Maybe it is Age, But

Maybe it is age, but I am certain The Holy Spirit has a wonderful sense of humour. He is a marvelous friend who loves to share a laugh with me. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

Accepted in the Beloved

There is always the tension in the Christian life between the “now” and the “yet to be.” However, what we are now in the eyes of God is what we shall be in practice when we stand before Him in complete, perfect sanctification in glory.

Even now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). He has made us acceptable in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6). Indeed, we are complete in Him (Col. 2:10).

How do we explain this tension in our daily lives between our practical sanctification and our eternal position and standing before God?

The believer’s positional standing before God never ever changes. No believer is less justified than another. You are either acquitted by God or you stand condemned. You are either a child of God by adoption or you are an enemy. You either have eternal life, or you are dead in trespasses and sins.

Our standing before God, once we are His child, does not change. Our sonship does not depend upon our fellowship with Him. It is the other way around. Our fellowship with God depends upon our sonship.

There are degrees in our fellowship, but there can be none in our justification before God. Sometimes we are warm and sometimes we are cold in our fellowship, but our sonship never changes since we were adopted as His children.

Our justification is entirely above the fluctuations of Christian experience. It knows nothing of degrees or the rise and fall of our emotions. You are either justified by faith or you are condemned. We are “in Christ” and He is “the same, yesterday, today and forever.”

Christ alone is our righteousness and results in our right relationship with God. Christ is of God “made unto us righteousness.”

If a right standing depended upon our faith or our faithfulness we would be eternally condemned. It depends upon Christ’s righteousness accepted as His gift by faith. It does not depend upon our endeavors, but upon the finished work of Christ. “You are complete in Christ.”

How can this be true? We know ourselves all too well. We are imperfect and we fail. Yet God’s word says that we are complete in Christ.

Regarding the Christian’s acceptance and standing before a righteous God is concerned, God sees nothing from His throne but Christ Jesus alone and Him crucified. And since the believer is in Him and one with Him, he shares Christ’s place in the Father’s heart. No matter how unworthy the believer is in himself, he may know without a doubt that he is “accepted in the Beloved.”

You cannot be condemned if you are in Christ. Christ is without sin and for us to be in Christ means to be accepted in the Beloved.

Jesus Christ presents us to the Father clothed in the garments of His own righteousness.

Jesus represents us to God. We see God in Christ. God sees us in Christ. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. We in Christ are reconciled to God.

The Christian can never pray, “O Lord, look how pure and holy I am; look at me and preserve my soul, for I am holy.” That would be utter nonsense. We can only come into His presence and with humble gratitude accept His grace saying, “Lord, be merciful to me the sinner.”

Moreover, the steadfastness of our joy and the stability of our spiritual growth depends upon our keeping our gaze fixed immovably upon the one Blessed Object upon which the Father’s gaze is always fixed (Heb. 12:2).Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

I Devote Myself To

Today I devote myself to prayer.

To devote yourself means to make a commitment.

Right after I wake up very morning I devote myself to prayer.

To devote myself to pray and say good morning I love you to those that are nearest to my heart: Jehovah, Jesus and The Holy Spirit.

To devote myself for thanking them for watching over me while I slept.

To devote myself to thank them for a good nights sleep.

To devote myself to ask them for guidance throughout the day.

To devote myself to thanking them throughout the day for all the abundant blessings they give me both big and small.

To devote myself to praying to them and repenting when I do wrong and guide me on how to make it right if I have offended them or others.

To devote myself to praying to them and thanking them for walking with me through out the day.

I pray with complete confidence they enjoy listening to me and indeed answering me. I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. Psalms 17:6 The Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

So, for all of you that are curious why I am almost always happy ( even when it seems like everything is going to Hell in a hand cart ) , now you know the reason why.

Yes, there are times of sadness, pain and or fear but when I devote myself to talking it out with Jesus, He always blesses me with peace and confidence that everything is under His control. And, because He loves me, everything is going to be all right.

Why not give it a try every day for a month and see how much your life transforms for the better?

This photo and article @ Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah 2022

Have you been there yet?

“I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering” Philippians 3:10  The Holy Bible, The New Transaltion Version

Have you been there yet?

You know, have you walked through the valley of Hell. A place of fire and torment.

I have. It was during a toxic relationship. The person was terribly abusive, mean spirited,selfish and cruel. I stayed believing I could help this person. Of course they must want to resolve their issues and take action themselves. This person did not want to change their behavior. Finally I walked away.

Then, came another time of hell, the time of recovering from the abuse. I kept on calling out to God, but He was silent.

Thankfully God did direct me to the resources needed to recover. It took a year.

Through that time I developed a very deep and personal relationship with God. There was no other way for this relationship to exist except my going through the hell first to get rid of the toxic relationship that put a chasm between us.

In time the wounds were healed and my spirit resurrected into the family of Christ.

If you are going through the fire right now perhaps it in necessary to burn off bad habits or beliefs.

My trying to serve this abusive person prevented me from serving God. So, He just stepped back and allowed the abusive person to do their worst (a boy did they do a job on me) to burn off my feeling of obligation to them. Once the relationship ended, then came the healing.

Through the healing came a deep love for and respect for God.

So too is it possible for you.

If you are going through that hell, whether it be an addiction or toxic relationship or health or financial problems perhaps it is because you need to have something burned off that restricts you from your relationship with God.

Yes definitely get help.

I am so happy I did.

They helped open my eyes to a lot of things that has helped me ever since. At the completion of this time your spirit will be resurrected into a close relationship with God.

Believe me it hurts God too to have to step back and watch you go through this, but it is necessary.

Even though it hurts our Beloved to watch, He does step back and allow us to go through Hell to get us into Heaven. Joseph a son of Jehovah

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah ‘Immeku (The Lord Is With You) Judges 6:12 for blessing me with walking through my time of torment and agony. Thank you for healing me when You finally had enough and guided me away from the tormentor. I would never had made it without You. With my deepest gratitude I thank you in the name of the greatest Healer of all, Jesus Christ. Amen

May love be in your life, may hope be in your heart and may peace be in your every day walk with Christ. Joseph a son of Jehovah

Photo and article @ Joseph a son of Jehovah 2020

He is Three in One.

God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9   Holy Bible Amplified Version                

First Jesus is our Saviour. It is only He who has the key to unlock Heavens door. There is no hoops to jump through or any religion that can open that door. Yes it seems intolerant but the truth is intolerant to lies.

Second He is my best friend. My greatest joy is when in communion with Him. Not necessarily talking about problems or victories, but just being silent and enjoying communion with Him. There is no piece of wood or sliver whether it be of paintings of saints or Buddhist (or catholic one either) statutes that you can talk with (now to talk with someone means not only do you talk with them but they talk with you as well) that will answer back.  

Third, He is my King, which means I am His free will servant.

We all serve someone or something. I can think of nothing nor no one I would rather serve than Christ. It is the greatest honour and pleasure to serve than Jesus. Joseph a son of Jehovah

He is three in one every moment of my life.

Isn’t that amazing.

“We meet God through entering into a relationship both of dependence on Jesus as our Saviour and Friend and of discipleship to Him as our Lord and Master.” — J. I. Packer

Prayer: Thank you Jesus Pyyrand (Jesus my best friend) for the honour of serving my best friend whose blood has bought me an entrance through Heavens Gate to spend an eternity with You. You are truly the most amazing of all. I exalt You in You magnificent name. Amen.

May love be in your life, may hope be in your heart and may peace be in your every day walk with Christ.

I Certainly Don’t Recommend

The troubles of my heart are multiplied; Bring me out of my distresses. Psalms 25:17 The Holy Bible Amplified Version

If you want to live an easy comfortable life do not become a Christian.

A Christians life can be expected to be one filled with sorrow, pain, hardship and loneliness.

You will be filled with sorrow at the ones who reject Christ (especially those in your maternal family) and by extension ostracize you. You will not be invited to family get togethers, weddings, funerals or anniversaries. It will cut deep.

You will suffer pain of never being invited to get togethers by those you work with. You will be treated like a freak and mocked.

You will suffer loneliness as Christ takes you away from comforts of this life into service for Him. You will feel as if you are the only person in the world because everyone around you rejects you mocks you and ostracizes you. It will cost you your family, your friends, your career, maybe your health, your financial security.

You will face hardship because of what you have to surrender unto Christ (in the beginning of your walk you will not be sure if He will supply your needs).

If this sounds like to heavy of a price to pay let us look at the rewards:

You can be sure that no matter the family and friends who reject you Christ will bring to you a Christian communion that will be closer than any maternal family member or worldly friend.

No matter recession or physical injury or anything that hampers you finances Christ will always make sure you have a comfortable place to live, clothes on your back and food in your belly.

In your hardship it will bring you ever closer to Christ which will expand your love, admiration, trust and friendship with Him, which is the best treasure of them all.

It is not: is it worth giving up everything to become a Christian but rather why in the world would I desire anything but Christ in my life. Joseph a son of Jehovah

  “I didn’t go to religion to make me ‘happy.’ I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” C. S. Lewis

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah ‘Uzam (The Lord is our Strength in Trouble) for blessing me with Your Divine strength to endure and prosper (yes prosper because the prosperity is in the enlargement of our eternal love affair) during my suffering because of my association with You. I exalt You in the name of He gladly enduring the most horrible suffering for me Jesus Christ. Amen

The gift of love, the gift of joy, the gift of peace, these are the greatest gifts that can be given. They are given in abundance to all those in Christs family by our Heavenly loving  Father. May you be blessed with plentiful opportunities to share these with those around you today.

Before God Has a Chance To

 

 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me.” Psalm 81:13 The Holy Bible Amplified Version

Do you yap and run?

Most times, I am ashamed to admit, that I do.

You know, where you say your prayers, say:”Thanks for listening Jehovah”, and begin your day or go to sleep.

I have begun to get into the habit of laying quiet for about ten minutes after prayer to see if the Lord has anything to say in reply. Usually He does. He fills me with a sense of peace.

Why not give it a try today and make it a practice every day.

Now it makes one wonder if there is anything more valuable or worthy of your time than just spending time with He whose love reigns supreme in your heart.

“The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says “Amen” and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas.” — Frank Laubach

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Kal El (voice of God) for blessing me with the most delightful conversations even when some of them are difficult to hear I know they are all for my own good because of Your divine love for me. I praise You in the name of He who spoke the choices words of all Jesus Christ. Amen

Wishing you a house full of sunshine, hearts full of cheer and love that grows deeper each day of the year. Welsh blessing

 

God Can Count the Apples.

 Would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart. Psalm 44:21 Holy Bible Amplified Version

I have met many whom I believed to be righteous and pious only to be bitterly disappointed to discover later that they were first class scoundrels.

I have met many whom I believed were cold hearted only to discover they were just reserved in character but generous in heart. Y

ou can fool some of the people some of the time but you can never fool Jehovah at any time. Joseph a son of Jehovah

That is why it is important not to judge others but to go to Jehovah in sincere prayer and request His guidance in relationship with others. For, He knows the true heart of all men and women. He knows the ones that produce sweet fruit and He knows the ones that produce bitter fruit.

Since doing this I have avoided a lot of terrible relationships and been blessed with some unusual beautiful relationships with others.

“Anyone can count the seeds in an apple… but only God can count the apples in a seed.” — Author Unknown

Prayer: Thank you Holy Spirit Kal El (voice of God) for wisely guiding away from toxic folks and towards the loving ones that cross my path to Heaven. I exalt You in the name of the wisest Rabbi Jesus Christ. Amen.

May the gentle assurance of Jesus’ sweet love encompass you today and every day.

Why Would We Be?

Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:10-12 The Holy Bible Amplified Version

We would we be?

Why would we be in deeper companionship with Christ the more we meditate upon the cross?

Here is what I do every morning: in the part of the morning prayer where I give thanks unto Jesus I take a swallow of red wine vinegar after thanking Christ for shedding His Holy blood, suffering and dying for my filthy sins. When the vinegar goes down it burn the throat, as this happens I think of my Beloved screaming :” My god, my God why have You deserted me.” and think of the time when I left Jehovah and contemplate how painful it was. Just think of how it felt for Christ how enjoyed deep love with His Heavenly Father to have deserted Him in His time of suffering.

Then the wine burns my stomach ( because it is empty in the morning) and reflect of the Roman soldier piercing my Beloveds side. Finally there is a warmth that envelopes my entire heart. I reflect upon the piercing agony Jehovah must have felt watching this horrendous event take place.

After that I eat a sweet cookie and reflect on the sweetness of communion with my Heavenly Beloved.

The more we meditate upon what Jesus suffered on that cross the more we appreciate, respect, love and adore Him.

Because of this I am blessed with unbroken fellowship with my Heavenly Beloved every moment of every day.

“The more we meditate on the cross, the deeper our companionship and knowledge gets of Christ the Lord.”  Pishoy Kamel

Prayer: Thank you Jesus Christ Hoshe’ah ( The Lord Saves ) for Your amazing sacrifice that has enabled me to receive forgiveness for my filthy sins and therefore the privilege of becoming a member of Your Divine family. I praise You in Your magnificent name. Amen.

May the gentle assurance of Jesus’ sweet love encompass you today and every day.

A Source of Great Gain

But godliness actually is a source of great gain when accompanied by contentment [that contentment which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the sufficiency of God]. 1 Timothy 6:6 The Holy Bible Amplified Version

Living a simple Godly life is the key to contentment. Joseph son of Jehovah

My life is very simple and there is great contentment.

I find the greatest delight in the simple beauty that Jehovah surrounds us with each and every day like listening to Jehovahs symphony of wild birds or the wind dancing through the leaves. I love to watch Jehovahs ballet of snowflakes gently swirling and twirling to the ground like tiny ballerinas. I love to drink in the sweetest fragrance there is, wildflowers in the early morning. What a wonderful blessing exceedingly blesses us with daily.

It is too bad most people are in too much of a rush serving their dead gods ( going to work to pay for the things you have gone in debt for which cannot love you back and which you soon become bored with).

“I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he whom that is given need ask no more.” -Henry Fielding

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Bara (The Lord Creator) for blessing me with the amazing treasures You reveal to me in Your stunning creation. Thank you that at those times we walk together and talk together in wonderful loving communion. I praise You in the name of He with whom I cherish looking forward to walking through Heaven with Jesus Christ. Amen.

May the gentle assurance of Jesus’ sweet love encompass you today and every day.