“And you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Jesus referred to Himself as “the way, the truth and the life…” (John 14:6) It is in relationship with Jesus can we can live free. He added to this that “no man comes to the Father but by me.” Jesus is the doorway to freedom. I want to share with you some of the ways that a relationship with Jesus can make us free. Freedom in Jesus means that we are free from false ideas about Him. There are all kinds of ways that people refer to Jesus instead of being in a faith relationship with Him. Jesus warned His disciples that there would be a lot of people who claimed to be Him. In Matthew 24:4-5, Jesus warned: “Take heed that no man deceive you, 5. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” Only one was virgin born, lived a perfect life, died on the cross as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, rose the third day, ascended to the Father, and is interceding for us in heaven. Freedom in Jesus means that we are free from false ideas about people. Satan wants us to fear and dread people. He wants us to live in enmity with each other. Jesus taught a better way, and that is to love people. Jesus sets us free to love people, even the people that are unlovable. There are people who really make this a challenge for us, but in Jesus we are free to love them. I remind myself of this often in dealing with people. I agree with those people who say that there are some people that you have to let Jesus love them through you. Let’s face it, there are some people who increase our prayer lives, but through Jesus we can love them. Freedom in Jesus means that we are free from false ideas about ourselves. I can think of two ways that we can get false ideas about ourselves. We can try to convince ourselves that we are better than we are. We need to remember that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) On the other hand we can see ourselves as beyond redemption. There is no one who can be saved by his own goodness, and there is no one who cannot be saved if he will confess his sins and seek the forgiveness of Jesus. There are many other things that freedom in Jesus can mean; these are the three that occurred to me today. “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.” Bro. Joe
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“As one, whose mother comforts him, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
The depiction of a mother in our text is as one who comforts us. The Bible often speaks of a mother’s influence. I am aware that not all mothers are ideal, and I can really only write authoritatively about the mothers that I have known: the mother of my children, my mother and my wife’s mother. All of them are in heaven, but they were “the wings beneath my wings” for this article. A mother’s love A good mother loves her family, and would give her life for her family. They love us enough to want the best for us, and make sure, to the best of their ability, that we have the best. A good mother’s love is a selfless love. Sometimes we don’t act like we need the best, but they love us anyway. The mothers that I have been involved with in my life have loved me in spite of myself. I hope, and trust, that you can say the same about your mother. Someone wrote that a good mother’s love is the next thing to God’s love. A mother’s care A good mother’s care is very important. What a heavy responsibility God has placed upon mothers. A good example of this is Jesus’ mother at the cross on the day of his death. A good mother’s care never stops, even as her children get into adulthood. My wife, Mary, my mother, Dorothy and Mary’s mama, Ruby are three good examples of this. I don’t have the space in this short article to enumerate all that these women did in my life, and the life of my children and grandchildren. We had good days and bad days, just as all people do, but looking back, my family has been fortunate for the mothers that God placed in our lives. I hope and pray that you can say the same. A mother's influence I think of the stories that I could tell of mothers and grandmothers in the congregations that I have served. I have known some great women in my years in the ministry and I have seen their good influence in the lives of their families. There are many stories that I could tell of the three mothers in my life. I thank God for my mother’s influence in my life. She was one of those mothers who “drug” her children to church. I thank God for Mary’s influence in my life and in the life of Faith and Hope – who are both good mothers. I thank God for my mother-in-law, and the influence she has had in our lives. I thank God for all of the godly women that I have known over the years. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you and God bless you. Bro. Joe “Where when does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? 21. It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air. 28. And (God) said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’”
From his misery, Job gave us the real source of wisdom, for which people are always seeking. Real wisdom is not derived from education. This, obviously, doesn’t make education unimportant in attaining knowledge, but it is not the source of real wisdom. Let’s see what Job tells us about the source of real wisdom. First, real wisdom does not come naturally, for “it is hidden from the eyes of every living thing.” There is such a thing as earthly wisdom, but that is not real wisdom. The source of real wisdom is hidden in God and is revealed by Him. Second, Job reveals that “the fear of the Lord that is wisdom.” No, this does not mean that wisdom lies in being always afraid of God, but to reverence Him as Lord and God. The fourth commandment is “thou shalt not take the Lord thy God in vain.” This is not limited to the one curse word that we always refer to “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” It means to take Him lightly in all aspects of our lives. For example, we should not take God lightly in the decisions that we make in our lives. A really wise person will seek God’s will out of reverence and worship. I do need to remind you that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews10:31) He does not take it lightly if we do not hold Him in reverence and worship. Third, with real wisdom comes real understanding: “To shun evil is understanding.” We find out how unwise it is live without reverence for God and His will for our lives when we do not shun evil. We need to steer clear of evil, which is always present and always invites us into its net. This is why part of real wisdom and understanding is to seek God’s forgiveness, not if we sin, but when we sin. Jesus who prayed from the cross: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” is always ready to forgive us when we come to Him in sincerity and repentance. (Wow, what a long sentence. lol) So, seek real wisdom and real understanding. Bro. Joe “There is no God like the Lord our God…’
Our text is Moses’ reply to Pharaoh in reference to the “plague of frogs.” Allow me to take this out of context to use the statement as a reminder of the uniqueness of our God. (A real understatement) This made me think of the unique qualities of God that I want to share with you. I think that when you see these qualities you will agree with me. The first thing that comes to mind is the grace of God. As you know, and have often heard from me, that grace is “God’s unmerited favor.” This means that there is no one who deserves the salvation and abundant life that God gives to us, but we get it anyway. I hope and trust that you have taken Jesus up on the gift of salvation and abundant life that He bought for you on Golgotha. David lived hundreds of years before Christ, but he gave us one of the greatest statements on God’s grace in Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens , the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have put into place, 4. What is man that you are mindful of Him, and that you care for him?” This grace is available to you through Jesus. The second thing that comes to mind is God’s greatness. He is the creator, as David referred to Him the heavens were the works of God’s fingers. He put the moon and stars into place. Actually, everything in the universe is “the work of His fingers.” When you look up into the sky and see the stars, you see the creative works of God’s fingers. What we know about the vastness of the universe today should make us doubt God’s existence, this knowledge should make us praise He glorious name and enjoy the vastness of His greatness. Isn’t it amazing that the God who did all of the above would care for the details of your life and mine. His grace and love are as great as the universe, and both are available to us through Christ. The third thing that comes to mind is God’s goodness. The little chorus reminds us: “God is so good; God is so good, God is so good, he’s so good to me.” You probably sang that I did when I wrote it. When I look back on my life and on all of the obstacles that I faced that I actually created for myself, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. He has been so good to me in spite of my self-created obstacles. You are probably indentifying with me in standing amazed at the goodness of God in your life. This is based on God’s grace and love for us. Let’s praise God for His goodness in our lives. I’m sure that you agree that there is no God like our God. Bro. Joe “Cause me to hear your loving-kindness in the morning; for in you do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up soul unto you.”
I think as I proceed with this article, you will see what I mean by the stilted title. In this verse we see all that we need to know about what it means to belong to Him in Christ. “Cause me to hear your loving-kindness in the morning.” When David began His day he wanted to hear and know that God is loving and kind. The Hebrew word translated loving-kindness can be translated as “kind” or “kindness.” We need to imagine ourselves as being clothed with God’s love and kindness as we start each day. We need to realize that in that day God wants the best for us. We need to live our lives in a way not to deserve God’s kindness, for we receive it by grace, but to claim it by the way we live. People should sense God’s love and kindness through the way we live, by the way we talk, and by the way we treat people. Make it a point to “hear (God’s) loving-kindness” each day. “For in you do I trust.” We need to start each day with a realization of God’s dependability. Our relationship with God is built on trust. Realizing that God loves us and offers us His kindness, we need to embrace His presence through faith and trust. Perhaps we need to start each day with a prayer of trust in God, understanding that we can depend in Him to be with us through that day no matter what we may face. He doesn’t always deliver us from hardships, but we can trust Him to be with us through the hardships. As I have grown older, believe me I have learned the meaning of this trust, and I hope that you will too. “Cause me to know wherein I should walk.” Realizing that God loved him, and that he had put his trust in Him, David sought God’s leadership for His life. He did not want to “check out on his own” and ignore the pull of God on his life. God’s loving-kindness and our trust in Him, should result in our following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I cannot tell you how to do this, but just trust your life to Him and He will make it plain to you. Don’t take my word for that, take God’s word for it, for David wrote: “For I lift up my soul unto you.” Trust your life to the Lord, accept His loving-kindness for you, “lift up your soul unto Him,” and follow His leadership for your life . Bro. Joe “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord, 9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
I am sure, that like me, you do not have to have an intellectual understanding of God to be saved? The Lord explained this to us through His great prophet Isaiah. Basically, He said that we cannot possibly have an intellectual understanding of Him because His “ways are not (our) ways” and His thoughts are higher than (our) thoughts. This is why He gave us faith in Him. Once we understand that He is above our understanding, we are ready to have faith. In John 4, the “woman at the well” did not understand why Jesus stopped at the well to speak to her. First, in those days men did not stop and talk with women alone. Second, Jesus was a Jew and she was a Samaritan, who were supposed to hate each other. How could we expect this simple woman to understand Jesus’ interest in her, especially when He told her what He would not tell the Pharisees, that He was/is the Messiah. But Jesus saved her and she went into the village and told the people there, and they received Jesus. Beyond all understanding, the Jewish Messiah saved a Samaritan village. No one is beyond His love and grace. I do not understand the forgiveness of God. I’m glad that He is a forgiving God, but that does not mean that I understand why He forgives us. I spent several years through the nineties and into the early twenties in prison ministry. I actually taught and preached in two prisons, one a county facility and the other a state facility. This was a personal mission of mine when I served as a Director of Missions. Of course, a lot of my students were in prison for drug violations, but there were other serious violations, including murder. I’m not sure that all of them were saved, but many of them were saved and they were just as forgiven as you and me. These prisoners were saved by the same grace as were all of the Baptists that I dealt with in several churches over fifty-five years. I did not have to understand, and God owed me no explanation (that’s a lol), as to why He forgives. It is His nature and I gladly accept it by faith. I’m sure that you do too. I could just go on and on with this, and you are probably thinking why didn’t I deal with this, that or the other? My point is that we do not have to understand why God does what He does. We just need to accept it all by faith and be glad that God is like He is. Amen Bro. Joe “The Lord says: ‘These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…’”
The people of Jerusalem thought of themselves as the people of God, but God knew their hearts, and gave Isaiah this message for them. We probably need the message too, for at times our Bible reading, prayer time and worship experiences, etc. are not in our hearts but are merely rote experiences. The Christian life is always a matter of the heart. Ask yourself some questions and answer honestly. When you are worshiping in your church, is your heart in it? I remember as a teenager, thumbing through the hymnal while the preacher preached. (Maybe that’s why I know so many hymns by heart. lol) When I answered the call to be a preacher, I settled in my heart that when I was worshiping in church I would put my heart in the hymns and in the sermon. What a difference it made in my worship experiences when I made them matters of the heart. (Yes, I also rejoice when the offering plate is passed. lol) Give some serious thought to your public worship experiences. When you pray in your private devotional time, is your heart in it? Our prayers can just be rote experiences if our hearts are not in them. The same is true of the time that we spend reading the Bible. Do you take the time each day for Bible reading and prayer? (We call this “private devotions.”) Perhaps this could explain why you have a difficult time putting your heart into public worship. You can find time for private devotions --- if your heart is in it. Seriously, set aside some time for Bible reading and prayer. It will make a difference in your life!!! When you think about all that Christ has done in your life, is your heart in it? I will call this “taking time to be thankful for all that God has done for you.” We need to spend more time doing this than we do complaining about our problems and about politics. (I’m also preaching to myself.) If you can get up in the morning and go to work you should give God thanks. If you have children and grandchildren, you should give God thanks. If you have friends who love you, you should give God thanks. If you have fellowship with your fellow Christians, you should give God thanks. If your heart is in your life in Christ, you will be thankful. Please give some thought to this! After all, it is “a matter of the heart.” Think about it. Bro. Joe “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
I recently had a thought about what it means to be “in Christ Jesus.” This is a description that is given often in Paul’s epistles. I want to share with you a portrait of what it means to be “in Christ.” It means to walk with Christ. Jesus is with us in every step that we take. Peter expressed it this way: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps.” Jesus knows that we will misstep, but He forgives us and walks with us. i thought of an old hymn that I love to sing: “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on let me stand, I am tired, I am weak I am worn; through the storm through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.” This is a good prayer for us as we walk with Christ. It means to talk to Christ, and to listen for the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit. Because He is walking with us, Jesus is always only a prayer away. We need to have a special prayer time to talk to Jesus, but there is not even a second during the day when we cannot talk to Jesus. This thought led me to another old hymn: “Let us have a little talk with Jesus, let us tell Him all about our troubles, He will hear our faintest cry and He will answer by and by….You will find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.” Christian, Jesus wants you to talk to Him at any time. Take advantage of this opportunity. It means to rest in Christ. Of course, my mind went immediately to Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This is not an invitation for us to take a “heavenly nap,” but to find our rest in Him even in the midst of the toils and the storms of life. There is comfort in knowing that whatever we face in this life, and we will face many things that can discourage us, we can rest our weary souls in Jesus. His arms are always open wide for us. Psalm 37:7a came to mind: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…” Find your rest ”in Christ Jesus.” Take the time today to reflect, and meditate, on your walk with Jesus, your talks with Jesus and your rest in Him. Then raise your hands and praise Him. Bro. Joe “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”
The message that John wrote about that caused joy was the message about Jesus. He is our source of joy. You have probably seen the acronym: J-Jesus, O-Others, Y-Yourself. I thought of another acronym for joy that I want to share with you. J – Just – 1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Greek word that is translated “just” can also be translated “right.” “Just” is a legal word, meaning that Jesus is qualified to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness. He is the only one who is qualified to forgive our sins. John also reminded us of this in 1 John 4:10: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation” means to be appeased. The wrath of God was appeased by the blood of Jesus. Only Jesus is qualified, or just, to forgive our sins. O – Offering – What I wrote above leads us to conclude that Jesus is the only offering for our sins. Hebrews 10:10 “….we are sanctified (separated) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Jesus was the “once for all” sacrifice for our sins. He will never again have to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. We need to love Jesus because of His sacrifice for us, and be thankful to Him. It should make a difference in how we live. Paul touched on this in Ephesians 5:1-2: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children: 2. and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” (NIV: “a fragrant offering”) Y- Yes- 1 Corinthians 1:19-20: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No,’ but in Him it has always been ‘Yes.’ 20. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken to us by the glory of God.” You did not misread this text. Every promise that God has made to us is “YES” in Christ. Will Christ help us in our daily walk by the Holy Spirit? The answer is “YES.” Can we be saved from sin and live eternally in heaven? The answer is “YES” in Christ. Can we learn to love all people, even the most unlovable, as the Bible encourages us to do. The answer is “YES” in Christ. So we can spell “JOY” in Jesus as Just, Offering and Yes, for He is all of these and more. Bro. Joe “But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. 9. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, for there are many adversaries.”
Paul did not mean he was glad that he had trouble in Ephesus. What he meant was that his enemies would not keep him from doing what Christ was leading him to do in Ephesus. That should be our attitude toward trouble in our lives. We will all have troubles but we will not be effective if we let the troubles get in the way of our service. How we overcome life’s troubles will determine our effectiveness in life. It is in our troubles that God teaches us some valuable lessons. Our troubles enable us to learn more about our faith. Until our faith is tested, we do not really know how strong it is. The issue of faith is that we keep on keeping on in spite of our obstacles. If someone, or some circumstance, can keep us from serving the Lord, their influence is stronger than our faith. Let’s just say that our faith has to be tested in order to get the exercise that it needs to make it stronger. We don’t necessarily have to look for trouble, for it finds us sooner or later. Our troubles enable us to learn more about our patience. Understand that “patience” is not my middle name. One of our family jokes is that when they go out to eat with me, we need to “beat the crowd.” But in my service for the Lord, I have found that I have more patience than I knew I had. I didn’t know how much patience I had until I had to endure months and months of health problems. It was during this time that the Lord gave me the patience that I needed to wait on Him. There was no “beating the crowd.” I have also learned the same in encountering trouble in my ministry. Let’s just say that there are people who give you great joy in your service, and there are others who teach you to have patience and to wait on the Lord. Let your troubles teach you patience. Our troubles enable us to learn more about our love for Jesus. Peter learned this lesson the hard way. He thought that he would stand up for Jesus when they came to crucify Him, but he denied the Him three times when he had the chance to stand up for Him. But Peter’s real love for Jesus was proved after he went out and wept and repented, and no doubt, asked for forgiveness. His true love for Jesus was shown when he preached the great sermon in Acts 2, and when he continued to preach Jesus when told to stop preaching in His name. Our troubles can tell us how strong our love for Jesus is. It is not a question of whether or not you will face trouble, for it will come. The question is whether or not you will give in to them, or whether or not you will let them grow your faith, your patience and your love for Jesus. Think about it and march on. Bro. Joe |
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