NOT THE LETTER BUT THE SPIRIT

-
 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.
Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

This is where some in the church mix it up. We cannot measure by the world's standard, it has to be God's standard. 

*it is not the state of the edifice, but the heart and soul of those who worship in it;

*it is not the number of people that troop in, but the number that are recognized by the Heavenly Father;

*it is not how many years you have been in church or ministry, but how far you have matured and how many lives you have impacted;

*it is not about how many titles you have bagged, or degrees you received... Who you help? 

*it is not about how famous you are on media, in the secular world. . . Does the Heavenly Father recognize you? 

What is the evidence of who you are in Christ? 

It is the number of lives you have impacted, the souls that the Lord has restored through you. 

(We have many who just move people from one denomination to another, that is not the impact, Christ has only one bride) Selah

Know who is the boss, never forget, do not get carried away:

2 Corinthians 3:4-6
We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ.
It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.
He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

Many still live in the old, there is a new way. All who practice one type of religion or the other, are still trapped in one version or the other of the old way. They need to accept liberty which Christ brings. Not carefree, for the new is even more disciplined. It is more glorious. 

2 Corinthians 3:8-11
Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?
If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God!
In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.
So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

The veil is taken away (though many want to keep others in the dark). The Spirit of God, brings true illumination to the believer. Freedom from incantations/recitation, foolishness of outside cleaning to bring about inside cleansing, when we know that what defiles a man comes from inside:

Matthew 15:11 
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

John 3:3 & 5
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

For unless a man submits to God's Spirit he remains in the dark, yes, in bondage. 

2 Corinthians 3:14-17
But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.
Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.
But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Glory to God. The door remains open for anyone who will believe and come. He continually makes us more like Himself day after day. Thus we can impact lives and that is where the true eternal reward is. 

2 Corinthians 3:18
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Glory to the Heavenly Father. 

He calls us blessed. 

Love
@the watcher

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DO YOU STILL SEE?

-
Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. It may have been easy when we first believed, to visualize the promises. We reach out with zeal, loving God, seeking to do exploits. That was when we first believed, just as Jesus said: John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." When we become born again we see God's kingdom, our spirit man is reborn and we count the flesh as nothing. Then time passes by, we are in the world, all its distractions, temptations, responsibilities, challenges and so on begin to reveal themselves. The question then is: * Can we still see heaven? John 3:3 * Are we still zealous? John 2:17 * Are we continuing in those things? Acts 2:42 * Are we walking in love? 1John 4:7 or Has the cares and worries of life and service ta
Read more

DO UNTO OTHERS . . .

-
Matthew 7:12 "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. It is hypocritical of us to expect people to stand with us when we are experiencing challenges yet when we see others face their own challenges, we begin to imagine what they must have done wrong or maybe they annoyed God or did one evil or the other instead of reaching out to help as we would desire others to do for us. The same thing goes for prosperity, when the Lord opens a door for us and we have abundance of wealth or a breakthrough we expect others to rejoice with us, more so, some would even find it hard to give to others. What is our reaction when someone else gets this breakthrough, do we get suddenly suspicious without reason. Do we expect the person to reach out to us? It is better to stay on the side of encouragement than to sit as a judge or prosecutor. Jesus said, Matthew 7:2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same
Read more

MY YEAR OF FULFILMENT

-
Psalms 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. We just finished the book of 1Samuel, in this book we see the cry of Israel for a king and how God raised Saul to rule them. We also saw how Saul disobeyed God and lost kingship for himself and his generation. He did not stop there, he went on to seek for the death of David, whom he saw as the next heir of the throne. In chapter 31, the last chapter, we see how Saul and all his sons and men were killed, it was tragic, however it was as a sign of relief for David. We could go on counting all the struggles and difficulties we faced in the past year. No, we should not, we should begin to look at all the positives, remembering all the good things God has done for us. If He promised it, He will do it and that is what we hold onto as we go through this year. Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. This is the year of fulfilment, and
Read more