“Therefore, laying aside all malice all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as new born babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” 1 Peter 2:1-3.
1st Obstacle: Unwillingness to take up the cross: Matthew 16: 21-27.
Peter was refusing to take up the cross when he said to the Lord, “far it (the crucifixion) be from you, Lord; this shall not happen to you!” (16:22). The unredeemed mind is not accepting the things of God from His point of view. The unregenerate or fleshly mind is at enmity with God and so cannot comprehend His plans: Romans 8:6-8.
Peter was thinking as a man and letting Satan influence him. Peter needs to learn to die to himself, his own wishes, preferences & opinions. And let Christ rule totally without contradiction and without opposition.
Bearing the cross means, when your self-will and your confident attitude cross the will of God and you humbly choose to follow God’s will, you have taken up the cross.
How many believers and Christians are willing to take up the cross? Many want to enjoy the entertainment in the church and get benefits of being in the church community but not willing to die to self-will nor humble themselves.
So many fights and divisions happening in the churches are due to not willing to take up the cross. As long as you are not willing to take up the cross, you will never grow to spiritual maturity.
It is not how much Bible you know or how many theology degrees or how many titles or positions you hold that matters to God but whether you are willing to deny self and surrender wholly to follow His perfect Will at any cost! Be challenged!LikeCommentShare
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Trust and Encouragement(NOTES)
Matthew
10:8 New International Version
8 Heal the
sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons.
Freely you have received; freely give.
2 Timothy
4:6-8 New International Version
6 For I am
already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure
is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but
also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 1:9 New International Version
9 He has
saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but
because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus
before the beginning of time,
1
Corinthians 1:18-31 New International Version
Christ
Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will
frustrate.”[a]
20 Where is
the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of
this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the
wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased
through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews
demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God
has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness
of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers
and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were
wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble
birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God
chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly
things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to
nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is
written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b]
2 Corinthians 11:16-33 New International Version
Paul
Boasts About His Sufferings
16 I repeat:
Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you
would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident
boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are
boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with
fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who
enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps
you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!
Whatever
anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast
about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they
Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my
mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison
more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again
and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three
times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have
been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from
bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in
the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false
believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I
have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold
and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern
for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into
sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must
boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father
of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32
In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes
guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window
in the wall and slipped through his hands.
Acts
28:16-31 New International Version
16 When we
got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
Paul
Preaches at Rome Under Guard
17 Three
days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had
assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing
against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in
Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 18 They examined me and wanted to
release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19 The Jews
objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not
intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20 For this reason I have
asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I
am bound with this chain.”
21 They
replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none
of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about
you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people
everywhere are talking against this sect.”
23 They
arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the
place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening,
explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the
Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24 Some were convinced by what
he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and
began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke
the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
26 “‘Go to
this people and say,
“You will be
ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never
perceiving.”
27 For this
people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise
they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn,
and I would heal them.’[a]
28
“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the
Gentiles, and they will listen!” [29] [b]
30 For two
whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came
to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus
Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!
James
2:17 New International Version
17 In the
same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Matthew
25:14-30 King James Version
14 For the
kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own
servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto
one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man
according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he
that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them
other five talents.
17 And
likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he
that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
19 After a
long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he
that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying,
Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them
five talents more.
21 His lord
said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou
into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also
that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two
talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord
said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the
joy of thy lord.
24 Then he
which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou
art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou
hast not strawed:
25 And I was
afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is
thine.
26 His lord
answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that
I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou
oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my
coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take
therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto
every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him
that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast
ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
I am hearing of this Spirit-led movement on the campus of Asbury University, also known as Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
No human leader. Spontaneous hunger! Chapel service on Wednesday has not ended. Students are staying all night. No bells and whistles. So refreshing! Here is a report: God is moving at Asbury – in 1970 a 10 day revival broke out at Asbury.
Currently they are on day 3 no plan of stopping. It is now spreading to other universities. Busses are coming!! Never planned all spontaneous Holy Spirit driven. People prostrate, shoes and socks off as the tangible presence of God is among them.
My question….do we hunger for God? What are the conditions to revival? Would we sense this outpouring? We need to become desperate for God. It’s clear we are but we each have to know it. That thought alone should drive us to the ground. Come Holy Spirit Come!!!!
It all started with an S.O.S. from a counselor at a conference where I was speaking. I’d just extended an invitation for young men and women who wanted to make a commitment to following Christ. There were many young people in the counseling room after that, and a counselor came back and said, “You’ve got to talk to Kelly. She’s really hard.”
Well, I went back and sat down with her, and she seemed to really shut down. After some small talk to try to break the ice, I said, “Kelly, why are you here in the counseling room?” She said, “I want to know Christ.” I said, “Well, that’s great. Why?” She said, “Because part of me is missing.”
I showed her some Scripture that showed her that it was Christ who was missing from her life. And I said, “It sounds to me like you’re ready to open your life to Jesus.” And then her face turned very, very unexpressive and she said, “If you only knew how many times I’ve come and prayed and accepted Christ and nothing has ever happened.”
I was stuck for a moment. What do I do, just have her go through it again? It was like always meaningless and it didn’t work. I said, “Lord, if there’s something You know and I don’t, would you tell me what it is?” And then He gave me one question for Kelly, and it made all the difference. It might change everything for you.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The One Step We Miss.”
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 7:10. It identifies for us the step we so often miss. “Godly sorrow,” it says, “brings repentance that leads to salvation.” Now, in that conversation with Kelly, the question I asked her that broke the log jam was this: I said, “Kelly, all those times you’ve made a commitment to follow Christ, did you ever tell the Lord you’re really sorry for your sins, you’re sad about your sins, and you’re ready to change?” She said, “No.” Oh, Kelly had said yes to Christ a number of times, but she missed the other step – saying “no” to sin.
I explained to her, “You can’t hold Jesus in one hand and junk in the other – that junk is what He died for; that’s the junk that killed Him.” When you start to name the sins of your life and you start to confess them to the Lord, you finally realize what it is you need a Savior from. And then you go to that cross to be saved from that sin; from your sin.
Repentance is so often the missing page in our Gospel. In God’s Word it says you have to have Godly sorrow that leads to repentance that leads to salvation. There’s no real conversion until you repent. Jesus told His disciples to “preach repentance and faith.” There’s no real power in your life if you keep sinning; until you let your heart be broken over your sin because of what it did to Jesus; what it took for Him to pay for it on the cross.
When I told her the step she’d missed, tears came to her eyes. She said, “I’m so sick of the junk! I want to get away from it.” Then confession began, and saving faith reborn.
Could it be that the reality you’ve been looking for begins with you being sorry for the sins that have broken God’s heart and drove His Son to the cross? Maybe this could be the day that it really comes together for you.
If you say to Jesus, “You know, Lord, you were supposed to run my life. I hijacked it. I’ve been running it, and I know now I have broken your heart. It cost you your life to pay for that rebellion against you. And I turn from the running of my own life. And Jesus, I am now pinning all my hopes on what you did on the cross. When you died on that cross it was my sin you were dying for. Jesus, right here, right now, I’m Yours.”
See. repentance isn’t some good work you do to get Jesus. No, it’s simply realizing that when you turn to Him, you’re turning your back on the sin He died for.
You want to make sure you belong to Him? That’s what our website is for. Please go there – ANewStory.com.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,
29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b]
Wisdom and Foolishness(NOTES)
1
Corinthians 1:18-3:4 New International Version
Christ
Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will
frustrate.”[a]
20 Where is
the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of
this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the
wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased
through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews
demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God
has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness
of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers
and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were
wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble
birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God
chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly
things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to
nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because
of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that
is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written:
“Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b]
2 And so it
was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with
eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[c] 2
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My
message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on
human wisdom, but on God’s power.
God’s Wisdom
Revealed by the Spirit
6 We do, however,
speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or
of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s
wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory
before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they
had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is
written:
“What no eye
has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no
human mind has conceived”[d]—
the things God has prepared for those who
love him—
10 these are
the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit
searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s
thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the
thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand
what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us
by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual
realities with Spirit-taught words.[e] 14 The person without the Spirit does
not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them
foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through
the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but
such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has
known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”[f]
But we have
the mind of Christ.
The
Church and Its Leaders
3 Brothers
and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as
people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid
food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You
are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are
you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I
follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
At our house as the kids were growing up, you didn’t have to wait for the Fourth of July to have fireworks. No. All you had to have was one of those days when one of my sons declined an assignment with these wonderful words, “Nah, that’s women’s work!” Oh, no! No, don’t wait for the Fourth of July. No, my wife and daughter were nowhere near excited about that particular philosophy of life. They had a problem with that idea that there are certain jobs that a man is above. Actually, I have a problem with that idea. Actually, I think God has a problem with it.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Men’s Work – Women’s Work.”
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 13. I’ll begin reading at verse 2. We’re going to read an episode from the life of the most secure man who ever lived; a man who had nothing to prove – the ultimate man, Jesus Christ. “The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist.”
Okay, now wait. Here’s the most complete man that ever lived, and He is demonstrating His sense of manhood and identity in a very graphic way, in a surprising way. He knows who He is. He’s coming from God; He’s going to God. He’s got it together, and He demonstrates that as it says in verse 5, “He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.”
Here’s the only Son of God. He’s not too good to do the lowliest job in the house. Well, the real man is man enough to choose to be a servant; to pitch in on the dirty work; to be as manly doing the laundry as he is lifting some heavy furniture; to be as macho changing a diaper as he is changing spark plugs.
Not too long ago there was an interesting comment from the wife of a friend of mine who had just come back from a great tour of speaking…kind of the conquistador, you know, and they loved him where he was. He came in and he wanted to tell all his war stories of how much they loved him there, and his wife said, “Honey, do you know you always come home like a spoiled king.” Ohhh… and you know what? He had to admit, she was right. He said, “I wanted the world to revolve around me.”
Well, I’ll tell you, there’s nothing very manly about coming home like a spoiled king. It’s small; it’s selfish. Jesus was just coming off Palm Sunday with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in His ears, and yet He went and washed the disciples’ feet. How many of us men make our wives feel totally insignificant by implying that what she does all day long is too unimportant for us to touch?
See, the sign of a real man is that he makes a woman feel important. And he does that when he arrives in her world like the Cavalry arriving just in time. He demonstrates his manhood when he serves his wife. Not because he’s a wimp, but because he’s secure and strong enough to love her in the ways that really mean something to her.
You demonstrate your dignity, not by how many people do things for you, but how many people you do things for. That’s manhood! Jesus, the ultimate model of manhood – a muscular carpenter – can be a foot washer. The mighty Son of God can be a servant. That’s the kind of real man that a woman loves to love.
As a child of God, you are chosen—according to the purpose of God, by the power of God, for the glory of God.
And that is the greatest, most empowering, most life-giving truth in the universe.
Ephesians 2:10 says that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (ESV).
God predestined that your life would be filled with good works, to the praise of his glory. That means that the burden of “fixing” your life is not on you. God has already decreed and supplied the power for it!
Many people feel so defeated, thinking they have to summon the will to overcome a particular sin or heal their marriage or be a bold witness for the gospel.
But that’s the wrong picture of the Christian life. God has already provided the power for you to do the good works he planned for you.
You can be confident in his plan to use you, because Jesus said that’s why he chose you: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16).
The Bible teaches that you are chosen, not to unravel the mysteries of how God has worked in your past but to give you confidence of what God wants to do in your future.
When you think you’ve failed miserably as a Christian—and you will sometimes—you can have the strength to get up. Proverbs 24:16 says, “The righteous falls seven times and rises again.”
If you are discouraged by how much you fall, remember that the righteous person shows their righteousness not by never falling but by getting back up.
Falling just demonstrates that you are not perfect. Getting back up when you fall demonstrates that you believe the gospel.
21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! 22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. 23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. 24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm[a]— my great army that I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. 27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
Living Right Over Empty Rituals(NOTES)
Isaiah 58
New International Version
True
Fasting
58 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah
58:1-12 The Message (MSG)
Your
Prayers Won’t Get Off the Ground
58 1-3 “Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins! They’re busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people— law-abiding, God-honoring. They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ and love having me on their side. But they also complain, ‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
3-5 “Well, here’s why: “The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?
6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’ A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again
Matthew
25:35-40 New International Version
35 For I was
hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.’
37 “Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick
or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King
will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
🌞 My friend was going through some difficult challenges in her life and family. I didn’t know what to say or do, and I told her so. She looked at me and said, “Just be near.” That’s what I did, and later on we started talking about God’s love.
🙇♀ Many times we don’t know how to respond when others are grieving, and words may do more harm than good. Serving others requires that we understand them and find out what they need. Often we can help by meeting practical needs. But one of the best ways to encourage those who are suffering is to be near — to sit beside them and listen.
🙇♂ 🙇♂ God is near to us when we call out to Him. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles,” the psalmist says. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” By putting ourselves in the shoes of others and allowing our hearts to feel compassion, we can help those who are hurting. We can be near them as God is with us and sit close to them. At the right time, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say, if they are needed. — Keila Ochoa
God, grant grace throughout this day
To walk the straight and narrow way,
To do whatever in Thy sight
Is good and perfect, just and right.
— Huisman
The best way to encourage others may be to just be near.
🌞 Car racing legend Bobby Unser faced the toughest race of his life—and won. He and a friend, Robert Gayton, were snowmobiling in New Mexico when both of their sleds quit working.
Snowdrifts as high as their chests, temperatures as low as zero, and winds as stiff as 70 mph hampered their attempt to find shelter. They even had to spend one night in a snow cave they made.
Late the next day they found a barn with a heater and a phone. After the rescue, Unser said, “Every decision we made had to be right.” He and his friend had experienced a terrifying struggle with the elements they couldn’t control as they did everything possible to stay alive.
🙇♀ We are living in a world that is hostile to our spiritual survival. Every day we go up against forces that could destroy us. Some are internal — our pride and selfish desires. Some are external forces — ungodly media influences, acquaintances who don’t support our faith, the stresses of life. Wrong decisions as we face these “blizzards” can lead to destruction.
🙇♂ Every move we make – each word and action – must be done in His name. We must live according to God’s principles and act as we think Jesus would. That will make every move count. — Dave Branon
May everything we do—
By word or deed or story—
Be done to please the Lord;
To Him be all the glory. — Roworth
When making a decision, ask, “What would Jesus do ?”
3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. 4 For I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze. 5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ 6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. 7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’ 8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.
Isaiah 48:17 NIV
17 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
Not By Our Own Devices (NOTES)
Isaiah 48:1-2 New International Version
Stubborn
Israel
48 “Listen
to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel
and come from the line of Judah,
you who take
oaths in the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel—
but not in truth or righteousness—
2 you who
call yourselves citizens of the holy city
and claim to rely on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:
Numbers
23:19 New International Version
19 God is
not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change
his mind.
Does he
speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
Numbers
23:19 King James Version
19 God is
not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent:
hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make
it good?
Titus 1:1-2 King James Version
1 Paul, a
servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s
elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2 In hope of
eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Isaiah
42:8 King James Version
8 I am the
Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my
praise to graven images.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “revival”? A widespread movement sparked by a prayer meeting or a sermon? Outdoor services held under a tent? An emotional experience?
Our parent ministry, Life Action Ministries, defines revival as “a renewed relationship with Jesus that revolutionizes relationships with others.” It’s not something you can schedule on a calendar. It’s not a feeling you conjure up during a worship service, nor is it synonymous with evangelism. It’s a Spirit-induced change of heart that transforms both your vertical and horizontal relationships.
While revival can gain momentum and affect hundreds or thousands, it cannot begin until at least one individual completely surrenders his or her life and will, saying “Yes, Lord.”
The Impact of One Revived Heart
In 2 Kings 22, we find an example of how one man’s tender heart changed the course of an entire nation. The story takes place during the reign of Judah’s young leader, King Josiah, who ordered that the house of the Lord receive some much-needed maintenance. However, what’s notable in this chapter is not the repairs made at the temple but King Josiah’s response to a discovery made within it.
For years, the divided nations of Israel and Judah lived in direct opposition to God’s Law, having both figuratively and literally lost track of the written words of the Lord. But that all changed when the high priest found the forgotten scroll among the rubble and took it to the king. Upon hearing the words read aloud, King Josiah realized how the nation of Judah had failed to keep the Law, and he mourned over their sins. The passage says the king tore his clothes, humbled himself, and wept (vv. 11, 13, 19).
God did not ignore King Josiah’s cry for mercy:
“Because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD . . . and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD” (v. 19).
God delayed His just punishment against the kingdom. Because of one man’s humble response and reverence for God’s Word, an entire generation was saved from sure destruction.
The characters in this narrative have long since left this world. But our God has not. He is still alive, watching over His people. Judgment is coming, but there is yet hope. The God who answered Josiah’s plea for mercy promises to hear the prayers of “he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isa. 66:2).
Who Needs Revival?
While the fate of the nation may not depend upon you (who knows?), what about your family or community? Is there a repeated generational sin that needs to stop with you? Your refusal to acknowledge and repent from destructive habits or sinful behaviors can affect not only yourself but your children and grandchildren and close community.
We need the Lord’s help to overcome sin and temptation. That’s why we must cry out for mercy. When you rely on yourself for personal reform, you are scorning God’s wisdom and grace. Self-reliance cheapens and discredits the cross, blinding you to your sin and your need for a Savior. You must come to a place of full surrender and brokenness for God to continue His work in your heart.
Revival is not for the unsaved; it’s for the children of God who have drifted away from following His Word. It’s for believers who have become allured and ensnared by lust and worldly pleasures. It’s for the self-righteous, the ignorant, the rebellious. It’s for you, and it’s for me. We cannot content ourselves to simply pray for revival for the masses. Revival begins with the reflection you see in your mirror.
Let It Begin with Me
The late Del Fehsenfeld, Jr, founder of Life Action Ministries, described well the effects of personal revival: “Revival awakens in our hearts an increased awareness of the presence of God, a new love for God, a new hatred for sin, and a hunger for His Word.”
Do you need an increased awareness of God’s presence? Have you left your first love? Do you see your sin for what it really is in God’s sight? Do you hunger for God’s Word like your life depends upon it? Have you let things or people take over your affections for God? Is there anything you have withheld from Him?
If the Spirit is convicting you right now, don’t ignore His prompts. Isaiah 55:6 tells us to “seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” Your very desire to see and know and love God is God-initiated (1 John 4:19). If He has brought to mind anything that has stolen away your affections from your First Love, humbly repent and mourn over your sin. Then stake your hope in the character of a holy God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6).
To help you honestly examine your need for revival, ask yourself the following questions drawn from Seeking Him, a study on revival by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and Tim Grissom. Confess each sin that God exposes, and praise Him for His power to forgive.
Was there a time in my life when I placed all my trust in Jesus Christ alone to save me?
Do I love to read and meditate on the Word of God?
Are my personal devotions consistent and meaningful?
Do I apply God’s Word to my everyday life?
Am I quick to admit when I am wrong?
Am I willing to give up all sin for God?
Is my conscious clear with every person?
Does my schedule reveal that God is first in my life?
Does my checkbook reveal that God is first in my life?
Do I love what God loves and hate what God hates?
Am I allowing Jesus to be Lord of every area of my life?
Am I devoted to Jesus, filled with His joy and peace, and making Him the continual object of my affection?
Am I more concerned with what God thinks about my life than with what others think?
Father, how good You are to your undeserving children. You are patient and kind and good, even though we are faithless, proud, and selfish. Thank You for loving the unlovable. Thank You for initiating a love story and pursuing me, holding me, keeping me, saving me. I love You, Lord. May those words not be a struggle to say but a joy to shout. Help me to know the height and depths and breadth and length of Your love. May it overwhelm me and overjoy me. I want it. I crave it. I need it. Help me to believe that in Christ Jesus it is mine! Thank You!
1 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush[a] and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Isaiah 43:10-12 NIV
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
God’s Promises Fear Not(NOTES)
Isaiah 42:7, 23-25 New International Version
7 to open
eyes that are blind, to free captives
from prison and to release from the
dungeon those who sit in darkness.
23 Which of
you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?
24 Who
handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not
the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they
would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.
25 So he
poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped
them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it
to heart.
Isaiah 42
New International Version
The
Servant of the Lord
1 “Here is
my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen
one in whom I delight I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will
not shout or cry out, or raise his
voice in the streets.
3 A bruised
reed he will not break, and a
smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth
justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged till
he establishes justice on earth. In
his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is
what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that
springs from it, who gives breath to
its people, and life to those who walk
on it:
6 “I, the
Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open
eyes that are blind, to free captives
from prison and to release from the
dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the
Lord; that is my name! I will not
yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the
former things have taken place, and
new things I declare;
before they
spring into being I announce them to
you.”
Song of
Praise to the Lord
10 Sing to
the Lord a new song, his praise from
the ends of the earth,
you who go
down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
11 Let the
wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela
sing for joy; let them shout from the
mountaintops.
12 Let them
give glory to the Lord and proclaim
his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord
will march out like a champion, like a
warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle
cry and will triumph over his enemies.
14 “For a
long time I have kept silent, I have
been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.
15 I will
lay waste the mountains and hills and
dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
16 I will
lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into
light before them and make the rough
places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
17 But those
who trust in idols, who say to images,
‘You are our gods,’ will be turned
back in utter shame.
Israel
Blind and Deaf
18 “Hear,
you deaf; look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is
blind but my servant, and deaf like
the messenger I send?
Who is blind
like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have
seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
21 It
pleased the Lord for the sake of his
righteousness to make his law great
and glorious.
22 But this
is a people plundered and looted, all
of them trapped in pits or hidden away
in prisons. They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, “Send them back.”
23 Which of
you will listen to this or pay close
attention in time to come?
24 Who
handed Jacob over to become loot, and
Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned? For they would
not follow his ways; they did not obey
his law.
25 So he
poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped
them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
1
Corinthians 13:5 New International Version
5 It does
not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps
no record of wrongs.
1 Peter
4:8 New International Version
8 Above all,
love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
2 Kings
23:13 New International Version
13 The king
also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the
Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the
vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek
the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
Ezekiel
20:32 New International Version
32 “‘You
say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve
wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2)
The aim of Romans 12:1–2 is that all of life would become “spiritual worship.” Verse 1: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The aim of all human life in God’s eyes is that Christ would be made to look as valuable as he is. Worship means using our minds and hearts and bodies to express the worth of God and all he is for us in Jesus. There is a way to live — a way to love — that does that. There is a way to do your job that expresses the true value of God. If you can’t find it, that may mean you should change jobs. Or it might mean that verse 2 is not happening to the degree it should.
Verse 2 is Paul’s answer to how we turn all of life into worship. We must be transformed. We must be transformed. Not just our external behavior, but the way we feel and think — our minds. Verse 2: “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
Become What You Are
Those who believe in Christ Jesus are already blood-bought new creatures in Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But now we must become what we are. “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
“Worship means using our minds and hearts and bodies to express the worth of God and all he is for us in Jesus.”
“You have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). You have been made new in Christ; and now you are being renewed day by day. That’s what we focused on last week.
Now we focus on the last part of verse 2, namely, the aim of the renewed mind: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, [now here comes the aim] that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” So our focus today is on the meaning of the term “will of God” and how we discern it.
The Two Wills of God
There are two clear and very different meanings for the term “will of God” in the Bible. We need to know them and decide which one is being used here in Romans 12:2. In fact, knowing the difference between these two meanings of “the will of God” is crucial to understanding one of the biggest and most perplexing things in all the Bible, namely, that God is sovereign over all things and yet disapproves of many things. Which means that God disapproves of some of what he ordains to happen. That is, he forbids some of the things he brings about. And he commands some of the things he hinders. Or to put it most paradoxically: God wills some events in one sense that he does not will in another sense.
1. God’s Will of Decree, or Sovereign Will
Let’s see the passages of Scripture that make us think this way. First consider passages that describe “the will of God” as his sovereign control of all that comes to pass. One of the clearest is the way Jesus spoke of the will of God in Gethsemane when he was praying. He said, in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” What does the will of God refer to in this verse? It refers to the sovereign plan of God that will happen in the coming hours. You recall how Acts 4:27–28 says this: “Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” So the “will of God” was that Jesus die. This was his plan, his decree. There was no changing it, and Jesus bowed and said, “Here’s my request, but you do what is best to do.” That’s the sovereign will of God.
And don’t miss the very crucial point here that it includes the sins of man. Herod, Pilate, the soldiers, the Jewish leaders — they all sinned in fulfilling God’s will that his Son be crucified (Isaiah 53:10). So be very clear on this: God wills to come to pass some things that he hates.
Here’s an example from 1 Peter. In 1 Peter 3:17, Peter writes, “It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” In other words, it may be God’s will that Christians suffer for doing good. He has in mind persecution. But persecution of Christians who do not deserve it is sin. So again, God sometimes wills that events come about that include sin. “It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will.”
Paul gives a sweeping summary statement of this truth in Ephesians 1:11, “In him [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” The will of God is God’s sovereign governance of all that comes to pass. And there are many other passages in the Bible that teach that God’s providence over the universe extends to the smallest details of nature and human decisions. Not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Father in heaven (Matthew 10:29). “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:1). “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).
That’s the first meaning of the will of God: It is God’s sovereign control of all things. We will call this his “sovereign will” or his “will of decree.” It cannot be broken. It always comes to pass. “He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35).
2. God’s Will of Command
Now the other meaning for “the will of God” in the Bible is what we can call his “will of command.” His will is what he commands us to do. This is the will of God we can disobey and fail to do. The will of decree we do whether we believe in it or not. The will of command we can fail to do. For example, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Not all do the will of his Father. He says so. “Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Why? Because not all do the will of God.
Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” Here we have a very specific instance of what God commands us: holiness, sanctification, sexual purity. This is his will of command. But, oh, so many do not obey.
Then Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” There again is a specific aspect of his will of command: Give thanks in all circumstances. But many do not do this will of God.
“Immerse yourself in the written word of God. Saturate your mind with it.”
One more example: “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). Not all abide forever. Some do. Some don’t. The difference? Some do the will of God. Some don’t. The will of God, in this sense, does not always happen.
So I conclude from these and many other passages of the Bible that there are two ways of talking about the will of God. Both are true, and both are important to understand and believe in. One we can call God’s will of decree (or his sovereign will) and the other we can call God’s will of command. His will of decree always comes to pass whether we believe in it or not. His will of command can be broken, and is every day.
The Preciousness of These Truths
Before I relate this to Romans 12:2, let me comment on how precious these two truths are. Both correspond to a deep need that we all have when we are deeply hurt or experience great loss. On the one hand, we need the assurance that God is in control and therefore is able to work all of my pain and loss together for my good and the good of all who love him. On the other hand, we need to know that God empathizes with us and does not delight in sin or pain in and of themselves. These two needs correspond to God’s will of decree and his will of command.
For example, if you were badly abused as a child, and someone asks you, “Do you think that was the will of God?” you now have a way to make some biblical sense out of this, and give an answer that doesn’t contradict the Bible. You may say, “No it was not God’s will; because he commands that humans not be abusive, but love each other. The abuse broke his commandment and therefore moved his heart with anger and grief (Mark 3:5). But, in another sense, yes, it was God’s will (his sovereign will), because there are a hundred ways he could have stopped it. But for reasons I don’t yet fully understand, he didn’t.”
And corresponding to these two wills are the two things you need in this situation: one is a God who is strong and sovereign enough to turn it for good; and the other is a God who is able to empathize with you. On the one hand, Christ is a sovereign High King, and nothing happens apart from his will (Matthew 28:18). On the other hand, Christ is a merciful High Priest and sympathizes with our weaknesses and pain (Hebrews 4:15). The Holy Spirit conquers us and our sins when he wills (John 1:13; Romans 9:15–16), and allows himself to be quenched and grieved and angered when he wills (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). His sovereign will is invincible, and his will of command can be grievously broken.
We need both these truths — both these understandings of the will of God — not only to make sense out of the Bible, but to hold fast to God in suffering.
Which Will?
Now, which of these is meant in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” The answer surely is that Paul is referring to God’s will of command. I say this for at least two reasons. One is that God does not intend for us to know most of his sovereign will ahead of time. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us” (Deuteronomy 29:29). If you want to know the future details of God’s will of decree, you don’t want a renewed mind, you want a crystal ball. This is not called transformation and obedience; it’s called divination, soothsaying.
The other reason I say that the will of God in Romans 12:2 is God’s will of command and not his will of decree is that the phrase “by testing you may discern” implies that we should approve of the will of God and then obediently do it. But in fact we should not approve of sin or do it, even though it is part of God’s sovereign will. Paul’s meaning in Romans 12:2 is paraphrased almost exactly in Hebrews 5:14, which says, “Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (See also Philippians 1:9–11.) That’s the goal of this verse: not ferreting out the secret will of God that he plans to do, but discerning the revealed will of God that we ought to do.
Three Stages
There are three stages of knowing and doing the revealed will of God, that is, his will of command; and all of them require the renewed mind with its Holy-Spirit-given discernment that we talked about last time.
Stage One
First, God’s will of command is revealed with final, decisive authority only in the Bible. And we need the renewed mind to understand and embrace what God commands in the Scripture. Without the renewed mind, we will distort the Scriptures to avoid their radical commands for self-denial, and love, and purity, and supreme satisfaction in Christ alone. God’s authoritative will of command is found only in the Bible. Paul says that the Scriptures are inspired and make the Christian “competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Not just some good works. “Every good work.” Oh, what energy and time and devotion Christians should spend meditating on the written word of God.
Stage Two
The second stage of God’s will of command is our application of the biblical truth to new situations that may or may not be explicitly addressed in the Bible. The Bible does not tell you which person to marry, or which car to drive, or whether to own a home, where you take your vacation, what cell phone plan to buy, or which brand of orange juice to drink. Or a thousand other choices you must make.
“If you want to know the future details of God’s will of decree, you don’t want a renewed mind, you want a crystal ball.”
What is necessary is that we have a renewed mind, that is so shaped and so governed by the revealed will of God in the Bible, that we see and assess all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern what God is calling us to do. This is very different from constantly trying to hear God’s voice saying do this and do that. People who try to lead their lives by hearing voices are not in sync with Romans 12:2.
There is a world of difference between praying and laboring for a renewed mind that discerns how to apply God’s word, on the one hand, and the habit of asking God to give you new revelation of what to do, on the other hand. Divination does not require transformation. God’s aim is a new mind, a new way of thinking and judging, not just new information. His aim is that we be transformed, sanctified, freed by the truth of his revealed word (John 8:32; 17:17). So the second stage of God’s will of command is the discerning application of the Scriptures to new situations in life by means of a renewed mind.
Stage Three
Finally, the third stage of God’s will of command is the vast majority of living where there is no conscious reflection before we act. I venture to say that a good 95 percent of your behavior you do not premeditate. That is, most of your thoughts, attitudes, and actions are spontaneous. They are just spillover from what’s inside. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:34–36).
Why do I call this part of God’s will of command? For one reason. Because God commands things like: Don’t be angry. Don’t be prideful. Don’t covet. Don’t be anxious. Don’t be jealous. Don’t envy. And none of those actions are premeditated. Anger, pride, covetousness, anxiety, jealousy, envy — they all just rise up out of the heart with no conscious reflection or intention. And we are guilty because of them. They break the commandment of God.
Is it not plain therefore that there is one great task of the Christian life: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need new hearts and new minds. Make the tree good and the fruit will be good (Matthew 12:33). That’s the great challenge. That is what God calls you to. You can’t do it on your own. You need Christ, who died for your sins. And you need the Holy Spirit to lead you into Christ-exalting truth and to work in you truth-embracing humility.
Give yourself to this. Immerse yourself in the written word of God; saturate your mind with it. And pray that the Spirit of Christ would make you so new that the spillover would be good, acceptable, and perfect — the will of God.
John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary.
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’
19 “But if you[a] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”
Promises and Consequences(NOTES)
2 Kings
25:1-8 New International Version
25 So in the
ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army.
He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city
was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 By the
ninth day of the fourth[a] month the famine in the city had become so severe
that there was no food for the people to eat. 4 Then the city wall was broken
through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two
walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians[b] were surrounding the
city. They fled toward the Arabah,[c] 5 but the Babylonian[d] army pursued the king
and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from
him and scattered, 6 and he was captured.
He was taken
to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They
killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound
him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
8 On the
seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the
king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36:11-14 New International Version
Zedekiah
King of Judah
11 Zedekiah
was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble
himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also
rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s
name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord,
the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the
people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices
of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in
Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 1:3-13 New International Version
3 and
Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s tent
of meeting was there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the
wilderness. 4 Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to
the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in
Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had
made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the
assembly inquired of him there. 6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before
the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
7 That night
God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give
you.”
8 Solomon answered
God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in
his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed,
for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the
earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is
able to govern this great people of yours?”
11 God said
to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for
wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you
have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people
over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given
you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king
who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”
13 Then
Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent
of meeting. And he reigned over Israel.
2
Chronicles 7:1-10 New International Version
The
Dedication of the Temple
7 When
Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The
priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord
filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of
the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the
ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,
“He is good;
his love endures forever.”
4 Then the
king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 And King Solomon
offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and
twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple
of God. 6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s
musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which
were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the
Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
7 Solomon
consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the
Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship
offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt
offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.
8 So Solomon
observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a
vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. 9 On the eighth
day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar
for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day
of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in
heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his
people Israel.
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Open To Being Chosen(NOTES)
1
Corinthians 4:6 New International Version
6 Now,
brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for
your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not
go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower
of one of us over against the other.
1 Samuel
2:1-10 New International Version
Hannah’s
Prayer
1 Then
Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart
rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn[a] is lifted high.
My mouth
boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is
no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not
keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord
is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows
of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with
strength.
5 Those who
were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no
more.
She who was
barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The Lord
brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord
sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises
the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats
them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the
foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will
guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the
place of darkness.
“It is not
by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken.
The Most
High will thunder from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
Luke 1:48
New International Version
48 for he
has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on
all generations will call me blessed,
Luke 1:49
New International Version
49 for the Mighty One has done great things
for me—
By Radha Menon – Written by David Blaski …such a powerful message
There are many traditions associated with Christmas in our country, among the most beloved began in 1965 which is called, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Everyone’s “lovable loser”, Charlie Brown was reportedly born in 1946 by his creator, Charles Schultz.
Although more acquainted with losing than winning, the beloved cartoon character is the ultimate everyman’s survivor. However, 3 years before his “birth” there was another Charlie Brown, one full of fear and angst as he struggled in the days before Christmas in 1943.
On December 20th 1943, 20-year-old Lt Charlie Brown still clung to the controls and the last vestiges of hope as the pilot of a heavily battle-damaged B-17 struggling to get back to England following an allied bombing raid over Bremen, Germany.
The lone Allied bomber was a sitting duck. Holed all over by flak and bullets and down to a single good engine, it struggled simply to stay in the air over Germany, let alone make it the 300 miles back to England.
With the tail gunner dead and most of the crew either wounded or in shock, Lt Charlie Brown clung to the controls despite a 200 mph gale of wind through the fuselage, resulting from the plane’s nose section being blown off. The severely crippled B-17 was now flying barely above its stalling speed about 2000 feet above the ground.
It would have been common sense for Lt Brown to order his crew to bail out and risk becoming POW’s for the rest of the war. But that would mean leaving an unconscious man behind to die alone, and Lt. Charlie Brown refused to do that.
In the distance, agonizingly close, Lt. Brown felt a glimmer of hope as he approached the German coastline, and ahead of that the North Sea and open skies back to England. That was until he saw the glimmer behind them of a fast-moving speck, a lone German Me109 closing in, piloted by Lt Franz Stigler, a Luftwaffe ace who needed one more kill to reach the 30 that would qualify him for a Knight’s Cross, the second highest of Germany’s Iron Cross awards for bravery.
As Stigler came up behind the bomber he could not believe its condition. How was it still flying? And why was there no gunfire from the stricken plane to try to ward him off. That was explained as, inching closer, he saw the slumped body of the rear gunner.
Veering alongside, he could see the other guns were out of action too, the radio room had been blown apart and the nose had gone. Even more startlingly, through the lattice work of bullet holes, he glimpsed members of the crew, huddled together, helping their wounded. As he realized how easy the situation would be for him to pull the trigger of his wing guns and return a hero, he saw the Americans ashen faces, their fear and their courage and his finger eased from the trigger.
The experienced fighter pilot realized he just couldn’t do it because of the words of a much admired officer of the old school, who told him on his first day of combat, ‘You shoot at a machine, not a man. You score “victories”, not “kills”. His mentor will also go on to say, “A man may be tempted to fight dirty to survive, but honor is everything.
You follow the rules of war for you, not for your enemy. You fight by rules to keep your humanity. So you never shoot your enemy if he is floating down on a parachute. If I ever see you doing that, I will shoot you down myself.” Although a message which didn’t seem to chime with the ruthless savagery of Nazi mentality under Hitler’s Third Reich, it did chime with Lt. Stigler, who had never bought into Nazi philosophy or joined the party. He prided himself in fighting by this code.
His Knight’s Cross could go hang. ‘I will not have this on my conscience for the rest of my life,’ he muttered to himself. To the stunned and anxious looks of Lt. Charlie Brown and his surviving crew, Stigler positioned his Messerschmidt just above the mortally crippled B-17’s right wing tip, matching its speed as if flying in formation.
At first, Lt. Brown and crew thought the Luftwaffe pilot was playing a cruel game with them. To their amazement, they saw the German waving frantically, mouthing words, making gestures. What was he trying to say? In his cockpit, Stigler was struggling with a dilemma. He was not content just to ease back and let the bomber escape. He was now determined to save it and the men on board.
Stigler tried to get the American pilot to head eastwards to neutral Sweden, a 30-minute flight away, crash-land there and spend the rest of the war as internees but alive. But any words were lost in the roar of the bomber’s faltering engines, while in its front seat; Brown clung doggedly to the control column and pushed on. Lt. Stigler now realized that to help the crew, he would have to risk his own life.
As the two planes approached the German anti-aircraft batteries on the coast, Stigler gambled that if the flak gunners down on the ground spotted his Messerschmidt side by side with the enemy bomber, they would hold fire. He held his course, prepared to risk being shot down himself. The ploy worked. Not a shot was fired from the ground.
But Stigler knew he now faced a different danger. There were witnesses to his actions. If word got back that he had helped an enemy bomber to escape, he would face arrest by the Gestapo, a court martial and a firing squad for treason. To make matters worse, if he escorted the plane to the English coast, he might himself be shot down by the allies.
The decision for Stigler would finally me made by Lt. Charlie Brown, he and his crew were still confused by the strange actions of the Luftwaffe pilot and finally order one of his gunners to target the Messerschmidt. As the barrels turned in his direction, Stigler got the message. He had done all he could. He gave one last look, mouthed ‘Good luck’, saluted the Americans and peeled away.
It was only then, to their collective astonishment that Lt. Brown and his men now understood the act of modern chivalry shown to them by this unknown German pilot. For Lt. Franz Stigler, Incredibly his risk had paid off and there was neither a Gestapo welcoming committee nor report of the incident.
However, Stigler would find himself after the incident becoming increasingly disillusioned by what his country had turned into under Hitler, Stigler had lost any desire for the Knight’s Cross, so, though he was constantly in battle and flew close to 500 combat missions, he simply failed to register his “victories” and claim what he now saw as a worthless piece of metal.
As they made the English coast Lt. Charlie Brown’s wounded B-17 was met and escorted back by their fellow airmen in American P-47 fighters, cheering and urging them on all the way. Charlie Brown and his men made it back that day to a hero’s welcome, on a wing and a prayer. To Lt. Charlie Brown, the real hero of the mission was that unknown Luftwaffe pilot. And that was what he told the intelligence officer who de-briefed him on the mission. He and his men owed their lives to a good German.
However, allied intelligence would order Lt. Charlie Brown and his surviving crew to secrecy and classify the details of the mission for fear it would inspire fellow-allied pilots to do the same and risk their own lives. For more than 40 years, Lt. Brown kept the secret but he never forgot.
Then, in 1985, and retired to Florida, he blurted the story out at a veterans’ reunion. He told his fellow veterans that although he never found out who that German pilot was, he was now determined to finally find out who he was. In 1990, Franz Stigler was living in Vancouver, BC when he opened his regular association newsletter, and could not believe his eyes as he read his story and the unknown American pilot he helped that day.
The two men, once enemies were finally reunited. From then on the two men traveled together to take their unique story to veterans’ clubs and air museums. As author Adam Makos would write about them. “Their message was simple: enemies are better off as friends”. Ironically, both men would both die within months of each other in 2008, perhaps as a final escort and salute in death as to how they met in life that Christmas week in the skies of 1943.
In the classic holiday cartoon, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, Charlie Brown finds himself depressed and dismayed by the commercialism, complaints, and indifference of others towards the holiday of Christmas. Charlie is then encouraged by Lucy to help put on a Christmas play, In order to set “the proper mood” he goes out and finds a Christmas tree for the school play.
When he gets to the lot, filled with numerous trees fitting Lucy’s description, Charlie Brown ironically and symbolically chooses the only real tree there, a weak, tiny sapling. Charlie Brown is convinced that all it needs is some decoration and it will be just right. However, his friends laugh at him for his choice of the pathetic little tree, Charlie Brown finally cries out to ask if anyone knows what Christmas is all about.
It is his friend Linus, who drops his ever present security blanket and recites from the Bible, Luke chapter 2:8-14 which ends with the verse; “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.” Linus then walks back over to Charlie Brown and gently says, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
Charlie Brown quietly picks up the tree and walks out of the auditorium toward home. He takes a large ornament from Snoopy’s doghouse and hangs it at the top of his tree, but the branch, seemingly unable to hold the ornament’s weight, promptly droops to the ground. Believing he has killed the tree, Charlie Brown walks off in shame, believing he has ruined everything.
Linus and the others, who realized they were too hard on Charlie Brown, quietly followed him to Snoopy’s doghouse. Linus admits he always liked the tree while gently propping the drooping branch back in its upright position and wraps his blanket around its base, and when the others add the remaining decorations from Snoopy’s doghouse to the tree, Lucy agrees. Charlie Brown returns, surprised at the redecorated tree which now miraculously has new life, and the gang all joyously shout “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!”
The holiday of Christmas is a commemoration of the gift of God’s redemption for mankind. It’s about His hand reaching down to us when our hearts were far from Him. It’s about finding humanity in the face of inhumanity, about a frightened pilot who won’t abandon one life to death to save others and another who refuses to obtain a “prize” dropped in his lap because the price of his conscience and soul was too great.
It’s about the crippled aircraft that found a wing of protection under the shadow of an enemy’s mercy. It can even be found in the belief of one “lovable loser” that a small, pathetic tree could have beauty and meaning that no one else saw if others just gave some into it. Like the lyrics to the famous song;“Oh why can’t every day be like Christmas?Why can’t that feeling go on endlesslyFor if every day could be just like Christmas
What a wonderful world this would be” To all who read this message may I add, “Merry Christmas to all”. – David Blaski
2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”[a]
Luke 3:15-18 NIV
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[a] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire.
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
John Prepares The Way(NOTES)
Luke
1:13-17 New International Version
13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Isaiah 40:3-5 New International Version
3 A voice of
one calling:
“In the
wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord[a];
make
straight in the desert
a highway for our God.[b]
4 Every
valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough
ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the
glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the
mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Luke 1:17 New International Version
17 And he
will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the
hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
I recently received an email from a girl asking me to send her Bible verses on the topic of purity. She said she vaguely knew that the Bible promoted purity and holiness, but she wasn’t exactly sure where to find the passages.
Impurity and immorality are very real threats that we need to be equipped to fight against.
After I emailed her back with a list of verses, I wondered if there were more girls out there like her—girls who know that the Bible “promotes purity” but aren’t exactly sure where to find the passages in the Bible.
If you are one of those girls who wants to fight for purity, keep reading. This blog post is written for you!
Ammo for the Fight
At times staying pure in our culture can seem nearly impossible. Doing basic things like getting on Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook can feel like entering the danger zone. Because advertisers all seem to agree that “sex sells.” Even just walking through the grocery store checkout line can feel slightly scarring at times.
Impurity and immorality are very real threats that we need to be equipped to fight against. That’s why I want to share that list of verses I emailed to my friend with you.
I want your spiritual guns to be loaded with ammo that I know will work.
The next time you are tempted to compromise in the area of purity, I want you to pull out these verses. They will be your spiritual ammo in your fight for purity.
Six Verses You Need to Know
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10).
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word” (Ps. 119:9).
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8).
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thess. 4:3–5).
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desire” (Rom. 13:14).
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:14–16).
What Next?
Here are two action steps to give you practice in firing this spiritual ammo.
Pick one and memorize it. I want to encourage you to pick one of these verses and memorize it. My go-to verse is first one, Psalm 51:10. That verse is ingrained in my mind and ready to fire anytime I’m facing something that is impure.If I’m being tempted with an impure thought, I’ll quickly recite that verse and pray that God will make it true for me. I’m always amazed that quoting Scripture in the midst of a temptation really does help. I dare you to try it the next time you are facing a temptation in the area of purity.
Write one down and tape it to your mirror. I also decided to write down two of those verses and tape them to my bathroom mirror. It’s the first thing I see in the morning when I brush my teeth and the last before I go to bed. Having that visual reminder is extremely helpful for me, and I know it would be for you as well.Will you join me?
Who would like to join me by:
Memorizing one of the verses.
Writing one down and sticking it on your mirror, wall, journal, or somewhere that you will clearly see it.
If you want to join me in this fight for purity, comment below and let me know! I’d love to pray for you and encourage you as you make these truths a reality in your life.
Are there any go-to verses you would add to my list? Please don’t keep the spiritual ammo to yourself. Share it with us below!
