Christian Living

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What Are You Building On
Faith or Flesh

Jude 20
But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most Holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost

Ephesians 6:18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Matthews 26:41
Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.

Three Main Points Here:
1. God is the Sanctifier-for we are sanctified by God
2. Jesus saved us, so we are preserved in him
3. Called to prayer

As we look around today and see the falling away of the saints as well as the sinner, you can see and realize that God has poured out his mercy, peace and love over and over again in this world. The common Salvation is almost mute, gone. But are we earnestly contending for the faith. II Corinthians 5:2, we need to have faith to move from this house, this flesh to a new eternal home not made with hands. How are you building your house, on faith or flesh? No flesh will inherit the kingdom of Heaven because no flesh came from Heaven. Nothing will enter Heaven that did not leave there in the beginning.

According to tradition, Jude is the brother of Jesus. All of his brothers are listed in Matthew 13:55. Jude became a believer only after the resurrection according to John 7:5. His other brothers did not believe in him as well until the resurrection. In Acts 1:14 they continued in one accord in prayer and supplication with Mary. James became a leading figure in the early church. The time frame of the letter Jude wrote is around A.D. 70 or 80.

He wrote a warning against certain nominal Christians who threatened to undermine and destroy the fellowship of believers by their immoral character and conduct. He admonished us that we can be certain of God’s judgment if we follow the same path. In remembering the mercy of Christ, which is not to be taken advantage of, we are also to be merciful for who knows if we will save a soul. Also we are to look at ourselves and see where we lay today, among the real Christian or false Christian, Christian of faith, or one that is in the flesh. What are you building on?

We should be sanctified, not a denomination, but a lifestyle. We should be a clean, set apart vessel for God’s extensive use only. If you were willing and obedient, God will sanctify you. He will clean your vessel up and make you one of honor. You cannot do it in and of yourself because you are immortal flesh. God is the sanctifier, remembering Jesus asking him in St. John 17:17 to sanctify them through his word, thy word is truth. How can you be sanctified if the truth does not come?

We have been preserved in Jesus Christ. Jesus through his yielding to the cross brought salvation to all of us. We are saved only through the acceptance of his death and resurrection. In so doing Jesus experience the weakness of man through sinful flesh. Once when he left his disciples to go pray and they were to watch and pray, but he found them asleep. Then when Peter cut off the ear of the soldier that came to arrest him and he restored the man’s ear. Then his own weakness in the flesh was shown when he knelt to pray and asked God if it be possible to move this cup from him. Immediately he repented and said; nevertheless Father not my will but thy will be done.

We need to surrender some things, give up some things of the flesh in the way of sacrifice to God. We show God no mercy in our flesh, but we expect him always to show forth mercy in his spirit. What are you willing to give up for the Lord. Are you going to be just average, mediocre, or only hold on to the common salvation today or are you willing to go farther? Will your faith kick in and say; it’s time for a change or I like things the way that they are. Never doing nothing new, never producing any fruits that grow, but they stay stagnated and die. A tree with no fruits producing, God will soon pluck down. He does not like anything unfruitful, slothful and lazy. We are not operating out of faith by coming here week after week and do not produce any fruit. There must be growth and without any, we are stagnated. We have not been preserved to be unproductive, but to save lost souls just as Jesus saved us. Sheep begat sheep, the Shepherd leads the sheep once we go and bring in the sheep. We need to be about God’s business if we expect to grow. The way and state we are in, we have to watch and pray because Demons unaware has already crowded our space. The Devil has sent them and they are unruly, during every damnable thing they can to tear God down, Jesus the finished work of the cross and salvation. What are we doing? Do you see that someone is come in and taking our territory. Timing is very important to God. Our lapse attitudes and comfortable ways, laziness, busyness in the wrong things, has lapsed us into a state of sleep, we are comatose. What are you building on? How can you build anything asleep all the time or falling to sleep when you need to be awake? The flesh is ruling our your faith, and God need something to work with. He is only moved by our faith. Awake, we are attending more to the flesh than faith. We are preserved to save others, but we need to be provoked to get a push in our spirit, not by force or anger to love someone to righteousness.

We have been called to prayer. What is that? That’s a thing of the past. We are comfortable in our own houses and the house of God go lack. We are functioning with our senses, our eyes, what we see; our ears, what we hear; our nose, what we smell; our mouth, what we speak; and our hands, what we can touch or feel. In other words, flesh. Our senses rest in our head and if it hurts; we pray out of flesh rather than by the unction of the inner man, the Holy Spirit. When are we prompted to pray? And are we prompted to pray by the Holy Spirit or by the flesh? Jude says we should build up our faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Many of us do not have the Holy Ghost since we believed, some do not seek for it and the ones that has received it don not pray in it because they have been beguiled of the reward of it. They do not hold their head, the sense does. Thereby they hold the Spirit of God at bay and God does not increase in them. They are dead in Christ with the rudiments of this world. They are subject to ordinances but yet they touch things that they should not and it takes them away from God and his spirit is departed and they has not realized that the Spirit is dormant in them. They think that they are all right. They obey the commandments and doctrines of men, more than heed the call of God. God is calling us up higher to worship in humility and neglect the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Lose sight of the world function that you do not function beneath your privileges. The senses are put in our flesh for an earthly life but a house also for the Spirit of God.

The senses functions are:
The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor can the head say to the feet, I have no need of you. A lot to people say they do not need a Pastor, but God say how can you hear without one. He is your eye to God concerning your soul. He gets more licks in his eye because of the gifts given to him. The more gifts, the more temptations he is exposed to and the more grace is needed to keep him humble and spiritual. He will have more painful experiences and humbling dispensations. He will not glory in the fact that he can see what is going on in your life, or that you do not have the insight. The eye that you possess is to see the need for God in your life, where you need to use it in the body, do our duties in that place without murmuring or quarreling. We should also see how to help someone else succeed in what it is that they are doing for God’s glory. We should also see how dependent we are on each other so we can have more of the spirit of unity in our body. You eye will see the need for prayer for your nation, state, city, government, friends, neighbor, church, Pastors, and religious community. We need the fellowship of prayer. When we see the need, God will see your need. Paul called Saul has to lose his sight to see God. After one look at Jesus, he stop threatening and slaughtering the Lord’s people. Just one look in the right direction set him on a new course. We also can see Jesus for who he is when we see clear, for how can we be like him if we cannot see who we are suppose to be imitating.

Our ears are to hear the knock when Jesus comes knocking at the doors of our hearts. He wants to come in and sup with us and we with him. To heed the clarion call we have to listen to the voice and open up our hearts to receive. We have to hear the Pastor for he has the word of God concerning our lives. The Lord has been saying a lot, but we have not been listening. Our hearing has been dull, slow to understand, stagnant, indifferent, and inactive. God has much he wants to tell us, but we could not contain it now, because spiritually we are not ready. We are slow in our hearing, sluggish and even slothful in achieving spiritual insight. We are swift to hear fleshly things but slow concerning things that will build your faith. Being a ready listener is what God wants us to be, but our minds is in the flesh left corner field somewhere when we enter into his presence. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word, so of course we want grow in faith, we cannot hear or see. Our sense has gone on vacation.

Our smell sense regulated by the nose should catch a swell smelling savior up our nostrils, but instead there is a stink, a stench of rottenness has replaced the sweet perfume smell. We are serving gods that is created by the works of our hands and we cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell them. God can also see, hear, smell, speak and handle things, especially what comes out of our lives. He knows the evil of our hearts and it is not pleasing to him, but when we amend our ways, make the adjustments needed, then he smells a sweet aroma and will no longer curse us but bless. Isaac blessed Jacob because his raiment smelled like the field; which God had blessed. He said the scent of my son is as the odor of the field; which the Lord has blessed. Now because Isaac had one of his senses flawed, he was deceived but God is not. You cannot deceive God so do not try. When we sin, we obtain or get a distinguishable odor that tells God we have sinned. Many of us have brought waste to our homes and children because our unsavory offerings are not sweet to God’s nostrils. In other words we do our alms to God with the wrong intents. We seek to please man rather than God. This brings about a curse. When your nose is open to the spirit, you can smell things coming. You can smell the things by nature in the air. You can smell rain coming. You can smell trouble around or on its way. You can smell a demon around you with ill intentions. Give God a sweet smelling sacrifice of your life in the word, a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God. When we are stinking in sin we cause others to perish likewise. Probably more than when we were in the world.

Our mouths need a bit in it just like the one in the horse mouth, that we may obey God and turn ourselves to him again. We need help with our mouth because we have a member in it, the tongue, a very unruly member, a pink tornado and a tornado can tear up some stuff in its path. Our tongues tear up homes; teach things that they should not. They must be stopped, silenced from mentally distressing and subverting or upsetting whole families for the purpose of getting base advantage and disreputable or shameful gain. The Lord made man with a mouth, so do not blame man, God did it. He did not want us though to task with our mouths, hasty to speak here on earth or utter things before him in heaven, but that our words would be few. Put away a forward mouth, and perverse lips far from thee, Proverbs 4:24. Put away your false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk, crooked speech, devious talk. This kind of mouth will soon bring destruction to you. Learn to keep your mouth and you will keep your life. Guard you mouth as your heart, to keep ruin out and preservation in. Your tongue can also divide a nation, countries. You do not have to have eloquent speech for God to use you. Look at Moses or Jeremiah, slow of speech and of a slow tongue, heavy and awkward. But God can stop the tongue and vice versus. He can bring a tongue against you and you wont understand what happened. This comes through how well you will obey his word or disobey his word. God’s word must be on our tongue and our response will be of the Lord Jesus in our lives.

In Job 6:24, he asked the Lord to teach him to hold his tongue and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. In Job 6:30, he asked God was there iniquity, wrong injustice in his tongue? Cannot my taste discern perverse, destructive things or cause calamity? But in the 13th chapter the 19th verse, he asked who is he that will plead with me? For now if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the Ghost. Do not be crafty with you tongue, cunning, clever, shrewd, designing, plotting, scheming, or calculating, deceitful, double dealing, treacherous, sneaky or shifty, today (I may tomorrow, I may not). Your mouth is a life that is full of iniquity will follow it, iniquity teaches your tongue. Iniquity is secret, hidden sin. You already have to lie, steal and cheat. Your mouth knows just what to speak to who, when, where and how. Wickedness is sweet in the mouth, but we should not curse, speak wickedness, untruths, deceit, and false hoods or simply put evil. God shall still the noise around you just as he did for Job in Job 29:10. David said in Psalms 5:9, that there is no faithfulness in our mouth, the inward part is very wicked and the throat is an open sepulcher, they flatter with their tongue. They are not trustworthy, steadfast or truthful in their talk and their heart is destructive, smooth talker, flatterer, proud, boasters, but the Lord shall cut off all flattering lips.

Now the mouth is also used to taste with, good things, food, whatever we eat or drink. We can also taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man that trusts or takes refuge in God. If we taste the word, it will be like honey in your mouth. He gave us a taste of good things, its strength, its quality, you are the salt of the earth, but if you lose your savior how can the taste be restored? Some things we have to give up, but not a taste for Jesus and righteousness. Jesus himself in Matthew 27:34, was given vinegar mingled with gall but would not drink it. Why do we taste from and of anything from any one other than God’s appointed one. Refuse those things that will defile you before God, hold your standard.

He gave us hands to touch and feel. In I Thessalonians 4:11, and that you study to be quiet and do your own business, and to work with you own hands as we commanded you. He wants us to make it our ambition and definitely endeavor to live quietly and peacefully, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you. We have to be careful with our hands, touch not, and handle not. Jesus in Luke 9:62 said no man having put his hand to the plow and looks back tot eh tings he left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. He also admonished us to do our alms, charity, giving to the needy, but when we do them, do not let our left hand know that the right hand is doing, and if you are offended of one or the other, cut if off that you can go home maimed if you have too. God can tie your hands and nothing will come in or go out. Man will put his hands to what is evil because he wants to do well in this world, glorify the flesh rather that his faith. Everyday we should vow to do better. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden because they chose to disobey God. God wants us as he does to touch the hearts of men. God will, if he please will keep us from touching the wrong things. Some things we touch can cause us not only a spiritual death, but a natural one also. Our joy, peace, righteousness in the Holy Ghosts, rests in the things you touch or does not touch. If we are sanctified, then what we touch is sanctified. If we touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever is unclean of that man shall defile you, and you may not know it immediately, then when you realize it, you feel so guilty. Jesus touched to heal people because he was moved with compassion, sympathy,

When you touch Jesus; your life will never be the same again. You will be made whole, for you have touched the greatest physician.

Whose life are you touching today? Whose life are you leading to Christ? Have you raised any one from the dead lately? You seek for what you profess and confess to have. Will God come at your word of prayer or do you have to beg him? Can you hear the cry of the Lord in the Spirit, crying for the lost souls?

We need to touch the hurting parts of mankind, think ourselves happy. Concerning men and women before marriage, if you cannot contain; it is better not to touch a woman, as you will sow whoredom into your marriages, and when they do get married. What we know, we need to do that we don not become arrogant and inflated in pride.

Do not touch or come into contact with things that will cause you spiritual or natural death, build on faith.

Do not see, observe, meet with or visit places you should not go to, have faith, see those things that be not as though they were.

Do not smell, an odor, obtain the scent of things not of faith.

Do not taste, test the flavor of sin because it kills the flesh and spirit.

Do not hear, listen to or receive sound words from ungodly talk. It will only stop up the ears with foolishness of the flesh. What you receive in your Spirit can either edify or poison. Poison kills.

The matters of the heart take precedence and project to your eyes the things it wants to see. So who will you listen to, your challenging faith, or your failing flesh.

It is time to ask God to turn us again. Your destination is in the one who made you. You have to know where you are going. Know what you have to go through together and accept it. Know who, what, when, where, and how you will do when you get there.

You need the wisdom of God, his mind, which is his word. You need the directions of God, trust him in every way, blessed is the man that trust in God.


When you ride on an airplane, all you know is your destination point, but how you get there is a mystery. The Pilot is driving and you are in the air. You cannot see your own way, where you are going, but you trust the Lord that the Pilot will navigate the plane to your desired spot. So why not let God navigate you from the earthly flesh to a heavenly mansion. He can do more with you, his creation; than you can. You can mess us your destination when you try to see destiny in you, just live by faith to your destined place. Build up yourself praying the he Holy Ghost, praying always with prayer and supplication. What are you building on, faith or flesh?

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