“But the fruit of the Spirit is….joy…”
I want to revisit one of my favorite topics – joy. There is a difference between joy and happiness. For all practical purposes, happiness is temporary, while joy is embedded in our hearts and minds. I’m certainly not against being happy, in fact, I am happy every chance I get, but Jesus did not promise me happiness, but He did promise me joy. Happiness is not listed as a “fruit of the Spirit,” while joy is listed. In John 15:11 Jesus promised His disciples, and it is also a promise to us: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” There are two things about Christian joy that I want to show you in this verse. Jesus said “that my joy might remain in you...” We actually have the joy of Christ inside of us, and it will “remain in (us).” This verse reminds us that our “joy may be full.” This means that the joy of Jesus in us will not be removed from us and that His joy would be full joy. This means that Christ’s joy will be with us, and in us, through thick and thin, bad times and good times. Occasionally, I have to remind myself of this innate joy that Jesus has placed in my life. I would add that you might need to claim it for yourself. We are reminded in Psalm 100:1-2 that we should show this joy: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. 2. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.” I am not sure that this is what people see in us while we are in corporate worship, as we leave worship services and as we live before the world daily. This Christ-given joy is so much a part of our lives, and one of His most prominent gifts to us by His own testimony. Certainly the Holy Spirit expects us to be joyful people, since He has gifted us with it. I do not mean that we should plant plastic smiles on our faces and act happy. I mean that we should be aware of this God-given joy, and that it should be shown in our demeanor. We are also reminded that we are to share this joy with the world. If the world gets to know and experience the joy of Christ, it will be through those of us who know Jesus as Savior. The joy that we have in us should reveal itself through us as we live in the world. One of the greatest ways that we can share this joy with others is by ministering to them in the name of Jesus. Our joy is not advertised by the “joyful noise” that we make at worship, because most of the people we will encounter in our lives will not be in worship services. But we will encounter people where we work, where we worship, where we shop, and in our recreation. We need to live, show and share this joy that we have in Jesus with the world. Bro. Joe
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"Then said Jesus unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saducees."
In the last article I gave a good example of leaven. (see article below) In Matthew 16 leaven is used as a bad example. Jesus told His disciples in verse 6: “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Because they had taken no bread with them, they thought that Jesus was referring to that. Jesus reminded them of the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand. A lack of bread was not a problem for Him. In verse 12 we see that they understood: “Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” The point was that if the disciples allowed themselves to be influenced by the Pharisees and Sadducees, they could not teach what Christ had taught them.. Bad doctrine has the tendency to spread just like good doctrine. We need to be careful what we allow into our doctrinal stances. Of course, people change their minds on doctrinal matters from time to time and no harm is done, but if the change takes away from the gospel that the Bible teaches it causes great harm, and, like leaven, will ruin the fellowship. What the Pharisees and Sadducees taught was based on the traditions of men, not just scripture. For example, in the case of the Pharisees, their doctrine included their own righteousness. They were self-righteous. An example of bad leaven from the Sadducees is that they rejected the doctrine of resurrection and life after death. They accepted only the first five books of Moses – the Pentateuch. Also, they did not believe in angels. It is obvious why Jesus did not want this leaven to start its secret work among His followers. Jesus wanted His followers to know that it did make a difference what they believed and , for that matter, what they allowed into their lives. Just remember that bad things spread like leaven and cause great harm. This should say something to us about what we allow into our minds and hearts. Bro. Joe "Another parable spake unto them, The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole we leavened."
You and I might disagree about this text, which declares: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole be leavened.” Why disagreement? Because there are those who say that because leaven is usually used in a negative light in much of the Bible, it should be viewed negatively here too. I just can’t read the text and come to that conclusion. The point is that a smidgen of leaven, or yeast, is put into the bread and begins to spread through the bread until the loaf rises. (Keep in mind that all bread in the Bible is not unleavened bread.) The application seems to me to be that the kingdom of heaven, the people of God, might seem insignificant, but, like leaven, we are permeating the loaf. What kind of beginning did the early church experience? There were very few Christians. If you see the same statistics that I see, there are still very few Christians. Does this mean that because we are outnumbered, we don’t have a chance to reach the world? What this parable says to me is that the people of God are like leaven and are actually influencing and permeating the world. Why? Because the people of God are working on God’s timetable. The course of the world is not up to kings, shieks, presidents, or parliaments. The course of the world is in God’s hands. That is why we continue our missionary work under seemingly overwhelming odds. We know that as citizens of the kingdom of God, we are like leaven in this world. Our ultimate influence is not political. Our influence and our victory are wrapped up in God. Like leaven, the battle is being won because we represent a power higher than humankind. The world is headed for a rendezvous with Jesus Christ; therefore, like leaven, we need to continue to work away and to serve Him until He comes. Bro. Joe "Lift not up your horn on high; speak not with a stiff neck. 6. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 7. But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another."
There is a trite old joke that has been around for years about the man who told his friends: "I run things at my house....like the vacuum cleaner, the dishwasher, the washing machine, etc., etc." There is always a question about who is in charge? If you take the Bible seriously, you do not have any doubts about Who is in charge - God. "But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another..." The NIV translates verses 2-3: "You say, 'I choose the appointed times; it is I who judge uprightly.' 3. When the earth and all its people quake; it is I who hold its pillars firm." We think that we are in control. History tells us that we think we are in control. For example: Napoleon strutted across the stage of history in his time, thinking that he was in control, that is, until he came to Waterloo. Adolph Hitler strode across the stage of history, thinking that he was in control. But like all egomaniacs who have ruled on this earth Hitler met his "Waterloo" as well. To bring it home, we live our lives as though we are in control. James warns us about this in 4:14-15: "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that." God has not made us automatons that we should have no will of our own, but part of the discipline of the Christian's life is to mesh our will with God's will. We do not do it perfectly, but we soon learn that we are better off in God's will than out of it. When God is in control of our lives, we will not walk down a path of roses, but we will be victorious in the end. The concluding fact is that God is in control of our destiny, whether we do His will or not. He is also in control of the destiny of our country and our world. Human authority comes and goes, but God's authority lasts through eternity. When everything comes to an end, it will be God/Jesus Who will reign. We shouldn't forget that as we walk through the trials and tribulations of this life. Bro. Joe (Archive 2014)
“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man (or woman) sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” KJV “As iron sharpens iron, so one man (or woman) sharpens another.” This morning I was thinking of people who have made a difference in my life. I will not name the people who have made a difference, but they are many dating all the way back to childhood, through church, public school, U.S. Navy, college, seminary, seven churches, one Baptist Association and all of the preachers that I have had fellowship with over the years. I’m sure that you can recall many people in your life who have made a difference. I think the Proverbs 27:17 speaks to that. God has given us each other to help each other grow. This happens in several ways. There are people who have loved you through thick and thin, good and bad, pretty and ugly. Your parents probably figure in here, as do your wife and children. But there have been people outside of your family who have overlooked various faults and loved and supported you anyway. I think of the people in my first church. At the ripe old age of twenty one I did not think that there was a whole lot that I did not know. I look back and think of a lot of mistakes that I made in that church, but they loved me anyway. I had a lot of “mamas and grandmas” in that church. They loved me anyway because they knew that I would pastor a lot of other people in the future and that how they helped me and held up my hands would benefit me for the rest of my life. Whether they realized that or not, that was certainly true. Without realizing it, they sharpened me as “iron sharpens iron.” Think back, you have people in your life who loved you in spite of you. There are people who have sharpened you by loving you enough to give you needed criticism. We call it “positive criticism.” I was a pastor three years before Mary and I were married. After we were married, I had someone to give me feedback after I preached. She loved me enough to be honest about, for example, pulpit mannerisms that were disconcerting. Someone told me that I was a better preacher after I got married. One reason was that being married tends to mature people, at least it did me, and the other was that I had someone to talk to and to give me positive reinforcement when I needed it, and criticism when I needed it. Please don’t think that the people who criticize you are trying to hurt you. It is quite possible that they are trying to help you. I know that not every criticism is for positive reinforcement, but I think that God has given us the sense to know the difference and to take it as it is given. However, I have found that sometimes even hostile criticism can give us food for thought that can change us for the better. There are people who have sharpened you by giving you good advice that stuck in your mind and changed you for the better. It didn’t come as a criticism, but you might not have appreciated it at the time, but looking back you were glad that you listened. I know that advice is cheap, and I am careful about giving it unless it is asked for, but even seeming cheap advice may be good for us. One of my favorite people was Sherman Hall, who was my math teacher and coach in high school. He gave me some advice in the locker room of the Lee Country High School gym one day that I did not take at the time, but it came to my rescue many times. That advice was given when I was fourteen years old, I am seventy eight now and I still remember the “talking to” that Coach Hall gave me. You have people like that in your life. Be thankful for them. There are other ways that people have sharpened you. Pause and give thanks to God for them, for He certainly put them in your life. Bro. Joe (Archive)
“But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Jesus. 4. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him.” A “primary source” is a source in research that goes back to the date of the incident in that is being written about. I was a history major in college and I used to love to go back to magazine articles that were about the subject that I happened to be researching. Primary resources are generally considered the most viable. Well, there is a primary resource for Jesus, and that is the New Testament. It is the only primary source. I think that it was by God’s design that nothing authoritative outside of the New Testament was written about Jesus. That’s why these movies and books about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene, and other outlandish things, are so offensive to me. Where did they get their information? Some of it came from apocryphal writings that have long since been proven to be false. What we know about Jesus is what we have in the four gospels and in other New Testament documents, e.g., Paul’s letters. You can see from our text, that preaching of “another Jesus” was prevalent in the early church. It was something that the apostles had to combat all of the time. Satan knows that if he can distort who Christ is and make Him into something other than He is portrayed in the New Testament, he can destroy the gospel message for those who believe his lies. The New Testament portrays Christ as the long-awaited Messiah, who came to earth, born of a virgin, and lived a perfect life. He finally died on the cross in order that people might be saved. He arose on the third day, stayed around for forty days and ascended to the Father. One day He will return to claim His people. That is who and what Christ is – the Savior of the world. There is no such thing as a “cosmic Christ” that I read about some time ago. This “cosmic Christ” is really whatever anyone wants him to be. If one wants him to be a roving revolutionary that is what he will become. If one wants him to be a libertine who says that anything and everything goes, that is what he will be. This is the “New Age” take on who and what Christ is. These philosophies usually take all of the power out of the hands of Jesus, and put it into the hands of humanity. (That’s a scary thought, given the history of humanity.) This “New Age” Christ smiles on everything. He would certainly never have cleansed the temple, because he would not have wanted to offend those who bought and sold there. He would certainly never have condemned the self-righteous Pharisees, lest he offend them. He would not have claimed to be “the way, the truth and the life.” He would not have claimed to be the only way to the Father, because he wouldn’t have wanted to offend the sensibilities of other religions. This “cosmic Christ” would be good friends with Buddha, Allah and all of the other assorted gods out there. In fact, he would just be “one of the guys,” lumped in with whatever people wanted to worship. Needless to say, this is not the New Testament view of Christ. We need to be aware that this “other Christ” which Paul had to deal with is still being preached today, and people are still buying it. They are buying it because it gives them a savior with no claim on their lives. A savior who would make no demands, have no will and who would have no moral compass. We need to choose the Christ who claimed the authority of Yahweh, and was able to say: “Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This is the Christ who is “the way, the truth and the life.” This is the Christ who has “gone to prepare a place for us.” Claim Him! Embrace Him! Believe Him! Bro. Joe “Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider his ways and be wise. 7. It has not commander, no overseer or ruler, 8. Yet it stores in provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”
Solomon uses the ant as an example for people who refuse to work. (That what is meant by “sluggard.”?) We can all learn from the activity of the ant, and this text makes a good case. What does the text tell us about what we can learn from the ant? The first lesson is that of purposeful industry. Ants are always at work, they are never still. (Perhaps there is no such thing as a lazy ant.) Ants are always busy with a purpose. They are not just running around on the ground, they are busy carrying what appears to be assigned tasks. One lesson we need to learn from the ant is that “busyness” is not what gets the job done. Busyness in churches does not mean that the church is carrying out the great commission, or its ministry to the needs of the world. Paul is a good example for us in this matter. He was always busy, but the result was numbers of people won to the Lord, and new churches. Churches need to be busy with studying the word of God, busy sharing the word of God with the world, and busy living the word of God in their daily lives. The second lesson is about perseverance, or “keeping on keeping on.” I have seen ants carry objects much bigger than themselves. They had a real struggle, but they kept going until they got to the hill. (There is no record of an ant ever giving up. lol I will admit that witnessing and ministering to the world can be discouraging, sometimes it seems that the job is too big for us, but we need to be convicted by the leadership of the Holy Spirit and not giving up on what God has called us to do. I must confess that as a pastor there were times that I had to deal with the temptation to give up. The rewards are great when we do not give up. If you are being tempted to give up on your church, or your life, just don’t quit. Follow the example of the ant and keep going. No one has ever succeeded by giving up! The third lesson is about unity. Each ant does his job in cooperation with other ants until they have the food stored. I don’t know if the ants ever have a problem with lack of cooperation, I do know that Christians can get sidetracked by peripheral issues. I guess that ants get irritated with each other, but even with they did, the work of storing food is so important they will not be sidetracked. We need to remember that sharing Jesus with the world through the different ways that we can go about it should not be sidetracked. Such things as ego struggles should not paralyze us and keep us from the important work that we have been called to do. I think that you will agree that this is three important lessons. Bro. Joe. “Let not then your good be evil spoken of. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit.”
The theme of Romans 14 is primarily about eating meat offered to idols. Under grace we can eat whatever we want, but not every Christian had reached the maturity for that. They could not eat meat offered to idols, which was sold in the meat market, and was the best cuts of meat, because it might hinder their new found faith. More mature Christians insisted that eating that meat was alright. Paul’s idea was that it was not wrong to eat that meat, but if eating it became a stumbling block to new Christians, then they should not eat it. In the two verses under discussion here, Paul is reminding both groups that the kingdom of God is not about what to eat and what not to eat. The kingdom of God is about righteousness. Righteousness in the kingdom of God does not have as much to do with what we eat and drink as much as it does about how we live our lives. The first step to the righteous life is faith in Jesus Christ, for our righteousness is not our own, but is imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ. This does not mean, however, that righteousness does not have to do with our behavior. For example, Paul asked the mature Christians to “let not then your good be evil spoken of.” It would not be righteous to eat the meat sacrificed to idols if it hurt the faith of a fellow Christian. Righteousness is not just refraining from doing things that we used to do, but to do things that would be pleasing to God and a good witness to people. The kingdom of God is about peace. Kingdom peace is not about “Peace on earth.” It could have to do with that, but it is mainly about peace in our hearts. Jesus told us that we would have trouble in this world, but that He was giving us His peace. (John 16:33) Kingdom peace is peace of mind and heart in the midst of turmoil. Paul certainly knew something about this, for he experienced a lot of turmoil everywhere he went. Leonard Ravenhill wrote that everywhere Paul went there was a revival or a riot. But Paul had kingdom peace, because he was at peace within himself. I think that the turmoil in a lot of churches could be done away with if people were at peace in their hearts. The kingdom of God is about “joy of the Holy Spirit.” When we spend our time arguing about this, that or the other, we are not taking advantage of the “joy of the Holy Spirit.” Like peace, this is not just outward joy but it is inner joy – joy in the heart. Part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, is joy. It is not joy that comes and goes with circumstances but stays in our hearts through good times and bad. It is joy of the Holy Spirit that gets us through good times and bad. It is this joy that helps us to love one another, minister to one another and witness to the world. With this spiritual joy we can go forth into the world and spread the joy of Jesus. Everybody will not appreciate it or share the joy, but those who do will find a better life. Let’s take Paul’s teaching about true kingdom living to heart, and cease worrying about things that do not really matter, and concentrate of those that do, e.g., “righteousness, and peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit.” Bro. Joe “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”
This prayer that Jesus taught us to pray helps us deal with inevitable temptations and gives us the promise of deliverance from them. We are introduced to temptation in the beginning of the Bible with Adam and Eve. A temptation is a test that we have to deal with in daily life. Satan will put us to the test in all kinds of circumstances. We need to recognize Satan’s presence when we are tempted to do something that we know is wrong. Satan will make it look inviting as though we have to do what he is tempting us to do. There is no limit to the temptations that Satan will put in our way. Furthermore, we do not have to wonder if Satan is going to tempt us. There is no human being in the world that will not have to face temptation. We just need to recognize when he is tempting us to do wrong. Some things we are tempted to do, or not do, do not always appear as evil. Satan is good, or should say bad, at that. Perhaps, you are dealing with a temptation now, something that you really want to do. Read on: Jesus told us that when we face temptation, we should ask for His deliverance: “deliver us from evil…” This means that we do not have to fold in to the temptations that we face, for deliverance is available through the Lord. When Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4, He met each temptation with quotes from scripture. In Ephesians 6:16, Paul gave some guidance on meeting and being delivered from temptation: “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Jesus delivers us from temptation through scripture, faith and prayer. I don’t think that I have told you anything that you did not know, but these are tools of deliverance that we should actually use in meeting daily temptations and our deliverance from them. Deliverance does not come from our strength, but by the strength of the Lord. Jesus is bigger than any temptation that we might meet, and we need to hide behind Him. He sincerely means to deliver us from evil. He actually died on the cross in order to give us the strength to overcome temptation. He has sent the Holy Spirit to live within us to give us the strength that we need for deliverance. The good news is that we are not defenseless in our encounters with temptation and with evil. We need to use the faith and power that only the Lord can give us. Deliverance from temptation is abundantly available through Jesus. Bro. Joe Friday-Monday
(From the archives - 2012..Enjoy it again!) “(Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:all things were created by Him and for Him. 17. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” If you are skeptic about the Christian faith, you are going to really scoff at this passage. If you are a true believer, you are going to rejoice. The passage tells us that Jesus is the creator. This is not the only reference to His creatorship: “All things were made by (Jesus); and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3) In fact, the Bible alludes to the fact that all of the Trinity was involved in creation - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even more wonderful is what is recorded in verse 17: “…and by Him all things consist.” The word “consist” actually means held together, so that the verse could be translated: “and by Him all things are held together.” Think about this for a moment. Our Lord and Savior holds all of His creation together. He holds the planets in their orbits and He holds the whole universe together. We do not worry about planets colliding because Jesus is holding them in their orbits. Wow! That is fantastic. Some of you reading this might say that this is too fantastic. It’s not too fantastic to me. It gives me great peace knowing that Jesus, who loves us beyond reason, is in control of the whole universe. As fantastic as this is, it is not the greatest news out of this passage. If Jesus can hold the whole universe together, doesn’t it stand to reason that He can hold our lives together? As we follow the news day by day, we can get awfully discouraged. It seems that the world is spinning out of control.There are earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other catastrophes happening all of over the world. I don’t know about you, but when I observe all of that, if I didn’t believe that Jesus was ultimately in control, I would be awfully antsy – to say the least. Actually, this is the way the world has always been. There is no real security outside of the love, mercy and control of God. Going beyond these facts, however, there is another angle to this that I want to share with you. Jesus can hold you together – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. If you are anxious, you can turn your anxieties, whatever they might be, over to Him. Read what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7: “Be careful for nothing (do not be anxious about anything); but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” This text has held me together many times. What a joy it is to know that Jesus has not given up on my difficult situations, but is there to hold me together as I go through them. The same is, or can be, true of your life as well. You don’t have to go through life trying to get control of things. Jesus is already in control. You don’t have to go through life feeling lonely, unappreciated and out of control. Turn your life over to Jesus and let Him hold you together. Do you realize what good news this is? It is life-changing! Try it! Bro. Joe |
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