Q: The Father (Jesus) “hears” your cry.
A: Have you ever had so much on your mind that all you said when you prayed was "Help!"? That is okay to do. In fact, the next time you take a moment to pray do not say anything at all. Just listen. God knows your heart. He knows your circumstances. And He knows your needs. Trust Him. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes with groans that words cannot express (Rom 8:26)." Go to that quiet place spoken of in scripture. Be yourself and let it all out. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Cor 1:3-4)." Be blessed.
Q: Worldly sorrow and Godly sorrow; what's the difference?
A: If you know what salvation is then this question is easily answered. Often times people will say that worldly sorrow is being sorry for getting caught committing a sin and Godly sorrow is sorrow felt over grieving God or words to that effect. While, that is fine, I don't believe that is what the passage in scripture, where this question comes from, is talking about. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." Notice how Godly sorrow is equated with repentance that leads to salvation and worldly sorrow with that which brings death? Salvation is the restoration of the life of God, lost in Adam, to those who who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. All mankind is born spiritually dead in their sins without the life of God indwelling us. When our sins lead us to the recognition that we are dead to God we repent, turn from our unbelief in Jesus Christ to belief in Him, and we receive the life of God, made available through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as a free gift. That life is an eternal life because there is no sin that can cause that life to leave, like it did in the Garden of Eden, because of the eternal redemption obtained by Jesus Christ.
Worldly sorrow, on the other hand, keeps a person dead in their sins. Regardless of how a person feels about their sin, if it doesn't lead them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ it brings death. They remain spiritually dead to God and, ultimately, will experience the second death, eternal separation from Him in hell. Remember, true repentance isn't about "I used to commit this sin now I don't." That is because any sin you stop you can easily start doing again. True repentance is a one time event when you are saved from the consequences of sin, death, by the gift of God, life, found in Christ. As Mark said, ""The time has come... "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15)!"" Two key points to remember is that God is not counting our sins against us and, two, the Holy Spirit does not convict a believer of the sin in their life. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that God is "not counting men's sins against them." Jesus said in John 16:9 that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and that sin is "men do not believe in me." Worldly sorrow may lead a person to change and try and better themselves. But, if it doesn't bring them to the end of themselves they will remain dead. Thus, they have not experienced the Godly sorrow which leads them to salvation in the life of Christ. Be blessed.
Q: Why is it important for us Christians to "renew" our minds with the word of God daily?
A: he first word of Romans 12 is "Therefore." This means that what is to follow is a conclusion to what was said in Romans 11. The verse to remember in Romans 11 is verse 32. "For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." The disobedience of all men, specifically the Jews, is that we are bound up to living a life of obedience and repentance. The Jews, like many Christians today, believe that through adherence to the Mosaic law, or denominational principles if your a Christian, would result in them being pleasing to God. Because of this they missed out on what God was offering that could only be obtained through faith. When you are trying to be obedient to rules designed to modify your behavior you are mistakenly believing that you can be obedient to God. And someone who believes they can be obedient to God does not need His mercy. Mercy is having punishment withheld for your disobedience. Obedience is believing God owes you His blessing for your successful behavior. But, those who realize they can't be obedient "enter" into Romans 12.
Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore...in view of God's mercy." This means to take into account God's mercy in light of the fact that you will never be obedient. The verse goes on to say to offer our bodies as "living sacrifices." This is the byproduct of resting in what God has freely given us through faith in Jesus Christ because of His obedience. Thus, we come to Romans 12:2. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The renewing of your mind is the continual discovery of all that you have inherited through faith. God's will is what He has given us through faith, not what we obtain through obedience. When we discover that we have received His unconditional love, total acceptance and now have meaning and purpose to our lives we will no longer conform to the pattern of this world. And what is the pattern of this world? Living a life of obedience. There is virtually nothing in this world that isn't obtained through diligent self effort. We either earn a reward through obedience or suffer punishment through our disobedience. That is what God wants to remove from our mind. He wants us to rest from that "pattern" and allow Him to live through us. And that is why we must renew our minds so we will stop trying to obtain through obedience what has already been given through faith. Be blessed.
Q: If a person says they "love" Jesus but "hates" his brother(people),does he or she really love Jesus?
A: Yes, in one sense. " If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26)." According to this passage if you love Jesus you will not only hate your brother, but your sister, your parents, your wife, your children and even your life. Jesus is using what is called a Hebrew idiom. These are phrases that mean something different from the literal meaning of the words they use. For example, in the English language we use phrases like "hit the ceiling," "kill time," or "eat your heart out." Without proper context these phrases make little sense. However, what Jesus was saying here is that in comparison to loving Him, it may look like we hate others. In other words, it means we love Jesus more than we would our brothers, sisters, parents, family and life.
For example, in Matthew 8 we read where Jesus was calling his disciples and this exchange occurred. '"Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead (Mat 8:21-22)."' Now, your average person would ask, "How can you not bury your own father? Don't you love him?" This could easily be interpreted as hating your father. Just imagine how your family might feel if you chose to do something you felt the Lord was leading you to do rather than attending your father's funeral. Some might conclude you hated your father. But, in reality, you love your father. It is just that you love your Father in Heaven more. Every day we make decisions that seem strange to the world, but in reality are just our responding to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Despite the personal cost to us, God loves us so much, why wouldn't we want to respond to His guidance? Be blessed.
Q: What is the difference between walking in "Spirit" and not the "flesh"(old-sinful nature)?
A: he difference is that walking in the Spirit is serving others in love with the love you are receiving from God, whereas walking in the flesh is trying to prove you love God by trying not to sin. Walking in the Spirit is learning to trust and depend on God in the midst of your sins. Walking in the flesh is trying to live an impossible life of obedience and repentance trying to get your flesh under control.Titus 2:11-12 says "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." The grace of God teaches us to say "No" by reminding us of how much God has loved us and who we are in Him. And when you are loving others with the love God has shown you then you will not be sinning against them. "Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10)." Loving others is walking by the Spirit.
The Bible says that "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law (1 Cor 15:56)." Want to experience the power of sin? Try living a life of obedience and repentance. All you will discover is that you can't stop sinning. In order to obey and repent you have to establish the "laws" that one must live by. You also must establish the blessings and curses for your ability to live up to those laws. And we all know that if promises of blessings or threats of curses stopped anybody from sinning we would have stopped sinning a long time ago. Those who teach law are very subtle. They will say things like, "If you love God then you will do _______ and won't do ________." Then they fill in what those things you are to do and not do. Usually, they are those things that they believe are the "easiest" to do. Don't gossip, don't lie, don't cheat or steal, honor your parents, give money, attend church, etc. In other words they put you under their own law. And they inject a little guilt by saying if you loved God you would do it. Then when you repeatedly fail your only thought is that you don't love God and He doesn't love you. Get your focus off of your flesh and on to Jesus. Remember, the Spirit says love others as I have loved you. The flesh says don't sin to prove you love God. There is a difference. Be blessed.
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