The Glory of God

[Sean James]

God loves to give NEW BEGINNINGS!! No matter what your past has been, you can start fresh with Jesus by fully surrendering to Him so He can imbue you with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as you abide in His pure, holy love which constrains you to true obedience to all of His commandments! God is so gracious! We see this clearly in the way Jesus pardoned and empowered the woman who was caught in adultery, but was enabled by the grace of God to start a new chapter of life in union and communion with the Savior!

This was to her the beginning of a new life, a life of purity and peace, devoted to the service of God. In the uplifting of this fallen soul, Jesus performed a greater miracle than in healing the most grievous physical disease; He cured the spiritual malady which is unto death everlasting. This penitent woman became one of His most steadfast followers. With self-sacrificing love and devotion she repaid His forgiving mercy.

As we go forth on missions of mercy, may our lives exude the compassion of Christ to invite souls to be pardoned from past sin, to encourage them walk in victory over sin, and experience a new life in God's will and way!

[Sean James]

Our greatest need is to be set free from sin and restored to the image of God. And Christ makes this possible by the Holy Spirit to all who desire that freedom and are wiling to ask for His power to give strength to confess and forsake sin and be cleansed from its defilement. In place of the old sinful heart of unbelief (Jeremiah 17:9), Christ gives a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and imparts His very life into the soul by the Holy Spirit, bringing all of the fruits of His divine attributes of character (Galatians 5:22-23) without one missing! Then obedience to all of God's commandments that was before an impossibility in an unconverted state becomes the highest delight of the one born again by the word of God, and His word endures forever!

In the work of redemption there is no compulsion. No external force is employed. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, man is left free to choose whom he will serve. In the change that takes place when the soul surrenders to Christ, there is the highest sense of freedom. The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan's control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.

As we respond to the light of Christ shining upon our souls, it is imperative that we realize our CONTINUAL need of Jesus to do any good thing. It is not enough to be converted at one point in our experience. We need a daily baptism of the Holy Spirit and a continual willingness to do the will of God. As long as we are abiding in Christ, we will be enabled to do His will from the new heart because we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Such a living witness invites others to come and experience the freedom that can only be known from walking in the light of true obedience, growing in grace and strength as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and resist sin in a life of joyful service to bless the Lord and others!

[Sean James]

Let's look up to Jesus, our great High Priest in the sanctuary in heaven! He is still the Shepherd of His people and desires to lead us in the path that is best! Trust Him fully with your entire life, invite Him to take away your sin and give you a new heart, and let the Holy Spirit flow through your life the very attributes of His divine nature--love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, faith and temperance without one of the fruit of the Spirit missing as you live by faith on the Son of God!

Though now He has ascended to the presence of God, and shares the throne of the universe, Jesus has lost none of His compassionate nature. Today the same tender, sympathizing heart is open to all the woes of humanity. Today the hand that was pierced is reached forth to bless more abundantly His people that are in the world. “And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” The soul that has given himself to Christ is more precious in His sight than the whole world. The Saviour would have passed through the agony of Calvary that one might be saved in His kingdom. He will never abandon one for whom He has died. Unless His followers choose to leave Him, He will hold them fast.

Being kept by Jesus is the safest place to be. Let Him lead you in the center of His will moment-by-moment all the way to heaven! While we are pilgrims and strangers in this life, we are His ambassadors to reveal His character and invite as many as possible to be saved into His everlasting kingdom! Christ is coming soon and has given us His everlasting gospel message that is to go to the world (Revelation 14:6-12)! The greatest joy is in seeing another soul respond to Christ and become a new creature in Him!

[Sean James]

Let us not neglect the light of heaven-sent truth! As we are given opportunity to know and follow truth, let us act on it, and not sin willfully, for this grieves the Holy Spirit. As we come to Christ just as we are and are drawn by His loveliness, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be revealed in the life that yields fully to Him! Because we love Him, we will be empowered to obey Him up to the light He has revealed to us!

The True Witness says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” Revelation 3:20. Every warning, reproof, and entreaty in the word of God or through His messengers is a knock at the door of the heart. It is the voice of Jesus asking for entrance. With every knock unheeded, the disposition to open becomes weaker. The impressions of the Holy Spirit if disregarded today, will not be as strong tomorrow. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of life, and of the great eternity beyond. Our condemnation in the judgment will not result from the fact that we have been in error, but from the fact that we have neglected heaven-sent opportunities for learning what is truth.

God is so good to us and is patient with us, and He calls us to surrender because His light is the best way to live! Apart from Him, we perish. Let us abide in Jesus!!

[Sean James]

As we become imbued with the Holy Spirit by surrendering fully to Christ's saving grace and partake of the divine nature, God calls us to ministry!

“Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.” Galatians 6:1. By faith and prayer press back the power of the enemy. Speak words of faith and courage that will be as a healing balsam to the bruised and wounded one. Many, many, have fainted and become discouraged in the great struggle of life, when one word of kindly cheer would have strengthened them to overcome. Never should we pass by one suffering soul without seeking to impart to him of the comfort wherewith we are comforted of God.

There are souls in need all around us. With the overflow of genuine conversion manifesting all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, we are empowered to go forth to seek and save the lost in a continual union and communion with Christ! Praise God that there will be more souls in heaven as a result of us cooperating with Christ in His unselfish ministry!

[Sean James]

Let's help build up the kingdom of God by following Christ's method that brings true success!

Not by the decisions of courts or councils or legislative assemblies, not by the patronage of worldly great men, is the kingdom of Christ established, but by the implanting of Christ's nature in humanity through the work of the Holy Spirit. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12, 13. Here is the only power that can work the uplifting of mankind. And the human agency for the accomplishment of this work is the teaching and practicing of the word of God.

When Jesus is received as a personal Savior from sin into the life and we abide in Him, His kingdom of grace begins in our hearts and we partake of His divine nature which is revealed in true obedience to God's commandments up to the light we have received with the accompanying witness of all of the fruits of the Spirit in the life without one missing! As such a complete surrender is continued in the Christian life, we can go from victory to victory in extending the triumph of the cross, for Jesus is coming very soon to take His converted children home!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! Look to Jesus, the Pattern of godly character for us to follow! By surrendering fully to Him, He gives us a new heart and mind imbued with the Holy Spirit so love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, goodness, faith and temperance flow forth in the life without one of the traits of the divine nature missing!

Jesus was the pattern for children, and He was also the father's example. He spoke as one having authority, and His word was with power; yet in all His intercourse with rude and violent men He did not use one unkind or discourteous expression. The grace of Christ in the heart will impart a heaven-born dignity and sense of propriety. It will soften whatever is harsh, and subdue all that is coarse and unkind. It will lead fathers and mothers to treat their children as intelligent beings, as they themselves would like to be treated.

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). Let us heed the golden rule and be a blessing to others by abiding in Jesus! True obedience to His law of love comes from beholding Him and being changed into His image, from glory to glory, from character to character!

[Sean James]

It makes SO MUCH SENSE!

When we surrender fully to Jesus, we get to share the joy of winning souls so they can experience the blessedness of living forever with Him and be forever with the angels and all the redeemed! It is akin to insanity to hold on to the temporary, passing pleasures of this life and refuse to fully surrender to Christ, who knows what is best and plans for the good of His creatures! There is far greater joy in His service than any worldly, temporary attraction; the Bible calls it the attempt to "enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25), but without Christ in the heart, even in those "pleasures" (so-called) there is a lack of peace in the heart. What good is that? "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:21). Sadly, when the rich young ruler turned away from Jesus' affectionate call to obey Him in everything as would be evinced in selling all he had so the young man could go full-time in ministry with Jesus, he turned away. His high position and riches were his idol, and he chose the things that pass away instead of the things that last for eternity. What will last for eternity? The word of God and the souls who are redeemed by it. That includes your soul if you choose to surrender fully to Jesus! Then all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be manifest in the life because the heart is the abiding place for Jesus! In true obedience to all of God's commandments, selfless ministry becomes the highest delight of those who know the true riches--godly character and the winning of souls!!

When Christ's followers give back to the Lord His own, they are accumulating treasure which will be given to them when they shall hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant; ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Matthew 25:23; Hebrews 12:2. The joy of seeing souls redeemed, souls eternally saved, is the reward of all that put their feet in the footprints of Him who said, “Follow Me.”

So let's do what makes sense. Let's surrender ALL TO JESUS!!! You will NOT regret it--for the rest of eternity!!!

[Sean James]

Christ has set the example as to how we are do all things--in cooperation with Him, as He did all things in cooperation with the Father. So it is with us. "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9). In surrendering fully to the Holy Spirit, confessing and forsaking every sin that He has revealed, and walking in all the light He has shown us, we become imbued with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing so we are truly effectual laborers together with God for the fulfillment of His mission to bless and save.

In all that He did, Christ was co-operating with His Father. Ever He had been careful to make it evident that He did not work independently; it was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles. Christ desired all to know His relationship with His Father. “Father,” He said, “I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” Here the disciples and the people were to be given the most convincing evidence in regard to the relationship existing between Christ and God. They were to be shown that Christ's claim was not a deception.

By faith and prayer God is still willing to do miracles through us as we cooperate with Jesus by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father. While Christ in cooperation with the Father raised Lazarus from the dead, is it not a great miracle that we can be resurrected from spiritual death and live a consistent life in Christ in cooperation with Him by the Holy Spirit? We need to be in such close union and communion with God that we are discerning what His plans are so His mission goes forward in the power of the Holy Spirit!

[Sean James]

Fighting against God? Sounds insane! That's what was going on among the religious leaders trying to plan the death of Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life. Seriously--how would killing the Man who can raise the dead prevent Him from coming back from the dead? Satan imbued the minds of those fighting against the convicting, wooing voice of the Holy Spirit. Satan is a liar. Let's NOT LISTEN TO OR ACT UPON HIS LIES!!

In this council, assembled to plan the death of Christ, the Witness was present who heard the boastful words of Nebuchadnezzar, who witnessed the idolatrous feast of Belshazzar, who was present when Christ in Nazareth announced Himself the Anointed One. This Witness was now impressing the rulers with the work they were doing. Events in the life of Christ rose up before them with a distinctness that alarmed them. They remembered the scene in the temple, when Jesus, then a child of twelve, stood before the learned doctors of the law, asking them questions at which they wondered. The miracle just performed bore witness that Jesus was none other than the Son of God. In their true significance, the Old Testament Scriptures regarding Christ flashed before their minds. Perplexed and troubled, the rulers asked, “What do we?” There was a division in the council. Under the impression of the Holy Spirit, the priests and rulers could not banish the conviction that they were fighting against God.

And the evidence is left for us to choose who we will follow. Jesus only desires to bless us and save us from sin, giving us the eternity of bliss He has planned for us. Satan only desires to steal, kill and destroy us. Do we have any reason to doubt the goodness of God or the wickedness of Satan? Remember--anything that contradicts the word of God proceeds from Satan, so the safest thing to do is to FILL YOUR MIND AND HEART with ALL of God's word so you can walk in harmony with the "divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4) as you surrender fully to Christ! As you fully surrender to Christ as you are motivated by His infinite loveliness, He will imbue you with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as your life is empowered to true obedience to all of God's commandments! Walking with Jesus in His will is FAR BETTER than trying to fight against God.

[Sean]

Let’s cheerfully follow Jesus’ example of living to bless others by surrendering fully to Him! He motivates and empowers us to obey Him out of love and live with all of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives without one missing!

“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Among His disciples Christ was in every sense a caretaker, a burden bearer. He shared their poverty, He practiced self-denial on their account, He went before them to smooth the more difficult places, and soon He would consummate His work on earth by laying down His life. The principle on which Christ acted is to actuate the members of the church which is His body. The plan and ground of salvation is love. In the kingdom of Christ those are greatest who follow the example He has given, and act as shepherds of His flock.

“We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

[Sean James]

Praise the Lord! We can receive Jesus as a personal Savior and what a difference He makes in our lives! We become NEW in heart and mind (taking away the old evil heart of unbelief) and He fills us with the Holy Spirit so love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, and righteousness in truth burst forth from our converted lives like living waters, blessing ALL WHOM WE MEET!! Not one of the fruits of the Spirit will be missing as long as we are abiding in Jesus in a living faith surrender and walking in all the light of His truth He has given us! Stay connected and let God send you forth as a missionary!!

It is when Christ is received as a personal Saviour that salvation comes to the soul. Zacchaeus had received Jesus, not merely as a passing guest in his home, but as One to abide in the soul temple. The scribes and Pharisees accused him as a sinner, they murmured against Christ for becoming his guest, but the Lord recognized him as a son of Abraham. For “they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7.

When we know who we are in Christ, and we have no doubt of God's goodness or of His power to save, deliver and guide in each situation we face, what have we to fear? Let us not allow any sin to sever the vital union and communion of our souls with Christ! He is SO GOOD TO SAVE US FROM SIN!! Let others know what Jesus has done for you if you have indeed chosen to go ALL IN for Jesus like Zacchaeus did! Hallelujah!!!

[Sean James]

The work of Mary was just the lesson the disciples needed to show them that the expression of their love for Him would be pleasing to Christ. He had been everything to them, and they did not realize that soon they would be deprived of His presence, that soon they could offer Him no token of their gratitude for His great love. The loneliness of Christ, separated from the heavenly courts, living the life of humanity, was never understood or appreciated by the disciples as it should have been. He was often grieved because His disciples did not give Him that which He should have received from them. He knew that if they were under the influence of the heavenly angels that accompanied Him, they too would think no offering of sufficient value to declare the heart’s spiritual affection.

Let’s allow Jesus to fill our hearts with His converting love to overflow in being a blessing as He first blessed us! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be manifest in the life that is fully surrendered to Him! Let’s show Jesus our heart’s spiritual affection who left heaven to make heaven accessible to us by His great sacrifice!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! Let us learn prophetic parallels from the past in light of Christ's ministry!

When Jesus came to Jerusalem in His triumphal entry, He yearned over the people that they would come to repentance and accept His salvation. But so few would respond, and as a nation, the Jewish people were plotting His death that would take Him to the cross. It was not too late while Christ was heading to Jerusalem for the people to repent.

Yet again the Spirit of God speaks to Jerusalem. Before the day is done, another testimony is borne to Christ. The voice of witness is lifted up, responding to the call from a prophetic past. If Jerusalem will hear the call, if she will receive the Saviour who is entering her gates, she may yet be saved.

So today, Christ addresses His church, calling for true repentance:

Revelation 3:14-22: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 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. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

Those who choose to heed Jesus' call to true repentance recognize that they continually need His abiding presence in the soul, and when there is an entire surrender to Christ of the whole heart, the power of the Holy Spirit in the soul produces all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as the converted child of God walks in all the light that is shining upon the pathway in true, affectionate obedience to all of God's commandments. Then, just as Christ yearned over Jerusalem, God's people will feel a yearning desire for the conversion of the souls in the world, so many of whom are lost and do not know Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit empowers the giving of the final message of warning to the world, so they, too, can respond to Christ and be saved before it is too late, and Sunday laws are passed that, if accepted, signify allegiance to earthly powers over loyalty and worship to Christ who calls us to keep holy the seventh day Sabbath, not Sunday. While no one has the mark of the beast at this moment, the warning call must be given in love to warn souls not to go along with the fatal delusion of presuming to change the law of God by enjoining Sunday observance by law when the unity of church and state makes this a global issue. Let us heed the warning call and give it with conviction in the power of the Holy Spirit:

Revelation 14:6-12: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

We are called to share the final message, and just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem because He so loved the people, God's love in our hearts will constrain us to go to the ends of the earth to give the final message so all can make their final choice, and Christ's words can be fulfilled with as great rapidity as possible: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). Will you surrender your life fully, heeding the call to true repentance, given the three angels' messages, walking in the light of truth, and help others in this world have the final opportunity to respond to Jesus? Only in eternity will we know the full impact of being faithful now to His call to win souls while mercy still lingers!!! Jesus is coming soon!!!

[Sean James]

When Jesus came to the fig tree not long before His crucifixion, He longed to see Israel experiencing His character, not just for their sake, but that they could be the missionaries He intended them to be to seek and save others.

Jesus had come to the fig tree hungry, to find food. So He had come to Israel, hungering to find in them the fruits of righteousness. He had lavished on them His gifts, that they might bear fruit for the blessing of the world. Every opportunity and privilege had been granted them, and in return He sought their sympathy and co-operation in His work of grace. He longed to see in them self-sacrifice and compassion, zeal for God, and a deep yearning of soul for the salvation of their fellow men. Had they kept the law of God, they would have done the same unselfish work that Christ did. But love to God and man was eclipsed by pride and self-sufficiency. They brought ruin upon themselves by refusing to minister to others. The treasures of truth which God had committed to them, they did not give to the world. In the barren tree they might read both their sin and its punishment. Withered beneath the Saviour's curse, standing forth sere and blasted, dried up by the roots, the fig tree showed what the Jewish people would be when the grace of God was removed from them. Refusing to impart blessing, they would no longer receive it. “O Israel,” the Lord says, “thou hast destroyed thyself.” Hosea 13:9.

We get to choose if we will respond in full surrender to Christ so we can bear fruit to His glory--the fruits of the Spirit in the life without one missing in true obedience to His commandments as we go forth in His providences to serve and bless others. As long as we abide in Jesus, He will empower us to reflect His character and experience His will as He leads!