James is calling to us. Oh, that we might hear!

[Gideon]

3 hours ago, Marathoner said:

No disagreement exists between the epistle of James, the volume of Paul's writings, and the words of our Lord Himself. To couch it simply the works of our faith are thus: that we obey the Son of the living God. We love the Lord and serve Him alone, forsaking the cares of the world and this flesh which is perishing. The latter is by far the greatest challenge we face on the narrow path but take heart because Almighty God remembers that our frame is dust. Nothing is impossible in Christ Jesus: His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

An excellent contribution by Gideon and if I have anything to add in the wake of his timely exhortation, it's this: never forget the prayer of our Lord as recorded in the 17th chapter of John. This is who we are.

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

"As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

(verses 15-23)

Thank you for your words of encouragement and I pray they bless whoever is reading them. 

To those taking the time to read the words being shared here, I fully realize that having to be confronted by truths of our salvation and what it actually costs us is not pleasant, especially after living under the illusion that we have to do absolutely nothing and all is well because God sees us as Holy.

Satan will whisper that if you choose to throw yourself into the fray, to fully submit to the One who bought us with His own blood, to fully seek His face, making Him, and His will, your treasure, you will be miserable. May I humbly remind you that he is a liar? There is no doubt we all face a tough choice in our own personal valley of decision. Our carnal nature, self, chafes and wants to run. It is the most natural of reactions. 

But you must finally get this truth embedded deep within you. That carnal nature, the old you who likes the freedom to choose to sin or to resist (and so often chooses the former)..... are you listening here? That man, that woman is NOT you. That WAS you. 

When Jesus died, He took that old man with Him on the cross. That man died, just as Jesus did. Why do you still operate under his power, still serving self, still yielding to sin, still unable to bear fruit or to love others as Jesus desires of you? Simply because of your unbelief. 

So how do you get to the point you can actually believe the old you, what the Bible calls your old man, really and truly IS dead..... not dying ever so slowly, but DEAD?

Step 1: You first have to come to hate him. He is a usurper. He is a rebel. He loves himself first and foremost. He is sworn to serve the god of this world, and can never truly obey God, because the flesh is enmity with God and they that are still in the flesh CANNOT please Him. A crisis point awaits all who would finally walk in the Spirit, those who will be caused to obey Him all day, every day. The crisis point hurts. BUT, once you break, and cry out for deliverance from that wretched man, and God drops the faith into your heart that you are... not will be but ARE... new? Joy, true amazing joy and peace liek a river will flood your soul. 

Step 2: Once yuor ground had been plowed and your heart softened to receive what God longs to give you..... the faith to actually believe it is no longer you that live, but Christ who now lives in you.... do we just wait around like the lame man at the pool for the angel to stir the waters? NO! We act. We step out of our boat of safety... and misery.... and reckon it to be so. We appropriate the truth of who we are as OUR possession. We do not hope we will become new. That is hope, not faith. 

No,  we declare to God the truth of His Word. We do not wait for feelings. The feelings will come, trust me. LOL. We declare.... and I have found out loud is best.... that we are no longer old natured people but made every whit whole. We are delivered from  the power of darkness. We are one with our Father. And we yield ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, not as those needing to die.

Step 3: We fight. It is a wonderful thing to escape the wilderness of unbelief and enter the land of promise. But just like with Joshua, there are enemies whose sole purpose is to pry the words of your testimony out of your mouth. What do you do? Resist him, steadfast in the faith, and what has God promised you? Satan will FLEE from you! 

Now, IF you slip back into sin, it was not that your declaration of faith was faulty. It was not that you were too weak. There is but one reason, Your shield of faith was too small. How do you make it bigger? Continue to believe you are new! if you have slipped in sin, confess it, repent of it, and then hoist your shield of faith again as to the truth of who you are.... a brand new creature, a set-free child of the King, an overcomer of all satan and this world can throw at you. 

And to your amazement, even after a slip, you will rise up even stronger in faith. Your shield gets bigger! 

Yes, there is a good fight of faith to wage, and all of us are called to it, but we know.... not hope but KNOW... that as we endure, trusting that what God has promised us is true, we find the end result will be the same. We become established in the faith, unshakeable. Glory! 

blessings to all, from the weakest to the strongest, for God is about to roll up His sleeves and show us what He is actually capable of. We will be amazed, blown away, not only because it will dwarf what we thought God will do, but because He will be doing it through US! 

Gideon

[Alive]

On 7/12/2020 at 6:37 PM, Episcopius said:

But getting back to Ole Camel Knees and the OP - James was emcee at the Acts 15 council, saying "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us"...

Bold, and perhaps presumptuous...

Peter was eating with Gentiles at Antioch until "certain of James" showed up - Peter and Barnabus backed away from what they had been doing, and Paul jumped on Peter about it.

Later Camel Knees James talks Paul into taking a vow at the Temple, and paying for other guys to do the vow, shave their heads, etc.

It is obvious that James had a STRONGLY JEWISH SLANT to things, and Paul's struggles with Judaizers is well-known.

 

Is this really necessary, friend. What are you referring to James this way?

Do you realize that he is a brother in the Lord?

[Buddy D. Mouse]

And OF the Lord.

But I merely point out that there are differences between the approaches of James and Paul while the thrust of this thread seems to be "no, there are not any differences between Paul and James".

I feel the differences should be acknowledged, looked at, realized.

 

[Alive]

3 minutes ago, Episcopius said:

And OF the Lord.

But I merely point out that there are differences between the approaches of James and Paul while the thrust of this thread seems to be "no, there are not any differences between Paul and James".

I feel the differences should be acknowledged, looked at, realized.

 

No--you didn't 'merely' anything.

Why the slur?

[Justin Adams]

If we prayed as much as James was said to have done, then our knees would be calloused.

If we speak negatively about any of God's anointed, then we should take great care with our words.

[Buddy D. Mouse]

It's not a "slur".

You can Google "Old Camel Knees" if you wish.

It has a historical basis.

Or you can continue joining in the slurring of me that Gideon began.

 

[Alive]

11 minutes ago, Episcopius said:

It's not a "slur".

You can Google "Old Camel Knees" if you wish.

It has a historical basis.

Or you can continue joining in the slurring of me that Gideon began.

 

I understand...I haven't and I won't 'slur' you.

:-)

[Buddy D. Mouse]

Thanks, Alive.

 

[Gideon]

11 hours ago, Episcopius said:

And OF the Lord.

But I merely point out that there are differences between the approaches of James and Paul while the thrust of this thread seems to be "no, there are not any differences between Paul and James".

I feel the differences should be acknowledged, looked at, realized.

 

Pointing out differences between Paul and James is not the same as casting doubt over the scriptural message James brought that faith without works is dead. It is inspired scripture and yet the best you could do is to reluctantly refer to James having "some  good stuff".  

If the Word of God is conflicted, we are all in trouble. If in our minds we think we see a conflict, then the solution is not minimize the one we do not agree with but to get down on our knees and pray for understanding so that the conflict is undone and harmony restored. 

There is not one gospel for Jews and another for Gentiles. We are all made one in Jesus.  

Do you believe what James tells us is true and inspired by the Holy Spirit?  Or do you see Paul and James disagreeing on such an important point? 

I have seen some refer to themselves as "Pauline" disciples, and attempt to reduce Peter and James to second rate messengers of God. Do you know what Paul himself  said about these? They are yet carnal.

What James is telling us SHOULD raise red flags, for he is telling us that if we are correctly plugged into Jesus, fruits WILL come forth. If they do not, something is askew.

It is this that many refuse to acknowledge, and in order to stop the light from searching our hearts, the easier solution is just to cast doubts on the author, which in my opinion is what you have done. 

blessings,

Gids 

Edited July 14, 2020 by Gideon