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Receiving the Holy Spirit

7/3/2021

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Last week we discussed Having begun in the Spirit. This week we are  going to look at Receiving the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul was a great  proponent of justification by faith, but he didn't stop there. His writings tell  us again and again that as justified people we cannot live a life of victory in  Jesus unless we are filled and sealed by the Holy Spirit. He tells us: 
"How did you receive the Holy Spirit? Was it by the preaching of the law,  or by the preaching of faith?" 
He could point back to when there was a great revival through his  teaching. It had such a impact on the Galatians that they had to confess: 
"Yes, we have got the Holy Ghost: accepting Christ by faith, by faith we  received the Holy Spirit." 
Friends, it is my concern that many of us as Christians don't really grasp  that when we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we received the Holy Spirit.  We readily admit that we received forgiveness and that gives us peace, but  I wonder how many of us, if we were asked; if we have received he Holy  Spirit, we could readily say, "yes I have." And even if we do confess to 
have the Holy Spirit, do we really even know what it means to walk in the  power of the of the Holy Spirit? I hope each of us can take hold of this all  important truth: The beginning of our walk with Jesus starts when we  receive the Holy Spirit. And my responsibility as your pastor is the same  as Paul's — to remind you that when you gave your life to Jesus you  
received the Holy Spirit and it is our duty and privilege to allow Him to  guide and demonstrate His power through our lives! 
If the Galatians who received the Holy Spirit in all the power of the early  church were tempted to try and perfect themselves by their efforts when  they begun in the Spirit, how much greater danger are we, who hardly  even recognize that we have received the Holy Spirit? Or even if we do  recognize it as a matter of belief, we hardly think to praise our Lord for this  great and awesome gift! Next week we are going to explore the dangers of  Neglecting the Holy Spirit.
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Having Begun in the Spirit

5/30/2021

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I would like to begin our study today by looking at Galatians 3:3. In fact,  let's begin in verse two; "among you as crucified? This only I want to learn  from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the  hearing of faith?—Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you  now being made perfect by the flesh?" 
 When we talk about spiritual growth in our walk with Jesus, we are forced  to admit that it is often a weak and sinful mess, and we find ourselves  crying out: "Lord, help me! I am not what I should be!" If we honestly look  at our church we also see many shortcomings and failures, and we are  tempted to ask: Why is this? How can a community of people who claim  to be crucified with Jesus be so self-centered and fall so short of the  example He has given us? Shouldn't we as God's people be living  continually in the strength and joy of our Lord? 
I feel confident that I'm not the only one who believes in my heart that it is  possible for everyone of us to enjoy that joy and crucified life in Jesus. 
Then comes the haunting question: then why is God's Church as a whole  so feeble, and why are most of us not living up to the great and wonderful  privileges that our generous Father wants to give us? Hasn't God given us  
His Almighty Son to live in our lives as an ever-present reality? Where we  can say; "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;" God has given  us His Son, and His Spirit, so why do we not live up to our privileges?
We find our answer in the writings of Paul. Like first Thessalonians where  he encourages them to "grow and abound, to increase more and more."  These were young Christians with many lacking in faith, but they were growing and they brought him great joy. In a number of places he writes "I  pray to God that you may abound more and more; I write to you to  increase more and more." But there are other places, like his writings to  the Corinthians and the Galatians that he takes a very different tone. He  tells these churches in several different ways that they are not living as  children of God should live; that they are under the power of the flesh.  Back to Galatians 3:3; "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are  you now being made perfect by the flesh?" 
Paul reminds them that by the preaching of faith they have received the  Holy Spirit. They had accepted Jesus and received the Holy Spirit with  power. But then something happened? Having begun in the Spirit, they  tried to perfect the work that the Spirit had begun themselves, by their  own effort. 
In these verses we discover; as people who have been with Jesus for  some time, what our great need is. God has called you and me to live in  the power of the Holy Spirit, and most of us are living in the power of our  human flesh. We put out great effort and energy trying to look and feel  good about ourselves, but we are doing it apart from the Holy Spirit. 
As your pastor, if I could give just one message, it would be this: If we as a  church, and as individuals will recognize that the Holy Spirit is our strength  and help, and we will put away any barriers and surrender everything, and  wait for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We will be filled with  unimaginable love, joy and peace and we will see the glory of God shine  out of our lives! This is my one message if I could have no other: Nothing  will help our lives unless we come to understand that we must live every  single day under the power of the Holy Spirit. 
God wants to live in each of our lives, so that every hour of every moment  of every day the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives! In short my friends,  the beginning of the Christian life starts with receiving the Holy Spirit. We  must never forget that we are to live by the Spirit, and not the flesh. Next  week we will look at Receiving the Holy Spirit.

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The Miserable Man

3/28/2021

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So far in our study of Romans seven and eight we have looked at the  Regenerate Man and the Impotent Man. 
This man is not only regenerate and impotent, but he is also a Miserable  Man. He is utterly unhappy and completely miserable; and what is it that  makes him so completely miserable? It is because God has given him a  
new nature that loves his Lord. He has fallen in love with this loving, caring  God who has given him the hope of salvation. And is miserable because  he is not obeying this God's law that he loves so much. Finally with a  broken heart he cries, "But I am not really the one who is doing these  hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." Romans 7:17 (NCV)  Friends we are very blessed when we get to the point where we cry: "What  a miserable man I am!" When we experience this kind of pain for hurting  our Lord and Savior, then we are on our way to the eighth chapter of  Romans. 
The other side of this is that it is all to easy for us to use this confession  that Paul makes here in Romans seven as an excuse for sin. We are  tempted to say, "Why, if Paul had to confess his weakness and utter  inability to live a life of victory then what hope do I have to do better?" And  at this point in our walk with Jesus there is a great temptation to quietly set  our call to be holy and live a life of victory in Jesus aside. It is my great  hope that everyone of us can voice these words "What a miserable man I  am!" In the spirit in which they were written here in Romans 7:24. Where if  we are unkind or think an immoral thought we scream out; "What a  miserable man I am!" And every time we gossip or criticize we kneel down  to God with the understanding that this was never the state where God  means for us to stay. Andrew Murray speaking on this very verse said it  this way,
"Would God that we would take this word into our daily life, and say it  every time we are touched about our honor, and every time we say sharp  things, and every time we sin against the Lord God, and against the Lord  Jesus Christ in His humility, and in His obedience, and in His self-sacrifice.  Would to God you could forget everything else and cry out: "O wretched  man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of death?" Why should  you say this whenever you commit sin? Because it is when a man is  brought to this confession that deliverance is at hand." Absolute Surrender  p. 75-76 
I have lived the experience of being impotent and captive in my spiritual  life, and if I am honest I often still do, and it makes me realize my  miserableness and wretchedness. But the thing that causes me the most  pain is hurting my Lord and Savior Jesus! I can relate to this man Paul is  talking about and I am thankful that being sinful in God's sight is  unbearable and I often cry out: "Oh Miserable Man that I am!" Because it  is when every sin grieves us and makes us indescribably miserable that we  are not only pushed to ask: "Who will save me from this body that brings  me death?" But we cry out in hope: "I thank God for saving me through  Jesus Christ our Lord!"

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The Impotent Man

2/27/2021

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That brings us to The Impotent Man. There is a common mistake made by  many Christians: they think that if we have a renewed will, that is all we  need; but that could not be further from the truth. Again, Paul this  regenerated man in Romans seven tells us: " I want to do the things that  are good, but I do not do them." (New Century Version) It is so easy for us  as self-reliant people to think, if we can just set our mind to it, we can do  whatever we will to do. If that was true I believe I would not need Jesus to  accomplish my salvation. And please understand what I mean by that! My  point is that my will is very strong to reach a physical goal, and if a strong  will could gain my salvation I think I would have a chance; but that is just  not the case. Many of us have strong wills, and we are the ones in the  greatest danger of never coming to the end of our selves. 
Paul was probably as determined as any man could be, and yet he  confessed: "I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do  them." (NCV) You may be asking the question: then why has God given us  our will? We as created beings are only to be empty vessels for God to  demonstrate His power? It is our part as created beings to seek God's will  whatever that might be. That is what it means to die to self! You remember  that in Philippians two it tells us that God's work is "to work in us both to  will and to do of His good pleasure." And yet it appears that Paul is saying,  "God has not done His work in me." But we are taught that God works  both to will and to do. How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? 
If you have read through this passage of Romans 7:6-25 you may have  noticed that the name of the Holy Spirit and Jesus do not occur even  once. This man is wrestling and struggling to keep the law. And the law on  the other hand is mentioned nearly twenty times. We see the believer  doing everything in his power to obey God's law with his will.

​You also may 
have noticed that the little words, I, me and my, occur more than forty  times. This struggling regenerate man is still all about what he can do -  self! This regenerated, impotent man, seeking to keep the law without  being filled with the Holy Spirit. And if we are willing to be totally honest,  this is the experience of almost everyone of us! After we are converted we  begin the battle, and we fail; but the good news is that we do not have to  continue to fail at every turn. Will we make mistakes? Yes! Because we do  not continually allow the Holy Spirit to have His way with us. If we received  the Holy Spirit in His fullness and self stayed dead - we would never fail! 
But, if we will allow the Holy Spirit to do so, through this failure He will  teach us that we are utterly impotent. Through this struggle He will show  us our utter sinfulness! This is God's way of bringing us to the end of  ourselves! He allows us to fight and struggle to keep the law, and if we  don't give up on ourself, or on Jesus, we finally come to this: "I am a  regenerate child of God, but I am utterly helpless to obey His law." 
Notice again what strong words Paul uses all through this passage to  describe this condition: "but I am not spiritual since sin rules me as if I  were its slave."; "That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it  makes me its prisoner."; (NCV) and then this cry for help: "What a  miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me  death?" (NCV) 
This believer that Paul is describing is utterly unable to obey God's law - "What a miserable man I am." 
Next week we will look at the Miserable man!"

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The Regenerate Man

1/31/2021

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This week we continue our study of Romans and how it relates to your and  my walk with Jesus. First let's consider The Regenerate Man. 
In Romans 7:14-23 we see a lot of evidence of regeneration. "But I am not  really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that  does them." (New Century Version): this is the language of a man who is  being regenerated. A man who is absolutely sure that his heart and nature  has been renewed, but that sin still has power in him that is not of himself.  Verse twenty-two: "In my mind, I am happy with God’s law." (NCV) Again  the language of a man who has been regenerated. He even dares to say  when he does evil; in verse seventeen: "But I am not really the one who is  doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them." (NCV) This  is very important that we grasp what this is saying! 
In the first two sections of Romans, Paul is dealing with justification and  sanctification. In his dealing with justification, he lays the foundation for  the doctrine of sin in the plural form. Sins, as the transgressions that we  commit. Then in the second part of the fifth chapter he begins to talk of  sin, not as a transgression, but as a power! Can you imagine what a  terrible loss it would be for you and me if Paul had not written this second  half of Romans seven? Without this understanding of the sinfulness of the  believer, that we can have a renewed heart; and still, sin at times has  power over us. Without this vital truth, I would personally still be a  miserable Christian totally confused and completely caught up in  perfectionism. We would have missed the answer to the question we all  want answered as to sin in the believer.
And what is the answer? As believers, as Regenerate people, we have  been renewed; and we can say with Paul, "In my mind, I am happy with  God’s law." (NCV) 
Next week we will expand on these verses and consider the Impotent  Man. 

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What A Miserable Man I Am, Part 2

1/9/2021

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This week we continue our study of Romans and how it relates to your and  my walk with Jesus. First let's consider The Regenerate Man.  
In Romans 7:14-23 we see a lot of evidence of regeneration. "But I am not  really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that  does them." (New Century Version): this is the language of a man who is  being regenerated. A man who is absolutely sure that his heart and nature  has been renewed, but that sin still has power in him that is not of himself.  Verse twenty-two: "In my mind, I am happy with God’s 
law." (NCV) Again the language of a man who has been regenerated. He  even dares to say when he does evil; in verse seventeen: "But I am not  really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that  does them." (NCV) This is very important that we grasp what this is saying! 
In the first two sections of Romans, Paul is dealing with justification and  sanctification. In his dealing with justification, he lays the foundation for  the doctrine of sin in the plural form. Sins, as the transgressions that we  commit. Then in the second part of the fifth chapter he begins to talk of  
sin, not as a transgression, but as a power! Can you imagine what a  terrible loss it would be for you and me if Paul had not written this second  half of Romans seven? Without this understanding of the sinfulness of the  believer, that we can have a renewed heart; and still, sin at times has  power over us. Without this vital truth, I would personally still be a  miserable Christian totally confused and completely caught up in  perfectionism. We would have missed the answer to the question we all  want answered as to sin in the believer.
And what is the answer? As believers, as regenerate people, we have  been renewed; and we can say with Paul, "In my mind, I am happy with  God’s law." (NCV) 
Next week we will expand on these verses and consider the impotent  man.
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What A Miserable Man I Am

12/12/2020

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(Romans 7:24, 25.) "What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from  this body that brings me death? I thank God for saving me through Jesus  Christ our Lord!" (New Century Version) 
We are all familiar with this passage in Romans, but have you noticed  where this text is placed in this wonderful writing of Paul? It is right at the  end of the seventh chapter and is the segue into the eighth. Then in the  first sixteen verses of the eighth chapter we find that Paul uses the name  of the Holy Spirit sixteen times. In these sixteen verses we find the  description and the awesome promise that we as children of God can live  in the power of the Holy Spirit. This starts in the second verse: "Through  Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free from the  law that brings sin and death." (NCV) Then Paul goes on to tell of the great  and wonderful privileges we have as the children of God; and just as  important that we are actually led by the Holy Spirit. And the gateway to all  this is the twenty-forth verse of chapter seven. "What a miserable man I  am!" 
Here we find the words of a man who has come to the end of himself. And  I have to ask the question: Have you gotten there yet? 
In the previous verses of chapter seven Paul describes how he had  struggled and fought on his own to obey the Holy law of God, and had  failed miserably! But, then he answers his own question: "I thank God for  saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (NCV) From there Paul opens to  us what that deliverance is that he has found.
So let's take a look at how you and I can be led from this life of misery and  spirit of bondage into the spirit of freedom in Jesus. Paul tells us in verse  fifteen, "The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear;" (NCV) Again and again we are warned that this is a great danger for  us as children of God; to fall back into a life of spiritual bondage to the law. 
The next four weeks I would like to try and share with you how we can get  out of this bondage, by looking at the four persons that Paul is describing  in this all important passage. Next week we will look at The Regenerate  Man; then The Impotent Man, then The Miserable Man, and last The  Almost-Delivered Man. Paul's experience has been my experience as well,  and maybe you can find help in your walk with Jesus too.

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God Works in Us

11/15/2020

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For the last few weeks we have been discussing Luke 18:27; "But He said,  “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” We  have seen that with our salvation, and walk with Jesus we do not have a  chance of living a victorious life on our own. Then we saw that with God it  is possible! And, today I would like to look at how it is that God works in  us! As we consider what that means to you and me, we end up right back  at the question of absolute surrender. If we are honest with ourselves this  lack of absolute surrender is our greatest hindrance, and the need of  absolute surrender is the greatest need in our lives, and our walk with  Jesus. This is why the Holy Spirit cannot fill us, set us apart for His use,  and give us the victory in Jesus that turned the world upside down in the  early Church. This is the reason the self-life continues to control our lives,  and in turn we fight for control to feed our love of self. It is self that leads  us to believe that we have it all together when in reality we don't have a  clue what it means to be absolutely surrendered to God as Jesus was. 
I find myself wondering, can I ever be absolutely surrendered to Jesus as  my heart yearns for? Is there really hope for me? That is why I am so  thankful, "the things which are impossible with men are possible with  God." That is the thing about faith and trust; with God when we can  believe it, it is a reality! The other side of that is that if we cannot truly  believe it is true for us personally, it is not a reality! Friends, if we can take  God at His word and believe Him when He says He will make us men and  women of absolute surrender, then it is a done deal! Because our God  promises He will not only give us this absolute surrender, but He will keep  us there! 
 If we can believe our Lord is able to raise us up every morning with the  assurance that He is in charge, and He is working out our life for us. Then 
it is already a reality, even if we cannot see it yet. That is the promise of  Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for  His good pleasure." 
Some of us are weary of thinking about sanctification. We pray, we long  and cry for pure hearts, and loving, caring thoughts that truly put God and  others before ourselves, and yet it seems so far off! 
Friends, the one truth about sanctification that is totally scriptural, and  totally effective is: "The things which are impossible with men are possible  with God." It is only God that can sanctify us! Paul, tells us that God will  give us, "according to the riches of His glory." When we consider the  riches and glory of God, can you imagine just how much God is offering us  through life in Jesus; if it is according to His riches and glory? He is  offering the power of an almighty God to fill our lives! He is offering you  and me the gift of an indwelling Savior! Can our God offer us anymore than  this? 
Let me leave you with a passage from "Absolute Surrender" page 68,69 
""The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." All  around you there is a world of sin and sorrow, and the Devil is there. But  remember, Christ is on the throne, Christ is stronger, Christ has conquered,  and Christ will conquer. But wait on God. My text cast us down: "The  things which are impossible with men"; but it ultimately lifts us up high -  "are possible with God." Get linked to God. Adore and trust Him as the  omnipotent One, not only for your own life, but for all the souls that are  entrusted to you. Never pray without adoring His omnipotence, saying:  "Mighty God, I claim Thine almightiness." And the answer to the prayer will  come, and like Abraham you will become strong in faith, giving glory to  God, because you account Him who hath promised able to preform." 
As we absolutely surrender, and if we can truly believe His promise - it is  already a don’t deal.

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God Can

11/7/2020

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Last week I shared with you how I discovered that with man it is  impossible to have victory in Jesus. We are not capable on our own and  we end up in a state of helpless despair, living a wretched Christian life,  without the joy and strength and victory that We long for. This is why we  see so many miserable, angry Christians whose lives have become, either  a drudgery and gloom, or they go the legalist, self-righteous route which is  just as much a waste of time, but momentarily fulfilling because you can  compare yourself to others and have a little control that way. And all this  misery and heartache because we have not learned that we have to  humble ourselves and then learn the other vital lesson: With God all  things are possible!  
Friends, every single day of our lives, is supposed to be proof positive that  God works impossibilities; everyday of our lives can be a day where our  Lord makes impossibilities possible by His power. If that's not exciting  then we don't have a pulse! This is everything we need in our walk with  Jesus. 
We have an all powerful God that we have the privilege of loving and  worshipping. And we must learn this one lesson: We do not need a little of  God’s power so we can accomplish our desires for Him. We need all of  Jesus power and grace living in us, to give us a life of victory over what  used to be impossible for us. Then we will be overwhelmed with the love,  joy, peace and all of the Holy Spirits gifts that will fill our lives. 
 All of our walk with Jesus is a demonstration of God's unlimited power.  "With God nothing is impossible!" Look at the miracle of the virgin birth.  Consider the power of the resurrection. All of this is humanly impossible!  We don't even understand it! The apostle Paul was a good example of this 
very truth. He said: "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much  trembling, and...my preaching was...in demonstration of the Spirit and  power." If we look at this from the human side there was nothing but  feebleness, but from the divine side their was unlimited power! And this is  true of every person who gives their will to Jesus. If we can only learn this  lesson fully and give a wholehearted, undivided surrender to Jesus we will  have a life beyond anything we have imagined. Every hour and every  moment we will experience unlimited power of the Holy Spirit. 
We have a God who spoke and the earth was created. He created light out  of darkness! Can you imagine the power of this omnipotent God in the  work of our redemption? Look at Abraham. God called him to leave his  home and head out without a clue where he was headed. Then God  trained him through many trials to trust Him and see Him as the all  powerful God that would never leave him and give him a son at a hundred  years of age. We read that Abraham believed God. He trusted that God  would fulfill His promise. He made mistakes, but God stayed with him  through that as well! We have a willing patient God! 
 Maybe the greatest reason we hold God back from accomplishing what  He would love to do in our lives, is that we want to work it out partly  ourselves and then let God help us when it gets to big for us. That cannot  be! We must come to Jesus utterly helpless! As Americans who are control  freaks to say the least, we completely subscribe to the belief "that God  helps those who help themselves." But when it comes to salvation and our  walk with Jesus this could not be farther from the truth. If we can just  surrender absolutely and allow God to do His work, He will do a glorious  work in our lives. 
All throughout the Old Testament we see God's servants trusting in an all  powerful God to accomplish impossibilities when they were helpless to  defend themselves. That same God is alive today and wants to do the  same for each of us. And yet some of us continue to want God to give us a  little help, while we are still in control. That is not God's way and He longs  for us to say: 
"I can do nothing. Jesus must and will do it all." 
In worship, in work for God, in sanctification, in obedience to our Lord, we  can do nothing of ourselves; it is our part to simply give ourselves to the 
Holy Spirit and trust that He will "work in us to will and do His good  pleasure." When we can learn this all important lesson: the things which  are impossible with men, are possible with God." Then God will reveal  Jesus in our lives, and the Holy Spirit will be the one in control. It is then  that the self-life will fade away and we can glorify our Lord beyond  anything we have yet imagined. 
It is possible with God; and it is our privilege to claim His deliverance.  Let's do it now! Put ourselves in absolute surrender and let Him do the  impossible in our lives today!
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Man Cannot

10/11/2020

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Last week we saw that there are two vitally important lessons that we as  Christians must learn. 
The first is that in the spiritual life we may put forth every effort and still fall  flat on our face! We may then redouble our efforts and fall flat on our face  even worse than before. We may even keep trying with all we have and  always fall on our face. And yet all to often we still do not learn this simple  lesson: With man it is impossible to serve God and Jesus! Peter spent  three years with Jesus, he spent day and night with Jesus and still didn't  learn it. He just couldn't understand this vital lesson until he had denied  his Lord and came to the end of his rope. It was only when he lost all  confidence in himself, then he learned it! 
Let's look for a moment at the process Peter went through to learn this  lesson. First he fights against it; then he submits to it, then reluctantly  and in despair; he finally accepts it willingly and rejoices with all his  heart.  
I remember well the beginning of my walk with Jesus. I had no concept of  this truth, but I had been converted and had the joy of the Lord in my  heart. So I began to fight the fight; I was sure I could win this fight, I was  sincere and determined, and God would help conquer my life of sin and  selfishness. And yet right out of the gate I fell flat on my face in an area I  hadn't even considered a threat! I was devastated. How could this  happen? I needed to be more careful, I needed to put on my game face. I  made stronger resolutions and grander vows and cried to God for help,  and yet I found myself flat on my face again. And it was at this point that I  wondered, have I not truly given my life to God? But as I considered my 
options I knew that I had to have Jesus help if I was ever going to live this  holy life that I wanted so badly. 
After failure, after failure, after failure I begin to realize that for me to live a  holy life was impossible. But I couldn't accept that! My life before Jesus  was awful! I hated it, I couldn't give up the hope of a new life. There was  no other hope for me so I fought on, for years! I finally came to the point  where I concluded that God must have never expected me to have a life of  victory. It all seemed a mystery to me. I was living a life of misery and  failure in stead of a life of rest and joy and victory. And I began to see that I  could never live that life of victory; it was impossible! My Christian life  became a life of misery and despair. 
I do not think that I am the only one of us who has experienced or is  experiencing this; where I came to the conclusion that I cannot do it! It is  impossible! With this knowledge that I could never live a life of victory in  Jesus. I concluded that it was still the best life I would ever have on this  earth and I would at least be a blessing to others if possible. It was about this time that the Lord put into my hands a compilation of  writing by men and women like Charles Trumbull, Rosalind Goforth,  George Muller, Ellen White, Hudson Taylor, Mead MacGuire, the Unknown  Christian and many more. And God used these writings to show me that  yes victory in Jesus is an impossibility for me! But with God it is more  than possible! That in Jesus we can be renewed and transformed. And  then the cry of my heart was: Lord, please show me this truth! Lord, I must  understand what it means to die with Jesus. Show me what it means to be  filled by the Holy Spirit and have Jesus living in my life. 
Passages like Galatians 2:20 took on a whole new meaning to me: 
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives  in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of  God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." 
Philippians 2:13 finally came alive in my live: 
"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good  pleasure."
That it is God who works in us! It is God who gives the power to  accomplish what He desires. This is the first great lesson in our Walk With  Jesus: "It is impossible for me, my God; let there be an end of the flesh  and all its power, an end of self, and let it be my glory to be helpless." 
Friends, I praise God with all my heart for this wonderful teaching that  makes us helpless! 
When we come to the point where we realize it is not us and God that win  any victories in the battle with self. It is when we realize that there is no us.  When we see that we cannot do it, then we are on the right track, if we  allow ourselves to be led. When we put the us aside and delight in  absolute surrender! It is then and only then that real life in Jesus begins. It  is beyond us, we must fall down on our faces and learn this most  important lesson: we are utterly helpless! Then God will come to "work in  you, both to will and to do." 
We are very hopeful that we will be able to be worshipping at church next  Sabbath with a brief and modified service. So check your emails! God is  going to take this seemingly bad situation and make it a God thing!!!
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    Pastor Brad

    Pastor Brad Traxler is the pastor of the Wrangell SDA Church. Brad Traxler is the husband of forty years to Cheryl, father to Kimberly and Ryan, and grandfather to Brad, Kevin, William, Eamon, Zairhen, Seraphina, and Zeelyah. He holds a BA in Theology and has been pastoring churches for twenty years. The greatest passion of His life has been to share Jesus. 

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