SHOW ME JESUS

 

            If I had to identify what humanity needs more than anything else in this life, I would have to say our greatest need is love. Real love. Not the manufactured, conditional type of love or even the romantic type of love, but the love of God. The love that emanates from the One Who, even while we were sinners and rebelling against Him, loved us anyway and made a way for us to be reinstated to fellowship with Him. And no one is left out except by their own choice.

I believe love to be the most needed element of life because God is love, and we cannot experience true life, life in the kingdom of God, without Him. All we have to look forward to is eternal death and punishment without the love of God.

            Love has been defined as “affectionate concern for the well-being of others.” We cannot love a stranger for their actions, their disposition, their temperament, personality, or nature. That would be impossible because they are strangers to us. We don’t have any knowledge of their attributes or characteristics. Yet we can still be concerned for their well-being, both spiritual and physical.

            My husband and I receive numerous pleas by mail asking us to help people all over the world. You probably get them, too. They are pleas to help people that we have never met. But we are moved by the need. And the love of Christ within us compels us to do what we can to help. We can’t help everyone. We cannot answer every request. That would be impossible, but we can help some. That is part of loving our neighbor. We can show them Jesus by the Spirit of God in action through us.

Many of you probably get a lot of prayer requests on social media. We do, too. Some of the people we don’t know personally. But we can still reach out in prayer on their behalf because we care about their difficulties. We have compassion and a concern for the well-being of others.

I opened the mail one day while my grandson was with me. We saw a picture of a young boy who was bent in a terrible position, making it impossible for him to stand and walk. My grandson’s heart was immediately touched. He wanted to help. Feeling sorry for the boy was not enough. Something needed to be done to change his situation.

That is how God’s love works. It is a love of compassion that compels us to do something, to act. While I was in the process of writing this article, my grandson came over wearing a shirt that said, “Love Out Loud”. That is what true love does. It makes itself known in compassionate ways. We can look back to the “Good Samaritan” and see love in action. He loved out loud. Allow me to give you my paraphrase of this story. A man who had been beaten and robbed lay by the roadside, left for dead. Two members of the Jewish ‘clergy’ saw him and passed him by. They couldn’t be late for ‘church’. Later a Samaritan, who was hated by the Jews, came along and saw this man who needed help. We are told he had compassion on the man. So, he stopped and helped him. Then he took the man to an inn and paid for him to be taken care of until he got back from his business.

Too often we forget that love is an action word. If love is never seen in action, if we don’t love out loud, it is no more than a feeling within a person that only they know anything about. The religious leaders may have felt sorry for the beaten man, but they did not have compassion. They were not concerned for his well-being.

Romans 5:7-8 tells us, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Again we can read How God’s love took action in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is the love of God. It is the love that we have received. It is the love we are to give to others so they, too, can see Jesus, and they can only see Him through those who allow His love to flow through them. We can love people by extending charity and benevolence to them. Will we?

Imagine living in a place where you cannot support yourself or your family. Then someone comes to you and tells you there are people on the other side of the world who have sent money, food, clean water, or instruments so you can begin to farm and take care of your family again. When these are given in Jesus’ name, we show them Jesus in His compassion and love.

Even greater than relieving the physical maladies and deprivation of others is relieving their spiritual maladies and deprivation. Every person needs to hear about Jesus Christ. Every person needs the opportunity to know Him. Jesus said that is up to you and me – those of us who know Him. Yet so many are preoccupied with the things of this world. Not necessarily evil things, but things that take the place of God in our hearts. The Apostle John says those things are idols. Anything that gets in the way of our serving Jesus Christ and sharing the gospel with others on a regular basis is an idol.

With all the social media and other electronic devices we have now there are so many opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. How are we using them? What is important to us? What are our priorities? Are we majoring on ourselves and our positions in this world? Or is our focus on Jesus and living in the kingdom of God here and now?

People need to know about Jesus. They need to understand that they can be free from the bondage of sin and live freely in the kingdom of God even while they are still in this world.

The Apostle Paul endured years of persecution so he could take the gospel message to as many places and people as he could. His whole Christian life was spent spreading the gospel. He traveled. He wrote. He preached. He used up every bit of himself for the glory of God’s kingdom and the salvation of souls. As God’s children, we have received the same call.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”

Every person is not called to ‘go’ in the same way or the same place. But if we name the name of Christ, we are called to make disciples. It may be one-on-one. It may be preaching. It may be writing. It may be going to another country. It may be ministering to those around us. But we are all called.

            We are not called to do our own business, but to do God’s business. And when we step out to do God’s business, we are not alone. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you... He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

We show God that we love Him by following His commandments. And He will baptize us with the Holy Spirit to enable us to love others as He loves us.

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Again, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Laying down our lives for others doesn’t always mean dying. It may mean putting self aside to show this world Jesus in action through us. We show our love for others by showing compassion and meeting their physical and spiritual needs in the name of Jesus Christ.

If we don’t see the result of someone’s love, we don’t know it exists. God understands that. So He proved His unfailing love for us. God’s love has no limits. It reaches to everyone and it never ends. The power of His love causes us to feel the wind of His Spirit blowing and to experience the transformation He works in us. The fact of God’s love is undeniable, because the proof of God’s love can be seen in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and it can be felt in our hearts when we open them to Him.

God loves out loud!

So loud that it echoes throughout time and space!

 

A NEW THING

 

            Christmas is over for another year. By now you probably have all of your decorations put away, all of your gifts opened and all the parties behind you. And you are probably ready to get back to business as usual, back to the old routine.

As much as I love all the decorations and other glories of Christmas, I must admit that in a way, it’s pretty comforting to restore everything back to its normal order, to get back to the familiar.

            But what if there was something greater on the horizon that God wanted you to take part in? What if God was saying, “Don’t settle into the norm of your routine. Come with Me instead.”? That may not sound very comfortable or even intriguing until we realize the Creator of the universe may be calling our name to come up higher and get into stride with Him instead of passing our time in this life with the mundane pursuits of this world.

Think for just a moment what could be accomplished if we all followed God’s path for us instead of our own routine. I know new things can seem pretty scary at the beginning, but everything we have ever accomplished was new to us at some point. Are we past reaching ahead because we have found a comfortable niche in our lives that is holding us contentedly in place?

In Isaiah 43:18 and 19, God says, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

God spoke those words to His people Israel, but they have been burning in my heart for this new year, 2023. Just maybe this is the year for all of God’s people to rise up out of sleep from the normal, everyday habits of this life that rule our time and consume our energy. Just maybe it’s time to find out what God is doing and get into pace with Him.

If God can make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, (and He certainly can), just imagine what He can do with us if we will just believe Him, surrender to Him, and obey.

Mr. Henry Varley once said to D. L. Moody, in Moody’s early years of ministry, “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.” Moody said to himself, “Well I will be that man.” And he became a man that God used significantly because he depended on God and followed His leading. D.L. Moody was not schooled in philosophy, psychology or, technically, not even in theology. But he was a man who studied the Word of God extensively, a man of prayer and a man surrendered to Jesus. And he went on to do great things for God’s kingdom because he worked with God.

Think of all the things you are actively pursuing. Are they centered on Jesus, or are they something that you do because you’ve always done it or it seems a good thing to do? Should we re-think our priorities and set everything in order according to God’s purpose and His Word? Or just return to business as usual?

Maybe you are right in the center of God’s will and making progress in His kingdom. Praise God for you if you are. That is exactly what He wants. He wants His children to work alongside Him in the work He has for us. He has chosen to place His Holy Spirit in His people so we can reach the hearts of this world.

If God spoke to you, would you hear Him? If you heard Him, would you say ‘yes’? That seems to be such a simple question, but there are a lot of “but what ifs” that tangle up our answer. Let this year be the year, this day be the day, this moment be the moment that you say, “Here I am, Lord, send me.” Throw off the restraints and let God do something new in you.

Sometimes ‘something new’ isn’t a new location, but a new heart or allowing the Holy Spirit to give you the power or revelation of God’s Word that you have been missing out on. It may be something new within you that changes your whole life and begins to change the lives of others, too.

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Then, not long before he was beheaded, Paul wrote these victorious words to Timothy. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

I want to be able to say that I have completed what God has assigned me to do and that I have done it with joy, without giving up, turning back or refusing to keep moving forward. I don’t want to disappoint Jesus and I don’t want to miss out on working side by side with Him.

There are numerous obstructions and thought patterns that can keep us from walking in the “new thing” God has for us. Don’t let them hold you back from God’s best.

Thoughts of all the wrong we have done and the times we have rejected Jesus can make us feel unworthy of coming to Him now. But all of that can be washed away by the blood of the Lamb. When we come to Jesus in repentance and surrender ourselves completely to Him, we can begin a whole new walk without condemnation. We can be empowered by the Spirit of God. Don’t allow the sins of the past to cause you to remain in sin today. There is hope and a future in Christ when we submit our lives to Him and begin a new walk in the kingdom of God. Let the past be the past. Look forward to what God can and will do through willing vessels surrendered to Him.

Maybe you haven’t been rejecting Jesus. You have been serving Him, attending church and doing all the things you think are right. But your life isn’t free and you are trying to live the Christian life without the freedom of God’s Spirit. Working for Jesus and working with Jesus are two very different things. Working for Him comes from us. It puts the burden of success or failure on us. Working with Him is simply doing what He says for us to do, saying what He says for us to say and allowing His Holy Spirit to guide us and enable us. When we are surrendered to Him, He will guide and enable. We don’t make the plans. We just follow His.

            A new year always feels like we are getting a fresh start.  But it’s not the only time we can start over.  When we go through a difficult season in our lives and finally come through to the other side, we face a new beginning. When we have failed and are able to put it behind us and press on, it’s a new beginning. When we choose to forgive someone for the ‘unthinkable’ and move ahead, it’s a new beginning for us and for them.

            Life is full of new beginnings if we allow them.  They happen when we close the door to what is behind us and choose to move forward. We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it, using it as a springboard to propel us forward so we can have a fresh start for the future.

“Do you need a new beginning?  Have you let go of the past and allowed God to open the door to what He has for you in the future?” We don’t have to be afraid to take that step, because we will not be alone. The Spirit of God will walk with us and uphold us. He will show us the way and give us the words to speak. He will show us things that we could never understand in our own wisdom.

Isaiah 42:9 says, “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

The past is the past. Don’t get stuck there waiting for everything to be just right before you say ‘yes’ to Jesus. He is not back there idling and waiting for you to catch up. He has gone on ahead and beckons you to follow Him into life more abundantly, an existence in the kingdom of God that produces more life than we ever thought possible. Sometimes we just need to let go before we can reach out and grasp what God is handing us now.

 

The past has brought us to this moment, but it is no longer.

We now have today.

What are we doing with it?

 

FEAR NOT

 

Some people possess a faith in God that compels them to step out where others would never dare. Others are controlled by fear, and accomplish very little or nothing for the Kingdom of God. So what makes the difference! The difference is allowing faith to conquer our fears. Satan does not want us to act in faith and to be overcomers, because overcomers take ground for the Kingdom of God. So Satan tries to control us with fear and can use something very small to incite just enough fear and doubt to keep us from God’s will.

One day I was in the kitchen cooking when I suddenly felt a shadow pass over me. It was obvious that something very large was flying around in the kitchen. Fear swept over me, until I found the cause. It was a small bug about one third the size of my little fingernail. It appeared much bigger than it was because it had come between me and the light. I had no idea that such a small bug could cast such a big shadow. But it did.

And that is how Satan tries to convince us that he is bigger than we are – that he is bigger than whatever God calls us to do. He says that we are going to fail and that he has the power to stop us from overcoming. He comes between us and the light of truth.

Have you ever felt a shadow of darkness pass over your soul? It may be a shadow of sickness, a bad report from the doctor, family problems, financial difficulties, condemnation, inner turmoil, spiritual confusion. They all scream defeat, saying “You can’t overcome! We are bigger than you. You might as well not even try.” But God’s Word says differently. His Word says the authority of hell itself will not prevail against God’s people. So, whose report are you going to believe? God’s report and Satan’s are total opposites. God’s report is based on His Truth. Satan’s report is based on his lies. Satan uses fear to separate us from Jesus and His Word and make himself look bigger so we will shut the door on God’s opportunities.

Remember when Peter stepped out of the boat into a raging sea? His faith in Jesus propelled him to step out. But when he looked around and saw the severity of the situation, he began to realize he was in way over his head…literally! At that moment, something came between him and the Light. But he did a very wise thing when his faith faltered. He immediately cried out to Jesus, and they both walked back to the boat. Sometimes we need to cry out, “I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief.” We grow in faith through God’s Word and applying it to our situations. We learn to walk in faith by practicing what God’s Word says to us.

One type of fear is an anxious anticipation of danger or pain. It is anxiety and fright. It’s also a distressing emotion aroused by impending evil, whether the threat is real or imagined. It causes us to be apprehensive with a sense of dread. Dread is like the darkness and eerie stillness just before a storm hits. It is an evil foreboding, which is a fearful or threatening feeling that something bad is going to happen at any moment. It brings a darkness of soul so heavy you can feel it. It can hang over us indefinitely if it’s not dealt with. When Jesus told the disciples He would be going away, He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled [distressed, agitated].” In other words, don’t dread it. He was going to send the Holy Spirit, so the disciples didn’t need to live under a cloud of dread. Jesus had given them His assurance. He gives us the same assurance. “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Sometimes apprehension hangs over us like the lull before the storm, even when there is no storm. But we don’t have to go through that. We have God’s Word. We are not to live in a dream world and pretend that problems aren’t really there, but we don’t have to let dread convince us that it is bigger than God, because it’s not. We need to stay in the light. Remove all obstacles that block the Light. They only lead us away from Jesus.

Fear can also make us want to run or escape. It can happen when God asks us to step out in a new area, maybe to do something bigger than we are, or we are faced with a challenge. Fear will bring up every negative reason for us to run from the call. Fear says, “That can’t be God. He would never ask you to do that!” Have you ever just wanted to run away? That type of fear screams out, “David, you can’t kill Goliath!  Run while you have the chance!” Satan will call your name, too, and say you can’t do whatever it is God says you can. When you’re reasoning out if you can do it or not, don’t factor out God. If He is the One Who said it, you CAN do it! If Satan can trick us into listening to his voice and acting on it, he can snuff out our faith.  

Another type of fear is cowardice, timidity, withdrawing and insecurity. When we are alone in the house at night and hear a strange sound, the first thing most of us do is to freeze right where we are and try not to breath. That is a picture of someone who is withdrawn from life and is always hiding from things that do not exist.  This type of fear will immobilize us. Remember the man who received one talent from his master to tend while His master was away? This man was immobilized with fear and froze, so he lost everything. He was so afraid that he would do something wrong that he did nothing! We all had unfounded fears as children. When we get older our fears change, but most of them are still unfounded.  They turn to “what-ifs” – what if I fail?  I heard God wrong?  People reject me or come against me? What if this happens? What if that happens? I might do the wrong thing, so I will just do nothing. I’ll hide my talent in the ground and keep it safe.

There will always be someone to criticize us, to tell us how they would have done it better, to say “I told you so” if we fail, or to offer their inexperienced opinion of our performance. But God knows the heart and soul of the worker whether we win or lose. Keep following God. We cannot allow the opinions of others or our own feelings to stop what God has called us to. So many times we know what God has said, yet we keep questioning Him because we want Him to say something else, to change His mind. But He doesn’t say anything else because He has already told us what to do. We are stalling and He knows it. This type of fear will leave us in indecision and we will either compromise by doing something that seems a little safer or we will hesitate in confusion and insecurity until the opportunity passes.  Either way, fear has done its job…and we have lost out. We cannot allow fear to intimidate us if we want to move forward with God. Andy Andrews said: “I have a decided heart…Indecision limits the Almighty and His ability to perform miracles in your life.  He has put the vision in you ----proceed!  To wait, to wonder, to doubt, to be indecisive is to disobey God.” There is a difference in waiting on the Lord and procrastinating because we are afraid.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

But sometimes, we expect bad results from every opportunity that arises rather than having confidence that God is working all things for our good. Or sometimes we just shut down and accept defeat from every bad circumstance that does come. We just hunker down and wait for the worst to come instead of hearing from God and acting in faith in the middle of the situation. Some people would have told Joseph, “you can’t become Pharaoh’s right-hand-man. You aren’t qualified, so just go back to your place in the prison and be content there. You were doing a good job there, but not in a position this big!” If Joseph had heard and taken that advice, he would have missed the will of God for His life. He trusted God through the worst of times and the best of times, and he was right in the center of God’s will. He was a vessel prepared to be used of God in a mighty way. 

·         We need to go to the Light. Get out of the darkness of fear and live in the Light of faith. Fear comes from hearing, believing and meditating on the words of the enemy.  It comes by practice. When we practice these things, we develop our fear.

·         Faith comes from hearing, believing and meditating on the living Word of God.  It comes by practice. When we practice these things, we develop our faith in God.

 

Fear not little flock for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!

GOD IS WITH US

 

                  What a wonderful season it is! Christmas may be busy and demand that our time be split in many different directions, but when we finally settle down and reflect on its true meaning, the love of Christ warms us through and through. The birth of Jesus is a joyous time. It’s a time to remember how much God loves us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

We also remember the passages of Scripture reminding us that the birth of Jesus was prophesied thousands of years before He actually came in the flesh.

 

It all started in Genesis 3:15 when God told the serpent, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Isaiah 7:14, says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.”

 

In Isaiah 9:6-7, the prophet said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

 

Then in Micah 5:2, the place of His birth was prophesied. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

 

            The Messiah, Jesus, Christ, Emmanuel was born just as prophesied. He lived His life and ministry just as the prophets had foretold. Here are just a few of the prophecies concerning His life as the Son of Man.

 

Isaiah 61:1-2 – “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;”

 

            Jesus died, was placed in a tomb, rose again the third day and then ascended back to the Father. All of this had been prophesied, too. He was born to die for our sins so we can live. Once again, these are just a few of the prophecies concerning His death.

 

Isaiah 53:7 – “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

 

Isaiah 50:6 – “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

 

Isaiah 53:5 – “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

 

Isaiah 53:12 – “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

 

And there were prophecies of His resurrection and ascension:

Psalm 16:10 – “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

 

Psalm 49:15 – “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.”

 

Psalm 68:18 – “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.”

 

            It is amazing how detailed some of these prophecies are, and yet they came about exactly as foretold. All the other prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled will be fulfilled when the time is right. There is another prophecy that has been fulfilled that Jesus Himself prophesied.

 

John 14:16-17 – “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

 

Acts 1:8 – “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 

This prophecy had also been given in Joel 2:28-29.

 

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

 

We can read about it happening in Acts 2:1-4.

 

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

 

            Thank God for the birth of Jesus, and thank God for sending us His Spirit to live in us and guide us in the way of Truth. Jesus may not be with us in bodily form, but He can be in us by the Holy Spirit if we will allow Him to come in.

            Knowing these prophecies that have come to pass in perfect harmony with what God said gives us even more reason to expect every other prophecy to come to pass.

 

In Mark 13:25-27, Jesus said, “And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”

 

Philippians 2:9-11 – “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

 

Thank God Jesus came and dwelt among us in human flesh.

Thank God His Spirit still dwells in us with the same power, wisdom and love.

We have His treasure in our earthen vessels.

And thank God Jesus is coming again to rule and reign forever!

 

Have a very Merry Christmas!

THE CHURCH – THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

 

        When we talk about the church, we usually mean a building where we assemble to sing and hear the Word of God preached. We may have our name written on the roll as a member of that group and become busy in all its activities. But the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is much more than that.

            The Church is the Bride of Christ. That is its position or status. It is not relegated to one group of people, one place, or at one point in time. The Church is made up of those who are one with Christ. It represents the kingdom of God on earth by the same Spirit that Jesus had when He was here. It has the same power, wisdom and abilities. It is made up of those who have repented and turned away from sin to do the will of God and to walk in His Spirit. They have been washed in the blood of Jesus for forgiveness of their sins and never look back. Jesus loves His Church so much that He gave His life for it. 

            Ephesians 5:25-27 says, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,” How did Jesus love the church? He “gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”

            Even after all Jesus did for us, most people couldn’t comprehend it, so they never found their true place in the kingdom of God. They had no clue Who Jesus was or why He came because they refused His Light. Did that stop Jesus from His mission? Absolutely not!

It’s like the proverbial “rags to riches” stories. We have all heard the fairy tales of a girl who was poor and had evil influences that held her back from becoming all she was meant to be.

But one day a prince takes notice of her. He falls in love and marries her. Suddenly she is a princess and becomes all she had ever dreamed of being because the prince did everything needed to make her royalty. He made her his own.

            Jesus did all that for us before any of those tales were ever written. His story is true and powerful, not a fairy tale. We were born poor and destitute, with a sin nature that oppressed us and we could not overcome it, yet Jesus loved us and did all that was necessary to make us into who we were meant to be from the beginning. We were made to be His bride. We were made to be royalty, ruling and reigning with Him.

Even now many will not receive His offer to become part of His Bride. They will not say “I do” and come into a covenant relationship with Him. Yet there are numerous others that have entered that covenant and become part of His Bride. They span the annals of time, place and circumstance. They are the ones who will rule and reign with Jesus Christ throughout eternity.

Although many rejected Him, He knew many would become one with Him…part of His Bride!

            So, Jesus loves us and gave Himself for us. He sanctifies and cleanses us by the water of the Word. WHY? “ that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

            Jesus is not returning to claim a bride that is dirty, unfit and unprepared. There is no excuse for His church to be unprepared, because He has done everything to cleanse His Church and make it pure. But it is up to each individual to lay aside anything that will make us unfit to be one with Him.

            Isaiah 61:10 says, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

            Then in Isaiah 62:5 it says, “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.”

Jesus rejoices over His Bride! And we are to rejoice in Him. After all, He died to cleanse us and make us holy so we can be one with Him. He is returning for His Bride at an undesignated time, so we always need to be ready, always doing the work of His kingdom. 

Revelation 19:7-8 reveals this about the marriage supper. "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."  Jesus provides the robe of righteousness, but we have to put it on and wear it. We have to allow Him to change us to be part of His Bride.

            Brides look forward to their wedding day. They make sure they are ready, dressed just right, hair done, everything perfect. But they don’t wait until that day to start preparing. They plan and prepare for a long time so they will be ready when the day comes.

            If we want to be part of the Bride of Christ, we will prepare ourselves. Remember the foolish virgins in Matthew 25? Ten bridesmaids had been waiting, but only five were prepared with extra oil when the time came. When the time was announced, “the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.”

            They had missed their opportunity to go in because they were not prepared. They ran out of oil. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. We need to constantly be filled with the Spirit, always following the leading of the Holy Spirit, and always prepared for the coming of Jesus.

            There is another time mentioned in the Bible about God shutting a door. It was after Noah had preached repentance to a very unrepentant crowd. He told them of the impending flood, but they refused to prepare. Once the last sermon was preached by Noah and, as we would say it, the last altar call given, the door was shut, and no one could go in. They were left to die in the flood they had been warned about. They had chosen not to prepare.

            Preparing is being separated from this world and the contamination of sin. It also involves connecting ourselves to Christ, His righteousness and His kingdom. If we truly want to become holy, we will separate ourselves to Christ and from the world, just like the vow made in our wedding ceremonies to forsake all others. We must be faithful to Jesus in that same way, giving ourselves completely to Him. Flirting with the world is unfaithfulness and is not acceptable. It will turn our attention from Jesus and cause our oil to run out. Satan wants to woo us away from our loyalties to the Groom. He is sly, and we need to be aware of his devices and remember, we do not have to surrender to Satan’s attacks. We have the power of the Holy Spirit to live a very different life, a life at one with Jesus Christ. 

Jesus has something ahead for His Bride, and now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to sacrifice our worldly desires for the things of God's Spirit and for eternal accomplishments as we work alongside Him. We can be genuinely in love with Jesus and full of His Spirit, then our worship comes alive, and our works bear fruit. It happens when we choose to forsake all others and become truly one with Him. It involves our own interests decreasing and the interests of God becoming our sole focus.

God has called the Church, His Bride, to work side by side with Him. Every born again believer who has forsaken this world and become one with Jesus from every era and every place on earth is part of his Church where He chooses to dwell. Can you just imagine that day when all of us who have prepared will be in heaven together with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Peter, Paul and all the others? You don’t want to miss it! Those who are not One with Him will be left out. But we can begin now to prepare ourselves.

            Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

That prayer can be a powerful tool to help us stay clean and pure in this world if we pray it sincerely and follow what the Lord speaks to us in answer to it. If He shows us something that has caused us to be tainted by this world, we can confess it and allow Him to set us free from it. We need to consistently give ourselves a spiritual check-up and allow Jesus to show us our faults. Then He can help us correct them so we can draw closer to Him.

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:2)

Be prepared. Don’t be caught off-guard when Jesus comes to claim His Bride.

 

CAN WE DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER?

 

    I gathered up everything I needed to work on the Bible study I was writing. Then, I finally sat down and started to go to work. Immediately I knew something was wrong. Something very important was missing. I didn’t have my reading glasses and I couldn’t see the computer screen clearly. I had to get back up and get my glasses so I could see clearly to do the job right.

If we are planning to work with God, we need to be able to see clearly to get His work done right. We need to hear Him clearly before we jump in with both feet. After all, the kingdom of God is the place where the will of God is always done. And we don’t have to wait for heaven to live in God’s kingdom. We can live in His spiritual kingdom even while we remain in this world.

When Jesus prayed for us, He told the Father that He wasn’t praying for us to be taken out of this world, but that we would be kept from the evil one. We are here as witnesses of Christ in this world to our generation. And the power and wisdom to do the will of the Father is within us by the Holy Spirit when we are born again. It is the only way we can be effective witnesses.

In Matthew 7, Jesus tells us, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. That won’t change for anybody. Even those who have the best intentions. So, there is an important question we need to ask ourselves. “Are we really doing the will of the Father? Or are we just following our own desires? Does Jesus just get an honorable mention in our lives, or is He everything to us? Or maybe we are busy doing works in our own power, ability and wisdom, and just hope that it’s enough. The fact is that our works will never be enough. It’s only by the Holy Spirit that we can do God’s will.

Do we really want to know what the Lord is saying to us? So many people are groping in the darkness when it comes to following Jesus. But it doesn’t have to be that way.       Too often we are self-assured and think we have everything we need to perform our Christian duties. We say a prayer before we start on our newest project and ask God to bless our hard work and planning. But we know something is missing. Why do we see so few lasting results from our efforts? Let’s ask ourselves honestly, “what results are we looking for?” A good turnout for the meeting we planned? applause for our spectacular presentation?  A record number of book sales? a flurry of excitement in the music? notoriety for ourselves? Seriously, are our expectations for results the same as God’s expectations? Have we asked Him? Before we start “laboring for the Lord”, let’s make sure we are at the right job site and have the right tools to get the job done.

            Oswald Chambers said, “How much Christian work there is today which has never been disciplined, but has simply sprung into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was not a movement of an impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s.”

            But we can’t do His will if we don’t know what it is. And we can’t know what His will is if we don’t know Him well enough to hear Him as He gives us His instructions! So, how can we know Him and become one with Him in spirit and purpose? We get to know Him through prayer, faith and as we follow Him.

            Psalms 27:8 says, “When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].” His Face is His presence, His countenance. Without His presence there is no life, light or power in what we do. We are in desperate need of the presence of God among us. Not just an emotional experience, but for God to be among us and within us; for His words to come forth in power and with such Life that hearts are changed. We need to know Jesus Christ and surrender all to Him so He can work through us and accomplish His will.

 “All to Jesus I surrender – All to Him I freely give.

I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.”

 To really do that, we need to seek God above everything else in our lives and know Him. We have to seek His presence as our greatest need, freely surrender everything to Him and live daily in His presence as we love and trust Him.

            We seek Him through prayer - earnest prayer that will not give up until we have heard from Him. But few are willing to take time in His presence. We don’t just pray for His guidance and wisdom, then move on to implement the plans we have already decided on. We find out what His plans are and we adjust to them. We enter into His presence and linger there until we hear from Him, until we get to know His heart. Prayer is about knowing God.

Prayer is a two-way conversation between us and God. Jesus prayed often and heard from His Father. He only did what the Father told Him to do and only said what the Father told Him to say. We can too if we take time to listen to what God says to us. He may speak through the Holy Spirit within us, through Jesus’ teachings or other parts of the Bible. But however He speaks, we need to be listening. Hearing what God says is the most important part of prayer.

            C.S. Lewis said, “In worship, God imparts Himself to us.” In other words, He makes Himself  known to us and reveals hidden spiritual secrets to us. He opens our hearts and minds to spiritual insight that can only be known by those who seek Him.

We need to seek God Himself. Then we will have the mind of Christ and can actually accomplish things of eternal value. We will have the presence of the Holy Spirit to lead us and empower us to truly make a difference.

            Elisabeth Elliot said, “Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between his will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer”.

Can you imagine hearing from God and being part of accomplishing His plans? It is overwhelming and exciting, almost unbelievable. But it really is part of His plan for us. We may think that God revealing His plans to us is impossible, that it was only for people like the disciples, the apostle Paul, or the prophets in the Old Testament. But they are all gone from this earth, and the work of the kingdom still needs to be done. It’s up to us to carry it forward for this and future generations. We don’t need to miss out on it because we are too busy carrying out our own plans.

            Remember the part of the Lord’s prayer that says, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? How can that be done? Only through those who are emptied of self and filled with the Holy Spirit. Only through those who give up their rights to serve others, and do the will of the Father; those who see the possibilities of living in the kingdom of God as opposed to remaining earthbound. Those who only have earthly eyes and earthly interests miss out on seeing into the heavenly realm…a whole new dimension.

            “The Lord came to Jeremiah, His prophet, and said, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’” God will show us what we need to know if we will just ask Him. He wants us to be part of what He is doing. But, first, He wants to tell us things we have no way of knowing or understanding through this world’s knowledge. Why? So we can be equipped to work with Him. And we can know which jobsite we are supposed to be on and what time we are supposed to be there, accomplishing great things and winning great victories for the Kingdom.

            Jesus never conferred with His flesh man to decide what He would do or what He would say to the people. He conferred with the Father. He was representing His Father, not His humanity. The same holds true for us.

            God is always looking for someone who is seeking Him so they can work with Him. Those who work with Him receive the power of the Holy Spirit to carry out His plans. Daniel 11 tells of a very difficult time for God’s people, then he says, “But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." And those of the people who understand shall instruct many” (Daniel 11:32-33)   

Remember Noah? Moses? Joseph? Esther? Those are just a few that God used mightily. They are all gone from this earth, so we need to step up to know our God and do great exploits.  We can do the will of the Father!

Are we willing?