Kingdom's Keys Fellowship
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Pentecost 27 Grace at Work Through the Holy Spirit
Pentecost 27 Grace at Work Through the Holy Spirit
If you’ll notice we have been riding under the banner of Pentecost. This is the 27th article minted in the Spirit in Pentecost. Paul states Jesus’ gifting beautifully, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory (Eph.1:13-14).” The Holy Spirit propels more emphasis on Jesus who alone can change a world dedicated to rejecting Him.
The devil is working hard to undermine the Lord, His Word and His followers. The media is absorbed overtime in reporting and exposing the fragileness of sinful human nature. Everyday some story emerges describing the moral collapse of supposedly incorruptible leaders in every field. Historically, this is nothing new. The only difference between the present and past history is the immediacy and amount of news reportage. When anything happens, within seconds you know about it. And you don’t just know about single events, you know about all the events. If a major swindle or hidden affair takes place they are accompanied by all kinds of stories involving moral breakdown. Add to this the proliferation of media outlets from TV to radio and newspapers. Books expound in great detail the contents of these events. What we discover is not that human nature is worse. No, it is the massive increase in population, its industries and the ways information can be distributed. The pressure on the individual has increased a hundredfold.
Spiritually we know that the devil is the prince of this world and delights in encouraging the depravity and baseness of sin and evil. His concentration is centered on the Body of Christ and each of its members. Temptation is nothing new. What has increased is the variety, the options and numbers of opportunities for temptation to operate. The electronic age has given every computer user, every movie go’er, every TV viewer, every book reader, access to the lure of private indulgence that sets one up for that final penetration of the moral shield. No one is an exception. Paul quotes Jeremiah to say what every generation has to face,
“10As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."[a]
13"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."[b]
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."[c]
14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."[d]
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know."[e]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
The good news is that when we receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior He gives us His Holy Spirit to bring His direction personally in our hearts by faith. That He in fact does save us moment by moment from ourselves, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us, inspires us, shames us, brings us to repentance, and delivers Jesus’ forgiveness and restoration. It is the Holy Spirit who motivates us to place the Lord first. He brings Jesus to our mind, goads us with the Word, builds character and integrity within us and is the seal of our relationship with the Father through Jesus His Son.
Will we make mistakes? Yes. Will we be tempted? Yes. Will we drift from His calling? Yes. Will we sin? Yes. But again, the good news is the ever present Lord and Savior responds with conviction, the ability to repent, bringing His saving forgiveness again and again, and spurring an increasing desire to please Him, serve Him and proclaim Him.
Paul in Romans 3 says it better than anyone, “ 21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. 25-26God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness. (The Message Bible).”
Stay tuned…….
If you’ll notice we have been riding under the banner of Pentecost. This is the 27th article minted in the Spirit in Pentecost. Paul states Jesus’ gifting beautifully, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory (Eph.1:13-14).” The Holy Spirit propels more emphasis on Jesus who alone can change a world dedicated to rejecting Him.
The devil is working hard to undermine the Lord, His Word and His followers. The media is absorbed overtime in reporting and exposing the fragileness of sinful human nature. Everyday some story emerges describing the moral collapse of supposedly incorruptible leaders in every field. Historically, this is nothing new. The only difference between the present and past history is the immediacy and amount of news reportage. When anything happens, within seconds you know about it. And you don’t just know about single events, you know about all the events. If a major swindle or hidden affair takes place they are accompanied by all kinds of stories involving moral breakdown. Add to this the proliferation of media outlets from TV to radio and newspapers. Books expound in great detail the contents of these events. What we discover is not that human nature is worse. No, it is the massive increase in population, its industries and the ways information can be distributed. The pressure on the individual has increased a hundredfold.
Spiritually we know that the devil is the prince of this world and delights in encouraging the depravity and baseness of sin and evil. His concentration is centered on the Body of Christ and each of its members. Temptation is nothing new. What has increased is the variety, the options and numbers of opportunities for temptation to operate. The electronic age has given every computer user, every movie go’er, every TV viewer, every book reader, access to the lure of private indulgence that sets one up for that final penetration of the moral shield. No one is an exception. Paul quotes Jeremiah to say what every generation has to face,
“10As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."[a]
13"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."[b]
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."[c]
14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."[d]
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know."[e]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
The good news is that when we receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior He gives us His Holy Spirit to bring His direction personally in our hearts by faith. That He in fact does save us moment by moment from ourselves, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us, inspires us, shames us, brings us to repentance, and delivers Jesus’ forgiveness and restoration. It is the Holy Spirit who motivates us to place the Lord first. He brings Jesus to our mind, goads us with the Word, builds character and integrity within us and is the seal of our relationship with the Father through Jesus His Son.
Will we make mistakes? Yes. Will we be tempted? Yes. Will we drift from His calling? Yes. Will we sin? Yes. But again, the good news is the ever present Lord and Savior responds with conviction, the ability to repent, bringing His saving forgiveness again and again, and spurring an increasing desire to please Him, serve Him and proclaim Him.
Paul in Romans 3 says it better than anyone, “ 21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. 25-26God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness. (The Message Bible).”
Stay tuned…….
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Comment by Rita Campbell on July 13, 2009 at 2:05pm
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Praise the Lord!!
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