Countdown to Calvary. On the very prospect of Suffering for our faith – Do Not be Surprised! Only Rejoice in the Lord Always! (1 Peter 4:12 – 19)

Today, we are walking alongside Peter. We are curious to what he is thinking.

Calvary is before us, though we realize it not. If we are in realization, we are not yet in a place where we can even begin to comprehend its awesome magnitude.

Three times, our Rabbi Jesus has told us of his having to suffer at the hands of his betrayers. He has prophesized that he must suffer unbelievable humiliation at the hands of the people – that he will be crucified, and he will be killed. We do not believe this is possible for such a one as our Rabbi – we will never allow it to happen as long as we are alive, can expend all strengths, and able to prevent it.

But, to our surprise, our Rabbi sharply rebukes us. He tells us we are to get out of his way – do not try to prevent his coming suffering. It is ordained by God! I cannot wrap my head or my heart or my suffering soul around such a notion. I am struggling with the notion that Rabbi suffering is a God ordained necessity.

I understand what it means to struggle and suffer – I have spent many days in my father’s boats – struggling and suffering to bring in the nets filled with my days catch. I also understand what it means to suffer and to struggle when the nets are empty at the end of the day, and that I have no fish to sell in the local market or to feed my family, friends and neighbors or donate to the Temple. I am used to such days and count them as the cost of doing what I choose to do.

But now, with these words of my Rabbi, weaving into and out of my soul, I do not believe I really know, nor comprehend what suffering he is referring to. I have seen people being crucified – and it frightens me to the core of my being. My own Rabbi tells me he must absolutely experience this for my greater good. These are strange words to me! These are surprising words to me! What now?

So, I continue to walk with my Rabbi as we prepare to celebrate the Passover ….

1 Peter 4:12-19 Easy-to-Read Version

Suffering as a Follower of Christ

¹²My friends, do not be surprised at the painful things that you are now suffering, which are testing your faith. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. ¹³But you should be happy that you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings. You will be happy and full of joy when Christ shows his glory. ¹⁴When people say bad things to you because you follow Christ, consider it a blessing. When that happens, it shows that God’s Spirit, the Spirit of glory, is with you. ¹⁵You may suffer, but do not let it be because you murder, steal, make trouble, or try to control other people’s lives. ¹⁶But if you suffer because you are a “Christ-follower,” do not be ashamed. You should praise God for that name. ¹⁷It is time for judging to begin. That judging will begin with God’s family. If it begins with us, then what will happen to those who do not accept the Good News of God?

¹⁸“If it is hard for even a good person to be saved,
what will happen to the one who is against God and full of sin?”

¹⁹So if God wants you to suffer, you should trust your lives to him. He is the one who made you, and you can trust him. So, continue to do good.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

What ought we to learn from such a lesson as Peter dictates to us?

I want to highlight important four truths from this text.

First, don’t be surprised when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (v. 12).

Second, rejoice, and glorify God when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 13-14).

Third, don’t be ashamed to suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 15-18).

Fourth, trust God when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (v. 19).

In order to understand vv. 12-19, I will first discuss two introductory points about the context of our text.

1. Context of 1 Peter 4:12-19.

First, in my own personal view, Peter wrote this letter to exhort Christians who have suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ to be holy and to hope in God as they suffered for their faith in Christ.

For example, in 1:6-7, Peter states that these Christians should rejoice although they suffer “various trials” so that their faith would be tested (i.e., refined) and proven to be real at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In 1:13, he exhorts them to hope in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, grace that will be offered to them when Jesus returns (see also 1:13-16).

In 2:18-25, he exhorts Christian slaves to endure their suffering at the hands of both unjust masters and just masters in a manner that honors Christ.

In 3:14, Peter exhorts these Christians not to fear their oppressors if they suffer for righteousness (i.e., if they suffer as a Christian).

Finally, in 4:12-19, Peter exhorts these Christians to honor Christ even if they are insulted, reviled, and ridiculed for their Christian faith.

Thus, in my view, Peter wrote this letter to exhort Christians who suffered for their faith in Jesus to be holy and to hope (i.e., trust/wait) for their salvation in Christ as they suffered for Christ.

Second, Peter grounds his exhortations to be holy and to hope in God and God’s sovereign work of salvation in Christ.

For example, in 1:1-2, Peter calls these Christians, scattered throughout Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia, Galatia, and Bithynia, elect (chosen by God) in accordance with his foreknowledge (i.e., in accordance with his covenantal love that he chose to place on them before the foundation of the world).

In 1:2, Peter further states that these Christians are the people of God when he refers to their conversion with the words elect by the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ.

In 1:3-5, Peter further explains to his audience they are the people of God by emphasizing God himself has reached down from heaven and supernaturally entered their lives by causing them to be born again to a living hope according to his great mercy by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto an incorruptible, unfading, and undefiled inheritance,

which is being kept in heaven for them, who are being kept by the power of God for an eschatological salvation that has invaded this present evil age and that will be revealed on the last day.

Then, Peter says, in verses 6-12, although they suffered various trials in this life, they should rejoice, because they would receive the goal of their faith, namely, the salvation of their souls.

Their suffering was a means by which their future salvation would be realized.

Based on Peter’s brief doxology about God’s sovereign work of salvation on behalf of his people in 1:3-12, Peter then exhorts these Christians in 1:13 until the end of the letter to be holy as they are suffering for their faith in Christ.

Therefore, before considering 4:12-19, we must remind ourselves that Peter grounds his gospel imperatives to be holy and to hope in the gospel indicatives of God’s own sovereign work of salvation in the lives of his people who were suffering for their faith in Christ.

This reminder takes me to my first point from 4:12-19.

First, don’t be surprised when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (v. 12).

Don’t be surprised by the fiery trial (12): Peter begins verse 12 by exhorting his audience not to be surprised/shocked by this fiery trial that has come upon them as though something strange/foreign has come upon them. The fiery trial refers to suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ.

More specifically, it refers to suffering insults, revilements, social ostracism from the society in which these Christians lived, because Peter states in verse 14 these Christians are blessed if they are reviled/insulted for the name of Jesus. This latter point is supported elsewhere in 1 Peter (e.g., 1 Pet 2:12, 18-25; 3:14).

Peter calls this trial “fiery” because he associates it with God’s chastening or judgment of his people for the sake of purifying their faith.

In 1 Peter 1:7, Peter refers to the suffering of these Christians with an analogy of gold being refined through fire. He asserts in 1:7 that their tested faith, is more precious than gold refined by fire, will be proven to be real when Jesus returns.

Furthermore, in 4:17-18, Peter associates this fiery trial with God’s judgment and chastening of his people when he states that judgment begins with God’s people at God’s house first and that the righteous will be saved by means of difficulty (i.e., by means of suffering).

In 4:19, he declares that it is God’s will for Christians to suffer.

Consequently, if we read 1:7 beside of 4:12-19, we can infer that God brings the fiery trial of suffering for faith in Jesus Christ upon these Christians through evil antagonists of the Christian faith to be a means by which he keeps them in order to strengthen the faith of these Christians so that they will be saved from God’s eschatological wrath when Jesus returns.

Second, rejoice when you suffer for your faith in Jesus (vv. 13-14).

The tension between suffering and joy (13):

This verse introduces us to one of the many tensions of the Christian faith: namely, the tension of joy co-existing with suffering.

Peter says if “you participate in the sufferings of Christ” (by which I think he mentions you suffer for righteousness as a Christian), “then rejoice.”² I do not expect Peter to say “rejoice” when you suffer!

Honestly, in light of verse 12, verse 13 comes as a shock to me since Christians who heard this exhortation and who have read this exhortation throughout history have suffered severely.

Nevertheless, Peter’s exhortation to rejoice is not a contradiction, but it is an exhortation to hope in God’s promise of eschatological salvation.

That is, he is exhorting these Christians to look to the eschatological salvation for which they have been saved and which God will reveal to them on the last day when Jesus returns.

In the midst of the certainty of their suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ, Peter reminds these Christians of the certainty of their future salvation, which has invaded this present evil age.

This interpretation seems right for the following reasons.

First, in the first half of verse 13, Peter says “but to the degree that you share/ participate in the sufferings of Christ, you rejoice!” In the second half of verse 13, he gives the reason for the command: “so that at the revelation of his glory” (i.e., at the second coming) “you may rejoice with much exultation.”

Second, in 1:6-9, Peter exhorts these Christians to hope in their various trials in this life because their suffering is a direct means by which they will truly inherit future salvation.

Finally, in 1:13, Peter exhorts these Christians to hope in their salvation that God will give to them when Jesus returns.

Therefore, in 4:13, Peter exhorts these Christians to hope in the certainty of God’s eschatological salvation in the midst of the shame and dishonor that their persecutors brought upon them for their faith.

Instead of being ashamed of suffering for Jesus, they should be rejoicing because they will be saved from their suffering and from God’s wrath when Jesus returns since they are the people of God.

The Spirit of God and of glory rests upon those who suffer (v. 14):

I believe verse 14 further supports the preceding interpretation. The Spirit rests upon the people of God in 1 Peter.

In 1:2, Peter states these Christians have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit: i.e., they have been converted.

Thus, Peter’s point in 4:14 seems to be when Christians suffer for their faith in Christ, this particular suffering proves they have the Spirit, it proves they are the people of God, and their suffering for Christ proves they will be saved on the last day when Jesus returns. Therefore, Christians should rejoice (i.e., hope in Christ’s salvation) when they suffer, because we are indeed blessed by God.

Third, don’t be ashamed when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 15-18).

In verses 15-18, Peter further explains the argument he has been making in verses 12-14.

Namely, in verses 12-14, the argument is don’t be shocked/surprised when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ as though this is a strange thing.

But instead rejoice now when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ, so you will rejoice on the last day when Jesus returns in his glory, because if you suffer for your faith in Christ, then such suffering proves that you are converted.

In verse 15, Peter now says be ashamed to suffer for unrighteousness because that kind of suffering brings dishonor in God’s eschatological law-court.

There is no honor when one suffers as a murderer or as a thief or as a busy-body or as an evil-doer, for these acts bring shame in society and in God’s eschatological law-court (v. 15).

But Christians should not be ashamed to suffer as a Christian (i.e., for their faith in Christ) because suffering for Christ brings honor in God’s eschatological law-court although it brings shame in this life.

Christians should, nevertheless, glorify God by suffering for the name of Jesus Christ when non-Christian’s dishonor and shame them for their faith in Christ.

In v. 16, the command to glorify God by the name of Christ is another way of talking about hoping in God (cf. 1:13) and trusting God (cf. v. 19).

In verse 17-18, with an appeal to Proverbs 11:31 from the Septuagint (LXX), Peter specifically offers a reason why Christians should not be ashamed to suffer for their faith in Christ.

Namely, God judges his people in the current evil age by means of suffering via evil opponents of the Christian faith (v. 17).

In v. 18, he confirms this interpretation by asserting that the righteous (i.e., Christians [v. 16]) will be saved by means of difficulty, whereas the ungodly and the sinner (i.e., the non-Christian) will experience God’s wrath (vv. 17-18).

Although vv. 17-18 do not explicitly state the latter point, the context supports it since Peter has emphasized throughout the letter up to 4:18 that Christians are the people of God and that they will be saved from God’s future wrath.

The implication of 4:17-18 is that non-Christians will not escape God’s wrath since they reject Christ, which they demonstrate by persecuting Christians.

Fourth, trust God when you suffer for Christ (v. 19).

Peter concludes 4:12-19 with v. 19 by exhorting these Christians to implicitly trust God when they suffer in accordance with his will (i.e., when they suffer for righteousness as Christians) as they live righteously. (Consider Isaiah 43 here!)

The Long and the Short of this text is this …. against our 21st Century context,

Any “Suffering” sucks. Suffering for Christ is something else altogether.

To suffer for Jesus is something we should expect according to Jesus Himself.

He said that the world would be hostile to His followers and suffering through persecution was something we needed to prepare for. (Consider John 17)

That is because Christians were meant to shake up the world with a message of radical love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation, and transformation.

But, WHERE IN GOD’S KINGDOM DO WE NOTE SUCH RADICAL BEHAVIOR?

Even though the world needed to know the truth, it would not take it easily.

There would be resistance and even fear, all directly and decisively, maliciously aimed at the messengers of The Gospel Message.

If we are honest, we do not want this to be our common faith experience.

Yet, we must absolutely acknowledge the struggle and suffering of churches in countries where communicating the message of the Gospel comes with a heavy price – imprisonment, torture, public humiliation, even worse is their death.

We must pray for the “underground churches” their leaders and congregants.

Where and when possible, support them with our abundance of resources.

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We have more freedom here in America to follow Jesus, but unfortunately, I don’t know if that has made us bolder or more urgent with God’s message.

If anything, the culture is indifferent to Christians, because sadly, maybe that is how indifferently we live for Jesus too.

We are in a weird situation. We can be free to be faithful.

The prospect of suffering for our faith is low.

You would think the church would be thriving and believers emboldened and on fire for God’s work.

That is not the case at all.

If anything, Christians seem to blend in with the secular culture more and more.

The church does not struggle with suffering, rather, things like a how to have a more convenient and comfortable faith.

We have lost the edge that can only be sharpened through pressure and testing.

The irony is that the world around us is suffering.

People are struggling and broken without Jesus.

They are looking for hope and a way out.

While that is not pleasant, suffering for being a Christian would at least mean people recognize you are a Christian and you are living in a way that stands out.

However, persecution is not really a threat or reality for most of us.

I can’t say if that a good or bad thing.

What I can say is that a faith that you have to fight and stand up for is a stronger and more enduring faith, simply because it has been tested.

I firmly believe some of the believers reading this devotion right now would identify more with today’s Word because they would have come from countries where living for Jesus has a real price and potentially lethal consequences.

We need those stories and that faith experience to impact our churches here.

We know, or should make a point to know, that there are believers suffering for Christ all over the world.

We are richer for those who have suffered for Christ and come up the other end still standing.

Perhaps, a first step and response to a faith that is relatively free, is to wake up and seize that God-given opportunity by living boldly and recklessly for Jesus.

Believe thou this!

Think about that.

Pray without ceasing about that.

Do something ASSERTIVE about that ……

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done for me. Thank You that in Him, I have eternal life and am secure in Your hands, no matter what I may have to suffer in this life. Thank You that by His blood, I have been fully and finally redeemed and forgiven of my sin. I pray that those who abuse me and cause me to suffer because of my faith in Jesus, may then be convicted of their sin and come to a saving faith in Christ. Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for everything I may have to face. May my life bring honor to You and Your Son’s suffering. In Jesus’ name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.

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Countdown to Calvary: Humility, We See Jesus – Dying to Bear Much Fruit. Lessons in our Living John 12:20 – 26

Today, I want to try to tell you a short story about two men and their wheat.

One man had a grain of wheat and he loved it very much. He spent the majority of his time and energies on securing the best possible container for his wheat.

When it came to moving his wheat from one place to another, he spared no expense. He loved his wheat, so he bought the best. He made sure his grain of wheat stayed out of harm’s way; if wheat gets wet you know it will quickly spoil.

So, he was very careful to be sure to always do what the wheat experts told him to do in order to see his grain of wheat stay strong even into old age. This man was sold out for his wheat, and it showed. Then the man died.

The other man also had a grain of wheat but what he did was very different.

He went out into the backyard, dug a hole, threw his wheat in to it, covered it with dirt, and poured water all over it thus completely ruining the wheat.

Then the man died.

Sometime after both men were dead and buried a news reporter got wind of these two unusual men and their wheat. The reporter decided to do a follow up.

Where the first man had lived the grain of wheat was easily spotted surrounded by the best. But when the lid was removed, and the cameras pulled in close the sight was saddening; that grain of wheat though greatly prized and protected had been ruined. Stuck away in the dark of selfishness that wheat had spoiled

The reporter got back in her car and assumed she was about to go from bad to worse. If the first man had done everything to protect his wheat and it had all been for nothing, then what would there be to show for the other man who just threw his in the ground and wasted it?

As she drove closer, she noticed these tall and vibrant green plants along the side of the road; very strange. As she pulled into the driveway the entire yard of the second man was covered in three-foot-tall green grass. Now filled with curiosity the reporter asked the neighbor, “What are all these plants.” And he responded, “It’s this man’s wheat”

One man protected his wheat and lost it all.

The other man threw his wheat into the ground, and it produced much fruit.

Christ’s life is that single grain of wheat. He is glorious and he has done many glorious things. But if he doesn’t die there is no salvation for you or for me. If Jesus is not the suffering Servant/Savior of Isaiah 53, then he is no savior at all.

But if he did come to die and if he did die and rise again, then he will produce much fruit. There will be lives changed. There will be a great harvest of joy-filled Christ-followers. Jesus came to die, and he died so to bear much fruit.

John 12:20-26 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion

²⁰Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”

²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁴“I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. [^a] ²⁵The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

I. Eternal life requires more than fearing God and being interested in Jesus (20-23)

*As we look into these vers**es from John, we need to realize that we are at a turning point in salvation history. God’s plan to reconcile the world to himself through the seed of the woman is about to advance at a rapid pace.*

Here’s the point

A. The glorification of Jesus Christ is required for the salvation of the nations.

The Pharisees in verse 19 make the observation that, “the world has gone after [Jesus].” In the triumphal entry and in the people’s loud praises the Pharisees see the popularity of Jesus. That confession in verse 19 leads us to the account of “some Greeks” in verses 20-22.

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Literally the people and nations are coming to Jesus. They want to see him. Now this phrase means more than look at him. These Greeks want to talk with Jesus.

They are hesitant. Possibly because they have just witnessed Jesus clean out the court of the Gentiles when he cleansed the temple; that’s a bit intimidating. So, they instead go to Philip who probably spoke Greek and asked for an audience with Jesus. The people and the nations are mightily curious coming to Christ.

And Jesus responds with a surprising and an unexpected word, verse 23, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

Up to this point in the life of Christ when Jesus has spoken of “his hour” it has always been in the future tense.

In John 2:4 he told Mary, “My hour has not yet come.”

In John 7:30 we read, “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”

In John 8:20 we read, “These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

From here on, from the coming of the Greeks on, Jesus will emphasize the fact that his hour is here.

In John 12:27, “Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose, I am come to this hour.”

Using the language of the time to glorify the Son Jesus says in John 13:31, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.”

It is possible that Jesus is only 4 days from the cross. Jesus is fully aware that his death his required for the salvation of the people and the nations.

And Jesus is fully aware that now is the appointed time of his glorification. He must be glorified in order for these Greeks to be saved. He must be glorified in order for you, me to be saved. No one from Adam to the last of God’s children will see eternal life if Jesus does not fulfill the Father’s plan of redemption.

Let’s drive this point home

B. Your salvation depends upon Jesus’ glorification

Let’s bring in some of the terminology from verse 23. Unless Jesus is glorified, unless the grain of wheat is put into the ground, he will not bear fruit. Unless Jesus be glorified no one will be saved.

That’s how crucial the cross is. That’s how important this hour is; salvation depends on it.

We should expect the theme of glory to be central from here on in John and it is. We’ll unpack this more, Lord willing, I just want you to see what glorification is.

Look down to verses 28-33.

‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again… verse 31…’Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

The glorification of God is displayed through the judgment of sin when God’s wrath for poured out on Jesus. The glorification of God is displayed through the defeat of Satan when his power is broken through the resurrection of Jesus.

The glory of God is about to be displayed through Jesus’ finished work on the cross, resurrection from the grave, ascension back to God’s glorious right hand, and the salvation of the people and the nations who come to Him.

Our salvation and the salvation of the nations, depends on the Son of man being glorified. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus do not just show us something they secure something. The glorious work of Jesus Christ on your behalf secures your salvation.

If this hour doesn’t ever come, then we are lost and hopeless but if Jesus has been glorified then we are saved and we are all born again into a living hope.

These Greeks in John 12 were God-fearers who were willing to submit to God’s laws. They were interested in meeting and learning from Jesus.

But that’s not what is required for salvation. We must be connected by faith, by hope and by love, to the glorified Jesus crucified, resurrected, and ascended.

Where are you today? Does our religion consist only of some rule keeping and occasional interest in Jesus?

If so, you and I would do well to fear that we are missing salvation all together (Hebrews 4:1). Salvation depends on you being connected to the glorified Jesus.

By faith you and I are joined to him. And with him we are as righteous as God and have power over the grave. Jesus has been glorified. There is salvation and eternal life for you. But you and I must absolutely be connected to him by faith.

Salvation is a promise because salvation depends on the completed work of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death is a necessity. – The Single Seed must Be Planted!

II. Nature proves that a harvest requires death (24)

A. Jesus illustrates the necessity of his death by pointing to the planting and harvesting of wheat. Verse 24

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

We grow vast fields of wheat to make bread.

Here is what a grain of wheat looks like.

If you do nothing with this single wheat, then as a whole, it is 100% worthless.

But if you plant that wheat there comes a miracle. By continual harvesting and sowing, one grain of wheat can produce millions of grains of wheat. But what is required to make that harvest happen? You absolutely have to plant the wheat.

You must make it for the moment ruined. Once that grain of wheat is put in the ground and watered you cannot dig it up, grind it up, and make bread out of it.

But when it dies it bears much fruit.

Jesus obviously isn’t giving us instructions for our gardens.

He’s giving us hope for our souls.

If Jesus skips the cross, if he does not die, then there is no salvation.

But since Jesus endured the cross dying in our place then there is salvation.

Just as millions of grains of wheat come from the death of one grain so the salvation of the people, the nations, comes from the death of the only Son of God. Eternal life depends on the death of Jesus Christ.

All of the Realm of Nature illustrates this clearly.

Here’s our third point that comes out of Jesus’ death on our behalf.

III. You are the fruit (24-25)

A. God, The Father is the Lord of the harvest, Jesus the Son is the single grain which starts the harvest, and all that we are and do is a part of the harvest

You and I must fight to keep the call of verses 25 and26 grounded in the work of Christ explained in verse 23 and 24. You and I will live life rightly, enjoy eternal life, serve Jesus, follow Jesus, be with Jesus, and be honored by God as we cling to the glorified Jesus.

All that we are as a Christian is a direct product of all that Jesus has done. God doesn’t demand our death for your salvation. God saves only those who have the glorification of Jesus credited to their souls.

B. I was quite surprised! Verse 25 is not what I expect

I thought verse 25 should read, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world bears much fruit.”

But the teaching here is not that you and I should die to bear fruit.

That is true and Jesus is going to teach us all about that in John 15.

But before we get to chapter 15, we need to get this point.

Our redeemed life, our experience of eternal life this very moment, is the produce of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.

If we get our place wrong when you think about God’s will for all of creation, then we’ll get our life wrong, and we’ll be frustrated by a lack of fruit bearing.

Let’s lay a foundation and hold fast to it. Our salvation and the salvation of others realized through our good works is ultimately the result of Jesus’ work.

Since Jesus is the grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, and since Jesus bears much fruit, we are saved and so are others. Eternal life today is the result of the glorification of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.

C. Your Christian Life is “found” not by protecting yourself but in your gaining the Life of Jesus Christ

Look at John 12:25, Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

When we read the bible there is a repetition of someone loving a person and hating another person.

Romans 9:13 reiterates the facts that God loved Jacob and hated Esau.

Now let us read and study and pray over Genesis 29:30 – 32

³⁰ So Jacob…loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years. 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

Hate is not necessarily the emotional disgust that we feel when we say we hate something. Love and hate in this context have more to do with priorities.

Think about it this way, “Whoever focuses on his life loses it, and whoever forgets his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Have you and I ever been so focused on one thing that we completely forget everything else? That’s the idea. If you focus on your life, your wants, your plans, and yourself then you will also forget, lose your focus on Christ.

But as we focus on Christ, his wants, his plans, and his self then we will forget our life.

Look at God’s promised product: if we love our life, we will destroy our life.

We are like Lennie from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Our thinking is off and so we end up destroying the thing we love the most.

By protecting ourselves and looking out for ourselves and taking care of numeral uno we ultimately end up destroying ourselves. That is warning.

But here is the promise of John chapter 12: whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

I believe it’s important that the verbs loving, loses, hating, and keeping are present active indicatives. That means they keep right on happening.

These are not one-time events but characteristics, a way of living.

A life primarily focused on Christ will necessarily be a life which neglects self.

You can’t love yourself and Christ. You will love the one and hate the other.

Please do not be fooled into thinking there is a healthy balance between loving self and loving Jesus. There is no such place as a “middle ground.” To attempt to be there is to be disgusting. Jesus promises to vomit you out of his mouth.

We love Jesus.

So, here’s how to pursue this self-hating Christ loving life: follow Christ.

We must never set out to hate or neglect our lives.

What we must set out to do is focus on, prioritize, and follow Christ.

This is the connection between verses 25 and 26. It leads to our final point.

IV. Following Christ entails serving now, and gaining heaven and honor then (26)

A. Following Christ is forgetting self

You can’t protect yourself and follow Christ because going after Christ means following the One who came to die.

Look at verse 26, “If anyone serves me; he must follow me.”

This is Christianity: finding life not in yourself but in the glorified Jesus.

Adopt his plans as your plans.

Do the things he did. Care about the things he cared about.

Christianity is not keeping the rules and being somewhat interested in Jesus.

Please notice something.

Twice the word ‘serve’ is repeated in these two verses.

Christians are those people who see the glorified Jesus and serve him.

We are those who are changed by the work of Christ so that we give ourselves to the work of Christ.

Christians work the works God sent Jesus to do.

Christians serve Christ and follow Christ by joining in the grain harvest. Serving and following Jesus demand our everything.

This is why in a similar passage Jesus tells us to count the cost (Luke 14:25-33).

Notice, eternal life is not something we get after we die because of a decision we made as a kid with little consequence for the time in between.

Eternal life is the time span in which we will enjoy the life Christ has given us.

When we forget ourselves and follow Christ, we will gain a life that is worth living and enjoying for all of eternity. Our self-centered lives would make for a miserable eternity. God’s Christ-centered life makes for an amazing eternity.

Here’s the promise of heaven, verse 26, “and where I am, there will my servant be also.”

Jesus said in John 14:3, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The promise of heaven, everlasting life and joy in the presence of God, is held out to both you and to me today.

Follow Christ.

Serve Christ.

Ground yourself in the glorification of the only Son.

Heaven is for you.

Plant your hopes in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

You will not be disappointed.

There’s more.

Verse 26, Jesus promises, “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

Jesus knows nothing of bait-and-switch. Hating your life is not going to turn out to be a bad idea. If you trust Christ and let him shape your desires and your direction, then look what you’ll get.

Do you see it in verse 26? God himself will honor you.

Every honor bestowed on man by man goes no farther than this earth and our graves and that appointed day we are all laid therein – never to be seen again.

But every honor bestowed on the servants of Christ is eternal and unceasing.

The honor given by God to you because of Christ cannot be taken away, revoked, or destroyed. There is a meaningful substantial life for you and for me,

and it all depends on Jesus.

V. Imagine with me that your lunch plans have changed and instead of what you had planned you’re going to sit down with Jesus on a public park bench and review your life

Would it become evident that the reason you do what you do and have a family and come to worship and live where you live is so that you can get something for yourself?

Or would it become evident that the reason for everything you do is because you are caught up in the great harvest that depends on the glorified Jesus?

Do you do what you do because of you?

Or do you do what you do because Jesus has been glorified?

Jesus has been glorified. Your salvation, your life, and your future can be secure but only if you give your life over to him. Turn from your sin and insufficiency and utterly trust in the Jesus who makes you pure and is himself Sufficiency.

There is an amazing harvest going on all over this globe and in our community.

We are a people who have faith in the work of Jesus and will get engaged in his works. Because Jesus is glorified giving us eternal life we serve him, follow him, and look forward to the honor of eternal life.

Look around your neighborhood and your work and the grocery store. the fields are indescribably vast and white for harvest. Let’s plant the seed of Jesus! Let’s praise the Lord of the harvest and go from this place to be a part of the harvest.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear Heavenly Father, how I praise and thank You for Your amazing plan of redemption and that the Lord Jesus was ready and willing to forgo all human glory and praise and be led as a lamb to the Cross, so that His death could pay the price for my sin and the sin of the whole world.

Thank You that Jesus lived a perfect life, foregoing any honor, in order to be made sin on my account and died a cruel death on Calvary’s Cross so that by faith in Him I might be forgiven of my sin and receive life everlasting. Praise Your Holy Name, and thank You, Lord Jesus, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.

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Countdown to Calvary: We Walk into Jerusalem with Jesus. Jesus Wants us to see Humble Service – Philippians 2

We begin our countdown. We count down the days to our Calvary. We have just followed our Rabbi Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. We behold all the sights and sounds of a great city in preparation for their greatest celebration of Passover. There is so much to see and so much to take in. We walk close by our Teacher.

Our natural inclination is to place ourselves in the centre of everything and to think how we are going to be affected by it all, before we consider the needs, necessities or feelings of others – before we consider the desire of God’s heart.

Indeed, even when we do try our best to exhibit the ‘caring concern’, our Rabbi has taught us these past three years, how often our choices are rooted in selfish pride, knowing our ‘thoughtful’ actions will excite the applause of others and feed our ego, which only results in a selfish smugness or a self-absorbed pride!!

We are so incredibly self-centered. And yet, his was not the attitude of the Lord Jesus Who set aside His heavenly glory in order to be made in the likeness of sinful man. Jesus looked to the needs of others before He considered Himself.

We see the man, the One Who is the very essence of God, and Who is complete in Himself considered our needs and mine before His own, when He emptied Himself… and took upon Himself the form of a slave – for He knew that the sacrifice of Himself was the only way that we could be saved from our scarlet sins; our gross sinfulness; our selfish smugness and our self-absorbed pride.

We walk with the man and we do not think about, know how or why God the eternal Son and divine Creator did not try to keep hold of all that is His by right of His unique position and person, but humbled Himself on the back of a foal and laid aside His kingly glory, in order to become subject to His Father and live as man was originally created to live – only doing those things that He heard from His Father and only acting only on the instructions of the Holy Spirit.

These things are not in our minds. But they should be. They should be focused on the lessons yet to be learned, on the life yet to be lived in these coming days. There is so much left to be grasped – we cannot comprehend even .001% of it. There is so much going on around us – too much “traditional preparation” to consider – to be sure we get everything our Rabbi needs to recount the Passover.

But what lessons are being lost in our impossible haste to make all preparation? What are we too busy to see? What ‘things of man’ do we scramble around for? What things of heaven are we “stepping over” as we prepare for our Passover? In those ancient moments these Disciples lived, what were they interested in?

We have the benefit of history – they the unrecognized blessings of the moment as each moment proceeded. They were focused on following in the dust of their Rabbi – How were they to know, prepare themselves for the reality of Calvary? What did they “know” of their Rabbi? What did they accept of these moments?

So, we enter into our own countdown of days to our Calvary. We are challenged daily to let THIS mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus… to choose to follow the path of the cross by setting aside our own natural inclination to place self on the throne of our lives – and in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit… by means of the new life of Christ – to finally empty ourselves of ‘Self’ become a servant of all – for His sake Who loved us so much that He died that we all might live.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus ….

I just want to think with the mind of Jesus ….

I just want to live life as Jesus teaches us to live ….

I just want to love God as Jesus teaches us to Love God ….

I just want to love my neighbor as Jesus taught me to love my neighbor ….

I just want to love life as Jesus teaches us to love life ….

I just want to serve as Jesus teaches us to serve …..

But first, I must make my walk to my Calvary as Jesus did ….

Let the countdown of days begin ….

For the JOY which was before Him ….

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God who is my Father, by your grace, teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your Holy Spirit lead me on level ground. I see your faithfulness and goodness in what you have done for me throughout my life. I think about these things, and I thirst for you. Let me hear of your unfailing love every morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Keep me on firm footing for the glory of your name. Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Luke 19:33-34 ||Devotion in Action|| “My God! The Lord has need of ME!?”

“My God! My God! The Lord hath need of ME!?!”

Who is saying this?

The Twelve Disciples standing behind Jesus as he rides the donkey?

The crowd which is before Jesus as he is about to enter the city gates?

The small man in the tree – remember the newly repentant Zacchaeus?

The small man in front of the donkey holding the palm in his hand?

The donkey itself as it carries Jesus on its back with a small smile on its face?

The owner of the donkey who gave his ascent to his animal being taken away by men he never met before who told him simply: “The Lord Hath Need of It?”

The City of Jerusalem itself now in the midst of celebrating the Passover?

The citizens of Jerusalem aware and/or unaware of Jesus’ arrival?

The Priests and Workers of the Temple – the Center of Religious Life for the Jewish people. Where people come to worship and sacrifice as God requires?

How about the mountain – “The Mount of Olives?”

How about the rocks on the ground which the people and donkey walk on?

How about the man, Itinerant Master Rabbi Jesus Himself?

A whole lot of revelation is going on here – each one singularly unique!

Each one saying to themselves ….

Each one shouting unto and into the heavens ….

“MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME!”

“MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME?”

And so, Jesus comes unto the city …. on the back of a donkey ……

This is the moment they were living in, as the events unfolded.

It is now the 21st Century, the year of our Lord and Savior 2022.

Today is Palm Sunday – we will gather for worship this morning.

We will have our families with us.

Those who only come once or twice a year – will miraculously appear.

We have those who cannot or will not come to church – but have some connection to a social media site – Facebook, or You Tube, or ZOOM.

God will (hopefully, prayerfully) have their undivided attention again.

We still have the ancient stories of the Gospel narratives.

We have the benefit of history.

We have the benefit of their struggles and the fruits of their labors.

We have the benefit of the full Biblical Canon, God’s Holy Scriptures.

We have the benefit of commentaries and sermons and devotions.

We read, re-read these Gospel Narratives year after year after year.

As we consider one angle after another trying to be original, trying to reach the older generations and communicate to current and coming generations of both believers and non-believers alike – unto into those “great clouds of witnesses,” “MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME!?!

What are we to anticipate in the coming minutes and hours ahead?

As we consider the words – “THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME ….”

Relevant or Irrelevant?

Absolutely Meaningful or Utterly Useless?

Are we exclaiming it or are we questioning it?

Are we accepting the possibility or are we brushing it away and denying it?

Is anybody even seriously reading or studying, listening or praying, teaching or preaching the critically true meaning and absolute importance to the words?

“MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME!?!

Luke 19:28-40 Amplified Bible

The Triumphal Entry

²⁸After saying these things, Jesus went on ahead [of them], going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a [donkey’s] ^[a]colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anybody asks you, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ you will say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” ³²So those who were sent left and found the colt just as He had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴They said, “The Lord needs it.” ³⁵ They brought it to Jesus, and ^[b]they threw their robes over the colt and put Jesus on it. ³⁶As He rode along, people were spreading their coats on the road [as an act of homage before a king]. ³⁷As soon as He was approaching [Jerusalem], near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of the disciples [all those who were or claimed to be His followers] began praising God [adoring Him enthusiastically and] joyfully with loud voices for all the miracles and works of power that they had seen, ³⁸shouting,

“Blessed (celebrated, praised) is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory (majesty, splendor) in the highest [heaven]!”

³⁹Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples [for shouting these Messianic praises].” ⁴⁰Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these [people] keep silent, the stones will cry out [in praise]!”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Lord Needs It – Luke 19:34

I wonder how much our faith, hope and love would affect our daily lives if we lived to exclusively serve Christ’s needs instead of our own?

Is that even possible? Would our churches be filled with people on Sundays because the Lord needed them to be there? Would missions throughout the world be fully funded because the Lord needs affluent Christians in the West to ‘pony up’ and provide from their ample resources all that is needed by Christ to medicate, educate, feed and clothe people living in poverty across the globe?

If we are 100% comfortable doing religious things without being challenged by the radical nature of the surprise and scandal of the Gospel, then we are going to go through life as spiritually shallow people.

However, if we take time to really think about what Christ needs us to do with our lives and resources, then everything will change about how we ‘do’ church and how we share our faith.

The owners of the colt in today’s Gospel passage (Luke 19:28-36) could have told the disciples to “get lost or I will call the cops”, or that it was inconvenient, or that it would be okay the next day. They didn’t do that; when they heard the words “The Lord Needs It,” they gave over the colt freely and perhaps gladly.

In these 21st century times, would we be so accommodating or dismissive?

The Lord hath need of many things from each and every one of us ……

YEA OR NAY ……

²¹So get rid of all uncleanness and ^[a]all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. ²²But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]. ²³For if anyone only listens to the word ^[b]without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets ^[c]what he looked like. (James 1:21-24 Amplified)

Questions for personal reflection

What does the Lord need of me?

Am I willing to give my time, talents, and resources to Him for His work?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord Jesus, Your Gospel brings goodness and forgiveness, strength and love into our lives. It also presents us with unique challenges and causes us to reflect upon our daily choices. Help us so to live according to Your needs and liberate us from our insecurities, as well as our desires. In Your Holy Name, we cheerfully pray. Amen.

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Romans 5:6-8 |The Surprise Gospel | We Shall All See God as He Really Is!!!

When you and I see God as He really is, we will Worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and not ours. We’ll truly worship Him as He desires to be worshipped. We shall have Communion with Him. We’ll all share in this surprising moment.

When Moses saw God and worshipped Him, He ended up giving us the Law – the Ten Commandments. When Job saw God as He really was and worshipped Him, his whole family and estate was magnified and restored to him, Job received his second chance at living life. When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, he was given a glimpse of His throne room, inducted into the role of a Prophet of God.

I introduce you to the Pharisee Saul, in his zealousness when he was blinded by the holiness of God on the Damascus Road, he repented, was healed and became Paul, the greatest missionary evangelist who ever lived and gave us the bulk of the New Testament Writings from which we study and learn who Jesus really is.

And when John saw God and fell down before him as dead, he got up and wrote the Book of Revelation, the great Apocalyptic story of the New Testament. As he himself walked behind and alongside his Rabbi for three years with the twelve disciples, he looked upon Jesus as He really was, hung upon the cross and dying. With Peter, He looked into the empty tomb and witnessed to the power of God.

When we finally see God as He really is, we will look forward to the day when we too will be like Him. In the New Testament we are told that someday we shall be like Him because we will see Him as He really is. On that day, we will be holy in perfection. We will be changed, and the sins of our lives will be taken away. We are going to be beautiful in our worship because God is beautiful in His holiness.

Romans 5:1-8 Authorized (King James) Version

5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: ²by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; ⁴and patience, experience; and experience, hope: ⁵and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

⁶For when we were yet without [inner] strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Unconditional love! WOW! This is the “LOVE” God has for us.

A PICTURE OF GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR HUMANITY is found in John 3:16-For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

In spite of the wrong and sinful things we have done, the unclean places we have gone in our deeds, the unpleasing sinful acts we have committed and continues to commit, the ugly things we have said or the evil thoughts that crosses our minds can, surprisingly, God’s love never leaves us.

God’s love for humanity transcends our sinful condition because even in the midst of them, He showed us His unconditional love.

In other words, there is nothing we can do to make God stop loving us.

There are a vast multitude of sinful things, i.e. (idolatry and unbelief) that we can do to cause us to be separated from a personal relationship with God, but not from His love for each one of us.

Nothing we do can stop God from loving us. Calvary proved that! Yes, it was at Calvary where the “LOVE” of God for humanity was put on display.

Even after salvation, regardless of what we may have to endure through long suffering, hardship, etc., Apostle Paul surprisingly declares this concerning God’s love for us in Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, 39 neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Surprisingly, regardless of my diverse tests and trials, I am “PERSUADED” that NOTHING can separate me from the Love God has for me through Christ Jesus!

It comes as no surprise to me then that I can read and study and pray through the full length and breadth of God’s Holy Scriptures and just want to worship!

My living hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and His Righteousness.

Romans 5:5 This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.

If you are saved and have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior by faith, you are daily tasting the outpouring of God’s “LOVE” in your hearts through God’s Holy Spirit whom He was given to us at our point of salvation.

If you do not know Jesus for the pardon of your sins, invite Him in on today by first asking Him to forgive you of your sins and to open the eyes of your heart to His “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE” for you.

When you have made your confession of your desperate need for God, not only is He faithful and just to forgive you, but He is willing to lead, guide and direct the rest of your life by the leading of His Holy Spirit.

Not surprisingly Warrior, King, Master Poet, even master sinner, David declares these words concerning God “LOVE” in Psalm 34:8-Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

It should not come as such a surprise that God’s “LOVE” is an everlasting love.

New life in the “SPIRIT” is available to you on today.

The Great Exchange is God’s love for our sins. WOW! What an exchange.

Unconditional “LOVE” is found at the foot of the cross.

Run to Jesus for He alone offers you UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!

This kind of love cannot be found in nothing or no one else.

When nothing else could help me, “LOVE” was broken for me!

When nothing else could help me, “LIVING LOVE” lifted me!

JESUS IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!

DO NOT LET THIS BE SUCH A SURPRISE TO YOU!

SHARE COMMUNION WITH GOD AS HE FIRST SHARED IT WITH US!

God bless.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of enlightenment, help me to read, study and understand your word. Give me insight into the meaning of your commandments and how I should follow them in their beauty and their truth. As I meditate on your wonderful miracles, As I search your beauty, wonder who you really are, may I be encouraged and empowered. As I study how you have fought our battles from the stories in the Bible, may I be built up and strengthened. Help me to know how you want me to put the hope of your word into real practice. Assist me to know you more fully through your word, be pleasing to you. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Romans 5:6-8 |The Surprise Gospel | I am so Struggling with the Surprise!

The Patriarch Job wrote in Chapter Seven verses 1 – 6 (Message) these words.

There’s Nothing to My Life

7 ^1-6“Human life is a struggle, isn’t it?
    It’s a life sentence to hard labor.
Like field hands longing for quitting time
    and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,
I’m given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—
    months of aimlessness, nights of misery!
I go to bed and think, ‘How long till I can get up?’
    I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I’m fed up!
I’m covered with maggots and scabs.
    My skin gets scaly and hard, then oozes with pus.
My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles,
    and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life!

The Bible tells us that even believers struggle with trusting God because life is hard and cruel at times. But we know there is hope and that joy is 100% possible because of the eternal life we have with Christ. Therefore, God wants us to be full of faith and grow in His divine direction, comforted by the Holy Spirit. In this complete trust of our Lord and Savior, we can live with true peace and joy.

Today, we have the opportunity to renew our perspective. Be encouraged, learn to walk through each day with a Romans 5:8 joyful spirit and a refocused mind.

Remember the Gospel hope found in God’s promises.
Take comfort in God’s divine plan for your life.
Rejoice in God’s presence.
Reconnect with the true Gospel life-changing hope found in the Bible.
Share with others the answer to their deepest problem and greatest need.

The Struggle is Absolutely Real ….

But GOD is also absolutely 100% REAL!

Romans 5:6-8 Easy-to-Read Version

⁶Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us. ⁷Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person. ⁸But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

God’s people have been struggling for millennia to understand the love of God.

They have misunderstood him, taken him for granted, ignored him, and sinned against him, but he has never stopped showing his love to them.

Ultimately, Jesus left his throne in heaven to come and show us once and for all exactly how deep the love of God is for us. You and I have to 100% believe that.

You and I have to acknowledge the love of God for us.

That’s my greatest prayer.

The way to your salvation is by trusting the God of all Life that tells this story.

You and I can have love like this, and it does not even matter we’re a sinner, because Christ died for sinners. In fact, he died only for sinners. So, if we see our need for a love like this, we 100% qualify for that love. We can all come to him, and he will not cast us out because God shows his love to a surprising people.

God shows his Gospel love unto a surprising people.

The kind of person that God shows his love to is surprising. He shows his love to sinners. The text is plain and simple, Paul writes, “while we were still sinners”.

If we had the all-seeing eye of God, we would be appalled at not only the sin we see in each other but the sin we see in our own hearts.

I’d venture to say we are aware of about 5% of our sin. But God sees all of it.

We need to understand what our sin looks like to God. Our sins aren’t mistakes.

We like to use that word. It softens it. But the Bible uses words like evil and wickedness in regard to our sin. How often have we called ourselves evil or wicked? But you and I are! We are all one big hot mess. Our sin has ruined us.

Every one of us has experienced this. Every one of us has done something that we do not even want to think nor talk about. And yet God looks down at us in that condition, God sees everything in us! God knows everything of that sin, and says I’ve died for that sin. You are free. For freedom Christ has set us free.

In fact, our sin is our only qualification.

Look at the verse again. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It is in the midst of our sin that Christ saves us.

Our sin is the ONLY qualification, and we must still be in that sin to qualify, which of course we are.

But this is insane.

Look at the way Paul writes this phrase.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rom/5/8/t_conc_1051008

God shows [commendeth], present tense. Christ died, past tense.

The death of Savior Jesus Christ still shows the love of God. That one event was enough to show us for all time his love because of the magnitude of the one who died and who he died for. God died for his enemies. Our sin qualifies us, and our faith justifies us through the redeeming work of Christ on the cross at Calvary.

Even the way Paul words this is both fascinating and surprising.

What Paul is saying here is there has been a changing of the guard.

Something has come in and something has gone out.

The Greek text here is saying that in the death of Christ, we sinners have been redeemed.

Even the syntax of the sentence is showing the gospel!

Not just the words, but how the words are arranged.

God shows his love to us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God shows his love to us at a surprising cost.

Why did Jesus die for us?

The simple answer is because he loved us, to love us till the end he had to die.

But you may say, “There must have been another way. Surely someone didn’t have to die in order to save me!”

The Bible says God saves sinners and the only way to save sinners is for the sin to be paid for by someone.

And the Bible later says that the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:20-23)

Therefore, there are 2 options: either we die for our sins or someone else does.

In God’s mercy, the gospel tells us that someone else has died in our place.

But what does this look like? Is the Father an angry God who only wants blood while Jesus is the loving, kind-hearted Son who desperately wants his Father’s heart to change? By no means! God is not unjust, and he is not unloving. But for God’s justice and God’s love to remain 1000% compatible a death had to occur.

It hurts the Father to lose his Son, but he does it because he loves us.

The death of Jesus was costly. He is the most glorious person in existence.

He was there from the beginning – not the beginning of the world, but from the beginning of eternity past. It was he through whom and by whom and for whom all things were created. It is he who upholds the universe by the word of his power. It is he who is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. It is he who was promised, and he who has come, and he who has died, and he who is reigning now and will reign forever. (John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:5-20, Hebrews 1)

It is he to whom every knee shall one day bow.

It is he, of whom the prophet Isaiah says, “he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength.”

It is also he of whom Isaiah says, “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for or iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

It is he that has given us access to the throne of grace.

This is Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

The Son of God, the Son of man, the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was and is and is to come, the Messiah, the Christ.

This is your Savior! This is God.

And there was no greater pain in the universe than the exact moment Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the elect.

In that moment the Father turned his face away from the Son and gave him over to death so he might bring us who believe to glory.

It cost something to gain us back.

It cost the most valuable person in all existence.

It cost God himself.

You are bought with a price.

God isn’t angry with you because he has done everything, he needs to do to be happy with you forever. The price has already been paid in the midst of your sin so that you can be free from the consequences of your sin.

That is surprising!

THAT IS LOVE!

That is the surprising gospel!

So, if you are prone to think you are too good for God’s love: can you now see that you are a sinner in need of Christ’s saving work? Only when you see, only when you acknowledge this need can you have the righteousness you long for.

And if you are prone to think you are too unworthy for God’s love: can you now see that God saves sinners and sinners alone? Only when you and I see that, only we acknowledge that, then will we be able to have the joy we all long for.

Let’s all lean into the third way of the gospel:

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners (we are worse than we think), Christ died for us (we are more loved than we imagined).

Let me close with these words from Charles Spurgeon, 19th century preacher,

“If today you feel that sin is hateful to you, believe in Him who has said, ‘It is finished.’ Let me link your hand in mine. Let us come together, both of us, and say, ‘Here are two poor naked souls, good Lord; we cannot clothe ourselves,’ and He will give us a robe, for ‘it is finished.’ . . . ‘But must we not add tears to it?’ ‘No,’ says He, ‘no, it is finished, there is enough.’ Child of God, will you have Christ’s finished righteousness today, and will you rejoice in it more than you ever have before?”

Receive this good news.

Come to Christ.

See what he has done for you.

Come and live.

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (5:8)

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord Jesus Christ, your power is beyond compare. You turned water into wine. You cleansed the Leper, restored sight to the blind and made the deaf hear. You made the lame to walk. You healed the sick and raised the dead. You conquered death in your resurrection. Everything you touch is powerfully transformed. Let me know that powerful touch in my life. Lord, bless me and keep me, make your face shine upon me. Through your mighty name, Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Romans 5:8 |The Surprising Gospel of God: What does the Surprise Look Like? “I Loved You at Your Darkest!”

The Love of God. It’s a complicated thing. Every generation tries to understand love, fall in love, and explain love. People have gone to extremes to display their love for others, and thousands of years ago God did just that for each one of us.

In Romans 5:8, Paul tells us God demonstrated His love for us this way: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Out of the abundance of God’s great love for us He sent His only Son to pay the debt for our sins, even though we were all His enemies, powerless and ungodly. God’s display of love was not conditional.

It was not based on anything we had done or could ever do for Him. God knew that without His timely intervention we would be forever separated from Him.

Jesus’ obedience displayed grace in an amazing way. Jesus poured out His life for the forgiveness of our sins so we could be reconciled with God. Each of us, through faith, can have the opportunity to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ and experience peace with God, hope in every situation, and eternal life.

Having a relationship with Jesus doesn’t mean life is always easy. Rather, it provides us with the ability to face anything that comes our way. We can have hope in all situations, confident of God’s grace, His faithfulness, and His 100% willingness to do whatever it takes to fully restore our relationship with Him.

Romans 5:6-8 Amplified Bible

⁶While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. ⁷Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die. ⁸But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Apostle Paul tells us here in Romans 5:8 that God has shown us his love in the death of Christ. The One who created the heavens and the earth, the One who rules overall, the One who is in the heavens and does whatever he pleases—this One has shown his love to us in the death of his only Son. John 3:16 rings gracefully in our ears, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”

This verse explains what Jesus said in John 15:13 when he told his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

What Jesus says in John 15 he accomplishes at the cross in John 19 and Paul explains it to us here in Romans 5:8. This is the single most important story the world has ever known. The scale of this sacrifice is still being weighed today.

In fact, for all eternity we will see that the cost and the prize do not seem to balance, but there is glory in this gospel that fills up the throne room of heaven and shoots joy down to our hearts like lightening. This is a surprising gospel.

Romans 5:8 explains this surprising gospel by revealing how God shows his love to us in a surprising way, to a surprising people, and at surprising cost.

God shows his love in a surprising way.

I want us to linger here for quite a few minutes. Let this sink in, because this is abundantly and completely glorious. God shows. God is not a quiet, reserved, no-big-deal king. He’s not afraid to shake the world. He’s ambitious and he’s bold, he loves radically. The very expanse of heaven declares the glory of God.

Why else do stars exist? Why are sunsets as beautiful as they are? What purpose do they serve outside of lighting your heart on fire? God puts on display his love.

These two words, “God shows”, speak to both camps of people, those who think they are too good, those who believe they are too unworthy for the love of God.

From every which direction of our circumstances, we are confronted here with what God does. He shows. He is a relentless lover. He is always inviting us, not just so that we will agree on a limited intellectual level that we are loved, but also beckoning all of us to feel deep in our hearts we are both invited and loved.

It’s as if he is speaking to each one of us from the depths of eternity, “Look. I know some of you think you don’t need me. Some of you think you can’t have any part of me. What made you doubt my love?” “What can I do to change your mind?”

Do we realize the surprising ways in which God loves each and everyone of us?

He doesn’t stop with mere words we may never read or study, he does not stop with parting seas, he doesn’t stop at pillars of fire, or clouds of glory, he doesn’t stop with breaking down walls at the sounds of hundreds of great trumpets, he doesn’t stop with voices from heaven or angels standing before us. He doesn’t stop with a promise we’re just as likely as not to completely, abundantly ignore.

He doesn’t stop with a great or lesser earthly king. He doesn’t stop with one nation, mighty or weak. He doesn’t stop with only one people group. He doesn’t stop with “just good enough”. He doesn’t stop with perfect teaching or with amazing miracles. No, he stops with the death of the Son on the cross. God the Father loves so intensely that he could not give anything less than the absolute best that he had to offer himself in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son.

God shows his love to us in a multitude of ways but the supreme way he shows his love to us is in the death of Christ for us. What greater love is there?

We, in all our sin and all our messiness – WE – were loved enough by God that he would die for you. He did not just tell us that. He showed it two thousand years ago at 3:00 in the afternoon on a hill called Calvary outside of Jerusalem.

And, even more surprising, he yet, he still shows his love in the death of Christ.

These words are in the present active tense. God, today, now in this moment, is showing us the love, he has for us through the death of his Son, Jesus Christ.

What we see right here in our Bibles – this black text on a white page – is lifting Jesus up before us right now so that we can see with the eyes of our heart the very love of God for us. Do you see it? Oh, I pray you do! Father, open our eyes!

Now, in this exact and exacting moment, that’s the kind of Gospel love we need, the kind of surprise we each need, that’s the unrelenting kind of love God has.

Is not that even 0.01% surprising to you?

Today, surprise yourself and surprise a friend or two or three and Reflect:

Have you ever seriously asked Jesus into your life? If so, take some time to thank God for His grace. If not, please surprise God, learn more about His salvation.
How can you surprise someone – show grace to someone today?
Do you have hope God can get you through any situation? Why or why not?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God, from the beginning, you were the word. You sent your only son to save us all and he even allowed himself to be tortured and crucified to obey you. Bless me with the gift of understanding and of unshaken faith in you. Let me know the meaning of your words in the Bible and how to live accordingly. Open the door of my heart, fill me with your light and understanding. Alleluia! Amen.

Another Part Tomorrow …… Struggling with the Surprise

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Romans 5:8 | The Surprising Gospel |

Interestingly, the Bible does not ever just say that God loves us.

Instead, it says: “When we were at our very darkest moment, God demonstrated MAX his love…” “In this is MAX love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us [TO THE MAX] and gave…” “For God so MAX loved the world that he gave…”

Do we see Love is more than an emotion or intention? True love, redemptive love, God-styled love is active; it does something. For us, Jesus did more than something; he sacrificed everything. What’s more, he did it when we most needed it. He demonstrated the core of his love when we were yet sinners!

Romans 5:6-8 The Message

^6-8Christ arrives exactly right on time to make this happen. He did not, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we had not been so weak, we would not have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (AKJV)

This short verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans gives us insight into the core Gospel love of God.

What is God’s love like?

How does God love?

Who does God love, anyway?

Does he love you?

Does he love me?

Does he really love the world?

There are some verses in the Bible that hold more power than the very sun.

This is one of those verses. These 18 words are some of the most glorious in the entire Bible. If you’re wondering about the love of God, this verse explains it.

The primary goal of my devotionals is to preach the gospel wherever I can.

Martin Luther, the great reformer, said, “I preach the gospel to my people every week because they forget it every week.”

Reverend Dr. Timothy Keller, a pastor in New York City, said recently, “One of the signs you may not grasp the unique radical nature of the gospel is that you’re certain you think you do.”

The truth is: We are forgetful people. We are a proud people. But we have a God who humbles himself to remind us of his love. He is not far from any of us. Let’s say our prayers, coming to him and asking for his blessing on our time together.

What Jesus did to save us is the most loving action that has ever taken place in the universe. What took place on the cross was a once in history-type event.

It has happened but the effects of it are forever ongoing. It didn’t just change history; history was created for it. It didn’t just accomplish something in the past but has penultimate power to change the future. There is nothing like it.

But let us not lose the wonder of it. Let us not lose the vision for the beauty in the hideous death of Christ on our behalf. Let us never lose the meaning of the cross. Let it be always treasured by our hearts. We must fight against losing the truth of this verse, because the apex of all history has already happened, and we have seen the maximum love of God for us on a scale that should blow us away.

What do you genuinely believe about the maximum love of God?

Most often we think about the love of God in two categories: either we are too good for it (“Of course God loves me, he’s God! God loves all of his creation. But I’m not sure whether I actually need his love. I do just fine on my own.”)

or we are too unworthy for it (“I’ve sinned my way out of God’s love. Perhaps I could try and get it back, but my sin has overtaken me. I’m really a lost cause at this point. I want to love God but I’m just not sure he could love me.”)

But the Gospel truth is we are all actually worse than we think we are and yet we are more loved than we could ever truly imagine. That’s what the Bible says about us.

So, there is a third way to think about the love of God. It’s the gospel way, which tells us we are too bad for his goodness, but we can have him anyway through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The gospel humbles the proud and exalts, lifts up the humble. The love of God is transformative.

We do not deserve it, yet we can have it. We need it to live, and yet he gives it to us without cost. What we think about the love of God will determine everything about how we live. What kind of love does God have for us? “But God shows his [maximum] love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Your life, my life, includes the story of sacrificial death on your behalf. God died for you. and he died for me! You are loved so much, I am loved so much, we all are loved, that God was willing to nail his own Son to a cross to gain you back.

My fervent prayer for each of us today is that every single one of us walks out from reading this devotion fully convinced that God loves each and every one of us. Truly, the way to salvation is not in what we do, but in whom we trust. What do you believe about the MAX love of God? Your answer determines your fate.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow —–

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father God, I thank you for loving me. I love you. I love you for what you have done. I love you for who you are. I love you for your promises. I love you for your faithfulness. Most of all, dear Father, help me to remember I love you because of Jesus who showed me just how much you love me. Please empower me to show my love by serving and giving to others as Jesus did. In his name I pray. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Imagine the Possibility! I am Finding Myself at a Loss for Words! Escaping the Thought Trap!!! |Joshua 1:7 – 9|

Wonderful Words of Life (Philip P. Bliss, 1838-1876)

1. Sing them over again to me,
wonderful words of life;
let me more of their beauty see,
wonderful words of life;
words of life and beauty
teach me faith and duty.
Refrain:
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life.

2. Christ, the blessed one, gives to all
wonderful words of life;
sinner, list to the loving call,
wonderful words of life;
all so freely given,
wooing us to heaven.
(Refrain)

3. Sweetly echo the gospel call,
wonderful words of life;
offer pardon and peace to all,
wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior,
sanctify forever.
(Refrain)

Joshua 1:7-9 English Standard Version

⁷Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success^[a] wherever you go. ⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Someone, somewhere at some point in time, began to ponder and pray …..

They have probably been pondering these questions for quite some time …..

So, we have been gazing at the unsearchable beauty of the Lord our God.

We have been craning our necks upward – mightily focusing on His face.

We have been craning our necks and eyes upwards until it now hurts us.

Not just our necks hurt, not just a struggle against keeping our eyes open,

But now we also find steadily creeping into our heads – new thoughts we do not recognize – or as much as we recognize them – we deem them 100% unwanted.

We search for God, turning our faces and our thoughts away from the world.

Now, without our permission, our day-to-day thoughts are being muddled.

We like it- we like it (maybe) – we like it not – we realize it – we are not sure?

We cannot stop these thoughts – we try to re-shape them – but no success?

Are we struggling against our worldly thoughts leaving our heads?

Might this be true?

Without realizing – are we struggling against God trying to get into our heads?

Struggling with negative thoughts? Maybe low self-esteem? Self-putdowns?

When I think about these thought struggles, I am both awed, amazed and (gasp) very scared at how easy it is to adopt or fall into a bad thought habit.

That’s right I said it, “habit.” All our thought patterns are, in fact, habits.

Our whole lives, we have all been taught, trained on how to think and what to think and why to think what we should think until they become 100% natural.

And these habits can even impact our ability to problem solve and our ability to decide how, what we use to filter truth vs untruth. Even learned helplessness is copied and can gradually develop into (negative) thought and behavioral habits.

Sometimes, these thoughts become a significant burden we know not what to do with the breadth of them. Scratch heads? Move forward? Stand still? Retreat?

We are looking for the indescribable, unknowable, unsearchable, face of God anywhere and everywhere we can. We want to cannot look upon His face, to look upon His visage, crawl or walk up to Him – look directly into His eyes!

But that is not possible to do and survive.

But survivability is not our concern – we only want to be eye to eye with Him.

Beholding His face – Looking into His eyes – knowing His thoughts for us, is very much where we all prefer to be. We will brave everything for this chance.

We cannot know the thoughts of God for us and that disturbs us – we are all called to look upon Him, but reality is we cannot do so – but our thoughts are still on God – YET our eyes and our souls our thoughts remain 100% fixated.

We are now fixated on God despite our thought habits! This is great news because just as we develop bad habits, we can retrain our thinking and learn new habits. It’s really pretty simple but requires truth, faith, commitment.

Let me introduce you to the one presenting us with this array of questions.

He is Joshua, Son of Nun …. His reality has just been seriously altered ….

Before him, the prospect of replacing Moses as leader of millions of people.

Prepared to lead? Prepared to stand still? Prepared instead to retreat?

Prepared to think, act and believe according to his understanding?

And what would that accomplish for him, his family, his people, His nation?

God knows all of our thoughts before we even have them – but in the midst of our sorting out our own stuff – are we realizing that God is trying to overcome, overwhelm the unrelenting burden of our thoughts at the exact same time?

How? God persistently speaks His greater thoughts over our lesser thoughts …

“⁷Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success^[a] wherever you go. (Joshua 1:7 ESV)

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, ESV)

What are we to make of this seldom considered, thought-provoking revelation?

Whatever the time, whenever the season of life, it’s 100% safe to say we are the sum total of our habits. If you want to know your future, just look at your habits today! It will show you where your thoughts and behaviors will be tomorrow.

God says ….

“⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV)

The finite Mind and wayward Thoughts of Man Repeat ….

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸It will be healing to your flesh^[a]
    and refreshment^[b] to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
⁶Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:5-6 ESV)

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)

When I allow myself to think about setbacks, hurts and the many different pains of life we experience through people, places, things or events, I realize there is ever a choice we can make; there is a crossroad before us; a decision:

Do I hand myself and my emotions over to my own thoughts, hardships of life and allow them to define me? To permit my thought to dictate how I should feel and ought to live? Or do I, in my pain, bring it to God and find healing and rest?

I guess that’s the difference between freedom and chains. You may be afraid and have it in great abundance, but fear doesn’t have to have abound in you.

Over seasons. the stories and scripts we tell ourselves are powerful. What we tell ourselves not only threatens to define our behavior but also predicts our future.

Do we speak negativity and lies in opposition to the Word of God, or do we speak the truth of God as medicine over our hurting souls and against the lies and narratives we have been taught? Being set free is to experience the truth of the gospel showing up in every area of our lives, even in our thought life.

To fight my thought battles, I use Scripture to correct false assumptions and to confront bad behaviors. When our experiences and thoughts don’t line up with biblical truth, we should always yield our thoughts and accept the 100% truth of Scripture in all its authoritative truth. Make it our filter and meditate on it over and over until God develops our new thought habits. It will replace the old one!

The Truth Will Set You Free (John 8:31-32 ESV)

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Our thought habits can be such a pervasive trap. Or they can be the source of a pure spring that flows from the Word of God, deposited deep into our lives.

We are not to be continuously chained to negative thinking anymore. Living Word of God: We no longer have to be. Yield to the truth that can set you free.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

God, my Wisdom, Speak, them over again to me, thy Wonderful Words of Life ….

Lord of wisdom, I sometimes finding understanding the Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes so to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Be my teacher, be my wisdom, be my truth, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your wise advice. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Gazing upon the unseen face of God changes our Perspective. Psalm 27:4

A goal of mine has always been to grow closer to my God, so I began researching verses and passages relating to this vision. Throughout my long and prayerful search for the “perfect” verse, I came across Psalm 27:4, which yet proclaims,

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. (AKJV)

This hit me like a ton of living stones. The vision of dwelling in the house of the Lord and gazing upon His unseeable unknowable face, His unsearchable beauty. At that precise moment of prayer, God answered! He struck a deep chord in my heart. He strummed the heart right strings which started my soul unto singing.

From this, I knew that now was the moment where I should live in such a way that I actively seek God. I came to realize that God was teaching me to seek Him and gaze upon His beauty despite the rocky road of life, which has transformed my sinfully limited and skewed perspective on the current events of the world.

It has granted me the ability to envision perseverance through trying times, the ability to envision my developing a godlier character, and the ability to have and believe I can actually grasp, hold onto, a hope which lasts longer than 1 minute.

Little did I realize God had given me this simple verse which I have read 1,000 times to radically change the way I envision pursuing the Lord. This leads me to say God does not always roar in our lives in the way we would expect; rather, He quietly nudges us back to the basic, simple principles in which we should rest. It is in looking for God in all the places we see every moment of every day, we live!

God struck a new musical chord deep in David’s heart at the exact moment he needed it. From this, I can testify! We have these amazing words which found my heart at the exact moment, three thousand some odd number of years later.

Pray! what place in His Holy Scriptures is He nudging you back to envisioning?

Psalm 27:1-4 AKJV

Psalm 27

A Psalm of David.

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
²When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh,
they stumbled and fell.
³Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear:
though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
⁴One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Affirm and Pray,

I Believe

In spite of many unanswered questions, I believe.

I believe I see in the living God, the joy of the universe,

who is the pulse and purpose of all things seen and unseen,

who from the dust of earth calls up living beings to be children of eternity,

who through countless ages has provided for us many liberators

and tirelessly seeks to bring victory out of defeat and life out of decay.

I believe I see in Jesus the Christ, God’s true Son,

who is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,

who took upon himself the healing of the human race,

who bearing the burden of our sins went to Golgotha carrying his cross,

who was betrayed, crucified, dead and buried in a borrowed tomb,

who on the third day was found to be gloriously alive,

meeting with those who trust him and serve him to the end of the world.

I believe I see in the Holy Spirit of God,

within and among all who cherish Christ and his way,

who brings hope out of despair, love out of apathy, and joy out of sorrow,

who unceasingly regenerates and reforms the church

that it may always be the contemporary body of the risen Christ,

loving the world through prayer, word and deed.

I believe that even I am caught up in the resurgent life of Christ Jesus,

and that nothing in life or death can separate me from his love and joy.

In spite of unanswered questions, YES! I believe I YET see the face of God.

Amen!

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1 Peter 4:12-19 Easy-to-Read Version

Suffering as a Follower of Christ

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John 12:20-26 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion

I. Eternal life requires more than fearing God and being interested in Jesus (20-23)

As we look into these verses from John, we need to realize that we are at a turning point in salvation history. God’s plan to reconcile the world to himself through the seed of the woman is about to advance at a rapid pace.

Here’s the point

A. The glorification of Jesus Christ is required for the salvation of the nations.

B. Your salvation depends upon Jesus’ glorification

II. Nature proves that a harvest requires death (24)

A. Jesus illustrates the necessity of his death by pointing to the planting and harvesting of wheat. Verse 24

III. You are the fruit (24-25)

A. God, The Father is the Lord of the harvest, Jesus the Son is the single grain which starts the harvest, and all that we are and do is a part of the harvest

B. I was quite surprised! Verse 25 is not what I expect

C. Your Christian Life is “found” not by protecting yourself but in your gaining the Life of Jesus Christ

IV. Following Christ entails serving now, and gaining heaven and honor then (26)

A. Following Christ is forgetting self

V. Imagine with me that your lunch plans have changed and instead of what you had planned you’re going to sit down with Jesus on a public park bench and review your life

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Luke 19:28-40 Amplified Bible

The Triumphal Entry

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Romans 5:1-8 Authorized (King James) Version

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There’s Nothing to My Life

Romans 5:6-8 Easy-to-Read Version

God shows his Gospel love unto a surprising people.

God shows his love to us at a surprising cost.

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Romans 5:6-8 Amplified Bible

God shows his love in a surprising way.

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Romans 5:6-8 The Message

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Joshua 1:7-9 English Standard Version

The Truth Will Set You Free (John 8:31-32 ESV)

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Psalm 27:1-4 AKJV

Psalm 27

A Psalm of David.

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*As we look into these vers**es from John, we need to realize that we are at a turning point in salvation history. God’s plan to reconcile the world to himself through the seed of the woman is about to advance at a rapid pace.*