“Firm in Freedom”
Blessings Folk!
Are you standing firm?
In what are you standing?
Many true believers need to hear and understand the following verse.
Many are walking in bondage.
Many are deceived.
Many know not the truth.
Many are confused and frustrated.
Hear the truth...gonna give several english translations…
Gal 5:1
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
NASU
Gal 5:1
1 Christ has liberated us into freedom. Therefore stand firm and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery.
(from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)
Gal 5:1
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
KJV
Gal 5:1
5 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Many, if not most, Christians today are continual oppressed with yokes of slavery.
The same thing had happened to the Galatians. Paul had already asked them some profound questions…
Gal 3:1-3
1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
NASU
Someone had deceived the Galatians.
Paul was asking them how they were saved...by the works of the Law or by the Spirit?
They were saved by faith in the Lord Jesus...the drawing of the Spirit. They were not saved by the works of the Law.
But, now someone was seeking to superimpose works as a means of “maintaining” salvation.
They were saying, “you are saved by faith, but, now you have to do things a certain way”...my translation…
The same happens today.
We are told that we must
- worship a certain way
- support “our church”
- look a certain way
- believe certain interpretations
- meet/fellowship at certain places/times, etc.
- “go to church”...a physical complex, completely ignoring the design of the true church
- etc. etc. You get the idea.
The Lord is telling us that we are not “perfected” in the flesh.
We do not live out the life of the Spirit by works.
Yes, we have works.
But, the works are the fruit of the Spirit lived out in the true Believer.
Many do not understand this.
They continue to do works to attain salvation.
They continue to do works to maintain salvation.
All the while, they the miss the true Life available in the Lord.
Seek the Lord today.
Ask Him where you stand.
Listen.
Respond.
Refuse the bondages of religious slavery.
Stand firm in the freedom received from the Lord Most High, enslaved only to Christ.
Pray today for Charlie...needs healing from the Lord...heart dying.
Pray for Flipper...
Blessings!!
“Spiritual Sweat”
Blessings Folk
Most of us have seen the sad story of recent deaths that occurred at a “spiritual warrior” retreat. Apparently at least three folk died as a result of period of time spent in a “sweat lodge.”
Here is one account.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/18/third-sweat-lodge-death
These type of things are not new. They will continue to increase.
I first heard of such some 25 years ago. A good friend had a family member that was intensely involved in the “sweat lodge” movement...for lack of a better term.
Do not be deceived.
These folk are serious.
Most are “highly educated” with advanced academic degrees bestowed by man.
They know much.
They do not know the Truth.
They actually suppress the truth.
The Lord told us of such…we have spoke of this repeatedly...but it bears another hearing in light of all that is occurring today. Read the following...
Rom 1:18-23
18 For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,
19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.
20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
(from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)
Note these truths.
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. The truths is there, yet they choose to suppress it...to ignore it… to hide it.
What is this this truth? There are two things here.
- God has shown it to them. God has made evident among (“within&rdquo
them that God is. God has placed within every person the awareness of Himself. Therefore, we have a “inner” testimony. - All mankind has an “outer” testimony that God is. God reveals His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature (or as the KJV states better “Godhead&rdquo through that which He created. Again, the Lord reveals through His creation His eternal power and Godhead. All mankind sees this.
- All mankind has the inner testimony.
- All mankind has the outer testimony.
What does this have to do with the “sweat lodge” story?
The Word shows us.
- Even though they knew God, they did not glorify God nor show gratitude.
- They reject God.
- Their thinking becomes as nonsense.
- Their senseless minds become darkened.
- Claiming to be wise, they become fools.
This is what we are seeing today.
The sad folk in the lodge were seeking “spiritual enlightenment.”
They are deceived with a darkened mind.
The same thing is happening within every arena of our culture.
Politically, darkness and deception reign.
Economically, blindness prevails.
Many believe that we have endured the hardest part of the most recent challenges.
I do not believe this to be so.
More trying times are directly ahead, especially economically.
I believe this based upon pure, scientific observation of what happened historically in the 1920s and 1930s.
I believe this based upon the Word of God.
The balance of the chapter in Romans 1 gives even more insight…
“God gave them over…” Repeated 3 times….well here...take a couple of minutes and read it.
Sounds like news reports of the day.
We exalt evil in the name of enlightenment.
We are what is described in the Word.
Rom 1:24-32
24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural.
27 The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion.
28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.
29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, disputes, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.
32 Although they know full well God's just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
(from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyrightß © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)
Shudder and tremble.
Repent and confess.
Receive the forgiveness of the Lord.
Let the power of the Most High be released through His love.
Those who are truly saved are vessels of the Lord for the Kingdom of God.
Allow the Kingdom of Light to shine in the darkness...
Blessings!