Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it
Mark {3:35} For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
The will of God.
Acts {13:36} For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: {13:37} But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption
By the will of God, David served his own generation. We live by the will of God and we can choose to do the will of God. David died and saw corruption, but Jesus was raised from the dead and saw no corruption. God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus had fulfilled the will of His father and suffered unto death, but when all was said and done, God raised Him to life.
God's will.
1 Thess.
{5:12} And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you
{5:13} And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
{5:14} Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. {5:15} See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
{5:16} Rejoice evermore.
{5:17} Pray without ceasing.
{5:18} In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
{5:19} Quench not the Spirit.
{5:20} Despise not prophesyings.
{5:21} Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
{5:22} Abstain from all appearance of evil.
{5:23} And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{5:24} Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Rejoice, pray, give thanks.
We say if only we knew the will of God we'd do it and yet we are told the will of God in his word and we still don't follow it. Reading that entire section again what actions are pointed out?
1 Thess.
{5:12} And we beseech you, brethren, to
*know*
them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you
{5:13} And to *esteem*
them very highly in love for their work’s sake.
And *be*
at peace among yourselves.
{5:14} Now we exhort you, brethren,
*warn*
them that are unruly,
*comfort*
the feebleminded,
*support*
the weak,
*be*
patient toward all men. {
5:15} *See*
that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever
*follow*
that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
{5:16} *Rejoice*
evermore.
{5:17} *Pray*
without ceasing.
{5:18} In every thing *give*
thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
{5:19} *Quench not*
the Spirit.
{5:20} *Despise not*
prophesyings.
{5:21} *Prove all*
things;
*hold fast*
that which is good.
{5:22} *Abstain*
from all appearance of evil.
{5:23} And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{5:24} Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
*******
Know, esteem, be, warn, comfort, support, be, see, follow, rejoice, pray, give, quench not, despise not, prove all, hold fast, abstain.
There is a lot we should be doing that is the will of God, it's called living our lives in harmony with all we're told. It's not easy when we live in a world where our natural instinct is to do our own will and no other. If it suits us we'll do all those things above, but let us have a bad day where all we care about is our own feelings and who cares about proving all, despising not, abstaining from the appearance of evil? We get so caught up in our own will and when we do that which isn't God's will but our own we need to ask for forgiveness. Ultimately God's will, will be done through right to eternity whether we are following God's will in Christ Jesus or not. We choose to follow God's will, and we choose not to.
May the Lord Jesus our Savior guide us and help us through the power of the Holy Spirit now and forever, by His grace, by His mercy.
Amen.
5/15/10
2Timothy 4:8 (KJV) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
We aren't given a crown of righteousness while here on earth but the crown is laid up for us and it's a crown the Lord, our righteous judge, will give to us.
1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Think about it... there are a countless number of people who put themselves through rigourous training to get a corruptible crown. Countless train all around the world to compete in competitions and in the end there is only one winner in each race. One person out of many that have put themselves through almost torturous training just to gain something that isn't eternal. How much more should we who want to win the ultimate race train to obtain the prize, the crown of Jesus' righteousness. No, I'm not condoning a work for salvation attitude at all, but a spiritual training- seeking Christ the author and finisher of our faith.
Lam 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
We have no crowns here and now, not one.
We can obtain a crown, we can be winners, victors in life all through Christ!
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Promised to them that love him. Given unto ALL them also that love his appearing. Our love for the Lord has to be a real viable thing. Our love has to be something tangible to Him. Do we want the Lord to appear? The facts of the matter are that He will return and we who wish to be with Him will LOVE his appearing- not fear it, not loathe for it to happen, no dreading that day. The question was asked recently about how I'd feel about Christ's coming, am I ready for it and truthfully the answer to that is - I am ready but only by Christ's righteousness not because I've obtain some special place in my life that leaves me believing I'm sinless, God forbit that I ever believe I'm at that place. My Savior is my hope I'm not my own hope. Am I ready for Christ to return to take us home with Him- yes, as long as being ready means knowing it's by His amazing grace and righteousness, through His mercy and love that I can live with Him.
Come Lord Jesus, come Son of God, Son of Man, come Savior, come Messiah, come soon Your appearing is the only thing in life worth living for, nothing earthly, nothing corruptible gives us the hope of eternal life in love with You.
Amen.
5/15/11
Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
No, these are NOT magic words. This is not a magic formula. This was not Jesus saying that he will do anything for us no matter it is. When we ask for something in HIS name, we are asking for something HE would approve of, something we KNOW He would desire for us. All too often we ask for things that we *THINK* Jesus wants for us, or should want for us, but the truth is (and this is the a BIG truth) that all we should really want- is God's will to be done.
Yes, I've been writing about this for a long time now, but everything just keeps pointing back that way and for a good reason- it's truth and a truth we need to comprehend fully not just partially.
Asking in Jesus' name.
If we ask in someone's name what exactly are we hoping for?
If I ask my sister for something in my mother's name, for example, if I ask my sister for a loan in my mother's name, what am I doing? I'm asking her to look at my mother and what she stands for and by my mother's good grace, through my mother's merits I want her to grant me this loan. Now if my mother was against loaning out money for whatever reason and my sister knew this she might just decide that because it's against my mother's will as she's known it that it's not a good idea to give me that loan. My sister might also decide that because she knows I want the loan for something that isn't exactly going to help me in the long run so she denies me the loan. However, my sister might realize it is in my best interest regardless of how my mother felt about loans, and she might think that my mother would have given it to me under my circumstances and with all that in mind I would get the loan from her. Do you see the poor analogy I'm trying to make here?
Jesus will do nothing for us if we ask in His name for something that would be against God's will.
Jesus will do everything for us if we ask for God's will to be done and believe that the answer we receive is God's will.
So when we read these words of our Savior--
Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Whatsoever ye shall ask IN MY NAME, THAT will I do- we have to remember we are asking in the name of our Savior and in His name we it will be the will of the Father that will be done just as it always was in His life.
When we read… if ye shall ask ANYTHING in MY NAME, I will do it… we MUST understand without any question that the ANYTHING is ALWAYS part of God's will. Jesus would do nothing without it being God's will, absolutely NOTHING. So when we dare to ask for something in Jesus' name we need to do it asking wholeheartedly for God's will, not ours.
Does is hurt to ask for frivolous things? Does it hurt to ask for say a million dollars? Most of genuinely would love the security that a million dollars could give us. Security to keep a roof over our heads, a working car on the road, food in our bellies, health care. I'm not talking about asking for a million dollars to spend wildly on anything we have a whim for. Most of us would use it resourcefully, so is it wrong to ask for it? I don't think it is… as long as we are asking that it be according to God's will, not ours. As long as we aren't turning around and chastising God for not hearing us, for not answering us in a way we desire. God knows much more than we can ever, ever hope to know and we are SAFE in Him. And when I say SAFE in Him I mean our ETERNAL life is SAFE in Him. Our life here and now, this flesh life we were brought into the world in, is not the life we will one day have by the grace and mercy of our Savior. We need to live for eternity- beyond the here and now. All the suffering we are called to endure in whatever form it takes- is only temporary.
By His amazing grace and in Jesus' name may His will be done, may the Father's will be done, in our lives now and forever.
Amen.
The will of God.
Acts {13:36} For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: {13:37} But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption
By the will of God, David served his own generation. We live by the will of God and we can choose to do the will of God. David died and saw corruption, but Jesus was raised from the dead and saw no corruption. God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus had fulfilled the will of His father and suffered unto death, but when all was said and done, God raised Him to life.
God's will.
1 Thess.
{5:12} And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you
{5:13} And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
{5:14} Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. {5:15} See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
{5:16} Rejoice evermore.
{5:17} Pray without ceasing.
{5:18} In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
{5:19} Quench not the Spirit.
{5:20} Despise not prophesyings.
{5:21} Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
{5:22} Abstain from all appearance of evil.
{5:23} And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{5:24} Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Rejoice, pray, give thanks.
We say if only we knew the will of God we'd do it and yet we are told the will of God in his word and we still don't follow it. Reading that entire section again what actions are pointed out?
1 Thess.
{5:12} And we beseech you, brethren, to
*know*
them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you
{5:13} And to *esteem*
them very highly in love for their work’s sake.
And *be*
at peace among yourselves.
{5:14} Now we exhort you, brethren,
*warn*
them that are unruly,
*comfort*
the feebleminded,
*support*
the weak,
*be*
patient toward all men. {
5:15} *See*
that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever
*follow*
that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
{5:16} *Rejoice*
evermore.
{5:17} *Pray*
without ceasing.
{5:18} In every thing *give*
thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
{5:19} *Quench not*
the Spirit.
{5:20} *Despise not*
prophesyings.
{5:21} *Prove all*
things;
*hold fast*
that which is good.
{5:22} *Abstain*
from all appearance of evil.
{5:23} And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{5:24} Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
*******
Know, esteem, be, warn, comfort, support, be, see, follow, rejoice, pray, give, quench not, despise not, prove all, hold fast, abstain.
There is a lot we should be doing that is the will of God, it's called living our lives in harmony with all we're told. It's not easy when we live in a world where our natural instinct is to do our own will and no other. If it suits us we'll do all those things above, but let us have a bad day where all we care about is our own feelings and who cares about proving all, despising not, abstaining from the appearance of evil? We get so caught up in our own will and when we do that which isn't God's will but our own we need to ask for forgiveness. Ultimately God's will, will be done through right to eternity whether we are following God's will in Christ Jesus or not. We choose to follow God's will, and we choose not to.
May the Lord Jesus our Savior guide us and help us through the power of the Holy Spirit now and forever, by His grace, by His mercy.
Amen.
5/15/10
2Timothy 4:8 (KJV) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
We aren't given a crown of righteousness while here on earth but the crown is laid up for us and it's a crown the Lord, our righteous judge, will give to us.
1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Think about it... there are a countless number of people who put themselves through rigourous training to get a corruptible crown. Countless train all around the world to compete in competitions and in the end there is only one winner in each race. One person out of many that have put themselves through almost torturous training just to gain something that isn't eternal. How much more should we who want to win the ultimate race train to obtain the prize, the crown of Jesus' righteousness. No, I'm not condoning a work for salvation attitude at all, but a spiritual training- seeking Christ the author and finisher of our faith.
Lam 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
We have no crowns here and now, not one.
We can obtain a crown, we can be winners, victors in life all through Christ!
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Promised to them that love him. Given unto ALL them also that love his appearing. Our love for the Lord has to be a real viable thing. Our love has to be something tangible to Him. Do we want the Lord to appear? The facts of the matter are that He will return and we who wish to be with Him will LOVE his appearing- not fear it, not loathe for it to happen, no dreading that day. The question was asked recently about how I'd feel about Christ's coming, am I ready for it and truthfully the answer to that is - I am ready but only by Christ's righteousness not because I've obtain some special place in my life that leaves me believing I'm sinless, God forbit that I ever believe I'm at that place. My Savior is my hope I'm not my own hope. Am I ready for Christ to return to take us home with Him- yes, as long as being ready means knowing it's by His amazing grace and righteousness, through His mercy and love that I can live with Him.
Come Lord Jesus, come Son of God, Son of Man, come Savior, come Messiah, come soon Your appearing is the only thing in life worth living for, nothing earthly, nothing corruptible gives us the hope of eternal life in love with You.
Amen.
5/15/11
Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
No, these are NOT magic words. This is not a magic formula. This was not Jesus saying that he will do anything for us no matter it is. When we ask for something in HIS name, we are asking for something HE would approve of, something we KNOW He would desire for us. All too often we ask for things that we *THINK* Jesus wants for us, or should want for us, but the truth is (and this is the a BIG truth) that all we should really want- is God's will to be done.
Yes, I've been writing about this for a long time now, but everything just keeps pointing back that way and for a good reason- it's truth and a truth we need to comprehend fully not just partially.
Asking in Jesus' name.
If we ask in someone's name what exactly are we hoping for?
If I ask my sister for something in my mother's name, for example, if I ask my sister for a loan in my mother's name, what am I doing? I'm asking her to look at my mother and what she stands for and by my mother's good grace, through my mother's merits I want her to grant me this loan. Now if my mother was against loaning out money for whatever reason and my sister knew this she might just decide that because it's against my mother's will as she's known it that it's not a good idea to give me that loan. My sister might also decide that because she knows I want the loan for something that isn't exactly going to help me in the long run so she denies me the loan. However, my sister might realize it is in my best interest regardless of how my mother felt about loans, and she might think that my mother would have given it to me under my circumstances and with all that in mind I would get the loan from her. Do you see the poor analogy I'm trying to make here?
Jesus will do nothing for us if we ask in His name for something that would be against God's will.
Jesus will do everything for us if we ask for God's will to be done and believe that the answer we receive is God's will.
So when we read these words of our Savior--
Joh 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Whatsoever ye shall ask IN MY NAME, THAT will I do- we have to remember we are asking in the name of our Savior and in His name we it will be the will of the Father that will be done just as it always was in His life.
When we read… if ye shall ask ANYTHING in MY NAME, I will do it… we MUST understand without any question that the ANYTHING is ALWAYS part of God's will. Jesus would do nothing without it being God's will, absolutely NOTHING. So when we dare to ask for something in Jesus' name we need to do it asking wholeheartedly for God's will, not ours.
Does is hurt to ask for frivolous things? Does it hurt to ask for say a million dollars? Most of genuinely would love the security that a million dollars could give us. Security to keep a roof over our heads, a working car on the road, food in our bellies, health care. I'm not talking about asking for a million dollars to spend wildly on anything we have a whim for. Most of us would use it resourcefully, so is it wrong to ask for it? I don't think it is… as long as we are asking that it be according to God's will, not ours. As long as we aren't turning around and chastising God for not hearing us, for not answering us in a way we desire. God knows much more than we can ever, ever hope to know and we are SAFE in Him. And when I say SAFE in Him I mean our ETERNAL life is SAFE in Him. Our life here and now, this flesh life we were brought into the world in, is not the life we will one day have by the grace and mercy of our Savior. We need to live for eternity- beyond the here and now. All the suffering we are called to endure in whatever form it takes- is only temporary.
By His amazing grace and in Jesus' name may His will be done, may the Father's will be done, in our lives now and forever.
Amen.