What Is Your Will In Christ?

God's response to Job in the 38th Chapter of the Book Of Job has always helped reinforce my perspective and my respect for who God is - along with the rest of scripture of course.  "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me." “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened?Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" “Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; When I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors; when I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here ...

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"   Numbers 23:19 (NKJ) I find myself struggling to refrain from speaking out straightforwardly about some subjects, given the emotional heights they invoke in me, but I've started wondering lately though if perhaps my hesitance might prove costly to anyone that might have otherwise been touched or forewarned. They might be caused to move in a truly positive direction if I had been more bold. Not only that, but I also fear how I might be held accountable for my timidity in the final accounting that is certain to come. So, self control being a fruit of The Spirit, I resolve to seek His fruitfulness in myself in earnest as I relate what troubles me here. At the height of my urgent concern I have an important question, one whose answer may well prove to alter the destination of some spirits passing from this life to the ne...

  Most likely we will encounter things in life that don't go the way that we think they should and in some cases they will happen in sharp contrast to what we would ever wish. Contrary to our own desire the end results might even be painful and in our own view, tragic. Yet as God's children we're taught that He loves us deeply, so while these things are happening ... where is He? In former life I was brought to wonder about this question myself more than once. In the absence of a divine revelation at those times, I would eventually seek to develop my own theories - theories that at times took the form of shameful accusations for which I harvested deep regret when later and purely out of an act of His grace, He later allowed me to understand some of His reasons for His decisions. Being human, fully endowed with limited human wisdom and understanding and limited abilities to control some of the conditions and situations around us, we find ourselves heavily reliant on God'...

"In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God,  and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him,  and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created,  and his life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness,  and the darkness can never extinguish it."    John 1:1-5 (NLT) The Word of God is nothing less than Jesus Christ, The Creator, The Son Of God, God Himself.  Long before Jesus came down to offer Himself in our place, the law was given so that we could see for ourselves how sinful we truly are in the sight of God - as if seeing ourselves in God's eyes, if we cared to look. The law showed us how we were truly in desperate need of some miraculous rescue from God's wrath because of our sin and sinful nature, but how? And who could possibly save us? Who would care to? "The one who is the true light,...

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit."   Isaiah 14:12-15 (NKJ) There's little question that Lucifer's refusal to yield to God's majesty, power and dominion, and accept Him as God over himself cost Lucifer his place in heaven ...  but in light of that fact and example to us, how much consideration do  we give  to the fact that we're living out our own response to God now in these days that are testing our own submission? "Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? Man is like a...

"According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the word Christmas originates from the phrase “Cristes Maesse”, first recorded in 1038, which means the Mass of Christ or Christ’s Mass. The word mass is the English version of the Latin word missa, a celebration of the Eucharist, done in memory of Jesus Christ, where Christians eat bread and drink wine. But not all is Latin; in fact, the word Christ comes from the Greek word Khristos, translated from the Hebrew term messiah, which means anointed."      Copied  From Stillman Translations Many differing viewpoints and traditions come out of both mental and physical storage from a variety of people at Christmas time to be dusted off and displayed prominently for the "season" only to be once again carefully tucked away for another year at the "season's" conclusion. I'm finding so many things striking in my own mind in particular this year as I step back and consider Christmas in the current world of men. I make...