Heart & Soul - - Enjoined

 

Acts 4:32

The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2588, No. 5590

One Heart: the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center

From the Greek word 'kardia' (pronounced kar-dee'-ah): "the affective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference. 

One Soul: the self;  the seat of affections and will, a person's distinct identity

From the Greek word 'psuché' (pronounced psoo-khay'): the life force as a result of God breathing His gift of life into us. 

    THE HEART is never referred to, in the Scriptures, as the actual physical heart but only as the spiritual character heart. Our inner thoughts, our intentions, whether good or bad, originate here. It is this heart which God looks on when He judges the heart. Our will, directed towards self or God, is this heart. 

    The strength of this heart is determined by the strength of the faith which resides in this spiritual heart. If there is no faith in God, there is no strength and the body in which the spiritual heart is located, surrenders to what the self wants. Instead of fearing The Lord God, it fears everything else around it.

    But if the self is surrendered to God, then the heart is, too. The fear of The Lord lives there and the heart derives its strength from faith in the Name of The Lord. 

    THE BELIEVERS who came together to wait for The Promise of the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit were afterwards joined in not only one purpose, but one heart and one soul. Yes, they shared what they had before The Promise came, but that was a sharing in and of themselves without the power of The Holy Spirit uniting them. 

    As a weaver brings many colored threads together on his or her loom, so, too is the church being fitly joined together in The Spirit by the breath of God and the hand of God. The Spirit reveals God's Will and Purpose to the believer who seeks to know such. He also unites in purpose the many believers scattered across this globe: be ready to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

    In the early days of the church being formed, the young believers anticipated the return of their Savior to be soon and very soon. They sold their possessions and shared the increase among themselves. Because Jesus had said He was returning and to be ready for His return. 

    So we say, even now, "Jesus is returning to take His church away with Him. Get ready now or you'll be left behind. Hurry, hurry! Come to salvation by faith in the only Name under heaven by which mankind can be saved. Come to the cross and lay your burden of sins down to be washed away in the blood of God's Lamb. Come to the cross and be forgiven. Come, hurry. Jesus is returning soon. The time is very near. So near there is urgency in our pleas, our calls. Be a rejoicer in the Name of The Lord!." 

    THE CHURCH shines when she increases, her glory is measured by her quantity of believers, not their quality. Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, Messiah, to whom the gospel was first preached, and foreigners (Gentiles) to whom the gospel was sent that we also might be given the opportunity to believe make up the body of the church. 

    Who is the church? The repentant sinner. The ones who believe in the Name of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of their souls. Who believe that Jesus died on the cross, taking the punishment for their sins. That His blood washes away all our filthiness and unrighteousness; that He covers us with Himself and becomes our righteousness. 

    The church consists of murderers, for Paul, after all, was murdering Christians before he became a believer. He thought he was doing God's work, but he was wrong. He had good intentions but his heart was not right with God. Prostitutes who become believers (Rahab) and turn their backs on their sin are the church. Thieves who believe on The Lord's Name for their salvation (the thief on the cross). 

    Liars, idolaters, backstabbers, thinkers of unclean thoughts, gossipers become the church when they repent of their wicked ways against God and turn to Him for their salvation. Regardless of nationalities or skin color, anyone who "names the Name of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:19) is the church. 

    THE SPIRIT moves on our hearts, gently working there to bring us to faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation. We declare that Christ is our personal Lord and Savior, making a personal commitment to follow Him wherever He leads us. The Spirit brings alike hearts together. We commit to remain faithful (faith-filled obedience) to God in His Word and His Spirit, endeavoring to reach and bring in as many people we can share this good news with. 

    "Each One Reach One." Even if only one person acknowledges Christ as a result of my sharing Jesus, my ministry does not end there. For that one person could reach two or one hundred or thousands. As long as I reach one. And my prayers water the seed of faith that is planted not only when I share, but when others share. 

    Revelation 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

ENJOINED

    

God Dwells Within The Believer By Faith

 

2 CORINTHIANS 6:16

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them, and will walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people."

Dwell: inhabit one's personal dwelling/residence, indwelling, dwell within, settled in

Exodus 25:8 "And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them."

Leviticus 26:12: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people."

Jeremiah 31:1 ""At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people."

Ezekiel 37:27 "My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people."

John 14:23 "Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

Romans 6:16 "Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?" 

Romans 8:9 "You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." 

God lives in us through our faith in Him by the power of His Holy Spirit. It happens when we believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord. We cannot clean out our hearts by ourselves and make ourselves presentable to God, nor can we expect to remain in His presence for all eternity if sin is present in us. For God is holy and His holiness demands a holy people, a holy sanctuary, a holy temple, a holy dwellingplace.

So, when we believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord, God moves in, Christ moves in, the Holy Spirit moves in. This is God's promise to us. In John 17:20, 21 Jesus prayed for us: "I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."

That the world may believe that God has sent His Christ (Anointed One, Messiah), JESUS, "Yahweh Saves" "Yahweh Is Salvation" to be the Savior of all mankind. Me. You. That guy that just pulled out in front of you. The cashier who's having a bad day and takes it out on you. Your grouchy next door neighbors. Your parents, siblings, children, cousins, etc. All mankind is predestined (Ephesians 1:4-6 "For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.") for salvation through Jesus Christ, but not all will be saved. Why? Because it has to be our choice. We have to make a decision now whether or not we will believe God's plan of salvation or dismiss it as folly. This decision has to be made while we have breath in our bodies and the ability to make a conscious decision to believe. After death it is too late. 

When we believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord, God enters our heart through the power of His Holy Spirit. This is a beautiful even that is only possible by faith. When we believe, God places a measure of faith within us, which allows Him to enter the door of our heart (Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.") and begin to clean up the sins that have taken root in our hearts. 

God is a gentle God: He waits to be asked by us before moving in and before moving on our behalf. Yes, His holiness demands a holy people, therefore He makes us holy when He makes sin leave: He washes us in the blood of His Lamb Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:9 "And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.") 

Do you believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord? To day is the day to make that decision. 

Uncommon Belief

 

2 CORINTHIANS 6:15

What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

Belial is the name of a demon and another name for Satan. An unbeliever is one who has heard the gospel and refuses to believe it, who is unpersuaded after hearing it, who rejects God's inbirthings of faith. 

A believer is one has become convinced that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the Author of salvation. Galatians 3:9 "So then, those of faith are blessed along with the believing Abraham." 

A believer works faithfully alongside Christ in the field of service to which that believer has been called to serve. 3 John 1:5 "Beloved, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, and especially since they are strangers to you." Romans 12:13 "Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality." Galatians 6:10 "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith." 

A believer does not compromise their faith to 'keep the peace'. We are not called to ride the fence, but to choose a side: we choose to believe that Jesus is God's Christ and that we are to share this good news with everyone we meet or interact with on some level. Not everyone is called to serve in a foreign field as a missionary, but we are called to serve where God sends us: our homes, our workplaces, our cities/towns/villages, our governments, our schools. 

A believer seeks God's face: Psalm 27:8 "You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”"

A believer seeks God's kingdom: Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." 

A believer lives a life of faith, trusting in God for every need: 2 Corinthians 5:7 " For we walk by faith, not by sight." Proverbs 3:5, 6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."

These are but a few of the things a believer does. Many more are written in the Holy Bible for you to read and see for yourself. If you don't have a Bible, I pray you receive one. If you are not yet a believer, I pray you see the Truth of God's Word and receive the faith He is ready to place within your hearts. 

Revealed To Few

 

John 14:22

Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”

Acts 10:39-41

We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree,

God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen—

not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

Why do only the ones chosen by God see the risen Christ? Because He is seen with the eyes of Faith. They who do not believe cannot see Him until they do believe. We who believe, believe by Faith in the Son of God: He Is who He says He is. His Word is Faithful and True. 

Our Faith is not the denomination of the church we belong to: Faith is conditional on Belief and Confession. Romans10:17 Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

And that's who Jesus reveals Himself to: the believer. He reveals Himself to me daily, little by little, until someday I will see Him fully. That perfect day. Until then I will love Him, seek Him and serve Him more every day. I'm a believer.