2021 02 28
- Man ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which God commanded to not eat, for in the day that he eat of it he shall surely die.
- Our iniquities have separated us from our God. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
- It became harder and harder to trust in God.
- To the point that it now takes faith to believe that He is.
- Shortcuts, “Good” works etc substitute the reality of us lacking a relationship with God our creator in our lives.
- Faith is the substance of Hope.
- Hope without Faith, car engine without transmission.
- With hope see, faith then becomes proof.
- Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
- Moving downstairs, evidence: Height, Lamp, Tablecloth, arrangement etc.
- Faith comes by hearing,
- Once seen, faith is not required.
- Once I move down, you don’t need faith to believe.
- Hope > Faith > Reality.
- The finality is the realization of faith, either in the Word of God or in your fears.
The spirit
Spirit, Soul and Body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- No separation from the body in the original plan
- Death is separation from God.
- Adam found himself naked.
- We shall not be found naked in Christ.
- Life is being clothed with Jesus Christ.
Spirit, soul unfortunately used interchangeably.
Cannot understand the Soul and the body truly without understanding the spirit.
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22 (NKJV) 18 I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” 19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? 22 So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
- Ecclesiastes a book about man without God
- Breath, spirit: Transliteration: rûaḥ
- Without God, a man hath no distinction above a beast.
- Some beasts/animals have quicker senses than men.
- Ecclesiastes does not mean that we are in all respects like the animals, nor does it contradict the rest of the Bible.
- It means that humans can no more claim to have the power to beat death than can any other animals.
- For Christians this should only drive us closer to Christ, who did conquer death in His resurrection.
- Our confidence is not in some innate power of our own but in the gift from God of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
- Ecclesiastes forces the reader to see the dreadful terror of death without knowing our creator.
- Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before… (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
Matthew 5:6 (NKJV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
“shall be saturated.”
Remember, only the hungry are filled.
Being hungry for the things of God is one of the best things that can happen to you.
Longing for God is a healthy sign.
Hungering for God does not cause Him to move in our life; it is a sign that He is already at work in us.
Stay hungry for God!
- Struggle is there because of opposing forces.
- Why do you spend money for what is not bread, eat what is good (Isaiah 55:1-2).
- Fountain of water – Samaritan woman at the well.
- Comes to me, Living water – Jesus at the feast (Jn 7).
The Gospel
Life abundantly starting now!
This word “abundantly” is misused and misunderstood.
John 10:10 (NKJV) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Psalm 51:6 (NKJV) Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Romans 15:18-19 (NKJV) 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient– 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
- Be True
- Tenacity and perseverance that comes from Hope
- Healings & Miracles
Sin the culprit.
Romans 7:15 (NKJV) For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
The solution to Sin
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The added benefit
John 10:10 (NKJV) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 17:3 (NKJV) And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Romans 15:13 (NKJV) Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.