BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beware of being led to believe that the giving of
money is the sowing of a seed of faith which will
prompt GOD to respond by heaping riches upon
you. Scripture teaches us in the epistles that
we are to be content with having food & raiment;
and the gospels teach us to take no thought for
what we will eat, drink or wear tomorrow but seek
the kingdom of GOD and His righteousness and
these things will be added unto you. We cannot
buy GOD nor His blessings. The man in Acts
offered to buy the gift of GOD from the disciples
and he was cast out for it.

Grace is not a reward nor a wage it is just what
it says - GRACE - pure unearned favor from GOD.
There is no gospel that has a $ price tag -

the gospel of Jesus Christ was paid for by Him

and that price was His life. Our access to GOD
and His grace is faith -the price we pay is to
believe (Romans 5:1).
I say again BEWARE - search the
scriptures daily to see if what you are being taught
is true. The church of Berea checked on the
Apostle Paul and was considered much more faithful
for doing so. (Thessalonians)

COMPARISONS: THEOLOGICAL or RELATIONAL

A. THEOLOGICAL: In the Epistle (letter) to the Roman believers
is clearly stated that justification & righteousness is of Jesus
Christ, and Him alone: Then is delineated in chapters 1-8 why
that is the way it is.

B. RELATIONAL: In Job is stated the helplessness of man
against GOD; That is to say that man is at the mercy of GOD:
Then is delineated in chapter 9, 10, 12 and 13 the evidence
that that is in deed the way it is.

My conclusion to these two facts of comparison is;
1. consistency of GOD in His methods
2. the complete dependence man has on GOD - complete being
the key word
3. the predictability and unpredictability of GOD - that is to say
GOD is knowable and not knowable
4. Job teaches us about the relationship we have with the
Father and Romans gives us the supporting doctrine
and/or theology that makes that relationship truth.

If I am being chastised by GOD for sin in my life or, I
am being assaulted by Satan for the purpose of tearing
down my faith, is really in the final analysis irrelevant - Job
is making this point: For either way GOD is at work; either
chastising or testing me - and using Satan as the instrument
or tool to do so.

Satan taunted GOD about Job's faith and GOD permitted Satan
to put it to the test. Jobs statement concerning the
excruciating tribulation he found himself in illustrates the
certainty of being a child of GOD and the uncertainty of being
a child of GOD: Which is to say that my faith is tested no
matter if I know or do not know what is going on, and as Job
said, so will I be able or not be able to say, "though He slay
me yet will I trust Him."

Many people trust in the facts and not in the Person.
Many will never know nor experience - the power of GOD in
their heart and soul because they seek only the facts not
the Person. They seek a knowledge of GOD which is academic
in nature rather than, or in the exclusion of, an intimate
knowledge of the Father.

Job teaches us, or rather Job's experience of life and his
reaction to GOD over it, that GOD cannot be predicted. The
chasm between the finite mind of man and the infinite mind
of GOD is so large man cannot see the other side of the canyon.
"His ways are past finding out."

When we look at Job's statements we see a man knowing he
cannot justify himself before GOD - When we look at Romans
1-8 we see why man is not justified by law and hence has no
medium for justifying himself and therefore needs justification
outside himself. Job knows that right or wrong, good or bad,
just or wicked, he has no means within himself or his life to
stand before GOD and merit GOD'S grace/mercy. Romans
teaches us why that is. Romans 1-8 gives doctrine to the
supporting of how Job viewed GOD in relationship to Him.

IN EFFECT: Rms. 2:29, 2Cor. 3:6
Job shows relationship (the spirit);
Romans shows doctrine/theology (the letter of the law)

WAR OF FLESH & SPIRIT

The war between the flesh & the Spirit is over which one gets or has control.
I always thought it was a war to conquer the flesh, [and indeed conquering the
flesh lies within the heart of every believer], however I have discovered it to
be a war over which I will walk in, the flesh or the Spirit.

To be conformed to the image of Christ has become, in my heart and life,
a matter of walking after the Spirit, which is to say,
"minding the things of the Spirit" [Romans 8]; verses serving the
desires of the flesh: Will I serve the fleshly desire for comfort and pleasure
or will I seek the things that the Spirit of GOD seeks. Clearly stated
by GOD is the fact that if one walks in the Spirit they will not fulfill
the lusts of the flesh. It is not for me to conquer the flesh but rather to be
filled with the Spirit, [Galatians 5].

We do not overcome by doing, we overcome by being.
It is not doing good works, it is being spiritual.
Actions are not the method, they are the results.