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#1 Jesus_Lolly

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Posted 11 November 2017 - 07:49 AM

Mark 1:14-15 Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom[a] of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

 

Both repentance and belief are necessary. Many false teachers

emphasize one or the other. As a result, men are led astray.

For instance, repentance on top of repentance, for holiness

sake--is an exercise in futility. But then again, so is a proclaimation

of a gospel that lacks repentance.

 

In contrast--the good news is a package--a beautiful and

eternal gift. Here, the old man relinquishes and forsakes

himself as he believes unto righteousness. Then, the Holy

Spirit indwells and creates a new man out of dead ashes.

This new creation is an abode of the Father, Son, and 

Holy Spirit (John 14:23). As such, the new man does

not orchestrate his own holiness but yields to the 

trinitarian God who owns him.


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#2 Meema

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Posted 13 November 2017 - 06:15 AM

This seems to be a recurring theme of late - Just got this in my email this morning:

 

November 13

 

When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:16,17)

 

Liberty from what? Well, if we turn to the Lord, and are occupied with Him in the way we have indicated, the Holy Spirit sets us free. It may be you are struggling, striving, fighting, wrestling, praying, pleading, longing, yearning, asking the Lord to set you free from condemnation, free from fear, from those paralyzing bonds in which Israel was when the glory appeared. Do you want to be free from fear, from dread, from terror, from condemnation? What are you doing to get free? There is one simple, direct way, namely, to be occupied with the Lord, to turn to the Lord. Get Christ as God's satisfaction in your view, and cease trying to satisfy God yourself. Faith in Christ is all God's requirement. How deeply true were His words, "Apart from Me ye can do nothing." "Abide in Me. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." That is only figurative language, which means be occupied with Him, set your mind on Him, dwell in Him, rest in Him, abide in Him; or, as Paul would say, "Gaze on Him, behold Him," let Him be the object of your occupation, and the Spirit will make you free.

 

More than that, this beholding of Christ means that the Holy Spirit changes you into God's likeness: "Beholding... we are changed." It is not said, "Beholding, we begin to change ourselves," and we embark upon self-transformation with all its struggle, and conflict, and battle. We are changed by the Lord the Spirit. Be occupied with Christ, and the Spirit takes up the matter of transforming into His image. Be occupied with yourself, and you will see that the law of conformity to type operates. If you are the type, then you will conform to that type. If Christ is the type, then the Holy Spirit will conform to His likeness. Then this being occupied with Christ means that the Holy Spirit makes us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant. I do not think that ministry is such an onerous thing after all. We need to come back to the simplicity and the spontaneity of ministry. Be occupied with Christ, and the Holy Spirit will show you more and more in Christ with which to be occupied, and as He makes that livingly real, you will have something to give to others.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: Spiritual Ministry - Chapter 3


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#3 Candice

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Posted 13 November 2017 - 12:01 PM

These posts are of great encouragement to me today.  Thank you.


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#4 Charles Miles

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Posted 13 November 2017 - 01:13 PM

Lolly, Meema, and Candice 

 

 What wonderful thoughts to grasp, hold, and carry through the day! "Behold...we are changed" wow, what peace and freedom that statement wraps around us. We mess up but God sees us as His, lavishes us with His love, holds us in His hand, opens His kingdom for us, His Son Jesus prays for us continually, and on and on....  In the world today there are literally thousands of things that try to rob us of this freedom, this peace, in an effort to have us take our eyes off Jesus and what He did for us. God`s family, His children, simply "turn all those issues" over to our Father, Abba Father(daddy).  These are things for Him to deal with while we remain free and at peace within Him. 

 

Sorry to interrupt the beautiful conversation, but my heart just overflowed...

 

Charlie


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#5 Candice

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Posted 13 November 2017 - 10:40 PM

Good words indeed!