“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)” 2 Corinthians 10:4
To bring down the strongholds of this world that are against us, we are empowered by God Himself to use the weapons of His warfare, and God’s weapons are spiritual, they are not carnal, and God’s weapons are mighty! God has empowered us with His Holy Spirit and God’s weapons are grace, kindness, prayer, charity, faith, hope, Truth, and love! The Holy Spirit uses us to bind the things that are contrary to God’s Truths with the power of the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Name that has been given us, the Name above every Name! We speak the Word of God through the strength of the Holy Spirit that is within us, and the Word is the sharp two-edged sword of God. God uses His greatest weapon through us, His love. He uses the love that Jesus gave us, His perfect love that casts out fear! As our Father is in Heaven, so is He in this world! We love, even when people are against us! “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” Ephesians 2:4-5
It can be preached that we have to love, and that is the Truth, we do have to love! But that is not the complete Truth of God, the Truth of God that will set us free. The complete Truth is this, we can’t help but love, because we are born of it, the only reason we are born again is because of God’s love for us. Love is the seed that we come from. Through Christ we are now one with Love! “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 Jesus is now our Head, He is our Vine, we are His body, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and since we are, we have Jesus’ characteristics; we love all, even when they hate us. We love those who love us and we love those who hate us, just as Jesus loves! Jesus was on the Cross, they were brutally killing Him, and He cried out for their forgiveness! This is the love that is now within us! This is Who we are born again from and this is Who now abides within us, this is the Holy Spirit that we now have strengthening us and teaching us. Love is not just born into us, it is what we have been born of! God has given us a new heart and a new mind that are capable of operating in His perfect love, and He has placed His very Spirit within us that causes us to walk in His love. That is one of the greatest powers of salvation, we cannot help but to just love, and there is no fear in love. We know God loves us and nothing that the world can do to us will take us out of Love’s hand, we are sealed with it, we are one with it, and we are Love’s Temple! God is Love, and we are more than conquerors through Love. Love leads us into the paths of righteousness, we are new creatures in Love, old things are past away and all things have become new for us. Love is now our Shepherd, and Love is for us, so who can be against us? It can be preached that we have to love, but if we don’t preach that through Christ we can’t help but love, than we haven’t preached the Truth that sets us free!
To bring down the strongholds of this world that are against us, we are empowered by God Himself to use the weapons of His warfare, and God’s weapons are spiritual, they are not carnal, and God’s weapons are mighty! God has empowered us with His Holy Spirit and God’s weapons are grace, kindness, prayer, charity, faith, hope, Truth, and love! The Holy Spirit uses us to bind the things that are contrary to God’s Truths with the power of the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Name that has been given us, the Name above every Name! We speak the Word of God through the strength of the Holy Spirit that is within us, and the Word is the sharp two-edged sword of God. God uses His greatest weapon through us, His love. He uses the love that Jesus gave us, His perfect love that casts out fear! As our Father is in Heaven, so is He in this world! We love, even when people are against us! “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” Ephesians 2:4-5
It can be preached that we have to love, and that is the Truth, we do have to love! But that is not the complete Truth of God, the Truth of God that will set us free. The complete Truth is this, we can’t help but love, because we are born of it, the only reason we are born again is because of God’s love for us. Love is the seed that we come from. Through Christ we are now one with Love! “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16 Jesus is now our Head, He is our Vine, we are His body, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and since we are, we have Jesus’ characteristics; we love all, even when they hate us. We love those who love us and we love those who hate us, just as Jesus loves! Jesus was on the Cross, they were brutally killing Him, and He cried out for their forgiveness! This is the love that is now within us! This is Who we are born again from and this is Who now abides within us, this is the Holy Spirit that we now have strengthening us and teaching us. Love is not just born into us, it is what we have been born of! God has given us a new heart and a new mind that are capable of operating in His perfect love, and He has placed His very Spirit within us that causes us to walk in His love. That is one of the greatest powers of salvation, we cannot help but to just love, and there is no fear in love. We know God loves us and nothing that the world can do to us will take us out of Love’s hand, we are sealed with it, we are one with it, and we are Love’s Temple! God is Love, and we are more than conquerors through Love. Love leads us into the paths of righteousness, we are new creatures in Love, old things are past away and all things have become new for us. Love is now our Shepherd, and Love is for us, so who can be against us? It can be preached that we have to love, but if we don’t preach that through Christ we can’t help but love, than we haven’t preached the Truth that sets us free!
1 comment:
This is a posting in response to Felix a couple of days ago. I just saw today that the post was made.
Thanks for the posting, I really appreciated hearing from you. I agree, we are saved because the Holy Spirit empowers us to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, or baptizes us into the Body of Christ. We are called and chosen by God and He empowers us to be born again! Many of the studies that God has led me to write in these blogs say exactly what you say, so we are in total agreement.
Now can we be saved and not be Baptized with the Holy Spirit? I sure hope so, because I see a lot of people who confess Jesus as Lord who aren’t! But here is why I preach that all should desire it and expect it, because faith comes from hearing the Word of God and the Truth of God will absolutely set us free. John the Baptist said that Jesus was coming and that while he baptized with water, Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit. We see in scripture where all in the upper room were baptized with the Holy Spirit. God had Paul baptized with the Holy Spirit when Ananias laid his hands on him. Jesus said it was better that He went away because if He did than the Holy Spirit would come and teach us all things, He would comfort us, strengthen us, and advocate on our behalf. In the Ezekiel God said that He would put His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His ways. Joel prophesied that in the last days that God would pour His Spirit out on all men. In the Book of Acts Peter and John were sent to Samaria to lay hands on the believers so that they would be Baptized with the Holy Spirit. Paul laid his hands on the believers at Ephesus so that they would receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We don’t read where believers were not being baptized with the Holy Spirit, and with some evidence of the baptism following them. So if we don’t read about it in the Word, why should we preach anything different? Jesus taught those who believe and are baptized will be saved. But if I am wrong in preaching it this way, that’s not such a bad thing, let’s have as many saved as we can get, and let’s hope that people will hear the Truth that all of us can be baptized, and Jesus will Author and Finish their faith to accept it. God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit, He gave it to Paul, the people in Ephesus, Samaria, and the upper room, why wouldn’t He give it to all of us as well? How is it that a true believer, who has been empowered by the Holy Spirit in the first place to believe, could then be offended at the thought of being baptized with the very Spirit of God to help them to further the Kingdom here on this earth? We never read where God doesn’t want us to have all that He is. So if someone is offended, that probably tells us something.
I too believed on Jesus as Lord for years before I was baptized with the Holy Spirit, and I openly confess that it was the Holy Spirit that allowed me too. Now God is not a respecter of persons, and Jesus is the One Who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, and since He is our Head and He is our Shepherd, He will do what is needed for all who are truly saved. I have no idea what a Goodwill Hunting Complex is, but for these brief studies on the blog, God has led me to intentionally limit my personal experiences in favor of just sharing as much of His Word as possible. But I was 11 when I was Baptized with the Holy Spirit. It was at the Brentonel Church of Christ. It was like the Holy Spirit just grabbed me and took over. I began to pray in tongues and my mouth was instantly healed; it wouldn’t close all the way. From that very moment I knew that I was part of God. I hadn’t read it, or heard it preached, my family was in a Methodist Church at the time that did not preach about it at all.
Be blessed and Jesus is Lord.
Ps: You wrote that you didn’t want to anger several times, but your posting was peppered with sharp words and comments????????????
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