is exactly what God has made available to us. In our own strength, we could never experience this life, but because He lives in us, this life can become a reality. It’s a matter of believing with all of our being what the scriptures say and then acting on and putting into action what the scriptures teach.
Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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HAVE  THIS  ATTITUDE

5/31/2021

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May 31, 2021                                          HAVE  THIS  ATTITUDE
Philippians 2:2-7 “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty deceit, but with humility of mind let each one of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the role of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even on a cross.”
These verses reveal the pathway that leads to a meaningful and fulfilled life. If we live with the focus on ourselves, we will never experience life in the way that God designed. We should have the view that God has redeemed us and has placed us in His family where we are to relate one another as brothers and sisters. This relationship that God has for us is based on an unselfish love; Jesus demonstrated unselfish love. We have been delivered from a life where our primary focus is on ourselves. However, even though God has rescued us from the self-life, we can reject His ways and make the choice to live according to our ways-seeking self-satisfaction. It is a blessing to be a part of the family of God and to live in harmony with the desires and plans that God has for family and relationships. Living according to the ways of God has many benefits and blessings. We can be of the same mind-no arguing and no dissension; we can maintain love, be united in spirit and be intent on one purpose. And how about this-we can regard one another as more important than ourselves! And in addition to looking out for our own interest, we can look out for the interest of others. Here is the really good part- we can have the same attitude that Christ had!!  Jesus emptied Himself and humbled Himself and became a servant. We can do the same; we can decide that life is not all about us, but about loving, serving, and blessing others just as Jesus did. This life goes against the ways of the world where the focus is on self; the kingdom of this world is one thing, while the kingdom of God is something drastically different, and the two cannot be comingled. We are to apply the admonitions and instructions of these verses in the nitty-gritty of life. It means that I do not insist on my way, but gladly do what the other person wants to do; it means I consider others more important than myself; it means I look out for the interest of others-as well as my own…you get the point. These verses are not just theoretical or for the sweet by in by, but are for us today. (The life as pictured here is not a ‘pie in the sky’ life, nor does not mean that there will never be conflict; the scriptures instruct us as to how to deal with conflict. Most conflict comes as a result of selfish motives and desires-so living according to the verses above will eliminate most, if not all conflict among believers.) It seems that the core message of these verses is that we are to have the same attitude that Jesus had; by having His attitude as our attitude, we will experience life just as He intended. It is past due time for us as believers to abandon the self life and embrace the selfless life that we are designed to live-to live in our new identity.
Romans 8:6 “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
1 John 4:19 “Our love for others is our grateful response to the love of God first demonstrated to us.”
Blessings, Buddy
 
 
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AS  IT  IS  IN  HEAVEN

5/29/2021

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May 29, 2021                                    AS  IT  IS  IN  HEAVEN
Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
When the disciples of Jesus asked Him to teach them how to pray, this prayer above was His response as to how they were to pray. It is a beautiful, short prayer, but powerful. Note the first word of this prayer; Jesus is telling us that God is His Father, AND OUR Father. To realize that we and Jesus have the same Father is awesome. God knew us even before the foundations of the world; Jesus came to redeem us back to our Father-wow! Someone rightly said that we are ‘Fathered by God.’ Knowing that God is our real Father is a life-changer for us. Since He is our Father, what is there to fear or to worry about? Knowing that God is our Father does away with any sense of insecurity and hopelessness. The main focus of today’s subject is the part of the prayer that says “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We may sometimes feel that God and His kingdom are in heaven, and we are here on earth; we may think that we just have to get use to life on earth being just what it is-unlike the kingdom of God. We are well acquainted with troubles and trials, with brokenness, sickness, wars, unrest, corruption, moral decay, addictions-and the list goes on. Jesus knows our plight. The good news is that Jesus invites us to ask that ‘His kingdom come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ In essence, we can experience His kingdom here on earth, even though the world itself is darkness. In heaven, His will is done, and we as His people can do His will here on earth. We can be ones who live with a kingdom of God mindset, walking according to the Spirit. We can be instruments that God uses to bless others; we are light in the darkness. Every prayer we pray may not be answered like it wanted it answered, but we can pray with all confidence that He does answer our prayer when we pray according to His will and as the Holy Spirit leads, knowing that the day is coming when He will return and His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let us live in His will; let us pray for the sick, the brokenhearted, and for all who are facing difficulties, and ask that God’s will be done in their lives. Let us be ones who bring part of heaven to this world-and let it impact all we do and everyone around us.
Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Luke 17:21b “nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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    Buddy Fitzgerald

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