The Trial of our Faith

New faith and the "faith of a musterd seed" is a joy, because it is not too demanding of us. There are times, however, that the Lord allows the bottom to fall out of our life of experience. It is then that we ask is this discipline or a trial of my faith? The correct response is to trust God even if blessing does not flow from your belief. It is the a matter of fact attitude that we confess we are dead apart from Him so even if He travels away from me, there I will be also.

Faith is active & purely dependant on it's Object

On the one hand you have faith and on the other hand you have common sense. Which will prevail? As a word of wisdom, common sense is not able to bring a person into full realty, where faith is not dependant on reason, but on God. God and His Son Jesus Christ is the object of faith. It is walking based on revelation, not human reason that purifies faith and permits it to surpass reason. There is nothing too hard for the One who creathed the heavens and the earth and He is willing to give personal revelation to those who follow Him in faith.

Our Right Standing Before God is a result of Him

Justification is "right standing before God." This was made possible for us because of the death of Jesus Christ. Our right standing is not a result of repentance or belief, but of the death of Jesus Christ. Belief is the realization of what Christ has done, but it is not the means. Turning away from our sins is the result of right standing, but it is not it's cause. Justification and sanctification are a work of God and not of man so none may boast.

My Lord, Myself, & My Hope, but no Goodbyes

Jesus' words can be stinging to the point where if there is anything separating you from loyalty to Him, He puts that very thing to death. Jesus cannot tollerate other allegiances. You must hate all other things including yourself if you want to be His disciple.

Our Inspiration is Behind Us

Many believe that the inspiraton for the Believer is in front of them when indeed it is behind them. The driving force in the life of the Believer is Jesus Christ who has gathered us, grown us, and now is behind us saying go...make disciples of all nations. When Jesus says go, woe to he who does not heed His command. Our mission is a single one...preaching Christ crucified for the redemption of our sins.

You Have Been Chosen

We don't make a choice for Christ. Instead it is Christ who chooses us. It is important that we learn God's purposes without which we will be a misguided arrow. We have not come to be seen and approved of by men.
We have come to call men, women, and children into the Kingdom of Heaven. There is only one way to enter and that is to accept Christ Crucified for yourself personally. Then and only then will you live for Him.

Seek not God's Blessings, but seek God

In our sanctification process, the Holy Spirit puts all aspects of our Old Life to death. The result of sanctification is God Himself and not those things that He gives. As Job said when stricken by God,
"Do we only expect blessings from God?" This is the mark of total surrender. We believe not my will but Thy will be done.

The Spirit Bears Witness...

If you wonder why God does not reveal Himself to you, its because He cannot. We, His people, do not totally surrender to His nature preventing Him from revealing Himself to us. But once we come to trust in Jesus Christ, then the Spirit of God will give witness to His nature concerning the redemption of God. Then we will come into relationship with Him.

The Failure of Impulsiveness & the Discipline of Discipleship

Impulsiveness is an enemy of the disciple. Peter tried to walk on water to get to the Lord based on impulse, but Jesus followed Peter at a distance on dry land. Would in not be better to walk a mile for the Lord on dry land than three feet for him on water? Restraint does not come to the disciple by natural means. It is a gift of God by grace that we are able to be a disciple. Intentional unnoticed living is the calling for those who want to follow Christ.

Be Therefore Holy, Because I Am Holy

This holiness is what the New Testament saint calls santification. This is the miracle of Jesus working in me! This is the setting aside of the Old Man and growing the New Man day by day. This is brokenness over sin and repentance. All of these things are impossible in the Flesh, but made possible for those who are in Christ. Santification is a work of the Cross just like salvation is so one needs to look to Christ for both.

The Kingdom of God is Hidden

Many well meaning persons think that if they serve others, they are valuable to the Kingdom of God. But this my friend leans more toward religion than the Kingdom. In a Kingdom, you serve the King who is Jesus Christ.
Kingdom activity is submission and relationship to the King and a willingness to so whatever He asks of you - great or small. We simply don't know the plans of the King, but in the mean time, we would do well to build a close relationship to Him which will strength us for what He has in store.

Greater Thing You Shall Do Than I...

The Greater Things that Jesus is referring to here is not the computer or the telephone, not advanced medicine or science and not World travel, but it is prayer. Before the Ascension of Jesus, people did not have access to the Father except the High Priest, but once per year. Now, after the passion, we can call to God "Abba, Father" and He will listen. Prayer is the evidece of Christ formed in me and now I can go the the World continuing the work of the Savior in me.

Pray to the Lord of the Harvest

Every single soul is called to reap the harvest. It is the Lord's harvest that He made to grow and become alive. So how can a single saved person not participate in the harvest? We are not called to special tasks, but to be His instrument to bring in the harvest. We are not greater than our Master, therefore we must labor for Him so that none of whom He saved is lost.

The Good News: Jesus Christ Crucified

This is why so many people can't understand the Gosepel. They try to reason how Jesus Christ crucified is the best good news you'll ever hear. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Apart from the Gospel, we are strangers and aliens to the Father. But with Christ crucified, the vail of the temple is torn makeing the only and first access from man to the Father since Adam's sin. Jesus teaches, "I am the way the truth and the light. Nobody comes to the Father except through Me."

Growing Up in the Wilderness

We may feel called by God, but have we grown up in the wilderness? Even if called, we must be in stride with him. If you are saying to yourself "I know I can do it" you can be sure that you cannot. After you have spent your time in the wilderness with God your answer will be "Who am I that I should go?" Then you know that God will be will pleased with you.

Walking With God Means Oneness With Him

We say our journey is the "walk with God." What does this mean? One word that is similar is to abide in Him. This is the comparson Jesus uses when He states "I am the branch and you are the vine. Abide in me and I in you." This was also His prayer to the Father in His High Priest Prayer: "Father, I ask they we be One just as You and I are One." As one can see, it is not a matter of merit, but of imitation of the One who is your leader.

God's Truth is sealed until the Day of Obedience

One does not become wise by being an avid reader. God's truth is sealed and is disclosed through us through our obedience. It is by our obedience that Heaven opens to the saint. Also, God does not sanctify us more day by day, but Jesus tells us that if we walk in the light, we will not sin. Therefore our calling is clear: Obey God and follow Jesus.

"Come To Me"

This is the greatest imperative in the New Testament: "Come to Me." You know we often times will not do that because we put Jesus in a catigory of religion instead of one of Life. Come to Me with your victory. Come to Me with your trouble. Come to Me with your problems. Come to Me with your praise. In all circumstances we are called to come. Jesus went from Hades to Heaven and back again so He could be our all in all.

Our redemption is based a release from our nature

Jesus death on the cross was not to take on all of the sins of the world, but to take on the sin nature of the world. He did this by identifying with man by becoming as one of us. Now through His life, death, and resurrection, those who identify with Him are freed from their sin nature and are given a new life in Chirst.
This is the basis for our redemption.

My holiness comes from Christ being formed in me

Our nature at physical birth is a sin nature. At some point we recognize our need for a Savior and by the power of the Spirt, Christ is formed in me. Now I agree with Him concerning sin and repent of the sins of my flesh. This is what is meant by regeneration. The ability for Christ to live through me.

The nature of sin all boils down to this...

Our sinful nature all boils down to our claim to serve ourself and not God. Whenever we make a choice that is contrary to God's will, we in essence are makeing a claim to make our own decisions based on how it will effect ourself. While sin is inherant based on the sin of Adam, sin that leads to condemnation is only through a result of rejection of the claims of the Son of God for His sacrifice for our redemption. Here Jesus says you are not your own, but were bought with a price. Anyone who receives Him will not be condemned on that Day.

Our response to God's Call:

Working in the valley means that most of our experience comes from the ordinary events and speach of life. We are not put up front nor given high esteem. Instead we are called to be the greatest of all Servants of the Most High. It is He who is exalted, not His servant. Instead, we point to our Savior and His work by working out our calling and election for the King.

The Valley of Humiliation

It is through the Valley of Humiliation where our faith manifests itself. Walking with Jesus in the Valley is hard, because we have to go by faith and not by sight. We have to believe that He is who He says He is and He can do what He says He can do. Our Adversary casts doubts on us, but it is in the Valley where if we prevail, it brings the most Glory to the Father and the Son.

Spirituality for the sake of character:

In our Christian life, we have high moments alone with God. Those high moments are not the end, but the means to the end. The anticipated result is a change in character. With a changed character, it gives us strength to walk through the valleys of life not for our own sake, but for the sake of others. This is the reason for our calling and election by God...to serve others.