HEAVENLY INCLINED...: WEDNESDAY'S WISDOM: IMPROVING THE SPIRIT TO HIS GLORY!!!

Thanksgiving for the LORD's Favor

Psalms 138 (A Psalm of David)
1/ I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
2/ I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3/ In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
4/ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
5/ Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.
6/ Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
7/ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8/ The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:
thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands... AMEN!!!

One CANNOT earn GRACE, it is HIS own ESSENCE; a gift, still, IF one claims to be IN HIS GRACE, we ARE to, or, OUGHT to, be reflections of that GRACE! 2 CORINTHIANS 6:1, tells us not to take HIS GRACE in vain! This means, living in LOVE, morality, ethics, virtue, righteousness, and, spiritual improvement, TOWARDS, spiritual maturity, WHILE, visibly BEING as LIGHTS, beaming OF *GOD*, beckoning the world, TO THE LIGHT! Righteousness MEANS, conduct in conformity with *GOD'S* WILL, and, "Be HOLY because I AM HOLY!", therefore, indicating that knowledge, wisdom, and, effort, DO, apply TO the righteous!!! NEVER forget, we were grafted in, and, if we do not bear fruit, as a dead branch, we will be pruned out, just as were, the natural branches!!!

We are not saved by works, instead, works PROVE HIM in us: they identify HIS own...

IF I claim ONENESS with *GOD*, through CHRIST JESUS, I am DEAD TO THE WORLD, THUS, LIVING as HIM, which is, hopefully, witnessed IN, and, THROUGH, my every thought, action, and, reaction; MEANING, I am, THROUGH CONSCIOUS application OF THE WORD, HIS COMMANDS, HIS WILL, REFLECTING righteousness, not, merely, FAITH! I become, the TRULY FRUITFUL branch, of THE VINE, the TRUE member of THE BODY/THE CHURCH, CHRIST JESUS, and, TESTIFY, then, GLORIFY, BOLDLY, BY my thoughts, actions, and, reactions, HIS name, because, HE IS WORTHY, and, IN HIS LOVE, has SHOWN me, how I OUGHT to exist, to which, I eagerly, adapt, and, comply!!!

MATTHEW 5:48...
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect

1 PETER 1:14-16...
14/ Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance
15/ but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct,
16/ for it is written, "Be holy because I (am) holy."

ROMANS 12:2...
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

Conduct, in conformity to *GOD'S* WILL, marks the righteous; it is NOT because of guilt, or, ancient Laws, but, because of LOVE; LOVE for *GOD*, self, then, others! CHRIST JESUS gave us Commandments to live by, of which, the first is to LOVE *GOD*, with all of your mind, heart, and, soul; the second is, to LOVE one another!

LOVE COMPELS us to LIVE IN HIM, through conduct which conforms to *GOD*; in other words, morality, ethics, doing good, and, being good, and, ever striving to improve the spirit! It is about REFLECTING THE TRUTH, for ALL to bear witness to, FOR, and, TO HIS GLORY, RADIANTLY SHINING OF HIS POWER, GRACE, and, MERCIES!!!

It IS ALL ABOUT LOVE, baby, all about LOVE!!!

MATTHEW 4: 17...From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

JOHN 14:15..."If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

NOTE: I do not intend to preach, rather to reach; to stir up, awaken, to inspire, and, bring forth, in discussion, that which is, perhaps, dormantly existing in the heart of hearts, thus, little, or, no, sugar coatings, just THE WORD of *GOD*, the TRUTH, along with some of my thoughts. And truth is, I am reminding myself always, as I practice these reminders, in the best of my abilities, and capacities, while RELYING on THE LORD to lead me on that narrow PATH---> MATTHEW 7: 14: "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it... TO *GOD* BE ALL GLORY...

WEDNESDAY'S WISDOM: IMPROVING THE SPIRIT TO HIS GLORY!!!

As much good as there is to be found in humanity, equally, there is as much wrong! WE, for the most part, create the problems before us, BECAUSE we do NOT align to *GOD*/CHRIST/LOVE! We, largely, remain in the flesh, carnal, and, full of egocentricity! Thus, we are TAUGHT that we MUST develop, and, improve the spirit, because, when we do so, the natural plane begins to melt away as wax! Our LORD is GENIUS indescrible, unmatched, and, unquestionable, so, HOW is it, that we DON'T align to HIM???

1 PETER 2:11...
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul.

JAMES 4: 1-10...
1/ Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?

2/ You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask.

3/ You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

4/ Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

5/ Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, "The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy"?

6/ But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7/ So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8/ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds.

9/ Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.

10/ Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

1 CORINTHIANS 2: 5; 9-16...

5/ so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

9/ But as it is written: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,"

10/ this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.

11/ Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God.

12/ We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.

13/ And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.

14/ Now the natural person does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually.

15/ The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgment by anyone.

16/ For "who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

1 CORINTHIANS 3: 1-3...

1/ Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.

2/ I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it. Indeed, you are still not able, even now,

3/ for you are still of the flesh. While there is jealousy and rivalry among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving in an ordinary human way?

HEBREWS 5: 11-14...

11/ About this we have much to say, and it is difficult to explain, for you have become sluggish in hearing.

12/ Although you should be teachers by this time, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the utterances of God. You need milk, (and) not solid food.

13/ Everyone who lives on milk lacks experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a child.

14/ But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties are trained by practice to discern good and evil.

HEBREWS 6: 10-11...

11/ We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end,

12/ so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.

EPHESIANS 4: 13-27...

13/ until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ,

14/ so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.

15/ Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,

16/ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body's growth and builds itself up in love.

17/ So I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;

18/ darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance, because of their hardness of heart,

19/ they have become callous and have handed themselves over to licentiousness for the practice of every kind of impurity to excess.

20/ That is not how you learned Christ,

21/ assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus,

22/ that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires,

23/ and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

24/ and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

25/ Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

26/ Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger,

27/ and do not leave room for the devil.

COLOSSIANS 3: 1-10...

1/ If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

2/ Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.

3/ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4/ When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

5/ Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.

6/ Because of these the wrath of God is coming (upon the disobedient).

7/ By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.

8/ But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths.

9/ Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices

10/ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.

There is more, but, this should suffice in opening up to some thought! PRAISE THE LORD, WORSHIP HIM, and, let us LIVE IN HIS LOVE, as is HIS WILL!!! *GOD* BLESS and BE with us ALL! MUCH LOVE, in the name of CHRIST, our LORD...

BIBLICAL, and/or, other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS