Changed by God

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...

Genesis 6:5

 

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The minute man touches something, he pollutes it with his own flesh.

 

Therefore in the Old Testament, God would not allow them to bring "hewn" stones into the tabernacle.

 

Exodus 20:26   God says:  And if thou wilt make ME an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

 

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So God said:

 

Ezekiel 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:

 

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In the New Testament church, the new covenant of God, we are "born again", changed by God, given a "new heart" and a "new spirit", which is different from the heart and spirit with which we were born onto this earth by our natural parents.

 

After God causes this change to happen in us, we no longer follow after those things of the flesh as we once did. Now we want to know things of God and we consider what God wants us to do.

 

We are a new creature:

 

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

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We were once flesh, following the impulses of our own flesh.  But now we also have the Spirit of God so we choose to follow that which is shown us by the Spirit of God, desiring to please God.

 

Galatians 5:19-21  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Think about the way you were before God changed you.  

 

Take the above list and circle those works of the flesh which you sought after before you were born again.

 

Consider how different you are now!

 

We don't all seek after each work of the flesh but we have tendencies toward doing certain fleshly things.

 

I never cared for drinking alcoholic drinks because I did not like the taste of the drinks.  But some people are very drawn toward such.

 

My interest was more in debating, striving, emulations.

 

I find the people and things I once enjoyed, I no longer enjoy.  God changed my heart and gave me a new Spirit, HIS Spirit.  After that, I wanted to know about God and I wanted to be with people of God.

 

Now I know things of this world mean nothing and all these things we can see with our natural eyes will be destroyed by God at the end of this world.

 

Matthew 24:1-2  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and HIS disciples came to HIM for to shew HIM the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Everything we now see with our eyes will be destroyed by God at the end of this present world.

 

Matthew 24:35  Jesus says:  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but MY words shall not pass away.

 

Now I know the only thing worth following is the Word from God which continues forever.

 

Some people worship historical objects, cultural objects.

 

Some focus on buildings created by man, wonders produced by man.

 

Some are impressed by intellect of man.

 

All these will pass away and are very temporary.

 

The Word of the Lord is forever, an investment worthy of giving all in order to follow that Word which God speaks to us.

 

We are greatly blessed when we understand this!

 

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After God gives us a new heart and a new Spirit, HIS Own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, we then begin to follow what HE says to us, doing HIS things.

 

And when we do that which God tells us to do by HIS Spirit, we end up producing the fruits of the Spirit by doing those things.

 

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:

This is totally different from that fleshly spirit which we once followed.

 

And we thank God continually that HE changed us from that person we once were!

 

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