Your Body is Preserved Blameless
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 WEB)
The title “God of peace” in Hebrew might be translated as “Yahweh shalom” whereby shalom means being whole and complete, not lacking or damaged in any way.
I love how the apostle Paul said that it is the God of peace Himself who will sanctify us completely in spirit, soul, and body. God is the faithful one who will do it.
This truth takes all the burden off our shoulders, and we can just rest in His ability and promise.
When your body is sanctified completely and preserved blameless, it means that it is free from the effects of death and curse in the world. Sanctify has this meaning: “to specially set apart from what is common, for a special purpose.”
It means that your body will be young, healthy, fit, and strong now, so that when our Lord returns, He will find it in a blameless state of shalom.
When you believe that God will do it, He will do it for you. If you believe the world that says everyone ages and dies, and sow their kind of death-producing words, that is the result you will reap.
Yahweh shalom will impart His shalom to make your body whole, complete, and not lacking or damaged in any way. Won’t you believe and confess it?
Declare with me: “The God of peace sanctifies my body completely, preserving my body blameless for Jesus’ return. As Jesus’ body is young, healthy, fit, strong, and full of shalom peace, so am I in this world. Amen!”
Instead of becoming older, let’s grow younger and younger together. Growing is when you receive life-giving power. Join me on a 31 days journey of exploring God’s youth renewal promises: https://bit.ly/younger-and-younger
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Turn “Need to” Into “Want to”
“Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5 WEB)
In life, many things happen to us, and how events affect us is how we view and attach meaning to them.
The apostle Paul had this revelation, and he taught the church to view suffering in a new light—to rejoice in suffering because it produces perseverance, proven character, and hope.
He knew how to reframe the undesirable things in life to become something that he wanted.
Suffering produces pain, but Paul reframed it to mean the training of his perseverance, character, and hope. Something bad became something precious and valuable.
We can apply this mindset to anything in life so that our trust is always in God and not in our self-efforts.
For example, if you see yourself putting on weight, your flesh may cause you to think, “I must go on a diet and exercise more so that I can lose weight.” This way of viewing the situation makes you reactive—on the defensive posture instead of wholeheartedly choosing to do something because you love it. When something is viewed as a burdensome chore, you will struggle with it.
Instead, why not detach your goal from the activity and just focus on the enjoyment of the beneficial action? You are not trying to exercise to lose weight—you are already young, healthy, slim, fit, and strong. Jesus paid for you to freely receive health and healing by faith.
When you exercise, there doesn’t have to be a goal. You can reframe your mindset and exercise just because you find it fun and enjoyable. “I like to run and feel my body challenging its limits. At the same time, I get time to enjoy the beautiful scenery that God has made, and listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to me.”
Wow, just like that, exercise without needing to gain anything from it becomes something desirable, just like the enjoyable activity of playing games for fun. Guess what, you will still reap the fitness benefits of exercise when you do it.
This method of refraining things is important because we don’t want to fall into the deception of getting things done by self-effort. Whatever is done by the flesh apart from God’s blessing has to be tiresomely maintained by the flesh.
If you’re struggling financially, and you’re always thinking, “I need to work so that I can earn money,” you’ll be perpetually stressed out, your performance at work will de-prove, and the self-reliance hinders God’s gracious provision and favor that must be received by faith.
No, you’re not working to earn money. You are a child of the wealthiest King of Heaven and earth—money is not something worth worrying about. You are always well-supplied and never lacking. God’s blessing makes you truly wealthy in all ways and He adds no sorrow nor trouble to it.
“Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” (Proverbs 10:22 WEB)
Instead of feeling forced to work, work because you enjoy it, and because the people you deal with at work will benefit greatly from having Jesus as Lord. You would love to show them His glory through your words and deeds. When you think this way, you detach the goal of earning money from the action of working, and it just becomes an activity that you enjoy and look forward to—it becomes something very meaningful that you can be passionate about.
When you do your best at work to shine brightly for God, to showcase Christ in you, you will still be paid, and very likely, your job performance will improve. The state of mind will change from one that’s dragging your feet to work, to one that runs in, excited to embark on the next task for Jesus’ sake so that more may glorify our Father in Heaven.
Many times, God’s word says “repent”, and I agree that we can change our mind about all the ways we think negatively. Reacting by the flesh, we will always try to compensate for some lacking area by doing hard work, choosing man’s way instead of God’s way. To see a positive transformation, all it takes is a little reframing according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to act like homeless orphans fending for themselves on the streets. We have a Father, and we are His beloved children. When your flesh tells you that you “need to” do something, reframe the whole thing by seeing it through Jesus’ finished work at the cross and what that sacrifice has accomplished for you. See how you can proactively “want to” do the task. Rest from fleshly self-efforts, and actively receive the supply of grace for every need!
Satan the serpent wants you to be stressed out, defeated, and distracted from the things of God so that you are no threat to his kingdom. Discover the powerful spiritual weapons you have been equipped with, and how to always emerge victorious in spiritual warfare: https://www.miltongoh.net/store/p25/Silencing_the_Serpent%3A_How_Christians_Can_Be_Victorious_in_Spiritual_Warfare.html
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Not Impressed by the Reputations of Men
“God had given me a clear revelation to go and confer with the other apostles concerning the message of grace I was preaching to the non-Jewish people. I spoke privately with those who were viewed as senior leaders of the church. I wanted to make certain that my labor and ministry for the Messiah had not been based on a false understanding of the gospel...Even the most honored and esteemed among the brothers were not able to add anything to my message. Who they are before men makes no difference to me, for God is not impressed by the reputations of men.” (Galatians 2:2, 6 TPT)
I love the apostle Paul’s mindset. He was not ‘starstruck’ by Peter, James, and John.
Whereas others would have been intimidated by the fame and reputation of the apostles in Jerusalem, Paul wasn’t.
He was led by God to go and meet them, and the only reason he wanted to speak with them was to confirm that he was preaching the correct Gospel.
Paul valued praise from God, not the praises of men.
If God is not impressed by the reputations of men, then as His children we shouldn’t be impressed too.
There is no need to feel intimidated when speaking to someone with a glorified title.
“When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him.” (Luke 14:1 WEB)
Jesus went to a party where the most respected Pharisees were, and He still spoke straightforwardly, without mincing His words. He was not afraid to speak the truth, even if it offended reputable men.
“He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”” (Luke 14:7-14 WEB)
Jesus’ words above are essentially meaning that the guests at the party were pretentious hypocrites, all trying to curry favor with the rich and famous. Think about how offensive these words would be to most people at the party.
We are a new creation in Christ in contrast to the children of Adam. We are the new and improved version 2.0. Children of Adam are transgressors, whereas children of God are royal priests and heirs of His estate.
Even the wealthiest unbeliever is only like a piece of firewood, due to be thrown in the unquenchable fires of Hell when he dies.
As for speaking to fellow believers, God’s word says that we are one in Christ and that titles don’t matter—we are all of equal standing. We are all saved by one Lord, born-again of the same Spirit, and none of us earned this salvation—it’s all by grace through faith.
“For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28 WEB)
Don’t get me wrong, Paul respected the office of apostle which Peter, James, and John held. These positions are given by God. Paul also teaches us to respect the governing bodies and submit to them for the Lord’s sake.
We should also respect our leaders in church for the sake of the offices that they hold since they are ordained by God. Give them proper honor for the sake of the office. Submit to those who have the authority over us, as this authority was given by God.
However, we don’t need to fear reputable men. You don’t have to shrink back, feeling like you are somehow less important, less worthy, or less loved. God loves you even as (as much as) He loves Jesus—that’s how important you are to Him!
If people abuse their office of authority and mistreat you, they themselves will be accountability for it before Jesus. Maybe their eternal rewards will be given to you instead, to restore you for the injustice.
“Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”” (John 19:11 WEB)
No one can harm you when God is protecting you. Men have no power of their own. Therefore, be bold and have confidence in Christ. Straighten your shoulders and back, and raise your chin up. Be set free from the fear of reputations of men!
I shared more about the time when Jesus went to that Pharisee’s party in my book “Messiah’s Miracles: The Power of Having Faith in Jesus Christ”. Did you know that He healed a man with dropsy there? There is a spectacular lesson in it. See God’s Grace and love towards you in all the 37 recorded miracles of Jesus Christ, and let faith arise for your own supernatural breakthroughs: https://bit.ly/messiahs-miracles
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