Some people believe that God simply “knows” who will choose to believe on Jesus and be saved.  They believe that God does not force anyone to believe, but perhaps gives them grace enough to be in a morally neutral position where they can either choose to believe or not believe.  The Bible does not talk about salvation this way.  Salvation in Jesus Christ is not merited through my “good” choice of belief, salvation, and everything necessary for salvation, is a gift of God.

Ephesians 1:3-10 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” 

I’m going to make a large jump here.  My purpose is not to turn this into a message on the doctrine of predestination, the difference between autonomy and free choice, or any myriad of doctrinal / philosophical side roads.  I’m simply going to say that God sovereignly chose to save us.  Why is the sovereign gospel, good news?

As Christians, we bring nothing to the table with God.  Nothing.  Not our works, not our faith – we are saved by the grace and mercy of God in Christ alone.  Acts 17:24-25 – “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”  Ephesians 2:8-10 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

If we bring nothing to the table with God, then are hope in Christ is secure, not in our own ability to maintain a certain level of morality, or our ability to maintain a certain level of faith, but in Christ alone.  We can rest not in ourselves, but in God who does not change.  Malachi 3:6 – “For I the Lord do not change;”  Every one of us as Christians will face times when we completely blow it morally or find ourselves in a period where we struggle with doubts and our faith.  We can rest in knowing that none of that came as a surprise to God.  God knows our weakness, and simply wants us to come to Him in our weakness and failings, resting in Christ.  Psalm 51:17 – “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

It’s because our gospel does not rest in our own broken selves, but in God, that we can have peace day to day, secure in the love of God towards us.  If this is still a struggle for you, my encouragement is to seek God’s Truth from His Word.  Someone once told me that the sovereignty of God might be difficult at first, but would eventually be like a warm blanket that you wrap yourself in.  That was true for me.  That God has been faithful when I was faithless is without question.  God will never leave us or forsake us because His love for us is rooted in Christ in eternity.  Philippians 1:6 – “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

If today, you are near to the Lord, praise God for guiding your steps and sustaining your faith.  If today, you are far from the Lord, be encouraged in God’s sovereign choice to give you faith and His Holy Spirit, and return to the Lord.  He is near, He has purpose for your pain, purpose for redeeming you from sin, and purpose for you to walk with Him in righteousness.  He is sovereign.  He can never love you more, and will never love you less.  Root that Truth into your heart, and it will set you free.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

 

 

 

Today I’m kicking off a series of messages on the gospel of Jesus.  When we talk about the gospel, the good news of God in Jesus Christ, there is a simple message – We’re sinners.  The right judgment for sin is eternal punishment and separation from God.  In love, God sent His only Son Jesus to die in our place for our sins.  Jesus rose again from the dead, triumphing over sin and death, and everyone who places their hope and trust in Christ alone for salvation, will be saved.

This is no other way to be reconciled to God, except through faith in Jesus Christ.  So I hope in your heart, you are trusting in Him and believe the gospel above.  The gospel above is the tree of life, bearing fruit for all who believe, yet it does not answer every question that is implied within the gospel, and my hope is the next few messages will build out a more robust view of the gospel, that it will edify your love for Jesus and the gospel, and strengthen your faith.

Genesis 1:26-27 – “God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Why are we accountable to God?  Who is He, that we have to answer to him for our morality or anything?  Our accountability to God stems from His being our Creator.  Now, in our post-modern society where any idea that self, or independence must be shunned is horrific, this fundamental truth is where we must begin.  Life is not about you.  It is about God.

In speaking about God, Colossians 1:16 says – “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

We were created in the image of God, for the purpose of being God’s image bearers to reflect His glory and goodness, and live in perfect relationship with Him.  If you want to know the answer to the question “what is the meaning of life?”, there it is.

Instead of living out this perfect harmony of relationship with God, man (Adam and Eve)chose to ignore the commandment of God in the Garden of Eden, eat what they were told not to, and thus man sinned against God.  (Genesis 3) The first sin of man was to directly reject God’s authority over their lives, and that same sin is present in all people.  In the same passage as man’s sin, God provides hope to man.  He preaches the first gospel, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Though man was accountable to God as their Creator, and had sinned against Him.  God foretold the coming of Christ, the offspring of man, who would endure the wrath of God for sin against Him in a horrible death, but would be victorious over sin and satan evidenced in the resurrection.

Before someone can come to God, He must bring them to an end of themselves.  The gospel of Jesus is not merely a means to avoid hell, but it is a redeeming and righting of the sin of Adam – that we put down the banners of self, and take up the banner of adopted sons and daughters of our Creator and King.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

1 Corinthians 1:21-25 – “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Pride is the underlying sin of man.  It is the sinful nature of man, that we want to be God, rather than worship Him.  We do not want to be accountable to someone beyond ourselves.  So although man knows He is created, and knows God is good and righteous and we are not, we suppress that truth, in order to live in a delusion.  (Romans 1)  We live in a post-modern society which rejects notions of absolute truth and morality, and we preach Christ as the only way, the absolute unchanging Truth, and the only means of life.  Is it all surprising that the world rejects us as it did Jesus?

So either out of a well-intentioned desire to try to “meet people where they are” with the gospel, or because of our own sin of pride and not wanting to be rejected, we have watered down the gospel to attempt to lessen the offense.  We make jokes about preachers of old like Jonathan Edwards who preached “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” and “hellfire and brimstone”.  So we tell people that Jesus loves them, and wants a better life for them, but we never preach God’s holy righteousness and just hatred for sin.  We soothe men’s consciousness with happy speech from God, just enough to make them comfortable, while they remain unrepentant in their independence from God – paving the path to hell for those we profess to love and want to save.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”

My exhortation to myself and us all, is to “not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”  (Rom 1:16)  The gospel is offensive.  If we preach Christ crucified for our sins plainly, it will be rejected by most.  In fact, the only way anyone will ever humble themselves to place their faith in Christ is by the Holy Spirit – an act of God.  God does not need a sales or PR department, He has simply called us to preach His message of salvation through Christ crucified.  God’s hatred for sin is infinitely greater than we can imagine, but so too is His love for us through Christ.  The depth of that hard preaching is the means God uses to soften hard, prideful hearts to lead people from death to life.  The gospel is the antithesis of our society, it is a declaration of dependence upon God for salvation, life, and all things as our sovereign Creator and Lord.  Let us be faithful ministers of that message to ourselves first, and then also to the world around us.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

It’s coming up on my Birthday again, and like some other dates that mark the passage of time, it’s reminded me of all God has shown me and done for me over the last year.  I have not written in a while in part because I could not break down into manageable portions everything that God was showing me in scripture.  So today, instead of trying to go into too much depth, I’m just going to hit the high points with a couple scripture references for each.

If you are indeed born of God, He will never let you go.  You may have periods in your life of struggle both externally or internally – you may falter in sin or have ongoing struggles, but if the Spirit of God is in you, the hand of God will always be with you to restore you and bring you back into fellowship with Him.

John 17:11-12 – “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.“

Luke 15:1-7 – “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”  So he told them this parable:  “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Our God is sovereign, and has a good plan for everything in our life.  Every step of our life good and bad is ordained by God for His glory.  Our past becomes our ministry, and our ministry is the gospel that we are all sinners, in need of the grace of God found only in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins.

Genesis 50:19-20 – “Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Sin is always a heart issue.  Bible believing Christians even tend to judge someone’s sin merely outwardly, but our depravity is much deeper.  It is not just what you do, but why do you think about those things, or why does your heart want those things.  In the end you realize how desperately sinful ALL of us are, and how much we are in need of the grace of God every moment of every day.  We do not merely need a helping hand to be better people or to “overcome” a certain sinful behavior, we need redemption from all that we are in our hearts and minds apart from God as sinners, redemption that is only found in the blood of Jesus.  

Matthew 5:21-22 – ““You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Isaiah 64:6 – “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Romans 7:18-19 – “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.“

Your love for God will be directly tied to you knowledge of God’s love for you.  Your knowledge of the love of God for you, will be directly tied to your knowledge of who God is, of your own sin, and what it means for God to have redeemed you by dying in your place.   

1 John 4:7-10 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Romans 5:6-8 – “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Repentance, is not feeling sorry for sin (whether present or past) or even being broken about the impact sin has.  Repentance is a gift of God, a state of the heart and mind of every believer that is ongoing.  Repentance is in humility, seeing our sinful nature, seeing that we have no hope for righteousness in ourselves, but only through abiding in Christ and trusting in His grace and His righteousness do we have any hope.  If someone says I’m selfish – Yes, more than you know!  There is nothing good in me, and I thank God that He is merciful to me, a sinner.  Today if there is anything “good” in me, I can’t boast in that – it’s not me – the only good in me is Christ in me.  We are continually mourning the sin in us in meekness, turning to Christ, and rejoicing in the gospel of salvation from sin through Jesus.

2 Corinthians 7:10 – “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

Luke 5:32 – “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 24:26-27 – “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations”

Each one of these could be exploded out more, but sufficed to say, God is good and always active.  He will use everything in our life to grow our faith in Him, so wherever you are, in whatever state, be encouraged that God is always with you and for you.  If you feel far from God, read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, and be reminded of the love of God for you – though you may be far off, he will run to meet you when you turn to Him.

 

Grace and Peace,
Adam

 

It is the mercy of God that we should encounter various trials.  Amidst every trial is our God who is lovingly calling to us through it, that we would shed ourselves of those things that can never sustain or fulfill us, and grasp onto the One who not only can sustain and fulfill us in this life, amidst the brokenness, but can sustain and fulfill us with joy perfectly in eternity.

Psalm 116:5-7 – “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.  The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.  Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.”

It is only when we are weak, that we see our need for a savior.  Amidst the brokenness we see outwardly in the world, by God’s grace through the hearing of the gospel of Jesus, we can have eyes to see the brokenness that is within each of us – a heart that is sick, and in need of healing and come to hope in Christ.

Psalm 51:16-17 – “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Admittedly, I read this passage for 30 years to mean the brokenness and contrite heart that accompanies sin – that we are broken and contrite as sinners before our Creator God who is Holy when we sin.  This is true, of course, but this broken and contrite heart is not situational – meaning it is not meant to be present only when we are convicted of a specific sin committed; it is the condition of the heart of a Christian who is walking in humility and repentance moment to moment before God.

Matthew 9:10-12 – “And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

As a Christian, I have long struggled with pursuing my acceptance by God through holiness.  At the same time, when I failed, I would hide in shame, not wanting to let others know of my sinfulness for fear of their rejection or the rejection of God.  It was the mercy of God, through a trial that shattered my illusions of personal righteousness, put to death any idea of innate “goodness” in me.  Through a trial, I died to personal righteousness, and instead God has shown me in love that there is no one good except God alone, but He loves broken sinners, and only when we fully die to ourselves can we find our peace in Jesus and also be a minister of reconciliation through the gospel to other broken sinners like ourselves.

John 12:24-26 – “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.  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.”

If there is any good in any of us, it is Christ in us.  The power of Christ is made perfect not in people trusting in their own morality, but in those who are walking humbly with their God through faith in Jesus in weakness.  His power is made perfect in weakness.

My exhortation brothers and sisters is to allow trials to remove the fecade of self righteousness, allow them to remove the fecade of self-determination, lose hope in everything else in the world, and Hope in Jesus, whose hope will never disappoint now and in eternity.  Let us proclaim with Paul in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Grace and Peace,

Adam

One of the most difficult disciplines I’ve found for myself and other Christians is to truly wait on the Lord.  At any point in time, for most of us, we are dealing with some kind of trial, difficulty, or unmet desire.  What do you do with that?  The temptation for us all is to attempt to resolve our own issues, to alleviate hurt, to remove doubt or anxiety through action.  Often though, the best option is to simply wait and seek the Lord.

Our God is sovereign, which is to say that nothing happens that is contrary to the purposes of God.  In Genesis 37-50, we’re given the story of Joseph, who is sold into slavery by his brothers.  Even this horrible wrong, was purposed by God.  Joseph acknowledged this in Genesis 50:19-20 – “Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  Joseph was sold into slavery, Joseph was then wrongfully accused and put into prison, and lastly Joseph was forgotten in prison for 2 years.  

This would difficult to endure for anyone.  Joseph could have sinned and avoided prison, but he did not.  Joseph could have tried to escape prison, but he did not.  Joseph spent that difficult season, entrusting Himself to the goodness of God.  Every step of the way, the Lord was with Joseph.  The Lord was with Joseph in slavery, Genesis 39:2 – “The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.”   The Lord was with Joseph in prison, Genesis 39:21 – “the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”  The Lord was with Joseph in His rise to power in Egypt as Pharaohs chief in command, Genesis 41:38-40 – “Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command.  Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 

Is Psalm 37:4-7 we are exhorted – “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”

We cannot know the future, or what it holds for any of us.  Lest anyone hear this message and believe some foolishness such as this is God saying that good things always come from bad and define that “good thing” as something to be experienced here on Earth, that is not the promise of God.  God’s promise to us is that He will never leave or forsake us, that whatever our past, present, and future – we can know that God has a good purpose for our growing closer to Him through it, and for our joy now and in eternity.  The promise of God is to delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

So before you move, before you act, our exhortation is to seek the Lord and wait on Him.  Be slow to take things into your own hands – seek the Lord, seek His will through other Bible saturated Christians.  The Lord is good, and He will always bring forth good fruit from those who are diligently seeking and submitting to His will.  If you’re in a season of waiting, take heart.  Those seasons may be days long, weeks long, or even years long – but God is with you and for you, and establishing in you a faith that is far more valuable than whatever loss you experience now.

 

What do you think about when you think about God?  When you consider Who God is, and the works of His hands, how much does your heart stand in awe?  In Job 26:14, God is describing through Job the depth of his power through creation, and ends by saying “Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

It’s hard to believe, when we look out into the ocean, or into the sky, to imagine that we are just a speck relative to our galaxy.  Beyond which, we know through science that our galaxy is but a speck relative to our universe.  In the end, all of this, all of creation was not difficult for God, but merely the fringes of His power.  When you sit and rest on that, what does your heart say about God?  If God is able to call into being all of creation, and order and sustain it perfectly for life, how much more should we trust Him in ordering and sustaining us and our lives?

There are so many things we cannot know, just as a grain of sand on the beach cannot fathom the whole of the ocean, but we can know that our God is able to work all things according to His good counsel in our lives.  Beyond this, if creation is but the fringes of God’s power, what is greater?

John 12:27-32 – “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 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.”  

There is a greater power at work in the salvation of one sinner, than in all of creation.  Creation required God to speak into life, and salvation required the death and resurrection of God.  We think so lightly of our sin perhaps because we think so lightly of the holiness of God, and our call to live life as His image bearers.  In as much as we cannot fathom the whole of God’s creation, so too is the separation between our understanding of what is good and the Holiness of God.  Yet, God has put eternity into our hearts, so that although we cannot see the end of the universe, we can stand in awe.  In the same way, though we cannot see the perfections of God in His holiness, we stand in awe, and humbly submit ourselves to His love towards us in Christ.

How great is our salvation in Christ?  Great enough that we will sing the praises of God in Christ for eternity.  My encouragement is allow the weight of the glory of God to press onto your hearts, that God would rightly be praised, and you would be encouraged to be bold in your faith.  If God is for you, to save you, how much more will He be with you as you seek to live out your live as He created you to – rightly bearing His image and seeking to reconcile others to God through Christ?

 

 

Each year, I try to take some time around the New Year to reflect on the previous year, and hopes for the year to come.  With no close second, this past year was the most difficult I have ever been through.  The beginning of the year brought a lot of loss, a lot of pain; yet “The Lord is near to brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Ps 34:18)  I wish that transformation and change took place apart from adversity, but that has not been my experience.  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Rom 8:28-29) 

This is not to diminish anyone’s pain, but to bring encouragement amidst pain, that because of Jesus, God is with you, and for you.  He may not give you what you want, but He will always give you what will give you what you need; that is, He will always do whatever is necessary to draw your heart closer to His, and remind you of who you are through Christ.  In Christ, there is always purpose in the pain, and who we are becoming in Christ is greater than the old self we are leaving behind and putting to death.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  

So as God has provided for us a New Year, be reminded that in Christ we are a new creation.  Apart from Christ, we perish, but in Christ we have an eternal and living hope.  We have an inheritance in Him that shines Truth into our now, illuminating the steps of our life with the perspective of eternity and the perfect righteousness of Christ that is ours.  “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.””  

The Lord is good.  His love and mercies may not always look like hugs; sometimes His love is a stick, to in love bring us to ourselves.  “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  In every way, in every season, the Lord is always with you and for you.  This New Year, each new day is an opportunity to press into the Lord where Truth and Joy can be found.  Wherever this past year has brought you, wherever you are today, we are all equals in our opportunity to enjoy God and our secure hope in Christ today.  “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  That is my prayer for myself, and for all of you, that we would be humble people of God, being transparent and living in the light of our salvation through Jesus, continually pressing forwards towards Christ, and encouraging one another along the way.  May God grant that to us all this year, and give us a thirst for righteousness and Him, and joy in Himself amidst whatever this new year will bring.

Grace and Peace,

Adam

 

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.