Kingdom Purpose Women

Where Christan Women Go to Grow in the Supernatural Word of God

by

James 1: 2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

James 1: 2-3 (NIV)

 

We know that we are to be joyful in all things.  Paul takes many opportunities in his letters to admonish us in this.  The study of Paul’s own life will reveal that he not only encouraged it, but had mastered the concept.

 

Here James supports Paul’s writings, as he bluntly challenges us to take a particular position toward our trials.  He does not suggest we grit our teeth and endure our trials, nor is he advocating simply smiling our way through trials.  Neither does he propose that we are to enjoy our trials.

 

Consider it pure joy.  This statement indicates we are to have a particular attitude toward our trials.   The trials are tough – that is the very essence of the definition of the word.  But our mind-set toward our suffering and grievousness is to be joyful.

 

Pure joy.  If our joy is pure, it means it is not mixed with anything else – not with complaining, not with grumpiness, not with fear.

 

Why would I want to do something as strange and difficult as that!

 

Because you know.   We are to recognize that the current trial will accomplish for us far exceeding benefit in the Kingdom of God.  If we respond to our natural feelings, we loose the supernatural benefits.  Some of those benefits are listed is the passage:

  • the testing of your faith
  • producing perseverance
  • perseverance finishing a work
  • maturity
  • lacking nothing for service in the Kingdom

 

You are now left with a choice that could prove the difference between a Kingdom Purpose life or an ordinary worldly life.

1. You can follow your feelings and respond to your trials the way the rest of the world does by complaining, arguing, and seeking revenge.  If you do, you will reap strife and struggle.

2. Or you can follow the Word of God, step out from your old, normal pattern, and trust that His Word is true, expecting the promises of this passage to produce the fruit of maturity in your life and your work in the Kingdom of God.  When you obey the Bible, the Spirit of God is able to work freely in your life, bringing with Him His fruits (Galatians 5:22).

 

By nothing more than your attitude, you make your choice.

  • striving and struggling on my own
  • love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness and self-control from the Holy Spirit

 

I have made my choice.  It does not mean I will enjoy my trial, or that my trial will involve less suffering.   It does mean God will see me through it because, when I follow His way, His promises can be fulfilled.  Trial by trial, I will mature in the Kingdom.  In the end, I will be complete not lacking anything for my Kingdom Purpose Life, so that my life reveals the majestic Glory that my God so undeniably deserves.  For this I rejoice greatly!

 

 

Scripture of the week is designed to assist you in renewing your mind through the Word of God.  We choose a scripture and include a short commentary so that you can meditate on them for the week.  Please do not read it once and move on.  Print it out and read it over and over during the week so that your mind can be reprogrammed (Romans 12:2) in the supernatural Word of God!

 

Other scripture commentaries by Marjorie Lou

Matthew 7: 21-23 – It’s time to be tested.

Luke 6: 27-31  –  Some of Jesus’ most challenging words.

Revelation 12: 11 – Did you know that you play a part in conquering the enemy?

John 6: 28-29 – Are you doing important work, or working in vain?

Ephesians 1: 18-20 – Do you know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power?

James 1: 2-4  –  Steps to rejoicing in your trials.

Matthew 14: 28-31 – Jesus is not the only one who walked on water!

Romans 10: 9 – Is Jesus a true master?

John 13:34-35 – Do you have this mark of a true believer?

 

by

Matthew 7: 21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Matthew 7: 21-23

 

Many years ago, this passage of scripture completely arrested me.  It stopped my mouth.  It stopped my witness.  It stopped my confidence in myself that I was really His.

 

Why?  Because of the particular people Jesus is speaking to.  Listen to their resume:

  • They called him Lord
  • They prophesied in Jesus name
  • They cast out demons in Jesus name
  • They did mighty works in Jesus name

 

This sounds like the mark of a true believer.  As a matter of fact, the great commission as recorded in Mark 16 identifies some of these as signs that will follow those who believe – casting out demons and doing mighty works (the mighty works are named specifically in Mark).  Certainly, most of us would assume that anyone performing such deeds would not only belong to Jesus, but would be a kind of super-spiritual highly-mature Christian that we would all be amazed with.

 

Jesus was not amazed nor impressed.  To the contrary, He commanded them to depart from Him as He pronounced them as “workers of lawlessness.”

 

This whole passage left me in a great quandary.  The scale by which I measured people’s spiritual maturity had been completely destroyed. And I was left without a measuring stick.  If the people in these verses were not good enough to enter the Kingdom, what chance could I possibly have?

 

It took a long time for the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning of this passage to me.  I supposed He had a lot to clean out of my corrupted way of thinking.  I felt like I was hanging on the very precipice of destruction.

 

In His perfect timing, He so carefully and gently showed me that it is not the great and might works of men that secure for you the Kingdom.  It is the great and mighty work of Jesus Christ and Him alone!  No work of man -no matter how great – makes him eligible!

 

The clue was in the final statement when Jesus declares them as “workers of lawlessness.”  I began to see that, for all their big works, they were not relying on Jesus for their very righteousness.  They may be speaking Jesus’ name, in which case the demons must bow the knee, but they were not themselves fully depended on Jesus as the restitution for their sins.  They were depending on their own great works being good enough to get them in.  As impressive as they seemed to other men (and to their own selves), these people were simply not His.  They were still guilty of their sins.  On the day of judgement, they will be shocked!

 

This revelation shook me to the core!  The thought of ever hearing those words, “Depart from me!” was terrifying.   I began to test myself and be sure I was in the faith as Paul admonished in II Corinthians 13:5.  What did I really believe about my salvation?  Was I really His?  Just what was I relying on for my salvation?   Was I praying enough?  Was I at church enough?  Did I read my Bible enough? Was I fooling myself with a big dose of puffed-up religious piousness?

 

God revealed to me that none of these “works” were sufficient to counter-balance the sin in my nature.  Although good works are good to do, they did not erase the guilt of the wrong things in my life.  There was absolutely nothing I could do to rid me of the consequence of sin.

 

Only Jesus could save me from this hopeless situation.  At the cross, Jesus gave me His perfect righteousness and I gave him my sin and guilt.  All I needed to do was believe and be obedient to follow Him as He led me into this truth.  Because of His great love for me, I was spared such a tortuous moment as to hear, “Depart from me!”

 

I encourage you to do the same.  Test yourself and be sure that you are standing on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ and not on that of your own religious works.    Better today than on the day of judgement!

 

 

Scripture of the week is designed to assist you in renewing your mind through the Word of God.  We choose a scripture and include a short commentary so that you can meditate on them for the week.  Please do not read it once and move on.  Print it out and read it over and over during the week so that your mind can be reprogrammed (Romans 12:2) in the supernatural Word of God!

 

Other scripture commentaries by Marjorie Lou

Luke 6: 27-31  –  Some of Jesus’ most challenging words!

Revelation 12: 11 – Did you know that you play a part in conquering the enemy?

John 6: 28-29 – Are you doing important work, or working in vain?

Ephesians 1: 18-20 – Do you know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power?

James 1: 2-4  –  Steps to rejoicing in your trials

Matthew 14: 28-31 – Jesus is not the only one who walked on water!

Romans 10: 9 – Is Jesus a true master?

John 13:34-35 – Do you have this mark of a true believer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

by

Luke 6: 27-31

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.  To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.  

Luke 6: 27-31

 

These are hard words to hear.  But you are committed to living a Godly life, and you truly want to live the way Jesus teaches us.  So you resolve to be like this.

 

Until that moment comes when a relative tells lies about you to other family members.  Or a workmate sets you up to make you look awful in front of the boss. Or a neighbor is stealing from others in the neighborhood, including you. These are the moments when the reality of Jesus’ words really hit home.  Can he really mean for me to be kind and talk kind to such as these?

 

At this point, it seems that Jesus has asked us to do the impossible.

 

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26

 

In our natural lives, these commands are virtually impossible.  If you did respond as Jesus taught, it would not be long before resentment and anger would overwhelm you.

 

But Jesus would not ask us to do something that is impossible to do, or that would wreak emotional trauma in us.  Jesus has equipped His people with all they need to not only be obedient to this challenging command, but to do it joyfully with a pure heart.

 

You see, a normal human cannot behave in such a way without experiencing strong emotional resistance.  But through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He has made us a new creation in Him.  We are told to put off the old man with its passions and desires and put on the new man made in the likeness of His image (Ephesians 4:20-24).  That new man has dwelling in him the Spirit of God, bringing with him gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23).  Because you have the Spirit of God in you, you are perfectly and completely equipped to follow Jesus commands.  We can do it, because He is in us and He can do it.

 

In that same scripture passage Paul reveals that the process requires renewing the mind.  It is with this renewing of the mind that you can finally drop the old man with his ways and put on the new man with all the benefits and joys that come with him (Ephesians 4:20-24).

 

This is a part of living the supernatural life, where you do not live by your natural circumstances, but you choose rather to live by the word of God.  Your emotions and the Word of God are going to conflict.  You must choose which you will live by.  It is not easy, but you are equipped to do it if you belong to Jesus.  What is impossible for man to do, you can do because the Spirit of God dwells within you.

 

To learn more about the supernatural life, read the 9 part teaching series “Understanding the Kingdom.”

 

Scripture of the week is designed to assist you in renewing your mind through the Word of God.  We choose a scripture and include a short commentary so that you can meditate on them for the week.  Please do not read it once and move on.  Print it out and read it over and over during the week so that your mind can be reprogrammed (Romans 12:2) in the supernatural Word of God!

 

Other scripture commentaries by Marjorie Lou

Revelation 12: 11 – Did you know that you play a part in conquering the enemy?

John 6: 28-29 – Are you doing important work, or working in vain?

Ephesians 1: 18-20 – Do you know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power?

James 1: 2-4  –  Steps to rejoicing in your trials

Matthew 14: 28-31 – Jesus is not the only one who walked on water!

Romans 10: 9 – Is Jesus a true master?

John 13:34-35 – Do you have this mark of a true believer?

by

Revelation 12:11

And they have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

 

Revelation 12:11

 

This scripture just stumped me when the Lord showed it to me.  I knew the blood of the Lamb was powerful to conquer the enemy.  After all, the Word says that Jesus came to destroy every work of the enemy. (I John 3:8).  But there is something else that conquers the enemy [Read more…]

by

John 6: 28-29

Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He has sent.”

John 6: 28-29

 

When I think of doing “the works of God,”  my first thought is of being a good person, reading my Bible, helping others, or going to church regularly.   [Read more…]

by

Ephesians 1:18-20

…that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…

Ephesians 1:18-20

 

There is so much that was accomplished on that cross of Calvary.  Most of us understand that Jesus reconciled us back to God [Read more…]

by

Matthew 14: 28-31

And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.”  So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him saying to him, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  

Matthew 14: 28-31

 

Everyone knows the story about Jesus walking on the water.  It is likely one of the most popular New Testament stories in the Bible.  When we consider all the great exploits Jesus performed during His time on earth, it is easy to accept that it really happened.  After all, walking on water should be easy enough for deity, right?

 

But have you considered that there is another man who also walked on water? [Read more…]

by

James 1: 2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

James 1: 2-4

 

Are you facing a trial right now?  Do you feel like despair has become your dancing partner  – always there and constantly stepping on your toes? [Read more…]

by

Romans 10: 9

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

 

This passage from Romans is one of the most notoriously memorized and quoted scriptures in the entire Bible.  It is a popular tool of evangelism because it gets right to the point of what it takes to be saved; and a quick answer is just what our fast-food-I-want-it-now society demands.

 

Before we jump on the instantaneous answer bandwagon, let’s take a step back [Read more…]

by

John 13: 34-35

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:  just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 13: 34-35

 

These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ himself.  He admonishes us to love each other as he loved us.  This is a sacrificing love of laying down our own wants and rights (I Corinthians 6:7) and esteeming others higher than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

 

Then Jesus goes a step further.   [Read more…]