Many years ago I doubted my salvation because of my thought life mostly. I reasoned, "how can I be saved and still have these thoughts?" Then the Lord showed me that my cleansing was an ongoing thing, as a new believer I was under attack of my own flesh and the devil, leaving me to think I might not be saved. I jumped for joy on the day the Lord told me that I was born again but I was in a battle against the flesh and the devil. I have had many victories over the years as I fought the battles in prayer. When I tried to fight the battles in my own mind with shear will power, I would lose every time. But when I prayed and told God I needed Him to remove the thoughts, then I had peace and victory in a very short time.
1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Bible does not say that our victory is through our hard work in the flesh, just the opposite. If we think we can effect change in ourselves we may make some progress but eventually we will lose that battle, we become tired of the struggle. God will only give us HIS strength, not our own empowered by Him. He is the strength we need.
One day the Lord said to me, "when you are ready to stop trying so hard to be good in your flesh, then I will begin working in you." The peace flooded me and those "rivers of living water" began to flow.
Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We must stop thinking that God empowers us, He does not, He is the power that lives in us, He will be all that we need. The more we submit to Him, the greater our growth strides. He ultimately gets all the glory, we become so in step with His Spirit that we hear His voice...a spiritual hearing. Sometimes we allow our flesh to drag us down another road, but if we are in tune with the Spirit of God in us, He will bring us back to where we should be.
2 Corinthians 3:1-6 "3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."
The Spirit, Not the Letter
"4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit;[a] for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Do You Want To Be Cleansed?
We are already forgiven of our sins if we are born again! But in order to move forward in holiness we must confess them.
If we do not confess them, we miss blessings in heaven and have consequences on earth.
A person cannot forsake a sin or grow past the bondage of it until they admit the sin to God and if necessary, to others.
Confessing sin shows a willingness and desire to be changed by Christ Who lives in us. Confessing to a sibling in Christ shows them that we value their fellowship and companionship.
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Proverbs 28:13
"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."
When we do not confess our sins, we are in danger of physical illness. There seems to be a built in mechanism, a connection between sin and the toll it takes on the physical body. Not everyone who has illness is in sin as we see from the story of Job, but sometimes our bitterness, anger and denial cause physical ailments. We think we feel fine in our sin but the stress on the body causes illness.
Psalm 32:2-5
"2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah "
When we do confess, God forgives us and begins cleaning our hearts to free us from the bondage of that sin, creating humility in our hearts and turning us from the sin from which we could not release ourselves.
No one has an excuse that they were in bondage to sin, God will not ignore the cries of the sinful heart to be cleansed by Him.
James 4:7-10
"7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
If we do not confess them, we miss blessings in heaven and have consequences on earth.
A person cannot forsake a sin or grow past the bondage of it until they admit the sin to God and if necessary, to others.
Confessing sin shows a willingness and desire to be changed by Christ Who lives in us. Confessing to a sibling in Christ shows them that we value their fellowship and companionship.
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Proverbs 28:13
"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."
When we do not confess our sins, we are in danger of physical illness. There seems to be a built in mechanism, a connection between sin and the toll it takes on the physical body. Not everyone who has illness is in sin as we see from the story of Job, but sometimes our bitterness, anger and denial cause physical ailments. We think we feel fine in our sin but the stress on the body causes illness.
Psalm 32:2-5
"2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah "
When we do confess, God forgives us and begins cleaning our hearts to free us from the bondage of that sin, creating humility in our hearts and turning us from the sin from which we could not release ourselves.
No one has an excuse that they were in bondage to sin, God will not ignore the cries of the sinful heart to be cleansed by Him.
James 4:7-10
"7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
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