“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all (people) unto me.”
I might be accused of taking this verse out of context, but it spoke to me today, and I want to share with you what I found. Jesus knew that He would be lifted “up from the earth” on the cross, and that He would be resurrected and be lifted back to the Father. He knew that He would be drawing people to Himself to deliver them from sin, self, death and hell. The question is, as our title suggests, do you feel the tug? Do you feel the tug in your heart? Your heart, your innermost self, is where that tug begins. He might be drawing you to be saved. He might be drawing you to some task for which He has gifted you. He might be drawing you away from some pet sin that He knows, and you know, is not the best for you. Do you feel that tug of Jesus as He draws you to a better life. Jesus will draw you through scripture. The Gideons have many stories about people who picked up one of their Bibles and were convicted about their sins and knew that Jesus was drawing them. Do not neglect your Bible! The Holy Bible is always on the “best seller list,” but I don’t think that it is on “most read list.” Satan and the world will try to convince you that you do not need the biblical message, but Jesus is drawing you to it and you should answer the tug. Jesus will draw you by His love. You know the old song: “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so…” That song is ever true, for Jesus does love you and He seeks to draw you through cords of love. If you feel that no one loves you, you can be assured that Jesus loves you. He proved His love by dying on the cross in order for you to be saved and have a good life. Frankly, in my life I have tried it both ways, through the tug of the world, or the tug of the love of Jesus. I have found Jesus’ love tug was the best way to live. Jesus loves you!!! Period! What is Jesus drawing you to today? He might be drawing you to become a Christian. The chances are good that if you are reading this you are already a Christian. If you are, perhaps, Jesus is drawing you to a more victorious walk with Him. Jesus is drawing you…Do you feel the tug? Bro. Joe
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“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
Jesus is written on every page of the Bible. The name is not there but the reality of His coming is evident throughout the Old Testament and is positive in the New Testament. In Genesis 3:15, after Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord told Satan: “And I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” This is generally considered the first prophetic statement about the coming of a Savior into the world. Isaiah 9:6 declares: “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, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of peace.” In Revelation 13:8, Jesus is referred to as “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” It was always in the heart of God to provide salvation for sinful humanity through the sacrifice of His Son. Now, I cannot tell you that I fully understand why that had to be. Figuring it out is not my responsibility, but accepting it as true is my responsibility. When the Bible is as plain on something as it is on this, our only choice is to accept it. John 3:16 plainly states: “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.” Notice that John 3:16 did not say “whosoever believes about Him.” When we really believe in Jesus, we give our lives to Him. If we just believe about Him, we can hold Him at arm’s length and call on Him when we think we need Him. What He wants is to be part of our lives every minute of every day. The Heartbeat of the Bible is that if we want to be right with God, we have to be right with Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us this: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” What is difficult to understand about what Jesus said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.”? Only Jesus became sin for us. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us…” When Jesus died on the cross, He took all of the sins of the world upon Himself. That’s quite a load. I know that just my sins would be a load. This fact is illustrated for us in Jesus’ cry from the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” That was, possibly, the profound moment that Jesus took your sins and mine upon Himself and died so that we could be saved. Jesus is the central fact of the Bible and should be the central fact of our lives. If it is not, you can make it so now. Bro. Joe “Behold you have made my days as a handbreadth; and my age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. 6. Surely every man (or woman) walks in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heaps up riches, and knows not who shall gather them. 7. and now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.”
It is true that “time and tide wait for no man.” Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I was young man, starting out in life with all kinds of hopes and dreams. I was called to my first pastorate in 1960 at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Life was out there before me. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not complaining about being old(er); I’m just pointing out that fifty-seven years have flown by. I am now a retired minister – aged 77. It all seems like yesterday. Evidently, David agreed, because in our text he told us plainly that time goes by swiftly. What can we do about it? David gave us the clue: “My hope is in Thee….” We can see each day as a gift from God and dedicate each day to Him. Instead of getting up each morning and saying, “Good Lord it’s morning,” we can wake up and say “Good morning Lord.” The great thing is that He is with us as we start each day, as we live each day, and as we retire for the day. As David contemplated the passage of time, he concluded: “And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.” Our hope is not in the days that we live but in the life that we put into the days that God has given us. We can remember that, in Christ, our lives are anchored in eternity. Some favorite verses from the Gospel of John come to me as I think about this. There is John 10:27-28: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them from my hand.” The words that bring eternity into our lives are, “and I know them, and they follow me.” Jesus knows us; He knows everything about us, yet He loves us anyway. Then there are the dynamic words from John 11:25-26, which remind us that our lives are anchored in eternity instead of the quick passage of days: “Jesus said unto her (Lazarus’ sister Martha, just before Jesus raised him from the dead) I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 26. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die…” It is this reality that makes life worthwhile and keeps us from bemoaning the passage of time. We can’t stop the passage of time, but we can make good use of it by trusting each day to Jesus. Bro. Joe “I in them, and you in me, that they might be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me. 24. Father, I will that they also whom you have given me, be with me where I am; and that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you love me before the foundation of the world.”
This is a portion of the high priestly prayer of Jesus just before His arrest. Jesus prayed for Himself, for his immediate disciples, and our text is a portion that He prayed for all believers who would come to Him in the future. I found three promises in these verses that were meant for us. There is the promise that Jesus loves us. Jesus said that He loves His followers as the Father loves Him. That is a deep and abiding love. It is a love that He still gives today to those who will come to Him, and for those who need to come to Him. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” You can read about this love in the text. What you need to know is that Jesus was praying for you. He loves you and either has saved you or will save you. Take His love for you personally, for He certainly takes you personally. There is the promise that Jesus is with us. Jesus prayed: “Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am.” We are never without the presence of Jesus in our lives. We can reach out to Him anytime in prayer. The prayer room is never vacant. Jesus is with us to relieve our doubts and fears, and to guide us through the good and bad in our lives. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us: “For He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” There is the promise of Jesus’ glory. Verse 24a: “Father, I will that they may also whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me.” We behold the glory of Jesus when we open our hearts, minds and eyes to Him personally in faith. Until we approach Jesus in faith, He is just a name that we read about in the Bible, but when we receive Him into our lives, He becomes palatable and real in our lives. We experience His glory daily in prayer, meditation and Bible study. I really can’t explain this glory; I just know that I have experienced it, and that you can experience it. These three promises are for you; claim them in faith. Bro. Joe “Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.”
Because of a famine in Jerusalem, churches from various areas pledged to send love offerings to the church there. In our text, Paul urged the Corinthians to make good on their promise to take part in sending this offering. At first, they had been all for it, but as time passed their zeal for giving had flagged somewhat. Paul is reminding them in 2 Corinthians 9:5 to give and to give generously because of the reciprocal nature of giving. He used an agricultural metaphor to illustrate his point. If one plants a lot of seed, he or she can expect an abundant crop. If one plants sparingly, his or her crop will not be abundant. This is a principle that applies not just to crops but to all areas of life. As to the matter of giving money, we have discovered that we do not miss what we give. In fact the more we give, the more we prosper. The Bible is full of admonitions to be generous with what God has given us. This principle applies, not just to giving to the church, but to being a giving person in all of life. The principle also applies to more than giving money. (But this is not an excuse not to give money, as some see it. Just saying...) It applies to our attitudes. If we give out grumpiness, we will receive grumpiness in return. I remember that when our daughters were much younger, we visited Disney World. Now there was a real jolly world, except for one character. As we walked along the street, we encountered “Grumpy.” He really lived up to his name. (That’s when I decided that Grumpy is a Baptist…. Come on, it’s a joke – sort of. lol) Give out grumpiness and you get grumpiness back in spades. This can also be true of love, or joy, etc. etc. etc. Remember 2 Corinthians 9:5 when the collection plate comes around in church. Better yet, remember it when you go out into daily life and mingle with people. Bro. Joe “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The meaning of Psalm 1:3 is clear: A tree that has an abundant supply of nourishment will be a fruitful tree. When this is applied to a godly person, it means that he or she has a constant supply of spiritual nourishment that makes his or her life fruitful. The lesson here is so simple that it seems almost unnecessary to write about it, but it will not hurt us to be reminded of it. First, a fruitful person will read and study the Bible daily. Bible reading is absolutely essential to a fruitful life. This being so, why don't we Christians spend more time in the Bible? We cannot realize God’s abundant supply of grace, love and mercy if we do not stay close to His word. I do not mean to be legalistic, but when we neglect the Bible, we cease growing spiritually. I know this personally, that if I neglect the Bible I encounter more spiritual problems. That’s why I make an effort to read it every day. I need an abundant supply of the word of God to help me to be fruitful in my service for God. Second, a fruitful person will, to quote Paul, "pray without ceasing." This does not mean that he or she will have to be on their knees all of the time, but they will stay in constant contact with Jesus. We need to remember that the ear of God is open to us all day every day. It is important to stay in communication with God. He doesn’t need for us to pray, but we certainly need to pray. He loves to hear and answer our prayers. Third, a fruitful person realizes his, or her, need to have fellowship with God’s people, and to love them. We need each other, not just on Sunday, but at all times. We really need to pray for each other, and to care for each other. Fourth, the fruitful person will have to take all of the inspiration from the Bible, prayer and fellowship and go out and tell others about Jesus. We call it witnessing. All of this needs to be wrapped in our love for God and for each other. I'm sure there is more that could be written about this verse, but these points should suffice. This seems almost too simple to be written, but the state of Christianity seems to dictate that it is a lesson that we need to remember and to practice. Bro. Joe “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk (live) in the Spirit. 26 .Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.”
The issue under question in this verse is about living in the Spirit and not according to the dictates of the flesh. (“Flesh is also translated as “sinful nature.”) You are probably aware of the struggle that all of us have with the desires of the flesh and the holy urgings of the Spirit. You are also probably aware of the three things given in this text that I am calling, “Three Enemies of the Spirit.” These three things almost seem natural to us and can mute our witness and ruin our fellowship with other Christians. The admonition in verse 25 was, “If we live by the Spirit, let us walk (live) in the Spirit.” Verse 26 tells us what we will need to avoid if we are going to effectively live in the Spirit. First, we are to “not be desirous of vainglory.” This means that we are not to be conceited. People who are conceited have an overblown opinion of themselves. The Spirit leads us to humility instead of conceit, but the flesh desires to have first place and to be superior. The temptation to focus on self is powerful. We need to remember that we are not led to conceit by the Spirit. Our desire as Christians should be to be controlled by the Spirit instead of the flesh. The tendency to focus on ourselves and our own authority is subtle and is a great tool of Satan. Second, we are told to avoid “provoking one another.” The word that is translated “provoking” in this verse is “prokaleo.” What it means is “to call forth, as to a contest, hence to stir up what is evil in another.” (Vines Dictionary of New Testament Words) Basically, to put it in our vernacular, what this mean is to look for a fuss. It is easy to get into a fuss with somebody, all we have to do is choose an issue that we know will cause a fuss and go to it. Disagreement among Christians is a natural thing, provocation is a sinful thing. Watch this tendency within yourself! Third, we are told to avoid “envying one another.” One of the main tenets of the gospel is that we love one another. Envy and love are at opposite ends of the scale. Envy can cause us to be conceited, focused too much on self, and can cause us to provoke someone else. When we envy someone we are admitting that we want what they have. If they have a spiritual gift that we do not have, we want that gift for ourselves. We forget that God gives us different gifts of the Spirit in order to carry on the work of His church. Envy is always of the flesh and is never of the Spirit. The Spirit will lead us to focus on our own gifts and do the best that we can using those gifts. We need to be aware of these enemies of the Spirit and avoid them. Bro. Joe “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”
“Peace” is a great Bible word. The writer of Hebrews tied it into holiness. Without the holiness of Christ in us – His holiness not ours - we could not see God. But without the peace of God we would not experience or share the holiness of God. Peace was definitely one of Jesus’ favorite words. He said that in spite of the troubles that we will face in this life that He would give us peace. (John 16:33) According to Galatians 5:22, peace is part of the fruit of the Spirit. In other words when we are saved and receive the Holy Spirit, He brings peace into our lives. Since it is a gift, we have peace in our lives; we just need to claim it. We can have peace in our hearts, lives and minds in spite of all that is going on around us. I don’t have any formula to give you for claiming the peace that you have in your life, just know that it is there and claim it. I can give you a scripture reference that will help you to claim it: “Be careful for nothing (do not be anxious) but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 According to Hebrews 12:14, we are to “follow peace with all men (and women)….” Peace is a gift that the Spirit has given us to live at peace with people around us. In Matthew 5:9, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” People know that we are Christians if we seek to live at peace with them. This does not mean we have to agree with everybody; rather, it means that we should disagree like Christians. A nasty attitude does not reflect Christ at home, work, church, or wherever. Romans 14:19 brings me to the conclusion of the matter: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” What this means is that if we want to teach other people, we will need to be at peace with them. Romans 14 dealt with eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. You can substitute any question that would bring a disturbance in our Christian fellowship. Just refuse to argue. I cannot tell you how to not argue – just don’t do it. If you belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit has given you peace. Live in that peace in your personal life and in your dealings with other people. Bro. Joe "This is the message we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
If you live in Christ you are living in His light and not in darkness. What does this gift of light mean to our lives? In John 1:4-5 tells us: “In Him (Jesus) was life and the life was the light of men. 5. And the light shines in the dark, and the darkness comprehended it not.” This means Jesus offered light and life to men and they did not understand it. They were so accustomed to the darkness of sin that they did not recognize the life and light that Jesus came to give them. In the Bible sin is defined as darkness, which means that those who refuse the light of Christ are walking in darkness. If you do not believe this read some world history, or look at the news today. The message of the Bible is that, in Christ, we do not have to live in the darkness of sin. You are invited to come to the light. The message that John wanted to give his readers, and to us, was that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Throughout the Bible we read about God and light. Light is a creation of God: “And God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) He created light for our benefit. I don’t want to get bogged down in a theological argument here, but we need to understand that light that John wrote about was not just sunlight. It means that where God is there is light and “in Him is no darkness at all.” We need to understand that Satan is always calling us into darkness, and Jesus wants to call us to His light, because “in Him is no darkness at all.” In John 8:12, Jesus referred to Himself as “the light of the world.” In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.” In verse 16 Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Jesus calls us to shine His light in our lives. We do not need to waste our time trying to define this light we just need to let it shine. When we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives, people see the light of Christ in our lives. Let’s really mean it when we sing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…” Your light is the light of Christ and the world needs to see it. Bro. Joe “And they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Where have you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 12. Is not this the word that we did tell you in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”
The text above was written just before the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. They were afraid, because Pharaoh’s army was behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them. Instead of trusting God, they wanted to turn their backs on Him and return to slavery in Egypt. This seems ridiculous to us because we know the outcome, but they didn’t know the outcome at that time. Would we turn our backs on God after all that He has done for us at Calvary? Why would we turn our backs on God? The Israelites were willing to turn their backs on God, because they knew what they had in Egypt, but they had no idea what lay beyond the Red Sea. They left Egypt in the first place because they wanted to be free of bondage to the Egyptians, and to go to a land that God had prepared for them. We make a mistake when we cling to the failures of the past because we are afraid to go forward in faith into the future. We might turn our backs on God because we prefer the security of the bad that we know to the good that God can do for us. Living a life of faith is about giving up the past and going forward into the future under the leadership of God. The Israelites were willing to their turn their backs on God because they did not stop and think that God had gotten them to where they were. They had forgotten about the plagues that God brought upon Egypt on their behalf. Satan’s work is to make us forget what God has done for us, and make us think that we were better off in sin’s bondage. The joy of sin is an illusion, because it brings momentary satisfaction, but leaves us with lingering regrets. Just as the Israelites had memory lapses of the difficult times they had in Egypt, we forget the heartache and pain that sin causes in our lives. The amazing thing here is that God did not change His plans for Israel, for He did not turn His back on them. The God who had gotten them to where they were, would continue to get them where He wanted them to be. Ultimately, the Israelites did not turn their backs on God, because Moses gave them a message of hope in Exodus 14:13-14: “And Moses said unto the people. Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show you today: for the Epyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever, 14. The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” Just so, we will not turn our backs on the Lord, because we know that He will fight for us that He will go with us, that He will deliver us. He sent Jesus to go before us, to die for us, to rise from the dead for us, to ascend to the right hand of the throne in heaven to insure that we can go forward in faith. Hold your head up, pray and thank God for what He has done for you and march forward in faith. Bro. Joe |
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