The Glory of God

[Sean]

Teamwork makes the dream work!! Let us realize we are a team with the angels to reach the world for Christ with the Holy Spirit using us to speak in harmony with the prompting of the angels! Let us give the Three Angels' messages in harmony with the character of Christ--all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we gladly obey the Ten Commandments and live in harmony with all of the light God shines on our pathway!!

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.

[Sean]

What a blessing that Christ was willing to disappoint earthly hopes to incline every heart to the kingdom of heaven in preparation for the eternal world! Let us yield the whole heart to Christ and abide in Him with all of the fruits of the Spirit revealing the loveliness of Jesus through us! Obedience becomes our highest delight because we yearn to please and honor Christ in all things!

Christ disappointed the hope of worldly greatness. In the Sermon on the Mount He sought to undo the work that had been wrought by false education, and to give His hearers a right conception of His kingdom and of His own character. Yet He did not make a direct attack on the errors of the people. He saw the misery of the world on account of sin, yet He did not present before them a vivid delineation of their wretchedness. He taught them of something infinitely better than they had known. Without combating their ideas of the kingdom of God, He told them the conditions of entrance therein, leaving them to draw their own conclusions as to its nature. The truths He taught are no less important to us than to the multitude that followed Him. We no less than they need to learn the foundation principles of the kingdom of God.

As we reflect on Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 and realize that Christ's kingdom is what we all need, let us lay aside every weight and run with perseverance the race marked out for us! Christ has the power to cleanse us from all selfishness and to impute and impart to us His unselfish love!

[Sean]

Who is being drawn to Christ? All of us! Even the centurion who came to Christ to have his servant healed chose to trust the word of God as the assurance that the servant would be healed simply by the word of God, and the word of God only! Let us not set up expectations beyond God's word in our lives, but let what He says be true in our life and character by surrender of the heart, mind and will to Jesus! Then in such a converted experience all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will spontaneously be manifest in and through us to the glory of God even as we learn to walk as Jesus walked in affectionate obedience to God's law of love!

The Jews had been instructed from childhood concerning the work of the Messiah. The inspired utterances of patriarchs and prophets and the symbolic teaching of the sacrificial service had been theirs. But they had disregarded the light; and now they saw in Jesus nothing to be desired. But the centurion, born in heathenism, educated in the idolatry of imperial Rome, trained as a soldier, seemingly cut off from spiritual life by his education and surroundings, and still further shut out by the bigotry of the Jews, and by the contempt of his own countrymen for the people of Israel,--this man perceived the truth to which the children of Abraham were blinded. He did not wait to see whether the Jews themselves would receive the One who claimed to be their Messiah. As the "light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9) had shone upon him, he had, though afar off, discerned the glory of the Son of God. 

What a blessing to walk in the light that shines on our path and go forth today to bless others! May this be your genuine experience in Christ!

[Sean]

Where can we find relief? Where can we find rest? Jesus navigated this earthly life experience pain, misunderstanding and misapprehension in His own home and He understands what it feels like for us to face those experiences that can be very difficult. He knows the thorny path, for He travelled it--but never sinned while He walked it. Let us look to Him to find strength and grace to travel the path He knows is best and go to our heavenly Father to find true relief and joy as we commune with Him!!

These things made His path a thorny one to travel. So pained was Christ by the misapprehension in His own home that it was a relief to Him to go where it did not exist. There was one home that He loved to visit,--the home of Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha; for in the atmosphere of faith and love His spirit had rest. Yet there were none on earth who could comprehend His divine mission, or know the burden which He bore in behalf of humanity. Often He could find relief only in being alone, and communing with His heavenly Father.   

In such sweet communion with God as we surrender all we have and are to Him, all of the fruits of the Spirit flow into our hearts and lives as we gladly obey God from the new heart He gives us by the supernatural power of the divine nature at work in and through us by His word!

[Sean]

Let us take Christ at His word and experience all of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives without one missing as He empowers us to affectionately obey His law from the new heart He gives us! Let us walk even as He walked!

Those who take Christ at His word, and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace and quietude. Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. In perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. The Lord says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." Isaiah 26:3. Our lives may seem a tangle; but as we commit ourselves to the wise Master Worker, He will bring out the pattern of life and character that will be to His own glory. And that character which expresses the glory--character--of Christ will be received into the Paradise of God. A renovated race shall walk with Him in white, for they are worthy.   

[Sean James]

When every human source of help is unavailing, what a blessing that we can always turn to Jesus! May we learn to go to Him FIRST, and then we need never fear what He allows in our lives for our good and the good of others!

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.

Jesus will help all who come to Him in faith. His grace and love move us to come, and He has a thousand ways of which we know nothing to help and provide! Let us surrender the WHOLE heart to Jesus so all of the fruits of the Spirit may be manifest in our lives without one missing as Christ living in us empowers us to obey God up to the light He has shown us because He first loved us!

[Sean James]

Faith is like dynamite! When faith is activated by love, you WILL SEE it in action! When the woman reached forth to touch Christ, like dynamite she put forth every element of the faith God had given her moved by the love of Christ who was drawing her, and she was INSTANTLY healed! When we come to Christ in faith that works by love and purifies the soul, we can believe that He cleanses us from sin as we confess to Him our sins and in true repentance turn from them! Jesus supernaturally restores us into His image with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as long as we are abiding in Him, for such a union and vital experience of communion empowers us to affectionately obey God!

 The wondering crowd that pressed close about Christ realized no accession of vital power. But when the suffering woman put forth her hand to touch Him, believing that she would be made whole, she felt the healing virtue. So in spiritual things. To talk of religion in a casual way, to pray without soul hunger and living faith, avails nothing. A nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him merely as the Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul. The faith that is unto salvation is not a mere intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before he will exercise faith, cannot receive blessing from God. It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power. 

Let us allow God to continually GUARD us against a NOMINAL faith--a faith that is not active in love. We need Jesus CONTINUALLY to do any good thing! He loves to have us come to Him JUST AS WE ARE, but His faith working by love in our souls will make us like Him! Praise the Lord!!

[Sean James]

Looking to Jesus we see what it means to be true Christians. He invites us to be united to Him by a living faith surrender so all of the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in our character experience with Him by an appreciative understanding of His love! He calls us to confess Him as Lord and Savior by a character united with Him by continual communion! May this be our experience by beholding His love as we are changed into His image! It would be well each day to contemplate the loveliness of Jesus, especially the closing scenes of His earthly life as He went to Calvary for us! He is now our High Priest and we can look to Him as able to save us fully! Look away from self and talk and think of Jesus, even as He transforms you by beholding Him!

He who would confess Christ must have Christ abiding in him. He cannot communicate that which he has not received. The disciples might speak fluently on doctrines, they might repeat the words of Christ Himself; but unless they possessed Christlike meekness and love, they were not confessing Him. A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him, whatever the profession. Men may deny Christ by evilspeaking, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the pursuit of sinful pleasure. They may deny Him by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by the love of their own opinions, by justifying self, by cherishing doubt, borrowing trouble, and dwelling in darkness. In all these ways they declare that Christ is not in them. And "whosoever shall deny Me before men," He says, "him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven."

Jesus longs to continually confess us before our Heavenly Father, and He invites us to receive from Him the Holy Sprit that we may give a consistent witness of His true character!

[Sean James]

What a blessing it is to truly "rest" in the presence of Jesus. Such rest is restorative and rejuvenating, not selfish and narrowing! As we commune with Christ in sincerity, He graciously speaks to us of His infinite love! Let us rest in the Lord today and be open to the souls we are given the opportunity to bless as we abide in Jesus. Such restful union and communion as the result of true conversion will be revealed in all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we gladly obey God's law of love!

  The rest which Christ and His disciples took was not self-indulgent rest. The time they spent in retirement was not devoted to pleasure seeking. They talked together regarding the work of God, and the possibility of bringing greater efficiency to the work. The disciples had been with Christ, and could understand Him; to them He need not talk in parables. He corrected their errors, and made plain to them the right way of approaching the people. He opened more fully to them the precious treasures of divine truth. They were vitalized by divine power, and inspired with hope and courage. 

As Jesus works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure, He calls us to come with Him into the restful scenes of nature where we can be truly happy in His love; in gaining a deeper experience with Him in His word, we are better prepared to reach souls around us as they see that we have truly been with Jesus!

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord for the blessing of getting to work according to our ability, rather than think we cannot do something because we may not have the skills others do. God has a place for us in His service, and He loves to have us share the word of life--the bread from heaven--so others can be truly nourished in God's way. Let us yield fully to Christ and abide in His love so all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we are empowered to obey God out of love!


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. 

Let us do what God gives us the ability to do, and do it cheerfully!

[Sean James]

We need help--constantly--from Jesus. He longs to teach us day by day of our continual need of Him to do any good thing. As we abide in Him, He imparts to us the strength of His character so all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing are in our lives. Gladly we can obediently go in the path His providence assigns! May you today let the Lord lead you constantly!

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. 

"When I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10). While the strength of character God offers us is found in humility and surrender, it is only by union and communion with Christ that we can walk above the pull of the world, the flesh and the devil.

[Sean James]

How did Jesus come in "the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3) and never sin? He could only remain untainted by the word, for He, the living Word of God, laid aside His glory He had in heaven and came into this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and by faith in the written word of God overcame, offering us a perfect character in place of our fallen character. As our first parents' disobedience to God's word has caused us to inherit a fallen nature, we have sinful hearts that must be converted by grace through faith if we are to be saved, and Jesus offers us by His word a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus came into this world with His overflowing heart of infinite love and resisted every temptation that Satan could try on Him, and since Jesus overcame by the word as He is the Word made flesh, if we are in union and communion with Him in His word in affectionate obedience to Christ the word, then the same divine nature will be manifest in us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing. This is such a miracle, but it is exactly what God offers ALL OF US! Let us yield to Him and cooperate with Christ at every step heavenward! We have hope in Christ to overcome! He took our fallen nature to Calvary and died, defeating sin in the flesh because He never yielded to the sin of unbelief in the word of God that leads to disobedience. Let us look to Christ and walk in this "Christ in you the hope of glory" that is really the word in you, the hope of glory!

By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus.

When we have the life of the word in us, we have the victory we need! Rejoice in the word--Christ, the Lord--always!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath!!

When Jesus was faced with traditions that were not based on God's word, He knew they would not endure. We are to build on Christ and His word, for His word is sure and establishes our character on what will last. When we have Christ the living word abiding in us in full surrender of the whole heart to Him, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing as we gladly are empowered to obey Him from the heart renewed by His grace!

He answered, "Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." The customs and traditions so highly valued by the rabbis were of this world, not from heaven. However great their authority with the people, they could not endure the testing of God. Every human invention that has been substituted for the commandments of God will be found worthless in that day when "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:14.

Let us turn our eyes on Jesus and build on Him as our foundation of character. To know God is to love Him, and abiding in Him we are made complete to do His will!

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord for the gift of salvation, and for how God empowers us to choose His will and way! We can be so thankful for His grace that is sufficient for us to be victorious in Christ by the faith He imparts us! As we yield fully to Him, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing come into the life as we grow in His grace and thrive in His purposes, obeying Him gladly from the new heart He gives us! Let us press through every barrier that Satan may try to erect against coming to Christ just as we are and learn to become like Jesus more fully each day, for by beholding we become changed!

  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.

When we have Christ working in us, He encourages us to see the needs of those around us. We learn of Him and in coming to Him find healing for heart, soul, mind, body and spirit. Nothing is too hard for the Lord! Jesus is coming SO SOON and He longs to reach as many as possible with the everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6-12) and to have a people prepared to meet Him (Revelation 14:1-5). We can choose to overcome even as He overcame--by relying on the word of God to do what it says because we discern the loveliness of Jesus' character, just like the woman of Phoenicia did as she asked for Jesus to heal her daughter who was possessed by a demon. When we really believe that God loves us, we will cease to worry about the future and we will entrust the keeping of souls to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us!

[Sean James]

What is religion? It is the way we relate to God, and only the way Christ related to God in total surrender and joyful service is TRUE RELIGION! Such an experience is filled with genuine happiness, for it flows from being in the happy presence of our holy God! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing are the supernatural result of having Christ in us by living faith surrender to Him of the whole heart, mind and will so He can do His will through us as we are empowered to cooperate with Him in affectionate obedience to all of the heavenly light shining on our pathway!

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. 

May you today let Christ be ALL to you, for He is well able to qualify us to serve not just in this life, but in the life to come!