“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
I do not know if you know what I mean when I say that I have been feeling the heaviness of life for the last few days. I am retired and not on a strict schedule, but I have been feeling the pressure of demands on my life and on my time. Mostly, I have just felt a great need for the Lord. I was searching for a scripture reference that would speak to my need. Psalm 46:1 came to my mind, so I read it, meditated on it, prayed over it, and then felt the need to share my thoughts on the text with you. “God is our refuge…” I remember a gospel song that I heard years ago, and haven’t heard for a long time, that spoke to this. The song was “I Found a Hiding Place.” I don’t remember all of the words to the song, but the thought behind the song spoke to me this morning. When we feel that the world is rushing in on us and that the demands of life are becoming too heavy, we can escape to that hiding place and find the security that we need to go on and to meet the demands that life places on us. It is just good to take refuge in God sometimes and just let Him minister to our sore hearts and minds. When we go to Him for refuge, He reassures us of His presence and of His love for us. It is also in this hiding place that the Lord feeds our faith and lifts our spirits. “God is…our strength.” It is nice to take refuge in the Lord, but we cannot stay there. When we are in the “hiding place” and He is ministering to us, He is preparing us to go on and do His will for our lives, and to meet the demands of our lives whatever those demands may be. It is in these times that He gives us the strength to leave the hiding place. I praise Him that the strength that He gives us is His strength. It is Holy Spirit strength. The promise of the Holy Spirit given by Jesus is not an idle promise. The Holy Spirit is not in our lives to just give us some “holy thrill” and some talking points for our next fellowship meeting. He gave us the Holy Spirit to minister to us on a daily basis and to give us the strength that we need to live and to serve. The text did not say that God just gives us strength. He does give us strength, but the text says that God is our strength. We need to remember that when we have Him in our lives, we have His strength. It doesn’t hurt to ask for His strength, but we should remember that we already have His strength because we have Him. (At this point we pause and say “Thank you Jesus.”) “God is…our very present help in trouble.” The NIV translates this: “God is our ever present help in trouble.” I like both translations. God is our “very” present help. There is no doubt about it. But He is also our “ever” present help in trouble. We can know that there will never be a time when He will not be our “help in trouble.” I think that the whole Bible story from Genesis to Revelation shows us this. I have found in my life that God’s help in my troubles takes different forms. For example, there are times that I go to the hiding place whining and whimpering. That is when He “takes me to the woodshed” and tells me to get over it and get on with it. There are other times that I go to Him in real need and He ministers to my heart and gently shoves me back out into the fray. We need to be sensitive to what God is telling us when we go to Him for refuge. When He gives us His strength in those times of refuge, He gives it to us to serve Him and to do His will for our lives. But we can be assured that when the Lord Jesus has a plan for us, and that He will be with us while He carries it out through us. You can take this verse personally. Let the Lord speak to your heart now through this verse. Let Him be your refuge today. If you are a believer, know that He is your strength, and that He is present in your life for whatever trouble you might encounter. Believe it! Rejoice in it! Do it! Bro. Joe
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“Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. 5. For His anger endures for a moment: in His favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
In these two verses, David calls upon God’s saints to “sing unto the Lord" a glad song. Singing is one way throughout history that we have been able to express ourselves in joy or sorrow. Singing (music), is one of the great blessings of God to us. Our devotion to God needs to be expressed and one of the main ways that we do it is through singing. Why should we sing unto the Lord? We should sing unto the Lord because we are “saints of his.” In the Bible, a saint is not a person who has been set aside as being a special person; rather a saint is anyone who belongs to the Lord. In the Old Testament the Israelites are referred to as “saints.” In the New Testament, all believers in Jesus Christ are referred to as “saints.” Today, being a saint means that one belongs to God through faith in Jesus Christ. This is, perhaps, our greatest reason for singing songs of joy, because we belong to God. We belong to God by His grace, not because we deserve it. God’s grace bestowed upon us is a reason for us to sing unto the Lord. We should sing unto God because He is holy: “and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.” The fact that there is a holy God overseeing this seemingly erratic universe should give us a song in our hearts. God’s holiness does not just mean that He is good and above reproach. It also means that He is holy in all of His dealings with us. In other words, we can trust God because He is holy. Whatever happens, we can be assured that the Holy God loves us and that He is looking out for our best interests. We will not understand all that God has done for us until we are face to face with Him, but by faith we can sing about His favor now. Which brings us to: We should sing unto the Lord because, “His anger endures for a moment: in His favor is life.” I pity the people who only see God as “the angry God.” Some people refuse to believe in Him because they read about His judgments in the Bible, or see His judgments today. This is not the complete picture of the God who has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ. The important thing to know about God is not that He is angry, for "His anger lasts but a moment, but His favor lasts for a lifetime." In the final analysis, the “saints of God” will be in His favor no matter what other judgments may come in their lives. The Bible tells us that God disciplines His children just as a good parent disciplines his or her children. God’s discipline is a result of His love and favor. When we forget that, we do not sing unto the Lord. We should sing unto the Lord because, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” We have probably all had a fitful night’s sleep, worrying about what we had to face, but when morning light broke we saw what we were worried about in a new light. God did a work of grace in our lives even while we slept. We can be sure that there will be times for us to weep. But we can be equally sure that our weeping will turn to joy when God does His work in our lives. This is why we should have a song in our hearts, and why we should be optimistic about life. We can trust that though “weeping may endure for a night…joy comes in the morning." Believe it! Bro. Joe “And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor. 11. Then I looked on all the works of my hands, and on my labor that I had labored to do: and, behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.”
You have probably thought that it would be great if you could have everything that you want. People play the lottery every day to realize this dream in their lives. Those who do not play the lottery, might still have that wish in their hearts. Okay, I will confess that I have thought about how nice it would be to have the money to buy everything that my heart desires. This has never happened and I am resigned to the reality that it will never be so. Baptist preachers do not play the lottery. Be that as it may, King Solomon wrote that he had everything that his eyes desired, he did not withhold anything that he thought would bring him joy, and his labors were to that end. A happy man – huh? Nope. Here is what he found: “Everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun.” (NIV) What can we learn from this? First, Solomon found that when he got all that he desired, he found it to be vain. Vain, or vanity, means empty and void. Solomon thought that all of the things that he desired would bring joy and satisfaction to his life. He found when he acquired all that he wanted it did not bring happiness. Things that we possess cannot fill the empty places in our lives. It is tragic that people dream of the fullness that riches would bring into their lives, only to find that it is not so. If all one has is wealth, he or she is going to find little real, deep satisfaction in it. There are people who have wealth who are happy, of course, but I think that they would be the first to tell you that the source of their happiness is not just in what they possess. They have found other meaning in their lives besides what they possess. I’m not suggesting that you refuse to get rich if the opportunity arises. I am suggesting that this alone will not fill the void in your heart. Second, Solomon found that when he got all that he desired, it caused “vexation of spirit.” What that means is when he did not find all of the satisfaction in his desire for possessions, he was depressed. In other words, after Solomon had all that his heart desired, he was disappointed, because those things did not fill the void. I remember that when I was a child I would peruse the Sears Christmas Catalog and think of how great it would be to have all of those toys and things that I saw. My parents being my parents, that would never have happened, but I did dream about it. I also remember that when I was a child and got what I wanted after a few days the luster had worn off, and I found myself wanting something else – some other toy. Third, Solomon found that when he got all that he desired, it did not profit him at all. There is a saying that the man who has the most “toys” when he dies wins. This is a real joke. Jesus gave a parable about a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. The rich man “fared sumptuously every day.” He obviously had all of the world’s pleasures and was supposed to be very happy. Lazarus on the other hand did not have possessions, but he had a relationship with the Lord. When they both died, the man who had the most “toys” was not the winner. The man who had none of the “toys” was the ultimate winner, because he filled the void of his life with the Lord. (You can find the parable in Luke 16:19-31.) Relax, you’ll never get all that you want, but you can find peace and satisfaction in Jesus. . Bro. Joe 3 John 9-10: “I wrote unto the church but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, received us not. 10.Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither does he receive the brothers, and forbids those who come.”
3 John 12: “Demetrius has a good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; that you know our record is true.” The short book of 3 John has two main characters. One is Diotrephes who you read about in verses 9-10, and Demetrius who you read about in verse 12. You probably recognize both of these people, either from your church, school, work, or maybe even home. I have been the pastor of both of them. The Diotrephes’ of this world take some of the joy out of life, and the Demetriuses of this world add to the joy of life. Let’s compare the two of them and see which of them we had rather have in our fellowship, and ask which one is more like us? The first complaint about Diotrephes was that he liked to have preeminence, or first place, in everything in the church. He might even remind us that “by golly, my granddaddy and daddy ran this church and I plan to do the same thing.” These are the people who think that if they do not approve of a project in the church, they will not participate, or they will kill the project. His kin are those who won’t go along with something if they are outvoted by the rest of the church. Notice that he also talks against the leadership, namely the pastor and other leaders, and uses malicious words in doing it. Malicious words are words that are intended to hurt the one spoken against, or to destroy his or her reputation. Perhaps the worst thing that Diotrephes did was to try to keep the visiting preachers, who were commonplace in those days, from being welcomed to the church. These “brothers” were itinerant evangelists who went to churches to preach and to witness. They were meant to be helpers for the churches. Diotrephes was not hospitable, to say the least. He did not have a welcoming heart, and probably would not have rejoiced when new people were saved and wanted to join the church. We might not be as bad as Diotrephes, but we need to guard our own tendencies to rule and to have our way in everything. If you sense any “Diotrephes” in you, pray it away --- now. On the other hand, there was a man named Demetrius who was well-spoken-of. It was said of him that he had a “good report.” John is not specific here, but we can use our imaginations and know what it means. Look back on what Diotrophes did that was wrong and you can be assured that Demetrius was not like that. The work of the church did not go on in spite of Demetrius but because of him. I trust that you are a “Demetrius” type of person and that the church to which you belong is glad to have you in its membership. Demetrius was not just of “good report,” but he was also well-spoken of “by the truth itself.” To me, this can mean only one thing: Demetrius’ life reflected the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in his life. Today, we would say that Demetrius was a Bible-believing Christian who lived by the truths revealed there. Today’s “Demetriuses” have the New Testament instead of just Old Testament prophecies and the oral tradition concerning Jesus. You can trust this kind of Christian to help the church go forward. The Holy Spirit inspired these verses, in one sense, to show us the kind of people we should be. We do not want to be like Diotrephes, but we should strive to be like Demetrius. Bro. Joe "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
From what I have been reading about changing social mores, where right is wrong and wrong is right; I'm beginning to wonder if we think that God has changed. Malachi 3:6 says that God has not changed. We often hear people say:“This is after all the Twenty-first Century.” But I am yet to hear anyone say that it would be alright if their husband or wife committed adultery because this is the Twenty First Century. I am yet to hear parents say that it is alright if their children lie to them or become chronic liars because this is the Twenty First Century. I could go on, but you get the idea. First, let's consider that God has not changed. He has not changed his mind about sin. Sin is still sin to Him. If it was sin in Bible days, it is sin today. We just need to be careful that we are not too selective about what we think sin is. We would do well to remember that all sin is still under God's judgment. He judged it in the Garden of Eden and still judges it today. He does not smile on it. Second, let's consider: "Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." While God has not changed in relation to sin, He also has not changed in relation to love, mercy and grace. It was because of God's unchanging grace that "Jacob" was not consumed. Consider these words from one of the most negative books in the Bible, Lamentations 3:22-23: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23.They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Jeremiah recognized that God's hatred of sin did not mean that He hated His people. Every time I read these words, a chill goes up my spine: "Thy (God's compassions) are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." God is faithful to be compassionate towards us. (Let's insert a "Hallelujah" here.) God's love and compassion are stated succinctly and profoundly in John 3:16: "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." In spite of our sinfulness, God loves us. Romans 5:8 tells us that: "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". This has not changed either. His death still atones for our sins. This does not mean that we have carte blanche to sin at will and that God does not care that we sin. He does care, but His love, mercy, and grace have been given to us in His Son so that we can be forgiven. 1 John 1:9 promises: "If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Yes, God still hates sin, but He still loves us. He loves you. That will not change, but He wants us to recognize our sins, confess them and be forgiven and changed by Him. He definitely does not want us to try to redefine sin, nor to excuse our sins, no matter how trite they may seem to us. Give praise to the unchanging God!!!! I don’t know of anyone who believes in Christ who believes that God has changed. In fact it would be devastating if God changed. He is, after all, all-knowing and all-powerful. He knows everything from before the Garden of Eden to the end of the ages. For one example, it would be devastating if God changed and decided that instead of dealing with us in grace, He would only deal with us in judgment. We would all end up in hell and heaven would be emptied, because no one could be saved if God changed his mind about grace. Thank God for His unchanging grace!!!! Bro. Joe “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking (odor): so does a little folly that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.”
When I read this verse this morning, my imagination went into high gear. I thought about the yucky factor that the verse describes: dead flies in anything ruins it. So I began to think of some “dead flies” that I have experienced. You can probably identify with some of these “dead flies” that I will write about, either from other people or, if you are honest, from yourself. You might even recognize some of my pet themes in this. Here goes: Words can be “dead flies.” If you want to stink up a relationship just use some harsh and bitter words and you will succeed. Words can do a lot of good and they can do a lot of harm. I can remember some times in my life when words really hurt me. Whoever said the words might not have realized the power of their words on me, but they were powerful nevertheless. Unfortunately, I can also remember times when I have said things to people that served as “dead flies” for them. One valuable lesson I have learned is that if words come into my mind, they do not need to come out of my mouth. We can say things in the heat of the moment that we wish we could take back, but, of course, that is impossible. Be careful about these “dead flies” in your life and in your relationships. Hateful, or spiteful, actions can serve as “dead flies” in our lives. I don’t know if this is worse than unfortunate words, but it is close. One of the worst things that we can think is, “I will get you for that.” The Bible tells us not to try to get back at people for things that they do to us. One verse that comes to mind is Romans 12:19: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay says the Lord.” Other verses that come to mind are from Proverbs 25:21-22: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink: 22. For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.” Paul quoted this verse in Romans 12:20 and added in verse 21, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” What the Bible is telling us is that when we want to do something to spite someone, or to get even with then, do something good instead. You might be thinking, “Yeah right!” at this point, but repaying evil with good is a Christian act. Beware of this “dead fly” in your relationships. Sour and hateful attitudes can be “dead flies.” There are some people who are always negative. They never have anything good to say about anything or anybody. They have become so negative that negativity has become part of their personalities. These are the people that we really do not enjoy being around. We might not think that our attitudes make a difference to other people, but we are wrong about that. Even if you do not have a sour attitude all of the time, you need to be careful about it at all times. I know that we can’t be “sunny and happy” all of the time, but we certainly need to try to be. This is true in our homes as well as in all other places. This is probably especially true in the home. It is easier to be hateful and sour at home, because we are more likely to be forgiven there. But we need to be careful about that as well. As Christians, we need to reflect the attitude of Christ in all of our relations. I know that this is not always easy, but we do need to work on it. Don’t you agree? Well, I think that we have dealt with enough “dead flies.” You can probably think of others. The three “dead flies” that I have shared with you should give you enough to work on for a while. I know that I want to work on them in my life, and use the “biblical fly swatter” (I couldn’t help myself.) to rid myself of these “dead flies.” The "swatter" is also available to you! Bro. Joe "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."
To put it simply, to live righteously is to live a life that is in line with what God requires of us. What does it mean to "hunger and thirst after righteousness"? It means to desire to live as God wants us to live in spite of all of the temptations around us. We know what hunger and thirst is, because we experience both every day of our lives. As children of God, we need to be careful what we hunger and thirst after. The world gives us a lot to satisfy our appetites. John pointed this out in 1 John 1:16: "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." We need to ask ourselves what we have the greatest appetite for, what the world offers or what God offers? Understand, though, that it is not our righteousness that we hunger and thirst after, rather, it is the righteousness that is given to us by God. This righteousness is not only concerned with what we do not do, but with what we do as well. We have not done enough when we stop doing wrong things, we must also hunger and thirst to do right things. How can we live this kind of life in the midst of all of the temptations that we face? Well, there is a promise here that if we hunger and thirst after righteousness, we will be filled. Filled with what? We will be filled with the Holy Spirit, Who will help us to not do the things that we should not do and to do the things that we should do. Jesus promised that when He ascended to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell and fill His people. What will He fill us with? Galatians 5:22-24 tells us: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23. Meekness temperance (self-control): against such there is no law." When we hunger and thirst after God's righteousness, His Spirit fills us with the things listed above. We are not living righteously if we are not filled with His love, His joy, His peace, etc. Is this the kind of life that we hunger and thirst after? This righteousness will not only make us better Christians, it will make us better human beings! Our aim should not be to be self-righteous, but to be filled with God's righteousness as spelled out in Galatians 5:22-24. Consider what you are filled with and then you will know whether you are truly "hungering and thirsting after righteousness." Bro. Joe "Many are the afflictions (problems) of the righteous: but the Lord delivers (them) out of them all."
I remember reading this: "The question is not whether we will encounter problems; the real question is how we will choose to address them." There is no question that all people encounter problems. People whose lives are not exemplary encounter them, and people who live righteously encounter them. Somewhere along the line, we have come up with the idea that if we live righteously, we will not encounter problems. I don't know where that came from but it surely didn't come from the Bible. Could we really say that Moses never encountered problems? Read about Moses in Exodus through Deuteronomy and you will see that he had many problems. A lot of his problems arose from dealing with people chosen of God to be His people and to bring the Messiah into the world. We certainly could not say that David did not have any problems. He was called "a man after God's own heart," but he encountered problem after problem - some of them because of his own behavior. The point of this article is to point out that, though we will have problems in this life, it is important how we deal with them. We deal with our problems by taking them to the Lord. The Lord has promised that He will help us deal with them, and will "deliver (us) out of them all." Does this mean that when we take our problems to the Lord, He paves the way before us and our lives become easy and problem-free? This was not the experience of the godly people mentioned above, and it has not been true in my life, nor has it been true in anyone else's life that I know. We have to understand that God allows problems in our lives in order to teach us. For example, He uses problems in our lives to teach us patience. We might have to undergo a particular problem over an extended period of time. This does not mean that God has not dealt with the problem. It means that we have something to learn from the problem, and when we learn it, the problem will be solved. Why does God do things as He does? I don't know, but I do know that if God does something that it is for the best and that when He works it out, my life will be better and I will be a better person. Let's stop complaining about our problems and entrust them to God. (Preaching to myself also!) Bro. Joe “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.”
Hosea was written to the northern kingdom of Israel as they approached their last days. It is mostly negative, because that’s what it had to be, however, God had not stopped loving them but He wanted them to repent. There is also a message here for us. “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity.” This is another way of saying that you “reap what you sow.” Hosea also wrote in 8:5: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind; it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.” Paul also dealt with this theme in Galatians 6:7-8: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Israel had sown idolatry and all that this lifestyle entailed and they were about to reap the judgment for what they had sown. This is also a warning to us. But let’s look on the bright side of this: If we reap good things in this life, we will sow good as well. Wouldn’t you really hate to come to the end of your life and all that you had sown was negative and bad. The Bible also teaches that if we sow love and friendliness that we will reap love and friendliness. Look, for example at Proverbs 18:24a: “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly…” It would be a good idea for us to heed the warning here and be careful that what we sow with our lives and deeds will enable us to reap good things. This doesn’t mean that we would never have to face the difficult things that life brings, but it sure would make life better for us and for all of those who know us. “Ye have eaten the fruit of lies…” The NIV translates this: “You have eaten the fruit of deception.” Jesus warned His disciples that people would tell lies about Him, and early Christian writers, especially Paul, warned that there would be people who would twist the Christian message into what they wanted it to be. You can be sure that there is plenty of deception today. We need to be careful what we listen to and stick to the biblical message about who Christ really is. The main test of falsehood is in what people teach about Jesus. If their message does not include that Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended to heaven after forty days, and is at the right hand of the Father today interceding for us and is coming again, don’t accept it. This is not all there is to it, but this is the fundamental truth of all that Christ did. “Because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of the mighty men…” When people take their eyes off of God and put them on things that they can see, and they trust in what they think instead of seeking God’s will they are headed for trouble. We should trust God above our own ideas and above worldly security. Proverbs 3:5-7 has a great word for us in this matter: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thy own understanding. 6. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.” There are things in this world that can help us feel secure, but we should not replace our trust in God for any of these things. Israel, referred to as “Ephraim” by Hosea, went their own way, ignoring the God who loved them and wanted to bless them. Instead of believing God, they believed lies and went their own way. Let’s be careful that this does not happen in our lives. Bro. Joe “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, the we should be called the sons of God; therefore, the world knows us not, because it knew Him not.”
The first thing that I want to do in this article is to establish the fact that God loves us. I know that this is a theme that I have written about time and time again, but it is a theme that we can’t get enough of. Some people are so hung up on the judgments of God in scripture that they cannot see the great love that He has for them. John 3:16 tells us 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.” 1 John 4:8 says “God is love.” That is a statement of fact. It does not just say that God loves, but that God is love. The Bible depicts God’s love as being so great that it is His very nature. His love is so great that He will not let us off, and He will not let us get by with what is bad for us. It is called God’s discipline. Here is the proof text for it: “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as children, my son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, or faint when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? God’s love for us is complete." (Hebrews 12:5-7) The second thing I want to do is to establish that it is because of God’s love that we can be His children. (“Sons” can also be translated “children.”) The fact that we can become children of God is the fulfillment of God’s love. The great God of the universe loves us so much that He wants to establish a relationship with us. As we saw in John 3:16, God went to great lengths to give us a personal relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 gives us another glimpse of the greatness of the love of God: “But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In His matchless love, God did not wait until all of us got better; He showed His love for us while we were still sinners. In the New Testament this is called grace. God’s grace tells us that He loves us and will save us in spite of our sinful selves. We need to grasp the reality of this. There are people who will not come to Jesus because they think they are too sinful. They just do not understand the matchless love of God. He is in the business of forgiving all sinners, and He does not measure how deep in sin they are. All He wants to do is to dig us out of the depths of sin. Every individual on this earth is a candidate to become a child of God. That is how far-reaching His matchless love is. The third thing I want to establish is that when we surrender to God’s love and receive Jesus as our Savior, our lives take on a new purpose. It becomes our responsibility, and our purpose, to share the love of God with other people. The text tells us that “the world knows us not, because it knew Him not.” In other words, the world does not determine our lifestyles or our theologies. Our task is to show Him to the world in order for them to become His children too. This is why at the end of each of the gospels, Christians are told to go out into the world and witness about the matchless love of God. Just because the world doesn’t know Him, or us, does not mean that the world cannot come to Him or join us. Our purpose is to share the matchless love of God with a world that is filled with envy and hate. It was love that compelled God to save and it is His love in us that compels us to share that love with others. Pause now and thank God for His matchless love, and ask Him to give you opportunities today to share His love with others. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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