Suffocate the sinful deeds of the body cut off the life-line.

Suffocate the sinful deeds of the body cut off the life-line, the blood flow. Deeds of the body come from somewhere. Jesus said, "The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile you. For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and slander. These are the things which defile you; (Matthew 15:18-20). Sinful deeds have a life line that must be cut. There is a condition of the heart that gives rise to the "deeds of the body." It's a heart issue.

What's the bad root of "the deeds of the body"? You can see it in Romans 8:7. "The mindset of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so." The root of "the deeds of the body" that have to be killed is the flesh that is hostile to God and unwilling and unable to submit to him. "If you live according to the flesh you will die." Flesh is the great enemy. And it's an enemy because it is insubordinate and hostile to God. It doesn't like God and does not want to be told by him what to do.

So to kill "the deeds of the body", you have to cut the life-line. Pinch the air pipe. Stop the blood flow. Deeds must be killed before they happen by severing the root of hostility and insubordination that rejects God.

Romans 8:5-6 "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit. so the first step is: putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit involves "setting your mind on the things of the Spirit." You don't just look at the temptation and say NO. To put it to death by the Spirit, you have to do more: you direct your mind, your heart, you focus another way, namely to the "things of the Spirit."

What are "the things of the Spirit"? 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 God-inspired words. "Things of the Spirit". Scripture from the Bible: ". . .Not things you speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit. . . . (14) For the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to them; and they cannot understand them, because they are spiritually blinded."

Romans 8:6 says that "those who are according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit" so set your mind on the words of God and the realities they stand for. These are the "things of the Spirit" that the natural person rejects and the spiritual person embraces. So to put to death the deeds of the body "by the Spirit" is to "set your mind on the things of the Spirit.

When temptation comes, even when you say NO!, you need to look to a word from God, especially a word that promises He will be more for you and do more for you than what this temptation of sin promises. And if you believe Him –you will defeat the root of sin.

So immerse your mind and heart in the fountain of truth– the promises of God, and when temptation comes, take Gods word, the sword of the Spirit, and believe it, and by it sever the root of sin. Kill it.

It is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.

Galatians 2:20, "You have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you; and the life you now live in the flesh you live by faith in the Son of God who loves you and gave himself for you."

And notice in 2:20 that since the old fleshly ego is crucified, a new "you" lives, and the thing about this new "you" is that it lives by faith. "The life you live in the flesh you live by faith in the Son of God who loves you and gave himself for you." The flesh is the ego which feels an emptiness, the flesh prefers to use its own power to fill its emptiness. As Romans 8:7 says, "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's laws." The basic mark of the flesh is that it is unsubmissive. It does not want to submit to God's absolute authority or rely on God's absolute mercy. Flesh says, "I'd rather do it myself."

Galatians 5:24, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." There is a war between your flesh and God's Spirit. There is a war between your flesh and your Spirit that is in you, but the flesh is crucified in you as a Christian.

Galatians 5:17 says, "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other to prevent you from doing what you would." So you as a Christian will experience struggles within. You as a Christian will war with those desires from the power of the Spirit. Conflict in your soul is not all bad. Even though you long for the day when your flesh will be utterly powerless and only pure and loving desires will fill your heart., Worse than the war between flesh and Spirit, is no war within because the flesh then controls your decisions. Praise God for the war within! Contentment in sin is death. So take heart if your soul feels like a battlefield at times. It is a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in your Spirit. It is not that you have no bad desires, but that you are at war with them!

The main point is not war, but victory for the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says^: Walk by the Spirit, Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful self wants, you will not let those bad desires come to maturity. When you walk by the Spirit, you nip the desires of the flesh in the bud. New God-centered desires crowd out old Self-centered desires. The desires of the flesh—will still be a war, but the winner of that war will be the Spirit. When the main battle of your human existence (Which is the Flesh) has been crucified by the Spirit. The Spirit will have captured the capital and broken the back of the resistance movement. The flesh is as good as dead, either controlled in this life or destroyed forever in your Life to Come.

Master, are you going to restore the kingdom?

Acts, Chapter 1-6 ^:When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?" ^7-8He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in even to the ends of the world."

Isaiah 6:1-6:8 Isaiah said, “Here I am, send me”.  As with Isaiah God has a task to be performed and is asking everyone “Who will go! How about you? What are you doing? Are you waving your hands and yelling, “Here I am, here I am” or are you hiding and saying, “I sure hope he doesn’t see me. Be willing to say “Here I am, send me” and you must be willing to be obedient, and be willing to complete the task he has for you.

God has the need for witnesses in this world today. God asks of you to be willing to do what He tells you to. God doesn’t say you have to meet any other requirements. As a matter of fact if you look at that verse in Acts again God tells you that he will empower you to do His will. All YOU have to do is be willing to be used. Are you willing?

To receive this power each must be in a right relationship with the Lord. This begins with salvation. “Repent and be baptized”. Things haven’t changed. Repent means to turn away, or to take the opposite direction. This simply means that you look at the direction that you are moving in your life and if you’re going the wrong direction, make a conscious decision to turn from that way.

It is God’s will for you to be a witness, are you willing to put yourself in the right place. Not for the sake of having a New Year’s resolution but for your own peace and joy. Today is the time for you to resolve to do the will of God. It is God’s will for you to be a witness! Be willing to complete the task. You must not be discouraged by the enemy. You must follow the instructions of the Father. Finally, follow through until the task is complete. You are God’s sender. He is given you the opportunity. Be willing to accept the task. You do not need to be sent somewhere else you’re where you can help right now. Just be ready to complete the task.

The harvest can’t be completed without each member doing their part. Your life will not be complete if you are not doing your part for God. Where are you? God says,”Who will go? What is your answer?

God’s desire is that you would become united with Him.

God’s desire is that you would become united with Him. You are to dwell in Him and He in you. Fellowship means to partnership and communion. God desires that your heart becomes one with His heart.  Many receive Jesus into their heart and then go on with their lives instead of living in His life. Some wear Jesus as a good luck charm and only commune with Him when they have a need or an emergency. But Jesus desires you to live in more than just a part of your heart. He desires to fill your heart and your entire being. He desires to have His hand in your hand and His feet in your feet so that you will go and do what He desires. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branch. He who abides (lives and remains) in Me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Only what you do in Christ has eternal value.

Living in Christ is where you are transformed into a new person. Therefore, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation; old things must pass away; behold, all things will become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The revelation of being in Christ changes your concept of who you are. It is in Christ where His personality is united with your personality and you take on a new personality. You become a new person with a new attitude, new behaviors, new likes, and dislikes. You do not really know who you are until you see yourself in Christ, because your life is hidden in Him. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3)

Living in God is living in His love. Jesus says, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:9-11) You live and remain in God’s love by following the commands that Jesus gives you. All of God’s commands have to do with love, loving God and loving others. When you are walking in God’s love, following His commands, His joy is manifested in your heart. You then do His commands with pleasure because there is no greater joy than the joy that comes from expressing love. For this is the love of God, that you keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3-4) You do God’s commandments because you love Him, if His commandments are burdensome then your relationship with God is not in love, you are not living in Him. You are commanded to love God with all of your heart and other people as your self. This is the first commandment. And the second, love your neighbor as yourself. ‘There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31) When you are living in true love you are living in God.

Take an honest look deep inside your heart to see what changes need to be made for the sake of your relationship with God.

You have heard God’s voice.

  
You have heard God’s voice. Jesus says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. "It is written in Scripture ‘they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. (John 6:44-45) It was God’s voice that drew you to Him. In your inner most being you heard God saying, “I have chosen you and ordained you, come unto Me”.

As you stand at the edge of the horizon of God’s glory being revealed upon the earth the greatest need continues to be for workers in the harvest. It is through hearing and obeying the voice of God that you gather the harvest and expand the kingdom of God. You have a mission and a ministry ordained by God to walk in. There is only one head in the body of Christ, as you listen and obey His voice, thru the Holy Spirit; (the body of Christ) you and other believers will come together in complete unity and function in perfect harmony.

So the beginning of your recognition of communication from God was when He was calling you to salvation. But your salvation was only the beginning of your calling; God never stops calling you. When you received God’s salvation the Lord immediately called you into ministry for Him. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God to you, not of any works that you have done, or you could boast. For you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10) God has ordained good works for you to walk in and it is by communication from God through the Holy Spirit that you will know where to walk, how to walk, and when to walk.

When Christ gave His life and shed His blood on the cross for you He made the way for you to enter into relationship with Him as a blood relative. (John 6:53-56) The blood that Christ shed created a new covenant with you and for you so that you could now be joined to God, you in God, and God in you, one with God. When you accepted Christ and His sacrifice for you, He then put His Spirit in you, the Spirit of Love, The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your unity with God, your bond with God. You share the same Holy Spirit that unites the Father and the Son, the same Spirit that makes God One, also makes you one with God. For those that are joined unto the Lord are one spirit. (1 Cor 6:17) You must be led by the Holy Spirit. For as many that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of Gods. (Rom 8:14)

In the new covenant you have been given such an awesome privilege to have God’s Spirit in you and with you. Through God’s Holy Spirit you have constant communion and communication with God. You have not just received the written instructions of God through the Holy Bible, but you also receive instructions directly from the command center of the universe, the throne of God.

Don’t close the door and harden your heart.

When you hear the Word of God, the door is open and you are in the middle of a God-directed opportunity. At that moment you have the opportunity to respond to the truth and draw closer to the Heavenly Father. But when you reject His Word, you begin to close the door and harden your heart - the opportunity begins to fade: "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart'" (Hebrews 3:7-8).

You have been blessed to live during this time in history. Yes, you face the unrelenting pressures of an over-indulgent, self-consumed society; but you have also been blessed with a wonderful abundance of the Word of God. In most parts of the world you have the freedom to worship with other believers and have full access to truth-filled teaching. But God's Word has become so readily available that many take it for granted.

In the midst of your overflowing blessings, you can becoming self-satisfied and no longer treasure His precious gift. But what would happen if His Word was taken away? What would the world be like if no one was allowed to speak or hear the Word of God? What if you searched for His Word and it could not be found?

The Heavenly Father loves you dearly. He "wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4); and He wants you to believe and be "conformed to the likeness of His Son" (Romans 8:29). The Father continues to call you to know Him with a greater and more intimate love. Make the most of this awesome opportunity by receiving the Word of God, in all its forms, with a hungry anticipation, and then by obediently responding to His call. Shake off ALL forms of Self gratification and rejoice and treasure His precious gifts. Thank Him that you do not yet live during a famine of hearing.

How can you have your prayers answered by God?

How can you have your prayers answered by God? Many believe answered prayer is God granting a prayer request that is offered to Him. If a prayer request is not granted, it is understood as an “unanswered” prayer. However, this is an incorrect understanding of prayer. God answers every prayer that is lifted to Him. Sometimes God answers “no” or “wait.” God only promises to grant your prayers when you ask according to His will. “This is the confidence you have in approaching God: that if you ask anything according to his will, he hears you. And if you know that he hears you—whatever you ask—you know that you have what you asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

What does it mean to pray according to God’s will? Praying according to God’s will is praying for things that honor and glorify God and/or praying for what the Bible clearly reveals God’s will to be. If you pray for something that is not honoring to God or not God’s will for your life, God will not give what you ask for.

How can you know what God’s will is? God promises to give you wisdom when you ask for it. James 1:5 proclaims, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

A good place to start is 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24, which outlines many things that are God’s will for us. ^12-13And now, honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! ^13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out. ^16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. ^19-22Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil. ^23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of the Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it!

 The better you understand God’s Word, the better you will know what to pray for (John 15:7). The better you know what to pray for, the more often God will answer “yes” to your requests.