But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
(1 Peter 2:9 RSVA)
The longer I live (I am over 70 now) the more I see that walking by faith is totally a gift from God. This gift is called “the faith of Jesus Christ.” Paul wrote,
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in [grk. eis – INTO] Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16 KJV – emphasis added)
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but rubbish, that I may win [gain] Christ, And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith OF Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:8-9 KJ2000 – emphasis added)
Did you see that? The faith of Christ is the righteousness of God! How does one get Jesus’ faith and become righteous? Jesus told the Jews:
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. (John 6:44-45 RSVA)
Yes, our heavenly Father teaches us as He draws us with His Spirit. We also know that God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11 RSVA)
Even we who are evil by nature can come to our righteous Father and ask Him for the faith we need. God is the originator of everything good, and all things were made by Christ, including the faith by which be believe. Paul wrote,
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17 KJV)
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has made us alive together with Christ, (BY GRACE you are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5 KJ2000 – Emphasis added)
“For BY GRACE are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJ2000 – Emphasis added)
And James wrote:
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:16-18 RSVA)
It might seem like I am splitting hairs here, but saving faith is not of us! It does not come by us listening to a carefully devised sermon designed to play on our emotions, either. It is by the will and the grace of the Father that we are saved. He places the faith of Christ in us by the power of His grace. This might come as a shock to many of you, but we are not saved by reciting some magical incantation called a “sinner’s prayer.” Show me anywhere in the Bible where anyone prayed a sinner’s prayer! Jesus is the Bridegroom and He is the one who chooses His bride, not the other way around. Paul wrote about his own salvation experience as follows:
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: (Galatians 1:15-16 KJ2000 – emphasis added)
Who caused Paul to be born? GOD!
Who called Paul by His grace? GOD!
Who revealed His Son IN (not to) Paul? GOD!
Who chose Paul’s calling? GOD!
His grace moving upon and in us is where our faith to believe into Christ and Christ in us to do the Father’s will comes from and not by anything we can generate within ourselves or by the persuasions of men, either. Paul wrote:
And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5 RSVA – emphasis added)
Dear saint, is it any wonder that the church of today so resembles the world and is so powerless? Today’s ministers most often rely on their own power and wisdom (or that of another in a pulpit commentary) to do God’s work. Very few portray weakness or fear in the face of the faithful; instead they polish their skills of Greek oratory and homiletics and strut their stuff on Sunday morning. Millions have come to the marriage feast of the Lamb wearing their own garments, not the wedding garment of Christ who is their Covering! They say; “I got saved by Billy Graham!” “I answered an altar call given by Pastor Wonderful!” “I said a sinner’s prayer in 1972!” Sorry folks, salvation is not at all about all those extra-biblical things the church so proudly points to today! And it most certainly is not about innate “goodness” that “we chose Jesus.”
“While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” and while we are yet sinners God moves on us with His breath of Life and gives us the life of Christ. It is by His empowering grace that we believe and totally trust in Jesus to be Christ in us. We trust in Him alone to do those works that Father has ordained from the foundation of the world for us to walk in.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 KJ2000 – emphasis added)
What is left for us to do? If the “us” in us is the old un-crucified Adam, there is one answer: “Die!” If our “us” is “Christ in us the hope of glory,” we have one thing to do, and that is rest (See Hebrews 4:9-11) while He does the works through us. This is summed up in Paul’s words, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
One more thought. Where do the love of God and the Spirit come in with this dynamic we call resting in Christ? Paul wrote,
“For we through the Spirit [the empowerment of His grace] wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works through love.” (Galatians 5:5-6 KJ2000 Emphasis added)
Through the Spirit who abides in us we wait! We don’t run out and try to earn our salvation or keep ourselves saved by doing good works. As we wait upon and have confidence in Christ in whom we live, He moves on us and in us with His love. From that love, the works we are to do become evident, and are empowered by His grace. We are birthed by the Father in Christ, and because of this, “in Him we live and move and have our being…for we are His offspring” (See Acts 17:28).
“…observe, again, that the phrase ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ has a deeper meaning than we sometimes attach to it. We are accustomed to speak of rejoicing in a thing or a person, which, or who, is thereby represented as being the occasion or the object of our gladness. And though that is true, in reference to our Lord, it is not the whole sweep and depth of the Apostle’s meaning here. He is employing that phrase, ‘in the Lord,’ in the profound and comprehensive sense in which it generally appears in his letters, and especially in those almost contemporaneous with this Epistle to the Philippians. I need only refer you, in passing, without quoting passages, to the continual use of that phrase in the nearly contemporaneous letter to the Ephesians, in which you will find that ‘in Christ Jesus’ is the signature stamped upon all the gifts of God, and upon all the possible blessings of the Christian life. ‘In Him’ we have the inheritance; in Him we obtain redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; in Him we are ‘blessed with all spiritual blessings.’ And the deepest description of the essential characteristic of a Christian life is, to Paul, that it is a life in Christ.” ~ Alexander MacLaren – http://biblehub.com/commentaries/maclaren/philippians/4.htm
It is His grace moving upon us, His faith within us we rest in, His love that moves us to act and His Spirit that empowers us—and never are any of these things of ourselves, but only are they ours as we abide IN and have put on Christ. What a great salvation our Father in His love for us has given us, that we should be called the children of God (See 1 John 3:1). Amen.
A Wilderness Voice 
Well said Michael. This is one of Ross’s pet themes as well.
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Sandra, Good to hear from you again! How are you two doing down under? I think of you often. Tell Ross, “Hi” for me!
God bless you both. Michael
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So what you’re saying is… he has mercy on whom he has mercy?? It’s not based in our works? Where does that leave room for boasting?
I agree with every word, Michael. We serve a God that truly is in control of every. single. thing. It’s all about him, every time. To God be the glory!
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Yup, Dan, that is what I am saying. The more clearly I see the miserable state of my old man in Adam, the more I rejoice in the fact that His mighty power and outstretched arm (to quote Jacqui above) “saved a wretch like me.” Yes, Dan, to Him be all the glory forever and ever, Amen!
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Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me ….. good post Michael …. jacqui x
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Thanks, Jacqui. What a wonderful day it was when I could sing every stanza of “Amazing Grace” with deep conviction and tears rejoicing in His great love for a wretch like me as well. Thanks for sharing.
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Yes Michael I love that hymn my favourite and yes I can sing every line from my heart too! :-)xx
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My dear Brother. This has made me weep and rejoice all in One heart. His heart, the heart that longs for the perishing to step out of deception and bend in repentance which He alone grants (2Tim 2:25). His heart, that prompts all the angels as well to rejoice when one bends to that very thing! (Luke 15:7) Thank you for the encouragement and exhortation. It is Gods will so we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. I thank the Lord for you and love you dearly. Glory be to our God, Lord Jesus the Messiah!!
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Alan, thanks for your reply. It always does me good to know that our Lord has the heart of another through something I have shared. I thank the Lord for you as well and hope we can meet some day soon. I love you, too, my brother!
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[…] of religion and world weaved into most of us. It is a gross misrepresentation of the real thing. I read something this morning before I even had my first cup of coffee that inspired my writing this […]
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Yes, Becky, you are so right! I will read your blog this morning. Thanks so much.
https://beckyleannejohnson.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/butt-out/
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“Blessed assurance Jesus is mine…..”
Oh thank-you, thank-you Michael for this reassuring post. Tears of joy and awesome wonder stained my aging face as I read your post and the glorious Scriptures you called to remembrance. There are days when in the life of a spirit-filled believer, that the burdens of this world seem so heavy, with the weights of man dragging us down into the sinking sand.
Then I am reminded from Jesus, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Reading this post and the fellowship that follows, simply overwhelms my soul with His peace, mercy, and everlasting grace. Praising our LORD for you Michael, and the fellowship of the saints. May Jesus be with all of you this day.
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Wow, Ann, what a wonderful comment! I am so blessed by what you have shared, dear sister. God has truly assembled on this blog and on Susanne’s (https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/) some precious saints who are totally in love with Him. What a joy to read how the Lord has touched your heart, dear Ann.
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Thank you, my Brother, for this refreshing post. I realized recently that even though a brother or sister on TV, or in person, or in print – may encourage faith that they have for the listener to strive for, through whatever method being recommended – that is not the faith that I want. I want the faith of Jesus.
Love in Him,
Pat Orr
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AMEN! Dear Pat, and as you abide in Him, you have it. HE is our All in all. God bless you so very much!
Michael
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Good article. We are so trained to do something. We are taught we need someone to lead us in the ‘sinners’ prayer, and then to go out and work to earn our gift. We have it so wrong. God has made it so easy for us to receive the gift He did all the work to provide. Now we rest in Him, and depend on Him. I’m not sure why religion tries to make everything so difficult with all the rules and effort. I’m just glad there are sites like yours that is bringing to light the truth and meaning of the Grace of God.
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Yes, Michael D., you are so right. As my wife grew up in her Bible church, she was taught that God had the power to save her, but not enough power to keep her saved. So she had to go down to the altar and get “recommitted” every Sunday to keep from going straight to the burner. This made for an endless indebtedness to God that had to be worked off by doing endless “good works” in service to the church and attending of meetings without end.
I as was raised a Catholic and they had that system perfected long before the Protestants copied it with their own version of Sacerdotalism calling their holy men “pastors” instead of priests.
BTW, my brother, thanks for linking to our blog articles form yours. http://donewithreligion.com/
God bless you, my brother!
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Thank you Michael for the comment. And I am happy to link to your site and share the good content there.
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Mike D, the same applies to me. Thank you very much for linking to my blog posts on your own blog! 🙂
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Your profound insight says it all, ” If the “us” in us is the old un-crucified Adam, there is one answer: “Die!” If our “us” is “Christ in us the hope of glory,” we have one thing to do, and that is rest” Arrested in Love, captured by Love, under a Rest, in bondage to his Love and Mercy and Grace is freedom in the world, we rest….
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I second this comment. This is clearly and plainly taught by Paul but obfuscated (don’t you love that word?) by the STUFF of churchianity. And that word “workmanship” is Poiema — God’s Poem. We are God’s Poem!!!! And all He asks us to do is walk in the works that He has ALREADY prepared!! Resting in Him . . . enjoying Him as He enjoys us . . . . and walking in His already prepared and planned works so that we truly are His Body on the earth. (Sounds so simple doesn’t it?)
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I asked God once what my purpose was on earth, and it was “to delight in him”…and I do! To enjoy him as he enjoys us, spreading Joy all around! Yes!
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Dear Yvonne,
Delighting ourselves in the Lord has an interesting context in the New Covenant…
“[You] Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto [Grk. eis – into] salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In which you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold trials: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy [Grk. Chara – delight] unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:5-9 KJ2000)
I guess my “if need be” in my life had to include a lot of “heaviness” and “manifold trials” with my faith tried in fire. BUT I can say now, near the end of my race, that it was worth it all. For now I love Him so, though I have never seen Him but once in a short vision 45 years ago as He saved me from Satan trying to kill me in my sleep. Surely He has become my delight as HE has kept me through His power all these years.
Thanks for sharing with us, dear sister.
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Thank you for expounding on delight! Blessings to you dear brother!
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Wow! I never knew that the Greek “poiema” was from where we get the word “poem.” What a find! We are God’s poetry as we rest in Him and He does HIS works in and through us. I LOVE IT!
Look up poem at Dictionary.com
poem (n.)
1540s (replacing poesy in this sense), from Middle French poème (14c.), from Latin poema “composition in verse, poetry,” from Greek poema “fiction, poetical work,” literally “thing made or created,” early variant of poiema, from poein, poiein, “to make or compose” (see poet). Spelling pome, representing an ignorant pronunciation, is attested from 1856.
Thank you for your part in His poetry for us all to read, dear Lori! ⭐
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Hey guys — I found something more for our pondering pleasure! This from F.B. Hole: The old creation (Gen. 1) was God’s workmanship and created by the Son. It was created BY Him but not created IN Him as the new creation is. Sin was able to gain entrance into the old creation, but it will never (!) enter the new since it derives its very life and nature from Christ. There is no patching up of the old things in connection with the new creation . . . Christ Himself stooped into old creation circumstances . . . Now , in His risen glory, he has entered into new creation circumstances, and IT IS FROM HIM AS HEAD THAT THE NEW CREATION PROCEEDS. Our lives are diverted into a totally new channel, so that we live NOT unto ourselves, but unto Him . . . all because of God’s new creation work in us. The good works spoken of in Ephesians are works that express the goodness of God. Being God’s workmanship, we have the inward capacity to do works of this exalted character. [End of Hole’s thoughts]
I wonder why we don’t have another Christian celebration after Resurrection day. . . shouldn’t there be an Ascension day celebration day? Or a Pentecost celebration to celebrate the coming of the indwelling Spirit (whom Christ could not send until He went to the Father)? Hurrah for resurrection! — but the real power for believers is that He is sitting at the right hand of the Father and THAT is where our life in (into) Him comes from. What do you think?
Can I just say how wonderful it is to have fellowship with everyone here?!! I’m not feeling as lonely as I used to. Thank you all!
Lori
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I love being God’s Poem! How beautiful! How delightful! May the Potter rework us into his poetic image and likeness from glory to glory!
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Yvonne… yes the Potter DOES rework we clay vessels on His wheel.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
(Jeremiah 18:1-6 RSVA)
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Dear Lori, as for you comments and questions about the Jewish feasts that have been fulfilled by the New Covenant Church, much has been written about this. I, myself, have not spent a lot of time delving into a study on the Jewish feasts. But there is one book I can recommend that you read, “The Feast of Tabernacles” by George Warnock.
http://www.georgewarnock.com/feast-main.html
Dear sister, I am glad that you are enjoying the fellowship on here. We have enjoyed your contribution as well. God bless you, dear sister.
Michael
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Michael – Yes I’ve studied the Jewish feasts. Thank you for that book suggestion, it’s been awhile since I looked that feasts and might have to revisit that study! I wasn’t actually referring to the feasts of Israel, what I mean is that as Christians we celebrate the resurrection (and some even understand that we are identified in His death and resurrection Rom. 6:5-11) but we don’t celebrate that we are also ascended with Him, so that our life comes from Him as the victorious risen and ascended Lord. Eph. 2:6 and Col. 3:1. We abide in His presence – united with Him as His is now (seated in the heavenlies). It just seems like something we should celebrate.
Happy Resurrection day — abide with Him!
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Yes! Ephesians 2:6! Truly something to celebrate every day!
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Well, Lori, I am not into special celebrations, but I do believe the best way to celebrate it is to make every day one of resurrection life as we live and move and have our very being IN Jesus Christ.
“One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5 KJ2000)
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Amen Michael!
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May I say it loudly, i.e., publicly on here, Michael? 😉
Well, that was a blog post where I once again “heard” or rather felt the Lord’s power behind your words. I think that says it all.
Love,
Susanne
PS
Thx 4 the link 2 my blog in your reply to Ann! 🙂
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Susanne, this truly blesses me beyond description to hear you say this! And you are welcome about the ping back. ⭐
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This is a most beautiful post and I printed it for the pleasure of reading it over and over–the argument over Gods sovereignty verses mans free will is never ending by the use of scripture–but as for myself-my experiences with God before my Spirit birth and after have always been to hell with my so called free will I rejoice in Gods control over my life–it is truly amazing and I thank Him for His loving kindness.
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Kenneth, what a joy it was to read your comment, dear brother! I am with you, if it was not for God rolling up His sleeves and moving in my life to save me, there was no way in hell I would have ever come to surrender my life to Him any more that Paul would have as he set out to kill Christians in Damascus on his way there from Jerusalem. Yes, to hell was where my free will was taking me, too.
I love you, my dear brother!
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Thanks for writing this, Michael.
As I was reading the comments about the Sinner’s Prayer it reminded me of this article I found online not too long ago: http://www.bible.ca/g-sinners-prayer.htm
I found it very interested and it did make me realize that I’ve heard similar things such as this man was talking about.
Anyway, I’m always glad to see your posts as they seem like a sun-shiny day of encouragement to me.
Hope you’re doing well!
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Thank you, Lindsey. It is always good to hear from you and that what I share has encouraged you. I read this guy’s article regarding what salvation isn’t, but was disappointed in him not saying what it IS. I guess that is one reason the Lord had me write what I did in this blog. 🙂
God bless you, dear sister,
Michael
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Agreed. I did notice he beyond turning it into a book so hopefully he will dig into it
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Awesome post!!! Brothers and sisters are going to have no choice, soon I hope but to give preeminence to the spirit of love and start listening to Him rather than the 21st century Moses’s on the pulpits, and I so look forward to that day when we can once again have sweet fellowship in the spirit and flesh. Thanks for putting it so clearly. Happy resurrection day!
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Lisa, thanks so much for your comment… You brought up an interesting point… in effect as long as churches are under the law and top down authority they are under the rule of Moses. You went on to say, “I so look forward to that day when we can once again have sweet fellowship in the spirit and flesh. Thanks for putting it so clearly. Happy resurrection day!'”
With that in mind this passage means even more to me…
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli’jah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli’jah.” He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
(Matthew 17:1-8 RSVA)
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Yeah me too Michael 😃 How awesome to be of one mind. Thank you Lord!!
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Michael,
It has been a joy to read this post and the many wonderful comments from others. I also appreciate your comment to Yvonne, (on Apr 2) and the verses you included from Peter. I trust others have read all of the comments and are spending time __ waiting in expectation __ as the Spirit reveals a generous measure of revelation concerning the many important aspects of what is being shared by all the respondents. Just felt to include these verses as part of the feedback that has already been shared.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1Pe 1:3-5 NASB)
“…obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.” (1Pe 1:9-11 NASB)
In Christ’s Love, T & L
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Tom, I am glad to hear that what I shared along with our commenters wonderful contributions have touched your heart. Thanks for the verses. What a great salvation we have. Not only has our Father caused us to be “born again,” but to also obtain and imperishable inheritance that is undefiled and will not fade away, protected by God Himself. Oh, what a great salvation He desires to reveal to the world in these last days as we abide in His Son and grow in His grace into a perfect son-ship with the Father and the Son. Amen!
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C.S. Lewis said that for every new book you read you should also read three old ones. Here is a powerful old one: “The Valley of Vision” It is collection of prayers written by the early Puritan settlers of America. They had an understanding of God’s grace that exceeded the teachings of many of today’s churches.
When the book was first recommended to me, I expected a lot of heavy-handed language burdened by cumbersome old English. As a believer in spontaneous prayer, I wasn’t immediately attracted to the idea of this volume. However, to my sheer delight, the book is very readable.
The prayers focus on the relationship between the Lord and the one praying. They are so touching they will bring tears to your eyes.
I was struck by the stunning lack of “prayer requests.” It seems like the prayers of many people today are long lists of prayer requests sandwiched between a couple lines of praise and thanksgiving at the beginning and end. The Puritan prayers are a refreshing contrast.
One Puritan did pray for a personal condition to be healed OR the grace to accept it. He considered both the healing and the grace to be miracles from God, which either of which would bring him closer to the Lord. Wow! Today, we tend to focus on the front end prayer for healing and seldom consider the back end grace to also be an answer to prayer. The Puritan was already at near perfect peace and didn’t seem overly concerned with which answer to prayer was given to him.
There is one prayer per page. They are categorized by topic.
What do you think?
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Thank you, Lloyd. Actually, I am not surprised to hear this about our Puritan brothers. They were the ones that were behind the drive for a new English translation of the Bible and King James hated them because they did not believe in the “divine right of kings.” These brothers were wanting a translation of the New Testament that was not weighted toward Ecclesiastical authority as was “The Bishop’s Bible” that was commonly in use in England. They also believed in multiple eldership in the leadership as opposed to the Anglican Episcopal one man rule over each church. They were called “Puritans” because they wanted to see the church returned to the pure biblical model and see the Bible properly translated in agreement with the original texts. There is an interesting read about this period of history in England and the intrigue and politics that went into the “translation” of kings new Bible in a book by Alister McGrath called, “In the Beginning.” Or you can read our book on the subject, “The Great Ecclesiastical Conspiracy.” http://www.awildernessvoice.com/GEC.html
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Interesting comments, Michael. I’ve had an interest in the Puritans ever since discovering that I’m directly descended from them. They brought with them the 1599 Geneva Bible. King James didn’t like the Geneva Bible, because it contained explanatory notes by a few of the great reformers, notes that were not friendly toward the monarchy.
Contrary to the modern stereotype, the diaries and records left by the Puritans indicated that they were actually colorful dressers and knew how to throw a good party. They may have worn the black and whites to church, but dressed colorfully otherwise.
The term “Puritan” was originally coined by others as a negative epithet. But the people targeted decided that they actually liked the term and adopted it for themselves.
Perhaps the single most distinguishing feature about the Puritans was that they made no distinction between the sacred and the secular. To them all of life was sacred. Knowing that everything they thought or did reflected on the Lord, positively or negatively, they made every effort to live their lives such that they reflected positively on the Lord. Their personal relationship with Jesus was their highest priority every moment of every day.
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Michael,
Thank you through Christ Jesus for your Spirit inspired words to those of us who are in the wilderness seeking our “Abba Father.” Your post that I just read as a result of you commenting
on a reply I made a couple of weeks ago is Heaven sent. I work with teenagers who, like me, grew up in the man-made “church system” and opening their eyes to the Truth can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. I have moved away from all the so called “Christian” movies, books, speakers, T.V. programs, and turned to seek our Heavenly Father who is not far from any of us. Acts 17: 26 – 27 reads, 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. (NKJ) We can spend so much time, energy, and effort seeking for our Abba Father in all the wrong places that are entangled with the rules and laws of men and not of God. Jesus found His JOY beaten and tortured on the cross.
Hebrews 12; 1-2 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus started and finished it all and died “for the JOY” that was set before Him. Are we willing to forsake all and die for that same JOY? Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus run, run faster than you have ever have away from the “man-made” church system and into the arms of Jesus Christ who died so you could live free of the bondage of this world. Please read Luke 18:8 and ponder on Jesus’ words. Why did Jesus ask this question? He knows the answer! Remember Luke 9:23, “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” We are to seek and follow Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ only. It’s not about anything that we do, have done, or will do. God just loves us that much. I don’t understand it and never will! But, in the wilderness I have found a new appreciation for the love God has for me and I will spend the rest of my life glorifying His precious name. We are all going to find what we are truly seeking here as pilgrims in this world and what we find, will determine our eternal destiny.
God is so GREAT!
In Christ Jesus,
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My dear sibling (immo51) in Christ,
I looked for your former post on the blog, but did not find it. Thank you for getting back to me. You caused me to look further at that Acts 17 passage,
“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.” You mentioned moving “away from all the so called “Christian” movies, books, speakers, T.V. programs, and turned to seek our Heavenly Father who is not far from any of us.” All these things are art forms of man’s devising. Christians love their false images, but the very image of God is Jesus Christ and it is HIM that we are to be groping after. If we seek HIM and not stuff about Him, we will find Him. God is all about having intimacy with us and not about us making idols in His image. Sad to say, so much of what we see in the church lacks the anointing to make us hungry for Christ, but is there to entertain. The time came for me about twenty years ago that I had to finally leave Christian City and go outside the gate in desperation and seek Him and that city whose Builder and Maker is God which has ONLY Christ as its foundation, not some human. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” This is why there is a great exodus from Sunday religion these days and a hunger for Christ alone, for it is IN HIM that we live and move and have our being” not in church.
You wrote, “I don’t understand it and never will! But, in the wilderness I have found a new appreciation for the love God has for me and I will spend the rest of my life glorifying His precious name.” This is what the wilderness is for, to dry us out from our Christian addictions and put in us a hunger that will not be satisfied by anything but our Beloved. “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved?” (Song 8:5). Yes, we do come up out of the wilderness and cross over into the eternal Zion of God with our Beloved once we have found HIM as our total sufficiency.
God bless you and may He fill your hungry heart with Himself alone.
Your brother, Michael
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Love you brother
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