WAIT WITH CONFIDENCE :
“...See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm...” (James 5:7–8 NIV)
In the book of James, the Bible tells us that we should wait for God’s promises like a farmer waits for his harvest. Now, I’ve never seen a farmer plant a crop and then worry night and day about whether or not it’s going to come up. He doesn’t lose sleep thinking, “Oh, I hope that my corn is going to take root. Please, God, let my corn bring a harvest.” No, he waits with confidence, knowing that the harvest will come. He does his part, and he knows that seed will produce a good crop.
In the same way, we should wait confidently for the promises of God. We have to stand firm on His Word. It’s not enough to just hope that your situation is going to turn around. Instead of the attitude, “I hope I get well,” have the attitude of confidence and say, “Thank You, Lord, that I am getting well.” Start waiting like the farmer. Wait with a knowing. Wait with confidence. Be sure that as you put God’s Word into practice, just like the farmer, you will see that harvest of blessing in your own life in return.
“...See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm...” (James 5:7–8 NIV)
In the book of James, the Bible tells us that we should wait for God’s promises like a farmer waits for his harvest. Now, I’ve never seen a farmer plant a crop and then worry night and day about whether or not it’s going to come up. He doesn’t lose sleep thinking, “Oh, I hope that my corn is going to take root. Please, God, let my corn bring a harvest.” No, he waits with confidence, knowing that the harvest will come. He does his part, and he knows that seed will produce a good crop.
In the same way, we should wait confidently for the promises of God. We have to stand firm on His Word. It’s not enough to just hope that your situation is going to turn around. Instead of the attitude, “I hope I get well,” have the attitude of confidence and say, “Thank You, Lord, that I am getting well.” Start waiting like the farmer. Wait with a knowing. Wait with confidence. Be sure that as you put God’s Word into practice, just like the farmer, you will see that harvest of blessing in your own life in return.
THE GOD OF PEACE
"My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. Malachi 2:5-7
Jesus came to the earth and He healed and delivered people. He loved people and wanted to dispel the darkness in their lives. He wanted them whole. He wanted them free and He provided it in His gift to them on the Cross. He gave them His Power. The Holy Comforter is our daily comforter because of what Jesus did on the Cross. When I was a child, I walked, talked and behaved as a child but when I became a man I put away childish ways. For many are called but few are chosen. They hear the clarion call of the gospel and they respond. But along the way they return to their childish ways and stray far from God. An inch might as well be a long mile from God.
Men walk in their integrity but there are few who attain the level of God’s integrity. The men who can walk in His integrity have retained their child like faith with manly dignity. They have learned to remain who they are in Him and do not promote themselves. They have learned true qualities of Christian character and live by those virtues. They walk by His Spirit and are lead by Him. Is it possible for a Christian to truly live as Jesus did in one hundred percent self-control and victory over self and the enemy? The answer is resoundingly ‘yes!’ Yes, by virtue of the fact that God is all powerful and He is able to empower people to walk the walk and do what‘s right before all men. He has given us His secret weapon—Jesus!
Through Jesus and His truth He has given us the weapons of our warfare. They are not carnal but spiritual. Our own character and integrity is a force to be used as a weapon against the enemy. The enemy within can be conquered. We are not alone. We are not the only one. We are able by God’s Spirit and His grace to defeat the enemies within us. The enemy of self-centeredness, criticism, negativity, anger and rage, unforgiveness, immorality, lust, self-deceivement and so on. Our struggle is a never ending battle. Each day we must take up our Cross and follow Him. But we can win in this fight! Every time we say the right thing, every time we love ourselves or someone else properly, every time we react with compassion or proper judgment and do it both in love and righteousness. This is true Christianity.
There was not just one side to Jesus. He was always righteous both in His love reactions and His judgment reactions. He remained firm against His body and soul. He was in total control of His life and actions and attitudes. At the deciding point of His life—in the garden. He did the Will of the Father and retained His throne at the God’s Right Hand. Yet, His motivation was not from selfish ambition. He really did love us enough to die for us and give us a fresh start. All those who turn to Him and love Him with all their heart, soul and mind have that fresh start.
Whether we keep our first love with God is up to each one of us. Will our motives for what we do in a day be based on our usual selfish desire and carnality. Or are we going to serve the Great I Am in the Spirit or in truth, walking by His power and doing what He told us to do each day of our lives? Each day these choices and decisions remain ours. If a thought enters our head and has nothing to do with godliness and doesn’t line up with God’s truth we can be sure it is not a good thing.
Many people have the attitude ‘I thought this, therefore it must be truth, or important. This is not truth. The Bible says we must take every thought and lay it at the foot of the Cross. We can take every thought into captivity, analysis it and decide it is a good or bad thing and what action we should take because of it. Bad thoughts should be rejected and forgotten and replaced with God’s truth and His praises. The illuminating Word of God quickly dispels the darkness of that thought. God’s truth and power pierces through the darkness in your life and brings real healing and change. Healing of all things in our life, including, lack of love and self-worth, lack of self-esteem, and all forms of rejection by the Power and Presence of Jesus in a wounded spirit.
If we expect perfection in ourselves we will never find it. Only Jesus is our perfection and beauty and protection. His word is true:
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." 1 Corinthians 1:27-31
Jesus Christ Himself in the power of the Holy Spirit, the greater one in us has now become for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. When we understand this truth and humbly act on it we shall never be the same nor defeated any more. The deception of men is that they think they are so wonderful when they are not. They think they can achieve anything without God. They built great towers and monuments to themselves and then ask why He is upset with their inventions. They don’t understand they were doing it to exalt themselves and forgot their Creator. They forgot to worship Him, to thank Him, to love Him for who He is to them. They forgot their Lord and Savior.
God divided men’s language and shattered them across the earth because their desire was not towards Him but themselves. It seems as though it’s a broken record, repeating itself over and over and over again. Men are doing what they have desired to do for centuries without thought of what God truly desired that they do. Even religious ones are doing their own thing and asking God to bless it and make it His will. Men may decide or desire certain things but ultimately God is the deciding factor in an equation they rarely see. They don’t consider Him. They think He doesn’t exist. They think He didn’t make what He said He made. They think man evolved when he was generated by God’s Power and His very Breath.
So, men will think what men will think and God will think what God will think and we will see the final outcome. For most it will not be what they expected. For few it will be unexpected. For a very, very few it will be as expected and properly rewarded. Safe haven comes to those who wait upon God; to those who are dedicated to His service and recognize their own finiteness. The greatest enemy of all of God’s people is deception. Whether it is self-deception or general malice it is still deception. The only way to avoid this deception is to get on our knees humble ourselves and admit we are wrong and unworthy of God. Then, with God we can build on this foundation, restructuring our lives into something that will be profitable, pliable and usable.
The greatest enemy to humility is pride and self reliance; pride which is as the sin of witchcraft, fear which takes many forms and many phobias; self-reliance which says, I can do it my own way I don’t need God or His truth. In the bible God’s Word, He outlines the things that both help and hinder a relationship with Him. It is important that His people avail themselves of these truths and live by them in order to bring about great change in their lives. Without them, change is impossible. The greatest changer in their lives is the Holy Spirit. He makes real the life giving force present in God’s Words. He quickens the truth to a person’s spirit and helps them to understand the importance of it and how to live it in a daily way. He is a life force all by Himself but His objective is to help humanity receive the truth through the third part of their person—their inner spirit. Man is a triune being just as God is a triune being. Man is body, soul and spirit. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The parallel is obvious. What man does not understand is the deep importance of these many parts that come together in spiritual wholeness.
Man must recognize he has a Heavenly Father who knows and understands all things. He has a Savior in Jesus his Messiah and future King. He needs the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life to bring about real change and realization of truth. Also, he has to see he is not only body and mind or soul but he is spirit. Man is supernatural spirit that once he comes into existence will live on forever. Where he lives on forever is up to him but he will live on. If he accepts and lives by the Messiah and his teachings he will live on in Heaven should he meet the conditions. If he does not accept the Messiah he will live on but in another less desirable place.
Many people can’t even admit there is a hell. They can’t imagine He would have created such a place where people would have to go. It was never God’s desire or His intention. But men have left Him with decisions to make that are undesirable. God has given free will to men and if they don’t choose Him, He has chosen for them. It may seem unfair but it is the consequence for not accepting Him. It grates against many philosophies. But when one reads the entirety of the Bible one understands the entire picture better and can see God’s logic. Is God the sovereign Lord of the universe or not? Yes, He is the Lord and what He says goes no matter what men think or approve of. He doesn’t need men’s approval to be God. He is the “I Am who I Am.” All of man’s logic doesn’t fit into a thimble full of His Wisdom. One is night and the other is day. The two will never meet in any semblance of oneness.
Just as we can’t put new wine into old wine skins, we can’t fit God into man’s logic or traditions. He just doesn’t fit. We have to conform to His ways. We have to change our thinking. We have to embrace His truth and recognize it is the only answer for our lives that makes any sense. For in God’s world, there could not be so much violence, war, famine, slavery, selfishness, that we have today amongst us. But He, the God of all love and compassion and grace, demands something of us. That we lay down our ways and embrace His ways. That we recognize we are wrong and imperfect without Him. That we admit we need a real change and open ourselves to receive that change. Then, we become more like Him and can make a difference in the world around us.
From the greatest to the least, God has provided a way of escape that we may be able to bare the temptations of life but they are real and the only true Answer is Jesus. Let no one say he was tempted of God because this is simply not true. God tempts no man to do evil. Man is taken by his own desires, whims, passions and thoughts. It is interesting to see how many walk in non violence. Yet some of them end up in terrible violence or retribution. They thought they would escape but they didn’t. They thought their sins were not as bad as the other’s sins.
All sin is separation from God. Let no man say he can exist outside of God or accomplish anything of lasting value without Him. This is simply not true. He is the way the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except by Him. No, man can’t do things on his own. He needs the Holy Presence to change him and make him whole. Let no man say he is true when he is false. Let no man say he is pure when he is putrid. Let no man say he is spiritual, when he is carnal? Let each know who he really is and what he must do to change his ways. It is possible because Jesus Christ is alive and well. God’s word is unchanging:
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:12-17
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
"My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. Malachi 2:5-7
Jesus came to the earth and He healed and delivered people. He loved people and wanted to dispel the darkness in their lives. He wanted them whole. He wanted them free and He provided it in His gift to them on the Cross. He gave them His Power. The Holy Comforter is our daily comforter because of what Jesus did on the Cross. When I was a child, I walked, talked and behaved as a child but when I became a man I put away childish ways. For many are called but few are chosen. They hear the clarion call of the gospel and they respond. But along the way they return to their childish ways and stray far from God. An inch might as well be a long mile from God.
Men walk in their integrity but there are few who attain the level of God’s integrity. The men who can walk in His integrity have retained their child like faith with manly dignity. They have learned to remain who they are in Him and do not promote themselves. They have learned true qualities of Christian character and live by those virtues. They walk by His Spirit and are lead by Him. Is it possible for a Christian to truly live as Jesus did in one hundred percent self-control and victory over self and the enemy? The answer is resoundingly ‘yes!’ Yes, by virtue of the fact that God is all powerful and He is able to empower people to walk the walk and do what‘s right before all men. He has given us His secret weapon—Jesus!
Through Jesus and His truth He has given us the weapons of our warfare. They are not carnal but spiritual. Our own character and integrity is a force to be used as a weapon against the enemy. The enemy within can be conquered. We are not alone. We are not the only one. We are able by God’s Spirit and His grace to defeat the enemies within us. The enemy of self-centeredness, criticism, negativity, anger and rage, unforgiveness, immorality, lust, self-deceivement and so on. Our struggle is a never ending battle. Each day we must take up our Cross and follow Him. But we can win in this fight! Every time we say the right thing, every time we love ourselves or someone else properly, every time we react with compassion or proper judgment and do it both in love and righteousness. This is true Christianity.
There was not just one side to Jesus. He was always righteous both in His love reactions and His judgment reactions. He remained firm against His body and soul. He was in total control of His life and actions and attitudes. At the deciding point of His life—in the garden. He did the Will of the Father and retained His throne at the God’s Right Hand. Yet, His motivation was not from selfish ambition. He really did love us enough to die for us and give us a fresh start. All those who turn to Him and love Him with all their heart, soul and mind have that fresh start.
Whether we keep our first love with God is up to each one of us. Will our motives for what we do in a day be based on our usual selfish desire and carnality. Or are we going to serve the Great I Am in the Spirit or in truth, walking by His power and doing what He told us to do each day of our lives? Each day these choices and decisions remain ours. If a thought enters our head and has nothing to do with godliness and doesn’t line up with God’s truth we can be sure it is not a good thing.
Many people have the attitude ‘I thought this, therefore it must be truth, or important. This is not truth. The Bible says we must take every thought and lay it at the foot of the Cross. We can take every thought into captivity, analysis it and decide it is a good or bad thing and what action we should take because of it. Bad thoughts should be rejected and forgotten and replaced with God’s truth and His praises. The illuminating Word of God quickly dispels the darkness of that thought. God’s truth and power pierces through the darkness in your life and brings real healing and change. Healing of all things in our life, including, lack of love and self-worth, lack of self-esteem, and all forms of rejection by the Power and Presence of Jesus in a wounded spirit.
If we expect perfection in ourselves we will never find it. Only Jesus is our perfection and beauty and protection. His word is true:
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." 1 Corinthians 1:27-31
Jesus Christ Himself in the power of the Holy Spirit, the greater one in us has now become for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. When we understand this truth and humbly act on it we shall never be the same nor defeated any more. The deception of men is that they think they are so wonderful when they are not. They think they can achieve anything without God. They built great towers and monuments to themselves and then ask why He is upset with their inventions. They don’t understand they were doing it to exalt themselves and forgot their Creator. They forgot to worship Him, to thank Him, to love Him for who He is to them. They forgot their Lord and Savior.
God divided men’s language and shattered them across the earth because their desire was not towards Him but themselves. It seems as though it’s a broken record, repeating itself over and over and over again. Men are doing what they have desired to do for centuries without thought of what God truly desired that they do. Even religious ones are doing their own thing and asking God to bless it and make it His will. Men may decide or desire certain things but ultimately God is the deciding factor in an equation they rarely see. They don’t consider Him. They think He doesn’t exist. They think He didn’t make what He said He made. They think man evolved when he was generated by God’s Power and His very Breath.
So, men will think what men will think and God will think what God will think and we will see the final outcome. For most it will not be what they expected. For few it will be unexpected. For a very, very few it will be as expected and properly rewarded. Safe haven comes to those who wait upon God; to those who are dedicated to His service and recognize their own finiteness. The greatest enemy of all of God’s people is deception. Whether it is self-deception or general malice it is still deception. The only way to avoid this deception is to get on our knees humble ourselves and admit we are wrong and unworthy of God. Then, with God we can build on this foundation, restructuring our lives into something that will be profitable, pliable and usable.
The greatest enemy to humility is pride and self reliance; pride which is as the sin of witchcraft, fear which takes many forms and many phobias; self-reliance which says, I can do it my own way I don’t need God or His truth. In the bible God’s Word, He outlines the things that both help and hinder a relationship with Him. It is important that His people avail themselves of these truths and live by them in order to bring about great change in their lives. Without them, change is impossible. The greatest changer in their lives is the Holy Spirit. He makes real the life giving force present in God’s Words. He quickens the truth to a person’s spirit and helps them to understand the importance of it and how to live it in a daily way. He is a life force all by Himself but His objective is to help humanity receive the truth through the third part of their person—their inner spirit. Man is a triune being just as God is a triune being. Man is body, soul and spirit. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The parallel is obvious. What man does not understand is the deep importance of these many parts that come together in spiritual wholeness.
Man must recognize he has a Heavenly Father who knows and understands all things. He has a Savior in Jesus his Messiah and future King. He needs the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life to bring about real change and realization of truth. Also, he has to see he is not only body and mind or soul but he is spirit. Man is supernatural spirit that once he comes into existence will live on forever. Where he lives on forever is up to him but he will live on. If he accepts and lives by the Messiah and his teachings he will live on in Heaven should he meet the conditions. If he does not accept the Messiah he will live on but in another less desirable place.
Many people can’t even admit there is a hell. They can’t imagine He would have created such a place where people would have to go. It was never God’s desire or His intention. But men have left Him with decisions to make that are undesirable. God has given free will to men and if they don’t choose Him, He has chosen for them. It may seem unfair but it is the consequence for not accepting Him. It grates against many philosophies. But when one reads the entirety of the Bible one understands the entire picture better and can see God’s logic. Is God the sovereign Lord of the universe or not? Yes, He is the Lord and what He says goes no matter what men think or approve of. He doesn’t need men’s approval to be God. He is the “I Am who I Am.” All of man’s logic doesn’t fit into a thimble full of His Wisdom. One is night and the other is day. The two will never meet in any semblance of oneness.
Just as we can’t put new wine into old wine skins, we can’t fit God into man’s logic or traditions. He just doesn’t fit. We have to conform to His ways. We have to change our thinking. We have to embrace His truth and recognize it is the only answer for our lives that makes any sense. For in God’s world, there could not be so much violence, war, famine, slavery, selfishness, that we have today amongst us. But He, the God of all love and compassion and grace, demands something of us. That we lay down our ways and embrace His ways. That we recognize we are wrong and imperfect without Him. That we admit we need a real change and open ourselves to receive that change. Then, we become more like Him and can make a difference in the world around us.
From the greatest to the least, God has provided a way of escape that we may be able to bare the temptations of life but they are real and the only true Answer is Jesus. Let no one say he was tempted of God because this is simply not true. God tempts no man to do evil. Man is taken by his own desires, whims, passions and thoughts. It is interesting to see how many walk in non violence. Yet some of them end up in terrible violence or retribution. They thought they would escape but they didn’t. They thought their sins were not as bad as the other’s sins.
All sin is separation from God. Let no man say he can exist outside of God or accomplish anything of lasting value without Him. This is simply not true. He is the way the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except by Him. No, man can’t do things on his own. He needs the Holy Presence to change him and make him whole. Let no man say he is true when he is false. Let no man say he is pure when he is putrid. Let no man say he is spiritual, when he is carnal? Let each know who he really is and what he must do to change his ways. It is possible because Jesus Christ is alive and well. God’s word is unchanging:
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:12-17
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
No comments:
Post a Comment