Meditate on this!

When seeking to accomplish a task greater than one can legally do, a person or group may say; “I come in the name of so-in-so who has the legal authority. Emergency personnel do this all the time and their works prove who they are, just as Jesus does in John 14:7-11

Power in simple human terms is defined as motive or potential but I believe that this is looking at the energy of the word from the bottom up and not as God does from the top down. Notice if you will the statements of Jesus in Matthew 9:1-8. First He forgives the sin of the paralytic and He is charged with blasphemy by the ambulance chasers. Jesus replies; “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, or say, arise and walk”? (Arise and walk looks easier, but the statement lacks power and is not easily justified). Then Jesus says, “That you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house”. Jesus uses faith in His Father and neutralizes the scribes accusations by using the same power used in forgiving and healing the paralytic. So does this provide ample information about the power of God? By His Word, God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1. By His Word, He rebukes the wind and the sea and there was a great calm, Matthew 8:23-27. By His mercy we are not consumed, because His compassions toward us do not fail, Lamentations 3:22-23. The apostle Paul puts the power of God into action with the words; “LOVE never fails.” Walking in the power and authority of God with our neighbor, friend or loved going in the healing power that overcomes the world… faith working through love. A power that works from the top down; 1 John 4:17 through 1 John 5:1-5.

James

James 3:1 – For all teachers of the Living Word of God this is a verse that can be very alarming. Early in my personal relationship with the LORD Jesus I knew nothing of this verse. Then while preparing to teach in Hartford, CT one Friday evening I stumble across the words, “receive a stricter judgment. I though! Oh boy… I am in trouble now! As time has gone by (30 plus years) the LORD has calmed my heart over this subject and I hope that for all teachers of the Living Word of God that your heart is calm. Remember, Jesus calms all storms.

James 3:2 – none of us are perfectly mature, but in more places than here in the Epistle of James we are challenged to be perfect and complete and to be ready in season and out of season to give convincing evidence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? Because there is, as the Day of the LORD draws nearer a falling away of many who will not endure the solid foundation of DOCTRINE. Many already today have fallen from truth and have turned aside to contemporary fables, calling for reformed theology as if it were necessary. Bah! Humbug!

What is necessary then? Should we bridle the tongue and force ourselves to speak only from the KJV as some would dictate? I do believe that all of these translations of the Living Word of God has placed a dark and confusing cloud over doctrine, but again 2 Timothy 4 does not mandate us to teach from just the KJV, but as the apostle Paul charges Timothy by challenging him to endure the affliction of those who apply a stricter judgment to simply do the work of the evangelist and fulfill the ministry that God has given you. This same charge applies to all who preach the Word.

Meditate on this!

There is but one command to align the church of God with the glory of God. I believe we are still seekihg to get that command in the cross hairs of our faith. John 13:31-35

A diving officer on a submarine must have first hand confidence on several levels before he submerges the ship. He must know the weight in tonnage; the Ship’s Diving Officer who is normally the Supply Officer will provide this information for the diving officer who submerges the sub after leaving port. This is just one small vital statistic along with other essentials; like air and hydraulic pressure systems, electrical and nuclear power systems. The list of vital information does not stop; communication and administration, all departments must be ready. There are many hatches, valves and other openings throughout the ship that need to be shut, for example; torpedo tubes. All watch stations will report to the diving officer when they are ready to dive, then the Chief of the Watch will report to the Diving Officer that all departments are ready to dive and that he has a straight board, meaning that all hatches, valves and openings are shut. All of this takes time; the ship will not be submerged until all is ready. There are at least two more factors before the Diving Officer can dive the submarine. He must also know from his Quartermaster of the Watch that the ship has enter a depth of water sufficient for diving, and he must have the Captain’s permission. You may say wow! That is a lot of responsibility to place on one man’s shoulder and your remark would be right and wrong! The crew of the United States Submarine is a qualified assembly of men who submerge the ship. The Diving Officer has faith in his qualified crew who report their readiness to dive. When the Trumpet Sounds and the dead in Christ raise first, then we who are alive will be caught up to meet Him and them in the air, this will be because the Bride of Jesus Christ is ready to meet their LORD. The Holy Spirit will agree with the season of time and God the Father will give the okay; the time and season is right, John 13:31-35; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Revelation 4:1-4.

James

James 2:1-13 – James uses the rich and the poor to evaluate faith. The assembly of today’s church is no different, but there is a greater depth too this partiality than many of us care to think about. Many of us brothers and sisters in Christ show partiality in other ways; because of personality traits or cultural differences we isolate people. We look for stumbling blocks to place in our way so that we do not have to mingle. The church family suffers under conditions like this as found in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.

There is nothing new under the sun of the New Testament church, we stumble in the same things that all churches have stumbled over during the last two thousand years and we wonder why we are still waiting for the LORD’s return. Our remarks and ways of dealing with people, whom God has saved, make our churches lack in faith and power. While we do not cripple the power of God to save, we willingly cripple the ones He does save and maybe this is where we get into trouble. LORD! You saved who? Now she is in my church and in my face at least once a week; well okay… I just will ignore her!

Our partialities are evil in that we willing separate and form little pockets of friends that seem to be okay to fellowship with. While this is partially seems okay it leads to evil. In using the rich and the poor as an example; but not using the monetary element. A rich faction of saints in the word may not be rich in faith, thus the poorer person who is striving to fit in may be rewarded since they may be richer in faith. Faith demonstrates value to God when we love our neighbor as our self. Mercy triumphs over judgment, thus we have liberty to live within the boundary of the New Commandment. John 13:31-35. Partiality is a murderer and an adulterer in the life of the weaker saint who is affected by it.

Meditate on this!

Most of us do not like a confrontation. It is like seeing the snowball at the top of the hill gathering speed and density. Nothing can be done to get out of the way; yet for purpose and plan you stand your ground, the hour has arrived; God is glorified and so has JOY. John 12:27-36 and Psalm 22:1-31.

During the early days of submarine duty the boat I was on was stationed in Spain, we swapped crews about every one hundred days. While the ship was in port being fitted out for the next patrol at sea we would have opportunity to go ashore and meet the local people. Most of the men went to the attractions that sailors like most, but there were a few of us who went to a place called Victory Villa. Yes I know that I have talked about this Villa before, but it is worth another mention. No longer are the Polaris Class submarines home ported in this small town called Rota, but the area is still very active with the U.S. Navy and other branches of the service. Ever so often I visit the Villa by internet and over the years this outreach to the military is being very effective in furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of the things I miss most about those days is the close family effect of having all things common as described in the Book of Acts. Outreaches and missions have this framework and the evidence of Acts 4:32-37. To some degree our local churches have lost this joy of the LORD, Revelation 2 and 3 give us an account of all churches from the day of Pentecost until the rapture of the church found in the very next chapter of Revelation, Revelation 4:1-4.

James

James 1:21-27 – The Word of God is like seed and as we have said before; the Holy Bible makes many references to this truth. Luke 8:4-15 and notice Luke 8:11. If we intend to plant the Word of God in our soul then we must be willing to lay aside all filthiness and abundance of wickedness. (Now why would James say that we are filthy and wicked?)… Because it is true, go look at your natural makeup in the mirror. Not a glance but a sincere look! We have an abundance of evil lurking within our natural mind and you very well know it.

Being meek is not cowering and waiting for the axe to fall; meekness understands our bankrupt condition before our Holy God. Meekness is the bottom wrung of the ladder of repentance, the turning away of everything that distracts us from doing the Word. If we are distracted in the least way we will only hear the Word and we will be deceived. There are many hearers of the Word and there are few doers. Doers of the Word of God know who they are in Christ; hearers on the other hand forget. They forget the cost to God for their salvation. Repentance is not forgetting who you are, repentance is not returning too who you are.

The law of the Living Word of God is liberty, liberty to continue being a doer or in other words to continue to grow in faith that produces works which is blessed of God. Religion does not provide the liberty to be blessed of God. Religion does not go beyond the call of duty simply because it forgets to be a doer. You may say; “I see religion feeding the homeless and visiting the widows in their distress so what do you mean? The motions of religion are nothing more than unrepentant people who have forgotten who they are before God. The works that religion does is not rewarding or blessed.

Meditate on this!

The Holy Bible clearly states that all people will die; I have not met one person who has or can make this statement false, but I have met One Person who has died and who is risen again. Read the question He asked Martha in John 11:26, then prayerfully answer the question as Martha does in John 11:27. For context read John 11:17-27.

One time in a snow storm I was attempting to make it to work. The vehicle was new with less than fifty miles on it, as I exited off the interstate I noticed two cars against the guard rails with the drivers outside waving their hands and arms franticly. Tapping the brakes I noticed that the vehicle had no traction and did the very same thing those two men did, I tried to push the brake pedal through the floor board. Of course this only made things worse. Shooting up a prayer; “LORD… we just bought this car, LORD make those men move out of my pathway… LORD help! About that time there was traction and the car shot to the left avoiding the crash and into a few inches of soft snow. It all happened so fast, the men in the pathway did not move and surely I would have hit them. Now many would attribute this to some natural cause, like a clear area on the pavement, but why didn’t the other vehicles find this area as well, I was right in line with their paths. I would much rather give God the glory and praise Him for answering my plea for help. Does God say for naught? Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, that you do not know” Jeremiah 29:12 or 33:3 No God means what He says to us, but it does require faith to believe Him and please Him. Hebrews 11:1-7.

James

James 1:19-20 – James is writing to the dispersed tribes of Israel; his brethren. As he did not understand at the time that his epistle would end up as a preserved canon of the Living Word of God, we should not be critical or ignore the epistle for the truth contained in it. Being swift to hear is a constant problem among peoples of all nationalities. No one listens and why is this? “I know! I know!” this is not the definition of being swift to hear, but it is a fool hearty expression of being swift to remain ignorant.

Another critical problem of mankind of all cultures is the over powering effects of people who have a condition of the lips, I call… “Motor mouth”, before you finish your first sentence, you hear the all too familiar sound of ignition. Then there you are suffering through the “S” curves and the red lights of “no need to go there”. These are people who are not good stewards with the details of life, since their detail is based on their narrow minded view of life and not the Word of God even if they use the Word to prove their point.

Left unchecked, this type of individual will always give way to wrath; wrath is different than anger that does not lead to sin. Wrath and rage never takes into account the conditions that cause anger to develop; wrath and rage do not comprehend conditions. The truth is wrath and rage do not comprehend anything other than to express ones emotional revolt to circumstances; circumstances that would normally produce the righteousness of God in the trials of life. Qualities of character are not evaluated by emotional reactions to the details of life. These characteristics are developed by faith in the exceedingly great and precious promises of God, which is not a motor mouth event, but a grace/faith event. 2 Peter 1:2-11.

Meditate on this!

Imagine having something you’ve enjoyed all of your life, only to find that a major portion of it has been stolen from birth! Jesus is the only one who can restore or rebirth that which was taken by the thief. Why? Jesus is the only One who laid down His life and picked it up again for you… this is the Abundant Life to us who believe. John 10:7-18

Now what about yesterday… why was the email late. My answer is: I don’t know! I did hit the send button at 7:30AM and even watched the necessary functions and felt assured that all was normal. But as you well know I resent about 5:30PM. I wanted to say something about the many ways of manipulating people these days. For example; if you are out to purchase a vehicle you will be taken advantage of by “honest John’s” dishonest training. Or, if you plan on making a change from cable to satellite television, phone or internet services you need to be very careful. Those who you deal with to acquire changes which you desire for the better are shrewd; they are trained to exact from you every penny of what they learn from your mouth. Key phrases used; &ldquoo you still have a loan on your trade-in?” Your answer, “no”, the next question, “Great, how much was your monthly payment when you had the loan?” The ticket price is not the bottom line, but what you can afford to pay out on a monthly basis. If you answer the question the salesperson knows how much you can afford, monthly. On the other side of the coin; “how much are you currently paying for your internet, telephone and cable? Again, it is not what the monthly cost should be, but what you can afford each month to pay. If you tell them they will offer you a packaged “bundle” that is just a bit cheaper and good only for twelve months. Proverbs 22:1-7. Good stewardship in all areas of life means that you will not be a slave to worldly greed.

James

James 1:17 – I do not know of anyone who does not wish to receive a gift, even though someone may play down getting a gift, when one is received you will see them light up. Now there are different reasons why people shun the idea of having a gift. We have no time to get into these, but what we do have time for is that when a gift is received by anyone… it is most always conceived of as good. Yet in the good; the world around us produces material gifts that are not perfect since there is with the gift in many cases a shifting shadow or a variation of mystery.

Does this carry over into our faith in God? Most certainly it does so faith is the foundation of things (gifts) hoped for and faith is the confidence needed (Hebrews 11:1) when the object is not seen. Worldly gifts are seen with the eye, touched with the hand and realized by our other avenues of perception. In other words we see the limits of material gifts. So to take the next step in the gifts that God provides to each of His children is to understand that God is not limited.

James 1:18 – For example; by His own will He brought us out of the domain of darkness and placed us into the Kingdom of Light; the Father of lights (my little light will shine). By His Word of truth, of which we responded too when we heard of the good news, (Acts 4:10-12). There is no variation in the gospel of Jesus Christ; there is only one message. Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves! Thus we are; along with everyone who believe… the first fruits! In the Spirit we produce the aroma of fresh fruit. Ephesians 5:1-2.