Spirituality VS Carnality

God does take care of our temporal well-being in HIS perspective, not ours. Carnality is simply an temporal experience while Spiritility is an eternal experience. Carnality often want to run ahead of God because He doesn't seem to be working fast enough for us. We forget God is adjusting history to His purposes. He knows what He's doing. Trust His will, His power to do His will, and His timing to do it when the time is right--and not until then. That's the essence of real faith. God carries out His will in His perfect power and timing. While Spirituality trusts God and aware that God knows beforehand what we will need and He will provide beforehand according to His will. One example is directly from Jesus in Matthew 6:8 "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." God knows what is BEST for us and we are to have FAITH in Him whatever happens in this world. From God's point of view. I arrived naked from the womb of my mother; I will leave in the same condition--with nothing. There's a right time and way for everything. He knows my current state and my tomorrows, if I have one. True FAITH sees everything in focus and be able to trust God no matter what happens. God leads us to our destiny according to His will and glory. Spiritual person focus on eternal more than temporal.

Law versus Grace

Its interesting because people are focusing on appearance more than anything else. Its really simple but PEOPLE makes it HARD. In Proverbs 21:2, "People may think they are doing what is right, but the Lord examines the heart." (NLT). Our flesh search for pleasure, pride, passions and selfish motives therefore God is looking for Christians who will worship and obey Him from their hearts, minds and bodies. When Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, He said: "They do all their deeds to be noticed by men" (Mt. 23:5). . . . Theirs was a problem of priorities: Their first priority was social status, to which end God was but a means. What greater affront to God could there be? Better to ignore Him altogether than to exploit Him as a means to something else you value more highly. Would we be rejoicing to live in a Pharisaic-dominated society? Jesus said to the Pharisees one day as they picked up stones to stone an adulterous woman: Whoever is "without sin... throw the first stone." Christian Legalism cannot change a heart, it tries to control people with laws and expectations that are not even kept by the religionists who interpret and apply the rules. With this "burden factor" in mind, Jesus said, "Woe to you also, lawyers [experts in religious law]! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers" (Luke 11:46). The Lord will not save those he cannot command. A.W. Tozer God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves. Dwight L. Moody We are under Grace and that we are to obey God and follow His Word (the Bible). God wants a pure heart from us and He does not need to give us rules in order for our hearts to be pure. Jesus Christ cleaned our sins and all God wants us to do is be Christ-like. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." God wants our hearts more than He want us to follow rules. If we give our hearts to God, then we will know what is sinful and what is not sinful. Psalm 40:4 (NIV) Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Proverbs 3:5 (NIV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. My problem with legalism is that it can't produce a pure heart. Rules do not protect us from sin because rules are basically guidelines that will help you avoid sinning. Jesus had a problem with the pharisees who were very legalists and they had about 613 rules to protect God's commandments. I have said before: Legalism is from the Law based on appearance while Grace is from the heart which is inward. Romans 2:29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. 2 Corinthians 4:16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Curse explained in Galatians

Galatians 3:12-14 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. The "promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" we labor and strive. We work hard because we realize that what we do has eternal implications. There is an eternal heaven and an eternal hell. Everyone on the face of the earth will spend eternity in one place or the other. Galatians 6:14--Paul said that by taking up the cross of Christ, he crucified himself to the world--he died to everything around him and became consumed with the gospel of Christ. We're engaged in an eternal work; the destiny of souls is at stake. We are seeking to uphold the world, to save it from the curse of God of eternal death. Matthew 25:46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Main focus of Esther is... Sovereign of God through History

The book of Esther show how God controls history through providence. There isn't a miracle in the book and the name of God isn't mentioned but at the same time, without anyone realizing that God is always in control of every single event in this world. The king mentioned in Esther favored Esther and Mordecai, spared all the Jewish people, made Mordecai the Prime Minister and hanged Haman on the gallows he build himself for the Jewish people and preserved the nation Israel. God governs the world (Isa. 40:22-24), the nations (Isa. 40:15-17), and us (Proverbs 16:9). Proverbs 20:24 A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way? Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Jeremiah 10:23 [ Jeremiah's Prayer ] I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.

Legalism in Summary

In 1 Corinthians 10:23 that even though something may be lawful. The New Testament (Reference: Book of Galatians, Chapter 5) speaks about the believer's freedom or liberty in Christ, but what exactly does this mean biblically speaking for the Christian? Christian liberty means the power to do as we ought by God's enablement in accordance with the way Christians have been recreated in Christ. True liberty means the freedom to be all that we were designed to be, but this is not a freedom that is without restrictions or responsibilities. Plainly speaking, without law, there could be no freedom. My problem with legalism is that it can't produce a pure heart. Rules do not protect us from sin because rules are basically guidelines that will help you avoid sinning. Jesus had a problem with the pharisees who were very legalists and they had about 613 rules to protect God's commandments. To me: Legalism is from the Law while Grace is from the Heart. Rules can be abused: Matthew 23:1-4 and Galatians 6:12-13. We are under Grace and that we are to obey God and follow His Word (the Bible). God wants a pure heart from us and He does not need to give us rules in order for our hearts to be pure. Jesus Christ cleaned our sins and all God wants us to do is be Christ-like. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." God wants our hearts more than He want us to follow rules. If we give our hearts to God, then we will know what is sinful and what is not sinful.