When we started on this new life, we were going off of the promise found in Matthew Chapter 6:
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
To seek the Lord’s kingdom first and his righteousness so that all our needs are added unto us.
Things have been up and down in this time. Why? Because I have been choked by the thorns that have been growing up around me. I have had the cares of this life take my attention away from the Lord.
Remember in James 1:
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
I was tempted by my own lusts to pull away from the Lord and rely on my own strength, on my own intelligence, and on my own decisions.
This is folly. I am ashamed of my actions, I am ashamed of the witness that I have given to those around me. I am fearful of the judgement of the Lord for how I have treated my wife and children in my wrath that does not work righteousness. James Chapter 1:
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
For this I have repented and realized why things were so hard, why I could not control myself, why it has been such a struggle. In all areas of my life, I was not putting Jesus first. I was not coming to Him to seek His will in decisions. I was not seeking Him diligently and daily. I was not studying His holy word. I was only reading and having night-time prayers with my children.
I came to this realization of how far I had wandered off the narrow path of righteousness that lead to the strait gate when my wife broke down before me and laid my sins bare. The Lord in that moment showed me how far I had strayed. I repented and started anew, ensuring to do His will, to seek Him first, and to study His word. This friends, is the only way to live. A slave to Christ.
The moment you think, “I want”, “I deserve”, “I did this well”, ect., this is pride. Cut it off, repent, and give it over to the Lord. Matthew 6 shows us that it has nothing to do with us any more. It is not my will but His.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
How does James call himself? Master Teacher? A Great One? An apostle? An elder? No:
1 JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James calls himself a servant of God. A slave to His will. A slave by choice as there is no better thing than to perfectly serve the perfect master, the Lord God, as shown by Jesus Himself. Jesus teaches us about how we are to view ourselves in Luke 17 when He was teaching about faith and service to the Lord.
6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
If we are perfect in what we do, doing all that Jesus commanded, we are to call ourselves unprofitable servants. Why? Because we have only done what we have been told to do. If we remember, that the Lord has shown us grace and that is the only reason we are not under His wrath as active followers of Christ, then will we be humbled enough to let go of our will, our wants, and our way. We let go and let Him work through us. Then the anger is removed, the problems being working themselves out, and the Lord will use us again.
Do not be a hypocrite, this is something the Lord spoke against the entire time He was with us on the earth. This is what He hated about the pharisees.
Matthew 6:2, 6:5, 6:16, 7:5, 15:7, 16:3, 22:18, 23:13-15, 23:23-29, 24:51, Mark 7:6, Luke 6:42, 11:44, 12:56, 13:15
Brothers let us walk as Jesus did:
1 John 2:
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
With Love,
Timothy