Parable of the Talents

[YellowStone]

Hi Joe and Kat,

I thank you both for sharing such wisdom. However, I would like to add something to what you shared Kat.

Rom 6:17  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
v. 18  and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

These are truly wonderful verses, yet we should never take them as something gained, perhaps like the servant who buried his single talent.

The following three verses all speak of how we must love our Heavenly Father.

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. 

Luk 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.  

Yet, it is the Mind that we have no control over. Who can know the thoughts that are one will think during any given momement or circumstance. Who can honestly say I will not think carnal thoughts, without thinking of something not to think of?

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Kind of a Slam Dunk, our mind will get us every time.

But Paul adds something very interesting in the following few verses.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Rom 8:10  And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness.

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify (put to death) the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

How can mortal man live not in the flesh? Are we not human, we anger and are prideful by nature as God well knows. How can we possibly be in the Spirit and carry the burden of carnality as if it were our best friend? We simply cannot. I think this is where you and Joe were both striking gold.

There is nothing that we can do through our own ability, knowlege or strength that will ever cause one to live in the Spirit. On the contrary, one has to throw all that thinking away, discard it, abhor it. I know my own self that everytime I become prideful of some truth I have learned (ha) then I get a pass to go right back to the begining. Oops, messed up again. Such thoughts, including those of indignation are fruits of the world and have NO association with those of the Spirit.

Joe, I fully understand and agree with you on your following statement:

Quote from: hillsbororiver on June 21, 2007, 06:14:11 PM

....we have to have a balance, if we are telling ourselves that we are in the race for election into the first resurrection then we really need to consider how we as individuals interact with our sisters and brothers.

Not only interact but how we think of them, what we say about them, if we have a God given understanding of His Word they have yet to be given we should be approaching them with patience and longsuffering, this is not to say that heretical doctrine should be tolerated but that unless someone is strident and divisive we should have empathy as we ourselves could have been where they are, we haven't done a thing in being dragged to His Truth & purpose for us.

If we are holding the Spirit of Christ deep in our hearts then manifesting the fruits of His Spirit (even in baby steps) should be the next logical (spiritually speaking) move toward the finish line.

This fits perfectly with the words of James:

Jam 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Many get totally confused by the term "works," as if it is something that we must or can do of our own accord. If we have to think about it, we're not yet living totally in the Spirit. Not by anything we can do, but by the will of God. The sad realization; however, a totally comforting one, is exactly what Joe said: "we haven't done a thing in being dragged to His Truth & purpose"

I cannot in all truth feel that one feels that they are higher than the lowest, they are sadly mistaken. All honor, thanks, glory and praise must go to the One who has given us everything.

This entire study has brought to light more than I could have imagined.

Fool, hypocrite that I am....

Mat 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  
Mat 7:4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  
Mat 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  y

If I must let go of all my carnal and prideful traits; how then COULD I by the Spirit be concerned about something a brother said, enough to correct and admoish him/her?

More great Scriptures from Joe

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit (faith), let us also walk in the Spirit. (works)
Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

It is a tough walk, but we must never forget: "The Lord is our shepherd, I shall not want......" Psalm 23

Thanks everyone for a great uplifting thread.

Love in Christ our Savior
Darren

[hillsbororiver]

Joe what you say about being patient when a brother is not seeing or not getting it, is well and good if the brother is a brother or the sister is a sister. If a brother or a sister wanders off into vain arguments and discussions and purposeless talk 1 Tim 1 : 6 we are to warn and admonish and charge them not to teach any different doctrines 1 Tim 1 : 3 because there are certain individuals who have missed the mark and have wandered away. So I agree with you that we should be alert to error and wrong doctrine and be ready to correct, edify and admonish if correction and edification is rejected.
This is what I see Ray doing. He is correcting edifying and warning those who reject sound doctrine.

Hi Arcturus,

I addressed this earlier in the thread when I wrote;

....we have to have a balance, if we are telling ourselves that we are in the race for election into the first resurrection then we really need to consider how we as individuals interact with our sisters and brothers.

Not only interact but how we think of them, what we say about them, if we have a God given understanding of His Word they have yet to be given we should be approaching them with patience and longsuffering, this is not to say that heretical doctrine should be tolerated but that unless someone is strident and divisive we should have empathy as we ourselves could have been where they are, we haven't done a thing in being dragged to His Truth & purpose for us.

If we are holding the Spirit of Christ deep in our hearts then manifesting the fruits of His Spirit (even in baby steps) should be the next logical (spiritually speaking) move toward the finish line.

Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

1Th 5:14  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

His Peace and Wisdom to you,

Joe

Good morning everyone,

I want to apologize for appearing too blunt and callous in my response to Arcturus as it was not my intention. When I reviewed my post I could definitely see how one could come to that conclusion. These types of oversights become all the more possible when one races through a composition without rereading and checking not only spelling and grammar but the tone of the post and for this I am truly sorry.

As I witness threads growing and more than a few participants contributing I have seen many times when members seem to talk over one another either repeating questions that were sufficiently answered earlier or apparently ignoring responses from some while hurriedly answering another.

I cannot say this about Arcturus as she is a very thorough reader as well as an eloquent writer.

My apology not only to you Arcturus but to everyone who read this.

His Peace to you,

Joe

[Deborah-Leigh]

Joe

You are a very precious Brother. I guess the tall trees catch the wind.

There is a proverb that comes to mind. Prov 9 : 8 Reprove not a scorner lest he hate you, reprove a Wise Man and he shall love you.

Thank you for loving us Joe. You may not know how much that means right now but it is true and I am certain I strike a cord in the hearts of many members here in AMEN to just how much you mean to us as our Lord continues to show Himself through you.

Peace in fellowship Brother and thank you for kindness.

Arcturus

[YellowStone]

Hi Arcturus,

I will glady endorse your words of love. Joe I too see you a a precious brother and a wonderful friend.

Thanks be to God for his given love to us all.

Darren

[GODSown1]

Amen Darren,
                 GODS LOVE! b withn uS alL AlwayZ!.
                 muchLOVE!! Pera