Saturday Oct 19, 2024
Joey bought me lunch after a long day looking at houses.
He is a first time buyer and it is a scary prospect and he is handling it like a boss!
So proud of my son!
After we were done with lunch, we went to look at a pretty interesting house.
Let’s see if that’s the one he gets.
We had such a great time on this trip. It was just diane and myself and all the kids and I had a chance to spend some great quality time with my son, joey, what a great memory.
This is a very funny memory from my wife and makeup day with the girls. I think this was their way of telling mom that she really is beautifu the way she is. What a great memory.
What does it mean to worship in spirit? The first interpretive decision to make is to determine whether Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. The context seems to reveal that the word “spirit” in John 4:23–24 is referring to spiritual worship in response to the question of the place of worship (see John 4:21–24).
This kind of worship is in response to the Holy Spirit. It is the filling of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) that results in true worship (Ephesians 5:19–20). To worship in spirit is to worship from our heart or inner being.
To “worship in spirit” is to let the true you speak to the true God. It is the awesome privilege of coming to Him with your fears (Psalm 34:4), anxieties (Philippians 4:6–7), need for cleansing (1 John 1:7–9), true desires (Psalm 37:4), and temptations (Hebrews 4:15–16). God’s people were not to let their true lives hide behind their external worship.
When we worship in spirit, God tells us that these are appropriate sacrifices that the believer can offer.
The Father is seeking worshipers who respond to the Holy Spirit and offer such sacrifices.
To worship in spirit is to worship with “complete sincerity,” and to worship in truth is to worship in “complete reality.”
An idol is that which a person looks to in order to meet the thirst of their heart. If one rejects God, we will look to an idol and in so doing “[exchange] the truth of God for a lie” (Romans 1:25). To worship in truth is to worship the one “true God” (John 17:3) in line with God’s first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).
There is no truth in the Devil, who is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
He lusts for worship and one day will empower the antichrist, who will demand that people worship Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:4). Even now the Devil sows lies to distract you from the worship of the true God.
Because truth is in Jesus (John 1:14; 14:6), worshiping in truth will always lead you to Him. We can depend upon the “Spirit of truth” to guide us into the worship of Christ (John 16:13–15). His truth sets one free (John 8:32), and worshiping in truth will set us free to worship God as He has revealed Himself.
God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
Do I belong to Jesus Christ? As a Christian, that question determines everything. “You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s,” 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us.
Glorifying God takes on new meaning in the details of life. How should I live? How should I live differently because Jesus has saved me? Paul said he was “separated to the gospel of God” (1:1). What does it mean to be separated?
The Bible teaches right and wrong on some things, but what should our behavior be in questionable matters? How should a Christian live in the grey areas? God’s Word lays out three guiding principles for living a separated, joyful life unto God.
Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.-Romans 14:5
Conviction means you are “fully persuaded in your own mind” that you can give yourself entirely to it without reserve. If you can participate in something and maintain a close relationship with Christ, it’s not wrong for you. Our hearts determine our conduct.
One day we’ll give an account of our lives—every word, every choice (see 2 Corinthians 5:10). Too often, we try to straddle the fence, trying to go with the world and with God.
We also need to invest our energy and thinking to help us get along with each other. God is at work in each of our lives, though on His timetable. Respect what God is doing in others’ lives. Avoid what offends another Christian and focus instead on what builds up fellow believers. You don’t know how God is working in another’s heart. Don’t get in His way to exercise your freedom.
When you live with conviction, be convinced this is what God is pleased you do. Is this right for me to do? Can I do it with excitement, anticipation, and joy?
When God’s Word hasn’t spoken to an issue, invite your conscience to evaluate it as right or wrong to do. Your conscience helps you act in a way consistent with what you believe. If the way you live isn’t compatible with what you believe, then it’s wrong. Listen to the Holy Spirit prompt you about the grey areas and how to walk by faith.
Be thoughtful of others—it’s that simple. You might feel free in your convictions to do something, but how might it affect someone else? Consider how to live best in front of those who are spiritually weaker. Use your liberty, but don’t abuse it. Jesus was willing to die for that weak brother, and we certainly ought to be willing to refrain from doing something that would hurt him in his Christian walk.
As a Christian, your goal is to please the Lord. It’s not a question of whether it’s right or wrong. The real issue is, are you walking in the light? Don’t walk the thin line with the world and try to maintain a Christian testimony. To live like this is only to know a shabby, shoddy Christian life.
When you walk in the light, you show others the way to Jesus.
If Romans 1-8 describes the faith in which we now stand, and Romans 9-11 gives Israel hope for the future, then Romans 12-16 pictures what love looks like in a Christian’s life. We study now what a Christian does with the salvation God has given to us.
To live the life He’s intended for you when He saved you, present your total personality to God. God created us to be relational, with a responsibility to each other.
Your relationship to God. Because you are now rich in God’s tender compassion, yield your whole person as a living sacrifice to Him. Put yourself at His service. Live what you believe. The minute you pretend to be something you’re not, you give up your discernment of God’s will in your life. But when you yield to His Spirit, God’s will shapes your life perfectly.
Your relationship to God’s Spirit. The church is like a body—with many members doing different things well. God gives us a unique ability to serve His body when He saves us. When you contribute your gift, you confirm His Spirit is alive in you.
Your relationship with other Christians. Through the Spirit’s power, we can live distinctly godly lives yet interact with each other. We need to love each other the best we know how and be eager and enthusiastic to join with each other in serving the Lord. We share what we have with others in need and enter into each other’s joys and sorrows. And together, we follow Jesus.
Your relationship with people who don’t yet know Jesus Christ. We live in a world of unbelievers, and eventually, we will be hurt by them. Turn that over to God. Live so no one could accuse you of anything—not laziness, not debts, not pride, or pettiness. Don’t let evil get the best of you. Keep doing good and walk in the power of His Spirit.
Your relationship to government. As a believer, your citizenship is in heaven, but you’re also a citizen in this world. God appointed government as our authority to maintain law and order. When it doesn’t do that, it fails. As Christians, we should respect our rulers who enforce the law. Although the kingdoms of this world belong to Satan and injustice and corruption flourish in all governments, God still has control. He raises kings and presidents, and He puts them down. He has not abdicated His throne; neither is He disturbed about what is happening in politics. Christianity is not a movement to help society clean up the town. We are to preach a gospel that is the power of God to bring salvation to anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian should be the best citizen on earth, although our true citizenship is in heaven.
Your relationship with your neighbors. Our love for our neighbor is best seen in what we do rather than what we say. Time is short. You have a small window to share the Lord with your neighbor. Live as children of light, Paul said. This challenge is like an alarm clock to wake us up to why we should yield our whole lives to God. Yield all you are and all you have to Him. This is rational. This is reasonable. This is what we are supposed to be doing—living like God’s representatives in a lost generation.
Look for Jesus Christ’s return, too. It could be any day. This alone will help you live a pure life (1 John 3:3). Let’s live for God in our generation! Leave not a space for worldly living, but make room for God’s presence in your life every day.
In Romans 7, we felt the frustration of failing at the Christian life. Now here’s the victory.
Romans 8 is the high-water mark in Romans. Many call it the greatest chapter in the Bible. No other chapter more deeply and fully describes the hope and tender mercies we have in God’s love or the full Trinity of God working for us. All these truths linked together give us a great sense of security and the opportunity for a life like God intends for us. We must come to this study like Moses standing at the burning bush, with our feet unshod and our heads uncovered, not fully realizing or recognizing the glory and wonder.
Romans 8 promises power for an exhausted, frustrated, defeated Christian. How? God’s Spirit does it in us! A life that pleases God must be lived in His power. The Holy Spirit’s job is to deliver us from frustration and failure.
Once sin controlled us and, even as Christians, it cut off our fellowship with God. Only a higher authority and power can put us back in fellowship with God—only the Holy Spirit, who is our new life, can connect us to the living Christ Jesus. He sets us free from sin’s control and death’s power.
This ongoing relationship with God is because His Spirit lives in us. He offers us a life full of satisfaction and the exercise of our total God-given abilities. Many people think they are living today, but it is a cheap substitute for the life God wants to provide.
To “hope to do better” misses the whole point, too. If you are in Christ, you have God’s Spirit, and only when He moves through you can you accomplish that lifestyle you hear about in His Word. Stop believing in yourself, and believe instead that the Spirit of God can enable you through your new nature to live for God—today.
If you’re discouraged, that means you don’t believe God. He has a purpose, plan, and blessing for you. Trust Him and lay hold of life His way. By the way, nothing you get from God comes from how devoted you are to Him. You don’t need to dedicate yourself to Him—you need to believe Him. You can’t do anything, but God can do it all.
Are you willing to turn the control over to the Holy Spirit and quit trusting your weak, sinful nature? Tell Him, “I can’t do it, Lord, but You can do it through me.”
The Holy Spirit will help you deal with your struggle if you confess it to Him. Only Christ can remove the burden—”Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,” Jesus said,“and I will rest you.” (see Matthew11:28). You will know what it feels like to have sins forgiven.
When you have a new relationship with God, He leads you in paths of righteousness (Psalm 23), and you can leave your insecurity behind. You don’t doubt anymore if you are saved. Instead, you’ve got His joy down in your heart, and His Spirit wells up within you, saying, “Abba, Father.”
Abba is an untranslated Aramaic word; its closest meaning is “My Daddy”—a heart cry for when you’re in trouble. Picture a young child with arms wide, begging for comfort. The Spirit confirms that you have that kind of access to God in your spirit.
This sweet Father relationship continues from child to heir, to joint-heirs with Christ. We’re in the family. Whatever it is that’s hard for you today, you can be sure that as a joint heir, Christ will redeem it someday. It will someday seem light compared to the “eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17) we will be enjoying with Him.
All this is ours in Christ when the Spirit of God is in control. And there’s even more to come.