(John 6:28-29 KJV) Believing In JESUS CHRIST Is Our Work

“Then said they unto him, What must we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:28-29 KJV).

Belief in Jesus Christ is full time work, that requires all of my time. In this day and age there isn’t time for anything other than belief in God and redeeming the time we have is crucial, because the days are evil. Belief in Jesus precedes the components needed for conformity in His image and likeness. How can we conform into who we don't believe? To what extent do I believe? Is it life to eternal life?

Respect for the blood that Jesus shed for us is the most earth shaking of all. The blood of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith in God. The blood is the sin shaker and cleanser. Without it there is no remission for sin. The blood is over our lives at all times and is pivotal to and the main focus of our belief in Christ. How do we believe in Him without believing the work His blood has wrought for us?

I have determined in my own heart to live a life that expresses and exemplifies the reality of Jesus, this is my earnest desire. I will not settle for preaching sermons and my life is in total opposition with what I say. I can’t respect that and I don’t expect others to do it either. However, in adhering to Scripture, I have assessed, that this life is not all about me, whether I am successful or not. It is all about Jesus Christ and what is on His agenda. Only through the blood and life of Christ will I be victorious and triumphant.

One thing that I have learned and will continue to be teachable to learn is, Jesus is Lord whether I fail or succeed in believing and nothing that I can do, or think will ever change that reality; this reinforces me to travel from faith to faith in Him. I acknowledge the fact that if I didn't walk in faith on any given day, that my unbelief will never stop Him from being Lord. His all sufficient grace teaches me the lesson, that it is finished, if He said it end of dialogue. We are saved by grace, unmerited favor and that means we deserve nothing, but mercy pleads our case every single day and provides everything.

Learning to appreciate His grace, mercy and love, is where I am at this very moment. It is a timeout. Knowing that grace is a quality of God’s character that saved me and continues to preserve me is essential for me to conform into His image and exhibit His likeness; ascertaining that His mercies are new every day, and that they are what is upholding me; and that His love is unconditional, even when I fail, is worth all my attention and gratitude.

God’s love is the only love we can count on, not to place conditions on us and await our failure in not adhering to them. The love of God is different from the love of men and women. People wait for you to fail, so that they can judge and reject you because you didn’t pass their conditional testing. They will love you up until the pivotal point where you do not comply with their conditional standards. This is a loophole for judgment to surface and to pick up stones to throw at you, rather than pray.

Judgment of others hinders forgiveness. When Jesus hung on the cross and asked the Father, to forgive those who opposed and were oppressing Him, because they knew not what they were doing, it defined my basis for forgiveness. If Jesus could forgive such a hideous act, I know I must forgive others their trespasses.

God loves us despite our failures. He has enough love operating in and through His heart and conditions are dwarfed. God's love is superior to any I have ever known. The closest I come in the earth is that of my mother. Mothers love unconditionally and even they fall short of the glory God’s love reveals. Usually a mother’s love is enough to get you to your next chapter and phase of life without lingering at failure, because her love navigates you forward.

The similitude resides in a mother’s love, but God’s love is omnipresent and omnipotent and superior. Mothers can’t be everywhere at the same time, although sometimes you may think they were there because of their sharp intuition. How did she know that, you may ponder?

It is a full time job to operationally walk in unconditional love. We’ve received it yet giving the same essence received seems to be so distant and remote. It is only when you can really see the point Jesus makes in the parables that you are resurrected to truth. He gave the religious leaders a ultimatum when they brought the woman taken in adultery before Him. He said, if you are without sin, you be the first to cast the stone at her.

This is unconditional love in action. The law said, that someone taken in the act of adultery should be stoned. There Jesus was big as life, having every right to cast that first stone, being without sin and He passes on the opportunity to grant mercy. He knew the law inside out, but the religious leaders needed to ascertain and know that they were not without sin and didn't qualify to throw any stones.

Unconditional love said, go and sin no more. He also said, why behold the mote in someone else’s eye and there is a beam in your own eye. The mote and the beam are reasons not to judge, blindness to them are the reasons used to judge. Attending to the removing of the beam out of my eye is a prerequisite and a measure I must utilize, so that I don’t walk in judgment and hypocrisy. Criticizing and finding fault in others, scapegoating and pointing the finger and sitting in the scorners seat. I must mind my own business and exercise much diligence in getting my walk to be consistent with my talk. It annoys me when I say one thing and do another, that is when I have to ask the Lord to forgive me for all my inconsistences and to help me to rise above my confessions..

Inconsistencies are challenging, it is a duel you must have with yourself and you overcome because of the work of the Holy Spirit through you. All of the contributing attributes we need to reflect Jesus to the world that He came to seek and save, must be prevalent in our lives. We must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. Balance is what we are endeavoring to possess. Knowing when to judge ourselves means that we are actively addressing that beam in our own eyes, it doesn't mean we are blind and oblivious to motes. It does mean we are committed to taking care of our own business. Prayer is the only application for the mote we may see in someone else's eye.

I desire an experiential walk with Jesus, although my spirit is seated with Him in heavenly and high places, I have to walk and live in the earth realm, therefore I need to experience all that He purchased with His blood for me. How can I experience Christ as my reality, if I am not in constant union and fellowship with Him? I must make myself available to the Spirit of God so that I can receive my daily portion, give me this day my daily bread. I must be still long enough to receive progressive revelation of His purpose for my life.

Yielding to the Holy Spirit is a must, if I want to receive instruction and fresh oil and insight concerning His plan for my life today. I recognize and acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit living within me. He is resident inside of me, to help me to fulfill the purposes of God through my life. It is personal. The Holy Spirit is a treasure worth possessing and it is very satisfying to have Him as a comforter and companion, but it doesn’t end with possessing Him, I must give Him possession of me. It is a relationship.

I have a soul which needs constant renewing. A intellect/mind which sways and swirls and can cause my faith to waver, therefore contributing to making me unstable in other ways and I need and depend on the Holy Spirit to help me. I have opinions, reasonings, logics, intents, motives, and desires which must be dealt with and be renewed. There are memories that at times flair up and I need ongoing healing in my memory. There are things I just can’t talk to just anyone about and nor do I feel comfortable talking to them about, but I trust God enough to tell it to Him and see results. There are imaginations that are strongholds which have to constantly be cast down. There are wounds which hurt that need healing and only the Holy Spirit can prescribe the ointment. God knew we needed His help long before we knew it and He has made His help available to us through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, who is conforming us into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ.

Yielding is giving the Holy Spirit your undivided attention, so that He can perform His holy work in us, to rebuild and restore and reprove and convince us. Yielding to the Holy Spirit is the most successful thing I have ever done in this life besides accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. Surrendering to the Holy Spirit, who is at work in me both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure is essential, and this tells me that I need Him very much. I must yield to the power that is at work in me, in order to make my will consistent with God’s will. Therefore can I say from my heart and not just my mind, not my will Father, but Yours be done and that these are not merely words passing through my mouth, but rather words that come from my heart under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. By yielding, I am empowered to perform that which pleases the Father and to truly worship Him in spirit and in truth.

The soul has to be renewed, because the aspects and contents are not yet in full alignment with God. I can’t trust my soul, until it speaks what the Word of God says and comprehends it truths correctly. This is why I agree with renewal of mind. A renewed mind will provide what is necessary to know, what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God; it becomes a mind we can trust only when it agrees with God.

There is a shifting and repositioning that is happening. We look and anticipate shifts in the atmosphere and environments, but we should be looking for our shifting as well. The shifting and re-positioning through the principles of the Word of God that aligns our souls with God's settled Word and the supreme good of heaven; and that all of our activities are synchronized to heavens rhythms.

Our souls shifted the day salvation took place. It shifted from under the auspices of sin, and was re-aligned under divine order of God. It is termed a transforming soul because it is still happening. Be ye transformed is indicative of something that has an end, faith can see the end, but transformation is ongoing and will be until our final redemption. It is only through faith we can see the end of "be ye transformed" and by renewing which is present tense, we anticipate and expect more to happen in the future.

Experientially, it is not a done deal, but by faith it is a done deal. The soul has to be renewed to agree with God and end with faith which walks towards. Life is full of unresolved issues, repressive and suppressive thought, and everything that can hold us captive to sin. We can’t expect to be effective instruments, if we play hide and seek and peep a boo, within our souls and pretend that these things don’t exist; but if we want to experience wholeness and not be wrapped up in our own needs, when the true need is to yield all of ourselves to the Holy Spirit and be set free experientially. Yield all that you are and are not, don't wait until the gray areas change, yield them before hand and be ready for all changes to transpire in accordance with God's will.

I desire the image and likeness of God. The image without the likeness is incompleteness. An image can exist without any likeness. We know it as a façade or disguise. The appearance seems real enough but the likeness is not apparent. There are qualities of God that go with His image. He has mercy, grace, and love. First that image must form in the imagination and the likeness must be added as well. Imagine walking around looking like someone in your ancestry, but you don’t possess any of their characteristics, that is kind of spooky. All that is evident is an exterior, but the interior is empty or void of likeness.

Some attributes of God are a must! Mercy is a must to portray the image of Christ. How do we lose touch with mercy after receiving so much? Mercy can’t be hoarded, we too must be merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Don’t expect judgment to win over mercy, because it won't. You may need to reexamine your heart, as to why is judging someone that important? Don’t you want them to receive mercy?

Examination of self is too essential to be an oversight. If I judge myself, mercy will plead my case. Watch out for situations which demand judgment from you and you do not have all of the facts regarding the whole scenario when it comes to others. At least when we are admonished to judge ourselves, we have all of the details concerning our roles, to assist us to judge righteously. God has all of the facts and that is what makes His judgment righteous, He is all-knowing. You and I on the other hand are finite, we know in part. Woe to who judges without all of the tiny pieces. Judgment may sound like it is prestigious, but mercy is most significant and honorable.

Everyone wants and desires mercy, but are they willing to give it after they receive it or hoard it for themselves? Everywhere in the world mercy is needed and everyone needs it, however, it is a characteristic of God that only He excels in. His mercy endures forever. How long will yours endure? Grace is God’s idea, He thought it into manifestation and made it available to sinners. God’s love is unconditional, in that when we were still sinners, grace took our hands and continues to walk us to the throne of grace with the power of God’s love for us and our love for Him.

We must make the choice to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit. He never violates our wills or right to choice, we gave those up when we choice Jesus as our Lord and Savior, now it is a matter of experiencing that reality. I need the help which only God can give because He knows my whole life story in full, not in part; He knows my uprisings and downfalls. He knows what I will and will not do if the wrong buttons are pushed. He has proven that He cares about the holistic self, not just one area. He has made provisions for the spirit, soul and flesh in His plan of salvation. When the world looks at me, I want them to see God and know that I have His character and image. I am learning that exteriors are deceptive and not to depend on image alone, that I must bear fruits which are consistent with Imago-Dei, the image of God.

It is more of a challenge being a woman, according to the flesh. The image of God was referenced through and has always predominantly pertained to man. There is only woman being taken out of man and that means making everything that is spiritually applicable to man, my reality too. If God said it to man, He means that I should take heed also. It means practical application of scriptures to my womanhood. Woman was taken out of man, but never had a real relationship with God until Jesus Christ. There He rent the veil in twain granting woman the permission to come into the presence of the Father as well. Mercy pleads the cause of women.

When I needed someone real one day Jesus walked into my life and began to lift my life out of the pit, I ignorantly had climbed into. I searched high and low when I was lost, looking for love in all the wrong places. I was searching to find that real quality which makes all of the difference, but I never did find it in the people or places. Little did I know that the place I had refused to look and had not looked was where I could find love, in God.

God sent me a message through a tract and it has changed my life forever. John 3:16, the day I received this Word was my Oh happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. The image I held of God was distorted, so I couldn’t find love until He revealed Himself to me, through His Word.

For God so loved the world, I had never heard it before and had no idea that God loved the world. I reasoned within myself this day. As to how come I didn’t know about this great love. Jesus came into my own little world and His presence changed my perspectives. He called me by my name and told me to come as I was, and I obeyed and now I am entrusting my life to Him forever and I am confident that He who started this good work in me is also able to complete what I have committed into His hands.

There are a lot of wounded people in Church and in the world and they are looking for someone who is going to be real, someone who will love them through, wherever and at whatever level of faith they are at. Will you love them through, just as Jesus loves you?