How Great is His Hope! - - - - - - - Ephesians 1:17-19 - - - - - - - GMG, Wk: 2: Monday

How Great is His Hope?

And, Oh! How much that question matters!........

Because the battle wears on!..... even though the war is won!

Many of us have read about wars which have ended, but men are still fighting and dying, because they do not know that the war has been decided already.

Today, we know that the Mighty Warrior has established every foundation for Complete Victory!...... but when the battles wear on and on, sometimes without reprieve........ battle fatigue can set in!

Without His hope...... we might wonder whether the war is really won!

So, is His hope enough?

How Great is His Hope?

Ephesians 1:16b-19:

In my prayers, I keep asking the God of our Lord Yeshuah the Messiah,
The glorious Father,
to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that you will have full knowledge of Him.
I pray that He will give light to the eyes of your hearts,
so that you will understand the hope to which He has called you,
what rich glories there are in the inheritance
......He has promised His people
and how surpassingly great is His power working 
........in us who trust Him.

There it is!  Just a glimpse into the greatness of His hope...... but what a glimpse!

It is the hope to which He has called you!  It's not a hope you have to ask for, earn, find, design, devise, establish, maintain, or otherwise provide for yourself.

He has called you to it!

Why has He called you to it?  .......  "For God so loved the world.......... that........." He has called you to a rich and glorious hope in not only His rich glories, but in how surpassingly great is His power working in us who trust Him.

Did you hear that, my soul?

You earned nothing!  He didn't need to give you anything!  But He has provided power which works in surpassingly great ways..........

And what do you need to do?

Simply receive it!

It is 'set before' you.............

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! - - - - Romans 8:1-4 - - - - GMG: Wk 3: Wednesday

For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you FREE from the law of sin and of death...... (Romans 8:2)

......

Free from the law of sin and of death? And free unto what?

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord!  (Romans 6:23)

Ode to the peril of the struggle of life and death!

And the eternality of both life and death!  Eternal joy!  Eternal suffering!

And the body of Christ should be seeking eternal life for all men of peace, for all men who will listen to and receive the gospel of peace.........

What an epic struggle it has been and will continue to be as long as this earth endures....

..........

Then, how is it, again, that we overcome death.......?

.........only with the free gift of God.......

Which is eternal............ Life.


But what is this....... 'Life'?


It begins with death!  Death to sin!

The Mighty Warrior!  He has Complete Victory!

What did He conquer?

He conquered sin and death!

He drowned death for victory!  (I Cor. 15:54 - and note, 'victory' in this case necessarily denotes a conquest..... thus, death is indeed conquered!)


Now it is our turn........ by His power.......

To Overwhelmingly Conquer through Him who Loved Us!

He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.  Rev. 2:11
But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer.  Rom. 8:37
He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.  Rev. 3:21

.........

And they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.  Rev. 12:11
.........

Ode to balancing truth.........

O my soul......... have you remembered today?

NOT because of what you have done today....... but because...... yes..... only because...

......yes....... the 'cause' is the Promised One!
......yes....... the 'cause' is and will 'be'.........Him and Him alone!

......yes....... because........

......because 'you have the Spirit of Christ'......
......because 'He shared His Spirit with you!'.......
......because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you!  (Romans 8:2)
......because of the law that requires faith, which He gave you! (Romans 3:27-31 / Ephesians 2:8)


Repent!

He came to call sinners to repentance!  (Matthew 9:13)

And now, we are to be like Him!  We are to have the Spirit of Christ!

How to be like Him?  Bringing truth and understanding about God to others!

What is it to have life?  If sin is death, then sin is to be left behind..... coupled with grace.

"Awake righteously at once - and be not sinning! For some have a fullness of ignorance about God!  I am saying this to excite your shame!"  (I Cor. 15:34)

And here in I Corinthians 15:34, He was speaking to believers...... who should have been aware of the shame that we can still experience when we fall into sin.

"If we would examine ourselves, we would not come under judgment.  But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, so that we will not be condemned along with the world."  (I Cor. 11:31-32)

And here in I Corinthians 11:23, the Word says that we are judged by the Lord and disciplined when we have fallen into sin....... a process which demonstrates His grace, "so that we will not be condemned along with the world."

It grieves my heart so to think of young believers hearing that, because there is now no condemnation, there is also now no shame or judgment or discipline possible for the believer.

What a lie this is!!!!!  Down deep inside of one's very soul, this dangerous lie must be apparent.  It might be tucked away so far that one will not listen....... especially when their mind is shouting out Romans 8:1 so loudly that it drowns out all truth.

.........

This is not to say that the existence of sin in a believer's life must be ruled by the law.  May it never be!

This is not to say that we should be bringing cruel accusations on others in order to have them walk in shame......  even Paul, when he spoke of 'exciting shame'....... it was not for anyone to walk in shame, but rather, as gently as possible, to correct them in love - - - to encourage them to look more closely and realize where we have fallen into sin, and leave it behind, so that we would not come under judgement.  Though earlier in the same letter, he spoke of the Lord judging and disciplining......

So then the Lord is righteous and just to both judge and discipline His children, correcting them and their walk so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

But it is better to address the shame of our own sin before it comes to that:  examining ourselves that we might not come under (His) judgment.

..............

This term 'judge', in the Greek, has its roots in the word krino, which means 'discern or determine'.... and if you read through the notes at the subsequent link for 'judge', there is a sense of the meaning which can recognize goodness, or come to a negative decision which contains a rejection.....

.........

And here is the grief of it.......... that on the one hand, there are those who preach a gospel of works, while on the other hand, there is a gospel in which there is no shame left in this life........ that, sure we'll still sin, but there is no shame left for it because it is already forgiven..........

How can I Corinthians 15:34 (above) be true, and this false ?edge on the? gospel be true?

............

Romans 8:1 is true in that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!

yet...... Paul was not amiss in I Corinthians, when dealing with what many have called 'carnal Christians', therefore he spoke of his 'exciting shame' that believers would examine themselves and avoid judgment.

and....... Paul was not amiss in I Corinthians when he spoke of the Lord 'judging' and 'disciplining' His own for their safety.

So........ is there any way in which we ought to determine what is right or wrong in another's life?

And even to disassociate from them (if they will not respond to correction given with grace, that is)?

 "But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler -- not even to eat with such a one.  For what have I to do with judging outsiders?  Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside God judges.  Remove the wicked man from among yourselves."  (I Cor. 5:11-12)

So........... a believer ought to examine himself to recognize his own sin and shameful behavior - and thereby correct it; that others do not need to (gently) come alongside and 'excite their shame' (to protect them from judgment from God).

And........ if a believer does not examine himself, then the Lord will judge and discipline His own so that they will not be condemned along with the world.

And........ if one claims to be a brother, and will not receive correction for immorality, covetousness, idolatry, reviling, drunkeness, or swindling....... he should be put out...... that the church's doing so is judging those within....... and sending them out .........

Then is that when God does much of His judging and disciplining, and correcting of His own, and possibly even His own Spiritual work in 'exciting shame'?

.................

While I hold firmly to the obvious scriptural quotes above, .......... :

This last question is a question ----- not a statement of dogma............  I welcome responses..........

Pray for me, pray for the church, pray for our souls to respond with wisdom, and pray for His soon return!

..........

SO FREEDOM!  FREEDOM!  FREEDOM!

The freedom is from condemnation.

The freedom is from death.

The freedom is to eternal life........ after the second death has passed us by unscathed!

The freedom is from sin........., but with it comes the freedom to self-govern..........

To 'examine self' ourselves.........

What kind of love does that require?  A freedom loving love indeed..........., and not a controlling one.

.........

But if a brother is walking towards slavery...... in the flesh......... those who are spiritual are to help awaken his sensibilities to shame with a kindhearted spirit.......... in order that he will have ample opportunity to return to their proper course of freedom......

To.......... freedom from sin, and from death, and unto righteousness.......

Truly, FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM ........ Indeed!


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To Rejoice! -or- to Weep! -or- to Cheer!

LONG TERM PROJECT - WORD STUDY PROJECT

...........

How much of this choice (to rejoice, to weep, and/or to cheer) is really effective without the 'us', the 'our', and the 'we' of the body of Christ being engaged together?

...........

How to know when to rejoice, when to weep, and when to give cheer when showing mercy? (Romans 12)

So, the question between rejoicing and weeping, that does not seem so complicated.......

But what is this 'showing mercy' by giving cheer?  While I have some sense of this, I feel challenged to grow more....... perhaps much more, in understanding this both in principle and in action.......

..........

This is not an entry to declare having arrived....... at anything........ but more just an entry to declare the question itself.......

Thus, this is a 'catchall' blog to which I hope to add extra verses over time..... (in three sections after a bit of thinking out loud......):

.........

Rejoice with those that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.  

Be of the same mind one with another....... (ooooo, good clue there......, leaves me thinking of the informal study one author wrote out past the page and onto my heart - once upon a time in my life - again, not having arrived, but my heart is set on growing in this:  the study?  who was the person in a given crowd who the most people felt comfortable being around, and why?  ....... the answer left me a bit stunned:  the person who people were most comfortable being around did simply this:  they ate at the same pace as the people around them...... if they were eating with a fast eater, they ate quickly; if they were eating with a slow person, they ate slowly...... so, 'be of the same mind one with another'....? this is somewhat clear..... - not automatic for me, but somewhat clear.....)

But to show mercy by giving cheer? My mind wanders to the lovely girls who bathed my father when he was on his deathbed in ICU.  They cheerfully chatted together while still showing both my comatose father and myself great respect and regard...... happy to serve my father by bathing him and doing all they could to make him comfortable before they moved on to cheerfully serve another........

That picture is quite clear to me .......

But how those principles apply to other scenarios?

When to move from rejoicing, to weeping, to eating quickly, to eating slowly, to being a bit sombre, to being cheerful while showing mercy?

That is not so much my grace.

I so admire those two girls who ministered to my father.  They are on my heart and mind often.  I desire to be more like them, and to think, "What would they do in this case, or that?" - - - not to idolize them, but to try to see if the spark-of-God that is so strong in them in this area might help me to leave behind my past, and press on to grow at least somewhat in this area in my own life.......

...............

Towards that end.......

REJOICE

Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. (Romans 12)

If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.  (Proverbs 27:14 NIV)

WEEP

"Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow."  (II Cor 2:7)

SHOW MERCY WITH CHEERFULNESS

"Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow."  (II Cor 2:7)

Ann Voskamp said of this verse:  "The King James Version uses the phrase 'swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." As I pursued the thought, I discovered that overwhelmed is the same Greek word that Peter uses when he says that Satan seeks to "devour" us (I Pet 5:8).  "Lord, is my grief over my failure excessive sorrow? And does it make me vulnerable to enemy attack and accusation?"  I asked."