THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 1

 

Col.1:27-28 – “To them God chose to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery in the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus!”  Noutheteo – to put in mind, or to remind, or to re-align the mind with the mind of God, is the Greek word translated here as warning every man. Awakening every man’s mind to the fact that the Gentiles are included in one man’s death and now God commands all men everywhere to come to their right mind (repent, metanous) and sin no more. Because He has fixed a day by which He would judge the world in righteousness and of this He has given assurance to all men by raising Jesus from the dead. Acts 17:31. The fact that He was able to raise Jesus from the dead means that all men stand acquitted before Him. If there is a sentence upon a criminal to serve at least 10 years imprisonment and the prisoner escapes after 5 years, the guilt cannot be lifted. He remains guilty. But if he serves his full term, he can walk out of those prison doors a free man. Jesus served humanity’s full sentence; He was raised because we were declared righteous. Rom.4:25. “If then you have been raised together with Him, occupy your mind with the things that are above.” Col.3:1-3. We only have to awaken every man and teach every man, in order to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 2

 

If the gospel could be measured geographically it can only be measured by the uttermost parts of the earth. Psa 22:27  All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

Rom. 5:17 If (spiritual) death saw the gap in one sin, and grabbed the opportunity to dominate mankind in Adam, how much more may we now seize the advantage to reign in righteousness in this life through that one act of Christ, who declared us innocent by His grace. Grace is out of all proportion in superiority to the transgression.

5:18 The conclusion is clear: it took just one offence to condemn mankind; one act of righteousness declares the same mankind innocent.

5:19 The disobedience of the one man exhibits humanity as sinners, the obedience of another man exhibits humanity as righteous.

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 3

 

Col.2:9-10 says, “In Him there is all of God in a human body. Your own completeness is only realized in Him.” Deity does not feel embarrassed about, or confined in the human body. Jesus proved that the earthen vessel was no hindrance to the treasure that it holds. Presenting every man perfect in Christ, not through religious ritual or academic tuition, or to attempt to perhaps eventually change the conduct of the thorn tree and to finally remove the spots from the leopard’s skin, but through the revelation of the rain that has come, distance was cancelled. The effect of the rain awakens the original blueprint life to replace the thorn tree! Instead of the thorn, the Cyprus, instead of the briar, the myrtle! Is. 55. The highway was built in the wilderness. Isa.40:3,4. Now He commands all men everywhere to come to their right mind, because He has given assurance, He has given guarantee to your innocence when He raised Jesus from the dead.  1 Cor.1:5 Your knowledge of Christ is based on so much more than mere hear-say; every aspect of your life gives eloquent expression to the rich reservoir of your union in him. 1:6 You certainly have the testimony of Christ evidenced in you. (You possess full knowledge and give full expression because in you the evidence for the truth of Christ has found confirmation. NEB)

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 4

 

John G. Lake said, “The only difference between Christ and us was His understanding of who He was”. There is no other difference! Man’s only reference was that the God of His origin, who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, caused all things to come into existence through the inherent power of His utterances.  He had brought all things to perfection because He had declared it through the Word of His power. Man’s perfection was sealed in the utterance of God. When He spoke He created. The Word became flesh and we beheld His glory. We can scrutinize, we can judge, we can seek to condemn and every time come to one conclusion – “Christ is all and in all” – Col.3:11. You condemn Paul!  Why don’t you examine yourselves? Do you not realize that Christ is in you!  2Cor.13:5,8. Christ in you is the expectation of the nations fulfilled in one final Word – in an eternal day that dawned.

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 5

 

While history could only record the death of one man, eternity recorded the death of the entire human race; the death of the last Adam and the resurrection of a new creation. We know that Jesus has come and that He has given us understanding to know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true. 1John 5:20.  For after two days He revived us, and on the third day He raised us up together with him – Hos. 6:2-3. Therefore let us know and press on to know the Lord who is true and we are in Him who is true. Who has heard of such a thing; can a nation be born in one day; can a people be brought forth in a moment? – Is.66:8.

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 6

 

Our time spent in the flesh is to make all men see, whether from the pulpit or from the page or through personal contact, to display the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. We see our lives in only one light, God making His appeal through us. For God was in Christ when He reconciled the world to Himself not counting their trespasses against them. 2Cor. 5:14-21.

 

Now God touches mankind through me!

 

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 7

 

In His letter to the Romans, Paul gives radical and immediate relevance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a most distinguished fashion.

In studying this pivotal book of the Bible, one begins to understand why Paul would so emphatically speak of his gospel.

He erases any illusion that one could possibly add or subtract from this revelation. It concerns the total well-being of universal mankind; how the Creator succeeded in redeeming and restoring His image and likeness in human form.

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 8

 

Paul is convinced that whatever happened to the human race because of Adam’s fall is far superseded in every possible proportion by the revelation of mankind’s inclusion in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He places the fall of Adam and every act of unrighteousness that followed against the one act of righteousness that God performed in Christ as the final acquittal of humanity.

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 9

 

Any instruction that still places the emphasis on man’s contribution according to the prescribed rules of the law to improve himself and his conduct limits man again to personal discipline and effort under the futile system of the law of guilt and condemnation, and ignores the completed work of God in Christ. Galatians 5:9 It is impossible to hide the effect of the smallest amount of yeast; the process of fermentation is immediately triggered. (A little bit of legalism corrupts a person’s whole life.)

Faith and willpower are opposites. Faith ignites willingness!

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 10

 

The revelation of righteousness by faith unveils how God in Christ succeeded in restoring man’s lost sense of identity and innocence. The etymological essence of the word, ‘righteousness’ in its root form, diké, implies the idea of two parties finding likeness in each other; with no interference of any sense of blame, guilt or inferiority.

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 11

 

Gal 1:7  There is no other gospel in spite of the many so-called Christian products branded "gospel". If any hint of the law remains, it is not good news but merely religious people's ideas, detracting from the gospel of Christ. (Some seek to unsettle your minds by perverting the gospel to accommodate their own opinion.)

Gal 1:8  I myself or any of my team would stand equally accursed, even if we claim to have had an angelic visitation, if what we preach were to stray ever so slightly from the gospel of the finished work of Christ.

Gal 1:9 Let me be blatant and clear about this: any gospel that does not emphasise the successfully completed work of the cross is a counterfeit and produces nothing but the curse! http://www.mirror.scripturetext.com/

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 12

 

Gal 1:10  (In sharp contrast to the time when I needed letters of authority from the religious institutions of the day, endorsing my mission) God is now my persuasion; He is the person I please, not man. I’m employed by Christ; it is he who matters most. Any impression I might make upon man fades in significance. (What is the point of an impressive CV, when even your Maker is not asking for it?)

Gal 1:11  There is absolutely nothing religious about this message; no room for speculation or philosophical debate.

Gal 1:12  This message is not the product of religious invention; my source of reference is the unveiled mystery of Christ in me. http://www.mirror.scripturetext.com/

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 13

 

Gal 1:13  Everyone knows what a zealous Jew I was when I savagely persecuted God’s church.

Gal 1:14  And how I progressed in the Jewish faith beyond many of my peers in my excessive eagerness to preserve the traditions of my ancestors.

Gal 1:15  God's eternal love dream (eudokeo: His beautiful intention) separated me from my mother's womb; (my natural lineage and identity); His grace became my identity. (Gr. kaleo, to surname, to summon by name)

 

 

 

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 14

 

Gal 1:16  This is the heart of the gospel I proclaim; it began with an unveiling of Christ in me, freeing me to announce Him in mankind (including the masses of humanity that were not even Jews by birth.) I felt no immediate urgency to compare notes with other people's opinions. (The Greek text is quite clear, en ethnos, in the nations, or the masses of non Jewish people! Later when Barnabas is sent to investigate the conversion of the Greeks in Acts 11, instead of reporting his findings to the HQ in Jerusalem, he immediately finds Paul, knowing that his gospel is the revelation of the mystery of Christ in the nations. (Col.1:27) No wonder then that those believers were the first to be called Christians, or Christ-like! The seed is already in the soil, waiting for the rain to awaken its life! Is 55, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, so shall My word be that proceeds from my mouth... When Jesus speaks of the sinner He speaks of him as the lost sheep, coin, or son. Lk.15. The inscription and image did not disappear from the coin when it was lost, how can we praise God and with the same mouth curse a man made in His image? James 3:9

Mankind forgot what manner of man he was by design; image and likeness bearer of His Maker; that is exactly what Jesus both revealed and redeemed, in human form; so that we may now behold Him with unveiled faces as in a mirror and be transformed (in our mindsets) into His likeness. Legalistic religion kept the veil in place; the proclaiming of the liberating truth of the Good News, removes the veil! The ugly duckling didn’t even need a facelift! It only needed to know the truth...)

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August 15

 

Gal 1:17  This is radical! I deliberately distanced myself from Jerusalem and the disciples of Jesus. I landed up in Arabia before I returned again to Damascus. (The weight of this revelation left me no choice; instead of finding out more about Christ in history, I desire to discover Him ever more in myself! See also 2 Cor.5:16)

Gal 1:18  Then three years later I ventured into Jerusalem, specifically to meet with Chefas; I ended up staying with him for two weeks.

Gal 1:19  During this time I did not see any of the other apostles except James, the younger brother of Jesus.

One would think that Paul missed out on a golden opportunity immediately after his conversion in that he did not study first-hand the detailed eye-witness information which the apostles had to offer him about Jesus of Nazareth.

But the impact of his encounter had distanced him even from the value he had previously placed on his own noble birth. Whatever gain he felt that he might have had as a descendant of the prominent lineage of Benjamin is discounted against the revelation of the greater spiritual identity of man.

“From now on therefore I no longer know any man from a human point of view...” (2 Corinthians 5:16). “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, nor slave nor freeman, nor African nor Chinese, nor European nor American, neither male nor female...” (Galatians 3:28).

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August  16

 

Nothing distinguishes an individual more than the revelation of his original identity as preserved, restored and revealed again in Christ. In Christ, the image and likeness of the invisible Creator is accurately displayed again in human form. “It is in Him that God gives a full and complete expression of Himself. Moreover, your own completeness is realised only in Him” (Colossians 1:15; 2:9-10 Phillips Translation).

 

 

 

 

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE                    August  17

 

“He is not far from each one of us,” Paul reminds the philosophers of Athens. “In Him we live and move and have our being; we are indeed His offspring...” (Acts 17:27,28). The inner mirror of Christ says it all. Our likeness to Christ revealed within us brings real transformation; this realisation is so much more effective than wishful thinking, mere ‘window shopping’ or the exercise of our willpower. (2 Corinthians 3:18).

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Mirror Word

Francois du Toit

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