Becoming Entirely His

“Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).
     Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy; it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit. We should have no carelessness about us either in the way we worship God, or even in the way we eat and drink. Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every detail of our lives is under His scrutiny. God will bring us back in countless ways to the same point over and over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because His purpose is to produce the finished product. It may be a problem arising from our impulsive nature, but again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to that one particular point. Or the problem may be our idle and wandering thinking, or our independent nature and self-interest. Through this process, God is trying to impress upon us the one thing that is not entirely right in our lives. We have been having a wonderful time in our studies over the revealed truth of God’s redemption, and our hearts are perfect toward Him. And His wonderful work in us makes us know that overall we are right with Him. “Let patience have its perfect work … .” The Holy Spirit speaking through James said, “Now let your patience become a finished product.” Beware of becoming careless over the small details of life and saying, “Oh, that will have to do for now.” Whatever it may be, God will point it out with persistence until we become entirely His.  

The Name of Jesus Has Become A Dirty Word In Politically Correct America

Jesus said, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own.
      "Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.... If they persecuted Me they will persecute you... for they do not know the One who sent Me."  John 15:19-21

     In the United States today, there are very few words that provoke as much outrage as the name of Jesus.  It is being banned from graduation ceremonies, chaplains all over America are being forbidden from using His name in their prayers, and many school officials all over the nation have become absolutely fanatical about eliminating every trace of Christian expression from their schools.      

     Political correctness is spreading like a cancer in this country, and our “freedom of religion” is rapidly being transformed into a guarantee of “freedom from religion” for those that hate the Christian faith.
     Without a doubt, there is a war on the Christian faith in America today.  It is being waged in classrooms, courtrooms and churches all over the nation.
     I stand as a believer in the finished work of Jesus Christ at the cross and come to exhort the Church of the Living God calling her to repentance and prayer for revival across America and in our local bodies.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14    Watch ye (a military command, be vigilant), stand fast in the Faith (don’t let the devil move your Faith from the Cross to other things), quit you like men (act like mature men), be strong (strong in the Faith, which makes one strong against the Devil).

14     Let all your things be done with charity (love).

Ephesians 6:10-13   Finally, my Brethren, be strong in the Lord (be continually strengthened, which one does by constant Faith in the Cross), and in the power of His Might. (The Source is the Holy Spirit, but the means is the Cross [I Cor. 1:18] For the Preaching of the Cross is to them who perish foolishness; but unto us which are Saved it is the Power of God.).

11     Put on the whole Armour of God (not just some, but all), that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil. (This refers to the “stratagems” of Satan.)

12     For we wrestle not against flesh and blood (our foes are not human; however, Satan constantly uses human beings to carry out his dirty work), but against principalities (rulers or beings of the highest rank and order in Satan’s kingdom), against powers (the rank immediately below the “Principalities”), against the rulers of the darkness of this world (those who carry out the instructions of the “Powers”), against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 13       Wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God (because of what we face), that you may be able to withstand in the evil day (refers to resisting and opposing the powers of darkness), and having done all, to stand. (This refers to the Believer not giving ground, not a single inch.)

God’s Purpose or Mine?

     “And straightway (immediately) He constrained His Disciples to get into the ship (they were reluctant to do so), and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while He sent away the people.” (but He sent them away healed, fed, and filled).  (Mark 6:45). 
      Listen: We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
     We must ask ourselves: What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. I don’t believe God is working toward a particular finish within itself but—His purpose is the process itself.      
     What He desires for you and I to see is “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (v. 49).
     Yes, it is the process, not the outcome that is glorifying to God. God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself? God’s purpose is to enable us to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

Afflictions Warning

Please note: Affliction is full of warnings. It has many voices and these of the most various kinds. It speaks counsel, it speaks rebuke, it speaks affection. ...

1. Affliction says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world [referring to the world system, not the people of the world] the love of the Father is not in him." (I John 2:15).

2. Affliction says, "Take heed and beware of covetousness" (Luke 12:15). Riches cannot help, neither earthly comfort avail us in the hour of grief. They cannot dry up tears, nor reunite broken bonds. ... It is then we find that we need a "treasure in the heaven that fails not."...

3. Affliction says, "abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thess. 5:22). "Hate even the garments spotted by the flesh."... It is not merely abstain from evil, but from all appearance of evil. Suffering teaches us to shrink from sin -- even from the remotest and most indirect connection with it. It says, "Oh, do not that abominable thing which I hate!"

4 Affliction says, "Do not grumble against one another." (James 5:9). Let there be no halfhearted affection in the family of God. Let there be no envy, no jealousy, no misunderstandings among the brethren. Why should we be less than friends who are both fellow-sufferers and fellow-soldiers here? ... Yet oftentimes it needs affliction to teach us this, to remove our jealousies, and to draw us together as brethren in sympathy and love.

5. Affliction says, "Keep yourselves from idols" (I John 5:21). If there be one remaining idol, break it in pieces and spare it not. Nothing is so fruitful a cause of suffering as idolatry. Nothing so forcibly displays the vanity of our idols as suffering. ...

Church of the living God! Be warned. Please not yourself, even as Jesus pleased not Himself. Live for Him, not for yourself, for Him, not for the world. Walk worthy of your name and calling, worthy of Him who bought you as His bride, worthy of your everlasting inheritance.

The White Side of You

     My recent assertion of our US President: Sir, for the past 5 years we have heard from your Black Side espousing your liberal ideology, especially of late regarding the protests, outrages, accusations’ of racial profiling etc., stemming from the Zimmerman trial verdict. Which I personally believe has again been detrimental towards race relations.

 

     My recommendation with much compassion Mr. President: I’m confident that a serious one on one listening audience with Dr. Ben Carlson, if he’s agreeable would be most insightful for you in gaining much needed wisdom. Mainly, because; I believe Dr. Carlson would introduce you to the Lord Jesus and the Power of God’s Holy Spirit from which ALL WISDOM comes. It’s extremely evident that from the White House, down through all branches of government NO True Wisdom currently exists.  

 

Regarding your White Side?

 

Questions:

1. Why does your White Side seem so silent?

2. Is there multi-racial shadows within regarding your Black vs. White side?

3. Do you always think in Black Terms and never White?

4. Would the young 17 year old White side of you have felt safe walking through the majority of Chicago projects day or night?

 

Just wondering!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY - The Promises of God

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God allowing His Holy Spirit  to speak to us in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us.

"All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen." The "yea" must be born of obedience; when by the obedience of our lives we say "Amen" to a promise, then that promise is ours."

The Teaching of Disillusionment

      “Jesus did not commit Himself to them …, for He knew what was in man” (John 2:24–25).

     Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. But the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism or any stinging and bitter criticism. Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.

     Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens—if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give. There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God, and in what God’s grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.

Miss Liberty

     I’ll never forget the first time I saw in person the Statue of Liberty in the New York harbor. As a young soldier at the time, it really made me proud to be an American. Yes, there is something special about “Miss Liberty” that evokes a strong feeling of the meaning of freedom. But let me draw your attention to another symbol which stands as a visual reminder of the real central truth of freedom and liberty that being the Cross of Jesus.
     Our freedom in the United States symbolized by Miss Liberty is rapidly eroding away causing one to conclude that those freedoms we as Americans have cherished so many years are not eternal. The only sure eternal symbol is the Cross pointing to the sacrifice and finished work of Jesus which makes available life and freedom to every person who believes and accepts Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God who died on the cross for them.
     Therefore, this 4^th of July let up ponder our freedom and work together by demanding smaller government intervention in our lives, and do our part to help restore liberty and freedom to our great nation. Trust God and pray.