WORKS

Another lovely day,  Ohana Church this evening:   www.OhanaChurch.Life    Working towards a new youth outreach up the street 85-4582 Mamalahoa Hwy. called   Hale O Ahi or  FireHouse.  (replacing a burned down home.)  Ezek.28:18.  Hope to finds some strong Christian youth who would love the challenge of such a ministry.   Please add to your prayer list.

I HAVE LABORED in VAIN  by David Wilkerson 
Would it shock you to know that Jesus experienced the feeling of having accomplished little?
In Isaiah 49:4 we read these words: “Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain”. Note that these are not the words of Isaiah, who was called by God at a mature age. No, they are Christ’s own words, spoken by One “called from the womb; from the body of my mother. The Lord formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, (and to gather Israel)” (49:1, 5).When I came upon this passage, one that I’d read many times before, my heart was in wonder. I could hardly believe what I was reading. Jesus’ words here about “laboring in vain” were a response to the Father who had just declared, “Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified” (49:3). We read Jesus’ surprising response in the next verse: “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought” (49:4).    After reading this, I stood to my feet in my study and said, “How wonderful. I can hardly believe that Christ was this vulnerable, confessing to the Father that he was experiencing what we humans face. In his humanity, he tasted the same discouragement, the same despondency, the same woundedness. He was having the same thoughts I’ve had about my own life: “This isn’t what I perceived was promised. I wasted my strength. It has all been in vain.”    Reading those words made me love Jesus all the more. I realized Hebrews 4:15 is not just a cliche – our Savior truly is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. He’d known this very same temptation from Satan, hearing the same accusing voice: “Your mission is not accomplished. Your life has been a failure. You’ve got nothing to show for all your labors.”

Christ came into the world to fulfill the will of God by reviving Israel. And he did just as he was commanded. But Israel rejected him: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11).   Why would Jesus, or any man or woman of God, speak such despairing words as these: “I have labored in vain”? How could the Son of God make such a statement? And why have generations of faithful believers been reduced to such despondent words? It is all the result of measuring little results against high expectations.  You may think, “This message sounds like it applies just to ministers, or to those called to do some great work for God. I can see it being meant for missionaries or the Bible prophets. But what does it have to do with me?” The truth is, we’re all called to one grand, common purpose, and to one ministry: that is, to be like Jesus. We are called to grow in his likeness, to be changed into his express image.

Ken’s Thoughts:
Our salvation has totally been paid for by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus in his willingness to die for us,  Isa. 53.   However, the faith of receiving that gift of life also requires us to make Christ Jesus our LORD instead of Adam.   James teaches us very clearly that faith without works is dead.  And works are what God says they are not us.   Paul covers this in 1 Cor. 3:11-15;  In fact it was on 4/28/55, when this got through my thick skull and it was then that I made Jesus LORD and was saved.  And thus began the process of yielding to  the LORD to learn obedience and to seek to eventually become like HIM.  But walking it out is not my salvation.  Walking it out It is the test of my faith that brought salvation to me.  That it was a totally a  free gift of GOD’S LOVE through the Grace of God due to the LOVE Jesus sent to me by way of HIS cross.  “The wages of sin is death but the gift of GOD is eternal life through Christ Jesus our LORD.”  But if actions and faith are not a match then there is no faith.   “And without faith, it is impossible to please GOD.”  “And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”  It is in believing in the great and precious promises that we changed into God’s nature.  And yes,  I know that also there is also  a gift of faith as one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit for ministry.  This is not the same kind of faith.  Saving faith comes from us deciding to seek, knock and ask for the God of Creation to help us find HIM due to the things made,  Rom. 1:17-32.  First thing Apostle Paul wanted to get clear in the Church at Rome. 

An expanded confession of faith:   (A work in progress.)
I confess that Jesus Christ is my Lord, Master, and Savior. By faith in Christ Jesus, I am forgiven, cleansed, healed and made a citizen of His eternal kingdom. Jesus Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law of sin, sickness, weakness and eternal death through His death on the cross for me. I believe in the Trinity of one God: Almighty Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Creator made flesh, The Word of God who was begotten as the second Adam. He was born of a virgin, died for my sins, rose for my justification and is coming again soon, in great glory, to establish His Kingdom on earth. I believe in the new birth from above, the baptism in water, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I confess that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all my sin and I am now made the righteousness of God in and through Christ Jesus. I confess that I can do all things through Christ who is my strength as I abide in Him. I confess that this world is not my home. I confess that I am a pilgrim in a foreign land and I look for that certain return of my Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. I confess that there is but one holy universal and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and all those who are born from above are brethren and citizens of His kingdom. I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is being perfected by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers and other ministries of His Church until all the faithful come into the unity of the faith and the bond of peace and are changed into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, (Eph. 4:1 16).

Worthy Brief <worthybrief@worthynetwork.com&gt;      Iran has produced 55 kilograms (121 lbs) of uranium enriched to 20 percent since the beginning of the year in defiance of the 2015 nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official said Wednesday.    Israel notified the US that it is responsible for Tuesday’s attack on an Iranian cargo ship affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, an American official told The New York Times.   Texas child welfare officials said Wednesday they received three reports alleging abuse and neglect at a San Antonio coliseum that is holding more than 1,600 immigrant teenagers who crossed the southern border.