I have written many stories in the Christian Faith and published them with Amazon.com. This is my main goal in life, to inform people of the true teaching of the Bible's Gospel. Yet please keep in mind that I am trying to build a Health Care company that will help everyone that becomes a member. Your membership, if you live in San Diego is solicited!
I hope you like this special selection from my book: "The Authorized Book of Short Christian Stories" Located here: http://amazon.com/products/dp/1442145137 like most of the articles in this book, they are written with the help of the knowledge of the 'Hidden Wisdom' that every true follower of Christ Jesus will some day come into knowing for themselves. God Bless all of you....
SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
From
"Works by J.J."
When a person is born-again in the spirit of Christ, his spirit is immediately put at odds against the desires of his flesh. This is well discussed in the book of Romans where Paul asserts that: “The good I want to do I cannot do, but the bad I don’t want to do I do…”
This is a spiritual fight that each “Christian” must go through. We must all experience the same wretchedness that Paul experienced, and come into the same discerned realization that Paul realized, and that is: our rescue from this body of death is in God’s hands through Jesus Christ.
Having learned this vital truth Paul summed up the matter in his saying: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ.” And his entire life was devoted to teaching about Jesus and HOW we can come to Jesus to find the strength to overcome the enemy of our flesh.
Added to Paul’s ministry, we find another word of encouragement in the epistle of Jude, the brother of James. In verse three we read: “…it was needful of me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
The words: “earnestly contend” come from one word in the Greek: “epagonizomai.” Which literally means: to agonize in your determination to overcome the enemy.”
The enemy is satan, we know, but his weapon for sin is being used to destroy our assurance of faith that we have found in Christ’s redeeming work. Hence satan’s purpose with tempting us with sin is to: 1: make us lose hope. And 2: to make us slaves to the increasing deviancy of sin. All for the bigger purpose of trying to set himself above God.
The apostles, however, were given to us to show us The Way of God as taught by Jesus. Paul strived to preach the gospel good news by first laying the foundation of Christ Jesus, as First Corinthians 3:10-15 shows and we are to build on that foundation. The quality of our work being symbolized by the building materials we use: “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble.” Materials that must be able to withstand the fire of temptation to sin.
Notice, that even if our work is burned up us “Born-again Christians” will still be saved, but we will suffer loss of certain rewards in heaven. Perhaps, one or more of the crowns we can receive…but we will still be saved! NEVER FORGET THAT! We are told to never to let loose of our hope.
Now, let’s tie all of this together into one easy to carry burden, for Jesus said: “Learn from me for my burden is light and easy to carry.”
It is in Jesus we find our hope, our strength, our rewards and our redemption. In him is nothing forward or perverse. In him can be found love and truth. Yet don’t neglect that it is something we must Learn!
The more we become one with Jesus, the more we will be able to say: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ.”
It serves God’s purpose that the same way we find Jesus, is the same way we grow in Jesus. IN A WORD:
REPENTANCE
We saw in First Corinthians 3:11, that Jesus is our foundation; Yet now we read in Hebrews 6:1 “…let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…” Repentance!
You have been taught that this means to turn away from sin 180 degrees, and it does…. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!!! In the New Testament a new word is used: “Metanoeo” And it means: “to reconsider your sin from a divine viewpoint of thought, will and emotion; then choose to submit to the way of the divine.”
Not so hard to do as it sounds, in First Cor. 2:15-16 we see that the teaching of the Holy Spirit is to give us the MIND of Christ. Which is to say, having His thoughts, will and emotions? (See The Amplified Bible)
In the Old Testament days all they could do was turn away from sin to follow the Ten Commandments; they were unable to reconsider their sin from the divine viewpoint we “Christians” are able to learn to do, by virtue of the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. Also known as: “The Gift of Repentance.” A gift given that allows us: “…the acknowledging of the truth…” (II Tim. 2:24-26) that is in and of Jesus. A pearl of great price, that Gruden’s Dictionary concordance defines as: “the message and the person of Jesus Christ.”
But, if the truth is Jesus, and “…no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father…” How can we know him?
Read the entire verse of Luke 10:22, “All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him!”
Jesus reveals the Father! (John 17:25-26) says: “Oh righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus reveals the love, (agape), of the Father! (Galatians 5:5-6): “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” BUT pay attention to verse five!!! Our hope of righteousness is also established by the love found in faith.
Other verses verify that love from the Father is the way of righteousness…I Cor. 13, the love chapter, shows many of the reasons we have for sin. Rom. 13:8-10 shows that our obedience to submit to God’s love fulfills all of the commandments. II Pet. 1:2-11, shows that love, on an increasing basis, (vs. 8) will “…make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall…) (vs. 10).
The Agape love in faith is “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”
There are many, many verses found in scripture that become plain and clear to the person who strives to repent from the unloving reasons for their sin and find the loving alternatives to submit to in an ongoing process.
There are five types of love: phileo, eros, epithermia, storge and agape. Be sure you do not make the mistake of vainly imagining that the love you believe in is God’s love; unless you have found it in the alternatives to your reasons for your sin.
Our motives for sin are clearly given in the bible as being: worries, riches, and/or pleasures…but our “reasons” for these motives are many and different for each person.
For example” why do you drink? One answer is: I’m shy. Or, I’m afraid of rejection. Or, I’m being cool, like James Bond…. Repentance asks the questions. (See James Ch. 4)
The reasons are different for every person, and it is in the loving and truthful alternatives to the reasons, that we find God’s transforming image of Christ.
Let love be your guide, let love be your goal!!! Love that does no harm to its neighbor, and applies to everyone equally, is our aim. When you find it, you will see that it is in- accordance to the written word of God. But what you have found is the spirit of the word. Praise God!
And so my prayer for you is the same as Paul’s in Philippians 1:9-11, “That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” REPENT….