WORK
Aloha Saints, Family & Friends, beloved of God and me, John 3:16
WORK “WORTH CONSIDERING” 11/6/21 From Ken Smith<><
For some, the word, work, is not a pleasant thought. However, most of my life, I have been fortunate in enjoying what work I did. It was work, sweat, details, organization but when the project or house was completed there was a sense of satisfaction that was above and beyond getting paid for the results. When in Jr. High and High School I took drafting classes and in my Junior year of High School I was given a job of drawing house plans for a very patient contractor for $1.25 per hour. My work was far from professional but usable. And it went on from there to where I was supporting a family of 6 as a Sr. Engineering Draftsman for Santa Ana County Food Control, 1958, CA. and making about $700. per month. Then I left that job and went into door to door new home sales and then in 1961 started my own business in house building in Oregon and went on to building about 100 houses per year and supporting a family of then 10, me , wife and 8 kids and living the American dream.
I was pretty much of a good normal church goer with my family getting the “Father’s Day” of the year each year for a while. But in 1967 a painter gave me a bid on my home, 7 bedrooms, 4 baths that had 36 paneled solid doors that needed staining and 3 coats of finish plus the inside and outside of the house and the barn on the outside. So Marvin gave me a bid on the work and worked very hard with the painting and did a 1st class job. But then I found that he would spend about half of his time talking to me about the Bible and me being baptized in the Holy Spirit. My church did not agree and I had even taught against it but he was so patient and loving that I listened. He was pres. for the local F.G.B.M.F.I.
As I write this I realized Marvin was just walking out, in obedience, the scripture that says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and HIS Righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” It is because of Jesus and HIS work on the cross that really changes us. But Marvin was also part of the investment of loving truth that changed my life. So work, though caused by sin, is really helpful in getting us back on track in humility and obedience. You see, if we live with God in heaven it will not be on cloud 9 with a harp. There is much that our Creator wants us to learn to do here in filling His creation with HIS LOVE. So the requirement of us learning the humility to be able learn and obedience to get a job done are essential. Therefore, our temporary existence on earth is to see if we will choose to learn in humility what God has given us through HIS prophets and also to walk it out into perfection or not, Eph, 4:11.
So lets look at “WORK” in the Holy Scriptures. Lets start with James the son of Mary and Joseph who grew up watching Jesus as his older sibling. In the AMP there are 663 work verses concerning work to consider for a better understanding on the subject.
James 2:14 “What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.]” James 2:18, “But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].” “ But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?” James 2:24, “You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].” James 2:26, “ For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead.” So what kind of “WORK” is “GOOD WORKS ?”
1. As under the curse for learning humility & obedience as in Adam for survival. Gen.3:18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 “By the sweat of your face You will eat bread Until you return to the ground, For from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” 2 Thess. 3:8.
nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we worked night and day [to pay our own way] so that we would not be a financial burden on any of you [for our support]; ‘ 2 Thess. 3:10 “”For even while we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”
2. As in what Jesus taught as HIS work for the Kingdom of God for us also to learn to do.
Col. 3:22. “Servants, in everything obey those who are your masters on earth, not only with external service, as those who merely please people, but with sincerity of heart because of your fear (respect) of the Lord. 23 Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.” “John3:21, But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].” “ John 6:27, “But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].” “John 6:29, Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”
So we have been created in a world of needing to work to provide for our food. And also to teach us humility and obedience in order to be successful in finding God. As the Scriptures also teach: 1 Tim. 5:8, “7 And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. 8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. As for me, I started at 13 in earning my own money selling magazine from door to door and also fish that I caught and cleaned and Iced, also door to door. In college I had my own plant food mfg. Co. and made it and sold it door to door. Work is not a curse, It was created because of man rebellion, so God made us go to work to learn to enjoy the feeling of being productive and self supporting. At 89, I will never get any return out of what I am doing physically. But I do what I do for my LORD with the possibility of helping others find their way into HIS Kingdom of love and light. My hope for the TrueVine Minifarm is to become a light on the hill. To help those interested in finding the Kingdom of God in righteousness.
Yours, in HIS great love and wonderful grace and mercy, Ken<>< www.OhanaChurch.Life
( Add / Delete, ken@trinity-aloha.org “Worth Considering” library, link on the Homepage.)
WORK “WORTH CONSIDERING” 11/6/21 From Ken Smith<><
For some, the word, work, is not a pleasant thought. However, most of my life, I have been fortunate in enjoying what work I did. It was work, sweat, details, organization but when the project or house was completed there was a sense of satisfaction that was above and beyond getting paid for the results. When in Jr. High and High School I took drafting classes and in my Junior year of High School I was given a job of drawing house plans for a very patient contractor for $1.25 per hour. My work was far from professional but usable. And it went on from there to where I was supporting a family of 6 as a Sr. Engineering Draftsman for Santa Ana County Food Control, 1958, CA. and making about $700. per month. Then I left that job and went into door to door new home sales and then in 1961 started my own business in house building in Oregon and went on to building about 100 houses per year and supporting a family of then 10, me , wife and 8 kids and living the American dream.
I was pretty much of a good normal church goer with my family getting the “Father’s Day” of the year each year for a while. But in 1967 a painter gave me a bid on my home, 7 bedrooms, 4 baths that had 36 paneled solid doors that needed staining and 3 coats of finish plus the inside and outside of the house and the barn on the outside. So Marvin gave me a bid on the work and worked very hard with the painting and did a 1st class job. But then I found that he would spend about half of his time talking to me about the Bible and me being baptized in the Holy Spirit. My church did not agree and I had even taught against it but he was so patient and loving that I listened. He was pres. for the local F.G.B.M.F.I.
As I write this I realized Marvin was just walking out, in obedience, the scripture that says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and HIS Righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” It is because of Jesus and HIS work on the cross that really changes us. But Marvin was also part of the investment of loving truth that changed my life. So work, though caused by sin, is really helpful in getting us back on track in humility and obedience. You see, if we live with God in heaven it will not be on cloud 9 with a harp. There is much that our Creator wants us to learn to do here in filling His creation with HIS LOVE. So the requirement of us learning the humility to be able learn and obedience to get a job done are essential. Therefore, our temporary existence on earth is to see if we will choose to learn in humility what God has given us through HIS prophets and also to walk it out into perfection or not, Eph, 4:11.
So lets look at “WORK” in the Holy Scriptures. Lets start with James the son of Mary and Joseph who grew up watching Jesus as his older sibling. In the AMP there are 663 work verses concerning work to consider for a better understanding on the subject.
James 2:14 “What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.]” James 2:18, “But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].” “ But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?” James 2:24, “You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].” James 2:26, “ For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead.” So what kind of “WORK” is “GOOD WORKS ?”
1. As under the curse for learning humility & obedience as in Adam for survival. Gen.3:18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 “By the sweat of your face You will eat bread Until you return to the ground, For from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” 2 Thess. 3:8.
nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we worked night and day [to pay our own way] so that we would not be a financial burden on any of you [for our support]; ‘ 2 Thess. 3:10 “”For even while we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”
2. As in what Jesus taught as HIS work for the Kingdom of God for us also to learn to do.
Col. 3:22. “Servants, in everything obey those who are your masters on earth, not only with external service, as those who merely please people, but with sincerity of heart because of your fear (respect) of the Lord. 23 Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.” “John3:21, But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].” “ John 6:27, “But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].” “John 6:29, Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”
So we have been created in a world of needing to work to provide for our food. And also to teach us humility and obedience in order to be successful in finding God. As the Scriptures also teach: 1 Tim. 5:8, “7 And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. 8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. As for me, I started at 13 in earning my own money selling magazine from door to door and also fish that I caught and cleaned and Iced, also door to door. In college I had my own plant food mfg. Co. and made it and sold it door to door. Work is not a curse, It was created because of man rebellion, so God made us go to work to learn to enjoy the feeling of being productive and self supporting. At 89, I will never get any return out of what I am doing physically. But I do what I do for my LORD with the possibility of helping others find their way into HIS Kingdom of love and light. My hope for the TrueVine Minifarm is to become a light on the hill. To help those interested in finding the Kingdom of God in righteousness.
Yours, in HIS great love and wonderful grace and mercy, Ken<>< www.OhanaChurch.Life
( Add / Delete, ken@trinity-aloha.org “Worth Considering” library, link on the Homepage.)
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