Showing posts with label Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirit. Show all posts

Monday, December 2, 2019

The righteous, unrighteous and the perfect One.

The description in the first section is sounds very much like Jesus. That is put in contrast to us who carry on with our sins. The selfish things that we acquire will have no benefit in the long term. The ungodly man's hope is like a chaff, something that can be blown away easily. In contrast, it describes the righteous man, ie those whose faith in God is counted as righteousness. Such a righteous man would have the protection on the Lord. The description of the armor is similar to the section on the Armor of God.





Wisdom 5 (RSVCE)
5 Then the righteous man will stand with great confidence
in the presence of those who have afflicted him,
and those who make light of his labors.
2 When they see him, they will be shaken with dreadful fear,
and they will be amazed at his unexpected salvation.
3 They will speak to one another in repentance,
and in anguish of spirit they will groan, and say,
4 “This is the man whom we once held in derision
and made a byword of reproach—we fools!
We thought that his life was madness
and that his end was without honor.
5 Why has he been numbered among the sons of God?
And why is his lot among the saints?
6 So it was we who strayed from the way of truth,
and the light of righteousness did not shine on us,
and the sun did not rise upon us.
7 We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,
and we journeyed through trackless deserts,
but the way of the Lord we have not known.
8 What has our arrogance profited us?
And what good has our boasted wealth brought us?

9 “All those things have vanished like a shadow,
and like a rumor that passes by;
10 like a ship that sails through the billowy water,
and when it has passed no trace can be found,
nor track of its keel in the waves;
11 or as, when a bird flies through the air,
no evidence of its passage is found;
the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions
and pierced by the force of its rushing flight,
is traversed by the movement of its wings,
and afterward no sign of its coming is found there;
12 or as, when an arrow is shot at a target,
the air, thus divided, comes together at once,
so that no one knows its pathway.
13 So we also, as soon as we were born, ceased to be,
and we had no sign of virtue to show,
but were consumed in our wickedness.”[a]
14 Because the hope of the ungodly man is like chaff[b] carried by the wind,
and like a light hoarfrost[c] driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.

The Reward of the Righteous
15 But the righteous live for ever,
and their reward is with the Lord;
the Most High takes care of them.
16 Therefore they will receive a glorious crown
and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,
because with his right hand he will cover them,
and with his arm he will shield them.
17 The Lord[d] will take his zeal as his whole armor,
and will arm all creation to repel[e] his enemies;
18 he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;
19 he will take holiness as an invincible shield,
20 and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and creation will join with him to fight against the madmen.
21 Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim,
and will leap to the target as from a well-drawn bow of clouds,
22 and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult;
the water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them;
23 a mighty wind will rise against them,
and like a tempest it will winnow them away.
Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth,
and evil-doing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God

Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Our new life in Christ is hidden, perhaps from people or even ourselves. This hidden, is not that people cannot see the Christ in us, but perhaps they do not understand the change or why we are living the new way. To live according to the Spirit, we first need to be in tune with Yshua. Only then when we are in constant communion with Him, we know His will, and know what He wants. Then being in that state of mind and spirit, it may come natural to follow Christ.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God

1 Corinthian 2:12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

There were many miracles accompanying the ministry of Yshua on Earth. There have been miracles before and after His time on earth. There are also personal experiences people have had with God throughout the ages. When it comes to knowing God, the Scriptures has been clear - we have to really know God by the Word and the Spirit. Experiences with God are not the foundation with which to base our faith. There will be times of need, and the experiences are not there, so our relationship based on knowing God will ensure we keep focus on Him.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit

Ephesians 6:13,18
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
18  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

Praying, watching and persevering as we continue to live life on earth. Our God has given us all the necessary armor to stand, defend and offense. The things that we come against are not the natural and physical but rather the spiritual. Besides coming externally, the spiritual enemy also attack us internally in causing us to embrace the things which we know are wrong, yet difficult to stop doing. It is more than a psychological battle, or using will power. The tools to overcome this is the armor of God which has been explained in Scriptures.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God


Revelation 2:7
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

It may be difficult to hear for those who are undergoing trials and temptations that we need them to grow. The things that we do not struggle for does not produce improvement in ourselves including our spiritual level. Our Lord Yshua has taught us to overcome and told us to be of good cheer. He is the ultimate overcomer, and will not let us face more than we can bear. So every step, we must overcome.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words

1 Corinthians 2:4
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

Our preaching of the gospel to others need to come from our own knowing that the gospel is real. This is not just knowledge but a deep knowing of the reality. We can only do that when we sincerely believe of its truth and is living it out in our lives. Then human wisdom and presentation of the words itself is secondary because the power of God would take centre-stage when we preach from our own beliefs.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered


Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered

The Holy Spirit does prayer Himself in us, this is the unutterable prayers that can be manifested outwardly in tongue. This is indeed a glorious occasion that God can use us as a praying vessel, praying for us when we don't know what to prayer. The other aspect of this is to remember that the Holy Spirit is living in our bodies which are regarded as the Temple of God. This is more reason for us to maintain purity in our bodies and not forget that our physical body is also called to be holy.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit

Romans 8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit ....

It is a supernatural revelation when God's spirit witness to our spirit. It is not through reason or understanding that we can accept His sacrifice for us, even though it may make logical sense. It is by the Witness that we fully accept what Christ has done for us, and start us on a journey that let us walk with Him. On our part, we need to ensure that disobedience is cast aside, and no presumption on what God should do for us, other than come to Him and He will give us rest.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power


1 Corinthians 2:4
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

Paul wants his reader to understand that  it should not be his words and skills as a preacher and speaker to turn people to Yshua. That also holds true for any of the well gifted preachers. They should always divert the glory back to Yshua. It is God, through the Holy Spirit, who moves people's hearts to true conversion into followers of Yshua. We must not rely on any particular preacher for our salvation.

Monday, May 19, 2014

By your patience possess your souls

Luke 21:19
By your patience possess your souls.

There is a distinction that we are spirit beings who live in a physical body and we possess a soul. The soul is the intellect, the mind, the emotions and feelings. The trouble is that these intellect, mind/thinking, emotions and feelings often takes first priority in us because we regard them as the truth. However they can be mistaken in thinking, emotions and so on. We know of a greater spiritual truth in Yshua and His revealed Word. Better that we take hold of the Word and let the Holy Spirit guide us. We can then use our intellect to check if things are consistent with the Word. Then developing patience, we can also put our emotions in check.


Monday, May 5, 2014

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit

Ephesians 6:18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit

Different people have got different ways of praying. It is not terribly nice to hear that our praying ways are wrong. But does God have a preferred way of praying? Like in most things spiritual, the Word of God is our best guide. And this verse says to pray in the Spirit, that is without our own thinking, but giving it over to the Holy Spirit.


Thursday, May 1, 2014

Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven

Luke 10:20
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. (KJV)

If we rejoice in the spiritual power we yield, then we may have missed the point. Similarly if we keep count of material success, even if it is counting the number of people we led to Christ or the size of our church, we have also missed the point. Every single spirit is important to God, like the Shepherd finding the lost one lamb out of a hundred. Salvation itself is the work of God. So what is our purpose? To bring the Good News to the unsaved and to disciple the saved. One commentary mentioned that Jesus never forced others, He usually begins His instructions with "If ....", not imposing on others with "You must ...."

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord

2 Cor3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (KJV)

The glory of the Lord cannot be fully understood by us at the moment. But there will be a time when we will behold the Lord's Glory and it will shine through us as if we are transparent. This is the promise of God and we will one day be made into His image, by the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit

Romans 8:34,27
Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Our Lord Yshua, died for us, seated at the right hand of God in glory and is our intercessor. Moreover those believers who examines themselves are in tune with the Holy Spirit who makes intercession for us. So both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are our intercessors. And if we are to live with Jesus as our examples, we too are supposed to be intercessors for others.

None of us are perfect and pure like Jesus, but yet this does not disqualify us from being intercessors. When we live a life with Jesus at the centre, a life in which is in the process of being transformed to be like Him, then we could intercede for others. In fact, this could be a natural result since as we become more like Christ, we are naturally concerned with others and therefore able to serve their needs and intercession is one of these needs.


Monday, March 24, 2014

For you are still carnal

1 Corinthians 3:3
For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Paul is speaking to fellow believers in this message about being carnal. To provide a brief definition, being carnal means to be influenced or acting or desiring the things of this world, which are usually in opposition to God's will.

The opposite to living a carnal life would be to live and walk in the Spirit. Since none of the believers are perfect while living on earth, there will be times when the carnal nature has its way. If so, then the believer who walks in the Spirit would admit and confess their sins and allow God to deal with that sin. To rationalise away the sin or wrongdoing only leads to a deeper carnal life.


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit


2 Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

A simple exhortation by Paul but most followers of Yshua still had trouble in perfecting. Consider the different parts of the sentence:
i) having these promises - refers to the previous chapter where God promises to be our Father and we become His sons and daughters.
ii) beloved - clearly we are the beloved of God.
iii) cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit - something that we must do
iv) perfecting in holiness in the fear of God - our ultimate goal

The thing for us to do is to cleanse ourselves so that we can move towards holiness. Yet many of us struggle because we still have the carnal nature. However, our closeness to God must increase and our carnal selves must decrease. To achieve this, we must abandon our own will because it mostly aims to satisfy our flesh and spirit. Instead, follow our Lord Yshua, who only follow His Father's will - not our own will - only this kind of submission will we be victorious in our battle to cleanse ourselves.




Thursday, March 13, 2014

I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision


Acts 26:19
"I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision"

Paul explained to king Agrippa about his vision in his first encounter with Jesus. After seeing that vision, Paul believed it and changed his life according to what God revealed to him in the vision.
It is also written that when we receive the Spirit, we also are able to see visions. The question to ourselves is how far do we obey the visions from God. Of course we are suppose to test them first. Our obedience to any messages from God, will show how much we have actually surrendered to Him.


Saturday, February 8, 2014

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely


1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul prays that the believers will be sanctified. The sanctification process should be for all believers. It means to make pure and perfect. Although we still live in a sinful world, the Holy Spirit will guide the followers of Christ to sanctification if only we let Him.

Living in a sinful world will lead believers to battle with sin and tempations constantly. Many times, human will itself will not be able to win over tempations. It is only with the help of the Spirit that we can stand and be sanctified. This is also a process of surrender to Him and to entrust our battles to Him.


Friday, January 24, 2014

With unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord

2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This verse reminds us that as we walk in the Spirit, He will transform us into the image of God from glory to glory. This makes a lot of sense because when we are close to someone, we also become like that person, as seen in husbands and wives who have been together for a long time.

To be in the image of God should be nothing surprising since from the very beginning in Genesis, it says that we are made in the image of God. It is not just having a form like God, but also the spirit like God. This may be difficult to imagine if we think we are such terrible sinners. However, with the Spirit's help, we are supposed to be more God-like in our spirit, because after all, He is our Heavenly Father.

It is useful then to hold up a spiritual mirror from time to time to check on our image. We need to ask ourselves: are we becoming more like God or more unlike Him.


Thursday, January 9, 2014

May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.



1 Thessalonians 5
23 .... may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This verse can be a general application for all Christians, because the Lord is coming and we are meant to keep ourselves blameless. To put it in context, this chapter begins with the description of the Second Coming of our Lord Yshua Ha Masiach. Although the exact time will be unknown, there will be many signs so that those who watch will now. So the whole Body or Church is supposed to be alert to this, and keep ourselves pure in preparation for His Coming.

The verse mentions not only our physical body has to be pure, but so too do our spirit and soul. A preacher once defined these three quantities as follows: We ARE a spirit - the real us, we HAVE a soul - our intellect or mind and we LIVE in our body - the physical part. This verse says to keep all three blameless.

If this does not make sense then try thinking of the opposite of keeping just the body pure but unrestricting the soul and spirit. Pretty soon the spirit will motivate the person to unholiness, then the soul will rationalize or justify the actions, and quite soon the body will be helpless but follow what the soul and spirit directs. Hence all three must be kept blameless.


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