STUDIES FROM BRETHREN IN CHRIST

8/16/2015 ~ Life

Life.pptx Out of darkness God gave light to life. In a breath, we became living creatures in His image. For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow. ~ Job 8:9   Life is like a shadow   ... all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? ~ Ecclesiastes 6:12 In a moment our lives play out and come to an end. ... my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. ... ~ Psalm 39:5   Best state = Vapor   Vigor turns weak as the flesh heads toward expiring. In a flash the spirit returns to the Creator. ... For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ~ James 4:14   Life is like a short vapor   Broken dreams and projects left undone, life often ends in a jumping scream. ... few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, ... ~ Genesis 47:9 In all the lengths of life here on earth, evil pounds upon the good. ... only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. ~ Psalm 90:10 Time is a fence holding back the truth of eternity. For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing; ... ~ Psalm 31:10   Life is filled with troubles   "Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble." ~ Job 14:1 Suffering is common to man refining the character to endure. All are one breath away from what is next. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good. ~ Job 7:7 ... those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; ... ~ Isaiah 40:31 Waiting on the Lord supplies the fathomless strength to endure. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. ~ Psalm 84:5   Strength = In You   Hope is a lifelong path to return to God. ... confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ~ Hebrews 11:13 Faith is the test of one’s resolve and loyalty to God Himself, creator of all. ... as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, ... ~ 1st Peter 2:11 Many fall from God’s light pursing ungodly fleshly lusts. Insatiable and turmoilling desires can steal the peace of a soul. I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me. ~ Psalm 119:19 Searching for higher truths puts the temporality of the earth in proper perspective. ... sound wisdom and discretion; So they will be life to your soul And grace to your neck. ~ Proverbs 3:21-22 Cherishing His ways delivers life in the midst of His grace. ... looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ... ~ Titus 2:13 Faith increases in trust when hope is established in His love. ... "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death." ~ Jeremiah 21:8   Life is a choice between good or bad   For each it is a choice in overcoming the pains we endure in the flesh searching for an escape. ... in Him we live and move and have our being, ... ~ Acts 17:26-29 We are the offspring of God and as such, do we regard this? ... to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, ... ~ Ezekiel 3:18 We are asked to have godly care for one another. A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one's birth; ~ Ecclesiastes 7:1 Goodness is the pillar of a soul and freedom arrives upon His judgment. ... soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he ... ~ Ecclesiastes 6:3-4 Empty are those who rely on self resisting love for others. ... having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, ... ~ Ephesians 4:18-19 There are those in darkness the Lord will not accept. "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." ~ John 5:40 The deepest values in life cannot be had without a coming to God. ... created in Christ Jesus for good works, ... ~ Ephesians 2:10 God looks for the good hearted as essential. ... a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, ... ~ Ecclesiastes 9:4-5   Life is for the conscious   Life is not only instinctual, but of the highest thirst in existence, for animal and human alike. Is living expresses a condition that is not without. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. ~ Proverbs 13:12 All endure through the pools of misery in discovering life. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD." ~ Jeremiah 17:7   Blessed:             ⮡  is who                        → Trusts in the LORD                          → Hope is the LORD It is God who refreshes the spirit in the darkest of trials. ... rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, ... ~ 1st Timothy 6:17-19 Life is an accumulation of spiritually rich works in preparation for that which is to come. The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ~ Job 33:4 Life is a creation of God and it is He who sustains it. ... it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, ... ~ Isaiah 38:16-18 The test in life is choosing God’s call over the selfish desires of the flesh. Actions can not be undone and regret has no value if change of heart is not founded in God. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:7 Limited is our time that will expose our true identity to God Himself. ... called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ~ 1st Peter 5:10   Call to His eternal glory       ↑        |    ● Settle you        |    ● Strengthen        |    ● Establish        |    ● Perfect        |    ● Suffered a while   Life is God's test of a soul's commitment   Endurance can be a prayer on our path to salvation. ... receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. ~ Proverbs 4:10 The fear of the LORD prolongs days, But the years of the wicked will be shortened. ~ Proverbs 10:27 Knowing God and His word is the fruit that empowers the spirit of a soul. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ~ Romans 8:6 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart. ~ Proverbs 20:27 ↑ Life and peace   Spirit of the heart lamp   Spiritually minded ↕ Carnally minded Death ↓ All external temptations have no power to ignite the deep peace all hearts search for. Inner love of others is the highest order of spirit. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." ~ John 6:63   Life is a gift of Spirit                                            ↑         Spirit gives life       |   Words I speak are spirit life   Flesh profits nothing ↓                           It is the spirit that maintains the priceless gift of life. ... flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ~ 1st Corinthians 15:50 Death devours all flesh with a last gasp as souls rise back to God. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. ... ~ 1st Corinthians 15:44 Those in Christ await that awakening to eternal bliss. "... The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." ~ Matthew 26:41 Humble communication with God softens the pain we all experience. "... narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." ~ Matthew 7:14   Life is narrowly navigated unto eternity   Ignoring God is the choice of the many who will not obtain His inheritance. "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." ~ Matthew 10:39 To live in Him reveals an endless life unobtainable without Him. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. ~ Romans 14:7 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. ... ~ Romans 14:8-9 None of us have the power of life in our helpless attempt to remain. God is waiting for each of us. "... do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; ..." ~ Matthew 6:25 Challenged is to find the touch of spirit over the petty desires of the flesh. "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing." ~ Luke 12:23 It is God that leads us to the qualities of true spirit.   Life is more than physical desires   "... one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." ~ Luke 12:15 True value can not be obtained from any creation of dust formed on the earth. Life is more than the earth. "... He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." ~ John 6:35 His sustenance is eternal. "... everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; ..." ~ John 6:40 Belief in action is the faith He calls for. We all breathlessly need God. "... the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." ~ John 4:13-14 It is natural that all desire permanence and in which can only be had through Christ. The earth maintains no permanence. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. ... ~ Romans 8:9 Only by the spirit can we be free of the bondage of the earth. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ~ 1st John 5:11   Life = In His Son   God offers eternal life to all those who find life in His Son.   Life is in the Son of God   He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ~ 1st John 5:12 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ~ John 1:4 Without Jesus, one cannot see the truth God has delivered for the redemption of souls. "... do this and you will live." ~ Luke 10:27-28 Love for God surpasses all the heights of heaven. ... Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. ~ Revelation 22:17 For those that come to God inherit treasures beyond measure. His light bathes us in the truth. True darkness can hold no light. ● Life is like a shadow ● Life is like a short vapor ● Life is labor and sorrow ● Life is filled with troubles ● Life is a choice between good or bad ● Life is for the conscious ● Life is God's test of a soul's commitment   ● Life is a gift of Spirit ● Life is narrowly navigated unto eternity ● Life is more than physical desires ● Life is in the Son of God Short lives are for all in preparation for Gods revealing and judgment of souls born of flesh. Darkness misses the spark of light