Avsnitt
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When you listen to our enemy and identify with your body, your ‘flesh’, with the name on the lapel tag, even though you’re born again, you’ll be plagued by the pernicious sin-nature of your body and like the dear Apostle Paul when he bemoaned:
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. (Rom 7:15)
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (Rom 7:18)
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. (Rom 7:22)
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
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Some people just think they should see some proof of God. They can say, “But I didn’t feel anything.” Or “But I don’t see any change.”
They think of God’s handiwork as a magician’s act. But that attitude denigrates God and belittles His plans. He does all things in His time and way, and if He says something, it is guaranteed absolutely whether or not it is visible to our eyes. This is the ‘stuff’ of Abraham’s faith – an old man, a long life, an apparently unwilling God but when He spoke the blessing, Abraham believed, and for that attitude God considered him righteous. (See Rom 4:3)
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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It was indeed about 4000 years since Adam was exiled from the garden and specifically the Tree of Life. According to Peter in 2 Peter 3:8, that’s four days to the Lord. As God warned, Adam (and mankind) died after eating of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As with Lazarus, God waited for the right time to make that right. He waited four days to raise him from the dead.
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But while the garden of Eden ended in death coming from a deadly tree, Jesus brought forth another tree, the cross of Calvary which became for us a tree of Life. That’s because when you believe in Jesus’ Name – God saves - you are doing God’s will:
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So, the revealing John spoke of is actually two-fold – one we look forward to in hope (a hope that purifies us!) and one that is even now ongoing. In both cases, there’s a transformation and Christ is glorified. In both cases, we glorify Jesus because it’s His glory:
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This hope is what anchors (tethers) our soul to God Almighty and brings us into the realization of His presence in us.
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But God chose their progenitor and the people. He chose them to be “a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth”. And this was not for their numbers or their intelligence or their wealth or their integrity or any other human measure.
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Now, as I said earlier, pride is part of your DNA so to speak. It is part of your dead fleshly nature. Humility, on the other hand, is not. Like agape love, you must choose to put it on.
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I can rest in the understanding that I am complete because of Jesus in me and I can rest in the whole growth issue because it’s in God’s hands, it’s His work.
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You know, after you are genuinely saved, Christ is no longer ‘out there’ or ‘up there’ or ‘somewhere’. But He is forever IN THERE, in you, and you are IN HIM. Let this really sink in. Union in Christ is one of the most fundamental creeds we have.
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I can relate to Peter; he was a ‘doer’, a ‘get r done’ kind of guy. So, he couldn’t just sit around waiting for Jesus. I think he was also the kind of guy that could carry a big load, a big load of guilt that is. So, after Christ had risen from the grave and they had made the trek to Galilee, Peter said to his fellows, “I’m going fishing.” I mean what else was there to do besides wait.
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Yes, fundamentally, God’s love through us is a choice, our choice, our response. It’s His love, His power, but our response. And as if to amplify this point, Jesus told the guys, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” That is, this choosing ability should never go to our heads or be taken for granted for we only get to choose God’s love because He first chose us.
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The implications of this verse are staggering. If you love Christ and keep His word, you’ll be loved by God Almighty and both the Father and Son will come to you and make a home with you. Think of that! No camp out. Not a visit. But a permanent residence, a home or dwelling.
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And we should note that all signs given by God are intended to generate trust in Him:
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30,31)
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And as you may already know, it was an impossible command for men to obey. People can give ‘lip-service’ to it but no one without the help of the Holy Spirit can love God that way, or one’s neighbor. Mankind simply could not (and cannot) keep the Law, so Jesus fulfilled it and set it aside:
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So why did Christ use the two men and two judgements along with their similarities and distinctions? I’ll suggest that it is because there will be two groups of people, God’s people, who will be saved from or in the midst of catastrophe in the last days.
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Beyond this, they witness the power and value of God’s love. They see that because of God’s love in and through us, for unlike the angels, we are graciously united in one with Him and they witness that God chooses to make His home with us:
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Before the age of earth, they witnessed the creation of the cosmos both seen and unseen. They saw how the Almighty created, nurtured and ruled all things. They beheld His indescribable beauty and light, His wonderful kindness and power, His glory.
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You see, God is far greater than we have the ability to imagine. He’s not a soothsayer; He’s not looking forward in time. He’s not just knowing all things; all things exist in and because of Him.
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Whenever it dawns on you that you’re trying harder but actually just warming yourself by the enemy’s fire, remember what Peter learned. Remember Christ’s love. Remember this life, called Christianity, is NOT about you, your reputation, your glory, your ‘ministry’, your efforts. It’s simply a matter of trusting obedience to His will.
- Visa fler
