The Will to Live in Him

By Doreen A. Thomas-Lovell

"Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may ...Hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of (your) Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasti

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Vine Press
• Release date: Nov 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781956896060

Book preview

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: THE JOURNEY

CHAPTER 2: THE DIVERSION

GOSSIP/SLANDER

ENVY/JEALOUSY

Hypocrisy

FALSE WITNESS

PRIDE

SELFISHNESS

COVETOUSNESS

REVENGE

CHAPTER 3: THE GOD OF SECOND CHANCE

CHAPTER 4: REPENTANCE

CHAPTER 5: LIVING IN HIM

CHAPTER 6: REFLECTIONS

MY LIFE, MY STORY

CONCLUSION

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS

REFERENCES

That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col.1:10)

Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil—Eccl. 12:12-14

PREFACE

The Will to Live in Him

In my first book LIVING THE FULFILLED LIFE I covered walking with God, knowing Him, knowing what He says He will do, understanding and dealing with our tests, trials and tribulations. LIVING THE FULFILLED LIFE also shared the journey of loving each other and having a closer relationship with God. This publication, THE WILL TO LIVE IN HIM, addresses negative attitudes that we as believers should shun in order to continue living in Him. Behaviors that would cause us to lose that close relationship we have with God and make us agents of the devil and enemies to our brothers and sisters (biological and in the family of God). I will also address the end results if we continue with negative attitudes, or if we change to a life of positive behavior. All arguments and references will be based on the scriptures and to a lesser degree on my understanding. To live with Him or Abide with Him, we must reside with Him and remain stable with Him all of our days. We must accept Him, have Him living in the Tabernacle of our hearts to be able to abide with Him and Him with us.

There must be Purity among believers. Know he not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9).

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men, who hold (suppress) the truth in unrighteousness. Ungodliness is failure in the spiritual realm, in the moral sphere and injustice towards man.

1 John 3:8 ‘He who sins is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning"(Inspirational Study Bible—Max Lucado)

CHAPTER 1

THE JOURNEY

When first we receive the gift of salvation, like Paul, we are eager to serve, to worship, to walk in the light of God, to obey His commandments and more specifically to be identified among the believers. We are excited, on fire for Yeshua and want to spread the good news. We feel as if we would be missing out on something, a word, a directive or a spiritual touch, should we miss a service or any gathering of our church community.

2 Timothy 3:16 say All Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The Bible and the Holy Spirit are the map and the compass for the Believer. While the Bible is our map, the compass is the work of the Holy Spirit which gives us direction. Paul assured Timothy that Scripture lays out the route of sound doctrine and righteousness (2. Tim. 3:16). In this scripture, the compass lends direction to Paul’s way of life, his faith, longsuffering, love, and his perseverance (2 Tim. 3:10, 14). We should think of this as a guide as we move along our journey of life. Living for Yeshua and knowing our location spiritually is critical if we are to succeed in navigating through the greatly devalued territory of our world.

Later however, some of us loose that spiritual enthusiasm and replace it with grumblings and complaints either about the assembly, or what God is doing for others, including sinners, while we are struggling. Our focus is now centered on what is happening to and for others, rather than on spiritual growth. We get so caught up in this that the gratitude we felt when first we met the Lord is now lost. We start missing out on regular church meetings we once attended, we no longer read the bible daily, pray regularly, and we stop giving praise report. We forget how much we needed Yeshua’s (Jesus’) grace when we thought our sins were so great; how much we needed His grace when we thought that our sins would not be forgiven. Without realizing it we are involved in incidents or actions that we do not recognize as sin. We are crawling back into sin. Sin creeps upon us to prevent us from attaining our earthly goals and achieving the prize Yeshua has gone to prepare for us.

In the first chapter of Genesis, we see that God’s mission was to reveal Himself to man, to make Himself known in all His wonderful glory and goodness and Genesis 2 introduces us to Adam and Eve, whose fall caused that mission to be broken. There was no longer the fullness of revelation that enabled man to see things as they were intended to be seen. Then in Genesis 3, we see Adam and Eve covering themselves in shame and being driven out of the Garden. They were running from God, no longer intimate and walking with Him.

In the book of Ephesians Paul gave the church in Ephesus instructions on how to live daily by exhorting them on a life transformed by Yeshua. He said that the believer’s level of commitment affects how they behave, from their attitude to their speech. He further said that believers are to be different from non-believers in every area of their lives and they should conform to behaviors that please God.

As believers we are to reflect the light of Yeshua (Eph.5:8) on everyone; whether it is to an angry neighbor or to an irate co-worker. Our speech and behavior are to be a positive witness (Eph. 4:29-32; Col. 4:6).

We are allotted by God a span of time in which to gain experience and build in our lives God’s holy and righteous character and to prepare for the eternal phase of His great plan. Satan is busy setting mouse traps to catch unsuspecting people as he attempts to thwart God’s plan. We have to be alert and diligent, so that we are not caught into the trap set by Satan, but that we endure to the end thus getting the reward a loving God is offering to all those who will accept and obey Him.

It is my intention to:

Help us look at the daily activities that seem simple but are dangerous and will result in our not achieving our earthly goals, losing the prize and sending us to hell damnation.

See what the bible says about such daily activities

See how we can overcome these activities and get back on track with the zeal and the will to live in Him

GOD called each and every one to worship Him, love Him and obey Him. In accepting the gift of salvation we pledge to do so. However, let us not forget that Satan the ruler of this earth hates God and would do everything possible to prevent us from obeying Him. After all he was an angel of light in heaven, but he felt so highly of himself that along with those angels who joined him, he planned and aimed to rise above God. Pride seems to have been the cause of Satan’s fall. God therefore showed Satan who has the power by casting him out of heaven along with his followers. Note, God did not take away Satan’s power, thus he has the power to do what he wishes and he intends to use this power against every plan God has for us and against every effort we make to establish a close relationship with God.

The great dragon was thrown out, that ancient serpent, also known as the Devil and Satan (the Adversary), the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him (REV. 12:9)

Hell was created to place Satan and his angels at the end of time. Satan is adamant that man will not enter the promise or rest of God and is working to take as many of us as possible with him to hell. He started first with Eve in the Garden of Eden, causing disobedience in the children of Israel when they left Egypt resulting in their wandering in the dessert for forty years. He is also the reason for man’s sinfulness resulting in the floods during the days of Noah and for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Abraham.

Here are some of the things we come against during our walk with God:-

Day and night Satan makes war, he deceives the world and accuses believers before God.

Satan uses enemies to mock and jeer us to think we are mistaken in our actions, rebellious or ridiculous in our new walk of life.

Satan causes the legitimacy and authority of what we are doing to be questioned.

Satan uses friends to accuse us of sacrificing a good life of this world, and all the things it has in it to be enjoyed.

Satan uses friends and relatives to question the depth of our commitment to our belief.

Satan questions our faithfulness based on past experiences. He uses it as examples to imply that we will return to our former life of sin if we are pressured.

When we are tired, Satan attacks us repeatedly with stronger forces and in secret when we are not aware that they are attacking, and will join forces with other agents of destruction.

Satan will use the same argument repeatedly knowing that he and his hosts gets our attention, we may join him, or participate in his daily charades.

Satan will use division among friends and family and internal conflict to attack us suggest that what we are doing is unreasonable and will cause harm to others.

Satan is a rebellious and tempting being, an evil active power in the universe, but his powerful existence does not exclude a person from responsibility of serving God. Satan and the demonic forces cannot dominate or possess us except by our own consent. Believers will not be tempted beyond our power of resistance (1 Cor. 10:13). The power of Satan is limited. He acts within the limits set by divine sovereignty (as in the book of Job).

In the New Testament he caused the people to reject the Messiah who came to save and take them back in the presence of God. He even tempted Yeshua (Jesus) the son of God; then, why do some of us think we cannot be tempted? He is behind Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial and subsequently the lies that were told to bring about Yeshuas’ crucifixion. Praise be to God however, for the crucifixion without which you and I would not be able to enter the holy of holies and speak once more to God like our fore parents Adam and Eve.

In order to succeed in doing the Lord’s work, we must unite publicly in worship and in prayer to God. Satan cannot prevail against the righteous. To overcome him and his host, we must use the blood of the Yeshua the Lamb and manifest courage and extreme vigilance. The believer has God’s armor-the biblical gospel, integrity, peace through Yeshua and faith in Yeshua as spiritual security (Eph. 6:11-18)

For years people were dark and empty; angry, selfish and proud; until God forgave them through faith in Yeshua the Messiah. Yeshua specializes in giving new life to those who seem to be beyond hope—those who are dead in sins and trespasses (Eph. 2:1). Let us not lose sight of the transforming