Category Archives: God’s love

Seven Rules

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James 4:7-10 – Rejoice Now – Cry Later or Cry Now – Rejoice Later

(Seven Rules for Personal Revival)

James 4:7-10 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

YOUR PARTGOD’S PART
Submit to God – Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.He will direct your paths.
Resist the devil – James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from youThe devil must go in the name of Jesus.
Draw near to God – James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to youHe will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands – James 4:8 – Cleanse your handsHe will bless the work of your hands. Deuteronomy 28:12
Purify your hearts – Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.He will cleanse and restore – Psalm 51:17 – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.
Lament, mourn, weep – James 4:9 – Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  1 Corinthians 4:17
Humble yourself – 1 Peter 5:6 – Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,He will exalt you – in His time.

THEREFORE…

James 1:21-22 – Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

THEN…

2 Chronicles 7:14 – If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

The Throne of Grace

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Hebrews 4:11-16 – The Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4:11-16 – Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

What a privilege to enter into the very presence of God. To bring our petitions, our cares, worries, concerns to him. What a comfort to know that he understands our weaknesses because he experienced them also, but without giving in to them. We enter that rest via the veil – the flesh/body of Christ. 

Sin is the greatest hindrance to prayer.  Sin separates us from Christ.  Sin is defeated through the blood of Jesus.  Being set free from sin through his blood allows us to enter into his presence. 

The throne of grace is that special place where we can become one with our Lord.  After confession of sins – sins of omission (things we should have done but did not) and commission (things we should not have done but did) we can enjoy fulness of joy, peace of mind.  We can have satisfaction knowing that our relationship with the Lord is one that cannot be compared to any other relationship we might have experienced.

His grace is enough to satisfy your soul, to make you whole and complete.  His grace is the soothing ointment from above that will meet all your cares and needs.  

A Spark for Good or for Bad?

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James 3:1-12 — My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear” is repeated several times in the Bible, especially in chapters two and three of Revelations.  Perhaps since we have two ears and only one tongue, we would be better off if we listened more than we speak.  When tempted to speak, let us remember that our ears cannot cause anger, disagreement and chaos.  A good rule to possibly follow when tempted to speak before thinking is “Shut up.”

Ephesians 4:29 – Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

James speaks about stumbling in word – we are all guilty of that.  If we do not stumble in our words, James says we would be perfect and able to bridle the whole body.  He uses the example of how we put bridles in horses’ mouth so that we can control them and how a small rudder can be used by the pilot to direct a large boat.  This is clearly an area where many of us do not succeed – controlling our tongue.  Perhaps we could use a roll of duct tape.  Walmart sells it for about $3.50 a roll.  Many of us may need the extra wide and super strength version.

Luke 6:43-45 – For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

How many times have you heard someone say something and then follow it up with “I didn’t mean to say that”?  According to the Bible, you did.

A song our children used to sing says “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.”  The tongue is unruly, evil and full of deadly poison according to James.  How often do we praise and worship God and then turn around gossip, lie, curse, call others names. 

While no one tames the tongue on their own, thanks be to God who gives us the Holy Spirit who can empower us to get victory over our words. 

If the church will work at cleaning up our tongue – what a difference it could make in our world.  Instead of a fire of bad words creating a fire, let’s create an atmosphere of love with a spark of God’s love.

Our Only Source – Jesus

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1 John 5:12 – He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

  • He came to give us life

1 John 1:1-2 – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

  • He came to fill us with joy

1 John 1:4 – And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

  • He was there “from the beginning

John 1:1-2, 14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

  • Disciples saw His miracles!  They were witnesses!  They knew!

2 Peter 1:16 – For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

  • He is real

Luke 24:39 – Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.

  • He came to do away with our sin, to forgive us, to set us free, to bring us joy, to free us from bondage, to heal our bodies and much-much more.
  • But the main point was to forgive our sins

1 John 3:5 – And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

  • We are responsible for our sins – Not like Flip Wilson who said, “The devil made me do it.”

1 John 3:8 – He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Matthew 13:38-40 – The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

  • He came to this earth for one purpose – to die on Calvary. By His death we know love because He gave His life for us, we should give our lives for one another following His example

1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

  • He died for the ungodly – that’s you – that’s me

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

  • He was the propitiation (mercy seat), the one and only, the total and final ultimate sacrifice

1 John 4:9-10 – In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

  • Disciples saw, and testified to what He has done for us

1 John 4:14 – And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

  • Jesus is our only source!

1 John 5:12 – He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.