(our spiritual and mental hygiene) This article is part of the "Vitalize" pack Our salvation and our adoption has been prepared in advance (Eph 1:4-6) by His love, but our lives continue to go on in this disordered, ungodly world. The Lord Jesus and his apostles take great care to maintain the hygiene of our lives. They never confuse salvation with sanctification . 2Cor 7:1 Therefore, dear friends, since we have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, completing our sanctification in the fear of God. Let's start with the well-known scene: Remember that Jesus Christ washed the feet of his disciples. During supper,... Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands,... rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel...
Preaching on Mark 9:17-18 Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said: “You must become aware of your need, of your impotence, of your helplessness. You must realise that you are confronted by something that is too deep for your methods to get rid of, or to deal with, and you need something that can go down beneath that evil power, and shatter it ... and there is only one thing that can do that, and that is the power of God. And we too, must become aware of that, we have got to feel it until we become desperate. We must ask ourselves how we can succeed if we do not have this authority, this commission, this might and strength and power. We must become utterly and absolutely convinced of our need. We must cease to have so much confidence in ourselves, and in all our methods and organisations, and in all our slickness. We have got to realise that we must be filled with God’s Spirit. And we must be equally certain that God can fill us with his Spirit. We have got to realise that however great ...
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?.. Yet you are holy, enthroned {dwelling} on the praises of Israel. Psalm 22 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him 1 John 2:28 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1 John 3:24 We are encouraged by John to abide in God, which has various meaning in the believer's life. In 1John chapter 2 and 3 we get dense apostolic visions how this relationship shapes our lives and makes ripples around us.. However, God is equally present in us and desires to live within our hearts' worship and adoration. Psalm 22, the great messianic-prophetic psalm, reveals this heavenly intimate relationship showing the out casted, Suffering Messiah who -In His Greatest sacrifice, in His death agony- gives us a glorious dimensions about Gd's dwelling...