Love Fulfilled Ministry

But be transformed by the renewing of the mind, for to prove by you what is the will of God, the good, acceptable, and perfect . 1 Transformed comes from metamorphóō  it is from metá   which means  change after being with and from  morphóō  which means  changing form in keeping with inner reality – properly it is transformed after being with . Our English word metamorphosis comes from this word. Taken together this means changing form after being with Christ, in keeping with this inner reality or inner being of the Holy Spirit who lives and works in us completing this process or good work that God has began. This transformation happens by renewing the mind. Metamorphosis is defined as a change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means. The picture to the left of a lunar moth in my hand is the result of transformation. This creature as a child is a worm, but its inner identity was of much more and did not wa...

Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little . 1 Love is eternal. Now abides faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love. While we should earnestly desire the best gifts, love is the most excellent way of God. 2 What we do without love is nothing. 3 I am convinced when I meet Jesus face to face if he asks me anything it will be this, did you know how much I loved you? did you know how much I sought you? If we understand how much we have been forgiven, if we can comprehend how much we are loved by Him, we in return would love Him and others, this is the essence of the gospel, the good news, which has and still can, change the world. When I was a kid we lived somewhat out in the country, we had many acres of woods behind our home. My father would do part time farming and we had a small orchard. Life there seemed ideal. In the woods behind our home there where the remains of a...

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life . 1 Jesus had just revealed to the people he was the bread of life, sent from the living Father and that he lived because of the Father, so whoever feeds on him also lives because of him, this was the bread that came down from heaven, any who eats will live forever. 2 Many did not believe because they could not see past the flesh; human reasoning and logic stood in the way, eat your flesh and drink your blood, what? This was a hard teaching, especially from him being a man from Galilee. Jesus said to them,  the words that I speak are Spirit and they are life. While the disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit, Jesus did say that the Spirit would draw all men to the Father and here he says that his words are spirit. We know that Jesus is the Word Of God. 3  And his word is spirit, we know that God is spirit as we must worship him in spirit and ...

Seek Me and Live... 1 "Seek the lord and live. Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph. And devour it... The Lord is His name, he rains ruin upon the strong... You hate the one who rebukes you in the gate. You abhor the one who speaks uprightly. Therefore you tread the poor and take taxes from him. Though you have built houses of hewn stone you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards but you will not drink wine from them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins. You afflict the just and take bribes. You divert the poor from justice at the gate. Seek good and not evil that you may live; So the Lord of hosts will be with you. As you have spoken, Hate evil and love good, Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be ...

Truly, truly I say to you, the one not entering in by the door to the fold of the sheep but is climbing up another way, he is the thief and a robber . 1 Jesus warns that any who do not enter by him are thieves and robbers. He says, truly, truly listen to me. I am the door, any that enter by me will be saved . If they do not enter to the fold, the Church, by him through the doorkeeper, the Holy Spirit, then they are not of God. This is a basic principle of Christianity, this new covenant God has with man is through Jesus Christ, the name above all names. God through his spirit draws all men to Jesus. Jesus said,  I the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Him . 2  The door to God's people is through Jesus, to compromise on this principle is to allow thieves and robbers access to his people. Jesus was of the Father, the words he spoke were of authority from God. He only spoke words of the Father. It was the Father speaking through him th...

And be not conformed to this world ... 1 The Greek word for conform here is sysxēmatízō (from sýn, meaning "identified with, together with" and sxēmatizō, "having outward shape") properly it means assuming a similar outward form by following the same pattern (model, mold). 2  The Greek word for world here is aiṓn which means properly an age or time-span characterized by a specific quality. 3  So to say to not be conformed to the world is to say; together with Jesus assume his outward shape or image by following the pattern or model characterized by the qualities of Him. I present my body a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto him, this is my divine service, now together with him I conform to His image. I can not do this without him, I must diligently seek the things of God; word and spirit, I must abide in him who is the word of God, I must eat the bread of life and drink the living water, together with him conforming to his image. And I need to participate in ...

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him . 1 It is written in the prophets that all shall be taught by God. 2  Therefore every man that hath heard and learned of the Father came unto Jesus as he is truth. Those of the Father who heard his words heard truth and knew he was of the Father. He came by water and blood, and a man was sent before him to testify of him. Now the spirit is the one that testifies, because the spirit is truth. The three testify on earth; the spirit, blood, and water. But the testimony of God is greater than mans', the testimony of God is this;  Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does no...

God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus He came to love, heal, and forgive He lived and died, to buy my pardon An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living just because He lives How sweet to hold a newborn baby And feel the pride and joy he brings But greater still the calm assurance This child can face uncertain days because He lives And then one day, I’ll cross the river I’ll fight life’s final war with pain And then as death gives way to vict’ry I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives Because He Lives

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. 1 Oh how God understands the plight of the fatherless. When Jesus was telling his disciples that his time had come, he told them, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 2  The principle of the least of these is that what you do unto these you do unto God. This is so important to understand. It not what I'm doing that makes me righteous it is what I am being, I am being conformed to the image of Christ. Jesus says there will be many who say to me Lord, Lord, have we not cast out demons, prophesied in your name? But he tells them I do not know you and you did not help the least of these. When Jesus comes in His glory he will separate the sheep, those like him, from the goat, those who claim to be like him. To con...

These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men . 1 As I write this I am reminded that I need to write what God is speaking and showing me, nothing more. If I throw in my own opinion or let my mouth or mind run on, I put in my words and opportunity for the enemy to snatch his word, his seed. My words can lead to teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. Three things I want to speak of; a heart that is far from him, the influence of the church, and the idea of soul, body, and spirit.  The scribes and Pharisees had spies that would follow Jesus around, some were open and would try to debate doctrine with him but mostly they were deliberately trying to find fault in him. At this particular point they came because they had been told the disciples of Jesus were eating without washing their hands. External cleanliness was a big tr...

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy well pleasing to God, this is your logical divine service . 1 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 2 There has always been such a high payment for sin, a requirement that can only be satisfied by something worthy. A sacrifice is defined as  the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone.  Present your bodies ... The word present here comes from parístēmi (from 3844 /pará, "from close-beside" and 2476 /hístēmi, "to stand") – properly, stand close beside, i.e. ready to present (exhibit). Of course I can not kill the indulgencies of the flesh I must stand close beside Christ to do this, but this is my logical service, it is a sacrifice on my part. A sacrifice was needed to atone for the sin of man against God. For we set our  heart as the heart of a god and only he deserves such glory. It is his...