THE REPENTANT SINNER ON THE CROSS WITH JESUS

The thought for today, and by the way my BIRTHDAY I am thankful I made it to my 52nd one!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this what I am dwelling on today :

“Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be—to be ‘pure in heart’ (Matt. 5:8), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach—He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.” The Doorway To The Kingdom by Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest.

When I read the words of JESUS it stirs something within me, I desire to be like Him , and so I then begin to try...............and then almost just as fast ,I realize I just can not do it! Try as I might I can't seem to be like JESUS, no matter how I desire to be! I think most of us fall in that category, at least I hope most of us do ! Shocking statement , isn't it? It  is probably one of the biggest hindrance's in THE WAY today, folks thinking that they can live and be just like JESUS, and try to force others to do so with all kinds of laws that they try to enforce whether in their homes and families, churches or in the Government, they impose all kinds of laws to make us conform to an IDEAL . And what does that accomplish? All kinds of Law breakers, that is what. We just can not do it no matter how hard we try......Look at our government laws , we know most of them at least are there so that we can live together in a society , and so that we can all get along.....we have laws for instance on regulating speed limits on our Highways, and we have signs posted all over the roads telling us that we can only reach a certain speed limit.........so what happens, many of us will try to comply, but we all know that sooner or later we are speeding down the highway 5 miles over , maybe 10 miles over, just sometimes when we think that we are not being observed........we can't even keep civil laws let alone laws laid down by our GOD. Thank  GOD for  JESUS ! for HE  is the only one who kept the laws in public, but then HE also kept his Fathers laws, in HIS heart............how many of us can do that?

Many religions speak favorably toward JESUS , they have no problems with HIM, they say HE was a good man, a good teacher, even go so far as to say HE  was a good prophet, and many will even say they believe what HE said ( at least some of what HE said) and even go so far as teach some of the stuff HE  said, and try to live HIS  morals. Just how many of these people accomplish this task? No, even they can't live like JESUS. If JESUS was just a man, I know that HE could not keep and do what HE says, but thank God HE was more than just a MAN because if HE wasn't  who HE says HE was, we are all lost in despair for there is no hope for us at all. Many today believe that the problems that exist in the world can be solved if we could all just get along, me too, but how do these folks believe we can accomplish this feat? We can't even keep a measly speed limit all the time let alone keep laws that are imposed so that we all can just get along.   The problems in the world can not be solved by science, for science has proved that for every scientific advance they discover, another problem arises because of it! Over and over again  it is demonstrated to the world that this is so. For every pill that is formulated to help a disease, it , the pill , causes something else, is this not so? Man is so pig headed, and so deceived in thinking that we, mankind can solve any problem that arises, when will we wake up to the fact that we are the problem? It is in our natures, in our most inward parts, we really are doomed to destroy ourselves , and the world if we can not wake up to our NEED. For the problem is nature , it has been passed down from our parents and theirs , from the source, ADAM, and in ADAM  we have been passed down a nature that is the cause of all our ills. The bible declares the in Adam we  all will die.................is this not all our fates? But HALLEUYAH! the answer to our fate is that in JESUS we will all  live!!!!!! How awesome is that!  In the Devotional  THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD , by Thomas Kissinger  , it speaks volumes on this topic:

O WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM

-Romans 7:18 gives us one of the most important revelations in the Bible. It states, … For I know that in me ( that is in my flesh, ) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not ...

-What a statement! What an honest confession! What a revelation! In fact, this is the revelation of all revelations! This revelation tops the list!

-Understanding this scripture is equivalent to the moment at which a pregnant mother’s water breaks, for then she knows that the baby is on its way and sure to be born. After we come to an understanding that in our flesh dwells no good thing, we are surely on our way to delivering and birthing the very Christ-life. We must know what we are up against. We must identify our enemy. It is US!!! It is our flesh, our carnal mind, and the sin nature that we inherited from Adam. We inherited a corrupt nature that continually comes short of the glory of God. Realizing that our carnal mind is the enemy of God is probably about 98% of the battle ( the other 2% being … realizing that God’s divine nature is our power source, and learning to partake of His divine nature ). Romans 8:6,7 states, … For to be carnally minded IS DEATH; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the CARNAL MIND IS ENMITY AGAINST GOD: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be … This revelation on the surface seems to be very discouraging and could leave us with no hope. It causes a person to say, ... O WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM! WHO SHALL DELIVER ME FROM THE BODY OF THIS DEATH? That is a good question that we must ask ourselves. We must then see ourselves as wretched outside of the life of God, but we are not left without hope. The apostle Paul said that we are to thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank Him for what?

-Romans 8:1,2 states, … There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, … vs. 2 … For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus HAS MADE ME FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH … We are to see ourselves as no longer under condemnation, IN CHRIST, walking after the Spirit, and FREE. Once you know the bad news, that there is no good thing in your flesh, you can have your eyes opened to the GOOD NEWS, which is IN CHRIST JESUS our Lord.

-REJOICE AND BE THANKFUL!-

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