You Do Not Have (Yet) Because You Do Not Ask

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, NEITHER CAN YOU, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

(John 15:1-8)

"Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. YET YOU DO NOT HAVE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT ASK. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses!" (James 4:1-4)

Ask for the Father's pruning so that you may bear the fruit of the true vine, Jesus Christ, glorifying the Father in discipleship with His Son. It cuts out the fruitlessness of your pleasures, that He will not honor, so that you may have that which endures: the fruit of righteousness in Christ Jesus. This is the way to cease striving for that which does not fulfill. God adds every good and perfect thing to you!

Take Pleasure to be a Pleasant Offering

"And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I TAKE PLEASURE in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

(2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

"For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you."
(2 Corinthians 13:4)

"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then the OFFERING of Judah and Jerusalem will be PLEASANT to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years." (Malachi 3:2-4)

There is no question those things Paul has agreed to take pleasure in will make one weak. The body of Christ becomes weak to be strong. We disqualify ourselves when, instead of being crucified in weakness and learning to take pleasure in the Lord in those instances, we voice our displeasure. He is faithful to provide strength when we agree to take pleasure, boasting in Him. We become a pleasant offering to God, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Bridle Your Tongue to the Word of Faith

"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not BRIDLE HIS TONGUE but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless." (James 1:19-26)

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth BY THE WORD OF TRUTH, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

(James 1:16-18)

"But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way,....."

(Romans 10:6)

"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

(Romans 10:8-10)

Bridle your tongue to the perfect law of liberty (Romans 10:9,10), continuing in it so this confession is made unto salvation. It is enough! Nothing says it like those words (His words). The wrath of man, or sin in action, is brought to nothing by the word of faith, believing, in action.

In The Likeness

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:14,15)

"Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.' " (Luke 14:25-27)

"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God." (Romans 2:28,29)

Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet committed no sin. Jesus requires disciples to bear their cross and follow Him. Do you see the crosses with believers upon them dotting the globe? He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. We bear, in the likeness of His cross, for circumcision of the heart.