The Glory of God

[Sean James]

To just be quiet and still--are we willing to take the time? God has precious things to speak to us if we will but put Him first and allow His word to speak to our hearts, preparing us for His plans for each day! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in a life that is surrendered and in harmony with God's law of love. Let us daily choose to come aside and rest awhile in the loving presence of Jesus!

In all who are under the training of God is to be revealed a life that is not in harmony with the world, its customs, or its practices; and everyone needs to have a personal experience in obtaining a knowledge of the will of God. We must individually hear Him speaking to the heart. When every other voice is hushed, and in quietness we wait before Him, the silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God. He bids us, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. Here alone can true rest be found. And this is the effectual preparation for all who labor for God. Amid the hurrying throng, and the strain of life's intense activities, the soul that is thus refreshed will be surrounded with an atmosphere of light and peace. The life will breathe out fragrance, and will reveal a divine power that will reach men's hearts.

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! Are you willing to let God use you to bless others? In the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus gave the disciples the distinct privilege of parenting with Him in mission to bless the hungry multitude! As we surrender the whole heart to Christ, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be revealed in the life; we will be empowered to obey God's law of love up to the degree we understand its application in our lives, and we also will become channels of blessing to help others in experiencing God's blessing--whatever God knows they need!

The disciples were the channel of communication between Christ and the people. This should be a great encouragement to His disciples today. Christ is the great center, the source of all strength. His disciples are to receive their supplies from Him. The most intelligent, the most spiritually minded, can bestow only as they receive. Of themselves they can supply nothing for the needs of the soul. We can impart only that which we receive from Christ; and we can receive only as we impart to others. As we continue imparting, we continue to receive; and the more we impart, the more we shall receive. Thus we may be constantly believing, trusting, receiving, and imparting.

Keep sharing what God gives you, and it will just keep multiplying! What a mighty God we serve! Hallelujah!

[Sean James]

Like an open book, Jesus reads your true character. He allows you to go through trials today that, if borne by His grace, will prepare you to stand faithfully when greater tests and trials come. We see this illustrated in the experience of Peter.

Jesus read the character of His disciples. He knew how sorely their faith was to be tried. In this incident on the sea He desired to reveal to Peter his own weakness,—to show that his safety was in constant dependence upon divine power. Amid the storms of temptation he could walk safely only as in utter self-distrust he should rely upon the Saviour. It was on the point where he thought himself strong that Peter was weak; and not until he discerned his weakness could he realize his need of dependence upon Christ. Had he learned the lesson that Jesus sought to teach him in that experience on the sea, he would not have failed when the great test came upon him.

When Peter denied Jesus three times right before Christ's crucifixion, it was because Peter failed to learn the lesson of His continual need of Jesus to do any good thing earlier in his experience. Do we realize our continual need of Jesus, moment by moment? If we do, and we surrender fully to Him, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in our lives, and we will be enabled to obey God from the new heart that is transformed by His grace, daily bearing greater and greater trials that prepare us for wider service and a fuller reflection of the loveliness of Jesus. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which he suffered" (Hebrews 5:. Christ, the sinless Son of God, also grew and learned through trials, but we can praise God that He endured those trials without ever letting go of His Father and sinning through unbelief. The faith of Jesus is PERFECT faith! By faith, Jesus trusted that the Father was preparing Him to become the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; but it was still a struggle for the Father and the Son; we see this struggle in Gethsemane and at Calvary; in Gethsemane, Christ chose the Father's will that led to His crucifixion and resurrection, making salvation accessible to us. Though we are sinners and have fallen short of God's glory of character, the moment we come to God in true repentance and let Jesus be Lord and Savior of our lives, He will live through us by the Holy Spirit, so we can start "walking on water" so to speak, and live in His supernatural victory. Will you let it become reality in your life today? He can keep you and me from falling, but if we do fall through unbelief or neglect of Him, we have an advocate with the Father to help us get back up and walk faithfully with Him in preparation for His glorious, soon second coming!

[Sean James]

WHEN you go through a trial is just as important as the trial itself. Jesus knew that by making plain that He was offering a spiritual rather than a temporal kingdom that it would result in many turning away from Him who were not desirous of the eternal realities His kingdom was based upon. The profound statement, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35), revealed He was offering the world character transformation, not merely limitless supplies of temporal bread. But He allowed that trial of faith to transpire when He could help His sincere followers through that season by His personal presence. Thank God for His timing!!

When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many of His disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His words; but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill. He foresaw that in the hour of temptation every one of His beloved disciples would be severely tested. His agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal and crucifixion, would be to them a most trying ordeal. Had no previous test been given, many who were actuated by merely selfish motives would have been connected with them. When their Lord was condemned in the judgment hall; when the multitude who had hailed Him as their king hissed at Him and reviled Him; when the jeering crowd cried, “Crucify Him!”—when their worldly ambitions were disappointed, these self-seeking ones would, by renouncing their allegiance to Jesus, have brought upon the disciples a bitter, heart-burdening sorrow, in addition to their grief and disappointment in the ruin of their fondest hopes. In that hour of darkness, the example of those who turned from Him might have carried others with them. But Jesus brought about this crisis while by His personal presence He could still strengthen the faith of His true followers.

The true faith of Jesus is selfless. It is not based on what we can get in this world, but is rooted in love and trust by an intelligent appreciation of the infinite excellence and matchless loveliness of His divine character. When we see Jesus for who He REALLY IS, we can find our walk with God only growing more deeply from some of the deepest trials of our lives. When we live by faith on Jesus as a personal Lord and Savior, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing. But those fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance are to grow in a character that like a tree needs to be pruned. The desire of the disciples to see Jesus coronated as an earthly king with earthly glory was a branch that had to be pruned off. So our earthly desires and expectations that are not rooted in God's will for us in light of His kingdom, though it may be painful to have them pruned off, will in the end prove to bring about even greater fruitfulness and a more joyful, affectionate obedience to God's holy law of love. We need to trust God's love even in the seasons of pruning and trial. God is still good even when things do not feel good. His love is measureless and eternal. Rest in Him and walk by faith in the path He guides you to travel. He will never fail you.

[Sean James]

Christ, the Word (see John 1:1-3), never lessened the importance of the word of God in His life or teachings. He knew that traditions had been put in place of God's word that caused confusion and perplexity to those who really had a desire to serve God, and so He lived and taught in such a way that the word was presented as of unquestionable authority. Thankfully, we can come to God's word in full surrender with a willing heart and let the Holy Spirit fill us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing. As we apply the word of God to our souls in the experience of true conversion, we are empowered to obey God up to the light we have received. Take God at His word, just as it reads.

Never, by word or deed, did Jesus lessen man's obligation to present gifts and offerings to God. It was Christ who gave all the directions of the law in regard to tithes and offerings. When on earth He commended the poor woman who gave her all to the temple treasury. But the apparent zeal for God on the part of the priests and rabbis was a pretense to cover their desire for self-aggrandizement. The people were deceived by them. They were bearing heavy burdens which God had not imposed. Even the disciples of Christ were not wholly free from the yoke that had been bound upon them by inherited prejudice and rabbinical authority. Now, by revealing the true spirit of the rabbis, Jesus sought to free from the bondage of tradition all who were really desirous of serving God.

What a blessing it is to return our tithe and offering to God's remnant church and also give to further missions around the world! It is a delight to serve God wholeheartedly! "I delight to do Thy will, O my God: Yea, Thy law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:.

[Sean James]

Christ's intentionality is a revelation of His kindness. We see this clearly in how He ministered to the Syrophenician woman whose daughter was demon possessed. He desires to impart that intentional kindness (along with all of the fruits of the Spirit, without one missing) into our lives and characters as His truly converted disciples.

Christ knew this woman's situation. He knew that she was longing to see Him, and He placed Himself in her path. By ministering to her sorrow, He could give a living representation of the lesson He designed to teach. For this He had brought His disciples into this region. He desired them to see the ignorance existing in cities and villages close to the land of Israel. The people who had been given every opportunity to understand the truth were without a knowledge of the needs of those around them. No effort was made to help souls in darkness. The partition wall which Jewish pride had erected, shut even the disciples from sympathy with the heathen world. But these barriers were to be broken down.

The barriers Jesus breaks down open ways for hearts to be reached for His kingdom. Are you willing to let Jesus use you to be a blessing to others, letting God lead you in paths of intentional kindness?

[Sean James]

Sincerity--to truly mean what we say from the heart, and to be who we profess to be as a Christian--that is such a gift from God. Apart from Him, we are liable to drift into hypocrisy and unbelief, but united to Christ in a living faith surrender, we sincerely allow the Holy Spirit to manifest through us all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing! Praise God we can be sincere and honest in our walk with God--by His grace through His faith for His glory for the accomplishment of His purpose--the spreading of the "everlasting gospel" (Revelation 14:6-12) to "all whole world" (Matthew 24:14)!

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.

True obedience to all of God's commandments from the heart is the result of constant union and communion with Christ as we walk in the path He has appointed for us in His service!

[Sean James]

It's not really about you. God is longing and willing to use you, but each member of His church is to love and respect one another, without getting into controversy about who is the greatest. Let us keep our focus on the leadership of our Lord and Savior, letting Him lead us by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!

The Saviour did not commit the work of the gospel to Peter individually. At a later time, repeating the words that were spoken to Peter, He applied them directly to the church. And the same in substance was spoken also to the twelve as representatives of the body of believers. If Jesus had delegated any special authority to one of the disciples above the others, we should not find them so often contending as to who should be the greatest. They would have submitted to the wish of their Master, and honored the one whom He had chosen.

When we partake of the divine nature by a full surrender to Christ, applying His word to our lives, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in our lives as we are empowered to obey God from the new heart. What a blessing it is to realize that the only true greatness is humility blended with selfless service, which we find and experience in Jesus as we abide in Him.

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! Praise God for the victory Jesus won for us at the cross! At the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were sent to encourage Jesus to go through with the great sacrifice, for they were already happy residents of heaven, and their salvation depended upon enduring by faith all that would befall Him in Gethsemane and Calvary leading up to His resurrection. We can praise God that JESUS DID IT!!! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in our lives as we surrender FULLY to Jesus and let Him live in us by the Holy Spirit! Praise God!!

But before the crown must come the cross. Not the inauguration of Christ as king, but the decease to be accomplished at Jerusalem, is the subject of their conference with Jesus. Bearing the weakness of humanity, and burdened with its sorrow and sin, Jesus walked alone in the midst of men. As the darkness of the coming trial pressed upon Him, He was in loneliness of spirit, in a world that knew Him not. Even His loved disciples, absorbed in their own doubt and sorrow and ambitious hopes, had not comprehended the mystery of His mission. He had dwelt amid the love and fellowship of heaven; but in the world that He had created, He was in solitude. Now heaven had sent its messengers to Jesus; not angels, but men who had endured suffering and sorrow, and who could sympathize with the Saviour in the trial of His earthly life. Moses and Elijah had been colaborers with Christ. They had shared His longing for the salvation of men. Moses had pleaded for Israel: “Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.” Exodus 32:32. Elijah had known loneliness of spirit, as for three years and a half of famine he had borne the burden of the nation's hatred and its woe. Alone he had stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Alone he had fled to the desert in anguish and despair. These men, chosen above every angel around the throne, had come to commune with Jesus concerning the scenes of His suffering, and to comfort Him with the assurance of the sympathy of heaven. The hope of the world, the salvation of every human being, was the burden of their interview.

What Jesus did for us is ESSENTIAL to salvation. So let us behold Him in His infinite loveliness and truly believe the power of the gospel can change sinners into saints and keep us from falling back into sin! He is preparing heavenly mansions for us just as surely as He is preparing places for us in this fallen world for us to minister and win souls! Let us keep Jesus, His word, and ALL HE HAS DONE central in the way we live and teach the gospel!

[Sean James]

Consecration is what we need. Jesus modeled it and lived it consistently. He offers us His consecration by the infilling of the Holy Spirit so we are enabled to overcome unbelief and live in total surrender to His word. When this total surrender is made as we live by faith on Jesus as a living Savior, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing are manifest in the life as we are enabled to obey God up to the light He has revealed to us. There is victory in Jesus continually for all who are willing to be made willing and yoke up with Him in His plans to bless and save others. The disciples' unbelief was what kept them from being able to be channels of blessing and healing to the afflicted child. May we not let slip total consecration and thus miss opportunities of blessing and saving souls!

In order to succeed in such a conflict they must come to the work in a different spirit. Their faith must be strengthened by fervent prayer and fasting, and humiliation of heart. They must be emptied of self, and be filled with the Spirit and power of God. Earnest, persevering supplication to God in faith—faith that leads to entire dependence upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work—can alone avail to bring men the Holy Spirit's aid in the battle against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in high places.

The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. All the hosts of evil--Satan, the fallen angels, and the rebellious in this fallen world--are all manifesting self. They are living in defiance of the laws that our loving Creator has established for eternal existence and happiness. The Farther, Son and Holy Spirit, along with the unfallen angels, are manifesting selfless love. The redeemed saints who are converted are daily learning how to overcome self by staying vitally connected to Christ! Thankfully, God gives us probation to choose if we are going to side with Satan in his doomed cause or yield to Jesus who has ALREADY WON THE VICTORY! The battle belongs to the Lord because HE ALREADY WON!!! Praise the Lord!!

[Sean James]

Are you in love with Jesus? Because if you are so in love with Him that you surrender all you have and are to Him, you are tasting true greatness! "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3-4).

Again Jesus explained to the disciples that His kingdom is not characterized by earthly dignity and display. At the feet of Jesus all these distinctions are forgotten.

What a blessing to forget about self and focus on Jesus! What a blessing to forget about all the things that the world tends to use to base our worth or identity on, and instead focus on union and communion with Jesus in true conversion! Such an experience will be unmistakably witnessed in all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in a life of true obedience to all of God's commandments! THAT IS LOVE IN ACTION!!

[Sean James]

We need wisdom. Christ is our source of wisdom. As we look to Him, His selfless life example shows us that He understood His purpose in this world and acted in accordance always with the Father's plans. So our experience may be if we are fully surrendered to Christ and abiding in His selfless love so all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing may be manifest in our lives for His glory as we walk in true obedience to all of His commandments!

The world for Christ was not a place of ease and self-aggrandizement. He was not watching for an opportunity to seize its power and its glory. It held out no such prize for Him. It was the place into which His Father had sent Him. He had been given for the life of the world, to work out the great plan of redemption. He was accomplishing His work for the fallen race. But He was not to be presumptuous, not to rush into danger, not to hasten a crisis. Each event in His work had its appointed hour. He must wait patiently. He knew that He was to receive the world's hatred; He knew that His work would result in His death; but to prematurely expose Himself would not be the will of His Father.

We can trust God fully as we journey in this fallen world on a mission to reach souls as Jesus leads us all the way!

[Sean James]

Let's truly listen to Jesus by yielding our heart and will to Him. The facts of Jesus' ministry, the inspiration of the word of God and God's existence cannot be denied, but they will prove of no avail if the whole heart is not surrendered to the Holy Spirit. When that entire surrender is made in childlike faith and trust, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in the life without one missing! Such a new birth produces a life that is brought supernaturally into harmony with God's law of love. Such a miracle Jesus offers us each day. By beholding Him, we become changed into the image of His infinite loveliness!

“My teaching is not Mine,” said Jesus, “but His that sent Me. If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from Myself.” John 7:16, 17, R. V. The question of these cavilers Jesus met, not by answering the cavil, but by opening up truth vital to the salvation of the soul. The perception and appreciation of truth, He said, depends less upon the mind than upon the heart. Truth must be received into the soul; it claims the homage of the will. If truth could be submitted to the reason alone, pride would be no hindrance in the way of its reception. But it is to be received through the work of grace in the heart; and its reception depends upon the renunciation of every sin that the Spirit of God reveals. Man's advantages for obtaining a knowledge of the truth, however great these may be, will prove of no benefit to him unless the heart is open to receive the truth, and there is a conscientious surrender of every habit and practice that is opposed to its principles. To those who thus yield themselves to God, having an honest desire to know and to do His will, the truth is revealed as the power of God for their salvation. These will be able to distinguish between him who speaks for God, and him who speaks merely from himself. The Pharisees had not put their will on the side of God's will. They were not seeking to know the truth, but to find some excuse for evading it; Christ showed that this was why they did not understand His teaching.

If we truly want to understand God's word, we need to put it into practice in our lives. Then the victory over sin that Jesus offers us become our lived experience as a powerful witness to the grace of God as sufficient to transform a sinner into a saint, and keep such a new creation growing in grace and godliness!

[Sean James]

What would it be like to look upon the face of Jesus for the first time? In the case of the blind man whose eyes Jesus fully healed, we can reflect on how wonderful a countenance He beheld! By faith, we also can look upon the loveliness of the countenance of Jesus, looking forward to the day when we will see Him face to face if we keep surrendering to His will and letting the Holy Spirit direct our lives heavenward!

For the first time the blind man looked upon the face of his Restorer. Before the council he had seen his parents troubled and perplexed; he had looked upon the frowning faces of the rabbis; now his eyes rested upon the loving, peaceful countenance of Jesus. Already, at great cost to himself, he had acknowledged Him as a delegate of divine power; now a higher revelation was granted him.

God has more light and truth for us if we will walk in it. This restored man was open to truth, grateful for what Jesus had done in restoring His sight. So Jesus loves to restore our spiritual sight so we can discern the truth as it is in Him and walk in true conversion whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing are manifest in the life! If we are willing to be made willing, true obedience from the heart will be our highest delight!

[Sean James]

What is your motivation?

It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour's matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.

When we are moved by the love of Christ, we have the true, enduring motivation to follow Him all the way to heaven, in whatever paths of service He knows are best for us both in this life and in the life to come. The key to true happiness is entire conformity of the will to God's will, ever keeping before us God's goodness that leads us to repentance and transformation of life. By surrendering the whole heart to Jesus Christ, the divine-human Savior, we live by faith in an affectionate union and communion of our souls with Him whereby all of the fruits of the Spirit are seen in our lives as we gladly obey God's law up to the light of truth He has shown us! Praise God for the motivation of love! "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).