A New Creature

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:7).

 

Whenever the Holy Spirit enters any person, He brings His holy nature with Him. The result is that all those in whom the Spirit of God dwells have new holy hungers and holy loves they did not have prior to having His indwelling presence.
There are new created things that take place. They hunger for His holy Word, which they used to find boring or irrelevant. They love fellowship with the people of God, finding it unimaginable to live apart from meaningful interaction with them. Hearts and minds find new desires of holy longings. They long to live in a body without sin. They groan for a holy world filled with holy people, and long to see at last the face of the one that angels call “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Rev. 4:8).
This is the heartbeat of 100 percent of the hearts where the Spirit of God lives. A person may be nine years of age, yet where the Spirit of God has come to him or her, then these hungers are planted there.
According to the Word of God, of course, there is a desire to pray. The Spirit of God creates an inward desire to cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). All those who are born again, born of God, want to pray.
It does not matter if the one who says he is born again is nine or ninety, there is the ever-fresh, evergreen work of the Holy Spirit manifested in every person in whom He dwells.

Similar Posts

  • The Sovereignty of God

    “I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul” (Jeremiah 32:41).

    There are so many times when we do not realize the sovereign hand of God at work behind the scenes, caring for His people.  Are we left at the mercy of stalled cars on a railroad track, or of a car that breaks down and costs us our income, or even at the mercy of people who are intent on doing us wrong and harm?  No, a thousand times no!  We are in the hands of a sovereign God who controls every circumstance of our lives and who rejoices in doing us good.

    Many would say that God is in the miraculous, and He is, especially in the scenes we find in the Word of God.  We see it with Moses and Elijah, the miracles of God.  But is God also in the details of our life, of those details we can’t see?  Is God in the events of our lives for our good?  In other words is God in a car wreck?  Or is God with those involved in a Tsunami?  Must we conclude that God always orchestrates the events of our lives to fulfill His purpose?  According to Romans 8:28, the answer is a solid yes.  That verse says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose“.  That is why we are commanded to “give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thessalonians 5:18).

    How can we give thanks to God for all that happens to us, the circumstances of our lives, if He were not at work in them for our good?  No circumstance is outside of God’s sovereign will.  And no plan of God’s can be thwarted.  God does as He pleases, and only as He pleases, and no one can frustrate His plans or hinder His purposes!  Look at Psalm 115:3, Job 42:2, Isaiah 14:27, and Isaiah 43:13.

  • What is a Christian? 

    “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4).
    What does it mean to be a member of Christ’s body?

     

    First of all there is vitality. The believer’s union with Jesus Christ is a living union. The Spirit of God lives in the believer. We are baptized into the body of Christ. It is God who does the work and it is God who gives life.

     

    Secondly, there is unity. We are members of His body. The members of the body work together. They maintain the peace within the body. There is only one body (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church is more than an organization. The church is an organism.

     

    Thirdly, the church has diversity. Though we are one we have different parts to play and to function in the world. The church operates together to build up the body of Christ. When one part of the body separates from its rightful position and place there is a cancer that develops.

     

    Fourthly, the body of believers deals with maturity. We mature in Christ by demonstrating our love for Christ, for each other, and for the lost. I Corinthians emphasizes love while I Corinthians 14 shows how that love should be exercised in the practical activities of the church.

     

    Fifthly, there is ministry. The Lord Jesus works through us, his body, to accomplish what he desires. He ministers and serves as we surrender to Him. We are his spiritual body. The birth of His physical body is found in Luke 2. The birth of His spiritual body is found in Acts 2, both written by Doctor Luke.

     

    We speak of church membership as if it were only a matter of joining the church and supporting the church with our money, attendance, and occasional work. But membership means more than that. We are a part of a living body. We contribute to the strength and growth of that body, the spiritual body of Christ on earth. Membership in the body of Christ means much more than what most think about. May we today wake to the awesome joy of living in Christ.

  • The Saints Go Sleeping One by One

     
    “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

    We live in a twisted society. It is perverted and twisted sexually. People no longer honor God’s plan for marriage. They no longer find fulfillment within the confines of “man and wife.” They indulge their lusts, they prize experimentation, and they treat sexual encounters as base bodily functions instead of honoring them as God-given gifts to prize.

    What once embarrassed and shamed us now does not faze us. What used to slink down back alleys, now struts in openness, and walks upon man’s hearts freely. May God have mercy on us all. May God have mercy on a people who do not blush or repent.

    This type of living produces a society that is twisted spiritually. We indulge in our wickedness long enough, and we eventually become anti-God. We glaze over the gospel good news – that Jesus’ blood really does cover our every sin. We step away from the truths of salvation, figuring we’re better off going it alone. We eye the Bible with foolhardy skepticism, finding it to be a book of fables and nothing more. We do our dead level best to get rid of God, even as our very nature cries out for Him. We waste away our days and lives, chasing counterfeit answers to God, but in the end, business and vain pleasures can do nothing to scratch the angry itch in our souls.

    The Lord Jesus said to His disciples on the side of a mountain, “You’re the salt of the earth.” God knows you’ll meet a lot of tasteless people, hear a lot of tasteless jokes, and see a lot of tasteless things, down here on planet Earth. But don’t lose heart. As you and I fulfill our mission to honor God with our lives, we’ll bring tastefulness back in style.

    One day this King will stop and step upon Earth and do away with that which defiles and decays. This earthly son of a commoner, Joseph the carpenter, raised his son in a two-bit town called Nazareth. And yet the Lord Jesus possessed more influence than any man who every walked this world. The Master empowers and shapes the lives of those who have an encounter with Him. We can be average Joes and Janes, and yet God lays His hand upon us and declares us fit to utterly change the world. The most powerful agent of change is Christ’s church, people committed to doing His will.

  • Christ’s Return

    “Even so come Lord Jesus”   Revelation 22:20b

    The longing that so many in the early church had for Christ’s return seems to have burned itself out in many churches and breasts of believers today. The “yearning” and the “fainting” for the return of Christ that has distinguished the personal hope from the theological one in Christians of that day was real and very personal. They could taste it.

    We have spoke of the cross so much that I believe we have forgotten the beauty of the One who died upon that instrument of death. The saved person seems to be more about a contractual system than involved in a personal love. The “work” of Christ has been so stressed that we have eclipsed the person of Christ and His beauty.

    To stay awake and long to see someone involves love and anticipation, and that seems to be lacking immensely today. There is power and joy when we long and love to see someone coming down that aisle, or arriving at the house. It changes the whole atmosphere and endeavors to bring all the senses of mind, body, and soul together.  We have become too comfortable in this world today. The Lord Jesus pulls as a magnet that causes us to jump with joy when we think of Him and our seeing Him.

    May we get our eyes off of ourselves, our problems, and begin to worship Him who is coming in grace, glory, and grandeur. What it does today for you and me will eliminate so much that really does not matter. When the heart is right then the eyes will be looking upward.

  • Making It Easier For Ourself

    “So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day” (I Kings 12:12).

    The decision of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, would break or unite the kingdom that God brought together under the headship of David and Solomon. What would he do?

    Rehoboam met with the older elders and then with the younger group, his peers. Who would he listen to? He didn’t listen to God who was above. Instead of turning to a multitude of counselors–he listened to his peers–he already knew what he would answer the people of Israel when they returned the third day.

    If the decision does not lead by serving, to lighten the loads that people carry, and that which takes us to the throne of God, then it is a bad decision. The king used his people to build his agenda which resulted in a divided people and nation.

    The Lord Jesus grew up with the people. He served them, loved them, and lifted their loads by taking the heavier loads. A leader leads by serving, asking God, and leaning upon Him no matter the cost.

    Are you leading by serving or leading by selfishness? We are all leaders but the question is “How are we leading?” A true servant puts himself last while a selfish leader desires his desires.

  • Victory Over Vindication

    “And it came even to pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn, and earth upon his head; and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance” (2 Samuel 1:2).

    This man that came to Ziklag thought David would enjoy the news that Saul was dead. He knew of the trouble between Saul and David. But the surprise was that David did not have a quarrel with Saul. Because of David’s human nature the Amalekite thought he could invoke a position with David and he lied to the future king.

    It took three days, approximately eighty miles, for the Amalekite to arrive from the battle scene of the Philistines against the Israelites to the camp of David. So when he stepped in front of David he was confident. There was no question the Amalekite was at the battle scene for there he took Saul’s armband and crown or gold chalet from his helmet and presented them to David. But look what took place–as David stood in that burnt city of Ziklag David’s own heart was not burned or charred.

    Friend make sure that you do not have a quarrel with anyone. Cleanse your heart from all grudges and bitterness. If you will do just that then you can lead people with the integrity of your heart. David had a heart that was undivided with God. “So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands” (Psalm 78:72).