Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

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Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.

Serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

We should be in fear, shouldn't we?

Seriously. We talk about the fear of God as if we have to explain it away. We call it godly fear, and we try to twist it into something that isn't fear at all but rather something much different. We don't want to equate God with fear because we read this--

1Jn_4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

So let's read from a Bible Commentator and see what we think about what he has to say -  ADAM CLARKE'S COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE -

1 John 4:18

'There is no fear in love - The man who feels that he loves God with all his heart can never dread him as his Judge. As he is now made a partaker of his Spirit, and carries a sense of the Divine approbation in his conscience, he has nothing of that fear that produces terror or brings torment. The perfect love - that fullness of love, which he has received, casteth out fear - removes all terror relative to this day of judgment, for it is of this that the apostle particularly speaks. And as it is inconsistent with the gracious design of God to have his followers miserable, and as he cannot be unhappy whose heart is full of the love of his God, this love must necessarily exclude this fear or terror; because that brings torment, and hence is inconsistent with that happiness which a man must have who continually enjoys the approbation of his God.

He that feareth - He who is still uncertain concerning his interest in Christ; who, although he has many heavenly drawings, and often sits with Christ some moments on a throne of love, yet feels from the evils of his heart a dread of the day of judgment; is not made perfect in love - has not yet received the abiding witness of the Spirit that he is begotten of God; nor that fullness of love to God and man which excludes the enmity of the carnal mind, and which it is his privilege to receive. But is the case of such a man desperate? No: it is neither desperate nor deplorable; he is in the way of salvation, and not far from the kingdom of heaven. Let such earnestly seek, and fervently believe on the Son of God; and he will soon give them another baptism of his Spirit, will purge out all the old leaven, and fill their whole souls with that love which is the fulfilling of the law. He who is not yet perfect in love may speedily become so, because God can say in a moment, I will, be thou clean; and immediately his leprosy will depart. Among men we find some that have neither love nor fear; others that have fear without love; others that have love and fear; and others that have love without fear.

1.        Profligates, and worldly men in general, have neither the fear nor love of God.

2.        Deeply awakened and distressed penitents have the fear or terror of God without his love.

3.        Babes in Christ, or young converts, have often distressing fear mixed with their love.

4.        Adult Christians have love without this fear; because fear hath torment, and they are ever happy, being filled with God. See Mr. Wesley’s note on this place.

1.        We must not suppose that the love of God shed abroad in the heart is ever imperfect in itself; it is only so in degree. There may be a less or greater degree of what is perfect in itself; so it is with respect to the love which the followers of God have; they may have measures or degrees of perfect love without its fullness. There is nothing imperfect in the love of God, whether it be considered as existing in himself, or as communicated to his followers.

2.        We are not to suppose that the love of God casts out every kind of fear from the soul; it only casts out that which has torment.

1.        A filial fear is consistent with the highest degrees of love; and even necessary to the preservation of that grace. This is properly its guardian; and, without this, love would soon degenerate into listlessness, or presumptive boldness.

2.        Nor does it cast out that fear which is so necessary to the preservation of life; that fear which leads a man to flee from danger lest his life should be destroyed.

3.        Nor does it cast out that fear which may be engendered by sudden alarm. All these are necessary to our well-being. But it destroys,

1.        The fear of want;

2.        The fear of death; and

3.        The fear or terror of judgment. All these fears bring torment, and are inconsistent with this perfect love.'

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There is a fear of God that is NECESSARY. A realization that there is good and evil and if we let ourselves forget that that there is a judgment that we all will face, we won't fear at all.  If we forget evil's existence and begin to call evil good, we have no fear of that evil we commit and the fact there is a punishment for the evil. We don't want to believe there is real punishment. We let the talk of love swallow up the talk of the judgment.  It's hard to find fearful Christians today and it's NOT because they are consumed by reverencing God. It's hard to find fearful Christians today because Christians have called evil good and accept that evil assuming that God now accepts the evil as being good too.  He doesn't, and He never will. He doesn't change. 

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Our God is truly a consuming fire, there will be a time and place when and where all evil will be destroyed in a lake of fire and for that to happen- evil must exist. If evil exists then we have to know what the evil is and in knowing, choose not to commit evil. And if we DO commit evil we need to seek forgiveness and repent, knowing we must seek not to do what is evil.

We need to fear being deceived, we need to fear the lake of fire, we need to fear the consuming fire. And the LOVE, the perfect love of Christ will KEEP us through FAITH, and that FAITH in Christ's love will give us the HOPE we need so that fear doesn't turn into despair. Our HOPE must be in Christ's perfect love, not in ourselves.

Truly, as Clarke says (not that I agree with all he says by far) but he makes a point we do not have to fear want, death, judgment. We do however have to realize that certain fears are necessary, the fear of rising water. You don't sit in a flood as it's rising without taking action that the fear of it killing you produces. You have a fear of fire when your house is engulfed so you take action and run to safety. There are fears that we can't say are wrong.  What we need to trust in God. That all things- that flood, that fire are going to somehow work for our eternal good.  There the perfect love casts out fear that would consume us with cares of this life and reveal a real lack of love, of faith, of trust in our Savior, our God, and the Holy Spirit.

Fear.  Love. 

May God give us all we need- no matter what it is so that we are drawn ever closer to HIM. Help us Father, save us Lord, guide us Holy Spirit, please may we belong to all of YOU and be with YOU in heaven, rising to meet You in the air upon the return of the Son.

Please!

By Your mercy and grace, Your love now and forever!

AMEN!

He alone can keep us from falling.

Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God and Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. (Jude 24, 25)

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. (2 Tim. 4:6-8)

Do you LOVE His appearing?

The appearing of the ONLY One who is able to present us FAULTLESS before God?

Do you LONG for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ Your Savior?

Or are you fearful of His return? Not quite ready or right with Him? Feeling completely full of all sorts of faults, and not at all feeling faultless?

I think we rely way too much on our feelings and not enough on fact. Satan would have us lost in our feelings, and he would love to lead us to despair. Despair of ever being considered faultless before the presence of God. Satan wants us focused on ourselves, and not on our Savior.

We can convince ourselves we aren't worthy, because we aren't. We have to believe HE IS worthy for us!

Christ alone is ABLE to KEEP us from falling.

Christ alone is ABLE to PRESENT us faultless.

We must FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT.

We must FINISH the COURSE.

We must KEEP the FAITH.

We must LOVE HIS APPEARING.

We must long for Him, really and truly long for Him. Do we?

Have you ever longed for someone you love, to appear?  Has anyone you've ever loved gone away and you can't wait for them to return? We know that feeling, we know how desperate that feeling can become. If we can have that feeling, that longing for another fellow human being, how much more do we need that feeling for our Creator, our Savior who loves us in a way we can't even imagine.

Lord and Savior, please, keep us from falling! Please, present us faultless through YOUR righteousness. Help us as we fight this fight as we race in this race. Help us, save us! We are lost without You, completely LOST.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

As for me and my house

Does is seem evil to you to serve the Lord?

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14,15)

You might think you have no other gods. You might say that your fathers didn't serve any other gods. You might even tell me that God is God and if you're Christian, Muslim, or Jewish that you all believe in the one God, and He's the same for all those religions. Then again you may not believe in any god at all, or so you say. You may claim you believe in nature, or in Budda, or any other religious deity that doesn't claim to be a god.  Whatever it is you believe from 0 meaning no god, to 100 meaning God the Father of us and the declared Father of Jesus Christ, you believe in something. There is no believing in nothing, without believing in the nothing so that is something you believe in.  A conundrum perhaps but truth.  We are creatures prone to belief and by our Creator we are given that very necessary attribute. Not a single one of us of sound mind are able to say we didn't have a chance to believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and God the Father. A chance, we ALL have the opportunity to believe.

In the verses above we read about putting away other gods, not serving other gods, not serving the gods those who were on the other side of the flood served. We know that ALL but Noah and his family were destroyed by the flood.

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

We know that the wickedness of those on the other side of the flood was GREAT, that EVERY imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually! They were not serving God their creator, but gods of their own creation.

And today…

Mat_24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat_24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Today there is great wickedness in man, it's great in the earth, and EVERY imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is evil continually. It's sad but TRUE.

I struggle, the Lord knows how much I struggle with my own thoughts. Just the other day in a study I talked about the awfulness of my personal struggle with the thoughts of my heart. I long to belong to God, to be saved by my Savior, to be used by my Lord, to live for my Lord, with Christ in me, the Holy Spirit living in me, but I struggle! I'm in this spiritual war! It's a REAL war of the spirit and no one can convince me otherwise! I know how I struggle and I know my struggle is REAL. The horrors of this world are real. There are scores of people who believe in the gods their fathers believed in on the other side of the flood- gods of wickedness, gods void of true love, gods that deceive and warp minds so that good is considered bad and bad is considered good. People worship these gods without even acknowledging the reality of their existence. People believe they are simply walking to the beat of their own drums without any god over them, but we can't escape them. Our gods take the forms of all our selfish, self-serving desires.  It's no surprise that satan - an angel of light- sinned through his pride. He made a god of himself. 

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

And today… so many people do the exact same thing- they would be like the most high- their own god.

… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Please! Please FATHER, please we will SERVE THE LORD!  We don't want to serve any other god, not the god of self or any other! Please, we would be YOURS!

All by the mercy, the grace, the forgiveness of our Savior Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever!

AMEN.

Throne of Grace

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Heb. 12:1)

Can you name the SINS that so easily besets you?  Sins- transgressions of God's law.  And God's law is summed up in two directives- Love God, Love Man.  The ten moral laws are more detailed, and Jesus took it even a step further and expounded on the ten moral laws - explaining them even more clearly. Not only are we not to murder- commit the act of murder- we are not to THINK about murder. Not only are we not to commit adultery or fornication we are not to THINK about women/men that are not our partners in a lustful way.  Our HEARTS, we think with our hearts, our thoughts reveal our hearts. When our thoughts are evil we need to fall at the feet of our Savior and beg for forgiveness, we need to surrender to our Savior who alone can save us even from our thoughts.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Do we come BOLDLY unto the throne of grace?

Do we want to find MERCY,?

Do we want to find grace to help us in time of need?

Are we laying aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us?

Again I ask, can you name those sins that beset you?  Or are you like me, with your heart aching from the weight of the sins besetting you, there are so many?

We have to RUN with patience.

We have to BELIEVE that our Savior will be able to perform what He promised.

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

Please, Lord. We know we have besetting sins and we WANT to set them aside. Teach us how! Set them aside for us if possible! Through Your righteousness alone can we have hope. 

Lukewarm

Excerpt From- Watchman What of the Night (Adventist Laymen's Foundation) William Grotheer Sept. 1978

'The Antediluvians scoffed at the ark and its builders; the flood took them away. Lot's wife could not bring herself to cut loose from Sodom; she lingered. (Gen. 19:26) Her reluctance sealed her fate. A golden wedge entranced Achan; a hail of stones buried him. (Josh. 7:24,25) Two talents of silver and two changes of garments made Gehazi a leper for life (2 King 5:23-27). Samson was beguiled by a heathen girl (Judges 14:3); he became the sport of his enemies. The rich young ruler clung to perishable possessions while in the presence of Him who offers riches imperishable (Luke 18:18-23). Passengers there were on the Titanic who ignored the lifeboats hanging on their davits to take them off the fated liner. They lingered in the lounges and sauntered on her decks trusting in "she cannot sink" - a shibboleth drilled into their ears and minds by an arrogant propaganda. But sink she did - within hours the waters of the Atlantic closed over her.

DEPART YE, DEPART YE FROM THEM, TOUCH NO UNCLEAN THING:

GO YE OUT OF THE MIDST OF HER:

BE YE CLEAN, THAT BEAR THE VESSELS OF THE LORD. (Isa. 52:11)

How earnest, how insistent is this call! Jacob, in the fear of God, buried the idols

p 4 -- of his household under an oak (Gen. 35:1-4). The Ephesians, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, burned their books (Acts 18:18-19). Moses turned his back on the treasures of Egypt, choosing rather to cast his lot with a despised and downtrodden people which were heading for "no-man's land," the wilderness! What about us who claim to believe in the imminence of Christ's second coming? Does our life testify to the genuineness of our profession? Should we not, too, turn away, separate and "come out" from everything that stands in the way between ourselves and the gates of heaven? Should not we, at this late hour, take an intensely earnest look at our intimate self? Then, too, at our furniture, our pantry, our wardrobe, our bank account, our book shelves, our discotheque, our correspondence file, our picture gallery, our social circle, our time schedule, our hobbies and our priorities? How do these square with the "Blessed Hope" which we, as a people, profess? How would the unseen Witness evaluate them? Would your neighbor or the "outsider" who observes discern that "Blessed Hope" in us? Would he feel encouraged to enter with you and me into that blessed experience?

THEREFORE BE YE ALSO READY:

FOR IN SUCH AN HOUR AS YE THINK NOT THE SON OF MAN COMETH.

How many a soul has stood on the platform, forlorn, disappointed, defeated, and stunned, watching the last car of the outgoing train disappear behind the curve of the track or the silvery wing of the plane melt into the distant cloudlet! How humiliating, how hopeless, how desperate, how irreversible! It is for that reason that Christ bids us BE READY, not "Get" ready. Between "being ready" and "getting ready" stretches an eternity!

"For all sad words of tongue or pen,

the saddest are these: It might have been."

Look then -- Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Heb. 12:1)

Choose then -- And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Trust then -- Now unto Him that is able to keep you from failing, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God and Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. (Jude 24, 25)

p 5 -- Triumph then -- For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. (2 Tim. 4:6-8)

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My thoughts-  Truly we are Laodiceans…

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Rev 3:22  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

WE ARE LUKEWARM!  And we will be spewed out!

We are NOT SPIRITUALLY RICH and even the physically poorest person in all the world can be the spiritually richest person.  Nothing physical should affect our spiritual life. Satan has tied the two together. If things are going well we sink into an apathetic attitude. We like to sit in the boat that is not rocked. We choose to give into the world rather that upset that boat so we don't have to live in a constant state of seasickness. We value our physical comfort, our emotional, our mental comfort WAY over our spiritual rightness with God. We've become LUKEWARM.  We are truly in our way of life living in relative peace and ease, and we begin to forget that we are absolutely spiritually MISERABLE, POOR, BLIND, and NAKED! We do not want to alter our way of life, we are COMFORTABLE! May God wake us Up! May God do WHATEVER it takes, whatever drastic measure we all need so that we will truly shrug off our lukewarmness and be hot, spiritually hot! May God do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING He can to make each of us on fire for HIM, preparing us for HIM and HIS return! Help us God to be ZEALOUS and REPENT! REBUKE US OVER AND OVER AGAIN, we are so, so wretched! PLEASE we would buy of You GOLD TRIED IN FIRE, WHITE RAIMENT, and EYE SALVE! Please SAVE US FROM OURSELVES!

Jesus was not OF this world

Jesus' Truths-

1Jn 2:15-17  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1Jn 5:4,5  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Joh 15:18, 19  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Rom 12:1-3  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Eph 2:2-8  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

Jas 4:4-8  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

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The world.

********

Joh 17:1-26;18:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.   Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I PRAY NOT FOR THE WORLD, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT OF THE WORLD, EVEN AS I AM NOT OF THE WORLD.  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.   Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.

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Jesus was and is NOT of this world.

Jesus did NOT pray for this world.

We like to imagine Jesus praying for the world, but that just wasn't true.  Jesus prayed for THOSE which God the Father gave Him. Jesus prayed for THOSE who believe on Him through the words of THOSE God the Father gave Him.

First and foremost we are taught the manner of praying by our Savior- remember?

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

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

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

FATHER GOD IN HEAVEN.

HOLY IS YOUR NAME.

YOUR KINGDOM COME.

YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

GIVE US OUR DAILY SUSTENANCE IN ALL THINGS.

FORGIVE US AS WE FORGIVE OTHERS.

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION TO THE PLACE OF DESPAIR.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

THINE IS THE KINGDOM.

THINE IS THE POWER.

THINE IS THE GLORY FOREVER.

AMEN.

Mat 5:44  …pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The flesh wars against the spirit

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.

Filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

We discussed yesterday a bit about the filthiness of our flesh read more--

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Gal 5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Works of the flesh-- 

Adultery.

Fornication.

Uncleanness.

Lasciviousness.

Idolatry.

Witchcraft.

Hatred.

Variance.

Emulations.

Wrath.

Strife.

Seditions.

Heresies.

Envyings.

Murders.

Drunkenness.

Revellings.

And all that can be put into any of those categories. 

Do you SEE?!  The flesh rules us in so many ways. We want control of ourselves and yet that control we take is filled with the flesh.  We indulge ourselves, our flesh and we say we are allowed because we are in control. Yes, we've drawn lines and some of those lines are blurred. We say murder is going too far, but strife is fine. We say adultery and fornication are okay, but hatred is not. We say witchcraft is acceptable, but sedition is not. We pick and choose our flesh indulgences and we do that making it acceptable by telling ourselves that we …NOT GOD… are in control of ourselves.

The flesh wars against the spirit and it corrupts our spirit when we allow it to.

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.

Let us CLEANSE ourselves.    We have to be willing to be cleaned. We can't cling to the filth and expect to appear clean.  No one can hold onto their filth and expect to be clean. If we clench our fists, cover our filthy bodies, the cleansing water will NOT penetrate what we are refusing to expose. God will NOT force clean us, He will NOT put a power washer hose on us ripping into our filthy flesh, using the force of the water to abuse us into letting Him cleanse us.  We have to be WILLING to be cleaned. We need to desire cleansing. We need to comprehend that even while the flesh lusts will give us TEMPORARY pleasures that life - true life is so much more than TEMPORARY pleasure, temporary good times. How many of us lament good times in the past, even though we KNOW they are of the flesh, the filthy flesh? How many of us cling to the flesh pleasures over sacrifice? For some horrific reason we've got it drilled into our minds that we are entitled to good times- flesh filthy good times. And I'm not talking JUST about sex, but all the various flesh filth we've talked about, you don't have to be indulging in sexual activities to be covered in flesh filth. A pious, hate-filled, virginal prude is just as filthy as the worst fornicator. Indulging in anything ungodly is wrong. We must repent, we must seek forgiveness.

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

We must press towards the mark for the prize! We must NOT give up as sin surrounds us covering us in its filth trying to suffocate us into acceptance, drown us into submission.

Cleanse us LORD we would be cleaned by YOU!

Cleanse us.

By Your amazing, wondrous grace!

In the name of Jesus Christ our LORD, now and forever, AMEN.