A Strong Tower

Posted on August 20, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“You, O Lord, have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy” (Psalm 61:3)

Tower (Def): (Heb): Migdal from Gadal: A Castle, Large, High Place for Protection and Safety

We all have enemies who attack us and seek to harm us whether in body, mind or character. King David had his enemies and learned there is a place of refuge from his. He found that the perfect Protector, Helper, Friend, Father and Savior was his God who became his “shelter” and “a strong tower from the enemy”.

The castle towers were commonly built among the large, high and elevated rocks that became inaccessible to the enemy. We can learn from this by seeking our inaccessible place from our enemies. We can have our strong tower where we can go for refuge and strength.

“The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe” (Psalm 18:10).

The Name of the Lord, Jesus, is our strong tower from our enemies. David in his youth defeated Goliath, not by sword or spear, but in the Name of the Lord:

“Then said David to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied'” (I Samuel 17:45).

David wrote another Psalm demonstrating his faith in the Lord and trusting in Him for deliverance from all his enemies:

“The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress, my Deliverer, my God, my Strength, in whom I will trust; my Buckler and the Horn of my Salvation, my High Tower” (Psalm 18:2).

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we too have an inaccessible place for our enemies in whom we abide. The Apostle John knew this place and wrote of it in his First Epistle:

We know that whosoever is born of God sins not, but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not” (I John 5:18).

The wicked one cannot access the place of the Spirit in which we abide. We abide in the Son, an inaccessible place for the wicked one to enter. We are there in safety, security, protection, and a place of strong defense. A strong tower, indeed.

The prayers of David were heard, as he cried unto the Lord:

Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer, from the ends of the earth will I cry unto You, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy” (Psalm 61:1-3).

Are you exposed, vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy? Is your heart becoming overwhelmed with heartaches, stresses of various kinds, pressures of life, and taunts from the wicked one? Run into your strong tower, the inaccessible place of the Spirit, the safety and security of the Son, where the wicked one touches you not.

“He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust.  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and the perverse pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall trust, His truth shall be your shield and buckler.  You shall not be afraid. . .” (Psalm 91:1-5a).

A Strong Tower is a place of abiding, waiting, listening for the voice of the Lord. The Prophet Habakkuk knew this place. He wrote:

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved” (Habakkuk 2:1).

The communion with the Lord is sweet within the strong tower. We speak, He hears. He speaks we listen and hear. Commue with the Lord, wait upon Him and go out in strength to do battle with the enemy in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen

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Which Spirit?

Posted on August 14, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (I Corinthians 2:12).

Spirit (Def): (Gr): Pneuma from Pneo: Air, Breath, Human Spirit, Angel, Demon, Holy Spirit, Vital Principle, Disposition

Whether one is perceptive enough to understand it; nevertheless, the world is governed by a spirit. The Apostle identifies it as “the spirit of the world”. The Kingdom of God is also governed by a Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

Which Spirit will govern us is the vital question. The Apostle addresses this in his Epistles to the Ephesians and Romans:

“You He has made alive. You who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit (pneuma) that now works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2).

“For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

Which Spirit? The “children of disobedience” are under the governance of the “spirit of the world”; the children of the Kingdom are under the governance of “the Spirit which is of God”.

The Apostle John exhorts us to be discerning, be wise, to know which spirit you are with:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone into the world. Hereby we know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world” (I John 4:1-3).

Which Spirit? Again, the Apostle John differentiates between truth and error:

“We are of God. He that knows God hears us. He that is not of God does not hear us. Hereby we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error” (I John 4:6).

Jesus identified the Spirit of Truth as the Holy Spirit:

“Howbeit when He the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth; for He will not speak of Himself, but whatever He shall hear, that He will speak, and He will show you things to come” (John 16:13).

The Apostle Paul wrote to his dear son in the faith, Timothy:

“God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7).

Which Spirit? “Spirit of fear”, “spirit of the world”, “spirit of error” or “the Spirit which is of God”, “Spirit of Truth”, “Holy Spirit”.

Beloved, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, the Incarnate Son of God:

“The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father), full of Grace and Truth” (John 1:14).

Is that your confession? “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh”. Rejoice, you have joined with the Apostle Peter, saying:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”! Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you Simon Barjona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father which is in Heaven'” (Matthew 16:16b-17).

Brethren, let us hold fast to our faith, our confession, our witness, our testimony. Let us continue to walk after the Spirit, live in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, sing in the Spirit, speak by the Spirit; then there will be no question of which spirit we are, for all will know we are of the Spirit which is of God. The Lord, Himself, will testify to it and all will say, Amen!

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The Power of Darkness

Posted on August 8, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“God, our Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

Darkness (Def.): (Gr.): Skotos from Skia: Shade, Shadow, Obscurity

From the time of Adam’s expulsion from Eden there has been an obscure shadow cast over all the world and all who live under its shade. The Apostle expressed it so:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Job expressed the power of darkness as:

“If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave! Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even light is like darkness” (Job 10:19-22).

The Power of Darkness ensnares, holds captive, binds, enslaves and torments those held under its reign. As a strongman over his house, darkness enforces its will upon all those held under the power of its evil force.

Jesus said:

“When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils” (Luke 11:21-22).

Now, the stronger one has come into the darkness and has overcome the power of darkness and “translated us into the Kingdom of” the Son. Oh, what a glorious deliverance it is for the believer. What a glorious triumph for the saints. As the Psalmist declared:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me, Your rod and staff comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

The Power of Darkness has been defeated and we have been translated into the Kingdom of the Son.

Translated (Def.): (Gr.): Methistemi from Meta and Histemi: To transfer, Carry away, To stand in another place

Brethren, we are now standing in another place, a new dimension, a new realm, under a new reign, a new authority. No longer under the dominion of darkness, we are now under the dominion of Light, the dominion of the Son.

The Prophet Isaiah spoke well of it:

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined” (Isaiah 9:2).

God has commanded this from the beginning.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be Light’! and there was Light.” (Genesis 1:1-3a).

The separation, the deliverance, the rescue, the salvation of God is ever proceeding, ever working in the world and in us. The Apostle used the Creation to illustrate the working of God in us delivering us from evil:

“For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6).

The Power of Darkness is real. The forces of evil work continually, though their time is short, for God has promised a permanent end to all such darkness in the Day the Son shines brightly, and the Lord reigns in His Kingdom with all His saints forever and ever. Amen.

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They Just Change

Posted on July 31, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51).

Changed (Def): (Gr.): Allosso from Allos: Something else, To make different

There is something mysterious, indeed, about transformation. One day someone is acting one way, of a certain opinion and thought; then they just change. What happened? One may ask.

There is an old saying, “One thing will never change, things will change.” A truism that is good for the ages.

Have you changed? John Newton (1725-1807) changed. Who is John Newton? Maybe this will familiarize you with him:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see. (1779)

They Just Change. How do you go from being lost to found; from being lost in sin to being found in Him who is without sin? How do you go from being blind to the Way to God, to the Truth of God, and to the Life of Christ; and then suddenly your eyes are opened by some revelation, by some epiphany, by some awakening and you see the invisible, the unseen, God?

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:52).

In a moment they just change. In a moment, in the blink of an eye we become something else, something other. The Apostles witnessed Christ change on the Mount of Transfiguation:

“It came to pass Jesus took Peter, James and John into a mountain to pray. As Jesus prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered and His raiment was white and glistening” (Luke 9:29).

Mark describes thusly:

“His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, as no fuller on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3)

Matthew says:

“Jesus was transfigured before them, His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2).

Job knew about change. He asked:

“If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my change come” (Job 14:14).

They Just Change. We are all going to change, for better or worse. Jesus said:

“As the Father has Life in Himself, so He has given the Son to have Life in Himself. He has given Him authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth, they that have done good to the resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:26-29).

You are going to change. You are not going to stay the same. You are going to be something else, something other than what you are now.

The Apostle John spoke of this in his first Epistle:

“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. . .and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (I John 3:1a-2).

Do you want to change? Amazing Grace how sweet the sound. Do you hear that sound? Follow that sound. It will lead you to Life and then what happens? Well, They just change.

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Rest Assured

Posted on July 27, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“Continue in the things of which you have learned and have been assured, knowing of whom you have learned them” (II Timothy 3:14).

Assured (Def): (Gr.): Pistoo from Pistos: Trusted, Faithfully True, Believed

The words of our Lord are applicable to our thought when He said:

“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Rest (Def): (Gr.): Anapauo from Ana and Pauo: Repose, Refresh, Pause, Desist

In our contentious, fractious, pressure filled world of activities, events, emergencies, delays, and failures, we need to be able to Pause and find Repose and Refreshment in a Trusted and Faithful One to whom we can lay it all down and find rest.

The Apostle exhorted his young disciple, Timothy, to continue in that which he had learned and been assured. It is a very good thing, indeed, to have a solid platform in which to rely and find security. Like a great ship on the sea that can drop anchor and stay in place until the tossing of the waves stop and can move forward in the journey. There is a great need for us to desist from our labors, to drop anchor and find a place of rest, refreshment and renewal.

In the Epistle to the Hebrews the writer says:

“That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast and which enters into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:18-19).

The Apostle said to Timothy, “knowing of whom you have learned them”. Jesus said:

“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

There is no greater Teacher then the Master Teacher, Jesus. The Apostle John said:

“The anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him” (I John 2:27).

Rest Assured in the trusted, faithful and true One as you abide in Him. As you do, His anointing will teach you all things and you will learn Christ in His Nature, Character, and Being in the love of the Father. Pause, Repose and Refresh in His Spirit and be fully assured of all you have learned of Him. His meekness, humility, and lowly heart will come forth and reassure you as you find your rest in His love.

Again, the writer to the Hebrews tells us there is a place of rest we can enter, that is available to us from the Father and is promised to us in the Son.

“Let us, therefore, fear lest a promise being left us of entering into His Rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. . .For we which have believed do enter into rest” (Hebrews 4:1, 3a).

Rest Assured by abiding in the trusted and faithfully true place in the Son, just as He has invited us to do. Rest in confident assurance of faith in believing in who He is, Son of God, Redeemer, Master, Good Shepherd and faithful High Priest of the Most High God. He is our Rock, our Fortress and High Tower. He is our Shield and Defender. He watches over us and protects us from all that would attempt to take us out of His hand.

Rest Assured there is a place for you as you learn Christ. Indeed, it is a learning process, this walk of faith. We are challenged every day. We go through many stress tests. It is never easy, this walk of faith. Many have fallen into sin, and fallen away from the truth:

“But you have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him as the Truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:20-21).

Oh, my brother, my sister. Don’t wait until you are dead for someone to say to you, rest in peace (R.I.P.). Hear it today, hear it now, Rest in Peace, Rest Assured, in your faith in Christ Jesus, becuase you learned it from the anointing He gave you as you are abiding in Him.

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Pillar in the Temple

Posted on July 20, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“Him who overcomes will I make a pillar in the Temple of My God” (Revelation 3:12a).

Pillar (Def): (Gr.): Stulos from Stuo and the base of Histemi: A Post, Support, Stand, Hold up

When one thinks about pillars, one thinks permanent. One view of the Roman Colosseum makes the point. All one sees are rows of pillars, row upon row, pillars, standing the test of time. Column after column standing after millennium of years for tourists from around the world to view in all its magnificence.

There is a promise for the overcomers. A permanent, eternal place, a Pillar in the Temple of God,

“He shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the Name of My God, and the Name of the City of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of Heaven from My God, and I will write upon him My New Name” (Revelation 3:12b).

The Prophet, Jeremiah, was one such pillar as the Lord declared to him:

“For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land” (Jeremiah 1:18).

The Prophet was an overcomer, indeed, and was given a promise of protection from the Almighty:

“They will make war on you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you and will keep you safe. This is the very word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:19).

From the days of Moses the Lord has established His Presence in Pillars:

“The Lord went before them by day in a Pillar of a Cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a Pillar of Fire, to give them light, to go by day and night. He took not away the Pillar of the Cloud by day, nor the Pillar of Fire by night from before the people” (Exodus 13:21-22).

In the days of the Patriarchs, Jacob established the House of God, Bethel, in his journey from Beersheba in Canaan to Padan-Aram, Syria where awaited his wives Rachel and Leah. During his journey, the Scripture narrative tells us:

“And Jacob came upon a certain place, and tarried there all night because the sun was set and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. He dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascended and descended on it. . . When Jacob awoke, he said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not’. He was afraid and said, ‘How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the House of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven.’ And Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it” (Genesis 28:11-12,16-18).

The Pillar became the permanent marker for the eventful night in the Presence of God and His Holy Angels at the House of God, Bethel. We are now according to the Scriptures that House in the Body of Christ (see John 1:50-51; Hebrews 3:6). The promise left to us has been given. “To him who overcomes will I make a Pillar in the Temple of My God.”

The Apostle wrote to his son in the faith, Timothy:

“If I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the House of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth” (I Timothy 3:15).

You can be an overcomer. You can be a Pillar in the Temple of God. You can be one who stands, one who is strong in the Lord, one who is a support and holds up others in their struggles. We overcome by grace through faith, by our testimony, and as we lay down our lives for the Brethren.

Let us be wise. Let us be strong in the grace of our God. Let us stand. Forever.

“Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1).

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Stay With It

Posted on July 14, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“You that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight, if you continue in the faith; grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. . . (Colossians 1:21-23a).

Moved Away (Def): (Gr.): Metakineo from Meta and Kineo: Be stirred to go to another place, remove

The other day as I was praying for the Lord to speak to me, my mind wondered to when I was a thirteen year old playing left field in what was called Pony League Baseball. A ball was hit very high and hard into left field. I raced back looking over my shoulder to track the ball. I turn one way, then the other. I stopped, waiting to catch the ball, then saw that I had raced to deep and the ball was falling in front of me. I raced in and on the run caught the ball before it hit the ground. It was the third out of the inning so I continued running in to the players bench. My coach said, “Way to go, kid. You really stayed with it”. I then realized that was the word of the Lord to me, “Stay with it.” God speaks to us in so mamy different ways. He is a good Father.

So, that is now the word of the Lord to you, “Stay with it”.  Stay with your dream, your vision, the promise you received, the word of the Lord that came to you previously. Don’t be “moved away from the hope” within you. Let that resonate in your spirit, “Stay with it.”

Are you being stirred to go to another place? What circumstance is stirring you to move away from the hope that is within you. Things are not happening as you envisioned them? Your expectations are not being met? Obtacles are in your way? People are not cooperating with the plan?

Did Abraham give up on his hope?

“As it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’, before Him whom he believed, even God who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, ‘So thall your seed be’. And being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither the deadness of Sarah’s womb.  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.  It was, therefore, imputed to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:17-22).

Abraham was able to Stay With It because of his faith which never wavered, was not stirred to move away from his steadfast hope in the promise of God. That is why he is called the Father of Faith.

The writer to the Hebrews speaks to us, thusly:

“Cast not away, therefore, your confidence which has great recompense of reward. You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:35-36).

Stay With It. Do not lose your confidence. Stay with your faith, your hope, your confession. It was true before and will be true to the end, regardless of the delay, obstructions, waiting, frustrations, and challenges. God is faithful and “able to perform it”.

The Apostle Peter could have stayed with it as he walked on the water, but was moved away from faith when he took his eyes off Jesus and saw the waves and began to sink into the water.

“Immediately, Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught Peter, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'” (Matthew 14:31).

Why are you doubting? Stay With It. It is going to happen if you are not moved away to another place, another situation, another person. You have too much to gain, then to cast it all away now. Pass the test for patience, and receive your great reward.

Stay With It. Then hear your Father say, “Way to go, kid”!

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Only One Master

Posted on July 10, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“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; you cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

Master (Def): (Gr.): Kurios from Kuros: Supremacy, Supreme in authority, Controller

There are words spoken that are absolute and our text from the Gospel of Matthew spoken by Jesus to His disciples is one of those spoken words that fits the osbsolute. “No man can serve two masters”.

In the realm of the Spirit the quote is even more absolute, if that is possible, for we are referencing not a master on earth, but the supreme in authority in heaven, earth and under the earth. He is the Controller of everything, the Lord of All.

There are upon earth competing influences, or powers, or things that seek for our service and obedience. It could be as in the example Christ gave that the other master that wants our obedience is mammon.

Mammon (Def): (Gr.): Mammonas: (of Chaldee origin) Confidence in wealth personified, Avarice deified

In other words we make a god out of wealth and cravingly seek after it as we would seek after God; therefore, we have deified wealth as a competing master. Jesus makes it clear, we cannot serve deified wealth and God.

The Apostle makes the comparison of communion with the Lord and communion with devils:

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s Table and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?” (I Corinthians 10:21-22).

Only One Master is the coin of the realm, the currency of the Kingdom, the governing principle of all decisions, actions and interactions. We cannot serve two, only one.

We may call Jesus, Lord, but what of our actions motivated by another master? Jesus said,

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord (Gr. Kurios) have we not prophesied in Your Name? In Your Name have we not cast out devils? In Your Name have we not done many wonderful works?’ Then will I profess to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me you that work iniquity'” (Matthew 7:22-23).

In other words, go serve your other master because I do not know you; therefore, you have no part in Me.

Kurios is a word frequently used in the New Testatment, expecially in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also translated Master, Owner, Sir, as a title of respect. The thought of Owner is an interesting one in the context of Lordship. What/Who “owns” me? The Apostle wrote to the Church at Corinth:

“For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s” (I Corinthians 6:20).

“You have been bought with a price; be not the servants of men” (I Corinthians 7:23).

What price? The blood of Christ.

“Forasmuch as you know you were not redeemed (bought back) with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your van conversation received by traditions from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish, and without spot” (I Peter 1:18-19).

Therefore, we have only one Master, the Lamb of God, the Lord (Kurios) Jesus Christ, Son of God, who purchased us with His own blood and has brought us to Himself, as a Bride to Her Husband (cf. Ephesians 5:25-28).

The supremacy, authority and control over us is the Lord Jesus, our Master. The Only One, indeed.

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All Seek Their Own

Posted on July 5, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state; for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s” (Philippians 2:19-20).

Own (Def): (Gr.): Heautou from autos: Self, myself, itself

There is a dichotomy, a divison, a contrast within us who belong to Christ, and that division is between our own will, our own interests, our own pursuits or goals, our own safety and security and those things that pertain to the Spirit of the Son within us. The Apostle addressed this issue in his Epistle to the Philippians.

“All seek their own” is an indictment on those who were with Paul in his ministry before his imprisonment and their abandonment of him for their own safety upon his imprisonment.

“For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and is departed to Thessalonica, Cresens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia” (II Timothy 4:10).

A glorious exception to this all seek their own was Timothy, who the Apostle praised and held up for an example of like-minded faithfulness to “the things which are Jesus Christ’s”.

Concerning the Apostle’s trial in Rome, Paul wrote to Timothy saying:

“At my first defense no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge” (II Timothy 4:16).

All seek their own, sadly seems to be common among us, rather than the exception. The Timothy’s among us are the exceptional ones, who remain faithful to the things that belong to Jesus and His interests, His business, His heart, His mind and His will. Instinctively we run away, we leave the situation, we forsake, abandon and leave to fend for themselves those who are in a situation that puts our interests at risk.

Have you experienced a test of your loyalty to Christ and His interests? Have you had to deny your interests, your ministry, your reputation, your calling, the honor you think your deserve and look entirely after the things that belong to Jesus?

Self-denial is never easy. That is why the grace of God is available to us. Who needs grace when you can do things yourself? The fact is denying self is one of those tests that requires all the grace we can receive from the Lord.

“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me'” (Matthew 16:24).

Following Christ, taking up our cross, will lead us to “the things that are Jesus Christ’s”. What might these things be?

“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4).

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

“He said unto them, ‘How is it that you sought Me? Wist you not that I must be about My Father’s business'”? (Luke 2:49).

Let’s break the all seek their own mold, and let us become a new lump.

“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (I Corinthians 5:7-8).

The things that are Jesus Christ’s await us. Let us go out and be about them and let us be likeminded with Him who is Lord of All.

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What God Has Chosen

Posted on June 29, 2024 by AntiochCMI

“I, Paul, have become a servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in it’s fullness, the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:25-27).

Chosen (Def.): (Gr.): Thelo: To determine, choose or prefer, to be inclined to, or about to, to delight in

We all have choices to make everyday. God also makes choices according to His will, His eternal plan and purposes. It is always in the wisdom of God to make sure that our choices align with His choices; so we can always be confident and assured our choices are in accordance with His will.

A simple solution to the delima sometimes caused in making choices is to not act on things or move forward with things until we have them confirmed by the Holy Spirit that they are indeed, the will of God. Another way to live in our faith walk is to wait until we first hear the word of God and know His will and then come into agreement with it and move forward with that which we know to be the will of God because it came from Him and not from something we desired.

God has chosen to make His will known to us. It is a simple solution that makes life’s choices flow so much easier. God has chosen to put the Spirit of His Son in us. It is by allowing the Spirit of the Son in us to direct us that we can always be fully assured that we are in the will of God because the Spirit of the Son will always do His will.

“I can of Mine Own Self do nothing; as I hear I decide, and My decision is just because I seek not Mine Own Will, but the will of the Father Who sent Me” (John 5:30).

“For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35).

It is by the Spirit of the Son in us, as the Scripture says, “Christ in you” that is our eternal hope. Living by the Spirit of the Son we continually say what He said,

In the Garden of Gethsemane: “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42).

“. . . nevertheless not as I will but as You will” (Matthew 26:39)

God has chosen the way of the Spirit of the Son in us to carry out His plans and purposes in the earth. The Apostle wrote to the church at Galatia these truths for our learning:

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).

It is the Spirit of the Son, the Christos (Gr.)(Anointed One), Christ in you by whom we are to live, make decisions, move forward, prosper and minister to and give to others the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way Jesus taught us, this is the way the Apostles set forth the faith in which we are to live. This is What God Has Chosen for us. This is the simple solution for living out our faith and hope everyday.

This simple way of Christ in you was formerly a great mystery as the Apostle has described it:

“Wherefore I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfil the word of God, even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been made manifest to His saints. To whom God has chosen to make known what are the riches of the Glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:25-27).

Have you received Christ? Have you been born again of the Spirit of God? The Holy Spirit has come as Jesus promised:

“When He the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all Truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come” (John 16:13).

This is the way, by the Spirit. Follow the Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of the Son. This is What God has Chosen for us. This is what He has determined, what He has been inclined to do for all eternity. Indeed, it is His delight. Today if you have heard His voice, and agree with all you have heard, say yes, and let Him lead you into His eternal purposes in His Son.

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