Q: TRUE LOVE is a “person” that will lay down his life for “YOU”..Jesus laid down His life for “YOU” because He loves “YOU”…
A: I remember growing up in a religious home. Although, I wasn't saved I called myself a Christian despite that not being the case. One of the traditions I was taught to keep involved saying a prayer of confession each night in an effort to get my sins forgiven for that day. The prayer went something like this: "Father forgive me. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Amen." Little did I know at the time that not only was this prayer not granting me forgiveness, it was in effect putting Christ back up on the cross. Every time I said that prayer I was telling Jesus that His sacrifice was not enough. That He had forgotten to pay the penalty for the sins I was asking Him to forgive. Later, after I was saved, I no longer said that prayer, but I did something quite similar. Every Sunday, the pastor would have an "altar call." It was at this time that everybody in the congregation, burdened down by sin and guilt, would come to the front of the church and "rededicate" ourselves to God by promising that we would try harder the next week to stop sinning. Of course, it never worked and the whole church and myself would be up there again the following week promising to do the impossible. Again, I was telling Jesus that while God is no longer holding my sins again me, I am holding them against me and I "promise" to get myself under control.
Thankfully, in God's wonderful grace and mercy, He tolerated my ignorance when it came to what He did with my sins. I came to realize that my sins are so terrible that they require the death of God to pay for them. Not only that, I was born into this world forgiven of my sins. "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them (2 Cor 5:19)." Also, every time I say a prayer of confession asking for additional forgiveness, I am offering a sacrifice no longer required by God and that doesn't meet God's requirement to receive forgiveness. "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:17-18)." The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once for all and for eternity. "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb 10:14)." Because of the eternal redemption Jesus has purchased for my sins, the indwelling life of God, given as a free gift through His resurrection, will never leave me. That is why I have eternal life! When Jesus died on the cross, His last words were, "It is finished (John 19:30)." At that moment the sin issue between man and God was taken care of for all eternity. If I were there that day, at the foot of the cross, looking up to the Lord's savaged body, and asked Him "Why are You doing this?" His reply would have been something like, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13)." That is true love and He did it for you! Be blessed.
Q: What should Christians have there mind "set" on daily?
A: We have to be careful when answering this question. The answer can be found in Romans 8. "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires (Rom 8:5)."Many Christians make the mistake of believing that if they are sinning their mind is set on the flesh and, conversely, if they are not sinning their mind is set on the Spirit. I submit that your mind is on the flesh whether indulging the flesh in sin or restraining the flesh trying to avoid sin. The key to all this is found in verse 9 of the same chapter. "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ (Rom 8:9)." The verse clearly shows that if you are in Christ you are controlled by the Spirit. It is not about what you are doing, but all about who you are! Many Christians will come along and teach that you must identify those things which are good and those which are evil and then subject yourself to a life of obedience and repentance to those things that you have identified. This, regardless of how spiritual and well-intentioned it may be, is setting your mind on the flesh.
Let me illustrate this another way. How did the serpent, Satan, deceive Eve back in the Garden of Eden? He said to her, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen 3:5)." The lie of Satan was to get Adam and Eve pursuing the knowledge of good and evil in order to be like God. Here we are thousands of years later repeating the same lie and calling it the Christian life. Daily, we are taught to pursue the knowledge of good and evil through a lifestyle of obedience and repentance in order to be like God. Only, it isn't said so bluntly. We say things like you must "strive" to be a "better Christian," you have to "stop sinning" or that a person must be "more Christlike" in their walk. The only perfectly sinless person ever to walk the earth was Jesus Christ and He was God. So, if we are trying to be like Him we are trying to "be like God." The truth is that because of our faith in Christ, we are seen as perfect (Heb 10:10-14) and our sins are not being counted against us by God (2 Cor 5:19). Therefore, the only conclusion is to live a life of thankfulness by resting in Christ's finished work on the cross for us and resurrected life in us. The Christian life becomes a life of discovering to trust and depend on the Lord in the midst of our sinfulness because of who we are in Him. It is not a life of setting our minds on the flesh trying to be like Him through obedience and repentance to good and evil.
We were saved by faith and we live by faith. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11-12)." Remember, it is the grace of God, not obedience and repentance to a mind set on the flesh, that teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness. Sorry, for the length, but I hope this helps. May God continue to reveal to you the blessings you already have in His Son. Be blessed.
Q: What is the difference between walking in "Faith" and not "Worry"?
A: Faith is your response to the truth God has revealed to you. Worry comes from not believing what God has revealed to you. Faith is only as good as the object of that faith. The object of our faith is either going to be Jesus or ourselves. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1). How do we have assurance of things hoped for? We have assurance by putting faith in what Jesus has done for us and resting in that truth. Faith in Jesus says be anxious for nothing (Phil 4:6). Faith in ourselves says worry about everything. Faith in Jesus says "by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb 10:14)." Faith in ourselves says you're going to have to be better than that. Faith in Jesus says love "keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5)." Faith in ourselves says worry about how others are treating us. Faith in Jesus says, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Phil 4:11)." Faith in ourselves says I won't be happy until I finally get what I want. Faith in Jesus says, "first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye (Mat 7:5)." Faith in ourselves says to others that they could be the kind of Christian they ought to be if they would just change. Faith in Jesus says, "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Mat 6:34)." Faith in ourselves says I wonder what tomorrow will bring.
There is no rest and no joy when we do not trust in what Jesus has already done for us and place faith in that. Otherwise, we are doomed to a life of always worrying about if we are right with God. The choice is yours to make. Are you going to live by faith in what Jesus has already done for you or in what you are trying to do for Jesus? When our eyes are off of Him then they are either on ourselves, on others or both. "We live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7)." When we are walking by sight all we will see is our flaws, our lack of faith, our lack of commitment and those same things in others. That just leads to a life of misery. When we match our unfaithfulness up against the Lord's faithfulness all we can say is "thank you." Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for doing for me what I could never do for myself. Thank you for loving me when I couldn't do those things to prove my love for You. Thank you for showing me how to love others because You first loved me. Thank you for reminding me to put my trust in Your finished work and not to trust myself and my unfinished works. Thank you for telling me that "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it (1 Thes 5:24)." Now, I can put my faith in You to live the life through me that only You can live. Amen!
Q: Romans 12 says present your bodies as a "living sacrifice" holy and pleasing to God..What does that mean?
A: A "living sacrifice" is when a Christian responds to the love of God by making themselves available to the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit. All of us have the need to be loved by our God. God created us to have the desire for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning and purpose to life. He created us in such a way that those desires can only be fulfilled in Him. When a person does not feel these deep desires of their heart are being met through a relationship with their God, they are forced to try and get those needs met from the world. And all the world can offer can only be received through some form of sin. How many of us have sinned in order to be loved or accepted by others? Unfortunately, even when we do receive that love or acceptance, at best, it is only temporary and never entirely fulfilling. Therefore, we are forced to commit that sin again in order to try and achieve the same result. Often times it doesn't work and we increase the sin in our lives hoping to have that need met again, but also to get it to last longer. You only end up being mastered by sin. In a way, we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to sin rather than God. Keep in mind that we can be controlled by sin through subjecting ourselves to religious activity just as much as simply indulging our flesh. We cannot get the deep desires of our heart met by increasing the sin in our life (indulging the flesh) or by trying to decrease the sin in our life (religious activity).
It is written that God "has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3)." It also says that "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Ptr 1:3)." God has given us everything we need in Himself so we would not go looking for it outside of a relationship with Him. Knowing that we have had the deepest desires of our heart met in Him makes us want to offer our "bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (Rom 12:1)." We must ask ourselves two questions. One, do we feel God has met the deepest desires of our heart? And, two, if God has given us everything we need for life and godliness as well as blessed us with every spiritual blessing, what else do we need? God's will for this world is that none should "perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Ptr 3:9)." He wants to use us in order to see His will fulfilled. The only way He can use us properly is by giving us Himself so that we will not seek from the world that which it cannot provide. We have been given an inheritance through faith in Christ. That inheritance includes, but is not limited to, meeting the deepest desires of our heart. If we don't know what we have we will never rest in what He has given us. Therefore, we will not be able to offer ourselves as "living sacrifices" because we are too busy holding on to the things of this world. Be blessed.
Q: The bible says, the Holy Spirit is our "helper"..What does that mean?
A: A Helper, otherwise known as the Comforter, is someone who is called to the aid of another. In the Biblical sense the Holy Spirit is our advocate and intercessor. The Holy Spirit indwells each believer. It is the very life of God, originally breathed into Adam at Creation (Gen 2:7) restored to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As our Helper, the Holy Spirit leads us to a deeper knowledge of the truth of the Gospel, who we are in Christ, which enables us to have the strength and wisdom necessary to carry out the our ministry as ambassadors of Christ. He gives us the strength to endure the trials, persecutions and sufferings we will and have faced as Christians. "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord (Acts 9:31)."
As our advocate and intercessor the Holy Spirit acts on our behalf in dealing with God the Father. "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1-2)."
The perfect human example of this is a loving parent. When we are sick, they comfort us by reassuring us that everything will be alright. When we are uncertain of which direction to go, they guide us and give us direction based on their wisdom, knowledge and experience. When we do wrong they are forgiving and instruct us on the better way in which to represent the family. When we do good they are proud. When we fail they never leave our side. And because of their undying love and loyalty to us we take every opportunity we can to tell others about them and introduce them to our friends and loved ones. Because of all they have done and continue to do for us we take time to thank them for always being there for us. Whether we refer to the Holy Spirit as the Helper or the Comforter we can take heart in the fact that God is with us from now though eternity. Our Father is there for us at all times in whatever capacity we need Him. "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." (Rom 8:15)" I thank Jesus every day because only He knows how much help I need and how thankful I am to be His child. Be blessed.
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