You are what you eat.  I think it’s crazy how many different kinds of diet plans there are.  People will do some crazy things and spend some crazy money to lose weight and get in shape, when all they really have to do is eat less and be active more.  Every ounce of fat on your body, got there through your mouth.  But so many of us don’t want our stomachs and tongues to go without.  We keep hoping the diet pills and foods that replace fat with corn syrup will somehow magically turn us into the people we see in the magazines who starve themselves and take steroids.   And we do that in spite of the glaring common sense that simply cutting back on portions and going for a walk instead of watching TV will make more real impact than all the fads put together.

There’s another common sense thing lots of people ignore and that’s the requirement of God that we live holy lives by his power.  We are called by God to turn away from selfish desires and not be controlled by a hunger for immorality.  We are to be controlled by God’s Spirit and live the way he commands.  Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross as an atonement for our old, rotten, sinful choices.  But his grace is not just a technicality.  His gruesome death ought to be a terrible reminder of how painful and destructive your sin was so that you stop doing it and walk away from your old life and live as a new creation.  Christians aren’t called saints in the Bible just for fun.  We get that title for living righteous lives by the power of God’s Spirit.

So…whichever way you are living reveals what you truly believe.  You can make any claim you want about what you believe or don’t believe, but your real life choices you make (including the choices you make behind closed doors and in your own mind) expose the truth of what you have faith in.  If your faith is in the world, you will live life the way the world tells you to.  But if your faith is in God, you will actually do what he tells you and live life his way.  And if you say one thing and do another, you’re simply a hypocrite.

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There are people who think they can talk to the dead.  There are people who think they can leave their bodies and enter the spirit world on demand.  There are people who think they can access spirits of various kinds.  Some people even think they can control these spirits.  Just about everybody I can think of—even some atheists—want to know more about the spiritual side of life.  So what does it mean to have a spirit, to live by the spirit, to be spiritual?

It’s probably smart for all Christians to understand, because it’s how we are called to live.  After all, God himself is spirit…

John 4:24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

And you and I, underneath this coating of skin and bones, we are spirit.

Romans 8:16 For his Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit and tells us that we are God’s children.

What a wild thought!  Have you ever really stopped to consider what that means?  That you have a spirit—that you ultimately are spirit.

I know it’s much easier to think of things in their physical sense.  That’s what we’re used to.  We breathe and walk and bleed when we are cut.  Our life is sustained by food and drink.  We exercise for better health.  We wear coats when we’re cold and shorts when it’s hot out.  We can get sick and worn out.  Understanding things as physical is second nature to us…or maybe it feels more like first nature to you.

But the truth is that the spiritual part of us is in a sense far more real than the physical.  Our physical bodies wear out over time.  They can develop sicknesses and sore spots.  They get old and eventually die.  After that they go right back to dust.  In fact, the bodies that we’re used to have to die for us to continue.  Like a seed that goes into the ground, we have to shed our outer shell in order to continue as spirit.

Now the average person might last a good 70 or 80 years these days.  And to you and I that can seem like a good long time.

But our spirits last a whole lot longer than that.  It might be difficult to comprehend, but even if we live well over 100 years, the time that our spirit goes on and on makes this physical life seem like the tiniest speck of insignificance.

1 Cor. 15:45-54 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.  What came first was the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.  Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.  Every human being has an earthly body just like Adam’s, but our heavenly bodies will be just like Christ’s.  Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the earth, so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven.

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever.

But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die.  For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.

When this happens—when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die—then at last the Scriptures will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

So we can grasp the basics of this concept.  It’s easy to say sure I’m a spirit.  But how do you really relate to that idea—that you exist in a realm of nonphysical.  Because when it comes down to it, it can be an amazing thing to really try to grasp.

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Sometimes people talk about God’s grace as if it’s something they can manipulate.  They think saying a prayer will force God to forgive them for whatever they do.  But no words can convince God to forgive an unrepentant person.  We don’t choose God and close a deal on a ticket to Heaven.  God also has to choose us.  If it weren’t for God’s grace we wouldn’t even be given the opportunity to seek his face.  And only those who truly repent  will be accepted by God.  It’s not about just being sorry or feeling bad or having an emotional experience.  It’s a practical change of mind that results in a practical change of behavior through the power and grace of God.  We aren’t forgiven of our past to get us a free trip to Heaven.  God grants forgiveness so that we can live new and holy lives that please God.  We are saved so that we can do good works and be righteous people.  It’s not some ethereal spiritual condition.  It’s a real way of life.

But some people think they can earn God’s grace, and that once they do they are better than everybody else.  In fact, some people think once they pray a particular prayer that they can use God’s grace like it’s a limitless get-out-of-Hell-free card and go on living a life full of sin and get away with it.  But the true Christian, who actually loves God, is not only changed by God’s grace, but in God’s grace they also choose to live a life of obedience to God.  We don’t change into different people when we die.  We simply change forms.  And if your heart is still enslaved by sin on Judgment Day you will be cast out.  But if your heart is pure, you will continue on the path you have already found in Christ.

Whadaya think of that?

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Remember that big government stimulus package that was supposed to save the economy last year?  And more people are losing their jobs (or still looking for jobs).  The stock market is at a 10 year low.  The economy still seems to be pretty unstimulated.  How are you dealing with that?  Has it affected your livelihood, your mood, your outlook on life?  It can be a pretty grim picture if you’re counting on government bureaucracy to fix things.  So what can you do?  Put your hope in something other than bad economics and leaders who don’t seem to be able to do basic arithmetic.  Trust in the Owner of the universe for the life-saving stimulus you need.

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The things you own can end up owning you.  And he who dies with the most toys is dead.

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Who doesn’t love free stuff?  God has a pretty cool free gift he’d like to give you.  Wanna hear about it?

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I have been noticing, with my first child getting ready to be born in like 6 weeks, that babies seem more real.  Have you ever had your perspective change because of something like that.  I mean I’ve just never really looked at a newborn baby and thought about what it was thinking as he tries to figure out what all these new sensations are and how this body he’s contained in reacts to his feelings.  But now that I can feel my own child move in my wife’s belly and see her grow, I can understand why parents love those wrinkly, noisy, helpless little creatures.  And I think I’m going to get an even better sense of how much God loves us.

I shared this talk at my old church a few years ago.  It was at 6:00 in the morning–YIKES that’s early!  But it was a good time.  My dad recorded a video of it and gave me a copy.  So I just thought it would be fun to share.  It’s split up into 4 parts.  Enjoy…

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PART 1 of 4

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Part 2 of 4

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Part 3 of 4

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Part 4 of 4

Jesus said “Those who obey me are the ones who love me.”  So, may your life start showing Jesus some real love that’s more than just flowery words and emotional drama.  For the love of God obey him. 🙂

What is the most valuable thing you own?  A car, a house, investments, something else?  How much have you spent on holding on to it, maintaining it, caring for it?  How long do you expect it to last? 10 years, 100, 1000?  Jesus once asked the question “What good is it if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul in the process?”  How much have you invested in your eternal life?  Does it come close to the time, money, and energy that you’ve spent on earthly stuff?  Do you have any treasure stored in heaven?  If not, now might be a good time to open an account with God.  So, what would you be willing to trade for an account in the Kingdom?  What if God told you it would cost you everything you have?

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Did you know that all Christians are supposed to be missionaries?  We might not all be called to travel to a foreign country, but Jesus did say to go into all the world and make disciples, to baptize them and teach them to obey everything that he taught.  And guess what?  Even if you’re not in some foreign country your still in the world somewhere—unless you’re an astronaut—though even in orbit there are people we can teach Christ’s commandments to.  No matter where you are, you are called to teach people to obey what Christ taught.  Maybe you’ve never thought about it before, but if you are not making disciples wherever you go, you are disobeying Jesus Christ.  And if you are disobeying Jesus Christ then that proves he is not your Lord and that you don’t love him.  Remember, he said “Those who obey my commands are the ones who love me.”  So if you don’t obey Jesus, and he is not your Lord, and you are not making disciples, then are you really a Christian?  Or are you simply mislabeling yourself?  James Chapter 2 makes it pretty clear that there’s a big difference between knowing God exists, and living a life that demonstrates your faith in him.  Even the demons “believe” in God and tremble.  So the question is, do you TRUST and OBEY God?   And inexperience or lack of education are both extremely lousy excuses, since all Christians are supposed to have the Holy Spirit living inside them and directing them.  After all, the only way you can get experience is by doing something.  Don’t you think it’s time you got started?

This talk is really just a short report on a building project we sent a team to help out with.  It was a trip in support of mission training and work, but all missionaries need support too.  So if you’re not ministering in a foreign country somewhere, be sure that you are helping to support that work with your money as well as sharing the Good News of Jesus yourself.  Just like the early disciples, we should be both spreading the Gospel AND financially supporting others who are making disciples around the world.

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