I the Lord do keep it.

Luke 13:⁶He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.  ⁷Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?  ⁸And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:  ⁹And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

John 15:  ¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.  ²Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.  ³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Isaiah 27  ²In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.  ³I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

Here we see our Father is the Husbandman, the Keeper of the vine, the Overseer of our salvation, inspecting His vineyard.  See His desire for you to bear fruit, see His expectancy of this end result.

At this you may despair, saying “I have no fruit, and His eye is on me!”

But look! There is hope.  You are in Christ and He stands before the father saying, “Let me dig around them and fertilize them.  I will water them every moment. Unless anyone hurts them, I will watch over them day and night.  I will give them everything they need to bear fruit. I am the vine and as they abide in me, they will bear fruit for Your Glory, Father.”

Can you see the tenderness of the Husbandman? How His every effort and plan in your life is for your growth and your benefit?  Can you see how He guards you jealously, how He treasures you? See how He nurtures you and gives you time to mature and to grow!

You are not alone in your effort to abide in Christ.  The Lord and our Father are both endeavoring to keep you in Christ, to aid you in your walk.  Trust Him and let Him keep you in the Vine, knowing how great a price He paid to enable your grafting into the Vine.

Do you see Christ endeavoring on your behalf in your life? Have you experienced the joy of abiding? Do you have questions about the process? Feel free to ask a question or leave a comment.

Through the waters

There you are, knee deep in the waters of life.  Maybe you made a mess of things.  Maybe someone else made a mess of things for you.  Maybe the devil has it out for you and he made a mess of things.   Maybe you let the faucet of the world flow into your life, and now you are flooded by fear and doubt.

Maybe you’ve responded to the Lord’s call on your life and you are sinking.

Matthew 14:²⁹And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  ³⁰But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink…”

Let’s pause there .

For a moment we won’t think about how you got knee deep in water.  You are wet and worried.  What now?

Isaiah 43:¹But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.  ²When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

First, realize that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is with you.  Whatever you are going through, you must grasp that the Lord is present as well, and He isn’t just a bystander, shaking His head at our pitiful performance.  What can He do?

He  “stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.” (Psalm 65:7)

He  “rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.” (Psalm 89:9)

You might say “ The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.” (Psalm 93:3)

But look! “The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” (Psalm 93:4)

Then, realizing He is there and can do something, Look at Him! Getting back to the sinking Peter…

“‘….and  beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  ³¹And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?  ³²And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

File your claim with the Lord, knowing He cares for you and is present (even mighty) to save you.  Quit looking at the problems, and get your eyes on Christ.  Isn’t He who promised faithful? Isn’t He able to perform His word in your life?  Absolutely.

Jesus desires you and His grace makes His greatness available to you and whatever mess you are in.

The “Gifting” model of Jesus

Christianity today seems to focus in on specific “gifts” and “callings” a person has when it comes to ministering to the world. I wanted to take a look at what “gifts” Jesus asked for and received as a model for how we are “gifted”.

I went through every verse in Matthew and categorized the works of Jesus under each “gift” in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, to see which “gifts” Jesus was given and how often He used each “gift”.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11:
But to each one there is constantly being given the clearly seen operations of the Spirit with a view to the profit of all. For to one is given through the intermediate agency of the Spirit a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the working of miracles,  and to another the giving forth of divine revelations(prophecy), and to another the correct evaluation of those individuals who give forth divine revelations(discerning spirits), and to another various kinds of languages(tongues), and to another the interpretation of languages(tongues). But all these the one and same Spirit is by divine energy putting into operation, dividing to each one separately even as He desires.:

• Word of Wisdom
• Word of Knowledge
• Faith
• Healing
• Working of Miracles
• Prophecy
• Discerning of spirits
• Different tongues
• Interpretation of tongues

NOTE: There is 1 Spirit with 9 different manifestations that He divides to every man severally as He will. We cannot receive only a portion of the Holy Spirit or a portion of His manifestations. We cannot be baptized in only some of the Holy Spirit or His manifestations. The Holy Spirit is a spirit entity, a spirit person and we cannot have just half of a spirit or half of what that Spirit has. If we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, then we have ALL of that Spirit and everything that comes with that Spirit. 1 John 2:20,27 says the Holy Spirit permanently abides in us.

The Holy Spirit in us owns the above 9 manifestations or operations. They are His and He can choose how and when He wants to manifest any of them through us. We know that the Holy Spirit wants to use them all through us because James 4:5 says “The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love” and Philippians 2:13 says “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. We also now that 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says “Quench not the Spirit”. So, despite the Holy Spirit yearning to do what He desires through us, we can quench His manifestations.

NOTE: It can emphatically be argued that every word that proceeded out of the mouth of Jesus was prophetic, true wisdom, and complete knowledge. So, when it came to listing the verses under those categories, I listed parables and specific sayings given to people or groups of people by Jesus that were considered profound and or commonly known sayings that Christians are familiar with. There are things He said that I did not include in the list below that were prophetic, wisdom, and knowledge.

It should also be emphatically noted that there are Zero(0) instances of Jesus asking God the Father for any of these manifestations, or any instance where Jesus might have experienced being given any of these manifestations. Jesus did receive the Whole Holy Spirit and that Spirit remained upon Him according to John 1:32.

• 48.5% of the time(51 times out of 103), Jesus Prophesied
• 38% of the time(41 times out of 103), Jesus gave a Word of Wisdom
• 18.4% of the time(19 times out of 103), Jesus performed a Working of Miracles
  
• 16.5% of the time(17 times out of 103), Jesus Healed
• 6.8% of the time(7 times out of 103), Jesus gave a Word of Knowledge

There are no specific instances In Matthew describing that Jesus operated in the following manifestations. In addition, it could be argued that Jesus operated in the following manifestations in some of the verses provided below, but there were no verses specifically stating so or indicating these manifestations were in use:

• Faith
• Discerning of spirits
• Different tongues
• Interpretation of tongues

Below are 103 instances where an operation of the Spirit occurred through Jesus in the book of Matthew. I have categorized each instance into one or more of the 9 manifestations/operations laid out by Paul above.

The “Suffering” Model of Jesus

The common belief taught in Christianity today is that we are supposed to endure “Suffering” due to our belief in Christ. Christianity explains to us that “Suffering” is a tool of God that He uses to teach us things.

I went through the book of Matthew and located 34 instances where “Suffering” was mentioned. Each instance fit into 1 of 3 categories under the general umbrella of the devil stealing, killing, and destroying. Each category had specific adjectives that described the type of suffering and I have listed those as well.

1. Persecution: A direct result of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and God.
Reviling(to assail with abusive language), false accusations, Rejection, Slander, Hatred, Premeditated murder, Judgement, Unbelief, Trying of patience, Plotted against, Death, Crucifixion, Scourging, Affliction(oppression/distress), and Deathly sorrow.

NOTE: Some of the items listed under Lamb Slain below, can be added here, since they have occurred to others in the OT and NT.

Betrayal, Conviction of death, Mocking, Scourging, Crucifixion, Spitting in the face, Buffeted(fist strikes), Smote(slaps), and Being bound.

2. Trials and Tribulations:
Poor in spirit, Homelessness, Life threatening storm, Destitution, Disappointment, Hunger, Famine, Pestilences, Earthquakes, Sorrows, and Struggle with fleshly desires. Anything else under stealing, killing, and destroying that does not fit into the Persecution category above is considered to fall into this category.

3. The Lamb Slain:
As the Lamb Slain, Jesus is the only one who could undergo the whipping post scourging and crucifixion for the purpose of remission of sins. Other OT prophets and NT disciples underwent some of these things under the Persecution category as mentioned above.

Betrayal, Conviction of death, Mocking, Scourging, Crucifixion, Spitting in the face, Buffeted(fist strikes), Smote(slaps), Premeditated murder, Being bound, False accusations.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

I wanted to look at the life and words of Jesus and His disciples to see if “Suffering” was advocated, what kind, who was supposed to suffer, and if we are supposed to subject ourselves to it.

Types of “Suffering”:

• 52.94% of the time(18 out of 34), Persecutions were mentioned
• 29.41% of the time(10 out of 34), Trials and Tribulations were mentioned by Jesus or the disciples.
• 17.64% of the time(6 out of 34), Jesus suffered things associated with being the Lamb Slain.

Who “Suffered” Persecution:

• 61.11% of the time(11 out of 18), Jesus suffered Persecutions
• 16.7% of the time(3 out of 18), Disciples suffered Persecutions
• 16.7% of the time(3 out of 18), common man suffered Persecutions

Who “Suffered” Trials and Tribulations:

• 60% of the time(6 out of 10), Jesus suffered Trials and Tribulations
• 30% of the time(3 out of 10), common man suffered Trials and Tribulations
• 20% of the time(2 out of 10), Disciples suffered Trials and Tribulations

Response to Persecution:

• 66.66% of the time(12 out of 18), Jesus directly responds to the Persecution with words or actions.
• 44.44% of the time(8 out of 18), Jesus directly Refutes the Persecution to the point that men cannot argue with Him anymore in the situation, and at one point never ask Him any further questions.
• 27.77% of the time(5 out of 18), Jesus explicitly states to His disciples and the attending crowd, that they would undergo Persecution.
  NOTE: Jesus indicates that this Persecution is a direct result for His name sake, meaning that those who undergo the Persecution would be doing so because they were uplifting the name of Jesus publicly as more important than anything they were facing. The Persecution was NOT experienced randomly or in surprise.
• 27.77% of the time(5 out of 18), Jesus does not respond to the persecution because He was not present, he gave a description that did not warrant a refutation(parable or general statement to a crowd, usually regarding end times), or it was associated with the destiny of being the Lamb Slain.
• 22.22% of the time(4 out of 18), Jesus leaves the situation where persecution is experienced and directly advocates for others to do the same.

Response to Trials and Tribulations:

• 90% of the time(9 out of 10), Jesus or God directly responds to the Trials and Tribulations with words or actions.
• 60% of the time(6 out of 10), Jesus directly Refutes the Trials and Tribulations with words or arguments.
• 50% of the time(5 out of 10), Jesus directly Resolves the Trials and Tribulations with action and demonstration of Holy Spirit power.
• 10% of the time(1 out of 10), Jesus explicitly states that mankind in general would undergo Trials and Tribulations.
  NOTE: Jesus gave a description that did not warrant a direct refutation or resolution(parable or general statement to a crowd). However, Jesus did indicate that His second coming would fully resolve the trial and tribulation, and the other facts in this section seem to indicate that there is enough resources NOW in this Life in Christ, to refute and resolve any Trial or Tribulation that might come our way.
• 10% of the time(1 out of 10), Jesus does not respond to the Trials and Tribulations mentioned because he gave a description that did not warrant a refutation(parable or general statement to a crowd, or was speaking about forthcoming events).

Below is a listing of 34 times where a situation of suffering was spoken about or actually occured in the book of Matthew.

What if Job was one of us?

Before I learned how to Abide in Christ and walk in the love, power, and demonstration of the Holy Spirit, the circumstances of my life used to not turn out like the bible said they should. So, I would go to the word looking for an excuse as to why that was. Doing so, caused me to use the word to justify my experience. IF the word is used to justify my experience, then my experience is exalted over the truth of the word.

Every Christian has pulled the God’s sovereign will card in their life at some point. When our life does not make sense and we read the word like above, we inevitably arrive at Job and pull God’s sovereign will card as a justification for why something, usually bad, happens to US whom God is supposed to love and never forsake. We don’t feel loved and we do feel forsaken, so there has to be an explanation, otherwise, our minds begin to formulate the idea that God is not who He says He is towards us and that gets over into blasphemy and unbelief and surely we can’t go there because what would be the point of our existence and belief in God…SO, God’s sovereign will is at play.

Job’s life experience and God’s sovereign will displayed in Job’s life is what we as Christians inevitably come to when suffering, pain, sickness, dis-ease, or tragedy strike our life. But, what if Job was one of us? What if Job was a NT saved individual? Would God’s conversation and ultimately God’s response to Job have been different?

We know the story, God and satan have this conversation about Job(Job 1:6-12). God says “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shuns evil? “. Satan reply’s, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”. And God reply’s, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.”

Now notice that God is not doing anything to Job here. Satan says to God, YOU(God) put forth YOUR(God) hand and take away things from Job and Job will surely curse YOUR(God) face. But God then says Ok, satan, YOU(satan) can test Job, everything Job has is in YOUR(satan) power.

Satan was the one who was doing the stealing, killing, and destroying from Job not God. The first mistake we make in using Job to justify our suffering when the evil one comes to steal, kill, and destroy in our lives is that God is doing it under His sovereign will or ability. The second mistake we make is to then say well, God is allowing it. Then we get into the proverbially IF God allows satan to be the prince of this world and lets satan do whatever satan wants to us and does not intervene then God is allowing it and therefore, its God’s soverign will.

That maybe true for Job, but not for us as NT saved individuals.

Notice that God is not giving satan a new realm of power over Job. Job 1:7 says satan was going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that satan is the god of this world. Luke 10:19 says that satan has ability. John 10:10 says satan’s ability is stealing, killing, and destroying; as demonstrated in Job’s life as well as ours. This has been true of satan throughout all of time thus far even today. God was not giving a new realm of power to satan, satan already had power over Job. God was merely saying, duh, you already have the power over Job. And we are also right, God did not intervene on Job’s behalf and in the end tells Job, where were you when I made everything and set it into motion. Who are you to question my motives. It was God’s decision to let Job be attacked by the devil and not intervene and Job had no real right to question that.

However, we cannot claim this same treatment by God and say that our experience is due to His Sovereign will, WHY?

Day 14 Communion with the Holy Spirit

John 14: 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 16: 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

Has Jesus departed? Yes, of course, and He is glorified at the right hand of the Father. Now, don’t you think he did what he said? He has sent the Holy Spirit to YOU, child of God.

Do you realize that Jesus sent us a ‘Him’? We hear the term Spirit and automatically think of something misty or cloudy or unformed. But the Holy Spirit is a person. HE has come and we are supposed to be communing with him every moment. What does it mean to commune? To be in relationship with, as a person.

The person of the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and he abides with you forever. Praise God! You are not powerless. You are not alone. You are not abandoned of God.

Today I urge you to recognize the Holy Spirit as a person sent specifically to you, Christian. Realize his constant presence and his continual ministry in your life.

Day 13 For Me

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I would like to focus on the end of this verse. Many are familiar with the beginning, and rightly so because of the power it holds. Yet I love here how Paul displays how intensely personal the gospel is to him.  The Son of God loved ME. The Son of God gave himself for ME.

We know the gospel is for everyone. We know that God doesn’t want anyone to perish. Yet sometimes we lose our position in the sheer scope of the sacrifice. Sometimes we miss how personal this is to us. Jesus saw you. He gave himself for you. Specifically you. Intentionally you. He purposefully loved you. He, full of the knowledge of who you were, are and will be, gave Himself for you. Meditate on this. Chew on it. Think on it.

Now my goal, and I pray it’s yours as well, is that through faith in the Son of God, I can love Him and give myself for Him.  Isn’t it only reasonable to be as purposeful for Him as He was for me and you?

Day 12 Wellpleasing

Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Such a beautiful verse that sums up so much of the Christian life. Here we have God, who is a God of peace, bringing Jesus back from the dead, accepting His sacrifice for us, forever. And in verse 21, it is God who is performing the action of making us perfect, working in us what is wellpleasing in His sight. Like so many other verses in the Bible we find ourselves coming back to this point of how it works- Through Jesus Christ.

Do you see how the whole Christian life revolves around your being in Christ? Not just accepting Him as Lord and Savior, though that is surely the first step. We continue abiding in Him that the working of God might be made perfect in us.

We read how it pleased God to have his fullness in Christ.  God is working His fullness in us through Christ. Why? To do His will.  What a tremendous empowering this is! God is working in me so that I may do His will!

No wonder His yoke is easy and His burden light. He is the one providing you and me the strength to bear it!

Abiding in His Word

His Word abiding in Me

Bearing much Fruit

Day 11 Absent of Everything

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 32And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Isn’t this what we long for as a church today? If we heard about this group of people, who spoke with boldness, who walked in unity, who operated in power, wouldn’t we desire to go there and be a part of what was going on?

Yet, if we examine, we’ll find that this church was absent of almost everything we think a good church should have.  There was no soundboard. There wasn’t any advertising. They didn’t have a website. Nothing they did was tax-free. There was no record of giving.  They didn’t have a puppet team. Or a dance team. They didn’t have seminary taught preachers.  They didn’t even have evangelism, as we know it.

Oh, but what they did have was Jesus, displayed and made manifest through the Holy Spirit.  And they clung to Jesus like a babe clinging to her mother’s neck. They knew nothing except Christ and Him crucified. They were absent of everything, but Jesus.

All of those things we have now aren’t wrong, unless they replace Jesus. To a Christian, Christ is entirely and utterly, irreplaceable, and to be absent of everything except Him is to be blessed beyond compare.

Day 10 With or Without

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Luke 1: 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

My first prayer is that we truly realize that without Christ we can do nothing.  Oh, we can have activity and good works and motion all in the name of Christianity.  We can have prayer meetings and services and fasting. We can do all the things we feel a Christian is obligated to do. But to do them without Christ is to be doing nothing at all. All the striving, all the motion, all the effort is as nothing in Christ’s eyes.

But, bless God, with God through Christ, nothing shall be impossible for us. With God, the littlest activity possesses unimaginable power, the shortest sentence speaks life, and the smallest seed can bear the greatest fruit.

My second prayer is that we never forget that as Christians we are not without Christ.  He has made us His dwelling and abides in us.

Be ever-mindful of the abiding presence of Christ in you and you in Him as you go into this world to do as He commanded. Because the difference between with and without is the difference between “nothing impossible” and “nothing at all”.