"His Gift" -6

We are almost there, of that I am sure! There are several different translations of words which can be used to express the word 'Gift'; all of which have pretty much one thing in common, and that is that they mean free. However, there are differences that make the gift given more powerful than others; which depending on your interpretation of what is being said, could make the difference between success and failure in justification from sin. Oh, how I wish that I could go back in time! To think about all the times that I have let the enemy get a hold in my relationship with my wife, or in my ability to be a strong spiritual leader to my family; this should not have been allowed!!! And to think, that the reason I did allow it to happen, was only because I accepted failure as part of who I am; thus, looking upon my own strength and ability, and not placing all my attention in the Grace of God!!! Yes, it's true that grace means unwarranted favour, and undeserved promises; however, there is a point where our unworthiness does not matter any longer, because His worthiness takes my place, and therefore what I think about myself does not really matter anymore. (As if that made any sense to anyone?) My point, in case you missed it, is that when we point our attention on our own frailties, we have taken our focus off the power of Jesus Christ and the gift that He has given us. Accepting failure is not a option that we should even consider, because He has not failed, and our life is now in Him!!! What we let happen in our relationships and in our families, is that we accept failure as part of this life; making it part of the journey, as if it is something that is part of who we are; is it??? Only if we let it be!!!! James 1:17 & 18 is a good illustration of what I am talking about, because within verse 18 are two different uses of the word 'gift' used. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of His Own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." We are to be Holy and Set Apart!!! Not frail and subject to the failures that come with the teritory; but instead, we are to blaze a trail through the beaten teritory, as people that are more then conquerors in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master!!! Again, I want to make reference to a song by one of my favorite bands (Daniel Amos); the song is called 'Safety Net' and is from one of their albums released in the 80's. Within the song are lyrics such as "Strung out in the cradle of Grace" and "Shot like a bullet till Kingdom come"; lyrics which I have played over and over again in my mind, thinking about how we never really get it right, because our focus is on ourselves and not on Him! Paul made reference to something within his list of qualities that are to be counted as dung, in Philippians 3:6, which was his endeavor to persecute the church, and he used it as his example of zeal; meaning his passion for the law. This might be hard to grasp, but sometimes it is our zeal which gets us in trouble! It happens over and over again, because we start feeling stronger and stronger; so much so, that we find our self depending more on our own strength then on His; until we reach the point where we find that we have no strength at all; which is usually the point of failure...