Enjoying Life to the Full

Now Jesus said He wants us to have His joy.  What is that joy?  Real joy is living and enjoying life to its maximum Potential, something that is only possible in the abiding relationship.  However, no one, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, no one can have the joy Jesus was speaking of while going against any of the principles of God's Word which are known to be right--it can't be done; it's utterly impossible.  The person who is going against his conscience is only making himself miserable.

Let me get more specific: The individual who hangs onto even one thought that is not based on the Word of God and His truth is walking down a roadway to misery, heartache, and complete destruction, the final outcome of which will be death.  What will it take for us to learn this lesson?  How is it that the Devil can come along and subtly--"brazenly" is a better description when you consider the controversy that is going on--allure us down the wrong pathway and suggest it won't matter?  How did Jesus respond to Satan's suggestions?  Did He risk hanging onto any prop--in His case, perhaps supernatural power or personal desire?  No!  Did He hang onto anything?  No.  He din't hang onto even one thing.  What did He do?  He completely submitted Himself to carrying out one mission: reflecting the image of His Father's character in a world that didn't know Him.  Jesus asks us to do the very same thing.

Here is a sobering thought in Christ's Object Lessons that is suggested by Mark 4;29.  When the fruit is brought forth, immediately He puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come"  Mark 4;29.

What is being talked about here?  Fruit--fruit that comes as a result of abiding.  It says the branch abides in the Vine until it bears fruit, and when the fruit emerges, He immediately puts in the sickle, for the harvest has come.

"Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church.  When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim that as His Own."  COL 69.

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