Christian Living – Elkan's Word For Today

Polygamy is a not allowed in the New Covenant. However, the Bible says if we’re to produce any spiritual fruit, we’ll need to be concurrently married to these two ‘ladies’ – FAITH and PATIENCE.

You see, ‘Tensions’ – apparently contradictory truths in scripture – are not only for theologians and seminarians; when it comes to practical Christianity, you need to know how to keep these two ‘ladies’ in your house without causing conflict.

Are you praying for a miracle? Sister Faith insists it must be NOW! Deaconess Patience, on the other hand, says impetuousness is a sign of carnality and spiritual immaturity; she says you must be willing to wait!

Heb 11:6 says “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. That means God is turned off by those who approach Him without any expectation of His intervention. Our Lord said in Mk 11:24, “Whatever things you desire, WHEN YOU PRAY, believe that you will receive them, and you shall have them.” He’s saying that you shouldn’t expect to get anything from God if you come with a this-is-my-need-but-you-can-solve-it-at-your-own-convenience mindset. You must be earnest and importunate in your prayer.

Now, the same Hebrews that tells us “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” also tells us that, “You have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise” (Heb 10:36).

What gives?

To receive the promise, I need to be both importunate AND patient? Isn’t that a contradiction?

Well, not really. You need Faith to birth the seed of the miracle, but at the same time you need Patience (like a surrogate mom) to carry the miracle to full time delivery.

Many Believers have much faith, but their lack of patience keeps killing the miracle mid-term. On the other hand, many feel that their not ‘disturbing’ God about their problem is proof of patience. That’s an empty womb that’s not going to birth anything whatsoever.

You need both. Heb 6:12 admonishes us to be “followers of them who through faith AND patience inherit the promises.

Receive whatever you have desired among those promises NOW in Jesus’ name.

AMEN.

GREG ELKAN

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips_ – Ps 141:3

There’re 3 JAMESE in the Bible; 2 were part of the 12 apostles: James, the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus (aka “James the Less”). The third is in a special category of his own. He was not part of the twelve; in fact, he was not even a disciple. He was James the half-brother of Jesus.

You would think that growing up in the same house with the Christ Himself would make for an awesomely heavenly experience, but no, James was anything but a fan of Christ’s. Remember when Jesus said “A prophet is honoured everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” (Mk 6:4 NLT)? Well, it was people like his brother James that made him make that statement.

In Jn 7:3, our Lord’s brothers said to him, “Leave this place, and go to Judea so that your disciples can see the things that you’re doing” (GW). Why were they being this sarcastic? Jn 7:5 explains that it was because “Even His brothers didn’t believe in Him.” (GW) Sad! Right?

Well, Jesus didn’t let their scepticism get to Him. He remained faithful with His ministry and after His resurrection, these sceptical brothers became Believers. They were there at the “Upper Room” (Act 1:14), and one of them, the very James himself, became the de facto head of the Church (Act 15:13-21; Gal 2:9,12) and also the author of the Bible book of James (Jas 1:1).

Now, here’s an interesting fact: the Book of James has more quotations and references to Jesus’ words and teachings than any other epistle. Not even Peter, Jesus’ chief apostle who went everywhere with Him during His ministry, quotes Jesus’ words like James.

What does this tell us? It means all those years that he was being a sceptic, James was ACTUALLY listening. He may have been scoffing, but he was listening; he may have been jesting, but he was listening; and after Jesus’ Ascension, all those words that he was hearing our Lord speak came to have an eternally-lasting effect on James.

Beloved, be faithful with your ministry and encouragement to the sceptics and non-believers around you. They may act like they’re irritated or unaffected by your words, but two things are certain:

1: They’re listening to the words you speak to them every day.

2: They’re being affected by the words you speak to them every day.

And just like James, they may even end up being a greater repeater of your words than the believing ‘Peters’ in your audience right now.

GREG ELKAN

Sister Faith And Deaconess Patience

James Is Listening

Category: Christian Living