Tag Archives: Faith in Jesus

Standing in the Gap

Posted on by yolandaberry
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“I am the way, the truth and the life, nobody can get to heaven but through me.” John 14:6

 The divinity of the Lord is holy, pure, and righteous. He is omnipotent and all-knowing. We will never be able to grasp the full knowledge and understanding of his love and power. However, we can receive His love and power by His Spirit through faith.

Jesus was sent into the world to save the world not to condemn it, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17-21

You cannot work yourself into heaven. If that was the case, Jesus would not have been nailed to the cross. His death would have meant nothing if we just had to be good and do well (with the possibility to still go to heaven). Eternity is not a gamble. It should not be left to chance or luck.

Jesus carrying the cross

Jesus carried the weight of sin and He is the intersection between God and man. It is the T-junction between holiness and sin. Jesus came to stand in the gap to pay the debts of sin. He joined us together to reconcile us with the Lord.

Through His sacrifice, commitment and divine purpose to bear the burden for our sins, we receive the gift of salvation and eternal life. The infinite life that we receive by faith is an exact replica of the power of the resurrection: Dead to sin through the transformation of the Holy Spirit.

You must first accept Him as your Lord and Savior and repent for your sins. You will no longer want to please your flesh, but instead, please God. You will gain wisdom, discernment, spiritual consciousness, and awareness which is sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

The power of the Holy Spirit brings deliverance and real transformation in your life. If you’ve never experienced this before, you will need to develop trust, obedience, patience, and endurance. You will be molded and shaped through experiences. It’s not an overnight process. It happens gradually. It happens through the gentle touch of the Spirit of God.

Do not let shame, guilt, embarrassment or condemnation stand in the way of your choice. Do not let people influence your decision. You are ultimately responsible for your salvation. Your friends, family, and associates will not be there when you leave this world. You came into the world by yourself (with the help of your mother) and you will leave by yourself, so their opinions do not matter. When you experience a tug in your heart you should follow through in obedience.

girl looking in the mirror

“Do not quench the Holy Spirit.” I Thess 5:19

Jesus was the only man who was perfect. He suffered pain, humiliation, isolation, temptation persecution, and murder. He was innocent and blameless, yet He was accused and convicted. We will never be perfect, but we have dominion and authority and can walk just as Jesus did.

When you look to the cross, it demonstrates strength, endurance, courage, and victory. When you are aware of the power of Christ, nothing will be impossible to overcome. Luke 1:37, Mark 10:27

“I can do all things in Christ which strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

Those same characteristics are within you. “And God said, “Let us make man in our image; after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and overall the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:26-27

Cross

You must pick up your own cross in this life. Matt 16:24 No one can escape this process; no matter who you are.

Whatever is dead in your life, ask for the power of the Lord to breathe upon your life to resurrect all that is lifeless.

The word of God is life to your bones.  The word of God is spiritual food to keep you nourished and spiritually strong. It’s the meat and substance to uplift and empower you.

Jesus in tomb

“For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” I Thess 5:9-10

Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34.8

Self-Control: Crucifying the Flesh

Posted on by yolandaberry
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About three months ago, my friend asked me to blog about the subject, “Self Control.” I thought it was a great topic because I was planning on writing about each of the characteristics of the fruits of the spirit which is “Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.” (Gal 5:22)

I announced my idea for my next blog post to my twitter followers. Unfortunately, life got in the way even though I made many attempts to write. Then, I realized that I needed as much help in this area as my friend did.

As we begin a New Year, I am determined to continue any past goals from last year that was not accomplished, as well as set new goals for a new beginning.

Procrastination has always been an obstacle for me. I believe it falls under the same category as having self-control. It’s a combination of choices and decisions or lack of which leads us in a certain direction. We are accountable to our behavior and patterns. We may not have total control of our external environment, but we are responsible for ourselves and how we choose to deal with life circumstances and the path we choose.

When I think of all the wasted time, it frustrates and angers me, but I don’t believe in living in past regrets. Despite any circumstance, obstacle or situation that may block or hinder our paths, it’s important to move forward. You can change your present and future outcome with what you do today. Each minute of every day counts. So I sit here at my computer compelled to write my thoughts on self-control.

How do we gain control of our lives when things seem to be spinning out of control in the world? We are constantly influenced by the images and stories we hear through multiple streams of media communications. The power behind our decisions which is influenced by internal and external factors causes us to eventually reflect on our position in life.

“Those in Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust.” (Gal 5:24) which means to refrain our body and mind from lusts and pleasures from the world system and guard our eyes, ears and heart from negative influences that slowly affect the thoughts and behavior patterns which will eventually influence our words and actions and enter into our hearts. “For out of the heart, the abundance speaks.” In other words, what is buried in your heart eventually comes forth through the words that you speak. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corth 10:3-5)

Having control over our flesh is very challenging because we live in a physical world. We encounter many desires on a daily basis. People are dealing with many types of addictions: Drugs, alcohol, food, co-dependency, shopping, sports, sex, pornography, computers and cell phone usage along with many other addictions. These addictions are an attack from the enemy on your physical, mental, financial, emotional or psychological nature as well as your time. The devil comes to kill, steal and destroy, but God has come to give you life more abundantly. (John 10:10).

To gain control of our lives, we must know the power of God’s word, His promises and benefits to overcome the attacks, schemes and plots of Satan. We can’t blame everything on the enemy because we our responsible for our behavior. However, the root of temptation can influence our decisions and choices.

I recommend finding a support group or counseling, joining a Bible-based church, surrounding yourself with positive people, studying the Bible and most important developing a relationship with Jesus through daily prayer.

We must call those things that are not as though they were. Rom 4:17 Live by faith. Faith is developed by being faithful and obedient in God’s word. It’s trusting God and giving our burdens to Him. Faith is also a gift given by our Father. Each person receives a level of faith, but we must act. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1). Faith without works is dead. (James 2:20 )So we must continually put our faith into action.

As we start the New Year, let us be conscious of our thoughts and behavior so we can produce the right results in our lives and reap the rewards at the end of the year.

If you are dealing with serious addictions, I recommend you get wise counsel. There are many outreach programs, support groups or non-profit organizations that can assist you on the road to recovery.

Make each day count. Each day is a new beginning so take it one day at a time. It’s also not an accident that you came across this blog post. Please receive these words with love and begin to take one small step in the right direction. You will not regret it. God has great things in store for you.

Cheers to a new beginning!

Peace & love always,