Let Patience have its Perfect Work

When we are saved, we still have a lot of our fleshly baggage left behind. It shows up in our tendency to be careless. Here we are stating that the Holy Spirit will keep bringing us back to this point until we overcome carelessness. The Lord wants an acceptable outward expression of an inward transformation that is within us.

For your own sake, be disillusioned

Jesus did not trust one human being. Instead he saw them for who they are, but also placed his trust in God for who He is. If a person places their hope in another, they will soon learn that that person never had the ability to fulfill the hope you placed in them. That should not cause us to be bitter or critical, but it should lead us to Jesus who can deliver out his strength instead out of human weakness. When you trust is properly alligned with Jesus, it gives you the ability for forgiveness knowing that your hope is in Jesus not man.

Believers are not spared from dark circumstances

Consider it to be reality or another form of a test, but the believer in Jesus Christ is not spared sorrow and dark days. The test is what our response is to difficult news or circumstances. Does it draw us closer to our Savior or does it drive us away from Him? In Jesus' dark hour, he responded by claiming not My will but Thy will be done. When Job was striken by Satin without cause, his wife said curse God and die. Job said do we only expect good from God? The believer needs to raise above their circumstances knowing who the Redeemer is.

God's Purpose: Live for the minute, because it is the process that matters, not it's end

It seems that the New Testament Saint often times tries to live under the Law. We think if I obey Christ, He will reward me. We envision great future reward for obedience now and along the way. This is not the way the Lord thinks. To Him, the process of deciding to obey Him now, today, is what is important. The future is not apart of His plans for you right now. We tend to think of the goal at the end of the journey. Jesus only thinks of the journey itself and you decision to Follow Him.

When we stand in the Light, Jesus knows everything about us

There is no hidden sin with Jesus. It is as David said when he says that whether he goes to the highest heaven or to Hades, you are there. We have no wisdom apart from Jesus. Obedience to his tested word is what establishes us. Though we are weak, he is strong, so we must learn to draw on his strength and wisdom for his sake and for ours.

The Puirity of an Unblemished Spirit

Most of us consider ignorance to be a valid excuse against a defiled heart. Judgment does not discriminate between intentional malice and ignorant malice. The purity of an unblemished spirit cannot be acheived in the flesh. We become holy through our submission to the Spirit of God, giving Him His sway in our life and releasing our rights to govern our self.

Blessed are those...

Everybody wants a blessing from Jesus. After all, he is the one who said blessed are those...
Jesus was setting the table for the Kingdom Agenda. Blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor, blessed are the peace makers, blessed are those who hunder & thirst. Do you see what I mean? It seems he is blessing the needy, but that's not his point. When he blesses the hungry, he blesses those who hunger for righteousness. When he blesses the poor, he is blessing the poor in spirit (the humble). He is blessing those who conform to the life he leads and the life he leads he lives for God.

Your Motives Are Telling of Who You Are

The theme of the Sermon on the Mount is the measure of man's motives. Bleessed is the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the world. Blessed are the peacemakes, for they shall be called the sons of God. Our inner-man is our redeemed self who is taking on the attitude of Christ this side of heaven.

Death to Self, but Alive to Christ

Death is a very hard process. Jesus wants us to die to ourself, that is, to purge all of my own family, my self interests, my goals, and yes my life for Him. This is what He wants. In exchange, I can live Christ's life in me, but it will not occur until I die to myself. If I were sleeping, it would be hard to do in my sleep. When I am awake, it is freightenly difficult. Thank God, I have a Helper who when my mind is fully made up, He will assist me and make me a disciple of Jesus.

We cannot please God in our flesh

When I say flesh, I refer not to skin and bones. What I am saying is that since the Fall of Man, man apart from God is dead. Within our dead bones, we cannot please God. It takes a work of the Spirit of God to revive those dry bones and make them live. A vine apart from the branch is also dead. The vine is totally dependant on the Branch for life giving nutrition.

And He Says: Walk Before Me

Did you realize that the use of the term "walking before God" dates all the way back to Genesis.
Walking before God is the realization of His continuous presence in my midst. Whenever I find myself seeking physical pleasures you can be sure that I have neglected His overwhelming presence with me. A proper response then is one of abiding and seeking His guiding path for my life one day at a time.

Obedience is the Spontaneous Response to being in the Presence of God

Obedience is a reaction and not an event. It is not a task, but the best choice made between our Savior and ourself. It is not because he purchased us that we obey, it is because of our reverence to him and what he is. Whether we are be beneficiary of blessing or taking the discipline of sonship, our response is the same - obedience.

If Jesus is lifted up, He willl draw people to Himself

If a person were to say of their conversion experience, that "I was saved by so and so," they would be misrepresenting the truth. Faith comes by hearing the gospel and lifting up Jesus so that He can call people to Himself. He is the Savior, not the Preacher or disciple. The work of the Holy Spirit is most effective with a subdued human element.

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Peter was right on what he was saying. To whom shall I go? Who can substitute for the Almighty? As simple as this seems, we often times do go elsewhere -to someone who we think will understand. This is very silly because if God can give out of His strength, whose arm is longer or stronger than that. We must accept the fact that God is Father and He is right in what He does. His grace is sufficient when I am not. Therefore trust in Him because He cares for you and is able.

You cannot both be free & a bonservant of Christ

People say that "I'm free!" but those of us who belong to Christ are not free. Christ bought your soul at Calvary with His blood poured out for you. Now you are a servant of His and should be about what He is about which is the saving of souls for the Kingdom. Therefore be steadfast in your service so that you may glorify He who saved you.

It is not your duty or right to strike back

Jesus teaches on the Sermon on the Mount not to strick back at one who is evil to you. Instead, demonstrate the Christ who is in you by going the extra mile, and rendering justice, even if you are not being treated fair. It is Jesus who makes recompense. Therefore, be as a child of God and offer fainess in the face of adversity.

Your Prayer Should Be "There's Nobody Else but You"

God and His Son Jesus Christ want and deserve your utmost priority in your life. Your prayer shouldn't be Lord you are first, Church second, Wife & children third. Rather it should be there is no body else but You. This is because in order to perceive this way, God Himself has put Himself in you so that will see and understand. God will stand for no rivals. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.

Knowing Christ

Jesus is Christ where ever you may find yourself. Jesus desires those He can use for His purposes. Our service to Him is never about us making an offering and hoping He approves.
It is about us waiting and being willing to go where He sends us or do what He needs done.
It is not about our but His glory. Therefore be ready to say here am I when He calls.

Jesus did not come for peace, but to stirr us up

While peace in our Lord can be comforting, those who love Him will be the ones to confront the world with the gospel. The problem with peace is that it is an act of resigning to the Evil One as opposed to going onto Satan's turf to win others for Christ. Father against son, Mother against dauthter. Resting in the Lord is not a substitute to the spreading of His gospel. Therefore go into the World with the Word to make disciples of all nations.

You Can't, But Still Must Be Willing

In our own-self, we can do nothing. Yet Jesus does work in and through those who believe that he can do all that he says he can. We are not able to help in any way except in our belief and will that Jesus uses those who trust in Him alone. This is the one thing we can do - believe.

Remember, you are a witness against yourself

Yielding to Christ is a choice. It is a matter of not divine, but of human will. A right relationship with God depends on ones own self. Sin is what separates us initially and sin can keep us apart if one does not yield to Christ and to the Spirit. I must will it to be so and only I know if I am true.

Words of Comfort

"It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Its good to know that to live the Christian life we don't have to do in from our own flesh. It is God who can take a sinner and make them into a saint. And if it is God who is the One who is Doing, it surely will not fail. There may be difficulties and road-blocks along the way, but as surely as Christ died and arose from the dead, so too God can take us from the depts of our sin the the heights of His Glory. Amen.

If your vision is from God, then press on

To those who have called been according to His purpose, be aware! Before you reach any level of heights, God Himself will take you through the Valley to see if you dispair. How much do you trust the Living God? The Lord's work is not glamorous, it is humbling. But press on to the vision once seen and in the end you will find the One who sent you.

All of our plans must include God

It doesn't matter whether we are planning a wedding, a career, a vacation, or a education, God wants to included in all plans. God wants to bless us, but when we don't include him in the wholeness of our life, aren't we saying we don't either need or desire His blessing? Jesus says "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." Further, we should not dispair in our plans. Plans that fail were never meant to be and plans that far exceed our expectation are not through our own strength or skill. All things come from the hand of God so in Him we shall place our destiny.

It's either all or nothing

I am either under the shaadow of the Almighty or I am on my own. I either trust in Jesus whether I have a little or an abundance or I trust myself. I either work for Jesus' and His purposes, or I have plans that may or may not include Him. If I refuse to surrender my will to His I am evil because I value other people and myself more than I value my Redeemer. It's time for me to put down the guard, sleep well at night, a know that my Redeemer lives.

Confess & Surrender Your Sin to Jesus

Isaiah said when he was in the presence of the Lord that "he is a man of unclean lips." He didn't feel that way when he was apart from the Lord, but in his presence, he knew who he is. In all of us, sin tends to concentrate into a stronghold that causes repeating sins. It takes the form of anger, jealousy, sexuality, lying, cheating, and the like. One must surrender this part of our life to Jesus because He is our Savior. He will then, by the Spirit, take us to the root of the problem which often times is our self-centeredness. He will then purge that as unto fire so that we can be set free.

What it means to love Jesus

My love of Jesus cannot be based on what He stands for. My love of Jesus must be based on the person of Jesus and who He is. Doctrine is not devotion. What Jesus desires is a family of people who act the way people in love act. You don't obey because you love Jesus. You obey because you want to please Him. You don't follow or act like Jesus acts because you love Him. You do this so that you can be close to Him and be like Him. If we had no commandments at all, but loved Jesus, Jesus will have reached His goal.

He shall by no means clear the guilty

Is that you? What is it that separates you from being a hardened criminal? We are you know. It is said our nature is depraved and we are born children of wrath. So how is it that such a person can go to heaven? Jesus said the guilty shall pay the last penny. But Jesus did pay all of that and more. He paid the penalty for our sin and transfered His righteousness to us by belief. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and thy house.