Rahab, my sister!

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:20-26

What an awesome section of scripture and one of my favorites. "In the same way...", not in a different way, in the same way, Rahab was considered righteous. What an offense. To the Jews and his fellow brothers, James is teaching that Rahab and Abraham are considered righteous in the same way. The reason they are considered righteous is simple, what they believed about God, caused them to act. By believing in God, they then acted on that belief. This is the very point where so many of us struggle.

Take heart children of the Most High. Believe in Him and then as He brings situations into our lives, act. Let us be ever sensitive that in God's view His daughter Rahab (the prostitute) is considered righteous in the same way as Abraham (father of nations). Let what we do in response to loving God and others perfect our faith.

Leia Mais…

See My hands...

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:26-30

I have not seen Jesus. I have a very dear friend who sometimes says, "how is it that we believe what this little black book says". He is referring to the bible. I usually say the same thing, "I don't know, but we do". Not a very strong position, nor is it defensible. This can be maddening to some, and to me at times. But, the short sweet truth is we believe without seeing. We believe simply on the testimony of the disciples.

What an awesome scripture this is to those of us who confess that we simply believe what these men experienced and wrote down about Jesus. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed. Go ahead Thomas stretch out your hand and touch the wounds inflicted on Me for your sake. Touch and believe because you have seen, now stop doubting. You believe because you have seen, blessed are those who believe without seeing. Thank you Thomas, and Jesus.

Take heart.

Leia Mais…

To be seen by men.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. "This, then, is how you should pray: "

'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matt. 6:5-15

Our heavenly Father who is unseen. Our heavenly Father is unseen and we go in quiet to pray to Him. There in the quiet He sees us and hears us. What a revelation if we will receive it. In these last days when christianity is hip and acceptable, what a revelation it is to stop all the hype. Go in the closet and pray. What a multitude of people stand up in public, time after time, week after week, desiring to be seen by men, fulfilling the role of hypocrite. I have done it, I am guilty of it, and I am no better.

Praise God, for His forgiveness. Let us receive His mercy and then the strength to change. May we be different. It isn't enough to know or even to agree. We have got to be changed by these teachings. May we stop seeking to be seen and the approval of men, and stop giving it. These brothers and sisters are being hindered when we turn a blind eye to the hypocrisy that Jesus Himself called out.

Forgive us Father of our debts. The great debt You have forgiven through Your Son Jesus and teach us to literally forgive others. Not only in thought and word, but in deed and truth. Change us Father and teach us how to keep no record of wrong. Help us to understand why we can't be forgiven if we ourselves don't offer forgiveness. Heal our hearts from the wounds they have suffered and give us the mind of Jesus to cry out for forgiveness for those who sin against us.

Leia Mais…

In spite of this, we do not trust...

Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go. Deut. 1:29-32

Who is "them" for you. I have several. They are very real giants to me. I can't be unfaithful, I can't say that the Lord has not gone before me. They saw the pillar by sight, but I see it by faith just as clearly. I hope to see Father's pillar by sight some day, but if not I still believe. My faith stops, just as theirs did, at the point I have to believe God is going to fight the giants for me. I have simply to go in and inhabit and watch Him fight. Just as they were asked to go in and inhabit and God was going to give the land to them as a possession.

Blessings to all of you who have forged ahead into the land of the giants. Blessings to all of you, who like me, stand on and look in fear. Blessings to those who don't believe in any of this and think it to be absurd. For in the end we are but flesh and blood and subject to the Creator of all things. His end will be met. Eventually His children did go in and face the giants and they possessed the land. Let us take heart, speak life, be of good courage and face our giants, believing that our Heavenly Father will fight for us.

He has taken us this far, Father take us on home.

Leia Mais…

Our nature is sinful.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Gal. 5:16-26

Forgive me for changing the font size in the list of the sinful nature. We readily recognize orgies as sinful, but do we see our selfish ambition as sinful as going to an orgy. This is, in my opinion, why we struggle so much as a body of believers. When I sow discord among my brothers and sisters, and I do, the result is the same as if I had gone to an orgy. The sin of envy runs reckless through my life, wreaking havoc, and bringing me into the slavery of the sinful nature. It chokes out freedom and life. This is what I have been experiencing lately.

The sin in my life that I was not willing to face as sin has been bringing me into bondage and choking out the Word and Life. The result is I am critical of others, judgemental, and full of doubt. I praise God that I believe Jesus is faithful to forgive us when we confess our sins. He also tells us to confess our sins one to another, so I openly confess these things here, with you all. Let us confess and be healed. The war that rages within me is between my sinful nature, and the Spirit. Unfortunately for the past several months I have been helping the sinful nature win. I praise God that Jesus is patient, long-suffering, and kind.

Let us take heart together. Jesus is so merciful, HE IS MERCY. Let us learn from Him, accept His mercy, and be merciful with one another.

Leia Mais…