GIVE YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION TO ACCOMPLISHING THOS
Sunday, May 12, 2002
5 Now He Who has fashioned us [preparing and making us fit] for this very thing is God, Who has given us the [Holy] Spirit guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise]. 6 So then, we are always full of good and hopeful and confident courage; we know that while we are at home in the body, we are abroad from the home with the Lord [that is promised us]. 7 For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.8 [Yes] we have confident and hopeful courage and are pleased rather to be away from home out of the body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth away from Him] or away from home [and with Him], we are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing]. 11 Therefore being conscious of fearing the Lord with respect and reverence, we seek to win people over [to persuade them]. But what sort of persons we are is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood by God, and I hope it is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood by your consciences [your inborn discernment]. 2 Corinthians 5:5-11 NIV
After the resurrection, God has promised to give us a glorified (heavenly) body. God is preparing us and making us ready for it right now and the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of that promise. We have the Holy Spirit on the inside now as a taste of that which is to come on the outside. Our spirit is born again – we need a new, redeemed body and mind – which we will get after the resurrection.
We have a home here on earth in our physical bodies and we have a home with God, in His presence. We cannot be two places at once – we are either on the earth or in heaven. We live here now and even though we have not seen our heavenly house, we believe that it exists and that we will go there when we leave this earthly house. We walk by faith, not by sight, concerning our heavenly dwelling place.
We are not afraid to die. Whether we live or die – we are His – we belong to Jesus. We are perfectly happy to live for Him down here, but we certainly look forward to going to be with Him for eternity. In fact, we long to be in His presence. Because of this, whether we are at home on earth away from Him or away from home on the earth and with Him, our one desire is to please Him and be acceptable to Him. In fact, we are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to Him.
We know that there will come a time when all of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be asked to give an account for what we have done and also what we have left undone. We will appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ. Nothing will be hidden from His sight. Each one of us will receive our pay (our reward) according to what we have done here on earth - in our bodies - whether good or evil. Jesus will take into consideration what our purpose and motive have been. He will look at what we have achieved. He will look at what we been busy with – what we gave our time and attention to accomplishing.
If we know that we will have to give an account for our life and that nothing will be hidden from God’s sight, then we would be wise to find out those things that please Him and do them. We would also be wise to find out those things that displease God and make sure that we do not do them. Because we are conscious of fearing the Lord with respect and reverence, we seek to win people over and to persuade them to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, because we know that this is pleasing to Him.
13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:13-15 NIV
20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NIV
The one thing that pleases God above all else and the thing that we need to do with all our heart is to share the Gospel with others and bring them into the wonderful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that we have enjoyed – so that they too can make their eternal home with their Father God in heavenly places.
Recent:
Righteous Now
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP
“Therefore if any man be in Christ…” What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” You are baptized into Christ when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The moment
Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the