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THE WORK OF GOD

"Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:28,29).   The works of the flesh should be quite evident to most Christians.  In fact, the apostle Paul tells us as much in Galatians 5:19.  He says the works of the flesh are manifest, openly known, or apparent.  He even lists many of them such as adultery, fornication, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, jealousies, selfish ambitions, envy, murders, and drunkenness.  The Christian, however, must also be concerned about the less apparent things that are just as clearly the works of the flesh.  We know we should avoid the very bad things, but it is the seemingly good things that we plunge headlong into.  We call them good deeds, Christian ministry, and godly service; but in many cases they are self-directed and the result of self-righteousness and self-effort, an...
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LAYING DOWN OUR LIVES

At a certain point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, He began to show His disciples the truth concerning His Passion.   He told them plainly that He was to suffer at the hands of the elders and chief priests, and that He would be killed by them; but, after three days, He would be raised from the dead.   This was, indeed, a difficult concept to comprehend.   It was hard to wrap one’s mind around.   After all, Jesus was the mighty Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the Prince of Peace.   How could they kill Him?   Hadn’t He come to establish God’s heavenly Kingdom on earth and reign forever?   Peter was especially affected by this revelation, and, acting as a friend and one who loved Jesus, he began to rebuke his Lord saying, “Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.” (Matthew 16:22). I’m sure that Peter’s whole intent was to comfort His Lord, and encourage Him that He would overcome these difficulties, and go on to be the King of Israel...
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GAINING EXPERIENCE

“THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope : and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:1-5).   The year before I retired from the job I had for 42 years was a very difficult one.   I was asked to supervise five separate departments, all of which were “problem areas.”   I was forced to ask a lot from the people who reported to me, and I was asked to give more of my time to try to turn some of the worst operations around.   The problems were mostly engineering and maintenance issues resulting from the purchase of new equipment that wasn’t robust enough to do what the eng...
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