Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
— Philippians 4:8-9
Me: Good morning, Father!
Abba: Good morning, Jon!
Me: All the things in the darkness in this world do not fit in this list
Abba: Yes, and many are cooperating to bring your attention to bear on them.
Lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
— 2 Corinthians 2:11
This last passage tells you not to be ignorant of the darkness, but do not focus on it and give it more power than it is due.
But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.
— Matthew 10:33–36
Understand this: as the darkness progresses, it is all the more important for you to be strong there in the depths of your heart and mind and soul by focusing on things in the light as Philippians four says. You are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16). You cannot long maintain effectiveness unless you are filled with light by what you are occupied with. You need to be light so that those who will can see how to leave the darkness. There is a balance, but remember lessons from physics: the power is in the light and darkness is absent power. Knowing the things that are of Me will maintain your ability to be light, and it is surely needed.
Although the Jesus’ words captured in Matthew 10:33-36 speak specifically of one’s immediate family members, family members make up a community, and communities make up a state, and states make up a nation and nations make up the world. Those of the household of faith will one day be in alignment with Jesus’ prayer for unity (John 17:6-18). That day has not arrived yet and many are set against Jesus’ disciples. Even within the “household of faith” one is set against another. Do not be surprised. Jesus did not want you to be unaware.
I am grateful to have found places for all the new barn signs!
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Ephesians 5:28-30
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23
Me: Good afternoon, Father!
Abba: Good afternoon, Jon!
Me: Clearly, we can walk “after” the flesh, even if we are “in” Jesus.
Abba: You are slave to whomever you obey (Romans 6). You need your body in this life. You are to be a good steward of it. Your body, contrary to popular opinion, does not belong to you.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Your body: you feed it, exercise it, rest it, and otherwise take care of it that it may serve the purposes I Am giving you to fulfill. Your body is not intended to be in charge. The desires of the flesh know no practical limitation. Driven by unfettered desire, you will overeat because I generously made food to taste good to you. Left to the body’s own choice, work and exercise will fall by the wayside and laziness will assert control. You will be tempted to stay up late, then to sleep in. The body’s desires always seek the most instant gratifications. But I Am calling you to be steward over your body, as I said before.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25
Please note that though this is, in human terms, called self-control, it is a gift of the Spirit to Christ followers. What does this mean? Remember that statement about yielding from earlier, that came from Romans 6? Your will is in play here. If you decide to yield to My Spirit and follow My word instead of fleshly desires, if you seek the strength to walk in My ways from Me, then you will see freedom from the domination of fleshly desires in My power. The cravings of the body can then be relegated to fulfill the functions they were created to fulfill with full enjoyment. Most get the proverbial cart before the horse and seek to control the flesh in the power of the flesh, using willpower instead of My power. The natural result is that the flesh (that wants no control) will have made you its slave and you will remain locked in a vicious cycle of serving it.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will
Romans 12:2, NIV
Psalms 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
Psalms 63:6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Psalms 77:12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.
Psalms 104:34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.
Me: Good morning, Father!
Abba: Good morning, Jon!
Me: How marvelous and powerful are these verses! They speak of delight, acceptance, strength, redemption, steadfastness, song, praise, memory, speech, sweetness, and gladness!
Abba: All those passages speak of benefits of engaging with what I have said (I Am saying). Among those references from the Psalms, only Psalms 57:7 does not explicitly mention meditation. Look at the context in which David said it.
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
Psalms 57
David uttered these words as he was hiding in a cave from King Saul, who wanted him dead. He was reminding himself of My mercy and faithfulness and thereby fortifying his heart against fear and despair. David consistently sang directly to Me from the heart. He found that this process diminished the fears plaguing the rational mind and strengthened his faith in Me. I will do the same for all who will turn their hearts to Me.
Consider your own time, you have not personally gotten down to hiding in caves yet, but there are plenty of voices vilifying any who would dare to say there is objective truth of any kind. Much more are those maligned who assert that My word is truth and that it ought to guide one’s actions from the heart. The one who wants to renew his mind from the lies the enemy of your souls is sowing into the world will assess what he hears in light of My word. My truth will set you free.
Me: Thank you, Father! I love You! I have long found You faithful. I have seen even long held destructive beliefs have eventually crumbled under the truth of Your word and the enlightenment afforded by Your Holy Spirit. David may have been hiding from Saul’s jealous wrath in a cave, but he was consistently putting his trust in You. I Pray You will continue to help me lay aside every wrong idea that I may have adopted. Some You have already dealt with, grew out of attempting to explain why certain things didn’t align with my expectations of how things “should” be. Never mind, that almost without exception, those things that were troubling me were consequences of my own unbelieving heart and sinful actions. When Your truth prompted me to finally lay those expectations aside and put my trust in what You have said, my life was able to soar above things that had mired me down for years. I know that Your way is beyond compare.
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalms 139:23-24
Abba: You are welcome! I love you! I will continue speaking freeing truth to you as long as you keep seeking Me.
Graphic mine. Depicting some aspects related to the mind, heart, and spirit.
My Dad’s older brother John Bennett Stanford was killed in action at Saint Lo France on the 14th of July of 1944 as US troops were fighting to wrest the area back from German control. My grandmother never talked to me about his loss, and my Dad’s mention of it only told me where he was. The graphic above lists the WWII war dead for Lubbock County Texas, for the Army only. The list contains 171 names, with my uncle listed in the second set of the last column. My uncle was far from alone in his sacrifice. There are similar lists for the other branches of the military in the national archives, but I can’t comment on those since I haven’t investigated them. In 1940, the census count for Lubbock County Texas was just over fifty-one thousand.
The Germans were heavily fortified at St. Lo and the fighting was grueling in the period in July known as the Battle of the Hedgerows. There was a subsequent period called Operation Cobra in which many perished from friendly fire, discussed in the linked article.
Well-researched article on the battle for Hill 192 which includes my uncle’s regiment. They had failed to take the hill in mid-June with heavy casualties but succeeded July 10th-12th. The date on the John Bennett Stanford’s tombstone is July 14th. If accurate, that would indicate he may have been killed in the fighting to take Saint Lo itself.
It is fitting that we should remember these fallen and that we should resist the current efforts to destroy the liberty they died defending.
My Dad’s older brother John Bennett Stanford was killed in action at Saint Lo France on the 14th of July of 1944 as US troops were fighting to wrest the area back from German control. My grandmother never talked to me about his loss, and my Dad’s mention of it only told me where he was. The graphic above lists the WWII war dead for Lubbock County Texas, for the Army only. The list contains 171 names, with my uncle listed in the second set of the last column. My uncle was far from alone in his sacrifice. There are similar lists for the other branches of the military in the national archives, but I can’t comment on those since I haven’t investigated them. In 1940, the census count for Lubbock County Texas was just over fifty-one thousand.
The Germans were heavily fortified at St. Lo and the fighting was grueling in the period in July known as the Battle of the Hedgerows. There was a subsequent period called Operation Cobra in which many perished from friendly fire, discussed in the linked article.
Well-researched article on the battle for Hill 192 which includes my uncle’s regiment. They had failed to take the hill in mid-June with heavy casualties but succeeded July 10th-12th. The date on the John Bennett Stanford’s tombstone is July 14th. If accurate, that would indicate he may have been killed in the fighting to take Saint Lo itself.
It is fitting that we should remember these fallen and that we should resist the current efforts to destroy the liberty they died defending.
I am grateful for getting some of the barn signs in the county down today. It was below freezing and windy, but I really enjoyed my Wife’s company and help.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1
Me: Good evening Jesus!
Jesus: Good evening, Jon!
Me: Thank You Jesus, for holding everything together.
Jesus: My plan requires it to hold together.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29
Do you think about the plans that I have for you?
Me: I wonder sometimes, Jesus, if my belief that I am on the path you want me on is fully under the guidance of the Spirit and not merely a product of inertia.
Jesus: It is not merely inertia. I promised the Spirit to guide you into all truth (John 16:13) and you have a heart to listen. I Am faithful to speak to those who have a heart to listen. I am faithful to speak to you.
Me: I cannot overstate what that promise means to me. I honestly don’t know how people who don’t know You get out of bed in the morning.
The opening passage talks about You as creator of thrones and powers, rulers and authorities. You must be disappointed in our current authorities and their dismissal of Your plan. No, more their dismissal of You.
Jesus: Yes, I Am disappointed whenever any chooses not to have a relationship with Me.
Me: Is it more rampant now?
Jesus: Sin is progressive. Small steps at first. Eventually rushing headlong to destruction.
Me: We have elected officials who refuse to fix a broken voting system, the foundation of our republic. They draw back from making changes when cheaters cry foul. I know you see all this. My tendency is to believe that many elections are swayed by antics such as the dead voting. Am I a conspiracy theorist?
Jesus: No, what you sense is the truth. Let me remind you that this too falls under the “all things” coverage of Romans 8:28 –
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Also, in every age there has been a remnant dedicated wholeheartedly to Me. It is the same now. You meet many of them. Remnants do not win elections. They do tread the path to life eternal.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
The three aerial photos above are from the same location a couple of miles NE from my humble abode. If you carefully note the topography, you can satisfy yourself that these images are the same location. The left image is from 2015, before installation of the turbine. The center picture is 2018. Note the crop disruption from recent installation activities. The rightmost image is taken in 2021. Again we have land disruption and a new blade on the ground prior to installation. I wrote before about the problem with lifetime of these turbines and their components.
This location is part of an expansive installation project by MidAmerican Energy in Mahaska County Iowa. The company has recently (2022) been trying to get clearance to put in a lot more of these. The public information program uses code words like “sustainability” and “Net Zero” . If you are one taken in by this type of rhetoric, I urge you to take a look at my previous post about the problems with these blades.
I grew up with windmills. We used them to pump water for livestock far from the availability of electricity. These are a different kind of beast. They use more resources than they ever return. We taxpayers foot the bill because our legislators are afraid to buck the climate narrative. The subsidies make them attractive to the installers. Our government is continuously cooperating with the global climate agenda, arranging for the endless spending, constant propaganda, and indoctrination of children that our world is on the precipice of disaster.
If the engineering was truly worked out, if these blades were truly recyclable as is falsely claimed, if this technology could outlive its payback (I don’t mean after the subsidies are subtracted), if it didn’t require full alternate backup, I wouldn’t quibble.
Here is a promise God made to Noah:
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Genesis 8:22
The only precipice we are hanging from, is the cliff of the hidden agenda.
I am grateful for Your faithful guidance, Holy Spirit!
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Romans 13
I have probably mentioned it before. This passage has troubled me, since I first read it, many years in the receding past. I also can’t count the times I have been pointed to it by well-meaning Christians, telling me – no matter what – we are required to do what governing authorities tell us, because they are ordained by God. I have a few problems with this simplistic assertion. Let’s first admit that Paul, the author of the Roman Epistle, was no stranger to overbearing government, to Rome’s crucifixions and many other abuses. This passage was probably written eight to ten years before Nero’s worst treatment of Christians and it is not clear how much of Nero’s descent Paul was alive to observe. At any rate, there is little chance Paul was blindly optimistic about about all government. He was in prison for his faith, after all.
However, what type of government is Paul describing as “ordained of God”? Explicitly, one that rewards good behavior and punishes evil behavior; one who ministers the good of God and executes wrath upon the evildoer.
How, then, does a government that rewards or facilitates evil and punishes Godly behavior and conscience reflect on the Creator if we believe such a power is “ordained” by Him? If we believe such an interpretation, what does that tell us about the nature and character of the Ordainer? It took me a long while to recognize that the stance that any and all governing authorities are put in place by God is an outgrowth of the Calvinist theology that everything that happens is enforced by Sovereign God, conveniently absolving men of any responsibility and casting God as dictatorial and less than loving.
I digress. Don’t just think about our current government, rushing headlong to tyranny though it be. Consider also Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, to name a few recent examples. Did God ordain the torture and murder of more than six million Jews (and others) under the Nazis and their collaborators? By no means is the Holocaust the only example of government-sponsored genocide. Stalin may have outdone Hitler. The number of deaths during Chairman Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” tallied forty-five million souls between 1958 and 1961. I was between four and seven at the time, but I don’t remember anyone speaking of it.
No, I firmly believe the thirteenth chapter of Romans describes the proper function of government; that which God ordains. It does not follow that no other type of government can exist. Governors have free will, like all the rest of us. Malevolent behavior in government authority can exist as easily as it can in the heart of the individually governed. If we don’t believe that, then we have put 1 John 1:5 to naught:
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
A second point that I might make takes it stand, along with Peter and John, called before Annas the high priest and his cohort:
18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Acts 4
One who resists the powers-that-be ought to never loose sight of the fact that the government “bears the sword”, as we read in Romans 13. That fact applies whether the government is of the God-ordained type, or the usurped-by-hell variety. Peter and John received a brutal beating (for which they rejoiced). There will be a cost for resistance.
Consider this passage from the Psalms:
4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. 5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. 6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; 7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.
Psalm 149
That two-edged sword is a reference to the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). He who would resist had best be in constant, intimate communication with God. Consider the term “bind” in light of these words of Jesus:
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:19
This is work to be done in fervent prayer, offered in full knowledge and conviction of the Word. In the end, we have the government we will accept. We will be victors, or we will be victims.
On the other hand, if in the flesh we take a stand opposing government, we risk a perilous trap:
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
2 Peter 2:10
Want to know how to pray? Proper government is available within. The immigration policy is straightforward and there is no waiting period.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:1-5
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Revelation 13:16-18
I am going to assume, up front, that no reader will be unaware of the use of an executive order by the White House to direct the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to create a so-called emergency temporary standard (ETS) to require all employers with more than 100 workers to show proof of vaccination or require masking and proof of negative weekly testing at the employee’s expense. If not, that ETS link will take you to the OSHA site.
I have been working to reconcile my understanding to properly address this threat to livelihood. One might think the answer is to go to work for a smaller enterprise, but the Executive Branch is signaling intent to extend to small business as well. The OSHA ETS is carefully written looking forward to that step. (One increment at a time, as always.)
You might ask, “Why have you cited the passage in Revelation 13 pertaining to the ‘mark of the beast’”? Do I think vaccine documentation fulfills the definition of the mark? No, I think it is apparently still short of the description laid out in Revelation. However, there are obvious components of that more intense scenario involved in this situation; prevention of trade (by deprivation of income), identification of individuals based on certain choices (impressed to make decisions contrary to the direction of God), and man as the apparent source, for starters.
I believe the current exercise has at least two purposes. The first is as a test: “If we run this up the flag pole, will the populace salute?” Failing the first test, the second purpose becomes more important – conditioning more people to incrementally surrender their personal sovereignty by continually elevating the level of coercion.
I work for an employer with a few thousand employees, so the first roll-out applies to me as it is now written. Employers are placed in an untenable position by prohibitive penalties for “violations”. An employer determined to resist on principle would be fined out of existence forthwith. Let us think about these penalties for a minute. In fact, let’s limit our gaze to the masking requirement for unvaccinated but weekly-tested employees. A single employee caught with only his nose uncovered could be considered in violation and subject the employer to a $13,653 penalty. Repeated or willful infractions have a 10X multiplier. Therefore, the second violation could cost the employer (who has been made responsible for enforcement) $136,530. That is for just one recalcitrant employee who – horrors, wanted to breathe better – out of potentially thousands. If this level of penalty is considered in conjunction with the near-real-time reporting requirement, one can easily see why an employer might start to use facial recognition/mask monitoring as a protection against this huge liability. What’s to recognize in a masked individual? Well, the forehead is visible. Hmmmm.
Because employers will be coerced (financially) to be agents of the government (OSHA), possible resistance will be mounted only by the individual. This is by design, of course. Imposing isolation has been the modus operandi for some time now. My belief is that these genetic therapies (propagandized as vaccines) are part of an evil affront to the created order. The gain-of-function manipulation that resulted in the virus itself is part of that. Sorry if you have taken the jab and that stance offends, but that is another entire discussion. So what about compliance with the smaller increment of masking-and-testing to keep working, buying groceries and utilities this winter?
The Holy Spirit handed me an epiphany a couple of days ago in the form of a question. Even if this tyrant’s edict via OSHA is merely a practice run in preparation for a time closer to the end or a diabolical barometer to determine if we are “there” yet, do I want to practice accepting a “precursor mark” to make it more likely that accepting the eventual “mark” will not look like a step too far?
I pray the ongoing legal challenges will prevail. God bless those who have started mounting them. I pray the courts are not all already too far around the bend. But a conviction has easily solidified in answering the Holy Spirit’s question to my own satisfaction. By the limitless grace of God, I am going to resist refuse with all that is within me by the power of God Almighty.
Lord, thank you that You are Jehovah-Jireh, God my Provider. In You I trust. I pray the ones implementing this evil will turn to You and repent. I pray the same for their abettors.
I am grateful for the gift of salvation, believing that You empower me to become more like You!
[For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8;
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. John 4:10;
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12]
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
from James 2
Me: Good evening, Jesus!
Jesus: Good evening, Jon!
Me: I have read this passage out of James 2, thinking that James felt that works were preeminent in the life of the believing. That works are evidence, – a litmus test – as it were, of the fidelity of a disciple’s walk in You. It seemed to me to be an outpouring of a lifelong adherence to Judaism as it was practiced by the Pharisees in Jame’s time.
Jesus: Do not miss the earlier unmistakable reference that James made in verse 12:
“So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” Compare Galatians 5:1 to see what he was talking about:
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
James is simply exhorting to consider carefully whether your faith is placed in Me, resulting in a changed heart and changed works or in some idol (self is a common one) resulting in nothing. This is worth constant attention: are you in Me and I in you? If you are, the works will follow of themselves, as Mine do also. In fact, the works that will flow out of your life will be mine. You may walk in them freely.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36
Missionary Sojourn 
