Bondman

Message #52

I and ME

Part 1


I wonder if you've noticed how difficult it is to get away from, well, 'yourself'. That is, to get away from what I want, what I feel, asking God for things for me, seeking blessings selfishly, and all that sort of thing. It's really quite AWFUL. Seems like no matter how hard we try, so often it still comes back to "I", and "me" - and that's even when we may think we're doing really great with the Lord!

This is because of at least 2 things I can think of:

First. Our sin nature will be there till the day we step through death to be with the Lord for ever. It keeps on rising up and saying, "Me, me, me!" and that's just to get our attention!! lol. Then it focusses on what it wants. And we can so easily fall into the trap of giving it exactly that! Sometimes we'll even kid ourselves that God is in it, when if you boil it down to it's essence it was still something for "me". (The TEST I use: "What did GOD get out of it?" Usually the answer is 'nothing at all'.)

Second. This is to do with the material things in our lives. Which most of us are still in love with. Our attitude to this really does have to change if we're ever to get away from the "I" and "me", which are so serious because they are a major aspect of our SIN and SINFULNESS which cost the Son of God His LIFE - so we could be forgiven for our bad attitude to them!!!

- BM and Lady


Click for Part 2

Fluffy

ouch.

__________________
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.

Pulse

I'm new to this forum and thought this thread would be a good place to start meeting people. I'm not sure how this thread works...I liked the links to specific messages. I guess I will just start posting and learn as I go.

To briefly describe myself...

I'm enlisted in the USAF stationed in Texas. I've recently joined a local church that is awesome. Over the years I've bounced around from church to church off and on, but never really committed to one. After attending a few times I felt lead to work with youth and God introduced me to the Leader for the Jr. High group. I've never worked with youth before in a "church" setting before, so I am in unchartered territory. I don't know what I'm doing...but I'm doing it. I hope I can be a good mentor to the kids. I think working with the youth will "force" me to grow stronger in my walk. I want to be a good example for them...and I totally need God to work in me because I need the help. I want to be genuen and not fake. I think the kids can tell if you truely care about God and them.

Well, I actually need to go to tonights meeting...I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

Bondman

Welcome, Pulse!

Kids indeed can tell if you're real or fake! And giving yourself to them in the Lord will certainly grow you in your walk with Him. One of the things we really major on here is that "I can't do it - but He can!" That is, I choose to do what's right and live as He wants, then He gives me the ability to actually DO this (which for us alone is impossible).

Bless you greatly!

- BM

Bondman

Message #53

I and ME

Part 2 (Click for Part 1)


I agree!!

Heaven's gonna be SO good cos our salvation will be fully and finally 'completed' then, with the old man of sin/our sinful nature finally gone! I can't wait for this because the "I/me" that has dogged me all my life, will at last be DONE WITH/NO MORE/GONE FOREVER!!! Wow, what a day THAT'S gonna be! *did I say I can't wait? hehe*

Until then though there's GOOD NEWS!! - very important for us to dig right into!! Okay we see clearly that our sin nature is still with us, trapping us into worldly attitudes and living - but meantime we have received from God "the new man" (as opposed to "the old man"), which Paul referred to as "a brand new creation" in 2 Corinthians Ch 5:17. And further, let's look closely at THIS AMAZING PASSAGE:

Ephesians Ch 4
21 Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him],
22 Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;
23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],
24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

So this is ACTION that WE have to take!! God is telling us:

Verse 21: IF we really ARE Christ's man or woman

Verse 22: then we must get rid of the old nature which was so full of selfish lusts and desires, and even being DELUDED about how we're really living! - and then

Verse 23: ensure that we are constantly being renewed in our attitude of mind and heart (by focusing on things of God to do with the Spiritual realm, NOT on things of earth that are around us, and that we're still trapped into wanting);

Verse 24: as well as refusing to give in to our old self-centered and sinful "I/me" nature (verse 22), we must also daily put on the NEW man, the NEW nature that we got when we submitted our life to Christ, i.e., the REGENERATED man within us, which is actually created in God's image being a new man of righteousness and holiness. (See also Messages 34 and 35)

So for the serious Christian it's no longer living like the world around us at all! Our Christian life is to be characterised by NEWNESS and DIFFERENCE! We are to be centered in Jesus, focused on Father God, and our lives CLEARLY demonstrating right-living (righteousness) as well as holiness (i.e., the whole of our lives showing as being set aside as HIS and for HIM)!

I find this all INCREDIBLY EXCITING!! I see this as me being able to be RELEASED from the worldly and selfish things of my former life to now live a life of INCREASING righteousness, holiness and godliness - just like He wants for us!

"God please guide us all to this new life you've so astonishingly provided for us!"

BM, with his Lady

SweetSurrender

Bondman, can you explain exactly what holiness means; give examples maybe?

__________________

Faithwoman

Bondman

Message #54

TWO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TRUTHS - 1


FIRSTLY, I want to say a personal and heartfelt THANKYOU to my faithful posters here, without whom The Inner Room thread could not possibly achieve the things in the Lord Jesus that it does and is!

Thankyou, dear ones!!!

And so to a comment and a question, both of great importance. First the comment:

"... but more importantly preparing for my coming home to be with him." Yes, yes, YES!!! I ask: why on earth do we live as if we have 500 more years before that blessed event?? Fact:

• Our destination is HEAVEN!

• Our destiny is HEAVEN!

Living down here is of such incredibly minimal importance UNLESS, that is, WE'RE SPENDING THE TIME GETTING READY FOR ETERNITY WITH THE LORD!!! THEN, but only then, does it become of completely maximum importance!!!... a major, major, difference!

THE NEXT 10 BILLION YEARS IN ETERNITY!!! And that's just for starters! Yet just that small period compared to 70 years here, is an importance-factor of: 10,000,000,000 to 70.
If that doesn't get the message across to us as to what being here is REALLY ABOUT, than I'm not sure what will.

The Bible warns us that the time is SHORT. Sure is! And as always it's about our FOCUS, our PRIORITIES, and our ATTITUDE. What ARE we really on about? What's of PRIME IMPORTANCE to us? Most common is: Living a good life. Enjoying ourselves. Ease of life and living. Seeking selfish blessings from God. And so on...

NO, it's about things like sacrifice. About giving of ourselves. About whatever hardships He lovingly brings our way - so that we may learn and grow towards maturity. It's about HIM, and what HE'S feeling and WANTS - NOT about what I want and what I'm feeling!

Going back to an importance-factor again, in percentage terms it's GOD 100 and me about 1 or 2. *realises that doesn't add up to 100, lol* Let me tell you what I mostly see as I look around the world at Western churches, including the largest and most successful and most well-known ones, right down to the least: THE EXACT REVERSE OF ABOVE. Looking at attitudes and actions it looks clear as a bell that WE ARE WAY UP THERE ON THE SCALE - NOT HIM!

In any case, PLEASE put yourself way down LOW. John the Baptist said it: "He must INCREASE, but I must DECREASE." John Ch 3:30. WOW! Put Him, what He wants, obeying His will for us, giving all of us to Him, and so on, way up top! THEN YOU'LL START TO SEE YOUR LIFE WORKING LIKE PAUL'S AND PETER'S AND JOHN'S, AND THE REST OF THEM!!!

How I earnestly wish this, and pray for this, for everyone here! I love you!!

Next, continued here with the question...

- BM, with his Lady

Bondman

Message #55

TWO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TRUTHS - 2

Continued from the comment here


WHAT HOLINESS IS

Holiness is basically and quite simply put, GOODNESS, i.e., doing good because you've somehow learned how to "BE" GOOD. But how is it possible in this sinful world with all its temptations to do the opposite to good, to actually "BE" GOOD? How indeed! But can you think of anyone who is truly GOOD? Okay then, we have to somehow be "LIKE" HIM. But once again HOW?

A New Testament COMMAND is to 'Be holy as God is holy' (see 1 Peter Ch 1:15,16). CLEARLY IMPOSSIBLE!!! - so being holy is solely of and from God! It's actually NOT being LIKE God at all: rather it's having GOD'S holiness in us and working out through us! And also rather than US seemingly "being" good, again this is GOD'S goodness and holiness in us!!

In the New Testament many times the Spirit of God is just written as the "Spirit", but at other times as the "Holy Spirit". The Spirit is HOLY. And Who has lived in us and is constantly with us from the moment of our salvation? - the HOLY Spirit!! As we've said so many times before, here once again is an IMPOSSIBILITY FOR US, and therefore WE ARE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD and His Spirit in order to be Holy!


ONLY GOD IS GOOD

Everything God does is GOOD! We need to focus on the same thing. There is no good or holiness in me, thus I am SO dependent on the Spirit to bring HIS HOLINESS into my life! That is, trying and struggling to be HOLY simply will not work! The holiness and perfection of Jesus Himself, our Lord and Master and Saviour, is brought to us by the Spirit Whom He promised that He'd send to us - and did - and so any and ALL holiness in me is going to be CHRIST!

EXAMPLES: In order for the Lord to be able to live out holiness in and through us, He gave us three commands: Love GOD. Love all OTHERS. And the third 'New Commandment': love EACH OTHER, i.e., love our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Every time you obey - DO - something to fulfil one or more of these commands (if you did it via the Spirit) then THAT'S HOLINESS!!! Simply BEING GOOD! BIG things and LITTLE things:

I hardly have any money - but I gave $25 to James' family who had no food left in the house. I took back the biro I stole from work. I forgave Mary who is STILL running me down to others and painting me as a bad person. I spoke nicely to the check-out chick and thanked her for serving me. I started supporting an indigenous missionary in India working in the slums of Calcutta.

ONLY ONE WAY TO HOLY LIVING

BUT THE RUB with these examples, and the central part of this whole Message is: if we think that WE can do good things, then we will FAIL dismally. Doesn't matter if it 'looks' good and/or 'feels' good - unless we are IMPELLED (led) by the Holy Spirit and EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit of God to do it, then it's simply useless works that are totally un-holy (no matter HOW good they look, or how good they FEEL).

You see, the 'good' things we do, so often are purely humanistic, and ultimately done by US - to give us a good FEELING. Nothing wrong with that per se, but often that's our unrealised, but quite sinful AIM - rather than a holy action which the SPIRIT helps and leads us to do. Can you see the difference? YOU can never be holy. And YOU can never do even ONE holy deed. But Jesus in you, by His Spirit in you - CAN!!!

Let's set ourselves from this moment on towards nothing less than holiness of life and thought and deed - by His Spirit!

- BM, with his Beloved

Fluffy

__________________
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.