“But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4-5). 

The trials that we face have a far greater purpose than the aggravation and pain that we often suffer. Isolated from God’s intent, some would think that we had been abandoned to face the giants of perplexity alone. It is when nothing is left but God’s promises that faith is called into action. What we received during those moments when could clearly see Him and experience His blessings must keep us when we enter into the fog. Faith to endure is the patience that must further develop us. We learn to wait on the Lord and not attempt to rush the process. God has more to teach us in these dry cold winter seasons than we could ever learn in the springtime of life. This is when our faith is tested. How would we ever know whether we love God for who He is or merely love Him for what He gives? On the other side of the test is a faith that endures. We can then see Him for who He really is and not just an image of what we wish Him to be. Faith molds our character that we may become a reflection His own. 

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). 

The truth liberates us from the slavery of error. When we are deceived, we end up serving whatever lie we have embraced. But the truth liberates us from the manacles and shackles that would have forced us into conformity to the dictates of the world. It is the wisdom that cries out in the chief concourses, at the opening of the gates of the city, speaking her words. It contradicts the wisdom of this world because it came from above and descends from on High. It is the road less traveled and the narrow path often ignored by those who think they can find the way without godly instructions. Those who have found truth must continue in its ways. Any detour is a retreat backwards to the fears which once plagued the soul. This is the only path that leads away from all things which work against us because it leads to both life and love. There is a sense of certainty about truth. Even when we are led through the valley of the shadow of death, we remain bold. The reason being, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life leading us to the Father. 

“Jesus answered, ’My kingdom is not of this world… but now My kingdom is not from here’ ” (John 18:36). 

Jesus is the King over all the earth, but His authority does not come from among the earth. The political factions and their divides are not the determinants of His allegiance. Nor is He limited and controlled by the popularity polls of shifting societal opinion. His rule is exclusive to what heaven has ordered and demands. God knows the outcome of every decision that appears to be right but often lacks the stability and character to last beyond even one election year. He allows us to take wild guesses in our attempts to move things forward and afterwards awaits our request to eventually ask Him what He has always known. His kingdom is not of this world but our references are often too worldly. When we come to understand that the true answers and resolve to our most perplexing questions and problems lie beyond this world, we will begin with Him and end with Him. His kingdom comes to invade our own kingdoms. He superimposes over what we had once established when we yield to Him. Otherwise, all that opposes must be dismantled and be replaced with what He originally had in mind. 

“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (Psalm 45:1). 

The tongue is engaged as a result of the overflow of the heart. As we meditate on the goodness of the Lord, our speech is not restricted to the thoughts that immediately come to mind. There was a buildup of thoughts awaiting expression as Mary, the mother of Jesus, pondered in her heart all that the Angel of the Lord made known to her. When she finally spoke, a bursting forth of praise and adoration began to flow from the deepest recesses of her soul. How many times have we had to strain in offering praise because we have not gathered enough from the Lord’s living water to flow from the innermost portions of our hearts? Yet when we silently wait before Him and allow our minds to slowly reflect upon all which He has done, then when we speak, we will have more to say than time will allow. We must be swift to hear and slow to speak. In hearing what God has said, His Word must be applied to every part of us. Then our tongues will be employed to recite our composition concerning our King.  8

“For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Isaiah 66:8). 

The travailing of the soul, the sound produced out of excruciating pain is the prelude to birthing. God will allow us to reach our breaking point when it appears as if all is lost, and He has totally abandoned us. Then there is the breaking of dawn. A new day breaks forth on the horizon. What He had shown us prophetically, and confirmed within our souls is brought forth. God is going to do a new thing. He will reveal Himself as He is. No longer must people guess and speculate regarding Him. The divisive opinions of those who mislead will be exposed and opposed. God’s Word and Power will triumph and none will be able to withstand it. Travail is also the intercessory prayer for the lost. When we see the conditions of the world, and if our hearts are not broken over it, we are not feeling with the Lord what He is feeling. He wept over Jerusalem. We must receive the spirit of lamentation as we witness all that is happening in our day. He will give us the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness once we are able to weep with Him. Children will be born into the kingdom of God. It will be more than a decision to join a church or any institution. Salvation will come to our houses when repentance and the prayer of intercession have come to our souls.

“The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness — Israel, when I went to give him rest” (Jeremiah31:2). 

The challenges of today will be survived leading to the discovery of grace in a place unfamiliar to us. God has not abandoned His own children. Even when we are chastened, His everlasting love is directed towards us. These things are not allowed to destroy us, but for introspection. It is our responsibility to examine the caliber of our love and devotion towards Him in contrast to the time spent focusing on other things. He draws us to Himself with cords of love. We cannot depend upon what appeared to be the solutions of the past. Only God has the care and the answer that we so desperately need. Cast all of your cares upon Him and lean on Him for assistance. He will take away the reproach of the past. God is about to do wonders in our future. Remember the day of the sword when the enemy of faith appeared to destroy all hope for the future. God rescued us from the hands of the enemy. Now as we go through the wilderness, a lonely and barren place, the same God of our salvation who delivered us then, is with us now! “The planters shall plant again.” “You will eat from your own vineyards on the mountains of Samaria as ordinary food.” Restoration lies ahead for all who put their trust in God. 

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9-10). 

Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher who announced the death of God placed his emphasis on the strength of the human personality. “Relinquishing the belief in God opens the way for human creative abilities to fully develop.” “The Christian,” he wrote, “would no longer stand in the way, so human beings might stop turning their eyes towards a supernatural realm and begin to acknowledge the value of this world.” His idea was that “will power is the essence of reality.” 

Today, the death of the God which is expressed through a shift in values is proclaimed even while using religious language. Asserting oneself and accentuating the positive while eliminating the negative supposedly have freed individuals from the bondage of their past. There is a super-human being on the scene that can control the activities of their god and create their own destinies. “If it is to be, it is up to me” has become the motto for daily living. God is about developing the human personality in ways far beyond the wildest dreams of Nietzsche. He thought it was possible to find one’s life while Jesus is about one losing his life that he might find it in Him. The aggression of egotistical behavior contributes to the destruction of the human species rather than the development of society. People are too busy trying to get for themselves what they want rather than having a true concern for God’s agenda and glorifying Him by giving Him what He requires. Listen more carefully to the message of this age or this world system, even in religious circles and you will hear this opposing gospel message seeping into the very center of what is being proclaimed. Only God can complete man and we are complete only in Him. He reigns over the things contributing to the conditions of man’s fragmentation. No one can rescue himself. All are in need of help. All are in need of God who is yet alive and well! 

 “The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Is 52:10).

The Lord has crowned His kings and princes throughout the earth. His strength has gone out to both defy the power of the enemy and to undo the enemy’s work. There are those who bear the mark of royalty and are destined for the throne to rule and rein with Him. The Kingdom of God dwells among men! The question the world is asking is where is the mark or seal borne by those that belong to Christ? There appears to be no distinction between them and others; in fact, those who rebel appear to have the advantage over the faithful. The mark that they bear is within their hearts. Their passion for their King and the desire to see Him rule in righteousness separates them from others. They have an undying hope directed towards the future. Their faith is not wrapped up into small packages limiting them to temporary pleasures. They want the whole thing and will not settle for anything less. As Dr. James Stewart puts it speaking of the coming first of the Lord Jesus Christ, not simply of the emergence in Galilee of One whose power matched His pity and whose pity matched His power. He came on the scene to destroy all the works of the devil and to do and establish the works of God His Father. Those who fully have His mark carry His passion. The time will come when the Lord Himself will manifest His strength among the nations and all eyes shall see it. Things are growing more rebellious today and the hope of many has been shattered by the crises facing the entire world. But the stage is being set for the Light of the world to shine with the backdrop of the darkest of darkness. Salvation will be distinct and sure. It will not be shrouded by the pipe dreams of the ambitious who only wish for themselves the best. True salvation will come manifested in waves of power and glory. He will provide the solutions to resolves our deepest problems. 

“So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Luke 10:27). 

God gives us the strength to love. The heart is guided in a direction and the soul agrees to give full expression to that particular emotion. To love is not a miracle. It is a part of man’s nature to love. Without guidance the heart gravitates by default away from God. Loving then is not deliberate, but the result of some forceful habit that captures the mind and heart in order to condemn the soul. The passions must be harnessed by an object that is capable of containing all that is offered and reciprocate by providing what is desperately needed in return. When love gives but does not provide the person with what is needed, he eventually becomes bankrupt and bitter having been taken advantage of. Then love is inverted and transforms into hatred that is primarily directed towards the true Lover of his soul. They feel shortchanged having not received from Him what they needed, but refused to give Him what He commanded. When God is loved with the whole heart, the heart is made whole. Then the heart guides the soul with every emotion towards what is good. One will engage in activities using his strength to glorify Him alone. Thought and action is unified when the Word and Spirit are experienced. They empower us to do what we will and will to please the One who provides both will and ability to do for His good pleasure. Then He will show us our neighbor in a different light. We see him through God’s eyes. He directs our affection towards them in ways far beyond the levels of selfishness and competition. We see ourselves in him, thus loving him as we love ourselves. 

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). 

Values are a means of equating the worth of things in contrast to their usefulness or utility. Whether a thing is valuable or dispensable is determined by the individual. The question directed to Jesus was what value one would place on his own soul. It has to do with ultimate importance, or to consider the ultimate cost one would have to pay for it. Values fluctuate among the immature. True maturity is marked by the development of a value system that is unalterable. They become the center of our lives, standard of behavior, and the stimuli for thinking straight. Jesus asks them to make a value assessment of their lives. He asked them, “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world?” If the whole world were gained, would the gaining of it produce peace within the soul? Would the pleasures of the world squeeze you into a fixture that cannot escape the grip holding you tightly to it? The pursuit of acceptance and the trappings of success have the potential of robbing one of any desire for spiritual truth. The world defines the person rather than God giving him meaning for living. Has he really won or lost when his sole desire is to achieve greatness and all traces of humility have faded? The loss of one’s soul is a great loss from which few ever recover. Jesus does not speak of receiving at all when one’s soul is at stake. He speaks of the loss of spiritual sensitivity as severe loss. Even though the person paying may not be aware of the price attached to it, he is still paying more than he would be willing to pay if he only knew the consequences—where his decision is leading. The entire soul is lost in exchange for whatever he thought to receive on his end of the bargain