The Glory of God

[Sean James]

So who is more powerful? God is MUCH MORE powerful than Satan, and we need to dwell more upon the loveliness of Jesus and His grace! As we contemplate His power to raise the the dead, certainly He has the power to keep us from sin, for the wages of sin is death! The same resurrection power that keeps us from being afraid of death because we can be resurrected is the SAME POWER that should keep us from being afraid that God cannot keep us from falling into sin! HE CAN DO IT CONSTANTLY!! Then let us praise God MORE AND MORE and be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL, for Satan is a defeated foe and Jesus is able to save to the UTTERMOST all who come to Him by a living faith surrender whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing!!

Satan cannot hold the dead in his grasp when the Son of God bids them live. He cannot hold in spiritual death one soul who in faith receives Christ's word of power. God is saying to all who are dead in sin, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead." Ephesians 5:14. That word is eternal life. As the word of God which bade the first man live, still gives us life; as Christ's word, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise," gave life to the youth of Nain, so that word, "Arise from the dead," is life to the soul that receives it. God "hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." Colossians 1:13. It is all offered us in His word. If we receive the word, we have the deliverance.   

What joy we may have as we walk today in the victory of Christ!!

[Sean James]

Happy Thanksgiving! Wherever we are today, may we be grateful for having our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as our Brother, and the Holy Spirit guide us and bless us as partakers of the divine nature as we receive His promises moment-by-moment! Then, through a vital union with Christ, we may experience all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing!

Those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour are not left as orphans, to bear the trials of life alone. He receives them as members of the heavenly family; He bids them call His Father their Father. They are His "little ones," dear to the heart of God, bound to Him by the most tender and abiding ties. He has toward them an exceeding tenderness, as far surpassing what our father or mother has felt toward us in our helplessness as the divine is above the human.

Let us be truly grateful, for gratitude and praise are such a blessing to experience through abiding in Christ!

[Sean James]

Rest is what everyone really wants. Peace in the soul, true happiness, and meaning in life. But people are not finding it apart from God. What the world promises will give rest apart from Christ proves to be unsatisfying and brings unhappiness in the long run. Oh, let us realize that it is sin and self that spoil our peace, and that when we are fully yielded to Christ, then peace that passes all understanding--along with all of the fruits of the Spirit with none of them missing--will be manifest in our lives so we can be truly happy in any circumstances. Christ modeled this as He went to Calvary's cross, considering it "the joy that was set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2), as it would lead to the salvation of all who would come to Him. May we also consider it true joy to face the end times before Jesus returns in light of how we can win souls to His kingdom!!

It is the love of self that brings unrest. When we are born from above, the same mind will be in us that was in Jesus, the mind that led Him to humble Himself that we might be saved. Then we shall not be seeking the highest place. We shall desire to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him. We shall understand that the value of our work does not consist in making a show and noise in the world, and in being active and zealous in our own strength. The value of our work is in proportion to the impartation of the Holy Spirit. Trust in God brings holier qualities of mind, so that in patience we may possess our souls. 

Christ loves to heal us from ourselves, to make us into true witnesses of His character! Then the world will know that true happiness is the result of holiness, and conformity to God's will!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath!! What a joy to be resting in Jesus!

As Jesus rested by faith in the Father's care, so we are to rest in the care of our Saviour. If the disciples had trusted in Him, they would have been kept in peace. Their fear in the time of danger revealed their unbelief. In their efforts to save themselves, they forgot Jesus; and it was only when, in despair of self-dependence, they turned to Him that He could give them help. 

We cannot save ourselves, but we can admit our continual need of Jesus and allow Him to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure! He is well pleased when we come to Him in simple faith, take Him at His word, yield our whole heart to Him to purify, and allow Him to impute and impart His righteousness to us! Then the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in our lives, and we will gladly go where Jesus bids us--even if it be through the storm of the time of trouble soon to break upon this world. Let us remember that Jesus sees the way that is best and let Him direct us moment-by-moment!

[Sean James]

Let us not forget God's goodness, for His goodness leads us to repentance and guides us into a total surrender to Him so Christ by the Holy Spirit renews our hearts and imparts and imputes to us His righteousness! Then we will spontaneously manifest all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we continue to choose to abide in Christ!

It is for our own benefit to keep every gift of God fresh in our memory. Thus faith is strengthened to claim and to receive more and more. There is greater encouragement for us in the least blessing we ourselves receive from God than in all the accounts we can read of the faith and experience of others. The soul that responds to the grace of God shall be like a watered garden. His health shall spring forth speedily; his light shall rise in obscurity, and the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon him. Let us then remember the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the multitude of His tender mercies. Like the people of Israel, let us set up our stones of witness, and inscribe upon them the precious story of what God has wrought for us. And as we review His dealings with us in our pilgrimage, let us, out of hearts melted with gratitude, declare, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His people." Psalm 116:12-14.

We need not fear for the future as we remember the way God has led us and His teaching in our past history! Look up! Jesus is coming SO SOON!!

[Sean James]

The good news is better than you can ask or think! Look to Jesus and let Him give you a new heart and a new mind as you fully surrender your will to Him! Then He blots out your sins and fills you with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing!

Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father's notice. Satan's hatred against God leads him to hate every object of the Saviour's care. He seeks to mar the handiwork of God, and he delights in destroying  even the dumb creatures. It is only through God's protecting care that the birds are preserved to gladden us with their songs of joy. But He does not forget even the sparrows. "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." 
     Jesus continues: As you confess Me before men, so I will confess you before God and the holy angels. You are to be My witnesses upon earth, channels through which My grace can flow for the healing of the world. So I will be your representative in heaven. The Father beholds not your faulty character, but He sees you as clothed in My perfection. I am the medium through which Heaven's blessings shall come to you. And everyone who confesses Me by sharing My sacrifice for the lost shall be confessed as a sharer in the glory and joy of the redeemed.   

When we truly believe that God loves us and has an eternity planned of blessings, we can learn to trust Him on a moment-by-moment basis to keep us from sin and to direct us in the way that He knows is best to draw souls to Him!

[Sean James]

What a joy it is to become like Jesus! This is why Jesus left heaven--to offer us His perfect life by His shed blood and to give us the example of His sinless life so that by continual union and communion with Him, we may become like Him in mind and character whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing!

In a life wholly devoted to the good of others, the Saviour found it necessary to withdraw from the thoroughfares of travel and from the throng that followed Him day after day. He must turn aside from a life of ceaseless activity and contact with human needs, to seek retirement and unbroken communion with His Father. As one with us, a sharer in our needs and weaknesses, He was wholly dependent upon God, and in the secret place of prayer He sought divine strength, that He might go forth braced for duty and trial. In a world of sin Jesus endured struggles and torture of soul. In communion with God He could unburden the sorrows that were crushing Him. Here He found comfort and joy.

We can give Jesus anything and everything that we are going through! There is no need to carry burdens that He has not placed upon us, but at the same time we can appreciate that He will impart all the strength and grace that we need to do His will on a moment-by-moment basis!

[Sean James]

Remember that God has a plan to save the world--but that includes you! It is not that He simply wants to save you from sin, but He desires to give you the joy of working in His service with a converted heart that manifests all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing so that you may have the joy of bringing others to share the bread of life--the word of God that nourishes the soul unto salvation!

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. 

Jesus knows our infirmities and has Himself shared our experience in all things but in sin, and thankfully He has prepared a path suited to our strength and capacity, for He knows what we can bear and what will be the best use of the unique talents and abilities He has given us to bless others!

[Sean James]

You are going to be tempted today. It is a given. But God has also promised that you need NEVER yield to that temptation and sin. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Let us learn our continual need of Jesus! When we are abiding in Him and fully surrendered to Him, He fills our hearts with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing so that we may affectionately obey God's law of love--the Ten Commandments!

Those who fail to realize their constant dependence upon God will be overcome by temptation. We may now suppose that our feet stand secure, and that we shall never be moved. We may say with confidence, "I know in whom I have believed; nothing can shake my faith in God and in His word." But Satan is planning to take advantage of our hereditary and cultivated traits of character, and to blind our eyes to our own necessities and defects. Only through realizing our own weakness and looking steadfastly unto Jesus can we walk securely. 

Let us walk with Jesus today like Enoch. Let us learn from Peter's experience of falling when he took his eyes off Jesus that unless our eyes are fixed on Him, we cannot have a victorious Christian experience. Only in and through Christ may our lives be strong, and useful to be a true blessing to others for the glory of God!

[Sean James]

It's happening! God is working out His plan! Now it is God's plan to bless you and to give you an incredible, intimate union and communion with God by healing you with His word! Jesus will feed with you His promises so that in all your trials you may be filled by His Spirit so that all of the fruits of His character--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance--without one missing will be seen in your life!

 To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated. 

As we assimilate God's grace, we become new creatures! There is no limit to the usefulness to each of us who are willing to be fully submitted to His plan! God heals us by taking us to behold Jesus and in beholding Him, we become changed into the image of relational love! This is such GOOD NEWS!!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! Jesus is coming very soon, and the everlasting gospel is the MAIN FOCUS for us in these last days in the context of the three angel's messages of Revelation 14:6-12. Let us not get distracted! Keep looking unto Jesus and pointing souls to what matters for eternity!

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. 

As we make choices today, let us choose to speak and act in harmony with the faith of Jesus and the commandments of God--for in Him is fullness of joy and all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we abide in Him in total surrender to His will!

[Sean James]

What do you choose? God chose for you to be saved into His everlasting kingdom. Satan chose for you to be lost. But only YOU cast the DECIDING VOTE as to what your eternal destiny will be. Will you join me in choosing Jesus CONTINUALLY? As you behold His infinite loveliness of character, yield the whole heart to Him, and allow Him to fill you with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, you will that God's love keeps moving you forward in the blessed path of life that He chose for you!! Make God's choice your choice today like the woman of Phoenicia whose daughter Jesus healed from demon possession! Come to Christ and KNOW that NO MATTER WHAT your circumstances, God can hear your prayer, give you a hatred for sin, and restore you to His image!

"And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed." (Mark 7:29-30).

In faith the woman of Phoenicia flung herself against the barriers that had been piled up between Jew and Gentile. Against discouragement, regardless of appearances that might have led her to doubt, she trusted the Saviour's love. It is thus that Christ desires us to trust in Him. The blessings of salvation are for every soul. Nothing but his own choice can prevent any man from becoming a partaker of the promise in Christ by the gospel.
 
In light of what God has planned for us for all eternity, let us walk in harmony with His choice today, and go forth to encourage others to choose Christ and His plan on a moment-by-moment basis!!

[Sean James]

Where do we get zeal? It is the fruit of the repentance Christ gives us! "Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31). And to His last-day people, Christ pleads: "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" (Revelation 3:19-20).

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 means that we will go about doing good--whether in-person or in a virtual format--manifesting His true character of heartfelt, affectionate obedience that is manifest in all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in the life! Let us look up by faith to Christ in the heavenly sanctuary as our High Priest who is able to finish what He started in our lives as by grace through faith we experience His infinite gift of salvation!

[Sean James]

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. We are given a probationary life to choose either Christ or self (the power of the devil). We are given every incentive to right-doing as we behold the loveliness of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit leads and woos us to surrender FULLY to Christ so that He can create in us a clean heart and a new mind so that all of the fruits of the Spirit will flow freely through our lives to bless others! As we believe that Christ's blood atones for our sins, there is victory in Jesus for the weakest soul who abides in Him! Let us learn to embrace the principle of self-sacrifice which is the very essence of heaven's bliss!

     "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." Selfishness is death. No organ of the body could live should it confine its service to itself. The heart, failing to send its lifeblood to the hand and the head, would quickly lose its power. As our lifeblood, so is the love of Christ diffused through every part of His mystical body. We are members one of another, and the soul that refuses to impart will perish. And "what is a man profited," said Jesus, "if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" 

Let us choose Christ today on a moment-by-moment basis, knowing that He is faithful to finish what He has begun in our lives!

[Sean James]

Are you open to the blessing? God wants to give us something better than we can ask or think--a character like Christ's--and yet character is formed through experience. As the three closest disciples of Jesus went up to the mount with Jesus as He was transfigured, they slept through a good portion of the conversation Christ had with Elijah and Moses; had they heard those key words, they would have been better prepared for the trial just before them in witnessing Christ's crucifixion. We are in a similar position, as Jesus is about to return and the time of trouble will transpire before Jesus comes. Let us learn now to receive all the blessings God wants to give us in gaining a character experience like Christ's so that all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in our lives and we will be enabled to suffer and be strong for His dear sake. Then the power of the gospel will be so evidently seen that it will recommend itself to the hearts and minds of those who are watching to see if indeed we are like Jesus.

Through being overcome with sleep, the disciples heard little of what passed between Christ and the heavenly messengers. Failing to watch and pray, they had not received that which God desired to give them,--a knowledge of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. They lost the blessing that might have been theirs through sharing His self-sacrifice. Slow of heart to believe were these disciples, little appreciative of the treasure with which Heaven sought to enrich them. 

When we appreciate the salvation offered us in Christ, we will gladly be WIDE AWAKE to watch and pray and learn of Christ each precious lesson, recognizing that fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor.