God’s love for us and His desire to be with us amazes me. He created us to be His inheritance and He has gone out of His way to be with us. It blows me away because there are times I don’t even want to be with me! Yet God does! Isn’t that awesome? Think about it. With all of the imperfections we have, God who is perfect wants to be with us. Amazing! That’s what it is. It’s amazing grace. God loves us so much and wants to be with us so much, He has come into our world through Jesus Christ. Everything He does, He does to benefit us and our well being on this journey that we are on from earth to Glory.
Through the unction of the Holy Spirit allow me to point out a few nuggets from the Word to you today. In Mark 2:1-12, we see and sense the heart that God has for each of us.
Jesus preaches the Word.
The Word of God says (Mark 2:1-2 NIV) "A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. {2} So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them."
The first chapter of Mark tells us that Jesus came to Capernaum preaching a message of repentance for the Kingdom of God is at hand. He called people to follow Him. He set people free that were bound by evil. He healed the sick. And He went to other towns doing the same. In the second chapter of Mark Jesus comes back to Capernaum and is probably once again at the house of Peter. The house is packed with people that need God to touch them. The church growth “experts” of our day tell pastors and church leaders in America that people will not come to church if they are crowded. They have told leadership that once a building reaches 80% of capacity you have to build a bigger facility. They have told leadership that people have to be in a comfortable setting with padded seating, just the right colors on the walls and floors with the air temperature not too hot and not too cold but just right. And the sound and acoustics have to be perfect; not too loud and not too soft, but just right. Because of this, many churches have went into loads of debt and because of their debt load, the poor and needy in their communities are neglected and their city is not impacted by the love of God through the church.
The Bible tells us something different than what the church growth “experts” of our day tells us. The Bible tells us that people will come to where Jesus is present. They don’t care if they are crowded. They don’t care if the seating is not comfortable. They don’t care if it’s too hot or too cold. They don’t care if the sound and acoustics are not perfect. They just want to be in Jesus’ presence. And that’s the setting we have here in this passage. May God lift up pastors and church leaders in our day that will refuse to listen to the “experts” and get back to what God says in His Word. It is God’s Word that is the authoritative guide for all of our beliefs and actions. We must listen to God and not the “experts” in order for us to impact cities in our day.
Notice what Jesus does in this packed house setting. In verse 2 it says “he preached the word to them.” He did not entertain them. He did not start a program or conduct a special event. God knew that they did not need that because none of that would help them on their journey from earth to Glory. It would only make their flesh temporarily feel good. They needed more than that. They needed food for the spirit and soul. Jesus PREACHED THE WORD!
Beloved, in our day we need the Word of God preached! It’s only the Word that builds faith. If you are involved in a church where the Word has been diluted or replaced by entertainment, you need to run as far as you can from it. Find a church that has a pastor and church leaders that love Jesus and His Word. Find a church where the Word is preached and lived out in daily life. You don’t need entertainment. You need the Word. Entertainment will gratify the flesh, but the Word will build faith in you and sustain you on your journey from earth to Glory!
Jesus forgives sins.
The Word of God says (Mark 2:3-5 NIV) "Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. {4} Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. {5} When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven.""
God has come into our world forgiving sins. We look at people and see their great physical needs that are obvious. God looks at people and sees their greatest need and that is the forgiveness of sins. This is a need that only God can meet. Only God can forgive sins.
The religionist of our day believe that people need to come to God through their perfections. Because of this the church today has grown intolerant to those that are struggling on their journey. God help us! We don’t come to God through our perfections; we come to God through our imperfections. It’s through our imperfections that we realize we need God.
God’s Word says: (Isaiah 64:6 NIV) "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." (Romans 3:23 NIV) "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (1 John 1:8-9 NIV) "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. {9} If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
God has come into our world forgiving sins. He knows that is our greatest need. A perfect God comes into an imperfect world riddled with sin and He reaches out to imperfect people forgiving them in the midst of their imperfections. Come to God just as you are. Don’t wait until you are good enough. If you do, you will never come to Him. Come to Him as this paralyzed man did. Come just as you are in the midst of all of your imperfections. He offers you forgiveness.
Jesus brings miracles to our lives.
God’s Word says (Mark 2:6-12 NIV) "Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, {7} "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" {8} Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? {9} Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? {10} But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, {11} "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." {12} He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!""
Wow! Jesus does not buckle under the pressures of the religionist. Instead, He works a miracle in this man’s life. God has come into our world working miracles. This man was carried into the presence of Jesus full of spiritual and physical imperfections. He walked out completely forgiven and made whole.
Beloved, that’s the God that we serve. He blows away the ideas and teachings of the religionists of our day that have put Him in a theological box that they can explain and control and He ministers to imperfect people. God has come into our world preaching the Word, forgiving sins and working miracles. That’s just what I need in my life. I don’t need entertainment. I don’t need comforts. I don’t need the religionist of my day. What I do need is the Word of God, forgiveness of sins and miracles in my life. And God has come into my world to do just that.
O how much He loves me. O how much He loves you. Rejoice Beloved! Rejoice! God loves us so much He has come into our world!
My grandfather, Rev. Andrew Johnson, talked about breaking ice on the creek in the dead of winter to baptize people in the early and mid 1900's once they chose to deny self, take up the cross and follow Jesus.
I've been baptizing people for 18 years now.
I've baptized people indoors.
I've baptized people outdoors.
I've baptized people in swimming pools.
I've baptized people in cow troughs.
I've baptized people in water so cold that my legs where numb and blue, but have never had to break ice yet.
To me, one of the thrills of ministry is baptizing those who choose to deny self, take up the cross and follow Jesus.
But, throughout my time in ministry, it has truly amazed me that there are so many who profess to be Christian, but delay being baptized in water.
Jesus was baptized in water prior to starting His earthly ministry.
If we are following Christ, we will follow Him in water baptism.
If you are a Christian who has not yet been baptized in water, I encourage you to make the transition to being a Christ follower and make the first step of your journey water baptism.
Get your hair wet!
Follow Christ in water baptism.
Allow the Holy Spirit to stir the waters and do something supernatural in your life.
Anne Lamott, in Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith says "Most of what we do in worldly life is geared toward our staying dry, looking good, not going under. But in baptism, in lakes and rain and tanks and fonts, you agree to do something that's a little sloppy because at the same time it's also holy, and absurd. It's about surrender, giving in to all those things we can't control; it's a willingness to let go of balance and decorum and get drenched."
By God's grace, we are called to pick up our cross, deny self and follow Jesus.
We choose to follow or not.
He does not choose for us.
If He did, He would not be a just God.
And He is just.
So the choice is ours.
As we follow Him, a wonderful and supernatural work happens within us on our journey.
We develop His mind.
We develop His heart.
He changes the way we think.
Our behavior toward others change.
His love develops within us and extends to those in need around us.
We stand for faith and justice no matter what it costs us.
That's true religion my friend... that's true religion.
Henry Scougal said "True religion is a union of God with the soul, a real participation of the divine nature, the very image of God drawn upon the soul, or in the apostle's phrase, it is Christ formed in us."
We complete a task or a project and sit back taking pleasure in our accomplishment.
We get that one thing that we always wanted, not knowing how we could continue to live without it, and we take pleasure in obtaining it.
What does God take pleasure in?
He has created all things.
As I stood 11,000 feet above, atop the wonder of Mt. Hood in the beautiful state of Oregon, I looked around at the majesty of God’s creation and I took pleasure in it.
As I sat in the crispness and silence of a pre-dawn morning in the woods of Kentucky surrounded by nothing but nature and awaiting the sunrise, I took pleasure in the quietness of anticipating another awakening of God's creation to the rays of light and warmth.
Oh the joy of taking pleasure in God’s creation recognizing Him and His greatness in it.
But, what does God take pleasure in? The beauty, vastness and majesty of what He has created?
God’s source of pleasure is more specific.
God takes pleasure in you.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psa 147:7-11 ESV)
I just finished reading Once Blind: The Life of John Newton . Author Kay Marshall Strom details the life of John Newton in a story like readable fashion.
Newton was a living testament to the power of God's transforming grace. In his early days, He captained slave ships bringing slaves from Africa. After experiencing God's amazing grace, he became a minister and worked in abolishing the slave trade along side William Wilberforce.
Newton wrote the great hymn "Amazing Grace" that has been sung in churches across the land. If you were raised in the church like I, you will have at least a portion, if not all, of the great hymn memorized.
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ'd!
Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the vail,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be for ever mine.
In 1962, slavery was finally made illegal throughout the world, but yet slavery still exists in our day through sex trafficking, bonded labor and child labor. According to Strom's research and documented in the epilogue, it is estimated that there are 12 million slaves today. The U.S. Government estimates that there are 15,000 to 18,000 trafficked into America each year.
In the epilogue of Strom's well written book, she informs how we can be twenty-first century abolitionists. I recommend you read this book and get involved in being a twenty-first century abolitionist. We can make a difference in our day just as Newton did in his day.
I pray God’s grace and peace for all of my facebook, twitter and LovingGodFellowship.org friends and family on this Christmas day as we celebrate the First Advent with joyful hearts while looking forward to the Second Advent with expectant hearts. The best is yet to come!
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:9-13 ESV)
Genuine Christian love is forged against the anvil of our selfishness and possessiveness... It is important to remember that love is more than a feeling. It is active and transitive. The real test of my loving is not that I feel loving, but that the other person feels loved by me. Love is what I do to create this sense of feeling cared for.
We are afraid of religion because it interprets rather than just observes. Religion does not confirm that there are hungry people in the world; it interprets the hungry to be our brethren whom we allow to starve.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.
- Frederick Douglass,
from his speech celebrating West India Emancipation Day (August, 1857)
To take usury for money lent is unjust in itself, because this is to sell what does not exist, and this evidently leads to inequality, which is contrary to justice.
- Thomas Aquinas,
Dominican friar and theologian (1225-1274).
Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
- Psalm 62:9-12
There remains an experience of incomparable value ... to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled -- in short, from the perspective of those who suffer ... to look with new eyes on matters great and small.
God is quick to forgive us of our sins as we repent, but the consequences of those sins can linger for a lifetime and beyond. American theologianReinhold Niebuhr said that “All human sin seems so much worse in its consequences than in its intentions.”
God does not hold our past sins against us and we are to reflect His heart and not hold past sins against others realizing that the life changing power of God’s amazing grace is at work in us and in others.
Acts chapter nine begins with Saul heading from Jerusalem to Damascus as a persecutor. It concludes with Saul going back to Jerusalem as the persecuted. He goes to Damascus to arrest and destroy Christ followers. He returns to Jerusalem as a Christ follower. The changes in Saul’s life are brought about through grace. It truly is amazing.
And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (Act 9:26-31 ESV)
Saul’s return to Jerusalem puts him in a very difficult position. All of his religious buddies there know that he is now a radical Christ follower. And the Christ followers in Jerusalem had not forgotten his self led drive to destroy them. But just as there was a Christ follower in Damascus that accepted Saul and brought him into the gathering, there is also one in Jerusalem. Thank God for Ananias in Damascus and Barnabus in Jerusalem.
Ananias and Barnabus had a couple of things in common. They believed the best in others and they did not hold a person’s past against them. This is the heart of God. He does not hold our past sins against us and we are to reflect His heart and not hold past sins against others realizing that God’s amazing grace changes us and others.
Saul was brought to the local gathering because true conversion involves joining the Christ following community where encouragement can be received and given. Not only must converts join the Christ following community, but the Christ following community must welcome converts, including those from different religious, ethnic or social backgrounds. May God lift up Ananiases and Barnabuses in our day that will take the initiative to be friends with newcomers who have decided to deny self, take up the cross and follow Jesus.
A true community of Christ followers will always welcome others regardless of who they are and what they have done in the past. It is a community of sinners who have been arrested by Jesus and dramatically impacted by the life changing grace of God and they quickly recognize that God’s grace is at work in others.
The Holy Spirit intervenes in the life of a Christ follower again and again, providing direction and protection needed to not only enter into one’s destiny, but also to complete the journey.
In Damascus, Saul had entered into his destiny as he denied self, took up the cross and followed Jesus. Entering into one’s destiny is not entering into some waiting pattern until a future event takes place. Instead, it is a life long journey that is full of adventure and excitement. Saul had just started on his journey and there was much for him to accomplish for Christ and His kingdom,
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. (Act 9:23-25 ESV)
Saul had entered into his destiny but had not completed his journey. There was much to do ahead of him.
He would go on to become the apostle to the Gentiles.
He would go on to establish churches on his missionary journeys.
He would go on to write two thirds of the New Testament.
The Holy Spirit intervened again and again to direct and protect Saul and assure that he completed his journey as He followed Jesus.
Beloved, you have a destiny. The moment you denied self, took up the cross and began to follow Jesus, you took your first step into your God given destiny of continuing the point of need ministry of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. What all you will accomplish for Jesus and His kingdom is still yet to be written. It’s a journey. The Holy Spirit will intervene again and again in your life providing you the direction and the protection needed to complete the journey and accomplish everything God has intended.
The days in front of the Christ follower are always exciting and adventuresome. From the first step of entering one’s destiny to completing the journey, there is much to be accomplished for Jesus and His kingdom. The Holy Spirit has been given as a supernatural partner and He will direct and protect. The Christ follower marches forward knowing that the best is yet to come!
I believe the 2009 ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publisher Association) Christian Book of the Year recipient is very well deserved. It is the The ESV Study Bible , which I have used this year in my personal Bible reading. I highly recommend it and encourage you to get a copy to use and read in 2010. It would also make a very good Christmas gift for those on your list that love to read and study the Word of God.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2 ESV)
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says "Most of what we do in worldly life is geared toward our staying dry, looking good, not going under. But in baptism, in lakes and rain and tanks and fonts, you agree to do something that's a little sloppy because at the same time it's also holy, and absurd. It's about surrender, giving in to all those things we can't control; it's a willingness to let go of balance and decorum and get drenched."
. Author Kay Marshall Strom details the life of John Newton in a story like readable fashion.
.
, which I have used this year in my personal Bible reading. I highly recommend it and encourage you to get a copy to use and read in 2010. It would also make a very good Christmas gift for those on your list that love to read and study the Word of God.
