The Glory of God

[Sean James]

There is something so amazing about the resurrection of Christ! At Calvary, His humanity died, but His divinity did not die, and that is why at the Father's call He came forth by the life that was in Himself.

     When the voice of the mighty angel was heard at Christ's tomb, saying, Thy Father calls Thee, the Saviour came forth from the grave by the life that was in Himself. Now was proved the truth of His words, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. . . . I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." Now was fulfilled the prophecy He had spoken to the priests and rulers, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 10:17, 18;  2:19. 

The glorious reality is that through the gospel the same life that is in Christ becomes our life by an entire heart surrender, for we are one with Him and will manifest the traits of His true character--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, faith, temperance--for these very traits are the life of God imparted to every repentant, believing soul who trusts in Christ's blood for forgiveness and cleansing from sin and allows the Holy Spirit to fill the life on a constant basis! Not one of these fruits of the Spirit will be missing as long as Christ is in us, the hope of glory!

[Sean James]

When Jesus went to heaven after He rose from the dead, what was He first doing in the presence of our Heavenly Father?

Jesus refused to receive the homage of His people until He had the assurance that His sacrifice was accepted by the Father. He ascended to the heavenly courts, and from God Himself heard the assurance that His atonement for the sins of men had been ample, that through His blood all might gain eternal life. The Father ratified the covenant made with Christ, that He would receive repentant and obedient men, and would love them even as He loves His Son. Christ was to complete His work, and fulfill His pledge to "make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir." Isaiah 13:12. All power in heaven and on earth was given to the Prince of Life, and He returned to His followers in a world of sin, that He might impart to them of His power and glory. 

It is finished. The sacrifice is complete. The Father accepted fully what Christ did for us at Calvary as a perfect way to save all who will come unto Him and be saved from sin, healed from the disorders of their sin-sick souls, and become partakers of the divine nature so that all of the fruits of the Spirit may be seen in the converted life as Christ will live out His life through the abiding soul! What affectionate obedience to all of the Ten Commandments will come as we look to Jesus and realize how valuable we are to God! One soul is worth more than worlds!

[Sean James]

We can be hopeful! Even in these trying times, we can be hopeful in the prophecies that are fulfilling rapidly around us, for Jesus is coming again!

"Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" The disciples wondered who this stranger could be, that He should penetrate to their very souls, and speak with such earnestness, tenderness, and sympathy, and with such hopefulness. For the first time since Christ's betrayal, they began to feel hopeful. Often they looked earnestly at their companion, and thought that His words were just the words that Christ would have spoken. They were filled with amazement, and their hearts began to throb with joyful expectation.

When Christ is in our hearts, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing! We can be joyful in Jesus who came to save to the uttermost and make us like Him in mind and character!

[Sean James]

Let us learn to walk in saving faith! What is the best way for unbelief to be overcome?

In His treatment of Thomas, Jesus gave a lesson for His followers. His example shows how we should treat those whose faith is weak, and who make their doubts prominent. Jesus did not overwhelm Thomas with reproach, nor did He enter into controversy with him. He revealed Himself to the doubting one. Thomas had been most unreasonable in dictating the conditions of his faith, but Jesus, by His generous love and consideration, broke down all the barriers. Unbelief is seldom overcome by controversy. It is rather put upon self-defense, and finds new support and excuse. But let Jesus, in His love and mercy, be revealed as the crucified Saviour, and from many once unwilling lips will be heard the acknowledgment of Thomas, "My Lord and my God."

As we look to Jesus in humble submission to His will, He cleanses us from our sins as we confess and forsake them, He heals our lives, and unites us to His divine nature so unbelief is overcome by beholding His loveliness, so all of the fruits of the Spirit may be seen in our lives without one missing! May this be your experience today in Christ!

[Sean James]

What does it mean to be "rich" in the kingdom of heaven? Let us look at where the disciples gathered after the resurrection of Christ and contemplate the experience they had gained.

Seven of the disciples were in company. They were clad in the humble garb of fishermen; they were poor in worldly goods, but rich in the knowledge and practice of the truth, which in the sight of Heaven gave them the highest rank as teachers. They had not been students in the schools of the prophets, but for three years they had been taught by the greatest Educator the world has ever known. Under His instruction they had become elevated, intelligent, and refined, agents through whom men might be led to a knowledge of the truth.

To know and practice truth is what makes a person truly "rich" in God's sight. Just professing to know and practice truth will avail nothing. Such is the profession of the Laodicean church in Revelation 3, and that is why Christ calls for the door of the heart to be opened to Him. Only by yielding the whole heart to Christ and letting His truth become our very lived experience--thus leading us in true conversion whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in the life--will cause the soul to walk in a saving, abiding relationship with Christ! May our lives become like Jesus by spending time with Jesus!

[Sean James]

Does what we are called to do seem impossible? Good! Because with God, nothing is impossible and He can make ways where there seems to be no way! His Holy Spirit can constantly increase our strength and capacity for service and guide in ways that pass our finite understanding!

All who consecrate soul, body, and spirit to God will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical and mental power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through co-operation with Christ they are complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence.   

Let us look away from the weakness of self to the omnipotence of God's grace, love and power. As we look and live, the Holy Spirit will abide in the converted soul and not only cause all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing to be seen in the life, but will open up ways to reach others by an affectionate obedience experience of living to bless others! When we let God do in us what He plans, it is a joy!

[Sean James]

Thirty-three years is how long Jesus sojourned on earth. He ascended to heaven as a Man with glorified human nature, but He is ever our Brother! Let us rejoice that we have One who "fully gets us" and can save us COMPLETELY from sin because He became sin for us, and is willing to heal us completely into the image of His righteousness! He is with us forever!! He invites us to yield the whole heart to Him so we may have a converted heart and mind that is cleansed by His blood and filled with His Holy Spirit so that all of the traits of the divine nature will be manifest in our life without one missing!

Christ had sojourned in the world for thirty-three years; He had endured its scorn, insult, and mockery; He had been rejected and crucified. Now, when about to ascend to His throne of glory,--as He reviews the ingratitude of the people He came to save,--will He not withdraw from them His sympathy and love? Will not His affections be centered upon that realm where He is appreciated, and where sinless angels wait to do His bidding? No; His promise to those loved ones whom He leaves on earth is, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20. 

As we look above the trials of this life to Christ and His soon return, we can remember that He is our intercessor and mediator for us in the heavenly sanctuary, preparing a place for us as we cooperate with Him in true character building after the image of His character--the law of love and the definition of freedom!

[Sean James]

We simply do not deserve it. God treats us the way we do not deserve through Christ! That is grace! Grace changes the heart that is yielded to Jesus and we can have peace that passes all understanding as we look to His sacrifice and contemplate His eternal promise to restore us fully from sin!

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. "With His stripes we are healed." 

When how mercifully God treats us really sinks in, we can treat others the way we have been treated by allowing Christ to abide in our hearts, cleansing us from our sin in true repentance, and healing the disorders of our sin-sick souls. We can look by faith to Christ and rejoice in Him forevermore! Then not only will all of the fruits of the Spirit be seen in our lives, but we will be cheerfully obedient to every known statute of God's word and His counsel!

[Sean James]

May we choose to learn from Israel's experience and choose God's ideal for our lives by beholding His true character, following His word, and surrendering unreservedly to Him in the experience of true conversion whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing, so that He may accomplish His purpose through bringing His people into honor and exaltation rather than adversity and humiliation.

Had Israel been true to God, He could have accomplished His purpose through their honor and exaltation. If they had walked in the ways of obedience, He would have made them "high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor." "All people of the earth," said Moses, "shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee." "The nations which shall hear all these statutes" shall say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." Deuteronomy 26:19;  28:10; Deuteronomy 4:6. But because of their unfaithfulness, God's purpose could be wrought out only through continued adversity and humiliation. 

We can learn from history, or we will tend to repeat it. May the experience of where those before us fell short of God's ideal not discourage us, but lead us to prayerfully watch for His will through His word and do what He has called us to do by being lights in this dark world that is soon to perish. Oh, what longsuffering love we see in the character of God, but He longs to have us cooperate with Him in His purposes and plans to bless the world with a revelation of His true character!

[Sean James]

Timing is important. God's timing is perfect. We can trust that as surely as there was an appointed time for Christ to come the first time, that God is working out all things together for good to them that love Him in His time and way. We can trust Him implicitly remember that when we behold the loveliness of Jesus and yield our whole heart to Him, then we will have a renewed heart and mind imbued with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing!

But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God's purposes know no haste and no delay. Through the symbols of the great darkness and the smoking furnace, God had revealed to Abraham the bondage of Israel in Egypt, and had declared that the time of their sojourning should be four hundred years. "Afterward," He said, "shall they come out with great substance." Genesis 15:14. Against that word, all the power of Pharaoh's proud empire battled in vain. On "the self-same day" appointed in the divine promise, "it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." Exodus 12:41. So in heaven's council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 

God Himself knows just what is needed. Look to Him today in humble, confiding faith and remember that God is faithful!

[Sean James]

Our genetics are fully known by God. And Jesus fully experienced how heredity affects the life. He battled in faith and love and overcame! There is hope for ALL of us!! As we look to Jesus in simple, humble faith, we may have victory and overcome through the merits of Christ!! When the whole heart is yielded to Christ, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in the life without one missing!!

 The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33. We marvel at the Saviour's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.

May the sinless life of Jesus be an encouragement that no matter how sinful our life may have been, His imputed righteousness is available to us by His cleansing blood, and His imparted righteousness is available to us as we allow the whole heart to be united with Christ!!

[Sean James]

 Thankfully, Jesus disproved Satan's charge that the law cannot be obeyed, for Jesus as a man never sinned by the grace offered to us in the word of God. May we know that even though our past life is faulty, Christ will impute and impart His righteousness to us so He can keep us from falling into sin and reveal all of the fruits of the Spirit through us with out one missing! Then obedience which comes from loving and knowing God is our highest delight!

  "That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." In the light of the Saviour's life, the hearts of all, even from the Creator to the prince of darkness, are revealed. Satan has represented God as selfish and oppressive, as claiming all, and giving nothing, as requiring the service of His creatures for His own glory, and making no sacrifice for their good. But the gift of Christ reveals the Father's heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11. It declares that while God's hatred of sin is as strong as death, His love for the sinner is stronger than death. Having undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work. No truth essential to our salvation is withheld, no miracle of mercy is neglected, no divine agency is left unemployed. Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. The whole treasury of heaven is open to those He seeks to save. Having collected the riches of the universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power, He gives them all into the hands of Christ, and says, All these are for man. Use these gifts to convince him that there is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness will be found in loving Me.

Let us walk in true happiness in obedience today in doing God's will!

[Sean James]

No matter how long until Jesus returns, we can have a happy journey if we are walking in the faith that works by love and purifies the soul so all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives. As we let Jesus work out His plan for us, we can go wherever He leads us to go!

As by faith Abraham went forth at the call of God, "not knowing whither he went" (Hebrews 11:; as by faith Israel followed the pillar of cloud to the Promised Land, so did these Gentiles go forth to find the promised Saviour. The Eastern country abounded in precious things, and the magi did not set out empty-handed. It was the custom to offer presents as an act of homage to princes or other personages of rank, and the richest gifts the land afforded were borne as an offering to Him in whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed. It was necessary to journey by night in order to keep the star in view; but the travelers beguiled the hours by repeating traditional sayings and prophetic utterances concerning the One they sought. At every pause for rest they searched the prophecies; and the conviction deepened that they were divinely guided. While they had the star before them as an outward sign, they had also the inward evidence of the Holy Spirit, which was impressing their hearts, and inspiring them with hope. The journey, though long, was a happy one to them.

As the Holy Spirit leads us to follow God's plan for us, we may never know until we are in heaven how much was accomplished by the faith of Jesus working through us! The wise men who gave their gifts to Jesus in worship were used by God to actually finance the deliverance trip for Joseph, Mary and Jesus to make it to Egypt in safety with provision for the way! When we go and give as God prompts us, we are privileged to be co-laborers with Christ for the blessing of the world in Christ's plan to save all who will come unto God by Him! May we be in such union and communion with God today that He can fulfill His plan in and through us!

[Sean James]

Real greatness can dispense with all outward show, as we see in the life of Jesus! The purity and simplicity of His character allowed Him complete freedom to do the will of His Father, manifesting all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing and living the law of God out of an intelligent appreciation of His Father's beneficent character! Surrendered fully to Christ, we may partake of the same experience!

Yet Jesus shunned display. During all the years of His stay in Nazareth, He made no exhibition of His miraculous power. He sought no high position and assumed no titles. His quiet and simple life, and even the silence of the Scriptures concerning His early years, teach an important lesson. The more quiet and simple the life of the child,--the more free from artificial excitement, and the more in harmony with nature,--the more favorable is it to physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength. 

May we value what heaven values and dispense with that which will not transfer over to our experience in heaven. Now is the time to behold Jesus and become more like Him!

[Sean James]

May we experience the blessing of beholding Jesus! By beholding Christ and reflecting on His true character, we can experience renewing of our hearts and minds and become like Him in mind and character! Then all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing and we will gladly obey the law of God as He writes it in our hearts and minds!

It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross. 

By beholding we become changed. Looking to Jesus there is healing for each and every one of us, and no matter how far we have fallen short of the glory of God, looking in faith to the Redeemer is the answer for each and every one of us on a moment-by-moment basis to have constant union and communion with Him! May you go forth this day to be a blessing as you are blessed by Jesus!