I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:4
There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25). There is that which looks like labor and achievement, but, as a despondent King Solomon observed, it all the result of rivalry, envy, between a man and his neighbor. It is vanity, meaningless, and a striving after the wind.
Consider the words of the apostle John. He said that everyone who truly loves is born of God (1 John 4:7). If love is the restoration God is looking to bring to the human heart (Matthew 22:40), then love is principally the one thing which fallen man cannot do (1 Peter 1:22, Galatians 5:6). There is no true benevolence, as King Solomon pointed out, there is no real industry. What appears to be love at the outset is really a misidentified attempting to gratify the flesh.
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Categories: Church of the Beyond, Teaching Tags: Church, Death, Duty, Faith, Jesus, King Solomon, Kingdom, Love, Master, Religion, Religious Spirit, Salvation, Solomon, Spirit and Truth, Worship
A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
Luke 6:40
In this life of hungering and thirsting for the Lord, when will it ever be enough? Jesus answers this clear enough:
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
Matthew 10:24-25
It is enough to be like him. For the slave to be like the master.
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Categories: Kingdom Tags: Bathsheeba, Change, Christ, David, Exposure, Free, Freedom, Gospel, Heart, Jesus, Kingdom, Kingdom of God, Light, Master, Nathan, Psalm 36:9, Rahab, Ruth, Truth, Verdict
Give yourself to the Master. Unreservedly. Whole-heartedly. He is a treasure worth buying. He is a pearl worth selling all for.
Absolute bondage to the Spirit is absolute freedom from sin. Self seeking, self promotion, and selfish ambition are slavery, and provide for nothing.
Until you are willing to die, you will never live. Until your life ends, you life, not Him. Unless you hate your life, you are NOT His disciple. Luke 14:26.
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