Holy Spirit

There is a difference between Holy Spirit and the spirit of man. The spirit of man is the biological life we received when we were born from our mothers’ womb. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift .. “Christ in you the hope of glory” which we received when we were born again of God’s incorruptible seed. The spirit of man is the spirit of all flesh that we inherited from Adam. This spirit of Adam is contrary to the spirit of life in Christ we received when we were born again of God’s Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2 says that We who have received the spirit of Christ can understand the things of God…. However, the natural man who does not have God’s spirit receives not the things of the spirit of life in Christ because these things are spiritually discerned. Through God’s spirit within us we can understand, know, acknowledge, and affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord… We can know that we know that we know that the word of God is the final authority for truth, that we are men of prayer, that we can link together with likeminded spiritual men, and that we can give away the gospel message of salvation.

Even though we who have received Christ may feel broken, blind and deaf in the flesh, Jesus Christ is still lord of our lives. 2 Corinthians 2 says, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (of the flesh) but mighty to the pulling down of (spiritual) strongholds. When the Holy Spirit takes residence inside us, we can work out our own salvation, our own wholeness with awe, respect, and reverence toward God and his word. Then when we allow our minds to be renewed, God will work within us to will and to do of His good pleasure. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he has foreordained that we should walk in them. For when we dwell within the word and will of God, we all with open face beholding as in a mirror (of the word) will change from the reflection of the world into the reflection of the glory of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:18)

Colossians 3 says, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ… when we turn from the flesh and unto the Lord, we will allow our minds to be renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, don’t worry about the things that sustain your physical life…. Food, shelter, clothing and drink, but instead focus on the things of the kingdom of God… then all these other things shall be added unto you. God will sustain us. He is our sole provider and our soul provider… our Jehovah-Jireh. As he said to Abraham, I am your provider… I am your portion, your sustenance for life.

As bond-servants of the Lord, we serve him from a heart of love. We love him because he first loved us. For even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly… including us. He loved us, rescued us, and saved us not because of who we were but because of who he is… for Jesus Christ came not into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

When we turn to the Lord, the things of this world will become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. When we turn to the spirit of life in Christ, then faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (through worldly eyes.)

Jesus said, he who is faithful in little… in the things of this world he hs called us to steward, then he will be faithful also in much… the things of the spirit of life in Christ.

The work God did within us and through us when we were born again, he has dedicated to his love, honor, and glory, that we might live according to the good pleasure of His will… in the abundance of the spirit of life in Christ,

…..to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

The Spiritual Journey

The Journey with Jesus Christ begins with spiritual poverty and starvation…. Blessed are the poor in spirt and those who who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. God will fill us with the power of his Holy Spirit when men and women are hungry and thirsty, not for physical air, water and food, but for the spiritual breath of life and and the sustenance of His spiritual food.

The gospel is bad news and good news. Before we can receive the good news of salvation, we must be aware of spiritual hunger when the things of the world leave us unfulfilled and unsatisfied.

The spirit of the Lord will lead us into the desert… into the valley of dry bones before God can infuse us with the life of his holy spirit. The prophet Ezekiel revealed the vision of the valley of the dry bones. The prophet said, Son of Man, can these bones live?…. Only thou O son of Man can know this. The sovreign Lord said, I will breath my breath into these dry bones and they will come to life.

In the book, the Journey to the Inner Chamber, Rocky Fleming describes walking skeletons. They would collapse and these bones would be cast into the fire. Shall these dry bones live? The new birth is when a man comes before the Lord dead in trespasses and sins with meekness and humility to approach the throne of God’s grace. These dead and dry bones shall live for that which is impossible with man is possible with God. The greatest of all miracles is to bring dead men walking into the life of the spirit of life in Christ.

Salvation, the new birth of God’s spirit is the greatest of all miracles. Jesus himself said before his ascension, The works that I do, shall they (who have been born again of God’s spirit) do, and even greater works because I go unto my Father. The greater works is to lead others to salvation.

The spirit of life in Christ is the power of the resurrection of God’s only begotten son. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone… That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Ron recalls that when he accepted Jesus Christ, he lost the desire to drink and smoke. Then after an argument with his wife six months later, he bought two bottles of champagne and went to the park to drink them. After he had finished one bottle, he saw a man on a park bench smoking a cigarette. He said, “can I bum a cigarette from you?” The man gave him a cigarette. Ron said, “This is the first time in six months I’ve had a cigarette.” The man said, “how did you quit?” Ron said, “I was saved by Jesus Christ and lost all desire to drink and smoke.” The man replied, “How can I receive Jesus Christ?” Even though he had fallen from fellowship, Ron taught the man about salvation and the man accepted Jesus as Lord.

God will forgive us but what is done in darkness will be brought out into the light…. For the light exposes the hidden things of dishonesty. Sometimes God will speak to us through our own godly wives…. The “still small voice” of the Lord takes many forms. Thank God for those who love us enough to shine the light of truth into the dark places in our hearts. God will teach us to love and honor those we love. Then he will show us that the greatest blessing is to please our Heavenly Father. When we love others with the love of God, we will learn to love our Lord Jesus Christ… for Jesus said, in that thou hast done it unto the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.

The love of God is God’s force-multiplier… for it is charity, the unconditional spitirual love of God that initiates the fusion reaction…. The implosion that fuses our hearts with God’s heart, and one with another in the household of faith. This is the reason for Colossians 3: Above all things, put on charity, the agape love of God which is the bond of perfectness. The love of God fuses our hearts together in the unity of the spirt in the bond of peace.

As men of God passionately seeking to do His will, all that is within you praise his holy name. In praise and thanksgiving to God, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. For we have this treasure (of the spirit of life in Christ) in earthen vessels of our corruptible bodies, that the excellency of the power (of his spirit) may be of God and not of us…

Upon the journey of this life, what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?…

…That we may become a living sacrifice of praise, wholly acceptable unto Him to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Through the Trial

Does God still love us when the world says there is no justice? In times of the confusion all around us, according to AB Bruce in the book, “The Training of the Twelve,” Jesus answered them and said, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and fishes. Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that leads to eternal life. Jesus continued, Moses did not give you bread from heaven. For It is only God who gives the true bread…. I myself am the bread of life that God sent down from heaven. For whosoever eats of this bread will inherit eternal life. Jesus said, He who believes has eternal life…. I am the bread of life so that one may eat and not die. If anyone eats of this bread he shall live forever. Whosoever eats of my flesh and drinks my blood, he shall have eternal life.. he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall never die.

After these sayings many who had followed Jesus left and no longer walked with him. Jesus said to the twelve disciples, will you also leave? He knew that Judas would eventually betray him.

Jesus’ sermon separated the true disciples from the hangers-on who wanted to see his miracles…. He culled the crowd and gave them an ultimatum. Choose ye this day…. Are you living for bread to fill your bellies or are you living for the bread of spiritual life?

Rich Christiano’s upcoming movie, The Mind Reader is about Jesus’ ultimate purpose. The Jews thought that Jesus would appear as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to run the Roman rulers out of Judea…. But this was not Jesus’ mission.

We often ponder, What does God have in store for America? How could God have blessed America as the greatest nation on earth but now Christians in America are in danger of prosecution and persecution for so-called “hate crimes” and “hate speech.” The devil continues to sow seeds of confusion…. Of division, strife, and contention. His purpose is to steal, to kill, and to destroy…. His ultimate purpose is to separate our hearts from God’s heart.

Oswald Chamber’s essay about spiritual confusion asks the question…. How can the affairs of this world work together for good to those who love God, who work according to his purpose?

The ways of the Lord are contrary to the world’s definition of success. In retrospect we often come to the conclusion, Thank God for unanswered prayer.

Pete recalls the time he made the headlines in the local newspaper’s sports page. The headline said, Six misfires and then, Bang! In the ninth inning Pete had three strikeouts after three at-bats. He also had three fielding errors. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Pete came up to bat with the game on the line. The score was tied with two outs and and one man on base in scoring position. Pete had prayed before his at-bat, Lord please have the manager send in a pinch hitter to bat in my place. I don’t want to lose the game by striking out again. When God didn’t answer this prayer, Pete stepped up to the plate and prayed, please don’t let me strike out and lose the game. The left handed pitcher threw two pitches that Pete fouled away. Then with two strikes, he threw a curve that broke inside. Pete swung and contacted the ball about 12 inches from where he was holding the bat. The bat vibrated violently in his hand and the bloop fly ball just cleared the first baseman’s head. The ball had so much spin that it bounced wildly and the first baseman had trouble picking it up. As Pete tagged first base, The winning run scored from second base. After six misfires, “Bang!” Pete was the hero of the game for his hit that scored the winning run.

Pete says that his claim to fame was that he got many opposing pitchers to the big leagues. He usually struck out against pitchers who were called up to the Major league.

One night Pete faced Pedro Bourbon who became the star pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds when the “Big Red Machine’ won two World Series. Needless to say, Bourbon struck him out. That night in dejection, Pete read a verse in Hebrews from his New Living Bible. He read that a father disciplines his son, not because he wants to hurt him, but because he loves him. God’s still small voice said, some things you will learn by being an all star. However, the most important lessons, I will train you and teach you on the bench. This is where you will learn meekness and humility. This is where you will learn to cheer for the guy who took your place in the starting lineup. For he that is chief among you must be servant of all. On the bench is where others will witness My true character within you…. Through the trial and the ordeal of tribulation, you will learn endurance which over time will reveal to yourself and others My character in you. Then others will witness the hope of my son’s return and the love of God shed abroad in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 18:8 says, when the son of man returns will the son of man find a faithful man… proven in the things that are unseen… the things of the character of Christ in you? In the meantime, you will not understand in the midst of trial what God is preparing you for…. He is proving his character within you through the crucible of the melting pot and the refining and purifying of the fiery furnace.

Despite the confusion of the world around us and the chaos, panic, pandemonium and pandemic all around us, our prayer is not Lord deliver me from the storm. Instead our prayer is deliver us through the storm. The storms of this life will prove his strength…. This is the lesson that God will reveal through the storm: My strength is made perfect in thy weakness…. My grace is sufficient for thee..

…That we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael