Are you clean? Leviticus 10-12

Leviticus 11:47 (NASBStr)

to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.

There word in the above verse for "unclean" is the Hebrew word "tame."  It is uses 141 times in the Old Testament.   Of those 141 times it is used 71 times in the book of Leviticus.   The main emphasis of the book of Leviticus is to draw a distinction between the clean and the unclean.   That is the entire purpose of God's plan for the nation of Israel and us.   In the above verse it is clean and unclean in regard to the creatures they eat.  This is, of course, a necessity in a time when there was no refrigeration and meals were prepared daily.   There was no quick heating tools.   God was concerned about a couple of million people camping in the desert.   God made a rule to protect them from the diseases that could come upon them.   But, this is also a picture of God wanting us to be holy from the world and to be a picture of His character.  Once God made us righteous, through faith in His Son, He also wants to keep us holy.   God wants us to be the clean example of His holiness.   Although we are no longer under the obligation of the dietary laws of the nation of Israel, we are under the obligation to keep our lives free from "uncleanness."   We can rejoice that we can eat some of the animals that The Nation was not allowed to eat.   But, we can't, like them, forget our own cleanness in Christ and purity from the worlds philosophy and charms (Colossians 3:1-4).   

Do you know who you should admire? Philippians 1-2

Philippians 2:29-30 (NASBStr)

Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.

Who do you admire and why do you admire them?   The world admires athletes, Hollywood, politicians, soldiers, civil servants and people of wealth.   Not everyone in this list is bad or absent of something to admire.  However, this is NOT the criteria for admiration.  We ought to admire, according to Paul's words in the above passage, those who give their lives in service for the King; Jesus Christ.   Epahroditus, whom Paul is referring to in this section, is a man of God Paul is sending to the Philippian believers.   He sending Epahroditus because Timothy was unavailable.  Paul wanted to send Timothy but apparently Timothy was not able to go.     So, with that reasoning in mind, Paul is telling them and us to admire his second choice.  The Philippians were concerned about Epahroditus because he was sick and almost dead of the sickness.   Paul tells them that he is alive and why:  Because God has mercy on him.    Now Paul wants men everywhere to admire him and those like him.  We are to hold "such" men in high regard.   Those who give their lives in service for the cause of Christ ought to trump anyone else we admire in this life.   Giving our respect and submission to God's servants is pleasing to God.   There are plenty of men we can admire and should.  But, we are to hold in high regard the man who has giving their lives in sacrifice for the King.   

Do you try to serve two things at once? Luke 15-16

Luke 16:13 (NASBStr)

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

There are few notable principals that were taught by Christ that have been violated more than the above principal.   The concept that we "can't" serve two masters seems to have been ignored, or at least, neglected by most.  In the above passage we see Jesus referring to serving God and money.  But, the truth is applicable to any two masters in our lives.   What Jesus wants us to know is that God wants our undivided loyalty.  We can't expect to serve Him and worship Him when we have our eye on something else ... like money ... or, boats, or motorcycles, or jobs, or wives, or husbands.  If we want to worship one thing we can't worship another.  Worship is single minded.   You can't have duplicity in worship.    God wants us to love Him with ALL our hearts.   If we love one thing and have another on our mind we will grow to love the one and not the other.   If we worship money we will grow weary of attending church on Sunday because we can't work.   We will despise worship on Sunday if we would rather be out on the golf course.   You can't love one and the other totally.  

Do you that you have been afforded the opportunity to repent? Ezekiel 13-18

Ezekiel 18:31-32 (NASBStr)

Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

The people's view of God is often skewed by bad information and by unfortunate mis-truths that are passed around.   There are many who view God as a mean and angry God.   The see Him as vindictive and judgmental.    The above verse gives an interesting clarity to God's true character, however.   But, you can't read the above truth that God is merciful and wants people to live without fully reading this entire section.   Beginning in chapter thirteen we begin to read how wicked Israel is and how God IS going to judge them for their wickedness.   Chapter by chapter leading up to these two verses God declares that the false prophets, false leaders and the false doctrine being stated are going to be judged and corrected.    Yet, despite the judgment talked about for the past five chapters, Ezekiel gives us the above truth: God is not wanting anyone to die without His mercy and grace.   Note how Paul sums up this same truth in his great epistle to the Romans:

Romans 2:4 (NASBStr)

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

God, despite the truth that He is a just God and must practice justice, is also a loving God and He provides a way that men and women, despite their wickedness, can know His love and grace and mercy.  God wants man to come to repentance.  God designed a plan for all men to come to Him.   Those who repent will live.  Those who don't repent, die.   

Do you get the sense that it is okay to sin? Proverbs 7

Proverbs 7:20 (NASBStr)

He has taken a bag of money with him,

At the full moon he will come home.”

The world thinks that it can predict disasters to the extent that they believe their meager predictions can allow them preparation.  The above proverb really can't be studied alone, as it is connected with both the chapter and the proceeding proverb.  In chapter seven Solomon is using a narrative about a naive boy who is being seduced by a adulterous women.   The women has trapped the boy in the house and, to make sure they young man doesn't panic, tells the young man that her husband has gone on a journey so the naive one has nothing to worry about.  He has nothing to worry about until the full moon, that is!!   The women (who is a picture of folly in all of our lives) is telling the young man that he has freedom to do his own will until a certain date.  Folly always wants to assure us that we will be fine for this period of our activity.  It is not that folly is avoiding that danger is there and present.  Folly doesn't want to lie she only wants to deceive.   Folly will say we are safe for now ... we should take advantage while we can.  By creating this sense of danger it only heightens the emotion and the senses.  Folly wants us to have a sense of danger, but without allowing us to really see the danger.   The unbelieving world wants to predict danger and then live like hell until the danger comes closer.   This is a "here and now" mindset, rather than a mindset that looks to the future and sees that present circumstances can have future effects.   Folly would have us live "in the moment" rather than "consider the cost."   Wisdom says to look at future issues and consider the costs.  Pharaoh had plenty of warnings but still never thought the end would come.   Don't think that just because folly tells you "he (judgment day) has taken the bag of money and will come home on the full moon" that you are safe today.   You are not!!  Choose Wisdom and prepare.  

Do you know the God who works wonders? Psalm 75-77

Psalms 77:14 (NASBStr)

You are the God who works wonders;

You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

Aspah, in the above verse, reminds us of the power and wonder of God.  God is the one who "works" wonders.   God makes known His strength to us.   We might fear the circumstances of life, but God gives us examples of His great power that solicits our praise and reverence.   After penning this verse the writer goes on to give some examples of what he is referring to in regard to God's works.  He begins with the redemption of God of His people and ends with what we see in the sky during a powerful storm.   From redemption to creation God works His wonders.  From saving us from sin to supplying us with the rain for crops and sustenance, God is working His wonders.   When we face circumstances beyond our control this is the type of verse we should meditate upon.   In Philippians 4:8 we are told to think about things that are true and honorable and just and good.   Here is a great verse that could fill that description.  Rather than dwell on the pain, suffering and fears that face us we can dwell upon the God who satisfies our every need and quenches our every thirst with His great power and strength.  

Do you know the God of Elijah that you could call on Him for a wager? 1 Kings 18-22

1 Kings 18:23-24 (NASBStr)

Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “ That is a good idea.”

Elijah is a prophet of much power and much fame.  He was a man of God who, during this previous drought in the land (that he called for as a result of the nation's disobedience) he was provided in a miraculous way by God.   As God returns him to public ministry he has this past experience of God providing for him in a powerful manner.  He had seen the power of God used for him and through him.   This tends to embolden the man of God.   As a result of seeing God's work in his life, Elijah makes the above wager to the prophets of Baal and the King of Israel, Ahab.   He proposes a show down of God vs. god.   It should be noted that someone ought not to do this unless they have the experience of God in their lives.  Elijah has seen God's hand of power.  For Him to make this wager is not an issue.   When you know the power of God you are not afraid to call upon it.   It is when you don't know it or haven't see it that you should be careful to refrain from wagering it to your cause.   The disciples could not cast a demon out of someone because they didn't have the fith of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:14-22).    Simon wanted the power of God for his own good and not for the glorification of God (Acts 8), but he could not possess the power because he lacked the faith.   Elijah had his faith tested, tried and trued.  He was willing to put it all on the line for God because He knew the God that was on the line.   

Do you know what a Biblical response to seeing God's Glory looks like? Leviticus 7-9

Leviticus 9:24 (NASBStr)

Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

There are a number of places in God's Word where people or servants of God were able to see the visible glory of God.   Here, in the above text we have an entire nation who sees God's glory.  Their response was falling on their face!!  The same was true of Moses in the wilderness, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Paul in the New Testament.  Today's modern form of worship, often promoted by worship leaders, doesn't come close to soliciting this type of response.   Instead we use the modern, unbeliever's rock concert paradigm.  We seem to think that seeing God's glory in a place (the "feeling" of His presence) calls for shouting, jumping and the waving of limbs.   Yet, in Scripture we have no other picture of that type of response.  This is not to say that it is a wrong response.   Holy celebration has a time and a place.   But, to believe that this is the typical response when someone "feels" the presence of God is a narrative invented by us and not interpreted from Scripture.   If our worship services brought us into a face-to-face relationship with God we would have more of the Puritan poster - bent over and humbled before God.   The Reformation didn't come with shouts, arm waving and a mach-pit experience down front.    Seeing God brings us face-to-face with what we are.   We are depraved and God is holy.   That comparison can only carry one response: Humility and fear on t he part of the believer.   There is a time for celebration and excitement - just don't think that is the only way to worship or the Biblical response to seeing the Glory of God.  

Do you know what our exact purpose is on this earth as believers? Ephesians 4-6

Ephesians 4:11-12 (NASBStr)

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

God has an exact plan for making sure we are prepared for the work He sent us to do.  God sent us trainers to train us and equip us.   God sent apostles (who wrote the training manuals); He sent prophets (who warn us about the results of neglecting the manuals); He sent evangelist (who solicit new believers); and He sent pastor/teachers (who teach us the truths of the manuals).   All of this is for the purpose of "equipping" others to do the work of the ministry - which is the building up of the body.  Make no mistake: God has a Mission Statement for this organization (Build the Body) and He has a method established to make that happen (qualified training).   When we see this model employed by the church great things should happen.   Not only do we see the body built, but we see people fulfill their work in the ministry.   That doesn't have to take place in the walls of the church.  Our building of other believers takes place in many forms, but the work of building others is done by this formula in the church.   The officers of the church have been sent to equip the members of the church so that the members of the church can build up the body - that is our ministry.   The closest we can get to that in the life we live the more we glorify God and bring edification to others.   We have an exact purpose and an exact method to make the purpose work.   

Do you know what rule to follow to have peace and mercy in your life? Galatians 4-6

Galatians 6:14-16 (NASBStr)

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.`

How we live our lives before God and the World matters to Giod.   The believers in the area of Galatia were tempted, after coming to Christ in faith, to try to complete their righteousness by doing "some parts" of the law; namely circumcision.   Paul has spent the entire book trying to correct that belief and let them know that WE DON'T complete the process at all.   The process of sanctifying us began in eternity and ends in the glorification of our bodies.  There is NO part we play in it.   We simply believe by faith that God will perfect us and allow His Spirit to work in us by guiding, correcting, empowering, producing the fruit of the Spirit in our bodies.   In the above passage we see what could be the summary statement of the entire book.   Paul tells us that our relationship with God and our relationship with the world has nothing to do with what WE DO!!   He is writing to believers.   He is telling us that if we want genuine peace and mercy in our lives that is for those who walk according the rule of faith.    He calls faith a rule as a way of saying this is the only rule we should try to follow .. no rule at all ... simply by faith.   They wanted to follow the "rules" of the law.   God wanted them, and us, to follow the rule of faith.  

Do you know the cost of believing? Luke 13-14

Luke 14:25-27 (NASBStr)

Discipleship Tested

 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “ If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

We live in an era of easy believism.   It began years ago and continues today.   The gospel has been dumbed down for people to think and believe if they confess knowledge of Christ's work they are free from sin and can go on in their lives doing as they pleased.    There were many disciples in Jesus day who thought the same thing.   They thought that simply knowing Jesus and showing up once in awhile to hear him teach would suffice.   In the above passage we have Jesus thoughts on those who would follow Him.  It takes a full commitment!!   Some believe and teach there are different stages of Christianity: One for one and another stage for another.   There are some who think you have believers, followers/disciples, and full-time ministry believers.   Jesus didn't make a distinction in stages.   Every believer, to follow Christ, must consider the cost and the cost is large.   We quit worshipping everything else and we start worshipping those around us and the things around us.   Jesus gives some illustrations of this principle following these verses and let's those listening to Him that is quite natural to 'count the cost" before we move forward.    Yet, there are many who do not do that.   They believe they can cast their lot in with Christ and not suffer persecution.   They believe they can cast their lot in with Christ and not suffer abandonment or ostracism.  They believe they can cast their lot in with Christ and not lose anything in regard to personal possessions or property owndership.   Jesus is telling them you can join HIs family and stay part of another.  Jesus is telling them and us you can't be part of the Kingdom of God and still try to hold on and be a citizen of the world.    God has given us His Son freely.   The cost of that discipleship is that we are fully engaged with His Son.   He makes that possible by giving us His Spirit to fulfill these things in our lives.    We must, however, be fully committed to know the cost of following Jesus.  

Do you put a twig to the nose? Ezekiel 7-12

Ezekiel 8:16-17 (NASBStr)

Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty- five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.

In the middle of chapter 18 we see God use an expression in His conversation with Ezekiel that is somewhat unfamiliar to most.   God has taken Ezekiel to several places thus far in this chapter for the purpose of showing Ezekiel, and us, the wickedness of Judah and therefore the reason for God's judgment that was about to come.  God is taking Ezekiel on a tour of their depravity.   In this verse, in particular, God is pointing out that the nation has "turned their backs" to the temple and are, rather, worshipping the sun.   In Romans 1 Paul tells us that it is the depravity of man that makes him worship the created rather than the creator.   In this worship of the sun, the twenty-five men mentioned, would bow their faces to the ground; prostrated before the sun.   What God says was they would be putting the twig (on the ground) to their nose.   The is a pagan worship practice of places twigs from the ground between your eyes and the glare of the sun in the worship .... the twigs would act as a veil for the worshipper.   God's complaint here is that the nation had taken up practices of the world both in what they worshipped and how they worshipped.   There might be a duplicate message in the phrase, putting the twig to the nose, however.   The Hebrew word for nose is sometimes translated "anger" because when a person is angry his/her nose flares ... like snorting.   An additional meaning for our text could be that as they worshipped the sun and putting twigs to their nose in reverence for the sun, they were also putting a twig to God's nose and enticing His wrath.  God is not pleased with false worship and will always punish it.  We can't turn our backs on true worship (Spirit and truth) and expect God to ignore it.   We can't practice pagan ways to worship and not expect to flare the nostrils of God.  Our worship needs to be done in Spirit and in Truth through Christ.  We ought not worship the mirror, the shinning thing we own, the occupation we have or the bank account that occupation builds.   This flares the nose of God.  

Do you enjoy "reproofs for discipline" as a way of life? Proverbs 5-6

Proverbs 6:23

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life 

This proverb is a reminder to us about how to survive in life and how to find our way. It is important to see the "parrelellism" in this proverb. The first line and the second line are not saying the same thing. So, this is not a synonymous parrelellism. The second line further explains and developes the first line, so this is what is referred to as synthetic parrelellism. (For more on parrelellism scroll to the bottom of this page where four types of Hebrew parrelellism is described.) The second line here is telling us that our life journey (the road "way" is actually a Hebrew word that pictures a "road" or a "journey on a road") is one where we will encounter "reproofs for discipline" or perhaps another way to state it; we are all going to experience difficulties in our life that can produce correction and wisdom. However, the only way that is going to work is if we look at the content of the fist line; God's Word is a light that reveals the meanings and purpose of the reproofs and corrections. God gave us His Word so that we can use it as a light when the darkness of life troubles us and is there to prefect us and refine us. His commandments are those lights we need to see the meaning behind the dark reproofs of life.

Do you draw near to God? Psalm 72-74

Psalms 73:28 (NASBStr)

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Your works.

They have discovered why the Koala bear hugs trees.    They have found that when the Australian forest gets hot (it can get into the low one-hundred degree mark) the Koala hugs the tree because the tree is cooler.   The tree trunk can be 10-15 degrees cooler than the forest.   So, in hugging the tree the Koala is creating its own air conditioning system.   In the above verse we see that the solution to an intensely hot day and hot life, where the heat of life is about to consume us, is to hug closer to God.   The "nearness" of God is "my good" Aspah, the writer, tells us.    Psalm 73 might be one of the most relatable Psalms we know.   Here you have a man-of-God who is suddenly "envious" of the wicked.   We all have been there.  We see the unbeliever's life and wonder why we have followed Christ?  They seem to have a life of ease and have little to worry about.  Of course, this is not true ... we only sense it.   At the end of the Psalm Aspah is getting his perspective back together.    He starts to realize that they end is bitter and his belief in God the very essence of his life.   In the above verse he tells us that the nearness of God always amounts to good.   God is there for us to be our refuge.   As we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).   Being near to the one we love is of utmost importance.   Our sense of "refuge" in Him will allow us to tell of His works. Once Aspah had his perspective changed he no longer looked at the wicked in an envious manner, but rather saw that the telling of God works was his better end.   We ought to all have this metamorphous in our lives.  We need to quit looking at the wicked and their make-believe prosperity and we ought to draw near to God, make Him our refuge and then tell everyone the wonder of the works he has done for us.  

Would you stand up for God against your grandmother? 1 Kings 14-17

1 Kings 15:13 (NASBStr)

He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron.

Standing tall in a slouching world is something that comes with much pain and much difficulty.  At times, it will cause you to make a stand against some who are very close to you.  In the above passage we have an act of "cleaning house" by King Asa, King of Judah.   Asa was a good king and stood for God, despite those before him and those around him.  The kings in Israel, at the the time, were evil.   Asa own father had an evil reign as king.   We see, from the above verse, that even his grandmother, Maachah, was evil.  She had set up an Asherah; a wooden idol of a female god.    When King Asa began to clean house it must have been difficult to go into a place, set up by his grandmother, and "cut down her horrid image and burn it."   (Maacah is called Asa's "mother" in this verse, but she was probably his grandmother if you look at 1 Kings 15:1-2.   Maacah may have been the one who raised Asa, making this act of the King even more distinct.)   When we are asked by God to do something great for God we are not to consider those around us and the impact of family relationships.  We are simply to act for God and do right.   Family may not (often may not) understand.   King Asa had the desire to stand for God in a slouching world, even though it was his own relatives and loved-ones who were slouching.   Repentance and revival must start with those in leadership.   Asa could not expect Judah to follow him in Godly servanthood if he was going to allow his grandmother, the one who may have raised him, to live in idolatry.   God demands holiness at whatever cost it comes.  

Do you stink? Leviticus 5-8

Leviticus 8:28 (NASBStr)

Then Moses took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the Lord.

Throughout the passages in Leviticus that describe in detail the offerings made through and by the hands of Aaron and his sons, we have a wonderful phrase that the offerings were to be a "soothing aroma" to The Lord.   The picture we have is that God delights in our offering to Him our sacrifices and love via these methods.    In the New Testament this is carried forward by the requirement that we no longer offer bulls and goats and grain and flour, but we offer ourselves.  This is what gives God ultimate desires from His people.  Note the following:

Romans 12:1 (NASBStr)

 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NASBStr)

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?

God ultimately wanted the same thing from Aaron, his sons, and the nation of Israel.  The missed the point of the sacrifices and turned them into rituals.   God wanted the items to simply be a tangible picture of what was happening in the heart.    Yet, almost the entire nation turned it into a religious event rather than a God honoring and heart demonstrating event.   We can do the same thing with our church services and our services and ministry to each other.  We are to be a sweet aroma to God and to other believers.   

Did you know that you have a good work to do today and God created it before you were born? Ephesians 1-3

Ephesians 2:10 (NASBStr)

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Men love to do good things.   We rejoice in good works and we praise each other for them.   It is possible even for a non-believer to do a good work.  Yet, in doing the work it merits no favor for his/her salvation or toward God.   But, in the above verse we read that, for the believer, God has actually "created" good works.   God created them "before the foundation of the world."   Before this world even was the good work that a believer will do today was created by God.    God has laid out the path that we walk and He did so before the foundation of the world.  IF we do ANYTHING good, it was pre-ordained and created by God for us to do it.   God prepared them for us to "walk in the them."  It would be taught, by some, that this is our part in the Divine salvation.     Yet, Paul has just stated in verses eight and nine, that this salvation (which includes verse ten) is totally an act of faith and not of works, so no one can boast.   The believers day-to-day life is based upon the following and pursuing these good works BY FAITH.   We know that God has created them and ordained us to walk in them.  And, by the Spirit that is what we are to do.   With the Spirit's guidance we seek those good works to the glory of God, which He created and produces through us.  

Do you have a body full of light or full of darkness? Do you know why? Luke 11-12

Luke 11:34 (NASBStr)

The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

The "light of the body is the eye."  Jesus is using the eye as a metaphor of moral and character readiness.   He is telling us that when a person's eye is "clear" the body is full of light.   But, if the eye is not clear, than the body if full of darkness.   The Greek philosophy for the day in regard to the eye and Jesus' reference about the eye might have peeked the interest of the religious leaders listening to Jesus' teaching.    The eye was the source for all that the person would learn and become.   Those "in the dark" would be lost and had not source of knowledge since they could not behold anything.   Jesus us telling us that if we have a clear eye, we have light in the body.  However, Jesus uses the word "clear" here which can be translated singular.   His message to us is if we have an eye that is singular in nature and focused on the purpose, plan and glory of God we will have a body full of light.  But, if our eye is evil - meaning duplicity in approach ... our own interests before God's - we will have a body full of evil.   Earlier Jesus told us there is nothing hidden that won't be made known.   What we look at determines the light in the body.  Those who walk in darkness don't have to be blind.  The might, in fact, be able to see everything.   But, that is the reason they are in darkness.   God expects us to have our members (eyes, ears, tongue, personality, etc) submitted to Him and not slaves of unrighteousness (Romans 6).   When we have an eye for God and we keep our eye focused on pleasing God we will find our lives full of light.   

Do you know who gives you strength to serve and follow HIM and How He does that? Ezekiel 1-6

Ezekiel 2:2 (NASBStr)

As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.

In the beginning of the book of Ezekiel's prophecy we have him describe the vision he sees while standing by a river.   The description of the vision is speicific, and, yet, mysterious.   And although the image we get is nothing in our mind that we have ever seen, what the vision IS and WHO it represents is not a mystery.  At the end of the vision Ezekiel tells us the following:

Ezekiel 1:28 (NASBStr)

As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Whenever any man of God is describe in Scripture as coming face-to-face with God, the same thing happens each time: The fall on their feet in an unworthy manner.   The same holds true with Ezekiel.  Despite his position (he was a Priest) , when confronted with a vision of God he falls down in utter fear and awe.   It is immediately have this description of his actions that we have the above verse for today.   As he is bowing down we see the Spirit of God come along and pick him up.   The Spirit sets him up and begins to minister to him and in him and, finally, through him.   This is a great picture for us of the Spirit of God.   Prostrate before God, what do we do next?   We wait for God's Spirit to enable us and to strengthen us and to use us.   There are some who believe after we come to the fear and awe of God (typically described as "our" salvation) we then step forward and start to obey God.   We like that concept because it puts something in our power and our hand.  Yet, time after time we see the above picture.   Come to the knowledge of fear and awe and then wait in faith and allow the Spirit to enable you.   You might say this is OT and not NT, but that would not be the case.  Notice the disciples who were told to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit.   It is only after the Spirit came to them did the church begin to move.   Why people think they can sanctify themselves, is truly amazing.   God enables us.  He sets us on our feet and HE IS our sanctification (1 Corinthian 1:30)

Do you know the secret formula for life? Proverbs 4

In chapter four of Proverbs, Solomon is telling us that our diligent attention to God's Word is the key to the success we desire in our lives.  Note the following words used:

1. In verse one we are told to "heed" and "give attention."

2.  In verse two we are told "not to abandon".  

3. In verse four we are told to "hold fast" and "keep." 

4.  In verse five we are told to "acquire" and to "not forsake."  

Throughout the book we are told to acquire or retain this close attention to God's Word.   The faithful life of a believer is hard, but also an incredible easy formula for success.  We are to believe in God's Word, despite what we see or feel or hear.  We are to trust God's promises and precepts and success is ours.  Success, however, is defined by God not us.   The world has a formula and a system.  It promises success and it promises assurances.   But, those are fleeting and those are empty.   Only holding to and following God's Word is a guarantee for success.  The world entices us to fall into its shortcuts and immediate gratifications.    Look at the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.  Satan promised and attempted to trick Christ into doing something that God's Word would not allow.   There is a diminishing emphasis on reading and studying and memorizing God's Word today.   There is especially a loss of meditation on God's Word.  Yet, that is the formula outlined in chapter four and throughout the Scripture.  

Do you have a bucket list like Davids? Psalm 69-71

Psalms 71:18-21 (NASBStr)

And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,

Until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your power to all who are to come.

 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens,

You who have done great things;

O God, who is like You?

 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses

Will revive me again,

And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

 May You increase my greatness

And turn to comfort me.

David is reaching the end of his life.   As he does so there are certain aspects of his life he would like to reach.  This is David's bucket list.   Note the contents:

1.  In old age he doesn't want God to forsake him.   Earlier in this chapter (71) he recognizes how God has been his God since His youth.   Solomon, David's son will forsake God in his old age.  So, too, many others recorded in Scripture.   David knows his own heart, however.   He knows he, too, will forsake God, but he prays that God will not forsake him.  

2.  In old David wants to make sure that they younger generation knows the power and Person of God.   He wants them to know what great things God has done and the heights of God's righteousness.   We sometimes allow the younger generation to simply carve their own truth.  David has a desire in his old age to assure that the younger generation knows both the character of God and the power of God.   

3.  At the end of life David wants to make sure that even when he finds himself in trouble and distress (and that will come, even in old age) that God is his source of deliverance.   We can, as age captures us, start to rely on our own imagination and mischief and skill sets for deliverance.  Not so with David.  He wants to make sure that the Deliverer is the same one at old age as it was in his youth. 

4.  Finally, in his old age David recognizes it is God's hand that makes him great.   David's legacy is not in his contributions, not in his actions and not in his own power.   David recognizes that his greatness is in the hand of God.   We don't get greatness and increase our greatness without God being the one who is there to comfort us and to grow us.   Being great without comfort is stress.   Being comfortable without greatness is cuddling.   God makes us great and comforts us at the same time.  

This is David's bucket list.  What's yours? 

Do you know that God uses conflict to His end? 1 Kings 10-13

1 Kings 12:24 (NASBStr)

‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.

After Solomon's death we see his son, Rehoboam become king.   However, because of Solomon's sin with so many women and with their gods, God took the majority of the kingdom away from Rehoboam and gave it to the man Jeroboam.   This was the division of the kingdom into Israel AND Judah.   In the midst of this separation, Rehoboam wanted to keep the kingdom one and set out to fight and, hopefully, destroy Jeroboam.    This is were the above verse comes into the context.   God intervenes and tells Rehoboam that this separation was from Him and that Rehoboam need not try to fight Jeroboam.   The lesson here for us is hard.   It is hard that the God of Peace actually allows conflict as part of His plan.    Yet, this is what God did and does.  God uses the selfishness we have in us to ultimately accomplish His purpose.   God used the wickedness of a band of marauders to destroy Job's family and possessions to accomplish His end for Job.   God used the evilness in the hearts of religious leaders to have His Son crucified.   As we enter a conflict we need to recognize that God may be using it to accomplish a greater purpose.  We should seek peace and we should seek to restore peace (we are ministers of reconciliation).   However, we are also to recognize that the conflict might be from God for the purpose of discipline; or, to simply accomplish HIs greater plan.   

Did you know leaders give a different sacrifice for sin than a follower? Leviticus 1-4

Leviticus 4:22 (NASBStr)

‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,

Leviticus 4:27 (NASBStr)

‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,

God is not speaking to Moses from the Tent of the Meeting (the Tabernacle).   God is laying out for them the necessary sacrifices that the people need to make.  There is no question that the people will sin.   There is no doubt in their guilt in their sin.  There is only instruction on how the sin is atoned for.   God introduces for them "substitutionary atonement."   These animals and this grain was to become the sacrifice that would substitute for them and give God justice.   In the above two verses we have both a common theme and, yet, a distinct difference worth noting.   The common theme is obvious, anyone who sins, leadership or follower-ship, is required to offer a sacrifice for their guilt.  No one is exempt from the need of substitutionary atonement.   No one is guilt free.   The all "become guilty" before a holy God.    We sometimes think that God is asleep and does not notice our sin or sinning.   Yet, in this passage we see that He not only notices, He has a requirement for it.    Yet, that is the distinct difference.   If we were to go on and read further, note the type of sacrifice each are to offer:

Leviticus 4:23 (NASBStr)

(Speaking to the leaders): ... if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a male without defect.

Leviticus 4:28 (NASBStr)

(Speaking to the followers): ... if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed.

In one there is to be a "male" goat provided and in the other a "female" is provided.  It is generally thought that the male of the heard is more valuable, although the distinction could be argued.   However, it can't be denied God made a distinction in their offering because God makes a distinction in their position.  That is the only claim we have for sure.  Whether the male or female goat is more valuable is irrelevant.   The fact that God has a different sacrifice for each does impress on us that God holds leaders to different standards than He does followers, yet, we all are held to the same standard for sin.    Although we each are to offer a sacrifice for sin, leadership and follower-ship are held to a different standard of what type of sacrifice.   Perhaps the take-a-way here is what Jesus taught later in the Gospels that, "to whom much is given, much is required." (Luke 12:48 ... "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.").   God makes no distinction about sin and guilt.  He does, however, draw a difference of responsibility toward that sin.   IF we are in leadership we have a responsibility greater than the whole.   Yet, we are never above the whole and still required to pay for our sin.  

Do you think you can produce fruit? Galatians 4-6

Galatians 5:22-23 (NASBStr)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law.

The Galatians Christians were being taught or being tempted to produce works (such as circumcision) to "complete" their salvation.  Note the following:

Galatians 3:3 (NASBStr)

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

In the "fruit of the Spirit" verse we are told that it is the Spirit who produces anything good flowing from us.  There are those who believe it is our effort that produces these things.   IF there is any effort (work) it flows entirely from faith.  Note the following:

Galatians 5:6 (NASBStr)

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

The word used in Galatians 5:6 for "working" is "energeo" (English = Energy).   The energy we use that enables the fruit of the Spirit to be produced in our lives is fueled only by faith, not by our effort or energy.   The fruit listed above is the fruit "of the" Spirit.   We have all these things when we allow the Spirit to Walk in us and Work in us.  We shouldn't pray for "joy" or "patience" or "self-control" but we should pray that we would be walking in the Spirit.   When we do walk in the Spirit we have these things flowing from us.  WE don't produce them.  WE don't have self-control.  The Spirit produces them in us through faith in the finished work of Christ and His promise of the Spirit to work out our salvation as we believe.   

See John 7:37-39 (NASBStr)

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “ If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. ’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Christ promised the Holy Spirit to produce these things in us through the new nature.  We can't "perfect" our salvation by effort.  We can believe that the Son of God has given us the Spirit of God to produce energy to produce His Fruit in our lives.   Faith ... Period!

From WORD Biblical Commentary:  It is so, as well, with Paul's catalogue of "the fruit of the Spirit." For while we might have expected such items as alms- giving, evangelism, social service, care of the widows and orphans, etc. to appear in the list, Paul enumerates, rather, such items as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness," etc. Again, it appears that Paul is not so concerned with precisely how each of these matters works out in practice, but with the underlying orientation of self less and out going concern for others. For in commitment to God through Jesus Christ one discovers a new orientation for life- an orientation that reflects the selfless and outgoing love of God himself. It is not, as in Eastern philosophy, the denial of the ego or the created self. Rather, it is freedom from the contaminating effects of egoism and self- centeredness, with the result that now such virtues as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control" can be expressed in the Christian life in ways that are beneficial to others and that reflect God at work in the Christian's life, apart from one's own sinful egocentricity.

Do you know what is necessary in life? Luke 9-10

Luke 10:41-42 (NASBStr)

But the Lord answered and said to her, “ Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Do you know what is necessary in life?   The story of Martha vs. Mary is so compelling and instructive for today. Today's life, designed to be carefree and trouble free, is, instead, complicated, busy and taxing.    The very things that were created to free us from one thing, tie us to two.   We take time off from the hustle and bustle only to find ourselves creating more of the same.   In the above story Martha, to our knowledge, had no technology.  She had no electricity.  She had no comfortable "food channel" cooking gear.   She probably had a dirt floor home with a pot over a fire place.   She didn't have a couch but many, well-worn, rugs.    She didn't have a Cosco or Walmart to run to for buying in bulk.   And, she didn't have a normal guest.   This was not the neighbor next door.   It wasn't the king of the country, either.   It was the King of the Universe.   She knew it and she was not about to drop the ball on this.   Imagine the most important person you know coming to your house.   Think of the preparations you would make.  Before we are too hard on Martha we need to first empathize with her.    We are all Martha in many ways.    And, we all need Martha's lesson.   Note the Lord's words: "but only one thing is necessary."   The one thing that was necessary was placing herself under the teaching of The Lord.   The preparations had their time.   But, now it was time to stop and listen.   We see this often of those who "prepare" the services for others.   Church workers are so busy making everything right for others that they miss out on the faithful listening of the teaching going on within the service.   The word "necessary" is used almost 50 times in the N.T.   It is often translated "need".   Note how Paul uses it when writing to young Timothy about the responsibility of the Pastor to teach others how to minister:

Titus 3:14

Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

The believer can get so relaxed Paul has to write a letter to encourage them to get busy for God (Thessalonians).   They can get so busy they miss out on the teaching of the day (Timothy).   Remembering that the most pressing need is the submissive time we take to stop preparing and start listening.   When we stop feeding the soul the body can't do the other things that are necessary.  

Do you see God's faithfulness in the midst of turmoil and failure? Lamentations.

Lamentations 3:22-26 (NASBStr)

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

 For His compassions never fail.

 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the person who seeks Him.

 It is good that he waits silently

For the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentation, as an entire book, is properly named.  It is a lament of Jeremiah the prophet when he stops to gaze at the City of Jerusalem.  He sees the destructions, the death, the turmoil and he cries.  His emotion is exposed throughout the book.  There are constant descriptions of what was but is no more. There are numerous vivid terms of tumult and despair.   Jeremiah is looking across at what used to be a glistening lake and is not a stinky swam.   Yet, even in this swam is a lily pad of beauty.   Jeremiah has a spiritual eye, as well as the fleshly eye.   He sees with his flesh the destruction, but he sees with his spirit the hand of God.    Even though people are being taken captive, dying by the sword or starving because of the famine and/or being eaten by the beast of the field, Jeremiah writes the above verses in the midst of this storm.   Jeremiah boldly claims, "God is faithful!"    The God we serve, despite any circumstance that even HE might bring into our lives, is FAITHFUL!   One of the greatest songs of church history (Great is Thy Faithfulness) is composed out of this text.   Jeremiah is telling all those who read that though the night may be dark there is newness in the morning.   God will bless those who wait on Him and continue to believe in His promises, despite the surroundings they may be experiencing.   Daniel, his three Hebrew friends, Joseph, Paul and countless others are examples of people who held onto God's promises despite circumstances.  Jeremiah has a huge voice on this subject.  He was publicly and personally humiliated countless times.  Yet, he held tight to God and could, by experience, pen the above truth.   Great is God's Faithfulness.  

Do you know how to get peace? Proverbs 2-3

Proverbs 3:2 (NASBStr)

For length of days and years of life

And peace they will add to you.

The world is obsessed with keeping their days long and their years of life extended.    The rush off to work and hurry to stop at the fitness center to work off the stress that was induced by their hectic life at work.  The world might be good at extending the days of their life, but not as good at extending the quality of their life.   Note in the above proverb that when we do what Solomon tells us in the previous verse (obey God's commands) we not only have extended life we have enhanced life ... long days with much peace.   The world wants to keep rushing and scheduling and meeting and reaching for new quotas.  But, the more it reaches for peace through activity and productivity the more it fails to obtain it.   Peace is not found in activity or productivity but in obedience through faith in God's Word.    God promises peace through a walk with Him and for Him.   We don't get peace through activity, we get it through Justification.   Note the following:

Romans 5:1 (NASBStr)

 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

We have peace when and only when God justifies us through our Lord Jesus Christ.    The above proverb gives us the benefits of a life of faithful obedience to Christ.    The world cannot get peace without first being justified by Christ.   

Did you know God gives strength and power and we don't earn any of it? Psalm 66-68

Psalms 68:35 (NASBStr)

O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary.

The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people.

 Blessed be God!

There are some who think we live our Christian life in partnership with God.   They believe, falsely, that we add some effort to our own going process of salvation.   They might even say that even though we start in grace, we have to add some "effort" with grace.   In the above Psalm (obviously from the O.T.) we read that God gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!!   There is nothing in Scripture that teaches anything other than this thought:  God Gives Strength and Power ... we, in His grace, are only the conduits of it.   We don't ADD anything to God's Work in our life.  Grace can't have works.  It is either all grace or all works.  It is God's grace AT work in my life when I see victory.   If I overcome ANY sin in ANY measure it is TOTALLY God's grace. We can't sign praises to God for His grace and strength and then try to steal His glory by claiming we had some measure of partnership with Him.   This Psalm is all about God doing a great work.  There is not one breath of a hint that the nation of Israel had some partnership with God.  God redeemed them and then took completely care of them.  The only "part" they played was to believe in God and His abiding love and constant care ... and, that belief, was a gift.   God GIVES strength and power.     We don't earn it.  

Do you pray the promises of God? Would you stand on them even if faced with lions? 1 Kings 5-9

1 Kings 8:46-47 (NASBStr)

“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; if they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘ We have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly ’;

After Solomon had built the Temple in Jerusalem he had a large dedication service.   During that service a prayer was made and the above verses are taken from that prayer.   The Temple had taken seven years to build and God had already filled the place with His glory, thus indicating His blessing on the work.  Solomon prays that God would further extend His blessing via the work so that those who pray toward this Temple would be blessed for praying, not toward the stone, gold and wood, but toward the God who had now filled the place with His glory.  Solomon had previously, in this prayer, acknowledged that nothing on this earth could hold or contain God.   But, Solomon did want the place to be a constant reminder of the presence and power of God.    Solomon had requested that those who needed food, needed victory, needed power, could pray toward the temple and would know for surety that God would hear them and give them the desire of their hearts.   The above section is specifically IF anyone in the nation of Israel were taken captive.   Solomon wants even those in prison in a foreign land to be able to pray toward the Glory of God and be delivered by God.  The best example of this prayer actually being exercised is with Daniel when he was lead away and became the counselor to Nebuchadnezzar.  When the other wise man so that Daniel was a favored counselor to the king they plotted against him to have him destroyed.   Yet, because of Daniel's faithfulness there was nothing they could find fault with him ... until they noticed he would pray every day facing Jerusalem.   Daniel is eventually tossed into the Lion's den as a result of those prayers.  The above verse might have been the verse that Daniel hung his life onto as he opened the windows of his home each day and prayed toward the Temple.  God, in the next chapter, tells Solomon that He hears him and will grant his request.   So, Daniel believed, based upon God's promise, that such a prayer would bring blessing to his life.   Even in the lion's den and the hot breath of lions on his neck, Daniel believed the promises of God.   God's promises are true for any age.  We need to find them in God's word and hang onto them and live in light of them.  

Do you see yourself as the picture of today's tabernacle in the wilderness? Exodus 37-40

Exodus 40:38 (NASBStr)

For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

Imagine the Tabernacle being erected in the middle of the wilderness?   It must have been a sight in the middle of the desert to see the colors of the clothe and the shine of the gold.   The brass sockets would glimmer in the sunshine coming off the desert floor.   The clothe would flutter in the breeze.  Then, in spectacular form, the presence of God, the Glory of God, would fill the place.   All nations, round-about, would  behold the glory of The Lord and the beauty of His Tabernacle, made per God's design with God's people empowered by the Spirit of God.   This IS God's pattern.    God is the God of Beauty.  He puts together a patter for us to follow to make Himself attractive to the world as they see us carry out HIs love.  We can't love.  We are evil and full of envy and strife.   God is love and through us, through HIs Spirit, He produces Love in the wilderness of life.  Imagine if the world could see that.  The bright colors of joy.  The fragrant smell of peace.   The soft and gentle breeze of patients - longsuffering.    Imagine if the world could behold the genteelness and perseverance only made possible as a fruit of the Spirit.  God is constructing His tabernacle on this earth and it is us.   He is filling us with His glory, through the Holy Spirit, each day to make Himself attractive to the world.  Imagine what the world must think when, instead, they see the love ripped by the torrent winds of envy and strife.   Imagine what the world must think when instead of seeing the banner of joy flying over us they see the hot blistering winds of anger.    What does the world think when our gentleness is replaced with grumpy faces and frowned eye-brows?  We are God's tabernacle: Designed by God and filled with the Holy Spirit to be constructed by the skills we are given to use for God and by God.  

Are you trying to perfect your faith via works? Galatians 1-3

Galatians 2:20 - 3:5 (NASBStr)

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you:did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

There is much debate in the circles of the church today about the role of the believer in the doctrine of Sanctification.   There are those who believe we have no responsibility to obedience on one end of the argument and their are those who believe, like the Galatians, who believe we must add to our salvation by being circumcised, or fulfill other requirements of the Law.   Paul wanted the Galatians to know that God had given them salvation by grace THROUGH faith and that the finishing of their salvation was also THROUGH faith.   That does not mean we don't work.  But, the works we do are done by Christ through us by faith.   We still must obey but our ability to obey is based in Galatians 2:20, Christ working in us.  The life we NOW live we live Faith in the Son of God.  We have two natures.  One is corrupt and dead in trespasses and sin.  The other is given to us at our new birth in Christ and we live in it through the Spirit. It is this last nature that produces anything worthy of glorifying God.  We can't glorify God in our old nature.  We can only glorify God in our new nature and that nature is Christ living through us via the Spirit.   That is the point of these verses above.   Christ came to live in us via the Spirit and we can't complete the work He is doing us via works but faith that produces works.   We don't try harder to live the Christian life.  We believe in Christ to work in our lives to produce the fruit of the Spirit; which is everything we use to measure the Christian walk (love, joy, peace, patients, etc).   We can't begin in faith and perfect it in the flesh.   Our flesh is dead in sin (our old nature).   We have a new nature via the presence of the Spirit.