GospelNotes.life

Author: Adam

  • I’ll never leave our Father’s kingdom again

    Jude 1:6 — “And the angels (who followed Lucifer/Satan) who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day”. The angels who left their home – they got to live in and experience our Father’s kingdom and know His ways firsthand from the very beginning, and to know Him face to face, and they still chose Lucifer/Satan and the way he wanted things to be.

    I’m never leaving our Father’s kingdom again. I’ve already gone out into the world and lived the dissipated lifestyle of pride, women, drunkenness, revelries, lewdness, the pursuit of money and luxuries, foolishness, crude joking, sports and the like.

    When our Father finally called me to come home, when I got there, He showed me His ways of life in His kingdom, and I finally felt it and understood now that His ways brings true peace and joy, and the life I had been living outside His kingdom, while I was promised freedom (to do what I thought I wanted), as well as peace and joy in those things, while my flesh found joy in them for a fleeting moment, at the end of the day I found them to only bring chaos, misery, depression and destruction, not only for my spirit, but also my flesh. I’ll never go back.

    What are His ways in His kingdom?

    1. His character and conduct

      It all boils down to true peace and joy operating through love and righteousness (holiness, purity). In character towards others: kindness, gentleness, humility, patience, self-control, goodness, faithfulness, forbearance, truthfulness, rejoicing in good.
    2. His provision

      As a good Father with His children, He will always provide for our needs and shower us with love. We are like little children playing in our Father’s house on the weekend with our friends, having our parents take care of all the adult stuff for us – not a care in the world.
    3. No need of possessions

      Our Father’s kingdom is spiritual, and is about the spiritual characteristics listed in point 1 – righteousness, love, joy and peace. It’s a simple, peaceful life. It is not about food and drink or possessions, as the spirit doesn’t need or even desire that stuff. We don’t know yet all the spiritual things He has in store for us, as Psalm 16:11 says there are pleasures forevermore in His right hand (unfathomable, unheard of stuff right now), but what we do know is that we’ll spend our time resting, fellowshipping with each other in love and righteousness, traveling with each other, and working and reigning in His 1,000 year Millennial Kingdom to preach the gospel to the mortals and bring them into everlasting life.

    Luke 15:11-24, the parable of the prodigal son — Then He (Jesus) said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

  • Our natural, carnal and fleshly world

    Pray for godly wisdom and do not doubt. You will receive it in due time. – James 1:5-7

    1. It’s a natural, carnal and fleshly world (not a spiritual world):
    2. Where the natural, carnal and fleshly human body is made of the natural dust of the earth, where the earth and man:
    3. Produces natural, carnal and fleshly stuff:
    4. That fuels the carnal and fleshly lusts of the flesh, eyes and pride of life:
    5. That is fueled by selfish and prideful desires:
    6. In turn filling the earth with pride and selfishness, vs filling the earth with the spiritual things of selfless love:
    7. Giving us the knowledge of good (selfless love) and evil (selfishness and pride):
    8. Where evil ultimately abounds.

    We are spirit, and at the resurrection our natural, carnal, made-of-this-world fleshly bodies will be transformed into spiritual bodies, and will desire the spiritual things of selfless love instead of the natural, carnal things of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and pride.

    God is spirit, and God is the embodiment of selfless love, and the spiritual realm operates in the knowledge of the good spiritual things. This natural, carnal, fleshly world operates in selfishness and pride, and teaches us the knowledge of evil.

    If this natural world works to please our natural body, then our spiritual world will work to please our spirit.

    Why did God create this natural world? Why did God create for us natural bodies that only desire the sinful lusts of selfishness and pride?:

    To really give us a teaching lesson about the knowledge of evil, so that we would know how bad evil and sin is and why we just can’t have even the tiniest speck of it in our lives, and cannot be associated with it. And those who overcome the desire of wanting to do evil and ultimately get their sins forgiven by faith in Christ alone are deemed worthy of the eternal state of blessedness that all believers will enter into. Whereas those who love sin and evil more than the ways of God and ultimately choose not get their sins forgiven by faith in Christ alone will bear the eternal consequences of that evil and sin with eternal hellfire.
    God has the knowledge of good and evil, and has given angels and humans that knowledge as well, and has given us the ability to do that evil. If God made us to where we had knowledge that there was evil but could not perform it, we would know “what” was evil (we would know that stealing is evil), but if we never actually did any evil and never experienced the results of evil, we would never know the “why” of it being evil, never able to comprehend how destructive it is. And in God’s manifold wisdom, He used this teaching lesson to find for Himself the good angels and humans that truly love Him and want to be with Him, and that desire the good instead of the evil – instead of making us all robot drones who are pre-programmed to “love” Him and His ways (which wouldn’t be genuine love at all). So He gave us freewill to see who would truly love Him and His ways.

  • The function of the church. No one is more important than the other

    The body of Christ (the church which is made up of all the believers) is likened to a human body where each believer of the church is a different body part. The idea is that while we are all a different body part, we each have a special function (or role) to contribute to the entire body so that the entire body functions properly. Example: a nose gives the body the ability to smell. A foot helps the body stand and walk. A toe helps the body balance. That idea being, that if any of these body parts were to stop functioning, eventually the entire body’s ability to function properly would shut down and be ineffective. This is what Paul was speaking about in 1 Corinthians 12.

    Another example that we can use today that wasn’t possible back in Paul’s day would be a car engine: all the parts of the engine are 100% crucial for the proper functioning of the engine. If even the smallest part, say a screw, were to fall out, then the entire engine would break down eventually and be useless. Someone in the body of Christ is that screw, and no matter how small their role may seem, if they weren’t a part of the engine, the whole system would break down.

    The church “body”/“engine”/“system” function is to:

    1. Get others saved.
    2. Raise up and instruct the brethren in all the ways of God, transforming them into perfect men/women of God.
    3. Help the needy.

    Whenever someone gets saved and receives the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives them different “gifts” and a “role” to play in the body by God’s grace. These gifts make up the part/function/role we play in the “body”/“engine”/“system” of the church to make it function properly like a well oiled machine in order to: (1) Get others saved, (2) Raise up and instruct the brethren in all the ways of God into perfect men/women of God, and (3) Help the needy.

    The gifts are:

    1. Godly wisdom.
    2. Godly knowledge.
    3. Faith.
    4. The ability to heal others.
    5. The ability to work miracles.
    6. Prophesying.
    7. Being able to discern different spirits.
    8. Being able to speak heavenly languages.
    9. Being able to interpret the heavenly languages.

    The roles are:

    1. Apostles (messengers of the wisdom of God).
    2. Prophets (bringing new knowledge into the body of Christ).
    3. Evangelists (spreading the gospel, leading others to salvation).
    4. Teachers (instructing the brethren with all the wisdom of God).
    5. Miracles.
    6. Healings.
    7. Helping the needy.
    8. Church administrations.
    9. Speaking in tongues (heavenly languages).

    Some believers may receive more than one gift and role, playing a large part, while others may only receive one gift and role, playing a “seemingly” smaller part.

    No one is more important than the other. The larger parts need even the smallest parts to perform its larger duty. God wrote all of our stories and intertwined them with each other so that we would all help each other with the end goal of getting others saved, instructing the brethren, and helping the needy. An example might be: There’s a mighty, big piece of the engine, and then there’s a most small piece of the engine. The mightiest, biggest piece’s role in the body of Christ is to write an entire epistle to get millions saved and help them understand the ways of Christ. However, that most small piece’s entire sole purpose in it’s entire life (it’s function within the engine) is to, one time, simply share someone else’s wisdom that that other person received from the Lord, that the mighty piece would eventually stumble upon one day and be able to use as a most critical piece of wisdom for their epistle, that would eventually become wisdom and life to all who read the epistle. Had that most small piece never have done something so simple as pressing the “share” button, that mighty piece would have never had seen the wisdom that was shared, and a most massive chunk of wisdom would be missing from that person’s epistle, negatively impacting millions of others down the road. Such is with this epistle you’re now reading.

    We all play different roles. Yes, some believers will play the same role (as there’s not hundreds of millions of different roles), but another grouping of believers will play a different role. And all of our roles function together to ultimately bring about: (1) Getting others saved, (2) Raising up and instructing the brethren in all the ways of God into perfect men/women of God, and (3) Helping the needy.

    Humility:And at the end of the day, it is ultimately God who does these works in and through us, so we don’t get to claim any glory for ourselves: Philippians 2:13 — “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” All the wisdom given to us to share – that’s God’s wisdom, not ours. All the wealth we were given – that’s wealth from God to give to the poor. It is God who raised us up and gave us our roles and gifts, we didn’t choose ourselves or our gifts. It is God who entrusts us with His message and sends us to deliver His message – it is not our message, and we did not send ourselves. We are all just fellow servants of one another, where ultimately it is God serving in and through us. God, through Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:24 tells us that He even gives greater honor to the smaller parts, that we all may equal out (“I don’t get as much honor, but I got a big role in that I’m on the front-line in helping many, so I’m fine with that.” “I didn’t get chosen for a big role, but I receive much honor, as those who received the big role could do nothing without me, so I’m fine with that.”). See Paul, what a mighty man of God who brought us over half of the New Testament and most of the New Testament knowledge and wisdom. Yet, it is God who (1) is the One who died on the cross for us – not Paul, (2) it was God who chose Paul – he didn’t step forward on his own accord, (3) it is God’s wisdom Paul presents – not his own, (4) it is God who sent Paul to the lost of the world – he didn’t send himself. So, Paul doesn’t get any of the credit, it all traces back to God, and all glory and thanks should be rendered to God and not to Paul.

  • The spirit needs fellowship

    “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” — Genesis 2:18.

    The spirit needs and craves righteous (holy/sinless) and loving fellowship with other spirits:

    That’s why the Father has the Son and the Holy Spirit.

    That’s why God created the angels and animals – other spirits to fellowship with. 

    And other kinds of spirits are great to fellowship with, but man needs his own kind of spirit to fellowship with, and that’s why God created Eve for Adam.

    That’s why God designed and instituted family, to always have a special group of people amongst the billions of others to fellowship with.

    That’s why God comes to literally live inside a believer 24/7/365 – to fellowship constantly, forever.

    In this fallen world, some of us lack a family. Some of us lack a partner. But in the restored world, all of this will be perfected again.

    In this fallen world, especially in these days, there’s a shortage of true “righteous” and “loving” fellowship (and more negative fellowship than positive), so it’s easy to become a recluse to protect yourself from hurt. But the spirit naturally knows how to handle these situations: with grace (undeserved kindness), patience, longsuffering, forbearance (tolerance), gentleness, goodness and humility, not returning hate for hate, but rather returning kindness for hate. The spirit naturally and genuinely cares for all spirits and their well-being, and is naturally compassionate. And other hurting spirits pick up on that and are greatly blessed with peace and joy from a spirit that genuinely cares about them.


    And you are spirit. It is natural for you as your inner man, whether you believe it or not. So walk in the spirit – not in the flesh. Suppress the selfishness of the flesh and you will be free to operate in the spirit and you will be amazed and joyed at the goodness that comes out of you.

  • How can God predestine/elect/choose/qualify humans for salvation, yet give them free will?

    How can God predestine/elect/choose/qualify humans for salvation, yet give them free will? It all starts with this: with who God “foreknew”:

    Strong’s foreknew: οὕς προέγνω, whom he (God) foreknew, namely, that they would love him [would love Him by faith — 1 John 5:3; 1 John 3:23], or (with reference to what follows) whom he foreknew to be fit to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, Romans 8:29

    Galatians 4:9 — But now after you have known God [by faith in Christ], or rather are known by God [because of your faith]
    ——
    To know God is to believe in Him. And believers are known by God (God foreknew them by their faith from the foundation of the world).

    Roman’s 8:29 — For whom He foreknew [would love Him by faith — 1 John 5:3; 1 John 3:23], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

    2 Peter 1:2 — elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
    ——
    elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father – the foreknowledge that you would believe the gospel, and sanctified you by setting you apart and making you holy in the inner man by the Spirit, because of/for your obedience (faith) to the gospel and faith in the blood of Jesus Christ

    2 Thessalonians 2:13 — But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth
    ——
    But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation, setting you apart for God by means of the Spirit, because of your belief in the gospel.

    Ephesians 1:4 — just as He (Father) chose us [through faith] in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world

    Ephesians 1:5 — having predestined us to adoption as sons by [faith in] Jesus Christ to Himself,

    Ephesians 1:11-12 — [through faith] In Him (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance (eternal life), being predestined according to the purpose [reason] of Him,  [that reason being] that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

    But so His divine purpose of election might stand (Romans 9:11) (the reason for election being: His total sovereignty over His creation), yet at the same time giving humans free will to choose Him, He knows the end from the beginning, and foreknew who would believe in Him once in the world, so for His purpose of election to stand, He “chose/predestined/elected/qualified” from the foundation of the world those whom He foreknew would believe in Him, and once in the world, He called them (Romans 8:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), granted them repentance (granted them/opened their hearts to believe the gospel He called them by) (2 Timothy 2:25) and begun the work of faith in them (1 Thessalonians 1:3; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 12:2), justified them and glorified them in the inner man (Romans 8:30).

    God has written the script for a 7000 year long movie, where every human being that’s ever lived and will ever live plays a character in His movie. The characters have free will within the confines of His overarching story, yet God knows how it will all play out, as He knows the end from the beginning. He’s also created all the souls that will play those characters. He knows beforehand which souls will believe in Him if placed in the proper character, so He chooses them to play the characters that will believe in Him. He also knows beforehand the souls that, no matter what character they may play, they will never believe in Him, so He chooses them to play characters that are appointed to wrath (2 Peter 2:8). This gives Him the divine sovereignty through His purpose of election to choose who will play which character so He can control the narrative to get His story to play out the way He wants and bring about the conclusion of His story, while also giving humans free will to believe in Him (as He already knows beforehand which souls would believe in Him). He can also harden those characters hearts whom He foreknew would never believe in Him to accomplish His story line, such as Pharaoh mentioned in Romans 9: the soul chosen to play Pharaoh would have never believed in God (no matter which character he played). If God didn’t harden Pharaoh’s heart for each plague, that character, with his free will, might have let the Israelites go after the first or second plague, in which God’s story wouldn’t play out correctly where He wanted to show the world that He is God and their 10 idol false gods weren’t real. So He hardened Pharaoh’s heart after each plague until all the plagues were finished and He was finished telling that part of His story. For the believers, He stills gets to have His divine sovereignty and purpose of election as well by calling them by Paul’s gospel once in the world, granting them to believe (repentance) at the proper time, starting the work of faith in them, then justifying them for their faith, then glorifying them (perfecting them) in the inner man. Yet He knows beforehand those souls that would believe in Him if placed in the proper character, so humans still have free will, but at the same time He gets to control His story to bring about the ultimate conclusion of it, which is the great white throne judgement at the end of the 1000 year millennial kingdom, and a new eternal heaven and earth where there is no more sin and only righteousness, peace and joy dwells, with complete free will operating within the confines of godliness, where we are kept by the Lord forever. The purpose of this story is to show the qualities/riches of His character of agape love (selfless, sacrificial, unconditional), His grace (unmerited kindness towards sinners) and mercy, and to find out who is worthy of this eternal kingdom of God: those who truly love Him by faith alone in Him are worthy (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

    Many are called, few are chosen (Matthew 22:14): many characters are called, but only a few will believe (those in whom He foreknew from before the foundation of the world who would believe)

    How does prayer fit in?
    God does give us free will to do the things we desire – whether good or bad, while maintaining His purpose of election of who He chooses to get saved and who is appointed to wrath based on His foreknowledge from before the foundation of the world of if they would ever believe in Him. Prayer calls God into action to intervene in our lives or the lives of others we pray for. Example: we have free will to eat what we want, but if we decide to eat too much, we may feel sick and call upon God to make us feel better. For salvation: you may have an unsaved family member. You can call upon God to go after that person and call them to repentance (to faith in Christ). He will go after them, but He already knows if they will respond or not. If they will, He grants them repentance and begins the work of faith within them. In the overarching storyline, this is how that particular person was called to Christ: by God taking action through a prayer of another. Whereas other people may be called to Christ via hearing the gospel being preached, but never being prayed for before. That’s why it’s important to pray, as God can and will react and intercede in yours or someone else’s life that is governed by their own free will, all while maintaining His sovereignty of election. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows who’s going to pray for who beforehand (Matthew 6:8), and He knows who is going to respond to His calling initiated by that prayer and who isn’t. “What if in my free will I decide not to pray for that person’s salvation and God never goes after them, even though they would respond if they were called?” God knows which souls will believe in Him if placed in the proper character that gets prayed for, and He knows if someone will pray for them. God won’t lose any souls that will believe (John 6:39), so a soul who He foreknows will believe if prayed for will be put into that character, and a soul that He foreknows will believe but won’t be prayed for, they will be put into a different character and called in a different way.

    What about our good works?
    It is God who works in and through us to accomplish His purpose of bringing forth the gospel for those who will believe to hear. Philippians 2:13 — for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

    What about those who have never heard the gospel?
    God foreknows who will never believe in Him, no matter what character they may play, so they just happened to be appointed to characters of wrath in this particular character case.

    You may just be one of the elected/chosen/predestined/qualified ones meant to receive salvation via this website. Simply believe this gospel and you’ll be one.

  • How to have peace and joy all the time

    Here’s the wisdom for how to have peace and joy all the time, in every moment:

    Everything in this day and age is always about working towards some future goal that will “eventually” bring you “peace and joy”. But truly, life is literally about peace and joy now, and you should be experiencing that peace and joy every moment of every day, regardless of goals, and you can, and it’s free (don’t think about tomorrow’s peace and joy, experience right now’s peace and joy. Then when tomorrow comes, enjoy that day’s peace and joy. Live in the now – not in “tomorrow”: Matthew 6:34 — “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Therefore do not be consumed by tomorrow’s peace and joy, for tomorrow will have its own peace and joy. Sufficient for the [current] day is its own peace and joy):

    In life, you’re either:

    1. Working
    2. Resting alone
    3. Fellowshipping with others

    There’s a method of working that actually gives birth to peace and joy: it’s slow, steady and methodical; deeply focused on the task at hand; one step at a time, one day at a time in small, manageable portions; gentle, patient and self-controlled, quiet. There’s never a good occasion to rush. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, here a little, there a little.

    While resting alone (doing nothing alone), you can find peace in just hanging out with the Lord, listening to the stillness and quietness, meditating on the ways of God.

    Joy naturally comes from righteous and loving fellowship with all others – family, friends and strangers. And it’s free and can be done any time.

    Take notice of how none of the above includes the desires for food/drink (the lust of the flesh) or possessions (the lust of the eyes).

  • How to Turn from Sin (not for salvation)

    The first thing to understand is why we turn from sin: the goal of life is a life of true joy and peace, operating in love for others, which brings more joy and peace. Turning from sin brings the joy, peace and love into our lives.

    The next thing to understand is that turning from our sins is not what saves us. Believing that Christ died to pay for all our sins is what saves us.

    The next thing to understand is the truth behind sin: it promises to bring joy and peace, but in actuality, when you really sit down and deeply meditate upon your life, it’s the source of all our depression, anxiety, stress, fear, panic, worry, bitterness, anger, hatred, and sadness. Sin is like walking through a tar pit with a 500 lb weight on your back. The Bible likens it to being caught in a spider web, where every move you make makes the situation worse.

    Satan tells you that true freedom is to be able to do whatever you want. But the truth is that true freedom is freedom from sin and the negative emotional and physical consequences that sin produces.

    When you’re free from sin, you feel just that: pure, light, airy and free! Take it from someone who knows a thing or two about sin: being free from it feels really, really good. Life changing. There’s nothing like the feelings of freedom and godly joy, peace and love.

    Coming back around, so the goal of life is true joy and peace, which is found in our loving relationships with God our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, our family and friends, and in our lifestyle that’s free from sin. The key is understanding that sin is not freedom – it’s slavery to all sorts of negative emotions and sometimes physical problems.

    It’s really hard for most people to stop certain sins. The key here is developing one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23): self-control. Most people these days don’t have any, and neither did I to start.

    The Bible tells us we need to exercise ourselves in godliness. Godliness is becoming more Christlike in character/personality and conduct. What is Christ’s character? It is found in the definitions of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7): joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness (doing good), faithfulness (doing what you say), gentleness, self-control, not envious, humble, not rude, not self-seeking (seeking the benefit of others over oneself – selflessness), not provoked to anger, thinks no evil, does not find joy in iniquity, but rather finds joy in what’s good, forgiving, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

    And what is becoming more Christlike in conduct? Abstaining from sin: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like.

    The Bible tells us in Galatians 5:16 that the key to abstaining from sin is to walk in the Spirit, which is to become more Christlike in character (as defined above).

    The Bible tells us that we need to exercise ourselves in godliness (becoming more Christlike in conduct and character – 1 Timothy 4:7). You have to take action and exercise yourself (your inner man/soul) – the transformation doesn’t just happen miraculously without any effort. Take an example from the physical body (the flesh/outward man). Say you want to build muscle. Someone gives you the weights, but if you don’t exercise yourself with them, you’re not going to gain any muscle. Such is with the inner man, you as a soul. If you don’t take action and force yourself to produce the fruit of the Spirit to become more Christlike, you’re never going to grow. Take it from someone who sat on his butt for 10 years as a saved Christian, living in sin, praying to be transformed in conduct and character miraculously. It never came, until one day the Lord told me I’m being worthless and it lit a fire under me to do as the Bible says – “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)” and “exercise yourself in godliness (1 Timothy 4:7)”: meaning, take action. You have the Holy Spirit as a believer to help and enable you to become more Christlike, but you have to practice. The Holy Spirit will help you, but He’s not going to override you – He’s very subtle and gentle. And just like any form of physical exercise, it’s really hard at first. Feels really unnatural and sometimes painful. But the more you exercise, the more natural, easier and more enjoyable it becomes, and the more you abstain from sin and grow in the character of Christ, the more true joy, peace and love you will feel, and it’s addicting, and it’s a good, safe addiction. It’s also important to note that “unnatural” is not “disingenuous” if you truly want your actions to be genuine. And the more you exercise what feels unnatural and what you deep down mean to be genuine, over time it will become more natural feeling.

    The next thing to know: know your enemy. Sin is way, way beyond just personal desire to do something wrong. The desire for sin truly comes from sin that dwells in the flesh (Romans 7) and the influence of demonic entities, whispering in your ear night and day enticing you to sin (Ephesians 6:11, 1 Peter 5:8-9).

    Now back to how to overcome sin by developing self-control and patience. When you first go to overcome a sin, the enemy is going to ride you hard. I mean – hard. It’s going to be mentally painful at first, but the more you resist temptation, the stronger you become, the more easier it becomes. The Bible tells us in James 4:7 to “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” There is also great reward from God at the bema seat for resisting temptation (James 1:12). Think of it like this when you’re in the midst of a temptation: “I’m being trained by God, being exercised in self-control and patience, becoming stronger little-by-little.” It may take many days (if not a couple weeks) to develop self-control and overcome the temptations, but the urges will taper off near the end, and the feeling of joy that you get when you’ve developed enough self-control to resist a bout of temptation is truly rewarding.

    So to recap: your journey to a joyful and peaceful sin-free life filled with love begins with developing self-control and patience, in which God will allow you to be tempted by the enemy in order to give you a chance to exercise yourself in resisting temptation that builds self-control and patience. Sin is not freedom like Satan says – it’s slavery to all the negative emotions like depression, anxiety, stress, fear, worry, panic, hatred, anger, bitterness and sadness. True freedom is being free from sin: feeling pure, light, airy and free. Self-control and patience is a fruit of the Spirit (Christ’s character), and to become more Christlike, you must exercise yourself in godliness (becoming more Christlike in conduct and character) by starting out to force yourself to produce the fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness (doing good), faithfulness (doing what you say), gentleness, self-control, not envious, humble, not rude, not self-seeking (seeking the benefit of others over oneself – selflessness), not provoked to anger, thinks no evil, does not find joy in iniquity, but rather finds joy in what’s good, forgiving, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. It’s hard at first and can feel fake and unnatural (but that doesn’t mean you’re not being genuine), but it becomes more natural the more you exercise, and brings nothing but true joy, peace and love in your life.

  • Working for the Kingdom

    1 Corinthians 12.

    *Note: this is not for salvation. Salvation is purely accomplished through faith alone in the gospel.

    Playtime is in the next life, but as for right now on this earth, we have three missions:

    1. Save the lost.
    2. Help the needy.
    3. Edify the body of Christ (the church).

    As a believer, you’ve been given spiritual gifts and an administration/ministry to exercise those gifts:

    Spiritual gifts:

    • Wisdom
    • Knowledge
    • Faith
    • Healings
    • Miracles
    • Prophecy
    • Discerning of spirits
    • Speaking in tongues
    • Interpreting of tongues

    Administrations/ministries:

    • Apostleship
    • Prophesy
    • Teaching
    • Perform miracles
    • Healing others
    • Helping others
    • Praying in tongues

    Each of us is given a different one (or multiple of) these gifts/ministries, and we’re to use them while on this earth to:

    1. Save the lost.
    2. Help the needy.
    3. Edify the body of Christ (the church).

    Not everyone is meant to be doing the same thing. For example: not everyone is meant for street preaching or starting a church.

    It can take years to know what your gifts are, and also can take years of growing in the knowledge and wisdom of God before being able to properly exercise your gifts. Often times the institutional church will push new believers into “getting to work” and rushing out to make new converts, when those new converts have no clue what they’re doing or saying yet, and can actually cause a lot of damage to the cause of Christ with false teachings, not being able to answer further questions beyond the gospel and the like. It’s like telling a newborn baby to go out and get a job to help pay the bills. Remember, when Jesus told the disciples to go out into the world and preach the gospel, remember that they spent 3.5 years learning directly from Jesus Himself.

    Just remember, playtime is in the next life. Right now while on this earth, we have a mission, and that’s to save the lost, help the needy and edify the body of Christ. See how you can help those causes with what you’ve been given. An example from my own personal experiences: I’m not really personable or social, so my ministry isn’t to go up to random people in public and preaching the gospel. But I have been given web development skills, as well as many years to build up knowledge and wisdom in the things of God, so I can make websites and teach the knowledge and wisdom I’ve been given through that. Also, I have very little income that I’ve been given from Father God, but I try to give whatever I can that’s left over (not all of it of course) when I do come into a little money to help the needy. I also encourage the body of Christ and promote the gospel via YouTube comments. Just little things here and there as opportunity arises – not forced.

    You don’t have to be taking on the whole world. Just planting one gospel seed in someone, or giving $5 so someone to help get a meal for them is a win for the kingdom of God.

    And again – as opportunity arises. You don’t have to be going 100% all the time. You’ll go through droughts, and then there will be other times when you’re busy.

    As Jesus says in Matthew 11:30 — “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

  • Why We Love Jesus

    Life is all about feeling pure peace and joy, which makes us feel good (for the kingdom of heaven is about peace, joy and righteousness — Romans 14:7). And Jesus, His power, vastness, beauty, intelligence, design skills and creativity, and His ways of character and conduct leaves us in awe and brings us peace and joy, making us feel good and impressed. Versus the world’s ways that bring us misery, and for that we don’t love the world, because it makes us feel bad.

    1. He loved us first.
    2. He died for us so that we could have eternal life with Him forever. See note: The Gospel
    3. His character and personality. He’s: loving, peaceful, joyful, kind, gentle, patient, self-controlled, faithful, good, not envious, humble, not rude, not self seeking, does not anger, thinks no evil and does not rejoice in it, rejoices in good, bears with us.
    4. His ways are nothing but pure peace, joy, love and righteousness. See note: The Ways of God vs The Ways of the World
    5. His attributes: all powerful, intelligence, wisdom, creativity, beauty.
    6. What He gives us: a new glorified sinless body, a mansion designed just with us in mind, the finest white robes of righteousness, and much more that we cannot even fathom right now.
    7. He always takes care of and provides for us materially.

  • Humility and Exaltation

    Exalt — hold someone in very high regard; to think or speak very highly of.

    A humble and loving servant of all is the one who is highly exalted according to the truth (of the ways of God) – in God’s kingdom. The lie of the world is that those who are beautiful, popular, powerful, wealthy and possess many things are highly exalted. But God’s ways are the real way, and the world’s ways are just a lie.

    Humble — not thinking you’re better than others for the beauty, knowledge, career success, wealth and things you possess – not making your boast in them. Not showing partiality, knowing we’re all equal. And not thinking you’re better than others for serving others. Having a lowly opinion of yourself (not a bad or negative opinion, just knowing you’re not better than others) in the way the world views people for their material and vanity. Knowing I’m not self-sufficient (I’ve accomplished nothing on my own)…being completely dependent on God for everything: salvation, health, safety, income, career success, help growing in godliness with the power of the Spirit, ministry, the timing of everything, and not relying on any of these things, knowing they can all be taken in an instant. Nothing makes you “better” than the next person. We’re just “highly regarded” and “highly spoken of”.

    Knowledge — to have knowledge simply means that you’re further along in your walk – not better than others. Use that knowledge to benefit others by teaching them in order to get them quickly up to speed where you are in your walk.

    Wealth — serve with love and use that wealth to benefit the needy.

    Prejudice — having a preconceived opinion of a person’s inward man based on the appearance of their outward man. Do you think a person’s inward man is better or worse based on how they dress? Do you think a person’s inward man is better or worse based on the car they drive?

    If God gives you a ton of wealth, the key is to remain humble, knowing you’re not better than anyone else for the wealth that’s been given to you. To remain content with simple necessities to get you through this life and not pursue excess luxuries: castles and planes and yachts and multiple mansions and dozens of fancy cars – all excessive things that one doesn’t need. Rather, lovingly serve others with the vast majority of the wealth that’s been given to you by distributing to the needy. That money is God’s money entrusted to you to distribute to the needy to get them through this temporary life.

    Exaltation according to the lie of the ways of the world: fame, fortune, power and beauty.

    Exaltation according to the truth of the ways of God in His kingdom: humility, love for God, love for strangers, servanthood.

    This life is but a blip compared to eternity. Our mission in this life is to get in, get saved, grow in godliness, get others saved, help others in need, and get out to the eternal state in heaven.

    We brought nothing into this world, and the key is that we will carry nothing out except our humility, our love for God and our love for our neighbor (or lack thereof). All we have – the only thing that lasts – is our humility, our love for God and our love for our neighbor.

    Your humility and love get you an exalted status.

    That extra wealth (and the intelligence/talent/opportunities used to acquire that wealth in this world) was given to you by God to bless the needy abundantly, not for storing up for yourself.

    It’s about the person – not the material. Are you a lowly, God fearing (you believe the gospel, you respect God’s ways, you follow God’s ways), loving person. The material means nothing. “I will exalt you if you are lowly, God fearing and loving.”

    “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” It consists of his humility, love for God and love for strangers. Possessions don’t bring our inward man peace and joy. The fruits of the Spirit of humility, love, kindness, peacefulness, gentleness, goodness, patience, self-control, faithfulness and holiness do.

    Reducing it down: Heart posture is what exalts you (the state of your inner man) – not material.

    You need to be able to separate what the world exalts you for, vs what God exalts you for. Knowing the way the world exalts you (according to the lie that you’re better for these things), and knowing the way God exalts you (according to the truth of the ways of God):

    • The world exalts you for your career success, wealth, power, beauty, fame, quality of possessions, the way you dress and present yourself. This is the lie. This is not what’s reality.
    • God exalts you for your love for Him (accepting His way of salvation, and respecting and following His ways of godliness), your love for others, and your humble, lowly opinion of yourself – not thinking you’re better than anyone for anything (in context of how the world ranks people from least to greatest based on material possession and vanity). This is the truth. This is what’s reality.

    I don’t mind at all that you have a successful career, that you have wealth, that you’re beautiful, that a lot of people know you. But I know that you’re not better than anyone for those things. What I judge is if you have a humble, lowly opinion of yourself despite having those things, and if you love God (believing the gospel for salvation and walking in godliness) and if you love and serve others, especially strangers. And if you do, then I exalt you.

    See the person, not the material. See what type of person they are – not what they possess. See the rich – they need humility. See the God fearing, loving, humble and poor – glory in your exaltation, for God has highly exalted you. See the rich – are they humble despite their circumstances? Do they fear God, exhibit godliness, and love others and serve them? James 1:9-11 – let the humble glory in his exaltation. Let the rich glory in his humiliation.

    The world judges and exalts you based on material and vanity. God judges and exalts based on love and humility. The world exalts the possessions. God exalts the inner person.

    The world approves you based on your career, wealth, beauty, fame, the quality of your possessions, the way you dress and present yourself. God approves you based on the heart – the inner man. I seek to be approved by God – not the world.

    You can’t know a man by simply looking at him – by whether he’s wealthy looking or poor looking. Test the spirit against the truth of God, to see what kind of man he is, and whether to exalt them or not. The world says a wealthy looking man is better, and a poor looking man is scum. But God says a poor looking man that loves God, loves and serves others and is humble, is highly exalted over the wealthy looking man who is prideful and unloving towards God and others. Take the wealthy looking and the poor looking man out of their homes, then out of their cars, strip them naked and judge their inner man. The poor looking man might be the rotten one, whereas the wealthy looking man may be exalted in God’s eyes, or vice-versa.

    Stop judging like the world and judge like God:

    1. Strip them naked of all their possessions, fame and beauty.
    2. Test the spirit to see if they’re humble, God loving and fearing, and love and serve strangers (Luke 6:32-36 — But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them).
    3. Make a judgement: approve or disapprove concerning the ways of God.
    4. If approved: exalt.

    See what comes out of a man/woman. See what comes out of you as well.

  • What is meekness?

    Meekness is confidence/strength plus humility.

    Humility is knowing you’re not better than anyone else for the qualities or things you possess, whether it be beauty, creativity, intelligence, athleticism, possessions, etc.

    Confidence is knowing you possess something.

    So godly meekness is knowing you possess more godly wisdom than most people and that you’re further along in your walk, but also knowing that you’re not better than those people for it. Rather, meekness selflessly desires to impart all of that wisdom to the other people so that we all may benefit in the joy and peace it brings, together.

    Worldly pride is knowing you’re more beautiful than others and thinking you’re better for it, selfishly desiring better treatment.

  • Overcoming evil with good

    Romans 12:21 — “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

    How do we overcome evil with good?

    First, what is good?

    Ephesians 5:9 — “(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth)”. So, the fruit of the Spirit is what’s “good”, “righteous”, and “truth” (the ways it really is).

    What is the fruit of the Spirit?

    Galatians 5:22-23 — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” What is “love”? 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 — “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not boast, is not proud; does not behave rudely, does not self seeking, is not provoked to anger, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity (evil), but rejoices in the truth (the good ways of God); bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

    What is evil?

    Hatred, evil speaking, insults, criticisms, negativity, harshness, outbursts of anger, and the like.

    How to overcome that evil:

    When someone gives us evil (they insult and criticize us, hate us, get angry with us, etc.), we respond with the fruits of the Spirit: patience and longsuffering, self-control not to get angry in return, gentleness instead of being harsh in return, not returning evil for evil, and grace (undeserved kindness) – which ultimately leads to forgiveness.

    How many times should we forgive others?

    In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive his brother up to seven times, suggesting a generous limit based on the cultural standards of the time. Jesus responded that he should forgive not just seven times, but “seventy times seven” (or seventy-seven times), meaning that forgiveness should be limitless and not based on keeping count.

  • Getting rid of anger and bitterness

    The sole key to getting rid of anger and bitterness is: giving grace (undeserved kindness), mercy and forgiveness. That’s it. It’s that simple.

    How many times should we forgive others?

    In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive his brother up to seven times, suggesting a generous limit based on the cultural standards of the time. Jesus responded that he should forgive not just seven times, but “seventy times seven” (or seventy-seven times), meaning that forgiveness should be limitless and not based on keeping count.

  • How to look out for others

    1. Listen to them: it brings them joy that someone cares about them.
    2. Be kind to them: it’s refreshing and brings joy to them.
    3. Encourage and build them up: it brings joy to them.
    4. Speak only positive and good things: it brings them joy.
    5. Ultimately help them – whether it be godly wisdom so they know what to do, or physical or financial help: it eases their burdens and brings them peace and joy.

  • Why we don’t argue to make a point

    “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel (be argumentative) but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient” — 2 Timothy 2:24

    First, why do we argue? We do it thinking we’re going to make a point and get the opposing party to “see it our way”.

    But we all know that never works. Rather, arguing breeds all sorts of hostility, anger, resentment and bitterness, and does the opposite of what your end goal is – it persuades the other person to not listen rather than listen.

    Instead, we must be kind, patient and self-controlled with the opposing party, even if they’re hostile, gently teaching them your point.

    However, when trying to teach someone a point, if they remain hostile and just won’t listen to what you have to say and don’t want to learn, after the second attempt, move on — Titus 3:10.

  • Bearing others burdens

    What does it mean to bear another’s burdens?

    First off, if you have major burdens of your own and are so stressed and depressed, it’s difficult to take on others burdens. You can’t do it.

    Bearing someone’s burden means fully putting yourself in their shoes, truly understanding their suffering, having compassion on them and ultimately helping them out of it – whether it be financially or emotionally. Giving them an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, giving them biblical wisdom to aid their situation, and building them up and encouraging them. Never giving up on them.

    However, if you are heavily burdened yourself with stress and depression, you can’t take on the burdens of others. This is for those with a godly peaceful and joyful life, who have the mental stability and room to take on other’s pain.

  • Why does God test us?

    God first places us upon and builds us up on the foundation of Christ, which are all His ways/truths/teachings. Once we’re built up on that foundation, He tests us with lies to see if we’ll stand firm in the ways He’s taught us, and won’t succumb to and be persuaded by the lies.

    It helps us to:

    1. Grow more confident in His ways.
    2. Grow a stronger conscience, knowing what we do and say in Christ (in the ways of God) are the correct things.
    3. Gives us greater discernment to be able to detect and approve the things that are good (the ways of God) and to be able to detect and reject the lies.

    God even tested Jesus Himself by sending Him into the wilderness for 40 days to be tested by Satan with the lies of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life before He could be approved for His ministry, to see if He was ready.

  • Worldly vs Godly Success

    God won’t allow me to have worldly success, that is, what success looks like in the eyes of the world: wealth, fame, power, pride, ego, beauty, women, a loud and busy life.

    Instead, God wants me to be successful according to His ways: to lead a lowly, quiet and peaceful life with all humility and meekness. A life of walking in the Spirit and exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, self control, humility, forgiveness, not angry, not rude, goodness and faithfulness. A life of keeping my mind focused on the things of God throughout all my days (how I’m saved, my identity as a child of God, my spiritual blessings and gifts, walking in the Spirit, the ages to come), rather than the things of the world (money, possessions, politics, status, relationships). Being content with and thankful for all that Father has given me in this life – not so much that I become conceited and plugged into the world (losing focus on the Godly way of life [the fruits of the Spirit] vs the worldly way of life [popularity, wealth, power, beauty, possessions – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life]), and not too little as to struggle – knowing that what’s laid up for me in heaven far outweighs and exceeds that of which the world can offer me:

    • Eternal life
    • A new immortal, sinless and glorified body that:
      • Never gets sick
      • Never feels pain
      • Never ages or dies
      • Never has to relieve itself
      • Never gets tired
      • Never sins
    • A most beautiful, glorified heavenly country where the rule of the land is only true righteousness, joy, peace and love.
    • Eternal rest from the curse of hard work.
    • A city (New Jerusalem) whose foundations are built by God Himself.
    • A mansion within New Jerusalem designed, architected and built just for me by Christ Himself.
    • A place where I’m with all my friends and family in a truly righteous environment for all eternity.
    • A place where I get to be with all my pets, in which we can even speak the same language, for all eternity.
    • A place where I can be with my guardian angel for all eternity.
    • And last, but definitely first, a place where I can hang out and be with my Father and my Abba Jesus face to face, for all eternity.

  • Don’t Doubt Your Salvation

    Do you ever have times of doubt about your salvation? This is normal, as the enemy is relentless. Know how the Holy Spirit vs the enemy and the flesh works:

    First, reassure yourself of your belief in the simple gospel truth. Take all emotion and feelings out of it and think upon these salvation scriptures with pure logic:

    IF: you believe the gospel found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (that Christ died to pay for all our sins, was buried and rose again the third day) and don’t trust in any of your own works (Ephesians 2:8-9)

    THEN: the nanosecond you first believed that gospel you were indwelt by and sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of your eternal life and salvation (your inheritance) — Ephesians 1:13-14.

    Now, understand how the Holy Spirit and the enemy work to convict believers (the saved) and unbelievers (the unsaved):

    For unbelievers:

    God wants all people saved, and uses the Holy Spirit to convict unbelievers of their sin and their need for the Savior Jesus. The enemy wants to drag people to hell with them, and deceives the unbeliever into thinking that they are either “a good person” or are in “the proper religion (other than pure gospel faith Christianity)” or have “turned from all their sins” and are going to heaven for it, or straight up tries to deceive them into thinking that there is no God or afterlife at all, so that they’ll never seek the truth of how to become saved.

    For believers:

    God wants them to have assurance of their salvation and convicts them of their righteousness (being perfectly acceptable to God) through faith in the gospel. The enemy hates the believer and knows they can’t have their soul anymore, so they try their hardest to steal the joy of your salvation by deceiving you into thinking that you are unsaved, perhaps telling you that you’ve committed too many bad sins lately or that you don’t truly believe the gospel. They can also sometimes try to bring you under works for salvation and tell you that you’re not turning from all your sins in order to be acceptable to God, and that you’ve lost your salvation (which is impossible. See note on: Eternal Security). Your flesh and the enemy can also custom tailor deceptions created just for your specific situation, so be aware of their schemings.

    Also understand that we as our reborn, renewed inner man is sinless (born of incorruptible seed and kept from sinning), yet we still live in our unregenerate sinful flesh (the outward man), and “the flesh (circumcised from the heart – our inner man) is deceitful above all else.” So your flesh can deceive you, and the enemy loves to stir up the flesh. See this note for more details on: The Inner Man vs the Outward Man

    The enemy can oftentimes easily overpower the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, so if you’re saved by faith alone in the gospel (no works added) and you’re feeling condemned, it’s the enemy 100%. Just reboot:

    1. Take all feelings and emotions out of it.
    2. Logically progress over the gospel and the indwelling and guarantee of the Holy Spirit which you have believed in.
    3. Remember how the enemy works to deceive you and understand how they’re attacking you at that moment.
    4. Relax and find peace and comfort and joy in your salvation.

  • The Rich Young Ruler

    The story of the rich young ruler that asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life is found in Matthew 19:16-21 and Mark 10:17-27.

    The rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to get eternal life. He assumed that it was by keeping the law perfectly, and he thought he had kept the law perfectly. But Jesus knew his heart and sought to teach him that he hasn’t been following the law perfectly and that by the young man’s standard he wasn’t saved. So Jesus told him all the things to do in the law which he thought he was doing, except for one thing that Jesus brought up that he wasn’t doing, showing the young man that he hadn’t been keeping the law perfectly. This was to get the young man to say to himself, “Uh oh. How can I be saved then if I’ve failed at keeping the law?” And then Jesus told him to do the right thing by using his rich abundance to supply the lack of others by selling his stuff and giving to the poor (not for salvation, but because he wouldn’t need those worthless possessions anymore and the poor always need help and that’s the right thing to do), and then to follow Him so that he could learn that salvation is through believing in Him and not by following the law.

    Mark 10:17-27:
    As He (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man (the rich young ruler) ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?” But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone (Yes, Jesus is good as He is God, but what He’s doing is setting up to show the man who wants to be justified by the law that only God is good and not humans per the law’s standard). You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.” Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack (here Jesus shows the young man that he failed to keep the law perfectly): go and sell all you possess and give to the poor (because it’s the right thing to do by using his rich abundance to supply the lack of others by selling his stuff and giving to the poor [not for salvation, but because he wouldn’t need those worthless possessions anymore and the poor always need help and that’s the right thing to do]), and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me (to learn that eternal life is gained by believing in Him rather than by following the law).” But he was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (Because rich people think that they have everything, not realizing they are actually “poor, blind and naked”, and need the righteousness required for eternal life that can only be acquired from faith in Christ) And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “(Jesus coming full circle here:) With people it is impossible (following the law), but not with God; for all things are possible with God (His salvation through faith in the gospel).”