This is a message for my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Many of us have heard that there is a hole in our hearts that only God can fill.  CS Lewis said something similar when he said “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  In my own life, and I suspect I am not alone, it is a struggle to continually bring to rememberance my inheritance with Christ as an adopted son.  Likewise, my joy or lack thereof can be directly tied to my setting my mind on the fullness of joy that awaits me in Heaven, and has been guaranteed by the Holy Spirit dwelling inside me.

Colossians 2:6-10 – “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

My exhortation and encouragement, during this season where we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is to meditate not only on His birth and life, but on what our hope in Jesus is in eternity.  Here’s a challenge for us all – pursue joy in the Lord for 10 minutes intentionally.  Because of Jesus, we’re going to die once, and then never again.  Because of Jesus, we know where we will be 100 years from now, 1,000 years from now, 1,000,000 years from now and into eternity.  We will be with Jesus, in whose presence there is a fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).  Because of Jesus, there is an end to sin, both in ourselves and in the world.  Because of Jesus, our eternity will be held together by the perfect love and perfect joy that has existed between God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever.  The gospel of Jesus is the lens through which we can rejoice in any circumstances now, and have hearts of thanksgiving in a broken world.  Because of Jesus, our sin is no more, and God the Father looks on us with perfect love as we have been clothed in the righteousness of Jesus.

My prayer for myself is freedom in joy – that the knowledge of the depth of God’s love towards us in Jesus, would free us from the trappings of sin, free us from the anxieties of life, and free our hearts to overflow in thanksgiving, joy, in love to the world around us.  Jesus is our Treasure – greater than all that the world could ever offer, and our Hope in Him is sound.

Romans 5:1-5 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Love you all.  Know that we will rejoice together in eternity with a joy beyond expression.

1 John 2:1-6 – “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. ³ And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, ⁵ but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

As Christians, there is great reward in fellowship with Jesus.  Psalms 16:11 declares “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  In this life, we struggle with besetting sin from the fallen world around us and our own sinful flesh.  We struggle with great assurance provided through our advocate, Jesus Christ.  We have this assurance because Jesus has paid the price for our sin, and reigns even now in victory over sin and death for eternity.  What the King has declared, shall be done, and to every one of us who trusts in Him, He has declared – this one is Mine.  His victory over our sin through His life, His death, and His resurrection is the foundation of our hope, our inheritance with Him forever. 

The love of God towards us in Jesus is greater than we can possible imagine.  Romans 8:32 – “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  So to know God, is to both know His love towards us, and His desire for our good.  Abiding in His love, therefore flows to trusting His good desire for us through His commandments to us.  Psalm 119 declares the goodness of God in His commandments for us, even pleading with God for more as in vs. 17-20 “Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.  Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.  I am a sojourner on the earth;    hide not your commandments from me!  My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.”  1 John 5:3 summarizes this in saying “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”  

We all have sin.  We all have past struggles that we must fight today.  In your own fight, do you view the commandments of God, the call to personal holiness and selfless love a burden or a delight?  Do you trust God, that as He loved you enough to die for you, that His will for your life although seemingly hard will be the means of greatest joy and good?  My encouragement today is not to “stop sinning”, but rather to “start seeing, savoring, and believing the love of God towards us in Jesus”.  He is good.  Really good.  He is our advocate, and is worth following – although hard at times, He alone has the words of life, and in His commandments are the means of life, fullness, and lasting joy.

I hope this message finds each of you well, and you enjoyed a Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.  I love having a day specifically set aside as an opportunity to corporately remember the goodness of God, which overflows in a heart of thanksgiving.  How great is our God, and His love towards us in Jesus!

The passage below, can be a weighty one.  It can be abused to project fear without grace, or it can be treated too lightly without a right fear of the holiness of God that demands judgment against sin.  While we press forward towards Christ, pursuing God and personal righteousness, know that there is no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ Jesus.

1 John 3:9-11 – “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.  For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another”

It is impossible for a Christian to continue in sin.  God is light, and in Him there is no darkness, no sin.  By faith, we have been united with Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.  Therefore, a Christian will never be at peace with sin in their lives.  Instead they will see sin rightly as a poison for our souls, and will be working with all their power to rid themselves of it.

The risk here is to judge either ourselves or others according to outward appearances.  We cannot see someone’s heart, but God can.  Christians can fall away, but they will always return.  If you look at Luke 15, the parable of the prodigal son – this likely took place over months or years.  An outsider would likely have looked at this person’s life and said – they’re not a Christian, but God sees what we cannot.

So in love, if we see a professing brother or sister practicing sinning, we confront them, pray for them, and call them back into a right relationship with God.  In our own lives, knowing the fear of the Lord, we run from sin, praying God’s continued protection and deliverance from temptation, and renounce anything that would seek to separate us from the God we know and love.

As each of us walks with Christ, day to day, let us be watchful in our own lives, and loving towards our brothers and sisters to press forward in pursuing the righteousness of God.  Let the love of Christ be manifest in our love towards others, that we call one another way from sin, eager to extend grace and mercy to others, as we have been extended grace and mercy in Christ.  The LORD is with you, and for you.  He has delivered you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, and He is mightily working in each of you to draw you closer to Himself.  Stay encouraged, surround yourself with brothers and sisters in Christ, and stay vigilant in your walk with Him.