My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to observe... listen... in the Spirit. Do/Say nothing unless prompted by the Spirit. This is my Worship before God.
Doubt is confidence in the opposite result of your desired outcome. Doubt is defeated by hearing the voice of God and obeying it. "How would you have me handle this and what would you have me believe for in this situation?"
James 15 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.Joshua was told to
meditate on the Word of God day and night, observe to do it, and they he'd make his own way prosperous and have good success. The same is being prescribed here. We must gaze, look intently, study, ponder, meditate, and observe closely as an artist the object they paint or a scientist their object of study...
Faith, Hope, Love...
Faith is substance of Hope and the title deed to it's reality.
Jesse Duplantis says: If I don't see it, then I got it. And if I see it, I got it. If you don't see it yet, that's proof enough that I got it. Got it?
I must make the
Word of God THE priority of my life. Yet...there are people who spend their lives in monasteries studying the bible and aren't any closer to the call and anointing of God or a profound relationship with Him than the day they started. It's not enough to study the bible with intense mental focus.
I must add to this an element of prayer that eludes so many of us. We pray FOR ourselves, people we know, needs, etc...
But we must ask God for wisdom. As Solomon pleased God by
asking not for things but wisdom so must I. Not just once, but daily.
1 Cor 14 speaks of speaking in Tongues not to men but to God in prayer. This type of prayer searches out the deep things and mysteries of God. Nancy Dufresne makes an interesting point here. The advent of Azusa Street which birthed the gift of Tongues back into wide use by the Church of God all over this world predated the MAJOR inventions of mankind. Until 1900 mankind basically worked the same principles, rode donkeys, etc. Some innovations had begun.
But it was only after Azusa that that inventions and innovations soared. In less than 150 years we've gone from riding donkeys to sending men to the moon and now we check our Facebook pages from our iPhones.
Did all the people who invented things speak in tongues? No. But as the mysteries of God began to unfold into the world they needed an outlet. Anyone open to hear them benefited. Interpretation is not always direct. Many of the prayers of people seeking new ways to reach the lost were answered by this very technology. Although Steve Jobs didn't profess public acceptance of Jesus, he was nevertheless on God's payroll. God needed people like him to focus and get the job done. Since the Church so often resists change and progress God was forced to go outside. Just like He did when he went to fishermen to get the job done the first time around instead of the Synagogue. He couldn't find anyone at church willing to participate in His plan or Kingdom. I digress...
I must learn, again and again if need be, to be
QUICK TO HEAR... SLOW to speak and to action. Wrath or Anger is a form of action. So a broader application of James 1 is not merely to not get angry... but in fact to be slow to any action or speaking. Jesus said:
I do what I see my Father do, I say what I hear my Father say! Being quick to hear means making a habit and discipline of NOT speaking every time you have a thought and NOT commenting on every blog or comment thread you hear about or read! LOL.
Make a point of speaking in tongues on a REGULAR basis. Watching TV, driving the Car, working on the computer, etc...
speak to God in His language, on His frequency as often as possible. This way you can keep the channel open for communication. Only speak when you hear Him speaking through you, only act what you see Him actin in you. This brings a new paradigm to prayer and Christian living.
If an attack comes against you or your family, don't just blurt out every scripture you can think of and yell at the Devil about 7 times this or 100 fold that... stop... listen... pray... praise God... Love on God... wait...
Wait on what? Ask one question and one question only it comes in two parts, but it's really one question. Then wait on His response.
"How would you have me handle this and what would you have me believe for in this situation?" Watch and Pray that you enter not into temptation. What temptation? The temptation to do anything contrary to the will and plan of God for you. Ultimately the temptation to not walk in Love is the key temptation of all. Bridle your tongue and listen for the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Ask in faith not doubting. Doubt causes instability. Why is it so important to bridle the tongue? Because the tongue will either lead you into more doubt or more faith. A double minded man is unstable. To have two minds is unstable. If my wife asks if I can be in faith with her about something and I say I can be half in faith... that means I am half in doubt. This means I am unstable and will not be able to receive anything from God. Not that He isn't fully willing and able. I am simply unable to receive it. Doubt causes instability. So what is doubt? Doubt is believing in the opposite result from what you wanted to happen. If I cannot be in faith that God will bring an XYZ. This simply means that I believe He will not bring an XYZ. It's either or.
Rod Parsley has said: "You can't just read your bible you've got to READ your bible!"You can't just read words and get God's direction for your life. You must pray and meditate those words until you hear God's specific instruction for your life.
Do NOTHING without hearing the Voice of God on 1st.
You can't just do this in emergencies and expect to be successful. God told every person on 9-11 to stay away from the twin towers. Only those that listened to God got out. Some listened directly, some vaguely had an impression to stay home. Some ignored the impression. If God says to stay home from Work he's got a reason. Don't let pride, that you are always on time, kill you. Hearing God, in this day and age more than ever, is a life and death matter. People who read the word without hearing God are deceiving themselves.
You must be practiced at this. Doing it daily and moment by moment. Pray about which clothes to wear, what to eat, which route to take to work. Pray about everything you can think of to pray about. God is eagerly waiting to hear you seek him at that level. When you do, He will begin to open up the windows of heaven and
show you great and mighty things you did not know.
My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to observe... listen... in the Spirit. Do/Say nothing unless prompted by the Spirit. This is my Worship before God. Darrell G. Wolfe
James 11 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 2 1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 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. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
James 3 1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJVAnd now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 NKJVremembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
1 Thessalonians 5:8 NKJVBut let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
Matthew 26:41 NKJVWatch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Mark 13:33 NKJVTake heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.
Mark 14:38 NKJVWatch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Luke 21:36 NKJV Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
