living and abiding

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Life, Potential

                                     where and how you live!

Living is where you are –
Abiding is how you live where you are.

      having been born again,
      not of corruptible seed but incorruptible,
      through the word of God
      which lives and abides forever,
      1 Peter 1 23

Living basically means to be alive,
… to be able to do.
Living is where you are
… and the potential that is there for you!

Abiding is about what you do where you live.
Abiding is where you do things,
… not because you are paid to do them
but because you want to do what you are doing.

      In other words,
      … where you abide
      … is where your heart is.

For this reason Jesus said …

      If you abide in Me,
      and My words abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire,
      and it shall be done for you.
      John 15 7
 

Free…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Grace, Trust

                                                           … in Him!

Isn’t it wonderful to know that…

      Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
      Gal 3 13
      For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
      has made me free from the law of sin and death.
      Rom 8 2

What does that mean in my life?

      That I am free
      … from sin and the result of sin!
      That I am free
      … from sickness, disease, depression and poverty!

The Bible goes on to say,
      Therefore if the Son makes you free,
      you shall be free indeed.
      John 8 36

Free indeed!
Yet so often it seems that I am not.
Why is this?

      Because like any gift, I have to receive it,
      … and I have to live what is mine!

Jesus said,
      I have come that you may HAVE life in abundance!
      John 10 10

but it is up to me to believe
… and receive what Jesus has prepared for me.
I have to LIVE that life that Jesus came that I may have!
 

Faith works…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Faith, Responsibility

                                                   … believe it!

Reality is that when you are trusting God,
you don’t get what you desire, you get what you believe.

      Delight yourself also in the Lord,
      and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
      Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him,
      and He shall bring it to pass.
      Psalms 37 4-5

God does not respond to or answer our desires,
… God responds to and answers our faith.
In other words, in our walk with Him,
… it is our action of faith that God responds to.

What about the rest of life … at home, at work etc?
The same applies.
We have to do something for there to be any kind of a result.

Life (the world) does not respond to your desires,
… life responds to your actions.

      For as the body without the spirit is dead
      so faith without works is dead also.
      James 2 26

So, how does God bless us?
Through faith and our corresponding actions,

      The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses
      and in all to which you set your hand,
      Deut 28:8

Unless you believe and also act on what you believe,
… nothing will happen,
because there is nothing to respond to,
… nothing to confirm or do!
 

Take up your cross

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Life, Value

                                     … with others in mind!

What did Jesus mean when He said …

      If anyone desires to come after Me,
      let him deny himself,
      and take up his cross, and follow Me.
      Matt 16 24

Jesus wants us to set aside our self-interest,
… and take up our cross and follow Him.
Jesus did not tell us to take up His cross,
… but wants us to follow His example,
… and take up ‘our cross’.

But what is this cross He wants us to take up?

      His cross is obvious, giving Himself for others,
      … doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
      The cross Jesus wants us to take up is the same,
      … giving ourselves for others,
      not as in sacrificing our bodies on a cross,
      … but by laying down our lives (self) for others!

How does He expect us to do that?
By doing what He did on the cross – by living love!

      By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
      And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
      But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his
      brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him,
      how does the love of God abide in him?
      1 John 3 16

Jesus wants us to live our lives loving others,
… doing what we do with others in mind,
as He did on the cross … with us in mind!
 

You have…

Posted on jan3 CommentsPosted in Potential, Responsibility

                                                   … the mind of Christ!

Under the Old Covenant, God said this through the prophet Isaiah

      For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
      Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
      For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
      So are My ways higher than your ways,
      And My thoughts than your thoughts.
      Isaiah 55 8-9

What a blessing to know that Jesus came
… and that He changed all of that,

      For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’
      But we have the mind of Christ.
      1 Corinthians 2 16

We have the mind of Christ, which means that
… we can think God’s way,
and His thoughts can be our thoughts.

      Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
      Philippians 2 5

Therefore when we are under pressure,
… when we don’t know what to do,
we simply need to do what Scripture tells us to do,

      casting down arguments and every high thing
      that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
      bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
      2 Corinthians 10 5

In other words,
      bring those thoughts and pressures to Jesus,
      … let Him guide your thoughts and actions,
      … let Him tell you what to do.
 

Great …

Posted on jan2 CommentsPosted in Potential, Trust

                                                     … in the Kingdom!

Being great in God’s kingdom
… is not that you have,
… or what you have,
but that you give!

Being great in God’s kingdom
… is not what you give,
but that you give!

      Maybe you want to give,
      … but the need seems so big.
      Maybe you want to give
      … but what you have seems so little.

The Philippians did not have much,
… but gave according to what they had,
and knowing their hearts,
… and their situation,
the apostle Paul wrote this to them…

      And my God shall supply all your need
      according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
      Philippians 4 19

Because it is not about what you have,
… but it’s all about – that you give!

      Give, and it will be given to you: good measure,
      pressed down, shaken together,
      and running over will be put into your bosom.
      For with the same measure that you use,
      it will be measured back to you
      Luke 6 38
 

Authority & Substance

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Character, Faith

                                                       … of faith!

The authority of faith…
… is the (logos) Word of God.

Faith in the authority we have in Jesus’ name
… to speak to that mountain (Mark 11 23)
Not because of who we are,
… but because of who He is,
… and who we are in Him!

      Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions,
      and over all the power of the enemy,
      and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
      Luke 10 19

*******
The substance of faith… (rhema)
… Abiding in Him and His words (rhema) abiding in you.

Faith in God and in God’s Word
… and all that He has done and prepared for
whoever comes to Him.

      But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
      for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
      and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
      Hebrews 11 6

As Jesus said …
      I am the vine, you are the branches.
      He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
      for without Me you can do nothing.
      …
      If you abide in Me, and My words (rhema) abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
      John 15 5,7
 

Open to Him

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Life, Responsibility

                                             … to all that He is!

God opened Himself,
… all that He is
… all that He does
up to us through the Lord Jesus Christ,
making it possible for us to live in the fullness of life.
… As Jesus said,

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

There is but one simple condition
… for all of that to become a reality in our lives.

      Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
      James 4 8

God is saying to us…

      Come to Me and open yourself up to Me,
      … not your problems or needs,
      BUT you, yourself, your life
      … open that up to Me
      that I may come into your life.

      For only then will I be able to provide
      … all that you need,
      and all that I have planned for you
      … in your life!

Therefore …

      Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
      and He will lift you up.
      James 4 10
 

Living …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Life, Love

                                                             … LOVE!

God showed us His love for us
… through the life of love Jesus lived on earth for us!

      By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
      And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
      1 John 3 16

How can we live that kind of love?
God’s first words to man were,

      Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful…’
      Genesis 1 28

      and being fruitful simply means
      … that we live our lives for others.
      It is all about doing what you do, for others.

That is living LOVE,
… living the image of God that is in us,
that image that Jesus lived in His life.
His actions of doing for us what we could not do,
so that we could have all that the Father planned for us to have!

As Jesus said …

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

Live that abundant life by …

      Living LOVE,
      … with LOVE,
      … … in LOVE!
 

Individual …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Life, Potential

                                                          … or just different?

God did not make us all different,
but He made us all individual.

      God created us in His image,
      … which means that before Him we are all the same,
      … with equal abilities to live in the fullness of life!
      But God created us all individual,
      … each with our own freewill,
      with the ability to decide our own future.
      Individual with the right to be different.

However, it is God’s image in us,
… and His image of us,
that He wants us to live, to be!

      We have known and believed
      the love that God has for us.
      God is love,
      and he who abides in love
      abides in God, and God in him.
      1 John 4 16

God is love and it is that image of love
… that God wants us to live
in our own individual way.

      Choosing who He created us to be
      … is what will make us individual, different.
      Choosing His way, His principles,
      … is what will make His image in us manifest,
      is what will make us that individual HE created us to be.