There is a key connection between the Bible and people. That connection is life. People endeavor to live their life to its fullest and the Bible teaches how to live a full life.
Who is the liaison between people and the Bible as far as living life? The Lord Jesus Christ! Without Him life is only a fleeting existence while with Him is the more abundant life. "...I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Jesus Christ leads man to God, the Heavenly Father. He so declared that he was not only "the way, the truth and the life, [but] no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6.
Once a person comes to the Father, a whole new life begins. He see himself as "a new creation in Christ" as shared in II Corinthians 5:17. How can the believer now experience this new life and have it fully manifested in his life? Here is a suggestion by way of the acronym LIFE:
L - Recognize God's unconditional LOVE. After recognizing it then exercise it. I Corinthians 13:1-8.
I - Be Inspired by who you are in Christ. Think like Christ thought. Philippians 2:5.
F - Feed on the life giving food of God's Word. "Man cannot llive by bread,but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4.
E - Exercise your spiritual muscles. We have 9 manifestations of the spirit. I Corinthians 12::7-11. These include speaking in tongues, tongues with interpretation, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles and gifts of healing. God wants every believer to operate them.
As we live our new life in Christ, let's really tap into God's love, being inspired to think like our Lord and Saviour thought. Let's feed on God's Word and continue to exercise ourselves by doing all of the manifestations of the spirit.
Agape,
Bob
Awe! My thoughts have been most entertaining lately: A mound of vanilla ice cream with fudge cascading all around it. I wish my other senses would kick in and taste my thoughts!
Isn’t amazing what thoughts we have from time to time. Controlling them is the challenge.
As Christian believers God encourages us to take charge of our thoughts.
II Corinthians 10:5:
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ;
“...bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” It is this kind of thinking that allows us to walk in victory.
I wonder what our Heavenly Father is thinking about? What is it that dominates His thoughts?
Psalms 119:17 & 18a:
How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of
them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
Oh how wonderful and precious is our Father! The best place for my thoughts are in Christ and in God’s Word.
Psa 19:7 – 9: (ASV)
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is
sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the
LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
Agape,
Bob
God does not do idle things. In other words, everything He does has purpose and design. When He fashioned you, He did so for a specific reason.
Ephesians 2:10:
For we are his workmanship [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Now, as some of us get a little older, we need to realize that our Heavenly Father did not invest all His time training us in service to have us sit on the sidelines cheering others to serve.
Put yourself back in the game. Maybe in your younger years you were a quarterback or running back handling the ball a lot, now you may be a blocker or kicker contributing essential duties for the success of the team. The point is: Get back in the game!
Satan aims his temptations at everyone. Perhaps with the older saints, he picks on our age, or if we had marital problems, or if we are experiencing health issues, or attacks our financial condition since we may be retired or not making as much money as in the past. Regardless what he tempts us with, we can handle anything he throws our way. “Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4).
Remember Paul, when he declared he knew, “how to be abased [without] and how to abound...” (Philippians 4:12). The next verse shows he was not focused on the circumstances around him, but it was all about who he was in Christ. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13).
Christ in us, makes us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), regardless of our age, marital status, physical condition or financial position. We put on the whole armor of God to stand against the methods of the devil, which includes praying in the spirit, which is speaking in tongues (Ephesians 6:10-18). We also do James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
As God’s children we serve for a lifetime. We are faithful to the end. We stay in the game regardless of what position we play. And when the trumpet sounds and we stand before our Lord, we anticipate hearing: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23).
Agape,
Bob
My Dear Heavenly Father:
You are so awesome and magnificent! You keep me in astonishment for Your consistent and loving care for me.
Today is a special day of celebration for the liberties my country has enjoyed for over 200 years.
Oh, how thankful I am for the men and women that came before me, that molded this grand land. Thank you for my fore-fathers and fore-mothers (We too often forget how important the role the women played, such as Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Mercy Otis Warren and Cathrine Moore Barry) that were instrumental in the whole scheme of things.
I am thankful Father that the Word of God and Biblical principles of right living and right ruling that were sown in the hearts of these men and women are evidenced in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
I am thankful Father that they expressed their trust in You as witnessed in the close of the Declaration of Independence saying, “...with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.”
Father, I too pledge myself to You, in light of Your redeeming work through Jesus Christ and Your calling me to function in the Body of Christ. I give You my whole body, soul and spirit, to serve You forever.
Amen and Agape,
Bob
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
If I could only pray like Jesus Christ. He walked in confidence knowing what an amazing relationship he had with His Father. He knew His Father would respond to Him and answer His prayer.
Jesus Christ obviously recognized the value of prayer to His Father. He prayed often, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” Mark 1:35. Obviously, prayer was a priority with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have thought so many times, that I wish I could pray like Him. How could I ever reach the level of prayer that He did?
There is something we need to realize to help us reach a point of praying like Jesus Christ. First, we are sons of God too. We have a relationship with God Almighty like Jesus did that makes us heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:17
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Such a relationship reality should excite our hearts. Our new lifestyle should be one of practicing our authority and confidence in Christ.
Another exciting truth we should realize in light of the gift of holy spirit is our association with Christ. Jesus Christ talked about those in the future who had the gift of holy spirit would be able to do the works that He did and more! This monumental truth should get us thinking of what we can do as sons of God.
A new manifestation of the spirit that came on the Day of Pentecost was speaking in tongues. This unique prayer ability is the spirit within us praying. Colossians says, the spirit in us is “Christ in us.” When we pray in the spirit it is a perfect prayer, because it is the spirit that gives the words. Really when you think of the Christ in us and we can pray in the spirit, it is as if Jesus Christ was praying.
When Jesus prayed, it was a perfect prayer. Really, speaking in tongues, is like Christ praying. It is Christ in us the hope of glory. So, when we speak in tongues it is the Christ in us praying. When you think about it, we are praying in Jesus Christ stead!
So, you want to pray like Jesus Christ? Pray in the spirit, speak in tongues much!
Agape,
Bob