Fluffy

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Be transparent before God, He sees right thru you, anyway!
http://www.likepreciousfaith.org/testimony_val.htm
Please pray for your local emergency responders, daily.

Boanerges

Nice thread guys- you rock!

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“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence

Beloved

Keep them coming

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Shalom

( SHALOM says: Completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. )

Beloved
1 Corinthians 14:1 Let Love be your highest goal.

Bondman

Fluffy, I can't express to you how wonderful this is of the Lord (thru you, dear heart)! Cos we are both well into stress breakdown now, and I'm utterly exhausted. Our medical problems continue to get worse. Life for the past 5 1/2 months has been the toughest we've ever experienced (which is really saying something!) So I'm trusting the Lord that our deliverance that He has promised to me of the healing of our so-sick bodies, and our bank account (for ministry), is getting nearer and nearer!

What's sure and certain is that always:


Boanerges, thanks so much for the encouragement! Hey, I was just thinking that if we rock - then this is due to The Rock!!! Wow, He is so wonderful that words cannot express...

Beloved, will do! (Part 5 almost finished - may be the final. Phew!) And ditto to what I said to Boanerges!

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SweetSurrender

Bondman,
I am praying for yo daily. I hope you know.

Just want to let you know that I will off line, excepte to check in and print off your messages and check for any pms. I have decided to be more attentive to Norm in obedience to the Lord. I just soooo want him to come to see God's grace. But you two will be being remembered.
Thanx for all the wisdom from these two, Jesus!

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"Do not imagine that you must comprehend or understand it all before you seek and find it. For those who wait on Him, God will do more than they can conceive." Andrew Murray

Fluffy

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Be transparent before God, He sees right thru you, anyway!
http://www.likepreciousfaith.org/testimony_val.htm
Please pray for your local emergency responders, daily.

Bondman

Thank you, Bonnie! It's been a real joy. I commend you for wanting to give Norm more time. Just so long as you keep growing so you've got more and more to offer him - and I know that you will!

Thankyou for praying for us. Always need that! You are in my prayers daily also. Bless you so abundantly in knowledge of Jesus and growth in the Spirit

- BM with his Mrs

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Bondman

PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY

MESSAGE #29


HOW TO WALK, LIVE & PRAY IN THE SPIRIT (very Important!)

PART 5 (Part 4 is HERE)


Maybe it's time to pause, and take stock of what we've been saying in this IMPORTANT TOPIC, about which there can be so much confusion.

Filling with the Spirit is for those wholly committed to the Lord. It's an on-going thing. It's NOT necessarily connected with the GIFT of speaking in tongues (unknown languages). And it's a command from God - NOT an option! You want to be OBEDIENT to the Lord, don't you? Then you need to start asking for Him to be filling you with the Spirit every day!


And so to a summation of the first part of these brief words, about a major and very important subject:


HOW DO WE WALK IN THE SPIRIT?

We walk in the Spirit by being FILLED with the Spirit on a daily basis. Walking in the Spirit simply means walking - living - the way He wants us to! Thus my stress on BEING OBEDIENT to our wonderful God as part of writing these Messages.


HOW DO WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT?

The same as above. Our time here on earth is very short. Soon we go to be in Eternity with our God. But here on earth, I see so many Christians living as if life here is a period to be having a good time with lots of material possessions, and money and the like. Does that sound to you like the way to get ready to live with God in eternity? HARDLY!! Came into the world with NOTHING - leave the same way. Except that you can set a goal right now of LEARNING and GROWING - towards becoming a MATURE MAN OR WOMAN IN CHRIST, just as fast as you possibly can!! That way when you step through death to meet the Lord it will be as a full-grown Christian - not still as a child, or a baby!!! (This is going to happen to millions! - how embarrassing, to say the very least...)

When's the time to start towards this? It's TODAY!!

Okay, and does living in the Spirit mean 'service', i.e., working for the Lord? Certainly can do. But service springs out of LOVE and COMMITMENT to Him. So getting committed and FILLED with the Spirit by the One Who gives us the only POWER we're ever gonna get in order to be able TO serve Him - this simply HAS to take priority in our lives. That will enable you to get to have JESUS as the focus of the whole of our being. Isn't that what you want? Alright then: the right KIND of service, service that works and is effective, will flow out of that!


HOW DO WE PRAY IN THE SPIRIT?

If you're not being filled with the Spirit by following the things set forth in these messages, then you cannot pray in the Spirit. And if you're not praying in the Spirit, then don't be one bit surprised if your prayers don't seem to work very well! If Spirit filling is IMPORTANT to you, and something you ask Him for and keep asking, then you will get to AUTOMATICALLY pray in the Spirit, as you look to Him in your daily walk! Can you handle that!!! There are those who want you to think this is some sort of mystical once only ('rah-rah') experience. The Scriptures are perfectly clear that it's NOT! It's supposed to be normal Christian living!! (as it is for me). That this is certainly NOT the case, ought to give pause for VERY serious thought by us all!

Finally, I mentioned in a post that this verse:

Ephesians 5:18
And do not be drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the (Holy) Spirit,

is stressing that the Greek text clearly says for us to always BE BEING FILLED with the Holy Spirit!!! That's His command. Not just ONCE, but on-going. Today, tomorrow, and on from there. We desperately NEED His power, or our Christian lives will - can - NEVER work!

My prayer for every person here is for you to start to live according to the Scriptures - in such as way that you can expect to be being constantly FILLED with the Holy Spirit of God - in order that you may WALK, LIVE and PRAY in the Spirit! Cos this is VERY important!!!

continued...


With piles of love in Jesus our Lord!

- BM and his Mrs

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Bondman

A very worthwhile daily prayer:

"Lord, Show Me How Close You Are"
"Lord, Show Me How Close You Are to Me"
"Lord, Reveal to Me Your Closeness"

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Bondman

PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY

MESSAGE #30


THE QUESTION OF GUILT


Why do we feel guilty? Christians I mean. Well, I guess it goes with the territory, doesn't it? Of all people we're the ones aware of our sin and sinfulness (at least I HOPE we are), and aware that no matter how hard we try we still fall short at the very best, and maybe even keep bombing out at worst - even tho this is NOT what we want! RESULT: we feel guilty! How can we not?

You may think that the our Guidebook tells us that Jesus died to take away not just or our sin, but also our guilt and shame. But it doesn't - it simply doesn't say He died to take away our guilt. Not very good news perhaps? Especially if our life is quite wracked by guilt over how we've lived, or what we've done, guilt that we simply cannot, just cannot seem to get rid of!

But please have no fear nor concern! We simply need to see HOW our guilt is taken care of! Jesus' sacrifice on my behalf and yours was totally accepted by the Father, as being totally sufficient to COVER ALL OF OUR SIN. Jesus' death brought total forgiveness for every sin. Many don't realise this. They think that unless they keep CONFESSING their sin then it's not forgiven. This is simply not so according to the New Testament:

A. Jesus BORE all of my sin and yours while He was on the Cross. He paid the full price for it there so we could be set free. And having done so He died, then the third day rose from the dead and returned to heaven. While on the cross the Father placed all of your sins - that's ALL OF THEM! - upon Jesus, and there and then He paid the full penalty for them!!! Such love as this the world has never seen before or since...

So what did this achieve? It ALLOWED FOR ALL OF YOUR SIN TO BE FORGIVEN. But ONLY ALLOWED this, okay - one more very essential step is required for it all to actually BE FORGIVEN.

B. When you accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord and gave all of your life to Him, at that moment ALL OF YOUR SIN WAS FORGIVEN FOREVER. ALL OF IT!!!

So where does guilt fit in then? WE FEEL GUILT WHEN WE SIN... AND THEN FAIL TO REMEMBER THAT EVERY SIN IS COMPLETELY FORGIVEN! "I sinned again. Against God. He must be SO angry at me. Or at least very very disappointed. Oh dear, what can I do?" How many of us have gone through this sort of experience! But it's quite unnecessary! WHY? Because all of that sin is fully forgiven BY ALMIGHTY GOD!!! And if HE'S FORGIVEN ME - then why on earth am I being silly and allowing myself to feel guilt about the sin??

Why indeed!! Here's what I do if I've flunked again and hurt Jesus, virtually crucifying Him afresh - no wonder we feel GUILTY! - but the fact is that I don't feel any guilt!! What I do is say something along these lines, "Lord, I'm sorry. I messed up again. I'm so so sorry. Thankyou, thankyou, THANKYOU for Your forgiveness. I'M FORGIVEN! You did that. I'm clean! It's okay! You still love me!! Wow, You are the BEST!!!" And that's it. Any guilt - if I had any, which I never do any more - HEY, IT'S ALL GONE!!!

Please, please get this: No sin ever being counted against you by God means exactly THIS: NOTHING for you to EVER feel guilty about!!! NOT A THING! So please give up guilt! Instead, when you sin, concentrate on BEING GRATEFUL and GIVING JESUS THANKS! That is perfectly sufficient!!!

Below is one of my favouritest verses and truths. I've believed it and lived it for around 50 years. And it's saved me from about a million periods of guilt and condemnation!

Romans Chapter 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,

Talk about fantabulous news!! NO CONDEMNATION! I'm not condemned! Hallelujah!! Never, ever, ever! So no guilt ever!!! I AM TRULY FREE!!!

May this be your experience in the Lord Jesus for the rest of your Christian life also!

- BM, with his Mrs

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