Endure Now for Joy Later.

 I desire a heavenly country. No, not a country here on earth that is really wonderful, I desire a very real country existing in heaven. 

We human beings have lived in a world of chaos from the moment sin entered. People have idealized certain time periods in our history, the so-called glory days of the past. Each generation seems to have this tunnel vision that times were better and there is often a longing to return to those better times. The truth of the matter is -time from sin's inception has been hard for all of us. Yes, there may have been pockets of time that we try to imagine were the good ol' days. However, even during those times the good life was NOT shared by a vast majority of people around the world. Our sin soaked world is filled with evil beyond measure and for us to ignore that is to keep from realizing that this evil world is NOT how we were meant to live! We were NOT created with the intent for us to live horrific lives interspersed with various moments of joy. Life was NOT supposed to be the awful struggle that it is for most of us. Mentally, emotionally, physically we live in a nightmare world that we can't wake up from. Try as we might, this world will NEVER become the idealized place we all seem to want and deep down we comprehend this. We are all in a huge sinking boat called earth and this boat has been taking on water since sin took over. Our lives are spent with bailing buckets in our hands, and it's a constant effort to bail out the waters threatening to ruin us at any given moment. NO this was NOT how we were meant to exist! I refuse to believe it! You can't make me believe this horrific life with all its pain is a wonderful way to live simply because there are joys mingled in with the heart aches. This life is NOT the life we are to live for, we are to live for the BETTER COUNTRY, the HEAVENLY COUNTRY, the PROMISED COUNTRY, the HEAVENLY MANISONS PREPARED FOR US!

We NEED to believe, truly believe that we are living now, right now, for that future with our SAVIOR.  

LIVE for the heavenly right now! Endure the agony now with the knowledge that it is temporary! 

When CHRIST returns and HE WILL RETURN BEYOND A DOUBT, we will rise to meet Him in the air! We will go with Him to our heavenly country!

How do I know He will return?  Because I found a book that prophesized of many, many things and every single prophecy in that book either came to pass or will come to pass.  If prophecy after prophecy comes true, NOTHING will stop ALL of the prophecies from coming true! 

JESUS will return for us! Jesus wants us to be ready for Him simply by trusting in Him, believing in Him, hoping in Him! 

As we suffer the agonies of bailing out a never ending sinking ship, with periodic respites, let us know that someday all of the bailing- which is furious and exhausting in the midst of storms, and slower paced in times of relative calm, that all the bailing will be worth it for the never ending joy that awaits us.  

Lay your TREASURES in heaven, and DO NOT expect to get them here on this sin captivated world. You know as well as I do, any pleasure you derive from sin is fleeting, just masking the pain-- pain that God wants us all to realize is only temporary to the eternity that He offers to us.  God help us all to know Him and His love, His deep, deep love that goes beyond our ability to fully comprehend- we are after all the creatures, He is the CREATOR. What audacity we possess when we think we have the right to know the mysteries of God!

Deu_29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever…

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Jesus' Joy.

Are you heavy laden?  These days most people are heavy laden, aren't they? We go through life heavy laden with the various burdens placed upon us by our existing in a world ruled by sin. It is a world ruled by sin, make no mistake about it. 

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 

Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 

Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

The devil offered to give to Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, all the glory of them….  The devil couldn't have made these offers unless they were histo give.  Jesus didn't refute the devil's claim of kingdom ownership of the world, He told Him that He would only worship God. Jesus knew that there was a prince of this world who was evil.

Joh_12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 

The prince of this world is the devil, he rules this world. Few compared to the many choose to live in this devil ruled world and yet claim only to worship God in all truth. Satan wants every single human being to be one of his subjects. 

The heavy laden feeling we endure starts when we are very young and begin to comprehend life has hardships, life has pain, life has confusion, that life is unfair.  As we grow older the burdens change, that heavy laden weight alters. The weight of our living in this sin drenched world varies for each of us. My burden isn't yours, and likewise, your burden isn't mine.  We are given moments of joy that supersede the pains and those glimpses of joy give us a desire for more joy, less burden. We seek the joy and things that negate that joy which burden us. In TRUTH and I mean this…in TRUTH there is only ONE joy that should outshine all other joys, and that is the joy we find in our heavenly treasure. Our heavenly treasure cannot be stripped from us ever. Not a single thing on earth can take our heavens treasure from us so is there any wonder at all that we need to truly believe in the reality of that heavenly treasure?

Christ is our heavenly treasure. The good news of salvation through Christ is our heavenly treasure. The HOPE of eternal life in Christ, HOPE in the world to come, not this world, is our heavenly treasure. 

Abraham thousands of years ago lived with this hope…  considering himself a pilgrim on this earth. 

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

Dying in faith, we need to live in faith, embracing the promises of God now.

Laying our treasures up in heaven NOW.

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

We are heavy laden, but we can find REST in Jesus Christ, making Him a reality in our lives. Our joy NOW needs to be the HOPE of heaven- Jesus Christ, now.  We can lay the world's weight down now as we pick up heaven's hope, heaven's treasure, heaven's joy.

The burdens are going to hit us, day after day. The huge irritations and the very small irritations, the agonies, the pains, the horrors are all a part of the life we live and we must seek Jesus' joy!  We need to ask ourselves when the weight of the world is tearing us down, if we are living for Jesus' joy. When we cry out our pain may we cry out for Jesus' joy. Jesus' joy is FUTURE HOPE, OTHERWORLDLY HOPE. Jesus' joy is KNOWING our joy is in the promises we have yet to see and not lamenting having realized promises now because we know that sin will rule this world until our Savior returns. 

God help us to make Jesus' Joy real in our everyday existence.  All through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Now and forever! May God's will be done!

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Christ's Yoke- Selflessness.

 Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Take up Christ's service. Are you in the service of Christ? What does it mean to be in Christ's service? How can all people be in Christ's service? Doesn't it take a special calling? It can't take a special calling unique only to few. Everyone must be able to enlist in the service of Christ. 

To be in the service of Christ is to be selfless. It is only when we get caught up in self that the yoke becomes incredibly heavy, and is no longer the yoke, no longer the service of Christ. We are like quick change artists who in a blink of an eye throw off one yoke of service and put on another. Satan would have us believe that we continue to wear Christ's yoke and that Christ's yoke is too burdensome to bear. Satan doesn't want us to realize that we have fashioned a yoke that pleases him, and not God. Satan wants us to believe we have to take the weight of the world upon us, but we don't. Christ bore that weight to the cross because it was a weight we couldn't and still cannot bear. 

Christ instructs us to take His service, His yoke upon ourselves and in doing so we are LEARNING of Him. He wants us to comprehend His meekness and lowliness in heart.  

His meekness, His lowliness in heart….what do we know of these things?

Not too long ago I read something that explained that meekness isn't shy humbleness it is rather- not seeking self. Christ did not walk around in the shadows hiding Himself. Christ didn't deflect in a demure manner. Christ did not appear cowardly in any way at all. We use the word meek in this manner but it's not the manner associated with Christ's meekness at all. Christ NEVER put Himself first, never. His Father's will was always first on His mind. He lived for the will of the Father because His will was one and the same, He desired the Father's will. Do we?  Do we desire Christ's will over our own? 

Daily we have numerous instances that will cause us to have to choose the will we wish to follow. We have choices- we can choose to follow Satan's will or Christ's. And our will aligns with one or the other at any given moment. Some choices are pointed and we realize right away the path we are on isn't or is, the path of Christ's. Whenever we find ourselves in the middle of a situation where we know we need to choose, let us choose Christ! 

As we wake up daily we need to commit our lives to Him for that entire day.  Then as we go about our day we need to live it with the awareness we are living for Christ, in Christ's selfless service!  It is shocking how often we find ourselves caught up in self-serving. We write it off so often as being justified-- self-justified because life just keeps dishing out one agony after another. We endure mental, emotional and physical pain and cry out it's unfair! We want peace! We want a painless existence! We long for such a life, but we have to comprehend that for now we need to endure the agonies of life as Christ endured them, selflessly. We need to embrace the agonies knowing this world only promises agonies, it is the world to come that promises peace.

More tomorrow by the GRACE of GOD, through the will of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!

We Are Weary.

Weariness.  This is something we are all too familiar with, isn't it? Being weary. We are feeling the weight of this world upon us. We live in such a time that the burdens of society are all around us. I can't help but comprehend though, that through most of mankind's existence there has been an element of weariness in one form or another. NEVER since the peace in the Garden of Eden before sin's introduction to mankind has there not been a weariness to living for us in one form or another. Each generation has its share of burdens. Always there have been problems- the need to eke out of life a way to stay alive. So many have such an awful time doing that, finding ways to live. As we struggle through our lives, no matter the circumstance, life gives us a weariness that makes living tiresome in so many ways. 

We see many levels of living conditions, from what we consider extremely luxurious, to the extremely deprived, and all levels in between. Seldom is anyone in any of the groups without weariness. The weariness of a rich man may be much different than the weariness of a poor man, but the weight of existence rests up all of us and it's up to us to take that weariness to our Savior and find His rest.

Spiritual labor, spiritual burdens, Satan will load us down with spiritual weight desiring to crush us completely. He can, and will crush the spirit in us deadening us to the Spirit of God, make no mistake, Satan desires to bring us to the point of despair so that we make the eternally deadly decision to turn from Christ, not towards Him.

Jesus tell us - 

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Jesus is speaking to ALL of us, because there is not a single person who isn't laboring and heavy laden in this sin sick world. 

We have to go to Him to find the Spiritual rest that will keep us in Him.

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of GOD! All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and FOREVER!

Let Not Sin Reign

(Excerpt)

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner  Chapter 6

Instruments of Righteousness Romans 6:12-23

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 

15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 1

16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 

19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh; for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 

20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 

21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 

22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Reign of Sin. In the fifth chapter we learned that the reign of sin is the reign of death, because death comes by sin. But we also learned that the gift of life is offered to all, so that whoever has Christ has life. Instead of death reigning over such, they themselves "shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ." The exhortation, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body," is therefore equal to an exhortation to abide in Christ, or to keep his life. We gained the life by faith, and so we are to keep it by faith.

Whose Servants Are We? That is very easy to answer. "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey." If we yield ourselves to sin, then we are the servants of sin, for "whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." John 8:34. But if we yield ourselves to righteousness, then we are the servants of righteousness. "No man can serve two masters." Matthew 6:24. We can not serve both sin and righteousness at the same time. No man can at once be both a sinner2 and a righteous man. Either sin or righteousness must rule.

Instruments. We have in this chapter two terms to describe people, namely, servants and instruments. It takes both to illustrate our relation to sin and righteousness. Sin and righteousness are rulers. We are but instruments in their hands. The kind of work a given instrument will do depends entirely upon the one who uses it.

For instance, here is a good pen; what kind of work will it do? It will do good work if it is in the hands of a skillful penman, but in the hands of a bungler its work will be poor. Or, in the hands of a good man it will write only what is good; but in the hands of a bad man it will exhibit that which is evil. But man is not a mere tool. No, not by any means. There is this difference between men and ordinary instruments: the latter have no choice as to who shall use them, while the former have full choice as to whom they will serve. They must yield themselves, not once only, but all the time. If they yield to sin, they will commit sin. If they yield to God, to be instruments in his hands, they can do nothing else but good so long as they are yielded to him.

A Parallel. In the nineteenth verse we are exhorted to yield ourselves as servants of righteousness just as we have yielded ourselves servants to sin. This being done, we are assured in the following verses that just as surely as the fruit was sin and death when we were yielded to sin, so surely will the fruit be holiness when we yield ourselves servants to righteousness. Yea, even more sure; for "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Righteousness is stronger than sin, even as God is stronger than Satan. God can pluck out of the hands of Satan the soul that cries out for deliverance; but none can pluck God's children out of his hand.

God's Armor, Not Ours.

 We live in a world that tells us we need to focus upon ourselves at any given moment. Do you know why Satan wants us self-obsessed? Because as long as we are caught up in our own feelings, our own ideas, our own thoughts, our own self in any way, then we are not focused on anyone else, including God. Satan sets us up perfectly, make no mistake he takes every single opportunity to arrange for us to be slighted even in the tiniest way. As soon as we feel the inkling of a slight we are shaking off the armor of God and replacing it with armor of our own fashioning trying to protect our own feelings, our so called honor, our perceived dignity, our self-important integrity and God's armor cannot remain upon us if we replace it with our own armor. Why can't God's armor protect us if we are fashioning our own? Because God's armor is SELFLESS, not SELF-FOCUSED.  

The Helmet of Salvation-  Christ's selfless sacrifice.

The Breastplate of Christ's Righteousness- Christ's selflessness as He relied upon the righteousness of the Father.

The Loins Girt in Truth- Christ is truth, selfless truth. Sacrificing truth.

The Feet Shod in the Gospel of Peace - Peace found in the selfless of Christ's sacrifice.

The Shield of Faith- Faith in Christ's selflessness.

The Sword of the Spirit of the Word of God - the Selfless WORD of GOD, the same Word that tells us to sacrifice self for God, for others!

God sacrificed ALL for us, we are called to do no less than sacrifice all for God- by the Spirit of the power of God. We are called to allow God to have His way in us because we KNOW His way is the way of LOVE, pure LOVE unlike anything we can truly comprehend in our sin soaked state of living. 

We need to give up SELF! Self-protection of our feelings, our idea of self-justification, these all need to be given up! Satan will use them to destroy us at every turn eating away at us bit by bit, piece by piece, chipping at our perceived self that we deem more important than so much else.

Vain glory… self-glory- this is something we must not desire! We must not provoke one another in any way, we must not envy one another something we do all too much! God help us, God save us! God keep us from all evil! God keep us from all evil - from every single evil trap Satan lays for us to fall into!

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 

Choosing Christ, Unendingly.

 Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 

Crucified the flesh.

Crucified the affections and lusts of the flesh.

Recognizing the flesh and the Spirit is so incredibly important. When we talk of crucifixion we automatically have an image of our Savior nailed to a cross where He suffered and died for us.  The crucifying was His being nailed to a cross.  

The dictionary also gives us this definition-

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (v. t.) To fasten to a cross; to put to death by nailing the hands and feet to a cross or gibbet.

2. (v. t.) To destroy the power or ruling influence of; to subdue completely; to mortify.

3. (v. t.) To vex or torment.

From <https://biblehub.com/topical/c/crucify.htm> 

When we are told that if we are Christ's we have crucified our fleshy affections and lusts, we are destroying the power and influence those things have over our lives, we are subduing them completely.

Fleshy affections.

Fleshy lusts.

These come in so many forms and to all of us in many similar ways and yet many unique ways. My fleshy lusts may not be the same as yours, or they could be the same in one sense but not in another. Intensity and such are all factors but the bottom line- we have these fleshy affections and lusts that need to be subdued completely, they need to be crucified. 

We need to live in the SPIRIT and this is the only way for any sort of crucifixion of our affections and lusts to take place. 

Live in the SPIRIT, walk in the SPIRIT. Some will lay claim to living in the Spirit but their walk is not in the Spirit.  If we truly live in the SPIRIT we must be walking in the SPIRIT. 

The Spirit and the flesh are contrary to one another.  We choose. We must live in our bodies made of flesh with all its frailties and imperfections, but our bodies are receptacles of our minds and spirit. God will give us all we need, the Holy Spirit working in us, Christ in us is our hope, and clinging to these truths is where we find that hope of walking in the Spirit, by the Spirit, through the Spirit. We will not suddenly develop powers that allow us on our own to crucify our fleshy affections and lusts, we develop the truth, the Spirit of truth working and living in us. 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 

We subdue completely the flesh, surrendering it all to Christ! And as we do this DAILY, we will be confronted with truth that it is a forever choosing, a constant unending choosing over the course of our entire lives. By the grace and mercy of God may we through Him and His power, by the Holy Spirit, all by our Heavenly Father and His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, may we be HIS, known by HIM now and forever! His perfection ours, for we have none without Him!