Listen to this message as taught at SHINE BRIGHT Church in Tucson, AZ.
Let’s turn to REVELATION 5 where the all-important question of the ages was asked regarding the title deed (indicating ownership) of the Earth, that’s described there as a “scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals”: The question: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loosen its seals?”
Who can claim ownership? Notice that when this question was asked, Satan didn’t step forward and make that claim, even though currently, temporarily he is the ruler of this present world system (2 COR 4:4).
Apostle John wept because no one was stepping forward; he understood that if no one came forward to claim that title deed, then all the world would be unredeemed – not saved from the wrath of GOD; not saved from His holy judgment to come. The stakes couldn’t possibly be any higher!
But then – glory to GOD! – this happened:
REVELATION 5:6-14
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures [probably cherubim – a super-class of angels], and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes [representing omnipotence and omniscience], which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; [how?] for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders [who I believe are representative of the church]; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands [in other words, an innumerable multitude of angels and saved souls (saints)].
Also remember in REVELATION 7 we see “a great multitude which no one could number” which are those believers who come out of the great tribulation period of seven years…
I did some approximate calculations based on those numbers and came up with 5 quadrillion, and I suspect that the population of heaven will be ever greater than this. But 5 quadrillion – how can we wrap our minds around that number?
If you had 5 quadrillion matchsticks, standing upright, snugly fitting against each other – how big of an area would this cover? More than 6 million football fields! That’s a LOT of worshipers! And in vs. 12 those worshipers are…
12 saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" 14 Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
One day – one Blessed Day, you and I who are born again in Christ are going to see and participate in this very scene which those beloved, dearly departed saints we know are seeing and participating in right now as we are assembled here!
Picture it – if you can!
We’ve been translated from this wicked world of sin and ushered into that heavenly atmosphere of pure holiness and sublime peace, experiencing ultimate freedom from the extracted sin nature, and knowing for the first time what it feels like to be perfected in holiness!
We are finally there, to the place our LORD promised us! We stand in mind-blowing awe at the glories of heaven, catching sight of saints we’ve read about all of our lives – Adam and Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Job, Joseph, David, Esther, Samuel, Ruth, Isaiah and the rest of the prophets – and the greatest of prophets: John the Baptist, along with his folks – Zechariah and Elizabeth. And the twelve apostles are all there, along with Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdelene! And all the of angels beyond count which we will be privileged to be introduced to.
We’re standing shoulder to shoulder, in the midst of saints and angels, all dressed in robes whiter than snow, more brilliant than the sun. Like an ocean of gleaming white stretching farther than our glorified eyes can see, we can hear wave after wave after wave of thundering worship and praise – or as Chris Tomlin put it, “A Holy Roar”, washing up to that holy throne where our precious LORD Jesus, with eyes shining with eternal love and a countenance of noble authority and kingly dignity sees us with divine joy!.
And we cry, “HOLY AND TRUE ARE YOU LORD Of GLORY, WHO SAVED US FROM DAMNATION AND FOR SALVATION AND PERPETUAL PEACE IN YOUR KINGDOM, AS CITIZENS AND CHILDREN OF GOD!”
Saints – eternity won’t be long enough to express how glorious and worthy JESUS is of our worship and thankfulness, devotion, and our love and obedience. Can’t you just wait to give GOD this kind of glorious worship that He deserves when we see Him face to Face? What a JOY it is to worship GOD, what a privilege – and how humble our highly exalted and glorious GOD is, that He would be content – blessed even, to receive worship from us lowly creatures!
Do you want to give GOD this kind of worship and glory in the here and now? It’s completely doable and will equally bless our Father’s heart as when we see Him in His visible Kingdom!
How, you might ask:
In JOHN’s Gospel, chapter 15, our LORD Jesus identifies Himself as the true Vine – and you and I, His disciples are the branches. And vines are meant to bear fruit – and so are we:
JOHN 15:4,7-8
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
The moment you repented of your life of sin and then received Christ as your LORD, as your Savior, He came and indwelt you – that’s “Christ [abiding] in you – the hope of glory” (COL 1:27). You are His holy temple where He alone is to be worshiped on the throne of your heart!
So then how do we abide in Christ? The LORD states here that we can’t produce fruit unless we abide in Him – it’s not enough that He abides in us, we must abide in Him. How do we do that? He tells us how in vs. 7:
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…”
We must begin the process of the Holy Scriptures abiding in us – that’s not just reading the Bible, and memorizing verses, though that is absolutely essential, entirely necessary – hiding the Word of GOD in our hearts can keep us from sin (PSA 119:11) but there’s more to it:
MATTHEW 7:24
"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, [the sayings of Jesus – really, that’s the Word of GOD from GENESIS to REVELATION, because He is the Word] and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the Rock: (and it's not talking about Dwayne Johnson!).
You see, the first part of abiding in Christ is taking in His Word like the spiritual food that it is – then, like with natural food, this energizes you so that you can accomplish your work for the LORD. And that’s the second part of abiding in Christ – “hearing” or reading or meditating on the Word is the first part; obeying is what “whoever… does” the Word, these sayings of JESUS: that’s the second part of abiding in Christ.
Taking in the Word of GOD, that’s the inflow; living out what the Word of GOD instructs us, that is the outflow – and like any body of water, if it has an inlet and an outlet, it will be vibrant with life! But take either one of those two channels of water away and that body of water will either dry up or become stagnant.
Saints that are so busy doing for the LORD that they haven’t got time for the Word – their inlet is gone and they will eventually dry up. And those who are all about reading and studying the Word, but it’s all head knowledge that they don’t do anything with, they have no outlet; they will experience spiritual stagnation.
So by partaking of and practicing the Word Inspired (That’s the Bible) we are abiding in the Word Incarnate – that’s the LORD Jesus!
Then in JOHN 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
If you aren’t sure what GOD’s calling is for your life, remain in uncertainty no longer! It says here that GOD has appointed you, just like He appointed those fishermen as His apostles! What is GOD’s appointment for you? To bear fruit, lasting fruit that will remain until He comes back one Day, looks at your fruitful life and says, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your LORD!”
“By this [our] Father is glorified, that [we] bear much fruit; so will [we] be [Christ’s] disciples.”
How is this fruit manifested in our lives? What does it look like practically speaking?
JOHN 13:34-35
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
You want to identify with being a disciple of Christ? Abide in His Word just as He abides in you. Also: love one another as Christ loves us all – that’s an impossibility in our own power. Sure, we can love one another with our own imperfect, human love (that could potentially fail), but that’s not according to the high calling that our LORD calls us to! And to do that, we are completely helpless on our own!
Without Christ’s power we are as helpless as an empty glove that could do nothing to offer comfort or help to another. But if you put your hand in that glove, that glove is empowered to do anything that the hand can do – and so, we can comfort and help and love one another as Christ loves us, if we trust and depend on His indwelling Spirit.
We need to abide in Him, allowing His Spirit to flow through us; and saints – unless we let sin go, He isn’t going to flow!
I’m talking about unforgiveness, bitterness of heart, esteeming others as more lowly than yourself (pride), taking offense where none is intended, all the works of the flesh (GAL 5:19-21) – these will clog us up spiritually so that what the LORD intends to do with us, manifesting His love and grace, His truth and righteousness – won’t happen. And we won’t be glorifying our Father and the LORD Jesus in heaven…
JOHN 8:31-32
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free [KJV “…set you free”].
Again, abiding in His Word in both capacities: in taking in His Word and putting it into practice – that’s the mark of a disciple!
And all those sinful habits and issues that tangle us up, that entrap and enslave us! The LORD Jesus says here that we “shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”!
Now being all about the Word of GOD is vital – but so is prayer; we need both. In fact in addition to those two, we also need regular fellowship with the saints – that is church attendance.
If you’re in a boat, rowing with only one oar, you’ll just go in circles – you won’t get anywhere. Switch sides with that oar will result in the same thing, spinning around just in the opposite direction. But use both oars together, that’s how you get to where you’re going! You’ll make progress to your destination!
That represents the Word of GOD, and prayer – your two spiritual oars in the Christian life. And – if you include others in that boat of yours, that’s more power – you’ll make your destination a lot sooner. Having others row together with you in your little boat, that’s what we call “the fellow-ship!”
Suppose someone heard that you wanted to plant a vegetable garden, and they decided to bless you with a plot of land, free of charge! With great thanks, you hop in your car and speed off to go and inspect this land; excited as you think about what sort of crop you want to grow.
You arrive on site only to discover that the land is full of dry, brittle thorny bush, and tree roots, and rocks. The soil is fertile enough, but it’s hard and full of all that junk – are you going to have a healthy garden? No – you’ve got to clear the land! You’ve got to plow that hard ground, make it suitable for planting!
Here’s a little homework for you (I always like to give you some reading assignment for when you go home): MATTHEW 13:1-43.
See, that plot of land is what sin is like in our lives; it prohibits, it stalls, it stifles spiritual growth and thereby spiritual fruit. But our LORD has provided the solution for us!
LUKE 9:23-25
23 … "If anyone desires to come after Me [be His disciple], let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
This is also the mark of a disciple! Did you know that “disciple” and “discipline” come from the same root word? To follow Christ we must live a disciplined life, not indulging in sin, or even legitimate, temporal blessings to an inappropriate excess. We are to “deny ourselves” and take up our cross “daily”! Daily?? Why not annually LORD? Or bi-annually? OK, what about monthly? Weekly?
No – daily. To die to sin, to carnal desires, to anything and everything that is contrary to the holy will of GOD, this means taking up the cross. What does this look like in practical terms?
You already know those areas in your life that are vulnerabilities – those things or even people – that show up and you feel that “tug” in your mind, that attraction to that “forbidden fruit”. In such times, you are to offer up a prayerful cry for help to the LORD Who understands how weak we are, in and of ourselves:
HEBREWS 4:15-16
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted [tested] as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Count on GOD’s help to come through for you – as you do your part: declare and submit to the truth of GOD just as apostle Paul did in the book of GALATIANS:
GALATIANS 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Just as Christ died on the Cross FOR my sin, I count myself as dead on that Cross by faith, TO my sin! By doing that, this is like extracting all those rocks and roots, and junk that interferes with that plot of land I want to grow crops in!
You know what happened three days after Christ died on the Cross – He rose again with resurrection life, and so will you once the Cross has done its work in you for today! And tomorrow. This is the two sides of the same coin: dying to self and letting Christ’s life grow character in me by His resurrection power.
And as the character of Christ grows in you, this will glorify our Father and transform you day by day into the person GOD desires you to be, with a life potent enough to touch the lives around you – and draw them to the Savior!
Such a life as this will produce an abundance of good fruit and good works, for which there will be eternal reward!
Nothing you can earn or win in this world will last – only that which is “grown by Jesus” in the lives of His disciples will last.
LUKE 9:25
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
1 PETER 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
GALATIANS 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Replace “fruit of the Spirit” with the name of JESUS and see how it fits (perfectly!). Then put your own name in here – that will tell you where and how you need to grow!
The word “walk” here refers to a march as in the military – everything in order, everyone in step to the obedience of the commanding officer. So if we have life by the Spirit of GOD, it will become evident as we are living a life of love and obedience towards GOD.
For more on this, check out the following:
AFTER HIS KIND
CHRISTLIKE or CORRUPTED
I did some approximate calculations based on those numbers and came up with 5 quadrillion, and I suspect that the population of heaven will be ever greater than this. But 5 quadrillion – how can we wrap our minds around that number?
If you had 5 quadrillion matchsticks, standing upright, snugly fitting against each other – how big of an area would this cover? More than 6 million football fields! That’s a LOT of worshipers! And in vs. 12 those worshipers are…
12 saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" 14 Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
One day – one Blessed Day, you and I who are born again in Christ are going to see and participate in this very scene which those beloved, dearly departed saints we know are seeing and participating in right now as we are assembled here!
Picture it – if you can!
We’ve been translated from this wicked world of sin and ushered into that heavenly atmosphere of pure holiness and sublime peace, experiencing ultimate freedom from the extracted sin nature, and knowing for the first time what it feels like to be perfected in holiness!
We are finally there, to the place our LORD promised us! We stand in mind-blowing awe at the glories of heaven, catching sight of saints we’ve read about all of our lives – Adam and Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Job, Joseph, David, Esther, Samuel, Ruth, Isaiah and the rest of the prophets – and the greatest of prophets: John the Baptist, along with his folks – Zechariah and Elizabeth. And the twelve apostles are all there, along with Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdelene! And all the of angels beyond count which we will be privileged to be introduced to.
We’re standing shoulder to shoulder, in the midst of saints and angels, all dressed in robes whiter than snow, more brilliant than the sun. Like an ocean of gleaming white stretching farther than our glorified eyes can see, we can hear wave after wave after wave of thundering worship and praise – or as Chris Tomlin put it, “A Holy Roar”, washing up to that holy throne where our precious LORD Jesus, with eyes shining with eternal love and a countenance of noble authority and kingly dignity sees us with divine joy!.
And we cry, “HOLY AND TRUE ARE YOU LORD Of GLORY, WHO SAVED US FROM DAMNATION AND FOR SALVATION AND PERPETUAL PEACE IN YOUR KINGDOM, AS CITIZENS AND CHILDREN OF GOD!”
Saints – eternity won’t be long enough to express how glorious and worthy JESUS is of our worship and thankfulness, devotion, and our love and obedience. Can’t you just wait to give GOD this kind of glorious worship that He deserves when we see Him face to Face? What a JOY it is to worship GOD, what a privilege – and how humble our highly exalted and glorious GOD is, that He would be content – blessed even, to receive worship from us lowly creatures!
Do you want to give GOD this kind of worship and glory in the here and now? It’s completely doable and will equally bless our Father’s heart as when we see Him in His visible Kingdom!
How, you might ask:
In JOHN’s Gospel, chapter 15, our LORD Jesus identifies Himself as the true Vine – and you and I, His disciples are the branches. And vines are meant to bear fruit – and so are we:
JOHN 15:4,7-8
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
The moment you repented of your life of sin and then received Christ as your LORD, as your Savior, He came and indwelt you – that’s “Christ [abiding] in you – the hope of glory” (COL 1:27). You are His holy temple where He alone is to be worshiped on the throne of your heart!
So then how do we abide in Christ? The LORD states here that we can’t produce fruit unless we abide in Him – it’s not enough that He abides in us, we must abide in Him. How do we do that? He tells us how in vs. 7:
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…”
We must begin the process of the Holy Scriptures abiding in us – that’s not just reading the Bible, and memorizing verses, though that is absolutely essential, entirely necessary – hiding the Word of GOD in our hearts can keep us from sin (PSA 119:11) but there’s more to it:
MATTHEW 7:24
"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, [the sayings of Jesus – really, that’s the Word of GOD from GENESIS to REVELATION, because He is the Word] and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the Rock: (and it's not talking about Dwayne Johnson!).
You see, the first part of abiding in Christ is taking in His Word like the spiritual food that it is – then, like with natural food, this energizes you so that you can accomplish your work for the LORD. And that’s the second part of abiding in Christ – “hearing” or reading or meditating on the Word is the first part; obeying is what “whoever… does” the Word, these sayings of JESUS: that’s the second part of abiding in Christ.
Taking in the Word of GOD, that’s the inflow; living out what the Word of GOD instructs us, that is the outflow – and like any body of water, if it has an inlet and an outlet, it will be vibrant with life! But take either one of those two channels of water away and that body of water will either dry up or become stagnant.
Saints that are so busy doing for the LORD that they haven’t got time for the Word – their inlet is gone and they will eventually dry up. And those who are all about reading and studying the Word, but it’s all head knowledge that they don’t do anything with, they have no outlet; they will experience spiritual stagnation.
So by partaking of and practicing the Word Inspired (That’s the Bible) we are abiding in the Word Incarnate – that’s the LORD Jesus!
Then in JOHN 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
If you aren’t sure what GOD’s calling is for your life, remain in uncertainty no longer! It says here that GOD has appointed you, just like He appointed those fishermen as His apostles! What is GOD’s appointment for you? To bear fruit, lasting fruit that will remain until He comes back one Day, looks at your fruitful life and says, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your LORD!”
“By this [our] Father is glorified, that [we] bear much fruit; so will [we] be [Christ’s] disciples.”
How is this fruit manifested in our lives? What does it look like practically speaking?
JOHN 13:34-35
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
You want to identify with being a disciple of Christ? Abide in His Word just as He abides in you. Also: love one another as Christ loves us all – that’s an impossibility in our own power. Sure, we can love one another with our own imperfect, human love (that could potentially fail), but that’s not according to the high calling that our LORD calls us to! And to do that, we are completely helpless on our own!
Without Christ’s power we are as helpless as an empty glove that could do nothing to offer comfort or help to another. But if you put your hand in that glove, that glove is empowered to do anything that the hand can do – and so, we can comfort and help and love one another as Christ loves us, if we trust and depend on His indwelling Spirit.
We need to abide in Him, allowing His Spirit to flow through us; and saints – unless we let sin go, He isn’t going to flow!
I’m talking about unforgiveness, bitterness of heart, esteeming others as more lowly than yourself (pride), taking offense where none is intended, all the works of the flesh (GAL 5:19-21) – these will clog us up spiritually so that what the LORD intends to do with us, manifesting His love and grace, His truth and righteousness – won’t happen. And we won’t be glorifying our Father and the LORD Jesus in heaven…
JOHN 8:31-32
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free [KJV “…set you free”].
Again, abiding in His Word in both capacities: in taking in His Word and putting it into practice – that’s the mark of a disciple!
And all those sinful habits and issues that tangle us up, that entrap and enslave us! The LORD Jesus says here that we “shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”!
Now being all about the Word of GOD is vital – but so is prayer; we need both. In fact in addition to those two, we also need regular fellowship with the saints – that is church attendance.
If you’re in a boat, rowing with only one oar, you’ll just go in circles – you won’t get anywhere. Switch sides with that oar will result in the same thing, spinning around just in the opposite direction. But use both oars together, that’s how you get to where you’re going! You’ll make progress to your destination!
That represents the Word of GOD, and prayer – your two spiritual oars in the Christian life. And – if you include others in that boat of yours, that’s more power – you’ll make your destination a lot sooner. Having others row together with you in your little boat, that’s what we call “the fellow-ship!”
Suppose someone heard that you wanted to plant a vegetable garden, and they decided to bless you with a plot of land, free of charge! With great thanks, you hop in your car and speed off to go and inspect this land; excited as you think about what sort of crop you want to grow.
You arrive on site only to discover that the land is full of dry, brittle thorny bush, and tree roots, and rocks. The soil is fertile enough, but it’s hard and full of all that junk – are you going to have a healthy garden? No – you’ve got to clear the land! You’ve got to plow that hard ground, make it suitable for planting!
Here’s a little homework for you (I always like to give you some reading assignment for when you go home): MATTHEW 13:1-43.
See, that plot of land is what sin is like in our lives; it prohibits, it stalls, it stifles spiritual growth and thereby spiritual fruit. But our LORD has provided the solution for us!
LUKE 9:23-25
23 … "If anyone desires to come after Me [be His disciple], let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
This is also the mark of a disciple! Did you know that “disciple” and “discipline” come from the same root word? To follow Christ we must live a disciplined life, not indulging in sin, or even legitimate, temporal blessings to an inappropriate excess. We are to “deny ourselves” and take up our cross “daily”! Daily?? Why not annually LORD? Or bi-annually? OK, what about monthly? Weekly?
No – daily. To die to sin, to carnal desires, to anything and everything that is contrary to the holy will of GOD, this means taking up the cross. What does this look like in practical terms?
You already know those areas in your life that are vulnerabilities – those things or even people – that show up and you feel that “tug” in your mind, that attraction to that “forbidden fruit”. In such times, you are to offer up a prayerful cry for help to the LORD Who understands how weak we are, in and of ourselves:
HEBREWS 4:15-16
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted [tested] as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Count on GOD’s help to come through for you – as you do your part: declare and submit to the truth of GOD just as apostle Paul did in the book of GALATIANS:
GALATIANS 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Just as Christ died on the Cross FOR my sin, I count myself as dead on that Cross by faith, TO my sin! By doing that, this is like extracting all those rocks and roots, and junk that interferes with that plot of land I want to grow crops in!
You know what happened three days after Christ died on the Cross – He rose again with resurrection life, and so will you once the Cross has done its work in you for today! And tomorrow. This is the two sides of the same coin: dying to self and letting Christ’s life grow character in me by His resurrection power.
And as the character of Christ grows in you, this will glorify our Father and transform you day by day into the person GOD desires you to be, with a life potent enough to touch the lives around you – and draw them to the Savior!
Such a life as this will produce an abundance of good fruit and good works, for which there will be eternal reward!
Nothing you can earn or win in this world will last – only that which is “grown by Jesus” in the lives of His disciples will last.
LUKE 9:25
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
1 PETER 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
PHILIPPIANS 1:9-11
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
GALATIANS 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Replace “fruit of the Spirit” with the name of JESUS and see how it fits (perfectly!). Then put your own name in here – that will tell you where and how you need to grow!
The word “walk” here refers to a march as in the military – everything in order, everyone in step to the obedience of the commanding officer. So if we have life by the Spirit of GOD, it will become evident as we are living a life of love and obedience towards GOD.
For more on this, check out the following:
AFTER HIS KIND
CHRISTLIKE or CORRUPTED
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