Tag: Spirit

WHAT IS GOD’S NAME?

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Shelby G. Floyd

gods-name

God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and revealed himself to the great prophet. He promised Moses he world be with him when he went before Pharaoh to demand that he let the children of Israel go free from their slavery.

“I AM WHO I AM”

Moses replied to God that the Israelites would want to know God’s name. He asked what he should say. God’s answer was, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:13-14). “I AM” is God’s name and his name means “The Self Existent One.” God is also known by “God Almighty”—El-Shaddai; “Elohim”—Lord; and “Jehovah.” God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3). The name “Lord” in the Hebrew is equal to I AM (Exodus 3:15). Continue reading “WHAT IS GOD’S NAME?” →

RUN THE RACE

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Shelby G. Floyd

Run the Race

When Paul was completing his third evangelistic journey by ship, at every stop the Holy Spirit warned him of impending hardship and suffering when he would arrive at Jerusalem. But Paul made up his mind to go there because he also was compelled by the Spirit to do so:

“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:22-24).

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THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

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Shelby G. Floyd

isaiah-7-14-scroll
The above title is a specific and accurate description of how God brought Christ into the world to be our Savior. Jesus Christ is both divine and human, “regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:3-4).

Jesus Christ Was Human and Divine

From the divine standpoint, he has always existed and always will. Late in the first century, the apostle John spoke of the preexistence of Christ in these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). Then, later in the chapter, John described the human nature of Christ when he said, “And the Word was made 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). This is definitely a reference to the virgin birth of Christ. Continue reading “THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST” →

COME CLOSE TO GOD

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Shelby G. Floyd

Close to God

Our God is great, but he wants a close relationship with all of his people. Sadly, many Christian people never realize the nearness of God in their daily walk with God. Many of God’s children feel that God is far away and not interested in their joys and sadness. However, this is not the case. God has demonstrated over and over again, that if we will seek him out he will be found to be close at hand.

Near the end of the New Testament revelation, the apostle James exhorted the Christians of the dispersion to, “Come close to God and He will come close to you” (James 4:8). Man left God, but God did not leave sinful man. Because of the great love, mercy and grace of God, he made the first and last move to reconcile man back to himself. This he did by sending his beloved Son from heaven to earth to redeem us from eternal separation. Now it is up to each one of us to make our move back to God and enjoy the close fellowship that was enjoyed in the Eden Paradise. Continue reading “COME CLOSE TO GOD” →

Enthusiastic Evangelism

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Shelby G. Floyd

1 Cor 15-58

There is plenty of work in the congregation for each one of us to do if we will do it. Solomon sagely advises people to work while we can: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Life is short and we only live here once. Whatever we can accomplish for the Lord must be done now. We cannot come back and take care of lost opportunities. Continue reading “Enthusiastic Evangelism” →

THE SOUL GOAL

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Shelby G. Floyd

Soul Goal

The sole goal of most people today is how much profit they can accumulate of this world’s goods and riches.

The Worth of the Soul
Jesus taught that we should value our soul over everything else in this world: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul’” (Matthew 16:26 NKJV)? According to Christ there is no profit if one could gain the whole world (which is impossible), and then end up losing one’s soul. Continue reading “THE SOUL GOAL” →

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

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Shelby G. Floyd

You Must Be Born Again

It is a great blessing when a new birth takes place in a family. The congregation has been blessed by the birth of a new baby boy in recent weeks. We have observed the joy and happiness this brings to the family. In the same way, when one is “born again” or “born from above,” there is great joy in heaven and on earth among the people of God. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5).

BORN INTO THREE KINGDOMS

Have you been born into God’s kingdom? We enter every kingdom by birth. We are all now citizens of the kingdom of nature. How did we enter that kingdom? We entered the kingdom of nature by a physical birth. It made natural beings out of us because we live in a natural kingdom. The church is the kingdom of God. It’s a spiritual kingdom. How do we enter into that kingdom? We enter the spiritual kingdom of God by a spiritual birth of water and of the Spirit. What kind of beings does it make out of us? It makes beings correspondent to the constitution of that kingdom. It makes gracious beings out of us because we are saved by the grace of God. And finally, one of these days when Jesus comes back again our bodies are going to be resurrected out of the grave. Jesus, by His resurrection, is said to be the firstborn of the dead. If He’s the firstborn, then that implies that others will follow. When we’re born from the dead, it will be a birth of and from the grave. The birth from the grave will induct us into the everlasting kingdom. This will be the heavenly state. What kind of beings will it make out of us? Our nature will be correspondent to the nature of that kingdom. We will be glorious beings not subject to death. We will have a spiritual body. We will see Jesus as He really is. We’ll be like Him. We’ll share in His glory. A natural birth makes natural beings. It brings us into a natural kingdom. A spiritual birth makes us spiritual beings and brings us into a spiritual kingdom and a glorious birth will make glorious beings out of us and will conduct us into a glorious kingdom—heaven itself. The new birth into the kingdom of God is a connecting vestibule between the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of glory. You need to participate in it. The new birth is not an option. Jesus also said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Continue reading “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN” →

THE BREAD OF LIFE

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Shelby G. Floyd

i_am_the_bread_of_life1

Bread is one of our most basic physiological needs of the body. When Lewis and Clark set out on their transcontinental expedition, bread was one of the staples that they prepared enough to take them to the mouth of the Columbia and back to St. Louis. We all need bread—healthy food to have a healthy body. In Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of human needs,” bread would be at the foundation, because it is difficult to think about anything else when a person is hungry. But bread alone will not motivate a person to be all they can be and reach their full potential both here and hereafter.

In the book of John, Jesus had told the people that “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:28-29). The crowd of people who came out to see and hear Jesus, challenged him to give them a miraculous sign in order that they might believe in him:

John 6:30-35
So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
NIV

Jesus is the bread of life and the water of life. Without him and God’s word that he brought to us, we will shrivel up and die spiritually. It was Jesus who said to the devil who encouraged him to turn the stones into bread: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4, NKJV).

Man is a triune being—spirit, soul and body: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NIV). Notice that in the divine order it is “spirit, soul and body,” not “body, soul and spirit.” Man is a spirit with a body—the spirit is the primary nature of man. The spirit will survive only when it is fed with “the bread of life!” God’s children should feed on “the bread of life” every day and especially when the whole church comes together to worship on the Lord’s Day.

Copyright © 2016 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd

Shelby G. Floyd
Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142

EYE COVENANT

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Shelby G. Floyd

Eyes Covenant

In the Old Testament we read about one of the greatest men who ever lived, and that was Job. Job was a very good man. He served God with all of his heart. And yet God tested him. And while he was in the midst of his suffering and trial he had to defend his integrity before his friends. In his defense Job said in reply to Bildad the Shuhite, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustily at a girl” (Job 31:1). That’s what we are going to talk about today. If you haven’t made a covenant with your eyes you need to do so like Job. Job said, “I made a covenant with my eyes.” A covenant is an agreement and when you make an agreement you should live up to it and keep it.

Sexual immorality was a big problem in ancient times and is even a bigger problem today, especially in America. Sexual immorality causes great pain both to the perpetrators and to the innocent people who are not involved. There are perhaps three or four reasons why a person might want to go out and commit sexual immorality. One could just be their ego. Some people are like that. Another reason might be that person’s inner need for sharing and affection, even though it is unlawful. And a third reason might be just because they have the raw lust of the flesh. Sexual immorality is so common in our society today that we excuse it and we accept it. And it is all because man tends to glorify the body and to belittle the spirit that is within that body. Continue reading “EYE COVENANT” →

Worship in Singing Songs

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Shelby G. Floyd

singing_hymns

Jesus taught that in the new economy, God would seek true worshippers who would worship in spirit and truth: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The purpose of worship is to drive out the worldly and to think of the “other world.” Hence, worship must be driven by faith, and faith is founded in the truth of God’s word (John 17:17).

Someone wrote these words recounting the great value of the congregation worshipping God in an uplifting song service: Continue reading “Worship in Singing Songs” →