May 27, 2021                                         KEEP  SEEKING
Colossians 3:2, 5, 8,10,12,15 “Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on the earth.”     “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”    “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”        “and having put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”        “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”      “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.’
Christ has done all He needed to do in order for us to live according to His ways. This does not mean that we do need the working of the Holy Spirit in us enabling us to live in such a way; nor does it mean that we do not need to grow and mature in the faith. Sometimes, we can read passages such as the above and miss the obvious message. The message from the above scriptures, and many others throughout the New Testament, is that we have an important part to play in experiencing the life God has for us. I believe that this is one of those ‘forks in the road’ of our spiritual journey; if we take the wrong fork, we will miss a core truth of the gospel. In my conversations with many believers, it becomes evident that some do not believe that the life they are living is pleasing to the Lord; their view of themselves is that they are sinners saved by grace, but their old sin nature continues to lead them to sin. (True-we were sinners who were saved by grace and not by our works; but the power of sin has been broken; when we sin, we do so by choice. That’s the subject of many past blogs.) A proper view of the scriptures is that Christ has paid the full price for our redemption, has adopted us as sons and daughters, and has given us the Holy Spirit who enables us to live the Christian life as depicted in the scriptures. God gave us His written word in order that we might discover our new identity in Him; the commands and instructions we find in scripture actually point to who we are in Him-to our new nature that He has given us. God does not ‘zap’ us; He has done all He needs to do to set us free and to make us overcomers of sin; now, we must apply, embrace, put on, and adapt to His instructions. He did not leave us to try to figure out on our own how to live life as a believer; He gave us a clear path; He spells out in no uncertain terms how we are to live. He does not give us impossible commands to keep in order to frustrate us; His commands are do-able and they lead to life-AND we can keep them! The good news is that when we love Him and when we know our full and true identity in Him, keeping His words becomes natural-it’s our new nature at work. From today’s scriptures, we see words like ‘set,’ ‘consider,’ ‘put,’ and ‘let.’ These are action words; these words describe the part we play; as we do what these words tell us to do, we overcome our old nature, our flesh, and we experience life as He designed. The main point for us to get today is that He has enabled us to walk according to His word; His commands are life giving; and that we must make the choice to do what He says to do. WE CAN DO JUST THAT-try it.
Matthew 7:24, 26 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”   “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”
Blessings, Buddy

 
May 25, 2021                                             BEARING  FRUIT
John 15:8 “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Colossians 1:10 “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Everyone is producing fruit, but the question is what kind of fruit is being produced and will it last. When God created man in His own image, He put within man the desire to be productive-just as He Himself is productive. Along the way, many have listened to the lie that leads one to see ‘work’ in a negative light- that work robs us of the freedom to do what we want to do. The question is what is the fruit that we are to be bearing and how do we go about bearing the fruit that God has in mind. I am sure most of us have looked back over a certain time period of our lives and are dismayed when we see no lasting good fruit of all our busyness. As believers, we are blessed to be able to be about bearing good fruit and fruit that remains. In fact, everything we do can be an aspect of bearing good fruit. We can be like the tree that bears good fruit-not through its own effort but just because of how God made it, it bears fruit. Out of our relationship with our Father and out of living according to His design, we naturally bear good fruit. Our relationship with our Father is active and on-going; coming to know God as our Savior and Father was not the end, but the beginning. A major concept for us to know and understand is that we are to work with God as He works in us; in other words, we anticipate His working in us and we gladly choose to follow His leading.  Some define their activities as either ‘spiritual’ or ‘secular,’ but to do is a mistake and is in contradiction to scriptures. The good news for us is that all we do can have the stamp of being a good work or a work that bears good fruit. Colossians 3:23 instructs us: “Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men.” Proverbs 3:6 tells us “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” The beauty of this is that all we do has value if it is done as unto the Lord; even what appears to us to be a menial task or mundane, takes on new meaning when we do it as unto Him. The awesome truth is that both the CEO of a large corporation and the one that washes the dishes glorifies God when they perform their duties ‘as unto the Lord.’ No matter our plight in life, no matter our circumstances, we will experience blessings from the Lord when we have the mindset that we will be about bearing fruit that glorifies Him and doing all we do as unto Him. As we do, we will be ‘walking in a manner worthy of the Lord’ and ‘will be fully pleasing to Him’ and ‘will be bearing good fruit.’ And, you might call it a secondary blessing, but as we go about bearing fruit as unto Him, we increase in the knowledge of God!
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
May 22, 2021                                      IN  THE  MEANTIME
1 Thessalonians 5:14-24 “And we urge you brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all men. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           1 Thessalonians chapters 4 and 5 is about the return of Jesus and how we as believers are to found living when He appears. Knowing, and remembering that He is coming again at any time should serve as a motivator to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. When we see Him appearing, as believers we will have one of two responses; if we are looking for His coming and we are living our lives as unto Him, we will be filled with indescribable joy and will welcome His long awaited return; however, if we are living in ways that are not pleasing in His sight, we will find ourselves embarrassed and regret that we were living contrary to His ways. In the verses above, Paul is giving ‘marching orders’ on practical ways to be ready for His return. We are to be about admonishing and encouraging, helping the weak, being patient, seeking after that which is good, rejoicing, praying, being thankful, not quenching the Spirit, and abstaining from what is evil. Is this not the life we want to live as believers? The good news is that we can live this life-do not believe the lie that says we cannot. Throughout the New Testament we find life-giving instructions from our loving Father on how to live our life-and His instructions are not burdensome. It is imperative that we keep the focus of our heart and mind on Him, and out of our love for Him, obey what He says, knowing that His ways lead to life without regret. It should be a red flag for us if we find that we resist His word or that we have no lasting desire to learn of Him through His word. Let us not make the mistake of thinking that we know His word and that there is not much more to learn; His word is living and powerful and we can spend our lifetime learning new truths and gaining better understanding of what we do know. Most importantly, whether or not we are “without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” is up to us. Let us go about our daily lives and do the things we must do with a deep, abiding awareness that He is coming back for His sons and daughters-any day now. 
Titus 2:12 “Instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
May 20, 2021                                  LAY  ASIDE  AND  PUT  ON
Ephesians 4:20-24 “But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as the truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
One cannot live in newness of life until he or she lays aside the old life. We tend to see ourselves as having one life, like “I am who I am.” The idea of laying aside the life we were born with and grew up with, and putting on an entirely new life sounds radical to the logical mind-and it is radical to the one who does not know Christ. In fact, the one who does not know Him does not have the option of laying aside his old life, even if he wanted to do so. Paul is asking us if we have ‘learned Christ,’ have we ‘heard Him,’ and ‘have been taught in Him.’ Jesus, the Son of the living God, tells us to lay aside our ‘former manner of life,’ the old self, and to put on the new self; laying aside who we use to be and putting on the new self is not just an option for us to consider or a suggestion; it is a command and it is the only way that we can live the Christian life. We must be aware of the fact that we cannot have it both ways; either we live according to our old self, or we live according to our new self. The new self is not just an improved version of the old self. The amazing truth is that our new self that we are to put on is in the ‘likeness of God’ and created in ‘righteousness and holiness of truth.’ This brings us to a point where much of the body of Christ misunderstands a core teaching of the scriptures. Many have the view that ‘we are just humans’ and are still sinners who continue to sin, and we could never live as Jesus did. (Much could be said about that view and this has been addressed in previous blogs.) It is another truth that may sound radical to many, BUT our new self-the new life we live-is in the likeness of God! That means that our thoughts, our actions, our responses and our spirit will reflect the nature of God. Just as God is good, kind, forgiving, loving, compassionate, and etc., so are we as we put on and live in our new selves. This is an awesome truth to say the least. It means that we are not subject to the old self which is basically self-centered and that we are not bound by sin. It means that we can live in newness with new desires and new motives, demonstrating what God is like to all. It almost sounds too simplistic to just lay aside the old and put on the new-but that is just the way it is; by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we can choose to lay aside and put on. Before coming to know Christ as Savior, we were bound to the old sin nature. But now, we can live our lives in the likeness of God! If need be, let us change our perspective about who we are as sons and daughters of God, and let us embrace the truth of the above scriptures and take off the old self and put on the new self-the self that God has made.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Blessings,
Buddy

 
May 18, 2021                                             WE HAVE  THEM  ALL
Ephesians 1:2-5 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love, He predestined us to adoptions as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
It seems that we are all too often more focused on the natural than the spiritual. What seems to capture our attention and our energy is our work, our activities, maintaining what we have, entertainment, relationships, our health, our reputation-and the list goes on. These things are not in themselves evil or wrong, and some are in fact necessary; we simply tend to put the natural before the spiritual, and when we do, we miss the life God has for us. All the things we do should be flowing out of our relationship with Him-out of our spiritual life. The amazing truth from the above passages is that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing-we have them all. We can become so focused on the natural, that we become blind to the spiritual blessings He has lavished upon us. See Ephesians 1:8. What I am saying about having every spiritual blessing does not mean that we are unaffected or untouched by what takes place in the world around us or that the natural is not important. I know from personal experience that when tragic things happen-when difficulties come-it is painful, and we are burdened. God knows we will at times experience trials and pains, and He has made provision for such times; He comforts us and invites us to cast our cares upon Him. God does not ignore us in difficult times. I think that we are in a day when we are being called to examine the focus of our hearts and determine if we are more focused and affected by the natural-the here and now-or are we conscience of, and drawing strength and hope from the spiritual blessings that He has blessed us with. It is amazing, and humbling, to know that you and I were chosen before the foundation of the world to be adopted as His sons and daughters. When we know we have been chosen by Him and adopted as His child, it is only natural to have a desire to live holy and blameless before Him. We will find life fulfilling and will find strength and comfort for the difficult times when we live with the awareness that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. This natural world in which we live will one day pass away, but the kingdom of God-and that includes us-are eternal. In the first verse of Ephesians 1, we see that the letter was written to those “who are faithful in Christ Jesus.” We are called to be faithful in the things of the Lord; it is of no value to give lip-service only or to simply agree mentally with what the scriptures teach. Our hearts, our spirits and our minds must be captivated by our spiritual relationship with our heavenly Father. We are indeed rich in Him; God, the creator and sustainer, is our Father, and He has made every provision for us.
2 Peter 1:2-3 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of our Lord, for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His on glory and excellences.”
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.”
Blessings, Buddy

 
May 16, 2021                                 ATTAINING  TO ALL THE WEALTH
Colossians 2:2-4 “that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument.”
What are who are we living for? That is a key question and it requires some soul-searching to give an honest answer. The ways of the world is one thing, and the ways of God is something else altogether different. Life in the world is about self-preservation and self-satisfaction, about getting things, and being liked and well respected, etc. If one does not have a vital relationship with God, then it is only natural to have self as number one; with that being the case, we must be careful not to judge or critize, because that is all they know. The passages above tell us that there is a ‘wealth’ that we can attain. This wealth is not gold and silver, but something far more valuable. The wealth that does not diminish or rust is in fact, having “full assurance of understanding.” Nothing this world offers even comes close to that of having full ‘assurance and understanding’ and that in Christ are hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” AND He lives in us! Simply believing in our minds that this is true is not sufficient-we need ‘full assurance’ and ‘understanding’ in order to attain to true wealth. Christ in us is “God’s mystery;” we cannot grasp this truth will human intellect-it must be revealed to us by God. Since it requires God’s revelation for us to attain to the wealth-to experience “God’s mystery,” then what are we to do? That is an excellent question for sure. There are no three easy steps we can take in order to attain to the wealth of being assured and having an understanding of this mystery of God-which Christ is in us. However, I believe that we can put ourselves in a position where we become good candidates for receiving revelation from God. There are several places in scripture that tell us that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our minds “on things above.” Matthew 5:6 says: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” It really boils down to our heart; if we want to know God, we will read His word with the motivation being to learn of Him and to discover our identity in Him. I believe that we can direct our hearts toward God; when we do, He will begin to reveal Himself to us. Many places in scripture speaks of the heart of man. Let us set out heart on knowing Him and attaining to the wealth of full assurance and understanding that Christ lives in us.
Colossians 1:27 “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?”
Colossians 3:3 “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Blessing,
Buddy

 
May 14, 2021                                           DO  GOOD
Galatians 6:7-10 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
Sometimes we overlook the simple; and sometime we read but what we read does not penetrate. Most of us have heard many times about the law of sowing and reaping, but all too often, we live as though there is no such law. The fact is, that we will reap what we sow. If my primary focus is on me-making me ‘happy’ or getting the things I want, I will reap corruption-maybe not today, but one day; we sow today, and we reap later. On the other hand, if I sow to the Spirit, I will reap eternal life and we will reap blessings in the here and now as well. One of the most basic messages of the gospel is that we are called to do good works-because God is good and He is our Father. The idea of doing good works has a negative connotation to many because it has been proclaimed for centuries that we do not get to heaven by doing good works-and that is true. The call to good works has somewhat been set aside it seems, primarily because we fear people will trust their good works as a way to gain God’s acceptance and eternal life. However, we must see that God does not hesitate to call us to good works; in fact, throughout the scriptures we find a clear call to be about good works. I realize that some do good works because they believe that they will gain God’s approval by their good works, but their misunderstanding the reason for good works does not negate our call to be about good works. Our motivation for doing good works is that God is good, and we have been given new natures that are like His nature. The verse above tells us “not to lose heart in doing.” Often, we may not see any fruit from the good works we do and it may seem that others are not even aware of good deeds we do, but even so, we must not lose heart and continue to do the good works God calls us to be about. After all, we do not do good deeds in order to be recognized by others or to receive credit for what we do; it is the Lord we serve and we do what we do as unto Him. “So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all men.” Again, let us make sure that our motivation for doing good deeds is that God is good and He is our Father, and we are to be about representing His nature to those around us; we are His ambassadors.
Hebrews 10:24 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,”
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Blessings,
Buddy
​

 
May 12, 2021                                                ASSIGNMENT
2 Corinthians 7:17 “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
I find this verse to be freeing in that it can eliminate our comparing ourselves to others, and becoming envious of others. There is a subtle message that comes across telling us that we must meet a certain standard, or that we need to be doing this or that, and that we must improve in some way. If we buy into this mindset that says we must ‘do better’ or ‘do more,’ we will never find contentment-we will always be striving or heaping condemnation on ourselves. This is not to say that we never need to grow and improve, but it does say that I can enjoy and be at peace with the life that God has assigned me. Some have more than I do, and some have less; some have more influence than I do, and some have less-and that is all ok. It is time to stop the comparing, the wishing I had this or that, always searching for something that will satisfy, and embrace and enjoy with the life God has assigned to me-today. Each of us are unique and we called by God to live in the way He has for us. When we live according to our assignment that He has given, we have peace and a sense of purpose, and are able to enjoy life, and we have the sufficiency to do well the things we do. God gifts us in different ways; the gifts He gives us enable us to be about our assignment. Working and living in our assignment is not burdensome, but fulfilling. Living in the assignment that God has given does not mean we ‘have arrived’ spiritually; while living our assigned life, we are called to grow and mature in the faith and to be being conformed to His image. So, let us stop ‘chasing the rabbit’ that we never catch, and let us lead the life that the Lord has assigned to us.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Blessings,
Buddy 

 
May 10, 2021                                          I  HAVE  LEARNED   THE  SECRET
Philippians 4:11-13 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
Paul learned an amazing secret; it is interesting that he ‘learned’ the secret; it was not ‘part and parcel’ with becoming a believer. For many, finding contentment is like chasing the elusive butterfly; you think you have got it, but then you don’t have it. There is a great tendency to connect contentment with circumstances; but the secret that Paul learned enabled him to be content in any circumstance-and that is amazing! When we face adverse circumstances-when we suffer loss, or when things are not what we desire them to be-we may lose our contentment, unless we have learned this secret. The secret Paul learned made it possible for him to be content even when ‘going hungry.’ It is also interesting to see that Paul had learned to be content in prosperity and being filled. Riches and prosperity bring with them even greater challenges that would rob one of his or her contentment. Living with little or living with much is not the issue in itself; it’s how we view what we have and not allowing what we have to own us. Paul does not specifically tell us in this passage just what the secret was that he had learned, but as we read the letters of Paul, the secret becomes clear. Paul came to know that his life was in Christ and Christ was in him; he did not just know this in his mind alone but knew it in the deepest part of his being. He knew that God was His Father, and because God was his Father, he knew that God was directing his life and watching over him. He also knew that even in difficult times, God had not forsaken him, but was at work furthering His plans and purposes, and would use the adverse situations for good. Paul was able to see the big picture; he knew that God was ruling and he knew that God had a grand plan for the redemption of man, and this enabled him to see beyond the immediate circumstances. Paul knew that followers of Christ would suffer tribulations, but he also knew that God would enable His followers to be overcomers even in the most difficult situations. Paul’s passion to fulfill God’s purposes for his life was the driving force in his life, and nothing or no one could distract him from that purpose. Paul knew the promises of God for those who love Him and who walk according to His purposes, and he knew the great inheritance that was awaiting the redeemed people of God. Finally, Paul had an abiding trust in God, he knew that God was good, and that God was using all things for good, even though he may not understand the how and why. The good news is that you and I can learn the ‘secret’ just as Paul did.
2 Corinthians 12:10; 7:17 “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”      “Only let each person lead the life the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
1 Timothy 6:6-8 “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
Blessings,
Buddy

May 8, 2021                                         PAY  CLOSE  ATTENTION
Hebrews 2:1: “For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”
Before Jesus came, God spoke through the prophets in many ways according to Hebrews 1:2. Now, God has spoken to us in His Son whom He appointed heir of all things. The fact that God, the creator of the universe, sent His Son to talk to His people is, as they say-mind boggling.  This being the case, surely man would pay close attention and would cling to every word that Jesus spoke. God, being our creator, knows exactly what we need and only He knows what brings fulfillment in life. God has written the ultimate owner’s manual on how to live life. God desires that we experience full, overflowing life and Jesus is the one who holds the keys to life-a life of purpose and fulfillment.  Yet, because of the fallen nature of man, man cannot and does not in his fallen state receive the council and wisdom of God. Only as one puts his faith and trust in God; only when he is reconciled to God; can he know God and only then can he experience life as it was intended to be lived. We must not make the mistake of thinking that living the life that God has for His people is automatic. It is possible for believers to become dull of hearing and thus drift away from what God has spoken; Hebrews is a warning to us about drifting from all that Jesus accomplished on the cross on our behalf. There is a type of fear that is healthy and having a healthy fear of drifting from God is certainly a good kind of fear. In Hebrews 2:3 we read: “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”  Again in Hebrews 3:13-14 we find another warning: “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. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.”  Satan’s plans and schemes have the goal of deceiving man just as he did in the Garden of Eden with his first encounter with man. God has done a wonderful work; He has called us to be His own; He has revealed Himself to us; He has made us new; He has given His Spirit to live in us; and He has made us His own. We live in a world of turmoil and we have to deal with the effects of the sin that come as a result of man rejecting God. However, we can live in peace and we can live in the light as God’s people. God extends us a wonderful invitation-He invites us to enter into His rest. Again, entering His rest is not automatic-it is possible not to enter His rest. In Hebrews 4:1-2 we read: “THERFORE, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” Knowing God, walking with God, and enjoying God, is an active process. Our faith is to be active. Hourly, daily we are to be “fully engaged” with what God is doing-conscious of His presence. No matter what we are doing, we find rest when we live according to His design. So, let each of us pay close attention and let us not neglect our great salvation.
1 Peter 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:13: “Therefore gird your mind for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Blessings,
Buddy