Tuesday, January 26, 2016

This is love...

What is love?


Many have questioned this over time.


It's not just a title of a popular song.


It's the cry of the heart of mankind.


What is love?


Paul wrote about what love is in 1 Corinthians 13...


Love is patient and kind.


Paul wrote about what love is not...


Love is not envious, rude, or puffed up.


What does some do?


Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.


Forever.


Because, love never fails.


But how do we love?


For one English word, there are so many other words in other languages.


In Biblical Greek, there were four words for the different kinds of love that they knew of... agápe, éros, philía, and storgē.


Jesus said, in John 14:15 (ESV):


"If you love me, keep my commandments."


Jesus also said, in John 15:10 (ESV):


"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love."


Other versions translate "keep" as "obey."


When asked the two greatest commandments, Jesus replied:


"'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Luke 10:27, ESV).


Jesus said, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40, ESV).


When Jesus announced that he had been given "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18, ESV), He commissioned his disciples:


"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"  (Matthew 28:19, ESV).


But He didn't stop there. He continued:


"Teaching them to observe [obey] everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20, ESV).


So... how do we love? We obey.


Through the story of the first king of Israel, we learn that "to obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22).


In the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus, our eternal King, died for our sins on the cross.


However, in the ultimate act of obedience, Jesus first surrendered His will.


He pleaded three times, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me" (Luke 22:42).


Then, he said, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42, ESV).


Would you, like Jesus, submit your will, today?


Follow the Great Commission, not only baptizing, but by teaching people to love -- to obey.





In the midst of it...

In the midst of the garden, Adam and Eve sinned. It was not out of malevolence that God removed them to prevent reentry; it was out of mercy and grace: Should they have been allowed to eat of the Tree of Life, and remain in their state forever...knowing good and evil, ashamed of themselves, and afraid of their God?

God removed Adam and Eve from the garden, but did not forsake them. Even in His just pronunciation of their punishment, He clearly expressed His plan of future redemption.

God spoke to Cain in the midst of his jealous resentment toward his brother, Abel. God warned Cain, and encouraged him to rise above the sin that was crouching at his door. After Cain disregarded God's encouragement, killing his brother, Abel, God was still merciful and gracious in His punishment; when Cain said it was too much to bare, God still made a provision to protect Cain, and to avenge his life seven times should an attempt be made against it.

In the midst of their grief from essentially losing both their sons, God restored hope to Adam and Eve, by giving them another son, as part of his redemptive plan.

In the midst of the sins of man, a woman had a son, and named him, "Noah," saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands" (Genesis 5:29, ESV). Despite His longing to wipe away all mankind for their sins, God found favor in Noah, and continued in His plan of redeeming His creation. God did allow the earth to flood, but spared Noah and his family. He remembered them in the midst of the flood, and brought the waters to cease. After the flood, the land was fertile enough for Noah to plant a vineyard. The toils of man in laboring over the accursed ground had subsided. In the sky, God set a reminder to himself that He would never destroy the earth again with a flood, again.

God's redemptive pattern continues throughout the Bible.

God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery by his brothers and and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit; God did not keep Joseph from slavery or prison, but freed him in the midst of those circumstances. Meanwhile, Joseph grew in character to the man who God would use to provide for not only the nation that enslaved  him, but the entire world, including the brothers who sold him. God did not spare the world from famine, but long before the famine came, he used for the good of the people what was initially intended for harm. His redemptive plan continues.

Through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God promised all the world would be blessed.

Even though His people rejected Him, wanting an earthly King, God continued to manifest his plan to provide a heavenly King. He chose a king for them based on the desires of their hearts; but, then, after Saul disobeyed, God showed the prophet, Samuel, a young shepherd boy, David, who was later said to be a man after God's own heart.

David and his sheep were not kept from harm; but, God empowered David to kill a lion and a bear in defense of his flock, in the midst of harm. David's confidence in God would prove to build his character, such that when the entire Israelite army was afraid to stand against one man, David drew from his experience with the lion and the bear, fearlessly conquering Goliath. David's courage enabled the Israelites to regain their hope and overcome the Philistines in battle.

After God's people rebelled, He let them be taken captive and scattered throughout the world. However, he promised that one day they would return to their home. While captive, their faith was challenged. When three boys refused to worship a statue of the foreign king, despite the threat that they would be thrown into a furnace, they stood their ground, and upheld their promise to only worship God. They were not delivered from the furnace; they were delivered in the midst of it. Not even their clothing was harmed.

After refusing to worship King Darius, Daniel was not delivered from the lions den; he was delivered in the midst of the lion's den.

After God's people did return to their home, they began to rebuild the temple. But, after a while, they stopped working on the House of God, to focus on their own. God rebuked them, but His redemptive plan continued.

For hundreds of years, God seemed to be quiet -- to have forgotten his people. They fell under Roman rule, and were oppressed, once again. However, God heard their cries and the prayers of the high priest whose elderly wife had borne no children. God sent an angel to Zachariah to tell him he would have a son who would go before the Messiah to bring many of the people back to God. Zachariah was punished for his unbelief, by not being able to speak until his son was born; however, God continued to pursue his redemptive promise in the midst of Zechariah's doubt.

As the redemptive story continues, Jesus became flesh and dwelt in our midst. The Word that spoke creation into being humbled himself, even lower than the angels, not only taking on our sin, but becoming sin, that "we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).

Jesus told us that we are not of this world. But in His High Priestly Prayer, He did not pray that we would be taken from this place. Rather, He prayed,

"I do not ask that you take them from the world, but that you keep them form the evil one."

John 17:15, ESV

When Jesus died on the cross, evil seemed to prevail; however, Jesus conquered death and rose victoriously.

Even in the midst of Hell, Jesus "went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey" (1 Peter 3:19-20, ESV). God could have left the spirits in prison forever, but the Bible says that even they were a part of God's redemptive plan. Jesus freed the captives, because he bore the sins of all time, past, present, and future.

After he rose, He promised to prepare a new place for us. A new heaven. A new earth. Though He came to be with us in the midst of our sin, He went to prepare a new place for us free of sin, that we might be with him. So, while we do remain in the midst this world, with sin, Jesus gave us hope that one day, we would be with him again.

We simply must believe in Him and obey his Word.

Though He ascended, physically, He gave us His Spirit and promised to be with us always, to the end of the age.

You may be struggling in the midst of the storms of this world, wading deep in the enormity of its sins; however, Jesus promised to be with you and to go before you. He paid the price for you, and you are His.

Though you are in the midst of this world, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28, ESV). Keep believing. Obey His word. Remain in Him.

Monday, January 25, 2016

He stands at the door...



Jesus said, "I stand at the door and knock."

Why a door, and not a gate?

A gate is semipermeable...the openings allow for bidirectional communication, while the bars keep us from exposing ourselves fully to what is on the other side.

A gate is precautionary. It allows some interaction while it is shut, but at a very minimal level. You can shake hands through a gate while still maintaining a certain distance from the person on the other side.

Jesus does not want to be merely greeted at a gate. He wants to be invited in. To eat with us... to share in our lives... to change our hearts, our minds, and our souls... from the inside, out; not from a distance.

So, He used the analogy of a door.

A door is either open or shut. It's in or out. It's all or nothing. It's yes or no.

A door is full exposure; entry is full disclosure.

He could kick it down, but he's not that type. He politely knocks. He could demand entry, but He prefers to ask.

Have you felt His knock? Have you heard His voice?

If you haven't yet, won't you open your door to Him, today?