Let us PRAY all the while; let us PRAISE & WORSHIP all the more; let us REJOICE & celebrate in JOY for what we KNOW lies ahead, as we step INTO TRUTH a bit more confident, a bit more informed, and more conscientious of our BLESSED reality...
May we have the knowledge, and understanding TO be able to acknowledge, and then, improve upon our errs! May we ever be willing to be fashioned into whom we ARE CREATED to be; heirs to THE KINGDOM; HOLY and blameless, peculiar people; CHOSEN BY THE LORD, FOR THE LORD, eternally!!!
*GOD'S* people are different from the people of the world! It might not be quite evident, but it will eventually be! There are subtle differences early on, and as the Child of *GOD* grows, they become more prominent to others, and to ourselves in diverse, and varying ways! The more we FOLLOW our LORD, and heed HIM, the more pronounced our ONENESS WITH HIM!!!
12+++So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13+++for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
14+++Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
15+++so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
16+++holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
17+++But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
18+++You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
We must be diligent in the use of all the means which lead to our salvation, persevering therein to the end. With great care, lest, with all our advantages, we should come short. Work out your salvation, for it is God who worketh in you. This encourages us to do our utmost, because our labour shall not be in vain: we must still depend on the grace of God. The working of God's grace in us, is to quicken and engage our endeavours. God's good-will to us, is the cause of his good work in us. Do your duty without murmurings. Do it, and do not find fault with it. Mind your work, and do not quarrel with it. By peaceableness; give no just occasion of offense.
The children of God should differ from the sons of men. The more perverse others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless and harmless. The doctrine and example of consistent believers will enlighten others, and direct their way to Christ and holiness, even as the light-house warns mariners to avoid rocks, and directs their course into the harbour. Let us try thus to shine. The gospel is the word of life, it makes known to us eternal life through Jesus Christ. Running, denotes earnestness and vigour, continual pressing forward; labouring, denotes constancy, and close application. It is the will of God that believers should be much in rejoicing; and those who are so happy as to have good ministers, have great reason to rejoice with them.
We understand the need to confess, and repent of our sins; we are remorseful, and sorrowful when we err, and we make it a part of our days to own up to them, to improve ourselves that we can correct them as we continue forward! What causes us to err, we take more seriously as we work through each with an honest aim to please NOT the self, but our LORD! Yah, we are contrary to our earthy selves now that we know our spiritual authenticity!!!
For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Sorrow according to the will of God, tending to the glory of God, and wrought by the Spirit of God, renders the heart humble, contrite, submissive, disposed to mortify every sin, and to walk in newness of life. And this repentance is connected with saving faith in Christ, and an interest in his atonement. There is a great difference between this sorrow of a godly sort, and the sorrow of the world. The happy fruits of true repentance are mentioned. Where the heart is changed, the life and actions will be changed. It wrought indignation at sin, at themselves, at the tempter and his instruments. It wrought a fear of watchfulness, and a cautious fear of sin. It wrought desire to be reconciled with God. It wrought zeal for duty, and against sin. It wrought revenge against sin and their own folly, by endeavours to make satisfaction for injuries done thereby. Deep humility before God, hatred of all sin, with faith in Christ, a new heart and a new life, make repentance unto salvation. May the Lord bestow it on every one of us.
Throughout our development, our increased awareness, or wakefulness, inspires us to scrutinize our stumbling, yet, this works FOR THE GOOD as *GOD* forms us into HIS masterpieces, which HE uses according to HIS WILL, and HIS PLAN! *GODLY* sorrow IS wonderful, even if it shakes up our beings, which only occurs because our TRUTH IS contrary to the ways the world has reared us, and taught us! Once we get used to *GOD*LINESS, we progress with assurance of our BLESSEDNESS!!!
The more we know, the more we grow, and the easier it is to BE as HE HAS CREATED us to be, which SEES us SERVING HIM, then others, FOR HIS GLORY, HIS KINGDOM, and the safe return of souls who BELONG TO HIM!!!
LWINSOR © 2017
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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