A Worm or a Butterfly?

As human beings, we live in a body, make choices and think and feel with our soul, and live eternally through our spirit in either heaven or hell (John 3:16-18).

The carnal nature does not understand or accept the truths of the Spirit of God. These people considers them foolishness, because they cannot comprehend them, since their spirit is dead in sin (1 Corinthians 2:14).

They function in life only through their soul and body, judging right and wrong according to how it makes them think and feel (Psalm 139:13-14).

God sees the spirit of everyone ever born (Numbers 16:22), and calls us to live with a good conscience before God (Acts 23:1). He wants us to allow His Word to convict and to divide between our soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings - and our spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

God is not belittling the soul, nor recommending that we discount our soul; but simply that we do now allow our human understanding to control our life (Proverbs 3:5-6).

He desires that all men everywhere come to the saving truth of His Son, so their spirit is Born Again (Acts 17:30; John 3:1-21). Then, He abides within our spirit forever (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 John 4:13). 

Prayer:

Father God, as Your children we can never cease praising You for saving us from a life of wallowing in the mire of this world. You transformed us into a butterfly from the meager existence of a worm. Thank You that Your Spirit pursues us until we accept Christ's sacrifice, so our spirit is Born Again.

Now we ask You to teach us to live, move and have our total being in You (Acts 17:28). Use Your Word to separate for us our soul and spirit, so that we can walk in Your Spirit every moment of every day, accomplishing only those works, which You created us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Thought for the Day:

We daily give thanks to our wondrous God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who because of His mercies, which are new every single morning, caused us to be Born Again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. - 1 Peter 1:3; Lamentations 3:22-23

Wondrous Mysteries

Prior to salvation, no person on earth can conceive of the enormous abundance, which God prepared for everyone that loves Him. If the people, who lived on earth with Jesus, understood God’s love, they never would have crucified Him. Even now, however, the unsaved, modern population has no concept of the glorious wisdom of God, because it is foolishness to them. Only spiritual people can discern spiritual concepts (1 Corinthians 2:7-15).

God gave us His Word and His Spirit to reveal these wondrous mysteries to anyone who will humble their self in order to receive His salvation. When salvation brings us into union with Christ, we no longer have a life apart from God. We willingly lay down our old life, as well as all of our intentions to live a detached or self-governing life. We surrender our independence at the foot of the cross (Romans 12:1). Christ fully envelops our spirit, saturates every cell in our body, and influences every choice, thought and emotion of our soul (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Before Adam sinned, human beings were created in the image of the Trinity (Genesis 1:27). After his sin, our spirit is dead when we are born. Since Jesus paid the price for our sin and eradicated it from our life, Born Again Believers return to living in the image of the God with a body, soul and living spirit. As the Holy Spirit transforms our life from one stage of holiness to the next, we slowly take on the mind and nature of Christ, who is the exact image of our Father (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We function more each day from the reality of the indwelling divinity of Jesus Christ within us (Galatians 2:20).

Without the full recognition of what it means for Christ to dwell within us, bringing with Him all the divinity of the triune God, we are powerless to accomplish God’s entire will in our life. As long as this earth makes up the sum total of our life, we are confined to the natural realm. Conversely, with our spirit, body and soul – our mind, will and emotions – focused on the Kingdom of God and sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit, we open our self up to unlimited possibilities for our life.

Within our body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, abides all of the power of the entire triune Godhead, which is ready to change our world from the inside out. We limit this power by our lack of understanding, our doubts and our fears. Only when we comprehend that we are in a spiritual union with God through Christ, and that our humanity is already dead (Colossians 3:3), do we have more trust in the Spirit’s direction moment by moment throughout our day. With faith and obedience, we achieve what seems impossible to the analytical, human mind.

Prayer:

Father God, the amazing reality of the concept of Christ living within us reveals the truth that we no longer need to “make time” in our schedule to spend with You, but that we dwell in our union with You through each of the 1440 minutes of our day. You are always present in our life, regardless of what we say, do or experience. Your Spirit dwells in our spirit and You live out Your will through our body and soul. I want to experience more of the divinity of the entire Godhead in my life now, which is possible because Christ, Your treasure, lives in our earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Thought for the Day:

We do not have to wait until heaven to live the divine life, because the divine Christ is our whole life now.  - Colossians 3:4

Worldly Wisdom

Read:
1 Corinthians 1: 20-24

"The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."
- 1 Corinthians 1:18

It makes me giggle when I see people on TV who speak as if they are experts on some subject. They pontificate their brand
of philosophy as if they have a market on the truth. However, wise men, scholars and debaters are all proven foolish when their brand of truth is held up against the standard of God’s Word. The Bible trumps the wisdom of the world every time. 

God calls everyone, regardless of their nationality, religion, economic or social status, or financial position, to have a personal relationship with Him and to share with the Saints the glory of heaven. He provides us all with the power and wisdom of God through Jesus Christ. The message of the cross makes no sense to most people, though. They cannot accept that their worldly wisdom is foolishness and that they need the Spirit of God in their lives (1 Corinthians 1:18). 

It is because of God that I am in Christ Jesus. He called me and saved me and redeemed me for eternity. He offers this same opportunity to anyone who will humble him/herself and repent of their sins and allow Him to convert their lives from a sin-filled one to a righteous one. Everyone has an equal opportunity to choose His wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). 

When I gaze into the sky at the sun, moon and stars, which He set into place in such perfect order; when I see His handiwork in the woods and streams and mountains and plains; when I consider that He numbers the hairs of our head and that He knew us before we were even formed in our mother’s womb, I shed tears of joy and fall on my face in worship of Him.

Prayer:

Lord, the majority of people in the world do not receive Your wisdom, because they consider them fairy tales and myths. They cannot understand them, because Your words must be discerned by Your Spirit. Help us to share Your truth so that others may share your blessing with us, and so that Your Spirit may instruct them and give them the mind of Christ.

Thought for the Day:

My faith does not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:5

Friend or Foe?

Read: 1 Corinthians 3:16-20

"Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." -James 4:4

Paul’s parents educated him so well that he rose in the ranks of Roman society. Once he met Christ, however, he chose to be called a fool in the world’s eyes in order to  "be transformed by the renewing of his mind" (Romans 12:2). This restoration took determination, consistency, persevering prayer and the continual reading in God’s Word. Once Paul made the commitment, God provided abundant resources for him to succeed.

Let us also make this uncompromising pledge to God and rise above the wisdom of the world. We can cast aside the innumerable influences, which compete for our attention, and instead seek to please the One who sacrificed His life for us.

Satan plants mine fields along the road toward freedom to destroy those who do not walk vigilantly (Ephesians 5:15). Do not become a statistic in Satan’s tally. Walk in the Spirit and you will see the world's wisdom for what it truly is... foolishness.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, give me the faith and courage to stand alone. Though the world may label me a fool, I will "trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). Amen.

Thought for the Day:
God's plan always requires us to be "sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).