How do we keep our spiritual life alive?

Peace with all men.
Holiness with all men.

These are TWO mandatory things for all Christians because without them NO MAN will see the LORD.

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord

We have to strive to be CHRIST'S, always!

We have to strive to live a SPIRITUAL life, always!

We have the physical life down pat, but the spiritual life is tricky.

We barely feed our spiritual being let tend to it in any other way.

How do you feed your spiritual life?

1Pe 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1Pe 2:3  If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Milk of the word.

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Drinking from the Spiritual Rock-  the Rock was Christ.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Need of milk (spiritual milk).

Need of strong meat (spiritual meat).

Milk is for babes- milk is for the unskilled in the word of righteousness.

Meat for those of full age- by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Do we see- do we understand?

We grow with spiritual milk and once we are grown enough we switch from spiritual milk to spiritual meat.

Once we are grown spiritually we are able to discern both good and evil.

Could it be true that we simply want spiritual milk all the way through? Milk is easy to digest. Milk is easy to tolerate. We want to be fed the milk. We want the milk giver to be more accountable then we are. You don't hold a baby accountable for getting its own milk. You don't expect an infant to feed the milk to itself, but be fed. 

The consequence of never growing spiritually is remaining a babe and remaining unskillful, it is  being unable to follow peace and holiness with all men and if we can't do that remember the outcome?

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord

This is truth.

As long as we refuse to grow spiritually we are denying ourselves eternal life.  Eternal life is a spiritual life fully realized.

We must grow in CHRIST.

We must truly study God's word and spend time with God every single day! If we can, even more than once a day. We have no trouble feeding our physical selves, no trouble at all. Of course we don't have someone constantly by our side doing all they can to keep us from eating physically either. We do have someone constantly trying to keep us from feeding spiritually. We have an enemy who has used every trick in existence to keep people from feeding spiritually. Denying access to food, giving an over abundance of food but stealing the desire to feed, he'll do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING to keep us spiritually sipping at the milk and never finding the meat. Satan does NOT want us to be able to discern between good and evil, and in that discerning keep from evil!

Please Lord, help us to grow spiritually. Help us to feed spiritually. Help us to realize that we truly need to be immersed in your word, in YOU.

We would follow peace and holiness with all men- this is YOUR will that we live spiritually in YOU, by YOU, for YOU.

All by YOUR LOVE!

Never give up

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord

Another action.

Why do we try to deceive ourselves into believing we don't need to act? Is it because we recognize our total inability to be what we know or think we know God wants us to be?

We are told to FOLLOW PEACE with all men.
We are told to FOLLOW HOLINESS with all men.

Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Have your FRUIT unto holiness.

2Co 7:1  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

CLEANSE ourselves from ALL FILTHINESS of the flesh and spirit.
PERFECTING holiness in the FEAR of GOD.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

PURFIETH HIMSELF.

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

DO HIS COMMANDMENTS.

We CAN'T work our way to heaven, but at the same time we cannot live in such a way that we are encouraging sin in our lives. All the changes we might make, all the actions we might take- every commandment we keep, every bit of purifying we attempt, all the cleansing of filthiness from our lives, all the perfecting of holiness, all of that will NOT save us.  Only CHRIST JESUS saves us! We KNOW the life our Savior lived. We KNOW the life our Savior would have us live. We KNOW the life we will have in eternity is a life CHANGED completely by our SAVIOR.

As we cling to CHRIST, cling to HIS righteousness, HIS grace and mercy. While we cling to HIM, we learn more of HIM through HIS word. When we learn more of Him we want to BE MORE LIKE HIM.  We WANT it, even if we feel very far from being capable of being like Him.  And desiring to be LIKE HIM, to have HIM live in us, we are convicted by the Holy Spirit to know right from wrong and do to right over wrong! 

We cleanse ourselves, we purify ourselves, we perfect the holiness in the fear of God by growing CLOSER to CHRIST.

By choosing NOT to do the things that we are convicted are things that Christ would not have us do, we choose CHRIST. By seeking FORGIVENESS over and over again, not ever giving into the despair of desiring to give up because we KNOW how utterly impossible it is for us to be what our Savior would have us be, this is what we must do!

We must continue to do all that we are admonished to do, never giving up! Never giving up EXCEPT giving up in believing that we can ever save ourselves in any way.

Please LORD know us! Please LORD keep us! Please LORD save us from ourselves!

PLEASE.

All by YOUR GRACE, YOUR LOVE!

Let it be healed

Chastised -- learning from that chastisement we should--

Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Lift up the hands.
Lift us the feeble knees.
Make straight paths.

The lame will be turned out.

Let it be healed.

We have to let our spirit be healed. We have to have faith- raising our hands, our knees, walking straight.  We have to be spiritually strong! If our spiritual Father is chastising us - teaching us so we are made spiritually sound in Him, we have to accept this chastising and let it make us STRONGER spiritually, NOT weaker.  We will be tempted to let our chastisement get us down, to depress us, to make us weaker and not stronger. When you're put through a fire you feel the pain and agony of that fire but when the fire is over you either heal and are determined to be stronger, or succumb to the chastisement letting it make you weaker. It's satan's entire purpose to bring us to despair. Satan wants us to remain weak spiritually. Satan doesn't want us strong in the Lord! Satan would have us weak, he would have us walk on crooked paths, he wants us lame.  Satan does not want us HEALED.

We have to let ourselves be healed.

We can stand in the way of our own healing.

We can set up our lives so we sabotage ourselves spiritually. We can leave no time in our day for spiritual growth. We can put more importance on work and pleasure than we do on our spirit growth.  We call it RELAXING. I just need to relax which means not troubling ourselves over anything remotely like something that could possible lead us to worrying or stressing in any way.

Seriously.

We say we need to unwind which means just shutting off our minds to anything of real importance. We put ourselves in front of our television sets and just let it entertain us, but what its really doing is stealing our time. No? You'll say it makes you laugh, is lets you live without a time without thinking about your jobs, your money, your worries, your sickness, your future etc. you KNOW what I'm talking about.  Next you'll say to study your Bible means having to think, having to worry, having to let go of doing nothing and work your brain when all you really want to do is NOTHING, you want to relax. You want to do something that doesn't trouble you in the least. You don't want to think about your chastisement but rather forget about it, as if it didn't happen. You don't want to be exercised by your chastisement. You don't want to learn from it. You don't want to make your paths straight, you'd much rather just forget you were walking a crooked road. 

This is truth, what I'm speaking is TRUTH! You know it's truth!

We want downtime, time that means we don't have to do anything except while away the hours in semi-enjoyment, if not full-enjoyment.  Laugh at your television shows, cry at them as they bring you into their lives of pure fiction and cause you heartache for imaginary beings.  Pick up your books and play your computer games, your video games, do all that just so you don't have to deal with the reality of your spirit life.

Do we stand in the way of our own healing?

Let it be healed.

We are told to act-

Lift up the hands.
Lift us the feeble knees.
Make straight paths.

To 'lift', to 'make', to 'let'.   These are all actions.

Lifting, making, letting.

Do we? Do we act on behalf of our Spiritual life?

More tomorrow by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST! 

May we lift, make, and let!

We would be YOURS LORD! Teach us to be YOURS. In a world that would have us concentrate totally on ourselves in a selfish way, help us to concentrate on YOU and YOUR will for us! 

Please let us let it be healed!

We love You Father of spirits!  We need YOU!

Bless us LORD, forgive us!

All glory, praise, and HONOR unto YOU!

Father of Spirits

The Father of Spirits.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

The Father of Spirits.

There are fathers of flesh, we know all about that don't we. We are flesh, and every man who impregnates a woman becomes a father. They've contributed to creating another human being. Those fathers are our birth fathers, fathers of our flesh. The fathers of our flesh correct us in order to teach us obedience, teach us to behave in the proper manner. If we misbehave then we need instruction to teach us how to behave and the consequences of our not behaving.  We understand this without any problem, don't we? We've all as adults (those of us who are) have had that sort of correction from a father or if not a father, a mother, or if not a mother then another authority figure raising us from childhood. 

The Father of Spirits .

We have to be spiritually born to have a spiritual Father. 

Remember Jesus telling us that we must be born again? Born of Spirit and born of water.  When we are born of Spirit we have a Spiritual Father.

Our Spiritual Father will only ever chasten us for our PROFIT.  Our flesh fathers often chasten us without any real standard but their own. They feel annoyed they chasten us, and they can chasten us unjustly as happens all too often.  Our Spiritual Father will NEVER chasten us unjustly. The ONLY reason our Spiritual Father chastens us is so that we may become His sons and daughters and partake in the holiness of Him, the love that is Him.

Chastened. 

Chastening is grievous, not joyous.  IF, when we are chastened we are EXERCISED by that chastening- meaning we LEARN from that chastening- then we will have the righteousness of Christ as the result. The fruit that results from the experience is peace and righteousness all found solely in Christ.

We MUST accept our Spiritual chastisement and learn from it, let it be a part of us. Our Savior alone is righteous and He will live in us! He loves us! He died for us! He wants to live in us and us in Him.

Chastened.

Remember the definition--
1. the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body
2. whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and curbing passions.
a. instruction which aims at increasing virtue
b. chastisement, chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)

We are chastised when we have our mistakes corrected, our passions curbed. We don't like having our passions curbed or being corrected. We want to do what is right don't we, but our flesh nature seems to steer us towards doing things that aren't good for us. Because isn't that what it boils down to?  The things we do that aren't what our Spiritual Father wants us to do so that we may be with Him, are only things that are harmful to us- if not in flesh, then in spirit.

Please Lord, let us NOT despise Your chastening! We need our Spiritual Father to bless us, to keep us, to teach us, to chastise us as often as is needed so that we may be HIS. We won't like it, it's not pleasant, but LORD help us to LEARN and be exercised by YOUR chastising. Please LORD, please.

Plagued and chastened every morning

Psa 73:14  For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

All the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning

Read this in context…

Psa 73:1-14  A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.   But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.


This is a man of God who in witnessing the prosperity of the wicked, is very troubled.  Like many of us we come face to face with the reality that fudging the truth, skimming off the top, harmless deceptions, little bitty lies, all of those will bring more prosperity than remaining true to the truth, to God. 

We are told all the time there is no harm in the small evils that really don't hurt anyone and besides those who are being deceived deserve to be deceived because they are evil any way.

We justify our own evils but in truth they CANNOT be justified, not ever. Sinning can NEVER be justified.  The tiniest of sins is just as deadly as the biggest of sins.  Though you'll get a bunch of people in an uproar if you dare to say that a mass murderer is worthy of death just as the man who coveted his neighbors wife. Sin has wages and the wages of all sin are DEATH. When we sin we separate ourselves from God and we cannot live eternally, not ever,  not without God. We need to atone for our sins and the only way we can do that is through our Savior who alone has paid the price for all sin. We need to seek forgiveness, we need to repent- ALWAYS.

Getting back to this man of God who was a witness to the well being of the wicked, the man who lamented his own righteous suffering- he spoke these words-

All the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning.

We've been studying a bit about being chastened, and here is an excellent example.  ALL day long plagued.  EVERY morning chastened. This is a spiritual plague, a spiritual chastening. The knowledge we have when we see the wicked prospering ignites something in us that cries out- "IT'S NOT FAIR!" And it's not fair.  If you're good you should be rewarded for that, right? And if you're evil you should be punished for that, right? We know it's right, but the reality is far from fair, it's distorted because of sin.  Our world is tainted by sin and everything in it is subject to that tainting.  Fairness is something you can strive for but have to realize that in a world governed by sin it will be something fleeting. Sinners without morals, without standards, without laws, without commandments to adhere to are free to use all manner of deceit to gain earthly pleasures and treasures.

This  man of God was being chastened every morning.

How so?

What sort of chastening?

People are not always chastened in a physical way, but spiritually as well. Our spiritual chastisement can be a constant realization that we NEED CHRIST in all things all the while our flesh wars against our spirit. 

We are allowed to suffer in order that we learn.
We are allowed torment so we learn.
If we want to be children of God we have to accept that God wants to teach us, God wants us to grow up in HIM. This teaching process isn't set on a time limit such as the one we give to our own children. Go to school for 13 years and you're all set for the minimum amount of education needed to be a well rounded adult. Continue on in school for a higher level of learning and you are merely adding on to that basic education every adult should have had. We've put labels on learning and time frames on expected behavior, expected educational growth. We don't expect an 18 year old to act like a five year old.  We expect the years of aging to accomplish the change from child to adult.  In the spiritual reality a person might not even become spiritually born until they are late in adulthood, there is no time frame, no set age for the spiritual birth.  Once we are spiritually born we will grow spiritually as long as we are being spiritually nurtured towards that end.  If a child is fed well we expect them to grow well. If a child is fed poorly we expect them to grow poorly.  We've all heard horror stories about nine year olds weighing as much as a three year old because they've lived for years on a starvation diet, only getting enough to barely live. Spiritual horror stories are self induced when a person spiritually born stops nurturing their spirit through Christ.  We need to be constantly spiritually fed. We will never get to a place where we can stop being fed spiritually, any more than an adult fully grown could stop eating and expect to live. 

There is a reason our Savior started the Last Supper ritual in remembrance of life in Him. We are to remember we die spiritually without Him- without the bread and wine, the life and blood of Christ.  He made the example with something that would truly hit home to us- we need to eat and drink to LIVE physically and we need to eat and drink spiritually to LIVE spiritually.   Yet if we don't let this truth become a reality to us, the Lord will chasten us, hoping to get us to realize that we MUST live in Him spiritually all the time! We must feed spiritually. 

We can look around us and see the prosperity of the wicked and we can lament our own poor state- but we are to learn from that, that the end of the wicked is eternal nothingness. All their wealth and prosperity now is FLEETING, truly fleeting. The end of the wicked is death ever after. So while they prosper physically now their spiritual death is certain in their clinging to their wickedness.

Psa 73:17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Chastened.  Enduring the spiritual warfare. Allowed to suffer in order to promote spiritual growth.  Truly no chastening when it's happening is pleasant but…

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

...we have to comprehend that after all the chastening is over we solely, by the grace and mercy of our Lord, will have the peaceable fruit of righteousness- CHRIST'S righteousness!

The war between the mind and the flesh is a real one.  The war between the spirit and the flesh is very, very real!  We cannot believe otherwise.  Please, Lord continue to chasten us as long as we, as YOUR children, need to be chastened, as long as we are spiritually growing up into YOU.

All by YOUR LOVE!

Chastise as needed

Again I ask…

'What child has ever been raised without any chastisement?
 Is it possible to raise a child without  chastising them? I'm not saying abusing them, but chastising them?'

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

chastisement,G3809 -Greek (Strong's Dictionary)
- Original: παιδεία
- Transliteration: Paideia
- Phonetic: pahee-di'-ah
- Definition:
1. the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body
2. whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and curbing passions.
a. instruction which aims at increasing virtue
b. chastisement, chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)

The Lord chastens us.
The Lord trains and educates us- cultivating our minds and morals.
The Lord commands, admonishes, reproves, and punishes us.
The Lord trains us.
The Lord corrects our mistakes.
The Lord curbs our passions.
The Lord increases our virtues.

How does the Lord do all this?

It's a daily work, an ongoing way of life just as no parent takes a child and limits their chastening to a certain time frame but rather chastens them as it is needed on a daily basis. 

We are the Lord's children. We are called to never forget that we are created and our Creator is our God, our Savior, our Redeemer. God with God created us, the Father God and God who would be the Son created us!  Jesus the Son now shares God the Father with us. Having human flesh from one born from one created in the beginning, coming into the world born in the flesh, arriving as a helpless newborn babe the Son, God with us shares with us humanity. The Heavenly Father will forever be our Father and we will forever be His children- children meant to grow up spiritually in Him. Children needing chastising as we are taught, as we are trained, as our spiritual natures are nurtured.  Just as every single one of us has been chastised as we grew up physically, and just as we chastise our own children and they will chastise  their children and so on, we need to have spiritual chastisement in order to grow in the Lord. We cannot despise this chastising, we must endure it in whatever form it takes knowing that we are loved by the Father and are sons and daughters of God.

Forgive us, Lord, please forgive us! We need You so desperately to forever chastise us as long and as much as we need that chastising so that we maybe be Your sons and daughters, loved by You! Teach us, train us, guide us, help us as ONLY YOU can do! 

No matter the form of the chastisement, Lord, we only hope and pray that You work in us all that needs to be worked in us so we maybe YOURS, wholly YOURS.

In Your LOVE always!

God's Children - Chastened

Striving against sin.
Resisting unto blood.

Very few, if any of us can say we've resisted sinning unto blood.

Very few, if any of us can say we've counted sinning so horrendous that we did everything in our power to resist it. It's so much easier for us to give into sin and beg forgiveness than it is for us to deprive ourselves of our sinful urgings, our sinful temptations. 

We tell ourselves all kinds of stories as to why it is okay for us to give into our particular sins, but truthfully there is not a single story that makes any sinning okay.

Sin will separate us from God.
When we are separated from God we are separated from love.
Separated from love we are nothing.

Joh_17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

I've said it before and I mean it, we are the living dead if we do not have Christ Jesus as our Savior right now. He is life.

Our senses are dulled. Our spiritual senses so deadened we don't realize the great peril we are in by sinning. There was a time when sin was called by its rightful name and its consequence was well known- death. We become appalled at the though of being put to death for sinning, but we are put to death- eternal death if we die without repenting and seeking forgiveness for our sins.

We must realize the truly deadly consequences of sin and the necessity of our resisting unto blood, our striving against sin.

Yes, we are helpless on our own but Christ in us enables us to set aside the sins that so easily beset us.

Lets read on…

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Despise NOT the chastening.
ENDURE chastisement.

If we are without chastisement then we are NOT God's.

We are children, all of us! Children of God from the youngest to the oldest of us. Do we submit to the chastisement of our Father?

What child has ever been raised without any chastisement? Is it possible to raise a child without  chastising them? I'm not saying abusing them, but chastising them. 

chastisement,G3809 -Greek (Strong's Dictionary)
- Original: παιδεία
- Transliteration: Paideia
- Phonetic: pahee-di'-ah
- Definition:
1. the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body
2. whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and curbing passions.
a. instruction which aims at increasing virtue
b. chastisement, chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ!

May we NOT despise the chastening of our Lord.
May we ENDURE as sons and daughters of our eternal Heavenly Father. 

All in HIS LOVE ALWAYS!