Don't Fall Short of Glory

Colossians 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Christ in you the hope of glory.... It is the hope of glory because if Christ is in you, you have the chance to choose glory, to not fall short of the mark... This is working toward the perfect example of Christ: To only do the work of the Father, nothing else.

Once we are saved, we should not be falling short of glory. Since we were removed from the sin nature, we should be hitting glory Every Single Time. The flesh is at war with the spirit, trying to keep you from hitting the mark of perfection. You must have hope and confidence that you will hit glory every single day; You can't get to glory without faith. Our greatest authority is that we can CHOOSE GLORY over sin(missing the mark). You must have a strong will for glory. You can't have a passive attitude when working to fulfill your destiny and reach glory. There is a pressure in this world that will try and conform you to miss the mark. But learn to recognize it and don't let that pressure keep you from choosing glory!

These are some Tips that someone once told me:

Recognize temptation - don't ignore it, that's not faith. Faith doesn't ignore problems; faith sees the obstacle and recognizes that the word of God is stronger. Darkness only has power through illusion and confusion. Call it out and speak the Word of God over the problem; the word is you sword --> use it fight.

Make a choice for glory- every sin is based on misuse of power, position, authority or ability. You have been given power, position, authority and ability to choose God's glory. Some things God has put in your control. When you make a habitual choice for glory, things will no longer be temptation for you. You can configure your mind so that certain things will not register with you... You can configure your mind to see GLORY in every situation. Temptation is not evil, not choosing glory is when it becomes sin(missing the target).
Philippians 2:5-13
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

God is working in you to have the same vision of GLORY. Keep your eyes on the GLORY, you have to see the glory in order to choose it.

Transformation is irreversible change. Let God transform your mind by keeping it renewing it to the Word. The word of God and prayer must be used to choose glory. You have to keep your life flow going...  Give God a foot hold, to flush living water through you, that water brings life.

Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face. Make your training instinctive, so that your spirit man is buff in the fruit of the spirit and faith and grace, power and glory. Choosing glory should be our first reaction. Train when there is nothing so that when you get punched in the face choosing GLORY is you first reflex. You must be constantly  vigilant.

-MiniMug

Count it all Joy... James 1:2-4

Ok, so I know that everyone and their brother likes to quote this verse at you when you are going through something rough. But as i was studying today, i saw somethings that i hadn't really noticed before and thought i would write them down. 

James 1:2-4
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.


Now let me give you some definitions:

• Joy - cause or occasion for jubilation 
• Encounter - Peripipto in the Greek meaning to "fall into" 
• various - random 
• trials - enticement of sin or times of adversity 
• Endurance - deliberate purpose, steadfastness and constancy.

Basically this verse is saying to celebrate when you happen to fall in to rough spots. You can celebrate because you KNOW that as you pass this test your endurance or patience is getting stronger. You know what else patience is for... patience has a lot to do with faith. As soon as your patience runs out you are no longer walking in faith. Because faith WAITS confidently knowing that what God has promised he WILL DO! So if you don't have patience you cant have faith and without faith its impossible to please God! Summary: Patience --> Faith --> Pleasing God --> Happy God --> Happy (or Joyful) you! See it all makes sense... This is why we find Joy in trials. We also find joy in our trials because we KNOW that God has created a way out for us; but that is another day and another blog.

Those first couple verses are great and they make me want to stop and just praise Jesus for a while, but it was the last verse that i really began thinking about today. So verse 4 tells us to "let" endurance have its perfect work in us. I've always thought that this meant: "ok, I'll just trudge through this hard spot and passively "let" things "pass" and that is me practicing patience. But I realized my mistake when i look us the word "let" in the Greek....

• let - verb --> "echo" --> hold ones self to a thing, lay hold of, adhere to and cling to...

This is not the passive interpretation that i had envisioned. Actually it is quite the opposite.. Being a verb this word is an action word. If i remember correctly from my years of watching Grammar Rock: "VERB - that's whats happening". You have to cling to endurance; endurance is not passive at all. Think about when you are running: you are trying to set a new personal record or expand your distance. I can tell you from experience that is NOT PASSIVE. I have to FORCE my legs to keep moving, my lungs to keep breathing; let me tell you there is a LOT of positive self talk going on during that time of endurance to reach my goals. It's the same thing here, you have to cling to your endurance or it will slip away from you before you know it. 

So hold your self to endurance... In whatever you are going through, don't loose your deliberate purpose to steadfastly and constantly cling to God's promise of good. Because the one who calls you is faithful and HE WILL DO IT. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Extra bonus: you know why cultivating endurance cultivates perfection - perfection meaning without blemish or defect, free from sin! It because if you have the endurance, you have the patience to wait for the fulfillment of the promise of something better, better then the earthly temporary gratification that sin will give you.

Thoughts and responses are more than welcome...
-G