Too See His Face

1John 3:2 "It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is".

The present condition of the believer, not looking at its imperfection, is a state of much joy and honor. Looked at in the light of faith, it is inspiring, for "now we are the sons of God". We are near to God's heart as his children. We are nestled under the wings of God for protection. We abide in his tabernacle for communion.We feed in his pasture for our daily provisions. With all this, our earthly existence is not a life which we would desire to be have forever. It is as a pilgrims journey, a sailors voyage, a soldiers warfare; and we look forward to its end with joyful expectation. Oh to see the face of the Man who took our place.

"It doth not yet appear what we shall be", as we are veiled and we travel through this world incognito. Our master was not known here, His glory veiled in flesh, His deity was concealed in infirmity, His power hidden under sorrow and weakness, and his richness buried under poverty and shame. The world knew him not, for he was made flesh. "But we know that when he shall appear". We speak of our Lords appearance without doubt, for we know. Our faith is so sure it becomes knowledge. He will appear surely, and so we speak of it as a date for our own manifesting." When he shall appear" . Oh the hope, the glory, the bliss, the fullness of delight which surrounds this great appearing. We shall be like him, having  a body like his body, sinless, incorruptible, painless, and spiritual. Having a soul like his soul, Holy, perfect, instructed , developed, strengthened, delivered from temptation, conflict and suffering. We must be made something like him now, or else we shall not be found like him at his appearing, see we must be born again to see this change.

"We shall see him as he is". This glorious sight will perfect our likeness, this will be the evidence of our being like him as only the pure in heart can see God. God showed power in making us creatures but love in making us sons. Behold what glories come out of our being sons of God! Let us not rest till by faith in Jesus we receive power to become sons of God, and then let us go on to enjoy the privileges of son ship.

Are You Sure?

Luke 2:44 " But they supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought Him among their kinfolk and acquaintance".


Are you in the company of Jesus? Are you sure? Many believe they are but in fact He was left at the temple. We sometime have a tendency to think we can take Jesus everywhere we go, but the truth of the matter is you can't just take Jesus anywhere, He won't be a part of your mess or the work of the evil one. Jesus is God and can't dwell in ungodliness.

Here we see that the parents of Jesus was at the temple for worship, upon leaving they assume that Jesus was with them. They went a whole days journey before realizing that He wasn't. First it is a dangerous thing to go a whole day without communing with Jesus. Without praying to Him, leaning on Him and calling out to Him. We must be careful not to be so wrapped up in personal affairs and worldly matter that we go all day without fellowshipping with the Lord. When did you last speak with the Lord? Are you in His company or are you supposing that He is in your company. Have you left Jesus in the temple or are you in His company about His Fathers business sharing the good news of salvation with a dying world.

We who profess to be children of the Lord must know without a shadow of a doubt that we are in the company of the savior. We do this by being about the Fathers business and not being wrapped up in worldly matters and personal agendas. Let us not assume that Jesus is with us let us make sure we are with Him...................

Walk The Talk

1Thessalonians 2:4 "But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts".

Paul and his companions were treated harshly in Philippi because of their faith. But they refused to stop spreading the good news. They traveled on to Thessalonica and spoke boldly once again about Christ. They could have chosen to be more guarded and less open, in light of the abuse they had just received in Philippi. But their approach was not to give the Thessalonians believers a slice of life, sharing the Gospel, and then hiding, holding up some where safe, but rather to give them the whole loaf, by sharing the gospel and their life with the believers.

The Thessalonians likely could see how Paul worked, making tents. They seen how he conducted his business, his quality of workmanship, and how he went about making sales. They could see how he and Silas got along together, how they shared what the had, and how they lived out their faith in the community. How they lived the life they proclaimed. As believers, we have people looking  at us too. There are many people in our lives with whom we may share the Gospel, but who see only slices of our faith in action.(people who see us on Sunday's or at other weekly church functions).But God also places those in our path who get to see the whole loaf, those with whom we are sharing our lives, as well as the Gospel. These include our spouses and our children. Often though, there may be young or weaker believers in church who may be watching us, or co-workers, friends, and other people we might associate with regularly. How might we open up and share the whole loaf of bread with them . How might we be a living testimony of our Lord and Savior.

Paul and Silas offer up a good example of whole loaf living. They shared, not just the Gospel through words, but they showed how to apply what they were teaching to everyday life. Often it is the testimony of our lives, along side the Gospel that authenticates the message in the eyes of those around us. Even though our lives might be busy, full of activity and even a great ministry, it's important that we take time to nurture and encourage, to teach and train those believers God has placed in our path. Sharing our lives with them can positively impact their perspective on the Gospel as we faithfully live it out before them. Being doers of the word and not hearers and Sayers only. Ask yourself this question daily "Am I living a life today that supports the Gospel message I Proclaim?" 

The Fruit Of Salvation

Galatians :22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such is no law".

 "A tree is known by the fruit it bears", yet as a tree takes time to grow and mature,  the spirit does not cultivate these virtues into a believers life over night. But just like you can see the evidence that it is a fruit tree before it bears fruit, there should also be some evidence in the believer of the nature of God. With the death of Christ, all who believe are born of the spirit of God, and exposed to the fruit of the spirit, the true nature of a child of God. 

We have been blessed with the fruit of God's Spirit, and we are now to walk through life bearing God's nature. A nature made up of Love, a willing sacrificial giving of oneself for the benefit of others. Joy, a gladness of the heart; Peace, a tranquility of mind, free from worry and fear; Long-suffering, being patient with others; Gentleness, kindness; Goodness, generosity; Faith, is dependability; Meekness, having consideration for others; Temperance, is self control, the ability to harness and control ones lust. God has absolutely nothing to do with sin, it is not within His nature. Therefore being born again with the nature of God, we are not to surrender ourselves to the lust ,will and desires of the old nature. We are to walk bearing the fruit of God's nature, in the fruit of God's spirit. Now notice the word fruit is singular not plural, the Holy Spirit has one fruit, God has but one nature, but it has been broken down into a list of traits to help us understand His nature. When the believer is blessed with God's nature, all the traits are present, but time is needed for all to mature.

At conversion every believer crucifies the flesh, that is in repentance we have turned from, renounced and destroyed all that held us in the life of sin. We have forsaken all our evil passions that we might walk in the nature of God. All of our earthly children bear some, if not all of our characteristics, and if we have been born of the nature of God, we too should bear His characteristics and nature. 

We Deserved Hell

Romans 3:10-11 "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God".

The scripture tells us all have sinned, therefore we all deserved Hell but With God's intervention to help us change, we have all have been offered a chance at heaven. Without God our natural nature will always choose to do that which goes against God's word, His will and His way. But it is God's will that we be transformed and repent that we might have everlasting life with Him. God provides a way to remove the sentence of death that hangs over us, without excusing or condoning our old sinful ways and unrighteousness. He sent his son to accept for us the penalty of sin. If we willingly turn from a wrong way of life, God is more than willing to substitute the shed blood of our Savior for the sentence of death we brought on ourselves through our sins.

Christ solemnly warned a crowd" Unless you repent you will all likewise perish", but really, what is repentance? We rarely hear the word repent anymore, and few understand what it means. Repent refers to a change of heart, a shift in ones thinking, a transformation of purpose with emphasis on modifying one's conduct. Though Christ came to take away our sins,we still have our part to do. He didn't come to save us in our sins or while we continue in sin. If one is pardon from a crime he is expected to cease from his criminal acts, not to continue in a criminal enterprise. Like wise Jesus death saved us from sin and we should turn away from sinful acts, deeds and thoughts.

True repentance requires both a belief and a doing. One has to by faith believe that Christ has died for their sins, and through the water baptism truly believe they have put to death the old man and his ways, and  has risen a new creation in Christ and with Christ. But having faith in Jesus is not just simply believing he is our Savior, it is  also believing his message, his promises, and His instructions and  governing ourselves accordingly. Christ once asked" why do you call me Lord, and not do the things which I say"? When we truly repent we stop doing what is wrong and start living in harmony with God's ways and laws. We stop our willful and deliberate sinning. Repentance should  include a sense of shame and sorrow, for genuine repentance our lives must change. True repentance is a gift from God, He leads us to that point if we respond positively to His working with us to open our minds, and he gives us understanding of His Word and ourselves, thus showing us the things within we must change. We deserved Hell, but Christ died that we might enter Heaven.

My Sin For His Righteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

Jesus Christ death; the message is unbelievable, a message of redemption, that is a substitution for sin. This is one of the great verses proclaiming the unbelievable love of God. It is impossible for man to grasp the fact that God made Christ to be sin for us, yet that is exactly what the scripture says. He who knew no sin made to be sin, for the sole that sinneth shall surely die, so for man to live He had to die.

Did He die in vain? Why was this act necessary? Because man needs more than just righteousness to stand perfect before God. To stand righteous before God is not enough, for man has already sinned. Man already stands guilty of breaking God's law, and the judgment and condemnation of death has already taken effect upon man. So the condemnation and judgment of sin had to be taken care of. God did this by laying all the sins of man upon Christ, all the guilt and condemnation of sin, God placed it all on Christ and let Him bear it all Himself. God's purpose for this was that we through Christ death, might be made righteousness of God in Christ. When a person really believes in Jesus Christ, God takes that man's faith and He counts it as righteousness. The man is not righteous, but God considers the man's faith in Christ as righteousness. God does this because he loves man so much, that he sent His only Son to die that we might have a right to life. Jesus secured righteousness for man. He came into the world to die for man. He came and arose from death and thus conquered death for man, thus His resurrected life could stand for the resurrected life of the believer. But did Christ die in vain in your life?Have you accepted this truth?

The truth is this God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much, that He honors any man who honors His son by believing in Him and believing Him. When we sincerely trust Christ, God takes that faith and counts it as righteousness, thus He judges us , and treats us, as though we are innocent. We are not innocent, us and God both knows this, but God counts us as innocent because of our faith in Jesus Christ. To God we have died with Christ and rose a new creation. He took our sin that we might have His righteousness.

An Ever Present Help

Hebrews 3:1 "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus:"

When you have a problem have you ever considered Jesus? Did you know he is a way out of no way, and a problem solver; When troubled or burdened, look to Jesus for He is an ever present help. When anxious, look to Jesus, He is a peace, which surpasses all understanding; In all you do look to Jesus the Christ our ever present help. Let Him be the head of your life, let Him govern your life.

Jesus is kind, and sympathetic, He wept for Lazarus, wept over Jerusalem, and He feels for all who are burden. He asked that we cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. He is compassionate, He healed the leper, He looked upon the multitude with concern just before feeding them. He had mercy on the blind man who cried out to Him, and Jesus suffered and bled and died on the cross to save those without strength, sinners, and the enemies of God. He is our perfect example to follow. He is our teacher as He has set forth the perfect plan for salvation and life. Teaching us the way, the truth and the life desired of us from the Father. He is our Savior a perfect sacrifice for an imperfect people, for He provides flawless redemption. He is our High Priest, our advocate as He stands in the gap as our  bridge over the troubled waters of sin leading us back to God, and observing and providing our every need.

So no matter what situation you find yourself in be it lost in darkness in danger of eternal damnation, or just struggling to go through the day, look to Christ Jesus Gods gift to all mankind, and our ever present help