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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on January 02, 2024, 08:39:07 AM »

What has Jesus done for you? Are you fully surrendered to Christ and letting Him save you from sin? If so, you have a testimony to share that will bless others and strengthen in your own heart and mind the reality of the gospel's transforming influence upon your mind and character! A life lived in true obedience to all of God's commandments with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing is such a powerful evidence that Jesus not only saves, but TRANSFORMS the life of one in whom His Spirit abides! That is why Jesus sent forth the two restored demoniacs to witness in their own home and area, so that many more could know how wonderful Jesus is as a Savior! "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Revelation 12:11).

And souls that have been degraded into instruments of Satan are still through the power of Christ transformed into messengers of righteousness, and sent forth by the Son of God to tell what “great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”

When we share with others what Jesus has done, we are twice blessed--blessed to know others are encouraged by a living testimony, and also blessed to realize the truth of what Christ has done and is still doing in our hearts! Praise God!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on January 01, 2024, 10:04:55 AM »

Happy new year 2024!

We can start having heaven in our hearts by inviting Jesus to live in and through us! What a joy and privilege it is to be adopted into the royal family by grace through faith in a surrendered continual union and communion with Christ! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in our lives as we are empowered to obey God from the heart renewed by His word!

As through Jesus we enter into rest, heaven begins here. We respond to His invitation, Come, learn of Me, and in thus coming we begin the life eternal. Heaven is a ceaseless approaching to God through Christ. The longer we are in the heaven of bliss, the more and still more of glory will be opened to us; and the more we know of God, the more intense will be our happiness. As we walk with Jesus in this life, we may be filled with His love, satisfied with His presence. All that human nature can bear, we may receive here. But what is this compared with the hereafter? There “are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Revelation 7:15-17.

So when we finally get to the location of heaven when Jesus takes us there at His second coming, it will be but the continuation of the relationship of heaven that we have already begun in this life! Praise God it will just get better and better forever and ever! Hallelujah!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 31, 2023, 12:55:58 PM »

Who is the closest to you?

Closer than father, mother, brother, friend, or lover is the Lord our Saviour. “Fear not,” He says, “for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” “Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” Isaiah 43:1, 4.

Thankfully, even if every human dependence were cut off from us, we would still have One who is the closest to us in a saving, abiding relationship with Jesus! He invites us to become vitally united to Him in a living faith surrender so He can fill us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we are supernaturally empowered to obey the law of God from the new heart given to us!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 30, 2023, 05:13:24 AM »

Happy Sabbath! As we see the true heart of God in Christ--a heart of unchangeable tenderness--we can know that in coming to Him, He is able to comfort and bless us just the way we most need. He is able to convert our inmost soul, purifying the springs of motives, purposes, thoughts, and feelings to be in perfect harmony with His unselfish law of love in a life filled with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing! If Jesus has power to raise the dead, He CERTAINLY has power to make and keep us from sin, which leads to death. He can give you spiritual life that will not fail, for it is Him living in you, the hope of glory! Trust Him FULLY!!

He who stood beside the sorrowing mother at the gate of Nain, watches with every mourning one beside the bier. He is touched with sympathy for our grief. His heart, that loved and pitied, is a heart of unchangeable tenderness. His word, that called the dead to life, is no less efficacious now than when spoken to the young man of Nain. He says, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18. That power is not diminished by the lapse of years, nor exhausted by the ceaseless activity of His overflowing grace. To all who believe on Him He is still a living Saviour.

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 29, 2023, 03:29:37 AM »

Why did Jesus give the sermon on the mount? He longed for all who heard His word to receive His grace, His righteousness, and His character experience. He offers it to all of us, so that by an unreserved surrender to Him we can reflect all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we are empowered to truly obey the law of God as an affectionate experience of fellowship with Him in continual union and communion of our souls with the divine! Hallelujah!

Jesus had shown in what righteousness consists, and had pointed to God as its source. Now He turned to practical duties. In almsgiving, in prayer, in fasting, He said, let nothing be done to attract attention or win praise to self. Give in sincerity, for the benefit of the suffering poor. In prayer, let the soul commune with God. In fasting, go not with the head bowed down, and heart filled with thoughts of self. The heart of the Pharisee is a barren and profitless soil, in which no seeds of divine life can flourish. It is he who yields himself most unreservedly to God that will render Him the most acceptable service. For through fellowship with God men become workers together with Him in presenting His character in humanity.

Working together with God is so exciting--because God is always on the move to do what is best for His children--both for this life and the life to come! Trust Him!!!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 28, 2023, 05:50:54 AM »

What a joy it is to become converted, having a childlike trust that our Heavenly Father knows what is best and that He will provide for all of our needs as we go forward in doing His holy will. May we cultivate a godly character like we see in the experience of Nathanael!

In happy contrast to Philip's unbelief was the childlike trust of Nathanael. He was a man of intensely earnest nature, one whose faith took hold upon unseen realities. Yet Philip was a student in the school of Christ, and the divine Teacher bore patiently with his unbelief and dullness. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples, Philip became a teacher after the divine order. He knew whereof he spoke, and he taught with an assurance that carried conviction to the hearers.

We may become like Jesus in mind and character as we keep our eyes of faith steadfastly fixed on Him and surrender fully to Him. All of the fruits of the Spirit will be revealed in our lives without one missing as long as we are truly converted, obedient to the light of truth shining on our path! Praise God!!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 27, 2023, 02:36:28 PM »

What is your favorite part about the Sabbath? Each week at Friday sunset God reserves 24 blessed hours that He has sanctified for us to enjoy His holy presence because He has the power to make us holy!

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," Jesus said. The institutions that God has established are for the benefit of mankind. "All things are for your sakes." "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s." 2 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 3:22, 23. The law of Ten Commandments, of which the Sabbath forms a part, God gave to His people as a blessing. ‘The Lord commanded us,’ said Moses, "to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive." Deuteronomy 6:24. And through the psalmist the message was given to Israel, "Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." Psalm 100:2-4. And of all who keep "the Sabbath from polluting it," the Lord declares, "Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer." Isaiah 56:6, 7.

When we experience true conversion by a complete surrender to Christ, the Sabbath becomes increasingly meaningful to us as all of the fruits of the Spirit are manifest in our character while also gladly obeying God’s law because Jesus lives in us, the hope of glory!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 26, 2023, 03:50:23 AM »

What is your desire? What are you longing for? In what do you find your highest satisfaction? If we behold the loveliness of Jesus and surrender fully to Him, our converted hearts will have the infilling of the Holy Spirit without one of the fruits of the Spirit missing. Such a "new heart" (Ezekiel 36:26) is enabled, through continual union and communion with Christ, to resist the temptations of the fallen nature, also described in the Bible as the heart that is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). That old heart needs daily to be crucified with Christ and replaced with the new heart that is enabled to obey God up to the light He has revealed because we love Him who first loved us.

But if one has listened to and become accustomed to false teaching, Satan seeks to make truth undesirable and unwelcome, so the soul will cling to false theories and opinions that are really mental idols, keeping one from truly desiring and living in the truth as it is in Jesus. May we realize the need we have to see Jesus as He is in truth and let the heart experience the wooing of God's love to truly satisfy us! Upon true conversion in complete acquiescence to Christ of all we are in soul, body and spirit to God, there is no limit the usefulness of such a life transformed by divine grace!

Jesus pointed out the power of false teaching to destroy the appreciation and desire for truth. “No man,” He said, “having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” All the truth that has been given to the world through patriarchs and prophets shone out in new beauty in the words of Christ. But the scribes and Pharisees had no desire for the precious new wine. Until emptied of the old traditions, customs, and practices, they had no place in mind or heart for the teachings of Christ. They clung to the dead forms, and turned away from the living truth and the power of God.

The truth as it is in Jesus is sanctifying in its power, for by His love, love is awakened in the soul. We can go forth to bless others rather than focus on self and the false theories that would make the seed of His word unfruitful. Let us keep pressing on the upward way with Jesus!

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside 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 ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:4-8).

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 25, 2023, 03:05:12 AM »

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let us do all we can this Christmas day to spread the light of His love, joy and peace! Christ came to save from sin and all the effects of Satan's deceptive rebellion! We can be restored to wholeness in Christ! As we behold His infinite loveliness, reflecting on His amazing sacrifice for us and realizing His power to save, we can truly have fullness of joy in His presence as we surrender fully to Him and let Him also give us the fullness of all of the other fruits of the Spirit without one missing! The wonderful testimony of the man restored from palsy whom Christ first forgave all his sins gives us great encouragement to realize the power of the gospel is found in complete life transformation!!

In the home of the healed paralytic there was great rejoicing when he returned to his family, carrying with ease the couch upon which he had been slowly borne from their presence but a short time before. They gathered round with tears of joy, scarcely daring to believe their eyes. He stood before them in the full vigor of manhood. Those arms that they had seen lifeless were quick to obey his will. The flesh that had been shrunken and leaden-hued was now fresh and ruddy. He walked with a firm, free step. Joy and hope were written in every lineament of his countenance; and an expression of purity and peace had taken the place of the marks of sin and suffering. Glad thanksgiving went up from that home, and God was glorified through His Son, who had restored hope to the hopeless, and strength to the stricken one. This man and his family were ready to lay down their lives for Jesus. No doubt dimmed their faith, no unbelief marred their fealty to Him who had brought light into their darkened home.

Joy to the world, the same Lord that came to Bethlehem, lived a holy life in Nazareth, carried on a blameless ministry, and went to Calvary for us is RISEN, and SOON TO RETURN in power and great glory to take us to the heavenly mansions He has planned for us! Praise God!!

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The Life of Our Savior / Re: The Glory of God

« Last post by Sean James on December 24, 2023, 04:15:36 AM »

Beholding the loveliness of Jesus, who Himself is the word of God, reveals to us the way of victory over Satan, sin, this fallen evil world, and our own fallen nature. We need to surrender to and abide in the word of God so its eternal principles of love enter into our thoughts and feelings, making us partakers of the divine nature, giving us continual access to God's strength and grace for His purposes to be fulfilled.

The means by which we can overcome the wicked one is that by which Christ overcame,—the power of the word. God does not control our minds without our consent; but if we desire to know and to do His will, His promises are ours: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching.” John 8:32; 7:17, R. V. Through faith in these promises, every man may be delivered from the snares of error and the control of sin.

Jesus is coming again very soon, and He is preparing a people who will rely fully on His word for the plan and purpose of life. What a joy to have clarity and victory in Jesus by His word, for the Holy Spirit who inspired the word of God brings to the converted soul all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we are simultaneously empowered to obey God's law up to the light He has revealed!