Choose: Which Wisdom Should Form You?

James 3: 13-18
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness

From the garden of Eden it has been this way. You make the choice. It continues on till this day. Which of these two wisdoms should fill you? You make that choice and you face the consequences of your own choice. Whichever you choose, you will be filled with it. Think carefully, if you haven't made that choice yet. The choice is yours and yours alone! The One who is going to judge your choice is God and God alone! Be ready to answer Him when the time comes. Don't put the blame on others around you for your wrong choice. You shall face it before God, soon!

Do you realize that deeds done in humility comes from wisdom. Which wisdom, you may ask?  Notice the "but" after this sentence in the Bible passage above. This wisdom is heavenly wisdom. Christ is the wisdom of God. He is the heavenly Wisdom of God. Here, wisdom is person. So is devilish wisdom, it's a person too and it's the Devil.  If you do deeds done out of humility, you have the heavenly wisdom in you. Let me tell you, it is not easy doing deeds out of the humility in you. You cannot pretend to be humble. It is very difficult to pretend to be humble. Christ must be formed in you, in order for you to be humble. You cannot just put up a front of being humble. It won't work. It just won't work. Humility is only found in Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no other example of humility. He is truly the humble One. In fact, if you want to see true humility, take a good look into His life and learn from Him. Why not go one step further than that and obey everything He has commanded? Only then will this part of His divine nature be formed in you permanently. You can't make yourself humble temporarily. Just give up your pretence now! It feels very awkward being around you whenever you pretend to be humble. We feel like puking! Like vommiting blood, actually! It's so artificial like you have shamelessly used thick make-up to cover your ugliness, looking like a pale-faced ghost! Scary to think that you can be so artificial and unreal while shamelessly using His very holy and reverent name that is above every other name, all for your own selfish pursuits and gains.

Colossians 2: 18-23
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such people also go into great detail about what they have seen, and their unspiritual minds puff them up with idle notions. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.  Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:  "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Demolition of Evil Powers

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

As we always said, we are dealing with very stubborn and rebellious demons headed by the Devil, the Beasts and the False prophet. All these cannot be seen by our physical eyes but they are here. Their days are numbered on Earth, so now will be the time they will display all that they have got in them. Actually, they have got nothing in them of their own. They must seek the permission from God who created the Earth and the whole universe. They can't act on their own. The LORD allows them to display their sting and evil stint for a short period of time only. During this short period of time, they would seek to do much damage around. Remember, they are destructive beings. They won't quietly sit still until they themselves are destroyed. They are restless beings. That's their self destructive power for a short time only. They would carry out maximum spiritual damage, if possible.

Think of the many instances where destruction came that way in the past. In the book of Kings I & II and Samuel I & II, they are recorded in detail. Also in the books of the major and minor prophets of the Bible. Read them to know them. History repeats itself.

With a Demonstration of the Spirit's Power

1 Corinthians 2:1-5
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power

God the Holy Spirit brings and demonstrates God's power in and through you who believe, love and obey Him. Nothing done through human wisdom is lasting. But, the works of God through God the Holy Spirit lasts forever. What God says is demonstrated through His power. The fruit, the gifts and the works of God the Holy Spirit are demonstrations of God's power in and through you. This brings about God's everlasting Christformation in you. Your faith must rest on God's power in and through you. God the Holy Spirit is God's power that fills and overflows through you. He fills you with Christ's divine nature and brings all His eternal works to be fulfilled in and through you. He does one more great thing that no one else can do in your life. He helps you put to death all the misdeeds of the sinful nature of the Devil in you. No one else can do this in you. He is the One sent by the Father and His Christ to do this in you. He would need your complete obedience to all that Christ had commanded, which He will remind you of. Only a thirsty spirit and soul will obey Christ till the end.

John 7: 37-39
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Who can stand before the power of God's Spirit? Can any man or woman escape from eternal death, if he or she blasphemes God the Holy Spirit? Can any man or woman escape eternal punishment for adding or subtracting the truth of God's word which the Spirit of truth brings to us? Even if you claim that you are some sort of expert in interpretation of the Bible, if you add or subtract from God's word, then just be prepared. Messing with God's word is a serious sin before the LORD. What more, if you use it to lie your way through so that you can achieve what pleases your selfish desires and passions. You might justify your actions with sinful men like you and get away with it because they don't understand truth just like you don't, but not from God. You cannot escape from God!  He is waiting at the end of your way, when you exceed God's limit for your evil ways. For the moment, it is piling up! Go on doing what you are doing, until your time arrives with Him.

 

Stubborness and Rebellion towards the LORD

Jeremiah 5:21-31
Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD. "Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say to themselves, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.' Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. "Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like those who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people.  Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor. Should I not punish them for this?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?

When God calls out to you, you reject His call. When you call out to Him in trouble, will He hear you? When you have grown fat and sleek, your heart becomes proud. You do not want to heed His call to you. You continue on being evil without limits. You have no fear of Him. You continue on with your stubborn and rebellious ways. You speak and act arrogantly, especially against those are vulnerable to your attack. You show no mercy to those who are in need. You want everything for yourself only. The very people who should be speaking truth tell lies and they cheat. They stop seeking God and start acting out of their selfishness. They become self-seeking beasts. They don't seek God anymore. They do their self-will and the people under them like their self-seeking ways. What do you think God is going to do when you call out to Him, when you are in trouble. Turn away from you, like you turn away from Him now. Let's wait and see!

Proverbs 1: 24-33
But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke,  I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you--  when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.  "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,  since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.  Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,  they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.  For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;  but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

The Acts of the Sinful Nature are Obvious

Galatians 5: 19-25
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

As long as you wallow in the acts of the sinful nature of the Devil in you, there is going to be problems in this world. It's best that you put to death all the misdeeds of the evil nature in you. You must be freed from it's destructive power. We may think that it will be harmless, if we were to just leave it dormant inside. No, it will be very harmful to you and those around you all the time. You have to consciously deal with it. You have to consciously crucify it on the cross. How do you do that?

Watch closely at the passions and desires it brings into. When they arise in you, that's the time for you to crucify it on that cross of Christ. He died on the cross for us as a hope that we will die to that very destructive nature of the Devil in us. We must willingly do this. We must choose to put it to death, like Christ our Lord put His body to death for our sins. Now, all you got to do is, put to death all the misdeeds of that very nature in you willingly for good. God the Holy Spirit is in you to help you put to death, as you obey everything He reminds you about Christ our Lord  and everything He has commanded us to do. We must follow His leading, step by step towards  the death of the sinful nature of the Devil in us and the successful formation of the divine nature of Christ in us. Obedience to all that Christ had commanded us, will bring about full Christformation in us to the eternal glory of the Father in Heaven.

Mark 7: 21-23
For from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,  adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and defile you."

Doubting Thomas

John 20:24-29
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"  Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Don't be like the doubting Thomas above! He wouldn't believe the words of Jesus Christ our Lord that He would resurrect and come to life from death. It's something that He had told them earlier, before His death on the cross. He said "unless I see it, I won't believe it" We do not have to see it to believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord, King and Saviour. He is our Saviour, Lord and King and there is no other! Although we have not seen Him, we will have His fulness formed in us. Not everyone though! Only those who believe, love and obey Him will have His divine nature formed in them. Blessed are those who have not seen Him and yet believe, love and obey everything He has commanded till the end. Not those who turn away from Him and start obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them again, half-way through the journey. Only the called, chosen and faithful will have Christformation in them.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If you want to run the race of full Christformation in you, you must have the perseverance to "fix your eyes" on the pioneer(author) and perfecter of your faith. How do you "fix your eyes" on someone you haven't seen. Remember, He is the "pioneer and perfecter of your" what"? He is the pioneer and perfecter of your "faith". If you have already seen something, do you still need "faith" to believe in Him? No, if you have seen something, you don't need faith to believe on it. Just believe what you have seen. That's how it is, as you have seen it! But, here, we need "faith" because we have not seen Him. So, from the start to the finishing line of our "run", we need "faith" to believe, love and obey Him. We must persevere till the end that way and not seek short-cuts. There are no 'short-cuts' to this run. You have to run the full race trusting in Him. That's what "fixing your eyes on Him" means, i.e. trusting in your Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have only one Shepherd and there is only one flock. All must submit to that One Shepherd. He started the race for you by making it easy for you to come to God by sacrificing His life on the cross and now as you have believed in Him, you should love and obey Him till the end because He is the only One also who will perfect your faith in Him with full Christformation in you. You don't need to see Him, just obey what He had commanded and you will get there to see Him. If you do not obey what He had commanded, why do you need to see Him? Is it just to kill your curiosity? Typical of living by the sinful nature of the Devil in you!

Matthew 24:23-26
At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.  "So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.

Spiritual Diagnosis: Guilt- Killer No:1

John 16:7-15
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.  "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you."

The world is struggling with the guilt of their sins. Every action now seems to stem from guilt of their sins. This results in actions of fear, insecurity, feelings of worthlessness, suspicion, resentment, pride, arrogance, abusive behaviour, violence, war, trickeries, envy, jealousy, strife, factions, divisions, evil thoughts, revenge, retaliation, rivalry,slander, overly defensive attitude, hatred, bitterness, commiting more sins to cover up one sin, greed, covetousness and the list goes on and on. The world is heavy with the guilt of sins. Every actions stems from that guilt. You have no other choice, come to the Guiltless One! Don't go to the guilty ones! The Guiltless One is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has no sins in Him. He is making intercession so that these guilt of sins is removed from us. It starts with the conviction of the guilt of our sins by God the Holy Spirit. We need to turn to the Guiltless One. There is only one-Guiltless One. Come to Him to remove the guilt of all your sins. Don't continue obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in you and add more guilt in you. Deal with the guilt of your sins by obeying God's Spirit in you. He will show you the Guiltless One clearly to you. Don't go to the guilty ones for this, you will add more guilt to yourself. Come to Christ your Lord and admit your sin to Him and He will truly forgive you of all your sins. Again, don't go to the guilty ones and spoil your life further! Go directly to Him. Just call out to Him today! He will hear you and answer you from Heaven and you will be freed ffrom sinning, forever and ever!

1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Closet Prayer

Matthew 6: 5-7
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Hypocrites do pray too, all but, for a show only. They want temporary rewards from you not eternal rewards from God. Is it prayer or babbling? When you shut your door for no one else to see, God opens His door for everyone to see. So, do not worry. What the world considers open-is shut by God, what the world considers shut-is open by God! We are going to witness this soon!

Kingdom of Light against the Kingdom of Darkness

Genesis 3:15
 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

The "striking of the heel" and the "crushing of the head" hasn't stopped since then from the garden of Eden. It will be going on and on until the final day comes. It won't just suddenly happen on the last day where everything will be destroyed completely. It is going on now! Self-destruction takes place slowly but surely! You may try and apply all your tactics to stop this from happening, it won't work. The enmity is for real, not imagined. The Devil attacks the children of God who have Christ formed in them. There will be some with no Christformation in them but they will feel comfortable in this world. They have made themselves comfortable here. But, the strange thing is that they want to be comfortable like Lazarus there too as in Luke 16:19-31. How can this happen? How can the divine nature of Christ and the sinful nature of the Devil co-exist in God's new heaven and new earth? The very reason that Adam, Eve and the Devil were locked out of the garden of Eden from God's presence, is that the divine nature of Christ (which is also the divine nature of the heavenly Father) and the sinful nature of the Devil cannot grow or mature together. One must die! You make that choice now! Don't blame the Devil, blame yourself for being easily deceived like Eve in the garden of Eden. You are no different from her too. Our sincere and pure devotion must be to Christ our Saviour and Lord only. In this way, we please the heavenly Father.

2 Corinthians 11: 1-3
 I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
 

Greed for Power

Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

Greed for power over people comes from the sinful nature of the Devil in you. The Lord Jesus Christ never had this in Him. It's not found in His nature or the nature of God the Father. If they had, long long time ago we would have been conquered by Them. That was never their intention. He came to save us from this bondage to the Devil. From this evil slavery to the Devil. The Devil wants to be the king of this world which he did not create. He wants everyone to obey his sinful nature which was sown in them through Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. The Lord Jesus Christ came to set you free from the Devil's evil rule. Do you see men and women greedy for power and rule over others like this? They are everywhere. They  are only obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them.

When you see them obssessed with this greed, you know that they have been overcomed by this evil nature of the Devil in them. Everything they do is out of fear and insecurity that they will lose their power over man. What are they after? Your money, nothing else! Don't be deceived if they claim they are here to help you. No, they are here to help themselves with what they could benefit from you to the maximum. Be careful of these wolves. They are here to devour you.  Everything they do is out of their feelings of insecurity and fear if they will lose power over you. Like the Devil, they want to hold you in their grips to their own benefit. Be watchful! Do not be easily deceived. They will do anything to deceive you and keep you with them till they are destroyed with you.Very much like the Devil who is waiting to be annhilated soon. They have nowhere to go now. They have no one else to turn to so they have you. Watch out for these evil powers of greed and covetousness! They are out to leave you with nothing in the end!

 

You Can't Measure Christian Faith with Money

James 2:1-13
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the one who is poor, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"  have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?  But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

You can't measure faith in Christ with money. That's a another grave sin! You measure Christian faith with Christformation in you. Christformation does not occur in you without your obedience to all that Christ had commanded. When you start measuring faith in Christ with money, you do not need to obey everything Christ had commanded. Just pass on your money and you would have bought yourself a high-class ticket, maybe a first-class ticket to special attention and pampering. This is a very dangerous situation with God, with man it's alright but not with God. So, who are you serving, God or man. We mean, who is your master, God or money? You may not say it with words but in your actions you do serve your master- Money. It's the same! If you do this, be ready for what's coming next, you hypocrite!