PRAISE be to the GOD and FATHER of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, the FATHER of COMPASSION and the GOD of ALL COMFORT, who COMFORTS US in all OUR TROUBLES, so that WE can COMFORT those in any TROUBLE with the COMFORT WE ourselves have RECEIVED from GOD. For just as the SUFFERINGS of CHRIST flow over into OUR LIVES, so also through CHRIST OUR COMFORT OVERFLOWS. If WE are DISTRESSED, it is for YOUR COMFORT and SALVATION; if WE are COMFORTED, it is for YOUR COMFORT, which PRODUCES in YOU PATIENT ENDURANCE of the same SUFFERINGS WE SUFFER. And OUR HOPE for YOU is FIRM, because WE know that just as YOU share in OUR SUFFERINGS, so also YOU share in OUR COMFORT.
WE do not want YOU to be UNINFORMED, BROTHERS, about the HARDSHIPS WE SUFFERED in the province of ASIA. WE were under great pressure, far beyond OUR ABILITY to ENDURE, so that WE DESPAIRED even of LIFE. Indeed, in OUR HEARTS WE felt the SENTENCE of DEATH. But this HAPPEN that WE might not RELY on OURSELVES but GOD, WHO RAISES the DEAD. GOD has DELIVERED US from such a DEADLY PERIL (THE PAST), AND GOD will DELIVER US (THE PRESENT). On GOD WE have set OUR HOPE that GOD will CONTINUE to DELIVER US (THE FUTURE), as YOU HELP US BY YOURS PRAYERS. Then many will GIVE THANKS on OUR behalf for the GRACIOUS FAVOR GRANTED US in ANSWER to the PRAYERS of many. (SO WE MUST PRAY)
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
1CORINTHIANS 15:1-10a THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
NOW, BROTHERS, I want to remind you of the GOSPEL I PREACHED to you, which YOU RECEIVED and on which YOU have taken YOUR STAND. By this GOSPEL YOU are SAVED, If YOU HOLD FIRMLY to the WORD I PREACHED TO YOU. Otherwise, YOU have BELIEVED IN VAIN.
For what I RECEIVED I PASSED on to YOU as of FIRST IMPORTANCE: that CHRIST DIED for OUR SINS ACCORDING to the SCRIPTURES, that CHRIST was BURIED, that CHRIST was RAISED on the THIRD DAY ACCORDING to the SCRIPTURES, and that CHRIST APPEARED TO PETER, and then to the TWELVE. After that, CHRIST APPEARED to more than FIVE HUNDRED of the BROTHERS at the SAME TIME, most of whom are STILL LIVING, though some have FALLEN ASLEEP. Then CHRIST APPEARED to JAMES, then to ALL the APOSTLES, and last of all CHRIST APPEARED to ME also, as to ONE ABNORMALLY BORN.
For I am the LEAST of the APOSTLES and do not even DESERVE to be CALLED an APOSTLE, BECAUSE I PERSECUTED the CHURCH OF GOD. But by the GRACE OF GOD I am what I am, and GOD'S GRACE TO ME was NOT WITHOUT EFFECT. AMEN!
For what I RECEIVED I PASSED on to YOU as of FIRST IMPORTANCE: that CHRIST DIED for OUR SINS ACCORDING to the SCRIPTURES, that CHRIST was BURIED, that CHRIST was RAISED on the THIRD DAY ACCORDING to the SCRIPTURES, and that CHRIST APPEARED TO PETER, and then to the TWELVE. After that, CHRIST APPEARED to more than FIVE HUNDRED of the BROTHERS at the SAME TIME, most of whom are STILL LIVING, though some have FALLEN ASLEEP. Then CHRIST APPEARED to JAMES, then to ALL the APOSTLES, and last of all CHRIST APPEARED to ME also, as to ONE ABNORMALLY BORN.
For I am the LEAST of the APOSTLES and do not even DESERVE to be CALLED an APOSTLE, BECAUSE I PERSECUTED the CHURCH OF GOD. But by the GRACE OF GOD I am what I am, and GOD'S GRACE TO ME was NOT WITHOUT EFFECT. AMEN!
Saturday, October 26, 2013
1CORINTHIANS 13:1-13 LOVE THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY
If I SPEAK in the TONGUES of MEN and ANGELS, but have not LOVE, I am only a RESOUNDING GONG or a CLANGING CYMBAL. If I have the GIFT of PROPHECY and can FATHOM ALL MYSTERIES and ALL KNOWLEDGE, and if I have FAITH that can MOVE MOUNTAINS, but have not LOVE, I am NOTHING. If I give ALL I POSSESS to the POOR and SURRENDER my BODY to the FLAMES but have not LOVE, I GAIN NOTHING.
("GOD'S WORD TO ME, IS GOD'S LOVE FOR ME, GOD's LOVE IS, THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY")
LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. It does not ENVY, it does not BOAST, it is not PROUD. It is NOT RUDE, it is not SELF-SEEKING, it is not EASILY ANGERED, it KEEPS NO RECORD of WRONGS. LOVE does not DELIGHT IN EVIL but REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH. LOVE ALWAYS PROTECT, ALWAYS TRUSTS, ALWAYS HOPES, ALWAYS PERSEVERES.
LOVE NEVER FAILS. But where there are PROPHECIES, they will CEASE; where there are TONGUES, they will be STILLED; where there is KNOWLEDGE, it will PASS AWAY. For WE KNOW in part and WE PROPHESY in part, but when PERFECTION COMES (JESUS CHRIST), the IMPERFECT DISAPPEARS. When I was a CHILD, I TALKED like a child, I THOUGHT like a child, I REASONED like a child. When I BECAME A MAN (MATURE IN CHRIST), I put childish ways BEHIND ME. Now WE SEE but a POOR REFLECTION as in a MIRROR; then WE SHALL SEE GOD FACE TO FACE. NOW, I KNOW in part; THEN I SHALL KNOW GOD'S WORD FULLY, even as I AM FULLY KNOWN. (GOD FULLY KNOWS US)
And now these THREE REMAIN: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. But the GREATEST of these is LOVE.
("GOD'S WORD TO ME, IS GOD'S LOVE FOR ME, GOD's LOVE IS, THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY")
LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. It does not ENVY, it does not BOAST, it is not PROUD. It is NOT RUDE, it is not SELF-SEEKING, it is not EASILY ANGERED, it KEEPS NO RECORD of WRONGS. LOVE does not DELIGHT IN EVIL but REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH. LOVE ALWAYS PROTECT, ALWAYS TRUSTS, ALWAYS HOPES, ALWAYS PERSEVERES.
LOVE NEVER FAILS. But where there are PROPHECIES, they will CEASE; where there are TONGUES, they will be STILLED; where there is KNOWLEDGE, it will PASS AWAY. For WE KNOW in part and WE PROPHESY in part, but when PERFECTION COMES (JESUS CHRIST), the IMPERFECT DISAPPEARS. When I was a CHILD, I TALKED like a child, I THOUGHT like a child, I REASONED like a child. When I BECAME A MAN (MATURE IN CHRIST), I put childish ways BEHIND ME. Now WE SEE but a POOR REFLECTION as in a MIRROR; then WE SHALL SEE GOD FACE TO FACE. NOW, I KNOW in part; THEN I SHALL KNOW GOD'S WORD FULLY, even as I AM FULLY KNOWN. (GOD FULLY KNOWS US)
And now these THREE REMAIN: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. But the GREATEST of these is LOVE.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
1CORINTHIANS 6:18-7:17 MARRIAGE INSTRUCTIONS FOR HUSBANDS AND WIFES
MEN, FLEE FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY. ALL other SINS a man commits are outside his body, but HE who SINS sexually SINS against his own body. Do you know that your body is a TEMPLE of the HOLY SPIRIT, who is in you, whom you have RECIEVED from GOD? YOU are not your own; you were BOUGHT at a PRICE. THEREFORE HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODY.
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is GOOD for a man not to have SEXUAL RELATION with a woman. But since there is so much IMMORALITY, each man should have his own WIFE, and each woman her own HUSBAND. The HUSBAND should fulfill his MARITAL DUTY to his WIFE, and likewise the WIFE to her HUSBAND.
The WIFE'S body does not belong to her alone but also to her HUSBAND. In the same way, the HUSBAND'S body does not belong to him alone but also to his WIFE. Do not DEPRIVE each other except by MUTUAL CONSENT and for time, so that you may DEVOTE yourselves to PRAYER. Then come together again so that SATAN will not TEMPT you BECAUSE of your lack of (INNER) SELF-CONTROL. I say this as a CONCESSION, not as a COMMAND. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own GIFT from GOD; one has this GIFT, another has that.
Now to the UNMARRIED and the WIDOWS I say: It is GOOD for them to stay UNMARRIED, as I am. But if they CANNOT CONTROL themselves, they should MARRY, for it is BETTER to MARRY than to burn with PASSION.
To the MARRIED I give this COMMAND (not I, but the Lord): A WIFE must not SEPERATE from her HUSBAND. But if she does, she must REMAIN UNMARRIED or else be RECONCILED to her HUSBAND. And a HUSBAND must not DIVORCE his WIFE.
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any BROTHER has a WIFE who is not a BELIEVER and she is willing to LIVE with him, he must not DIVORCE her. And if a woman has a HUSBAND who is not a BELEIVER and he is willing to LIVE with her, she must not DIVORCE him. For the UNBELIEVING HUSBAND has been SANCTIFIED through his WIFE, and the UNBELIEVING WIFE has been SANCTIFIED through her BELIEVING HUSBAND. Otherwise your CHILDREN would be UNCLEAN, but as it is, they are HOLY.
But if the UNBELIEVER leaves, let him do so. A BELIEVING man or woman is not BOUND in such CIRCUMSTANCES; GOD has CALLED us to LIVE in PEACE. How do you know, WIFE, weather you will save your HUSBAND? Or, how do you know, HUSBAND, weather you will save your WIFE?
NEVERTHELESS, each one should RETAIN the PLACE in LIFE that the Lord ASSIGNED to him and to which GOD has CALLED him. This is the RULE I lay down in all the CHURCHES.
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is GOOD for a man not to have SEXUAL RELATION with a woman. But since there is so much IMMORALITY, each man should have his own WIFE, and each woman her own HUSBAND. The HUSBAND should fulfill his MARITAL DUTY to his WIFE, and likewise the WIFE to her HUSBAND.
The WIFE'S body does not belong to her alone but also to her HUSBAND. In the same way, the HUSBAND'S body does not belong to him alone but also to his WIFE. Do not DEPRIVE each other except by MUTUAL CONSENT and for time, so that you may DEVOTE yourselves to PRAYER. Then come together again so that SATAN will not TEMPT you BECAUSE of your lack of (INNER) SELF-CONTROL. I say this as a CONCESSION, not as a COMMAND. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own GIFT from GOD; one has this GIFT, another has that.
Now to the UNMARRIED and the WIDOWS I say: It is GOOD for them to stay UNMARRIED, as I am. But if they CANNOT CONTROL themselves, they should MARRY, for it is BETTER to MARRY than to burn with PASSION.
To the MARRIED I give this COMMAND (not I, but the Lord): A WIFE must not SEPERATE from her HUSBAND. But if she does, she must REMAIN UNMARRIED or else be RECONCILED to her HUSBAND. And a HUSBAND must not DIVORCE his WIFE.
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any BROTHER has a WIFE who is not a BELIEVER and she is willing to LIVE with him, he must not DIVORCE her. And if a woman has a HUSBAND who is not a BELEIVER and he is willing to LIVE with her, she must not DIVORCE him. For the UNBELIEVING HUSBAND has been SANCTIFIED through his WIFE, and the UNBELIEVING WIFE has been SANCTIFIED through her BELIEVING HUSBAND. Otherwise your CHILDREN would be UNCLEAN, but as it is, they are HOLY.
But if the UNBELIEVER leaves, let him do so. A BELIEVING man or woman is not BOUND in such CIRCUMSTANCES; GOD has CALLED us to LIVE in PEACE. How do you know, WIFE, weather you will save your HUSBAND? Or, how do you know, HUSBAND, weather you will save your WIFE?
NEVERTHELESS, each one should RETAIN the PLACE in LIFE that the Lord ASSIGNED to him and to which GOD has CALLED him. This is the RULE I lay down in all the CHURCHES.
1CORINTHIANS 3:1-23 ON DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH
BROTHERS, I could not address YOU as SPIRITUAL but as WORLDY- mere INFANTS in CHRIST. I gave YOU milk, not solid FOOD (SPIRITUAL FOOD), for YOU were not yet READY. YOU are still WORDLY. For since there is JEALOUSY and QUARRELING among YOU, are YOU NOT WORDLY? Are YOU NOT acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow PAUL," and another, "I follow APOLLOS," are YOU not mere men?
What, after all, is APOLLOS? And what is PAUL? Only servants, through whom YOU came to BELIEVE- as the Lord has ASSIGNED to each HIS TASK. I PLANTED the SEED, APOLLOS WATERED IT, but GOD MADE IT GROW. So NEITHER HE WHO PLANTS NOR HE WHO WATERS is ANYTHING, but ONLY GOD, WHO MAKES THINGS GROW. The MAN who PLANTS and the MAN who WATERS have ONE PURPOSE, and each will be REWARDED ACCORDING to HIS OWN LABOR. For WE are GOD'S fellow workers; YOU are GOD'S FIELD, GOD'S BUILDING.
BY the GRACE GOD has given me, I laid a FOUNDATION as an EXPERT BUILDER, and someone else is building on it. (ME) But each one should be CAREFUL how he builds. For no one can lay any FOUNDATION other than the one ALREADY LAID, WHICH IS JESUS CHRIST.
If any man builds on this FOUNDATION using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, HIS WORK will be SHOWN for what it is, BECAUSE the DAY (JUDGEMENT) will bring it to LIGHT. It will be REVEALED with FIRE, and the FIRE will TEST the QUALITY of each man's WORK. If what HE has built SURVIVES, HE will RECIEVE HIS REWARD. If it is BURNED UP, HE will SUFFER LOSS; HE himself will be SAVED, but only as one ESCAPING through the FLAMES
Don't YOU KNOW that YOU yourselves are GOD'S TEMPLE and that GOD'S SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU? If anyone DESTROYS GOD'S TEMPLE, GOD will DESTROY HIM; for GOD'S TEMPLE is SACRED, and YOU ARE THAT TEMPLE.
DO NOT DECIEVE YOURSELVES, If any one of you thinks he is WISE by the STANDARDS of this AGE, he should become a "FOOL" so that he may become WISE. For the WISDOM of this WORLD is FOOLISHNESS in GOD'S SIGHT. As it is WRITTEN: "HE CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTNESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THAT THE THOUGHTS OF THE WISE ARE FUTILE." So then, no more BOASTING about men! ALL things are yours, WHETHER PAUL or APOLLOS or CEPHAS or the WORLD or LIFE or DEATH or the PRESENT or the FUTURE- ALL ARE YOURS, and YOU ARE OF CHRIST, and CHRIST IS OF GOD. AMEN!
What, after all, is APOLLOS? And what is PAUL? Only servants, through whom YOU came to BELIEVE- as the Lord has ASSIGNED to each HIS TASK. I PLANTED the SEED, APOLLOS WATERED IT, but GOD MADE IT GROW. So NEITHER HE WHO PLANTS NOR HE WHO WATERS is ANYTHING, but ONLY GOD, WHO MAKES THINGS GROW. The MAN who PLANTS and the MAN who WATERS have ONE PURPOSE, and each will be REWARDED ACCORDING to HIS OWN LABOR. For WE are GOD'S fellow workers; YOU are GOD'S FIELD, GOD'S BUILDING.
BY the GRACE GOD has given me, I laid a FOUNDATION as an EXPERT BUILDER, and someone else is building on it. (ME) But each one should be CAREFUL how he builds. For no one can lay any FOUNDATION other than the one ALREADY LAID, WHICH IS JESUS CHRIST.
If any man builds on this FOUNDATION using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, HIS WORK will be SHOWN for what it is, BECAUSE the DAY (JUDGEMENT) will bring it to LIGHT. It will be REVEALED with FIRE, and the FIRE will TEST the QUALITY of each man's WORK. If what HE has built SURVIVES, HE will RECIEVE HIS REWARD. If it is BURNED UP, HE will SUFFER LOSS; HE himself will be SAVED, but only as one ESCAPING through the FLAMES
Don't YOU KNOW that YOU yourselves are GOD'S TEMPLE and that GOD'S SPIRIT LIVES IN YOU? If anyone DESTROYS GOD'S TEMPLE, GOD will DESTROY HIM; for GOD'S TEMPLE is SACRED, and YOU ARE THAT TEMPLE.
DO NOT DECIEVE YOURSELVES, If any one of you thinks he is WISE by the STANDARDS of this AGE, he should become a "FOOL" so that he may become WISE. For the WISDOM of this WORLD is FOOLISHNESS in GOD'S SIGHT. As it is WRITTEN: "HE CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTNESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THAT THE THOUGHTS OF THE WISE ARE FUTILE." So then, no more BOASTING about men! ALL things are yours, WHETHER PAUL or APOLLOS or CEPHAS or the WORLD or LIFE or DEATH or the PRESENT or the FUTURE- ALL ARE YOURS, and YOU ARE OF CHRIST, and CHRIST IS OF GOD. AMEN!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
1CORINTHIANS 2:6-16 WISDOM FROM THE SPIRIT
We Do, however, SPEAK a MESSAGE of WISDOM among the MATURE, but not the WISDOM of this age or of the RULERS of this age, who are COMING to NOTHING. No, WE SPEAK of GOD'S SECRET WISDOM, a WISDOM that has been HIDDEN and that GOD DESTINED for OUR GLORY BEFORE TIME BEGAN. None of the RULERS of this age UNDERSTOOD IT, for if they had, they would not have CRUCIFIED the LORD OF GLORY. However, as it is WITTEN: "No EYE has SEEN, no EAR has HEARD, no MIND has CONCEIVED what GOD has PREPARED for THOSE who LOVE HIM"- but GOD has REVEALED it by HIS SPIRIT.
The SPIRIT SEARCHES all things, even the DEEP THINGS of GOD. For who among MEN knows the thoughts of a MAN except the MAN's spirit WITHIN HIM? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of GOD except the SPIRIT OF GOD. We have not RECEIVED the spirit of the WORLD but the SPIRIT who is from GOD, that WE may UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD has FREELY GIVEN US. This is what WE SPEAK, not in WORDS TAUGHT US BY HUMAN WISDOM but in WORDS TAUGHT BY the SPIRIT, EXPRESSING SPIRITUAL TRUTHS in SPIRITUAL WORDS.
THE MAN WITHOUT THE SPIRIT DOES NOT ACCEPT THE THINGS THAT COME FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD, for they are FOOLISHNESS to him, and he CANNOT UNDERSTAND them, BECAUSE they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED. The SPIRITUAL MAN makes JUDGEMENTS about all things, but HE himself is not SUBJECT to any MAN'S JUDGEMENT:" For who has KNOWN the MIND of the Lord that HE may INSTRUCT HIM?" BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST. AMEN!
The SPIRIT SEARCHES all things, even the DEEP THINGS of GOD. For who among MEN knows the thoughts of a MAN except the MAN's spirit WITHIN HIM? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of GOD except the SPIRIT OF GOD. We have not RECEIVED the spirit of the WORLD but the SPIRIT who is from GOD, that WE may UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD has FREELY GIVEN US. This is what WE SPEAK, not in WORDS TAUGHT US BY HUMAN WISDOM but in WORDS TAUGHT BY the SPIRIT, EXPRESSING SPIRITUAL TRUTHS in SPIRITUAL WORDS.
THE MAN WITHOUT THE SPIRIT DOES NOT ACCEPT THE THINGS THAT COME FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD, for they are FOOLISHNESS to him, and he CANNOT UNDERSTAND them, BECAUSE they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED. The SPIRITUAL MAN makes JUDGEMENTS about all things, but HE himself is not SUBJECT to any MAN'S JUDGEMENT:" For who has KNOWN the MIND of the Lord that HE may INSTRUCT HIM?" BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST. AMEN!
1CORINTHIANS 1:21b-31 CHRIST THE WISDOM AND POWER OF GOD
GOD was PLEASED through the FOOLISHNESS of what was PREACHED to SAVE those who BELIEVE. Jews DEMAND MIRACULOUS SIGNS and GREEKS LOOK for WISDOM, but WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED: a STUMBLING BLOCK to JEWS and FOOLISHNESS to GENTILES, but to those whom GOD has CALLED, both Jews and Greeks, CHRIST THE POWER OF GOD and THE WISDOM OF GOD. For the FOOLISHNESS of GOD is WISER than MAN'S WISDOM, AND THE WEAKNESS of GOD is STRONGER than MAN'S STRENGTH.
BROTHERS, think of what YOU were when YOU were CALLED. Not many of YOU were WISE by HUMAN STANDARDS; not many were INFLIENTIAL; not many of NOBLE BIRTH. But GOD CHOSE the FOOLISH THINGS of the WORLD to SHAME the WISE; GOD CHOSE the WEAK THINGS of the WORLD to SHAME the STRONG. GOD CHOSE the LOWLY THINGS of this WORLD and the DESPISED THINGS- and the THINGS that ARE NOT- to NULLIFY the THINGS that ARE, so that no one may BOOST BEFORE GOD. It is BECAUSE of GOD that YOU are in CHRIST JESUS, WHO HAS BECOME FOR US WISDOM FROM GOD- that is, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOLINESS and REDEMPTION. THEREFORE, as it is WRITTEN: "LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE LORD."
BROTHERS, think of what YOU were when YOU were CALLED. Not many of YOU were WISE by HUMAN STANDARDS; not many were INFLIENTIAL; not many of NOBLE BIRTH. But GOD CHOSE the FOOLISH THINGS of the WORLD to SHAME the WISE; GOD CHOSE the WEAK THINGS of the WORLD to SHAME the STRONG. GOD CHOSE the LOWLY THINGS of this WORLD and the DESPISED THINGS- and the THINGS that ARE NOT- to NULLIFY the THINGS that ARE, so that no one may BOOST BEFORE GOD. It is BECAUSE of GOD that YOU are in CHRIST JESUS, WHO HAS BECOME FOR US WISDOM FROM GOD- that is, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOLINESS and REDEMPTION. THEREFORE, as it is WRITTEN: "LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE LORD."
Monday, October 21, 2013
PROVERBS 2:1-3:35 MORAL BENEFITS OF WISDOM
WHEN I READ PROVERBS THE WORD WISDOM IS CHRIST AND UNDERSTANDING IS THE HOLY SPIRIT. THEY BOTH INSTRUCT ME.
My SON, if you ACCEPT my WORDS and store up my COMMANDS within you, turning your EAR to WISDOM and APPLYING your HEART to UNDERSTANDING, AND IF YOU CALL ALOUD FOR UNDERSTANDING, and if you call out for INSIGHT and cry aloud for UNDERSTANDING, and if you look for it as for silver and SEARCH for it as for hidden treasure, then you will UNDERSTAND the FEAR of the LORD and find the KNOWLEDGE of GOD. For the LORD gives WISDOM, and from GOD'S MOUTH COME KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING. He holds VICTORY in store for the UPRIGHT, HE is a SHEILD TO THOSE WHOSE WALK IS BLAMELESS, for HE GUARDS the COURSE of the JUST and PROTECTS the WAY of HIS FAITHFUL ONES. Then you will UNDERSTAND what is RIGHT and JUST and FAIR-EVERY GOOD PATH. For WISDOM will ENTER your HEART, and KNOWLEDGE will be PLEASANT to your SOUL. DISCRETION will PROTECT you, and UNDERSTANDING will GUARD you.
WISDOM will SAVE you from the ways of WICKED MEN, from men whose WORDS are PERVERSE, who leave the STRAIGHT PATHS to walk in DARK WAYS, who DELIGHT in doing WRONG and REJOICE in the PERVERSENESS of EVIL, whose PATHS are CROOKED and who are DEVIOUS in their ways. It will SAVE you also from the ADULTERESS, from the wayward wife with her SEDUCTIVE WORDS, who has left the PARTNER of her youth and IGNORED the COVENANT she made before GOD. For her house leads down to DEATH and her PATHS to the spirits of the DEAD. None who go to her RETURN or ATTAIN the PATHS of LIFE. Thus you will walk in the ways of GOOD MEN and keep to the PATHS of the RIGHTEOUS. For the UPRIGHT will LIVE in the LAND, and the BLAMELESS will REMAIN in it; but the WICKED will be CUT OFF from the LAND, and the UNFAITHFUL will be TORN from it.
FUTHER BENEFITS OF WISDOM:
MY SON, do not forget my teaching, but keep my COMMANDS in your HEART, for they will PROLONG your LIFE many years and bring you PROSPERITY. Let LOVE and FAITHFULNESS never leave you; BIND them around your NECK, WRITE them on the TABLET of your HEART. Then you will WIN FAVOR and GOOD NAME in the SIGHT of GOD and MAN. TRUST in the LORD with all your HEART and LEAN not on your own UNDERSTANDING; in all your ways ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, and HE will make your PATHS STRAIGHT. Do not be WISE in your own eyes; FEAR the LORD and SHUN EVIL. This will bring HEALTH to your body and NOURISHMENT to your bones. HONOR the LORD with your WEALTH, with the FIRSTFRUITS of all your crops; then your barns will be FILLED to OVERFLOWING, and your vats will BRIM OVER with new wine.
MY SON, do not DESPISE the LORD'S DISCIPLINE and do not RESENT HIS REBUKE, because the LORD DISCIPLINES those HE LOVES, as a FATHER the SON HE DELIGHTS IN. BLESSED is the man who finds WISDOM, the man who GAINS UNDERSTANDING, for SHE is more PROFITABLE than silver and YIELDS better RETURNS than gold. She is more PRECIOUS than rubies; nothing you DESIRE can COMPARE with HER. LONG LIFE is in HER right hand; in HER left hand are RICHES and HONER. Her ways are PLEASANT ways, and all HER PATHS are PEACE. SHE is a TREE OF LIFE to those who EMBRACE HER; those who LAY HOLD of HER will be BLESSED. By WISDOM the LORD laid the EARTH'S FOUNDATIONS, by UNDERSTANDING HE set the HEAVENS in place; by HIS KNOWLEDGE the DEEPS were DIVIDED, and the CLOUDS let drop the DEW.
MY SON, PRESERVE SOUND JUDGMENT and DISCERNMENT, do not let them out of your SIGHT; they will be LIFE for you, an ORNAMENT to GRACE your neck. Then you will go on your way in SAFETY, and your FOOT will not STUMBLE; when you lie down, you will not be AFRAID; when you lie down, your SLEEP will be SWEET. Have no FEAR of SUDDEN DISASTER or of the RUIN that OVERTAKES the WICKED, for the LORD will be your CONFIDENCE and will keep your FOOT from being SNARED. Do not WITHHOLD GOOD from those who DESERVE it, when it is in your POWER to ACT. Do not say to your NEIGHBOR, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"- when you now have it with you. Do not PLOT HARM against your NEIGHBOR, who LIVES TRUSTFULLY near you. Do not ACCUSE a man for no REASON- when he has done you no HARM. Do not ENVY a VIOLENT man or CHOOSE any of his ways, for the LORD DETESTS a PERVERSE man but takes the UPRIGHT into HIS CONFIDENCE. The LORD'S CURSE is on the house of the WICKED, but the BLESSES the home of the RIGHTEOUS. He MOCKS PROUD MOCKERS but GIVES GRACE to the HUMBLE. The WISE INHERIT HONER, but FOOLS HE holds up to SHAME. AMEN!
My SON, if you ACCEPT my WORDS and store up my COMMANDS within you, turning your EAR to WISDOM and APPLYING your HEART to UNDERSTANDING, AND IF YOU CALL ALOUD FOR UNDERSTANDING, and if you call out for INSIGHT and cry aloud for UNDERSTANDING, and if you look for it as for silver and SEARCH for it as for hidden treasure, then you will UNDERSTAND the FEAR of the LORD and find the KNOWLEDGE of GOD. For the LORD gives WISDOM, and from GOD'S MOUTH COME KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING. He holds VICTORY in store for the UPRIGHT, HE is a SHEILD TO THOSE WHOSE WALK IS BLAMELESS, for HE GUARDS the COURSE of the JUST and PROTECTS the WAY of HIS FAITHFUL ONES. Then you will UNDERSTAND what is RIGHT and JUST and FAIR-EVERY GOOD PATH. For WISDOM will ENTER your HEART, and KNOWLEDGE will be PLEASANT to your SOUL. DISCRETION will PROTECT you, and UNDERSTANDING will GUARD you.
WISDOM will SAVE you from the ways of WICKED MEN, from men whose WORDS are PERVERSE, who leave the STRAIGHT PATHS to walk in DARK WAYS, who DELIGHT in doing WRONG and REJOICE in the PERVERSENESS of EVIL, whose PATHS are CROOKED and who are DEVIOUS in their ways. It will SAVE you also from the ADULTERESS, from the wayward wife with her SEDUCTIVE WORDS, who has left the PARTNER of her youth and IGNORED the COVENANT she made before GOD. For her house leads down to DEATH and her PATHS to the spirits of the DEAD. None who go to her RETURN or ATTAIN the PATHS of LIFE. Thus you will walk in the ways of GOOD MEN and keep to the PATHS of the RIGHTEOUS. For the UPRIGHT will LIVE in the LAND, and the BLAMELESS will REMAIN in it; but the WICKED will be CUT OFF from the LAND, and the UNFAITHFUL will be TORN from it.
FUTHER BENEFITS OF WISDOM:
MY SON, do not forget my teaching, but keep my COMMANDS in your HEART, for they will PROLONG your LIFE many years and bring you PROSPERITY. Let LOVE and FAITHFULNESS never leave you; BIND them around your NECK, WRITE them on the TABLET of your HEART. Then you will WIN FAVOR and GOOD NAME in the SIGHT of GOD and MAN. TRUST in the LORD with all your HEART and LEAN not on your own UNDERSTANDING; in all your ways ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, and HE will make your PATHS STRAIGHT. Do not be WISE in your own eyes; FEAR the LORD and SHUN EVIL. This will bring HEALTH to your body and NOURISHMENT to your bones. HONOR the LORD with your WEALTH, with the FIRSTFRUITS of all your crops; then your barns will be FILLED to OVERFLOWING, and your vats will BRIM OVER with new wine.
MY SON, do not DESPISE the LORD'S DISCIPLINE and do not RESENT HIS REBUKE, because the LORD DISCIPLINES those HE LOVES, as a FATHER the SON HE DELIGHTS IN. BLESSED is the man who finds WISDOM, the man who GAINS UNDERSTANDING, for SHE is more PROFITABLE than silver and YIELDS better RETURNS than gold. She is more PRECIOUS than rubies; nothing you DESIRE can COMPARE with HER. LONG LIFE is in HER right hand; in HER left hand are RICHES and HONER. Her ways are PLEASANT ways, and all HER PATHS are PEACE. SHE is a TREE OF LIFE to those who EMBRACE HER; those who LAY HOLD of HER will be BLESSED. By WISDOM the LORD laid the EARTH'S FOUNDATIONS, by UNDERSTANDING HE set the HEAVENS in place; by HIS KNOWLEDGE the DEEPS were DIVIDED, and the CLOUDS let drop the DEW.
MY SON, PRESERVE SOUND JUDGMENT and DISCERNMENT, do not let them out of your SIGHT; they will be LIFE for you, an ORNAMENT to GRACE your neck. Then you will go on your way in SAFETY, and your FOOT will not STUMBLE; when you lie down, you will not be AFRAID; when you lie down, your SLEEP will be SWEET. Have no FEAR of SUDDEN DISASTER or of the RUIN that OVERTAKES the WICKED, for the LORD will be your CONFIDENCE and will keep your FOOT from being SNARED. Do not WITHHOLD GOOD from those who DESERVE it, when it is in your POWER to ACT. Do not say to your NEIGHBOR, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"- when you now have it with you. Do not PLOT HARM against your NEIGHBOR, who LIVES TRUSTFULLY near you. Do not ACCUSE a man for no REASON- when he has done you no HARM. Do not ENVY a VIOLENT man or CHOOSE any of his ways, for the LORD DETESTS a PERVERSE man but takes the UPRIGHT into HIS CONFIDENCE. The LORD'S CURSE is on the house of the WICKED, but the BLESSES the home of the RIGHTEOUS. He MOCKS PROUD MOCKERS but GIVES GRACE to the HUMBLE. The WISE INHERIT HONER, but FOOLS HE holds up to SHAME. AMEN!
PSALM 19 GOD'S GLORY REVEALED IN HIS CREATION AND HIS WORD
The HEAVENS DECLARE the GLORY of GOD; the SKIES PROCLAIM the WORK of GOD'S HANDS. Day after day they POUR FORTH SPEECH; night after night they DISPLAY KNOWLEDGE. There is no SPEECH or LANGUAGE where their VOICE is not HEARD. Their VOICE goes out into ALL the EARTH, their WORDS to the ends of the WORLD. In the HEAVENS GOD has PITCHED a TENT for the SUN, which is like a BRIDEGROOM coming forth from HIS PAVILION, like a CHAMPION REJOICING to RUN HIS COURSE. It rises at end one of the HEAVENS and makes its CIRCUIT to the other; nothing is HIDDEN from its HEAT.
The LAW of the LORD is PERFECT, REVIVING the SOUL. The STATUTES of the LORD are TRUSTWORTHY, making WISE the SIMPLE. The PRECEPTS of the LORD are RIGHT, giving JOY to the HEART. The COMMANDS of the LORD are RADIANT, giving LIGHT to the EYES. The FEAR of the LORD is PURE, ENDURING FOREVER. The ORDINANCES of the LORD are SURE and ALTOGETHER RIGHTEOUS. They are more PRECIOUS than GOLD; than much PURE GOLD; they are sweeter than HONEY, than HONEY from the comb. By them is your SERVANT (ME) WARNED; in keeping them there is GREAT REWARD. Who can DISCERN HIS ERRORS? Forgive MY HIDDEN FAULTS. Keep your SERVANT also from WILLFUL SINS (DEBAUCHERY); may they not RULE OVER ME. Then will I be BLAMELESS, INNOCENT of GREAT TRANSGRESSION.
May the WORDS of MY MOUTH and the MEDITATION of MY HEART be PLEASING in your SIGHT, O LORD, MY ROCK and MY REDEEMER. AMEN!
The LAW of the LORD is PERFECT, REVIVING the SOUL. The STATUTES of the LORD are TRUSTWORTHY, making WISE the SIMPLE. The PRECEPTS of the LORD are RIGHT, giving JOY to the HEART. The COMMANDS of the LORD are RADIANT, giving LIGHT to the EYES. The FEAR of the LORD is PURE, ENDURING FOREVER. The ORDINANCES of the LORD are SURE and ALTOGETHER RIGHTEOUS. They are more PRECIOUS than GOLD; than much PURE GOLD; they are sweeter than HONEY, than HONEY from the comb. By them is your SERVANT (ME) WARNED; in keeping them there is GREAT REWARD. Who can DISCERN HIS ERRORS? Forgive MY HIDDEN FAULTS. Keep your SERVANT also from WILLFUL SINS (DEBAUCHERY); may they not RULE OVER ME. Then will I be BLAMELESS, INNOCENT of GREAT TRANSGRESSION.
May the WORDS of MY MOUTH and the MEDITATION of MY HEART be PLEASING in your SIGHT, O LORD, MY ROCK and MY REDEEMER. AMEN!
2PETER 1: 1-10 MAKING MY CALLING AND ELECTION SURE
GRACE AND PEACE BE YOURS IN ABUNDANCE THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF JESUS OUR LORD:
His DIVINE POWER (GODS WORD) has GIVEN ME EVERTHING I NEED for LIFE and GODLINESS through MY knowledge of GOD who CALLED ME by HIS own GLORY and GOODNESS. Through THESE, GOD has GIVEN ME HIS VERY GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES, so that through them I MAY PARTICIPATE in the DIVINE NATURE
( SPIRITUAL NATURE) and ESCAPE the CORRUPTION in the WORLD CAUSED by EVIL DESIRES (SINS).
For this very REASON,(I) make every EFFORT to add to MY FAITH GOODNESS; and to GOODNESS, KNOWLEDGE; and to KNOWLEDGE, (INNER) SELFCONTROL; and to (INNER) SELFCONTROL, PERSEVERANCE; and to PERSEVERANCE, GODLINESS; and to GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS; and to BROTHERLY KINDNESS, LOVE. For if I POSSESS THESE QUALITIES in INCREASING MEASURE, they will KEEP ME from being INEFFECTIVE and UNPRODUCTIVE in MY KNOWLEDGE of MY LORD JESUS CHRIST. But if ANYONE does not have them, HE is NEARSIGHTED and BLIND, and has FORGOTTEN that HE has been CLEANSED from HIS past SINS. AMEN!
His DIVINE POWER (GODS WORD) has GIVEN ME EVERTHING I NEED for LIFE and GODLINESS through MY knowledge of GOD who CALLED ME by HIS own GLORY and GOODNESS. Through THESE, GOD has GIVEN ME HIS VERY GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES, so that through them I MAY PARTICIPATE in the DIVINE NATURE
( SPIRITUAL NATURE) and ESCAPE the CORRUPTION in the WORLD CAUSED by EVIL DESIRES (SINS).
For this very REASON,(I) make every EFFORT to add to MY FAITH GOODNESS; and to GOODNESS, KNOWLEDGE; and to KNOWLEDGE, (INNER) SELFCONTROL; and to (INNER) SELFCONTROL, PERSEVERANCE; and to PERSEVERANCE, GODLINESS; and to GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS; and to BROTHERLY KINDNESS, LOVE. For if I POSSESS THESE QUALITIES in INCREASING MEASURE, they will KEEP ME from being INEFFECTIVE and UNPRODUCTIVE in MY KNOWLEDGE of MY LORD JESUS CHRIST. But if ANYONE does not have them, HE is NEARSIGHTED and BLIND, and has FORGOTTEN that HE has been CLEANSED from HIS past SINS. AMEN!
Friday, October 18, 2013
1 PETER 3:18-4:11 GOD'S PLAN FOR A RELATIONSHIP WITH ME THROUGH CHRIST
For CHRIST DIED for SINS ONCE for ALL, the RIGHTEOUS for the UNRIGHTEOUS, to BRING YOU to GOD. CHRIST was PUT to DEATH IN the BODY but MADE ALIVE BY the SPIRIT, THROUGH WHOM also CHRIST WENT and PREACHED to the spirits IN PRISON WHO DISOBEYED LONG AGO WHEN GOD WAITED PATIENTLY in the DAYS of NOAH while the ARK was being BUILT. IN it ONLY A FEW PEOPLE, EIGHT IN ALL, WERE SAVED THROUGH WATER, and this WATER SYMBOLIZES BAPTISM that NOW SAVES YOU ALSO-NOT the REMOVAL of DIRT from the BODY but the PLEDGE of a GOOD CONSCIENCE TOWARD GOD. It SAVES YOU BY the RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST, WHO HAS GONE INTO HEAVEN and is at GOD'S RIGHT HAND- WITH ANGELS AUTHORITIES and POWERS in SUBMISSION to CHRIST.
LIVE FOR GOD:
THERFORE, SINCE CHRIST SUFFERED IN HIS BODY, ARM YOURSELVES ALSO WITH the SAME ATTITUDE, BECAUSE HE WHO HAS SUFFERED IN HIS BODY IS DONE WITH SIN. As a RESULT, HE DOES NOT LIVE the REST of HIS EARTHLY LIFE for EVIL HUMAN DESIRES, but RATHER for the WILL OF GOD. For YOU HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME in the PAST DOING WHAT PAGENS CHOOSE to DO-LIVING in DEBAUCHERY, LUST, DRUNKENESS, ORGIES, CAROUSING and DETESTABLE IDOLATRY. THEY THINK IT STRANGE that YOU do not PLUNGE with THEM into the SAME FLOOD of DISSIPATION, and THEY HEAP ABUSE ON YOU. BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO GIVE ACCOUNT TO CHRIST WHO IS READY TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. For THIS is the REASON the GOSPEL WAS PREACHED EVEN TO THOSE WHO ARE NOW DEAD, SO THAT THEY MIGHT BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO MEN IN REGARD TO THE BODY, BUT LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD IN REGARD TO THE spirit.
The END of ALL THINGS IS NEAR. THEREFORE BE CLEAR MINDED and (INNER) SELF CONTROLLED so that YOU CAN PRAY. ABOVE ALL, LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY, BECAUSE LOVE COVERS OVER A MULTITUDE of SINS. OFFER HOSPITALITY to ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT GRUMBLING. EACH ONE SHOULD USE WHATEVER GIFT HE HAS RECIEVED TO SERVE OTHERS, FAITHFULLY ADMINISTERING GOD'S GRACE in its VARIOUS FORMS. If ANYONE SPEAKS, HE SHOULD do it as ONE SPEAKING the VERY WORDS OF GOD. If ANYONE SERVES, HE SHOULD do it with the STRENGH GOD PROVIDES, so that in ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE PRAISED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. To GOD BE THE GLORY and the POWER FOR EVER and EVER. AMEN!
LIVE FOR GOD:
THERFORE, SINCE CHRIST SUFFERED IN HIS BODY, ARM YOURSELVES ALSO WITH the SAME ATTITUDE, BECAUSE HE WHO HAS SUFFERED IN HIS BODY IS DONE WITH SIN. As a RESULT, HE DOES NOT LIVE the REST of HIS EARTHLY LIFE for EVIL HUMAN DESIRES, but RATHER for the WILL OF GOD. For YOU HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME in the PAST DOING WHAT PAGENS CHOOSE to DO-LIVING in DEBAUCHERY, LUST, DRUNKENESS, ORGIES, CAROUSING and DETESTABLE IDOLATRY. THEY THINK IT STRANGE that YOU do not PLUNGE with THEM into the SAME FLOOD of DISSIPATION, and THEY HEAP ABUSE ON YOU. BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO GIVE ACCOUNT TO CHRIST WHO IS READY TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. For THIS is the REASON the GOSPEL WAS PREACHED EVEN TO THOSE WHO ARE NOW DEAD, SO THAT THEY MIGHT BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO MEN IN REGARD TO THE BODY, BUT LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD IN REGARD TO THE spirit.
The END of ALL THINGS IS NEAR. THEREFORE BE CLEAR MINDED and (INNER) SELF CONTROLLED so that YOU CAN PRAY. ABOVE ALL, LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY, BECAUSE LOVE COVERS OVER A MULTITUDE of SINS. OFFER HOSPITALITY to ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT GRUMBLING. EACH ONE SHOULD USE WHATEVER GIFT HE HAS RECIEVED TO SERVE OTHERS, FAITHFULLY ADMINISTERING GOD'S GRACE in its VARIOUS FORMS. If ANYONE SPEAKS, HE SHOULD do it as ONE SPEAKING the VERY WORDS OF GOD. If ANYONE SERVES, HE SHOULD do it with the STRENGH GOD PROVIDES, so that in ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE PRAISED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. To GOD BE THE GLORY and the POWER FOR EVER and EVER. AMEN!
1PETER 2:24-25 CHRIST BORE MY SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE TREE
CHRIST HIMSELF BORE MY SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE TREE, so that I MIGHT DIE to SINS and LIVE for RIGHTEOUSNESS (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD); BY CHRIST WOUNDS I HAVE BEEN HEALED. For I WAS like A SHEEP going ASTRAY, but now I have RETURNED to the SHEPHERD and OVERSEER of MY SOUL (JESUS CHRIST IS MY SHEPHERD). AMEN!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
JAMES 4:7-10 SUBMITTING YOUR INNERSELF TO GOD
SUBMIT TO YOUR INNERSELF, (SPIRITUAL NATURE) then SUBMIT YOUR INNERSELF TO GOD (THAT GOD MAY FILL YOU WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST). RESIST the DEVIL, and HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU. COME NEAR TO GOD and GOD WILL COME NEAR TO YOU. WASH YOUR HANDS, YOU SINNERS, (WASHED IN CHRIST'S WORD) and PURIFY YOUR HEARTS, YOU DOUBLE-MINDED (BE SINGLE-MINDED IN CHRIST). GRIEVE, MOURN and WAIL (THAT YOUR OLD NATURE BE GONE). CHANGE YOUR LAUGHTER TO MOURNING and YOUR JOY TO GLOOM. (WHAT USE TO MAKE YOU LAUGH AND GIVE YOU JOY, NOW MAKE YOU MOURN) HUMBLE YOURSELF- (AWARE OF WHO AND WHAT YOU ARE, MAKING A SINCERE ATTEMPT TO BECOME WHAT YOU COULD BE)- BEFORE THE LORD, and GOD WILL LIFT YOU UP. AMEN!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
HEBREWS 11:1-7 BY FAITH
NOW FAITH is BEING SURE of WHAT WE HOPE FOR and CERTAIN of WHAT WE DO NOT SEE (CHRIST IS REAL, GOD's WORD IS TRUE). THIS is WHAT the ANCIENTS WERE COMMENDED for. BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND that the UNIVERSE was FORMED at GOD'S COMMAND, so that WHAT is SEEN WAS NOT MADE OUT of WHAT WAS VISIBLE.
BY FAITH ABEL OFFERD GOD a BETTER SACRIFICE (HE WORSHIP GOD) than CAIN DID. BY FAITH HE WAS COMMENDED as a RIGHTEOUS MAN, (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD) WHEN GOD SPOKE WELL OF HIS OFFERINGS. And BY FAITH HE STILL SPEAKS, EVEN THOUGH HE is DEAD.
BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TAKEN FROM THIS LIFE, SO THAT HE DID NOT EXPERIENCE DEATH; HE COULD NOT BE FOUND, BECAUSE GOD HAD TAKEN HIM AWAY. For BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN, HE WAS COMMENDED AS ONE WHO PLEASED GOD.(HE WALKED WITH GOD)
And WITHOUT FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE GOD, BECAUSE ANYONE WHO COMES TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT GOD EXIST and THAT GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK GOD.
BY FAITH NOAH, WHEN WARNED ABOUT THINGS NOT YET SEEN, IN HOLY FEAR- (WORK WITH GOD)- BUILT AN ARK TO SAVE HIS FAMILY. BY HIS FAITH HE CONDEMMNED the WORLD and BECAME HEIR of the RIGHTEOUSNESS- (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD) - that COMES BY FAITH. AMEM!
BY FAITH ABEL OFFERD GOD a BETTER SACRIFICE (HE WORSHIP GOD) than CAIN DID. BY FAITH HE WAS COMMENDED as a RIGHTEOUS MAN, (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD) WHEN GOD SPOKE WELL OF HIS OFFERINGS. And BY FAITH HE STILL SPEAKS, EVEN THOUGH HE is DEAD.
BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TAKEN FROM THIS LIFE, SO THAT HE DID NOT EXPERIENCE DEATH; HE COULD NOT BE FOUND, BECAUSE GOD HAD TAKEN HIM AWAY. For BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN, HE WAS COMMENDED AS ONE WHO PLEASED GOD.(HE WALKED WITH GOD)
And WITHOUT FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE GOD, BECAUSE ANYONE WHO COMES TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT GOD EXIST and THAT GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK GOD.
BY FAITH NOAH, WHEN WARNED ABOUT THINGS NOT YET SEEN, IN HOLY FEAR- (WORK WITH GOD)- BUILT AN ARK TO SAVE HIS FAMILY. BY HIS FAITH HE CONDEMMNED the WORLD and BECAME HEIR of the RIGHTEOUSNESS- (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD) - that COMES BY FAITH. AMEM!
Monday, October 14, 2013
HEBREWS 4:15-16 CHRIST IS OUR HIGH PRIEST
For WE do not have a HIGH PRIEST (CHRIST) who is unable to SYMPATHIZE with OUR WEAKNESSES,(SINS) but WE have ONE who has been TEMPTED in EVERY WAY (Matt.4:1-11), just as WE are- yet was WITHOUT SIN. Let US then APPROACH the THRONE of GRACE with CONFIDENCE, (no doubt, fear, or unbelief) so that WE may RECEIVE MERCY and find GRACE (GOD'S WILLINGNESS) To HELP US in OUR TIME of NEED.(WE NEED CHRIST'S HELP TO RESIST SIN) AMEN!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED
All SCRIPTURE is GOD-BREATHED(filled with the HOLY SPIRIT) and is USEFUL for TEACHING, REBUKING, CORRECTING and TRAINING in RIGHTEOUSNESS, (right standing with GOD) so that the MAN of GOD may be THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED for EVERY GOOD WORK. GOD'S WORDS are my TOOLS AMEN!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
1 TIMOTHY 4:1-16 INSTRUCTIONS TO TIMOTHY (FOR ME)
God I BELIEVE and RECIEVE YOUR INSTRUCTIONS :
The SPIRIT CLEARLY says that in later times some will abandon the FAITH and follow DECEIVING spirits and things taught by DEMONS. Such teaching come through HYPOCRITICAL LIARS, whose CONSCIENCES have been seared as with a hot iron. (they can't tell right from wrong) They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which GOD CREATED to be RECEIVED with THANKSGIVING by those who BELIEVE and KNOW the TRUTH. For EVERYTHING GOD CREATED IS GOOD, and NOTHING is to be REJECTED if it is RECIEVED with THANKSGIVING, BECAUSE it is CONSECRATED by the WORD of GOD and PRAYER.
If you point these things out to the BROTHERS, you will be a GOOD MINSTER of CHRIST JESUS, brought up in the TRUTHS of the FAITH and of the GOOD TEACHING (from the SCRIPTURES) that you have followed. Have NOTHING to do with GODLESS MYTHS and old wives tales; RATHER TRAIN YOURSELF to be GODLY. For PHYSICAL TRAINING is of some VALUE, but GODLINESS has VALUE for ALL THINGS, HOLDING PROMISE for BOTH the PRESENT LIFE and the LIFE to COME.
This is a TRUSTWORTHY saying that DESERVES FULL ACCEPTANCE (and for this we labor and strive), that WE have put our HOPE in the LIVING GOD who is the SAVIOR of ALL MEN, and ESPECIALLY of those who BELIEVE.
COMMAND and TEACH THESE THINGS (GOD is the SAVIOR of all men). Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an EXAMPLE for the BELIEVERS in SPEECH, in LIFE, in LOVE, in FAITH and in PURITY. Until I come, DEVOTE YOURSELF to the PUBLIC READING of SCRIPTURES, to PREACHING and to TEACHING. Do not NEGLECT your GIFTS,(SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING) which was GIVEN you through a PROPHETIC MESSAGE when the BODY of ELDERS LAID THEIR HANDS on YOU.
Be DILIGENT in these MATTERS; GIVE YOURSELF WHOLLY to THEM, so that EVERYONE may see your PROGRESS. WATCH your LIFE and DOCTRINE CLOSELY. PERSEVERE in THEM, BECAUSE if you do, YOU WILL SAVE BOTH YOURSELF and your HEARERS. AMEN!
The SPIRIT CLEARLY says that in later times some will abandon the FAITH and follow DECEIVING spirits and things taught by DEMONS. Such teaching come through HYPOCRITICAL LIARS, whose CONSCIENCES have been seared as with a hot iron. (they can't tell right from wrong) They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which GOD CREATED to be RECEIVED with THANKSGIVING by those who BELIEVE and KNOW the TRUTH. For EVERYTHING GOD CREATED IS GOOD, and NOTHING is to be REJECTED if it is RECIEVED with THANKSGIVING, BECAUSE it is CONSECRATED by the WORD of GOD and PRAYER.
If you point these things out to the BROTHERS, you will be a GOOD MINSTER of CHRIST JESUS, brought up in the TRUTHS of the FAITH and of the GOOD TEACHING (from the SCRIPTURES) that you have followed. Have NOTHING to do with GODLESS MYTHS and old wives tales; RATHER TRAIN YOURSELF to be GODLY. For PHYSICAL TRAINING is of some VALUE, but GODLINESS has VALUE for ALL THINGS, HOLDING PROMISE for BOTH the PRESENT LIFE and the LIFE to COME.
This is a TRUSTWORTHY saying that DESERVES FULL ACCEPTANCE (and for this we labor and strive), that WE have put our HOPE in the LIVING GOD who is the SAVIOR of ALL MEN, and ESPECIALLY of those who BELIEVE.
COMMAND and TEACH THESE THINGS (GOD is the SAVIOR of all men). Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an EXAMPLE for the BELIEVERS in SPEECH, in LIFE, in LOVE, in FAITH and in PURITY. Until I come, DEVOTE YOURSELF to the PUBLIC READING of SCRIPTURES, to PREACHING and to TEACHING. Do not NEGLECT your GIFTS,(SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING) which was GIVEN you through a PROPHETIC MESSAGE when the BODY of ELDERS LAID THEIR HANDS on YOU.
Be DILIGENT in these MATTERS; GIVE YOURSELF WHOLLY to THEM, so that EVERYONE may see your PROGRESS. WATCH your LIFE and DOCTRINE CLOSELY. PERSEVERE in THEM, BECAUSE if you do, YOU WILL SAVE BOTH YOURSELF and your HEARERS. AMEN!
1 TIMOTHY 1:5 THE COMMAND OF GOD OUR SAVIOR AND CHRIST JESUS OUR HOPE!
The goal of this COMMAND is LOVE, (1 Cor.13:4-13) which comes from a PURE HEART(THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, ATTITUDES,) and a GOOD CONSCIENCE (GOD FORGAVE MY SINS THROUGH CHRIST) and a SINCERE FAITH.(NO DOUBT, FEAR, OR UNBELIEF THAT CHRIST IS REAL) AMEN!
Friday, October 11, 2013
COLOSSIANS 3:1-17 RULES FOR HOLY LIVING
Since, then, you have been raised with CHRIST, set your HEARTS (thought, emotions, attitudes) on things above, where CHRIST is seated at the right hand of GOD. Set your MINDS (logic and reasoning) on things above, not on earthly things. For you DIED, and your LIFE is now hidden with CHRIST in GOD. (Eph 2:6) When CHRIST, who is your LIFE, appears, then you also will appear with CHRIST in GLORY.
Put to DEATH, THEREFORE, whatever belongs to your EARTHLY NATURE: (OUTER MAN) SEXUAL IMMORALITY, IMPURITY, LUST, EVIL DESIRES and GREED, which is IDOLATRY. Because of these, the WRATH of GOD is coming on those who are DISOBEDIENT. You used to WALK in these ways, in the LIFE you once LIVED. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: ANGER, RAGE, MALICE, SLANDER, and FILTHY LANGUAGE from your LIPS. Do not LIE to each other, since you have taken off your OLD SELF (OUTER MAN) with its PRACTICES, and have put on the NEW SELF, (INNER MAN) which is being renewed in KNOWLEDGE in the IMAGE of its CREATOR. (JESUS CHRIST) Here there is no GREEK or JEW, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, SCYTHIAN, slave or free, but CHRIST is ALL, and in ALL.
THEREFORE, as GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, HOLY and DEARLY LOVED, CLOTHE YOURSELVES with COMPASSION, KINDNESS, HUMILITY, GENTLENESS and PATIENCE. BEAR with each other and FORGIVE whatever GRIEVANCES you may against one another. FORGIVE as the LORD FORGAVE you. And over all these VIRTUES put on LOVE, which BINDS them all together in PERFECT UNITY.
Let the PEACE of CHRIST (Eph 2:14-15) RULE in your HEARTS,(INNER MAN) since as MEMBERS of ONE BODY you were CALLED to PEACE. And be THANKFUL. Let the WORD of CHRIST DWELL in you RICHLY as you TEACH and ADMONISH one another with all WISDOM, and as you SING PSALMS, HYMNS and SPIRITUAL SONGS with GRATITUDE in your HEARTS (INNER MAN) to GOD. And whatever you DO, weather in WORD or DEED, DO it all in the name of the LORD JESUS, GIVING THANKS to GOD the FATHER through CHRIST. AMEN!
Put to DEATH, THEREFORE, whatever belongs to your EARTHLY NATURE: (OUTER MAN) SEXUAL IMMORALITY, IMPURITY, LUST, EVIL DESIRES and GREED, which is IDOLATRY. Because of these, the WRATH of GOD is coming on those who are DISOBEDIENT. You used to WALK in these ways, in the LIFE you once LIVED. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: ANGER, RAGE, MALICE, SLANDER, and FILTHY LANGUAGE from your LIPS. Do not LIE to each other, since you have taken off your OLD SELF (OUTER MAN) with its PRACTICES, and have put on the NEW SELF, (INNER MAN) which is being renewed in KNOWLEDGE in the IMAGE of its CREATOR. (JESUS CHRIST) Here there is no GREEK or JEW, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, SCYTHIAN, slave or free, but CHRIST is ALL, and in ALL.
THEREFORE, as GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, HOLY and DEARLY LOVED, CLOTHE YOURSELVES with COMPASSION, KINDNESS, HUMILITY, GENTLENESS and PATIENCE. BEAR with each other and FORGIVE whatever GRIEVANCES you may against one another. FORGIVE as the LORD FORGAVE you. And over all these VIRTUES put on LOVE, which BINDS them all together in PERFECT UNITY.
Let the PEACE of CHRIST (Eph 2:14-15) RULE in your HEARTS,(INNER MAN) since as MEMBERS of ONE BODY you were CALLED to PEACE. And be THANKFUL. Let the WORD of CHRIST DWELL in you RICHLY as you TEACH and ADMONISH one another with all WISDOM, and as you SING PSALMS, HYMNS and SPIRITUAL SONGS with GRATITUDE in your HEARTS (INNER MAN) to GOD. And whatever you DO, weather in WORD or DEED, DO it all in the name of the LORD JESUS, GIVING THANKS to GOD the FATHER through CHRIST. AMEN!
Monday, October 7, 2013
PHILIPPIANS 4:19 GOD MEETS OUR NEEDS IN CHRIST JESUS
GOD IS A GOD OF PRINCPLE, NOT PEOPLE. GOD HAS PROVIDED FOR ALL OUR NEEDS THROUGH THE WRITTEN WORD OF CHRIST. GOD'S WORD SAYS I WILL MEET ALL YOUR NEEDS ACCORDING TO GOD'S GLORIOUS RICHES IN CHRIST JESUS. AMEN!
PHILIPPIANS 3:8b-9 THAT I MAY GAIN CHRIST
That I may gain CHRIST and be found in CHRIST, not having a RIGHTEOUSNESS of my own that comes from the LAW, but that which is through FAITH in CHRIST- the RIGHTEOUSNESS that comes from GOD and is by FAITH. I am RIGHTEOUS in CHRIST through GOD. AMEN!
Thursday, October 3, 2013
ROMANS 13:8-14 LOVE FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR
LET NO DEBT REMAIN OUTSTANDING, EXCEPT THE CONTINUING DEBT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, FOR HE WHO LOVES HIS FELLOWMAN HAS FULFILLED THE LAW. THE COMMANDMENTS, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "DO NOT MURDER," "DO NOT STEAL," "DO NOT COVET," AND WHATEVER OTHER COMMANDMENTS THERE MAY BE, ARE SUMMED UP IN THIS ONE RULE: "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF" (YOU MUST LOVE YOURSELF). LOVE DOES NO HARM TO ITS NEIGHBOR. THERFORE LOVE IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW.
AND DO THIS, UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT TIME. THE HOUR HAS COME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER, BECAUSE OUR SALVATION IS NEARER NOW THAN WE FIRST BELIVED. THE NIGHT IS NEARLY OVER; THE DAY IS ALMOST HERE. SO LET US PUT ASIDE THE DEEDS OF DARKNESS, (SINS) AND PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT (OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S WORD). LET US BEHAVE DECENTLY, AS IN THE DAYTIME, NOT IN ORGIES AND DRUNKENNESS, NOT IN SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND DEBAUCHERY, NOT IN DISSENSION AND JELOUSY. RATHER, CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,(EPH 6:13-18) AND DO NOT THINK ABOUT HOW TO GRATIFY THE DESIRES OF THE SINFUL NATURE (THE OUTTER MAN). AMEN!
AND DO THIS, UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT TIME. THE HOUR HAS COME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER, BECAUSE OUR SALVATION IS NEARER NOW THAN WE FIRST BELIVED. THE NIGHT IS NEARLY OVER; THE DAY IS ALMOST HERE. SO LET US PUT ASIDE THE DEEDS OF DARKNESS, (SINS) AND PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT (OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S WORD). LET US BEHAVE DECENTLY, AS IN THE DAYTIME, NOT IN ORGIES AND DRUNKENNESS, NOT IN SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND DEBAUCHERY, NOT IN DISSENSION AND JELOUSY. RATHER, CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,(EPH 6:13-18) AND DO NOT THINK ABOUT HOW TO GRATIFY THE DESIRES OF THE SINFUL NATURE (THE OUTTER MAN). AMEN!
ROMANS 12:9-21 HOW I LIVE LOVE
LOVE MUST BE SINCERE. HATE WHAT IS EVIL; CLING TO WHAT IS GOOD (THERE IS ONLY GOOD OR EVIL). BE DEVOTED TO ONE ANTHOR IN BROTHERLY LOVE. HONOR ONE ANOTHER ABOVE YOURSELVES. NEVER BE LACKING IN ZEAL, BUT KEEP YOUR SPIRITUAL FERVOR, SERVING THE LORD. BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION, FAITHFUL IN PRAYER. SHARE WITH GOD'S PEOPLE WHO ARE IN NEED. PRATICE HOSPITALITY.(1 PET 4:9-10)
BLESS THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU; BLESS AND DO NOT CURSE. REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE; MOURN WITH THOSE WHO MOURN. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER. DO NOT BE PROUD, BUT BE WILLING TO ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE OF LOW POSITION. DO NOT BE CONCEITED.
DO NOT REPAY ANYONE EVIL FOR EVIL. BE CAREFUL TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF EVERBODY. IF IT IS POSSIBLE, AS FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU, LIVE AT PEACE WITH EVERYONE. DO NOT TAKE REVENGE, MY FRIENDS, BUT LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD'S WRATH, FOR IT IS WRITTEN: "IT IS MINE TO AVENGE; I WILL REPAY," SAYS THE LORD. ON THE CONTRARY: "IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO DRINK. IN DOING THIS, YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."
DO NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. AMEN!
BLESS THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU; BLESS AND DO NOT CURSE. REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE; MOURN WITH THOSE WHO MOURN. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER. DO NOT BE PROUD, BUT BE WILLING TO ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE OF LOW POSITION. DO NOT BE CONCEITED.
DO NOT REPAY ANYONE EVIL FOR EVIL. BE CAREFUL TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF EVERBODY. IF IT IS POSSIBLE, AS FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU, LIVE AT PEACE WITH EVERYONE. DO NOT TAKE REVENGE, MY FRIENDS, BUT LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD'S WRATH, FOR IT IS WRITTEN: "IT IS MINE TO AVENGE; I WILL REPAY," SAYS THE LORD. ON THE CONTRARY: "IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO DRINK. IN DOING THIS, YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."
DO NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. AMEN!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
ROMANS 10:17 FAITH COMES FROM HEARING THE MESSAGE
Consequently, FAITH comes from HEARING the MESSAGE, and the MESSAGE is HEARD through the WORD of CHRIST JESUS. So when I HEAR or READ the WORD I LISTEN for the SPIRIT to understand the MESSAGE. As I repeat this process daily MY FAITH INCREASES and MY RELATIONSHIP with GOD GROWS! AMEN!
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
ROMANS 7:21-8:17 LIFE THROUGH THE SPIRIT
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being (MY spirit) I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of SIN at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? THANKS BE TO GOD- through JESUS CHRIST our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) a slave to the law of SIN. THEREFORE, there is no CODEMNATION for those who are in CHRIST JESUS, because through CHRIST JESUS the law of the SPIRIT OF LIFE (THE HOLY SPIRIT) set me free from the law of SIN and DEATH. For what the LAW WAS POWERLESS to do in that it was WEAKEN by the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH), GOD did by sending his own SON (JESUS) in the likeness of SINFUL MAN (THE FLESH) to be a SIN OFFERING. And so GOD CONDEMED SIN in SINFUL MAN (THE FLESH), in order that the RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENTS of the law might fully met in us, who do not LIVE according to the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) but according to the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT).
Those who LIVE according to the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) have their MINDS set on what that nature DESIRES (Gal.3:19-21); but those who LIVE in accordance with the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) have their MINDS set on what the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) DESIRES (Gal.3:22-23). The MIND of SINFUL MAN (FLESH) is DEATH, but the MIND CONTROLLED by the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) is LIFE and PEACE; the SINFUL MIND(the MIND set on the FLESH) is HOSTILE to GOD. It does not SUBMIT to GOD'S LAW, nor can it do so. Those CONTROLLED by the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) cannot please GOD.
You however are CONTROLLED not by the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) but by the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT), if the SPIRIT OF GOD (THE HOLY SPIRIT) LIVES in you. And if anyone does not have the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he does not belong to CHRIST JESUS. But if CHRIST JESUS is in you, your BODY (THE FLESH) is DEAD because of SIN, yet your spirit (THE INNER MAN) is alive because of RIGHTEOUSNESS (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD). And if the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) of GOD who RAISED JESUS CHRIST from the DEAD is LIVING in you, GOD who RAISED JESUS CHRIST from the DEAD will also give LIFE to your MORTAL BODIES (THE FLESH) THROUGH GOD's SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT), WHO LIVES IN YOU!
THEREFORE, BROTHERS, we have an OBLIGATION- but it is not to the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH), to LIVE according to it. For if you LIVE according to the SINFUL NATURE, you will DIE; but if by the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) you put to DEATH the MISDEEDS (SINS) of the BODY (THE FLESH), you will LIVE, because those who are led by the SPIRIT OF GOD (THE HOLY SPIRIT) are SONS of GOD. For you did not RECIEVE a spirit (THE INNER MAN) that makes you a SLAVE again to FEAR, but you RECIEVED the SPIRIT OF SONSHIP (ADOPTION). And by HIM (THE HOLY SPIRIT) WE CRY," ABBA, FATHER". The SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) HIMSELF testifies with OUR spirit (THE INNER MAN) that we are GOD'S CHILDREN. Now if we are CHILDREN, then we are heirs- heirs of GOD and co-heirs with JESUS CHRIST, if indeed we share in HIS (CHRIST) SUFFERINGS (HE SUFFERED for our SINS) in order that we may also share in HIS (CHRIST) GLORY (ETERNAL LIFE). AMEN!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) a slave to the law of SIN. THEREFORE, there is no CODEMNATION for those who are in CHRIST JESUS, because through CHRIST JESUS the law of the SPIRIT OF LIFE (THE HOLY SPIRIT) set me free from the law of SIN and DEATH. For what the LAW WAS POWERLESS to do in that it was WEAKEN by the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH), GOD did by sending his own SON (JESUS) in the likeness of SINFUL MAN (THE FLESH) to be a SIN OFFERING. And so GOD CONDEMED SIN in SINFUL MAN (THE FLESH), in order that the RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENTS of the law might fully met in us, who do not LIVE according to the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) but according to the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT).
Those who LIVE according to the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) have their MINDS set on what that nature DESIRES (Gal.3:19-21); but those who LIVE in accordance with the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) have their MINDS set on what the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) DESIRES (Gal.3:22-23). The MIND of SINFUL MAN (FLESH) is DEATH, but the MIND CONTROLLED by the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) is LIFE and PEACE; the SINFUL MIND(the MIND set on the FLESH) is HOSTILE to GOD. It does not SUBMIT to GOD'S LAW, nor can it do so. Those CONTROLLED by the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) cannot please GOD.
You however are CONTROLLED not by the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH) but by the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT), if the SPIRIT OF GOD (THE HOLY SPIRIT) LIVES in you. And if anyone does not have the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he does not belong to CHRIST JESUS. But if CHRIST JESUS is in you, your BODY (THE FLESH) is DEAD because of SIN, yet your spirit (THE INNER MAN) is alive because of RIGHTEOUSNESS (RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD). And if the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) of GOD who RAISED JESUS CHRIST from the DEAD is LIVING in you, GOD who RAISED JESUS CHRIST from the DEAD will also give LIFE to your MORTAL BODIES (THE FLESH) THROUGH GOD's SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT), WHO LIVES IN YOU!
THEREFORE, BROTHERS, we have an OBLIGATION- but it is not to the SINFUL NATURE (THE FLESH), to LIVE according to it. For if you LIVE according to the SINFUL NATURE, you will DIE; but if by the SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) you put to DEATH the MISDEEDS (SINS) of the BODY (THE FLESH), you will LIVE, because those who are led by the SPIRIT OF GOD (THE HOLY SPIRIT) are SONS of GOD. For you did not RECIEVE a spirit (THE INNER MAN) that makes you a SLAVE again to FEAR, but you RECIEVED the SPIRIT OF SONSHIP (ADOPTION). And by HIM (THE HOLY SPIRIT) WE CRY," ABBA, FATHER". The SPIRIT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) HIMSELF testifies with OUR spirit (THE INNER MAN) that we are GOD'S CHILDREN. Now if we are CHILDREN, then we are heirs- heirs of GOD and co-heirs with JESUS CHRIST, if indeed we share in HIS (CHRIST) SUFFERINGS (HE SUFFERED for our SINS) in order that we may also share in HIS (CHRIST) GLORY (ETERNAL LIFE). AMEN!
Romans 3:21-22 RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH
Now a RIGHTEOUSNESS from God,(right standing with god) apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who BELIEVE! ( I BELIVE, I am RIGHTEOUS in JESUS CHRIST!) AMEN!
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