God Loving Us Perfectly

By Jon Walker

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ …. Colossians 2:9-10 (NIV)

Perfect love desires communion, the sharing of life together, and so it cannot be expressed from a distance. God so perfectly loved the world that he came up close in Christ, stepping into the brokenness of our lives (1 John 1:1-3):

• Into our emptiness, Jesus brings fullness and completion (Colossians 2:9-10).

• Into our deficit, Jesus brings supply (Philippians 4:19).

• Into our death, Jesus brings life (Ephesians 2:1, 5).

• Into our separation, Jesus brings reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11).

• Into our imperfect love, Jesus brings his perfect love (1 John 4:10).

When we know, and believe, that God is determined to love us perfectly, we can stop being self-absorbed and we can start being conformed to Christ (Romans 12:2). When we don’t believe God is determined to love us perfectly, we end up living like our best choice is to take care of ourselves.

And then, we become so busy taking care of ourselves that we have little time for authentic, transparent, loving community with others.

Jesus Alone is Our Model

In Faith - He is the Author and Perfector of our Faith

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”…Hebrews 12:2

 In Purity – We should be Pure just as Jesus is Pure

“Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure”…1 John 3:3

In Patience – Consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinful men

“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”…Hebrew 12:3

In suffering – Jesus suffered for us leaving us an example. Follow in His steps

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps”…1 Peter 2:21

In Character – You must walk as Jesus walked

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did”…1 John 2:6

In Brotherly Love – Live a life of love just as Christ loved us

“And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering, and sacrifice to God”…Ephesians 5:2

Evangelism

“It is morally impossible to exercise trust in God while there is failure to wait upon Him for guidance and direction. The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty”. – D.E. Hoste

Salvation

Salvation – Hymns – By grace are ye saved...

By grace are ye saved through faith;

By grace are ye saved through faith;

Not of works, not of works,

Lest any man should boast;

By grace are ye saved through faith.

For it is the gift of God;

Not of yourselves, not of yourselves,

Lest any man should boast:

For it is the gift of God.

Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,

And I will give, will give you rest,

And I will give you rest.

Except a man be born again, except a man be born again,

Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom,

The kingdom of God, he cannot see the kingdom.

God commands His love—

Greater could not be;

While I was a sinner,

Jesus died for me.

Justified by faith,

I have peace with God,

In my heart the Spirit

Sheds His love abroad.

Thus, where sin abounded,

Grace did more abound;

And where death was reigning,

Life in Christ I found.

God visits man by sending Holy Spirit.

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”…John 16:7

Christ's departure was necessary to the Comforter's coming. Sending the Spirit was to be the fruit of Christ's death, which was his going away. His bodily presence could be only in one place at one time, but his Spirit is everywhere, in all places, at all times, wherever two or three are gathered together in his name. See here the office of the Spirit, first to reprove, or to convince. Convincing work is the Spirit's work; he can do it effectually, and none but he. It is the method the Holy Spirit takes, first to convince, and then to comfort.

The Spirit shall convince the world, of sin; not merely tell them of it. The Spirit convinces of the fact of sin; of the fault of sin; of the folly of sin; of the filth of sin, that by it we are become hateful to God; of the fountain of sin, the corrupt nature; and lastly, of the fruit of sin, that the end thereof is death. The Holy Spirit proves that the entire world is guilty before God. He convinces the world of righteousness; that Jesus of Nazareth was Christ the righteous. Also, of Christ's righteousness, imparted to us for justification and salvation. He will show them where it is to be had, and how they may be accepted as righteous in God's sight.

Christ's ascension proves the ransom was accepted, and the righteousness finished, through which believers were to be justified. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. All will be well, when his power is broken, who made all the mischief. As Satan is subdued by Christ, this gives us confidence, for no other power can stand before him. And of the Day of Judgment. The coming of the Spirit would be of unspeakable advantage to the disciples. The Holy Spirit is our Guide, not only to show us the way, but to go with us by continued aids and influences. To be led into a truth is more than barely to know it; it is not only to have the notion of it in our heads, but the relish, and savor, and power of it in our hearts.

He shall teach all truth, and keep back nothing profitable, for he will show things to come. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit, all the preaching, and all the writing of the apostles, under the influence of the Spirit, all the tongues, and miracles, were to glorify Christ. It behooves everyone to ask, whether the Holy Spirit has begun a good work in his heart? Without clear discovery of our guilt and danger, we never shall understand the value of Christ's salvation; but when brought to know ourselves aright, we begin to see the value of the Redeemer. We should have fuller views of the Redeemer, and more lively affections to him, if we more prayed for, and depended on the Holy Spirit.

The anchor of our hope

By Jon Walker

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

Discipleship — God tells us in the Book of James that we can count it all joy when we go through trials and tribulations.

He isn’t saying we have to be happy when we suffer a loss. Rather, we can be confident that a just and loving and merciful Father is working everything out for the good of his perfect will (Romans 8:28) – and we can rejoice because God uses moments of crisis to reveal where we have anchored our hope.

Have you anchored your hope in your circumstances? Or have you anchored your hope “on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”?

Several years ago my daughter, Kathryn, died. And, to be perfectly honest, my wife and I became angry with God. We’d asked him to save Kathryn, and he didn’t answer our prayer.

But slowly we began listening to God, and gently … very gently … he taught us that our perspective was extraordinarily narrow. We’d placed our hope in our answer to prayer, insisting we knew best what should happen. We did not trust that God knew what he was doing, that with his Father’s heart he had figured it all out, making plans to take care of us and Kathryn, plans to give us the future we actually hoped for in the depths of our hearts. (Jeremiah 29:11 MSG)

We’d hung our hopes on the wrong hook, forgetting our Creator is a God of hope, and that his hope will not disappoint. (Romans 5:1-5)

This is the Truth we can cling to no matter what our circumstances. We can trust in God’s character, even when we can’t see his hand at work. We can trust in God’s plans for us, knowing that he goes before and comes behind. We can trust that God is always in control and that he is bigger than our circumstances.

If our God is not God in times of trouble, then he isn’t God at all.

The Apostle Paul told us that, because we have this tremendous hope inside, we need not grieve our losses like those who have no hope. He’s not saying we can’t or shouldn’t grieve at all; rather, he’s saying that death or any other loss is not the end of the story because we serve the God of Glory.

We believe Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe God will resurrect those in Christ who’ve been taken from us. And we can encourage one another with these words of hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

• Let God be God – God is working out the details of your life. Even the darkness is light to him, and he can take even bad situations and redeem them for his holy purposes.

• His hands hold your future – Where have you hung your hope? Is it in a job, a relationship, a dream home, a wishful chance to make a better choice in the past? Tell God you’re giving your circumstances and regrets to him, that you’re placing all your hope in his hands.

• Look above – “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2) Look to God and not at your circumstances.

• Change what you do – How would you handle a situation differently if you were 100% sure that God was working the details out, according to his eternal plan and based on his love for you? “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see ….” (Hebrews 11:1)

Biblical Financial Principles

God Created Everything:

 In the beginning there was nothing, and God created (Genesis 1:1).

God owns everything:

“The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the LORD Almighty” (Haggai 2:8). “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). “The earth and the fullness thereof belong to the Lord and all those who live within” (Psalm 37:21).

Flowing out of the fact that God created and owns everything is the logical conclusion that whatever we possess is not really ours, but belongs to God; we are simply entrusted with our possessions. Therefore, we are trustees, not owners. Although 1 Corinthians 4 (quoted below) does not directly refer to material possessions, its counsel is applicable to this aspect of life as well.

We are Trustees:

 “A person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful” (1 Corinthians 4: 1-2).

We can’t serve two masters: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despises the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Use recourses wisely:

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25: 21-28).

Pursue biblical, financial knowledge:

“Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understand” (Proverbs 23:23). “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22).

Measurable goals and realistic plans:

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3).

Trustworthiness matters:

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16: 10-12).

We can be perfect in our ways.

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”…Psalm 18:32

When we praise for one mercy, we must observe the many more, with which we have been compassed all our days. Many things had contributed to David's advancement, and he owns the hand of God in them all, to teach us to do likewise. In Ps. 18:32, and the following verses, are the gifts of God to the spiritual warrior, whereby he is prepared for the contest, after the example of his victorious Leader. Learn that we must seek release through Christ.

In David the type, we behold the reconciliation of Jesus our Redeemer conflicting with enemies compassed with sorrows and with floods of ungodly men, enduring not only the pains of death, but the wrath of God for us; yet calling upon the Father with strong cries and tears; rescued from the grave; proceeding to reconcile, or to put under his feet all other enemies, till death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed.

We should love the Lord, our Strength, and our Salvation; we should call on him in every trouble, and praise him for every deliverance; we should aim to walk with him in all righteousness and true holiness, keeping from sin.  If we belong to him, he conquers and reigns for us, and we shall conquer and reign through him, and partake of the mercy of our anointed King, which is promised to all his seed for evermore.

God loves you…

God loves you the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

    

In Pursuit Of Fairness

By Jon Walker

“The Lord is merciful and gracious; he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love.” Psalm 103:8)

My kids are obsessed with fairness. They argue over who gets the biggest piece, who gets to play the computer game longest, who gets to sit next to the window. I suspect your children or the children you know are the same way.

One night during dinner, my kids were arguing over who would get the last slice of pizza and out popped the oft repeated phrase, “That’s not fair!”

Okay, it had been a long day and I was tired, so I looked at my children and said, “Fair! You want fair? Since you didn’t pay for the dinner, you shouldn’t get to eat. Are you sure you still want fair?”

But, honestly, it’s not just the kids who argue over fairness. I’m sure this doesn’t happen at your house, but sometimes my spouse and I argue over what is fair – who will change the baby’s diaper, who should make dinner, who gets to drive the “good” car.

This obsession over fairness seems to be in the human DNA: “Let me have the bigger slice;” “let me have the better salary;” “let me get away with it this time.” After all, it’s only fair, right?

We make the same arguments with God. We plead for fairness when we’re really asking for special treatment. But the truth is, God can say to us in true fairness, “I’m a Holy God and you’ve done some very unholy things. Fair would mean I can stay angry at you forever. It would mean I can punish your for the horrible things you’ve done and I can give you every bit of what you deserve. Are you sure you still want fair?”

But God, in his compassion, is not like that at all. David, the ancient poet/king, sang this song of God: “The Lord is merciful and gracious; he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.” (Psalm 103:8–9)

When David sings about God’s “unfailing love,” he uses a Hebrew word that implies God is in loving pursuit of us. Yahweh chases after us with such persistent grace that he refuses to let us get away. His pursuit is energized by his compassion, not only feeling what we feel, but also with the intent to help us: “He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does he deal with us as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.” (Psalms 103:10–11)

While we’re in pursuit of fairness, God, knowing fair will mean our inevitable destruction, remains in compassionate pursuit of us.

Communicating Compassion:

• Yahweh’s unfailing love – God’s compassion flows from his unfailing, undying love for you. His love for you is so vast it extends from the earth to the heights of heaven, and his compassionate pursuit of you brings Jesus from heaven’s heights to an empty tomb on earth. If you truly trusted God’s unfailing love, how would you live your life differently? Ask God to guide you to a place of true trust.

• Do a Fairness Flip – Start practicing compassion by flipping the angle of any fairness argument. In other words, say, “You, my friend, can have the bigger piece of cake.” “Let me change the diaper again.” “Because of your addictions, you may deserve to live on the streets, but God has shown me compassion, and I want to extend the same compassion to you.”

• From fairness to unfailing love – As God develops compassion within you, he will bring you to a place where you’ll need to give up the “argument of fairness” and replace it with unfailing love. God is patient, so don’t panic or beat yourself up. Ask God to guide you toward unfailing love.

We can be perfect in our Holiness…

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”…Hebrews 12:14

A burden of affliction is apt to make the Christian's hands hang down, and his knees grow feeble, to dispirit him and discourage him; but against this he must strive, that he may better run his spiritual race and course. Faith and patience enable believers to follow peace and holiness, as a man follows his calling constantly, diligently, and with pleasure. Peace with men, of all sects and parties, will be favorable to our pursuit of holiness. But peace and holiness go together; there can be not right peace without holiness.

Where persons fail of having the true grace of God, corruption will prevail and break forth; beware lest any unfortified lust in the heart, which seems to be dead, should spring up, to trouble and disturb the whole body. Falling away from Christ is the fruit of preferring the delights of the flesh, to the blessing of God, and the heavenly inheritance, as Esau did. But sinners will not always have such mean thoughts of the Divine blessing and inheritance as they now have. It agrees with the profane man's disposition, to desire the blessing, yet to despise the means whereby the blessing is to be gained. But God will neither sever the means from the blessing, nor join the blessing with the satisfying of man's lusts. God's mercy and blessing were never sought carefully and not obtained.

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverences for God.”…2 Corinthians 7:1

The promises of God are strong reasons for us to follow after holiness; we must cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. If we hope in God as our Father, we must seek to be holy as he is holy, and perfect as our Father in heaven. His grace, by the influences of his Spirit, alone can purify, but holiness should be the object of our constant prayers.

If the ministers of the gospel are thought contemptible, there is danger lest the gospel itself be despised also; and though ministers must flatter none, yet they must be gentle towards all. Ministers may not look for esteem and favor, when they can safely appeal to the people, that they have corrupted no man by false doctrines or flattering speeches; that they have defrauded no man; nor sought to promote their own interests so as to hurt any. It was affection to them made the apostle speak so freely to them, and caused him to glory of them, in all places, and upon all occasions.

Commands from the Bible

Abhor that which is evil

Romans 12:9  

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

A bishop must be

1 Timothy 3:2-7 

2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

5   (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

Titus 1:6-9  

6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Wise Counsel.

When you are nervous and fidgety, wanting to interfere with God’s plans for your life, remember these three admonitions:

Be Still:

Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!

Stand Still:

Exodus 14:13

And Moses said to the people. “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today.

Sit Still:

Ruth 3:18

Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

Think it over:

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. …C. S. Lewis

Let God solve it

By Rick Warren

But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you! 2 Chronicles 20:17 (NLT)

"You can relax in faith, trusting that God is able to run things without your help."

What God tells Jehoshaphat in this passage, and what he would remind us today, is this: "The battle is not yours; it's mine. You don't have to fight in it."

In other words, it's God's problem. Let him solve it.

The fact is if you are God's child, then your problems are his problems. And he's much better at fighting your battles and solving your problems than you will ever be. Your job is to trust him to work it all out. Perhaps the reason we have so many tired, fatigued, and discouraged Christians is because we think, "It all depends on me."

The day you resign as General Manager of the Universe, you're going to find that it doesn't fall apart. You can relax in faith, trusting that God is able to run things without your help.

Twice in this passage it says, "Don't be afraid," and "Don't be discouraged." When you face a seemingly impossible situation, don't be afraid and don't be discouraged. Has God ever lost a battle? No. He doesn't lose battles.

God tells Jehoshaphat, "Take your positions and stand firm." What does it mean to stand firm? It means to have a mental attitude of quiet confidence.

You stand firm on two things:

The character of God - He's faithful. He does not bring us this far just to let us down. He doesn't bring you out on a limb and then cut off the limb. Have faith in the nature and character of God.

The truth of his Word - God's Word is faithful. You can count on the promises found in the Bible.

Facts about Holy Spirit.

Is a Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and might:

Isaiah 11:2 

And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Was equal with the Lord God in sending the Son, the Christ:

Isaiah 48:16 

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

Lifts up standards against Satan:

Isaiah 59:19 

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

Anointed the Messiah:

Isaiah 61:1 

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Luke 4:18 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Thought

Always remember this: A man’s greatness lies only in God in any age.

What did God make me to be?

By Rick Warren

Each of you should go on living according to the Lord's gift to you, and as you were when God called you. This is the rule I teach in all the churches. 1 Corinthians 7:17)

God does not expect you to glorify Him with gifts you don't have.  But He does expect you to glorify Him with gifts you do have.

To fulfill God's will for you life, you need work that expresses what God made you to be. If you're in a job that is not using the talents, gifts, abilities, and interests that God gave you, you may want to pray about whether or not you're in a mismatched job.

This is a serious problem and it's a spiritual issue. It is far more important than you may think it is -- because God has given you your gifts, talents and abilities, and one day He's going to say, "What did you do with them?"  And do you want to say, "Well, I spent my life at a job that didn't use them."

Now, I know this raises some questions, you may be saying, "Rick, what if my current job doesn't express my gifts?"  As someone committed to your fulfillment in life, living for the purpose God designed you for, I urge you toward this: If you are in a job that does not match the gifts, interests and abilities God gave to you, then give serious consideration taking steps to get out of it and get into the job that God has called you to by the very nature of who you are.

It's a very important issue for your spiritual life: Get into what God made you to be. The first step you need to take is some self-appraisal. You need to ask yourself, "What did God make me to be? And, as the Bible says, "... Try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you ...." (Romans 12:3, Phillips) During this appraisal, you may even discover that you are in the very job God wants you to be, and you can develop a new attitude about your work.

"Each of you should go on living according to the Lord's gift to you ..." (1 Corinthians 7:17, TEV) Pray about this - Are you in a job that doesn't match who God made you to be, or are you exactly where God wants you to be?

Tough Love

Another way to lay the foundation for leading your family to Christ is to exercise tough love. This does not mean that you exhibit a tough, gruff demeanor. Actually, tough love is displayed when, with great gentleness and self-control, you as a parent do what is best for your child and not what is easiest for you. Let me illustrate.

When our son was three years old, we had been to the grocery store one morning, and he had gotten a helium-filled balloon. He was having great fun playing with this balloon. However, he kept wanting to bit it. I explained to him that he shouldn’t do this because it could be dangerous if the balloon popped and some of the pieces got in his mouth. I added that if he tried to bite it again, I would have to take it from him and pop it.

Well, you know exactly what he did. He put the balloon up to his mouth. At that moment I realized that I was actually going to have to do what I had said. I didn’t want to do it! The easiest thing would have been to just tell him again and let him keep playing. Then I could get all my groceries put away. But because I love him and want the best for him, I also knew that it was more important to teach him through this.

Teach him what? One, he should listen to Mom’s voice and obey. Two, his choices have consequences. Three, Mom doesn’t give empty promises. So, I did the tough thing. I took the balloon and popped it. Then, as the tears flowed (his and mine), I held him and reassured him of my love for him. And the groceries still hadn’t been put away!

Let’s look at the spiritual implications of this illustration. First, as we keep our word, whether it is to bring a gift to our children or take disciplinary action like popping a balloon, we teach them that God is true to his Word. We are laying the groundwork for how our children will view God. Therefore, we have a great responsibility to help them understand that they can always trust their heavenly Father. And should we mess up (and we will because we’re not God), we must readily admit and ask for our children’s forgiveness, at the same time reminding them that God never mess up—he’s perfect!

Second, by insisting gently but firmly on obedience, we teach our children to obey. The way we train them to respond to us as parents will likely be the way they respond to God. John 10:3-4 says that the Shepherd’s sheep hear his voice and obey. Do we want God to have to raise his voice, do something drastic, to get the attention of our children? Or can he simply speak to their heart and they obey?

And third, by holding our children accountable for disobedience, we help them see their sin nature. Romans 3:20 tells us that the whole purpose of the law was to make man conscious of sin. Sinners need a Savior. The members of our family will receive Jesus only when they realize they need him.