8 Those who pay regard to false, useless, and worthless idols forsake their own [Source of] mercy and loving-kindness. Jonah 2:8 Amplified Translation.

From the JFB Commentary ~ (see footnote)

“ ‘Jehovah, the very idea of whom is identified now in Jonah’s mind with mercy and loving-kindness. As the Psalmist (Ps 144:2) styles Him, “my goodness”; God who is to me all beneficence. Compare Ps 59:17, “the God of my mercy,” literally, “my kindness-God.” Jonah had “forsaken His own mercy,” God, to flee to heathen lands where “lying vanities” (idols) were worshipped. But now, taught by his own preservation in conscious life in the fish’s belly, and by the inability of the mariners idols to lull the storm (Jon 1:5), estrangement from God seems estrangement from his own happiness (Je 2:13; 17:13). Prayer has been restrained in Jonah’s case, so that he was “fast asleep” in the midst of danger, heretofore; but now prayer is the sure sign of his return to God."

Internal pressures demand submission to God for abundant life to manifest.  Internal pressures demand external choices.  The individual who has learned to seek God doesn’t escape the pressure, he just knows where to run. Jesus himself said the narrow gate is the one to take and the way is hard or pressing BUT it’s path leads to life.  It’s in the press where we are tempted to follow an easier way.  Its in the press we want to move to self preservation.  Choices must be made.  Pay attention to lying vanities and forsake the source of our mercy and loving kindness or run to God and rest in it. 

Jonah’s choice came as he was moved by what he knew about the Ninevites.  These were brutal and cruel people. I don’t think I can blame Jonah for not wanting to go into this ‘camp” and call for repentance.  Yet God had a plan and out of Jonah’s own mouth, 4:2, he declares, “O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them.”

Gods very nature and heart are revealed to us in the conclusion of Jonah’s story in chapter 4 verse10.  This one verse shows us again the goodness, mercy and lovingkindness of our Father.  And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”   Mercy exalted over judgment. 

God never changes.  He is good and His mercy endures forever.  When we heed ‘lying vanities’, circumstances of our lives which scream louder than God’s goodness, we forsake the mercy that God extends to us.  Jonah took the wide path, the easy road, and learned through some tough circumstances salvation is of the Lord but he did learn his lesson; “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”   Jonah 2:7.

He is the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. Jude reminds us to keep ourselves in the love of God looking (KJV) for the mercy, (ESV ~  waiting for the mercy) of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Footnote 1 ~  Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 685). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

I would have fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

It’s a wile of the devil to move us away from seeing that God is always, only, good to us.  There is the Hebrew word in the OT “Checed” which is rich is its description of God’s goodness.  ‘For the Lord is good and His “checed” endures forever’ is the declaration in Psalm 136, not just once but twenty six times.  

Our ability to not just mentally assent to this truth but live in the reality of it is foundational to our growth and development as His child.   If we do not fundamentally believe that God will be good to us INDEPENDENT of our performance we do not have strength in our foundation.  Our foundation with Him must rest upon knowing, believing and seeing that He is good and He is good to us because of the intense love He has for us.   

It is vital to our relationship that this truth is our grounding in all things.  So much so that Jesus’ great prayer from John chapter 17:26 “ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them, was essential for every disciple to possess. 

Jesus came as the express image of God manifesting the very heart of our Father.  He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. (Acts 10:38) Jesus corrected religion, tradition, doubt, unbelief, confusion, fear, every condition of man that affected his well being and wholeness in order that they might have life and have it more abundantly all because of the goodness of God.  

Checed means loving kindness, acts of kindness, steadfast love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, goodness, devotion.  It is used 248 times in the OT.  The word carries three main ideas and they always interact.  They are strength, steadfastness and love.  One alone does not carry the full implication of Checed.  God in his love moves towards us in his acts of kindness with strength, goodness, mercy, grace, whatever we need to help.  He is stedfast in his faithfulness to us because He is absolutely devoted to our care and well being.  He is not willing for any to perish.  He takes pleasure in those who hope in his stedfast love.- Checed -Ps. 147.11.

There are four occasions in the OT where the testimony of Gods nature is goodness and they are found in Exodus 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17;Psalm 103:8; Jonah 4:2.  Our God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in stedfast love and faithfulness.

Our verse today reminds us when we lose sight of the truth that God is only good, always good, we do lose heart, faint and ultimately give in to the temptation to doubt God.  We stop trying.  We do not engage in the battle. This is exactly where the devil wants us; doubting God and removed from our place of fellowship with Him, which then leaves us vulnerable and capable of being devoured. God is our refuge, a very present help in time of need.  

Again, there is one thing that God requires from us and that is to come to Him believing that He is good and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  We must believe God is good not just in theory but good to us personally. 

Let’s not allow circumstances of life to define who God is to us, but let us be those who choose to believe He is good.  He is at work on our behalf.  He is a very present help in time of need.  

For the Lord is good and His “checed” endures forever.

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” 2 Cor. 7:10 KJV

In working through my own personal issues, I hear the Holy Spirit say to me “never feel bad about growth - never regret seeing or hearing truth”.  These are to be celebrated, never regretted.  For they work repentance in our heart and lead to growth and increase within.  We see this in our scripture today.  Godly sorrow leads us to a place of repentance, when truth is revealed and that to salvation.  

We all have limitations.  We all have those places God is not done conforming us to His image.  I’m sure this is a lifetimes work, continuing until we finally see Him as He is.   

Elihu, from Job’s story in chapter 36 beginning in verse eight, tells Job that if one of us is bound in chains and caught in the cords of affliction, that God declares our work and our transgressions to us, that we are behaving arrogantly.  He, God, opens our ears to instruction and commands that we return from iniquity.  If we listen and serve him, we complete our days in prosperity and our years in pleasantness.  If not, we perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

Over and over, we find from the word of God, the place trouble in our life enters is through a separation between us and God.  Jesus bore our iniquity that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  Jesus bore the nature in every one of us that turns our hearts rom God and His commands. Isaiah 53 calls this iniquity. Jesus bore “every one turning to his own way” that we might be united with him and walk in His righteousness.  

Being one with God is a sure foundation.  It doesn’t promise us an easy path, but it does assure us that we are with Him and He is working, leading and guiding us through all.  Our ears hear and our hearts obey.  Consider it the divine tweaking keeping us on the straight and narrow.

Paul said godly sorrow works salvation, defined from the Greek as a savior, deliverer. Safety, deliverance, preservation from danger or destruction.  That’s a good thing.  
That’s the love of the Father, for what Father is there that does not discipline the child he loves.  Remember Hebrews 12 admonition; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live, knowing He works all things together for our good.  

Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually. 1 Chronicles 16:11

1 Chronicles 16 is recorded as King Davids Song of Thanks after they had brought the ark of God back to Jerusalem and set it inside the tent David had pitched for it and had offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.  David’s sole purpose is found in chapter 13 verse 3: “Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”

The ark was the place the presence of God rested. “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”  Exodus 25:22.  

After King Sauls disobedience, we find the Lord seeking a man after his own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14.   In Acts 13:22 we read;  “And when he had removed him (Saul), he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’  Davids own testimony from the Psalm 27:8reads, “You have said, seek my face. My heart says to you,“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”

Once again, we find seeking God is all about the heart of man and our personal spiritual growth process.  The more we grow in God the more we find it is Him that we inquire for and require as our vital need.  Eventually we come to understand that our strength is in Him.

To seek His face is not the same thing as approaching him on a basis of need.  Seeking His face speaks of knowing Him, his ways, his thoughts.  Isaiah tells us his ways and thoughts are above ours, but it does not say we can’t know them.  The New testament tells us this new covenant that we enter into through Jesus Christ is one that gives to us the fullness of God himself.   Knowing him, knowing his will, having his understanding, are our just some of the things we inherit as his children.  

The Apostle Paul’s prayers are filled with the desire for the saints to know and understand the Father.  What do we need for this day that can’t not be found in Him?
Isaiah reminds us as we wait upon the Lord there is a divine exchange .We are renewed, we are refreshed, we are strengthened with might by His Spirit in our inner man.  We are filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  The Spirit shows us things to come so we are prepared for the day. Grace abounds.  Mercy is not restrained. Favour flows.  Light dispels darkness.  The joy is unspeakable and peace mounts guard over our hearts and minds.

Oh Taste and see that the Lord is good.  

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places....Ephesians 1:3

In the midst of our enduring we can either keep our focus on Him or our focus on our circumstances.  If we keep our focus on Him, we see over and over again the goodness of God to us.  We remember His love and mercy is given daily to us.  Grace abounds and Ephesians reminds us we have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. We have been blessed in the beloved.

When we focus on the Lord, we are choosing to exalt Him. To magnify Him means make Him bigger than what we are facing.  Worship is the key to all overcoming.  This verse in Ephesians is a word of praise rehearsing the fullness of the blessing we have from our Father in Christ.  Since the Father seeks worshipers and we are a royal priesthood to show forth the praises of Him who has (past tense) called us out of darkness and into His Kingdom, this is a good place to start in not forgetting His benefits in a season of endurance.  

Ephesians goes on to tell us the first blessing is adoption. Our hearts cry Abba Father.  What Father withholds life from His child?  He has chosen us to be His very own, sealed with His promised Holy Spirit.  All that He has, has been given to us through His son, Jesus Christ.  A spiritual blessing that alters our daily reality.

 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight  making known to us the mystery of his will. Redemption, forgiveness, abundant rich grace lavished on us, wisdom and insight into His will are all spiritual blessings that alter our daily realties.

As His child, we truly lack for no good thing because of the blessing we have been given in the beloved.  All of heaven stands at attention to serve the Fathers commands.  The Father waits on the one who simply chooses to believe and trust Him.  

Just remember - have been blessed.  
Keep your eyes on what you do have right now and not what you don’t.  
The pool of your natural resources are found in Christ’s spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.

My son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. Hebrews 12: 5-6

I’ve been writing recently about discipline and what we learn as we wait on the Lord.  The waiting process does reveal all of our heart ~ good and bad.  

Our verse this week addresses us as children that God has received. It assures us all God’s dealings with us are ALWAYS done because He loves us. He is UNWILLING for any of us to perish in any way.  Yet as in any child’s growth process, there is a tendency to ignore or minimize what the Father is saying or simply be weary of hearing it said over and over again.  

Where does our weariness come from when reproved by Him?  Can it be that correctionspeaks of His rejection of us? Do we feel that God is disappointed with us? Do we think correction is disapproval of us?  Does it make us angry and sulky?

We have two admonitions in the verses above.  The first is to not make light of the discipline. In other words, don’t blow it off.  The second is not to be weary when we are reproved by him. Both of which occur when we do not have a right mindset about our Fathers motivation and purpose for correction.  

We have earthly Fathers who disciplined us as it seemed best to them and we respected them.  Many of us suffered unrighteously from what “seemed best to them” and that ‘correction’ often did carry rejection. To unlearn this and to allow the revelation enter into our heart that ‘God is good and only does good’ is huge. The end goal is to submit to the Father of our Spirit and live. To achieve this we might need to change our perception about correction and develop deeper depths of fellowship with our heavenly Father.  

Reproofs of instruction, Proverbs tells us, are the way of life.  We are reminded from James to receive instruction with meekness.  Jesus says, He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit is saying.  Above all, we must remember The Lord loves the ones He disciplines.  Earthly fathers did what seemed best, but our Heavenly Father does exactly what is best for us.  

All correction is to keep us on His path of life so that we are able to fully enjoy life as He has it.  Our admonition is not to regard it lightly nor be weary when reproved but remember love and life are with it. 

Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud to those who go astray after a lie. Psalm 40.4

The danger I’ve found in the endurance and discipline test is the mind games we play as we wait on God.  Psalm 40 is King David’s song about his help and his deliverer.

I said last week that the greatest revealer of our trust level is our ability to praise him in the midst of our troubles - our worries - our fears.  David remembers and rehearses the care of the Lord towards him. 

He waited patiently for the Lord.  The Lord was inclined to him and heard his cry.  Through out the OT we have record after record of the children of Israel crying out to the Lord and him responding to their call for help. Davids Psalm is filled with acknowledging and remembering God’s goodness.  

Hebrews 13: reminds us that the Lord is our ‘help’. This Greek word is Boetheia which is from two words meaning; I cry out and he runs in response to that cry.  He is our helper.  We are not to fear our circumstances, we are to fear the Lord; and with reference to our verse today, we are not to turn to those who go astray after a lie.  It is always pride that leads astray. 

Pride is best defined as “I will ascend” my thoughts, feelings, choices, above God’s will.  Isaiah 44:20 says a deluded heart leads us astray and then we are not able to deliver ourselves or say “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”  The greatest danger of disobedience is the ultimate pride that settles in without us even recognizing it.

We are not to turn astray after a lie.  The danger of any long term condition in our life is the potential to adapt to it.  Psalm 78 reminds us as the children of Israel endured 40 years in the wilderness they tested God . They did not believe in God nor trust his saving power. We are instructed NOT to conform to this world but to be transformed by renewing our minds to what God has said.  

The world would have us adapt to it’s system of manna, it’s medical system, it’s parenting system, it’s family system etc. It’s take great determination to move away from a world system and it’s belief to trust solely in God’s promises and the longer we stand the greater the pressure to take the easy way out.  With the pride of man, the exaltation of our will to be our own saviour and deliverer, we find the lie we embrace leads us astray.

It’s is the redemptive act of Jesus that heals us from going our own way.

It is humility that moves us to the throne of Grace where mercy is handed out and help comes.

It is the Spirit of Truth that works to hold us in the light of the world to illuminate our hearts and minds and it is His grace that enables us to stand firm and resolute one more day as we wait upon the Lord.

Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds... James 1: 2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1: 2-4

We’ve seen from Hebrews “it is for discipline (training) that we endure”. Jesus tells us if we endure to the end we shall be saved (experience not just heavenly salvation, but wholeness) and now, here in James, we find the ultimate goal of all trials of all kinds are that we might be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Again, we are being groomed to conform to the image of His son. All circumstances we face are to work in us to produce the character of Christ. My heart responds and reflects what I am lacking and the circumstance is designed to move me to “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

James says, Count it all joy. Paul affirms in Romans, we rejoice in our suffering. How can we do that unless we understand and believe there is something in all of the events that is working for my good. Even though I might not see it, I must believe it. This is the ultimate expression of trust - in everything give thanks.

From the NLT in Romans 5 Paul writes ~ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

To move from a place of frustration and despair in the midst of adversity requires a focused mind and heart on the purposes God is working in our lives. Sometimes the pressure is so great we can lose sight of the Fathers heart and care for us, yet God is not a man and he does not respond like man and we must stop trying to personify God.

Ps 8:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Steadfast love and faithfulness go before Him. He sits on a throne of grace, where we are told to come to find mercy and receive grace to help in time of our need. He is faithful to walk us through, showing us the way of escape. Thus, we count it all joy when we meet up with trials.

Are we saying that God sends the temptations? Nope, we are saying He works in them and all the workings of God are good ~ so, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13 ESV

Jesus’ promise for our endurance is salvation.  Salvation is not just making heaven but is promised wholeness at the end of the trials we’ve faced. We saw from the book of Hebrews 12:7 it was for discipline that we had to endure.  Discipline is about training.  Every situation in life we find ourselves in works in us to produce a greater level of Christ like character with the ultimate goal to love others as He has loved us.  

We have been predestined as His children to conform to the image of His son. Until we learned our lesson, training continues. None of us have arrived to the perfect son but we do strive for that standard where we are able express nothing less than His character in all circumstances.  

Paul wrote that in all situations God is at work in us and he works all things together for our good. In these two scriptures lie His supernatural hand working to conform us into His image.  

John chapter 15 tells us that Jesus is the vine and His Father is the husbandman.  The caretaker, the one who works with the vines and branches (which we are).  These branches are trained to grow in a certain direction.  Pruned when needed and removed when they are no longer bearing fruit for His purpose.  Welcoming and scary thoughts at the same time. 

While we come to know our Father as the one who cares for us we are willing to be submitted to the Father of our Spirits and live.  When we continually resist or refuse the training process there is the danger of being removed.  Its the age old argument, are we eternally secure?  Are we once saved, always saved?  I don’t suppose its a question for those of us who are always moving towards confirmation and adoption as sons.  

Suffice to say, in the situations of life, we must endure until the end to find His wholeness manifested in us. We are NOT enduring if there is no patience.  We are NOT enduring where there is anxiety, worry and fear.  We are NOT enduring when there is no rest in God.  We can only properly endure unto salvation as we stay vitally connected to him.  Disconnected we are fruitless in every area of our life. 

There are without a doubt many training lessons we must endure, but the overall goal we must come to terms with is seen in Jesus.  From 1 Peter 2:22-23, He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return, when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to him who judges righteously.  

Count it all joy when you find yourself tempted and remember we’ve not yet resisted to the shedding of blood.  Learn the lesson. Endure to the end.  Develop the character that expresses Christ and find the wholeness in life God has designed for every son and daughter.  

It is for discipline you must endure...... Hebrews 12:7

In English, discipline is understood as the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior.  

The Greek word From Vines Expository Dictionary discipline as paideuo (παιδεύω, 3811) primarily denotes “to train children,” suggesting the broad idea of education (pais, “a child

), Acts 7:22; 22:3; see also Titus 2:12, “instructing” (rv), here of a training gracious and firm; grace, which brings salvation, employs means to give us full possession of it, hence, “to chastise,” this being part of the training, whether (a) by correcting with words, reproving, and admonishing....

Thus Hebrews 12 goes on to say our heavenly Father does it for our good.  

Romans 8 reminds us that for those who love the Lord, all things work together for our good and the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, grace abounding,    

It is for discipline we must endure circumstances. We wait upon the Lord to show us the way of escape because we are able to bear up under whatever we face by His grace and faithfulness.  For when we are weak, then He is strong.  ‘His grace is sufficient’ is a life’s lesson we learn through our endurance. 

We all usually start our lessons well, in a place of trusting God to work, but seem to cave in when the race turns into a long haul; when endurance itself becomes the test.  

All testing reveals the heart of man.  The dross comes to the surface and needs to be removed in order for a vessel to be fitted for the masters use.  Yet, I think, we all resist- and many times- resent the process, but James tells us that patience must have it’s perfect work for us to be complete and lacking nothing.  It is for discipline that we must endure.  

If discipline is about training, and endurance is about discipline, then the question must be asked ~ what am I learning while I endure?  In every circumstance we must learn and relearn that we are not our own saviour.  We cannot be our own God.  Our hope and trust must remain firmly fixed in Him and this can all be judged by our expression of praise and thanksgiving....count it all joy. 

If we consider Job, like James 5:11 instructs us to do, we see that Job learned a few things through the troubles he faced. In lack, in sickness, in family, in friends, Job suffered and had no understanding of why this was happening or why God was not seemingly intervening on his behalf.  Aren’t these the very questions we ask today through the long haul? 

Aren’t we often all like Job? Frustrated with the waiting, wondering why God isn’t working and why something is taking so long?  God’s response is still the same to all and I’m thankful Job was recorded for every one to have the ability to be instructed.

Job 38 begins with God asking “ Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words.  Gird up your loins for I have some questions for you and you must answer them.”  This question reminds me of 1 Peter 5:5 where it says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  The word resist there means that God arrays himself in military like fashion and stands against the proud.  Gird up your loins, would say to me, God is withstanding Job.  How do you contend with the almighty and win?

  Beginning with chapter 40 He asks again, Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers.  Job, is beginning to see the reality of his words and answers, I am nothing, how could I ever find the answers?  I will cover my mouth with my hand.  I have said too much already.  I have nothing more to say.”  God, continues,  “Gird up your loins because I have some questions for you and you must answer them.”  

Finally in chapter 42 we see Job’s revelation and reply to the Lord.

“I know that you can do anything and no one can stop you.  I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things too wonderful for me.  I take back everything I said and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

James reminds us that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, let not that man think he will receive anything of the Lord.  Do we lack wisdom?  We are instructed to ask the Lord, not question His purposes or works.  

If we “learn” to stay vitally united to him, there is the joy and peace that comes because we trust Him.  We believe He is working and know He will show the way through andthe end of the matter is as Job found and James 5:11 tells us, the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

We must find ourselves willingly submitted to the Father of Spirits to live.  Even in our lack of understanding, our questions should never be about His righteousness, justice, faithfulness or love for our hope must be kept in Him.

It is for discipline we must endure.  

There is something to learn.

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world 1 John 2:16 ESV

This thought begins with verse 15, to love not the world nor the things in the world. Not an easy thing to do when you live in the world.  The force of worldly love is strong enough to pull you from ‘of the world’ to ‘in it’.  The only thing I know of that holds this in check is the awareness that this is not our final destination.  Hebrews 13:14 reminds us that this world is not our permanent home but we are looking forward to a home yet to come.  This is our hope, thus, we do not fashion ourselves after worldly elements. 

The word ‘love’ in our verse is the greek word agape which means a self sacrificing, lay your life down for another, kind of love.  The only place this agape comes from is theFather, given to us by the Holy Spirit.  This love ensures us that we have passed from death, the dominion of sin, and have been translated into His Kingdom where we are to experience and enjoy life. We love Him because He first loves us.  

How is it then that we can take the love He gives us and pour it out on things that do not profit?  How can we spend and be spent on something that has eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear and have absolutely no power to save, heal or deliver?

When we invest ourselves into the culture and the thinking of this world we are transformed into images the world can relate to, understand and approve.  Yet the Bible tells us clearly we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  We are to be “re-newed” in the spirit of our mind. 

Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 11:3 that he was concerned the church would be deceived by the same cunning strategy Satan used on Eve which would then lead them astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  Jesus prayed from John 17 that while we were in the world we were kept from the evil one.  

There is no denying the pull that is in the world through these three things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, yet all these are heart issues that can be kept under through the attachment we maintain living and abiding in HIM.  

Deception occurs when we continue to look at something long enough to change our mind about it.  Im hearing the Holy Spirit saying ~ Stop looking at the tree.  I understand this to simply mean, the things that would lead us away from our devotion to Christ must not be considered.  It was as Eve considered the tree, that she was able to agree.  The tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye and it could make you wise and she took the bait that hide the hook.  God didn’t say the tree wasn’t desirable, he simply said don’t eat from it.  

God doesn’t deny the reality of what the world seems to offer, He just says it’s not our fountain of life.  It is not our well of salvation.  

I’m assured that Jesus is coming again for His church, and that church is without spot, wrinkle and blemish.  Let us not be deceived into thinking His church is less than what His blood has purchased.  Pure, holy set apart for the Masters use.  In the world, not of it.  In the world, not defined by it. In the world, not adapting to it. 

For this purpose was the son of God manifest.... 1 John 3:8

Purpose is defined as ‘the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists”. There is a powerful truth in the statement ‘we misuse a thing when we don’t understand it’s purpose.’

From the book of Hebrews, we find that Jesus had a body prepared for Him for His purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.  We find from Acts 10:38, Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil. His life was offered as a sacrifice on the cross to redeem mankind.  

Understanding the Lord’s purpose for life is essential for a fulfilled life.  We are created with purpose by the very hand of God.  We are his workmanship created for good works which God prepared for us before we were ever born. The bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that for His purpose.  

Paul on the road to Damascus, meets Jesus and finds himself asking the question, who are you and what must I do?  With eternity created in man, we all seek to answer this very question.

 From Ben Campbell Johnson’s paraphrase on the book of Romans we read Paul’s purpose. “I am Paul, a loyal follower of Jesus Christ.  I havebeen given a special commission to speak God’s good news, so I center my life around it.   

If we look at the life of John the Baptist we see John confident in purpose - I baptize you with water unto repentance.  He understands his set boundaries; there is one coming who is greater than I.  He must increase, I must decrease. This did not diminish John, rather it defined him.  

We are destined to find our ultimate fulfillment in achieving the very purpose of our unique creation.  When we try to duplicate others the fruit is conflict. When we compare ourselves to others the fruit is frustration.  Our expression is only clarified through intimacy with the Father.  

Do not confuse purpose with methods.  Methods change, but our purpose is constant. By living in union with God, we experience wholeness of life and fulfillment giving ourselves to the very purpose of our creation. 

Jesus answered, Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Mark 12:29

If I were to ask you, what did Jesus say was the most important commandment, you would probably quote verse 30,..”and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and while loving God and loving your neighbor is absolutely our command, Jesus began by telling us the Lord our God is one. This phrase is unique to Marks gospel in the New Testament. 

The profound truth of being able to love is found in the oneness we have with the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is the very love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that enables us to love ‘even as’. Could we say the very word ‘love’ is the personification of Jesus? 

In the beginning, we observe the unique workings of each person of the Godhead but still unanimous in purpose. We find the body of Christ, unique in graces and parts, but one in purpose.  Psalm 133 tells us from this place of unity, God commands His blessing of life evermore. The Fathers heart and motivation is love and he achieves His purposes through the union He has with the son, the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ.  

We find Jesus praying in John 17 for the oneness he has with the Father to be known and shared by us. Verse 23,  “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me”.   It is in this oneness that the world knows and perceives the love of God.  

In John 15, Jesus tells his disciples that we are to remain vitally united to the vine.  Apart from this vine we are not able, not capable, of doing anything from a place of oneness with them. Consequently we are unable to offer anything more than our own human efforts.   

Our Father reminds us that divorce can only occur within a hard heart and that it is a violent act, covering ones garments with blood.  Mark 10:5; Malachi 2:16.  His cry is for us as His children is to abide in Him and His word to abide in us.  This is to be our standard and our guide for life.  We measure our lives, our hearts, by the willingness we have to submit to the Fathers ways and word.  

Our New Testament admonition is for His body to be of one accord.  Nothing done through strife or selfish ambitions, but in love esteeming one another higher than self.

I read from Brother Lawrence in Practicing His Presence, that Brother Lawerence practiced living as if each individual was Jesus and asked himself the question, would I do this if this was Jesus?  Would I say this, if this was Jesus?     

We are growing.  We are conforming. It does take time.  We do have to practice.  We will make mistakes but how gracious He is, as we lean into Him, to reveal Himself to us and make His ways known that we might be perfectly one.

But he answered, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 ESV

There are two words from the Greek translated as WORD: logos and rhema.  Simply stated, logos is the written word of God. It’s alive with potential waiting to be released.  Rhema is the spoken word; often it’s a portion of the written Word of God as it comes alive in our hearts. We live, or possess the ‘Zoë’ life of God as we feed on the rhema from God’s mouth.  

Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts is the admonition of the New Testament.  Daily we stand, to hear what the Spirit is saying to us.  He provides us with the living bread we are to feed on for this day and the green grass that nourishes us.  This word is a fountain of living water that refreshes not only our lives, but overflows to others. 

As we move through these days, the rhema of God becomes increasing more necessary for us to navigate our times.  It isn’t enough to simply know what the logos says, but we must position ourselves for the Rhema of God daily. Proverbs 8:34reads, Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. 35.For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”  From this chapter in Proverbs we find that wisdom was at the beginning of creation, daily His delight.   Shall it be less so for us?

From the books of John and Genesis, we discover the beginnings, the order of God for man.  In the beginning was the word, the logos, John 1:3 “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. Genesis 1:2-3 we read; And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  And God said.... 

This spoken word and the working of the Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to our daily well being.  The Spirit of truth “hovers” each day waiting to create the works that God has ordained, written for our lives.  He brings to our remembrance all things that Jesus, the word, has said. He reveals the heart of the Father and gives to us the mind of Christ.  

Thus when we embrace what He is saying and agree with the Rhema that has come to us for the day, the word in our mouth is as God’s when he said ‘light be’.  All things become possible as logos becomes Rhema with the Spirit hovering over the sown word.  

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, Exodus 3:11-12 ESV

What do you do when the Lord requires something out of you that you believe is bigger than you?  You grow up.

We all like to think we are looking for God to enlarge our borders and give us great opportunities, but one of the things I am learning, is that the opportunities I want and the ones God gives me aren’t always the same thing.  His opportunities require us to come up higher, believe better and find more grace. His opportunities stretch us beyond all the comfort and security zones we’ve built.  

It’s not just the devil we fight but our own personal fears and limitations.  We can be so self centered that we convince ourselves God’s wisdom equals avoidance of hardship and trouble.  The Psalmist wrote, He alone makes me dwell in safety.  What times I am afraid I will trust in you.  He is our safe refuge, our strong tower, a very present help in time of need.  We know these things, right?  Yes, we know them, but do we walk in a way that proves we believe them?  

I’m reminded of two other Old testament events- both challenging the mindsets of the people involved.  The first event is the twelve spies and the second is Gideon. Both examples show how the people’s perceptions of themselves as grasshoppers, weak and least, challenged their ability to believe God could use them.  

The point is, it is not about our ability, it’s about how I perceive Gods.

God said to Moses, “But I will be with you”.

From Numbers 14:9 we find where Joshua encouraged the people saying, “ Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”  To Gideon, in Judges 6, the angel of the Lord, said “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

When the door is set before us, we can be assured there is the grace to walk through it. The question we must all answer is, ‘will I commit to God and move through the door?’ 

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Luke 9:57

Jesus gives us all many opportunities to follow Him and when they come there is always a press that accompanies it.  A pressing out of self preservation and control and a pressing into Him to walk through the door He has set before us.  

I believe the church is living in a now season of greater works.  A kyros moment in the Kingdom where the favour of God and open doors are abundant.  Revelation tells us God is the one who opens a door and no man can shut it.  Think about it, when God opens a door, there is grace and favour to walk through it.  Paul said, those doors of opportunity were met with adversity.  If we are not careful, the adversities seen or feared will prevent us from taking the opportunities, thus the press.  

Faced with opportunities and open doors, we run the gamut of our christianized thinking.  We count the cost.  We consider wise stewardship. We ask ourselves has God really said?  BUT when the questions are asked in hopes of finding a way out, we will.  

The individuals in Luke’s gospel all had a heart to follow Jesus.  The first thing Jesus told these followers was ‘the son of Man had no where to lay His head’.  In other words, he was always moving about to do the Fathers will.  Another individual needed to attend to his fathers funeral and another wanted to go home and say goodbye to his family.  

When the opportunity is set before you it must be seized.  The door must be walked through. Jesus replied to those who had said ‘let me do this first and I’ll be right back’, “those putting their hand to the plow and turning back are not fit for the Kingdom." 

We satisfy ourselves with the belief that we aren’t really turning back; we are just not doing this now. We think we can attend to this one thing first and then come back to the door.  Delayed obedience is still disobedience. God’s timing is perfect.

Jesus knew his time had come.  Jesus was prepared.  Jesus accessed the grace to yield to the Fathers will and commit himself to His care.  

Shall we do less?

“For with the heart man believes” Romans 10:10

Proverbs 4 reminds us to guard our hearts for from it flow the issues of life. It is from the abundance of our heart our mouths speak.  It is the things that we carry within us, according to Mark 7:15, that defile us.  It is the heart that God looks upon and judges from.  

I’m struck today by this verse simply because of something I read in Mrs. C. Nuzum’s book, the Life of Faith, c. 1928 where she wrote, “There is a head faith and a heart faith.  Head faith brings us nothing. Heart Faith brings us everything Jesus secured for us.”

Head faith would be the knowledge of God but never seeing the power working on your behalf.  jesus said faith the size of a mustard see would move mountains.  We’ve tried to turn faith into a formula and it can’t be done.

Faith is the absolute conviction and confidence that God is.  Faith moves us into God.  Faith holds us in Him.  Faith keeps us one with Him.  When my heart is fixed trusting in the Lord, my mouth is right, my actions are right, I am right.
For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and confession is made unto salvation,  A daily reality for perfect rest, spirit, soul and body.

With the head we see, we understand, we reason all from a natural perspective. The head doubts, questions, and is moved by what it sees and hears.  All of these will keep us from inheriting the promises of God.  With the heart, man believes what he can not see. By faith he understands and does not doubtingly question the promises of God.

Faith simply accesses grace and stands in it, resting and rejoicing as God works. Head faith grows weak and fails when the promise tarries.  Heart faith is assured in due season the promise comes because He watches over His word to perform.  

The Lord told Moses to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
Jesus told his disciples the work they were to do was believe.

Head faith struggles to understand how and when. Head faith has expectations.
Heart faith is content to watch God work in His way and wait on Him, knowing he does not fail us or forsake us and He is working all things together for our good.

For with the heart man believes and inherits the promises of God.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11 ESV

Amplified Bible
I have told you these things that my joy and delight may be in you and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.
 
Hebrews 1:9 tells us Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy by the Father because he loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.   The Amplified bible expounds this verse to read, You have loved, delighted in, integrity, virtue, and uprightness in purpose, thought and action and hated lawlessness, injustice and iniquity.  We know from studying the life of Jesus this very character was displayed throughout his earthly ministry.  Jesus said in Johns’ gospel his desire was to teach those followers the things that would bring them into the full measure of His joy.

In society today, much emphasis is placed on happiness. A definition for ‘happy’ is feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.  Most of us spend the majority of our lives trying to control external circumstances to experience ‘happy’. Jesus’ personal circumstances were not always ‘happy’ and yet His joy was full. Happy has to do with external HAPPEN-INGS, and Jesus lived from the inside out.  Joy is internal.  Joy is a work of the Holy Spirit.  Joy flows from our connection with the Father.  Joy comes from living with a clear conscience, being and doing right in the Fathers sight.  From John 15:8 onward we read the foundation Jesus sets for fullness of joy "... My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Verse Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."

Jesus has never given a commandment that He has not given us the ability to keep.  It just has to be done through the grace He gives and by the power of the Holy Spirit requiring us to be one with Him.  

The Pulpit Commentary states in regards to John 15:11, “.... the words are more simply explained by Lange, Meyer, Lucke, Westcott, Alford, and Moulton, as the communication to his disciples of his own absolute and personal joy. "The joy that is mine," like "the peace which is mine," is graciously bestowed. A joy was set before him, the joy of perfect self-sacrifice, which gave to his present acts an intensity and fullness of bliss. It was this, in its motives and character and supernatural sweetness, which would be in them. If they receive his life into them, it will convey not only his peace, but that peace uprising and bursting into joy; and he adds, in order that your joy may be fulfilled, i.e. perfected, reach its highest expression, its fullness of contents and entire sufficiency for all needs.”

From Jesus great intercessory prayer in John 17, we read from verse 13,"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

It is the intent of our Father for His children to live from this place of fullness of joy.  

A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Psalm 133:1 ESV

This Psalm goes on to say unity is like oil that runs down from the head upon all the body and it is the place God commands the blessing, life.

I began to think of all the places the bible speaks of being in one accord, everyone saying and doing the same thing, being of one heart and one mind.  This just can not be done apart from God.  Jesus’ greatest intercessory prayer for His church was that we would be one.  One with the Father. One with the Son. One with each other.  

Separation occurs when the heart removes it’s connection with God. When we hold fast to the head, everything about the Father, His love, His word, His spirit work to maintain vital unity.  It is simple deception to believe that we are one with God when we are separate from our brother.  You will remember from Malachi that God hates divorce.  Jesus said divorce is only allowable because of the hardness of heart.  God doesn’t hate the people, God hates what it does to them.  It is a violent act to separate one.  When we think of divorce we think in terms of marriage, yet the very principle is sound when it comes to the body of Christ.  God’s heart is for us to remain vitally united to him and to each other.

If God sets the members in the body as it pleases him, according to 1 Corinthians 12:18, and we remove ourselves from Gods ordained position, there can be no righteous unity in the place I’ve ordained for myself.  Mankind’s universal sin is the propensity to walk in his own way and do what is right in his own sight.  As believers, it is easy to continue this with clever Christianized justification.  Finding others who will affirm our sin. Offense or un-forgiveness will never make us right in the sight of God. It requires a returning to the Lord in repentance and restoration of relationships.

God looks at the heart of man. It’s not about what we perform.  We can look good on the outside while holding disdain and dishonor in our heart. Discord, division, in the body comes as a high price, we lose the place of God’s commanded blessings, life.

1 Corinthians chapter 11 gives us the picture of a body of believers lacking honor for its members. The disdain in the way they ate their meals without a care for the poor among them was a reproach. The apostle Paul went on to write that without judging the Lord’s body properly, a right union with God and a right union with the members, many are weak(sick and infirm) and many sleep (die).

We want to walk in the fulness of the blessing of God.  We want to enjoy the abundant life God has given us in Christ Jesus.  It does require a heart that remains open, embracing and honoring every member.  

Believing the best and honoring the brotherhood works to hold our hearts in a place of unity.  This is His way that promises the oil to flow and the blessing of life for us individually and collectively.  What God has joined together let not man put asunder.

Desire without knowledge is not good and to be overhasty is to sin and miss the mark. Proverbs 19:2

While God does give us the desires of our heart, He also gives us wisdom and understanding.  There are no short cuts with God in determining His will.   It takes time with Him to bring forth wisdom and understanding. His wisdom is a hidden treasure to be searched for.  

The ‘desire’ is the entrance into the purposes of God, but a wise man mines out the wisdom and understanding needed to build.  By wisdom a house is built, by understanding every room is filled.  Wisdom was with the Father in the beginning.  Wisdom was daily his delight as he created. Hosea reminds us destruction comes because we lack knowledge and yet the Father tells us in James, if you lack wisdom, just ask. The Holy Spirit living within each of us, fills us with the knowledge of his will with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Since the Father is withholding nothing from us, we are assured as we seek, we will find.  As we knock it is opened.  He freely gives us everything needed for life and godliness.

Verse three of Proverbs19 reads ~ the foolishness of man subverts his way (ruins his affairs) then his heart is resentful and frets against the Lord. AMP

NLT ~ People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.
ESV ~ When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.

The book of Romans gives us a principal to govern our lives - whatever is not of faith is sin and from 1 John 3:20 we find if our conscience condemns us God is greater than our hearts. Every step must be rooted in our confidence that God has said- this is right.  That confidence sustains us as we move.  The just shall live by faith.  When circumstances arise, as they always do, our faith is challenged and if we have not taken the time to build our steps from wisdom and understanding, we will falter.

"Perverse mankind! whose wills, created free,
Charge all their woes on absolute decree;
All to the dooming gods their guilt translate,
And follies are miscalled the crimes of fate."
Homer from Odyssey Book 1.

We would never equate secular writings with the scripture of Life, but isn’t it interesting to note that even the best philosophical minds see the folly of man-albeit it through a glass darkly.

It would serve us well in our relationship with the Father, if we could simply allow the Spirit of Truth to work in us and show us any place we walk in presumption.  

He who willfully separates and estranges himself (from God and man) seeks his own desire and pretext to break out against all wise and sound judgment.  Proverbs 18:1

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the heart.  Proverbs 21.2

Our desire is to walk in His ways and rest in the blessings He brings.  Culture breeds impatience.  The Father works in us to rest in Him laying aside the ways of the world The knowledge of His will and His understanding works His peace in us in the midst of our circumstances to keep us stedfast in Him.