“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. 17. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18. He that believes on Him is not condemned but He that believes not is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
The good news is that Jesus did not come to condemn the world. The bad news is that the world is condemned already. Roman 3:23 plainly states that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “All” means all! The whole Bible deals with people and our sins, and God’s desire to cure us of them. John 3:16 states that God loves the sinful world enough to send His Son to save it/us. But the news gets better, because the next phrase is that “the world through Him might be saved.” What we see here is not that we are so good that God has to save us; rather, we see that God loves us in spite of our sins and seeks to save us through His Son. What we see here is God’s grace and mercy at work to save lost humanity. If you know anything about the history of the Bible, or even the history of the world, you know that people are sinners. The last century was interspersed with “wars and rumors of wars,” on into the present century. That is just one illustration of the world’s sinfulness. We need to understand this: GOD IS NOT ABOUT CONDEMNATION. WE TAKE CARE OF THAT OURSELVES. (Of course we have Satan’s help.) God is about delivering us from condemnation. That’s the purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world. The news gets even better. Jesus came into the world and offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. We are to believe in Him, literally surrender our lives to Him, believing God instead of Satan. God is not asking for intellectual assent; rather, He is asking for our hearts, minds and souls. He literally wants to clean us up within so that what He has done will be visible to the world. The only complication in this plan is our willingness to believe God’s truth instead of Satan’s lies. Jesus did not come to condemn a world that is already under the condemnation of sin. He came to save! So believe Him and be saved. Bro. Joe
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“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment works for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory. 18. For we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
According to verse 1 of 2 Corinthians 4, Paul wrote that he did not “faint” because in his ministry he had received the mercy of God. In other words, Paul did not lose heart because he knew that he was in the will of God. Let the world howl, he was about God’s business. He gives us reason here about why we should not lose heart when we are faced with problems. In verse 16, Paul points out that no matter what is going on around us, no matter how low we might think things have gotten, the Lord is renewing us on the inside day by day. This is a fact that we need to get down in our hearts and minds: The Lord has given us the Holy Spirit to work within us, to renew our faith and our confidence. It doesn’t matter what the problem, we have the Spirit of God at work in us, leading from, or through, whatever it is that tries to hinder us. Hey, brother or sister, take heart, you have the power of God at work in you. In verse 17, he points out two important things for us to remember: (1) All of our worldly problems are but for a moment. That is what he means by “our light affliction.” We should not let temporary problems make us lose heart. I have discovered, or am still discovering, that whatever problem I am encountering at the time will come to an end. Nothing in this world lasts forever, and that includes what might be robbing you of spiritual energy today. (2) God is at work in us as He takes us through the problem to an “exceeding, eternal” weight of glory. This means that what God brings into our lives is His glory, and His strength, which outweighs all of our problems. We just need to remember that we are not in this thing by ourselves. We think that the world has turned against us, and we might be right, but the world is not greater than the God who is working within us to give us His glory. You are a part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” We have the promise of Jesus about this, so let’s take hold of it and live for Him whatever the world might say. In verse 18, Paul reminds us that the most important things that we have in our lives are not seen, because the things which are seen are temporary, and the things which are not seen are eternal. We do not measure success in our lives by the things that we have amassed. Everything that we have today will be nonexistent, or recycled, in a few years. As Christians, we need to understand that every measure of success in this world will count for nothing in eternity. God is going to give us a New Heaven and New Earth, in which we will dwell with Him forever and forever. But God has us on this “old earth,” which is passing away, to serve him as His witnesses to a lost world. We do this at home, at work, at play, or wherever we are. By God’s grace, we are enabled, and empowered, to serve Him as we live our lives on this temporary planet, He will give us “an eternal weight of glory.” Come on, brothers and sisters, do not lose heart. God is alive and is working through us. Bro. Joe “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not."
For the last couple of days I have been on what I will call “a fishing expedition” in 1 John. Today, I came across this from the third chapter, as it so often is, I saw it in a way that I have never seen it before. I want to share what I found there on this trip. John had been with Jesus from almost the start of His three year ministry, and He had served Jesus for many years before he wrote 1 John, but he was still amazed at the love of God. When we think that we have served long enough, and have arrived at a theological sophistication that we can take God’s love, that He lavished on us through His Son, for granted, we have gone too far. I know that I am amazed that God loves me. I know myself, and I know that I cannot deserve that love, but He loves me because of His grace. Before you get on a “high horse” over that statement, God also loves you in spite of yourself. Lord only knows that by His grace I’m better than I used to be, but I know that I need to grow in Christ. (We might say that I am not doing somersaults over by goodness. Lol) This will go on until the day I die – and you too. I can still sing: “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind that now I see.” (We can’t mention God’s great love for us without thinking of His amazing grace.) John was still amazed that we should be called “the children of God.” This means that through faith in Jesus, we belong to God’s family, and we are His children. We just cannot take that for granted. Because of this, we need to act, or behave like, God’s children and stop living like the world. I’ve heard of people telling their children before they went out into the world that they should: “Remember whose child you are.” In other words we will show our raising by how we act. That is certainly true of us as God’s children. What the world needs today is for God’s children to start behaving like we are His children. This leads me to the inevitable third point: The world does not understand us because we are children of God: “therefore the world does not know us, because it does not know Him.” This is illustrated in the world today thousands of times every day. The hedonistic world does not understand what it means to follow Jesus. As peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:4: “They think it strange that you plunge not with them in the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.” But because we belong to Jesus, we will still love those “who heap abuse” upon us, because that is what He did, and taught us to do. Because we are children of God, we are witnesses to the world that does not understand us. We do not join them, but we do encounter them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, that’s what I found in 1 John today! Say “amen” or “oh me.” Bro. Joe “I can do all things through He who is strengthening me.”
I will explain the translation, or interpretation, of this text later in the article. This is a verse that we quote frequently, and for good reason. Serving as the chaplain of the Westwood football team, we quoted this verse at almost every practice and before all games. What I want to do is to break this verse down and see what it says to “me.” (Meaning me and everyone else.) “I” – “I” is one of our most favorite words. We use it rather frequently, and think it even more often. It is “I” that God is dealing with. You are uniquely you, and Jesus loves you as uniquely you, and He wants to use you as uniquely you. He will grow you into a better you, but He will take you where you are and lead you to where He wants you to be. “Can”- The next word in our translation is another important word in our vocabulary. We need to learn to say “I can.” I remember that little story about the little train engine that my elementary teachers told us about. It was about a little train that could not climb the hill because he didn’t think he could. When he learned to say “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” that he actually made it up the hill. We need to learn the word “can” in the place of “can’t.” “Do” – This is another important word in our vocabulary. When we “do” things, as a general rule we are headed in the right direction. Of course that depends on what we are doing, but in the context of this verse it is talking about uplifting, loving, ministering things. We need to be careful about what we do, which is the purpose of this text. So let’s move on. “All things” – It is at this point that we must consider what we are going to do. We probably will not do this perfectly, but we need to make sure that the “all things” that we do are in line with what Christ would have us do, and would move us beyond “I” to “them” or “us.” “Through He” or “through the one” The “One” or “He” who Paul is writing about here is Christ. If Christ is the One who helps us do “all things” we can be sure that we are on the right track. We are made out of human flesh, so we will slip at times, but that is when we pick up and go again, because the “One” that we are trusting will enable us to do better. “Who Is Strengthening me.” The Greek text actually reads like this: "I can do all things through the one, or the person, who is strengthening me." Paul does not specifically use the name “Jesus” or “Christ” but we know from the context that it is Christ about whom he is writing. In other words, I can’t “ do all things” that I want to do on my own strength, but “I can do all things through Christ who is strengthening me to do His will.” Jesus is in the process of strengthening us day by day.. This verse is easy to memorize, so memorize it and pray it every day! Take it into your heart. Bro. Joe “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you will be a blessing.”
You probably recognize this text as part of God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of the nation of Israel. Apart from the historical aspect of this promise, I saw a biblical principle that applies to all of God’s people..Abraham was promised that he would be blessed, and that he would also be a blessing. First, Abraham was promised that he would be blessed. Throughout the Bible God promises to bless His people. I don’t know about you, but I certainly want to be blessed. If God has a blessing that He wants to give me, I want to receive it. In spite of myself, God has surely blessed me. God has blessings for you, and you need to realize that God truly wants to bless you. You remember the little chorus: “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” It might be that you need to take a little time out of your way today and count your blessings, or at least give some great thought to them. Repeat after me: “God wants to bless me….” (Come on, do it.) Second, Abraham was promised that he would be a blessing. Wow! How that was answered. He became the father of the great nation of Israel, and from them would come the Messiah, the Savior of the world – or at least to those who come to Him by faith. What we need to see is that when we are blessed, we will become a blessing. One of the joys of my life, is to know that I have been a blessing to people. I am not bragging about it, for I do not deserve the joy of being a blessing, but by grace I am grateful that God has used me as a “channel of blessing.” Repeat after me: “Lord make me a blessing to someone today.” (Do it.) Third, I want to share with you some of the ways that God has used His blessings on others through the Bible to be a blessing to us. I will start with David. As it is with me, it was by grace that God made David a blessing. Think of all of the psalms that David wrote that bless us. For example, through Psalm 23, God has used David to be a blessing to me, and probably to you. Think of Matthew, who was blessed to be one of the disciples of Jesus. By grace, God has allowed the former tax collector to be a blessing to us. Surely, you have read Matthew 11:28 where Jesus said: “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest.” By grace, God has used the former persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus, to bless us. It was this former persecutor who was led by God’s Spirit to write: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4;6) Each of these men, like us, were not perfect men, but they were used by God to be a blessing to millions of God’s people. I want my epitaph to read: “By the grace of God, He was a blessing.” I want to encourage you to take all of the blessings that God, through Christ, has for you. I also want you to use His blessings to be a blessing to others. Bro. Joe .“Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. 8. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
One greeting that I have remembered from my years of prison ministry was “I am greatly blessed and highly favored.” I thought that was a remarkable greeting considering that the men who said that were long-term prisoners. I knew that they were not in a good situation, but they were blessed by the Lord. The Lord turned an unbearable situation into a blessing. I have also met many people in churches who were complaining about one thing or another. (I must confess that I have to watch myself, lest I find myself complaining.) Jeremiah gives a good definition of what it means to be blessed. First, being blessed means to trust in the Lord. For myself, I can imagine what it would be to face each day without knowing that I could trust in the Lord. Trusting God has gotten me through some rough spots in my life. But I am not bragging, because I have met some people who have made me feel that I lacked the trust that I should have. I have met some people who were in much worse shape that I have been at my worst, yet they still managed to praise the Lord, because they trusted the Lord. If you want to be blessed, trust the Lord. I can’t tell you how to trust the Lord. You just have to release your heart and mind to Him and let Him lead in your life. Keep Him ever near you, and heed the promises of His word. Second, being blessed means that one’s hope is in the Lord. A truly blessed life is a life that does not depend on the circumstances of life to make them happy and content. A truly blessed life looks beyond this world to the Lord. The apostle Paul gives us a grand example of this in the book of Philippians. He wrote this letter during his imprisonment in Rome. He wrote of joy and rejoicing in this book in spite of his own circumstances. A good example of this is found in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice.” Instead of complaining about his imprisonment, he reminded us that true blessings are found in the joy of the Lord. Truly ask yourself where the ground of your real hope is. The things of the world are fleeting. We need to ground our hope in eternity, in the almighty, all-knowing, ever present Lord. That is when we are truly blessed and when we feel “greatly blessed and highly favored.” Third, Jeremiah told us of the effect of this blessed life: “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” This reminds us of the righteous person in Psalm 1:3: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in his season…” A blessed life is deeply planted in the power and hope of the Lord. This person’s life continues to be effective, in spite of life’s circumstances. A blessed person is a productive person, whose roots reach deep into the power and presence of Jesus. I want to close this article by telling what an “unblessed” or cursed life is like from the verses preceding our text in verses 5-6: “Thus says the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. 6. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inherited.” These are your two choices: be blessed or cursed. Seems like a no brainer. Doesn’t it?! Bro. Joe “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
When we “lay every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us,” and as we run with patient endurance, we should do it “looking unto Jesus.” This means, among other things, that we should look to Jesus in prayer daily, seeking His guidance in living the Christian life. The writer reminds us that as we look to Jesus, we should remember who Jesus is, what He did, and does, on our behalf. Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith.” This is reminiscent of Revelation 1:8: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Jesus is not a bystander to what takes place in our lives. This is a reminder that without Jesus we could not be saved. It also reminds us that Jesus has always existed with the Father and the Spirit. It is a reminder that we need to keep our eyes on Him each day. Jesus is our ultimate source for living a victorious Christian life. It is when we take our eyes off of Jesus that we get into spiritual trouble. What Jesus did was that He joyfully and unashamedly surrendered Himself on our behalf. In John 10:17-18, Jesus said: “Therefore does my Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again. 18. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” It should help us to remember to live for Jesus, because of His sacrifice on our behalf. What Jesus did for us on the cross is aptly described in Philippians 2:7-8: “But (Jesus) made Himself of no reputation, and took upon the form of a servant and was made in likeness of man: 8. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” We need to remember that Jesus did all of this on our behalf! (Repeat after me: “Jesus joyfully and unashamedly surrendered Himself on my behalf. It is because of this that I can be saved.”) What Jesus is doing now is that He “is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” He is reigning with the Father and the Spirit. But He is not just sitting down on the job. Look at Hebrews 7:25 says about Him: “Wherefore (Jesus) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” He promised to be with us, and makes good on His promise and intercedes for us. Are you looking to Jesus and giving Him your burdens? Bro. Joe “Wherefore seeing that we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The title might lead you to believe that I’m trying to “whip a guilt trip” on you. Nope! I’m just dealing with a fact of life. Romans 3:23 reminds us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The text mentioned the need to rid ourselves of “the sin which so easily besets us.” The NIV translates it, “the sin that so easily entangles us…” However, we translate it, we know that sin is human problem. What sin besets you, or entangles you? Could it be that your besetting sin is that you do not take time for prayer and Bible reading? It is wise for a Christian to develop a “prayer habit.” We need a special time of prayer, but we need to be aware of the presence of God all day. We can reach Him anytime. Don’t leave prayer and Bible reading out of your life. Could it be that your besetting sin is a critical spirit. You read that right, a critical spirit is a sin. I’ve seen this sin cripple the fellowship of a church. Criticism should always be made in love, and should be constructive. Could it be that your besetting sin is a habit that Satan has convinced you is not really wrong. One thing that comes to mind is a gossiping habit. Does it make you feel good to tear someone else down to their backs? One of the besetting sins today is internet pornography. With a click on your computer you can find any kind of filth that is being shown. We need to be careful to participate in habits that will do good for other people, or that will serve some good purpose. It would be good to have a habit of saying good things that would minister to them. We need to develop habits that would be uplifting and that would not entangle us in sin. Could it be that your besetting sin is envy of other people. Yes, envy is a sin. Envy leads to covetousness. On top of that envying someone else makes us feel miserable. I know how it feels. I haven’t been entangled in it, but I have to remind myself to be happy with someone else’s successes. We should not let envy lead to hope the worse for someone else. We should never rejoice at another person’s failure. Envy is not based on love, and we should react to people with love. None of us does this perfectly, but this is not an excuse. It is possible that I have not listed your besetting sin. What I want you to take out of this the danger of becoming entangled in sinful behavior. When you know that it is happening, let the Savior help you to become disentangled. Bro. Joe “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great of crowd of witnesses, let us lay about every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
If I have a life text, this is it. I want to break it down over the next four days, and give you some of what I have gotten out of it for my own life. I hope that what I write will help you in your own journey. Please do not understand me that I have done all of this perfectly, but it has meant a lot to me. The first line that I want to deal with: “Let us lay aside every weight.” The writer used a racing motif to teach us how to live more freely. People who run in foot races do not wear anything that will slow them down. They do not run in sweat suits, but they run in the thinnest material possible. We have things in our lives that slow us down as we run the race of life. What is weighing you down that is keeping you from running the race of life as effectively as possible? First, you might be weighted down because you have not taken the weight to Jesus. Jesus invites us to: “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest.” Jesus told us in this text that He wants to ease the load. He is probably wondering why you are taking life’s burdens on your back, when He has offered to ease them. “Tell it to Jesus” is not a slogan. He really wants to ease our burdens. Second, you might be weighted down with people that you have to deal with in your life. Other people can be a blessing to us, but there are times when they weigh us down. They might weigh us down with criticism that we did not ask them for. They might weight us down by spreading tales about us. The truth is that there are some people who are just hard to get along with. Give them to Jesus, so to speak. The only reason they load you down is that you let them. Third, you might be weighted down with a false sense of guilt. This is something that I have had to deal with myself. What I have learned is that I have got to stop letting false guilt take over my life. Don’t let other people “whip the guilt” on you. There are some things that you might be guilty of, which is true of all of us. We just need to accept Jesus’ forgiveness, stop doing what makes us feel guilty, and go on with life. Hey tell it to Jesus……..” Fourth, you might be weighted down with a sense of doubt. I know about this one too……I just always remember what Dr. Ted Adams told us at Southeastern Seminary years ago: “Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.” You are not alone in having doubts. What I’ve learned is that Jesus will relieve this load for you. He has done it for me in some amazing ways. Don’t let your “weights” get the best of you, because Jesus wants to relieve you of them. Bro. Joe Genesis 17:15-16: “And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16. I will bless you and give a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of people shall be of her.”
Hebrews 11:11-12: Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12. Therefore sprang even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.” There is an old truism that where there is a great man, there is a great woman beside Him. This is certainly true in the case of Abraham and Sarah. If Abraham is called the “father of our faith,” we can call Sarah the “mother of our faith.” It’s for sure that Abraham could not have delivered the promised son, Isaac. Let’s just say that where there is a birth, there is a woman. (duh) The name, Sarah, means “princess.” This woman of faith bears the name nobly. Sarah depended on the strength of the Lord. The text says that she “received strength to conceive seed.” Sarah was ninety years old when she became pregnant with Isaac. Pregnancy is a real burden for young women, even for women today with all of the medical advances of today. Sarah was a strong woman, who depended on the strength of the Lord. She gladly embraced this pregnancy because it removed the onus of being childless, but also because this child was a child of promise. Through that child, Isaac, Abraham’s seed would continue as God willed. (It is interesting that Isaac means “laughter,” because both Abraham and Sarah laughed when they were told she would be pregnant. Can we blame them? (lol)) The strength of the Lord is available today through faith in Him. Whatever it is that God wants you to encounter, He will give you the strength to do His will. Sarah depended on the faithfulness of God. The text tells us that Sarah “judged Him faithful who had promised.” As seemingly impossible as this pregnancy seemed in the eyes of people, Sarah knew that it would happen because of the Lord’s promise. God is always faithful to His promises. Like Sarah, we should take steps of faith because we know that God is faithful to enable us to complete them. Depending on the Lord’s faithfulness, Sarah knew that she could deliver Isaac. Sarah knew that God would be faithful to continue the blessings of the family line of Abraham. It was through Isaac that we read about such men as Moses and David. It is through that line that Jesus was born into the world. If you will think about it, even our very soul’s salvation depended on Sarah depending on the faithfulness of God. Sarah is an example of what God can do when people depend on His strength and trust in His faithfulness. She is an example to you as you face the decisions that you must make in your life. There is nothing that we cannot do if what we do is in the Lord’s strength, and if we depend on His faithfulness. Bro. Joe |
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