God’s Counsel

Posted on 2022/12/25 by JimR, Chaplain

A quick note before I sign off for the day. In the world, it’s been a day for all to stop and give thought to a baby that was born. This baby grew up to be a man that was eventually despised and killed upon a cross.

Right now at this time, He is resting at the right hand of the Father awaiting His return to deal with humanity. He’s not just a baby anymore. He had to come in the form of human flesh and endure the hardships and temptations as well as the enjoyment that we encounter in our lives. I bow to his rule as I learn more about the workings of God.

As I’ve gotten older I have had revealed to me (as well as my wife) the purpose of God in the overarching path that God is taking us. Just this week I’ve learned much about the Nephilim (known better as the giants) of the Bible. I’ve gotten some understanding about the others mentioned in scripture.

 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . Gen 1:26

The “us” in the verse goes to a broader explanation. Michael Heiser explains.

“It’s like me going int a room of friends and saying, “Hey, let’s go get some pizza!” I’m the one speaking. A group is hearing what I say. Similarly, God comes to the divine council with an exciting announcement: “Let’s create humankind!”

But if God is speaking to his divine council here, does that suggest that humankind was created by more than one elohim? Was the creation of humankind a group project? Not at all. Back to my pizza illustration: If I am the one paying for the pizza–making the plan happen after announcing it–then I retain both the inspiration and the initiative for the entire project. That’s how Genesis 1:26 works.”

Elohim is not a singular name for God, but a term for a type of god-like beings. This can be further found to be those in God’s counsel. This has opened up a new understanding of God. The one and only true God over all things.

Oh, here I go on a rabbit trail again. I’ve perked someone’s interest, so all I can say is to search for yourself. I once had a new paradymn thrown at me and I spent months researching before I concluded I had been shown principles that run deeper than I’d ever imagined.

So to prolong this conversation I’m going to say that Jesus’ coming to earth and dying for us to end all other sacrifice was a part of a plan to make God’s promise or Word not come back void. You’ll have to see if I follow through with this thought.

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2022

Posted on 2022/12/23 by JimR, Chaplain

As the year draws to a close I find myself sitting alone at four twenty in the morning wondering what became of this year. It has slipped by in such a manner that bewilders my senses So much has transpired. Becoming older has seemingly sped up on me.

The first of the year found me traveling to Kentucky to a tornado zone to assess and help people that had their lives devastated by a tornado. The people of Dawson Springs found their town had lost four hundred and fifty homes. They are completely gone. I walked and talked with several of the people and met a pastor that found himself in charge of the recovery efforts. The town officials eventually stifled efforts by attempting to restrict the rebuilding efforts to push out the low income towns people. I cannot understand the minds of men that create such division. The pastor had become frustrated with the restrictions. People from everywhere came to help rebuild, yet could not do all that could be done to put people back to some state of normalcy.

In the spring I found myself on a committee to put together a 4th of July event. It was to be a huge event with an expected crowd to exceed six thousand people. The event was plagued with bad weather and it had less that three thousand people show up.

Back during the planning stages of the event I found myself changing jobs back to driving a school bus. I helped finish out the last couple of month of the previous school year. I’m still driving a school bus and I find this is where I should be. I have a middle school and and elementary school I deliver and take home this year that are very good compared to my previous years. I’ve found it to be my way of ministering to the elementary kids especially. In that vein of thought I resigned my position as the director of the disaster relief organization I was working with for a year.

Even with those changes I was approached by another embryonic organization just forming. The thrust of their ministry is to help veterans that need counseling and likely a place to stay for a short period. I would be a chaplain among others that will be available to talk. It is still in the planning stage.

I also am still continuing in the visitation ministry of my church as a chaplain there as well. I am coordinating with the person in charge of our nursing home ministry to become available to that ministry as needed. We have a young crowd in our church so there are very few that require visitation due to the nature of older folks require.

My biggest accomplishment this year was getting my book published. It was released in August and out of the 200 I bought for my own use I sold over 100 within the first month. I still get curious buyers and some I just give my book away to them. My desire is solely to see that the need is filled for those having issues with suicide or are family members having to deal with the loss of a family member. This book became my life-long dream to give people something to read of value that can save a life. God has been extraordarily good to me in this endeavor. My publisher did a very good job of getting it done down to getting into the market on Amazon, Barnes n Noble and Walmart Books.

Just this week I’ve found some teaching on the big picture of the Bible by Michael Heiser. It has given me insight into the overall nature of God’s endeavors. It has once again reminded me of the nature of man vs God’s nature. It is a very eye-opening teaching. God really is a big God. I tell Him daily that I love Him.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my wife receiving her ministerial license this year as she was fully ordained into the ministry. She has worked hard to get to where she is. She is a wonder partner with and to me. She also has begun to teach in the ministry school and is in charge of an area of ministry in the church.

Of those of you that read this, I hope your year has been good to you and if not so good, just know God is in charge of your life and when you strive to follow Him no matter what transpires it will come to a positive end. God’s Word does not come back void.

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The Mind of Christ – Infinite vs Finite

Posted on 2022/12/19 by JimR, Chaplain

I have begun a paradymn shift. It is unusual to say the least to think a new way from all one has learned all their lives to be true to them at that time.

Believing God created everything and everything that was created was by Him. Odd sentence, but true. All that He created has a set of immutable rules as to how it was created and if it changed it would no longer be what it was created to be. If whatever it is changes it becomes imperfect or not according to what its created intention was for. It would create chaos.

Everything God created is perfect. No matter what it is. Laws of Physics becomes the rule. In the infinite realm all things were created. Take for instance the story of creation. All that we see on this earth was created and on the first day I see it as the first day of time. I also take into consideration that time may have actually started when Adam and Eve fell from their appointed positions as overseers of this earthly realm. It’s debatable, I suppose.

I feel I’m losing perspective so let me refocus here. God put everything into motion. Again, deviating from that can only destroy itself as to whatever it is. My perspective of satan is that he was a purposely created being to counterbalance and test man. His taking on the form of a serpent in the garden tells us he had already obtained much power. Still he had limitations as we see in the Book of Job.

“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence. – Job 1:12

The battle for man is to change man’s heart and mind away from God. God allows this because He wants us to recognize Him for who He is and desire to be with Him of our own free will. God doesn’t want robots. The truest down-to-earth soul searching is done to prove a man of this. Job was sorely tested, yet he learned the want for God is far greater than allowing evil to pervade his life. The test was a life-or-death situation that we all face. If we accept God’s provision, we gain eternal life with Him. Otherwise, we die miserably under the rule of a despot named satan. Satan intends to destroy all of God’s creation. However, he does not know that all his power is self-destructing and cannot win under any circumstances.

The simple laws of math are far more powerful than we use to count change back at a cash register. Multiplication and Division are opposites. All that God does multiplies. All that the evil one does divides. Simple, eh? So it seems it is a statement that holds little value, yet it holds the entire universe together.

What I am now seeing is so far from what I knew. I feel I will not do justice to what was dropped into my spirit. I will attempt this subject anyway.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. – Romans 12:2

First we are charged by scripture to have a change of mind. In the above scripture it speaks of “renewing” our minds. The original language for renewing translates to the thought of renovation or a complete change for the better.

So I’m back to saying that God’s mind processes thought from the infinite. We process thought from the finite. We are encouraged to put on the mind of Christ. That is to say, we should no longer think from the finite realm. We should begin to think from the infinite realm where God is. The possibilities of existence will expand so much that we begin to understand the nature of the supernatural realm. If we are to understand God we have to draw closer to Him. In the drawing closer, our thought process has to change.

I believe in the verse in Romans 12:2 is a progression of stepping closer. He starts with his good will. The core definition of the word “good” is useful, or salutary. The word salutary is defined as wholesome; healthful; promoting health. God wants us to have good health. When are bodies line up with scripture our mind becomes clearer.

The “acceptable” will draws us a step closer after we recognize that we have divine health first, but now we are well-pleasing (especially to God). Understanding acceptability lets us know we can please God. The rendering or surrendering of our lives to God should show us we have a nature of well-being in the natural realm. It creates a sense of our knowing God is pleased with us.

A lot of what I’m attempting to say is a process that can be however long it takes to get to this last stage. I must digress for a moment to present another thought. These three stages can be described in speaking of the three stages of the life of humanity.

First there is the stage of childhood. The growth process starts our journey. We learn to do the things that helps us subsist in the natural realm. And as I’ve noted doing the right things will promote good health. What we do when we begin our walk through life determines a lot on how we grow and age into the next stages.

Then there is adulthood or the middle age where we apply the fundamentals of what we learned early on. All that we do in our middle years builds on the foundation of our childhood. But the process is refined as we age. Understanding life never stops. There is always more to learn. We are continually growing. We will likely see many shifts in our thinking as time progresses.

As we approach the end of the middle stage we hopefully have proven to God (more likely proven to ourselves) that we understand that we have pleased Him. Yet we still operate from the earthly realm of thought. It is said that in the fifth decade of life man (men and women) begin to explore the spiritual side of things. I feel that our minds begins the shift from the natural to the spirit. So here I am at the last of Romans 12:2.

The “perfect” will of God is consummate. It doesn’t mean what so many attribute to it. Perfection comes with time. Understanding God comes with time. The change from finite thought to infinite thinking comes with age. I’m not necessarily looking at how old the body gets in this whole scheme of things, but the comparison comes from using a full age of man. At any time of a person’s life this level of thinking can be found out.

As for me, I have thought from the earthly realm most of my life. Oh, I did start searching for my spiritual side when I hit my fifties. Then just the last year I’ve become aware of a yearning to know more about my Father. After all, I’m reaching the point that I have less life here in front of me that I had behind me. God has been kind enough to allow me to come to understand the “perfect” will of God.

The original Greek word of perfect is “complete” (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.) completeness:–of full age, man, perfect.

I have listed below different thoughts that comes straight from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.

1) brought to its end, finished
2) wanting nothing necessary to completeness
3) perfect
4) that which is perfect
4a) consummate human integrity and virtue
4b) of men
4b1) full grown, adult, of full age, mature

So, I’ve rambled on a lot, but I will come to conclusion that obtaining the mind of Christ is a process that takes however long one goes through to the full grown, adult stage of maturity. Thinking from God’s perspective is a process. With that said I find way too many people struggle with their day to day issues and never focus on what God wants us to persue. If we stop for moment and reprioritize our thinking process towards shifting our thinking to how God thinks (putting on the mind of Christ) we will find all the chaotic situations around us fade away. Think like God from the infinite realm. Possibilites become more of a reality.

Don’t limit yourself to this finite realm of thinking. Surrender your life to Him and He will revolutionize your perspective of life and understanding.

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Keep Going

Posted on 2022/12/16 by JimR, Chaplain

God has opened so many doors in the last twelve to thirteen years I’m amazed. Before that time I was seemingly on a constant downhill slide. That slide culimated in a crash for me whole life. It came to a skeeching halt. Darkness and silence were my only two friends. It seemed as though God had forsaken me.

Then came to my inbox an email from a woman I did not know, but she explained to me she grew up in my old home community back home. She had gone to school with my brother Danny and was referred to my blog by a classmate of hers that I knew back when I was in school in the sixties. So I replied and to make a long story short we exchanged emails a while and then we met. Out first in person meeting was astounding. We connected completely that day. Neither of us wanted to go home when the time came. We eventually became totally exclusive with one another.

From that time on it seemed God blessed me through all my problems. I got a new position at work that was not only a grade higher, but in fact two grades higher. I can’t go through all the things that changed, but nothing could cause me to look back. In spite of financial strains God met my needs and then some.

Shortly into our relationship God began placing a desire in both of us to attend church. We first went to a church that was mostly made of of local people that love God, but were not deep into the Word. Eventually we moved to a spirit-filled church. I was already a tongue-talking Pentecostal of a sort and my wife found it intriguig and was eventually finding it a part of her life as well. Then due to circumstances I won’t divulge God pushed us out to another church.

This “new” church was the third iteration of the ministry in the same building where I attending in it’s first iteration. Not long after we started attending there I was approached about being ordained as a licensed minister. I had been trained in the late 70’s and early 80’s for ministry and was ordained as a deacon/care pastor. So, God opened a new door for me. A day after I was ordained my wife (we were married by then) asked could she be what I was. This new church has a three year program to whit you become a fully-ordaine minister. The pastor allowed her to take the courses and she is now an ordained minister as well. In the mean time I was presented with an eighteen week course to become a certified Chaplain. I graduated from Aiden University this past July with certification.

Then after all my years of knowing God had told me I’d write a book I felt God overshadowing me with His Spirit to birth that book. Without hardly any issues I was approached by Trilogy Publish from TBN wanting to publish it for me. It is now on the market in Barnes n Noble, Amazon and Walmart book stores.

I would say I’ve reached all of my goals in life, but God tells me I have more. After a year with Emerge Ministries as a Chaplain I resigned, only to be approach upon leaving by another ministry that is starting up with their purchase of land and designing a building to help homeless and disabled veterans. I’ve been offered a place to help there counseling with veteran’s.

Still, more has been given to me besides being the Visitation Chaplain for our church, but I am looking at coming alongside the person in charge of the Nursing Home Ministry. I am looking for an inroad into a local nursing home to come on an as-needed basis to help the residents there. This will likely lead to other nursing homes in the area.

Now, at 72 years old, I have found my stride. I no longer concern myself with closing down shop and sitting at home waiting for God to call me home. He says I have more to do.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. – Matt 7:7-8

Never consider your time done till God says so. Seek Him. He will reward you with things to do that will bring joy to your heart.

Posted in Abundant life, Biblical teaching, Christian, Christian Mission, God's Calling, God's direction, God's Guidance, Mission Work, More of God, Ponderings, Possibilities, Priorities, Spiritual, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Investment, Spiritual Investments | Leave a comment

The Question of Cheating

Posted on 2022/12/05 by JimR, Chaplain

The question arose by a friend asking which was worse. Was emotional involvement or having physical sex worse when it comes to cheating?

Emotions and hormones start the process. The act is the culmination of the thoughts being processed to the natural realm.

I taught my first son about the physical act, but I had to take a different tack with my younger son. I had to tell him that committing a physical act with another will tie their souls together. This is because it really does happen and that is why there is so much turmoil between a couple at some point if they find they are otherwise incompatible. Their souls have intertwined.

Cheating further complicates the matter when someone is in process of a relationship or married. The other significant other will likely “feel” something is wrong, yet not recognize it or will deny it because they don’t want to believe it. These instinctual feelings come from a troubled soul. Even if an act hasn’t occurred. So it starts in the soul. No act is required. The physical act itself is the culmination of all that transpired before it.

Posted in Biblical teaching, Cheating, Common Sense, Divorce, God's Guidance, Maturity, Mental Health, Ponderings | Leave a comment

Christian Bible Study

Posted on 2022/11/27 by JimR, Chaplain

Being a long-time student of the Bible I have to be vigilant still since I question all things. The KJV is foundational to me only because the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance is keyed to it. I use it as a base to go back and study the original Hebrew and Greek words. I do use several versions of interpretations of scripture to get a fuller understanding at times so don’t think of me as narrow-minded.

I know of many texts that were written that were excluded from the Bible because it was not considered to be of the highest spiritual value, but still they are valuable in a well-rounded view of the eras in which scriptures were written about God. Some are of important value for their historical approach if nothing else.

I’m always intrigued by anything that purports to be of significant value, even if it is negative towards true spiritual values. The true history of an article is bound to be researched when it falls under my

scrutiny.

An article popped up on my news feed that a very old Bible text had been found purported to have “facts” that Jesus was not the Son of God and was not crucified (says Judas was). It also labels Jesus as a prophet much the same as Mohammed. It’s called the Gospel of Barnabas and is labeled apocryphal.

I skimmed the article so I did not catch any mention, which may have been, of it being in the Book of Islam, which it is. So of course, it’s unbelievable and it is being thrown out there to disprove the foundation of the New Testament. People who are unaware of the foundation of the New Testament will be totally taken in. Don’t be uninformed. Bible study is important. 

For your own spiritual growth it is your responsibility to dig for the gems that are hidden in the works that are presented to us. Just as diamonds, rubies and other gem stones have to be dug out of the earth so are we to dig out of the fleshly presentations of men to find the truth (or lies) and benefit or discard such that we find.

There is gold and then there’s fool’s gold. Be sure you know how to discern the difference.

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What Qualifies a Ministry

Posted on 2022/11/12 by JimR, Chaplain

This may be a short post. But we shall see.

My wife asked me a question this afternoon as to what qualifies someone to be called by a ministerial name. First I have to refer to Eph 4:11-12

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers: For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

These aforementioned ministries are the only ministry gifts that I know of. Oh, there may be some others to mention in another form, but they are likely speaking to the hierarchy of ministry.

I did go to school for ministry back during my early years from around 1978-1982 and then served under a ministry for thirty years. I took a difficult sabatical because of issues that required my act to be cleaned up and refined. Since this reentry into my walk around 2014 that refinement has taught me much about being over doing. I must first “be” before I “do”. Doing is a direct result of being and if I’m not being first the doing is not worth the effort.

So, to answer the question my wife posed I had to say that schooling does not qualify a ministry. It may equip to some degree, but it isn’t the answer to the end of questions. First and foremost one must equip themselves for ministry, but the real end to it all is your calling.

God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called. Schooling is a skeleton. The real equipping comes from God’s testings of one’s character. With someone that realizes their calling they will pursue that calling to that end, such as one of the mentioned ministries in Ephesians.

I was once told if one wants to be a deacon he must first deek, so to speak. Serve people in that capacity and at some point someone in leadership will recognize that person’s action as a deacon and will place them into that position by recognizing them before the congregation and “ordaining” them into the ministry where they offically become called Deacons.

Same with any ministry. My earliest recollection of God’s calling on my life was that of an Evangelist. Oh, believe me I spent years mulling that over. I had no idea how to do this. You see, I started my schooling under a ministry that turned my paradygm of what an evangelist was upside-down. So, in the years that followed I performed tasks as they came up and became involved in doing. . .and doing. . .and doing till I was sitting in the sound booth at church one evening and God placed a thought in my head of why was I in this church I was in. I had no answer. By this time I had become a deacon, care pastor, printshop manger, IT manager, musician and sound tech. I fell off my pedestal

Once 2014 arrived I came to realize what an evangelist is. Without fanfare or being asked I started visiting the sick in the hospital in my former church. When I came to my present church I started visiting the sick and talking with people about their issues. It was during that time that the ministry of the church saw what I was doing and asked if I wanted to offically be ordained as a licensed minister.

After thought, I said yes and was ordained. Then a couple of years later God spoke to me about a school for certification as a chaplain. It was during my time in school that God started speaking to me that a chaplain was in fact an evangelist. He is one that touches people’s lives that may have never cast a shadow upon the doors of a church.

After schooling twice and thirty-plus years of ministry, I finally realized you can’t claim your calling just from a certificate or diploma. It comes from performing that ministry and qualifying to the point that you are recognized by the higher ministry for that and then they announce you to the congregation as such to your calling through ordination.

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The Thread of Relationship

Posted on 2022/11/12 by JimR, Chaplain

These last few weeks I’ve discovered something new. Don’t ever say you have arrived with the end of knowledge. That’s like saying you’ve finally seen everything to the end of the internet. I’ve been constantly evolving in knowledge of what life is all about.

During a lifetime of gathering, I’ve come to realize that I had a fear of dying when I was young. But

getting older changes that form of thought. I’ve lived seventy-two years. Much longer than any of my family. Only one is still with me and he’s just entering the “zone” where almost all my family passed away. So what am I saying?

I’m saying that I’ve seen a lot of what I started out in life to do I’ve done. Except for a few things I’ve talked with God about. He’s told me I’m still here to do His work for another while. I’m here to continue till He says it’s time to come home. The fear of death no longer prevades my thought in a negative way. I feel now as an old man that when the time comes I will be ready and I will welcome that step through the veil into that other realm. Yes, it is unknown, but what’s without adventure? I’ve lived a much as I know is best and I’ve come to the conclusion that God loves me and has accepted me into His own.

I was once told if you fail in one thing you will be lost from that covenant that God made with His people, but God has shown me that he is my Father. Now, He said, how does a father look at his children?

Being a father myself I look at my two sons and meditate. I love them right or wrong. They are still my blood. Jesus’ blood made provision for me to become a son of God. Not “the” Son, but a son. We all talk it up that we are children of God, but somehow it seems a bit more personal when I realize I am one of His sons. I love my sons unconditionally. He loves me in like manner. I don’t care if my sons do something wrong. They are still mine. I care for them. I love them and even if they shun me I still love them. My side of the coin called love is always with them.

What they do in return is what they will be judged on. If they revere me, they receive their reward. If they don’t they receive their judgment based on their reception of me. I will rejoice or mourn according to their decisions. Under the blood of Jesus, we are forever forgiven, but our judgment comes from the children’s decisions. I will forever love my sons no matter what they decide.

You, my friend, have a decision to make. Loving God and not forsaking his provision for you will reward you with life eternal. Not doing so will cause you to reap your own whirlwind. Choose wisely what you will do. Examine your heart closely.

Sin is a deterent to growth, because it simply means you missed the mark by not observing the principle God laid down for you to grow and mature in Him. It’s not that you will be lost forever. Accept your ownership of missing the mark and asking forgiveness and walk on. I’ve been told that it isn’t how many times you fall down. It’s how many times you get up. One or the other determines failure or success.

I’m determined through my own trials and errors that getting up and asking for forgiveness is the crux of the matter in maturing in God. And once again I stress that being perfect is not the stringent end of it all. Perfection implies maturity. We are not matured, but we are maturing. Don’t give up on yourself.

The basis of my relationship is that I love God. He loves me unconditionally. That thread of love runs deeply through our relationship and no matter how difficult it gets that thread will remain strong. He knows it. I know it. You can know it too.

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I Feel. . .

Posted on 2022/11/05 by JimR, Chaplain

I feel. . .well, how do I feel? I had a friend said once “with my fingas”. Okay, that was an attempt at humor. However, just how do I feel?

Lot’s of people in this world are suffering. Shamefully I feel it is from their own devices, yet just why are they in those circumstances?

I saw some conversation on social media about knowledge and wisdom. This thought came to me immediately. Knowledge is a tool. Wisdom is how to use that tool.

Oh, I’m quite aware there are times when my knowledge went through my thinking processes directly to action without consulting wisdom. The results were not favorable. I’ve said or done things in my early years that I still regret. This regret tells me I have matured enough to own those ill-made decisions and to weigh what I learn with the scales of wisdom before I execute action now or in the future.

There are a myraid of Biblical principles I’ve learned in my seventy-two years on this earth. I do believe the application of these principles have directly aided in the ability to apply wisdom as I’ve grown older. It was brought up at our church’s Seasoned Adults Living Triumphtly (SALT) meeting this past Tuesday.

The conversation led to the fact that several cultures revere their elderly members, yet in America, a good many young people will put their parents in rehab or rest home facilities because they feel it’s best for them. Maybe so, but how many just want them out of sight and mind?

Here comes the crux of the matter. These elderly, myself included, have acquired a lot of solid foundational knowledge over a lifetime. Most of us have learned from our mistakes. I also think if we were asked how to approach a circumstance in our younger generation we could help them bypass many issues that will cause them to stumble. Our collective thought in SALT is should we let them learn the hard lesson of experience or to we interject our wisdom in the matter.

I feel the answer to that is the sincerity of a young person that might ask. Those that don’t ask can’t be helped because, to me, this means they are not going to be open to suggestion.

So, how do I feel? I feel helpless as much as God feels helpless when his children do not ask Him for wisdom, although they may know Biblical principles. I want to help, but until asked. . .well we can pray that God opens their eyes to the value of life experiences of their elderly generation. After all, we do have a trove of information-laden wisdom to share.

God help me to be not only knowledgeable, but wise to share the wisdom gained from it a lifetime of experience.

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Grow Up

Posted on 2022/10/31 by JimR, Chaplain

A comparison I read this morning of how the world and Christians approach people is correct to a good degree. The world can be more forgiving than a lot of Christians. I commented that maturity is the key to turning Christians around into more compassionate people. In ignorance (not stupidity), Christians tend to be harsh with people of their own kind in need. I’ve commented several times over my lifetime walk as people that eat their own.

The problem lies in the fact that many never grow beyond a certain point and never consider that God is always testing us to be open to His ways so that we may mature in Him.

I Thess 5:11 – The word “edify” implicates “to promotion & growth in Christian wisdom, affection, grace, virtue, holiness, blessedness.

Maturity is the end product of practicing this. Our minds should be ever-renewing in His strength. In other words, we need to be flexible or pliable in his hands as clay on the potter’s wheel. We need to realize that there are two hands in the formation of the pot. One on the inside is in type the Holy Spirit and the other on the outside is the 5-fold ministry. All Christians need to be aware of this and act according to those “hands” that shape us.

In the end, we will be a pot to pour what is contained within us which is the water of life. And it won’t be anything but what God wants for our fellow Christians as I Thess 5:11 states.

How do we do this? Hebrew 10:25 says we should assemble ourselves together. We all attribute that to going to church in a congregation.

I see it from the standpoint of a yard of building material with “workers” assembling people into their calling as a part of the “assembly” or building. Do you want to see the New Jerusalem? Start the assembly process by practicing I Thess 5:11. Grow up (mature) in Him and you will see just that coming down out of Heaven.

We need to stop playing church and be the church.

Posted in Abundant life, Biblical teaching, Christian, Common Sense, God's Guidance, Maturity, Patience, Priorities, Sobering Thoughts, Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment