Month: February 2023

What will I give up? Is there a downside?

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

What do you have to loose? Only the things you were not designed for!

God asks you to submit to Him as Lord and Savior. What will I have to give up? Is there a downside?

You will end up losing your sinful nature; the inner nature that drives you toward self-conscious thoughts and emotions: (shame, pride, envy, hate, revenge, etc); the inner nature that drives you toward self-centered agendas:  Obsession with pleasing your fleshly desires (Drugs/Addiction, Food/Gluttony, Sex/Immorality, Pleasure/Hedonism), Obsession with self image/Ego (Looks/Physical body, Power, Money, Social Status, Seeking Recognition, Taking Credit). Worshiping self above God (Idolatry), Using/abusing others for your benefit (Lie, Steal, Manipulation, Adultery, Murder)  

God put you here to manifest His love. He gave you skills/talents so you could be productive. He put a passion in your heart so you had a direction to pursue. What you choose to do with your life is important, but How choose to live it is even more important. You are creating a ripple as you live your life; Every action and interaction has an impact on others and that impact can have eternal consequences. If negative, it can adversely impact that person’s subsequent interactions with others, and can contribute to a downward spiral in their life.  If positive, it can help them overcome something negative, and can even draw them towards God’s kingdom for eternity.

You have a sphere of influence: Family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, school-mates, church-mates, play-mates, and all the other folks you interact with as you live your life. Waiters, Cashiers, Other Drivers, Pedestrians, Teachers, Doctors, Mechanics, Salesman, Politicians, Administrators, etc. God expects you to represent Him to the world around you: First in modeling the desired behavior as you live your life, then being a source of love and compassion as you interact with each person, and then glorifying God with your words and testimony so folks can connect the dots to the source of it all.

He doesn’t want you to give up your life, He just wants to transform how you live it.

He has invested heavily in you and He wants you to be able to shine as a bright beacon for His kingdom.

The only things you will be giving up are the things you were never designed to have: Self-conscious emotions and self-centered agendas.

Acting in love from a pure heart brings more joy than you can even imagine. 

Give it a try.

Supporting scriptures

Your fleshly self and your spiritual self are at war, and you must choose which to serve

“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Galatians 5:17

The agendas of your fleshly oriented inner nature puts your eternal soul at risk

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:25-26

You can not serve two masters – the earthly flesh or the eternal spirit

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Money).” Matthew 6:19-28

You must focus – what you set your sights on determines who you become

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

You are called to Deny your fleshly self and Follow Jesus

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'”Matthew 16:24

He has a purpose for your life and will help you accomplish it once you align yourself to it

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” John 15:16

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28

He wants you to set a positive example

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15-16

“You are the light of the world….” Matthew 5:14

He wants you to be a bright beacon for Him and His Kingdom

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

 

Become Like Jesus, Become Love!

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Become Like Jesus – Become Love!

You have an huge opportunity:

We live in a fallen world where the sin of mankind continues to creates layers and layers of adverse consequence. We are each born with a sinful nature, a tendancy to love ourselves more than we love God or those around us. This inner nature makes us self-conscious, meaning we spend a lot of our time and energy worried about “ME”, what I look like, what I can do, what I have, what others might think about me, how others treat me; It is all about ME. This self-conscious perspective works itself into patterns of thoughts, emotions, intentions and actions over time. These thoughts, emotions, and intentions keep us focused on short term self-centered agendas which are often counter to our own long term success and often come at the expense of others. If you let this flawed inner nature continue to drive your thoughts, emotions and intentions, you will eventually self-distruct. If you try to manage them yourself with discipline and self-control, without addressing the root issue of your flawed inner nature, you will lead an increasingly difficult and frustrating life and never reach your full portential.  The God who created you sent His Son here to provide an upgrade path out of this fallen world and your flawwed inner nature. All you need to do is acknowledge the problem and follow Him. He promisses to fix the root issue by replacing your flawed self-centerd inner nature with one rooted in Love. He will then help you undo the self-centered thought and emotion patterns which get in your way and cause problems for others. and replace them with thoughts and emotions rooted in Love. These changes unlock the hidden potential within you; You will become the best possible you. These changes yeild benefits for you and those around you. The benefits can be experienced here and now, and they last for etenrity. Follow this brief discussion and see what salvation can really look like when you embrace it.

Call to action:

You are called to transform.  To transform from the You that was born with a self-conscious inner nature. The You that has been shaped by a life time of experiences in this fallen world. You are called to become like Jesus, to submit the old you and let Him form in you. Instead of self-consciousness driving you, you vecome driven by Love;  Love of God and Love of others. As you release your own self-centered agendas you start acting selflessly, you become Love in action.  When you do this, you become the best possible “You”; the “You” God intended when He crreated you. You will shine in this dark world, You will be a beacon for His kingdom. This transformtion is both possilbe and appropriate. 

Why are things so screwed up? 

Mankind was created in the image and likeness of God and they experienced peace and harmony with God and paradise in the garden. That all changed when Adam and Eve exercised their free will, listened to lies, and decided they would be better off to eat of the forbidden tree which violated Gods’ one big rule.  The self-conscious thoughts about becoming like a god by knowing good and evil started a chain reation. It led to a self-centered action to ignore Gods commandment and eat the forbidden fruit.  This corrupted the perfect image of God in them and made them permanently self-conscious and self-centered. They became aware they were naked, became afraid, and started hiding from God. They each deflected accountability for thier aciton by blaming someone else: Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve, and then he blamed God. This flawed inner self-conscious and self-centered inner nature has been passed on from generation to generation and has only gotten worse over time. This has resulted in a world where people are focused entirely on themselves. The external consequences are all around us: Violence, Corruption, Immorality, Hate, Divisiveness, Suffering, etc. The inner agendas are evident when you look: Everything is all about “ME”!  This effects how people view themselves: What does my body look like? What do others think of me? How can I make myself look better in their eyes? How can I show off what I have? How can I avoid blame?  This effects how they view others: What do others have that I don’t? How can I get the things they have?  How can I use people to serve my interests? This also effects how they relate to God: “I have accomplished these things..not God through me.” These folks are actually stealing credit from God and there will be consequences.  “I will deal with this myself”…you can address some symptoms but you can’t get to the root. He will present increasingly difficult situations to the point where you suffer so much you give up and call out to Him for help.  Here is your opportunity to avoid all that suffering and address it now. 

Why should I care?

Like it or not, You were born with this flawed inner nature; a tendancy to be self-conscious and to adopt self-centered agendas. This inner nature is a force deep in you and it is shaping your life. It drives your thoughts, your emotions, and your choices. To the extent you let this force run free, you end up operating from a self-conscious perspective, focused on you and optimizing your short term experience. You become distracted from God and His plans for you. You view other people as competition to compare yourself to, or even worse, you view them as resources to be used for your benefit. This creates an endless cycle of distracting emotions and bad decisions as you struggle against lifes’ inevitble challenges. The rules of scociety are establsihed to keep people who are operating with this nature from causing excessive harm to each other.

People who overcome this inner flaw become awakened to the bigger perspective and make longer term decisions, loose the enless distractions and wasted energy, and realize a tremendous joy when they find themselves playing a useful role in a much more important aspect in peoples lives.   

You can detect this nature operating in you if you pay attention.

Have you ever heard yourself say any of these things, outloud or even just to yourself?

I deserve more… What is in it for me…  How will I ever get credit for doing this?

I’m sick and tired of…   I’ll show them…  Well they got what they deserved… 

I know it is wrong but I can’t stop myself… 

Do you feel a tendancy toward any of these emotions:

Pride? Impatience? Anger? Hate?

Envy? Jealousy? Lust?

Fear? Dispair? Desperation?

Guilt? Condemnsation? Shame?

Those are just some of the symptoms produced by the flawwed inner nature you were born with.   

The antidote to all of this is to “Become Love”.

God is love.  He loves us so much He sent His only begotten son as a human to suffer and die for us.

Jesus is the expressed image of God, He is love in the flesh. Jesus is love in Action.  Become like Jesus. Become Love.

We are each called to to follow Jesus, to become like Him.  To submit our old self to him and nail it to His cross. To be raised in new life with Him through His ressurection. To invite Him to come live inside us; Let Him teach us and guide us, Let Him form in us. To let Him flow through us.

What does becoming Love look like?

The following is a summary of what love looks like in thoughts, emotions, intentions, and actions

Love is patient; It is calm, It does not act or react in haste.

Love is kind; It is gentle, it appreciates others and seaks to nurture and be useful towards them.

Love is satisfied; It does not envy what others have.

Love is humble; It does not get puffed up and proud.

Love does seek attention; It does not boast or parade itself.

Love behaves properly; It is never rude or offensive.

Love is happy to flow one way; It does not need reciprocation; It does not seek its own.

Love is not provoked; It doen’t react to actions against it; It sees others as children needing Love.

Love thinks no evil; It does not generate evil thoughts, It does not wish evil on others.

Love does not rejoice in iniquity; It avoids causing harm or injustice.

Love rejoices in truth; It enjoys understanding and doing what is right.

Love bears all things; It maintains composure in the face of struggle.

Love believes all things; It embraces God’s love and trusts His promises.

Love hopes all things; It is optimistic and expects the bright future in this life and the next.

Love endures all things; It persists with conviction and overcomes challenges.

You are called to become rooted in Love and exhibit ALL of these desirable characteristics. These are each counter to the thoughts, emotions, intentions and actions driven by the self-centered nature you were born with. 

This list of characteristics can serve as a mirror to your current thoughts, emotions, intentions and actions. Are you acting in pure love? Which ones are a particular challenge for you? Does one stand out as the biggest issue? If one does not stand out, Ask the Lord to illuminate one for you so that it comes into clear focus. 

Jesus came here to restore your inner nature to the image and likeness of God – which is pure love. When you acknowledge your flaws, and accept Him as the Lord of your life, You open the door for Him to flow into you and start fixing things.  When you ask for His help, He sends the Holy Spirit to come in and take up residence inside you. If you truly give Him permission to work, it is transformational. You start seeing things differently. You start to notice some of the things you think, say, or do are not right. You start to care. You start to hear His voice trying to teach you and lead you. You can try to fix these things yourself through discipline and focus. This can impact things on the surface, but it is much more effective to give Him permission to do the necessary work deep inside you and adress the root of the issue.

How do I become Love?

Only Jesus can fix our flawed inner nature:

We ware created in Gods’ image. Adam corrupted the image through sin. Jesus came to restore what was lost through Adam, the image of God in us.

When we accept Jesus, we are born again and get a fresh start. As we deny ourselves and invite jesus to come and form in us, and the image of God is restored. You can try all the self-help do it yourself strategies you want, but only Jesus can actually restore the image of God in you.

Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? 

There is no down side.  The only things He will ask you to give up are the things you were never meant to have in the first place.

We need to transform our mind:

Once our spriit it born again, we then need to rewire the thoughts, emotions, and intentions that were previously established in us. We need to purge the ones rooted in our original sinful nature, and establish desireable ones that flow from Love out of our new natue.

You can try to work on this yourself and you will make some progress through focus and discipline, but at some point you willl realize this runs deep and is beyond your control. What you may not realize is that your potential will be limited by what you can imagine is possible based on your past expeirience, not what God had in mind when He formed you. 

The most effective approach is to leverage Jesus and the Holy Spirit. 

What can I do move forward and “Become Love”    

There are a couple of structured steps to help this process happen quickly and effectively.

  • Get intimate with Jesus in a quiet place. Sit with Him. Talk with Him. Listen to Him.
  • Follow this flow and speak your statements outloud directly to Jesus, speaking with intention directly from your heart.
  • Acknowledge the shortcoming you notice
    • “Jesus, I clearly have missed the mark. I was doing xxx (undesired behaviour). By doing xxxx, I was not being love.”
  • Acknowledge the consequences
    • “I can now see that doing xxx causes yyyy, this is a problem, It prevents your love from flowing through me to others”.
  • State your intention to change
    • “I no longer want to do xxxx, I want to love others the way you do, I want to become love, I want your love ot flow through me, I want to be love in action!”
  • Ask Him to execute the change in your heart.
    • “You gave your life for me, I hereby give my life to you,:
    • “I nail my old sinful self to your cross. I put my old self to death in your grave”:
    • “I am rasied into new life with you and your resurrection”
    • “I put off my old self, and put on Jesus”
    • “It is no longer me that lives, but You live through me”
    • “I invite you to come in and change my heart – help me become love”
    • “Transform my thoughts, emotions and actions – help me become love in action for others”
  • Declare the desired result in faith – trusting that it is happening as you speak
    • “The Holy Spirit is in me, leading me, teaching me, helping me”
    • “You are working in me; You are the potter, I am the clay”
    • “You are helping me see things from your perspective”
    • “You are leading me into all truth”
    • “You are purifying my heart to love others as you love them”
    • “You are crushing my selfish agendas”
    • “You are helping me put xxxx (specific focus issue) far behind me”
    • “You are helping me become yyyy (desired characteristic): a humble man, a patient man, etc”
    • “I look forward to becoming more and more like You”
    • “Your love will flow through me to others.”
    • “People will get a good look at You when they see me in action.”
  • Be thankful and give glory to the Father through the Son
    • “I thank you for all you have done and what you are doing in me”
    • “This is Your amazing work, not anything I have done”
    • “You are the vine and I am the branch, I can do nothing without you.”
    • “May your work shine through my life”
    • “May I be a bright beacon for you and the kingdom.”
    • “I speak all of this in Jesus’ name to bring glory to the Father through the Son.”

Go for it. Be committed to becoming love, You will become your best you. Submit your flawed old self and committ your new self to follow Jesus. Invite the Holy Spirit to come in and help you. Be receptive as the Holy Spirit helps you identify issues and opportunities, Yield to Him completely and let Him do His best work in you. Declare the bright future in faith even before it comes to pass. Be thankful for His work in you and make sure God gets all the credit.

Keep after this agenda as you work through the progression of issues that will inevitably peel off, it is well worth the effort!

Supporting Scriptures

God is love

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

Jesus is the expressed image of God, Jesus is love in the flesh

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Colossians 1:15

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” Hebrews 1:3

You are called to imitate Jesus, to be like Jesus, To walk in love

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

“…‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31

Love is…

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Becoming Love involves transforming how you think, speak and act, and aligning with Jesus

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2:5

“Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” 1 John 2:6

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

This involves getting your old self out of the way, and letting Jesus flow through you

“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24

“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.” Galatians 2:20

The Holy Spirit is available to all who ask

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13

The Holy Spirit will take up residence in you if you make an appropriate home for Him

“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 were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The Holy Spirit will highlight your opportunnities ot improve

“And when He has come (The Holy Spirit), He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” John 16:8

The Holy Spirit will work in your heart and your mind, and even your physical body

“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26

“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 dwells in you.” Romans 8:11

As you renew your mind and reorient your thoughts and emotion, you will align your behaviors with God’s intention.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2

Shine like a beacon for the kingdom

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

Glorify the Father through the Son

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13

 

You can’t do it, Only He Can!

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

You want to become your best self? You can’t do it, Only He can!

Opportunity:

I have come to appreciate the power of God to change things inside us. It is amazing to see how dramatically and how quickly He can make changes if we give Him permission and some space to work. He can change what we notice, how we think, what we want, what we do, and how we do it; And He can do it practically overnight. We each have an opportunity to leverage this powerful force in our lives.

We were put on this earth to manifest Gods love. The sinful nature introduced by Adam and Eve’s rebellion in the garden has gotten in the way of that purpose; We all struggle in a fallen world as a result. We are each called to transform from being “Self”-centered to becoming “Love”-centered so that we manifest Gods love to others on this earth. 

Self Improvement Approach:

Some folks try to do this themselves in self-improvement or self-help mode: Try to understand the rules, Apply the rules to our lives when practical, Do our best to control our urges and emotions, and strive to be a good person. This approach can achieve decent results in outward behavior, but it does not address the root issue driving undesired thoughts, motivations, and feelings. This approach is prone to failure, and It can gernerate internal struggles and extreme levels of frustration. It also misses the opportunity for Grace to come in and help make change.

God Powered Approach:

The alternate approach is to submit yourself to God and invite the Holy Spirit to come in and change you. If you give Him permission, He will replace the sinful nature deep in your soul with the loving nature He originally intended. That will remove the driving force for self-centered agendas (thoughts, motives, emotions) that you otherwise will have to continuously fight against.  If you continue to give Him permission, He will work in you to rewire thought patterns and emotions built up around your old sinful nature and help establish improved patterns where you start to see things from His perspective, see His love in action in your life, see the opportunities He presents, find ways to flow His love out to others with your unique gifts and talents, and feel the Joy of being part of His kingdom.

These are very different process with very different results. The “you” that results from your best efforts is limited by your ability to continuously deal with your sinful inner nature. The “you” that results from transformation by God’s grace, is freed from that inner constraint and is limited only by your own imagination of what is possible and your willingness to release yourself to the Holy Spirit.

If you want to expeirence your ultimate God powered transformaiton there are a few things to consider.

1) Free Will: You have free will to decide how you want to proceed with your life. God wll not force anything on you. You have to decide to make a change before He can change it. 

2) Your inner love: God will continue to give you what you love deep in your heart. This sounds great, but you have to understand what you really love. If you still love your self-centered self, He will not take that away from you. If you want to give Him permission to make changes, you must recognize in your mind that you are creating undesired consequences with your current approach and you must become committed in your heart that a change is necessary. It is only after these two steps then you have actually given Him permission to make changes in your life.

3) Grace: Grace is the free flow of blessings from God to those who believe. Grace works through Faith.

4) Faith:  Faith is when you believe and hope for something to happen in the future before you see any of the tangible results. For example, when you agree to mow a lawn for the first time, you are acting in faith that you will get paid when you are done. You are willing to work now and get paid later based on an understanding established up front. You mow the lawn, i’ll give you $20. If you trust the agreement and mow first, you create tension which pulls the pay into your wallet. God works in sort of the same way. The bible makes promises of good things that can flow into you and it describes expectations for you to align yourself to recieve them. If you position yourself properly with God,  claim one more of the promises He makes to believers, believe that it is already happening for you based on proper understanding, and it will flow into you. You must act (think, speak, act) in faith to make space for His grace to flow in.

ex: Father God, You call me to see things from your perspective. You call me to see my enemies as children of God stuggling in this fallen world. I thank you for working this in me so that I can let your love flow through me and shine like a beacon for your kingdom..     

How:

So how do we give God permission to make changes in you, and how do you make space for Grace to move and do its work?

  • Submit yourself to Jesus, Make Him Lord of your life
    1. He has full authority over heaven and on the earth
    2. He came here and paid the price to restore what was lost
    3. He is the way, the truth, and the life
      • He is the ONLY way to the Father
      • The truth WILL set your free
      • Knowing Him IS eternal life
  • Submit your old inner nature to God, condemn it, crucify it.
    1. My sinful nature came from Adam and is rooted in evil
    2. I am no longer interested in self-conscious or self-serving agendas in my life
    3. I hereby crucify my old self with Jesus on the cross
    4. I am putting off the old man, and putting on Jesus
  • Raise yourself in the resurrection with Jesus
    1. I am raised into life with Jesus
    2. I am born again – My spirit is renewed – I am a child of God
    3. Jesus is the first born of many – I am one of the many
    4. The Image of God is restored in me – I am a new man
  • Receive the Holy Spirit
    1. Holy Spirit please come and live in me.
    2. I present my body as a temple worthy of your presence.
    3. Fill me overflowing with your living water.
  • Give Him permission to work in you
    1. I draw near to You – please draw near to me.
    2. I seak you – Please help me get to know You.
    3. Guide me into all truth and righteousness.
    4. Open my eyes to see things from your perspective.
    5. Open my ears so I hear and understand your words.
    6. Transform my mind so I think your thoughts.
    7. Change my heart so I know and do your will.
  • Give Him glory
    1. I am saved by Grace througb Faith; It is not me but you that does this work.
    2. You are the vine, I am the branch; I can do nothing without you
    3. I ask all things in Jesus name, to bring glory to the Father through the son.

I am a work in progress, This is a work in progress, Hope it helps.

 

Hear the Word Of God In Your Heart

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Hearing the Word of God in your Heart is the Key to Unlocking Your Potential

Summary:

The Bible is God’s way of revealing the invisible spiritual world to us, It is His owmers manual / users guide for our lives. He wants us to understand: 1) Who He is, His nature, and His roles. 2) Who we are, Why we are here, Why we struggle, and How to reach our full potential. 3) His spiritual kingdom, How it works, Expectations for participating.  4) Our free will to choose, The Benefits of engaging and aligning, and the consequences for ignoring it and continuing on our own.

The Bbile is an amazing  and sophisticated piece of literature but it can be intimidating when you first approach it. It requires an investment of your time and energy to read the written text, it takes more investment to process and understand the dozens of literal stories and wisdom writings and glean the messages available at that surface level.  It takes another level of investment to work through the various parables and metaphors to understand the messages available at that slightly deeper level. The more you work with it, the more understanding you gain, and the more powerful it becomes for you. An amazing thing happens as you process this content, it becomes very personal and very alive inside you. You start to understand the bigger picture of this spiritual world we live in, you relate to the various characters and their struggles, and you begin to understand and embrace the various teaching points. This all becomes a mirror for your life; Where am I living up to this standard and where am I still missing the mark. You start to understand your purpose here and expectations for your life, you understand How much God has invested in you and how much He wants to help you realize your full potential. As you become more mature in this content, you use it as a framework and philosophy to guide how you live your daily life, you are able to refer to specific verses to defend your choices. When you fully understand and embrace this content as truth it becomes a powerful tool: You can quote verses defensively to fend off attacks as Jesus did in the wilderness, or you can use it offensively as a virtual legal case to gain back ground previously lost, ie destroying works of the devil. 

The biggest challenge can be to overcome our heardened heart. Life is full of challenges and we become very focused on our earthly life: How should I make a living? Where should I go to school? Where should I live? What should I eat? How do I deal with the people around me? Who can I trust? How do i protect myself? Who should I date / marry?. Our inherent nature makes us self-conscious and left to our own desires we become very self-centered, choosing to think, say and do things for our own beneft to the detriment of others. The conscience in our heart knows this is wrong but we convince ourselves that we should do it anyway, either no one will notice, or we have no other choice, we really need to do it for our benefit. This repeated process of rationalization and overriding the signals from our conscience results in a numbing effect the bible calls “hardening of our heart”.  The more our heart becomes hardened, the further we become issolated from God and from other people. The antidote is to focus on Love. God is love, God loves you. He loves you so much He sent His son. He knows you, cares about you, and wants you to climb out of the mess we are in. All we need to do is acknowledge Him and ask Him to lead us. Once you do it, you will never look back.      

So why should I care?

You are a spiritual being developing in a temporary physical body. We are born oblivious of the spiritual world all around us and your inner spiritual nature. We are born oblivious to influence of the spiritual world on our earthly lives, and oblivious to the eternal consequences of our choices in this life. All of this must be discovered. 

At the end of this earthly life, your physical body dies and your conscious soul carries on.  Where you will spend eternity is a direct function of choices you make in this life. If you committ to loving God with all your heart, you will spend eternity with Him in heaven. If you chose to love yourself more than you love God, You will spend eternity separated from Him, His love, and His truth.  That may not sound like a big deal, but there is no bigger deal to be had. All Love and All Truth comes from Him. Seporation from Him and His Love and His Truth allows evil and falsity to flurish and dominate. Just imagine spending eternity surrounded by people who are dominated by evil and falsity: a continous and unending barage of lies, deception, manipulation, humiliation, abuse, torture, pain, and suffering targetted directly at what ever they figure out bothers you the most. Doesnt sound like a pretty place. The good news is you can avoid all of it if you get with the program now, before it is too late.        

What is the Bible?

The Bible uses combinations of historical accounts, narrative stories, nuggets of wisdom, parables, poetry, symbolizm and imagery to convey the messages. It can be a bit intimidating due to its size and complexity but it is well worth the effort to dig in and work through it. 

The primary narative arc goes something like this:

  1. God created the heavens and the earth so that His Love had a place to manifest
  2. God created Man in His image so that His love could flow through them
  3. God gave Man some simple rules to keep Him on track
  4. He gave Man free will so they would explore, learn, be creative
  5. Man wanted to become more like God and violate the rules
  6. Mankinds selfishness has consequences, and it has only grown worse ever since
  7. God has worked several strategies to restore what man has damaged: Floods, Covenants, Prophets, Coming in Person, Release of the Holy spirit 
  8. The only way to realize your full potential is to align with His expectations, deny your self and your selfish agendas, and follow Jesus

A couple of key observations helped me make sense of all this:

  1. God always works through human individuals to do His work on earth: Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Prophets, Jesus, Disciples, Preachers, Teachers, You, Me, etc  
  2. The Word of God is divinely inspired and captured by a dozen different humans over several centuries. It is amazingly consistant throughout, and highly interwoven with cross references, and it is highly traceable back in time.
  3. Many times God leads someone to live out a story line in thier life and then that historical story is captured by another person in writing and is now used as a teaching point. ex: Job,  Jesus and the Gospels
  4. Most of the characters are flawed. You can relate to them in some way. God uses flawed characters to do amazing things.
  5. The most amazing part to me is that God came here as a baby named Jesus, learned from scripture what was expected of the messiah, used the scripture to resist the devil and live a sinless life, and was willing to allow Himself to be tortured and killed on the promise of ressurection and salvaiton of all of mankind. That is some very serious faith!

The Word of God is an active spiritual tool; It does work inside you once you get it into your brrain and start to embrace it with your heart.

  1. It paints pictures: Heavens and the earth, God is love, His love is perfected when it flows through you, God leading His people out of slavery 
  2. It sets expectations:  Love God with all your heart, Love your neighbors as yourself, 10 Commandments, Don’t sin,  You are accountable on judgement day 
  3. It provides a mirror:  Am I living up to this expectation? Would I do any better than this flawed character?

The Word of God must settle into our heart before it can do its work in us. Our normal life experiences will harden our heart and make it resistant. We become entirely focused on ourselves and our earthly life – our immediate circumstances and being successful. We need to break through the crust of a hardened heart to get started,  

So what are we trying to do?

Over the course of your life, You must discover the spiritual world, It is not intuitively obvious. Some folks never find it in this life, and only figure it out after it is too late.  The spiritual world drives everything in the physical world. There are opposing forces in the spirituual world; those pulling for good and those pushing for evil. The spiritual world is invisible for the most part so folks can’t really learn much about it on their own. I wish we each came with a users manual “Quick start Guide” that said somethingl like: Welcome to the world, You have been set up as a flawed person and will suffer consequences until you figure out there is a better way. Until you figure that out you are actually an agent for evil, and will be an easy victim. Once you do figure it out, you can decide to work for the good guy, reset the flawed nature, overcome the forces of evil, overcome the obstacles and thrive. Thankfully, we do have a users manual to help us discover and understand it.  The Bible is a bridge between the spiritual world and our earthly world. It is product of the spiritual world; God flowing divinely inspired words through humans into writings for our use in understanding spiritual reality. The Bible can be a bit intimidating due to its size and complexity. , the variety of and its exstensive use of symbolizm, imagery, parables, .  If you take the Bible seriously and apply yourself to understanding it, you can discover and activate your spiritual self, connect your spirit to its’ original source, and unlock your full potential; both for the rest of this life and for eternity in the next.  Let’s walk through how this works.

The “Word of God” has been a foundational element of God and His kingdom since the beginning  

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

The “Word of God” is fundamental  Truth

“The sum of Your word is truth,” Psalm 119:160

“Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth” 2 Samuel 7:28

“…Your word is truth.” John 17:17

The “Word of God” is eternal and unchanging

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33

“But the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:25

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8

He sent His Word to help us discover the spiritual world, and to help us get aligned with it.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” 2 Timothy 3:16

His words are of a Spiritual nature

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63

When we receive His Word, it brings life into both our spiritual and physical physical bodies

“His words brings life to those who find them” (Proverbs 4:22)

“God sent His word and healed them…” (Psalm 107:20)

“His words bring health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:22

In order to receive His word, we must “Hear” it with interest and intention.

“…and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.” Luke 5:15

Hearing requires intentional Looking with your eyes, Listening in your ears,  Understanding it in our brain, Accepting it in your Heart, and willingness to change. 

“For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” Matthew 13:15

Your Heart controls your life

“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:35

You need a noble and good Heart to be receptive and hear

“But the ones (word of god seeds) that fell on the good ground (and grew well) are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15

Focus on God with your mind, and it will purify your heart.

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8

The critical part of getting your mind focused is to feed it good things through your eyes.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Matthew 6:22-23

Choose to stay focused and dwell in His Word

“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22

Allow the Word to work in your mind

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2

The Word becomes active in your heart and mind  as you bring it in and reflect on its meaning and relevance to your life

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Keep your intentions focused on pursuing God and His kingdom – your eyes, your mind, your will

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Once you hear the word in your heart it will release faith

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

Your spirit will know when faith has been released – You will “know in your knower”

               “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” Romans 8:16

He sent His word…all you need to do is get it into your heart.

“He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:20

HOW:

How can I keep scripture in front of my eyes?

Daily reading, by topic, or sequential, or mixed devotional

How can I incline my ears?

Listen to great preachers

Dan Mohler

Barry Bennet, 

Andrew Wommack

Rick Renner

Dwell / Meditate / Pray over scriptures related to key topics in your life

Google: “God loves me bible verses” and several collections will come up…

BibleStudyTools,com – has a section organinzed by topic…scroll to find you topic, click it and you will get a collection of relevant scriptures

These are bible search engines.  Enter your key words in the search field and get a colleciton of potentially relevant verses to read through

Knowing-Jesus.com

OpenBible.info

Journal to hear His Voice

Lean about Journaling and hearing His voice from Mark Virkler

Ex: Add a journal entry… How do I know God loves me? ….and fill in the message you get from reading over the collection of scriptures and meditating on them

How can I hold His Word in my heart?

Learn the bible stories, parables, key sayings and their context

The Bible Project – is a well done animated video exploraiton of the bible

Coaching on How to Read the Bibile: How to interpret the different literary genres: Narrative, Poetry, Prose  

Study of Key Themes:  Image of God, Tree of Life, Covenants, Need for a Messiah,  etc

Study of Key Words: Grace, Mercy, Womb, Shalom, etc

Overview of Collections of Books within the Bible: The Torah, The Prophets, The Wisdom Books, The Gospels, The Epistles

Overview of each individual Book of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, … Revelation

Learn / memorize key scriptures for hot topics in your life

Use them as a basis for routine decisions in your life:  Should I do this or do that…   You will reap what you sow

Apply them as basis for decision making for key situations in your life.

Use them in real time as situations arise during the day – stay focused on Him and His higher purpose for you and your life

Talk to God

    • Tell him how much you appreciate him
    • Thank Him for never giving up on you
    • Thank Him for calling you to be more like Him
    • Thank Him for working inside you like a potter works with clay
    • Ask Him to help you hate sin the way He does, and to help you root it out of your life
    • Thank Him for helping you get selfish agendas out of your life
    • Thank Him for helping you love Him with ALL your heart
    • Thank Him for helping you love others MORE than yourself
    • Thank Him for helping you to become a bright light in a dark world

Hope this helps. Leave a comment. Have a great day!

 

 

Become Love

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Your Mission Here Is To Become God’s Love In Action

Summary

He created this amazing place and put us here so that we could manifest His love, without humans, His love has no way to become useful. He gave us free will so that we could develop a conscience in this life,  discover Him, His Love and His Truth,  manifest His love on this earth, and live on with Him for eternity. Mankinds free will has gotten us into a lot of trouble over the years. The sinful nature we each now inherit keeps us self conscious and self centered and separates us from God and His agenda for us. He came here in person, in human form, to restore what was lost by Adam and to provide us a path out of the mess we made. We need to renounce our prior flawed ways and fully commit to follow Him going forward. He actually wants to come and live inside us to help us make this happen. This involves a complete transformation of your thinking, your words, and your behaviors. We need to shift from thinking about ourselves and our own interests in this world to thinking about God’s agenda for His kingdom and how we can be of service to Him through our lives here. The fancy words used in scripture are “Crucify” your flesh. Basically all of the temporary earthly interests of our physical being need to be subordinated to God’s interest in developing our eternal soul. Anything less than a full commitment to transformation will delay the benefits and continue to propagate undesired consequences for you and those around you.  

The following is my scriptural logic chain for what is going on.

  • God is love (1 john 4:8)
  • God made man in His image (Genesis 1:27)
  • The image of God was corrupted and died when Adam sinned and ate of the tree in the garden (Genesis 2:17)
    • Adam’s heart became self-centered (Genesis 3:3-6)
      • He wanted to be like a God and know Good and Evil
      • They listened to a lie – “You will not surely die if you eat of the tree”
      • They decided to ignore God’s one command and chose to eat of that tree
    • Adam’s nature changed, he became self-conscious as a result of that decision
      • He became conscious of his nakedness, hid himself, and became afraid (Genesis 3:7,10)
      • They deflected blame for their decision – Blamed Snake, Blamed Eve, Blamed God (Genesis 3:12-14)
    • Adam and Eve suffered consequences of separation from God (Genesis 3:13-16)
      • Exile form the garden
      • Labor, Suffering, Death
    • All have inherited that sinful nature and suffer in this fallen world (Romans 5:12)
  • God loves you
    • He loves you so much He sent His only son (John 3:16)
    • You know He loves you because He sent His son (1 John 4:9-10)
  • Jesus came to restore that which was lost, The image of God in us, our original purpose (Matthew 18:11)
    • Jesus came in the form of sinful flesh to take the burden of sin off of us (Romans 8:3-5)
    • Jesus’ blood covers that sinful nature and allows us to be born again (Romans 5:19)
  • His goal is for you to become love (1 Timothy 1:15), to be rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17)
  • Pure Love Is powerful when it is in you (1 Cor 13:4-7)
      • It suffers long
      • It is kind
      • It never seeks its own. ex, Never expect an I love you back…
      • It bears, believes, hopes, endures all things
  • His Love is perfected when it flows through you to others (1 John 4:12)
  • He wants to come and live in you to help you enable that flow
    • Youre body is God’s temple (1 Cor 3:16)
    • Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  Glorify God with your body. (1 Cor 6:19-20)
    • We have this treasure (Christ Jesus) in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)
    •  Christ in you, the Hope of Glory (Collosians 1:27)
    • “Christ is in you” (Romans 8:10)
  • You must get your ”self” out of the way so He can come in
    • Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable ( Romans 12:1)
  • Deny Yourself, Pick Up Your Cross, and Follow Me (Matthew 16:24)
    • Deny your self, and your self-centered interests
      • Crucify your self-conscious interests / self-centered agendas
        • Give up your life to find it (Matthew 16:25)
        • Do not love the world or things in the world (1 John 2:15)
        • Be in the world, not of the world (John 17:16-18)
        • Get out of the carnal mind, Do not love the flesh (Romans 8:7-9)
        • Renounce ungoldliness and worldy passions, live self-contolled, uprght and godly lives (Titus 2:12)
      • Clues that you have not yet fully crucified your “self”
        • I deserve…
        • I want…
        • I feel…
        • I am offended by…
        • I am embarrassed by…
    • Pick up your Cross
      • Resist temptation 
        • Guart your heart, out of it flows the issues of life ( Proverbs 4:23)
        • Beware of your desires, they concieve sin ( James 1:14-15)
      • You will stand out when you refuse to participate in things of this world
      • You will suffer persecution at the hands of others in this world
      • Do not let sin against you become sin in you
        • Forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)
    • Follow Jesus
      • Make Jesus Lord of your life
        • It is no longer ME that lives but Jesus through me (Galatians 2:20)
        • Submit your self to God. ( James 4:7)
        • Submit to God and be at peace with Him (Job 22:21)
      • Yield yourself fully to Him – 100% Committment – Not compliance
        • Your are not your own, you were bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20) 
        • He paid a high price for you (1 Cor 7:23)
        • “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38
      • Speak outloud your comittment to yield your self to Him 
        • My Eyes to see from His perspective
        • My Ears to Hear and understand His word
        • My Heart to love Him and His Kingdom
        • My Mouth to give Him praise
        • My Hands to do His work
        • My Feet to follow where He leads
        • My Resources to serve Him and His kingdom
        • My urges and desires to do His will
      • Follow Him
        • Become a Disciple
        • Get to know Him
        • Follow His commandments –  Love God with ALL your heart,  Love your neighbors more than yourself
        • Follow in His Steps (1 Peter 2:21)
        • Follow where He leads you
    • He is working to shape you, you need to submit and let Him
      • God is the potter, we are the clay. (Isaiah 64:8) 
      • Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ (Isaiah 45:9)
    • Become Like Him, Become Love in Action
      • Speak the truth in love, Grow up into all things in Christ (Ephesians 4:15)
      • Walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7)
    • Shine as a bright light in the darkness to bring glory to the Father
      • You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
      • Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

  • Wait, I’m not ready to deny myself and submit to Him

If you are not willing to deny yourself and follow Jesus – it is a sign you love your earthly “self” more than you love God and His kingdom. You are more focused on satisfying the wants and desires of your temporary physical earthly body rather than investing to develop your spiritual body to fully optimize your life on earth and prepare yourself so you can spend eternity with God.

Maybe you don’t fully appreciate how much He loves you: All He has done to put you here, All He has invested in you with passions to help you find your true purpose and talents to help you be productive. Maybe you don’t appreciate all He does to support you every second of every day with food in your mouth, housing over your head, clothes on your back, and air in your lungs, All He has done to arrange people in your life to love you, to teach you and support you, Maybe you don’t appreciate how badly He wants to spend eternity with you in heaven, He loves you so much He sent His son so you could fulfil His plans for you.

Maybe you don’t fully appreciate the consequences of not submitting yourself to Him in this life. He knows you inside and out, and He knows your heart. He will give you exactly what you love in your heart; If you forget Him, He will forget you. Sin separates us from Him; If we do not love Him with all of our heart, we will remain separated from Him. If you leave this life loving yourself more than you love God, you will spend eternity with yourself and people just like you rather than spending it with God and with people who love God. The hells are filled with people who chose to focus on themselves and live separated from God.

Maybe deep down inside you are concerned that if you commit to follow Jesus, your earthly oriented activities will be exposed and you will need to stop.

Maybe you just don’t want to give up control; It is your life to live after all. He makes it clear that anyone who tries to save his earthly oriented life will lose it eventually, but anyone who gives up control of his earthly life will discover and awaken a spiritual based life that through Jesus that will transform the earthly life experience and extend into eternity.

The idea is to shift perspective on things: You are an eternal being in a temporary earthly body. You have a purpose here. The purpose can not be fulfilled as long as there are self-orienrted, self-conscious, self-centered agendas at play. He wants to come into you and help you identify those agendas, root them out, and help you transform so you can fulfill your purpose. He can only do that if you get yourself out of the way, invite Him in and listen to Him. He promises that the only things you will loose are the things you were not intended to have.

Ask Him to help you sort your agendas and your activities.

Are you drawing ever closer to God: searching, seeing, listening, learning, gaining understanding

Are you living in a thankful perspective: Continually recognizing what God has done, is doing, will do. Expressing praise and thanksgiving

Are you experiencing God’s love: He sent His son to die for you, so you could live life through Him. Raise Jesus up and Recieve Him as Lord. 

Are you finding more and more ways to flow His love to others through your thoughts, words, and actions.

Are you executing in alignment with His will, avoiding self-centered or self-serving agendas.

Are you living a life worthy of the price He paid?

Are you presenting yourself as a vessel worthy of His presence?

Are you using your passions and talents to serve God and others, or just yourself?

Are you using your resources to serve God and others, or just yourself? (Things, Money, Time)

Are you making yourself available for His use?

Are you reflecting and repenting on your thoughts words and actions as you strive to improve

Just some things to consider

———————————————————————-

Supporting Scripture

God is love

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8

God made man in His image

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27

Adam annd Eve listened to the devil and His lies

“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5.

Adam became self-centered, wanted to become like a god, and chose to ignore Gods rule

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6

Sin changed Adam’s very nature – His eyes were opened, he became self-conscious – fear, naked

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” Geneiss3:7

“So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’” Genesis 3:10

They each deflect blame for their error

“Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’” Genesis 3:12

“The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” Genesis 3:14

Adam and Eve suffer consequences of sin and the resulting separation from God

“To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16

“Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: ‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall [b]bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:17-19

We all now inherit Adam’s sinful nature and suffer in this fallen world

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:12

God’s Loves You

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:31-32

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:33-39

Jesus redeemed that which was lost through Adam – to restore the image of God in us.

“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” Matthew 18:11

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19

“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” Romans 8:3

Our purpose is to be rooted and gounded in Love, to become love.

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19

“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” 1 Timothy 1:5

Pure love is powerful when it is in us

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

His love is perfected when it flows through us

“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12

He wants to come and live inside us to enable that flow of Love.

“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'” John 14:23 

“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.”Romans 8:10

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

“To them (us,the saints) God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”Colossians 1:27

We need to get ourselves out of the way and make a place for Him.

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25

Crucify Your Flesh

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7-9

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

“Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,” Titus 2:12

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34

“”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;” Romans 6:6

“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24

Submit yourself completely to Jesus

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.” Job 22:21

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

He paid a high price for you

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:23

Present Your Self as a Temple Worhty of His Presence

“Or do you not know that your body is a temSupportingple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” Romans 12:1

Resiste Temptation – It starts in the heart

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:14-15

Seporate yourself from the world

“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:16-18

Pick up your cross.  Do not let sin agaisnt you become sin in you

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they’re doing…'” Luke 23:34 

Follow in His Steps

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”1 Peter 2:21

He is trying to shape you, you need to submit and let Him

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.” Isaiah 64:8

“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?” Isaiah 45:9

Become Love

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17

“speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” Ephesians 4:15

Shine as a light in the darkness

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

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Supporting Resources

 

How do You Fill The God Shaped Hole In Your Soul

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

How Are You Filling The God Shaped Hole In Your Soul?

Have you discovered the “God shaped hole” in your sole?

You may not realize it, but we are each connected to God deep in our soul; His Love is wired directly into a repository in our hearts. He plants that connection in us before we are born and it remains for eternity whether we notice it or not.
We can feel this connection resonate inside us as a warm feeling when we observe someone doing a selfless act; Like a fireman running into a burning building to save someone. We can feel it when we are deeply moved by a love story playing out in a movie or we hear a wonderful piece of music. We can feel it when we experience a sense of awe as we admire the milky way spread across a dark sky, or feel the tranquil beauty of a sunrise or sunset, or the calm and peaceful feeling as we watch a waterfall or the waves on the ocean or the flow of a babbling brook, or the ripples spreading on a quiet pond.
Many folks do not recognize this connection. The activities of daily life tend to keep our focus on other things, urgent things, earthly things – What do I need to do today? Where do I need to go? What do I need to wear? What am I going to eat? Who am I going to see?  What do they think of me? 

How do you choose to fill the God Shaped Hole?

The God Shaped Hole in your soul yearns to be filled. If you choose not to fill it with God, you will fill it with something else. Some folks completely emmerse themselves in work and try to seek fulfillment there. Some try to fill this hole with things; money, fancy cars, houses, collectibles, etc. Some folks try to filll it with hedonistic persuits…pleasure and excesses in this life. Some try to fill it through building personal power, using and abusing people for thier benefit. Some try to hide from it and excape it through alchohola and drugs. Many eventually come to realize none of these approaches can fill this God Shaped Hole. Sadly, they only figure it out after they have caused severe distress for themselves and those around them. This is recoverable if you discover it and change course in time, but the longer you wait the more of a mess you are making. The really big problem is if you never figure it out and change course; You are stuck with what ever you have put in your God shaped hole for eterntiy;  Eternity without God will not be pretty. You have free will to choose, but your choices have consequences.    
If you do not yet have God filling your God shaped hole, there is no time like the present. Some folks find it useful to acknowledge thier God Shaped Hole,  your connection to God.  Pause for a moment and push all of these earthly distractions aside. Take time to look outside of yourself, notice the beauty of world all around you: The sky, the landscape, the water, the plants, the animals, the people. Take a deep breath and reflect on it. Tune to the feelings deep in your heart. your inner most feelings. Let yourself be moved to a place of appreciation for the beauty that is all around you, and you will begin ot sense this connection.
Once you have found the connection, we can tune in to it. Find a quiet peaceful place, sit comfortably, close your eyes, quiet your conscious brain, allow yourself to drift to that place where you appreciated the beauty around you, reflect deeply in your heart. Ask why am I here? What is my purpose? You will sense that you are part of something bigger than yourself, You will find your heart longs to be closer to something outside of you, something transcendent. God has planted eternity in your heart; If you took this exercise seriously, you will have just found the God Shaped Hole in your soul.
Recognizing that you are connected to eternity can go a long way towards opening your mind to being willing to acknowledge and then explore the spiritual side of life and fill that God Shaped Hole in your soul with God.
Have a great day!
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Supporitng Scripture

You have a God shaped hole planted in you
“… He has put eternity in their hearts….” Ecclesiastes 3:11
You must take the inititvie in order to find him
“… seek, and you will find…” Matthew 7:7

God knows your heart, and you will eventually get what you deserve

“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10. 

You need to seek Him, find Him, and serve Him with all your heart….or there are consequences

“…know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9

 

Beware if you Knock on wood

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

Do you “knock on wood” to avoid bad luck? You are digging a hole for yourself.

Beware if you ever “knock on wood” to prevent bad luck, You are digging a hole for yourself!!!

Most folks have a “knock on wood” story; They were very excited while striving for something and almost immediately after declaring progress out loud, some unfortunate thing hits them seemingly out of nowhere. This phenomenon is so common that many will purposefully refrain from acknowledging progress towards a milestone out loud until the milestone is complete, or if they do choose to say something out loud while it is still in progress, they will find a piece of wood and knock on it to avoid this inevitable bad thing. Some attribute this coincidence of events to luck or karma or something mysterious. Once you understand what is actually going on, you will find the process is much more systematic and predictable; you will find that all progress should be celebrated and the corresponding undesired events are avoidable, but not by knocking on wood. You will discover that choosing to “knock on wood” actually increases the likelihood you will suffer the unfortunate thing you were trying ot avoid. Read on to learn more.
This whole process is part of God’s grand design; It is part of the “Truth or Consequences” structure He set up for this world. The entire process is intended to help each of us get aligned with Him so we can fulfill our purpose here and be ready for eternity with Him in heaven.
The structure is rather straight forward once you boil it down:
  • HE provides two overarching rules: Love God with ALL your heart, and Love your neighbors AS yourself (Matthew 22:37-40)
  • He promises blessings if you Love Him and follow His rules.
  • He promises consequences if you do not. You have free will to choose. (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
So how does this play out when you are knocking on wood?
Truths:
  • God created this place and put you here.
  • He provided you with all your talents to do things and He presented all the opportunities for you to use them.
  • He provides the roof over your head, the food on your table, and the clothes on your back.
  • He provides all the resources you are using to accomplish whatever you are doing.
  • He supplies every single breath you take; You can do absolutely nothing without him.
We are held accountable for our thoughts, words, and actions.
  1. If you are thinking that you have achieved something significant based on your own effort, you are not loving God with all your heart. You are loving only yourself and your contribution. If we are doing this, we are significantly overstating your contribution, the truth is you can do absolutely nothing on your own, you can’t even breath on your own.
  2. If you say I have accomplished something, or say something is going well, and are not giving God any credit for His contribution, you are not loving God with all your heart, you are actually stealing credit from Him. A simple “Thank god” , or “God is good”, or “I am so blessed” is all it takes to share credit.
  3. So what does knocking on wood do? It is just another step in the downhill chain… an action. So at this point our thinking is off…we think we are responsible for what is happening not God, Our words are off, we are telling others that we have accomplished this thing and are stealing credit from God, and now we are taking action based on this flawed thinking and knocking on a piece of wood to prevent an adverse consequence. Others will hear those words and see that action and possibly think that is how you are being successful and never know that God is making it all happen for you.

These thoughts, words, and acitons are indictions that we do not love God with all our heart. When we chose NOT to Love Him with all our heart, we open ourselves to consequences, and bam… they happen. Not every time, but often enough that folks have started knocking on wood to avoid them. This is described in Proverbs 16:18 as “Pride before destruction, a Haughty spirit before a fall”. When you have inflated your ego and are taking all the credit for something God played a big part in, don’t’ be surprised when something bad happens.

So what should I do rather than knock on wood?

So when you feel the urge to knock on wood, don’t! Thank God instead. When you notice some significant thing happening in your life, pause for a second and reflect on how this came about and how God’s hand has set it all up. Thank God continuously for all He has done and continues to do for you.

Hope this helps
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Supporting scriptures:

Two basic game rules:
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
You have free will, but your choices have consequences:
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Your mental perspective has consequences:
“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
Give thanks always:
“…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ephesians 5:20
“I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever.” Psalm 86:12
“…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. 

 

You Are An Ambassador For God

Posted on by jakirkgasser10439

“What” you say and do really matters;  You are an ambassador for God.

What you choose to say and do really does matter.

We are each representing Christ in this world. Each of us is an ambassador. Our lives are the face of Christianity to others.
What impression do others get from how you live your life? From what you choose to do or choose not to do? From the words that come out of your mouth? From how you treat others? You should be leading by example.
What we choose not to do matters as much as what we choose to do. Don’t become slaves to this things of this world; Live a live worthy of the high price He paid. He gave His life to save you from sin. The least you can do is turn from sin and accept His amazing work. Maintain yourself as a temple worthy of His presence. The Holy Spirit will come and dwell inside you if you commit to denying your self centered interests open yourself to Him. Become a vessel capable of His use. Once you repent of your sins, He will use you despite any issues in your past.  But if you do not repent and continue to act in un-rightious ways, you are seporating yourself from Him and limiting the ways God can use you. 
You are the body of Christ. God put you here for a reason. As the father sent Jesus, Jesus now sends you. You are to continue the work He did;  Do the works that He did and more. Once you submit your life to Him, He can work through you. It is no longer me that lives, but Him through me. His love is perfected when it flows through you to others. Get your self-centered interests out of the way and become God’s Love in action.
You will eventually reap what ever you sow, So choose to sow well all day every day!
Choose to be a light in this dark world; a bright beacon for the kingdom. And do it all for HIM.
Supporting Scriptures
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20
“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:23
“I… beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,” Ephesians 4:1
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-7
“Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” 1 Corinthians 12:27
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“… If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Galatians 6:7-9
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16