Time with CHRIST JESUS.
10/28/2016
KNOWING The Will of The LORD...
We have the HOLY SPIRIT at our re-birth; it is a promise given to us in Acts 2:38 to repent and be baptized to receive the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT. Marvelous Gift from GOD !
We say …
or when trouble raises its head ?
10/23/2016
Time to REBUILD the TRUE Temple of The LORD
Haggai 1:2
Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying,
This people say,
The time is NOT come,
the time that the LORD’s house
should be built.
1:3
Then came the word of the LORD
by Haggai the prophet, saying,
1:4
Is it time for you,
O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses,
and this house lie waste?
…
1:9
Ye looked for much,
and, lo it came to little;
and when ye brought it home,
I did blow upon it.
Why?
saith the LORD of hosts.
Because of Mine House
that is waste,
and ye run every man
unto his own house.
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Is it TIME YET ?
I Corinthians
3:16
Know ye not that ye are
the Temple of GOD,
and that the SPIRIT of GOD
dwelleth in you?
3:17
If any man defile the Temple of GOD,
him shall GOD destroy;
for the Temple of GOD is holy,
which Temple ye are.
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Do not think for a minute that The LORD is lax about His Temple.
HE was not lax when HE brought His People out of Egypt. HE was not lax when HE allowed His Temple to be destroyed by the Babylonians.
The Jews had so corrupted themselves that The SPIRIT of GOD abandoned their Temple, and the Destroying Nation was allowed to devastate the Corrupted Temple.
It had become VILE in the Eyes of The LORD.
But do not think for a minute that The LORD is lax about His Temple .
HE was not lax back then;
HE is not lax now.
No, HE is NOT LAX now, either.
I Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the
Temple of GOD,
and that the SPIRIT of GOD
dwelleth in you?
The Apostle Paul wrote this to born-again Christians, Followers of The LORD JESUS CHRIST, who were living in Corinth, a greatly corrupted metropolitan city.
3:17
If any man defile the Temple of GOD,
him shall GOD destroy;
for the Temple of GOD is Holy,
which Temple ye are.
The Apostle was NOT KIDDING. He was in dead earnest. In great seriousness he wrote this to BORN-AGAIN Christians who were already Saved.
The Apostle’s message was this: We cannot defile our temple because The HOLY SPIRIT has been placed in it during Baptism ( Acts 2:38).
It is HIS+ TEMPLE NOW.
Thus, WE are now
His+ LIVING Temple.
If we DO defile it, then our “temple” becomes VILE to The LORD and HE+ will destroy it.
Defiling GOD’S TEMPLE is serious and The LORD is NOT LAX about how we are to conduct ourselves being His+ LIVING Temple .
What manner of life, then, are we to live ?
We are to BUILD HIS+ TEMPLE
within our hearts…
not our own “temple”.
We are to sow to the SPIRIT … and not to the Flesh.
We are not to forsake the building of the Living Temple of GOD in favor of building our OWN temporal , earth-bound fiefdom. It will bring death to our souls.
Rather… we lay hold on Eternal Life, to the which we have been called. We are to Cultivate the Salvation which has been given to us, with fear and trembling
… not nonchalance.
PRIORITIES of HEART and TIME and ENERGY
need to be re-focused on CHRIST JESUS first.
HE+ will supply the rest,
as it is promised.
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10/18/2016
The HAMMER of The LORD
"Why do you say, ' LORD, LORD '
... and do NOT the things I+ say ? "
Are not MY+ Words like a refiner's fire,
like a Hammer that breaks the rock,
that goeth forth through all the earth ?
Hearken unto ME+ : Every Word that I+ speak will come to pass. None --- not a one --- will fall to the earth void.
ALIGN YOURSELF
WITH ME+.
Why do you work for things which will not profit ?
CHRIST the KING+
ever reigns on High;
O Come,
Let us adore HIM+ !
The LORD bringeth the counsel
of the nations to nought.
HE+ maketh the devices of the people
of NONE EFFECT.
Psalm 33:10
For the Indignation of The LORD
is upon all nations,
and His+ fury
upon all their armies:
HE+ hath utterly destroyed them,
HE+ hath delivered them
to the slaughter.
Isaiah 34:2
CHRIST the KING+
ever reigns on High;
O Come,
Let us adore HIM+ !
Be merciful unto me , O GOD,
be merciful unto me.
For my soul trusteth in THEE+;
yea, in the shadow of Thy+ Wings
will I make my refuge
until these calamities be over-past.
Psalm 57:1
Be Still
and know that
I AM ELOHIM;
I will be exalted
among the nations,
I will be exalted
in the earth.
Psalm 46:10
For I know that
my REDEEMER+ Lives
and HE+ shall stand at the Latter Day
upon the earth.
And though after my skin
worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh
shall I see GOD
Whom+ I shall see for myself,
AND MINE EYE SHALL BEHOLD,
and not another;
my reins be consumed within me.
Job 19
CHRIST the KING+
ever reigns on High;
O Come,
Let us adore HIM+ !
And the work of Righteousness shall be peace;
and the effect of Righteousness,
QUIETNESS and ASSURANCE for ever.
Isaiah 32:17
THOU+ will keep him
in Perfect Peace,
whose mind is stayed
on THEE+
Because he trusteth
in THEE.+
Isaiah 26:4
CHRIST the KING+
ever reigns on High;
O Come,
Let us adore HIM+ !
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10/15/2016
Thy WORD+ is True from the Beginning...
Thy WORD+ is true from the beginning:
and every one of Thy
Righteous Judgments endureth for ever.
Psalm 119:160
O how I love Thy Law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:97
“O, how I love THEE+, O LORD .”
This is the cry of our hearts. Why do we love His+ Law, His+ Word, His+ Commandments ? What good does it do to MEDITATE upon His+ Law all day long ?
The WORD+ of The LORD is a Living Word+. It is not merely ink-on-paper. It is not merely the thoughts of men.
His+ Word is pulsating with the very SPIRIT of The LIVING ELOHIM. It is in-breathed, in-spired by His+ HOLY SPIRIT.
We know The LIVING ELOHIM only through ONE WAY… through The LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Neither is there Salvation in any other.
For there is none other Name under Heaven,
given among men,
whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Through our LORD JESUS CHRIST is the Law for our behavior made and given in the First Covenant … and then explained and EXPANDED to include the motives of our HEARTS, in the New Covenant.
Through HIM+, Our HOLY FATHER Which art in Heaven, is revealed.
Guidance and judgment, yes, we may obtain from a list of rules and regulations.
But human beings CANNOT “LOVE”
A LIST of LAWS.
We can only love a person, a living being. And for most of us, we can only love a person who also loves us.
So WHY does the Psalmist say,
“O how I love Thy+ Law!
It is my meditation all the day” ?
It is because THIS LAW is embodied in the person of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE+ is the one through Whom+ we know our Heavenly FATHER.
HE+ is
the LAW INCARNATE+.
HE+ is the one through Whom+ the great, loving, and merciful character — yet Righteous in every respect — of our Heavenly FATHER is revealed for all … the widow and the orphan, for the stranger in the land, for brethren with one another, for the merchant and slave, for the thief and the murderer.
Through JESUS CHRIST the MESSIAH is the character of Our mutual Heavenly FATHER revealed .
Our FATHER’S character is Upright, no shadow of turning in HIM. Our LORD JESUS shows forth The FATHER’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT in the matters of Religious Law with the woman taken in adultery.
So when they continued asking HIM+,
HE+ lifted up Himself+,
and said unto them,
He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:7
Our LORD JESUS shows forth The FATHER’S JUDGMENT, even in civil matters. HE+ told the ever clever, letter-of-the-Law-abiding Pharisees to look at Caesar’s coin.
Let us listen to His+ Words from The FATHER :
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of ELOHIM in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
But JESUS perceived their wickedness,
and said, Why tempt ye ME+,
ye hypocrites?
Shew ME+ the tribute money.
And they brought unto him a penny.
And HE+ saith unto them,
Whose is this image and superscription?
They say unto him,
Caesar’s !
Then saith HE+ unto them,
Render therefore unto Caesar
the things which are Caesar’s;
and unto GOD
the things that are GOD’S.
Matthew 22: 15-22
Through all these Scriptures, both Old and New, we see the character of our Heavenly FATHER revealed.
In the Old Covenant, His character is revealed through The LAW. In the New Covenant, HIS character revealed in the Righteous LAW is
completed and EXPANDED
through Our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
So yes, we can heartily agree with this :
Thy WORD+ is true from the beginning:
and every one of Thy
Righteous Judgments endureth for ever.
O how I love Thy Law!
It is my meditation all the day.
There is NO CONFLICT between the Old and the New for followers of Y’SHU+.
-
GOD’S character is CONSTANT.
-
His Discernment is accurate.
-
His Judgments are real.
-
And His Truth is un-changing, ever-lasting, and endures forever.
All of this is REVEALED in the person of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST … the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.
10/09/2016
Let PATIENCE Have Her PERFECT WORK !
ALLOW PATIENCE
TO HAVE HER PERFECT WORK !
Knowing this,
that the trying of your faith
worketh patience.
But LET patience have her PERFECT work,
that ye may be
perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.
James 1:3-4
Endurance with joy … or at least with obedience… will DO something for us, if we walk through our trial in the Companionship of The LORD JESUS CHRIST.
HE+ suffered on the Cross for people who did not love HIM+ …. yet. HE+ suffered mocking and scourging and rejection for people who did not know HIM+ … yet.
PATIENCE will take us through such trials of our bodies and hearts also.
He+ made HIMSELF+ of no reputation. NONE! HE+ was the humblest of men, taking upon HIMSELF+ the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, HE+ humbled HIMSELF+.
PATIENCE will lead us down the path of humbleness also, especially if we embrace that path as “from The LORD.”
And became OBEDIENT unto death, even the death of the Cross.
Can we humble ourselves in our trials and hateful tasks yoked upon us … in order to join HIM+ on the Cross ?
SOME of our hateful and hard situations we find ourselves in, we have simply brought on ourselves.
We have clamored for THAT mate, THAT house, THAT job, or THAT car. We have been sad and depressed when our longing has been denied. We yearn so DEEPLY for “THAT” special mate or “THAT” special position or thing. Just to make us happy. Just to fulfill our lives, yes ?
But, throughout our impatient years, the LORD has blocked our desire. Still, we continue to nag and refuse to be content with the lowly, Self-effacing path HE+ has ordained for us.
Finally …
The LORD steps aside and allows us to obtain “THAT” — whatever it is. Unfortunately, it takes only a very short time to discover the Truth:
All along, Our LORD has been saving us
from tremendous heart-ache,
saving us from tremendous burdens,
or saving us from a deeper sorrow
than our hearts had ever known.
And now, there is no turning back. We chose our mate, that position, that house. The bill for sowing to our yearnings is coming due. Our burdens and heart-aches are increasing exponentially.
How do we survive ?
We humble ourselves to CHRIST JESUS. We admit and confess that our hard-headedness and Self-will has procured for us this awful situation.
Then we repent.
HE+ tried to warn us not to go in that direction. HE+ tried to re-direct our will to JOIN HIS+ WILL… but we could not abide doing that. So now, with the distress sitting in our lap and growing bigger daily, we see the error of our Self-centered life and we REPENT.
We cry to HIM+ for forgiveness, for leaving the path of fruitfulness. Our hands are so full of the distressing situation that we now are VERY LIMITED in what we can do for the Kingdom of GOD. HE+ knew it all along; now WE see it as well.
Our next step is to ENDURE and walk in a companionship with Our LORD through the mess of our lives that we have created ourselves.
For some, after patience has had its perfecting and corrective work done in us, HE+ will provide a way of escape. HE+ will speak to our hearts about this and hopefully, by the hard lesson we have had forced upon us, we will WAIT and LISTEN for His+ re-direction of our lives… and GO when HE+ says “Go” and “Stay” when HE+ says STAY.
For others, there will be no escape and they are left to carry the sole responsibility with the unwanted child to raise … the hurt of an unfaithful mate … the straight-jacket of an over-whelming debt locked into a neighborhood where there are NO friends and instead, is infested with spiritual enemies who are destroying our children … or the never-ending responsibility of a handicapped parent (child, spouse, or sibling) to care for.
Sadly, these burdens take the IMpatient ones totally off the work The LORD had originally chosen them for to further His+ Kingdom.
But wait !
There is hope for our life, even though the heavy issues are not resolved. THIS TIME… we do EVERYTHING to walk in that straight and narrow path that leads unto Life.
The LORD JESUS never abandons His+ sheep if we want HIM+ to rule our lives. HE+ never abandons us … if and when we repent and return unto HIM+.
Thus, we are admonished by the Apostle James to “allow PATIENCE to have her perfect work ” in us.
We will see, then,
HIS+ Great Patience
with us !
Walking hand-in-hand with The LORD JESUS CHRIST through sorrow, we will receive correction and perfection. Made mature, we will NEVER follow our own devices and yearnings again.
We will learn to allow the LORD to bring into our lives the people and things and WORK which HE+ wants us to have as friends, mates, abodes, and labors. We will learn to chase after NOTHING in our heart and in our flesh.
Then, when HE+ brings people, places, and work to us, it will be ordained by The LORD for our happiness and Self-worth, as we lose ourselves in His+ Perfect Will.
Yes, let us allow PATIENCE to have her perfect work in us. We will NEVER, EVER regret it… like we do from those regrets accrued by NOT allowing PATIENCE to bring us to maturity in CHRIST.
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