Whom Have I In Heaven?

Isaiah 65: 25

The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat by the dust (by swishing their tongues, like they do today). In these days no one will be hurt or destroyed on My holy Mountain (where He rules, His Kingdom). I the Lord, have spoken!

Psalm 73: 25-26

Whom have I in Heaven but You? I desire You more than anything on Earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.

O my Father, Whom have I in Heaven but You? I desire You more than anything in this World. My finances may fail, my good health may depart, and I may never find another partner and remain alone; but You, my God, remain the strength of my heart. In You, Father, I am equal to and ready for anything You may send my way, because You infuse Your strength into me. 

I long for Your Appearing, my Lord, and Your glorious reign in Your Kingdom on this very Earth, when no one will be hurt or destroyed under Your rule. You are mine forever!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Both To Will And To Do

Philippians 2: 13-15

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. 

When God's Holy Spirit is living in our spirits, then He will do the work in our thinking processes and feelings to both want to do God's will and also give us the ability to do whatever it is.

Do everything without arguing or complaining, so that no one can criticize you.

Don't do anything with an attitude that someone else can find fault with.

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God,

We can live a clean life, even if we're not innocent; but we can be pure (I've heard the term, "secondary virginity"), modeling our Parent as His children.

shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Twisted and perverted people live in the darkness of this World, where God's light needs to shine. We are the bright lights He wants to use to expose all the wickedness in our midst, showing those who are caught up in this bondage the much better way of living, the way God has outlined for us in His Word. Only His ways will bring to us the freedom, peace and joy of the Lord He wants for all of us. 

It is up to us to show them God's way of living, to draw them and lead them back to God. The more winsome we can be in our right living, the more attractive we show our Lord to be, in His great love for all of us.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Is Your Strength Too Small?

Proverbs 24:10

If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.

So what are we to do? James tells us:

James 1:2-4

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

So what is this "joy" that we are to have when we face trouble? It can only be the "joy of the Lord" that He gives us that transcends all circumstances. It is the Joy of the Lord that gives us strength. This strength carries us through whatever trial we are facing, and enables us to avail ourselves of the help He provides to get through it, instead of succumbing to it. That's how our endurance grows, and our characters become more like Jesus' perfect character; we are to become more like Jesus, and this is one way we do that.

This is not easy--nothing worth having is easy. But we don't have to do it on our own. On our own we fail every time. But when we lean on Jesus, when we get into His yoke with Him, He pulls with us and the load seems light. That's how we face each problem in life successfully.

God wants us to be successful in life, overcoming all the trials, troubles and sorrows this World throws at us. That's why He invites us to walk with Him, think the way He thinks, and live our lives according to His ways. Then He will intervene and intercede for us, successfully growing our characters little by little, day by day. 

May each of us determine in our own hearts to seek His ways, obey His rules, and love Him more each day.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

James, The Lord's Brother

Paul writes in Galatians 1:19 that The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord's brother.

Yet, James says of himself, in James 1:1, This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

James grew up as the younger brother of Jesus, the first son of Joseph and Mary. We know there were three other brothers, Joseph (also called Joses), Simon, and Judas (Jude). They also had sisters, we don't know how many, but they are "all His sisters." (See Matthew 13:55-56 and Mark 6:3. The Greek is very precise; if they were His cousins a different word would have been used here.)

Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him before His death and Resurrection. At one point during His public ministry, they concluded that He must be "out of His mind" and went to take Him home. I deal with this event on my April 6, 2017 blog entry, "Jesus' Brothers And Sisters And Mother."

But then on Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, the angel at the tomb told the women to go tell His disciples to keep the appointment He made with them in Galilee. Then when Jesus meets them on the way, He tells them to also tell His brothers to go to the meeting, too. Evidently they did, because James became the Church Leader (Pastor) in Jerusalem and wrote his epistle, and Judas gave us his letter, the Epistle of Jude.

Can you imagine having a big Brother who never did anything wrong? You would get in trouble for things, but He never did. How frustrating! No wonder they thought He was losing His mind when He started to teach the crowds that He was God's Son, and did outrageous stuff called miracles!

But then, seeing Him alive in Galilee after He was publicly Crucified to death only days earlier, convinced them that Jesus really was Who He said He was all along. They realized that He died in their place, as their personal sacrifice recorded in Leviticus chapter one, the perfect Lamb of God Whose Blood doesn't just cover, but takes away sins. Eyewitness proof is what they had, and they gave us their witness, so that we can believe and fully put our trust in Him, too.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

How To Live Our Lives

Colossians 3: 9-17 (Paraphrased)

You have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 

In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, Who created this new nature within you. 

... Since God chose you to be the holy people whom He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. 

Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 

And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. 

Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. It's the "special sauce" that coats and flavors all the other attributes.

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. Let's all just get along with each other.

And always be thankful. 

Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use His words, not the world's words, to teach and counsel each other. 

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 

And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, wwjd (what would Jesus do?), all the while giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

This is the Christian life-style that we all are to seek to model in our daily lives.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

May You Experience The Love Of Christ

Ephesians 3: 16-21

I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. 

Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. 

Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. 

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep His love is. 

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. 

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or (even) think (of). 

Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

This is my prayer. May it be so in me and in all of us who are Your church, dear Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Godless, Foolish Discussions

II Timothy 2: 16

Avoid godless, foolish discussions that lead to more ungodliness.

Several decades ago when I was a young Christian I was confronted with some ideas that cast doubt on the veracity of Scripture, that maybe our modern translations have missed some points in our early human story that change how we see all that has happened since then. 

After considering these concepts, I decided to trust God that He knows what He's doing and has given us everything we need to know to live our lives in Truth and righteousness (II Timothy 3:16-17), and that I didn't need these extra-Biblical stories to draw me away from God's revealed Truth in the Bible.

Since then, I've been granted to be able to attend a Bible College and learn how to study the Bible honestly, to understand it the way God intends. And He has been faithful to lead me into some wonderful understandings of His workings in this World, in History (His Story), and in my own life. Hence this blog. (Thank you for reading it, I hope it helps you, too.)

So I will continue to study in God's Holy Scripture, and try to avoid those "godless, foolish discussions" by relying on "All Scripture" that is "God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that" I "can be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

And you too, dear Reader, don't take my word for anything! I could be in error on some point; check out what I say, and if you have a question, I welcome your comments and will consider your view, and try to answer whatever difference you have in your understanding of what God is saying to us. May we "reason together."

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!