GUNS and CHRISTIANS do NOT MIX ... CHRISTIANS, How Do We ARM Ourselves ?

Who said this ?

" . . . for ALL THEY that take the sword

shall perish with the sword . . ."

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.

+  +  +

HIS+ Fullness .... Passover Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart ... Ephesians 1:23

Meditations  for Pascha

(The Passover Season, 2016)

+  +  +

Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart

Now is My+ soul troubled;

and what shall I+ say ...

FATHER,

save ME+

from this hour ?

but for this cause

came I+ unto this hour.

FATHER,

Glorify Thy Name.

Then came there a Voice from Heaven, saying,

I have both glorified IT,

and will glorify IT again.

John12:27-28

+  +  +

Meditation Verse 

Ephesians 1:23

1:22 And  [ The FATHER ] hath put all things under HIS+ Feet, and gave HIM+ to be the Head over all things to the church, 

which is His+ Body, 
the fullness of HIM+ 
that  filleth all in all.  

The Literal Greek:

 Which is His+ Body,

the Fullness of The ONE+

filling all, in ALL.

+  +  +

Meditation

This verse tells us two facts.

The first fact is that the Church is the Body of CHRIST.

The second fact is the Church is the FULLNESS of JESUS CHRIST Who+ is filling and completing everything ... in HIMSELF+.

If Our LORD JESUS CHRIST is the head ... and the FULLNESS ... of the Church,  the Church should be full of life, of miracles, of healings, of Holy Fear, of power against the evil tide rolling across the earth.

As the Body of CHRIST, are we full ?

NO.

We know that CHRIST JESUS has not changed. We know that the HOLY SPIRIT has not changed.  We know that Scriptures can not lie and do not change. And certainly, Our FATHER Who art in Heaven has not changed !

So... what HAS changed ?

The Church.

Why is "the church," changing ... changing so much that The FATHER does not recognize it ?

Why is "the church" changing so much that The HOLY SPIRIT flees from it ?

Why is "the church" changing so much that there is only an excess of programs, activities, teachings, and singing ... and not the FULLNESS of CHRIST resting upon it ? 

The answer is this: The Called-Out ones are refusing to be called-out from the world. 

The individuals who make up the congregations of the church proper are not YIELDED unto the leading of The HOLY SPIRIT to separate from the world.

Church attenders look like the world, talk like the world, act like the world and sometimes, they cheat like the world.

The world CANNOT tell them apart from other worldlings.

The Believers have followed the world instead of the Cross. They do this because they are "under Grace."

And "Grace" means being "excused" from the discipline of the Cross... right ?  

NO. Wrong.

The Cross means only one thing: putting Self to death in order to Follow CHRIST JESUS.

True Followers of JESUS do NOT look like the world; even a child can spot a TRUE Follower of JESUS because they look differently than the rest of the public.

True Followers of JESUS do NOT act like the world. Store clerks, bank tellers, neighbors, and all the ones that have contact with them will KNOW something is different because they do not act the same as "everybody else" acts.

They are not loud and rowdy. They mind their own business. They do not become belligerent if something goes wrong in a commercial transaction.

Nor, do true Followers of JESUS talk the same. Their speech is clean. Their speech is salted with Truth about The LORD JESUS. Their speech is kind and gentle towards others.

The Cross, to true Followers of JESUS, is followed by discipleship. 

Nominal church attenders NEVER pick up discipleship; they think it curtails their freedom.

Church attenders disdain discipleship; coming on Sunday and to the mid-week meetings...  isn't that enough of the Cross ?

Worldly Christians detest discipleship, calling it law ... and His+ Grace allows me to escape all demands to curb my appetite, my zeal for sports, my zest for shopping, and I am FREE to dress in the public-approved fashions because HE+ wouldn't want me to be an odd-looking spectacle, would HE+ ?  

So, where is His+ FULLNESS in the Church, that Holy Fullness which fills all with ALL+ ? 

Sadly, that cavity is filled with the world.

Here is TRUTH that you can count on: 

The LORD JESUS

will not share

His+ FULLNESS

with the world.

NEVER.

+  +  +

Let us pray:

Heavenly FATHER,  I said I believe in YOUR SON+ JESUS CHRIST.  I have been baptized and received into His+ flock. 

But, I am not FULL.

Well... I am not full of YOUR SON+, that is, just like the church.

Help me to embrace discipleship ... and that in all areas of my life.

Show me , O CHRIST, where to start. Show me where to slow down, where to eliminate, where to change.

Show me how to dress as a Follower of JESUS so that no-one has to guess if I am Your+ Follower or not.

And, change my speech; O LORD JESUS, change my heart ! 

I am sorry for my worldly witness; change me .  I will listen to YOU+ now.

This I pray, O FATHER,  in The Holy and Precious Name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Amen.

  

+  +  +

Worthy is the LAMB+.

Worthy is The LAMB+

that was slain.

Worthy is the LAMB+,

slain

from the foundation

of the earth.

Revelation 13:8

+  +  +

PRAISE and THANKSGIVING

be to The FATHER,

and to HIS Beloved SON+

JESUS CHRIST,

and to

the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.

ONE GOD:

FATHER,

SON+,

and HOLY SPIRIT,

both now and forever,

world without end.

Amen.

PRE-DEFINED Limits OR PRE-DESTINATION ? -- OR --- DARE to Be a DISCIPLE ... Passover MEDITATIONS for the Monastic-At-Heart ... Ephesians 1:5

Meditations  for Pascha

(The Passover Season, 2016)

+  +  +

Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart

Now is My+ soul troubled;

and what shall I+ say ...

FATHER,

save ME+

from this hour ?

but for this cause

came I+ unto this hour.

FATHER,

Glorify Thy Name.

Then came there a Voice from Heaven, saying,

I have both glorified It,

and will glorify It again.

John12:27-28

+  +  +

Meditation Verse

Ephesians 1: 5

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by JESUS CHRIST to HIMSELF, according to the good pleasure of HIS Will,

In the literal Greek:

Having pre-defined us for placing as a son through JESUS CHRIST unto Himself according to the good pleasure of HIS will.

The literal Greek, expanded in meaning*:

The FATHER ,  Having pre-defined us for the purpose of placing us as a son through JESUS CHRIST unto The FATHER Himself , according to the good pleasure of HIS ,The FATHER'S ,will.

{ *See the discussion of the Greek grammar at the end of the post .}

+  +  +

Our Great Heavenly FATHER made a way ... ONE way ... for mankind to come unto HIMSELF. The LORD JESUS told us what that one way is.

Our Heavenly FATHER has no "favorites" among mankind.  HIS Great Heart is open to all. All are invited.

Because sin entered the Adamic race, however, Our Heavenly FATHER re-defined or re-set the boundaries of who will enter Heaven.  After Adam's sin, not ALL MEN will enter Heaven; it would be defiled if that were so.

HE put limitations on the Adamic race in regards as to who would enter into the Heavenly realm.

These limits HE set in motion in accord with HIS Only-begotten SON+ before the foundation of the kosmos, the world.

What were these limitations ?

These boundaries, which were pre-set before the foundation of the kosmos, the world, were defined by and through CHRIST JESUS.

All men are invited to come to JESUS. HE+ is said to be "the friend of sinners." That is, HE+ receives every sinner no matter what the sin, for cleansing ... if the sinful one repents and converts to following JESUS.

HE+ said, " I+,  I+ AM the Way, the Truth, and The Life; no man comes to The FATHER but by ME+. "  John 14:6

Thus, knowing ahead of time the sins of mankind, our Heavenly FATHER re-defined who among men could come to HIM... before the foundation of the world, before there were any "Adams."

All who repent and are converted from their Self-serving life to follow JESUS CHRIST as LORD and master of their life are the ones who enter into Heaven.

They are the ones who gain that placement there as sons. They are the ones who receive a NEW IDENTITY ... an identity which was established before the foundation of the world.

They are the ones who choose JESUS.

The FATHER ,  having pre-defined us for the purpose of placing us as a son through JESUS CHRIST unto Himself , according to the good pleasure of HIS Will, chooses us WHEN WE CHOOSE TO FOLLOW JESUS.

We cannot come to The FATHER

any other way.

+  +  +

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly FATHER ...

We have sinned...

in thinking that we can live any way we want to because we have been pre-selected to have a place  in Heaven.

We have erred...

living as though we could never lose that placement, even though we were serving Self by having that very mind-set.

We have mis-judged...

Thy fatherly goodness extended to all mankind and taken advantage of it. We even promoted un-discipled living to others, thinking that we were pre-selected and others, obviously, were not.

We repent...

of mis-representing Thy Character, to others , to our own Self.

We accept...

the boundaries placed upon mankind: that we must be born from above in order to enter Heaven.

Not one person comes to THEE+, O FATHER, except through Thy Beloved SON+, the LAMB+ of GOD, slain from the foundation of the kosmos, the world, for us.

We openly acknowledge...

the limitations THOU hast established about who enters into Heaven.

Blessed be GOD: FATHER, SON+, and HOLY SPIRIT.

In our heart-felt repentance and amendment of life, we beseech THEE to make us acceptable to THEE through Thy Beloved SON+, our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.   Amen.

+  +  +

Glory be to The FATHER,

and to His Beloved SON+

JESUS CHRIST,

and to the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.

ONE GOD:

FATHER,

SON+,

and HOLY SPIRIT,

both now and forever,

world without end.

Amen.

+  +  +

Worthy is the LAMB+.

Worthy is The LAMB+

that was slain.

Worthy is the LAMB+,

slain

from the foundation

of the earth.

Revelation 13:8

*Discussion of the Greek grammar of Ephesians 1:5.

KJV: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by  JESUS CHRIST to HIMSELF, according to the good pleasure of HIS Will,

Expanded Greek:

The FATHER ,  Having pre-defined us for the purpose of placing us as a son through JESUS CHRIST unto The FATHER Himself , according to the good pleasure of HIS ,The FATHER'S ,will.

At the beginning of the verse, the verb participle is aorist active and nominative. The subject is found in the previous verses, hence "The FATHER" is the subject telling us who did the action.

The two pronouns, Himself and HIM refer back to The FATHER, by a logical and careful reading of the verse. They do not refer unto JESUS.

The verb participle, pro-oriz0, has been translated in the KJV as "pre-destination."  The pre- means beforehand, obviously.

The second part of that verb, horiz0, means to set as a boundary, a limit, to mark out definitively. We know it as the English word, "horizon."

Horiz0   has nothing to do with something one is helpless to either avoid or to bring about... as the word "destiny" means.

This word simply means pre-set or pre-defined and it refers to the defining of those who qualify to enter Heaven into the Presence of GOD. They are defined as persons who follow JESUS, whose lives are centered "within" HIM+.

This limitation or definition was set before the foundation of the world, before mankind was created.

Hence, pro-oriz0, does NOT MEAN predestination.

It is unfortunate for Christendom for that word and concept to be found in this verse in Holy Scriptures.

That erroneous translation seemingly establishes the erroneous concept of persons being pre-selected for an entrance into Heaven, regardless of how they live before The LORD.

The second issue with this verse is this: 

The "adoption of children" phrase comes from huiothesia. That is, huio = son, plus thesis ( from tithemi = to place) .  Hence, it means sonship or to be placed as a son.