Buffing up your musscle

When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come on him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils.
LUKE: 11: 21-22

Jesus' offer of His kingdom was the star around which His entire ministry revolved. He didn't care about simply winning as argument; He cared about winning lives. He longed to drive His point into the people's hearts.
 The armed "strong man" is the Davil, who stakes his claim in a person' s life. Christ, "someone stronger," overpower s the strong man, assumes his command, and distributes his plunder. So who is greater? Who is worthy of our allegiance? Surely the conqueror Christ. Jesus climaxes His point in verse 23:
"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatter."
 We are either for Him or against Him. We either gather or scatter, do good or do harm to His cause. We can't publicly pledge allegiance to His kingdom of light and privately make allegiance with Satan"s kingdom of darkness. There is no middle ground. And It"s not enough to merely clean up our behavior. A person can tidy up his or her life, yet neglect to put Christ at the center which, as Jesus warns, can lead to frightening results. Read the (verse, 24 - 26).
 What exactly is Jesus telling us?
First: unclean spirit prefer to inhabit human bodies rather than to wander aimlessly through the neitherworld (waterless places).
Second: a life that is clean but without Christ is still helpless against the Adversary: it has no armor of God, no prayer, no protective presence of Christ.
Third: a subsequent demonic encounter can be worse than the original one.
 We can't trifle with demons. Mere intellect or will power have no effect on them. They will not be shaken free apart from Christ's intervention.

Becoming a Living Sacrifice

Do not conform any longer to the pattern if this world. . .
ROMANS 12:2

WHEN PAUL WROTE to the Romans, he spoke of Sacrifice something that both Jew and Gentiles understood clearly. Though the readers were already familiar with sacrifices, Paul introduces a new and radical idea. Present our bodies as living sacrifices.
     Your body---not a dead hunk of meat purchased in the market is what he says should be given to God. Surprisingly, the Bible says a great deal about the human body. But what does it mean to present your body as a living sacrifice? The problem with living sacrifice us that they keep crawling off the altar, so whatever offering you make has to be done every day. Daily you must yield control of your life to Him who has redeemed you--- control over what your eye beholds, what you think about, what your hands touch, where your feet take you.
     God made all the parts of your human body, and He pronounced them good. Our reasonable response to what God has done, according to Paul, is act of the will. Your body is God's gift to you, and giving it back to Him is the highest form of worship and the greatest possible sacrifice. Why is this difficult for us?
     Sacrifice placed on altar s were consumed by fire. Living sacrifice in the same way, sometimes feel the consuming fire that purifies and conforms them to His image. Sadly, some of these living sacrifices prefer to crawl back into their caves of darkness and lust.
      Does God ask too much? Or do we simply give too little? God"s great mercies deserve our reasonable service.

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10

In heaven, God's will is the only priority. A word from God brings angels to do His bidding, immediately and without question. Jesus instructed us to pray that God would accomplish His will in our world in the same way. This means that God's purposes would be preeminent in our homes, our business, our school, our churches, and our governments.
    Jesus taught His disciples to pray that God's purposes be carried out in the world around them. In modeling how they should pray, Jesus was teaching, His disciple how to share God's heart. He demonstrates this again at Gethsemane when He prayed, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will" (Matt.26:39). It is as we seek God's kingdom on earth, and not our own purpose, that we gain the same mind as our heavenly Father. We become colaborers with God by praying faithfully in agreement with His desires.
    As you seek the Lord's will, He will guide your praying. He will invite you not only to pray, but also to become involved in His activity as He answers your prayer. If He places a burden upon you to pray for an individual's salvation, that burden is also His invitation to join His activity in that person's life. Prayer will prepare you tone servant through whom God can bring about His will on earth. Pray that the Lord's absolute rule on earth will begin in your life. Then watch to see how God uses you to extend His lordship to others.

FAITH THAT BLESSED

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatian 3:9

Over the last few months my backyard bird feeder hasn't been much to look at. No visitors except a few hardy sparrows. In fact, the other day I spent many long moments by the window, feeling a little blue, hoping to see a few birds.
     Suddenly the bird feeder was abuzz with new and different friends. Finches flew out of nowhere, mockingbird showed up, a couple of red-breasted robins hopped by to join the party, and two doves perched on a nearby fence to wait their turn for the birdseed.
     I sat there wide-eye and with the biggest smile. Without thinking, I exclaimed, "Thank you. Lord, for the birds" It struck me that the entire backyard party was organized by the Lord Himself, Just when I needed a lift, He brought by an array of brightly colored, happy birds. Doves and robins don't drop in by chance if the Lord notices when a sparrow falls, then surely He directs their flight paths.
     It"s simply a matter of faith---faith to observe God's hand in absolutely everything that happens. Faith to believe that the flashing wings of a blue jay fluttering across the yard is a gift orchestrated personally by the Lord.
     What a way to live! Those who are able to see God's sovereign hand in great or small things are full of joy. Look around you today and have faith to see His gift's. You will be b!Essex.

Jesus Pre-Cross Crash Course

However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it to you.
JOHN 16:13-14 AKJV

Have you ever crammed for a "now or never" exam? On Bible? Unless you're a seminary student, probably not. But you were thrust into such a situation? You'd probably panic. That's no doubt how the disciples felt the evening they enjoyed the Last Supper with the Lord Jesus. Up until the end, evening had been warm and personal there was even that touching moment when Jesus washed their feet. But the mood shifted when Jesus spoke those strange words to Judas, "What you are about to do, do quickly." Judas left and from that point on, the tone of the evening changed. It was as if the Lord realized He had pressing things to say and only a short time in which to say them.
    He spoke about vines and branches, peace and persecution. So much packed into those few hours! How would the disciples remember it all? Jesus knew their dismay. But the Lord also knew that everything would become clear. That's why He promised them the Holy Spirit. The Spirit would be teacher and guide.
     Are you any different from the disciple? Not really Sometimes you  feel that God is pouring million- gallon of truth's into your one-ounce brain! Spirit will help you to understand. He will bring God's to your mind and memory, making all thing clear

HIS PROJECT NEVER FAILS

Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:6 AKJV

Can the dead be raised in today's world? It all depends on what has died. Sometimes bringing something to life is simply a matter of hard work and time....perhaps even centuries. The staff at Redwood National Park in California will tell you that attempting  to do this is definitely worth the effort.
    In 1978, the park "grew" by sixty square miles of clear-cut forest. Congress gave the park's managers a challenge: restore the land to its natural states. A warning was also given: the final results of your work won't be visible for hundreds of years.
    Work began. Since 1978, roads have been removed, stream and estuary habitats have been replanted, and hundreds of haul roads and ski trails have been erased. In the process, the park has become something of a living laboratory," a means of helping environmental researchers learn so far st Redwood has been beneficial to managing the Heath of other national and state parks.
     The next time you think your effort may be too little too late, remember the world's tallest tree located at Redwood did not grow to be 368 feet high overnight. It takes times to become magnificent.
    The Scripture do not tell us to be restored to our " natural" state, but to be transformed into the image of Christ Jesus. (:  see Romans 12:2 ) This transformation isn't immediate. Some habits and patterns take a long time to change. Hurtful memories require healing, and may never be fully erased. New ways of thinking and responding can be slow to develop.
     However, our transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit within us, and He never fails! Trust God today to be st work in your transformation  a project that may take all your lifetime and be compete only in eternity, but will end in your wholeness.

The Nevertheless of Faith

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
HABAKKUK 3:17-18 AKJV

MARTIN LUTHER went through periods spiritual darkness. He felt that God no longer heard or cared about him. He wrote, "God often, as it were, hides himself, and will not hear; yea, will suffer himself to be found. Preaching g or teaching, the word freezes upon my lips."
     So what helped Luther break through the wall of darkness? It was the assurance that the God who could not lie had revealed Himself in His Word, in Scripture which cannot be broken; and that confidence in God's Word him through the dark night of the soul. The turning point was "the nevertheless faith."
      Wrote Luther, "when one is possessed with doubt, that though he call upon the Lord he cannot be heard, and that God had turned his  heart  from him, and is angry. . . he must. . . arm himself with God's Word, promising to hear him." In Luther's book Babylonian Captivity of the Church he wrotes, "For God does not deal, nor has he ever dealt, with man otherwise than through a Word of promise. . . . Promise and faith must necessarily go together. For without the promise there is nothing to be believed; while without faith the promise is useless, since it is established and fulfilled through faith."'
      You will never break through the darkness apart from absolute confidence that God will honour His promises not because of your goodness, but because of His nature and character He is bound by Himself to honor them.