The Glory of God

[Sean James]

We are shown in Christ's victory how to have victory over Satan by submission to God and trust in His word! Jesus' victory is for us! Let us choose Christ because He came to our dark world to redeem us at an infinite cost to Himself! What wondrous love is this!

So we may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us. Jesus gained the victory through submission and faith in God, and by the apostle He says to us, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:7, 8. We cannot save ourselves from the tempter's power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but "the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Proverbs 18:10. Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name. 

Choosing to trust Jesus no matter how trying our circumstances is so important. No matter what we are going through, we have a sure refuge in Jesus who loves us and has a plan to save us to the uttermost! Grace and strength are supplied as we pray for Him to help us continually abide in Him! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will flow spontaneously from a life experiencing true conversion and growth in Christ!

[Sean James]

What a joy comes to our hearts as we surrender fully to Jesus and abide in His love! His love in the soul brings all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, enabling Spirit-filled obedience to Him out of an intelligent appreciation for His loveliness of character! Whatever gift He has given us thus far, He has a greater gift to bestow today and tomorrow! Let us keep walking with Jesus moment-by-moment!

As men set forth the best wine first, then afterward that which is worse, so does the world with its gifts. That which it offers may please the eye and fascinate the senses, but it proves to be unsatisfying. The wine turns to bitterness, the gaiety to gloom. That which was begun with songs and mirth ends in weariness and disgust. But the gifts of Jesus are ever fresh and new. The feast that He provides for the soul never fails to give satisfaction and joy. Each new gift increases the capacity of the receiver to appreciate and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. He gives grace for grace. There can be no failure of supply. If you abide in Him, the fact that you receive a rich gift today insures the reception of a richer gift tomorrow. The words of Jesus to Nathanael express the law of God's dealing with the children of faith. With every fresh revelation of His love, He declares to the receptive heart, "Believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these." John 1:50. 

Looking unto Jesus we find that God is the true Giver, and in union and communion with Him, we also shall delight to give and bless others as Jesus has first blessed (loved) us!

[Sean James]

Someone is drawing you to Himself. Who is it? It is Jesus! He yearns over you with a longing that is incomprehensible! His love does not grow cold and His efforts to win your heart do not cease! May we ever keep our hearts tender and receptive to Jesus' love so that the converting power of His grace may restore us into His image by making us partakers of the divine nature whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in the life without one missing! We are to look to Him, surrender the whole heart, and allow Him to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure!

The wind is heard among the branches of the trees, rustling the leaves and flowers; yet it is invisible, and no man knows whence it comes or whither it goes. So with the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. It can no more be explained than can the movements of the wind. A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or to trace all the circumstances in the process of conversion; but this does not prove him to be unconverted. By an agency as unseen as the wind, Christ is constantly working upon the heart. Little by little, perhaps unconsciously to the receiver, impressions are made that tend to draw the soul to Christ. These may be received through meditating upon Him, through reading the Scriptures, or through hearing the word from the living preacher. Suddenly, as the Spirit comes with more direct appeal, the soul gladly surrenders itself to Jesus. By many this is called sudden conversion; but it is the result of long wooing by the Spirit of God,—a patient, protracted process.

God sees that IT IS WORTH IT to draw us to Himself. He knows that He can provide a love that will satisfy the soul that can be found in no other source in the universe. Simply put, trying to find meaning and purpose in life without Jesus is IMPOSSIBLE! Look to Him and let Him do the greatest miracle in your life--making you a new creature who loves Jesus and loves others unselfishly!

[Sean James]

Where are you looking for satisfaction?

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.

If we look to Jesus and surrender the whole heart to Christ, we find true satisfaction and restoration to God's plan for us as free moral agents! Only in Christ is true satisfaction. Let us surrender fully to Christ so He can give us a new heart and a new mind, imbued with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, so we can abide in His love and obey God's law of love to the extent that He has revealed it to us by His grace!

[Sean James]

You are known and understood. Jesus cares and has a plan to save you, and even the trials of life He can sanctify to the conversion of souls! Let us yield fully to Jesus so the Holy Spirit can freely work through us moment-by-moment in manifesting all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing!

The nobleman longed to know more of Christ. As he afterward heard His teaching, he and all his household became disciples. Their affliction was sanctified to the conversion of the entire family. Tidings of the miracle spread; and in Capernaum, where so many of His mighty works were performed, the way was prepared for Christ's personal ministry.

Jesus makes a way each day for us to bring all we have and are to Him so that whatever we are facing, His grace is sufficient for the day that we may believe fully in Him and obey Him with a heart that is renewed by the Holy Spirit!

[Sean James]

Please don't miss this! We are by nature just as paralyzed spiritually to walk by faith as was the man who had been palsied for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda found in John 5! Jesus makes healing SO SIMPLE: "Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath" (John 5:8-9). We need Jesus' mighty word to resurrect us spiritually so we can walk by a living faith union and communion with God and overcome every defect of character in our lives as He manifests through us all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing! Then we can supernaturally and gladly obey God's word to the extent that He has reveled His law of love to us because we are living the new life of faith!

Through the same faith we may receive spiritual healing. By sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied. Of ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than was the impotent man capable of walking. There are many who realize their helplessness, and who long for that spiritual life which will bring them into harmony with God; they are vainly striving to obtain it. In despair they cry, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24, margin. Let these desponding, struggling ones look up. The Saviour is bending over the purchase of His blood, saying with inexpressible tenderness and pity, “Wilt thou be made whole?” He bids you arise in health and peace. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word, and it will be fulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in acting upon His word you will receive strength. Whatever may be the evil practice, the master passion which through long indulgence binds both soul and body, Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that is “dead in trespasses.” Ephesians 2:1. He will set free the captive that is held by weakness and misfortune and the chains of sin.

Why would we choose anything less than God's ideal for us? Let us realize that the world, our own fallen nature, and the devil are trying to keep us bound by sin and in slavery to fear and doubt. But God is stronger!!! God's word is our pledge of deliverance and power to walk by faith, not by sight! May you today connect with Jesus by the Holy Spirit so He can do in and through you what would otherwise have been an impossibility! God is able to do more than we can ask or think! Hallelujah!

[Sean James]

What is most valuable?

It is moral worth that God values. Love and purity are the attributes He prizes most.

"God is love" (1 John 4:, and when He lives in us, the same purity and love from Jesus will flow out of our lives to others in good works that are motivated by the Holy Spirit and made possible by His grace! May you let all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing be manifest in your life today as you choose to surrender all you have and are to God moment-by-moment, enjoying constant union and communion with Christ! Then you can gladly obey God from a heart renewed by divine grace and go forth to bless others in affectionate obedience to God's will as revealed in His law of love, the Ten Commandments!

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord for the light that Christ sheds upon our pathway! As we surrender fully to Christ and let Him lead us in His perfect will, we can make the best use of the light of the everlasting gospel and go forward in faith! All of the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in our lives without one missing as we affectionately obey God's law of love from a heart renewed by divine grace!

Our standing before God depends, not upon the amount of light we have received, but upon the use we make of what we have. Thus even the heathen who choose the right as far as they can distinguish it are in a more favorable condition than are those who have had great light, and profess to serve God, but who disregard the light, and by their daily life contradict their profession. 

Let us not violate the light that God gives us, but apply the truth as we surrender fully to His will!

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord for God's grace! What would life be like without grace? Without grace, we would perish! Oh, what wondrous love in how Jesus takes us as we are but does not leave us the way He finds us! As we behold the loveliness of His character, we can rejoice to surrender fully to Him and be truly converted, so that all of the fruits of the Spirit without on missing will be in our lives! Then we can truly affectionately obey God as He invites us to in His law because He first loved us!

God takes men as they are, and educates them for His service, if they will yield themselves to Him. The Spirit of God, received into the soul, will quicken all its faculties. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mind that is devoted unreservedly to God develops harmoniously, and is strengthened to comprehend and fulfill the requirements of God. The weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and His disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and character. Through a connection with Christ he will have clearer and broader views. His discernment will be more penetrative, his judgment better balanced. He who longs to be of service to Christ is so quickened by the life-giving power of the Sun of Righteousness that he is enabled to bear much fruit to the glory of God. 

Jesus will bear much fruit through us--not just our characters reflecting Him, but others coming to Christ in true conversion! May you let others see Jesus at work in your heart and life today by the power of the Holy Spirit!

[Sean James]

Jesus offers us His character experience! Let’s behold Him, yield the whole heart to Him, and let Him manifest through us all of the fruits of the Holy Spirit without one missing! Then affectionate obedience is the sure result of constant union and communion with our Savior!

His tender compassion fell with a touch of healing upon weary and troubled hearts. Even amid the turbulence of angry enemies He was surrounded with an atmosphere of peace. The beauty of His countenance, the loveliness of His character, above all, the love expressed in look and tone, drew to Him all who were not hardened in unbelief. Had it not been for the sweet, sympathetic spirit that shone out in every look and word, He would not have attracted the large congregations that He did. The afflicted ones who came to Him felt that He linked His interest with theirs as a faithful and tender friend, and they desired to know more of the truths He taught. Heaven was brought near. They longed to abide in His presence, that the comfort of His love might be with them continually.

Praise the Lord!

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord for the healing that God brings to us in a complete way! Jesus knows us individually and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, so come to Him just as you are, accept His divine grace in a complete surrender of your whole heart to Christ, and find forgiveness and healing to transform you into His image so all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in your life without one missing!

The paralytic found in Christ healing for both the soul and the body. The spiritual healing was followed by physical restoration. This lesson should not be overlooked. There are today thousands suffering from physical disease, who, like the paralytic, are longing for the message, "Thy sins are forgiven." The burden of sin, with its unrest and unsatisfied desires, is the foundation of their maladies. They can find no relief until they come to the Healer of the soul. The peace which He alone can give, would impart vigor to the mind, and health to the body. 
     Jesus came to "destroy the works of the devil." "In Him was life," and He says, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." He is "a quickening spirit." 1 John 3:8; John 1:4; 10:10; 1 Corinthians 15:45. And He still has the same life-giving power as when on earth He healed the sick, and spoke forgiveness to the sinner. He "forgiveth all thine iniquities," He "healeth all thy diseases." Psalm 103:3.   

What joy it is to walk in the victory Christ offers us! The devil is a defeated for, though he still roams around to try to discourage and distract us. But we can choose Christ and look and live because He ever lives to intercede for us. Christ is about to return in power and great glory, and now is the time to rejoice in the Lord!

[Sean James]

Do you discern the presence of Jesus? Do you realize that He is your personal Savior, and have you surrendered your heart fully so He as your Lord can lead you in the path that is best? As you look to Christ's infinite love, an intelligent appreciation of His self-sacrifice will stir you to "go and do likewise" to what He has done in reflecting His true character--all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in humble obedience to all of His Ten Commandments! As our High Priest in heaven, He is even now interceding for us to help us walk in His victorious character experience, blotting out our sins that are confessed in true repentance, and preparing us for His soon return in power and great glory!

When He should come forth from the tomb, their sorrow would be turned to joy. After His ascension He was to be absent in person; but through the Comforter He would still be with them, and they were not to spend their time in mourning. This was what Satan wanted. He desired them to give the world the impression that they had been deceived and disappointed; but by faith they were to look to the sanctuary above, where Jesus was ministering for them; they were to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, His representative, and to rejoice in the light of His presence. Yet days of temptation and trial would come, when they would be brought into conflict with the rulers of this world, and the leaders of the kingdom of darkness; when Christ was not personally with them, and they failed to discern the Comforter, then it would be more fitting for them to fast.

Christ is waiting to guide each of us in the path that He knows to be best. Constant union and communion with God is open to each of our hearts! Let us rejoice in the Lord always and praise Him who gives the Holy Spirit as we ask and surrender to Him!

[Sean James]

The currency of relationships is time. God has graciously given us the seventh day Sabbath as a gift to build our relationship with Him.
As we surrender fully to Jesus, He converts our hearts and changes us from the inside out to have all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we affectionately obey God's law of love expressed in the Ten Commandments, including the holy Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset! Happy Sabbath as it comes soon!!

And the Lord says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isaiah 58:13, 14. To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ's creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour. And every object in nature repeats His invitation, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.

As the sun sets this Friday evening, may you rest in Jesus knowing that His grace is strong and powerful to keep you from sin and shame as you accept Christ's new name by the power of the Holy Spirit!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! We are privileged to be able to offer God our finite weakness so He can fill us with His infinite grace, power and love by the Holy Spirit! Only in Christ do we find our real purpose and identity!

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves." 2 Corinthians 4:7, R. V. This is why the preaching of the gospel was committed to erring men rather than to the angels. It is manifest that the power which works through the weakness of humanity is the power of God; and thus we are encouraged to believe that the power which can help others as weak as ourselves can help us. And those who are themselves "compassed with infirmity" should be able to "have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way." Hebrews 5:2. Having been in peril themselves, they are acquainted with the dangers and difficulties of the way, and for this reason are called to reach out for others in like peril. There are souls perplexed with doubt, burdened with infirmities, weak in faith, and unable to grasp the Unseen; but a friend whom they can see, coming to them in Christ's stead, can be a connecting link to fasten their trembling faith upon Christ. 
     We are to be laborers together with the heavenly angels in presenting Jesus to the world. With almost impatient eagerness the angels wait for our co-operation; for man must be the channel to communicate with man. And when we give ourselves to Christ in wholehearted devotion, angels rejoice that they may speak through our voices to reveal God's love.

God is willing to send the angels to speak through our voices so we can be a blessing to others and point them to the love of Christ. Let us be available for what God has planned today! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be manifest through a life that is fully surrendered to Christ in constant union and communion with God! Affectionately we are empower to obey God from a new heart and a new mind because the gospel of His grace transforms sinners into saints!

[Sean James]

Hungry? Righteousness is not natural to us, for we are sinful and unholy and need the righteousness of Christ to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure! When we surrender the will entirely to Christ, He gives us a new heart and mind imbued with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing! Then affectionately we will obey the Ten Commandments and every known statute of the law of God--the law of love! Let us hunger and thirst for this true conversion experience and thank God that He does give it to us!

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.” The sense of unworthiness will lead the heart to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and this desire will not be disappointed. Those who make room in their hearts for Jesus will realize His love. All who long to bear the likeness of the character of God shall be satisfied. The Holy Spirit never leaves unassisted the soul who is looking unto Jesus. He takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto him. If the eye is kept fixed on Christ, the work of the Spirit ceases not until the soul is conformed to His image. The pure element of love will expand the soul, giving it a capacity for higher attainments, for increased knowledge of heavenly things, so that it will not rest short of the fullness. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.”

Jesus has the power to keep making us more like Him--for eternity!! But while we are on earth, He is teaching us the most important lesson that He has grace sufficient to keep us from falling into sin! Let us rejoice continually in Christ who gives us more than we can ask or think!!