There is always the “blame game” and to put off on others what “we” as parents or even as adults are expected to do! As I thought on Scripture again so as not to be carried away into what tangent of darkness this thought might take me, I instantly returned to remember Jesus being found in the Temple asking questions of those who taught in the temple:
Luke 2:41-52 His parents
went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was
twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the
feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus
lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph
and His mother did not know it; 44 but
supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and
sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not
find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after
three days they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers,
both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were
astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were
amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Look,
Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”
49 And He
said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My
Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which he spoke
to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject
to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.
Certainly the responsible party was Joseph and Mary in keeping their son with them. It was not up to others to see about Him. So you have a family returning to Nazareth, but the Boy Jesus was not with them. And when they find Him, the Boy is amazing scholars who know the law. He had understanding that was amazing. He was twelve and had both understanding and he had that which judged, yes, the discerning side as well!
And He told
His mother, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” He
was about His Father God’s business. Would we not want our children to be about being scholarly in respect to the things of God?
Back to the
lady who talked about those who could not read nor write and they are today adults.
She said they were needy. Yes, they need to be taught. They need to sit down long
enough to learn to write and learn to read and then go be the responsible.
But again, you will find what people choose to blame when they find they do not
meet that merit system.
My parents
expected us to attend school and learn to be responsible. And we learned and
did we sometimes need the extra help? Yes! And my parents were there even when
the new books had come out for “new math” when I was going into Junior High
School. I remember my dad asked what was wrong with the other math for it
worked well for him! But we kept learning and by high school and then graduation, we
had both learned to read and write, to formulate and speak a new language that was foreign to us. And that language was Spanish. For all the work and hours we put in: we earned a diploma. We got it for applying ourselves to that which
was at hand: to read and write and be somebody!
Yet today,
there are many wanting to do away with the ‘merit system’. You hear of it
spoken by some governors of several states. They want to reward the Johnny come
lately, the lazy Susan, and Typhoid Mary!
But Jesus
was twelve and talking with those who taught in the Temple. They were not
philosophers! Jesus advanced in wisdom and favor. He visibly displayed His
unique relationship with the Father. Jesus returned with His mother and Joseph
but He maintained His truths in the Father.
Then I
continued to meditate Scripture. I came to this question: are we using the time wisely of knowing who we are in Christ? If we were saved like some twenty years ago
and had begun that process, are we still trying to figure out who we are in
Him, when the Bible has so much about being in Him!
You and I
cannot be a grand-child of God’s. He has no grand-children! He has only sons! I
am a “son” spiritually. 1 John 3:1-2 behold, what manner of love the Father has
bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God.
Romans
8:14, 16-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God…….16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs
with Christ…..
Born again
unto God, we are the children of God! We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with
Christ! We are to be those daring to take our place as God’s children. As those
sons and daughters who have received Jesus today, we confess who we are in Him!
Life is to be enjoyed and be known with purpose. God’s Word reveals to us how
to not just talk about Him but to walk with Him and converse with Him.
What we
hold in our heart will reveal what we believe! Some people are ready to hold
aspirin up as their healer for pain. Others take the more exotic way of
specialty drugs and love it till it kills them. What is reality to us?
Romans 10:
9-10 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10 For with the
heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
We are to
confess Him by speaking it out loud for our own ears to hear it. We are stand
and speak: we believe Him to be the Son of God. We believe Him to have been
raised from the dead. He is our Savior, He is our Lord, and He is seated on the
throne of our hearts. He is guiding us to the future by His Holy Spirit.
Acts 17:28
for in Him we live and move and have our being. You and I are to live within
Jesus. We move as He moves. He is super power! He is super Lord………..He has
energy and strength for the impossible tasks we face!
Have you
ever had opportunity to stand where they produce power at a dam? I had never
had the opportunity till about twenty-one years ago. It was one dam that was located in
Concrete, Washington. My husband and I had a tour there one day. And I remember
taking that walk into the area where those engines were operating and standing
above the water forcing through the gates and that tremble under my feet. The whirring of the engines and the vibration of the floor under the engines, caused the ground beneath my feet to vibrate with a force I had never encountered before.
This was power magnified, it was manifested and the combination produced light
somewhere in America!
Now can you
imagine God’s Word of water forced through little you and to light up someone’s
life on your pathway in this world? In Him we are to live and move and have our
being in Him. This is not philosophy. And it should not take us forever to
find out who we are in Him! We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. (
Ephesians 2:10) We are in Him, In WHOM we
have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. (Ephesians
1:7) Who in His own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: By WHOSE strips we were
healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
WE are not going to be healed someday. We are the healed now. Jesus did this for you and for me and by His stripes we are the healed. We are made the whole with nothing missing, or lacking or broken in our lives. For the law of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
There was another plague in the last century that was written about: the bubonic plague. One such person who we read about was John G. Lake, who as a missionary to Africa, relied on the Scriptures especially of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
He cared for the sick and buried the dead. When a team of British
doctors had appeared with a ship of supplies and a group of doctors to bring aide and relief, he was
asked what he had been using to protect himself against the bubonic plague. Of course his answer was: “I
believe the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. And as long as I walk in the light of that law of
Life, no germ will attach itself to me.”
The group
of doctors wanted him, John G. Lake, to see the ferocious activity of the living mass of
germs that killed. John G. Lake told them that he
would take that foam from the mouth of a dead person and place it on his hand
and they could see it as he held it under the microscope. With the approval of this action, it was John G. Lake that proved to those
doctors that what he was holding in his hand caused them to die instantly. Why?
“That is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
John G. Lake believed God and His word!
Resist the
devil and he will flee from you. ( James 4:7) The devil is a quitter. He always
gives up. He is one who wants his own way and after a short time he goes away for another time to attack you. But his characteristics prove he is only a liar and short on patience!
He has
certainly done a number on those who believe they cannot read nor write and use
the blame game on others so actively today, so they free themselves from any blame to themselves. Yet we are to be responsible for ourselves. But all the devil had to work on
was one parent, and the next generation parent and the next one. Because one
left to do their own thing, the remaining parent had a double duty of providing
for the offspring and seeing they were educated as well.
I am
blessed that my parents wanted me to succeed. I was blessed in the truth that they worked as a team. They wanted me to receive a
diploma and be responsible. It was not a blame game. I heard out of both their
mouths that effort was needed. It was going to require some work and there would be some of those not set for learning and who would most definitely quit. But I was told I was one who would never quit. And I have never stopped, not from my beginning in school or to this very day, learning is my heart's desire!
There is a
group called the ‘Marines’. They are the few, the proud, the Marines’. They go
in for a job. They go in to make a change. Now what if it took them some twenty
to thirty years to finally go in and make a change. Well, most likely, the ones
they went to rescue, the ones they were to save but could not because it took them some thirty years or later to train for that rescues, most of them to be rescued would certainly be dead on their late arrival for said 'rescue'.
No, when these men or women go into the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines, they are in a place to be disciplined. They have a drill sergeant or someone like him who walks them through the early morning and into their day. You have someone who will drill discipline into you.
They will drill into you what you need to know. They will drill into you the action to be taken. They will regard what the "end game is" and how to get there.
They know all about the merit system. They are no longer a Johnny come lately nor a lazy Susan. They are military. They drink military thoughts and eat military diets. Exercise is their choice. Could you image a PeeWee Herman showing up to try to rescue you, let's say in Iran? No, these are in uniform to show who they represent, they reveal who they are for and what they stand for.
So why cannot a Christian be ready for active duty like Jesus was?
Why does it take so long for a Christian, especially living in this day with all the technology to learn to speak as Jesus spoke? Are there not enough drill sergeants to give the word
of God in teaching and to pray for them to become active for that purpose God has set before them
to be and become? Is the 21st century Christian too absorbed about material things and not enough gusto for real life in God and His way and thoughts?
Christians are dressed in royal attire. They experience grace. It was divine. It was for salvation that was meant to save us from destruction!
Our Commander in Chief is Jesus Christ! He is warrior! Read Revelation chapter 1. That is a Warrior! Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name.
Zechariah 14:3 then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley.
This is Jesus in Revelation chapter 1 going to set His foot on earth. He is majesty, He is mighty, He is authority, He is greatness and honor!
Colossians 2:6-7…6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. NIV
Jude 1:20-21..“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
For Christians, the wall represents the spiritual protection
God wants to be established in each Believer’s life. In the New Testament Paul
refers to it as “armor of God”: Ephesians
6:11-12
Jesus was twelve and he had questions. He asked those who knew! And those who viewed His activity were astonished.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
From that we know, Jesus the Christ, told us to seek the kingdom of God and all things are added to us. (Matthew 6:33) And in His righteousness we are in right standing with God.
Let us be active as a military man or woman, to be those by faith active to apprehend what is ours in Jesus. Where we are weak Holy Spirit strengthens us, and He helps us to see and heed more clearly.
Fill up on spiritual food and receive that which helps one grow, heal and reveal what is purposed for our lives. We tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us. We are strengthened by that implanted word to hold firm. We have taken the whole armor of God to stand.
If you have issues with reading or seeing with clear vision, start by hearing His word. Put it in our heart! Hear it while you sleep and hear it while you eat! Put priority ONE on it....to Hear Him so that those truths suddenly can come into your life. Because if it is of the heart that will lead us when there is Jesus seated upon it. May we know the kingdom Teacher intimately so that we are disciplined to hear, disciplined to know Him, and disciplined to ride with Him when He returns to earth! Amen!
New teaching at: Voice of Prayer
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