We are His Workmanship

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

For all those who are saved, we are His workmanship. This means ” a molded image of “. In other words, we are molded into a image of Christ Jesus: in all His characteristics, and in the good works that He did, when He was here on earth.
We do not have His divinity. He is God, we are but His creatures; but we are given His grace (the unmerited favor of power) in our lives, and His Holy Spirit to guide, and comfort us in our walk.

Now God the Father thought man worth saving.
And God the Son thought man worth dieing for, as the Man, Christ Jesus.
And God the Holy Spirit thought man worth regenerating. (Living within him and using His power to change us from self-centered to God-centered.)

The Will of the Father is the originating cause of our Salvation.
The Worth of the Son’s redemption is it’s meritorious cause.
And the Work of the Spirit makes our Salvation effectual in our everyday lives.

John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

God the Father draws us to Christ Jesus, that we might believe on His Person and Works, and receive Him; whereby we are born again.

And when we are born again? What do we do then?

We should walk in those good works which God ordained for us.

To explain:
We were never born again, simply to fill up Heaven one day.
We were born again to “walk” with God.

This walk begins, for us, the moment we are born again, and never ends.
This walk includes personal communion, and those good works we are chosen to do.

First, Personal Communion, by the Holy Spirit, in our spirits to The Lord Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 3:16 “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
The Holy Spirit shows us Christ Jesus, and strengthens us to further receive His love: which is abundant!

Ephesians 3:17-19 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to the know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”
You may say, I know God loves me.
But this is further knowledge. One that works in every situation, under all circumstances.
And to be filled with all the fullness of God, you must be willing to be emptied of all the fullness of self interests.

When we are children, we may know our parents love us because we are taken care of.
When we grow up, (if we are fortunate), we come to know the love of protection, correction, and friendship.

So with our walk in our personal communion with Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit, we come to “comprehend” God’s love which encircles us, holds us up, corrects us, and (if we go on with Him) the love of friends.

In these verses Paul puts together the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and our knowledge of the love of Christ. (And they never are separate. To love Him more is to have more of Him in your life. To love Him little, is to have little of Him in your life; no matter how much head knowledge you have.)

Second, there is the “walk” in those ordained good works.
This is a personal thing. He has good works for each of us.
Ordained means that Christ Jesus has made all the provision for these works that He calls you to do.
All the Wisdom, and strength, and help you need is available to you.

How much we disagree with this! We often murmur at the people, situation, time, or our ability to the Lord.
Surely, you have made a mistake, Lord. (Are we hearing what we are saying?!)

We must seek His guidance, and when we have it, use it. It is a map to show us where to go, and how to go.
Haste can make waste. And sloth can steal not only time, but every reward we should have received.

Ordained means His Provision is given us. And we just need to “walk” in what He has said.
Which always brings us back to the first: to know the Love of God, in Christ Jesus, which is beyond measure, a sure anchor for our lives.

Will we fail? Yes.
But remember this is a walk with Christ; and it continues all our lives.

Imagine the amount of love we will know, in a year, or two. Or the fullness of His Spirit we can have as we walk with Him.
We are His Workmanship; yield to the Holy Spirit within, and know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge; and walk in those good works He has for you.

David versus Goliath

1 Samuel 16:13 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David upon that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”

David had been anointed King of Israel by Samuel, because King Saul, had been set aside for his disobedience to God’s command.
Of course, Saul was still King. (The Lord would remove him when the time was right.)
And David, though anointed King, still kept his father’s sheep.
Months passed, till:

The Philistines, who were enemies of Israel, had come up to fight against Saul and his army of Israelites, and three of David’s older brothers had been called up to join the army, and fight them.
But as they come into view of the Philistines, they are terrified to see and hear the taunting of a giant, named Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:4-9 “And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
And he had graves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
And the staff of his spear was like a weavers beam; and his spears head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

 

And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul?
Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.”

This was quite a speech! “I am a Philistine”, but you are just “servants of Saul”.
Discounting Israel, and Israel’s God.
Defying God’s Purpose, for Israel was brought into possess the land, by God; and defying God’s continued protection of His People.

Back, taking care of the family’s sheep, was David. David loves the Lord, yet had not been called to go up against Goliath, either by the army (at that time they did not even know anything about David), or the Lord.
Until:
1 Samuel 17:17-18 “And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thine brethren;
And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.”

David’s father sent him on an errand, to supply his brothers with some food from home. Little did Jesse realize that in doing so, he would set in motion the rest of David’s life work.

Yet, now it was just an errand, that David did with faithfulness: He left the sheep with a keeper (for he did not neglect the small duties); And went, rising up early to do as his father commanded.

As he came, the battle between the armies was setting up, and David came and spoke to his brothers.
At the same time, Goliath came and taunted Israel again. David heard the taunt, and knew that it was against Israel’s God, not just Israel.
So he wanted to hear what would happen to anyone who went up against this giant.
His brother was angry, thinking he had come just to see the battle; but David ignored the anger, and kept after his goal of learning about this giant’s challenge.

Saul, hearing about this man’s bold words against Goliath; sent for him and questioned him. David spoke just as boldly, when the reality of fighting this giant, was presented.

I must pause in the narrative, and explain that in our life time we are presented again and again with these things:
There will be simple errands the Lord will send us on that will change the course of our lives. (Or the lives of others)
We will be misunderstood, and have angry (a lot, sometimes) words thrown at us.
We must ignore the anger; and speak our words, or do our duty faithfully.
And we must be prepared to act in faith and boldness, on the Lord’s side.

1 Samuel 17:32 “And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. ”

Here, David presented himself as a warrior. Not a soldier in Saul’s army, but a warrior for the honor of the Lord.
He told of God’s past protection against a lion and a bear; and saw no difference between them and this Philistine, because he hath defied the armies of the living God.
In other words, Goliath was not taunting men, but God. And in that case, Goliath was in a lot of trouble; even if he was a giant.

1 Samuel 17:34-37 “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of it’s mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.”

We must understand, that David trusted the Lord. He felt, that since no one was going to fight Goliath, that God’s honor was being slandered.

And he realized that he should do something about it.

That his life would be forever changed; he did not yet think about.

There was no long preparation to fight Goliath: Saul tried to give him his armor, but David put them off; for he had not used them before. “He had not proved them”.

But instead, with confidence in God to deliver, David took what he knew.
(And so should we. We should not get talked into conversations of philosophy, or other doctrine; when what we need to say is about our Lord Jesus Christ and His work; in us and for us).

1 Samuel 17:40 “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a script, and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.”

Notice how the Holy Spirit in the Word does not magnify the means of deliverance which David took. Instead He emphasizes that they are common, and simple.
(As Paul said, himself: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” 1 Corinthians 2:1-2)

Now let us consider Goliath. He was a champion: had many battles, and won. He was a giant. Taller, and broader, and stronger than all the men of Israel, even Saul (of whom it was said he was head and shoulders above the Israelites. 1 Samuel 10:23-24)
He did not want subjection to Israel, or the God of Israel; he wanted to rule, and make these God fearing Israelites his servants.
He had taunted Israel for forty days, and not one Israelite had come to take his challenge.
He felt very confident that none could beat him, and so when he saw David, with his shepherd staff, he mocked. He took it one step further, for he cursed David by his gods. (I told you Goliath was in a lot of trouble.)

But now, for David. (This should be our position, any time we go to do our duty: in work or battle. We are to do it in faith, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ)

1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.”

For the battle is the Lord’s. This we should realize for our work, as well. If we have been sent, and are obedient; then the Lord will be with us, guide us, and will see His Will done.

1 Samuel 17:49-51 “And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
Therefore David ran, and stood before the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.”

All that David had told Goliath, happened. Certainly by God’s Power, through faith. But also by the means of David’s arm.
God alone gives grace, but He gives us the privilege of standing with Him, and acting for Him in certain situations.

The instruction was from the Lord, the Power was God’s, the faith was by the Holy Spirit; and the Lord chose to use David.

It should be the same with us. Instruction, power, and faith to obey His Word to us, to do His Will for our lives.
But we must do it.

 

Are There Shadows in Your Christian Life?

Song of Solomon 4:6 “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.”

When we are born again, we are given the Holy Spirit and a new nature. One that loves God, and wants to please Him.
But we are Spiritual Babes, and often fail the Lord, when called to follow on with Him.

It is the Spiritual growth of our lives that brings us, as babes, to full grown children.

Ephesians 4:13-15 “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

To bring us to this point, the Lord, through His Word, and by the Holy Spirit within us, will bring us to the Light again and again; till we are walking in it, with no Shadows between us.

We fail, often, to fully realize that our own Natural Aversion to all things of God, is a clear manifestation of the ever present Old Nature within us. The old man wants his own will, and rebels at being in subjection to God.

Galatians 5:16-17 “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth (fights) against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to another; so that ye can not do the things that ye would.”
It is the flesh which “attacks” the new nature which is of God within us, for it still seeks to rule us, with our old habits, attitudes, and affections.

Romans 8:13-14 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

The “flesh”, “old man”, is our old nature; and remains in us, even though we have become born again.
We are to choose to obey the Spirit of God within us, and walk in the Light; so that the old nature is kept in subjection to Christ.
God’s Light, when it is submitted to, yields Power within us to do His Will.
It is a process.
This is an act of the will.
“…If ye do through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
And what a life! A life with the power of the Holy Spirit in us, and helping us, to do and be His Will!

Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Quicken is to make alive, active, and effective. As I said, What a life!

Mortify is to “put to death”. That is, it is brought to the place where it has no influence in us. Thus by an act of our wills, willing with the Holy Spirit, we do put to death the natural life, that it might become Spiritual.

Song of Solomon 4:6 “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.”

Where Shadows are in our life, full Light has not come.
Shadows are cast by something between the Light source (Christ’s Life), and that which is lighted (us).
It is a mountain of myrrh (which speaks of death), because it takes a lot of denying ourselves, and yielding to the Holy Spirit. And then it is, the hill of frankincense (which speaks of reigning authority) comes in. For when we yield to Him, and get out of the way; it takes very little of the power of God, to empower us for His Will.

To consider these Shadows, we must go back to our very beginnings, and first consider: “Why hast Thou made me thus?”

Romans 9:20 “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?”

It is a point of our rebellious old man, that we were never consulted in our being.
But just brought into being, with the parents I had, in these circumstances, looking as I do; and then forced to deal with it.
Sadly, many refuse to, seeking meaning in things, or emotions; or in oblivion, and finding it not. (The death wish the Psychiatrist talk about, is not just a wish to die, but a desire for non-being. To never have been; or to go into nothingness.)
Once we are, we are Eternal beings.
We will exist forever, either in Heaven with God in bliss; or in agony with the Devil.

But God has for us an “expected end”.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Our expected end is Christ, and the joy and peace He has for us, as we walk in His Light.

As the thing formed, we must be reconciled to God, Who formed us. As we are.

This is a deep thing of the soul, and worked within us by the Holy Spirit in our spirit.
Here is where subjection is real…not just words.

Your spirit, with the Power of the Holy Spirit, by an act of your will, brings your soul (the place of your intelligence, affections, and will) into subjection to God’s Will.
And you do it on that mountain of myrrh.
He begins as soon as you are born again, to encourage you to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Christ. (Matthew 16:24-25)
Every time you do this, His power works in you; creating in you that image of Christ in you.
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

God’s Will for you, has had it’s “beginnings” in Eternity past:
2 Timothy 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;”

He thought of you in Christ Jesus before He created the world. And so has made provision for your complete Salvation from sin: the guilt, penalty, and power of sin.

These shadows, are not the sin itself; but are the influences of our sin. They cast a shadow, a darkness over us.
It may be because of self pity because we have done these things: “Oh, how could I do that? How could I be so stupid?”

It may be that the sin is gone; because you know it will cause problems, or because of God’s chastening.
But the desire for that thing, still remains.
And must be removed, before the Shadows will “flee” away. There is still an element of darkness in your life. He can do it, keep coming to Him.

So many of these Shadows are of our Adversary, the Devil; deeply implanted within us , down through the years.
Things done by others, to us!
To which he has whispered many angry thoughts: “God should not have let them get by with this.”
Or thoughts of revenge: Tell the truth, would you REALLY want terrible things to happen to anyone? (Who do you think put that thought into your head?)

Again, let us consider Christ Jesus’ “expected end” for us: Joy and Peace in believing.

Do you have it? Are you obtaining it everyday, by denying yourself and picking up your cross, and following Him into the Light He has for you?

You don’t have to walk in Shadows. Keep coming to Him. Listen to Him, and His Word to you. Hang on to His Love; and know He is hanging on to you.

 

 

 

 

Let us Pass over to the Other Side
Mark 4: 35 “And the same day, when the even was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over to the other side.”

The Lord Jesus had just been teaching by the sea side. He had been preaching all day, and so at eventide, he spoke to his disciples that it was time to move on.

Mark 4:36 “And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.”

Now Jesus had said “Let us pass over to the other side”, and there was not a fisherman there, that did not think they could do that, with no problem. They were experienced fishermen, what could happen?
So they began. Other boats followed along, as well.

But suddenly a storm arose, which they had not foreseen.

Mark 4:37 “And there was a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.”

This was some sudden storm! The boat was filling up, from the wind whipping up the waves! This was not the usual lake travel; not for fishermen or others.

May I ask each of us, have we not been in this situation?
Quite certain that we could do something the Lord Jesus had given us to do?
(After all, we have been saved, and know quite a bit about the Lord; and about His work for us)
But then, some sudden “storm” of words, resentment, or shaming comes up from others, and we are suddenly at a loss as how to deal with it.
Worse, it seems as if we are “sinking”, and the Lord does not seem to be helping.

And may I also ask, haven’t we felt as if the Lord should come to our rescue, immediately?

I know I have; and have felt the fear, and (yes, shamefully) the resentment toward the Lord that He did not help me as I thought He should.

But, as the Lord reminded me: “Didn’t I think I could handle this myself?”
You should have seen me backpedaling!
“Oh, no Lord, I NEVER think I can do something without You.” (But, of course, I had)
Soon, I confessed, instead of excused myself. I set it right with Him first.
Then I asked Him to show me when I was going to do the same thing: Whenever I began to think I knew what I was doing!
We need guidance, and His Presence with us whenever we do anything for Him. And we need faith, to see it through, no matter what comes up.

Mark 4:38-40 “And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him and say unto him, Master carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

Now, Jesus had said, “Let us pass over to the other side.”
They should have trusted His Word, and by faith, claimed it when they were in the storm.
But as the wind and waves grew greater, their fear grew as well. His Words became just words; Which should never be.

Guidance we need. (They had that)
His Presence we need; always. (They had that)

What then did they lack?
First, a knowledge of their own inability to see the work done. (They got that, through the storm)
Second, a firm faith in the Word of Christ to them.

Their Faith should have spoken to the wind and waves, that Jesus had given them His Word, and that He was with them; and then they would have continued on.

And passed over to the other side.

Let us have faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, and trust His Word, and Presence with us.
Every storm has a lesson, let us look to Him, and learn from Him.

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”

Direction for our Christian Lives:

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

This is of the heart, not the head.
If we will only acknowledge Him is all our ways…He will direct our paths.
And acknowledge here, means that we are to see Him in everything concerning our lives.
Good things, bad things, we are to “see” that Christ knows about it and about us being in this situation.
Then, even though we know this, we are to tell Him about everything in it: our side, and wants concerning it; and the other side as well.

You can tell this is of the heart: who, but someone who really wants the Lord’s direction, would do this?
To have this direction aright, we must do this in everything, not just the big important things, but the little everyday things, as well.
Because this is the fellowship that is offered us, as we go along with Jesus.
It is constant fellowship.

But when we think this is of the head:
We can “lean on our own understanding” pretty easily. We have intelligence, and we are here in the situation; who better to figure this out?
We all know how this turns out!

Real direction comes to us by the Holy Spirit within us. That is a matter of the heart, again, not the head.
You ask for direction, then you hear His Voice. Light comes. In your heart, you quickly remove anything that would hinder your fellowship with Him, for fellowship is mutual sharing.
The Light brings the knowledge of what pleases Him in this situation; and you do it. And you also know what displeases Him, and turn away from it. When we know what to do, we should obey Him.

It is also the path we take, that He directs:
Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the the desert.”

There is no place or time He does not know, and does not make preparation for.

Isaiah 42:16 “And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”

God sees to us, and to our path, as we acknowledge Him in all our ways, and seek His direction for our lives.

The Pharisees Invitaion

Luke 7:36-38 “And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And went into the Pharisees house, and set down to meet.
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus was set at meat in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.”

Now here, a Pharisee invites Jesus to eat; but he has an unexpected guest. A sinner, a woman, who started to cry and wash Jesus feet with her tears.
Then she takes an alabaster box of ointment, and anointed his feet.

This was certainly a witness of Jesus’s message of the kingdom of heaven. She wanted forgiveness. And there were many things in her, Jesus plainly says, that needed to be forgiven.

But to the Pharisee, it was proof that Jesus was not a prophet. Surely he would know what kind of woman this was, and refuse her tears.(Luke 7:39)

So, Jesus speaks, not to prove anything, but to instruct this Pharisee about forgiveness, and love.

Luke 7:40-42 “And Jesus answering said unto him, (notice Jesus answered the unspoken question), Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?”

To truly be forgiven, we need to know we are sinners. God does not forgive imaginary things, or general thoughts of doctrine, that do not touch the truth of sin.

He does forgive the sinner, of their sins. That is what Christ came to do. (Matthew 1:21). “To save his people from their sins.”

To truly love God, you must be reconciled to Him; which only comes by the forgiveness of sins. Otherwise there is still a gulf between God and man: a gulf maintained by self-righteousness, or pride, or lust.
Love comes by forgiveness, which brings God’s heart down to ours.

Luke 7:43 “Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.”

You’re right, Simon, the more forgiveness is needed, the more love is shown for the forgiveness. What about you, Simon, how is your heart toward God? Full of self righteousness so that you can not love Him?
What about your sin? Or do you think you have any?

Luke 7:44-47 “And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman, since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but his woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”

Simon, in other words, you may think you are superior in every way to this woman, who is a great sinner. But you are not in God’s sight, Who has just forgiven her; while you remain in your sins. (It may be the less of the grosser sins; of which she knows, but sin is sin, Simon, and you are still unforgiven. )
You loved Me little, because you do not need My forgiveness. You think you are righteous, and therefore your heart does not love God, but yourself.

That night a great sinner went home, forgiven:
Luke 7:48, 50 “And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
Forgiven and reconciled to God in peace.

We love God, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19). He loved us in that He sent His Son to become the propitiation for our sins.
We love Him when we come to Him in honesty and confess our sins, and be born again.

Real peace with God comes through the forgiveness of our sins by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Real love follows.

Luke 7:49 “And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?”

Well, Who was He? He was the coming Christ, prophesied of and now appeared to put away sin.
What will you do with Him?
Everyone there made their choice. So do we.
Will we come and get our sins forgiven, or will we stay in our lives, thinking we are alright ?

The Pharisees invitation to Jesus, was to a public person, who could make him look good.
Jesus invitation was as The Christ to a Pharisee who needed to be forgiven.

Which will you choose?

 

 

 

Lift up the Hands that Hang Down:
Hebrews 12: 12-13 “Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees;
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

God never intends that we go through life miserable.

It is true that we are in a battle with sin, self, and the Adversary, but it should always be a path of Light.

In this part of Hebrews, the writer has just told of heroes of faith (Hebrews 11); and concluded that we are “compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses” in our walk of faith.(Hebrews 12:1)
All those who have gone before, which are in Heaven; and those who are in the world now, are watching, to encourage us, to continue to be faithful to Christ Jesus our Lord.

He goes on to say that in every race, it is to those who lay aside every weight, who will win.
Weights are those things which we carry, which are unnecessary to our walk with the Lord. In fact, they hinder it.
These can be habits we have picked up, which need to be put aside; or acquaintance which we have let get an advantage over us; or ideas from the world which sound right, but are not.
These weights interfere with our race; and hinder our progress in grace.
So, the writer says, you need to “lay aside” these; and run with patience the race that is set before us.
A good way to do this is:
Hebrews 12: 2-3 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

Jesus Christ our Lord came from His glory, into humiliation for us; that we might have His joy. We are His joy, and satisfaction. (Isaiah 53:11 “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”)
When we think on this, can we not see how our path through this world is not as awful as we think?
That the things we go through can bring us closer to the Lord?
It is not just His suffering in death, but the “contradiction of sinners”. That was in the unbelief of the people he came to; the anger of the chief priests and Pharisees, who refused to acknowledge Jesus’ authority; and in the face of so many proofs (because He fulfilled every Old Testament prophesy concerning the Christ) rejected Him and sought to make others refuse Him as well.
Yet Christ Jesus went to the cross to die and save all who would come unto Him.

The writer also says to be prepared to be corrected, if you go astray; because your Heavenly Father loves you, and seeks to keep you safe.
The further you are from Jesus; the further out of His Light and Love you go.

Therefore He corrects us.
Hebrews 12: 6-7 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not.”

He acknowledges that this chastening is not a joyful thing. (Chastening is to correct; to get after the wrong in us, and not let up)

Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

This “exercised thereby” is like someone who really goes after the goal.
(A group of people all competing for a a role in the games, and the trainer seems to be working them hard. But those who take the bruises, or sore feet, or failures at first; and stay with it….are those that are “exercised thereby”. They go on to the goal.)

So in Spiritual Life:
Our Trainer is the Holy Spirit. He is come to us to bring us on on our Way, in grace.
But we are often slow learners; or frightened; or we plainly do not want to do it this way.
But the Holy Spirit does not give up on us; but rather seeks to point us to Christ; and keeps working in us.
It is sometimes not joyous; but don’t give up, but go on with Him.
Hebrew 12: 12-13 “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”

Lift up the hands which hang down in fear or tiredness.
Strengthen the knees which want to just sit down, and forget it.
Make your paths straight, by:
Trusting in the Lord.
Listening to Him.
And holding on to His love.

He is Always with us, let us stay with Him.
Ask for these to be shown to you, now; and be prepared to be strengthened by His Holy Spirit, in peace and joy.

Use it or Lose it?
1Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, we ask that You would give us what we should receive from this message. To Your glory, in Jesus Name Amen.

Matthew 25:14-30
Here is the parable of the man traveling into a far country. So he delivers to his servants his goods, to use while he was gone to gain with.
To begin this, it would seem that to stress the most important fact; we should deal with “ability”. “Each to his several ability”.

Matthew 25:15 “And unto one he gave five talents, to another, two; and to another, one. To every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey”

“Several ability”, the plain teaching of this Parable is that even the one talent person could have gained somewhat; in as much as each had a several ability. Which means there is more than one thing they could have done.

Matthew 25:29 “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath? In other words, that which he had, but made no use of!!

Luke 19:12-14 “He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.”
Here in this parable we see two groups: Servants, and citizens.
The servants who are entrusted with the part of the nobleman’s wealth to gain for him while he is gone.
And the citizens of the country are those of the world which hate him, outright.

When the nobleman returns (as Christ will one day, having been given His Kingdom here on earth [Revelation 11:15]). Then he calls for an account of his servants.

The Parable in Matthew 25 uses “talents”. Each receiving an amount to use.
But here in Luke, they each receive one pound and are told to “Occupy till I come”. This is a merchandise term , used in the day of Christ. It means to use it and gain with it. (The “pound”, which is the power of God in our lives by the Holy Spirit.)

Luke 19:16-17 “Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
And he said unto him, Well done, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.”

Faithfulness to God in what He has given you, much or little, is what He rewards.
Luke 19:18 “And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.”

And so He did gave the man who had been faithful; authority over five cities. He had not gained as much as the first servant, but had been faithful and gained; and so was rewarded.

Now to the one who hid his talent, for selfish fear. He feared what the Master would say if he did not do well. So he thought he would hide his talent, to protect himself. He would give back what he was given, and be done with it. The Nobleman couldn’t complain, he thought, because He had back, what He had given.
But that is not what the Nobleman wanted. He wanted His servants to use what He had given them, out of honor for Him.

Luke19:23 “Wherefore than gravest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?” (Interest)
He was responsible for his one talent, but he did nothing with it.
That one talent, he was given, was the gift of Eternal Life. He had been given faith, should he not improve on that, by growing in grace?

What about us, and our talent?

In order for the Lord to gain usury on us:
We should use the gift of Eternal Life by improving on it. As Peter said:
2 Peter 1:5-8 “Besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness;
And to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are to “add” by diligence to our faith. To show that we want that Eternal Life at work in us, and through us.
To place yourself as it were in His Bank, that He may receive interest on the talent that He gave us.
He may have you do something
He may have you do nothing
That would be up to Him, but you would be showing Him that you wanted to serve Him.

Again! Use it or lose it!
As Paul said:
1Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Those that are faithful in little, will be given much.
For this is the measure of Spiritual Things.

Luke 19:24-26 “And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath 10 pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath 10 pounds.). For I say unto you , That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.”

There it is , the Sovereign Creator says “That unto every one which hath shall be given”. They have used what He gave them, and gained, little or much.
We who are of the Elect, need to see God’s Purpose which was from the beginning

We were not put into this world to fulfill our own purpose, but HIs.

We were neither born, Or born again, to do our own thing.
But unto the good works, which GOD hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

And “ordained” means that full provision for the works are made available to us. In other words, the Lord has given us our talents; how shall we use them?

He has committed to our trust the gift of Life, how shall we use it?

Everyone is responsible to God for the talents He has given me them. Everyone must yet give a full account to Him, for the pound entrusted to them.
But what sort of an accounting must the Stewards of the Grace of GOD give?
We , who have so much, and care so little?

1 Corinthians 3:10-13 “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another build there on. But let every man take heed how he build there upon. Got other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”
“Of what sort it is”
And that depends upon how much we use for His honor.

I had a dream once:
I had died.
I was in Heaven waiting, to meet the LORD.
Waiting in a regular waiting area;
So glad to be there!!
Then in all my rejoicing; it was brought home to me , that my hands were empty.
I had nothing to give Him, Who gave everything for me.
And I wish I could explain the emptiness I felt;
Nothing for my Lord.
Then I was awakened, but I could feel the despair of that moment.
And for some time thereafter.

Sometimes, when we hear such things, we think we can just turn our ears off , and if we don’t hear it, we won’t have to account for it.
Like children, holding our hands over our ears, saying, “I can’t hear you!” So we think we can say the same to the Lord.

In spiritual work we look to the workman to tell the sort of work.
We can only do what we are.

If we are faithful to God, we will gain for Him. If we are unfaithful, we will lose our reward.
Again, use it, or lose it; which will we do?
The

Light Expels Darkness

Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

When the earth was darkened, in a state of chaos, God spoke, “Let there be light”.
He did not need the light, for He is light; but the earth did.
All of His creatures He was about to create, did.

We need to consider the fact that there are two Principles at work in the Universe.
One is the Principle of Obedience, which is of God.
The other is the Principle of Rebellion, which is of the Adversary, the Devil.
God’s Principle is called Light. While the other is called Darkness.

God has given light to each person born:
John 1:9 “That was the true light, which lighteth every man which cometh into the world.”
Each person is given the light or knowledge that there is God.

Most reject the light, and choose to walk in Darkness
John 3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Jesus said:
John 3:7 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
To be born again is to have Christ’s life and light placed within us by the Holy Spirit. He indwells us, empowering us to live a life well pleasing to Him.

John 3:8 “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
You can not see the wind; but you can see the effects of the wind: the leaves blowing, the trees moving, etc.
The evidence of being born again: You can only tell by the effects of this new birth in your life.

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who hath commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The first thing of His New Creation within us?
“Hath shined in our hearts”
He gave His Light to our hearts so that we might clearly see Him, and love Him dearly.
“To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
This is personal knowledge, for ourselves, in our lives, as they are.
That is a whole lot of words, emphasizing the personal relationship of Christ Jesus to us, which is what He wants for us.

When the Light comes, it leads us to fellowship with Christ:
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

This fellowship is spoken of as “walking in the Light”.

You can think of stepping out of the Shadows of your life, into the light of day.
Colossians 1:13 “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”

But what to do?
We Walk. We are to continue to walk in the light: Walking, not running in the light of His love, and Word. This suggests the nearness of friends, the comfort of good conversation, and the strength of two.
“And the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

1 John 1:8-9 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Here is set forth the means for that cleansing from all sin.
It is to know deliverance from the Power of Sin in your life. This is very personal.

It is not sinless perfection, but deliverance.
Deliverance means to rescue. It means we are brought out of, not only the sin of one time, but from the power of that sin in our lives.
The true taking away of sin is this: If the Light comes in, the darkness is expelled.
They can not dwell together.
The Light of Christ yields honesty of heart and mind.
We will see, by the Holy Spirit, the truth of our attitudes, ways of doing things, and the truth of the why of our sin. (Why we do what we do, to the people we do it to.)

Honesty will lead us to throw ourselves on God more, for strength, wisdom, help, patience, etc.
And if we get honest with Him, He will help us in every aspect of our lives. He is Light, and with Him (and we need to stay with Him) we will be empowered in the day by day circumstances of our lives. (Even if we have made a mess of them before.)

We are to walk with Jesus in His Light. Yes, He will reprove and correct us; for light does both.
But it is in love, always looking for the response of love from us:
Jude 21 :”Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

 

That My Joy might Remain in You

John 15:11 “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

Joy and Peace are the criteria of spirituality, for the Christian.

As long as you maintain them, you are strong in the faith.
When you lose them, you grow weak, often unable to stand as you should, against the wiles of the Devil.

They are both given you by Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit; but are to be maintained by our diligent effort.

Joy is not happiness. Joy is from the Lord. It is the bubbling up of His life and Presence within us, and can come even in bad circumstances.(Often does, to help us)

Happiness is centered a round ourselves, or someone or something we love; and the good things that come.

Peace is the calm of heart and mind, even in the storms of life; because again, it comes from God, not circumstances.

Joy is usually lost first. We let something come between the Lord and us; or hesitate to follow Him into what is next; and we feel the Holy Spirit being quenched; so joy is lost.
We can not feel joy without His Presence; for again, joy is the Presence of God in my life. So we begin to lose the feelings of His Presence, and we are weakened.

This is where the Adversary, the devil, would attack with a “why?” Or a “How come?”. (Remember, the Devil got Eve and Adam to disobey God in the first place, when he gave the suggestion that they did not need to be dependent on God. They could be “like” God, if they just took of the fruit which God told them not to eat.)
So the Devil comes to us, and suggests that we were right in questioning the Lord; and if we listen, it will lead us further from the Lord, and disturb our peace.

When our peace is shaken, our belief starts to break down. It is not that we do not believe the Lord or His Word in general; but we begin to doubt it, where we are concerned.
“Perhaps the Lord will not do what He said to us; after all, He has not done it yet.”

When our peace is gone; we have two choices:
1). Keep listening to the fear and mistrust that has come into our hearts.

2). Confess our doubts, hesitation, and listening to the Adversary to the Lord, and get it cleansed from our hearts.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Then we can be restored in peace, and have the joy of the Lord restored to us. It is all about doing His commandments, and abiding in His love; there is our joy.

John 15:10-11 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

We are full of joy, as we keep His commandments, and abide in His love.
And that is what Christ Jesus wants for us, here and now.

What has taken your joy away?
What has shaken your peace?

Don’t let it continue; seek His forgiveness, and be restored.
“…That my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”