So if there is any encouragement in Christ, and incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourself. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves which you have in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled himself and became OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH, even death on a cross.
Richard Craig, Author at GraceAndWorks - Page 54 of 59
In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard for all His Godly fear. Although He was a Son, HE LEARNED OBEDIENCE through what He suffered; and being made perfect He became the source of eternal salvation to ALL WHO OBEY HIM.
Remind them of this, and charge them before the Lord to avoid disputing about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth. Avoid such godless chatter, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will eat its way like gangrene.
Cancer by definition is: A) A malignant tumor characterized by potentially unlimited growth with expansion by invasion and systemic by metastasis. B) An abnormal state marked by such tumors. C) A SOURCE OF EVIL. D) An enlarged tumor like growth. E) Disease marked by such growths.
There are several types of Spiritual Cancer: lying, false teaching, lack of brotherly love, greed, gossip, anger, lack of study, forsaking the assembly, not caring about others, living in a “Me” world, etc.
There is a difference between physical and spiritual cancer. Physical cancer can sometimes be treated and cured, sometimes in cannot and it takes your life. Spiritual Cancer is always treatable and cured by God’s Word and His forgiveness. Left untreated, it will take away Eternal Life with God. I think two of the worst are: Gossip and Anger.
Gossip by definition is: A) A person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts. B) Rumor of intimate nature. C) Chatty talk. In Proverbs, God tells us that he who slanders is foolish. A tail bearer reveals secrets and we are not to associate with those who speak foolishly. In Ephesians, God says Slander grieves the Holy Spirit, and in Titus, God says speak evil of no one. Gossip is a source of evil and is a Spiritual Cancer that needs to be cut out of our lives. It goes against everything that God teaches us. It is treatable!!
Anger by definition is: A) Ire, rage, indignation, wrath. Anger is the general term for the emotional reaction of extreme displeasure and suggests neither a definite degree of intensity nor a necessarily outward manifestation. Rage is a loss of self control from violence of emotion. Wrath may imply either rage or indignation, but suggests strongly a desire or intent to avenge or punish. In Genesis, God says anger is cursed and it is forbidden and in Psalms He says to refrain from Anger. In Ephesians God says, Do not be quick to anger and in Colossians He says to put Anger away–Put to death. Anger is a source of evil and is a Spiritual Cancer that needs to be cut out of our lives. It goes against everything God teaches us. It is treatable!!
If you nave a Spiritual Cancer in your life, go to God’s Word and treat it. Don’t let it kill you Spiritually to the extent that you lose your Salvation. .
SMILE God loves YOU!! Have a good day all.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, NOT NEGLECTING TO MEET TOGETHER, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the doors. As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.
Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. BUT SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE YOURS AS WELL. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you. CAST ALL YOUR ANXIETIES ON HIM, FOR HE CARES ABOUT YOU. Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your FAITH, knowing that the same experience of suffering required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. To Him be the dominion for ever and ever. AMEN
African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Chinese Americans, etc. etc. Today’s blog has more to do with questions I want you to ponder than an actual story. I have a hard time understanding why we have to profile individuals into different groups. It seems to me, that, if we are all born in American, then we should all be called Americans. Why do we have to make distinctions? If we did away with profiling, would we still have the prejudices and racism that goes on in this world? I look at our younger generation and I see that when we have a handful of kids that want to cause trouble, we profile all the kids and say they are bad. Because there are a few kids in a gang, does that make the whole race bad? I think not. If we have a handful of Policemen/women that want to be profilers, prejudice, or racist, does that make all of the police bad? I think not. Profiling. prejudice and racism is going on everyday in America by every “Group” that we can name. It is time to stop all this nonsense!! I was teaching our adult class at Church yesterday from the book of Titus and we got into a discussion on what Paul has to say in chapter 3. Paul tells Titus to: Remind them (The people of Crete) to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for honest work, TO SPEAK EVIL OF NO ONE, TO AVOID QUARRELING, to be gentle, to show perfect courtesy toward ALL men. How can we do this if we profile, have prejudices, and practice racism? WE CAN’T!! Can’t we all just be Americans and forget about race, color or creed?
When it comes to the Government, we have Republicans, Democrats, Independents, etc. I understand that it has always been set up this way. However, what if there were no divisions, groups, or profiling? How would things work? It seems that the way it is now we take our group and go to a corner and come out fighting. Why can’t we just be Americans and elect the best person? Whether it be President, Congress, senate, governors, etc. It seems so simple to me. If we could do away with the “Groups”, wouldn’t things work smoother? Wouldn’t it come down to “What is best for America” instead of “What is best for Me”? I don’t know either, but I would sure like to try.
What about Religion? We have 100’s of different denominations. Why? God established His Church on the day of Pentecost and set up the way it is supposed to work. We have let man’s opinion enter in and now we have God’s word being distorted. Through every letter that Paul wrote, he warns about distortions and false teaching. Isn’t it time to go back to the Bible and see what God says instead of believing what men say? I think so!! If we would do what God says, there wouldn’t be religious strife in this world today. Ephesians 4:4-6 says “There is ONE body, ONE Spirit, just as you were called to the ONE hope that belongs to your call, ONE Lord, ONE Faith, ONE Baptism, ONE God and father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Let’s do what God says.
Can we all get on the same page whether it be politics, religion or Americans? Probably not, but it sure would be a better world if we could.
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