Romans 8:9 says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…” Here is the tension between our flesh and our spirit man. This verse is our position in Christ. It states truth that is not altered.

Yet in our progressive sanctification we are in the process of becoming more like Christ. We still veer off into our flesh. The Holy Spirit is present to empower us to resist. Yet it requires us to yield to His promptings.

Quarreling: harsh words, heated arguments, demanding one’s rights ~ opposing with fleshly barbs. Proverbs 15:1 gives us God’s way. It says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

In 2 Timothy 2:14 Paul wrote out a reminder for Timothy. It says, “Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.”

Verse 23 says, “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.” Strife and quarreling are fleshly ungodly behaviors. They spring up from unresolved issues when we fail to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23. 

James 4:1 starts with a question. “Where do wars and fights come from…?” Verse 2 in the Amplified says, “You are jealous and covet (what others have) and your desires go unfulfilled…You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain (the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek), so you fight and war…” What a display of our flesh.

Paul went on to charge his son in the faith. 2 Timothy 2:3 says, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Our trials are warfare. God has designed them to bring up hidden dross that would weaken and undermine our faith.

However the enemy of our soul seeks to derail us. He uses temptations to turn us from walking in the Spirit to walking in our flesh. Therein lies the battle for our mind. James 1:3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”

Jesus endured the cross because of the joy set before Him ~ us. Joy is an irrevocable gift. Don’t let the dirt of grumbling and complaining cover it. Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” Grace-strength comes as we embrace humility.. The same grace that saved us keeps us.

Paul’s last recorded words are in 2 Timothy. Paul lived under a canopy of God’s sufficient grace. 2 Corinthians 12:9. Each of his epistles ended with a benediction of grace. 2 Timothy 2:1 says, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

As we abide in Him, His grace flows to and through us. We need His grace to endure our trails. Romans 5:3 Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.”

2 Timothy 1:16 says that Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul’s chain. In Romans 1:16 Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation  for everyone who believes…”

Psalm 34:5 says, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.”

God’s way was written in 2 Corinthians 3:18. It says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Spending time basking in God’s love for us ~ knowing that our hearts are naked before Him without shame. Here is the first part of a new song called Extravagant Oil Of Joy. 

I lift my unveiled face to gaze into Your face. Face to face I behold You as You behold me. No veil separates us. No fear of being known. We have intimate communion. Our hearts are knit as one.

I stand O Lord in Your presence unashamed. All guilt is washed away. All condemnation is cleansed. Through the blood. Through the shed blood of Jesus.

In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul explained to Timothy why he was not ashamed. It says, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed until that Day.”

Paul knew Who he believed. He was confident that the Lord would keep him. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 he wrote that the Lord would preserve us blameless at His coming. Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose us before time began to be holy and without blame.

At the end, according to Jude verse 24, He will “…present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”  Therefore shame has nothing to do with how the Lord sees us. Shame comes from self-blame. We castigate ourselves through our thoughts. Self-blame comes from our view of ourselves. We see ourselves through our eyes instead of His.

Ephesians 1 uses IN Christ multiple times. Colossians 2:3 says, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” We were placed IN Christ before time began according to His eternal purpose that will not ever be thwarted.

I noticed something in 2 Timothy 1:10. It says, “…our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Eternal death does not exist. Immortality means unending existence. Immortality is an essential truth to bring out in evangelism that I have never used.

I love meditating on Scripture. It takes a while sometimes for it to really sink in. I started meditating in context rather than one verse here and there this summer. Holy Spirit led ~ rich discipline.

1 Corinthians 2:10 Amplified says of the Holy Spirit, “…searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God…”

Job 42:2 says, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” Amazing truth that will never be changed or altered in any way.

2 Timothy 1:9 says, “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” 

Romans 8:28 says that He works all things together for our good, “…who are called according to His purpose.” We may falter in our faith, but His purpose for our lives will be fulfilled.

We may have derailed through disobedience. Psalm 37:24 says, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Our faith may get wobbly at times, but we are hidden in Him ~ our Steadfast Impenetrable Rock.