Gospel

Sisters Depend and Rely

by Ramona Cook 
12/19/15
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Sisters Depend and Rely

Like it or not, everyone, believer, or agnostic, or unbeliever, we all in very fact depend upon God for our existence and all that goes with that existence.  We do not have the option to choose to be, or to not be dependent...we just are, because that is the way it is.

"Rely" is another word, a sort of sister to "Depend," but it speaks to the individual's act of resting on the fact that we can depend on God to do what HE does; understanding, believing, that He is reliable, and trust-worthy to be relied upon to do what He says He will do.

We tend to think of our physical life as being separate from our spiritual life; that is a misnomer, because the truth is that we are spirit beings, and that is all the life we have: the world of touchable things, that are a part of our existence in daily life, and the world of UN-touchable things are so closely intertwined one with the other, that there is no demonstrable separation between us as a spirit being and us as a physical being, not while we are living in this "clay tent."

Paul addresses this fact in the statements he makes about "the things of this world," (the solid matter that we touch and see each day) will pass away, but the real life, the us, will live on forever.  II Corinthians 5: 1-10 NIV

Paul also says that this body of flesh, is a "tent," a house, a covering for our souls and spirits, the real us lives in this house of clay.  The house gets old and decays, but not the spirit and soul of man, that part is eternal.  II Corinthians 4: 16  NIV

"However," says Paul, "don't despair because when this clay tent is vacated, God has another heavenly "dwelling" in which we will live and continued to be covered.

I understand from all of Scripture that "spirits" do not like to be "naked," "uncovered."  So Paul tells us that we don't need to fret about that, if we are relying on God, if we are  trusting on Jesus to rescue us from a life forever uncovered.

Do you recall the pigs mentioned in the account of the Gadarene Demoniac?  Those demons, when Jesus commanded them to leave the man in which they had taken up dwelling, begged Jesus rather to allow them to enter the pigs.  They did not want to be cast out into the space with no physical tent in which to dwell.  Luke 8: 26-33

Our body, our tent, our house, in which we live as a spirit gives us contact with this world so that we can DO things.

Whether we choose to do good things with this body, or to do bad things with this body, is a choice we are given by God Himself; He will not twist our arm and make us do either right or wrong,  but He will one day hold us accountable for our choices.  Revelation 20: 11-13  NIV

Further, because we have both good spirits and bad spirits on this earth, in the atmosphere in which we live, we lay ourselves open to inviting into our house either the Good Spirit, or inviting into our house the evil spirits based on the choices we make.

That is what Jesus meant when He told us to follow Him on the Paths of Righteousness.  He always talked freely about the holy angels and the evil spirits and also about Heaven and Hell.

Just yesterday I was given information about a man I have known for over 20 years; he claims to be a believer in Jesus, he says he is trusting Jesus for his salvation.  For some reason, whether with understanding or without understanding or wisdom, he chooses to do things that are illegal and unwise, that is the consistent pattern of his life. Proverbs 11: 3  NIV

The man was recently in a terrible car wreck, so hard was the impact of the collision that the engine of his car was expelled from under the hood; he has three broken ribs and pins in one ankle.

His question to his father was, "Do you think God is trying to tell me something or do you think the devil is doing this to me?"

My answer is "Both."  Proverbs 13: 1 NIV

Certainly he knew that he was doing a wrong and illegal thing.  He chose to do it and thereby opened the door for the devil to assault him, but God protected the man's life in His mercy; " So yes, God is telling you something AND the devil is trying to kill you."

Jesus makes it crystal clear to us that the evil spirit world exists, BUT that He will protect us from it IF, we are walking on the Path of Right Living with Him, trusting in His blood as the devil's  defeat, and for our release from being under the power of evil spirits and sin.  Revelation 1:5b-6, Colossians 1: 21-23 NIV

God does NOT spread His blessing over the path of sinful behavior.  His MERCY and GRACE IS over that path, as with the man I know and spoke of above, but there will come a time when He revokes His mercy, IF we persist in doing wrong. Titus 2: 11-14  NIV

Is God ever happy to revoke His mercy?  Absolutely not! He went to great involvement to become a man like us, and then to die for us.  But He has given to us a free-will. John 3: 16-17  NIV

We are free to choose; we must not forget however, that we are held accountable to God for the choices we make.  There is nothing we can do to change that fact, so wisdom is to decide to do things the right way, the correct way, in God's definition of right.  I John 4: 13-16 NIV

We learn about what God thinks is right and wrong in the Bible.  If we don't know what God says about right and wrong, it is our duty to study the Bible and to learn what God wants and expects.  II Timothy 2: 15  NIV

II Corinthians 6:  1- 2  NIV

Ramona: 12/19/15