Works don't come first...

but they DO come. They are an expression of our faith. Faith comes first because without it the works have no foundation. James 2:17-20

   " So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective]." (v. 17)

Had you ever thought and applied this to yourself? If you aren't engaged in the Father's business... what, exactly, are you doing? Just sitting there? Waiting for a flash from Heaven to tell you? Before you get any angrier at me... I'm not pointing fingers! I'm also not telling you what it is you should do. Bottom line is that you are NOT my servant... but you are the Lord's. Do you honestly believe that the gift that's been placed in you is inconsequential?

   "But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].” You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]! But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?" (v. 18-20}

Faith without [good] works is useless... now that's strong. James was, in my opinion, trying to get our attention and point us in the right direction. He's not condemning, he's redirecting. Now read the entire scripture from the Message beginning with verse 14:

   "Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?"

Now those are strong words based on an alive and active faith. Don't read any of this as condemnation... whenever did that prove to be an effective motivator? Exactly! Truly... this is an encouragement. The Lord has told us He has put a gift in us so that we can be part of building the body [Ephesians 4:12. 1 Corinthians 12]. He chose to do this. He wants us to grow into the people we can be. He has invited us (Great Commission) into this fantastic journey of bringing people into the family and helping them to get grounded and become effective.

The marvelous aspect is that it really is never too late to realize and act on that though works don't come first... they do come. Works express our faith and there is no little act. But you are needed. We can ask. The Lord can direct. BUT, it's always, always, always your decision. 

Come grab my hand and let us go forth into doing the Father's business.

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

   "For Jesus doesn’t change — yesterday, today, tomorrow, He’s always totally

    himself." [Hebrews13:8. MSG]

I believe most of us are familiar with that verse. It gives us comfort to know that the Lord is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). We can count on the indisputable fact that He will complete what He said. The question is - do we adopt the same foundation. Can we be relied on? Will we do what we have committed to? Is our character, our behavior follow the principle of being the same? And that doesn't mean not growing - it's the essential, the important areas of our lives - our foundation that is unchangeable.

Another component is in terms of being forgiven. Once we realize we have sinned, come to the Lord and confessed, repented, and received cleansing and restoration (1 John 1:9) do we drop the specifics of the sin but learn from our sin? Or.... do we continually bring the same subject up over and over and over? And if it is the latter we do - why? Don't we trust the Lord when He said He would remove our sin from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:1)? What stops us from accepting our forgiveness? Does this mean that we don't accept another person's apology when we have been hurt, lied to, etc. by them? Equally important is when we ask for forgiveness... is this not from our heart?

Can we be relied to be and do what we say? Or is our behavior one that tends to follow the last person we spoke with? Do we constantly change our minds? Which indicates building on shifty sands - actually this is called 'wishy washy'. Would you rely on such a person to have your back? If your history thus your character is characterized by consistency, then others (and ourselves) can rely on, believe who we are and what we say. Do remember though whether you are giving assurances or one receiving them - that life is defined as changes. The issue is when it affects what we've said (our word) then is our action one of letting the person know that there is a change? If so, then our reputation isn't damaged. If not........

   " For I am the Lord, I do not change [but remain faithful to My covenant with you]" (Malachi 3:6a) 

The Yesterday, Today, and Forever phrase is prefaced with the statement that the Lord is the SAME, that He does not change. But never forget the context: "... but remain faithful to My covenant with you..." This is more than a promise... more than an example... more than only applicable to Jesus. It is applicable concerning our foundation. It is a standard. 

And it is a solid foundation and standard we can stand on, adopt into our frame of reference (and action). Remember though that the "Same" does not mean a lack of change. Again... life is defined in change. But it is how we adopt and adapt the change into our standard. It is how we demonstrate the change within the standard. It is how we explain our why.

Communing ... Possible???

Have you ever visualized yourself sitting in your favorite chair and the Lord sitting across from you and you two were just chatting. You weren't praising, or worshiping, or seeking an answer ... just talking. Maybe He was teaching or showing you something. Maybe you were acknowledging something you were contemplating and needed His assistance on. Maybe it was reflecting on the previous day. Or maybe it was looking at your 'to do' list and wondering (fill in the blank). The list can be endless... the visualization is 'yes' or 'no'.

First of all, is it even possible you can get your head around the possibility of such a situation? How does that visualization make you feel? Are you uncomfortable with such an informal, personal, casual occurrence? (Silly question perhaps but how could you have a personal/intimate conversation without it being based in who you are - a human?) 

Do you feel guilty about even having such a thought? You shouldn’t. Remember Jesus calling His disciples - friends? (John 15). But when He called them friends… isn’t that extended to us as well? Read the whole chapter because it is also addressed to us - we who came after. The End Game in all this is our perception on the word ‘relationship’ and how this applies to the Triune God. 

What IS your relationship? Would you like to have this kind of relationship with the Lord or is it being too irreverent? Soooo what kind of relationship are you building? Do you come to the Lord only in crisis situations? Do you know Him apart from His acts? Do you know Him from His Words? Is it based in your experiences? Exactly What is your relationship, How do you know, and are you growing it? 

I did purposely use the word 'communing'. Know what this word means in your world of definitions? Read the following:

   "To commune is to converse confidentially and sympathetically. It is represented in both Hebrew and Greek by several words literally signifying to speak (compare Luke 6:11, dialaleo; also Luke 22:4; Acts 24:26, homileo). To communicate is to impart something to another, so that it becomes common to giver and receiver." [That definition is given by Google.]

One of the scriptural definitions is:

   "To commune means to focus on God, converse, talk, often with profound intensity, intimate communication or rapport as sharing your heart and mind with God in prayer: an interchange of ideas or sentiments, derived from French "comun" meaning - common, to share."

In crossways.com we read:

   "In all these communications, it is God himself that we most want to see. Communion with God is not merely learning about God but enjoying fellowship with God in the truth he reveals about himself. The apostle John, who enjoyed unusually close communion with Jesus while he was on the earth, said that he wrote his letters so that we might enjoy this fellowship: “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). In other words, the Bible records the words and deeds of God so that by means of these we have fellowship—that is, communion—with God." 

I could go on and site other scriptures. That's really not the point. What, How do you define communing with God, being in relationship? What is it you would like to develop? If you desire a deep and personal relationship... this is available for us. What do you want... and what are you willing to do to help develop your personal relationship?

Prayer... Pray-er... Praying

The title of my next book is: “It ALL starts with Prayer”. Now… why would I write a book on prayer and titled it that way when there are millions (not an exaggeration) of books on prayer - all the who, what, where, when of praying? You have to admit that’s a logical question. 

But in my world, an ongoing prayer group has an identity just as the individual pray-er, a vision of who they are as a person AND as a group. This should never be interpreted as there is only one way to pray. Prayer is as varied as the pray-er. We all have our own attitudes and beliefs about prayer. Let me give a rather trite example: personally, I dislike the ‘unspoken prayer’. Why? Because of two main reasons: one is that if the prayer is unspoken, how do I know if I’m in agreement (the strongest prayer I know - see point 6 in https://www.bible-knowledge.com/prayer-of-agreement/) And reason 2 is because I’m expected to trust the person requesting prayer though they obviously don’t trust me with the request. And yet, there are denominations that not only support but teach on the unspoken prayer. But... is the unspoken prayer even implied in scripture? 

When you get down to basics... what is prayer (to/for you)? How do you go about the way you as a pray-er pray? When you consider prayer you need to start with the beginning - who are you praying to? Granted... that's an easy question. But your relationship with the 'who' is the basis on your 'how'. 

We have our model given by Jesus. We’ve (mankind) called it the Lord’s Prayer. Using the Matthew scripture (6: 9-13) from the Message Bible:

   “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

        Our Father in heaven,

        Reveal who you are.

        Set the world right;

        Do what’s best— as above, so below.

        Keep us alive with three square meals.

        Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.

        Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.

        You’re in charge!

        You can do anything you want!

        You’re ablaze in beauty!

            Yes. Yes. Yes.

Do you see the action words, which imply the pray-ers beliefs: reveal, set, do, keep (x3) and then stating who the Person you are praying to is and does. And this begins our journey and adventure into discovering - Prayer.

There’s a lovely scripture that says: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Problem is that most of us are not good still-ers. That’s the first issue. Issue #2 is ‘know’. Do we know what we know? Or … what we need to know? And the 3rd issue is to define ‘God’ the way He shares Himself.

Very briefly, this is not exhaustive... I'm going to give some hints, some ways for you to find your answer to these 3 questions.

1. Being a 'still-er'
   Actually... that's your determination. Read Psalms 46 in its entirety but do so in the Amplified or Message to get a different perspective on being still and why. When our thoughts are fixed on the Father, there is a greater possibility that one's behavior will follow too. We can be still or we wouldn't be asked to. But when our thoughts are focused on our 'to do' list or something equally disengaging - then we are preoccupied or scattered or any number of different mindsets. This is the time to really let your heart lead.

2. Know

   Big word - know. Do you know what you know or think you know about prayer, you as a pray-er, and the One you are praying to? If you are new to praying then your experience base is being built. If you have prayed for years, you are still in the process of building your praying base. We aren't asked to be mindless in praying but it's crucial to have a relationship with the One being prayed to - FIRST. Formula praying really isn't based in a relationship. So HOW is your praying style?

3. Person

   According to https://christiananswers.net/dictionary/namesofgod.html God has  given Himself 967 different names! Wikipedia has granted God 72 names (sarcasm for those reading this who don't know me). The number is not the point. The point is - Why? Why would God give Himself so many names? My simple answer is that He knew we would have problems wrapping our heads around the concept as well as the Person - God. So He manifested Himself in smaller bite sized pieces as Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha, etc. And as we begin to know Him as our provider, our healer we begin to know Him. (And yes, this is my answer and no, I have no scriptural proof/substantiation.)

Praying is really quite simple and gentle and life changing and complex and complicated, and, and. But it is never insignificant. Discover who YOU are in prayer, as a pray-er and praying.

Obligation

Quite honestly….. I don’t think ‘obligation’ is a good motivator. The ‘hafta’ foundation rarely produces the desired a and e ffect . Obligation carries with it the feeling you should wanna, regardless. And the status of obligation comes from...?

Take a look at some of the spiritual haftas - love, for example. But are there other haftas... most of them that sound like a hafta are really our choices, our decisions. Totally different. But, when it is love... for me, love is more of a wanna. What does scripture say?

   “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you

Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion),

And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]?" [Micha 6:8] AMP

Listen to how the Message Bible states the Lord's desire:

   "But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, 

be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously—

take God seriously."

However it is phrased... is this really beyond us to do, be? Are these requirements of just, kind, walk humbly more than man can do? Or is this a mindset... a matter of our choices on our own frame of reference? You need to know: 1. the definition of obligation and 2. who's the originator of the obligation.

Bibletools.org says:

   "We come under obligation when we are rendered a service, producing indebtedness to the one who performed it. We feel required to respond by repaying the indebtedness, and in many cases, a heartfelt "thank you" is in order, at the very least. True obligation, closely related to accountability and responsibility, is a deep conviction that we owe someone something.  ...

   Notice this in I Peter 1:15-16: ". . . but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" Because God, our spiritual Father whom we represent, is holy, we are under obligation to be holy ourselves. Peter draws on our sense of obligation to the Father to exhort us to obedient conduct. He then intensifies our sense of obligation by reminding us that we owe our lives to Christ because He redeemed us:"

 

Does 'obligation' stop us from doing 'something' we want to? Probably... because let's face it some of our 'wantings' really aren't good for us. When we have a check in our spirits that causes us (or should) to stop and reconsider - we need to listen to our checks. Is this a 'bad'? Of course not. I would argue that the spiritual obligations are those that are designed to help us become and do our best. And these are not burdensome, they are foundational, and keep us grounded. 

Bottom line is... what do YOU feel obligated about? Are you doing anything about the feeling? How do you handle what you believe are obligations? And... are they truly obligations?

Rest

   " So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God.  Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late. For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard. For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power]    [Hebrews 3:19-4:3]

Soooo, if we desire 'rest' (and who doesn't) we need to have inner peace based in confidence and assured of His power.? Does that describe you? Actually, perhaps 'rest' needs defining first - because we all may not define and describe it in the same way. Example: in the Hebrews scriptures the 'rest' is defined as entering the promised land. And rest may use the word goal accomplishment in its description. But 'rest' may refer to something entirely different.

According to: Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - (I'm using only the New Testament descriptions of rest as a verb and noun but it is exhaustive )

   "The New Testament. The primary Greek words are the nouns anapausis [ajnavpausi"] and katapausis [katavpausi"], and the verbs anapauo [ajnapauvw] and katapauo [katapauvw].

In the Gospels the theology of rest is most clearly articulated in the words of Jesus: "come to me and I will give you rest and you will find rest for your souls" ( Matt 11:28-30 ). The rest he promises is certainly for the world to come, but it is also for this world. It is the sense of security and peace that flows from a right relation with God, the Father, through obedience to his Son, the Messiah, and membership in his kingdom.    ...

The rest is rightly called a "sabbath rest" because it is a participation in God's own rest. When God completed his work of creation, he rested; likewise when his people complete their service to him on earth, they will enter into God's prepared rest. Now, in this age, the rest is before them as their heritage and by faith they live in the light of it in this world.  ...

In Revelation 14:13-14 the heavenly voice speaks of the blessedness of those who die in the Lord and the Spirit replies: "They will rest from their labor for their deeds will follow them." Here a different dimension of the meaning of rest is being pointed to a rest that is not inactivity but is certainly free of the burdens of the flesh and of the present, evil age.

Finally, we note that as the Spirit of the Lord rests on the Messiah ( Isa 11:2 ), so in the new covenant, "If you [Christian believers] are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you" ( 1 Peter 4:14 )." 

If you are interested in more study then I recommend:  https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/rest/ 

Now THAT'S what I call a definition! We can read and see that rest is far more encompassing that originally thought by most. And the affects from this rest are far more important. We NEED to rest, to rejuvenate, to let the Lord restore us so we can continue our responsibilities here (and now). Among other things, Rest allows us a time to check, make certain we are doing what we set out to do, integrate any changes that are necessary, double check our perspective, seek the Lord. 

Bottom line is that it is we who choose to do the resting so that we can do the doing. [Oh yes... resting is more than simply taking a nap.]

Personalize

Strange title? The word just kinda jumped up at me. Do you know what it means? If your question is: is it really relevant for me? The answer is a resounding - YES! In it's simplest and beginning definition it would mean taking an idea, concept, belief and making that part of your frame of reference. The point though is... what do you do with it? Does it just become part of you externally or who you are internally?

Asked a bit more bluntly... what are you doing with your life? your gifts and talents? You!? Are you wasting all that? Are you dabbling? Maybe you're trying not to think about the 'subject'? And then there are a whole host of other responses. But I'm not speaking with the person to your right... nor to your left, not the person behind you or in front - this is YOUR question. Actually, it's all of us individually answering the question for ourselves. The point right now, right here is you - what are you doing? And how?

Do you feel you are in a season of developing/growing/preparing? And how long have you been in this season? It doesn't last indefinitely you know. At some point you will need to apply and act on what you know to this point. Remember... you are always in a state of 'the Lord's not done with me yet'. Growth is ongoing, it's never one and done and yes, sometimes this means skinned knees or bumped noses. We all go through these kinds of times... the Lord's refining us and helping us to be the best we can be.

We do have an aid in all this... actually more than one. But one of the keys is to know ourselves - who we are in the process of becoming. You do realize that it is nearly impossible to grow without an understanding of what we already know now. All this is a process. Knowing is to be applied, not just information. And applied is based in our personalization. If not then we are buffeted by the winds and cares of life without a foundation.

Personalization means to embody, express. A thought grows into a conviction based on study and subsequent understanding which is applied to living and all that begins with scripture. We all need an irrefutable source we can trust. Do remember though that this doesn't mean a casual understanding... we grow as we express and I believe we express as we embody the truth from scripture that we personalize. 

I am convinced that we all are provided opportunities to prove (primarily to ourselves, but also others) who it is we believe  [Jesus] and what it is that is our source [scripture] . And the purpose is so that we can be the Father's  harvesters' bringing many souls to Him to become born again and part of God's family. 

It begins once we are saved and present ourselves to the Lord who first loved us, to become His workman to walk in those works prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10). Can there be any higher calling? any greater gift we can share with others? any greater honor than being about our Father's business - become the who He's always seen? Personalizing the Word is the way we can become confident in who we are and how we do this. If you haven't taken the time yet, do a study on how the Father sees you and then begin to personalize what HE says. Honestly, He knows us far better than we know ourselves.