“But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
“But the Comforter, Who is the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26) A Christian should never feel alone. Jesus promised to be with us until the end of the ages, and He gave us the Holy Spirit to assure us of this. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is the presence of the Holy Spirit. We cannot underplay or underestimate the difference that His presence makes in our lives. It is from the Holy Spirit that we receive the power needed to serve God in a world that does not comprehend Him. We have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we should use that power. First, in order to use the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we need to be aware that He wants to use us in Christian service. The Bible speaks of the gifts of ministry that the Holy Spirit has given us. (You can read about these gifts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.) He is not in our lives to just give us “holy thrills.” The problem in the Corinthian church was that they were stressing the more public demonstrations of the Spirit above allowing the Holy Spirit to use them in His service. The Spirit’s presence in our lives is practical, meaning that He wants to lead us into the service for which He has gifted us. I do not mean to downplay the demonstrations of the Spirit’s power, but He more often uses us to quietly use His gifts. Second, just before Jesus ascended to the Father, He told the disciples what He wanted the power of the Holy Spirit to do in their lives. They were empowered to be witnesses for Jesus to the world. Jesus said that this power would be comprehensive. The power of the Holy Spirit would extend far beyond where they were at that time. As the story of Acts goes forward, we see the power of the Spirit at work in the lives of Christians, winning people and growing Christ’s church. The first Christians did not have nearly all of the resources that we have to be witnesses, but they surely did an effective job under the power of the Holy Spirit. (They didn’t even have a New Testament.) We need to use the great resources that have been given us to witness to this world. Third, we need to understand that the power of the Holy Spirit is the power to live for Jesus on a daily basis. It is this power at work in our daily lives that makes us effective witnesses of Jesus. In other words, if we want to be effective witnesses for Jesus we need to “walk the walk,” and not just “talk the talk.” If we are not living the Christian life effectively, our witness will not be as strong. The world is aware of how we live and what we say; therefore, we need to be careful what we do and say. If we pay attention to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives, He will lead us to live so that our lives will reflect His presence. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” That light is a reflection of the presence of Jesus in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Fourth, in John 14:26, Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives: “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Among a lot of other things, this means that we will not have to depend upon our mental acuity to live and share Jesus with the world. The Holy Spirit will lead us in how to live, what to say to people and how to treat people – for example. If you are a believer, you have the power of the Holy Spirit. Let Him use you in His presence and power. Bro. Joe
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“And (Jesus) spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
There are many things in the Bible that are made plain to us that they are important. Among these are the reminders of our need for prayer. For the person who wants to live an effective Christian life and be an effective Christian servant, prayer is like the very air that we breathe. In other words, we need to pray. This morning I was thinking about the importance of prayer in my life and in the life of every Christian, and I had the thought there are lot of reasons to pray, actually more than I can think of, but that there are also things that prayer is not. I guess there are many things that prayer is not, but what came to my mind today was that prayer is not a tool that God has given us to manipulate the lives of other people. I was praying this morning for people who are close to me, and it occurred to me that it was possible that I was wanting God to do in their lives what I wanted Him to do. I think that what I wanted for those for whom I prayed would be good things, but it is possible that they would not be what God wanted for their lives. The important thing for us to pray is that God’s will be done in their lives whether it suits what I want for them or not. I’m certainly not implying that we shouldn’t pray for God to act in people’s lives. I am convinced that we should pray that God would act in their lives according to His will and not according to ours. However, if someone is going in the wrong direction in life, we know that we should pray for them to go in the right direction and ask God to lead them in that direction. What God does with their lives which is within His will for them is between them and God. It occurred to me that I had enough trouble trying to follow God’s will for my life without trying to determine His will for someone else’s life. Now, let’s take a look at what prayer is: Prayer, as I mentioned above, is a necessity in the life of a Christian. Notice that Jesus said “that men ought always to pray.” “Always” is a big word. This means that we should be in a state of prayer at all times in our lives. There are times that we set aside in our lives to pray, and we need that, but we also need to remember that we have access to God wherever we are and whatever we are doing. I have learned to breathe a prayer at any time during the day. It should be a great comfort to us that God wants us to pray, to seek Him and to seek His guidance. God welcomes our prayers. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Coming to Jesus” means to pray in His name. Jesus admonished us to “always pray and not to faint.” This can mean any number of things. I know that there are times in my life when I get discouraged and feel like quitting. I imagine that you are not a stranger to that temptation yourself. It is at these times that I run to Jesus, because I know that He does not want me to quit. Satan, that one who “roams about as a roaring lion” is always urging us to give in to discouragement and lay down our weapons and quit. I read, or heard, one time that there are no discharges from God’s army. This is true. When people hear that I have taken a pastorate in my old age, they say “I thought that you had retired.” My answer to that is that I retired from Tucker Baptist Association, but I did not die. The same is true for you. You need to “pray and not to faint.” It’s possible that you are reading this right now because God knows that you need to be reminded that you need to pray and get things right with God. Never give up praying for others, and remember to pray for God’s will to be done in their lives. Never give up praying for yourself, because you know your weaknesses, and God does not want you to give in to them. Prayer can keep you stable and keep you on the firing line. Bro. Joe “Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? 8. Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? 9. Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?”
After reading this text, you will probably wonder what in the world is going on with Brother Joe. Well, I’m reading my Bible as usual and these verses were part of my reading for the day. To say the least, the psalmist, Asaph, was in a deep funk, and was wondering what was going on with God. Let’s not be too hasty to judge Asaph negatively, because we probably go through times like this ourselves. In fact, I was feeling pretty low this morning when I picked up my Bible and started to read. I was thinking, “Boy that’s what I need this morning…” The good thing is that I read the rest of the psalm. Stay with me and let’s see what was going on with Asaph. First, he questioned the Lord’s favor: “Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more?” In verse 2, he wrote: “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.” Asaph went to the right place and the right person, but he didn’t immediately find the comfort that he sought. Being one of God’s people, Asaph depended on the favor of the Lord, but now he feels that the Lord has cast him off and that he has lost God’s favor. Second, he questioned the Lord’s promise of mercy: “Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore?” It is a terrible feeling to think that God’s promise of mercy has ceased. Perhaps, you can identify with this feeling. We expect to go through difficult times, but we also expect to come through with His mercy. When we think that this is not the case it is time for depression. Third, he questioned the Lord’s graciousness, or His grace: “Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” For those of us who believe that God is finally and completely the God of grace, it is awful if we think we have slid beyond His grace in our lives. Well, now that I have you good and depressed, as well as myself, let’s read on and see what Asaph concluded in his misery. First, in verse 10 he wrote: “And I said, ‘This is my anguish…” When Asaph came to his senses, he realized that the problem was not God but that he was the problem, at least his negative thinking was the problem. We need to always remember when we are in a deep spiritual funk that the problem is not with God but with us…with our thinking…with our lack of faith. Sometimes we earn the funk by our worldly thinking and our distance from the Lord. In these dark times we need to take the blame and seek the Lord afresh and anew as Asaph did. Second, in verses 10b-12 he wrote: “But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. 11. I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember your wonders of old. 12. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.” Asaph wisely turned his mind to better days. He remembered all of the works of God’s favor, mercy and grace. At last Asaph turned from thinking negatively about God to remembering “the works of the Lord.” Surely you have memories of what God has done in your life that the Spirit can use to refresh your memory and your thinking. But he doesn’t stop with just changing his thinking, Asaph changes his actions as well: “I will also meditate on all your work, and talk of your deeds.” Do you see it? Asaph decides to not only meditate but to tell other people about what God has done for him. Nothing can get us out of our selfish misery like meditating on the goodness of God and sharing it with other people. There is surely a message for you in this blog as there was for me. Heed it! Bro. Joe “I beseech Euodias and I beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 3. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”
We sometimes think that we should return to things like they were in the early church, when people got along and merrily served the Lord. It wouldn’t hurt us to return to some early church practices, but we need to also be reminded that the early church was made up of human beings who had opinions and ideas that clashed from time to time. Philippians 4:2-3 is a case in point. Two powerful and influential women in the Philippian church were, evidently, having a major fuss about something. Whatever the problem between them was, it probably did not have anything to do with the gospel. Paul was suggesting, or demanding, that they put their personal difficulties aside and remember that they both served the Lord. When Paul wrote that they be of the “same mind in the Lord,” he did not necessarily mean that they could come to agreement on the problem, but that they put the problem aside for the sake of the Lord’s work. We need to learn this lesson in churches today. I think that it is impossible for any organization made up of human beings to be in total agreement about everything. Obviously, the church is no exception. I think that Paul was reminding these two ladies that they would just have to learn to disagree like Christians. What does it mean to “disagree like Christians”? It means that we realize that there is something, or someone, more important than our opinions on certain subjects. It also means that there is something, or someone, more important than our feelings about certain subjects. I have decided that the most important thing in a lot of Christian’s lives is their feelings, because if you hurt their feelings, they can just walk away from God’s work. Evidently, the work of the Philippian church was stalled because of the disagreement between these two powerful women. Euodias and Syntyche just needed to get themselves out of the way in order for the Lord’s work to continue. I don’t know what this disagreement was about, but it was hurting the work of the church. I would really hate to think that I was standing in the way of the progress of Christ’s kingdom because of my own stubbornness. Furthermore, it appears to me that others were joining in this disagreement. In other words, it appears that people were beginning to take sides. Some might have said, “I am on Euodias’ side. Come on let’s fight.” Paul reminded the Philippian believers that they were to “help those women who labored with me in the gospel.” If they really wanted to help these two women, they would not join them in the disagreement, but that they would encourage them to get over whatever it was that was causing the problem. This is a good lesson for us. Instead of saying “come let’s fight,” we should say this fight is not as important as the work of the Lord. If something, or someone, is keeping your church from going forward in the work, you should lovingly, “speaking the truth in love,” remind him or her that the church’s work is more important than his or her opinions or their feelings. I think that a good old-fashioned prayer meeting with the people would be in order so that the real work of Christ’s church could get back on track. I guess that as long as the church is made up of human beings, and it will always be, there will be disagreements to sidetrack the work. But we shouldn’t settle for that. We should heed Paul’s admonition and help those men or women to be of the “same mind in the Lord.” Bro. Joe “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
If I was writing a book, I could strain all of the truth that is given in this verse for you, but I am writing a blog, so I will give you what is on my mind today concerning this text. Yesterday, I shared with you that there is not an “undo key” in our lives. In other words, once something is said or done it cannot be unsaid or undone. But there is a key on our computers called the “escape key,” and we do have this key in our lives. Our text tells us that we do. We will not have a temptation that is peculiar to us. That’s what Paul wrote: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man…” All of the great men of the Bible had the same temptations that we have today, and all of the great Christians throughout church history have had the same temptations. Hebrews 4:16 reminds us that even Jesus was tempted: “For we have not an high priest Who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Notice that I underlined “all points,” for that tells us that Jesus had every kind of temptation that we have. The caveat here is that He was “yet without sin.” We can’t say that about ourselves, but we need to be reminded that the temptation is not the sin. We do not need to feel guilty about temptations, for they are “all common to man.” But we should not yield to temptation, no matter how demanding it seems to be. Remember, God will not “suffer you to be tempted above what you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” There is our “escape key.” It is not hopeless, because God will show us a way to escape. Hebrews 4:16 gives a way to escape a temptation: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This follows the reminder that Jesus “was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.” Because of our sinless Savior, we can go to His throne and find the grace to help us escape. Going to the “throne of grace,” is a way of saying “going to the Lord in prayer.” This would call for a prayer of confession that results in a prayer of repentance. We can’t overcome temptation on our own, but God has given us a way of escape through prayer. Another way that God has provided as a way of escape for us is the Bible. Constant reading of the Bible will remind us that sin is not pleasing to God. I love to read the Bible, because it makes me aware of the danger of sin. If more people would spend more time in the Bible, their lives would be happier and more productive. It is interesting to note that Jesus beat back temptation by quoting scripture to Satan. This I know: There are some temptations that are constant and persistent. The enemy, Satan, knows our weaknesses. In the aforementioned temptation of Jesus, he knew Jesus was hungry after forty days of fasting, and made his first temptation for Jesus to turn the stones into bread. Jesus did not heed Satan; rather, He heeded the word of God. No matter how persistent Satan is we need to hurry to the “throne of grace,” and to the word of God in order to escape. The power to escape temptation does not come from our strength, but from God’s strength. We will be wise to remember this. Use the “escape key,” or in this case, the “escape keys.” Bro. Joe “Who is the (person) who delights in life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? 13. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. 14. Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.” (CSB)
I think that we would call a person who “delights in life” a happy person. These three verses tell us what can make us happy people. First, if we want to be happy people we should “keep (our) tongues from evil.” This could be a reference to evil in general, such as cursing, but I see it as an admonition not to speak evil of other people. I have discovered that gossips are not happy people. They are not happy because they observe people only to criticize them or to tear them down. This kind of thinking comes from malice in the heart. Malice is anger that has settled into a person’s mind and heart and seeks to do evil. Those who speak evil of other people are malicious people. I have heard it said that: “small minds discuss people and great minds discuss ideas.” Malicious people are small-minded people. A lot of people have been destroyed by gossip, and a lot of churches have been torn apart by gossip. If you want to be a happy person, do not speak evil of other people. Second, if we want to be happy people, we should “Keep (our) tongues from deceitful speech.” This means that we should be truthful people. There is something intrinsically bred into the human heart that longs for truth. That which is untrue is not real, in fact, it is counterfeit. Just as a counterfeit twenty dollar bill is worthless, a counterfeit tale is worthless. We have probably all known people of whom it could be said that you never know whether they are telling the truth or not. Most of the time this deceitful speech comes in the form of exaggeration. Some people have a tendency to “stretch the truth” when they are talking about themselves. The problem with people who habitually lie, or deceive, is that we cannot trust them. A person who cannot be trusted cannot be a happy person. Third, if we want to be happy people, we should: “turn away from evil and do good.” We are faced with choices everyday as to whether or not we are going to do good or evil. You have seen cartoons where a person will have an angel on one shoulder telling the person to do what is right, and a demon on the other shoulder telling the person to do what is evil. We know that the angels and demons are not literally there, but the cartoon does represent a truth. The devil, whose very purpose is to deceive, continually goads us to do wrong. The Holy Spirit continually urges us to do right. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit and do what is right. This is especially true in our relationships with people. We should seek to always do, or say, what is good for the other person instead of what is evil. We should seek to do, or say, that which will build up another person instead of tear him or her down. Happy people do good instead of evil. Fourth, if we want to be happy people, we should: “seek peace and pursue it.” Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed (happy) are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” If you want to be a happy person, seek to bring peace wherever you are instead of discord. You can’t be happy if you sow discord wherever you are. Based on this text, are you a happy person? Bro. Joe “Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30. For my yoke is easy and the burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. When I read it, I get a picture in my mind of Jesus standing on the side of a mountain with His arms outstretched, bidding the whole world to come to Him for rest. That is a great message for this tired old world. He does not invite us to sit down and do nothing, but to find our rest in Him. Augustine said: “Oh God, you made us for yourself, and we are restless until we find our rest in you.” How true this is. It is rest for our souls, the deepest part of us. When we come to Jesus, He gives us what Paul called “peace that passes understanding.” He rids us of our fear of life and fear of death. We can go about our business daily, knowing that we are resting in the powerful arms of Jesus. All of the twelve apostles of Jesus underwent terrible persecutions. They willingly gave their lives as martyrs as the years went by. At least one of them, the Apostle John, lived to a ripe old age, but according to some accounts, he was martyred as well. Why were they willing to give their lives for this former carpenter that they followed for three years? Because they heard His promises, and they heard Him say that He would give rest to those who come to Him. It is not just rest in this life, but rest in the life to come as well. When we are resting in Jesus, we are not afraid even of death, for He defeated death when He was raised from the grave. Besides resting in faith and confidence in Jesus, knowing that He is with us and will not forsake us, we are called to rest in His “yoke.” No doubt you know that a yoke was the instrument that was placed over the shoulders of Oxen to lead them in the work that they were to do. When we come to Jesus, He places His yoke on us and calls us to service. One thing about the yoke that we need to know is that it enabled its owner to guide his oxen where He wanted them to go. When we come to Jesus, He leads and guides into what He wants us to do. We can rest in that yoke, because we know that Jesus will not guide us into anything, or to anywhere, that He will not be there with us. Another thing about the yoke is that it was usually designed for at least two oxen. Jesus called us to serve Him in yoke with our fellow believers. We can rest because we know that we are not in this alone. Jesus has yoked us together to serve Him and rest in Him together. The “yoke” illustrates for us that there is no such thing as a solitary Christianity. We are all in this together, and we are, or should be, a comfort to each other. That’s right, as we rest in Jesus, we rest in fellowship with other Christians. This fellowship is very important in our service and to our sense of well-being. Jesus put us in His yoke together so that we can pray for and encourage each other. The author of Hebrews wrote this: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting (encouraging) one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 Come to Jesus and get the soul rest that He promises you in your service together with other Christians. Bro. Joe “I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.”
A door can be an entrance or an exit. Jesus referred to Himself as “the door.” Through Him we can enter into some good things and exit from some bad things. For example, Jesus said in verse 10b: “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus is the door to the abundant life. This is not necessarily speaking of material abundance, but it is speaking about spiritual abundance. It is the abundance of well-being. I can’t speak for anyone else, but the presence of Jesus in my life gives me a great sense of well-being. Looking at the direction of the world today, if I went into the world’s door, I might have a nervous breakdown. It is the abundance of great fellowship. When we enter the Jesus door, we enter into daily fellowship with God. He has promised His presence every day that we live. There is never a time in our lives, once we enter the Jesus door that we are not in fellowship with God. He might seem closer at times than at others. Just remember that He did not move. This leads us to the door of prayer. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two. This means that the door to the “holy of holies” is open to us twenty four hours a day. We can talk to Him about our troubles, and we can take our petitions to Him. In fact, He invites us to pray, and to ask.. He wants to provide for us through prayer. This abundance is available only to those who enter by the Jesus door. Jesus said that when we enter His door, we go "in and out and find pasture." We depend on Jesus for sustenance as sheep depend on their shepherd for sustenance. It is the door to fellowship with other Christians. He saved us individually, but He saved us to be in relationship with fellow Christians. We can, and should, find joy in this fellowship. It is good to know that we are not alone in this sometimes hostile world. The abundant life that we enter into by going through the Jesus door is only available through Him. It is the door to power. I do not mean the kind of power that the world gives, but the power that He gives us through the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples in Acts 1:8 that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit. That power was to be used as witnesses to the people of the whole world. That power is also available to help us overcome the world. We need the abundance of the Spirit’s help to live the Christian life. If we tried to go it alone, we would surely fail. Satan’s temptations are too great for us, but not for Jesus. Every time the devil and his demons confronted Jesus, Jesus won. They were no match for Him. Through the Holy Spirit, we can sic Jesus on him and defeat him. It is the power to overcome ourselves. Dwight L. Moody once intimated that the main person that he had trouble with was himself. We can be our own worst enemies, but the abundant power of the Holy Spirit can help us overcome even our worst selves. It is the door to an optimistic, loving approach to life. Paul wrote about the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Paul added in verse 24: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” This quality of life is available only to those who enter by the Jesus door. I mentioned that a door is also an exit. When we enter the Jesus door, we exit all of the negativity that can be in our lives – all of the things that are opposite of Galatians 5:22-23. When we feel separated from Jesus, we need to remember that we have entered His door, and life does not have to be that way. Come into the door that is Jesus, and that only He can open for you. Bro. Joe “For by Him (Jesus) 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.”
The thought came to be the other day, I am presuming from the Lord, that “Jesus is the reason.” I know that this is a popular saying at Christmas that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” When I thought of that, it came to me that Jesus is not just the “reason for the season," but that He is reason – period. Jesus is the reason for what? There is really no limit to what Jesus is the reason for, but I think we can come up with a few things that will enlighten as to the importance of Jesus in the total scheme of things. Jesus is the reason that there is a world in which we can live. Notice: “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…” We understand that when the world was created it was created by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Which is to say that we can’t relegate Jesus to an inferior position in creation. Jesus was there creating along with the Father and the Spirit. When we look into the “heavens,” or as we would say, the universe, we see the handiwork of Jesus. Because of modern science, we have some idea of the full extent of the creation of “the heavens.” When we see the beauty of the earth, we can see the handiwork of Jesus. What an eternal imagination Jesus had as He created the beautiful things that we enjoy on this earth. He also created the “invisible.” The atom is the building block of matter, and Jesus created that too. Years before microscopes, and other instruments that help us see the “invisible,” Paul wrote about those things. He could only have known that by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the reason that there is a world order. Notice that He created “thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers.” We didn’t create the way the world would be ordered, but Jesus did it at the beginning. It is for certain that we have tried to mess it up through the centuries, what with the Caesars, Attilas, Hitlers, Stalins, and a various assortment of characters through the centuries, but the world has trudged on in spite of all of the evil that has been perpetrated on it, and is still perpetrated on it. Jesus made it all perfect, we are the ones who took it out of kilter, but in the end Jesus will rescue it and straighten it all out. This is part of what the New Heaven and New Earth are all about. As believers in Jesus we can look forward to a perfect day, when “thrones, dominions, principalities and powers" will be perfect. It’s all spelled out in the Bible. Jesus is the only reason that we have a promise of a better day in the future. This is something that believers can look forward to with certainty. Jesus is the reason that all things were created in the first place. Notice: “All things were created by Him and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” We observe first that “all things were created by Him and for Him.” It is His world. Psalm 50:10 gives us an inkling of this truth: “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” We can truthfully say that everything that we have is “on loan from God – from Jesus.” He not only created everything, He created it all for Himself. Frankly, I don’t know the full meaning of this, but I will, along with you, one day understand it. This is one of those things that we will “understand better by and by.” Jesus not only created it but He holds it all together. Observe: “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” What this means is that it is Jesus who holds it all together. We do not have to worry about the earth, or, for that matter, the universe, because Jesus is holding it all together. Nothing happens in the universe that He does not allow. This also means that He can hold our lives together as well. Take heart believer, you are in good hands. Among thousands of other things, this is what I mean by “Jesus Is the Reason – Period.” Bro. joe “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
I assume that every human being at some time has doubts and fears. I know that I do. The problem is that a lot of people are ruled by their doubts and fears and they go into depression and all sorts of maladies. There is something that we can do to not be ruled by our doubts and fears. First, we can take them to the Lord in prayer. You might be saying, “It can’t really be that simple.” Well, you can complicate it if you want, but it is that simple. At least the great Apostle Paul seemed to think so, for he wrote: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” You don’t have to make an appointment, all you have to do is to reach out to God. God hears your heart cry, and He knows what you are going through. He knows every doubt and fear that you have and He is waiting for you bring them to Him. You see, He loves you in spite of yourself, just as He loves me in spite of myself. One of the favorite times of my day is when I go to bed, turn out the light and turn over to go to sleep, but before I go to sleep I talk to the Lord about everything, my doubts, my fears, my phobias, my temptations, etc. David understood this, for he wrote: “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.”(Psalm 63:5-6) (Great minds work together. Lol) I want to suggest that you give this a try, if not at bedtime, at least at some time during the day just “let it all hang out” and talk to the Lord about everything that is bothering you. Second, when we take our doubts and fears to the Lord in prayer we can ask Him to do what He knows to do in our lives to help us overcome them. That’s what the word “supplication” means in verse 6 of our text. When we make our supplications known to Him, we must approach Him by faith, believing that He hears us and that He will come to our aid in the midst of our doubts and fears. According to Hebrews 11:6, it is impossible to please God without faith, and that includes our supplications as well as everything else in our lives. What is meant by supplications? It means everything that you have on your heart and mind at the time you are talking to the Lord. Notice that Paul wrote, “in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God.” There is nothing that you cannot take to Him. The Lord already knows what is on your mind and heart before you come to Him. He is waiting for you to unload on Him. Really understand this: There is nothing that you can’t talk to God about!!!!! Third, when we take our doubts and fears to the Lord in prayer we should do it with thanksgiving. Notice that thanksgiving comes before the answer. We need to just be thankful that God is willing to hear and to help us with our supplications. His answer to your prayers will be what you need whether you realize it at the time or not. He will answer you. If you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ, you need to take that to Him in prayer, asking Him to forgive you for your sins and to come into your life. Be thankful that He will hear your prayer and save you for all eternity. Then remember that He wants you to bring everything to Him in prayer. Be thankful that He is willing, and longing, to hear from you. “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” Do it! Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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