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KNOWING THIS

6/7/2022

June 7, 2022 KNOWING THIS
Romans 6:4-6 “Therefore we have buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.
If the resurrection of Jesus is something we celebrate once a year on Easter, then somehow we are deficient in our understanding of the impact of the resurrection. In verse 3, Paul wrote-‘Or do you not know’-referring to the fact that if we have been baptized into Jesus, then we have also been baptized into His death. There is a connection with us being baptized into Christ and His resurrection-they are not two separate events. Being baptized into Christ is more than being immersed in, or sprinkled with water; water baptism is to be the outward sign or public confession of what has taken place on the inside. Being immersed in water is a picture of being placed in a grave-death to ourselves-and then raised out of the grave as a new person. Being baptized into Christ means that our old self-that part of us that is contrary to God-our sin nature-is put to death. In order for us to walk in newness of life, it was necessary that the old man be crucified. Also, to walk in newness of life, we must understand and receive the scriptures that teach that we have died to who we were and that we have been made new with a new nature, a new spirit, and a new mind. We also must understand that to walk in newness does not happen automatically as we see in Ephesians 4:2-24 where we are instructed to “put off the old self” and to “put on the new self.” The key to us walking in newness is for us to identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, realizing that our old self died with Him and we were resurrected in newness.
Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.”
Blessings,
Buddy

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REGRETS

6/5/2022

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June 5, 2022 REGRETS
1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
We all have regrets from past bad decisions and as well as past sins we committed; and we all wish we had done some things different. Our past, if not dealt with, can ‘haunt’ us and rob us of peace of mind. It is subtle, but it is often our pride that makes it difficult for us to get over our failures; we think ‘How could I have done that?’ The Apostle Paul had a past that he was not proud of and he saw himself as the chief among sinners. As you read the Bible, you find that many of the characters of the Bible were far from perfect. What Paul said in the Philippian verse above is the key to having victory over regrets; “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” To one dealing with regrets and remorse over past sins and bad decisions, it may sound over-simplified or too simplistic, but the best advice is to ‘forget about it!’ It is subtle, but how we view and how we deal with our past is an indicator of whether we are walking according to the Spirit, or according to the flesh. When we walk according to the Spirit, we walk according to the truth of God’s word. As believers, our heart, our spirit, and our mind should be set on the reality that all of our sins are forgiven and that God remembers them no more; we have the favor of God; our inheritance in Him is secure; we have been made new creations with new spirits, new hearts and new minds; we have a destiny with God; we have a hope and a future; we have the Spirit of God living in us to enable us to be overcomers; God goes through the difficult times with us---and the list could go on. On occasion, sometime ‘out of the blue,’ a past sin or failure comes to our remembrance; when it does, let it be a reminder that yes we were guilty, but God has forgiven us. Just as Paul did, let us forget what lies behind. This also applies to past successes; it is a blessing to have good memories of past events, but we are not to live in the past; we are to live in the present, walking with God as salt and light where we are. We are to be ‘pressing on’ to lay hold of all God has for us; we must not be spiritually lazy but must overcome anything that would hinder our fellowship with God. Remember, God came to save sinners-and that includes you and I.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.”
Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is form the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
1 Timothy 1:5 “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
Blessings,
Buddy

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DO THE RIGHT THING

6/2/2022

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June 2, 2022 DO THE RIGHT THING
1 Peter 3:13 “And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?”
Psalm 21:3 “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Colossians 3:20 “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.”
It may sound a bit over-simplified, but doing the right thing is the right thing to do! We tend to complicate life and confuse the issues. I believe that God has placed within us a basic knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. The problem comes when we begin to focus on ourselves; if our goal is to please ourselves, we will compromise on what is right and what is pleasing to the Lord. Because we belong to the Lord and because we have been made righteous in Him, we are to live righteously in this life. Living righteously is not just a belief, but is active; it’s about expressing the righteousness of God through our actions. Again, selfish motives derail righteous living. Doing the right thing has many benefits; a clear conscious, which is an awesome blessing; better sleep at night; no regrets; and a sense of peace. I also personally believe that there are emotional and physical benefits to doing the right thing. It is freeing to live life with the attitude of how we can bless others and what deeds can we do that are pleasing to the Lord. In fact, that is how God designed us to live-and He knows what fills our deepest longings. The only way we can live life to the fullest measure possible is to live according to His design-according to our true identity as sons and daughters of God. Being motivated to ‘do the right thing’ does not negate the need for prayer; there are important decisions to make in life and it is wise to seek God’s direction, and we need to have the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to what good works we are called to do. Our hearts desire should be that of doing the right thing, with the motivation of doing the things that are pleasing to Him and to be a blessing to others. In reality, in God, life is not complicated. To get a glimpse of life as God designed, look at the life of Adam and Eve before the fall.
Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Romans 6:13 “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments as righteousness to God.”
Blessings,
Buddy

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Buddy Fitzgerald

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