Power for Regeneration

Man and his ways or God and His truth?

Was just hearing a lead story on the new technology they are putting in cars or least on the list to implement in the next months and years. Yet when I heard what this entailed I was shocked indeed! They are wanting these new cars of the future to know you and your emotions. They want the A.I. to determine if you are sorrowful, or happy. They gave a scenario where you get in this car from a long day at work and the A. I. will know ahead what to suggest to you for your evening of relaxation. It will even tell you what is showing that "is your favorite type of movie" and even tell you that it will purchase the tickets for you! I thought it was a reaching and rather far-fetched when grocery stores were telling you to send in your list to them of your needed items and they will shop for you. Then you can drive up to the sign in the parking lot of store and someone will bring your groceries out to you. Remember the days when shopping for groceries was a family thing. I do and always looked forward to that time with my mother and later with my husband and daughter.

I began to think how far we had come in such a short time. My husband and I had watched during the holiday season a story of American history on refrigeration, marketing meat and vegetables from the mid to late 19 century. And I was in awe that people survived without fresh meat on hand, but actually were purchasing tainted meat because of no refrigeration. Of course, this was graphic detail in that the people dress in that period of history type clothing from that century and also gave a look of the spoiled food. And men in suits were buying this produce on their way home from a days work. And men dressed that resembled clothes of the dock workers who brought off the loads of fish from the fishing boats, as well as some working women who left the manufacturing company for the day to make that special purchase. Oh, but the food was still questionable to me in that they had no refrigeration and were selling it on the streets in like the city of New York and Manhattan. 

The next thing to be invented was a hot sauce and it was invented to be strong enough to pour on the tainted meat when it was served on the table for the family. Again, I know not how people survived all that poisoning going on.  But many people wanted to get in on this business "thing" of creating that great hot sauce and they were just mean enough to add things like wood shavings into the product and yes it caused problems. Ingesting this man-made thing killed people, the young and old alike.

The twentieth century appeared and within that time many new products were discovered and many new things came on the market like Post Grape Nut Cereal that was a stolen idea from the Kellogg's brothers. Still more cereals were invented, more money was made and some people's lives became simpler and more stream-lined in being effective in their work, in the home in regards to meal preparation and especially to creating refrigeration for foods within the home and refrigeration for those stores being set up as markets! Cars were being invented, and even catsup was on the list!

With that in mind, do we regard a simpler life with God? Our lives were certainly made the better through salvation in the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By the Holy Spirit we have regeneration to live righteously being daily renewed by the Holy Spirit of God that works on our hearts and teaches us to avoid religion and legalism. It is in that power that we live, move and have our being.

But it is not for us to be lazy with no regard for our families, and it is not about us being catered to as in our emotions. Remember they make really bad masters! In studying God's word, we find Jesus came to serve. And He did that while He walked the earth and while He hung on a Cross. Are we serving those who we claim to love? For certainly, food has to be put together for a special dish for the family to enjoy or are we leaving a note where he, she or they can find some food in the refrigerator or the pantry to eat?

We should be able to prepare food for eating, and preparing a home for cleanliness and to work where finances are coming into our hands. But what do we do with the extra time we gain from someone else loving our family who diligently goes from aisle to aisle to find the items we require when we really need the exercise ourselves and to plan our meals to fit the days ahead for those we love and all that entails the busy lifestyles?

Certainly if you are disabled in body and not in your mind, this service might be a good thing. But in regard to that, how will that play out in our life and those we are an example in living for Christ and being readily available to help one in distress?

For you certainly will not be in the place to meet up with him or her who might need prayer or you might not be there in line at Costco when someone has lost a loved one or their wayward teen took off for the wilds of New York. The anointing on you will not be used to bring comfort to those who would be on your pathway, because you have someone else doing your job for you.

Power for Regeneration: Titus 3:3-7 NKJV for we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts & pleasures, living in malice & envy, hateful & hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration & renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

It is Holy Spirit Who regenerates life into our mortal being! He renews our hearts & life to look eternally with Him all the while He teaches us to avoid religion & legalism. It is in His power that we live, move and have our being that is by the peace, truth and humility found in Jesus Christ!

You and I must know what He spoke in the Gospels! That water of His word continually flowing in our lives will always increase to where it is without measure. It will appear as that river increasing to the ankles, to the knees and the loins to the point of where the river could not be crossed.

Found in Ezekiel 47 we find the healing waters and relates to us the that those flowing waters of blessing are to be anticipated by us in the Holy Spirit's work in believers, yes you and me!

The Holy Spirit reveals tomorrow John 16:13-15 However when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears he will speak, and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for he will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Are we captured by "next big thing"? Are we set to be the first on our block to have that new car that will analyze our body movements, those sighs, the tired breath, the slump posture of our body as we seat ourselves in the driver's seat, to escape the workday to only be talked to by something that sounds like a woman but really has no heart and no life! Seated to hear, the car that is given voice to speak in the thoughts of a non-human entity that will caress the flesh creature? And even more so, is that how many are swayed into its thinking so they begin to relax in what a machine is giving as solace to a human being.

Will creature comforts be better chased after than chasing life in God?

Back to John 16, it is the Holy Spirit's ministry to guide us His followers into all the truth. In this you and I have divine guidance and many have opportunity for the Spirit of God to ministry truth to them since He was given on the day of Pentecost! 

Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'seek  Me in vain', I, the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. It is in this relationship that God makes Himself known. This shows those who are pretenders, for only God speaks and Who reveals future!

So as Jesus taught by the Holy Spirit, He revealed the kingdom of God and in His speaking He was referring to the spiritual. So when He spoke of drinking His blood and eating His flesh, He referred to whether they would have a desire or even have a delight in Him! Would they continue with Him, but alas, His audience began to take an offense toward Him and this thing He spoke of. (John 6: 41-71)

Jesus spoke this: John 6:55  “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven -----not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead, He who eats this bread will live forever.”

The Matthew Henry Commentary wrote this: If the soul does not hunger and thirst, certainly it does not live. It is certain that you can have no spiritual life, unless you derive it from Christ by faith. Separated from Him, we can do nothing. Our bodies may as well live without meat as our souls without Christ.

 It is God Who draws men to Jesus! It is He who gives us grace and strength to come to Him. But He also draws our heart. Many turned away from Him and left His teachings.

John 6:60-69 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” 61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?” 62 “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?” 63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. 64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” 66 For that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter had recognized the eternal in Jesus when we read of it in John 6:68-69. Jesus told them that they would partake of the covenant blood of Christ in the means of being joined to God and receiving the benefits of His life. In this would we see the Christ as the covenant sacrifice and God’s provision for our sustenance?

What a declaration? What a stand for truth when others were walking away from Jesus. Pretenders were revealed!

Simon Peter called Jesus Lord. He was calling Him the authority. In this respect it is given to the one who is master, the teacher and is a title of respect.

So many walked away from the very “mystery” of Christ and His ultimate return for those who are His! We share Him in this life, and we partake of those promises that came to us through His work on the Cross!

The disciples agreed that He who had the words of eternal life, was also He would give eternal to all who would come to Him! What is the degree of our faith in belief towards Jesus? Where do we stand when things get 'hot' and everyone is trying to change what Jesus spoke in the kingdom of God? We really need to stay with Him who holds the word of eternal life!

Jesus had asked, " will you also go way?" Christ will never stop us if we choose to leave Him. The Holy Spirit is gentle and will not harass as some people harass. The Holy Spirit is there to give comfort, and to give us truth. And like Jesus, His ministry was comprised of those who followed Him and one who followed his own agenda. But the Lord knows those who are His and He will keep us in His truth. 

John 6:44-45 NKJV "No man can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I  will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall be taught by God'. Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. "

 Father thank You for this day You made for us! We give thanks for Jesus Who is Lord who has the words of eternal life. Father You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. (John 17:2) And this is the eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3) Jesus glorified YOU Father on the earth. He finished the work which You had given Him to do. (John 17:4)

The testimony: God has given eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the  Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

We give thanks today that eternal life is ours! As believers, assurance of eternal life began the moment we surrendered our lives to Jesus. We believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God who lived a perfect life, & then, obediently died the death we deserved, so we could be reconciled with God Who is our Father in heaven! We are thankful that Jesus defeated death when he rose from the dead on the third day just as He said He would. As Christ followers, we have the promise of eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” according to John 3:16!

By faith we enter abundant life through Jesus, who is the Door. We pray that we fight the good fight of faith, that we lay hold on eternal life to which we were also called and that we have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ( 1 Timothy 6:12) May we not miss one person we are to minister life to in this time we exist here in the community of which we reside. Help us Holy Spirit not to be selfish and self-centered but aware that much is going on and many people are losing their lives to be in hell forever!

Father, may our lives be maintained in You. We build ourselves up on our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit keeping ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Now to Him who is able to keep us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

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Righteousness and NOT RIGHTS

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PREPARATIONS

Recently saw the young woman who is out-swimming the males. She is coming up for the Olympics and she is phenomenal. They showed her in her practice swims, and though at ease, she broke her own time. And yes, she was swimming with males in practice. Her coach wanted her to train with them and try to keep pace with them, for he believed she had a quality and that it would come as she trained.
He was so right!
As individuals we certainly need to train ourselves. We must learn some cooking skills, paying bills, cleaning the area of earth the Lord has given us to take dominion over. I am amazed today how many men and women cannot cook up a meal. I remember my mother always telling me to stand by her side as she prepared a meal and consistently watch everything she did so I could take it and run one day with it as well. That worked for us when my mother went back to work when we were in high school. She did not have to worry about the evening meal being started. And she would finish it up when she arrived home.
It is all about preparations and if we do any kind of preparation for where we are headed. I have seen couples that we have known lose their loved one, and feel inadequate as they could not even boil water. Still others, I have seen take the role seriously, and continued to prepare meals for themselves when that loved one left this earth for glory!
I have seen our children teach their child to bake banana bread. They bring out all the ingredients, get her situated on the step, and hand her the measuring cups, and she is running with it! And she bakes up some really great banana bread with chocolate chips! Preparations!

So where are we headed? Where do we plan to be in a year or so? Tomorrow will surely come and how prepared for it are we at this moment?

Proverbs 14:8
8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand His way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.
NKJV

How true that the prudent will understand their way, but the fool will put off all that for another time and place. In deceit, they make up excuses about tomorrow and put off what really should be done today. Like growing older and making plans for leaving this earth certainly makes one stop and think about life and how short it is, but in truth we must make plans so whoever is left behind will have some satisfaction knowing everything was dealt with before leaving this earth. 

A lot of people do not want to make the needed goals, but rather set them aside and maybe ignore them for awhile longer.

Like Jesus, we too, must make goals, and see them made plain that we follow through to their completion. His of course was the purpose and the mission.

Luke 19:9

9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." 

NKJV

When we take time to "talk" with our Father Who is in heaven and relate to Him what we are experiencing, He will show us how to walk on through. It is allowing Him to show us the perfect plan and then how we are to implement it in our life. Surely when one faces some hard things in life, like finding the needed blood one might need in an emergency, and none matches your own, you certainly give heed to the direction of the Lord and how to proceed to make the needed changes that would help your spouse should anything occur all too quickly. But by faith we walk, with eyes on the God who can deliver. Walking by faith, is keeping that faith walk alive by speaking and preparing. It is not about leaving all to God, for He already did everything He was going to do. It is up to us to obey and do now what He has spoken for us to do.

James 4:13-17

13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. NIV

Yes, we can certainly make our plans, and in the long run most never come to fruition. Some I have noted of late is of people who make a plan, went on vacation when they should have stayed home, and then died on the vacation trip. So the spouse had to deal with bringing them home. Now I am sure this does not happen all the time, but of late I hear it happening a lot of the time. 

We should always ask the Lord's plan or will for the specific thing we are planning and if we are to move then God would have His seal of approval on it. And I know by experience it took us two years many decades ago, to really move from where we were at. But God kept speaking to us about moving from where we were at to get TO WHERE WE NEEDED TO BE!

YES, not obeying is sin! 

So do we have anything today that is disabling us from being the individual who can cope with great change? Are we willing to learn to wash clothes, clean a house, cook a meal or even care for a spouse who might need it? These are just questions, but they need to be addressed.

Will we come out on the other side of a loss with hope in our hearts that we can continue to live on with a cheerful attitude or will we be the grumpy and the unforgiving sort.

Consciously we should seek to be educated on what we lack knowledge on and then to be informed of what changes must take place.

I know when my grandfather had passed many years ago, he had left my grandmother well cared for. She had money in the bank and a new home to live in. Yes she lived alone but had many guests frequently dropping by for a glass of sweet tea or just to chat. She had a life to continue with and lived many decades after his death. She never remarried but remained faithful to the marriage she was devoted to. And when she passed, she left an inheritance to her children's children.

God is for us. He has the best for us, but we must get moving on learning all that we must learn and deal with hard questions and those things that may seem terrible right now, but will bring peace and satisfaction to those we leave behind.

We must want to practice victory everyday. It starts by getting out of bed in the morning and dressing for the day. We are to walk in triumph for all things have been given to us. 

Yes, the enemy may come with circumstances and even thoughts, but we are to walk in the steps of the Lord that is righteousness. Sing out in triumph and know it is not over till God gives you the nod that it is time to go HOME! Today we must rejoice for we boiled that egg and it appeared cooked in the middle. And hey, I did not burn the toast, although the cornbread I did bake fell apart while taking it out of the pan, I could still put a little butter on it. I like to bake and try new recipes but they do not always turn out for me. But for my husband, well, he loves to cook up new recipes and we always have fun in the kitchen together!

Isaiah 57:19-21

19 "I create the fruit of the lips:

Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,"

Says the LORD,

"And I will heal him." 

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea,

When it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 

21 "There is no peace,"

Says my God, "for the wicked."     NKJV

The fruit on our lips must be for peace, for ourselves and for our loved ones. As we take the opportunity to give praise to God, we are healed of any sorrow or pain, and we gain our victory for each day that we praise. Whatever the trial or tribulation, we must be the prepared to continue to walk in that peace of God.  May our confidence be in God and hold onto to His truths as we make our way into eternity.

Father, You cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus. We are thankful for Jesus and all that He did for us on the Cross. We pray to be the diligent who will make preparations as individuals and for the welfare of our loved ones, so that whatever may occur we will be the prepared and not the fool! Help us in dealing with any change. Show us Your plan and purpose for us as we make our way through this life and how to enter eternity with Your thoughts for us.  Jesus said that we must deny ourselves and take up His cross to follow Him (Matthew 16:24) Following Jesus requires us, Father,  to change our plans, although  sounding really good, those plans may not be the best for us. Help us to know when we are tying to make deals with You and know that we must not INSIST ON OUR OWN WAY THROUGH DAILY LIVING BUT A CONTINUAL SURRENDERING  our life to Jesus.
We desire to have no struggle over this area of decision making as we make those lasting decisions to help our loved ones. Our desire is to make life easier and to bring peace when all is set and done. We know we are promised long lives and we truly seek that long life following Your voice as You lead us down that path of righteousness. Thank You today for Your plan that is one of ease for our lives. Today we will choose to fill our minds with Your words and focus on Your thoughts for us that are for our good and not for evil to give us hope in our final outcome. It is in Jesus' s holy name we pray. Amen.

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