Luciusministry

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The daily renewal of the inward man (part two)

Remind ourselves that life is a gift from God

Another way we can renew the inward man day by day is by reminding ourselves of the fact that we are not our own and that the spiritual or eternal life which we possessed is a gift from God as we have been duly instructed saying; “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

We are also to take into consideration the fact that, we were bought at a price and therefore, we are to glorify God in your body and in our spirit, which are God's. This gift of eternal life which we have received from God is Jesus Christ in whom all things exist as we have been duly admonished saying; “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising” (Acts 17:26-29).

It is in Jesus Christ we all live and move and have our existence and this spiritual life is antagonistic to the life which is in accordance to the flesh and also against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places and hence, we have been duly admonished saying; “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” And so, we have been duly admonition saying; “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5: 16-17; 25).

As previously mentioned, the daily struggle is not only against the flesh but also against spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places and so we have been forewarned saying; “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” (.2Corintians 10:3-6).

We have also been duly admonished saying; “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13).

Jesus Christ therefore is the most important ingredient or element in the daily renewal of the inward man and this is comparative to the breath of air which is the most important ingredient or element of the life in the flesh. Therefore, it is imperative that we not only have our existence in Jesus Christ but also to have Jesus Christ living in us and there is an outward sign to prove whether or not Jesus Christ in living in us which according to the apostle Paul is, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10).

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Saturday, February 18, 2023

The daily renewal of the inward man

I wonder how many of us who profess to believe in Jesus Christ are taking literally the life of the inward man as we are dealing with that of the outward man despite the fact that we have been duly admonished by the apostle Paul saying; “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Corinthians 4:16-18).

When we look at the rapid deterioration of our physical human body whether due to age or sickness and despite of this rapid deterioration we have received the consolation and assurance saying; “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” My humble question is how many of us literally take into consideration this passage of scripture and meditates daily on how we are to renew the inward man?

And also, whether there a process, a formula or a standard procedure on how to renew the inward man day by day? The answer to this question is an absolute yes, but how many of us who know, understand and believe the formula or standard procedure established by the Lord by which the inward man is being renewed day by day?

So then, let us look at the formula or standard procedure by which our inward man can be renewed day by day:

Present our bodies a living sacrifice to God

One must first take cognizance of the fact that, our body does not belong to us for we have been duly admonished by the apostle Paul saying; “ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1Corinthians 6:19).

This thought should continue to resonate in our minds daily and remind ourselves of another very important instruction from the apostle Paul which states; “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

In order for the inward man to be renewed day by day one must consider and acknowledge the fact that, we are not just a physical human being, but we are both flesh and spirit and if our human spirit is joined to the Spirit of God we should no longer live our lives in accordance to the flesh because, the admonition from the apostle Paul is, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16-17).

There is therefore, a literal, practical life style which is in accordance to the flesh and there is a literal, practical life style which is in accordance to the Spirit and for the inward man to be renewed day by day we have to meditate daily on the things that relates to the life of the Spirit, as we have been duly admonished by the apostle Paul saying; “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit: For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8).

So for the inward man to be renewed day by day we must remind ourselves of the spiritual warfare that takes place daily in our minds and be ready to cast down all arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Thursday, February 9, 2023

God does not share His glory with no other

4. The truth about God does not share His glory with no other

The fourth important truth about Jesus Christ we all should know, understand and believe in order to avoid becoming a victim of deception is to be able to make a clear distinction between what is genuine and what is counterfeited, what is God’s power and what is man’s wisdom because Satan has a counterfeit to everything that the Lord has established especially with regards to worship. The apostle Paul expressed deep concern with regards to this situation by stating; “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted --- you may well put up with it!”

He further said; “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” We therefore have been forewarned saying; “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand” (2 Corinthians 11: 3-4, 13-15; Matthew 24:24-25).

The stark reality is, both Satan and his ministers transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, and therefore, “the coming of the lawless one to whom Satan the dragon gave his power, his throne, and great authority will be according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie (Satan), that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

To avoid being or becoming a victim of deception one has to begin with the root cause of the problem which began with the first Adam whom the Lord God took and placed in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it, and the Lord commanded him saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Therefore to avoid being or becoming victims of deception, we must know, believe and practice the truth and take no pleasure in unrighteousness, because God from the beginning chose us for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called us by His glorious gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now there is only one truth, and that is Jesus Christ Who is the Word of God. Therefore, whatever the Lord has spoken, whether it is in the Old or the New Testament, they remain in force forever, unless an amendment, alteration, or a reformation has been made or instructed by the Lord Himself. Any other teachings regardless how appealing one might think they may be, are all blatant lies and remember, the Lord said quite distinctly; “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isaiah 42:8;48:11).

Remember also that, all lies are of the devil as we have been duly instructed saying; “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Unfortunately, some of us are too casual and lackadaisical when it comes to rejecting error and accepting the truth especially when it comes to worship not realizing or taking into consideration the fact that truth is of God Who requires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth, while on the other hand all lies are of the devil and whether wittingly or unwittingly we are worshiping the devil. \

The worst mistake we as believers are doing is to equate and associate the works of man’s wisdom with the power of God when the Lord unequivocally stated;” I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images’ (Isaiah 42:8; 48:4).

We fail to realize that the power man possesses is from his own resources which he attained from the moment he partook of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil for which the Lord attested to and said; “"Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." On another occasion the Lord said; “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” (Genesis 3:22’ 11:6)/.

And therefore, we have to choose between having our faith in the wisdom of men or having our faith in the power of God because God does not share His glory with no other. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them, for truly, these times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

The Lord God is a consuming fire, a jealous God

The truth about Jesus Christ who took on flesh is a jealous God

The third solid foundation in avoiding being deceived is to know, understand and believe the truth about Jesus Christ who before He took on flesh instructed us by saying; "You shall not make for yourself a carved image --- any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments,” He said again; “(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God): “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Exodus 20:4-6; 34:14; Deuteronomy 4: 24).

Now the term jealousy denotes having the feeling or showing suspicion of someone’s unfaithfulness in a relationship, and the way one expresses love towards God is by keeping His commandments as we have been duly instructed saying; “This is love that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 John 6-7).

The words that were told from the beginning stated that; “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” it also states that; “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Now the truth and the rationale for the Word becoming flesh and dwelt among us is principally to set us an example that we should follow His steps and to pay for the sins of humanity in order to reconcile them with Father and to have fellowship with Him and so we have been duly instructed saying;

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.
To release those who through fear of death were their entire lifetime subject to bondage.
For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:15-16).

We can summarize the truth about Christ coming in the flesh and being a jealous God by stating that; He experienced life like any human being so that He could die to pay the penalty of sin in man's stead, for as God alone He could not die. He also set us an example that we should follow His steps, to this end we are told; “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

Jesus Christ left us a perfect offering which He as High Priest offers to the Father, so that we can come boldly to the throne of grace, in order to obtain mercy and find grace in time of need. And we therefore have been duly admonished saying, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Imagine Jesus Christ having done all this for humanity and instead of worshiping Him the way He has ordained to be worshiped we blatantly rejecting it and instead worshiping Him in accordance to the customs and traditions of men, this surely must provoked the Lord to jealousy. But if we are steadfast and well established in the truth we will avoid being deceived by the craftiness of men.

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To be continued, stay tuned.

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Saturday, February 4, 2023

The impartiality of Jesus Christ

2. The truth about the impartiality of Jesus Christ

The second important thing one should know, believe and understand in order to avoid being a victim and be among the many who are deceived it is know, understand and believe that Jesus Christ the Son of the living God is impartial and shows no favoritism as stated by the apostle John who wrote; “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us --- eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you” (1John 2:21-26).

To avoid being deceived we are to abide in what we have heard from the beginning which is; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” And; “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-17).

Now if we know and believe that it is by Jesus Christ all things were created, and He said to the Jews; “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:37-39).

One has to conclude therefore that, all the directives and instructions that were given to Moses are applicable to all humanity, instructions such as;

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.”
“Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.”
I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.' (Leviticus 23:2-4; Numbers 28:2l Ezekiel 20:20).

All these instructions were given by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and are all directed towards Him. For according to the apostle Paul; “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live: However there is not in everyone that knowledge” (1Corinthians 8:6-7).

The irony of truth is, the Lord God of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ, Who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the One who said; “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ' I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. Therefore, when He came into the world as the Son of Man He said; “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." (Isaiah 44:6, Mark 2:2-28).

Now if we know and believe this aspect of the truth, the way we demonstrate our belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God Who is impartial in His judgment is by ascribing to Him the glory due to His name. “For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.' Now because of the Lord’s impartiality this is applicable to all families of the peoples (Psalms 96:4-9; 1Chronicles 16:27-30).

This my friends is the protocol for true spiritual worship but the question is, how many of us truly believe that this is applicable today and are following these spiritual guidelines?

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