"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4. Who comforts us in all our tribulation (trouble), that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
"Comfort" is a wonderful word. I think that it is the aim of most people to be comfortable. We work and earn money in order to have a comfortable life. But the comfort that Paul writes about here is much more than just having a comfortable life. "Comfort" is defined as "a state of well-being." This is what Jesus brings into our lives. He gives us a sense of, not just physical well-being, but a sense of spiritual well-being. In Jesus we have security, consolation and peace in our souls. It is not a shallow comfort that lasts for only a moment. It is a deep comfort that gives us peace and tranquility everyday of our lives. This doesn't mean that because of Jesus, we live a life of ease, with no cares whatsoever. What it does mean is that because of Jesus' comfort, we are enabled to meet the inevitable problems of life with a sense of security and well-being, knowing that Jesus is with us. Jesus doesn't just give us comfort: He is our comfort. It is interesting that when Jesus told His disciples about His death, resurrection and ascension, He promised to send them a "Comforter." He was talking about the Holy Spirit. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit, Who comforts us with the comfort of Jesus. Praise God! We have received God's comfort. But this is not where His comfort ends. We do not just receive His comfort and sit back and enjoy it all to ourselves. Look at verse 4 of 2 Corinthians 1: "(God) comforts us in all our trouble, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." This means that we do not receive God's comfort to keep to ourselves. He expects us to share it with other people. It should be important to us that, if God can bring such comfort into our lives, He can also bring it into the lives of others. We should be concerned that people all around us who are faced with all kinds troubles without the benefit of spiritual guidance, should receive the same comfort that we have. We certainly cannot force this complete comfort on other people. I have had people get downright sore at me for trying to introduce them to the One who could give them this comfort. Some have even accused me of "judging" them because I wanted to do them a favor. This doesn't mean, however, that I would be justified to just stop trying to share this great comfort. What we have in Jesus is not just ours to keep, rather, it is ours to share. Every "good and perfect gift" that He brought into our lives is given to us to share with others. It is important that we be about the business of sharing the comfort that we have in Jesus. Bro. Joe
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"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4. Who comforts us in all our tribulation (trouble), that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
"Comfort" is a wonderful word. I think that it is the aim of most people to be comfortable. We work and earn money in order to have a comfortable life. But the comfort that Paul writes about here is much more than just having a comfortable life. "Comfort" is defined as "a state of well-being." This is what Jesus brings into our lives. He gives us a sense of, not just physical well-being, but also a sense of spiritual well-being. In Jesus we have security, consolation and peace in our souls. It is not a shallow comfort that lasts for only a moment. It is a deep comfort that gives us peace and tranquility everyday of our lives. This doesn't mean that because of Jesus, we live a life of ease, with no cares whatsoever. What it does mean is that because of Jesus' comfort, we are enabled to meet the inevitable problems of life with a sense of security and well-being, knowing that Jesus is with us. Jesus doesn't just give us comfort: He is our comfort. It is interesting that when Jesus told His disciples about His death, resurrection and ascension, He promised to send them a "Comforter." He was talking about the Holy Spirit. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit, Who comforts us with the comfort of Jesus. Praise God! We have received God's comfort. But this is not where His comfort ends. We do not just receive His comfort and sit back and enjoy it all to ourselves. Look at verse 4 of 2 Corinthians 1: "(God) comforts us in all our trouble, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." This means that we do not receive God's comfort to keep to ourselves. He expects us to share it with other people. It should be important to us that, if God can bring such comfort into our lives, He can also bring it into the lives of others. We should be concerned that people all around us who are faced with all kinds troubles without the benefit of spiritual guidance, should receive the same comfort that we have. We certainly cannot force this complete comfort on other people. I have had people get downright sore at me for trying to introduce them to the One who could give them this comfort. Some have even accused me of "judging" them because I wanted to do them a favor. This doesn't mean, however, that I would be justified to just stop trying to share this great comfort. Let's get this down good: What we have in Jesus is not just ours to keep, rather, it is ours to share. Every "good and perfect gift" that He brought into our lives is given to us to share with others. It is important that we be about the business of sharing the comfort that we have in Jesus with others. Bro. Joe "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him."
My favorite time to worship God is in the quiet of early morning. It is at this time that I can really concentrate on the word of God and pray. It is at these times that God speaks to my heart and refreshes my faith. I worship God in silence. It is in these silent times that, as the psalmist wrote, "My expectation is from Him." It is at these times that all of the possibilities of what God can do in my life and in the world, come to life and stay with me all through the day. I think that I can tolerate the "noise" of life because of these moments of silence. Let's take this moment that we are presently experiencing in our country called "the political season" as an example. I must tell you that I really, really, really, get tired of all of the negative rhetoric and the daily posturing of politicians. I am definitely on one side of the political argument, but I grow weary of my side as well as the other side. It is just downright discouraging to me. But in the silence of worship, God assures me that "this too shall pass." (This little phrase has come to my rescue many times over the years.) It is in these moments that I realize that my "expectation" is really from Him and not from the events that are going on around me. God assures me in my heart that He will go into the future with me and that I will never be alone no matter what the circumstances. It is God's presence in my life that makes all of the difference. It was because of God's presence that David took on Goliath. It was because of God's presence that Paul kept on preaching Jesus, even though He was persecuted for it everywhere he went. It was because of God's presence that the early apostles did not give up when they were told not to preach Jesus anymore. In my quiet moments, God assures me that He is in control. It surely doesn't seem like it sometimes. I wish that I could tell you that I never concern myself with the negative things of life. I am probably just like you, I enjoy life more when things are going my way. But at the same time, I am fully aware that God is in the negative as well as the positive and that, with Him, I can survive and move on. I want you to know that your expectation is from God as well. Whether you worship Him in silence or in noise, all of the expectations of your life are bound up in Him. However you do it, worship God/Jesus on a daily basis and it will make a difference in your life. Bro. Joe "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ; and sinners shall be converted unto thee."
Have you ever lost the joy of the salvation that God has freely given you in His Son? If you are like me you probably have, but, hopefully you did not stay satisfied in that position. One of the tragedies of church life is that there are people who have lost the joy of their salvation and are not really aware of it. These are usually the unhappy, negative people who cause trouble in the fellowship. David knew that he still belonged to God, but he was also aware that he was not as joyful in that relationship as he should be. What caused David to lose the joy of his salvation? He lost that joy when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered. How could he have joy with that on his conscience? Consequently, he did all that he could: He confessed and repented. This is what we need to do when we are not as joyful in salvation as we should be. In John 15:11, Jesus said that He has given us "(His) joy that our joy might be full." A joyless life is out of sorts with God. What I want to come to now, however, is why David wanted the joy of salvation restored. Look at verse 13 again: "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." David knew that his influence (we would call it witness) was hurt because of his sins and his loss of joy. He also knew that he could not help transgressors (sinners) find God in their lives as long as he was in his joyless condition. That is why he wrote, "then will I teach transgressors thy ways." It just could be that our witness to sinners is not as effective as it should be because we have lost the joy of our salvation - and people sense it. Look deeply into your own life and see if you have lost the joy of your salvation. If you have lost the joy of your salvation, confess and repent and let your life reveal the joy of Jesus. Then your witness will be more effective, and you will be a happier person. Think about it! Bro. Joe "Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. 15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light to all that are in the house. 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror for the first time, my first thought is not that I am the light of the world. You probably have the same thought. It is difficult to realize that we are the light of the world, except that this is what Jesus called us. Before we get too proud of ourselves, however, we need to read John 8:12: "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Putting these two texts together, we can see that we are the light of the world because Jesus is the light of the world. It is not our light that people see, rather, it is the light of Jesus shining through us. Our light is like moonlight. The moon has no luminary qualities, for it's light is relfected sunlight. In the same way, our light is reflected "Sonlight." We are not to boast, "I am the light of the world." We are to remember that because we have Jesus in our lives, we are supposed to be reflecting His light to the world. How can we do that? First, we can live the Christian life. I do not mean that we become religious and speak in stilted "stained glass tones." I mean that we live moral lives that reflect the values of Jesus. We will never do it perfectly as He did, but we can do the best that we can with His help. A lot of Bible study and public and private worship can help to make this possible. Second, we can love people like Jesus did. Jesus said: "This is my commandment, that ye love another, as I have loved you." Jesus also said: "By this shall all (people) know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." We begin by loving each other, then we love all people as Jesus did. Does the world see Christ's love through what goes on in your life and at your church? We really need to think about this, and act on it, if we want to be genuine lights for Christ in this world. Do people see Christ's love through how we act in our daily lives? Third, we can minister to people in the name of Jesus. Ministry is helping people anyway that we can, from a smile to actual acts of service. We encounter all kinds of people in our daily lives. God loves everyone of them. We might find them lonely, suffering from sickness, steeped in the ways of the world, dirty, down and out, up and out, or just plain mean, but they all need the love of Jesus. Jesus died for everyone of them! We can minister the light of Christ to them by loving and helping them as Jesus did. They might not really want your help, but if Christ's light is shining through you, you can get through to them. Finally, in this text Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before (people), that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." They will probably appreciate your efforts, but, ultimately, if what they see is the light of Christ, they will glorify God. If you belong to Jesus, you are the light of the world. Go out there and shine!!!! Bro. Joe "For God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting God."
The greatest truth that I have gleaned from the Bible is that God loves us. I thought today of the scope of God's love, which I want to share with you. First, I know that God loves me. Frankly, I sometime wonder why He loves me. I have in no way earned that love. I have stumbled many times in my Christian walk, but each time God has picked me up and continued to allow me to serve Him. In His word, God reveals to us His abiding love. I always think of David. David erred in his relationship with Bathsheba, but he repented and God forgave him and continued to use Him mightily. In Psalm 51:12, David prayed, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." God forgave, restored and used David until he died. This reminds me that God loves me in spite of my sins, and that He loves you in spite of your sins. Sincerely ask Him for forgiveness now and He will forgive you and use you. (Note that I wrote "sincerely ask.") Second, this leads me to remind you that God loves you. I have the feeling that someone is reading this article who needs this reminder. You cannot get so far away from God that He cannot reach, restore and use you. Never get the idea that God does not love you. Like me, you do not deserve that holy love, but you, nevertheless, have it. If you believe the Bible, you have to believe that God loves you. He knows all about you, but is waiting for you to depend on His love and forgiveness. There are many people living in misery because they do not know that God loves them and will forgive and use them. If He uses me, He will use you. Third, we need to be reminded that God loves the world. John 3:16 says "that God so loved the world." God is aware of the sins of the world, just as He is aware of our sins, but the Bible still tells us "that God so loved the world." Because of God's great love for the world, He sent Jesus into the world to give Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died on the cross for you, for me, and for the whole world. This does not mean that the whole world is saved, but it does mean anyone who comes to Him in sincere repentance can be forgiven, saved, and used of God. Perhaps you need to be reminded that this applies to you. God loves me. God loves you. He loves the entire world. You cannot drift so far from the Loving Lord that He will not call you back. If you do not believe me, believe the biblical message: "That God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life...." Bro. Joe “And (God) said to man, the fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”
In one of his long discourses, Job spoke of wisdom and understanding. In verses 20-21 he said: “Where then does wisdom and understanding dwell? 21. It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air.” Wisdom and understanding seem to be hopeless quests for people. In verses 23-24, Job gave the key to wisdom and understanding: “God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells, 24. For He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.” Out of his misery, Job gave a clue as to where we can hope to find wisdom and understanding in this world: It is found in God! Job said that “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom.” In the prologue to Proverbs, Solomon wrote: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Real wisdom begins and ends with fearing God. This does not mean that we are to be afraid of God as we are of ghosts. It means that we are to hold God in great reverence and accept Him in all of His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence. We must see God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. To limit God in any way is foolish. This means that wisdom begins in holding God in great awe, and accepting that all of our hopes and dreams reside in Him. Wise people depend on God and look to Him as the source of all of the things that they seek out of life. Throughout the Bible, and throughout human history, we see how badly things go for people when they ignore God and leave Him out of life. That is why we have constant chaos in the world, because the world is not right with God and seek to do things on their own without God. Great empires have risen and fallen because they did not fear God, but went their own way. A lot of lives are in chaos right now because they do not hold God in great reverence and worship Him as they should. People are so busy seeking what they want, trying to get through life on human wisdom alone, that they are finding futility. There might be momentary joy in reaching our human goals, but we soon discover that earthly joy comes and goes like smoke. If we want to live truly wise lives, we recognize that God is all-important, and that true wisdom is to hold Him in reverence and awe. People go to great lengths to try to find wisdom and understanding in many different ways. Self-help books abound on the shelves of bookstores and libraries. Today, we have the internet to help us find out about almost anything that we want to know. The problem is that no matter how many books we read, and no matter how many internet sites we go to, we will not find wisdom and understanding until we find it in God – in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we find wisdom through God we learn to shun evil and to find understanding. Many people are committing suicide today because they just come to their wit’s end and find that life has no meaning. Until we discover the wisdom of God, and use that wisdom to find understanding through shunning evil, we will not find the illusive wisdom that we need. God sent Jesus into the world to enable us by faith to gain His wisdom and understanding. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in shunning evil. What the world needs today is to go way back in time and discover Job 28:28 and discover the true route to wisdom and understanding. We are far away from that now, but God will ultimately prevail and the “earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habukkuk 2:14) Bro. Joe "For God loved the world that He gave
His only Begotten, Son that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." This is perhaps the most recognizable text in the Bible. The word that stands out to me in the text is the word "whosoever." What does this word reveal? It means that whoever in the world believes in Jesus will be saved. It does not say that "whosoever believes about Jesus will be saved." It is not just a matter of believing that Jesus exists; rather it is a matter of inviting Jesus into your life, and letting Him to use you in whatever way He chooses to use you. Believing in Jesus means that He wants to become an integral part of your life. In other words, Jesus wants to be in your life in order to make a difference in how you live. Jesus is not a religious object that you believe exists; rather, He is a living person who wants to be in your life, and involved in how you live your life. A better way to put this is that Jesus wants you to make the decision to invite Him into your life. Revelation 3:20 illustrates this life-changing decision: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man (person) hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me." To sup with Jesus means more than just acknowledging His existence. It means to become integrally involved with Jesus, to fellowship with Him, to make Him part of your life. He does not want to be worshipped as a religious icon. Jesus wants to become part of your life and influence the direction of your life. This is illustrated in the life of Jesus' original followers, that we call His disciples. When Jesus became a part of their lives, their lives were changed, and they went in a different direction. For example, Simon Peter left his fishing boat and fishing nets, and followed Jesus. Simon Peter's life was never the same after He met Jesus. He became a "fisher of men." Jesus is standing close to you and wanting you to invite Him into your life. This is called "a step of faith." By faith, we entrust our lives to Jesus. I made this step years ago in my bunk on the USS Hornet. I was alone on my bunk, which was unusual, and He began to speak to my heart. I cannot really describe what took place, all I can recall is that I encountered the living Christ, and He called me to serve Him. I was already a Christian, but I was called to a deeper relationship with Him. My life has not been the same since that fateful day. I have made many mistakes (sins) and have stumbled along the way, but I have continued from that day to follow Jesus' call on my life. I am amazed that Jesus loves me, and wants me to be His servant. For what it is worth, take my word for it, Jesus has used me to be His servant over the last seventy plus years. I have certainly not done it without stumbling along the way, but He has used me, and is still using me through my "CouchPotatoRedux" ministry. This fact truly humbles me, and I truly wonder why He has used me, but He has used me and continues to use me. This leads me to remind you that if He can use me in His service, He can use you. I do not mean that He will necessarily use you in full time Christian service, but that He will use you in Christian witness no matter what your occupation may be. Let Him use you. If He can use me, He can use you. Jesus is standing at your heart's door and knocking. He wants you to answer the knock and follow Him in salvation and service. The Christian ministry is carried on by lay people who are surrendered to Him. He uses us preachers (forgive the grammar) but He mainly uses people like you to be his daily witness to the world. He is standing at your heart's door, and He wants to use you as His witness. Answer the knock on your heat's door and invite Him into your life. Answer the knock on your heart's door to serve Him in whatever way He wants to use you. Bro. Joe “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Both of these texts from Paul’s writings remind us of our need to stay in touch with Jesus. Prayer is our means of communication with Jesus, but it is also our means of having daily fellowship with Him. God created us in His image so that we would remember that He wants to be part of our lives. We can stay in touch with Him or drift into worldly living. Why do we need to stay in touch with Jesus? We need to stay in touch with Jesus because He is the source of our strength. The Bible teaches us that we are not strong enough to face Satan and the world on our own. We need the strength that is far above our own. Prayer is a means of exercising our spiritual muscles. Physical exercise is important, because it gives our body strength that we would not have without it. Prayer is what I call “spiritual exercise.” The more we pray and depend on the Lord for our strength, the stronger our faith becomes. We should be as concerned about our spiritual fitness as we are about our physical fitness. Paul dealt with this in 1 Timothy 4:7-8: “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself rather unto godliness. 8. For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” Paul did not say that we shouldn’t exercise our bodies, but that we should be more interested in exercising our faith. I personally think that both are important, but the spiritual exercise of prayer is the most important. In fact, I have discovered that I can pray and exercise my spiritual muscles while I am exercising my physical muscles. We need to stay in touch with Jesus because we have needs that He alone can meet. I don’t think we realize the seriousness of our spiritual and physical needs. We are met with temptations day after day after day that seek to drag us down and steal the victory that we have in Jesus. There is no way on earth that we can meet Satan daily without the weapon of prayer at our disposal. Jesus knows our needs even before we pray, but those needs are not met until we take them to Him. Jesus is waiting for us to pray and to seek His wisdom and guidance in the maze of temptations that we face in life. We need to take everything to the Lord in prayer. There is no need too small, and certainly no need too large for Jesus to meet. We just need to “take it to the Lord in prayer,” as the old hymn reminds us. We need to stay in touch with Jesus because He loves us and wants the best for us. I don’t think a lot of people realize the depth of love that Jesus has for them. I don’t think that most people realize that Jesus wants the best for them. They have a negative view of Jesus, and think that He is working against them instead of for them. I would hate to have this view of Jesus. I am reminded that He loves me in spite of myself – we call it grace. We can take everything to Jesus in prayer. You probably have thoughts that you don’t want anyone to know that you have. I’ve got news for you; Jesus already knows those thoughts and is waiting to help you with them. What He wants us to do is to confess our sins to Him and repent of them. When we take our worst thoughts and deeds to Jesus, He is ready and willing to forgive. Perhaps you think that your sins can’t be forgiven. If Jesus could forgive the thief on the cross, He can forgive you. The old hymn is really true: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Take it to the Lord in prayer, whatever “it” is. Bro. Joe "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."
Jesus made this promise for the ages! It is the greatest message about the greatest love that is offered! I return to this verse often, for it is a message that I love to remind myself of Jesus' love for me and for the whole world. This verse should remind you that Jesus loves you. You might not know that when He died on the cross, He died for you. When He rose from the grave, He rose for you. It is true that many people around the world do not know that God loves them. I hope this this message will be picked up around that world. This is my prayer. Jesus wants you to know that know that He loves you. I would say that neither you nor I deserve the love that Jesus offered on the cross, in His resurrection, and in His ascension to the Father. Jesus is alive and wants you to know that He loves you. Stop thinking that Jesus does not love you. You can deny this fact. You can run from this fact. Nothing that you do will keep Him from loving you. Get in front of a mirror and look at yourself and say "Jesus loves me. I know thatI do not deserve that love, but I know that He loves me because He died on the cross for me." This will be greatest deal that you have ever made in your life. That leads me to: Jesus will save you. You might think that you have gone so far from Him that He cannot reach you. Take my word for it, you cannot run from Him. I have seen many people try to run from Him, in fact I tried it myself many years ago. I was alone on my bunk on the USS Hornet in 1959 when He began to speak to my heart. I kept running from Him but I could not outrun Him. He "cornered" me on that bunk and spoke to my heart and soul and reminded me that I belonged to Him. He did not convince me that I deserved to belong to Him but by His grace He reminded me that I did, indeed, belong to Him and that He wanted me in His ministry. I remember that day from seventy years ago just like it was yesterday. I return to it in my mind many times. Please do not accuse me of self-righteousness, because I know that it His righteousness and a not mine. Please do not accuse me of being self-righteous about this. I cannot say that I have always lived up to that decision, but I can say that I have never been able to run away from that decision. The "old flesh" might try to run from it, but the Spirit of God will not let us run that fast. One fellow said: "I kept running from Him, but He always caught me. He had ahold of me, and He would not let me go." Believe me, the Bible tells us about a God Who loves us. He loves you! Jesus will use you. Perhaps, you might think that He can't. Believe me! If He can use me, He can use you! He will save you and use you. You don't have to believe me, but you cannot deny Him. You cannot run that fast! Bro. Joe I plan to keep this message available all week. Please share it with others. |
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