The Glory of God

[Sean James]

When does heaven start?

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.

Since heaven begins here in the soul that is filled with the Holy Spirit, it follows that those who are truly converted to Jesus in complete surrender will see all of the fruits of the Spirit in the life without one missing as long as living faith in Christ is exercised! "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). True obedience to all of God's Ten Commandments will be revealed in the life because love always leads to obedience to the One who first loved us! Then the heaven that is already being experienced in the soul will truly prepare each of us to FIT into heaven at the SOON COMING OF JESUS!!

[Sean James]

Is it really so? God's mercy is involved in areas of life that we may not always understand until we surrender to God and are converted. As we surrender fully to Jesus, He transforms us in mind and character so we partake of the divine nature by receiving His precious promises, revealing all of the fruits of the Spirit in the life without one missing!

It was in mercy to the owners of the swine that this loss had been permitted to come upon them. They were absorbed in earthly things, and cared not for the great interests of spiritual life. Jesus desired to break the spell of selfish indifference, that they might accept His grace. But regret and indignation for their temporal loss blinded their eyes to the Saviour's mercy.

Even the trials, losses and difficulties we experience are part of how God seeks to minister to our hearts. In the case of the swine that went over the cliff after Jesus healed the demoniacs, we can see that Jesus was actually trying to break the spell of selfish indifference that was keeping the swine owners from responding to the gospel. We need to trust God's overarching wisdom in all that He does and allows. As one would testify, "The affliction that had darkened my childhood seemed to have been dealt me in mercy for my good, to turn my heart away from the world and its unsatisfying pleasures, and incline it toward the enduring attractions of heaven." If you look back over your life and reflect on what you went through, is it not amazing that God's mercy was involved all the way? Praise God for His compassion, mercy and goodness that leads us to repentance to we can be truly converted and saved eternal!y!

[Sean James]

You have a story to tell. If you have yielded the WHOLE heart to Christ, then the Holy Spirit has moved into your heart to reveal God's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and temperance, in all righteousness and truth! Since your experience is UNIQUE to you, others will be blessed by hearing what God has done in your life! So share it with HOLY BOLDNESS constrained by the infinite LOVE OF CHRIST!!!

Our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven's chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world. We are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the holy men of old; but that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience. We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power that is divine. Every individual has a life distinct from all others, and an experience differing essentially from theirs. God desires that our praise shall ascend to Him, marked by our own individuality. These precious acknowledgments to the praise of the glory of His grace, when supported by a Christ-like life, have an irresistible power that works for the salvation of souls.

Good authors write good books. And Jesus, the Son of God, the ultimate Author and Finisher of faith, is offering you a once-in-a-lifetime experience of getting published!!! That's right!!!! "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name" (Malachi 3:16).

As you let Him take your heart, mind and will, He will lead you in a path that is suited to your strength and capacity so that the story of your life will be sealed by the Holy Spirit so that sin, which leads to death, will not cause the story of your life to be eternally lost. Then, your life saved fully, will be an eternal witness to God's mercy!!

Of His people God says, "They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!" Zechariah 9:16, 17. The exaltation of the redeemed will be an eternal testimony to God's mercy. "In the ages to come," He will "show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." "To the intent that . . . unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known . . . the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Ephesians 2:7; 3:10, 11, R. V.

Are you willing to let God "publish" your life by inviting Jesus to save you completely from sin, leading you in true obedience to all of God's commandments? You will be thankful you did--for eternity!!

[Sean James]

Keep calm by abiding in Jesus.

Those who are brought in controversy with the enemies of truth have to meet, not only men, but Satan and his agents. Let them remember the Saviour's words, “Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” Luke 10:3. Let them rest in the love of God, and the spirit will be kept calm, even under personal abuse. The Lord will clothe them with a divine panoply. His Holy Spirit will influence the mind and heart, so that their voices shall not catch the notes of the baying of the wolves.

As the Holy Spirit gives the converted believer all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in affectionate obedience to God's Ten Commandments, a consistent life in Christ is revealed as a great miracle to bless others in doing God's holy will, trusting His leading day by day!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! We can enter into the experience of Jesus by beholding Him, surrendering fully to Him, and abiding in Him! Let us today grow in His grace and allow the Holy Spirit to produce in us all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing! True obedience to God's law of love, the Ten Commandments, in His service will be our highest delight as we stay vitally connected to Jesus!

In Christ the cry of humanity reached the Father of infinite pity. As a man He supplicated the throne of God till His humanity was charged with a heavenly current that should connect humanity with divinity. Through continual communion He received life from God, that He might impart life to the world. His experience is to be ours.

"Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Hebrews 5:. Whatever trials we face, we can receive them in Christ as educators to help us enjoy even deeper rest, stronger character capacity to resist temptation, and preparation for service that is found only in complete acquiescence to God's will! Praise God!!

[Sean James]

Praise God, we can ALL do something--through Christ who strengthens us! When we yield fully to Christ and turn from sin, Christ connects us with His infinite resources, enabling us to obey God's law of love up to the light He has revealed while manifesting all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing!

In our work for God there is danger of relying too largely upon what man with his talents and ability can do. Thus we lose sight of the one Master Worker. Too often the worker for Christ fails to realize his personal responsibility. He is in danger of shifting his burden upon organizations, instead of relying upon Him who is the source of all strength. It is a great mistake to trust in human wisdom or numbers in the work of God. Successful work for Christ depends not so much on numbers or talent as upon pureness of purpose, the true simplicity of earnest, dependent faith. Personal responsibilities must be borne, personal duties must be taken up, personal efforts must be made for those who do not know Christ. In the place of shifting your responsibility upon someone whom you think more richly endowed than you are, work according to your ability.

As we do what God gives us to do with a cheerful, contented heart and mind, the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to encourage others to do what they can, and as a result, many more souls are blessed! Trust God to guide you moment-by-moment in His holy will!

[Sean James]

What a contrast! The disciples were on the verge of arranging to have Jesus crowned as an earthly king, and Jesus moments later is praying in agony and tears that this STRONG DECEPTION about the nature of His mission and kingdom would be uprooted from the hearts of those whom He was training for heaven. Oh, what PAIN this brought to Jesus, but praise God that His prayers and labors for them were not in vain! After the storm on the lake had helped to reveal to the disciples their helplessness and need of Jesus, their hearts were more open to keep learning that Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Oh, let us allow Christ into the heart in full surrender so all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in the life, for this is the evidence that a soul has passed from the self-seeking worldly kingdom to the kingdom of heaven, where selfless love in truth reigns in all who truly obey God because they REALLY believe His word is truth and love Him whom the truth reveals! Error is never harmless. Do not fall for the deception that says it does not really matter what a person believes, for through false theories Satan seeks to gain power over the mind to lead to distrust of the word of God.

When left alone, Jesus “went up into a mountain apart to pray.” For hours He continued pleading with God. Not for Himself but for men were those prayers. He prayed for power to reveal to men the divine character of His mission, that Satan might not blind their understanding and pervert their judgment. The Saviour knew that His days of personal ministry on earth were nearly ended, and that few would receive Him as their Redeemer. In travail and conflict of soul He prayed for His disciples. They were to be grievously tried. Their long-cherished hopes, based on a popular delusion, were to be disappointed in a most painful and humiliating manner. In the place of His exaltation to the throne of David they were to witness His crucifixion. This was to be indeed His true coronation. But they did not discern this, and in consequence strong temptations would come to them, which it would be difficult for them to recognize as temptations. Without the Holy Spirit to enlighten the mind and enlarge the comprehension the faith of the disciples would fail. It was painful to Jesus that their conceptions of His kingdom were, to so great a degree, limited to worldly aggrandizement and honor. For them the burden was heavy upon His heart, and He poured out His supplications with bitter agony and tears.

If Jesus prayed VERY EARNESTLY that His disciples be delivered from Satan's deceptions, let us believe that EVEN NOW Jesus is STILL PRAYING EARNESTLY as our High Priest in heaven that His church not be pulled away from the truth of His word, for He is the One who counsels us thus:

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Revelation 3:14-22).

In contrast to flattering the church with words of "all is well," Christ earnestly, lovingly rebukes His people BECAUSE HE LOVES SO MUCH!! May we lay aside all false theories and doctrines that do not find place in the word of God, daily enter into an affectionate union and communion with Jesus by spending a thoughtful hour upon His life, especially the closing scenes, and be WIDE AWAKE to duty to give the Three Angels' Messages to the WHOLE WORLD (Revelation 14:6-12). Let self-interest be crucified so the life is bound up in God's purpose to save a world soon to perish in a last day events scenario that will blend church and state and lead many professed followers of Christ astray if they do not heed the warnings in the word of God given in love and mercy. As we become like Christ in mind and character by beholding His loveliness continually, the messages given will take effect under the power of the Holy Spirit! Pray for the early and latter rain, ever keeping the present-truth message of Christ the center who CAN DELIVER us from ALL SIN and DECEPTION in the way that He knows best!! Praise God!!!

[Sean James]

Just let this sink in.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” Through the beloved John, who listened to these words, the Holy Spirit declared to the churches, “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life.” 1 John 5:11, 12. And Jesus said, “I will raise him up at the last day.” Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave,—not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal.

As the Spirit of God brings us life eternal, that includes a vital connection with God that brings all of the fruits of the Spirit in the life without one missing as we are affectionately obedient to God up to the light of His law that He has revealed and we understand, for we abide in Christ and He lives His sinless life in us. Emphasis: it is Christ living in us. We may make mistakes or sin if we let go of Jesus, but He is right there to forgive and lift us up if we fall. Let's realize HE CAN KEEP US FROM FALLING!! The key is STAYING CONNECTED. Praise God!!

[Sean James]

Distracted driving is a real problem, especially in a spiritual sense. When traveling the path of life with Jesus, if the focus is on distracting traditions that get in the way of simple, heartfelt obedience to God's law because one loves and trusts Him, then it is time to let the distractions go! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in the life that is abiding in Jesus without any sin distracting the life from constant union and communion with Him!

Whenever the message of truth comes home to souls with special power, Satan stirs up his agents to start a dispute over some minor question. Thus he seeks to attract attention from the real issue. Whenever a good work is begun, there are cavilers ready to enter into dispute over forms or technicalities, to draw minds away from the living realities. When it appears that God is about to work in a special manner for His people, let them not be enticed into a controversy that will work only ruin of souls. The questions that most concern us are, Do I believe with saving faith on the Son of God? Is my life in harmony with the divine law? “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.” “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” John 3:36; 1 John 2:3.

Obedience is an act of faith. Only by Christ can we truly obey and enjoy the experience. Then we are willing to lay aside the things that so easily hinder us and accept the word of God as the only rule of faith as to what pleases Him!

[Sean James]

What God is doing in your life has an impact far beyond you. Let the Lord perform His good will in you.

The Saviour's visit to Phoenicia and the miracle there performed had a yet wider purpose. Not alone for the afflicted woman, nor even for His disciples and those who received their labors, was the work accomplished; but also “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” John 20:31. The same agencies that barred men away from Christ eighteen hundred years ago are at work today. The spirit which built up the partition wall between Jew and Gentile is still active. Pride and prejudice have built strong walls of separation between different classes of men. Christ and His mission have been misrepresented, and multitudes feel that they are virtually shut away from the ministry of the gospel. But let them not feel that they are shut away from Christ. There are no barriers which man or Satan can erect but that faith can penetrate.

You can get through! God has made a way for you to access His infinite love and power so you can be saved in His will and way! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing come into the life that has broken through the barriers and is truly converted, surrendered, abiding in Christ.

[Sean James]

Be sincere and honest. How? By surrendering fully to Jesus and willingly confessing and forsaking all your sins. Let go of self and let Jesus be the one who plans for you, giving you His motives, His character (all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in harmony with all of the light of His law), and His purposes! When we have such an experience, we will be TRULY HAPPY, for happiness is the result of holiness and conformity to the will of God!

The religion of Christ is sincerity itself. Zeal for God's glory is the motive implanted by the Holy Spirit; and only the effectual working of the Spirit can implant this motive. Only the power of God can banish self-seeking and hypocrisy. This change is the sign of His working. When the faith we accept destroys selfishness and pretense, when it leads us to seek God's glory and not our own, we may know that it is of the right order. “Father, glorify Thy name” (John 12:28), was the keynote of Christ's life, and if we follow Him, this will be the keynote of our life. He commands us to “walk, even as He walked;” and “hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 1 John 2:6, 3.

To walk as Jesus walked is the greatest joy, for it means heaven has already begun in the soul! Christ abides in us by the same intimate union He had with the Father! By the Holy Spirit, not one of the attributes of the divine nature will be missing from a thoroughly converted character that gladly accepts what God has planned for one's life and service! The joy is that this starts here and continues for ETERNITY!!

[Sean James]

Happy New Week!!

Let us learn to filter EVERY thought through the only safe guide--the word of God! When Peter tried to discourage Jesus from going to the cross, that thought came from Satan, not Peter. We need to realize that Jesus is ever seeking to anchor our thought life in His word which is stable and enduring!

Peter loved his Lord; but Jesus did not commend him for thus manifesting the desire to shield Him from suffering. Peter's words were not such as would be a help and solace to Jesus in the great trial before Him. They were not in harmony with God's purpose of grace toward a lost world, nor with the lesson of self-sacrifice that Jesus had come to teach by His own example. Peter did not desire to see the cross in the work of Christ. The impression which his words would make was directly opposed to that which Christ desired to make on the minds of His followers, and the Saviour was moved to utter one of the sternest rebukes that ever fell from His lips: "Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offense unto Me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

With God it is possible to be fully surrendered, truly converted, willing to see the cross in the life and teachings of Jesus, and happy to be anything or nothing as His providence shall indicate! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing--even in the most trying circumstances of life--will be revealed in the life that yields continually and fully to Christ! He empowers the soul to true, affectionate obedience to God's law of love!

[Sean James]

The Holy Spirit loves to give new spiritual insights, and regarding the cross as associated with the power of Rome, this leads to a question...what is the symbol NOW associated with the power of Rome? It is clearly not the cross, for crucifixion in not regularly practiced at this time. But there IS A SIGN or MARK that shows Rome's authority in spiritual matters--and that is Sunday!!! Please DO NOT MISS the significance of this. As Jesus was to be CRUCIFIED ON A ROMAN CROSS, the WHOLE WORLD is to be tested on the Sunday law that Rome will enforce globally--leading to a death decree against those who still keep the TRUE SIGN of God's kingdom--the seventh day Sabbath!!! Look at Revelation 14:6-12 more closely:

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

This will be the testing truth for the whole world. As accepting the cross for Jesus meant crucifixion on a Roman cross, accepting the cross for God's remnant people means resisting the Sunday law, even if one faces physical death and persecution for not compromising! Praise God!! Victory in Jesus is assured to ALL WHO SURRENDER ALL TO HIM!!!

[Sean James]

Don't miss the cross in the life and teachings of Jesus. Only by crucifixion could His kingdom be established. Only by crucifixion of our natures to receive the divine nature by the promises of God are we able to have victory in Christ over sin!

But before the crown must come the cross. Not the inauguration of Christ as king, but the decease to be accomplished at Jerusalem, is the subject of their conference with Jesus. Bearing the weakness of humanity, and burdened with its sorrow and sin, Jesus walked alone in the midst of men. As the darkness of the coming trial pressed upon Him, He was in loneliness of spirit, in a world that knew Him not. Even His loved disciples, absorbed in their own doubt and sorrow and ambitious hopes, had not comprehended the mystery of His mission. He had dwelt amid the love and fellowship of heaven; but in the world that He had created, He was in solitude. Now heaven had sent its messengers to Jesus; not angels, but men who had endured suffering and sorrow, and who could sympathize with the Saviour in the trial of His earthly life. Moses and Elijah had been colaborers with Christ. They had shared His longing for the salvation of men. Moses had pleaded for Israel: “Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.” Exodus 32:32. Elijah had known loneliness of spirit, as for three years and a half of famine he had borne the burden of the nation's hatred and its woe. Alone he had stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Alone he had fled to the desert in anguish and despair. These men, chosen above every angel around the throne, had come to commune with Jesus concerning the scenes of His suffering, and to comfort Him with the assurance of the sympathy of heaven. The hope of the world, the salvation of every human being, was the burden of their interview.

Praise God JESUS DID GO TO THE CROSS and He is also our risen and soon coming Savior after He finishes His high priestly ministry in heaven!! Let's keep looking to Him and JOYFULLY bearing the cross, knowing that all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in the life that is fully surrendered (converted) to Jesus!! Then the abiding Christ in us will enable us to obey the law of God as our highest delight in His service!! Hallelujah!!!!!

[Sean James]

Whatever your struggle, and whatever your experience, you can STILL CHOOSE to trust God and let His grace and strength be made perfect in your weakness. There is no reason for discouragement in the heart and life of one who takes God at His word in full surrender and lets all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing be in the life! Such a transformation of character is evidence of genuine conversion, which is accompanied by true obedience up to the light of truth God has revealed. The father who struggled to believe Christ could heal his son needed to just SURRENDER and let Christ do what was for him an impossibility without Christ. With God all things are possible!

“If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” How many a sin-burdened soul has echoed that prayer. And to all, the pitying Saviour's answer is, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” It is faith that connects us with heaven, and brings us strength for coping with the powers of darkness. In Christ, God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong. But many feel that they lack faith, and therefore they remain away from Christ. Let these souls, in their helpless unworthiness, cast themselves upon the mercy of their compassionate Saviour. Look not to self, but to Christ. He who healed the sick and cast out demons when He walked among men is the same mighty Redeemer today. Faith comes by the word of God. Then grasp His promise, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. Cast yourself at His feet with the cry, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” You can never perish while you do this—never.

Christ came to save the chief of sinners (we are all eligible), and praise God for His willingness to save all who will simply come. So do not wait to make yourself better or delay coming, expecting a change of feeling in your life (as feelings come and go and can be deceptive if they contradict the word of God). COME!! He will gladly receive you and save you!! Then follow His word day by day!