The Glory of God

[Sean James]

If we feel alone in walking the path of truth, may we look upon Jesus and know that He understands better than we can imagine the trials of our hearts and lives when we sincerely desire to do His will and choose to follow where He leads in purity and self-denial. As we yield fully to Christ, we come to fellowship with Him in His sufferings by partaking of the divine nature, and then all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing, gladly going in the path of character He has directed for us to bring other souls to Him, too!

Yet through childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus walked alone. In His purity and His faithfulness, He trod the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with Him. He carried the awful weight of responsibility for the salvation of men. He knew that unless there was a decided change in the principles and purposes of the human race, all would be lost. This was the burden of His soul, and none could appreciate the weight that rested upon Him. Filled with intense purpose, He carried out the design of His life that He Himself should be the light of men. 

As the light of Jesus' character shines upon us and we allow it to shine out to others, they also may be filled with the intense purpose to hasten Christ's return by giving the pure gospel truth that Christ has power to transform sinners into saints and keep us from falling by His grace! Nothing is too hard for the Lord, so we can remember the path Jesus trod and be encouraged for the path He has for our lives, too!

[Sean James]

With God all things are possible. Let us look above the weakness of humanity and trust God's promises to us in a whole-heart surrender to Him! Then as we behold the loveliness of Jesus and trust Him implicitly, He can fill us with all of the fruits of the Sprit without one missing so our lives are in harmony with His law of love!

The birth of a son to Zacharias, like the birth of the child of Abraham, and that of Mary, was to teach a great spiritual truth, a truth that we are slow to learn and ready to forget. In ourselves we are incapable of doing any good thing; but that which we cannot do will be wrought by the power of God in every submissive and believing soul. It was through faith that the child of promise was given. It is through faith that spiritual life is begotten, and we are enabled to do the works of righteousness. 

God can work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure! Let us rejoice in the Lord always and persevere in His plan for our lives, that we share the gospel with the whole world in the spirit and power of Elijah! Jesus is coming again and He is preparing a people to walk before Him in true holiness! He can make us holy by dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit!

[Sean James]

As we realize our true value because of what Christ experienced to save us from sin, let us walk in the courage of the Lord to in turn bless others!

 And the word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative. With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. "He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6. The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer,--how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of heaven. By sin, earth was cut off from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven. The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. The voice which spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.

We get to be adopted into God's eternal family! What joy this brings to our hearts, along with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as long as Christ is reigning on the throne of our hearts by grace through faith taking away our sinful heart of unbelief and giving us a heart of flesh to know and do His holy will!

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord for the power of His word to sustain us as it sustained Jesus in His time of temptation! We can rely upon God's promises to make us partakers of the divine nature, whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit may be seen in our lives without one missing!

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Often the follower of Christ is brought where he cannot serve God and carry forward his worldly enterprises. Perhaps it appears that obedience to some plain requirement of God will cut off his means of support. Satan would make him believe that he must sacrifice his conscientious convictions. But the only thing in our world upon which we can rely is the word of God. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. Even in this life it is not for our good to depart from the will of our Father in heaven. When we learn the power of His word, we shall not follow the suggestions of Satan in order to obtain food or to save our lives. Our only questions will be, What is God's command? and what His promise? Knowing these, we shall obey the one, and trust the other.

Looking in faith to the Redeemer, let us trust His daily provision for our lives and go forth to be a blessing to others that they may know that our dependence is in God!

[Sean James]

If what we are being offered is more valuable than we can fully comprehend this side of heaven, then it only makes complete sense to be ALL IN for God's will so He may fulfill His will and plan in our lives. We can rejoice in Jesus and persevere by His grace to overcome in the conflicts with the world, the flesh and the devil--all of which may be overcome by a complete surrender of the whole heart to Christ so He may live in us and work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure by the Holy Spirit renewing the heart and making it clean and pure. Then all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing! Gladly we may obey God's law of love in revealing the character of Christ to a world that needs to see that we value salvation over any thing else in this world which is so soon to perish. May we see the souls all around us that need to see the value of what Christ is offering by a living revelation of the loveliness of Jesus in life and character!

Never can the cost of our redemption be realized until the redeemed shall stand with the Redeemer before the throne of God. Then as the glories of the eternal home burst upon our enraptured senses we shall remember that Jesus left all this for us, that He not only became an exile from the heavenly courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss. Then we shall cast our crowns at His feet, and raise the song, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Revelation 5:12.   

Our Heavenly Father loves us and sent His Son to take a risk that is incomprehensible. Christ endured agony and torture of soul in a world of sin and suffering, and we are blessed to be able to be partakers of the divine nature so that we may have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings and help others come to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus!

[Sean James]

There is a wonderful way for us to be connected to our heavenly Father--and that is through Christ! We come to Him in all of our helpless unworthiness and accept His divine grace which has power to convert sinners into saints, to renew the heart and mind and make us partakers of the divine nature whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit are seen in our lives without one missing! Let us rejoice in Jesus and abide in His true character by grace through faith, for by beholding we become changed!

"And He saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:51).

     Here Christ virtually says, On the bank of the Jordan the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended like a dove upon Me. That scene was but a token that I am the Son of God. If you believe on Me as such, your faith shall be quickened. You shall see that the heavens are opened, and are never to be closed. I have opened them to you. The angels of God are ascending, bearing the prayers of the needy and distressed to the Father above, and descending, bringing blessing and hope, courage, help, and life, to the children of men. 

We need all the help we can receive from God and the ministry of His angels to us! Even though we may not see them, let us be thankful for all that the heavenly angels do to help protect us and bless us! We get to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to form a character that will give evidence to the angels that the gospel of God's amazing grace has wrought a change in our lives, and we are new creatures in Christ Jesus!

[Sean James]

Each of us has infinite value to God based upon the price paid for us at Calvary. We may not see or feel our true value, but thankfully we will have an eternity to more fully appreciate what God did for us in Christ in sending His only begotten Son to this dark speck of a planet to redeem His fallen sons and daughters and reclaim us into an infinite fellowship with Him that is better than we can ask or think. As we look to Jesus as our perfect Savior and Example, we can enjoy the blessing of fellowship with Him in being trained for soul-winning service! As we follow His example, others will be blessed!

It was by personal contact and association that Jesus trained His disciples. Sometimes He taught them, sitting among them on the mountainside; sometimes beside the sea, or walking with them by the way, He revealed the mysteries of the kingdom of God. He did not sermonize as men do today. Wherever hearts were open to receive the divine message, He unfolded the truths of the way of salvation. He did not command His disciples to do this or that, but said, "Follow Me." On His journeys through country and cities He took them with Him, that they might see how He taught the people. He linked their interest with His, and they united with Him in the work.

To unite with Jesus in His work means to be "all in" for what His will is for our lives. As we yield the whole heart to Christ so He can abide in us by grace through faith, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen our lives without one missing! We may go forth on missions of mercy to extend the triumphs of the cross!!

[Sean James]

Let us allow Jesus to cleanse us!

"In the cleansing of the temple, Jesus was announcing His mission as the Messiah, and entering upon His work. That temple, erected for the abode of the divine Presence, was designed to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world. From eternal ages it was God's purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of Heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart of man becomes again His temple. God designed that the temple at Jerusalem should be a continual witness to the high destiny open to every soul. But the Jews had not understood the significance of the building they regarded with so much pride. They did not yield themselves as holy temples for the Divine Spirit. The courts of the temple at Jerusalem, filled with the tumult of unholy traffic, represented all too truly the temple of the heart, defiled by the presence of sensual passion and unholy thoughts. In cleansing the temple from the world's buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin,--from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul. 'The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver.' Mal. 3:1-3."

[Sean James]

This is a good question, followed by a biblical answer:

How, then, are we to be saved? “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” so the Son of man has been lifted up, and everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and live. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. The light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His love is drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this drawing, we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the sins that have crucified the Saviour. Then the Spirit of God through faith produces a new life in the soul. The thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to the will of Christ. The heart, the mind, are created anew in the image of Him who works in us to subdue all things to Himself. Then the law of God is written in the mind and heart, and we can say with Christ, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God.” Psalm 40:8.

Are we willing to let God do the miracle in our hearts that must take place? We must look and live. Look away from self in our helpless unworthiness and believe that He does save the uttermost all who come unto God by Him! Let us continually pray that we will look to Jesus and live, turn resolutely from ALL sin that crucified Christ, and become like Him in mind and character so that all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing as we go forth to obey the law of God from an intelligent appreciation of the loveliness of Jesus' character!

[Sean James]

The plans that God has are MUCH BIGGER than you or I can imagine. That is why He uses so many different people to accomplish His will. When we realize we are part of the body of Christ by surrendering our whole heart to Christ so He can imbue us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, we can gladly let Christ increase!!

The work of God is not to bear the image and superscription of man. From time to time the Lord will bring in different agencies, through whom His purpose can best be accomplished. Happy are they who are willing for self to be humbled, saying with John the Baptist, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

May God bless you to be a blessing in whatever sphere He has placed you!

[Sean James]

What are you looking for? What is the deepest longing of your soul? Where can we go to be truly satisfied?

He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountains of this world will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They long for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet that want. The need of the world, "The Desire of all nations," is Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul.

By grace we are saved through faith. We can look upon Jesus and live. Then as we come to Him in true repentance, confessing and forsaking our sins, He blots our out sins by His atoning blood and fills us with the Holy Spirit, so that all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing. There is no limit to what God can do with one soul who is truly abiding in Jesus continually!   

[Sean James]

We need Jesus to have a true conversion experience and feel our deep need of Him on a moment-by-moment basis to abide in Christ to do His will! Let us be converted by beholding the loveliness of Jesus' character so that we may seek Him from a selfless reason when it is the Holy Spirit inspiring our prayers!

He who blessed the nobleman at Capernaum is just as desirous of blessing us. But like the afflicted father, we are often led to seek Jesus by the desire for some earthly good; and upon the granting of our request we rest our confidence in His love. The Saviour longs to give us a greater blessing than we ask; and He delays the answer to our request that He may show us the evil of our own hearts, and our deep need of His grace. He desires us to renounce the selfishness that leads us to seek Him. Confessing our helplessness and bitter need, we are to trust ourselves wholly to His love.

Let us rely implicit on Jesus to do His holy will! He loves us and wants us to grow more like Jesus so we can overcome in Him, letting Jesus convert our hearts so fully that we are filled with all of the selfless fruits of the Spirit without one missing--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance! Then we can obey God from love because we are one with God in mind and character!

[Sean James]

Let God choose for you! When we learn of our Heavenly Father as did Christ, we shall delight to trust Him and follow the specific plan He has for our lives to fulfill the specific purpose for which He created us! There is no greater joy than being in the center of God's will on a moment-by-moment basis! Beholding the loveliness of Jesus' character, yielding the whole heart to Him so He can cleanse us by His blood and imbue us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, we shall affectionately obey the law of God with an increasing appreciation of His character of selfless love!

Israel had chosen their own ways. They had not builded according to the pattern; but Christ, the true temple for God’s indwelling, molded every detail of His earthly life in harmony with God’s ideal. He said, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Psalm 40:8. So our characters are to be builded “for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22. And we are to “make all things according to the pattern,” even Him who “suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” Hebrews 8:5; 1 Peter 2:21.

To suffer for the sake of Christ and have fellowship with Him in His sufferings is truly the most weighty trust and the highest honor that God can give us this side of heaven. Let us learn of Christ and be in an abiding union and communion with Him today so His purposes may be accomplished in our lives!

[Sean James]

God leads. Are you willing to let Him lead you?

God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Philippians 1:29. And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor.

If you surrender to God fully, He not only leads us, but converts the heart so all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in the life without one missing! Then we gladly obey God out of an intelligent appreciation of His true character!

[Sean James]

What is about to happen? Jesus is about to return!

As the message of Christ’s first advent announced the kingdom of His grace, so the message of His second advent announces the kingdom of His glory. And the second message, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days were to be understood in the time of the end. At that time, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:4, 10. The Saviour Himself has given signs of His coming, and He says, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:31, 34, 36.

The only way to be ready for Jesus to come is to live in complete surrender to Christ on a moment-by-moment basis having all of the attributes of the divine nature manifest in our lives without one missing--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our world is spinning out of control, but God's people will abide in Him through affectionate obedience to His law of love, and they will gladly follow where the light of His truth leads! God's people will choose to stand free do His will because they have Christ abiding in them, the hope of glory!