“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
The day of Pentecost in Acts 2 is actually the launching of Christ’s church. Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came, and this is what happened in Jerusalem on that particular celebration of Pentecost. Pentecost literally means “fifty days,” which means fifty days after Passover and was also called the “Feast of Weeks.” It was a celebration of the gathering of the grain harvest, and came to be a celebration of the giving of the law to Moses. (The Revel Bible Dictionary) It took on new meaning because of Jesus. It is important to see what occurred in this launching of Christ’s church. The first thing to note is that it happened as Jesus told His disciples it would happen. He told them that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and that they would be witnesses of Him in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) This event was indeed the fulfilling of Jesus’ word to His disciples about the Holy Spirit coming upon them – as well as in them. It was fitting that the witness of the disciples under the power of the Holy Spirit took place in Jerusalem, since that is where Jesus told them that they would begin their witness. This was an example of witnessing under the power of the Holy Spirit. It was amazing that people from all over the world heard the gospel in their own language. The second thing to note is that they were “all with one accord in one place.” This means that there was no disagreement among them as to their purpose. Since that church, like ours, was made up of human beings, there were eventually disagreements and differences that needed to be worked out, but it was important for them to be of one accord on the matter of being witnesses of Jesus. We can disagree about a lot of things, and we probably will, but we cannot disagree that the main purpose of the church today is the same purpose of the church on the day of Pentecost, and that was to be witnesses for Jesus to the lost world. We should certainly be of one accord on that matter. The third thing to note is that it was the Holy Spirit who made the gospel clear to the people who received the witness. Let’s look at Acts 2:6-9 as an example of what I mean: “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? 8. And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” The marvelous thing here is that it was the Holy Spirit who communicated the truth of the gospel about Jesus Christ to people from all over the world. Whatever else you make of this event, it is obvious that what took place was a miracle of hearing. Notice that the people did not say “they are speaking in our own language.” What they said was that they heard the men speaking in their own language. Only the Holy Spirit can cause such a miracle. In your own witness, you might not think that you are doing a good job of sharing the gospel, but the Holy Spirit can communicate it through you no matter how you might stumble. The bottom line of this launching of Christ’s church on the day of Pentecost is that the disciples, not just the apostles but all of the believers at that time, went in one accord to witness under the power of the Holy Spirit and at the end of the day, after Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:14-41, three thousand people were saved. We need to catch the spirit of Pentecost in Acts 2. Don’t you agree? Bro. Joe
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“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. 2. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.”
Nadab and Abihu are names that live in infamy in the Bible, Why? As sons of Aaron they had been given the priestly duty of offering sacrifices at the tabernacle, where God came among His people. They were playing around with their censers and offered sacrifices that had not been commanded by God, and they paid with their lives. I am using this text to show you that it does matter what we believe and what we do. They found out that God was serious about what He wanted them to do – being a priest for the people of God was not a game. It still matters what we believe about God and what we do for God. Let me give some examples. It matters what we believe about Jesus. The Old Testament in prophecy and the New Testament in prospect give us the picture of whom and what Jesus Christ was and is. We can’t make a picture of Jesus and decide that he will be “our Jesus” apart from what the Bible says about Him. It is clear from scripture that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that He is the One chosen by God to save people from their sins. This was made known from the beginning when the angel announced to Joseph about Mary’s pregnancy: “And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.”(Matthew 1:21) Jesus Himself declared: “I am the way, the truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) We can’t blithely call Jesus “just a good man,” because this is not how He is depicted in scripture. He is no less than the Son of God, God incarnate according to John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” There are many more biblical proofs about whom and what Jesus is, but what I have written should illustrate that according to the Bible, it does matter what we believe about Jesus. It matters what we believe about the Bible. Many today see the Bible as an ancient book of myths Ironically, they dismiss it as being too old to be relevant. Why, then, will the same people believe in accounts of dinosaurs. Shoot, that was a long time ago, and it shouldn’t matter to us. The Bible is ever old and ever new. I think that it was Karl Barth who said that you can have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other and see what God is doing in the world. The Bible is the accurate, perfect revelation of God and of His plans for the world. We can’t neglect the Bible and lead the kind of lives that God wants us to lead. It is apparent that there is vast ignorance of the Bible in our world today. I have read many accounts of people who started reading the Bible to prove that it was a book of myths and came away from it firmly convinced of the Bible’s reality. That’s not true of everyone who read it, of course, but if it is true about one person that is enough to declare the Bible the word of God. We can’t go through the bible as if it is a buffet and pick and choose what we want. The Bible has a clear message of God’s love for us demonstrated in Jesus Christ. It has a clear message of God’s hatred of sin, and of His judgment. We can’t have only a God of love, or only a God of judgment. According the Bible, God is all that He is, and we should believe it. Bro. Joe “(Jesus) went away the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:43)
“Then said Jesus, Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) “I pray not thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one.”(John 17:15) The New Testament often tells us that “Jesus went apart to pray.” Whatever Jesus prayed about was of ultimate importance. He was God incarnate and knew all things, so whatever He prayed about had eternal significance. We can believe that in His infinite wisdom, Jesus was praying for us as well. There are three prayers of Jesus that were crucial to the reason why He came to earth in the first place. Let’s look at them and realize they are crucial to us. The prayer in Matthew 26:43 was prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was what I will call His prayer of surrender. From the time He left heaven until this crucial moment in the Garden, Jesus knew that He came to earth to ultimately drink the cup of separation and death. It should mean a lot to us that Jesus struggled with the decision, for this indentifies Him with us in our struggles. The bitter cup was not death, for Jesus did not fear death. In my opinion, the bitter cup was that on the cross, Jesus took the sins of the whole world upon Himself. In the process He had to cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Jesus took your sins and mine upon Himself on the cross. This prayer of surrender was crucial for our salvation, for without His crucifixion, we would be lost in sin forever. The prayer in Luke 23:34 was prayed from the cross. According to Luke, these were the first words that Jesus uttered from the cross. That is just like the Jesus that we have come to know through the gospel accounts, i.e., that He was thinking of those who were crucifying Him and all of the people who would be born afterward – this means you and me as well. A gospel song comes to mind when I read this: “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.” We can take this prayer personally. Jesus prayed for our forgiveness from the cross before He died. My understanding of this prayer is that Jesus has already forgiven us for our sins, what we need to do is claim it. After we are converted we need to pray for forgiveness in order to claim the forgiveness that He gave us from the cross. This prayer was crucial, because without the forgiveness of Jesus, we would be hopelessly lost and unforgiven here and throughout eternity. Jesus’ forgiveness is available to all who are convicted by the Holy Spirit that they need it. The prayer in John 17:15 was part of Jesus’ prayer for Himself, his disciples and for all future believers. This was a prayer for His disciples, but it applies to us as well. The prayer was that His followers would be protected from the devil. Jesus did not pray for His followers to be taken from the world, because we are His witnesses here and now. He prayed that we would be protected from “the evil one” – the devil and his demons. That prayer was crucial for the devil is always busy trying to ruin our witness to the world. Again, I remind you that you can take these prayers personally. Bro. Joe “You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.”
As far as military plans go, no one could have predicted the capture of Jericho to be so unorthodox. God told Joshua and his army to march around Jericho one time for six days, and then on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. When this was done, they blew the trumpet and shouted and the “walls came tumbling down.” David Jeremiah wrote about this: “Let us get this straight. We’re going to walk around Jericho, and the walls are going to fall down.” My title given above is what I think that the people might have said to Joshua when he gave them the plan: “God told us to do what?” We will have to admit that it is a bit unusual, but it did work. Why did it work? It worked because it was God’s plan. What makes no sense to us makes very good sense to God. God knows what He can do, and He knows how He wants to do it. Take for example, His plan of salvation. We would not come up with the plan to send His Son to die on the cross for the sins of mankind. This is what God did in His infinite wisdom. I cannot explain why this had to be, but God knew how He wanted to do it. Being the sovereign God that He is, God knew what needed to be done, whether we could explain it or understand it or not. Another example that I use often when writing or talking about God’s unusual plans is the calling of Saul of Tarsus to witness to gentiles. The Bible had prophesied that the gentiles would be saved, and Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection brought this about. One would think that God would have found a good gentile and sent him to witness to gentiles. What God did was to call the meanest Jew that He could find, convert him, and send him to witness to the gentiles. I can almost hear Saul, who became Paul, the Apostle, say: “God told me to do what?” God’s plan for our lives might not always make sense to us, but we need to remember that it is God’s plan and it will work because God has ordained it. It worked because God wanted Joshua to understand that the battle to take Canaan would not be because of his military prowess, but because of God’s sovereign will and purpose. Joshua had already experienced things like this. He was there when God divided the Red Sea, sent the manna and the quails and made water come out of a rock. Joshua was there when the Jordan River was divided to let the Israelites into Canaan. Like us, Joshua was a human being, and he would need reminders of God’s power. The defeat of Jericho was an act of God, not a result of Joshua’s military prowess. To be sure, Joshua was a military strategist, but no strategy that he could have devised would have made the walls of Jericho fall. When we come to our “Jericho’s” where the victory seems remote, we need to remember that the God who tore down the walls of Jericho can tear down whatever walls that we may face. After all, the God we serve in the name of Jesus is the same God that led Israel to victory at Jericho. It worked because Joshua did not question God’s wisdom in His plan to defeat Jericho. Joshua understood that with God he could do the impossible. Jesus said that “with God all things are possible.” Whatever it is that God wants you to do, what it will take to succeed is to unquestionably obey God, no matter how impossible the task might seem to be. God’s great work is done through obedient servants, who do what He wants. Are you one of those servants? Will you be one of them? Bro. Joe “Jesus said unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth and the life…”
When Jesus told Thomas that He is “the way,” He meant that He is the way to the Father, and this is open to all sorts of interpretations. We can say that He is "the way out of a sinful lifestyle,” or that He is the “the way to heaven,” etc. I know that Jesus is the way to a better life, which means that Jesus is the new way as opposed to the old way of living only for the world. I think you will agree that Jesus offers a new life and new possibilities. I want to look at few of these possibilities. Jesus is the new way to claim victory over the troubles of life. These troubles can take all sorts of forms. Some of our troubles come because of bad choices that we make. Some of our troubles are internal and come from our thought lives. Some of our troubles have to do with other people. The causes of trouble are numerous, but Jesus offers a way over, through or beyond them. When I think of the troubles of my life, I think of what Jesus said in John 16:33: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We are always looking for a way out of the troubles of life, but Jesus offers us a better way, for He offers us a way through the troubles of life. Jesus said that we will have troubles, but that He can give us peace. In my life this has been peace that has come from Jesus in spite of the troubles that I have faced. Try Jesus as a new way to claim victory over your troubles. Jesus is the new way to claim victory over fear. All of us experience fear of some sort. I think that when Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy that Timothy was dealing with some fear issues. Here is what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:6-7: “Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands. 7. For God has not given us a spirit fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” It shouldn’t surprise us that prominent people in the New Testament experienced some of the same emotions that we experience. I think Paul was reminding Timothy that Jesus was in His life and that Jesus could take him beyond whatever it was that was causing his fear. When we have Jesus in our lives, and the gift of the Holy Spirit within us, we overcome fear by the power of God, the love of God and a sound mind, or self discipline. Jesus is our way out of being overcome by fear. He has placed in us the power of His Spirit, His love and through Him self-discipline. Let Jesus be your new way to claim victory over fear. Jesus is the new way to claim victory over sin. Though most people today do not realize it, sin is the number one problem of humanity. It all began in the Garden of Eden and has continued throughout human history. Until Jesus came and died on the cross for us, rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, there was no real way of victory over sin. Jesus was, and is, the new way to get victory over sin. This does not mean that we will never sin, but it does mean that sin will not control our lives, or as Paul stated it, we do not have to be slaves to sin. This is spelled out for us in 1 John 1:8-10: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” We can’t claim victory over sin by denying it, but by confessing it and letting Jesus cleanse us. It is in Jesus that we have victory over sin. Jesus is the way to abundant life. It is an old story, but it is ever new as people are saved through Jesus. Bro. Joe “Come, let us return to the Lord, He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us. He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. 2. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence.”
Hosea was written at a critical time in the history of the northern kingdom of Israel. They had wandered away from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and were worshipping Baal and the gods of the people they had replaced in Canaan. Hosea’s prophetic ministry was to call upon the people to return to the true God. This is a principle that is seen throughout the Old and New Testaments: People wander away from the true faith and get far away from God. Another principle is revealed in these two verses from Hosea: God always wants people to return to Him and to live in His will, and to do this He will discipline them in order to get them to see the need for repentance. This text tells us that God is waiting for a nation or an individual to come back to Him and establish a better relationship with Him. The text tells us about what God will do when we repent. Hosea wrote: “He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us.” The promise is that God will heal us. I know that when we think of healing, we normally think of it as physical healing. I think that what Hosea is calling for here, and what we are being called to is spiritual healing. I have discovered in my own life that spiritual healing is the most important healing that we can have. God is interested in what we are in our hearts. If we are living as practical atheists, i.e., we are living as though there is no God, we are not pleasing God and we are being poor witnesses of Christ. The promise here, however, is that if we will return to the Lord, He will heal us. He will draw us closer to Himself. James wrote about this in his epistle: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…” My interpretation of this is that if we consciously draw near to God, we will find that He is where He has always been, and we will find Him close to us. The point is that if God is disciplining you, He is doing it to heal you and to get your heart right with Him. Hosea wrote :“He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.” The promise is that God will heal us.This is illustrated for us in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A man had been left bleeding on the side of the road and the Good Samaritan came along, stopped and helped him and bound up his wounds. He did this, Jesus tells us, because he had compassion on the man. This is how God deals with us in our recalcitrance: He looks at us with compassion and covers the wounds that sin has inflicted on us – on our souls. If an open wound is left without bandages, it will be subject to infection. When God heals us, He does not leave our wound open to the elements. He forgives us and wipes the slate clean and keeps us from being “infected” by the world around us. Hosea wrote: “On the third day He will restore us.” The KJV translates this: “On the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.” God is in the restoring business. You do not have to live a defeated life. Whatever has kept you from being close to God, and whatever has caused you spiritual pain, God wants to wipe it out and restore you to a right relationship with Him. Throughout the Bible, we are promised that if we will draw near to God, He will draw near to us. This knowledge should take away our fascination with the sins that beset us and that keep us from a strong relationship with God. This “third day” is akin to Christ’s resurrection. God will spiritually resurrect us and draw us closer to Himself if we will repent and return to Him. God is longing to restore you. Let Him do it now. Bro. Joe “In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
“Redemption “is a word that we do not use a lot today. The word, as used in the Bible, is a legal word used for freeing slaves. If someone, or the slave himself, bought a slave’s freedom it was said that he was redeemed. This is really what Paul intended in this verse from Ephesians. He wanted us to know that our freedom from slavery to sin had been purchased for us through Christ. Christian redemption is centered in a person: “in Him.” Jesus Christ is the only source of our redemption. In John 14:6, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” If it wasn’t for Jesus everyone would be hopelessly lost, and there would no hope of heaven for anyone. Jesus is the one who sets us free. Here is what Jesus said about it in John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Christian redemption is certain: “we have.” Being set free by Christ is not something that we can only wish for. There are people who say that we can’t know whether or not we are saved, or have been set free. But according to Paul, this redemption is something that “we have.” The New Testament is written to let us know that we can know that we have been redeemed. We know whether or not we have received Jesus as our Savior. Redemption in Jesus is not something to be taken lightly, but it is something that can be taken with certainty. Christian redemption is costly: “through his blood.” 1 John 1:7 tells us: “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Revelation 1:5 tells us: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Redemption through Christ is free for the taking, but it is certainly not cheap. It cost the life of God’s Son. I don’t know why it had to be this way, but I do know that it was God’s plan, and that it is the result of His love for us. Don’t be ashamed to talk about blood redemption, because it is absolutely necessary. Christian redemption has a great cause: “the forgiveness of sins.” Forgiveness of sins is what redemption is all about. The first thing that a person has to do to be saved is to realize that he or she is a sinner in need for forgiveness. No one comes to the Lord for salvation having earned it, or demanding it. Paul wrote: “For by grace are you saved through grace, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: 9. not of works lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)The problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees in the gospels was that they did not think that they needed to be forgiven for anything. This is a problem for a lot of people today, because they refuse to see themselves as sinners in need of forgiveness. We never get to a point that we do not need God’s forgiveness. Isn’t it amazing that this one little verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians tells us so much about the redemption that we have through Christ. If you are not redeemed you can be today. If you are redeemed ---- rejoice! Bro. Joe “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
My mind is never far from Psalm 23. It has meant so much to me as I have gone through all of the tough spots in my life. I have a whole series of studies/sermons based on this powerful psalm. As I read this first verse of Psalm 23, it spoke to me of our relationship with God. I see it as a word portrait drawn by David. Psalm 23:1 shows us some great things about our relationship with the Lord. It shows us the preeminence of the Lord in our relationship with Him. It says “the Lord is my shepherd.” A Lord is one who can tell you what to do and you have to do it – or should do it if you are wise. Paul dealt with this in relation to our Lord Jesus in Colossians 1:16-18: “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 (held together). 18. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence (first place). Our relationship with our Lord is not an equal one. It shows us that our relationship with the Lord is positive – it is certain. “The Lord is my shepherd.” Psalm 23:1 does not tell us the Lord might be our shepherd. When we are one of His people through faith in Christ, we have a relationship with Him as our shepherd. In 1 John 5:13, John wrote of this certainty in our relationship with the Lord: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.” There is no such thing as a “maybe so” relationship with the Lord. It shows us that our relationship with the Lord is personal. “The Lord is my shepherd.” Cynical unbelievers like to make fun of those of us who say that we have a personal relationship with Jesus. I don’t know what they think is funny about it. I will take my personal relationship with Jesus over a personal relationship with absolutely nothing Jesus has invited us to come to Him in order for us to have a relationship with Him. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” That is certainly an invitation to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In this personal relationship, we have a claim on Jesus, but more importantly, He has a claim on us. It shows us that our Lord protects us and provides for us in our relationship with Him. It says that “The Lord is my Shepherd.” One of the main jobs of a shepherd is to protect the sheep. That’s why the shepherd had a rod and staff. The rod was used to beat back wild animals when they tried to attack the helpless sheep. The staff was used to rescue the helpless sheep when they got into bad situations, like getting out on a ledge. The curve of the staff was used to pull the sheep up. The Lord protects us like a shepherd, and the Lord also provides for us like a shepherd: “I shall not want.” This does not mean that the Lord gives us everything that we want, but that, like a good shepherd, He will provide what we need.Personally, I think that “I shall not want” means that when the Lord is my shepherd, He is all that I need. I think that you will agree that this is a good portrait of our relationship with the Lord. Bro.Joe “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57
“For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. 5. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4-5 There is another text that tells us about the victory that we have through our faith in Jesus Christ: “Nay, in all things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) It is not always easy to see that we are victors. Life just sometimes wears us down and we feel defeated and alone, but according to the word of God we are victors because of our faith in Jesus Christ. There are some things that we need to realize about this. We do not always feel like victors. As I mentioned above, life has a way of wearing us down, making us weary and sometimes leaves us feeling defeated. If you feel this way, you are not the first Christian to have moments like this. Just because we do not feel like victors does not mean that we are not victors. The scriptures that are written above, and a lot of others, make it a settled fact that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, He enters our lives through the Holy Spirit and gives us the victory. I’m not saying that it is a good thing to feel defeated; I am saying that, being human, we will sometimes feel that way. If you are down in the dumps feeling defeated and you are a Christian, go look in the mirror and say to yourself: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; therefore, I have overcome the world." And you might add: “Greater is He that is in me than He who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) It is not a sin to feel defeated at times; it is a sin to stay that way and live as a loser. Being a victor in Christ does not mean that we will always win. We learn as much through defeats in life as we do through victories. The two authors of our texts, John and Paul, are good examples of what I mean. John lived a long life, but he suffered persecution like all other Christians of his day. He wrote Revelation while living in exile on the Isle of Patmos. Yet he could write: “Greater is He that is in you, than he who is in the world.” The apostle Paul was persecuted in every place that he went. Leonard Ravenhill wrote that “everywhere Paul went, there was a revival or riot.” Paul spent years in prison in Rome for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Yet this great man of God could write: “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” John's and Paul's victory was not in their circumstances but in their Lord. That is exactly where our victory is as well. Just because you might have been defeated, you are not a loser because you “are more than a conqueror through Him that loved (you).” We need to remember that we are not victors because of our own strength but because of the Lord’s strength. Remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:57: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Victory in Christ is a gift that God has given through our faith in His Son. We didn’t earn it, and we didn’t bring it about, but it was given to us by Almighty God. If you are down in the dumps at this point in your life, get up and claim that victory that you have in Christ. If you don’t have that victory, give your life in faith to Jesus and it will be given to you. Rejoice! Bro. Joe “The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.”
Psalm 121:5 was the scripture that I recently read in my devotional book. It was an article by David Jeremiah about loneliness. This article made me think about being alone. Are Christians ever really alone? I already know the answer to this question. I truly doubt that any human being has escaped the feeling of loneliness. It is in the DNA of human beings to want to be around other people. I think that even those people that we call “loners” experience loneliness at some time or other. I remember a very lonely time in my life. It was my first Christmas in the Navy in 1956. I was in Hospital Corps School at the naval hospital in San Diego, California. They gave us a choice of liberty on Christmas day or New Year’s Day. I chose Christmas. That was a bad choice. My first Christmas away from home was spent on the streets of San Diego, where I knew no one and no one knew me. Since that Christmas, I define loneliness based on what I felt that day. Feeling alone is one of the worst feelings that we can have. Did you know that God does not want us to feel alone? Look at the text for this article: “The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.” This means that God is ever near to us. In fact, Jesus promised to never leave nor forsake us. God created us with a need for human companionship and fellowship as well. This is why Christian fellowship is so important. We need each other, and not a one of us should feel lonely as long as there is another Christian in this world. If you are lonely, reach out to a fellow Christian. This is part of what Christian fellowship is about. This is one of the reasons that we have church. It’s not the only reason, but it is one reason. If we are afraid to reach out to each other in loneliness, we have misinterpreted the meaning of Christian fellowship. Which leads me to remind you that if you are lonely, it might be because you have isolated yourself. In this case, get up off of it and call a Christian friend. I have an even better suggestion: Why don’t you find some lonely person in your community and visit them? Now there is a novel idea. It might be a fellow Christian, or it might be a non-Christian. In the first case, your fellow Christian will appreciate your concern. In the second case, you just might be a witness to that person, and that person will be eternally grateful to you. You get the point don’t you? You don’t have to be lonely if you will just reach out for fellowship with and witness to other people. I want to make another suggestion: If you feel lonely today, before you reach out to other people, renew your fellowship with God. As the song tells us, “My Lord is near me all the time….” Spend some time alone with God; experience His reality and His love for awhile. Pray and seek a real, dynamic sense of His presence. The reality is that we are never really alone if we are trusting in Jesus. That’s why I feel sorry for atheists and all other unbelievers. When they are lonely, they are really lonely. But if you have a relationship with God, He is near you all of the time. An old hymn entitled “Never Alone” comes to my mind .“No, never alone, no never alone, He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.” Pay attention to Jesus when He tells you, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” If we really believe that, when we feel lonely we will reach out for fellowship with Jesus, and He will lead us to fellowship with others. You will feel alone at times, but you do not have to live in that condition. Believe it! Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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