Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May we ever be aware of the blessings continually coming from our precious Heavenly Father, and never fail to give Him thanks.
The Lord has done
GREAT
things for us, and we
are filled with
JOY!
Ps 126:3
Tag: Holy Spirit
Choices
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”
1 John 2:15
In some ways this command seems to be getting easier to follow all the time. Still, there can be a lot to love in this world. Why wouldn’t God want us to love it?
You might have heard that while in English we use the one word – love – to talk about all kinds of love, there are many Greek words for love –
phileō – a friendship love
philostorgos – a familial love
‛âgab – a sensual love
eros – a romantic love
philarguria – a love of money
And that’s not even an exhaustive list.
The word used for love in the command above is agapaō – to love much, or dearly, to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing, to have a preference for, to prize it above other things, to be unwilling to abandon it or do without it.
It’s the same word Jesus used when asked “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love (agapaō) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love (agapaō) your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:36-39
Jesus then goes on to say “‘All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”
Matthew 22:40
The commandments in the Old Testament were given to show people how they were to love. The first four commandments pertained to their love of God, starting with the command to “have no other gods before me,” and then moved on to how they were to love others – “honor your father and mother, you shall not murder…” and others.
Christ reiterates, and makes possible in and through us as the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts, what the commandments said – that if we love God first, love for others will flow from that.
It’s even the same word Jesus used when He said “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
Matthew 5:44
But when we agapaō the world, when our mind is focused on and busy with all the world has to offer (name your worldly passion), if we prefer those things, cling to those things, put those things first in our lives over and above God and above showing love to others, then we’ve gotten it all out of order.
It will cause us to put off spending time with our Father, growing our relationship with Him by abiding in Him through prayer and the reading of His precious Word.
And if we don’t remain in His love through abiding, we won’t have the love we need to fulfill the second commandment Jesus gives to love others and all that would entail.
I have very nearly perfected procrastination. I can find a million things to do before I sit down to read or pray, or do whatever God is calling me to do. And I look back and regret that countless times.
But I don’t want to just “phileō” God, to love Him as a friend on par with the rest of the world, as Peter confessed in John 21 when Jesus asked him twice if he “agapaō” Him, and both times Peter confessed that he only “phileō” Him.
Then Jesus asked him a third time if he even “phileō” Him, if he even loved Him as a friend. Peter was grieved because he could not yet say that he “agapaō” Him, that he loved Him unconditionally, that he was ready to put Christ above all things, or that he was unwilling to abandon Him for the sake of the world.
But once Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he “agapaō” Christ, even being willing to endure persecution in order to tell others the gospel of Jesus Christ, all the way to being crucified upside down.
I don’t think God doesn’t want us to enjoy the things He’s given us in this world He created, He just wants to remind us to keep it in its place, to remember that He needs to be who we love above all things, that when we have a choice, and we will have choices, our only real choice is Him because without Him we have nothing.
I pray that whatever God is calling you and me to do, we will not put it off because we’re busy doing other things. A whole lifetime can pass while we do other things, but in the end only one thing will matter – how we loved the Lord and lived our lives in Him.
In His agape,
Heavenly Father, we confess that we’ve chosen other things before you and we humbly and sincerely ask for your forgiveness. Help us to agapaō you, to walk in your Spirit every minute of the day and night, always putting you first, doing what you call us to do, glorifying you with our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Oh, Those Pop Quizzes
Remember being in school, having gotten to the end of the semester, maybe the year. You walk into the classroom and sit down, thinking it’s going to be just another ho-hum day, when the teacher walks to the front of the class and announces there’s going to be a pop quiz on everything you’ve learned (or haven’t) up to that point. Soon you find out exactly how well you’ve been paying attention.
I recently had one of those days, not in school, but in life.
I woke up on a Friday, looking forward to the weekend, and instead found myself hours later in a hospital bed hearing the doctor tell me news I never expected – I’d had a stroke.
Suddenly I was faced with the constant choice, every minute of every day, with every new twist and turn, to believe what my God had taught me the last 32 years, or not. How well had I truly internalized what I’d read and heard; how well had I learned my lessons in previous “quizzes?” Did I believe He was with me, that His love was true, that in Him my suffering had a purpose, that He would never leave me or forsake me?
Had I truly walked with my God, my Father, my Savior, my Lord, or had I been kidding myself?
In the last three months I’ve had a few bad days, when it’s all been just too much, too overwhelming, too “unfair.”
But for the most part I’ve looked around and seen God’s grace and mercy in a myriad of ways. So much grace and mercy. I’ve felt His presence, His indwelling Holy Spirit, giving me joy and hope, even in the face of reasons to have very little.
There are many of those stories to tell, and God willing, I will.
But the good news is my faith has once again been proven to be real. If it were never real, if it was only a “said” faith – in word only – but no real belief, no indwelling and sealing by the Holy Spirit, I surely would have dropped out by now.
Oh, I’ve had days where I questioned, I’ve been angry, but God’s been there even in the middle of that. His understanding and compassion no one can fathom. I am still His child and He is still my Father, and no one can separate me from His love.
For a while I’ve kept a flip calendar that has a new scripture for each day. I have yet to flip the page from the one it was on the day my life changed.
“I will say of the LORD,
‘He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.'”
Psalm 91:2
Those words have been a reminder to me every day where my hope lies.
So, when the next trial pops into your life, will you be ready? When your faith is tested, will you persevere because you’ve been learning to trust Him all along? Are you preparing now by seeking Jesus with all your heart, by building on that relationship with Him every day so that you know Him, and when the trial comes, you’ll know He’s where He’s always been – right by your side?
I pray your hope lies in the only One who is completely trustworthy, that your faith, your belief is in His Son Jesus as Lord and Savior, for “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
If not, or if you’re not sure, just ask Him. Ask God to forgive you of your sins, and tell Him you’re putting your faith in His Son Jesus and His blood that was shed on the cross to pay for your sins.
Read, listen, and learn all you can. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love others as yourself. And when life hits you hard, as it does for everyone, you’ll be ready, and He’ll be there.
From Darkness to Light
There are times the enemy comes out from the shadows and we can scarcely take in its evil. It shows itself for what it is, and the darkness is so appalling, so depraved, so hideous, we can hardly believe the depths it will go.
Yet this is only a glimpse of the evil that’s all around us. So much is hidden, but he’s there, vile and lurking in the corners, whispering in the ears of the suffering, lying to those in pain, until the anger within begins to boil, tempting its victims to poisonous “solutions,” until the bitterness cements their hearts and acts as a cancer on their souls.
The enemy then seeks out an agreeable, moldable partner, one who has given over to that bitterness, and waits for an opportune moment.
But God…
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8 MEV
“But God raised {Jesus} from the dead…” Acts 2:24a NIV
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ…” Eph 2:4-5 MEV
God loves His creation more than we can ever know. His light and life are available to anyone who will believe in His Son who willingly gave His life as payment for the sins of that one.
His Spirit will come and reside with that one, and will be a healing balm who can and will soften the heart and give peace to the soul of the one willing to receive Him. The dead will be made alive, hatred will turn to love, anger to forgiveness, sorrow to joy.
As his end gets nearer and more and more people unknowingly believe the enemy’s lies and push God out of their minds and society, he gets more brazen, coming out from the shadows and is received.
The blinders on the eyes of the world may not see his surreptitious nature, but those of us whose eyes have been opened and hearts have been filled with the Truth know who he is, and our Lord Jesus has charged us with a mission:
“…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16
AND
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matt 28:19-20
If there’s anything events in this world should teach us, it’s that the enemy is moving, and time is short. he will take as many victims as possible, but God…
God desires to shine His light through us to act and speak as His ambassadors who will first keep ourselves in God’s love, then extend that love, grace, and mercy to the lost, and through prayer and the power of Christ, lead them from darkness to light, turning victims into overcomers.
The enemy can be defeated, one soul at a time, and whether we plant, water, or harvest, who knows what souls, and futures, might be saved.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24
***
Heavenly Father, we ask you to make us willing vessels to shine brightly, and that your power and favor rest on us and the gifts you’ve given us to save the lost and bring glory to your name. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
The Fellowship of the Son
Many Christians think of fellowship with other believers as just getting together on Sunday morning, maybe mid-week, maybe at a Bible study, and hanging out. I’ve heard so many say they don’t need the church. They don’t need to be with other Christians. They can hear a teaching online, they can worship God by themselves. They can do their Christian faith alone.
My guess is a lot of those people have been hurt by others in the church, and I understand that hurt, but I also know God desires to heal our hearts and bring us back into fellowship, a deep, meaningful spiritual fellowship, something that is far greater than simply getting together.
“God is faithful, and by Him you were called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9
The word for fellowship here is koinōnia – partnership, participation, communion.
At the moment of salvation, we’re called into partnership with Jesus Christ, to commune with Him, to participate with Him in our own spiritual growth, as co-laborers of His work here, and as co-heirs of our eternal inheritance.
This same word, koinōnia, is used to describe the early church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)
Because we’re called into a partnership with Christ, and we are filled with His Holy Spirit, we are called into a partnership, a fellowship, with one another.
You might have heard of another fellowship, one solely built around a ring. Its purpose wasn’t just to socialize (although they did do that), but to fulfill a singular vision, a mission. This fellowship of nine banded together to see that a ring and its evil power was destroyed, saving their world.
Each member had a different position with its own responsibility, its own strengths, none less important than another. They worked together as one, realizing that no one member can fight the evil power alone.
Like that fellowship, God’s given us different gifts to use and we need each one.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27
We’ve been called to come together as one body, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to use our God-given gifts “for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ (each other), until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…” (Eph. 4:12-13a)
We are each members of a fellowship, not to destroy something, but to lift up and glorify the Holy and Righteous One as we journey through this life, maturing in Christ, doing the good works God prepared for us to do, leading others away from the enemy and pointing them to Christ and to salvation, and battling side by side in spiritual warfare through prayer, until the day God destroys the evil one.
The Bible says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, and a lion loves nothing more than to get his prey alone.
The enemy of Christ can and will attack us with lies, discouragements, temptations, misdirection, anything to try to separate a believer from the truth, and that is so much easier to do when a person is not surrounded by the fellowship, the partnership, the ministry of other believers.
“…you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22
This is who we are. Christ is the cornerstone and each of us is added as a brick to be built together as the living temple of God.
This is our fellowship with one another, the Fellowship of the Son.
***
Heavenly Father, thank you for this amazing and blessed calling to partner with Jesus. I pray for not only a clear vision of your will for us corporately and individually, but a passion to carry it out. Help us know the gifts you’ve given us and to partner with Jesus in using them according to your will to serve you and our brothers and sisters in Christ. For those who are without a church right now, I pray you would lead them to a Spirit-filled group of believers where they can minister and be ministered to. And for those who have been hurt, I pray you would give them the ability to forgive for the healing of their hearts. Give us the will, the strength, and the courage to not allow the enemy to keep us from our calling, our purpose, but to fulfill it for your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.