Divine Persuasion

"I say to you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner repenting."2

This word for repent is metanoéō (from metá, "changed after being with" and noiéō, "think.") Oh many have misused this word. We are changed after being with Jesus. The woman at the well was changed after being with Jesus. The Bible says repentance is of the will of God, without regret. This word for "without regret" means not to be repented of, about which no change of mind can take place. Repentance like faith, a Divine Persuasion.

Repentance is a change of mind that we do not change our minds about, or repent of. We know that the mind regulates the heart and the word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart thus it is through the mind the power of God is manifested in our hearts. Through the mind we are divinely persuaded or convinced of God.

"Indeed, according to God the heart-sorrow repentance without regret produces salvation, and the heart-sorrow of the world produces death."2

Grace is always a gift from God. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works"3 Jesus said to the woman at the well, "if you had known the gift of God and who it is saying to you give me to drink..." then she would have asked him for this drink. Jesus is the author of salvation and faith, he is the perfecter of our faith, thus His words divinely persuade, convince people to believe. He convince the woman at the well.

"And some indeed were persuaded of the things he was speaking, some however disbelieved."2 This word for persuaded is peithó, (from the root of pístis, "faith") properly, persuasion (be persuaded, come to trust); faith. To persuade is to convince, by truth, by analogy, to rely, agree, buy in, obey, trust. It has supernatural elements, of Spirit and Truth. So faith is defined as Divine Persuasion. This persuasion is at the core of obedience. God seeks to persuade mankind of His goodness. To repent is to change our mind about such. Condemnation, fear, shame... these things are not in Christ. We are given a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, these things of God persuade men.

We are given a Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father! When we are divinely persuaded, there is joy before the angels of God. Another one persuaded, another one adopted into the kingdom of God. It is this witness in the heavens that the glory of God is being proclaimed, it is the manifold wisdom of God being shown to principalities and powers in the heavens and on earth, when one changes his mind. When God convinces us of His great love, when we are persuaded to change our minds, such brings glory to God. There is joy at salvation, and afterward when we are persuaded in truth, God's wisdom is made known, and there will be joy in the heavens.

Joy in the heavens continues as I am being saved, I am being persuaded as continue to grow in knowledge of Jesus. He is the author of my faith and salvation and he perfecter of my faith, he continues to save and persuade me. I am persuaded by the Word, Jesus, in who exists life which is light of men, In him we are given wealth, health, riches, glory, and love, spiritual blessings from the heavenlies.

We did not know love before, his love surpasses understanding, until he reveals it to us. Anything else is is a counterfeit, false. Love is true, kind, gentle, fore-bearing, it holds no wrongs, it up holds all things. By love God upholds all things. By love the world was created, by love the heavens shine. By love God sent his Son, by love we become His children, adopted into the family of God, children of God.

This authority we have in Him, an heir, a son of the Most High God. His Word cleanses, His blood cleanses, His Spirit seals us as his own and regenerates. Washed clean he works to make us whole in our soul, He doesn't see our sin, it is cast into the sea, purified by water. Upheld in glory, manifested in light, surely this is truth about His faithfulness love. Now, be divinely persuaded yourself.

The Crucible

" The LORD will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies ." 1 He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. The definition of zeal is great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. It is this time, to arouse zeal, shout, raise a war cry! As Paul writes, " In diligence not lagging in spirit being fervent serving the Lord ." 2 Our energy comes in the bond of brotherhood, formed in the crucible of combat. A crucible is place of severe test or trial, it is derived from Latin crucibulum ("night-lamp, metallurgic melting-pot"), and is a derivative of crux ("cross"). 3 The Bible speaks of the crucible of the cross for Jesus and for those who follow Him. The purpose of a soldier is two-fold; to accomplish the mission and to care for one another, as commanded. Each soldier has a role to play on a team. Without knowin...

One Grace

" moreover, One, to each of us has been given Grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ ." 1 Grace is a founding principle of Christianity. It is by Grace we grow into the fullness of Christ through faith; " to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. " 2 Without Grace we will never reach this fullness. The weakness in the Law was it attempted to do it in the flesh, and people failed over and over, so God in His infinite wisdom, unveiled this mystery, through faith in Christ we have grace to boldly approach His throne of Grace, to receive grace and mercy as needed! This gift of Grace is properly understood by examining this verse in three parts; moreover, One Grace, to each of us has been given, according to the measure of the gift of Christ . First, we understand, One grace, it is easy to miss the One, and this verse is translated in different ways, I believe it says One Grace and i...

Those He Calls He Equips

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen . Hebrews 13:20-21 When God calls us he equips us, the God of Peace, the one who brought us from the dead by the blood of the Eternal Covenant, will equip you so to do his will. So in this concept of being equipped, we see the calling being irrevocable. "For it is God who works in you to Will and to act on behalf of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13 God called you, he's working in you equipping you to work on behalf of his good pleasure. "So that the man of God may be complete fully equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:17 . In Hebrews 12 we read God disciplines those he loves, so that we share in his holy character, as the scriptures...

Word Of Life

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. " 1 Jesus is the Word, He was in the beginning with God. 2 All things were made through Him. He is the Word and Light of men, the way, the path, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." 4 Thus we can say as the Psalmist, Jesus, the Word, is a Lamp unto my feet, and a Light unto my path. 5 "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." 6 Concerning the Word of Life, " the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life ," Proclaimed, that our joy may be complete, a glory like that in the beginning, fellowship with the Father, with one another, and with his Son Jesus Christ, the Word of Life. "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot...

Truth All Around You

Stand then girding your loins in truth and putting on the breastplate of righteousness. * How can a soldier stand in battle if he has not been prepared, trained? How can a house stand if it has been built on sand? How can we stand against spiritual forces if we have not been prepared? Our battle is not against flesh and blood so in regards to such, what good is armor to a child or how can one stained with dirty clothes stand with a defiled conscious? To stand one must be prepared, be his workmanship, someone prepared beforehand to do battle. For this purpose you begin girding your loins in truth, putting on truth, wrapping truth all around you. ... girding your loins in truth... * The word girding is perizōnnymi (from peri "about, around" and zōnnymi "put on") meaning around about put on. Often gird your loins with truth is translated as putting on a belt. Surely we can say truth holds on the garments and confidence in truth is important in standing. I like th...

Hypocrisy and Self-righteousness

“ Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you ” Matthew 7:1–2 In Mathew 7 Jesus is speaking out against hypocrisy, he coins the term, it is exposed as a very serious sin. Because of their hypocrisy these religious leaders were leading his people astray. Today it is the same, it is a top reason why people do not attend a church. Of course we blame the sinner and hear cute little sayings like, come join us you will fit right in... which makes light of the situation. On a more serious note, Jesus gives seven woes to the Pharisees, he even warns them of hell fire and damnation, for their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Hypocrisy is basically pretending to be something you are not, it is not to be confused with our imperfection. Our righteousness is found in Christ alone, not in self. Hypocrisy and self righteousness is usually seen by others when we in our own righteousn...

Formed Into The Same Image

because those he foreknew also he predestined, to form to the image of His Son, to the extent He exists the firstborn of many brethren . * The word for form in this verse is σύμμορφος ( symmorphos ) from sym "same, with, or together" and morphos "form or shape." We are being formed, shaped into the same image as Christ. This word has the same root word morphos as in transformed, μεταμορφόω ( metamorphos ) from meta "among, with, after" and morphos "form or shape." Into the same form as Christ we are predestined. Adam was a living soul, but Christ was a life giving Spirit. Adam was formed in the image of God but that image was corrupted. In Christ we are formed a new, so that image is being restored. To be a Christian is more than just doing good works, more than just going to heaven, we are called to be formed into an image after Christ, Christ like. who will transfigure our lowly bodies into the same form as his glorious body, according t...

Feed On Me

"Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me." 1 This "living" Jesus speaks of is eternal or everlasting Life but what does this mean? Is this life an after life in heaven as traditionally taught or something we begin to experience here on earth? We read that Life is in knowing, a personal experience, " this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent ." 2 We receive the Spirit of life when we first believed, but the true disciple of Christ is known by abiding, these have learned that Life is in eating the bread of Life and drinking living water. Life is in Christ, all else has become as rubbish but to know Christ, and the Life he gives, "so also the one who feeds on Me will live." "So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples. and you will know the truth, ...

First Fruit Offering

through his plan, he brought us forth through the word of truth to the extent we exist a kind of first fruit of all he created (James 1:18) There is so much in this verse that we could spend time on, like the phrase "through his plan." But we want to focus primarily on what it means for us to be the first fruit of all that God created. he has made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time (Ephesians 1:9) Paul writes one of the spiritual blessings that we receive in Christ is that God has made known to us the mystery of his will. A plan for fullness, in which he is working out according to what he purposed in Christ for our good, that we are being conformed to the image of Christ. We relate this to the phrase in our featured verse, "of all he created." Now God's glory was manifested through creation since the beginning of time. However, God's purpose and plan that is bein...

Love Fulfilled Ministry

Search This Blog