Fellowship with CindyisHis (4) Part one

[CindyisHis]

Oh, that is so good, ral!!!!! So good. You are right on. It's all about relationship. Everything in the kingdom of God has to do with the heart, or spirit man.

 

[Mark2010]

Snakes are evil.

"What's your favourite kind of snake?" a man asked.

"A dead one," the woman replied.

Sort of glad we don't have snakes, mosquitoes, roaches and other such critters in this corner of the world.

 

[Mark2010]

Wow, that was my 4,000th post. Guess I should go celebrate before I get reprimanded or reported for something silly.

I've been on CF since November 2005. Sometimes it has been the only thing keeping me sane. Othertimes, it has almost driven me insane.

 

[CindyisHis]

James 2:1 My brothers, hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ without showing favoritism. 2 For suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring, dressed in fine clothes, and a poor man dressed in dirty clothes also comes in. 3 If you look with favor on the man wearing the fine clothes so that you say, "Sit here in a good place," and yet you say to the poor man, "Stand over there," or, "Sit here on the floor by my footstool," 4 haven't you discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers: Didn't God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? 6 Yet you dishonored that poor man. Don't the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Don't they blaspheme the noble name that you bear?
8 If you really carry out the royal law prescribed in Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of [breaking it] all. 11 For He who said, Do not commit adultery , also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you are a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn't shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.


There is a lot to comment on here because I see there is more than one truth to take into consideration as we take in the main point. It would be easy to get the wrong impression from this portion of scripture if we didn't read it in the light of other scriptures. We are to rightly divide the Word, 2 Timothy 2:15, the main point being not to show favoritism.



By no names is the message to remain poor, or that to be poor is good and to be rich is bad. Nor is it saying all the rich oppress, or all the poor are rich in faith. What it is saying is -



The poor have been chosen to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom.



This is a message of encouragement to the poor. They don't have to be poor. God has chosen them, along with "whosoever will", to be rich in faith. He wants everyone to be rich in faith. He has chosen them to inherit the kingdom, as He desires all to do the same. 1 Timothy 2:4 He chose a rich Gentile to inherit the kingdom, to be saved, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 10 So we know from this that James is not saying only the poor are chosen to inherit the kingdom.



This is good news for the poor, for if the poor sees his inheritance he will no longer remain poor. If he sees God has chosen him to receive the kingdom and to be rich in faith, he can reach out and take it, it's his. I'm not saying money is going to fall into his lap like magic. No, the kingdom of God doesn't work that way. It works by the seed principle - sowing seed and reaping the harvest, but that is another teaching for another day. This inheritance goes way beyond money anyway. Prosperity is not having money. That's the world's definition, and it is only part of it. Besides, having money can kill you if you have no wisdom and consume it on your lusts or are filled with pride because you think you're something now. Dummy! Don't you know the poor and rich die alike? What profit is money then?



It's hard not to get on a rabbit trail with this. Because our thinking has been warped from religious tradition and error in teaching that has gone out into the church. We can miss what James is saying here if we don't understand other truths.



Back to the main point. Don't show favoritism.




In a large group of believers we are going to have a great mix, a mix of cultures, races, ages, genders, and yes, economic differences. I like the saying, "The ground is level at the cross." In Christ there is no male or female Galatians 3:28, and the other differences are to be laid aside as well. This comes to play most often I think, in small groups. When we rub elbows at church in various ministries we're involved in and even more in homes as we meet, it becomes a little more evident who has money and who doesn't. This is where this scripture is to be applied. We are not to regard the poor or the rich in a different light because of their economic status. God has called, gifted, and anointed each one, and we do well to receive what spiritual thing each one has to offer. And do even better when we love each one deeply without partiality.



It is sin to show favoritism. It is breaking the law of God as much as adultery of murder. However, the mercy of God triumphs over judgment. The blood of Jesus, whom He has sent, cleanses us from all sin as we confess it to Him.

 

[CindyisHis]

Snakes are evil.

"What's your favourite kind of snake?" a man asked.

"A dead one," the woman replied.

Sort of glad we don't have snakes, mosquitoes, roaches and other such critters in this corner of the world.

It's pretty bad when snakes are considered an asset. I just as soon do away with snakes as well as mosquitoes, red ants, roaches, and the like. There are pitfalls in every place on earth. Then too, each place has its benefits.

 

[Glenda]

Just a bit of an update.. things are going well.. I'm adjusting..

God has given me dreams in the last 10 days as I've been struggling with the changes happening in my spiritual life..

First He told me not to let hate grow in my heart as I awoke one morning...

Another morning, I was dreaming that I was pumping gasoline at a station.. and somehow the hose was not attached.. and when it started pumping, the gasoline started flying all over me.. but it did not smell like gas.. it was more like oil..

Then this morning, I was in a room.. and it was filled with glasses.. so many glasses.. lined up side by side.. as far as the eye could see.. so many that I could not count.. And oil was flowing into them..

And He said the oil will never stop as long as He has an available empty vessel..

And not to let bitterness grow in my soul..

He is such an awesome God.. and I praise Him for Who He is..

 

[Mark2010]

Wow, Glenda! Your dreams are far more interesting than mine.

 

[irenemcg]

Written tonight , still in revival mode


Only Believe

All things are possible if you only believe,
For God is the God of the impossible,
So all we have to do my friends is only believe,
The Word says with God all things are possible.

So come let us step right into supernatural realms,
For all we need to step right in is only believe,
In all that we do, we need to keep Christ at the helm,
We need to walk in the gift of faith now and only believe.

Let us move right on in leaving the outer courts behind us,
Then through to the Holy of Holies coming face to face with Jesus,
There is so much more for us to discover only believe,
Seek after Jesus and we will enter the heavenly realms to receive.

And the angelic realm will become accessible only believe,
For in the presence of angels there is freedom and liberty,
And with these open heavens we will move on to victory,
The fire of the Holy Spirit will totally engulf us only believe.

We will move into realms of the miraculous like never before,
Moving in full resurrection power for there is still more,
What we have tasted is only the beginning of we will receive,
For we are about to be revolutionized by ‘agape’ love, only believe.

What men have beheld of the glory of the Lord is only the beginning,
Open wide the gates it’s time for the King of Glory to come right in,
We have only started to waken up; there is so much more, only believe,
For Jesus is coming back for a pure spotless bride, only believe.

Holy Spirit come with your refiner’s fire and purify our hearts,
Increase our longing; increase our desire for Jesus in our hearts,
For we long to be changed and take on his very nature,
We know that there is urgency in this hour for the bride to mature.

So we will press on in to the Secret Holy Places and only believe,
There is more for us to access when we come in faith and only believe,
Heavenly visions and miraculous signs and wonders are at hand,
Our nation is about to be set ablaze as we move in power through this land.

And the Lord is about to set many captives totally free, only believe,
It is time for the prodigals to come running home to Daddy, only believe,
And all your sicknesses and diseases are being healed now, only believe.
For the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, come to Jesus and only believe.

The Lord is jealous for our affections can’t you see he wants intimacy,
It is time for us draw real close, being taken to new levels of intimacy,
For the fullness of Kingdom reality is right at hand, only believe.
Step right into the realm of the supernatural now, only believe.

We are going to be such carriers of the presence of God, only believe,
That people will come asking us “What do we need to be saved?”
People will be even healed by the “Christ in us” as we pass by, only believe,
For it is Christ in us that is the hope of glory, so we need to only believe.

ONLY BELIEVE!

Irene McGough 5th July,2008

 

[Glenda]

Wow, that was my 4,000th post. Guess I should go celebrate before I get reprimanded or reported for something silly.

I've been on CF since November 2005. Sometimes it has been the only thing keeping me sane. Othertimes, it has almost driven me insane.

Congrats, Mark!

And I understand about the sane/insane aspect of being here..

 

[Glenda]

Written tonight , still in revival mode


Only Believe

All things are possible if you only believe,
For God is the God of the impossible,
So all we have to do my friends is only believe,
The Word says with God all things are possible.

So come let us step right into supernatural realms,
For all we need to step right in is only believe,
In all that we do, we need to keep Christ at the helm,
We need to walk in the gift of faith now and only believe.

Let us move right on in leaving the outer courts behind us,
Then through to the Holy of Holies coming face to face with Jesus,
There is so much more for us to discover only believe,
Seek after Jesus and we will enter the heavenly realms to receive.

And the angelic realm will become accessible only believe,
For in the presence of angels there is freedom and liberty,
And with these open heavens we will move on to victory,
The fire of the Holy Spirit will totally engulf us only believe.

We will move into realms of the miraculous like never before,
Moving in full resurrection power for there is still more,
What we have tasted is only the beginning of we will receive,
For we are about to be revolutionized by ‘agape’ love, only believe.

What men have beheld of the glory of the Lord is only the beginning,
Open wide the gates it’s time for the King of Glory to come right in,
We have only started to waken up; there is so much more, only believe,
For Jesus is coming back for a pure spotless bride, only believe.

Holy Spirit come with your refiner’s fire and purify our hearts,
Increase our longing; increase our desire for Jesus in our hearts,
For we long to be changed and take on his very nature,
We know that there is urgency in this hour for the bride to mature.

So we will press on in to the Secret Holy Places and only believe,
There is more for us to access when we come in faith and only believe,
Heavenly visions and miraculous signs and wonders are at hand,
Our nation is about to be set ablaze as we move in power through this land.

And the Lord is about to set many captives totally free, only believe,
It is time for the prodigals to come running home to Daddy, only believe,
And all your sicknesses and diseases are being healed now, only believe.
For the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, come to Jesus and only believe.

The Lord is jealous for our affections can’t you see he wants intimacy,
It is time for us draw real close, being taken to new levels of intimacy,
For the fullness of Kingdom reality is right at hand, only believe.
Step right into the realm of the supernatural now, only believe.

We are going to be such carriers of the presence of God, only believe,
That people will come asking us “What do we need to be saved?”
People will be even healed by the “Christ in us” as we pass by, only believe,
For it is Christ in us that is the hope of glory, so we need to only believe.

ONLY BELIEVE!

Irene McGough 5th July,2008

How beautiful!

What a gift the Lord has given you..

 

[ralangley]

How beautiful!

What a gift the Lord has given you..

Yes! Irene has been blessed and now blesses us!

Congrats, Mark!

And I understand about the sane/insane aspect of being here..

Oh yeah, me too!

Just a bit of an update.. things are going well.. I'm adjusting..

God has given me dreams in the last 10 days as I've been struggling with the changes happening in my spiritual life..

First He told me not to let hate grow in my heart as I awoke one morning...

Another morning, I was dreaming that I was pumping gasoline at a station.. and somehow the hose was not attached.. and when it started pumping, the gasoline started flying all over me.. but it did not smell like gas.. it was more like oil..

Then this morning, I was in a room.. and it was filled with glasses.. so many glasses.. lined up side by side.. as far as the eye could see.. so many that I could not count.. And oil was flowing into them..

And He said the oil will never stop as long as He has an available empty vessel..

And not to let bitterness grow in my soul..

He is such an awesome God.. and I praise Him for Who He is..

Glenda, this is wonderful! Your intimacy with the Lord is so apparent. What a blessing you are!

 

[CindyisHis]

James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

There are two things that stood out to me in these verses, who this is addressing, and what to do.

Let me start with who it's not addressing. It's not addressing the one in need, saying for that one to look to people to give to them. I can tell you, that kind of thinking can slip in easily when you don't have much and rub elbows with someone who does. I've even heard people expect prominent people in ministry to support them with aid. The well-known preacher doesn't even know them! No, we see in the Word we are always to look to God and expect Him. It is true though, He often moves through the hand of people, however we receive no instruction about asking people.

The other point is, we are to do something when we see someone in need, whether or not we are in need ourselves. Notice, it doesn't say if you are loaded and have it. It doesn't even say if you have it. Why? Because even if we are in need, we give. Why? Because that is our answer to getting out! We sow! We give! That is God's way. It wouldn't take faith if we had it. This says faith without works is dead. Our faith, moved by our faith and not by what we see, moves us to do something when we see someone in need.

He wants us to get our eyes of ourselves. In giving to others, in seeing their distresses, we are reminded we are not the only ones with troubles. There's always someone somewhere with a greater problem than ours. Even if the other person's is not greater, we give, still making us take our eyes off ourselves.

I've had the Lord move me to give to someone who had more than me. I'm thinking at first, "What? Why do I need to do that?" Well, maybe it wasn't for them was much as it was for me. This isn't about who has more than who. This is about being a doer of the Word and showing our faith by our works.

That's what came to mind to day as I was in prayer.

 

[CindyisHis]

Thanks, Irene, for sharing that anointed poem.

I'm thanking God for His faithfulness in ministering to you through your dreams, Glenda. Because you have been faithful to walk in love and look to the Lord, He is pouring a greater anointing on you.

Good to see you, Mark. Sane/insane, it all depends on where you are here. There's threads I have to leave, the ones that get so ugly. But then I think, shouldn't I be doing something? I guess there are times to stay and minister, and times to shake the dust off my feet. And it depends on my frame of mind at the time. Hope being here brings you sanity.

ral, here you are with encouraging words again! I need to find a minute to expound on your most excellent post on getting to the heart of the matter - our relationship with Jesus. That was great. That's what it's all about.

Another sunny day in FL. We enjoyed a wonderful firework display last night along the intercoastal waterway. Ran into a good friend there, a dear friend for years.

 

[ralangley]

...
The other point is, we are to do something when we see someone in need, whether or not we are in need ourselves. Notice, it doesn't say if you are loaded and have it. It doesn't even say if you have it. Why? Because even if we are in need, we give. Why? Because that is our answer to getting out! We sow! We give! That is God's way. It wouldn't take faith if we had it. This says faith without works is dead. Our faith, moved by our faith and not by what we see, moves us to do something when we see someone in need.

He wants us to get our eyes of ourselves. In giving to others, in seeing their distresses, we are reminded we are not the only ones with troubles. There's always someone somewhere with a greater problem than ours. Even if the other person's is not greater, we give, still making us take our eyes off ourselves.....

What comes to my mind is how we are all one. Not the "oneness" so often asserted by the new age mindset, but the oneness that we find in Christ. If my brother or sister suffers, I suffer. If my sister is starving in Africa, I am starving here, even if my belly is full and it seems by the world's standards, that I have all I need. I don't. Part of Christ's body is in need, so I am in need, and I have a duty to respond.

Another thing that comes to mind is that poverty is so relative. Last night, we spent the evening with friends who live on a lake. All around us were people shooting off fireworks that clouded the sky - each neighbor attempting to out-wow the other. A couple of households had professional level shows, easily spending more in twenty minutes than I've ever spent on a car, or even two cars combined. The great irony is that there were so many fireworks going off at the same time, that the smoke prevented us from seeing many of them.

Something about this conspicuous display of wealth saddened me. I thought of my mother collecting cans for the few dollars a day she earns. She has so little, and yet, always buys us Christmas presents. I thought of the thousands of people in desperate need, who struggle to feed their families, and yet still have great faith and live for God. So what is wealth? What does it "profit a man if he has the world" but really has nothing a true value?

 

[CindyisHis]

You make a very good teacher, making this so personal.

 

[CindyisHis]

I nearly forgot to say, this is such a tremendous point to make.

What comes to my mind is how we are all one. Not the "oneness" so often asserted by the new age mindset, but the oneness that we find in Christ. If my brother or sister suffers, I suffer. If my sister is starving in Africa, I am starving here, even if my belly is full and it seems by the world's standards, that I have all I need. I don't. Part of Christ's body is in need, so I am in need, and I have a duty to respond.

 

[CindyisHis]

One thing God is impressing upon me is that actions derive from relationship. When that relationship is solid, actions don't need to be forced or difficult.

So many of the people I'm starting to associate with are focused on signs and wonders. For a while, in all honesty, I was too - reading everything I could about the "anointing", attending revival meetings, seeking after "impartations" and such. One day I realized that in the struggle to adopt the right posture, create the right environment for the glory to appear, to be positioned correctly for heaven to open.....my simple focus on just being with Jesus was missing. And it seemed to be missing from many, (not all) of the people I was with. So many people were salivating more for the "glory" to appear than to fully open themselves up and be known and know Jesus.


..........signs and wonders naturally flow from relationship.

Faith without works is dead. But faith derives from relationship, and from relationship, obedience. Works without relationship are just as dead as faith without works.

This is the psalmist's heart cry.
Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.

You are my God, my Father, my Lord. Nothing can take Your place. Here on this earth it is dry, and nothing satisfies. Everything is a temporary fix that leaves me empty. It is You I long for, You I need while I am here away from my home with You. I will make You my pursuit, and my habitation.

Keep all my dear friends here under the shadow of Your wings. I pray they will find their home there. Thank You for each one You've brought here. Continue to lead us and knit our hearts as one in You. Bring forth the gift in each one, I pray.

 

[CindyisHis]

About once a year there's a Sunday in which children are dedicated to the Lord in our church. Today was that Sunday. Several children/babies were dedicated to the Lord and an interesting tidbit was shared about each one of them. They truly are so precious, and as I contemplated on it all tears welled up in my eyes.

Yes, they are valuable.

Two traits of children - they are trusting, and they are teachable. They believe what you say.

We need to be the same in regards to all God says.

I'll have to share the rest about church later. Pastor taught from James. Right now, I'm fixin' to take a nap.

 

[CindyisHis]

Before I go, our oldest daughter broke her hand, shattering a bone. She goes in for surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30.

 

[icedtea]