Tag: Spirit

Bread of Life

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,”

John 6:60  When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”  But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?  Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)  And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”  After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

Matthew 11:6    And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Hebrews 5:11    About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing

2 Peter 3:16     as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Jesus had just told them that He was the bread of life and to eat of this would give them life. For this many walked away.  I wonder if we are like this when we choose to stay away from His word.  If God’s word is not permeating our life what is feeding our spiritual soul?  Apart from His word, nothing. We will waste away, drift away, and lack that which gives us joy, hope, faith, love, kindness, strength, power, grace and mercy.  These are seeds that need spiritual watering from His word. If we don’t see His word essential for living, what does that say about our belief.  His word will continue to grow us.  Fruit of the spirit will be produced and we will be a light shining for Him to use for His glory and honor.

Alive but Dead

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

Joh 5:25  “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Revelation 3:1   “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Ephesians 2:5    even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Colossians 2:13    And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

1 Timothy 5:6    but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

James 2:26     For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Hebrews 4:1    Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Dead but still alive? Walking with God through our life should have God honoring and glorifying life to it. Some might set the expectation for this very low and say because I don’t do certain things I am honoring and glorifying God.  I don’t think it is about doing or not doing but rather a deep heart desire to be lead by God and seeking to hear His whispers of guidance and commitment to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.  If the spirit of God is not present in our life we are dead though we live.  Our best plans, thoughts and actions are of no good if they are not foundationaly set in seeking and desiring to honor and glorify God.  There is so much we are bombarded each day and we need to be careful to set our heart, mind and soul in His word keeping our ears, eyes, and heart open to see, hear and do that which brings true honor and glory to Him alone.

No condemnation

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.”  He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.  For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Daniel 2:44   And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people

Psalms 2:12    Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

1 John 5:10    Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

John spoke “He must increase, but I must decrease.” These words are a very good principal for us to follow.  In our life we continue to battle “Me, Myself, and I”.  They always want to battle for control, direction, and purpose.  Pride of the heart and lust of the eyes are close companions and helps fuel this battle.  We choose each day rather to yield to self or yield to Christ and the Holy Spirits direction for our lives.  The more time we spend in His word the more we see the true landscape of this battle.  It is at the very core of our nature and does not take much time in His word to recognize just how great this battle is.  to fight this battle start each day with His word recognizing “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Led by the Spirit

“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

John 3:1  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Isaiah 55:9    For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

John 1:13    who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

How does the Spirit of God lead us?  How do we know we are being led? When we become a “child of God”, “a new creation”, “born again” we are given the Spirit of God to dwell inside us to lead us in all truth and on paths that honor and glorify Him.  We are able to hear His whispers of leading and we find comfort, peace, purpose, faith and meaning in our lives.  Confusion is replaced with confirmation.  Feeding of our spirit/soul comes from being in His word.  Little time in His word leaves our mind and soul open to things that do not honor or glorify Him. Little time in His word will create an emptiness and confusion and leaves a void that will be filled with something this world has to offer.  To be led by the Spirit of God we must be wanting, waiting, willing, and seeking to be led each day.

In many ways

“No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

John 1:32  And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.  I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’  And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Romans 1:4     and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Hebrews 1:1   Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

1 John 4:9     In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

2 John 1:9     Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Scripture shows us that man, throughout history, has heard from God but chooses to reject or neglect His calling.  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,  We are living in a time with opportunity to proclaim Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sin, and hope in eternal life with Him.  Share Christ, speak of Him, tell of your hope, and live humbly serving, following and obeying Him.

Light shinning in the darkness

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?”

John 1:5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 3:19    And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

John 12:36     While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.  Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,  so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,  “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

Job 24:13    “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.  The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.  The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face.  In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.  For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

Proverbs 1:29    Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

1 Corinthians 2:14     The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

God’s word is a light unto our soul and a path for our feet.  In our homes we have lights and as it approaches night we turn them on so we can over come the darkness.  We choose to turn the light on because we see benefit from being able to function as though the darkness is not there.  There is much darkness in our world.  Some of this darkness is right there in our face and some of it is hidden and just below the surface.  The light of God’s word pulls us out of this darkness, lighting up the path for our feet to walk on daily.  It lights up hope, joy, love, grace, mercy, courage, strength, peace, within our soul.  The light of God’s word – The light of God’s word – The light of God’s word…..  Reading God’s word turns on this light and the more this word is read and remembered and thought about the brighter it gets.  Can you imagine a person who would turn the lights on at night only on Sunday and then trying to remember what that light illuminated   the rest of the week.  They would be walking in darkness  fooling them selves with this false hope of remembrance of the light.  We need the light of God’s word in our lives each day if we are to commit to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying God.

Turned their back to Me, not their face

Zechariah 11:15  Then the LORD said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.   For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.  “Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!”

Lamentations 2:14  Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading.

Ezekiel 13:3    Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

Isaiah 6:10   Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Jeremiah 2:26   “As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets,  who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!’

Matthew 15:14    Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

We are given so many examples of the sinful nature we are born with and the consequences of it.  I can’t recall the last time I have heard preaching/teaching warning us of the consequences of a life that is not fully committed to God.  It seems as though all we hear is about God’s grace, mercy, love, and our place in heaven.  These are all true and foundational in our reason for repenting and turning away from sin to God’s redemption.  It seems as though through His great and steadfast love we come to Him for a moment in time and then live as though we are one and done on the decision to follow Him with our whole heart.  We give no thought to what it means to commit with our whole mind, soul and heart and live each day to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.  Note the scriptures this morning -“As a thief is shamed when caught”….They know they have done wrong in their commitment to God.  Note the choice made – “they have turned their backs to me not their faces but in time of trouble they say save us”.   We are not to take our walk with God lightly.  This walk requires constant time in His word, courage, patience, faith, hope, commitment, heart deep desire to hear and be led by God.  Make God the first thing you commit to each day.

Connecting the Dots

“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

“So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Malachi 2:13  And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

2 Corinthians 6:18  and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Deuteronomy 7:4     for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

Jeremiah 2:21   Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?

1 Corinthians 7:14    For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Ephesians 6:4   Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

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

Malachi was speaking to men about connecting the dots between their lack of not being blessed and their actions.  You come weeping and groaning to God and ask why are you not blessing us.  It is because your offerings are not acceptable because actions in your life are not acceptable.  In this scripture it speaks of men who divorces his wife for no other reason than to follow the lust of his flesh for someone new.  The connection between our thoughts and actions and God’s blessings should be understood.  If we choose to neglect His word and if we choose to desire more the things of this world than to serve Him we soon are on a path quickly away from Him.  This path leads us in a direction to where God’s blessings do not flow. Keep your heart desire pure for God and His word and the application of it in your life.  Our purpose this side of eternity is to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God. Blessings of peace, comfort, joy, love, grace, mercy, healing, strength, power and patience come to those who keep their heart with vigilance for Him alone.

Spirit of counsel to lead us

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;”

“But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”

“so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Zechariah 4:6  Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

2 Chronicles 14:11   And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

Isaiah 11:2    And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.  And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,  but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Isaiah 63:14    Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

Ezekiel 37:14    And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

Haggai 2:4  Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts,

Psalms 20:6  Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

“Not by power or might but by His spirit”.  How many times do we try to accomplish on our own?  We use our power, strength, knowledge, and head off on a course of action without seeking God, without knowing if this is in His plans and purpose for us.  We make these plans or take action and after we have set them to motion we ask God to make them work out.  Knowing you are being led by God down His path for you is power, strength, and peace to our heart and soul. Seek God first with all your heart,, mind and soul.  Our pastor has been teaching through the book of Exodus and this past Sunday in chapter 33/34 it spoke of the tent Moses had out side of the camp.  He went there each morning and the rest would stand in the doors of their tents and watch God’s presence come down in the form a cloud.  The people would worship from their door ways knowing God was present while Moses spent the day speaking with God.  A question keep running through my head.  If I/we had a choice each morning to spend the day with God – would we choose it?  Would we step away from all the activity and plans we have made?  Joshua said it this way “choose this day whom you will serve.  As for me and my house we will serve the Lord our God”