Thursday, 23 January 2014

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - THUSDAY - 23/1/2014 - NEW LIFE IN JESUS II BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE




NEW LIFE IN JESUS II

MEMORISE
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13

READ
Romans 6:12-13

Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

MESSAGE
As a born-again Christian, you need to understand and live by the nature of the new creature that you are. This is the key to your victory in this world. One character of your new nature is revealed in Galatians 5:25:

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts”

Once you belong to Jesus Christ by being born-again, your sinful nature has been crucified. Your nature no longer conforms to that which is controlled by the flesh because you are dead to the flesh. This is further clarified in Romans 8:9-10:

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

However it does not end there. Armed with this understanding of who you are, you have to conscientiously by faith enforce this victory over the flesh in your mind. 1 Peter 4:1 says:

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;”

This day-to-day battle of enforcement and resistance will be very “painful”. The flesh is not going to like your stance; but you must let it know that you are dead to it and it cannot rule you. As a matter of compulsion, make no provision for the flesh.

Apart from the flesh being crucified, another character of your new nature is that through Christ, the world is crucified to you and you are crucified to the world (Galatians 6:14). This implies that you are dead to the world. What does this mean? Before we were born-again, we had friends or relations whose company we used to enjoy, people whose opinions mattered a lot to us and influenced us to do lots of things we did not really want to do. Many a times some people are found smoking not because they enjoy smoking, but because they were worried about their friends’ uncomplimentary remarks about their abstinence from such habits. Therefore when their peers smoke, they join them to smoke even though they know that smoking will send them to their untimely death. However, once you are born-again, armed with the mindset that you are dead to the world, such opinions will no longer matter. It does not matter what they say, you are determined to follow Jesus. You will not perish with the world in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER POINT
Father, thank you for giving me a new life in Christ; please help me to live by this new life till I see you in glory.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

2 Timothy 1-4; 
Psalm 22:1-21

14 comments:

  1. Father, thank you for giving me a new life in christ, please help me to live by this new live till I see you in glory.

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  2. thank you Jesus

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  3. Heavenly father i thank you for the salvation of my soul, Help me Lord to deal with the flesh in Jesus Name....Amen.

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  4. Help me Father to live in the newness of life.

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  5. Heavenly father, thank you for given me a new life in christ Jesus, the old things have passed away & bestow your wisdom unto me to live in this new life, till I see you in glory, Amen.

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  6. Samuel michael abayomi-
    Father, thank you for giving me
    a new life in Christ; please help
    me to live by this new life till I
    see you in glory.

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  7. Lord I thank you for giving me a new life in christ, baba help me to live by this new life till I see you in glory in Jesus Name I pray. Amen

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  8. Lord help me to pleases you all the time instead of pleasing my flesh

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  9. Father, I thank you for giving me a new life, I will not perish with d world in Jesus' name. Amen

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  10. Thank you Lord for the gift of a new life. Empower me with evrything it takes to live by your word. In Jesus name. Amen!

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  11. Thank you heavenly father for ur word 2day elp me O LORD 2 live aa new life in u till i c u in glory lord.

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  12. Father, please help us to live a life that will glorify you in this world full of sins

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  13. Father, please help me to live d life that will give total glory to u regardless of the fact that we live in a world of sin

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