He Finds His Elects No Matter Where They Are

If we could only see how beautifully God is building His Church we would stop creating denominations, stop the fight, and stop feeling superior because we are not one of those who got it wrong.

I went to a training there was time allocated for testimonies to help us see how God is working all over the world finding His people even if they are in the bushes. So, a mild manner Indonesian man came forward to share his testimony. His English was not that good. Sure they were paying attention to him but as I looked around the room I realized most people there did not see the beauty and power behind what this man was saying.

Perhaps it would have been the same for me too, had God not taken me apart for a moment, it felt like the room was empty and I was the only audience. I heard a voice whispering to me “can you see behind all these?” But I could see it because He was showing it to me. This man was a monk all his life and he shared while in the monastery, among all those idols God kept appearing to Him in dreams. Through dreams only He taught the man to know Him. He opened his eyes and his heart. Of course I am giving you the gist of it when you consider his testimony lasted about 45. (he was given 15 minutes) While this man never said the sinner prayer, he was saved because he had an encounter with the God of Salvation. He was born again. So, he left the monastery for good to find a church to get baptized.

As I was looking at the man, I could see he was filled with the Holy Spirit. I like the fact that he was so grateful that God found him when he was in a place where no one could touch him. I could see his heart was full of love for Him. When he finished talking, I shivered and I had teary eyes because I realize it does not matter where we are and which bushes we are hiding under. It does not matter the mess we are in right now

God will find those who will make up His Church.

If we could understand what it’s all about, we would chill out and submit to our Master and Savior to accomplish His will through us.

Possessors of the Faith Vs Professors of the Faith

I have been sick with sinus infection for the past two days. So, I am going to keep it short.

When you are a possessor of the faith God’s Word is perfect in your eyes. No need for duplicity, no need to find loopholes and you carefully examine the Scriptures with your heart and the goal is to submit to His Word. Christ becomes more precious to you than everything else and you are guided solely by His Word. You walk in the truth with a spirit of submission because your life is His to do what He wants with. His plan and goal for your life are what matters to you. You also understand His Word from His point of view because you know Him.  Over the years, you keep decreasing as if you are disappearing while He is getting bigger and bigger in your life. Hence I must decrease He must increase. If you want me to make it simple, you are a possessor of the faith and you are living true Christianity when you have taken Christ within.

The best way I can explain what a professor of the faith looks like is to give you an example.

I know a family who has been Christians for decades and decades. We are talking about thirty years and more. After all these years of bible reading, prayers, serving in the Church, going to the mission field etc they are no where close to possess Christ. They all have hard hearts; they lie to each and other people as easily as they breathe. There is a callousness of consciences that is hard to watch. There is a darkness of the soul that comes out in the things they do, that you cannot help wondering how on earth they have not noticed that unbelievers are better human being than them. They are still counting on God’s love to make it to heaven and the fact that they said the sinner’s prayer.

While this is one example of how this family is living a Christless Christianity, for some of us it is more subtle. However, we can recognize where we are if we do not recall at any point that Christ has increased in us while the self has decreased. If we have no recollection of having conquered the evil self chances are it did not happen. We still have bitterness, bad temper, greed, jealousies and all that is associated with the flesh are prevalent in our heart. Your life is self willed, you are uncommitted, and you are living with a spirit of disobedience. You fit the picture of those who are twice dead as mentioned in Jude.

Beloved, we should care whether we are possessors of the faith vs professors because it matters to God. May we learn to examine our hearts and not afraid of asking ourselves the hard questions now, so we can correct the course of our lives. When we die, we not only have to answer for those hard questions we have been avoiding, it will also be too late.

Christian Progress - Part 8 Last Part

It is now 1:00 AM and I have to be up and running in about 4 hours and a half. I decided to put my blog out very early just so that I do not waste time.

As I am reading the questions John James is suggesting that we use to examine ourselves I am covered by a sense of sadness. Why you might say? Because this is the Christianity I have learned at His feet.

I am no better than anyone else, in fact my life is so lousy that I do not want to talk about it. Also, I am truly what you would call an unlearned, yet I have no idea why He chose to teach me in the way He taught me. I have no idea why He chose to reveal so much of Himself to me. I promise you that anyone of you who meets me in heaven, since nothing will be hidden, then you will know how much at one point I begged Him to stop revealing Himself to me because all I wanted was Him. I am telling you the truth, I actually begged Him to take this unlimited grace and pour it on someone that would be more useful to Him like my pastor. I prayed and begged because I felt those experiences would be wasted on me.

Why am I telling you all these things? Because I am trying the only way I can to make you understand how much so many of us misunderstand Christianity.  I can see the danger so many of us are in, at the same time I feel powerless because at the end of the day, the next step belongs to you. You would be wise to consider John's  questions, take them to heart. Take them to God. Don’t lie to yourself because God will be God and you would end up hurting yourself with your lies

When we go to God with our doubts and unbelief, it does not matter Satan knows them, if our hearts are open to God and we are truly seeking Him at any cost and by any roads, then Satan cannot hurt us with the information. The only time he has power to hurt you is when he knows you want God but you have your own agenda that you want Him to take into consideration and you are not willing to budge on them. Open up your heart and trust Him. Please do not make the wrong choice.

I love you all and I leave you with John’s last reading

                                                           John A James, 1853


                                ADDRESS TO THE READER
Reader, this is an unspeakably important chapter for you to ponder. You must not pass from it in haste—but linger, and muse longer and deeper. You must now take up the candle of the Lord, as I have said, and go down into the very depths of the soul, to search its hidden recesses. Nor should you trust to your own inspection and scrutiny. Like David, you should earnestly pray to God to search you, and reveal your real state to you. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 

Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." He knew how prone we are to self-love and self-deception; how sin lies hidden in the folds of the heart's deceit, and therefore he begged the trial and scrutiny of eyes more piercing and less partial than him own. So must you. We are all liable to judge too favorably of our own case. Do, do, consider the fatal, the dreadful, the eternal consequences of a mistake on this subject.

Oh, the idea of imagining we are going on to heaven, when step by step we are advancing to hell! Is this possible? It is! And the very possibility should awaken our alarm. Is it probable? It is! And this should increase our alarm. Is it certain? It is! And this should raise still higher our anxiety. Is it common? It is! And this should carry our solicitude to the highest pitch. What did Christ say on this matter? Read with awe and trembling. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Matthew 7:21-23. Read, I say, this passage in which our Lord with his own hand, sounds the alarm through the whole church. Ought you not to examine? Is not there need of it? Is it not all but madness to go on without it? Mistake! What in such a matter as salvation? Mistake! What in a matter in which an error will require, as I have often said, an eternity to understand, and an eternity to deplore it!

Are you quite sure this is not your case? Take up the subject, then, and put the following questions to your soul.

Am tolerably sure that I am truly converted to God? Am tolerably sure that I am a real Christian?

If I am a true Christian, am I really an advancing one—or am I mistaking a declining state for an advancing one?

Am I mistaking a lengthened time of profession—for a genuine growth in grace?
Am I putting an increase of knowledge, and of ability to talk about religion—in place of an increase of holiness?

Does it satisfy me to grow in knowledge and lamentation of my corruptions—without mortifying them?

Am I mistaking sectarianism—for true piety? Am I mistaking attachment to some preacher—with love to the truth? Am I mistaking zeal for some favorite doctrine—with real love for the gospel?

Is my mortification of sin confined to some one corruption, which interest, ease, or reputation may require me to surrender; or is it directed against all sin?
Is my religion a mere excitement of the emotions, and my growth only a greater excitability; or is my will more and more determined for God, my conscience more tender, and my life more holy?

Inquire, I beseech you, into these things. Be determined, by God's grace, to know the real state of your soul, and to be under no mistake. Be this your prayer, "O God of truth, you who search the hearts and examine the thoughts of the children of men, you know I would not for ten thousand worlds be deceived about my spiritual state. 

You know me through and through. Make known to me what I really am in your sight. Painful as it would be to find out that I have been deceiving myself, this would be infinitely better than for me to go on in error until the mistake is past being rectified. I want to know my real state. Even if I am a Christian, and yet mistaking declension for progress, I wish to know this also. Let my spiritual insight be clear, my self-acquaintance be accurate. Do not allow me to deceive myself—as regards my spiritual progress or decline.

Christian Progress - Part 7

John A James, 1853

2. Distress is sometimes felt in consequence of mistaking a clearer view and deeper sense of depravity, for an actual increase of sin. This is by no means an uncommon case. The young Christian seems sometimes to himself to be growing worse, when in fact it is only that he sees more clearly what in fact he really is. In the early stages of true religion we have usually but a slender acquaintance with the evil of our sin or the depravity of our heart. The mind is so much taken up with pardon and eternal life, and even, indeed, with the transition from death to life, that it is but imperfectly acquainted with those depths of deceit and wickedness which lie hidden in itself. And the young convert is almost surprised to hear older and more experienced Christians talk of the corruptions of their nature. It is almost one of the first things one would suppose they would feel, yet it is one of the last they effectually learn, that true religion is a constant conflict in man's heart—between sin and holiness.


At first they seem to feel as if the serpent were killed—but they soon find that he was only asleep—for by the warmth of some fiery temptation, he is revived and hisses at them again, so as to require renewed blows for his destruction. Nothing astonishes an inexperienced believer more than the discoveries he is continually making of the evils of his heart. Corruptions which he never dreamt to be in him, are brought out by some new circumstances into which he is brought. It is like turning up the soil, which brings out worms and insects that did not appear upon the surface. Or to vary the illustration, his increasing knowledge of God's holy nature, of the perfect law, and the example of Christ, is like opening the shutters, and letting light into a dark room, the filth of which the inhabitant did not see until the sunbeams disclosed it to him.


3. Sometimes the young convert is discouraged, because he does not increase as fast as he expected; and supposes because he does not accomplish all, and as speedily as he looked for, that he does not advance at all. The expectations of young Christians are sometimes as irrational as the child's who sowed his seed in the morning, and went out in the evening to see if it was above ground. The recent convert sometimes imagines that sanctification is easy to work. He imagines that advance is a thing to be accomplished by a succession of strides, if not, indeed, by one bound after another. But the remains of old Adam within him soon prove too strong to allow this unimpeded course of Christian progression. 

He knew he had difficulties to surmount—but he calculated on getting over them with ease—that he had enemies to conflict with—but then he hoped to go on by rapid victories from conquering to conquer. He is disappointed—and now imagines he makes no way at all. But why should he so hastily decide against himself? All growth is slow, and that is slowest of all which is to last the longest. The mushroom springs up in a night—so did Jonah's gourd—and in a night it perished! The oak requires centuries for its coming to perfection.


4. Some mistake by supposing they do not advance at all because they do not get on so fast as some others. We would by no means encourage neglect, indifference, or contentment with small measures of grace. On the contrary, we urge the greatest diligence. We say go on unto perfection. They who are contented with what grace they suppose they have, give fearful evidence that they have none at all. To be self-satisfied is to be self-deceived. Still, as in nature so in grace, all do not grow with equal rapidity, or advance to equal strength and stature. I

t is so with flowers in a garden; trees in a plantation; children in a family; boys at school; ships at sea; or travelers upon the land. There is progress in all—but in different degrees. Yet of which of all these can it be said, they make no advance because they do not advance as fast as the foremost. The use we should make of the superior attainments of the more eminent of God's servants is neither to envy them, nor to discourage our hearts—but to find in them a stimulus and an encouragement to seek larger measures of faith and holiness for ourselves.

Christian Progress - Part 6

John A James, 1853

1. Some are fearful that they are not making progress because their feelings are not so vividly excited in religious matters as they formerly were. They are not easily and powerfully wrought upon either in the way of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, as they once were. They have not those lively and ecstatic states of mind which they formerly experienced when they began the divine life.

Here we must just glance at the constitution of our nature. True religion exerts its influence over all the faculties of the soul—it calls into exercise the understanding, engages the determination of the will, moves the affections, and quickens the conscience. The same differences of natural constitution will be observable in some degree in the new or spiritual nature as existed in the old or physical one. A person of great sensibility in ordinary things, will, after conversion, be so in spiritual ones; while they of little emotion in the former will exhibit the same phase of mind in the latter. The sensibility or emotional state of the mind depends very much therefore on our physical organization. Now it is a very wrong criterion of the reality and degree of our true religion to judge of it only by the exercise of the affections. Some people of excitable natures are easily moved to joy and sorrow, hope and fear. The power of poetry or eloquence, of sights of distress or raptures—over their feelings is irresistible; while at the same time their judgments are not proportionately employed, their wills not in the same measure engaged, and their conscience but little moved. 

Take, for instance, the sentimental readers of novels, how by fits they are melted to tears, or excited to ecstasies. Yet how idle and unemployed are all the other faculties of the soul. There is no virtue in all this. It is mere sentimental emotion. Now look at the philanthropist. He may not be a man of tears, or of strong and vivid emotions of any kind—but he is a man of principle. His understanding comprehends the circumstances of some case of deep distress, and he judges it is right to pity and relieve it. His heart, though not wrought up to extreme anguish, so as to fill his eyes with tears, and his mouth with loud lamentations, feels for the miserable object; his will resolutely determines at once to help the sufferer; and his conscience, which would condemn him if he did not, approves the determination. You will particularly notice what constituted the virtue of the good man; not wholly the emotional excitement, for there was very little—but the dictates of the judgment, the determination of the will, and the action which was performed under these conjoint powers.

So it is in true religion, which consists partly of the exercise of all the faculties—but chiefly of the judgment, will, and conscience. The heart is of course, engaged, for we must love God and hate sin—we must delight in Christ and fear the wrath to come; but the amount of vivid emotion is of little consequence, compared with an enlightened judgment, showing us clearly what is right and wrong; a determined will to avoid the evil and perform the good; and a tender conscience shrinking from the least sin. Emotion is, to a certain extent, instinctive, involuntary, and irrepressible. Not so with judgment, will, and conscience. It is not, therefore, the amount of feeling—but of willing and doing, and approving or condemning, that determines the state of true religion.

There is such a thing I know—and, alas, it is a very common one—as losing "first love," and it is marked by our Lord with his disapprobation in his address to the church at Ephesus; but many distress themselves on this account who have no need to do so. Their ardor perhaps, at first was in some measure the excitement of animal feeling, which will soon die away of course, though their real practical love may not be diminished—but may be growing stronger. When a son returns home after a long absence, especially if he be a reclaimed prodigal, and meets his parents, brothers, and sisters, there is a glow of feeling, a joyousness of emotion, which cannot be expected to continue always, and which he may never be able to recall again, though he may be ever growing in real attachment to his friends and his home.

From all this it will be seen that the emotional part of true godliness may be, and is by many, overestimated. The question is not merely what we can feel—but what we can do, for Christ; not how many tears we can shed—but how many sins we can mortify; not what raptures we can experience—but what self-denial we can practice; not what happy frames we can enjoy—but what holy duties we can perform; not simply how much we can luxuriate at sermon or at sacrament—but how much we can exhibit of the mind of Jesus in our communion with our fellow-men; not only how far above earth we can rise to the bliss of heaven—but how much of the love and purity of heaven we can bring down to earth—in short, not how much of rapt feeling we can indulge—but how much of godly principle we can bring to bear on our whole conduct.

It is evident, therefore, there may be progress where there is a fear that there has been declension. The vividness of feeling may have subsided—but if the firmness of principle has been strengthened, it is only like the decadence of the blossom when the fruit has set. The joy might not be so great—but it may be more intelligent, more solid, and more sober. Just as the exuberant delight of the child, when it passes off, leaves the pleasure of the youth less noisy—but more rational. The frames and feelings may be less rapturous—but they may at the same time be less idolized, less depended upon, less put in the place of Christ. The growing Christian is less pleased with self—but sees more of the glory of the Savior—his own righteousness appears more imperfect and defiled, and is therefore less loved—but the righteousness of the Savior comes out before him more beautiful, glorious, and necessary.

Christian Progress - Part 5

John A. James, 1853


Now there is a proneness in some to neglect this, and endeavor to support their spiritual strength by something else. It is not the study of the Biblical history, or chronology, or historical facts, or beautiful poetry, or pathetic narratives, or sublime compositions of the Bible—that will best sustain our strength—and yet some are thus attempting it. They see many beauties in the Bible to which they were formerly blind. 

They are enamored with the sublimities, for instance, of the book of Job or Isaiah. They admire the wondrous wisdom of the book of Proverbs. They luxuriate amid the pathos of the history of Joseph, or the morality of the Sermon upon the Mount. Their attachment to those parts of revelation is rather growing than declining, and in proper measure all this is highly commendable. Such books as Gilfillan's "Bards of the Bible," and Kitto's "Daily Readings," should be read, and cannot be read without admiration, and exquisite delight, and valuable information. 

And many do read them with these feelings, and hence they imagine they are progressing in true religion, although they have little relish, perhaps, for the doctrines of the Gospel—the mediation of Christ—the salvation into which the prophets inquired diligently, and into which the angels desired to look. They do not feed on the flesh and blood of the great Sacrifice.

8. There may be a mistake made, by the mortification of some ONE SIN while others are left unsubdued. It is so far an advance if one enemy of our soul, from right motives and by right means, be destroyed. And in the work of spiritual improvement it is wise and well, instead of losing our time and wasting our energies in mere general and unsystematic mortification, to select occasionally some one sin to begin with in the way of more direct and concentrated attack—and no doubt the crucifixion of that corruption—the cutting off of that right hand, or the plucking out of that right eye, is a gain in sanctification—a step in advance and a means of gaining other victories.

But what I am anxious to guard you against is, the supposition that because some one evil to which you may be more strongly tempted is abandoned; or some practice which may militate against your health, or interest, or comfort, is given up—that you are progressing in godliness. Sin may be discontinued for various reasons. A drunkard may give up his inebriety, not because it is sinful—but hurtful. 

Another may discontinue some fraudulent practice, not because it is forbidden by God—but is disgraceful in the estimation of man. A young professor may give up some ensnaring worldly amusements, not because be is afraid of their influence upon his spiritual welfare—but because they make too great inroads upon his purse. It is not therefore the abstract abandonment of a sin—but the motive which leads to it, which is a proof of the work of grace. "How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This sentiment must lie as the motive at the base of all mortification of sin. And then moreover, the destruction of any one sin must be viewed and carried on as a part of the purpose and the act for the destruction of all sin.


B. I now proceed to enumerate and to correct some mistakes of a contrary nature to those just considered. I mean such as are committed by those who are making progress, and yet are somewhat anxious and distressed under supposition that they are not; and even fearing that they are declining.
The cases are perhaps not numerous of people deeply concerned about salvation, really earnest in true religion, and yet harassed with the apprehension that they are at a standstill, or even going back. 

There is a sincere desire to advance in holiness, and to increase in spirituality; and they are even diligent in the use of means to accomplish that end. In reference to them, I do not hesitate to say that their very state of mind is itself an evidence of progression. This solicitude is itself advancement. The very desire of improvement, the will to go on, the longing after greater attainment, is progress. It is itself an impulse—a forgetting the things that are behind, and a reaching forward unto those things that are before. 

There cannot be a more convincing proof of halting or retrograding, than complacency in ourselves. While on the other hand, a growing disposition to find fault with ourselves, and humble ourselves, and really improve ourselves, is one of the brightest indications of our going forward, provided there is all diligence in the use of the means of self-improvement.

Christian Progress - Part 4

Written by John A. James, in 1853

6. Much the same remark will apply to a growing attachment to some particular PREACHER, which is not always of itself a proof of progress in true religion. We are allowed our preference even in this matter—for though it is the message rather than the messenger—the truth rather than the preacher—that is to be the ground of our attachment, yet it cannot in the nature of things be otherwise than that we should prefer one minister to another. He may have been the instrument of our conversion, or the means of our establishment in the faith. Or, independently of these matters, he may more clearly explain, and more powerfully enforce God's truth. Or even without this, his natural abilities with equal orthodoxy and piety may be more to our taste; and on all these grounds preference, within certain limits, is allowed.

But nothing in a young convert requires greater care and effort to keep down excess, than 'ministerial attachment', lest it should degenerate into exclusiveness and spiritual idolatry. This is a danger into which multitudes run. They make this 'pulpit favorite' not only the standard of all excellence—but its monopolist. They think basely of everyone else. They can hear, at or any rate relish, no other. When he preaches elsewhere they follow him—or if they cannot do this, they make up their mind not to profit by his substitute. This actually grows upon them until he is everything, and all other ministers nothing. 

Now this very attachment is by some supposed to be a proof of progress; especially in the case of those who formerly cared nothing about this minister, or any other. They now feel pleasure in hearing him—but then it is confined to him, and this preference, instead of leading them to love him for the sake of the truth he preaches, leads them rather to love the truth for the sake of the preacher.

If with their preference for him, they united a delight in hearing all who preach the same truths; and his preaching had formed in them a taste for evangelical doctrines, instead of for one man who preached them, this would be a blessed result, and one that would prove advance in true religion. Perhaps there are few evidences more conclusive of progress than such a state of mind as is described in the following reflections, "At my first setting out in the ways of religion, I felt a preference for my minister so strong, that I could hear with pleasure no other. 

I was disappointed and discontented if I saw anyone else in the pulpit, and thought the sermon scarcely worth listening to. I now see it was more an attachment to the preacher himself than to his message. True, I was pleased with his doctrine—but still more with his manner of setting it forth. As my knowledge of divine truth increased, and I became more and more in love with this, I found my delight more and more drawn off from the preacher to his doctrine.

Until now, with my preference for him above all others still remaining, I am so much taken up with the truth as it is in Jesus, and feel so much more the importance of the matter than the manner, that I can hear anyone with pleasure who, with tolerable ability, explains and enforces the glorious gospel of the blessed God. It is the man who opens most clearly to my judgment the truth of God's word, and enforces it most powerfully upon my heart and conscience, and carries on my growth in knowledge, peace, and holiness—that is the preacher I love most." There is no mistake here.

7. Somewhat analogous to this, some mistake a growing delight in some particular DOCTRINE, or some particular parts, aspects, and subjects of the Bible, for progress in the divine life. "All Scripture," to quote this passage again, "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." But all Scripture is not equally adapted to foster the strength and promote the health of the soul. Now it is clear to anyone who will attentively study the New Testament, that the truth by which we are to be sanctified—the doctrine which is according to godliness—the "perfection," which is distinguished from first principles—is the mediatorial character and work of Christ.

 This seems to be plain from our Lord's words, "I assure you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them at the last day. For my flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. John 6:53-55. This is a most momentous passage, and deserves the very serious attention of all, and especially of young converts.

It is of vast consequence, in bodily nutrition, to know what is the most nourishing food, and what will sustain the strength and increase the stature of the body. Can it be less so in the nutrition of the soul? Here then, by Him who came to give life—by the great Physician of the soul—we are told upon what food the growing Christian must live. In these words our Lord did not, could not, mean to be understood literally. By his flesh and blood, he meant his body offered up in sacrifice, and his blood shed as an atonement for sin; and by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, he intended nourishing the divine life by the knowledge, the faith, the contemplation, of his atoning death as it is set forth in the Scriptures. 

The study of everything that stands connected with the atoning death of Christ, whether it be in the types of the ceremonial law, the predictions of the prophets, the narratives of the Gospels, the doctrines of the epistles, or the sublime visions of the Apocalypse—this is the food of the soul—the manna from heaven—the bread of life. This is "food indeed," and "drink indeed." Whoever with hungry appetite feeds upon this will grow—and whoever neglects this will become lean and weak.

The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance - Part 2

Something Oswald said in his February 22 devotion that brought it all back so vividly, prompted me to wonder if God taught him in the same way too. “But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere . . .” (Revelation 3:10).Continue to persevere spiritually.”

To me, it was strange to see how Oswald just ended with Revelation 3:10 at the end. In going through my trials to learn spiritual perseverance and endurance, the Holy Spirit kept reminding me of revelation 3:10. It was like the goal of this season of my hardships was to teach me how to get there. It was strange to see that my life was falling apart, I was experiencing loss that I could never recover from, the waiting, the uncertainty, and the pain of it all that were ravaging my soul, yet none of it was as big as the outcome that was revelation 3:10. Every time it was too hard for me to continue, my mind started fidgeting, the Holy Spirit would bring to mind this verse. Instantly and every single time my reaction to the remembrance was like a fussing baby getting his pacifier.   

As I watched myself now and how I am equipped to endure the challenges of my daily Christians life, I knew all I went through was worth it to get there. If you ask me if I would go through it over again, my answer to you would be no and no.  But was it worth it knowing what I know now? Then yes it was worth every moment.  

God does not make such a drastic statement in Revelation 3:10 without equipping us for the journey. As I was going through my spiritual preparation to learn perseverance and endurance, I also knew this was one more verse in the Bible that we Christians misunderstand terribly. While the true possessors of the faith need not to worry about this verse, but anyone else in the Church who simply professed to be Christians are included in that lump.  As professed Christians, we cannot make out that He would impose such conditions on us. 

So, when our explanations and our own false beliefs cannot quite explain why certain verses are in the Bible, we tend to ignore them, minimize them and eventually we put them all in the back of our mind and act as if they do not matter. But, it is precisely because we feel the need to act in this manner towards God’s Word we should worry about who we are in Him. God will not forget. In this same Bible that some of us insist that our explanation suffice, He did say in Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”. This strong verse is as valid for the unbelievers as it is for the believers.

When you feel there are verses in the Bible that do not work well with your idea of Salvation, do not question the verses or God.  You should not ignore those verses either. If you were not blinded by ignorance, pride and disobedience, you would understand these verses are there to differentiate the real things from the impostors. God will use His own Word to show you why you did not make the cut like He did to rebuke Satan in the wilderness. So, a rule of thumb should be to question your understanding and release yourself in the hands of God with an open heart and mind to help you put the pieces together. If you insist on redefining the word to suit your explanations, you might find out it was a foolish attitude when it is too late.

The reason that He can make such statement like Revelation 3:10 is because He knows He who began a good work in us will see it to completion. What He asks of us, He always equips us through grace. Learning to endure is the mark of the true child of God. As you learn to endure you also learn to live the faithful and the abiding life.

Stop repeating history over and over again. Adam & Eve got too comfortable, took God for granted and disobeyed, what was the result? Did they expect it? No - The Israelites did the same thing too when they were in the wilderness, did they see God promises? No. Cultivate the habit of not readjusting God but yourself. Do not be too rigid in your false beliefs. Satan has trained some of us so well, that we see him where he has nothing to do with our situation but only our stubborn and prideful self. Yet, places where we should see him, we don’t. When we cultivate this kind of attitude where we readjust God’s word instead of ourselves, Satan does not even bother to assign more demons to you because there is no threat of losing you. He knows your pride and harden heart will get you there on your own.

Never mind how long you have been roaming in the Church. Never mind your status there. Do not get caught up in your own hypes. Do not get too comfortable with your Christianity. Take the habit of examining yourself. Ask yourself what has Christianity brought into your life beside traditions, rituals, feeling good about myself, and repetitions? Then find out what it means to be the reverse of a steadfast Christian. Ask yourself what has changes in you inwardly?  Even if you do not experience God and even if it takes time to get there, but after twenty, thirty years and more, you should be aware that inside of you, you are made of a different fibre by now.

Just in case you wonder why it is important to God to make perseverance and endurance such an important part of the Christian life and why He wants nothing to do with idleness and laziness you should check out this. One search in the thesaurus for the word perseverance brought the definition “constancy” and the synonym of the word constancy is:

abidingness, adherence, allegiance, ardor, attachment, certainty, decision, dependability, determination, devotedness, devotion, doggedness, eagerness, earnestness, endurance,faith, fealty, fidelity, firmness, honesty, honor, integrity, love, loyalty, permanence, perseverance, principle, regularity, resolution, stability, staunchness, steadfastness, steadiness, surety, tenacity, trustiness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, unchangeableness, unfailingness, uniformity, zeal

The opposite of someone who persevere is: 

apathy, idleness, indolence, laziness, lethargy

John Maxwell said:  “A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose – a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve.”

Are you going through a hard time right now? Know that when you are in a position where you are experiencing hardships, whether you brought it on yourself through unwise Choices, or it is brought on by God is not really the point. Go through it with Him in mind and purposely live for Him. Do not try to surround yourself with people and things just to keep your mind busy. Make Him the center of your life. Give Him your undivided attention. Persevere through it all with Him in mind then you will find all that Maxwell mentioned in the quote above, by grace has become yours. Through His grace you will find those words that make up the synonym of the word “constancy” have become part of the fibre of who you are within. 

The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance - Part 1

 

When I was waiting for God in the wilderness, the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart how important that I learn to wait patiently and learn to persevere and endure through the pain. I knew through it I had to take it all in, trust Him for the outcome and trust His timing however long He decided. This was a very hard lesson, one that He kept unfolding day by day. At times, I have to admit it was a hard pill to swallow. I was waiting for answers that never came, yet I needed these answers to even survive. I was miserable because I knew if He does not answer or act right away, the consequences would be disastrous for my life. 

In times, I had to learn to not only persevere which meant to carry on through the hardship I was going through. He made it clear to me that depression and self-pity was not part of the agenda and if I was to give in to them, then that would defeat the purpose.

While trying my best to persevere through the hardships I found every single day was an adjustment to what had become my life. Several months after, I finally realized even though my life was crumbling all around me and there was nothing left, it was strange to see how God was not in a hurry helping me to pick up the pieces.

I needed to make a decision to come to terms with all of it. This sober realization was more devastating than when I started the road. No time frame can be put on Him, no assumptions as to how He will get to me, and no expectations should be cultivated on my part either. What was more devastating to my soul, I found I had to make a choice to believe in Him while I was adjusting to the new crumbling life. I knew in my soul, I had to learn to believe His promises are true and He will not fail me, but the timing belongs to Him. It is very easy to wait for God’s timing when you do not have a crucial matter that requires his attention NOW! TODAY!

When the worst that I feared happened, what was left was to work it out in my soul. Strangely, I also realize while there was nothing else left to lose, I realized not taking a stand and the right one; I stood to lose the most important thing of all. At that time, it meant choosing Him. Make no mistake it is hard to choose to walk with Him when things seemed from the outside that He does not care what is happening to you.

I had to fight to put my humanity aside, I had to move beyond the pain of all my loss and what my life became, to say to Him, “so be it, let’s do it your way Lord”. To my surprise the saying in Hebrews 11:1 came alive in my heart. I had no idea that the impartation of this verse was so hard, so painful and had to be acquired personally. It meant to come to terms with the fact that you have to have assurance in something you cannot see and you might never see it in your lifetime, yet you KNOW because God cannot lie, it will happen in His own time. I remember saying to myself wow! Christianity is deep. Who would have thought those simple words would have become my personal tragedy?

I remember thinking how the whole thing did not make sense for my life if I did not get to enjoy His promises while I am alive. As I was thinking these things as if the Holy Spirit could not hear me, He replied to me “ I understand what you are thinking and it makes sense to you, but what I need from you child is for you to come to a place where you are alright with it and it has to be well with your soul.” Just because He said so, it became important to me. I struggled and prayed hard for a few days to really make my heart accept the outcome as He sees it, not according to my expectations and my understanding.

This was my big lesson from God in terms of spiritual perseverance and endurance and I found, if you can go pass that stage, than the rest of your Christian life is easier to persevere and endure the other daily challenges that come your way. 

I Thought Christ Work On The Cross Provided a Way To Stop Sinning!

I always get annoyed with Christians when I see them writing about Paul’s plague with sin in Romans 7:15-25 as if that’s all the Bible had to say about sin. It seems a lot of Christians, even if they have nothing to say about the Bible, will find something to say about these verses. If this continues, these passages of the Bible will be the most written about next to John 3:16. What I find annoying is that most of them seem to read those verses and stop there. As if everything else God had to say about sin did not matter anymore. Usually after they finish quoting those verses, the whole post or sermon goes on and on about how they do not have a chance with sin since someone like Paul was struggling with it.

My pet peeve is, why on earth would you read about Paul struggle in chapter 7 and stop there? Why it is some bloggers and preachers do not put verses like Romans 6:12-13 side by side with what they read and get the wheels rolling. Be sober minded in your thinking for God’s sake. What about Chapter 8 right next to it which incidentally most of this chapter is about sin’s remedy? What gives?

Could it be you are seeing what you want to see? Have you ever played out in your mind how you are going to convince God that it was not your fault? This idea of feeling helpless about sin right after you read Romans 7:15-25 is nothing more than an attempt to excuse and disguise your enjoyment of sin. When you have this kind of mind, there is no question that your father is the devil and you are doing His bidding. If indeed Christ is in you, and if indeed you are His child, why would you not read further? What in the world makes you think that God would somehow agree with your devilish thinking? Can you see the resemblance between you and Satan’s audacity tempting Christ in the wilderness?   

What kind of distorted God you have concocted in that twisted mind of yours? How do you reconcile the idea of Christ death delivering you FROM sin and this new found license to excuse your behaviour? What makes you think what you have is called Salvation?  If you insist on calling what you have salvation, then my next question would be salvation from what? If you have been Christian upward 10 years and still find solace in Romans 7:15-25 then there is doubt that you ever had a real encounter with the true Salvation of God. If you did have an encounter with Him, then His death on the cross for you has no significance and you have chosen to reject it. Because His Word says: He who began a good work in me will see it to completion, unless He is a liar.

Even me, I went through a period where I did not understand God’s Word. I knew I stumbled on something about me in terms of sin reigning in me after I read Romans 7:15-25. But, I also knew that God did not like sin. In my mind, while I found some breathing room about who I am in the flesh, I still could not take it as a license to excuse my behaviour. In my little pea brain, I knew there was something I was missing and in due time I will understand. Later on, I was floored with everything I found out about me and what I insisted on calling Christianity. Lip service was my game. I found out I was missing out on the other 99.999999 percent of the Bible. I was not really interested in true Christianity according to God because the man-made one did the trick for me. I found out I was not walking in the Spirit. I could not count myself as someone who was IN Christ. I   found out I did not know what it meant not to surrender myself to unrighteousness. I had a one track mind and Romans 12:1-2 escaped me. I found out Christ death had provided a way for me not to keep sinning. In short, I found Christ and I took in the message of the Gospel.  

So, the next time you feel it is important to share Romans 7:15-25 with the flock of Christ in a sermon or in your blog, please do not stop there. Share with them how much Paul moved beyond his struggle with the law to victory over sin IN Him as His Lord! 

Romans 6:12-13

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness