The Natural Man

The Natural Man

"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them; because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:14)

Look at the natural man in the diagram above. He has not heard that Christ died for his sins and rose again. He has not received Jesus as his personal Savior; the Holy Spirit does not reside in his heart. He has never been "born again" and is still in his natural state.

The Flesh ("F")

The flesh (or self) sits in the driver's seat of the natural man's life. The natural man is trying every which way to get to heaven on his own. His life is filled with the "works of the flesh: adultery, fornication, witchcraft, hatred, wrath, strife, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like, of which I tell you that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. 5:19–21). Sounds pretty modern, doesn't it?

The Devil ("D")

You can see in the diagram that the devil is sitting right behind the natural man, prodding him on. The natural man is "taken captive of him (the devil) at his will" (2 Tim. 2:26). When you see a man making poor choices in his life, don't get mad at him; get mad at the devil, for he is "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:3–4; Eph. 2:1–3).
People need to hear and heed the Gospel and to be "born again." Let's tell them, shall we? Doesn't that make sense?

Prayer: Father, we are thankful that someone told us the Good News that Christ died for our sins and rose again. We are thankful that we believed and received the Lord Jesus so we could be born again. Help us this year to tell the Good News to those we spend time with day by day so they will have a chance to go to heaven. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "The greatest crisis in the world today is a crisis of leadership, and the greatest crisis in leadership is a crisis of character." —Howard G. Hendricks

Hungry for God's Word

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Ps. 119:105)

God recently gave me this thought, "A child of God will never become a man of God without the Word of God."

I think you will enjoy reading the "Diary of a Bible" below. 

Diary of a Bible

January: A busy time for me. Most of the family decided to read me through this year. They kept me busy for the first two weeks, but they have forgotten me now.

February: Clean-up time. I was dusted yesterday and put in my place. My owner did use me for a few minutes last week. He had been in an argument and was looking up some references to prove he was right.

March: Had a busy day first of the month. My owner was elected president of the PTA & used me to prepare a speech.

April: Grandpa visited us this month. He kept me on his lap for an hour, reading from 1 Peter 5:5–7. He seems to think more of me than do some people in my own household.

May: I have a few green stains on my pages. Some spring flowers were pressed in my pages.

June: I look like a scrapbook. They have stuffed me full of newspaper clippings—one of the girls got married.

July: They put me in a suitcase today. I guess we are off on vacation. I wish I could stay home; I know I'll be closed up in this thing for at least two weeks.

August: Still in the suitcase.

September: Back home at last and in my old familiar place. I have a lot of company. Two women's magazines and four comic books are stacked on top of me. I wish I could be read as much as they are.

October: They read me a little bit today. One of them is very sick. Right now I am sitting in the center of the coffee table. I think the pastor is coming by for a visit.

November: Back in my old place. Somebody asked today if I were a scrapbook.

December: The family is busy getting ready for the holidays. I guess I'll be covered up under wrapping paper & packages again... just as I am every Christmas.

—Author Unknown

Prayer: Father, bless Your child today and give Your child a hunger for Your Word and a deeper love for You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "We cannot take our people beyond where we ourselves have been, and it thus becomes vitally important that we be men of God in the last and highest sense of that term." —A. W. Tozer

 

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A Staggering Ministry of the Holy Spirit

You can be changed for good and for God.

 

Paul wrote, "But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory [step by step, little by little] by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).

 

God's ultimate goal is to make us just like Jesus. He wants to conform us to the image of his Son. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God (not maybe we will be, or we hope we will be a son of God, but NOW are we the sons of God) and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn. 3:2). This is my life verse; I long to see Jesus and to be like Him.

 

The degree to which we are changed is determined by how much we behold the glory of Christ in the Word of God!

 

Here are the six "Ps" of the Christian life:

 

Proceed: We are to proceed to church regularly (Heb 10:24).

 

Pray: We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16).

 

Preach: We are to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

 

Present: We are to present our offerings to God (Matt. 6:1–4).

 

Prepare: We are to prepare to meet our God (Amos 4:12).

 

Peer: We are to peer daily into the Word of God. Doesn't that make sense?

 

Here's a true story. A Bible college student, home for the summer, went to a clothing store and bought a suit. The salesman asked him, "Are you a preacher?"

 

The boy answered, "I am in school, preparing to preach. How did you know?"

 

The salesman said, "You have the glory of God written all over your face."

Oh, that this would be true of us all. Is God's glory radiating from your face?

 

Prayer: Father, help us to see the glory of God in the Word of God. Help us to become more like Jesus daily so that people will see You in us and glorify You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

Quotes for the Day: "A child of God will never become a man of God and radiate the glory of God without the Word of God." —Sumner Wemp

 

"You tell me, and I forget. You teach me, and I remember. You involve me, and I learn." —Benjamin Franklin