It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2

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The Cycle of Life – Cause, Reaction and Effect

The cycle of life is experienced in the completed process of cause, effect and of reaction. Cause and Effect are defined as a relationship between events or experiences where one is the result of the other. It is a combination of actions and reactions.

People living on earth are the “causes” or the reason things are happening. It is because we have our own existence- “life,” that causes us to have opportunities to experience these cycles.. The “effects” are our experience, good or bad. Our reactions are our choices; ability to choose, our “will” to determine how we will respond to unfavorable experiences in life. Our reactions will determine how our lives will be lived out, or in essence, determine our destiny. Our actions may be a conscience decision to deliberately respond or an unconscious response we do out of habit or training. Our actions or reactions will set our life on a course that will result in the consequences of our choices.

Many people fail to see the correlation their choices and the consequences of those choices. Most people are taught to respond out of feelings, not conscience decisions that realize the effect of those responses. Therefore, they lose the connections that their negative reactions to life situations can start another process of cause, effect and the cycle will continue or begin again.

We see many feuds and or family tendencies continue for years and even generations because they continually respond in the same manner. Many people facing life challenges tend to respond in a way that produces a continued negative cycle. But, when positive reactions are consciously made, as a result of an individual choice, then that effect will also change. Thus a new life cycle is created.

In every situation we will go through this cycle of life. We will encounter a life event that will affect our being and then we will choose a response to that event. The choice we make at the time of this encounter will set our lives on a trajectory and the outcome will be a direct result of our choices. The thing about life experiences and mistakes are they cannot be undone. However, we can go through them and face the consequence of our choice of action and then hopefully make better decisions in the future.

Our past does not have to dictate our present or our future. Our present choices will determine our future. As the saying goes, you have to do things differently if you want different results. We cannot change the past but we can press through and live through the current consequences so that w can make better choices for our future.

How we respond to what life throws at us will govern the outcome of our lives. We are all part of the larger circle of life in our families and communities. But, we are the first circle in this cycle of life for our own destiny and that of our children as we decide by the choices we make.

In this new life, with a new birth, we have a Sovereign Lord and live in the kingdom of God. This fallen world system tells us to respond to our feelings but God tells us to respond in light of His word. The world says we have every right to be mad, angry and to hate those who have wronged us. God says love your enemy, to do good to others and to pray for those who have wronged us. These are two totally different reactions to the same effect of being wronged. Hate will lead to bitterness and destruction but it is the automatic response in this fallen nature. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to forgive and to respond with love.

The circle continues with its circular motion and it has no definite end. Cycles will continue to go on until deliberate actions or deeds are taken to alter that cycle. It takes a new way of thinking and new decisions to choose to respond differently than what you have been taught through life. It must be a choice of the will to forgive and love those who have harmed us and it is because of love God and for God that constrains us.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

To change the cycle of a destructive life style we must change the belief system, which governs the circle of life –“cause, effect and reaction.” Dying to self with a renewed mind in Christ will place us in a new circle of supernatural life in Christ.

Life is a series of events. How we navigate these with our thoughts, words and deeds will affect us and our future generations. Mistakes cannot be undone but we can move past them as we go through the completion of the full circle of cause, and reaction to situations with different choices. This is a difficult thing to do in the natural but God has given us a new nature, in Christ Jesus.

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Life is Experienced In Cycles

This life process is the sum total of the experiences that we have while living in our God given, earthly bodies. This process of life is lived and experienced in cycles. We should understand life is experienced through a series of cycles that we call failures or successes with the aim of maturing us for our created purpose. When we experience failures, they are only the compost of life that leads to growth. If we see these set-backs as stimuli that help us flourish, then we would not give up on our lives or our dreams when we have these catastrophic experiences but allow them to propel us forward. These challenges should be filtered through knowledge that they are part of life’s cycles. This can lead to a great expectation and hope for our future, because we understand, that which appears to be failure, is just part of the process of success in the cycles of life.

Genesis 8: 22 While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.

God gave life cycles in the very beginning. He declared, while the earth remains, there will be seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer and day and night, which shall not cease. We see in nature the cycles God has given life. It is seen as a constant loop of birth, life or the survival of life, death and birth again. This cycle symbolizes nature’s way of giving endless life back to earth and it expresses a natural and spiritual principle. Life is a continuous process, it is sacred and divine, which represents the infinite nature of energy that flows from God.

Jesus spoke of this principle with the parable which says, unless the seed falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. This is a spiritual process or the cycle of life; to die to one’s self-interest, to humble ourselves as to die to pride and self-importance so to give one’s self freely for others. This life will produce much fruit in the lives of those that are impacted. To those who refuse to die to self, pride and narcissistic tendencies, will remain alone. We see this all too well in the lives of people who live selfishly. They tend to end up alone but those who sacrifice themselves for others, tend to live a fuller life.

John 12:24-25 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

The Bible tells us to observe things in nature, so it may teach us life lessons on how to live productive lives. The natural world is a tapestry where spiritual lessons of life are seen. People are born and the events of their lives tell their story until their bodies die in the natural state. But, because we are spirit and energy, our spirits will never cease to be. This is the cycle of life; we see life being born, the body dies and then is transformed into a different form of energy that enriches the ground and produces more life. We can do the same spiritually; die to self, so we may sow good seed into the lives of others.

Though our bodies will die, our spirit will live eternally as it is the created energy of God who is eternal. Our few years of life are gifts from God that we have been given for the purpose of being God’s representatives and ambassadors for His kingdom as we go through this process of life on earth.

Proverbs 30: 24- 28 There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags; The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks; The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings’ palaces.

Life works in cycles, seedtime and harvest. The earth is circular and the galaxy rotates in cycles around planets. Time is viewed in cycles; the rising and going down of the sun, winter and summer seasons and the truism of what goes around, comes around. If we see life’s events as a process lived in cycles, then we will understand that everything will change and nothing will remain the same. These things we are experiencing, bad or good, will in time pass.

When we learn to live life in light of these cycles, then the things life takes us through will be seen as life lessons learned so we may grow and mature through these times. We can live a life full of expectation with hope for what the future has in store, because we understand the process and have faith in God who created us for the purpose of succeeding and reflecting His life.

The cycle of life is a gift from God, regardless of how it is conceived or viewed by this world system. Every life that is born is precious to God and has the potential of being like Christ’s life.

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Our Life Experiences Are Great Opportunities To Impact Eternity

Our life experiences do not have to dictate our successes or failures in this life. They are truly opportunities for us to display our true beliefs. It is our responses to these experiences that will let people know what we really believe. Our actions will determine our future of failures or successes. How we respond to the things we go through and experience in life are the very occasions that will impact our families and communities and eternity. There is a way that seems right, in the sight of mankind, because it is what everyone does, but it leads to death and destruction. There is another way that appears to be foolish in the eyes of the world because it is God’s way and leads to the truth and everlasting life.

Proverb 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. NKJV

In the beginning God gave us a purpose and a process. Our purpose is to look like Him because we were created in His image. The process is living this life in a way that may be fruitful and multiply His image to fill the whole earth with His reflection. This is done by having dominion over the things of the earth.

Genesis 1: 27- 28A So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion… NKJV

With the fall, mankind lost sight of his purpose and lost their created identity to be the image of God on the earth. Mankind was transformed into the likeness of the one whom they obeyed, Satan, and darkness prevailed. Instead of mankind subduing his enemy and having dominion over the challenges, they listened to the father of lies and became like him. Yet, God did not lose sight of the purpose and plan He had before the world began, which is to be in fellowship with us and for us to be in the family of God.

Though every society and people group tries to dehumanize and humiliate different segments of people groups, but their value are beyond any natural price. Only the life of God Himself could purchase and redeem us. Many people go to great lengths to create hate, self-hate and disunity for the purpose of exalting themselves even at the expense of others. Every life is valuable to God and is worth the high cost of Jesus’ blood.

The highest commandment is to love God and the second is to love those who were created in His image. Some people see God’s commandment, to love and to forgive others, as a light matter. Many think because of God’s love, He would not require them to go through such humiliation of lowering themselves to forgive others. Many have endured some horrendous wrongs and injustices and they believe a loving God would not require them to forgive. The refusal to forgive others and being concern for one’s own rights are results of a fallen nature and not the nature of God. However, it is the very love of God and His Mercy towards us that requires us to die to pride and self-centeredness and forgive others.

1 Corinthians 1: 21 b, 27 …the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; NKJV

This world values knowledge and intellect, but this too, is part of this fallen world system. Many refuse to acknowledge the truth and wisdom of God. Just as in the beginning, mankind went after the knowledge of good and evil rather than believe the truth of God’s word. Some people today would rather give up the truth of God’s word so they may appear to be intellectual and knowledgeable in the world’s eyes.

The things this world calls foolish God will use to disgrace and dishonor the mighty things of this world’s systems. When we allow knowledge and intellect to rise above the truth of God’s word and His love, it will eventually lead to destruction. It takes a mind schooled and trained in the wisdom of God to understand that we must die to our self-interests. It is when we humble ourselves to the love of God, we will be exalted in due season.

Jesus displayed a life of humility and service to others. He is our Sovereign King, Lord and Teacher. He shows us how we are to live this God given life on earth. Though Jesus was equal with God, He did not think He was robbed when He took on the body of a man and became a servant to all mankind. Jesus is God and yet He humbled Himself to wash the feet of a traitor, who was about to have Him killed. Jesus was reflecting the image of God on the earth by His acts of love and dying to Self-interest so others may live.

John 14:7-9 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? NKJV

Life experiences will always give us opportunities to impact eternity, just as Jesus did and in similar ways. Everyone that follows Christ should reflect and speak the love of God, to the wicked and the just. So people who see us will see the love of the Father in and through our lives, because we live like Christ. The things we experience in life are great and wonderful opportunities for us to display God’s kingdom life, love and the light of God in this dark world.

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Life Is A Process With A Purpose

Life is a process with a purpose. Life is a God given process for the purpose of displaying His glory and love on the earth. Everything that exists was made and sustained by God. God’s original purpose for creation was for the world to be the reflection of His love. Through the process of life we should strive to be like God and to display His love in every cycle of life. Many people ask the question, why am I here or what is my purpose? They have simply lost sight of their created being and purpose.

All life comes from the source of life, God. God spoke and life’s energy came from Him. This energy and life is a continued process that will never cease because it came from the source that is everlasting, the Divine nature of God. Scientists tell us energy never dies; it may change forms but it will always exist. Mankind was created to live forever like God but after the fall this life process transformed from its original state. The consequence of the choice made in the beginning caused the whole world to be taken into a different trajectory.

Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. NKJV

Everything was created by God, for God and that includes every person born and every living thing. We are told to die to self, so that is to give up what we were never created for, self- indulgences and extravagances of self. There is a fallen system vying for our time, attention and life. This fallen system is set up to train and teach us to be something we were not created to be, and that is to be narcissistic and self-focused.

As the result of the fall, every civilization, society and people group spawns a culture of divide through hate and self- importance. No matter how civilized or primitive the people are, this fallen system has trained everyone from the time they were born to be concerned with self-preservation. This has become an intrinsic attribute of us all because of the fall. Life cultivates a fallen system to teach people to dislike those things that are not like themselves.

Our battle in life is not against family, friends or people who do not look like us or those who are called our enemy. Our fight is against the lies and systems that have been put into place over time to cultivate and to continue this cycle of disunity, hate and destruction. There are territories, domains, and systems set up in high places of authority to perform evil and cause wicked things to happen for the assurance of one person, race or culture to flourish, while it decapitates and destroys those who are unlike them.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. NKJV

The battle is for us to be set free from the lies, principalities, beliefs and attitudes of this world, that life has instilled into us. We have been “home-schooled” in a fallen system to cultivate, to bring division, hatred of others, to be egotistical and self-indulgent, for the purpose of getting ahead in this life.

The only true way to be successful is to go back to one’s original purpose, which is to display the love of God on the earth. This can only be done when we die to self and give up this narcissistic life style that we were not created for. God’s love gives so that others may live and this is the life Jesus displayed. Jesus is our example and our role model on how we are to live this life.

John 12:24-26 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. NKJV

Jesus gives us a powerful life lesson in this parable on how to be successful in this life and life eternal. He gives us a preeminent statement in saying, according to the Greek meaning, “most” (greatest or utmost) – “assuredly” (defiantly, certainly, or unquestionably) when we humble ourselves low, as to die to one’s self, it produces much in life. Those who love their lives in this fallen system of egotistical self-indulgences, more than they love and obey God, they will lose not only in this life, but eternal life also.

This is a hard truth. Not many can bear it. Only those whose minds have been renewed and trained in the household of God the Father may receive it. Life shows us we can train the mind to think it is impossible to be free. We see it in the training of an elephant when it is young. It is taught the chain around its foot is too strong to be broken and even as an adult, when it strong enough to break free, it does not. The elephant has been trained to believe it cannot be free and it remains in that state unless a great situation of danger, such as fire, arises and causes the elephant to want to be free.

Mankind was created with the purpose of living and walking in the love of God with all creation on the earth. Through the fall, we lost not only God’s Spirit but our identity and purpose of showing His love. God did not lose sight of us and who He created us to be. He sent Jesus not only to save us from sin but to bring us back into the family of God and to bring us truth.

If we are a true follower of Christ, then we are servants and His servants will follow His
example.

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Being Offended – The Stumbling Block That Causes Many To Fall

The feeling of being offended is one of the most crippling snares. It is cloaked, disguised and concealed in the pretense of being right or defending one’s rights. When we take this natural life so personally, our sex, race, religion or culture we are offended in these areas. We feel we have every right to get upset and defend who we are. When we are insulted, overlooked or injured in some manner, we are offended because “self” sits on the throne of our hearts and not the love of God.

Mark 4: 17 And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. NKJV

The spirit of offense is so subtle, we hardly recognize its effect on our decisions, character or even our future. Offense happens because we have placed our attention on ourselves. When arguments or conflicts arise, those who are offended will respond most likely in a natural but fallen way and that is to defend or vindicate their own interest. Followers of Christ are told to renew their minds to a new way of thinking in light of God’s word and His love for all people. People are often offended when they look at things from a personal perspective and rather than God’s perspective.

John 15:18-20a If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…

Followers of Christ are called to be dead to this life but to live their lives hidden with Christ in God. It is impossible to offend a dead person. They can be kicked, insulted and even injured, but there will not be a response. This is how a life hidden in Christ will respond because we trust Jesus. We know we can trust Him with our life and our situations. God is able to orchestrate circumstances and work them out for our good and His glory. Just as He provided and protected Daniel in the lion’s den and the three Hebrews thrown into the fire, He will bring us out of our horrible situations. God did not keep them from going through their difficult times but He was with them in them and He will vindicate us. God will bring the high and lofty things down and the lowly up. God knows the plans He has for us to give us hope and a future.

Colossians 3:2-3 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God

Many feel they must vindicate themselves because they do not trust God and believe He will fail them. Many blame God for all the hurt, wrong and death in this world. They do not understand it is because of the fall of mankind and sin that these things exist. Many may trust God with their souls and their eternity but not with their present hurt, pain and life conditions.

When our minds have been renewed to God’s way of thinking, we know we are seated in the heavens with Christ. Our perspective should be different when we are seated high above the things of this world as kings and priests with Jesus. We should no longer view situations as personal attacks and allow life to offend us. We are to see these concerns and problems as opportunities for us to display the love and the life of Christ. It is when we are no longer offended by life that we can respond in love. The world will be taken by surprise by our actions. They will ask the secret to the strength, which allows us to forgive and love those who misuse or even hate us.

It is when we lay down our lives for another and act from a position of love and not self, that others may see God’s heart. When we respond in love, the love of God is planted into the lives of people. The pain of life may have hardened some people’s hearts because of what they have been through. When we display God’s love, though there may not appear to be a change or acknowledgment of our acts of kindness, the seed of God’s love will be sewn in their lives. Everything has a season; a time to plant and a time to harvest. It is God who changes lives with the seeds sewn by His children into the hearts of those who are lost.

Matthew 11: 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” NKJV

John 16:1 These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble

We should not be so easily offended. When we understand our battles are not with people but with the principles of this fallen world, then we are able to show the love of God. When we die we must entrust our bodies and the fate of our bodies to others. So it is with those who trust God with their fate and even their vindication. God knows the beginning from the end; He is Alpha and Omega and knows the motives and intentions of a man’s heart. Jesus is the One who lives for eternity and His heart is to love those who are created in His image. We must dethrone “self,” our pride and our egos so Jesus may reign on the throne of our hearts. As Jesus gave His body to save others, we as the body of Christ on the earth, must live in love and not offense.

John 15:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

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Love Is Our Motive

Motives are important, the why behind our actions, the reason behind our lives and the purpose of our behavior are more important than the actions themselves. Why do we do the work we do? Why do we pray? Why do we minister? Is it for the praises of the people around us and/or for the confirmation of our importance? The motive of our service is more important to God than the service itself. The love of God in us and His love shared with others through our actions should be our motivation. This is for God’s glory and for His name namesake.
Most of us have loved someone or experienced someone expressing their love toward us. In that experience, in a very small way, we have seen a glimpse of the love God has for us. In fact, it is God who is the very essence of love, who has given us the ability to love and to be loved. God loved us so much He gave Jesus to bring us, His most important creation, back into fellowship with Him. God displayed His love for us when we were at enmity and hostile toward God, He sent Jesus to save us.

This fallen world has tried to distort the meaning of love and the purpose of love into some narcissistic, self-centered practice. It has taken the thought of love, acts of love and expressions of love and misconstrued these into being perceived as something distasteful, unmentionable and frowned upon by God. This is not so, it is God Himself who has given us the capacity to love, to express love and to receive love because God is love.
If our motive is God’s kind of love, then we will give our best so others may know Him. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so those He loves may not perish but have eternal life. God’s love does not want to condemn the lost, but God wants to seek and to save the lost. God is still sending His sons and daughters to live a life so others may see Him through their lives.

John 3:16-17 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. NIV

Love is something so deep and so strong that it can entangle a person’s mind, soul and body. This is why God gives us an example of what love is in the life and person of Jesus. God’s love is why He sent Jesus to save us from our depravity. It is the love God has for us that would not allow Him to leave us in our destruction even after we rebelled against Him. God paid a very high price, the blood of His Son Jesus, to retrieve us and bring us back into our created purpose and to be an expression His love on the earth.

Matthew 22: 37-39 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ NKJV

When we love God with all that we are, our soul, our minds and our bodies, then we have the ability to love others as we love ourselves. This is why God gave us a commandment to first love Him and then we will love others. It is only through a love for God that we can love others the way we should. If we do not love God, we cannot love others as we love ourselves. The fallen state of mankind and his self-focus will not allow him to think of anyone above himself.

Without the love of God in us we would not have a capacity to truly love others well. Many people have passion, likes, and strong desires for those they hold dear but only God’s love will humble self so another may live even at the cost of ones ego and pride. After the fall, self-preservation became mankind’s first priority. The love for others is motivated by the love of God. When we love God we want to bring glory to His name on the earth and live a life that is pleasing to Him. There is no greater love than the love that gives oneself for another.

2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we be are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. NIV

The motive behind our actions, as Christ followers, is the love of Christ in us. The love of God in us, makes us want to constrain, restrict and limit our actions so we may love others well. We understand we are dead to our old life, habits and prejudices and we no longer live to satisfy selfish ambitions. We are now alive in Jesus, the One who raised us from the dead, so we may live for Him. We should live is such a way, that the love of God will be seen in and through our lives so others may come to know and love Him.

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The Living-Dead

The living dead are those who are alive in Christ and dead to this world. Every true follower of Christ, who is part of His kingdom, must enter into this kingdom through death. This is a death to self but a new life in Christ. We are water baptized, this represents a watery grave, but many refuse to die to self, they love themselves more than Christ.
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light
When we submit our will to God’s ways, the Holy Spirit comes in to transform our dead life into the image of Jesus, and we become children of God. Prior to the Spirit of God coming to live in us, we had no power over sin. Now the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us to transform our lives into the love of God. A true follower of Christ manifests changes that reflect this new life. If there is no transformation there is no newness of life and the power of the Holy Spirit is not at work.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
In the Old Testament the Spirit of God would come upon men for a time and would then leave. The Spirit of God did not dwell in people then. But now the Holy Spirit is given to believers of Christ. He dwells in us and will never leave us nor forsake us. The blood of Jesus was shed so that we could live this new life.
Romans 8: 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
We are alive in Christ; living to display the love of God on the earth, though we are dead to our flesh and self-interests, we live so others may see and experience the love of God. We also live so that we too may be among the firstborn of many brothers in Christ, so our family members and friends will see the truth and the love of God in us.
Luke 9:23-24 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, 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.
God wants a relationship not a religion and empty rituals. God’s purpose is to transform us into the image of His Son, Jesus and He is our example. What we see in the life of Jesus, the world should see in us and move toward that end. The cross of Jesus was no pretty sight nor was it easy, but it was necessary to bring life to those who would believe in Him. This is how our lives must be to those around us, to die to self so others may live.
John 12:24-25 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Jesus tells us it is definite, if we refuse to die to self, we will remain alone. If we choose to die to our selfishness and our self-focus, the love of Christ in us will produce a more godly life for others to see. If people love the life of this world more than the kingdom life of Christ, then they will eventually lose all. Those who are willing to die to the things of this world will gain not only peace in this world but eternal life.
2 Corinthians 5: 17, 20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. NKJV
Mankind lost its identity in God and being the love of God’s in the fall. Mankind became like God’s enemy- Satan, selfish and self-seeking. Jesus came to bring us back to our created purpose, to be the love of God and to look like Him, Who is love. We are born again as a new creation so the old things that we were born into and taught by this world would die. We are now ambassadors and representatives of God’s kingdom on earth reconciling people to God through love.
Remember, the true followers of Christ are dead to egotistical things of this world but live as the love of Jesus. In Jesus we are dead to self-gratification but alive to the life and the love of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
If anyone is a follower of Christ they will deny themselves and follow the example of Christ, who died that others may live and see the Hope of His glory. .

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The Walking Dead

The walking dead are those who are alive to the things of this world but dead to Christ and the Kingdom of God. People are born in a fallen state, alive to the things of the flesh and are unable to discern the things of the Spirit. This is why Jesus told the young man to let the dead bury their dead. When there is a choice to be made between the dead things of this world and the things of the Kingdom of God, we should always follow the Spirit of life.

Luke 9:60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:34 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. NKJV

Those who are dead to the things of God cannot hear His voice but His sheep hear His voice and a stranger they will not follow. We get to know the voice of the ones we love by listening to them and hearing them speak to us. The more they speak and the more we listen, the better we become acquainted with them and the things that are important to them and we get to know the things they like, dislike and what pleases them. So it is when we take time to listen to God’s voice, His words to us, which are in the Bible. When we read the letters written to us out of His love, we will begin to know His heart and hear his voice. When strange voices come, we will not follow them because we know God’s voice, His word and His ways.

John 10:26-27   But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. NKJV

God has called us. We have a prearranged fate for us to be conformed into the image of Jesus. Jesus was sent to live a life that made God visible and plain to the people on earth. That is our reason for becoming the children of God. Jesus was not sent just to save us from hell, though we were redeemed from hell, but were saved to manifest, to show and to live the life of Christ in our mortal bodies to make plain the God of heaven to the people on earth.

Jesus cursed the fig tree and it died from the roots up. Jesus came to the tree that had leaves giving the appearance of having fruit, but in truth it was barren and without fruit. When a person is living in this world, created in the image of God, but living in selfishness he is dead to the things of God though he may have the appearance of life. When this person has no connection with God, they are the walking dead because they are not rooted and grounded in the life giving Spirit of God. When Jesus spoke to the tree it died that moment though the appearance of life was still in the tree but the evidence of its death was seen the next day. So it is with those that live without the spirit of God in their lives, they have the appearance of life in the outer shell as they go about their natural life but their spirit is dead to the things of God.

What we put before our eyes and focus on is what we become. If our eyes are constantly on the things of this world and we focus on the cares of the world, then we become like the things we internalize. When we change our perspectives and beliefs we change our outcomes and our actions. We are told to either make the tree good and the fruit will be good or make the tree corrupt and the fruit will be corrupt. We have been taught to focus on the fruit, looking at it, rather than the tree being good and focusing on that.

We should identify a good tree as one rooted in the Spirit of God and then we will know that tree and its fruit will be good. God is transforming us into a good vine as we have been grafted into the True Vine of Life, Jesus. If we focus on the old vine and old fruit we will only see the negative and corrupt things of our past. If we make the tree good by the relationship and righteousness of Christ, and not our works, then the tree is good and will produce good fruit. The world would have us focus on the fruit of our failures and not the tree of Righteousness that God has planted within us. We are that tree planted by the rivers of waters in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit. KJV

When we focus on the dead and dark things of this world, they can be easily reproduced in our lives. If we seek the kingdom of God and become intimate with Jesus, His seed of righteousness is planted in us and lives in us to give birth and produce after His Own kind.

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. NKJV

We are living in Christ because we have been crucified with Christ. We are no longer the walking dead and enslaved to sin. We can choose to live for Christ and let the Spirit of God live in our bodies through faith in Jesus’ love. This delivers us from being dead to the things of God. Remember, no matter how hard the circumstances, we can submit our will to God and say “Father I delight to obey You in this matter, let the power of the Holy Spirit rise in me and You be glorified in this situation.”

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To Know Him is to Love

When we become intimate with someone we get to know them as they are and that intimacy tends to breed similarities in traits and conduct. This is why we are told not to stay in the company of angry people because they can corrupt good character. The same is true with staying in the presence of God; we learn to love others and become more like Him, because God is the true essence of love. His essence of love flows from our spirit as living water.

God loves us in spite of all we have done or have not done. God’s love is everlasting, eternal and it is selfless. God’s love is so great that He has given us free will to choose our destiny and He will let us go even though it may grieve Him. God saw us before the foundation of the world and knew we would reject Him and all the wrong that we would do and yet He did not lose sight of our created purpose. We were created to be God’s expression of love to a lost world, in this present time and place. God’s Sovereign purpose and destiny for us is to be like Jesus in our homes and communities.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. NKJV

When we come to know His great love we cannot help but to express our love for Him in this life in the way we live and to show His love to those who are lost. This is the measure of our knowing God, to have His love shown abroad to others through our hearts, hands, feet and our very substance. We cannot say we love God and not show His expression of love to those around us, be it friend or foe. Whether people are the same nationality, culture or religion or not, God’s love is toward all mankind.

1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. NKJV

So many have been schooled in the teachings of this world to be self-centered, self-motivated and self-consumed, forsaking all others clinging only to oneself. They have been home schooled on how to get over, get ahead, climb the corporate ladder, crushing all others if need be, so they can be on top. To ensure they have all they could ever need and even more to stockpile in their storehouses but it will all come to no good end. The flesh is never satisfied, it is insatiable and no matter how big, how much better, or how much wealth a person may have, without Christ, they will always want more.

The desire and drive to get more to some people is relentless. They may lose sight of family, friends and even God in their pursuits to acquire more. Being self-center and self-focus can become a greed that can become all-consuming and with it lays self-destruction. The lies that life experiences have taught us is that every person will look out for their own self and the good guy never wins. But God has demonstrated His love by sending Jesus Christ His Son into the world to save the lost so that they might live through Him. Jesus came into the world as a man to be the ultimate expression of God’s love to His children. As His children we are sent into this world as an expression of God’s love to this lost generation so they too may live.

1 John 4:9  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. NKJV

If we know God in the essence of His love, then we know a love that surpasses all hindrances and barriers. God showed His love to us while we were at our worst; our lowest moment and still Jesus came and saved us. We should show this same compassion for those who are lost and at their worst. Jesus came and pulled us out of a pit of depravity, of despair and hopelessness and now we have the opportunity to do the same for others. God did not require us to clean ourselves up or to get right first before He sent Jesus. While we were sinners God loved us and showed compassion and sent Jesus as a ransom for our lives. He forgave us and then told us to come and follow Him.

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to. be the propitiation for our sins. NKJV

God loved us enough to send His Son to save us from our hopeless situation. We should love others the same way. God is transforming us into the image of His dear Son so that we may truly love others and this is pleasing to God. We are told to love and this love is being perfected in us by God.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. NKJV

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this; that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as He is, so are we in this world.

To know Him is to love Him and those He loves. Love is a gift from God. We all have the ability to love in the natural since, by loving others who love us. But it is the supernatural power of God that gives us the ability to love the unlovable. Seeing Christ in us may be the only hope that a lost may have. It is the Christ in us that is the hope of the glory of God

Colossians 1:27 To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. KJV

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This is Eternal Life- For Us To Know God

Many people believe they are going to heaven because they have spoken a confession of a belief in Jesus. This is what most of the people in America are taught, to confess the name of Jesus. There is another part of that process, we must believe in our hearts Jesus is Lord. This is where some people lose sight of the word of God. They think they can do a two or three step plan to salvation and have eternal life. The Bible gives us direction and examples of life being lived in the presence of God. Conflicts of  this world are uses so we may know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

God created us, redeemed us and delivered us from the snares of our enemy. His plans for us are that we will be His children and He will be our Father-God and we will be with Him for eternity. As any loving father, God wants the best for His children and wants them to know who He is. This is eternal life, having a relationship with God, knowing who He says He is, knowing His character and how He responds in various situations. Also, to know God’s word and what the Bible says about Him, His ways and how He acts in difficult times. Many of us know the God of our parents and church but we must get to know the true God in relationship for ourselves.

John 17:3         Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

As with any relationship that we want to cultivate and grow we must take time to learn more of the person’s character and personality and the things they like and are important to them. The same is true with God we must take time to know His character and attributes, His traits, features and the power of different aspects of His being. We can learn about Him through the studying of His word and knowing the Names of God. When we study a person we listen to what they say about themselves and what they call themselves and over time we will be able to see a clear picture of that person. Again, so it is with God, when we read His word and see what He says about Himself and learn the names He calls Himself, we will begin to know and understand Him better. God becomes a real person who we can talk to and commune with and not just the God our parents or family members told us about.

When we know and understand God, then we will begin to know and understand ourselves. We were created in the image of God, in His likeness by His love for the purpose of being agents of love on the earth. The more we learn of God and see His love, mercy and grace to us, the more we will reflect His image to those around us. Thus fulfilling our created purpose, this is to bring glory to the Eternal God our Father. Knowing the truth of who we are, will help dispel the lie of this world and society that tries to speak death and destruction into our lives.

Truth is what sets us free from our past failures, our current malfunctions, societies’ views and even our low self-esteem. By learning the truth of God’s character we will learn how to live successfully and understand the conflict we are engaged in and how to be victorious. These are things we all must deal with and conquer because these are the tactics of this fallen world. This fallen world is working under a strategy that is to hinder the people of God from knowing their God and who they are in Him. This is a system of lies to try and keep God’s people from knowing eternal life and the only true God.

God says His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. This is a lack of knowledge of God and who we are in Christ Jesus. Satan is a defeated foe; we are not in a battle with him. Jesus conquered our enemy at the cross and rose with all power and authority and has given this authority to His people – those who are part of His kingdom on the earth. So many are not living victoriously because they do not understand the kingdom or how to operate in the power and authority Jesus has purchased for us. To know God and His true attributes and character, leads to eternal life. It is not the knowing of the stories people have told about Him or the lies they have shared regarding Him. Eternal life is to know God our Abba Father for ourselves and trusting Him as a faithful and loving God.

Knowing God is learning His truth which transforms the way we think about ourselves and others. Therefore we will change the way we act and react to others and situations so we may show the love of God. Many people say they know God or they are in the family of God and yet they show no resemblance of God the Father. Again, nature shows us seed produces after its own kind. Many will say Lord, Lord to Jesus and He will in return say, I do not know you! If we are children of God we must live a life that reflects His character in our lives and our character. If we do not see God’s love reflected in us we may be living in self-deception.

Daniel 11:32b  … But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. KJV

God’s people who know Him, His word, His character and His attributes, will be strong. They will be able to stand in the face of adversity and do great deeds and mighty achievements because they know their God is a faithful and true God. This is eternal life when we know that God is our Father and our sustainer, He will never leave us or forsake us. We can then live with this hope and faith during life’s challenges in peace because of God loves us.

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