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by: Rev. Larry Hines

Hear I am. A new Christian, What have I facing me? What does god expect from me? Can I be what I should be? Can/will god accept me just as I am and IN the sin condition I am IN?

Before you became a christian god knew all about you and your life style. He knows what you have done and been. God was patient with you. Letting you do all you did because you were not his child and did not know him. You did not know what was expected of you. We are both fools and spiritually ignorant in our unsaved sinner state. (sad too say some christians remain foolish because they refuse to allow god to mature them). However. God still loves us. But not our sin. We have free wills to make the choices we desire after becoming christians. We can be as good or as bad as we wish to be. The rule still applies though ---- whatsoever you sow. That you will reap." To put it another way, what goes around, comes around."

We find ourselves in the circumstances we are in for many reasons.

We core to god mostly as basket cases. Most of us have much sin in our lives. We possess little character} bad habits. Few principles. Shallow loyalties selfish desires. Dishonesty. Hard hearts. Little or no love for ourselves or others and damaged emotions. Colossians 1:21.

God accepts us just as he are. After we become christians

God expects us to change. We still have our free-wills the

Choice to change is ours. We follow our lower sin nature to

Please our flesh and continue to sin or follow the spirit and

Change into what god wants us to be. As we cooperate with the

Spirit in our christian journey he helps us change. We need

To become spiritually smart about our condition and what is

Really happening. (most christians are hard headed, demanding

Their own way. Not willing to listen. They have to learn

Things the hard way. Because of this. It takes god years to

Move them into maturity. Some never make it to any real de

Gree of spiritual under standing. They have no concept what

Living on this earth is about or their role in it). It is our

Choice, we have a free-will to do as we chose. Sin is fun for

A season. When payday comes and it does. Sin is not fun any

More. After we have gotten ourself into these negative situa

Tions' then what? We treat god as a bidding servant. We want

Him to come and straighten out our bad situation, forgive us

And make everything all right again then. Exit out of our

Life so we can again take charge and return to our sinful

Ways. We want him to do what we want. When we want. And how

We want' then get lost. Like doctors. Funeral directors and

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Police officers, we want them to serve our needs' then disappear. How it must break god's heart to be treated this way. We should sorrow over our sins and attitudes james 1:5. Ephesians 4:22-24. Philippians 2:13. Romans 8:8-9. Romans 8:12-14

When we become christians we come to god with basically ten problems and god will have to deal with them on our behalf. Broken down. They are divided into the following categories

1. Unrenewed hinds.

2. Damaged emotions (one. Two and three comprise our souls

3. Rebellious wills

4. Our internal sinful old natures remain in us as born

Again

Believers..

5. We have natural weaknesses to this world's temptations

And enticements to sin.

6. We have hard hearts.

7. We have committed past sinful acts (bad seeds we have

Sown that will harvest in our lives as time goes along).

8. Our lack of knowledge about satan and demons.

9. Our undeveloped human spirits united with 600 s spirit.

10. Our lack of spiritual truth. Knowledge and

Under

Standing.

Our souls: our souls are composed of the mind. Emotions and will. Before man committed sin the power of the soul was completely under the dominion of the spirit. Since the spirit cannot itself act upon the physical body; it can only function through the medium of the soul. As our spirit is used to communicate with the spiritual world and our physical bodies with the natural world. So the soul stands between and exercises its power to discern and decide whether the spiritual or the natural world should reign. In order for the spirit to govern, the soul must give its consent; otherwise the spirit is helpless to regulate the soul and the body. But this decision is up to our souls. For therein resides the personality of the man. Actually the soul is the pivot of the entire being. Because man's volition belongs to it. It is only when the soul is willing to assume a humble position that the spirit can ever manage the whole man. If the soul rebels against taking such a position the spirit will be powerless to rule. This explains the meaning of the free will of man. Man is not an robot that turns according to god's will. Rather. Man has

Full sovereign power to decide for himself. He possesses the organ of his own volition and can choose either to follow god s will or to resist him and follow satan's will or follow his own sinful old nature. God desires that the spirit. Being the noblest part of man, should control the whole being yet. The will--the crucial part of dividuality-belongs to the soul. It it the will which determines whether the spirit the physical body, or even itself it to rule (a)

First: our minds we come to god with a unrenewed mind our minds are corrupted. They are filled with the lies of this world. Our mind computers have been programmed from our birth with knowledge opposite of what the word of god teaches. We have been brought up not knowing god's word. Him or his methods. He understands our condition and situation. Our minds must be reprogrammed. That takes effort on our part and a sincere desire to change what we think and know. After we receive christ. We must renew our minds. What we have put into our minds is what our thoughts are about and what dictates our actions. We must reprogram our minds and thought life to live and do right! This it not a quick process. Read aid study the bible. Romans 8:7, philippians 3:19 b, 2 corinthians 4:4, colossians 3:2, ephesians 4:23, luke 24:45. Romans 12:2. 2 timothy 3:7.

Second: our emotions we come to god with damaged emotions god knows this we have been hurt by family. Friends. Strangers and circumstances. (mote: we have done our share of hurting others also!). God can heal our hurts. This will take time and our cooperation. Also' our forgiving those who have hurt us. Is the pathway to the healing process. Keeping score. Desiring to get even. Hating. All these cause damage to us emotionally and causes the spirit not to be able to heal us. Doing this does not demonstrate we possess good qualities in our personality. God will deal with us about these things. He demands change. He talks of forgiveness and love. This is for our own welfare and healing. Only as we are obedient to god follow him constantly and become teachable. Will he in time heal us. God can change us the hard way if we fail to listen and yield. He usually works with us over long periods of time. Seldom is change instantaneous. He shapes. Makes. Molds. Changes and develops us at our speed. Since some of us are not as sharp as others. It takes us longer to receive the message and change. Most of us ignore. Rearrange, cope. Or flee. As opposed to changing all of god s resources are available to us but we are slow and resistant to take advantage of them. Proverbs 17:22. Ezekiel 20:43. Romans 1:29-31, psalms 147:3. Psalms 23:3. Proverbs 19:16. Psalms 34:22.

Thirdly: our wills. We bring to god our rebellious wills that demand to do everythtng our way. We are individuals who respond to the five senses: sight. Smell. Hearing, feeling and

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Taste. We live to satisfy our fleshly nature. We want everything our way and we want it now. Life for those who have experienced it, know it, it not always like that. God does not take our hostile wills from us when we become new christians he hopes tn time to change us into his likeness we must cooperate with him though. He wants to direct us as we study his word and as the spirit teaches us. When that does not work, he employs other methods. He uses verbal communications such as people, t.v., Radio, video s and tapes. He also uses written publications he pricks our consciences to have us face the reality of our situation. He uses circumstances tn our lives to make us face the truth about our sin condition and the need for change. His love requires him to face us with the naked truth about our problems and do something about them. If-we will not deal with our problems and sin at this poing chastening punishment and judgment can follow. If we do not respond tn the state of chastening. Then as some in the bible, we can be turned over to satan. Physical death can come or we may fall into a state of apostasy or worse. Maybe back into a atheist position and deny jesus christ. 1 peter 4:2, psalms 143:10, romans 7:15, 1 peter 3:17, job 5:17, proverbs 12:1, hebrews 12:5-7.

Fourth: our carnal fleshly sinful natures. As a christian we

Have a dual nature within us. One part of us desires to do

Good and the other evil the fight rages in our members and

It, causes us much sorrow and sadness at times the apostle

Paul had the same problem. Only as we are filled with the

Spirit and walk tn spiritual victory can we have success

Over our old sin nature. This it not easy. You will constant

Ly wage an internal war not to let your sin nature take over

And control you. What you are depends on how your soul

Handles

This confrontation of mixed emotions and desires your soul

Represents you and expresses your individuality it it the

Organ of your free will only as you cooperate with god on a

Daily basis and walk with him, can you hope to live as you

Should. Backsliders will not live in victory nor will they

Grow spiritually mature. God wants us to move out of the

Elementary into the more advanced spiritual understanding. As

You obey him and act on the truth the spirit reveals, god

Will reveal more of himself and his truth to you. God keeps

Himself hidden. He reveals only what he wants to and to whom

He wants to. He reveals himself to those who follow hard

After him, who seek him with all their heart and who are not

Of a divided allegiance. 600 finds it, hard to bless foolish

Christians with knowledge, under standing. Power, position,

Wealth or the gifts of the spirit. A christian who it shallow

Tn their loyalty, character, principles dedication, honesty,

Or commitment cannot be trusted. They would bring shame on

Themselves and god god does use man with feet of clay. They

Fail have faults and weaknesses. No man is perfect and many

Of god's greats have failed miserably. However, they were

Still god's men and women. They returned to him with repent

Ant hearts and attitudes after they failed. Heaven is full of

Them. He forgave them and still used them, inspite of the hardship they brought into their lives. The lives of their families and others. God knows we are not perfect and does not expect us to be. He does not have any problems with our humanity. Our minds are finite and limited. He does expect us to be stable and exhibit those good qualities and characteristics that allows him to place on our shoulders various responsibilties as he individually delegates. Men with uncontrolled evil natures cannot be used or trusted by god with holy things romans 7:18-20. Romans 8:5-9.

Fifth: our weaknesses and worldly temptations. We come to god in our weakness and live tn a world that entices us to our own destruction. God knows this and sees what is happening on planet earth. He knows you and your human frailties and responses. It takes him a long time to take the world out of us. And that is only after we have started cooperating with him. He hill pull you through if you can stand the pull. We do not want to give up the pleasures of this world. We enjoy all that satisfy our lustful appetites. God indicates we cannot love the world and love him at the same time we struggle trying to move into the more advanced spiritual mindset and leave the things of the earth behing we love money. Power, sex, position popularity pleasure, recognition etc... To serve god as some do like missionaries they have to give up everything to follow christ. How committed are you? 1 corinthians 3:19. Colossians 3:2. James 4:4. 1 john 2:15. I john 4:5.

Sixth our hard hearts we come to god with hard hearts we have been unyielding to god's leading. It is his desire to place soft hearts in us. He wants us to respond to him and our fellow man in king and loving ways. Be sensitive to each other and their needs. Only soft hearts can respond this way. To be in the company of god and have his arm around you requires you to have a soft heart. God is loving. Kind and gentle. To effectively communicate with god requires us to be submissive and child like. God can and does use hardhearted christians to do some work. But. The way they do things and the attitude in which they do them. Causes much harm. Some christian's have reputation's as unloving callous hypocrites who act like the unsaved most of the time. They follow in worldly ways and fail to take their god or his commands seriously. Unsaved and christian alike are harmed by this behavior. New christians are always looking for examples and leading as to how to live their new spiritual life let us take our responsibility seriously. Proverbs 14:30, proverbs 28:14. Jeremiah 24:7. Ezekiel 11:19-21. Ephesians 4:18. Joel 2:12-13.

Seventh our past sinful acts. You have been planting crops

(bad or good acts) tn your life up to this time. They are

Good crops that will/are bringing you a harvest of blessings

Or bad crops that are bringing you problems. We like to blame

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Everyone else for our troubles. Seldom examining our own self as being responsible for causing much of our problems. Sometimes when god is testing. Proving. Correcting. Or building foundations for growth tn our lives it it hard to know whether we are in god's favor or not. It is difficult to determine why things happen and why. Start today, be determined to plant good crops so you can be blessed. Do what is right can start by giving of yourself to others. Be helpful. King caring. Forgiving and loving treat others as you desire to be treated. You will be taken advantage of by some sure -- so was jesus and his servants. People will hurt you at times just as you have hurt others. Being a servant it something we like others to do, but it it not for us. God's word however speaks of our being humble and becoming servants to each other. To love and serve others will require you to be vulnerable to hurt and abuse at times. The answer to that is wise up. Follow the spirit's leading and know when you are being taken advantage of. God does not expect us to be fools or foolish. As you continue to do good. It comes back to you in many ways. God watches. He keeps the record books. A good person does good. Selfish people use people, rude people hurt and insult people. Selfishness is one of the worst forms of cruelty one person can perpetrate on another. Planting good crops into the lives of others takes effort and sacrifice loving the unlovable takes effort, giving of yourself takes effort. Suffering trials, persecutions, heartaches and attacks require unselfish love. Casualties occur among god's servants--some are wounded and some are killed tn their spiritual service. There is a cost serving christ and your fellow man. This is spiritual warfare. Some servants suffer spiritually. Physically. Emotionally' financially. Maritally. Materially. Socially ally and sacrificially the wounded christian soldier needs our love and support. Let us not discard our christian brothers and sisters wounded i' service so easy as if they were not important christ's love and blood blots out our sin. Job 4:8. Proverbs 22:8. Proverbs 11:18. Hosea lo:l213. Galatians 6:7-8.

A personae note: the more mature you become tn spiritual matters, the more misunderstood you will be by those around you. You become a peculiar person. The carnal and shallow christians pick-up on your walk and closeness with god persecution will come to you. As you mature in understanding. There will be fewer folks around you that you can draw help and understanding from. You become a lone ranger of sorts as far as those you can identify with. This is especially true if you have a roving type ministry where you are moved about a lot. Ephesians 4:13-15, 11 timothy 3:11-12. Colossians 3: 12-13.

Eighth satan and his demons. They will bother you as a

Christian. You did not have many problems with them

Prior

To being saved. You belonged to their family and were on

Their side that has changed now. You do not know your enemy as he really it how he works. His methods or how to combat him you are at a disadvantage to engage tn satanic warfare it dangerous. Ask god to protect you. His word says he will if you are tn obedience to him learn about the methods satan uses to attack christians once you have him undressed and can better understand the naked truth about him you are tn a much better survival position you will find the key to successful christian living it tn knowing what it happening and why. Un_ fortunately, there are not many advanced mature christians around who are experienced knowledgeable and open enough to answer many questions on this subject keep searching. God can lead you to people or written material that tn time will answer your questions most christians do not seem to be teachable nor really desire to know the truth about this subject. Satan can have a field day with christians tn their ignorance and they do not even know what is happening. Satan enjoys using loneliness and misunderstanding to burden us down. We must know our enemy if we expect to win tn our confrontations with him. He will come after you whether you like it or not! John 8:44.1 peter 5:8. James 4:7, luke 10: 17-18, ephesians 6:12-13.

Ninth: our undeveloped human spirits undeveloped spirits cause us great harm. We have not learned how to hear from god we constantly stay tn a state of confusion trying to figure out it god satan or our own heart telling us what to do. This confusion is frustrating to us and those around us. Spiritual knowledge it very important to spiritual life. We must be humble and willing to accept the teaching of the holy spirit and the word. If so. The holy spirit will grant us the experience of the dividing of spirit and soul. Although we may not have much knowledge concerning this truth. If man's soul wills to obey god it will allow the spirit to rule over the man as ordered by god " god is a god of order and wants to communicate his truth and ways to us. Remember, this is done in degrees. He demands things be done his way in his timing. Our problem is we fail to be obedient. We want to do things our way. This attitude causes a rift between god and us -- in other words. We are quenching or grieving the spirit and this is sin. Because of this sin. Not doing what god wants us to. We find ourselves wandering in the wilderness of confusion. The nation of israel did this for forty years. It it the men and women who have yielded their wills in obedience to god submitted to his lordship. Willing to follow jesus. Come what may, who hear from him and are guided by him. Most christians are wandering around in sin, living the world's way. Rebelling against god living to fulfill their lust and being under the curse of spiritual laws. This curse takes the form of reaping what they sow tn sin they cannot figure out why god will not bless them or reveal himself to them. Develop your human spirit to know when your god it speaking to you. 1 john 4:1, 1 corinthians 12:10, 1 thessalonians 5:19, psalms 51:10, romans 8:5, 23, 26, galatians 5:22-23, 2 corinthians 5:5, ephesians 4 30, 2 thessalonians 2:13, 1 samuel 15 :23.

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Tenth: we are birthed into a new spiritual world we do not understand or know anything about. We lack spiritual information about god how he works and what the bible teaches. You receive your soul salvation as a gift from god but after that. We must study and apply ourselves to acquire knowledge and develop a personal relationship with our creator. Chris_ -ttantty it supposed to be a very personal one-on-one intimate fellowship between the lord and yourself. Most of us must deal with some very personal hurts and hang-ups before we can have this relationship with our saviour and lord. You will have to pay a price tn bible study and prayer to know him well.

New birth: as we have seen. There are difficult areas tn our lives when we come to the lord. As a new creature creation tn christ. We should no longer be walking tn continual sin our new christian lives should be examples of godly living and not the same old sinful life style. We were living god desires that we chose the spirit-filled contr0lled life with out sin. Romans 6:12 and romans 13:14 admonishes us to not let sin control us but, put on christ and be under the spirit s control. As a new creature tn christ. We should desire to follow after godly things live righteous and be holy. 2 corithians 5.17, galatians 5:]6.25. If your heart it wanting to follow god and obey him then pray he will give you a new heart. Pray for your desires to line up with his being a new creature tn christ should destroy sin and its effect. Causing you to seek hard after a holy life

Point: as a christians as you seek god he will be found by you. As you continue demonstrating a desire to know him. He will reveal himself to you. You cannot take or leave god as you chose. He will not put up with it. He watches your actions motives thoughts and relationships as you start changing. He will lead. Guide and direct your life he it patient gentle and loving he wants to direct your future. You have a free will though. It takes time for him to work out of you certain lifestyles,faulsts evil desires. Habits. Sins. Etc. God makes and molds you as you cooperate with him. It can be done easy or hard. Depending on how you cooperate with the spirit who it your teacher. He will work in ways you will not understand until later. As you maintain child-like faith. Believe his promises abide in him he can guide and develop you into new dimensions of change and growth. You can become a new and different person. Being all god wants you to be. Its not easy to have heat applied tn your life so the dross sin and faults) can be burned out of you. That it what brings change in you. It is not easy to face your pride. We must allow the holy spirit to reveal our faults. So we can understand our problems. It it said "fifty percent of solving your problem is learning you have a problem and what that problem is." As clay tn the potter's hand. The lord skillfully guides our life to reflect a remolded person in his image if you (the clay) will submit to his guiding and shaping hand.

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He will be successful in sculpturing you into his likeness. God does not see things the way we do. He knows your potential. Undeveloped talents, abilities and capabilities he just needs the chance to take your life and make it into his likeness start where you are. Be available for change. Become serious about being different and new. Put your life tn his hands. He does love you. But the relationship between you and god depends on your decisions. He is waiting. Drop your pride and self confidence with the belief that you can run your life better than he. It is not pleasant for the spirit to be around some people because they grieve eve and quench him their actions attitudes tempers. Words and actions sadden him. As you become more and more gentle, loving and considerate, he can enjoy spending more time tn your presence. Let him change you. The spirit is used to struggling with chris_ s stubborn wills. Cooperate with him so he can change your soul. He loves you-he really does. Seek him while he may be found. Work your way to the peace and contentment he gives as you obey him. 2 timothy 2:12.

Sin brings disgrace (proverbs

18:3)

Credit: (a) book by watchman nee called the spiritual man

Written and provided by: Rev. Larry Hines

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