Being in the Family of God

 Continuing the thought from my last blog entry about how we belong to our Lord Jesus now and how we should not use any part of our body or mind to sin, we see in Romans 12:1,2 what God wants us to do with ourselves.

Romans 12:1-2 KJV

[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

I used the King James version because it really hones in on what God wants. He wants us to present ourselves to Him as a "living sacrifice" set apart for God, which is what "holy" means, and acceptable to Him which is our "reasonable service." 

Why is it reasonable for us to do this now as Christians? Because we became His adopted children when we were born again by the Holy Spirit. He expects certain ways of conduct from His children, which IS reasonable. He never asks us to do or behave in ways that are unreasonable or ways that are not good. He loves us and wants nothing but the best for His children. He knows what is good for us and best for us, so He expects us to do what He wants.

Just as we did what our Earthly parents asked us to do when we were children, now we do what our spiritual parent wants us to do. We love God and do what pleases Him and is acceptable to Him, which is not hard. Jesus summed it up in Matthew when He said love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your fellowman as yourself (paraphrase). Everything hinges on loving God and loving people. 

We do whatever He wants because we love Him and respect Him as our Heavenly Father. We belong to His Son now, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is Head over the Church, so we do what He says also. The Holy Spirit is in our spirit now also so we are never alone. He helps us live our lives in this new spiritual family.

So being set apart for God, in His family, we do not do what everyone else does. We do not live by our innate instincts or human nature, we "walk by the Spirit." We live how the Holy Spirit guides us in our spirit. We do not conform to the patterns of the world that are outside the kingdom of God. We live our lives in the family of God. 

So do what our Heavenly Father wants us to do with our body and mind out of respect for Him. He loves us and in His Word He will never steer us in the wrong direction. He will always love and protect us as we do what He says in the Bible. We'll have the best life possible in our new family- the family of God.

So "find out what pleases the Lord." Why? We are in His family now. Renew your mind everyday as to whose family you are in and live accordingly. So cool!!! Praise God!!!

Love you all dear readers,

Jeffrey Post

Learning How To Be Good

Moving forward from my previous blog, let's start looking at ways the Bible shows us how to be good. In the coming months, I can help you in your walk with Jesus by showing you what is good and how to work those things into your life. I can make life a little easier for you by doing this. However, God wants you to flesh out these things on your own as you read and study your Bible everyday. However, I can get you off to a good running start. That's what God has called me to do. That's my spiritual gift of the Holy Spirit, which is to teach you and spread the gospel. Now, having said that let's dive right in. 

Okay, having been "born again" and adopted into the kingdom of God, having been adopted by God into His family, we do not live as the rest of the world lives. We do not do what everyone else does. As God's children, the Church, we do not belong just to ourselves anymore. We belong to Jesus. 

Romans 1:6 NIV

[6] And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Romans 14:7-8 NIV

[7] For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. [8] If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 

2 Corinthians 5:20a NIV

[20] We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us...

So, not only are we "Christ's ambassadors" or representatives on this Earth, we BELONG to our Lord Jesus Christ.

So in this blog, we'll find a few ways of doing good to represent Jesus well in our lives, since we belong to Him.

One way to be good is to honor God with our physical body.

Our physical body is "the temple of the Holy Spirit"  who lives inside us. So God wants us to protect our bodies. One way to be good is to not do anything with our bodies that is sin, such as sexual immorality or putting bad stuff in our bodies such as addictive substances or contaminants. We do not use any part of our physical bodies to sin with. This includes our minds too or our spirit too.

We don't use any part of our body or mind to sin with since we belong to Jesus now.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 NIV

[12] “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. [13] You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. [14] By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. [15] Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! [16] Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” [17] But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. [18] Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 

[19] Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; [20] you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Romans 6:1-10 NIV

[1] What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? [2] By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? [3] Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. [5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— [7] because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. [8] Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. [10] The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Romans 6:11-14 NIV

[11] In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [12] Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. [13] Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. [14] For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Why do we want to be good with our bodies and our minds? Because our bodies and minds are where the Holy Spirit lives and out of respect or reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV

[1] Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

So, one way to be good is to never use our body or mind to sin with. Never contaminate our body with physical substances or use any part of our body to sin with, or contaminate our mind with bad external influences that cause us to sin.

So let's use our bodies and minds for good since we represent Jesus and belong to Him now. Also, we know that God uses us so others can be saved too.

Love you all dear readers,

Jeffrey Post

Just Be Good

People in the Church try to complicate things. All of us who are called to "prophesy" which is teaching and preaching, are suppose to strengthen, encourage, and comfort. (I. Cor.14:3) "God is not the author of confusion," so our teaching should never be complicated or confusing.

So today's message is as simple as it gets Church.

Being Christians, how should we live? We represent Jesus, so our lives should reflect Him, not ourselves in every aspect of our lives. We should be good like Jesus was. 

Since we all will stand before the "judgement seat of Christ" someday and give an account for what we did in this body, how should we live? We should be good and do good like Jesus did. 

Romans 2:6-7 NIV

[6] God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” [7] To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 

See? Persist in doing good. Just be good. 

How do we learn what is good or evil? By reading the Word of God, the Bible. Trust in the Holy Spirit who is inside you to show you as "He teaches us all things." When you open the Bible, He will teach you from it.

Then you'll know what is good or evil.

For example: "Let him who stole, steal no more."

See? Stealing is not good, so don't steal.

Learn to be good and then persist in doing good and we'll represent Jesus well on the Earth. We will "live as Jesus lived."

Find out what is good, then live like that.

Read the Bible everyday. Spend time in New Testament everyday. Make time for God to speak to you through His Word everyday. He will show you everything you need to know by the Holy Spirit inside you.

Love you all dear readers,

Jeffrey Post

Look at Jesus

Today we look at another great example of how Jesus lived. Being the Church, we want to live how Jesus lived because we represent Jesus in our areas of influence. We want everyone to be saved!! So let's take a look:

Luke 19:1-10 NIV

[1] Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. [2] A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. [3] He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. [4] So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. [5] When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” [6] So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. [7] All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” [8] But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” [9] Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. [10] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus decided to hang out with Zacchaeus on this particular day. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. He collected money for the Roman Empire from the Jews and yet he was a Jew himself. Being the chief tax collector, he had others under him collecting taxes while he did too. He cheated his own people out of money and all for Rome, while he himself was a Jew.

So when Jesus went to his house, the people began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner." They were mad because Jesus wanted to hang out with a man they perceived to be a bad guy versus hanging out with them. They judged him based on what he did and how he acted. They didn't think he deserved to be with Jesus. They thought they were better than him. Sound familiar Church?

So, how can I "spur you onto love and good deeds" with this scenario? By looking at what Jesus did. Learning from His example and then doing likewise.

Simply? Jesus loved this man. He didn't care who he was or what he did or how he had acted. Zacchaeus was lost and that's why Jesus came to his house that day. Jesus didn't care what the people thought. He was there to do the Father's will. Zacchaeus was lost and Jesus went there to save him. 

[10] For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

While everyone else was judging him, Jesus was loving him. 

There's the lesson. Jesus loved this man. Jesus wanted this man saved and nothing was going to stop Him. We all needed to be saved at some point in our past and now we are. We should not prevent others from being saved by a lack of love for them. We should not look down on people or judge them or do anything to prevent them from coming to Christ, since that is the purpose of the Church. 

We all need God's grace and mercy every day of our lives because we ALL "fall short of the glory of God"(Rom.3:23) every day. "It is by grace you have been saved." Remember where we came from:

Ephesians 2:1-5 NIV

[1] As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, [2] in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. [3] All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. [4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 

Nobody is better than anybody else. Period. So it doesn't matter who people are or where they come from or what their background is or what they do or how they act. It also does not matter what everyone else thinks about them either. You just love them like Jesus did!!

What is most important? Are they saved? Are they born again? Have they received Christ? Have they been adopted into the kingdom of God by faith in Christ Jesus? Are they going to heaven when they die? THAT'S WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT.

Follow Jesus' example and love everyone, no matter who they are. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. You love them like Jesus did. Don't ever prevent anyone from being saved because of your words or actions.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost and that's what we are here for too. Find the lost so they can be saved too and added to the family of God, the kingdom of God.

Love you all dear readers,

Jeffrey Post

Jesus Our Example

Today in Luke, there is a simple account with huge ramifications. John tells us that as we are in God we should walk as Jesus did. He is the greatest example on how to live out our lives here, being members of His body, the Church. So we should follow Him by "walking" or some translations say "live" as He did. 

1 John 2:6 NIV

[6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

So lets look at one account and see what we can learn from it. We are in Luke 18:35-43:

Luke 18:35-43 NIV

[35] As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. [36] When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. [37] They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” [38] He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” [39] Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” [40] Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, [41] “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. [42] Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”

[43] Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

If you noticed above, I singled out verse 43 because that is where the results are. After Jesus healed the man and he could see, he praised God. The people who witnessed it starting praising God also.

In this passage, Jesus did exactly what He tells us to do in Matthew 5:16:

Matthew 5:16 NIV

[16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

The blind man had faith in Jesus, so Jesus healed him, performing a good work. Then the man and the crowd praised God. 

Jesus let His light shine by His good deeds he carried out and the people praised God for it. See? The perfect example on how to live out our lives. 

When we show love for others by helping them, then we are walking or living as Jesus did, and they will praise God for it. They will be drawn to God, which is our hope for all people. Then maybe they will be saved. Remember, "Love never fails."

See? Simple account. Big lesson. Love it!!

Love you all dear readers,

Jeffrey Post

Do You...?

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?

Do you believe that He was crucified on a cross over 2000 years ago, shedding His blood, to take away the penalty for your sins? 

Do you believe that after being dead three days  God raised Him from the dead?

Do you believe that after being raised from the dead, He walked among His followers for 40 days and afterward ascended into heaven where He now sits at the Father's right hand in heaven?

If you do, then you can receive Him into your life by believing in His name. 

You can be born again or born spiritually by the Holy Spirit. In so doing, you can be adopted as a child of God. You can be added to the kingdom of God. You can receive the gift of eternal life right now just like God has promised. You can live with Him forever when you die!! You will never be separated from God ever again. You will never be condemned!!

John 3:16 NIV

[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

John 3:17-18 NIV

[17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

John 5:24 NIV

[24]  “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

Receive Jesus Christ into your life right now by believing in His name and you will become a child of God, added to His kingdom!! Confess it now.

Romans 10:9-10 NIV

[9] If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 

You will be saved. Saved from what? Saved from spending all eternity separated from God. You'll be with God for all eternity!!

Believe in Jesus Christ today. Be saved today!!

If you are a Christian already, please share with those who are not!!

Love you dear readers!!

Jeffrey Post

The Rich Ruler

 In Luke, Jesus talked with a rich ruler who asked Jesus what did he have to do to inherit eternal life. He was rich and self-reliant and so he was used to doing everything himself. So Jesus told him to keep the commands of the Mosaic law. The rich ruler told Jesus he had already been doing that since he was a youth. Jesus, knowing how self-reliant the man was, told him that he still lacked one thing. He told him to go sell everything he had and give to the poor, and then come follow Him. 

When the rich ruler heard this last thing, he became very sad because he had great wealth. He wasn't willing to give up all he had to follow Jesus. Why not? Pride, self-righteousness, self-reliance. He did not feel like he needed to sell all he had and follow Jesus because he was following Mosaic law and making it on his own. He thought he could earn eternal life through his own effort. He thought he could save himself. He learned he couldn't and that's why he became sad. He was completely self-reliant and could not see he needed the mercy of God which was standing right in front of Him. 

Jesus Christ is the mercy of God given to man so that they might believe in Him and inherit the free gift of eternal life. 

The only Way to receive eternal life is by believing in God's one and only Son Jesus Christ. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot get eternal life on our own. Only God can save us. Only He can give us the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

So now, back to the story. At the end, Jesus said it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Why do you think that is?

Because rich people are self-reliant, self-made people. They take care of their own affairs and handle everything themselves. So it is hard for them to be born again and enter the kingdom of God because they might think they do not need God or His mercy. Having done everything themselves to get where they are, they might feel like they are good enough to go to heaven or can achieve eternal life on their own. They cannot though. None of us can. Why not? Because eternal life is a GIFT from God. It is something to be received. God saves us through Jesus Christ His Son.

Luke 18:18-27 NIV

[18] A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” [19]  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. [20] You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” [21] “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. [22] When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” [23] When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. [24] Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! [25] Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” [26] Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” [27] Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

"Everything is possible for the one who believes," Jesus said. Anyone can go to heaven whether rich or poor. Come to Jesus Christ today!!!

Love you all,

Jeffrey Post