Php 2:12-15 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (14) Do all things without murmurings and disputings: (15) That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Just to remove the misconstruction here, ‘work out’ is not synonymous with ‘work for’. The former means to develop while the latter means to earn. Salvation is not earned. It is freely given of God. He made it that way so that no one can boast. But salvation needs to be developed so that we may reap its fruits.
Christians struggle with their faith because after that they have received the Lord Jesus they still face the same problems, the same struggles, the same circumstances even long after that they became Christians. There is much to learn about God’s plans for us. God’s plan of salvation is not as simple as Christ dying on the cross and us sitting pretty at home.
In Mathew 12:26 to 28 the Lord talked about casting out Satan. He explains that Satan does not cast himself out, because if he did, his kingdom will not stand. It is by the Spirit of God that Satan is cast out. And then, the Lord says in verse 29: Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
See, we all expect our lives to be really full in all good things. And that is really what God wants for us. But we need to get strong, at least strong enough to take back the good life that Satan has stolen from us. And so we must give attention to developing our spiritual strength. Remember how God led Israel into the mount of the Amorites and from there He said, Behold the promised land. God didn't put a silver spoon in their mouth. They had to fight their way in. But they were saved already from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. If God didn't save them first from Egypt, they would not have reached there.
God has shown us the way already. God lives in us now and it is He who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. God says, Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. So we should do that especially if temptation is really strong and we are on the verge of giving in. And again the Lord said, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. And so we must take the time to pray and fast. It should get us excited what spiritual strength we can attain after that we have fasted and prayed!
God said to Cain, And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. God has not changed that. We still are to rule over sin. Sin does not simply go away.
Mat 12:32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This verse gives us a glimpse that even in the age to come, sin may still be there. And the Bible tells us how God's children are known, they are born of God, they do not sin because His seed remains in them. And there is another group which is called the children of disobedience. God has given us freedom to choose. God wants us to choose the right thing. It is not God's plan to simply remove Satan out from the picture. The enemy is not removed, the enemy is defeated. He is brought down, even trampled down under our feet!
We declare Satan is defeated and so we must prove it by deeds. We cannot give in to temptation every time it comes. We should train ourselves to say NO to Satan. Resist the devil and he will flee! Give the Devil some resistance! Don’t be like melancholy. Be strong in the Lord! Put your faith in action!
There is much to take, there is much to conquer. Don't give a foothold to the Devil, not even an inch-hold. Don't let him keep pointing his accusing finger at you. Don't give him a reason to, not even one occasion. And so be encouraged as you read again the passage below:
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
Just to remove the misconstruction here, ‘work out’ is not synonymous with ‘work for’. The former means to develop while the latter means to earn. Salvation is not earned. It is freely given of God. He made it that way so that no one can boast. But salvation needs to be developed so that we may reap its fruits.
Christians struggle with their faith because after that they have received the Lord Jesus they still face the same problems, the same struggles, the same circumstances even long after that they became Christians. There is much to learn about God’s plans for us. God’s plan of salvation is not as simple as Christ dying on the cross and us sitting pretty at home.
In Mathew 12:26 to 28 the Lord talked about casting out Satan. He explains that Satan does not cast himself out, because if he did, his kingdom will not stand. It is by the Spirit of God that Satan is cast out. And then, the Lord says in verse 29: Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
See, we all expect our lives to be really full in all good things. And that is really what God wants for us. But we need to get strong, at least strong enough to take back the good life that Satan has stolen from us. And so we must give attention to developing our spiritual strength. Remember how God led Israel into the mount of the Amorites and from there He said, Behold the promised land. God didn't put a silver spoon in their mouth. They had to fight their way in. But they were saved already from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. If God didn't save them first from Egypt, they would not have reached there.
God has shown us the way already. God lives in us now and it is He who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. God says, Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. So we should do that especially if temptation is really strong and we are on the verge of giving in. And again the Lord said, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. And so we must take the time to pray and fast. It should get us excited what spiritual strength we can attain after that we have fasted and prayed!
God said to Cain, And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. God has not changed that. We still are to rule over sin. Sin does not simply go away.
Mat 12:32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
This verse gives us a glimpse that even in the age to come, sin may still be there. And the Bible tells us how God's children are known, they are born of God, they do not sin because His seed remains in them. And there is another group which is called the children of disobedience. God has given us freedom to choose. God wants us to choose the right thing. It is not God's plan to simply remove Satan out from the picture. The enemy is not removed, the enemy is defeated. He is brought down, even trampled down under our feet!
We declare Satan is defeated and so we must prove it by deeds. We cannot give in to temptation every time it comes. We should train ourselves to say NO to Satan. Resist the devil and he will flee! Give the Devil some resistance! Don’t be like melancholy. Be strong in the Lord! Put your faith in action!
There is much to take, there is much to conquer. Don't give a foothold to the Devil, not even an inch-hold. Don't let him keep pointing his accusing finger at you. Don't give him a reason to, not even one occasion. And so be encouraged as you read again the passage below:
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
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Call me.
I don’t promise that I will make you laugh,
But I can cry with you.
If one day you want to run away,
Don’t be afraid to call me.
I don’t promise to ask you to stop,
But I can run with you.
If one day you don’t want to listen to anyone,
Call me.
I promise to be there for you.
And I promise to be very quiet.
But if one day you call,
And there is no answer,
Come fast to see me,
Perhaps I need you.
Rev 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (4) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.