Blog Archives - TheNewU

A CURE FOR SPIRITUAL APATHY

9/29/2019

September 29, 2019 A CURE FOR SPIRITUAL APATHY
Philippians 4:9 “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Matthew 7:24 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock.”
1 Timothy 4:15 “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”
We easily get to a place where we think that knowing the gospel, or what the bible says, is sufficient, or is the goal. If we are satisfied with knowledge alone, then we have missed the whole point of the gospel. Knowledge is important, but the reason for, and the point of the gospel of God is that we might be changed. It is critical for us to know that if we do not obey, or put into practice the teachings of the gospel, we become dull of hearing and the result is spiritual apathy. Hebrews 5:11. Obviously, we need to hear what God says and has said. What I say next may sound like a contradiction, but it is possible for us to place too much attention on ‘hearing God;’ in fact, ‘waiting to hear God’ can be an excuse for inaction or procrastination on our part. God has spoken the bible, His word, to us. He has given much revelation in His word, He has given much instruction on living, He has given us wisdom, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us to obey all that He has commanded. When it comes to doing the things God calls us to do, we must not be guided by our emotions, but by the Spirit of God in us; whether we ‘feel’ like it or not, we must choose to be about the things of the Lord. That is the secret-that is the antidote to spiritual apathy, a loss of vision, a loss of energy, and even depression. It never fails; when I do what God puts in my heart to do, even though I do not ‘feel’ like doing it or have other things to do, I am always blessed the minute I do it. It must be our priority-to practice the teachings of scripture! To practice means to put into action-it’s that simple. If you are not sure where to start, read the ‘one another’ commands and start doing them-practice them. Blessings and peace awaits the one who hears AND obeys the words of the Lord.
Luke 11:28 “But He said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
Blessings,
Buddy

BURIED WITH HIM

9/26/2019

September 26, 2019 BURIED WITH HIM
Romans 6:3-4 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism through death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
These verses brings to the forefront a central truth of the gospel-a truth that is a must be grasped if we are to live the Christian life that God has made available to us. There is no doubt that this truth I am referring to can easily become a stumbling block to our spiritual well-being. The gospel is a call for us to die to self; however, if there is one thing our self does not want to do, it is to die. So, what do we do? How do we die and yet live? Water baptism is a picture of one who has confessed Christ as Savior, being buried in a watery grave and then being raised up in newness-a new person. The gospel does not call us to clean up, improve, or refurbish our human nature-it calls us to die to it. The good news is that when we are born again, God gives us a new nature and this new nature reflects the ways of God. God does not annihilate or eradicate our old human nature; He calls us to lay aside the old self and to walk according to the Spirit. Ephesians 4:22. Dying to self is something we do daily, even hourly; we choose to not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit-according to our new identity in Christ. “So I say. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16. “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Ephesians 4:24. If we view our old sin nature as alive and well and we find ourselves yielding to the desires of our flesh-our old nature-then we have not died to the old self. The antidote to struggling with sin is found in Romans 6:11 where we are told “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Do we ‘consider’ ourselves dead to sin, or alive to God-that’s the all-important question. In essence, dying to self, or being buried with Him, is a matter of choosing to walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. We can make this choice only because God has made us new creations-our new self is a creation of God-and He has given us His Holy Spirit and has set us free from the power of sin. Let us continually be laying aside our old self-who we use to be- and let us continually putting on the new self that God has given us.”
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been 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.”
Ephesians 4:22 “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.”
Blessings,
Buddy

RECONCILIATION

9/23/2019

September 23, 2019 RECONCILIATION
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us, we beg you on the behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
It has always been God’s heart for man to be rightly related to Himself. When Adam and Eve sinned and when all who lived after Adam and Eve sinned, God did not write them off; rather, He instigated His plan to reconcile the world to Himself through the death and resurrection of His Son. God is a God of reconciliation and for that we can be eternally grateful. God demonstrated reconciliation-He initiated reconciliation even while man was lost and without hope. This reconciliation was more than making a way for those who trust Christ to go to heaven when they die; this reconciliation made it possible for believers to enjoy a relationship with God daily. Now, God has given us a ministry of reconciliation. We now have the opportunity, and because Christ lives in us, we also have the ability to be about reconciliation. The ultimate choice that every individual since Adam and Eve must make is whether they will live as God designed and as He desires, or live according to their on dictates-their own preference. Reconciliation revolves around aligning our life, our day-to-day choices, with the plans and purposes of God. Certainly the most critical and the basic component of reconciliation is confessing and turning from sin and trusting Jesus as Savior. This ‘ministry of reconciliation’ that we have been given involves being personally reconciled to the ways of God on a daily basis as well as encouraging others and helping others to be reconciled to the ways of God. For example, if I have a contrary or selfish attitude, I need to change my attitude and adopt an attitude that is pleasing to the Lord-that is being reconciled to God. If I have a friend or a loved one who is living or acting in way that is unlike Christ, I should take the opportunity to encourage them to turn from the things that are displeasing to the Lord and turn to the things that please Him. I realize that this may sound overly simplistic, but that is just the way it works in our relationship with the Lord and with others; the Holy Spirit gives us the power to turn, to change, and to be reconciled. It is a tremendous blessing that God does not hold a grudge against us when we ‘mess up’; He is always longing for us to turn to Him, to find pleasure in Him. The good news is that in the plans of God, He has given us His Spirit that enables us to align our lives with His ways, and He has called us to work with Him in His reconciling the world to Himself. He has indeed given us a ministry of reconciliation-let us be about our ministry. Let us make sure our ways are reconciled to God, and then be about helping others to be reconciled to our heavenly Father.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
Blessings,
Buddy

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL

9/20/2019

September 20, 2019 THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
It is a fantastic miracle that we can hold in our hands the written word of God! The God who created the universe, the God who is all-knowing and all-powerful, and all-loving, gave us His word in written form. Even though His written word is an awesome miracle, we may find ourselves taking His word for granted and lose the grandeur of His word. God reveals Himself in and through His word and He also reveals who we are and exposes our need for Him. God’s word is absolute truth. Apart from believing His word, man cannot experience life as God the Creator designed; man is incomplete without the word of God. As believers, let us guard against becoming complacent when it comes to reading and studying His word. If by chance we do not have a desire to read His word or if we find we are too busy to read His word, that is a sure sign that we indeed need to read and study His word. In His word we find wisdom, knowledge, hope, direction, truth, purpose, understanding, grace, and confidence. Let us not be guilty of saying we believe His word and yet not obey His word. His word is not just information-it is transformational. His word changes us and it is the blueprint for being transformed into His image. Of course, His word cannot be believed and lived out apart from the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand His word. Let us turn our hearts and our minds to His word-it is ‘alive and powerful’ and it is our salvation for this life and the life to come.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Matthew 4:4 “….it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Blessings,
Buddy

THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT

9/17/2019

September 17, 2019 THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ephesians 1:13 “When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you have been bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
The all-powerful, creator God, has given to each believer the Holy Spirit-He lives in us! Amazing. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we would have no understanding of God and would have no power to overcome sin. The Holy Spirit has many functions. The Holy Spirit guides us and reveals truth to us; He declares the words of the Father to us; He comforts us; He speaks to us; He convicts us when we sin and when we are wrong; He gives us words to speak; and He helps us understand the scriptures. The Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’-He is a person. The Holy Spirit always honors the Father. If and when we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us specifically of that sin; He never condemns us in a general, broad sense-that is what Satan does. The Holy Spirit makes the word of God the living word. As believers, we have the power of choice as to whether we walk according to the Spirit, or according to the flesh. If we are to live the victorious Christian life that God has made possible, then we must walk by the Spirit. God could have made us like robots with no power of choice, but He desires that our hearts turn to Him, that we desire Him above all else. The Holy Spirit is always drawing us to God. It is incumbent upon us to be sensitive to the drawing of the Spirit if we are to walk according to the Spirit. We are being sensitive to the Spirit when we read God’s word, when we pray, when we listen, when we meditate on the things of God, and when we obey His promptings. The danger for us is that we can become so busy about life that we crowd out the work of the Spirit-and we suffer as a consequence. Because life can become busy and demanding, and because various trials come our way, we all the more need the work of the Spirit in us. So wherever we find ourselves at the present, we desperately need the guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us turn our ears and our hearts to the work of the Spirit-He is always pointing us to the Father.
Romans 8:6 “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”
Blessings,
Buddy

BEING RESTORED

9/14/2019

September 14, 2019 BEING RESTORED
Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.”
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
No doubt there will be times when we are in need of being restored spiritually and physically. We do not need to feel as though we are the only one who has such a need; many of the writers of the scriptures also found themselves in a place where they needed restoration. Going through a season of difficulty and trial, sickness, loss of a loved one, etc. may result in one losing a sense of joy and hope. There are other factors that may rob us of joy; neglecting the reading of God’s word, not seeking the Lord first, living unto self, isolating ourselves from other believers, and not understanding our true identity in the Lord. The good news is that God has made provision for us-we can be renewed or restored and we can again experience the joy of the Lord. A starting point is to confess to God that we are not experiencing the joy that comes from Him and that we are spiritually dry. It is absolutely key that we do not live according to our emotions but according to truth and to what is the right thing to do. Whether we ‘feel’ like it or not, we must set our heart on being restored and regaining the joy that comes from the Lord. Some very practical things that put us on the track of restoration includes-reading the word of God and asking Him to speak to us as we read; obeying His word; praying-talking to God and being honest; listening to worship music; talking to other believers and asking them to pray for us; finding a way to bless someone else; and making the choice to think healthy thoughts. When you experience depression and/or a lack of joy, do not condemn yourself-but do commit to taking the steps that lead to restoration. God knows that man is frail apart from Him and He has made every provision for us to walk in His love and His joy. He does not condemn us, but leads us in the way of life.
1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Psalm 43:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”
Blessings,
Buddy

FACING REALITY

9/11/2019

September 11, 2019 FACING REALITY
2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”
There is freedom in admitting and confessing the truth; we become delusional when we deny reality. We are well aware of the aging process that cannot be reversed no matter how hard we may try. (Certainly, we should take steps to be in good physical condition for our age, etc.) Mega bucks and energy are spent with the goal of slowing the aging process or at least hiding the effects of aging. The good news is that God gives us insight and gives us hope in this matter of aging. One truth that those who are younger must understand is that the life they live now impacts their lives in the future-in other words, living as unto the Lord today will bear fruit in future years. In 2 Corinthians, Paul is reminding us that yes, our physical bodies are perishing, but we have an ‘inward man’ that is not subject to the aging process; no matter our age, our inner man-our spirit, can be renewed daily; for that reason, we do not lose hope. How sad it is that those who do know God as Savior; have no source of hope, they only have an outward man that is perishing. Isaiah 40:31 is a fantastic verse; we can renew our strength-we can soar as eagles-we will not grow weary and we will not faint! Do you believe that? Hope in the Lord is not just theory-it’s real. Hope comes when we believe and accept as true all that God has done and what He will do. God has brought salvation to us; He has forgiven all of our sins; He has given us a new spirit, a new mind, and a new heart; He has adopted us into His family; He has made us complete; He has invited us to work with Him in His purposes; and He has plans and a future for each of us who know Him. If hope in God is not a reality for us, or if our hope is shallow, it is because we have lost sight of who God is and who He says we are. The biggest distraction, and the cause of losing hope is the tendency for us to live according to self-what we think and what we want. Let us know that we have a part to play in experiencing the hope that is available to us; we must choose to be renewed-to walk according to the Spirit-to think on, and do the things that please Him-to study His word-to seek Him first-to put on the new self-and to keep His word. All of these things are not done to earn His approval, but are things we do because we have been made new-and it is our nature to do these things. When we learn of our new identity, our hope will be steadfast and sure. Even though we experience the aches and pains of aging in the outward man, let us make sure that our spirit, or our inner man, is being renewed daily-and may we soar like the eagles.
Psalm 92:12-14 “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like the cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”
Blessings,
Buddy

THE COMMAND CENTER

9/8/2019

September 7, 2019 THE COMMAND CENTER
Ephesians 4:21-23 “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.”
Proverbs 23:7a “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”
The basic truth behind this idea of renewing our mind is that God has given us new minds and by the power of the Spirit, we can choose to walk in newness-it’s not forced on us. We have heard it a million times; we know how powerful the mind is. Just because we have heard it so often, let us not become dull of hearing when it comes to talking about this command center, the mind. Because our mind is the ‘command center’ of our life, it is crucial to continually be being renewed in the spirit of our minds. We all know first-hand that our mind is the battle ground. Since the battle is won or lost in our minds, it is crucial that we take dominion over our minds if we are to win the battles. I think many feel that the mind operates on its own free will and that we just have to live with it. The truth is, that we have the ability and the power to direct the thoughts of our mind. The idea of taking dominion over our mind is so much broader than whether we have a positive attitude or a negative attitude. (Having a positive attitude helps; even a person who does not know God can have a positive attitude and will have a better life because of it.) It may sound simplistic, or it may sound impossible, but we must decide what we are going to think about and how we are going to process and file information. At times, wrong thoughts will enter our mind, but when they do, we must quickly reject or expel those thoughts and replace them with healthy thoughts. The new mind that God has given us is pure, and when we are walking according to our new mind, our thoughts will be pure. As we walk in our newness, as we are being transformed, our thoughts follow suit. Managing our mind, or taking dominion over our thought life, is a continual process-a way of life. So, when we turn the television on or our computer or I-phone, we must make the decision as to what we will allow to enter the eye gate and the ear gate. I understand that this may sound absurd or unrealistic in the culture in which we live, but trust me-we can and must take dominion over our physical bodies, our minds and our soul.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
1 John 3:3 “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Blessings,
Buddy

TAKING DOMINION

9/4/2019

September 4, 2019 TAKING DOMINION
Matthew 18:19 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”
Psalm 101:3a “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.”
Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”
If not diligent to walk according to the Spirit, we will find ourselves fulfilling the desires of our flesh-and it may be very subtle. Our physical bodies are to be under the rule of the Spirit; we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We all know this, it’s really basic, but we should take care our God given bodies. Yes, we should eat in a healthy way, we should have sufficient exercise, and resting should be a part of our routine. Not only are we to rule over our physical bodies, we are also rule over our souls. Ruling over our souls involves managing our thought life, what we choose to listen to, and what we look at. For today, let us talk about the importance of what we allow to come through the eye gate. First, let us know that what we look at makes its imprint in our minds and in our souls. To realize that we can choose what to look at what not to look at is in itself freeing. At our finger tips, including the TV and our I-phones, we have access to all sorts of images and messages that have a detrimental effect on us if we choose to look and listen. If we do not decide in advance what we allow our eyes to see, we will likely find ourselves gazing on what is unhealthy. Choosing what not to look at is not restrictive, but on the contrary, liberating-is wise. I once had a friend who said that he enjoyed a certain movie he had watched, even though it had a lot of ‘X’ rated scenes in the movie. That illustrates just how easy it is to gradually get to a place where we allow the unhealthy to enter the eye gate and in turn penetrate our soul and grieve the Spirt. Just as my friend did, we can all find ourselves explaining away why we choose to look at what is actually unhealthy. You may have heard of GI-GO: garbage in, garbage out—how true. The good news is that we can choose to look at and listen to the things that benefit the body, soul and spirit. So, beginning right now, make the choice to take dominion over what you allow to come through the eye gate and the ear gate. (There will be times when you can’t help but see certain things and hear certain things that are unhealthy-just in your own spirit reject it and do not dwell on it.)
Romans 16:19b “but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.”
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Blessings,
Buddy [email protected]

A WORD IN SAESON

9/1/2019

September 1, 2019 A WORD IN SEASON
Isaiah 50:40 “The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word is season to him that is weary.”
Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Ephesians 4:29 “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
Even though we know the power of the tongue, and no doubt we have all been the recipients of hurtful words, we at times let our guard down on the words we speak. Our words reveal what is in our heart; if our heart is pure, then our words will be pure. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” If we stop at this verse, then surely there is no hope for us when it comes to speaking words out of a pure heart. However, the hope that we have, the good news is, that if we belong to Christ, He has given us a new heart. God inspired Jeremiah to write that the heart of man was wicked, because God knew the heart of man in his lost state. God did not abandon mankind because the heart of man was wicked. God’s solution to this dreadful condition of a wicked heart was to give a new heart to those who put their trust in Him as Lord and Savior. Other than being born again, getting a new heart is the most awesome thing that could happen to us! With this new heart, speaking words that build up and edify become natural-wow! No longer do we have to regret the words that we speak. Instead, we can now speak words that being life; words that encourage; and words that comfort. This day, this moment, let us purpose to speak words that represent the new nature and the new heart that has been given to us by our Father.
John 7:38 “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Colossians 4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
1Peter 3:10 “For ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”
Proverbs 15:23 “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply-and how good is a timely word.”
Blessings,
Buddy