From Death Unto Life

If you insist on having things your way in this brief life, then don't be surprised at what you get in the eternal one to come. But God's will is that you will accept Him and His Son Jesus Christ, and that you would have eternal life with them. Jesus is the answer.

"Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."~Galatians 6:8

Then he (Jesus) called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." ~ Mark 8:34-35 NIV

You may say:

"Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" ~ Romans 7:21-24

Jesus is the answer:

^"Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!..." ~ Romans 7:25

 ^"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," ~ Romans 3:23

"... the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ                               Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 6:23

"... God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ~ Romans 5:8

" If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,you will be saved." ~ Romans 10:9

 ...for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ~    Romans 10:13

You may say, 'great, now what?'

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," ~ Romans 5:1

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs —heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." ~ 

Romans 8:1-18

"...now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."~Romans 6:22

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 8:38-39

"keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."~ Jude 21

Thanks & Be Blessed,

Will Grace & Truth Ministries
http://www.facebook.com/GraceTruthMinistries

God Wants You To Know Him

The Kingdom of God is not a secret society. God's secret was Jesus, who has now been revealed for everyone. Knowing God in a personal and intimate way is not only attainable, it is the reason for your existence. The way to know the Father is through His son Jesus Christ. He is very much alive and willing. Indeed He is longing to be your closest friend, no matter who you are or what you have done. He is no respecter of persons, and this is offensive to religious minded, self-righteous people who like to believe that their good deeds and clean living have earned them something with God. Wrong. Jesus has earned all things pertaining to life and godliness for us all, as a free gift. The grace of God has appeared to all men, but we must learn how to appropriate it by coming into relationship with Jesus, and beginning to live a life of love and faith. All of us who have a hope and a future with God, can accredit it to what Jesus has done on our behalf.  Don't limit God's influence in your life by thinking He doesn't want you, or that you have to jump through religious hoops and be approved by men in order to be accepted by your Father in Heaven. There are plenty of good reasons to live a holy life, but don't fall into the trap of believing it is a prerequisite to relationship with God. Just turn to Jesus; as He begins to earn your trust, you will begin to change effortlessly as His Word takes root in your heart and begins to bear fruit in your life. Oh how I long for everyone to really know Him. He is beautiful...

True Wisdom Comes from God

^"If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness."~ James 3:13-18 NLT

Father help us to apply these truths in our lives.

The Abundant Life of An Over-Comer

It is wonderful to come to Jesus and allow Him to free us from all the ungodly things in our lives. But we must not neglect to be filled with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. A life which has been freed from sin but not filled with the love of God and the power of His Holy Spirit is an easy target for Satan. We must study (and be studied by) the Word, and be led by the Holy Spirit, in order to live the abundant life of an over-comer Jesus has provided for us through the cross. This is not to be done in a burdensome, legalistic manner. We only need to tell God this is what we want, and then wait and listen for His promptings in our hearts. He will also send people into our lives to provide us with the teachings we need, the answers to our questions, and to help us stay accountable. We should take advantage of these things.

(Jesus said,) “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.” ~ Matthew 12:43-45 NLT


"And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before." ~ 2 Peter 2:20 NLT

As I look back on the life I lived before I was born again, I sometimes shutter at the things the Lord brought me through, and delivered me from. Even then His mercy and grace were extended to me. Now that I know the Lord, I can look back and see the track record of His faithfulness in my life; the times when He was mindful and protective of me even when I was serving His enemy...and it makes me love Him all the more.


"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."~ Matthew 5:45

"... I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”~Luke 7:47
 
"...do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"~ Romans 2:4

Always Include God

As we sit to consider our goals for a day, it is wise to stop and consider whether or not they are God's goals. I challenge everyone to always include God in your planning process. Ask Him to put His desires in your heart, and to give you His vision for what the end of each day will look like, once His plans for that day have been carried out. We cannot truly say Jesus is our Lord, if He is not essential to our decision making process. As our trust in Him increases, along with His faithful and loving track record in our lives, all of the intimate details of our lives should be submitted to Him.~ "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

He Saw Their Faith

Jesus was in a house teaching the people, and the power of God was present to heal the sick. There were some men who had a paralyzed friend. They carried him on a mat to the house where Jesus was teaching. These men believed their friend was going to be healed that day. When they arrived the place was packed. They couldn't even get in the door, so they tried another approach. There were some stairs on the side of the house leading up to the roof, so they carried their friend up the stairs. Then they dug a hole through the roof large enough to put their friend through, and they lowered him down...right in front of Jesus. In all three accounts of this event, in the life and ministry of Jesus, it says the same thing. Jesus saw the faith of the friends and the paralytic was healed. It wasn't the faith of the Paralytic that blessed Jesus; it was the faith of the friends. And the Lord's response was one of love, salvation, and healing.

This story in the bible, of the paralytic being healed when Jesus saw the faith of his friends, should be very encouraging to all believers. This tells us that we can have a profound effect on the lives of others. Who are you believing for today? Is it an unsaved loved one, a sick friend, a rebellious child, or a spouse that has withdrawn from you emotionally? Don't stop believing that God has a plan of salvation, deliverance, and healing for that very situation. He sees your faith, and He loves the fact that you care for that person. Jesus is blessed that you share your faith with them, and that you pray for them. If the paralytic's friends had decided to just take him home when they saw the crowd, instead of pressing in and making a way to get their friend to Jesus, he would have never received his healing.

I believe that sometimes we are very close to the manifestation of the miracles we are believing for, when we give up. I believe that angels weep on many occasions because they are unable to carry out their instructions to deliver blessings to God's children, because we turn off our faith. It is like shutting off a water faucet when the life giving water is on its way through the hose. God has poured out a super-abundance of grace through His precious Son Jesus Christ. Receive it by faith for someone you love today. What you make happen for others God will make happen for you.