Physical vs Spiritual

          Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 
                                                                           
                                                                            Luke 17:33

     What does that mean ?  Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses there life will preserve it .


We are daily waging war against flesh and blood, spirit and truth, evil and wickedness. Man and the world.  The world say's that if you conform to it's ways, you will succeed and have plenty of material worth, financial wealth and experience things.

The bible say's that you have an inheritance for beyond things and material .
Ephesians 1:18 - The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

Titus 3:7 - That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Galatians 5:16-

¹⁶ This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

¹⁷ For the flesh lusted against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

¹⁸ But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

²¹ Envying's, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

²⁴ And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

²⁶ Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 

 

 

Dying to self and putting of wants that would entice you and create a temporary happiness is worldly and not lasting. God sent his only son Jesus Christ so that you and I could Inherit the Kingdom Of God.  Do you have any idea what that looks like ?  I have a glimpse , and I have a desire to continue forward in the march towards the prize.  Physical pleasure is fleeting, spiritual pleasure endures through all things and love covers a multitude of sins.

 

I am not able to say one thing and act another, My life style must match my words. Promises made are promises kept, He who is faithful in the little is given more. I have personal experience in faithfulness to He who created me, and I also have personal experience in not being so faithful.

 

Tearing down the strongholds are a difficult thing, however, God gives us the armor to endure this spiritual battle, the waging war, between flesh and spirit.  I choose to suffer long term if that is what it takes, I want my words to match my walk, and more then that I want my heart to be directly connected to Jesus and the Father. This requires selfless actions, I may want to do for myself, but I am unable to at certain times, because he is calling me to endure for a season, to wait patiently on His will and not mine..

 

We as Believers , have a Job, full time, 24/7 Job, to witness, in the streets, Not just in your church, or with your Group, but to strangers, we are to step out of our comfort zone, take a risk and get dirty with the dirty people, doing dirty things, because they do not know the love that was given for them, they can not accept this spiritual Journey and they live in the physical moments feeding their flesh, worldly things , Things that rust and decay, turn to nothing, starting out with nothing and ending up with nothing, With God we start out with nothing and end up with eternity.

 

Do you Know your life is not your own, the things that bring Glory to yourself, do not bring Glory to God, the things that you do every Sunday, sitting in a  pew, raising your hands and saying Hallelujah, then walking away from that hour or two hour time of being conformed to a pattern of Church, but leaving the building and rushing through the traffic just to get back to your self fulfilling life, because you have yet to learn to stop and trust God , that he is in control, His time is not our time and He knows what we need, however He can never give that too you, if you do not stop and listen. I am speaking from personal experience that is all I have. My experience , strength and Hope , that what I found I can freely give away to another.  My life is a miracle . Period.

 

You are worthy, someone loved you enough to die for you and he paid the penalty for my sin and for your sin . Once we give are life to Him, we can know longer go about living in the old flesh, The old is dead and gone and the new has come, He gave you the Holy Spirit and you now have a purpose. Change , you have to be willing to work with this power, it will not do it for you, You have to be willing to feel, feel everything, in order to " grow " through it.

 

God was, is and always will be the one who longs for your heart, People will come and go, seasons will change God is with you day and night, till the end of time. Are you prepared to let him cleanse your heart, change your mind, be transformed, are you ready to capture all your thoughts and turn them over, from Glory to Glory, he will change you. Sometimes quickly , sometimes slowly, but if your willing He wants your commitment. We cant live in sin and expect God to completely bless us the way he wants to, Excuses are Nil, they do not work with Him, he knows what your going to do before you do. Stop intentional sin, turn from adultery, homosexuality, drunkenness, these are some of the patterns created when we live with out him, Yet surrender means being willing to follow scripture, not add your watered down , sugar coated scripture to fit your needs, God is not in a box or a bottle he is the creator of all things, Believing is not enough, even the devil knows the word of God and believes in him. We have to be witnesses of the word, let them see how you live, let them want what you have, let them see your smile and your peace, peace that surpasses understanding even when you have nothing to smile about in the world, you have peace with in. You are content within, your soul and spirit, because you have truth and are living for the truth.

 

The only way to get to the Father is through his Son Jesus Christ, if you don't believe , that is ok, it only takes a mustard seed, to gain insight into his holy word. Nothing can separate you from God, He created you, and has waited for you still until today. Are you ready ? Are you willing to die to self and walk in His ways and not your own, There is a price to pay, however the Reward is rich according to his Glory and ways..

 

Please If you do not know , or have lost your way. Pray , find a person who you trust and share, to lighten the emotional burdens of this life is healing and I guarantee , you may also be helping someone else, God makes no Junk and nothing is coincidental nothing..

 

Be blessed...

 

Pamela Benigno  A life renewed and transformed

Love Making

                               How do you make love ?

Shame on you for thinking that when you seen the title of this blog.

We all make things in life, we make money, we make gifts, we make conversation and yes we make love to a husband or a wife. I am now writing for a larger purpose on love , How do you make love for God.  For a complete stranger, for a family member who has you at wits end, for a friend who you want to help change and to help that friend find peace and contentment.  The bible tells us over and over again, to love. The greatest known verse is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  This is the Lord telling the world that God loves the world and all the people in it. He sent his son for you and for me. 


When dealing with others, where is your heart and what are the motives that stir your actions?  We are told in Luke 6:31

Do to others as you would have them do to you.  We would want others to be kind, honest, faithful, giving, intimate, sincere, authentic, so since we require these traits from others , it is also our responsibility to return in like minded behaviors, making things pure and respectful. Sounds a lot like making love to me, we can also do just the opposite with our tounge and our actions, we do show the world who we are not so much by what we say , but how we act. What are you showing the world?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ( Love never fails )

 

 

We all go through hard times in life, and those times are going to be a testimony later for someone who you have never met yet. A women survives cancer and soon becomes a strength for the women who just was diagnosed with cancer. A child is born ab-normal and soon you are around other Parents dealing with the same frustration, How could a loving God do this to me. Well he has not given you more than you can bear

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

God will always give you the people you need to walk with you in your Journey, we have to decide it was given by God and Make love in it.  To make love you have to put forth the effort to give and receive other wise your just making your own self will, and being selfish, self seeking and Love is the opposite of those two things, Love does not seek itself, yet seeks out others to share with, walk with, care with, sacrifice for. Holding one another up in courage and faith knowing that He who sent them also has a purpose for each person in your life. They are the tools and the advocates that Jesus gives us in times of trouble and times of laughter and Joy.

The world tells us to love things and seek more , more, more stuff.

 

Gods word tells us that we can not serve two masters .

Matthew 6:24

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

 

The whole reason I have written this is to share with you his great love, a love of redemption, and a reason to love and make love to all those you meet, We can show them treasures of the heart, things that will not fade away, and decay. We can show them that He first loved us, so we will love them, The lost , the broken, the hurting, do not walk away from someone in emotional pain, and if they tell you they need your love, love them. Even if they do not tell you, love them, hate what is evil yes but don't hate the sinner. We are all sinners and yet Jesus showers us with mercy and grace, We have no rights to expect others to meet a performance trap. The world says perform, do good, succeed, it's ok to do evil to get ahead, God says, we must love and in order to love we must first.

Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 

 

This has been on my heart for about 2 weeks, now . That is how God use's me. I will get a thought and then in my mind start to create the words and the message that I am suppose to share with others, and then one day, I do sit down and it all comes together, because he is faithful and always finishes what he starts.

I hope that in some way this has penetrated your heart, I know that the title, can be taken out of context, but really we want to make love and show that God gives love and makes the broken loveable , makes the addicted healed, makes the marriages that are ready to fall apart one again. We have to be one in Him in order to do his will and his work, it is hard to die to self daily, and become more and more Christ like in order to show the world him through us, its a serious responsibility.  We are each others keeper, we have to in love be honest with one another, we have to carry the burden and we have to pray for each other in love, in his name.

 

Make love to others today, embrace someone, tell someone you love them, weird maybe, but then again they did not understand how Jesus did what he did, Do not be afraid when he asks you to do something out of the normal, like grabbing a bunch of kids and playing Frisbee, or helping that homeless man who is drunk and hungry, its not our Job to judge his drunkenness, it is our Job to offer him food, and a word of salvation, LOVE, we must love all things, for him. This is no easy task. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for us I think we can endure a bit of being uncomfortable in order to be his hands and feet on earth. Making love and changing the world one heart beat at a time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pIqE-Mxx1g

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for reading what I feel is guided by the one who gives life  by Pamela Joy Benigno

Being with Jesus

 

Acts 4:5-13

 

We ask our children where are you going and who are you going with ?

 

Two very important questions we also need to ask ourselves!

 

We prime each others pumps , just as iron sharpens iron.  Who we choose to spend time with either builds us up or pulls us down.

 

Be encouraged not to let your ears become a garbage can for someone else's trash.

 

Acts 4:5-13

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶ Anna's the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

¹³ When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

 

THESE MEN HAD BEEN WITH JESUS

 

Do you know that when you have been with Jesus you have courage and supernatural power without any contempt to disguise or hide in fear.

 

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

 

When you spend time with the lord you have a confidence that the world does not have, you have a sharp word and are able to guard your heart. The disciples were simple and direct. The level of commitment was astounding .

 

The liberty of conscience and responsibility will overflow in your heart and Joy will be your song.

 

You will be filled with the spirit, and others will react once you been with Jesus.  When you been with Jesus others will ask what power or what name has this been done in.  The response is that if we are on trail for a benefit for a healing done to a sick man.  We see him stand before you healthy and healed.

 

The answer is Jesus is the miracle worker, the healer, the only one and the only name that restores the lame, the broken, the beggar!

 

This writing is done this morning in all honor and Glory to My King.  My redeemer .

The lover of my soul.

I thirst know more because of you Oh Lord.

Today this is a desire to squelch all contempt all sin and acknowledge you in all my ways.

 

Dear Father , who arts in the Heaven's touch one touch many. We have no special qualifications we have know degree. Yet you equip us with the words , the prayers and the actions always.  We seek your face Oh lord, Bring us to the King.  We wear the Crown of Victory, in you.

 

Thank you God above for being all knowing and all powerful ,  Thank you for your children .

Thank you for life and wisdom, health and beauty, friendship and Joy.

In your precious and heavenly name we bow before you and pray these words of our hearts, because we spend time with Your son Jesus, We have divine power and supernatural power to speak, they are amazed and baffled, Oh yes when we been with Jesus we are committed to him, and we can't stop speaking of him, we worship you and we thank you.

 

Live and let live, Let go and Let God.

" Yes To God "

                              I Don't qualify to be a women who says yes to God. 

Philippians 4:27

 

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your heart and minds, as you live in Jesus Christ.

 

    Close up the book and place it in the stack of other unfinished books and project's .  Oh yes that is what I was about to do, before this study started, because I thought, ( I thought ) that I knew better and that what could I possibly learn by saying  " YES " to God that I haven't already Learned.

     I gave up everything a little over a year and a half ago, to take a blind Journey with God to get clean and learn a new way to live, putting down several crutches and changing my whole life. I will just give up my place in the small group and pass my book along to someone else, since I already read it before the study started.  I know what to do.

    Those five words I know what to do, are destructive, selfish and ego centric , my will has always failed me terribly.  Low self esteem and a learning curve, I say learning curve because the average person learns from their mistakes , I need to be hit over the head with a 2x4 before I learn, or at least I did in the past.  When the pain our weights the pleasure a person will change, and for me I was tired living in a vicious cycle of addiction.  That was my first Big YES to God.  Not a temporary decision based on an emotional charge, rather an life changing decision based on life and death.

    I have labeled myself, everything from loser, to addict to unworthy and on and on that list will go, I will feel not as accomplished as others around me and I will suffer some grave emotional ups- and downs , I have learned to find my identity in Christ Jesus, and I practice building character traits that re-new my mind, and our refreshing to my soul.  In James 4:10 We are to humble ourselves and the Lord , He will lift us up.  This is a formula that has proven true and well worth giving up my self-righteous rights.

    I have been blessed beyond belief and I am honored to be involved in this study, and I have built a few relationships on line with other women who also chose to say Yes to God.  It takes work, diligence and perseverance, to change from a self destructive life style, and to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, a God who has sent a Holy Spirit advocate to work on my behave, to instill with in my heart a desire to serve , in a loving , merciful, kind way all of my neighbors, today my neighbor is anyone I come in contact with, anywhere at anytime.  I keep this book close to my heart, and the simplicity of how to learn from another's experience is touching and heartwarming.


    This book has confirmed some of my beliefs and has created new beliefs , has caused me to search more, study my bible more, and actually has created a spark in other areas.  I currently have made a concrete no wavering decision to eat healthy and loose weight, Now it has only been 12 days, however through Christ, I am walking daily, doing a routine at a low cost gym, and I am staying more active, It is a saying YES to God moment and a daily reprieve that I have now incorporated into my God time my " white space " I am seeing results, because I am not doing on my own, I am doing it with God as my Coach, my partner, my best friend, I will be at 1.5 miles on the tread mill and I will pray , oh God, come on you give me the strength , then I recall this.

Isaiah 53

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

    I envision the crucifix and well, that's enough for me to push through the pain, or tiredness and thank him and continue to say YES.  I have along way to go, but I know with him on my side, I will not fall.

   
Job 42:5      “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

    Not only do my ears hear, but my eyes see, and my Heart beats as one in and with Jesus , My life also can be seen through the prodigal son I squander it all, many times, and when I ran back home to my Father in heaven, he clothed me white and called me his own, he has taken my sin and he wants it all.


    My surrender and Saying YES has given me life, and peace, freedom and Joy, this is the power of saying YES to God.

Written By Pamela Joy Benigno

Thank you Proverbs 31
Thank you Lysa TerKeurst
Thank you small group leaders