Conformed to His+ Image ... PATIENCE in Babylon the Great

 Are we developing 

CHRIST-centered patience

or

“Our-Political-Rights”-centered

activism ?

 ?  ?  ?

But let patience have her perfect work,

that ye may be

perfect and entire (Complete),

wanting/lacking nothing.

James 1:4

 

PATIENCE , the virtue , is  frightening. It literally means “to stay under.”  We think of it as endurance.  The endurance , however, is measured ONLY WHEN WE ARE UNDER A SEVERE TESTING. 

 

Notice that the Apostle James exhorts us “to LET” (allow) patience to have her perfect work.  We are NOT to hinder The LORD’S work of perfecting our lives because we do not “like” these hard, unpleasant, hurtful experiences and events HE+ calls us to endure. 

And ye shall be hated of all men

for My+ Name’s sake.

But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

In your patience possess ye your souls.

And when ye shall see Jerusalem

compassed with armies,

then know that the desolation

thereof is nigh..

Luke 21: 17 – 20

 

Here, The LORD JESUS commends   PATIENCE   to us in the midst of HATRED when His+ Followers are being hounded and hated by all sectors of society … the public, the government,  and the religious alike. We will not have a friend except JESUS. There will be NO PLACE of SAFETY except by His+ side.

 

How close is this event ?

 

Ask the Persecuted Christians in North Korea, in the Sudan, in Vietnam, in Thailand, in Iran, in Iraq, Syria etc. It is worldwide and coming to all lands. That is a Scriptural promise no-one likes to “claim.” 

 

There will not be PEACE under Mr. Trump … at least, not for serious-minded Christians.  There will ONLY be a “new world order” agenda. Note that Mr. Kissinger is one of his “consultants,”  along with others in the CFR club.  

 

We do NOT JOIN ourselves to the “popular-rights” crowd. We do not become unequally-yoked with political movements and social rights activities. That would put us with strange bed-fellows.

Instead … 

Serious-Minded Christians join ourselves to CHRIST, Who+ is the Eternal Word of the FATHER. We receive from His+ hand what HE+ has ordained. HE+ places some in dire straights.

HE+ places some in terrible persecution. HE+ does this so that we might bear WITNESS TO HIM+  — in the WORST OF PLACES, to the WORST ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY — in this grossly blemished, unrighteous Civilization.

 

And not only so,

but we glory in tribulations also:

 

knowing that

tribulation worketh patience;

Romans 5:3

 

It appears the ONLY way to develop CHRIST-centered PATIENCE  is in tribulation… TRUE tribulation ( i.e., not a flat tire or a burned supper.)

 

So that we ourselves glory in you

in the churches of GOD

for your patience and faith

 

in all your persecutions

and tribulations

that ye endure:

2 Thessalonians 1:4

 

PATIENCE,  it seems, is tied unfailingly to persecution. Injury gained BECAUSE of following CHRIST JESUS. Loss sustained because of holding fast to His+ Truth. Sorrow endured because of faithfulness to His+ Word.

 

For ye have need of patience,

that,

after ye have done the will of GOD,

ye might receive the promise.

Hebrews 10:36

 

PROMISES — to be received — are connected to doing the Will of GOD.  In order to do the Will of GOD, though, we must OF NECESSITY develop PATIENCE  during  persecution and tribulation.

 

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about

with so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us lay aside every weight,

and the sin

which doth so easily beset us,

and let us run with patience

the race that is set before us…

Hebrews 12:1

 

There is a race tailor-made for each one of us. It will touch the “sore” spots in our hearts.  Our particular race will reveal our weaknesses and weights and faults that have warped our character, warped our faith. 

 

What are we to do

to rid ourselves of these warpings ?

 

We are to RUN anyway. We are not to flinch and fling ourselves away from the race-track that Our LORD has assigned for our particular life-run. We are not to join a “people’s-rights” movement and campaign for a lessening of the distresses.  We are to STAY FOCUSED ON THE RACE-TRACK which HE+ has ordained. 

 

Here is how we WIN that race:

 

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 contradiction of sinners against Himself+,

lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

 

Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,

striving against sin.

 Hebrews 12: 2-4

 

Our Race is to be won on our knees.  We win as we DRAW CLOSER to CHRIST.  HE+ will direct our prayers against the evil forces and our prayers WILL PREVAIL …. if HE+ is truly directing them and not our own voice. 

Yes, we need to gird our loins to suffer. However, the kingdom of darkness is going to feel the heat of the Suffering Saints’ prayers !

The Prophet Daniel tells us this:  in the midst of a TERRIBLE on-slaught against GOD’S people, they will be strong and DO EXPLOITS!

[ The exact word “exploits” is not in the Hebrew, but the meaning involves ACCOMPLISHING MUCH. See DANIEL 11:32.]

 

May we humble ourselves, forsaking the ways and means of the world. Let us diligently cast aside values and ideologies that are CONTRARY TO CHRIST. Every Follower of JESUS in every society in every country MUST DO THE SAME. 

 

All of our various societies and governments — tribal, democratic, and all those in-between — are all run by fallen men. The fallen nature of man ALWAYS co-operates closely with the ideologies of satan.

 

The business of our fallen societies and governments does NOT CONCERN the Followers of JESUS.  We have a totally different nature and our Kingdom has NOT YET been established, in Power and Glory upon the earth.  ( But,  that IS COMING! )

 

We are passing through our respective lands and tribes for one purpose only: to turn the hearts of fallen man to Our Heavenly FATHER and to HIS Glorious SON+ JESUS CHRIST. We are to rescue fallen men … all who are willing to be rescued … for the sake of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

 

Let us  therefore  be about

OUR  FATHER’S BUSINESS+ …

and leave the fallen world’s activities

to fallen men.

+  +  +

 And at that time shall Michael stand up,

the great prince which

stands for the children of your people:

 

and there shall be a time of trouble,

such as never was since there was a nation

even to that same time:

 

and at that time

Thy+ People shall be delivered,

every one that shall be found

written in The Book.

 

And many of them that sleep

in the dust of the earth shall awake,

some to everlasting life,

and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

And they that be Wise

shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;

and they that turn many to Righteousness

as the stars for ever and ever.

Daniel 12: 1-3

 

In The Name of GOD,

YHWH ELOHIM Almighty,

 and  YHWH ADONAI+

HIS only begotten, Eternal SON+.

And YHWH RUACH ha KADOSH

HIS Eternal SPIRIT.

 

AMEN + + +

Loving A LIE ?

Whosoever LOVETH and MAKETH a LIE..

 … will not enter into the New Jerusalem.

 

That Holy City, coming down from GOD out of Heaven is that Continuing City, whose Builder and Maker is GOD. This Holy Jerusalem is the crowning jewel of the New Heaven and the New Earth.

 

 

And there shall in NO wise

enter into it any thing that defileth,

neither

whatsoever worketh abomination,

or

maketh a lie:

but they which are written

in the LAMB’S+  BOOK of LIFE.

Revelation 21:27

 

 

Lies are behind all idolatry, the work of the satan, to deceive the spirit of man.

 

The lying idols will make people believe things that will take them to their utter destruction. This is NOT a lie !  

 

It is a lying spirit that tells a drunk to imbibe MORE ALCOHOL ( i.e., “spirit water” ).  “It will make you feel good. It will lift your spirits,” the lying spirit tells that person… as the alcohol destroys the mind, the pocketbook, the family unit, his liver, his soul,  and eventually his life.

 

The drug-addict believes the same lie.  So does the materialist and money-grabber, whether rich or poor. The LIE functions the same regardless of the financial status of that individual. 

 

The LIE, it proclaims of itself,

will MAKE YOU HAPPY.

 

The trouble is, that is the ORIGINAL LIE.  It is exactly what will lead you into GREAT UNHAPPINESS.

 

Lies infiltrate everything connected to human life, from promiscuity to abortion, to clothing styles and entertainment, from pursuits of careers to pursuits of life-styles and pursuits of philosophies.

LIES infiltrate the CORE of our value system, alas.

 

LIES , unfortunately, are ingrained in us because Adam and Eve bought the LIE and passed it on to us in our Adamic Nature. That LIE was: GOD does not make us happy; the WORLD does !

 

Thus, we Christians STRUGGLE to untangle ourselves from the world wide web of LIES we have been born into, imbibed ourselves, and taught to love. If we do not see the error of our ways, we soon teach others to “love the LIE,”  also. 

Does the “TRUTH ALWAYS HURT” ,

as some folks say ?

 

The TRUTH NEVER HURTS.

 

The TRUTH SETS US FREE,

as The LORD JESUS

truthfully told us.

 

DEEP, SEARING PAIN, however, overwhelms us when we first see the LIE which has led us down the wrong path so long.  The WITHDRAWAL from a  lying value and belief system is as painful as withdrawal from any abused substance.

 

So, the TRUTH of the matter is that  the LIE ALWAYS HURTS; the TRUTH sets us free.

 

“What is TRUTH?” a very expedient Pilate asked, who lived to regret his expediency.  

 JESUS said,

 ” I+ AM The Way,

THE TRUTH,

and The Life;

 

no man comes to The FATHER,

except through ME.+ “

John 14:6

 

“Come OUT of her, MY+ People;

and touch not the unclean thing.”

 

That “unclean thing” is all LIES, all false values, all identities we adhere ourselves unto … other than JESUS CHRIST our LORD. HE+ is THE … THE… THE  … TRUTH.  There is no TRUTH outside of CHRIST JESUS.

 

We are strangers and pilgrims on this earth, whose citizenship is in Heaven, not on earth. 

 

On earth , we do not travel through another country and try to re-form its government as we pass through it. We simply tell its citizens the “Good News” about JESUS as we journey on our way.  We are not STAYING there; we are heading to another place where we are the RIGHTFUL Citizens of the land, our Heavenly Home.

 

Let us not entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life, Christians. Let us not think we can glibly slip into the marriage supper of the LAMB+. We may find out we do not have the PROPER WEDDING GARMENT.

 

Indeed, if we have already had affairs with this world and are impure with divided loyalties, we will not find a wedding garment set aside for us.  

 

The LORD will have NO DIVIDED LOYALTIES in His+ Bride; HE+ is looking for a pure BRIDE, worthy of wearing the white linen of the Saints.

 

BEWARE. Beware of the LIES. They are designed to steal your berth in the Holy , New Jerusalem.

 

For without are dogs,

and sorcerers,

and whoremongers,

and murderers,

and idolaters,

 

and whosoever loveth

and maketh a lie.

Revelation 22:15

 

+  +  +

KNOWING The Will of The LORD...

Time with CHRIST JESUS.

In Thy+ Light shall we see LIGHT.

 This is The WAY+ ; walk ye in it.

 

These are all Words of Life from Scripture, Words we know so well.

 So, why is it that we walk through our time here on earth in a confused muddle, not knowing whether we should go to the left hand or to the right ? 

Why is it, then… 

that The LORD’S Will is a mystery to us especially when we have a crucial decision facing us ?

 

If any of you lack Wisdom,

let him ask from the Giving GOD,

giving to all men freely,

and not reproaching

( chiding, upbraiding);

and it will be given to him.

James 1:5 literal Greek

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 !

With all this help promised to us from The Word of GOD and from the HOLY SPIRIT dwelling within us… 

why are we confused,

stumbling, and up-set, 

not knowing whether to go to the left hand

or to the right ? 

 

We have all been in this state, and it is DISTRESSING.

 

We say …

” Oh, if only The Scriptures would tell me what to do ! If I could only open my Bible and see whether I should take this job…  move to that city … marry that one … embark on this out-reach. 

Then I would know what to do !” 

 

We say …

“Oh WHY doesn’t The LORD answer me when I NEED to know what to do ? “

 

But HE+ says:

 

“Oh, WHY

have you LIMITED your time with ME+ ?

 

Why have you been SO busy…

and then, too, too tired …

to spend QUALITY time with ME+ ?

 

Have I+ asked you to do

any great thing in your life ?

No.

 I+ have only asked one thing of you:

Come and sit with ME+

a-while

every day.

 

No studying,

not even reading at this time,

not fellow-shipping,

not singing,

not public worship.

 

Just come and SIT WITH ME+.

Alone. Every day.

 

But no, you will not do that

for even 30 minutes of earthly time.

 

You begrudge coming to SIT WITH ME+

beside My+ Still Waters.

 

You refuse to STILL yourself.

Everyday you are too busy

with “good” projects and necessary duties

to find time to sit with ME+. 

But, I+ am your Life-Source! 

I+ am your Wisdom!  

How then can you expect to hear My+ Direction

when the changes of Life occur

or when trouble raises its head ?

 

I+ will not join you in your busy-ness.

 

I+ cannot refresh your soul there.

 

You cannot hear My+ Voice there.

 

I+ will not reveal My+ Will

in the midst of other voices

competing for your attention.

 

If you want My+ Direction

you must come to ME+

in My+ Stillness. “

Everyday.

Before the crises of life happen.

+  +  +

 

LET US PRAY:

 

LORD JESUS, I have neglected YOU+, the Most Important ONE+ in my life. Life is meaningless without YOU+, yet I have gone on my way expecting YOU+ to accompany me… instead of me accompanying YOU+.

 

I repent of my mis-guided busy-ness. I place every one of my activities on the altar; burn them with the fire of Thy+ Holiness, O LORD.

 

Settle me down. Place upon me, now, O LORD, Thy+ Will, Thy+ Way and I will walk in it. Let me not go to the left hand nor to the right, to the Glory of GOD my FATHER.

 

Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me, O LORD.

 

I am still now, LORD,

… and listening.

 

+  +  +

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.

+  +  +

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.

+  +  +

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.

 

+  +  +

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+ !

+  +  +

 

 

 

  

 

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.