Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. John 12:24-25
When a farmers plants a seed, he wants it to die. When it dies, it rots, it germinates, and brings for 30, 60, or 100 grains out of each seed. If it doesn’t die, it remains alone. Jesus wants the same blessing for us, so He gives us instructions to die. Die to this world and gain more in the eternal world. The devil wasn’t a good farmer. If he was, he wouldn’t have wanted Jesus to die, or us. If he can keep us all alive to this world, we will be his for eternity. The call to discipleship is the call to die.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Grace for your spirit August 12, 2008
For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. Philippians 2:20
This is the apostle Paul’s description of Timothy. He sends this letter to encourage the church at Philippi about Timothy’s arrival. What a resume! He has a kindred spirit. He gets along with people, and is genuinely interested in your problems and your welfare. That is exactly the kind of person every church needs. This kind of person will further the gospel and make every effort to build up all disciples. Any one of us could be a disciple just like Timothy. When we decide to rekindle the spirit that is within us, this will be the results. Just a few of these kinds of people could transform any church. Let’s all decide to be one.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
This is the apostle Paul’s description of Timothy. He sends this letter to encourage the church at Philippi about Timothy’s arrival. What a resume! He has a kindred spirit. He gets along with people, and is genuinely interested in your problems and your welfare. That is exactly the kind of person every church needs. This kind of person will further the gospel and make every effort to build up all disciples. Any one of us could be a disciple just like Timothy. When we decide to rekindle the spirit that is within us, this will be the results. Just a few of these kinds of people could transform any church. Let’s all decide to be one.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Monday, August 11, 2008
Grace for your spirit August 11, 2008
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong I Corinthians 1:27
Our excuses for not serving the Lord and mankind are pretty flimsy. We may say we aren’t wise enough, or we are too weak. We might say God is looking for wise people and strong people to do His work. We sometimes boast about our limitations and lack of ability to stay out of His work. God really wants the foolish and the weak to do His work and will. In that case, most of us are perfectly qualified. We just need to give ourselves completely to Christ, then we will be wise and strong through Him. When His power lives in us, we will still be able to boast about how insignificant we are, and still serve with all our heart. May we quit using our mouths for excuses and start using them for service.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Our excuses for not serving the Lord and mankind are pretty flimsy. We may say we aren’t wise enough, or we are too weak. We might say God is looking for wise people and strong people to do His work. We sometimes boast about our limitations and lack of ability to stay out of His work. God really wants the foolish and the weak to do His work and will. In that case, most of us are perfectly qualified. We just need to give ourselves completely to Christ, then we will be wise and strong through Him. When His power lives in us, we will still be able to boast about how insignificant we are, and still serve with all our heart. May we quit using our mouths for excuses and start using them for service.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Friday, August 8, 2008
Grace for your spirit August 8, 2008
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them"; Ecclesiastes 12:1
This little know passage gives us a picture of life after we are "over the hill". When we are young, we think we will never get old and ill, and we’d rather not think about it. God gives us a poetic picture of the body falling apart. Arms, legs, teeth, eyes, voice, hair, and fears. I don’t see doctor visits and hospital stays in the list, but they certainly should be there. It is urgent that we all establish our faith in our Creator when the times are good, so they will sustain us in the evil days. When we grow in spirit each day, even though the outer man decays, the inner man gets younger every day. Our spirit then gives us the joy we need to counter balance the ills we face. God’s Spirit; don’t get old without it.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
This little know passage gives us a picture of life after we are "over the hill". When we are young, we think we will never get old and ill, and we’d rather not think about it. God gives us a poetic picture of the body falling apart. Arms, legs, teeth, eyes, voice, hair, and fears. I don’t see doctor visits and hospital stays in the list, but they certainly should be there. It is urgent that we all establish our faith in our Creator when the times are good, so they will sustain us in the evil days. When we grow in spirit each day, even though the outer man decays, the inner man gets younger every day. Our spirit then gives us the joy we need to counter balance the ills we face. God’s Spirit; don’t get old without it.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Grace for your spirit August 7, 2008
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8
We can’t see the wind, but we can see the effect of wind. We don’t know where wind comes from, but we know what it does. Jesus uses this picture to explain how the spirit works. The original Greek word in the New Testament for Spirit is pnema. The word primarily denotes the wind. The invisible, immaterial, powerful breath of God. Man primarily searches for material proof of God working, when the real proof is God’s Spirit changing us. We can’t see repentance nor regeneration, but we can all see the results on these things. It’s not a plaque we can put on the wall, or a sign we can wear around our neck, but it is evident when it’s there. Breathe on me, Breath of God. Fill me with life anew.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
We can’t see the wind, but we can see the effect of wind. We don’t know where wind comes from, but we know what it does. Jesus uses this picture to explain how the spirit works. The original Greek word in the New Testament for Spirit is pnema. The word primarily denotes the wind. The invisible, immaterial, powerful breath of God. Man primarily searches for material proof of God working, when the real proof is God’s Spirit changing us. We can’t see repentance nor regeneration, but we can all see the results on these things. It’s not a plaque we can put on the wall, or a sign we can wear around our neck, but it is evident when it’s there. Breathe on me, Breath of God. Fill me with life anew.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Grace for your spirit August 6, 2008
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. John 14:26
The Apostles listened to Jesus, and then Jesus sent them the Holy Spirit to bring them remembrance so they could put His words to use. If they had not followed Him, nor paid any attention, what would they have to remember? Much like the student who never attended classes, took notes, nor studied, then "cramming" at the last minute with a prayer, "Lord help me remember the stuff I never studied". Many a church member has stood at a crossroad in life hoping for Divine guidance and inspiration, when they have spent no time in His Word and have nothing to recall. Let’s fill every minute we can with study of God’s Word. Then, when we call Him for help, the Spirit will have something for us to recall.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
The Apostles listened to Jesus, and then Jesus sent them the Holy Spirit to bring them remembrance so they could put His words to use. If they had not followed Him, nor paid any attention, what would they have to remember? Much like the student who never attended classes, took notes, nor studied, then "cramming" at the last minute with a prayer, "Lord help me remember the stuff I never studied". Many a church member has stood at a crossroad in life hoping for Divine guidance and inspiration, when they have spent no time in His Word and have nothing to recall. Let’s fill every minute we can with study of God’s Word. Then, when we call Him for help, the Spirit will have something for us to recall.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Grace for your spirit August 5, 2008
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1
Computer people are always trying to find a way for their computer to run faster. Deleting unnecessary programs and keeping viruses out are two of the best things we can do. I just found out that when you delete something it’s not really gone. Duh! It goes to a recycle bin and now that has to be deleted too. That is much like our Christian race. We need to unload our sins and encumbrances that slow us down. When we confess our sins, we are suppose to be free of them, but are we still carrying them in our recycle bin? Let’s dump that all completely, and then stop downloading things that are sent to us by the world. We’ll be surprised how our race speed increases.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
Computer people are always trying to find a way for their computer to run faster. Deleting unnecessary programs and keeping viruses out are two of the best things we can do. I just found out that when you delete something it’s not really gone. Duh! It goes to a recycle bin and now that has to be deleted too. That is much like our Christian race. We need to unload our sins and encumbrances that slow us down. When we confess our sins, we are suppose to be free of them, but are we still carrying them in our recycle bin? Let’s dump that all completely, and then stop downloading things that are sent to us by the world. We’ll be surprised how our race speed increases.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit
Philippians 4:23
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