What Are Your Desires

People struggle with faith verses works, why do I do things I hate, why do I say things I should not say, and all of this is a clear indication that man is 3-fold like God is 3-fold. But God, is God. Man is God’s crowning achievement. Paul discusses this in 1 Corinthians 15:39-49 but Romans 7:14-23  really explains.

In your flesh dwells no good thing, Romans 7:18. Your flesh is a house for your soul and your spirit. Your flesh wants to do things the flesh desires or likes. Paul lists these desires of the flesh in Galatians 5:19,20 and 21. ( It isn’t pretty ).

But the amazing thing is your soul &  spirit. When you make a decision and set it in your heart and mind/soul, that you believe God and want to be saved and receive Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour, you really change. You see – Ephesians 2:1-5

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
[2] 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:
[3] 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.
[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

You see, when you get saved, your spirit (not your body and not your soul/mind) but your spirit is quickened, made ALIVE unto God, before it was dead unto God.  So when I got saved, my spirit was made alive unto God, my spirit is born again (John 3:3,5,6,7) the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) comes into my heart and makes my praise, worship, faith, reverence and worship alive unto God.

Many times churches and denominations try to force the flesh to change. They want an outward showing of the flesh doing good things in “their” eyes. You’ve heard it like I have, do this, don’t do that. Friend, there is nothing good about your flesh or mine, it sins and desires to sin. The question is, who are you going to feed and let control you, your flesh? Your soul/mind? Or your spirit through the Holy Spirit in you?

2 Questions

As we continue or spirit, soul and body series, I wanted to propose two questions for you to think about:

1) In Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 12 and Luke 18 we are told to lay up our treasure in heaven, not on earth. Why do we need treasure in heaven?

2) In Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:198 Jesus says what you bind on earth, will be bound in heaven. Why are things bound in heaven and how are they bound?

Next time we will start breaking down the spirit, soul and body attributes.

Have a blessed day.

Does My Dog Go To Heaven?

Everything God made on earth, has life. Everything is alive – sea animals and plants, coral reefs, land animals, trees, plants, even grass we walk on. But mankind was God’s crowing achievement, to make someone like himself, see Shocking Truths From The Garden Even Paul says in Romans 8:22 KJV ” For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

Did you ever ask, does my dog go to heaven? Will my horse be in heaven?

Everything God created has life and has a body. Leaves have a body and life, so do trees and even the grass we walk on.  God created life.

Comparing dogs to humans, both have bodies, both have a spirit (the breath of life), but look at the soul attributes. See Spirit-Soul-And-Body-Chart

Does your dog have:
An imagination – No
Conscience – Maybe
Memory – Yes
Reasoning – No
Affections – Yes

Dogs do not have understanding – they are trained, but they can not understand things like you and me. God tells us this in Psalm 32:9 KJV “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.”

Understanding is a faculty of the human mind/soul where the mind can comprehend (have the capacity of knowing) thoughts, ideas and teachings.

God teaches mankind, not animals.
Job 35:10,11 KJV “But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;
[11] Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?”

A horse will rush into a battle having no understanding what is about to happen. A dog will run across a street to see you having no understanding what they are doing. We know horses are in heaven from the book of Revelation and we know birds are in heaven and Ezekiel tells us of “creatures” in heaven. So are animals in heaven, absolutely. Will your dog be in heaven? God is a God of life.

Have a blessed day. Until next time.

Do You Hear God?

Let me share 3 verses with you then ask you 3 questions.
Galatians 5:16 – walk in the Spirit you will not fulfill lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:18 led by the Spirit – not under the law.
Galatians 5:25 – if you live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.
Notice the (s) on Spirit, in all 3 verses, is a capital (S) meaning a proper name. It is the Holy Spirit.

Question 1: How do you walk in the Spirit? Did you ever think about that?

Remember the saying, “You are who your friends are?”  My mother used to say, tell me who your friends are and I will tell you what kind of a person you are. Why?  Because you will do things your friends do just to fit in. I used to say – if you hang out with drug addicts you will try drugs. And if you hang out with drunks you will eventually become a drunk. If you, your spirit, soul and body hang out with God – you will walk in the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5: 22 – 24. You will walk in love, peace, faith, goodness and so forth. Not that you will not get angry or do dumb things but whatever you do you will have love, peace, faith, goodness, etc through your walk.

Question 2: How do you know if you are led by the Spirit? Did you ever ask yourself, God, what should I do?

I know someone who made the decision to go someplace trying to drum up support for a program. The person sounded a little down and discouraged. I tried to cheer them up but I was not being successful. So I asked the person,  “Did God tell you to go to Kentucky, or was that your idea?” The sad thing? They did not know the answer to my question.

God will either lead us and guide us like he promises in (Psalms 32:8; Proverbs 3:5,6 & 16:9; Psalms 37:4; Romans 8:14 and many more) or he is a liar and we know God can not lie. The problem is not God. The problem is we don’t understand God’s ways, thoughts or how good God does things.  It would be like someone standing near a building that was going to be destroyed and they yelled in a foreign language to back up or get away. If you did not understand that guy you wouldn’t move. You would be hit with debris. If you don’t understand God talking and guiding you, you’ll get hit with the debris.

When I tried to explain this to my friend, I was told how much I hurt them. They told me it was not a matter of who is more spiritual and then they proceeded to list a lot of good things they have done for me. God showed me they did not understand. That person has not spoken to me since. I pray for them for God to show them, and sadly I know sometimes it takes time for people to “get it”.  One day my friend will understand it was not a personal attack against them but the best way I know how to help them understand how their spirit walks one path, their soul walks a path and their flesh walks another path contrary to their soul and spirit. That’s why we are told to bring our body (our flesh) into subjection 1 Corinthians 9:27; 2 Corinthians 7:1 and Romans 12:1,2 –

“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.
[2] 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.”

How can you walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit if you do not know who the Holy Spirit is? If you do not know or understand how God the Holy Spirit works, communicates and leads you? I am not talking about some “church” who has hijacked certain gifts and focused and built churches on works or gifts.

God promises us that He will guide us, lead us and direct our steps – and if you do not understand how God does that, it is not God’s fault, it is your fault for not asking God and searching it out in his word. But there is hope. If we ask God for help, he will give us help –   James 1:5 KJV “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

We will pick this up next time my friend.

Process Decisions

How do you determine what car or truck you will buy? What influences your decision? You probably have brand preferances based on preset information, track record, costs, comfort, dependability, looks, safety and other data. You either searched this information out, have family experiences or used a third party to assist you. All of these thoughts were put into your mind, you sifted through the information and made a determination in your heart and mind what product to buy.

Look at what influences you to make decisions the way you do. Then look at how “things of this world” try to alter your decisions. You might have family or friends that share their experiences with that brand of vehicle. Then you have advertisers who try to influence you. And then lending institutions entice you to spend more than you have or to go into debt.

Usually, people make their decision and sometimes they are happy with their decisions and other times, they realize they were sucked into debt they can not pay or they loose their job and can’t pay. Or they get a “lemon” of a vehicle. The result? Anger, sometimes misery, unhappiness or poverty.

When you examine your process for making decisions you know your are growing in wisdom & knowledge. A spiritual person, walking in the Spirit and not the flesh, (Romans chapter 8) processes information through the lens of God and his word. God has laid out principles on how to do things and how to live in this world. The entire book of Proverbs gives us many of those principles.

I am going somewhere with this, really. How we process our decisions is key to our spirit, soul and body. In the example above, buying a car or truck, your process should include – first prayer. Ask God for it first. Then wait on him for a while. It works. Let me share something that really happened with me.

I spent time in the music industry working with pianos and organs for years. I had my favorite organ, a Yamaha HS-8 . After I left the music industry, years down the road, I had been using a Lowrey Keyboard . One day I prayed and asked God for a new Yamaha organ (new to me, it didn’t need to be brand new). When I prayed I said to God, “and it would be nice if it could be a Yamaha H-S 8.

A couple days later I went into a local music store to get some violin strings. At the check out, I said to the guy, you don’t know anyone looking to get rid of an organ, a Yamaha, do you? As God is my judge, he said yes. He reached below the counter, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. I saw a man’s name & number and then I saw Yamaha HS-8 FREE. I told the music store clerk thank you, went out the door and shouted thank you God. I told everyone.

Answered Prayer Yamaha HS-8

Yamaha HS - 8

The process I determined was to always ask God first, on everything. Next we will tie this into our spirit, soul and body “walk”.

Until next time, ask God first.

Saved In Your Mind or Heart?

Remember in Trust Someone You Cannot See I said I did not love God or Jesus when I got saved? I got saved out of pure selfishness, I did not want to go to hell. We are never told to love God to be saved, we are told to believe God – to believe and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Just as a baby born into a family, the family comes to love that new baby. When we believe God and get saved, God gives us a new family. We hope to bring our earthly family into God’s family with us because we love our family.

It is not what you think in your head, it is about what you think in your heart. Remember the thought process and how it works. A thought comes into your head, you ponder the thought, determine if it is good or bad, decide to believe or reject the thought. If you reject the thought, if it was a good thought from God, you harden your heart. If you decide to believe the thought, it goes into your heart, whether the thought is good or evil, it is based on if you believe the thought.

Clearly, what is in your heart comes out your mouth. And what is in your heart are thoughts you have decided to believe, whether good thoughts or bad.  And that is why man’s heart is deceitful and desparately wicked. Man can have bad or evil thoughts in their heart.

Remember in Romans 10:9,10, salvation is a heart matter not a head matter. Jesus Christ can be in someone’s head but not in their heart. You have heard the saying, There will be a lot of people in heaven you didn’t think would be there, or There are people you thought would be there and are missing?

That’s because some people have Jesus in their heart but fear talking about him and fear living for him. Others talk the Christian talk but do not have Jesus in their heart. Then as the parable of the sower in Luke 8, some never shut up about Jesus. So how do we know what group we are in? Jesus gave us some tests we could look at.

Test 1: If someone says they are a Christian, but they have no fruit or  evidence, then clearly they have Jesus in their head and not their heart.

Test 2: Examine their walk. Look at their life, is it ungodly? Listen to what is coming out of their mouth. What do they talk about? Are they always talking about things in this world? Are the negative? Do they talk about money all the time? Do they talk about God and spiritual things? Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks in Matthew 12:34.

Ask yourself, is Jesus Christ in my head or my heart? I pray you will invite him into your heart to be your Lord and Saviour.

Heaven's Record the Scriptures

Until next time. Have a blessed day.

Your Seat Of Authority

When God said our heart is wicked in Deuteronomy 15:9 and in Jeremiah 17:9 God says our heart is deceitful and desparately wicked. I asked God, Why is our heart deceitful and wicked? I knew David asked God to create a clean heart in him, Psalm 51:10 KJV “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

God showed me why the heart is so important.  Proverbs 4:23 KJV “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” All the issues on mankind’s life come out of man’s heart.

When you look at the word seat, things come into focus. A “seat” in this sense, is a place where something is established or settled. We have Ceasar’s judgment seat where Christ was sent for judgment. We have the Judgment seat of Christ where Christians will be judged.

In the secular realm, we have the seat of county government where county matters are settled. Then you have the seat of each state, the city where state governments govern laws of that state.

When God said the heart is where the issues of life come from, we learn the heart is the seat of authority of man. Remember, the heart is the gateway to the soul. The heart is like the place where you settle or establish things (just like county government).

Your heart is like the governing part of your being. Your heart will prevent or allow affections, imaginations, memory, a conscience and your reasoning. It is your heart, as your governing body, that determines what your soul will do.

If you look at the seat of county government and compare the process to mankind, you might have a clearer understanding of the role of your heart.  Ordinances and rules are established, whether good or bad. Your heart is the seat of authority for your entire being. It is your heart that decides if you will do this or that. It is your heart that determines what you believe and where your soul spends eternity.

When David said to God, create a clean heart in me O Lord (Psalm 51:10) David knew his heart gets polluted, deceived and misguided. It is clearly the heart that God tries or tests in man, see

Psalm 17:3 KJV
Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Proverbs 17:3 KJV
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.

God tries man’s heart because it is the seat of authority for everything for man. When Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, Satan was trying to cause doubt in Jesus’ heart. Satan tried to bribe Jesus’ heart too. Satan wants to turn man’s heart to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and pride (see James 1:14,15). Satan is a deceiver and he will not announce his plans, he is your enemy,

1 Peter 5:8 KJV
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

If Satan can deceive man’s heart, over time, he can alter people’s thoughts, families, counties, states and nations. This is why morality is important. Religious dogmas harden hearts as in the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37.  Deception changes hearts into believing lies – whether through governments, teachers, family, religion, or friends and that is why you must turn to the truth, God’s word and Jesus Christ said,
John 14:6 KJV “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” That is the truth. You can allow that truth into your heart or not.

Until next time, God loves you.

Jesus is the only truth

Trust Someone You Cannot See

One of the hardest things to do is trust someone you can not see especially when it does not make any sense. That is exactly what Proverbs 3:5,6 tell us to do. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

God tells us to trust him with all our heart, not our head, not our mind, but with our heart. Salvation is not a head thing or some prayer you say, salvation is a heart matter. Paul explains how you really get saved in Romans 10:9,10
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Notice, you have two things to do to really get saved;
1) Believe in your heart not your head.
2) Confess the Lord Jesus  with your mouth.

Many people say a prayer and think they are saved. If they do not believe God and his word, just say a prayer, they are not saved.

If you really love someone, you want to spend time with them, learn about their likes and dislikes, try to please them. Why? Because you have a love in your heart for them. Yes, sometimes they may hurt your feelings or even your body, but unconditional love sticks with someone. God does not hurt us, he has unconditional love for us. That’s why he sent Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh (Colossians 1:15-17)
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
[17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

People can fool family, friends and church members but, you can not fool God. You either love Jesus Christ deep in your heart or you don’t.

Let me share my personal experience if I may. I was not raised in a Christian family. I didn’t know anything about God. All I knew is there was a God and there was this guy named Jesus who died on the cross. That’s all I knew.  I was 27 years old and this pastor came into a music store to buy an organ for their church. I had met many pastors, but this guy (and his wife) were different. They spoke of God and Jesus with real love in their speech and I knew it was coming from their heart. They were passionate.

They invited me to visit the church in their house. I thought that was pretty wierd, but I went. Everything he preached I wrote down and when I went home, I looked everything up in my Bible. To my shock, it was there, everything he said. I had never heard that before.

After going to hear him a few times I told God, “Okay God, I will give you 30 days. If you can get through to me in 30 days, then fine. If not, selah vee.” The pastor started preaching on hell, for 30 days! I got scared and I knew I did not want to go there. After 30 days, I said okay, I believe you God and I got saved. I did not love God then. All I knew was I believed God and his word and I did not want to go to hell.

About 2 weeks later, I bought a 5-subject notebook and told God, seeing how you saved me, I need to learn about you. I read the entire Bible and wrote out what God taught me. It took me two years to finish and when I had finished, I had fallen in love with God my heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t just fall in love, I fell madly in love where he is my everything, deep in my heart. My heart changed to everything.

My 5-subject notebook

We will continue with how God tries our heart next time. Have a blessed day.

Trust Someone You Cannot See

One of the hardest things to do is trust someone you can not see especially when it does not make any sense. That is exactly what Proverbs 3:5,6 tell us to do. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

God tells us to trust him with all our heart, not our head, not our mind, but with our heart. Salvation is not a head thing or some prayer you say, salvation is a heart matter. Paul explains how you really get saved in Romans 10:9,10
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Notice, you have two things to do to really get saved;
1) Believe in your heart not your head.
2) Confess the Lord Jesus  with your mouth.

Many people say a prayer and think they are saved. If they do not believe God and his word, just say a prayer, they are not saved.

If you really love someone, you want to spend time with them, learn about their likes and dislikes, try to please them. Why? Because you have a love in your heart for them. Yes, sometimes they may hurt your feelings or even your body, but unconditional love sticks with someone. God does not hurt us, he has unconditional love for us. That’s why he sent Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh (Colossians 1:15-17)
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
[17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

People can fool family, friends and church members but, you can not fool God. You either love Jesus Christ deep in your heart or you don’t.

Let me share my personal experience if I may. I was not raised in a Christian family. I didn’t know anything about God. All I knew is there was a God and there was this guy named Jesus who died on the cross. That’s all I knew.  I was 27 years old and this pastor came into a music store to buy an organ for their church. I had met many pastors, but this guy (and his wife) were different. They spoke of God and Jesus with real love in their speech and I knew it was coming from their heart. They were passionate.

They invited me to visit the church in their house. I thought that was pretty wierd, but I went. Everything he preached I wrote down and when I went home, I looked everything up in my Bible. To my shock, it was there, everything he said. I had never heard that before.

After going to hear him a few times I told God, “Okay God, I will give you 30 days. If you can get through to me in 30 days, then fine. If not, selah vee.” The pastor started preaching on hell, for 30 days! I got scared and I knew I did not want to go there. After 30 days, I said okay, I believe you God and I got saved. I did not love God then. All I knew was I believed God and his word and I did not want to go to hell.

About 2 weeks later, I bought a 5-subject notebook and told God, seeing how you saved me, I need to learn about you. I read the entire Bible and wrote out what God taught me. It took me two years to finish and when I had finished, I had fallen in love with God my heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t just fall in love, I fell madly in love where he is my everything, deep in my heart. My heart changed to everything.

My 5-subject notebook

We will continue with how God tries our heart next time. Have a blessed day.

Shocking Truths From The Garden

As we continue looking at the importance of the heart in all the decisions we make, I wanted to share some interesting points that tie into our overall topic of the spirit, soul and body.

 

When Adam and Eve were in the garden – It was Adam God told you can eat of every tree in the garden but this one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But did you notice what God said to him? “..of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat – for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.”

 

Point: It was God who put Adam in the garden of Eden, Adam was not there originally, see Genesis 2:15

 

Point: Saying “in the day” shows God had foreknowledge Adam would eat of it. And then saying “thou eatest” confirms God knew Adam would eat of it. Genesis 2:16,17.

 

Point: We know after Adam and Eve ate of the tree, they did not die physically, in the flesh. And we know that knowledge is an attribute of the soul so taking of this tree and eating was going to affect their soul. We know then Adam and Eve’s spirit died.

 

Point: We know the conversation of not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was a conversation between God and Adam only. Eve was not even created yet. See Genesis 2:16,17 and when after they ate, God reminded Adam of that conversation in Genesis 3:17.

 

Point: God told Adam what kind of a tree it was, it was a tree of knowledge.

 

Point: What did the tree produce? Knowledge of good and evil and knowledge is an attribute of the soul.

 

Point: In Genesis 2:8,9 – The Garden of Eden was eastward in Eden. God made the trees grow in the garden. These trees were pleasant to the sight (flesh) and good for food (flesh). The tree of life (spirit – remember God breathed into man the breadth of life), was also in the midst of the garden and so was the tree of the knowledge (soul) of good and evil. The tree of Life in Genesis 2:9 is also in Revelation 22:1,2.

 

Point: Adam and Eve were created. Adam was created like God (Genesis 1:26) and Eve was taken from Adam. They already had everything Genesis 1:29 and they knew God and talked with God. When Satan tempted Eve and said you will be like gods – Adam and Eve were already like God. They already had everything – (just like the church has everything in Christ).

 

Point: We know Adam and Eve were equals – Adam was not the boss over Eve or Eve over Adam because in Genesis 3:16, part of Eve’s punishment/judgment from God on her was, now because you have done this Eve, now your husband will rule over you.

 

Point: We know God cursed the ground – you will have sorrow, thorns, thistles (prickly plants – and plants propagate themselves – just like false doctrine). Not only are thorns sharp pricking objects, thorns are also messengers of Satan – objects or people to prick or hurt you, see Ezekiel 28:24 and Paul experienced this in 2 Corinthians 12:7 when Paul said he had a “thorn in the flesh” a messenger of Satan to buffet him or come against him.

 

Point: God said thorns and thistles shall bring forth in Genesis 3:18. In the sweat of your face you will eat bread.

 

I see God’s love in this judgment because God was saying because you did this, this is what it causes. It is like saying to someone, because you did not brush your teeth for all those years, your teeth will be lost. Well because you took of this Adam, you are going to have problems in your flesh and Satan is going to attack you. Before then, Satan could not touch Adam and Eve.

 

Satan trapped Eve into thinking she would get more than she had if she took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That’s exactly what he does to us today – see How Satan Traps and when Satan plants thoughts into your mind remember, as Jesus said in John 10:10 – Satan’s only goal is to steal from you your joy, love, your possessions, your heart, everything you have. Satan’s goal is to steal, to kill and to destroy you, your family, your friends and even your church.

 

If you do not guard your heart, Satan’s tricks will work on you too, see Why Satan’s Tricks Work Today.

 

 

Have a blessed day.