JustJeff

Simply put, a demon has a belief without faith as opposed to a believer who believes and has faith. Non-practicing Christians acknowledge that there is a God but that is merely head knowledge, not the faith that reigns in our hearts.

God is love and that is what motivates Him and His mercy and grace are a reflection of His character. The verbs that describe what has happened to us are "made" which is what the potter has formed us to be which is alive, no longer dead in sin. By His "grace" He has looked past our mortal fallibility and "saved" us from our sin.

I would like to offer a quote from Chistian History magazine, issue 57 (Vol. XVII, No. 1), article by Rodney Stark, "Live Longer, Healthier, & Better". "In fact, many pagans were attracted to the Christian faith because the church produced tangible (not only "spiritual') blessings for its adherents. Chief among these tangibles was that, in a world (sic, the Roman Empire, Rome in particular) entirely lacking social services, Christians were their brothers keepers. At the end of the second century, Tertullian wrote that while pagan temples spent their donations "on feasts and drinking bouts," Chrisitians spent theirs "to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined to the house. The willingness of Christians to care for others was put on dramatic public display when two great plagues swept the empire, one beginning in 165 and the second in 251. Mortality rates climbed higher than 30 percent. Pagans tried to avoid all contact with the afflicted, often casting the still living into the gutters. Christians, on the other hand, nursed the sick even though some belivers died doing so." Jesus taught us that this is our responsibilty in the world. As He walked, so to should we.

It has been my experience that people do not take Satan or the concept of demon activity seriously. Most people that I have talked to about this subject during my bible studies feel that they are in control of their lives and that the devil is simply another term for evil or doing bad things. I bring this back to what they have been taught or rather what they haven't been taught in church. The devil is real and he has us just where he wants us, not believing in his spiritual abilities. It is because of this unbelief that Satan is openly displaying his power around the world with gruesome effectiveness. And he is doing this through people who believe that what they are achieving is for God or, directly against God. Because we do not preach or teach the congregations about the Adversary we are, in fact, condoning sin as he is sin's author. Therefore, we are in rebellion against God. God doesn't blame us for anything. He is merciful toward us and provides us with all the tools necessary to make the right choice. His Son's sacrifice to free us from our sin, the Holy Ghost to keep us from our sin, and the Word to give knowledge on how to use the first two and, to share with others. He also gives us prayer, worship and praise to keep us focused on Him and the free will to choose all of the above.

Faith is believing in th Lord Jesus, trusting. Trust is a demonstrated act, openly shown. We do this by doing the works that He did; preaching the gospel, caring for the infirmed, the poor and needy, showing compassion which is, love in action. That is living.

God Almighty is a holy God. He is perfect. Sin is dirt, filth, darkness to Him and can have no part of Him. Sin separates us from Adonai. We are dead in our sins, dead to Yahweh when we are non-believers, living in sin. The difference between believers and those who we love and care about who are non-believers is that we recognize the terms and conditions of our relationship with Jesus. We know that as fleshly beings we will sin but we have an Advocate with the Father who will intercede for us when we ask to be forgiven of that sin. Since we acknowledge that sin is death, we do not live in sin any longer and yes, there is a vast difference between making a mistake and sinning and living in sin, that is, sinning and not repenting, thinking we are all right just as we are. Those who think that God loves us in our sin are right. He does love us. That why He sent His Son as our sacrifice, to save us from our sin, not in our sin. I like what Jude says: "And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh (vs22-23). What should we do? Sow seed, after seed, after seed, and pray that God grants the increase.

When I am negligent in my activity in my church I miss the fullness of the Lord and all of His accompanying blessings. Without His blessings I cannot possibly grow as a Christian insofar as His blessings cause my faith to blossom. If I do not bloom, I am a pitifully plain stem, with no beauty at all. How can I be a witness if I cannot draw people by the savor of my faith, the testimony of the gospel? How many opportunities to bless others have gone by, simply because I was a pew warmer?

I believe that many Christians are ignorant of the devil and his devices. Mainstream churches do not preach about the Adversary and hell is hardly mentioned anymore. When we are not taught these things, and rely on "Hollywood" to show us, the severity and reality of spiritual warfare is lost. While we believe that the devil does exist we hardly take his power over us by our sin seriously. Paul makes it abundantly clear throughout his writings that we are engaged in a war, a war for our souls as this is the only way that the enemy can hurt a victorious God. Paul teaches us the reality of the hierarchy of angels and devils and that our Lord is the Head of all having put all things under His feet at Calvary. When we become enlightened about spiritual attacks to ourselves we are often defenseless by ignorance, forgetting that at the very name of Jesus the devil has to flee and that, we are covered by the Lord's blood, which when we plead, the Adversary cannot pentrate. This is a foundation belief that many contemporary Christians have a hard time accepting. So, Paul pleads with us to use the power of the Holy Spirit to fight our foe knowing that we have the victory in Jesus, the One, the Almighty Potentate. It is very refreshing and energizing to start each day victorious. Put the devil at bay, in the name of Jesus!

Basic part of mercy is kindness and by disregarding a poorer person in preference to a rich one is down right mean spirited. Mercy triumphs over judgement as mercy is forgiveness, being able to display meekness and maintaining a relationship without hard feelings or animosity. Thank you for being a merciful God, full of grace and kindness!

The Royal Law or Kingdom Law, love thy neighbor as thyself, is a necessary part of our character if we are to walk with the Lord here and hereafter. We should bear in mind that God is love and no respecter of persons. We must be the same. The Mosiac Law simply teaches us of our sins. The Royal Law abides in us by the Holy Spirit. Whether rich or poor, if you show one person preferential treatment over the other you are repecting the one and you are a sinner.

Paul prays the the Ephesians will come to understand what they have. That is the same power that raised the Lord from the dead. The life giving power of the Holy Spirit. When we do not use this power because of our disbelief, lack of trust or faith we are powerless and we feel painfully inadequate against the Adversary. the world and our flesh. Too many churches today fail to deliver on the promise of the fathers, the presence and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that does all the things needful for discipleship and the manifestation of miracles by His fruit and gifts. If this isn't preached it won't be believed and if it isn't believed there can be no faith so we come to where we seem to be; a diluted and compromised church, wells without water, wishy washy Christians at best. Believe this. If we preached our faith with the same zeal that other faiths preach theirs, this world would be a very different place.

Favoritism is choosing to have a better regard for one person over another thereby judging the favored person to be more suitable to your likes, casting the least favored to the side. As such you are predjuduced against the "least" which is evil in your thinking of that person.

$10 mil, in a few years? I'm going to run down to the nearest bank and get a line of credit, and spend, spend, spend! I'd like to think that I'd give it all to my ministry but I fear that I am still very weak in the flesh and the flesh is terribly anxious to be pleased. Sad truth as I feel very short sighted when I do walk in the flesh. On the other hand, to walk in the Spirit gives me pause to reflect on my motives and moves knowing that the Lord has my path planned out and that what I experience today is merely preparation for better things tomorrow. He allows me to meditate on my actions, knowing that each effects my relationship and future with Him. Ours is a monastic life, though an inner city mission, each of us giving ourselves entirely to the Lord and His work. As such, we do everything together 27/7 and as each of us is at a different stage of growth, different ages, races and places of origin, we go through many changes together and oftentimes disagreements. We have learned that we need to bear one another's burdens, display compassion and patience and let the love of the Holy Spirit guide our lives. The conclusion being that if we can't get along down here, how are we going to get along for eternity?

I have a tendency to discriminate against people who are what I used to be, forgetting where God has brought me from. Thankfully I know this and He is still molding me after His will. I am blessed that our Lord is longsuffering! Our church started from the street, poor people helping poor people (http://www.peoplethatlove.com). We used to try to impress big churches, large corporations and whom we perceived as big money types to help us with the work. Our efforts were and still are largely ignored. So, we stopped trying to impress anyone and went to God. We realize that He wants us to depend solely upon Him. He does the rest. We have been doing this ministry to the poor and needy for 19 years. We have seen others come and go. Being established on the Rock means we work in faith. He is Yahweh Jireh, the Lord Provider. He is the only One that we need to impress.

Christians can look forward to a life of perfect love, together with the Lord, for evermore. No pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no death. The goodness goes on and on. No evil, no darkness, no sin. Shalom. We should be motivated to make it after having to live as pilgrims in a land that grows more wicked each day, grievious to the soul, saddening to the Spirit. Everything that we do say, think and feel should be led by the Holy Spirit, fed by the Living Word, not doing anything in a hasty, thoughtless way lest we make the wrong choices. Our hope is above etrenal. For those who do not believe, their's is a dying hope, temporal, a hope that can never be satisfied.

It would seem to me that James is using the tongue and care for the poor as a litmus test since both of these actions require an outward spiritual demonstration reflecting one's inner nature. Other activities, either private or corporate, could simply be fleshly manifestations of self gratification or vain glory.

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trum(pet) of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thes 4:16-17. The end of the term, when our labor in the Lord comes to fruition, the Rapture. The Holy Ghost is our seal, our downpayment that keeps us as His own and gives us the ability to pay our debt by our testimony, by our witness, by our works, by our praise, by our worship, by our Christlikeness, until the Lord comes to get the balance due and we shall reign with Him as priests forever more. Amen.

Isaiah 43:21: "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." Undoubtedly God created us for His good pleasure, to spend eternity in glorious praise, worship and adulation of Him. He is the Almighty! This is our purpose, this is our destiny, and we who accept this calling and this adoption and live by His commands, allowing ourselves to be sanctified and washed by the blood of His precious Son, will fulfill this calling. As we regenerate through the process of sanctification our light becomes brighter. That is, we become more Christlike in our nature and character. This then, is a refelection of the One who came to bring glory to the Father, which is now accomplished in us and through us and we show forth His praise. Glory!

The perfect law that James is referring to is God's love. As in 1 Cor 13, this love conquers all and when possessed, will keep the holder in the light of the liberty of freedom from sin. The Jews refer to this as the Kingdom Law. To me this means that the Kingdom of God lies within and mandates our character and nature to the degree that we allow it to operate by the Holy Spirit.

The answer is on word; LAZY. We work all week long for personal gain and survival. Why should we work to know God and develop great gain? It's easier just to sit and listen, drop some money in the plate and get that Sunday morning feel good buzz and plan to go to heaven. This self deception comes from the habit of listening to messages that do not direct the listeners to the word of God. I've been in a main line denomination service where the scripture is printed in a bulletin and not once did the pastor direct the congregation to pick up the bible. Not once.

God created us for His praise, His glory, and we have been self indulging ever since. He allows sin to reign to give us an opportunity to choose life or death. He sent His Son to give us life, to establish His kingdom on earth and to bring us back to where we were intended to be, praisers and worshippers of the one true God. To that end there must be a single purpose, one unified force in complete agreement, with one Head, Jesus Christ. This will be done at a latter dated as every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. As for now, we as Christians should work to agree with and come to a common understanding of the truth, the word of God. Studies like this bring us to unity of the spirit and to the service of the one true head of the body, our Savior. 1 Corinthians 15: 24-28 set the tone for this as once Christ has dominion over all of creation He will then turn to the Father and restore true order once and for all time by placing all in the Fathers hand. Hallelujah and praises for evermore!

Make no doubt about it. I was totally bound by sin, held captive by the enemy, to do his evil will. The Adversary had complete control over me and I was unable to escape. Jesus paid the price for my freedom at the cross of Calvary, with His shed blood as the perfect sacrifice to the Father. It is there, at the foot of the cross that I was covered by that precious crimson flow, set free from the bondage of sin, covered and given the ability to never willfully sin again. I was a suicidal, cross addicted fool for the devil. By now he surely would have me bound in hell, condemned to eternal damnation. That was my future had I not be saved by the only One who could save me; the spotless, without blemish and perfect Lamb of God, the only acceptable sacrifice, the Lord Jesus. Leviticus 17:11; For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.

Brother Peter admonishes us, as newborn babes, to desire the sincere milk of the word (1 Peter 2:2). It is by hearing the Word of God that brought us to the Lord in the first place, therefore it is the Word that gave birth to us. Similarly, in order for us to grow we need to continually be fed on the milk and the meat of the Word. Only by growing in the Word are we able to maintain a spiritual life. It is needful to remember that Jesus is the Word.

The promise is to give us wisdom, liberally, without question if we just ask Him. The condition is that we must be faithful in expecting the desired result or the Lord considers us unstable if we doubt. He doesn't respond to sinners. Our trials cause us to cry out to our Father for solutions. Through the reply He gives we are able to gain wisdom by application and result. There is no experience like the experience of going through the fire led by our Lord's loving hand. Thus does wisdom grow.

Being born into sin we are we are alienated from God. We are of the world and thereby there is a partion between us, we the children of darkness, He the Father of Light. To make a way for us He gave us His Son, to be our sacrifice, to breakdown the barrier and make the way for us to enter into the holiest of holies. We are changed and made holy by the Son suitable for the Master's use. As a result, being free from the slavery of sin, our heavenly Father brings us into His long expecting arms and takes us as His own children, adopting us into the family of God. This concept of adoption is wonderful because without it we would have no chance at all of salvation as we were not His chosen children. The Jews are. However, because of their rebellion, He made the way clear for us to be accepted by Him. to be His people. He grafted us in, He adopted us.