Dear Sisters and Brothers in Jesus the Christ,

“17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”                                                  James 1:17-18 (NKJV)

As stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:18b of the Amplified Bible, Christ Jesus is the “Revealer and Mediator” of God’s will; and the will of God is in the WORD of God. Abba Father desires to bless those created in His image and reborn by the all-redeeming, re-creating, reconciling, pacifying, all-restoring blood of Jesus. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV). The Blessing of Abraham was the manifestation of the covenant between God the Father and mankind which continually moved toward the set time whereof the mystery of His plan was revealed through God the Son – Jesus the Anointed One and His Anointing. Jesus said, “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” John 10:10b (Amplified Bible). Yet everything relative to God has always been and will always be of free-will. Also relative to the things of God, obedience & submission will always require action in order to produce good fruit.

The elect/believers/Christians/saints/sons & daughters of the Sovereign LORD God Almighty by the blood of the precious Lamb of God are branches in the Vine who is the Lord Jesus; and as such we are called to be producers of good fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-discipline” Galatians 5:22 (NLT). The thing is to allow the WORD of God to transform by changing our pre-disposed thought patterns because what counts is the evidence of newness (read Romans 12:2a and Galatians 6:15b NLT). Apostle Paul didn’t write that we should submit to and follow him; Paul said, “follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV). Jesus said, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father . . .” John 8:38 (KJV); and as followers of Christ we do as He did because we abide in Him just as He is in the Father (read 1 John 2:24; John 14:10). Therefore, regardless of position inside of the church or outside of the church, all who are reconciled unto the Family of God by the grace of God and the propitiating blood of Jesus (Romans 3:25; 1Jn 2:2 & 4:10) are called to be bearers of good fruit because all of us are walking epistles/letters of the light who is the Lord Jesus. Such necessarily means that we are responsible as to how others (i.e., young, old, saved, un-saved) “see” us as evidenced by our fruit. In other words, to expect others to do as we say and not as we do isn’t in keeping with the way of the Living Word – Jesus, who being in the Father and the Father in Him reiterated the results of continuing in the WORD (read – Dt 28:1-14 & 30:15-19; Joshua 1:8; Malachi 3:6-12; John 8:31-32).

Speak the promise . . . Harriet