Advent Day 14, He’s Coming- Be Ready!

December 14, 2024 nofearlindaLeave a comment

Today’s scripture comes from the gospel of Mark 1:1-8. Mark begins the story of Jesus with the arrival of John the Baptist. He told us who he was, John the Baptist, and why he came, as a messenger proceeding one who was greater. Mark describes his ministry among the people and his lifestyle.

1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began ²just as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.
³He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’”

⁴This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. ⁵All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. ⁶His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

Mark started his gospel with the idea that there would be a messenger to come from God who would let them know that the Messiah’s arrival was near. He would prepare the way. Four-hundred years before John appeared, the prophet Malachi foretold of his coming in Malachi 3:1 , “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” This information added to what they knew from Isaiah, which is quoted by Mark in verse 2, gave them hope that they could expect someone to come from God that would prepare them for the arrival of the Messiah.

How would John announce the coming of Jesus? Mark 1:7-8 ” ⁷John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. ⁸I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!” John was calling the people to repent and turn to God so that when Messiah came their hearts would be ready. He was baptizing with water but the Messiah would baptize with his Holy Spirit. Baptism symbolizes death when one goes under the water and then rising to new life. New believers who put their faith in Jesus would undergo a transformation called new birth. Titus 3:5 puts it this way “he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.”

Are you ready to receive the Savior? Jesus is waiting for you and me to come to Him for that new life and new Spirit which he alone can give. What better time to receive Christ than at Christmas? He came so that we could have a new life and flourish with him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” If you already know Christ, praise Him for His great provision for you and the new life you have in Him!

Linda

Paul’s Therefore’s lead us to Christ

August 24, 2022August 8, 2023 nofearlindaLeave a comment

My friend Cheryl has chosen Romans 12:2 as her favorite verse. This is one of the most well known and quoted verse in the book of Romans for good reason. Here are verses 1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ²Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Starting with Therefore, Paul is saying because of all I have said in the previous 11 Chapters this is how God’s wants you to live. Paul has told us in Romans 1:16-17 of the power of the gospel leading to God’s righteousness. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” In Romans 3:22-23 that faith comes through Jesus and no one is righteous on their own “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In Romans 5:1 Paul concludes that we are justified by faith. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” I particularly love Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In Romans 7 we hear of Paul’s own smuggles with his sin nature but he reaches another conclusion in Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, In Chapter 8 Paul tells us we are son’s of the Father (14), coheirs with Christ (17), all things in our lives God can work for good (28), and nothing can separate us from the love of God (37-38). Paul tells us in Romans 10: 9-10 that confession of Jesus as Lord will bring about salvation. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Given all these facts about God and what He has done for us Paul reaches the conclusion stated in Romans 12:1. Think about God’s mercy towards us and commit yourself to a life of loving Him sacrificially. It will be pleasing to God.

In verse 2, Paul goes on to tell us that we need to let God transform our body and minds so that we will not be led astray and seduced by the world’s motives and standards. When your mind is renewed through faith in Jesus you will be able to discern what is worldly and stay away from it. You will be able to test things against His Word of truth, pray for discernment through the power of the Holy Spirit and call upon the name of Jesus for help. Then you will be able to walk with Jesus doing what is pleasing to God and aligned with His will. Faith in Jesus is the key to this transformation.

Thanks Cheryl for pointing me to this verse. I can see how you use this verse to give you strength to reject world culture and seek alignment with God’s Word. Leaning on God’s mercy, clinging to Jesus and using His Word to lead us in life will lead us to pleasing God.

Linda

Do you reflect Christ? If so, do others see a difference in you??

March 23, 2020April 16, 2020 nofearlindaLeave a comment

In Ephesians 4:17-24 Paul describes to the Ephesians what man is like in mind, body and action without Christ and then contrasts it to their present state of mind, body and actions with Christ in their lives.

Without Christ- verses 17-19 “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Before they came to know Jesus, their minds were confused about God, they were ignorant of what a life with God could be like, they had hardened their hearts to the things of God and they practiced all kinds of immorality in their lives.”

With Christ– verse 20-24 “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Knowing Christ has changed them and will change us from the inside out! The truth of who Jesus is and what He did on the cross transforms our thinking, our hearts and motivates us to speak and act as unto God. Paul calls it putting off the old nature, the way we did things before faith and putting on a new self. This new self is rooted and grounded in Jesus and His righteousness and holiness.

Paul challenged the Ephesians to put off the old and put on the new, make being a believer a conscious choice that involves a change of mind, body and actions. Giving yourself to God wholeheartedly allows the Holy Spirit to transform you from the inside out and makes you new in Christ. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can be a new creation in Jesus! 2 Corinthians 5:17 puts it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Christ in our lives, hearts and minds brings transformation for our good and His glory.

2 Corinthians 5 17 Be that transformed believer today! Reach out to others in love. Call, text, email, have a Zoom gathering, Face Time or use Google Chat or Duo with someone in these troubled days showing them you care about them and stand with them in the name of Christ.

Linda

Alive? Is this you in Christ?

April 10, 2019 nofearlindaLeave a comment

Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I have been made alive in Christ. The aliveness we have in Christ effects us physically, mentally and spiritually. Paul describes this in Ephesians 2:4-5. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved.” We did nothing to deserve this aliveness or quickening of our mind and body. God brought it to us through our faith in Jesus. God’s love, mercy and grace caused Him to send Jesus so we could be in relation with Him.

What is this aliveness we have in Christ? His spirit within us helps us to stand strong in the face of adversity. Ephesians 6:15 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Our standing is both physical and mental. 2 Corinthians 10:5 describes this mental duel. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”. The aliveness in Christ is also effects us spiritually. Romans 6:10-11 describes this “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Being alive in Christ gives us the power to stand in Him and with Him. It gives us control over our mind and will to be obedient to Him. He gives us the ability to cast off and turn our backs on sin and walk away with Him!

Claim and proclaim your aliveness in Christ today!

Linda

Suggestion: ask Jesus to show you an area of His aliveness within you today.

A Transformed Heart is filled with….joy and peace!

July 31, 2018 nofearlindaLeave a comment

So far in this study of ‘heart’ passages, we’ve looked at the Lord’s work and the true nature of our hearts. Today I want to begin examining passages that speak of a transformed heart. What makes a heart committed to Jesus different from one that is not?

In Romans 12:1-2 Paul speaks of what a transformed life would look like. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul describes the believer as one who is sold out for God, desiring to please Him, being transformed by God and not brought down and conformed to this world. One that is transformed would have a changed heart. That heart change is what we will be looking at in the next few blogs.

The New Testament believers lived together supporting one another in their new faith. Acts 2:46 describes them. “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,” Their encounter with Jesus reflected on their day to day life and gave them glad and generous hearts to view their world. Does your faith create in you a sense of thankfulness? Are you filled with Joy simply because you know Jesus?

In John 14:27 Jesus was speaking to his disciples shortly before facing the cross. He described the kind of heart the He would give to them in faith. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” A heart that loves and follows Jesus has no reason for fear or anxiety. 1 John 4:4 reminds us, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” The heart Jesus gives us is made for peace, loves peace and seeks peace. Do you have the peace that Jesus promised today? Look to Him, release all your worries and fears into His hands. He will give you His peace.

Take a few moments to think about your heart today. Do you feel generous and glad in heart because of Jesus? Do you have His peace in your heart? Be assured He intends for you to have a heart that is overflowing in all areas. I love the assurance of Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Jesus keeps His promises. Trust Him to give you generosity, joy and peace today.

My heart is new in Jesus each day,

Linda

The True Nature of our Hearts vs God’s Power = Victory in Jesus

July 17, 2018 nofearlindaLeave a comment

God knows the true nature and intentions of our hearts. Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees as they had observed the disciples eating food without washing or cleaning of their hands. The Jewish law required certain observances before eating for yourself and the food. Jesus called them hypocrites in Mark 7 saying they were more concerned about the outward appearances and not about the heart’s intent. His disciples questioned him after this encounter. “And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) ²⁰And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,²²coveting, wickedness deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:18-23

Jesus knew the heart of man is where the problems lie. The Pharisee’s desired to destroy Jesus out of greed, envy, jealousy and hatred. It had nothing to do with eating ‘unclean food’ with ‘unclean hands’. Jesus knows our hearts too. He knows our true motives and desires. Our hearts are bent toward self-gratification, self-glory, self-power and self-adulation. It comes from a heart that is not right with God. An old hymn calls it a sin sick heart that is in need of saving, cleaning and setting right before God. We can not deny the true nature of our hearts but we can bring our hearts to God and allow Him to transform and make our hearts clean before Him. Jesus gave us this new way to reconciliation with God. Hebrews 10:21-23 describes this power, “²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God (Jesus), ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Jesus can clean our hearts and minds. Then we can hold to our faith with assurance and hope! He can and will root out the evil intentions of our hearts with His indwelling Holy Spirit and mold and shape us to His will and His ways. First, we need to be cleaned by faith in Jesus’ work on the cross (death and resurrection) and then willing to be molded and shaped by His Holy Spirit. God’s transformation is complete and permanent. He replaces the old desires with new desires. 2 Corinthians 5:17 calls us a new creation, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Praise God for His transforming power!

Praising Jesus and His power to make me new!

Linda

Transforming a Sin Sick Heart

July 10, 2018 nofearlinda1 Comment

What is the true nature of the heart? Scripture teaches the hard truth of what our hearts are like because of sin. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick; who can understand it?” God knows the nature of our hearts and is the only one who can transform a sin sick heart. “¹⁰“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” God searches our heart, tests our mind and will evaluate us according to our deeds. This does not mean we have to earn our salvation. It means there will be a day of accounting where God looks at our actions. We are clean and purified by the blood of Christ, so He will not be looking at sin, but at our heart for Him. What causes you to do good or hard things for God? Is it love, devotion, thankfulness, zeal for the gospel?

I totally identify with David’s plea to God in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.” By nature our hearts are filled with sin but God can create a clean heart within us. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, we can be transformed by faith in Him. Jesus is our pathway to cleansing, restoration and hope. Just like David, we have to desire it and ask God for it. He promises to renew our hearts and make them pure, and committed to Him.

Will you ask Him today to create a clean heart within you? It will be a new beginning and a step that pleases God, renews and revitalizes life, and brings hope and restoration. Ask Him today.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you have the power to transform my heart and make me clean and pure. Root out the sin that plagues me and bring me into a vibrant relationship with you. Create in me a clean heart that will be devoted and steadfast in loving you. Create in me a new life with new desires and new hopes that are firmly placed in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Redeemed and transformed by faith in Jesus,

Blessings today.

Linda

Reject your heart of stone, Get a new living model!

July 3, 2018 nofearlindaLeave a comment

Today I am beginning a new series on the heart. There are at least 100 scriptures that focus on the heart, so it must be of great importance to God. I found there are scriptures that talk about God’s Work in our hearts, the true nature of our hearts and what a transformed heart looks like. The materials I have show the most ‘popular’ verses- people actually voted, so perhaps they were either most helpful, most revealing or most convicting. I love it that the most loved verses deal with God’s Work in our hearts. It gives us a good place to begin.

Ezekiel 36:26 is one of the key verses in this summary of prophesies God gave to the children of Israel in Ezekiel 36. Look at what God said He would do: ²²“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name… 23 I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations… ²⁴I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. ²⁸You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. ³⁰I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.”

God said He would do all these things to and for His believing children. He would vindicate or show the holiness of His name to them and the world, He would bring them back to the land (they were in Babylon in exile at the time), He would cleanse them, He would give them a new heart, He would put His spirit within them, He promised them long life in the land and great fruitfulness. As I read this list of promises God gave them, I realized that some were fulfilled then with their return to the Promised Land but many were fulfilled much later. Jesus came and brought cleansing and healing through His death and resurrection. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell the believers through faith because of Jesus’ work on the cross. Israel is again a nation and is amazingly fruitful. It is a wonder in the desert and blooms as God intended under their care.

Through Jesus’ Work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, we can live forgiven and be filled with His Holy Spirit. We can have the new heart that God desires for us. He says in verse 26, He will give us a new heart. This heart will be soft, pliable and alive with faith and devotion to Him. With this new heart, we can live for him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We are new creatures with a new heart through Christ. Do you feel like you have a heart of stone? Are you hard-hearted towards others, unfeeling about the difficulties in your life and their lives, do you shut out God? Or do you claim a new heart through Jesus that is open, willing, compassionate and loving towards those in your life?

Claim your new heart in Jesus today and watch God transform you and give you a heart of flesh and feeling and take away your heart of stone that was filled with sinful self-desires. Turn to Jesus and He will transform your heart.

Seeking transformation of heart,

Linda