Dead to Self-Alive to God.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God Romans 6

6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

Good Morning. Yesterday we learned that sin entered this world through Adam. God brought the Law to man to show him his sinfulness and the impossibility of achieving godly righteousness on his own. Then God by His grace brought a Savior Jesus Christ to mankind to atone, pardon and forgive man for his sins! We learned that God’s grace is greater than our sin, but we are not to continue in our sins as Christians but to die to sin and not be held captive by sin! When we were saved we became a brand new creation in Christ and now have the power to resist sin and we are to walk in newness of life. We have a great promise in our text today and that is that if we have died with Christ to sin then we through baptism, that is baptized with the Holy Spirit, can know we will be resurrected like Christ also! Our old self was crucified with Christ (See Galatians 2:20) and in that death, we no longer are slaves to the sins that bound us! Thank GOD for HIS amazing GRACE!

Love in Christ, Terry Jan 31, 2024 See Blog: walkingwithjesusbyhisword.wordpress.com

Are we walking in our calling?

Walk in Unity Ephesians 4

4 I, therefore, the prisoner [a]of the Lord, [b]beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

Good Morning. What does it mean to walk worthy of our calling? For a lot of years, I did not know what my calling was until I realized that God wanted me to be a witness for Jesus and share His gospel message. I must admit when I first started to share the gospel of Jesus it was quite intimidating. Along the way, as I felt the joy of telling someone of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus and the eternal nature of that message,  it became a wonderful experience that was led by the Spirit of God. Telling people about the Word of God also became something I felt led to do which also brings joy, peace, and purpose to my life. We as Christians are all called to show love and do our part to expose God’s love to this lost world as we humbly walk in our calling! The Apostle Paul is beseeching (begging) this church at Ephesus to walk worthy of their calling to which they were called! Is that message for you and I too? God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry Jan 29, 2024   

The manifested presence of Jesus.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son  John 14

19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and [f]manifest Myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Good Morning. Jesus was preparing to go to the cross and His disciples would see Him no more BUT they will see Him again through the Holy Spirit and LIVE! These verses speak volumes to the Christian, they tell of what happens when we receive salvation through Christ. They tell us the reason we sense that close bond with Jesus and the Father. They speak of the value of loving Jesus and seeking Him through His words. And through these verses, we can know that Jesus makes Himself known to the believer beyond the cross because He manifests Himself or reveals Himself to us! Finally, we see that for those of us who love Jesus and keep His words then both Jesus and the Father will make their home with us! The world cannot experience this because they do not believe the words of Jesus and reject Him. That is the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Him! God bless.            Love in Christ, Terry Jan 28, 2024 See Blog: walkingwithjesusbyhisword.wordpress.com

Mind Renewal.

Renewing our minds. Romans 12 

1 I beseech[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your [b]reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Good Morning. These commands that God gives us here in our verses are pretty simple to understand but quite difficult to follow. Most of us would have to confess that we have trouble obeying them! I think we as Christians bring a lot of this world’s thinking into our Christianity. God is telling us here that our thinking about God and His word has become paramount to proving (to ourselves) what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. We can accomplish this by not getting caught up in this world’s politically correct thinking. We must renew our minds by knowing and understanding God’s word and God’s will for our lives!

Proverbs 14:12 puts it this way about man’s way: “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” The world’s mold doesn’t fit the Christian anymore, 1John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world!” By focusing on Jesus and seeking God through His word regularly we can have the strength to resist these lusts that are so prevalent in the world today and be set apart and live for God! God bless.Love in Christ, Terry Jan , 2024 

Old things are GONE!

A new creation in Christ. 2Corinthians 5

14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Good Morning. We see from our verses today that Christ died for ALL meaning that ALL of us need a Savior! No one is righteous enough to enter the presence of Holy God in an unsaved state! We must be made a new creation in Christ and this only happens when a person realizes that they are sinners and must be made new in the Savior Jesus Christ! When this conversion (born again) takes place the old life is passed away and we approach life with new thinking and new hope and the new life begins. Denying those old ways daily of self-centeredness and sin is the hardest battle we fight, but God gives us a new power of the Holy Spirit that can be our Helper to overcome these old habits! Remember it is only Jesus that makes us righteous and not ourselves but our changed life reflects His presence in us. God bless.

Love in Christ, Terry Dec 29, 2023