Entering The Kingdom of God (Through The Eye Of A Needle)

"Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!' And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children (see verses 14,15), how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men IT IS impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.' "

Jesus' disciples were astonished: not only was a camel too big to pass through the eye of a needle, they were, too! If we make ourselves TOO BIG, through the prideful things this world admires, it is impossible. John the Baptist said, 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (John 3:30). Without question, no man can make this happen in you, only help you to see it. These words from God are made alive to us by the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. All glory to God!

Jesus addressed His disciples as children. Eleven of the original twelve who had left all and followed Him were continuing to receive the kingdom as little children would, following the Master. As they learned from above how to decrease themselves, they would fit neatly through the eye of a needle.  

"Oh Come All Ye Faithful"

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS:" (Ephesians 1:1)

"Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: (so) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."(Ephesians 1:15-21)

Paul's prayer for the faithful in Ephesus was that their understanding be enlightened to know what is the hope of Jesus Christ's calling. Paul goes on to pray that the faithful in Christ Jesus understand that the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead was currently resident in him and those who understand Jesus Christ's calling and are believing, persevering with Him in it!

The Ephesian saints had made room for the foundational components of salvation: "after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of (our) salvation; in whom also, having believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13,14)

The FAITHFUL have to continue to COME, armed and strengthened with the understanding Paul's letter brings to light. Merry Christmas!

Profiting Through Trials

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lack wisdom (in this maturity towards completion), let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally (in this) and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything (else) from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:2-8)

I have mentioned in previous posts that faith from God becomes yours when you are seeking, knocking; hearing and acting in obedience toward that revelation received. It's time for the body of Christ to understand that the body's faith is one and the same as the Head's faith. He had to trust His Father: that with the crucifixion would come the resurrection to the Father's right hand. Within that faith in Jesus Christ, comes the Father's specific calling for our individual part in the body. Each cell in our physical bodies has the same DNA and receives benefit from the physical nutrition partaken of. Yet the cells within the spleen have a different function than the liver; a bony cell differs, in function or in usefulness, from the cells found in the eye. I am convinced that we in the body of Christ will not be as healthy, nor useful, as the Father would desire for us without a clear understanding and determination to persevere in our Master's faith. We in the body of Christ are not following a robot that couldn't sin, but chose not to based upon what He knew the Father had revealed to him.

"...to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (Hebrews 4:17) What Jesus Christ, as the son of Man, "knew" from his Father he never turned from, fulfilling the just-mentioned verse. You know, in the hours of trial in the wilderness, on the mountain to Peter, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus strongly resisted that which would cause him to sin, to the point of physical death, which was His calling.

If we are asking for wisdom, as the body of Christ, for he who is the Head, his calling, we will be like "the earth WHICH DRINKS IN THE RAIN THAT OFTEN COMES UPON IT, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated (those who yearn for the revealing of the sons of God), receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." (Hebrews 6:7,8) Same rain; same anointed faith; opposite responses. Let this provoke you to singular-mindedness in this: your calling, in the body of Jesus Christ, is as His. He is the author and the finisher of our faith! Be stabilized in His calling/your calling!  

Monitoring Righteousness

You may have seen this commercial. A robbery is in process at a bank. The robbers have commanded those inside to the  ground. All are, except the "security monitor" and the thieves. One of those on the ground looks at the "monitor" and says, "Aren't you going to do something?", to which the monitor says: "Oh, no, I am a security monitor; I let you know when a robbery is taking place"..............he then says,"A robbery is taking place". Those on the ground look at each other as if to say, "What good does that do?"

When I was in chiropractic practice, if an individual entered the office for answers/treatment regarding some sort of ailment, and I did nothing to assess or treat their condition, eventually they would consider my approach ineffective toward an expected end. Invariably, something has to be done.

The monitoring of righteousness in the body of Christ, mostly directed toward others and rarely introspectively, has been as unfruitful.  The apostle, Paul, says "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:24,25)

"THROUGH JESUS CHRIST our LORD! " He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with HIM freely give us all things?"(Romans 8:32) What things? Read Romans 8:31-39. Those things! Why? Anything worthy comes at a price.

"Finally, my brethren, REJOICE IN THE LORD. Rejoice in those things! For me to write the same things to you is not tedious (to Paul), but for you it is safe. (Philippians 3:1)

Do you want to know what you are called to? Death to your unrighteous

governance of your heart for resurrection in HIM. Monitor that! Then act! Paul prays for the Ephesian church: that they may understand what is the hope of HIS (Jesus Christ's) calling AND what are the riches of the glory of HIS (Jesus Christ's) inheritance in the saints (those who understand what HIS calling was and are willing to persevere with HIM in it). 

This truth we apply to ourselves! The thieves and the monitor, one wrong and one useless, remain standing in the commercial. Don't be caught standing in what you think is right. Let the Father show what life is, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST the LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. Apply these scriptural references and see just how fulfilling!