OUR Perfect Change ...

Our Perfect Change...

                                       

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Beginning in Acts 4, Peter and John are called before the Sanhedrin, the Temple elders and leaders who put Jesus to the cross, and was questioned because of their preaching and teaching concerning the resurrection of the dead.  The Sanhedrin was filled with Sadducees who did not believe in any resurrection.

Acts 4
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.11He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. '12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."13When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

One of the most important topics for our faith rarely preached about, rarely heard about in Sunday Schools, and rarely talked about in Bible Studies is the fullness we can find in feeling the movement of  the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is can be difficult to know, recognize, and understand the in-filling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8), the very real presence of it in our lives unless you have seen it, have been taught about it, but best of all vividly experienced it.

In your reading this message, consider the following thoughts from scripture that comes to us from the New Testament: 

1-  God puts our faith in us (Romans 12:3).
2-  Jesus died for showing us how to live and
      belief in Him as our Savior is our
         Salvation from our sinful selves (Romans 10:9).
3-  But, it is receiving the Holy Spirit in our humble acceptance of Jesus and genuine confession of our sins that truly brings the fullness of God and Jesus to our lives(Acts 2:38) and
    the Holy Spirit continues to change us forever.

It is then the Holy Spirit that 
   fills us with boldness  (Acts 4:8), 
      providing us Strength and Power (Ephesians 3:16),
        leads us (Matt 4:1),
          speaks in, to, and through us (Matt 10:19-20),
             convicts us of our sin (John 16:8), 
                Brings us Renewal for a righteous life (Titus 3:1-10),
                  Gives us Joy (1 Thes 1:6),
                     fills us with Peace and Patience (Galatians 5:22-23) and
these with many other functions that helps us
   build our Trust in God just as
      the Holy Spirit did for the disciples.

The Promise of and Work of the Holy Spirit

Jesus in His patience had to suffer from the lack of real understanding about His mission by and from His very own disciples.  In His final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus reveals to the disciples His coming suffering and death and Peter said 'NO", then again He stops Peter from fighting the guards when being betrayed by Judas in the Garden.

In John 16, we see Jesus presenting to the disciples parts of his plan for them, the Promise of the Holy Spirit.  And again, they do not understand.

Jesus promised one who would come after Him (the Holy Spirit) to give the disciples a Counselor to guide them in their days ahead.  They did not totally understand the promise and how this would affect His mission through them.  

In the next several weeks as Jesus' Passion played out as He had predicted, they forgot Jesus' promise and rather, became as scared little boys.

John 16

5  "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'

6  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.

7  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

8  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:

9  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;

11  and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12  "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.

13  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

14  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

15  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

16  "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

The Disciples Received the Holy Spirit

     after the Resurrection of Jesus

After the death of Jesus, according to the Gospel of John, the surviving disciples gathered in a room, and the doors were shut!  They feared the Jews and just considered they would be the next to die.  At the lowest of their lowest times, in the dread of their deepest fear, and in the fullness of their greatest emptiness Jesus in His perfect timing came to His disciples and fulfilled His promise to them.

From John 20:
18  Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

19  Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."

20  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21  So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

22  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

23  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

In the same manner we are promised 
        the glorious in-filling the Holy Spirit!


In our proper behavior, 
    in our belief in Jesus, 
      in our repentant nature, 
we too receive and are anointed by the Holy Spirit:

Paul writes:

Acts 2:

33  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

34  For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand,

35  Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '

36  "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

37  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

38  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In their lowest of times, the disciples were changed by Jesus when He breathes on them the Holy Spirit.  The disciples, changed by the Holy Spirit, were suddenly filled with new understanding of His mission and became as conquerors for Christ.

We too find a new humility, meekness and boldness for Christ when we accept and feel the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Through the Holy Spirit within us, we come to more fully feel the presence of God's love and protection, and Jesus' redemption from the evil around us and the sinfulness in our lives.  With the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we come to truly feel the "peace that passes all understanding" (Phil 4:7).

Just as with the disciples, when we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives, our circumstances do not change very much, but our response to circumstances, our vision of our future, and our desire for Loving God does change us.  Knowing that it is God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit that gives us the courage, the strength, the patience to not just survive in our lives but much better; the Holy Spirit gives us the wonderful desire to thrive in our lives- living In God's grace and mercy to a Glorious life.

We may have little in our lives, but remember, Jesus took 2 fish and five barley loves to feed thousands of people; He created the universe out of nothing; truly, with the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit in us, our lives will most assuredly thrive.  Seek the Kingdom, Pray daily for humility to better understand the infilling of the Holy Spirit, then feel God's Spirit present in your everyday life, filling you with your Spiritual needs exactly as you need it, just as He did with Peter before His first meeting with the Temple Elders.

Faith, Patience and Prayer

The best lesson on the realization on infilling of the Holy Spirit came to me the first Sunday in January 2009.  The preacher that Sunday made this statement- "to have and feel the Holy Spirit in your heart, you much pray and pray and pray...... everyday.... often".  Doing that changed my life making me realize what truly happened to me on June 3rd, 1972.

Pray in humility and meekness as the preacher indicates, and in time you will feel a greater fullness of the Spirit as your pray more often.  In its total fullness, the Spirit may just fill you to your greatest when you are at your lowest time.  In my lowest time on that June 3rd, 1972 I was filled to my greatest, and the peace provided by the Holy Spirit descended on me, in the midst of the war around me and the war within me.

Through our belief in Jesus, humility, and confession of our sins, we receive the greatest source, guidance, and influence to change our lives, the Holy Spirit.  It is God's plan, a most perfect plan for our lives.

Thanks Be to God.

lonnie

Click here for   June 3rd, 1972.

© lonnie coggins

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lonnie

Publication  0212


intro

A GREAT CHANGE COMES TO US IN ACCEPTING JESUS, A CHANGE that is with us forever.  It is not a change of our doing, but what Jesus brings us, just as He did for the disciples.  Click the link for more on this great change.
 Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.  For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2014/04/our-perfect-change.html

Finding Our Confidence

Finding Our Confidence in Trusting God
                                       

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                                                                                       Go to 'Trust" Menu

There is great danger in our daily living as too often we live day to day trusting in our ways of existing, depending on the confidence found in our desires, and ignoring the help God Desires to provide in leading us to a greater relationship with Him.  Our greatest failure is ignoring God and His help and in that, we fail to build our Trust in Him.  But, Believing In Jesus we receive God's Gift of Faith and develop Trust that leads us beyond existing to growing in His Grace, learning to Trust, to Praise, and Love Him in our Triumphful living (*7).

Our faith is God's gift to us (Eph 3:8 & Rom 12:3 (*1)), Jesus bears witness to this faith in His example for us, and in our acceptance of Jesus as Savior, we also receive the Holy Spirit that provides and guides us to the Trust that Jesus commands (John 14:1 (*2)).  The Greek word of the New Testament for faith is translated as a noun, a thing, a most special thing but still a thing.  This Thing called Faith is a most personal present from God.  In His unearned Grace of giving us Faith, we can do nothing to earn it, deserve it, or in any way be worthy of it.  And, that is just the way God desires it and in that, we can make no claim on having done anything to receive it.

However, Trust is different.  Trust is an active imperative command of Jesus that we are to do!  In Trust, we come to the point of maintaining belief beyond the evidence (*5).  Saint John, a most close disciple and apostle of Jesus tells us in chapter 14 that Jesus commands us, "Let not your hearts be troubled, Trust God..." (*2).

Just as in our behaviors with friends and in their behaviors toward us, we learn to depend on friends building confidence our friends are dependable.  In our own lives in our behaviors and experiences with God the same activity, confidence and trust occurs as it develops!

Just as we choose friends to trust, in trusting God we learn He is truly trustworthy beyond our expectation, knowledge, and understanding.    But, even as we come to know God IS trustworthy, we must learn to rely on that trust to build our confidence in Him.  Again, Trust is an action verb we must do!  In doing this, we begin with three things to build trust.

First:  Trust in God begins with prayerful communications with Him on a daily basis and Jesus is the example for us in this activity.  He prayed often and alone.  God wants a relationship with us simply because He made us out of love (*6).  With our prayers we thank him for His grace, talk about our needs, and most of all listen and watch for His response.  Listening is most important.  God gave us two ears and one mouth possibly indicating we are to listen in stereo far more than we talk and He gave us two eyes to observe with vision to understand far more than just what we see.  We can pray about our wants but we cannnot hang our trust on God providing all our wants.  Praying for discernment in knowing the difference between needs and wants is important too.

Next:  We need to Read, Reflect, and React to God's Holy Scripture.  The Truth we find in scripture is God's word that people have Trusted for over 3500 years.  It is not situational ethics or something to ponder, but the very essence of how to live life in a loving relationship with Him!

Third and final part of this message:  Prayer and Bible Study should be a daily event both in the privacy of aloneness and in the company of other believers.   Prayer, and especially prayer, should be often in our daily thoughts.  In communications with God we build our trusting confidence in God with our daily experiences in seeing what He does for us in the little things of life (*3).  In that trusting God in the little things in life, we learn and it prepares us to Trust in the more important troublesome events of life that truly tend to test our faith.

With having great confidence in God in the Trust we build, we may not always be happy with our circumstances but with the Trust we have built in our daily living we come to be thankful regardless of our circumstances (1Thes 5:16-18 (*4) see note).  From being thankful regardless of our circumstances we can feel Joy in recognizing God's grace regardless of the surroundings we live in.  When we recognize His grace regardless of circumstances, we are sustained to have a triumphal end to the valleys of life that could easily overwhelm us.

From the movie "The Book of Eli", Denzel Washington's character tells a friend, "There is no Testimony without a Test."  This is great and Godly wisdom in that we are not to live life seeking to avoid all Trials and Testing.  In our Trials of Testing, seeking God's desires for us results in finding Confident Triumphal living in the paths God presents to us to achieve His Will for our lives.

Thanks be to God.

lonnie

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ldcoggins@gmail.

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

lonnie 

(*1)

Ephesians 2:

3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.8For it is by grace you have been saved,

     through faith--and 

      this not from yourselves, 

         it is the gift of God--9not by works, so that no one can boast.10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

One in Christ

11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)--12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
Romans 12:3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
(*2)

John 14:

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.4You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus the Way to the Father

5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(*3)  This very message came after a morning prayer.  I had been thinking and studying the Greek for the past week on the meaning of Trust in our relationship with God.  I knew I would know when it was time to write about it.  In my prayerlife, I pray for the Spirit to guide the words that I write.  That was in my morning prayer.  As soon as I said 'Amen' the words came.  I did not even go to the compter, I was filled with this message and immediately picked up my pen and paper and started writing.
(*4)1 Thessalonians 5:14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.16Be joyful always;17pray continually;18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.19Do not put out the Spirit's fire;20do not treat prophecies with contempt.21Test everything. Hold on to the good.22Avoid every kind of evil.23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
Please note:  verse 18 does not tell us that we have to be thankful for our circumstance, but to be thanful in our circumstances.  No matter how bad our circumstances, we can find much for which to be thankful.
(*5)Trust overcomes the immediate facts of a situation allowing a person to continue to believe in spite of the facts.  When bad things happens to us and it looks like everything around us is out of control and we continue to to believe in the object of our faith, then we are trusting.  An earthly example:  We have a friend we know and have known for years.  You have never seen or have knowledge of any criminal activity and to the contrary this person you trust has always been someone you could depend on in any situation.  Then, someone breaks into your house while on vacation and only your friend you trust knew you were gone.  On top of that, the police find evidence the friend was in your house while you were gone and in fact you asked him to check on some plants.  But, fingerprints are found where they should not be.  In spite of the evidence, you still believe your friend did not fake the entry and steal valuable possessions.  This is trust inspite of the evidence.-(*6)The Essence of God
(*7)Growing in Grace: Grace at 168 Miles per Hour

The Arrogance of Authority

The Arrogance of Authority
                                       

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In a recent email I received, I was reminded of the arrogance of the Temple leaders in Jesus' time and the reason they wanted Jesus dead.  Those leaders were uncomfortable with His Truth, protective of their power, liked living in their cocoons, and did not want to lose their luxurious position.  In short, they arrogantly used their authority to protect themselves and their position.   But, as in most cases, it did not last.

Just today as I write this new evidence was found of the Roman siege and destruction of the Temple in 66 to 70 AD.  It was a most gruesome time, and the Temple leaders, the Sadducee's were never heard from again.  It is food thought for people of our day in positions of authority.

Here is the great email story that prompted this reflection:

A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas, and talked with an old rancher. He told the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs."

The rancher said, "Okay, but don't go in that field over there.....," as he pointed out a distant location.

The DEA officer verbally exploded, saying, " Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me!" Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the rancher.

"See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish....on ANY land! No questions asked or answers given! Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?"

The rancher nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores. A short time later, the old rancher heard loud screams, looked up and saw the DEA officer running for his life, being chased by the rancher's enormous Santa Gertrudis bull......

With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, and it seemed likely that the officer would be gruesomely gored before he reached safety. The man was clearly terrified.

The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs..... 

(I just love this part....)

"Your badge........ show him your BADGE!!"

Good leaders have found that sometimes asking the right questions is better than a display of their authority.  

Maybe I should send this to some people in Washington.  I like to think the voting bulls of America are on the rise.

lonnie

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You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

lonnie 

The Essence of God

The Essence of God

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Luke 7: 
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"50Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."                                       

John 8:

17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."19Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."

It is not uncommon to think and wonder about the very essence of God.  The question on peoples mind is, "What is God really like?"  The answer is not far from the question. The reality, the Truth is  Jesus gives us the answer!

In this scripture, Simon is a Pharisee who has invited Jesus into his home for a meal.  The woman in the story found in Luke is an intruder which I am told was not uncommon in the times of Jesus.  When someone famous would come into a town and visit people, interested parties would make themselves welcome to the visit.  In this case the woman just walked into the discussion and did what she did.  She obviously loved Jesus based on what she did for Jesus and desired to serve him.  Maybe, she had even seen the lack of hospitality of Simon.

What is interesting in this story is how Jesus chastised Simon for not being a better host and how the others there were no doubt amazed at Jesus forgiving the woman's sins.

As Christians we find no amazement in this.  We know Jesus forgives sins.  But, for the times of Jesus, providing the forgiveness of sins was only something God can do.  Therefore, in this passage we see Jesus clearly and rightly claiming to be God and based on the passage above from John 8, we see the essence of Jesus and therefore the essence of God.

The great teacher Jesus allows this woman, clearly a sinful woman to do what she did to teach a lesson and define an Essence of God.

The lesson here is that we must give Jesus uppermost priority in our lives.  When we accept Jesus in our lives we must do everything to make Him welcome and the number one priority in our life!  In Jesus' visit with Simon, Simon did none of the normal traditional things of the day that were mentioned by Jesus.  But the woman, a stranger to Simon's home, she did!  By her actions, she clearly loved Jesus and she wanted to serve Him!

In the woman's behavior we see her contriteness for her sins.  It does not say anything in the scripture about her sins, she must have understood that Jesus knew her sins.  From this, we see the Essence of God.  By faith and Bible study, as we know Jesus, we too know God!  In that, our relationship with Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit is established.

God wants peace in our lives that allows us to serve him better and this peace comes from knowing we are forgiven of our sins.  In our humility toward Jesus, just as the woman, we find our peace in our personal relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but most of all we find forgiveness.  
All this, in God's Grace, 
only and 
just because 
                                         He loves us.


In Faith, In Grace, In your heart, 
Know Jesus, Know God,
confessing your sins, then 
in the forgiveness of your sins 
you can live, truly live, 
and live triumphly in the peace, joy, and
guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Love- The Very Essence of God!

Thanks be to God.

lonnie

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You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

God has very well made most obvious what is essential of his desires toward us.  With this message I hope the very basic nature of God will be quite clear.  Click the link for the message.  Share on Facebook as you feel led to do so.

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-essence-of-god.html

lonnie