Thy Will Be Done

 When is the last time you did something kind for someone without expecting anything in return? Have you thought about what motivates you to reach out to help others? Do you know for certain where your wisdom to serve others is coming from?
“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.” (James 3:14,15)
 Through the book of James, God gives us a warning that wisdom can come from three different sources other than from Himself! As we examine ourselves, especially during these next forty days of lent, I thought it would be appropriate to point out these different sources of wisdom that would like to change us in ways that don’t line up with God.
*Earthly wisdom is plentiful and quite easy to acquire. We receive earthly wisdom from each other, the media, and many various outside sources that are separate from God’s Word. We’ve adopted the mentality that if it has been printed in the paper or announced on the television or broad-casted on the radio, it must be the gospel. How have many of us come to be so gullible? The answer lies in our unwillingness to read God’s Word and place His wisdom in our hearts. With this lack of spiritual discipline, earthly wisdom molds us and changes us into a being that doesn’t line up with God. The sad reality here is that we are being changed without knowing it’s in the wrong way!  
*Natural wisdom or sensual wisdom is that wisdom that comes from within us. In (Proverbs 12:15) God says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.” Jesus tells us plainly in (Mark 7: 23), “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” Brethren, how easy it is to be deceived in our own thinking that we know what is best for ourselves. Scripture challenges us to think, and often times after reading scripture we are left with nothing more than questions. Instead of seeing the chance to grow by searching deeper into the scriptures for answers, we choose to rely on what we think the answers might be and therefore become molded and shaped by natural wisdom instead of God’s wisdom. What a tragedy! This is the reason many Christians don’t grow in faith!  
*Demonic wisdom can also change you in ways that don't line up with God. Do you experience dark confusion or fear? Are you still experiencing feelings of bitterness or even anger in your life? Have you ever thought about how these feelings invaded your thoughts and actions? God tells us in the book of (2 Timothy 1:7), "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." This verse alone gives us evidence as to who is shaping our lives. The contrast couldn't be more clear!
 *Godly wisdom comes to those that practice spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading and earnest prayer; we witness this in the life of Jesus Christ. He spent a lot of time in prayer and spoke the words His Father gave Him to speak. He tells us in the book of (John 14:10), "The words that I speak to you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works." Jesus did nothing apart from God's endorsement. To make His point quite clear, Jesus prayed to His Father for divine guidance in the Garden showing us that the only true way forward is not by our will, the world's will, or Satan's will, but by God's will. Not my will Father but Thine be done.
Blessings, Jim

Time on the Mountain

“Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves” (Mark 9:2).
Greetings brethren –

Jesus called to Peter, James and John saying to them, “Come, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). At the invitation they laid aside what they were doing and immediately followed the Lord.

Along the path Jesus told others, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). We are not told how many heeded Jesus’ instructions and followed, but we are told later that many fell away from Him out of disbelief and decided to follow Him no longer (John 6:66).

We are also told that Jesus commanded his disciples to let the children come to Him saying, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all” (Luke 18:17). This He told us to teach us there is a way to come to Him that will be received and a way to come to Him that will not be received by the kingdom of God.

I share these precepts of Scripture with you to suggest that to truly be with Jesus one must have a renewed heart. This renewal begins with an unconditional desire to be with Jesus; to trust Him, to long for Him, to want to be in His presence above all other things.

When we find ourselves coming to Christ out of a sense of duty, expectation, routine, or self need, we must immediately pause and ask God to remove these practices of fear from within us and replace them with a genuine desire to quietly and reverently be in Christ’s presence with the sincerity and innocence of a little child.

Seek the kingdom and God will supply your needs (Matt 6:32-33). He will be with you to carry you through difficult times, the moments in the valley and the splendid times, the moments on the mountain. Your desire to be with Him sparks His compassion to gently lead and guide you through all that has been planned for you during your life on earth. Pray to the Lord and ask Him to give you a desire to do His will (1 Kings 58). Let the moments Jesus shares with you on the mountain give you the faith to follow Him during the trials in the valley.

Remember, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt 22:14). Few are chosen because it is not their desire to follow Jesus in the way he instructs them to. Few are chosen because they fall away out of disbelief in Jesus. Few are chosen because they will not submit to Christ a follow Him with a childlike innocence.

Of the twelve disciples Christ called upon, only three were chosen to go up the mountain to witness His glory. Why, because it was their desire to be with Christ at all times and knowing their hearts He joyfully supplied their needs.
Blessings,

Pastor, Jim Bringman

www. pastorstudy.org

The Spirit of Error

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus –


As we walk together in this New Year, preparing our hearts and minds to serve and build up the body of Christ, I want to take a moment and expose a threat that will always try to work its way into our assembly, the spirit of error. It is my conviction that the Word of God and only His Word will enable us to see this menacing strongman and take action against it.

“We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (I John 4:6).

Error finds its way into the church and operates successfully there when there is and ignorance of God’s Word. It is not my position or thought that people desire to follow a false religion; I believe they get caught up in one because they cannot discern the truth of the Gospel and then just follow along in a wave of deception without even realizing it.

Confronting a spirit of error can only begin with prayer and submission to the Spirit’s authority. This can be accomplished more effectively when a plurality of like minded believers who operate under the authority of Scripture gather in unity to call out to God to bind the spirit of error in the name of Jesus Christ.

A commitment to the Word: from the pulpit and the classrooms is where this battle against error is fought. A strong eldership that adheres to the command to guard the flock against false teaching is another dynamic that works in tandem with the teaching of the Word.

Allowing the Word to put the body in action and encouraging each other in the kingdom’s purpose(s) also thwarts the strongman of error. The importance is to allow the Word to grow the body so that when a false doctrine does show up everyone can identify it immediately and with the power of Christ exterminate it!

It is a wonderful thing to live in unity under the authority of Scripture and it is most essential in the body of Christ. The Word corrects us, rebukes us, instructs us and edifies us to a place where the unity of faith and Spirit keeps us all on the narrow path of Truth. “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Peter 3:17). Submission to the Word protects us from potential offenses that occur. We who live under the Words authority hear the wisdom from a brother or sister who points out our shortcomings in love and compassion when we most need it. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).

The Word of God is our only foundation. As the Scripture says, “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15); proving there is a right and a wrong way to interpret Scripture. Gathering around the precept that God is always right and Scripture does not contradict Scripture the body submitted to this truth will always be protected from error; it will prosper in knowledge and grow in grace.

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).