The Ultimate Vessel.

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

We forget we are children… REALLY CHILDREN. We've labeled ourselves adults and called ourselves independent. We praise those who make it on their own, who makes something of themselves,  who have grown up nice and mature, polite, respectful, generous, kind, and prosperous. We love being able to say 'our children' have wonderful lives, they take care of themselves and are raising a wonderful family of their own. We would so love to be able to say that we are successful adults.

Yet, we are counting our success and our children's success on a level so far away from the spiritual we no longer care so much if we or our children have a true spiritual walk with Christ but rather if we appear to be a success to the world around us, to our families, to our friends, to our peers.

We in turn are very quick to label ourselves and our children failures when we've not met the proper criteria of those who are able to call themselves successes.

By WHOSE measuring stick have we measured our success or failure? Man's or God's.  If you say God's and go on to tell me how God has given you so much goodness, I may just have to ask you if you've been chastened by God, if you've suffered scourging by the Lord.

If you call yourself a spiritual failure, I may have to ask you if you are the Potter or the Clay in the Potter's hand. Only the Potter can determine if the clay is a failure or not.  We like to pretend we are the potter and the clay as well, but that's not true. We want to determine when we've had enough refining, enough chastisement but the truth is when a parent is striving to raise a child they determine when the child needs chastisement, they don't let the child decide because children will quickly decide that the very least chastisement is necessary so they don't have to suffer at all.

Most parents will never call their children (adult children as well) failures, because they hold out hope that an errant child will see their wrong ways and mend them. 

Why are we quick to label ourselves failures when we seem to suffer endless chastisement? Probably because if we are constantly chastising our own children we begin to believe they'll never learn. However, throughout a child's life there are different levels of chastisement each fit for the maturity level of the child. You generally won't have to chastise an older child in the way you do a younger one. Your teenager will still need to be chastised after fourteen years of constant off and on chastisement for various age appropriate infractions. You won't stop chastising your child at ten years old and never chastise them again. In fact I'm sure there are plenty of parents that have no problem continuing the chastising where needed of adult children well up there in years. As long as they're a parent and they note where a child may be erring, they'll want to correct the child.

So why can't we comprehend that as children of God we will never truly be in a position to no longer be chastised by our heavenly Father, at least not until our Savior returns and sin is eradicated?

We need to recognize that a lot of our inability to count our temptations, our trials, our tribulations, all joy is because we take on the stance that what we are coping with is unfair and awful, and a part of us wants to question God as to why we must suffer even when we already know the answer. We would rather cry, "Woe is me!" than count our suffering joy. Pain and suffering is AWFUL- so why can some endure it stoically and others crumble? Do we even pray to be able to count it joy, or rather that it simply stops and things go back to when they weren't so awful?  We are put through our tribulations and trials and through them all our steadfastness in the faith is what is being put on trial. The refining and scourging in the Potter's hand will mold the clay more perfectly- in faith.

What may appear for all intents and purposes to be unsuccessful lives in the worldly way could be lives filled with refining for the ultimate perfect vessel belonging to Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior!

Christ's Joy.

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 

Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 

Love one another and our Savior's JOY MIGHT remain in us, and if our Savior's Joy remains in us our JOY MIGHT be full.

How do we love another?

1Co 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 

1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 

1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

Love suffers long.

Love is kind.

Love doesn't envy.

Love doesn't vaunt.

Love isn't puffed up.

Love does not rejoice in evil.

Love rejoices in truth.

Love bears all things.

Love believes all things.

Love hopes all things.

Love endures all things.

So if we are loving one another it means a lot more than our saying we love someone. It's easy to use the word love, but much harder to truly love. We often agree that we hurt those we love, but it shouldn't be that way, should it? If we want Jesus' JOY in us so that our JOY might be full, we need to LOVE one another and it must be loving in truth, it must be the love of our Savior.

LOVE suffers.

LOVE bears ALL things.

LOVE endures ALL things.

Yet we don't want this sort of love. We don't want to suffer, we don't want to bear unpleasantness, or endure bad situations. We do all we can to eliminate our suffering, any unpleasantness, and any thing that is hard to endure. Yet we LOVE when we are suffering, bearing, and enduring. We want to stop loving, we try to harden our hearts against those who cause us to suffer, we strive to protect ourselves from being hurt by closing ourselves off.

Our Savior's joy in us, so that it is possible for our joy to be full, tells us we need to LOVE one another.

Our LOVE should not be held on the condition we are never hurt by our loved one, that we never suffer from something a loved one does.  We only have control over our love not another's. If the ones we love do not love us back do we in turn stop loving? NO, never.  We, like our Savior, all by HIS grace through the Holy Spirit, must be willing to lay down our lives for others. If we are willing to lay down our lives, shouldn't we be willing to lay down the self-love in ourselves that keeps us from loving others MORE than ourselves? Aren't we often hurt by others when we focus on ourselves telling ourselves that we don't deserve to be hurt? If we let go of self- and put on Christ instead, Christ would continue to love even as the abuse rains down upon Him.

God- help us to love others as You would have us love them, so Christ's joy might be in us and our joy might be full!

Please Teach Me to Abide in You, Christ Jesus My Savior.

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. 

Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 

Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 

Abide in Christ.

What happens to a branch of a vine, if that branch is no longer attached to that vine? Seriously, what happens? Picture it, you have a vine growing outside and you go to that vine and a branch of that vine falls off. What is going to happen to that fallen vine? It truly is going to wither and die, right? If we do not abide in Christ in a very real spiritual way, then we will wither and die spiritually.

Christ's words HAVE to abide in us!

We need to bear fruit to the glory of God and the only way we can do that is by abiding in Christ.

We have to CONTINUE in Christ's love.  The Father LOVES His Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ LOVES us. We must continue in that LOVE.

Abiding- continuing without change, enduring, steadfast.

ENDURING.

We have to STAY IN CHRIST!

God help us to abide in Christ! Satan would rip us from our Savior. Satan doesn't want us living in Christ. When we live in Christ we get out spiritual sustenance from Him, we live spiritually because of Him. Please Lord, help us to live in You, teach us to live in You!

Help Me Learn What You Are Trying to Teach Me.

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. 

People love to believe if they are blessed by God that means they aren't to suffer. WRONG. They'll suffer through being purged. God purges us. We are purged and we will grow spiritually through our purging. Our spiritually growth will produce more fruit in us for the glory of God. Our purging can take many, many forms. We are tried in the fire of purging.  If your life is hard and your faith strong, know that you are being purged, you are being tried. NO trials are pleasant….

Heb_12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

NOTE this… 'unto them which ARE exercised thereby.' We can be purged, tried, chastened and it yield nothing if we aren't exercised by all we go through. If we don't let God work His refining in us, His pruning of us, His purging of us, but refuse to let the work be done, our suffering is for naught. We can through the SPIRIT recognize God's refining, and plead for our comprehension, our understanding of whatever it may be He is trying to teach us. 

My Shepherd.

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 

Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 

Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 

Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 

Joh 10:6  This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 

Joh 10:7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 

Joh 10:8  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 

Joh 10:9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 

Joh 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 

Joh 10:12  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 

Joh 10:13  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 

Joh 10:14  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 

Joh 10:15  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

Joh 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 

Joh 10:17  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 

Joh 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. 

Joh 10:19  There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 

Joh 10:20  And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? 

Joh 10:21  Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? 

Joh 10:22  And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 

Joh 10:23  And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. 

Joh 10:24  Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 

Joh 10:25  Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. 

Joh 10:26  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 

Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one. 

Joh 10:31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 

Joh 10:32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 

Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 

Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 

Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 

Joh 10:37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 

Joh 10:38  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 

Joh 10:39  Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, 

Joh 10:40  And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. 

Joh 10:41  And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. 

Joh 10:42  And many believed on him there. 

*******

Most Christians know that our Savior is the Good Shepherd, and most can recite the Lord's Prayer which begins--- 'The LORD is my Shepherd…'  We comprehend that a shepherd cares for sheep which are helpless without him. Sure, there are sheep that don't have shepherds and they survive. Before sheep were bred to keep their wool growing year round they would lose their coat naturally every year and grow it back. They didn't need sheering. Wild sheep stayed in herds and their predators - like predators worldwide- would pick off the weak, the young, the old, the sick. They survived. Once sheep became domesticated and used in herds and became a great commodity they needed shepherding they couldn't be left to the wild to wander on their own, to face predators by themselves. The shepherd made sure the sheep had food to eat, pastures to graze in. They made sure they had water to drink, and that they were kept as safe as possible. When the Lord tells us He is the Good Shepherd He is telling us that HE is the one that can protect us, feed us, make sure have water - all SPIRITUALLY. Being HIS sheep we have to recognize Him as our Shepherd. When we recognize HIM s our Shepherd we can KNOW without DOUBT that He will care for all our spiritual needs. I say spiritual needs because too many people get caught up in the physical things believing that if God is for them they'll never hunger, they'll never thirst, they'll never be without proper clothing, but that's not true. A lot of people, God fearing people, Christians who love the Lord with all their hearts will go hungry and such. If we judge God's love for us based on what we receive in this life - even life sustaining things- then we are going to be very disappointed when we don't receive things we may truly need to live.  If we judged God's love by His giving us good health, good food, good clothes etc, by His taking care of our loved ones then we will find God on the wrong side of things and not a good Shepherd at all.  Yet, HE is our Good Shepherd and He will care for ALL our spiritual needs. He will make eternal life available to us no matter our existence in this world now. Our Spiritual Shepherd, we must HEAR His voice, we must listen to our Shepherd and follow wherever He leads. Following the Good Shepherd, knowing He leads us to eternal existence down a spiritual road is what we must do as His sheep.  All by His love, His grace, His mercy now and forever!!!!!!!

There Are No Righteous.

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one

There are NO righteous.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

ALL have sinned.

ALL come short of the glory of God.

Rom 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

The only way we sinners can ever be justified is NOT through our righteousness, but through our Savior's grace. We ONLY have redemption through Christ Jesus but we try so hard to be righteous on our own. We love to pat ourselves on the back for our goodness. We do something good and we stroke our ego with that goodness. Some of us even do that as we try to counterbalance the hopelessness we feel if we aren't stroking ourselves with the little bit of good we do. Others of us love to downplay any good we do wanting others to stroke us for it. That desperation of recognition that we have good in us somewhere is what truly can destroy us, because we are so focused on ourselves we aren't looking to our Savior! We need to LOOK for our Savior every single time we are trying to find good in ourselves. We can only find it in HIM. If as a byproduct of loving Him we are used by Him to do any good, all glory goes to Him!

Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 

Rom 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 

Rom 3:29  Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 

Rom 3:30  Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 

Rom 3:31  Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

The law is fulfilled in faith. By faith we believe and through faith we live the law of the LORD, the moral law. All the rudiments of the law before Christ- the ceremonial, the feasting, the many rules and regulations, all of those were truly nailed to the cross as people were given the ONE true sacrifice for all. Being uncircumcised, not following the Jewish traditions and Jewish rules would no longer keep people from belonging to God. All both Jew and Gentile would have an opportunity to belong to God through faith through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is through GOD we live and if we keep His law because it is established, we are keeping the moral law that is summarized in loving God and loving others.

May we be HIS, may we believe in HIM and His righteousness always! All in His LOVE! His perfect, perfect love now and forever!!!!!!!

Temptation-Joy.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. 

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

JOY- count it JOY when we fall into different temptations.  Why? Because of this--

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Yet, do we stop as the temptations come and count them joy? Or do we fall victim to the temptations allowing them to become conceived in us and therefore sin? Do we take the temptations and count them as sins already- dooming ourselves when we haven't quite yet given into the temptations. Do we note the temptations assaulting us and let our hearts be filled with the joy of the Savior, knowing that somehow having to face that temptation and choosing Christ over the sin, we are letting the temptations work patience in us, patience that we need to be fully ready for our Savior.

We know the closer to the return of our Savior, our adversary the Devil, will be working unceasingly to get every single person he can. Satan would have us look upon temptations as signed, sealed and delivered sins, but they aren't! The temptations aren't sin! We flail against the temptations as soon as they start interrupting our spiritual walk - thinking they are awful, miserable beasts to be despised. How can we despise something we are to call joy? We need to comprehend that temptations to sin will NOT cease, but by the GRACE of GOD through the HOLY SPIRIT we will be able to count the temptations joy- recognizing that they are but opportunities to grow ever closer to our Savior.

And, if we do fall into sin, we must quickly repent and seek forgiveness- NOT GIVE INTO DESPAIR!  Satan would have us give in to despair so we no longer live for our Savior

Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 

Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Ask God for wisdom, in faith. Our belief in God as a reality must be steadfast. We can't believe in God one day and not believe in Him the next. I mean ACTUALLY not believe in Him as if He doesn't exist. Our belief in God being very real beyond a doubt real is something we cannot deny and if we do allow ourselves to be tossed about believing one day but not the next then we can't have hope in the Lord, not truly. God is a REALITY and even when we are mad at our lives and in a bad place, we can't stop believing God exists and all that God stands for is truth. He is truth and He is forever no matter what.

We have to always remember this-

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

And this isn't just temptations for things we enjoy but  know are sinful, but the temptations of ANYTHING that would cause sin, of anything that would take us from the love God. The temptation to leave the love of God can be found in our day to day life, in distractions, in friendships, it can be found anywhere. And we truly do need to count it ALL JOY when we are placed in any situation that will cause us to choose God over self and all the evils that would keep us from Him. Every choice we make for God over sin, over temptations to sin, can only make us stronger in Him giving us the patience we need to endure, all through the Holy Spirit.