Jas 2:8  "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well." 


You really know you are doing well, living and abiding in the love of God when it flows through you into love for others around you. You don't show them love in order to gain recognition. Your love flows naturally and all the glory received is given back to God. He is Absolute Love.
Sin raises its ugliness in doing supposedly "good" things in order to be recognized and have favor lauded upon us. You know what?; When we are not rewarded in the way we want by the ones we want the recognition from, we get angry we become guilty of murder. We may not have been sexually immoral, we feel like we are better than others in the morality department, but we are transgressors against the "royal law". Our love of others diminishes and dies. 



Mat 5:17-22  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." 

I wouldn't want to face the justice of God if I was unmerciful to others here on earth. You see the prophets in the Old Testament say,  "woe, woe to you". Judgment is not only an Old Testament idea. Judgment is yet to come!

Heb 9:27, 28  "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." 

To meet God without the presence and intercession of Jesus Christ, now that would be a big "WOE! Only the Mercy of God in Christ will triumph over our just judgment. 

Rom 3:19-25  "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins." 

Jas 2:9-13  "But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.  For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." 

Throw yourself on the mercy of God in Christ. He is Absolute Love. Then Abide in that Love!

Jas 1:27 -2:1  "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory."


Loving especially those who cannot provide any repayment of that gift is a definitive reflection of Christ in our lives. Jesus Christ shows no partiality in love to us for we cannot repay or give any benefit back to God for His mercy, grace and love towards us. God is just and demands justice. Don't try to deceive Him or be deceived.



Deu 16:19, 20  "You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you."


 2Ch 19:7  "Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes." 

You are just kidding yourself if you think love is about gaining favor from someone who can give favors. If you want recognition and to receive prestige, don't pretend that you are giving a sacrifice of service to others from love. You want your pride built up and your actions recognized by others, that is not love. That is using others and an abuse of those in need!


Jas 2:2 - 4 "For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" 


This is the the way God loves, He chooses to give to those who are most in need. It is God's nature to love us who are most humbly desperate and acknowledge we have nothing but what He has given as provision to us. It is all gift. It is all grace. It is all undeserved and can never be repaid. For He is Absolute Love. 


Jas 2:5  "Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?" 


Instead of remembering this I often fall back into sin and look past the need of others. I pursue the person of position and power, trying to gain their favor. I then realize to my shame, these are the very people who have no time for God or for other people. They are wrapped up in gathering people around them who will worship them and not God!
They love riches and power, demand their rights and privileges, without care for the welfare of others around them. They demand their own personal kingdom to be served by those around them. 


Jas 2:6, 7  "But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?  Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?" 


If you really want to be enveloped by the Absolute Love of God and free yourself from the use and abuse of sin, you will take no thought of the persons position or status. You will simply love by looking to the needs of those around you. Your loving of others by the power of Christs love flowing in and though you,will have no hint of partiality. 


Jas 2:8, 9  "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors." 

Jas 1:17, 18  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."


If you look to the daily gifts of God, trusting in His provision, mercy and grace, this will bring hope and love to your soul as a sort of glimpse of what our coming transformation will attain. Becoming again creatures filled with the life and love of God!
It takes patience though. This is just a beginning and it will take a lifetime to realize all the fullness of Godness in our lives. Cultivate listening ears, He is speaking through all the difficulties brought into your life. Don't let yourself be plunged into a time of complaint and anger. You won't reach the point of living rightly before God by giving into anger or bitterness. 


Jas 1:19, 20  "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."


So do away with all the things that dirty up your life and cause you to rant and rave against the circumstances  that God has given to you. They are really a gift! He will work all this out for your ultimate good and joy. Large doses of humility and humbly receiving of His love in the midst of difficulty will be the way to final full redemption.


Jas 1:21  "Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."


So if you talk about following Christ, and hear His call of loving one another as Christ loved you. You agree with the sentiment, but your life doesn't reflect care for others, then you are living a lie.
You are like someone who only looks in the mirror, but walks away without washing and grooming. The dirt and mess is right there for everyone to see except you. Your deception allows you to pretend that you are looking good. "There used to be a book and the title was derived from a colloquialism "I'm OK, Your OK". 
Of course, we would like to think so, truth is we all are needy and broken. We are full of sin and in need of cleansing. 


Jas 1:22- 24   "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like."


The way to life and freedom is through abiding in Christ, like a prisoner abides in a jail cell. Living in the law of liberty, is being captivated by the law of loving one another as Christ loved us. Has He captured you by His love? 



Joh 15:11-14  "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.You are my friends if you do what I command you." 

Jas 1:25  "But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."


It is not about setting up a set of words of blessing as a religious observance to make yourself feel like you have been exonerated and walking away talking about others in a demeaning or judgmental manner. Your actions are then both deceiving and condemning. Your religious observance doesn't accomplish anything that is worthwhile. You have wasted your time!


Jas 1:26  "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless."


No, if you want to know what would really be show the worth of Christ to others, you would help those most distressed and in need. Your religious observances would be relational. Your friendship with God in Christ would drive you to lay down your life for others and keep yourself from being dirtied up through blaming God, bitter jealousy and demeaning others with your talk, for He is Absolute Love. 


Jas 1:27  "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Jas 1:12  "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." 


Remaining steadfast in love is difficult. There is only one way!



1Jn 4:19-21  "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."


Abiding in love, the Absolute Love He is Absolute Love! Isa Al Masih, Yeshua Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yahweh!



Joh 15:9, 10   "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." 

If you don't abide in the Absolute love, then you will act like the devil always blaming God and claiming it is His fault that things go badly. Blaming your destructive actions on Him. "He made you this way. You have no choice." "I want to act this way because I feel like acting this way?" 

There is no way to tempt God He owns and has control over all things. The only temptation there is is to not believe, not abide, not obey and then you can not love, for love is from God!

1Jn 4:7,8  "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." 

Jas 1:13  "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one." 


Desiring anything but only what you receive as a gift daily from God brings forth the birth of sin, then sin brings death. Spiritual emptiness, mental deception, emotional confusion and physical death. 


Jas 1:14, 15  "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." 


This is all brought to light clearly By Jesus Christ, He is the eternal Word of God! He is Absolute Love.


Jas 1:16-18  "Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." 



Joh 1:1-5  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 

“God is love” is the complete truth about God so far as the Christian is concerned. To say “God is light” is to imply that God’s holiness finds expression in everything that he says and does. Similarly, the statement “God is love” means that his love finds expression in everything that he says and does. The knowledge that this is so for us personally is the supreme comfort for Christians. As believers, we find in the cross of Christ assurance that we, as individuals, are beloved of God; “the Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Knowing this, we are able to apply to ourselves the promise that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). Not just some things, note, but all things! Every single thing that happens to us expresses God’s love to us, and comes to us for the furthering of God’s purpose for us. Thus, so far as we are concerned, God is love to us—holy, omnipotent love—at every moment and in every event of every day’s life. Even when we cannot see the why and the wherefore of God’s dealings, we know that there is love in and behind them, and so we can rejoice always, even when, humanly speaking, things are going wrong. We know that the true story of our life, when known, will prove to be, as the hymn says, “mercy from first to last”—and we are content."

Packer, J. I. (2011-09-26). Knowing God (p. 138). Intervarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"So the God who is love is first and foremost light, and sentimental ideas of his love as an indulgent, benevolent softness, divorced from moral standards and concerns, must therefore be ruled out from the start. God’s love is holy love. The God whom Jesus made known is not a God who is indifferent to moral distinctions, but a God who loves righteousness and hates iniquity, a God whose ideal for his children is that they should “be perfect. . . as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). He will not take into his company any person, however orthodox in mind, who will not follow after holiness of life. And those whom he does accept he exposes to drastic discipline, in order that they may attain what they seek. “The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. . . God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. . . It [discipline] produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Heb 12:6-11). God’s love is stern, for it expresses holiness in the lover and seeks holiness for the beloved. Scripture does not allow us to suppose that because God is love we may look to him to confer happiness on people who will not seek holiness, or to shield his loved ones from trouble when he knows that they need trouble to further their sanctification."

Packer, J. I. (2011-09-26). Knowing God (pp. 137-138). Intervarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

Jas 1:2,3  "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." 

Steadfast Love is the mark of a Christ Follower because it is the character of Yahweh, Jesus Christ, Isa Al Masih Yeshua Messiah. He is Absolute Steadfast Love.


Exo 34:6, 7  "The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty,"


Jas 1:4  "And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." 

Steadfast Love is the completion of grace, the fulfillment of faith. Absolute Love drives out fear. 


1Jn 4:16 - 19 "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  We love because he first loved us." 

So if your struggling with being steadfast in your love for God and others around you there is only one place to go, His wisdom given in love will help you stand steadfast. 

Jas 1:5  "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." 

This wisdom is not the wisdom that causes us to "get ahead" in the worldly sense! This is not the wisdom of selfish ambition it is the wisdom of steadfast love. What a contrast!

 Jas 3:13-17  "Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." 

You can't manipulate or cajole the Absolute Love into giving you what you want, He gives only what you need if you will receive it. f you're unsure or don't really want to be filled with His love you are not going to be given a thing.

Jas 1:6 -8  "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." 

It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor only if you're ready to receive. You can't come with full hands, full of self and receive the fullness of the love of God. 

Jas 1:9-11  "Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits." 

Remaining steadfast in Absolute Love through trial is the way to life eternal.

Jas 1:12  "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." 

Mat 24:13  "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." 


1Co 13:7  "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 

Rev 3:20, 21  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne." 

Jas 1:1-3  "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." 

Dispersed, Absolute Love has shoved them out of the nest of Israel so that they can grow in faith, and so that faith can be established and grow around the world and that faith shall grow the kingdom of God throughout the earth. 


Hab 2:14  For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."

Mat 24:13,14  "But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." 

 

Yet it does not come without prayer and steadfastness, it doesn't happen in a day, a few years, a couple of centuries. 


Mat 6:9,10  "Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

It is not as though Absolute Love is teasing us. Have we lost faith? Is it still a joy to meet the testings and trials? 

Luk 18:8  "I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Jas 1:4  "And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Be still. Let your patience and steadfastness have its full effect. You are not complete or perfected yet! Let the Absolute Love of God have the full effect He wants to build into you!


 Hab 2:18-20  "What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.  But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." 


Hab 3:17-19  "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,  yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments."

Sing for Joy! 


Psa 67  "To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah  that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!" 

#endtimes #lastdays
Jas 1:1  "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. "

1Pe 1:1  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," 

The disciples were not the first carriers of the message of The Messiah's coming. Jesus Himself by gift of the Holy Spirit built Himself an army of witnesses, to go throughout the known world. His Lordship is established, the "Last Days" are initiated, His reign at the right hand of the Father begun!

Pentecost is the celebration following Passover (remember Passover was now forever linked to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Messiah, Isa Al Masih); likewise Pentecost the celebration of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai (now corresponds with the shedding of God's law into our hearts by the God the Holy Spirit, sent by God the Father and Jesus Christ God the Son).  

Act 2:1-4  "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." 

The messengers were from all over the known world, both Jews and proselytes following the Lord. One thing is for sure they were chosen to follow the Lord and proclaim His Glory, call to repentance and Lordship throughout the world. 

Act 2:5-13  "Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians--we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 

You may scoff and mock or malign, but you cannot deny because it is a historical fact of undeniable surety and is attested to through documentation. Look into it you will find that it all happened as is said in Scripture. 

Act 2:13  "But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." 

The disciples now as the pupils of the Rabbi Jesus, become the Rabbi's of these who are scattered throughout the world. How would you like to have the God of the Universe as your personal teacher for three years?

Act 2:14-21  "But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.  And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;  the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" 

All of this fulfills the prophecies of the promised Messiah in the Old Testament. 

Act 2:22-28 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know--  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.  For David says concerning him, "'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.'" 

Jesus is the Messiah, He is Yahweh, The LORD. He is Absolute Love. The God of Abraham, Moses and David!

Act 2:29-36  "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,  he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.  Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.  For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.'  Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." 

So what do we do with Jesus? How do we respond. Only one response to receive the gift. Believe, Repent and Be Baptized. It is for everyone who can hear the personal call, the call is from Jesus. He is Absolute Love. 

Act 2:37  "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"  And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 

Heb 13:8  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." 
He is Absolute Love, immutable, unchanging, constant, consistent. 


Heb 7:25  "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." 

Joh 14:6  "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

All is through Him! Employ His strength to offer up praise to God, you must come as one who is in need!

Heb 13:15  "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." 


Sharing what you have with a generous spirit, reflects God's nature as the ultimate gift and giver. This is the way to sacrifice, not by coming to God to earn His favor but by giving to others as a demonstration of God's character.


Heb 13:16  "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." 
If you obey what you know is right and good, don't act like it is a burden to be obedient. That's not really obedience, now is it?
Heb 13:17  "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." 


Prayer makes a difference, in attitude and action. Please remember us in those prayers.


Heb 13:18,19  "Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner." 


I want you to pray the same way I would pay for you, that you would know Jesus, that in knowing Him you would know His will for you and that in knowing His will you would be filled with grace in obeying. 


Heb 13:20-25  "Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. "I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.  Grace be with all of you." 

Heb 13:1-6  "Let brotherly love continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.  Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.  Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" 


The presence of Christ in us is the cause, the result is mercy, grace, and faith become dominant identifiers that we are being helped by Him. He is Absolute Love. 
Loving one another as family, welcoming strangers, having compassion on the imprisoned and mistreated demonstrate our inclusion as His body. These marks along with honoring our spouses and sexual fidelity encourage us that we are being led by Christ. His presence in our lives results in contentment, generosity with money and a lack of fear in men. No man is a match for The LORD He is Absolute Love. 


Heb 13:7,8  "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." 


Because Jesus lives in us and that never changes, His love and power never are diminished, we can imitate the life and faith of others who led us Christ. We are through Christ's immutable nature able to endure the rejection and isolation of being reproached by others. 


Heb 13:9-13  "Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.  So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured." 


And because of the presence of Christ here in us, we have an eternally driven determination to continually seek to be found worthy of some day living in His presence. We know this is not our home, we don't cling to or hold onto the temporal, but continue to long for the eternal. We know that our joy is found in praising the absolute glorious and wondrous love of God, so that becomes the identifier of His life now within us. Praise and worship Him, He is Absolute Love. 


Heb 13:14,15  "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.  Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." 

 "All salvation—past, present, and future—has one base. That base is not our faith. If we are confused here, then we are confused completely. A man can never be justified on the basis of his own faith. Through all of salvation the only base is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross in history. Faith is the empty hand, the instrument by which we accept God’s (John 14:16-18). We are not “orphaned”; Christ comes to us through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And, in verse 23, connected with this, Jesus says: “And we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (emphasis added). In this context the thrust is that the Holy Spirit indwelling the individual Christian is not only the agent of Christ, but he is also the agent of the Father. Consequently, when I accept Christ as my Savior, my guilt is gone, I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and I am in communication with the Father and the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit—the entire Trinity. Thus now, in the present life, if I am justified, I am in a personal relationship with each of the members of the Trinity. God the Father is my Father; I am in union with the Son; and I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is not just meant to be doctrinal; it is what I have now. Let me stress it again: salvation is all one piece. All salvation—past, present, and future—has one base. That base is not our faith. If we are confused here, then we are confused completely. A man can never be justified on the basis of his own faith. Through all of salvation the only base is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross in history. Faith is the empty hand, the instrument by which we accept God’s free gift. Faith is simply believing God. It is not a leap in the dark. It is ceasing to call God a liar, and believing him. Justification is only on the basis of the finished work of Christ. Faith is the instrument by which we accept that finished work. This is the how, but this “how” extends through all salvation."

Schaeffer, Francis A. (2001-09-01). True Spirituality (p. 69). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.


"It is exactly the same with sanctification. The basis is the finished work of Christ; the instrument to lay hold of that which God means us to have at this moment is faith. As a child of God, sanctification from the time of justification on, in the present life, is moment-by-moment. Justification is once for all, at that moment when, by God’s grace, I accept Christ as my Savior; but sanctification is moment-by-moment, a moment-by-moment life of faith. At this particular place the existentialist is right when he points out the moment-by-moment character of man’s life."

Schaeffer, Francis A. (2001-09-01). True Spirituality (pp. 69-70). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

 "Sanctification and assurance are comparable. A man may be saved and not know he is saved because he does not raise the empty hands of faith at this particular moment and believe God’s promises. And a man may lack in sanctification all that God means him to have in the present life because even though Christ has purchased it for him upon the cross he fails to believe God at this place and raise the empty hands of faith moment by moment. Now let me repeat, to be absolutely clear about it, the basis is not your faith; it is the finished work of Christ. Faith is the instrument to receive this thing from God that Christ has purchased for us. So this is the third unity, the unity of what salvation is: a single piece, and yet a flowing stream. I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification. The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment-by-moment. There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only difference is that one is once-for-all and the other is moment-by-moment. The whole unity of biblical teaching stands solid at this place. If we try to live the Christian life in our own strength we will have sorrow, but if we live in this way, we will not only serve the Lord, but in place of sorrow, he will be our song. That is the difference. The how of the Christian life is the power of the crucified and risen Lord, through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by faith, moment by moment."

Schaeffer, Francis A. (2001-09-01). True Spirituality (pp. 70-71). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"Here is true Christian mysticism. Christian mysticism is not the same as non-Christian mysticism, but I would insist that it is not a lesser mysticism. Indeed, eventually it is a deeper mysticism, for it is not based merely on contentless experience, but on historic, space-time reality—on propositional truth. One is not asked to deny the reason, the intellect, in true Christian mysticism. And there is to be no loss of personality, no loss of the individual man. In Eastern mysticism—for which the West is searching so madly now that it has lost the sense of history, of content, and the truth of biblical facts—there is always finally a loss of the personality. It cannot be otherwise in their framework. You will remember the story of Shiva, who is one of the Hindu manifestations of the Everything. He came and loved a mortal woman. Shiva put his arms around the woman in his love, and immediately she disappeared, and he became neuter. This is Eastern mysticism. It is grounded in the loss of personality of the individual. Not so in Christian mysticism. Christian mysticism is communion with Christ. It is Christ bringing forth fruit through me, the Christian, with no loss of personality and without my being used as a stick or a stone, either."

Schaeffer, Francis A. (2001-09-01). True Spirituality (p. 49). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Posts to resume Monday

Heb 12:12-17  "Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears."


There are some clear distinctions between drooping and lifting up, weakness and strength, bitterness and peacefulness, unholiness and holiness, being put out of joint and being healed, being rejected and obtaining the grace of God.
This is a ominous and earnest warning to us. We often hunger to hear of the love of God in terms of acceptance, yet in the Absolute nature of our awesome God we must know that love includes justice and judgment. There is a window now for all of our weaknesses to be strengthened, all of our drooping be lifted, that grace be obtained and the path to holiness be revealed. 
This warning must not go unheeded, don't go past the place of being able to turn to Him. He is Absolute Love.   You come to the same place, the same God that met Moses on the mountain.

Heb 12:18-21  "For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." 


If you really understood the one who you have come to for grace, mercy and forgiveness you would come in trembling and humility. Jesus blood cries out to God as He sits at His Father's right hand, much more than Abel's blood crying out from the ground. Don't think you will escape God's judgment if you reject Jesus!


Heb 12:22-24  "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering," and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven." 


This is the time of the ultimate shake up. It is underway. We will either remain or be removed! It is inaugurated by His death and will be consummated by His return!


Hag 2:6,7  "For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.  And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts." 

Mat 27:45-54  "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, "This man is calling Elijah."  And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.  But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him."  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.  The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,  and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" 

There is no level of gratitude, service or worship that can reach or go beyond the level of His power and sacrifice. He is Absolute Love. Let His love consume all that is rebellious and unloving in me. 

Heb 12:26-29  "At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."  This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." 

Heb 12:3  "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." 

Isa 53:2-11  "For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." 

The call of God is a call to likeness of Jesus Christ, Isa Al Masih, Yeshua Messiah, in His struggle against sin, mine not His, He shed His blood on my behalf. He is Absolute Love.

Heb 12:4  "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." 

It is always a struggle to go the distance. If you are going to win the prize and share in the glory you have to endure the discipline of training. If the coach was ignoring you you wouldn't be one of the players, you wouldn't be in the race or part of the game. 

Heb 12:5, 6  "And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." 

As it is this struggle, this discipline, this suffering legitimizes that you are God's child. All is working together for good, in order that we might share in the holiness. So don't act as though you are being punished, or waste time complaining about how difficult the training is, this is for your spiritual health. It is so you won't fall down or suffer a debilitating injury. You gain the prize of God's loving presence without becoming like His Son, Jesus. 
Don't despair He is accomplishing all of this in you by His mercy, grace and Absolute Love.

Heb 12:7-14  "It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." "Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed."  "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." 

Rom 8:26-32  "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? "
While training learn how to work hard and rest in the strength of God all at the same time!

Php 2:12, 13  "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." 

 

Heb 11:37, 38  "They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." 

There is a choice here and it is either difficult or easy depending on your reference point. Is the reference point temporal or eternal? 
If temporal then the intention of the heart will be on instant or near term gratification. If eternal then ultimate absolute everlasting satisfaction. The choice is a stark contrast between insatiability and never really finding what you are looking for, then to everlasting burning inside that is never quenched; on the flip side an eternal sense of fulfillment through the fruit of faith. 
That is being on the one hand unworthy of acceptance by God and the fruits of the His Spirit being poured out and on the other hand unworthy of this world which is passing away. All is hinged on faith. God is worthy of praise and glory, we share in that worthiness by faith, not from ourselves it is a gift of grace.
Gal 5:19-23  "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." 


Heb 11:39, 40  "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." 

If your going to run in the race of faith, you have to lay aside temporal gratification of the flesh, if you want to run a marathon you can't stop long for the refreshments handed out along the way, and you sure can't haul a bucket of refreshments along. You can't win the race taking extra provisions even if they are normally acceptable items. 
Jesus is the supreme example of self denial. 
We can't insist on claiming rights, willing faithful servants don't claim rights they serve the master from whom they receive all things.
Php 2:5-8 "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." 

 

Heb 12:1,2  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Php 2:9-11  "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

 

There is a great reward on the other side so let go of all that rusts and withers and grasp on to what will not be taken away and cannot be destroyed. 


Mat 6:19 - 21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

Keep your eye on the goal so weariness and fatigue don't overwhelm. The sinful desires are a lifelong battle.  Jesus is the goal, He is the Absolute Love. 

Heb 12:3, 4  "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." 

Heb 11:32-38  "And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--  of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." 

Faith is not simple belief, it is a reaching for a great reward, that is beyond earning, yet has a great cost! It is not easily gained, because it was not cheaply attained on our behalf!


"Cheap grace is that grace which we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord’s Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ. Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have.[5] [31]It is the costly pearl, for whose price the merchant sells all that he has;[6] it is Christ’s sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out an eye if it causes you to stumble.[7] It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to leave his nets and follow him.[8] Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door at which one has to knock. 9] It is costly, because it calls todiscipleship; it is grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is grace, because it thereby makes them live. It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace, because it justifies the sinner. Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God, because it costs God the life of God’s Son—“you were bought with a price”[10]—and because nothing can be cheap to us which is costly to God. Above all, it is grace because the life of God’s Son was not too costly for God to give in order to make us live. God did, indeed, give him up for us. Costly grace is the incarnation of God. Costly grace is grace as God’s holy treasure which must be protected from the world and which must not be thrown to the dogs.[11] Thus, it is grace as living word, word of God, which God speaks as God pleases. It comes to us as a gracious call to follow Jesus; it comes as a forgiving word to the fearful spirit and the broken heart.[12] Grace is costly, because it forces people under the yoke of following Jesus Christ; it is grace when Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[13] 

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (2003-04-15). Discipleship: DBW 4 (pp. 44-46). Augsburg Fortress. Kindle Edition.

Don't spurn the hard road of "the faith that leads to obedience".  Don't mock those who have been so faithful in their suffering. Their faithfulness proves that the promise s definite and awaiting final perfection by grace through faith. He is Absolute Love. 

Heb 11:39  "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." 

Heb 11:31  "By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies."

Does God really have grace on sinful people? 

Rom 3:23  "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

I am talking about really bad people adulterers?

 Mat 5:27  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." 

Murderers? 


Mat 5:21,22  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
Yes, no matter what God's grace reaches down to redeem and cleanse. He is Absolute Love.


Rom 3:20  "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."

Faith in God, that He is Absolute Love. That His arms are open wide and that He is able to save. Cry out to God in faith and He will eagerly and gladly receive you by grace through faith.

 Jos 2:1-21  "And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, "Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land."  Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land."  But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, "True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.   And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them." But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.  So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof  and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death." And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you." Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.  And she said to them, "Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way."  The men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.  Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household.  Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.  But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear." And she said, "According to your words, so be it." Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window."


Jos 6:22-25  "But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her." So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."

Unrighteousness comes from lacking faith, by faith we are washed, justified, sanctified and by the Holy Spirit led to the likeness of Jesus Christ. He is Absolute Love. 

 1Co 6:9-11  "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 

 

#Love #Agape

"How difficult it is to receive, and to go on receiving, from others a love that does not depend on our own attraction can be seen from an extreme case. Suppose yourself a man struck down shortly after marriage by an incurable disease which may not kill you for many years; useless, impotent, hideous, disgusting; dependent on your wife's earnings; impoverishing where you hoped to enrich; impaired even in intellect and shaken by gusts of uncontrollable temper, full of unavoidable demands. And suppose your wife's care and pity to be inexhaustible. The man who can take this sweetly, who can receive all and give nothing without resentment, who can abstain even from those tiresome self-depreciations which are really only a demand for petting and reassurance, is doing something which Need-love in its merely natural condition could not attain. (No doubt such a wife will also be doing something beyond the reach of a natural Gift-love, but that is not the point at present.) In such a case to receive is harder and perhaps more blessed than to give. But what the extreme example illustrates is universal. We are all receiving Charity. There is something in each of us that cannot be naturally loved. It is no one's fault if they do not so love it. Only the lovable can be naturally loved. You might as well ask people to like the taste of rotten bread or the sound of a mechanical drill. We can be forgiven, and pitied, and loved in spite of it, with Charity; no other way. All who have good parents, wives, husbands, or children, may be sure that at some times—and perhaps at all times in respect of some one particular trait or habit—they are receiving Charity, are loved not because they are lovable but because Love Himself is in those who love them. Thus God, admitted to the human heart, transforms not only Gift-love but Need-love; not only our Need-love of Him, but our Need-love of one another. This is of course not the only thing that can happen. He may come on what seems to us a more dreadful mission and demand that a natural love be totally renounced. A high and terrible vocation, like Abraham's, may constrain a man to turn his back on his own people and his father's house. Eros, directed to a forbidden object, may have to be sacrificed. In such instances, the process, though hard to endure, is easy to understand. What we are more likely to overlook is the necessity for a transformation even when the natural love is allowed to continue. In such a case the Divine Love does not substitute itself for the natural—as if we had to throw away our silver to make room for the gold. The natural loves are summoned to become modes of Charity while also remaining the natural loves they were. One sees here at once a sort of echo or rhyme or corollary to the Incarnation itself. And this need not surprise us, for the Author of both is the same. As Christ is perfect God and perfect Man, the natural loves are called to become perfect Charity and also perfect natural loves. As God becomes Man "Not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God," so here; Charity does not dwindle into merely natural love but natural love is taken up into, made the tuned and obedient instrument of, Love Himself."

Lewis, C.S. (1971-09-29). The Four Loves (Harvest Book) (pp. 132-134). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to resume Monday 

#Agape #Love

"The humblest of us, in a state of Grace, can have some "knowledge-by-acquaintance" (connaître), some "tasting," of Love Himself; but man even at his highest sanctity and intelligence has no direct "knowledge about" (savoir) the ultimate Being—only analogies. We cannot see light, though by light we can see things. Statements about God are extrapolations from the knowledge of other things which the divine illumination enables us to know. I labour these deprecations because, in what follows, my efforts to be clear (and not intolerably lengthy) may suggest a confidence which I by no means feel. I should be mad if I did. Take it as one man's reverie, almost one man's myth.If anything in it is useful to you, use it; if anything is not, never give it a second thought. God is love. Again, "Herein is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us" (i John IV, 10). We must not begin with mysticism, with the creature's love for God, or with the wonderful foretastes of the fruition of God vouchsafed to some in their earthly life. We begin at the real beginning, with love as the Divine energy. This primal love is Gift-love. In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give. The doctrine that God was under no necessity to create is not a piece of dry scholastic speculation. It is essential. Without it we can hardly avoid the conception of what I can only call a "managerial" God; a Being whose function or nature is to "run" the universe, who stands to it as a head-master to a school or a hotelier to a hotel. But to be sovereign of the universe is no great matter to God. In Himself, at home in "the land of the Trinity," he is Sovereign of a far greater realm. We must keep always before our eyes that vision of Lady Julian's in which God carried in His hand a little object like a nut, and that nut was "all that is made." God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing—or should we say "seeing"? there are no tenses in God—the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath's sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a "host" who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and "take advantage of" Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves."

Lewis, C.S. (1971-09-29). The Four Loves (Harvest Book) (pp. 126-127). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

Heb 11:30  "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days."

Faith that has come from the hand and command of God is a terrifying thing for those who don't believe and obey!


Jos 5:1  "As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel."

Faith must always remember that the battles of life belong to the Lord. That He is all and in all. He is Absolute Love. Worship and bow down in reverence and respect. 

 Jos 5:10-15  "While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.  And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?"  And he said, "No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?"  And the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so."

Faith is often given tasks that don't really make sense according to physical laws and human reason. God will get the glory don't claim the victory for yourself, glorify Him in the deliverance and triumph.
Jos 6:1-17  "Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.  Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.  And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him." So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD."  And he said to the people, "Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the LORD." And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD following them.  The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. But Joshua commanded the people, "You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout." So he caused the ark of the LORD to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets blew continually. And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout, for the LORD has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction." 

Yet grace still shines through in the wrath of God against sin and those who do evil. Those who act in obedience and faith receive the mercy and grace of God. He is Absolute Love. More of this story in Monday's Blog!

Jos 6:17 "Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent." 

#marriage #obama #samesex Love is not sex, and having sex is not marriage!

Get the Book! From the Introduction to my book ABSOLUTE LOVE  Published by Westbow Press.

"Love is not sentimentality, not weak capitulation to others, not passive acceptance of all things, and certainly not sexual intercourse. Love is humility, belief, trust, acceptance, confidence, gratitude, compassion, freedom, stewardship, servanthood, loyalty, purity, justice, rest, and determination. Love is the overflowing character of the only absolute in the universe. It flows throughout the One who is love and establishes everything.

Humility is the characteristic of believing that gives us the ability to admit our needs, weaknesses, and limitations so that we can submit to the power of God in our life and receive our strength from Him and through others. It is not powerlessness; it knows where the power comes from. Humility is the beginning of faith that love works in us as we look outside of ourselves to I AM. Humility involves being able to give to others but also to receive from others as we keep our eyes fixed on I AM and thereby become more like Him in love. The key characteristic of humility is mercifulness. The loss of humility brings about rebelliousness.

Belief is an overwhelming sense of hope based on understanding of past actions and in the fulfillment of future promises that gives encouragement so that we can be enthusiastic and self-stretching, in order that we might grow through developing (God-given) potential. The key characteristic of belief is hopefulness. The loss of belief brings about despair.

Trust is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to be open and share who we are and what we have been given so that we can be catalysts in the development of openness and candor in others. The key characteristic of trust is openness. The loss of trust brings about suspiciousness.

Acceptance is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to forgive ourselves and others so that healing and understanding can take place. The key characteristic of acceptance is forgiveness. The loss of acceptance brings about a judgmental nature.

 Confidence is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us assurance of our being accepted and gives us the ability to look past self-promotion to the promotion of others so that their confidence is built up. The key characteristic of confidence is assuredness or certainty. The loss of confidence brings about inconsistency.

Gratitude is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to look at all good things as gifts from God and causes us to give in return so the gifts can be shared by all. The key characteristic of gratitude is thankfulness. The loss of gratitude brings about an expecting nature: ungratefulness.

Compassion is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to be gracious (giving undeserved favor) and merciful (not demanding retribution) so that we might live in a way that will be most beneficial to ourselves and others and glorify God. The key characteristic of compassion is graciousness. The loss of compassion brings about degradation, the using of others.

Freedom is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to set aside personal desires and postpone pleasure (i.e., physical and emotional gratification), in order that we are liberated to find complete satisfaction in God and be separated from enslaving entanglements. The key characteristic of freedom is purposefulness. The loss of freedom brings about insatiability, the inability to be satisfied.

Stewardship is the characteristic of believing that gives us the ability to be inter-connected with each other in a truly loving manner. We do not lose any integral parts of ourselves or disintegrate into another person, yet we value and need each other’s gifts and uniqueness for the full use and completion of our own giftedness. The key characteristic of stewardship is carefulness. The loss of stewardship brings about codependence, an inability to be helpful.

Servanthood is the characteristic of believing that gives us the ability to worship in everything that we do by looking to God to fill us and overflow through us into the lives of others for thoughtful attentiveness to God’s desires for them. The key characteristic of servanthood is submissiveness or interdependence. The loss of servanthood brings about an uncaring attitude, inattentiveness.

Loyalty is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to remain true or faithful to I AM, ourselves, and others so that we are not pushed or led along by demands other than God’s. The key characteristic of loyalty is faithfulness. The loss of loyalty brings about inconsistency.

Purity is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to be unmixed in our allegiance toward God so that we won’t be driven by any other purpose than to love, glorify, and enjoy God to the ultimate benefit, enjoyment, and fulfillment of ourselves and others. The key characteristic of purity is objectiveness (integrity, congruence). The loss of purity brings about confusion.

Justice is the characteristic outgrowth of believing that gives us the ability to act rightly on behalf of God so that despots (those who want to control, oppress, and use others for personal gain) are not allowed to triumph and the defenseless are defended. The key characteristic of justice is righteousness. The loss of justice brings about either apathy or being overbearing (despotism).

Rest is the characteristic of believing that gives us the ability to see past obstacles to our own well-being and the well-being of others so that we can peacefully work to overcome those obstacles and overthrow those who are setting them up. The key characteristic of rest is peacefulness. The loss of rest brings about anxiety, panic.

Determination is the characteristic of believing that gives us the ability to persist until that which has been started is completed. The key characteristic of determination is steadfastness, completion. The loss of determination brings about an inability to follow through, indecision." 

http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Love-R-I-Willroth/dp/1449718396