Who Is the Boss?
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So lets ask ourselves the question: "Who owns me?" God (who has boughten us at a price?)? Or is it Satan who owns our debt papers thru the first Adam? Or is it in my personal power and prowess alongside (or even uniquely combined) serving One of these Two Spirits or both?
Well, first off we can eliminate option number three obviously; but before you hear me say "obviously" ask yourself, "Is it that obvious?". Do you believe we simply cannot ever own ourselves? Due to Adam, we either have sinful Nature Lording over us now, or We have chosen to love our Lord, as Lord. So, again, who owns you? When you say, "the plans that I make for myself..." Who is this self you speak of? Jesus put it to people this way: "Who do you say that I am?" He states the fact that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. But do you believe that He is the Way, and the Truth and the Life experientially? Or, has He not acquired such status yet? Despite it being reality and the truth; and you believe in it, but not yet experientially where the rubber meets the road? Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments."
God, thru Jesus Christ has made it possible now to not be a slave to sinful nature. He has purified His Children as clean as it gets. despite sinful cravings remaining behind to try to influence us; both by the flesh and by Satan's influences. But as we are in Christ, we are able to stand up under it! Thus, "Who do you say that I Am?" Asks Jesus. Read closely and carefully the words in this passage:
(Matthew 10:39): ...New American Standard Bible (NASB)
39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
Do you see any hope, at all, in your life outside of Jesus Christ as your life? A life that has crossed over from death unto Life?
So, if you believe in what Jesus did on a cross and you believe He did it for you and you receive it...you are born again. But that is a totality of surrender that takes time to comprehend and nurture which is exactly what He will do thru the Holy Spirit... The character of the redeemed life, and when I say redeemed life I mean an "eternal life manifested in the fleeting moments of temporal life," the Bible teaches me that it does not mean the consciousness of feeling good, or the consciousness of the presence of God. If we mistake these feelings for Eternal Life, we shall be disillusioned sooner or later.
When we are being initiated into a new experience we are conscious of it, but any sane person is much too wise to mistake consciousness of life for Life itself. As I always say, "It is not about succeeding in life, it is about Success, which is life."
It is only the initial stages of new experiences which produce consciousness of themselves, and if we hug the consciousness of God's Blessings and of His Presence we become spiritual sentimentalists. God began to introduce us to Life, and we would not go thru with it.
But the Life Jesus Christ both exhibited, and offers us, was and is Eternal Life! And He says, "Anyone who believes in Me, has that Life. To commit myself to Jesus means there is nothing that is not committed. At this point He even says, "sit down and count that cost...." It's a whopper! Yet it is trading death for Life in all honesty, which in truth is not a cost but a trade up indeed! Belief is a twofold transaction - a deliberate destroying of all roads back again, and a complete surrender to Our new owner and Lord Himself...The bearer of Life.
God comes in with a rush immediately when a soul surrenders to the Lord Jesus Christ. The only barrier to God's love is unbelief working sentimentally. It is when we brood around the shores of an experience which produces consciousness of itself; the Life is not there - it is in the person and relationship of Jesus Christ, and hence then also, the Father and Holy Spirit thru righteous living.
There is always an upward Character in the Life of a Christian. "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always here Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me." (John 11:41-42). And there is also an outward character in the Life of a Christian - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life." (John 3:16).
But to be sure, there is indeed a downward character to this Life as well. "God made Him who had no sin to BE sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is where Satan enters the minds of many. And where I have been personally persecuted for sharing. But the truth sets us free, and the downward look of Eternal Life is manifested in Our Lord Jesus Christ - a fearless, clear-eyed, understanding look at sin, at death, and at the devil - that is the unmistakable characteristic of the downward look of Our Lord. Keeping in mind; the devil's counterfeit is "no sin"; "no hell"; and "no judgement". This is not in God's economy for it is not truth and reality.
Thus, again, "Who do you say that Jesus is?" To answer this truthfully is to know yourself well.
Well, first off we can eliminate option number three obviously; but before you hear me say "obviously" ask yourself, "Is it that obvious?". Do you believe we simply cannot ever own ourselves? Due to Adam, we either have sinful Nature Lording over us now, or We have chosen to love our Lord, as Lord. So, again, who owns you? When you say, "the plans that I make for myself..." Who is this self you speak of? Jesus put it to people this way: "Who do you say that I am?" He states the fact that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. But do you believe that He is the Way, and the Truth and the Life experientially? Or, has He not acquired such status yet? Despite it being reality and the truth; and you believe in it, but not yet experientially where the rubber meets the road? Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments."
God, thru Jesus Christ has made it possible now to not be a slave to sinful nature. He has purified His Children as clean as it gets. despite sinful cravings remaining behind to try to influence us; both by the flesh and by Satan's influences. But as we are in Christ, we are able to stand up under it! Thus, "Who do you say that I Am?" Asks Jesus. Read closely and carefully the words in this passage:
(Matthew 10:39): ...New American Standard Bible (NASB)
39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
Do you see any hope, at all, in your life outside of Jesus Christ as your life? A life that has crossed over from death unto Life?
So, if you believe in what Jesus did on a cross and you believe He did it for you and you receive it...you are born again. But that is a totality of surrender that takes time to comprehend and nurture which is exactly what He will do thru the Holy Spirit... The character of the redeemed life, and when I say redeemed life I mean an "eternal life manifested in the fleeting moments of temporal life," the Bible teaches me that it does not mean the consciousness of feeling good, or the consciousness of the presence of God. If we mistake these feelings for Eternal Life, we shall be disillusioned sooner or later.
When we are being initiated into a new experience we are conscious of it, but any sane person is much too wise to mistake consciousness of life for Life itself. As I always say, "It is not about succeeding in life, it is about Success, which is life."
It is only the initial stages of new experiences which produce consciousness of themselves, and if we hug the consciousness of God's Blessings and of His Presence we become spiritual sentimentalists. God began to introduce us to Life, and we would not go thru with it.
But the Life Jesus Christ both exhibited, and offers us, was and is Eternal Life! And He says, "Anyone who believes in Me, has that Life. To commit myself to Jesus means there is nothing that is not committed. At this point He even says, "sit down and count that cost...." It's a whopper! Yet it is trading death for Life in all honesty, which in truth is not a cost but a trade up indeed! Belief is a twofold transaction - a deliberate destroying of all roads back again, and a complete surrender to Our new owner and Lord Himself...The bearer of Life.
God comes in with a rush immediately when a soul surrenders to the Lord Jesus Christ. The only barrier to God's love is unbelief working sentimentally. It is when we brood around the shores of an experience which produces consciousness of itself; the Life is not there - it is in the person and relationship of Jesus Christ, and hence then also, the Father and Holy Spirit thru righteous living.
There is always an upward Character in the Life of a Christian. "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always here Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me." (John 11:41-42). And there is also an outward character in the Life of a Christian - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life." (John 3:16).
But to be sure, there is indeed a downward character to this Life as well. "God made Him who had no sin to BE sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is where Satan enters the minds of many. And where I have been personally persecuted for sharing. But the truth sets us free, and the downward look of Eternal Life is manifested in Our Lord Jesus Christ - a fearless, clear-eyed, understanding look at sin, at death, and at the devil - that is the unmistakable characteristic of the downward look of Our Lord. Keeping in mind; the devil's counterfeit is "no sin"; "no hell"; and "no judgement". This is not in God's economy for it is not truth and reality.
Thus, again, "Who do you say that Jesus is?" To answer this truthfully is to know yourself well.
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