Daily Bread - October 29, 2019 (The Third Day - Genesis 1:9-13)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Tuesday, 29 October 2019 04:49

John 14:17 - He is the Spirit of Truth whom the world will not be able to receive because it neither sees him nor recognizes Him. You know Him because He remains beside you and shall be in you. The Holy Spirit, Who took the place of Jesus among the disciples and subsequently among the Church, came to dwell in them and also in all who will believe. This is the first time it is made very clear just how the disciples will be one with Jesus and the Father. Although Jesus had previously revealed to them that "they who are born of the Spirit are Spirit", it is now made much plainer by the fact that God the Holy Spirit will come to live on the inside of all who believe. John also communicated this fact later in his First Epistle when he revealed that Jesus dwells on the inside of the believer "by the Spirit which He has given unto us" (1 John 3:24). According to 1 John 3:24 it is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that results in our being one with Jesus. Subsequently, because we are one with Jesus, we are also one with the Father (John 14:23). This unspeakable gift and blessing comes to us through simple obedience to God's Word.

 

Daily Bread - October 28, 2019 (The Second Day - Genesis 1:6-8)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Monday, 28 October 2019 14:09

John 17:21 - So that all may be one, just as You are in Me Father, and I am in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the life of a person, the result is unity with the Lord Jesus and the Father. To think that through human effort and religious observance one could attain such unity is completely beyond the reality of this message. We are brought into unity with the Lord Jesus and Father through the new birth, which causes us to miraculously "be in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). At the heart of the revelation of God in the Old Testament, we understand that Yahweh God is One, "Hear, oh Israel, Yahweh your God, Yahweh is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The concept of unity is not restricted to these passages in John 17. In John 14 for example, Jesus promised that He and the Father would come and make Their dwelling in the believer.

 

Daily Bread - October 26, 2019 (The Seventh Day - Genesis 2:1-3)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Saturday, 26 October 2019 10:49

Ephesians 4:24 - And be endued with the new man which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Part 3 ~ God's New Creation: The New Man in Christ Jesus The new man, which is Christ Jesus living in us, has the nature of Jesus, the glory of Jesus, and the power and authority of Jesus (2 Peter 1:3-4; John 17:21-23, 16:12-14, 7:38-39; also: Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). Having newness of life and the image of Christ, we are empowered to walk as the sons of God (John 1:12; Romans 6:4, 8:16; Colossians 3:10). However, it is absolutely essential that we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths these great things God has done for us (Romans 10:10)! God created us anew in Christ Jesus and gave to us a new and pure heart, a new spirit, a purified soul and body, and made us His dwelling place - the temple of the Lord! There is no religious activity or belief that pleases God. All that is important to Him and accepted by Him are those who have been made a new creature, and who are willing to grow and mature in the life of a new man (Galatians 6:15; John 3:3-6; Colossians 2:6). Those who have been created anew in Christ Jesus have been made holy and acceptable to God by the same gift. His own hand has built for Himself a pure and holy dwelling place where His glory and majesty may be seen in the earthen vessels of those redeemed and created anew by One, Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10; Ezekiel 36:26-27; 1 Peter 1:22-23; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; and: 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16, 6:19; and: 2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:7, 6:16; also: Matthew 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 10:22).

 

Daily Bread - October 25, 2019 (The Sixth Day - Genesis 1:24-31)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Friday, 25 October 2019 15:58

Ephesians 4:24 - And be endued with the new man which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Part 2 ~ Believing God's Report About Us If these things of the Spirit are to be accomplished in our lives, then we must be willing to believe the report of the Lord and the record He has given of His Son (Isaiah 53:1; John 12:38; Romans 10:16). If we fail to believe, then it is impossible for us to receive and be equipped with the identity of Christ. We must be willing to think differently about ourselves and believe that we have been transfigured and renewed, washed and regenerated by the renewing of the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:10-11; Titus 3:5; Romans 12:1-2). Our Heavenly Father wants us to be convinced we are His children: begotten of Him, having been born of the Spirit. We have been born of the Spirit (John 3:5), born of the Word (1 Peter 1:23), and born of the resurrection (1 Peter 1:3). We find ourselves yielded to the Holy Spirit by believing what God has said, and by being confident in Him and who He has made us to be. It is through the Holy Spirit we are endued, and will continue to be endued with the glory and authority of Christ Jesus. Through the gift of salvation, we are empowered with a new identity. By the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, we are empowered to live the life of Christ (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 1:17).

 

Daily Bread - October 24, 2019 (The Fifth Day - Genesis 1:20-23)

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Thursday, 24 October 2019 05:25

Ephesians 4:24 - And be endued with the new man which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Part 1 ~ The Honor and Privilege of Being Endued with Christ The new man is in the likeness and nature of Jesus Christ, as established in Romans 13:14, "Be endued with the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to do its desires." The Epistle to the Ephesians repeatedly speaks of our life "in Christ Jesus," which is referred to thirteen times in chapter one alone. A corollary verse is found in Colossians 3:10, which says we are "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created [us]." God created all things by Christ Jesus, and has also made this new creation by Him. This is compatible with the the call of God for the saint to mature into all the fullness Christ and to grow up into Him in all things (Ephesians 4:13, 15). What an honor and privilege God has given to us that we may be clothed with the same majesty, splendor, and authority of His only begotten Son. We have been entrusted by God to be endued with Christ that we might live His life. It is the life of Christ Jesus that is the light unto the world. Let the world see the glory of the only begotten Son alive and living in you (Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Philippians 1:21; Ephesians 3:18-19; Galatians 3:27; and Romans 13:14).