Do not go to bed with Adam

Building our faith is very important. Our relationship with God depends on it. Living with God requires faith. Without faith we cannot live with God. If we lack faith, we won’t trust God the way we could. If we lack faith, we might not develop the vision God would like us to develop. If we lack faith, we might decide to give up instead of hanging in there. Lack of faith is contagious. If you cannot trust God for big or little things, your whole attitude changes and this contaminates your environment. Sooner or later, people around you will realise that you are not depending upon God. He is not your No. 1 source of guidance, wisdom, love, joy and strength. He is not your most important friend. God wants to be our best friend. At the same time, he wants us to realise that we are far from being his best friend.

We need to stay aware of the fact that we are saved sinners and that we are still sinning a lot – even though we are a new creation in Christ. We are constantly up against our old self and this old self has no faith. This old self is full of pride and self-righteousness. This old self wants to be a hero. This old self wants to be like God.

Since Adam and Eve were tempted into believing that they could be like God himself, all humans battle with this urge to be independent and self-governed, and to achieve great things by themselves.

Let's remember that "the Adam" inside of us wants to live, and he demands it fiercely. He's set to run our lives. Our flesh will not die as long as we are alive. We have to put "Adam" to death as soon as we wake up in the morning. 

And when we go to bed and wake up the next morning, we will realise that or old Adam is alive and well again. O no! Like Phoenix arising from the ashes! He just won't die. He has to be brought as a living sacrifice to God and offered up to God. He needs to be put away every day. It's a strong picture to burn him on an altar but it won't do to put your "Adam" and my "Adam" in a room, lock the door and think we've taken care of him alright. He infects our thinking and our actions. He makes us have all the wrong desires.

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Get Adam out of the way at daybreak!

One good reason why reading the Bible in the morning makes so much sense is, to use our time with God in the morning - communicating with God and reading the Bible -  to get Adam out of the way at daybreak. And it's another good reason not to go to bed with Adam, too. Better not watch that TV film or show that will tune us into being all carnal and then go to bed with Adam. Not a good idea at all! Don't eat your breakfast with Adam and don't go to bed with him! 

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Adam will have to die eventually

There's good news though. Once we die physically, God will put our 'flesh' away. Our old Adam will disappear for ever. We will be in Christ only. We will get a new body and we'll have a perfectly wonderful new "Adam" that isn't evil. Our bodies will be fit to live in God's eternal kingdom. 

Isn't that great? Don't be sad about having to die. Everyone does, you know. It's just the way things are in this fallen world. It's normal but it's good to know why this is the case. It's not by God's design. It's by Satan's scheming. Thankfully, these schemes will eventually come to an end and so will our distorted sinful "old Adam" inside of each one of us. He can't come with us to Heaven. He's not welcome there. Jesus didn't die for us to save our sinful Adam and to make him go to heaven with us. No one can enter God's Heaven in a sinful body. God makes sure we get a new body - a new garment! We need it. 

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Our wedding dress

That new garment is our wedding dress. We are the bride of Christ. Each believer is part of the bride Christ. We are going to be united with Christ who is the husband. Isn't that a wonderful picture of what God's does for us? We will be a permanent part of God. 

We won't be gods. No! But we will be God's creatures and his created sons and daugthers through the covenant of Jesus Christ - the covenant of his saving blood. We will partake of God's holy and glorious life for ever and ever. I am looking forward to my new wedding dress - to this new body. I am looking forward to sharing in God's glorious, joyful, sinless, just and gracious life. I am looking forward to being part of God's family for all eternity. 

Doesn't that motivate you too? Isn't that a good reason to actively and fiercefully put your old "Adam" to death every morning and to make sure you don't let him into your bed and into your dreams at night, too? I think so. It's motivating.

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Don't harm yourself physically!

Don't misunderstand this article: don't harm your body! The Bible gives us many examples how we can put "Adam" to death figuratively. It's all in the mind and in the heart. 

Read the New Testament carefully and you will come to understand how you can make sure that your old "Adam" isn't running your life but that it is the Holy Spirit that can lead you in your Christian walk. 

I hope this article and the Bible verse below will be a heavenly spark for you. 

This time, I am going to share Romans 12, verse 1 with you (credits: www.biblia.com):

You might know that I particularly like the Authorized King James Version. I do read the King James Version, 1900 and the ESV, as well. So why not look up this Bible verse and read the whole passage here. You can change the Bible version whenever you like.

But I do want to caution you: the majority of Bible versions are seriously flawed. Remember that, please. 

It does matter to God what Bible version you read and I want to warn you not to use the NIV and not to read the book called "The Message", for this book does not deserve to be called Bible at all. The "message" inside the book "The Message" is very much a New Age "gospel". Beware of that, please. 

#MercyMinder  #HeavenlySparks