Advertising

Commend - a word that comes from the same root word for command.

It means to demand the attention of others. To represent oneself as worthy of special notice, regard, or kindness not given to others . . . . In short, to 'advertise' oneself . . . .

"We don’t dare class or compare ourselves with some of the people who 'advertise,' (rendered 'commend' in the KJV), themselves. In measuring themselves against each other and comparing themselves with each other, they are simply stupid." 2 Corinthians 10:12 CJB

Considered - Not really worthy of any good thing, but given care, attention, and viewed attentively anyway. To be given merit by another.

Since we have come to be CONSIDERED 'righteous' by God, because of our trust, let us continue to have 'shalom' with God through our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah."
Romans 5:1 CJB

So since we are presently only 'considered' Righteous by God, what could we possibly have, in ourselves, to ever be 'commended' for if in all truth . . .
" . . . When we display our righteous deeds,
they are, (considered), nothing but filthy rags." Isaiah 64:5 (6)  CBJ

It aint our deeds kids, it is entirely of His doing that we are considered righteous.
Jesus is to be commended, NOT us!

Justification

Justify - to declare, pronounce, or consider one to be just, righteous.
“Now the ACCOUNT of someone WHO IS WORKING, (attempting to earn), is credited, not on the ground of grace, (UN EARNED favor), but on the ground of what is OWED him.” Romans 4:4 CJB

“However, in the case of one who IS NOT WORKING, but rather IS TRUSTING IN HIM who MAKES ungodly people righteous, HIS TRUST IS CREDITED to him AS righteousness.” Romans 4:5 CJB

Right standing with God is free to anyone who wants it. All we got to do is humble down a little and acknowledge and thank Jesus for what he came to GIVE us! . . .

Once we have Jesus, and He has us, we are considered righteous . . . in God's eyes FOREVER!

If that isn't enough to change our world, I don't know what is . . .

So, is it on the grounds of Gods grace, unearned Favor or or is it the favor we have earned and is owed us?
Don't know about you but, try as I might, I have never been able to earn anything from God, but I CAN receive it based on the BLOOD of Christ.

All I can do is receive His help and thank Him for it! That's ALL I can do consistently . . .

The Yoke

Speaking to the 'religious' people of his day, through the Prophet Yesha 'Yahu, the Holy Spirit spoke of the 'mowtah,' the 'yoke.'

He said this:

"Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say:  "Here am I." '

“If you do away with the mowtah, the 'yoke' of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."  Yesha 'Yahu/Isaiah 58: 9-10

And that kids, using Yeshua/Jesus as our example, (see Ephesians 5:1). is what He came to do . . . to remove the mowtah . . . the yoke . . . of 'religion.'

He came to set us free from the penalty and punishment of sin.
 "It is for freedom we have been set free!"  Galatians 5:1

If we put rules and regulations on people and expect them to keep those rules and regulations, to gain our approval, aren't we damning them for who or what we 'judge' them to be, instead of helping them to become who God want's and see's them to be? (see Isaiah 58).
All things are possible with God!

Kid's, religious Law can't help us to become who God wants us to be.
It can only show us who we are without Him . . .That's why He chose Grace . . . unmerited and unearned favor . . .
He came to be ALL we need . . . He is Grace.

Don't kill the 'worm' let him become a Butterfly!

Curious

A curious thing about translating Hebrew into Greek and then into English is the Hebrew and Greek letters can have different meanings.  The translator has to make his or her best guess.  Take a look at Luke 11:28 as it is translated in the King James and then the New Living Bible.

"But he said, yea rather even more blessed are they that hear the word of God, and 'keep' it."
KJV

"But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into 'practice.'

The Greek word 'phylasso' is the word translated ,keep' or 'practice.'

'Phylasso' actually means 'to guard.'  A direct intrepretaion would be: '... hear the word of God and 'guard'  it.'

A considerable amount of room for interpretation, eh.

It becomes a bit clearer when you put the Parable of the sower and the poor soils up along side.
Then add :
'The thief comes not but for to steal . . .'
And finally,  "Guard your heart, for out of it come the issues of life . . . or .  .  .  'for out of it life issues forth.'

Healing

Yesterday, a young girl and her boyfriend came to visit me, She told me she had something called 'Narcoleptic Bi Polar disease.
I asked her what the effect of that was.

She said she had hallucinations and heard voices. I asked her if I could pray for her.

She said, "I've been told I couldn't be healed because I'm not a believer and that believers could not pray for me either." She was told that in a Church.

I asked her, were all of the people Jesus healed 'believers', when He was here? (before He was crucified and resurrected?)

She thought for a moment and said, No I guess they weren't . . .

I said, 'Now can I pray for you?' She said yes . . . Well long story short, God healed her! Now she is a believer!

Kids, that's the kinda stuff God does on my mountain of faith every day and it is because of Grace, not legalistic performance.

Abba, thank you for the one and not the Ton . . .

Established in Grace 101

'So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. YOUR STRENGTH COMES FROM GODS GRACE not from rules about food, which don't help those who follow them.'
In the king James it says to BE ESTABLISHED IN GOD"S GRACE. Hebrews 13:9

Now listen to Paul in His letter to the Romans . . . .

"For I long to see you that I may impart some spiritual GIFT to you that YOU MAY BE ESTABLISHED.

Grace, is our impowerment and it is what establishes us!

Grace - God's unmerited and unearned favor, that IS the source and wellspring of every good thing we can receive from God.

Why, because it precludes Pride. Pride is us trying to earn favor from God.
Just receiving it requires being humble . . . "I can't, but He can . . . in every area of my Life!

Peter said He gives what to the Humble and He does what with the proud?
Kids ya got to have eyes to see it and ears to hear it . . . .
Grace is Jesus. . . at work . . . .

Abba, thank you that your Son is at the center of our lives. Thank You that your Grace is sufficient for us. Thank You for providing for us when we choose to believe it. Thank you that you are at work to will and to do in our lives,

Thank You for causing Faith and Trust, not fear, to well up in us each morning.

Thank You for having a plan for us today and everyday for good and not evil, that we might have a . . . hope . . . and a future for this day and for all the days of our lives, I believe Abba that we will see your goodness today. I receive it Abba, in Jesus name.

The Apostle John, the Lolli-Gagger

Things are not always what they seem are they? There is no end to 'specks' to pluck out of the eyes others, is there?

Is the plucking out of them a calling, or a ministry, or a just log in our own eye?
'Plucking' is always a human reaction to someone we think is not where they should be. That reaction only reflects what we assume about others. My question is; are any of us where we should be, performance wise?

When Peter questioned Jesus about John who was lolli-gagging behind, Jesus said, you follow me and leave him to me. We always got something to say to those we think are lolli-gagging don't we?

Amazing thing about John the 'Lolli-Gagger' He was the only apostle to die of natural causes and He wrote John, 1 -3 John, and the Revelation!
Leave the Lolli-gaggers to Jesus. 'For it is God who is able to make us stand,' not us . . . .

As a person who writes, I use words. Words are just pictures to me.
They are neither inherently good or bad. It is the intent of our words that is always the problem when they are not tempered by the Holy Spirit.
Do I sometimes do that? Yes, I do, because I am in the flesh, until Jesus comes for me.

If I use a word or phrase that offends you, think about my intent, not the word I chose. Intent is the thing that comes out of our hearts and saometimes brings words of life and sometimes death, when as I said my words are not of the Spirit and are of the flesh. The more I die to self the more my words will e of the Spirit.
Intent is the abundance of the heart that comes out of us and defiles us.

Even the word of God can be used as a weapon for harm and not for good. Satan uses it that way doesn't he. He uses PART of the word and so do we sometimes.

Words are often times just deemed good or bad by what we believe; at the time we read or say them. Don't know about you, but God is changing my thinking and saying every day.

In the end, it's not about our performance. It's about what we individually believe.
Whether you like that, or not, is of no consequence. It is how God planned it.

True honesty will always come to the same conclusion; We all fail and come short of perfection every day.
Ya see, that's Why Jesus had to come and be perfect for me. If I could be perfect, then He wouldn't have needed to come.

I post what I post here for a lot of reasons, they are not always readily understandable with just a surface look.
Sometimes they are just for fun, and sometimes they are just a reflection of a speck in my eye and sometimes they are a reflection of the Human being I am.

Jesus said, "look under the surface . . ."

My posts are posted with purpose and they are meant to get me to look at my own heart. That's what Jesus did . . . he tried to get us to look at our hearts . . . to see what is there already, and what is missing . . .

So lighten up and just let it go, if it offends you; cause gonna tell ya, responding out of correction to offenses . . . Is just plucking specks and is called Judgement and Jesus already took my judgement for me . . . didn't He yours?

Post Script:

Ya see, John was the first of the disciples who came to understand that Yeshua loved him, ALL the Time!! Even when he wasn't right . . .
There is no fear in Love; For it is the Perfect Love in me that threw and is throwing my fears away and it is the perfect love of God in me that is at work, Not me!
The good work God began in me will finally be completed when Yeshua returns, and not before. For now, I am only CONSIDERED righteous . . . but then . . . I will be . . . righteous . . . .