Be as Shrewd as Snakes

Matthew 10:16
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

The comparison made here in the verse above is between the sinful nature of the Devil against the divine nature of Christ in us. The snake is a clear reference to the sinful nature of the Devil in us, whereas the divine nature of Christ is referred to as the dove. When we face the world which acts cunningly harmful like the wolf, we have to remind them that we too have the sinful nature of the Devil in us to overcome by putting it to death. Nothing they do out of the sinful nature of the Devil in them is alien to us. We too have the same misdeeds to overcome by the power of God the Holy Spirit sent as a Helper within us. We are on level 'playing-ground' actually. Nothing you do, that we don't know how to do it too, but, we have consciously chosen to put to death all the misdeeds of the sinful nature in us. In this way, God the Holy Spirit will help bring about the formation of the divine nature of Christ in us fully. We now have chosen to act from that nature of Christ. Though we act out of that nature of Christ which has been formed in us, we are still overcoming the sinful nature of the Devil in us, one by one. If it's not jealousy, greed, not lies, then all the other misdeeds, one at a time until we fully put them to death as we are convicted of those sins by the convictions God the Holy Spirit brings within us. Innocence comes from the divine nature of Christ in us. If we do not have the divine nature of Christ formed in us, how can we ever be innocent before The LORD. This is a message to the world that we know every 'game' they (the wolves) play utilizing fully the sinful nature of the Devil in them. We too can do the same, but we have chosen not to. Why, because obeying the urges, desires and passions of the sinful nature of the Devil in us, is a self destructive pathway, we have learnt this through experience and we no longer practice them. We have chosen to follow the leading and guidance of God the Holy Spirit to obey everything Christ had commanded. We now know that there is nothing else that would please God the Father, but full Christformation in us. If you choose to continue obeying the evil desires of the sinful nature of the Devil within you, we too know that whole deceptive and self-destructive 'game' you play but we detest them now.Don't try them on us. That's what the verse above warns us about. We have been given authority through Christ to trample on the sinful nature of the Devil and overcome all the power of the Devil in and around us. Don't ever think of messing with the power of Christ our Lord. There is no one in this whole universe as powerful as Him. That's the authority the Father in heaven has given Him. He has given us that same authority over the sinful nature of the Devil.

Luke 10:19
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

All Evil Unity Will Be Destroyed

Ephesians 4: 3-5
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

The unity to do evil will be destroyed on Earth. No one will be able to plot, plan and do evil together. If they still stubbornly do that, along the way they will be destroyed. It's the unity of evil against the unity of the Spirit. If you dare to go against the Spirit of the LORD, then you deserve what's inevitably coming your way. If you dare to blaspheme Him, then just be ready for what's coming for you! If you think that through your evil unity, you could accomplish anything, you'd be proven wrong in the end. You may think to yourself that, you have been successful with that evil unity thus far, but when the real time comes, you will know that you have failed. It's unity of evil against the unity of the Spirit. The unity of the Spirit knows no geographical, racial, cultural, financial and all other superficial boundaries but evil unity is bound by these human limitations. All evil unity will be destroyed in the end. From the evil times of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-11, the sinful nature of the Devil in man has been stirred towards evil unity but, it has failed. It back-fired with scatterings. The more you try to get united to do evil, the more will be the scattering. That's the curse of evil-unity. You will be destroyed without any return to evil unity. The False Prophet, the Antichrist(Beast) and the Dragon(the Devil) are trying their best to get united but the more they try, the more disunited they become. That's the curse of evil unity. Unity to do evil will be destroyed on Earth. It's like any pest on Earth, they boast of unity, but with some 'pest control' they are destroyed forever. We see such power of 'pest-control' by God Himself here below in this Bible passage. The kingdom of darkness is doomed to be disunited. It's the most disunited kingdom in the world. The more they try to get united, the fighting becomes worse. All human effort that is evil will fail miserably. That's the curse of choosing to be evil or stubbornly obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in you. It will back-fire some-day! Advocates of Greed will be destroyed, so will the advocates of indulgence. They try to stay together to legitimize greed, in order to be able to indulge without limits, but they will come to a drastic end too. No matter what they try, they will fail miserably. That's the curse of being a slave of the sinful nature of the Devil in you! Read here below!

Revelation 16:13-21
Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon,out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. "Behold, I come like a thief ! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."  Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.  The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!"  Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.  The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.  Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.  From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

The Practices and the Teachings of the Nicolaitians

Revelation 2:6
But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Their lives showed that  it was okay to live obeying the urges, desires and passions of the sinful nature of the Devil in them while publicly confessing their faith in Christ. How things have not changed a wee bit, today? On top of that, they make doctrines out of their evil practices. They teach others that it is alright to be greedy, covetous, lustful, boastful, hateful, violent, cruel, indulgent and so forth, while still professing to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They not only bravely practice them but they make their own doctrines out of what they practice. This is evil in the sight of the LORD. Age old practice but given a new face and a more deceiving appearance. Many have fallen into this, some even knowingly while others ignorantly. What's the biblical remedy for this particular disease? Turn them back to the LORD! How do you do that when they have enjoyed obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them? It's going to be hard turning them back from their sinful indulgence but we have to make every effort towards it. You are not doing this on your own strength. The Lord Jesus Christ also hates what you hate in them. God the Father and the Holy Spirit too. So, you are not alone in this battle. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ is God's appointed Shepherd of God's flock. It's not your flock or mine, it's His. We need to align ourselves behind Him and not the other way. He will lead us to victory when we do that. But, it depends on what type of victory your thoughts are filled with. If your mind isn't transformed into the mind of Christ as it should have by now, then you will be dreaming of worldly victory, like many still do till this day. They cannot think of victory beyond the things of the world. That's the evil power of indulgence through the sinful nature of the Devil in them. But for some, we can pull them out from this sinful bondage. Let's do it with His mercy that's already formed in us.

Jude 1: 22-23
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

The Way of Balaam

2 Peter 2:15
They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

The way of Balaam is the crooked way of living to please the urges, desires and passions of the sinful nature of the Devil within oneself. Why would someone love the wages of wickedness? What is the 'wages of wickedness'? Is it greed for more that will lead you into gross sinful living? You have to leave the straight way to do that. There are no two ways about it. What is the 'straight way' here referred to? The straight way is the way of righteousness in Christ. It's a life of continual formation of the divine nature of Christ in you. It's a way of obedience to everything Christ had commanded. Christformation does not occur without your obedience to Christ. He is the only Good and Great shepherd of your life. When you obey everything He has commanded, Christformation occurs within you. If you conduct your life in such a way where you only obey the urges of the sinful nature of the Devil within you, do not dream of any Christformation to occur within your born again spirit. You will only reap what you sow with your life. If you sow with obedience to everything Christ had commanded, then Christformation will occur. If not, you will be void of Christformation in your born again spirit. When this situation occurs, the sinful nature of the Devil in you will overtake you to your own destruction. If you have left the straight way of personal obedience to Christ, make a conscious about turn now and obey everything He has commanded for Christformation within you .Only then will transformation of your mind occur. God the Holy Spirit is the indispensable Helper that God the Father and His Son had sent for this eternal purpose. Have you tried listening to Him for once? Do not leave this straight way for any reason, especially in seeking the things of this world. Fix your eyes on the author and the perfecter of your faith and complete the race of full Christformation in you with His help. Do not be easily deceived by the world and go the way of worldliness. It's a sure pathway of eternal destruction.

Numbers 22: 28-35
Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"  Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."  The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.  Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."  Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back."  The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

The Perfect Jew is Formed in the Least of All Gentiles

Colossians 3:11
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect Jew. He is perfect in every way. There has never been anyone as perfect as Him, who had dwelt on this Earth. If you want to see a perfect Jew take a good look at Him. Take a good look at His divine nature that is pure.  No one has been or is as pure as Him. The least of all Gentiles is us, the authors and the two editors of the book Christformation In You. We are the least of all Gentiles of all times, since the creation of this Earth. Yet, He found us worthy of having His divine nature formed in us. This is how humble the perfect Jew is to us. He is so perfect in humbleness. We have not found anyone like Him on this Earth. It's worth just holding on to His legs and saying we will not leave that blessed place. He is truly the perfect Jew for us. We do not need to go searching for another Jew on this Earth when we have the divine nature of the perfect Jew formed in us. Do we need to waste our precious time looking for another inferior Jew on this Earth? He, the perfect Jew will draw us to those Jews who are His. He knows those who are His. No one else would know that. He is the one and only trustworthy Shepherd of God the Father's flock on Earth. There is only one flock of God, not two or three! In this eternal  flock of the LORD, everyone in it has the permanent circumcision of the sinful nature of the Devil in them. By the power of the Spirit of the LORD within them, they will have the full formation of the divine nature of Christ in their born again spirits to the pleasure and praise of God the Father through His beloved Son, eternally.

Romans 2: 28-29
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

Error in Terror

Deuteronomy 11: 25-28
No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.  See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse--  the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today;  the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

Do you notice that the word 'error' is found in the longer word 'terror'. There is certainly some error in terror. When terror comes, we know that there is some kind of error present. Disobedience to the LORD brings not only a curse but also terror. Remember the ten plagues! Whether we are objects of His mercies or wrath, we must obey the LORD's commands. Obedience to the LORD brings blessings from Him whereas, disobedience curses. God has set it that way. What's important is the fear of the LORD. If you have lost that fear of the LORD, we know what will happen next. Like Pharaoh, we must not think of fooling the LORD and His prophet. We do that deliberately, whenever we do not fear the LORD anymore. Pride and arrogance have gotten into our heads. We need to be humbled to know the truth about the things of God. We choose to live in error and that itself is terror. We should come out from every error of the sinful nature of the Devil in us. All errors proceed from that evil nature within us, if we do not put it to death on the cross of Christ made available for us through His death at Calvary. We can come to newness of life in Christ with Christformation in our born again spirit.  The whole divine nature of Christ can be formed in us gradually, only if we obey everything He had commanded.

2 Peter 3:17-18
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

My Servant Follows Me

John 12: 26
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

It's not that easy serving Him. If serving Him is easy, then you are not serving Him actually. Are you serving yourself? Are you serving the Devil? Are you serving the sinful nature of the Devil in you? If you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be where He is all the time. You have to follow Him obediently. He never promised a pathway strewn with flowers and a red carpet for you. He goes to places where no one would want to go. Will you go with Him? Will you follow Him faithfully. Will you complain on your way. Discipline is on that pathway. Are you willing to tread on that pathway till the end with Him? Have you taken a detour away from Him seeking a more comfortable life in this world? It's very easy leading a comfortable life, but it's harder following Christ our Lord, wherever He goes. The heavenly Father honors such a one, who is willing to go wherever the Lord goes. Are you led by the things of this world or by the Great Shepherd? If the Great Shepherd, you will have the divine nature of Christ formed in you. If the world, the sinful nature of the Devil would have matured in you. That would mean, you have made it as a full fledged servant of the Devil. Many disguise themselves to be the 'servants' of the LORD. This also He knows. We have only one trustworthy Shepherd and He knows who belongs to Him and is following Him till the end. He is no blind shepherd. He knows where He's going and He definitely knows who is following Him, wherever He goes. Stubbornness and rebellion in your heart towards the way He is leading you, will cause you to detour and seek your own comfort and pleasures that comes from the sinful nature of the Devil in you.

Hebrews 12:1-13
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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,  because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline),then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Change Your Ways Eternally

Jeremiah 7:4-12
Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!"  If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,  then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.  But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.  " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"--safe to do all these detestable things?  Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD. " 'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

The modern day Baal is a re-emergence of the old with many other new names.It is the same Baal, in disguise. Remember, it emerges from the same sinful nature of the Devil sowed into mankind through the first Adam and Eve. Baal corrupts. Baal defiles. Baal is detestable in the sight of the LORD. Don't be fooled, it's the age-old Baal you are facing today! Baal is the cause for all the sins in this world. Where is it headquartered now? What is blindly 'burning incense' to Baal? How else is the influence of Baal all over the world? Who is involved? Who is the 'big boss' for this? What is being defiled by Baal? Why you should never be defiled by it, if you truly belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? What are the consequences of being part of Baal? How detestable is Baal in the sight of the LORD? Why were the LORD's people, who bore the Name of the LORD, punished so severely in the Old Testament times? How will the punishment be today, if one 'burns incense' to Baal?  The answers are all there! The LORD has been watching you closely. He knows every move you make to pervert and corrupt this world against the LORD. He knows what you have been up to all this while. You can fool sinful men like you, but you can never fool the LORD. He has taken into account what you have been doing, though you have committed them secretly. You defile almost everything in this world. You defiled the justice of God. You have defiled the righteousness of Christ. You have defiled the Name of the LORD. You have no fear of the LORD at all. You keep saying that what you have been doing is right, when you know it is all wrong.You keep practicing evil stubbornly and rebelliously. You are hardened in your sins. Change your ways before you are destroyed, forever and ever!

Romans 1: 21-31
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

I Desire Mercy, not Sacrifice

Matthew 12; 1-8
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.  When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."  He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.  Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?  I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

God knows it, when your sacrifices don't mean anything to Him. He knows it when it is all a pretense only. It comes from those who have lost truth in themselves. They start behaving as though God 'begs' at their feet for their sacrifices. Here in the passage above, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying a different thing altogether. He says, what the LORD desires and what you desire is entirely different. You desire to show off through the 'sacrifices' you offer but that is not what He desires to see in you. That boasting of your sacrifices come from the sinful nature of the Devil in you. He says simply, I do not desire those acts of yours that you offer from the sinful nature of the Devil in you. The Devil might desire that from you, but not ME!  Whom are you serving, actually? Me or the Devil? I desire mercy, which is a vital part of my divine nature that is formed in you, through your personal obedience to Me. You see, I am a merciful God and you can never find that nature in the Devil that you serve. The Lord is commanding you  to be merciful like Him and not try to hide behind your own acts of sacrifices that He does not desire. People who offer sacrifices expect God to be on their side. No, He is on the side of those who have His divine nature, like mercy to be formed in them. Mercy gets formed in you through your obedience to Him, not through your show of piety to  others. What you perform on the outside might not be the same with what is found inside your heart. The divine nature of Christ must be formed in you, if you truly believe in Him. That's what He's saying here! Along the way, you will be tested to see if you have the mercy of the LORD formed in you. If you have the mercy of the LORD formed in you, you will have eternal life or else not.

Matthew 25: 41-43
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

You can lose eternal life just by not having Christformation in you. When you do not have Christformation in you, the divine nature of Christ which is made up of the mercy of the LORD will not be  evident  in you. You will be tested in every way to see, if you have Christ's divine nature formed in you. Do not just go around claiming that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must have His divine nature formed in you eternally. The many tests will tell, if you have His nature formed in you or not. What you deserve will not be judged by what you say alone, but by the outcome of the many tests to see if you truly have Christformation in you. We can fool sinful men, but we can never fool the LORD. Mercy is an important part of the divine nature of Christ and that must be formed in you. You get this formed in you, by obeying everything Christ had commanded. This will show through the many tests placed before you. Do you still have the sinful nature of the Devil in you that despises others, or the divine nature of Christ that shows the mercies of the LORD towards everyone? You will be tested thoroughly. Before men, you will be tested. They will appear before your very eyes with their many needs, what you do or how you react towards them will tell, whose nature you are made up of eternally. You will be tested for what you claim to be, and you may not even know that you have been tested. Remember ,in the Bible passage;above they asked; Lord. when did we see you hungry or thirsty or.......... You did not know that you have been tested to see, if you truly had Christformation in you.

Matthew 25: 44-46
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Christformation is the New Creation in You (500th Blog Post)

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

You are born again to be a new creation with full Christformation in you. This also involves your obedience to God the Holy Spirit. He leads and guides you towards full formation of the divine nature of Christ in you. You become a new creation of God through the formation of Christ's divine nature in your born again spirit. You are fully involved in this with the indispensable help of God the Holy Spirit who dwells in you now. You are to make every effort to obey everything Christ had commanded, only then will Christformation occur within your spirit. This will in turn transform your sinful mind into the mind of Christ. This Christformation in the born again spirit and the transformation of the mind into the mind of Christ will translate into your Christconformed and imperishable body at God's right hand. This imperishable body will clothe the born again spirit and the soul, which is the mind that has transformed into the mind of Christ. The Parable of the Sower is the reminder of the thirty, sixty and hundred fold obedience you choose to sow to everything Christ had commanded. The measure of your obedience will match the Christformation in your new spirit, transformed new mind in Christ and your new body conformed to be imperishable like Christ our Lord's body that was raised from the dead. It's a life of victory through Christ, made  to be like Him in every way!

2 Corinthians 5 :17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Many Will Return to Him

Hosea 6:1
"Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.

First acknowledge your sins to Him. Confess to Him your wayward and sinful living. Tell Him how you have been blindly influenced by the sinful nature of the Devil in you and others, all these years. Make a pledge to Him that you are not going to return to please the urges, desires and passions of the sinful nature of the Devil in you anymore. Never return to it. Be resolute. Trust in God the Holy Spirit  to overcome the sinful nature of the Devil in you. In this way, you will be able to put to death all the misdeeds of the evil and self-destructive nature of the Devil in you. Do not ever think you could fool the LORD with this.You can never fool Him by pretending to be obeying Him while still living according the urges of the sinful nature of the Devil in you. The divine nature of Christ will never be formed in you, if you do this. The one who will be deceived will be you. You will still be thrown into the lake of fire in the end. Do not take the things of the LORD lightly. Return to the LORD and never turn your back to Him again. Don't think of fooling Him! If you do, there will be more coming for you.

2 Timothy 2: 19
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

Give and it will be Given to You

Luke 6: 38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

What's the measure of your giving? Why is there a measure for your giving? This same measure of your giving, will be the measure of your receiving. Giving and receiving goes together. You cannot separate them. Your giving determines your receiving. If you are in the habit of receiving always but never giving, there will come a time when you will lose everything suddenly. It's receiving that makes you greedy, not giving. You always felt that you had the right to receive without giving. It doesn't work that way with the LORD. With the LORD, it's more blessed to give than to receive. It's a great test to give beyond what you have received. Can you really give beyond what you have received? Yes, it's possible! This is when your receiving runs over. Please, we are not talking of money here! Why do you always have to center your thoughts on money. Do you know that you have made 'Money' your God, whenever you equate this particular verse above with it? This verse isn't referring to "Money'. Can you for once just take your mind off 'Money' here? If it isn't referring to 'Money', what is it referring to then? It's your life! Your life is more precious than 'Money'. It's your life that you must give up for full Christformation. The perfect example of this is, the Lord Jesus Christ.  No one can give up his or her life like He did! Next, the twelve apostles, (minus Judas Iscariot while adding apostle Paul to the list) also followed suit to this kind of giving up and giving. They became like their Master, Teacher and Redeemer, in giving up their lives for making known Christ to everyone with the power of God the Holy Spirit in them. Today, we are witnessing bogus giving of some! Bogus people with bogus standards of giving. Have you really received anything from God? If you have, then why is your behavior so despicable and incorrigible? They 'give up' their lives just to 'receive' and boast that they have 'given' sacrificially. That earns them the right to 'receive' more, so they fight for their rights! If this is the measure you use, it will be measured to you in the same way, in time to come. Finally, it will be how much you have given up your life for full Christformation in you and not anything else. The more you give up pleasing the sinful nature of the Devil in you, the divine nature of Christ will be formed in an increasing manner within your born again spirit. Have you done just that?

Mark 4:24-25
"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

Anxiety Driven Life

Matthew 6: 25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?  "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

What has been driving your life? Were everything you did in the past driven by anxiety. You might have had a different word used to describe all the anxiety in your life. But God knows it. Let us warn you that anxiety will drive you to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in you, if you do not know it. Some know it, but its their own stubbornness and rebelliousness towards the LORD that makes them choose to live an anxiety driven life instead. The Lord Jesus had given us ample warnings about choosing an anxiety driven life, in the passage above. If you don't heed it, whose fault would it be? "For the pagans run after all these things". If you choose to follow the way of the pagan, whose fault would it be? You will fail like them? They seek these things like food, drink, clothes,first. That's an anxiety driven life. Why do you foolishly want to follow that too, if you say you belong to Christ our Lord? If you truly belong to Christ our Lord, you would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness! Did the Lord say in His promise above that, if you seek His kingdom and righteousness first, you will lack the things you need to sustain yourself. He is the One who sustains you-"and all these things will be given to you as well". He gives you these things, not you get them on your own. Don't you say a prayer of thanks to God before you eat your meals? Why do you say that prayer? To thank Him for what He has given you, a meal on the table. Do you take all that He has given you for granted? No, you should not! Do not lead an anxiety driven life. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying here. When you lead an anxiety driven life, you will fight and quarrel like the pagans. When you fight and quarrel, out of jealousy and greed for more, there will be anger,violence and murder.

Many things we do on Earth are driven by our own anxieties of life. Anxiety is dangerous. Anxiety drives you to steal, kill and destroy like the Devil. Anxiety leads you to war. Anxiety leads you to murder  or commit suicide. Anxiety leads you to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in you, if you do not know how to handle it. Anxiety is excessive worrying. Anxiety starts from your worrying. So follow what the Lord Jesus Christ said:"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own".  Do not follow what the pagans practice. They have nothing to live for, except for; food,drink,clothes and so forth. For you who belong to Christ our Lord, it's totally different here. We seek first the things of God and our needs on Earth will be met. That's His promise to us. He has never failed us with this promise all these years. He carried us through. Our needs were met somehow, as we sought first His kingdom and His righteousness. We never sought anything else. We never sought anyone else's kingdom that they are trying to build. We never sought their righteousness, even when they stood upside down and say, this is the righteousness of Christ. We knew there was something terribly missing with that kind of righteousness, one that is mixed with worldliness. We shunned every bit of it. We still do shun it. The apostle Paul was given these words below from the Lord to share with us about this.Let's see what he has to say about this.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The opposite of anxiety is the peace of God which transcends all understanding. The peace of God guards your hearts and mind from sinning. It guards you from turning to the sinful nature of the Devil in you. The peace of God is one vital part of the divine nature of Christ that must be formed in you. How does this get formed in you? Through your obedience to everything Christ had commanded. This peace  of God in Christ Jesus that is formed in you, makes you different from the rest. You don't worry the things  the pagans worry about. Your understanding of things around you will be different from the rest. They see turmoil but you still have that peace of God in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ showed us this peace of God with His life, while He was on Earth. We can see this to be very true in His life. Have you searched that out? Prayer does it! Thanksgiving will flow. You are always seeking all things from God and not from the world. You won't fight and quarrel with the world for everything you need. God is the one who provides you with what you need, not sinful men. The sinful nature of the Devil in you can give you food,drink and clothes but it cannot give these eternal things of God. In fact, it will drift you far away from God and the peace of God, when you turn to it for an answer. The sinful nature of the Devil in you isn't eternal. The sinful nature of the Devil in you instead, brings death! It brings eternal death when it's urges, desires and passions are continually or stubbornly obeyed. Rather, seek the peace of God that surpasses human understanding to be formed in you. This peace of God is formed in us as we come to Christ our Lord and obey Him fully. We will have that peace of God formed in us eternally. The divine nature of Christ is as different from the sinful nature of the Devil in you, as light is from darkness. Seek it with all your heart and mind!

Matthew 11: 25-30
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.  "All things have been committed to me by my Father.No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."