Episode 53

Disciple Up #53
Fruit of the Spirit Joy #2
By Louie Marsh, 4-25-2018

Last Time:

To become like Jesus I must CHOOSE SPIRIT over my old nature (flesh).

The Fruit of the Spirit is His fruit and comes by Grace.

1) SEE the relationship between Joy and Grace.

  • Both words come from the same root in Greek
  • Grace – Charis and joy Chara come from Char
  • Char indicates something that PRODUCES WELL BEING.
  • Charis indicates SOMETHING FREELY GIVEN that produces well being.

8  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

  • Chara is the INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE OR EXPRESSION of that well being.

4  Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Psalm 43:4 (ESV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy…Galatians 5:22a (ESV)

Joy Quotes:

Read more: https://www.christianquotes.info/quotes-by-topic/quotes-about-joy/#ixzz5DYLUVaiR

 Sorrow does not take away, but adds to the Christian’s joy.” – Lester Roloff

“Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.” – Thomas Aquinas

“When the heart is full of joy, it always allows its joy to escape. It is like the fountain in the marketplace; whenever it is full it runs away in streams, and so soon as it ceases to overflow, you may be quite sure that it has ceased to be full. The only full heart is the overflowing heart.”  – Charles Spurgeon

“There is no joy in the world like the joy of bringing one soul to Christ.”  – William Barclay

“The world looks for happiness through self-assertion. The Christian knows that joy is found in self-abandonment. ‘If a man will let himself be lost for My sake,’ Jesus said, ‘he will find his true self.'”

– Elisabeth Elliot

 2) UNDERSTAND how it works.

  • Joy is having God’s PERSPECTIVE on life.

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, James 1:2

Like Love – Joy is NOT an emotion or feeling, but it’s often thought of that way because it PRODUCES feelings, we have an emotional response to God’s Grace when we see it.

 Joy doesn’t waiver because IT’S A REACTION TO GOD’S UNCHANGING GRACE.

 8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

 3  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 1:3 (ESV)

 9  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:9 (ESV)

 Therefore in difficult times I can be joyful because I’M FOCUSED ON GOD’S UNCHANGING GRACE.

 1  We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2  for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (ESV)

 11  We ask him to strengthen you by his glorious might with all the power you need to patiently endure everything with joy. Colossians 1:11 (GW)

3) REALIZE the benefits Joy brings into your life.

 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh. 8:10

4) DECIDE to take that first big step towards joy.

2  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 (ESV)

·       I need to make a QUALITY DECISION to view life from God’s Perspective.

 “To be a leader, to rule, to command, used of military leaders, church leaders.

  • To account, to think.
  • So it means to lead yourself to a decision
  • Prefix to the word – “not resting on one’s inner feelings or sentiment, but on the due consideration of external grounds, the weighing and comparing of facts, deliberate and careful judgment.”

 So James is saying we need to make a once for all quality decision to view life from God’s Perspective.

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Episode 52

Disciple Up #52

Short Rounds

By Louie Marsh, 4-18-2018

Theme of today’s show:

19  Do not quench the Spirit. 20  Do not despise prophecies, 21  but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22  Abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (ESV)

Here’s the links to the stories I covered in this episode:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/april/tyndale-sued-boy-who-came-back-from-heaven-alex-malarkey.html

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/04/11/biblical-prophecy-claims-rapture-is-coming-april-23-numerologist-says.html

http://discipleup.org/starstruck

http://persecution.org/2018/04/13/navy-investigating-inclusion-bible-pow-mia-table-following-complaint/

https://hotair.com/archives/2018/04/12/fully-20-americans-now-no-religious-identity/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/11/14/jesus-wont-save-you-president-xi-jinping-will-chinese-christians-told/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7b1e694bb560

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/universe-exist-cern-universe-matter-bizarre-behaviour-scientists-a8015216.html

Other topics I dealt with:

Silly beliefs you must avoid – don’t close your eyes when you pray – your lust, laziness, etc. can be cured by casting out demons.

18  We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 1 John 5:18 (ESV)

 Please Get In Touch!Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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Episode 51

Disciple Up #51
Fruit of the Spirit #1
Love, Gal. 5:16, 18-22
By Louie Marsh, 4-11-2018

Intro – What’s coming up –

55 – 5-9- 1st Anniversary!

Don’t know what I’ll do – if you want to say anything about the impact of this podcast on your life in it’s first year e-mail, put it on FaceBook, etc.

New Series on Fruit of the Spirit – one every couple of weeks – to help with my new book.

“Funny” Love Quote:

“I detest ‘love lyrics.’ I think one of the causes of bad mental health in the United States is that people have been raised on ‘love lyrics.” – Frank Zappa

And, Possibly the Dumbest Thing Ever Said About Love –

Love means never having to say your sorry.

1) To become like Jesus I must CHOOSE SPIRIT over flesh.

16  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 (ESV)

  • To live by the Spirit I must CONSTANTLY CHOOSE Spirit over my old nature.
  • For this transformation to happen I must be committed to it 100%.

17  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:17 (ESV)

Greek has one word for both Spirit and flesh. It means a strong desire. God wants to us to be very passionate about our faith, but that passion must come from the Spirit not the flesh, otherwise disaster will occur as we’ve seen so many times.

15  And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Luke 22:15 (ESV)

2) Real transformation comes when I TRUST GOD’S GRACE, not works.

19  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love… Galatians 5:19-22a (ESV)

  • The flesh makes me work, as a SLAVE TO MY DESIRES.
  • The Spirit produces change in us as a result of GOD’S GRACE.

4  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV)

 QUOTES:

“Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends”
― Dietrich BonhoefferThe Cost of Discipleship

“A man does not have the character of God if he does not have the fruit of the Holy Spirit.”
― Sunday Adelaja

3) All you need is love?

22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

  • I believe the fruit of the Spirit is
  • The other qualities in this list help us DEFINE what love is.

 4  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8  Love never ends… 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (ESV)

4) You know you are Spirit filled when you have GROWING FRUIT!

15  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19  addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21  submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:15-21 (ESV)

GIFTS ARE TOOLS TO USE FOR GOD’S GLORY – FRUIT IS WHO AND WHAT WE ARE!

 Please Get In Touch! Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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Episode 50

Disciple Up Show Notes, #50
The Day the Universe Changed
4-4-2018, by Louie Marsh

What’s coming up –

55 – 5-9- 1st Anniversary!

Don’t know what I’ll do – if you want to say anything about the impact of this podcast on your life in it’s first year e-mail, put it on FaceBook, etc.

 Title from a PBS series, that I enjoy watching even though I disagree with it a lot.

Here’s the wiki page.

Most if not all the episodes are available for purchase on Amazon or to view on YouTube here.

The Day the Universe Changed: A Personal View by James Burke is a British documentary television series written and presented by science historian James Burke, originally broadcast on BBC1 from 19 March until 21 May 1985 by the BBC. The series’ primary focus is on the effect of advances in science and technology on western society in its philosophical aspects.

The title comes from the philosophical idea that the universe essentially only exists as one perceives it through what one knows; therefore, if one changes one’s perception of the universe with new knowledge, one has essentially changed the universe itself. To illustrate this concept, James Burke tells the various stories of important scientific discoveries and technological advances and how they fundamentally altered how western civilization perceives the world. The series runs in roughly chronological order, from around the beginning of the Middle Ages to the present.

In the United States, the ten-week hour-long series was broadcast from 13 October to 15 December 1986, on PBS and was rebroadcast on The Learning Channel in 1993

Some Harsh Realities

1) Death RULES  over my life!

    Anyone who is among the living has hope–even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!  For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Eccl. 9:4-5

 

2) Death Destroys ALL MEANING!

     For the wise person and the fool both die, and in the days to come, both will be forgotten So now I hate life because everything done here under the sun is so irrational. Everything is meaningless, like chasing the wind. I am disgusted that I must leave the fruits of my hard work to others. And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? And yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work. How meaningless! Eccl. 2:16-19 (NLT)

3) But I won’t Despair because Jesus gives HOPE!

 I die every day–I mean that, brothers–just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 1 Cor. 15:31-32

 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?  Hosea 13:14

 

4) The Universe is Changed Through JESUS!

     What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now!  It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. 1 Peter 1:3-4, 18-21 (Message)

 

  • I’m FREE FROM FEAR because Death has been Defeated!

 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Rev. 1:17-18

 

key = control, power over, Lordship.

    When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:54-57

 Death is no longer the end of it all.

  • Jesus Christ is the SOURCE of this living hope!

 

5) The Results of this hope – LIVING BEYOND MYSELF!

I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us. He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people’s prayers for our safety have been answered.  2 Cor. 1:8-11 (NLT)

1, You can live beyond your own resources through the Resurrection Power of Jesus Christ!

2, No matter how bad it gets – faith and hope in the God who raises the dead will see you through!

3, This comes through the Resurrection Power of Jesus!

  • You live with UNSTOPPABLE POWER!

     I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, Phil. 3:10

 1, Paul and the early Christians, were unstoppable!

2, Because no matter what you did to them – they won!

a, This is the reality of that Yuppie saying, “A win – win situation.”

b, If you jailed them – they witnessed, if you let them go – they witnessed, if you killed them – they rejoiced to see their Living Lord!

3, The reality of the Resurrection can turn any situation into victory in all our lives!

  • How Do I GET  This Power?

     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 it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:8-10

 

God:

The one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him. He is the creator of all things, perfect, holy and worth of our worship & obedience. He is love and in the end will judge all sin.

26  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

Mankind:

All people, though created good, have become sinful by nature, we sin and cut ourselves off from God’s love and grace. (Gen. 3)

23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 (ESV)

8  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 (ESV)

Christ:

Is God in human flesh (John 1:1), lived a perfect life, died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law & taking on himself the punishment for our sins.(Mark 10:45; John 1:14; Heb. 7:26; Rom. 3:21-26, 5:12-21) He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice

45  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (ESV)

8  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:8-10 (ESV)

Response –

Establish A Spiritual B.A.S.I.S. for Living

 B = Believe Jesus died on the Cross for me and showed He was God by coming back to life again.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  (1 Cor. 15:2-4)

A = Accept Christ as Lord of My life and His free forgiveness of my sins.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–  (John 1:12)

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace  (Eph. 1:7)

S = Switch to God’s Plan for my life.

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”  (Mark 1:15)

 I = Inform others of your decision.

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.  (Romans 10:9)

 S = Submerge yourself in Christ.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,  for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  (Galatians 3:26-27)

 Please Get In Touch!

Email – louie@discipleup.org

 


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