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NOT  OF  THE  WORLD

7/31/2016

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June 31, 2016                                           NOT  OF  THE  WORLD
John 17:6,16 “I manifested Thy name to the men who Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
How can it be? As believers, we have careers, we go shopping, we pay bills, we take vacations, we go to the doctor, we eat, we play sports, we listen to music, we watch the news, we socialize, etc. etc. and yet we are not “of the world?” There are no greater differences, or opposites than being of the world, or not being of the world. The phrase in this verse, “Thine they were” helps us understand the verse.  Even long before we were born physically, God knew us, and He knew all of the details surrounding our birth and our life- it’s awesome, and life changing to know that we belonged to Him eons ago! Our life on earth is just a brief period of time where we come to know our Father and what it means to be His sons and daughters; and it’s a time of preparation for our eternal life with Him. In God’s grand design, being born on the same planet where Satan “roams about” is no accident. A key part of our training on Earth is that of learning to overcome evil-that’s where Satan comes in- just as Jesus did while He was on Earth. As I have often said, God did not desire robots, but He desired a people who would be drawn to Him, and transformed by His love that He demonstrated in Christ.  The world-those who do not know Him-are in darkness and limited to a life separated from God. Jesus came to Earth demonstrating the kingdom of God and those who believe that He is the Son of God and that He was crucified on our behalf, have been adopted into His family and now are a part of His kingdom. Because we are in His kingdom, we live with a different perspective and different motivation in life than those who are not in His kingdom. There is no over-lapping, or gray area when it comes to comparing the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. Just one example of the stark differences of the two worlds: the world is focused on getting, while the kingdom of God is based on giving. (Those in the world may give, but it is based on getting something in return.) By being a part of His kingdom, we are eternal beings and physical death is not the “end,” but is actually the time when our “mortal puts on immortality” and we go to live forever with Him. As said above, Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom of God, and the scriptures were given to instruct us concerning His kingdom; and He gave us new hearts and minds, and placed His Spirit within us, equipping us for life in His kingdom. As believers, we must realize that it is possible for us to fall short of living and enjoying life as He designed life to be in His kingdom. We often find the writers of the New Testament giving strong warnings to believers, encouraging them to live according to the Kingdom of God and not to revert back to the ways of the world. Even though a believer may live contrary to the kingdom, he is still a part of His kingdom, but he will experience the chastening of the God because He is his Father and He loves him and desires that he experience the abundant life that is available to those who are in His kingdom. Because we are not of this world, does not excuse us from being good citizens, but because we belong to His kingdom, we are to be the best citizens, demonstrating His kingdom. Honesty, faith, hope, good character, keeping our word, being dependable, having integrity, being productive, blessing others, etc. are all a part of being in His kingdom. Let us realize afresh that we belong to another kingdom-the kingdom of God.
Matthew 13:11 “And He answered them, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.’”
Blessings,
Buddy
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PRESSING  ON

7/26/2016

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July 26, 2016                                                 PRESSING  ON
Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
When you read the writings of Paul, and other New Testament writers, you discover that what they penned flowed out of a passion to spread the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God. These writers had encountered God in such a way that all that really mattered was fulfilling the purposes of God in and through their lives. Because Paul had had such a life changing encounter with God on the road to Damascus and had been called to be an Apostle, one would think that Paul had “arrived” spiritually.  Yet, Paul knew that he could spend his lifetime discovering just how great and awesome, how wonderful, how all-consuming was the God that had called him out of darkness into His marvelous light; and Paul also knew that those who diligently pursued God would be rewarded both in this life and the one to come. Today, it seems that many believers have resigned themselves to living in a complacent mode, or a spectator mode, rather than pressing on toward the goal of discovering more of God and His purposes and experiencing God on a daily basis. We live in a day when passion, drive, tenacity, commitment, and vision are becoming rare qualities. The truth is that we cannot just manufacture or “work up” these qualities; these qualities are by-products of the passion that comes from encountering God and having a vibrant relationship with Him. We may encounter God in many different ways, but what puts us on the path to encountering God is having a heart that desires to know God above everything else-this is THE critical issue for each of us. Jesus makes it clear that only those who seek Him will find Him. Not seeking Him first simply says that our hearts are not wholly His, and that we have other priorities. In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him. God is looking, and He is looking for those who have a heart to know Him. If and when we find found ourselves not pressing on to know God in greater ways, then let us confess that to God, stir up our hearts to hunger for God and ask God to change our heart in such a way that desiring to know Him in ever increasing ways becomes our passion. We do have the choice and the opportunity to set our hearts toward knowing God; our heart is to be ruled by the Spirit of God within us. Today, may we press on “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
 
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SOWING  AND  REAPING

7/23/2016

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July 23, 2016                                      SOWING  AND  REAPING
Galatians 6:7-9: “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.”
It is an inescapable fact of life that we sow and we reap, and we reap what we sow.  The most important question that each of us must at some point must reckon with, is that of what and where we are sowing. God has set up certain principles in the universe and in life itself; just as the law of gravity always works, so does the law of sowing and reaping always work; and to be sure, God will not and cannot be mocked-His design always works. The simple choice facing each of us is whether we will sow in a way that reaps corruption, or in a way that reaps eternal life. The “flesh” as referred to in this verse is obviously not our literal flesh and bones, but refers to the selfish nature of man that seeks to be satisfied. The scriptures tell us that for the believer, the “old man,” the flesh, has been crucified; however, if the believer does not “reckon the old man to be dead,” (Romans 6:11) it is possible for the believer to sow to the flesh while the non-believer has only one option, and that is to sow to the flesh. In Galatians, Paul is addressing believers and he is admonishing the believers to make sure they are sowing to the Spirit and not the flesh. In essence, sowing to the Spirt means that one is living according to the Holy Spirit that lives within him. The work of the Holy Spirit in the believer touches every aspect of life, including: revealing truth, revealing the nature of God, empowering one to live the Christian (super-natural) life, giving wisdom and guidance, and much more. We are sowing to the Spirit when we obey the promptings of the Spirit within us; when we are focused on fulfilling the desires of the flesh, we are sowing to the flesh. In a very broad sense, sowing to the Spirit results in doing “good works” because God Himself is good and He desires to express His goodness in and through us. Because we may not always see immediate good fruit as we sow to the Spirit, Paul warned of the possibility of “losing heart in doing good.”  Because we sow first and reap later, we are not to lose heart as we wait on the harvest. It is important to know that even though we may have sown to the flesh in the past, we can start sowing to the Spirit now and reap good fruit. When our heart comes to desire God and we walk in His ways, God has a way of dealing with our past-taking away the guilt and shame and giving us a new start. Let us examine ourselves and make sure that we are sowing to the Spirit and let us not lose heart or grow weary-God has promised that we will reap-and the harvest will be big!
Galatians 5:16: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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RESPONDING  TO  TRIBULATION

7/20/2016

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 July 20, 2016                                         RESPONDING  TO  TRIBULATION
Romans 5:1-3: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into the grace in which we stand; and we exult in the hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulation, knowing that the tribulation brings about perseverance;”
Exult definition: to show or feel a lively or triumphant joy; rejoice exceedingly; be highly elated or jubilant.
The idea of rejoicing greatly, being elated, or being jubilant in the midst of tribulation may sound unrealistic to say the least. I am the first to confess that I can’t explain how we are to rejoice in trials, but I do know that the scriptures are true and any lack of understanding simply means I need more of God’s wisdom in understanding the scripture.  I do know that God is a compassionate God and He tells us to “weep with those who weep,” so we know that God understands that there will be trials and suffering in this life. However, as believers, unlike those that do not know God, we can experience a peace in the midst trials. The big picture we must keep in mind is that we have been born again and no matter what goes on in the here and now, we are heaven bound-to be with the Lord forever. Also, we must remember that God has a plan and He is in full control, even though to us it may appear that the world is out of control. When we come to see, or when we remember that God is sovereign, that He is ruling, that He is using Satan for His purposes, that He is able to use the trials we face for our own good, and that He is a good God, we can then begin to experience peace and a sense of joy when we are experiencing trials. Strangely enough, we can have tears of pain and hurt, and have joy and peace at the same time! If anybody has ever faced a trial and who suffered, it was Jesus; yet we read in Hebrews 12:2: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus did have to endure suffering and trials, but the key point is that He was able to endure because He knew the joy that would follow. The same is true for us; there is a “joy unspeakable” that we will experience, and anticipation of this joy is present with us even in the trial. Suffering and trial are not the end, but the doorway to great joy. If we lose focus on the trustworthiness of God and we focus only on the trial at hand, we will not experience joy. May God open our eyes to see that, just as He did, we can also experience joy in our present trials because of the joy set before us-His plans are glorious. To believe God changes everything.
1 Peter 1:8: “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even thought you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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LIVING  BEYOND  REPROACH

7/16/2016

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July 16, 2016                                   LIVING  BEYOND  REPROACH
Titus 2:7-8: “in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”
The book of Titus goes into great detail concerning how our day-to-day lives are to be lived and it makes it clear that the motivation for living such lives is based on the fact that Christ gave Himself for us, redeemed us, and made us His own possession. Once we understand that we have been redeemed and that we are His possession, life takes on new meaning, and we have a different motivation for doing what we do; our focus shifts from living for self to living for Him. The book of Titus is not a list of rules we must keep in order to please God, but a book that portrays the life of a believer who is living according to his or her new identity in Christ. Some may do “good deeds” in order to impress others, to earn “brownie-points,” to make themselves feel good about themselves, or as a way of earning the approval of God or of others. When our heart is pure and we understand the true gospel, good deeds become a natural expression of the life of God in us. It is amazing, but the fact that we have the Holy Spirit at work in us, our speech can be beyond reproach. Many, and most likely each of us, have spoken words we later regretted, or have been ensnared by our words; but we now have the power to speak words that build up, encourage, exhort, admonish, and words that produce good fruit. It is not an unreal possibility, nor an impossible lofty thought, but we can live our lives in such a way that our “opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” Our motivation for living in such a way is not to impress others, or to take pride in how we live, but it is because God is at work in us making us expressions of His nature. Actually, to realize that God is desiring to express Himself through us is a humbling awareness. No matter how we have or have not lived in the past, we can start today living our lives in such a way that we reflect the very nature of God who indwells us.
Psalms 37:3: “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.”
James 3:13: “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT

7/12/2016

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July 12, 2016                                       THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT
Galatians 5:22-24: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
This verse, like many verses, contradict the very nature of man, and at the heart of this contradiction is the fact that man believes that it is by his own effort that change happens. It is true that a non-believer can choose to make some changes by his own willpower; he can choose to make a new habit to exercise, or to change his diet, etc. What man is totally incapable of doing is giving himself a new heart whereby he becomes a partaker of the nature of God. The above verse is an awesome verse in that it describes what the Holy Spirit produces in each believer, which actually amounts to a change of nature for the believer. The fruit of the Spirit as listed in this verse is not something we must work at, or obtain through our diligence and our best effort. Even for the believer, it may be difficult to grasp the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is a package deal-we have it, or we don’t have it. For example, we have heard others say, and we have likely said: “I need to work on self-control” or “I need to be more joyful,” or whatever.  When He is in control of our lives, the fruit of the Spirit is the by-product. It is important to realize that this verse describes the “fruit” of the Spirit, not the “fruits.” This may be a stretch even for the believer, but if you have one, you have all of the fruit of the Spirit-if you have joy, then you have faithfulness, etc.  As a believer, at any given time we are either living the self-life, or we are living by the Spirit. It is possible for a believer to “quench the Spirit” and revert back to living according to the flesh, but note the warning in this verse: “those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Even though God gives us a new heart, a new mind, and He puts His Spirit within us, there is still a maturing process to take place in the believer, but even as a “babe in Christ,” one can know and experience the fruit of the Spirit. As we learn to walk in the Spirit and as we learn to hear and recognize His voice, we will find that the fruit of the Spirit being experienced becomes a way of life. Not only does the Spirit produce good fruit in us, He also corrects us when we need to be corrected, He guides us, He gives wisdom, He intercedes for us, He reveals truth to us, and much more. The ultimate freedom we could ever experience becomes a reality when we live our lives with the Holy Spirit of God at the helm. The Spirit will not force His way, but is anxious for us to invite Him to take full control of our lives and yield to what He wants to do in us and through us. Yielding to Him does not mean that we have no part to play; our part is to cooperate with what He is doing in us and to respond to His promptings. Let us thank God for the fruit that the Spirit brings to our lives and may walking in the Spirit become a way of life.
Blessings,
Buddy
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PAYING  CLOSE  ATTENTION

7/8/2016

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July 8, 2016                                              PAYING  CLOSE  ATTENTION
Hebrews 1:2: “in these last days He has spoken in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Hebrews 2:1-3: “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angles proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
The greatest event in the life of any person is that of being born again, whereby they are adopted into the family of God. A great sacrifice, a great price was paid when God sent His Son to make our salvation possible-a price beyond our imagination and comprehension.  In our day we live in a culture replete with distractions: iPhones, information over-load, financial pressures, careers ,broken relationships, the pursuit of entertainment-and the list goes on- that could easily cause us to drift away from the truth of the gospel. Even though the early believers lived in “simpler” times (so it seems), they too had to be on guard against drifting from the truth of the gospel that had been delivered to them. The verses above are a reminder to us; reminding us that the Creator God has spoken through His Son, and what God has said and demonstrated through His Son is the most critical, and the greatest thing ever spoken to human beings. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus, and the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  Hour by hour, day by day, Jesus taught and demonstrated the kingdom of God, and He did so with great authority and power. Jesus ministry on earth was the cataclysmic moment in all of world history and what He taught and demonstrated is to serve as a catalyst of our lives. As Jesus made so clear, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world are in sharp contrast, and the two kingdoms do not overlap and there is no gray area-every person belongs to one of the two kingdoms. As believers, we must not only understand the message of the gospel, we must “pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Seeking, learning, experiencing, and expressing the gospel as a way of life is to be our mode of operation, and the desire of our heart. Let us remember just how great our salvation is, and let us be a people who live according to the kingdom of God even in a world that does not know Him. It is a healthy fear for us to understand that if we neglect this great salvation that God made possible to us by the sacrifice of His Son, we will bear the consequences of such neglect. You and I have every reason to pay close attention to what God has said and what God has done.
Luke 11:28: “He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”
Blessings,
Buddy
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CALLED  TO  FREEDOM

7/4/2016

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July 4, 2016                                              CALLED  TO  FREEDOM
Galatians 5:13: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
Every person has an innate desire to be free. It is for sure a wonderful thing to be “free,” and we see in the above verse that God has called us freedom, but if we misunderstand, or misuse freedom, we do so at our own loss. Some may think that to be free means that there are few or no boundaries in life, and the goal in life is to do whatever it takes to make yourself happy-“if it feels good, do it.”  The freedom that God calls us to is a freedom unlike that of the world, and only as we discover who we are in Christ, can we know true freedom. Because God has put a new nature within us, we can now experience freedom as we “through love, serve one another.” So contrary to natural man, freedom is experienced when our focus is on loving and blessings others-and strangely enough, we get the greatest blessing and we realize the greatest freedom when we do so. In Galatians, Paul is admonishing believers to stand strong in their freedom and to be alert to the fact they that would go back into slavery should they revert back to living according to the flesh. In Galatians 5:1 we read: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Paul was warning the believers to beware of those who were teaching that they had to keep the whole Law if they were to please God. Today, in our culture, we constantly here three lies, that if believed, would rob us of our freedom in Christ. One lie, as mentioned above, is to cast off restraints and do whatever makes you happy or makes you “feel good.” Another lie we hear from well-meaning people is that we must keep the law, or do or don’t do certain things, if we are to please God. The third lie we hear is that since we have been saved by grace, what we do does not really matter a great deal. As believers, living in the culture that we do, just as Paul warned the early believers, we must be alert to the possibility that by misunderstanding or by misusing our freedom in Christ, we will “be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Before we were born again, we were slaves to living according to our flesh, separated from God, without hope, and unable to keep the ways of God. Christ not only came that we might go to heaven when we die, He also came to set us free and to break all the chains that kept us in bondage. The freedom that Christ offers is true freedom, a freedom like no other; a freedom to be all that God designed us to be. When we experience the freedom found in Christ, we then realize that what the world calls freedom is really a form of slavery. As we celebrate this Fourth of July, let us thank God that He sent His Son that we may indeed be free.
John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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MET  BY  GOD

7/1/2016

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July 1, 2016                                                   MET  BY  GOD
Isaiah 64:4-5a: “who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. Thou dost meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers Thee in Thy ways,”
Throughout the scriptures we come across verses that give us insight as to the nature of our God and it is an awesome fact to see that that He is indeed a good God. God is good in one sense even to those who do not know Him; an example, he “sends rain on the just and the unjust.” However, some experience His goodness in greater ways, and in this verse, we see some conditions of receiving and experiencing His goodness. First, we are told that God will actually work “in behalf of the one who waits for Him!” What could be greater or more blessed than to have the Creator, all knowing, all powerful God working on our behalf? To “wait” on God does not necessarily imply inactivity, but it does involve trusting God, depending on God, seeking Him first, and being sensitive to His direction and timing. Waiting on God means that we see God as our source and supply for all that we need and desire; waiting on God is a life style, a way of living, acknowledging His lordship over our lives. Second, we read that: “Thou dost meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness.” Knowing and relating to God leads us to action and what we do greatly matters. Because God is a righteous God, we are to be righteous people, being about righteous deeds. The reason for us being righteous is not to earn His love, but we are to be righteous because of our relationship with Him. As believers, because of our new nature that we have been given, committing “acts of righteous” is natural for us to do if we are living out of the new creation that we are. Third, we find that God meets with the one “who remembers Thee in Thy ways.” “Remembering” implies that one believes, remembers and meditates on the greatness of God and all that He has done; it’s a way of acknowledging that we want to align our lives with Him. God is the only true God and He is a God who is full of righteousness and truth, and He is a God who invites us into a relationship with Him that enables us to be like Him and causes us to express His righteousness. Do not let us make the mistake of thinking that all that matters is that we are going to heaven; it greatly matters to God, that because we belong to Him, we reflect His nature in our day-to-day lives. By doing so, we will find God acting on our behalf and we will find Him meeting with us! Let us remember the great things God has done since the beginning of time as well as all that He has done in our lives, and may we be being transformed into His image.
John 14:21: “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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    Buddy Fitzgerald

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