Would we recognize Him?

Born of God.

If we receive our Savior, we become born of God. If we believe on the name of our Savior, we become born of God. We have power to become the children of God.  And it's not because we are born of blood, born of flesh, born by the will of others, but born of God.

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

We receive Jesus Christ as God on earth, God only begotten Son. God in the flesh who dwelled with us among His own- those who were supposed to be God's people- and those people did not receive God's Son.

The world- He made the world- but the world He made didn't know him.

How is it possible for the world, for His own people not to know Him?  How far from being truly God's people had they become? They kept the rituals and even added more strict rules in order to please God. They THOUGHT, really and truly BELIEVED they were God's people and yet they did not recognize God in the flesh, they rejected HIM, they did NOT see the love, the real, true love of God manifested for all humanity to see.  What they saw was a threat to their manufactured way of life. They saw the ability of this strange man to disrupt their well-oiled machine, their religion, their profits, their prestige, their pride. They called the Son of God a blasphemer!  They told the Son of God He was a commandment breaker, the very commandments made by HIM!

Now we have to ask ourselves - would we be guilty of the same thing? Would we know Jesus as the Son of God if He came to earth again and walked among us?  No, He's NOT going to return this way, He told us how He would return and it's not by touching earth again- not until New Jerusalem descends from heaven with Him inside. He will return and we will MEED Him IN THE AIR.  But just for a moment speculate on how you would react to Jesus on earth. Would you RECOGNIZE HIM?

IF we believe on His name, if we become the children of God, if we receive Him, we are truly born of God, born of Spirit, born again.

And we know… we do know we must be born again.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

May we be born again, may we know our Savior.

The Light of Christ - Is Truth

Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

When you enter a dark room, a really dark room, what can you see?  Nothing. When you turn on a light everything around you is illuminated, the darkness disappears. Darkness cannot exist in light.  If we choose to remain in the dark to things eternal, to truths that are available to us, we are refusing light. To refuse light is to refuse truth.

So many people want pick and choose when they remain in the dark and when they remain in the light. They don't equate refusing light with refusing truth. 

Some believe as long as they are in a bit of light it's enough, they can roam freely in the darkness and slip into the light as needed.

When light is presented to us and we refuse that light we are in all reality refusing Christ.

Light will shine in darkness, and that darkness will NOT comprehend it.  Darkness does not want light.

Once more just knowing, really knowing that when our Savior returns many people will not be known by Him, but think they are- THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE TO COMPREHEND! Those who choose darkness, those who choose not to know Christ and be known by Him will get what they choose. They will get darkness, and they will not know Christ, and He will not know them.

Are you known by Christ?

Do you live in light?

Do you long to live in the light?

We need so much more.  We fight against powers that would keep us in the dark, completely in the dark.

Please, Father, please, let us live in the light of Christ, in the light of the Word made flesh.  Please, by Your mercy and grace, please.

Forgive us, forgive me for choosing the dark that I've chosen. Help me to seek light and live in all Your truths.

All in Your will, all for Your glory, Your honor!

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, now and forever.

AMEN.

Help my unbelief

Can we ever truly live in the now? Seriously, can we?

Can we ever truly believe that ALL that befalls us is something we need to simply accept?

Is life truly more than meat?

Is our body more than raiment?

Can we really take NO thought for our lives? No thought about what we'll eat? No thought about what we will drink? No thought about what we will wear?

We are WORRIERS. We are PLANNERS.  We are INDULGERS. We are SELF-FOCUSED. And…

WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO BE OTHER THAN WE ARE.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Exo 16:18  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

Exo 16:19  And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

Exo 16:20  Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Can we be content with what we have?

Can we not fear what others will do to us?

Can we stop our heart from being troubled?

Can we not be afraid?

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Can we have peace in Jesus while our lives are filled with tribulation?

Can we be of good cheer because we know this world, our life and all its problems have been overcome?

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Do we believe that it is only through much TRIBULATION that we enter the kingdom of God.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

1Th 3:3  That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

1Th 3:4  For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

*******

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

*******

God may be all in all.

We MUST BELIEVE, it's our lack of TRUE believing that will be our undoing. We can't play act at believing.  We can't half-heartedly believe. We can't believe only in part.

I cry out with this desperate father--

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF!

This is my prayer!

Teach Me

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness

Over and over again it becomes more apparent that our righteousness truly is as filthy rags.

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags

My niece posted a video on facebook today reminding me of the very important truth that Christ alone can do away with our sins, our unrighteousness.  We can't rid ourselves of the sins in ourselves. We can only submit- over and over again- to Christ.

Daily we are reminded of our inability to be sinless.  Daily this reminder is needed maybe until we fully comprehend Christ as our Savior.  We say it, we believe it, but is it real in our lives?

Seeking first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness. I need to learn to do this. Please teach me, Lord, please teach me to seek Your kingdom first, to seek Your righteousness first. I keep looking at myself and my failures, my inabilities, my many, many shortcomings, my numerous failings, my fears and in doing this I'm taking my eyes of Christ where they belong!

Teach me, Lord, please, teach me!

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior! Now and forever…amen!

Prayers

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

We get to hear the prayer of Daniel-- we must listen.

Dan 9:3  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said,

 O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

Dan 9:5  We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

Dan 9:6  Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Dan 9:7  O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

Dan 9:8  O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

Dan 9:9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

Dan 9:10  Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

Dan 9:11  Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

Dan 9:12  And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

Dan 9:14  Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

Dan 9:15  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

Dan 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

We get to hear the prayer of Jesus- we must listen--

Joh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

And our prayer-

Please Father, please we would be Yours through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, Your only begotten Son. Please.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD.  We need to pray the prayers of God's people, we are God's people. We need prayers of spirit, prayers of love, prayers heard. Please.

Please.

Sifted as Wheat? No- Prayed for by Jesus!

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Like Simon, Satan desires to have ANYONE who dares claim the Lord for their Savior in a very real, living, active way. Satan would love to sift us as wheat.

How is wheat sifted?

'Manual Threshing

The first step in the process of sifting wheat is to loosen the chaff from the edible grain, which is called threshing. The old-fashioned way to do this is to spread the wheat onto a floor made from stone, concrete or tamped earth and to beat it with a flail. This is no longer done in the developed world. But in some places where machines are expensive and human labor is cheap, manual threshing is still common. From <http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4925686_farmers-sift-wheat.html> '

'Hand threshing was laborious, with a bushel of wheat taking about an hour.[3] In the late 18th century, before threshing was mechanized, about one-quarter of agricultural labor was devoted to it.[4]From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshing> '

'Threshing (thrashing) was originally "...'to tramp or stamp heavily with the feet'..." and was later applied to the act of separating out grain by the feet of people or oxen and still later with the use of a flail.[2] A threshing floor is of two main types: 1) a specially flattened outdoor surface, usually circular and paved,[3] or 2) inside a building with a smooth floor of earth, stone or wood where a farmer would thresh the grain harvest and then winnow it. Animal and steam powered threshing machines from the nineteenth century onward made threshing floors obsolete. The outdoor threshing floor was either owned by the entire village or by a single family, and it was usually located outside the village in a place exposed to the wind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshing_floor '

Sifted as wheat.  Wheat was beaten, stomped on, laboriously processed in order to get to the edible portion. Satan sifting a person as wheat is to BEAT them, STOMP them laboriously, and very actively abuse them trying to separate them from the love of God!

Satan is REAL and he will torment us spiritually every opportunity he gets.  Satan will use things we least expect him to attack us with. How can he use a sweet innocent child, or a mentally debilitated elderly person to attack us? Truthfully? He's not able to use them, he is using OUR failure to surrender to our Savior fully, in order to goad us spiritually to reacting toward that child and elder from a self-centered standpoint. A selfish standpoint that fills us with indignation, with ire, we something we believe is self-preservation. Then he calls on us to justify our failure by any means necessary- you were tired, you were hungry, you were scared, you were sad, you were upset all very good reasons we allow for bad behavior. As if we'd somehow manage to rise above the same situation should we be well rested, not hungry, unafraid, happy, and not in the least bit upset. Isn't it really true that we are allowing Satan to abuse us in all manner of unexpected and unwanted situations by letting his spirit reign in us? Have you ever not reacted in what we call a typical manner- to a rather unpleasant, even dire situation? People sort of expect others to 'act out' not to seek the peace giving faith of thrusting Jesus' love instantly into the bad situation.   How can we do that-- we cry out, when our hearts are breaking, our spirits are on fire with the offense before us and our instant response is that volatile outburst.  And the chain of events started continue with our despair over our response, and our dwelling upon our bad behavior, lamenting our selfishness and often seeking to find that ready excuse for ourselves.

Wretched people, that's what we are! We are wretched. And if we do place our hope in ourselves, we are completely lost! If we place our hope in ANY other than Christ, anyone else at all, we are LOST!

Our hope must be in Christ to save us from our wretched, wretched selves.

We need to EXAMINE ourselves, not just despair over our actions. We need to question ourselves, ask ourselves why we reacted as we did? Why, truly… WHY!?

Did we feel put out in some way? Did our thoughts instantly begin to berate a person who slighted us, who dared to impose upon us unexpectedly in what we believe is unjustly? Do we look down upon those who Satan uses to expose our very real, very awful selfish ways? Do we detest them and blame them for our own selfishness? As if we wouldn't be selfish if they'd just left us completely alone and did what WE perceive to be their own thing without engaging us. 

Satan set's us up and no, he doesn't always use an innocent child, or older person, he uses anyone he can. He even uses the self-glorified ungodly person against us. He wants us to be able to try and justify our self-centered actions by blaming the other person's obvious defiance of God.

The 'if only' begins to  push their way into our justification- if only this were a different way, if only that wasn't like it is, then I WOULD BE DIFFERENT.  Maybe you would be, or maybe you wouldn't be- it doesn't matter. What matters is what IS and in whatever the situation we react as if we are in the presence of God, because we ARE!

If we need a special something or other to be in the presence of God, then we are in trouble! Because life will NOT stop for us to prepare ourselves. We must be praying always, we must be in God's presence always! We must allow for any routine we have to be blown to bits, because Satan is alive and well and our selfishness equally, and very sadly is alive and well also.  Our dependence upon God must be there in ALL situations, from the worse to the best.  We may be allowed a glorious growth in what we perceive is our spiritual life, and we might then expect that glorious growth, that routine, that pattern, that way to continue on indefinitely, but LIFE doesn't allow for that and anyone who tells you it does isn't a person who is growing, but settled into a deceptively stagnant way of life which Satan loves and allows.  We are to be TRIED in the FIRE, not settled into the warm, relaxing bath water. 

What needs to be the ONLY constant in our lives is our dependence upon CHRIST in all our situations no matter what they might be.  We must seek that dependence while our lives are filled with upheaval, and if God desires our growth to continue in a former manner that has been drastically disrupted, then after our trial by fire, it will return.  Until the time of its return we have to cling to Christ and the hope we have in Him as the waves of the spiritual storm threaten to drown us, as the fire threatens to sear us, char us to the bone and turn us to ash.

May each and every attack by Satan be a chance for spiritual GROWTH, not spiritual dampening in each and every one of.

Jesus has PRAYED for us!

May our faith fail not!

All by His amazing grace, His love, His mercy, His righteousness, all in HIM

Amen.

Abiding in Christ

Is your Savior outside of you? I mean, is your Savior an integral internal part of you or an external part of you? Where is your Savior?

Physically we know that our Savior took on immortal, incorruptible flesh and went to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, interceding for us, advocating for us. Yet we are told this…

Col_1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

Christ in you- the hope of glory.

And this--

Joh_14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

And that leads us back to --

Joh 8:29  And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

The Father never left Jesus alone.

Jesus told us this--

Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

We are to ABIDE in Christ.

Christ is the VINE and we are the BRANCHES, no branch can ever survive without a vine.

So how do we abide in Christ?

We are told, 'If you abide in me, and my words abide in you….'

We are told, 'the Father hath not left me alone for I do always those things that please him.'

We are told, 'ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.'

The words spoken to us.

Christ doing that which pleases God.

Do we KNOW the words Christ speaks to us?  Do we really know them?  We need to. We need to know all about the words of our Savior.  WE need the words of Christ to abide in us.  They need to be a part of our lives, right?

The words of Christ, Christ doing that which pleases the Father. These are the things we need to think on, to dwell on. These are the things that should govern our life. Do they?

By the grace and the will of our God, may we have the words of Christ and do the things that please God, as Christ only ever did the things that pleased God.