Kingdom Truth: Volume Fifteen

As we have watched Christian people over a number of years we have come to the conclusion that the key to the victorious life lies in presenting our body a living sacrifice each day, patiently living for the Lord in the manner spoken of by the Apostles.
There are those who are waiting for the golden moment, the time when the Lord appears to them and commissions them for work in His vineyard, when every hindrance has been removed. But the golden moment seldom arrives.
There are others who follow the Christian "liturgical year." They do not bring forth much fruit.
The winner in the Christian race is the believer who each day seeks God's will in every decision great and small, reading his Bible, gathering together with fervent believers on a regular basis, giving, serving, pressing closer to Jesus at every opportunity.
The common denominator of spiritual success is not intellectual brilliance, an outstanding education, extraordinary talents, remarkable ability to get along with people or to persuade people, unusual spiritual insight, excellence in public speaking, or any of the other attributes or stellar characteristics that we might assume would make for an outstanding performance in the Christian life.
God made all things, from light all the way through to the new heaven and earth reign of Jesus Christ, in six days. Then He rested. Your life and mine were completed from the beginning of the world. God is resting and observing while His Word is bringing His vision to pass. All we are required to do is cease from our own works and enter God’s rest.
But we are being resisted by many forces that are attempting to lead us away from God’s perfect will for our life.
All Christians experience problems and pain. If we are serving the Lord to the best of our knowledge, problems and pain are sent to us to save us from worldliness, the lusts of the flesh, and self-will. Whether we profit from our many tribulations depends on how we respond to them.
I read a lot. Do you? Recently I read a version of "The Song of Roland," telling how the legendary Roland finally was betrayed by Ganelon. This started me thinking about how often it is true that self-seeking people wickedly betray and seek to supplant people more honorable than themselves, behaving falsely, lying to achieve their own purposes. Absalom is a biblical example of this.
Suddenly my understanding was opened and I seemed to see how all such schemers will be dealt with after death. It was a great relief to me to realize perfect justice finally will be served in each individual case.
A prophet is a person who stands in the Presence of God and announces the will of the Father. The distinguishing characteristic of the prophet is not that he reveals the future or that he speaks by the Spirit, it is that he stands in the holy place and proclaims the Person and Mind of God.