Outside Influences

Warm and dry. 

When it is storming, raining, snowing, wind blowing, thunder and lightening, you can remain warm and dry. Why? You are inside your Home. When it is cold outside, you are warm. When it is hot outside, you are cool. Why? Because you are inside your Home. When it is dark outside, you are in the light. When it is scary outside, you are comfortable. Why? You are inside your Home.

For the most part, no matter what is happening outside, has little effect when you are inside your house. When you are inside your home, you do not care what the weather. You are protected from the outside influences because you are warm and dry inside your home.

Truth is, this is now you, in the physical sense. You are not the crude matter that makes up your body. You are far more than that. You are far more than your arms and legs. Far more than the color of your eyes or hair. You are not what you appear to be to all others, or even yourself when you look in the mirror. You, the REAL you, is inside that. Your body is your home. It is what allows you to operate in the physical realm. Just like your home made of wood and brick, your body surrounds the real you. It may get wet, hot, cold, wind blown, whatever, but you, the real you, is safe and warm inside.

As a Child of God, you are no longer alone inside. According to Jesus Himself...

John 14:

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

In....

1 Corinthians 6:

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

So you are no longer alone in the body. You have a Helper. You should fear nothing. In.... 

Hebrews 13:

5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Though it may be storming outside, you are not outside, but inside. Together with the Holy Spirit. Greater is He that is in you than in all the world.

2 Timothy 1:

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Romans 8, no doubt, one of my favorite Chapters in the entire Book, gives us a very clear and distinct difference in walking in the flesh, and in the Spirit. Remember, walking in the flesh, concerns you with the things of the flesh. Walking in the Spirit, concerns you of the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

In the flesh means means concern for the body. Doing the things that are "good" for the body. It would be like you outside your Home, trying to protect it from the slightest rain or wind, instead of staying inside and being protected. Walking in the Spirit, could be translated, staying inside during the storm without much though of the Home that surrounds us. Remember, we are not alone...

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

If you were Home alone, I could understand you fearing during the storm. But you are not alone. The Same Spirit that was inside Jesus, when He was awoken and calmed the storms, is in YOU.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:Remember what Jesus said about being born again? 

John 3:

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

So, when you receive the Spirit of Adoption, He, the Holy Spirit, comes down from Heaven, teaches you, comforts you, and leads you to Heaven at the appointed time. He, who was in Christ, who is in the Father, is now in you. Which means, you are in Christ, and God Himself. You are now a Child of God...Together with the Spirit, Romans 8 tells us....

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In...

1 John 4:

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Jesus suffered all Sin that is, was, or ever will be. He overcame Death itself. So now you can as well, simply by asking Him, The Holy Spirit, to come into your life. He has already won the battles.

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Now we already know that Jesus tells us that we should take no thought of what to wear, eat, or anything that can be considered a need. He tells us that our needs shall be met. But it's not just our needs. In...

Philippians 4:

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

It is The Spirit in us that makes all things seem a bit trivial. If we accept God's Word as absolute fact and Truth, then we know that nothing created can ever separate us from the love of God through Jesus the Christ. Through the Spirit.

Though it may be storming outside, though trials and tribulations will come, no matter what happens to our Home, or Body, we should have the peace of knowledge that we are not alone. That even to the point that our Home is destroyed, or our body dies, we go to our new Home. We win. Sudden death, sudden victory.

Jesus tells us this story in.....

Luke 18:

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

It is not ourselves that set us free. It is not ourselves that cleanse ourselves of Sins. It is the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus. It is God. It is our Spirit Person, the real us, that is responsible for our actions. It is our Spirit Person that lives on. It is who and what we really are.

The body is nothing more than our Earthly Home. It, like everything else in the World is temporal. It is created, exists, becomes dust in time. It is our shelter. But just like our Homes, it will grow old and fall apart. It will "Die." We will not. 

Think about that. It doesn't matter if you are in your House, at Work or School, in Jail, sleeping in the streets, or anything else. YOU are Home. You are free. You have a comforter and a Helper that shall never leave you nor forsake you.

So the next time, no matter where you are, what you are doing, whatsoever storms may come, know this. Inside, you are warm and dry. Inside you are in the light. Inside, you can be shielded from any outside influences. No one can ever take that away from you. 

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? Is the Comforter, who's name is the Holy Spirit, in you? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray..

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A new Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

Until next time, be blessed, and Jesus IS Lord of all!