Welcome!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Today: Victorious Living!
Reading Passages: 2 Cor 7
1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.(2 Cor 7:1 NKJV)
Sometimes children are offered incentives for being good
They do it in school, Sunday school and even at home sometimes
“If you will be good at this, I will give you this”
It works; but that cannot be the rule all the time. Discipline is needed where appropriate
Paul is reminding us of the promises at the end of chapter 6, and exhorting the believers to keep themselves clean
It is not easy to stay away from sin. Paul himself admits that in Rom 7
It is only if Christ is first in our life that we can be victorious in dealing with the various temptations in life
If Christ is first, He will be the one person with whom we spent the most time
Many unhealthy relationships are made and many healthy relationships broken, when we live away from Christ
God’s promises mentioned in 2 Cor 6 are conditional
17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”[d] 18 “ I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”[e] (2 Cor 6:17-18, NKJV)
When we become available to God, we become unavailable to satan and satan’s
When we try to become available to both God and satan at the same time, we think we are getting really smart, but we are not
We will ultimately fall in the hands of satan, when we try to do that
If we lack anything, ask God; He will supply us what we need
But as we try our own ways, we will end up in trouble
We are Ambassadors of Christ in this world
An ambassador is responsible and accountable to the nation he/she represents; every word must be carefully spoken
How many useless words and conversations come out of us every day?
Let us be aware of the value of things that are precious and things that are not!
Esau thought that his birthright was not of much use, so he sold it for a cup of soup
This is what we are doing when we sell “precious things” for cheap pleasures
If we endure, we will receive the blessings of God
Sometimes we struggle all the way till the end and then “drop it” just before the finishing point
3Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh? (Gal 3:3, Amp Bible)
Living under the guidance of the Spirit of God is not an easy walk, but it is possible
All that praising, singing and dancing in the spirit are no good, if we cannot live by the Spirit
May God help us to bring glory to God, walking in the Spirit and not flesh
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, it is really a struggle to live a victorious Christian life; But you did, and so I can; so help me God. Amen