JOSHUA

World Evangelism

                       "THE LIFE OF VICTORY"

                                    LESSON 2

                  A HEART FOR GOD

                                              By: Hans Hofman

Dear friend,

We hope that in preparation for this letter you have already read the letter to the

Colossians and the first letter of John. If you have not yet done that, do it before

you go any further with this lesson. In lesson 1 we began to lay the basis for a

new life in Christ Jesus. Read the first lesson through once more together with the

Bible portions to refresh your memory and to hide God's word in you heart.

Very many Christians and religious people have got confused because they have

not lived according to God's word. This has sometimes happened through ignorance

or misunderstanding, but also through disobedience, which is unbelief. God has

given us many promises for a rich and abundant life in peace with Him. But before

we can lay claim to these promises God asks that we first seek His will and His

Kingdom. We have already seen in the first lesson that Man's heart is a battlefield

where the desires of the flesh ( the natural man) wrestles against the spirit, which

longs for fellowship with God our creator.

The Bible teaches us that we can be "more than conquerors" in this battle, if we

fill our hearts with the word of God, the Bible, and Iet ourselves be filled with the

Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 says " You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes

upon you. " And Psalms 119:11 says " I (you) hide Your word in my heart that I

may not sin against You." We shall go further into this lesson. These biblical

principles are unconditional fundamentals for a " conquering Christian life ",

Open wide your heart and your spirit for the work which God through the Holy

Spirit wants to do in your life. But first spare a moment to ask God to help you in

this and to reveal His word to you so that it becomes a living reality in your life.

Ask Him to help you to act in accordance with His word, for faith without works is

dead ( James 2:20_23 ). And everything you ask the Father in the Son's name He

will do (John 14:13, 14; 15::7, 8 ).

Questions:

1. What does Paul say that we must do after accepting the Lord Jesus?

    Colossians 2:6 ..............................................................................................

2. Before a tree can bear fruit, or before it can stand straight in a storm it must

    first grow. What does Paul say in Col.2:7 that we must do before we can be

    confirmed in our faith by God? ........................................................................

3. He also immediately gives a serious warning. What must we beware of?

    Col. 2:8 ........................................................................................................

4. Which spirits does he mention here? 2:8 ........................................................

5. We see here, just as we saw in lesson 1, that it is a matter of a spiritual battle,

    which manifests itself through the flesh, the natural man, subjecting itself to

    these spirits. This is a decision that you take, yourself.

   We are ourselves responsible for every decision that we take.

   What does 1 Cor. 10:13 say about this? Who is tempted above and beyond his l her

   powers to resist? - N...........................................

6. In connection with this first read Galatians 5:13-25. What does verse 24 say about

   you as a Christi­an? ........................................................................................... 

7. Are you experiencing in your life the fruits mentioned in Galatians 5:22? ...............

8. To see these fruits grow in your life you need the power of the Holy Spirit.

    Jesus needed the Holy Spirit when He lived as a man on earth. Mark 1:9,10;

    Acts 10:38. How did the Lord Jesus go around according to Acts 10:38?

    .......................................................................................................................

9. What does 1 John 2:6 say we should do as Christians? .......................................

    .......................................................................................................................

    (compare your answer in 7 with what 1 John 2:6 says. Compare also with qeustion 10)

When we accepted the Lord Jesus His spirit came to dwell in us.

That means that His resurrection life is IN you. It is therefore possible through HlS

inner presence and His power to live as He did and to do the sort of things that He

did. Then it is no longer your own strength that counts but His power working

through you. By this power of the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus conquered death and

the powers and forces of Satan. Satan is a beaten enemy (1 John 13:8).

That means that he has not a single right left !! Satan (see Revelation 12:9), though

he has been beaten by Jesus, is nevertheless always on the look-out to tempt

everyone in this world into sin and to mislead them so that they, including the

Christians, sin through false teachings and lack of knowledge, and so become lost.

Satan especially wants to tempt and mislead the believers, since nonbelievers are

already lost - 2 Thessalonians 1 :8,9.

Therefore God tells us very clearly: 'Put on the whole armour of God to be able to

stand against the temptations of the devil (Ephesians 6: 11). As a Christian you are

involved in a spiritual war which is taking place in your "heart" (thoughts, feelings,

emotions, and understanding). By "heart' the Bible does not mean the physical

pump for your blood, but your spirit (soul) and mind.

It was a decision you made in your heart and mind to bring your spirit into a right

relationship with God's Spirit. How? It was a decision of your mind to accept God's

invitation to confess your sins before you could receive forgiveness. But WHAT you

received was THE GRACE AND LOVE OF GOD.

So it is a discision of your heart to sin again or not to and Satan knows that.

That is why God says, PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD. FILL YOUR

HEART AND YOUR MIND WITH GOD'S WORD, that is the sword with which you

can fight Satan. 1 Corinthians 10: 13 says, . He will not Iet you be tempted beyond

what you can bear.' As you leamed earlier, the temptations to sin come from our

own hearts.

But how do they get there in the first place? And how can we make

sure that no sin comes from our own hearts? The Bible teaches us: "be followers

of God" If we fill ourselves with GOD'S WORD and subject our characters,

emotions, feelings, understanding, our business, etc to Him the Lord Jesus

( i.e. we do what He says ) and we allow our whole beings to be filled with the Holy

Spirit so that we live like HE DID, then there is NO time and no place for the works

of Satan in our hearts. For what is in the heart comes out of it, ( see Mark 7:20-23 ).

If you fill your heart (mind) with films,literature and music full of violence,

pornography, filthy language, occultism, infidelity etc. then after a while the FRUITS

OF INDIFFERENCE, FILTHY thoughts filthy language filthy acts, depressions,

restlessness, lack of standards and deceit wilt appear. But fill your heart with God's

love, patience, faithfulness, a forgiving spirit, mercy, and compassion for the weak

and lost souls around you by hiding His word in your heart and living according to His

word in fellowship with Him in prayer and ACTION. ( It is a matter of following the

Bible as a whole, not just some narrow doctrine or other.) Do this and you wilt bear

the FRUITS of His Kingdom ( see also Matt. 21 :43 ).