Spirtual Restoration-SoulCare

Psalm 19:7-"The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; "

Psalm 23:3-"He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake."

To restore means to "repair, renovate, or return to a former condition." As Christians, Jesus is the Great Shepherd(Hebrews 13:20) and we are the sheep of his pasture(Psalm 100:3), and only He is able to  restore our souls.

Sin not only deceives and defrauds us, but it also destroys our souls.

1 Peter 2:11-"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul."

God is not some kind of cosmic kill joy. God wants to empower you to put to death the sin in your life because he knows that sin in the end will steal all your joy. God loves you, he always has, he always will. Because of his unconditional love for you, he wants to provide for you and protect you. The means the Great Shepherd  uses to restore our soul's is the Word of God, The Spirit of God, and the People of God.

The Word of God- 
God's Word draws boundaries, and these boundaries  are not meant to take away from our joy but to give and preserve our joy. Every time God says “Thou shalt not,” God is simply saying, “Don’t hurt yourself.” And every time God says, “Thou shalt,” God is saying, “Help yourself to happiness.”
James 1:21-" Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."
 The Word of God convicts and turns us away from the way of error, sin, foolishness, and death to the way of holiness, wisdom, and life.

The Spirit of God- 
  Psalm 139:23-24-"Search me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,   and lead me in the way everlasting!^"

One of ministries of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin.

The Path to Spiritual restoration is simple: Conviction--> Confession--> Repentance--> Submit to God---> Resists the Devil( 1 John 1:9, : James 4:7).

The People of God-
Galatians 6:1-"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted."


 James 5:16-"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

Hebrews 3:12-13- ^" See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness."

A great resource for our restoration is the Body of Christ. Simply put, we need one another.

Spiritual Warfare: Biblical Principles for Victory

Ephesians 2:1-3-"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

In this passage of scripture, we see three dimensions of spiritual warfare. We are going to look at some key principles we can use to overcome our three enemies which we war against daily.

1.)World- Faith-John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

2.)Flesh-  Flee- 2 Timothy 2:22-"Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

3.)Devil-  Fight- James 4:7- James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Some people blame the devil for every single sin they commit. Often times, it is our own Flesh and not Satan that causes us to sin. The bible says in Galatians 5:17- "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."

Feed the Spiritual nature: Starve the Carnal Nature

Every Born again child of God has two natures, and both of these natures within us  is struggling to dominate us. If we feed our spiritual nature with the Word of God and yield to the person of the Holy Spirit, then he will empower and rule us .If we feed our flesh (old sinful nature), then the flesh will rule us. In other words, the spiritual nature will starve if we feed on the things of the World such as the lusts of eyes, lusts of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life( see 1 John 2:16). On the other hand, if you are consistently feeding on the Scriptures, then your fleshly nature would starve and grow very weak.

The Five People of Proverbs- Biblical Profiling

The book of Proverbs show's us different types of people, their thoughts, actions, behaviors, and how these people relate to one another. In the book of Proverbs, we meet five different types of people- The Wise; The Fool, The Wicked, The Simple, and The Scorner. Out of the five people types, we are going to study the Wise person so we can get better acquainted with them so we can be able to identify different types of people.

The Wise-  The Bible says in Proverbs 19:27-"Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge." In other words, wise people listen to and take heed to wise instruction. The wise man or woman constantly and consistently take heed to God's word. The bible say's in Proverbs 4:23-"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." The Wise man is quick to guard his heart and follow the principle-" Treasure in, Garbage out." In other words, the man or woman who is wise takes in and fortifies himself with the Word of God and he protects and guards his heart and mind from all the garbage this world has to offer through the  radio, television, internet, books, and classrooms. Also the wise are receptive to advice, corrections, and rebukes(Proverbs 9:8-9). Wise people also fear the Lord, in fact the bible says that, " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Ps 110.10)." Also, the wise, hangout  with others who are wise. Proverbs 13:20 says-"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."

Delve into God's Word and do your own study to  find out what the bible says about the following people types to analyze yourself and others to biblically help counsel and encourage people...

The Fool-

The Wicked-

The Simple-

The Scorner-

Conformed to His Image: Becoming Like Christ

Romans 8:29-"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

What is the goal of a Christian? Christ-likeness. Being like Christ is a life-long process and it is intentional.  In fact, true spiritual growth is not so much about doing as it is about "being"----being like Christ. God has not called us to be like Kanye West, Justin Beiber, or Jay Z. Our calling is much higher. God has predestined every believer to be conformed to the image of his Son and it is his desire for us to be like Christ. So how do I become like Christ? One of the first way's we become like Christ is knowing him. How can you be like a person if you don't know him? God as revealed himself in his Word. If you want to know Jesus and what he is like, read the bible. 

2 Corinthians 3:18-"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

The bible helps us transform to the image of Jesus. When we read and study the bible, we see Jesus and what he is like. As we continue to daily pray and ingest God's  Word and keep our gaze on Jesus, the Holy Spirit would transform us and make us more and more like Christ each day.

Are Miraculous Gifts for today? Signs, wonders, and tongues.

I am not trying to change anyone's belief or view's with this post but my intent for all who read this is that they would be challenged and encouraged to seek, study, and research the Bible diligently and fervently. Why? Because we cannot afford to be wrong.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12-" Now concerning spiritual gifts, I would not have you ignorant. "

Certainly, Spiritual gifts existed in the early church, and their is no historical, exegetical, or logical reason for supposing that they were not intended to exists so long as the church would endure on the earth. Although signs, wonders, miracles, and tongues may not be normative, they do exists.

Historical Reason(Church History): The Church for 1800 years believed in all the manifestations of the spiritual gifts. The Catholic and Orthodox Church believed in them for 1500 years. That is everyone from the Apostles, to the Apostles disciples, to the early church fathers, and to the reformers believed in them. It was B.B War-field who was a theologian from Princeton in his book "Counterfeit Miracles" who furnished most of the information and material later used by almost all those who are against the concept of spiritual gifts in the Christian church. He wrote this book in response to a movement which people were abusing the usage of spiritual Gifts. From this point and forward in Church History, the gifts of the Holy Spirit was seldom mentioned and when mentioned, it was negative.

Exegetical and Logical Reason: One of the Chief Objections to the gifts of the Holy Spirit being operative in the Christian church was and is still based on 1 Corinthians 13. They would use the text from 1 Corinthians 13:10 to support their position.
1 Corinthians 13:10-"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." The word perfect their means in the Greek complete. They say this verse refers not to the termination of the gifts at the second coming of Christ( which is the classical Interpretation) but instead, they say that the perfect means the completion of the New Testament Canon or Apostloic age. Consequently, they conclude that it is unnecessary for the gifts of the spirit to continue. This is a very weak assumption and speculation not supported by the language or the context of Chapter 13. Even though this is foreign to the greek in the context, B.B Warfeild popularized it and succeeded in sharing it.
Generally, scholarship has held " that which is perfect is come" to mean the second coming of Christ. The context of 1 Corinthians 13 is clarified in Verse 12. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, the Apostle Paul says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."
Verse 12 teaches that gifts will cease their full manifestation when we see " face to face" and when "we know even as also we are known." Contextually and grammatically  you can't separate this from the second coming of Christ. And the Parellel passage to 1 Corinthians 13:12 is 1 John 3:2-"Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

Now of Course there have been and still are abuses of spiritual gifts by some believers, even as there is neglect of these gifts by other believers.

References:
Martin, Walter. Essential Christianity: A Handbook of Basic Christian Doctrines. Ventura, CA: Regal, 1980. Print.

What is the Gospel?

1 Corinthians 15:3-5-"³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve."

The Greek word for gospel is evangelion and this word literally mean "good news." Their is no other truth that you can hear that will give you more hope and joy than knowing Jesus has conquered death, hell, grave, and judgement and that we sinners who was once fully deserved God's just wrath and who don't even deserve to be in God's presence can now be with Jesus forever. So then, why don't many people see this timeless glorious truth as being "good news?" One reason for this can be found in the bible and it is because Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers from seeing this truth. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4- "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Another reason the gospel is not good news to many is they refuse to believe the bad news of sin. The world has done everything in its power to just explain away sin and make light of it. For instance, adultery is now called just having an "affair." But the serious nature of every sin is why Jesus had to come and die. See, it was "Our" sins that nailed our Savior to that Cross and also laid him in that tomb.  But now he is risen from the grave and the Resurrection of Jesus is the receipt, evidence,stamp,  proof that our sins are paid for! This is the best news.

We are Saved by the Gospel-Rom 1:16

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Paul defines exactly for us what the Gospel is...

The text in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 gives us the most accurate explanations of what the gospel is. The very basis of the gospel is the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus which is all according to the Scriptures. In other words, Jesus death, burial, and Resurrection wasn't  an accident , but it was all planned by God in eternity past and it was all recorded down in his Holy Word years before the events ever even took place.

Godliness and Fearing God

Psalm 128:1-"Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in his ways."

In this text of Scripture, the Hebrew word for fear is "yare" and it  gives the idea of both a dread and also an idea of awe and reverence. In other words,mixing the two ideas, this text of scripture is saying, blessed is everyone who takes God seriously opposed to just taking him casually. If Jesus is who he said he was-God in human flesh- and if he did what he claimed to do- die for my sins on the Cross when I deserved to die and go to hell  because of my sins and if Jesus really did raise from the dead on the third day to give me eternal life, how can I ever take him casually?

1 Timothy 4:8-"For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

To define what is godliness let me first define what is ungodliness. Ungodliness is not necessarily committing gross sins such as murdering but it is simply living a life of ignoring God and living as though he doesn't even exists. On the contrary, godliness is to take God seriously and to live a life that is Christ-centered and to live a life that depends , honors, acknowledges God in every facet and area of your life. 

The areas of Godliness include fearing God, loving God, and desiring his presence. Christ has called each of his beloved Saints to walk on this hard road that leads to life. On this walk, we have to guard ourselves from falling into two extremes which we are all at times prone to fall into which are lawlessness or legalism.  The Christian life is a balanced life. Fearing God will keep us from the error of lawlessness and loving God will keep us from legalism.  Loving and fearing God would cause us to desire God more and more. Desiring God is the very heart beat of the Godly person.

Do you desire God?

God promises-"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

The great desire of the Apostles Paul's heart was "That I may know Him"