The Devotional

What does Papa “J” Say?

Wisdom and prudence share a vitality of “one”. So what good is the wisdom of mankind when over indulgence and caution is tossed aside? Proverbs 8:12

I was thinking (dangerous, I know) this morning of some of the spiritual writers of the past. Watchman Nee, Arthur Pink, A.W. Tozer and Andrew Murray to name a few that I have read. What I remember most about these men is that they were interested in sharing with their readers a deeper relationship with God. I think of another man who may be a better example to explain what I am seeking to accomplish here. George Muller of Bristol was a man of faith who totally relied upon the grace of God to operate several orphanages. He was also the founder of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution. He never asked anyone for the funds to operate these homes and the Institution was the raised banner of his total dependence on scriptural knowledge. He relied totally on the grace provision of God to meet his needs. Philippians 4:19. It seems to me that we have moved very far from men like these. Our theology is contemporary, our prayer is shallow, our heart is cold, our ears are itchy. Our understanding of the grace of God is lost in a myriad of failed religious plans based on man's merit and ability to please God apart from a deeper understanding of His unmerited favor. 2 Timothy 4:1-5. All of this Second Epistle of Timothy speaks to this issue.

The Gospel of John

John 17:20-26 It is nice to have someone pray for you isn't it! I know that when things are running smoothly we have a pull from the world that is often the trip wire that causes us to fall flat on our nose. The truth is that there are many believers who are wearing the scar of a skinned nose. If you look into their eyes you will see two very obvious things. One: There will the beam of joy that penetrates you with a sense of peace from the Holy Spirit. Then Two: You will see the pain and suffering of the trials and tests of life in Christ. James 1:2-8 or 2 Peter 1:5-11.

Here we read that Jesus prays for each of us to have the same “oneness” that He shares with His Father. Now, that is awesome and we should be asking the question! Why is this so awesome? To share in the same glory that Jesus shares with His Father is beyond any human experience. To be perfectly one with God almost sounds blasphemous and if Jesus did not say this! Then it would be. To add a little more, this oneness did not begin when Jesus rose from the dead. This oneness has always been eternally existing because the Father, Jesus and the Spirit are ONE!

I would like for us to notice the intensity of this prayer of Jesus. “O righteous Father!” and “I have declared Your Name” As Jesus prays, He is not the least bit fearful of His death, and He has completed faith in His resurrection because the Father has given Him the power to lay down His life and to raise it up again. He is not even fearful that His Father will forget to answer His prayer for you and me. His prayer is like the fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much, James 5:13-18 and Numbers 11:2. Men and woman who are One with Christ pray like Christ. Are you praying as Jesus prays? Don't answer this question since a yes or no fails the test!

The Devotional

What does Papa “J” Say?

Silver and gold are the tangibles of the temporary world around us, while wisdom and knowledge are the intangibles of the eternal World of God. We can enjoy the knowledge of God before reaching eternity, but the sinner? Only the items that eternity rejects. Proverbs 8:9-11

God's grace and human merit. Can these two attributes work together? One is a divine characteristic of the holiness of God, while the other is the best effort of the good characteristic of man. God's holiness is eternal, man's goodness is temporal. Just on this basis alone the eternal things of God far outweigh the temporal things of man. In Ephesians 2:10 the apostle Paul states that we are God's workmanship and that we were created in Christ Jesus. From our human view point we seek to understand this, but I think we should be asking this question. What does this mean to God? The work that God does in the soul of His children is a work of placing “eternity in their heart”! This is a work of recreation. 2 Corinthians 5:17. God does not expect us to utilize the work of the flesh to merit His grace gift. 2 Corinthians 5:18 says; “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” So what does this mean? Romans 4:1-4 helps. Believing in God requires that human merit is totally replaced by faith. Faith to walk in the works prepared by God through Jesus Christ our LORD. Ephesians 2:8-10.

The Gospel of John

John 17:6-19 Answering a very good question: Thanks for your question and thanks for reading.

The Devotional

What does Papa “J” Say?

Wisdom has a perfect voice, is perfect in excellent things, perfect in right things and perfect in truth. If your lips speak wickedness then you do not have this wisdom; you are a proverb in the mouth of fools. Proverbs 8:7-8 and Proverbs 26:7

Grace has some fundamental attributes that are often overlooked in whole are in part. We say that grace is unmerited favor provided by God to mankind. Or we say that mercy is provided by God to people who do not deserve mercy and that grace is the result of God giving to mankind what he or she does not deserve. In the sphere of human wisdom and reasoning these concepts are true, but what about the Wisdom of God? Does grace exist in wickedness in spite of the mercy of God? No! But that does not mean that grace is unavailable within the wickedness of man. First, grace is not based on any merit of mankind, grace is not a cure all in time, it is not activated by energy, nor is grace controlled by the limitations of this universe. Grace belongs to God and abides with God in the limitless quality of eternity. Grace then is very much as real to the child of God as everlasting life is. John 3:16. The new birth via the Holy Spirit brings eternity immediately to the soul and the limitless eternal grace of God becomes available to that soul because that soul has received and experienced the mercy of God, the forgiveness of SIN. John 3:17-21.

The Gospel of John

John 17:6-19 In the LORD's three year ministry He did not reveal His Deity to His disciples. He revealed God His Father to them. Now this is important. Jesus is God in the flesh, there are no others. The past and the present religions and cults claim that Jesus is not enough, these institutions are DEAD wrong. There is a flood of scripture running through my mind at the moment so hold on while I slow down and pick a passage. Philippians 2:5-11

We need to challenge our minds concerning the protection that Jesus has over His Church. Religions and cults seek to make deity from an icon, from the universe or from some man or woman. Jesus states in John 17:11 that He is no longer in the world controlled by the it's limitations. In a few short hours He will go to cross and die a human death. Those whom God calls, He keeps and justifies. Romans 8:30-39.

Jesus is enough, like the song; There is no other argument, there is no other plea. Why? Because Jesus came up out of the grave. He is Risen. Jesus gave His disciples the Words of God, not one word did He hold back from them and all of His Words are recorded by the disciples who followed Him for those three plus years. As He sanctified them in Truth as God is Truth. He sanctifies us daily as we allow Him to speak these same Words to us. Stay in the Word of God, His words carry limitless grace to the soul of him or her who is born again.

The Devotional

What does Papa “J” Say?

My what a wonderful chapter in the Book of Proverbs, I am unskilled in words to respond and I am naive even to the practical things that wisdom has to say. I feel led to listen and be silent while wisdom deals with excellent things my soul needs to hear. Proverbs 8:5-6

Everything on this planet has a limit. Think about it, a day is limited to twenty-four hours. Time is limited to this universe. The energy of one's being is limited by proper rest, eating food and drinking water. All things known to mankind have some sort of limit. Why is that? The Garden called Eden was filled with the eternal Grace of God. When man sinned against God, God did not curse the Garden, He removed His Grace to mankind and replaced it with a curse. He cursed the ground. He cursed the labor of man's work, He cursed the days of man's life, He cursed the production of man and made it difficult for man to earn a plentiful existence. God also cursed the time that mankind would endure life on planet earth. Genesis 3:17-19. This curse is strong and permanent, but stronger still and limitless is the eternal Grace of God that changes all of this for a person when they see that Jesus Christ is the sacrificial Lamb of God. Being born from above, John 3:3 re-opens the door to the wonderful Grace of God. We were DEAD in sin and the Grace of God has made us ALIVE in Christ. This is the most exciting news that the soul could ever hear. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9. If salvation is by works then salvation is limited, if salvation is by grace (which it is) then it is limitless. Even Everlasting = John 3:16.

The Gospel of John

John 17:1-5 Who of us is sufficient for the these Spiritual truths that Jesus shares with us. Certainly our physical beings are not capable of the hour of Glory that Jesus speaks of in prayer to His Father. The apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Timothy 4:8 “bodily exercise profits little” So Our Father is interested in restoring grace to our soul.

Notice that Jesus has power given to Him by the Father that is over all flesh. So, how many has God the Father given to Jesus? All flesh, to me this is not limited atonement, but is the unlimited grace atonement of God. Grace is offered to any and all who come to know God the Father through His Son the LORD Jesus Christ. Jesus saves! Whoever will come, let him or her come and drink freely from the River of Life. Revelation 22:17

God the Father fulfilled this prayer of Jesus Christ His Son, even before the earth was created. Now that is an awesome thought! We labor over prayer, we plead and beg, we promise and say please. We do this because our plight is limited by the curse, but Jesus who is eternally in the grace of God the Father knows that His grace is so sufficient that God has already answered our prayer in eternity and not in time. Thus our cup runs over with grace. Psalm 23:5-6

The Devotional

What does Papa “J” Say?

Where does wisdom get a voice, or for that matter, how does wisdom shed a tear? Wisdom is said to be over the head of the fool. Proverbs 24:7 and if so; why should wisdom cry out from every place created by God or invented by man? Proverbs 8:1-5 Think about this. More tomorrow!

The economy of God is Grace. The word used to describe economy in the bible is used only seven times. Three times in Luke 16 where it is used in a negative sense regarding the unjust steward who for a season of time had charge over a household but did not administer his duties properly. The four other times are; 1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:2 and Colossians 1:25. These are all positive references to dispensations of time allotted to the apostles to reveal the mysteries of God to the Saints of God. As we look into the Economy of God through window of Grace, I am hopeful that we will grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ because we are doers of the Word of God and not just hearers as so many others are who are trapped in religion. Religion in the sight of God is the unjust steward. Notice James 1:26-27 most religions of the world develop a strong showing of good works with the orphans and widows, but these also show the weakness of men who are defiled by immoral conduct and debase minds. It is the grace of God that we are not all consumed. Hebrews 12:25-29

The Gospel of John

John 16:25-33 How many people have you heard say, “I read the bible, but I do not understand what is being said”? I hear that a lot and I am sure that if you talk to people about the Word of God you hear similar comments. Someone once said to me; “Well, I do not need to read the bible, I leave the interpretation up to the preacher and I just believe what they say” Hmmm???

Has Christ Jesus the LORD overcome the world, or should we look for another? Was Christ crucified for naught? Does the figurative language of Jesus leave us groping around in the dark for answers about eternity. Well, all of this nonsense could be true if Christ had escaped death on the cross for the sin of the world. The Word of God, the economy of God, the Grace of God, eternity and every other thing known to man about God, hangs on the truth of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God in time and history.

This wisdom and truth is revealed to the Father's children (you and me) because the plain truth of Jesus Christ is revealed to us by Our Father Himself. Since we have believed in Jesus who came forth from God. God did what man cannot do. He made His Son a sacrifice for you and me in order that we would experience peace in a world of tribulation. So be of Good Cheer, Jesus has overcome the world. Please see: John 14:27 If you have this peace, then it has been given to you by grace through faith and you are an overcomer, like Jesus. Ephesians 2:6