So, the question is...what exactly are some evidences that a person has repented...and are serious about following this One...the True Messiah? Well, the Sacred Scripture is not leaving us just "holding the bag"...check these 2 out:
A Gleaning from 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
" We have now made a decision, to go ahead and take the chance..."the chance of life". and invite Christ Jesus to be in our very hearts and minds...and to give to us what He so dearly desires...a true friendship with one another. He has been kind and genuine in His approach, and is wanting the best for us....the mark of a True Friend indeed!
Because of this honest friendship we now have with Him, the need to evaluate others by the amount of possessions they have or what they look like is no longer a concern...because He certainly hasn't looked at us that way...otherwise we would all be "out the door"....we don't want to challenge Jesus with "my stuff is better than Your stuff" king of thing...no longer works that way ! That is simply the old way of looking at life...the "Pagan Look", and Jesus, our total compassionate Friend...wants none of it...and we should be ok with that!
If I were to be honest, that is how precisely we all looked at life...before we came to know Him. We even thought Jesus Himself was a nice guy with some "healthy outlooks" on life and thought it was "a crime" He was treated in such a matter that they made Him suffer such a horrible death. Yet now, since He has reached out to us in a genuine friendship...our how outlook with Him has totally changed...and now we are aware He died on the Cross for us...and for all mankind!
We also have been made aware that whoever gives his/her heart, mind, soul, and life to Him...is given a completely new start to life itself. We are now created in a new format, and the "original blueprint" for all mankind is....Him! Our old views and ways of life have come...and are far gone.
All of our formal moral obligations, our spiritual conditions, and our outlook on life and treating others in general...has completely changed. It's like we have experienced a "Day of Reckoning", and God has called us to settle the matters of our relationships with one another...and in particular...with Him!
All this is a result of receiving the Messiah...instead of rejecting Him. Because of this, Jesus has reconciled us to Himself...and to God, who we now are given the rights to call Him..."Our Father". And, on top of all this, we now have His Blessing on our very lives, and are able to live in a perpetual harmony...with Him...all because we have accepted Christ Jesus as our Friend.
Now, we simply pass this on to others...so they too can discover the meaning of having a True Friend...the Lord Jesus.
And here is what we do know at this point, it was God Himself who initiated this whole thing anyway...this entire series of events that makes it even possible to have a friendship with Him...and to know personally His Beloved Son. And the motivation behind all this?...because as He has clearly stated: "His love for us!"
That is why God uses us even now...to help spread the joy of this "Good News". People now will be persuaded this is "the only way to go"...receiving the Lord Jesus and the complete work He has done for us...to restore our friendship. The old differences we once had or failed to understand...both with one another and with God...are gone...and people will see that...in us through our daily thoughts, motives, and actions.
Today is a day for all those around us to be welcomed...to become friends with Him...for He has already given His all...to be friends with us."
Here is one more:
A Gleaning from Galatians 5:17-24
" Our direction is clear...our counsel is right...Let us live freely...entirely in the Freedom given to us by Christ Jesus...and then allow the Holy Spirit to be our motivator in everyday life.
This train of thought restrains Selfishness from being our guide in the new life as we know it. We can not argue the fact there is always a battle going on within us...a root of sinful selfish-interest that challenges the new direction given to us through the Holy Spirit...the right to be free and find blessing in being obedient to Him, and the truth is...these 2 are totally incompatible. Yet, because He now lives in our hearts, we can through the aid of the Holy Spirit proclaim the "Greater One now lives inside us!" Our lives are no longer a vain attempt to follow a set of rules in life, only to soon discover how quick we break them.
And quite honestly, it is evident to tell in our lives who is leading who. Selfishness brings with it a whole lot of his friends...and some of you are quite acquainted with some of these so-called friends from the past life we once lived: Some of their names are Immorality, Want it My Way, Impurity, Cheap Sex, Indecency, Emotional Garbage, Idolatry, Jealousy, Sorcery, Brutal Temper, Cut-Throat Competition, Never Satisfied, Paranoid Freak...this list could go on and on.
Yet, as the Holy Spirit finds His home and His Authority in our hearts and lives, we no longer have a friendship with any of those mentioned above. We have an entirely new life!
Now, the Holy Spirit also has friends...yet His friends are to be trusted...and they always delight in knowing we are His friend. Some of their names are: Gentleness, Patience, Faithfulness, Compassionate Heart, Stay True to Your Friend, Conviction, Joy of Life, Holiness, Mercy, Kindness, Truth, Meekness, Humility...and these friends of the Holy Spirit could go on and on as well...in fact I once heard these friends of His have no beginning...and no end....just sayin'.
When we invite these friends of the Holy Spirit into our lives...there is no set of rules or none of Selfishness friends that can stand against them. The Holy Spirit and His friends...are just too powerful. That is because the source of all His Power comes through God the Father...who distributes all this power through His Only son...Christ Jesus!
So, this new life we have chosen to accept and now live daily...makes a bold statement: "We who now belong to Him...have nailed these so-called former friends (who in reality are our real enemies)...led by Selfishness...to the Cross...all those evil desires and old way of life...the very Cross the Messiah suffered on...for us in the first place, and now we walk away...leaving them there...for all eternity."
A Gleaning from 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
" We have now made a decision, to go ahead and take the chance..."the chance of life". and invite Christ Jesus to be in our very hearts and minds...and to give to us what He so dearly desires...a true friendship with one another. He has been kind and genuine in His approach, and is wanting the best for us....the mark of a True Friend indeed!
Because of this honest friendship we now have with Him, the need to evaluate others by the amount of possessions they have or what they look like is no longer a concern...because He certainly hasn't looked at us that way...otherwise we would all be "out the door"....we don't want to challenge Jesus with "my stuff is better than Your stuff" king of thing...no longer works that way ! That is simply the old way of looking at life...the "Pagan Look", and Jesus, our total compassionate Friend...wants none of it...and we should be ok with that!
If I were to be honest, that is how precisely we all looked at life...before we came to know Him. We even thought Jesus Himself was a nice guy with some "healthy outlooks" on life and thought it was "a crime" He was treated in such a matter that they made Him suffer such a horrible death. Yet now, since He has reached out to us in a genuine friendship...our how outlook with Him has totally changed...and now we are aware He died on the Cross for us...and for all mankind!
We also have been made aware that whoever gives his/her heart, mind, soul, and life to Him...is given a completely new start to life itself. We are now created in a new format, and the "original blueprint" for all mankind is....Him! Our old views and ways of life have come...and are far gone.
All of our formal moral obligations, our spiritual conditions, and our outlook on life and treating others in general...has completely changed. It's like we have experienced a "Day of Reckoning", and God has called us to settle the matters of our relationships with one another...and in particular...with Him!
All this is a result of receiving the Messiah...instead of rejecting Him. Because of this, Jesus has reconciled us to Himself...and to God, who we now are given the rights to call Him..."Our Father". And, on top of all this, we now have His Blessing on our very lives, and are able to live in a perpetual harmony...with Him...all because we have accepted Christ Jesus as our Friend.
Now, we simply pass this on to others...so they too can discover the meaning of having a True Friend...the Lord Jesus.
And here is what we do know at this point, it was God Himself who initiated this whole thing anyway...this entire series of events that makes it even possible to have a friendship with Him...and to know personally His Beloved Son. And the motivation behind all this?...because as He has clearly stated: "His love for us!"
That is why God uses us even now...to help spread the joy of this "Good News". People now will be persuaded this is "the only way to go"...receiving the Lord Jesus and the complete work He has done for us...to restore our friendship. The old differences we once had or failed to understand...both with one another and with God...are gone...and people will see that...in us through our daily thoughts, motives, and actions.
Today is a day for all those around us to be welcomed...to become friends with Him...for He has already given His all...to be friends with us."
Here is one more:
A Gleaning from Galatians 5:17-24
" Our direction is clear...our counsel is right...Let us live freely...entirely in the Freedom given to us by Christ Jesus...and then allow the Holy Spirit to be our motivator in everyday life.
This train of thought restrains Selfishness from being our guide in the new life as we know it. We can not argue the fact there is always a battle going on within us...a root of sinful selfish-interest that challenges the new direction given to us through the Holy Spirit...the right to be free and find blessing in being obedient to Him, and the truth is...these 2 are totally incompatible. Yet, because He now lives in our hearts, we can through the aid of the Holy Spirit proclaim the "Greater One now lives inside us!" Our lives are no longer a vain attempt to follow a set of rules in life, only to soon discover how quick we break them.
And quite honestly, it is evident to tell in our lives who is leading who. Selfishness brings with it a whole lot of his friends...and some of you are quite acquainted with some of these so-called friends from the past life we once lived: Some of their names are Immorality, Want it My Way, Impurity, Cheap Sex, Indecency, Emotional Garbage, Idolatry, Jealousy, Sorcery, Brutal Temper, Cut-Throat Competition, Never Satisfied, Paranoid Freak...this list could go on and on.
Yet, as the Holy Spirit finds His home and His Authority in our hearts and lives, we no longer have a friendship with any of those mentioned above. We have an entirely new life!
Now, the Holy Spirit also has friends...yet His friends are to be trusted...and they always delight in knowing we are His friend. Some of their names are: Gentleness, Patience, Faithfulness, Compassionate Heart, Stay True to Your Friend, Conviction, Joy of Life, Holiness, Mercy, Kindness, Truth, Meekness, Humility...and these friends of the Holy Spirit could go on and on as well...in fact I once heard these friends of His have no beginning...and no end....just sayin'.
When we invite these friends of the Holy Spirit into our lives...there is no set of rules or none of Selfishness friends that can stand against them. The Holy Spirit and His friends...are just too powerful. That is because the source of all His Power comes through God the Father...who distributes all this power through His Only son...Christ Jesus!
So, this new life we have chosen to accept and now live daily...makes a bold statement: "We who now belong to Him...have nailed these so-called former friends (who in reality are our real enemies)...led by Selfishness...to the Cross...all those evil desires and old way of life...the very Cross the Messiah suffered on...for us in the first place, and now we walk away...leaving them there...for all eternity."
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