Many times we become accustomed to the persecution that befalls us as a part of being a believer but let us not lose our heads here people of God. 1Thess.1:6 says, "And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:" All throughout this walk we are admonished to cast our care upon the Lord, and to allow peace to reign in our hearts, and rejoice evermore,etc... These are the things that God would have us to be mindful of as we do His work but there are some who would trouble us and have us to remain in disarray and in contention. Mark 9:40 says, "For he that is not against us is on our part," I say unto you that those who will cause divisions and contentions among you are not for you but are against you. We have victory over all of our enemies, in fact because the revelation of Christ Jesus is in us and has become us our enemies stagger in their advance to attack us.
Let's take a look at a very conspicuous event that took place when Jesus was attempted to be apprehended of the band of men and chief priests and pharisees:"Judas then, having received a band [of men] and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground." Now look at this! Jesus' greatest message in all the four gospels!!! "I AM HE." This is Jesus Christ the one they sought. This shows the faithfulness of Jesus, He always reveals Himself to anyone who "seeks" Him. Think about this: this man lives in us! Your enemies cannot approach the man inside of you with sturdiness. David said this, "When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.(Psa.27:2)." Not everyone stumbled at the revelation of Jesus Christ, the blind man in John's gospel had a very distinct encounter with Jesus where he not only didn't stumble but recieved the exact opposite:
"He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him(Jhn.9:36-38)."
Your enemies will stumble and fall when Christ is "operated" in you around them. They have to see Him in you. They will stumble and fall when Christ is revealed in you and everything that they do to you will returned to them and they will stumble and fall. Jesus has commanded us to pray for them though so that they will be converted but it is up to the body of Christ to reveal Christ to those who don't know Him, especially our enemies.
be blessed
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Six Laws of the Roman Epistle
There are six laws that are mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans,they are as follows:
1.)The "Law of Moses"-Which can neither give life nor pardon sin, its focus is only to expose sin and condemn the sinner to death.(Rom.3:19)
2.)The "Law" as ethical and moral truth-Which includes the moral standard of all that is lawful and good(Rom.3:21)
3.)The "Law of Faith"-Which excludes self-righteousness and totally rests in a complete redemption totally accomplished by Jesus Christ alone.(Rom.3:27)
4.)The "Law of Sin" in the members- Which acts as a slave master in our fleshly body commanding it to lust until death and this law is always victorious over the Law of the mind.(Rom.7:21,23,25)
5.) The "Law of the Mind"- Which acknowledges that the "Law of Moses" is good and righteous but CANNOT DO IT because of the "Law of Sin" in the members.(Rom.7:16,23)
6.) The "Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus" -Which has the power to deliver the believer from the law of sin which is in the members, and also delivers his conscience from the condemnation which came through the conviction from the "Law of Moses." Furthermore the Holy Spirit works in the YIELDED Christian the very righteousness that the Law of Moses DEMANDS from man.(Rom.8:2,4)
I guess this is some new series of blogs on the Flesh and the Spirit or something.lol Anyway this is just a little extra FYI.Please check it out and comment on Min.Draper Wright's blog on "Proper Exercise."
Josh Harvey
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
"Kill that Old Man!!!"
I want to bring some understanding to a topic the Lord put on my heart to blog about. This has really helped me. I was discussing this topic with to friends of mine last night and I was moved to post this.(this is kind of long but please take time to read it.It is so helpful I promise!!)
Sin is personified many ways in scripture and in this particular verse of scripture the Holy Spirit gives sin an infamous name that we can all identify with, the "old man." The old man is by definition, 'the inborn tendency to do evil.' The old man is what you would call the "sin nature" or "the flesh." He is literally the essence of the first man, Adam. Cololossians 3:5 says, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil diesires, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" We have been commanded to "mortify" or "put to death" our body parts upon the Earth. The old man is given birth through the law.(Rom.7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which WERE BY THE LAW, did work IN OUR MEMBERS to bring forth fruit unto death. ) We have been comanded to put this "old man" to death "in our members," but how? How do you put a man to death that cannot be touched, seen, or heard physically? 2Cor.10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
The old man's job is to fulfill all the evil desires planted in you when sin came into the world through Adam,the first man but when all looks grim and the old man looked like he would rule until death through the law Jesus,the LAST ADAM shows up(Rom.10:3)! So Colossians 3:8-10 says, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:" Now look at this saints! The action of "putting off" and "putting on" can only be done by those of us who have conquered death and sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Sinners lack this ability because they lack the legacy of Jesus Christ to His church, "the NEW MAN." Sin dwells in our members(body parts) and its not enough to just recieve Jesus into our spirit we must also "put on Christ"(Rom.13:14;Gal.3:27).
The "new man" comes by one avenue.He is generated when we get saved but, He is only a child compared to the well developed "old man." The new man is not an improved version of the old man. He is a totally new and seperate entity(2Cor.5:17). He is the essence of all that is good and gracious both in Jesus Christ and God the Father. The "new man" is 'Christ formed' in the believer(Gal.4:19); but the new man is merely present when we are saved. He must be put on through this one avenue, KNOWLEDGE("And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"COL.3:10). The knowledge of God after the image of Jesus is what Satan spends time trying to destroy in us. IN OTHER WORDS,SATAN DON'T WANT YOU READING THAT WORD(2Cor.10:3-5)!! You see, the old man can only exist when the hearers of the word don't "do the word." The new man must be "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him(Jesus)" that is how the new man is formed in us,the new creature. So Satan uses this "old man" who lives in our members with the old man to disrupt and distract the growth and progression of the "new man." God gives us many examples of this struggle all throughout scripture between this old man and this new man like:Cain & Abel, Jacob & Esau, Isaac & Ishmael, even the seed of the woman & the seed of the serpent. These are all types and figures for the struggle that we internally harbor of the old and new man of the fleshly nature and of the spiritual nature.
I encourage you all by this scripture:"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye. "(Col.3:12-13) Let's grow in knowledge together but, you gotta study this word and also put it in action. The "new man" grows from HEARING AND DOING THIS WORD. The "old man" is put to death when you choose the desires of the spiritual new man over his natural sinful ways. COUNT YOURSELF DEAD TO THAT OLD MAN!! Those addictions are a result of that "old man" having his way for so long. "He that is dead is free from sin."(Rom.6:7) WE ARE THE CHURCH LETS PUT ON THE NEW MAN LIKE WE ARE.
Be Blessed
Josh
Sin is personified many ways in scripture and in this particular verse of scripture the Holy Spirit gives sin an infamous name that we can all identify with, the "old man." The old man is by definition, 'the inborn tendency to do evil.' The old man is what you would call the "sin nature" or "the flesh." He is literally the essence of the first man, Adam. Cololossians 3:5 says, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil diesires, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" We have been commanded to "mortify" or "put to death" our body parts upon the Earth. The old man is given birth through the law.(Rom.7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which WERE BY THE LAW, did work IN OUR MEMBERS to bring forth fruit unto death. ) We have been comanded to put this "old man" to death "in our members," but how? How do you put a man to death that cannot be touched, seen, or heard physically? 2Cor.10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
The old man's job is to fulfill all the evil desires planted in you when sin came into the world through Adam,the first man but when all looks grim and the old man looked like he would rule until death through the law Jesus,the LAST ADAM shows up(Rom.10:3)! So Colossians 3:8-10 says, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:" Now look at this saints! The action of "putting off" and "putting on" can only be done by those of us who have conquered death and sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Sinners lack this ability because they lack the legacy of Jesus Christ to His church, "the NEW MAN." Sin dwells in our members(body parts) and its not enough to just recieve Jesus into our spirit we must also "put on Christ"(Rom.13:14;Gal.3:27).
The "new man" comes by one avenue.He is generated when we get saved but, He is only a child compared to the well developed "old man." The new man is not an improved version of the old man. He is a totally new and seperate entity(2Cor.5:17). He is the essence of all that is good and gracious both in Jesus Christ and God the Father. The "new man" is 'Christ formed' in the believer(Gal.4:19); but the new man is merely present when we are saved. He must be put on through this one avenue, KNOWLEDGE("And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"COL.3:10). The knowledge of God after the image of Jesus is what Satan spends time trying to destroy in us. IN OTHER WORDS,SATAN DON'T WANT YOU READING THAT WORD(2Cor.10:3-5)!! You see, the old man can only exist when the hearers of the word don't "do the word." The new man must be "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him(Jesus)" that is how the new man is formed in us,the new creature. So Satan uses this "old man" who lives in our members with the old man to disrupt and distract the growth and progression of the "new man." God gives us many examples of this struggle all throughout scripture between this old man and this new man like:Cain & Abel, Jacob & Esau, Isaac & Ishmael, even the seed of the woman & the seed of the serpent. These are all types and figures for the struggle that we internally harbor of the old and new man of the fleshly nature and of the spiritual nature.
I encourage you all by this scripture:"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye. "(Col.3:12-13) Let's grow in knowledge together but, you gotta study this word and also put it in action. The "new man" grows from HEARING AND DOING THIS WORD. The "old man" is put to death when you choose the desires of the spiritual new man over his natural sinful ways. COUNT YOURSELF DEAD TO THAT OLD MAN!! Those addictions are a result of that "old man" having his way for so long. "He that is dead is free from sin."(Rom.6:7) WE ARE THE CHURCH LETS PUT ON THE NEW MAN LIKE WE ARE.
Be Blessed
Josh
Monday, June 8, 2009
"An Evil Tongue: The Beginning of Strife"
Well Bishop sure superbly poured his heart out yesterday morninging and last night with his sermons on "Strife" and "The Gospel of the Grace of God."I wanted to kind of add a bit more light to the first subject and I will blog on "Grace" at another time. Proverbs 26:20-21 says this saints, "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife." Now something I realized as Bishop preached on strife yesterday was that places in my life where I thought I was right about a situation, I had been holding ought against these 2 friends of mine. So I immediately made it right between them right after church and we are all ok now. Notice something in Proverbs26:20, it says "where no wood is the FIRE goeth out.." and in verse 21 it says, "as coals are to burning coals,and wood to FIRE.." If you notice that here strife is mostly compared with "FIRE." almost all throughout scripture strife is directly in coexistence with the words of our mouths. "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out:so where there is no TALBEARER strife ceaseth." FIRE SPREADS AND CONSUMES AND CORRUPTS EVERTHING IN ITS PATH JUST LIKE STRIFE SPOKEN WORDS.
Talebearers are people who can hold their tongues and go about to spread rumors these people are talbearers according to God's word(A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Prov.11:13) Strife is usually started by words there is evidence of this not only in our day but it Jesus' day.You will many times read that "a fame of Him spread abroad(Lk.4:37)" or "there was a division among them because of Him(Jn.7:43)" Jesus never caused strife but the words of His mouth were grevious to some; and because of the gracious words that came from His mouth many perverse men strived with His words and sought to kill Him because of it. Though Jesus is not a talebearer the principle of strife always starts with words whether the words were kind or grevious in some cases.
Finally James said it like this, "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell (James3:5-6). The bible says the tongue is a"world of inquity...it defleth the whole body," We have to learn to allow our verbage to mimic that of Jesus Christ. David said "The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word [was] in my tongue(2Sam.23:2)" We have that same Spirit in us.It is our duty to lend ourselves to the "wholesome words" of the Spirit instead of the "grevious words" of our flesh James 3:2 says, "..If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to BRIDLE the whole body." Strife is the author of sin in our lives. Are you struggling with habitual sin? and you find it hard to stop? well ask yourself, what have I been saying lately????
Let's kill strife where it starts saints...in our mouths.
God Bless
Talebearers are people who can hold their tongues and go about to spread rumors these people are talbearers according to God's word(A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Prov.11:13) Strife is usually started by words there is evidence of this not only in our day but it Jesus' day.You will many times read that "a fame of Him spread abroad(Lk.4:37)" or "there was a division among them because of Him(Jn.7:43)" Jesus never caused strife but the words of His mouth were grevious to some; and because of the gracious words that came from His mouth many perverse men strived with His words and sought to kill Him because of it. Though Jesus is not a talebearer the principle of strife always starts with words whether the words were kind or grevious in some cases.
Finally James said it like this, "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell (James3:5-6). The bible says the tongue is a"world of inquity...it defleth the whole body," We have to learn to allow our verbage to mimic that of Jesus Christ. David said "The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word [was] in my tongue(2Sam.23:2)" We have that same Spirit in us.It is our duty to lend ourselves to the "wholesome words" of the Spirit instead of the "grevious words" of our flesh James 3:2 says, "..If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to BRIDLE the whole body." Strife is the author of sin in our lives. Are you struggling with habitual sin? and you find it hard to stop? well ask yourself, what have I been saying lately????
Let's kill strife where it starts saints...in our mouths.
God Bless
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